Have you ever had a “rabbits foot”?
It was a big thing in the 1950’s and 1960’s. It was a key-chain with a simulated rabbits foot in different colors, mostly whites, reds and a few odd ball colors.
I never understood the fascination with them. And when my dad would bring one one for me to use, I’d stash it in a junk drawer and forget about it.
I never saw a REAL rabbit’s foot key-chain. Oh, but I heard about it though. Usually an uncle of a friend of a friend. So the story goes. Silly, eh?
And that’s the content for today.
A little boring, like a Chinese finger trap,
…or a finger pistol.
Ah, they’ve gone away like silly putty…
… and cigarette machines.
…And McDonald’s ashtrays…
Along with bottomless free coffee refills at McDonald’s.
Take care and be good.
Today…
How do cruise excursions work, and are they worth the extra cost compared to exploring on your own?
This is the scheme of a typical full-day excursion:
- You book an excursion.
- In the morning, you sit in the ship’s theatre and wait until your excursion is announced. You are told the number of the bus and you are herded down the gangway and to the bus. Until the bus starts, the first hour of the total excursion time is gone.
- The bus drives you to the attractions. A guide with a flag or an umbrella leads you through the attractions and gives explanations. Sometimes, you get headphones and a receiver and you listen to the guide via headphones.
- The whole group is taken to a large restaurant and gets a mediocre lunch. Usually, the owner pays a commission to the guide.
- In the afternoon, there is a little more sightseeing before the main item of the program comes.
- The main program point is a visit to a gift shop. Often, the gift shop is disguised as an “artisans cooperative” or something and includes a brief presentation. But it is basically a gift shop. And your guide receives a commission of 40% on each sold item. So, everybody is interested that the visit to the gift shop lasts as long as possible, up to two hours.
- Finally, the bus drives you back to the vessel.
- There are several bathroom stops in between, each of it rather time-consuming.
In sum, maybe about 50 % of the total excursion time is used for actual sightseeing. The rest is waiting time, driving time, loading and unloading, bathroom stops, lunch and time in the gift shop.
I have been on more than a dozen cruises (never counted), some of them three-week-cruises, to the Western and Eastern Mediterranean, Baltic Sea, Canary Islands, South Africa, South America, Carribean and Alaska. In 19 of 20 ports of call we do not book an excursion. Sometimes, if the ship docks in a city, we just walk off the vessel. Sometimes, we take a taxi. Often, we rent a car and drive on our own. Just make sure you have a time buffer in case something unexpected happens. You need to be back at the ship on time. If you are one minute late you will get into deep trouble.
Take Skagway, Alaska. We were there with our family of 5. They offered an excursion with a railroad for $ 250 per person, totalling $ 1,250. I rented a car which did cost $ 100 including gas and we saw thrice as much as the excursion participants, including a grizzly bear from close range (we could hear him chew). And we had a quick picnic lunch.
Cost Of Living Crisis EXPOSED 2025: Why China’s ‘Peasants’ Live Better Than Americans
The Lady of the Last Star
Written in response to: “Write a story in which a character navigates using the stars.“
Paweł Ciarka
It was considered a fact, that there are more stars in the universe, than human souls that ever lived in it. This statement is no longer true. Most of them died, or rather, were killed, leaving entire galaxies in darkness. But some said, „some” meaning the very last of humanity before even they met their end, that some stars still spark like diamonds in dessert sands. Across uninhabited planets and carcases of nebuli, their light guides a certain, troubled soul. And the darkness, right on its tail.
Through the cosmic void, she was dashing hastely, the nimble comet that she was. Dodging her way out of an asteroid field, she was the only source of light there. Her name was Kori. And she was running away. From something that wanted to snuff that light out.
The girl held on to her glider, aiming its beak between gaps, barely tight enough to squeeze through.
The darkness that pursued her didn’t bother with avoiding obstacles. It would burst and consume them in its endless form. Grasping with its glassy claws and jaws that ate black holes.
Kori threw her hand out, gattering stardust, charging her exo-suit and glider, stretching her fuel thinner and thinner. She was going faster, emitting ice clouds from the glider’s engine. She needed a boost. Altough, the source of that boost was nowhere to be found.
She was slowly running out of light. The girl felt as her suit stretched and deformed from the pressure of the beasts’ breath.
Beep. Close, but not close enough. Asleep, turned off, hidden.
Whichever way she tried to ride in, the creature flowed in that direction like a raging canal of water. Pushing amidst the field, Kori grabbed a Luxdux from her belt.
Beep, beep. The stardust flowed through her gauntlets into her fingers, charging the machine and emitting great whiteness that bounced all over the asteroid field.
Beepbeepbeep!
There it was. A fallen star. Awakened! But…
She didn’t get to blink, before the light got smothered by the colossal jaws of the beast.
Right in the glistening body of the creature, formed by husks of planets, glued together by darkness, she was drowning. Grasping against matter that was both liquid and form, digested cosmos that was swallowing her.
