analog_kidd

My bees had a rough year this year. The hive that I bought a new queen for, must have rejected her. I had checked on it a few weeks after putting her in, and there was no sign of babies being made, there were very few bees, and there was a nasty wax moth infestation beginning. Wax moths will absolutely destroy your hive. This particular hive had a ton of honey in it, and the wax moths bored thru the comb and all that honey dripped right out the bottom of the hive. Unfortunately That hive did not make it and I had to take it apart. My oldest hive, however, finally got around to making some honey. This one swarms every year, and so the remaining bees waste a lot of time building back resources. They never seem to be able to make extra honey. Well this year they did. Out of about the 5 frames they filled, I was able to harvest about 12 jars of honey from them this weekend. It's not a lot, but I'm just so glad to see any kind of return on my investment and work.

It's funny, last time there was a major upgrade, it changed the way TGO looked. I thought to myself, I'll never get used to this. Now I can't even recall what changed.

I knew a couple that had an unexpected third child, and they named it Lastun, because it was the last 'un they were gonna have. I think the kid goes by his middle name.

Several decades ago, when I was still a young teenager, my grandfather had a place in Murphy, NC. He was quite the woodworking craftsman himself, but also knew many other talented folks. One of those people was a several generation descendant of Davey Crockett. He would hand make replicas of Betsy and sell them to folks. He said you could put your name on the list, and when your name came up, how ever long that took (could be years), he would call you and let you know your gun was ready. If you no longer wanted it, no hard feelings, he would call the next name on the list. It was a long list. It's been so long ago, I don't recall too much about the guns, but I recall him being a very interesting guy. Of course he had a lot of family history regarding Crockett.

This song got played on my Amazon Echo the other day and I thought it was interesting. Never heard it before.

We have an Echo in the kitchen, and it is very handy. IT's how we make shopping lists now. We just say add XYZ to shopping list. When my wife does the shopping, everything we both need is right there on her phone in the Alexa app. We also find it very useful for setting cooking timers, or asking the occasional random question. Plus, we play music from it all the time, and it sounds really good. There's probably a million things we could use it for that we aren't. They are always adding new features, and it's hard to keep up. My wife didn't want one either. She is creeped out by it listening all the time, and she thinks that "they" could be recording us. Ours was a Christmas gift from my son, so we had to set it up. Once she got used to having it around, she uses it all the time.

Well, I experienced a lot of disappointment on Prime Day. There were two different items I wanted, and I wanted them in quantity of two or three. Amazon would only let me buy one each at the sale price. Any more than that had to be bought at full price. I'm sure they did that to make sure there was plenty to go around, but there were cheaper options available in different brands for the additional, full priced items, so it didn't make sense for me to buy the sale item. In another case, I was watching a CamelBack daypack. I got an alert the deal was starting in ten minutes. I sat down at my PC and killed time on TGO for 11 minutes, went back to Amazon and the deal had sold out. Prime Day is great if you love Chinese knock-offs of weird stuff. Mostly it feels like Amazon is having a yard sale of the crap that does not sell. I had my wish list full of quality, name brand items that I added over the last week or so. Not a single one showed up in the sale. I did pick up one of their 8" tablets for $50. For that price, the thing is a steal. I already have one of their 8" and a couple of their 7" tablets. Used to be able to root the 7" ones and load stock Android on them. They have all their tablets locked down now, so that can't be done anymore. Still, for $50 you get a solid tablet that is great for web browsing and email checking, and can even stream video well enough.

I just went to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Actually I saw it twice. My wife, grandson and I all loved the 1st movie, and we told him he was not to see the 2nd movie without us. He and his folks moved out of state a while back, and so just me and the wife went to see it. The grandkids unexpectedly got to come spend a week with us last week, so I had to pretend like I never saw it I really enjoyed the movie, and will watch it again when it comes out on video.

Try Melatonin, its a dietary supplement found in the vitamin aisle. It doesn't make you sleepy, but it will help your brain to flip over to fall asleep mode. Told a friend about it a few weeks ago for his wife, and she said it changed her life.

