Cookies are bad for your laptop.

I'm eating a Christmas cookie, and a crumb fell on the touchpad of the laptop. I dab it with my finger to pick it up, and now my touchpad doesn't work. Restart. Still doesn't work. It does have an amber light in the upper left, so I don't think it is broken. I dug out the traveling laptop, the one I use in hotels because there's nothing personal on it, and google "Disable touchpad". Turns out if I tap the upper left corner of the touchpad, as one does as there is a crumb there, it disables the touchpad. Tapping it twice re-enables it. I've had this laptop 3 or 4 years, never knew that.

Earlier, I was attempting to book a hotel room so that we can visit the granddaughter for her birthday. The hotel's website was acting up and I was unable to reserve a room, but at one point a price came up less than what I normally get. So last night, I tried again, their website was acting normally. I copied the url and opened it in a private window. In private windows, the browser can't read your existing cookies. The lesser rate came up again. "Holiday rate" it said, even though we aren't booking until mid January. I was able to book the room at the lesser rate. I tried again for a second stay, we're going to Chicago in February, but it didn't work. Maybe the hidden promotion only lasted until the end of January. But, in the future, I'm going to book in a private window just to see what happens.

Now is the winter of discontent. OK not really but it is time for the final tabulation of my yearly spending. Not just discretionary but all spending.

Even though I track spending during the year it is with much trepidation that I open my year end summaries.

2023 will be a bust given the purchase of my big blue trike but that is the exception. The review is more about my budgeting.

So, holding my nose here I go!

PS: I should add that I am fortunate in that I can still afford some splurging...for now.

It took a couple of years but I just got a message from Amazon Prime that TV shows and movies will no longer be ad free. I must pay 2.99 more PER MONTH to go ad free.

Guess Who Finally Showed Up
 

Old man Winter finally made an appearance in Nova Scotia this weekend. After a green Christmas and New Year, I only had to dust out our 1/4 mile driveway once in January. Most of our precipitation came as rain.
Mother Nature, cue the Stones:"I used to love her, but it's all over now "
The easy part was shoveling the approach to the door step. It was only about 3 feet deep at the most. The yard was pretty much blown clear. However it took another half hour to punch a hole through the drifts to the barn with the tractor. I haven't summoned the courage to look at the rest of the lane.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1707134173.jpg

It reminds me of 2015. We got nothing before mid January the got dumped on.
I'll try to get some more pics this afternoon.

Best
Les

$7 million for 30 seconds! :eek: :eek:

So after a couple of hours of pushing and blowing snow, we could get a vehicle out if we were desperate enough to try. Dental appointments for the wife and granddaughter are canceled. Strangely the blowing snow advisory has ended. Ha!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1707144787.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1707144787.jpg

The wind is supposed to ease off a bit this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

Best
Les

Good luck with that! Stay safe.

I'm looking at the floods in Cali right now. Yikes.

I live on higher ground so flooding highly unlikely here. I cannot imagine what it must be like in Cali right now.

The wildest thing is we live in western Nova Scotia. We only got the edge of the storm. The eastern end and Cape Breton got better than 3 feet. :eek:
I try to keep sight of the fact that in 6 weeks it should be maple season.

Best
Les

I love the smell of the sap cookers in the woods!

@Flatbutt1 - I'll tell you what it's like in So Cal. Wet.
This is a pic of our rain gauge from 1 Feb, a less than 24 hour total.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1707154132.JPG

I haven't emptied the gauge yet this morning but it's sitting at 1.75" right now and it's still raining. Should rain all day and into tomorrow too from the looks of the sat pics.

I guess I spent another 3 hours on the tractor this afternoon. Although the wind is forecast to keep blowing and gusting for another 24 hours the temperature is at the melting point so it should stay put. 20 plus liters of diesel in the last three days. I'll have to clean it out again in the morning. Maybe they won't cancel school. The granddaughter did enjoy the drifts I put up.

Best
Les

That's a tough go E. The temp got up to 39 degrees here today. I used to burn 4 tons of pellets as recently as 10 years ago. Thus far I've burned less than 2 tons.

