YET *EVEN* MORE things that made you happy today!

[The Bullet]

Nest almost complete.
Final bits are brought in.

Snapshot from today:

[Synistor 303]

Nest almost complete.
Final bits are brought in.

Snapshot from today:

I saw the white stuff in the nest box last night (after 9pm here is daylight over there) and I was going to ask; is it hair? And where would the bird get it from?

[Banfili]

I would like a folly in my back yard. I have a mound - dead, cut down pine tree & associated dirt from having it ripped out - but not something I can stand or sit on to keep watch! I suppose if I leave it 50 years I might be able to do something with it as is, but I don't fancy my chances of still being here in 50 years - I would need to live to 120!

Why not turn it into a stumpery?

For the uninitiated, a stumpery is the technical term for a fern/moss garden horticultural/arboreal feature based around a collection of tree/shrub stumps intended to create an artificial forest clearing.

It doesn't have one stump - it's a pine tree the previous owners let run mad, with 150 or so 2cm (abt 1") branches, totally useless for anything except salvaging a few hiking sticks from the mess!

I think it has bunnies using it as a refuge, and there's a wombat around who investigates my front yard at night. It leaves wombat poo on the path near the bins!

[Banfili]

Nest almost complete.
Final bits are brought in.

Snapshot from today:

I saw the white stuff in the nest box last night (after 9pm here is daylight over there) and I was going to ask; is it hair? And where would the bird get it from?

Rabbit or some other bits of fur. Creature runs through a fence or bush and a bit of fur might get brushed out on briars or branches of trees or bushes. I find little bits of rabbit fur occasionally on blackberry bushes. Then bird spots it & thinks "Ah, just what I need for my nest!"

[The Bullet]

We live in a very small village with several lakes and woods around.
So there are many points where the odd bit of lost fur can be found.

When cleaning the box last year I found some fur that had hairs of the same colour pattern as our cat.

[Xenos]

A few things: My 3D printer is up and running absolutely swimmingly. I've printed off several minis for D&D, that's been brilliant.

I have a new set of studio cans (Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, 250 Ohms) that I use for Discors/Zoom/whatever calls, music, mixing/mastering, and general fuckery. Good They're amazing. Love 'em.

Tuesday, a 2007 MiM Fender Telecaster (Midnight Wine) will be here. Possibly Monday or Wednesday, a TAMA Imperialstar IE62C Drum Set (complete, with Meinl Cymbals and Promark FireGrain 5A sticks, black oak, for them keeping score) should be here as well. This officially means I've got a lovely acoustic drum kit to supplement my electronic drum pads.

I'm pretty stoked about these things.

Oh, and I have a Valve VR headset headed my way--no idea when it gets here. Since I'm pretty broken, my doc suggested using VR for exercise/yoga/mindfulness and whatnot. I figured why not?

I also bought my wife a new laptop, my mate who's laptop just kicked it a new laptop, my best mate a VR headset, and I'm ordering my kid a new swingset come Monday, as well as whatever they need for their bowling league. They're going pro (already have two sponsors). Car's paid off, house is paid up, and I've got money in savings. For the first time in a long time, I can do nice things for the people around me who's stuck by me through all this... well, **hell** that my life has been these past few years.

And that's a good feeling.

[Synistor 303]

We live in a very small village with several lakes and woods around.
So there are many points where the odd bit of lost fur can be found.

When cleaning the box last year I found some fur that had hairs of the same colour pattern as our cat.

Once saw a little bird pulling fur off a large golden retriever dog! (From the blunt end, not the sharp end!) Quite funny - the dog was too lazy to be really bothered by it, he just sat up a few times looking cranky then lay back down.

[Xenos]

I have an RTX 3000 series graphics card on the way here, that I paid below sticker for, and I didn't have to perform anything illegal to obtain. It'll be here Friday.

I also now own every D&D *official* 5e sourcebook and module (at least the digital versions, because I mostly use VTTs).

