The daylight savings change-over occurred last weekend. It was nice to have the lost hour returned, for it meant that the sensitive soul no longer had to awaken in the dark. Never a good idea, and it adds an additional layer of bleariness to a morning, which only ever becomes somewhat focused after a coffee, or two. As a kid I’d be up in the wee hours of the morning, summer or winter, earning mad cash delivering the daily newspapers six days per week. The lesson learned there was that better financed children, got to sleep in. It is possible that there is some accumulated trauma from those days, maybe? Probably not, it just feels more natural to me waking up once the sun has breached the horizon.
So there I was Sunday morning dreaming about enjoying an additional hour of sleep, when the so called smart phone began making weird beeping noises. The electronic cacophony outrageously woke me up! What was going on? Struggling to make sense of noises when it was still dark was most certainly not my idea of a wise plan. What had my life come to? The world of tech had moved against me!
Whilst still groggy, the animal parts of the mind retained just enough processing power to get to the bottom of this nuisance. Switched on the screen, logged in. Hmm. Turns out that the whatsap application had reverted the notification settings to high priority thus bypassing the ‘do not disturb’ function. Maybe it’s just me, but It is difficult to care about an alleged software update at 5:30am on Sunday morning. Cutting the proverbial Gordian Knot, whilst quietly mouthing a powerful incantation: “I so hate this thing”, the application was deleted from the phone right then and there.
If a job is to be done, it’s worth doing properly, and the chunk of software is now out of my life. If people want to contact me, there are plenty of other modes which don’t produce weird R2D2 wanna-be sounds at ungodly hours of the morning. Felt much better after that strong response to the nuisance, and fell promptly back to sleep. The extra hour was enjoyed, less of course the lost minutes mucking around with the phone.
Over my adult working life, I’ve observed the rise of tech in the workplace and our day to day lives. It wasn’t always this way. Go back far enough to the mid 1990’s and I was doing the accounts for a business with 100 employees which was an entirely paper based system. It all worked just fine, and required about the same amount of accounts employees which the computer based systems did. In fact when I did eventually switch the business over to a computer based accounts package, there was still all the usual work to be done. Admittedly the results were produced marginally faster and looked prettier, but the essential basic processes were the same.
Far out, things sure have changed over the years. The much vaunted spreadsheet program Excel, once arrived on two 3.5 inch floppy discs. Remember those days when you bought the software, then owned it? The program doesn’t look all that different to me now, but it sure does have a lot of floating menus which appear out of nowhere and hover over the very data or formulas I’m trying work with. Someone, somewhere, probably requested the feature, but it wasn’t me that’s for sure. That innovation annoys the daylights out of me, and quietly I’m sharpening my sword readying for a Gordian Knot manoeuvre.
Nowadays, software and process updates are a bit painful, especially for small business. The cynical side of my personality wonders if the software product wasn’t all that great in the first place if it requires so many regular updates. Additionally I do also wonder if the tech folks have reached a point of diminishing returns for their creations, thus the constant need to badger the user so as to create an artificial need? I don’t work in that world, so can’t make any useful comment upon that possibility, but am subjected to the rough end of that deal.
The news coming out of that industry is not all that rosy, and reminds me of my own experience during the recession of the early 1990’s. In those days, the ill economic winds blew with a horrid stench of death. Nervously, I cashed my pay cheque, hoped the bank run wasn’t too serious, and waited for the call, which eventually came. Nobody wants to be told not to bother coming in next Monday. Makes for poor hearing, and plenty of folks in the tech sector are receiving those words, but perhaps by an AI generated email these days? They have my sympathy and compassion, but may have to consider a detour into other lines of work. I did a four year stint in corporate debt collection back then, just sayin’.
Maybe it isn’t a bad thing for the tech sector to reduce in footprint and burden. As someone who works in small business, I get to see first hand how some of the tech works in the real world. With accounts software there is much excitement surrounding the implementation of artificial intelligence (whatever that is). You even get to see the predictive side of the software at play. From some casual observations – hardly scientific – I reckon it’s only correct about 80% of the time, which is pretty good actually. But it’s still wrong 20% of the time, and if my error rate was that high, I’d be sacked.
So, the other day I had to investigate a complicated matter relating to an employees industrial award (a vast document which lists minimum rates of pay for certain unionised industries down under). I took note of what the interweb search engine unsolicited artificial intelligence advice provided, completely disregarded it, and read through the source document. Turns out the AI supplied search advice was incorrect. There is moral hazard when a software company supplies a facility for providing legal advice, but appears to lack a duty of care when it comes to the accuracy.
The incident made the ol’ brain begin to wonder if these sorts of errors are fast multiplying throughout our society? I know to rely upon source documents, but what other folks do is a mystery. It’s hard to know really what goes on in the wider society, and maybe we never will. But all I know is that my tolerance, or as the kids would describe it nowadays, bandwidth, for this sort of muck, is diminishing. The way I see the world, the paper based systems worked just fine. Since then it looks to me to be one big pointless data gathering exercise. And who knows what the end game will be?
The weather this week has been very weird. There was even a ‘purple rain’ patch seen on the radar which was a direct hit. Lot’s of heavy rain fell in very little time. Once the immediate event passed, and it was safe to bring the camera out, we took photos so as to record where the water was flowing.
Recently the drain channel in front of the house had been built up with material. It’s an important bit of infrastructure because it keeps water away from the soil around the house. It’s been our observation over the years that flowing water should not be forced to make a sharp 90 degree turn, as eventually the constant pressure will cause the system to fail. We’ve been thinking about that problem in relation to the drain channel of late.
There were about two dry days forecast for during the middle of the week. They were spent installing the fourteen second hand solar panels onto the roof of the new firewood shed. Twelve of the panels are connected into the house power system, whilst the remaining two feed electricity into a little tiny off grid battery which supplies energy to shed lights and pumps etc.
The huge panels all have to be wired up, which is no quick job. The panels feed their harvested electricity individually into a metal distribution box, which itself hangs off the side of the shed. They are all fused so that a problem in any two panels, doesn’t take the whole system out. Then the electricity has to be sent to the house. Easy.
I like to keep the entire system simple on the basis that the strategy works under worst case scenarios, and so far it is proving to be resilient. There are other ways to wire all this stuff up, but each complication introduces additional risks to the overall arrangement. Plus having experienced failures with cheaper fuses, it’s worth paying a bit more for quality / industrial items and including lots of fail-safes at every point in the system.
After days of scrambling around roofs, plus also climbing up and down ladders, I took a break and fitted out the internal parts of the shed. It’s looking neat, and we used up heaps of scrap materials that were laying around.
Then on a rainy Sunday, I installed another distribution box and wired up the remaining two solar panels to the little off grid system used for shed lights, pumps etc.
The cables have an outer coating of UV stable plastic, which has proven to be very resilient over the years, but all the same, I’ll soon add some UV stable split conduit to provide a further layer of protection for the plastic from the harsh sunlight.
On Tuesday, the burn off restrictions in this area were lifted for the winter season. There was much pent up demand to undertake this activity, and so the competitive rural sport of burn offs, was off and away for 2026.
The hail storm six or so weeks ago smashed up a lot of the late season harvest, like marrows and pumpkins. Still, it hasn’t all been bleak, and here’s a sample of some of the produce (the yellow liquid is vinegar left over from pickling cucumbers):
The grape harvest has been pretty good too. The vines are in a cage which protected the fruit from the hail damage. Still, a fungus has damaged about half of the fruit. Being canny and resourceful folks, we’ve removed the lavender plants which were shading the soil in the grape cage, and I’ll add more lime to the soil over the next six months, which the fungus won’t like at all.
The greens are fast recovering from the hail wipe out.
Silverbeet is growing strongly, but then so too are the radishes:
The evergreen fruit trees, such as Loquats, which were smashed by the hail storm, are now bouncing back with new growth.
Nature is pretty resilient, and a decade old olive tree which had been ring barked by the pesky and now deceased deer, is now producing epicormic growth, which shows how stressed out the tree is.
Almost forgot to mention the fuel prices this week:
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 13βC (55βF). So far for this year there has been 289.6mm (11.4 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 245.6mm (9.7 inches)
Comments
51 responses to “Bandwidth”
Yo, Chris – I wonder if anyone, anywhere, wondered, “Gee, I wonder why we just lost 100,000 subscribers? Probably not. I also wonder if when I click away from a site, when encountering a paywall, anyone takes note of that?
Well, as I’ve said before, computers don’t make less work. Just different kinds of work. And, I wonder if the IT workers, replacing the “paper people” cost more, or less? And then there’s the myth that computer systems take up less space than paper based systems. Or, save paper. Myth upon myth. The emperor has no clothes.
I’ve certainly seen error rates climb in different areas of Library Land. Higher and higher error rates seem to become acceptable. Cataloging errors of 95%, or even 90%. Do away with overdue fines and more books will come back. Well, no.
There’s been a few reports, lately, of very miffed judges, in the legal profession. Apparently, some lawyers (barristers?) are leaning on the artificial. And, the artificial is cranking out precedent setting cases, which don’t exist. Just completely made up. Or, misreport the outcomes of cases that do exist.
Ah, my question is answered. What the smaller off grid (your grid, not the big grid in the sky), is for. Lights I surmised, but pumps I hadn’t.
As with civilizations, more complexity leads to greater rates of failure. Seems simple. There’s more to go wrong. Whatever happened to the old K.I.S.S. concept? “Keep it simple, stupid.” It used to have a lot of currency. But, apparently, someone, somewhere is enamored with complexity. The more, the better.
Ah, the burn off season. Reminds me of Guy Fawkes Day. π
Loquats. I saw something, something the other day, about some animal that ate loquats. Ah, yes. Our coyotes. Another of our animals you’d rather not see, down under. π
https://pethelpful.com/pet-news/coyote-spotted-sitting-in-tree-has-neighbors-confused
I’d always cut back the rhubarb seed heads, in our communal bed. But left one or two, as, 1.) seeding is a good thing and 2.) they’re pretty.
Well, that’s interesting. Our venerable old Rosemary is also blooming. I wonder if wherever in the world a Rosemary is, if it’s April, it’s time to bloom? Lew
Hello Chris, very nice work on the shed: congratulations. One could almost live in there. A guest house for refugees? May I ask why you used 2 different distribution boxes for the output from the solar panels? To make them neater and emphasize their different functions? Quite unlike the higgledy piggledy fuses and wiring here. There are 3 panels with different breakers active on each and now redundant disconnected parts according to the history of the circuitry.
A while ago power points in 2 rooms stopped working. They had done so a year before and as mysteriously started functioning again. I think my partner was here at the time and had reset the breaker. This time I rang an electrician. When he came two days later he reset the breaker (which had been so hard to move I had thought there was a fault and not forced it) and patted me metaphorically on the head. I asked whether he would look at a couple of other power points which never worked. Sure, he would be back. That must have been two months ago. No bill has been received for the fifteen minutes looking around, I suppose that is something. But it is not the first time a tradesperson has unaccountably not returned. (I am wondering, if fuel is unavailable for backup generators in the winter, whether that means it is likewise unavailable for road trips interstate? Travellers would at least have warm dry rooms and cooking facilities in caravan parks and motels. Though bans on large jerry cans have been in place here since March.)
It is sad to see the curcubits and Solanacea having a last hurrah when their late fruit will never ripen. They must feel it is worth the gamble on eventual climate change.
k
Hi Kallianeira,
Hope you are well and finally got some rain in your area?
Ha! Refugees here would have to work hard, just like the Editor and I do! π There are probably easier places to end up for such folks. Actually, went to the tip today to drop off a whole bunch of scrap metal (the sizes and shapes were too small to be of future use) and turns out they can close the facility on wet and windy days. Who knew?
Well, the big distribution box is for the 48V system, whilst the little plastic box is for a different 12V system. One of the ongoing jokes in the Ghostbusters film was for the characters not to cross the streams when hunting ghosts. Good advice. A similar principle applies to wiring systems, don’t mix up different voltages and systems. Did you know that it’s not even wise to run DC cables alongside AC wires? There’s such a thing as electromagnetic induction. Hmm.
Sounds like your house wiring has a long and venerable history, and is probably in need of a complete replacement. Well, you know, electricians are people and they perhaps sense the underlying potential risk which is working on a system such as your description suggests to me. Electrocution is a serious risk, and some jobs are more difficult than others, put it that way.
If I may, if there are 3 boards with different breakers working on each, most electricians would I’m guessing not want to get involved in any major or minor fix ups just in case they are blamed for others work. Probably why they haven’t returned, or billed you. If you genuinely want the wiring fixed, you’re probably at the stage where the whole thing needs to be re-done from start to finish. I’ve faced that situation with a house in Fitzroy North in Melbourne which had wiring so old that cloth was used as an insulator. It takes the right person to do that job too, it’s not for just any sparky. My day job sometimes requires me to provide err, ‘dad talks’, and you’ve just experienced one. You’ll be fine, maybe. π
Well, it ain’t just you wondering about the whole jerry can business, but that’s a reason we added another dozen solar panels to the house system. I suspect that we’ll have better availability of petrol than diesel, and my little back up generators use petrol.
There’s been some talk in the media about people putting off road trips, for that very reason.
Well, yeah, climate change is the dark horse with all plants as to their climate applicability, and long, long ago, the planet was one big jungle. Dinosaurs in Antarctica strikes me as an odd notion, but they were there.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Well, that’s a thought. And dunno whether it is just me, but the same biggie interweb company as directing traffic for a fee (which I refuse to pay), is the same folks as providing the statistics. You tell me what that all looks like to you? I smell possible mischief inherent in that very arrangement.
Dude, I have some serious hesitation when it comes to any statistics relating to interweb traffic. So, probably because I back-link to Mr Greer, and also Mr Kunstler, just prior to your 2024 election, what I was seeing here in the background numbers wise, looked possibly curated to my brain. It was a bloodbath, but with no difference in the number and variety of comments. Could be wrong, but then why did the numbers suddenly change the day after the election?
I doubt anyone really knows what is going on with things such as subscriber numbers, and at a really wild guess, it is possible that with news sites, sometimes they no longer have to make any mad cash surpluses like they used to? Dunno. Still, we’ll know for sure possibly if the tech bro mad cash ever dries up, but until then it is all pure speculation and wild guesses.
The computer data bases appear as simply another overlay of costs to me, but what do I know? But I do know that with the advent of cheap high quality printer machines, we use far more paper than way back in the day. Yeah, myth upon myth, and a friend suggests to me that our civilisation has a natural tendency to over produce, and I reckon that makes for heaps of unnecessary waste.
I still can’t quite comprehend how removing an overdue fine will increase the return of books. It’s meant to incentivise behaviour, that’s the whole point of the fine. If there are no consequences, then surely return rates and timeliness would decrease in what appears as an abuse of the commons? Dunno.
Yes, those reports are popping up down here as well. What the AI thing has to say about a subject may bear some relevance, but what the actual written source document (or genuine precedents) recommends, will guide the outcome. The point I raised is that if the tech lot supply advice, which is wrong, there may well be a duty of care there which could be tested in the same environment? Hmm. The whole thing smells of expensive legul fees to me though. Anyhoo, the old timers used to say that the d’el is the father of all lies.
Yeah, 12V water pumps are pretty awesome bits of technology (with some much needed modifications). 5 gallons per minute at 60psi pressure – no problems at all.
