A scientist. It’s never going to happen because I’m 72. At school I was pushed into languages, history etc because I wasn’t good at maths. I was good at general science though, especially chemistry, and I enjoyed it.

After I retired I took up beekeeping and have lately rediscovered my love of science. I have two microscopes and am studying bee anatomy and pollen identification. There’s an exam later in the year for a certificate that will open further areas of study, but I doubt my skills are up to the challenge (eg dissecting a bee in front of the examiner). However, I am really enjoying the whole process of making slides and examining them. I would have loved doing this as a job.

Lemur.

In my experience the people in the back have their fingers in their ears and are going “lalalalalala”.

Extra info you didn’t ask for but might help: the doctor gave me a sheet to record my BP for a week. Two readings in the morning, a few minutes apart, two readings in the afternoon, a few minutes apart. Once I’d done that he added and divided the results to get the average. Too high, so now I’m on meds.

I was a bit blasé about it at first - pfft, I feel fine! But he explained that high BP can cause a stroke. You can recover just fine from a heart attack, but a stroke can be devastating, if you even survive it. You will feel absolutely fine until suddenly you’re on the floor, unable to move one side of your body or speak coherently. Scared me into taking it seriously!

The bees. All our hives made it through winter and a fairly mild spring so far has given them a boost. Queens are laying like crazy, workers are working hard.

I’ve started wearing very thin gloves while inspecting the hives after realising that they make it less likely I’ll be stung, because I can be gentler. A bonus is that I can feel the warmth of the bees, and that really does bring me joy.

For example Caoimhe, pronounced Keeva.

Yes. Pupae are fed a mix of pollen and nectar/honey called “bee bread”. (Honey is nectar that has its water content reduced to 20% and is sealed, to prevent fermentation.)

I’ve been reading up on the front-runners for Pope and some of them are super old school illiberal. Though the fellow from Ghana does apparently concede that the laws on homosexuality in some African countries are a bit harsh.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/21/who-next-pope-francis-potential-candidates-succeed

Meanwhile no-one mentioned Valentina Tereshkova, who orbited Earth 48 times on her own back in 1963. Sigh.

Latte is an Italian drink. In France it’s café au lait (or café crème in the south), which is generally a breakfast drink, served in a bowl-like cup.

I don’t block much stuff, but I only subscribe to things that don’t generally feature US politics. So I essentially have two feeds: All and Subscribed. Scrolling All can be exhausting…

Also:

I used to use Lidl’s own brand, 69p for a big tube. But they changed the recipe to a gel, and I don’t feel it cleans as well as before. So now I’m on the lookout for an alternative too.

Revelation 9:20: “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.”

The fundies must be wetting themselves with excitement, rapture any day now!

Cat also seems to have short legs, might make squatting difficult.

Good luck getting the bank to count it for you. My bank would only accept bulk coins like this if they were counted out into separate coin bags - which they would give you. Then they can check by weight.

Always always signal your intention. I heard a woman complaining that her new car had lane control, which forced her to indicate when changing lanes. “It’s so annoying, I mean it’s obvious I’m overtaking, I don’t need to indicate!”

Also, as a frequent pedestrian I appreciate when drivers and cyclists indicate and judge heavily when they don’t. So frustrating to be waiting to cross the road and someone turns without indicating.

https://youtu.be/fI0Fa66h6Qo

They’ve chopped off most of Caithness too. Thurso has pubs AND a distillery. John o’ Groats has a distillery too, AND a brewery.

Freedom and whisky gang thegither, Tak aff your dram!

I got married in 1976 and didn’t change my name. My mother cried when I told her. “People will think your children are illegitimate!” At work I had to go to HR and explain, they acted like I had lost my mind.