revenge of the cave spiders

[the_siobhan]

I've forgotten to do these for like a month.


9 – Dimples Day: Only 20-30% of the entire world population has dimples. Are you one of these rare individuals? What type of dimple do you have -- dimple on both cheeks, chin dimple, one-sided cheek dimple, corner of the mouth dimple?
10 – Don't Step on a Bee Day: is an important reminder that the fate of the common bee lies in the balance – with bee numbers in some countries having halved in the last decade with no apparent cause. Some localities are taking measures to help the bee population, for example, planting wildflowers by the side of roads/on road medians or encouraging residents to move away from a manicured lawn to a yard full of flowers. Are you aware of any such measures where you live? Do you agree that if bees disappear, life would change significantly for humans (and not in a good way)?
11 – World Population Day: World Population Day comes along each year to remind us that our present rate of population growth is unsustainable, and the present social and logistical issues we are experiencing to meet the demand of that population will only get worse if we don't do something. What can be done to slow population growth? Can we effectively fight climate change without addressing the global population issue?
12 – Simplicity Day: What steps could you take to declutter your life, both mentally and physically, and keep things simple?
13 – Embrace your Geekness Day: A geek is someone who is completely obsessed with one or more subjects, and can speak fluently on it for hours, sounding like a walking encyclopedia of geeky facts. In what ways would you describe yourself as geeky?
14 – Mac & Cheese Day: Macaroni and cheese is a comfort dish for many, an old childhood favourite. In Canada, it's practically a national dish if you're referring to good old KD -- Kraft Dinner, or Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner. Even upscale restaurants are featuring gourmet variations of this classic. Was mac & cheese something you ate as a kid? Do you still eat it regularly, or occasionally? If you've tried restaurant variations, what is the most interesting take on mac & cheese that you've come across?
15 – Give Something Away Day: What is one thing of yours that you would consider giving away to someone in need?

9-One in the corner of my mouth. 10-Our yard is currently under a pile of rubble, but when we have growing things I leave the leaf litter until late spring so as not to disturb ground-nesting bees. We also have local flowers for polinators. My city passed an ordinance against pesticides a number of years back and it's made a huge difference in the insect life I see. 11-Empowering women reduces birth rates. If we do proper wealth distribuion and resource management the population issue will solve itself. 12-It's a work in progress. Mostly trying to clean shit out of my life that does not serve me. It's a long process. 13-I don't know that I'm that geeky about anything. I have things that I like, but not to the point of obssessively memorizing trivia. 14-I ate KD enough when I was a teenager (not as a child) that it's still occasionally a low-effort comfort food. 15-I haven't the faintest idea? I give away stuff pretty regularly if I don't need it, and I'm always giving away plants.

16 – Personal Chef Day: If you could afford it, would you like to have a personal chef? Would you have them cook all your meals, or only supper/dinner?

OH MY GOD I hate cooking so much. I would KILL to have somebody in my house who just made food appear on the regular.

I can feed myself. Mostly. But holy shit would I ever like not to have to.

***

I read a thing a couple of days ago where people were being all surprised that some people know what ants smell like. To which my reaction was, of course, wait there are people who don't know what ants smell like?

Apparently it's genetic. So I have learned a thing.

(Kind of a combination of vinegar and black pepper, if you don't have that gene.)

Maggots also have a smell - I don't know if that one is genetic or not - and I was smelling it in our corner-that-is-a-pretend-kitchen for weeks in spite of the fact that I was constantly scrubbing out the compost bin. We have seperate "green waste" and trash collection so there isn't supposed to be organic material in the trash bin so it honestly didn't occur to me to check there.

Rookie mistake.

***

Today featured lots of sawing and grinding noises. I have no idea what they were doing, but it was loud. At least things are happening?

Kitchen guy told me his part will take two months after the plumbing goes in. I don't know if the plumbers were here today, but there were lots of pipes stacked in the hallways. Basement guy, who the fuck knows.

You know, every time I pass through the living room I stop for a minute just to watch my housemate to see if they're breathing. I'm not even being snarky here, I have this constant low-level horror that one day they'll have a heart-attack or something and it will take me a couple of days to notice.

***

Debating if I want a glass of wine.

Comments

[dark_phoenix54]

I had no idea there were people who couldn't smell ants. I detest the smell of them. Some ant nests smell much stronger and sharper than others. (we have, like, a half dozen different kinds of ants here, and all of them make nests in my fucking garden) I guess it's like the asparagus pee thing.

