Hidden Costs of Science

There is a push in the scientific community that data should be freely accessible and not hidden behind a paywall. I believe in this strongly. Many scientists I know got into the field because they feel a strong affinity for learning and being able to share what they've learned with everyone. As I'm juggling several things in life regarding science and lab work one thing has increasingly become quite apparent: There is an invisible cost bar to citizen science and citizen self study. As I'm trying to start my own lab (whooo, big post I've been avoiding making for reasons), dealing with current lab's recent audit (can't say much due to privacy and NDA), I've really been digging into the nitty gritty details of what it takes to run a certified, private laboratory. The initial costs that you expect (equipment, consumables, space) is understandable to some extent and can be mitigated by hunting for deals on used equipment and government auction sites of equipment they no longer need. But then there's the protocols that are industry standards and accepted as the way to have consistent results from lab to lab and person to person. In my current field there are two standards agencies that we pull methods from: ASTM and ISO. A single pdf copy of an ASTM method can be purchased for a little less than $50 USD. (So far that I've seen, there might be price variants that I haven't discovered). That copy is authorized for ONE user. To technically be in compliance with the copyright, my lab should be purchasing the rights for every person who uses the SOP. But instead we just copy off the one and pass it around. To acquire every single ASTM standard, for the current year, would be just over $10,000 USD for a digital copy, single user copyright. When it comes to an ISO standard they get trickier. We are currently working on an audit for an agency that requires us to follow ISO 12345* *not the actual # Several of the deficiencies cite laboratory failure to follow protocols, including details on holding time between sampling and testing, and quality control of an in house component made for the test. If you look up in ISO 12345 the details regarding what is required, the SOP just states to refer to ISO 12333 and ISO 1223. I went to an online store that sells access to these digital copies and added them to my cart to see what the total would be if I purchased all six (12345 + the 5 referenced) and the total came out to $943 USD. So now, as a citizen trying to start a lab, I need to add in a budget to purchase my SOP sources because they are not available in any reasonable manner. No wonder science, as a business, is out of reach for the average person, even one with a relevant degree. Not to mention the costs associated with achieving certification. Before you can even apply to have a lab certified with some agencies, you have to pay them for access to their audit standards to be prepared. Then you pay their employees to come to your lab for the audit. So if I want to achieve certification for my lab, I can't even tell if it's worth doing and preparing from the start without being out money. Because I can't take clients on until I can offer them the guarantee that the certification provides.

Kid Pic Spam plus other stuff

An addendum to my previous post about Thinx, I'm also planning to try sea sponge tampons to see if they're more comfortable for riding (and pair with the thinx)  compared to my cup or disposable tampons.  The sponges are reusable for 3-6 months so you're still spending less and the product is somewhat renewable.

Anyway, I'll have the sponges in time for my next cycle, so I'll update then with how it all goes.


Hazel is making significant developmental progress. She can now easily crawl with her belly off the ground, is cruising around the house like a pro (when they walk but always hang on to stuff for balance) and has taken a single solo step on a few occassions.

She gets super  excited when she sees me pull out my carrier and loves being worn while I do stuff outside or go to the store. In general, she loves being the center of attention. Her favorite thing to say right now is Dada!  Which of course makes Eric very happy. I'm still getting her to work on Mama.

She loves Gwyn, Saffron and the cats and will screech excitedly/chase them.

She loves sitting in the high chair up above everyone. I think she likes watching them all.

Thinking about walking

We had a bout of sickness and she was diagnosed with RSV and had to have some breathing treatments. She's all better now though!

Sick baby passed out in the car. 

Using her toy to walk.

Two bottom teeth!

We did her 9 month photos a few days late.

Kaylee of course always wants to be in the pictures too.

Fun with colors at my job

The iridescent colors separate, it's really neat.

Kaylee insisted on riding in the snow.

Hazel is the center of attention while Kaylee is in gymnastics.

Kaylee is doing really well for her age group and she enjoys her once a week activity.

Eric is encumbered.

Side carred crib is also for cats!

A frequent sight.

Kisses for the kitty.

Sunrise on wednesday, my super busy day

I toured a school that I want Kaylee to attend for Kindergarten. It's a charter school that only accepts 40 students. Open enrollment ends Friday. This is the upper school (2nd through 8th grade)

Gym

Lower school (K-1)

Lower school recess. They are outside every day, regardless of weather.

Happy upside down baby.

Poking at Eric's moles.

A day in pictures

Hazel wakes up before my alarm. She'll chatter a bit while I snooze, then its breakfast for her. I love these morning snuggles.

Happy baby while I take the morning constitutional.

