Please Hold for Content

[ase]

I have nothing nice to say about broken thermocyclers. I have many nice things to say about Crowded House. And in retrospect, I've been ridiculously hungry this week because I learned the hard way I really don't like corned beef on rye.

Now off to bed, before I fall asleep on the keyboard.

Comments

[robin-june.livejournal.com]

Our Eppendorf thermocycler had a major brain wipe in its controller unit, so the grad students in our lab were negotiating with Eppendorf about replacement. Since the symptoms of the brainwipe were unfamiliar to Eppendorf, they asked us to box up both the contoller and the thermocycler and send them back for analysis.

Our boss got on the phone with a different person at Eppendorf to negotiate Eppendorf sending the replacement. Naturally, Mike asked for a "thermocycler" and meant all that was needed to run PCR tubes. Naturally, the Eppendorf person remembered their company training never to conflate a "thermocycler" with a "control unit."

As 20-20 hindsight expected, by expedited delivery to minimize laboratory down time, we received a thermocycler with no brain attached.

I haven't asked the grad student what kind of "oh @#%^%" moment there was on the re-phone call to Epp.

Now that we finally have enough modules to run PCR, I haven't had call to use it myself, but for the other people in the lab, the new thermocycler has a greater tendency to melt tubes away into nothingness. ("Where'd it go?!!")

[ase.livejournal.com]

Now that we finally have enough modules to run PCR, I haven't had call to use it myself, but for the other people in the lab, the new thermocycler has a greater tendency to melt tubes away into nothingness. ("Where'd it go?!!")

The plastic tubes melt, or people have evaporation issues? If it's evaporation, steal a trick from my lab manager: pound the tube-tops into place with the capped extra fine-tipped sharpie (http://static.eway.com/catalog/1/1350014_ioe.jpg) you used to label the tubes.