USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Oddball]

Minnesota high school hockey tournament was a but of a downer this year....Now crowd in the arena because of covid panic porn.

But at least we still have the All-hair team to maintain a measure of normalcy....

Aaaaaaaaay! For your home teams, Oddball.

Haven't been able to attend for the fourth year now....Miss my superfan buddies that I've become accustomed to seeing and chatting with at the games.

I vow to make certain I go to the tourney next spring.

 

[Foxfyre]

Getting to know folks in a setting like the Coffee Shop or elsewhere on line is not the same as meeting in person. But I definitely feel like I get to know on line friends. And I do count you all as friends.

 

[Oddball]

Man, I've really missed attending this event...

 

[Foxfyre]

Minnesota high school hockey tournament was a but of a downer this year....Now crowd in the arena because of covid panic porn.

But at least we still have the All-hair team to maintain a measure of normalcy....

Aaaaaaaaay! For your home teams, Oddball.

Haven't been able to attend for the fourth year now....Miss my superfan buddies that I've become accustomed to seeing and chatting with at the games.

I vow to make certain I go to the tourney next spring.

Sports without fans is like a hotdog without a bun & mustard or I bet we could come up with a lot of metaphors. Enjoyed the video though.

 

[Oddball]

Minnesota high school hockey tournament was a but of a downer this year....Now crowd in the arena because of covid panic porn.

But at least we still have the All-hair team to maintain a measure of normalcy....

Aaaaaaaaay! For your home teams, Oddball.

Haven't been able to attend for the fourth year now....Miss my superfan buddies that I've become accustomed to seeing and chatting with at the games.

I vow to make certain I go to the tourney next spring.

Sports without fans is like a hotdog without a bun & mustard or I bet we could come up with a lot of metaphors. Enjoyed the video though.

Great as the video is, it's nothing like being there....It's It's unlike any other sports event I've ever attended.

Howard Cosell called the tourney "the greatest amateur sports spectacle in America"....And he was 100% correct.

 

[SFC Ollie]

Getting to know folks in a setting like the Coffee Shop or elsewhere on line is not the same as meeting in person. But I definitely feel like I get to know on line friends. And I do count you all as friends.

For years.....

 

[Oddball]

Flew my PG today for the first time in two years.

Was a a little hesitant and rusty as I got the canopy overhead,....But was able to forward kite for the 100 yards to the edge of the hill, so I just hucked it and flew off.

So nice...So smooth....So great to get back in the air.

 

[Foxfyre]

Flew my PG today for the first time in two years.

Was a a little hesitant and rusty as I got the canopy overhead,....But was able to forward kite for the 100 yards to the edge of the hill, so I just hucked it and flew off.

So nice...So smooth....So great to get back in the air.

It must feel amazing. I used to spend hours on the top of Sandia Crest, our Albuquerque mountain, watching the paragliders launch and play in the thermal currents until they headed out into the city. I'm too old now to learn/risk it, but when I was younger, if I had had the opportunity. . .I probably would have opted to be over water though.

 

[Oddball]

Flew my PG today for the first time in two years.

Was a a little hesitant and rusty as I got the canopy overhead,....But was able to forward kite for the 100 yards to the edge of the hill, so I just hucked it and flew off.

So nice...So smooth....So great to get back in the air.

It must feel amazing. I used to spend hours on the top of Sandia Crest, our Albuquerque mountain, watching the paragliders launch and play in the thermal currents until they headed out into the city. I'm too old now to learn/risk it, but when I was younger, if I had had the opportunity. . .I probably would have opted to be over water though.

Never too late to get a tandem with a competent experienced instructor.

 

[gallantwarrior]

So how the hell has everyone been?

Hey, 007! How have you been? Long time, no see.

