Around noon today I was sitting on the side porch in the sun when a pair of copulating flies landed on my forearm. I saw them approach and thought they were one bee, but when they landed they were very easy to see. One was mounted on the back of the other. They were very still and I watched them for what seemed a long time. It seemed like I could swat them easily, but what would be the point? What I really wanted was a picture, but when I eventually rose to go inside for a camera, they flew away.
I guess I have not yet seen it all.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
An idium is born?
In a recent post to our neighborhood forum a person described an encounter with a solicitor.
A nice looking young man came to the door this evening....When I asked him for identification and his permit he hesitated, wasn't able to produce proper ID...He had one page filled with the names, addresses, phone/email and signatures. In this day and age of rampant identity theft, and home robberies would it not be wise to side with the air of caution...?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Toilet Paper - Beyond Wikipedia
Recent studies have also shown that hanging toilet paper in the 'overhand' manner significantly reduces usage when compared to hanging in the 'underhand' manner. Researchers speculate the overhand method reduces the likelihood of uncontrolled unwinding occurring. Other studies have suggested that those who prefer hanging toilet paper in the 'overhand' method have statistically significant higher socioeconomic status vis-a-vis those who prefer to use the 'underhand' method.
I think there is a little more that might be said on the topic in general.
So far as I know there are two things to do with TP between the time it is taken from the roll and when it is put to use. It can be folded or it can be scrunched. (I can imagine a third option, but it seems so unlikely that anyone would tear off individual pieces and stack them that I will not address that approach.) Actually I don’t have much of an address on the other two options. Really all I have are questions.
Which method is most commonly used? Is the choice gender linked? Which method uses the most material? Is one method faster than the other? Do scrunchers get a second or third application from a single tear off? For a given length of material is break-through more common with one method than the other? Is finger nail length a factor in this? Are there those who use both? If so, on what basis do they decide which method to adopt?
Just wondering.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Two Cyclists Get To Talking
I had just pulled to a stop at a red light when another rider came up beside me and said "On your left". This is common and polite verbiage when passing another rider, but it was a bit unusual given that we were stopped. I think for this reason she said it quietly and as we stood there went on to say, "I am riding only a bit faster than you" or words to that effect. She was fifty something I would say. She had one pannier that appeared to be full and carried on her shoulders a loaded day pack. Atop her handle bar bag rested a map. The light turned green almost immediately and she pulled away in front, but at the very next intersection there was a stop sign and as I came up next to her I chirped, "Where are you going with that map?" She didn't appear to be going to the office.
"I don't want to get into any long conversations" she replied.
We traveled on in silence, about four feet apart, for several blocks.
I did not say "So long" when I turned off her course.
"I don't want to get into any long conversations" she replied.
We traveled on in silence, about four feet apart, for several blocks.
I did not say "So long" when I turned off her course.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Shaggy Dog Story
About six weeks ago we agreed with the two women living next door that we should get a dog, to be shared between our two households. Just over two weeks ago we all went to a shelter to meet and ultimately to adopt a fine pooch. She is about 5 years old, of medium size, about 75 pounds, with a handsome not quite shaggy coat and most important of all a lovely disposition, at least as people are concerned. She is quite smart and someone has trained her well. She seems to have but one drawback. She does not care for her own species. On seeing another dog she invariably freezes into an aggressive posture which at best leads to a stare down. At worst she snarls, snaps and lunges at the other beast with the apparent intent of having it for lunch. We always walk her on a leash so as yet no blood has been spilt. This is however at least embarrassing and at worst tending to give the leash holder a sore shoulder. We are hopeful that this rudeness can be overcome in time.
Peggy is a woman in the neighborhood who once owned and loved a dog, but as happens, lost him to age. Her response was to take up dog walking as a profession and is now to be seen several times a day with one to four dogs out for some exercise. She also seems pretty knowledgeable as to our cannine friends and we have chatted several times in the time leading up to and since getting our dog. A couple of days ago she instructed me with care and at some length about what to do when out with Kodiak and meeting another dog. I am to get Kody to sit, stand in front of her so she can't see the other dog and make her focus on me, while petting her and trying to make her feel at ease. As it happened that very afternoon while walking Kody I saw Peggy approaching on the other side of the street, with 2 or 3 dogs in hand. I immediately thought, "There's my mentor. I must do this right." I stepped in front of Kodi, got her to sit and kept her attention on my face. I knew Peggy and her charges were passing behind me, but I did not look away from my dog. Then after a moment I heard Peggy say in a crisp voice, "Good boy Paul". I did not however get a milk bone.
