Previewing my first lab at my new job: an internal monologue
January 5, 2018OK, in this part the students will add a drop of sheep blood to different solutions to see whether/how those solutions affect the shape of the red blood cells.
…SO HOW COME I CAN’T SEE ANY RED BLOOD CELLS? WHERE ARE THE CELLS?
Is this microscope bad?
No, I can’t see any cells under this other microscope, either.
Has my microscope technique deteriorated so badly that I can no longer find blood cells in blood?
Let’s try a pre-prepared slide.
OK, I can see THESE cells just fine. So what the hell is the problem with my newly made slides? Is the saline diluting the cells too much, or something? Let me try a drop of pure blood.
Good grief. I CANNOT FIND ANY FRIGGIN’ BLOOD CELLS IN A DROP OF PURE BLOOD. I’m sorry, Everett — your new physiology instructor cannot, at a microscopic level, tell the difference between blood and water. That’s just too much to ask, apparently.
Nothing else to do but put the blood back in the fridge and ask for help on Monday….
Wait a minute. Here’s another bottle of sheep blood. Why does it look so different from the one I was using — so much brighter? And it hasn’t been opened yet….
Maybe I should try this bottle.
Hey, THIS blood has actual cells in it! Lots of them!
And they shrink when put in hypertonic saline!
Maybe I am sort of qualified to teach this lab after all.
And now, for my next act, I will weigh this dialysis sac all by myself.
My Track Record 
Of course you are qualified! Partly proved by doing the lab before the students 🙂
Best Wishes!
Bob