PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #10- Never turn off the SM temperature

Turn off the SM temperature when you are not using.

Do no leave it turned on for the entire year, it is not your refrigerator!

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #9- Use non-supported vials

Many months ago, I said not to use non Waters vials. The non supported vials have caps that do not have a pre-slit septum. Because during sample draw, you need proper venting to achieve good injection accuracy.

Just 2 weeks ago, somebody used the non-supported vials again.

Needless to say. It’s Dr Eugene.

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #8- Cleaning screws with formic acid.

Don’t ever clean screws with Formic acid, because they are made of brass and they can rust.

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #7- Damaging o-ring

When red o-ring is damaged, you can cause the instrument to crash vent. When the turbo speed is unable to attain a certain speed by a timed period.

He blamed the o-ring being worn out.

I genuinely believe they can last for more than a year, and longer. It should not wear out within a year.

Lessons from Dr Eugene.

Tired of him having to be handheld. Every time. Hearing his voice makes my blood pressure soar.

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #6- Imperial vs metric system!

A rare chance
I get to work on the G2XS QTOF and replace an aperture plate
All by myself

Got to practise how to use a megger
Then Dr Eugene came to stare as usual
He gave 100% attention at what I was working on

I deliberately ignored his presence
And spent a long time with tof side flange screws
A failed attempt at turning him away

Because it never did
His stares made me uncomfortable
And his questions were irrelevant

“How are the cables configured?”
2 from the computer
1 to the LC
1 to the MS
Another cable from LC to MS

My heart died a little
Ethernet and serial cables
They are meant for different purpose

Next up was the stepwave
He could clean it if he’s familiar
But he wanted me to show him
Ok, but he’s got to wait till I’m done

He asked Dr Harmless Freesia to show
But she had to prepare presentation
She stepped into the lab and entertained a little
Then went back to the office

Dr Eugene then went ahead
Borrowing our tools
Help! He needed help again
What’s surprising about that

The screws got rounded to my #1 horror
I stared at the screws, resigned
Stop doing it incorrectly!
How much more do you want to damage

To my #2 horror
He’s been using imperial Allen key!!!
That’s not meant for the mass spec...
All of me died inside

Dependable knight suggested I go back
To fit the aperture plate
And stop wasting time on cleaning stepwave
He will brief Dr Eugene

To my #3 horror
He cleaned the stepwave
But left out the metal cap
DN said Dr Eugene had been briefed to do it

Stop all what you’re doing
He’s banned from touching the instrument ever
I was finally done with aperture plate and megger
And spent a long time assembling the stepwave

To my #4 horror
The ion block was full of carbon
It was 6 in the evening
I really wanted to go home

Why did you do one but not the other
He’s never done it before
He’s never seen a dirty ion block
So much time was wasted

We could not pump down the instrument today
But I was glad I spent time with the tof today
He never fails to piss me
He will be banned banned banned banned banned forever

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #5- Damage capillary

Earlier this week.

Dr Eugene had low intensity in his infusion.

Dr Eugene: Phyliss... I was calibrating the mass spec and can’t get detector setup to pass. But yesterday, the intensity is ok, at e^4. Today it is e^3.

Me: Do you need to do it everyday?

Dr Eugene: No, but I did it anyway, it can’t pass.

Rolling my eyes. If you could get good intensity yesterday, it’s probably something you didn’t do it right today. Method parameters? I think it is unlikely that instrument will miraculously spoil today when yesterday worked well.

Me: I am not a TOF engineer, can you ask Dr Little Strawberry on your method setup.

Dr Eugene: Dr Strawberry.... could you help

It turned out that the lockspray capillary was bent. 

Dr Eugene: How could it become bent?

Do you even need to ask?! Obviously it must have hit something to become bent! The person who took it out or put it in had damaged it! 

Well I wasn’t expecting a damaged capillary problem because he said the instrument was working fine yesterday! And he did not do anything to the instrument, if you believe. So he took another ESI source, and intensity went up. Dr Little Strawberry also found that he used the wrong concentration, obviously would get 4 times lower result! He didn’t even check the calibration guide! But he passed the test without using the right concentration, and totally ignored Dr Strawberry.

Subsequently when I was replacing the lockspray capillary, I was going to show the scientists how to do it. I tried twice and it was ok, so I asked them to try it too. Dr Harmless Freesia did one round, and pass to Dr Eugene to try next. As soon as Dr Eugene touch it, it got stuck. No matter how hard he tried, I tried, Dr Harmless Freesia helped too, we all could not remove the probe tip!

I guess the o-ring could have been caught inside the screw threads. Probably from the uneven forces that they used to screw and unscrew. I really shouldn’t have let them try it! Urgh!

Well to be fair and I really don’t want to be, it could have been Dr Harmless Freesia, and may not have been Dr Eugene. But I find it really amusing, both the damages on the capillary, and the probe tip, happened when he touched them.

I used to tell my customers that I’ve got great magic hands. One touch and your problem would be resolved. It looks like Dr Eugene’s destroying powers were too strong for my magic hands to counter... 

I need to wake up my ideas and up my magic skills.

