Comments

  1. rq says

    Some people say summer is a time of sunshine and happiness.
    If you have small children, it is also probably a gory time of blood and dirt and muddy tears. ‘Tis the season of the bandaid.

  2. voyager says

    I’m sitting in the hospital waiting for my husband to come out of surgery. He’s having an emergency bowel resection and possible colostomy because his abdominal hernia got trapped. He got sick on Monday, but refused to go to hospital until yesterday. Stupid fool.

  3. says

    Voyager:

    I’m sitting in the hospital waiting for my husband to come out of surgery. He’s having an emergency bowel resection and possible colostomy because his abdominal hernia got trapped. He got sick on Monday, but refused to go to hospital until yesterday. Stupid fool.

    Oh fuck! That is not a fun surgery, had that one in December. I played the part of stupid fool, too. You have all my sympathies -- I know that under all the worry and anxiety Rick was suffering, a good part of him wanted to slap me silly for putting things off for as long as I did.

    Mister Voyager is damn lucky to have you, make sure he knows that. All the hugs.

  4. Ice Swimmer says

    voyager @ 4

    Hoping for the best for Mr and you. Also, my warm thoughts.

  5. Nightjar says

    Voyager, I’m sorry to hear that. Hope everything goes well with the surgery and lots of strength for the post surgery too.

  6. voyager says

    Thanks for all your good wishes. Bob’s surgery went well. There was enough viable bowel that the colostomy wasn’t needed. He also had 2 hernias which they had to make it into one very large hernia which will not hold a patch as well as a smaller hernia would. That means he’ll have to wear an abdominal binder whenever he’s up and forego most activity for a minimum of 3 months.

  7. voyager says

    Forgot to say he’s a lucky man.
    I cannot say strongly enough that if youre having abdominal pain that lingers please don’t wait to see your Dr. It’s better to feel like a fool if it’s nothing, than to feel like a fool for waiting if it’s something.

  8. StevoR says

    If I was able to comment on Pharyngula which I’ve been banned from doing years ago but still read I’d ask BJ about exact %~ages and when a % is enough to make a really firm conclusion e.g. 98% being almost if not completely beyond doubt.

  9. says

    Voyager:

    Bob’s surgery went well. There was enough viable bowel that the colostomy wasn’t needed. He also had 2 hernias which they had to make it into one very large hernia which will not hold a patch as well as a smaller hernia would. That means he’ll have to wear an abdominal binder whenever he’s up and forego most activity for a minimum of 3 months.

    Whew! Grand news about no colostomy, that’s a big bullet dodged. The hernia problem doesn’t sound so good though -- Mr. Voyager is going to have to behave himself.

  10. says

    Voyager:

    I cannot say strongly enough that if youre having abdominal pain that lingers please don’t wait to see your Dr. It’s better to feel like a fool if it’s nothing, than to feel like a fool for waiting if it’s something.

    Loudly seconded! DO. NOT. WAIT. Waiting or brushing pain off is a fool’s game, and there can be terrible consequence to waiting.

  11. says

    StevoR @ 13: Do not be trying to get people to take up something on Pharyngula, and don’t bring up being banned there again, everyone knows that, and you were rightly banned there.

  12. jazzlet says

    Voyager glad he dodged the colostomy, hope he recovvers smoothly and most of all I hope that he is good about wearing the binder and not doing things he shouldn’t. And of course I hope he knows how lucky he is to have you around.

    It is still too hot to take the dogs for a walk here, which is novel.

  13. says

    Caine, the sidebar link to TNET still points to the previous thread.
    (And I did not know that StevoR is banned on Pharyngula)
    _________________

    Today was not a good day. It started well but the finale was crap. Yesterday it finaly rained a little, so I could have another go at hardening my machete without fearing that the garden catches fire. And I succesfully hardened the blade and after tempering it was just perfect, hard but springy.

    But the blade had gotten a slight bend and when I was trying to correct it I used way too much force and I broke it. So back to square one on that project.

    Well, the breaking was a definitive proof that I hardened the blade properly. Unhardened steel would not do that.

  14. says

    Charly:

    Caine, the sidebar link to TNET still points to the previous thread.

    Oh, I forgot to change it! Thank you.

    (And I did not know that StevoR is banned on Pharyngula)

    That’s fine, but it’s old history, and I will not see it rehashed here. I allow him to comment here, but he will always be on probation as far as I’m concerned.

