Dear Jim, Victor, Histonetters and Vendors:

I would buy the green racks instantly if they were available.  Jim's
comments are right on the mark.

>>>
-----Original Message-----
From: burch007@mc.duke.edu [mailto:burch007@mc.duke.edu]
Sent: Friday, September 17, 1999 12:54 PM
To: tobiasv@vetmed.wsu.edu
Cc: histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
Subject: Re: Wanted: Green Tissue Tek Staining Racks

Victor,

Oh, what a sore subject. Yes, there are some labs who don't have automatic
coverslippers and like the way the good old green racks lay in the stain
dish,
easier to pick slides out of the rack, or for whatever reason. Sure the new
gray
plastic racks work for HIER techniques. But, for routine work, the others
are
better. Actually, I despise the plastic handle on the gray Sakura racks.

Last spring at the USCAP meeting, I approached the people at Sakura and
asked if
they could bring back the old Tissue Tek racks. It was like talking to a
chalkboard. "Why should we do that when we have a good rack." I got a very
cold
response. I mentioned the same need to a local company and was told it
wasn't
needed because the national trend is moving to automation and a dual purpose
rack system is needed. Well, maybe, but what about all of the little guy's
out
there that do manual staining.

HELLO, IS ANYONE LISTENING TO WHAT THE CUSTOMER IS SAYING?

Damn, I feel better. Who said that? I said that and a whole lot of other
techs
out there in Histoland.

Have a Bless Day,

Jim Burchette
Duke University Medical Center
Immunopathology Lab
>>>

I work in marine research.  My standard sample is 50 slides.  Now I have to
run 3 racks instead of 2 for the same amount of work.  Don't tell me to rack
'em back-to-back......too much carry-over, not to mention the joys of wiping
one's valuable tissue off the slide while coverslipping (also manually).
Try to get slide number 13 out of the grey rack with your fingers when
differentiating individually.  Aaaaaauugh!

I have about 20 of the old green racks left.  Six are dedicated to special
stains.  Some of the others are cracked and being held together with rubber
bands.  This is how much I love them.

I would buy 20 replacement racks for staining and an additional 20 for
subbing poly-L-lysine coated slides.  This isn't many in terms of a vendor's
thinking, but I have seen other requests for these racks posted on Histonet.
How many would the rest of us buy?  Let me know.  Maybe if we get enough
synergy, a plastics company would be willing to mold us a bunch.

Regards -
Carol
*****************
Carol B. McCollough, HT(ASCP)
Diagnostics & Histology Laboratory Manager
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Fisheries Service
Cooperative Oxford Laboratory
904 S. Morris Street
Oxford, MD 21654