What's everybody doing today?

[Bacpacker]

Back to work yesterday and all week. Also started a Spectrum Management class for work. It's on-line for 12 weeks. Last 2 days I've spent 8 hours on it. Almost brain dead.

 

[Peanut]

My finger calluses are just starting to shine and get dimples... hope my elbow is better before I lose them.

 

[Neb]

Tendinitis… can’t believe I gave myself tendinitis in my right elbow. Now I have to stop playing music for a few days. There are 4 bluegrass festivals next month. I hope to attend 2 of them. I intended to show up ready to play a 50minute set. I know a lot of bluegrass folks, might be asked to play a set with someone. Even so there’ll be hours of picking off stage. A bluegrass festival is a marathon for pickers. You know it was a good weekend when your hands are sore, fingers are in pain and your strings are dead.

Until a month ago I’d hadn’t really played in 6yrs. Get ready in 6 weeks? I could have done it but it takes a lot of work, playing 3hrs a day. Now my elbow tendons are inflamed from playing. Getting old bites!!!! I started taking Solomon’s Seal last night but I still have to rest it so it can heal. Did I mention getting old bites?

More chainsaw work this afternoon. I got the big pine out of the lower pasture. It was hot, soaked my shirt. More trees to move tomorrow.

My buddy used to play in a cover band but had to stop because his hands failing him. He has to limit his playing time.

Since my eldest granddaughter has started to learn guitar in school I asked gim if he could lend her a guitar to practice at home. He was ok with lending her an old Gibson. Vut since she is learning on an acoustic I asked if he could lend her an acoustic.

He avoided the question but after I pressed the question he said he has 2 acoustic guitars, both 50 years old and worth a couple of thousand each. He said if I could asure not a scratch...

So Gramma and Grampa will be helping out with guitar for her and a violin for the younger granddaughter.

Ben




Ben

 

[Neb]

Back to work yesterday and all week. Also started a Spectrum Management class for work. It's on-line for 12 weeks. Last 2 days I've spent 8 hours on it. Almost brain dead.

Curious

What is covered in a Spectrum Management class?

Guessing electromagnetic spectrum.

When I was picking out classes for my engineering and physics degree going through the course descriptions I told my wife...

The only persons that can understand these course descriptions is someone that has already taken the course.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

My buddy used to play in a cover band but had to stop because his hands failing him. He has to limit his playing time.

Since my eldest granddaughter has started to learn guitar in school I asked gim if he could lend her a guitar to practice at home. He was ok with lending her an old Gibson. Vut since she is learning on an acoustic I asked if he could lend her an acoustic.

He avoided the question but after I pressed the question he said he has 2 acoustic guitars, both 50 years old and worth a couple of thousand each. He said if I could asure not a scratch...

So Gramma and Grampa will be helping out with guitar for her and a violin for the younger granddaughter.

Ben

Martin Guitar Co. has expanded from the high end market to the mid range. They now have a couple models less than $1K. I played one last week in town. Pretty good guitar.

I'll say this, playing well takes a lot of work. The nicer the sound of the guitar the easier the work. I learned on a crappy guitar from Sears, $20. Couldn't wait to get something better!

(funny, I thought of that old guitar yesterday. I don't know what ever happened to it?)

 

[Bacpacker]

1st module covered a variety of things, but started with am, fm, phase modulation, etc. Not great detail just the basics. But also started getting into FCC, IRAC, and ITU governing bodies and where they came from and why. Lots of references for required reading to help us learn where to find things such as what freqs can be used for what, why that is, how much bandwidth is allowed. All kinds of fun stuff.
I think there are 12-15 in the class, many are active or former military. Many different reasons for taking the class. Instructor has 30+ years teaching and working with this on a high level. It's pretty good so far. Just hoping I can keep up and not get swamped with everything else at work. If I get behind I'll struggle to get caught up.

 

[TeeJ]

Feels like I've been super busy, but I haven't been getting anything done. I guess it's just been mostly keeping up with the day to day. Puppy is doing well, making progress with housebreaking and basic commands. Work has been super busy, winding down one set of duties and potentially starting some new ones. I'll find out tomorrow if I'll end up taking on the Operational Technology management for my company, which is the technology that controls or monitors industrial equipment. The executive team will decide if the IT department will be taking it on, or if each plant will manage their own. It's always been a part of the environment I've enjoyed, and there's a lot of potential for growth, so I'm looking forward to it. Tonight was supposed to be work on the cars, but thunderstorms gave me a rain delay on that.