In praise of high performance cornering... whether it be cats or rally drivers.

https://imgur.com/gallery/1S1n2Nq

Great clip of the cat and rally car.

When I looked out the window this morning I was pleased to see no accumulation in the door yard. After breakfast I thought I'd just run the tractor up the lane to clear any bit of snow which might make the walk to the school bus slippery. HA!
The whole lane had drifted in to the height of the berms on the east side. I managed to punch a path up through and have another couple of hours of work before I go to the nursing home to play this afternoon.
:mad:
I guess we were back ordered for snow from January.
Edit: I ended up doing another 3 1/2 hours getting the packed snow scraped and blown out.
It drifted a bit while I was at the home. At least I had a good time playing and singing for the folks.
Best
Les

Hot honey pizza? :eek:

Holy farkin heck!
 

At 16 seconds

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/watch-amazon-driver-escapes-death-after-barreling-amtrak-train-slices-truck-in-half/ar-BB1iGq1O

Dude just shakes his head as if in "man I'm havin' a day!"

This might could be fun
 

Florida Man Games!

https://www.thefloridamangames.com/

https://people.com/evading-arrest-among-events-at-florida-man-games-cops-volunteered-as-chasers-8383726

Einstein School of Medicine gets a $1 billion dollar donation and goes tuition free for as long as it lasts. Sacred feces!

THIS is a Mom in action

https://nypost.com/2024/03/24/us-news/fearless-nyc-mom-adriana-alvarez-fights-teen-daughters-hulking-alleged-kidnapper-down-four-flights-of-stairs-in-insane-video/

Why oh why do writers make men on TV so freakin' stupid? For example, I was cruising through the offerings on streaming and came across Cedric the Entertainers show The Neighborhood. Wow. What a study in caricature stupidity. IDK if that's the point but it's not watchable.

I know some truly stupid men but none that are like what I see on TV.

For the same reason that heterosexuals are ignorant and biased but the alphabet people are sophisticated and open minded. It is a political agenda (can you say Norman Lear?).
The only men that Hollyweirdos like are the ones who want to compete in women's sports.

Oh the irony of being a cage fighter and getting your butt beat by the crowd.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mma_ufc/mma-fighter-kicks-ring-girl-gets-jumped-by-angry-mob/ar-AA1nw913?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NSJS&cvid=6ac7b362a1ce4a c5f41be1fdd1352294&ei=20

This woman is impressive

https://www.jordynzimmerman.com/

Non verbal autism is a certified beotch. Talk about resilience!

Just some guys checking out guitars.

<iframe width="793" height="447" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/04nTmj3Z8pI" title="I've Never Heard Anyone Play Like This Before" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is not the pot I knew back in the day...

https://www.livescience.com/new-potent-cannabinoid.html

That is waaay too strong for me.

First she blows on it then...

<iframe width="965" height="543" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O0nSo51o4U4" title="TikToker shares video of fiery kitchen accident so others can learn from her mistake #shorts" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Florida rain deluge
 

19 inches and counting?! Yikes.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article289227194.html

$65K for NVGs?
 

wow
https://gizmodo.com/the-four-eyed-night-vision-goggles-that-helped-take-dow-1654543721

A true badazz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judi_Oyama

<iframe width="781" height="439" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xg1VBNEq3jw" title="Breaking Barriers &amp; Going FAST 💨 Judi Oyama" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

MotoGP class
 

Very nice gestures from two of the top riders

https://www.gpkingdom.it/en/26637/bagnaias-gesture-he-wins-and-goes-to-two-kids-in-the-stands/#:~:text=of%20the%20race.-,Bagnaia%27s%20gesture%3A%20he%20gives%20his%20kne e%20sliders%20to%20two%20kids,modern%20MotoGP%20ha s%20ever%20seen.

https://www.tiktok.com/@tntsports/video/7357464521507753248?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device =pc

The other day I got talking with a guy I met in town and when he said he grew up in Central Nova Scotia, I asked him if he had any Harvey ancestors. Turns out we are about 4th cousins.
Hey! It's Nova Scotia. We're all related. ;)

Best
Les

<iframe width="436" height="245" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eyU6iGjfK1c" title="Ernest P Worrell's Best Commercial Ever!" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here's a pic of me and G'kids in the Adirondacks at a place called the Cobble Mtn overlook. FBII came up with the haiku.

