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Bill W

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  1. Bill W

    Chapter 8 S3

    Yes, they'll get rid of Louella eventually. If not before, at least when they graduate.
  2. Bill W

    Spiders

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ordgarius magnificus Ordgarius magnificus, Manyung, Queensland Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Infraorder: Araneomorphae Family: Araneidae Genus: Ordgarius Species: O. magnificus Binomial name Ordgarius magnificus (Rainbow, 1897) Ordgarius magnificus, the magnificent spider, is a bolas spider in the family Araneidae.[1] It is endemic to forests along the Australian east coast. Description [edit] Females are up to 14 mm long and almost as wide; males reach only 2 mm. Females are creamy-white with a pattern of pink and yellow spots on the abdomen, and a crown of white and reddish tubercles on the head. Habits [edit] They live in trees or tall shrubs, rarely less than 2 m above the ground. The easiest way to find them is to search for clusters of large, brown egg-sacs suspended among foliage; the spider will be found nearby, at day sheltering in a retreat made from rolled leaves and silk. Like all bolas spiders, the female attracts male moths with an airborne pheromone. Once a moth approaches, the spider senses it coming due to vibration sensitive hairs on its outstretched legs. It is then caught with a sticky globule that is swung at the prey. The egg-sacs are up to 5 cm long; one spider produces up to nine sacs per season, each with several hundred eggs.
  3. Bill W

    Spiders

    Neat looking spider. It appears to have nipples or two tiny shields on its back!
  4. The word "troglodyte" originates from Ancient Greek, meaning "one who dwells in holes." It's formed by combining "trogl-" (from "trṓglē," meaning "hole") and "dy-" (from "dýein," meaning "to creep into"). The suffix "-tēs" indicates an agent or someone who performs the action. It came to English via Latin from Greek trōglodutēs, alteration of the name of an Ethiopian people, influenced by trōglē ‘hole’. The term was first used in the 16th century to describe cave-dwelling people, and later expanded to describe those with outmoded or reactionary attitudes. The first recorded use of the word "troglodyte" in English was in the mid-1500s, specifically around 1555. The Oxford English Dictionary lists an example of its use in a translation by William Waterman from that year. Examples of "troglodyte" used in a sentence: "The villa was turned into a motte in the 10th century, around which the village developed, in part in excavated troglodyte dwellings." "He could feel himself slowly melting into the kind of troglodyte you sometimes saw scurrying off the end of the subway platform." "Soldiers on both sides lived a desperate troglodyte existence in the waterlogged shell holes that had destroyed almost all trace of their trench systems." "In the vicinity are the troglodyte caverns of Monte Scaglioso, still inhabited by some of the lower classes, and other caves with 13thcentury frescoes."
  5. Bill W

    Chapter 7 S3

    That was a good one, kajean. It's a good thing your building manager has a sense of humor.
  6. Bill W

    Chapter 8 S3

    And who knows where problems may come from - sources we know or possibly sources we haven't been introduced to as of yet.
  7. Skimp is likely a variation of scrimp, which means "to make too small" and comes from the Swedish word skrumpna, meaning "to shrink, shrivel up." The earliest known use of the word "skimp" in English as an adjective is in 1775, and as a verb in 1879, Examples of skimp used in a sentence; "You don't have to skimp on the cream, there's plenty more where that came from." "There's plenty of sugar, so you don't skimp on it." "And they didn't skimp on the cheese either; there was enough for every chip." "If we skimp on the satellite and spyplane fleet, we'll regret it." "Many old people skimp on food and heat in order to meet their bills. "When choosing a hotel, do not skimp."
  8. Bill W

    Chapter 8 S3

    Yes, Louella is a gem. I'm glad she's not living next to me. Mac and Devin are entering their senior year (4th year) of college, and Bailey will be pining for Bear after they graduate. I assume the boys just kept going. I never thought about trail cams, but they're more worried about others showing up while they're their and see them when they're locking up the hunting cabin before the last one turns into a dog or a bird. Thanks for the feedback.
  9. Bill W

    Chapter 6 S3

    Yes, Frisbee gold sounds like a fun game. Have a good sleep, kajean, and I hope it helps you have a good day.
  10. Bill W

    Chapter 5 S3

    Yes, those cartoons were wonderful for introducing kids to classical music. You didn't mention the cartoon "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" where they used Mozart's overture from "The Magic Flute" or "Tom & Jerry in the Hollywood Bowl" that featured a musical sequence set in an opera house. There was another cartoon, "What's Opera, Doc" where Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd have a musical battle set to classical music, or "Baton Bugs" where he conducts a piece by Franz von Suppe. When my older son was younger, I remember him playing a current song (I forget the name of it), but I remember the lyric "when making love was just for fun, those days are gone." I pointed out to him that part of the song was played to a theme in Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. He didn't believe me, so I pulled out my record and played it to prove my point. I'm glad that you're enjoying my humble tale.
  11. Bill W

