Things That Stick In Your Craw

gator wrote:

Rube, After being in the apartment caretaking business for over 20 years, that’s very reasonable. Especially in the area you rent. Just curious, is the fire place wood?

Yep, straight up fireplace, hence me not using it. If it were that gas/etc fireplace, I’d light it up every winter night. I started out at $825/mo rent. I see the rents around here now? JFC. I’d even think about buying a house. $1500+ for a 1BR? $3500 for a 3BR? Hell no.

that’s a steal these days especially down by you.

With rates going up a bunch maybe prices will finally level off a bit.  My next door neighbor sold his place for $475k last summer and just last week a house right around the corner had 7 or 8 offers on a $550k list price.  I heard he turned down one that was over $600k because of the terms but these are mid 80s homes on the Far East side of Plymouth.

gator wrote:

Rube, After being in the apartment caretaking business for over 20 years, that’s very reasonable. Especially in the area you rent. Just curious, is the fire place wood?

Yep, straight up fireplace, hence me not using it. If it were that gas/etc fireplace, I’d light it up every winter night. I started out at $825/mo rent. I see the rents around here now? JFC. I’d even think about buying a house. $1500+ for a 1BR? $3500 for a 3BR? Hell no.

Heres my decorator tip for fireplaces like yours: pile in a bunch of white pillar candles.  You can even use the fake ones that have the life like flickering flame.  Use at least 5, different heights.  I used to rent an older apartment that had a small fireplace that they had sealed off for safety reasons.  But it still dominated the living area, candles were allowed.  It looks like a fire, you get the cozy glow.  If drippy wax is a concern, arrange all the candles on a metal tray.

My ducks are gone.

We live on a rather large pond.  After a winter without activity on the pond, I enjoy spring as it brings about the ducks, geese, herons, and even swans.  We actually have a surprisingly wide variety of ducks for a city pond.  However I've noticed the last couple of days that I have seen exactly zero ducks, geese, herons or swans.  While I understand we may have some sitting on nests this time of year, we usually have plenty of activity as one of the two parents can't be on the nest and they need to eat.

I know we have a bird flu going around.  Is it possible the flu is hitting the water fowl this hard?  Has anyone else seen a decline in ducks/geese?

Interesting that you bring this up. One of the clinics I work at has a pond and wooded area. I've always seen ducks, geese, herons, and swans on the pond or around the shoreline.  This year I haven't seen one.  In the past it was fun watching the geese and both parents guard the nest and once they hatch watch them grow up all spring and summer following their parents around.

I know next to zero about ducks/geese/etc. but could the crappy April have had any effect?

My ducks are gone. We live on a rather large pond. After a winter without activity on the pond, I enjoy spring as it brings about the ducks, geese, herons, and even swans. We actually have a surprisingly wide variety of ducks for a city pond. However I’ve noticed the last couple of days that I have seen exactly zero ducks, geese, herons or swans. While I understand we may have some sitting on nests this time of year, we usually have plenty of activity as one of the two parents can’t be on the nest and they need to eat. I know we have a bird flu going around. Is it possible the flu is hitting the water fowl this hard? Has anyone else seen a decline in ducks/geese?

Pretty sure the news said migrating waterfowl are the primary spreader of bird flu.

In my travels around Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota over the last couple of weeks I've seen big numbers of all types of waterfowl all over the place in the country.  Here in Mankato the usual clusters of geese are in town, I don't usually see any ducks in town but I've seen them all around Mankato in the country ponds and drainage ditches per usual.

Bertogliat wrote:

My ducks are gone. We live on a rather large pond. After a winter without activity on the pond, I enjoy spring as it brings about the ducks, geese, herons, and even swans. We actually have a surprisingly wide variety of ducks for a city pond. However I’ve noticed the last couple of days that I have seen exactly zero ducks, geese, herons or swans. While I understand we may have some sitting on nests this time of year, we usually have plenty of activity as one of the two parents can’t be on the nest and they need to eat. I know we have a bird flu going around. Is it possible the flu is hitting the water fowl this hard? Has anyone else seen a decline in ducks/geese?

Pretty sure the news said migrating waterfowl are the primary spreader of bird flu.

