Bringing Bearing and Butterflies To The Blog

A New wheel bearing

A little alliteration always spices up the blog from time to time. Why not have some fun!

An "Old" wheel bearing.  i.e Mine!

So,  we went for the rear wheel bearing replacement via professionals for Subie yesterday.  Meaning:  I left if to the "real" mechanics.  The place we go to was great in fitting us in on a Friday with no appointment.  And,   best of all,  they had it done by the afternoon.   We had a full day of scoring at College board yesterday, so we hardly even noticed the car missing.

 the "bearing" is missing in this one

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!   I'm not entirely sure how long we had been living with that bearing noise.  All I know is the Subster  is so quiet now that I think THAT is a new problem.   It just does not seem normal that our car could be so quiet.   Cheryl informed me that Subie can not break anymore for the rest of the year.  AND   She also told me to stop talking about "phantom" car problems.  Regardless if they are real or imaginary.  That is what the blog is for.

All these parts.  Call the Pros on this one!

So the Mechanic said the bearing came out in "parts" and "Pieces".  Meaning either it was made up or numerous small parts...  Or it was totally shot and the small bearings came out in  even smaller parts  than originally designed.  After watching the videos on how the bearing is "pressed" together,  I imagine it is a little bit of both.  There was no way I was going to be able to work on this job and feel confident about it.

Hiro Stands Guard in the Front yard.

Female Tiger Swallowtail

Other than that,  our time at college board is coming to a close.    Next week is our last week,  and we have a half marathon coming up that Saturday. ( A week from today.)  The money might be tight, but at least I have a certain level of confidence that the Subie will get us there.

While prepping to write this entry,  I had the rare opportunity to capture a few "moments" in our front yard.  Even though we have flowers by our front window,  and even though it is not "uncommon" for butterflies and other colorful creatures to visit them;   it is VERY rare that I happen to have the camera handy when an  opportunity presents itself.

She likes the purple flowers best.

Notice the two rows of yellow dots on Hindwings.

Behold!   The Tiger Swallowtail....Black Female Version!   Very rare indeed!   Allow me to pull out my Lepidopterous hat and explain.

Tiger Swallowtail Common form

 The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly is usually a large butterfly with tails on its hind wings.  They are easily identified by their bright yellow colors with black "tiger" stripes.  However,  one of the common phenomenons about butterflies is their ability to mimic things.  First as eggs,  then as larvae.   But sometimes they even mimic other butterflies!

Pipevine Swallowtail  ( poisonous)

So,  the female Tiger Swallowtail butterfly has a built in recessive gene that allows it to take the colors of a Pipevine Swallowtail ( they are poisonous)  or a Spicebush ( they are bitter tasting, I think)  so that, in the event a bird decides that tiger swallowtail butterflies are the latest "healthy food" fad,  and begins targeting them for dinner,  the species will live on because a few of the females will look COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the species norm.  Pretty cool! Eh?

She was very nice to pose for me.  I even got to pet her.

I guess I will never lose that Biologist side of myself.   Life is a pretty cool subject, after all.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.  Perhaps the little posting will enhance your Trival Pursuit game someday.   The topic Can be confusing as there are often MANY overlapping and parallel  ties that connect butterflies.   So many I do not want to make this posting any longer than it has to be.    But, what can I say.  I love bugs  ( most of them) and Subarus    Even if the love is one sided most of the time.