Anger Managment..... grrr
Came into lab today early to pour 12 liters of petri plates (12 liters X 40 plates per liter = a lot of f'in plates). This took me 5 hours. They are Hydroxyurea plates, and have a short shelf life-- only three weeks. I needed 4 liters for my experiment this week, and 2 for next week, but my rotation student said she needed 6 liters, and even though I wasn't sure whether she could possibly use them all, as she tends to over schedual a bit, I decided to be trusting because just last week we got into a fight about how much she thought I was over managing her, and I agreed to back off and trust her abilities. It's an expensive drug, the lab can't afford waste, but I figure that, worst case, I'll run the experiments for her if the shit hits the fan.
At 1:00 we talk about her plans, and I ask her if she needs any information about any of her proposed plans. She says no. Okay.
So. She agreed to pour 8 liters of something else and to share them with me 50-50. The day passes on and she doesn't start to pour them. At this point I should have known. So 6 o'clock rolls around, and she's got 8 rapidly-cooling liters of media on her bench and she's pouring them all wrong. It's clear that she's never poured plates before. Moreover, she's got a class at 7:00 and there's no way she's going to get through them all. Then we find out she added the wrong stock of drug... which was a mistake anyone could have made, and I should have thought to remind her which stock to use. But I didn't.
Then she runs off to class leaving the media on the bench to solidify, and she plans to melt them and pour in the morning. But this of course ties up the flasks, and I realize that I need to pour plates tommorrow...
And the reason I need to pour plates..... The lab is about to run out of it's most basic petri plates. It's my responsibility to keep the stocks up in the event that we are in a "State of Emergency" which exists when there are no undergrads available to do things. Usually the undergrads keep about 3-4 weeks of reserves, so that when they are on vacation for a week, it's still okay. Unfortunately, the person in charge of keeping the undergrad positions staffed completely failed to do this, and so we've been understaffed for 10 week. Then on last Friday, she quit. This week, only one undergrad came in for one shift (normally we have about 10-12 shifts). I was in total denial about how bad things had gotten because I was too busy being the servant to my rotator, and providing her plates, and because I must just be a glutton for punishment.
Then I'm doing my project, and 1.) I made a mistake that will set me back a day. 2.) The test-tubes I need have not been cleaned 3.) the chemical hood that I use to dry my petri plates is full to bursting with dangerous and unlabled chemicals, and I'm just too angry to be safe to clean it.
So tommorrow I will be doing fucking lab chores all day, and I am pissed pissed pissed!
I need to somehow reign in this student of mine without breaking her spirit, as she's very talented and smart and ambitious.
Thank you. I have ranted.
Perhaps tommorrow I will grow a spine, and actually stand up for myself.
At 1:00 we talk about her plans, and I ask her if she needs any information about any of her proposed plans. She says no. Okay.
So. She agreed to pour 8 liters of something else and to share them with me 50-50. The day passes on and she doesn't start to pour them. At this point I should have known. So 6 o'clock rolls around, and she's got 8 rapidly-cooling liters of media on her bench and she's pouring them all wrong. It's clear that she's never poured plates before. Moreover, she's got a class at 7:00 and there's no way she's going to get through them all. Then we find out she added the wrong stock of drug... which was a mistake anyone could have made, and I should have thought to remind her which stock to use. But I didn't.
Then she runs off to class leaving the media on the bench to solidify, and she plans to melt them and pour in the morning. But this of course ties up the flasks, and I realize that I need to pour plates tommorrow...
And the reason I need to pour plates..... The lab is about to run out of it's most basic petri plates. It's my responsibility to keep the stocks up in the event that we are in a "State of Emergency" which exists when there are no undergrads available to do things. Usually the undergrads keep about 3-4 weeks of reserves, so that when they are on vacation for a week, it's still okay. Unfortunately, the person in charge of keeping the undergrad positions staffed completely failed to do this, and so we've been understaffed for 10 week. Then on last Friday, she quit. This week, only one undergrad came in for one shift (normally we have about 10-12 shifts). I was in total denial about how bad things had gotten because I was too busy being the servant to my rotator, and providing her plates, and because I must just be a glutton for punishment.
Then I'm doing my project, and 1.) I made a mistake that will set me back a day. 2.) The test-tubes I need have not been cleaned 3.) the chemical hood that I use to dry my petri plates is full to bursting with dangerous and unlabled chemicals, and I'm just too angry to be safe to clean it.
So tommorrow I will be doing fucking lab chores all day, and I am pissed pissed pissed!
I need to somehow reign in this student of mine without breaking her spirit, as she's very talented and smart and ambitious.
Thank you. I have ranted.
Perhaps tommorrow I will grow a spine, and actually stand up for myself.