I wasn’t expecting a mass die off.  I know the flu is hitting the birds, but does that mean they all die?

In my travels around Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota over the last couple of weeks I’ve seen big numbers of all types of waterfowl all over the place in the country. Here in Mankato the usual clusters of geese are in town, I don’t usually see any ducks in town but I’ve seen them all around Mankato in the country ponds and drainage ditches per usual.

Are they older ducks?  Mankato recruits are old fowl from what I've heard.

Norm wrote:

Bertogliat wrote:

My ducks are gone. We live on a rather large pond. After a winter without activity on the pond, I enjoy spring as it brings about the ducks, geese, herons, and even swans. We actually have a surprisingly wide variety of ducks for a city pond. However I’ve noticed the last couple of days that I have seen exactly zero ducks, geese, herons or swans. While I understand we may have some sitting on nests this time of year, we usually have plenty of activity as one of the two parents can’t be on the nest and they need to eat. I know we have a bird flu going around. Is it possible the flu is hitting the water fowl this hard? Has anyone else seen a decline in ducks/geese?

Pretty sure the news said migrating waterfowl are the primary spreader of bird flu.

I wasn’t expecting a mass die off. I know the flu is hitting the birds, but does that mean they all die?

I think the fatality rate is around 60%.

“Yeah this beat goes on

And on, and on, and on”

- The Kings

Loserville, USA

Five times even advancing in the playoffs in 17 years. Zero championship appearances in more than 30 years.

Are 1/5 in 17 yrs. the Tpups this year?!?!?!

Are 1/5 in 17 yrs. the Tpups this year?!?!?!

No, a play in game is not an advancement worthy of being remembered

LoL...

gator wrote:

Are 1/5 in 17 yrs. the Tpups this year?!?!?!

No, a play in game is not an advancement worthy of being remembered

I saw a Tshirt that said "Timberwolves, 2022 play-in champion"

More misery with stats…

I saw a Tshirt that said “Timberwolves, 2022 play-in champion”

Back in 2017 fans were buying shirts for the one game Wild Card game that the Twins hosted vs. Yankees and lost.

It's not going to change any time soon. Kaprisov is about to get effed by the salary cap problems.

More misery with stats…

The Twins stat is something amazing.  Five straight playoff sweeps.

The Twins stat is something amazing. Five straight playoff sweeps.

Twins 25-45 in 14 Post Seasons.  And 16-8 of that was in the 2 World Series Champions seasons going 8-4 both seasons.  9-37 in the 12 non World Series Champions Post Seasons. Swept in 8 of 17 Post Season series...

Bertogliat wrote:

The Twins stat is something amazing. Five straight playoff sweeps.

9-37 in the 12 non World Series Champions Post Seasons.

And three of those wins came in '65, when they took the Dodgers to 7 games.

So, not counting the three seasons they went to the Series, they are 6-33 in the post season.

Norm wrote:

Bertogliat wrote:

My ducks are gone. We live on a rather large pond. After a winter without activity on the pond, I enjoy spring as it brings about the ducks, geese, herons, and even swans. We actually have a surprisingly wide variety of ducks for a city pond. However I’ve noticed the last couple of days that I have seen exactly zero ducks, geese, herons or swans. While I understand we may have some sitting on nests this time of year, we usually have plenty of activity as one of the two parents can’t be on the nest and they need to eat. I know we have a bird flu going around. Is it possible the flu is hitting the water fowl this hard? Has anyone else seen a decline in ducks/geese?

Pretty sure the news said migrating waterfowl are the primary spreader of bird flu.

I wasn’t expecting a mass die off. I know the flu is hitting the birds, but does that mean they all die?

FWIW we have a pond in our backyard in the burbs and we've had a "normal" amount of ducks and geese this year.  Maybe even more ducks than normal.  Had a few migrating ducks like mergansers too.

The roundabouts on Main St. in New Prague… SUCK. Poorly marked and designed. They would really suck at night if you’re not familiar with the area.

Bikers that are not self-aware.  Biker pops up out of blind spot to bike across a crosswalk.  I slam on my brakes to avoid hitting them and they shake their head at me.  How about an "oops, I should stop and look before I enter the roadway since I'm on a bike and if a car hits me I'll get hurt or die"???