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #4- Pusher offset

I was working away from office until my laptop battery died at 4:30pm. Sadly couldn’t last the whole day. I thought of going back to office to wrap things up for the last hour.

Regret. It was a big mistake.

So Dr Eugene was having problem with tailing peak shape. He didn’t know how to tune it up, and neither do I.

Dr Eugene: Phyliss, could you come and have a look at the peak shape

It couldn’t have been a better timing. I just wanted to do something productive for the last hour! Reluctantly, I walked over.

Me: It is tailing...
Dr Eugene: Could you help to tune it up
Me: I haven’t tuned a TOF before. But I could try... based on my understanding of tuning the Quads.
Dr Eugene: Please, help. Can you do it now.
Me: I need to refer to the reference guide first. I need time to find the guide as well as to read and understand. It would be end of the day already, I’ll do it tomorrow.
Dr Eugene: Ok, go and read it now. 现在！现在！去！
Me: I said tomorrow.

I resumed the work I was meant to wrap up. Urgh, my work doesn’t revolve around you! I deliberately read other materials when he was around. Enough is enough! No more immediate help to this guy.

Then... Dr Little Strawberry came to the rescue. She’s been taught how to rectify this issue. The tailing problem was resolved by adjusting pusher offset. I wished it it had taken longer, so he could perhaps, find out the solution himself.

Next day, I was with Asst Service Manager (KR) to look for a driver. When he saw Dr Eugene, he asked, how’s this guy doing.
Me: Hmm.. Why are you asking about him...?
KR: He contacted me yesterday, to ask about a peak tailing problem
Me: What! He even contacted you? I didn’t know that... 😂
KR: He contacts me whenever DN is away.
Me: The peak shape problem was resolved by tuning the pusher offset. (Then I started my other complaints about him)
KR: Back when he was the customer, it was ok if he discussed over messaging. But he gets really panicky when he speaks on the phone, or when we are on site. If he uses an unknown number to call, I can’t avoid it...

I gave an understanding smile. I am astonished. It seemed like Dr Eugene has been desperately calling the whole world for help.

How did he even manage his PhD then?!

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #3- Wash tubing

Some time in early August. I was trying to avoid Dr Eugene because he had so many questions for me. I have a day job too and I need to get things done. Unfortunately we were in the same recreation committee and the team wanted a meeting over lunch.

Dr Eugene: Phyliss... I have something to consult you 

Me: Ok what..?

Dr Eugene: It’s the TOF, when I try to do an infusion, the signal keeps dropping... and then it was gone. 

Me: Ok... try purging...?

Dr Eugene: I have done it, many times. I have purged many times, but there was nothing. I even took out tubing by tubing to check. There was no flow. I suspect something is clogged in the tubing, I changed the whole probe. (I think he rebuilt the capillary). There was still nothing!

Me: The usual things to check.. purge more times, maybe there’s a block somewhere else, or it could be a leak. Trace the fluidic lines. Sometimes the leak is not obvious.... and previously it took me half an hour to find the leak when Dr Little Strawberry was having intensity problems. So usually these few reasons, purge, block, leak, and make sure the wash line needs to be submerged in the reservoir.

Dr Eugene: I have checked that too, the wash line is submerged in the solvent. 

Me: Ok... later we can have a look.

After lunch. I walked into the lab... And dang. Right away I could see the wash tubing was not in the solvent! It was hanging in the air. 🤦🏻‍♀️ And you said that you checked!!! You spent half an hour explaining the problem... and the whole morning to rectify.. it was due to this!

Me: Your wash tubing is not even submerged in the solvent!

Dr Eugene: Uh?! How could it be? I really had checked it just now!

Me: Ok ok... just purge and run an infusion now..

Dr Eugene: Ok, if you can stay for 15 mins, the symptoms will come and intensity will drop later. 

A while later..

Dr Eugene: See! See! The intensity is dropping!
Me: Ok then purge again and set a higher infusion rate.
.
.
.
The intensity never dropped afterwards.

Me: It’s ok now...
Dr Eugene: Let me take out the tubings again to check if there is a flow.
Me: Obviously there would be a flow since you can see signals in lockspray!
Dr Eugene: There is flow and signal now, but the signal is at e^3 (negative mode), it is low...
Me: So what is the usual intensity you get?
Dr Eugene: I don’t remember but this looks really low.

I changed to positive mode and it shot up to e^5. So intensity is high, and we know the flow is ok. You don’t have anything to compare against but say the signal is low? 👊🏻

Me: The flow is ok, check your standards again.

He was in denial... he could not accept that it was just due to wash tubing.

I can’t accept too. Wasting one whole day just because the wash tubing was not submerged in the solvent!!! What a waste of my time.

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #2- Cable

Lesson 2 - Check your cables...

Earlier this week... Dr Eugene changed the source of mass spec as he took over the instrument from another scientist.

