Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[RED-DOG]

Wowzer!

Any poker comps involved?

[booder]

Wowzer!

Any poker comps involved?

And there it is.

Welcome back,bet Mrs Red and the girls have been fussing over you.

[Marky147]

Did you make the money in the tournys?

WP

[Marky147]

First one about 7 years ago,now had 5 heart attacks,had 7 stents fitted (3 were replacements) and one balloon.Take 7 different pills daily - Ranolozine,Ticagreler,Lansoprazole,Bisoprolol,Perindopril,Spironolactone,Atorvastatin.

Funny thing is,when i have called Ambulances to my home,nothing bad registers on their ECG machines,its not till i have bloods taken that heart damage isconfirmed (the left side is considerably worse than the right).They think it is probably  something to do with my heart rate (resting is 40bpm)

Think my old man was on a few of those, and as he got to his late 50s he overtook me on prescription pill popping.

I remember when he had his heart attack back in '05, we were lucky that we lived in a postcode area that had a special clotbuster drug they could administer before transporting him.  If we'd lived elsewhere, he'd have prob been a goner as they'd have had to wait until in the hospital before anything done.

He was out of it but still aware enough of what was going on to tell me to unreg him from the Full Tilt weekly main event sat, as they'd told him no chance he was going to anywhere

[Doobs]

Glad you see you got through your setback.  Hope you are still ok Tom, and the recovery hasn't gone astray?  How long before you are allowed on the golf course again, officially or otherwise? 

[RED-DOG]

I'm doing fine thanks Doobs, although I have to wait until a fortnight ago before I can play golf.

[Doobs]

Don't we normally talk about cuckoos at this time of year?  I heard my first one today; bad luck for potential mother birds in the area, though if they fall for that they deserve all the bad luck they get. 

[RED-DOG]

You're doing well Doobs. I haven't heard one for about 15 years.

[doubleup]

though if they fall for that they deserve all the bad luck they get. 

One theory

There is a question as to why the majority of the hosts of brood parasites care for the nestlings of their parasites. Not only do these brood parasites usually differ significantly in size and appearance, but it is also highly probable that they reduce the reproductive success of their hosts. The "mafia hypothesis" proposes that when a brood parasite discovers that its egg has been rejected, it destroys the host's nest and injures or kills the nestlings. The threat of such a response may encourage compliant behavior from the host.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasitism

[Doobs]

You're doing well Doobs. I haven't heard one for about 15 years.

Pretty sure I didn't hear one last year, I am guessing my last one was 2 or 3 years ago.  It was in a fairly local nature reserve, but I didn't see it.

We have had a couple of neighbours building in their back gardens.  I was quite surprised how it affected the birds in my garden, but they seem to be recovering after no work for 3 weeks or so.  

[Doobs]

You're doing well Doobs. I haven't heard one for about 15 years.

I could hear one at parkrun this morning.  So 2 in 2 weeks, though it could possibly be the same one? I don't know how far they travel; but 4 miles seems a possibility. 

[RED-DOG]

Well I can't believe there is one here without a mate so it's at least 50/50 to be the same one.

Then again, I wonder if both sexes call?

[Doobs]

Well I can't believe there is one here without a mate so it's at least 50/50 to be the same one.

Then again, I wonder if both sexes call?

I had to Google this.  They both call, but only the males make the cuckoo sound.  So it seems entirely possible it was the same bird.  Though must add I mentioned this to someone else, and they had heard a cuckoo at the same nature reserve as me the weekend before.  Don't know if this makes it more or less likely that he travelled.  Like if he has hung round for a couple of weeks would he be more likely to move elsewhere or does it just show he is lazy?  They do fly from Africa, so 4 miles is nothing.

Edit.  Had to look that up too;

"100% Fidelity: Studies using satellite tracking have shown that all monitored male cuckoos returned to the same breeding grounds in consecutive years, often within just 1km of their location from the previous year."

So this probably explains why I hear them more frequently than you.  But if you hear one next year, you are likely to keep hearing it.  Also think I just need to get out around the beginning of May to hear them next year.