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I wasn't intending to blog so soon after my previous post, haha, but circumstances have forced me to do otherwise. What circumstance? Well, the title says it all. Sort of.
Chem lab session today. Yes, guessed already right? I broke glassware. This particular incident ranks among the top TWO most stupid glassware breakages for me. Actually, come to think of it, I've only ever broken glassware on two occasions, and yep, both were very crappy mistakes. Lemme recount the first one.
Long long ago, (a few years back), in a land far far away (high school lab), there once lived a beaker called, erm "Aargh". One fine day, someone (me) was using Aargh to heat some liquid (I forgot what). It grew really hot, but Aargh could take it. He was strong. He was made of glass! But... the person handling Aargh was an idiot. When he wanted to wash up, and pour the hot liquid away from Aargh, he didn't use a cloth like he had been told. That idiot (me) used a TEST-TUBE HOLDER.
Seeing the test-tube holder approaching, Aargh knew what would happen. He could envision bits of him flying across the room a few seconds later. He was afraid. Very afraid. He tried to run, but he didn't have legs. He tried to jump away, but again, he had no legs. He tried to fly away, but he had no wings. He tried to drive away, but he had no car. Ok, you get the picture. Aargh was just an ordinary beaker. Made of glass. No mouth (hm ok techically he has one), no eyes, no hands, no legs, no nothing. And so he sayed his prayers... and tried to cherish the few moments left in his life. His entire life (which wasn't very much actually) flashed before him as the test-tube holder touched his body. Hoping for a miracle, he closed his eyes. Oh wait, he didn't have eyes. Oh well. The test-tube holder held for the briefest of moments, and then the inevitable happened- Aargh slipped out of the holder, and dropped to the ground. Ouch.
He didn't break in two. He didn't break in three. He broke into uncountable pieces. Everone (the whole class) shouted, "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". And the idiot (me) had to play $6.50 (if I remember correctly- I've still got the reciept somewhere, lol)
Today's glassware breakage wasn't as dramatic, haha. I was preparing for titration (seems like the only thing we're doing in chem pract so far), taking the pipette out. I dunno why, but for some reason the pipette got caught in one of the two "hooks" that held it to the inside wall of the cabinet. So I pulled backwards, and "SNAP!". It broke cleanly in two, I think. No small pieces. I was swearing under my breath, cos I knew pipettes were expensive. So I sheepishly went up to the teacher to tell him what happened. And wth, I only had to pay 1 buck! One dollar! One hundred cents! Only! Phew. Still, it made me really frustrated for a while. I could't believe I was so clumsy. Dammit. Btw, just to clarify- NO, pipette do NOT only cost 1 dollar! They're really expensive! Think about it- TWO d.p.!!! It's a really accurate instument!
Oh no! I forgot! I meant to bring the broken piece home! Only a small part of the tip broke off- the main part was still intact. Sigh, no souvenir for me then...
hyperxi's life @
2/28/2006 11:01:00 pm
