3) Lizards without tails lose strength, dominance and “territory” to bigger, fully-endowed lizards. 2) When a lizard’s tail grows back, the new tail is going to be smaller and less colorful than the original. 1) Lizards who have tails can run faster than those without tails. The moral of this tale? When threatened by predators, tuck tail and run.

Geckos and other lizards not only shed their tails to confuse predators (or people), but their tails’ movements suggest they literally “have a mind of their own,” Canadian researchers have found.
Quotation from CBC News, Technology and Science section

Has 3 lizard tails and a baseball card in my backpack.
Tweet from Schneidermike on Twitter

Yesterday wasn’t a good day. I misjudged a step, fell down and broke my thumb. When I got home from the emergency room, my sister called to tell me Aunt Lucille died. Sometimes, there isn’t any choice but to accept whatever happens.

Well why do the hands of time
So easily unwind?
Some lessons we learn the hard way.
Some lessons don’t come easy and
That’s the price we have to pay.
Song by Melody Gardot, Some Lessons

Thank you everyone for your comments and wonderful words of encouragement. They mean a lot to me. The staples came out yesterday. I’m home now. Just don’t make me laugh.

Fewer than 4% of people between the ages of 30 and 40 get gallstone polyps. Women are 3x less likely to get them than men. About 5% of the time, the surgeon needs to switch from a small laparoscopic navel incision to open surgery through a huge incision on the right side just under the ribs. Am I lucky, or what?