I liked how there was a step in which I just discarded all the liquid I had been painstakingly working on. I knew there was an invisible precipitate left in the tube but it still felt like I was ruining everything.

Meh, amateur. Didn’t check the PCR reaction on a gel first. Also didn’t add DNA ligase.

Ah, you cloned the wrong resistance gene again…

I fondly remember my times cloning vectors… Not. My favourite was a multistep cloning and digesting protocol that I meticulously planned. It obviously failed numerous times. I got it right on the first try just making blunt ends and hoping it goes in correctly.