    Chapter 4 S3

    Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yes, extreme amusement parks are becoming more and more frequent and they do push the boundaries for some. It's amazing how the amusement parks we went to when we were young are now quite tame in comparison. As far as the 4-D is concerned, take the movie you described with chairs that movie and jerk along with what's happening on the screen. For example, the scene is showing a building collapsings and suddenly you chair jerks to the side and then suddenly tips you forward so as you watch the building fall... it's scary. Yes, we've all done very foolish things when we were young and wonder how we lived through it. If you think about it, though, there were others that did the same foolish stunts and didn't survive them. They just don't get to have the recollections about the foolishness like we do. Anyway, thanks for the feedback. Oh, and yes, it looks like another evil skinwalker and you don't want to be a bully when Devin and Mac are around. 😲
  12. Bill W

    Chapter 8 S3

    Let's see what the new academic year has to bring.
  13. Bill W

    Chapter 8 S3

    Maybe some interesting times.
  14. Bill W

    Chapter 8 S3

    Yes, it's very possible that Bailey senses something different about Bear and that he's not a true dog. It could be something about how he smells or that he acts differently toward her - it's hard to say what she detects. Whatever it is, she prefers Bear over the other dogs. 🐕 😲 Yes, Louella saw the boys walking down the street toward their house, which is right nest to hers. This time she merely made a face, turned her back to them, and walked back to her place. Not that the boys minded... 😜
  15. Chapter 8 – Getting Settled In When Devin and I woke up on Saturday morning, we headed over to the dining hall for breakfast before driving out to the hunting camp. Devin pulled into the area as far as he could, which was right in front of the door to the cabin, so the SUV wouldn’t be seen from the road. It was also to make sure that it would block anyone from seeing us when we exited the door, because we’d typically be naked at that point. Once that was taken care of, I unlocked t
  16. Bill W

    Chapter 2 S3

    I totally understand where you're coming from about traveling. It's getting harder and harder all the time. I'm not using a walker, but I do use a cane. As far as music, I have a wide ranging interest. I grew up listening to country, bluegrass, big band, and 50s music, and an elementary music teacher got me hooked on ragtime, jazz and classical music as well. Then, as I got older, it was 60s and 70s music, and in college a professor got me interested in opera as well. And later my children got me listening to 80s and 90s music. My wife and I liked to jitterbug and engage in ballroom dancing, so I guess you could say I run the gambit with my interests in music. I apologize to anyone if I missed a musical genre. 😜
  17. Bill W

    Chapter 1 S3

    I'm glad you are enjoying this story and I apologize if I caused you by mentioning certain things in this chapter. I'll also apologize in advance, because their may be other similar mentions in future chapters. 😢
  18. Bill W

