tyrny's recent activity
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Comment on Spring gardening thread in ~hobbies
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Comment on GlobalUsefulNativeTrees, a database documenting 14,014 tree species, supports synergies between biodiversity recovery and local livelihoods in landscape restoration in ~enviro
tyrny Link ParentHey, I am working on a very similar project and am very happy to share notes if you are interested. For us we are also trying to bring back a native forest that has become overrun with invasives...Hey, I am working on a very similar project and am very happy to share notes if you are interested. For us we are also trying to bring back a native forest that has become overrun with invasives and has experienced an ash borer induced die off. We have had good luck protecting young trees from deer browse using the tube method and have also had success protecting shrubs and other small plants with black wire fencing.
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Comment on How do you take notes while reading? Do you have a “marginalia” process? What has helped you learn better and retain new knowledge? in ~creative
tyrny Link ParentThis is pretty similar for me. First pass is reading through without taking notes just to get a feel for the material. If I think I will want to refer back then I save the article/chapter so I can...This is pretty similar for me.
First pass is reading through without taking notes just to get a feel for the material. If I think I will want to refer back then I save the article/chapter so I can find it quicker. If I definitely want to dig deep I will print out copies and underline/take notes in the margins on a second read through. Once I have a hard copy with my own notes I tend to refer back to that version when I am going back to it and may end up adding more notes. If I later on realize I am not using it as much it gets filed away for later, if enough time passes or I really decide that a particular article isn't relevant anymore I will toss them. All articles though get saved digitally and filed into folders for organization. The process worked decently well through grad school and after when I was in research science (more protocols entered the stack at this point).
Overall though I completely agree with above that re-reading over time is the best way for things to sink in. The notes and keeping copies were more for my own train of thought, to give me the exact point to reference to, and because I like physically flipping through paper articles when reading deeper.
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Comment on Early tests of H5N1 prevalence in milk suggest US bird flu outbreak in cows is widespread in ~health
tyrny Link ParentI would say that if you see a lot of dead birds in the area or hear about seals or other mammals dying it would also be wise to stay further away as it might indicate a larger degree of infection.I would say that if you see a lot of dead birds in the area or hear about seals or other mammals dying it would also be wise to stay further away as it might indicate a larger degree of infection.
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Comment on Early tests of H5N1 prevalence in milk suggest US bird flu outbreak in cows is widespread in ~health
tyrny Link ParentInfluenza can be harsh and does kill a lot of people every year, which is why we have global collaboration groups tracking it (such as CIERR, which Andy Bowman is part of). But we also pay a lot...Influenza can be harsh and does kill a lot of people every year, which is why we have global collaboration groups tracking it (such as CIERR, which Andy Bowman is part of). But we also pay a lot more attention to influenza, know way more about it, and have vaccine pipelines already working which can respond much faster.
COVID was rough in large part because we had a long period of time not knowing enough and not having vaccines.
Can an influenza cause a pandemic? Of course, it has happened before multiple times. Are we better prepared for an influenza pandemic than a novel pathogen? Yes.
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Comment on Early tests of H5N1 prevalence in milk suggest US bird flu outbreak in cows is widespread in ~health
tyrny Link ParentThe risk would be low. When influenza is in birds it needs to have a certain type of HA to be able to bind to bird host cells (SAα2,3), in humans it needs a different type (SAα2,6). Avian...The risk would be low. When influenza is in birds it needs to have a certain type of HA to be able to bind to bird host cells (SAα2,3), in humans it needs a different type (SAα2,6). Avian influenza makes the news when we see it spreading in mammals because it means it gained a new binding strategy to deal with mammal cells. Pigs are the big worry because they can transmit human binding and avian binding influenza so they make a perfect mixing pot for avian influenzas to get decent at human spread. Seagulls and such are always pooping in areas that mammals like seals are in, and it is super uncommon to see seal die offs from influenza, enough so that when it happens it makes waves in the influenza surveillance community. But we have seen seal die offs, there was one about a year or 2 ago that we did a lot of work on.
