Day in the Life of a Scientist

I imagine a lot of “normal” people wonder what it is that scientists do all day. I say “imagine” and “normal” because I have only had one job (working in the mail room at college) that was not either in science or education. I am told this makes me abnormal. This of course makes me wish Dr. Sheldon Cooper was real so I’d have somebody to talk to(ok, somebody who wouldn’t bug me), but that, like Schrodinger’s cat, is neither here nor there. Anyway, I have worked a variety of science jobs and I have had the opportunity to closely observe Ph.D.s in their natural habitat (no, not sleeping in their offices with their feet up on the desk…ok maybe) and actually I still do on a daily basis. I thought I’d write about some of my adventures at these various jobs, as well as my current one, and maybe what I know about the jobs of the “real” scientists (the ones with the Ph.D.s). I’ve worked in science positions with the government and in academics, but never the private sector, so I can’t give a really well-rounded view, more like a 120 degree view, but I will try my best.

Doing Science

Yes. I admit it: my smart phone is smarter than I am. Damn thing. Now you are probably watching this on a smart phone or laptop, so just turn it sideways so you can see the lovely blue flame and brimstone as I burn off this sulfur in the hood.

Rainbow Colors

Fungus Among Us

Yummy

Mmmmmmm, this is what is growing under the fingernails of college students these days.

Quicksilver

A couple pounds of Hg…

Just another day in the lab