What’s on your mind?

[Clix Pix]

I am on FaceBook, but more to keep in touch with what various friends and family members scattered around the US and the globe are doing, but rarely say anything about myself on there, and I sure don't have selfies all over the place on there, either. Ugh! I am on a couple of FB groups that focus on subjects in which I am interested and that is useful at times. I just ignore the adverts that are always cropping up; I'll buy what I want and when I want it, from a reliable source, not some outfit on FB that I've never heard of before!

I also have a Twitter account but rarely think to go and look in on it. I much prefer web-based online forums such as this one or Nikon Cafe for discussions and getting to know people. I keep up with the news through The Washington Post and other legitimate news sites so that in general I know what's going on in the world.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Florida mosquitos breath citronella in like a fine cigar, chuckle, and go on with the business of being a mosquito (i.e., biting me ...)

African and European ones are suitably repelled by citronella, and I am devoured only when I forget to apply it, which tends to happen when an afternoon beer elides into a delightful (until the winged horrors put in an appearance) twilight one; but then, I always somehow suspected that Florida was different.

 

[decafjava]

I am on FaceBook, but more to keep in touch with what various friends and family members scattered around the US and the globe are doing, but rarely say anything about myself on there, and I sure don't have selfies all over the place on there, either. Ugh! I am on a couple of FB groups that focus on subjects in which I am interested and that is useful at times. I just ignore the adverts that are always cropping up; I'll buy what I want and when I want it, from a reliable source, not some outfit on FB that I've never heard of before!

I also have a Twitter account but rarely think to go and look in on it. I much prefer web-based online forums such as this one or Nikon Cafe for discussions and getting to know people. I keep up with the news through The Washington Post and other legitimate news sites so that in general I know what's going on in the world.

Honestly since this covid thing started and even before, fed up with the types of posts I see. I muted/defriended a few people who post either posted stupid conspiracy/antivax/5G theories or apocalyptic/part-time epidemiologist police officer etc.

A fwe post intelligent articles and I do keep up with famioly that way. Even Instagram is kid of depressing as many of the people I follow are unemployed hot air hostesses/pilots* or spoiled celebs with lockdown mansions though a few are scientists with intelligent opinions.


* I kid I kid (or am I)

 

[JayMysterio]

@kazmac

Not sure how aware you are of video games, but there's a series I watch on Youtube about artists. This one is on Yoshitaka Amano, the artist most associated with the Final Fantasy series. Interesting thing I didn't know about him though, was that he started & worked at Tatsunoko Productions.

It's a great Youtube channel.

If it interests you, I also recommend...

The artist moved to doing his manga on iPad Pro with Medibang.

🤙

 

[Clix Pix]

Yes, this COVID-19 thing has definitely brought out the crazies, the deluded, the deniers, the defiant..... I have noticed that both on FB and on web-based forums. Sometimes it is simply not possible to have a rational discussion, and I simply step away when that is starting to happen.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Yes, this COVID-19 thing has definitely brought out the crazies, the deluded, the deniers, the defiant..... I have noticed that both on FB and on web-based forums. Sometimes it is simply not possible to have a rational discussion, and I simply step away when that is starting to happen.

Sample picture of the average counterpart to any serious discussion on social media:

 

[0388631]

Reading the news this morning I learned our state has laws banning the caging of animals to get product from them via laying or birth. It also bans the sale of them from products imported from other states. The laws go further than what EU directives offer up for our friends across the pond. I'd known that our state's laws were more strict than the EU which is already fairly strict, but I didn't know the true extent of them. I still don't. Though I'd already known that the EU bought a lot of food stuffs from the state and little from others.

Guess I have something to read about while in lock down. Joy... May as well crack a crate of beers.
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Citronella repels them.

Found the oils and began diffusing them in the house. Odd smell, but we can live with it. It keeps them away. I opened up some fresh traps and hung them outside.

I wasn't expecting them until June mind you. I was sitting at the kitchen island last night reading a cookbook while having a lager and felt an itch develop near my left elbow. I thought nothing of it until it began to intensify. Looked at it and there was a white raised bump surrounded by redness. Lovely....
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Yes, this COVID-19 thing has definitely brought out the crazies, the deluded, the deniers, the defiant..... I have noticed that both on FB and on web-based forums. Sometimes it is simply not possible to have a rational discussion, and I simply step away when that is starting to happen.

Dude, everyone knows 5G causes all these issues. 5G even infects all food matter including but not limited to produced alcohol and water, even those bought long before COVID19. It's safer to not consume food or water the next 90 days and crawl up in a dark place.

