What did you do today?

[zannej]

So, other than debating on the internet, what have you guys done today?

I've done a little cleaning. A lot of sleeping. Currently cuddled up with kitties. My fluffy calico has parked herself on my lap.

Been feeling exhausted again. Haven't heard from my friend on how he's doing. I still need to get some sort of insulation to keep the water from freezing in the well shed. I wish I could find some sort of better shelter for my cows. They don't like going in the barn now that it's been collapsing. Yesterday I checked google satellite maps to see if the pics had been updated and they have. You can now see that half of my barn collapsed but those are still order pictures because even more has collapsed since.
The barn is the building in the upper left. You can see that half of the roof caved in on the north side. Building near it is the workshop.


If you look carefully in this pic, you can see my cows off to the left of the smashed car port. The brownish red blob and the black blob.


I'm thinking of getting a stall mat to put over the entrance to the barn because it's so muddy I sink up to the bottom of my calves (no cow puns intended) when trying to walk through it. Also thinking of getting some sort of trough to put down there or seeing if I can find one to clean out and put feed in there to get them to go in. Need to figure out if there is some sort of tarp I can hang up to block wind and keep them warmer. They can huddle together for warmth but I don't know if it will keep them warm enough.

 

[Flyover]

Good point, @zannej. I got a couple of those 99 cent hooks and hung up my guitars on the wall of my office. It looks cool and saves space in that tiny room, but the big thing is hopefully this makes me play them more. Though, each time I've had a kid I've ended up taking anywhere from 3 to 12 months off from playing regularly, so with my youngest being 4 months I guess I'm not in the danger zone yet.

 

[Spicoli43]

@Spicoli43: If I'd searched "wild animals cancer" and found nothing to support the idea that wild animals get cancer except this paper, then I would have a very good reason to doubt what these scientists (the paper has 13 authors) are saying.

Even as it is, I still keep a skeptical mind with regard to whether their methodology was sound, whether they represented their findings fairly, whether their samples were properly sourced, and so on. I know it's always possible they dropped the ball somewhere. Scientists are just humans. Maybe they made a mistake. Maybe the reviewers for the journal that published their paper also made a mistake. It's possible!

But when I search on "wild animals cancer" I find paper after paper, article after article, study after study, talking about wild animals getting cancer. When I search on "wild animals don't get cancer" all I find is articles about "What's up with these few weird species that don't get cancer?" Please don't take my word for it. Repeat the experiment for yourself.

So now I have to wonder which is more likely:

A) that every single scientific journal and science blogger and popular science website I can find is complicit in a lie to cover up the truth, that wild animals don't get cancer,

OR

B) that a random guy on an internet forum asserted something that isn't true and now refuses to admit he was wrong.

Please, convince me why (A) is more likely.

I'll concede only one bit, the words "It's non existent", and replace it with "It hardly ever happens". I stand on that. I guess to satisfy Neil and you, I'll have to include that they aren't animals that live near humans, since "Wild" doesn't accomplish that.

 

[NeilG]

I installed a water heater today. It's the third major appliance to crap out on me in the last 10 days. I now have a brand new dishwasher, dryer, and water heater. They were all old and needed replacing. And yes, the water heater is outside, for you cold climate guys. Breathe.....

 

[Eddie_T]

Good point, @zannej. I got a couple of those 99 cent hooks and hung up my guitars on the wall of my office. It looks cool and saves space in that tiny room, but the big thing is hopefully this makes me play them more. Though, each time I've had a kid I've ended up taking anywhere from 3 to 12 months off from playing regularly, so with my youngest being 4 months I guess I'm not in the danger zone yet.

When I spent the most time with a guitar was with my first, it was a $13.95 Stella I got from Sears on sale. No case and it hung out on the corner section of the sofa. If we needed the seating space we just leaned it in the corner behind the sofa. I could pick a tune or strum a chord during a commercial, waiting on my ride to work, awaiting dinner or whatever. Once I got a good guitar it was always in the case and in the closet.

 

[zannej]

I wish I'd learned to play guitar. My sister could play just about any instrument she picked up-- violin, recorder, guitar, piano... She can play by ear. I had a little electric organ piano like thing when I was a kid. Would love to get it working again, but wiring doesn't seem safe on it nowadays. I loved playing on it as a kid.

