Wednesday, April 22, 2009

What do I do all day?


Heidi over at Sacred and Profane asked the question, "What do you do all day?". Apparently someone asked her a while back and she got a little offended, and rightfully so. I think stay at home moms are sorely underestimated. Some people think they lounge about eating bon bons all day, but those people have never tried it! I was only a SAHM for the first 3 months of Natey's life, and damn it, those 3 months were hard!! Taking care of him and trying to clean, cook, do laundry (that somehow tripled with the addition of one small being) and get errands done was exhausting. And that was with only 1 kid who was too small to make his own mess. I can't imagine the chaos that 4 children must create in a household. Let's just say, as much as I miss my boy when I am at work, I was a little bit happy to go back to adult conversation and a different kind of hard work.



Me and my co-worker Joyce at the Grand Opening of our new lab building


So, what do I do?? This is the million dollar question. I hate getting asked this because I feel like a smarty pants trying to explain it. I work for a biotech company called Amgen. We make bio-pharmaceuticals that you hope you never need. Our drugs are for people with cancer induced anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, ITP (immune disorder where your body kills your platelets) and hyperparathyroidism. My title is technically Senior Associate in Process Development, but I like to refer to myself simply as lab queen. My grandma just tells her friends that I'm a scientist. In effect I am, just without the title and pay the title brings!


So down to the nitty gritty of what exactly I do all day...

I work in a lab.

I wear the white coat, protective glasses and steel-toed safety shoes.

I do not wear a pocket protector.

I design experiments and run them.

I use statistics to analyze my data.

I run ELISAs, Gel electrophoresis, DNA assays, and HPLC assays.

I write protocols, technical assessments and reports.

I do method qualifications and handle assay transfers to and from other sites.

I do endless trainings to keep up to date on all tasks I perform.

I receive and aliquot samples from 4 client groups.

I attend way too many useless meetings.

I evaluate new technology.

I travel to another site as the technical advisor for an automated piece of equipment.

I make sure our drug, Enbrel, is safe for our patients.

In a nut shell I wear many hats, and bless you if you are still awake after that list!! The best part of my job, besides making a difference in patients' lives, is the fact that experiments have down time. :o) The assays I run have incubation periods, some of which I use to keep up with all of you. I would never be able to blog if I had to read everything after I got home! My husband would never see me, my son would starve and I would probably not have started in the first place. So there you have it! That's what I do.


So tell me, what do YOU do all day??

22 comments:

  1. i read blogs all day. Just kidding. HOwever, I am not sure what I do all day....

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  2. I think that's totally cool. I love that first picture of you - so smart-cool ;) Good idea for a post, I may have to do one myself. When I figure out what I do all day, lol.

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  3. You should be proud of being a 'smarty pants'! That's awesome! I used to work in a children's hospital as an x-ray tech, but now do stay at home with the kiddos. Yes, it is very hard most days...it's hard to explain to those who have not experienced it ;) I'm sure I don't need to go into the list that goes along with that...but I do find time to fit blogging in! ha ha!

    I also think you deserve huge credits for being a working mom!!! I had that role, too, and it was great to go to work and 'relax'! But also hard to shift roles into mom mode :) Fun post!

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  4. Wow! You are like a nerd scientist genius... and I ABSOLUTELY mean that as a compliment!

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  5. I am so glad you do this, because my husband uses it! That makes me feel like he is a little safer!

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  6. People like Lori's husband keep me coming to work even when it is frustrating! He's in good hands!!

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  7. Holey Moley Smarty Pantso is right! And in your spare time from rummaging all your data you are sewing up some pretty cute stuff too!!! I have a friend who is a bio-chemist and she works on Lexi-pro and other depression drugs which I find soo interesting...Math and Tarah DO NOT MIX!!! I am glad we are in your hands!!!!

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  8. Very interesting! And I love that first pic of you - your hair looks really cute in it!!

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  9. You are so smart! Your job sounds very important and yet very difficult. glad you are taking care of that and not me.
    Also glad you don't use a pocket protector. LOL
    Do they make your steel-toed safety shoes stylish?

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  10. WOW! I'm VERY impressed Kam. All that talent you carry around is awesome and inspiring. My SIL has rheumatoid arthritis and Lupus and it's so hard watching her in pain all the time. I thank you for what you do because some of the medicines allow her to play with her son without all that pain.

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  11. You are one sexy lookin' scientist in that first pic, Kam!! Love the glasses!!!

    And thank goodness you don't talk shop around me, because I would feel like a moron (as I do when Chad rambles on with his technical jargon). Sounds totally interesting though!!!

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  12. Very interesting! And I love that first pic of yours,your hair looks really cute in it!!
    cheers!

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  13. Wow!!! You are one smart girl, that's for sure. I knew I liked you for a reason :)

    I agree with everyone else, that first picture of you is great.

    How fun to have a job where you actually have to "think" (and not just clock in and out) and you get to make a difference!

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  14. What a cool job!

    Me? SAHM. Have been for almost 9 years. Which is scary because I have no idea what kind of job I want when I get back in the real world.

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  15. Thanks for sharing - I always like learning more about my fellow bloggers. I am part SAHM and part work from home mom. I have a nice setup with my job of 7 years to work when I need to during the week as long as the job gets done !

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  16. What do I do all day? I prescribe the drugs that you make to people!

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  17. That was AWESOME! Thank you so much for doing it. Very interesting job you have.

    Thanks for the shout out, too. On top of all the SAHM stuff, I also work 40 hours a week from home - I just telecommute. There are days I think I may lose my mind entirely and other days when I think it's already gone.

    LOVE this entry. LOVE it!

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  18. Wow, Kameron! I'm so impressed! I was a bio/chem major for 3 years in college. Organic chem almost killed me. I still think there's a part of my brain that died that semester. Anyway, I did your career and I have to admit, I'm kinda jealous!

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  19. I loved reading this!

    When i saw you post on not me, I thought u may access ur blog at work, now i get it.

    Thanks 4 sharing!

    Liked this post!!

    What a great profession!

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  20. Great post!!! I loved learning more about what you do!

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  21. Wow...I'm impressed! Thanks for sharing! Love the pics!

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  22. I love your blog. It's one of the best I've read for awhile! Fantastic! I love that you have a boy because I feel like no one has boys first...everyone has girls.
    I have several friends in RI which is odd to me since I've never been there, but now I'd like to go sometime. They all live in Providence.
    I am no scientist, but am planning to return to school in the Fall of 2010 for law school which was always inevitable. Until then, I work with au pairs through Intrax study abroad based out of San Francisco. I've always worked in Account Management since after college and I enjoy managing people.
    Your son is adorable and I LOVE your blog! You have a lot going on and I'm so inspired by all that you do and seem to do well!

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What you talkin' bout Willis??