The Bear Minimum

Could it be? Have we found the beginnings of life other than us in our solar system?

Saturn has a moon called Titan. It’s Saturn’s largest moon, actually, and it’s also about double the size of our own Moon and the only other planetary body in our solar system, apart from Earth, to have stable bodies of water. There’s also speculation that beneath the surface there are more bodies of water that could serve as a biotic environment.

Now, what’s got those clever people at NASA in a big kerfuffle is the lack of hydrogen and acetylene on the surface of Titan when the Cassini spacecraft took chemical analysis data on the moon. There’s one possibly explanation that sunlight filtered through the atmosphere is turning the acetylene into an aerosol, making it a more complex molecule and therefore harder to detect. Okay, fair enough.

The alternative, according to astrobiologists, is that there’s a methane based life form on Titan, that is consuming the acetylene that makes its way to the surface of the moon. Now, methane based life forms are mere speculation and hypotheses at this stage, but if astrobiologists can somehow prove that the acetylene is in fact being consumed then we’d know for certain that methane based life exists, and that we aren’t alone in the solar system, even if we’re sharing it with methane based microbes.

This is incredible news, and something that would be nice to see more coverage of, but that’s always the way with NASA related news. Unless there’s a rocket, media tends to offer very little in the way of coverage.

I’m hoping that scientists working with the visual and infrared spectrometer data provided by the cassini will be able to uncover more, because it would be a long while before another spacecraft could be gotten close enough to get any data on Titan, and at this stage there’s no planned missions to send a craft to Titan until 2015 at the earliest.

The FIFA World Cup is well into swing now, and I’m thoroughly enjoying watching it!

Right now the Australia vs Ghana match is on, and when I can pull my gaze from the screen I’m here writing about it. I’ve got friends in Australia, so I want the team to do well, but alas, it seems the referees are being very harsh with the team. In their first match against against Germany, one of their top players was red carded, unfairly in my opinion, and in the fist half of this match one of Australia’s other top players has been red carded.

Our own fair nation has not been hit with the dreaded red card, thankfully, though there were quite a few yellow cards in the match against the US. We won, of course, but nonetheless, it’s not a happy sight to see any of those cards held up for our team. A draw with Argentina, but I still think we’re going through.

The games have mostly been good, but of course, those vuvuzelas, the long plastic tubes the crowd has so ardently been tooting on, have been a strong drawback. I don’t like the sound of bees at the best of times, the sound of a dozen of them in my living room is intensely displeasing. Apparently one broadcaster has used some very tech-savvy software that can actually pick out the sound of the vuvuzelas and mute them! Ahhh, just listen to this! Isn’t that blissful? I certainly think so.

I think this cup has been good so far, but not quite as good as the last one. I feel like the venues aren’t quite as good as the previous go round, and those vuvuzelas really do detract. I also feel that the refereeing has been very uneven this cup, with an obvious red-card worthy tackle having just occurred by a Ghanan player who was instead yellow carded. The referees do really seem very card-happy at this stage, and whilst I’m very happy to see rules enforced, I don’t think the calls are accurate enough at the moment.

Especially on the moon!

I find this a fascinating discovery, that there is actually water up there on that satellite of satellites. We’ve thought it a dry and baron rock, if a pretty one, for the last four decades, so it’s a rather large discovery that it’s not so dry. Still baron, though.

Scientists are now thinking that, when a Mars sized item impacted with the earth, roughly 4.5 billion years ago, there was a great deal of molten debris orbiting around the Earth, which eventually coalesced into the moon as we know it. At this point, most of the water contained in that molten debris was pushed out of the moon in fire fountains, and subsequently eroded on the surface, but there was still significant amounts of water molecules left in the rocks both internally, and superficially, of the moon.

Since obtaining new data, scientists revised their notion from earlier this year of just how much water was on the moon, and are now saying it could be as much as 100 times the amount they previously thought there. Scientists are saying there could be as much as two and a half times the volume of water contained in the Great Lakes of North America on and within the moon.

This, of course, isn’t water as we know it. These scientists are talking about the structural form of water, hydroxyl, which is one oxygen atom with one hydrogen atom, rather than our normal, liquid, water which is one oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms. Very similar, and yet that one little atom makes all the difference between this solid form and the liquid form of water.

This could mean that things like permanent stations could be built and maintained on the moon, with the aid of a continuing water supply. Sure, that might not happen for a very long time, but now it’s far more of a possibility than before hand!

I wonder… The last few posts have gotten me thinking about early retirement.

You see, I got to thinking about retirement, what with the thought of pensions and what not in my upcoming contract, and then with all that talk of hobbies and leisure time, I quite naturally thought of retirement.

