Back to Work

[DavidPeterson]

Hey everyone,

I'm back after 6 weeks in Canada. Can't say I'm over-enthused about returning, but someone needs to pay the bills and this site keeps me sane!

The lady who replaced me left this place spotless (in her own words she's OCD). I need to photograph my storerooms because they won't look like this until my next Long Service Leave.......

[Narelle01]

Welcome back!!!!

woohoo for a great replacement!!!
Keep her for next time

My 'repalcement' didn't even show up- at least there was no mess!

[RosalieM]

Welcome back I have been back for a week already (all staff had last week here without the kids). I am off to a good start this morning with both pracs ordered for P1&2 not being touched yet! One of them I even came in early to make up a solution that needs to be fresh (iron sulfate). Oh well. If it is rusty when they use it that's not my problem!

I did have a productive week last week though I managed to sort through the indicator dropper bottles and make up all of them to sets of 10 (some only had 3 or 4, and some even only had 1!) which will make it easier for classes to use. I also put new labels on them (no, not the GHS ones, just the same ones they already had) and put contact over them so now they won't rub off or get stained. I also made up second sets of phenolphthalein and universal indicator as they get used more frequently than the others and often without any request to me... I did learn a lesson last week too. Dont put methylene blue through the dishwasher without first rinsing the dropper bottles thoroughly!!! The dropper trays and anything else not glass that I put through with it are all now blue!! I now have them soaking in white king's answer to napisan but it doesn't seem to be having much effect. I will just have to cope with them being blue!

Oh, and if anyone is interested, we actually had really good weather for camping in Orange 16/17deg days!

[sunray18]

i used to have to weigh methylene blue out every week in an industrial lab. It didnt matter how clean everything looked after weighing it, nor how clean the beaker looked on the outside, the moment you added water, EVERYTHING went blue.. the balance, the glass doors on the balance, the bench, your hands, the door knobs, the balance brush.. and when I woudl go home and have a shower, the water running off my hair would run blue, and ..
well even if you blew your nose the stuff coming out would be blue..
horrible messy stuff!
metho used to be the chosen cleaning agent, BUT plastic usually gets stained forever..

[RosalieM]

Oh good, Sunray18 - I'm glad it wasn't just me!! I will remember metho for if there is a 'next time'

[Wayne]

Welcome back David!
Yesterday was my first day back from six weeks in Europe and a week in Melbourne. I used 3 weeks of school holidays and 4 weeks of long service leave. I wish my replacement was as good as yours.

The labs are in a terrible mess, cupboards in the prep room are emptied onto the bench, store room has totally been re-arranged (and I can't find anything), made alterations to the prep room and ordered a whole heap of stuff that we already have! She was only here for 4 weeks!

Like you David I wasn't looking forward to being back at work to start with, but when I saw all the changes I almost just packed up and went back home. It was a real challenge to get up and go back to work today. It doesn't feel like my prep room anymore!

[RosalieM]

Oh, Wayne, that's terrible!!!

[rae]

I Think I would have cried!!

I had couple of weeks leave in March April and the one thing I said to my replacement was that I didn't care if she made changes to suit herself whilst she was working here but she had to put it all back when she had finished. I must say I came back to a lovely spotless place with MOST things back where they belonged.

Lorrae

[RosalieM]

Oh, Wayne, that's terrible!!!

Sorry - Had a teacher come and ask "May I have..." as I was writing that and didn't get to finish.

Firstly, what person who is there for 4 weeks thinks they have the power to order things, and secondly, what person in charge would approve the order??? Perhaps they could make a list and say "this is what I think we ran out of and maybe you should consider ordering" but actually DOING the ordering? No way!! Unbelievable. And rearranging things is also unbelievable. A couple of things out of place? Yeah, I'd understand that. But to rearrange EVERYTHING? Wow. Perhaps she is one of the people Dime mentioned in a different thread who feels the need to make everyone else look incompetent! I hope you manage to get things back in order quickly.

[Wayne]

Thanks Rosalie.

Just checked the order book and she bi-passed the HOD (didn't get his authorisation).

Like you I was expecting to find a couple of things out of place, but not everything!

Maybe it was to make me look incompetent as a lot of the teachers are saying 'look how she managed to tidy up the store room and fixed this and changed that for you! She even fixed the draft coming from the vent for you!'

The said vent was the only way air could enter the prep room as it was being 'sucked' outside by the fume cupboard, but now it is permanently closed up! So need to waste my time and the maintenance staff to change it back again.

It was a very quick way to come back down to Earth after the high of being away.

[Wayne]

I Think I would have cried!!

Lorrae

I have to admit I almost did!

[DavidPeterson]

I'm glad I didn't have such issues. I'd worked with my replacement before (at this site) and I knew she'd do a 500% better job at tidying/organisation than I.
I gave her free reign before I left to "do whatever needs doing to get this place in order". As a trained scientist, I know my scientific/technical stuff (atleast I remember enough for high school science), but tidying/cleaning gets left behind.

[linotas]

Oh Wayne, that's not on! (quick, email me her name so we don't get her to fill in here! "N" would have a heart attack )
We had/have (is coming back for 8 weeks to replace my job share) the best replacement tech. He is a ex teacher who fully appreciated lab techs in his day and is a god-send! Everything catalogued, cleaned and put away, he is brilliant.

[Labbie]

Gosh Wayne, that is awful. My heart goes out to you. It is just so very wrong.

[RosalieM]

Thanks Rosalie.

Just checked the order book and she bi-passed the HOD (didn't get his authorisation).

Like you I was expecting to find a couple of things out of place, but not everything!

Maybe it was to make me look incompetent as a lot of the teachers are saying 'look how she managed to tidy up the store room and fixed this and changed that for you! She even fixed the draft coming from the vent for you!'

The said vent was the only way air could enter the prep room as it was being 'sucked' outside by the fume cupboard, but now it is permanently closed up! So need to waste my time and the maintenance staff to change it back again.

It was a very quick way to come back down to Earth after the high of being away.

And yet the saga continues!!

So can you send the unwanted items back if you can show the sullpier that the order wasn't approved?

Oh you just have to laugh or else you'd cry... She will probably wonder for the rest of her life why she won't be invited back after all the 'good work' she did for you!!

How awful to have such a harsh reality check after a wonderful holiday.

[Wayne]

Thanks guys. Thankfully tomorrow is my day off, so won't have to worry about it again until next week.

[kimmy]

Well I am now back in the world of Science after a term as SAM.
Boy i never ever thought I would say oh I missed my labs and Prep room.
It was a good term and I will say i enjoyed what I did for the term.
But in saying that boy oh boy am I a happy person to be back in my own little world.
I thought students were hard to deal with...... some staff are harder.
I learnt alot whilst up there and one thing that I did learn is I do not want to be in the front office full time.
We all have our moments where we winge and wine re our job - but after not doing it for the term it is real nice to come back and have .......
"can I please have"
"where do you keep"
"will you mind just getting"
and one statement that i hear so much in my little science world is "gee Thanks heaps kim".
I missed science and I think that we have the best job in the school but forget that sometimes.

Ok go off and have a great day now.
I know I will be.

KIMMY

[Ocker]

Keep that under your hat! Kim
Science You either love it or hate it
Most are here because we love it

[sunray18]

cker - i agree with you! Why else woudl we put up with all the nonsense thrown at us?
The teachers, whose only priority is themselves and what they want, the isolation and lack of understanding from other staff in schools, the low pay....
cause we LOVE IT!

well back to my stick insects