The cow to human transmissions we are seeing now are rare, and cows have much much closer contact with humans than birds and are already mammals (but not as big a deal as pigs). So you are likely fine in the water where it should be diluted, but don't go licking up or snorting poop if you can help it. -
Comment on The search for the ultimate home/apartment spring cleaning guide in ~life.home_improvement
tyrny LinkWhen we bought our house we tried to put together a chart of tasks that would let us keep up with maintenance and monthly/seasonal/yearly cleaning. It was scraped together from a variety of online...When we bought our house we tried to put together a chart of tasks that would let us keep up with maintenance and monthly/seasonal/yearly cleaning. It was scraped together from a variety of online guides from places like Better Homes and Gardens, Bob Vila, The Spruce, etc.
I am not totally sure the scope of what you are asking for so apologies if this isn't really answering the question.
Weekly
- dust
- sweep/vacuum
- mop
- bathrooms quick clean
Monthly
- empty all the tiny trash cans (in home offices, etc)
- clean stove
- purge fridge of suspect food
- deep clean bathrooms
- wash dog bedding/dog couch blankets (more during muddy weather)
Seasonal (Spring)
- Wash all removal couch/chair covers (twice a year, more if needed)
- Clean vents (twice a year)
- Vacuum Freezer and Fridge coils and empty/clean drip trays (twice a year)
- Purge and inventory deep freezers and pantry (twice a year)
- Change AC filter (twice a year)
- Riding mower and other lawn/power tool maintenance (yearly)
- Service AC system
- Power wash siding
- Clean windows, get window screens out of storage and clean before reinstalling
- Clean/unclog drains (twice a year)
- Clean faucet aerators (every 3 months)
- Remove lint from dryer ducts
- Clean baseboard fins (twice a year)
- Clean gutters (twice a year)
- Polish wood furniture (every 3 months)
- Wax floors (every 3 months)
- Inspect outer structures for damage (roof, siding, chimney, well, driveway)
- Get well water tested
- Clean desk and check if new paint is needed
- Caulk bathroom if needed
- Clean and store winter clothing/bedding.
- Clean under furniture
- Clean light fixtures
- Clean kitchen vent (every 3 months)
Seasonal (Other, putting Fall/Winter, Summer and 3 month tasks together)
- check water softener
- check CO and fire alarms
- Oil door hinges
- Winterizing tasks (cover AC unit, drain and store hoses, landscaping stuff)
- Check windows and doors for gaps and cracks that need sealing
- Check window trim for touch ups
- Service boiler
Yearly or less frequent
- Pump septic system
I am sure I am forgetting some stuff. Also this does not all happen in a single weekend. Just doing a couple tasks a week makes it very manageable. Doing more often cleaning of things that tend to get hard to clean also makes it much easier to keep them clean, like the stove, oven, fridge, baseboards, vents. And regular maintenance to the structural things keeps them in better condition for longer.
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Comment on "I watched fifteen hours of COVID origins arguments so you don't have to" in ~health
tyrny Link ParentThis has happened far more than twice. China has been the source of a lot of novel and emerging pathogens. The year prior (roughly) there was an emerging encephalitic tick borne disease as well,...This has happened far more than twice. China has been the source of a lot of novel and emerging pathogens. The year prior (roughly) there was an emerging encephalitic tick borne disease as well, they happen about/at least once a year from my memory. SARS-CoV-2 was just very successful, it was a respiratory virus with a great degree of transmission. The use of wet markets and consumption of bush meat is a high risk event. They are common across China and you see a lot of emergence due to things like this. Prior to the pandemic there had been a culling of pigs in China due to a swine fever outbreak and people were using wet market and bush meat more often. The region is well known for coronaviruses already which is part of why the virology institute was there. The year prior to the pandemic we had a virologist give a lecture basically saying this was bound to happen soon in about that same region.
Speaking as someone who worked in pathogen surveillance prior to and during the pandemic, the zoonosis origin always made sense. I started to wonder about the lab leak hypothesis when there were news reports about security agencies in the government that seems to give it more credence, because I trust the CIA has more information than I did, but I always trusted the zoonosis origin the most just because it is so unbelievably common and expected.
Apologies if these were covered in the article/videos.
