Oh, how true is the Dilbert comic by Scott Adams from Sunday's Wichita Eagle newspaper! Over the years, I've been tripped up, so often, by being too literal.
In the same edition of the above cited newspaper was the FoxTrot comic by Bill Amend. Corny, but funny.
Scene: 6:40am I am abed in my basement bedroom, listening to the news on the radio. Hunky Husband is abed in his bedroom that is directly above mine. I do not know whether my eyes are open or closed as it is dark. I see a bright flash ("explosion") of white light either just inside or just outside one of the small, high windows on the wall against which the headboard of my bed nestles. Immediately following the light flash I hear a muffled, light "thud" - rather like the thud of a rolled, small newspaper's landing in a grassy yard after being thrown by the paper deliverer.
Action: Quickly, I arise, check out my bedroom, turn off the two radios that are playing in my bedroom and the heating pad that is warming my knees, and run upstairs to check with HH. He has also arisen and is outside his bedroom, in the hallway, with the light burning. When I ask if everything is alright upstairs, he says it is. He saw the light flash, but did not hear the noise. Hmmm...he thought the flash was inside his bedroom, toward his bay window (immediately above my bedroom windows).
I scanned the back yard, then turned on the outside floodlights to scan, again. Nothing.
Mulling: There is no odor of ozone as an electrical arc, inside the house, might produce. Besides, I would not expect the flash of an electrical arc to be visible in both bedrooms since all electrical lines in that wall of each bedroom are within a foot of the respective floor.
Possibility: I can only think that we were hit by a micrometeorite or a tiny piece of junk falling from the sky. As it is raining/freezing raining outside, and somewhat windy (30mph), it may be a day or two before I can do any searching. For such a small flash and such a small noise, it probably will not be possible for me to find the micrometeorite or junk, even if the possibility is a fact. It's a mystery for HH and me.
Invitation: Any thoughts?
When one's blog traffic increases by a factor of 20, and continues for days, one becomes curious. That's what's been happening, here, for the past several days. It started with an innocuous comment by "Art" who had been referred to my blog by a blog that, in the past, I had visited. At about the same time, my blog was getting referred hits from that blog every few minutes...then, every 10s of minutes, then every hour. This has continued to today when the hits are coming at the rate of once every three hours. Hmmmm....
I checked everything that I knew to check and contacted tech support at Typepad on Monday. They did some checking and, in their final message to me, wrote:
We did some checking but were not able to determine why you started seeing an increase in referrers from [the other blog]. It doesn't appear that they have linked to your blog anywhere, but there could be a different source or a bot spoofing the source.
In no way is your Typepad account compromised by this traffic. Additionally, we monitor traffic, and if a spike is deemed malicious, we will block the source of the unwanted activity.
If any of my blog friends or casual readers can contribute to my understanding of what is going on, especially if you are "Art", please let me know - by email or by comment. The increased traffic is evidently harmless, but very strange.
P.S. to Art: I have taken down your comment and the posting on which the comment was made. I have blocked from commenting the URL from which the referred hits are coming as well as your IP address and email address. If you would be so kind as to contact me by email (under my thumbnail photo at the top of the left side bar) and convince me that you are a real, innocent person, I shall consider re-publishing the posting and your comment. In fact, you could become a real blog friend if you help me understand what's going on.
For the past two weeks I have failed to buy groceries because I had had a hard time getting to sleep on Monday night; thus, I fell asleep just in time to wake too late to get to the WalMart Neighborhood Market in the 6:00am-7:00am time slot on Tuesday during which, even though the store is not yet "open", old people are allowed access to do their shopping. Last night, I endeavored to get enough sleep that I would wake in time, this morning, to make it to the store at close to 6:00am.
"So, how did that work out?" I hear you ask. Not well. I fell asleep by 10:30 last night, but, awoke at 2:30am and have been unable to fall back asleep. Thus, I am at my keyboard - mostly, because I remembered promising Hunky Husband that I would send him a neighbor's (Excellent Hostess's) email address in order that he might send her a thank you email for the delicious dessert she dropped by Sunday evening.
Looking for something to read, I visited Bluebird of Bitterness (AKA b.o.b.), a seemingly frustrated English major. In her "About" page, b.o.b. writes, "One more thing: although I identify as a male bluebird online, in real life I identify as a female human. I was gender and species fluid before it was cool."
At b.o.b.'s website, I clicked on the top-listed bluebird’s greatest hits to find Bar jokes for English majors. If you love language(s) and communications, I think you will really enjoy b.o.b.'s blog - especially the bar jokes, of which I reproduce a sampling, below, as swiped by WyldKat's Lair in a posting of February 20, 2018.
