General Chit-Chat Part 2! Showing 1,551-1,600 of 2,680

[Diane S ☔]

I too like your pic, Joan. I also went back to the picture of my youngest son and I.

[Marina]

Diane S ☔ wrote: "I too like your pic, Joan. I also went back to the picture of my youngest son and I."

Wonderful pic :)

[Joan]

Thank you all for your kind comments on my picture.

Esther, this isn’t my area of research but I but is related so I’ve had to learn a tiny bit about it. Basically, DNA testing now shows that for lots of animals, humans included, two embryos can merge while in the uterus. Not necessarily at the single cell stage but early in development two can become one. I think one of the first humans found to be a tetragenetic chimera had DNA testing during treatment for a blood disorder and surprised everyone by having two sets of blood cells.

Note this is called tetragenetic to indicate that the chimera happened early before birth. There are other kinds of chimeras.

[B the BookAddict]

Diane S ☔ wrote: "I too like your pic, Joan. I also went back to the picture of my youngest son and I."

How did that little lady produce such a huge son, lol?

[Karin]

FYI - I am a biology geek in the sense that I did a minor in Biology just because I enjoyed it and enjoy certain Biology topics to this day.

Yes, vanishing twins are NOT the same as human chimeras! And no one knows exactly when fraternal twins combine to form a chimera, but it must happen before the placenta has formed since fraternal twins form separate placentas.

As for disappearing twins, I don't know as much about it and if there can be chimeras with fraternal twins, there must be some with identical twins but there would be NO WAY of knowing. What we do know is that conjoined twins are always identical, so they must join at a later stage (they used to think that they didn't fully separate, but they have changed their minds last I read, to the opposite, but that makes me wonder how they always join at the same body part level (head with head, etc).


Question, Joan--what about something I heard called something like zipper twins, where they are only partly identical? I head about this some years ago in a conversation with the mother of those mirror twins. I am curious.

When I was a child I had close friends who are VERY identical twins (one has a mole), but because I spent so much time with them I could tell them apart from behind even with identical haircuts and clothes--and they were the same height. Not all identical twins look exactly alike.

My brother played sports with identical triplets who won a contest for most identical triplets and then appeared in a McDonald's (I think it was McD's, but I'd left home by then--my youngest brother was born when I was in grade 7 and I think they might be a year younger than him, but I don't recall--their mother was friends with my parents but my mother has dementia so can't ask her about it now) commercial in BC.

[Karin]

Joan wrote: "Although human chimeras (one body made of cells from 2 or more different individuals) are a separate issue from vanishing twins,
I thought hard-core biology geeks might find articles about human te..."

Question--with that ABO grouping--could it be that somehow both of his AB parent's AB genes made it--I am not a geneticist, but am type AB (my mother is A, my dad B, so no questions there). Is that impossible? I can see it could be from chimerism--not familiar with mosaic stuff and have to go get my son in a few minutes so no time for a bunch of google searching.

[Angela M]

CHECK Your followers . I always check profiles for friend requests and also when I get notifications that someone is following me. I’m happened to check the profile for someone following me and I found on my followers list at least five pages of names, none of which I received notification that they were following me. All of them joined in January 2019, most had 1 or 0 books. I never would have accepted these as friends or followers. They were mostly from Indonesia, India, the Philippines , but others were from European countries and the US. Definitely something fishy. Very disturbing to know that they were there without my having received a notification. I deleted them from my followers list and notified Goodreads . It took me well over an hour. Check your lists. Tomorrow I’m going through my friends list. I have changed my profile to not allow followers,

[Chrissie]

Thank you, Angela.

[Tamara]

Angela M wrote: "CHECK Your followers . I always check profiles for friend requests and also when I get notifications that someone is following me. I’m happened to check the profile for someone following me and I f..."

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't understand the problem with having followers. Is there a reason why you don't want some people following you? I never check on who is following me. Should I be doing that?

[Angela M]

I enjoy having followers. I brought this up because I think there is a glitch or hack since there were so many followers who I was not notified of .

[Tamara]

Angela M wrote: "I enjoy having followers. I brought this up because I think there is a glitch or hack since there were so many followers who I was not notified of ."

Ok. I thought there was something undesirable about having followers that had eluded me. Thanks for letting me know. All best.