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Comment on The rise and fall of the trad wife: Alena Kate Pettitt helped lead an online movement promoting domesticity. Now she says, “It’s become its own monster.” in ~life.women
tyrny LinkLooking at the things the trad wife stuff focuses on such as home making, crafty things, super scratch baking/cooking, food preservation, etc are all basically hobbies plus the family oriented...Looking at the things the trad wife stuff focuses on such as home making, crafty things, super scratch baking/cooking, food preservation, etc are all basically hobbies plus the family oriented activities. Personally I love all of these things and it would be amazing to somehow get to quit work and just do my hobbies full time. The same way tons of people want to be able to quit work and just do woodworking or other cottage core activities. I don't really see them as all that different. The only unique part of the trad wife activities is that it can be branded as "traditional marriage" to justify the lifestyle.
Trading financial and personal independence for a life of no financial worry and focusing on your personal hobbies definitely seems worth it to a lot of people, especially lately with how rough the economy is. The influencer stuff helps perpetuate this fantasy version of a stress free life with simple joy, what isn't to love if you are young and scared of becoming independent and already like those things? The pity is just how much of it is tied so closely to white supremacy propaganda and what the trade offs are considering you basically have to put full faith into the husband who controls everything. The whole thing just feels like a gateway drug to potentially abusive situations and politics.
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Comment on What are your go to fast but tasty meals? Is there prep you do on weekends to make meals faster? in ~food
tyrny Link ParentI find that sandwich size ziploc bags work the best for things like soup or pasta sauce in small servings. One bag filled fully is enough for 4 pasta servings or 1 soup serving (I used this for...I find that sandwich size ziploc bags work the best for things like soup or pasta sauce in small servings. One bag filled fully is enough for 4 pasta servings or 1 soup serving (I used this for lunches).
The most important thing when it comes to dealing with the thaw issue is freezing them flat as possible so that they have even thawing. What I do is after filling I place all bags laying on their size on a sheet pan and place in the freezer like that so they are all little card decks basically. After that it is super easy to stack them and store more tightly. They won't freeze into wonky shapes and get stuck together and thaw fast (either in fridge from morning to evening when needed), on the counter in a couple hours, or de-frost setting in microwave for a couple min.
Meat or non liquid things that I want to really store I do in vacuum seal bags, but once again freezing as flat as possible for better thawing.
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Comment on What are your go to fast but tasty meals? Is there prep you do on weekends to make meals faster? in ~food
tyrny LinkI make big batches of things like slow cooked meat sauce over the weekend and portion them into single dinner servings and freeze. I just rewarm the sauce in a pan in about the time it takes pasta...I make big batches of things like slow cooked meat sauce over the weekend and portion them into single dinner servings and freeze. I just rewarm the sauce in a pan in about the time it takes pasta to cook. One batch of meat sauce can last like 3-6 months of meals if we are doing weekly or biweekly dinners with it.
There are lots of meal types that I do this for. We have a big deep freeze in our basement that I keep stocked with things like pasta sauces, meatloaves, pre-portioned and marinated meats, soups, quiches, things like shepherd's pie filling.
I also have a menu board that I post for my family with the week's meals and they can sign up so I know how many portions to make and I can plan ahead which meals are fast (15-20m prep) on nights I know I will be tired or have less time, and nights where I can put more time into a meal (30-1h). Planning this way also lets me put meals that generate leftovers early in the week so I can use them for lunches for my husband or myself.
There are also certain meals where I do mixes of scratch items and store items that let me cut down effort to still make great meals. A Costco rotisserie chicken paired with scratch mashed potatoes or stuffing, gravy, roasted veg, frozen dinner rolls, cream corn, stewed green beans, salad is something that can give the impression of a huge amount of effort when really I can throw that together in about 30min depending on the starch side or veg sides.
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Comment on Historic covered bridges in the US are under threat by truck drivers relying on GPS meant for cars in ~transport
tyrny Link ParentI think that may be part of the problem. I had to drive a 12+ ft truck on an interstate move about a year and a half ago and was unable to find a GPS app that listed bridge heights. The one I did...I think that may be part of the problem. I had to drive a 12+ ft truck on an interstate move about a year and a half ago and was unable to find a GPS app that listed bridge heights. The one I did find was paid and intended I think for long haul truckers. I didn't end up getting it because I didn't want to shell out the money and figured that we were on the highway and it would be fine. But honestly it was a still a challenge at times. Just as you said the signs can often come too late (we had to turn around in a parking lot at one point to avoid a low bridge in NJ), and even finding gas stations we could fit in was a serious annoyance. It was strange how limited the information was online on the maps we had access to.