  15. StevoR says

    News item of possible interest here :

    Online Trolls Can’t Derail Black Teens in NASA STEM Contest.

    NASA shut down the public voting phase of a student science competition after internet trolls tried to influence the vote, according to The Washington Post. The OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Promotion and Research Challenge (OPSPARC) urged students from grades 3 to 12 to come up with possible NASA spinoff technologies. Part of the judging process included a vote, open to the public, in which internet visitors could choose their favorite projects. According to the Post, anonymous users on the online forum 4chan negatively targeted a black female team from Banneker High School in Washington,

    https://www.space.com/40530-nasa-student-science-competition-shut-down.html

    Incidentally, for those who don’t already know the Benjamin Banneker who the school is presumably named for was a truly remarkable individual :

    Benjamin Banneker (November 9, 1731 – October 9, 1806) was a free African American almanac author, surveyor, naturalist, and farmer. Born in Baltimore County, Maryland, to a free African American woman and a former slave, Banneker had little formal education and was largely self-taught. He is known for being part of a group led by Major Andrew Ellicott that surveyed the original borders of the District of Columbia, the federal capital district of the United States.

    Banneker’s knowledge of astronomy helped him author a commercially successful series of almanacs. He corresponded with Thomas Jefferson, drafter of the United States Declaration of Independence, on the topics of slavery and racial equality.

    Source : His Wikipedia page.

  16. StevoR says

    @ 17 & 20 Caine & continuing from my # 21 :

    .. & agreed on everything Caine wrote.

  17. jazzlet says

    Bannecker seems like the kind of person schools ought to be named after; sometimes I wonder what the namers were thinking, surely they don’t want the students to emulate x?

  18. Ice Swimmer says

    It’s been a hot day here. I did go outside and walked around Töölönlahti and some other places.

    After I came back home, I baked bread again, this time barley bread (with yeast, round and fairly flat, with a hole* in the middle), which came out OK, but not up to grandma level. I should have used more barley flour and less wheat flour.

    I also baked mixed-grain (dark wheat flour**, rye flour and spelt flour, oatmeal and crushed rye malt***) rolls (about the size of big hot dog buns), spiced with caraway and slightly sweetened with pureed dates (the malt and dates also give the yeast a bit more “kick”). This recipe also needs a bit more development, but caraway gives the bread a fine taste and aroma.
    __
    * = The hole isn’t functional is this kind of bread, as it is in sourdough rye bread, you could stick the bread by the hole to a pole and haul it up close to the ceiling in order to dry it.
    ** = Not sure how to translate hiivaleipävehnäjauho, it’s darker than cake or all-purpose flour, but not whole-grain/graham flour.
    *** = Kaljamallas, i.e. small beer malt.

  19. voyager says

    Ice Swimmer you made me laugh. I do not know many people who bake bread on a hot day. It all sounds good, though, especially the rolls. Caraway seeds and rye are generally a good combination, but I’ve never considered a sweeter dough.

  20. rq says

    voyager
    Glad to read the good news re: Bob’s health. I hope he listens to the medical advice and takes it appropriately easy! Also best wishes to you.

  21. Ice Swimmer says

    voyager @ 26

    I was out of bread and the warm weather will go on a few days more.

    Caraway is actually used here very often in sweet-and-sour bread, called setsuuri (the name is Kitchen Swedish, ie Swedish words fitted into Finnish phonology, coming from sötsur, Swedish for sweet and sour) and its seasonal variants joululimppu and pääsiäislimppu (Xmas/Easter loaf, may just the same bread, but in a different bag).

  22. says

    jazzlet

    sometimes I wonder what the namers were thinking, surely they don’t want the students to emulate x?

    I’m always wondering on what moral basis the people running the Otto Hahn high school oppose cheating and plagiarism…

    +++
    Caraway seed, why?

  23. Ice Swimmer says

    Giliell @ 29

    Because I like the taste and they don’t seem to get stuck in my teeth.

  24. Ice Swimmer says

    Also caraway is the only spice native to Finland (aside from some herbs) and the caraway grown here is especially rich in essential oils.

  25. Ice Swimmer says

    Giliell @ 32

    I do like dill.

    Do you also dislike spearmint? I’m asking because carvone seems to be one of the essential oils in both dill and caraway and it’s also a big component in the aroma of spearmint.

  26. says

    I like caraway. It’s a major ingredient in my great grandma’s beef stew. It mingles and blends beautifully with paprika and wine.

