Randoms week of april 25th

[rubytue]

A couple weeks ago, someone was talking about attracting crows. Apologies for not remembering who to tag. Well, I bought my crow decoy and a bag of peanuts and set it up in front of my office window. I haven’t gotten crows yet, but the blue jays have discovered the stash. This morning, there weren’t any, and the blue Jay showed up on the post where I put them. Looked around, and, if he has eyes that point forward, I would have sworn he looked at me and huffed. I took his some peanuts and he has been back twice. 

In other news… 19 rounds of chemo and it took some bad pad thai to take me out last night. But apparently, I rallied and wasn’t even late to my desk. 

[simpsongal]

rubytue, Is there a benefit to having crows around? We have a bunch...but plenty of other birds too, just curious. As I type there are like 2 swirling around my window....

[rubytue]

Apr 25, 2022 10:16:16 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

rubytue , Is there a benefit to having crows around? We have a bunch...but plenty of other birds too, just curious. As I type there are like 2 swirling around my window....

Just that Corvus are smarty and crafty. Plus, they recognize you and will bring you gifts if you make friends with them. So I was hoping to make their acquaintance.

www.bbc.com/future/article/20191211-crows-could-be-the-smartest-animal-other-than-primates

[simpsongal]

rubytue, I figured that was the reasoning . I thought the crows liked us since they poach things from our compost and hang around a lot. But we hosted a get together a couple weeks ago and they stole a container of sealed blueberry muffins off our patio - managed to get it open and peck away at a bunch.

I felt like George Costanza w/the pigeons - we had a deal!

[wesleycrusher]

My friend/neighbor/co-worker introduced me to our neighborhood's buy nothing group on facebook. I want to give away everything in our house, it's amazing!! I have a basement and back porch full of junk that I want gone!

[underwaterrhymes]

rubytue - I think crows are super interesting, but be careful about attracting birds right now.

www.allaboutbirds.org/news/avian-influenza-outbreak-should-you-take-down-your-bird-feeders/

Illinoisans are being urged to take down their bird feeders and it doesn’t seem to be the case everywhere (so I shared the more moderate article, rather than one specific to my state), but just a heads up.

[Vespasia]

wesleycrusher please remove the @ content from your post.

[wesleycrusher]

Apr 25, 2022 19:36:42 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

wesleycrusher please remove the @ content from your post.

Sorry! will fix, thank you!

[wesleycrusher]

I read this book a couple years ago-
The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife

It was really interesting. I had no idea about the ravens there.

I also read a different book about a woman who rescued all different types of birds- I never realized how aggressive/territorial/routine oriented birds can be.

[AdaraMarie]

rubytue If possible, could you consider something besides peanuts? Soneone down the street from me feeds the wildlife with peanuts and it results in squirrels bringing them to my yard and garden and burying them everywhere (including ripping out my plants). Not great when we have a peanut allergy, but this lady insists that she has to feed the birds/squirrels peanuts or else they will starve.
A crow used to sit on my roof and dive bomb my little dog, and they generally seem like the jerks of the neighborhood so why people wanted to attract them was a mystery me too. 🤔

[rubytue]

underwaterrhymes, thanks! I do follow lots of bird stuff and just checked the guidelines the other day. Right now, in MD, they aren’t advising pulling down feeders unless you have poultry or waterfowl nearby. We do have waterfowl somewhat nearby. We aren’t filling the feeders that attract flocks. Just the individual bird.

AdaraMarie, thanks for that! I will definitely be aware. Definitely don’t think they will starve without them 😂 Just a little desert.

[ssmjlm]

We've been working on a manpower audit of our already too low staffing since December.

Yesterday they told me that for every activity that I have down takes 2 hours or more, I have to give the minutes for every subtask within the task or break them down into their own excel lines.

I CANNOT DO ANYMORE ON THIS! I have already said, so if I refuse to do this and it goes up and they take more people, what happens? Nothing? We go from bad to worse on milestones. I do not see the rationale behind trying to explain details of my job when we're already too low in manpower.

