samhexum

Why seniors should be having more sex — even at 90, scientists say raise the social security benefit so they can afford to hire (or, you know, pay their bills)

@ICTJOCK said: A beagle lover here. "Scout-Scout" gives good wishes. BELLAIRE, Mich. − He’d had enough of being at the animal shelter, so Scout the dog climbed over one tall fence and then another, crossed a busy highway in the darkness, entered the automatic doors of a nursing home down the road, walked unnoticed into the lobby, hopped onto a couch, curled into a ball and quietly went to sleep for the night. An astonished nurse there found him the next morning. She called Antrim County Animal Control, whose shelter happens to be just down the road. And they discovered that he'd escaped from there the night before. Scout was a stray mutt. He had no identity, no history. The shelter staff gave him his new name, but otherwise they knew nothing about him, though they noticed he had the distinct demeanor of an abused dog. Somebody apparently once shot him too, with BBs or birdshot, because his jowl still had some kind of round pellets embedded in it. You couldn’t see them, but you could feel them if he let you touch him. The sheriff came and took him back to the shelter. Scout the dog sits on the couch in the lobby of Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility on Thursday, July 13, 2023. It's the spot where staff found him after he escaped from a nearby animal shelter. But a few nights later there was Scout, back on that same couch in the nursing home lobby. Somehow he again scaled a 10-foot chain-link fence, then a 6-foot solid privacy fence, crossed a highway without getting run over, entered the front door unnoticed, jumped onto the same couch as before and made himself at home for the night. A call was placed again. He was brought back to the shelter again. Just a couple of nights after that, Scout was back on the couch for the third time. And the staff had a decision to make. Lost and found Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility is a long-term medical care residence about an hour northeast of Traverse City. It cares mostly for seniors, some of whom have terminal illnesses, or dementia, or simply nowhere else to go or nobody to look after them. There are 82 beds split between several smaller households. For some reason, this is the place Scout the dog decided to make his home. “I’m a person who looks at outward signs, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” said Marna Robertson, 57, the nursing home’s administrator. “He did that one time, two times, three times, and obviously that’s something that you should pay attention to. And I asked the staff, ‘Well, he wants to be here. Would anybody like to have a dog?’” Scout walks past residents of Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Bellaire on Thursday, July 13, 2023. The staff formally adopted him. Suddenly the nursing home had its own pet. And the residents were delighted. “I think it reminds them of being home,” said Rhonda Thomczak, 49, the administrative assistant at Glacier Hill, the household where Scout was first discovered. “When you’re home you have your pets, and you don’t get to have that here. Having a dog around makes it feel like home.” Scout has free rein here at Glacier Hill, which houses about 20 seniors. He wanders the halls at will, lies down wherever he wishes and visits residents whenever the mood strikes him. He learned how to get into their rooms by jumping up and using his paw to pull down on door handles. And he knows which residents keep dog biscuits in their walkers to give to him. “To each and every one of them, it’s their dog,” said Jenni Martinek, 49, the nursing home’s household coordinator, in whose office Scout has his bed and his toys. 'We woof you!' Earlier this year, the nurses held a fundraiser in Scout’s honor. They put his photo on social media and asked for donations to the animal shelter that brought him in off the street, and thus to them. Hundreds of dollars came in from strangers who heard how he got there. Someone even came by just to meet this dog they saw online. And in February, he was named Resident of the Month. “We woof you!” said the poster announcing the honor, written by the staff. “Thank you for adopting us!” Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility resident Butch Craig, 80, gives a bone to Scout after shaking his paw on Thursday, July 13, 2023. It was just after lunch on a summer weekday, and Scout was making his rounds to see his favorite residents. He visited Butch Craig’s room, where the 80-year-old creates arts and crafts that are displayed along his windowsill. Scout comes here for biscuits, which he then buries in Craig’s chair for later use. The dog then walked down the hall to see Bob Shumaker, whose room he enters in the middle of the night to wake the sleeping 84-year-old by pressing his wet snout against Shumaker’s sleeping face. It was startling at first, but now Shumaker likes it, so he pretends to be asleep while Scout repeats the snout press until Shumaker gives him a biscuit. Scout made his way to the living room, just outside the dining area, where he found Shumaker’s sister, Shirley Sawyer, 82, who now lives under the same roof as her brother, just like they did as kids. And like the others he visited before, her face lit up when she saw him. “He’ll always let you pet him and lets you talk to him if you need someone to talk to,” she said, petting the dog. “It’s very nice.” Scout found his forever home at Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Bellaire. Where ever did you come from, pup? But Scout is still a mystery. Nobody knows where he came from, what his original name was, how he wound up a stray that was picked up and brought to the county shelter. And nobody knows what bad things happened to him. “All they knew is he was