Been having a couple minor issues but, I was trying to self medicate and avoid the covid creepy crud, so I started taking extra vitamin D and C. Well, come to find out, too much vitamin D can be detrimental. It can cause irritability, stomach pain, nausea and constipation, all of which I experienced. So I laid off the D and started to feel better within days. I also had to lay off the coffee. I grind my own beans and love the stuff, but alas, I think it's the cause of the anxiety I was having once and awhile. I haven't had any coffee for awhile and no anxiety. So right now I'm back on my gym, lovin' life and feelin' great.

Sometimes, trial and error help define what works best for each of us. I am doing loads better since I sent the partner packing and had my hip surgery. Work is actually a lot more fun now. And, I lost enough to buy myself a new pair of work pants for my birthday, I'm down from a 38 to a 34 sized pant. Even though we now have a Duluth Trading Company outlet here, I had to order them. I'm pretty jazzed about losing that much weight and many inches.

Well hot damn brother, that's awesome. In the past 15 years I've been on a slow weight gain. When I came back to Wisconsin from Nevada I was about 195 lbs and wore 36" waist pants. Now I'm around 213 and wearing a 38". Last year I got up to 221 lbs and was so disgusted I dieted down to 202. I was back in my 36" waist jeans and loving it. Planned on keep going back down under 200 but, couldn't keep up the dedication. Now I'm back up to around 213, but I've been hitting the gym pretty hard for a good year and half now and have packed on some muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. Still got too much around the middle but, IDK... I eat very healthy food, I work out daily, so I'd say regardless of few extra pounds, I'm pretty dang healthy. Nurse took my blood pressure the other day at the clinic and it was 124/78. Can't beat that. Summer is almost here though and I always lose weight because I'm outside busting it. I get the tractor on the 9th and I have two or three projects lined up waiting for it, and even with the tractor I'll be humpin' it. I love it though. Working up a sweat where it's just pouring off you makes me feel great. Have to remember to take my wallet out though, otherwise that gets soaked.

I've been trying to lose weight for years now. But when it looked like the 38's were going to have to become 40's I started a low carb lifestyle. I can still have such things a chips and bread as a treat but they are no longer staples. Plus, I stopped drinking beer a week before my hip surgery and haven't started drinking is again since. A "no beer" diet, I guess. I miss my beer but the changes are significant. I went from around 190 and am now down to about 150, and is shows. No more blood pressure issues and I feel so much better. I'm not doing so badly for my age, either. I just wish so many of our friends here in the CS could be doing better, as well. Cheers up!

How 'bout that... I quit drinking too. I had been slowing down quit a bit since new years before last, and on my birthday in July I only had a couple beers, and that was it. I just quit drinking. No fan fare, no big commitment stuff, just quit. Quit the occasional smoking too, and quit the oxycodone. What I enjoy is not feeling like I'm going to die with a horrible hangover and not wasting 2 or 3 days of my life laying around recovering. 60 somethings shouldn't be partying it up like they're 25. I've had three good friends, including my neighbor, all very close in age to me, die just recently within the last year. Kind of a wake up call. Knock off the funny business while I still have a semblance of good health. I take no daily medicines at all, and I want to keep it that way for as long as I possibly can, and since I live alone, that's part of the reason I have the gym. I have to be able to look after myself, so staying fit is very important to me.

Haven't really missed having a cold one. I do enjoy beer but not to the point of craving it. Haven't looked back yet and am looking forward to a summer of work with water from the well as my favorite beverage.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Well...i havent done a pencil drawing in over 40 years. This was supposed to be a rough sketch, but Unexpected Journey Hobbit movie came on and i just kept sketching. I finished when the movie ended so i told myself that it took that long to draw, oh HAYELL no would i attempt to paint all those wrinkles. Nope nope triple nope.
However, i am pleased with the results and will frame/hang it cuz its the last pencil drawing. Killed me fingers/wrist and gave me a headache to boot. Nam vet here printed it out for me after scanning the smaller original so its about 13x18 frame i found.
Anyway...

