A whaaaaa?

Turkey Day is upon us and this is the time of year when people start to reflect on what they are thankful for in their lives.  Unfortunately I am not able to spend this holiday with my family, the first time in four years but I'll be at work keeping pretty busy and then I'm heading to dinner with some friends from school.  So what am I thankful for???  Being the happiest I've been in a long time I'm truly finding an appreciation for everything that I have in my life, and the opportunities I'm being offered.

So here's a pretty good list (in no particular order):

1) JAWS - I'm thankful that I still find this to be one of my favorite movies of all time.  I just watched it again today and somehow, even after not seeing this movie in a very long time, I still know every line, every note to the theme music, and pretty much everything that there is to know about the making of it.  I still laugh at the same scenes, get the same feeling in my guy in the opening scene, and still have so many memories surrounding this film...great job Spielberg.

2)Family - of course I'm thankful for all of the support my family has given me during this new transition.  I got a text from my sis today saying Turkey Day week just isn't the same without me.  It's definitely not the same without my fam either.  Love you guys!  Miss you and I'll be back for Christmas!

3)My current home - Monterey Bay is one of the most majestic places I've ever been and I'm truly grateful to have this opportunity.  I hope I never take for granted the environment I live in and will always appreciate what beauty is surrounding me.

4)Aquarist II - I have come along way in my 'career' as a marine biologist.  I've been on such a rollercoaster emotionally and mentally trying to find a place that truly makes me happy.  I never wanted to make a career out of cleaning fish tanks and dealing with sick fish, leading me to think negatively and bringing my outlook on life on a downward spiral and at times it was like I was taking those people around me that I loved the most with me.  I'm truly thankful that God has given me the opportunity to turn my perspective on life around and handed me a chance to start over again at such an amazing facility.  It just makes you think about what things could have been like if I had always been this happy????

5)Health - Everyone around me at work is getting sick and luckily I've fought it off (so far; knock on wood).  I'm thankful to have my health and to be able to work towards a healthy lifestyle.  I am thankful to have two good legs that take me to work, to new places and on new adventures; a healthy heart, good lungs, and a strong mind. 

6)Roof over my head - I cannot be more thankful to have a place to live.  I've got a very small apt., quaint and perfect for me and finally living on my own is helping me grow into an almost-30 year old adult! (less than 5 months)

7)Laughter - It helps me get through each day.  Whether it is others making me laugh or me making myself laugh, I'm thankful for the feeling of laughter and I truly believe it will help any person live a much longer life.

8)Friends - New and old it is great to have friends.  I love meeting new people, catching up with old friends, and keeping in touch with best friends.  

9)Sports - I'll always have my sports teams...it doesn't matter if they are giving me grey hair or raising another banner, I'll always be a proud Boston sports fan.  So long V-Mart!

10)Forgiveness - I'm thankful for those that have forgiven me throughout the past and for finding personal forgiveness for myself, helping me move on with my life in a positive direction.

Happy Turkey Day everyone, eat well!!!  Go Pats!!!

Bag It

Just went and saw the documentary Bag It.  If you have not heard of this, which I hadn't until just the other day it is all about the negative side of using plastics.  It was shown at a very small independent theatre downtown and the actor from the movie was there for Q&A afterwards.  He seemed like a pretty funny, cool guy; just a regular guy that wants to try to make a change I guess.  I'm all about trying to make a change, and I think these movies can have some influence, but when you are showing a movie to a group of people that already have an idea of what's going on you are really just preaching to the choir.  It is everyone else that need to be shown these movies.  And if they won't go see them then it is up to us to teach them about said issues.

The movie had all of the main points about how plastics last forever and kill animals and now can cause birth defects; all the stuff you hear about everything these days.  It truly is astounding to think about how much we rely on such an unnecessary product such as single-use disposable bags at the grocery store.  One good point was him questioning why they were ever invented.  "What was the point?  Why create something that people are only going to use once, but that lasts forever???"

I definitely learned a few things; such as just because it has a recycle symbol doesn't mean it actually gets recycled.  Stay away from #s 3, 6, and 7!  I thought everything could be recycled nowadays...And don't microwave your food in plastic containers!  But I'm not going to lecture everyone reading this on the downsides of plastics, you are all adults and should be able to make your own educated decisions; it's those ignorant decisions we need to change.  You should check out the website and read the facts for yourselves.  This isn't something to be overlooked.  It's a serious issue in THIS country.  There are several underdeveloped countries that are banning the use of single-use plastic bags at supermarkets...SEVERAL!  Yet here in the U.S. there are only a handful of cities that have stepped up and completely banned them.  We are supposed to be the ones setting examples here people, this is ridiculous.

Check out the website (http://www.bagitmovie.com/).  It's a lot to take in and can be somewhat overwhelming because you get that "it's too late and I can't really help" feeling, but you can by spreading the word to other people.

