I wouldn't say anything
on my desk is particularly odd, but then I do work in a lab:

1 broken microscope lamp
1 toy dog (freebie)
1 broken cooling unit from a gel electrophoresis tank
roll of 'poisonous' tape
a balloon with a face on it
a biscuit tin, sadly empty and
lots and lots of pieces of paper.

*EDIT* oh, and a Santa figurine that shits jellybeans when you press his head. Classy.
(berk, Wed 26 Aug 2009, 9:58, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Is the tape poisonous?
Or it has writing on it?
( Cawl, Wed 26 Aug 2009, 10:04, Reply)

it's mildly irritating
hence the 'poisonous'
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 26 Aug 2009, 10:06, Reply)

No,
it's tape for sticking on things that are poisonous. Presumably to protect stupid people; anyone who carelessly necks anything from a lab is asking for trouble.
(berk, Wed 26 Aug 2009, 10:23, Reply)

you
could amost make a nativity scene out of that - we did in our old lab, baby jesus was an eppendorf tube. wrapped in foil. boss wasn't too impressed.
( ascorbate, Wed 26 Aug 2009, 10:06, Reply)

Win
I'm doing that this year...although last year we did warm up the pre-Christmas party mulled wine in the lab hot water bath, causing our health and safety officer to have a bit of a hissy fit. He still drank it though.
(berk, Wed 26 Aug 2009, 10:26, Reply)

we
made a pirate ship in our lab out of old boxes and lots of foil - boss came in, took one look at it, and said 'that's the hardest you lot have worked all year, isn't it?' then asked for help with his costume (it was a pirate themed christmas party for some reason :-))
( ascorbate, Wed 26 Aug 2009, 11:17, Reply)