Wonderful, Gracie! I'm thinking of taking up my pencils and paints again but am still strapped for time.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Hey gallantwarrior ... Aloha my cyber phriend... Just read a blurb online and immediately thought of you... Not knowing your tree cover situation don't know if something like this would even be worth while...

How good is Starlink satellite internet from SpaceX? I tried it out (msn.com)

Aloha, Ridgerunner!! I'll have to check this out. I have lots of trees but have been clearing around my house and barn in order to keep wildfires at bay should my place be threatened. Thanks!

 

[gallantwarrior]

View attachment 474698

Kittens and baby ducks have to be the cutest critters babies of all.

Yesterday, bright and early I went to the chicken pen where 3 small adult ducks live in peace among the big black roosters and black, brown, and white hens. I noticed the 4 inch by 30 inch wide child's dollar store wading pool had a hole in it' so I hopped in the truck, went to Tractor Supply and found a super sturdy, small field stock watering trough that now serves as their pond and hopefully will last them a lifetime on account of its cost. It was a joy to see them swimming around in it an hour later after feeding and watering the chickens. Both yesterday and today the hens gave us 22 eggs both yesterday and today, which reminds me I need to wash, carton, and refrigerate before hitting the sack. The boys put the little pedal boat together, but I'm going to wait till tomorrow before I pedal around Freedom Lake behind the house but is west of the back forty ....okay 40 square yards....

I haven't seen the great white egrets this year but did see the blackest heronlike bird a few weeks back. Not sure what it was but for several years a mauve "blue heron" visited Freedom Lake's eastern shore.

It's so good to see everyone here at Foxfyre's masterpiece usmb coffee lounge. Time to wash some eggs. ♡♡♡

I suspect my hens and turkeys may be laying eggs under the house. Snow still covers everything else but there is enough daylight to prompt egg-laying. Things are melting but slowly and we are expecting another cold snap later this week.

 

[gallantwarrior]

View attachment 474698

Kittens and baby ducks have to be the cutest critters babies of all.

Yesterday, bright and early I went to the chicken pen where 3 small adult ducks live in peace among the big black roosters and black, brown, and white hens. I noticed the 4 inch by 30 inch wide child's dollar store wading pool had a hole in it' so I hopped in the truck, went to Tractor Supply and found a super sturdy, small field stock watering trough that now serves as their pond and hopefully will last them a lifetime on account of its cost. It was a joy to see them swimming around in it an hour later after feeding and watering the chickens. Both yesterday and today the hens gave us 22 eggs both yesterday and today, which reminds me I need to wash, carton, and refrigerate before hitting the sack. The boys put the little pedal boat together, but I'm going to wait till tomorrow before I pedal around Freedom Lake behind the house but is west of the back forty ....okay 40 square yards....

I haven't seen the great white egrets this year but did see the blackest heronlike bird a few weeks back. Not sure what it was but for several years a mauve "blue heron" visited Freedom Lake's eastern shore.

It's so good to see everyone here at Foxfyre's masterpiece usmb coffee lounge. Time to wash some eggs. ♡♡♡

We play 42 every Thursday with some folks who live in Corrales, a small village with rural flavor nestled between Albuquerque and Rio Rancho that form one big metroplex--sort of like Dallas/Fort worth but not nearly that big. Anyhow our friends have a couple of acres or more of land as do most folks in that area. For the last several years, a flock of sandhill cranes have taken up residence to winter in their backdoor neighbor's back yard. The neighbor makes sure they have food and water of course. It has been fun watching them all winter when it is our turn to go there. Yesterday though they were gone no doubt headed north somewhere to their summer nesting and hunting grounds.

Guess they'll be here shortly. We have lots of sandhills here and their passing in Spring and Fall makes a notable signal of the changing of seasons.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Anne has had chickens for years and gets so many, she passes them out to every neighbor on the block. Or used to, until prior to the fire. By then she only had 6 chickens. Anyway...she washed them and crated them but NEVER put them in the fridge. She said once you do that, then they have a time stamp in eating them. She kept hers in a dark dry corner of the kitchen on a shelf, all stacked neatly. So...just letting you know eggs don't need refrigeration once laid. Its only IF you put them in the fridge they have a due date.


