Giliell, got your latest, and I was just starting to run out of stuff, so good timing! I’m a bit short on rest, so I’m gonna have a ‘start late, sleep in day’ tomorrow. (Monday)
Mmm, yes. Very relaxing. Makes me wish I had a hot tub. And a badger.
Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trollssays
Definitely the badger had itches/insect bites it was trying to do something about.
The facial markings puzzled me, until I Goggled various badgers. A European Badger, which is consistent with a Giliell submission.
He’s definitely a cutie, but I kept waiting for someone to toss some water toys in for him to play with.
Ice Swimmersays
Caine @ 6
Judging from the name of the uploader and some of his other video titles plus his accent and the fact that Swedish newspapers and junk mail with prices in kronor can be seen, Tor probably lives in Sweden.
Where Tor lives, other than in Europe, doesn’t matter much to me. The markings on the snout wasn’t that of a typical American badger, as is seen on nature shows. So I had to investigate. Any erroneous presumptions beyond that point are my fault. Mea culpa.
jazzletsays
I found a badger with a broken leg in the field at the bottom of our garden when I was out walking Thorn one day. It must have dragged itself there from the nearest road, a good150 yards. The RSPCA inspector approached it with caution, wearing really heavy leather gloves and using one of those loops on a stick to control it’s head end, as they have a fearsome bite. The inspector said that it would probably make a good recovery and would be released back to where it was found. The field is at the bottom of a steep bank and has an outlying sett in it, outlying from the main sett which is a mile or so down the canal, which is at the bottom of the field. We get badgers coming into the garden quite often, though I don’t think it’s the same badger each time, or if it is it has an odd sense of humour as when the potatoes are coming up to ready they, or it, dig up one take a taste and decide they don’t like it, then do the same another night, and another night. It drives Mr Jazz nutty :)
+++
Did I get wet today.
We had excursion day at school and we went to an indoor playhall and we had to walk for about 20 minutes and it was pissing so much that the umbrella didn’t do shit.
jazzletsays
Sorry about the migraine Caine.
Giliell the wet sounds preferable to an indoor playhall and a lot of children to me. I am so glad there are people like you who can cope with, and even enjoy such things.
I slept for fourteen hours last night/today. This is not right and I feel drunk with sleep.
Sorry to about the migraine, Caine. Lets hope it goes away quickly.
Ice Swimmersays
I’m sorry about the migraine, Caine. I’m also hoping it’ll go away and you’ll get your gravel trip.
Re the badger and the geographical location, I started digging info, because I got curious and decided to tell what I found out, proud of my irrelevant and minor achievement.
That a badger can be fond of being in water is something at least I’ve never thought about. Digging tunnels and sleeping through the winter, yes, but this was new.
voyagersays
Sorry about the migraine, Caine. That sucks.
A road trip delayed equals extra anticipation, though. Not my wisest words, but the best I can do on short notice.
The “demon star” name hints that the ancient Arabians might have also known it was strange too.
chigau (違う)says
We have just finished about 60 hours of 60kph winds. There are trees down all over the city.
Our tomato cages are staked down and wrapped in sheets, the peppers-in-pots are under the porch, the herbs-in-pots are in the living room. Now all is stiil.
And a good thing, I was close to **snapping**.
While it was still winding, there was trio of jackrabbits in the neighbourhood who were doing somekind of matingthing which made them oblivious to everything else.
If I was outside tying something down they would be running around within 20cm of me. And they totally ignored me when I yelled, “Get the fuck out of my asparagus!!!”
And they barely acknowledged the tossed gumboot. It was weird.
They’re gone now.
Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trollssays
I’m almost done with the major project for the summer, which was replacing the old 30+ year old furnace with a high efficiency HVAC unit. Just need a chimney liner for the hot water heater, which is scheduled for the end of next week. Just in time, as 90℉ (32℃) weather is predicted for the weekend.
Now back to cleaning up after the Redhead (its a long term project).
jazzletsays
Ice Swimmer did any of the videos say why they had a badger?
Chigau wind makes me irritable too. Glad your plants survived and I hope the jackrabbits didn’t do any damage to your asparagus. I’m off to the green grocer to buy some asparagus in a bit, our bed is not at the producing stage yet though it ought to be, I’m not sure it ever will be, despite serious efforts to make a free draining bed I think it’s just too wet for asparagus to thrive here.
Nerd yay for the major project being almost done, and sympathy for cleaning up after redhead, that’s got to be hard.
Ice Swimmersays
jazzlet @ 22
I didn’t take an in-depth-look and while I also wondered that, didn’t feel like looking for an answer to that.
I’ve lately had a lot to do, which has involved interacting with other people and that seems to have reduced my writing fuel supply.
Ice Swimmersays
jazzlet @ 22
I was more snappy than I should have been @ 23. Anyway, in one of the comments in the video, the guy says that he got the badger from a breeder. To be honest, captive breeding badgers to be pets sounds a bit iffy, but I don’t know the details in this case or what the breeder is/was actually doing and the reason I didn’t want to dig deeper was because I was afraid that I wouldn’t like what I’d find.
jazzletsays
Ice Swimmer I didn’t feel you were being sharp, and honestly I felt it was a bit of a cheek me asking as I could have watched the videos myself. I don’t blame you for not wanting to dig further, captive breeding of badgers does sound iffy, I had no idea it was a thing people did. I assumed that the badger had been hurt in some way that meant it couldn’t survive in the wild, for all it looked fine, as I didn’t see how else you could aquire a badger. I don’t like the idea of people breeding badgers for pets one bit.
Kreatorsays
Just a piece of news I’d like to share with you all: the lower house of the Argentinian legislature has just narrowly approved a project to finally legalize abortion in my country, with 129 votes in favor, 125 votes against and one abstention. Now the project is being amended to head to the senate. If it gets approved again it will be sent to our president, who is anti-choice but has promised to respect the decision of the legislature and not veto the law if it comes to pass (he could break this promise but it would be politically risky for him, as many congresspeople from his own party are actually pro-choice and voted in favor of the law.) Let’s hope the law’s momentum continues.
