Taste Buds in Our Gut

     I've started reading Gulp by Mary Roach. Mary Roach tells everything about the alimentary canal which is the body system that your food passes through from start to finish. Roach has done her research, asked questions and then writes a very humorous authentic account of what the digestive system is and how it works. She also gives a historical account of early research and how it was done.

     I have only read 80 pages but I found something that I really have to tell you. She discusses taste which she describes as, "a sort of chemical touch. Taste cells are specialized skin cells."

     We have taste receptors in four parts of our body: the gut, the voice box, the upper esophagus and the tongue. Wow! Who'd have ever thought we had all those taste buds? Only the tongue's receptors report to the brain. So with apologies to all oenophiles taste is only functional to act as a doorman to what we take in our mouth. So if stuff doesn't taste right we do not ingest the food.

     "Intestinal taste receptors are thought to trigger hormonal responses to molecules such as salt and sugar -and defensive actions- such as vomiting and diarrhea to dangerous items." No need for this information to go to the brain as most of what we would get would be pretty itchy.

    I like the way Mary Roach leads us to take a different look at how one part of the body works. We rarely think of the  alimentary canal as one unit that has different parts to do the job of digestion of foods.

    So in one short section I learned some very interesting things about taste.

     I'm looking forward to the remainder of the book.

I Have a New Bathroom Sink!

     I have posted about my limited handyman skills before. Some comments have been made in a kindly fashion that I should just hire a tradesman who is trained for the job. I'm a slow learner. The next thing that comes along I dive into and have another challenging adventure.

    The bathroom sink has looked ugly for some time. Underneath there was a tremendous amount of rust. However, it wasn't leaking so why change it.? 

    Well, in mid January it began leaking. I cleaned out the vanity and placed a tray to catch any drips. I could still use the sink. I wanted a sink exactly like the one I had so that I would not have to saw a new hole in the vanity. I also didn't want to get a new vanity.

    It was difficult to find a new sink. I don't know how many salesmen wanted to sell me an oval sink when I had to have a round sink. Finally, we found a sink but it had to be ordered and it would take 6 weeks. Okay, I can handle that.

    After seven weeks the sink arrived and I looked things over and carefully planned how this procedure would take place. Now I do know that all kinds of surprises can pop up after you get started. 

     First , take out the old sink. I turned the water off at the shut off valves. First I decided to take off the metal ring that went around the old sink. Well, wouldn't you know it, after a half an hour and a big mess that little ring didn't come out first. 

    So back to the first plan...take off the faucet. So I'm working upside down a way up behind the sink where I can't see and  I discover I turned the nut the wrong way and wrecked the faucet. So now I have to shop for a faucet. Shopping for  faucet wasn't as bad as shopping for the sink. While I shopped for a faucet, I removed the rest of the sink. The faucet I wrecked was 26 years old.

So back to the project.  I checked that the new sink and drain would line up.

    Now I also decided to change the trap. A whiz guy in plumbing wouldn't sell me just a trap and wanted to sell me more trouble. I finally found a trap and the proper fittings. I attached the new drain to the sink. There was a seal to put around the edge of the sink. My trusty assistant thought it would be better if part of the seal was taken off first. Big mistake. The part she took off was to keep the ring in place as I installed it. Six hours later I finally got the seal in place. There was some loud talking and a few bad words exchanged.

    Now the pipe from a faucet never lines up with the water intake tube. It has to be manhandled. I'm reluctant to put too much force on something so it took some time to get the faucet connected to the water. 

    Finally, everything was done. Turn the water back on. Hey, there are no leaks! That was a big surprise!

    So after two months, lots of sweating, some yelling and swearing, I have a shiny new bathroom sink.

     I think I'll wear out before I have to replace this new sink!

    

You Know You're Getting Old When...

      You know you're getting old when both your kids are wearing bifocals! Yes, this happened recently when my daughter got bifocals and like most people who get bifocals found that they were a great help. My son got bifocals a couple of years ago and makes good use of them. 

     Now my daughter has great taste when it comes to colors so her new glasses have colors that go along with skin tones and all the clothing she wears. My son just bought a very fine pair of glasses that that give him a look of distinction. Yes, I know I'm bragging about my kids.

    Now I wish I had my first pair of glasses to show you how cool they were! I had the pair with the huge lens until a few months ago when I got new glasses.

