1/5 - Some ship blew up, flea beetle problems

A bit of excitement today.  Off to sea, some ship went kablewy.  I was working outside the glass house, enjoying a bit of moonlight, truth be told, when there was a flash off to the northwest.  I looked in that direction and saw a spot of bright light and then a lit-up cloud.  It must have been 20km off shore.  Someone said it was Uaen.  A dozen drones took off right away, and a couple of coastal protection ships too, but there doesn't seem to have been much left to rescue.

Otherwise, the flea beetles have gone nuts.  Had to fire up the spray bots - the usual bug hunters can't really do anything about flea beetles.  They're too small and fast for the bot to lock on, and it's almost a waste of power to fire a laser at them.  Hector took some plant soil samples to check for larvae, and they're planning to lay down nematodes again when that shipment gets here.  But it's too early to find larvae.  I told him that, but have microscope, will travel, or something. 

The spray bots are always a pain to work with.  The bug hunters don't really ever break down, but the spray bots seem to gum up their sprayers a couple of times a day.  I've spent half my time the past two days backwashing spray nozzles.  We have a hectare in small brassicas and another in young lettuces.  A bad flush of flea beetles will turn all of that into compost.

Speaking of compost, the building toilets are acting up.  Typically, no one else will notice (or do anything about it) until we get messes on floors.  Ew.   It's too late for anyone to do anything about it tonight, but I reported it.  Usually it takes someone a few days to get out here to fix it anyway.   

And, speaking of a few days, Jessica is heading to the capital for exams in a few days.  She's pretty nervous.  We're all really proud of her though - she's got a good shot at a mental surgery slot.  She thinks she might even do well enough to have a string to pull and get me a chance at the university.  Not likely, I think.  But she says times have changed some there.  Guys sometimes get in.  I'm guessing they're from rich families.  But I can probably visit.