Feliciades, Argentina!
I saw the videos of the women marching and it was glorious
++++
Ahhhh, and from the annals of “I cannot afford my job”, the car is in repairs with a 2.000€ bill.
Now, this is annoying but not devastating because Mr earns enough, but fuck that’s “my bill”, caused by the fact that I drove about 25.000 km in the last 12 months and if it was just me I couldn’t afford the repairs on the car I need to earn money…
Oggie.says
We experienced a very near miss last night. A probable tornado touched down about 2 miles from my house. Took out a Panera, a Barnes & Nobles, two eyeglass places, a UHaul place, and a Nissan dealership. It appears to have missed the Alfa Romeo dealership by just enough for them to avoid serious damage. Wasn’t on the ground long. Luckily, it occurred after just about everything was closed, so no injuries or fatalities.
Boy is getting married in 17 days. I am not old enough to be a father in law. Girl is getting married next February. I still will not be old enough to be a father in law.
Charly @63 (last thread)
One bad decision/action does not a stupid person make, otherwise there would be only stupid people and even more stupid people.
Oh, I know. Doing something stupid does not make one stupid. Doesn’t stop me from thinking about just how my stupid action could have killed me, though.
voyager @65
Pain demands your attention and it’s exhausting. And it makes everything in your life more difficult.
And it’s even more exhausting when I can’t get quality sleep because of the pain.
StevoR @68:
and hope you get better treatments and can recover at least a bit — preferably a lot — more.
I am getting good treatment, we just haven’t found the magic dose and/or medication to make it last three months.
jazzlet @70:
First nerves take a long time to regenerate, I found at least three years, so you may find that you will get back more feeling than you have at the moment.
My neurologist told me that this type of injury usually takes about two years to stabilize. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Just a waiting game.
I do have a very good pain specialist (he helped me when I tore a muscle in my lower back and created chronic inflamation of my sciatic tendon some years back).
yes you probably knew there was a possibility you might hurt yourself,
Actually, it never crossed my mind that I might slip down the steep slope and over the retaining wall. Had that crossed my mind, I probably would have let it go.
stop being so hard on yourself.
Being hard on myself seems to be one of the things that I am really good at.
Caine: Sorry about the migraine. Hope you have gotten past it. Many hugs to you.
chigau (違う)says
*hugs* Oggie.
You know what you often become not long after becoming a father-in-law?
It happened to PZ a few months ago.
Oggie.says
You know what you often become not long after becoming a father-in-law?
Gonna be a late start Friday morn; I’m setting my clock for 9am instead of 6am, because sleep is good. And because I’m a bit limited on how long I can sit, Grimhild is being a bit, eh y’know, so I need supine time.
Hey, that will help with being too hard on yourself, because grandfathers become all soft.
Did I mention that my dad upgraded the stairs he built for the elderly bunny for a ramp?
Did I mention that my dad upgraded the stairs he built for the elderly bunny for a ramp?
Awww. The bunnies have a granddad. That reminds me, Rick is supposed to switch our back steps to a ramp, for all us aging types.
jazzletsays
Oggie, I know all about being good at being hard on yourself, that’s why I said it takes practise to be kind to yourself, lots of practise!
Mr Jazz needs to resurface our ramp. He originally built it in a frantic hurry when Thorn snapped a cruciate ligament and wasnt going to be able to manage the steps down to the garden when she got home from hospital. The ramp structure is fine, but the surface is no longer up to carrying humans and we have found it most useful. Despite there being plenty of room the idots who owned our house previously built the steps with the minimum amount of materials possible, so they are rather steep, it’s much easier to use the ramp, especially if you are carrying anything.
Ramps are good, ‘cept when they’re slippery. Sis-in-law broke her ankle descending a damp wooden ramp last month. Her useless partner still doesn’t think it’s worth fixing.
chigau (違う)says
So we were down the pub after class and the US Open was on telly.
The location of this tournament is the Shinnecock Golfy Clubby Place in/on Long Island New York.
Normally I would just drink my pint and eat my fish and chips and ignore the sportTV
but the logo of the Golfy Place caught my attention.
I cannot provide a link but if you google “Shinnecock Golf”, you can see the logo.
No spoilers, we can chat later.
Well, the bunny ramp is basically an old wooden window shutter.
As for ramps in general, I’m wondering if people are now building their houses with more generational awareness.
As for ramps in general, I’m wondering if people are now building their houses with more generational awareness.
I’d like to think so. Ramps are easy for everyone to negotiate, especially when you’re carrying things, and they are easier for young sprogs and us older types. As long as they are properly surfaced, as Lofty notes.
Back in the days of Amelia, Gytha and the rest, I set up a ramp for them, and rats below, did they ever love it! Sounded like a herd of miniature elephants, running back and forth on the ramp.
Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows…The instinctive response of american managers to solve problems through layoffs. Even during a time of prosperity when other companies are hiring people because there is workforce scarcity on the market.
I am curious whether I will keep my job. Not that it was too good this last few months, even thought it is still vastly better than it was two years ago when I rage quit and had to be persuaded to stay. I probably need not fear unemployment with my knowledge and experience, but I hate change and I hate job hunting.
I am preparing for he worst, hoping for the best. Somehow I cannot decide which is which in this particular case. If I got a good severance package I might opt for a year of voluntary unemployment and try whether I could make a living as a knife maker. However I know have a potential to be good craftsman, but I sure as hell am no businessman.
Charly
My sympathies. I hope the situation will resolve to your satisfaction.
+++
Pünktchen the rabbit is dying. What the vet warned about in winter and I feared has happened. In his old frail state he has lost a lot of weight, the eye infectionis coming back and the damn flies got to him.
We’re keeping him as comfortable as possible, he is eating mint, and he kept grooming us as if to say “it’s ok, I’m here for you.” Breaks your heart.
