Music, Fashion, Pictures and Murder...Who needs tabloids?

 

 Watching in full-screen mode is highly recommended

Just for fun. "Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm..."

Fashion is a form of ugly so hideous it must be changed every six months

In the past, the US Forest agency fined timber companies that did not cut closely enough to the ground. The companies claimed that they had to leave higher stumps on the trees growing on steep slopes but the USF agents pointed at the specifications in the contracts and accused the companies of "wasting" wood.

The timber companies groused about all of the trees that were drowned in reservoirs when they filled. Anglers were divided on the issue. Some cover is good. Too much cover means you lose a lot of lures.

Now the pendulum is swinging back the other way. This research out of Europe proposes that the "crappy trees" that are not economical to mill into lumber be topped out at 6'-to-13' and the tall-stumps be left in place to rot and provide nesting habitat. The plan for very-high latitude sites is to leave between 2 and 4 of these stubs per-acre.

Hat-tip to Tireless. 

Random pictures

Another wheelbarrow back "on-line".

Asparagus planted April 22 starting to pop up.

They look so peaceful when you can sneak up on them while they are sleeping. This one was inside the duck/garden enclosure. The "tell" were the fresh crumbles of soil at the mouth of the den.

Technologies that were not available to consumers 20 years ago. I am still shocked when a "kid" scans a QR code, pushes a button and a service is paid for. Hat-tip to Tireless

Slow response times

I am embarrassed to report that I appear to be ghosting people due to my slow response time. Please give me the benefit of the doubt when I am slow to respond. Maybe things will slow down by June 10ish. Maybe.

One of my friends (who reads this blog) offered me some incredible batteries. They are industrial-quality lead-acid batteries that are used for critical infrastructure support and they are regularly changed out while they are well above 80% life-remaining.

I regretfully declined the offer because the assorted demands on my time (several of which I don't share on the blog) mean that I don't have time to integrate systems and dial them in. I need pre-engineered systems that are plug-and-play.

The opportunity cost of tinker-toying together a system with various parts means that I will not be controlling weeds in my orchard(s) and garden(s).

Murdersicles

I have a brother who loves motorcycles. Well, OK, I have two brothers who love motorcycles.

Link

But one of them is trying to get me excited about a Chinesium Enduro (street-legal) Commuter bike. I have to admit that the ability to commute to The Property and back (70 mile round trip) on a gallon of gas is enticing.

Given the specific power of the engine and a frame designed for dirt-biking, the bike should be able to run for 50 years as long as the cam-shaft was properly hardened and the owner changes the oil. 

Bonus video I

Bonus video eleven 

The ride that he picked out for me is a Honda clone with a 230cc, 4-stroke engine that makes 14hp and has a top speed of 65 mph. MSRP of about $1700 but cheaper if you shop around.

He candidly stated that his wife is not very keen on him buying another motorcycle, otherwise he would buy one...but she is fine if I buy one. My problem is that Mrs ERJ might not be too keen on me buying any motorcycle given my age and the slower reaction times and healing that goes with that.

As my dad once told me "There is no such thing as 'soft gravel'. There is loose gravel and there is packed gravel, but it is never soft gravel."