Today was a mixed bag. Went to the post office to get mail: Package was stuck in the box. Was about 1/16" too tall to fit out the front. It ripped when I tried to pull it out. Asked postal worker to push on it from behind. After a few shoves she asked me to push it back to her. She had to pull it out the back and then bring my mail (which was stuck behind the package) and the package around to the front for me.

Went to Tractor Supply & grabbed some cow feed and a stall mat to put in the entrance of the barn to make it easier to walk over. It was floppier than I realized though. Took 2 guys to load it up. Went back home & unloaded it by myself. Got my foot stuck in the mud while trying to get it in place, it then flopped over my leg. I was trying to keep my balance when my cow decided to nuzzle me & tipped me over (guess cows like human tipping sometimes). Barely missed landing on a cinderblock. Landed on a pile of cow crap (at least it was softer than a cinderblock). Put my hand in stinging nettles trying to get up.

Unloaded the cow feed & cut the bag open while dodging cow horns- bc the red cow was trying to bust open the bag with her horns.

Went back to the house, changed pants, washed my hands, put alcohol on my nettle stings, & got my brother so we could go to samsclub to get some water. Grabbed Chinese takeout on the way home. My back does not like me now.

Talked to my friend briefly. He's stressed out. His biggest fear was going blind (bc his grandmother was blind & he saw how she lived) & he's terrified he will go completely blind. He still doesn't seem to make the connection that his ex caused this & he should kick her to the curb. She still seems to think he's forgiven her or will forgive her with time & that they will move in to his old burned house (after it is fixed up). She seems obsessed with moving there. She keeps talking about their future together & will not listen to everyone (including him) telling her it's over & she blew her chance.

I saw his mom at Tractor Supply. Normally I stop and chat with her but I was so focused on getting my stuff & getting out that I sort of grunted in greeting. She said "Hi" and then "Bye" I waved and grunted both times. Asked my friend to let her know I wasn't trying to be rude but was in a hurry.

My brother made beef stew so I was able to feed that to Mom instead of having to cook.

Cats were cuddling me when I was resting. Dog got jealous so she crawled up and started licking my face. So far my face has been licked by a cow, some cats, and the dogs today. LOL.

Tomorrow is my brother's birthday. It's weird to think my baby brother will be 41.

 

[Eddie_T]

@zannej, Are your cows milk cows or beef?

 

[NeilG]

Who argues with scientists? Other scientists.

Scientists arguing with other scientists is why we actually do have nice things.

 

[Flyover]

I got fed up with my boss today and sent my resume to the hiring manager at another company. I'm not actually ready to change jobs, but it felt good to start that conversation.

 

[Eddie_T]

Scientists arguing with other scientists is why we actually do have nice things.

I worked as an engineer supporting scientists finding a number of them to have tunnel vision when it came to their experiments.

 

[Rusty]

Good point, @zannej. I got a couple of those 99 cent hooks and hung up my guitars on the wall of my office. It looks cool and saves space in that tiny room, but the big thing is hopefully this makes me play them more. Though, each time I've had a kid I've ended up taking anywhere from 3 to 12 months off from playing regularly, so with my youngest being 4 months I guess I'm not in the danger zone yet.

I quit playing for years and when I tried to start again, my hands just would not do it. I was in a local rock band in the 60s.

 

[Rusty]

I worked as an engineer supporting scientists finding a number of them to have tunnel vision when it came to their experiments.

My brother worked at Boeing. He was trained as a draftsman and an engineer. They hired him because it isn't always true that anything that is designed can be built. He would try to correct designs to make the projects possible to build.

 

[zannej]

Eddie, they are pets. I think they are beef cattle though. The mother is a Brahma Jersey mix. She's red and has big horns. She was a dummy calf (too stupid to know how to nurse) & the vet needed someone who would take care of her so he offered her to me after my other cow (who had also been a dummy calf) died. Later a Brangus (Brahma Angus mix) broke through the fence and got her pregnant. The red one chases trespassers. I spoiled her when she was little so she's very affectionate with me.

