I just sort of lost my new job: Ask me anything!

[Ediacara]

[ALago1]

1. So uh...what happened?

n/t

[Ediacara]

3. The building I work in is a deathtrap

It's the second oldest building on our campus, and was constructed by people I can only assume were idiots. Its foundation was layed IN an underground spring, and as a result, the walls in the basement have a major water seapage problem.

This was worst in the Map Room (you think that they'd NOT store maps in the wettest room in building...), which had recently been converted to a paleo lab.

Because the floor of the lab was wet and actually freezing into ice (!), the university finally decided, ok, it's time to do something about that.

They tore out a hole in the floor, and tore back drywall in an attempt to install a sump pump.

Instead they found very bad mold (Staphobachi or something that sounds similar to that), and LOTS OF IT.

The mold, by the way, had been known about for three years and had been ignored by the university despite numerous requests for removal by the department....

Anyway, so they get the test results back and it's a total panic, and they make us clean out everything from the basement in less than a day and plan to quarenteen the entire basement. Seven people had their offices down there, and there were a lot of things that just can't be put "just anywhere" like rock saws!

So anyway, the plan is to seal off the basement in plastic and vaccuum out the spores, tear out the drywall etc and then re-test.

But the problem is, all the teaching collection specimens are still in basement because they were stored in the paleo lab/map room. I can't have access to them for possibly even six weeks! Not to mention the professor that actually NEEDS them for class......

Anyway, I may still be working in some other capacity, and hopefully they'll be able to solve the mold problem so I can at least get the specimens moved before six weeks from now, but hell, it could be the whole rest of the semester for all I know....

Not to mention during the safety meeting I learned that 1) the asbestos pipe insulation is never going to be replaced 2) chemicals actually precipitate out of the drywall (the building used to be the chemistry building) and 3) the foundation on the entire north end of the building is inundated with water and is esentially sand.

Plus there are no fire alarms or sprinklers!

And to think I would spend as many as 8 hours each day in the basement!

[pagerbear]

5. What a nightmare!

Sounds like what my friend went through when they started drilling and chopping the concrete floor in his basement office. He wasn't there at the time, but upon his return he had all sorts of respiratory problems--not to mention a severe nosebleed all over a very expensive sweater! No one at this institution (an institution of higher learning) had any clue about OSHA regulations or anything.

[Ediacara]

7. At the safety meeting today

The professors were pretty agitated with the safety guy. Safety guy claims that this is the first he's heard of mold problems (and chemicals precipitating, asbestos etc) in the building.

It's a complete lie, and the issue only came up because the department head overstepped the university and went to the state board of regents to just fix the wet floor problem, and hopefully do something about the mold while they're at it.

It is pretty sucky, three of the people in basement offices have become sick since they've torn out some drywall, but luckily I am not one of them...

[bigwillq]

2. What was your "new" job? n/t

[Ediacara]

4. Cataloguing the paleontology teaching collections

As well as integrating new specimens donated to our university.

[bigwillq]

6. Oh yeah

I knew you did stuff like that. I saw your pics in that pic thread yesterday and saw you out in the field. And dud, your screen name is just a little bit of a hint.

[Ediacara]

8. a lot of people seem to think that

it means "dem in name only", which really anoys me :-)

[cally]

9. Well the good news is that

you will minimize your exposure to the mold. Sorry you lost your job though.

By the way, sometimes it's safer to leave the asbestos alone unless it's 'fryable' (flaky).

[Ediacara]

10. Ya, I am glad I am not sick

But I am pissed because the teaching collections were just moved in there less than a year ago from across town, and now they have to be moved again.

There's no guarentee that they'll be moved by people who understand fossils=fragile, so there's a good chance a lot could be destroyed by idiots who think fossils=rocks....

And as for the asbestos..... it covers pipes that run on he interior of the outer walls, and feed radiators. There are desks right next to them in every classroom, so it's very hard to minimize banging on them, even though they are wrapped etc...