I work in an organic synthesis lab, so pretty fucking bad when it comes to the amount of different toxic chemicals. My guess is we have +3000 bottles / containers in our department alone, but nobody knows the exact number.
From what I can tell through a bit of detective work, the chemicals have not been properly checked for at least a DECADE.
I wish I was making this up. I was hired to fix things and I'm trying, but today scared the crap out of me.
I found in no particular order:
- Hydrofluoric acid. Improperly marked and stored for ?? Years and unknown percent solution. It had turned green. We do not own the antidote.
- 5L 40% hydrogen peroxide. Unknown age but guessing at least 10 years. I had to open it to ensure no pressure built up 🙃
- a cabinet full of solvents that have been there for a minimum of 8 years. Includes at least 2 peroxide forming liquids and it's unclear whether they are stabilised.
For those who don't do chemistry these 3 are respectively: death upon skin contact, explosive risk and bad explosive risk with cancer bonus.
I have retreated to my office for a break to contemplate what the fuck to do about all this.
do we think blond men are born evil or does some tragic event occur with all of them in their formative years
What I mean when I do not control the hyperfixation.
Ah yes, the 3 genders. Male, female, and “what the fuck are you, a cop?”
And also, this goes for every species. [thing that a lot of animals commonly eat] would propably kill us too. Humans are jist egocentrical.
"Isn't it weird that [thing humans commonly eat] is poisonous to literally every domesticated animal" I mean, there's a pretty good chance that [thing humans commonly eat] is at least mildly poisonous to humans, too. One of our quirks as a species is that we think our food is bland if it doesn't have enough poison in it.
I like stories like this to remind people that SCIENTISTS ARE HUMANS AND THEY CAN BE STUPID
So I was once actually collecting data in a frozen river, and another guy fell in, filled up his waders and everything. He was wearing cotton (we were floored), and I had the car keys so I was like “alright, I’ll walk you back to the car to make sure you’re okay. Then you can strip down in there and get the heat going. There’s a blanket to wrap up in.” And he looked at me like I was insane. He said, “what? I’m fine.” I informed him that actually, if he stayed outside in subzero temperatures, soaking wet, in cotton, he was Licherly going to Freeze To Death, and he was like, “it’s not the 1800s lmao.”
And then while the guy in charge Forced him to go back to the car and strip, I had to stand there in a frozen river absolutely bewildered by the implication that a Wildife Biologist thought hypothermia is like, an old timey disease that people stopped getting at some point.
hey I'm sorry I stopped in the middle of that sentence my brain decided to flush its cache and I totally forgot what this conversation was
i think one of the most depressing things about having severe mental illness is that i spend so much of my life observing, but not participating. i watch people get better jobs, join clubs, make other friends, go on outings, and cultivate hobbies. and what do i do exactly?
i rot in bed and scroll online even though i don’t actually like the internet that much. i’m too scared to leave the house regularly because i feel unsightly. i have no pictures of myself to look back on, and nothing that really marks the passage of time except which classes i’m taking that semester.
i wish i had a completely new brain.