Round Up

Meh! It's hot and muggy here today. Tried doing some yard work but it got too hot out.

Anywho, here's some interesting items from the news:

Male bird loses interest when mates' beauty fades

"Not unlike some among their human counterparts, male blue tits lose interest when their mates' beauty starts fading, staying out longer and neglecting their offspring..."

Meh. What self-respecting male would carry the name "Blue Tit" anyway?

Former police officer finds ‘back seat baby’ 50 years later

"Long retired and just weeks shy of his 80th birthday, Cameron’s years with the Edmonton police may be long behind him. But he vividly recalls the wee hours of June 26th, 1962, when as a 29-year-old constable, he rolled up to a red light on 111th Avenue and 101st Street, just after midnight.

Looking north, Cameron spotted a speeding 1956 Ford Meteor headed his way. The white and black sedan zoomed past another southbound car and blasted its horn. At the intersection where Cameron waited, it hung a sharp right. Cameron flicked on his police lights and pursued.

Less than two blocks away, the lead-footed speedster pulled over into a parking lot — on the east side of the Royal Alexandra Hospital, undergoing expansion at the time — and jumped out.

“My wife’s having a baby in the back seat,” blurted the young man. “I’ll go get help!”"

[---]

"...the officer found himself alone with a woman quite evidently in the final stages of labour.

The next moments were a blur..."

[---]

"Then he watched as hospital staff whisked woman and child onto a gurney and into the building.

“Where’s the afterbirth?” a nurse demanded. “That would be on the back seat, ma’am,” he replied, pointing to the car and his recently laundered and freshly bloodied uniform. The ordeal over, Cameron was soon being heckled over the radio by his duty officer.

“Well, what are you doing, Cameron, are you back in service?” asked the sergeant. “Boy or girl? Do you know the difference?”"

Har, har.

I often wonder about these stories about police officers delivering babies in the back seat of a car. Do cops receive mid-wifery training? Hell, I've had two kids and I would probably panic, but maybe that's because I've been there, done that.

And apparently he didn't know the difference. He told the sergeant it was a boy.

Shrinking Newfoundland caribou herds still a mystery

It's global warming, stupid.

Seriously, though, have you noticed lately that global warming is no longer the standard excuse for everything? What am I going to blog about?