Life in the Lab: How many years of work are in that waste jar?

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This morning, my employer discovered that her deep freezer had died, and the alarm didn't go off. The device is in the freezer room, where we don't often happen to walk past it, so we have no idea how long it's been nonfunctional - except that some of the samples had started growing mold.

So what I'm doing today? Disposing of spoiled samples, and cleaning dozens of test tubes and litle vials. And keeping my inhaler handy, since I'm allergic to mold spores.