B-Man

The 2nd !!!

I have a small 8' x 16' raised bed style garden. Green, yellow and red Bell pepper plants, Jalapenos & Carmens. Cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes. Yellow squash, zucchini squash. Sweet basil because I love the smell and like to cook with it when possible. This is what I picked about about 30 minutes ago: A more recent shot of the plants:

Welcome Ed !! I'm glad you are infected with OCCD and are willing to share that info with your new friends here. Once you get 5 posts or so I believe you can post pictures of your system(s). Please do so - we love audio porn !!

I've always found it interesting when reading about subjects like this. Who is to say where or what is the "best" for anyone other than themselves? How do we define happiness - isn't that an individual measurement too? I've yet to be asked to respond to a poll on how happy my life is? How do they select the audience to ask the questions of? 20,000+ people polled out of a population of billions from 73 countries is not a very good sample size, IMHO. Interestingly enough, the same source posted the results of their Overall Best Countries poll and the US bested both Sweden and Denmark. But, based on these two polls, it appears we should all pack it up and move in with RodH, Balok, Perry and Brian_at_HHH up in the great white Hoser-ville !! Apparently it is THE place to live !!! My sister lives in Sweden near a tiny town (less than 400 people). She has shared amazing photos of the geography, wildlife, Northern Lights, etc. with me over the years. (She moved there in 1997) She will readily tell you about the good things living there - she will also tell you about the bad things living there. Ironically, their healthcare does not seem to work any better for them than ours does here, contrary to what many people want you to believe. Her husband is a Swede and he has traveled in the US extensively. He will tell you both have their good and bad points - but he would prefer to live in the US. Unrelated to the poll but my niece shared with me that many of her schoolmates in Sweden actually believed that shows on MTV like "Pimp My Ride" and "Cribs", along with other shows like "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" and "The Bachelor", were actually representative of life in the USA. 🙄 I can't tell you how embarrassing that is to me... I liken it to cooking - who's to say what the best dish is, or who the best cook is? I've got news for you - NOBODY can fry chicken better than my Mom. I've eaten fried chicken all over the US - none have been anywhere close to being as good as hers. So there !!! 🙂

Another full circle around the sun !!! Enjoy your day !!

What Kevin said !! If the water was clean and you mitigate rust on the steel parts you may not need to do much of anything.

Put a few layers of insulation tape on that large cap, flip it over and shorten those leads. Rotate it to sit in its original position before you tighten the tie wraps in case you need to access any of the components it is currently covering.

This is an interesting subject - it really depends on how you build your system. If you were to go out and purchase new a system that equals or bests the one I'm using today, it would likely stack up like this: Speakers: 60% Amplifiers: 25% Pre-Amp: 5% Other sources and cables: 10% Because I am cheap and like to work on my own stuff I have built my system from mostly used equipment. Amps: Two M1.0ts that I purchased new back in the day (1985) for $400 each. I have upgraded / updated them both myself. Pre-Amp: C-1 from Dennis Miller that I hacked up into a workable unit for my lazy self. Obviously it has been BillD treated, plus all resistors have been replaced with 1% metal film, new rectifiers, new RCAs, remote control, etc. Easily my favorite piece from a sentimental value - it was my first technical contribution to this site. CD player: Oppo 95 that I bought from Mark. @Daddyjt Wonderful component that does multi-duty in my HT and 2 channel set-ups. Tuner: TX-11a from Craiglist that I worked on and made useful again. @kve777 sent me a variable cap in the mail to help get it going again. Speakers: I currently run a set of Polk SDA-SRS 1.2TLs. I got them from @trav0810 for "free - just come get them". I had to spend $500 on tweeters (they were all missing) and making an interconnect cable, Neutrik connectors, etc. Overall I actually have very little cash invested in what I consider to be a decent stereo system. Of course, there's a whole litany of components, speakers, etc. downstairs and in the garage that I need to do something with.

