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I got a job at a chemical plant working in the "quality" control lab There was a literal dumpster fire yesterday. Fun times.
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Oct 8, 2015 12:01
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That Works posted:If you were in Massachusetts I'm pretty sure you made the news! Nah. Pennsylvania Good to know we aren't the only fuckups
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Oct 8, 2015 16:48
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I got hired as a chemist/lab tech to analyze samples in a QC lab Spent most of this week installing/removing pipe insulation. But compared to the stuff other people have to do, it's not that bad
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Nov 27, 2015 16:13
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My lab doesn't have a HPLC. Or more than one operational balance. 
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Nov 27, 2015 19:06
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I think I have the worst job. Crosspost from the gen chem thread our lab and the locker room are adjacent to each other and the GC is literally right next to the locker room door. So half of the GC tanks are next to the GC in the lab, but due to a lack of space, the other half are in the locker room. because of this, the lab manger told me he tries to not hire women because of sexual harassment or some such The tank thing is just one reason why they try not to hire women. My company employs one (1) woman who is a secretary-ish person and works up in the front office. If were were to employ any other women, they would probably file a sexual harassment lawsuit within five minutes. Example. My company buys mineral oil from some other place and the mineral oil company sent down a rep because reasons. The oil rep got the plant tour and she entered the control room. The oil rep was good-looking and entered as some my co-workers talked about needing to remove 10 inches [of oil] from a tank. At that point, one of the guys looked at her and cracked about his 10 inch dick and other suggestive stuff. No joke The guy who made the dick joke also calls me a pussy a lot Other Greatest Hits: Management are the cheapest fucks available. Apparently, last years Christmas Bonus was a $5 or less wawa sandwich. For any actual bonus, we had to go the the company next door shindig. It was pretty good. The owner also reduced the lab from 2 people per shift to only one to save a few bucks The lab notebook doesn't use units. We're supposed to be changing this. Maybe. The 1st shift supervisor/board guy is a psychopath. He's mooned me twice, is way too interested in my sex life, and is an overall unpleasant fellow. He's the guy who made the dick joke to the oil rep A minority owner still works in the lab and his thoughts on this place "yeah, this job/people will bust your balls a bit"
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Dec 6, 2015 02:57
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RadioPassive posted:I don't understand what GC tanks being in the locker room has to do with gender? Something along the lines of Woman goes into locker room to change tanks --> sees naked man --> ???. Can't think of too many places where going into the opposite gendered bathroom is a part of the job description (maybe janitor) Speaking of which, the dedicated women's bathroom in the lab/plant is now a) really smokey b) lab storage. This room is also locked as other employees would steal lab supplies for their own use. The only other w. br is in the front office building john ashpool posted:What state is this? Not one you're thinking of Nissin Cup Nudist fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Dec 6, 2015 |
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Dec 6, 2015 16:30
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Right now there is a turtle resting inside a Bud Light box that is on top of a welding machine checks out
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Jan 19, 2016 04:47
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So the lab manager (my boss), the 1st shift supervisor/foreman and the part-owner/lab tech all got laid off today. Anybody want to be a lab manager for a dying, run-down chemical plant that doesn't care about its employees?
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Feb 4, 2016 01:35
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e: im dumb
Nissin Cup Nudist fucked around with this message at 07:36 on Feb 6, 2016 |
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Feb 6, 2016 07:29
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Antivehicular posted:I'm going to take this thread as evidence that, no, I'm not crazy, calibrating micropipettes is actually the worst thing in the world. I appreciated learning it as part of my capstone internship last fall, but I'd be okay with never actually doing it again. Is it a worse of a task than dumpster diving? 
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Feb 11, 2016 05:27
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Solkanar512 posted:Depends on how cheap your lab is. extremely cheap we don't have micropipettes to begin with so, Nissin Cup Nudist fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Feb 11, 2016 |
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Feb 11, 2016 06:39
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Antivehicular posted:Is this the legend I've heard maybe? we go through a case of pasteur pipette like its going out of style
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Feb 11, 2016 06:43
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Today is day 3-4 of a production run and I haven't done poo poo the entire week as our pipes freeze and everything else malfunctions. I work at a quality operation Thankfully I'm the QC jockey and get to stay inside and not be one of the plant workers in the cold I still get paid so w/e Nissin Cup Nudist fucked around with this message at 01:06 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 01:00
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Does soap clog the sink/drain for anyone else or is just me/my lab?
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Mar 15, 2016 03:26
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Hypha posted:You should dig out the snake....that doesn't sound right. The explanation I got is that our sink feeds into a vacuum trap and all the soap suds aerate, which blocks the sensor in the trap. Without a functional sensor, the pump turns off (temporarily?) and the sink clogs/overflows.
