#fieldworkfail

Nothing like a warm beer at the end of the day...

Since the hashtag #fieldworkfail seems to be circulating Facebook and twitter now, I figured I'd make a post in it's honor.  

1.)  It is amazing how little water we actually need to shower! I can do it with about a liter now. However, water is precious so any opportunity to use freshwater from the island is great, and this has been quite limited with the intensely sunny days. There were supposed to be thunderstorms all day and I was looking forward to a bit of rain. I made it all day with only hearing distant thunder once, and there was no rain until my nightly attempt to get internet access on the beach.  When I made it back to the hut it really started raining hard, so I saw it as an opportunity for a good shower.  I stripped down and ran out to a clearning equipped with a soapy sponge.  I got all sudsy, and then the rain stopped.  I stood there wet and soapy, until I was dry and soapy, waiting for the rain that never started up again.  I ended up finishing the shower with my water back at the hut.  

#fieldworkfail

2).  The SIXTH typhoon during my field season is now on the radar.  

#fieldworkfail

And finally, the one I am most embarrassed about…

3).  In my previous post you may have read that the window locks on the hut aren't very secure and a monkey broke into the hut when I was on the mainland.  I had been careful sense then to make sure the windows were locked the best they can, until one night I forgot to lock a window before my return back to the mainland.  I realized the mistake later that night, and could only hope I would return the next morning before the monkeys got there.  That morning when I reached the hut the window had been pushed open, but there were no monkeys around and seemingly no destruction. Relieved, I shut up the windows and went out for data collection.  A few hours later I returned to the hut and noticed monkey feces on the floor, but the windows were still shut.  Had I really not noticed the feces in the morning?  It did look fresh…but maybe it was just that humid?  I quickly realized that there is no way I had just not noticed the poo that morning, which could only mean one thing…there was a monkey still in the hut.  

But where?  I searched everywhere (the hut is not that big), but there was no monkey.  Then it dawned on me…the monkey could be hiding under the floor (there is a space under the hut accessible only from inside the hut).  I used a light to search the area and couldn't see anything, but I knew it had to be there.  I opened the hut door and waited.  Within a minute a subadult male darted from under the floor out into the forrest.  

I accidentally locked a monkey in the hut.  

#fieldworkfail

I scrubbed the crap out of the floor (literally), and after this experience I took it upon myself to build extra window locks.  I duct taped the screens on the window, and broke sticks the length of a window pane to stick alongside the bottom edge of the window, so it couldn't be slid open without the removal of the stick from inside.  So far this has proved monkey proof.