Nightjar

but like. truly it is way too easy to end up trying to micromanage the behaviors of this fully sentient captive animal. and i fully fell into that before Realizing and i think we're still dealing with the relational fallout + resulting Weirdness about existing in the world. i got sooooooo stressed about Getting The Training Right that i fucked up the relational communication reaaaaaal bad. all the guidance i got + advice i saw + my own personal life baggage = Really Bad Puppy Raising

but i feel like i fucked thistle up in a Fun New Unique Way. by trying to control a puppy by using food when she didnt really care about food very much and cared about freedom and agency wayyyyyyyy more. and responding to her developmentally appropriate behaviors with distress and frustration instead of support.

i think the difference between captive zoo animals and Dogs is that no one is ethically sharing a social household with the kinds of animals kept in zoos. with some MINOR exceptions (certain tegus come to mind) (and SOME!!! parrots)

i think um. using the language of the article i’m reading, clicker style training is an useful tool when two individuals do not share a lot of natural overlap in their semiospheres. it’s a bridge to use to communicate over that gap.

but when we have the ability to interact SOCIALLY!!!!! with other human beings and with dogs. using Mark and Reward style communication and Conditioning as the Main method of intentional communication gets bad FAST when we live so intimately together.

zoo animals are doing their own things in their enclosures 90% of the time. if they’re social animals then theyre in there with conspecifics.

dogs in the modern day are in near constant contact with their human people. we NEED to be treating them like social partners, not animals to clicker train into convenience.

yes... yes! the condor is out!

condor 1215 (tag yellow 15) being released back into pinnacles national from (as far as i can tell) a checkup. she is 3 years old and was wild born to 589 & 569 ("phoebe the forager"). [1]

There are real labor problems here. Base pay is often insulting. Customer tips carry too much of the burden. Workers need better protections, more transparent algorithms, protection from arbitrary deactivation, and actual recourse when the app or a customer screws them over. Car-dependent delivery is also an environmental and infrastructural problem, though in a denser city I’d still be doing this work; I’d just be doing it by bike.

But when people talk about delivery work, I rarely see them talk to actual delivery workers. I see a lot of abstract arguments about convenience, consumer decadence, “hustle culture,” and internalized neoliberalism. Meanwhile, when I’m out working and waiting in restaurants for orders, the other Dashers I meet are usually people who only speak Spanish, people who read as neurodivergent, visibly physically disabled people, or some combination of the above.

I have not met this mythical Disco Elysium poor ultraliberal hustlegrinder-wannabe people seem to be arguing with. Maybe that archetype exists somewhere. If it exists among any kind of gig worker, it would probably be rideshare drivers. But most of what I see looks less like “rise and grind” and more like “this is one of the few forms of work available to people who need flexibility, low barriers to entry, limited managerial surveillance, or a way to work around language barriers, disability, burnout, chronic illnesses and injuries with symptoms that come and go unpredictably, caregiving, résumé gaps, or discrimination.”

That does not make the current system good. It means the current system is filling a real gap that a lot of supposedly better systems do not even acknowledge.

As a disabled person who is burnout-prone and demand-sensitive, contracting as a delivery driver has given me an unprecedented level of financial flexibility. I can work when I have capacity. I can stop when I’m deteriorating. I can build my day around my actual body instead of being trapped under a manager who thinks “reliable” means “able to perform the same way every day no matter what.” That matters. It does not cancel out the exploitation, but it is also not fake just because it is politically inconvenient.

And delivery itself is not some inherently decadent evil. Sometimes people live alone. Sometimes they are sick. Sometimes they are disabled, exhausted, overwhelmed, grieving, overloaded, or recovering from something else - perhaps the stress and fatigue induced by their own job. Sometimes they need medicine, groceries, or a meal that will actually unplug their sinuses instead of whatever generic community-care slop someone thinks they should be grateful for. Humans are allowed to need specificity. “Food” is not the same as “the food I can actually eat right now.”

A serious labor critique would ask how to make delivery work safer, better-paid, less tip-dependent, less car-dependent, less algorithmically punitive, and less precarious. It would ask what kinds of flexible, accessible work should exist for people who cannot thrive in conventional employment. It would ask how cities could support bike delivery, worker cooperatives, public infrastructure, and real protections without simply replacing one bad system with a moral sermon about how nobody should ever want takeout.

But a lot of the discourse does not do that. It treats convenience itself as suspicious. It treats wanting flexible work as false consciousness. It treats the needs of disabled people, immigrants, and other people who can't fit into traditional employment structures as details to be swept aside in favor of a cleaner political image.

—

Ken Unsworth

Suspended stone circle

Slide 1: What is cerebrospinal fluid?

The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord, which act as the body's control center.

These structures are surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which cushions and protects the brain and spinal cord from injury.

[diagram of the central nervous system with brain, ventricles, cerebrospinal fluid and spinal cord labeled]

Slide 2: What are CSF leaks?

A CSF leak happens when CSF leaks out through a tear in the dura, the outer lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord.

There are two main types of CSF leaks:

Spinal CSF leaks

Occur anywhere along the spine

Cranial CSF leaks

Occur in the skull

CSF leaks may happen after medical procedures, injury, or without an identifiable cause.

Slide 3: CSF leaks in EDS

The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes affect connective tissue, which provides structure and support throughout the body.

In some people, this can make the dura more fragile and more prone to CSF leaks.

Chiari malformation type I may also occur in people with hypermobile EDS and may be associated with CSF leaks in some cases.

[diagram of Chiari malformation type I]

Slide 4: Symptoms of cranial CSF leaks

Cranial CSF leak symptoms may include:

Clear, watery drainage from one side of the nose or ear

A salty or metallic taste in the mouth

Loss of sense of smell

Changes in hearing

Changes in behavior or ability to think clearly

[image of a head in profile with red dots on nose, mouth, ear, and brain]

Slide 5: Symptoms of spinal CSF leaks

The most common symptom of a spinal CSF leak is an orthostatic headache.

Orthostatic headaches are headaches that worsen when standing or sitting up and improve when lying down. They typically affect the back of the head and may also be triggered or worsened by coughing or straining.

Other symptoms of spinal CSF leaks may include:

Neck or shoulder pain

Changes in hearing

Dizziness, nausea, or vomiting

Changes in vision

Sensitivity to light or sound

Changes in behavior or ability to think clearly

Slide 6: Intracranial hypotension

CSF leaks can lead to low pressure inside the skull, known as intracranial hypotension.

This change in pressure is one of the reasons people experience orthostatic headaches and other symptoms.

[image of brain with a deflated shape labeled: Cerebrospinal fluid

Low pressure can cause the brain to sag]

[image of deflated balloon labeled: Deflated Balloon

Lost 'cushion' due to CSF leak]

Slide 7: Diagnosing a CSF leak

Healthcare professionals may use a range of tests to help diagnose a CSF leak, depending on the symptoms and suspected location.

These tests may include:

Beta-2-transferrin testing of fluid leaking from the ear or nose

Spinal tap, also known as lumbar puncture

Computed tomographic (CT) myelography

Intrathecal fluorescein

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

In some cases, additional imaging techniques may be used to find the source of the leak.

Slide 8: Managing a CSF leak

Management depends on the type and location of the leak, as well as the underlying cause.

Conservative approaches may include bed rest, increased fluid intake, and caffeine, which may help relieve symptoms in some cases.

If these approaches are not effective, other options may be considered, such as:

Epidural blood patch

Fibrin sealant