As you pointed out it's a Mastiff trait - be a home body. Go outside, walk to the edge of the road, survey the landscape, pee on EVERYTHING to make sure everyone knows it's your territory. Patrol the property daily, chasing off pesky deer, groundhogs, rabbits, squirrels, the occasional Redtail hawk eating something it caught, etc. Act like you are going to eat anyone who walks by, or drives by too slowly, yet be silent and wag your tail if "Daddy" is with you when someone stops. It is one of the things that made me want one when I was researching dogs traits that would be compatible with my wife and I. Others are they don't require lots of exercise, they are very gentle (for their size anyway) and he is very loving. On the negative side he sheds enough hair every day to make a Chihuahua and the drool when he eats is not for the faint-hearted. 😲 Mastiffs in general can be stubborn but not disobedient - if I raise my voice a bit he immediately complies with the request. Another trait is they want to be with you 24/7/365. It can be good or bad - depends on your personality I guess. He's always in my home office when I am working and it can be annoying when I try to roll my chair back and he has me blocked in. But, on the positive side, he's pretty hard to trip over. 😄 Too many people get a dog because they love how it looks and they ruin their dog's entire life by trying to turn it into something it isn't. I have friends who bought a Blue Tick hound. Anyone who knows them realizes they are made to run and hunt. They can't help it - it's in their DNA. This poor dog is being himself and they spend most of their waking moments telling him to lay down, be quiet, etc. It's very unfair to the dog and it is exacerbated by the fact that he REQUIRES lots of exercise and they don't want to do that. Bored and anxious dogs make poor companions for humans. When he comes to visit I will spend at least 30 minutes throwing a ball for him. He absolutely loves it and he is much more sedate when I bring him inside for a rest. I have 3 acres of yard / woods mixed and he loves to put his nose to work, checking out everything on the property. They said "He is always so calm and sleeps so well after we visit you guys." I shared that he needs exercise to be physically and mentally healthy and the response was that it takes too much time to tire him out. Poor dog - it's like trying to tell a Beagle to be quiet - it ain't happening !! Sorry for the rambling post - I guess you can tell I love dogs. I always have. Amazing creatures that have no capacity for evil.

My Mastiff is the same way. He's not particularly fond of strangers, even less of kids. He wouldn't attack or bite them as a rule but doesn't really like them either. It is exacerbated by the fact that people are very curious / amazed / scared of his sheer size and are drawn to try and touch / pet him. I've seen a few Great Danes that are a little taller but few other dogs carry anywhere near his mass - unless they are obese. His dad was 243 lbs; he hovers around 204 lbs. - and neither are fat at all. His head is massive - it's larger than most humans and, I dare say, more useful !!! This is he and I at the vet's office - he is literally trying to hide behind me. 🙂 He too is a working / herding dog and it shows in his behavior. He is not particularly aggressive but he is absolutely fearless and will not allow anyone or anything to come between me and him - just ask the FedEx man !!!! 😲 He is very intelligent and has amazing instincts with regards to living with humans. Alas, he is getting older (he just turned 9) and I know that tearful, sad day is coming...

Guitarist and founding member of Molly Hatchet... You will be missed !!! Steve Holland Info

Hey - it's our long lost expert RobertR !! Hope all is well. I suppose you are not attending CarverFest this year?

$$$ ????

I'm glad you posted a pic Rich. That fur / hair-do is simply amazing. I can't believe the sheer number of variations in an animal that descended from wolves. What is the intelligence level and temperament like ?

I tried a zinc heavy supplement several years ago - Cold-Eeze. I have found that if I start taking it as soon as the very first symptom of illness befalls me it will literally stop the cold progression in its tracks. It is amazing how well it works for me. I used to fly every week, for years, and I ALWAYS had two boxes of Cold-Eeze in my PC backpack. Every time I felt a cold coming on I would chain eat Cold-Eeze and it would work its magic. FWIW I think the cherry flavor is far better than the lemon. My younger brother reports similar results using Zicam nasal swabs. We both feel the key to success is to catch it early and to treat heavily for at least the first 24 hours or so. Old timers might remember their parents putting a real silver dollar in milk to slow down the spoilage process.