Documenting a Day

A Day in My Life 

12:00 PM: As a second shift, microbiology medical technologist, my day begins waking up at noon most days. My boyfriend is a plant enthusiast, so I usually get roped into his daily activities for an hour or two usually which include:  

• Watering and pruning plants, 
• Inspecting plants for bug infestations, 
• Making cuttings of various plants to propagate, and 
• Repotting seedlings into bigger containers. 

1:00 PM: I eat something quick for breakfast usually some sort of fruit. 

1:30 PM: I shower and get ready for work.  

2:30 PM – 11 PM: I work either the urine, throat, or EIA (stool) bench.  

• Urine: I release sensitivities to urine culture work ups.  

• Throat: I release if there’s any pathogenic beta hemolytic strep present on the culture. 

• EIA: I test stools (Total-Fix, Cary Blair, Formalin, and Raw Stool) for various tests. 

• Giardia- A kind of parasite that can be found mature or as eggs in stool. It is spread person to person or through contaminated water, food, surfaces, or objects. 
• EHEC- A Shiga toxin is released from E. coli 0157 and is measured to determine if an infection is present. This toxin damages the intestinal wall and causes cramping and diarrhea. 

This week I worked to validate a new test for the EIA bench that determines if cryptosporidium, a parasite, is present in stool. To do this I had to perform: 

• An inter-assay test which involves testing the variance between runs for the QC.  
• An intra-assay test which involves testing a QC in triplicate within the same plate. 
• 75 sample tests which included positive and negatives from total-fix, Cary Blair, and formalin stools. These sample results had to match the results of the previous method used to detect the presence of cryptosporidium.  

11:30 PM: I arrive home, and I usually eat something.  

12:00 AM: I vacuum religiously. I do it multiple times throughout the day too. My friends claim I have a problem with vacuuming. During this time, I try to convince myself to do other chores like wash dishes, laundry, or clean the bathroom.  

1:00 AM – 3:00 AM: I added to my routine to attempt to read my assigned reading and do my homework. If I don’t do it during this time, I usually cut the plant activities in the afternoon before work.  

3:00 AM – 5:00 AM: My boyfriend gets home, and we hang out. This week we finished Invincible on Amazon Prime. If we’re not watching something we’re playing games like Valheim, War Selection, Project Zomboid, or Divinity. 

5:00 AM- 12:00 PM: Precious sleep.  

 

Role of Applications Reflection 

• Compare the functions of word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications. 

• Word processor is an application used for creating formatted text but has adapted to be able to include images. Users can format text by changing the font or size. Word processors also allow users to adjust margins and add hyperlinks as well.  
• Spreadsheet is an application used to represent tables of data. This data can then be manipulated into graphs or used to calculate other data with formulas such as sum, average, or percentages.  
• Presentation is an application used to create a slideshow of text and images with animation and transitions. These animations can have their sequence and speed edited. In presentation, users can still format text like a word processor would but also add in audio or video. Presentation is usually used for an audience and is displayed on a big screen.  
• Database applications organize data for efficient information retrieval. A database is a collection of data, usually organized in a table format. Common database operations are adding new data, editing existing data, deleting data, and querying database for information retrieval. In a database, a column is a field which is the basic unit of data stored and a record is a row which is a group of related fields. 

• Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each application. 

• Word is great for summarizing information for easy reading, but it lacks audio interest.  
• Excel is great for compiling information into graphical representations and making calculations based on tables, but lacks explanations and requires users to extrapolate the information instead.  
• PowerPoint is good for compiling information from both Word documents and Excel’s graphs and tables. It keeps the user attention better with audio and visual additions with animations. The disadvantage is that information can be easily lost or forgotten if the presenter did not write what was discussed on the slide or on the note of the slide.   
• Database applications are good for fast information retrieval based on certain criteria defined by the user. The disadvantage to this application is the possibility of user error with wrong key terms interfering with the ability to query information satisfactorily. 

• Recommend the application software that was most appropriate for documenting the information about your day. 

• I feel like Word was the most appropriate for documenting my day. It was the least time consuming to complete but also provided enough detail for the reader. I could’ve also added photos if I wanted for extra emphasis, but I decided that was a little distracting. Excel was good for the percent breakdown of my day, but anyone reading the graph wouldn't know much else about my day without text or graphics. PowerPoint was the most eye-catching, but it requires presenting the information that does not fit on the slide. If it’s not presented, then the extra information needs to be included in the notes section beneath the slides. PowerPoint was the most time-consuming when it came to formatting because of all the pictures, animation, and transitions. 

• Describe at least one additional scenario where that application would be most useful for each application type. 

• Word processor was useful for writing my economics paper last class. I use it to write my resumes and cover letters.  
• Spreadsheet was incredibly important for doing my physics lab calculations and creating graphs for my reports. I also use spreadsheet with formulas to help create financial budgets. Work uses spreadsheets to make graphical representations of our metrics.  
• Presentation is used during our work meetings to discuss metrics and any new standard operating procedure changes. 
• Databases have been useful for finding scholarly articles for my essays.