thoughts from on-going academia...

Things to expect from time to time:

Driving home from classes, you feel a slight irritation on your hands from an acid you were working with in your organic chemistry lab. Instead of concern for your skin, all you can think is, "damn...there goes part of my yield."

You realize you never have any good pens lying around because invariably they're all in the breast pocket of your lab coat.

Never calculate when you'll leave in the afternoon IFFF the autoclave finishes in x-minutes of the alloted cycle. Just assume it will fail as it does 70% of the time anyway. Leaving prior to 5pm will be a pleasant surprise.