G+ Migration Blog

So tired. I wonder if all my tired is catching up with me, or if the coffee wore off.

Bethany Willick and Christina L Brainard, I hear you got a GoT thing goin' tomorrow night. If that is still the case, I would love to join you. May I ask the when and other sorts of things I might need to know?

Made it to Ann Arbor last night in good time. Hardly any construction delays relative to what I expected. But it was good that there was planned leeway, as something was up at the border. I posted when I got to Port Huron, but google ate my post. They were stopping every vehicle at the booth, making you put the car in park, open all the doors and the trunk, and then opening and going through everything. It was like being at the airport. Also the ask the same question twice a different way thing. Do people really not notice that? Anyway, I opened the trunk when I got to Port Huron, and sure enough, just like the airport, you got to repack your own stuff. Obs, I kinda figured that was the case, which is why I checked, but it is deserving of at least one aunty face. Not more, though, because they rifled but did not randomly toss everywhere, and they could have, so I appreciate the, uh, relatively gentle rifling. My sister informs me that this means there must have been some kind of alert,...

Feeling unsick, although tired. Plan to drive reactivated. Hopefully arrive tonight.

You know how, when you start to feel better, you suddenly feel, like, hyper energetic? Like, in the process of rebounding your body overshoots the mark and you feel like you should do All The Things? That would be great if it wasn't 11:30pm.

Headache comes and goes, now, and my body is trying to decide whether to be hungry or eschew food. It's very confused but seemed tolerant of the offerings. Now to just not feel so exhausted. Whee!

So, yeah, obs not driving to Detroit today. Yay, no traffic! Nope, not really makin' me feel better. Aaand today's prize in the fun times sweepstakes is ... a headache! One of those weird, sharp, pointy, silver spike in my head types. Due to other unwellness, however, I am reluctant to take medication that has to arrive via my GI tract. Woo, partay. woo.

Yoga things I find stressful to deal with: "restorative" yoga, and "gentle" yoga. I get that some aspects of yoga can be random, but there really ought to be something vaguely standardized. Every time a sub instructor has to come in for the regular gentle yoga instructor it's a completely random exercise. Some people seem to think "gentle" means spend the whole time on your knees. Some people seem to think it means do everything lying on the floor. Some people seem to think it means awkwardly back and front bending over bolsters and other objects. Some people seem to think it means lots of unsupported balance poses or working against the wall or with a chair. The regular instructor treats it as much as possible like a modified version of a regular flow yoga class, with a little bit of various different positions throughout the workout. Some days have a little more floor, some have a little more standing, some have a little more core or active flow move...

Because I wasn't feeling awesome enough, we have now been provided with biological punctuation. Stupid biology.

Well, that's nice. I feel quite ill. Probably my own fault. Jolly. Maybe it will go away.

Silicone and acrylic have been deployed in the ant war. Borax, baking soda, and poison still in use. Black pepper discontinued as failed strategy.

Just hypothetically speaking, say there was a possibility I might be driving through the Detroit area toward Ann Arbor. Tomorrow. And say I might be arriving in the general vicinity on Friday afternoon or evening. Just how totally screwed am I if I haven't gotten out of the Detroit area by 3pm, and if I had to go through there sometime between 3pm and 6pm or so, are all routes equally bad, or are some routes more equal than others? Asking for a friend.

Well, I got about 4.5 hrs of sleep last night. I'm going and getting coffee. Probably also food, since I seem not to have ingested any of that yet. You needed to know, right?

Oh, look. Snow. I did not get enough sleep for this.

Does this qualify as being up late yet? Anyway, those of you in the Detroit and Toledo areas. Will any of you be around between this weekend (April 25/26) and May 8th?

No comment. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/22/i-am-a-cook-in-the-us-senate-but-i-still-need-food-stamps-to-feed-my-children http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/22/i-am-a-cook-in-the-us-senate-but-i-still-need-food-stamps-to-feed-my-children

Found this show called Rehab Addict. It amuses me, particularly as background.

