A little of this and a little of that

The chainsaw is back in operation. This video was very helpful. My chain-brake doesn't positively disengage so the clutch band wasn't dilated after I removed the clutch side-plate. The link to the video will take you to the method I used (although I used a 14mm wrench and it worked fine).

Bonus link

Planting update

Five apple trees and two pear trees top-worked (grafted) at Southern Belle's. 

Five raspberry bushes planted. The ground was so laced with roots it was like trying to dig through Scotch-brite pads.

I also planted a peach tree. Mrs ERJ "advised" me to consult with SB regarding when SB wanted her peaches to ripen. I am strongly biased toward LATE in the season when the weather is cooler and the bugs less aggressive. SB, however, opted for early August ripening instead of late-August. Because it is about making the customer happy, I purchased a Red Haven that had not been in the plans.

Southern Belle asked me how long it would take for the roots of the brush to rot. If I had been at the top of my game I would have told her that she would be picking mushrooms for the next five or seven years.

Marco Pollo

Quicksilver likes to play Hide-and-Seek. She likes "clues". Southern Belle is also "drown-proofing" Quicksilver with swim lessons.

So, I thought I would teach Quicksilver the call-response "Marco", "Polo" for those times in our Hide-and-Seek games where she wants clues.

Did I mention Quicksilver is bilingual? 

"Marco Polo" became "Marco Pollo". "Pollo", pronounced "PO-YO" means "chicken" in Spanish. Sounds like a great name for a rooster. 

AI powered Fraud

AI is being used to mine personal data and mimic the voice of loved ones.

"Grandma, this is Nick. I am in jail in Columbus for coasting through a red-light and am going to miss my big job interview. Can you give my your credit card number...I only need $200 for bail..."

Yeah. Right.

I guess Nick is going to miss his job interview. Its on him. Everybody knows to not violate traffic laws in Ohio when you have Michigan plates on your vehicle. Guess Nick failed that job interview before it started.

The kids make fun of me for having no money apps and nothing in my wallet. The kids make fun of me for not having a QR reader app. Nor do I have any "store" or "media" apps.

A skinny target is hard to hit.

Making offers on unused equipment

Looking around a bit, I see unused hoop-houses in various back-yards. There they sit looking like the sun-rotted rib-cage of a beached whale, unused and unloved.

I don't have a good way to come up with a good offer. New, the cheapest ones seem to run about $3 a square-foot. Obviously, I would need to purchase a new cover.

What would a reasonable offer be for a 700 square-foot house? The answer might be "Just offer to remove it".

Any hints on what to look for if the owners let me look the skeleton over? 

Isofucosterol

Isofucosterol was one of the missing links in creating "artificial pollen" to sustain honeybee colonies that are placed in crops that lack collectable pollen. The bees still visit the flowers to collect nectar but lack the protein and other nutrients needed to create replacement bees. Link.

Isofucosterol is found in marine sponges, which are endangered in many areas.

Quite by happenstance, it also happens to be found in variety of potato bred in the Netherland. That potato is called Désirée.

I will not be surprised to see a niche industry growing Désirée develop.

Hat-tip to Lucas for sending me the info about "artificial pollen for honeybee nutrition".

 

Fine Art? Tuesday

Link

This image is from a website called ArStation.com where various artists can post galleries of their work. The vast majority of the images appear to be generated by AI and there is a lot of fantasy and anime artwork.

If you find an image that you like, it is easy to explore other images the same artist posted. For example, if you click on the link below the top image, you can see other images posted by Michele Tanner by clicking on the "carrots" circled in red on the screen capture shoe

There is also a search function so you can search by topic. For example, if you typed "Rabbit" into the search function you would get everything from Japanese gun-bunnies to Easter bunnies to were-bunnies.

Is it "Fine Art"? Maybe not, but it can be a diversion if you have a few minutes to fill.

A productive day in the orchard

I grafted eleven newly planted apple trees in the Upper Orchard to Liberty and it took me 45 minutes. That is a very acceptable rate in my book. I can knock out about one-a-minute bench-grafting to bare-rooted root-stocks but I have to move my tools with every graft when field-grafting. Today's grafts included wrapping the scion with para-film but not installing a paper bag over the graft.

I also grafted one Enterprise apple next to a Keepsake tree. I think it would make an interesting cross should I ever want to grow some trees from seeds.

I grafted six Harrow Sweet pears to itty-bitty-baby rootstock. It was a lie-on-my-side while grafting deal. That went more slowly and I picked up at least two ticks while doing it.

Then, just before I left, I remembered a tree I intended to top-work. So I threw a graft of Liberty on that one.

Dragging brush

I dragged brush out of the Upper Orchard for about an hour-and-a-half. I am getting to the point where I need to fire up the gas-powered chainsaw because I have a lot of little branches and I have some tree trunks.

Pollinators

Even though it was windy I saw some pollinators that were not honeybees working some Bittercress plants.

The mature seed stalks of this plant are as thin and strong as boot-laces. C. hirsuta shown.

Bittercress is a genus of small "weeds" and there are many species that vary in minor details. I don't recall seeing bees working them before.

