# . . .and a year's worth of work goes down the drain. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961 "2006-12-05T18:24:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/1 "2006-12-05T18:24:20Z")
I don’t have enough venom for the Pit, and this is extremely mundane. My lab is out of money. We’re cutting back (I may be out of a job sooner than I thought) and the project I’ve been working on for the past year has been shit-canned. This comes with the territory. Just very disappointing. My work will literally go down the drain. The mice I’ve been working on will be euthanized and their bodies digested into goo and sent into the sewer system. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/2 "2006-12-05T18:58:57Z")
I’m really sorry to hear that. Is it too late to look into that other job you posted about? ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/3 "2006-12-05T19:03:29Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] I’m really sorry to hear that. Is it too late to look into that other job you posted about? [/QUOTE] Thanks. 🙂 No news about the two job interviews I had last week. ::shrug:: Its not very professional of me, but I feel bad for the mice. They didn’t do anything wrong. One of the tough parts of research is that it takes time to get results and sometimes the money runs out before the answers show up. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/4 "2006-12-05T20:28:41Z")
Sorry to hear the news. I guess you knew it was coming. Sending supporting thoughts your way for a new job soon! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/5 "2006-12-05T20:38:38Z")
Chin up, lass! You’ll find a new, better job soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/6 "2006-12-05T21:32:50Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] Sorry to hear the news. I guess you knew it was coming. Sending supporting thoughts your way for a new job soon! [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Quartz] Chin up, lass! You’ll find a new, better job soon enough. [/QUOTE] Thanks for all of the support. 🙂 I know I’ve been very annoying recently. Moral in the lab is very low. (On top of everything going on in the department, we have no [coffee](http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4640198) !! Its freakin’ inhumane! _Starbucks take me away!_) I hope I find another job before the Department Head leaves, just so I can go up to him and say,“I hope you enjoy your new job in Canada, but I want you to know that you fucked over a bunch of really good people. You decided to leave and dropped the move in their laps. They shipped your shit across the North American Continent and you didn’t have the class to offer them even a letter of recommindation for their trouble.” ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/7 "2006-12-05T21:37:08Z")
{{{{{ **Mouse\_Maven** }}}}} I know there’s not really anything else they could do with the mice, but still- Poor mice. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/8 "2006-12-05T22:01:17Z")
You mean, they can’t just incinerate the mice? The way it was said makes it sound like they’re being turned into a sewage dacari. But yes, sorry to hear about your situation… ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/9 "2006-12-05T22:12:56Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] You mean, they can’t just incinerate the mice? The way it was said makes it sound like they’re being turned into a sewage dacari. But yes, sorry to hear about your situation… [/QUOTE] Animal carcasses are placed in a “digester” with a cocktail of chemicals. They’re broken down into a sludge and flushed out. This method is considered to be more cost efficient and environmentally friendly. If the bodies haven’t been treated with chemicals or have any foreign objects in them, they are donated to the local raptor rehab center. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/10 "2006-12-05T23:46:03Z")
**Mouse\_Maven** , you have had one really shitty year. Here’s hoping for better things for you in 2007. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/11 "2006-12-05T23:49:02Z")
Sorry to hear about all of your problems. I can’t imagine how frustrated I would feel. How do they euthanize a mouse, anyway? Gas? Injections? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/12 "2006-12-05T23:51:08Z")
Don’t think of it as wasting a year. You got a year’s worth of work experience, you got a year’s worth of stuff to add to your resume, and (hopefully) you were getting paid during that time. ---
**Author:** ![Mouse\_Maven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@Mouse\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mouse_Maven)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/13 "2006-12-06T01:05:09Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Sorry to hear about all of your problems. I can’t imagine how frustrated I would feel. How do they euthanize a mouse, anyway? Gas? Injections? [/QUOTE] We use carbon dioxide gas. I’ve been asking around to see if anyone is interested in these animals. I would rather see the experiment moved to another researcher. I’ve been very whiney this past year. Lots of changes. Some good: Married Mouse\_Spouse 🙂 . Some bad: Work crap, family insanity. A lot of my identity is wrapped up in my work and my schooling. Whenever there is a shift, I freak out and feel threatened. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2006, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/14 "2006-12-06T01:36:32Z")
If it makes you feel any better, I spent most of last summer convincing management that they should kill a project that I’ve been working on since 2002. Four years of work down the drain … and I pulled the stopper. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-a-years-worth-of-work-goes-down-the-drain/382961/15 "2006-12-06T06:00:54Z")
_snugs **Mouse\_Maven** and sends good vibes_ (The mice aren’t named Franky and Benjy, by any chance? :eek: In all seriousness, that sucks. I hope they find good homes.)