    Spiders

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Assassin spiders Temporal range: Middle Jurassic–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Austrarchaea sp. Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Infraorder: Araneomorphae Superfamily: Palpimanoidea Family: Archaeidae C. L. Koch & Berendt, 1854 Diversity 5 genera, 90 species Archaeidae, also known as assassin spiders and pelican spiders, is a spider family with about ninety described species in five genera.[1] It contains small spiders, ranging from 2 to 8 millimetres (0.079 to 0.315 in) long, that prey exclusively on other spiders.[2] They are unusual in that they have "necks", ranging from long and slender to short and thick. The name "pelican spider" refers to these elongated jaws and necks used to catch their prey. Living species of Archaeidae occur in South Africa, Madagascar and Australia, with the sister family Mecysmaucheniidae occurring in southern South America and New Zealand.[1] Assassin spiders were first known from 40 million-year-old amber fossils which were found in Europe in the 1840s and were not known to have living varieties until 1881, when the first living assassin spider was found in Madagascar.[3] The fossil record of this family was first identified from Baltic amber dating to the Eocene, although many taxa from these deposits have been reassigned to Mecysmaucheniidae, Malkaridae, and Anapidae. Currently valid Baltic species include Archaea levigata and Archaea paradoxa. In 2003, Afarchaea grimaldii was described from Cretaceous Burmese amber aged between 88 and 95 million years, extending the record of this group considerably, the oldest fossil known of the group is Patarchaea muralis from the Middle Jurassic (Oxfordian/Callovian) of Inner Mongolia, China.[4] Taxonomy [edit] The family Archaeidae was erected in 1854 by C. L. Koch and G. K. Berendt[1] for one genus, Archaea, initially with three extinct species,[3] all found in amber from the Baltic Sea or Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. No living species are placed in this genus.
  19. The word "sneer" has an interesting etymology, tracing back to Old English and potentially even earlier. It's believed to have originated from a sound-irritating root reflecting the physical act of snorting or expressing contempt. The word is believed to have originated from Middle English "sneren" meaning "to mock" or "scoff at," according to Wiktionary. It is also related to Old English "fnǣran" meaning "to snort, gnash one's teeth," according to the American Heritage Dictionary, or other Germanic languages with similar sounds related to snorting, growling, or chattering. Its possible origin is from the Danish word snærre "grin like a dog," from Middle Dutch, or Middle High German snarren "to rattle"). The earliest recorded use of the verb "sneer" in English dates back to the mid-1500s, specifically 1553. The noun "sneer" appeared later, around the early 1700s, with the first recorded instance being in 1706. Examples of "sneer" in a sentence: " "Don't sneer at me! I'm doing my best!" "I knew they would sneer at my suggestion." "I noticed the sneer in their voices after I made my comment." "She explains, still gracious though with a slight sneer to her smiling nature this time." "You obviously don't know what you're talking about," she sneered. "She looked at me with a sneer of disgust." “They're paranoid,” he said with a sneer. "The novel elicited sneers from the critics."
  20. Hubris comes from Ancient Greek ὕβρις (hubris) 'pride, insolence, outrage'), or less frequently hybris (/ˈhaɪbrɪs/), is extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence and complacency, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The first known use of the word "hubris" in English was in 1884. It was likely a back-formation from the adjective "hubristic" or directly borrowed from the Greek word "hybris". The spelling "hybris" was more classically correct and began to appear in English in translations of Nietzsche around 1911. "Hybris" meant "wanton violence, insolence, outrage," originally referring to presumption toward the gods. Examples of "hubris" used in English: "It was a war the republic entered, and stayed in, because of hubris." "The terms hamartia and hubris should become basic tools of your critical apparatus." "His failure was brought on by his hubris." "But hubris seemed to get the better of this team again." San Antonio Express-News, 16 Mar. 2018. "Achilles has his heel and his hubris to go along with his great strength." "If you accuse someone of hubris, you are accusing them of arrogant pride."
  21. The word "frivolous" originates from the Latin word "frivolus," meaning "silly, empty, trifling, or worthless." This Latin word is thought to have been derived from the root "frivos," meaning "broken, crumbled," which itself comes from "friare," meaning "to break, rub away, or crumble," according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. Frivolous in British English is (disapproving of people or their behavior) silly or funny, especially when such behavior is not suitable. The earliest known use of the adjective frivolous is in the mid 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for frivolous is from 1549, in the writing of John Leland, poet and antiquary. Examples of "frivolous" used in a sentence: "There are those who scoff at the school boy, calling him frivolous and shallow." "But this was Nero, and he would not be Nero without being frivolous." "Some of the prayers were rather frivolous." "We momentarily move onto more frivolous things." "That all things silly or frivolous have no right to exist." "He exudes an easy blend of the serious and the frivolous."
  22. I did, this past Tuesday.
  23. What happened to the "Classic Author" section of the "Recently Updated Stories" listing? Did we just "die out"?
  24. Bill W

    Spiders

    It's doing the stroke named the crawl, but to a fish swimming in that water, it could look like dinner floating above.
  25. Anesthesia comes from the Greek word anaisthēsia, from an- ‘without’ + aisthēsis ‘sensation’. It originated from the Greek adjective anesthetos,and later passed as a loan word into other languages, such as modern Latin. Anaesthetos is a compound word an negative + aesthesis “without feeling, senseless.” The first public demonstration of anesthesia in surgery, using ether, took place at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on October 16m 1846. This event, led by dentist William T.G. Morton (1819-1868) and surgeon John Collin Warren (1778-1856), marked the beginning of modern anesthesia. The first documented use of a gas for surgical pain relief, while previously performed by Crawford W. Long, was attributed to William Morton due to his later publication, according to Xenon Health. It was first used in England on Saturday, December 19, 1846, by a London dentist, James Robinson, who demonstrated the administration of the anesthetic gas ether. During the American Civil War approximately 95% of surgeries used either chloroform or ether to provide a needed level of pain relief that made battlefield surgery more manageable for both the surgeons and patients. However, descriptions of anesthesia based on mixtures of medicinal herbs have been found in manuscripts dating from before Roman times until well into the Middle Ages. Before the development of modern anesthesia in the 1840s, surgeons relied on a variety of methods to reduce pain and enable patients to endure surgery. These included intoxicants, sedatives, and even substances like opium, alcohol, and herbal concoction "dwale." Some cultures also used coca leaves and inhalations of various substances like cannabis and mandrake. Examples of "anesthesia" used in a sentence: "Maybe the numbness is the body providing temporary anesthesia for the pain." "Patients have many fears regarding surgery, including fear of death, anesthesia, and pain." "Body piercing is traditionally done without any anesthesia to dull the pain." "Dorothy was a ward nurse and trained in the use of anesthesia." "The patient was given intravenous medication to induce anesthesia." "Awareness during anesthesia is a serious complication with potential long-term psychological consequences." "We often radiograph dogs when they are under anesthesia for spaying or neutering or other routine procedures."
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