Cheryl B. Dale's Blog: RANDOM MUSINGS, page 21
August 3, 2014
ISLAND TO BE INUNDATED
Big headline on yesterday's local paper -- "Study says Ga. coast vulnerable to flooding" -- scared me to death. Yes, I know a hurricane will one day hit and cover the island, but I feel we should have plenty of time to get us and the cats out. However, the article was about global warming.
It seems that with the seas rising (I guess from the arctic and antarctic ice melting), we are in extreme danger of being flooded. By 2100, the model predicts the oceans will rise 3.1 feet. The article gives lots of percentages for different scenarios (hurricanes among them) but the main thing I get is that, by the end of the century, we may be in trouble. I am horrified.
Down at the pier this morning, we sat in rocking chairs at the Casino and looked out at the rain on the ocean. And I'm thinking, could this be the one? Could this be the storm? How much water will it take?
I'm quite upset. Now, besides killer bees and alligators and the sun fading, I have to worry about rising waters. My nerves won't take much more.
My one consolation is that not that many years ago, everyone was predicting another ice age and warning temperatures were going down, down, down. Maybe in another couple of decades, scientists will come up with something else I can worry about.
It seems that with the seas rising (I guess from the arctic and antarctic ice melting), we are in extreme danger of being flooded. By 2100, the model predicts the oceans will rise 3.1 feet. The article gives lots of percentages for different scenarios (hurricanes among them) but the main thing I get is that, by the end of the century, we may be in trouble. I am horrified.
Down at the pier this morning, we sat in rocking chairs at the Casino and looked out at the rain on the ocean. And I'm thinking, could this be the one? Could this be the storm? How much water will it take?
I'm quite upset. Now, besides killer bees and alligators and the sun fading, I have to worry about rising waters. My nerves won't take much more.
My one consolation is that not that many years ago, everyone was predicting another ice age and warning temperatures were going down, down, down. Maybe in another couple of decades, scientists will come up with something else I can worry about.
July 30, 2014
NEW USE FOR CAT POOP
A blog about forensics led me to this interesting article.
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/16065/20140716/parasite-discovered-cat-poop-combat-cancer.htm
What is says basically is that there's a parasite in cats' intestines that stimulates the body response in a person similar to the one that fights cancer! Normally the cancer shuts down the immune response, but this parasite (which can be found in cat poop) might actually jump start a stronger defense! (They're testing the resulting drug now, ironically, in mouse models.)
I'm impressed.
And all this time, I thought my cats were full of hot air when they proclaimed themselves superior beings. Guess I'll have to apologize. And treat their litter with more respect.
And speaking of litter: Here's Roz giving me the evil eye because her box isn't clean.
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/16065/20140716/parasite-discovered-cat-poop-combat-cancer.htm
What is says basically is that there's a parasite in cats' intestines that stimulates the body response in a person similar to the one that fights cancer! Normally the cancer shuts down the immune response, but this parasite (which can be found in cat poop) might actually jump start a stronger defense! (They're testing the resulting drug now, ironically, in mouse models.)
I'm impressed.
And all this time, I thought my cats were full of hot air when they proclaimed themselves superior beings. Guess I'll have to apologize. And treat their litter with more respect.
And speaking of litter: Here's Roz giving me the evil eye because her box isn't clean.
July 23, 2014
COMPANY
If any of you have been wondering where I've been the last few weeks, I've been crazy!
Yep. We've had three different sets of company from the beginning of July. The last ones left this week and the house is so quiet, I can hear all its creaks and groans.
It may have been a little hectic at times, but it's always so nice to see people we love that it doesn't matter. And once they're gone, we really miss them.
Anyway, that's where I've been.
Some pix from our walks around the island with our visitors. Here are a couple of ducks who wandered away from their pond and out to the sidewalk:
And here is the new playground at Mallery Park just before it opened. They also cleaned up the older playground beside it and left it so kids can enjoy both. Our county does such good work on things like this!
Yep. We've had three different sets of company from the beginning of July. The last ones left this week and the house is so quiet, I can hear all its creaks and groans.
It may have been a little hectic at times, but it's always so nice to see people we love that it doesn't matter. And once they're gone, we really miss them.
Anyway, that's where I've been.
Some pix from our walks around the island with our visitors. Here are a couple of ducks who wandered away from their pond and out to the sidewalk:
And here is the new playground at Mallery Park just before it opened. They also cleaned up the older playground beside it and left it so kids can enjoy both. Our county does such good work on things like this!
July 12, 2014
VISITORS
We've had visitors for several days, including the Fourth of July, and hope to have more in the next week or two. Since we've been busy with them, we've just now got around to getting more food for Mr. Piggy.
