Barley Sugar – The Global Tofay

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged and boy do I miss it.

Have you received an email from Ancestry lately suggesting you check out new traits?  DNA doesn’t lie, so they say, but I beg to differ.  

This will probably be an intensely boring post for those of you who don’t really know me but I feel compelled to record my responses to the alleged traits for the amusement or interest of posterity and my family.

16 new traits have been identified for me.  There are 56 identified traits altogether.

Let’s tackle the new traits first:

1. Competitiveness – likely to be competitive – influenced by my maternal side apparently.  Yes I agree but not with the side of the family.  If you’d asked me I would have said the paternal side.  My paternal grandmother was I believe intensely competitive – witness the articles I have written about her swimming prowess.  I’m struggling to recall any competitiveness displayed by my mother or her father.  Unfortunately I did not know my maternal grandmother – maybe it is a Forfar trait.  Forfars step forward and conjecture at your leisure.
2. Desire to succeed -likely less motivated by success – influenced by my paternal side of the family. My father’s three degrees in quick succession would seem to argue against that.  And if we’re talking about me, you might want to check in with my bridge partners on that score. 
   
3. Determination – more determined – influenced by maternal side. Um yes, I can be bullish in my pursuit of completing a goal – slow but persistent. 
   

   Photo by Alex Daw morning walk

4. Focus – unlikely to focus easily – influenced by my paternal side apparently. I would tend to agree with this only I would call it endlessly distractable or curious 😉
   
5. Getting stronger – influenced by my paternal side.  This sounds a bit like a game of hide and seek….”getting warmer!”.  But yes, apparently this is a trait, the trait of getting stronger easily.  Good to know.
6. Goal setter – unlikely to be a goal setter – influenced by paternal side.  Hmmm.  I think I would disagree with this trait.  Whilst not a fiendish goal setter I do set goals for myself everyday. And my father is pretty good at setting goals too.
   

   PrettySleepy on Pixabay

7. Hand-eye coordination – likely to have good hand-eye coordination – maternal side influence.  Well, I tend to think hand-eye coordination is about ball sports. Can you catch a ball? No Can you throw a ball? No Can you hit a ball? No But I can knit and I can type so that must be some sort of hand-eye coordination I suppose.
8. Heat tolerance – likely to tolerate heat well – influence maternal side.  Barp! Absolutely not.  Neither side of the family tolerates heat well.  And yes, I appreciate that I live in Queensland but I don’t enjoy the heat.
9. Individual or team sports – likely to prefer team sports – influenced by maternal side.  My mother did not like sport. Not one bit.  And I don’t participate in sports easily.  I did enjoy golf, sailing, swimming.  Oops I think they are individual sports. I do like watching soccer though.
10. Leader – less likely to take the lead – influenced by maternal side.  Hallelujah, here is a trait I can claim.  I always like being 2IC – NOT the leader but the seconder.  Ask me about being a Pixie in my youth. It’s a Brownie/Guides thing.
    

    Aristal on Pixabay

11. Optimist – unlikely to be an optimist – influence maternal side.  I tend to think of myself as an optimist but maybe I’m not really.  My mother was certainly not an optimist.
    
12. Persistence – unlikely to be persistent – influence paternal side.  Interesting – how can I be determined but not persistent?  I tend to see them as the same thing.  Philosophers please come forward and enlighten me.
13. Self-confidence – likely less self-confident – influence paternal side.  Weird.  I think I am more self-confident than most.  My mother was definitely not self-confident but my father is self-confident so that is all wrong as far as I can tell.
14. Self-discipline – likely to be less self-disciplined. Influenced by mother’s side of the family.  I agree with this.  I really do lack an extraordinary amount of self-discipline witness my problems with weight loss.
    
15. Trying new things – likely to enjoy trying new things.  Influenced by paternal side.  Yes.  Ancestry scores big time on this on both counts.  Dad is amazing with his grasp of new technology and is always interested in reading and new ideas.  Snap for me.
16. Watching sports – unlikely to enjoy watching sports – influenced by paternal side.  My father is not a usual Aussie bloke but he enjoys watching sport – just not religiously.  Sport is probably not my favourite thing to watch but I will sit down to watch the Sydney to Hobart yacht race every Boxing Day and I can get sucked into watching tennis.  And I do enjoy watching soccer but it drives my husband nuts so only when he is asleep which is easier than you would imagine because the soccer I like to watch is often held on the other side of the world at sleep friendly times.

And here are the other traits I supposedly have

1. Alcohol flush – Face flushes – Not that I’m aware of
   
2. Asparagus odour – Unable to smell asparagus metabolites-Yes I can
3. Beta-carotene-Average levels – no idea
   
4. Birth weight-Below average- I think I was average certainly not below average.  And its a bit of a joke because Dad was a large baby apparently. 12lb or something ridiculous.
   
5. Bitter sensitivity- Able to taste a certain bitter flavor – Yes
   
6. Caffeine intake-Likely to drink a lot less caffeine than average – Yes
   
7. Cleft chin- Unlikely to have a cleft chin – Yes I don’t have one
8. Unlikely to enjoy dancing- Barp.  I love dancing. May not be good at it but I love it.
   
9. Earlobes- Unattached earlobes – Yes
10. Eye colour-Light eyes – Yes – blue is light right? Both sides of the family are responsible for that apparently.
    
11. Facial hair fullness-Genes for patchier facial hair – thank goodness but that one hair in my chinny chin chin drives me batty.
    