Today is officially the 100th anniversary of the first use of chemical weapons, when Germany used chlorine gas near Ypres, Belgium. I have to think that 60 Minutes airing their report on the 2013 sarin gas attacks in the suburbs of Damascus this Sunday was not merely coincidence. Apparently, that report was controversial for showing eyewitness video. If you wait after the video showing Scott Pelley discussing why they aired the footage they used, the actual segment airs. There are also some informative videos after that with chemical weapons inspectors and others. There's a particularly interesting quote from Pelley during this interview: "What would've happened during the Holocaust if all the Jews had cellphones?" http://www.cbsnews.com/news/behind-60-minutes-decision-to-show-disturbing-video/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/behind-60-minutes-decision-to-show-disturbing-video

Here's a shocker: Vaccines DON"T cause autism. "In this large sample of privately insured children with older siblings, receipt of the MMR vaccine was not associated with increased risk of ASD, regardless of whether older siblings had ASD. These findings indicate no harmful association between MMR vaccine receipt and ASD even among children already at higher risk for ASD." http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2275444&utm_source=BHClistID&utm_medium=BulletinHealthCare&utm_term=042215&utm_content=MorningRounds&utm_campaign=BHCMessageID

These are probably the type of lion mentioned in the Bible. I thought they were pretty much extinct. http://thewildlife.wbur.org/2015/04/22/the-secret-lions-of-india/ http://thewildlife.wbur.org/2015/04/22/the-secret-lions-of-india

Ion, I now want to see a study of coliforms present in elephant dung coffee. #becauseIcare

Hi, pedant here. I was inspired by an interesting post on brewing iced tea in which it is stated that it is safer to brew the tea in the refrigerator. When challenged by a microbiologist (self-proclaimed - I'm sure they are, but it's the internet. We could all be claim to be clairvoyant. Who'd know?) in the comments, the post author supported himself with research he had done on materials from the CDC. What I will rebut below are the selected passages he chose to highlight as most relevant to his conclusions. Be warned, he chose a long section, so this is not short. His quoted excerpts: Passage 1: "Iced tea could become contaminated with bacteria at any of several steps in its production, e.g., growing, harvesting, processing, transport, steeping, and storage of brewed tea." Cultures of smooth black leaf tea have yielded total coliform counts as high as 1,100 most probable number (MPN) per gram, fecal coliforms up to 23 MPN/g, and Klebsiella (Thomas J. Lipton Comp...

Oh, hello cold front. Thanks for stopping by. On your way to somewhere else, yes?

We are experiencing setbacks in the ant war. News at 11.

According to Google, I'm a pangolin.

In honor of Wayback Wednesday, I give you my version of Carly Simon's "Anticipation": I-i-i-ner-tia, I-i-i-ne-er-tia is making me late, is keeping me waiting. For reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NwP3wes4M8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NwP3wes4M8

Mr. Jingles has an interesting form of vitiligo.

Well, today was about a 50% loss on the inertia scale. Otoh, It's been really productive up until today, and there was the great ant invasion to deal with. Ok. It's all about my mental attitude, right? I can do this. I can keep the momentum going. I can rebuild me, make me better than before! Well, maybe not exactly that. I mean, I probably don't want to be a 1970's television show. Also, not an astronaut, I think you have to be an astronaut to be a TV cyborg. Where was I? Oh, right. SQUIRREL! I may need (professional) help.

So, I'm watching this and thinking Awesome Drinking Vessel. Which it turns out it is not. The maker link this came from says it is a shofar "an ancient instrument made from a ram’s horn, used in Jewish religious ceremonies." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5htivBnrEg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5htivBnrEg

AUGH. ANTS. I'll be eating something else for dinner, now.