I taught MrGs son how to swim when he was age 3. He was mighty scared of the water, but would sit on the edge of the pool, and put his feet on the first step that led to the 3 foot section. So, I got a roll of quarters and asked if he wanted one? Yes. So Put it on the first step. Easy to pick up. I said I had ALOT more. I put 2 on the second step. He balked. So I did a few laps to let him think about it. Finally, he pushed his arm in to where the water was at his shoulder. He grabbed them. I put a dollars worth on the third step. This one regarded face getting wet. He didn't balk that time, but asked HOW he could get it with is face having to go in so he could see where to pick them up. I said hold your breath and go get them. Finally, I talked him in to putting his face in the water and watching me take a huge breath, reach down, grab the coins and come back up. He decided if I could, he could. He did. I placed the rest of the coins at the bottom of the pool, near the hand bar. Told him to hold it, come does the steps til the water hit his chin. Hold breath, hold bar, look down, grab. To my amazement, he did immediately. Later that afternoon he was happily glued to the step bar, but playing in the water. Not long after, he was dog paddling. Then actually swimming. End of summer, he was a very good swimmer.

It's true that once refrigerated eggs have a time limit. If my hens' eggs are clean from the nest, I don't wash them until I am ready to use them. There is a natural coating that helps preserve them and they stay fresh for quite a while. I'm looking forward to fresh eggs.

 

[gallantwarrior]

To Gracie and 007:

I have a group of long-time friends who are more like family than friends. There are six of us - four women, two men. We are all single, for the first time. The last marriage in the group ended just before Christmas, and we're still getting our friend through that one.

Some of us have been hanging out together either online or in real life since 1999. We met through our mutual obsession/love of figure skating, but over the years we discovered other sporting interests, and formed really deep bonds of friendship. I am the oldest, and the only retiree in the group. The youngest members are late 30's.

Throughout the pandemic, we have functioned as a support network for one another, and what we've all been talking about lately is "feeling stuck". It's hard to make future plans when we have no idea what the new normal will really look like. There are things I should do, and need to do, but it's hard to get moving.

The lockdown and never ending plague, is becoming mentally hard on all of us. Last Spring, I thought I was acing lockdown, and my hair starting falling out. I had bald patches on the left side of my head. My hairdresser said it looked like it had been "faded". And she said it was from stress. So much for acing the lockdown, but it made me realize this is harder on all of us than we knew.

I was chatting about this with one of my friends, and he said that he was having similar feelings, and that's when the whole group started talking about the mental health effects of living alone during lockdown. While caring for my new cat has been a God-send of a distraction for me, not everyone has something to keep them going. Problems seem larger when you have nothing to do but stew about them all day long. I've learned that one.

Also getting outside. Thank heavens the nicer weather is here. There is an eagle nesting grounds just outside of town I may peddle out to visit. Living by the water out in the country is just amazing. I've seen lots of birds I've only ever seen pictures of and a few I had to google. Fresh air and sunshine are good for the soul. Also gardening, and digging in the dirt. Sunshine on your shoulders does indeed, make you happy.

There are still days when I feel like I'm just hanging on by my fingernails. My friends all say similar things. If we had health or money concerns to add to the stress, I don't know how I'd cope. I also feel like I really shouldn't be complaining, because I don't feel like I have "real" problems - like health or money.

It's just all a mess and I just want it gone. I'm opening up to you all to tell you you're not alone in how you're feeling. We're all feeling it, no matter how well or poorly our governments are dealing with things, no matter what our economic situations are, even those who are economically and health wise, getting through this, are finding it hard to do so.

I hope that these trials are soon ended. Best to you and your friends, Dragonlady.

