Weird News

So, more news on the mono front.
Yesterday the taru went to have more bloodwork done, primarily to check his white blood cell counts. This time, he saw a different doctor, his usual one, who asked for a full update on everything from the taru. The taru explained everything that had been going on, and the doctor, curious, checked the charts.
The taru does not, in fact, have reactivated mono. No, instead, he has such a high immunity level to mono that he's likely never to have it again or ever be contagious again. Most people who have had mono chart in at 100-200 counts in terms of their antibody counts. The taru registered at over 1000 in terms of his antibody counts. Somehow, whomever read the test results the first time, misread that antibody count as actively having mono (that is, they read it as the wrong antibody).
So what does this mean for me? It means that most likely my test results were misread in the same way, and I have a much lower, but still present, immunity to mono. Meaning I most likely caught it as a child or never have symptoms. Which makes sense, given as the only symptom I have close to mono is the sore throat.
WTF.

BME Scares me Again

Fish Piercing? Shannon Laratt of BMEzine.com interviewed a professional body piercer named William who gave his goldfish a lip ring.

Piercing a pet fish. It sounds sick, doesn’t it? Some kind of animal abuse?
Maybe it is, but as humans we have always modified our pets with everything from identification tattoos and brands, to cosmetic surgery such as ear cropping, tail docking, and toe amputation (ie. the honest name for “declawing”). Many modern animal enthusiasts decry the traditions as barbaric, while advocates insist it allows them to maintain a closer bond with their pet and thus the pet lives a longer and happier life.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this. It would be a useful technique for implanting microchips in smaller fish, where internal ones would be potentially harmful. On the other hand... WHY THE FUCK DID THIS WEIRDO THINK OF THIS....