I had mentioned something before about working in groups in cell biology, and of course about how I didn't like it. That was the first day of class. On the second day of class, Dr.K assigned us PERMANENT groups. Permanent meaning 4 other people I don't know who I am forced to sit and work with everyday for the rest of the semester. And as if that isn't bad enough, Dr.K decided to videotape every group and made a slideshow from the video stills. At the beginning of every class, he has the slideshow projected on a huge screen for the whole class to see. Our group (we are called the Cytoplasmic Streamers thanks to me) photo is hilarious because the other four people in my group are all huddled together and smiling, and there I am with half a smile, way off to the side by myself. So I'm forced to look at this dumb photo 3 days a week, and everytime I think, "Hey, I'm wearing that same exact hoodie today."
Let me tell you a little about my bug box. It's probably the worst bug box in the class. The bottom is all cracked and gives me splinters, the inside side pieces fall out if you turn it over, the top part of the lid is popped off, the hook closures don't close all the way, etc etc. By the time that I started using it and noticed all these defects, all the other bug boxes were already signed out, so I couldn't swap. So I'm stuck with this bug box that I can't stand. On Tuesday we were supposed to bring in our bug boxes and any bugs we hadn't pinned yet. So on Monday, I opened up my box to check on all the dead inhabitants, and surprise! There were live bugs in my bug box, and they were eating my dead bugs! Ants had invaded my box. Luckily they only ate the body of a damselfly, but hey, they were nice enough to leave me the wings! I took all my dead bugs out and was going to dump the ants out, but before I had a chance to do so the ants just crawled through the cracks of the box and underneath the foam. For all I know, those ants are building a home in the bottom of my box and making plans to sabotage my collection. PESTS I tell you, PESTS.
Even worse, the mantis I found at Carol's required some elaborate pinning on a spreading board, so now I have this awesome huge bug that I will probably never find again, and that took me a half an hour to pin, wide open for any bug in the world to come and eat up. I'm not sure how long it's going to take him to dry, probably at least a week. He had the soggiest smooshiest abdomen I've ever seen, which is one reason he needed so much pinning. So for now, the bug box is on my kitchen counter, and my mantis is hidden away in my closet.
