cutting-edge science

[psocoptera]

Just spent maybe 25 minutes trying to squeegee a small flood off the frog room floor and over to the corner with the drain (did not even know they made giant push-broom squeegees) followed by painfully embarrassing encounter with custodian presumably called in by flood discoverer. See, I had taken a short break from squeegeeing and had gone back down only to see wet vac sitting in the hall. Aha, I thought, custodians have kindly left wet vac for my use (my use because flood-causing mishap likely made by someone from my lab, and as only lab member around this afternoon, was Responsible Party), so I started wet-vaccing away. Custodian then comes in and we proceed to have short discussion in which due to his heavy Jamaican accent I am completely unable to understand anything he says despite him repeating himself several times. Something about a bathroom? Or vacuum? Is he saying he needs the wet vac for another flood somewhere else, and I can use it later, or that he has in fact been sent to do the wet vaccing, thereby freeing me from frog room de-floodification? He remains cheerful (or was at least smiling) but is clearly thinking that I am a moron, or perhaps crazy. Eventually a series of gestures and conversational exchanges that probably had nothing to do with each other leave him in operation of the wet vac. Moral of story: do not flood frog room, or perhaps, do not be the only person around when someone else has.

Comments

[tapas.livejournal.com]

Ok, so I have to ask, are the frogs ok? And, just 'cause I'm nosy, are they Xenopus oocytes or full grown frogs or what? See, I'm imagining their poor froggy tanks breaking and sloshing all over the floor, creating the froggy flood. But I guess if they're full grown frogs their tanks are mostly dry.

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was my first question too ::grin::. The frogs are okay - no frog tanks were involved in the flood, other than getting splashed a little, it was a reservoir-jug thing that overflowed. No froggies on the floor. I don't actually work with them (this was the first I'd been down there in ages) but my quick inspection suggests that what we mostly have right now are little frogs, not tadpoles, but pretty young.