More humour
Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back?
A: A
stick.
A: A
nervous wreck.
Q: Why don’t skeletons fight each other?
A: They haven’t got the guts.
Q: What’s the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
A: Anyone can roast beef.
Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
A: Frostbite.
A different visit
My appointment was for 11:15. I arrived early, booked in, and sat down. Almost immediately my name was called, and I was optimistic that the whole event would soon be completed. After the vision test, and eye pressure check, stinging drops were applied, and I was directed elsewhere.
Along with several others, I sat and waited, and after some time someone official appeared, full of apologies for the delays we were experiencing – too many patients, too few staff, immediate referrals appearing, and so on and so forth. We murmured our thanks for the update.
Anyway, what should have taken a short time – fifteen minutes or so – extended to three hours. Meanwhile, Barry was waiting in the car, listening to a book about Rommel – he had a pet fox, did you know?
Now we’re at home again and Barry, not known for his patience, is trying to self-refer for a hearing test. He is not having much success and is ranting about the poor IT. This is a common complaint and tries my tolerance. It tries his even more. He spent his working life developing large IT systems and knows they should be debugged before being rolled out. The NHS is particularly bad in its operation.
I have been telling him for some time that his hearing is not as good as it used to be. It is quite difficult to converse with him sometimes because he often gives the impression that he hasn’t heard, or, worse, is ignoring me, when he is simply thinking about his answer or something else entirely.
However, he didn’t ignore me when I pointed out his less than perfect hearing, but neither did he decide to do anything about it, until one of his electronic devices (his ear buds) alerted him to the fact that his hearing is not as acute as it should be. Now, research is ongoing into hearing aids – reviews, reports, problems and so on and so forth . . . and booking a hearing test.
The problem, and it is a valid one, is that he likes to pin everything down so there are no misunderstandings, but in the process ties everyone up in knots with the details.
Some would call it nit-picking! I don’t because I know he is seeking answers. Most people are extremely helpful, but occasionally, for after all, people are only human, a little irritation creeps in. The most accommodating people are those who understand the questions and can answer them fully and succinctly.
Update: He now has an appointment to see a doctor – that in itself is a minor miracle! – on 2nd July, despite the fact that, and I quote, ‘Individuals over 55 can access free NHS hearing aids and related services through a self-referral pathway for age-relate hearing loss, meaning they don’t need a GP referral if they meet specific criteria.’
Maybe they just want to ascertain that it’s not something else that’s creating the problem. He’s quite sure the hearing discrepancy in his left ear is from his time as a soldier, shooting his rifle left-handed.
I suggested that he will probably not opt for
free hearing aids. I know him well and he will want need something he
can fine-tune. He says he would use NHS aids as spares.
We shall see.
Krait
Every morning, I complete a few puzzles in the Times online – Sudoku, Polygon, Codeword – nothing too taxing, just a wake-up for my brain, while I enjoy a cup of hot chocolate.
Polygon gives a selection of between seven and ten letters from which words can be made. The words may be three or four letters long according to the title. The rules are simple – the central letter of the polygon must be included in each word, no plurals are permitted, and the answers must be in the Concise Oxford Dictionary.
Today, the eight letters were A, E, I, I, K, R, Y with central letter T. It should be possible to generate 29 four-letter words, each including T. How many can you create? There is always at least one word which uses all the letters.
One word I found was KRAIT.
Kraits are a class of extremely venomous snakes indigenous to South Asia. They inhabit a variety of environments, from tropical jungle to cultivated farmland, and are likely to be found near water sources, like canals and ponds. They are nocturnal, preying on other snakes, small rodents, and birds.
There are commonly reports of people being bitten at night while sleeping on the ground. Some bites are ‘dry’ bites, not involving venom. Kraits have small fangs, and their bites do not leave noticeable marks or swelling.
A bite involving poison will affect the victim within two hours, the first signs being an inability to see or speak, stomach cramps, and breathlessness. Left untreated, the condition rapidly worsens, leading to death in around five hours. Antivenoms can be of use if administered soon after a bite has been reported.
Tyke and its variant, tike, were quickly discovered. I’ve always understood tyke to be a lively child, but found that in the past it was used to describe ‘an unpleasant or coarse man.’
Trey is a playing card, domino or die with three spots, or a play scoring three points in a card, domino or dice game. In the USA it refers, or used to refer, to a shot which scores three points in basketball. Trey is also a name given to a third child or one whose birthday falls on the third day of a month, as well as the third recipient of a family name, like John Smith III.
The third tine of a deer’s antler is called a trey.
June 21st
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Many will be marking the Summer Solstice on 21st June, but it is also World Giraffe Day, also known as International Giraffe Day. This day was inaugurated by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) in 2014 as an occasion to acclaim the tallest animal in the world. It is appropriate that the tallest animal should be associated with the Longest Day.
