Life as a Hobbit

  Birds! Moa  The name comes from the same Polynesian term for domestic fowl.  So we kind of just refer to these dinosaur-like birds as chickens.  The possible traditional te reo Maori word used when they roamed Aotorea alongside humans was "te kura" meaning red bird. A size comparison between four moa species and a human: 1. Dinornis novaezealandiae 2. Emeus crassus 3. Anomalopteryx didiformis 4. Dinornis robustus The moa were kind of wild from an anatomical standpoint. They were completely wingless, they didn’t even have lil vestigial lumps like New Zealand’s other famous flightless bird the kiwi.  Moa feathers are thought to have been less feather-like and more furry, this time similar to modern kiwis, a type of body covering that is more useful for maintaining body temperatures rather than efficient aerodynamics, especially those moa that lived in the colder alpine regions.   Look at how "furry" the kiwi feathers are.  Photo credit Alina Th...

Pretty sure I have COVID, I lost my sense of smell and I've been feverish the last few days.  I am starting to feel better, and my flatmates have offered me butter chicken and couscous so I'm well taken care of.  The two skittish cats I live with have even poked their heads into my room and stared at me with their enormous and unblinking eyes to make sure I'm still breathing. So this is going to be a low hanging fruit kind of post.  Look, food! As I wrote before, often cakes are just called slice, so you could have Belgian slice (which is always covered in bright pink frosting) or currant slice.  Not everything is a slice though, as evidenced by the Cushions with Cherry Jam Filling.  I don't know the difference between a slice and a cushion, I'm sorry. This muffin was Texas in size only, not flavor.  And honestly, it wasn't even as big as a Costco muffin. This drink contains 0% frog.  It's one of the many fruity ciders I have yet to try because they co...

No sweep! Only push! Push brooms vs sweeper brooms isn’t a deep conflict I’ve really spent much time thinking about before.  Apparently it is notorious in the American ex-pat community here that it is very difficult to find a sweeper broom. True enough, both of the brooms in my household are push style. And I do feel like the push style is the wrong tool for the job of sweeping a kitchen floor. Towel drying racks - every bathroom seems to have an electrical layout geared specifically designed around where the heated towel rack will need to be plugged in.  Pulling a nice dry towel off of a heated towel rack is really living, this is an appliance I want to bring home with me for humid Chicago summers and cold Chicago winters. Speaking of electrical sockets almost every single outlet has an individual power switch. When I’m done in the kitchen using the stovetop I can just turn it off at the wall. That switch is helpfully labeled "hob."  This also means that since I’m not ...

Ambo - ambulance.  But way cuter. Sweet as - this one clearly has a ton of different meanings, but from what I've gleaned so far it can mean okay, roger that, message received.  A verbal response that notes the message expressed by the previous speaker has been heard and understood. This works in place of the American English response “perfect” which I loathe, since it is used to mean “I have heard the words you just said.”  I also love that it sounds like people are saying sweet ass. Chilly bin - an insulated cooler Jiggered - dog tired, worn out Flash - fine, fancy.  I feel like I've heard this more often as a thing one is not rather than a thing one is, but that may be from working in healthcare. People who are ill or feeling rotten are "not so flash." Can be a reply to “how are you?” as in “not so flash.”   Lolly - candy of any sort, even chocolate.  This was very confusing for me at first. Slice - a piece of cake (can be anything from a home...

     The only hikes I've tackled around Christchurch have managed to be up so much hill.  Chicago got me real soft when it comes to elevation changes. I went from a flat residential neighborhood to climbing through a thin line of shady pines which shunted me out onto a sunny, unprotected hillside that just kept going up and up and up.  And up. Signs warned me as soon as I was on the trail proper not to mess with lambs.   I really wish the sign read Danger: Sheep. The smaller text just warns you not to pick up and try to carry off the lambs.  Like any baby seal left on a beach, picking up an unknown baby animal is likely to bring more trouble than good into their life. The text is awfully to the point.  "DO NOT PICK ME UP, as your smell will stay on me so my mum won't want me back and I could die."  And then the Mama Sheep says "I can hear my lamb, I will be back soon.  PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH MY LAMB." You don't have to tell me twice. T...

Hierarchy       Seems way diminished. I’ve worked with plenty of young 20-something residents (doctors in their first few years out of school, when they are doing their practical training) who are comfortable with being called by their first name. But seeing a salt-and-pepper attending (boss doctor) introduce himself to patients and their families as simply Andrew was rather surprising. I’ve definitely felt on equal footing as a team member, and PT, OT, MD, RN, we always go by name, not titles. Code status     Different hospitals I’ve worked at in the US have different approaches and cultures around the code status conversation, but it is usually rolled out as this terrible question: “Do you want us to do everything?”  Couching it in those terms does not communicate that CPR (and intubation, and last-ditch medications that have serious downsides, aka “everything”) can have outcomes like broken bones, inability to wean off of the ventilator, and t...