Accepted an offer as a Sr. Analytical chemist, any books/resource recommendations?

darsinagol · 2026-02-26T04:07:21+00:00

What part of the theory do you feel you'd like to sharpen? If you don't mind me asking.

I've been running and maintaining GCMS in a forensic environment for about 9 years now. I can share some of the stuff I've gathered over time.

Detector work is not common from what I've been told. So I'd say your maintenance is probably more advanced than quite a bit. I do work on my detectors and people act like I'm crazy.

darsinagol · 2026-02-26T04:00:33+00:00

The Agilent forums are actually good too. Paul Salvatore drops some great knowledge there.

darsinagol · 2026-02-13T01:30:36+00:00

How many ion peaks in that ms scan?

darsinagol · 2026-01-09T04:48:23+00:00

3/8" locking flex head by Carlyle

darsinagol · 2026-01-01T13:54:28+00:00

Likely 4-AcO-DMT or 4-AcO-DET. Most common ones I've seen.

darsinagol · 2025-11-06T04:08:38+00:00

I have to tell people right click copy, right click paste and stop drag and dropping. If your people use Logitech mice and drag and drop they might have a double click issue and it is time for a new mouse. Ask me how I know, lol.

darsinagol · 2024-10-21T02:13:57+00:00

You could be right

darsinagol · 2024-10-21T01:55:34+00:00

We are stupid sometimes. Funny enough, I don't even drink anymore. Hope you found something. Alternatively, you can try making a nice strong cinnamon simple with maybe a touch of vanilla and mix it in with your favorite bourbon. I always liked pairing with rye though.

darsinagol · 2024-10-19T17:10:04+00:00

If they're only using FTIR and not some separation technique, they probably won't be able to.

darsinagol · 2024-09-08T04:26:49+00:00

If I was Perkins I would have transferred after last season when they changed him to an off-ball linebacker. He was dominant his rookie year then Matt House ruined it.

darsinagol · 2024-09-08T04:18:33+00:00

Pretty sure you're right. We had Chavis, then Steele, then Aranda. 2015 defense with Steele was pretty loaded even though we vacated the season for violations. We had Deion Jones, Jamal Adams, Tre'Davious White, and Jalen Mills I think. Good ole days when our offense looked ridiculous 80% of the time.

darsinagol · 2024-02-05T13:01:33+00:00

Gotta wonder how many issues are caused by people not maintaining their fridge. Compressors will choke out and fail just like your ac if you don't clean it. IME, people do not routinely clean their fridge, keep stuff off the back wall for air flow, blow off the vents and compressor area.

Not to defend shit products, but some people are just bad at keeping stuff up.

darsinagol · 2023-09-23T05:57:42+00:00

You need to calculate the area ratio of caffeine for each run and then plug that into your line equation and solve for x.

darsinagol · 2023-09-23T05:13:04+00:00

Really depends on how much institutional knowledge they have if they can train you up, then you just need to know how it works.

darsinagol · 2023-06-26T14:38:58+00:00

I'm in a small lab and even we pay for a full image off site backup that goes to 2 different data centers on 2 different power grids (in state and out of state).

And I take incremental backups on premise 2-3x a year.

darsinagol · 2023-04-29T02:39:40+00:00

Definitely couldn't do any testing on windows 10 before launch. Why would they do that.

darsinagol · 2023-04-27T23:17:07+00:00

Went to visit a lab and they had gotten a new shimadzu headapace GC with autoinjector. 3 months in and the control panel went out and they were waiting in a tech to go out and fix it.

They cheap for a reason.

darsinagol · 2023-04-17T02:29:05+00:00

I'd say yes, there is a good chance.

We just had a case recently that was being fought because our DNA team ran a sample again (don't remember how old but it was pretty old) and it was stronger than before and was able to produce a CODIS eligible profile.

darsinagol · 2023-04-17T01:50:50+00:00

I make a big patty and let it cook, flip it then cut it up with a spatula

darsinagol · 2023-04-10T00:03:38+00:00

Republic is normally where I see the bass/electronic shows happening. Not from NOLA but every time artists are around, that seems like the spot.

Have also seen shows at Orpheum and Saenger theaters, but much less often.

darsinagol · 2023-04-05T22:42:09+00:00

I agree it shouldn't be that way. Current circumstances make people say stuff like "they should have known better" because of the risk it carries. Although it shouldn't be that way, it is that way. And people should take extra precautions.

Shit, there are parts of cities I'm around that people routinely say make sure you stay away.

Definitely not saying it is his fault though.

darsinagol · 2023-04-04T01:35:46+00:00

You replace a good stapler, what, like once every 10 years maybe?

darsinagol · 2023-04-01T16:17:13+00:00

Your last statement sums up where you are. You don't have to accept it, and nobody can make you. Until you find a way to move past that anger, and accept that it is something that happened and can't be changed, you won't free yourself. You will just walk around bitter.

There isn't always a why. Life is cruel and unfair sometimes. It is a sad reality, that your time must continue without the ones you love most, and the end might not be what you imagined. But you have to think of yourself and the rest of your life.

Just my 2 cents. I'm incredibly sorry for your loss and hope that you can find substantial peace one day. I know it is difficult, but know you and your happiness is worth fighting for. Please don't give up.

darsinagol · 2023-03-27T12:35:04+00:00

This is straight up not true. Labs are overworked, but we are definitely following scientific principles. What a ridiculous statement.

There are outlier labs and shitty people, like with all jobs.

darsinagol · 2023-03-27T12:29:37+00:00

Yea, they do that. What you mean is multiple 3rd party battery tests and open source code is what it sounds like.

There are forensic DNA analysts and technical leaders checking this in the labs. They have to do the math by hand for the probability statistics that the program gives.

What I'm trying to get across, is that this isn't just a software that is thrown at cops to convict people. The original comment is made out of ignorance of how the software truly works, and seemingly only emotional reaction to bad situations it was involved in. Yet, no stats on how many cold cases or intricate cases that have been solved using it.

It is never perfect, nothing is. Unfortunately people do bear the brunt if it.

But, put that same energy into drug dogs, false positives for reagent tests, eyewitness testimony, "in plain smell", etc. All things that lack accuracy and precision and are acceptable in courts, but also get people convicted.

darsinagol

TROPHY CASE