Oh Giliell, I am so sorry. My heart is with you all.
Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trollssays
Sorry to hear about Pünktchen. I remember when the Redhead’s rabbits died. She was heartbroken.
I’ve left in the ramp and stairlifts for the Redhead, as I don’t know if I will need them, and it might help to sell the house when that happens. I do need to have them checked, as I suspect some batteries have died. Next month though.
Charly, hope your job issues resolve themselves in your favor.
jazzletsays
Charly and Giliell, symapthy for you both/all.
Anne those hummingbirds are gorgeous, and the link to the one with the octopus gorget just stunning thank you for sharing..
TIL that Timothy Truman is working on a new Scout graphic novel—title: Scout: Marauder—and has a Kickstarter for it. I mention this here because the Scout comics feature a Native American protagonist, and the Kickstarter page includes the interesting tidbit “Special Thanks to Cultural Consultants Lee Francis IV & Michael Sheyahshe”.
Pünktchen the rabbit is no more.
He fought and fought, but he couldn’t win this one.
Nobody ever tell me that “rabbit hearted” means weak or some shit.
We buried him under the cherry tree and the first thing Molli did when we finally let her out was go there, searching for her companion whom she could obviously smell but not find.
Now I’ve got to tell the kids.
Giliell, condolences on the loss of your bun and good luck with the interview.
Hugs to all that need or want them.
Tomorrow I try again to take Shadow for a checkup. Last week, I got her there and then found out they’d forgotten to tell me that she had to be fasting. Tonight, I pick up her dish at 9 PM, and she doesn’t get breakfast tomorrow. Which means she’ll already be suspicious. Wish me luck.
voyagersays
Giliell,
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve lost your rabbit. Losing an animal is gut wrenching, even if you know it’s coming.
Good luck with your interview.
Thanks.
I’m so happy, it’s such a weight off my shoulders.
And I just googled my pay (I don’t have the contract yet, that’s going to take until July, but no need to worry.)
For the first time in my life I’ll earn enough money to live of at level that’s somewhat higher than “student” all be myself. Not that I’m planning to, but it’s good to know.
Cat captured and singing sad songs of woe in her carrier. That’s the worst part, since Shadow is slick and slippery and pretty quick for a 17 year old.
Nerd of Redhead, Dances OM Trollssays
Conga-rats to Giliell for her new job, and to Anne for capturing Shadow.
We’re back, she sang laments all the way there, but behaved for the vet techs. Now it’s just waiting for labs.
I saw a rare bird -- it landed in the gutter in front of my car just as I pulled up to our house. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin-tailed_whydah I know we have them here, but I’ve never seen one myself. It was a male, complete with ribbon tail, although it wasn’t quite as long as pictured. Whydahs are invasive and brood parasites, laying their eggs in scaly breasted munia nests (which are also invasive). California, land of immigrants.:-D
jazzletsays
Good Shadow!
That bird is striking.
I need to brush Thorn and Jake properly, this will produce large piles of fur, but they will still be shedding handfuls afterwards. Sigh.
Ice Swimmersays
Congratulations, Giliell! Yay for better financial stability!
Anne @ 77
Hoping that the test results will be good.
rqsays
Giliell
Congratulations a million times over! Financial stability cannot be overrated. Onward to a one-less-stressful life. ♥
Anne
Shadow’s laments remind me of Henri le Chat Noir and his forays into ennui and existentialism (the first video, Henri’s Ennui is easily the best). Yay for successful visit, though!
chigau (違う)says
Happy Solstice, Everyone!
Kreatorsays
Thanks, chigau! Here in the Southern Hemisphere that means that daylight will start lasting more time, which is good news for me.
—
But now, in today’s episode of “My Fellow Countrymen Embarrass me…”
A 47 years old Argentinian soccer fan who traveled to Russia for the World Cup thought it would be a very funny joke to trick a 15 years old Russian girl into saying “come to Russia to suck dicks” in Spanish and sent the video to his friends. Joke’s on him, though: as the video became viral, both the Russian and Argentinian authorities took notice and now the man is not only forbidden from entering any sport stadiums, but he’s not allowed to leave his hotel at all. Meanwhile, here in my country he has been thoroughly shamed in both mainstream and social media, and people have called for a boycott of his business (he’s a car salesman.) Ha ha, asshole.
@kreator, what a jackass, truly. That kind of joke stopped being funny at about 15 years old, a 47 years old man should know better.
But soccer fan you say? Hmmmm. That might explain it. My apologies to decent soccer fans, I know there must be some somewhere but somehow I seem only meet the dunderheads.
So.
Weather.
Could you actually get on with it?
We’ve had three days of ****Thunderstorms Warnings****OMG
what we get is barely-heard grumbling over there somewheres
Not fair :(
We arrived safely at our destination. But the WiFi is shaky.
rqsays
I rescued a bat over the weekend, it had got itself trapped in a large ceramic jug (don’t ask, I didn’t, not that it would tell me). Most adorableness ever, ticking away like stones under water, showing all its tiny needle teeth. I put it back with the rest of the colony, and later that evening, they were out clearing mosquitos from the yard. When my mum sends pics, I will share. But so awesome.
Ice Swimmersays
rq @ 93
I’m happy that you were there to rescue the bat.
—
I went to sauna, but not swimming on Tuesday. The public sauna I went to isn’t by the sea, lake or river, it’s in an apartment building and people sit in front of it by the sidewalk wearing a towel. I also had myself washed by the washing lady (she washes in both men’s and women’s side, the price is 10 €).
This was third time ever for me to pay someone to wash me (with an artificial sponge, head to toe, except for the face between mouth and eyes and the area between the thighs above knees). It was a powerful scrubbing. The sauna has a dedicated washing bench with a waterproof mattress on which you lay, on your back and on your stomach and then sit in a lawn chair to have your hair washed. I didn’t get a huge kick out of it, but my hair feels very nice and and my back muscles got a much-needed massage as she washed my back.