I should get a medal for that.

 

[LizKat]

Speaking of tiny critters that bite, sting, puncture, or whatever, it’s that time of year, again, for me to treat several sets of clothing with permethrin spray, to ward off ticks.

Past time, as it turns out.

A couple of days ago, after working on a tractor in a pasture known to be a hangout for such critters, my SO and I removed a dozen ticks from my person. A dozen.

She, of course, has the good sense to avoid going into that pasture, except for in the dead of winter.

Someone had to do it.

My nightmare is getting bit by a deer tick around here and not noticing it right away. Two of my kin in the next generation have ended up with chronic Lyme disease, although they did finally land good treatment and ongoing recommendations, but it's a real hassle to live with.

Anyway I spray my jeans and clogs when I just go out for the mail once the snow's gone (or even if there was snow the previous night).

It's the small things apparently gonna win the ultimate war for which humans will suit up...

 

[AngerDanger]

Dude, everyone knows 5G causes all these issues. 5G even infects all food matter including but not limited to produced alcohol and water, even those bought long before COVID19. It's safer to not consume food or water the next 90 days and crawl up in a dark place.

I should get a medal for that.

It's no coincidence that if you take all the letters and numbers in COVID19 and replace them with a "5" and a "G," you get… 5G.

 

[S.B.G]

Weather was great today for a drive. I opened up the roof and opened up the throttle in the Hot Rod Lincoln.

Felt good to be out there letting off some steam and stress.

 

[LizKat]

Weather was great today for a drive. I opened up the roof and opened up the throttle in the Hot Rod Lincoln.

Felt good to be out there letting off some steam and stress.

Someone from the local community improvement group must have felt that way this morning too. I went out for my mail after the sunshine had enticed me and noticed a packet of assorted perennial wildflower seeds tucked into the back porch doorjamb with a note "Enjoy!"

Don't know who from the group walked the notes and packets around but it was a great morning to get that assignment. Doing stuff like that can feel like heaven after a winter of being cooped up with the only fresh air being trips to the woodpile and mailbox.

And so I will plant those seeds out after the ground drains a little from this rain and I can rake out a few sunny places that would be welcoming to them. It's just the right time of year to do that around here. The flowers mostly won't bloom this year but will have plenty time to set good roots for a first wintering over. "Perennial" around here means "until a bad winter kills it" and so everything perennial including wildflowers can eventually need a reseeding or replacement.

Poured all night here but at least and finally it wasn't snow. It let up just short (I think) of my ending up having to pump water off the cellar floor. Time will tell. There's a ridge up above me that may yet spell trouble as it drains off, but we had so little snowpack during winter last season I think the water table is not very high. There's 2k' of downhill from here to the ocean anyway so... plenty room for more belated April showers in May.

 

[S.B.G]

On my mind right now... the never ending debate about systemd and the centralization of init programs and potentially turning Linux into a corporate monolith thus beating a horse that died long ago in an IRC chat room.

 

[D.T.]

The deck Phase 2 is complete (well, technically, the west stairs aren't fastened up yet, but they're fabricated...) nice little design change to deck in what was an empty area (between the AC condenser and the corner), should be nice for some space to put coolers, maybe a board, etc.

Phase 3, we're going to be extended the side deck (which was previously just a walkaround to get to the front), an extra 10-12 x 10-12 (size TBD), it's on the side where it drops down about 8-10", so section will be lower, though since the fence is relatively lower (yard is higher, fence is a constant), we're thinking of maybe some bar style seats so we can peak over the front fence, keep track of the neighborhood action

 

[Matz]

Now that the rain has stopped, I’m pondering whether to mow the rather large lawn first; or finish bush-hogging the pasture, followed by the lawn.

Fortunately, the pasture only requires such attention once or twice a year, at most. And I get to use the tractor .

The lawn, on the other hand, is the stuff of Sisyphus.

 

[D.T.]

@Matz How much property do you have? Is that some farmland (assuming you're growing something) for just personal consumption, or do you do that for resale too?

 

[Expos of 1969]

Now that the rain has stopped, I’m pondering whether to mow the rather large lawn first; or finish bush-hogging the pasture, followed by the lawn.

Fortunately, the pasture only requires such attention once or twice a year, at most. And I get to use the tractor .

The lawn, on the other hand, is the stuff of Sisyphus.

Maybe for us city types you could tell us what bush-hogging means

 

[D.T.]

