On the topic of things not working out as they should, I decided it was time to visit the micro indentation lab to test my newly-made resin molds. As mentioned before, we used the highest viscosity money could buy, a resin mentioned in a few papers using similar methodology. I redid all legs that had resin in the cuticle, cut them in two with a small saw and filed down only a few specimens to see if all went well. Getting there, I started by testing a leg of  Campstichium clavipes. The first indentation in the first segment was surprisingly good- there was a very clear mark of the lozengue, and very symmetric. Going onto the second segment of the same leg, we realized an issue: The resin seemed to have unstuck to part of the cuticle. This affected the results since the lozengue pressed down on the cuticle and recorded inaccurate results. The next two legs we tested had two different issues:  Phithia picta  seemed weidly thin, so much that the indentation was bigger than the cutcle; and the tibia of a Pachylis pharaonis, which had a strength value too close to that of the resin to be safe. I decided that it would not make sense to try to find out what was wrong again. I had a few guesses: maybe the exothermic reaction of the resin curing dried up the cuticle; maybe sawing it was too rough on the legs, and we should use something less traumatizing. Regardless, I would not have time in two weeks to figure out what's wrong and do the whole entire process of curing legs in resin, cutting, filing, and testing them. It was really disappointing to not be able to get the indentation data because it would be a really cool piece of information to include in a paper. But I know that two months is not a lot of time to figure out the amount of stuff I have had to figure out. No one that I know of has used coreid legs in microindentation, and along with trying to do something new comes all the troubleshooting and figuring out. I felt like a failure but now, reflecting on it, it feels like redirection. Using the extra time that I will hopefully have, I plan on photographing Pachylis legs to do a general study of morphology in the population in Curitiba. In other news, earlier this week, going back home from the gym, I saw three dogs. They kept barking at me but I noticed one of them had a bag stuck to its leg and tail. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was not only a bag, but also barbed wire. The dog was scared, and the two others trainling it had opposite reactions: one begged for attention and pets, and the other kept barking to scare away anyone near. After sitting with them for a while, the dogwas comfortable enough to allow me to touch it, but when I tried to desentangle the wire, he threatened to bite me, signaling he was in pain. It was 10 pm at night and I had no internet or reception. I was able to use my roomate's phone to call the Fire station, but they said they were not equipped to help. I had no idea what to do. I decided to text Alexandre, since he has dogs and might know someone or someplace I could go to for help. He immediately asked for my location and came to help alongside his wife, Laura. They brought a blanket and pliers, and together we were able to remove the wire and bag from the dog's fur. Thankfully he was not hurt, and the wire was only stuck to his matted fur, indicating it was probablt like this for a while. I was so thankful for their resourcefullness and their promptness to help.