Nobody really talks about the whole Keep It Simple Stupid business any more, but that approach works. Dunno, but my best guess is that people apply complexity because they believe that there is an edge to be gained by doing so. Mostly greater costs and biggerer risks is what I reckon are the outcomes, but that’s me.
Hehe! Guy Fawkes day, every day until the spring warmth suggests that lighting fires outdoors in the bush is a very dumb idea. π It’s super damp out there right now, and I better get into that forest work, and soon.
Took a heap of scrap metal down to the local tip today. All of the material was of small sizes and had no use that I could foresee. Although, there was enough that we had to drag the trailer down there. Whilst out and about – no point wasting a journey – grabbed a BΓ‘nh mΓ¬ for lunch and picked up the hardware and plywood for the barn doors to the new shed. Most places seemed to be doing OK and there was plenty of traffic. A bit of an admin and sourcing day today really, which needs doing from time to time. Noticed that the local distributor was out of replacement gas bottles, but that could be due to demand from campers over Easter, maybe. Working out a plan B and C on that front just in case.
Loquats are pretty tasty, and long ago I had a dog which loved them and had to be monitored closely when in the fruit’s presence. So I’m hardly surprised that coyotes (and no, don’t want them thanks for asking) would also enjoy the fruit. Those trees in the photo, began life as $2 each get rid of these seedling potted plants. The deer were a nuisance with the leaves, but you can see that with the growth in the photos, the predation has vanished. Yeah, no reason dogs can’t climb trees, and foxes sure do climb. Hmm.
Exactly! Self seeded rhubarb plants are a real treat, and respect to you. π Turns out, in mild climates, rosemary can flower all year around.
Well, somebody has to split the moon back, so it might as well be Rahko. And wise to put such other folks who’d done that, to good work to restore the lunar balance. Hey, I was at Bunnings today, the much loved big box hardware store down under. Ignore the arty-fish, what does the thing know anyhoo?
Not sure how the name ended up applied to the rugged hand tool, but I can take that, yeah. π Most rural fire trucks have those hand tools, and they’re good for doing what the authoritas describe as ‘blacking out’, which is tedious but probably necessary work to extinguish the aftermath of a fire and clean up an area.
No, demented works just fine for me. The eyes were definitely on the popping end of the spectrum, but even so, I had absolute trust in the guy. And knew how to land!
Thanks for mentioning the Klingon’s as I’d inadvertently not read the next thread in the discussion believing it had finished at the footnotes. Such erudite folks on that website. The joke was very fun indeed, but to me, the dark can retain its scare factor. π
Whoa! People are asking some big bucks for those figurines. If I’d known, I would have kept the metal and plastic ones of my youth. Alas, another get rich quick scheme dies a premature ending. Oh well, maybe next time! The plastic farm animals I used to be bribed with at the dentist, were quite well painted, unlike the dimestore soldiers whom were metal and a solid army green.
Dude, there are four solar power systems here. π
About the same weather here today, and it sure felt cold to me. When is your spring deciding to finally make a special guest appearance? π
Mr Tusser was quite the character, and may possibly have had more ideas than success at the gentle art of wresting production from the land. But what a wit, and he may have inadvertently pushed a tiny little cultural snowball down a hill which gathered size over the centuries. Whatever else may be said about the gentleman, he knew a good line when he wrote it:
A foole and his monie be soone at debate,
which after with sorrow repents him too late.
Lovely stuff, and so true.
A shame that there isn’t a patron saint of poultry.
Ah, bunker living has much to recommend it in a crisis, at first. Yes, supplies would run low, and the growing season in an island as far north as Greenland, would be problematic. In such extreme climates, you’re only ever as good as the preservation techniques.
To be honest, if things were grim, and I had to choose between planting Ozette potato seeds, or ones introduced from Europe (via South America), it’d be a no brainer contest. The Ozette would win. If there’d be a more locally adapted variety for your part of the world, I haven’t heard mention of it. Nice of you to spread the variety around too. What did the master gardeners make of the gift?
Stop it with this breakfast pizza talk! Hehe! Yes, it’s a gourmet pizza, but not at breakfast time is it? The tried and tested patterns at that time of the day are toasted muesli, fresh seasonal fruit and home made yoghurt. And in your example, the patterns are dare I say it, incorrect! π Although I’m in the minority here. Sounds like a lovely pizza mix. And some folks may have issues with the pineapple, let alone the hour of latter consumption.
Go Juan, and did the gentleman survive the zombie onslaught?
Interesting, and your country was initially on the fence about WWII, the same with WWI. So I’m hardly surprised that such things went on. Oh man, the book on the subject of the sinking of the Indianapolis would be gruelling. So it’s on the hold list, right. Man, that story is the stuff of nightmares, and they were pretty hard on the captain too for no particular reason that I could see. The Japanese sub torpedoed the big ship fair and square sorry to say. The results to the stricken crew were horrific and the sea plane which landed in the rough waters was an act of mercy, beyond the ordinary.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Well, we all know what Mr. Twain said about statistics. One of those things “everybody” knows, so no use repeating it again. Sort of like Fairy dots. π
Theoretically, subscriber numbers were used to set ad rates. For newspapers and magazines. Even TV shows. Now it’s all about numbers of “clicks.”
As far as libraries go, it’s sort of the same idea. When numbers of users started falling, librarians got all whipped into a froth about “barriers to access.” Overdue fines, and the idea of quiet in the library, were two victims of that movement. “Event” planning, came to the fore. Some libraries even launched coffee bars.
You’ve apparently cornered part of the hand tool market. You want a slice of the plastic toy figure market, too? Sigh. How much is too much? π
Four solar power systems? Let’s see. Three of anything is a collection … π
Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C). Our overnight low was 46F (7.77C). Our forecast high for today is 56F. Oh, spring is definitely here. More or less.
St. Brigis of Ireland. Patron saint of poultry farmers.
I haven’t seen the Master Gardeners, this morning. It’s raining. Might not see them. I might give the Ozette potatoes, to our postie.
Carl was really intrigued with the Ozette potatoes, and I gave him a few. He said his wife would also be interested in them, and the story that goes along with them.
I’m still quit fond of my usual four fruit and oatmeal breakfasts. But a break, every once in awhile, is nice.
Does Juan survive the Cuban zombie apocalypse? It’s an open ended, end. Alive, but still on the island. When he’s training his motley little band of zombie hunters, there’s a bit of dialogue. “There are fast zombies, and there are slow zombies.” π
There were a lot of so called isolationists, before WWII. For different reasons. Some in the German / American Bunds, wanted to keep America out of the war, or at least for as long as possible. There were pretty clear memories of WWI tipping in the allies favor, once the US got on board. Lew
Hi, Chris!
You know how I feel about getting up in the dark. Ook. It makes me quite depressed, but that goes away once the sun comes up. My phone woke me up at 3 AM the other morning to tell me that it was putting some apps to sleep that I never use. I couldn’t go back to sleep. What kind of hell is this? Who is it that needs the sleep! I can’t find any way to stop it from doing that occasionally.
A couple of weeks ago I got a bit worried because my monthly bill for a life insurance policy had not come in the mail when it usually does. The local office did not have an agent in charge at the moment, the usual one having quit (or been fired; boy, she was ditzy). So I called the main customer service number of the company to check. I got a bot, they called it a bot, and that damn thing went around in circles, asking the same question no matter what I answered. They must have bought the bargain basement special AI. I then went by the local office (thank goodness there is one) and the – oh, no – another ditzy one – temporary relacement eventually figured out how to help me.
Now, today I had to call a different insurance company about our home insurance, having received what I would call a threatening letter about how I had better pay up. I had paid my premium and had the canceled check to prove it. I dreaded calling them, but did so, and though I got a bot for a minute, a human came on almost immediately and was most pleasant. You never know what you are going to get. What do you bet AI sent me the erroneous threatening letter?
Good idea to record the water flow. I can’t do that. We are in a drought and now have wildfire smoke blowing over us, though no fires nearby.
What an impressive set-up, the panels and the wiring and the boxes. You could so easily now (except for the hard work) do the wiring for a whole house.
Yum – at least you got some vegetables. I save my leftover pickling vinegar and use it for other things. I actually can the leftover vinegar and spices from when I make my sweet pickle relish because I can use that as a base for making Asian sauces later.
The loquats look good, but how are the branches of that olive tree? We have a holly tree, it was a beautiful old thing, but it got some kind of mites and all the leaves died and it looked quite sick. My son cut the tree and left a waist high stump. I fed it and pampered it and it has put out lots of new branches and looks quite nice. I was sure that it would die.
Do you save your rhubarb seed? I can’t believe you have a pumpkin vine blooming. Thanks for all the flowers!
I bought myself a new half-pint shovel today (and a hose). I have a blue bow on my own Gorilla Cart – I had bought 3 others and they kept heading off to yonder places – so everyone knows which is mine. Shall I put a pink bow (or at least pink duct tape) on my shovel?
So you can also make pesto with rocket? That is one thing I forgot to plant. I wonder if it is too late.
Pam
Thanks for the dad talk, Chris. On top of the “it doesn’t need fixing, it needs a bulldozer” comments I am wondering whether this 100-year-old house will outlive me as I had expected.
It’s better than a brother talk, for sure. They are infuriating!
Do you still want pickling recipes for your cucumbers? Last night I found two which were used to create bottles of delicious gherkins just as good over two years later.
k
Hi kallianeira,
It’s a good question isn’t it? Still, old houses are pretty hardy and they’ve sort of settled into their place, and there’s a lot to like about that. Of course, on the other hand, nothing is certain, but you’ll be fine, maybe.
How’s that for a non-answer! π Tolkien did say not to go to the Elves for advice for they would say both yes, and no! A pretty funny joke from my perspective. But a century old house is probably as tough as old boots. Think of all the events the walls and roof have seen over the long years, and it’s still standing, isn’t it?
Ha! Very funny, and I only had two older sisters and dad who’d skipped out, so if you could enlighten me as to the qualities of a: ‘brother talk’, consider it a community service? Your words suggest that the discussion was annoying at best.
Absolutely. Please do provide the recipe if it is not too much bother. Do you have any Fowlers Vacola gear? We use the number 27 bottles, which haven’t been made for half a century. Tough stuff that glass.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
Oh, we’re all different, and sleep is one of those things which everyone experiences – and manages too – in all sorts of ways. I see what you mean about the dark, but as you noted it’s a temporary aberration for your day. And yeah the stupid smart phone does that trick at random times, but 3am is mildly unforgivable – the little rascal of a device.
Pam, we’re all floating around in tech hell up to our eyeballs! π Far out. Dunno about your device, but the one here has a mostly working ‘do not disturb’ program which shuts off all calls, texts and notifications between certain hours of every day. 3am is rarely our friend, is it? Thus why the app mucking around with the security settings annoyed the daylights out of me.
And if you switch the thing off… I’d forget to switch it back on again, and oh my, can my brain handle so many complaints from people trying to contact me? Dunno, but hey, who wants out to find that sort of limit?
Ook! You seem to have navigated through the wonderful world of the ‘chat bot’ assistant. That’s funny too, although wouldn’t have been at the time for you, but yeah, there’s cheap, and then there is way too cheap for such systems. Ah, perhaps the job itself has a special magnetic attraction for folks with such charms? It might also be some sort of self protective customer service approach acting ditzy? You don’t know, and I used to put on the ‘real dumb’ persona when doing debt collection. Don’t knock it, the approach got under the radar with non payers, and then the switch would be flicked and the hard questions were posed.
At least the insurance mob has a local office. Down here it is all pretty much done by phone call, which is recorded for training purposes, or so they say! The cynic in me suggests that the whole purpose of your feeling of dread when it comes to contacting them, means that perhaps their goals have been achieved? Just between you and I, that task is most certainly not on the list of fun things to do.
And you encountered the dread side of the whole sordid arty-fish-al business in that the thing can be wrong. It can get worse, a whole bunch of horrid badness took place in this country a few years ago: Robodebt scheme. You’d have to suggest that 470,000 wrongly-issued debts is a pretty impressive number for the small population down here. A tragic episode.
Oh poop! Hope you get some rain soon. What’s the longer term forecasts suggesting for the rest of the season? Smoke this early is possibly not a good sign.
The regulations are different in your country in relation to wiring. It’s quite astounding to me to hear of people doing their own mains wiring in the US, or plumbing for that matter, cause down here that work requires a license. I’m able to do up to 110V DC wiring which is described as ‘extra low voltage’ which covers the solar. It’d still hurt I reckon to get zapped by that. Ook!
Exactly, there’s some produce despite the serious damage, but carry on and stuff. Oooo! Thanks for the suggestion with the pickling vinegar, and that sounds super yummo. I quite enjoy Asian rice vinegar which is pretty zingy and used for much the same sort of dishes. Lovely stuff isn’t it vinegar? And a good use of greens and vegetables.
The upper branches on that particular olive tree are a bit sick looking, actually they’re not good at all. Nice one, and I did a similar thing with a Meyer Lemon tree which bounced back stronger than before, although it took a while. It’s called skeletonising, or something like that, maybe. Holly grows over in the northerly side of the range. I hear you about your concern over the fate of the holly bush, and it’s always surprising to see the plants recover isn’t it? Like an unexpected thoughtful gift.
Never thought to save rhubarb seed. Do you do so, and has it got any special purposes? The seeds set just fine in the climate here and the plants can spread, although hacking off chunks of the roots works pretty well too.
Well done, and hope those new gardening items don’t get err, redirected again! π The blue bow sends a strong message, as does the pink duct tape as to ownership!
Absolutely you can make pesto with rocket leaves, although I reckon the perennial wall rocket makes a slightly nicer mix. But both are good. Pam, the plant ain’t called rocket for nothing, although with your area warming and drying up, I’d pick a shadier spot for rocket.
Just thought to chuck in another honourable mention, if you can get seeds for Diplotaxis tenuifolia, truly, you wont regret it. Such a weed, but awesome rocket leaves and it thrives in the heat without bolting, unlike the more usual larger leafed annual rocket.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Oh the irony. π We know what Mr Twain suggested regarding statistics, but do the younger folks? For all any of us knows, that youthful cohort might take the numbers seriously. The mysterious fairy dots again. Actually I reckon your explanation so far has been the best – Elf poop. The symbols could have the potency just like that Death of a Unicorn film suggested.
Don’t you reckon that in the big wide world of the interweb, click numbers can be err, fudged? I’d not realised that aspect of subscriber numbers setting the price for ads and words. Funnily enough, the Editor and I were discussing the old classified advertisements from way back in the day. If you wanted to sell something, that was the avenue for doing so. I was always a bit dubious regarding viewer numbers for television shows. It could ever have been an estimate, although some households used to fill out big surveys on viewing habits. Were you ever involved in such things?
Actually, have you noticed how often customer to business interactions done through computers, pop up surveys after the transaction is complete? Makes me wonder what they do with all that collected data, and I only fill out such things if there is a likelihood it keeps a local service going – like the local bank branch. The staff always ask, and I sense a slightly desperate edge to the request. No shortage of news regarding bank branches closing. Oh well.
Sorry to say it, but whilst barriers to access may be an underlying issue with libraries, the decline of functional literacy is probably a bigger problem. My best guess, and I’d be curious as to your thoughts, but I believe that our society is returning to the longer term, historically average, rates of literacy.
Funnily enough, I actually do know of a library which has an attached cafΓ©, and it looks like they do events. Do you ever get the impression that a lot of the responses to certain problems have a kind of co-ordinated form and function even in different parts of the world? I guess groups gossip and disseminate ideas – which then spread.
