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when i checked the nosquito cage this morning there weren't any bugs inside. it still might work, just not at nights. for the time being i'm just going to rely on the sticky traps. throughout the day it caught a few more fungus gnats. they must not be very smart because i figured the sight and smell of their dead and dying brethren would alert them to presence of danger. when i saw a flying gnat, i preferred the slow torture of the trap versus a speedy death by crushing. i tried unsuccessfully chasing them with the trap; i managed to get them to land on my fingers but never on sticky yellow tape.

toasted onion bagel + spicy kielbasa sausage + arugula + fresh cracked peppercorn = delicious lunch on a rainy and grey day. as much as i love the kielbasa, it's kind of a hassle to cook because i don't have a kitchen fan. instead i have one of the windows opened and a regular fan blowing out the heavy stench of oil smoke. even then the house still smells for hours (if not days) afterwards.

a bit of good news from client S this morning: turns out the program i've been fixing didn't need to be OS 9 compatible. that's good because i got rid of that legacy system a while back and was on the verge of reinstalling it just so i could bug test. with that latest announcement i was free the rest of the day, but with the bad weather outside i kept myself indoors.

nasturtiums: i noticed them yesterday but these new mystery buds have been starting to form behind every branch. i don't know if they're going to be more branches or perhaps the flowers. also some nasturtiums are growing short while others are growing tall. the short ones seem more stable, the tall ones are likely to topple over. it can't be light deficiency because they're not all doing it; hopefully it's just a variety trait. with more air circulation it might stimulate the nasturtiums into developing thicker stems so they'll be less likely to overturn.

air circulation: besides water and light and maybe some fertilizer, another crucial element for healthy indoor plant growth is proper air circulation. besides bringing in fresh carbon dioxide, it also reduces fungal growth. that's one thing missing from my grow closet right now. i was hoping the forced air heating intake vent directly below the grow space would provide enough circulation, but because i have everything sealed up, often times when i go into the closet i get the feeling the air probably stifled. don't get me wrong, there isn't any weird smells. in fact, there's probably more pure oxygen in the closet than anywhere else in the house, and one of my favorite things to do is to just go in there and take a big whiff of photosynthetic byproduct. but i think with a constant flow of fresh air, the plants will grow better. i've been using a small USB/battery operated desk fan (the kind with the foam blades) but since i run it on batteries, it's not very efficient. i've been looking online for USB AC power adapters and thinking about getting another USB fan to run inside the closet. i have of course some bigger fans (see chart below) but those are overkill for what i need.

appliance(s) watts
holmes blizzard oscillating fan 32 (I), 37 (II), 44 (III)
duracraft mini box fan 47 (high), 36 (low)
nosquito 22, 16 (with bulb removed)

in the evening i had some ramen for dinner. i threw in a handful of chopped arugula and scallions, trying to keep a normally unhealthy food a little bit healthier. mixed in was an egg with a side dish of gluten with peanuts. later i took a soak in the tub before going to bed.