Repetition Breeds Inspiration?

The internet is a little spotty at my current residence. I have a few blog posts I wrote but didn't get a chance to post this week due to lack of an internet connection. Since the connection seems to be working fine today I am going to take advantage of it here goes- Enjoy!

I am three weeks into my contract and things are starting to feel familiar again. My co-worker and I have powered through two years worth of samples from one of our research sites. The progress is impressive (at least my supervisors seem impressed,) but I am told we will still have plenty to keep us busy. Currently our progress is limited by the availability of space in the drying ovens and the general disarray of the samples we have yet to process.

Today we needed to pause the peat cutting due to the above reasons. So we spent the afternoon clearing up carts and making more space in the freezer; or in other words disposing of water samples from previous years that have already been analyzed. The building is full of archived samples that have been analyzed and are awaiting disposal. Before today I had wondered why someone hasn’t just thrown them out. After four hours opening and draining over 800 scintillation vials, I knew. At the end of the day the task of washing and rinsing these vials to be used again remains for another day when the peat processing pauses.

Emptying vials and draining their contents is mindless work, even more mindless than cutting peat. I had an mp3 player and my thoughts to keep me company for the afternoon. I spent the afternoon thinking of the scope and breadth of the research that had been conducted on the samples I was disposing of, and then moved on to contemplating all the research done in the building where I work. The building was rather busy and I frequently saw researchers bustling by in different stages of their respective projects. The Ontario Forest Research Institute is an inspiring place to work. There are so many intelligent researchers conducting such fascinating and important research. As a young, low-level, laboratory technician my job is frequently to perform the tedious repetitive tasks which provide the data that helps to answer the questions the researchers are asking. Someday maybe I will be able to clarify my own questions and have the opportunity to conduct my own research. For now I am content to assist with the research of others and perhaps be inspired by their successes.