Here and Now...What's Happening?

[Harmony]

Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
Sometimes I just want to leave.
But I love you guys too much.
You mean a lot to me even if I'm the black sheep.
I have much to share.
Don't know any I'd rather do it with than you.
Much love.
See you around...

Your in our thougnts, sending good wishes your way

[meeradas]

Posted by Ernie Nemeth (here)
I love you guys too much

No sweat, Ernie can't leave "prematurely"... that's not on the table.

One day, we're all gonna leave "naturally" - and after that, it'll start becoming REALLY interesting.

So, for the time being, stay here. Can't hurt as much as "the world".

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=geOuYsxuYwk

[Bill Ryan]

A tiny thing here that may raise a smile. I've been spring cleaning my larder, which doubles as a long-term emergency food store. Here it is, in better days:



I discovered that in a corner, hidden behind and under a bunch of other stuff, were my two bags of emergency dried dog food. I'd never opened them, and I'd had them there for a couple of years.

They were both emptied out. Nothing left at all.

Now I know why I'd never been able to catch all my mice... they'd been happily feasting on 18 kg (40 lbs!) of dog food every day for 2 years.

[meeradas]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Now I know why I'd never been able to catch all my mice... they'd been happily feasting on 18 kg (40 lbs!) of dog food every day for 2 years.

3 yrs ago, we had rats in the cellar. One could tell by that smell...

There, I had stored some of my emergency water - 100 liters in 5 20-l-flexable water bags.
One of the water bags was sitting next to the washing machine, without further cover, accessible, so to say.

I went to another country for some time, and upon returning, experienced this:

One day, I found this one bag totally empty - but there was no water spilled anywhere (20 liters in a small basement compartment would have made a mess, I have clothing and instruments stored down there - nothing showed any signs of having been wet).

The rats had gnawed a handsome hole into the TOP of the water bag - and must have somehow been drinking the whole 5 gallons of it, without wasting a single drop!

Smart guys. My respect.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Now I know why I'd never been able to catch all my mice... they'd been happily feasting on 18 kg (40 lbs!) of dog food every day for 2 years.

Dogs can climb mountains and herd sheep ... but to catch mice ... you need a cat.

[Bruce G Charlton]

I was watching birds feeding from a container suspended a couple of feet below the middle of a twelve foot woven metal wire - like a clothes line; then a rat (body about eight inches long) tightrope walked along the clothes line, climbed down to the food container, and began feasting on the seeds.

I would not have been surprised if this was done by a squirrel, but I had no idea that a rat could accomplish such feats.

Presumably the person who rigged up the food container double-isolated by wires did not realize either, because the arrangement was almost certainly designed to prevent rats getting at the bird food.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by ThePythonicCow (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Now I know why I'd never been able to catch all my mice... they'd been happily feasting on 18 kg (40 lbs!) of dog food every day for 2 years.

Dogs can climb mountains and herd sheep ... but to catch mice ... you need a cat.

My dog Mara, who has a very large and perfectly functioning nose but is 100% blind, is completely hopeless at catching anything at all. I posted this back in 2022:

~~~

Last night after the sun set Mara was fast asleep in the grass outside. So when I went to bed I just left the doors wide open so that she could snuffle around and find her way back in any time she wanted to.

Several hours later, I awoke to a huge commotion, and thought that Mara had to be in some kind of trouble. What I found was that a skunk had got into the house and Mara, as blind as a bat, was chasing it around everywhere, barking and crashing into everything all the time. It was chaos.

I managed to usher the terrified skunk into the kitchen (where the outside kitchen door was still open), and shut the inside door so that Mara couldn't reach it. I assumed the skunk would find its way home again — and come the morning, the only sign of it now is a lingering VERY strong skunk smell absolutely everywhere.

[Szymon]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
A tiny thing here that may raise a smile. I've been spring cleaning my larder, which doubles as a long-term emergency food store. Here it is, in better days:



I discovered that in a corner, hidden behind and under a bunch of other stuff, were my two bags of emergency dried dog food. I'd never opened them, and I'd had them there for a couple of years.

They were both emptied out. Nothing left at all.

Now I know why I'd never been able to catch all my mice... they'd been happily feasting on 18 kg (40 lbs!) of dog food every day for 2 years.

A very well-organised pantry. I'm still sorting through our 2021 food supplies, mostly canned items.

I bought 5 kg of good quality coffee in 2021, and today they're worth just over twice the price. Talk about inflation.

[meeradas]

Posted by Szymon (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

A very well-organised pantry.

Yes, I second that. Wish I had such a properly maintained and spacious storage...


... and I had to dump my 15 kilos of Basmati from way back a long time ago - there must have been a tiny hole in the huge plastic bag:
Rice is a wonderful desiccant; downside is, once containing water, it molds beautifully and invisibly... but once you boil it, you will know...

[meeradas]

Far too many a time, (even) I forget that we are here to create something beautiful together

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BFul90BFjGc

Encore? Here we go:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=TURkB9zqxa0

and last one is for those who still feel "outside" - more audience participation time:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=TwC0Db7oerM

[meeradas]

Happy Birthday to Ernie, Bill, and my fav aunt.

Once again, many happy returns

PS: Oh, and to Brightstar, too!

[Johnnycomelately]

From reading skateboard magazines back ten or more years ago, I remember Mike V as a fighter, more than for his skating prowess. But it seems he has a good side too.

Pro Skater Mike Vallely Snaps on His Father

David Hoffman
1.34M subscribers

Feb 23, 2026

To see the full film, go here. - • It's All Good - Classic 1998 Aggressive Sk...

The poet is Mike Vallely. The time is 1996 and I was making a feature-length documentary on the aggressive rollerblader revolution that was taking place at that time. It was a rainy night in Los Angeles and some of the skaters were going to a store to hear a skateboarder share his challenging relationship with his father. I was blown away by the clarity and brilliance of Mike Vallely. What he said related to my experience with my father. Difficult for us to speak to one another and really say how we felt. And back at this time, skateboarders were known to be less than friendly to rollerbladers (inline skaters). But Mike clearly didn't feel that way and understood that he was talking to a group of boys and young men and some women who were like-minded as inline skaters. They loved to skate and they loved the culture. To a large extent (although not totally) the era of aggressive rollerblading is over but the skateboarder culture continues. Thank you Mike Vallely.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NLunSs8AQ1I

[Bill Ryan]

Here and now, what happened today was my annual vehicle inspection, needed for the license to be on the road: not a plate, but a sticker on the windshield. My VERY old 4x4 is now 40 (forty!) years old, and has done 295,000 miles. The thought occurred to me that I should ask my young friend Pema to bake another cake especially for the birthday occasion.

A couple of years ago, the vehicle inspection here consisted of the guy kicking the tires and turning on the lights. (Really!!) But then they tightened up the regulations, installed a whole bunch of high-tech testing apparatus, and now it's put through the wringer mercilessly.

I was concerned, of course. I know it's mechanically sound, safe, and everything works, but the suspension is like driving a 1950s tractor and there's nothing I can do about that. (Shock absorbers make no difference at all!)

However! It still passed.

One year, maybe the next, or the one after that or the one after that, it might not. But as they say, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. (And I already know that my dog Mara, who is even more indestructible, will definitely live for far longer than my old car.)

[Bluegreen]

March 17 - 8:41 PM

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=vwKBjRQsIjw