The ADKs are very special to my family. It's where I met their Mom.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1721423150.jpg


OH and in case you're wondering...I had to frequently lean very heavily on FB II's strong arms in order to make it up there.

Another day on the tractor. Now that our hay is in the barn, the rest of the fields have to be mowed to keep the weeds from taking over. Probably a total of 5 hours, but I'll spread it over two or three days. It's times like this I would like a larger tractor and equipment, but the 30 hp New Holland fits into spaces a bigger tractor just couldn't go. Everything is a trade off.

Best
Les

I went to the county fair this past weekend. I think I made a thread on it a couple years ago, I don't feel like dredging it back up. I watched a 4H dog obedience competition. It makes my dogs or maybe me look pretty pathetic. There was a brother and sister in the novice class with a lab that looked like he was maybe about a year old. That was amusing.

I also went back yesterday to watch the some of the horse speed show and the drill team. Always impressive. From 3rd graders walking and barely trotting around the barrels, to high school girls going full out on hot horses. I told my wife she should ask around if any of the girls were going off to college and thinking of selling their horses. We found one, but her mother said they would only sell the horse to another girl in the 4H program. I guess she will keep looking.

Here's the drill team from last year.

<iframe width="1120" height="630" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wwCNoHeM_wk?si=me-zUO1LnC64aFxn" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Five hours to finish the fields! It is to laugh.
Five hours over two days got the biggest field knocked down. Another two hours this morning did the field next to the road. Given the moisture we got this spring, I'm guessing four hours for the last piece. I could have used the mowing machine, it would have been faster, but the Bush cutter breaks up the stalks and helps the material break down faster.
One more field to go.
As I was working the biggest field yesterday, a young fox came across the driveway and stopped by the pasture for a moment or two with the pony and mini donkey just across the fence. He then came into the field for over an hour, hunting mice. Finally left the way he came with his third victim in his jaws. At times he was within 20 feet of the tractor. He figured out where the hunting was good and where he was safe.
Best
Les

I've still got it.

I mentioned before, when we visit the granddaughter, she will run past my wife to hug me first. She will duck under my wife's outstretched arms.

I went with my wife for her riding lesson last night. She wants some photos of her exploits, and it wasn't miserably hot last night so I went along. I went with her to the pasture to catch the horse she was assigned. We're standing about 30 feet apart, more or less side by side, and she's calling out to the horse. He eventually stops grazing and picks his head up, and starts walking over. Wouldn't you know, he walks up to me, not her. I give him a rub on the nose, point to her, and he eventually walks over to her.

I was also impressed with one of the owner's daughters. She's maybe 8 or 9. She went to retrieve another horse for a lesson. Rather than walking him back to the barn, she looped the lead rope, stood him next to the gate, climbed up the gate, jumped on his back and loped him bareback back to the barn.

Propane vs Natural Gas
 

NJ Nat Gas is coming through town laying supply lines everywhere. I thought it was a no brainer for me to hook up but my property is a PITA apparently.

The side of my house where my current service is won't work because of all the decking. They said 'd need to tear up the decking in order to run the line. F sat!

The other side is the driveway but it's a tight clearance to the property line and that's where my water line is so that's a bit problematic too.

IDT think I'm going to be able to do it.

So, now I'm wondering if the presence of nat gas is going to drive up LP prices because they're losing hundreds if not thousands of customers.

Then again maybe I'm over thinking it.

Follow up: Comparing NG to LP I could cut my yearly fuel cost by 40% or a little more going to NG. However, my conversion cost is estimated at approx. $7500. So that's roughly a 10- year payback. There are also other costs involved. I'd need to demolish a portion of a deck and have my driveway trenched as well.

hmmm So I'll be 82 by the time this upgrade pays off. I'm thinking I'll hang on to the 7+K.

What would youse guys do?