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Category: Oddities

Who’d’a thunk it?

Maximum Strength Homeopathic HGH: Not
Spotted at an exhibition for Olde Fartes:

Somaderm homeopathic HGH

I think they just blew up the bottle label to human size, with no attention to the resulting pixelation.

One can find Somaderm on the Interwebs, which leads to the “Active Ingredients” list:

Somaderm homeopathic HGH – Active Ingredients

Looking up their NDC number helps translate the bullshit Latinesque nomenclature:
- Glandula Suprarenalis Suis = boar adrenal glands
- Thyroidinum = cow thyroid glands
- Somatropin = human growth hormone
They’re exceedingly proud of that NDC number, touting “SOMADERM Gel is the only transdermal, FDA registered product”. Indeed, it’s registered, about which the FDC has this to say:

Assigned NDC numbers are not in any way an indication of FDA approval of the product.

and

Marketing Category UNAPPROVED HOMEOPATHIC

With that in mind, consider the dilutions:
- Glandula Suprarenalis Suis = 1 part per million
- Thyroidinum = 10 part per billion
- Somatropin = 1×10^-30 = there are no words
Homeopathic “drugs” never list the starting concentration or amounts in the product, but diluting something by a factor of ten-to-the-thirty ensures not one single molecule of the original compound will make it into the bottle. This, of course, means the HGH is at “maximum strength”, in the homeopathic way of magical thinking.

You’ll surely find some molecules of pig brain and maybe even a few molecules of cow glands, but I suspect they’re not buying the “active” ingredients in shipping container lots. In round numbers, one pig adrenal, one cow thyroid, and one drop of actual HGH would supply their needs well into the future.

I would like to see how they dilute those ingredients, because I doubt they have legions of trained homeopaths succussing bottles against elastic surfaces.

Of course, such dilution requires careful attention to detail, lest a stray molecule make its way into the final product, which surely justifies the punch line:

Somaderm homeopathic HGH – Price

There is also a $150 “Membership Price”, suggesting a multi-level marketing scam running in parallel. Some rummaging on their website reveals cryptic phrases confirming the suspicion: “Be the change that will inspire others to follow” and “Information on how to become a distributor“.

Ya gotta admire ’em for not even blinking.

A note on commenting: there is zero evidence of efficacy¸ so don’t even try to advocate homeopathy. If it worked, it’d be medicine, not a MLM scam.
2018-09-28
Monthly Image: Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasp Nest

The side of our house seems to attract Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasps during nesting season.

One pair of wasps built this impressive structure behind the patio door, beside the bathroom window:

Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasp Nest – side view

The female wasp built six tubes over the course of an August week, carrying blobs of mud the size of her head and abdomen from sources about 30 seconds away (1 minute round trip). Each blob produces half of one serration around the tube, with a seam running down the middle, and requires 20 seconds to smooth into place. We got tired just watching her!

Each tube has many compartments, each containing a wasp larva and a paralyzed spider, with a mud cap inside the end:

Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasp Nest – bottom view B

We watched the wasps attack, sting, and remove spiders of a specific size from the corners of our window frames.

The young wasps in the innermost tube may not make it out alive, because they must chew through at least one outer tube before flying away:

Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasp Nest – bottom view A

Perhaps layering the outer tubes around a central tube makes for a more compact and durable nest, with the possible sacrifice of offspring in the center.

The new wasps will likely emerge next spring.

2018-09-16
Excavator Family

We’re accustomed to seeing geese with goslings and turkeys with chicks around this time of year, but we didn’t realize excavators have a similar breeding season (clicky for more dots):

Excavator Family – Vassar College

The adult seems very protective …

Spotted on the Vassar College campus, in front of the dining hall.

2018-09-09
Frayed Power Drop

The neutral conductor is down to its last three strands:

Damaged neutral – over Redondo near pole 62859

Perhaps the power drop got snagged twice, because there’s a splice only a few feet away:

Damaged neutral and splice – over Redondo near pole 62859

Spotted overhead on Redondo near Rt 376 during an evening walk. I reported it using Central Hudson’s dead streetlight page, because there seems no other way to get their attention. It may be the homeowner’s responsibility, in which case a second splice will surely appear after the next power outage.

2018-09-06
Dutchess Rail Trail: Maloney Rd Trailhead vs. SUV

The driver gave us plenty of room, which is always nice:

Tire tracks at Maloney Trailhead – DCWWA SUV on Maloney 2018-08-20

But then the SUV turned into the Maloney Rd entrance to the Dutchess Rail Trail:

Tire tracks at Maloney Trailhead – DCWWA SUV entering – 2018-08-20

Which was specifically designed to exclude motor vehicles:

Tire tracks at Maloney Trailhead – DCWWA SUV tracks – 2018-08-20

Later, I was told it’s an “allowable access” for Water Authority vehicles and, in any event, because their SUV didn’t leave the biggest ruts and tracks, they think it’s all good:

Tire tracks at Maloney Trailhead – 2018-08-20

The ramp joins the trail at an acute angle, so the SUV required some backing & filling to get around:

Tire tracks at Maloney Trailhead – Tight Turn onto DCRT – 2018-08-20

Then it’s an easy drive to the water meter about 2500 feet down the trail:

Tire tracks at Maloney Trailhead – Dutchess Water Authority SUV – 2018-08-20

There’s an Official Vehicle Access gate one mile south of the Maloney ramp that’s about 3800 feet from the water meter. I’m told they use the Maloney ramp to reduce the distance they drive on the rail trail; evidently, destroying the entrance Just Doesn’t Matter.

I’m trying to develop an attitude between Zen and apathy, with just enough indifference to not care when somebody tells me how wonderful things will be in the future.

2018-09-05
Headless Garden Bunny

A small rabbit, occasionally seen about the back yard and within the garden, met an untimely end:

Dismantled Garden Bunny

We credit one of the neighborhood hawks or owls.

Over the course of the next few days, the corpse lost more of its stuffings and eventually vanished.

Perhaps a similar event produced the bunnyless head we saw a while ago.

Go, birds, go!

2018-09-02
Monthly Science: Monarch Caterpillars!

After several years of seeing few-to-no Monarch butterflies, last year we managed to save a single Monarch egg, raise the caterpillar, and release it:

Monarch on Milkweed – left

This year, we’ve seen more, if not many, Monarchs in flight. They’re not abundant, but perhaps there’s hope.

A Monarch evidently laid eggs in our milkweed patch, with at least two offspring surviving:

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We decided to let them seek their own destiny; may the odds be ever in their favor …

2018-09-01