 

[Dragonlady]

Flew my PG today for the first time in two years.

Was a a little hesitant and rusty as I got the canopy overhead,....But was able to forward kite for the 100 yards to the edge of the hill, so I just hucked it and flew off.

So nice...So smooth....So great to get back in the air.

It must feel amazing. I used to spend hours on the top of Sandia Crest, our Albuquerque mountain, watching the paragliders launch and play in the thermal currents until they headed out into the city. I'm too old now to learn/risk it, but when I was younger, if I had had the opportunity. . .I probably would have opted to be over water though.

Never too late to get a tandem with a competent experienced instructor.

Hips and knees, Oddball. We don't bounce like we used to. Old bones snap like dry twigs. But is sounds like fun. The closest you can get to flying.

I am hoping to go ballooning for my birthday, in May. I wanted to do it last year, but lockdown. I may not have any better luck this year, but there' still a chance.

 

[gallantwarrior]

View attachment 474698

Kittens and baby ducks have to be the cutest critters babies of all.

Yesterday, bright and early I went to the chicken pen where 3 small adult ducks live in peace among the big black roosters and black, brown, and white hens. I noticed the 4 inch by 30 inch wide child's dollar store wading pool had a hole in it' so I hopped in the truck, went to Tractor Supply and found a super sturdy, small field stock watering trough that now serves as their pond and hopefully will last them a lifetime on account of its cost. It was a joy to see them swimming around in it an hour later after feeding and watering the chickens. Both yesterday and today the hens gave us 22 eggs both yesterday and today, which reminds me I need to wash, carton, and refrigerate before hitting the sack. The boys put the little pedal boat together, but I'm going to wait till tomorrow before I pedal around Freedom Lake behind the house but is west of the back forty ....okay 40 square yards....

I haven't seen the great white egrets this year but did see the blackest heronlike bird a few weeks back. Not sure what it was but for several years a mauve "blue heron" visited Freedom Lake's eastern shore.

It's so good to see everyone here at Foxfyre's masterpiece usmb coffee lounge. Time to wash some eggs. ♡♡♡

Beautress: You shouldn't wash your eggs, until you go to use them. There is a natural coating to the egg to keep air and bacteria out, and washing removes that coating. They'll keep longer and better if you don't wash them until you either use them or sell them.

My parents kept chickens when I was a child. My oldest moved from Toronto to the country so she could keep chickens in her yard. She has 2 acres about 15 minutes outside of town, where she insulated a large garden shed and built a big chicken run in the backyard. She had both ducks and chickens.

She had a white runner duck named Dilbert. He reminded me of the crazy duck with the "excess of personality" in the movie "Babe". If the chickens escaped their run, and headed for the neighbour's garden, Dilbert was leading the flock. He was trouble with a capital T, and he acted all innocent when caught. Everyone in the family had Dilbert stories. My daughter called him a "jerk".

My husband found him dead in the coop one morning. Not a mark on him. Natural causes by all appearances. The whole family went into mourning over that jerk of a duck. He was an original.

Dragonlady, I fully agree about washing the eggs.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Getting to know folks in a setting like the Coffee Shop or elsewhere on line is not the same as meeting in person. But I definitely feel like I get to know on line friends. And I do count you all as friends.

We almost met a couple of years ago but I couldn't drive fast enough from Tahoe. Alas! The people I've met online and later face-to-face have been wonderful people. I consider y'all my friends here, though. I share much more with you folks than with others I have almost daily contact with. Luvs ya!

 

[gallantwarrior]

Flew my PG today for the first time in two years.

Was a a little hesitant and rusty as I got the canopy overhead,....But was able to forward kite for the 100 yards to the edge of the hill, so I just hucked it and flew off.

So nice...So smooth....So great to get back in the air.

I used to fly at Sand City across the bay from Monterey. I buddy of mine had one of the original Icarus models, built it in his garage. We flew that from a hillside down the coast. What a trip.