Peggy is a woman in the neighborhood who once owned and loved a dog, but as happens, lost him to age. Her response was to take up dog walking as a profession and is now to be seen several times a day with one to four dogs out for some exercise. She also seems pretty knowledgeable as to our cannine friends and we have chatted several times in the time leading up to and since getting our dog. A couple of days ago she instructed me with care and at some length about what to do when out with Kodiak and meeting another dog. I am to get Kody to sit, stand in front of her so she can't see the other dog and make her focus on me, while petting her and trying to make her feel at ease. As it happened that very afternoon while walking Kody I saw Peggy approaching on the other side of the street, with 2 or 3 dogs in hand. I immediately thought, "There's my mentor. I must do this right." I stepped in front of Kodi, got her to sit and kept her attention on my face. I knew Peggy and her charges were passing behind me, but I did not look away from my dog. Then after a moment I heard Peggy say in a crisp voice, "Good boy Paul". I did not however get a milk bone.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Renting Property
The first space we ever collected rent for was in our basement under the kitchen. The bed was in a loft tucked under the stairs. We got 50 bucks a month I think. About the third person to stay there, Susan (shoes on) Sugai, remained with us for several years. She cared for our son Nat on the morning Beth and I were at the hospital for the birth of our daughter Meredith. She came from her home in Alaska to the weddings of both kids. She was the first, but far from the last, to transition from tenant to friend.
Over the years I have evolved a rental process in which I ask prospective tenants to complete a questionnaire which includes the amount of rent they consider appropriate and affordable. I almost always get responses from several people before making a decision and very frequently the decisions are difficult because there is more than one attractive candidate. I am involved in this process now for the little cottage we own in the University District and I have three couples to choose between.
The first couple is married and have been traveling and living freely for several years and now are ready to settle down and stay in one place. This could be code for "have a baby", but that was not said. They said all the right words about the little house that I like a lot and seem both able and inclined to give it good care. The woman could be a TV newscaster. In addition to being pretty she was dressed in completely conventional wear. The husband however has shoulder length tresses falling from beneath his baseball cap (worn with the bill forward). The second couple was represented only by the female. She seemed like a total long shot when we spoke on the phone, but when I opened the door there she stood, bike helmet in hand. That was just the first small karmic element. She is a graduate of Nat's alma mater, Bastyr University school of alternative medicine where she majored in nutrition and psychology. She inspected the premises thoroughly, the most anyone ever has, corrected my misidentification of a certain herb, spoke of raising some vegetables and of her partner who teaches yoga and is currently on a two month long silent retreat in California. She can't speak to him for another week, but she stayed and talked to me for nearly an hour. Her middle name is Sage, a word that is pleasing as a noun and admirable as an adjectives. She emitted a sense of quiet competence and was just off beat enough (Sage) to be interesting. Her boyfriend bares the hopelessly Republican name Brent. Overcoming that to become a yoga teaching semi-monk is a sound accomplishment in my book. The third person, also a woman representing an absent man, appeared late in the day. She is a curve ball, a poseur. She is a complete fake out. As she stood before me in her flower child clothes with a dredlock hanging from each temple I knew I need not waste time with her. What was she thinking? Had she not seen that the rent would be around a thousand dollars a month. I let her look around on her own. Her inspection was cursory. Quite soon she returned to me and we began to talk. Mostly just to be polite I asked where she is in life, what she is up to. The answer stunned me. She's taking graduate classes in computer-linguistics. Immediately I knew she is not only smarter than I thought, but also smarter than I am. We talked on for some twenty minutes. Eventually I mentioned her appearance and how she had thrown me off. It's just the way she chooses to dress. No further reason. I love it. She has the most sound financial position of the three.
Advice is welcome.
Over the years I have evolved a rental process in which I ask prospective tenants to complete a questionnaire which includes the amount of rent they consider appropriate and affordable. I almost always get responses from several people before making a decision and very frequently the decisions are difficult because there is more than one attractive candidate. I am involved in this process now for the little cottage we own in the University District and I have three couples to choose between.
The first couple is married and have been traveling and living freely for several years and now are ready to settle down and stay in one place. This could be code for "have a baby", but that was not said. They said all the right words about the little house that I like a lot and seem both able and inclined to give it good care. The woman could be a TV newscaster. In addition to being pretty she was dressed in completely conventional wear. The husband however has shoulder length tresses falling from beneath his baseball cap (worn with the bill forward). The second couple was represented only by the female. She seemed like a total long shot when we spoke on the phone, but when I opened the door there she stood, bike helmet in hand. That was just the first small karmic element. She is a graduate of Nat's alma mater, Bastyr University school of alternative medicine where she majored in nutrition and psychology. She inspected the premises thoroughly, the most anyone ever has, corrected my misidentification of a certain herb, spoke of raising some vegetables and of her partner who teaches yoga and is currently on a two month long silent retreat in California. She can't speak to him for another week, but she stayed and talked to me for nearly an hour. Her middle name is Sage, a word that is pleasing as a noun and admirable as an adjectives. She emitted a sense of quiet competence and was just off beat enough (Sage) to be interesting. Her boyfriend bares the hopelessly Republican name Brent. Overcoming that to become a yoga teaching semi-monk is a sound accomplishment in my book. The third person, also a woman representing an absent man, appeared late in the day. She is a curve ball, a poseur. She is a complete fake out. As she stood before me in her flower child clothes with a dredlock hanging from each temple I knew I need not waste time with her. What was she thinking? Had she not seen that the rent would be around a thousand dollars a month. I let her look around on her own. Her inspection was cursory. Quite soon she returned to me and we began to talk. Mostly just to be polite I asked where she is in life, what she is up to. The answer stunned me. She's taking graduate classes in computer-linguistics. Immediately I knew she is not only smarter than I thought, but also smarter than I am. We talked on for some twenty minutes. Eventually I mentioned her appearance and how she had thrown me off. It's just the way she chooses to dress. No further reason. I love it. She has the most sound financial position of the three.