She couldn’t breathe, didn’t know if she was even capable of, like in a dream. With the last of her senses intact, she found the star, cold and asleep. So, the girl made a decision. She pumped the star with fuel to its limits, feeling its shake tear the ebony skin of the creature. She put it in a pocket inside her chest. A flash appeared, her glider jumped into gear and with enough power, she punched through the belly of beast.
She was gone. Gone, but not safe. Not for long.
Drifting amongst dead celestial bodies, wondering how she herself was even alive. Laying down on her glider.
Awaken.
Her back jumped from the metal board, just as her hands jumped across her exo-suit. Like a skeleton outside of her flesh, it cracked in a couple of spots. Her mask, googles, gauntlets, valves and small pipes running with gas and helium. The girls’ heart pumped with euphoria. For a second, she was glad to be alive in this cosmos. Then realisation struck her.
She was still alone.
Wait, she murmered in her head. The reason why she found that star in the first place. Kori grabbed two things from her back. A canister, filled up to half with stardust and a small, metal block, shaped like an hourglass. Grains of dust were slowly pouring off of it.
She wondered. Whether preserve the spare stardust or use it to boot up the machine. After rolling her eyes, she exhaled deeply and turned on her gauntlets.
Such a small thing. It better be worth it.
The block of metal turned on. With a simple, holographic face sticking out of the miniscule screen.
The stardust in the canister depleted immensely, and she still needed to load up her glider. After detaching the run-down star from her chest, she connected it to the container to atleast make up for the loss in fuel.
The small machine bopped its head intensely, barely hovering over the board in any form of balance.
„INTERSTELLAR ROBOTIC INFORMATICAL SYSTEM activated” the robot spoke as smoothly as the nano-metal he was made of.
It spoke. And she heard it. How? They were in the void. No way for them to understand each other, nor for her to gasp with shock.
Kori widened her mouth as the robot saw only her mask that looked like a jellyfish. Words wanted to escape from her mouth but… she seemed to be unable to even squeal.
„Please, accept my apology, as I automatically connected myself to your communication device, as well as your neural scan”. His voice was gentle and eloquent, yet still boyish, like a well-mannered child.
„Uuhuh”, she mindlessly spilled, not able to accept a different voice in her head.
„If you prefer, I can communicate with you through your neural scan, without the need for vocal cords”.
„I-uh… I remember how to… How to speak!” she outraged, almost pushing the bot off the glider.
„I beg your pardon then, miss Kori” he bowed, putting his right hand behind his back and the left one to the side, fingers curled with just the pointing finger upwards.
„How do you know my name?!” her gauntlet started sparkling, as her fingers formed a glowing fist.
„Your name is in my programming” he turned his bubbly head, unaware of the girls’ gesture. „Also, I am connected to your mind”.
„Right. I’m not really… cool with that.” she shrank in posture.
„Fair enough” she immediately heard him again through the comm in her mask.
„I guess, it’s only fair for me to know… your name as well, don’t ya think?”
„Again, fair enough” the robot nodded.
„What’s your name then?”
„INTERSTELLAR ROBOTI-
„I ain’t rememberin’ all that, you small moon” Kori snapped her fingers against his head. „How about… IRIS?”
„I… like it. If you want to call me that, then so be it” IRIS accepted his name with grace.
„Great! Now, IRIS. Find me a star” the girl grabbed him by his hands and turned him around to face the void.
„I was just looking at one, madam” his head turned back to her and his body right after it.
„I mean a real star” she laughed. “You know, the one to use for space travel.”
The thought occured to her. She laughed. It came so naturally to her, she didn’t even notice. She laughed again, giggling like a child, trying to squeeze words through her teeth.
IRIS smiled, once more not understanding the girls’ behaviour.
„I know what a star is”.
„Congratulations, small moon. Now find one. There aren’t all that many left out there and you were made to sniff’em out like a Sirius”.
„Why?” IRIS shrugged.
„What why?” Kori did the same gesture.
„Why are you looking for a star?”
„I… have a mission. That’s all I know. Don’t really care ‘bout it, but.. someone’s gotta do it.” she swept her legs along the board and left them dangling.
„Restarting the universe”. His holographic eyes widened.
„Yup.”
„You don’t seem happy about it”.
„Why would I?” She turned her head away from his destructively child-like stare.
„The universe is a beauuuutiful thing” IRIS spinned around in awe.
„Was. Maybe. For a bit. Don’t really know”.
„It still is”.
„Listen, I don’t know what kinda world you remember but this ain’t it no more. It’s just a big corpse with a parasite in it” she hugged herself.
„Orsus” IRIS stated. „That’s how my creators named him”. He added after noticing the girls’ confused stare.
„Your masters… Can you lead me to them?”
„Gladly!” IRIS jumped, lifting himself off of the glider. Fortunately, Kori catched him and put him back on the board. „Thank you kindly” he bowed again.