    The kids bifocals got me thinking about the time I started wearing bifocals. I remember the awkwardness of not being able to see your feet when I first put on the bifocals. Since I was a teacher I looked over student work at their desks from a distance. I didn't really miss the close vision. But sooner or later it had to happen and I got bifocals which were usually kept in my pocket until I needed them. This meant a lot of taking off and putting on of glasses. It was a nuisance. Finally, I needed a prescription for distance and I began wearing glasses all the time. 

    So I have a vivid idea of what the kids have just gone through. It's one of the first steps to aging. I first saw my son with glasses when we were on skype. I asked why he needed glasses and he replied. "Because  I'm an old fart like you!"

     So for most of us sooner or later we require the aid of bifocals and of course the condition progresses. 

     How're you doing with your bifocals?

   

Seven Days Make a Big Difference

     A week ago today I posted about a snowfall we had overnight. Waking up Sunday morning we found a brilliant white world. 

    Today all the snow is gone and we had a high of 18 C (68 F). All last Sundays snow has disappeared.

    It's a big difference. Here we have roughly the same two photos 7 days apart.

Casino Nights

    I had written a post two years ago about my connection to Casinos. So when I mentioned casinos in my last post some of you started to wonder if I was a gambling, partying fool of some kind. I don't gamble. I take an occasional drink. I'm not a night owl or a partier. 

    I work a couple of Casinos every two or three years for an organization that has charitable status. In Alberta , charities can get an opportunity to raise funds from Casino profits that go to the government.

   So  the charity gets a couple of nights at the Casino and have to work for the funds they will be given. As I said before, it's kind of a make work project for the charities. I'm sure they'd be happier with full time staff doing the job we do.

    We work with the table operations...blackjack, roulette. We are in a separate room from the Casino. We have a banker, cashier, general manager and a chip runner. We sign for a certain amount of money and chips. The money is counted and the chips are counted. When a table needs chips they put in an order to our banker. The chips are sold to the players at the table. When someone has chips to cash in they come to us and we redeem their chips. We start out with roughly 150 000 in chips and cash. At the end of the night counters count all the chips and cash from the tables. The chips come back and are used the next day again. I'm not sure of the procedure with the money from the tables.

    The slots are all electronic so humans don't have to  count and distribute money. 90% of a charities money comes from the slots and 10% from the tables.

    So what was I doing until 2:30 AM? Well counting money and chips. It's not fast paced and is a lot of fun. They have a system for operating this procedure.

    I think I'd have a tough time to find anything more boring than slot machines. Gambling holds no interest for me. 

    One guy cashed in chips for $1600.00. He told us he spent $3000.00 to get the $1600.00. I would rather spend the $3000.00 for travel.

   I don't find the late hours a problem and I get to work with fun people from my group. 

   So now you know that I haven't fallen off the deep end and become a complete fool.

Spring? Hold on a Minute

     On my last post we were  having such a nice  spring day that I got my bike out for a ride.

     However , things change and change very quickly. It is March, and weather can be variable. We get most of our snow in March.

    So we were surprised by a good dump of snow in the last two days. To make it more interesting the snow  wasn't forecast. So our natural adaptations kicked in and we dealt with snow and treacherous road conditions.

     Friday evening we received a small amount of drizzle and snow. At 2:30 AM when I left the casino there was a hard crust of snow to scrape off the car. 
  

     Saturday evening it started snowing about 5:00 PM. The snow became heavy and road conditions quickly became dangerous. When I left the casino at 2:30 AM there was six inches of snow. So much more cleaning off the car!

    Sunday morning showed us a pleasant view of a white covered landscape.

   

A Couple of Firsts

       I had a couple of firsts for me in the last two days. I do keep a bit of a journal so can look back and check on things.

      We've had a long stretch of mild weather. It's been such a long stretch that most of our snow is gone. It's very pleasant. Highs have been from 5C (40 F ) to 10 C (50 F ). Half the nights have been above 0 C (32 F).

    So with all that in mind I got my bike out today and went for a short ride. I've never gone for a ride  in March before so that is the first. I didn't get any photos today so these are from last year.

    The other first for yesterday was the first robin of the year. It's always quite a thrill when you hear a robin in the neighborhood and you wait until he/she goes flying by the house.

    Now I thought Mar. 18 would be a record for the first robin in my yard. I looked up my records and no. I had a first robin on Mar. 7 in 1989. Now I think the robin in 1989 might have been one that over wintered here.

     I didn't get a robin photo yesterday either, but here's one from my friend taken a few years ago.