Today I had a lab meeting. The man presenting, a ten-plus-year veteran of the graduate program--that is, ten years and counting with no PhD--talked about carnivorous plants. It's true: Carnivorous plants are endlessly interesting, but an endless talk on them is somehow not. I have to remind myself not to antagonize this guy because he is the TA for the class I'm taking, but it's hard some days not to point out the obvious things.
I'm learning.
After the lab meeting, I stuck around so that Lesley could teach me how to count plant ovules. I have to say, I love doing microscopy work. Actually, I just love doing lab work in general. It's one of those things, prior to my actually doing it, that you could have never convinced me would be worth it. After doing it, I find myself wanting to get back to it. I love it.
That's Lesley, prepping ovules using the dissecting scope. From here they go onto slides and under the big microscope (the one up there with the COVER ME! sign on it). Then we count the little ovules! From the time Lesley turned on the hot water bath to the time we cleaned up our work area was about four hours to count about sixteen ovaries worth of ovules. I'm thinking the process will get quicker with some practice.
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