Do it yourself, I'm not your mother and this isn't my problem

I'm sitting down to update this thing because, well, frankly I'm procrastinating and I also think that I deserve some me time.

Today has been a day. Not necessarily a bad one, just a long one, filled with the setting up of things that move the needle forward on several different experiments, but nothing truly momentous was achieved today. If I were a chef, today would have been the day where I was prepping the food, getting things ready and prepared for the eventual order. There is, of course, a lot that goes into that, and so too with cooking, a true chef doesn't just have one plate they need prepare. Instead, they must have the ingredients at the ready for the large number of orders that are sure to come at dinner time. They must move quickly, carefully, and strategically to get everything prepared on time, all dishes hot/ready/out to their waiting customers. So too must a good scientist be able to juggle the myriad of projects they have, make reagents when needed, keep the stock of disposable equipment in high supply, and deal with whatever catastrophe may befall the lab (as almost assuredly, there is one to be had each and every day).

I've been abroad these past few weeks (doing science in another state) and I've come back for (oh, less than 14 days in total... several of which include the Thanksgiving holiday, so really much less than that) and I must squeeze, in that time, a great deal of work in. I am the least senior grad student in the lab and I am acting lab manager, I have roughly 5 of my own projects, a side project and am helping another grad student optimize a protocol. In these 14 days, I need to do at least 2 major experiments (1 for my project, 1 for my side project), make a reagent for the lab (essentially a protein that we all use as a cell labeling tool [a protocol with which I am having a great deal of difficulty]) and work on that optimization i just mentioned. While this may not sound like a difficult series of tasks, I can promise that it is. On my first day back, I walk in to find a puddle of liquid between our refrigerator and our sink. Having rained recently, I check the ceiling for water damage (...nothing). I clean up the mess and soon after, the fridge starts having liquid emanating from the base of it. I notify the lab of the problem and let them know that we may have to move supplies rapidly and soon...so be at the ready. I keep monitoring it, over the 2 days span, it seems to be holding temperature, there is no more liquid, and all is well. It is simply the  number of questions about the thing that I find so infuriating.

I wouldn't say that I'm stupid or lack technical skill, but I sure as shit don't know much about refrigerators. Basically, I know where the plug goes, I know what the condenser looks like and I have a rough (and by which I mean sandpaper grit P12) understanding of how the condenser works. The incessant questions about why it is producing water (from goodness knows where) and what we're going to do about it are annoying at best. I've informed everyone of the problem (including my boss) and after that... I don't know anymore. There are 3 people in my lab aside from myself. I don't know how many ways, to how many different people, and how many times I've conveyed this same message. While this seems petty, I know even as I type this it sounds incredibly so, the questions don't just stop there. When things go missing, test subjects have issues, or any question of any kind arises, I seem to be the person to ask. This is of course flattering but also exhausting and impeding. I have my own work to do and stopping to answer questions every 10 minutes puts a damper on my ability to push forward in a given day.

There are times where I just want to look at the other members of my lab and shake them. To yell "I'm not your mother, I'm not here to clean up after you", "I don't know all the answers, make a phone call, do something yourself", and "Not my project, not my problem!" I know that is a harsh but earnestly, it just takes up so much time on any given day. Today was a day full of questions, full of interruptions and full of frustrations.

*Deep breath*

I know I should take it as a sign of my understanding, my knowledge, and my level of involvement in my work, but there are just days where I want to do my work in peace and be left alone.


In other happier news, I have my first First author publication that was accepted (from my master's university) and should be available online soon. While this doesn't help me graduate any faster, it is still a mark of completion and a wonderful conclusion to the work I had done. I'm excited to see that come to fruition and add it to my CV.


I believe this has been sufficiently distracting for one evening, High-ho-high-ho back to work I go.