(guys. It's. A steel balustrade. It's the steel cable that acts as a railing for our deck. She said "it needs tightening, take a photo, I'm not coming back". It has been tightened. Photos provided. Oh no. Now she needs to drive out here, yank on it to make sure it's tight, and charge another $220.)

The same size? Exactly the same size? So... not like... a different shape? Like... one's a square? And one is a rectangle? I am trying to remember how old I was when I was taught this entry-level geometry. Pretty sure I was not old enough to try for a surveyor's license.

In fact: the *fact* that the skylights were IN THE SAME POSITION and were THE SAME SIZE in both sets of plans was considered to be evidence IN FAVOUR of this theory. Please enjoy this extremely high tech presentation of what-the-actual-fuck (the X is for the "obliterated" skylight).

And this is what the property would have looked like, more or less, when she conducted the initial site inspection, some five months later. There are two skylights visible in this photo. The one closer to the centre of the shot was cracked and warped. The one mostly hidden may have been fine.

She's also not actually competent, in my opinion. This is a woman who accused us of using pre-existing skylights, and making up a paper trail to cover it up. For a refresher, for anyone who doesn't know, this image below explains why we needed a fucking building surveyor.

Because I went looking for it, this is my all time favourite video of Ollie being affectionate and insistent. It’s worth watching to the end. I took this last November. This is what I will miss most. Spit-gargling purr, face hugs, just intense love offered freely.

Consequently, she ended up in a blanket “purrito” (this vid was two days after we brought her home, she is much bigger now), and then the pill was administered. The ears went FLAT. The *look* she gave me, my god. She was ONE HUNDRED PERCENT plotting my murder in that moment. (…she forgave.)

Anyways, grief is tiring, I leave you with this picture of Ollie in better health, with the extreme fluff on display, and what it looked like when he almost had a thought. Fabio, ze most beautiful cat in ze world. Indeed.

Magrat-kitten is exploring the house now — we thought Ollie might have chronic cat flu, on top of everything else, so we kept them separate as she’s not fully vaccinated yet. I’ve cleaned, but she can clearly smell another cat that isn’t here. I’m so sad they never got to know each other.

And he managed to remain A Bit Weird™️ in his own special way, right up until the end. Yesterday, he found part of a box, but apparently it sufficed. I will miss his cuddling and weirdness. I’ll miss how he’d park himself in front of me and go full-bore Miette when I tried to nudge him aside.

Vale Ollie-cat, our accidental pedigree rag doll, the Fabio of cats. An absolute stunner, completely aware of that, apparently aware of very little else. Very sweet. Thick as two short planks. Delightfully weird. He was thirteen. We had him for nine years. It’s never long enough.

It’s a fundamental lack of humility and empathy, an unwillingness to believe others about their own lives, because at some point it felt like he said to himself, “I have learned enough, and I never have to question my conclusions again.” Which, as a scientist…

This photo was taken a week prior but if I’m making a “my dog is a giant goofball” post, it definitely belongs here. In this photo, Manny dares to ask “What happens if I *catch* the tail?”

Whenever we give Manny a pig’s ear (as a parent hands a child the iPad in exchange for *five minutes peace*), he hunts it. Grabs it. Scampers to the other side of the room. Drops it. Then leaps away and starts stalking it. Pig’s ears can be *tricksy.* You can’t let your guard down for a SECOND.

Deep-sea holothurians (sea cucumbers) are perhaps not a fair example, as they are notoriously difficult and poorly understood. Shallow water feather stars make up an extraordinary proportion of the biomass in the tropics, and yet. These are two different species (colour has nothing to do with it).

People want to pretend that taxonomy is stamp collecting. That it’s somehow easy and anyone could learn to do it in five minutes. That they can divide groups into “operational taxonomic units” (OTUs) and still get a meaningful result. Ahahahahaha nope. Guess what? these are all the same species.

And *most* of Clark’s keys *mostly* work, until they don’t, and there isn’t an alternative for many groups. And I do sometimes feel a bit bad for giving him shit, because MY GOD the amount of work this represents…!

Anyways, today I present: Glyptometra sp. 1 and Glyptometra sp. 2. Because Glyptometra suuuucks.

This one… sigh. Currently sitting at “Crotalometra sp. 1,” because of that crest running along the lower segments. Otherwise it would be C. rustica. I am not sold on the genus, honestly.

These are, incidentally, VERY rough. Not publication worthy. First freehand was one where I pretty much knew what it was, but wanted to practice. Oceanometra annandalei.

PS not to be confused with the dog who likes to cuddle on the couch while chewing his stinky goat horn.

It’s a vile proposition. It can’t hit the target. It can’t feel what that target is. It won’t know when it’s flying. This doesn’t have to always be fun to be important. Anyways, that’s enough from me. I have a cat on my lap who demands my attentions. Take care, -Doc out

If you see this, we IMPLORE YOU to post a picture from whatever device you're using without explanation.

IT IS DONE. The entirety of the house exterior has been sanded back. Everything but this wall has had fire retardant oil applied. The front left and rear right sections of wall have two coats of stain and a topcoat. The front right, rear left, and half the west wall have one coat. Getting there.

For the overwrought plan, see below. …my entire family is like this on my dad’s side. We cannot help ourselves.

I mean it *barely* fits. I needed 1350mm and that’s what I got. Can’t turn the handle to raise the level, let alone the wheels. But thank god, my overwrought and complex backup plan will not be needed.

But, counterpoint: OH MY GOD WE ARE SO CLOSE.

The other side of that wall *was* accessed by ladder, and I was able to stabilise those with some very precisely chosen bits of wood, but it got a little bit hairy up the top of the Bailey, and the path is actually not as bad there. It’s terrible. It is *less* terrible.

By “narrow”, I mean “less than scaffold width.” Which is an issue, because that means we can’t just reassemble the scaffold where we want it, like we could on the other side of the house (see below).

The issue is that untouched section up near the peak. What you *can’t* see in that photo (but can in these ones, before we put the extension on) is that the slope drops away towards where the scaffold is, and the extra height is all *sub-floor* baby. And the brick path is narrow.