The hand tools may come in, dare I say it, handy, in the future. The plastic figurines, maybe not so much. And you’ve raised a fine point, which I ain’t disputing.
Oh, the solar power err, collection, well it’s complicated, put it that way. Can things held for purely functional purposes be considered part of a collectors collection? After all, I’m sure there are more than three pairs of knives and forks in the cutlery draw. One has to draw a line in the sand here. π
Just clipped your area today at 61’F. Man, we’re going down temperature wise, but not without a fight. There may be sacrifices…
Did you know that there is an The Oxford Dictionary of Saints? Well that’s news to me. Saint Brigit has much to recommend her, and there’s some sort of portion of a relic in the big smoke.
Ah, sometimes work continues, even in the rain. The seed potatoes are a very thoughtful gift.
Speaking of work, did a shandy day of paid work and stuff around here removing older chunks of low voltage solar wiring, some of which had been buried and I had to dig up. Thankfully the photos for the trenches had been sorted out recently and proved to be an accurate guide. Finished work pretty late tonight too. Had a tasty home made moussaka for dinner which only needed reheating. The Editor had gone into the city to see a comedy show with friends. A rando in a cue spilt red wine on her white denim jacket. Hmm.
π I hear ya about the break in routine, but have never been able to handle the breakfast pizza. Although a quick straw poll says the fault lays with me. Ook!
Important zombie information to impart to those seeking to battle the undead nuisances.
Agreed, it’s never safe to assume that agendas are the same everywhere, and some folks interests run contrary to national concerns. And yeah, the US turned the tide in both WWI and WWII.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – That was an interesting (and distressing) article about the Robodebt scandal. It reminded me of that movie I watched, a couple of years ago. “Mr. Bates vs the Post Office.” Which was about another computer inspired screw up, which injured a lot of people. What do you do when you’re caught up in such a morass?
https://w.wiki/8ijW
Nielsen ratings. I knew they covered TV, but didn’t realize their tabulating was so … far reaching. Yup, the old paper and pencil “viewer diaries.”
https://w.wiki/LCyd
Nielsen never asked my opinion, on anything, as far as I know. Probably a good thing. π I think the constant begging for reviews and ratings is entirely out of hand. Customer surveys. To the point where it irritates me. And, a lot of them involved having a dumb phone, which I don’t have. Nor want. Occasionally, when an employee goes above and beyond for me, I’ll attempt to leave positive feedback.
Oh, I think there’s been a decline in literacy. Especially, in the area of vocabulary. There have been studies … News reports are pitched to an “intermediate reading level,” which is described as about an 8th grade level. Then there is this … “Yes, average reading levels in the U.S. have been declining for years, with high school seniors’ scores hitting their lowest point since 1992. This trend predates the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to worsen, with nearly a third of seniors lacking basic reading skills.
PBS, Harvard University.”
So, where’s it all going? One mustn’t forget the film. “Idiocracy.” It sounds like it was sort of suppressed, when it came out. But, it became a cult classic. It’s amazing how many people I run across, that mention the film.
https://w.wiki/3kMX
I think libraries took their cue from shopping malls. Hmmm. I worked in a lot of both. The idea of a “destination” venue, with entertainment.
What makes a collection? Oddly, I thought of kitchen equipment, before reading your response. Why do I have so many tea strainers? π
Our high yesterday was 54F (12.22C). Our overnight low was 43F (6.11C). Our forecast high for today is 51F. Prof. Mass has a post about an upcoming cold snap. There are warnings up for “winter storm warnings,” for our mountains. The next couple of nights, temps will be near, or slightly less than freezing. Lots of rain in the forecast, Though Friday and Saturday look nice.
Getting back to vocabulary, I have an interesting book working its way to the top of the pile. After the WWII book. Which is quit readable, by the way. “,un ‘ a ‘ bridged: the thrill of (and threat to) the modern dictionary,” fatsis, 2025. Here’s a synopsis, from our library catalog. “Words are the currency of culture – and never more than today. From selfie to doomscrolling to rizz, our hyper-connected digital world coins and spreads new words with lightning speed and locks them into mainstream consciousness with unprecedented influence. Journalist and bestselling author Stefan Fatsis embedded as a lexicographer-in-training at America’s most famous dictionary publisher, Merriam-Webster, to learn how words get into the dictionary, where they come from, who decides what they mean, and how we write and think about them. In so doing, as he recounts in Unabridged, he discovered the history and fascinating subculture of the dictionary and of those who curate and revere “one of the most basic features of our collective humanity.” Fatsis reveals the little-known story of how the brothers George and Charles Merriam acquired Noah Webster’s original American dictionary and reshaped the business of language forever. Merriam-Webster became America’s most successful and enduring compendium of words, withstanding intense competition and cultural controversies – only to be threatened by the power of Google and artificial intelligence today. Delving into Merriam’s legendary archives and parsing its arcane rules, Fatsis learns the painstaking precision required for writing good definitions. He examines how the dictionary has handled the most explosive slurs and the revolutionary change in pronouns. He votes on the annual Word of the Year, travels to the legendary Oxford English Dictionary, and visits the world’s greatest private dictionary collection in a Greenwich Village apartment stuffed with more than 20,000 books. Fatsis demonstrates how words are weaponized in our polarized political culture-from liberal to woke to DEI-and, in a time of insurrections and pandemics, how they can be a literal matter of life and death. Along the way, he manages to write a few definitions that crack the code and are enshrined in the pixelated dictionary.”– Provided by publisher.”
Last night I polished off the last of the pizza. I settled in and watched an older film, Christopher Guest’s “Best in Show.” Very amusing. What a bunch of neurotic (the the point of being funny,” people. Lew
Chris:
Gosh I’d like to see your “real dumb persona” in action.
What a horrifying occurrence was the robodebt debacle. I wonder how much of the scheme was calculated, as in how much is the clueless bot I dealt with a reason to cause people making insurance claims to give up.
The longer term forecast looks like a hot and dry summer; that’s what we had last year. I expect the heat, but we used to get a lot more rain. June does look to be about normal for temps, maybe not even as hot as now in April.
Sadly, rhubarb does not agree with me and nobody else here likes it, so I don’t grow it. I save the seeds of most everything else. I’ve had trouble saving spinach seeds in the past, but this crop has a lot of seed heads, so I am hopeful.
I have gotten a lot of the tomatoes I grew from seed planted out. It is so hot, especially when there are no clouds, that I have had to set up a double layer of mosquito netting in front of them for shade or they will swoon. I would use the white floating row cover fabric that we just bought, but I don’t like it. It shades what shouldn’t be shaded and water rolls right off of it and can’t get through.
I did find the diplotaxis ten. online. I have to think of some other things to order with it. It seems silly to order one $3.00 packet. Why do they call it wall rocket? I didn’t see any pictures of it climbing on a wall.
Our postal service seems to have gone somewhat wonky. I correspond by letter with a couple of friends and their letters are sometimes taking from a fortnight – to 40 days! This is especially frustrating as in the past the larger cities used to have several mail deliveries a day.This worries me about the bills I still pay by mail. How is your non-home delivery postal service going?
Pam
Chris,
Good job. Shed completed? Yes. New wiring done? Yes. Coherent explanations why the 12V and 48V boxes are separated by distance? Yes, especially mentioning the Ghostbusters thing. And induction due to the A part of AC is a real thing and can produce some wonderful magnetic fields among other things.
We had a rather large Tesla coil at the scince museum place I worked for two summers. It was inside a grounded wire cage. There was a spot to insert a fluorescent light tube. Yes the AC powered Tesla coil generated a large enough changing magnetic field that the fluorescent tube lit brightly.
I see that Lew mentioned something about Guy Fawkes Day. Two questions. First, isn’t that the day that you should be attempting to blast a Moby Rock apart with explosives? Your explosive attempts would be part of the celebration of such an historic day. Second, wasn’t the original Guy Fawkes Day a sad attempt at recreating the universe via a big bang? π
Like Pam, we’ve had postal delivery issues also. Some of the Christmas cards sent by the Princess arrived at their destinations on the Rez in March. She sent them out circa December 6. Delivery was to post office boxes in the local post offices. There were some changes in policy about 6 years ago that have been devastating, and there were recently more changes. Sigh.
We have had some of those technological interruptions at normal sleep hours. Yup, usually for the same reason Pam had: notification that unused apps were being put into deep sleep. Huh? Can’t that be done quietly without awakening the entire house? I must confess that the last time such a sleep distraction occurred, words much worse than Shostakovich, Fibonacci, Toccata and Fugue were used. Liberally.
Then there’s 2 days ago. I had read something in a book. A real book. In another room from the computer. We have no camera on the computer. Leaving the book behind, I said nary a word to the Princess about what I had just read. Something I had read in an actual real book needed further research. I sat at the computer, opened gaggle. Typed 3 or 4 letters and THE EXACT QUESTION I HAD ON AN OBSCURE SUBJECT APPEARED IN THE SEARCH WINDOW! That’s not the first time that has happened. Did the computer do a Vulcan mind meld on me or something? Are those notifications about now “deeply sleeping apps” really a method of infiltrating my brain? Why do unused apps on my phone sleep better than I do?
The Princess appreciated your kind words about the recent funeral.
More purple rain? Yikes! We had a brief April thundershower yesterday. Hard rain for 10 minutes, but nothing like purple rain.
Photographing where the water was draining was a good idea. Hint number 1: it was flowing downhill. π
Several decades ago, a university in snow country had built a new campus. They didn’t put in sidewalks until after the first winter. Why? Tracks. The students and staff made their own natural pathways between buildings. Aerial photos were taken. Sidewalks were constructed where people actually walked, grass and shrubs planted where people hadn’t walked. Less concrete used than under the usual rectangular grid system of sidewalks, as people just sort of naturally used the most efficient routes to get where they were going.
Good to see that you’re getting produce. And that some of the veggies are coming back from the hailstorm of doom.
The Oregon grapes and lupines are blooming. So is the second cherry tree with the blooming quince as a backdrop. There are these exquisite tiny purple flowers blooming in some yards, some unrelated tiny blue flowers also. I have neither, but I do have a good supply of lupine and Oregon grape.
Tomorrow will be the trip to the nursery. Seed potatoes and seeds for other veggies. Time to start getting things ready to plant.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Ha! It was a fun routine for me to pull that super-dumb trick on unsuspecting folks, but the intensity of alertness the debt collection job required, did kind of wear me out. Still, I learned that if you project that perception, people took pity on you, and bizarrely put the calls through to the appropriate folks. The games people play…
The robodebt thing was awful, and um allegedly not in line with the actual laws. Apparently some sort of income averaging was applied, and so the entire formula was probably flawed from the get-go. But I tell ya, that one smashed a lot of people who were a bit on the edge. And you might be onto something there about people giving up, because of the sheer volume, the people facing bureaucrats were swamped. A truly dumb idea.
Anyhoo, today’s word of the day, which your experience suggests is: Tenacity! π
They’re starting to talk up the super El Nino down here today in the news, but it’s still early days. And that may be true for your part of the world too with the predictions of a hotter and drier summer? Forecasting with any accuracy out beyond a few days is a fraught proposition. It’s the cold snaps in late spring which bother me the most as the frosty weather kills so many plants in their prime.
Oh poop, that’s no good about rhubarb. Honestly, the stalks needs to be stewed with plenty of sugar for them to be edible. But I am rather partial to an stewed apple and rhubarb pie. So good, sorry to say.
Fingers crossed that your spinach seeds are viable. They’re a finicky plant and are intolerant of serious heat, and the much easier and hardier Silverbeet is my choice of cooked leafy green. It’s even a little bit weedy and the stalks grow in three colours too. There’s a lot to like, but yeah, Spinach has a slightly nicer flavour. That green just doesn’t do well here.
How are the citrus going, are they now outdoors again?
Hmm. Interesting indeed. Poor little tomato seedlings, and too much shade is as bad as too little. Interestingly, the tomato seeds which germinate here don’t seem to be bothered by dry soil early in the growing season. Out of curiosity are you observing any of the varieties which do better in hot and dry weather? There’s a lot of variability with that plant.
Ha! Depends on what the supplier charges for postage, and seeds are perfectly sized for plain envelopes and the usual stamps (AU$1.70 a letter nowadays!)
Proving that things could always be worse, there is no postal delivery where this place is. None. π And delivery services are down in the nearby area from daily to only about maybe three times a week. The volume of letters has somewhat contracted in recent times worldwide, and that one is a volume business. However, I’d have to suggest that it takes a lot of income from the sale of individual stamps to pay for the salaries of those in the upper echelons of that service. Just sayin…
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Well, almost completed is perhaps a more accurate description for the project. I’d intended to finish the 12V wiring today, but instead managed to only install the four 12V LED lights (plus a switch) for inside the shed. But why would manufacturers supply them with wires which are around 1mm thick (or less) is a mystery to me. It’s just too small. I’d connected them all up, and then went back after lunch and decided to solder every singe 1mm connection just to make sure they’d survive. A lot of work, but hopefully tomorrow finishes off that wiring as the circuit has to still connect up to the water pumps. Then the doors need to be made and some other minor stuff and it’s a wrap. Looks like the weather will be good for storing more firewood next week.
Oh yeah, induction when AC and DC cables run in parallel, can do very strange things with solar charge controllers which have long DC cable runs. They perform similar functions to that of an antenna. The local manufacturer warned me about this problem, as well as not separating apart the positive and negative cables for anything other than necessity. And is all that technology even genuinely understood?
Nice experiment with the fluorescent globe and the Tesla coil. I’ve heard stories about the induction fields from the really large high voltage distribution towers and lines and those globes. I used to live near, when in the big smoke, to one which ran down Merri creek (66 kV), and on foggy or wet nights, the cables would make a loud buzzing sound. Ook!
Ha! Alas I’m not licensed to do such rock blasting works. Back in the day, the local earthworks blokes used to simply purchase explosives which were picked up from the cops. And off they went. Things were a tad looser in those days, but I never heard of any dramas. Ah, yes, the big bang theory of Guy Fawkes. It was a theory, I guess! π
Dude, the postal service does not deliver to my home address. None. Nada, Not even three months late. Your service is, or perhaps more appropriately, was, pretty good to promise delivery to anywhere and everywhere. Think of the cost of that one decision? And yeah, like you’re observing, the lot down here are also nipping away at services without raising much attention. The post office no longer gets week day deliveries, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you lot used to get weekend deliveries as well? Basically the issue has come down to reduced volume of letters. It takes a lot of stamp sales to pay for the salaries of the upper echelons in that service, and few people nowadays comprehend the difference between a service, and for-profit business.
Mind you, three months late (Dec to Mar) for a letter delivery is kind of strange. A person could probably walk the distance in that time period.
The dreaded unused application notification. Don’t your phones have a ‘do not disturb’ function? I have that dratted machine locked down tight from about 9pm to 8am. Sure I may miss something important, but then so what? Sleep is my choice in that matter. π Man, thanks for the fine choices of words, and fugue has a really nice ring to it.
That’s predictive text for you. And dunno what software you use, but with the Firefox browser it’s described as: “search suggestions in address bar results”. The technology is good, and can occasionally be of assistance. Nah, the whole thing is statistically based and as the language itself gets dumbed down, the programs produce better results. Is that a good thing though?
So sorry that your lady’s family are experiencing more than a rough patch.
By the way, impressed that you produced some words. Respect. I was riffing off the artist Prince, and his song Purple Rain.
