THE DIARY GAME || 17th January 2023 || Morning Routine, Laboratory work (Preparation of reagents for DNA extraction from PNEUMENSURVE project.)

Hello, fellow steemians,

It is once again a privilege to share with this honorable community my daily activities for the 17th day of January in the year 2023. Today happens to be the second of the week which is Tuesday meaning the energy for work is still fresh and available.

Just as any worker in the republic of Ghana, work normally starts at 8 AM and I believe it is so in most places in the world. Because of this no matter what you are doing, you have to ensure you get to the workplace before it is 8 AM. It is always advisable to get there before 8 so that the necessary things will be put in their right places. It is also very important that you report working before your senior staff member.

Connecting power source

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Checking to see if pH meter is on

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Because of this I normally wake up around 6:00 AM. Do the morning routine which involves cleaning and washing the dishes, and then go ahead to take my bath after brushing my teeth and coming to the room to dress up. I do all these within a few hours of working up and I do them as quickly as possible to be able to beat the time of reporting to work before 8AM8 Most of the time, I can beat it however, some things come across and I would have to be late for e a few minutes.

Today I guess was not one of those days I have to be late. After finishing my morning routine it was around 7:02 AM. Upon doing the housework and other basic work which is me taking my bath, and coming in to dress up it was around 7:20. I finished everything when it was around 7:30. I left the house and as usual, I got to the workplace around 7:54 AM. Although I was there before the start of work, I will usually consider it late for myself because I can not use the rest of the minutes to clean my bench before work starts. Any, after I finished it a few minutes after 8.

Measuring regents

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Checking the calibration range

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Work then started for me after I finished cleaning there were no samples at that moment, hence I have to visit other labs in other to able to configure the work and check if anyone in any of the labs needs my assistance. I first went to the chemistry room where chemistry is been run using the chemistry analyzer. It was unfortunate that when I got there there were almost done with what they were doing hence they needed no help. I, therefore continue to continue to bacteriology check if there is work.

When I got there, there was work and a lot of hands were needed. Therefore, I went ahead to wear my lab coat, afterwards, I was then given instructions to prepare EDTA and also prepare SDS. The preparation of the EDT requires a solution of pH 8.0 which means it will be basic. At that time the pH meter had been brought out already. All it needed was the calibration and it was done with a few minutes of calibration. I then started first by doing the calibration activities. It me several minutes to be able to calibrate it. When I was done, I had to also check to see if all the calibration was right and upon checking it was just fine.

Done with the preparation

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According to the manufacturer's instructions, the meter was calibrated and it meets. I then weighed the right amount of EDTA to be weighed and kept it in a small clean media bottle. After some time, the volume of double distilled water was added and then swirled to ensure dissolution. After a few minutes when the solution has occurred, we checked and adjust the pH to a pH of 8 using the pH meter. We then went ahead to autoclave it.

We prepare the SDS as well but that needs no autoclaving hence we kept it in the water bath as required by the protocol. Then we waited for complete dissolution or that one as well. When we were then all was set for the DNA extraction however, time was far spent hence we have to go and come and continue the next day. We left the lab and went to do our various things in the house.