A bad day yesterday. I was shoveling the stairs to my apartment when suddenly I found myself sitting down. Fell right on the ol' butt bone. It hurt like hell and I was couch-bound for the rest of the day - found some old pain killers in the medicine cupboard which took the edge off.
I'm still quite sore today; but better and I'm sure it's going to be OK...just a bruise.
Unfortunately my indisposition caused me to miss Alison's surprise birthday party last evening at her mom's place. Happy belated birthday, Alison!
In other news, I offer the following from the Guardian regarding a chimp named Santino who was apparently fed-up with life as a zoo specimen in Sweden: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/09/chimp-zoo-stones-science
Chimp who threw stones at zoo visitors showed human trait, says scientist
...The loutish behaviour of a stone-throwing chimpanzee at a zoo near the Arctic circle has challenged scientists' beliefs about human beings.
Santino, a 31-year-old male at Furuvik zoo in Sweden, may be the first animal to exhibit an unambiguous ability to plan for the future, a behaviour many scientists argue is unique to humans. Forward planning takes considerable cognitive skills, because it requires an animal to envisage future events it will have to deal with.
Santino would get agitated when the first groups of visitors arrived at his enclosure in the morning, and would start hurling stones at the spectators. When the zookeepers investigated, they found that, while the zoo was closed, Santino had been busy making piles of ammunition, and returned to them to resupply.
...
The zookeepers recently decided that an operation was the best way of controlling Santino's behaviour.
"They have castrated the poor guy. They hope that his hormone levels will decrease and that will make him less prone to throw stones. He's already getting fatter and he likes to play much more now than before. Being agitated isn't good for him," said Osvath.
Meanwhile, winter continues unabated here in the Capital City. Looks like about six inches last night. And I need to go shovel those damn stairs again.
If I don't post again after a couple of days...someone call the Coast Guard...
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