What first world problem did you have today?

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah my auger bits are brand new, they've been used for a few electrical jobs, then got frustrated at them never making it through a 2x4 and they just sat in the tool box. Every time I take one out in hopes it works, I am disappointed. Paid a lot for those too, like $50/bit. I tried hammer mode and normal mode, no go. They just create lot of heat and spin without removing material. I think the issue is that they rely on that tiny screw in the middle. There's a better chance of that just ripping material out than it has to actually pull it in.

I'm almost curious to try sharpening the end of the actual threaded rod to see if I can basically use that as a bit and force it in. It's thinner so there is less material to remove. I need to make the hole bigger for the drill extensions to fit through otherwise I would only need like a 1/4" hole. HD did not have the nuts that fit on the 1/2" rod so had to go with 1/4".

I have a feeling trying to do that would just make it get stuck too though as there's no way to clear material.

 

[clamum]

Got my full testosterone test results back from LetsGetChecked and it's very low. I am manlet

But actually it makes sense because I absolutely have the low energy and fatigue thing, and probably low sex drive. It can even be hard to get out of bed, especially on the weekends where I don't have to get up early for work. Now that I'm working out and trying to gain weight it's important for me too to be able to gain muscle.

I really wanna try something to address it cause I've read some peoples' experiences and they've said it was an enormous difference after getting some T replacement, or whatever the therapy is.

Now I gots to figure out how to go about doing that.

 

[Red Squirrel]

So this is what my tree is looking like, I need to decide what I want to do, may have to cut it as I think that it will collapse eventually, on the truck or house. Or both. If both of those branches split, one ends up on the house, the other in the driveway.





I'd be sad to see the tree go, but I also kinda want to use my electric chainsaw. We're gonna need a bigger battery. I have a plug in one too my grandpa gave me.



Problem with that is it's going to smell like laundry. I've been in houses that use those and you can smell it right away. What you want is some kind of heat exchanger but you also want to filter the lint out very well or it will plug up the fins.

And work has begun. Well just a bit at a time because it's freaking hot out, over 30C.

https://imgur.com/YbXJsyE

As FWP, my Firefox randomly decided to start acting stupid again. It does that once in a while, it starts randomly redirecting stuff to HTTPS that should not be, and breaks stuff, and also stops even trying to connect to certain random sites. Can't get to my home environmental control system right now, duckduck go, and my picture upload site. It's random. Last time it was my game server's site.

Also it seems Chromium does not exist under Kubuntu 20.04. So I'm pretty much dead in the water as far as accessing some sites go as using my phone kinda sucks.

 

[lxskllr]

Careful Squirrel, Ladders and saws are bad juju. Youtube's filled with videos of ladders and treework gone wrong.

Chromium should be available via snap package. Not sure how it gets handled. I /thought/ snaps would showup in apt, but perhaps not. You may have to use whatever "store" it shipped with. I jumped to debian, so I'm not personally familiar. Just going by what I've read, and it sounds like ubuntu is pushing snaps pretty hard.

 

[IronWing]

Careful Squirrel, Ladders and saws are bad juju. Youtube's filled with videos of ladders and treework gone wrong.

My favorite is having the cut branch swing down and knock the ladder.

 

[lxskllr]

Then there's this insanity...

 

[BoomerD]

I spent a summer working as a crane operator for a tree service in the Bay area...fucking crazy shit.

 

[highland145]

Damned skeeter in my shop. Wth? Like this is the South in the summer. Sheesh.

 

[BoomerD]

Damned skeeter in my shop. Wth? Like this is the South in the summer. Sheesh.

My backyard backs up to a protected wetland...I haz skeeters...

 

[highland145]

My backyard backs up to a protected wetland...I haz skeeters...

I cut down the oaks and fixed most of that. Malithion took care of the rest for several years.

So have you tried the lp skeeters magnet?

 

[Red Squirrel]

My favorite is having the cut branch swing down and knock the ladder.

Lol yeah that was my main concern. I was being careful, and taking it slow because it was so damn hot out today. I had to pick a heat wave day lol. Basically it's either going to be very hot, raining, or I'm working, so I kind of have to pick my battles. I am not done but the rest that's still up is more risky cuts which I think I might just hire out. Some would not be too bad but it was just getting late and I was getting burnt right out. Does not help I kicked a heat wave day to do this.

Then there's this insanity...

Lol yeah that's insane. No idea what they were thinking there, having two people on the same ladder is bad enough but everything else too.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Damned skeeter in my shop. Wth? Like this is the South in the summer. Sheesh.

I got one in my house too from all the in and out while working outside. I might have to go get my electric racket. I seem to have lost track of where it went though. Maybe cat got it.


More pics from my tree adventure lol:









I probably should be wearing more PPE but it was way too hot. I just hope we don't have any ticks in town, have not heard anything about any here yet this year but we had some last year.

There's a couple more sections that will be easy to do but called it quits, then lot of it is too sketchy to do myself so I will either get help or just hire it out. I'm leaning towards hiring it out. The straight section is too sketchy to do from a ladder, and there's one section I think that could end up in the street.

But ya was an ambitious task to take on myself lol. At least whatever is left should hopefully not cost too much to get done.

I do want to eventually buy an off grid property so I kinda have to take on tasks like this to remind me what kind of work I'll be getting myself into if I buy such property. At least most of the trees in the bush are just straight up single trunk that I can cut in one shot from the ground though, but if one gets binded up on another it can still create a tricky situation.