Thanks, and I’m yet to experience water defying gravity. π I’ll make that direction change with the flow of water a lot less severe, and that should solve a lot of issues. By the way, that’s a really clever strategy with mapping out the paths using an organic approach. Interesting!
Ooo, I forget, do you consume the Oregon grapes fresh, or process them in some way? I tried dehydrating the more usual grapes, but oh my it took so many days that the results weren’t worth the effort. We pressed the fruit instead for it’s juice and made a country wine.
Go the cherry and quince! Both super tasty fruits. No way! I had no idea that the seeds of Lupins were a tradition food. They grow like weeds here and are good for the soil. Hmm. Thanks for mentioning it, and hope the trip to the nursery was good.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The whole sordid debt affair looked pretty callous to me in the way that it was applied, and it was not without consequence on a number of fronts. It was of a similar sort to that of the British Post Office scandal, with the same outcomes. Truly awful. Just went on a deep dive of that torrid affair, and the details disgust me.
They’re collecting a lot of data that mob, and that’s what gets them paid, I guess. Never been involved with them, and there was some interesting critiques of the system in that link.
It probably is a good thing that you’re never asked for such data. But then, presumably the library tracks the popularity and movement of DVD’s and other media forms? I’m with you too, the constant insecurity displayed by demands for surveys, is just way too much. Most of them appear to not even be interested in the customers perspective either, it’s like how did we do? Well, I was there wasn’t I. Isn’t that enough data? π And that’s an interesting point you raised, and I do the same, when it is a one on one personal relationship, the feedback is a valuable thing. eBuy is a good example of that social process, and I’ve noticed that other cheaper forums studiously avoid that check, so you descend into the lowest common denominator interactions with people. It’s far from pretty. Man, the stories I’ve heard about them.
That’s probably what is driving the decline, in that there is a genuine decline in literacy. And! By the way, there are people who can read, but appear unable to write in a coherent manner. You’d be amazed at the things I’ve seen over the long years. And it isn’t a good development. The ability to communicate an idea is useful skill.
Lewis, how have I missed this film, which incidentally did really well on DVD. You’re right too, it does have a cult like vibe to it. There were comparisons to the film Office Space – which the Editors employers gave her and I free tickets to go see way back in the day. Do you know how weird that is given the films content? Oh well, perhaps they had no idea what the film was about! π
There some apt comparison between the shopping mall and a library, in that they’re kind of both third spaces, although of a remarkably different function. But a destination place? I avoid malls like the plague, and am usually working when the local library is actually open.
Exactly! The question regarding collector status and tea strainers is kind of relevant! Man, I may have ten chainsaws… I know!!!! Ook. They all have a different purpose.
What happened to your nice spring weather? We may have stolen it, as today was 61’F. Sorry for that. π Hope it stays above freezing in your area, and enjoy Friday and Saturday.
Installed four 12V LED lights in the new shed today. And it’s all working swisho! π Although the job took far longer than I’d anticipated due to the lights having the tiniest wires that I’ve encountered lately (1/25th of an inch is difficult). Stupidly small, so after a first round of wiring, I went back and soldered all of the connections, just to be sure.
Another great quote from the author of the book (please do let me know if it’s good?) was: “”The dictionary projects permanence, but the language is Jell-O, slippery and mutable and forever collapsing on itself.” So true.
Go the pizza, and that’s a fun film which was recommended to the Editor a couple of months ago. Yes, long live the mockumentary, with dogs! π
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Water defying gravity? I’ve seen it! π I once occupied a building, that developed some leaks along one wall. I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. That wall was painted concrete block, two stories high. Well, if it rained, and we got enough wind from exactly the right direction, the water crawled up the exterior wall, under a gap in the flashing, and down the inside. I saw it in action. Re-caulking the flashing took care of the problem.
Not quit the same thing, but I noticed something, when I moved here. A lot of older house porches had a glazed / glass wall … but only on one side. The south-west. I guess builders in this area realized that that was the direction bad weather came from.
When “bad” things happen, like your robodebt event, and the British postal screw-up, there’s just no clear path to, gosh, what’s the word I’m looking for. Where’s that dictionary? π . Restitution? Without super human effort.
I think writing is often intentionally obtuse. ie: “the small print.” I sometimes wonder if old people, die in self defense, as things have just gotten too complicated. I also suspect, a lot of homelessness may be attributed to the same cause. In a way. I often see stories about bank fees that snowball. Also, small traffic fines that also snowball. The next thing you know, you’ve got a bench warrant out for your arrest, and staggering fines that those on the edge can’t pay.
I recently did fill out a short survey, on our library system. It was before all the recent problems. And, yes, they track circulation statistics. They put out a bi-monthly newsletter, and, once a year they publish the statistics of different types of media circulated. Also includes number of reference questions answered, attendance at events and meeting room use. There was another article in the local paper, about the recent ordeal.
By the way, the chair of the board also writes for the local newspaper. If you’re familiar with the character Ed Flanders, from the Simpsons. π In a couple of places he states that he “…can’t share specific details…” Why not?
https://chronline.com/stories/julie-mcdonald-kudos-for-trl-trustees-fielding-questions-more-budgetary-oversight-needed,400166
Our high yesterday was 48F (8.88C). Our overnight low was 39F (3.88C). Our forecast high for today is 50F. Scattered showers, but not very heavy. There’s a frost warning out, for tonight. But, I don’t think in town, up here, we have to worry.
I did read the introduction to the dictionary book. It looks like it’s going to be quit readable. When the author was writing the original article, they gave him a key to the place and told him to come and go as he pleased, and root around to his heart’s content. π
Just call me Louie Potato Seed. π I ended up giving starts to Carl, our postie and one of the Master Gardeners.
Did I mention that I ran into our maintenance guy, and he told me our HUD inspection was … 100%. So, we won’t see those people, again, for three years. Unless they change their minds. Which they do. Oh, well. I’m sure Little Mary Sunshine will think up reasons to be in and out of our apartments, in the meantime. Lew
@ DJSpo:
DJSpo – mind your language! There are ladies present and just because your apps want to sleep is no excuse for, well, Fibonacci. Blush.
You’ve had worse USPS delivery service than I, though there are always new boundaries to lower and crawl under.
Hey – you know your phone is always listening to what’s around you, don’t you? Though, I too, have had something pop up on my computer that I was only thinking about, nothing that I had looked up on phone or computer. Coincidence?
Pam
@ DJSpo:
My Oregon Grapes (wild, but tamed and put in pots until planted in my yard) bloomed in the winter and now have many “grapes”. I love those funny looking things.
Pam
Chris:
Yeah – go tenacious bulldogs! Even Bull Arab dogs!
I have no idea about El Ninos and La Ninas because I could never keep them straight, so gave up on following their antics. And, as you said, forecasting is a fraught proposition,
Stewed apples, yes, and no rhubarb. Yay for Pink Ladies! Just a bit of cinnamon in those apples. My son says he thinks there is Pink Lady tree among the potted fruit trees. It is not so strange as it seems that he doesn’t know as when I asked him last fall about how many fig varieties he had, he said at leat 275. He has added quite a few new ones since then.
The citruses are still in the basement; they don’t look so good. It hasn’t been that long since we had a night in the 30sF. Now, I see (umm, forecasted . . .) that next Monday night may be 36F (2.2C). It was 96F (35.5C)today.
I can’t tell yet as to which tomato varieties might like this hot, dry weather. I have been watering everything every day since so much of it is so young.
A stamp for a plain envelope costs $.78 right now, to go up in July. And the US Postal Service is now adding a fuel surcharge to certain classes of packages, the first time in their history.
Yeah, just sayin’. Got to feed the beast.
Pam
@ Pam,
I enjoy looking at the Oregon grapes also. The plant is fascinating to watch year round.
Sorry. I’ll try not to use that Fibon#^&@ very often! Maybe use “Newton and Leibniz and Calculus oh my!”
( Leibniz was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist, and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus) from wickedpedia.
DJSpo
Chris,
It sounds like your weather is similar to ours again. Rain, wind, clearing, rain, hard rain, wind. I think the rain and cold is about over, so that 24C is in the forecast for early next week. You’ll gather wood, I’ll do yard work and garden prep.
The trip to the nursery was good. Picked up 3 different varieties of seed potatoes. Then snagged seeds for carrots, chives, chard, zucchini. Probably plant things late April or early May. These were all heritage varieties, so maybe I can actually start saving seeds at the end of the season for next year?
“Is all that technology even genuinely understood?” Ah, now THAT is the question! We know how AC works. We know how DC works. We know about magnetic induction and AC. We can predict the size of the induction based on AC current and voltage. We can hypothesize that the current consists of flowing electrons. We can predict and manipulate the current. I can use it to run a laser and the laser can lift microscopic glass beads. But nobody really knows the answer to “what is electricity?” or if electrons truly exist. The mathematical models which we’ve built based on them work fine, but these are models and not reality. So most of us probably do NOT know what any of this stuff is or how it truly works.
Richard Feynmann, complete with a Nobel prize in physics, once said that there are only maybe three people who really understand quantum mechanics. He wasn’t including himself in that group. Then there’s Einstein’s observation that if you can’t explain it so that an 8 year old can understand it, then you really don’t understand it either.
Those large capacity transmission lines sure hum loudly sometimes! I’ve been near them when they get loud. Impressively scary.
I could probably teach you how to make your own explosive for the rocks, but that would likely garner too much attention toward both of us, get us both in trouble with the authorities. Used to have a neighbor who was a plumber. He spent winters camping and trapping small game. He hunted with black powder rifles, probably a 50 caliber Hawken. For some reason he started making some small, erm, explosive devices. His wife kicked him out soon after.
We used to have one of the best postal services in the world. It’s a complicated and politically charged story about what has happened to it, so probably not fit for this venue. We get the bulk of our mail delivered to a box in the local post office. Mail theft from residences has also become an issue at times over the years. A round trip to the post office box is about 2.5 miles, so I can walk it.
Yeah, the phones have a “do not disturb” function. Some notifications can be turned off. The “deep sleep mode” notification is one that I haven’t been able to nullify. And, with the aging relatives that the Princess has, we keep our phones on with ringers up at night, just in case…Being classified now as a tribal elder, and keeping to a lot of tradition, she is in high demand for certain catastrophes. Such is life.
But do the programs actually provide better results? Gaggle is driven by an algorithm that includes weird things and skews the results. Then, because those get the most “hits”, even “Duck Duck Go” generally gives very similar search results. That’s the statistical basis that you mentioned. Hard to find something that gets buried on the 30th “page” of results because it’s not popular.
Something told me you were riffing on the Prince song and NOT the cocktail named for the song. But if the purple rain is falling, don’t you mean that the “Deep Purple” falls? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6KJWiZ2XoY
That song was BIG for a few months when I was in my teens.
I’ve never harvested the Oregon grapes, leaving them for whatever birds want them. However, they are spreading. There are two new plants that have popped up that I should probably transplant. I think there will be enough berries this year to harvest them for use in stews, bread or maybe add to a batch of extra zucchini to pickle or something.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Mr Gangle Freckles sends you cordial tail wags, and wants you to know that he thoroughly enjoyed the warm sunny mid Autumn day today. At times he wandered through the garden beds taking note of what critter went where, yet there were moments when reclining in the sunshine and taking a quick nap seemed to be the right way to navigate the possibilities. It’s a dogs life!
As a by-note, he’s sound asleep right now cuddling an untouched rawhide chew.
I hear you about that, and last summer’s La Nina was meant to be wet here, but well, it wasn’t in this corner of the continent. Turns out that the big scary climate driver ain’t the only game in town, and that would probably be true for your part of the world too. So yeah, a solid report on the seasonal climate is only possible, once it’s all done and dusted. Until then…
Very tasty indeed. Although other than apple cakes (the shortbread variety), oh and apple slices, stewed apples don’t really form part of the food culture down under. Mostly the fruit is eaten fresh, or turned into cider. There is a cidery not too far from here which makes quite a decent drop, and serves a very good nachos box.
Oh yeah, Pink Lady apples are my absolute favourite. Glad to hear that you too are on-board! Super crispy, and they store well. Unfortunately, with the bushfires near to the major apple growing area an hours drive north of here, they’re selling the Gala variety, which are still good, but not as crispy.
Ha! Once the apple tree has produced fruit, it’s variety will be known, and I’ve got a few of those Pink Lady trees growing here. Woe is me though, because of the hail storm. All of the apples not previously harvested and turned into cider, were damaged so the parrots had a total party time. The numbers of parrots has since declined back to the more usual levels now all of the apples have been consumed.
That’s an astounding number of varieties, and could even be close to the complete national collection? Had some fig jam for lunch today, and they were a purple variety of fruit which was so tasty (sorry that you can no longer indulge). The many fig trees have produced fruit, but what do you reckon about the chance of those fruits being edible? I simply don’t know.
That’s exorcist style weather variability. Makes your head spin around, although it was quite the waste of pea soup if you ask me, and what’s not to like about a slow cooked ham hock mixed in with split peas? That’s a big change in temperatures, and hope your citrus trees get to acclimate with some outdoors time soon.
Watering is yeah, kind of important. With no town water here, and only limited stored supplies I’ve been breeding plants for low water requirements for many years. It’s been an interesting task that, and absolutely, yields are much lower and it requires much more growing space. I envy you your well water.
The prices for stamps sounds reasonable to me, although you are edging up to what we pay, which is AU$1.70 or US1.19 for a letter. And I get that about the diesel fuel surcharge, sending packages anywhere down here is an extraordinary cost. For example, sending an envelope of documents (a tiny bit smaller than US letter standard paper size) weighing a pound, can set me back around AU$20, and even more for express delivery. It’s feral.
And exactly, that beast is hungry-as! The best we can do is to reduce our exposure to feeding exercises. π
Finished off the 12V wiring on the new shed today. The day was glorious, warm, sunny and calm. Lovely. Still have to do some clean up work with the project and make the barn doors, but that’ll be it. Poop! Might not finish this week, but then that is what next week is all about. Everything takes twenty times longer when you use scrap materials in order to save mad cash. Oh well…
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
It’s official, you get the nod for the best reinterpretation. I’d long used wikipudding, but wickedpedia is so much more snappy, and hints of dark goings on, strange midnight rituals, interactions with the undead, bizarre encounters with otherworldly entities etc. We’d go with that, except it’s some sort of dizzy site which may get strange interweb backlinks, and who wants that? So respect for the cheeky moniker, but for the time being I’ll stick with wikipudding which renders little meaning.
Yeah, the 24’C day was today, although here in the mountains it got to around 20’C. So good though. The dogs frolicked. The Editor and I worked outside. The 12V wiring on the new shed is now done, with another 4m trench dug, in record time of course!
Man, I’m using up all of our scrap materials on this project, and the wires and conduit are no exception to that. Why buy new stuff when I can join cables securely and duct tape up sections of conduit? Anywhoo, it’s all done now and there’s a little bit of clean up work to go, plus I still have to make the barn doors. The Editor wanted to make plain doors, and I put my foot down. They have to be a traditional cross pattern, which bizarrely looks like a Union Jack.
It did rain late this afternoon, although only about 2mm fell in a matter of minutes. Glad to hear that your soils are enjoying the wet stuff falling from the sky.
Good idea with the three different varieties of potatoes. That’ll spread the harvest out over a longer period of time, maybe, depending. Those are fine choices of vegies too. Yum! Chives go so well with fresh tomatoes with a dash of salt and pepper.