And, in a series of international commemorations (of WWI) that started last year and will continue through 1918 (and are being sort of variably covered in the US), the first gas attacks, and trying to get people to stop using chemical weapons. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cca098492bc7475983f3b4fc2667b60c/chemical-weapons-watchdog-remembers-1915-chlorine-gas http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cca098492bc7475983f3b4fc2667b60c/chemical-weapons-watchdog-remembers-1915-chlorine-gas

So, while I'm being unproductive, an actually interesting article on medical stuff. I can't believe they got Yanomami indians to let them collect those samples. They must really think people outside their world are weird. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_DIVERSE_GERMS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_DIVERSE_GERMS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

I was being unaccountably productive last week and this weekend. I thought I would start out this morning that way, but I've ended up hitting inertia. There's a bruise, and everything. Excuse me, a hematoma. Anyway, I need help going back to being productive. Can I borrow some motivation and kinetic energy? K thx.

Fun health news:  1. MEASLES The measles outbreak is officially over. You can all go back to not getting vaccinated. Until the next one. 2. KIDNEY FAILURE Database study shows association between drugs like prilosec and acute kidney injury. Even the authors of the study point out that this is straight-up database mining. It doesn't mean there isn't any useful info there. However, they state themselves that they have no way of using tissue biopsies or other information to determine a real cause and effect. But it's being reported everywhere as old people kidney failure (specific) antacid meds. To which I say, be informed, Don't Panic. 3. ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS So much for Al Gore's (remember him?) vision of a lifelong, easily accessible, portable (that's the "P" in HIPAA) medical record for everyone. The NY Times seems to think there are problems like different systems don't want to play nicely with their rivals' products, and somebody still...

Heard about both of these circus related stories today: Firstly, Cirque du Soleil has been sold. Don't know what that means. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/20/us-cirquedusoleil-m-a-tpg-idUSKBN0NB1AX20150420 Circuses founded to help kids in places with lots of social and economic dislocation: Nunavut, and Guinea. http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/04/20/circus-without-borders-film http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/04/20/circus-without-borders-film

Have I mentioned the weather? 70's and thunderstormy today, down to freezing and possible snow by Thursday. Um, hello? Anyone?

Apparently, the only place to get grains of paradise now is brewer's supply places. Well, ok then.

I hope mineral oil is good for your skin. On the upside, I am now impervious to bud rot. (The wind came up while I was spraying the fruit trees with dormant oil.)

Just in case you thought these things only happened in the US, an interesting precis article about primary care in the UK.

They have fresh fiddleheads at the regular grocery store, but I can't find fresh peppermint. This seems incongruous to me.

So cute. http://imgur.com/gallery/u8XDc http://imgur.com/gallery/u8XDc

Some food just needs salt. I made a quiche/pie with peas and salmon and I used TJ's no added salt pink canned salmon. There were leeks and shallots and other things in there, as well, but it needed salt. I was quite surprised that there was no skin and bones in either can, although maybe that was random chance, because I've never had canned salmon that didn't have skin and bones. It was surprisingly dry and mild flavored salmon. Dry being relative, of course, since salmon is a fatty fish. I often don't add salt and just use whatever saltiness and other flavors are part of the food. This time, though, it could have used some. Meanwhile, the smoked salmon I used in the pasta I mentioned the other day was probably too salty. Lol. I am not attached to a particular brand or type of cured/smoked salmon, so that's always a risk. It was, however, very appropriately salmon tasting.

You know what a sure way to not get my business is? 1. Misrepresent to me when I ask detailed, specific, and particular questions more than once before agreeing to use your services. 2. Get obviously annoyed and irritated when I question things when I am picking up what you were supposed to have worked on. 3. Keep not answering my questions but acting like you are, then finally out of frustration give me some information that makes it very clear you misrepresented your original answers. 4. Act as if there's something wrong with me for not wanting to pay you until you either courteously answer the questions I've actually asked, or, better yet, do what you were supposed to have done. IF you manage to fix enough of what you screwed up I might only write a critical review on Yelp.

They are trimming the trees; it is making me nervous.

Wow. It was, like, 70 today. What happened to spring? Hope all the trees and plants don't bolt and then we have frost, or something.

