A Different Kind of Saturday

Had the opportunity to spend this Saturday at Autrey Mill Nature Preserve in Johns Creek. My main objective was to collect bacteria on site and obtain my QA/QC certification.

I came ready, I thought with boots, sweatshirt, and jacket. Ready to observe the Chattahoochee water. 🏞 I underestimated the weather and temperatures by the stream were frigid that I needed a thick pair of wool gloves on and a ski mask. We even got light snow in the area.

The first part of the workshop was spent prepping for the actual site collection and the Second part was to actual get into the stream and perform my actual test. This was amazing but I got chance to see all kind of living organisms floating around as well as a lot of waste. The first test that I performed was on air quality and I hung my thermometer on a tree to get a good reading. The second test I performed was a water temperature test. I had to stick my hand in a cold freezing water. The third test was on dissolved oxygen where I had to get two samples for duplicate precision. My fourth test was on the PH. Lastly, I performed a conductivity test. Overall, the experience was great and I got the chance to meet some pretty cool scientist that were already studying the stream so we were able to talk about the health of the area and I got some good tips on where I should start for my SARS-COV-2 research. I don’t know my results yet but hopefully I passed so I can continue studying other reoccurring bacteria in Georgia and enter my data.

The 2nd part of my day I decided to head to the movies and watch the movie Ambulance. It was a chilly Saturday but beautiful outside and the movies was packed with families.

Overall, Ambulance was pretty good. It gave me all the action pack that I have been looking for and the storyline was pretty good and had great scenery from Los Angelas,CA.