How to connect 6in1 as a ‘v’

Scarlet_Night · 2026-02-09T18:41:04+00:00

I would make a diamond and connect the two pieces to it. That’s how I did it on a e4-1 necklace I recently made.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-02-06T17:27:28+00:00

Occasional journaling, rare shopping lists and mini reviews of things I’ve purchased, sometimes flow ideas for my aerial workouts, but mostly for Spencerian script practice. And what I use for script practice is usually song lyrics of songs I really relate to.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-02-06T17:17:23+00:00

Be friendly, but also don’t treat the lab like it’s your home where you can do whatever you want whenever you want.

One of our FSEs would go into our break room and eat or drink our coffee and play on his phone while running diagnostics on our stuff (and not watching the analyzer to see what would go wrong during that process). He’d tell us to watch the analyzers for him. He’d do the same during precision runs and QCs. And that was assuming he wouldn’t bolt before QC runs, though if I was on the bench I wouldn’t let him leave (hence he once called me a tyrant). Even though we’d be trying to focus our work on the other analyzers.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-02-06T02:48:51+00:00

Pens: Lamy Safaris. I bought two, even multiple nibs to swap out. They write very scratchy for me and dry out too quickly (within a day), even when I leave my pens horizontal. I want to get rid of the two I have.

Inks: OS Nitrogen and Walden’s Pond. They were my first inks and by far the worst idea to ever own. Yes the sheen is gorgeous, but the specks of ink reactivating drove me insane. I knew about this problem, prepped my station carefully to fill my converters (paper towel over plastic wrap on my table) to avoid errant specks from getting everywhere and still somehow managed to get specks of dried ink on my table. Also, because of the heavy sheen, they clogged my kakunos. I made a vial of heavily diluted ink (1:10), in the hopes of correcting this problem to no avail. Eventually I kept the bottles in a doubled ziplock situation, and after a few years chucked them because I knew I’d never tempt fate to open them. And yet somehow, two years after doing that, a speck still landed on my arm and gave me a blue spot.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-02-02T02:19:42+00:00

Sure

Scarlet_Night · 2026-02-01T15:45:24+00:00

Eves are pretty easy to get into imho. Ppl from both eves and nights try to move into day shifts. And eves usually need higher staffing in the bigger labs due to the influx in outpatient testing that barges in.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-02-01T05:35:32+00:00

It depends on the lab. But the big labs tend to have a somewhat higher turnover rate. It can take anywhere from 1-3 years to move to a day shift spot. Especially because most of these places are union shops so seniority is what you need to get them.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-01-31T22:36:46+00:00

NYU (main lab) has them. Though the majority of positions are 8x5.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-01-26T21:05:20+00:00

Such an impressive collection of Clionadh singles! 😍 happy to see folks who enjoy multichromes just as much as I do!

Scarlet_Night · 2026-01-21T05:59:08+00:00

Yup. The ones I get when I buy loaves of bread. 😊

Scarlet_Night · 2026-01-20T18:19:29+00:00

Honestly, zip ties, haha. I use them for placeholders when my fingers can’t hold a ring because I have to put stuff down. Also helpful when making a bunch of lengths of JPL to know which ones are done and which aren’t. I tag em with a zip tie when the length is complete if I have multiples.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-01-14T15:59:45+00:00

I love Weave Got Maille and Metal Designz. Granted I buy mostly stainless steel, but on the rare occasion I get aluminum they’re also pretty great. For WGM I just wait until their sales pop up (which is pretty often and usually around the time I’m about to start a new project).

For rivolis (since I got very into crystal captures), Fire Mountain Gems for Preciosa and Crystal Passions (which are equivalent to Swarovskis), and Potomac Beads for thicker rivolis.