„Lead the way then, little moon” she loaded the glider with some dust. Still enough for a jump or two.
„Can’t wait to see humans again!” IRIS tried to jump, but immediately pulled himself back to Kori’s arm. Instead of flying away, he set up the coordinates for his creators’ location, as well as for a star in the same area.
Kori remained silent with the void. She bumped the leftover star in order to power up her board, took a quick glance at her helper. Fully aware of the stardust inside of him gradually fading.
„Keep your eyes open, IRIS, you’re gonna love that sight!” she attached the bot to her belt.
„But I don’t need to bl-
As a whistle across a forest, as white paint splashed with onto a black canvas. Like dipping your head in perfectly cold water. And right when you lift it up from the depths, you’re somewhere completely else.
„Where are we?” Kori gasped in wild confussion. But also with… enamourment.
This area of space had light. Different from stars. Deeply blue, with a bit of green. Waves upon waves of light, devouring each other.
„We’re at the…” IRIS already prepared himself to be interrupted again.
She leaned further, almost on the verge of the board. But that sight was worth it. „This is the edge of the universe!”
A veil of purple nebuli, one of the eyes of the cosmos, tearing itself apart and regrowing, feeding the waves. And yet, no new stars were being born. In this place, the infite became finite.
„Still no new stars at this eye” she sighed. „But the one we’re looking for should be close enough”.
„From my scans, the star you mentioned should be… there” he pointed to a drifting wreck at the end of existence, holding itself together by its metal veins.
Getting aboard the shuttle wasn’t a problem. It still had a functioning entrance. The metal door shivered, letting them inside Moses, as it was written on the scraped walls. The darkness seemed almost bright to the one outside. The only glow went off from Kori’s exo-suit. No other sound reached their ears except the howl of the glider, on which Kori was still riding.
„Why won’t you step off from the machine? IRIS asked, tiptoing next to her.
„My legs are tired” she growled.
„From what?”
„From not using them”.
IRIS went silent and stopped in his steps.
Kori sighed and turned around.
„Let me help you” his arm was reaching her from the ground, just below her knee.
She gave him a cold stare, but then… quickly changed it. Not for something much different, no. She lowered herself and grabbed him carefully, putting him on the board. Then, she put one foot on the ground, pushing herself with it further and further.
„What’s the last thing you remember from your times?” the girl asked the robot.
„Humanity conquering the stars. Enslaving them, until they started running out of them. Discovery after a discovery, not a single rock in the cosmos left unturned. That’s why I was created. To find the unfindable. And so, here I am, walking across the halls that birthed me, instead of venturing beyond the edge of the universe, like a proper machine should. Ironic, isn’t it?”
„Mhm” she nodded, confused but weirdly enchanted by his words. „Poetic”.
„In a different life, I would be a poet. Describe every, beautiful sight that the universe holds” he smiled. „What about you?”
„I remember… this uniform. This mask. My mission. Not much beyond that.” she answered, losing her tempo for a step.
„Did you ever take it off? If I may ask…” he forgot himself a little.
„I don’t think so, no. I can barely remember my face. Not too keen on seeing it again”.
They stopped in front of a ripped open door. Burned metal and flesh, smells so pungent that even a robot could feel their bloody aroma. IRIS’s radar started beeping, the stars’ signature should’ve been here. But the only things they found were a broken cage and a group of skeletons, laying on the floor. The cadavers, long dead, crystalized in their form, almost chrome. The last sign of their existence being dried up bloodstains.
Kori jumped off from her glider to look upon the chamber in which the star should be held. She tried lifting the shards from the ground, putting them back, but to no avail. She punched the cell with all her might, not feeling a scratch.
She heard a buzzing noise and so she found the source of it. A holo-reader, still working. With one, last message from beyond their cold graves. Kori had no mercy for the „play” button, but fortunately, she didn’t destroy the apparatus. A tall and skinny silhouette appeared in front of her, wearing long, brown hair and a metal, left arm.
„I record this, truly hoping that this will not be our end. Nor yours” the figure stated grimly. „My name is Adam Henry DuBois.” he bowed, putting his right hand behind his back and the left one to the side, fingers curled with just the pointing finger upwards. „I am a scientist. And truth be told, an optimist. Enough to hope that our actions may finally bring something good to the world. I don’t have much time. You must find IRIS, and with him – the Forge. Beware of the Primordium – the beast that took away Earth’s light. Stay strong, Kori. And…”
The message ended.
Kori stood there, staring into the wall. It didn’t seem real. Nothing did. Just a mess without a solution. Her knees were crumbling, hands shaking, almost losing the grip within her gauntlets. For the first time, she felt the weight of her suit. The burden of it.
„They’re beautiful” IRIS’s voice finally broke her, as he climbed on a desktop, near one of the chrome skeletons.
„Beautiful? How can you say something like that now?” she felt the need to cry, but not a single drop on her cheek.
„Even in death, they found something to strive towards. We are alive. What will we do now?”