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Mar 15, 2016 04:24
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Scientastic posted:Wearing headphones in the lab is really bad. You're supposed to interact with your co-workers and talk to each other. What co-workers?  Why yes, I work the lab solo, why do you ask? Nissin Cup Nudist fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Mar 24, 2016 |
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Mar 24, 2016 22:26
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Today a couple of us were loafing around in the control room when an operator came in and said "Hey Steph, why are you always in the middle? Is it because you're the Pivot Man?" At which point everyone groaned. Except me cause I didn't get it. So I googled Pivot Man when I had a chance, and uh, bad idea. In retrospect, I should have expected Pivot Man to be a circlejerk joke considering who said it. Guess what screen I had up when the Big Boss wanted to look at something 
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Apr 22, 2016 23:20
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A couple weeks ago, my supervisor decided to redo the lab, specifically move the GCs around because ???. He got the company grease monkey to put in the new gas lines for the new location. Seems alright. So when we got back to running, I noticed that we were burning through hydrogen like mad and emptying our tanks super quickly. Turns out the new hydrogen line had leaks everywhere in it. If there was a junction in the line, there was a leak. I enjoy being in an active hydrogen leak area for about a week. And our AC unit has been broken for about the same time too. Hot as balls in the lab.
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Jun 21, 2016 15:18
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Its always nice when I come into the lab and am immediately handed papers for a "random" drug test at least the Quest was empty and not full of old people for once Nissin Cup Nudist fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Jun 30, 2016 |
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Jun 30, 2016 03:39
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goodness posted:"Sweet! What drugs are we testing today?" 420 smoke weed every day The people that were selected to be drug tested were me, the guy who wears a marijuana headband to work everyday, and one of the more likely suspects to actually use drugs Best part was that I wasn't even supposed to be selected. It was another lab tech but he's on vacation this week, so management said "eh, make DOOP piss in a cup." I heart bacon posted:I work at a place that makes drug test kits. Incoming drug strips and all devices that are built there are tested against human specimens along with various controls. I'm usually the first one in every day so I set up the lab and give a donation (what's the greatest nation in the world? DOnation!) It's voluntary, if that matters at all. this is pretty cool.
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Jul 1, 2016 02:56
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I wear steel tipped boots It's cool
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Jul 3, 2016 00:58
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look at you fancy people with radios and such
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Jul 6, 2016 03:36
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So our secretary came into the lab, took a bottle of acetone from the fume hood, and went back to her office with the bottle. Then when my supervisor called her to get back the acetone, she told him to bugger off. I took it back after she left 
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Jul 13, 2016 23:20
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I doubt 99.5% pure acetone makes good nail polish remover. I mean, it should remove nail polish but with a whole bunch of other stuff as well There's a reason we keep acetone in the fume hood or flammable cabinet
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Jul 14, 2016 01:35
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Its more the fact that we had very little acetone to begin with (thanks to the operators using most of it to clean centrifuge parts) so her taking that bottle left the lab with very little. I expect she'll be screaming at me tomorrow
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Jul 14, 2016 01:47
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Are HP/Agilent GC's supposed to be turned completely off at the end of the day? Not just turning off the gases, but a full shut down? We used to only turn off the gases, but switched to a full shutdown recently and started having a lot more problems
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Jul 28, 2016 16:47
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Dante Logos posted:Uhhh...what? We have a Thermo, and we only cut down on gasses when we reduce the temp to 40 C. Even then we keep the column flow on. We have a FIC detector and some of the more heavily used gasses are reduced automatically after we turn off the flame. We haven't had any major problems. But you shouldn't shut down completely unless it is for heavy maintenance. It ruins the column quickly, as far as I know. The service manual says do not shut off the GC, our SOPs says do no shut off the GC, but *in whiny VP voice* But what if the power goes out and there's no one here Dude just wants to save 20 bucks on the electric bill
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Jul 28, 2016 18:25
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The local university finished building their new field hockey field 20 yards right behind the plant Don't think they counted on a bunch of old farts watching/creeping on their practice
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Sep 27, 2016 21:10
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There's a mice infestation under the vending machines at work. The night shift guy claims a mouse climbed onto one of the lab desks. We got stray cats out back, maybe we can put them to use.
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Mar 29, 2017 23:16
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You should avoid sticking your hand in a sonicator, right?
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Apr 7, 2017 15:13
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Our lab and locker/bathroom share the same AC piping so the lab AC has to be always on to prevent the locker room from smelling like rear end during warm weather This makes the lab really cold
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May 4, 2017 13:43
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I got my three sets of Nomex Jumpsuits already to go every day. They are great insulators so I sweat like a greased pig in the summer.
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May 21, 2017 20:13
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Johnny Truant posted:There's a guy in my lab who I've only seen wear shorts. I wore shorts every day during the summer under my Nomex jumpsuit
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Aug 25, 2017 03:54
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The foulest smelling substances are actually my farts
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Mar 18, 2019 17:59
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In my last job before Grad School, we didn't even use units Checkmate 
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Jul 14, 2019 04:41
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Pain of Mind posted:I have been looking around for a job for the first time in a while, and I am surprised by all of the AI driven biotech companies popping up. Most of them seem to be founded by computer people first, and then they hire scientists, and they do not seem to know much about drug development. I interviewed with senior management at one, and he was talking about being in Phase 3 in November when they do not even have any biology established or a lead molecule. I can see how AI can assist in speeding up some protein design or med chem type stuff and maybe shave off a few months early in a program, but it is still going to be a multi-year process. It could be a small department at a biotech, when right now it feels like they are tech companies with a small biology group. As someone also looking for a job, the vast majority of chemistry-related positions all seem to be BioPharmaOrganicTech which is annoying as that's not what I do at all. It sucks
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Feb 15, 2024 21:28
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