G*DA^*) FRICKIN h&(Y F*CK!
Can you tell I'm pissed off?
Went to work. Was going to be a good grad student, going in on a Sunday evening to prep for the week ahead, to run the gel I didn't get a chance to run on Friday (which I had set up and was waiting to be loaded in the fridge) and then I was going to pass my cells for tomorrow and be all set.
And also had to change the ice in my boss's ice bucket in the fridge.
Opened the fridge to get some stuff out. Was puzzled when I was greeted by a waft of warm air.
You heard me.
WARM air.
The effing fridge is down again.
(Those of you reading this blog will probably remember the lovely entries pertaining to the last time the fridge broke down in December. Amazing how long this compressor lasted.)
The temperature reading on the fridge when I got in was 33 deg C. (For those unaccustomed to Celsius, body temperature, not to mention our incubators, is 37 degrees C. Or for those looking for more exact information, 33 deg C = 91.4 degrees Farenheit. Thank you OnlineConversion.com.)
So now, I cannot run my gel because (a) it melted and (b) the samples in the refrigerator I was going to run are also likely melted. (Actually they are probably okay, DNA melting temperatures are actually somewhat higher, but that was a generally crappy condition to leave them in and if there were any enzymes contaminating the sample it took me all day Firday to produce, they could pretty much be dead.)e
Not only was there DNA samples in that fridge, but about ten different bacterial strains that I will have to replate or retransfect (assuming I have more DNA in the freezer), more than $150 in protein gels that are probably sludge now and 3/5 of a $350 protein isolation kit which is likely ruined. Bear in mind, the kit was working before and was my best hope for making protein. Not to mention tons of other reagents that are all expensive, and were pure, pristine (and functional) before the refrigerator cooked them.
We don't know how long it was like this. The last time this happened the temperature went up pretty fast but we were having more 'electrical work' done yesterday so it's likely this happened then, when I was out, waiting for the apartment realtor who never showed up. (But that's another story).
Yes, I know this is not the end of the world, but it's starting to feel like the end of my grad school career because I really, really can't afford another setback like this right now.
Off to buy chocolate because dammit, I need it.
p.s. best irony of the evening: there was still some ice left in my boss's ice bucket, thus, that was the only part of the fridge still at the expected temperature. This sucks.
Went to work. Was going to be a good grad student, going in on a Sunday evening to prep for the week ahead, to run the gel I didn't get a chance to run on Friday (which I had set up and was waiting to be loaded in the fridge) and then I was going to pass my cells for tomorrow and be all set.
And also had to change the ice in my boss's ice bucket in the fridge.
Opened the fridge to get some stuff out. Was puzzled when I was greeted by a waft of warm air.
You heard me.
WARM air.
The effing fridge is down again.
(Those of you reading this blog will probably remember the lovely entries pertaining to the last time the fridge broke down in December. Amazing how long this compressor lasted.)
The temperature reading on the fridge when I got in was 33 deg C. (For those unaccustomed to Celsius, body temperature, not to mention our incubators, is 37 degrees C. Or for those looking for more exact information, 33 deg C = 91.4 degrees Farenheit. Thank you OnlineConversion.com.)
So now, I cannot run my gel because (a) it melted and (b) the samples in the refrigerator I was going to run are also likely melted. (Actually they are probably okay, DNA melting temperatures are actually somewhat higher, but that was a generally crappy condition to leave them in and if there were any enzymes contaminating the sample it took me all day Firday to produce, they could pretty much be dead.)e
Not only was there DNA samples in that fridge, but about ten different bacterial strains that I will have to replate or retransfect (assuming I have more DNA in the freezer), more than $150 in protein gels that are probably sludge now and 3/5 of a $350 protein isolation kit which is likely ruined. Bear in mind, the kit was working before and was my best hope for making protein. Not to mention tons of other reagents that are all expensive, and were pure, pristine (and functional) before the refrigerator cooked them.
We don't know how long it was like this. The last time this happened the temperature went up pretty fast but we were having more 'electrical work' done yesterday so it's likely this happened then, when I was out, waiting for the apartment realtor who never showed up. (But that's another story).
Yes, I know this is not the end of the world, but it's starting to feel like the end of my grad school career because I really, really can't afford another setback like this right now.
Off to buy chocolate because dammit, I need it.
p.s. best irony of the evening: there was still some ice left in my boss's ice bucket, thus, that was the only part of the fridge still at the expected temperature. This sucks.