Australia's Science Forum

Sounds like there are a few 'naturals' in amongst us! I think wearing an old lab coat liberally splashed down the front with red food dye/fake blood and something not readily identifyable in the top pocket on a trip to the front office would be a good one. What do you reckon? Give it a go?

What a stirrer! Superb! I think eyeballs would be just the thing to disturb the "hardier" office staff. What is it about them that makes them such easy targets? Do other lab assistants devote time and effort to the cause like myself and Barbara? I'm always encroaching on their comfort zone...

PPE like labcoats should never need to be justified - it goes hand in hand with what we do and and any lab I might work in, I would expect several to be supplied for my use along with safety eyeware. You should never have to apply for such things. Does a fireman supply his own hose? Er, bad example.

Quote: Don't lab coats only cost around $25 each anyway? Works out about just over 1 hour pay. It sounds like you've probably spent more than 1 hour wasting time writing letters, doing research, chasing up support etc. Pretty crazy huh? Rosalie Eh? wasting time writing letters on Chemtalk? Nonsense...

Not as weird as eating them. Yuk! We defrost them the day before and keep them in the fridge but 1 hour before using I bung them in our incubator at about 50deg. to dry them out slightly - takes away the mushiness and firms them up.

Ha! Not a bad idea. I'll see if he fits into one of my labcoats and I'll get a picture quickly of him before he starts to eat it!

Yes, well the upshot of all this is a certain person in the office (for reasons best known to themselves) has been removed from placing orders on behalf of the school. They allowed their personal feelings to get in the way of how they performed and that's not on. I made light of the situation, but i...

WD40 or RP7. Your General Assistant would have it if not all supermarkets.

Loosen the barrel with penetrating oil - spray and let sit overnight. Fuse wire will clear the jet after a good scrub in the washing to 1st get rid of excess salt/wax etc. If the barrel is hard to remove, place a small screwdriver through the air holes at the base and twist being VERY careful not to...

He is isn't he and he's had no work done either! Some say he could be the next Bond.

Yes he's lovely. I get on really well with him. He was given to us by the Manson school for wild children after a long career in racing and was used as our school mascot until an unfortunant incident/accident with another school's mascot (a silky chicken). Maybe he does need a holiday. I'll ask him.

Now I've attended conflict resolution courses etc etc, keep it professional blah blah, don't pick on their personal attributes kind of inservice nonsense but the thing that I've now discovered that really works is to set Brian loose in the front office when it's really busy like at recess or when th...

The SAM isn't changing the orders, it's an ordinary office clerk who happens to do the ordering. It's alright though, she does it to the General Assistant too! Makes him wait for months for things he needs urgently! I had a complex it was just me for a while but it turns out she hates all blokes! AL...

That's the thing, she doesn't have the authority to change anything I do. Unfortunantly I've come across a few that aren't seniors but place themselves above other SAS staff. I just ask them their rate of pay (always the same as everyone else) and tell them they've got some growing up to do. What ca...

It is a pain having your orders changed for you by someone who hasn't stepped into a lab in 60 years, but I got my own back by not accepting them (signing for them) and demanding to see my purchase request for the other supplier, she had put it in the circular file (the bin) but I had a photocopy wh...

We're going through Serrata (if our clerk doesn't change it yet again) - like you said, a little dearer but worth it. Q-stores wanted me to go through the box and count how many were broken, I told them to bugger off as I'm not prepared to cut myself to ribbons for them or anyone else.

Just opened a box of 100 test tubes from Q-Stores. 37 of the 100 smashed to shardes and the most pathetic quality of glassware myself and my HT have ever had the misfortune to encounter. We've had trouble before with the nib of glass in the bottom of the test tube. Thick glass is always welcome but ...

I always do. There's too much you miss otherwise and it's apparent in the things people write.

We do the same as Sue here but senior Chem classes get quality latex gloves for feel. Glad you like the site, we like it too!

Quote from above: I use a syphon on my bottle of 2M HCl for speedy filling of dropper bottles. This is a bit clumsy but OK. What do other people do for efficient decanting???? Why should I start another forum answering another from above? As in conversations, forums flow - deviating from the topic s...