Maybe for us city types you could tell us what bush-hogging means

It's a big mower - or could be a tiller - you pull behind a tractor

Bush Hog is a brand, but also a thing like 'Xeroxing'

 

[Matz]

Maybe for us city types you could tell us what bush-hogging means

Sorry about that. As @D.T. said, Bush Hog is a brand of rotary mower, and is towed behind a tractor. It’s used to cut weeds and brush, not unlike a large lawn mower, but more rugged. It will cut saplings up to 2” in diameter.
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@Matz How much property do you have? Is that some farmland (assuming you're growing something) for just personal consumption, or do you do that for resale too?

The farm is nearly 500 acres. There are two goat pastures, one each for the boys and the girls.
The goats are my SO’s; she has a herd of 30 or so fainting goats, which is somewhere between a hobby and an avocation.

The cropland is rented out to several farmers, for commercial crops such as cotton, soybeans, and hay.

Funny thing is, we don’t currently have a vegetable garden. We’re thinking of repurposing a flower garden in front of the house for growing some actual food.

I am not a farmer. This is my first experience actually living on a farm. But in my line of work I have the pleasure and good fortune of working with a number of farmers. They have been generous with their time and knowledge when I ask for advice and help with running and maintaining equipment. As a result, I have become reasonably competent in using a tractor to perform the aforementioned brush cutting, plus using a blade for grading the ½ mile long driveway a few times a year.

Mowing this lawn is a step or two beyond my former experience, as I am using a lawn tractor, instead of a push mower, and the lawn is several acres in size.

By the time it is mowed, it seems that all too soon it is ready to mow again.

 

[Matz]

It’s hard to see from this picture, but here’s the tractor with the Bush Hog behind it.

 

[D.T.]

It’s hard to see from this picture, but here’s the tractor with the Bush Hog behind it.

Wow, 500 acres, nice! My grandparents had that kind of property up in the Valdosta (GA) area, he farmed it for like local / freshmarket type sales, and personal use, they actually raised chickens, so they had several large chicken coops (er, not sure if that's the proper term at that scale). Anyway, I remember have a little Honda motorbike, like a CT70 from the 70s, we kept up there, I'd ride through the corn, fields, at that age, it felt like I was riding 1000 miles in one direction

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Septembersrain]

I get people need to go to work and we're suffering but a mask is NOT a violation of your freedom. It's consideration for others.

I'm frustrated people think the police are arresting people over social distancing and not wearing masks. They are arresting or removing people on closed government property. That is trespassing.

That or they are violating emergency orders, it's a law or ordinance. If it is violating the constitution, fight it in court. Stop attacking law enforcement, they didn't write it.

My annoyance over the lack of common sense from ALL sides is becoming routine. Can't we all just work together, just this once?

*Sigh*

 

[AngerDanger]

Mother's Day is coming up, and you know what that means: photoshopping a picture of your mom's cat into a few frames from a movie or TV show and sending it to her using one of those custom holiday card services.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Mother's Day is coming up, and you know what that means: photoshopping a picture of your mom's cat into a few frames from a movie or TV show and sending it to her using one of those custom holiday card services.

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Thankfully just in the US. Ours is in March. One of my three lest favourite days of the year.
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I get people need to go to work and we're suffering but a mask is NOT a violation of your freedom. It's consideration for others.

I'm frustrated people think the police are arresting people over social distancing and not wearing masks. They are arresting or removing people on closed government property. That is trespassing.

That or they are violating emergency orders, it's a law or ordinance. If it is violating the constitution, fight it in court. Stop attacking law enforcement, they didn't write it.

My annoyance over the lack of common sense from ALL sides is becoming routine. Can't we all just work together, just this once?

*Sigh*

I’m afraid common sense is in short supply!

 

[yaxomoxay]

Helping older kid with his homework. Education scientists must’ve spent years in labs studying how to make reading one of the most hated activities by as many students as possible. Questionnaires over questionnaires with over 100 questions such as “who said X”, and “what color was Y’s car”, and not a single question on the topics discussed or the important parts of the plot that could encourage some actual thinking on the texts.
At this point, just use quizlet to answer and f- it.

 

[JamesMike]

African and European ones are suitably repelled by citronella, and I am devoured only when I forget to apply it, which tends to happen when an afternoon beer elides into a delightful (until the winged horrors put in an appearance) twilight one; but then, I always somehow suspected that Florida was different.

While working in Africa I have seen mosquitos at a bar drinking 'Off' and citronella cocktails. True story!