Kaylee hasn't woken up yet, so time to go get her out of 'bed'.  

Then changing Hazel's diaper while Kaylee actually wakes up. 

Since her pajamas were wet from a minor diaper leak, it's new outfit time for Miss Hazel.

Kaylee hasn't really woken up.

Hazel gets playmat time while I finish getting ready. This includes figuring out what Kaylee will eat so she's not grumpy, getting Kaylee dressed, packing my lunch, packing Hazel's 'lunch' of breastmilk pumped from the day before, getting myself dressed and getting everyone out the door on time.

Contemplate picking today's outfit from the load of clean laundry waiting to be folded. Decide against it. Resolve to fold laundry after work.

Everyone is in the car!  I don't have a set start time on Fridays but I like to be out the door between 9 and 9:15.  The earlier I get to work, the earlier I can leave.

Space shirt! 

Hazel isn't asleep, she just doesn't like rain.

I top Hazel up and the kids are begging me to put her in the bouncer. Hazel is very popular. Everyone wants to play with her.

I decided to 'dress up' today.  An amber pendant necklace (with insects!) and some matching ish earrings. 

The drive takes about 50 minutes. Eric wants me to go to Costco on my way home to get cat food.

I'm at work! I drop my lunch bag in the freezer so it stays cold and head back.

Clock in!  I have to punch in a number, they do not have my fingerprint programmed in yet.

Immediate tasks: Plates that I innoculated yesterday are finally dry. They go in the bell jar with a candle to consume all the oxygen. The bell jar gets labled with the Lab ID and the date it gets taken out.

Then put into the incubator. All of those black plates? Those are all testing for Legionella. 

I can't get into the excel file where we log new samples yet (only one person can edit it at a time) so I decide to do some research on a funky bacteria I've seen every week on the floor sampling of the clean room. Turns out its Bacillus mycoides and it's a soil bacterium. This means a few things. 1. The current cleaning procedure is not sufficient 2. The current steps being taken to minimize contamination are not sufficient or not being followed. I bring this up to my lab manager and discuss it with the facility manager. I've seen this problem before. It was solved with SporGon and sterile mops. I feel awesome.

I also feel some letdown and check it out in the bathroom. Good thing I have spare breastpads because I forgot to put some in this morning and have suffered the consequences.

The lab log is finally usable so I log in the new samples and assign them IDs. Then I take two to work on. I will be in charge of following them through to completion and writing the report at the end. Here I've prepped for more Legionella analysis of water samples.

Then its lunch. As a part time employee I have 30 minutes of break. I spend 15 minutes eating and 15 minutes pumping. This company is good, they have a nice private space for me to do this that's not a bathroom. I browse reddit while I pump and try to think about Hazel cuddles for extra oxytocin boosts of milk.

Good boobs!  This goes into my freezer chilled lunch bag and I go back and finish the samples and get them set up. I was going to try and browse a lab supply company for some parts that we need but the network needed to be restarted so our computers had to be turned off. It was not back up by the time I left.

4 hours later... Time to go home.

And it's raining decently hard.

Greaaaat. I do stop at Costco and then head to pick up the girls. It only added about a half hour since I was only getting a few things. 

The video is loud, but I love her reaction when she recognizes me.

Then a short drive home and unloading the truck!

Hazel is pretty much ready for a nap and we snuggle a bit.

When I'm able to escape the tiny one, Kaylee gets some one on one and snacks. Eric comes home shortly after and gets glomped on by Kaylee.

Hazel wakes up and seems cold. I'm cold. So I bundle her up.

We demonstrate for Nana's facebook friends that the happy smiling baby isn't always happy and smiling. No babies were harmed in the taking of this picture. 

After I make myself dinner (Eric and I have decided that we're fending for ourselves) I take over Hazel duty. She's hungry so I get comfy on the couch.

Kaylee watches Episode VI 

Hazel takes another nap, much to my surprise. I am trapped.

I play some Clash of Clans. War is about to end so I need to get in my final attacks. Hazel wakes up and is still acting fussy and hungry so I get ready for bed and put her in more appropriate pajamas. Eric handles Kaylee. I'm pretty much in bed for the rest of the night and entertain myself with Hulu and Netflix. I'm watching early ANTM on Hulu and Criminal Minds on Netflix.

Once I'm able to escape I grab a snack and set up with the laptop to browse the internet and write this.  Hazel will likely fuss in an hour or so, I'll feed her then, try and move her to the crib and pass out myself.

Ta da. A day in the life.

Note: In the winter this day would include an evening barn visit to feed. There's no point to grain and I know they have plenty of fresh water, so horses were fairly hands off today.