I had a good time, but the next time I’m going to sauna, it’s going to be somewhere that I’m able to swim and I’m not going to spend 10 euros on being washed by someone else.
Ice Swimmersays
It seems that the end of TNET has gone underground again, to a secret nook of the blog.
Ice Swimmersays
And on Wednesday, I did swim in a seawater pool* (the sea water temperature lottery number** was 14 °C), went to sauna (multiple rounds of both) and washed myself afterwards. They had SUP board yoga in one end of the pool, but swimming was also allowed if you didn’t disturb people doing yoga. At one point I had a chat about swimming in cool/cold water with the life guard (he started it by asking if I knew how long was I in the pool [I had no idea.] and remarking that I seem to be used to swimming in cold water) and he told that some Briton had swum for an hour in the pool when it was significantly colder than 14 °C. I couldn’t do an hour of non-stop swimming, I think.
__
* = Fuck the chlorinated swimming pool water!
** = The sea water temperature has been quite unstable.
First trip to Barcelona today, the obligatory zoo visit. Many pics were taken.
What was interesting was that while going into town by bus, I noticed a change. Two years ago there was one lonely Spanish flag. I remarked to Mr that it must be somebody who doesn’t like the neighbours anyway.
Now there were many Spanish flags, and I doubt it was just because of the football world cup. Those flags looked weathered.
Oh my. I have just learned something from my mother, and I am very upsed right now, to put it mildly.
I had some common interests with my elder brother -- chess, making paper models and growing bonsai trees for example. When my brother got married, I visited him regularly and we played chess and talked about models and trees and stuff. We got along just fine, despite me having much higher education. Not sho his inlaws and his wife.
That my sister in law and her boorish family did not approve of me I knew from the start. The sneers about my reading of Seneca and useless “philosophy tractates” I might be able to forgive. That my brother simply “had to do something urgently” whenever we sat to a chessboard I could forget. That they put all my pictures that I gave to my brother in the closet I might put to a difference in taste. That my brother gave up angling and making paper models altogether I could consider a part of simply his change over time, after all I gave up those hobbies too. But today I learned that all his bonsai trees did not die suddenly due to an accident like many of mine have this year, but because his inlaws poured saponate in the rain water barrel he used for his trees. I do not ever want to talk with his shitty mother in law again, I would have to yel at that evil, malicious crone.
I have to tolerate my sister in law when they visit, but that is the most I can do and only with great effort. She and her family have done their best to alienate me from my brother and that I will never forgive or forget.
rqsays
Ice Swimmer
14 degrees??? I’d be out in a flash!
Charly
*hugs* iffen you wants em. Sympathies on the in-laws, sometimes it feels like they’re more trouble than it’s worth, but I’m glad you can limit your time with them. (Saponate in the water, really??? At least my BiL is just an alcoholic…)
+++
Got the new blade on the mower (thanks, neighbour!) but I had about 10m3 left when fuel gave out… And Husband assures me we’re all out.
Poo. Oh well, at least tomorrow I can spend time deadheading the roses. My favourite part of gardening.
And on Monday vacation time begins! Only 2 weeks (left over from last year) but I have to save time for later in the year. Planning on lazing about with the kids and daytripping and letting them get on my nerves. Looking forward to it.
Ice Swimmersays
The perception on the water temperature and how to react to it seems quite subjective or variable by person (actual physiological effects are, of course, less subjective) and I feel that between 10 -- 20 °C it’s especially subjective. There’s no right or wrong feeling there. Then there are people who think that water is spoiled, rotten and no fun at above 8 °C (I’m not one of them).
Would you do SUP board yoga on a SUP board floating on 14 °C water? I didn’t notice anyone tip over while I was swimming. I think the asana in which the center of mass of the body was highest that they did was the downward facing dog, but I wasn’t paying that much attention.
Charly @ 99
I’m sorry about the in-laws, my sympathies. I have no real siblings and I seldom see my relatives, so very little in the way of experiences in this vein. The shallow and infrequent contact has made the relations benign, but not very deep.
Nightjarsays
Oh wow, I have the most beautiful rose in my garden and I had no idea!
I explain: a distant cousin of ours that gets along really well with my mother gave her a rose to plant last year. It came with a picture of the flowers it was supposed to give, a variegated pink and white rose that my mother thought was beautiful but I’m personally not that fond of. Still, I planted it in a good spot and cared for it. Now the first bud has opened and it is nothing like the picture! It is a deep orange and yellow, the colour of fire. A fiery rose. I am soooo in love with it. I will send pictures.
Giliell, got your latest, and I was just starting to run out of stuff, so good timing! I’m a bit short on rest, so I’m gonna have a ‘start late, sleep in day’ tomorrow. (Monday)
I’m glad I could avert the impeding doooooom.
Have a good night rest.
That was a very nice video.
Mmm, yes. Very relaxing. Makes me wish I had a hot tub. And a badger.
Definitely the badger had itches/insect bites it was trying to do something about.
The facial markings puzzled me, until I Goggled various badgers. A European Badger, which is consistent with a Giliell submission.
Nerd, the badger video isn’t from Giliell. It’s from youtube, the badger’s name is Tor, and I don’t know where they live.
Badger! Squeeeee!
He’s definitely a cutie, but I kept waiting for someone to toss some water toys in for him to play with.
Caine @ 6
Judging from the name of the uploader and some of his other video titles plus his accent and the fact that Swedish newspapers and junk mail with prices in kronor can be seen, Tor probably lives in Sweden.
Okay. It’s not like it matters much. ;)
Where Tor lives, other than in Europe, doesn’t matter much to me. The markings on the snout wasn’t that of a typical American badger, as is seen on nature shows. So I had to investigate. Any erroneous presumptions beyond that point are my fault. Mea culpa.
