Patrick Everest : Botanical slide maker

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MichaelG.
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Patrick Everest : Botanical slide maker

#1 Post by MichaelG. » Sat Aug 31, 2019 4:45 pm

Forum members [especially mrsonchus] might enjoy this:

Today, my 'September' Box of slides from the Postal Microscopical Society arrived.
Box No. 3/01 a selection of Botanical sections, prepared by Patrick Everest
'1998 Winner of an E.C. Marson Slide Award'

The slides look beautiful, so I turned eagerly to the NoteBook that accompanies them:

The introductory note came as a great shock ...
PatrickEverest.jpg
PatrickEverest.jpg (316.7 KiB) Viewed 4300 times
... until I got to that punchline !!

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

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75RR
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Re: Patrick Everest : Botanical slide maker

#2 Post by 75RR » Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:34 pm

Had me agreeing with him by the time I was halfway through the article ... ;) I do need more fresh air though! :)
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mrsonchus
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Re: Patrick Everest : Botanical slide maker

#3 Post by mrsonchus » Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:36 pm

Arrrrggghhhhh! pht phhhhhtttt.... :o

Oh, there's a punchline, thank goodness! :D :D :D :D

There's also as grain (quite a large one as it happens...) of truth there, when I'm tired-out after making slides that I'm not 100% happy with, I too think "why am I doing this?"..... A moment such as this ocurred this afternoon in fact - I just finished staining 6 slides to be carefully placed into their 'final pre-mount Histoclear' when I caught sight of the dreaded (in Histoclear use that is) cloudy whisps that say the slides or Histoclear or both, were not completely anhydrous!

So, another hour to dehydrate the slides again with alcohol, two new Histoclear-baths (at a cost of approx £25...) to get back to the pre-whisp stage! Another 30mins in Histoclear before carefully mounting 6 coverslips, the last of which plonked-down and produced a hearbreaking spread of minute bubbles in the mountant and the brightly-stained tissue fibers.... So, again, back into my 're-mounting Histoclear' pot for removal of the coverslip, and of course a remount of said coverslip to finally finish the last slide....

Under cover to dry for 2 hrs, and now, as I am almost at the point of screaming if I ever set eyes-upon anothe slide, they may be ready for an initial peek under the 'scope. I hope, I really do, that at least one of them is good, if not, I too will have similar thoughts to those of the posted note!
Tomorrow (or even 30mins later) will see me back to the plotting and peering that is the beginning of another session in the lab!

No doubt about it - Botanical microtechnique and slide-making can turn the unwary fellow into a muttering wreck on occasion....

I of course jest, just! :D :D
John B

Hobbyst46
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Re: Patrick Everest : Botanical slide maker

#4 Post by Hobbyst46 » Sat Aug 31, 2019 6:13 pm

Well folks,
A wise philosopher (or king) has already addressed the problem some 3000 years ago.
See the book of Ecclestiases.
There is no difference between slide making and any other activities. When one does not learn new things from his/her activity, go on vacation and re-consider quietly.
And change if one likes.
No need to sink into sadness. Microscopy has a lot to offer.
Even shopping with a spouse can be a refreshment.

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Roldorf
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Re: Patrick Everest : Botanical slide maker

#5 Post by Roldorf » Sun Sep 01, 2019 8:24 am

Hobbyst46 wrote:Well folks,

Even shopping with a spouse can be a refreshment.
What????? I guess it depends on what you are shopping for. I hate shopping for 'Fabric', there needs to be a coffee shop nearby, where I can wait for my wife to come out.
Location: Northern Germany

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Hobbyst46
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Re: Patrick Everest : Botanical slide maker

#6 Post by Hobbyst46 » Sun Sep 01, 2019 2:06 pm

Roldorf wrote:
Hobbyst46 wrote:Well folks,

Even shopping with a spouse can be a refreshment.
What????? I guess it depends on what you are shopping for. I hate shopping for 'Fabric', there needs to be a coffee shop nearby, where I can wait for my wife to come out.
Which is exactly what I am doing right now...

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