 

[BoomerD]

I cut down the oaks and fixed most of that. Malithion took care of the rest for several years.

So have you tried the lp skeeters magnet?

Unfortunately, the area behind my house belongs to the state wildlife commission...I can't do much back there. Can't cut trees or brush, can't spray.
I have a Dyna-Trap 1 acre skeeter trap that does a decent job. I've considered the propane powered skeeter traps...haven't had to go there...YET.

 

[lxskllr]

Looks good Squirrel. I didn't realize that tree was so close to your house. Good call on the removal. A repair should have lasted a good while, but it just increases the complexity/expense in the future.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah it was close. Seems to always be the case, people plant it forgetting how big it will get. Left a voice mail to a tree company to get an estimate to do the rest, and also chip away all the branches.

 

[BoomerD]

You could always take it down in smaller chunks, rather than fall it at once. Remove limbs, leaving enough to use for footholds...than cut off 5-10 foot sections...or less. Much easier to control where it goes...and much easier to deal with on the ground.

 

[lxskllr]

You could always take it down in smaller chunks, rather than fall it at once. Remove limbs, leaving enough to use for footholds...than cut off 5-10 foot sections...or less. Much easier to control where it goes...and much easier to deal with on the ground.

Yea, I was thinking that too, but I don't want to encourage Red to do anything that'll get him hurt. A manual handsaw, cripple those little leaders, then fold them over and finish the cut. Then take the bigger one down the same way til it's short enough to fall from the bottom.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh that's somewhat what I was doing is cutting in sections, but can only do so much with a ladder since I need somewhere to place it safely and a way to quickly get back down if I need to. Ex: was avoiding needing to extend it too much. For the verticals the risk is that I'm basically having to cut directly in front of me and not off to the side, there's a small risk it decides to fall towards me. For the ones overhanging the house there's no way to put the ladder anywhere to cut in sections as the roof makes it awkward. So yeah for those it will be easier to do from a cherry picker or other equipment which they will most likely be using.

I probably could get it all done if I got creative but I kind of hit my limit of risk I want to take haha.

So yeah, the rest I'll leave to a pro with the right equipment. There is one limb left that I can easily do myself though, I was going to do it yesterday but was getting late.

 

[BoomerD]

Oh that's somewhat what I was doing is cutting in sections, but can only do so much with a ladder since I need somewhere to place it safely and a way to quickly get back down if I need to. Ex: was avoiding needing to extend it too much. For the verticals the risk is that I'm basically having to cut directly in front of me and not off to the side, there's a small risk it decides to fall towards me. For the ones overhanging the house there's no way to put the ladder anywhere to cut in sections as the roof makes it awkward. So yeah for those it will be easier to do from a cherry picker or other equipment which they will most likely be using.

I probably could get it all done if I got creative but I kind of hit my limit of risk I want to take haha.

So yeah, the rest I'll leave to a pro with the right equipment. There is one limb left that I can easily do myself though, I was going to do it yesterday but was getting late.

Ladder? Fuck that...climb that tree!

 

[shortylickens]

i fell in love with a ginger on my forum.

 

[BoomerD]

i fell in love with a ginger on my forum.

Does Red Squirrel know how you feel about him?

 

[Red Squirrel]

The "alarm" button on my alarm clock broke this morning. It just sunk in and does not pop back up, heard a crunch. Not sure if it's the tactile switch itself or whatever hardware might be around it. Might have to open it up to see if it's an easy fix. The same thing happened to my alarm clock I had for over 20 years. It was time to retire that one anyway. This one I've only had for a few years and that happens already. They sure don' t make stuff like they used to. I might look into one of those Philips "sunrise" alarm clocks as a replacement.

For now I'll just have to use my phone and set multiple alarms. I still like having a dedicated alarm clock though.

 

[lxskllr]

My alarm clock only gets used for the radio, and to show time without pulling some kind of device out. I could live without it, but I like both features a lot.

 

[shortylickens]

I got a really nice timex about 14 years ago and it still works great.

Amazon.com: Timex T617S Nature Sounds Auto Set CD Clock Radio with Smart Knob Tuning and MP3 Line In (Silver) (Discontinued by Manufacturer): Home Audio & Theater

Buy Timex T617S Nature Sounds Auto Set CD Clock Radio with Smart Knob Tuning and MP3 Line In (Silver) (Discontinued by Manufacturer): Alarm Clocks - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

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[Svnla]

So I went to the grocery store late last night (around midnight) to get some last minute items for tacos. The store was out of regular cilantro so I picked out the organic type, it was double the price. I used it this morning for tacos and that organic cilantro was horrible taste wise. And it was out of green onion too (regular and organic) so I can't cook my home make chicken soup yet.

Speaking of food, I am on call at work right now so I am watching the History Channel and it is showing "The Food That Build America". The show is awesome. It is about how well know large America companies were found. Companies such as Coke (soda), KFC, McD, Heinz (ketchup), Kellogg's/Post (cereal), etc.

The foods that were eaten in America after the Civil War (urbanization) were in horrible conditions and without any oversight/quality control. No refrigeration, no preservatives, nothing but in the containers and sold "as is". Yike.

Back then, any company can make any wild claim about the product(s) such as cure cancer, clean up blood, brain boosting, etc. No national consumer protection agency whatsoever.