Rats
Yesterday was a bad day. The results of my lab experiments have been looking really sloppy, and I don't know why. I don't do anything different from the technician, but my films look really dirty. When I was developing my film yesterday, I had JUST enough time to look at my results before I had to leave for my other job (tutoring entering pre-frosh at Barnard--- the girls are awesome, but I resent my bosses.... I have issues with authority figures who aren't authoritative enough....but that's beside the point...).
This morning, I came to the lab in a fairly gloomy mood because I would have to show my grungy films to the postdoc who supervises me, and I hate having to present my failures. As I was walking down the hallway to the lab at 8:30 AM this morning, a man in a lab coat rolled a cart with about 18 cages with GIGANTIC rats rolled by. I stopped and looked at the giant white rats with their tail tattoos. I must have been smiling or staring intently, because the man stopped the cart, smiled and said, in a Russian accent (about 40% of the researchers in that building are Russian....), "You like them?" I smiled back and told him that I thought the rats were pretty cute. "Most people don't like rats," he said, "Rats are really smart, you know! We've done some behavior training and they're not afraid of people. They eat sugar right out of my hand!" He gleefully added, "See how smart they are!" he gleefully added as he tapped one of the cages and the rat tapped his nose to the side of the glass and shifted around. I asked him why the rats were so big, and he told me that they were at the rat equivelant of 60 years old. We parted ways, but I left feeling more optimistic and ready for the lab (I would have done my work regardless-- I'd like to think that I don't let my mood affect my productivity).
Well, I tried a different protocol (the data sheet that came with my antibody had some bold red text that gave me a helpful suggestion... aheh heh). I think I've figured out the problem, so things are looking up. My results today were a lot cleaner, and I'll leave for work tomorrow a lot more happy than when I left for work today.