Wednesday 20 September 2006

in dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty...




Hi.

Look, I can't stop long as I've got to go and catch a plane to Dublin (the last remnants of Hurricane Gregory permitting). The plan from there is to take in one practice day and all three match days of the Ryder Cup at the K Club.

I'll tell you all about that when I get back next week. I've also just spent a couple of days away from my comfortable desk in the office and have been out working in store, so I'll probably tell you all about that as well.

I bet you can't wait, eh?

You lucky, lucky people.

---

One thought before I go -- I watched a daddy-longlegs buzzing around the living room for a few hours the other night. It wasn't particularly annoying, so I just left it alone. The next morning it was dead. This got me thinking: I don't know how long they live, but let's say for the sake of argument that they're like mayfly and they only live for a single day. That means that this poor sod spent about 6 hours of his life -- a whole 25% -- banging fruitlessly against the walls of my living room. If you assume that human life-expectancy is about 80 years, then that's the equivalent of a 20 year stretch.

Knowing this, do I now have a moral obligation to try to set as many of these things free as I can? Surely nothing deserves that kind of a fate, does it? The same thing also applies to moths, although on reflection I reckon that flies and wasps should do the time.

Hmm.

---

Toodle-pip!

16 comments:

  1. I always thought a daddy longlegs was a spider.

    Yep, just googled it. A daddy longlegs is a spider. It's also known as a harvester.

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  2. I have no issue with daddy long legs, but moths and butterflies scare the living daylights out of me. Fortunately for them, I'm too afraid of them to kill them.

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  3. Wow...days of voluntarily watching golf. That's just amazing!

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  4. I thought it was harvestman, rather than harvester (which is a popular family restaurant :-) )

    I always used daddy long legs to refer to crane-flies, which is what ST had buzzing around.

    We had one buzzing around in our lounge last night. It was still alive this morning, but missing five of its legs. We have a cat ...

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  5. The K club, the best golfers in the world, my favorite event in golf next to the Masters and th Open tournament. I'm so God Damn JEALOUS I could scream. Have a great time, and I wouldn't say no to a hat.

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  6. Sorry, yes, it's harvestman/harvestmen not harvester, I'd navigated away from the site when I posted here and mis-typed it.

    I did a search for crane flies, and what I came up with was what I've always referred to as a mosquito hawk.

    I guess we've learned of a few more terms that aren't the same between the UK/USA, such as braces/suspenders, lift/elevator, fag/cigarette, etc.

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  7. Damn those common names!

    The Daddy longlegs ST is referring to is a Crane Fly, a temperate fly that looks like a massive clumsy mosquito.

    Mogogodo, I suspect what with Texas not being temperate *natch* that the name has just been applied to some other species with long legs

    The adult fly does only live for a day or so and if it eats, just eats nectar. The larvae can live for years though and eat roots and so are a mild pest.

    Stef BSc. (hons) Zoology and expert user of Wikipedia ;-)

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  8. Aw, Stef man!

    I was just gonna say that.
    Sun reader ;-)

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  9. Very noble of you to continue supporting the tradition of golf. I'm too selfish to put myself through that... ;)

    I despise all the flying insects that come in during autumn. I have a policy though. First, I turn off the light and put the one outside on, and open the window. I give them five minutes to leave of their own free will.

    If they fail to do that, I take a cup and piece of card, willing to relocate them peacefully.

    If they resist my efforts and continue to invade my domain with their fucking annoying buzzing-right-up-to-your-earhole antics, I make with the fly spray.

    Mwuhahahahahaha!!!

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  10. Flash, who are you calling a Sun reader?

    Yoko, *natch* is a non-verbal excalmation that one might make while saying something else because a thought crosses your mind.

    I pointed out that Texas wasn't temperate. I meant the weather but of course temperate could easily be used to describe someone's behaviour... Hence the *natch*

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  11. Thanks Stef, I think I get it...
    :)

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  12. Last week I saw 2 craneflys "doing it". They were intertwined and flying in a kinda tornado stylee, simply spining around. After about 30 seconds one flew off and the other fell to the floor dead.

    hmmm.

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  13. Natch = naturally. No?

    Where are you, Swisspants? It's been too long.

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  14. That's what I thought too Lizzy, *actch*. Never heard it used as Stef did, there. But I'll remember it next time I compile a dictionary. Which will be my first time, *obv*.

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  15. @ adem

    Woah, now I feel kind of dirty. :P

    Swiss, are you *still* on holiday, crivens it feels like you've been gone months!

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