That is all.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming, already in progress.

[Sir Henry]

After three and a half years of fighting to get away from here (where we live, not BG), we have sold our part of this house and have had an offer on another house accepted. Found out late last night and the relief is so strong that neither I nor my wife have been able to do much of anything today but let it sink in. A whole new house to play with! Steel city (no, not Stalingrad!), here we come!

[J. Wilhelm]

Snip
 A whole new house to play with! Steel city (no, not Stalingrad!), here we come!

I was going to say, you're not talking about Pittsburgh, either... 

[Lazaras]

I got the spare free hub I had rattling around dismantled. The gears are off the central spindle. this puts me in a... FUN position where I can easily and cheaply (read for free) convert my bike into a single speed with any gearing from that spindle rather than 'whatever the deraileur would reach.' It's a bodge and a half, but to be blunt? This lets me try the whole single speed thing without a lot of flaffing about. Given I'm waiting on a new shifter because my old cable snapped? Good as time as any. Getting that locking ring off was ANNOYING though.

This is like... a bodge and a half job, but fortunately totally reverseable.

So like.... wish me luck?

[Sorontar]

... the relief is so strong that neither I nor my wife have been able to do much of anything today but let it sink in. A whole new house to play with! Steel city (no, not Stalingrad!), here we come!

Good luck. I hope your new place ends up being as wonderful as you hope. We moved from a place that was falling down to one that wasn't. Of course, various other issues arose but this house is now giving us much more joy than the old one.

Sorontar

[Hez]

I got the spare free hub I had rattling around dismantled. The gears are off the central spindle. this puts me in a... FUN position where I can easily and cheaply (read for free) convert my bike into a single speed with any gearing from that spindle rather than 'whatever the deraileur would reach.' It's a bodge and a half, but to be blunt? This lets me try the whole single speed thing without a lot of flaffing about. Given I'm waiting on a new shifter because my old cable snapped? Good as time as any. Getting that locking ring off was ANNOYING though.

This is like... a bodge and a half job, but fortunately totally reverseable.

So like.... wish me luck?

No idea what that will look like but.... Good luck and happy bodging.

[Lazaras]

Bodge by all appearances successful. Few laps done and the chain has stayed in place. Gone with a 20 tooth rear cog and there's room in the dropouts in case i go with something smaller down the road.

Postscript: So... chain on my bike kept slipping.

I decided to dip into that southern redneck tradition of bodging a solution by making a chain guide out of zip ties. Put one ziptie through a cable guide that is now being unused to attach a second ziptie to and it's tightened to the point where it's not giving the chain a lot of wiggle room but enough to let the chain move.

Adds a bit of noise, but frankly considering it held up to me going through an intentionally rutted field with only some slips rather than complete falls, and it righting itself?

'well, works better than it has any right t

[J. Wilhelm]

1. I filed my taxes in less than an hour (!)
2. I filed using my cellphone and only 1 sheet of my yearly tax income statement (!!)
3. I got a very substantial tax return this year (!!!)
4. I'm getting indications that my workplace is about to get sold, I may need a new job soon, and this tax return comes in at the right time.

My desktop computer has been having issues with the motherboard. Lots of old capacitors means that USB data interfaces are compromised. I couldn't even connect to WiFi, let alone transfer from USB storage devices, so I had to use my phone instead.  I'm impressed!

The tax return is very substantial, but not unexpected. I never stopped working during the pandemic and I noticed that my deductions were very high last year. I need to see why my deductions were so high (almost 17% of gross wages)

[Xenos]

I have the matching set of the 6- and 12-string Ibanez EW20 (the EW2012ASE-NT and the EW20ASE-NT) guitars. Quilted ash, gloss finish, beautiful cutaway acoustic electrics. I'll try and post pictures sometime this week.

I have a Tama Imperialstar IE62C 6-piece acoustic drum kit in black oak wrap, with a set of Meinl Cymbals (14" hi-hats, 16" crash, and 20" ride (I myself prefer a 24"-26" ride), and ProMark FireGrain rebound sticks in 5A.

I ordered a brand new washer and dryer, Samsung, front loader, with wi-fi to let me know when they're done with the cycle!

My new rig is stupid fast. I don't even know what to say about all that, other than "YAY RTX. YAY RYZEN. YAY 32GB RAM."

3D printing is... Well, it's a thing. A very frustrating thing. But I'm slowly dialing in my printer.

[Banfili]

Xenos sounds like a very happy camper, doesn't he!! 
Nice!

[Xenos]

Xenos sounds like a very happy camper, doesn't he!! 
Nice!

I'm still going to complain about it! I mean, I'd not be me otherwise, the grumpy, irritable malcontent you've all come to love (to hate).

Have the 3D printer fully dialed in, and the first run of successful prints are off. A table, some chairs, a bar, you know, stuff for building the "You find yourself in a tavern" for D&D Tavern. It's probably where I've been around since home 3D printing was first a thing, but the detail is just absurd. GREAT SUCCESS! /Borat

Otherwise, retirement is retirement. I'm... retired? It's rather... odd. I find myself with time, but never enough of it. Ah well. I'll get it sorted.

Back to printing and sanding I go!

[The Bullet]

Eleven Eggs in the box!!

see the webcam.

[rovingjack]

I've been thinking about several of the things I always sorta just been able to do, and how some people have said they are unusual talents, and how I have never really done anything to develop them or done anything with them.

So tonight I went to the first group social gathering I've been to (that isn't a family holiday small gathering), talked with some people about quirky art, and stopped in the Karaoke room to listen and when nobody was going to the mic I stepped in and did not sing any song or anything, just took a second to try out an actual sound system to hear both an over tone rhythm, and a sustained Kagyraa note. people had a bit of fun calling me a didgeridoo.

Think I might work on it a little bit and see what I can do with it.

[Synistor 303]

Eleven Eggs in the box!!

see the webcam.

That bird certainly knows how to lay eggs! Must have been laying a couple a day or more - what a champion!

[MWBailey]

This is actually from Tuesday, but I got a good report from my Doc; Seems my A1c is finally going down again! (it had gone up considerably while we were batching it when Dad was in the Hospital and right after he came home. I'm kind of a stress eater, as some would have the term, so...

Anyway, now I'm back on the road to less weight and less sugar.

We Hope...

[The Bullet]

The first few have hatched!

[SeVeNeVeS]

As a previous nay sayer against technology, I just do not get the obsession........

So, I eat my words. I got spotify on my PC added it to my phone and bought some headphones.......

My life has changed for the better me thinks!!

Samsung galaxy and PHILIPS HEADPHONES BASS+ SHL3075 WIRED ON-EAR FOLDABLE W/ MIC.....

Tuck the phone in my pocket and listen to anything in great quality any where in the house and garden via wifi......... Maybe my big f658 off stereo is no longer needed...... NA, got to have that punch in the chest and piss of the neighbours now and then.

I am a happy bunny.......... Just might steam them up a bit.  

I shall have music where ever I walk  

The Luddite has turned.  

I hark back to the 70's when my dad bought the first stereo and we were sat on the living room floor with headphones listening to BBC sound effect albums and then Jean-Michel Jarre

Edit... phone default Atmos on, graphic to jazz...... these headphones are, dare I say it comparable to my mission speakers plus graphic set to 10, sounds incredable, I am more than impressed!

If you listen to music via your phone you gotta get these IMHO

[rovingjack]

I was not in the mood to do anything today. so I made a batch of sauce for orange chicken from scratch which I had over a shrimp stirfry, debated about taking an online music class, still didn't want to do anything, and made a big old batch of pancakes, half of which are mango, with express intent for being the platform on which I put some chili I just made and topped with hand shredded cheddar and pepperjack cheese.

so I made myself do things that were fun in the kitchen, despite not wanting to do anything with nearly all my being.