I wouldn't mind a booth with quality cigars / pipes for sale. Combined with @1Fast4By's Whiskey booth, we could keep the ATF really nervous.

In years past, I don't recall there being gates anywhere except the concert area. I don't think anyone will be giving anyone a second look except for that area. Plus, as has already been noted, it's perfectly legal with your permit. The City is probably just trying to make people think twice before carrying.

My dad called and said that in Crossville they had "tornado warning - seek shelter immediately" alerts come over their cell phones, and there were reports of apple-sized hail. They faired out OK though.

I for one, really miss the politics section. It was usually the first forum I visited, followed by General Chat. I know this is a gun forum, but those are my two favorite forums. I think part of that is, because this is a gun forum, most of us are like-minded and share the same interests. I just like hanging out with a bunch of other guys that for the most part, think like I think, and like what I like. Sure, there were some posts that I didn't like, or agree with, but I have thick skin and realize people have differing opinions, and I can respect that, as long as others can respect my opinions too. I actually like the discourse, as it gives me a peek into the way other people might think, and gives me a different perspective on an issue. It probably won't change my belief, but at least I can get an insight as to why someone might think that way. One of the trends happening now all over America is, if someone doesn't like what you have to say, then they shut you down. In a way this feels a bit like that. That forum was a great place to vent. I am a conservative that lives in a world of liberals. My work is filled with them, my main hobby is filled with them, and my family is all liberal, so I generally just keep quiet around them all. For me, the forum was a good outlet. I really like the idea of a politics section not showing up in the new posts feed, but think making it a paid members only section will limit differing points of view.

I had one of my honeybee hives swarm last month. When that happens, the queen permanently leaves the hive. They had lots of replacement queens growing, so I was sure they would be OK. A month and a half later I now see there is no queen in the hive. Don't know what happend to the new-born queen. When several are born, usually one becomes the reigning queen and the rest are killed or evicted. The new queen will leave the hive for a few days to mate, maybe she couldn't find her way back, or she got eaten by a bird. They can make a new queen, but it has to be from an egg that is only a few days old. Since there has been no queen for weeks, there was no viable eggs to use to make a new queen. So, I had to order a new queen to put into the hive. I have never done that before, so it was a new experience. The bee and a few attendants came in a hollowed out block of wood, and was just shipped in the mail. The post office called and said I had to pick them up. Not sure why they couldn't come the rest of the way, but whatever. Here is how they came in the mail, and the bees checking her out after I put her on the hive.

When a hive decides to swarm, the queen and about half of the bees in the hive will swarm and gather in a tree. First they gorge on honey because it may be a while till they get established again. So, half of your bees, and a good portion of your honey just fly away. This is why they are docile in a swarm... they have nothing really to defend, so why bother. Stinging someone is a death sentence for the bee. When they gather like that, they will send out scout bees to look for a new home. Each scout will return and give a report of the new place they discovered. Somehow they all decide which one to use, communicate where it is, and all at once they ALL fly straight to the new home. Bees amaze me

I've got the exact same problem. There is a cardinal that pecks on my windows ALL DAY LONG. It starts at sunrise, and quits at dusk. I'm surprised it hasn't injured itself yet. It pecks on the sunroom for a while, then heads around back and pecks on the back room windows, then goes to the side of the house and pecks on the side room windows. It will land near the window, then fly at it in attack mode, wrestle with itself for a moment, then land again. Repeat that over and over and over. I'm sure it's going after it's reflection, but we have waaay too many windows to try and cover them up with anything.

My dad installed a transfer switch next to his breaker panel to be used with a generator. He picked a few circuits (refrigerator, lights, etc.) and connected them to the switch. If the electric goes out, he fires up the generator, and transfers those couple circuits over to it as a source. When the power comes back, he switches it back to the utility source. You could just as easily use solar panels as the source, and transfer back to the utilities if you ever needed to.

I've often wondered if someone was to make up official looking bills, with items like "meter box attachment space rental" or "meter reader site access fee", and send them to the utility companies, would they pay them?