  27. jazzlet says

    Ice Swimmer in the UK we’d call bread made from part, not whole, meal wheatmeal. I don’t think I’ve seen the flour sold so I don’t know if it would have a different name.

    Caraway and dill are ok, aniseed is disgusting. This is not just a matter of taste for me, my stomach thinks it’s disgusting too. I had to drink some contrast solution when I was having an MRI some years ago. The solution was aniseed flavoured and I was suposed to drink about two litres of it, so I dutifully started sipping away despite the disgusting taste, sat at the head of my hospital bed which they had wheeled me down to the waiting room on. I get about three quarters of a litre in and my stomach rebelled, I projectile vomited it all out with such force it arced right over the whole length of the bed, missing it completely! I was embarrassed, but also fascinated as while I’d heard about projectile vomiting I’d never experienced it before and found it quite satisfying unlike normal vomiting which just makes me feel awful. That was until the nurse came along and said, “Nevermind I’ll get it cleaned up, now do try to drink the rest of the solution”! I did manage the rest without a repeat performance, but it was a near thing :)

  28. StevoR says

    Not necessarily new “news” :

    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/making-sense/analysis-if-youre-rich-youre-more-lucky-than-smart-and-theres-math-to-prove-it

    Now, however, comes support for the cynicism: a study that claims the predominance of luck over talent in the distribution of wealth has been mathematically confirmed. Two Italian physicists — Alessandro Pluchino and Andrea Rapisarda — and one economist — A. E. Biondo —make the case, and they’ve got a computer model to back it up.

    But hopefully interesting confirmation of the reality here.

    (Add the various forms of privilege here which also come into play but not sure how much this study takes into account.)

  29. says

    Attention, rant incoming
    PE teachers, why are they?
    Tomorrow, I have my two final oral exams (wish me luck. I’d say wish me fairness, but luck is more reasonable). I’ll show up in school anyway for the first lesson because I have to write a class test. Because this school year is short as hell, I need to have all marks done by the 30th of THIS MONTH and that class still has to give presentations.
    I reminded them of the rules for not showing up (calling in plus bringing a doctors note) when one of the boys said “I’m not here tomorrow, I’m at this athletics event with Mr. S.”
    So I had to spend time and energy on somehow making it possible for the boy to write the test. Because sports is more important than anything, apparently.
    Oh, btw, I have to make a completely new test if somebody misses the original test which takes about two hours of time, especially when they have to read a text and you need to find one that is not too complicated and not too detailed which is fucking hard. But apparently that’s something I should be happy to do, right?

  30. says

    Good luck, Giiell.
    As for your question, I do not know what PE teachers are for. Maybe for making ill kids even more miserable than they already are and for encouraging bullies?

  31. Oggie. says

    Giliell:

    I have always been fond of Calvin’s description of PE class: Studies in Contemporary State-Sponsored Terrorism.

    In Middle School (Junior High to most), our gym teacher would stand outside the showers and watch us. To make sure we actually showered.

    Which (given my history (though I was successfully(?) suppressing it at that point in life) really weirded me out.

  32. jazzlet says

    Good luck for tomorrow Giliell!

    I went to a school that valued academic achievement more than sports so our PE teachers were not at all like that. But even if they had been all interschool sports things were done outside normal school hours. My brothers theorectically had sports on Wednesday afternoons, as did all the schools their’s played against, with Saturday morning school to make up the academic hours. It seems like bad organisation on several people’s part to schedule an event for when children should be in lessons.

  33. Nightjar says

    Good luck, Giliell! And lots of patience too, sounds like you are in need of a constant supply.

    ***

    The broomrape is back. I do not know what to do. I guess I should be happy that it appeared in a potted plant and one that is relatively easy to propagate through cuttings (which I already did). I may have to get rid of the daisy, the broomrape and the soil. *sigh*

  34. jazzlet says

    I have a bunch of lilacs in a jug on the table next to my laptop. I’m not sure they are good for my hayfever, but I don’t care, loratidine is my pal and I have to put Hyabak in my eyes anyway so they barely itch, and the smell is glorious. I did have to evict three shield buds that came in with the bunch.

  35. Oggie. says

    That is fantastic, Giliell! Bravo! Wundabar! Bravissimo!

    Picture me with Kermit arms shouting “Yaaaaaa!”

  36. Ice Swimmer says

    Congratulations, Giliell, for getting to be officially qualified for an important profession!

    A silly question: Do you now get to wear some special hat or ring or something like that?