12. Finger length-Index finger longer than ring finger – Yes
    
13. Freckles-Likely to have lots of freckles – Yes. Correct
14. Fresh coriander aversion. Unlikely to enjoy cilantro- Barp ! Love coriander
    
15. Hair strand thickness.Thin hair. Tricky – yes I suppose so but it doesn’t look thin or maybe it does???
    
16. Hair type. Straight hair – hmmm. Yes when I blow dry but not really – wavy. Well that’s what my hairdresser says.
    
17. Hangryness=Likely to get hangry. Yes. No question.
    
18. Heart rate recovery-Quicker recovery rate. No idea
    

    Karen Alex and Deborah by Alex

19. Introvert or extrovert-Extrovert – Yes. But from my mother’s side of the family.  Really?
    
20. Male hair loss-Genes for higher chance of hair loss – thank goodness I’m a female but I’m here to tell you my father still has all his hair.
    
21. Morning or night person-Night person- Well I used to be but now I’d say I’m a morning person.  Kids will do that to you! 
    
22. Omega-3-Average levels. No idea
    
23. Oxygen use- Average ability to raise maximum oxygen use. Absolutely no idea
    

    Arwen Cas and Alex by Alex

24. Pet ownership-Likely to have a pet. Again normal circumstance yes but am trying to control myself at the moment. Picture me looking at the RSPCA furtively when no-one is looking. Blame both sides of my family for that trait.
    
25. Picky eater- Picky eater. No.  I’m pretty easy going. And I do not remember my mother being a picky eater.
    
26. Playing an instrument. Unlikely to play an instrument. Sadly yes but I am interested in this being a genetic trait.  From my mother’s side apparently.  My father’s aunts were very musical. Sang and the piano.
27. Remembering dreams.Likely to remember dreams Yes – my mother taught me well.
    
28. Risk taking-Risk taker. I suppose so but not that you’d guess looking at my rather staid life. And I would never have thought of my mother as a risk taker.  There you go.
    
29. Skin pigmentation. DNA suggests a light to medium skin tone. Yes. I burn easily.
    
30. Spicy foods- Likely to enjoy spicy foods. Yes but not too hot.
    
31. Sprinting. Likely an endurance runner. Is that a polite of way saying I can’t run for peanuts?
    
32. Sun sneezing.Non-sneezer. Never heard of sun sneezing which means I don’t do it.
    
33. Sweet sensitivity- Extra sensitive. What does this mean? It means some people can find some things too sweet.  I suppose so.  I had a friend who could eat a whole packet of Minties in one sitting. Not me.  I also find TimTams or MarsBars a bit too much.  Doesn’t stop me having a go though 😉
    
34. Taking naps-Not a nap taker. Barp. Wrong. I take naps whenever I can.Blame my dad for that apparently.
    
35. Tolerating dairy-Likely to tolerate dairy. Yes. Thanks Mum
    
36. Umami sensitivity-Less umami sensitivity. Not sure what this means…that I can taste it  I love it.
    
37. Unibrow- No unibrow. Yes. Thanks Mum
    
38. Vitamin B12- Lower than average levels. No idea. Ask my GP.
    
39. Vitamin D-Average levels. No. Lower than average is more the truth.
40. Wisdom teeth. Likely to develop all 4 wisdom teeth. Yes.Thanks Dad
    

So out of 56 traits, I agree with  27 or nearly 50%.  What’s your score? In summary I think Ancestry is trying to appeal to people who may have sporting ambitions and are looking to see which traits they can rely on and which characteristics they may need help with.  Thank goodness I don’t have any sporting ambitions.

What I can tell you for free is that I was diagnosed with a syndrome at the end of last year.  It’s called serrated polyposis syndrome or SPS.  It’s nothing to crow about unfortunately.  If you’re curious you can read more about it here. My mother died of bowel cancer at the age of 59 so I probably inherited it from her.  Well that’s my wild non-scientific guess.  And my doctor stressed the importance of my children having regular colonoscopies from now on.  Don’t wait til they’re 40 – get on with it.  The advice has been duly dispensed.

What does it mean? Well it means I have a 50% chance of getting bowel cancer.  The average Australian stats are around 5% so, not good.  But I have an excellent doctor and he says that because I’m diagnosed with the the syndrome officially I can have up to six colonoscopies a year free of charge -joy joy.  I’m a late starter by all accounts and possibly because I have had reasonably regular colonoscopies since my mother died that has probably helped keep anything nasty at bay.  And I’m now taking aspirin on a daily basis to see if that makes a difference.  But of course not before my procedure.

And so now, those of you who are familiar with undergoing colonoscopies will know why barley sugars feature in this post.  As I write this post, I am preparing for a colonoscopy tomorrow.  Drinking the preparation is one of the things I like to do least.  I also like my tucker but have to fast before the procedure.  I can however suck on a barley sugar or drink clear fluids.  Let me tell you, barley sugars are not easy to find.  I went to Woolies, Aldi and the chemist.  In desperation I went to the Newsagency.  Hoorah!  Newsexpress at Kenmore Plaza had them at the front counter.  And the lovely young woman serving made a nice comment about my vest which took me three years to knit.  She did not remark upon the fact that it is a one-size fits all vest.  It might look ridiculous but by God I’m going to wear it until it wears out.  It took me that long to knit.  I’m going to get my labour’s worth!!

Alex and the three-year vest – one size fits all – possibly a small family

So what traits do you have?  Do you get hangry? Do you hate coriander? Are you competitive?  Can you remember your dreams?  Do you like dancing?