Where did this week go?

Monday started as relaxing as every other day has started since we've moved to Nacogdoches. Then during the bi-weekly meeting I realized I hadn't turned in any of my hours in the last two weeks and the bi-weekly pay period ended Saturday! I freaked out more than a little bit, but before I left Tuesday afternoon everything in that department was taken care of. I never had the pay period explained to me, so when I woke up Friday morning thinking my first pay check would be in the bank, I freaked out again when it was not. Apparently my first check wont come until the beginning of the next month. Thank goodness Fate was looking out for us and we still have enough in savings to get us till then. I'm still not sure of the exact date I'll be getting paid, but it shouldn't be a bad surprise either way. So, that was part of my frustration this week. 

Another frustration of this week is we are having difficulties getting our techs approved for hire. For some crazy reason they believe that it is not a good idea to hire someone from out of state. This really limits us on who we can hire. Students will still be in class when our field season starts and I don't know these people. I could theoretically hire someone in Texas that says they know how to identify birds by sight and sound and then they could leave me high and dry. Or I could hire someone I know is good, I know I can depend on, I know I can live with for 10 weeks, and I know wont drive me to murder. This was also an issue when I accepted my position and my official start date didn't begin until I moved to Texas. If it had begun sooner, my first frustration wouldn't have existed at all. We're hoping all they need to approve out of state hires is a Texas address. If that is so, Brittany can use mine and we are golden. 

On top of that, the second section of my project has been decided on insects. There are not many definite sampling techniques for this. So the majority of my week has been muddling through papers and finding out what other people have done previously. A lot has been written about how it is difficult to really determine the prey availability for birds and how it is best to narrow your search down to one species of insect or one species of bird, though even one species of bird may eat several species of insect. If I were doing a project on just one species of bird I could possibly look at stomach contents to narrow down what species of insects they may eat, but this could change between seasons, genders, and age classes of the bird. Plus, some of their food items may digest really really fast, so you may not get an accurate account of what they have eaten. However, I'm not looking at just one bird species. I'm trying to see if birds will use eucalyptus plantations and if they do what birds use them. I guess the insect part of my study will back up "why birds will use eucalyptus plantations". 

I would be lying if I didn't say it's kind of frustrating when no one else has really looked deeply at this subject anywhere. So I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants. I've found a method of collecting insects that I liked, but I didn't like the way one study implemented it. They used foggers, but some flying insects were able to get away and some didn't fall into the collection nets they had placed. So, I've mentally created a way to keep all the insects in, fog an entire section with a tree in it, and collect insects from both the canopy and the mid-story while keeping them separate. Now, I need to get the materials and test this method out. On top of my invention, we'll also be doing pit fall traps for the insects to capture ground dwelling bugs. 

So, this week at "work" has consisted of long, long days of reading scientific papers about how difficult my research will be, beating my head upon a desk over ArcGIS, shopping online for materials needed for my redneck engineering bug collection contraption (I need to patent that name), and researching birds that live in eucalyptus forests in Australia to compare to birds I might find in our eucalyptus. The fun has only just begun. 

persimmon bread

bacon gouda and Texas star cheddar

beef bacon

Saturday we went to the farmer's market again, but this time they were having spring fling and there were a ton more vendors. I skipped out on the wine this time since it was $15 a bottle and beer is so much cheaper, but we did get a loaf of persimmon bread, 4 oz of bacon gouda, 4 oz of award winning Texas star cheddar, and a pound of beef bacon. The bread tastes like going to Grandma's house for the summer and she made that whole loaf just for you. It is amazing! I'm not a big cheese eater, but the gouda is very nice. The bacon is from a family owned farm who do not use antibiotics, no hormones, and claims their meat is 100% natural. Just look at that picture though! I can't wait to eat it. I've been saying I want to be more conscious about what I eat, where it comes from, and how the animals are handled before they become my food. This is a good way to do it and the prices are not bad at all for extremely low fat, high quality meat. Maybe once Buddy has found a job we can afford to get all of our meat from here. 

Afterwards we picked up the dog and headed out to the gardens to walk the trails for a little while. I'm so proud of Buddy this week. He has made himself a work out schedule and has been going to the sister apartment complex's gym every day except the day we did tai chi. He even walked 1.12 miles with me and Luna Saturday. It was a pretty day and I snapped a few pictures of our little adventure. 

I'm hoping this week will have less surprises this this past one. I'm not a fan of surprises at all (even the fun kind). I'm also thinking I'm going to have to take a few hours during the week to blog about what is going on here so that I don't word vomit all over the place. Apparently a lot can happen in just one week once you sit down to catalog it all. I hope you all have a great week as well and blessed be.