Too good not to swipe.
A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly.
A bar was walked into by the passive voice.
An oxymoron walked into a bar, and the silence was deafening.
Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”
A malapropism walks into a bar, looking for all intensive purposes like a wolf in cheap clothing, muttering epitaphs and casting dispersions on his magnificent other, who takes him for granite.
Hyperbole totally rips into this insane bar and absolutely destroys everything.
A question mark walks into a bar?
A non sequitur walks into a bar. In a strong wind, even turkeys can fly.
Papyrus and Comic Sans walk into a war. The bartender says, “Get out — we don’t serve your type.”
Instead of being outside doing my yard work, I have taken the time to take Free Career Aptitude and Career Assessment Tests, this morning. It's Liz's fault! She reported on having taken such a (similar?) test on one of her government websites. (It certainly beats the tests that, 70 years ago, regularly appeared in "women's magazines".) My test results for the 123 Career Aptitude Test are below. I found it a bit off-putting that the test asked my gender and age. WTH? I decided that they were data mining when I re-took the test as a male and came up with the same suggested occupations.
As I commented at Liz's, "And here I wasted my whole professional career diddling about in aircraft structures engineering, sensing & control systems, and airbase planning. Gad! I would never, ever want to be a dentist! Perhaps I am better off remaining unemployed."
Your list of suggested occupations |
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Agricultural scientist
85%
Agricultural scientists research and study soil, animals and plants with the objective of improving agricultural processes, the quality of agricultural products or the impact of agricultural processes on the environment. They plan and implement projects such as development projects on behalf of clients or institutions.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Agricultural scientist |
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Forester
85%
Foresters are responsible for monitoring the natural and economic viability of a woodland or forest and for activities related to its management and conservation.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Forester |
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Civil engineer
79%
Civil engineers design, plan, and develop technical and engineering specifications for infrastructure and construction projects. They apply engineering knowledge in a vast array of projects, from the construction of infrastructure for transportation, housing projects, and luxury buildings, to the construction of natural sites. They design plans that seek to optimise materials and integrate specifications and resource allocation within the time constraints.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Civil engineer |
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Dental practitioner
79%
Dental practitioners prevent, diagnose and treat anomalies and diseases affecting the teeth, mouth, jaws and adjoining tissues.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Dental practitioner |
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Forestry adviser
79%
Forestry advisers provide services and advice on economic and environmental issues in compliance with laws and regulations.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Forestry adviser |
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Cadastral technician
77%
Cadastral technicians design and create maps and blue-prints, converting new measurement results into the real estate cadastre of a community. They define and indicate the property boundaries and ownerships, land use, and create city and district maps using measurement equipment and specialised software.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Cadastral technician |
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Cartographer
77%
Cartographers create maps by combining various scientific informations depending of the purpose of the map (e.g. topographic, urban, or political maps). They combine the interpretation of mathematical notes and measurements with the aesthetics and visual depiction of the site for developing the maps. They may also work on developing and improving geographic information systems and may perform scientific research within cartography.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Cartographer |
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Land surveyor
77%
Land surveyors determine, by means of specialised equipment, the distances and positions of points at the surface of sites for construction purposes. They use measurements of the specific aspects of construction sites, such as electricity, distance measurements, and metal structure volumes to create architectural drawings and develop construction projects.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Land surveyor |
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Specialised veterinarian
75%
Specialised veterinarians are professionals with a comprehensive scientific education. They have the authority to carry out, in an independent, ethical and personally responsible capacity, all aspects of veterinary medicine, in the interest of the health and welfare of animals and public health in accordance with national and international legislation. In addition they need a recognized qualification and/or experience in a specific species and/or veterinary procedure.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Specialised veterinarian |
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Official veterinarian
75%
Official veterinarians are professionals with a comprehensive scientific education. They have the authority to carry out, in an independent, ethical and personally responsible capacity all veterinary activities with particular focus on the health and welfare of animals and public health in accordance with national and international legislation. They are responsible for national animal disease eradication programmes, the protection of public health and food or animal inspection, animal movements, and import and export of live animals and their products.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Official veterinarian |
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Animal chiropractor
75%
Animal chiropractors provide a therapeutic treatment following veterinary diagnosis or referral. They concentrate on spinal manipulation or manual therapy for animals in accordance with national legislation.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Animal chiropractor |