[Angela M]

Tamara , i should have been clearer .

[Tamara]

Angela M wrote: "Tamara , i should have been clearer ."

You were fine. It's me.

I've been on goodreads for a couple of years, and I'm still learning to navigate my way around it. There are so many ins and outs and so much I have yet to learn about it. That's why when something like this comes up, I ask--mainly because I want to make sure I haven't screwed up in any way or missed something that should have been obvious.

So, no worries. I really appreciate the clarification.

[Angela M]

Hopefully it’s not an issue, Tamara, but it just seems very odd and it concerned me . I’ll come back if I hear from Goodreads.

[Norton]

That's happened to me, but I never thought anything about it. Is there a reason lack of notification should concern me?

[Angela M]

Norton, it concerned me because there were over one hundred and the system is set up to notify,and it didn’t. That was a sign to me that there there is a glitch . If that doesn’t concern you , that’s certainly up,to you. I prefer to have the notification and see who is following.

[dely]

Angela M wrote: "Hopefully it’s not an issue, Tamara, but it just seems very odd and it concerned me . I’ll come back if I hear from Goodreads."

Did you hear from GR? If it can be of any interest, I received a notification about a new follower this morning. I checked my followers but didn't see anything weird or wrong.
I hope GR will look into your profile and fix if there has been a kind of glitch.

[Esther]

I regularly check and 'prune' my friends.
I am less worried about followers but I prefer to know who is looking.

[Julia]

Has anyone read A Discovery of Witches, or watched the streaming series on Sundance or AMC?

[Joan]

Discussion about followers always make me think of “Old Man Kangaroo” who wanted to be “well and truly run after”.
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/k/kipl...

:-)

[Marina]

How is everyone doing?

I haven't been doing much reading lately - I'm almost finished with two books and struggling through a third one, but it doesn't seem to be working. And this despite one of the books being extremely interesting. I don't think I'm in a slump though. I believe I'm just in the throes of anxiety, which keeps from enjoying things as I normally do.

I'm in the middle of a written test as I applied for a position which is a little different from my current job and seems very stimulating. It's still a freelance position, so I would be able to keep translating - not that it would trouble me if I were to stop. I don't know when I'll have my results on this test, but I honestly hope I'll pass. As you can imagine, this is the source of my anxiety...

[dely]

Marina (Sonnenbarke) wrote: "How is everyone doing?

I haven't been doing much reading lately - I'm almost finished with two books and struggling through a third one, but it doesn't seem to be working. And this despite one of ..."

I'm sure you will pass the test! And if not, then it wasn't the right job for you so there is no need to worry. Is it a position as copywriter?

[LauraT]

Good luck Marina!!!

[Diane S ☔]

Fingers and thumbs crossed for good results, Marina.

[Angela M]

Best of luck , Marina!

[Marina]

Thanks, everybody :)

dely, no, it's a position as an editor/trainer. You're totally right with what you say, but you know how I am, Anxiety is my middle name :D

[dely]

Marina (Sonnenbarke) wrote: "Thanks, everybody :)

dely, no, it's a position as an editor/trainer. You're totally right with what you say, but you know how I am, Anxiety is my middle name :D"

I know :D

Keep us updated with any news!

[B the BookAddict]

Best wishes for the outcome, Marina.

[Joan]

BRAVO for seizing the opportunity and good luck with the test Marina

[Esther]

Marina (Sonnenbarke) wrote: "How is everyone doing?

I haven't been doing much reading lately - I'm almost finished with two books and struggling through a third one, but it doesn't seem to be working. And this despite one of ..."

Waiting for the results is often so much worse than taking the actual test. I hope you find out soon and that it is good news.

[Chrissie]

Marina, any results yet? Fingers are crossed for you. I hope you like your new position.

We have just arrived in France and my husband and I got here in one piece! German and Dutch traffic is horrendous. Ad no seriously low bg values during the trip which is lovely. Changing routines is hard for me.

This morning we took a gorgeous walk on the beach and Oscar swam.

_0)

[Marina]

Chrissie wrote: "Marina, any results yet? Fingers are crossed for you. I hope you like your new position.

We have just arrived in France and my husband and I got here in one piece! German and Dutch traffic is horr..."

