Fantastic Voyage

I took a half-day off this morning in order to meet with Marv Bielsky at
Stoller Middle School. Marv is a retired science teacher who now runs
his own small business, Scientific Instrument Service and
Repair. He travels around the region repairing and calibrating
scales, microscopes, telescopes and the like. As a sideline he rebuilds
used microscopes, sells them for $100, and donates the money to
charities.

It was under the last heading that I was to meet with him. I agreed to
buy a standard high-school grade microscope from him for Jean's birthday
(and for Kelly to share, under supervision). The catch is that he is
based in Vancouver Washington, and travels all the time. So I had to
meet him at a school where he was working. Stoller Middle School is
way the heck north of where I live or work, but it was the
closest he was likely to get, so I made the trip.

I've got the microscope now, it is a standard 4X, 10X, 40X with a 10X
wide-field eyepiece. It is really sturdy, and gives tons better
results than the plastic telescope Jean bought for Kelly for
Christmas. The difference is like night and day. Marv said that if we
had bought a new microscope of similar quality it would have come to
$500. So it was worth the trip.

While I was there, I found out that Marv doesn't just do
technical instrument repair. In the summer, he lives in Montana, where
he runs his own business as a fishing guide. Interesting guy.