Things that should be obvious. I'm surprised anyone got approval to do this anywhere. This applies in the US, as well as Canada, and it frankly applies everywhere, not just in operating rooms and surgeries. And for every exception to this, you can still find constant examples of exactly this behavior. http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/ama-wire/ama-wire/post/challenging-hidden-curricula-residency-programs?&utm_source=BHClistID&utm_medium=BulletinHealthCare&utm_term=041615&utm_content=MorningRounds&utm_campaign=BHCMessageID http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/ama-wire/ama-wire/post/challenging-hidden-curricula-residency-programs?&utm_source=BHClistID&utm_medium=BulletinHealthCare&utm_term=041615&utm_content=MorningRounds&utm_campaign=BHCMessageID

Guess what? My mom finally admitted she resents my being here! Surprise (said no one).

They have yet to clear my dad for rehab BUT he is trying to walk anyway. He can make it about 3-4 houses and back.

So, my mom asked at the bakery in our local grocery chain why she couldn't find the heftier bread she'd been buying and they said they stopped making it. When my mom asked why they told her people had complained that it was too hard to chew. ... ... ... They didn't say they weren't able to sell it, although they obviously assumed people would stop buying it if they were complaining about it. What is wrong with people? Do they want someone to pre-chew their food for them? No wonder I can't find any breads like I grew up with. I want bread that stands up to having something on it! I want bread I have to chew, people! Philistines. Am now determined to find last remaining Polish bakeries and see if their rye bread still requires effort to bite the crust, or if they, too, have succumbed to this corrupting weakness. P.S. When craving trashy white food Wonderbread is still the thing for a bologna sandwich. Don't know why, just is. #notbybreadalone   #ashestoashescrust...

Random health quotes: 'people are "increasingly comfortable trading a greater choice of hospitals or doctors for a health plan that costs significantly less money." ' No they aren't. They are being forced to do so and resigned to choosing that over no health insurance, at all. Realistically, there should be a good equivalence of hospital care and in-office medical care so under, say, 95% of circumstances, you will get good care no matter where you go or from whom it's gotten. Acting as if that other 5% doesn't matter, though, is foolish. If only because 5% of all health encounters, or 5% of health care utilizing population are rather large actual numbers of people. Besides, what happened to open markets and so forth determining the best and least costly, etc.? Surely, if you believe in unfettered markets for everything else, you believe people should be able to vote for their healthcare with their feet?  Further, insurance companies are businesses. They ha...

Must report: Felt compelled to test these supposed variations on a Cadbury Creme Egg. The caramel one is just a chocolate egg shell filled with soft caramel, and the chocolate creme one is filled with a fudgy sort of chocolate fondant. Result: neither is really a Cadbury Creme Egg. The caramel is perfectly fine as caramel, it's just not anything unique, and the chocolate is, well, if I want chocolate fudge, that's what I'll get. In conclusion, if I'm going to waste calories in future, they will be on the real thing or not at all.

Something I'm suddenly seeing covered in a lot of venues. I knew that there were situations where the government could take your estate after you died to cover medical costs incurred before you died. Specifically, I knew that there were issues related to people who ended up in nursing homes. I did not know that the ACA had created a situation where people could be forced onto medicaid and then basically put into a coverage gap between 55 and 65 where you are essentially required to pay for your medical care, now or later, but they can come and get it, and apparently will. That's not health insurance, people. http://www.wsj.com/articles/medicaid-cost-recovery-law-spurs-fears-of-asset-seizures-1428880153 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/18/1248425/-Medicaid-Estate-Recovery-ACA-Unintended-Consequences

I am resharing this only because of the picture. All diagrams should now have random cats somewhere in them. In fact, it should become a meme, where all pictures have a gratuitous cat in them. #photofelinity   Originally shared by Make: We love Arduino gardening projects. This video overview sums up a really nice installation. http://makezine.com/2015/04/13/video-walkthrough-automatic-garden-watering-data-logging-arduino

