elusiveat

Told the parable of

"Why You Exhaustively Search for Lost Needles
When You Lose One In A Sofa"

to one of my adult kids today, who lost a needle, but fortunately on a hardwood floor. (It still took half an hour of searching.)

In the case of the parable, nobody the night I was there knew that a needle had been lost therein.

----- Look away NOW if squeamish. -----

The needle went through C's kneecap, which was bad enough, but having a needle through the kneecap ALSO means your kneecap and knee is [ahem] PINNED in that orientation until the ER people can remove it. If you try and unbend, it is probably horribly painful, because you have an effin' ROD OF NEEDLE in it.

In this case, assuming my memory is correct, the knee was bent at a right angle, as he was leaping onto the sofa with both knees in some kind of shenanigans at the time.

I was only a guest but I tell the cautionary tale to others every few years as the occasion warrants.

cvirtue

Data manipulation within the US Federal Government. July 03, 2025

Intro from BlueSky post:

New study finds that, of those sampled, 49% of federal datasets were altered since January 2025, and the vast majority of those alterations were neither explained nor documented.

A US Department of Veterans Affairs dataset compiling veteran health-care use in 2021 was quietly amended on March 5, 2025.

...Data manipulation by the US Government, particularly when hidden, is a crisis—it makes crucial datasets untrustworthy and unusable. If the US Government secretly changes datasets for political reasons, researchers relying on the data might erroneously recommend ineffective or counterproductive interventions.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01249-8/fulltext

sonia

Soon after I moved to the Bay Area, probably recommended by my knowledgeable housemate, probably at the then-independent Bill's Drugs which is now a CVS, I purchased small metal needle-sharp tweezers in a small plastic tube with a metal cap.

Thirty-mumble years later, the plastic tube is somewhat cracked, but the tweezers were recently as useful as ever to extract first a ceramic splinter from my hand, and then a wood splinter from my foot.

I got curious and looked it up, and there is an old-style website unclebillstweezers.com with testimonials, and they come up as available for purchase on various sites, including Amazon. The Chamber of Commerce says that Uncle Bill's Tweezer Co is located nearby in Albany, CA.

Highly recommended! I don't use them often, but when I do, they are exactly what I need.

conuly

but it turned out to be a big bag of dog food.

This is... not so great, really.

*******************

( Read more... )

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Carolyn: I have an older sister, “Amy,” who was prettier and more outgoing than I was, so I kind of lived in her shadow, but I adored her and she was always my best friend growing up. Her sophomore year of college, I found out from a friend at her school that she was doing drugs and her boyfriend was a dealer. She’d secretly dropped half her courses and was barely passing the rest. I offered to find her some help, but she just ridiculed me. As things worsened, I was worried about her, so I told our parents. She lied and said I’d made the whole thing up because I was so jealous of her. My parents believed her and even said I might need therapy for telling a lie that big, until she was arrested a few months later and the whole truth came out.

For years following, she kept lying, stole so much money from me, wrecked my car and said/did many other horrible things to me. I moved away and cut her out of my life. She skipped out on her treatment program and got arrested again.

Last year, Amy completed rehab and is supposedly clean. She also had a baby last month, has minimal support from the father and is back living with my parents.

They want me to forgive and forget and be part of my nephew’s life, but I see it as insisting I give Amy another chance to hurt me. I still have so much resentment against her. I don’t want to take it out on her son, but I can’t stand the thought of being around her. She never apologized or tried to make amends for all she put me through, and I’m not sure I could ever trust her again. Is it even worth trying to be a part of my nephew’s life when I feel that way about his mom?
— Distrustful

( Read more... )

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polyamships

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fourormore

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ysabetwordsmith

Today is cloudy, mild, and damp -- so cloudy that the light is dim.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches plus a pair of cardinals.

I put out water for the birds.

It's starting to drizzle.

EDIT 7/13/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 7/13/25 -- I refilled the birdfeeders again.

I've seen a fox squirrel.

As it is still wet out, I am done for the night.

Current Mood: busy

conuly posting in

agonyaunt

Dear Annie: I have a frustrating problem with my mother. I'm 40 years old, but she still treats me like I'm a teenager. She expects me to answer every call immediately and freaks out if I'm unavailable, often roping in my cousin to text me if I don't respond since my mom doesn't know how.

This has been going on since I was a teen. When I was 18, I was expected to call when I left or arrived anywhere. I once forgot to call her after leaving a bookstore, and by the time I got to the library, I was accosted by three separate employees saying my mother had been calling. My aunt and cousin think it's a cute story, not infuriating like I do.

Last year, I mentioned I was heading to Walmart. Remember that I'm 40. I didn't check my phone for 10 whole minutes, and in that short time, my mom called several times and had our cousin text to "see if I was OK."

Most recently, I missed a text and then a call from my cousin -- she was picking me up -- because my phone was on silent after I got home from work and I'd stepped into the bathroom. My mom later confronted me about the "stunt" I pulled, how it was so rude I'd done that and told my cousin they shouldn't pick me up anymore.

How do I explain to her that she's suffocating me? I know she worries, but I'm 40 years old. I'm not a highly sought after princess the world is about to kidnap at any moment; I'm just another random person, not a highly coveted commodity. The more she does this, the more she pushes me away. -- Smothered in a Small Town

( Read more... )

oursin

This week's bread: a Standen loaf, 4:1 Strong Brown/buckwheat flour, with maple syrup (last drain from bottle) instead of honey and Rayner's Malt Extract. V nice.

