Saturday, September 29, 2007

Public service announcement

Maybe that severe abdominal pain and vomiting is just a stomach virus. Go to the emergency room anyway. It could be your appendix. At least, in my case it was. The sooner you go, the sooner you can fill out your paperwork and find out.




from Monty Python's Flying Circus, episode 45

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Get a shovel...

...and see if there are any more ways for these people to dig themselves into a hole. Or should I say, "tunnel"?

This reminds me of an incident near my hometown, where beaches were closed to protect the young of a certain shorebird from humans. This left the birds vulnerable to birds of prey, who did more damage than the people did. Whoops.

Here, according to Reuters, we have salamanders who need to cross a road at night. Previously, volunteers had to help them along, because some environmentally insensitive human had put up a curb that they couldn't climb. The curb was removed, and the salamanders began to cross freely, only to get squashed by oncoming traffic. Now, tens of thousands of dollars are being spent to put tunnels under the road, so the salamanders can pass unscathed. They might want to consider putting the curb back too, just to be on the safe side.

Update: As an illustration of why I suggested replacing the curb upon the installation of the tunnels, check out this little Davis, CA landmark, graciously pointed out by friend and fellow blogger Michelle in her comment on this post. Also check out the appropriately named "Nutty Narrows" squirrel bridge in Longview, Washington.