Story of Thursday nights in the lab

4 pm: Thesis defense of a student in another lab

5 pm: Congratulatory reception

6 pm: Dinner with a friend from college

7:30: Leave restaurant, full, happy, and ready to go back to lab to set up a program to run overnight.

7:31: Invitation from a grad friend to commiserate over stressful week; offer of free drink

7:33: Arrive at restaurant #2

8pm: Leave restaurant, happy, mildly bloated, and ready to go back to the lab

8:10: Arrive at the lab to find a fellow student also working "the evening shift." Catch up and laugh about labwork.

8:20: Sit down at computer

8:25: Remember what it is that you came in to do; scrutinize appropriate files

8:40: Realize you overlooked a certain factor when making the original file; begin to format a new input file

9pm: Search for the original versions of raw data files to use for the new input file that were made >2years ago

9:03: Eat remains of stale brownie you had been meaning to remove from your desk drawer

9:19: Incorporate all data into a new input file

9:20: Program crashes, losing new input file

10pm: Save recreated new input file in three directories

10:10: Attempt to load recreated new input file into analysis software program

10:12: Program reports error when trying to read file

10:23 Having determined what the problem with the input is, go back to recreated new input file and fix it by referencing the original raw data

10:30: Discover duplicate file names, panic

10:31: Realize that duplicates may be copies of each other

10:32: Determine that duplicates are not copies of one another, panic

10:33: Advil

10:45: Working through your tears, confirm that duplicate files are indeed identical copies, except one has extra characters/gaps/etc at the end

10:46: Beer

11:00: Finish recreated new input file with duplicates removed

11:05: Watch YouTube videos with labmate

11:20: Recovered from your crisis, reorganize folder and delete incorrect files

11:30: Load input file into analysis software program

11:32: Run analysis; labmate singalong

11:45: Receive output file. Click Save without remembering to change the default folder

11:55: Find the output file in SoftwareAnalysis/folders/data/analysis/defaults/temp

11:56: Save output file in 6 backup locations

11:58: Wake up from adrenaline-crash, post-elation-induced mininap, check email

12:01: Realize that you forgot to include reference/control/other critical sample data in recreated duplicates deleted input file

12:02: Despair.