I went to the pet store today, because after first going to a couple of DIY/hardware places to look for some flexible plastic tubing, in various different sizes (for the lab, of course, what else?
:)), I not only got lucky once but twice, the first time in a minor way, just because I had the foresight to bring both one of my bog standard liebig condensers to test-match the coolant input/output fittings against, but also my new Dimroth condenser just because I thought it looked slightly different size-wise, wasn't sure, so I just brought the Dimroth down from the lab and a condenser picked at random from a big box of various different flasks, condensers, distillation adapters, separatory funnels, thermometers and other various tools of the alchymyst's trade that I don't keep in there as its too big for the lab, could fit it just wouldn't have enough space for everything else if I did move all its contents in, and instead bring things over as and when I am going to be needing them.
Tested the size of the tubing types on offer and found that everything I needed, I could get, and cheaply too.
The second bit of good luck, a much much bigger and better one, was that I had the choice, seeing as I was being given a lift in my old man's car, to go to the store I went to, or another, bigger garden center/pet stuff megastore type place due to parking considerations. I decided to check the prices of both, but the smaller place first, as it is closer.
In the end I didn't go to the others as I not only found everything I wanted, but the owner of the pet shop, realizing that my requirements demand a greater degree of precision than just stuff for bubbling some air into fish tanks, told me that someone had brought in a big hefty and powerful air pump that came from a hospital, and asked to give it to the shopkeeper in exchange for a few quid worth of store credit against a few fish, which they agreed to, but when they went to try it out, they found they couldn't use it as it produces way too much noise and vibration to be good for the fish and on seeing me testing the sizes of the tubing for fit against the two of my condensers I brought, put two and two together and guessed that I would have many purposes to which I'd turn it, and offered the pump to me for the price of the store credit they gave the person who brought it in.
Total cost to me (for the pump, not counting all the tubing, a couple of siphons, a really long, coarse bristled brush on a long flexible piece of springy wire, can't remember what those were intended for originally but for me, it'd be just perfect for scrubbing crud out of condensers, or scouring the inside of flasks and other awkwardly shaped pieces of my kit, since of course I like my kit to be squeaky clean unless there is something actually happening inside of it.
Picked up a handful of other bits and pieces, but thats the most of it, and that big pump. Cost of the latter? a fiver
And overall that worked out to £4 actual cost, since my old man parked in just the right place so that there was a dropped pound coin on the carpark floor lying right there in perfect view of where I'd be looking as I got out of the door.
And one last bit of luck for my day, is that I happened by chance, needing some ethylene glycol (antifreeze) for cryo bath freezing mixtures (antifreeze, works great in mixtures with other things poured over ice or other coolants) but just so happened, when I went into the little household maintenance supplies to spot that they sell concentrated sulfuric acid, which some lying or dumb (or both) git at a B&Q had told me a while back when I went to buy more that they no longer stocked it, as it has been 'banned', and now only hydrochloric (which is pretty useless for actually unblocking drains) based drain cleaner and NaOH were sold for that purpose. And spotted a nice 5l plastic jug of benzyl alcohol, which I'd been contemplating placing an order with one of my suppliers for anyhow (not necessarily 5l, but benzyl alcohol at any rate SOME of the stuff) and at a knocked down price. Nabbed that too, and bought them out of their stock of conc. H2SO4
All in all, a most pleasing day so far. If I'd have gone to the other garden/pet store first and they had the flexible plastic tubing that I needed, which they likely would have, I'd never have ended up going to the other, smaller one, or the DIY place and definitely wouldn't have gotten that happy-xmas pump at the more or less gift price the guy sold it me for. (or got to see their not-for-sale live-in feline, who as usual seemed delighted to see me and came bounding over to see me as fast as his three legs would carry him. Little devil is an adorable wee greyscale-silvery coloured moggy and seems to love me to bits, since every time I'm in that store if that cat is in, he'll be over to me in no time, brushing around my feet, nuzzling up to me, purring like a motor boat engine and rolling over so I'll scratch his belly for him. He seems to ignore a lot of other people in there and come straight to me so I'll make a big fuss over him
