For Lack Of A Knee, and Fish At Work
I can't get up the (drive? courage? nerve? interest?) to complete the portrait tonight; it may have to wait until tomorrow. I've been putting in several hours a day since I started it, and right this moment, the last thing I want to do is pick up a paintbrush.
But it's sitting there, staring at me, all kneeless.That's it, that's all I have left, a knee, a hand, and a few small details. Five hours' work, tops. Maybe three. And that's even considering that I still have to scrape the dried-on paint off of my makeshift palette. It's so close to being done, and I am very eager to see it done. I just can't bring myself to get started on it today. Maybe in a bit....
What a relief it was to go into work today! All the rest of this week, I am only supposed to spend two hours a day at the lab; "technically" I "should" be on semi-mandatory vacation still, but I'm fortunate enough to "have" to go in to take care of the essentials. My two hours today turned into four or five, due to some interesting problems. One fish jumped ship. Fortunately it wasn't of the most precious cross, but it was still an F1 from a cross we're interested in. Damn fish, skewing my data. Poor little bugger, really. Also, I knocked a brand new pH monitor into a tub of water. Boss and I were able to laugh it off, but still. Damn. Also, hatchlings! Anyone want some Nothobranchius orthonotus? PLEASE? I don't want to have to keep 'em in a bucket. They're reproducing FAR too fast, and we don't have room for them. They're not part of the crosses, and I only need a small colony of 'em. So if any of you out there want some....
"Moz", a big-ass N. furzeri MOZ 99-4, and incidentally my favorite fish in the lab (also the most evil fish in the lab) is starting to get old and run down, I think. Pity. He's a really pretty boy.
Tomorrow, I'm photographing fish again for a project. The photos I took in the past are too low-res. Note to self: Check the damn camera settings before spending two hours in front of fast moving fishies.
I have a ton of fish I -need- to spawn at work. The females are -huge-, very full of eggs. And we -need- those offspring. How I'm going to pack water changes, feeding, general observation, spawning, and photography into a two hour day is beyond me. Oh. Forgot. Need to check embryos and hatch things. And I can't hatch things until after I play musical fish and move last week's hatchlings into containers, the older juvies into tanks, and make space somewhere to hatch more.... Ye gods. Someone, PLEASE. Take some N. orthonotus! I need the space!
And, yes, I still utterly adore my job. I just need to learn how to be in two places at once, and how to bend space to permit twice as many fish exist in the lab at the same time.
But it's sitting there, staring at me, all kneeless.That's it, that's all I have left, a knee, a hand, and a few small details. Five hours' work, tops. Maybe three. And that's even considering that I still have to scrape the dried-on paint off of my makeshift palette. It's so close to being done, and I am very eager to see it done. I just can't bring myself to get started on it today. Maybe in a bit....
What a relief it was to go into work today! All the rest of this week, I am only supposed to spend two hours a day at the lab; "technically" I "should" be on semi-mandatory vacation still, but I'm fortunate enough to "have" to go in to take care of the essentials. My two hours today turned into four or five, due to some interesting problems. One fish jumped ship. Fortunately it wasn't of the most precious cross, but it was still an F1 from a cross we're interested in. Damn fish, skewing my data. Poor little bugger, really. Also, I knocked a brand new pH monitor into a tub of water. Boss and I were able to laugh it off, but still. Damn. Also, hatchlings! Anyone want some Nothobranchius orthonotus? PLEASE? I don't want to have to keep 'em in a bucket. They're reproducing FAR too fast, and we don't have room for them. They're not part of the crosses, and I only need a small colony of 'em. So if any of you out there want some....
"Moz", a big-ass N. furzeri MOZ 99-4, and incidentally my favorite fish in the lab (also the most evil fish in the lab) is starting to get old and run down, I think. Pity. He's a really pretty boy.
Tomorrow, I'm photographing fish again for a project. The photos I took in the past are too low-res. Note to self: Check the damn camera settings before spending two hours in front of fast moving fishies.
I have a ton of fish I -need- to spawn at work. The females are -huge-, very full of eggs. And we -need- those offspring. How I'm going to pack water changes, feeding, general observation, spawning, and photography into a two hour day is beyond me. Oh. Forgot. Need to check embryos and hatch things. And I can't hatch things until after I play musical fish and move last week's hatchlings into containers, the older juvies into tanks, and make space somewhere to hatch more.... Ye gods. Someone, PLEASE. Take some N. orthonotus! I need the space!
And, yes, I still utterly adore my job. I just need to learn how to be in two places at once, and how to bend space to permit twice as many fish exist in the lab at the same time.