- Thousands of 'robber bees' invade B.C. apiarist's shop in attempted honey heist - Sounds kind of funny at first but robber bees are actually a sign of desperation in the colony. Usually, though, robber bees target other hives, not an apiarist's business!
- Ant queen lays eggs that hatch into two species - ant species have been known to clone their own kind but this is the first and only known instance of one species cloning another. Apparently it helps extend the range the ants can live in.
- Velato - the programming language based on music - I thought this was such a cool idea and I was surprised to find out there are several other programming languages based on music. There's a clip of what the classic programming bit "Hello World" sounds like in Velato at the bottom of the article.
I finally made it out to an actual protest on Saturday! I went with a friend and we were there for about 1 1/2 hours. Then we drove up and down the street at our protest and drove to another nearby one, honking the car horn and showing support for the protesters. There were so many awesome signs, lots of people in both inflatable costumes and some other ones as well. It was a lovely, positive experience!
If you've read the blog before, you might be aware that I need both of my hips replaced and I've been working on losing weight in order to meet the surgeon's BMI requirements (not higher than 40 BMI). That surgeon moved out of state but I had a follow-up visit this past week with the surgeon who took over his patients since I am now under 40. Well, he has different requirements - he doesn't operate on patients with a BMI higher than 35.
It's a reasonable stance to take, outcomes are definitely going to be better with a lower BMI especially with something like hip surgery and I understand where he's coming from. But - it's taken me so long to get down to where I'm at now and the goal posts have suddenly been moved.
When I started this journey, only my left hip was giving me trouble. Starting around May of this year, the right hip started plaguing me as well. I live alone and can mostly handle things myself although sometimes I have to get creative if I have to reach for something down low. But my mobility is crap and I can't do anything that involves any kind of walking, even something as low key as roaming a museum. Just standing for any length of time is painful and I had to sit down several times in the short time we were at the protest. I have ok days but I also have painful days where I can barely move. This was really disappointing news because I was looking forward to regaining some kind of normalcy in my life. Right now I just feel like I'm in purgatory.
Listening
I only listened to a couple of podcasts this week:
- WWDTM - Open water swimmer Becca Mann talks making history and hanging with sharks
- Search Engine - The Psychic Question - I found this interesting because my mom loved going to get a reading. I do not discount the idea that there are extrasensory things that go on in this world. I also think, however, that most "psychics" are actually just very good at asking open-ended questions and reading people.
Reading
I've got a couple more chapters left in Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution by Caroline Weber. It's been an interesting read. I really feel sorry for Marie Antoinette - she just could not catch a break, no matter what she did. As interesting as this book as been, though, it's also kind of like reading homework, you know? I'm ready for something fun but I'm not sure what that's going to be yet although I've got plenty of options on the Kobo.
Watching
Big Cats 24/7 is finished for the season! We never did see Big Toe and Madumo again, after finding them with their new second family. It looks like Golden Boy and his coalition partner (can't remember what they named him, if anything) might be the new rulers of the Xudum pride territory. Golden Boy apparently canoodled with Serami, one of Big Toe/Madumo's daughters, and she had cubs. I wonder what's going to happen with the rest of the Xudum pride - there were lots of lioness mothers and older cubs that Big Toe and Madumo left behind.
I've started watching season 3 of Dark Winds, a mystery series based on the Tony Hillerman novels. This show is so beautifully shot and well written! I am also really liking how it's set in the 1970s. It's so very analog! Think of how different a show today would be if you took away cell phones and computers. Season 4 has already been confirmed so I'm pretty excited there's more show to look forward to after I finish this season.
And of course I'm still watching Babylon 5! I've started season 5 and I just finished episode 4, A View From the Gallery, where we follow a pair of maintenance workers while B5 is dealing with an attack from a new, hostile alien race.
OK that's about it for this week. I haven't played Everquest since the last blog post went up and I'm itching to go track down some more Nights of the Dead goodies!
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