Yep, Mr. Piggy. The squirrel who tried to take over the bird feeder.
Our new feeder seems to be keeping him out though. The cardinals and some others are back to eating at it, but I don't think they like the landing posts as much as the tray on the old one. I had to take these pix through glass so they aren't too sharp, but here's the female cardinal at the new one.
Mr. Piggy tried eating from it, but it slides down and covers the feed holes when he puts any weight on it. He was quite frustrated.
So we're leaving the old one up for him. He can eat and strew seeds to his heart's content.
Yep, Mr. Piggy. The squirrel who tried to take over the bird feeder.
Our new feeder seems to be keeping him out though. The cardinals and some others are back to eating at it, but I don't think they like the landing posts as much as the tray on the old one. I had to take these pix through glass so they aren't too sharp, but here's the female cardinal at the new one.
Mr. Piggy tried eating from it, but it slides down and covers the feed holes when he puts any weight on it. He was quite frustrated.
So we're leaving the old one up for him. He can eat and strew seeds to his heart's content.
July 5, 2014
FIREWORKS
We went down to the pier in the Village for their fireworks display. It was wonderful, as usual, with the fireworks exploding directly overhead. This year they added music to the display, and I couldn't believe how much it enhanced the spectacular! Here are a few pix my guy took:
Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth!
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Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth!
June 29, 2014
SPECIAL ON LOSING DAVID
My vintage mystery, LOSING DAVID, is on a Kindle special deal. Today it's $1.99 and tomorrow it'll be a dollar more, and so on till it gets back to its regular price.
Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Losing-David-Cheryl-B-Dale-ebook/dp/B00KKQYIMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404072631&sr=8-1&keywords=losing+david
It's about an attorney hiring an actor to impersonate a missing boy so that his murderer can be caught. This is the blurb:
When his father died in 1946, sixteen-year-old David Harmony should have inherited a fortune. Instead, he vanished at sea.
In 1962, an elderly attorney hires an actor to pretend to be David. He says the man in line to receive the Harmony estate killed David.
The actor suspects the attorney is scheming to claim the estate himself, but agrees to act as bait.
Then he falls for a woman who realizes he’s an imposter, and who may reveal his identity to the one person she shouldn’t.
David's murderer.
In an era of clacking typewriters and rotary phones, gentlemen tip hats and ladies wear gloves. But evil still hides beneath the most refined exteriors.
Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Losing-David-Cheryl-B-Dale-ebook/dp/B00KKQYIMK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404072631&sr=8-1&keywords=losing+david
It's about an attorney hiring an actor to impersonate a missing boy so that his murderer can be caught. This is the blurb:
When his father died in 1946, sixteen-year-old David Harmony should have inherited a fortune. Instead, he vanished at sea.
In 1962, an elderly attorney hires an actor to pretend to be David. He says the man in line to receive the Harmony estate killed David.
The actor suspects the attorney is scheming to claim the estate himself, but agrees to act as bait.
Then he falls for a woman who realizes he’s an imposter, and who may reveal his identity to the one person she shouldn’t.
David's murderer.
In an era of clacking typewriters and rotary phones, gentlemen tip hats and ladies wear gloves. But evil still hides beneath the most refined exteriors.
June 27, 2014
SCENES AT THE PIER
We walked down to the Village the other day and spotted this guy standing on the pier, looking at the horizon with his kayak laid on the concrete. Here, he's just dropped the kayak over the pier edge and is holding the rope so it won't float away.
We wondered if he was going to jump over after it, but he waited. Soon a couple more guys came up and began discussing who was getting in.
Finally, one climbed over the chain. "I'll do it."
The others looked relieved but acted like they were disappointed. "You sure, man?" "If you'd rather stay here..."
The brave one managed to get in without capsizing and pushed off the pier footings. You can just see the nose of the kayak here over the pier railing.
Soon he paddled away without mishap. Don't know where he was headed. Don't know why they didn't launch off the beach. In fact, I don't know a lot about what was going on!
Hope it ended well for all concerned. There are sharks in these waters.
We walked back home.
We wondered if he was going to jump over after it, but he waited. Soon a couple more guys came up and began discussing who was getting in.
Finally, one climbed over the chain. "I'll do it."
The others looked relieved but acted like they were disappointed. "You sure, man?" "If you'd rather stay here..."
The brave one managed to get in without capsizing and pushed off the pier footings. You can just see the nose of the kayak here over the pier railing.
Soon he paddled away without mishap. Don't know where he was headed. Don't know why they didn't launch off the beach. In fact, I don't know a lot about what was going on!