Is housemate chronically ill? They seem to sleep an awful lot... or do they work nights?

[the_siobhan]

The asparagus pee thing is genetic? The being able to smell it or of asparagus making your pee smell like that?

Kind of amazing how many things I'm finding out that some people just don't have.

Housemate has one of those illnesses that is requiring 50 billionty tests and doctors to scratch their head over while they try to figure out what's causing it. But of course since it's not immediately life threatening it's taking forever. And yeah, they sleep an alarming amount.

[dark_phoenix54]

Both smelling the asparagus pee and making the asparagus pee are genetic- and they are carried on DIFFERENT genes! So there are people out there who make the stink and have no idea they are doing it. And people who are wondering what the hell the stench is in public bathrooms during asparagus season. Sadly, I have both genes active.

[elusis]

Wait, what? I thought that smelling asparagus pee was the genetic thing, and people who think they don't make asparagus pee are actually people who can't smell it....???

[the_siobhan]

This has been a very educational post.

[kest]

I am missing one or both of the asparagus genes but I'm not sure which one because no one seems too keen on having a party where we all eat asparagus and then smell each other's pee. *shrug emoji*

[greylock]

I am not sure I have ever smelt ants. Maybe if the infestation is big enough.
I am pretty sure I can't smell maggots if my in-kitchen compost bin is any experience.

Two months seems a bit long for a kitchen, I'd think, even with a complete rebuild, unless they're making all the cabinets in-situ?

I worry what happens if I have a stroke or heart attack. Then I just don't worry.

You do want wine.

[the_siobhan]

Consider yourself lucky, they smell terrible. (Like sour milk, only more bitter. If that makes sense.)

The cabinets apparently take 6 weeks to build. So a week for insulation/drywall/paint before and then a week for tile/counter-tops/fixtures afterwards doesn't actually sound terrible.

I did not have wine. Wine is antithetical to yoga, and I need the yoga more.

[greylock]

Ah. I forgot you were doing the structural stuff as well.
Makes sense.

You don't know about drunk yoga?

[lil_m_moses]

Smelling ants is not something that ever occurred to me as a possibility, so I guess I can't? I can, however, smell in the tap water if there's a leak in the supply pipe nearish - it smells musty.

[the_siobhan]

It's blowing my mind how much stuff I'm finding out is genetic. Apparently sensitivity to poison ivy is an allergy and some people just don't have it. (I've always suspected I don't react to poison ivy because I have come home from camping trips where every single other person got burned and I was fine - not that I'm going to run out and test it.)

[bcholmes]

I'm most fascinated by the "being able to smell that cyanide has an almond smell" is genetic. Apparently most people have the gene but somewhere between 20-40% of people can't detect the almond smell.

Apparently places that do autopsies often figure out which people can't smell cyanide.

[the_siobhan]

I could see that being a definite disadvantage if one were wealthy and had jealous grasping relatives.

[houseof9cats]

I'm 2 for 2 on asparagus pee but had no idea one could smell ants.

This is a conversation we're actually having. XD

[the_siobhan]

A day where I learn New Things is a good day.

[solo]

I'm lucky enough to never have been close to a large accumulation of ants. Unless you can smell them individually, the jury is out for me.

Asparagus pee, though -- I pee it and I smell it. Ugh!

I have a wildflower corner in my garden now and people around me are starting theirs, too. Bees are important!

I'm a geek in myriad ways, love mac'n'cheese, and as for giving stuff away to people in need... I'd have to think about what I might not give away. Probably my fandom merch. :) And my house!

[the_siobhan]

Oh yes! I have a back section of the yard where I want to plant wildflowers, once I can get back there.

[kest]

WORTH NOTING, different kinds of ants have different smells. Specifically, there is a common species of black ant in North America called the odorous house ant, also commonly called sugar ants. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapinoma_sessile ) They smell bitter (to me) especially when squished, like a weird chemical. Other kinds of ants, like carpenter ants, may emit formic acid which also has a little bit of an odor but very faint (to me). The most common kind of ant where I grew up in SoCal is the 'little black ant' which doesn't emit any noticable smell to me so when I moved north and people started talking about ant smell, I thought I didn't have the gene, but then I started squishing sugar ants, and....gross.