Work woes...

I counted the number of days I have left with Clariden Leu, and after taking my leave into account, I have about 11 days more. Today, it would have been 10.

Liz asked if I was very sure I wouldn't extend my contract again, even for 2 weeks, or after Melissa goes back to Australia. And though the pay is good, I'd have to decline her offer. I think I really am not suited for working in the financial sector. It dawned on me just now when I was talking with Shannon, that the reason why there are so many conflicts and back-stabbing and covering one's ass is because in an organisation such as this, different departments have different goals in mind when they come to work. But in order for one job to be done, it has to go through every department, and this is where the conflict arises: lack of communication and understanding of protocol and procedure.

In the scientific circle, however, people in a lab work towards a similar goal. The staff under a principle investigator (PI) are researching to achieve the PI's ultimate results. Everyone more or less knows what the other is doing, and what everyone is doing, the PI would know from the regular meetings, updates and reports given to him. In my mind, that is what I picture a working research lab to be like. I don't know if it really is like that. Coz if things are as my ideal, there would be less conflict and less rubbing each other the wrong way. People help people. You could get your colleagues (friends) to help you inoculate some plates of agar over the weekend if you know they're gonna be back for some time. Or you could get them to change the conditions of the incubator. Or you could ask someone to wash off antibodies or antigens, and things would be done right. Because every experiment has a standard protocol, it's easy to follow and do things well.

I don't know what I'm gonna do after June. Yes, I'll look for another job, but where? Maybe I'll go be a lab tech in Ngee Ann, or NUS, or NTU? I miss wearing my labcoats and smelling 70% EtOH, lighting Methylated Spirit lamps and inoculating agar plates with bacteria and incubating them. I miss having to strain your eyes to focus the microscopes, to prepare slides and mount them, to catch and dry and prepare an insect for preservation, to collect a handful of critters and sifting through all the rubbish to find craetures you would never have thought to exist otherwise, and then scrutinizing and identifying them correctly! The satisfaction in that is... beyond words. It's similar to the satisfaction of having taken a photograph of a beautiful insect with the focus on the eyes, and enough depth of field to have the whole creature be in acceptably sharp focus.

*sigh*

You may call me a dreamer, but I wish I could be a NatGeo insect photographer.

Maybe I should look for a job with them... hahaha!

Pah!