The roundabouts on Main St. in New Prague… SUCK. Poorly marked and designed. They would really suck at night if you’re not familiar with the area.

Are they worse than most other roundabouts?  I don't mind roundabouts in general.

Are they worse than most other roundabouts? I don’t mind roundabouts in general.

Yes they are poorly designed as in the roundabout is as generic as it gets.  The roundabout is the same pavement as the street.  And there is no landscaping in the center of the roundabout.  All roundabouts I have seen have grass, a mound or some kind of landscaping in the center.  These two roundabouts had no street paint marking if I recall.  My wife was driving and I was shotgun, but I was paying attention for the most part and was making comments to my wife about it.

Idontknow wrote:

Are they worse than most other roundabouts? I don’t mind roundabouts in general.

Yes they are poorly designed as in the roundabout is as generic as it gets. The roundabout is the same pavement as the street. And there is no landscaping in the center of the roundabout. All roundabouts I have seen have grass, a mound or some kind of landscaping in the center. These two roundabouts had no street paint marking if I recall. My wife was driving and I was shotgun, but I was paying attention for the most part and was making comments to my wife about it.

you need landscaping and different pavement?

you need landscaping and different pavement?

Along with being poorly marked it’ll catch you by surprise if you are not familiar with the area and especially at night.

Bertogliat wrote:

you need landscaping and different pavement?

Along with being poorly marked it’ll catch you by surprise if you are not familiar with the area and especially at night.

They put in roundabouts on Cedar Lake Rd between Hopkins/SLP, and I agree, if you don't know the area, it throws you for a loop. Landscaping helps quite a bit, I must say. We're in the land of 4-way stops. It's a major change in traffic flow. Takes some getting used to.

gator wrote:

Bertogliat wrote:

you need landscaping and different pavement?

Along with being poorly marked it’ll catch you by surprise if you are not familiar with the area and especially at night.

They put in roundabouts on Cedar Lake Rd between Hopkins/SLP, and I agree, if you don’t know the area, it throws you for a loop.

That’s kinda what they do by design….

The Rube wrote:

gator wrote:

Bertogliat wrote:

you need landscaping and different pavement?

Along with being poorly marked it’ll catch you by surprise if you are not familiar with the area and especially at night.

They put in roundabouts on Cedar Lake Rd between Hopkins/SLP, and I agree, if you don’t know the area, it throws you for a loop.

That’s kinda what they do by design….

LOL, I see what you did there. That pun was very much unintended.

I hate the roundabouts that have a bunch of crap in the middle of them. Makes it more difficult to see if a vehicle is coming. As long as there's decent signage leading up to them, I'm all for them in most cases.

I hate the roundabouts that have a bunch of crap in the middle of them. Makes it more difficult to see if a vehicle is coming. As long as there’s decent signage leading up to them, I’m all for them in most cases.

I drive through one without stuff in the middle on my way to work and had a good laugh a couple months ago when I watched someone take the curb on full speed.  This particular one has a full size curb leading into the curve.  I guess the person didn't realize it was a roundabout.

I drive through one without stuff in the middle on my way to work and had a good laugh a couple months ago when I watched someone take the curb on full speed. This particular one has a full size curb leading into the curve. I guess the person didn’t realize it was a roundabout.

"Nothing to be proud of Russ......50 yards!....." 

I drive through one without stuff in the middle on my way to work and had a good laugh a couple months ago when I watched someone take the curb on full speed. This particular one has a full size curb leading into the curve. I guess the person didn’t realize it was a roundabout.

In high school my best friend and I would drive across people's lawns and whatever was not meant to drive across after a fresh snow fall.  We did my grandma's lawn all the time just to irritate her. And one time we were dragging Main (small town America) and we saw another buddies younger sister and stopped to talk to her.  She was with a friend of hers and the friend told us her dad was looking for us cause we drove across his lawn a couple times after snow falls.  We weren't the brightest guys around. We had two of the most noticeable vehicles in town... A two green '79 Ford truck and a powder blue Chev. El Camino or Ford Ranchero (can't remember exactly... it's been nearly 30 years and it wasn't mine).

