That’s a funny phrase. In India we were talking about how hard that one is to explain to people from another culture. Especially if, like Elaine, you hit the person and shove them halfway across the room.
For some time now I’ve been saying that I want to get out of science. I really enjoy science as a discussion topic and sometimes it’s fun to read about. Like in an Isaac Assimov book. But as a profession I find it quite tedious. The research is at least. The thing about research is that it by definition will be fraught with failure. If it were easy and obvious, someone would have already done it. That isn’t an explanation for failure that seems to work with PIs (Primary Investigators). And of course, it doesn’t help when you have the good old “No Science Zone” that I possess, it’s my super hero power. Well, this week my zone was too strong for my boss. I got canned. Tuesday morning I was taken into the office and was told that it wasn’t working out and that it was my last morning there. I was to empty my desk and then I could go. The reasons given for getting rid of me were all true. None were worthy of firing, certainly not since it was the first time he said anything about any of them. But it was within my probationary period, so he could have fired me for wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Especially since we all know , “only two kinds of people wear Hawaiian shirt’s: big fat party animals and gay people”. Well the basic reason stated was that I wasn’t motivated enough to do the job or to make things work. Which is true but what I should have pointed out to him was that he was never really around to inspire me to do anything. Only being around 2 or 3 days a week and then being in a meeting all day doesn’t give me much time to try to trouble shoot things. Also when the best he does is tell me that my boxes are dirty and that’s why things are coming out so unclear, it doesn’t seem that he cares much, so why should I. Well, I didn’t. And so after saying that I want to get out of science, I’ve been told to get out first.
Hopefully I’ll be able to take the hint and stay out. At least stay out of research. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to start a career change to an international relations type job. I’m particularly interested in aid delivery and infrastructure development in underdeveloped areas. Just so I don’t have an anti-aid zone around me too. “That can’t be good for business. That can’t be good for anybody.”
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Making a Better Idiot
I had a friend in college (that’s Uni for you non-Americans) that used to say that if you make something idiot proof, the world will make a better idiot. He was weird. Most of what he said made me laugh at him.
Things have been pretty slow at work. It tends to get kind of boring. It’s hard to look busy when you have nothing to do. That of course doesn’t matter most days because my boss leaves by like 300, on the days that he comes that is. But on the days that he’s there I try to look like I’m doing something. If that fails I’ll usually pretend to be reading a Science magazine or even a neuroscience textbook. Well on Friday I had nothing to do. I had no reason to go to work, except that it was payday. I figured I’d make some buffers and solutions that I didn’t need but it made me feel like there was a reason for me having come to work. I figured at least when I don’t have anything expected of me then I can’t not live up to expectations. I couldn’t screw things up, right. So during my buffer making I went to the freezer room, can’t remember why. So as I was putting back whatever it was that I had taken out, I knocked out a slide box. It wasn’t full but it mostly was. There were lots of slides on the floor, more than a few of them broken. I put as many as I could back in the box and the broken ones that looked like they could still be used I piled in the box and put it back in the freezer. I went and told our student, the owner of the box, what I had done. She was so nice. “Oh, that’s no problem. It’s no big deal.” So she goes to the box and because I had it out of the freezer too long most of the slides had frozen in their new slots. So she can’t reorder the box without thawing it again and she can’t thaw it again without hurting the tissue on the slide. So she can’t reorder them to know which slides she has and which ones I broke. So when I don’t have my own science to make not work, I go looking for other people’s to screw up. At least Leslie can’t fire me.
Things have been pretty slow at work. It tends to get kind of boring. It’s hard to look busy when you have nothing to do. That of course doesn’t matter most days because my boss leaves by like 300, on the days that he comes that is. But on the days that he’s there I try to look like I’m doing something. If that fails I’ll usually pretend to be reading a Science magazine or even a neuroscience textbook. Well on Friday I had nothing to do. I had no reason to go to work, except that it was payday. I figured I’d make some buffers and solutions that I didn’t need but it made me feel like there was a reason for me having come to work. I figured at least when I don’t have anything expected of me then I can’t not live up to expectations. I couldn’t screw things up, right. So during my buffer making I went to the freezer room, can’t remember why. So as I was putting back whatever it was that I had taken out, I knocked out a slide box. It wasn’t full but it mostly was. There were lots of slides on the floor, more than a few of them broken. I put as many as I could back in the box and the broken ones that looked like they could still be used I piled in the box and put it back in the freezer. I went and told our student, the owner of the box, what I had done. She was so nice. “Oh, that’s no problem. It’s no big deal.” So she goes to the box and because I had it out of the freezer too long most of the slides had frozen in their new slots. So she can’t reorder the box without thawing it again and she can’t thaw it again without hurting the tissue on the slide. So she can’t reorder them to know which slides she has and which ones I broke. So when I don’t have my own science to make not work, I go looking for other people’s to screw up. At least Leslie can’t fire me.
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