  37. says

    My lilacs are in process of blooming now, hurrah for lilacs, I love them!

    Giliell, congratulations! You will be one of those exceptional teachers that people end up remembering their whole life.

  38. Ice Swimmer says

    Yay for lilacs!

    I’ve gone swimming and to sauna each night since Wednesday (and I’ve had a great time, but a bit short on words after the sauna+swimming). The sea water was 17 °C on Wednesday, 18 °C Thursday and 14 °C Friday.

    18 °C isn’t a typical sea water temperature in mid-May in Helsinki, normally it’s somewhat lower. It wasn’t that long time ago that the sea was near freezing point. However the warm water was only on the surface, near the shore and so on Friday, the wind from the north blew the warmer water out to the open sea.

  39. chigau (違う) says

    Tomorrow morning (in 6 hours), we are getting up at 5:30AM to go bird-watching.
    My camera is charged. I may be able to submit some photos.
    .
    Don’t hold your breaths, though. My wildlife photos are almost always nice scenery with
    trust me! that blueish blob in the middle is a great blue heron!

  40. chigau (違う) says

    I did not take a single photo.
    It was very windy, none of the subjects were sitting (or floating) (or flying) still.
    It was a very pleasant walk along a lakeshore.

  41. says

    Thanks

    jazzlet
    We had a lot of gin tonic and surprise dinner (more of that later) at the Chinese restaurant. Yesterday we invited our parents for a barbecue which was nice apart from the point where I had to tell my father in law that he can either use the n word or be in my home.

    chigau
    As a passionate photographer I say, that’s the most important.

    +++
    When I came home Friday Mr informed me that in the evening kid #1 had a theatre performance. I thought that she’d forgotten to tell us as usually, but it turned out her teacher had decided on short notice when it became clear that the stage was big enough.
    The whole thing was her school’s end of year (almost) art performance when all the groups and classes show what they did.
    I can tell you, these kids rock. I saw real acting skill, creativity and musical talent. the school band performed a self written rap song (with e-guitar!). The text was a usual boy-meets-girl love story, with the lead rapping the boy part and the girl at the piano contributing the girl part. When it was over the boy handed a bunch of flowers to the girl who is his girlfriend of two years and that was sooooooooo romantic, much better than any royal wedding.
    Kid #1 and her class performed what I guess is an Asian tale (or inspired from Asian tales) about how the elements waged war against each other until all was destroyed, but the cranes then brought hope and flowers. They were fantastic.
    Afterwards a group performed the cup song. Anna Kendrick has nothing on the girl who sang the song with no other background than the girls who did the cup percussion and that isn’t only damn difficult, but also damn brave.
    Afterwards it was too late for cooking anyway so we went to the Chinese buffet (dunno why people keep hating on “Chinese buffet”.)

  42. jazzlet says

    Giliell that sounds like a good night all round, fine entertainment, fine food and all with the people you love. The FiL sounds less good, sorry, it’s horrid to have to deal with that.

  43. rq says

    I have involuntarily acquired a Peterson book (the 12 Rules one, hardcover, gifted). What should I do with it? It’s too large for a paperweight, too light for a proper doorstop. I could read it, but it makes me think the word ‘unctuous’, which does not evoke a pleasant set of shivers.

    Worst: what if I read it, and end up agreeing with it?

  44. says

    rq @ 67:

    Worst: what if I read it, and end up agreeing with it?

    Not possible. You might puke though. You could write a scathing review for Affinity. :)

  45. rq says

    Oh, well, that requires the acquisition of some fixatif, this time a voluntary thing! *inspired*

    You could write a scathing review for Affinity.

    Can I sue you for moral damages afterward? :D More seriously, actually reading the book might frustrate me enough to take the time to fold it into an intricate lobster shape afterward.
    Okay, that wasn’t particularly serious, either.
    (I’m really on the fence right now because I’m afraid I might be quizzed on it at some point in the future. But I swear the book is greasy.)

  46. says

    rq

    I have involuntarily acquired a Peterson book (the 12 Rules one, hardcover, gifted). What should I do with it?

    Break off contact with whoever gave it to you.

    jazzlet
    My father in law is your typical “Not A Racist™” guy. Just your ordinary racist guy who thinks that it’s just words and people objecting to such words are out of touch elites* who want to tell his poor working class ass what to do but they don’t know nothing anyway.
    He’d probably have voted for Trump if he were ‘Murican.