Now, I can’t just up and retire during the next three years, but I wondered if I’d be able to retire early after that. I have to go through our savings accounts and see what sort of interest we’re getting and whether or not it’s the best savings rates available for our needs. I saw a news report recently stating that many people weren’t aware of their savings rates, and were subsequently letting go of a great deal of potential money. I don’t want to be in that boat.

We’ve both got our super, and a good home that we won’t need to move from. We’ve been saving pretty well for most of our careers, so we have a nice nest egg, but I wonder if it would be enough, given three years of concerted saving, to retire on? Would I have to go another three year contract after that? Would I be happy retiring fully and not working at all? I’m really not sure, and I’m glad I don’t have to be sure any time soon.

My wife is certainly not adverse to retiring early, either, as she says she’d love to spend a great deal of time in our garden as well as learning to quilt. I don’t know what new hobbies I’d take up if I retired, but I think I’d love to expand my already considerable library. I might also take up collecting antiques. Not sure exactly which period, or even what kind of antiques, but I do find the whole thing rather fascinating. I tune in every day for Antique Roadshow when it’s on, and my wife and I enjoy the show immensely!

One needs to ensure they get enough relaxation time.

In spite of just having a weekend, I’m exhausted! Today has felt like a very busy day, and like there’s still more to do than I’d like to do. I’d like to find more time for hobbies. I’d like to spend more lazy afternoons out on a deck chair next to my wife, reading under our big sun umbrella.

I’d also like to find more time for gaming, as well. There are a few very good games that I would love try out at the moment, and more soon to come. Yet I find that my time just slips by so quickly, and before you know it it’s the wee hours of the morning and I’ve got to get to bed.

I have to be very alert during the day for my job, I’ve got to be 100% there, and that can be very draining. Whenever I’m seeing a patient I want to ensure that they’re getting the best damn session they can, so they can go away feeling better for it.

So, now I’m thinking that I’d best plan my next weekend better, so there’s more time for those things I’m not getting enough time for now. I really want to spend a long, long time reading, I think, and maybe catching up on some movies I’ve been meaning to see. I also want to go and spend some time out doors. There’s a lovely little grove not too far from our home, and around this time of year the trees all look amazing sheathed in bright green.

When my wife’s knee is completely healed we’re going to go for some nature walks around the Lake District, something we do every year and love it each and every time!

In just under two months I have to renegotiate my contract. I wonder how it shall go this time…

I know, along with everything else going on in my life right now, my poor wife who’s still recovering after her car accident, dealing with my mentally ill mother, the idea of renegotiating a contract for the next three years is another stress that I don’t really need. However in the past, this is the third time I’ve done this, after working for nine years at this particular mental health clinic, I’m more comfortable with the whole process.

This time around, taking into consideration what my wife is going through, I want to be sure that my health benefits are top notch. My employer was considering group health insurance, and that is something that I’m not overly familiar with, so bears further investigation. There’s not many of us at the clinic, and as we negotiate our contracts individually, I’d rather health benefits tailored to me (and therefore the other workers at the clinic) specifically.

Then there’s the pensions schemes. Perhaps, it the not too distant future, I might like to retire and start enjoying those restful years that we’re supposed to get. It’s not terribly likely just yet, but still something that, for this contract, I want to have included.

I’m quite happy working where I work, and I’m happy that I’ll continue to be working there for the next three years. I also enjoy the tri-yearly challenge of negotiating my own contract. It’s something you have to get mentally prepared for, and quite often I feel like I’ve worked my bosses round to a very good deal for me. I do recognise, however, that for those more timid workers, getting a good deal for oneself is difficult, so it’s not for everyone.

My mother’s mental health has deteriorated further, leading to a sad but necessary decision.

In a spectacular display of poor mental health, my mother has taken aim at my wife, and as you know, accused her of many awful things. She has also aimed her sights at me, and has said some incredibly cruel and deliberately hurtful things to me. She’s adamant that my wife is part of some nefarious scheme to take her money, and that I am a patsy in all of it.

In spite of my repeated requests, and forwarding the details of some highly qualified colleagues, my mother refuses to even acknowledge that she has a problem, in stead insisting that I’d believe her about it all if I knew what she knew. Oh, the circuit of that argument still jumps out at my ordered mind, even whilst I morn the loss of the mother I once knew.

I had thought, dear reader, that this was in the past. That the psychotic break she had had some ten or eleven years ago was done, in the past. But no, she’s a cold and paranoid creature now. One that I can’t allow to be in my life, or my wife’s, with her current level of toxicity.

