My first day as a researcher

A summer relaxed and without angina
My first as a researcher -- none could be finah!
But Labbers surprised me much more than projected
They're so much more chilled and laid back than expected

Nothing could have prepared me for this summer. The past two summers I have spent working for engineering consulting firms, running under tight schedules and project management, dressed up to the nines (or at least the sevens) in dress shoes, dress pants, and dress shirts, dealing with clients and work plans and hierarchies. Working the 8 to 5 day plus the extra time for which I never saw a penny.

But today was the first day of my job as a researcher at the hospital, working under a prof. It's a very different atmosphere, let me tell you. I got there this morning at 9 am thinking that'd be good. Well...the lab was locked and no one showed up till 9:30. My prof and my grad student didn't show up until 11 am. Apparently that's how research is. And the grad students continued to trickle slowly in until about 1 pm. They arrive when they want, they leave when they want. I've even been told not to bother coming in tomorrow if I "don't feel like it."

The work is so far pretty interesting. I got to watch a rat dissection for the purpose of collecting brain slices, and I'll be able to do the procedure myself in the next few weeks. It's really really REALLY laid back.

Apparently, I don't have to show up till 11 tomorrow morning. If I even want to bother showing up.

I'm not sure how I feel about this yet, but I definitely am not used to this slow pace. More thoughts once I've settled in.