With the increase in folks without truck driving experience driving for businesses like Amazon and people becoming very dependent on GPS apps for directions, this is not at all surprising.
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Comment on Stardew Valley 1.6 update released on PC in ~games
tyrny Link ParentWow, you were not kidding on it being a massive overhaul. Really looking forward to trying it out with a new save. This will also be my first time playing via Steam Deck. I have previously played...Wow, you were not kidding on it being a massive overhaul. Really looking forward to trying it out with a new save.
This will also be my first time playing via Steam Deck. I have previously played on PC, Switch, and Mobile with a Backbone. Are there any settings you would recommend for performance or is it good with the defaults?
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Comment on Hypothyroidism and me in ~health
tyrny Link ParentDefinitely! I really appreciate you posting your feelings on your own diagnosis and am excited hearing how you are already noticing some changes. My fingers are crossed that we both end up on the...Definitely! I really appreciate you posting your feelings on your own diagnosis and am excited hearing how you are already noticing some changes. My fingers are crossed that we both end up on the other side with stories about how big of a difference we feel with treatment.
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Comment on "The university campus is rapidly becoming a locus of infantilizing social control that any independent-minded student should seek to escape" in ~life
tyrny Link ParentI think the trouble is that it is hard to enact policies that work for everyone. My university also required me to live on campus during my first year and have the dining pass. I was 17 and...I think the trouble is that it is hard to enact policies that work for everyone. My university also required me to live on campus during my first year and have the dining pass. I was 17 and suddenly living 1000 miles from my home town. The policy definitely benefited me. My brother's university did not have the policy and he ended up living in an off campus apartment by himself for his entire time there and in my opinion that was a mistake. He retreated into himself and it allowed his innate anxiety and introversion to get to an unmanageable place. He never ended up connecting with his campus community or making new friends. For every instance of a policy benefitting someone is there is likely also a counter instance of it harming someone else.
To your point about the policies being antagonistic towards students who are working off campus jobs, I think the entire freshman experience universities aim for is an issue if you do not or can not register as a non-traditional student. The schedules are not set with an expectation of students having outside obligations and many universities restrict parking for 1st year students (as mine did) or all undergraduates in general. Balancing the needs of students who are also working is incredibly challenging and is something that many universities lack.
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Comment on Hypothyroidism and me in ~health
tyrny LinkI cannot believe the timing of this post. Less than 1 hour ago the nurse at my fertility clinic called me to tell me that the TSH bloodwork they ordered as a follow up to my initial bloodwork was...I cannot believe the timing of this post.
Less than 1 hour ago the nurse at my fertility clinic called me to tell me that the TSH bloodwork they ordered as a follow up to my initial bloodwork was once again high, coming in at 9.3. The first one was 4.7 which triggered them doing the second draw. They have already prescribed levothyroxine for me and I have been sitting here googling what this might mean and going through exactly what you describe.
So much relief and hope that one medication might be the answer for my mounting fatigue, the increased anxiety and depression, the mental fog I have suddenly started experiencing, the fact that weight loss has been such an ongoing issue despite strict calorie counting.
But also so much frustration that this is coming from bloodwork I was doing because I happen to be seeing a reproductive endocrinologist who bothered to look closer at something. I have hypothyroidism in my family history but my TSH had never really been looked at closely by other doctors. Was this because this is a newer issue for me or because they just didn't check. How much of my issues are from something being wrong with my thyroid versus other things? It is a serious mind fuck right now. Kind of wild to see someone else type up such a similar story to what is playing out this moment for me.
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Comment on The small company at the center of ‘Gamergate 2.0’ in ~games
tyrny Link ParentI would caution using WoW as an example of a great and acceptable environment. I played WoW from classic through to Legion with effectively the entire time raiding (my memory of exactly when I...I would caution using WoW as an example of a great and acceptable environment. I played WoW from classic through to Legion with effectively the entire time raiding (my memory of exactly when I quit is fuzzy, I swear I have blocked the final couple years of it from my memory). While many people were accepting of me as a teen then young adult woman I did experience misogyny and harassment that was gendered in nature on many many occasions, including having someone take a photo of me and photoshop my face into pornographic images.
Experiences with sexism online are incredibly prevalent and often times it is easy to look at the places where it "wasn't as bad" and inadvertently/accidently give them too much credit just due to the difference in harassment when comparing against some of the FPS spaces or places like 4chan.