    *Those include both his children and children in law. And while his son in law did have a nanny, I’m of such a working class breeding stock, we don’t sweat water but machine oil and coal dust.

  47. rq says

    Giliell
    If it were that simple. Unfortunately it is not some random individual of dubious intentions trolling our friendship, because then it would be that easy.

  48. rq says

    Giliell
    It’s getting there.
    Though this hasn’t been a life-long affliction; each time I am newly surprised by the descent.

  49. StevoR says

    Awful news : There’s been another fatality caused by Australia’s offshore processing and the deliberate cruelty, hopelessness and horror it inflicts on innocent people,refugees (in this case a Rohingya man), who have committed no crime :

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-22/manus-island-refugee-dead-after-jumping-from-moving-bus/9786852

    WARNING : Suicide, possibly confronting and depressing material.

    Shame on all those responsible here for a policy that is shameful, heartless, inhumane and disgusting beyond words.

  50. says

    Anne
    Oh my god, the cuteness.

    —-
    Fuck, I can’t find my glasses.
    Yes, those damn expensive new glasses. I wore them today when I drove to school, but switched to the sunglasses shortly before arriving. I must have grabbed them, when I left the car, because they#re not in the car, but when I arrived in the staff room I didn’t have them, so I assumed I’d forgotten them in the car. I was chatting with a friend while doing that, so I have no idea what I did.

  51. StevoR says

    Fascinating discovery here -- hidden behind tape :

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-05-22/sticky-tape-michelangelo-artwork-chemistry-drawing-hydrogel/9775624?section=science

    A hidden inscription — “from Michelangelo’s hand” — has been found on a 16th-century drawing, underneath an old piece of sticky tape. But don’t get too excited. While the picture depicts a figure from the famed Italian Renaissance artist’s fresco, The Last Judgment, on the Sistine Chapel’s altar wall — it was likely sketched by one of his students.

    One amazing scientific study on very small critters :

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-05-21/native-geckos-with-tattoos-and-gps-thriving-on-cattle-station/9776670?section=science

    Plus another science project but this time open to everyone interested and advocated earlier tonight by Brian Cox as part of the Australian Broadcasting Commissions Stargazing Live program :

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-05-22/supernova-sighting-citizen-science-stargazing-live-skymapper/9776930?section=science

    Which is also currently attempting a world stargazing (with binoculars and telescopes) record with multiple stargazing parties across Oz.

  52. StevoR says

    ^ Shortest of notices I know and expect that most people interested already know and have booked and that most of the venues are likely already booked out or near so but still in case it helps anyone (hope it does) see list of participating venues for that stargazing star parties record here :

    http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/stargazing-star-parties/9677020

    BTW. The first (tonight’s) episode of the three night special event Stargazing show with Tim Minchin as well as Brian Cox, “Space Gandalf” and others can be viewed on iView here :

    https://iview.abc.net.au/?WT.z_navMenu=abcNavSites&WT.z_srcSite=news&WT.z_link=iview#playing

    (The follow on Back to Earth program show should also be available via that too and is also well worth watching in my view.)

    Hopefully this will work for people outside Australia -- not actually sure if it will or not & would love to know if it does and can be viewed from outside Oz please? Ditto anyone know if same applies for SBS on Demand please?

    Also :

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-22/alien-asteroid-may-be-the-oldest-object-in-the-solar-system/9786686

    Turns out the asteroid 2015 BZ509 or “BZ” orbiting at Jupiter’s distance but in a very contrary way is a very strange, ancient and likely interstellar originating body :

  53. says

    Oh gods, I went and filled the feeder, then took Jayne on a walk around the property, and there were DOZENS of Cedar Waxwings in the apple tree. I’ve been trying to get a photo of them for years. Naturally, I had the wrong lens on, so I changed it and went back out. Now I have 450 shots to go through. :D

  54. says

    Caine, I will probably post irregularly, because there is just too much work to do right now in the garden and around the house and I have barely time to read. And I had not had time to take the camera in had for quite a few days by now, unfortunately.

  55. says

    Charly, that’s fine! You are under no obligation, but your posts will be missed. Get back to that when you can. Being outside right now, being in the midst of all the life, that’s more important. I was out today myself. Take the camera just in case. :D

  56. says

    I found the glasses.
    Better said,I found their sad remains, grounded to dust.
    Apparently I dropped them and the cars drove over them.
    This only ever happens to me with new things. Haven’t made a dent in a car in 15 years, but I once drowned my new phone in a toilet and now the glasses…