New Toys And A New Team Member

Getting new equipment (not new-to-us, which has been the standard) last week was like Christmas to me.  Corporate has been putting a lot of money into the Education Department recently and I have to say, I'm not at all upset about that, especially since in the past few weeks, we've received three new microscopes, a new autoclave (the one I've been drooling over for years) and a new EKG machine (which I haven't had a chance yet to play with, but will with my class next week).  Each new "present" from Corporate makes me happy, but the newest arrivals 'bout had me peeing my pants in joy.  The delivery guy laughed his ass off at me, because I was literally jumping up and down clapping my hands in delight.

This is what our old exam tables looked like:

They weren't horrible by any means.  They were "gently used" by a local family practice and were perfectly functional.  We have used them for the last three years and had nary a complaint.  I was happy to have them, as I think the students need to learn to use the equipment they're going to see in an office.

The new exam tables, however, are amazing!  They make my lab look so much more professional.  The lab now looks like how I'd envisioned it when I started piecing it together a few years ago.

We can do pretty much anything in this lab now.  Okay, we could before, I made sure of that, but it's like getting your first "grown up" furniture after living with your college cast-off furniture.  (You can see the new microscopes lined up proudly on the back counter.)

In addition to the new medical equiment, we have a new Education team member.  We've anxiously been awaiting his arrival.  His office has been arranged and waiting for him for two weeks. 

Finally, on Thursday afternoon, Prince Charming arrived at his new office in the Education Department.

On Friday, Prince Charming was a very naughty boy and got stuck in his resin tree stump.  Our IT God and I had to destroy his resin tree stump to get him out and he was *pissed*!  That's why I can't get a good picture of his cute little face.  Every time I tried to get into his office to take a picture, he'd turn his back on me.

When he's less pissed off at me, I'll see if I can't get a better picture.  He actually belongs to our Academic Advisor, Amanda, but we all love him to pieces.  He honestly has helped to bridge the distance between a few of the Education team members as we all pulled together to get his office built and ready for his arrival.  Who would have thought that a cute little tree frog could pull together a slightly fractured team?