It's In the Game

Boomshakalaka!!!  He's on fire!!!  From downtown!!!  If you ever had a Sega Genesis you know where these phrases are coming from and the fact that they are coming back simply makes me a happy camper.  NBA Jam was one of the best video games I ever played as a kid and now it is back...unfortunately for me it is for PS3, XBox 360, and Wii of which I own none.  BUT I'd totally go out and buy one of these platforms just for this game.  I'd also kiss a lot of butt to play on someone else's system!!!  Now I just need to find someone that has one.  I'll even buy the game for them, that is how badly I want to play this game again.

You cannot beat a game where you get to A) play basketball 2 on 2 with your favorite players B) Unlock secret characters like Barack Obama or Rufus the Bobcat (Charlotte's mascot) AND C) Dunk a basketball while on fire from half court???  PHENOMENAL (official word of MY day today)!  Back in the day I would like playing as Dee Brown while blindly dunking the ball over my opponent's head but if I wanted to go for a sure bet I'd always go with either Chris Mullin of Golden State or the tandem of Malone and Stockton because it's all about the 3-pointers man!  The new version lines up pretty much every major NBA star out there with the option to choose 3-4 players from each team and even go old-school with a legend or a mascot as well.  I can't tell you how awesome it'll be to decimate Queen James and his cohort D-Wade with the tandem of KG and Rondo.

And while I will probably never get to play this game, I'm extremely excited for the next generation of gamers out there that will get to experience one of the greatest games EVER invented...The nail in the coffin!

Check it out
http://nba-jam.easports.com/home.action 

What About Bob?

One of my new adventures is working with the Mola mola (Ocean sunfish).  I will be partaking in feeding them at least 2x/week and if things work out I'll be more heavily involved once the new year comes.  Each year the aquarists get to put in a request for which galleries and teams they'd like to work with, giving everyone a chance to gain experience in different areas and most importantly areas they are excited to be in.

But for now I'll be happy just getting to feed them.  It is part of a growth study but the other goal is to get them target feeding and exhibit ready for when the big open ocean tank opens in July.  As of now there are two molas that are being trained to come up to separate targets (a yellow star and a purple ball) but two more were just collected yesterday.  This is the time of year to start seeing juvenile molas so I believe we are going to be collecting as many as we can in order to start working with them to figure out which ones will stay for the exhibit.  If we find they are not suited for this they will be released back to the wild.

These guys are not very big, maybe 2'-3' around but they can get up to 10' in diameter and up over 2000lbs.  They are not the most exciting fish because they basically just stay at the surface and slowly swim around.  We are feeding them squid, shrimp, and clams but in the wild they mainly feed on jellyfish with the occasional squid or fish and fry.  They are really cool to watch and work with though because they are such a unique fish and not too many people have worked closely with them in captivity...just another bonus here at the Monterey Bay Aquarium!!!

All in a Days Work

WARNING: Not for the squeamish!

In case some of you are wondering what it is I do in Seahorse Land a majority of my time is taken up by dealing with sick fish (yes, seahorses are fish).  One particular species, Hippocampus erectus, the lined seahorse has been having some pouch issues.  This is only in the males because the females do not have pouches and in case you are wondering why the males do, it is because they have the babies.

What issues you ask???  Well the pouches are sometimes susceptible to bacterial infections and gas saturation problems leading them to have buoyancy issues...basically, they get infections and they start swimming upside down and at the surface.  Obviously we cannot have this so what do we do to prevent it??  We have to flush the pouches with an anti-biotic to treat the infection.  This works some of the time, but not all of the time.  Sometimes these gas saturation problems can lead to external bubbles (literally bubbles on the skin) and with that we have to treat it differently.  How often??  These fish get flushed everyday for 14 days and are then re-evaluated.

Do all of these fish survive??  I wish.  The hardest part of this job so far is having to handle the fact that a majority of these fish that are having pouch issues are probably going to die.  We have been losing about one a day and even though some are looking better, others are starting to show otherwise.  One fish was sent out to a lab for further work and it was found that it had systemic uronema...basically it has parasites and bacteria that are leading to these mortalities and our head vet does not think this is completely fixable.

What do you do if they die???  We do not have a large vet staff here and because of the frequency of morts (deaths) that we get in Seahorse Land we do our own necropsies (animal autopsies) to try and figure out what caused their death.  In the case of these males we already know what is causing it, but we need to make sure there are no other problems such as parasites.  So we have to take the dead fish to the Diagnostics Lab and cut it open.  Before any cutting starts though we get skin scrape samples to look for any parasites and then take a clip of the gills for the same reason.

H. erectus with enlarged liver

Liver removed, gall bladder is sm. dk. spot

Once the animal is cut open we take a sample of the liver and take note of the size/color and also make not of any other organs such as the gall bladder, swim bladder, gonads, etc...Seahorses have a very simple digestive tract and not much of a stomach so we don't look there very often.  After looking at the samples underneath the microscope we write down what we saw (parasites present or not) and file the form away in that particular species.

