Fogbow

Yeah, colonoscopy prep today. Go away and don't bother me.

Don't get old is the best advice I never took.

The Rooster and Wifehorn herding the cat(s)

As part of my dad's cleaning out his apartment and downsizing his life into an assisted living room, he has distributed a lot of his remaining possessions, including a lot of valuable antiques that he inherited from my grandparents and great-grandparents.

Ol' Wifehorn and I only got one main thing each. I got an incredible group of framed star charts that I have been admiring for the whole 16 years he lived there. They include drawings of all the ancient projections of people and animals and so forth, even including the lost astrological sign, Ophiuchus (which includes my own personal birthday). They aren't worth a ton of money, but they're awesome. I want to visit all the stars.

Ol' Wifehorn got an antique blanket chest that is an amazing piece of workmanship.

My siblings got several pieces each - they were there and I wasn't - but we're happy with what my dad gave us.

But this one is incredible - the cane.
. This cane - I hope you can see it properly - is not just a golden eagle. It is inscribed as follows:

I.W. LITTELL
CAP / Q.M.D.
from
GOV'T. EMPLOYEES

... and General Isaac William Littell was my great-grandfather on my father's mother's side. The cane - I'm sure it's just gold plated, but still stunning - was given to him by his troops, who weren't allowed to do such a thing, therefore the "gov't employees" part.



And my dad has told us several times that when he was growing up, he was terrified that his mom had secretly named him Isaac, and it wasn't until he found his birth certificate that he was sure he was just plain William Littell Bryan. But since I'm Wm. Jr., I never worried that I was secretly named Isaac.

I don't need a cane. But I got one for when I do need it.

Very cool, I gotta show that to my dad!

That cane probably is gold plate, but it's in great condition for gold plate. (No. I am not an expert.)

Brass oxidizes. Gold does not. Look for tarnish (green) betraying it as brass. It could be laquered to prevent tarnishing however.

Because brass oxidizes, and gold does not, brass will react to your skin oils. Rub the metal with your hand and then smell your hand. If it smells metallic, it's brass.

Scratch it against a clean ceramic surface like the bottom of a dinner plate. Gold will leave a gold colored track. Brass will be black.

Hmm. Do I want to know if it's brass? I do not.

It's gold plate, just as Andy says it is. There you have it. The bottoms of my dinner plates are safe. Whew!

Meanwhile, my shower curtain map of the world was 15 years old and ol' Wifehorn made me get rid of it. Tragic.

On the bright side, my new shower curtain with a YUGE Periodic Table of the Elephants Elements is giving me great joy every time I walk in the bathroom these past few days. Why is tungsten chemical symbol W? Because the other name for it is wolfram, I got that far already.

I'm gonna learn 118 chemicals, all the way up to ununoctium.

If you like to sing in the shower you can sing the Elements Song - Tom Lehrer set the periodic table to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune…

Wait, if I'm in the shower everything's backwards on the chart!

I'll be singing about surohpsohp and muinfah!


I have been reliably informed that Lauren Boebert does not have a map of the world or a Periodic Table shower curtain.

Foggy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 19, 2023 11:25 am Wait, if I'm in the shower everything's backwards on the chart!

I'll be singing about surohpsohp and muinfah!

Yabbut, now every time you take a shower the Major General’s Song ear worm will be in your head.

Love it! The shower curtain. So much fun.

Foggy wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 7:50 am Yeah, colonoscopy prep today. Go away and don't bother me.

the names on those preps are so funny

go litely

easy go

Maybenaut wrote: ↑Tue Sep 19, 2023 3:19 pm Yabbut, now every time you take a shower the Major General’s Song ear worm will be in your head.

Argh. I guess I deserve it given how I enjoy giving others earworms.

So I guess normal folks don't sing the aria Vecchia zimarra (Colline's aria from the last act of La Boheme) in the shower. Eventually I may record a non-shower version of that one to post here.

Foggy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 19, 2023 11:25 am Wait, if I'm in the shower everything's backwards on the chart!

I'll be singing about surohpsohp and muinfah!


I have been reliably informed that Lauren Boebert does not have a map of the world or a Periodic Table shower curtain.

What? You hung it inside out? What's better - a periodic shower or a periodic poop?

My poops aren't just periodic, they're highly educational. A cell phone, by the way, uses 46 of the 118 chemical elements, is what they told me.

I had a bad conversation with Alexa.

Me: What are the common uses of (metal elements I don't know about)?
Alexa: blah blah blah

Me: What are the common uses for silver?
Alexa: Silver can be used as a food additive.
Me: No, it can't, unless you want your skin to turn blue. Alexa, that answer is wrong and dangerous and very, very stupid.

Robert Laity, hold my beer!

I maybe did too many fizzikal therapy exercises yesterday.

Last night at 2:20 a.m. my right arm suddenly became completely unusable and extremely painful, for almost 14 hours, until about 4:15 this afternoon, at which point it kind of fell back in place. It's okay now. Whew.

I don't think that's a dislocation, but maybe a subluxation, in any case a very bad thing. Couldn't shave with my right hand. Couldn't eat with it. Couldn't do anything, and it hurt like hell. Miserable day.

Wore the sling, babied it all morning, and got it back.

So the right one is still unstable, probably until I manage to build some muscle around the surgery site. That's the key right now. But not overdoing the exercises.

And the left is still not yet 7 weeks since the revision surgery (tomorrow is 7 weeks). So which one is my good arm and which is the bad one?

They're both bad. I just gotta deal with it.

I picked up the new license plates for our new used Camry, and the plates start: KLD. Which, as you know, means I'll be KiLleD driving it. Not that I'm superstitious or anything ...

Foggy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 04, 2023 2:53 pm I picked up the new license plates for our new used Camry, and the plates start: KLD. Which, as you know, means I'll be KiLleD driving it. Not that I'm superstitious or anything ...

https://www.allacronyms.com/KLD

Killed is number 2 on the list of acronyms for KLD.

My favorite fits your lifestyle: Kick, Lead, Dream.

OMG, it's the abbreviation for killed used by the Army and Marines. I am so gonna die in this car.

'I was kidnapped by my runaway electric car':
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67005620

“A driver has told how he was "kidnapped" by his runaway electric car and forced to dodge red lights and roundabouts.
Brian Morrison, 53, from Glasgow said he was heading home from work on Sunday night when he said his brand new MG ZS EV became stuck at 30mph.”

Today my cardiologist's office called.

"It's time for your six month followup appointment."

"Wait a minute. The doctor said there's nothing wrong with my heart and he's not treating me for anything. So what are you following up on, nothing?"

"Well, then. Just never mind."

A lot of seniors would have said, Oh, sure. It's a scam.

Remember, last Easter I only had an EKG in the emergency room because I said I had chest pain - but it was from vomiting all day, not a heart problem.

Then the idiot doctor in the ER said he found a "possible anomaly" in the EKG, and I needed an echo cardiogram to know for sure.

So I went to the cardiologist and got the echo cardiogram, and there was NO PROBLEM. Whatever the possible thing was, it was a nothingburger.

But now they think I need an appointment every six months until ... until I do have a heart problem?

No thank you very much.