22 October 2010
Exhausted
I was honestly so tired I have no idea what happened last night, other than the fact that I somehow arranged things so I could go home early.
21 October 2010
Next week we go back to 12s for real
When you are used to working 10 to 6 and you have to work 6 to 6, it can be a little rough getting to work the first day, but once you get through the first hour or so, it doesn't seem like you're there any longer than usual. When you are used to working 10 to 6 and you have to work 10 to 10, it feels like your shift will never, ever end.
Last night I worked the wrong twelve hours. Twelve bag in a box audits. Not much else. Easy night that felt like the longest, busiest stretch imaginable.
Last night I worked the wrong twelve hours. Twelve bag in a box audits. Not much else. Easy night that felt like the longest, busiest stretch imaginable.
20 October 2010
Extended Shelf Life
We test the shelf life, presumably of all of our products, but in the lab specifically, we test the shelf life of our ESL gable top carton products, namely milk and a couple of kinds of soy. (Also 4oz products recently, but that's another story.)
The company is currently doing a study to determine if we can extend the shelf life another five days. Basically that means that for however long they are studying, we are supposed to check the taste, odor and pH of a carton of milk per side per filler per flavor per codedate exactly 65 days after production.
Our shelf life test cartons are stored in the lab cooler. There are sections for each shift, but beyond that, cartons are basically put anywhere and then things are piled on top and it becomes a chore to find them 65 days later. People also tend to see all these cartons of milk and think, "ooh, I could use some 2% right now..." and the cartons disappear or sit open and half empty until testing. Ew.
Last night, MH and I (mostly her) organized the ESL shelf life.
We threw out overdue cartons, paired up same flavor same code, put everything on the correct shelves and put them in order by date.
It was about two full hours in a refrigerator. Awesome.
The company is currently doing a study to determine if we can extend the shelf life another five days. Basically that means that for however long they are studying, we are supposed to check the taste, odor and pH of a carton of milk per side per filler per flavor per codedate exactly 65 days after production.
Our shelf life test cartons are stored in the lab cooler. There are sections for each shift, but beyond that, cartons are basically put anywhere and then things are piled on top and it becomes a chore to find them 65 days later. People also tend to see all these cartons of milk and think, "ooh, I could use some 2% right now..." and the cartons disappear or sit open and half empty until testing. Ew.
Last night, MH and I (mostly her) organized the ESL shelf life.
We threw out overdue cartons, paired up same flavor same code, put everything on the correct shelves and put them in order by date.
It was about two full hours in a refrigerator. Awesome.
19 October 2010
OK, DK
DK can be an utter bastard sometimes, but other nights he is chatty and funny and wants to be everyone's best friend.
Last night was a chatty-friendly night. When he is in that mood, he tends to stop one person and talk to them without pause for far too long.
Twice last night he trapped me and wouldn't shut up until I was late for an audit.
I can't interrupt him because he's my boss, but shouldn't he know I have work to do? He's the one who's going to yell at me when it's not done.
Last night was a chatty-friendly night. When he is in that mood, he tends to stop one person and talk to them without pause for far too long.
Twice last night he trapped me and wouldn't shut up until I was late for an audit.
I can't interrupt him because he's my boss, but shouldn't he know I have work to do? He's the one who's going to yell at me when it's not done.
18 October 2010
Five o'clock five day
For four lab techs, there was very little work to go around last night. Whether it is a slow night of not, I like to get all of the dailys and micro testing done as early as possible and then relax if it stays slow.
I did everything I could early. It didn't get really busy later on, but it definitely picked up in the last hour. It mostly got busy because SK didn't realize she had two kinds of five day until the end of our shift, left an 0330 check and an 0145 plating sample until about 0530, and had a start-up.
And that kind of insanity is why, yeah, I get annoyed when everyone's sitting around chatting halfway through the shift with work sitting in front of them not getting done.
I did everything I could early. It didn't get really busy later on, but it definitely picked up in the last hour. It mostly got busy because SK didn't realize she had two kinds of five day until the end of our shift, left an 0330 check and an 0145 plating sample until about 0530, and had a start-up.
And that kind of insanity is why, yeah, I get annoyed when everyone's sitting around chatting halfway through the shift with work sitting in front of them not getting done.
17 October 2010
Thermal overload
The most important test on most of our products other than white milk is total solids.
The machines we use to measure total solids can also measure moisture. Moisture and solids make up 100% of a product. The moisture percentage is 100 - total solids; the solids percentage is 100 - moisture.
Simple enough?
The machines default mode is moisture, even though we don't use that setting at all. One of these machines had an error last night (thermal overload, happens when the machine gets rated with the cover not locked closed. To fix the error message, you turn it off, wait a minute, and turn it back on. When it turns back on, it is in moisture mode.
For a soup whose solids are approximately 2.85, the readings if you don't change the settings say 97.15 M.
The tech testing this soup didn't know about the thermal overload and somehow read the 97.15 as .97. She called the tetra supervisor because the solids were less than half of what they should be!
Both lines got shut down, they were running to check the raw tank, get a line fill, find the problem. How could the solids drop out like that and the salt still be okay?
They figured it out eventually, but the panic and chaos caused because someone just wasn't paying that much attention? Hilarious.
The machines we use to measure total solids can also measure moisture. Moisture and solids make up 100% of a product. The moisture percentage is 100 - total solids; the solids percentage is 100 - moisture.
Simple enough?
The machines default mode is moisture, even though we don't use that setting at all. One of these machines had an error last night (thermal overload, happens when the machine gets rated with the cover not locked closed. To fix the error message, you turn it off, wait a minute, and turn it back on. When it turns back on, it is in moisture mode.
