I love you Ghana, but we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Environmental friendliness aside, I am of the opinion that liquids belong in solid containers. Even with a sturdy receptacle like a glass or bottle, I frequently manage to miss my mouth in the drinking process. The little plastic bags which drinking water is usually sold in here are simply not designed for uncoordinated individuals like myself. Its practically discrimination.
My problem with water in plastic bags is not limited to embarrassment caused by inability to drink water in social situations. My lab work unfortunately also involves the handling of dozens of bags of water. In my little cubicle, I sit surrounded by bags and bags of water in various shades of brown, some with lettuce leaves poking out, some without. Much of this water contains untreated or partially treated sewage- and of course it was one of these delightful samples that I managed to spill all over my feet (and the bench, the floor, pipettes, and various other bits of crucial equipment) this afternoon. Luckily managed to chuck a bit of kitchen towel and some spirit on it and clean away the worst before anyone noticed (fingers crossed for no cholera). Today was our first day of full-scale, all-out, big-daddy, real-deal study time. 21 samples of soil, water and lettuce transformed over 6 hours into 87 damp white discs of filter paper on 44 beautiful shiny smooth agar plates, and my breath is held for blue blobs in all the right places (and none in the wrong ones) tomorrow.
We’re going to scale back a bit tomorrow, take fewer samples and conduct fewer duplicates (we need to make sure the lab manager doesn’t have to stay 2 hours behind waiting for me to finish again!). Yes I need to be faster, neater, slicker; yes I made some silly errors; but I’m also proud of the work I managed to accomplish today. It wasn’t perfect but it was a solid start, and I’m sitting home tonight with a smile on my face knowing that I managed it all myself. This is the baseline, and I know that I can do it. Bring it on!
Where's Viv? 