May 2006 Archives

After a long relatively relaxing weekend, I came back today to hit work hard. We spent 11 hours prepping for my boss' actual PhD work. This involved cutting 700 pieces of cardboard, driving them to the other side of the university, and beginning work on painting them all. As you might guess, carboard absorbs paint fantastically well, so this involves several coasts of paint. Also on the docket this week, a trip up to Grand Prairie are to collect 10,000 Phyllotreta striolata (a type of beetle), a trip the opposite direction down to Lethbridge to prep the field for one of the trials, and potentially, a trip to Vegreville to begin planting 1500 vials of Canola for yet another trial.

Needless to say, I am rarely bored at work lately. In addition, I tutor and am trying to find some time for the odd personal project. For instance, I have been here for three years, and I still do not have a Canadian amateur radio license. Taxes still should be submitted for the American governement, and at some point I desperately need to settle my health insurance for another year.

And finally, my complaint for the evening. It's summer, and apparently I cannot barbeque on my own balcony. Pathetic. I think the closest I can get is a George Foreman grill, and you just don't get quite the same taste from that.

As may come to no shock for some of you, I have been busy working in research and will continue to do so for the duration of the summer holiday. Of course, grants do not grow on trees, and the people that issue such things like there to be a possible benefit to said grant. This means that far more often than not, the research is done on insects that affect crops. Crops in Canada really only grow in the summer, and thus the associated insects can normally only be studied during this time. This results in the time honored tradition of "field season" which I now participate in.

Of course, one may not just unassumingly waft into field season, but rather come prepared with protocols and equipment ready to engage the task at hand. Yet, we seem to be short some of our equipment: insect cages. It's a rather simple idea. If you wish to study a particular insects effects on plant, you need to limit the number of insects that have access to that plant and make sure that the insects are only working on the one plant -- thus, the cage.

This diabolical contraption is wrought from cases of equipment jamming, messy silicone caulking, unevenly cut screen, and a host of other equally annoying items. And for the last several days, I have been tasked with building 50 of them. You'd have thought they would have made them far before now, but this would appear to not have been the case. Thankfully, this sordid tale is far from over, as I am happy to report that as of today, they decided that 50 more should be built. Job security.

I think for the longest time now we have lived in a disposable world. We walk away from nearly everything. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the landfill. But it isn't just there, we leave in front of a judge what we began on an altar, we waltz away from our churches, and we abandon kith and kin. Life itself seems to be of limited use as we explore ways to be rid of it in a sanitary manner.

But, for all of that, God help me, I can't let go.