For a soup whose solids are approximately 2.85, the readings if you don't change the settings say 97.15 M.
The tech testing this soup didn't know about the thermal overload and somehow read the 97.15 as .97. She called the tetra supervisor because the solids were less than half of what they should be!
Both lines got shut down, they were running to check the raw tank, get a line fill, find the problem. How could the solids drop out like that and the salt still be okay?
They figured it out eventually, but the panic and chaos caused because someone just wasn't paying that much attention? Hilarious.
16 October 2010
Blind Samples
With our allergen testing program, we are required to test a set of blind samples each week and send our results to the soy company to prove we're doing it correctly.
I have been trained in allergen testing for something like five months now. There are only six lab techs currently trained to do allergens, including myself. I repeat, blind samples are tested on a weekly basis.
I tested blind samples for the first time two nights ago!
I was a little concerned that I would fail them, not sure I filled out the paperwork correctly, kind of hoping I'd fail and get kicked off the task...
Walking in last night, DK pulled me aside and asked me if I would do more allergen testing. Apparently, I aced the blinds and now KS is freaking out about how good I am at allergens.
I have been trained in allergen testing for something like five months now. There are only six lab techs currently trained to do allergens, including myself. I repeat, blind samples are tested on a weekly basis.
I tested blind samples for the first time two nights ago!
I was a little concerned that I would fail them, not sure I filled out the paperwork correctly, kind of hoping I'd fail and get kicked off the task...
Walking in last night, DK pulled me aside and asked me if I would do more allergen testing. Apparently, I aced the blinds and now KS is freaking out about how good I am at allergens.
15 October 2010
Boop
Junior has this habit of imitating any noise she hears.
When the phone rings, she repeats the ring before answering it.
This little quirk is funny as heck, but also seems to be contagious. It's not just Junior anymore.
Everytime the phone rings on third shift, "boooop," every lab tech in the room repeats, "boooop."
When the phone rings, she repeats the ring before answering it.
This little quirk is funny as heck, but also seems to be contagious. It's not just Junior anymore.
Everytime the phone rings on third shift, "boooop," every lab tech in the room repeats, "boooop."
13 October 2010
Monthly
I had very little to do last night and Junior refused to let me help her.
DK said he had a task for me and handed me a stack of papers.
What he handed me was a checklist (two, actually) that are completed on a monthly basis as part of our SQF compliance. They go through a list of items and the person filling it out must check if the department is compliant or not, and if not must record details and corrective action. The items include cleanliness and whether all the lights are functioning and if the ceiling leaks and if employees wash their hands after using the restroom (how DK would know if the six women under his supervision wash their hands in the bathroom is beyond me).
I have completed these checklists before. In fact, I filled them out just a couple of weeks ago.
I said, "Okay, DK, but didn't I already do these?"
He says, "When?"
I say, "I don't know, maybe two weeks ago?"
..."What month was it two weeks ago, RC?"
ohhhh.
Everything was good, except I checked no for the cleanliness of the floors, walls and ceilings and then had to scrub them so DK could fill in the corrective action was completed.
DK said he had a task for me and handed me a stack of papers.
What he handed me was a checklist (two, actually) that are completed on a monthly basis as part of our SQF compliance. They go through a list of items and the person filling it out must check if the department is compliant or not, and if not must record details and corrective action. The items include cleanliness and whether all the lights are functioning and if the ceiling leaks and if employees wash their hands after using the restroom (how DK would know if the six women under his supervision wash their hands in the bathroom is beyond me).
I have completed these checklists before. In fact, I filled them out just a couple of weeks ago.
I said, "Okay, DK, but didn't I already do these?"
He says, "When?"
I say, "I don't know, maybe two weeks ago?"
..."What month was it two weeks ago, RC?"
ohhhh.
Everything was good, except I checked no for the cleanliness of the floors, walls and ceilings and then had to scrub them so DK could fill in the corrective action was completed.
12 October 2010
Start-up sheet
I was in the zone formerly known as pudding last night. The flavor had just changed to chocolate before my shift started. There was about eight hours worth of chocolate pudding to run. (Incidentally, it ended three minutes before my shift did.)
At the beginning of any run, the lab tech is required to sign off on a list of items (the product looks right, the case code is correct, the solids are good, the cups weigh the right amount, etc) and deliver that sheet to the person operating the pudding line.
Often, someone will call looking for the start-up sheet two minutes after they start, when the beginning samples are still sitting there and they can actually see that the lab tech has not gotten samples yet, let alone finished testing them.
Other times, the lab tech (i.e. moi) brings the start-up sheet down halfway through the run and hands it to the operator, who looks from the sheet to me as if I am trying to hand her an enormous spider. Or at least an uncapped needle. Essentially, looking at me as if I am crazy, she has no idea why I want her to have this thing, and she really wishes I would just disappear.
Guess which one happened last night?
At the beginning of any run, the lab tech is required to sign off on a list of items (the product looks right, the case code is correct, the solids are good, the cups weigh the right amount, etc) and deliver that sheet to the person operating the pudding line.
Often, someone will call looking for the start-up sheet two minutes after they start, when the beginning samples are still sitting there and they can actually see that the lab tech has not gotten samples yet, let alone finished testing them.
Other times, the lab tech (i.e. moi) brings the start-up sheet down halfway through the run and hands it to the operator, who looks from the sheet to me as if I am trying to hand her an enormous spider. Or at least an uncapped needle. Essentially, looking at me as if I am crazy, she has no idea why I want her to have this thing, and she really wishes I would just disappear.
Guess which one happened last night?
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