We have a little over 5 acres that we keep about 2 mowed all the time, 2 on a slope that we mow a few times a year, and one that God takes care of. We have a zero-turn mower and it works generally well. I cuss every time I have to mow the sloped field. The front wheels are free turning, and not used for steering in any way, shape or form. All of the steering is done by positively accelerating the left or right rear wheels. When you get going down the hill, and get close to the bottom, if you have any speed at all, you won't be able to make the turn. I have run my mower into the fence at the bottom of the hill so many times because I couldn't stop or turn quick enough. For that reason alone I wish I had a tractor style mower. I keep talking about buying a small, one-family tractor with a mower and tiller attachment. The previous owners had one. For now, the zero-turn does mostly what I need, as long as I know it's limitations. We also bought one of those small lawn carts to pull behind it. It is so nice to use that to haul dropped sticks & branches, or potting soil, or whatever. The other thing that has been incredibly useful (and fun) is a used ATV. The very back of the property, down the long, steep hill, is the shooting range / camp ground. Using the ATV to haul gear and butts up and down that hill has been a life-saver. Although the mower and cart combination worked well for carrying gear too, just not people.

I always tell people, if at all possible, try not to live West of where you work. Otherwise, you will be driving into the sun twice a day. 5 or 6 acres is nice if it's not all cleared. Trust me, mowing that much land every week gets old. You will need to dedicate an entire afternoon to it. Do you have a riding mower? You'll need one, or a small tractor. Pay close attention to your potential neighbors, and the neighborhood. You meet all kinds of people out in the country. Try to see if they are your kind of people. Are you really willing to not see neighbors every day? That was a big thing for my stay at home wife who didn't want to be a recluse. Think about what you want to get out of life by living in the country, and then make sure the properties you look at support those things. Is there a place for a garden? Can you shoot there? Is there a good place to shoot with a backstop? Is there a place for a barn, or a chicken coop. Check out the availability of Internet. Having to use a satellite dish for internet sucks. Be sure to check your cell signal when you visit a place. We ended up having to change providers because Verizon's signal was so poor here. How close is a store, gas station, hospital. As you get older, the last one may be pretty important. Where is the closest fire station, or ambulance. Overall, living in the country is amazing, if that is what you like. The peace and quiet is awesome. You'll see and hear wild life. You can see the stars at night. Good luck in your search.

I like this idea a lot. In fact we could make it a TGO team effort. Everyone offers a suggested response, then the OP picks the one he likes best and replies, then posts their response.

Perhaps tell them you would rather have payment sent to you in the form of an Amazon gift card, or one of those Visa pre-payed. IF you actually get one, check the balance and cash it or convert it to another card that they don't have the number to. It really sounds like a scam and I believe you'll never hear from them again if you do this.

I've been keeping bees for about three years now. They are fascinating creatures and I'm always learning something new about them. I think you may have supered too early. Generally, you want to let the bees draw out comb one box at a time. The super goes on after the two deeps are fully drawn out. The bees have an interesting way of laying out their colony. Think of it like a bulls-eye. The queen will lay brood in the center, then the workers will put pollen around the brood, and then honey around the pollen. This bulls-eye usually spans between the two hive bodies. For some reason, the queen usually won't cross the honey boundary. If you put a super on now, they will just span all three boxes and you'll end up with brood and pollen in the box that you want to collect honey in. If nothing else, get a queen excluder and put it on between the deep and the medium. That'll at least keep brood out of the medium. Usually the first year is spent building the colony, and you probably won't get to rob any honey. I always say the first two deeps are their's, the rest belongs to me. But the whole point of them working so hard and making honey is to be able to eat though the winter, so you need to be sure that the two deeps are full up. Once they are squared away, you can start to think about your own honey. I would recommend getting into a bee keepers association, you will learn so much from attending the meetings, and talking with people. I am in the Anderson County Bee Keepers Association, and we meet in Clinton. That's a bit of a haul for you, but I think there is a Roane / Morgan county one too. I couldn't find any info for them other than an email address. Try to find an experienced "Bee-Buddy" that you can call on to help out and ask questions of. Our club is chock full of really experienced folk, and every meeting is spent telling everyone what they should be doing the coming month, and giving lessons on something bee related. Good luck