There comes a point where, no matter how close a family member they are, unless they are your spouse or child, you have to cut them out of your life. At this stage, I cannot in good conscience allow my mother into my life. Her communication has become a thing of ugliness and hostility. She’s not a danger to myself or my wife, nor to herself, so there is nothing to be done at this stage. She’s still able to work and function as normal, even if seeing a person wearing purple is enough to make her sweat.

It was a lot of fun, too!

The books themselves took nearly a fortnight after I ordered them to turn up, which was quite irritating. They’re not very long books, either, lending themselves easily to my reading them out loud to my wife.

We’ve both been enjoying the book, largely, and when we got to the final three chapters or so last night, late last night, we had to press on and finish the book. It was a pretty fun read, and I’m very glad I’ve got the second book to go straight onto today.

Harry Dresden is a good protagonist to read about, and I enjoyed the first person perspective throughout the whole book. I enjoyed feeling like I was watching one of those classic detective movies from the forties and fifties. My wife and I are both looking forward to Butcher’s take on many other mythological creatures, as the descriptions of familiar monsters were enjoyably unique.

Our only gripe with the book would be that every woman that Dresden encounters seems to be more and more gorgeous than the last, which makes Butcher seem immature, and the descriptions of what people are wearing. For some reason I intensely dislike the word ’slacks’.

So later today I’ll be starting the second book, Fool Moon, and now I’ve also got to find another online book store to buy the books from, as I was very unhappy with the service of the last place. It’s very irksome to me to deliberately pick a book store which says they’ve got the books in stock and that they ship within four days of payment being received, and to then send them an email six days after payment was received by them, to be told that ‘the books are on their way from the warehouse’.

They sent me a follow up email asking if I liked the books and was I happy with the transaction (looking for customer testimonies for their website) to which I replied very curtly that I liked the book but the postage time was terrible!

From all that’s going on at the moment, a respite is needed.

My wife and I were just discussing going away for a long weekend next weekend. With everything that’s been going on, and with how lovely the weather has gotten in the past week, we’re thinking of going off somewhere nice for a weekend of sitting around and relaxing somewhere nice.

There’s quite a few holiday destinations that we were planning on this Summer, but many of those have to wait until my wife is healed from the accident. She’s still not able to walk for very long, and the doctor has told her she still needs to rest as much as possible and allow her leg to heal naturally.

So in a way that’s a good thing, as further into the Summer my wife and I will go away for a week or two, and we’ll have longer to prepare those niggling essentials. I read an article online about protecting your money when you are abroad, but with the abundant array of credit card offers for such things, it’s something one wouldn’t want to rush.

No in this case we’re thinking of a nice little hotel somewhere, with a few days to lay around under a large umbrella and read, or swim together. My wife loves to swim, and her leg doesn’t trouble her in water, and whilst I’m not a strong swimmer I do alright in a pool so it would be fun to visit a hotel with a great pool.

When the infinity pools first started to appear, I wanted to take my wife where there was one, and though this particular hotel rooftop pool isn’t one, I think my wife would adore it.

So yes, somewhere to lounge, read, swim, and relax is what’s in order for the coming weekend!

I’ve gotten a response. It’s not good, dear reader.

My mother, my poor, mentally afflicted mother, has sent back a response of surprising acidity and cruelty. She’s accused my wife of stealing from her, of siphoning cash off to her family - none of whom she’s any contact with, of course - and told me that she’ll help me if I choose to leave my wife. She’s called my wife some very unflattering names, and has played the part, in her mind, of the sad mother dutifully trying to protect her son. Let me remind you, dear reader, that my wife works hard, is a wonderful, loving, and caring partner, and that we’ve been happily married for the past ten years.

It’s very sad to see her go this way, to see her mind start to crumble and deteriorate. I’ve seen episodes before, some quite shocking, but never before have I seen her persecute one person in this way, and it’s frustrating and angering that it’s my wife, who’s been a supportive and loving daughter in law, in spite of many reasons not to be.

My mother is suggesting that I secretly find an IFA to sort through our accounts, that I get a house insurance quote ‘in case…’ and she’s also suggested I change the beneficiary and so on of my private medical insurance, again, ‘in case…’

She also sent me information on loans, should I need ‘quick cash’ to get away from my wife quickly. I’m left feeling so very tired, and rather angry. I know that, to a degree, she can’t help what she’s saying, but her reluctance to get aid is what makes me angry. She’s violently opposed to psychiatric help of any sort - making my career path ironic, I know - and reacted by storming out of the house and driving away in tears, not to be seen for hours, the last time someone suggested she seek help.

My wife is also very hurt, as she was once very close with my mother. Alas I think that is forever gone, and now we sit back and wait to see if my mother is just having an episode, or if this is a full psychotic break.