Dr Eugene: Phyliss, the software does not detect the source. Usually clicking at ‘source’ would show a drop down menu of ionisation modes. It is not showing anything now...
Me: Er... I am not familiar with TOF you know... try to restart software?
Dr Eugene: I have done it, many times. Even restarting the computer, it just doesn’t work.
Me: Restart instrument electronics then?
Dr Eugene: I don’t know how to do it, let’s ask Dr Little Strawberry.
Me: No no we don’t need to ask her. I know this very well (same across all MS), it’s very intuitive. Just look at the 2 switches, one says ‘pump override on/off’ and other says ‘electronics on/off’. You want to switch to ‘pump override’ before turning off electronics. Because without pump override, turning off the electronics will turn off the pump, instrument will vent.
Dr Eugene: So this is to protect the pump
Me: No, (obviously no!) this is to keep the mass spec in vacuum state so you don’t have to wait half a day before you can run samples. Instrument takes a few hours to pump down...
Dr Eugene: Ok I get it.
Me: You don’t want to switch off ‘pump override’ before turning on electronics, otherwise the pump will switch off and instrument will vent, electronics turn on. So electronics on, then pump override off.

Restarting the electronics didn’t fix the problem. Then, I thought... since the software couldn’t show the ionisation modes, it probably is not detecting the source? 🤔 Reconnect cables...

When opening the cover, true enough the yellow cable was not pushed all the way! Pushed it in and the software shows the ionisation modes right away. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This reminds me of primary school exams. Mistakes you made, not because you didn’t know how to do it, but because you didn’t check your work. Carelessness.

1 hour later.

Dr Eugene: I am reading up some slides about the instrument. It says that there are 2 ways of restarting electronics, one from the front and one from the back. Could you show me how to do it from the front?
Me: There is no button on the front of the instrument so you can’t do it from the front. It’s just how this instrument is designed.
Dr Eugene: Ok, what does the pilot valve mean then?
Me: I am not a TOF engineer and I am not sure. It’s the valve on the bottle trap to shut off and on for source pressure test, I think. Read the operators guide and you may be able to find the explanations there. (I am not your Google!!!)
Dr Eugene: I don’t remember my previous company has a bottle trap for the mass spec...
Me: All our company’s mass spec comes with a bottle trap. You probably did not notice it before because it is behind the instrument.

Come on... You book the instrument but use the time to read about TOF parts? Run your important samples first before you find other time to read! Priorities!

PhD thesis: How to mess shit up. #1- Set probe temp to 0

Is common sense not so common after all? The amount of stupidity I get from people triggers me. I can’t fathom how someone with no common sense can be given a PhD!!

I used to be very much in awe by people with PhD, at least the lab where I came from - there were President scholar, Harvard graduate, ASEAN scholar... you name it. Sometimes it demotivates me, because I will never reach that level. On the good side, their thought processes inspire me. To think further, think deeper. How to carry myself. Be more composed.

So my encounter with this guy amuses me. Let’s call him Dr Eugene. A Dr title because he has a real PhD ok!

So yesterday... 

Dr Eugene: Sorry uh Phyliss. Could you come in to have a look (at the mass spec instrument).

Me: Ok...

Dr Eugene: I saw that the Ar gas was empty (regulator points to 0psi), so I turned it up. Now it says ‘collision cell overpressure’. The software shows the collision cell pressure e-2, but I have recorded down previous readings, it should be e-3.

Me: Ok... so you turned up the Ar gas. It reads 30 psi now, what should the value be?

Dr Eugene: Uh.. I don’t know

Me: Ok.. That’s ok. We can find out from the installation guide. I’ll check on that.

Reading installation guide... it says.. Argon gas should be regulated at 7.25psi, dang! 🤦🏻‍♀️ That’s why the original reading was correct! Don’t create someone out of nothing!

The scale of the regulator was rather wide, maybe 0-200 psi. That’s why 7psi would look like there is no gas! Why would you even turn it up when you don’t check the guides how much to do it! 

Based on feeling huh, apparently,

So I closed the valve, but it doesn’t release the Ar gas. 

So I suggested: Why don’t you set some MRM injections to exhaust the Argon gas, while we keep the valve close. Or running infusion and do some fragmentation.

Dr Eugene: But we can’t even change the tune page settings! Look, in standby mode the voltages are switched off and at 0!

He then demonstrated, probe temperature was set at 300 deg C. If he changed the the probe temperature setting to 0, the software would not respond and jumps back to 300! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Do you really think the probe is capable of achieving 0 deg!!! Have you ever seen the probe freezes up!! (It’s like buying a kitchen oven, with futile attempt to set it to 0 deg.)

Me (Breathes): Why don’t you set a higher temperature like 50 or 100.

Dr Eugene presses 50 and hit enter. It worked...

Now, run your injections and exhaust the Argon gas. 

He went on to explain how he doesn’t want to do it over the weekend because he doesn’t want anything to go wrong, and nobody would be around.

I don’t care when you do it. 

So there was nothing wrong with the instrument! The instrument is innocent! Stop blaming the instrument! 

Even better, stop touching it!

I am not even a full mass spec engineer. I may have attended an Engineers training 2 years ago, sadly never had the chance to work on it. I am unfamiliar with HRMS. But it doesn’t take a mass spec engineer to recognise the problem. You just need common sense.