During the course of the week I made Famous Aubergine Dip to take to a BBQ.

Saturday breakfast rolls: adaptable soft rolls recipe: approx 70/30% wholemeal/white spelt flour, Rayner's Malt Extract, dried cranberries, not bad.

Also made foccacia to take to BBQ.

Today's lunch: sweet potato gratin with black olive tapenade (as there were sweet potatoes left over from last week), served with warm green bean and fennel salad (I did use tarragon vinegar but I think this had rather lost its oomph) and baby green pak choi stirfried with garlic.

ysabetwordsmith

For fans of the Marketplace series of kinky books by Laura Antoniou, the author has the rights back.

Current Mood: busy

marthawells

A really thoughtful essay on Murderbot: ‘Even If They Are My Favourite Human’: Murderbot Just Explained Boundaries

https://countercurrents.org/2025/07/even-if-they-are-my-favourite-human-murderbot-just-explained-boundaries/

“I Don’t Know What I Want”: The Line That Changed Everything

In the final moments of the season, Murderbot says: “I don’t know what I want. But I know I don’t want anyone to tell me what I want or to make decisions for me. Even if they are my favourite human.”

This is not a dramatic declaration. It is confusion wrapped in clarity. A sentence that holds discomfort and self-awareness in equal measure. It reflects a truth often ignored in stories about intelligence and emotion: that it is okay to not know, as long as that unknowing belongs to the self. In a world that constantly demands certainty, this line opens up space for uncertainty without shame.

* And a great interview with Alexander Skarsgård!

https://collider.com/murderbot-finale-alexander-skarsgard/

So, it just wants to start fresh and get away, and figure out who it is and what it wants. It doesn't really know that. I quite enjoyed that Murderbot didn't end up having answers to all the questions or knowing exactly what it wants. It's more messy and complicated than that. But it definitely knows that it needs to find its own path and make its own decisions, to make its own mistakes, and not have the Corporation or anyone tell it who it is or what it wants.

andrewducker

My primate family.

The exhibition at the museum is very quiet and rather good. Recommended!
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

james_davis_nicoll

The first in a series of anthologies that assemble stories by Campbell Award (now the Astounding) finalists.

New Voices: The Campbell Award Nominees (New Voices, volume 1) edited by George R R Martin

oursin

Happy birthday,

kimsnarks!

ysabetwordsmith

Melting glaciers are awakening Earth's most dangerous volcanoes

As glaciers melt around the world, long-dormant volcanoes may be waking up beneath the ice. New research reveals that massive ice sheets have suppressed eruptions for thousands of years, building up underground pressure. But as that icy weight disappears, it may trigger a wave of explosive eruptions—especially in places like Antarctica. This unexpected volcanic threat not only poses regional risks but could also accelerate climate change in a dangerous feedback loop. The Earth’s hidden fire may be closer to the surface than we thought.

Somehow OH SHIT just doesn't seem like enough. O_O I have noticed that the volcanoes seem more restless than they used to, and now wonder if this could be a contributing factor.

Current Mood: busy

redbird

Quoted in the Yale alumni magazine: "You know the world is going crazy when Yale alums are making donations to Harvard!"

(This Yale alum donates to the United Negro College Fund, because they need it more than Yale does.)

ysabetwordsmith

Today we made a smoothie with:

1 cup almond milk
1 cup Brown Cow vanilla yogurt
3 tablespoons Bettergoods pistachio butter
a dash of cardamom

The result is off-white and on the thin side. It tastes okay, but does not have much pistachio flavor at this stage.

The pistachio butter does have a strong pistachio flavor, but it is quite sweet; sugar is the second ingredient. So we skipped the honey that we usually put into a nut butter smoothie.

Current Mood: busy

chanter1944

New birds added to the life list while camping at Lake Kegonsa: Osprey, courtesy the nest built on a doubtless purpose-created platform along a local trail. So, so, cool. :D Also least flycatcher, which was a total random chance surprise. :)

Warm fuzzy of the day in a different category entirely, though, was getting love from a rescue puppydog while on the way back to the apartment with a bag of groceries. The groceries were set safely down before the (possible pitty/lab mix, there were characteristics of both for sure, shorter fur and slightly perked ears, but also fluffy double coat and super happy otter tail) got pet. According to her people, I made her day. My reaction was, she made mine! :)

Random post is random.

redbird

via

oursin, something I found interesting: We still don't understand family resemblance, and some of what we thought we knew is mistaken, or might be.

This article describes research that used data from almost a million people: every Norwegian student who took a standardized test from 2007-2019.

Quoting the article: "The resemblance of twins cannot be reconciled with any model....The resemblance of adoptees cannot be reconciled with any model."

Adjusting a model to account better for twins makes it a poorer match of adoptive relationships, and vice versa. Any attempt to account for one of these moves the model away adopted siblings makes it fit twins less well, and vice versa.
( cut for length )

Always search for the lost needle, especially on furniture

Health Data manipulation within the US Federal Government

Boost: Uncle Bill's Tweezers

Hm. I thought we got a big bag of cat food

(no subject)

Fic: perfect (Arcane)

[2025 Bingo] Arcane: perfect

Birdfeeding

I genuinely don't know how LW hasn't smothered their mom yet

Culinary

Marketplace Books

More Murderbot Articles

Photo cross-post

New Voices: The Campbell Award Nominees (New Voices, volume 1) edited by George R R Martin

(no subject)

Climate Change

meanwhile...

Today's Smoothie

land stewardship FTW

Family resemblances are complicated

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January 2019

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