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General veterinarian
75%
General veterinarians are professionals with a comprehensive scientific education. They have the authority to carry out, in an independent, ethical and personally responsible capacity, all aspects of veterinary medicine, in the interest of the health and welfare of animals and public health in accordance with national and international legislation.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: General veterinarian |
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Meteorologist
71%
Meteorologists study climate processes, measure and predict weather patterns and provide consultancy services to a variety of weather information users. They work out models for weather forecasting, develop instruments to collect meteorological data and compile statistics and databases.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Meteorologist |
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Pharmacologist
67%
Pharmacologists study the manner in which drugs and medicaments interact with organisms, living systems, and their parts (i.e. cells, tissues, or organs). Their research aims at identifying substances that can be ingested by humans and that exert adequate biochemical functions for curing illnesses.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Pharmacologist |
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Soil scientist
67%
Soil scientists research and study the scientific discipline concerning soil. They advise on how to improve soil quality to support nature, food production or human infrastructure using surveying techniques, irrigation techniques and erosion reduction measures. They make sure to conserve and restore land suffering from intense farming or human interaction.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Soil scientist |
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ICT system administrator
67%
ICT system administrators are responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer and network systems, servers, workstations and peripheral devices. They may acquire, install, or upgrade computer components and software; automate routine tasks; write computer programs; troubleshoot; train and supervise staff; and provide technical support. They ensure optimum system integrity, security, backup and performance.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: ICT system administrator |
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Agronomist
67%
Agronomists provide consulting services to companies, agricultural cooperatives, agronomical crop growers and horticultural crop growers on the cultivation of food crops. They study the science, technology and business related to growing plants. They examine crops and perform experiments in order to improve crop yields and farms' production. Agronomists also examine the most effective ways to harvest and cultivate plants.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Agronomist |
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Physiotherapist
66%
Physiotherapists are autonomous health professionals who are responsible for developing, maintaining or restoring motor function and movement throughout the lifespan using evidence-based practice. They relieve pain and treat or prevent physical conditions associated with injury, disease or other impairments. Physiotherapists empower patients and their carers to manage the condition outside clinical settings. They work within their scope of practice and their professional Code of Conduct.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Physiotherapist |
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Specialist nurse
66%
Specialist nurses promote and restore people's health, and diagnose and care within a specific branch of the nursing field. Examples of such specialist nursing jobs include but are not restricted to; ambulatory care nurse, advanced practice nurse, cardiac nurse, dental nurse, community health nurse, forensic nurse, gastroenterology nurse, hospice and palliative care nurse, paediatric nurse, public health nurse, rehabilitation nurse, renal nurse and school nurse. Specialist nurses are general care nurses prepared beyond the level of a nurse generalist and authorised to practice as specialists with specific expertise in a branch of the nursing field.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Specialist nurse |
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Chiropractor
66%
Chiropractors are responsible for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders related to the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. They are independent primary health care professionals.
Education level: Bachelor's degree or higher usually required Read more: Chiropractor |
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Tuesday, 9/29/2020: Just before toddling off to bed most nights, I watch the local news and weather. Unexpectedly, last night Ross said to expect the temperatures this (early) morning to drop into the low 40s (Fahrenheit). I was already in my night clothes; but, I stepped out onto the front porch to gather in the tropical plants - all two of them - and put them into the entry hall. That was a good thing. When I came back from grocery shopping this morning (at 6:30am), I found that our thermometer read 40 degrees. The cold nipped a banana pepper plant; but, otherwise, did no damage.
The folding wrought iron stand on which the plants had been standing while on the front porch is in the right-hand background. The hanging table upon which one of the plants will sit for the winter (barely) shows in the left-hand background - in the dining room. Today, I plan to pot up one of the variegated airplane plants that is in the ground, for the winter. Last winter, I had not dug any for over-wintering inside. Since I'm not sure how hardy those plants really are, I'd like the assurance of having at least one plant survive each winter.
It occurred to me that I had failed to bring in the aloe plant that had summered on the steps to the front porch. It's hardy enough that it will be okay; but, it needs to come in for the winter.
Wednesday, 9/30/2020: Oh, my, how oblivious can I get? Today, I placed all of the plants from the front porch into their appointed positions in the dining room. Had I let it go at that, I would have been ahead of the game. No. I had to bring the two plants in from the basement escape window well - not the easiest thing in the world since one of the plants had, as usual, sent out runners that had immediately taken root in the sand/dirt of the window well. I had to cut those runners near the pot rim. In doing so, I came up with another problem.