„Pff, yeah, you alive”. She leaned on the table heavily.
„I beg your pardon?” his head raised as if he was raising an eyebrow.
„Nothing. Just tired.” She waved him off.
„Then why are you doing it?”
„Because someone has to”. Kori scratched the table harshly.
„That is not a logical argument. What reason do you have for it?”
„None!” she snapped at him. „There is no reason! And if there’s no reason for it, then there’s no reason for me to even be alive! What other choice do I have? I don’t care what the world will look like if I succeed. I don’t care if I’ll succeed. As long as I have something to do. Nothing more to it.” Her voice broke.
Kori lost IRIS from her seight. But then, she felt his small arms around her leg.
„You seemed like you needed a hug” he said calmly.
„Let’s…find this forge” she smiled.
Already outside of the spaceship, prepared for another jump, they noticed clear, dark signs across their field of view. The darkness was coming back.
„One more jump, IRIS, get ready.”
„Rea-
Fwoosh!
They reached their final destination. The Starforge. Older than the universe itself – Methuselah.
Primordium got to them faster than Kori expected, they had to hurry.
The greatest of the stars was not asleep, but dead. And it needed to be brought back to life. So it could bring the universe back.
Flying through the ribcage of the celestial body, they found its core. The anvil that needed power. Kori ran to the stone-like battery, in need of filling up.
„Kori” IRIS whispered, hearing a thunderous crack. The planet being slowly devoured.
The girl loaded the canister with stardust to the battery. All that she gathered. Not even half of what was required.
„Damnit!” she shouted, breaking the stars and adding them to the source.
Ground beneath them started shaking. She knew there was no running away from it. She took the engine from her glider, also sucking the stardust out of it.
Kori screamed. Only IRIS could hear her. And it was enough.
The bot stumbled near and put his hand onto the battery. Slowly giving away the dust that fueled him.
„IRIS, stop!” she tried to rip him from it, but he wouldn’t budge.
„It’s okay” he said, as the last grains of dust left his body.
Kori held onto him, pressing him to her chest.
„Be with me until every star goes dark” IRIS said to her ear. „And so, when the universe ends up black and hollow… I will still atleast hear your voice… And feel your hand in mine.”
His metal body clang near the core. An empty husk of a friend.
Orsus had her. Shattering down walls around them, it cornered her like a wolf trapping a sheep. The crystal teeth being the last light that she was meant to see. She stood up proudly before it. She was no sheep. But a phoenix.
Kori found her purpose. Putting all her strength, she loaded the battery to the maximum. Her suit started breaking, while the shadow, for the first time, cowered in fear. Now, she was her true self. A living star.
Methuselah was born anew. The light that emanated from Kori destroyed Orsus. The battery overloaded, two stars mended into one and finally… they burned all that was left of the previous universe.
On that day, a new star was born. And many more after it.
Guava Bread (Mojicon – Columbia)
Ingredients
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour(plus more as needed)
- 6 ounces guava paste, cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1 egg white, beaten with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)
- 1 tablespoon decorator’s sugar (for garnish)
Instructions
- Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large mixing bowl. Let stand until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Scald milk in a small saucepan. Stir in the butter until it melts. Remove the milk from the heat and allow it to cool to about 110 degrees F.
- Mix the milk-butter mixture, sugar, egg, salt and 1 cup of the flour into the yeast until blended, and then beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 5 minutes.
- Gradually stir in the remaining flour with a plastic spatula to make a smooth, elastic dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until silky smooth, about 5 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add a little more flour. Put the dough into a large, lightly greased bowl, and then flip it over so that the top is greased. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and a towel, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Punch down the dough, turn it out onto a floured surface, and divide it into 4 equal portions. Roll one into a 15 x 5-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Leaving a 1/4-inch border, sprinkle one fourth of the diced guava paste evenly over the dough. Roll up the dough from the long side, like a jellyroll, to form a long rope. Transfer the rope to one end of a greased baking sheet, form it into a ring, and pinch the ends to seal. Repeat until all the dough pieces are shaped into rings. Place 2 rings on each baking sheet. Make 5 evenly spaced crosswise cuts, 3/4 inch deep and 2 inches long, in each ring to expose the filling (as if cutting each into 5 chunks, but do not cut through the bottom layer of dough). Cover the rings with towels and let them rise in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk, about 40 minutes.
- Brush each ring with egg white glaze and dust with decorator’s sugar. Bake the rings on the upper rack of a preheated 350 degree F oven until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped gently, about 30 minutes.
- Transfer the bread to wire racks to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 4 small bread rings, serving 8.
Gen Alpha Can’t Read and Teachers Are FED UP !!!
Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Sleepwalking Animals
Or: When the Barnyard Turns Into a Midnight Mosh Pit—and One Cat Must Save the Day
Introduction
Ah, dear reader, prepare for a tale of moonlit mischief, mysterious wanderings, and mass confusion. Today’s story begins with an unsettling discovery on Sir Whiskerton’s farm: the animals have begun sleepwalking en masse, turning the tranquil barnyard into a chaotic obstacle course of stumbling sheep, wandering pigs, and quacking ducks—all while fast asleep.