abused,” Martinek said. “He was just very scared.” Even now, his walk still has the slight hint of a cower, and his tail stays a little lowered even when it’s wagging. He’s frightened by loud noises. He’s leery in general of men who don’t live there. Even jangling keys get him nervous for some reason. And his expression is softly somber. But most of all, nobody knows why he wanted to be here so badly. “You know, it’s really hard to say,” Robertson said. “Maybe he felt like it was a safe environment. He certainly has a penchant for the elders. He’s very in tune with what they need, especially our very vulnerable population. If they have dementia or if they’re dying he knows that, and he will go and be with them and comfort them. He must’ve just felt like he needed to be here.” Self-appointed protector Indeed, as soon as he was given a home, he appointed himself its protector. “He’s always watching, making sure everybody’s OK,” Martinek said. “If somebody is in the passing process, he’s in and out of the room, checking on them. He’ll even want to climb in bed with them.” “He can sense that,” added Stephanie Elsey, 42, the facility’s clinical care coordinator. “We’ve had a few in the past whose room he won’t leave. We had a resident that when he was passing away, Scout wouldn’t leave his room. He makes a good nursing home dog. He knows his job and he’s good at what he does.” Cheryl Patton, director of nursing at Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility, pets Scout as he makes his way around the facility in Bellaire with clinical care coordinator Stephanie Elsey on Thursday, July 13, 2023. "He makes a good nursing home dog," Elsey said. "He knows his job and hes good at what he does." Scout came home with Martinek one time, the night the facility held a loud disaster drill that they knew would scare him. “I thought he’d climb in bed with me and sleep, but he laid in front of my bedroom door, one eye open, watching to make sure I was safe all night long, ‘cause he was protecting,” she said. “He was so exhausted by the time he came back here.” A visitor rang the doorbell. Scout headed to the door, barked a few times and sat there waiting to see what who was trying to enter. He’s not big and he’s not menacing, but he goes through the motions anyway. “He just kind of knows who belongs or doesn’t,” Martinek said. "So if the doorbell rings he barks to let them know he’s guarding.” 'He knows his job and he’s good at what he does' Later that day, Craig inched his walker down the hallway until he reached Martinek’s office. She was out, and he looked concerned. “I’m supposed to have pizza,” he said to nobody. Last fall, a friend he’s known since childhood told him that she’d come by on July 13 this year to have a pizza dinner with him. They could go outside, she said, and sit in the sunny courtyard and enjoy pizza together in the fresh air of summer. Scouts lays in the shade and remains on the lookout as Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility resident Bob Shumaker talks with household coordinator Jenny Martinek during an outdoor pizza party for another resident on Thursday, July 13, 2023. “He’s always watching, making sure everybody’s OK,” Martinek said. On July 13, Craig waited for the doorbell to announce her arrival. The dinner hour came and went, but the friend never showed up. He called her at her downstate home. It turned out she simply forgot her offhand promise to him. “But he didn’t forget,” said Martinek. “And so he has looked forward to this for months. Months and months. Since before Christmas. And he was devastated.” The sight of him sitting in his room, alone and downhearted, was too much. “When you spend five days with them you become close with them and they become part of your extended family,” Martinek said of the residents. “And you don’t want to see them hurt.” Guarding the people he adopted The very next day, she threw him a pizza party of her own to show him he has friends who don’t forget about him. In fact, she was out getting pizzas when Craig came looking for her. But he didn’t know that. “I’m supposed to have pizza,” he said again, roaming the halls, leaning on his walker. It started looking to him like a repeat of the day before. This time, though, he wasn’t stood up. Here came Martinek, his favorite nurse, with the pizzas she promised. Here came Shumaker and Sawyer, the brother and sister, who sit with Craig every day in the dining room at lunch, now summoned for the special party. And here came Scout, the dog that knows when someone isn’t feeling great, as if sensing yet again where he was needed the most. Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility household coordinator Jenny Martinek checks on resident Butch Craig, 80, as Scout lurks behind her during a pizza party for Craig and a couple of his friends on Thursday, July 13, 2023. They all gathered at a table under the shade of a wide umbrella. Scout sat at their feet. Someone offered him a bite of pizza, but he didn’t eat it. Maybe he had too many treats from the residents that day and wasn't hungry, they speculated. Or maybe he was just content to be included in the party with his favorites. Instead, he laid his head down between his paws, resumed his somber expression and went back to guarding the people he adopted. “I think he knows that this is his home and he is all of ours, so that gives him a sense of security,” Thomczak said. “And I think he just wants to protect that.” Scout sits in a hallway next to Jenny Martinek, household coordinator at Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Bellaire, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. After finding the stray dog sleeping on a couch in their lobby, nurses at the facility had to decide what to do with him. This article originally appeared in Detroit Free Press: Dog repeatedly escapes Michigan shelter, sneaks into nursing home