Highlight of the day.

Sexism is real

Guys just don't know how much sexism and harassments females have to deal with at work. Not much, but still, it frustrates me.

Men in power demean, and belittle women.
Somebody wanted me to tell customers, "If a women (referring to myself) can do it, so can you". I wanted to tell him that's sexism and that I was offended. Hello do we look dumb to you? But he was someone in power and I didn't have the guts to say it to his face.

(To defend myself, I had the best efficiency scores and was awarded customer success excellence award last year).

As a female service engineer, not only do we have to deal with the sexists and stereotypes from men at work. There are still men who think that women cannot be engineers.

And the mild harassment and the occasional sexual harassment shit we get. This is my 3rd or 4th encounter (and counting) since joining this company. Not mentioning my encounters from previous companies.

(1st - Mr R, 2nd - Mr M Soh, now 3rd- Mr MJ... and counting.)

I have been getting texts from a middle aged man almost everyday for the past 3 months. He is a safety trainer of a company that I frequent. He sends me (lame) jokes now and then. He is a father of 3.

At first I think he was just bored. I never reply to any of it.... just ignoring. But the texts didn't stop.. for 1 month.. then 2. Let's see how long he can continue huh. It's been 3 months. But I should tell him to stop texting me again.

Going back further, another customer from my previous previous company kept complaining about his wife and randomly asked if I am good in bed. Of course I wouldn’t answer and pass it off as ‘it is not for you to know’. I wondered if it is the dresses that I wore to work, or the pencil skirt... I must have been too smiley and approachable. Surely, I brought it upon myself...

My encounters are mild, but these experiences leave me with disturbance and disgust. I have so many moments of these that I forgotten some. We are living in an advanced country. Yet, workplace sexism is very real.

Maybe I look easy to some men. Maybe I should start kickboxing classes again. Maybe I start working on a bitch face look. But I need to get good survey scores from my customers. Life is an irony.

General terminologies

IUPAC - International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry



Will update this list as I think of more.

Why hard work doesn't pay off

I used to think that by working hard,
Your efforts will get recognized.
I was too naive.
Because your work go unnoticed if you work silently.

There are people who think they are the know-it-all,
And try to claim more credit than they should.
These insecurities.
There is no such thing as a fair workplace.

Don't just work hard. Work smart.

Perceptions #1

Perceptions, they can work to your favor, or sometimes the opposite.

It's actually quite scary, when people jump into conclusion without understanding the full story.

Or rather, believing only in what they want to hear.

If you criticize people's work, ask if you can do it better and faster.

When UPLC sensitivity dropped to 2-3 times

I once encountered a case whereby injecting the same amount of standard into 2 UPLCs side by side, the area for UPLC#2 is about 2 - 3 times smaller than UPLC#1.

Customer reported that their %RSD is good, but they aren't sure why the area is so much different.

Well... I was equally baffled too.

1. Performed a leak test and there was no leak from the sample syringe.
2. Lamp energy seems fine.
3. Guessed there could be a clogged somewhere in the needle or along the SM fluidics.
4. Since it was also due for PM, might as well start replacing the needful.

Then I found out.

Someone configured the volume syringe 100uL instead of the rightful 250uL.



Not sure whether to laugh or cry eh...

Frustrating people #1

Today I had a someone who kept firing shots at me when I suggest that her problems were likely due to her column.

She encountered accumulator over pressure and a noisy baseline.

Hey. I haven't even gone to the details of why your column is giving you these problems.

I was going to borrow her column to replicate the problem,

NO I CANNOT LEND YOU MY COLUMN, THIS IS THE ONLY COLUMN I HAVE AND I NEED TO USE IT. EVERYTIME AFTER YOU GUYS DID A PM OR A TROUBLESHOOTING AND THERE WOULD BE PROBLEMS WITH THE INSTRUMENTS!!! THIS COLUMN IS TOTALLY FINE ON ANOTHER INSTRUMENT. I'VE CHANGED THE CHECK VALVES ON THAT INSTRUMENT AND I AM STILL SEEING ACCUMULATOR OVER PRESSURE! (blahhhh)

Wow wow wow wait a minute.

(And wah lao - My point #1: why would check valves be related to accumulator over pressure.
Point #2: To defend myself, previous corrective actions were a new lamp and flow cell replaced just 2 weeks ago. These new problems were not related to previous corrective actions.)

Then onward, she kept switching topic incoherently between high pressure and noisy baseline.

Hello, can you focus on a problem one at a time?

And if I run a flow with water/ACN and I can achieve a low system pressure and a very flat baseline (beautiful!), it was pretty clear that her problem is due to that column...

Besides, she then acknowledged that she saw accumulator over pressure again on another instrument with the same column.

And she continues to insist that it's not the column.



I don't even...

Tribute to the late LKY

I had wanted to make my way to the parliament house and pay my last respect to the late LKY. But was very much plagued by work and too fatigued to combat the 10hr-long queue. Finally headed to Tampines community tribute center instead.

Thank you, MM Lee

The recent years I had grown to detest the PAP, because, of the obvious reasons.

