Saturday, April 23
Apr. 24th, 2022 02:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
A very lovely day, weather-wise. Lots of sun and warmth.
That my Sweetie talked me into going in to the city for a fun day. Part of me really didn't want to go, because we NEED to work on the floor in the addition, but we haven't gone in to the city for a month, and sometimes I just need a day that feels different from the routine.
We stuck our heads into a yard sale, but didn't buy anything. I talked with the man who was having the sale, and he does this as an extra income stream. He has a knack for buying at good prices and selling for a little higher, and apparently he made $15,000 last summer! I have no idea if he claims this for tax purposes or not, but it would be tough to nail him for yard sale income. We might check in again, since he's always getting new things.
My Sweetie helped a man move some big shelves while I was at the yard sale. This poor guy was in the alley near the sale, trying to move these big, heavy shelves into his garage by himself, and my husband gave him a hand. I like it when we can help people spontaneously.
We went to the equestrian supply store to look at riding clothes because my summer riding pants are getting pretty tired. Also, R hinted very strongly a few times that I need some kind of proper riding shirt for our shows, even the video ones, because it just looks more professional. So, we found a couple of nice shirts and a pair of pants (on sale at least). It is not cheap for this stuff, but at least I get lots of use out of them, typically. They usually last for years.
Then we went to a Goodwill (too bad they are more or less a business now), and I found a lovely original watercolor painting, all framed and everything for a good price. I found some more "decent" sweat pants for general use.
I also bought the big bag of mystery jewelry, because I LOVE big bags of crap like that. I spent $35 on it, which was pricey, and at first I thought I got ripped off, but then I did some research. A few of the items do need a little repair, but not beyond my ability, and they are nicer costume jewelry that are selling for between $20 and $40 each on Ebay. Three Lia Sophia items, and a Monet rhinestone bracelet. A Zara necklace that sells online used for about $20. Tons of vintage brooches that are missing the pin that might work as pendants, or become a collage. The rest is odds and ends of broken rhinestone things, a few nice little costume jewelry pendants, a few things I can take the beads and do something else with them, some really nice fake pearls (they're the heavy, glass ones that are even knotted), and also some absolute garbage.
I found two books that I have wanted for a while.
We had supper in a different vegan place that we've been meaning to try, and it was good food. I had to laugh a little that there were definitely some classic "signs that you are in a vegan place", such as slightly industrial chic decor, mason jars for water glasses, a stage at one end for open mic night and acoustic sets, not very masculine men, mostly women, and a tall caucasian woman with long, blond dreads wearing outdoor gear and hiking boots.
I kept looking around, wondering if my husband and I looked like we belonged there, and what an interesting path led us to be in a cafe like this. Well, we do make pottery, I have goats (seems a lot of granola folk have goats, though usually for their artisan soap company), we like to hike and ride bikes when we get the chance, and I don't shave my legs a lot.
15 years ago one of our favorite places to eat was a truck stop restaurant in Wyoming called "Cruel Jack's" that had tons of stuffed animals on the wall, and the salad had more meat than most steak sandwiches. The customers were mostly oilfield folks or truckers.
I don't think I saw a single vegan restaurant in Wyoming the whole time we lived there. If you were a vegetarian you could maybe eat pancakes.
My husband isn't vegan/vegetarian, but he does eat a lot less meat than he used to, and is trying to eat better in general. He would still go eat a big sloppy burger and fries at Cruel Jack's, but he knows it isn't good to eat like that all the time like we used to.
It was good food though, and fun to be somewhere different.
Today I learned some interesting things about humming birds. When food is scarce, they can go into a torpor to save energy.
They have a very high heart rate and metabolism:
With the exception of insects, hummingbirds while in flight have the highest metabolism of all animals – a necessity to support the rapid beating of their wings during hovering and fast forward flight.[3][52] Their heart rate can reach as high as 1,260 bpm, a rate once measured in a blue-throated hummingbird, with a breathing rate of 250 bpm, even at rest.[53][54] During flight, oxygen consumption per gram of muscle tissue in a hummingbird is about 10 times higher than that measured in elite human athletes.[3]
They take in a lot of water when they consume nectar, and it helps them dissipate heat (a big issue from their high metabolism, and that so many kinds live in hot parts of the world) through exhalation. They also dissipate hear via patches on their body that have no feathers, like under their wings and their feet, and around their eyes. Their kidneys are designed for removing so much water.
The high amount of water in their diet also means that humming birds have a much more watery urine than most birds. Birds generally have a thick, white paste that accompanies their feces, and that is what they have instead of watery urine. Most birds bodies work hard to conserve water.
They do eat some insects for protein.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird
A very lovely day, weather-wise. Lots of sun and warmth.