Advice is welcome.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
A Visit To The Doctor
.
“Your biopsy is negative for cancer”
“Huh?”
In a day surgery last week my wife gave up one of her four parathyroids. She didn’t need it. Yesterday while she was waiting to see the doctor for a follow up, a nurse passed by and cheerily said, “Negative for cancer.” What makes this a notable event was not the great relief she felt, but the surprise, or even shock that there was any suspicion of cancer. The misbehaving parathyroid was excised because it was causing her to lose bone density. No one had mentioned anything about cancer. We celebrated last night with a glass of sparkling apple juice. That seemed about right.
The parathyroidectomy got me thinking about losing body parts, how common it is, how many we seem able to do without. In a way you can think of life as a process of bodily erosion. It starts in infancy with your toe and finger nails. Before long somebody is cutting off your hair. (If you cut off half an inch of hair a month and live for 80 years you will have grown and cut off 12 times 40 inches or 40 feet.) Of course your skin has been shedding from the get go, long before you have to pay someone to take it off by the piece. You can lose a digit or even a larger extremity and still carry on. We’re told that one of the kidneys is superfluous. Take that. Teeth, tonsils, gall bladder, spleen, cellulose, appendix. Where does it stop? Apparently somewhere beyond breasts, lymph nodes, and uterus. I venture guys could get by after a nipplectomy. There are four parathyroids. You need only about half of one to survive.
Opps. This is now my second revision or third attempt to get it right. I'm stunned at how wrong is the third sentence of the previous paragraph. The removal process actually starts on about day three with your foreskin, or apparently in some places the labia major. I'm not quite sure about this. Also sometimes taken are the gonads and scrotum. In humans I think this is usually delayed a few years. If you happen to own a prostate gland, you can't be sure of taking it to the grave. Also on the list could be moles, warts, hemangiomas, and hair from legs, eye brows and backs. I now have no confidence at all that my list is complete, but perhaps I have now listed all the really interesting parts.
There are of course always gray areas. Partial part removal such as for biopsy would include just about everything I suppose so let's just say this is a list of whole part removal. There is also the odd situation in which one may lose the use of a part but not the part itself. The colostomy procedure comes to mind. I believe this is the end of this post.
Well there you have both an anecdote and a musing, but is it at all amusing?
“Your biopsy is negative for cancer”
“Huh?”
In a day surgery last week my wife gave up one of her four parathyroids. She didn’t need it. Yesterday while she was waiting to see the doctor for a follow up, a nurse passed by and cheerily said, “Negative for cancer.” What makes this a notable event was not the great relief she felt, but the surprise, or even shock that there was any suspicion of cancer. The misbehaving parathyroid was excised because it was causing her to lose bone density. No one had mentioned anything about cancer. We celebrated last night with a glass of sparkling apple juice. That seemed about right.
The parathyroidectomy got me thinking about losing body parts, how common it is, how many we seem able to do without. In a way you can think of life as a process of bodily erosion. It starts in infancy with your toe and finger nails. Before long somebody is cutting off your hair. (If you cut off half an inch of hair a month and live for 80 years you will have grown and cut off 12 times 40 inches or 40 feet.) Of course your skin has been shedding from the get go, long before you have to pay someone to take it off by the piece. You can lose a digit or even a larger extremity and still carry on. We’re told that one of the kidneys is superfluous. Take that. Teeth, tonsils, gall bladder, spleen, cellulose, appendix. Where does it stop? Apparently somewhere beyond breasts, lymph nodes, and uterus. I venture guys could get by after a nipplectomy. There are four parathyroids. You need only about half of one to survive.
Opps. This is now my second revision or third attempt to get it right. I'm stunned at how wrong is the third sentence of the previous paragraph. The removal process actually starts on about day three with your foreskin, or apparently in some places the labia major. I'm not quite sure about this. Also sometimes taken are the gonads and scrotum. In humans I think this is usually delayed a few years. If you happen to own a prostate gland, you can't be sure of taking it to the grave. Also on the list could be moles, warts, hemangiomas, and hair from legs, eye brows and backs. I now have no confidence at all that my list is complete, but perhaps I have now listed all the really interesting parts.
There are of course always gray areas. Partial part removal such as for biopsy would include just about everything I suppose so let's just say this is a list of whole part removal. There is also the odd situation in which one may lose the use of a part but not the part itself. The colostomy procedure comes to mind. I believe this is the end of this post.
Well there you have both an anecdote and a musing, but is it at all amusing?
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