Well yeah, that’s my strategy with the varieties, and if you collect some seeds, and let others fall to the ground, you’ll start the slow process of developing your own local landrace veg.
A friend of mine is an electrical engineer, and he alerted me to that aspect of electricity. He said something mysterious long ago about electrons not moving, but more bumping each other. Dunno about you, but it left me with the impression of a sub atomic line dancing exercise, but that maybe my over active imagination! π What would be the music to that, probably country at a wild guess?
Hmm, I’ve annoyed the daylights out of every person who I’ve encountered who lays claim to a PhD, by asking them the that hard question: So what was your thesis about again? I’m yet to hear a coherent explanation of the benefits. In fact, actually all of the people who’d I spoken too over the years regarding their advanced studies and research, no longer work in the field of science. And what does that suggest? I’d imagine the easy stuff has long since been done. It takes a lot of courage to speak the reality incantation of: I don’t know. Respect to Richard Feynmann.
The transmission lines sure do cackle, especially in the rain, and they were at the end of the street when living in the big smoke, and in such weather I gave the transmission towers a respectful distance.
A 50 calibre rifle is a bit over the top for hunting from my perspective. So yeah, I can see why the wife may have taken issue with the new hobbies. π Things are of course different in your country, and as they say, when in Rome, but still…
No need, the recipe is in the Fight Club book. It didn’t seem all that complicated, but probably requires the skills of someone who would never be described as careless. That would be a bad thing. Speaking of such things, a big fire was reported on in the news today at one of the two remaining refineries on this continent. The billowing smoke may have been visible this morning if I’d headed about ten minutes south down the freeway, but I had more pressing issues to deal with here.
Thanks for exercising your most excellent sense of context. As I mentioned to Pam, your postal service, relative to what I pay, is still very cheap even in its present incarnation. And for some reason, long ago they made the decision to deliver everywhere in your country. That amazes me due to the sheer cost of that one decision. By contrast, Australia Post couldn’t give a toss where I chose to live, and refuse to deliver to this street address. Fair enough too, it’d be expensive to do so, and like you, I have a similar distance to travel (maybe a little bit more) to get to the local post office where I get a subsidised (i.e. slightly cheaper annual fee) postal box. I’m happy enough with the service. It could be better, it might be worse. And what your country is experiencing with a reduction in available energy per capita, is a slow descent into poverty. But dude, sometimes I hear some things are so good in your country, that you don’t realise they are that way.
But then, you’ve raised the spectre of that most awful of questions, what if things were better not all that long ago? And hey, that’s decline for ya. My gut feeling tells me that it will get slowly worse across the board. Oh well. Your country is a bit short on heavy fuels, but has the same issue with agriculture and large distances as down here. Diesel is the one to watch.
Oh poop. Had a yummy dinner of vegie enchiladas (total yummo – thanks for the suggestion long ago!). Took Ollie out afterwards to do his business and discovered two red deer in the sunny orchard. Hmm. Fibonacci it!!!! The dog and I accidentally scared off a wombat in the chasing off of deer process. I can’t avoid this one.
That’s kind of what I thought with your phones, and it’s part and parcel of life, obligations and the universe. π Still, the notifications about nothing are an unnecessary pain.
The search doesn’t seem to work as well as it once did, but that mob still dominates the market.
I dodged that song, apologies. The err, title photo of the two artists appeared unnaturally exuberant, which they may have been, maybe. Dodged that ear-worm! Man, I thought that it was going to be some heavy and dark Deep Purple track. What a fun surprise you gave me with the link! π
Interesting! And those Oregon grapes likewise grown well in this area, but thanks, for I’ve no idea how to use the berries.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Oh yeah, you’re absolutely spot on with the gravity defying water. Thanks for the correction as I’d totally forgotten that possibility. And I too have seen that, and experienced the downsides of the moisture physics. As you note, there is a lot of good to say about damp proof courses, and the materials these days are remarkably good at that task. Way back in the Victorian era of housing, you could see a layer of something which looked like tar, in mortar courses near to the soil level, which presumably was their take on damp proofing.
Didn’t work all that well those century old blackish damp courses, but creating more air movement in the area did work. In one old house, the floor timbers had rotted away, and it was amazing there’d not been a serious collapse. Anywhoo, I had to remove huge chunks of hardened clay soil once the timber tongue and groove boards, had been basically wasted. They were rotten. It’s actually quite a difficult task to extract large quantities of soil from within an old house.
Oh poop! Trouble is brewing. After dinner of a very tasty vegie enchilada, Ollie and I went outside for a walk. Two red deer were grazing in the sunny orchard, and Ollie was outraged. I’d spotted deer scat earlier today, and thought to myself: Not again. Anyway, Ollie’s barking scared off the wombat, who will hopefully return later when more composed.
Funnily enough, concrete can be made reasonably water tight, but it costs a bit more to do so with the creation of the initial mix. And so usually it does exactly what you noticed – and dealt with. Caulking materials are amazing, aren’t they?
Older houses down under, usually only had covered in verandas, when there were lots of kids, and the parents wanted them to sleep out in the fresh air, with some weather protection. Wasn’t the risk of contracting diseases, like polio, considered lower way back in the day with lots of fresh air?
A bit of a heavy, but brief rain storm hit here this afternoon. Earlier in the day though, was superb. Warm, sunny and calm. Managed to complete the remaining bits of 12V wiring for the new shed which is a pretty good result. Everything has taken longer than I first guessed, because I’m using lots of scrap materials, and to get them right for the longer term, takes plenty of time. It’s be quicker if I just chucked the lot out, and started with all new materials. But would it be as satisfying? Don’t think so.
There’s a little bit of clean up work, then the barn doors have to be made. And that’s it. It’s been almost three months now, so it’ll be nice to get onto some other tasks – plenty of which need doing.
Yeah, the main thing I took away from the UK postal scandal was that a cover-up culture existed which exploited a power imbalance. It was not a pretty story. But the robodebt thing took much the same path, without the same longevity. It cost the sitting government much loss of credibility, and they were turfed out, in a big way. Restitution was made good, but some folks had taken their lives as a result, and there’s a lot of wrong done in that circumstance.
An author can set out on a journey to elucidate, but they could just as easily become self reverential, or worse, obscure! Remember that famous book about the tennis club, which people raved about, yet had footnotes which took up a third of the pages? Surely the now deceased author was taking the mickey?
And I agree with that about problems snowballing. Fines are the worst for that, and if unpaid with no communication, punitive measures get heaped onto what may originally have been a tiny amount. It’s a brutal process made for people who are able to cope, but not everyone is in that position.
Apologies for editing your comment, but things are different down here, and defamation laws in this country are a pretty harsh reality, so I’m not free to really speak my mind, or even agree in writing with others which may trigger such actions. The freedoms in your country are amazing on that front. The things I see written over in the US, astound me.
I read the article on the library, and would note that when it comes to haircuts, which is what is allegedly being mooted, the cut should in my opinion, be across the entire organisation.
Any signs of the frost this morning?
Nice, I’ll be the author enjoyed the opportunity to dig deep into the dictionary behemoth. Good to hear that the introduction read well. Did you read further into the pages today? And just out of curiosity, does the book read like the unravelling of a story?
Hehe! Very funny and it’s such a thoughtful gift with the seed potatoes, and I love receiving free seeds of locally adapted vegies.
If there’d been a better result for the inspection, well, it wouldn’t be possible, would it? π Glad to hear that they’ll be off your backs for a few years, maybe. One mustn’t tempt the inspection gods with loose talk!
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I was looking at your “flows of water” picture, again. Just pop in a couple of mini-water wheels and you’ll have another source of energy! π
We have a couple of Oregon Grape, here, Grown more as an ornamental. I did notice that one has volunteered, in the middle of a patch of an evergreen ground cover. I understand you can make jam from the berries. I’ve never tried that.
My favorite version of “Deep Purple” is a cover by the Mammas and Papas. I couldn’t find a link to their version. Must be copyright issues.
I’ve seen those courses of black tar or asphalt on brick walls. Also used to patch cracks in swimming pools.
Deer … a pain in the ear. I noticed one of the Inmates has put a line of red pepper flakes around her garden plot. Probably in an effort to keep the deer off. I don’t think anything really works, consistently, other than barriers.
Our high yesterday was 45F (7.22C). Our overnight low was 32F (-0-C). Our forecast high for today is 57F. I didn’t notice any frost, this morning. Three nice days coming up. We had a few showers, yesterday, and a couple of them were real gully washers. Though they didn’t last long.
And, as I’m sure you know, new materials cost money. π There’s something satisfying about not spending money, out of pocket. I had to go to the chemist, last night. I make rare trips, but, sometimes, I must for this or that. I mentioned that the Lindt chocolate bars were $4+ at the Yuppie Discount store. Well, at the chemist, they’re $5+.
I took a look at that tennis club book, when it came out, and everyone was buzzing about it. I gave it a pass. Looked to me like one of those precious attempts at “literature,” with a capital “L”.
I stopped by our library to pick up some things (boy, did I pick up things. 7 books and 5 DVDs … how can I cope? π One of the staff let me know that they don’t quit know what they’re going to do, but laying off a large chunk of the front line staff is off the table.
One of the books I picked up is “Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear With Stephen King.” (Bicks, 2026.) Looks interesting. From the dust jacket … “After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maine’s inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archives…” It might be interesting.
Speaking of King, I saw an article yesterday, about the hotel from “The Shinning.” Or the many hotels that contributed to “The Shinning.” I didn’t realize that our very own Timberline Lodge, up on Mt. Hood (a WPA project), was used for the exteriors.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/the-shining-hotels-colorado-oregon
It was a popcorn night, last night. I watched “Blade Runner, 2049.” It’s funny how you hear a lot about the original, but not much about the sequel. It did pretty good in the box office, and the reviews were pretty good. I found it, maybe, a bit better, than the original. Meatier plot. Which may be why it got some poor reviews. A lot of critics moaned that it was too long. I didn’t find that, at all. But then, I suppose, critics have “somewhere to be.” And I don’t.:-) Lew
@DJSpo:
Well, I guess that’s okay. We do need calculus. Not me personally, but some people do.
Pam
Chris:
Ahhh – that’s a dog’s life Mr. Gangle Freckles. I wag my tail at you, too.
I would have been afraid that the parrot numbers would have stayed up once they had such a good feast there, but I guess there wasn’t anything else to eat after that. What do they eat in the winter? Or do they migrate?
His fig collection may be greater than the national collection as he has purchased cuttings from all over the world. He has an especially rare one that had to go through several countries to get here. Once it got to the US, the package sat in customs for weeks and quite a few of the cuttings died. Enough survived, however, that my son now has the ones he grafted growing well on some fine rootstock.
Yum – ham hocks and split pea soup, and cornbread.
It is so hot here that the coconut oil is almost liquid. Set to start cooling down on Sunday, if the weather gurus are right.
Chris, what do you and the Editor do about dirty shoes? I mean, like us, you are in and out all day; do you take off your shoes/boots every time you come inside? I can’t keep up with that, maybe because the trail shoes that I wear to work in I like to keep tied; they are a pain to re-tie each time. So, they’re kind of hard to get on. A lot of dirt gets tracked in that way.
There’s always tomorrow . . .
Pam
Greetings Chris.
Indeed I have a few dozen Fowlers’ #27 jars, even one or two #270s: the same volume but apparently from another time period. As to why this happened I am slightly curious but don’t care to spend the time researching their manufacturing history.
Β΅y late Οartner (sorry, I’m having fun with the ΓΈption key, making the best of a typo) scored many Vacola jars at garage sales just after we moved here. There are several different sizes and only 3 of those are still being made! He grew enough food and was sufficiently organized to have made it worthwhile having lots of them for preserving; on my own I don’t and am not so am thinking of trying to sell most of them on one of those low-trust social interaction sites you avoid. I’ll keep a few though. They are useful for vases, keeping chocolates in in the fridge, yoghurt making, kombucha (which I don’t think I’ll make again: it didn’t appeal), kimchi; other suggestions welcome!
You said your grapes didn’t dry all that well. One of the varieties I have is sultanas and, being ripe in January, and small, they actually dry on the vine if not picked soon enough. Your climate may not be amenable to that if they are only ripening once the weather cools.
Yes, the once beautiful old house. I shouldn’t have been surprised that restoration is not popular with handypersons and tradies. The level of skilled woodworking in its construction is rare nowadays. Even expensive new buildings don’t contain a lot of that kind of thing. When someone suggests I replace a handmade casement window with aluminium I silently think “goodbye”…
I am also curious whether and why you have set up your place to run on 110V, or did I misunderstand that? And your solar panels output the nominal 48V, right?
*********
Here is a recipe for German style gherkin pickles.
To make 10 x 1L jars:
3kg small gherkins, washed, de-stemmed and de-spiked
1 red onion sliced along the vertical axis
500g sugar}
65g salt} } these 4 constitute the brine
2L 5% vinegar}
4L filtered water}
1/2 tablespoon pickle spice per jar celery seeds etc)
1 bay leaf per jar
Stuff jars with the gherkins, onion and spices
Boil brine for 1 min and cool
Fill jars with brine leaving 1cm headspace
Cook in water bath for 20 min
You will know how to put on the lids.
If you have enough cucumbers after that I have a good recipe for Polski Ogorski too.
************
The brother talk… I do try to avoid them. The most memorable was after I had broken an ankle, to the effect “you’re 48, you shouldn’t be doing parkour, you should be knitting.” (we both do other high-risk activities such as motorcycling.) Do you wonder why he is single?
As for the Elves, you do have rather an impish smile π
Chris,
Indeed, wickedpedia clearly touches the dark side of things. Or is it murkily touches? But, well, even the recent pyrography project is rather dark in more ways than one. So okay, wikipudding it is. π
Today was breezy and cool but sunny. Then the clouds rolled in when I was on a walk with Dame Avalanche. After that, I met Young Neighbor for lunch, a giant bowl of Pho. Yummy. It was +8C and it started snowing while we were eating. The snow didn’t last long, thankfully. It’s one of the hazards of these early spring/late winter storms.
Far out! 12V wiring done. Trench done. Time records broken.
You got it. Keep used things on hand. Repurpose used things when needed. Mend, repair, build things yourself. Construction of doors with the Union Jack is required.
Mom grew chives. They went with about everything. I’ve got a few green onions growing. They were a gift. Between those and the chives things will be fun.
Thanks for the idea. Harvest some seeds, let others naturally scatter.
Yup, the bumping electrons. Dancing electrons. I’ve had much the same idea. I even know the song. In fact, there’s some actual footage of dancing electrons complete with music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXf0v8K6_5Y
I’ve asked similar questions of PhD physicists. Most were not amused. I used to have discussions as an undergrad senior with my favorite professor, typically about the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. That is the popularly used interpretation. “If you don’t observe it, it doesn’t exist” is one premise. So my idea about that was that you are an ostrich knowing there is a hunter nearby. Believing in that premise, you bury your head in the sand so you can’t see, hear, smell, taste, observe the hunter, so that it doesn’t exist. At which point a different professor poked his head through the door and said, “And you’ll look mighty stupid with a spear coming out your @#@%.”
Another premise of the Copenhagen interpretation is “When we measure a particle, we aren’t measuring something that already existed. We CREATE the particle by the act of measurement.” I’ve always considered that to be hubris. It also leads to inconsistencies and logical contradictions with other laws of physics. Other interpretations of quantum theory AVOID these complications while still working just as well mathematically.