Traveling overseas

I overheard some people at lunch talking about traveling to Europe this summer.

Their travel agent advised them to "Go Gray". To ditch the Detroit Lions hats and MSU Spartan sweat-shirts. That is good advice in general. Try to look sort-of-native. You don't have to look like you live in Dublin or Copenhagen (if that is where you are visiting), but you can look like you came from someplace within a couple of hundred miles of there without trying too hard.

I don't know if large, European cities have thrift shops, but that is not a bad place to shop if you want to pick up some local-looking clothing. You can also visit a local barbershop and ask for the haircut that a respectable, up-and-coming traveling sales person would get.

Transaxle update

I drove the minivan to the mechanic's place-of-business. It ran flawlessly. 39mph was about 1200 RPM compared to 34mph at 3000 RPM on Sunday.

The mechanic will pull the codes and check the fluid level. If the level is low, he will look for leaks (the trans-cooler line is always suspect). If it is leaking, I suspect he will advise to change the line and flush the system and pray.

Same guy?

 

The Daily Mail claims these are both pictures of the guy who set fire to the Pennsylvania Governor's mansion. That is, pictures of the same guy.

For the record, I am fine with arsonists being shot on-sight. Setting a building on fire is the same as using a "weapon of mass destruction" and there is no way to know the number of people who are exposed to its potentially lethal danger. 

In ERJ's universe, it is always "open season" on people in a mobs who light Molotov Cocktails. No bag limit. No license required.

Ditto for home invaders who torch the place.

Some days are diamonds. Others are not.

The transaxle in the minivan decided to not up-shift after Mass today. I drove home at 3000RPM (35mph). We were not at our usual church, so it was a longer drive than it would have been otherwise.

I stayed off of the freeway which added to the number of turns.

The great, misinformation super-highway suggests that the best I can hope for is low-fluid, although the sudden onset makes that a low possibility (I think). Another possibility is a filter clogged with fibers and crud. A fried engine sensor (MAP or throttle-position) is an outside possibility.

Chrysler, in their infinite wisdom, eliminated the trans dip-stick so I am not able to check the fluid.

Mrs ERJ is to call the local mechanic for him to pull codes and check the fluid level. If he punts (+50% chance) then we will probably bite the bullet and have a dealership look at it. The worst-case scenario is that we buy a reman trans and have it installed.

Just a quick note about the church. The building seats about 160. A couple of the parishioners took the 4-through-8 year-olds out of the sanctuary for the readings and the homily. They were given an age-appropriate version of the readings and a project. I counted 10 kids gathered at the front before they marched out of the sanctuary, and I saw a couple more shy ones slip from the pews. 

I am impressed with a 160 seat church that can tally-up twelve, 4-through-8 year olds at a Sunday service. That is not a dying church.

More brush to drag

I was going to burn some of it in-place, but dragging out of the orchard is faster. So, guess which method wins.

Grafting

I might be throwing a few grafts onto some trees tomorrow. In absolute numbers, I don't have a huge number of trees to graft but they will be "field grafts" and some of them will be 6" from the ground which is stoop-work. It will be worth it if most of them take. Hope springs eternal.

I try to stay positive, but when did "masking tape" star-burst from a single, commodity product to a swarm of boutique products? I use masking tape when grafting and I am used to spending $1.25 (give or take). Now it comes in all different colors and is price-pointed at $4.50 per roll.

I also have a few raspberry plants to stick in the ground and some horse radish roots.

Thanks to all who commented

A big thank-you to everybody who commented on the post about alternatives to aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen.

Presented with minimum comment

Whistle Trout

 

A Kardashian (school) of Whistle Trout

When Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs are off-the-table

NSAIDs like aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen come with various side effects. Acetaminophen (paracetamol in Europe) is not considered a NSAID on some lists but can cause liver toxicity.

There ARE ways of dealing with pain that don't involve NSAIDs or acetaminophen but they can be cumbersome. NSAIDs are popular because they work and are extremely convenient, allowing us to get on with our lives with minimal changes.

Some alternatives

Vibrating massage guns can be a blessing and can help a slightly built person with limited hand-strength to massage your hard-to-reach, aching muscles.

Massage.

Alternating heat-and-cold.

Stretching.

Compression.

Elevating swollen and inflamed parts.

Longer recovery periods between physical challenges.

Vitamin C mega-dosing

Nutritional supplements like Bromelain, Quercetin, Turmeric, Glucosamine, Chondroitin,

Move the work to a friendlier height or to a location where power-assistance is available. 

Prayer.

Meditation.

Reading or other distractions. 

Bee-stings or nettle stings.

Keeping a journal to noodle-out what triggers pain. Sometimes it is something we ate or the fact that we drank one more cup of coffee than was our habit. Sometimes it is a pair of shoes or a piece of furniture that is crippling us but the pain happens AFTER we use them.

Stoic fortitude.

Physical intimacy with your spouse.

The floor is open to comments for your ideas or things that worked for you. 

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I am not giving medical advise. Exercise due-diligence before trying any of the practices listed above