New Jersey funeral home left dead dad's ashes in unlocked, running car that was stolen by teens A New Jersey funeral home left a dead man’s ashes in an unlocked — and running — car that was then stolen from outside the building, a new lawsuit filed by the deceased’s family alleges. After 62-year-old Walter Garcia, 62, (let me make sure I've got this right-- he was 65 [NOT elderly!], right?) died his wife and daughter paid the Macagna-Diffily Funeral Home in Cliffside Park to host a memorial service and then cremate his body. The service and cremation were held two days later. Afterward, the funeral home told the family they’d be contacted to pick up Garcia’s ashes in three days. But a week later they still had not heard from Macagna-Diffily. Garcia’s daughter decided to go to the funeral home to inquire about her father’s remains. “At that time, she was advised that decedent’s ashes had been left in an unlocked and running car which had been stolen,” the suit claims. The car had been parked in the driveway of the funeral home’s property. The next day, the funeral home called Garcia’s daughter and said the car had been recovered but did not know about the ashes, according to the suit. The family soon heard from police that although the car had been located, there were no ashes found inside. “Leaving a running, open luxury vehicle is an invitation for something like this to happen,” the family’s Jersey-City-based attorney John Nulty told NJ.com. “The family feels like they lost their father twice.” (once, literally) Video allegedly shows the funeral home vehicle unlocked when it was stolen by teenagers, according to the suit. The key fob had also been left inside of the vehicle, the family says it learned. The Garcia family alleges in the suit that funeral home owner Anthony Macagna was “in possession of and/or transporting” the ashes when the vehicle was stolen. They are suing Macagna and the funeral home for intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, and breach of duty for failure to return the ashes to the family. Nulty said the teenagers who jacked the car likely dumped Garcia’s ashes out of the vehicle.

Male monkeys have more same-sex romps than hookups with females so they prefer meat to fish, huh? me, too... Same-sex behaviors in macaques were found to both copycat the intercourse they observed and, in addition, perform the act based on their genetic predisposition. This is an interesting twist on the old 'nature versus nurture' debate.

'Life is great' Why fans think NFL star Joe Burrow is engaged to longtime girlfriend “I think life is great for Burrow,” Adam Jones — who played for the Bengals from 2010 to 2017 — revealed on a recent episode of the “Pat McAfee Show.”

