Things are a bit hectic right now. This week I have been striving to wrap up my initial round of fir processing. The first level of root plating is done, and right now I am 76% finished with the root inspection, washing, and bagging. My goal is to finish that up by the end of the day Saturday.
Today (actually yesterday, I am writing this around 1:00 AM) I washed roots from my Phytophthora fir experiment. One advantage to spending so many hours in the greenhouse during the past two weeks is that I now barely notice the high temperatures. Today it peaked at 106°F.
During the summer greenhouses get warm.
As I processed the firs today I found myself wishing I had devised a way to measure the foliage color. I noticed the plants that had been inoculated with Phytophthora tended to have lighter green needles.
Canaan firs (left to right): 1) Control; 2) no Phytophthora + 24 hr/week flood; 3) Phytophthora cactorum + 24 hr/week flood; 4) Phytophthora drechsleri + 24 hr/week flood.
When I finally arrived home this evening I discovered the cassette I ordered for my bike arrived. It didn’t fit. It turns out cassettes and freewheels are very different things. I also figured out that removing a freewheel can be very difficult (and quite possibly impossible with the tools I was using). Tomorrow I am going to stop by The Bicycle Shop to see what they charge to replace a freewheel. I also intend to check out a special they are running on a Giant Boulder (that’s a bike, not a big stone). I might end up getting a new bike instead of replacing the freewheel on my old one if the deal is good enough. No word on whether or not they are running a bike version of the cash for clunkers program.
After wrestling with the freewheel to no avail I decided to go grocery shopping. So as midnight came and went I was cruising around a deserted Wegman’s. When a schedule becomes unruly you’ve got to run errands whenever you can. Thank goodness for 24 hour grocery stores.
Now it’s 1:00 in the morning and my plans to start today at 5:00 AM don’t sound so good.