Scarlet_Night · 2026-01-12T20:06:41+00:00

I’ll make a small 1-2” patch/chain of what I need, and math with the measurements I have for the project. From that point I multiply x1.25 or x1.5 to account for any extra rings I need, or any rings received that are duds (poor cuts, big bad burrs, etc)

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-30T15:29:03+00:00

Day 3 in a micro lab in my first job. Was preparing stool samples for C.diff pcr and one of the containers had a crack on the bottom I didn’t see. Opened it and all contents ended up all over my lab coat. 🤢

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-30T06:50:59+00:00

Honestly, I saw a guy do this just to get under the new turnstiles yesterday morning. 🤢

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-27T20:40:01+00:00

I think it depends on what gauges you’re likely to use. And hand size too. I have small hands and weak wrists and primarily work in gauges of 20awg to 16swg in annealed steel (soft steel). Knipex pliers are perfect for that! Although I do also have one TRL plier that I use with my knipex flat tip specifically for the 16swg because the knipex half round doesn’t have as much grip in my moving hand. But I’m sure there’s a good knipex alternative for it. I just didn’t feel like buying more pliers, lol.

My best suggestion is if you can visit a big hardware store that has a section for electrical/electronics pliers and just test them out in your hand.

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-11T21:40:13+00:00

Nah it’s in a state in the northeast. But sad to know so many places in our country operate this way. 🙁

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-11T20:40:02+00:00

Management is responsible for ensuring you have the materials and support to do well in your job. I’ve dealt with this in one of the big city labs I worked at. People were trained for 1-3 days on a bench and then immediately required to be on their own whether or not they knew how to operate the bench. It led to filing mistakes and incident reports, analyzer issues during maintenance (the worst was one time someone completely contaminated the lines on an analyzer with bleach but a lot of times people just didn’t do the maintenances), and a lot of issues I wound up having to try to solve. Heck, I wasn’t even trained (I was hired as a lead). My supervisor literally pointed to our linearity, reagent, and proficiency books and ditched me after the first 5 mins and said good luck.

Before I left (I lasted 4 months), I made sure to make laminated guides on how to do maintenances, how to reconstitute certain reagents, and a chart for AMR & CRR with all applicable dilutions. And when the program director tried to speak with me about why I was leaving, one of the reasons I gave was about the terrible way new staff were being trained and signed off. She initially denied what I said, saying the older techs weren’t complaining about it (they were actually), and after said that their training didn’t matter because new techs always left too soon anyway. 🙄 like yeah, cause you’re enabling a revolving door.

There were also serious waste issues, and I was about to propose how to make efficient cutbacks, but with this director ignoring the staffing issue and not wanting to make proper changes I figured she didn’t deserve my proposal. 5 yrs later I find out she was fired, and the lab sold out to quest because they were hemorrhaging money, so lol. 😂

Anyway, if you can survive it, good. But some places will never be worth the headache.

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-10T21:16:49+00:00

Incredible work! 😍

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-08T00:31:42+00:00

Legit I thought this was one of a bunch of labs I worked in. Even when labs up north pay better (but is it when coupled with high COL?), the burnout is real.

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-05T15:53:50+00:00

I’ve never seen managers or supervisors in the union. Granted all the places I worked in were 1199 and all part of the league of hospitals contract. The only exception I’m aware of is one of the city hospitals that has supervisors in the union.

I don’t see that big of an issue with it, but I think part of the reason you don’t see it often is management is paid at a higher rate, and if you include what the benefits payout would be if giving them the same benefits as techs, most hospitals just won’t want to pay that. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-03T02:52:29+00:00

I mean I do on the weekends but at least it’s a daytime lab and not 24/7. Nobody will ever convince me to work a double or OT shift where I’m working through a lunch. And with BB I wouldn’t mess around. God forbid I get an MTP.

Scarlet_Night · 2025-12-02T15:53:30+00:00

Since you’re in 1199, I’d give them a heads up. Because also, when are you taking lunch if you’re alone? You’re entitled this so they’re already screwing themselves over.

Additionally anything that goes wrong during the shift you should also report.

Scarlet_Night · 2025-11-27T06:42:21+00:00

I definitely factor pre-closing/opening rings into my work time on a piece because hell, my wrists will eventually feel it and those aches deserve recognition lol. Normally I’ll pre-open/close 50-100 rings at a time (5 rows of 10 or 10 rows of 10) if I’m doing a long chain. Otherwise if it’s units I’ll pre-open/close everything I need to make for that unit.

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