Lunch today: lemon pepper pappardelle with salmon and spring peas in a saffron shallot sauce.  It should really have been a full cream sauce, but my dad is still having issues with dairy, so I modified it and mostly used olive oil with a little bit of "kaymak" (it's really more like the most amazing clotted cream you've ever had). It also should have had a little fresh peppermint, but there wasn't any at the store, ergo. Sauteed one minced shallot in a couple tablespoons olive oil. Added tablespoon or so of the clotted cream, plus a decent pinch of saffron threads. Added previously briefly blanched fresh peas, some dried marjoram. Added cut up smoked salmon, fresh lemon zest, fresh chopped parsley (this is where the mint would have come in). Added drained pasta. Ate. The cooking, except for the first bit with the shallot, and cheating on letting the saffron bloom in the cream in the pan, was basically "warm through", not cook, per se. Fwiw, there's n...

This should be fun to watch. One question, though, about the final quote in the article. How do they know there's a protective effect if people aren't living long enough to demonstrate it? Furthermore, exactly what kind of living quality is existing with dementia? “So even if there is a protective effect against dementia from being overweight or obese, you’re not living long enough to benefit from it,” Qizilbash was quoted as saying by the Times. Oversimplified, but if I lived to 65 firing on all cylinders and fully active, versus I lived until 80, but 10 of those years were in a care facility as I became not only less and less of me, but less and less of a whole being, would those extra 5 years of presumed mostly functioning (because things like Alzheimer's usually don't just pop up overnight) be worth the other 10?  It's not that simple, but based on this reporting, even the authors were trying really hard to find a reason that being overweight (by current standar...

Fun. http://tiger-box.dailymegabyte.com/do-big-cats-boxes-tested-results/ http://tiger-box.dailymegabyte.com/do-big-cats-boxes-tested-results

I suppose I should go interact with human beings, now. (needs grumpy smiley)

I don't think it just paralyzed America, but other than a bad headline, a timely anniversary. http://www.npr.org/blogs/npr-history-dept/2015/04/10/398515228/defeating-the-disease-that-paralyzed-america?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_medium=social

I mentioned I spent some quality time with my SIL, who appears to have matured a bit since becoming a mom. Meanwhile, we had dinner at this place: http://www.seabarsushi.com/wordpress/?page_id=10 We had no sushi. We had Bourdain's Last Meal, which he seemingly declared publicly at some point? Insane. The duck - brie stuffed french toast? omg. The beef on weck roll*, which is carpaccio with sushi rice, horseradish cream, rock salt, and caraway seeds. You must eat these. A few other things. Anyway, we also had cocktails. Mine is in the picture (there was a lime on the rim, too). I got it because I really wanted to try something with Crème Yvette in it, because how often do you see that? It was called a Stormy Morning, but it is their riff on that and very different from the original, which is this:  http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Stormy-Morning . Theirs had Smooth Ambler Greenbrier Gin, Crème Yvette, "elderberry liquor", and Zipang. The last of which it turns out is ...

They have left. collapses in exhaustion My mother proceeded to monopolize the baby all morning. Not news, my dad got to spend some time with him, so it's ok, but it was my SIL who commented on my mom, who is apparently glued to the baby and won't let go. It was also entertaining, for certain values, to watch my mother and brother have little control fights over the baby. The kid's mother is RIGHT HERE, people. Actually got to briefly spend some time with my SIL, which turned out to be pleasant and almost adult (shocking - will post something briefly in that regard later). So relieved visit's over, though.  #thatfamilyyourequestedisonbackorder

Well, ok then. I guess we're going straight from winter to summer this year. I don't like those years.

My brother may be a jerk, but my nephew is adorable.