 

[Wingnut]

TeeJ, I hope you get that job, you deserve it! It's so nice to actually enjoy what you're doing! Believe it or not, there was a time when I really enjoyed trucking, I was in my 30s & 40s and having a blast touring the country, ya know? No wife or kids to worry about at home, either, a big plus if you're in the transportation industry. Now, I don't think I'd want to go trucking, but things were different in the '90s, lol. Honestly, I'm glad I went when I did and saw the country before these dirty globalist swine ruined it...

 

[Mel]

Magus, little Zorlac is coming along for the ride, here he is now saying, "Dude, where's the chronic? And a lighter? And water for the bong?"

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Note myriad hard water spots on glass bong, I normally use purified water but I rinse the thing with tap water, lol. Here are 'The Three Pendejos'---er, I mean 'The Three Amigos' looking for water in the kitchen sink!

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And here's the new Dunlop D606 knobby tire on my front wheel, plus some shots of the bike after I changed the oil and messed around with the rubberized (waterproof) Sedici saddlebags... house brand for Cycle Gear, I guess, and pocket saddlebags to boot, but all I want is to carry extra clothes on one side and rig out the other side as a picnic lunch & beer cooler, lol. I'll probably line the bottom of one saddlebag with a towel, use some of those freezer packs to line the bottom and sides, put my beer & lunch in there, and top it off with more freezer packs and maybe some actual ice. I'm not done yet with mounting the saddlebags, I want that one strap to go under the seat cover, which I'll do tomorrow morning, it just got too hot and the bugs were going off, so I said to heck with it. I tried to find a seat latch for this bike, but maybe it's one of those bikes that doesn't have a seat latch... nothing about it in the manual, but I'll check again later and see if I can't find a seat latch. Old school bikes had seat latches so you could flip the seat up and store stuff underneath, but the guy who had the bike before me was shorter and he modified the seat to lower it even further, so who knows? Who cares? I'll ride it as is if necessary, the bike loved the oil change and it's ready to hit the trail, lol. Now I've showered up (again) and I'm drinking beer in the A/C, lol. Cheers!!!

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Edit: For those familiar with the KLR 650, this one has been modified to lighten it up by 30 pounds or so, the work was done by the previous owner... you can see where he chopped the original fairing way down, leaving just enough to be useful, and swapped the original metal tank for this plastic desert thumper model. It looks funny, and possibly heavy, but it's actually super-light and it holds something like 6.6 gallons of fuel, lol. So I'm ready to ride some trails up there by Cloudcroft, I'll just top off the tank each time on my way home. One reason why I bought this big ol' tank for riding when I was originally looking for a 400-450cc bike, this one has the power to pull the steep grade to Cloudcroft, and it can still serve for trail riding, though it's heavier than I'd like at 400 pounds or so. Meh, ya can't sling it around like so much hash, the way you'd ride a 125cc or 250cc bike, but it's still fun as long as you watch the deep sand, ruts in the same direction you're traveling, and tricky trail sections where one has to stand on the pegs. As one friend likes to say, it is what it is, and the previous owner used to call it 'The Big Ugly'---LOL.

The cat reminds me of one I had in high school. I miss that cat.

Nice bike.

 

[Mel]

Went to work.
Came home.
Worked on my crochet, although I'm not exactly sure what I'm crocheting. When I start on my sister's project, then we're making an afghan. Right now I'm relearning crochet. I did it a little in 3rd grade but then life happened.

 

[Magus]

Woke up bouncing off the walls again, in a good way for once. no idea why, only slept like a cat. had a lot of crazy dreams like I do when I miss my daily dose, took a bunch of notes, it'll be a book as soon as I finish the story I'm on.

 

[Wingnut]

I'm dealing with 'ninja kittens' this morning... they strike when least expected, flying out from hidden places to attack either leg (or house slipper). We had some good rain last night, so no watering this morning, and no messing with the birdbaths, they're full up and the water is clean. The air is fresh and cool this morning, so I have several windows open and I just finished a nice cup of hot chocolate... haven't had that in a while. Dunno exactly what I'll do today: the trails in the mountains will be too muddy after the rains, and I don't want my bike to get that dirty, so riding is out.

Might make a town run, might even go bowling, I've been meaning to do that ever since I arrived in Alamogordo. I need new quail blocks for the birds, or at least a 40-lb. bag of seed, the last bag is history. And there's always the vacuuming which I never bothered doing yesterday, lol. Meh, it'll get done sooner or later, there's no supervisor breathing down my neck... here at the ol' hacienda, I'm the Big Boss! (Sorry, Pearl! Lol.) Nobody tells me what to do here, I just have to deal with unruly ninja kittens and freaked-out adult cats... plenty o' good food & beer in the fridge for later, no worries there!

P.S. I'm counting down the days till our Otero County Fair & Rodeo here in Alamogordo, that's something I definitely will not miss, I'm looking forward to the action in our local arena! Should be a good time! Not this coming weekend, but the following weekend, and only a short drive to the fairgrounds & arena in town. Gotta love rodeo action! Like Snappy1 said, it's the last real sport! [With the exception of extreme sports like BMX, MX, skateboarding, rock climbing, close-proximity wingsuit flight, etc.] No whiny little overpaid pro crybaby "athletes" kneeling during the national anthem!!! And good riddance!!!

 

[Amish Heart]

Morning chores and then filled a cart at Aldi. Still have things to put away. Our son is coming in this afternoon with the "granddog", Bodhi. He's going to go nuts smelling everything on the farm.

 

[Wingnut]

Well, it was a "work day" after all... I took the kittens outside so they could have a training/bonding play session with Crackhead, and while I was out there I experimentally pulled one of the larger weeds in the yard. After the steady ground-soaking rain last night, the thing easily pulled right out, and I realized that this was a golden opportunity in my ongoing war on weeds. So I quickly donned work clothes & welding gloves and proceeded to pull a week's worth of weeds in one brutal nonstop 3-hour weed-pulling session. I cleared the entire fence line, inside & out, then cleared huge swaths of land in my yard... okay, it's only a half-acre lot, so maybe not "huge" swaths, but much of what needed to be done. I now have multiple stacks of weeds round my yard, some stacks as large as Volkswagens, lol.

Now I've showered and I'm beat, but I'm very happy with the progress made this morning, not only in the war on weeds, but also with the ongoing cat introductions. When Crackhead saw those kittens chasing each other around the yard, he wanted to join in the fun, but he still has some bullying tendencies toward the kittens, jealous cat that he is... so I've been schooling him and giving him an edumacation, lol. These cat introductions have been particularly difficult, but I'm not giving up on 'em, as I've already bonded with the three kittens... no way I return 'em to the shelter when they gather round me every night on the mattress, each kitty purring away like a house on fire, lol. But I've also been showing that pesky Crackhead as much love as possible, so he doesn't feel left out, the knucklehaid!

Boy, my Infantry feet are tired again, this has been a recurring theme lately, lol... but I'm getting work done here that needs to be done, and next season should go easier since I'm NOT gonna water the weeds! That was a big mistake, and I'm now paying the price, but meh, live and learn. I gotta tell y'all, when you reach your point of exhaustion in weed-pulling and ya call it a day and come inside for refreshment, that cold sweet tea sure hits the spot! Oh, man, I guzzled so much of that stuff, followed by guzzling as much water as possible before diving into the shower... gotta stay hydrated with these brutal weeding sessions. Once I relax for a bit, I'll crack a cold beer... right now, I'm giving my feet a "carpet massage" and it feels really good, lol. This carpet is deluxe & the pad underneath is the best that money can buy, lol.

Anyway, I won't be going bowling today after all... in fact, I won't even bother going to town, lol. My feet are tired and my old dirt biking knee injury is aching a bit, so my "bowling style" would probably suffer, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! As if---AS IF---I have any "style" when it comes to bowling. I can hurl the ball well enough, and sometimes I put a little mojo into the roll, which results in a strike, but by no stretch of the imagination am I the world's best bowler. I think my highest score ever was something like 163, lol... but I still have fun playing that goofy game, or sport, or whatever it is! One time, I wasn't having much luck during a game, so I did a "granny roll" from the line and scored a strike, lol. Maybe I should do "granny rolls" every time, aye? But I like hurling the ball too, with a little spin on it to see if I can knock down all the pins.

Well, guess I should mosey along and see what else is cooking here on H&CL... y'all hang loose!!! Cheers!!!

 

[Pearl]

Had a short work day! Got two loads of laundry done before I left. Got a bunch of little things done when I got home! Emptied the dishwasher (only use it every so often just to run it), trimmed Bear's nails, vacuumed, etc.! Taking a short nap and hitting the pool for a bit!! Need to get tomorrow's cleaning supplies ready, busy day! Was glad for a little break today!!

 

[zannej]

One of my cats might have a UTI or bladder infection or something. He supersoaked me this morning so now I have to do laundry. I'm procrastinating. I also have to go to the store to get meat and stuff to cook tonight.
I also need to bring some more cases of water in from the truck. Brother was supposed to do it, but of course he didn't. Par for the course.
Hinge for my toilet seat shipped. ETA friday which means I probably won't get it until Saturday bc post office employees don't usually process it the same day they get it.

 

[Peanut]

Went out for lunch, did a little plant hunting on the way back. I saw cardinal flower, locally its rare. Stopped at a neighbors, caught up on farm news, happenings on his side of the river.

Afterwards I cleaned up the last of the limbs from the big pine I had cut in the lower pasture. Still have the ones by the chicken pen to clean up.

While I was out I dropped the first tree with my new saw. A tricky Princess tree, broken halfway up and hollow. Getting it to fall over was easy. The hard part was getting it to fall the last 8ft without dropping on myself. 2 big limbs held it up, cut either one and the other would shove the tree towards you about 5ft. I used the tractor to push against it so I could cut one limb with out the tree falling.

I like the new saw, it cut great. It’s stubborn about starting cold though.

 

[LadyLocust]

@Amish Heart pull apart cinnamon bread - we always called that Monkey Bread - Oh Yum!
I've been going full force. I think I've done more in the past 2 days at work than I did all last week. I'm trying to get Hubby's moccasins finished by tomorrow. Hubby didn't get an elk, but he saw some and he had a buck stand broadside at 20-30 yds. for a couple minutes. He doesn't have a buck tag.
I did find a few rooms in our house and did a mountain's worth of laundry. Finally picked the first 2 beans from the new greenbean patch. Our tomatoes are just coming on.
We had a beautiful thunder, lightening, and rain storm move through last night. It was wonderful. We've been socked in with brown air/smoke. Today, our air is so much cleaner! It's so nice to breathe.
Okay, it's taken me 2 hours to get this much typed (I'm at work) so will sign off.

 

[Neb]

The Princess suggested I prepare the target for the trees growing in the backyard nursery that will get transplanted come December. So another day on The Ridge but up in the orchard. A few pumpkins are starting to form and spotted one nice flower open.

I tended to every fruit tree clearing vines and removing competition for sun water and nutrients. Of particular interest was identifying which trees would need to be replaced this winter. I mark dead trees with yellow caution tape since it is hard to ID a dead tree in December. I am pleased to announce that all of the fruit trees are alive. Thank God for that!

A good bit of the day amounted to cutting through growth like this for a path to each tree.

Like this

And this

I was surprised to find a Rose of Sharron in flower.

I had planted them a few years ago as a hedge around the orchard. Trees and hedges don't happen fast so I have to be patient.

Tomorrow The Princess is off work so I can't be sure what I will be doing. Maybe marking locations for Pawpaw, elderberry, Persimmons, service berries and chestnuts.

Ben

 

[Mel]

Picked peppers and a tomato.
Got my Canon EOS Rebel t100 out. Took some pictures of some fall bloomers for the Master Gardener Calendar contest here. Y'all let me know what Y'all think.
Got Old Blue out and went fishing with my mom and Adrian. Old Blue is my favorite open reel catfish combo. I didn't catch anything but Adrian sure had fun.

 

[zannej]

I'm not big on flowers but those are beautiful!

I putzed around, got water out of the truck, cooked for mom, made myself some pork chops and put my laundry in the wash on deep clean sanitize for 2 hours. Now its in the dryer (after I cleaned the lint filter because my brother didn't bother after he did his laundry). I do a timed dry on low heat (so it won't melt anything) and I usually have to run it twice to actually dry properly. Some of the stuff was already close to being dry so hopefully it will be dry and I can get at least some of my bedding back in here. I need to get more dryer sheets though.

 

[rusty]

Got my 2nd of 5 iron infusions.
I had to quit playing my guitar several years ago because of arthritis. Probably should give it to one of the 12 grandkids or 3 great grandkids.

 

[Magus]

Tendinitis… can’t believe I gave myself tendinitis in my right elbow. Now I have to stop playing music for a few days. There are 4 bluegrass festivals next month. I hope to attend 2 of them. I intended to show up ready to play a 50minute set. I know a lot of bluegrass folks, might be asked to play a set with someone. Even so there’ll be hours of picking off stage. A bluegrass festival is a marathon for pickers. You know it was a good weekend when your hands are sore, fingers are in pain and your strings are dead.

Until a month ago I’d hadn’t really played in 6yrs. Get ready in 6 weeks? I could have done it but it takes a lot of work, playing 3hrs a day. Now my elbow tendons are inflamed from playing. Getting old bites!!!! I started taking Solomon’s Seal last night but I still have to rest it so it can heal. Did I mention getting old bites?

More chainsaw work this afternoon. I got the big pine out of the lower pasture. It was hot, soaked my shirt. More trees to move tomorrow.

I got a cure but you won't like it.
Pulp 4 fat garlic cloves and add hot water and poppy seeds.
put the pulp between two clean cloths and hold it over the affected area
as hot as you can stand it for two hours before bedtime.

 

[Mel]

I'm not big on flowers but those are beautiful!

I putzed around, got water out of the truck, cooked for mom, made myself some pork chops and put my laundry in the wash on deep clean sanitize for 2 hours. Now its in the dryer (after I cleaned the lint filter because my brother didn't bother after he did his laundry). I do a timed dry on low heat (so it won't melt anything) and I usually have to run it twice to actually dry properly. Some of the stuff was already close to being dry so hopefully it will be dry and I can get at least some of my bedding back in here. I need to get more dryer sheets though.

Thank you

 

[Peanut]

I got a cure but you won't like it.
Pulp 4 fat garlic cloves and add hot water and poppy seeds.

Thanks, but your probably right. I'll stay with Solomon's seal, fresh root is even tasty, powerful medicine... and not nearly as smelly.

(darn, now i'm craving a calzone...)

 

[Magus]

if you have DMSO, put 1/4 tablespoon of the poppy seeds in it and daub it over the offended area. it may make you drowsy after a few minutes, so stop.
I hear WD 40 works too, but I never have tried it.

 

[sonya123]

So I am annoyed very much The tiller we bought cannot be put together because 2 parts are not long enough. Husband even looked it up online and the part doesn't even look right at all. That's what we get buying cheap crap made in China most likely. Well, not cheap, but cheaper than a John Deere tiller or something....
Went back to RK with the wrong parts to explain and see if they can maybe get the correct ones from the company but of course no. We just have to return the whole thing. So we need to bother the neighbor again to see if he can load it back up on the trailer and drive 2 hours to return it. And we still have no tiller. This was the only one like it they had btw.
I really don't know what to do now Our gardens are just too large to till with the little hand tiller we got. At the very least we have to get a large hand one. Or spend $3000 on a different one which I really don't want to do. They are bigger than we need also. I can't find a used one anywhere either, been looking literally for 5 years for a cheap used one. The used ones cost as much as the new ones.

Ok rant over

We did get a new little goat buck ( to not have too much inbreeding in our herd) . He looks just like ours!! ( a mix of Kiko, Boer and Spanish goat) . Tried driving a "short cut" home ( they never are!!!!_) and it took an extra hour hahaha, never going down that road again for sure

Ok one more complaint and then I shut up for now: why is it so few actual farmers sell at the farmers market? Why are so many farmers markets turning into flea markets where people sell anything but stuff produced on a farm? It's sad really. We are now down to 3 actual farmers at ours. Then there are a few that have regular jobs and at least grow things they sell on the side. The rest has nothing to do with food or farming.

 

[Wingnut]

Household chores, town run, and prepping for my trail ride tomorrow! Might bake pot brownies this afternoon or evening... reliving my youth! Mostly psyching up for the big ride manana, that's gonna be heller fun! Might even visit Silver Lake after riding the Rim Trail! I'll have to throw my oversized beach towel into one of the saddlebags, along with some board shorts, a change of socks and other clothing... this ride will be like a mini vacation for me! Been looking forward to it for quite some time! Would've done it earlier but the recalled tire issue stopped me... but not anymore! Dunlop saves the day! Lol.

 

[Magus]

thinking about stuff,maybe food?

 

[snappy1]

Yesterday, took DH to doc appt. in the morning after walking.
Had a business meeting at church last night.

Walked this morning and walked dogs.
Set up DH's pills for the month.
Next will be canning figs this afternoon.
Bible study this evening.