As Sir Whiskerton investigates the cause of this bizarre phenomenon, he uncovers a surprising culprit—and learns that even the most unusual problems can be solved with patience and teamwork. So grab your flashlight (and perhaps a cup of chamomile tea), as we dive into Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Sleepwalking Animals.
Act 1: The Midnight Mayhem Begins
It was a quiet evening on the farm when Sir Whiskerton noticed something strange. From his perch atop the barn roof, he spotted Porkchop the Pig shuffling aimlessly through the mud puddle—eyes closed and snoring softly.
“What in the name of catnip is going on?” Sir Whiskerton muttered, leaping down to investigate.
Before he could make sense of Porkchop’s behavior, Doris the Hen appeared, flapping wildly in her sleep. “BY ALL THAT IS HOLY, WHERE ARE MY EGGS?!” she squawked, somehow still asleep.
The chaos escalated quickly. Fluffy the Sheep wandered past, muttering about knitting sweaters out of clouds, while Ferdinand the Duck waddled by, dramatically reciting lines from what sounded like Swan Lake.
“This is madness,” Sir Whiskerton declared, adjusting his monocle. “I must get to the bottom of this.”
Act 2: Investigating the Cause
Sir Whiskerton assembled a team of still-awake animals to help him investigate. Together, they observed the sleepwalkers’ patterns and pieced together clues:
- The Farmer’s New Recipe: Earlier that day, the farmer had introduced a new batch of “calming herbal tea” for the animals, claiming it would help them relax before bed.
- Chef Remy’s Glow-in-the-Dark Snacks: Suspiciously glowing cookies had been served at dinner, leaving some animals slightly radioactive (and possibly delirious).
- Bartholomew’s Hypnotic Swing: The piñata had been swinging back and forth all afternoon, mesmerizing anyone who looked directly at it.
“Could it be the tea?” Ditto the Echoing Kitten suggested nervously.
“Or maybe it’s Chef Remy’s snacks,” Rufus the Dog added, wagging his glowing tail.
Sir Whiskerton narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “We need evidence—not speculation.”
Act 3: Solving the Mystery
After hours of observation, Sir Whiskerton discovered the truth: the calming herbal tea contained a rare ingredient called Moonflower Essence, which, when consumed in large quantities, induced sleepwalking. Combined with Chef Remy’s glow-in-the-dark snacks, the effect became amplified, sending the animals into a nocturnal frenzy.
Armed with this knowledge, Sir Whiskerton devised a plan.
“We’ll brew a counter-potion using lavender and mint,” he announced. “It should neutralize the effects of the Moonflower Essence.”
With Chef Remy reluctantly assisting (and apologizing profusely), they prepared the potion and administered it to the sleepwalking animals. Slowly but surely, the barnyard returned to its usual peaceful state.
Act 4: Resolution and Reflection
That morning, as the sun rose over the farm, the animals gathered around the old oak tree to reflect on the night’s events.
“Today taught us an important lesson,” Sir Whiskerton began, sipping a cup of moonlit tea. “Even the best intentions can lead to unexpected consequences. Whether it’s calming tea or glowing snacks, always test thoroughly before sharing.”
The farmer scratched his head sheepishly. “I just wanted to help everyone relax…”
“And you did,” Sir Whiskerton replied dryly. “A little too well.”
Even Chef Remy joined in, holding a tray of suspiciously glowing muffins.
“These are Anti-Sleepwalking Muffins™,” he announced proudly. “Guaranteed to keep you awake—or cause jitteriness!”
The animals exchanged wary glances but couldn’t help laughing.
Post-Credit Scene
Later that evening, Bartholomew the Piñata swung gently in the breeze, humming a tune under his breath.
“You know,” he mused aloud, “this whole experience has made me realize something.”
“What’s that?” Sir Whiskerton asked, lounging nearby.
“I’m still smarter than the scarecrow.”
Sir Whiskerton chuckled softly. “Of course you are, my friend. Of course you are.”
Moral of the Story
Even the best intentions can lead to unexpected consequences—always proceed with caution and care.
Best Lines
- “BY ALL THAT IS HOLY, WHERE ARE MY EGGS?!” – Doris the Hen, channeling her inner sleepwalking drama queen.
- “These are Anti-Sleepwalking Muffins™—guaranteed to keep you awake or cause jitteriness!” – Chef Remy, offering questionable solutions.
- “And you did. A little too well.” – Sir Whiskerton, delivering a well-deserved burn.
Key Jokes
- The animals’ sleepwalking antics add slapstick humor (e.g., Ferdinand reciting opera lines).
- Chef Remy’s glowing snacks spark both curiosity and concern.
- Bartholomew’s hypnotic swing provides ongoing comedic commentary.
