Hey all,
This weeks LfA is likely to be a little shorter than some previously,
not least because it's been a rather hectic week coming back after
the ACS meeting. Also, it's more a series of events this week rather
than a particular theme. Hopefully we'll be back on the themes next
week.
Jason
___
To start with this week, I did get back safely from the ACS meeting.
It felt like I've been away for a LONG time from the lab so it was
nice to get back to it. At some point I shall likely send a
supplemental out that describes what I'm doing to those of you who
may care. That's a short list.
So, entertaining things that I did or learned this week, in no
particular order other than the one in which I thought of them. That
is, what follows is a stream-of-consciousness rant. Enjoy.
It's not just lime: I've mentioned before that if you're bringing
beer to group meeting, you're expected to bring a lime. Well,
apparently, this should be extended to 'appropriate citrus fruit'.
Someone brought 'Blue Moon' (beer brand, very good actually ...) and
an orange last week. This is, apparently, the correct thing to do.
Reactions to satisfy insurers: The chemistry department had it's
annual safety refresher for lab workers (including me, even though I
had only just completed my training) this week. Since the accident
at UCLA (if you've not heard about this and fancy a read of what
happened, see
http://philosophyofscienceportal.blogspot.com/2009/05/ucla-fined-in-s...),
all colleges in the US have been panicky. The level of paperwork has
gone overboard - everyone working in a lab with someone using
pyrophorics now must be safety compliant. But it gets better ...
Safety bureaucracy is the same everywhere: After a recent visit by
the Boston Fire Department, it turns out the that BC Chemistry
Department doesn't have a license to have the amount of flammable
solvents it does because someone forgot to get one when the building
was built ... 20 years ago. So it means that we're going to be shut
down unless we get under a certain volume of solvent, which is about
half of what we had been using. We then have to stay under that
limit for a year, so we can apply for a higher limit. How we're
supposed to function is another matter - they are currently
suggesting that the only way to keep it under the limit is to reduce
the solvent store to one 20 L drum of each solvent, being refreshed
from an outside source when needed (outside source = off campus!).
How long do you think this will last when there are 80 postdocs/PhDs
and about 20 undergrads working in synthetic labs alone?
(Answer for the non-chemists: Not very long at all - it's dumb.)
But it's all about accounting; The absolute numbers are fairly
meaningless anyway in the above discussion as they are completely
arbitrary. For a building of our size, we're allowed 793 gallons.
Ridiculously, they use these units, even if it translates to 3000
litres. (And we all wondered why the Beagle crash landed on Mars.)
Add to the fact that while any container of 1 gallon or greater
counts as full (irrespective of contents), anything less is deemed
temporary and hence doesn't exist. Our lab is seriously thinking of
just switching all of our bottles to 2 L ones ...
Hitting things with sticks is also the same the world over ...
almost: I went to my first Taiko class in the US on Tuesday night.
It's about 20 miles away so it's hard to get to but was worth it;
I've missed it sooo much. While the basics are all the same, it's
odd to see the difference in emphasis from what I'm used to. Here
it's all about learning to hit the drum in time and to express
yourself - form (how you stand, how you strike the drum) is
comparatively less emphasised, which is backwards to home. But it's
all good fun, I got a blister in my first week and had the instructor
pick me up on exactly the same points as I get picked up on at home
(tense shoulders, dropped hands, need to emphasise left hand!!) so at
least there's some consistency.
When too much food is barely enough: Apologies to Roy and H.G., but
Monday night's group meeting saw us ordering from a place voted in at
number 2 on the "World's Best Places to Pig Out" by the Travel
Channel. At the top end of the menu is the Challenge Burger - 5 lbs
of beef, 20 slices of cheese and 20 slices of bacon - along with five
lbs of fries and a soda. It's served to one person and if they eat
it all under the time limit the price ($50US) is refunded. This
might seem ludicrous, but it is the fourth in a series of burgers
that started at 2 lbs of beef, 8 slices of cheese and 2 lbs of fries
and was gradually upped as they weren't seen as enough of a challenge
any more.
The full menu can be found at
http://www.grubhub.com/searchresults.jsp?step=3&restname=eagles+deli&...
[To save the enquiry, no I didn't order them as (a) it would kill me
and (b) they don't do it on delivery.]
One Kennedy dies of natural causes and wreaks havoc in Boston:
Senator Edward Kennedy (brother of JFK) died of brain cancer this
week. This causes all sorts of issues for Bostonians as he lay in
state in the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston with many
visitors. The funeral service saw a shut-down of major parts of the
city as major dignitaries (including the President) came to the city.
The ridiculous thing was that, without access to TV, and not really
paying that much attention to the news except the Red Sox results, I
only found this out as part of a Trivia question at the pub on
Thursday. And, in case you were wondering, the question related to
naming his brother who died in WWII. Apparently it was Joe.
To finish off with, for the geeks among you, a source of amusement.
(It was going to be two, but I managed to leave my camera cable in
DC, so I'll have to save that one for next week.) Earlier this week
one of my colleagues sent me an article from a chemistry journal from
2007 - I can't believe the editors let it through!!! If you're not
easily offended (and have access to the journal), have a look at
Chemical Communications, 2007, 1733-1735. (I can send a copy on if
you care that much and don't have access to the journal.) To quote
someone I've already sent it to ...
"How the hell could this be off- oh!"
Next week: Why I think I'm settled in Boston.
--
Dr Jason Harper Present Address:
School of Chemistry Merkert Chemistry Centre
University of New South Wales Boston College
Sydney NSW 2052 Chestnut Hill MA 02467-3860
AUSTRALIA USA
UNSW CRICOS Provider Code 00098G
|
