I’d do almost anything that you want me to do....but I can’t go for that - no can do

~Hall and Oates

For some unknown reason, I found myself singing this wonderful Hall and Oates song while in lab today. Then, I thought: perfect title for my next blog!

It’s February. How’d that happen? I just finished my first full month as a working girl and I’m exhausted. How do people do this their whole lives?! At the same time, I’ve got to be one of the luckiest people to be working and living where I am, so I just need to ramp up on the energy...maybe when it warms up and I shake this little cold.

This whirlwind of a month has taught me a ton about Chemistry, life and the working world. In a measly 4 weeks, I have been taught to basically do everything that my fundamentals group does (which encompasses about a third of the 120 employees at my site). I guess that makes me valuable, right? It is a cool feeling to know how to do things that most of my coworkers don’t know, but then I’m always put in my place by those blasted “intern” comments. “You’re an intern, Katie...that means you’re dispensable” said Jeff the NMR specialist today at work with a big grin. I think I’m starting to get some respect and thus gain some independence in all I do, but it’s made for a BUSY last two weeks when I do a little bit of 5 or 6 other people’s jobs. I did get my own desk this week, which has been a great change and a way to get to know some awesome people!

What do I do at Bend Research, you may wonder? Or actually, you may not. Pharmaceutical research is more confidential than I expected, so I can’t say much, but I will say that other than synthesizing drug delivery system polymer components, I do a lot of drinking free beverages from work, applying and reapplying lotion 35 times a day, wishing that all my very attractive male coworkers weren’t married, hauling 3 1-gallon bottles of hazardous waste to the outdoor shed over and over again (real fun on days when it’s sub-20 F in Bend), joking around with coworkers, breaking glassware in lab (a 4-L beaker and two grad cylinders this week...whoopsie), doing dishes in an extremely scary anomaly called a ‘base bath’ (pH 14 bath that will dissolve virtually anything but the glass itself), wondering if the guy who re-stocks our beverage fridges has a crush on me, and apparently garnering a reputation for calling the newest hire a douche bag...

It’s been a great experience so far, but I have found that the whole corporate-world really bothers me. Kissing-ass and saying the right things at the right time (what the boss wants to hear) have never been my strong points, and always make me feel like a greasy businessperson. I prefer honesty and questions in meetings rather than pretending that everything is great and you aren’t wasting your time. But, at the same time, I’m hoping I get offered a job in 8 months, so maybe I should just shut my mouth unless I have a damn good idea. This could be difficult. :)

Interestingly, my group is known as the harcore beer-drinking crew, and I went along last week and had an amazing stout that even my mother could have handled (coffee and chocolate flavors), so maybe I can even learn to like beer! It’s a stretch, but I’m game for pretty much anything...

But Bud Light? I can’t go for that – no can do.