Abuzz in the bonnet

in OCD4 years ago

My wife asked me to coax a yellowjacket out of the kitchen, which I did, but I took a couple of shots first - which was a challenge. This little fella was far from a happy camper and was buzzing around like it was on bathsalts and I had to up the speed to about 2500 at 2.8 to get a shot. I am clumsy at this kind of photography where I have to choose settings quickly for fast moving objects and I was even trying to pan the shot as it was angrily pounding the glass like it was owed money. I was also not keen on getting stung - though I haven't been stung by anything bug related since I was a kid, if I remember correctly. We get yellowjackets inside from time to time and I am glad that I had a camera not too far away, as wasps are pretty hardcore looking creatures in my opinion.

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The summer rains should start tomorrow and the forecast says they may persist for the next 3 weeks, which should be just long enough to ensure my wife and I don't get sunshine for our annual vacations - and she is far from happy about the situation. She only has two weeks this year and was really looking forward to getting some well-deserved summer relaxation, which for a Finn, requires sunshine. I am of course looking forward to hourly weather reports and complaints about how ruined the holidays are - I am just glad I have holidays.

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I have noticed that there are a few more people on edge of late and I wonder if it is driven by the various states and conditions in the current world - Corona fears, lockdown syndrome, social unrest, employment and income uncertainty and all of the pressures of trying to deal with what is for most, out of the normal scheduling and tasklists.

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What I have noted over the years of being on Hive, is that the most unstable people are also generally the ones who believe that everything is a conspiracy to the point that they can no longer see anything else. I like conspiracy thinking and I am far from trusting of many things, but the life that some people lead seems to make them prone to mental breakdowns and highly erratic behavior, or perhaps, it is this personality that is drawn to imagining truths that they can't actually handle.

Like the Jack Nicholson line from A Few Good Men,

"You can't handle the truth!"

It seems that a lot of people who believe they have all the answers, don't seem to have the answer on how to control their own emotions and are often aggressive, which puts doubt on everything they say, as the emotional are far more likely to be manipulated by their own emotional reactions and to use their feelings to justify their views. Maybe at some point, there is a disconnection from reality with a feedback loop that keeps widening the gap, like a long distance flight navigating just a degree or two off the intended flight path.

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Once far enough away from reality, it is very hard to come back as views are reaffirmed in the faces and behaviors of everyone and everything around, hypersensitivity coupled with volatile behavior is predictable in human nature. What is perhaps most interesting is that because of the group predictability, the very people who believe they see the truth are the ones sharing the engineered memes and stories generated to benefit from spreading disinformation. Like the sharing of memes created in a Russian troll farm designed to play both sides in order to undermine stability, by polarizing social groups and raising tensions by creating mistrust to increase separation and group conflicts. Social hacking.

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Perhaps it is a matter of perspective in all things, especially when there is no definitive answer forthcoming that will satisfy any party on any topic, which means that it is pretty easy to throw FUD into the conversation mix. To control a diverse population, uncertainty and fear are a good mechanism, but perhaps even better is to foster the psychological position that people do know the truth and will act to defend their nest of paranoia when provoked. People will actively fight for their beliefs - not just defend.

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Who knows, but the truth of any situation is likely very hard to ascertain by an individual with a narrow perspective who doesn't have practical experience in the situation. Straight from the horse's mouth seems to have become, "whichever source supports my viewpoint, no matter how unreliable". So many people have very little real-life practical experience these days, but are confident that the sources they find online are trustworthy - but don't have the capabilities to cross-reference or background check them. If one was looking to actually hide their activities, they would plant information all over the place and create so much doubt and mistrust between those looking for the truth, that they end up turning on each other instead.

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
― Mark Twain

How fast does news travel these days?

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

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I usually skip the conspiracy theorists without a second thought because it's so easy to concoct conspiracy theories. Indeed, a Russian troll factory is often the source of them.

I think most "conspiracy theorists" are actually "conspiracy share-ists", repeaters of those who actually have theories. There is often skill in creating the theory, not in sharing the memes. The Russian troll farms and similar, are talented at what they do.

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Lovely macro's here and maybe that guy was out scouting for a suitable nesting site.
Near something sweet and water.

What I would like to know is how does a Yellow Jacket get to Finland from the Western Cape Province in South Africa. Or visa versa?
They fall in the family "Vespidae" (Paper wasps)

Amazingly we have 9 provinces and the yellow jackets only appear in the Western Cape Province.

Ps.Just read in our bug book that they are an exotic species, imported from Europe!

Regarding your reading matter here, it all depends on what one focuses on. FUD news or real life.

We have yellow jacket wasps here too; Pretty aggressive wasps, will sting multiple times. Not very welcome.

Hahaha, I think that you know the story about me strapped in a Dive Bomber ride and hit several times in the chest by a wasp my friend?

Real little buggers and we have different types here that build mud nests under the roof overhang (also posted before) I keep going around with a broomstick knocking the new nests off before they are populated,

Little buggers. We get those European wasps too...Quite dangerous. Just another thing to add to the list of bitey, stingy things. 🤔

Hahaha, thankfully they don't have the same poison as bees.... else I would have been done for a long time ago, as I am allergic.

I know a few people who are allergic to bees; Quite a serious condition really. I'm not. Been stung a few times...Bloody hurts. Little buggers. 🐝

3 stings thus far resulting in 3 short emergency hospital stays my friend.
Swelling of the face and throat, losing vision and difficult breathing.
Heart palpitations, sweat and shaking.

Sounds not too good methinks.

Yep, the paper wasp (i did my research) has yellow antennae and is slimmer - but this is a yellowjacket. There are also different sizes of them out there and this doesn't seem to be on the smaller side.

