Quotable quote

"The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything.....or nothing." BY LADY ASTOR , the first woman MP in the British House Of Commons.

THE JOB ......... in partial detail ONLY :D

(the cages .....)

(autoclave machine in the background and me in PPE)........don`t even fiddle with this EXTREMELY HOT machine!!!without wearing heat - resistant gloves!!!

The place where i worked inside nanyang technological university is called the animal research faculty or ARF in abbreviation. Basically, the job scope was to ensure cleaniness, hygiene and of course , taking good care of the research animals there.Speaking of it, there is only one kind....mice. Basically, the faculty contains 8 animal houses, each containing around 80 cages to house them. And at the end of every week, i and the rest of the stuff there had to clean those cages and prepare new ones. Although not all of the animal houses had to be changed . Only those instructed by the management stuff there. And if there are dead carcasses in the cages, there are preserved by keeping them in a medicool fridge at around 4 degrees celcius to keep them from rotting away. Before they are placed in it, they are sealed in air-tight carcass collection bags. Strict procedures are observed there too, before you step into the work area, you will have to wear a set or PPE which includes, sterilised latex gloves,shoe ,head covers and face mask. After which you must spray ethanol onto the gloves and shoe covers as well. Anyway, what you see behind me is a autoclave machine, used to sterilise the cages . This machine uses high temperatures to do so , up to around 520 degrees celcius, for around 1 hour 10 minutes.However, the cages are not placed directly in it. They are wrapped with special kind of paper that can withstand high temperature without catching fire and i don`t know what kind of paper is that! never mind....

The dirty cages are placed in an high speed automated washing machine called the I.A.W.T-INTEGRATION.AUTOMATION.WASHING.TECHNOLOGY.Definitely a complicated name for such a washing machine,right?But it really does it`s job well , high pressure hot water spray from it`s nozzles attached to the walls of the machine with a rectangular compartment. Inside the compartment is a huge metal rack where the cages are put.For the the two weeks from 16th march to 1st april 2009, excluding the weekends, i had been cleaning the cages , wrapping the newly washed and dried cages , putting them into the autoclave machine and assembling the parts of a cage.The parts comprises of a rectangular trough, clip-on cover and sipper bottle(who do not need water to survive?)First, attached the cover to the trough and put the bottle into a small hole at the front of the cover, that's all.Almost forgot, a wire mesh also must be placed on top of the trough before cliping the cover on.

I also tried to handle the rats by placing them into their new home(just a new cage..). And this is the first time i am doing that, kind of nervous , tightening my grip on the tail of a big white mouse, i finally did it! Wonder what will happen if i let go? No way! cause i am being surpervised!!

What do i learned from this two weeks of work ?hardship. Why is that so? cause i have been walking around and standing from 9am to 12pm, 1pm to 3pm and 4pm to 5pm.I do not even get a chance to sit down. And for two whole weeks.Now i know how hard is to earn money.....

And finally, someone did say it.......

"There`s a time for departure , even if there`s no certain place to go"-From "Camino Real" by Tennesse Williams

nonsensical, lame or meaningful?

-sometimes, everyone decides to go for help at the same time-

-the less you have, the harder you fight for it-

-the first blow is the most important, it often negates the need for a second-

-In secrecy is strength,none can oppose one who cannot be found-

-age wears the flesh but galvanizes the soul-

-spirit is the sword and experience the sharpening stone-

-would you abandon your past to save your future?-

-Passions can`t be shackled by laws or mastered with logic.The choice is either freedom or death-

-sometimes the greatest strength is the strength of conviction-

- Anything sent into the plagued world is bound to come back infected-

-when your enemies are denied soldiers, they are denied victory-

-a blade that never known sheath, a hilt that never known hand-

-each victory adds a new verse-

-sit down and read. Educate yourself for the coming conflicts-

-Know your history. The lessons of the past will shield you in times of doubt-

-such a small thing, a drop of water........And yet enough of them together can flood a field, choke a forest or cleanse a mire-

-wisdom is not the counting of all the drops in a waterfall.Wisdom is learning why the water seeks the earth-

-A talented apprentice makes all things.The master makes all things possible-

-From trinket to trauma-

quotable quote

" Never doubt that a snall group of thought-ful, commited citizens can change the world.Indeed it is the only thing that has."-----------by Margaret Mead

Off to work tommorow..........

Found a job the day before, basically, it is just a lab assistant working in some kind of genetic engineering laboratory for two weeks only. As for the pay, it is 7 dollars an hour. To me , it is consider good already. The duration is quite standard, from 9am to 6.30pm. As for what to expect for the job, is just cleaning lab rats cages by using the cleaning machineries provided there and the list goes on........

Of course, lunch break and two tea breaks are provided
.........but you have to buy your own food.........

Quotable quote

"Big changes in our life are more or less than a second chance "----by Harrison Ford