well, our IACUC protocol finally went thru. we drew blood on three amazons yesterday - to do preliminary testing on them, see how it worked out. it took use several hours to gather up what we needed, finish the final paper work, gown up, and take the blood from the birds. it was a great experience. dr g - my COE mentor - taught me how to catch these wild amazons in their large cages and how to draw blood...etc. she was very patient, and despite the screaming of 20 amazons in a concrete lined, windowless room, it was a positive experience. then, of course, the other shoe dropped. i took my hard won and long awaited samples upstairs to run flow cytometry on. and lo, the flow cytometer was very bad, and i was wrought with anger...for it was broken. and i was mightily disappointed...heehee. yeah, so the flow is down for an indefinite period of time. at least i'm experiencing the negative side of reseach first, eh? so, we're stopped for now, until the cytometer is up and running again. i'm supposed to start learning the COMET assay next week, so at least i'll have something to do.

thurs and fri are my volunteering days at the YW animal center here. today was a busy day. we processed about 30 cats for the adoption floor. processing means : drawing blood, running a combo leukemia/FIV test, deworming, defleaing, taking temps, paperwork for each cat, and then moving the cats to the adoption room up front. it kept us busy till about 5:30. afterwards, i hung around and played with a 'stray' parrot. someone found a severe macaw on their front porch and brought it to the shelter. it's a lovely bird, well-socialized, cute, friendly, and it hasn't bitten anyone yet - which is amazing for a macaw. i'm smitten. if no one claims it, i'll have to bring it home - at least until i can find a parrot-approved home to which i can adopt it myself. the shelter does a great job finding animals good homes, but a parrot is a different proposition altogether. i hope they'll let me help find it a home - seeing as how i am doing parrot research and i do know just a smidge about them...right? seems coincidental. i just started working there, and this is the first parrot that has shown up...fate? i think so.

i really enjoy working at the animal center. it's rewarding. and i work with great people.

i guess that's all to report here. except that we're moving. and i hate moving.