I go on a Florida vacation and...

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Ernie

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... they burn the damn building down! :(

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-080119fiires-story,0,2873343.story

Well not really, but it's still pretty bad!!! The fire was on the fourth floor directly above my 3rd floor lab. The entire building is water and smoke damaged, and the basement is flooded from the water they pumped in to battle the fire. To make matters worse, it was below zero last weekend and there were and are no utilities in my building so the water pipes froze and burst causing further damage. I'm the lab manager and technician. Lee Ann looked at me with a very scared expression and asked if I still have a job... my job is very secure now because we have to start from SCRATCH! Just before I left, I froze down 6 patients worth of mesenchymal (not embryonic, but very precious) stem cells (a 2+ month, $5,000 process for preparation). I'd guess most of our instrumentation and computers are ruined. And ALL of our chemicals and samples kept below room temperature are shot too because no electricity means the freezers thawed and since the building is closed at least until this weekend, no one is inside to fill liquid nitrogen dewers in which cells are stored. The only notable orchids I had in the lab were a huge specimen of Onc. Sharry Baby and an awarded "heirloom" Cattleya division that Leo gave me (sorry Buddy!). :(

-Ernie
 
Oh Ernie. How sad. All that work ruined and what about the info on the computers. Was that lost also?
 
OMG!! Is this the curse of Florida vacations??? I was boarding 2 dogs after Christmas, the owners went to Fla. too & their house in Batavia burned!!
:( Nobody likes to hear of the news of a fire but first & foremost is that no one is injured. I hope there were backups stored elsewhere & even so there are some losses that result in no recovery.
Is there light at the end of the tunnel? ...... A new lab!?
 
That's terrible, Ernie, very sorry to hear about it! I hope this means you'll be getting all sorts of new and upgraded equipment that will make your job more enjoyable.
 
That sucks. I wish you the best in picking up the pieces and getting back to work.
 
Wow, but it's good you weren't there! And I guess better to be on vacation, away from it all since being present would have been no help...
 
Hey Ernie,
Don't worry, I have a piece left of that Bc Deese, you'll have a new piece as soon as you have a spot for it.

Leo
 
Geez.......so sorry...and to think that I complained about a tank! Hope everything works out......Eric
 

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