This is not to say that my whole time in WoW was bad, but I would say I experienced sexism or harassment during every single expansion I played and it came from many sources such as guild members, ex guild members, random party members, and complete strangers. As someone who was in a leadership for a majority of my time playing I was perhaps more visible as a woman which may have contributed.
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Comment on Higher education teaching career advice in ~life
tyrny LinkOne thing that I would suggest you consider is the type of student you would be instructing. A friend of mine recently started a teaching position at a small 4 year college in our state after...One thing that I would suggest you consider is the type of student you would be instructing. A friend of mine recently started a teaching position at a small 4 year college in our state after having similar background to you, also teaching Bio and Bio related courses. For him one thing that has posed a challenge is that at the new institution he is teaching primarily nursing and other med focused students who are just needing to knock out a requirement and have little interest in the subject, and frankly what from I hear are not great students.
I am not sure how wide a range of teaching you had during graduate school but the atmosphere of the institution and level/seriousness of the students can make it much more or less enjoyable. If you can, try to do some check ups on that when deciding between the two choices.
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Comment on How do you keep your home smelling nice? in ~life.home_improvement
tyrny Link ParentOh that is so smart. I like the wax melts but after awhile they become overpowering. Having them on smart plugs to only run for an hour is genius. I am definitely going to try this. My typical...Oh that is so smart. I like the wax melts but after awhile they become overpowering. Having them on smart plugs to only run for an hour is genius. I am definitely going to try this.
My typical strategy is scented candles for the cold weather months and then I have my windows open a lot in warm weather months to create cross breeze and air the house out.
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Comment on There’s a crisis in male fertility. But you wouldn’t know it from the way many men behave. in ~life.men
tyrny Link ParentI do know that there is a device that sort of does this. ZyMot is a chip that selects the most motile sperm from a sample for IVF or IUI. I do not believe that they are standard practice for many...I do know that there is a device that sort of does this. ZyMot is a chip that selects the most motile sperm from a sample for IVF or IUI. I do not believe that they are standard practice for many clinics and from what I have read you often have to opt for them. For ICSI I believe ZyMot has been shown to improve outcomes, for IUI or traditional IVF I am unsure of the clinical results. I also do not know if ZyMot can aid with low morphology, it seems more geared towards motility issues, however the relationship between morphology and fertility is not well understood still.
We are in full swing of garden season.
In our vegetable garden we were very happy to see the asparagus come into its second year strong with amazing growth, although we are now combating an asparagus beetle invasion. May is our busiest month with plants but we are mostly on track. A mushroom bed was already added and this weekend we will likely be building out a new squash bed outside the fenced garden since once the plants mature they are relatively deer proof.
The berry patch is also doing well, all the grapes are coming back nicely and now demanding I finish building the arbor for them. The strawberries have overgrown their two beds and are already growing fruit, so I will need to add the bird net this week. And all of our blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and others are looking good.
Big issue so far this year in the edible gardens is pest control. Now that things are establishing we are spending a lot of time in prevention and mitigation. Last year towards end of summer we had a rabbit break in, hopefully our additional layer of fencing prevents a repeat this year. We also had issues with cabbage worms and this year covered the broccoli and cauliflower immediately upon planting. Slugs are a current annoyance and we are going to try to deal with them via copper tape and beer.
We had a deer break into two of our fenced off fruit trees with an apple taking the most damage. New, larger, and sturdier fencing is in progress and we are using deer spray as a stop gap measure. This year we added 3 baby hazelnut trees to the border of our mini orchard and the woods.
On the landscaping side I am very happy that all 10 of my new hydrangeas survived and are growing nicely as well as the 3 redbuds, white oak, tulip tree, and arrowwood viburnum that were added last year. This year we have planted bare root serviceberries, pussy willow, bur oak, swamp white oak, shellbark hickory, gray dogwood, and redosier dogwood. We also started working on our native meadow project and native swamp meadow with some new grasses and flowers including nodding onion, tufted hairgrass, joe pye weed, foxglove, and others.
For your debate on serviceberry vs aronia I am firmly in the serviceberry camp. We have a couple varieties and are planning a mix between multi-stem plants near our meadow and single trunk for lining our drive. They look great for both spring and fall.