I did not expect to find myself in this kind of relationship. We met when the new arrival moved into a lab upstairs. It was difficult for us to communicate at first, but after spending a week together, I returned to my lab with a deeper understanding of the possibilities and pitfalls ahead of us.

My new labmate and close companion, a powder diffractometer, would take me to new heights in identifying and characterizing powdered crystalline material. On making this instrument's acquaintance, my last mechanical flame, an older model from the geology department, faded into distant memory.

Could it be a sense of possessiveness that rises in me when another student asks to use it? How is it that I feel guilty when I forget to run a weekly calibration? Why would anger flash when others fail to clean up when their run is over?

I can't help but anthropomorphize this bucket of bolts. Too many joys, sorrows and blank stares have been shared. Too many troubles were overcome and diaries written about our relationship not to admit that I am close to, and will certainly miss, my diffractometer when I go. Without getting to know this analytical tool, generating the new insights into my material on the Ångstrom scale would not have been possible.