I found a badger with a broken leg in the field at the bottom of our garden when I was out walking Thorn one day. It must have dragged itself there from the nearest road, a good150 yards. The RSPCA inspector approached it with caution, wearing really heavy leather gloves and using one of those loops on a stick to control it’s head end, as they have a fearsome bite. The inspector said that it would probably make a good recovery and would be released back to where it was found. The field is at the bottom of a steep bank and has an outlying sett in it, outlying from the main sett which is a mile or so down the canal, which is at the bottom of the field. We get badgers coming into the garden quite often, though I don’t think it’s the same badger each time, or if it is it has an odd sense of humour as when the potatoes are coming up to ready they, or it, dig up one take a taste and decide they don’t like it, then do the same another night, and another night. It drives Mr Jazz nutty :)
A migraine landed on my head early this morn, so I guess I’ll be traveling gravel tomorrow.
I’m sorry to hear, Caine
I hope some rest helps.
+++
Did I get wet today.
We had excursion day at school and we went to an indoor playhall and we had to walk for about 20 minutes and it was pissing so much that the umbrella didn’t do shit.
Sorry about the migraine Caine.
Giliell the wet sounds preferable to an indoor playhall and a lot of children to me. I am so glad there are people like you who can cope with, and even enjoy such things.
I slept for fourteen hours last night/today. This is not right and I feel drunk with sleep.
Sorry to about the migraine, Caine. Lets hope it goes away quickly.
I’m sorry about the migraine, Caine. I’m also hoping it’ll go away and you’ll get your gravel trip.
Re the badger and the geographical location, I started digging info, because I got curious and decided to tell what I found out, proud of my irrelevant and minor achievement.
That a badger can be fond of being in water is something at least I’ve never thought about. Digging tunnels and sleeping through the winter, yes, but this was new.
Sorry about the migraine, Caine. That sucks.
A road trip delayed equals extra anticipation, though. Not my wisest words, but the best I can do on short notice.
Hopefully interesting article here :
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-recreate-ancient-skies-date-nearly-2600-year-old-greek-poem-180959135/?utm_source=facebook.com&no-ist
on using archaeoastronomy to date one of Sappho’s ‘Midnight’ poem.
Plus this one on how Australians views of our Indigenous People’s have changed :
https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-people-how-to-misunderstand-their-science-23835
I remember my Mum saying that she was taught at school that they were a “dying race” and that would’ve been the 1950’s /60’s I think.
Oh and, finally, it seems the ancient Egyptians knew about at least one variable star -- Algol (Beta Persei) :
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151217151651.htm
The “demon star” name hints that the ancient Arabians might have also known it was strange too.
We have just finished about 60 hours of 60kph winds. There are trees down all over the city.
Our tomato cages are staked down and wrapped in sheets, the peppers-in-pots are under the porch, the herbs-in-pots are in the living room. Now all is stiil.
And a good thing, I was close to **snapping**.
While it was still winding, there was trio of jackrabbits in the neighbourhood who were doing somekind of matingthing which made them oblivious to everything else.
If I was outside tying something down they would be running around within 20cm of me. And they totally ignored me when I yelled, “Get the fuck out of my asparagus!!!”
And they barely acknowledged the tossed gumboot. It was weird.
They’re gone now.
I’m almost done with the major project for the summer, which was replacing the old 30+ year old furnace with a high efficiency HVAC unit. Just need a chimney liner for the hot water heater, which is scheduled for the end of next week. Just in time, as 90℉ (32℃) weather is predicted for the weekend.
Now back to cleaning up after the Redhead (its a long term project).
Ice Swimmer did any of the videos say why they had a badger?
Chigau wind makes me irritable too. Glad your plants survived and I hope the jackrabbits didn’t do any damage to your asparagus. I’m off to the green grocer to buy some asparagus in a bit, our bed is not at the producing stage yet though it ought to be, I’m not sure it ever will be, despite serious efforts to make a free draining bed I think it’s just too wet for asparagus to thrive here.
Nerd yay for the major project being almost done, and sympathy for cleaning up after redhead, that’s got to be hard.
jazzlet @ 22
I didn’t take an in-depth-look and while I also wondered that, didn’t feel like looking for an answer to that.
I’ve lately had a lot to do, which has involved interacting with other people and that seems to have reduced my writing fuel supply.
jazzlet @ 22
I was more snappy than I should have been @ 23. Anyway, in one of the comments in the video, the guy says that he got the badger from a breeder. To be honest, captive breeding badgers to be pets sounds a bit iffy, but I don’t know the details in this case or what the breeder is/was actually doing and the reason I didn’t want to dig deeper was because I was afraid that I wouldn’t like what I’d find.
Ice Swimmer I didn’t feel you were being sharp, and honestly I felt it was a bit of a cheek me asking as I could have watched the videos myself. I don’t blame you for not wanting to dig further, captive breeding of badgers does sound iffy, I had no idea it was a thing people did. I assumed that the badger had been hurt in some way that meant it couldn’t survive in the wild, for all it looked fine, as I didn’t see how else you could aquire a badger. I don’t like the idea of people breeding badgers for pets one bit.
Just a piece of news I’d like to share with you all: the lower house of the Argentinian legislature has just narrowly approved a project to finally legalize abortion in my country, with 129 votes in favor, 125 votes against and one abstention. Now the project is being amended to head to the senate. If it gets approved again it will be sent to our president, who is anti-choice but has promised to respect the decision of the legislature and not veto the law if it comes to pass (he could break this promise but it would be politically risky for him, as many congresspeople from his own party are actually pro-choice and voted in favor of the law.) Let’s hope the law’s momentum continues.
Kreator:
Wow, that’s great news! All fingers crossed it goes all the way through.
Kreator that is great news, I hope the senate and president do the right thing.
It was extremely windy here overnight, we have lost nearly all our baby walnuts :(
Feliciades, Argentina!
I saw the videos of the women marching and it was glorious
++++
Ahhhh, and from the annals of “I cannot afford my job”, the car is in repairs with a 2.000€ bill.
