Miscellaneous Things (Illustrated Edition)

It's been a while since I've posted anything remotely informative, hasn't it? (It's been longer since I've posted anything remotely interesting... oh, who am I kidding? I've never done that!) Mostly it's because I have little to post that's worth an entire blog entry. So I thought I'd gather up the various things that wouldn't fill an entry by themselves and stick them together.

Hey, it's either that or do something productive with my evening...

The above photo, for the ornithologically challenged, is a band-tailed pigeon. A native game bird, it is significantly larger than the common city pigeon (more accurately termed a "rock dove," if any nitpicky bird enthusiasts are within earshot, or "winged rat," if you happen to own a bird feeder.) I have an older bird identification guide that describes band-tails as "shy," just starting to venture near feeders.

Someone forgot to tell the birds.

All my years growing up, we used to have - at most - three band-tails in the area. I'd hear them, or see them circling the yard, or watch them swing by the feeder briefly. For the past couple years, however, we've seen more.

How many is more?

During one visit (or, more accurately, invasion), my sister stopped counting after 30.

They're not necessarily evil birds. They're natives, after all, and they're kinda pretty in a mostly-gray way. But if city pigeons are rats with wings, these guys are full-blown pigs. They'll strip a feeder bare in under an hour, and explode into the sky at a moment's notice. (They're also not the brightest bulbs of the bird world. More than one has tried to come through the window into the living room. As in, they were perched on the sill and thought they could step inside, for no discernible reason... and the lighting conditions were all wrong for reflections to be blamed.)

My sister finally figured out a way to slow them down a bit with feeder covers, but it's still a pitched battle to keep the feeders full long enough for other birds to get a shot at the seed. With the exception of the destructive bears, they're the only things that have ever made me wish I owned a shotgun.

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This is the view from Grandpa's new home. It remains to be seen whether this is permanent, or if he's going to deteriorate to the point where he needs more intensive care than this group-home setting can provide. More signs have surfaced of lingering brain damage and dementia issues, enough that sending him back to his home to live, even with 24/7 care, is looking more and more like a hazy pipe dream. He seems to be settling in okay, but the family stubbornness has taken root full force. He can no longer be coaxed into exercising; even walking a lap around the living room is out of the question. The promise of going home isn't even enough to prod him into action. On the plus side, he's eating better, and he seems to like the company, even if they do tend to keep the TV on "girl" channels whether or not any other residents are in the living room. (He's the only man in the house at this time.) I keep hoping things will finally settle down a bit, now that he's in a stable situation. So far, it's just a hope, though...

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We've still been suffering a general bee shortage in the area. For all the fruit trees blossoming and flowers blooming, I should be seeing more bees. Partly to blame is the wet weather; the few bees I have seen tend to be bumblebees. They can function in cooler temperatures than other bees, evidently, due to their furry bodies and larger mass. This little buzzer, though, wasn't doing so hot on the hood of my car... but it was a great excuse to whip out the purse camera and click away. (I moved it to a better perch before I actually took the car on my planned shopping trip. We need all the pollinators we can get...)

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After nearly a month of being unable to find time or enthusiasm, I've finally picked up to something close to my old reading schedule again. Had some fun finds and a few duds, but I'd missed losing myself in a book of any sort. (For reviews of recent reads, check my book review blog.) To that end, I hit Amazon a couple of weeks ago with a gift certificate I earned (via an online survey site I joined some years back... once in a while I earn enough points to justify cashing out.) Hopeless penny-pincher as I am, I managed to stretch that certificate to cover about six or seven books via used affiliates. Normally, I've had pretty good luck with them sending me items in the condition described; if anything, I've found the things I ordered come to be in better shape than expected. But this time, I found a less pleasant surprise...

Note the description on the tag, which is what I read online when I ordered. Note the area visible just below the tag. One of these things is not like the other... (And, yes, I inspected the packaging thoroughly. A waterproof envelope, well-sealed, and dry. If it had happened in shipping, it wouldn't have the staining and the color cover bleed, and it would probably affect more pages. It would also have still been damp when I opened it. Which it wasn't.)

At the library, when we're deleting old items from the catalog, we automatically chuck (or recycle) any book with any sign of water damage, let alone staining from whatever beverage did the damage. We do not resell it as a "good/very good" used book. For the price, I didn't think it was worth my while to return, but I was still dismayed enough for a less-than-positive vendor review. Needless to say, I won't be doing business with them again. (They were also the one that took the longest to get to me, though they were the closest vendor I ordered from. Go figure...)

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Well, I think I've stretched that premise as far as it can be stretched. And I still have a few hours left before bed time. Guess I ought to try giving that "productivity" thing a chance after all...

Dang it...