Tag Archives: Mary Roach

My Planet.. the end.

January 30, 2023 Rivergirl 40 Comments

A few more chuckles from Mary Roach before I put this book to bed.

My husband does not moisturize, though at times I wish he would.

As you know I have a spouse who enjoys filling our kitchen with overpriced gadgets…. so I totally get this. Though thankfully no $345 pentolas have crossed our doorstep.

Yet.

Touchless trash cans with sensor eyes? Please don’t tell my husband.

Preach sister! My spouse never ever uses coins but has them stashed everywhere. In the den closet, in every vehicle cubbyhole, and yes in jars on the bedroom floor.

Though he prefers pickle to sauerkraut.

🥴

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My Planet… part three.

January 26, 2023 Rivergirl 24 Comments

More relatable Mary Roach humor.

While I can’t get on board with the jewelry part, I’ve had more than a few cocker spaniel days.

Oh, who are we kidding? I’ve had cocker spaniel months.

This next page deals with searching for a new home and open houses.

I used to love to tour open houses, just because. Not that I ever bought any, it’s just a fun way to spend the day.

So you know I had to…

Some dogs looked happy.

Some dogs did not.

Cats? Apparent they rate toast collars.

But hands down? The winner goes to three olive martini beagle.

It will serve his owner right to get poked in the eye with that toothpick.

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My Planet… part two.

January 23, 2023 Rivergirl 20 Comments

A few more laughs from Mary Roach.

She does make a valid point.

The previous owners of our house removed three drawers in the kitchen and installed a dishwasher. After 10 years of never opening it, I hired the same contractor to get rid of the dry rotting dishwasher and rebuild the cabinet with a sliding shelf. We’ve been through three refrigerators since we’ve lived here, I don’t need this one developing an attitude.

I unabashedly raise my hand on this one and admit to telling many a mechanic about the funny noises emanating from under the hood . Lucky for me the vorculator was still in good shape.

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Rutting elk, tipsy mothers and my thighs.

January 19, 2023 Rivergirl 38 Comments

I just finished another book by Mary Roach… but instead of her usual quirky and irreverent devotion to one particular subject, this time she’s sharing a collection of quick stories covering a myriad of topics.

Still quirky, still irreverent… and because they made me chortle?

I’m sharing.

Being a menopausal woman of… ahem, a certain age…. I can totally relate to this. My thighs haven’t been there for me for years, the bastards.

When my mother had too much sherry she called my father Pork. That may sound dirty, but they used to collect beautiful little pigs made from precious stones and gems so it was actually a term of endearment.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Been there, heard those rules.

Damn those elk.

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Packing For Mars… the finale.

January 7, 2023 Rivergirl 19 Comments

It’s time to put another quirky (and often ridiculous) Mary Roach book to bed so I’ll leave you with a few excerpts sure to make you appreciate the ease of planetary bathroom visits.

Yes. I’m going there.

This, not walking on the moon, is what makes astronauts heroes.

There’s a fact I never knew.

And I thought my husband spent too much time on the throne. Damn!

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Packing For Mars… part four.

January 2, 2023 Rivergirl 16 Comments

Before humans went to space, there were chimps. And not all of them were lovable.

With a name like Enos, it was inevitable.

Naked space travel. Who knew?

And if that’s not enough of a mental image for you, here’s a paragraph about the horrors of elimination while floating above our planet.

The fact that there are slews of researchers and scientists being paid the big bucks to design high tech Pampers makes me chortle.

No gravity means no showers. That would be it for me.. sayonara NASA.

Nope. No way. Not this chick.

🤣

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Packing For Mars… part three.

December 29, 2022 Rivergirl 49 Comments

Are you ready to be blown away by the physiological changes of space travel?

Free floating organs is a disturbing enough thought… but I haven’t had a uterus since my hysterectomy in 2015, so what’s my colon kicking back on now?

No wrinkles, smaller waist and the ability to jettison my bra? Sign me up.

Veins in the leg muscles normally constrict when we stand, to help keep blood from pooling in our feet. After weeks without gravity, this feature stops bothering to work. Compounding the problem is the fact that the body’s blood volume sensors are in the upper half of the body. Where, without gravity, more of the body’s blood tends to pool; the sensors mis-
interpret this as a surplus of blood, and word goes out to cut back on production. Astronauts in space make do with 10 to 15 percent less blood than they have on Earth. The combination of low blood
volume and lazy veins makes astronauts lightheaded when they return to gravity after a long stay in space. It’s called orthostatic hypotension, and it can be embarrassing. Astronauts have been known to faint during postmission press conferences.

These are the types of things I never thought about in connection with astronauts. Clearly the human body is not meant to be without gravity.

Another thing I never thought about?

But now I can’t think of anything else.

🤣

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Packing For Mars…. part two.

December 26, 2022 Rivergirl 17 Comments

Until I read this book I never gave much thought to inhaling space vomit, but trust me… NASA has.

On that happy note much research has gone into vomit training and simulation.

I’ve never eaten Progresso vegetable soup, and now? I’m quite sure I never will.

There’s a job for which you will never see me volunteer.

Since motion sickness is a natural response to a novel or sensorially perplexing motion or gravitational environment, astronauts have to go through it all over again when they return to Earth after a long mission. During the weeks or months of no gravity, their brains have been interpreting all otolith cues as acceleration in one direction or another. So when they move their head, their brain
tells them they’re moving.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson described her first moments on Earth after coming back from 191 days on the International Space Station like this: “I stood up and the world was going around me at 17,500 miles per hour, as opposed to me going around the world at 17,500 miles per hour.” It’s called land-
ing vertigo, or Earth sickness.

How bizarre is that?

Avoid turkey vultures at all costs.

Got it!

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It’s that time again..

December 23, 2022 Rivergirl 12 Comments

Yes, I’ve found another one of those quirky Mary Roach books to share with you. This time… we’re going to space.

If you missed the last few books I shared, you should know Mary’s research tends to go a little beyond the norm and there will be some colorful as well as uncomfortable subjects discussed in future posts.

“Early in my research, I came across a moment-
forty minutes into the eighty-eighth hour of Gemini VII-which, for me, sums up the astronaut experience and why it fascinates me. Astronaut Jim Lovell is telling Mission Control about an image he has cap-
tured on film.
“a beautiful shot of a full Moon against the black
sky and the strato formations of the clouds of the earth below.” reads the mission transcript. After a momentary silence, Lovell’s crewmate Frank Borman presses the TALK button.
“Norman’s dumping urine. Urine [in] approximately one minute.”
Two lines further along, we see Lovell saying, “What a sight to behold!” We don’t know what he’s referring to, but there’s a good chance it’s not the moon. According to more than one astronaut memoir, one of the most beautiful sights in space is that of a
sun-illumined flurry of flash-frozen waste-water droplets. Space doesn’t just encompass the sublime and the ridiculous. It erases the line between.”

Sun struck frozen pee.

And we’re off!