Neil, I agree about scientists. If scientists all agreed on everything & didn't challenge each other, we would have stagnated. It also helps when scientists question their own assumptions. There was a guy who studied wolves in a national park & came up with the whole idea of the alpha male. He wrote a book about it. Years later he wondered how accurate he'd been & studied wolves in the wild. Realized he'd been very mistaken & that what he perceived as alpha behavior was parenting behavior and that both male & female parents were dominant and controlling.

Then there are times when scientists are so desperate for money/fame that they lie about discoveries. Like the guy who came up with his own measles vaccine & lied about a study to claim the competing vaccine caused autism. Years later he admitted he'd made it all up to try to market his own vaccine instead, but it had backfired spectacularly & the public had just been told "vaccines cause autism". He retracted it all & went around telling people it was all bogus, but the misinformation had spread enough that to this day people still think it's true. But not just about the competing vaccine-- about all vaccines. Shows what a little info (or misinfo) can do when people don't get the full context.

Scientists still can't agree about what foods are healthy. One day eggs are bad, next they are good. One day grains are good (something cereal companies loved to push) next they are bad. It's hard to keep up. LOL.

Rusty, that's cool about your brother's job. Engineering is fascinating to me. Wish I had the memory & that my brain would focus long enough to learn how to do a lot of the stuff. It would have been easy when I was younger if I'd been interested but I went from being a straight A honor roll kid in gifted classes to feeling like a total derp. LOL.

I'm recovering from yesterday's adventures today. I think Mom is tired of the beef stew my brother made so I will have to cook shepherd's pie for her. Trying to get my body to want to move though. Had a kidney stone again that feels like it's on the way out. I know I need to go to the store and get some stuff.

 

[Rusty]

Scientist are always making assumption that are accepted that turn out to be wrong. For many years they said that no humans lived in North America before 10,000 years ago and it was published in many books. Then they started finding artifacts that were 20,000 years old. Whoops. They declared that Neanderthals had just died out, but DNA proved most of us have some of their DNA.

 

[Eddie_T]

@zannej Interesting about wolves. I had a 11/16 wolf-dog in a kennel. A puppy from next door came up for a visit and my wolf-dog immediately lost his lunch for the puppy.

 

[zannej]

Wolves are fascinating animals. But then, I find a lot of animals fascinating. I am more fond of animals than people. LOL. My first job was at a zoo.

I said Happy Birthday to my brother, gave him a hug, and made shepherd's pie for mom. Still trying to get up the energy to go to the store to get milk and maybe some cupcakes or a cake or some sort of desert for my brother. Need to go get mail soon before post office closes.

 

[Flyover]

Scientist are always making assumption that are accepted that turn out to be wrong. For many years they said that no humans lived in North America before 10,000 years ago and it was published in many books. Then they started finding artifacts that were 20,000 years old. Whoops. They declared that Neanderthals had just died out, but DNA proved most of us have some of their DNA.

In defense of those scientists, sometimes to test a hypothesis you have to make some assumptions. Especially true in fields like paleoarcheology where there is very incomplete data available. Most scientists are up front about this, and will say in their papers what assumptions they've made and why they think the assumptions are reasonable. And, the whole point of science is to try to disprove hypotheses, so the fact that theories later turn out to be wrong is actually a good sign; it means scientific work is being done.

Journalists (here we go again -- just kidding) often fail to include this nuance in their write-ups ("SCIENTIST PROVEN WRONG, HUMILIATED" sells more papers than "Point 2A of orginal hypothesis shown not to replicate; further research needed"), and even when they do, people reading the pop sci articles often fail to pick up on it, for the same reason they failed to notice the scientist saying "I lied, my vaccine doesn't cause autism".

 

[Eddie_T]

Thus came the theory of evolution.

 

[NeilG]

I worked as an engineer supporting scientists finding a number of them to have tunnel vision when it came to their experiments.

I was speaking more generally and metaphorically. The last bit of the scientific method is to communicate your results, hence, the "argument". Really the scientist's main job is to prove his/her hypothesis, so I'd expect some tunnel vision, but I get your point.

 

[Rusty]

I was speaking more generally and metaphorically. The last bit of the scientific method is to communicate your results, hence, the "argument". Really the scientist's main job is to prove his/her hypothesis, so I'd expect some tunnel vision, but I get your point.

Many times they don't/can't prove it but it is still accepted.