I was actually looking something up about cakes, and the picture of this cake topper required sharing. http://blog.tianakai.com/2012/09/wedding-planning-in-italy-part-seven-cake/#.VSbzyyjJT6g http://blog.tianakai.com/2012/09/wedding-planning-in-italy-part-seven-cake/#.VSbzyyjJT6g

I am practicing a new mantra for dealing with my family: Ahhh-ehhh-eeee dongivadammmm Repeat as needed. #healthycopingskills

I guess there was a major jewel theft over Easter weekend in London, specifically in Hatton Garden, which I gather is the diamond district for London. Anyway, I"m listening to this on the news on CNN and I keep hearing "Hatton Garden robbery ..." in Kevin Kline's fake English accent from A Fish Called Wanda . I wonder how many pranksters have called in tips saying it was pulled off by George Thomason?

How do I put this as briefly as possible? My brother is a psycho nutcase of a controlling first time parent.  #facepunchable

Today in stupid headlines:  Study suggests brain scans may help identify CTE CTE= chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is the term that's been coined specifically for the form of traumatic bran injury suffered while playing sports. The information being conveyed is, in fact, not stupid at all. Some researchers have looked at a specific type of imaging (PET scans), with a specific protocol, to try to identify early on whether this is what's happening to someone. If so, then ideally in the future we will have a form of treatment or intervention that may slow or minimize the long term effects and possibly keep them functioning and alive longer. What's stupid is that, duh, brain scans identify brain injuries. Shock, surprise. That is a meaningless and pointless article that should be skipped. Otoh, PET scan may identify early [brain changes in] CTE is useful, informative, and potentially important. Aiming even more at the public, you could try PET scan may identify sports b...

My family's impossible. A recalls speaking to C last night and C saying they'd call in the morning when they were ready to come visit B tells A at 12:25pm that A was supposed to call C at 11am (50/50 shot on whether this had anything to do with B talking to C, or B just wanting this to happen independently) C hasn't called anyone B seemingly calls C at 12:30pm and is told C will call back around 2pm C (and crew) shows up at 1:30pm B I thought you were going to call? C I said we'd be over in half an hour (in a conversation that took place an hour prior, which means even if that were true, they should have been here at 1:00pm) Reality is that no one wants my brother and his family here right now. My father needs to rest, which he was until my brother just showed up with his family, and my mother needs some time to change from the funeral she went to and reset to getting some things done without the pressure of other people needing to be entertained. In fact, my brother an...

Good thing? Bad thing? I have, in general, loved the re-boot, but it has not consistently woo-ed (Ood?) me of late. It would be supercalifragilistic if it reinvigorated itself and reached new heights, but it would be painful to watch it peter out in a slow decline. http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-04-05/steven-moffat-doctor-who-will-last-at-least-another-five-years http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-04-05/steven-moffat-doctor-who-will-last-at-least-another-five-years

Well, that's definitely out of whack. http://time.com/3773291/dictionary-american-regional-english-budget/ http://time.com/3773291/dictionary-american-regional-english-budget

My first auto-awesome! Not sure why this is the one it chose, but that's the inscrutable algorithm.

What do you do if it snows on Easter? Take more pictures of snowflakes, of course. Shockingly, it appears that different atmospheric conditions affect the crystal formation. Who knew? or I'm going to try science! That said, the snowflakes, while obviously 6-branched, were weirdly icy and indistinct, at least with my tiny lens + phone. Still, it's kind of neat that you can photograph these at all without legit photog equip. (Those third and fourth syllables are exhausting.)

I can understand several reasons to look for what used to be called a wet nurse, that is, a source of natural human breast milk that may not be produced by a given child's biological mother. However, you'd think certain things about vetting the source would be really obvious and go without saying. Maybe not. I'm just gonna leave you with the clickbait and blurbs: Study: Nearly 10% of breast milk sold online contains at least 10% cow’s milk. USA Today (4/6, Painter) reports that a study published Monday in Pediatrics found that “10 out of 102 breast milk samples purchased online contained at least 10% cow’s milk.” Lead researcher Sarah Keim, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH, said, “‘It could be very harmful to babies with allergies or intolerance’ to cow’s milk.” Since 2010, the FDA “has warned...that milk sold or shared online could be unsafe.” The Wall Street Journal (4/6, A2, Beck, Subscription Publication) reports that authors say the study is small and ...