Hope it ended well for all concerned. There are sharks in these waters.
We walked back home.
June 23, 2014
CHEAP BOOKS
I was looking at some books Amazon suggested I buy since I'd bought another one similar. I'm sure we all get these reminders from time to time, and I'm always willing to check them out. I did buy one for $1.99. I looked at a couple more, but they were $8.59 and $9.99 so I passed. After all, I could buy nine $1.99 books, with the money saved by not buying the higher priced ones. And I will.
Author David Gaughran had an interesting blog on this subject the other day in his post: Who's Afraid of Very Cheap Books?
He gives the reasons that he isn't at all afraid of them, and I agree. Totally.
Before ereaders, we had used book stores where I bet most of us spent a lot of our book budgets. At least, I did. Those and libraries, along with occasional purchases at the grocery store or an actual bookstore, helped me get most of the books I wanted. If I'd had to rely on bookstores, I would have read maybe twelve books a year versus that many a month. I simply couldn't afford the high costs.
Today, I subscribe to several bargain/free ebooks sites where I get listings each day that I can scan. If a book catches my eye, I read a sample. If it's interesting (and appears to be edited!), I buy it. Prices range from free to at most $5.99. And the higher priced books tend to be by authors I know.
Strangely enough, I've found the self-pubbed/small press pubbed books have about the same ratio of good/bad reads as the "big" publishers put out. And the lower prices mean I can buy more of those authors' books.
So...I'm in favor of cheap books. Probably most readers are, too. I wonder about other authors.
Author David Gaughran had an interesting blog on this subject the other day in his post: Who's Afraid of Very Cheap Books?
He gives the reasons that he isn't at all afraid of them, and I agree. Totally.
Before ereaders, we had used book stores where I bet most of us spent a lot of our book budgets. At least, I did. Those and libraries, along with occasional purchases at the grocery store or an actual bookstore, helped me get most of the books I wanted. If I'd had to rely on bookstores, I would have read maybe twelve books a year versus that many a month. I simply couldn't afford the high costs.
Today, I subscribe to several bargain/free ebooks sites where I get listings each day that I can scan. If a book catches my eye, I read a sample. If it's interesting (and appears to be edited!), I buy it. Prices range from free to at most $5.99. And the higher priced books tend to be by authors I know.
Strangely enough, I've found the self-pubbed/small press pubbed books have about the same ratio of good/bad reads as the "big" publishers put out. And the lower prices mean I can buy more of those authors' books.
So...I'm in favor of cheap books. Probably most readers are, too. I wonder about other authors.
June 16, 2014
SQUIRREL AND BIRD FEEDER
Our bird feeder has been great for enticing blue jays, cardinals, and other birds. It has also attracted a tree rat.
Mr. Piggy, as we've nicknamed him, has been eating way more than his due. And what he doesn't eat, he throws around on the ground. On occasion, he's even brought a friend to party with him.
Here he's getting to the food.
Here he's had his fill.
Mr. Piggy may be a cute little thing, but we have invested in a new bird feeder. This one has a covering. When a weighty object like Mr. Piggy jumps onto the feeding tray, the plastic cover slides down and blocks the openings to the seed.
I'll let you know how it works.
Mr. Piggy, as we've nicknamed him, has been eating way more than his due. And what he doesn't eat, he throws around on the ground. On occasion, he's even brought a friend to party with him.
Here he's getting to the food.
Here he's had his fill.
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Mr. Piggy may be a cute little thing, but we have invested in a new bird feeder. This one has a covering. When a weighty object like Mr. Piggy jumps onto the feeding tray, the plastic cover slides down and blocks the openings to the seed.
I'll let you know how it works.
June 8, 2014
CATS
The cats anxiously awaited the running of the Belmont Stakes yesterday. Here they are on the sofa in front of the TV, eagerly watching for the race to start.
Well, maybe anxious and eager aren't quite the right words. The boy cat is asleep, and the girl cat seems to be heading that way, too.
As it happens, the girl cat left just as the race was about to begin. I guess she knew what the outcome was going to be: no Triple Crown winner this year. She must not have wanted to hear the moaning afterward.
The boy cat slept through the whole thing. Maybe it was for the best. I think he had bets on other horses.
Well, maybe anxious and eager aren't quite the right words. The boy cat is asleep, and the girl cat seems to be heading that way, too.
As it happens, the girl cat left just as the race was about to begin. I guess she knew what the outcome was going to be: no Triple Crown winner this year. She must not have wanted to hear the moaning afterward.
The boy cat slept through the whole thing. Maybe it was for the best. I think he had bets on other horses.