That my Sweetie talked me into going in to the city for a fun day. Part of me really didn't want to go, because we NEED to work on the floor in the addition, but we haven't gone in to the city for a month, and sometimes I just need a day that feels different from the routine.
We stuck our heads into a yard sale, but didn't buy anything. I talked with the man who was having the sale, and he does this as an extra income stream. He has a knack for buying at good prices and selling for a little higher, and apparently he made $15,000 last summer! I have no idea if he claims this for tax purposes or not, but it would be tough to nail him for yard sale income. We might check in again, since he's always getting new things.
My Sweetie helped a man move some big shelves while I was at the yard sale. This poor guy was in the alley near the sale, trying to move these big, heavy shelves into his garage by himself, and my husband gave him a hand. I like it when we can help people spontaneously.
We went to the equestrian supply store to look at riding clothes because my summer riding pants are getting pretty tired. Also, R hinted very strongly a few times that I need some kind of proper riding shirt for our shows, even the video ones, because it just looks more professional. So, we found a couple of nice shirts and a pair of pants (on sale at least). It is not cheap for this stuff, but at least I get lots of use out of them, typically. They usually last for years.
Then we went to a Goodwill (too bad they are more or less a business now), and I found a lovely original watercolor painting, all framed and everything for a good price. I found some more "decent" sweat pants for general use.
I also bought the big bag of mystery jewelry, because I LOVE big bags of crap like that. I spent $35 on it, which was pricey, and at first I thought I got ripped off, but then I did some research. A few of the items do need a little repair, but not beyond my ability, and they are nicer costume jewelry that are selling for between $20 and $40 each on Ebay. Three Lia Sophia items, and a Monet rhinestone bracelet. A Zara necklace that sells online used for about $20. Tons of vintage brooches that are missing the pin that might work as pendants, or become a collage. The rest is odds and ends of broken rhinestone things, a few nice little costume jewelry pendants, a few things I can take the beads and do something else with them, some really nice fake pearls (they're the heavy, glass ones that are even knotted), and also some absolute garbage.
I found two books that I have wanted for a while.
We had supper in a different vegan place that we've been meaning to try, and it was good food. I had to laugh a little that there were definitely some classic "signs that you are in a vegan place", such as slightly industrial chic decor, mason jars for water glasses, a stage at one end for open mic night and acoustic sets, not very masculine men, mostly women, and a tall caucasian woman with long, blond dreads wearing outdoor gear and hiking boots.
I kept looking around, wondering if my husband and I looked like we belonged there, and what an interesting path led us to be in a cafe like this. Well, we do make pottery, I have goats (seems a lot of granola folk have goats, though usually for their artisan soap company), we like to hike and ride bikes when we get the chance, and I don't shave my legs a lot.
15 years ago one of our favorite places to eat was a truck stop restaurant in Wyoming called "Cruel Jack's" that had tons of stuffed animals on the wall, and the salad had more meat than most steak sandwiches. The customers were mostly oilfield folks or truckers.
I don't think I saw a single vegan restaurant in Wyoming the whole time we lived there. If you were a vegetarian you could maybe eat pancakes.
My husband isn't vegan/vegetarian, but he does eat a lot less meat than he used to, and is trying to eat better in general. He would still go eat a big sloppy burger and fries at Cruel Jack's, but he knows it isn't good to eat like that all the time like we used to.
It was good food though, and fun to be somewhere different.
Today I learned some interesting things about humming birds. When food is scarce, they can go into a torpor to save energy.
They have a very high heart rate and metabolism:
With the exception of insects, hummingbirds while in flight have the highest metabolism of all animals – a necessity to support the rapid beating of their wings during hovering and fast forward flight.[3][52] Their heart rate can reach as high as 1,260 bpm, a rate once measured in a blue-throated hummingbird, with a breathing rate of 250 bpm, even at rest.[53][54] During flight, oxygen consumption per gram of muscle tissue in a hummingbird is about 10 times higher than that measured in elite human athletes.[3]
They take in a lot of water when they consume nectar, and it helps them dissipate heat (a big issue from their high metabolism, and that so many kinds live in hot parts of the world) through exhalation. They also dissipate hear via patches on their body that have no feathers, like under their wings and their feet, and around their eyes. Their kidneys are designed for removing so much water.
The high amount of water in their diet also means that humming birds have a much more watery urine than most birds. Birds generally have a thick, white paste that accompanies their feces, and that is what they have instead of watery urine. Most birds bodies work hard to conserve water.
They do eat some insects for protein.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummingbird
no subject
Date: 2022-04-24 08:16 pm (UTC)Yesterday I was up early to walk over to the first neighbourhood church rummage sale in over two years. It wasn't the same, but I did find a stack of good books, including the sequel to the Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments.