What's everybody doing today?

[Pearl]

Beena at work since noon yesterday. We'll, I've been getting paid since then. Haven't really done anything yet. Shouldn't be too much longer though. Luckily I've been able to catch a couple good naps in my cab. The ballast train woke me up when it went by a little while ago, and usually that's the last step before it's my turn.

It's be 7 or 8 years since I worked a shift like this one. If memory serves, I should have gone on double time and a half, 3 hours ago. Uncle Sam will be really happy with that..

At least you got a couple good naps!

 

[sonya123]

I've had a few that needed 2 doses.

She is getting around a little better, so far so good
We have had more babies, but one of them didn't get the kids out , I had to pull the second one and it was dead, so was the third one, so she has only 1. We have had 6 stillborn kids this year, not sure why. We haven't had any before. The only thing different this year was we fed some alfalfa hay but only 3 of the does had problems. Maybe not for the same reason. One had 4 overnight, and 2 were perfectly fine , dry and nursing, the other 2 were not even cleaned off but big and nothing wrong with them. I think maybe she couldn't handle 4 and just left the 2 with goo over their noses and they couldn't breathe . Then the one with the stuck kid, maybe took too long? It took 2 days for the afterbirth to come out. The last one had the one that can't walk and 2 really tiny ones that were probably too small. We call her Scardy, because she is afraid of us and the other goats. Not sure why. She is not that small. Maybe she didn't get enough to eat for 4 kids because the others pushed her away. I think she is going to the auction, so is the one with the stuck kid. We try to get rid of problems, even if minor ones. We have enough kids to pick the best ones to stay .
We have one almost 8 year old goat that has lots of kids every year ( 3-6), I expected problems from her since she is so old but she had 4 early in the morning, was still cleaning some of them off when I got to the barn but they are all fine and decent size for 4. I will have to feed at least 1 of them

Supposed to snow again tonight and tomorrow, yuck, it is almost April!

I am already tired today, pulled a muscle in my shoulder from lifting up the lambs I am feeding. They are getting heavy and I now have 5 of them that expect some milk. One bottle baby and the rest don't get enough from the mom because there is too many.
One goat left to go.

 

[sonya123]

The global warmers are quieter lately! Of course they still try to pull it off as climate change!

I am ready for it to warm up! Don't need snow in spring

 

[Patchouli]

@sonya123 that is a lot of birthing!! Sorry to hear some didn’t make it. I like that old doe’s story, she’s like a granny. A friend had big goats and little goats. Said it was hard work and things can go south really fast. And now for bottle feeding! Any photos to share? Baby goats are so cute!

 

[Katie Müller]

We all know that keeping our pets/animals on our property is the right thing to do but I understand until now the neighbors enjoyed their company. If he complains, he can do that, but obviously he is a problem. But, as far as the threats, you should contact the housing management and let them know he is making threats. You can explain the past situation and the opinions of all the other residents there, but let them know you will now keeps your chickens home. If it is government subsidized they would/should want to know if threats are being made. Let the others there know to complain if he is bothering them.
Good luck.

If more die, I'll call the housing manager. We have positive relations with all the neighbors, except that one. The one neighbor emphasized he was a democrat. Lol. And that he was crazy. We hear him screaming at the other neighbors quite often. These people leave the city to come to the country and complain when the country is next door.

We have tried to keep the chickens in because we knew that as times get harder if the chickens go across the street hungry people might get a chicken dinner!!! I don't know how many times we've shagged them back into the yard. So we've been working to keep them contained, but they still get loose.

But anyway, we tried fencing the chickens in a big long run last year; I took great care to 'fox proof it'. Ha. Yeah. No such thing as fox proofing. Devil killed 11 in a single morning in that run. After that I threw my hands up and said, they're going to have to run free. Missing 1 from a fox during the day is better than losing 11 in two hours! At least when they're loose they can scatter; they couldn't scatter in the run.

It's funny how chickens may be stupid but when it comes to food they're like foxes; I have no idea how they get out!

We went around yesterday and patched holes in the fencing and we still found them across the street. Oi. So we have to see where they're squeezing out. Once it warms up more we're going to be pounding new posts in and running chicken wire around the old fencing.

Just asking, because I know some jurisdictions are different...if he were to be caught in the act, what could be done? Arkansas does have "stand your ground laws." Basically if he's outside the house or he's fleeing call the pd. Inside the house or coming at me he could be doing business with the business end of a Ruger.

I'm not sure legally what could be done. We're zoned agriculture so there's not much any law enforcer could do against us, especially with 99% of the people encouraging the chickens to come to their house. But if he killed the chicken while it was off our property, I don't know if he'd be held accountable or not. He could be, I suppose.

The other neighbors think the guys nuts. There's seagulls and all sorts of other birds that around the place; chickens are birds, what's the big deal with them, is there attitude.

But we don't want problems with any of the neighbors, so even if it's one complaint we're trying to fix the problem. I mean, regardless of the complaint, we want the chickens to stay in the yard anyway. Like I said, as times get tough, people will have chicken dinner if we can't keep them contained.

I'm really want to try loose during the day, I guess we will see how it goes.

Hope you can let them run free. Ours are goats with feathers, but I love seeing them free. You can see how much happier they are when they're free compared to being fenced in.

If you don't feed them kitchen scraps, they won't/shouldn't eat your garden. I had mine loose & they didn't bother the garden - especially if they have lots of bugs and worms to eat.

Lucky. They've always gotten into the flower beds; the vegetable garden etc. They're certain things they like more than others, though. We had to fence in mom's flower bed. Mom cried a lot last year because the chickens were destroying her flowers. This year we'll be making more flower-bed fencing.

I agree with this for the most part. Dogs, cats, most other type of critters. But she was explaining that all the neighbors prior to this new guy enjoyed the visit of the chickens. So, no problem there. New guy doesn't like them (or is just a jerk) so now it is time to keep them contained.

Thanks for reading and understanding the situation. I think it's obvious people want to keep their animals in their yards, but some animals do have a mind of their own and when they're encouraged, it makes containment even harder.

One time we saw giddy people pointing at the chickens and taking pictures with their phone. It's rather hysterical sometimes. I went to Quest and the phlebotomist was like. . "Are you the one with the chickens?!" Apparently she sees them every morning while getting her daughter on the school bus and her daughter loves it.

They can't have animals over in their apartments so they love seeing our chickens and our cats; and our dog sometimes goes over there >.<. Lol. The little kids know his name and will go up to our dog and hug him. My cousin lives over there and has a cat (even though they're not allowed) and the cat even goes up to our dog!

Our one cat Spock lived with the neighbors for a while. Came home with a collar on. So we attached a note to the collar saying he was all up-to-date on his shots and our address. And then the neighbor sent a message back on the collar hahaha. . . .

Our animals were always the positive bridge for communication between the neighbors.

One time a mother brought her daughter to our place because she wanted to see 'Snowball'. Spock came home and was hanging out with us and so she hadn't seen her beloved Snowball in some time so she came to visit him.

It's unfortunate that it's always that one person who has to ruin it for others.

 

[zannej]

I somewhat noticed yesterday that when my friend went to work on the lever mount that the float was down. Didn't think much of it. The pump didn't kick back on when I turned power back on (another red flag) but we needed to get to his dental appointment. Last night the water pressure was low. Today no water. Not sure if some wires got jostled loose or if something shorted out before my friend came over. Friend is working til after dark, I couldn't see anything wrong with the float. Friend suggested having my brother look, but he knows even less about these things than I do. May have to call the well system guy but we'll see.

Let the puppies out this morning and a neighboring dog ran up to give me a big hug and get cuddles. Puppies bark at him. Princess wasn't as interested in him this time around. I let his owner know on FB (since phones are still out) & she said he's been coming back on his own, but if he doesn't she'll come back. I said my dog wanted to be inside and puppies were annoying so he probably left. Puppies came back in and are on my floor at the food of my bed (they wanted on the bed but one of the kitties hissed so they backed off).

 

[Amish Heart]

We went into town again to Walmart (again) to return the router I bought yesterday for a phone unit. Evidently, Walmart has to do something like register it for it to work. Husband went in and found out that they don't know how to do it, so got our money back and we'll order one direct from the company to be sent. Like the black box unit the amish use here, and like the one we hooked up at mom's new place. So even though I shopped groceries there yesterday, I shopped again. Headed for the canned meat, and it was not restocked after I cleared out the Keystone beef yesterday. They did empty a box of Walmart brand roast beef, so I bought a dozen cans of those. And that distilled water, the 5 gallons I bought yesterday..husband said to get more, and that whole section was empty. Found two boxes of saltine crackers in clearance for 75 cents each, expire at the end of the year. I saw an old lady shopping (ha, older than me anyway) and she stopped and said, "what on earth is happening?". I left that alone. Finished laundry and housecleaning, My sis ordered a small painting made for me, a Kansas landscape, from her aunt. They drove the hour here and delivered it, and it's gorgeous. Got to visit with her. We're going to see Amos Raber and family sing tonight down the road. Husband at pt exercise class, too tired to go to fowl sale, too. We'll skip it this month. I heard avian flu was found about 100 miles from here. I wonder if it's like covid testing.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Glad you talked about distilled water, I need to get a couple of gallons. The wife forgot a bunch of stuff on the grocery list for this morning, I guess I get to go back tomorrow.

I was able to disassemble my solar array but it took forever. I was trying to save the wood and someone used screws to put it together mixing torques and Phillips head screws... I'm going to cuss him out the next time I am at a mirror. The new frame is well on it's way, the stringers on the hing joint are in place, and the angles are set. I'm going with 40 degrees fixed (I can move them +/- 15 degrees but I don't plan to). The salvaged lumber has one coat of varnish on them and once they are dry I can attach them and the start putting the back panels up. My back hurts.

I did not get the black plastic over the rain barrels, I may open the drain tomorrow and turn off the collector until this Wednesday (the cold snap is expected to be over by then).

I need to start transplanting stuff, but I'm short on space. I may create a holding area by the back door for the plants that can go out after Wednesday.

 

[phideaux]

Went to big town today.
Picked up parts for the tractor $112.(2 small steel boom connector plates).

Went to Rural King , picked up LED lights for wife's sewing room and the new closet type room , I'm building in utility room.

Went over to Lowes picked up baseboard and other trim for utility room.

Went to Kirkland's ,found a new painting for our farmhouse living room.

Went to Long Horn for lunch.
Had the best steak I've had in years.
Came home let Eli out to do his business. Then we played fetch and tug o war fora while.

30"x36i think. Wife picked it out.
It's ok.

Jim

 

[Bacpacker]

Work, lots of paperwork and parts ordering. Customer sent an email asking for a quote he asked for last fall. I had forgot all about it. Want to new roof top gamma detector systems. We run them on sar and wifi antenna to relay into the network. Gotta hit that hard next week. Got home and started loading wood in the last bed I have assembled. Not gonna make it to shoveling compost tonight. I'm beat and it'll be dark before long. Ugh. Never enough hours in the day

 

[zannej]

Went back into town to return misdelivered letters (postal employee put stuff from the box next to mine in my box and we didn't notice). Checked Tractorsupply for a float lever and they don't even have a spot for them anymore. Flushing toilets with buckets of water we filled before the storm but hopefully can get this fixed very soon. Not having running water sucks.

Also grabbed milk at Walmart.

Currently researching different options for controlling the pump.

 

[phideaux]

Just watched history being made.
First time ever a 15 ranked team has made it to elite eight.
St Peters peacocks (15) just beat Purdue Boilermakers (3) . What a game. 64 to 61.

Now I'm tired

Jim

 

[goshengirl]

Just watched history being made.

They kept it interesting right up to the end!

 

[phideaux]

They kept it interesting right up to the end!

They may take it all
They're good.

Jim

 

[Haertig]

Did some electrical work today. Mapped out which lights/outlets go to which breaker in the panel. We had our electrical panel replaced with a higher amperage one and our old mapping was thrown off by that. I guess the electrician moved some things around. Then I started replacing wall switches with "smart" ones. Of course I had to make the obligatory run to Home Depot to pick up things I didn't have. Like some white wire I needed to pigtail some of the neutrals to attach to the smart switches. Then I configured some more automation.

The problem with this "smart home" stuff is that it's not smart, it's really dumb actually. You don't want to have to say, "Turn on family room lights" because a guest may not know if you call that room "the family room" or "the den". If you wrongly say "Turn on den lights" your smart home is just going to sit there being all stupid and not doing anything. You need to group things so that the voice pickup is location sensitive. So you can just say "Turn on the lights" and your smart home will know what lights you mean by voice location. But you also have to accept the longer variation "Turn on the family room lights" in case you want to do that operation from an upstairs bedroom or something. Then you need groups of groups, so when you go upstairs for the night you can say "Turn off the downstairs lights" and it will know that "downstairs" is composed of "family room", "kitchen", and "office". And you have to configure things by what they are as well, so that when you say "turn on kitchen lights" it doesn't start the coffee maker too. Then you need to install switches that operate manually, so when grandma tootles through the house she can still flip a switch the normal way, without having to talk to this newfangled thing or use some app on a smart phone that she doesn't have.

Smart homes are not smart. They just rely on someone - preferably with programming experience and a good sense of how to lay things out (verbal commands) - setting things up so that you don't have to remember details and naming conventions. Then they "appear" smart, due to the labors of their programmer. My original goal was to install dimmers, but I found that smart switches were no more expensive than basic dimmers - so why not? You don't have to use the smart features at all. And it is convenient to retire to the upstairs and say "Turn off downstairs lights" and get them all at once. Another problem the smart switches solve for me is when I'm hunkered down in my office and emerge at dinner time to a house that is pitch black dark. I know where the family room light switch is (on the other side of the room of course!), but just saying "turn on the lights" beats stumbling through the room to get to that switch. Setting timers to make your house look lived in during vacations is a cinch with smart switches. And if you hear a noise in the middle of the night, a whispered "turn on downstairs lights" might just blind and scare the burglar away.

So I struggle somewhere between "I love them" and "I hate them". But I'll be installing more of the stupid things tomorrow.

Just don't wake up in the middle of the night to go pee and accidentally say "Turn on all the lights". Holy cow that would be bad. Fry your retinas (not to mention the damage the wife would do to you for incorrectly uttering such a command).

 

[LadyLocust]

I transplanted my tomatoes today - all 88ish of them into their big kid pots. Next stop for them will be the ground. Moved the greenhouse outside and have them all tucked in. Hoping they live. My friends are wimpies (they are actually super awesome). Trying to get rid of spares. Oh I will take 2 of each. I said you take 2 you get two free I'm hoping to list a few on CL and see if I can recoup some of my investment. I got to go barehoofed outside for the first time this year, played in the dirt, a beautiful day.

 

[LadyLocust]

Did some electrical work today. Mapped out which lights/outlets go to which breaker in the panel. We had our electrical panel replaced with a higher amperage one and our old mapping was thrown off by that. I guess the electrician moved some things around. Then I started replacing wall switches with "smart" ones. Of course I had to make the obligatory run to Home Depot to pick up things I didn't have. Like some white wire I needed to pigtail some of the neutrals to attach to the smart switches. Then I configured some more automation.

The problem with this "smart home" stuff is that it's not smart, it's really dumb actually. You don't want to have to say, "Turn on family room lights" because a guest may not know if you call that room "the family room" or "the den". If you wrongly say "Turn on den lights" your smart home is just going to sit there being all stupid and not doing anything. You need to group things so that the voice pickup is location sensitive. So you can just say "Turn on the lights" and your smart home will know what lights you mean by voice location. But you also have to accept the longer variation "Turn on the family room lights" in case you want to do that operation from an upstairs bedroom or something. Then you need groups of groups, so when you go upstairs for the night you can say "Turn off the downstairs lights" and it will know that "downstairs" is composed of "family room", "kitchen", and "office". And you have to configure things by what they are as well, so that when you say "turn on kitchen lights" it doesn't start the coffee maker too. Then you need to install switches that operate manually, so when grandma tootles through the house she can still flip a switch the normal way, without having to talk to this newfangled thing or use some app on a smart phone that she doesn't have.

Smart homes are not smart. They just rely on someone - preferably with programming experience and a good sense of how to lay things out (verbal commands) - setting things up so that you don't have to remember details and naming conventions. Then they "appear" smart, due to the labors of their programmer. My original goal was to install dimmers, but I found that smart switches were no more expensive than basic dimmers - so why not? You don't have to use the smart features at all. And it is convenient to retire to the upstairs and say "Turn off downstairs lights" and get them all at once. Another problem the smart switches solve for me is when I'm hunkered down in my office and emerge at dinner time to a house that is pitch black dark. I know where the family room light switch is (on the other side of the room of course!), but just saying "turn on the lights" beats stumbling through the room to get to that switch. Setting timers to make your house look lived in during vacations is a cinch with smart switches. And if you hear a noise in the middle of the night, a whispered "turn on downstairs lights" might just blind and scare the burglar away.

So I struggle somewhere between "I love them" and "I hate them". But I'll be installing more of the stupid things tomorrow.

Just don't wake up in the middle of the night to go pee and accidentally say "Turn on all the lights". Holy cow that would be bad. Fry your retinas (not to mention the damage the wife would do to you for incorrectly uttering such a command).

I can't handle most of the "new stuff." Our new range isn't even a "smart" appliance, but I call it the millennial stove - it makes more noise and does less work than any stove I've ever owned. The burners were actually equipped with a "safety feature" so that when they got up to temp, they shut off. I could not boil water. Now have new burners - grrr. I can't even imagine a "smart house." I'd be put in the round room for sure.

 

[Double R]

Hey @LadyLocust Don’t think you’ve gotten one today

 

[LadyLocust]

Hey @LadyLocust Don’t think you’ve gotten one today

Howdy missy! Listening to Eartha Kitt, need to kick the cat out and go to bed - but you caught me.

 

[Double R]

Howdy missy! Listening to Eartha Kitt, need to kick the cat out and go to bed - but you caught me.

Bed sounds amazing! Sweet dreams and much love to your kitty

 

[Peanut]

Not much today, completely wiped out. 2 days, 600mile drive and hiking up on the mountain wore me out. There are some steep hollars on sides Lookout mtn.

----------
I’ve given thought to a smart home system but only in regards to future health concerns. I’ve had several health issues come up in the last 4 years, it could get worse…

As long as I can use my hands a system controlled with a remote would be fine. The tv remote I use has 38 buttons. The large one that controls tv, blueray, satellite has over 50. Another remote? The more the merrier.

The only voice control I’d need would be to call emergency services and turn on the “house remote alarm” so I can find it (and call my cell phone ).

 

[zannej]

Hey Haertig, when can you come over and look at my electrical and help me map it out?
I really need to do that because I'm too obtuse to get my father's drawings properly. Plus I think some things changed since he did his sketches in the 80s.

LadyLocust, I feel the same way you do about "smart" devices. Always something that can go wrong. Never work right for me.

I put the puppies to bed in the front room, watched Spring Baking Championship, and am trying to get myself to sleep but my brain is all fired up with random thoughts.

 

[Haertig]

The only voice control I’d need would be to call emergency services

That actually works pretty well. When my mom's dementia got so bad that she could no longer use a telephone, all's she had to do was say "Alexa, call David". And it would dial me up on my cellphone and put me on speakerphone on her end. When I needed to talk to her, I would just say, "Alexa, drop in on Mom" and I'd be connected to her on speakerphone. She wouldn't have to answer a phone or accept an incoming connection or anything - I was just connected. Worked from anywhere, even with my sister in another state. An "interstate intercom".

This would be an intrusive setup in a normal situation - someone being about to intercom unannounced right into your place. But it was a God-send for my mom with dementia. I did lock it down so that Mom could bust in on me or my sister, and we could bust in on her, but my sister and I could not bust in on each other. Nobody else could get in either. So it was not totally unsecure ... it was kind of secure-ish.

 

[Haertig]

Hey Haertig, when can you come over and look at my electrical and help me map it out?

Get yourself something like this, and it makes things easier:

www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-Digital-Accessory-Adapters/dp/B08MG1LZJS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Debatable if it's worth the cost if you're only doing one house. But if you don't have a helper to holler back and forth with as they throw the breakers while you run around the place looking to see what turned off, it helps with one-person mapping.

Basically it's a transmitter that plugs into wall outlets, or light bulb sockets with the adapter, and you go to the breaker box with the receiver to identify which breaker controls the circuit you're interested in. I have played with a borrowed one of these in the past, but I do not own one personally. I got my exercise today running up and down the stairs and all over the house identifying which breaker controls what. Took me several hours. But being retired, it's not like I had anything better to do anyway. So I went the cheap route and didn't go buy myself one of these breaker identifiers. They're not required to do a mapping, they just make it quicker and easier.

There are lots of videos demonstrating this tool on YouTube, but most of the presenters are quite long winded and talk forever and ever. I did find one demo video where the guy just shows how it works without too much verbosity. The radio he plugs in is not required - that's just a secondary backup to check things redundantly.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUtn6IdPKh8

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today I ran errands, because the wife left stuff off yesterday's list.

When I got home from errands I found out that the wife was having tummy troubles and I needed to shift gears and do a load of emergency laundry.

Now that that is started I am going to work outside for a few hours.

I am harvesting vegetables to feed a venison stew we are making later today. (taters, carrots, turnips, and onions)

I will have to cover a raised bed that has sprouts in it because starting tonight and into the first part of next week we will be seeing lows in the 20s, baby plants don't like that. I have 5 beds that don't have tops and this is one of them, the rest are easy, just close the top...

 

[Amish Heart]

Probably get outside if the weather holds for more seeding this afternoon. Glenns Bulk Foods and Stutzmanns plant nursery in the other town are having a "spring celebration", so I'd like to go if I can talk husband into it. We are going out to dinner tonight without the grandkids.

 

[phideaux]

I'm off today.
I love Saturday, I don't do anything that resembles work on Saturdays.

Be taking the one granddaughter out for lunch . It's her turn.

My good friend Doc, is wheelchair bound , lives by himself.
Has a caretaker everyday for a few hours to clean and cook. His entire house is high tech/smart. He couldn't stay there by himself if it wasn't.

Only thing I got smart is the TV, the under cabinet lights, Eli , and Wife.

Sorry, my Explorer ST.(drives itself).

Beautiful day. But bad storms are coming next week. Time for the storms to stop.

Enjoy the weekend y'all.

Jim

 

[Pearl]

Home! Doing laundry, cleaning the house lightly. Vacuuming the inside of my truck. Assorted outside jobs. Hitting the pool float later!

 

[phideaux]

Watching Wagon Train.



Jim

 

[hashbrown]

Trying to force myself off my lazy butt to go paint chicken house rafters and shutters.