Notices by Prof. Sam Lawler (sundogplanets@mastodon.social), page 2

Had to take a slight detour to go put escapee goats back in the pen. But now I've got a cup coffee, and a cat sitting on my lap, and I'm ready to finish this piece.

My satellite pollution opinion piece is ~150 words too long and I have to incorporate comments from 5 people I got to read it. Yoga, lunch, then megafocus writing time (I hope).

oh noooo now I'm 300 words over this isn't going the right direction!!

Ugh now I'm 200 words over again. Dammit. More refocusing...

Only 50 words and 3 references over the limit 😬

I have a science zoom meeting now (international time zones suck), and I'm pretty tempted to submit to the editor as-is after that's done...

Oh my gosh I apparently can't read the LibreOffice word count tool. I'm actually right at the word limit! But I have one too many references so I'll have to think about that carefully... Anyway, closer to being done than I thought. YAY.

Draft SUBMITTED!

A big topic of conversation at the science meeting right before this was all the fucking satellite streaks that are in our images. It's terrifying how many there are now.

So, fuck you Starlink (and BlueWalker 3, too). Hopefully lots of people will read more about why I hate them so much in an opinion piece coming in a few days!

My #FiberFriday musings:

A couple weeks ago I got a llama. I am very much still learning about him (llamas are SO WEIRD), but I really hope that next spring I can shear him and make something with his wool. It's so amazingly soft (and sooooo dirty, but I can probably wash it). I've never tried knitting with llama wool, or even spinning, but I truly love the idea of effectively making a sock out of grass.

My partner and I headed back home to prepare for the llama arrival. Without really knowing what a llama needed, other than good fences. (We have decent fences already since we have goats. But llamas are MUCH taller. Can llamas jump?! I don't really even know).

Then my friend texted - he realized he needed to register the trailer before driving it, and the provincial insurance computer system was completely down. So... llama would have to wait in the trailer for a bit.

We gave him a few minutes. Then tried to gently encourage him with a bucket of grain, and finally gentle pushes on the backside. Nothing.

So we got the goat guardian dog, Jack. Jack was REALLY EXCITED but also REALLY NERVOUS about this giant thing. He sniffed cautiously, and the llama cautiously sniffed back.

But still, the llama stayed in the trailer.

We waited. And waited. And finally, the system came up and he got the trailer registered, but had a (actually super important) commitment already, so he wouldn't be able to bring the llama for a few hours. I felt bad for the llama, and offered to have my partner go pick him up. We did that, and my partner brought the trailer to our place.

We opened the door to the trailer.

And the llama just sat there. Didn't get up. Didn't make any move toward the door.

So then we tried letting the goats walk by. The goats were SUPER nervous.

But the llama was exstatic! As soon as he saw the goats, he jumped up and lept out of the trailer, running toward them at full speed.

Anyway, the goats freaked the fuck out and ran. This caused the dog, Jack, to immediately identify the llama as a threat, not a friend.

And then the mini horses saw the llama, decided they should befriend him, and the llama said "no way" and at this point, it was complete chaos.

Eventually, he (jokingly) asked if I wanted a llama. And I jokingly agreed. And then I realized it might not be a terrible idea. That was a few months ago.

With both of our busy schedules (and Saskatchewan winter) we kept delaying the llama transfer.

Finally, on Tuesday, he had a free day and I offered to come help clean out his trailer. And he thought I was offering to get the llama right then. So...I went with it, and helped load up the llama. (Llama was very unhappy about trailer)

Ok I have a cancelled meeting! So I'm going to tell you the llama arrival story (as the sky above the canola fields outside slowly turns apocalyptically orange from wildfires hundreds of km away... here's something lighter.)

So, my friend has had this llama for years. He's been a good guardian for my friend's goats. But my friend sold all his goats last year (farming is really hard, people need breaks). So what to do with the llama?

Meet our new farm guardian animal, who came pre-named, with probably the best name ever for a llama.

Introducing...

Barack O-llama.

(I have an amazing story about him arriving here, I will share later when I have more time)