My stupid, stupid back. It has been giving me issues for nearly a decade, with incidents becoming increasingly frequent and severe the last couple years. Went out so bad about a month ago that the spasms would literally make me fall to the floor screaming in pain. Just blinding pain that turned my legs to jelly. It calmed down after a week in bed, prednisone and muscle relaxers. It has been stiff/sore 75% off the time since, and somewhere in between the other 25%. Finally saw an orthopedist today (they're real busy) and got an MRI scheduled tomorrow, and they're getting some PT set up somewhere nearby starting soon. I really hope I can get to the bottom of this soon.

My stupid, stupid back. It has been giving me issues for nearly a decade, with incidents becoming increasingly frequent and severe the last couple years. Went out so bad about a month ago that the spasms would literally make me fall to the floor screaming in pain. Just blinding pain that turned my legs to jelly. It calmed down after a week in bed, prednisone and muscle relaxers. It has been stiff/sore 75% off the time since, and somewhere in between the other 25%. Finally saw an orthopedist today (they’re real busy) and got an MRI scheduled tomorrow, and they’re getting some PT set up somewhere nearby starting soon. I really hope I can get to the bottom of this soon.

You cannot mess with your back. I've had problems my entire life, thankfully it's been rare, but when it flares up? Good God. Unfortunately, my issues are not fixable at this stage in life. C'est la vie.

Yep... I messed my back up the first week of March.  Happened a Friday afternoon at work right before I left.  I really didn't realize it unitil Saturday morning.  I could barely move.  Found a chiropractor open on a Saturday and by evening time, I could not walk.  I could not walk all Sunday and very little with crutches on Monday.  By Tuesday I could move and had crutches just in case.  It was not fun.

I’ve had back spasms since I was about 16.  Though they have luckily become less frequent.  I haven’t had one in 6-7 years. But they are totally debilitating.  One of my biggest fears is having to take a dump during a back spasm.  Just sitting is unbearable pain.  How can you wipe?

I’ve called the Dr in the past to ask for a muscle relaxer just so I can get into the Dr office and they wouldn’t prescribe it over the phone.  There was no chance I could handle a car ride in that much pain.

Man I feel for ya'll with back problems and am thankful every day I have not (knock on wood) experienced back issues.

Man I feel for ya’ll with back problems and am thankful every day I have not (knock on wood) experienced back issues.

It's not a fun thing. I can tell if I'm having a bad day when my head gets bumped when I get into my vehicle. My back is too stiff and not bendy enough. 😉

I remember pulling a groin muscle a day after an intense workout a few years back.  It was so inflamed that it brushed the sciatic nerve and I had to try and drive home 400 miles in that condition.   It was completely unbearable for 3 days and I'd still take having that all over again rather than have back problems.

Man I feel for ya’ll with back problems and am thankful every day I have not (knock on wood) experienced back issues.

I know mine is 90% from all the years of beer vending at the Dome, Target Field, TCF and USB.  All those steps hauling beer and ice. The money was beyond great, but long term effects is going to suck. It wouldn't surprise if I have to get a new hip.

I remember pulling a groin muscle a day after an intense workout a few years back. It was so inflamed that it brushed the sciatic nerve and I had to try and drive home 400 miles in that condition. It was completely unbearable for 3 days and I’d still take having that all over again rather than have back problems.

SCIATIC? I'd rather have that, also. A co-worker of mine had a bad case. Took him out for a couple months. And I STILL would take that.

I remember pulling a groin muscle a day after an intense workout a few years back. It was so inflamed that it brushed the sciatic nerve and I had to try and drive home 400 miles in that condition. It was completely unbearable for 3 days and I’d still take having that all over again rather than have back problems.

"I said a groiin injury a gr- gr- groin injury!"

Buying a new car and then get minor hail damage 6 hours later.

Buying a new car and then get minor hail damage 6 hours later.

OUCH!!!

Buying a new car and then get minor hail damage 6 hours later.

Back in 2001 I bought a brand new Ford Ranger… 13 miles on it and it hailed that night. Lucky for me no damage.