Just off California, octopuses are converging by the thousands. Here's why: It was the last hour of a 30-hour dive, nearly two murky miles below the ocean’s surface. A remotely operated vehicle called the Hercules was exploring the foothills of the Davidson Seamount, an underwater volcano about 90 miles southwest of Monterey. Aboard the boat carrying researchers monitoring the Hercules, it was expected to be a fairly boring dive, said Chad King, the chief scientist on the 2018 cruise. Much research had been done near the top and slope of the seamount, but King and his fellow scientists wanted to explore around its base, expecting to find little sponges or corals amid lots of seafloor muck. But then, just as Hercules crossed over a ridge, a curious sight floated across the screen: small, almost iridescent bulbs clinging to the seamount wall. The scientists directed Hercules down, farther into the depths. “And sure enough, that's where we ran into thousands and thousands of these octopus,” King said. “And we were just absolutely floored. We were just giddy.” The scientists, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, had alighted upon what they called an “octopus garden.” The images they captured revealed nearly 6,000 octopuses — leading scientists to estimate the total population of the area could exceed 20,000. The discovery of the thousands of Muusoctopus robustus — or “pearl octopus,” as researchers dubbed it for the animal’s shape and opalescent shine — led a team of scientists on a five-year quest to solve the mystery: Why are there so many thousands of pearl octopuses at the foot of the Davidson Seamount, and how were they living there? The researchers visited Octopus Garden more than a dozen times to find out, and a study published last week in the journal Science Advances shows they solved one part of the mystery. The pearl octopus came to the Davidson Seamount, they discovered, to nestle into the warm crooks of its wall and brood baby octopuses. The ambient temperature of water around the seamount is about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute scientists. But by using sophisticated marine thermometers, the researchers found that the octopuses were settling into crevices warmed by spring water, where the temperature reached nearly 51 degrees. “So we're still unsure exactly about what kind of geological circulation drives these springs, but essentially water’s getting heated somewhere underground there,” said Steve Litvin, marine ecologist at the institute. “And just like a warm spring, you know, I don't want to say ‘Old Faithful,’ but it's bubbling up there out of the rocks.” The relatively warm spring water raises the mother octopus’ metabolism, speeding up the egg development process. Researchers found that octopus eggs in the area hatch in less than two years — far less than the estimated five to eight years it takes in colder temperatures. “They’re in warm water, the metabolism is much faster," King said, "so their life history has been very compressed relative to most deep-sea animals.” Solving one mystery only ignited a burst of other questions for the scientists: Where did the octopus come from? Do they instinctively know that the warm waters will speed up the brooding process? How many other octopus nurseries exist on the seafloor around the world? “We know so little about the deep ocean,” Litvin said. “The discovery of the garden and all these thousands of octopus … just highlights that this is the biggest ecosystem on our planet, and we know less about it than we know about the surface of the moon.” Scientists still don’t know where the grapefruit-sized octopuses came from, or how they knew to settle against the Davidson Seamount’s warm rocks. But over years of monitoring them, they watched the octopuses mate, settle, brood and hatch new offspring. Once an egg is hatched, the mother octopus dies. Shrimps, snails, anemones and other organisms feed off the octopus' carcass. Most deep-sea animals rely on food floating down from the ocean surface — “marine snow,” Litvin called it. But with such a large number of octopuses living and dying in one area, he said, they provide the seafloor community “about 70% more carbon, more food than if only that marine snow was coming down.” “You wouldn't see this specific ecosystem at the garden," Litvin said, "if it wasn't for all those octopus dying.” Once a new octopus is hatched, the juvenile swims off into the darkness, Litvin said. Where does it go? That’s a question for future research to answer, he said. “That's the largest aggregation of octopus in the world,” Litvin said. “So the thought that these kinds of ecosystems are still hiding from us — that after a couple of decades of a lot of deep-sea exploration, there's still that scale of a discovery — is just amazing, and really highlights the need for continued investment in technology so we can expand our efforts to explore the deep sea, find the next Octopus Garden and literally, again, understand how that biggest ecosystem in our planet works.” A female pearl octopus broods her eggs near the Davidson Seamount off California. A 2019 image from video shows female pearl octopuses nesting at the base of an extinct underwater volcano. A time-lapse camera monitors aggregations of female pearl octopuses nesting at the Octopus Garden. https://www.aol.com/news/just-off-california-octopuses-converging-120006000.html

