Why I am starting this blog

I am a Quality Control Analyst for a manufacturing company. I have a BS in Chemistry and my background in chemistry is what landed me here in this lab six years ago. I work with another analyst, my manager and 4 lab assistants. My co-workers are the main reason I started this blog.

Oh, what an incredible group the QC lab is. We have:

• The Gay White Male
• The Extremely Volatile Middle Aged Fat White Woman
• The Crazy Everybody Hates Her Middle Aged (Used to be fat but had gastric bypass surgery) White Woman
• The Really Cool Middle Aged Alcoholic (I think) White Man
• The Delegate And Put Off As Much Work As Possible, Hate Dealing With Problems Middle Aged Only Republican In The Lab White Male Manager

and my personal favorite and inspiration for this blog

• The Space Cadet Weirdo Red/Air Head Fortysomething White Woman

and me. I am a 30 something Black Woman.

There are days when I love the diversity of our group, but most days, these people drive me batty. Today's focus is The Space Cadet Weirdo Red/Air Head Forthysomething White Woman. We'll call her SCWRAHFWW. Nah, we'll shorten it to SCWW. Yeah, that's better.

SCWW has a habit of totally forgetting procedures that we have been following for years. I mean she forgets key steps in tests that we perform and when asked about her shortcomings she will give the following excuses,

• "I was tired, I was working a (7, 10, 15) day stretch."
• "When did we change that? I didn't know we do it like that."
• "We don't get the help that the other Lab Assistants do." (To her defense, she does work nights and the 2 night Lab Assistants don't have the luxury of having the 2 Analysts and the Manager with them to help at night. However, you, dear reader, will sure learn in subsequent entries why this is sometimes just absolutely bogus!)

and my favorite

• "(Fill in name of co-worker) doesn't do that, so why should I?"

Ahhh, SCWW. Friday, she blamed overranging an instrument on The Gay White Male. She lied. The overrange was her fault.

I like SCWW, I really do. She is funny and enlightens me with her Midwestern/Irish/Hippie lifestyle that I would have otherwise never know about. She lends me some of her CDs, books, and magazines that she thinks I might be interested in. Most times, I am not, however, I give her credit for introducing me to Constant Comment tea. I know this is a very common tea, I just never tried it prior to her helping me when I had a cold a few years ago. Thanks, SCWW, I love that stuff!

But my like for her doesn't change that fact that sometimes working with SCWW is a challenge. She is a slob. We have to clean valve lubricant off of testing equipment and she leaves the paper towels that we clean the lubricant with strewn about the lab. She leaves used samples thrown haphazardly around the work benches. And here's the kicker, although we work in a FDA regulated plant, she doesn't wash her hands after she uses the bathroom. SCWW says to that, "It's not like I pee ON my hands or anything!"

Yes, yes. That's our Space Cadet Weirdo Red/Air Head Fortysomething White Woman and the reason this blog exists. Today as I was complaining to The Delegate and Put Off As Much Work As Possible Hate Dealing with Problems Middle Aged Only Republican In The Lab White Male Manager (TheManager) about SCWW's airheadedness, I quipped "...in another entry of why I should kill SCWW..." TheManager's reply was "You should write a blog about your life in the QC Lab. That would be interesting." So shall it be. My life in the Quality Control Lab is born. Never can he say that I don't follow his leadership.