Life Science Tools of the Trade

So, hearty congratulations to fellow LSTOTT blogger hwiegand, on the topic of her latest post (oh, go on, scroll down and have a look). I suppose that’s an excuse for not blogging for a while. Like I should be talking.

As usual, things are very, very busy around here. Why, today alone I had to have coffee with a representative of a local software company (might be a consulting opportunity there, who knows?), followed after a respectable break to do a modest amount of work by lunch, in the presence of representatives of a company that would be happy to sell you a great big, hefty, chunky (dare I say “solid”?) DNA sequencing instrument.

Ah, the client lunch. Just what one needs on a lazy Friday at the tail end of an already holiday-shortened week. Did I say “lazy”? Perhaps I mis-spoke.

Said lunch was made slightly more amusing by us all bumping into a senior-ish person from an interesting company that would be equally happy to sell you a brilliant, shiny (dare I say “illuminating”?) DNA sequencing instrument. I ducked; my colleague stood by, smiling happily, as if a brawl worth watching were about to develop. Civility prevailed, and we all went back to work. For another short stint, just long enough to assuage everyone’s consciences before heading home for the weekend.

Which leaves me with a whole lot of follow-up to do on things that have been sliding. But all flippancy aside, these kinds of meetings with industry personnel, whether sales and marketing, technical, or even executives, can sometimes be very useful. They can lead to collaborations, discounts and deals, insights into future directions, even an invitation to an event or meeting can fall out of them. Like it or not, this is part of my job. I see it as an essential way of distracting the company folk from bothering the people in the lab, who really do have better things to occupy their time.

How’s that for justification?

I apologize for my lack of writing the last month. April passed by in a blur for me with final touches and preparations for my wedding followed by two weeks in Italy on a honeymoon. Needless to say that’s ALL that I accomplished for the month. BUT what an accomplishment!!

The wedding was great! We celebrated with family and friends and were married at the end of the day. The following day we were off to Italy – a first time visit for both of us. A few days in Venice, a few days in Florence, and to finish off the trip a few days in Rome. Not a lot of science. Actually there wasn’t any science but there was a lot of history, art, good food and good wine.

A wonderfully memorable and exhausting trip!!