Starring
- Sir Whiskerton (Feline Detective/Problem Solver Extraordinaire)
- Porkchop the Pig (Sleepwalking Snorer)
- Doris the Hen (Egg-Obsessed Sleeptalker)
- Chef Remy LeRaccoon (Mad Scientist of Snacks)
- Bartholomew the Piñata (Hypnotic Swing Mastermind)
Summaries
- Moral: Even the best intentions can lead to unexpected consequences—always proceed with caution and care.
- Future Potential: Could Chef Remy invent edible alarm clocks next? Or will Bartholomew start hosting hypnosis sessions?
Until next time, may your nights be peaceful and your mornings confusion-free. 🌙
What happens if the anesthesiologist makes a mistake in the dose of general anesthesia and gives too much anesthesia?
Let me give you a realistic situation, not a mistake.
You have been working with the surgeon X for several weeks, maybe a month. He is a nice guy, middle age, has been a surgeon for a while. But you are not closely familiar with his preferences, you don’t know how effective he is yet with his scheduled time. You, and he, still get used to each other.
You, the anesthetist, looked over the separation sheet into the surgical field and saw that it is wide open and it is time to give the patient next dose of muscle relaxants which works on average 40 minutes. About 5 min later, the surgeon turns his head to you, and says, “Oh, we are done”, and leaves the room.
You are stuck with another 30–35 minutes of muscle relaxant which at this point is not reversible, you have to wait at least 20–25 minutes before you can give a reversal drug. It just happened, you have to wait, and keep ventilating the patient.
It is not a mistake. You may call it ‘poor communication’, whatever else, but you do what is necessary.
Lessons gained: learn your partners as quickly as you can. What can you do to avoid being stuck, what are your alternatives, do you absolutely have to use the drugs that bind you for longer than planned?
You learn the surgeon X, Y, Z, how reliable they are in keeping their schedule time. One of my mentors in residency used to say, “We poison our patients. We load them up on different poisons. But we know how to support the patient in the state of controlled poisoning. We know what to do if plan A failed, we switch to plan B, or even C, D if needed”. For many years I played this mental game with myself: “If this happen — I will do 1, 2, 3. If that happen — my action would be 7, 8, 9.” And so on.
So, if a mistake happens, we refer to one of our plans, A, B, or whatever else. One of the first thing they teach in anesthesia residence is ‘Know when to call for help”.
Pictures
Something is Seriously Wrong With Our Food ……
BROMO ECLIPSE
Written in response to: “People have gathered to witness a once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon, but what happens next is not what they expected.“
Viga Boland
Martha, is something wrong? You seem really out of it tonight. Did I upset you in some way that I don’t know about?
No, Matthew. It’s not you…
Phew. Glad to hear that. It usually is me. Well, since I’m lousy at reading minds, especially yours, what’s up?
Oh I’m just BROMO today.
BROMO? You need a Bromo? I’m not sure we have any. Want me to check?
No Matthew. You’re thinking of Bromo Seltzer and it hasn’t been available in the US since 1975 because one of the ingredients was considered poisonous. I did read that it’s still available here in Canada but I haven’t bought it in years.
Oh, ok then. So why did you mention it?
I didn’t! I just said I’m BROMO today.
English, please?
Well it’s an acronym like FOMO.
FOMO?
Oh get with it, Matthew! Bonnie always tells me I’m a FOMO. FOMO’s suffer from fear of missing out. So today, after all the kaffuffle and brouhaha leading up the eclipse, after reading that over a million people were going to Niagara Falls to watch this phenomenal event, that Ontario schools were closed for the event, and that one Australian psychologist was flying to Texas in hopes of watching her 14th eclipse, because it’s such “an immersive and emotional experience” yadda, yadda, yadda, I decided to make sure I didn’t miss out on anything happening, like Armageddon, or a bear biting the sun, or a dragon swallowing it, or any of the many myths that have been spun about eclipses over the centuries.
Well they’re just myths, right? You didn’t really expect to see anything like that, did you? So you can’t be upset because nothing like any of that happened, right?
No. Of course not. You know me: I’m too rooted in reality to believe in stuff like that, but I’m still BROMO!
BROMO, not FOMO?
Yes. It’s my acronym for Bummed, Ripped Off, Missed Out…because nothing happened!
Well, the eclipse did happen, Martha. We didn’t miss it. We were both outside for at least 15 minutes before and after. You were lying back on the patio chair with the safety glasses Joe gave us with your face looking straight up. I even took a photo of you for the record books. At one point, you yelled “Hey, I can see something happening” and you got all excited. You even handed me the glasses for a minute so I could see what you were seeing. You were so excited, you ran back inside to grab your iPhone, then tripped on the step and put your hand through the screen I had just repaired…
Yes, I know all that and I’m sorry about the screen, but when I got back outside, what happened? Clouds moved across that tiny blue gap overhead and I saw sweet nothing. I couldn’t even find a silvery speck! Nothing but clouds! Did the birds stop singing? Was there an eerie silence? Did Duffy run around in circles, bark or act weird? No, even he wasn’t impressed. He just sat on the patio looking at me yelling and acting weird.
