I love my job. I am a Geology Lab Supervisor.  At this university I oversee the weather station, web site, museum,  library and help the geology labs run smoothly.  Throughout my life I've always picked up interesting or pretty rocks and loved anything science related, so the fit was good when I came to work here. 

 

Geologists are the most down-to-earth people I know (and that's not just a pun).  I work with 6 men who have their doctorates in geology, one even did post-doc work at the Smithsonian Institute for 2 years.  On paper, a pretty intimidating group.  But these guys are funny, and kind, and just the salt of the earth.  (sorry, another pun).  I look forward to going to work every day, and that's a great feeling.

 

At work a couple of days ago I heard a story about another lab supervisor, in another department, that made me even more glad that I work here with good old hard, inanimate rocks.  If you are squeamish at all you may wish to stop reading now.

 

In the Biology department there is an Anatomy and Physiology Lab that has a cadaver disecting room.  This is where aspiring students learn gross anatomy and test themselves on their suitability to entering the medical field. A local high school biology class decided to take advantage of their close proximity to such fine facilities and took a field trip to this lab.  Our university does all it can to help out with these tours and scheduled a very knowledgable lab assistant to guide the tour. This guide took the students in to view the cadavers.  Desiring to help all he could, he used a pencil to point out various muscles. With the tip of the pencil he lifted the outer muscles to expose the deeper tissues and show the complexities of the marvelous human body. The lab assistant, seeing that the group was very impressed with his grand knowledge and expertise, paused, asked if there were any questions, and.. then... stuck the pencil in his mouth. 

 

His face froze and the color drained, leaving him as white as the cadaver next to him. He then proceeded to "toss his cookies", which seemed to have a contagious effect on many of the students in the room. 

 

Needless to say,  I'm glad I work in geology.