bugs

Every spring when it finally warms up and get into the field, I think, gee, this weather's terrific! I am so glad that it's finally warm out!

I pull out my summer gear and stuff the mittens and wool hats and coveralls back in my "out of season" hidey-hole. I organize my equipment and miscellaneous other gear, set up wherever I'll be working...

and a cloud of gnats, midges, mosquitoes, and other annoying buzzy things descends on me. Oh yeah. Everything else likes the warm weather as well.

When I was in consulting, I usually couldn't just douse myself in bug repellent. We'd be sampling for volatile-type compounds, and usually if you're standing in a cloud of something smelly, you have the potential to contaminate those samples. Bug nets work for the flies and mosquitoes, but gnats? Not so much.