[Histonet] Re: Polyester wax (with earlier citations)

Thu May 6 04:12:08 CDT 2004

Hi Bryan, Paul.

Did you ever put mince pie in the incubators at Christmas? We did and I had
a very nasty surprise one year when I tasted one and found that someone had
put a block for reprocessing into xylene in the incubator. No a pleaseant
taste. I remember one very embarrasing incident. We had a pathologist who
performed skin tests on her patients in her office. For a laugh, one guy
brought a gorilla hand glove in, put it on and wrapped his hand in a towel
and we rushed to her office, one knock, and I burst in and
exclaimed..'Tess, quick look at Tony's hand he's hurt it' Looking round
anxiously at the cover hand, Tony wipped the towel off and we burst out
laughing. Tess looked passed us to the corner. There sat a confused and
alarmed patient. We beat a hasty retreat, still laughing!

Did you have a dress code? We had to wear shirt and tie-just in case we
bumped into a patient in the corridor. Mind, that phased out in the early
80's, though it has stuck with me and I still wear a tie to this day.

Did you ever experience the feeling of dread when you placed you beloved
knife on the kemit plate only to see a a string of copper curl up onto the
bevel? In the panic, people never managed to find the right button to turn
it off. And the there was the furtive look to see if anyone had noticed. We
bought a Temtool knife sharpener when they first came out. Arrrr, the fun
we  had with it. Trying to get the spirit level right, trying to buff the
edge with out cutting the diamond strip. The patholgist i mentioned in a
previous message, actually tried to sharpen his pen-knife in the thing, by
holding it against the wheels. The bade got caught, was dragged out of his
hand and had the blade snalled into 3 pieces. Miraculously, he wasn't
injured.

Cheers

Steve

                      "Bryan Hewlett"                                                                                                                
                      <bhewlett <@t> cogeco.ca>                   To:      "Paul Bradbury" <histology.bc <@t> shaw.ca>                                         
                      Sent by:                               Stephen Eyres/GB-ALNWICK/RESEARCH/SANOFI <@t> Research                                       
                      histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouth         "HistoNet Server" <histonet <@t> pathology.swmed.edu>                                        
                      western.edu                            cc:                                                                                     
                                                             Subject: Re: [Histonet] Re: Polyester wax (with earlier citations)                      

                      06/05/2004 01:11                                                                                                               

Hi Paul,

Lots of good times;
but you forgot about the blistered finger tips from sticking those wax
blocks on wooden blocks(the smaller the block-the bigger the blister!), and
all the hand processing, which mainly involved much frantic dashing about
twirling multiple pots of tissue to provide agitation!
Who can forget about mouth pipetting whilst eating sandwiches at the
staining bench and brewing the tea over a bunsen during waiting times!
If I recall correctly, the pipes were full of either St. Bruno flake or
'Herbal' tobacco and between chuffs of smoke, most of the conversation was
punctuated by phrases such as "eh up", "y'whot", "gerroff" and "owd ya
tight", interspersed with "cool man", "crazy daddy" and "all gone". Ahhh...
sweet memories.

Bryan Hewlett
Hamilton, Ont.
Canada
(formerly Nottingham, England)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Bradbury" <histology.bc <@t> shaw.ca>
To: <Stephen.Eyres <@t> sanofi-synthelabo.com>; "HistoNet Server"
<histonet <@t> pathology.swmed.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 3:32 PM
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Re: Polyester wax (with earlier citations)

> Hi Steve,
>
> Your descriptions bring back a flood of memories ... the wax tea pot,
> Leukhart's embedding rings, sticking the blocks onto wooden blocks,
> taking them off again at the end of the day, etc. Safety precautions had
> not even been invented in those days. When I first started in Histology,
> there were five of us in the lab and every single one smoked a pipe. So,
> embedding, trimming and sticking on the blocks involved three of us ...
> all chuffing out smoke. The conversations that took place during these
> times were priceless. Sadly, this opportunity was lost with the advent
> of automated embedding centres..
>
> All solvents went down the drain, old specimens were dumped into the
> sink to allow the formalin to drain away. There was no fume hood, so the
> formalin fumes were thick enough to cut with a knife. In retrospect,
> dumping solvents and fixatives down the drain was not the best idea!...
> but at the time, that was standard practice. However, despite these
> horrendous practices, we are all still alive and well, and all went on
> to accept senior positions around the world..
>
> There were no productivity units to count, no QC/QA demands (apart from
> self-imposed ones), no intrusions from mis-guided administrators. We had
> time to work on our own projects, investigate new procedures, and read
> journals looking for new methods. We made all of our own reagents from
> scratch (hematoxylin, Schiff's reagent, fixatives, etc) We sharpened our
> own knives. The camaraderie was wonderful, there was no bitching or
> whining, going for a beer at lunchtime was a routine practice. We did a
> great job, we went home happy, and provided great service
>
> I would not give up the new developments in Histology
> (immunohistochemistry, monoclonal antibodies, disposable knives, or
> automated stainers, etc ) they have produced quantum leaps in quality
> and diagnostic accuracy, but I sometimes I despair that the new
> generation of technologists have missed out on an invaluable learning
> experience.
>
> I firmly believe that I am a better histologist from my experience ...
> if something didn't work there was no service rep to call for advice, it
> was up to us to figure it out. The most respected "mentors" on the
> Histonet (who I won't name to avoid embarrasing them, but you know who I
> mean) are all the product of this bygone age of Histology. The Histonet
> serves a great purpose as a knowledge base and resource for advice, but
> there is no substitute for self-motivated learning.  The books and
> journals are all out there ... waiting.
>
> Okay, I am done. Time to get down off my soapbox. The sermon is ended,
>
> Paul Bradbury
> Kamloops, BC
> Canada
> (formerly Nottingham, England)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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