Why does something that seems relatively simple on the surface always take so long to do? There is one instrument I occasionally use at the university. Since I don't use it all that often, I need help each time. Even if someone takes me through everything step-by-step, I don't repeat the process enough to commit it all to memory or to learn how to do even basic trouble shooting. Plus, by the time I use the instrument the next time, the protocol has usually changed.
This thing is a complicated piece of equipment, but it's not rocket science. There aren't that many steps to running it. Yet, it always seems to take up the whole f'ing day! I love getting the data, but using this instrument drives me crazy!
6 comments:
haha, just about any piece of equipment drives me crazy! I love getting data by extremely simple methods, like getting the weight of a sample ;)
I have a horrible habit of underestimating how long it'll take me to do something. So, even if I know the protocol it can take all stupid day. And the more complicated the machine, the more likely there'll be some troubleshooting involved. All this to say, I hope the data collecting goes smoothly!
Yeah, I hate that too. Ideally I like to watch a new process once, do it with full supervision once, and then do it again with very minimal supervision before I really memorise the whole thing. And the 3 times need to happen within a couple of weeks or so.
I need to change my brake pads on my bike again soon, and you can guarantee I'll have forgotten pretty much everything from last time!
somebody's name and a rule should be attached to that...(i.e. like Murphy's Rule except this clearly isn't Murphy's).
Take notes. Ask questions. Get someone to explain the CONCEPTS to you and then insist that the next time you're going to use it, you will have them supervise you as you walk through the steps to get things going. Theoretically, this will help you understand the steps even if they change.
If nothing else, it will show them how incredibly unusable their setup is. Alternatively, you might learn a little more about how to learn to do this kind of thing.
In other words, this is something you need to learn to be good at in science. Granted, it won't get you a faculty position or anything, but it is definitely a useful skill and not something about which you should have to complain. And if you end up in industry (like most of us will, sorry to say), it will be useful not to be afraid of a variety of unfamiliar instrumentation.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who has this problem!
MsPhD, I am really familiar with similar sorts of instruments, so I know I could handle this one if I needed to. But no matter how well I understand it conceptually, I'm not going to remember a 20-step protocol after >a year away from it, especially when it changes from time to time for any number of reasons. It's not a good set-up, but unfortunately it's not going to change because of an infrequent user like me.
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