Rich and Strange Aeons

I previously mentioned seeing the lowest recumbent trike I'd ever seen. A day or two later, I passed the highest recumbent bike I'd ever seen. Definitely a bike, 2 wheels, which looked about as big as the 20" wheels of my folding bike. Obviously they're usable, but I have no idea how you mount or stop such a bike, at best it looks like you'd have your leg at a very awkward ankle.

I've been indulging in hot chocolate recently, and realizing it actually costs money. Like I just got some peppermint hot chocolate form Trader Joe's, and it's $6.50 for 8 servings (not counting any milk added), something like 80 cents a serving. An earlier variety was maybe $5.50 for 10, still 55 cents each. On Amazon I see other expensive ones, even over a dollar per.

I also see Swiss Mix, "milk chocolate flavored", for 10 cents a serving. I guess the difference is whether the ingredients list goes "sugar, cocoa..." or "sugar, corn syrup, whey, cocoa..."

Chocolate can counteract the bitter flavor of Bitrex in mask fit testing. I plan to see if sipping hot chocolate works as well, or better.

I now have a new Tdap shot. I'd accidentally gotten a Td shot 2 years ago in Canada; I hadn't known there were different blends, so went in asking for "tetanus" or maybe even "Td", in all ignorance until afterwards that I wasn't getting a pertussis booster. Finally fixed that lack.

Not very deep, but a short video on the virtues of garbage/beater bikes. I'm in the category of people who have only owned a fairly cheap bike, though not garbage. I am reminded of advice I saw once on how to get bikes while moving around between cities: just buy a really cheap one, and sell or abandon it when you leave... Though safety, or having luggage baskets, are another matter.

Place vs. non-place in urban design.

OSP history videos on Cyprus and Sicily. Apparently Cyprus stayed literate through and after the Bronze Age Collapse, and Norman Sicily was a great ferment of multiculturalism, with Muslim scholar in court and coins with Arabic as well as Greek or Latin text.

I'd stepped out for a bit of morning sun and air, and saw this loooong dark thing, multiple inches, crawling on the wall of the house. Instinctively I knocked it off. On the ground it shrank to under an inch, and I realized it was a slug, not some horrifying centipede. I confirmed this with a poke, and then picked it up to move it to some bushes.

Man, they are slimy. And the slime is sticky. Soap does nothing, just vigorous scrubbing.

Lol, oops:

If you accidentally come across a slug's trail or handle a slug in the garden, your first instinct is likely to run for water so you can wash off that disgusting mucus. Resist this urge. Slugs use their mucus to help prevent dehydration. As such, slug mucus absorbs water -- meaning the mess on your hands will get worse if you try to rinse it off.

If you've been slimed, wait a few minutes for the mucus to dry. Then rub your hands together briskly to roll the dried mucus off. Once the mucus is gone you can wash your hands with soap and water. If you're having trouble getting the dried slime to rub off, try using a dry powdered borax hand soap or rubbing a paper towel between your hands. If slime gets on your clothing, treat the area with white vinegar before washing.

Oh well, next time.