= Such Stupid Things =

Yeah - I discovered yesterday that my lab bench is infested with hundreds of tiny bugs. I can't quite make out where they're coming from... is it through the window? Out of the rotting molding around the wall? Or just spontaneous generation?

Either way, I'm a little annoyed. I like to pretend that I run a pretty clean operation, chemically speaking. I use fresh, sterile buffer solutions, chemical hazards are clearly labeled, I know the pH of everything I deal with, etc. etc. But it's hard to maintain this illusion when my vial labeled "deionized water" also contains a few dozen floating insects.