Single shot muzzle load black powder rifles, well 50 caliber works better than 30 caliber for hunting deer, so I’ve been told. And the 50 caliber is required for elk. It definitely gives a big bang. Too loud for me. I preferred archery.
That’s how it works, right? Oil shortage due to something elsewhere. Therefore, a local refinery catches fire. More shortages result? We had an old saying where I worked regarding our projects: “Once it starts going bad, it just keeps going.”
Diesel is already getting bad here, at least compared with what it cost 2 months ago. With long distances and agriculture, this will hit hard.
I’m glad I mentioned the enchiladas that time. You sure seem to enjoy them!
Deer and wombats? Fibonacci for sure. Maybe even “Great prophet Zarquon!” After exclaiming that, maybe tell the deer to “Zark off!” as per the book with “Don’t Panic!” written on its cover in bold friendly letters.
Oh, that was the Donny and Marie Osmond version of that song. They were teenagers when it was released. They had their own weekly television program from 1976 to 1979. It was unnaturally exuberant as well. I think maybe you would prefer to watch a musical rather than the Donny and Marie show. π
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Mr Gangle Freckles has had a lovely day indoors on this cold, mostly cloudy Autumn day. We instead went to a small farmer expo an hours drive north and east of here and had a blast. There were Kelpie demonstrations (and a talk), plus I’ll have to mention this to DJ, but an alpine dog sled team was demonstrating their strength (six dogs) pulling almost 880 pounds, and one of the two lead dogs was a Kelpie who’d been put in charge of: Husky’s. I’ve got the photographic evidential proof! A fun day, and have to laugh, the chilli cheese kransky sausage guy remembered me. So I said to him that I look forward to the lunch he supplies every year, and we had a good chuckle.
The parrots often crack the super hard eucalyptus nuts during winter so as to consume the rich seeds. They’ll often drop them onto metal roofs too, the cheeky scamps, so you’ll hear a continual crack sound as the inedible sections are dropped from high up in the tall trees. No migration, most of the local birds are here all year ’round, although the winter season sets the upper limit as to the number of birds.
Tidy work to get the plant (presumably scion wood) through customs, and the local mob down here would be even more feral to navigate. Hope those rare varieties grow well and produce super tasty fruit, and tree sales. π
Cornbread is on the list of things to cook, but the early part of last summer was so cold that the corn seeds failed to germinate regardless of variety. None of them grew, and it was a brutal outcome. Then the climate flipped and it got super hot and dry. At that point, the old brain began hurting. But yeah, cornbread with split pea and ham hock soup is right up there on the winter comfort food menu. Yummo!
That happens here during summer with the coconut oil. π Fortunately the stuff re-congeals once things cool. Well, on that basis, you’ll know by Monday if the weather gurus are correct with the cooling claim. Sure is cool here today. Brr!
It’s a problem that, isn’t it? Best case scenario is having what the English would describe as a mud room. We didn’t do that, and I’m guessing that neither did you. So a year or two ago we placed a commercial – nothing found in nature – large mat on either side of the external door nearest to the kitchen. The mat survives outdoor winter conditions just fine, and can be vacuumed or blown (with a leaf blower) when dry to remove the grit etc.
The Editor uses ankle high gumboots which are stored upside down on a metal boot stand just inside the door. My work boots are washed under a tap prior to entering the house. Plus the surrounds of the house are a crushed rock with lime surface, so that helps as well. Did you get any ideas from that? The dogs are towelled down on wet days too before re-entering the house, but it’s a constant battle, as you’d be aware.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Kallianeira,
They say a person can learn something new everyday, if they work at it – whatever that means. And I’d not even heard of the #270 bottles, which incidentally use the same number 3 lids and rings as the #27. I’m not interested in the history of the bottles either.
Actually, short story time – when we first became interested in preserving, you could buy boxes of used #27 bottles for around $50. Clearly the low prices reflected a certain sort of uncoolness as to the activity, which would be wrong. Few things are as fine as opening a bottle of home grown preserved apricots on a cold winters morning when all a person sees outdoors is frost and a muted grey cloaking the world.
So, I’m into standardising our systems here, because it makes life easier. Bought up a few boxes of collected #27 bottles, rings, stainless steel lids etc. In those early days, people were even disposing of the stove top and electric boilers for not much. Long ago, I made the observation that western civilisation will decline due to a lack of food preserving equipment! But jokes aside, the truth is that everything you do when it comes to locally produced and derived stuff, is an attempt to preserve it for the times when nature ain’t supplying much to eat, keep you warm, the lights on, etc. This is forgotten lore.
Go the intriguing typo, and who knows where it may lead? Oh my, you’re right. Only three bottle sizes are now being made. Ook! I hear ya, and everyone’s situation is different. I get that, and go thee forth and turn your stuff into useful mad cash.
The Editor gave up on making Kombucha too recently due to the overly hot summer days. The mothers didn’t appreciate the higher temperatures and so went bad. Some things, I’d suggest, are not to be. I didn’t like the aroma of the stuff.
Summer’s are warm here, but they’re positively hot up where you are. It’s as you aver. We grow two sultana grape vines as well, and there is no way that the fruit would be full sized in January, let alone ever drying on the vine. I envy you your longer growing season, although every location has it’s pluses and minuses. Rain and cooler summer evenings are more reliable down here. It all averages out in the wash as the old timers used to say.
Exactly! I’d always replace such windows with timber double hung windows with the lead weights on ropes, because they work and visually look right. Restoration is no longer popular because the hourly rates for tradies is so costly. But if a person can do the work themselves…
I’ve been using up a huge chunk of our scrap materials on the new shed, and sure it’d be faster to use brand new materials, but the costs…
Yep, you misunderstood that. The solar power system is 48V DC, but the house itself is standard 240V AC, which had to be wired up by a licensed sparky in order to get the final paperwork. Visitors wouldn’t notice anything different with the house wiring.
Thanks for the recipe and I’ll forward it onto the Editor for testing. She does the preserving side of the stuff here.
Respect! Parkour is for those who are agile, and 48 is not old for that activity. Your brother was incorrect in his jibe. Crusty Demon style is beyond my skill set, despite having ridden a Yamaha XV-750 and Kawasaki GPX-250R in city traffic for a decade. Dunno about you, but I ran out of my nine lives during that activity, and decided to give up the transport option and simply walk instead.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Oh, it’s a potent corporate stink that’s for sure, so let’s avoid all that… π Doesn’t the word ‘murkily’ prompt thoughts regarding the word ‘verily’? And yeah, well, times are dark, but always was all this stuff going to happen sooner or later. Ours is but to remember to eat well, get good rest, chat with friends, laugh, love etc. What other folks do is their business.
Actually, hope the pyrography project is going well? On that note, went to a small farm expo today and for your interest, took a photo of a bloke making chainsaw art out of a large block of hardened eucalyptus wood. Also, there was a demonstration from another bloke who lives way up in the alpine areas of the continent, and runs a snow dog sled business. At least a kilometre higher in elevation above sea level than here. And! One of the head dogs in the team was a Kelpie who had power over, Husky’s. Although the paired boss dog equal was a Husky so that evens things out a bit – there being two at the head of the sled team. A powerful combination of canine intellect, if ever there was one.
Go the Pho, and there is a lot to like about those tangy soups. Yum! What? Far out, the air must have rapidly dropped rapidly in temperature when the snow fell? It’d never snow here on an +8’C day. It was barely past 16’C here today, and felt somewhat chilly to me. Snow would be taking the spring weather to 11 on the dial for your area. π
Truthfully, I’d been hoping to complete the shed by this weekend, but will probably need a day from next week. We’ll see how it goes. We’re in for a run of about a week of dry and stable weather. Sounds like the perfect conditions for hauling extra firewood uphill from a pile which has seasoned way down below on the forest edge.
The old timers knew their stuff: Re-use; Repair; and only then recycle. But trying to reduce material costs in whatever way you can, is also good for the environment.
Ah, Scallions or Spring Onions. Right, both of those plants would grow really well here too. They’ll cover all of your onion needs. Maybe it’s just me, but getting onions to properly form a large bulb is not so easy. Yup, things will get fun in the kitchen with that lot ready to hand.
The claymation is awesome, as is the original song they riffed off. Reminds me of the Wallace and Grommet series of films.
That was my experience as well. The persons on the wrong end of that question, either got angry, obfuscated, or belittled me. It was not good to see that approach in action, and respect to you for also asking the tough questions. That’s a funny anecdote regarding the Ostrich, and the interpretation sounds as if it delves into the murky world of philosophy, for wasn’t that the whole: If a tree falls in a forest, observational business? Trust me, giant chunks of wood hitting the ground, make a lot of racket.
Quantum mechanics is a subject which is sadly beyond my comprehension, but I can detect a logical fallacy when it is presented, maybe. π I’d likewise go with the theories which avoid the creation from measurement aspect. That’s almost a slide into the realms of religion.
50 calibre sounds like it’d take down an elephant, but perhaps my expectations are not all that great! π Agreed, archery is a much more sporting and skilful activity, which should be put on the to-do list. If a noob like me can drop a deer accurately on first shot, it’s not a sporting activity. In that instance I valued expedience. I can see that about the Elk requirement, oh yeah.
Ha! Man, that is so true what you wrote about when projects run off the rails. And I’ve experienced that too with the chickens. Funny you mention that story, but we picked up three Rhode Island Red hens today at the expo. They seem to be doing OK tonight and have settled into the hen house with the other chooks.
That’s my thinking as well, and lack of diesel is the entire raison d’Γͺtre for the current hot mess. Naive folks are talking about trucks, tractors, harvesters etc. running on batteries, but I don’t think so man. The Land of Stuff has highway Megawatt rated truck battery chargers, and people who know nothing, talk away the engineering difficulties of such infrastructure as if it were an easy thing we can get done next week if it weren’t for the greenies! π Far out! And farms are lucky to even have three phase electricity, most supply in this area is SWER which is limited to around 10KVA at 240V, which is about 40A a property. That’s four hair dryers at once, big deal. Ain’t enough to charge a truck battery any time soon. I believe about 1% of all trucks sold nowadays are electric, and those things only work short distances and door to door. Long haul, is a very big call.
The enchiladas are on the regular roster of meals, and they’re awesome. π
I heard that Zarquon was a “tiresome goggle eyed pillock”, although that’s not my personal opinion – not wanting to insult a major deity. Ollie and I took after the deer, but are they really scared enough to not come back for seconds, or thirds, and maybe even fifths, as the case may be?
I refuse to dignify your amusing concluding paragraph with an answer! π
Far out, tonight is cold here. It’s now 6’C. Brrr! Zark it!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Very funny! Years ago I had serious comments from people suggesting I use the spare electricity in summer, to pump water back uphill and collect it in storage. And then, use the downhill flow of the stored water to spin a turbine during the winter months. The words: ‘arm chair theorist’, comes to mind. That kind of system requires government level kinds of expenditure (for example, the Snowy Hydro II project which is under way), and lacks a basic comprehension as to how much water a household can really collect and store. An unrealistic suggestion. Oh well. Thanks for the chuckles, although at times that flow of water looks and acts like a small creek.
The Oregon Grapes do look quite interesting, so I can see the appeal of having the plant as an ornamental, and the gardening club has them planted in a forest setting. I was interested to see if the berries taste any good, and if they’re not being used widely, my gut feeling suggests that they may be a marginal taste at best.
Speaking of food, we went to a small farming expo today, and had a blast. Had the usual charcoal grilled cheese kransky with fried onions and extra cheese for lunch. Man, so good, and the guy remembered me (he raised that issue) and we had a fun quick back and forth chat. Walked around for hours looking at this and that. Bought some tools, from what I impolitely describe as ‘poop shops’ (not the actual words I use, but you get the idea), which, not to sound disparaging, for I should mention that I actually quite like them. They’ve got tables and tables of tools, and other workshop consumable stuff for sale. Oh man, there’s so much stuff for small farms up to an including livestock. We purchased a trio of Rhode Island Red hens, which have settled in with the other chickens (and hope that continues – fingers crossed!) Enjoyed some working dog demonstrations, and took a few photos for the next blog. It was cool-ish today at about 63’F there, and that felt quite pleasant.
I’m hardly surprised that the Mammas and Papas did a cooler version of the Donny and Marie song.
Yeah, the repair tar probably is a very similar material. Looks the same. It was always interesting that in the old mortar mixtures, you could sometimes see crushed sea shells. Everything including the squeak in those days! Almost forgot to mention, but at the expo I had a long and interesting chat with a bloke who sold and built houses with hemp walls. They looked really interesting, and being about a foot thick, I reckon they’d be well insulated. There are a lot of problems surrounding growing the plant, mostly legal, which is odd given it is a bit dare I say it, weedy, and only has a a very low concentration of that alkaloid. Oh well, when need drives reality, the plant will be grown more widely.
That’s my thinking as well about the deer and barriers. Would they work, absolutely, but the cost here would be extortionate, and is only ever as good as up until the moment a tree falls on the fence. In your circumstances, a barrier is an awesome idea because other garden beds will be easier pickings. Just like a zombie attack, you only have to out run the slowest of the group. π
Did you notice any frost with that 32’F morning? Brr! It’s not far off that here right now outside. Lewis, I’m so summer soft! π It hurts! It hurts! The precious! Hope you get some decent walks in with H during the short run of nice weather. Same down here too, a week of dry weather is in the forecast.
Nice one, it is satisfying avoiding unnecessary expenditure whilst getting stuff done. It’s a real treat that and I’m canny by nature, as is the Editor. When you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go to that business you mentioned, and we all do from time to time. Hmm, hardly surprising, and I’ve heard rumours that they’re lucrative feed troughs, although I’ve never looked at the books of such a business.
Interesting, and my take was that the author was taking the mickey out of the book world, publishers, readers, critics and indeed, other authors. The constant footnotes would have disrupted the flow of the narrative which would have felt unsettling. And that book is rarely mentioned these days, although I did enjoy the film: ‘End of the Tour’, providing a glimpse into the author’s life.
Ha! You’ll be fine with the library haul, maybe, although it does sound like rather a lot of material to get through in a short period of time. There’ll be an exam at the end, you know! π Have you had any thoughts about one or two items in the haul which could be culled?
Hope the library staff are OK. And I’ve been on the wrong end of that deal, and they have my sympathy and understanding. Although they’d probably prefer a job instead of those words.
OK, I’m intrigued, and read an article on the book delving into the indelvable, and hopefully shedding some light on the grandmasters art? One line I particularly enjoyed was the observation that the word: ‘congested’, is something a coroner would write. Very amusing indeed. Words are powerful symbols, and it is a pleasure to be guided by a person who has kept me awake way too many nights worrying (hashtag emotional investment in a fictional character) how the protagonist/s were going to die, or somehow be transformed – although a fair few of them muddled on through! How are you enjoying it?
All three of those buildings are beautiful. Lovely work, and they’d be a pleasure to stay in, although the occasional ghost may be problematic. The curious mind wonders if the author was indeed visited by a ghost all those long years ago? Dreams can be porous substances from my experience.
Man, I’d not even been aware that a sequel to the film had even been made, or the fact had slipped my mind. The film has a very impressive cast. There was some loose talk that the film had a break even budget of apparently $400m, but if my memory retention is somewhat err, gone, then the marketing budget may possibly not have been well directed me thinks. Hmm.
Cheers and I’m off to bed, me sleepy. Woke up super early so as to nab some hens at the poultry sale. Chookflation is real, you heard it here first!