For the excessive foreigners that flood our island, fighting for our jobs and suppressing our wages;
For the public transport that became too unbearable from the squeeze and subsequently the frequent breakdowns of trains;
For the poor control of public housing that drives purchase prices to the sky.
Not to mention LKY the dictator who silenced the oppositions; the 1987 marxist conspiracy; the unreliable Straits times which serves only as PAP's mouthpiece; the constant putting down of oppositions and accusations; the worship of expats and turning Singaporeans into 2nd citizens of our own country, so on and so forth.

My perception started to change when I headed to Shanghai for various job training last year. Training were mostly conducted in Mandarin, because the China trainees had poor grasp of English. It was especially tough for me, for I did not know the technical terms in that language.

But I felt blessed to be bilingual, and I was fortunate to survive the total 5 weeks.

The Chinese had a great wealth of knowledge which impresses me very much. However they aren't inclusive if you don't speak their language, so they won't share. Well, pretty much the same for the everywhere else in the world. Fortunately I could converse decently and blend into them.

Me surviving well in Shanghai

It then dawned on me that LKY had the vision to implement bilingual policy in the early days, how often had I taken it for granted. I knew for the longest time that we were basically connected to the East and the West. But to go out and experience it myself, it was an overwhelming feeling.

I am inadequate, as we all are.
But we are equipped with survival skills to carve our journeys in life.

Like Chiam put it, "His contributions to Singapore far outweighs the criticisms."

Thank you for building a nation of educated and bilingual people so our country can survive.
Thank you for building a safe and civilized country so we don't have to be afraid of walking in the night.
Thank you for the racial and religious harmony that we can accept and enjoy our cultural diversity.
And finally thank you, for giving us the confidence to go out to the world.

Why is there a negative dip in my HPLC chromatogram?

Because your solvent absorbs UV to some extent, too.

If you constantly see a negative dip, it may come from your sample, diluent, mobile phase, bottle, cap, glassware, column problems etc, that some compound is eluting out but does not absorb UV to the extent that your solvent does.

If there is a difference in composition between the injection solvent and mobile phase, your diluent (eg. water) could have a lower optical density than your mobile phase (eg. methanol) does. The negative dip will appear right before your sample is eluted.


*LC grade means that UV light absorbing impurities have been removed (not that the absolute purity is higher) and absorbance of specified wavelengths is kept within a specified range.

Lost prime

When your instrument prompts an error of a lost prime, it means pressure has dropped to below 25 psi for the last 50 cycles of plunger. Very often, gas bubbles interrupted the solvent path.


First, check that:

1. There is enough solvents in the bottles.
2. All solvent lines are properly connected and not drawing air into the system.
3. All solvents degassed and lines properly primed. It is more effective to prime each line at 100% for 5 min rather than 25/25/25/25 for A/B/C/D.


Other possible causes:

1. Solvent reservoir filters clogged.
2. Bacteria growth in the lines or inline filter and becomes clogged. May be able to clean out with 100% MeOH.
3. Primary inlet check valve failed. Ruby ball can get sticky over time esp if applications involve high ACN content. Ball gets stuck at the close position, so solvents cannot be delivered.


Passivating with 30% Phosphoric acid or 6N of Nitric acid not recommended.
This involves extreme cleaning, takes a lot of time, and unnecessary wearing of parts.

Another mild sexual harassment

My previous post on sexual jokes reminded me of my other encounter that happened 4 years ago.

I was working as an executive when my role was to manage the UAE market, United Arabs Emirates. I had to liaise with Arabic translators on frequent occasions. They were generally nice people, always ready to run off translating a new case.

There was once I was heading for a dinner appointment. It was off work and and I met Mr Y by the workplace exit. He offered to drop me at Lavender MRT, and I couldn't be more happy to gain a free ride.

Because I commented I was early for my dinner, he asked if I wanted to visit his Arabic school. Sure thing why not. Then I imagined something nice and welcoming, with a scale like an international school.

During the journey we talked about our families. And... he kept leading the conversation to becoming sexual. I can't remember the exact words it was something like this.

Mr Y, "My wife likes to do in the dark, I don't understand. How about you?"
Me, " Ah... (laughs), not telling you."

There was a lot more but I forgot the content already. After all, that was 4 years ago.

I almost wanted to get out of the car, and my alertness level shot up. I regretted agreeing to see the school, it was dark and a little shabby, with a long narrow staircase that leads to the 2nd floor. Like any other old shop house you would see.

In the classroom that was it. He showed me some facebook pictures, of his trips and his family on his computer.

Mr Y, "Do you want to sit?" Signaled for me to sit on him, pointing to his cock lap.
"No, I prefer the chair. (nearest one about 10 metres away, I just wanted to go already...)" 

Tried to appear amused and acted calm, but I was horrified. Grossed and freaked out. Thought of running away but then again it would be over-reacting. After all, we would still have to work with each other ---- everyday. I need to maintain my professionalism!!!
That happened during my very first job after graduation. Somehow such of my encounters were only with people of this skin color. Well fortunately he was only verbally challenging, and nothing happened.