Now, this is annoying but not devastating because Mr earns enough, but fuck that’s “my bill”, caused by the fact that I drove about 25.000 km in the last 12 months and if it was just me I couldn’t afford the repairs on the car I need to earn money…
We experienced a very near miss last night. A probable tornado touched down about 2 miles from my house. Took out a Panera, a Barnes & Nobles, two eyeglass places, a UHaul place, and a Nissan dealership. It appears to have missed the Alfa Romeo dealership by just enough for them to avoid serious damage. Wasn’t on the ground long. Luckily, it occurred after just about everything was closed, so no injuries or fatalities.
Boy is getting married in 17 days. I am not old enough to be a father in law. Girl is getting married next February. I still will not be old enough to be a father in law.
Charly @63 (last thread)
Oh, I know. Doing something stupid does not make one stupid. Doesn’t stop me from thinking about just how my stupid action could have killed me, though.
voyager @65
And it’s even more exhausting when I can’t get quality sleep because of the pain.
StevoR @68:
I am getting good treatment, we just haven’t found the magic dose and/or medication to make it last three months.
jazzlet @70:
My neurologist told me that this type of injury usually takes about two years to stabilize. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Just a waiting game.
I do have a very good pain specialist (he helped me when I tore a muscle in my lower back and created chronic inflamation of my sciatic tendon some years back).
Actually, it never crossed my mind that I might slip down the steep slope and over the retaining wall. Had that crossed my mind, I probably would have let it go.
Being hard on myself seems to be one of the things that I am really good at.
Caine: Sorry about the migraine. Hope you have gotten past it. Many hugs to you.
*hugs* Oggie.
You know what you often become not long after becoming a father-in-law?
It happened to PZ a few months ago.
A professor?
Oggie:
Sure. A professor of grandparentology.
Gonna be a late start Friday morn; I’m setting my clock for 9am instead of 6am, because sleep is good. And because I’m a bit limited on how long I can sit, Grimhild is being a bit, eh y’know, so I need supine time.
Hey, that will help with being too hard on yourself, because grandfathers become all soft.
Did I mention that my dad upgraded the stairs he built for the elderly bunny for a ramp?
LALALALALALALALALAL I CAN’T HERE YOU!!!!11!1!11
Giliell:
Awww. The bunnies have a granddad. That reminds me, Rick is supposed to switch our back steps to a ramp, for all us aging types.
Oggie, I know all about being good at being hard on yourself, that’s why I said it takes practise to be kind to yourself, lots of practise!
Mr Jazz needs to resurface our ramp. He originally built it in a frantic hurry when Thorn snapped a cruciate ligament and wasnt going to be able to manage the steps down to the garden when she got home from hospital. The ramp structure is fine, but the surface is no longer up to carrying humans and we have found it most useful. Despite there being plenty of room the idots who owned our house previously built the steps with the minimum amount of materials possible, so they are rather steep, it’s much easier to use the ramp, especially if you are carrying anything.
Ramps are good, ‘cept when they’re slippery. Sis-in-law broke her ankle descending a damp wooden ramp last month. Her useless partner still doesn’t think it’s worth fixing.
So we were down the pub after class and the US Open was on telly.
The location of this tournament is the Shinnecock Golfy Clubby Place in/on Long Island New York.
Normally I would just drink my pint and eat my fish and chips and ignore the sportTV
but the logo of the Golfy Place caught my attention.
I cannot provide a link but if you google “Shinnecock Golf”, you can see the logo.
No spoilers, we can chat later.
Lovely. Not.
Well, the bunny ramp is basically an old wooden window shutter.
As for ramps in general, I’m wondering if people are now building their houses with more generational awareness.
Giliell:
I’d like to think so. Ramps are easy for everyone to negotiate, especially when you’re carrying things, and they are easier for young sprogs and us older types. As long as they are properly surfaced, as Lofty notes.
Back in the days of Amelia, Gytha and the rest, I set up a ramp for them, and rats below, did they ever love it! Sounded like a herd of miniature elephants, running back and forth on the ramp.
Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows…The instinctive response of american managers to solve problems through layoffs. Even during a time of prosperity when other companies are hiring people because there is workforce scarcity on the market.
I am curious whether I will keep my job. Not that it was too good this last few months, even thought it is still vastly better than it was two years ago when I rage quit and had to be persuaded to stay. I probably need not fear unemployment with my knowledge and experience, but I hate change and I hate job hunting.
I am preparing for he worst, hoping for the best. Somehow I cannot decide which is which in this particular case. If I got a good severance package I might opt for a year of voluntary unemployment and try whether I could make a living as a knife maker. However I know have a potential to be good craftsman, but I sure as hell am no businessman.
We will see.
Oh hell, Charly. No one needs to be up in the air like that. I hope things work out for you, in the best possible way.
Pretty pictures of shiny hummingbird gorgets!
https://www.audubon.org/news/jewels-of-the-sky
Charly
My sympathies. I hope the situation will resolve to your satisfaction.
+++
Pünktchen the rabbit is dying. What the vet warned about in winter and I feared has happened. In his old frail state he has lost a lot of weight, the eye infectionis coming back and the damn flies got to him.
We’re keeping him as comfortable as possible, he is eating mint, and he kept grooming us as if to say “it’s ok, I’m here for you.” Breaks your heart.
Giliell
All my sympathy.
Charly & Giliell
My sympathies.
Oh Giliell, I am so sorry. My heart is with you all.
Sorry to hear about Pünktchen. I remember when the Redhead’s rabbits died. She was heartbroken.
I’ve left in the ramp and stairlifts for the Redhead, as I don’t know if I will need them, and it might help to sell the house when that happens. I do need to have them checked, as I suspect some batteries have died. Next month though.
Charly, hope your job issues resolve themselves in your favor.
Charly and Giliell, symapthy for you both/all.