Fashion fans are going to eat up this Chanel diner. The Parisian luxury fashion house is opening a diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — but don’t expect to be served greasy grub like burgers and french fries. From Sept. 8-10, Chanel fans can visit the Lucky Chance Diner for a free experience to celebrate the launch of the Chance Eau Fraîche perfume. The diner will be adorned with a Chanel touch, with pink and green interiors, Instagrammable photo opps, a pink double-C logo clock, a branded napkin holder and more. Lucky Chance Diner will take over the corner at 225 Wythe Ave., a location that was once home to the iconic Wythe Diner. Reservations are free, however, the beauty-themed diner is already completely booked up. An event page says “walk-ins are also welcome.” When guests arrive at the Chanel-inspired diner, it will seem like a normal dinner experience, complete with a host stand, booths and countertop seating — though the menu will look different from your ordinary diner menu or even “girl dinner.” Instead of an array of food options, the menus will feature a selection of fragrances. Sitting at the diner booths will be an interactive, 30-minute experience that is devoted to finding the Chance scent that suits you best. How the interactive fragrance experience will happen is a surprise, but after finding your new signature scent, guests will go to the back of the diner where there will be a vending machine with a chance to win customizable gifts. More games will be available in the outdoor garden, as well as a pick-up window to purchase a Chance fragrance. Select sizes and concentrations of the four Chance fragrances will be available for purchase, including the new scent. For the most part, the pop-up diner has no food, just smells — but complimentary beverages will be available in the diner and “refreshments” will be served in the outdoor courtyard. Chanel’s new fragrance and beauty boutique is just a five minute walk from the trendy diner, so guests can take a light stroll after their light diner eats to spend money on the fragrance they love after their “personalized scent discovery.” Reservations are 30 minutes long, and while they are not required, they are encouraged as the interactive experience is included in the reservation. The Lucky Chance Diner is open to the public for three days from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The pop-up diner is housed where the Wythe Diner served devoted fans from 1968 to 1988. After it closed, it became Relish from 1997 to 2010, and most recently, Cafe De La Esquina — the Brooklyn outpost of Manhattan’s La Esquina — from 2011 to 2018. In 2019, it was reported that the corner of Wythe and North 10th Street would be the new home of a six-story apartment building. Instead of an array of food options, the menus will feature a selection of fragrances. The diner will be adorned with a Chanel touch, with pink and green interiors, Instagrammable photo opps, a pink double-C logo clock, a branded napkin holder and more.

Daniel Radcliffe looked ultra buff in a new episode of “Miracle Workers.”

Astoria woman busted for assaulting customs agent with karate chop at JFK Airport I'm a very gentle person; had it been me, it would've been with a lamb chop. Child rapist who escaped Arkansas prison on a jet ski is captured at a Quality Inn with his family Who figures out how to escape prison on a jet ski(!) then gets caught at a Quality Inn?

I was never going to pay that.

I don't know, but this is definitely the dumbest woman: Dear Abby: My husband and I have been married for 18 years. It’s a second marriage for both of us. He cheated on his ex with me. Soon after we were married, he told me that, given the chance, he would cheat on me, but that I shouldn’t worry because no really pretty woman would ever want him. Six years into our marriage, I needed to find something on his phone and saw he had signed up on a dating website for married people looking to cheat. We went to counseling. He said he wasn’t planning on following through; he just wanted to see what was out there. Not long afterward, I noticed he had checked a website for dating foreign women, but he needed a credit card, so he gave up. Off to counseling again. I told him that was strike two. Last month, I went on vacation with my daughter. Last week, he accidentally deleted something on his phone and asked me to find it. What I also found were emails from women offering their services, all of them sent while I was away. (“Send money, I’ll send more titillating photos.”) He claims he didn’t ask for them. There are eight or 10. My question: Is this strike three? — Foolish Lady in Maryland Dear “Lady” (and I use the term loosely): It should be obvious to you by now that your husband isn’t interested in being faithful. If you’re looking for a reason to leave him, this is strike three. If not, it’s strike 2 1/2. (Please get yourself tested for STDs.) NO, it’s strike 6. YOU were strike 1, what he told you after your marriage was 2, the first two phone situations were 3-4, his being able to stand staying married to such an enormous moron for 18 years is #5.