I remembered I could rant 1-2 hours to my friends but now I could only remember the gist of it. Thinking back, guessed these people just enjoy harassing teasing females and I was too green and fresh out of school.

Sexual jokes, is it a form of sexual harassment?

28 January 2015 - Shanghai

There was a traffic jam and we were in a taxi.

Mr R showed me a whatsapp message, it's a joke sent by his friend.

Mr R, “Can you read it?” (All texts were in Malay)

Me, “Only very simple words like “dan means and” and “untuk means for”... So? What does this say?"

Mr R, “So this is saying, if you have sex once a week, you will have good physical health.” (Laughs)
Me, “Haha ok…” (Laughs)

Mr R, “If you have sex twice a week, you’ll have good mental health. 3 times a weeks, a good heart. 4 times… 5 times… 6 times… 7 times a week, it will boost your work performance. (Laughs) Malaysians like to share this kind of messages ah”

Like any mild sexual jokes you would see on fb, I expressed amusement, "Ha… you should tell your wife about this”.

Mr R, “Yeah I did. Here's another joke.”

Me, “Ok”

Now this was getting disturbing. Avideo about someone who drew a nude man and woman on his left hand, and by moving his pinky it looked like the man and woman are having sex. Too much details, too explicit. The man drew another 3-4 times more, showing the various positions. Oral sex, doggy style, whatever, you name it.

I was feeling disturbed. You don’t show these to someone you just got to know a week. I acknowledged with a grimace in response. 

And another ‘joke’, if you have sex in the dark will boost something, your heart or your brains or kidneys, than with lights on.

Yet another video of some guy playing with fireworks. Fireworks flew in the wrong direction and hit his naked butt. Only his backside was seen.

How would you have responded? 

I had a lot of thoughts. 

I was stunned.
It was not funny.

I stopped responding.

He stopped after 4 such jokes.

I can take sexual jokes and laugh them off, as any mild sexual jokes on fb.

But at what point does it become offensive?

Maybe I should have been firm and denounce his behavior.

Maybe I was too serious.

I did nothing.

On the next day, Mr R made an approach again, this time in class. A video about a China man who just got married, having sex needing to be supervised by his parents, it was non-censored. He laughed it off again.

All these while these goddamned jokes were only directed towards me. Not to the Malaysian guy he came with, or the other Chinese guys. I smiled lightly and shrugged, and continued with my work. 

But I was totally turned off.

  

Unfortunately there was no proof where I could document it. It wasn't intimidating, and I wasn't forced into any kind of submission.

It was just... very disturbing.

When sample energy is higher than reference energy

How is that possible?! So I thought perhaps,

1. the reference photodiode may be slightly off its position.
2. the beam splitter was giving problems.
3. reference diode deteriorate faster than sample diode.

But until I stripped the detector naked, it was because of...

this.

How did they even crack inside the detector in the first place?! Pretty amazing.

On firmware update

As usual I was super stressed over the weekend over firmware upgrade issues. I was never IT savvy, let alone acquainted with computer terms. Firmware? Driver? Option pack? IP address?

On a happy note, my job breezed through today! Thanks to my readings and preparations over the weekend.

Plus the help of 2 crucial people, Mr C and Mr H.

And some luck. :)

Maintenance #1: Column care and storage condition

I chanced upon some notes I got from a seminar from a long time ago, some column care procedure for sharing.

1. On backpressure
Always pump mobile phase from low flow, say 0.1ml/min then increase to normal flow rate.
Back pressure must typically be kept at <3500 psi (conventional HPLC columns and systems)
UPLC columns have higher pressure limits (more than or equal to 9000 psi)
In the event of high backpressure, reverse flush column.

2. On equilibrating column
Equilibrate column with mobile phase for 10-30 column volumes.
(Ion-pair containing mobile phase may require long to equilibrate.)

3. On sample preparation
Filter samples, 0.2um or 0.45 syringe filters, guard column
Sample cleanup, SPE, protein precipitation and so on.

3. On column storage
Never store columns with buffers, in long term.

Flush with 10 column volumes of mobile phase without buffer to remove buffer and salts.
Flush with 10 column volumes of mutually miscible solvent such as Methanol and ACN.
Flush with 20 column volumes of strong solvent, THF or IPA to remove strongly adsorbed sample components.
Reverse the process and equilibrate with mobile phase.
(Who has the time to do that?!)

Typical solvent storage conditions for silica-based columns:
Reverse phase: ACN/Water (65:35)
Normal phase: IPA or hexane
Ion-exchange: Methanol
SEC or Diol: 0.05% NaN3 in Water or 10% Methanol

With good column care maintenance, you can
- extend column lifetimes
- ensure optimal column performance
- minimizes downtime!

Till next time.

Stress is an understatement

I came to a realization.

As a field service engineer, you basically have to say goodbye to life.

Tons of readings after work to handle odd complaints.

What seemed perfectly normal to me is deemed as instrument failure to user.

Too paranoid.

How can I better convince customers otherwise?

그냥...

How long more do I need, to become the person I want to be?

It's an endless marathon.

