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April 21, 2006
one way or the other / i'm gonna find you
Today was an exciting day at work...and proves currently that i'm a little insane (ooo the alarm
just went off. excellent.).
11 am: start my daily x-ray experiment.
11:10: x-ray lab kinda smells. not too bad, i'll live.
11:15: fellow grad student comes by and asks if i smell gas. actually, it is exactly what i smell.
he tells me it is much stronger next door and even smells outside. he says they've already called the police.
11:16: think - please don't let them evacuate the building
11:17: other student in the lab asks if it is okay to use the equipment with the natural gas smell.
i say, sure, it is diffuse and the equipment is already on. we just start the x-ray. anyway, i
see the fire extinguisher, so we'll be okay.
11:25: the alarm. is goes off. stupid women's voice - "there has been a fire emergency reported in
the building. please leave..." loud beeping. i grab my lab book and papers and head out to my office
which is in another building not directly connected to the x-ray one. I'll wait it out in my office.
11:27: damn, they've also evacuated my building. in fact, they evacuated all the research buildings.
11:29: after failing to find my labmates at our rally point, i settle in on a bench in
Shakespeare’s garden, in the sun, to read paper. thank goodness i had a stack with me. the weather is also breathtakingly beautiful with every approaching siren, i give up a little more on the idea that this will be a quick break. i curse not
being in my office and therefore I do not have my jacket, my phone, my computer, my wallet, my bag, my
car keys. i begin to wonder if this will be an all day affair. if it is a natural gas leak bad
enough to evacuate all the research buildings, than this day is spent. of course, i couldn't
actually leave as i was in the middle of an x-ray run and a sample synthesis. plus...a whole
afternoon from work? a missed sample making day? was i crazy? stupid leaking gas smell.
12:30: return to area in front of building to figure out what is going on. run into two professors I know,
the first tells me that it was a giant spill of a chemical in the nanotechonology building that
contained sulfur, hence the natural gas smell. The second tells me that they are letting people
back in. I return to my office to check on my synthesis and to drink some soda. i was thirsty.
12:40; i look outside to see everyone still milling around. i don't want to leave to go to the
x-ray lab in case i get stuck outside again.
12:24: i call ben, who is trying to get a tiller into the back of his car for project sod. he is
off of school today because, well, for kinda the same reason i almost had the day off.
12:45 i check the people.
12:55: again.
1:05: finally they seem to be going back into the building. i set off for the x-ray lab to find
the alarm going off. it is stuck on. i go in. must do work. already wasted 1.5 hours. so beautiful
outside.
1:10: audible alarm goes off
now, 1:25 - alarm light still flashing.
2:17: rumor now has it that it was a big natural gas leak in one of the building and a spill in the other. who knows.
4:00: official rumor has it that it was a 1 cup chemical spill of a "Beta Thiol". Of course, Thiol means sulfur, therefore the sulfur smell, hence the natural gas smell. 1 cup was all it took to evacuate 5 buildings. crazy! the smell was so strong, i cannot believe it was only one cup. though, with sulfur, a little goes a long way. i believe humans are really sensitive to sulfur smells. it could be to keep us away from rotten eggs.
Posted by christina at April 21, 2006 2:17 PM