The Easter Snow Bunny is being put to rest (I indulged yesterday and bought a small orange milk chocolate one from a long time, local, family owned chocolate maker). I will expound on my feelings about holidays another time. The bunny was good, though.

Ion, I am very disappointed that Mr. Jingles is just Mr. Jingles.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Nowruz (ok, that's a little late). Generally, Happy Whatever Spring Festival you celebrate. Now I'm gonna go put on my boots and play in the snow.

Happy birthday Amy Young!

Aaand we have snow on Easter! Yaaaaay! Ok, maybe not. It's not accumulating a lot. Anyway, hope you got your bets in!

Happy birthday, Jeff!

Goodness gracious great balls of fire. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/beloeil-golf-ball-recycling-plant-goes-up-in-flames-1.3021231 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/beloeil-golf-ball-recycling-plant-goes-up-in-flames-1.3021231

So last weekend, when we were having our putative last snowfalls, I decided to play more with that macro lens and see if I could photograph snowflakes. Challenging. It's a tiny lens, thus the field is even more restricted than otherwise (optics, it's a thing), and the focal length is basically just shy of contact. Since that means something warmish needs to get awfully close, it does not lend itself readily to this application. Additionally, learned why it is helpful to have your snowflakes on a slide and backlit, if you want to see them. Nevertheless, persevered and got some recognizable images.

Random fun health news of the day, item 1: Antibiotic resistant Shigella, not just for travelers, anymore. Nasty form of GI bug/food poisoning. One reason a lot of travelers bring along Ciprofloxacin. My guess is that the drug resistance has popped up because a nifty bacterial variant got a leg up on its competitors due to widespread treatment of infections with Cipro on other continents, and then the travelers who somehow think having a weird intestinal experience isn't just part of travelling and automatically start popping antibiotics rather than pepto-bismol, kaopectate, and other fun things made a small contribution. Anyway, not a good thing.

Any guesses as to what Mr. Jingles will turn into on Sunday? Bunny? Egg? Tulips?

In other weather news, they have been going back and forth about whether there would be snow on the Saturday before and the Monday after Easter, but now they are predicting snow on Easter Sunday. There's still time to get your bets in! Note: management not responsible for vagaries of meteorological whimsy.

While they are still claiming it will get into the 60's, it has never made it out of the low 50's. Nonetheless, while it was sunny it felt incredibly warm, probably disproportionately, but it was nice. They were, however, correct about the rain, which is presently continuing its predicted efforts.

Oh, worthies of the intarweebs, where do I go to buy an electric razor for my dad? He had an ancient artifact that you had to PLUG IN (the horrah), and it has passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. Long story short, I do not know where you go to buy electrical shaving devices for dudes. It's fine if it needs to be plugged in to charge, as long as you can use it cordless at some point. Like, at least rechargeable batteries, or something. Help me, internet Kenobi, you're my only hope. P.S. Feel free to ask your friends if this is not a thing of which you know personally.

Happy birthday Bethany Willick!

Remind me if I missed it, but Memorial Day is not going to be a large, planned social this year, correct?

Remember the whole "regular" potato thing a while back? My  mom wrote down that she wanted steak for 6 adults on the grocery list. Now, I know she feels grass-fed beef is too dry and lean for her preference, so I didn't get that. Not to mention how much more expensive it is. She didn't mention a particular cut of steak, or marbling, or anything.  At the store, there were some cuts of steak that were basically 1-2 person size servings, around 12 oz. max. Otherwise, there were large 2.5-3 lbs. steaks. The price was much better on one big old steak than on three little old steaks. So I bought one big old steak. Sirloin, in fact. I was wrong. Sigh. Not enough fat, get too dry when you cook them, etc. Doesn't matter, really. Point is, instead of cooking it, I think she just stuck it in the freezer. Where it will likely remain for a very long time, thus improving its cooking properties and edibility. I give up. #mymisteak

Holy cow. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 60's! It's supposed to be pouring rain, as well, but it's supposed to be in the 60's!