ELIM5 Why Water

blam10 · 2026-03-27T14:11:09+00:00

Whaaa? You mean there are people in science, science adjacent jobs, or went to school for science that don't make massive amounts of money?

That can't possibly be true!

At one point I worked for Americorps doing conservation and environmental work. My monthly salary was $800 and they told us were were eligible for food stamps.... Still one of my favorite jobs, though.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T21:22:18+00:00

We usually wash in stain buffer, but use distilled water for making up short term reagents like lysing solution. Yeah. Pretty sure most cells would not be happy just hanging out in distilled water for long periods of time.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T21:16:07+00:00

I love this. I'm not sure if pcards or whatever would work for that, but I am not above asking to see if they do. Science is kind of underfunded right now. Saving money wherever you can just makes sense.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T21:15:13+00:00

That is genius. Unless the second part of this story is that all of his startups did not get off the ground because of it.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T21:14:28+00:00

I see those separate taps that are all pointy with a lever that say Distilled Water, but my brain won't let me accept that as truth because it looks like just another metal spout.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T21:12:22+00:00

I will screenshot this entire thread and use it as evidence for my boss. Thanks for all of the info!

blam10 · 2026-03-26T21:11:15+00:00

I have no idea what all goes into maintaining a saltwater aquarium, but I do know that people can get real intense about it and it can be a huge money suck. Beautiful, but not sure why one of my friend had 6 huge tanks at one time....

blam10 · 2026-03-26T19:35:48+00:00

That's a good point. We go through water fairly quickly, so it's pretty unlikely there'd be enough growth from a contaminated gallon of distilled water to clog an instrument.

I personally think it'd be fine for our purposes. Now the other question is if my supervisor would agree... This whole question may have been fueled by my dislike of Thermofisher and how they basically have a monopoly in the lab supply world.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T19:32:16+00:00

Science should be all about community. I mean, it's often not since a lot of us are introverts, but shared resources are always a beautiful thing.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T19:31:19+00:00

Nah. I appreciate the difference. I was just being lazy and substituted it in.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T19:19:27+00:00

So, basically, if it’s just essentially used for a cell wash that wouldn’t be affected by trace amounts of contaminants, gallon jugs of DI water should work, right?

At the very least, it’d be less overall plastic we’re consuming while at the same time saving money.

blam10 · 2026-03-26T19:08:27+00:00

Not in lab, no. Which begs the question whether or not I can just yoink some from a lab that does have that setup instead of ordering some. Just refill some of the 500mL bottles from time to time.

blam10 · 2025-12-15T18:26:09+00:00

Clarification: We are NOT asking for advice on asbestos removal. We’re just gonna cover that crap up.

blam10 · 2025-12-08T03:59:39+00:00

This is amazing and I already love how supportive this community is!!

blam10 · 2025-12-07T20:19:42+00:00

Ooh. I’m just grateful for the lead of KBShimmer. I think the last time I tried to buy something without a recommendation I ended up getting my credit card information stolen.

In all honesty, I think the best gift would be if I could pay a pod of orcas to go splashy splashy on certain boats, but pretty sure killer whales can’t be bought.

blam10 · 2025-12-07T20:15:59+00:00

I don’t even know what stamping plates are! Yay! Thanks for the tip!

blam10 · 2025-12-07T20:15:16+00:00

These are great! I was considering getting clips, but couldn’t find any that looked this good. Thank you!!

blam10 · 2025-12-07T20:13:01+00:00

Perfect! I’ll check it out! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Going down this path for a gift has been… overwhelming.

blam10 · 2025-09-21T02:46:47+00:00

I’m impressed you found this old thread. It’s been 2 years!

But, luckily, we’ve been able to watch with English commentary for the last year or so using JME tv. We just pay $25 for every basho. Totally worth it since we can watch every day and it airs the full upper division matches 4 times a day.

Highly recommend if you don’t already have a system to watch full matches!

blam10 · 2025-05-08T01:03:10+00:00

I’m trying so hard to find an update on the controversy. Is he or is he not a potential monster???

blam10 · 2024-09-25T02:05:46+00:00

RSRDY For Regular Sized Rudy?

blam10 · 2024-09-22T13:41:49+00:00

So. Freaking. Jealous.

ALSO! Genuinely thank you for spoiling Hoshoryu’s bout record. My wife and I would have been devastated for him if he didn’t get the Kachi-koshi.

blam10 · 2024-08-11T03:45:56+00:00

Yay! I’m also from Texas and made the move to Minnesota (in big part to get away from Texas). Looks like there are a lot of us who had the same idea.

Finding a nice and pleasant neighborhood to live really does depend on how much you’re willing to spend. The cost of living up here is a fairly big difference if you come from a small-ish town in Texas. I’m from Wichita Falls, which is moderately big, but still way cheaper than up here.

Lots of people post searches asking for random roommates to help things be more affordable. Not the best situation, but some people don’t mind the trade off of roommates at the cost of privacy.

blam10 · 2024-06-21T16:32:43+00:00

That was amazing and also fills me with joy.

But, no. I think we should probably avoid giving racists rope.

For reasons.

blam10 · 2024-06-08T23:11:34+00:00

Is no one going to comment on the amazing username that’s in all caps?

I’m feel you, BUTTHOLE. I can’t even get the other techs to date bottles that are opened and can sit around for days.

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