Troubleshooting #1: Plunger homing fault (1)

I performed a PM today and an error pops out when I attempted to reboot the instrument. And I saw "Plunger homing fault (1)".

The instrument worked fine before I started the PM. Checked the history and darn. Some related errors reported before... Basically the instrument could not restart, and hanged during initialization. Can't even do a dry/wet prime or anything.

I was reluctant to replace the torpedo because we had a really tight timeline this week. The torpedo needs a few hours to replace, together with some diagnostic tests. Error suggests the motor drive may have some internal problem. Could also have been other problems like the cable (shorting), encoder or PCB, or the fuse blown. Anyway... After rebooting the instrument a few times, I was losing hope.

I decided to give it one last try. To the solvent delivery system, please 'see' the home position of the plunger! Shook the torpedo a little. Maybe it helps. Maybe something was stuck or dislodged, and needed a little knock. Maybe...

"Initializing needle and syringe..."
"Initializing carousel..."
.
.
"Idle" (!) It worked!

Let's do a wet prime and run a flow. ...Plungers working fine!
Couldn't believe it. Let's try restarting the system, again. No more plunger homing error.

Amazed that problem was fixed by just shaking it. Sounds stupid, but it worked. Plausible that something was out of alignment, and shaking it brought it back to its rightful position.

Moral of the story: Don't be too quick to jump into conclusion. I almost wasted 4-5 hours. It's a lucky day.


Update March 2017.
Since I've been getting a lot more views on this topic, I will add more information to it.

What users do:
Loosen the inline filter before restarting the instrument
Inline filter of the pump is where all the particles are accumulated at, there could have been too much particles that it is blocking the movement of the plungers, from returning to its home position.

Hard truths

Like any other employees, what we value most in a job are, job satisfaction, environment, people, learning curve.

But from industry's point of view, nobody gives a damn about your learning process.

As long as you can't produce result, you're in for deep trouble.

And nobody cares about how overwhelmed you are.

The tears and sweat you put in.

Everyone is just jumping into meaningless conclusions, I wonder if there is anyone who is truly neutral about this situation.

The last thing we need is to put people down, we really should help each other to drive this issue forward.

I don't know what's gonna happen to this person. But I foresee the same thing might happen to me in the next few years or so.

Thought of the day

There is always something to learn from everyone (okay, not always but most of the time). If you think it is not worth doing it, then you're missing on a great chance to learn.

Little sacrifices in life

Looking at my piano hands, they are now chapped and bruised...

Feeling a little sad.

Because I need a rice bowl, house, and living.

But such is the life of an engineer.

On difficult people at work

Some people blamed you for a mistake that you shouldn't have made.
Because they were unwilling to share their knowledge and teach you in the first place.
Then they even tried ways to take advantage of your skills.
Isn't it frustrating?

Signs of insecurity and selfishness.
It is the need to hold on to power.
Spitefully throwing people off who are perceived as threats.
Politics or immaturity?

I was more disgusted when this person had a 180 degree change in attitude,
after I submitted my resignation.
Pretty amazed at how immediate she changed her stance.
Suddenly those past events never seemed to have happened.

Talking to an ex-colleague the other day,
I felt comforted that I wasn't alone in this.
Now, there will always be a tinge of abhorrence whenever I think about it.
I just want to look forward to my new life.



Why do I feel so poetic.

我毕业了。

结束了一段旅程。这不是句点，而是新未知的开始。坚持到最后，总会看见一道曙光。

On part-time studies

Because no employer will support you when you need some time off for your Masters exams and whatever crap. 

But you will grow to be a greater person after passing through this difficult time. 

화이팅.

My views on Pink Dot

I was rather disturbed by the recent slew of events.
Pink dot --- Championing for the 'freedom to love'.
Okay choose whoever you love, that's none of my business.

But Lawrence Khong and followers were pitting against pink dot. They were perturbing, insulting and defaming. These are their main (and weak) arguments:

1) They have no renewal, and we have serious issues of declining births.

It is a fact that homosexuals will never have offsprings.

How about heterosexual couples who are married, but choose not to have children? Or singles who choose not to get married? Why don't you oppose these childless couples and singles instead?


Look at the root cause. High cost of living and lack of work life balance are real reasons for the lack of offspring. How many percentage do homosexuals contribute to? Why don't you champion for lower cost of living? And champion for arranged marriage like how it works in India, so everyone sets up a happy family?


2) Statistics show that they are causes of HIV and STDs 
It is more correct to say premarital sex, multiple sex partners and needles sharing are the root causes. Please get this clear.


3) Being homosexual is against nature
There are, and always have been outliers existing in nature. That's nature. How about eradicating autistic children, the down syndromes, or the albino lion?


My point
Love is a feeling, you can't dictate your feelings, who you want or don't want to love. Common sense. So why restrict who people love? Can you stop loving your mother? Your father? Your husband / wife / boyfriend / girlfriend / teacher / dog?  

I'm totally turned off by how Lawrence Khong try to spread homophobia messages. Our society has come so far, building tolerance and acceptance within the community.

Wear white and you will take many steps backwards.

There are more urgent issues at hand, so stop making a mountain out of a molehill.

