om nom nom chemicals
You know, chemistry is a lot like baking. I don't just mean the mixing of ingredients together in the right order at the right time for the right amount and sometimes adding heat to yield a new product. The way I do a chemistry experiment and the way I bake have remarkable similarities:
I am an expert at neither, but I'm moderately competent; I can get the required product and it turns out all right, although it's not perfect. I require lots of reassurance and will not hesitate to run to find a nearby expert to drag over to make sure I'm doing it right (I am).
Although I try to get all the necessary components in advance, more often than not I'll still be running around to put them together, and maybe there's one I forgot and have to drop everything else to get. I will therefore be checking the procedure after every step.
Despite attempts to be very precise with ingredients, something always spills. More is left on the inside of the measuring utensil when transferring it to another one. I know this is normal, but I always treat it as cause for panic, because what if my measurements are off now? When everything proceeds as expected, I promptly forget all about this.
I never think I've mixed anything enough. It doesn't need any more, really.
I tend to be overly cautious when I need to be precise with timing. This is usually a good thing. Unfortunately, I will often get careless and fail to check as often as humanly possible right when timing is most important, and will miss the moment when I should have been paying attention. I will note this weakness for next time, when I will overcompensate instead.
Any mess I create is minimal and fairly easily cleaned up, but there will be a mess. I leave all the cleaning until the end and have to wash everything at once. Sometimes I remember to do this while waiting for something to be heated to the proper temperature. Sometimes I don't.
There is one thing I have never been able to master, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. It's a rare problem, limited only to me, that I never cease to make self-deprecating jokes about. However, it is worth noting.
That is: there will be water everywhere.
I am an expert at neither, but I'm moderately competent; I can get the required product and it turns out all right, although it's not perfect. I require lots of reassurance and will not hesitate to run to find a nearby expert to drag over to make sure I'm doing it right (I am).
Although I try to get all the necessary components in advance, more often than not I'll still be running around to put them together, and maybe there's one I forgot and have to drop everything else to get. I will therefore be checking the procedure after every step.
Despite attempts to be very precise with ingredients, something always spills. More is left on the inside of the measuring utensil when transferring it to another one. I know this is normal, but I always treat it as cause for panic, because what if my measurements are off now? When everything proceeds as expected, I promptly forget all about this.
I never think I've mixed anything enough. It doesn't need any more, really.
I tend to be overly cautious when I need to be precise with timing. This is usually a good thing. Unfortunately, I will often get careless and fail to check as often as humanly possible right when timing is most important, and will miss the moment when I should have been paying attention. I will note this weakness for next time, when I will overcompensate instead.
Any mess I create is minimal and fairly easily cleaned up, but there will be a mess. I leave all the cleaning until the end and have to wash everything at once. Sometimes I remember to do this while waiting for something to be heated to the proper temperature. Sometimes I don't.
There is one thing I have never been able to master, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. It's a rare problem, limited only to me, that I never cease to make self-deprecating jokes about. However, it is worth noting.
That is: there will be water everywhere.