Fortnightly Update #34: A City Moose

Well, it's been an eventful two weeks for me. Last Sunday, I spent most of the day on the porch doing "Moosewatch" because we had a young moose in the neighborhood. In case you didn't know, I live in a smaller city that is in the mountains, but in a neighborhood in the more protected inner area of the city. I've never seen a deer in my neighborhood, but for whatever reason there was a moose that decided it was the place to be. The moose left a souvenir of its visit about a foot from my fence, in the neighbor's yard, luckily enough. The moose was being chased by a Fish and Game officer, who hid behind our pickup to watch it, as the moose moved anytime it'd seen him prior.

The moose hiding behind a chainlink fence under a pine tree

As we live so far in the city, they decided to tranquilize the moose and move it back to a more appropriate habitat. The moose was scared into the house's backyard by a combination of my neighbors coming home from church (and not realizing there was a moose across the road), as well as the nearby railyard having sounds of trains clanking together (altogether unnatural sounding). Once the man with the tranquilizer gun arrived, the Fish and Game guy and he managed to get a shot of the moose. The moose ran a block before getting woozy and being taken back to the wilderness, where she belonged.

The moose getting agitated by the sound of the train nearby

Since summer is upon us again, I'm going to be annoying and re-iterate my wilderness tips:

     -Do not approach wild animals (especially bears, coyotes, wolves, deer, bison, and moose- the latter three can trample you with ease).

     -Do not turn your back to a wild animal to take a selfie (just not that great of idea, unless you have someone else take the picture and you're way far from the animal [with large obstacles between you and the animal], like I was).

     -If you're hiking in the wilderness, attach bells to you and your dogs (it's a good idea to keep dogs on leash for safety- if they charge an animal, who knows what will happen) and pack bear spray (and know how to use it). Always take more than you think you'll need as far as food, water, and protective clothing, as even experienced hikers get lost or have medical emergencies. If you plan on going hiking alone, tell someone where you plan to go and when you're coming back.

     -Know the fire restrictions for the area you plan to go to and respect them. Also, many/most campgrounds require dogs to be on leashes, so bring a long leash if you're camping.

If you want to see better pictures of moose and more rant-y wilderness tips, check out my Gone Camping post from 2015.

Recent Acquisitions (or the Piling of the-Piles):

the-pile Additions:

None!

the-invisible-pile Additions:

NetGalley:

Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave
Expected Publication Date: July 11th
I got an email promoting this book and accidentally clicked the NetGalley link, which basically adds it to your pile on NetGalley. Although initially, I thought this was a light YA book, it appears to be written for adults and is about a woman losing her job and her husband in one day (from scandal because she's a YouTube star). I think it would be interesting to see what booktubers think of it, as it's being billed as "In a world where celebrity is a careful construct, Hello, Sunshine is a compelling, funny, and evocative novel about what it means to live an authentic life in an inauthentic age." I'm reading/reviewing it just to keep my perfect reputation on NetGalley, though I admit it does sound interesting.

Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire #2) by Michael J. Sullivan
Expected Publication Date: July 25th
I read Age of Myth last year not expecting much but being surprised by the strong heroines and a well planned out fantasy world. I'm excited to read this one and was glad when I got approved for it.

Currently Reading:

Nothing- but I need a palate cleanser after The Wrath & the Dawn.

Finished These Books:

The Wrath & the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh

I wanted to love this one- I tried to make myself love it! I thought I was a-okay with most problematic heroes like Khalid, so Khalid would be no problem for me. Well, I was wrong. Because I didn't believe/feel the relationship between Shahrzad and Khalid, it pretty much ruined the book for me. And Shahrzad was my favorite until she kept being so strange. This was YA, which I didn't think would be a problem for me given the content, but it kind of was because I feel like teenage best friends are pretty much the most inseparable kind of best friend.

The Emperor's Soul (Elantris) by Brandon Sanderson (the Benevolent)

This wasn't "Diet Sanderson" like I felt Legion was, so I liked it better, but I prefer his big books. I feel like if I could choose between a 200 page book by Sanderson and an unedited 2000 page monster by Sanderson, I'd go with the 2000 page monster. It's just how I read.

A New/Old Challenge:

Rachelle @ Fortified By Books is hosting her Sci-Fi Summer Reading Challenge, again. If you like reading sci-fi, it's worth your while to join.

In My Life (A "High" Voltage SSEP):

I did my SSEP (Somatosensory Evoked Potential) test, which I was kind of anxious about due to not having that much info about it. Basically, they hook you up to EEG-like sensors (think stickers on your head) as well as nerve conduction type sensors on your arms and legs. For me, it didn't hurt much (it felt like I was being stuck with small push pins), though the tech was having trouble as they'd changed over to some type of newer system. The tech and her trainee eventually got my thumbs to twitch, but they were having an awful time trying to get my big toes to twitch, so they had to call in whoever knew how to work with electrically malfunctioning people like myself. As the original tech tried to adjust my sensor on my feet, she shocked herself and was a bit confused as to why I couldn't feel the electricity in my big toe (apparently I was on higher voltage).

When the expert of SSEPs came in, he wanted to adjust the sensors again and had the original tech turn the voltage off. When he bent to adjust it, I warned him it was still on (it doesn't turn off immediately), but he touched the lead anyway, getting jolted just like the original tech. The trainee hopefully took note to wait awhile before touching the leads. The "expert" of SSEPs told me I was the perfect SSEP patient because I didn't tense up during the exam (I guess you can't be tense). In terms of nerve pain, the SSEP felt like an annoying fly, but not bad at all. I'm used to getting lightning pain in my arms and hands all the time, along with a fun burning pain that climbs my legs, so I guess I have learned to relax with pain because otherwise I would never relax.

Facebook Version

I planted almost everything from my "minion army" outside during the past weeks because we've had awesome weather. I also learned that I have seasonal allergies this year, which has only happened one year before a long time ago- my guess is the huge amount of snow and rain we've gotten has increased the pollen count for this year. Anyway, I can only be outside during specific times of the day, or I have a major headache and nose issues in addition to my glut of other medical issues. I'm hoping the SSEP results will lead to an answer rather than another series of tests, but who knows at this point.

If you read sci-fi, what's your favorite sci-fi book?