Chrissie, not a new position yet, I'm just in the middle of the screening process for the moment ;) I delivered my test a couple of days ago, now I'll have to wait for them to let me know and, if I pass, I will have a phone interview in the next few days. Fingers crossed. It makes me very anxious because I haven't really talked in English with anyone in the past few years. I've been listening to a lot of podcasts in English in order to exercise my listening skills, but who knows...

Good to know you are in France and that you are fine. It seems like you are already having a good time :) How long will you be staying?

[Chrissie]

Marina your writing is excellent and I think you talking must be too. I Try to relax, and all will go fine.

Not quite sure yet. Depends upon my eyes and other stuff.

[Marina]

Chrissie wrote: "Marina your writing is excellent and I think you talking must be too. I Try to relax, and all will go fine.

Not quite sure yet. Depends upon my eyes and other stuff."

Thank you so much, Chrissie, that's very kind of you.

Let us know how you're doing.

[Chrissie]

Marina (Sonnenbarke) wrote: "Let us know how you're doing.."

I avoid even thinking about medical stuff. That is one reason why I read so much. Reading is escapism for me.

[Diane S ☔]

Yep, me too. Can't be as active as I like, getting less so day by day, so reading is my panacea.

[Karin]

Marina (Sonnenbarke) wrote: "How is everyone doing?

I haven't been doing much reading lately - I'm almost finished with two books and struggling through a third one, but it doesn't seem to be working. And this despite one of ..."

I hope things go well for you!

[Pam]

I went to a library event with 12 local authors who each had 5 minutes to pitch their book(s). There were 2 authors that caught my interest and I decided to buy a book of each of theirs:No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson and The Deadliest Echo by Reese Hogan. They both gave just enough info to pique my interest. Also, I am a big believer in supporting local artists, primarily musicians but I thought I would extend it to a couple of authors (other than George R R Martin).

Just curious if any of you go to book events or conventions. We don't have many in NM, that I know about, other than book signings at bookstores. I see big authors touring the US but have never seen one stop in Albuquerque! Neil Gaiman, for example, stopped in AZ and TX and skipped NM.

[Chrissie]

Diane S ☔ wrote: "Yep, me too. Can't be as active as I like, getting less so day by day, so reading is my panacea."

You and I are on the same wave length. ;0)

[Joan]

My Dad died Saturday. Though I knew the day was coming and I know he has found peace, I’m not as prepared as I thought.

[Tamara]

Joan wrote: "My Dad died Saturday. Though I knew the day was coming and I know he has found peace, I’m not as prepared as I thought."

I am so sorry for your loss, Joan. Losing a parent is never easy no matter how much one is told to expect it. Is your mother still alive?

[Alannah]

Oh Joan, my condolences to you and your family, I'm so sorry to hear this.

[Angela M]

Joan, so sorry to hear about your Dad . The loss of our parents is always hard . My thoughts are with you.

[Petra]

Joan, I'm so sorry to hear this news. My condolences to you and your family. May the memories of good times together bring you peace.

[Diane S ☔]

Joan, I don't think we are ever ready to lose someone we love. My heart goes out to you.

[Pam]

I’m so sorry Joan for your loss. 💕

[Chrissie]

Joan wrote: "My Dad died Saturday. Though I knew the day was coming and I know he has found peace, I’m not as prepared as I thought."

Oh gosh, Joan, upsetting . I am sorry to hear this. Do you have others nearby that you can share your grief with? The world feels somehow just different when your parents are gone.

[Esther]

Joan wrote: "My Dad died Saturday. Though I knew the day was coming and I know he has found peace, I’m not as prepared as I thought."

Joan, so sorry for your loss.

[LauraT]

Joan wrote: "My Dad died Saturday. Though I knew the day was coming and I know he has found peace, I’m not as prepared as I thought."

A father is and will always be the foundations of a person; mine died 25 years ago and I still remembers his smiles, his making fun of me, of his friends, of himself, his great moral rettitude, his abnegation in his work - he was only 53 when he died. Bu not a day has passed since then that I feld alone ...
Hope you'll feel better in time Joan

[Marina]

Joan, I'm so sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and the rest of your family. We are never ready to experience the death of a loved one, no matter how much we knew it was coming.