Chapter 4

I phoned Diana around 1900 and left a message. Then I phoned Queensland and spoke to Mum and dad. My father said I was plucking roses from the dung heap. Then I read a bit and took a shower.

In the morning I spent some time trying to estimate how many book cases I'd need. I realized that was hopeless and decided to count how many books there were in 45-50 cm. of shelving at the Museum, then I could count what one box contained and make an estimate – like every generalization it would be off, but it might be close.

At the Museum I gave the card to the woman at the desk as instructed. A few minutes later I was in an office marked "Personnel" and my saviour had abandoned me. I spent around an hour filling out forms: Museum, NSW and Federal. (No wonder my Dad compained about the taxes! They had to support the paper industry.) I then had my picture taken for an ID badge and was sent away for "lunch" until everything was done.

I bought something, but it smelled, looked and tasted like at secondary school. Oh, well. I guessed all institutions were identical in some respects. I found my way back to personnel where I was told everything appeared to be in order and the my wages minus taxes would be deposited on the last of the month. If the end of a month fell on a Sunday, the deposit would be made on the Friday. My new badge read: "Hollister, G. / student assistant / Entomology." I was given a lanyard and a clip and told to wear it whenever I was in the building. I was also given a sticker for my "vehicle's windscreen; affix to lower left corner."

Released, I found my way back to the ant exhibit and thence to the curator's office., where I knocked in a tentative manner.

"Come in, come in! Don't be fearful! Did everything go well?"

"I think so. They gave me a badge."

"Great! So what do you want to do?"

"Sorry?"

"I've hired you. Now you need a chore. What are you most interested in?"

"Ant taxonomy, sir."

"So'm I. Okay. I've got a chore. A real piece of drudgery. You know all those cases? Where you were looking yesterday?"

"Yes."

Okay. Start at one case and do what you did yesterday. Examine every specimen. Any questions, mark the case. Got any grease pencils?"

"No sir."

"Get some. Two or three colours. Wherever you find an error of have a question, mark the glass. Grease pencils are good. So's mascara. Or lipstick. But folks get suspicious when I try to buy those." He roared at his joke. "Any road. Some of those labels are forty years old and more. The taxonomic names have changed. There's a glass over there [he gestured at the table, where I could see a magnifier]. Whether I'm here or not, you come in, take it, do your job and put it back.

"Now. Work hours. When are you free?"

"All the time, sir. They won't even give me courses til next month."

"Right. You told me that. Well, I guess you should put in a quarter or a third time over seven or eight months. Why don't you put in four or six hours a day, four days a week for the next few weeks? Then you'll come in less when BEES gets started. How does that sound?"

"Just fine."

"And when you get done with the ants, you can do the other insects; then we'll go on to the arachnids. With luck we'll get done with the chelicerates and the insecta this year. Do you know anything about the myriapods and the crustaceans?"

"A little. Centipedes and crabs and lobsters."

"And lots more. Well, we'll find enough to do."

"Yes sir."

"And Gordy?"

"Yes?"

"Don't feel overwhelmed or shy. We'll get used to one another. Do you have plans for the breaks?"

"Well, I'll be going home for Christmas. But that's nearly a year away."