Giraffe populations have been in decline since 1985 and there are currently only about 117,000 animals left in the wild. This is known as a ‘silent extinction’ because it’s occurring gradually, without much notice.
Giraffes can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa, their major habitats being grasslands and open woodlands in which acacia trees grow abundantly. Giraffes favour acacia trees!
A giraffe is a giraffe is a giraffe, right? That is largely accurate, but there are at least four distinct species. As with all things scientific, knowledge increases over time, and so some zoologists argue for further subdivision.
Masai and Reticulated giraffes are the species of least concern. The Masai are found in Kenya and Tanzania, and the Reticulated giraffes live in southern Ethiopia, Somalia, and northern Kenya.
.jpg)
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
The Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) is often seen in zoos. Its coat pattern is very different to the Masai giraffe, with clear lighter markings between the reddish-brown squared-off patches, giving the appearance of a net.
The two most endangered species of giraffe are the Northern giraffe and the Southern giraffe.
The Northern giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) has suffered many local extinctions and is extremely vulnerable. It lives in protected and unprotected areas in Kenya and Uganda. In unprotected areas, the adults are most at risk, perhaps from poaching, but in protected areas, the young are vulnerable to predation.
The Southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) is mostly seen in southern Africa.
Giraffes have long, prehensile tongues, which are used for tearing leaves from trees. Their tongues are dark, to avoid sunburn, because they spend much of their time browsing. While the front of the tongue is black or purple, the back of the tongue, which remains in the mouth, is pink.
Giraffes are pregnant for about fifteen months and often remove themselves from the rest of the herd to give birth, thus offering a measure of protection from predators.
New-born giraffes calves are about the height of an adult man and are able to run within hours of birth. This is essential in an environment in which they are in danger from predators.
Giraffes can live for thirty years in the wild. Each giraffe’s coat pattern is unique, just as each human’s fingerprints are unique.
2025 Ospreys
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
I haven’t looked at all the UK sites, but this year seems to be a better year for Ospreys than 2024. The Loch Arkaig pair, Louis and Dorcha, hatched three eggs, but one chick perished, cause unknown. The remaining two osplets look healthy and vigorous.
In Manton Bay, in Rutland, the nest site has been occupied each year by the same female, Maya, since 2010. An experienced parent, she has raised four chicks this year, with the mate she has had since 2015.
The Poole Harbour ospreys have also successfully raised four chicks, but at Loch of the Lowes, both eggs were lost, predated by crows. The breeding pair here was inexperienced.
When the birds depart in August or September for their winter grounds, they do not retain their pair bond. The siblings do not maintain family connections, either. When or if the adults return in March or April, they will go back to their familiar sites and resume their relationship.
_(cropped).jpg)
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
About 70% of osplets will not survive to the age of three, when ospreys start breeding. However, there are now about three hundred breeding pairs in UK, a huge recovery from the extinction they suffered in the 1880s. The first ospreys to return to Scotland arrived from Scandinavia in the 1950s and numbers have gradually increased.
Ospreys
are still rarer than Golden Eagles.
The Giver
I don’t read much Young Adult (YA) literature but chanced upon ‘The Giver’ by Lois Lowry. Published in 1993 and receiving the Newbery Medal a year later, it is a short dystopian novel, dealing with a managed society in which no-one is allowed to experience deep emotion, or to learn about history. Society does not operate independently or democratically.
When children reach the age of twelve, they are assigned their lifelong tasks by the Elders. For example, if girls are appointed as Birth mothers, they will bear three children, and then become labourers. Babies are assigned to family units. Adults are matched with appropriate partners. There is no love, romance, courtship, or choice. In order to combat ‘stirrings’ of emotions, a daily pill is taken to suppress them.
Nurturers look after newborn babies. Other people live their lives cleaning up.
Jonas, the ‘hero’ of the book, is called to be a Receiver. In that role, he receives all the memories hidden from the rest of his community, and learns about pain, colour, hunger, happiness, and family. In time he will become the Giver of memories.
Inevitably, he decides to escape and takes with him the baby Gabriel, who has been destined to be ‘released’ because he is not considered strong enough to live in the community. They set off on an arduous journey to reach ‘Elsewhere,’ an unknown location.
The story feels like a slighter form of George Orwell’s powerful novel, ‘1984.’ It comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying end, when Jonas and Gabriel, cold and starving, see colour and warmth in a cottage at the foot of a steep, snowy slope.
It was interesting to read the author’s comments at the end of the book. She claimed that the ending was deliberately ambiguous and then wrote sequels to the book in later years.
It is not a book I would recommend. It starts well, but runs out of ideas once the hero leaves his secure environment, as though the original premise was exciting but had not been thought through thoroughly.
Have you read this book? What did you think?
