Notes from my patio

Grampa Don said:
Spot was a great pet. Really tame. She'd follow you around. I'd be in the garage and hear her footsteps flap flap flap coming to see me. We could even take her out front and she would stay right with us.

But, she was messy. I had a plastic kiddy pool for her and the first thing she would do after getting in it was to poop.

I made a small box to save one of her eggs.

egg.jpg
Click to expand...
So sweet.
 

Had a dental appointment this morning. I have a tooth that's falling apart. Now I have to see a specialist for a root canal. Not looking forward to that. I've never had one.

I've been thinking about how much of our lives is a matter of sheer luck. Almost everything is; our DNA that determines our looks personality and abilities, where we were born and how we were raised, the conditions we lived with, and our experiences. Even when we make decisions on things like who to marry, where to live, and what kind of job we have, they are largely influenced by the factors mentioned above and whatever opportunities exist at the time.

When I look back on my life, I had no plan. I just bumbled along the best I could. I’ve just been very lucky. And many times things that seemed bad luck at the time turned out to be good luck in the long run.

It makes me wonder about how responsible we really are for what we are. The saying is “To understand a man you must walk a mile in his shoes.”

"That way you’ll be a mile away from him and you’ll have his shoes." *

*Deep thoughts by Jack Handy.
 
hollydolly said:
I would not have a root canal at this time in my life.... I've had 2 in the past and they both failed.. they're painful.. time consuming to have done and expensive
Click to expand...
I'd have to agree... and I've noticed that dentists are pushing them more and more in the last few years. Not sure why. Years ago they were kept for the most serious situations... at least with the dentists I've used. Now it's like nearly every tooth issue gets a "yep, we'll do a root canal." If ever suggested to me, I plan to say "the heck we will!" 😇
 
By the way, I too have had 2 root canals in the past, and they did not go well for me either.
I lost both of those teeth anyway, and each within a year of those costly and uncomfortable procedures.

The choice i had then, was extraction or root canal, at the times. So I tried to keep them.
I hope to not have another in my future but I can't rule it completely out.

I hope yours goes well for you Don!
 
Grampa Don said:
I don't see where I have much choice. I have a tooth that hurts when I bite down on it and my dentist says it needs a root canal. And, I don't want to go shopping for another dentist. After I get it I will post here how it went. Long term problems don't worry me. I suspect I won't have a long term.
Click to expand...
just have the tooth out, that's your option... no need to go through potential pain.. long work on your tooth and the expense, and possible failure of it.. at your age...... I certainly wouldn't.. but it's your mouth , your decision.. just remember Dentists push Root canals when there's other options because their highly lucrative to them
 
hollydolly said:
just have the tooth out, that's your option... no need to go through potential pain.. long work on your tooth and the expense, and possible failure of it.. at your age...... I certainly wouldn't.. but it's your mouth , your decision.. just remember Dentists push Root canals when there's other options because their highly lucrative to them
Click to expand...
I appreciate your advice, Holly. I don't think my dentist is getting anything out of this as she referred me to a specialist. I'm not sure what to do.
 
Jules said:
DH had a root canal years ago and it was an awkward and lengthy process. He needed another this year and it was about an hour, easy and half the price. Techniques for it, like many other procedures, have improved radically.
Click to expand...
That is so true! Years back I had several broken teeth due to an accident. The root canals on those teeth were several visits each and not fun at all. My last root canal was a breeze. And going to a specialist, is the way to do it. They do nothing but root canals, so they have the latest techniques.
 
Thanks for the comments on root canals. I'm still mulling it over.

Sitting on the patio this morning soaking up the sunshine that slants in now that the sun is lower and got a whiff of steer manure. One on my neighbors must have spread some. I found it kind of pleasant. When there were a lot of dairies in Riverside and that area, the Santa Ana winds would blow the smell this way. My younger son looked forward to that. I guess he's a bit weird like me.

Years ago when I had a vegetable garden I worked with a lady who lived out that way and she and her husband had a couple horses. I asked her what they did with the manure. I came home from work one day and found a truck load of it on my driveway in front of the garage. Our little dog was going nuts over it. It was great for the garden.

The green parrots are back. I heard them before I saw them this morning. It was just a small group of about 6. Sometimes we get 30 or more at once. When they sit on the utility poles and wires they make an awful racket. They always sit in pairs, like doves. Most of the year they go someplace else, but there is a large pecan tree on the next street over and they always no when they're ripe.

The crows will pick the pecans too. They drop them on the street to crack them open. I like crows, they're so cocky.
 
I loved hearing about the green parrots,Don.(y)🤩
And the crows too. 😄

I Didn't enjoy as much, hearing about the manure . 😊😁😄😅
Though years ago, we ordered it for the community gardens.☺️

Another comment on the topic of root canals; If my problem tooth was a front one, or one that I felt was essential for chewing food, then I would consider trying a root canal again, and hoping for a good outcome.

Green parrots......🤔hmmm..... in the wild?
I can't remember where you live, Don.
😊Iwould love to see that.
 
Nice morning on the patio. Clear sky, no breeze and 60 degrees. My morning cup of Long Jing tea.

A black phoebe was in the yard. Neat little bird, black with a white chest. Looks like a little penguin. He sits on the picket fence and swoops down to catch bugs on the wing. Amazing. I never see more than one at a time, so I assume it's the same one each day. I guess my yard is a good one for catching tiny bugs.

A perfect V formation of about 20 geese flew low over my house. From the direction they were going suspect they were headed for the Seal Beach Wildlife sanctuary about 15 miles away.

The other day a noticed a small plane going over and just for fun I opened a website that tracks aircraft. I found it and saw where it came from and where it was going, a photo of the plane and its license number. I searched the license number found that it was a company plane. Then I searched the company name and found the owner and his address. I searched the address and found a Zillow page that said he bought his house in December of 2024 and it still had over 50 photos of the interior. I was able to see every room in his house.

All this just from seeing him fly over. There is a similar website that tracks shipping. This makes me wonder if some day there will be one for street traffic. A lot of new cars have GPS. Do any of them send out their current location? Will we be able to notice a car going by and find out where the owner lives? It's kind of creepy.
 
Another nice morning. I'm not a bird watcher who goes out with binoculars to spot them, but I do like to watch them. They say they are the last of the dinosaurs. I think that's kind of neat, although it's sort of hard to think of a hummingbird as a dinosaur.

They are super efficient. They don't require as much water as mammals because they don't excrete waste as liquid urea, but as solid uric acid. The hummingbirds are an exception. I've seen them squirt as they fly away from the feeder and there are lots of drops of their poop on my patio.

Birds have an extra air sac beyond their lungs, so air blows through the lung on both inhale and exhale. That's why some of them can fly over the Himalayas. And their brains are wired more efficiently too. That's why birds like crows and parrots are so smart.

I used to wonder why the bird bath went down so fast. Then I noticed that when they bathe they splash it all over, especially the larger birds. They really get into it.

One of my favorites is the California Towhee, a brown bird with an orange butt. They will get within several feet of me if I sit still while they hop around looking for whatever they eat, making little peep sounds. Here's a drawing I got off the web. They hop, but they can also run like little road runners.

towhee.jpg


I rolled my scope out last night to take a peek at Saturn. Its rings are edge on right now so it looks like a ball with a line through it. I hardly use my scopes. I should sell them, but maybe I'll get interested in astronomy again some day. Here they are.

scopes1.jpg
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top