second week on the job

Like many new jobs, this one has been hurry-up-and-wait. I finally got into the lab with a collection of folks from 3 other groups doing something I won't be doing, but the workflow is close enough it is no-nevermind. It seems to me that an awful lot of molecular biology is pretty much the same - use pipettes to take teensy amounts of liquid out of an assortment of vials, each at its own time and temperature, with various incubations as prescribed. Later, you get a number, which means something-or-other. There, now that doesn't sound so hard, does it? But I did enjoy the wrap-up session, sitting around tables with other scientists and each of us brainstorming about how to improve what we did, as the set-up in its current configuration is prone to leaks. It's been too long since I have gotten to participate in an intellectual exercise of this sort, and I have missed it. Then I got to sit in a meeting all day and listen to development folks drone on and ON about new software, but it had the advantage that I met some folks on my new team and got a free lunch.