This year, it would seem desirable to select accessories which will allow your recipient to explore new dimensions of his or her areas of interest. With the economy as pinched as it is, a certain amount of frugality is in order unless, of course, you’re one of those obscenely wealthy individuals to whom a million dollars is a modest token of esteem. To them I say: I collect tokens and will look forward to your largesse.

1) Let’s begin with a delightful accessory that takes an image and transforms it so that you see it kaleidoscopically. It is a pair of prisms which you put over the oculars and suddenly you are transported into another universe. This works best with stereo-microscopes, so that will be our focus.

Here is a bit of a look at the prisms which are about 2 inches on each side. They have little decorations inside which consist of 2 tiny hummingbirds hovering around a flower. Don’t worry, they just add to the kaleidoscopic effect. Now, you would think that these would cost a considerable amount, but in these belt-tightening times, you will be pleased to know that I purchased these at a dollar store. So, for a very small outlay, you can amaze and please the recipient. You needn’t, of course, disclose your parsimony. To activate the effects, just duct tape the prisms over the oculars.

Here is the initial image. Quite surprisingly, these are scales from a fern.

Now, with the help of the prisms we transform what is seen and the person to whom you have given this marvelous gift will always remember you.

If you have a friend or acquaintance who insists on writing everything down and keeping records then a nice rollerball pen is in order and you can find them in a wide price range. Some cost hundreds of dollars, but for the people I know, I think one about $5 dollars (or $7.50 tops) will be suitable.

There are other compulsives that insist on labeling everything in the lab, boxes of slides, specimens, tools, containers, pipettes, test tubes, everything imaginable. However, this annoying habit is no guarantee that he or she will be able to find anything any better or more quickly than I can in my lab which is organized by convenience and whim. So, for these poor souls who suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, a pair of marking pens is in order; a black one and a red one. For more drastic cases, you can consider adding a green one, if you’re feeling generous.

Another breed of compulsive is the one who has to calculate everything. Everything has to be weighed and measured. So, a pocket calculator is ideal, at least as a token, a gesture; such a person probably already owns a scientific calculator with 87 functions. Well, this little simple calculator is very compact, can easily be carried in a pocket, and does all the basic arithmetic. What more could you want for a dollar?

Most of us have a friend or two who is so set in their ways that they use equipment that has been outdated for years and yet they persist in doing things “in the old tried and true, reliable way”. I know someone who insists on using a digital camera that was surpassed more than 10 years ago. I went online and found a battery for that dinosaur for $2.35 plus $1.15 shipping. I’m sure he’ll be delighted with it. “Always good to have a backup,” he keeps telling me.

A thoughtful gift these days for the microscopist is cover glasses. These have become rather expensive and especially if one wants circles or odd sized rectangles. I happen to have some which I acquired some years ago when a university stockroom was closing down and so I bought more than I needed because they were such a bargain. So, I have several boxes of 22x40 mm with a thickness of #1. They do have an expiration date stamped on the label, but I have found them to be quite suitable for making large crystal preparations and a few other miscellaneous projects.

The other item which almost every microscopist has a constant need for is slides. At the same stockroom sale, I acquired a large number of boxes of standard slides. Some of these were of good quality and had frosted ends for labeling and slips of paper between the slides. Others were simply lumped together in the box and I use the word “lumped” advisedly for they had turned into a large clump of glass with all the slides stuck together. Now, they can be pried apart, but the process is tedious and frustrating, and unless one is very careful, one can get nasty cuts trying to separate them. If one undertakes such an operation, it’s best to wear goggles, thick laboratory gloves, and use a small, sturdy needle or spatula with a sharp end to separate them. A much better solution is to present them as presents to acquaintances that one doesn’t much like and let them toss the whole mess in the garbage. This particular box consisted of Fluorescent Antibody slides and each slide has two etched rings of about 20 mm.

For acquaintances who wear glasses and whom you don’t particularly like, a thoughtful inexpensive gift can be a nice little microfiber lens wipe in a small plastic envelope. If you drop in on your local optometrist once in a while during the year, you can usually pick up one or more without charge, thus making it the ideal gift for such recipients.

For acquaintances one level up, you might consider a six-inch plastic ruler with inches and metric on one side and temperature in Celsius and Fahrenheit on the other. When you place an order with a scientific supply house, always request such a ruler (or two) and they will usually toss them in without charge since they will have advertising on them.

For a friend whom you regard highly, a nice pair of scissors is always welcome for a lab. If you check out the various surplus places on the Internet, you can often pick up a set of 3 or 4 bundled together for less than $10 and then you have 3 or 4 gifts.

Finally, I will include my own desire for a gift this holiday season. I am asking my wife (with instructions for her to canvas our friends and acquaintances to contribute–but crucially, before they get any of my presents) to present me with a laser confocal microscope system. And, to show, that I am not difficult, I am offering a variety of choices which I will show you below. There is even a used one that I would find acceptable; it’s on eBay for a mere $27,500. Here are some of the possibilities.

If, however, you’re not feeling very generous for the New Year, I suppose I would find the cheapo EBAY model usable.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

All comments to the author Richard Howey are welcomed.

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