Regarding your reading matter here, it all depends on what one focuses on. FUD news or real life.

We are what we eat and are influenced by what we surround ourselves with.

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Our book says that he is of the paperwasp family and there are many species in the family.
So you are correct, he is not an actual paperwasp but one of the species in the family. The scientific name of the family is "Vespidae"

Truth also in you next answer. I think that's why the saying, to "surround yourself with like minded people" comes from.
The thing is that everyone is not of sound mind and they are attracting their own likenesses.
People with "broken wings" will attract others with "broken wings" as my psychiatrist daughter told me.

Hope that you guys will have a good week and thank you for the "Engage"

I prefer to surround myself with a wide range of mindsets, so then I am not as siloed by the people I surround myself with. Broken wings indeed, often they get into relationships and circles that rather than mending breaks, keep the wounds fresh.

A good idea, as many different worldviews to draw from.

In a few cases some broken wings couples have managed to heal each other, but most often it results in dysfunctional families. Alcohol and drugs are taken to escape from life's realities and we have some case where both parents and children are hooked on the stuff.

Alcohol and drugs are taken to escape from life's realities and we have some case where both parents and children are hooked on the stuff.

Lol, I just wrote a little on this, not quite directly related, but close enough :)

Well in some ways I am afraid that are just a wee bit like minded my friend.
I will go and look for it!

Where did you post?

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Thank you kindly for the tokens @tarazkp

I think that aggressive people have trouble in coping with whatever trauma they might have been. Lack of self control shows how unstable their behaviour is. Of course that nice words coming from the mouth of such a person can't be trusted. Often these people blame others for their failures and are blind to see how in little of control they are over their own self. Sad, but also troubling.

Twain is right. The truth is always somehow still catching up, while lies run the marathon with a smile on the face. It is easy to say now 'I am informed' because there is a plethora of information piling up at your doors. Few have the healthy habit of wondering. Not going into conspiracy theory mode, but just plain simply wonder. What if what I read now... Is not the whole story? Can I verify? Who is the person behind writing this and what connection does she/he have with the matter in hand?

P. S. I loved your photos.

Often these people blame others for their failures and are blind to see how in little of control they are over their own self. Sad, but also troubling.

Yep, I find that there are a lot of narcissistic tendencies in the mix, blind to their own shortcomings.

Few have the healthy habit of wondering. Not going into conspiracy theory mode, but just plain simply wonder.

For sure, low curiosity coupled with extreme views.

Btw, your English is great and you are Romanian (I think) , what's your secret?

Narcissism is really a serious condition. Very hard to spot. Especially the covert ones.

I order a lot of books in English for my daily reading as well. When I was a child I used to watch a lot of Discovery and Animal Planet and National Geographic. I own no TV for years and only watch english materials, in movies, documentaries, articles etc. Maybe this added up. I still feel I have a lot to learn. Must acquire a dictionary and learn new words.

Yes, I am Romanian. I strangely feel like I am rather not romanian, regarding my personality and how I see things. An alien lol. As a post communistic country, you would have to visit it and stay for a while to get to know the typical romanian. Then... You would get what I mean.

I wish I had spent time learning Finnish when I arrived here, but it wasn't overly encouraged or necessary, so I didn't. Shame - as my daughter is dual mother tongue. Well, a dictionary won't help you that much, but engaging will - have you heard about Asher's Engagement League ;D

I know a few Romanians here, but I am guessing that the people who are traveling out of their own country aren't the typical local. I have heard it is a beautiful country and would love to visit one day. I am not a fan of vampires though, so not sure if it is my kind of place.

Oh Asher.... Engagement League.. Sounds familiar🤔😂😂

Ah the vampire myths. Not so much in here though. It is a very beautiful country, you would like it. The romanian who travelled abroad are a bit more open minded than those who are born & made in Romania lol and still living here. With a couple of exceptions. It has been 30 years since communism collapsed, but the mental consequences are still being felt even today

It has been 30 years since communism collapsed, but the mental consequences are still being felt even today

I think it will take a few more generations to move the sentiment completely, but to what, who knows these days.

Oh the old generations is keep perpetuating a wrong model of education, giving their children the same concept of looking at life. Those children are now 30 -40 years old and spread it to their future children. I assume it will wash away so slowly, like a stain of ink from a white cloth. I wonder how to replace that cloth without throwing the baby out of the water. This is an old wound of Romania, the old mentality filled with ghosts of the past

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I don't know how you get these shots. Nothing stays still for me!

I suppose a can of Mortein would help.

This one wasn't very cooperative and wasn't still for even one shot - I had to up the speed more than I wanted. He also came close to getting sprayed as he couldn't find his way out the window.

Lucky bugger. Here he might have got squashed with a Haviana. Lol. Good pictures though.

it was angrily pounding the glass like it was owed money

I don't know why this cracked me up as much as it did XD Did you manage to coax it outside all right after the impromptu photography session? They came out great by the way, and I'm assuming you didn't get stung XD

assuming you didn't get stung

It might have made for a pretty good post if he had!

If by "good" you mean possibly more sweary and probably quite different as he would have related being angry about being stung to something else XD

Just more exciting I guess...The mad dash to the emergency room, the hospital stay, excruciating pain...Oh what an adventure that would have been.

Lol.

You're definitely an older brother XD

Haha, yeah it's pretty obvious. Although, getting a laugh from someone else's misery is a bloke thing too. Sometimes. Lol. Been a tough few days and will get worse soon I think, so a few laughs are a good thing to grab where possible.

No sting and I did manage to shoo it out the window :)

Did it want to actually go out the window after all that banging on the glass like it was owed money? XD

I think it just wanted to rollover and go to sleep.

All that banging was probably hard work.

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