Chris
Yo, Chris – LOL. Watch every episode of “The Big Bang Theory,” and you’ll understand quantum mechanics. Or, I’m sure there’s a 5 minute U-Tub video. π
A description of the flavor of Oregon Grape jam is, “…tart and bold…that many (but notice, not all) find delicious.” Well, add enough sugar to just about anything … Some jam recipes call for adding orange peel. I notice there is mention of a lot of small seeds. I’ve decided not to do anything with the currents, this year, as the seeds bother my teeth.
As an elaborate joke, to really send up the armchair solar boffins, you could build 3, or 5 (odd number. Go for that wa,) small water wheels, out of scrap wood. Place them along the drive. Claim that the entire electrics of the farm, are run off those three (or five) wheels. π
Water features are always a nice grace note, in gardens. Though I know you don’t have a drop to waste. The Romans were big on water features, even in private homes. Pompeii has several.
You guys always have a lot of fun at the farming expos. I do hope the Rhode Island Reds integrate nicely, into your flock. They’re a sturdy, dual purpose bird.
Since things have loosened up, on the hemp front, there are all sorts of uses for the low alkaloid industrial hemp front. Paper, textiles, biofuel, etc.. Good ol’ red dirt mara-hochie.
Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C). The overnight low was 34F (1.11C). Our forecast high for today is 58F. No frost, at least in-town, that I can detect. Prof. Mass did a post on a water spout, out on Puget Sound. So, if fish start falling out of the sky …
There are two chemists just a block or two down the hill. There’s a chain outfit, and then a true local, local chemist. The chain store, was owned until last year, by a national outfit. Which went bankrupt. The facility was picked up by another chain, which is a bit more … low rent? But, for my needs, they do the job.
“End of Tour” sure had the author’s eccentricities, on display. I watched an interesting documentary, last night. “Paradise,” about the Camp Fire. There are so many documentaries and movies out there, about that fire,I couldn’t find a trailer. But I did find these few still photos. That’s a mule, in the pool. It was saved. The young man, standing next to the swimming pool? That’s one of the documentarians. That’s his grandfather’s place (he was a Paradise doctor), where he spent many a summer. It was quit a good film, I thought. Even had an extensive interview with the school bus driver, from “The Lost Bus.” I wonder if that will ever make it to DVD?
https://shorelineentertainment.com/portfolio/paradise/
The “Blade Runner, 2049,” was probably pretty expensive to make. What with that line up of stars. Also, quit a few feminist critics dinged it as being too misogynistic, which might have pared down the viewers, a bit. Although there was a kick-ass female character. Some people are never satisfied.
Will I cull some of the books? Probably. Or, at least as in the case of “The Dangerous Shore,” start doing a little skimming. There’s a lot in there about the development of the cryptographic machines, which while interesting, I don’t need to know in such detail.
Someone mentioned chives. I had a patch of chives, in my old stock tank garden plot. Well, whoever took over that tank began a turf out, the day after our garden meeting. And hasn’t done much with it, since. The chives were a victim. Sort of. LOL. They had cut it down to the ground (a real haircut), but couldn’t get the roots dug out. Which I did. I moved it to my new extended plot, and it’s bouncing back, quit nicely. Take that! Lew
Chris:
With all the rain and it being cold, have there been less leaf peepers? And the cost of petrol. Our petrol; went down, again, like last week. It only goes down 20 cents per gallon at a time, but it’s odd that it goes down at all. I thought I’d check on whether we have elections this coming November, and by golly we do, nationwide. That accounts for petrol prices – the party in power at the presidential level usuualy makes sure they are low enough so his party can say: “See what our great leader and his party has done for us!”
How embarrassing to have a Kelpie leading huskies, though your 2 girls would be thrilled. I would like to know the reason: Did the Kelpie obey orders more scrupulously (that may not be the word I want)? I know my parents’ Huskies were a bit haphazard about obeying commands.
No migration of birds – that surprises me. I really enjoy when the birds we don’t have all year come through spring and fall. As a twitcher, that would limit one.
No, we don’t have a mud room. We, too, have commercial mats, two, (not very attractive) on the inside of the door we use the most, and two mats on the outside of the door. One of those mats is 4 x 6 feet. The 2 inside are each 3 x 4 feet. They don’t seem to help much. Of course, I try not to come in of my shoes are completely caked with mud, but sometimes I am in and out a lot and it is too much to keep changing footwear. Oh, well, that’s why we have wood floors.
I hope the new chook girls fit in easily with the others. I love the Rhode Island Red breed.
I looked upslope today while I was working in the garden, only to see a man with the following hat (in a tan color) and exclaimed: ” Have I been whisked to the Australian outback!?” My daughter-in-law had gotten my son a hat that would cover his neck because it was getting pretty burned being outside in this blazing sun all day.
Pam
Chris:
Oops – forgot the link.
https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/au/australian-detachable-legionnaire-brim-hat-p55200.aspx/
Pam
@ Pam,
Huskies haphazard about obeying commands? Dame Avalanche always does what I tell her to do, IF it is convenient for her after contemplating the order for a few minutes.
DJSpo
Chris,
Verily, as the sun doth set, riseth the mists. The valiant few murkily creepeth through the gloaming eventide.
Ah, methinks you have hit upon a good plan for life. Food, friends, laugh, life, love. The rest can take care of itself, as it is out of our control.
Chainsaw carving is an entirely different animal to me. Yet, it is so nice to view once they are done. Glad you saw some good stuff.
Oh, so the entire team of huskies outsmarted the kelpie? I mean, any good husky would prefer to just go along for the ride and enjoy a good run, but evading being in charge? That simply adds more enjoyment to the entire process. And then letting the kelpie think that the kelpie is in charge when the entire pack of huskies allowed it to happen. The team gets the credit when all goes well. The leader takes the blame when things fail. Sounds like that team of huskies understand Rule Number 1 from my “How to Survive the Corporate Jungle” publication: “Never be in charge if you can help it.”
Yeah, the air temperature dropped from 8C to 5C while we were eating. And the Pho was served with a lot of fresh bay leaves on the side. So I shredded them and tossed them into the Pho. What a bounce of flavor that added!
It snowed here once on June 13. It was a Friday even. Another time, nearby Reardan, WA had one of those weird storms stick right on top of it and dump 48cm of snow overnight in late April one year. No precipitation anywhere else in the area, just deep snow on Reardan. Spring storms are weird.
Killian’s human grabbed me to run errands with her today. There’s a grand opening of a store just north of here. It has everything. We bought some green onion starts among other things. I’ll get my share of those planted this weekend, add to the others that are growing. Some chicken enchiladas in red sauce may have been consumed during the outing.
Yes, the California Rasins were a product of the Claymation era. They were featured in many commercials for over a decade. So, yes, related to the Wallace and Gromit cartoons.
I have long viewed the tree falling in a forest question from two directions. First, it is an invalid question. There is ALWAYS somebody there in the forest, whether the somebody is another tree, various animals, a stream, rocks, dirt, etc. So somebody is always there to hear the noise when the tree falls. Second, well, if no HUMAN is there to observe, there must still be a noise when the tree falls. Basic inductive reasoning: humans have observed countless trees fall and have observed a noise every time. Therefore, the next tree that falls will make a noise. No human need be present to observe what must happen based on past observations.
“Iβd likewise go with the theories which avoid the creation from measurement aspect. Thatβs almost a slide into the realms of religion.” Precisely.
Hope the new chooks find their place rapidly and without any undue drama. You don’t need drama with the chooks again.
-2C Thursday night. Tonight should be near that, but probably about the last frosty night. Heat wave coming, then a wee bit of a cool down, then back to the heat and coming dry season.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
That’s a fine looking hat, and protects the neck from the harsh afternoon sunshine. You’d have long realised by now that I’m a fan of hats to keep the sun off the upper parts of the body! It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the materials look soft, which is what you want. Terry towelling with a wide brim, is the whole next level!
The cold temperature remains, but the rain has declined. That big ol’ sun shone today, and it was a real treat. The tourists over in the more fashionable end of the mountain range would have loved the experience.
It’s interesting isn’t it? Petrol costs have dropped about the same here too. Ain’t that the truth? And this day of high fuel costs, was always going to arrive sooner or later. I’d prefer later, but does that wish even count for anything? Probably not. What I’m struggling to comprehend is people jetting off to far distant shores on holidays. Look, it may all work out just fine, but my gut feeling has some concerns about the ability to return home again via the same quick and easy transit option. I’ve read enough history to know that passengers were long considered an unavoidable nuisance on commercial shipping runs. That may be true again in the not too distant future.
Pam, that’s so true, and when I sat the two Kelpie girls down and explained the situation, their natural excitement and exuberance could barely be contained! I took some photos, and hopefully the images work out. π And that’s it, right there. Kelpies have their own minds on how to do things, but a suggestion here, or there, and they’ll work out the details. That’s why they’re the el-primo herding dog down under. Sometimes I get the impression that they want to round me up, but I don’t think so…
Some species of birds will only arrive here in summer, like the enormous Yellow-tailed black cockatoo. But the rest, remain residents all year around, and they love Ollie, being a big dog. It is beneath the large pooches dignity to notice the avian goings on.
Maybe for the twitchers, but all the same, there is a huge diversity of birds every day of the year. And they make a lot of racket early in the morning. You’d be astounded by the sheer quantity of bird life here.
Oh poop about the mud room. They’re a good idea, but I’d not appreciated the need when working out the overall design of the house. Still, the commercial mats just work, and like your experience, they’re a necessary evil for things would be worse without them. At least timber floors are easier to clean, but I do have to reseal the hardwood floors sooner, rather than later. So many things to do, but you’d appreciate that as well. π
Cleaned up the area around the new shed today, and added a nice layer of crushed rock with lime to the clay surfaces. It’s looking sharp. Then had to fix up some pipes on the house overflow water tank. The plumbers had made them too tight, and that had mildly dented the thick plastic on the water tank – hot days will facilitate such disasters. Oh well. And! Fixed part of the big chainsaw, which had been bothering me for quite a while, and ordered another part for the machine (but should have ordered two).
They’re lovely chooks aren’t they? And I used to have rooster of that variety who was a real gentleman, unlike some of the other err, rough-as-bags characters who met an untimely end for daring to consistently attack me. The new hens are fitting in very nicely and two are sleeping next to the boss chook tonight.
Hehe! I hate wearing sunscreen for it feels like a layer of plastic on my skin and over heats me. Hats have a lot to recommend them. Cool style, that’s what that is!
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Not all Kelpie dogs are any good, and Dame Plum has a title, whilst the hapless Ruby, will never earn her stripes. Incidentally, the sled dog bloke said he got all of his many dogs from animal shelters which declared the canines had behavioural issues. Interesting huh? And he observed that those dogs have a lot of energy, require a pack alpha, and need to be doing something useful, so the sled team is a great way to do just that. Apparently during winter the team head out in the alpine areas of the state over snow for 20 to 30km runs! Whoa!
Ah, thank you for the lovely middle English words, and that’s kind of how winters are here! Mind you, this coming week we’re in for a nice run of dry and warm-ish weather, which will be good to bring in some more firewood and finish off the doors on the new shed – paint doesn’t appreciate temperatures below 10’C with high humidity. Winter is not the time for painting anything here, but you might be able to get away with that due to the lower humidity? Maybe?
How could things be better, even if we had control over the larger events? Dunno about you, but the stress of wondering about outcomes, would not suit my personality at all! Too much excitement is for other folks.
I get that with the chainsaw carving, it’s a bit speedy. How did the whole dust up over the CNC process work out? Managed to fix up the big chainsaw this afternoon, and then noticed something else which needs attending too – the fuel tank vent.
Ha! Well, that’s one way to look at the Husky – Kelpie interactions. π Oh you’re good, and that interpretation of canine events is probably how it is. Yes, Kelpie takes the blame when things go wrong, yet team takes the credit when things go right. Appreciate the insight. By the way, the musher bloke (is that the correct description) leads the team via simple and clear voice commands. There is much to recommend the phonetic alphabet, which wasn’t used, but has a similar clarity. We’ve discussed this before, but dogs respond far better to the command ‘leave it’, than ‘no’. Probably something to do with the combination of sounds, or maybe ‘no’ actually means ‘yes’ with dogs?
Yum! Hey, it’s that temperature outside here right now, maybe even lower. Nope, 5’C, or more accurately (the new weather station has a decimal place for temperature) at 4.7’C. Strangely the two temperatures feel much the same to me… Bay leaves are lovely, but they use a Vietnamese mint down here which, is pretty zingy too. I grow some of the plant, but the winters are hard on them. Still, like most mint plants, they bounce back.
Far out, a June 13 snowfall in your area would be quite the surprise to summer softened folks. Yeah, spring storms can be concentrated, and nobody wants to experience purple rain on the radar. It’s not good. Extreme storms have brought a lot of damage here over the years, but the super heavy prolonged rainfall is the worst of the lot.
Sounds like a fun excursion, and just how hot is a red sauce? For some reason, I get the impression that green sauces are hotter, maybe.
Good thinking, and I’d not previously considered disregarding the philosophical question on the basis that is an invalid question, but there is a lot of sense to that approach. Exactly, no human need be present simply to validate an hypothesis. If the human species were to suddenly disappear, gravity won’t suddenly stop. The question to me is whether the event is perhaps bigger than our species, and a lot of the times, it is so.
Thanks for that, and the new chooks are fitting right on in. Two are nestled next to the ‘not quite certain as to what to make of the new companions’ boss chook tonight. Man, the Editor is a bit traumatised by the earlier chicken experience which was a process that she drove, although I had to do the rougher end of that story. I said to her tonight, sometimes you get things right the first time around, and just don’t know it. We’ve always purchased six month old chickens, and then once we didn’t.
Oh far out that is some cold overnight temperatures, and fingers crossed for the fruit trees in your area. Man, that is my personal nightmare scenario. Yup, two steps forward, one back, so the seasons go.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
To quote a favourite rock band in relation to quantum mechanics, I find no comfort, In what my mind can’t comprehend. As a principle to better living, there is much to recommend the strategy, unless comprehension is important and blithely ignored, that’d be a different problem though. Thanks for the utoob suggestion, but quantum mechanics is off the table tonight. Hey, I spent twenty minutes trying to find clear footage of how a fuel tank vent is removed from a Sthil chainsaw.
That activity might be considered so basic and well known, that it needn’t be explained to the uninitiated – which would be me. Anywhoo, I finally got around late this afternoon to replacing the fuel line on that saw, and it’s working a treat. The thing is, I’m sure the tank vent is at least fifteen years old, and now clogged up. And that is a problem. Oh well…
Fixed up the area around the new shed today and laid down a nice layer of crushed rock with lime over the clay surface. It’s looking good. And whilst fixing things, two inlet pipes on the big house overflow water tank had sunk in the soil because I put a new path through that area late last year. The pressure had slightly deformed the thick plastic walls of the humongous tank too, so I really had to fix it up. Didn’t take too long.
It ended up being quite a long work day too. Still, it was cold at 54’F, but the sun shone brightly, which felt nice. The work with the crushed rock when in the sunshine was quite hot indeed.
I see, and thanks for the description of the flavour of Oregon grape jelly. Hmm. I might skip on that, but get some plants for the benefit of the birds. Orange peel, if kept in the final mix, would make it a marmalade. We chuck in lemons into the jam making process, not only for the flavour and acidity, but the pith is very high in pectin. Probably why we don’t ever purchase that jam setter stuff. The lemon is removed prior to bottling the jam out.