Public servants may not openly comment on Government policies

Source: The Real Singapore

On one hand, a staff of RP received an email (19 November 2013) regarding proper code of conduct, most strikingly not being able to openly comment on government policies.

On the other hand we have Ms Pushparani Nadarajah criticizing the Government statement in a 200 crowd at the Asia Education Expo (21 November 2013). "How many of our leaders and top officers who say that every school is a good school put their children in ordinary schools near their home? (Only) until they actually do so are parents going to buy (it)."

I was hoping to see a response by the government. But, duh, it's only natural that they keep silent on this.

Our education in a nutshell

Source: http://www.quickmeme.com/p/3vpax2

I know this is practically applicable to every other countries in the world.
This is flawed, but there is no better solution.
Baby steps are taken to change it - though drastic changes will not happen in near future.

Albert Einstein trivials

Did you know --- that Einstein... other than being best known for his E=mc2, he was a violin player too?

In one of my assignments, I had to write about the life story of a famous physicist. Initially I had picked Louis De Broglie, but after reading pages and pages, his life was too boring, or perhaps not very well-documented. Other than he had a brother who was working with X-rays helped him to think about the duality of particles and waves, there's nothing else much exciting enough to get me fill up 2 pages of words.

Why not pick someone who is more famously known? Perhaps Einstein?

And wow... I could not stop reading. There are so much about him that I am not sure if I am missing out any important stuff. I think his life... would make an interesting essay.

With some of my thoughts and interpretation, here it goes.

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid¹.” Famously quoted by Einstein, this was known to suggest each unique individual excels differently. True enough, the legendary physicist too had his fair share of struggles – he was a late developer in speech deliveries; he failed his entrance examinations at age of sixteen and his violin skills were debatably amateurish.²

From Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses – p. 98

Besides physics, his greatest passions were music and violin. Einstein picked up the violin since young, much to the influence by his pianist mother. But he did not relish it. His love for music was only ignited by Mozart’s sonatas much later, and in his lifetime he often socialised by performing chamber music to some private audience³. If only he could bestow similar faithfulness to his wife as he did to his violin ‘Lina’ ⁴ – his love life was however much promiscuous.

With his mediocre looks and his dishevelled hairstyle, it was surprisingly incredible that he was well-embraced by ladies. From having an illegitimate daughter, he married, re-married, cheated on his second wife with his secretary, and had recorded 6 other women he loved^5,6. He was nonetheless blessed to be born a German. If he were born a Chinese, historically he would have already been tied to a pig cage and thrown into the Yellow River for adultery in that period of time.

Like the women in his love affairs, his theory of relativity was likewise as alluring. In 1905, that was one of the most significant years in the field of physics. He brought apparently unrelated elements together and laid the foundations that energy (E) was directly proportional to mass (m), with speed of light (c) as a constant⁷. He became best known for his E=mc², although he was not awarded the Nobel Prize of this.

Fast forward to World War II, he facilitated the development of the atomic bomb. He endorsed a letter to the then President Franklin Roosevelt of United States, urging the development of Uranium bombs. With Adolf Hitler’s territorial ambitions a massive threat, they agreed that they could not let the Germans lead the construction of the atomic bomb. However afterwards he was excluded from bomb project as the research team could not trust him to keep the secret.

In the makings of the atomic bomb, we could relate how E=mc² was utilized in the Uranium chain reaction. The researchers knew the mass of Uranium before fission, and the mass of the elements that will result after splitting of the nucleus, with the latter being slightly less massive. The missing mass would be converted to the total energy of the explosion:

(E)  Energy of explosion = (m) Missing mass  x (c ²) speed of light ²  

That is a huge amount of energy for this little change in mass. The United States finally bombed Japan, 3 months after the surrender of Germany in 1945, killing 80,000 casualties, injuring more people with burns, radiation sickness, and other damages.

As a lifelong pacifist, Einstein regretted his role in signing the letter that recommended atomic bombs be made. Throughout his years, he published more than 300 papers, with over 150 political and humanitarian topics. He eventually died of heart failure, alone on his deathbed.

References:

[1] Matthew Kelly. Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose, The Rhythm of Life, 2004, p. 80.

[2] Eric Koch. Einstein the Violinist — Did He Really Play So Badly? Sketches. 2012, retrieved from http://erickoch.ca/

[3] Arthur L. Miller. A Genius Finds Inspiration in the Music of Another. The New York Times. 2006, retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

[4] Josh Jones. The Musical Mind of Albert Einstein: Great Physicist, Amateur Violinist and Devotee of Mozart. Open Culture. 2013, retrieved from http://www.openculture.com

[5] Deborah Arthurs. Was Einstein the world’s worst husband? Wife ordered to keep room tidy, serve three meals a day – but expect NO affection… and she must stop talking when he demands it. Dailymail. 2012, retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk

[6] NBC News. New letters shed light on Einstein’s love life. NBC News. 2006, retrieved from http://www.nbcews.com

[7] Albert Einstein. Does the inertia of a body depend upon its energy-content? Annals of Physics. 1905, 18:639