What other issues are there?  Well so far I've only been dealing with these pouch flushes and external bubbles which require injections of two different medications.  Outside of these problems though I have seen some skin lesions but not too much else.  Although we just had one poor seahorse with a major skin lesion on its tail that was down to the bone and some worms, already in the exhibit infested themselves inside this seahorses tail.  Thankfully I was not there to see this but unfortunately we lost that fish this morning.

These are the downsides of what I do but in all fairness it's not a bad part of my job.  To me it is a great learning experience and because I'm still new to these fish I like getting the opportunities to do my own necropsies and gain that hands-on experience.

Missing You

No...definitely not you.  Things though...small things.  I'm sitting here drinking some hot apple cider after dinner and it made me start thinking about the things I miss about New England (outside of fam and friends) or will miss about home.  First off I don't even need to be drinking hot apple cider because it was almost 80 degrees here today which is insane!  That aside I could not pass it up when I was at TJs last night splurging on way too much food.

Apple cider of course is indicative of the fall season and here in Monterey you would never know that summer has ended.  People are always outside, rarely in anything warmer than a long-sleeve shirt or a light jacket.  But I do miss New England falls.  It's a nice break from the brutally hot summers and it is one of my favorite times of the year, second only to April.  Along with the leaves changing and the cool weather you've got baseball playoffs, football is rolling, and basketball and hockey have just started and New England in general is a great place for all of these sports to come together.  I miss being able to watch the Celtics.  I'm pretty used to not seeing the Patriots because I've worked Sundays long enough to almost get used to it.  I did find a radio station that I can listen to them online though, so long productive Sundays!

What got me thinking about these things, other than just the cider was that I was craving a Breakfast Club breakfast the other day.  For those of you that don't know, the Breakfast Club is this great diner in Allston, MA just outside the city with the best breakfasts you will ever have!  There is always a huge line for a table and their portions are out of control.  It is very vintage 80s with old movie posters and old-school lunch boxes (if anyone is able to steal me the E.T. one I'll pay big bucks) and their specials are named after the characters from the movie, The Breakfast Club.  My favorite is the Basket Case which is two pancakes (I get blueberry), 2 eggs (over-easy), home fries, sausage, and toast.  It's amazing and I would love to be able to fly over there for breakfast tomorrow.

That's all for now, really just sports and my fav breakfast place.  I do miss the city a lot though and miss that feeling walking off the train in N. Station or Government Center and looking up in awe of such a great city.  Or walking through the Common in the winter with a Dunkins in hand and skating on Frog Pond ...It's amazing how quickly you take those things for granted.  Even with all that said, it was almost 80 degrees here in the nicest place on the California coastline so I'll manage.

Venting through Exercise

Just a quick update on what I've been doing lately...First off, I won a sponsorship through work to run the Big Sur International Marathon on May 1, 2011.  This is a pretty big deal because 1) the race cost $299 and 2) it's been said that this is one of "those races you have to do before you die."  It is supposedly a very hard run with a significant portion of the 2nd half uphill but unbelievably scenic.  Thankfully I have plenty of time to train for it.  Official training will not start until the new year so the next couple of months are for pre-training work.

I also started boxing today.  There is a gym just down the street from work called Pacific Coast Boxing.  It's a small privately owned business, not a big gym but with minimal space they do have a lot to offer.  Luckily the girl I work with Lindsay knows the owner so she got me in at lunch today and we worked out for about an hour.  I'll eventually be paying a monthly fee to go in and use the facility.  Lindsay is pretty good and very experienced and has been working with the woman that owns the place for a while.  I have not boxed in a long time, 2 years??? so it was nice to get back into it and start channeling some aggression outward in a positive way.  Hopefully I'll be able to get back in there either Thursday or Friday and then keep up with it while I'm training for the marathon.

Other than that work is going really well and I've been given more responsibilities in seahorse land.  It can be frustrating at times being in charge a few days a week and having people that have been there way longer than me come to me with questions/problems that I feel they should know answers to.  I'm still getting comfortable and have more stuff to learn but I guess I'm fitting in and doing ok.  I should be getting my dive stuff done soon as well.  The DSO (dive safety officer) here is just looking over my stuff now and with 249 dives at the Florida Aquarium, a handful at the New England Aquarium and all the others outside of those the DSO doesn't see any problems arising and said we'd fast track it to get me in the water. Once I get wet I'll be very happy!

Everything else is going great and I'm starting to fill up my social calendar which is nice.  With running peeps, going out with work peeps, meeting/hanging with new MoBay peeps, and even finding old friends in the area things are starting to head in the right direction.  Oh and I found out I'll be coming home for Christmas!!!!  I don't know the exact dates just yet but I'll be heading that way for sure.  I will not be home for Turkey Day and really have no idea what I'll be doing (except working all weekend) but being home for Christmas makes up for it.

Congrats to the Giants and the city of San Fran!  Go Pats and good luck Randy, wherever you end up.