Harvesting currants is hard work too, but I hear you about the seeds. You’d probably enjoy the taste of the blackberry jam we make, but the seeds would annoy you for sure.
Hehe! That’d be funny with the water wheels. You know that they would believe the efficacy of such an outlandish contraption, but disregard reality?
Actually, it’s more the snake risk when it comes to standing water features here. Easier to simply not have the enjoyment, and make it preferable for the deadly reptiles to be elsewhere. There was a mob at the expo from ‘Snake Safe Victoria’ and they allowed me to pet a snake. The skin was softer than you’d imagine, and it was a local python found in the more easterly parts of the state.
The new three birds are doing really well, and appear to be fitting in nicely. Thanks for the kind thoughts, as the Editor was the one who pushed for the earlier hens, which ended really badly. Man, we’d always purchased six month old hens before, and hadn’t realised how much easier that choice made our lives. It’s actually harder when you get things just right first time, and don’t realise it. Those two other birds are doing fine now, but the five recidivists have long since been consumed by the worms. A traumatic moment! But yeah, I’ve always had good experiences with Rhode Island Red’s, they have a nice disposition, even the rooster we had years ago (named Miguel, after the character in the Dexter series) was quite a pleasant bird.
It’s a good traditional crop, and we got to see some of the dried stems (which were huge, probably 10ft), and they were tough. Using the plant as fibre is a no-brainer. But old thoughts die hard, don’t they? Probably the Puritans…
Cool! Water spouts are amazing. Presumably someone captured the spout on film? I’ll check out the Professor’s article next.
I get that about heading to the cheaper alternative. Why not? It’s not like the chemists are making up the concoctions on site (although down here, some chemists can do just that, but not all).
Thanks for the photos on the Paradise fire, and I did try to hit play on the documentary, but no dice and I got blocked. That was one lucky mule to survive in that condition. I read an account of the 1983 fires, and a person chucked all their valuables into a small boat which they set adrift in their dam. The house and people survived, but alas, the boat and contents perished.
The cast would not have come cheap. Sadly, the old timers used to have a saying about: ‘Throw enough mud, and some of it will stick’. It’s a brutal and effective strategy, sorry to say. And some groups just get a bee in their bonnet about such things, whether it is true, or otherwise. Still, films have to turn a profit, but that needn’t mean pandering to various interest groups.
Ouch. I so hear you about the descent into way too much detail with the cryptographics machine. Reminds me of Herman Melville’s classic tome on all things whaling, with a side serving of hubris, Moby Dick. Did I really need to know about all those finicky details. In fact, for me it detracted from the narrative.
Go the chives! And may they thrive in their new spot. Man, they’re tough as old boots those plants, and you won’t regret, unless some thoughtful, yet essentially clueless, person confuses the plant for weedy grass, then helps you out by disposing of the chives. Just a random possibility there… π
Cheers
Chris
@ Pam – That is a spiffy hat! And not too expensive. Too bad it doesn’t seem to come in blue. But, as Henry Ford said of his early cars, “Any color the customer wants … as long as it’s black.” π Lew
Yo, Chris – Maybe the huskies in the dog team have figured out that management is not all it’s cracked up, to be. π Something it took me awhile, to figure out.
Something interesting, I noticed. The general merchandise store complex, that the Club shares a building with, also owns the building that used to be the veg store. It’s been empty for over a year. I figure either they were asking too much rent, or, word got around what lousy landlords they are. Any-who. They’ve been Sthil dealers, all along. They’ve taken that building, and it’s now “sales and service,” for that brand. I’d guess it frees up a lot of space in their main building for … whatever. They’ll be up against a couple a’ three, multi-generational sales and service places that we already have.
I suppose, eventually, the rain will wash all kinds of good nutrients, from the rock and lime, down slope to whatever you’ve got growing, below. Besides making everything look neat and tidy.
We have an old apple tree (two varieties), and an old pear, here at the Institution. They’ve been in bloom, the last few days. And, the weather has cooperated with the pollinators. Although the apple is usually full of worms, and the pear, last year, was struck by some kind of rust. Yesterday, I saw a European honey bee, or a near cousin. And, a medium sized black bee.
Someone stuck a plastic pin wheel, in my patch. π I don’t care for what I call “Tricksy garden s__t,” in my patch. Into the dumpster it went. Hope that sends a message.
If there are enough berries, I might try a pint or two of Oregon Grape jam. There may also be some growing in the woods, up behind our place. I can probably slip in a pint or two, when I make other jams. Apparently, there is a tomato famine. I saw this article, yesterday. I bought a few Romas, from the Yuppie Discount store, the other day. The price didn’t seem to be up, to me.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/17/business/tomato-prices-grocery-store
Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C). Our overnight low was 39F (3.88C). Our forecast high for today is 70F (!). Looks like the overnight lows will be well above freezing. A run of three nice days, coming up.
Maybe the boss chock is taking on the Rhode Island Reds, as enforcers. π They’re pretty sturdy birds.
Over 50 years ago, I saw a mara-hochie grow, in an old Victorian house, in Seattle. One of those with a front and back parlor, and 12′ ceilings. Yup. They were tall!
I think that site was a pay-to-watch the whole documentary. But, I figured you’d find the still photos, of interest.
I’m just about finished with “Dangerous Shore.” It’s talking about the Japanese presence on our West Coast, during WWII. They did sink a bit of shipping, and lobbed a few shells at the shore, but nothing like the Germans on the east coast. They did however, launch 9,000 incendiary balloons. They landed all the way from our coast to South Dakota. But none of them did any real damage, except for one. It killed a Sunday School group, picnicking in the woods.
https://w.wiki/CvYH
Not near as crazy as the attempt by US forces to use incendiary “bat bombs,” on Japan.
https://w.wiki/7z$f
Someone brought in a case (24 tins) of Chicken a la King, for the Club pantry. I was at a loss as to what to have for dinner, so I grabbed a couple of cans. Added to rice, and a lot of frozen veg, garlic. It didn’t make a bad meal. Ingredients list wasn’t too outrageous. Lew
@DJSpo:
It’s the contemplation that gets you. But at least they can talk, so that makes up for it.
Pam
Chris,
Briefly and so I don’t forget.
The CNC thing? The membership at the meeting when it was discussed voted unanimously (with two not voting in addition to me not voting). The original motion was to allow CNC for “display only”, not judging. An astute member (not me) moved for an addition that the CNC display will be on its own side table and not mixed in with hand carved carvings. So, CNC will have its own display area next to the “display only” area reserved for the wood turnings.
Of course a lot of working dogs have behavioral issues! They need to have tasks to keep them occupied. Get a bunch of “misbehaving” working dogs together, harness them to a sled and they will be happy.
No painting here in the winter. At least not outdoors. Too cold and the humidity can be too high also.
DJSpo
Chris:
Oh, yeah! I forgot about your Gilligan’s Island hat.
I don’t like to travel, so I don’t often think about it, but the thought has occurred about the return trip. Will there be one? My husband’s sister and her family have gone to Europe every summer for decades. Last year, part of their trip took them along the Ukraine border. Is that a good idea?
Well I think the girls would like to round you up, but they’re no dummies, even Ruby who has not been knighted (I think they still call it “knighted” for females), But those girls know who is boss. We must only hope that Dame Plum, having climbed so far up the educational ladder, does not get any radical ideas.
Why do the birds like Ollie?
Has the cost of gravel gone up there (not that it doesn’t normally keep climbing upward)? The price has increased a huge amount here and we still have, when all the site work is finally finished in the clearing at the back of the property (the Kingdom of Figs), to have gravel put down along the back road – which is LONG.
Clever new chooks to cosy up to the boss chicken.
I was trying to imagine how big the state of Victoria is and so looked up what US state compares to it. Apparently, Victoria is about the same size as Utah, making it a very big state. Victoria is also about twice as big as Virginia.
Pam
Hi DJ,
Gotta write, but thanks so much for the update on the CNC interlopers. Technically it is wood carving, but such folks are in a league of their own – as your group so wisely also decided. Respect. Welcoming, but shoe horning into its own category is a strategy which would stop a lot of drama and unfair advantage. Nice one.
Dogs, people, all have energy and are seeking a sense of purpose. Consumerism and social climbing is a very limited option and not for everyone. I like digging trenches, is that such a bad thing?
Same, same here! Gotta bounce. Speak later!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
The terry towelling hat is always upon the old noggin absorbing the sweat, whilst warding off the more extreme ultra-violet sun rays. We need some of that gear too, so a person walks a middle ground. Too much is bad, as is too little. It was a chance observation of an indigenous bloke who noted that unwieldy experiment which is complete abstinence and fear of the sun. Hmm. Anyway, hope your son’s style works out, and if uncertain, Loki is to blame. Loki’s hat was cooler than anything I’ve been able to obtain, and the cheeky rascal knew he held the ace.
Much of the clothing on Gilligan’s Isle was way too clean. π
Pam, like you, I too am a home body who’s done as much travelling as I can tolerate for a lifetime. Put down roots into the deep Earth is my desire. Well, it’s an exciting option to skirt a war zone, and one to which I’d not have made. Such activities are OK, until they’re not. Some locals found themselves upon the ill fated Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and returned perhaps in body bags.
We travelled to Cambodia in the late 1990’s and the locals were happy to see a few hardy westerners, and we were so naive. The day spent at the killing fields and in the nearby Tuol Sleng prison, forever altered my perspective. Pure evil, in bureaucratic form.
Yeah, lets go with knighted for the ladies who’ve earned their titles. π Dame Plum is the voice of Kelpie reason, and this morning I had to intervene in a sisterly dust up. Although, Ruby then hung with me for most of the day. She’ll learn, but that will take a longer and more circuitous path. We’ve all been there.
The birds like Ollie because he ignores their antics, and does big poops, which they then eat. Probably part of the reason that there is a lot of bird-life here!
π You betcha gravel has gone up in price down here. But always was this going to happen sooner or later. If I may suggest, getting one’s house in order, means exactly that. But all of us are human, and I can only do so much work around the place, as can you and your family. We walk a resource decline tightrope.
Hmm, does the infrastructure work at an affordable maintenance price point? Long driveways are not cheap. I think about this stuff a lot.
The new chooks are doing quite well.
Yeah, we do big states down here. Virginia has more people too.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
We’ve all been there my friend. Yup, management as an activity, is not all that it is cracked up to be. But you’d have been inculcated with the stories too, from a young age. I so hear you, and it took me a while too, to realise that reality.
Ooo, it’s hard to know how that business-off, will work out. It’s been remarked upon elsewhere that wealth rarely survives three generations. Anyhoo, I miss the old farm machine repair dude, and now perform all of that work myself. Look, it’s probably a good outcome on the maintenance front because I can take matters to their logical conclusion and my time is really an opportunity cost issue. The thing is with the new competition you’re seeing, is that it depends upon how good their mechanics are. They’re not all the same, and word gets around. I certainly don’t appreciate being charged a lot, for work that I could have done myself and in less time. And that happened to me when trialling a new dealer.
Oh yeah, the fruit trees growing either side of the limed paths, are much larger than those growing further away. But truly, I just appreciate the infrastructure being neat and orderly.
Out of curiosity, do you know what kind of worms infest the apples? Rusts also suggest a lack of appropriate feed for the trees. Candidly, they’re hungry those fruit bearing plants, and err, ‘feed me Seymour!’ Although I haven’t watched that, err, musical, and don’t tell anyone… Please? My credibility would be shot.
Tidy work removing the wheel, and you need a protective gnome. They handle that sort of work. If it continues, I recommend a gargoyle.
Holy carp! Yikes, although I’m surprised that tomatoes aren’t being grown more locally than Florida and Mexico. Those plants do better with reliable rain and lower humidity. But even so, I have not watered the tomato vines in the greenhouse for a month or more just to shock the plants into ripening the fruit – which is working. And far out, even the tiny amounts of water I’d been dribbling those plants, may have been too much. Who knew?
OK, did you make the magic 70’F? It was about that here today, although there was the first frost of the season on the roof of the cars. Spare a thought for Ollie, because he’d been feeling so good of late, that he jumped off the veranda, and injured his front leg. I dosed him up on an anti-inflammatory this evening and he’s now asleep. He’d been following me around in the sunshine today.
Hope your run of nice weather comes to fruition. π
A sound strategy for the boss chook signing up the new comers as the enforcers. The birds are doing well today and finding their feet.
Exactly, the hemp plant was 12 foot tall. Talk about Children of the Corn… That concept popped into my brain, and I can only blame decades earlier horror stories.
Oh my, those poor kids to have messed around with the balloon bomb. Such things happen and are the stuff of collateral damage. Good to see that they put out a warning about the things afterwards.
The bat bombs were the whole next level of crazy. One of those, it sounds good in theory, ideas.
Go the gourmet chicken a la king (I couldn’t work out how to add the accent over the ‘a’, or was it the ‘la’?)
Better run, have to write, and am not too late tonight, which is a change. Constructed the marine grade plywood doors for the new shed today. I’m yawning now, so hopefully the essay makes some sense. It’s always possible, and the intrepid writer must occasionally reach for the stars, or splat back to the ground. Always risky!
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I KNEW that was the reason the birds like Ollie. π
Some people (most?) get over wanting to be “Boss.” Some, not. Although I think, sometimes, aspiring to be boss is inspired by someone in the background, whining that some one has “no ambition.”
On reflection, some multi-generational business families, survive and thrive. I wonder what the difference is? Speaking of those families, there’s a new adaption of “The Forsyth Family,” out. The Beeb did it about 30 years ago, and now PBS is doing a version. I watched the first episode, night before last. I think I’m going to like it.
Odd, that, as I never saw the first series. Or, read the books for that matter. Or, knew much about the author, John Galsworthy. He won a Nobel literature prize. I looked into his bio, last night. How did I miss all this? π
Last night, I watched an interesting documentary. “Miles from Normal.” About people who have taken to the roads and live the van life. For some reason, I can find no trailer. That’s the second time that’s happened, recently.
Yes, the Farm Repair Dude, is missed. But in a way … well, it really upped your game.
I don’t know what kind of worms are in the apples. I should pay more attention, this year. Maybe ask the Master Gardeners, or even take a sample to the County Extension Office for an ID. Oddly, the pear tree, right next to the apple, never has worms in the fruit. But, the rust, or whatever it was, did fruit production in, last year.
I dislike tricksy stuff in the garden, that moves. I seem to catch it out of the corner of my eye, and it startles me. I don’t need any of that.
We get a lot of hydroponic tomatoes, from Canada. In winter. Or did. I don’t know where that all is, due to tariffs. Who knows why commercial crops end up being grown in one state, or another. Many things probably contribute.
Yup, our high yesterday was 73F (22.77C). Our overnight low was 41F (5C). The forecast high for today is 75F. I weeded our communal strawberry bed, last night. There are blossoms. I did a few other things. I noticed I have an actual asparagus spear, coming up. I carefully added some soil and compost to that bed.
I hope Ollie is on the mend. Me having a smaller dog, I often lift her down from places. I figure if she can’t jump up (say, into the truck or onto the bed), then coming down might be a problem. But, keeping an eye on her …
I also spent about an hour last night, just doing a survey of all the books I picked up at the library. Reading jacket copy, looking at any photos. I might read an introduction. I read the introduction to the book about the academic, who gets to frolic in Stephen King’s archives. If the introduction is any indication, it’s readable, and not too academic. But it’s gone back in the stack, and will have to wait its turn. Lew