[rubytue]

ssmjlm , ugh. That’s really annoying. And also, there is a whole profession skilled at time studies, but they have you all do your own?! I hate all the effort to force you to document everything, especially when you are at the point that you can bear ly tread water with actual work. Be sure your time studies includes time spend on the time study documentation 😭

Continuing on a bird them. Yesterday, there was a flock of ducks right on my street that are super rare here. They are normally in Florida. But apparently, they spent a beautiful late-April day on the pond here in Maryland. My H saw them when walking the dog and told me about these weird ducks he saw. It was already dusk, so I couldn’t get out in time. I knew they were there earlier, I just couldn’t get up the motivation. So, 8am this morning I take the dog out and I’m looking around. I stumble upon a trio of old men with binoculars. So I ask if they have seen the ducks. And alas, they reported they looked all morning but it appears they did not spend the night.

also, in reference to my earlier post… we are one row removed from the pond. There are tons of Canada geese, but I have not ever seen one in my yard (we do get turtles!). I am conscious with the birds and should I see flocks being attracted to anything, I would stop.  And I haven’t refilled my feeders since February. 

[eponinepontmercy]

AdaraMarie, my best friend's air conditioner unit was full of peanut shells because her neighbor put peanuts out for the squirrels.

[ssmjlm]

rubytue, yes each office has to do all their own spreadsheets. It's maddening. When they told me yesterday I just was so dejected. And they're like "but we're going to get this all done before 4th quarter" and we're already so busy, so whey they've set some arbitrary end of fiscal year deadline I don't get.

Is it a full moon? I don't know what's going on lately. Everyday is a loop of another Monday it seems.

[eponinepontmercy]

I really appreciate my husband offering to get me something from Dunkin Donuts.

BUT.

If he takes an hour to get back inside because he's taking calls in his car, my hash browns are cold and I don't want them anymore.

I'm waiting to see how annoyed I should be - sometimes it's a work thing, but sometimes he's just talking to friends.

[wildrice]

Apr 26, 2022 8:12:18 GMT -5 rubytue said:

also, in reference to my earlier post… we are one row removed from the pond. There are tons of Canada geese, but I have not ever seen one in my yard (we do get turtles!). I am conscious with the birds and should I see flocks being attracted to anything, I would stop.  And I haven’t refilled my feeders since February. 

How big are your feeders??? I feel like we're constantly refilling ours. I just did again this morning and I'm pretty sure I did toward the end of last week. I don't fill it all the way, though, because when it rains it seems to make the feed mushy. We just have 1 small deck feeder.

I hope we don't have to take it down again. We see basically the same few birds all the time so I think they are "locals". The biggest we get are mourning doves (who don't go on the feeder, the walk around below it and eat the mess the little birds leave). 

[rubytue]

wildrice, ummm. Average size? I have a couple narrow cylinders. And also this one that I keep sunflower seed in all winter www.amazon.com/Finish-Original-Feeder-Extension-B00302/dp/B000HHQ8PW

[basilosaurus]

I very rarely go to movies in theater. I want to pause, refill drink of choice, go pee, whatever.

But, I hold a fascination for how it happens in other countries.

Most recently, I had a unique (to me) experience. Sure, it's covid, but I was assured it was business as usual. You wait in the "lobby" and by that I mean 10 massage chairs chirping at you to pay them. All else standing. Probably because we're in covid, latish at night, ramadan, it was all of 10 of us.

We weren't allowed access until about 2 minutes before showtime. Black screen, lights up, not a single ad. On the dot, 2 PSAs both having to do with bootleg and then, bam, right into show.

I've been to theaters in LA where they don't let you in late but also don't force 45min ads/trailors. I'm ok with that! I prefer it. I've been to theaters on military bases where you stand for the anthem and in other countries where it is actually pretty similar to USA.

I still want to avoid theaters because I heard people crunching popcorn throughout the 45min I suffered through before bailing. I know this is 100% my own issue. Also, they didn't clean between showings, and while I know and accept theaters are gross, seeing proof of it was unnerving. I don't need to sit next to half eaten popcorn and slurped cokes!