The Ecobee thermostat is probably next on my list. Although, one feature of the Nest I really like it the ability to link it to their smoke detector. If the smoke detector goes off, the A/C will shut off. That could sway me when I actually go to buy it. I've had two rooms on smart switches for a few months now, and I really like it. It's taken some getting used to the feel of the switches. Mine all sit in a center position, and you click it up or down to use it, but it always returns to the center. It just has a different feel than any switch I've used all my life. I have a couple of routines set up for them. One is to turn them all off at 10:15 PM, which is generally after we've gone to bed. This ensures I haven't forgotten to turn off any lights downstairs where those two rooms are. The 2nd routine is to turn the lights on if either of us arrive to the house after sunset. It's pretty cool to be pulling into the driveway and see the lights all come on. I also have them linked to my Amazon Echo, so I can turn them on / off, or set a dimmer level by voice. And I can use a tablet or phone to do the same. I've been thinking about dedicating an old tablet to use as a SmartTiles command center. It will be more useful the more devices I have. Another project that I have in mind, that would fit nicely on a SmartTiles interface, is one where I take a Raspberry Pi and add a driveway camera (we have a poor view of the driveway from the house) and an outdoor thermometer. Those two things could be added as tiles, plus any switches, locks and the thermostat, for one nice location to monitor everything in the home.

A year or so ago the wife and I planned on renting a car. She found a good price, but we had to go to the airport. We make the 40 minute ride, and she goes in to get the car. A few minutes later, she comes back out and I can see in her face she is not happy (I've seen this look before - don't ask). She tells me they need to see a utility bill to complete the rental. I said, you must have misunderstood, and I say I'll go in and straighten this right out. I go in and the lady at the counter is being extremely pleasant to the handsome guy in line, and I think, OK it was definitely a misunderstanding. I'm next and I smile at the lady and say I'm here to pick up the car, adn that she had just spoke to my wife, who clearly misunderstood her. She tells me that she was clear, and that they need to see a utility bill, or mortgage statement with my address and name on it. I ask why and she says that "local people" are more likely to keep the car, and they need assurance of where to go look for me if I do. I said I have a drivers license and other forms of ID with my picture and address. "Nope not good enough. You could have moved recently". I tell here that this requirement was nowhere to be found anywhere on the website. She points at a piece of paper on the counter behind her and says "well, it's clearly printed out right there". I tell her I'm not driving all the way home to get a GD utility bill, and I want to talk to the manager. She says "No, you can't talk to him". I ask why and she says "Because I'm not going to call him". She then tells me that if I had a copy of my latest pay stub, that would work too, like people just carry those around. I think to myself, I found a loophole because my company emails our paystubs, we don't ever get a hardcopy. I tell her hang on, and pull up GMail on my phone open the paystub email and point it to her face. She says "that's not good enough, it has to be printed out". I said, "are you kidding me? you mean I can go to the hotel next door and print this very copy out and you would take that, but you can't just look at my phone and verify?" She said "Yep". And to make things worse, she said that with an evil little smile. At this point I'm so mad that I knew if I didn't leave right then I was gonna lose my cool. So I stomp off. I go back out to the car and the wife is still fuming, and I'm even madder. After bitching about it for a moment, I call the company HQ, and they inform me that this is the policy of some local franchises, and they back them up. Nothing I can do but go home and get a bill. So I hang up, and get back on Google and look up the number of another rental car company. I speak to someone and ask them what documentation do I need to rent a car? They tell me I only need a drivers license and a credit card. I ask about a utility bill and they say, "No, why would you need a bill?" I say Hold on, I'll be right there. Ended up getting a car at the counter right next to the one that gave me grief, and got a better deal. Of course I made sure to wave, holding the keys, at the "lady" behind the first counter on my way out. The icing on the cake was when I finally got back to the wife and our car an hour and a half after we first arrived, I realized we had left the headlights on and our battery had died, so the car wouldn't start.