Queensborough Community College celebrates opening of new Male Resource Center Interesting... a center with the resources to help you find a male. I hope it's co-ed.

That's really weird. As a medical professional, I would think you'd be more familiar with where/how to pick these up... What does COVID-19 look like?

Investors hoping Instacart delivers in highly anticipated IPO filing

France to spend $216 million to destroy 80 million gallons of surplus wine are you sure you wanna do that.wav crapfest.wav

Sacre bleu! That's nuts! People losing it after discovering how cashews actually grow: 'This is not real' Australian man Jackson Jansen was shocked when he discovered the popular “nut” is actually a seed that grows on the outside of a specific apple variety.

I can't help it. I keep seeing 'Bob Barker passes...' showing on the 'front page' of this forum, and I am (as I'm sure all of you are) reminded of the time Dorothy was going to remarry Stan, and Debbie Reynolds was interviewing to be the new roommate: Truby: “My husband passed just last summer.” Rose: “Passed what?” Dorothy: “A slow-moving Winnebago, Rose.” No disrespect meant to Mr. Barker, who had an admirable career and used his celebrity in an admirable way. 99 years is a nice, long ride, and I'm sure it was quite a good one.

Aldi Is Selling the Cutest Dog Bathrobes For $5 https://apple.news/A5PAOv3f7QSenAmEl2d-7sg

Thank god I'm poor and don't have to deal with all this mishegos. DEFINITIONS n. "Foolishness, nonsense, craziness." EXAMPLE SENTENCES "I don't want to get involved in their mishegos." LANGUAGES OF ORIGIN Yiddish

Jan 2022: A1C 8.2, my Dr. put me on Metformin. May 2022: A1c 6.7, down 18 pounds. Weight plateaued for a year, A1C remained 6.7-6.8. May 2023: Dr. put me on Ozempic. Today: Down 27 pounds since May, A1C 5.7!!!! If you want to reach me, I'll be doing a photo shoot for the cover of Men's Health. The only problem is that I'm in Medicare's coverage gap, and a refill is $750 for 3 months. My brother in law's doctor switched him to the medium pen, so he had an extra pen & a half he gave me and the Dr. had one sample left that he gave me. I'm good through late Oct. My pulmonologist is in the same building and I haven't seen him since before covid (I had an appt for 2 weeks after the 1st cases hit, but cancelled). I'll make an appt with him soon, and stop in to see the endocrinologist that day, & maybe he'll have more samples. Otherwise it's back to Metformin for 2 months (I have plenty on hand), & your appetite is supposed to go crazy when you stop Ozempic, so that should be fun.

FUN PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: Milwaukee's 100-MPH-throwing rookie reliever Abner Uribe is having an excellent year. Today was a little bit less so... Abner Doubleday would've been rolling over in his grave (with laughter) because his namesake: Faced 4 batters Threw 18 pitches Walked 3 and hit the other Threw 3 wild pitches

Last night I almost posted 'What a positive attitude about erectile dysfunction!' I didn't because I thought it would be rude. But what the heck...

Both appeared often, and thrice together, on COMEDY KNOCKOUT, a show that ran on Tru-TV for 3 seasons/84 episodes. 3 comics competed for the audience's approval. You can catch them now on MAX, I believe. S1 E22. We're Jewish Now Matteo Lane does a startlingly accurate Mariah Carey impersonation, and Josh Wolf has an endless list of suggestions for Matteo's dream job. S2 E11. What Is This Show? Matteo says he shaves his asshole in this one. Amanda Seales definitely knows what not to say at a renaissance faire, and Matteo Lane kisses frogs for a very special reason. S2 E31. Deep V Find out what Arden Myrin, Matteo Lane, and an artisanal pickle maker have in common. Matteo had a hole in the crotch of his jeans in this one, but Josh went & sat in the audience to check that it couldn't be seen.