Anne those hummingbirds are gorgeous, and the link to the one with the octopus gorget just stunning thank you for sharing..
And a story with marine creepy crawlies and cannibalism and such:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-17/the-mysterious-giant-spider-crab-migration-to-melbournes-bay/9863658
TIL that Timothy Truman is working on a new Scout graphic novel—title: Scout: Marauder—and has a Kickstarter for it. I mention this here because the Scout comics feature a Native American protagonist, and the Kickstarter page includes the interesting tidbit “Special Thanks to Cultural Consultants Lee Francis IV & Michael Sheyahshe”.
And… autocorrupt turned my strait quotes into curly quotes, so the link in my comment just previous won’t link. Here’s the actual URL:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/704883862/scout-marauder
Pünktchen the rabbit is no more.
He fought and fought, but he couldn’t win this one.
Nobody ever tell me that “rabbit hearted” means weak or some shit.
We buried him under the cherry tree and the first thing Molli did when we finally let her out was go there, searching for her companion whom she could obviously smell but not find.
Now I’ve got to tell the kids.
*hugs* Giliell
@Giliell, I feel for you. It is always heartbreaking to lose them.
Giliell, my condolences for the loss of your pet.
Giliell,
My condolences. It’s never easy with death.
Thank y’all.
You always know that this day will come, but it’s never easy.
Here’s a video of him hopping down his ramp just two weeks ago.
Giliell
*hugs*
I hope the kids take it as well as possible. :(
Thanks for the hugs, they are needed and appreciated.
In some good news, I got a job interview tomorrow and they’re desperate.
Giliell @ 63
I hope you’ll get to make a good choice on the job!
Gilliell sorry for your loss, but good luck for the interview.
Good wishes for a successful interview Giliell.
Giliell, condolences on the loss of your bun and good luck with the interview.
Hugs to all that need or want them.
Tomorrow I try again to take Shadow for a checkup. Last week, I got her there and then found out they’d forgotten to tell me that she had to be fasting. Tonight, I pick up her dish at 9 PM, and she doesn’t get breakfast tomorrow. Which means she’ll already be suspicious. Wish me luck.
Giliell,
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve lost your rabbit. Losing an animal is gut wrenching, even if you know it’s coming.
Good luck with your interview.
Yay, got the job.
It’s good to know how to pay my bills for the next year.
Happy dance for job getting.
Good news Giliell!
Thanks.
I’m so happy, it’s such a weight off my shoulders.
And I just googled my pay (I don’t have the contract yet, that’s going to take until July, but no need to worry.)
For the first time in my life I’ll earn enough money to live of at level that’s somewhat higher than “student” all be myself. Not that I’m planning to, but it’s good to know.
Congratulations, Giliell.
That is good news, Giliell, congratulations.
Yay, Giliell! Congratulations!
Cat captured and singing sad songs of woe in her carrier. That’s the worst part, since Shadow is slick and slippery and pretty quick for a 17 year old.
Conga-rats to Giliell for her new job, and to Anne for capturing Shadow.
We’re back, she sang laments all the way there, but behaved for the vet techs. Now it’s just waiting for labs.
I saw a rare bird -- it landed in the gutter in front of my car just as I pulled up to our house. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pin-tailed_whydah I know we have them here, but I’ve never seen one myself. It was a male, complete with ribbon tail, although it wasn’t quite as long as pictured. Whydahs are invasive and brood parasites, laying their eggs in scaly breasted munia nests (which are also invasive). California, land of immigrants.:-D
Good Shadow!
That bird is striking.
I need to brush Thorn and Jake properly, this will produce large piles of fur, but they will still be shedding handfuls afterwards. Sigh.
Congratulations, Giliell! Yay for better financial stability!
Anne @ 77
Hoping that the test results will be good.
Giliell
Congratulations a million times over! Financial stability cannot be overrated. Onward to a one-less-stressful life. ♥
Anne
Shadow’s laments remind me of Henri le Chat Noir and his forays into ennui and existentialism (the first video, Henri’s Ennui is easily the best). Yay for successful visit, though!
Happy Solstice, Everyone!
Thanks, chigau! Here in the Southern Hemisphere that means that daylight will start lasting more time, which is good news for me.
—
But now, in today’s episode of “My Fellow Countrymen Embarrass me…”
A 47 years old Argentinian soccer fan who traveled to Russia for the World Cup thought it would be a very funny joke to trick a 15 years old Russian girl into saying “come to Russia to suck dicks” in Spanish and sent the video to his friends. Joke’s on him, though: as the video became viral, both the Russian and Argentinian authorities took notice and now the man is not only forbidden from entering any sport stadiums, but he’s not allowed to leave his hotel at all. Meanwhile, here in my country he has been thoroughly shamed in both mainstream and social media, and people have called for a boycott of his business (he’s a car salesman.) Ha ha, asshole.
@kreator, what a jackass, truly. That kind of joke stopped being funny at about 15 years old, a 47 years old man should know better.
But soccer fan you say? Hmmmm. That might explain it. My apologies to decent soccer fans, I know there must be some somewhere but somehow I seem only meet the dunderheads.
Charly
It’s probably because they stay inside ’cause they#re just as embarrassed as you are.
Congratulations Giliell. Well done.
Trump has a new Time cover -- doubt he’ll like it much though! :
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-22/donald-trump-featured-on-time-cover-with-immigrant-child/9898534
Complete with morphing making of image. WARNING : Distressed child photo.
personally I think the Daily News one -scrolldown the link there -- is better and sums up the issue best but still.
Off to Spain tomorrow morning. I will check in.
Have a nice holiday, Giliell!
Have a good holiday Giliell, you deserve it!
So.
Weather.
Could you actually get on with it?
We’ve had three days of ****Thunderstorms Warnings****OMG
what we get is barely-heard grumbling over there somewheres
Not fair :(
Giliell, I hope you have a great time, travel safe! And take many pictures.