Just being your usual self, right? <laughing>
That’s not nice, Matthew. But come on. Even you must be a bit bummed. For two days you were playing around with your cameras, experimenting with settings, making sure you could get something memorable. Hell, even though Bonnie and Addie weren’t in our area, they got better pictures on their smartphones than you did on your SLR. Not to mention that amateur woman photographer in the US who got that killer shot of a plane zooming away, as if it were coming out of the eclipse itself. That’s a photo that will make eclipse archives! If only you had taken it…!
Well I didn’t. That was just good luck for her, bad luck for me.
Oh, how can you be so blase about it? Yeah, I know. We were just in the wrong place at the right time. Man, it didn’t even get particularly dark here. Must admit that it did get chillier though. And then, watching the news tonight, listening to all the crowds yelling and cheering…and that one woman saying how it was such a mystical experience “feeling one with the universe”. Like, I really would love, for once in my life, to experience something mystical or divine…
Aw I don’t know about you, Martha but I thought the birth of each of our children was a rather divine event. No eclipse compares to that.
Oh, of course Matthew. But birth is a real, natural event.
So is an eclipse.
Aw gees, Matthew, humour me. Heck, just for once before I leave this earth, I’d love to experience something that isn’t, well, “normal”, “everyday”. It’d be awesome to experience something surreal, miraculous. Know what I mean? Like I’ve never seen a ghost, or an angel…or…a total eclipse of the sun! No wonder so many myths abound. I think people everywhere are looking for miracles, especially these days. You know, I read the Australian Aborigines believed the sun and moon were a man and woman in love, so the eclipse darkened the world to give them some privacy. Isn’t that just the sweetest idea?
Yes it is, but from what I’ve read, and if it’ll make you feel any better, most past civilizations didn’t associate eclipses with good things. Quite the opposite actually. I heard that in 2009, a financial analyst stated that stock prices tend to fall on eclipse days.
Really? Interesting. So, I suppose I shouldn’t be upset for missing out. By the way, do you know what the North American Chippewa Indians used to do to try to stop an eclipse? They shot flaming arrows into the sky to rekindle the sun. And now, when I think of it, if I had lived way back and was a member of the Aztec tribe, who worshipped the sun, I might have been offered up as a human sacrifice to stop the eclipse. Guess I’m lucky to be living now instead of then, even if I didn’t get to see a wondrous eclipse.
See, there you go. Feeling better now?
Well, a little bit. It’s just that this was my last chance to see an eclipse since they say we won’t see this in our neck of the woods for another 120 years. Unless they can freeze me alive and revive me in time, I won’t be around in 120 years. And with my luck, it’d be all clouded over then too! Now that’d be a double BROMO!
Oh Martha. You’re hilarious. Well, at least you did say that reading all that brouhaha leading up to today was a refreshing change from the regular news that dominates the headlines, like the Ukraine/Russian war, Israel and Gaza. And I have to say that at least, for one week, you were so obsessed with the pending eclipse you didn’t talk my ear off with the latest news about Donald Trump! That was heavenly.
Oh, speaking of Trump, you just reminded me. I absolutely have to show you a video about Trump and the eclipse that was posted on his Truth Social site. It showed Trump’s profile silhouetted against the sun, like eclipsed? Give me a minute. You’ve got to see it. You’re gonna freak! Let me see if I can find it in my history…
Martha, any chance I can take a pass on that? It’s been so quiet around here while you’ve been reading all the eclipse stories instead of Trump headlines. And a quiet Martha is, well…forgive me for saying so…even more impressive than an eclipse!
How long can U.S. soybean farmers hold on with no orders from China for soybeans, historically their largest customer?
I’m in the middle of soybean harvest. Every bushel my family has harvested so far has been hauled to a buyer and immediately sold at a profit.
I can hang on a long time that way.
Did you want numbers?
How about the numbers for the first field we harvested?
The seed for that field cost me $3,750. I spent 3,400 on herbicides to control the weeds. I spent another $1,200 on some foliar micronutrients and molasses.
The rent on that field is $15,000. I figure machinery costs at around $7,500.
Another $2,000 on insurance and misc.
Total expenses $32,850.
We harvested 5,540 bushels of soybeans. I sold them for an average of $9.46/bushel.
That comes out to $52,408.
That’s not theoretical, those are the actual dollar amounts this year.
Almost $20K profit. Well, actually it would be considered return to labor.
I have more fields to go.
I can hold on for a while.
Now, if yields hadn’t been so good, or any of several different factors were different, then the bottom line would be different. But these are my actual numbers for this year.
God is Good.
EDIT:
Since this is blowing up, I’ll address the question of why this doesn’t sound typical.
