It was like a jump-start for me yesterday at work. I finally had given the task to do one of the drug analysis (It is believed it will broaden my expertise in analytical chemistry since I'm more into microbiology area - so I've been told!) After few months of kinda slow-paced office/lab environment without any samples to be analyzed, I have to say yesterday the entire staff were blistering our butts doing analysis. HeheI was to do an essay test on chlorpheniramine tablets and it was my first time doing it. Honestly, I hate chemistry and I hate doing essay tests but it's not like I have a choice to say no. Maybe I have but it'll be bad for my reputation. Hehe. Of all the drugs analysis that I've done ever since I got this job, I have to say this chlorpheniramine is the longest of all!
What started in the morning got extended to my lunchtime and eventually got further extended to the afternoon until just about 10 mins left before office hours is over. Phew! If I calculated the time correctly, I have stood 6 hours straight! I just felt sorry for my feet. I was doing fine in the morning but as it got further and further the pain was killing me!
Now I'm writing in technical format: The essay test involves series of extraction, I guess around 6 - 9 times. (I don't remember bcuz I'm over it at this moment) I had to do 3 essays test in total of the same drug. The extraction requires a consistent/vigorous manual shaking after mixing this and that to separate the layers. One extraction will take up to maximum time of 3 mins of manual shaking. Okay, you thought that's not so bad but get this: If one extraction caused me 3 mins, and I have about 9 times of doing the same thing multiply that with 3 essays then it'll be equals to me having a buffy right arms (it was like an extreme workout!) and me going banana and still having sore feet! Well, that's what happened yesterday.
Things just got crazy and tense in the afternoon that me and my colleague still struggling to finish our analysis in time. Nobody wants to do OT and it's unusual here to have one. I allowed my imagination to run wild while I was 'arms-shaking' bcuz it was so damn tiring and boring. I thought this kind of technique is a shadow of an aerobic exercise movement or either way! Get me some musics, I'll dance to it while extracting! Seriously I did dance and at the back of my mind I was like 'Ok, I'm actually exercising, burn some fats, burn some fats...!" Obviously the fats that I'll definitely burn is only on my right arms! Haha!
Luckily our senior colleagues and my boss were there to help us out to finish things off. What at the beginning being as individual analysis ended up to be a team work thing. One thing that we are thankful to be girl/ladies/women is that guys will eventually come to the rescue! Thanks to my boss and our senior colleagues for helping us out doing the cleaning and the bench mess that we made throughout the whole process. We were being pampered! Yay! I bet my colleague was also really thankful because she was actually fasting yesterday.
Despite the crazy day of a nonstop work, I'm just glad that I was in it to experience it all. I wouldn't call it as my worst lab experience but it sure was one hell of a experience and somehow I managed to survive! I was walking like a zombie when I got home, my feet was still aching. But above all, if in the near future we would have the same drug to be tested again, call me crazy but I really want to do it again! I just love to be fully occupied at work even though I dislike chemistry, it's the experience that I'm interested in! (So that I can add to my "been there, done that" list!)
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