Remember that we usually have a critter or two living in our basement escape window well; but, we hadn't seen much of it/them, this summer. That's probably because I had so much foliage in the window well - the two indoor plants that I mentioned in the previous paragraph and a couple of hosta plants that are planted in the sand/dirt of the window well. As I started to lift the aloe plant from the window well into my sewing room, I saw that a fat little (fist-sized) critter was hunkered down in the pot. I endured getting pissed on when I shooed the critter away and decided to bring the aloe plant in, second.
Thinking that the critter had hidden in the foliage that had been severed from the second plant, I brought the second plant inside and placed it in the dining room. Of course, at that point, the critter leapt out at me - more peeing. I chased it all over the dining room and the critter, eventually, went under the server. That's the last I saw of it. It may be clinging to the underside of the server; but, I couldn't find the critter by moving the server. Eventually, I'll probably find its desiccated body; but, I've brought in critters before and they tend to find their way into the sump in the basement. We shall hope and see.
Bad goes to a little worse. When I brought the aloe plant into my sewing room from the basement escape window well, a tiny critter leapt out. It sought refuge under a piece of furniture on wheels, so I was able to trap and release that critter back into the window well.
Friday, 10/2/2020: What a surprise! When I go to bed, I turn on my radio-controlled clock radio which is always tuned to one of the local NPR stations. It stays on all night, with BBC providing the programing from midnight to 5am. I nearly always get the late-breaking news via BBC during the night. At 5am, when the programing returns to the local station, I use a remote control to turn on another radio (across the room) that has actual bass output which makes it easier for me to hear the news as I lazily lie abed. All went well, this morning, until about 5:20am, at which time the local station started its fall beg-a-thon. Although I've supported the local stations for 30 years (and NPR-affiliated stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Albuquerque, for 9 years prior to that), I hate listening to the begging. I habitually turn off the radio when it starts - which I tried to do, this morning. For some reason, my clock radio would not turn off - nor would the other radio. WTH?!
I bounded from bed, and fought my way through the tropical plants that I had brought in for the winter to get to the bass-y radio. Imagine my surprise when three small birds flushed from the plants! Quickly, I closed the door to the bathroom and the door to the hallway, in order to assure that the birds didn't escape into the rest of the house. The birds settled down, at which time I got a better look at them. They looked like tiny owlets! I threw a sheet over them, in order to gather them up. Even more of a surprise was the fact that, under the sheet, the three little critters wriggled and rolled about, and let out meowing sounds such as any proper little kittens would do. What a dream!
When I came fully awake, I found the begging to be continuing; but, in reality, I was able to turn off both radios. Whew! I don't have any of the over-wintering plants in my bedroom (although I've considered putting one of the plants there) and birds don't turn into kittens. I hadn't been able to sleep very much, but I hadn't expected to hallucinate!
The last photo shows the plants that were brought inside - in their actual location, our dining room. (One more aloe is in my sewing room.) The scraggly little plant on the top shelf of the wrought iron stand is the variegated airplane plant that I had dug up from the yard. The (larger) non-variegated airplane plant is on the lower shelf, mostly hidden by the table and chair.
Later that night: When I went downstairs to dress for bed, I heard an unmistakable "hop...hop...hop" coming from my sewing room. Short version: I trapped that sucker and put it out in the window well where it belonged. I don't know that it was the same frog as had been loose in the dining room; but, I do know that the house is now home to one fewer frog.
IMHO: The article, below, nicely illustrates a good reason why I long ago came up with my "rule" that, "Just because one can do something does not mean that one must do it."
639-Year Organ Performance Changes Chords for the First Time in Seven Years (theguardian.com) 100
Every March, as I was growing up, my dad planted potatoes on or about St Patrick's Day. I have no idea when/how those potatoes were harvested - lost in the mists of my mind. Me? No, I've never planted potatoes. I often do find potatoes growing in our planting beds - from the green garbage that I have buried there. Each week, rotating locations, I so bury our green garbage. This morning, when my spade brought up a shovelful of dirt to leave a hole into which I should insert the week's green garbage, I espied a tiny potato. Several weeks earlier I had pulled the vine, but had not dug down to see what it was leaving behind.
When I came in from working in the woods, I took the handful of potatoes that I had unearthed to the kitchen sink, cupping the potatoes between my hands as the water ran over them. The photo, below shows the small pile of potatoes that I then deposited on the counter.
When the potatoes hit the counter, I heard a "clunk". See the funny-looking, tiny "potato" that is on the left, next to the potato that is nearest to the camera? It is a rock. I needed to have paid more attention to my harvesting!
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