Visit the kelpforest....

Remains of Star Trek's 'Scotty' headed for space :

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051014/en_nm/doohan_dc

Doohan's cremated remains will be packed into a special tube that is ejected from the rocket and expected to orbit Earth for about 50 to 200 years before plunging into the planet's atmosphere and burning up.

Fans can post tributes to Doohan at the Space Services Web site (http://www.spaceservicesinc.com). Those messages will be digitized, packed with "Scotty" and blasted into space.

They did something similar with Gene Roddenberry, too, I believe.

I can't tell you how relieved I was when Angus pointed out his front incisor was finally growing in. He managed to lose his first three teeth by knocking them out (his mouth at the time was right about the level of our doorknobs), and this one has been missing for over two years - he wasn't quite five yet. He'd been sitting on my lap at the dining room table, tried to hop down, lost his balance because his brother or sister was right next to him, somehow got twisted up and smacked his face right into the (rounded) corner of the wooden chair next to me. There was a lot of blood and screaming, and John rushed him to an emergency dentist. He made sure Angus was ok, took x-rays to be sure the new underlying tooth hadn't been damaged and, since we couldn't find the tooth, told us to go through his poo to be certain it hadn't gotten stuck somewhere in his digestive system, in case he'd swallowed it.

I did that once, and then figured the tooth was on its own. Brrrrrrlech!

Angus had a fat lip for a couple of days afterward, and a gap-toothed smile in every picture since. I was beginning to wonder if all his future pictures would be that way too. He looks a bit snaggly here because he's missing several other teeth as well, but at least he lost those in the conventional manner, and there's evidence they'll soon be replaced.

Darn, just went to make a cup of coffee, and our lovely little boiling hot and refrigerated cold water taps by the sink in the breakroom are gone! Drat. Microwaved hot water just isn't the same. I may have to try it for some tea though; I need some caffeine.

At least the office seems slightly warmer this week, although I still wore my jacket most of the morning. Last week it was freezing in here all week. The building people said it was because of all of the office systems being off for the four day weekend, and it was taking awhile for the heat to get up to speed. Finally on Thursday, my boss held his hand up to the air vent and said he could feel some slight trickles of warm air coming out of it. I think what does come out the vents gets sucked straight out the floor to ceiling glass windows, because the inner rooms of the building always seem to be warmer. On a few days, it was definitely warmer outside. I know, here in southern California, that's not saying much, but damn it, it's been chilly lately. My feet weren't warm all last week.

I came in this morning to find a postcard on my desk, inviting me to donate my body for plastination. Apparently, PH had been to the Body Worlds exhibit at the California Science Center this weekend, and thought we might like to be added to the show. :p When DP asked if that's what he was planning to do when he croaked, he replied "Hell no!"

I hadn't heard this display was going on either. I saw an article in New Scientist saying the same scientist will be preserving a couple of giant squid in the same way, and forwarded it to VT. She told me some of her husband's students had been to his exhibition and taken pictures. I remember awhile ago when this exhibition was in London and hearing about protests; maybe they've been keeping this low key or something. In any case, it sounds vaguely creepy, as in several of the plasinated people are holding their brains in their hands, or balancing on top of them, but all for educational purposes. I was going to say I didn't feel any urge to go see this, but after looking at the two sites above, I'm beginning to feel curious. I have seen cadavers before, but this is a whole different thing. People report that actually seeing the real human body, how it's put together, and how it's affected by things like smoking, or where your duodenum is actually located, inspires them to take better care of their own.

According to the website, there are 300 plastinated bodies already extant, and another 6,000 willing to donate theirs after they die. However, while I do have my organ donor card filled out and nestled next to my driver's license, so I can do someone some immediate good if I'm suddenly squelched, I think I'd rather have the rest of my components just return to the natural cycle of things. Plant a tree on top of me, or scatter my ashes in the California Current and let the ocean take me where it will; maybe a foraminifer or a far off triton will use CaCO3 formed from my bones in its shell. Or you could scatter some of them here. There's a pretty little cemetery at the foot of that rock, overlooking the Tasman Sea, and I thought when I visited it in 1988 it would be a pleasant place to spend eternity.

edited: because apparently, I really like the word apparently.

Our office manager retired and today is her good-bye luncheon. It's being held at a country club and there is dress code - no tanks, shorts, or denim jeans. I find it ironic that we're having a lunch at a place with a dress code more stringent than our office We did have a "no shorts" policy, only because someone came in from going running at lunchtime in their running shorts and didn't change, but the guy who came up with that has also retired, and several newer people hadn't even heard of the rule.