I think this will limit my future complaints in USA. Those auto-seats are pretty great even if I do fall asleep!

[redheadbaker]

We made an offer on a house, and my stomach is in knots, and brain is asking "What were you thinking??" (which is my brain's normal response to anything stressful)

[wawa]

Apr 26, 2022 14:18:23 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

We made an offer on a house, and my stomach is in knots, and brain is asking "What were you thinking??" (which is my brain's normal response to anything stressful)

I'm excited for you!  

[suburbanzookeeper]

We lost our kitty (in my icon) earlier this month to sudden hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at the ripe age of 5. It was so incredibly sudden (in less than 48 hours from outward symptom onset) and sent us kind of into a tailspin.

Two weeks ago our Jack Russel terrier who was dx with Cushing's Disease two years ago had an episode with edema due to stress and lost the use of his back legs due to swelling/adrenal issues. For two weeks, we've thrown everything we can at him with no change. Our phone appointment with the vet this morning suggested we stop treatment at this point. He refuses to use his drag bag, scooter board, or wheelchair. He chews off the diaper. He still barks to greet us when we come home... but that's it. Still eating/drinking but content to lay in his own fluids. I am *tired*. Because we are active in rescue, I've found a lot of people are expecting us to do "all the things!" and to do it with a smile on my face. Can't complain, can't comment how hard it is, just keep swimming.

Our 14 year old shepherd mix was diagnosed with Lymphoma four years ago and given six months to live. She's obviously beat all expectations but she's starting to show signs that her journey is ending as well.

The thought of doing back-to-back-to-back goodbyes in a few weeks span is just... yeah.

[rubytue]

(((( suburbanzookeeper,)))) I feel you so hard. It’s ok to not do all the things. It’s ok for it to be hard. It is hard.

[pixy0stix]

I want a gold star for getting in a pool to work out. Something I haven't done in a decade. Go me! If only my body didn't react like a dying fish when trying to do the proper freestyle form. My brain and body definitely aren't communicating well.

[wawa]

Apr 27, 2022 13:15:27 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I want a gold star for getting in a pool to work out. Something I haven't done in a decade. Go me! If only my body didn't react like a dying fish when trying to do the proper freestyle form. My brain and body definitely aren't communicating well.

(not sarcastic)

[winecat]

I've had 2 burst blood vessels in my right eye in the last 3 weeks. ugh.

[picksthemusic]

I just got a new bed, and y'all - it's so dang comfy. We went from a full to a king and we got a Casper mattress from Costco. SO comfortable. I finally found my sweet spot, and I'm out like a light. My body hurts much less than before, and I'm so happy with our purchase.

[bears]

My new taos sneakers were just delivered (I kept on seeing goldengirlz recommend them) and they are really cute and comfy. I plan to wear them to the office and idgaf if they are casual, I will wear them with dresses.

We're returning to the office next week and I'm essentially bribing myself with new clothes to lessen my anxiety about it (non-covid anxiety, anxiety around changes and having to be a social human being again).

[SwimDeep]

I just signed off on a long, explanatory work email with "I hope this relieves some of your stress."

I mean it genuinely, and this person is basically my boss and we have a pretty friendly relationship. But it's not my usual sign off and I am way over thinking it.

The email definitely needed more than my usual "Thanks." I just hope she doesn't think I'm judging her for freaking out 😕

[goldengirlz]

Apr 27, 2022 15:05:28 GMT -5 bears said:

My new taos sneakers were just delivered (I kept on seeing goldengirlz recommend them) and they are really cute and comfy. I plan to wear them to the office and idgaf if they are casual, I will wear them with dresses.

We're returning to the office next week and I'm essentially bribing myself with new clothes to lessen my anxiety about it (non-covid anxiety, anxiety around changes and having to be a social human being again).

I’m glad you love your new sneakers — they’re very cute — but I don’t think that was me. 😀