We arrived safely at our destination. But the WiFi is shaky.
I rescued a bat over the weekend, it had got itself trapped in a large ceramic jug (don’t ask, I didn’t, not that it would tell me). Most adorableness ever, ticking away like stones under water, showing all its tiny needle teeth. I put it back with the rest of the colony, and later that evening, they were out clearing mosquitos from the yard. When my mum sends pics, I will share. But so awesome.
rq @ 93
I’m happy that you were there to rescue the bat.
—
I went to sauna, but not swimming on Tuesday. The public sauna I went to isn’t by the sea, lake or river, it’s in an apartment building and people sit in front of it by the sidewalk wearing a towel. I also had myself washed by the washing lady (she washes in both men’s and women’s side, the price is 10 €).
This was third time ever for me to pay someone to wash me (with an artificial sponge, head to toe, except for the face between mouth and eyes and the area between the thighs above knees). It was a powerful scrubbing. The sauna has a dedicated washing bench with a waterproof mattress on which you lay, on your back and on your stomach and then sit in a lawn chair to have your hair washed. I didn’t get a huge kick out of it, but my hair feels very nice and and my back muscles got a much-needed massage as she washed my back.
I had a good time, but the next time I’m going to sauna, it’s going to be somewhere that I’m able to swim and I’m not going to spend 10 euros on being washed by someone else.
It seems that the end of TNET has gone underground again, to a secret nook of the blog.
And on Wednesday, I did swim in a seawater pool* (the sea water temperature lottery number** was 14 °C), went to sauna (multiple rounds of both) and washed myself afterwards. They had SUP board yoga in one end of the pool, but swimming was also allowed if you didn’t disturb people doing yoga. At one point I had a chat about swimming in cool/cold water with the life guard (he started it by asking if I knew how long was I in the pool [I had no idea.] and remarking that I seem to be used to swimming in cold water) and he told that some Briton had swum for an hour in the pool when it was significantly colder than 14 °C. I couldn’t do an hour of non-stop swimming, I think.
__
* = Fuck the chlorinated swimming pool water!
** = The sea water temperature has been quite unstable.
In 14°C water I could not even dip my toe. Brrrr. I shudder at the very thought.
The weather here now is what it should be beginning May. Had there been these temperatures then, I would not have lost valuable bonsai trees.
Somehow time eludes me. When I have time to do something, I do not have the strenght. And vice versa. Works on the dagger progress at snail speed.
First trip to Barcelona today, the obligatory zoo visit. Many pics were taken.
What was interesting was that while going into town by bus, I noticed a change. Two years ago there was one lonely Spanish flag. I remarked to Mr that it must be somebody who doesn’t like the neighbours anyway.
Now there were many Spanish flags, and I doubt it was just because of the football world cup. Those flags looked weathered.
Oh my. I have just learned something from my mother, and I am very upsed right now, to put it mildly.
I had some common interests with my elder brother -- chess, making paper models and growing bonsai trees for example. When my brother got married, I visited him regularly and we played chess and talked about models and trees and stuff. We got along just fine, despite me having much higher education. Not sho his inlaws and his wife.
That my sister in law and her boorish family did not approve of me I knew from the start. The sneers about my reading of Seneca and useless “philosophy tractates” I might be able to forgive. That my brother simply “had to do something urgently” whenever we sat to a chessboard I could forget. That they put all my pictures that I gave to my brother in the closet I might put to a difference in taste. That my brother gave up angling and making paper models altogether I could consider a part of simply his change over time, after all I gave up those hobbies too. But today I learned that all his bonsai trees did not die suddenly due to an accident like many of mine have this year, but because his inlaws poured saponate in the rain water barrel he used for his trees. I do not ever want to talk with his shitty mother in law again, I would have to yel at that evil, malicious crone.
I have to tolerate my sister in law when they visit, but that is the most I can do and only with great effort. She and her family have done their best to alienate me from my brother and that I will never forgive or forget.
Ice Swimmer
14 degrees??? I’d be out in a flash!
Charly
*hugs* iffen you wants em. Sympathies on the in-laws, sometimes it feels like they’re more trouble than it’s worth, but I’m glad you can limit your time with them. (Saponate in the water, really??? At least my BiL is just an alcoholic…)
+++
Got the new blade on the mower (thanks, neighbour!) but I had about 10m3 left when fuel gave out… And Husband assures me we’re all out.
Poo. Oh well, at least tomorrow I can spend time deadheading the roses. My favourite part of gardening.
And on Monday vacation time begins! Only 2 weeks (left over from last year) but I have to save time for later in the year. Planning on lazing about with the kids and daytripping and letting them get on my nerves. Looking forward to it.
The perception on the water temperature and how to react to it seems quite subjective or variable by person (actual physiological effects are, of course, less subjective) and I feel that between 10 -- 20 °C it’s especially subjective. There’s no right or wrong feeling there. Then there are people who think that water is spoiled, rotten and no fun at above 8 °C (I’m not one of them).
Would you do SUP board yoga on a SUP board floating on 14 °C water? I didn’t notice anyone tip over while I was swimming. I think the asana in which the center of mass of the body was highest that they did was the downward facing dog, but I wasn’t paying that much attention.
Charly @ 99
I’m sorry about the in-laws, my sympathies. I have no real siblings and I seldom see my relatives, so very little in the way of experiences in this vein. The shallow and infrequent contact has made the relations benign, but not very deep.
Oh wow, I have the most beautiful rose in my garden and I had no idea!
I explain: a distant cousin of ours that gets along really well with my mother gave her a rose to plant last year. It came with a picture of the flowers it was supposed to give, a variegated pink and white rose that my mother thought was beautiful but I’m personally not that fond of. Still, I planted it in a good spot and cared for it. Now the first bud has opened and it is nothing like the picture! It is a deep orange and yellow, the colour of fire. A fiery rose. I am soooo in love with it. I will send pictures.
It’s Canada Day.
NEW THREAD!