Jeans being my habitual attire, I had to hunt around to figure out something to wear. I finally decided on a long cotton skirt I have had for several years and a purple short sleeve sweater. *snort* Me wearing a skirt is very nearly a sign of the apocalypse. I've already gotten,"Oh, you look nice today!" several times. SO informed me the skirt looks like a Blue Fish design, which it is, but I only remember that from glancing at the tag as I put it on. I found it on a clearance rack at a store in San Juan Capistrano when Beth and I were poking around down there, quite a while ago, probaly before Angus was born. I never realized it was such a famous clothing line, one that almost seems to have a cult following. It does have neat block painted designs on it, and it's very comfortable, for a skirt. I'm sorry to find out the company no longer exists, but I don't think I could have afforded more anyway. I remember seeing similar items at Nordstrom's and they were very pricy.

Gloria's lunch was very yummy (an Italian buffet) and everyone was very emotional. She's planning on doing a lot of travelling, first to Tuscany (hence the Italian theme). Everyone contributed a page for her memory notebook, and there some made up ones from Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Clint Eastwood, and an old pic of our governator (wearing very little clothing). What was funny was there was a real letter from him, too (a form letter of course - the number of years she had worked for the state was off by five). It was very emotional, and one of her sons got too choked up to speak. She's a very sweet, helpful, efficient person, and we're all going to miss her a lot.

Gloria,
Thank you so much for all your years of helping us to collect better fisheries data, making this office run smoothly, and patient explanation of fiscal procedures to us financially challenged biologists. Also the occasional comment that caused everyone to raise their collective eyebrows and exclaim “Gloria!” (I don’t remember it exactly, but I think it was something involving whipped cream – hee hee!) Whatever will we do without you? Never mind, we’ll manage. :)

But relax and forget about all of the above. Well, maybe not forget, but file under “fond memories.” Enjoy your retirement; I don’t know many people who deserve to more.

Love from Leeanne

For a challenge by megthelegend - who added me out of the blue a few months ago, and I'm ever so glad she did... :) I know this was due the week after you issued it, but it rapidly got out of hand and threatened to become novel-sized. I'm sorry it took me so long...

Meg sez...

senoritafish wants a non-(fiction)writer DARE.

I would love to hear about the birth of your kids. ::g:: I'm a sucker for a kiddie story, especially when it involves something that traumatic and amazing!!! Don't mention the actual labours if you don't want to, but I would love to hear, please, about the buildup and anticipation, about how the household adjusted each time.

OK, you asked for it. Actually I was planning to eventually post about this at some point. I'll try not to get too graphic, but there may be some TMI, and/or bodily fluids.

(  #1 - Nematode's Story... )

This one probably one won't be nearly as long. I'm a bit less clear on the details...
( #2 - Tardigrade's Story... )

This was the most recent- You'd think I could remember more. Then again, maybe you wish I remembered less! ;p
( #3 - Copepod's Story )

( Further Adjustments... )

Since we got our tax refund (read loan check from H&R Block), we spent last Saturday shopping for bunk beds for the boys. Angus has been sleeping on a kid's couch that folds out into a bed, since we moved Avalon into his bed - we converted it back into a crib from a toddler bed.

We wanted to get something that incorporated drawers and possibly a desk, since that room is only 11'x11' and floor space is at a premium. There was one that had both of those features plus closet space in the back, and a trundle bed on the bottom. However, that one was nearly $1000, the upper bunk was above my head, and I could see the closet space used for hide 'n seek and them fighting over the low status trundle bed. We did find a reasonable one at another store with a desk, drawers and shelves. The bottom bed goes under the top one, but perpendicular.

John's friend Alex came over to help set it up and wound up making it take a lot longer than if I had been helping him. Alex always thinks he knows better than anyone else and has to argue about the right way to do everything. I have issues with Alex, but I’ll talk about them later. They finally got it done and everyone was excited to have new beds at first. Angus was happy to take the top bunk (which I discovered is a pain to get sheets on), but come bedtime, Gareth was upset not to have his old bed, and refused to sleep in it. It's small enough I figured if he still objected later, we could still fit it under the upper bunk and he could use it for a couple more years. But he seems to have adapted now. We also discovered that we have to put the ladder out of reach during the day, or Avalon will be climbing up there, and she's much too small for that, yet. She's navigating ladders much earlier than her brothers.

Yee-ha!

Potty training of Number one is now complete (I hope)! We finally decided putting Angus to bed wearing diapers has been a mistake, and had him start wearing undies to bed. After three days of no movements, he finally told us he had to go potty, then kept jumping up and down off the toilet. I finally realized something else was going on (sorry Angus, Mommy is dense sometimes) and I said "Angus, do you have to go ka-ka?" (several times because of all the jumping up and down, humming, looking in the toilet, unwinding toilet paper, etc). Finally I got him to sit and concentrate on what he was trying to do. He was quite surprised to hear a big plop and immediately jumped up again. "Are you sure you're done?" More effort; eventually we were all rewarded by three more plops.

He got three stickers for that one. I poured myself a big glass of wine. Whew!