Sunday, May 28, 2017

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:


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?

8 comments:

  1. I hope the recent tests you've undergone bring some answers. I am sure you are very tired of all the testing. :-(

    That is quite some excitement with the moose! We don't have moose out this way, but we have wild donkeys. Along with coyotes. The coyotes are venturing more into neighborhoods with more construction in their habitats. :-( A couple days ago, we went walking through the university botanical gardens and one family ahead of us on the trail came across a rattle snake, so we all diverted our paths. They are very common in this area.

    I recently finished reading Planetfall by Emma Newman, a science fiction novel. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I would call it a favorite, I'm afraid.

    I hope you have a great week!

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    1. Hopefully I'll hear back soon and they have more of a plan for me going forward, but I guess neurological disorders can be a bit tricky to pinpoint.

      Wild donkeys sound like fun to watch (although I wouldn't want to clean up after them). We have coyotes around too, but they usually don't make a show if they come into town. In the area I used to live in, rattlers were very common and they had training programs for dogs to make dogs avoid them.

      That's too bad Planetfall wasn't a favorite, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've been having a bad book run lately.

      I hope you had a wonderful week, Wendy! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
      ~Litha Nelle

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  2. I also got Hello, Sunshine for review! I'm looking forward to your thoughts :) I'm sorry you didn't enjoy The Wrath and the Dawn. It's always sad when relationships between characters don't quite feel real enough. I hope you get some good news soon regarding your health, Litha!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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    1. I hope you like Hello Sunshine! I liked it midway through, but the ending left a bit to be desired for me. I seem to be running into that problem a lot lately!
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Laura!
      ~Litha Nelle

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  3. Seeing a moose IRL is on my bucket list. We don't have them around here and although I have been camping in Canada a million billion times there has never been one in the vicinity. One of my old high school buddies lives in Sweden and gets them traveling through her backyard all through the fall, so it looks like I will have to take a plane flight if I want to make sure I see one. What a great treat it was to see one on your street! We get bears sometimes wandering into the city to plunder people's bird feeders, but that's the extent of really large beasts. I can't remember the last time someone said they saw a deer inside the city limits.

    I don't think I know anyone who liked The Wrath and the Dawn. It didn't interest me to begin with thank goodness because I hate getting disappointed like that. I have a Legion audiobook novella of some kind. I was going to use it as my taste test for whether I would start reading Sanderson, or not, but if you consider it Sanderson light maybe I shouldn't use it as a test of whether I like his writing, or not.

    Thanks for the heads up on the SciFi summer reading challenge. I seem to have a bit of SciFi when it comes to ARCs and of course I have quite a bit on my personal tbr, too. It might be just the thing for me right now.

    Again, I slouched on my container gardening. I am still hoping to get a large planter of basil going, though. I guess I will have to content myself with seeing your progress photos. I hope you get some conclusive news from the doctors. Have a wonderful new fortnight. :)

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    1. Haha- the Canadian moose must know you're in the area. We used to camp near Red Lodge, MT and there were always moose around when we went. There was also an East Rosebud camping area where we saw a moose hiking on the side of the mountain with us (usually I only see moose near water). When I lived with my grandma, she had a house on the city limits so there were lots of urban deer, and we once saw an urban fox with kits too!

      I knew several bloggers who I generally agree with who loved it, so that's why I bought it in the first place. I'd say Sanderson's writing is the same with the novellas, but his worldbuilding is better when he writes tomes.

      I hope you join if you have the gumption! It's fun.

      My mom is just starting some of her seeds now, so it's not too late yet. I still haven't heard from my doctor, but perhaps in the coming week. I hope you have a fabulous June!
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting, La La!
      ~Litha Nelle

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  4. Poor moose! I'm glad it is okay and got to be taken back to its habitat, must've been really scary for it. Cool that you got to see one though, I'd never see anything like that around where I live, which is near a beach. I love the mountains and would love to move out west someday and live closer to them.

    I just picked up Age of Swords as well!! I bought Age of Myth not long ago and am planning to read it this summer. I'll definitely push it higher up on my TBR. I also sent you a PM on Goodreads about the buddy reads I mentioned before. :)

    As for those pesky NetGalley emails with the auto add links, I've had that happen to me a few times. Hello, Sunshine does sound pretty interesting even though its not my usual genre.

    For science fiction mmm, well as usual I'm a huge fan girl when it comes to some sci fi subgenres, namely dystopia. Anything Margaret Atwood and I'm all over it. For more of "hard" science fiction I really loved Stanislaw Lem's "Invincible" though he's more well known for "Solaris" which I have yet to read but have purchased. I've also heard that "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut is good and picked it up not too long ago.

    Fingers crossed that the SSEP test results go well and you can get some answers for the health issues. :(

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    1. I've never technically seen the ocean on anything but a computer screen, so I'm a bit of a landlubber in that respect. Someday I'll see it! :)

      I'm a fan of Age of Myth, even though I wasn't so sure about it to begin with. Too many books with pretty covers can deceive you.

      I've read most of Atwood's stuff (though I do have the Year of the Flood in my TBR), but I haven't read any of Vonnegut's or Lem's- I tend to stick with female authors when buying for my TBR pile though.

      I still don't have the results, but hopefully I'll hear back soon.

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Jamie!
      ~Litha Nelle

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