The biggest factor is that rent payment. Many farmers would be paying $20K to farm that field. Some might be even more. And machinery costs of $10K wouldn’t be out of line either.
And the yields this year were above average. A more typical soybean yield for that field might be closer to 4,800 bushels. And the yield would have to drop to nearly 4,000 bushels to trigger any insurance payment.
Doing the math with the higher rent and machinery costs, and a lower yield. Say 4,400 bushels.
That would make the expenses $40,350 against revenue of $41,624. That’s a pretty pitiful return to labor.
I’m fortunate that the landowner is more concerned with stewarding the land than he is with getting the top dollar. That is not the case for everyone. Fundamentally, the rents and the machinery costs are often out of line with current grain price. Bailouts are crutches that allow those costs to remain elevated. We need to let costs re-adjust back in line with revenues.
Moqueca de Camarao
(Shrimp Stew – Brazil)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons dende (palm) oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 pounds fresh medium size prawns, shelled and deveined
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 fresh red cayenne pepper
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
Instructions
- Heat the oil, and stir fry the onion until golden brown.
- Add the garlic and prawns. Stir fry for about 3 minutes.
- Add the salt, lemon juice, tomatoes, parsley, pepper, cayenne and coconut milk. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
- If you want to add fish to the moqueca, use sea bass, cut into small pieces, and cook it together with the coconut milk.
What happens if the anesthesiologist makes a mistake in the dose of general anesthesia and gives too much anesthesia?
Let me give you a realistic situation, not a mistake.
You have been working with the surgeon X for several weeks, maybe a month. He is a nice guy, middle age, has been a surgeon for a while. But you are not closely familiar with his preferences, you don’t know how effective he is yet with his scheduled time. You, and he, still get used to each other.
You, the anesthetist, looked over the separation sheet into the surgical field and saw that it is wide open and it is time to give the patient next dose of muscle relaxants which works on average 40 minutes. About 5 min later, the surgeon turns his head to you, and says, “Oh, we are done”, and leaves the room.
You are stuck with another 30–35 minutes of muscle relaxant which at this point is not reversible, you have to wait at least 20–25 minutes before you can give a reversal drug. It just happened, you have to wait, and keep ventilating the patient.
It is not a mistake. You may call it ‘poor communication’, whatever else, but you do what is necessary.
Lessons gained: learn your partners as quickly as you can. What can you do to avoid being stuck, what are your alternatives, do you absolutely have to use the drugs that bind you for longer than planned?
You learn the surgeon X, Y, Z, how reliable they are in keeping their schedule time. One of my mentors in residency used to say, “We poison our patients. We load them up on different poisons. But we know how to support the patient in the state of controlled poisoning. We know what to do if plan A failed, we switch to plan B, or even C, D if needed”. For many years I played this mental game with myself: “If this happen — I will do 1, 2, 3. If that happen — my action would be 7, 8, 9.” And so on.
So, if a mistake happens, we refer to one of our plans, A, B, or whatever else. One of the first thing they teach in anesthesia residence is ‘Know when to call for help”.
Which inventions will completely disappear in the next 10 years?
Dating apps. Much like night clubs are getting squished.
Dating apps are absolutely brutal for the confidence and psyche of men. Kick a man enough and he’ll drop out.
The problem is dating apps rely on men to buy the super likes, the premium subscriptions.
If they stop buying? The money stops flowing.
Something similar happened to nightclubs. In my day it was about dancing and mixing that was the 90s. End of the night in 90s clubs would have a slow dance double so people could hookup and go home with some body. You can see this played out in the music video of Pulp’s Disco2000.The business model changed into a hangout place. Women went in free, this was done as it would get men to go in. Men would buy the overpriced drinks and expensive bottles.
But with the change into people standing around looking into their phones…men don’t go. Men don’t pay cover charges. Men don’t buy the drinks.
The reason for the rise in illiteracy is very simple and yet also abjectly absurd
Students in these generations no longer need to read, write, or even speak. Because they have AI’s installed right into their minds.
It’s not like the Symbiote that we have, here. Think more like a Borg’s Neural-link. This enables thoughts and feelings to be transmitted directly from one another; it allows large amounts of data to be transmitted without having to use any medium whatsoever. Just your mind. Thus, the written word and the spoken word has become fully redundant and archaic. It’s why Dyslexia, dyscalculia, and also Dysplagia (the inability to move properly due to malfunctioning hand-eye coordination or motor skills) is becoming so common. Students are unknowingly gettting turned into Borg; not stupid as much as they are no longer able to think for themselves and act on their own.
And it’s now reaching critical mass because in our current world line, we are still predominantly reliant on verbal and written communication. Nobody acknowledges that Neural-Links, mind-embedded AI’s, and hiveminds can actually exist.
Thus, so many kids are being so dysfunctional and freaky. And I am one of them, too.I have had trouble conversing and writing ever since I first partook in WSW-0 (who have been hacking at my AI’s and implants/probes over the years). And thus, I am unable to keep a job or connect with anyone.