This past school year my son’s high school robotics team made it to the divisional finals of the World Robotics Championship in St. Louis, Missouri. Robots from all over the world competed and were designed to stack plastic tote bins and trashcans in the fastest, most efficient way possible. The thrill of victory was sweet, yet the agony of defeat was felt when a robot arm fell off, or the robot malfunctioned causing the match to be lost.
I hate moving! That being said, I have made three major cross-state or cross- country moves in the last 10 years. All that planning, packing, loading, unloading, and then unpacking just wears a person out.
As difficult as it is to move a household, moving a lab presents an entirely different set of challenges. Workflow must be halted and many times, revenue streams have to be put on hold until the machines are back up and running. This means the move must be completed as expediently as possible, with little room for error.
For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
Beyond a mild appreciation for the historical value of the 14th century proverb, how does the above text relate to life in the molecular biology lab? An interesting case study follows that may shed some light on the subject.
A couple of weeks ago, SeqGen was hired to perform the annual preventative maintenance on a 3130 Genetic Analyzer. The engineer completed the required service, but unfortunately discovered that the recently relocated machine had a broken right door sensor, that, at the time, was not affecting the operation of the instrument. The end user was alerted to the potential problem, the issue was notated on the report, and the engineer closed out the job.
When Your Machine Takes a Vacation
After three years it is finally time for a vacation! Yes – the teen and I are headed for some relaxation on the beach before all the pandemonium begins in the fall.
Judging from the number of “Out of Office” replies we are receiving these days, it seems that many of you are enjoying some well-deserved time off too.
If this is the case, don’t forget to also give your sequencer, PCR, or qPCR machine the proper vacation it needs.
While on vacation last week, I had the opportunity to rent a 2015 Ford Expedition, which, believe it or not, reminded me of a recent service visit we performed! Now I am most definitely not a car person and personally drive an older hybrid, so I have to say I was most impressed by all the new features this SUV offered.
There was one feature however that I could have done without – the smart key! The key had a top speed programmed into it, would constantly alarm when the vehicle’s speed approached that user defined limit, and would actually stop the car from accelerating past that set point. Thankfully we were given two keys and I had to make sure NOT to use the “smart” key.
I recently had the unpleasant experience of purchasing a used, higher mileage, older vehicle for my teen son. Everything has functioned flawlessly on the car, but it did need a routine oil change. I, of course, am a firm believer in third party service providers, so I sent my son to a local mechanic’s shop. Unfortunately, my bargain $19.95 oil change turned into a $250 routine maintenance visit! Apparently the previous owner had not done the proper preventative maintenance and everything needed flushing or replacing, including all the air filters.
Ever had one of those days? After sitting at your desk for 12 hours, you still cannot seem to clear out the day’s “To Do” list. This entire week was one of “those” days for me. I’ve even received three friend requests, allegedly from me, to friend myself! I just want to say that we at SeqGen consider ALL of you our friends, but please do NOT accept any “friend” requests from SeqGen or me personally. Somehow one of your emails has been hacked and those cyber crooks are using SeqGen’s and my name maliciously. Rest assured that the hosting service has received the appropriate “hate” mail from us. Please check the email sender very carefully and never click on any suspicious links – even from SeqGen!
One of the most common complaints we hear from our customers is they are seeing less than optimal results in their sequencing data. After making sure your machine is working properly, we often come to the conclusion that the issue is related to the capillary array.
Most of the time, the problem is simply a dirty capillary array. Over time, dried and degraded polymer will accumulate on the inner walls of your capillary array. This can adversely affect the resolution during sample runs and cause your results to suffer. Some common symptoms of a failing array are:
On a hot steamy June day in The-Middle-of-Nowhereville, Wisconsin, a SeqGen field service engineer was on his way to a routine preventative maintenance service call. As he hums along with the radio, suddenly he hears the sickening flop, flop, flop, of a flat tire. No problem! This is a field service engineer right? Well it would not have been a problem had there been a spare tire in the trunk of the rental car! Ok – call for roadside assistance. Oh no – no cell signal! To make a long story short – after a 30-minute hike along a deserted, hot, asphalt highway, he finally gets a cell signal, calls for roadside assistance and is soon back on his way.
Two weeks ago, during an unusually warm spell on the east coast, I received a text message from a friend who was suffering through the misfortune of a failed air conditioner. I was of course more than sympathetic as I sat in my nice cool home and insisted that she move her family into my guest bedroom. She politely declined and suffered through the calamity until she could get the unit replaced. Unfortunately she did not have a service contract and had to fork over a hefty chunk of her hard earned savings to replace the heat pump.
