Useless Conversation

[Sir T]

Get a cat.

[Sky]

He's been on guard duty. Can't claw open a wall :) They come into the garage through my otherwise awesome barn door, climb up into the attic. I do need to seal the attic from teh garage one of these years, should cut way down on that. But I live on an edge habitat, so mice, deer, rabbits, etc are part of the life.

[Chimpy]

I just watched a mouse hop down the stairs into my basement and dash under my TV stand.

So I went and grabbed my traps only to find the good one is broken.

Guess I will have to go to the hardware store in the morning.

[Merusk]

Haven't had a mouse in over a year myself. I can't decide if they smell the cats or if they've just gotten clever enough to hide elsewhere. Damn deer ate all of my birdseed for the third time last week though.  Fuckers.

[Sky]

Was up most of the night, the wall is the one between the living and bed rooms. So I might have to not tell the fiancee when I hobble into the garage and lay out some traps...and consider climbing a ladder with one leg...

I gave up on bird feeders. Defeated the squirrels, but the deer clean it out. Edge habitat. And my go-to deer fencing would allow the squirrels to circumvent the collar that keeps them off it. Sucks because it's right in front of my cat's perch and his favorite cat tv.

[Xanthippe]

He's been on guard duty. Can't claw open a wall :) They come into the garage through my otherwise awesome barn door, climb up into the attic. I do need to seal the attic from teh garage one of these years, should cut way down on that. But I live on an edge habitat, so mice, deer, rabbits, etc are part of the life.

Need some motivation?

[MahrinSkel]

My grandparents had a cabin in Montana, really old but solid building (originally a coach house, built from mining timbers and local granite). Every winter the wood rats would find their way in, and the first task every spring was for someone to go out there as soon as the road was passible with traps and poison, maybe a cat.

Couple of years, it was me, the first I took our old tom out with me and just let him do his thing (he was mostly Maine Coon, big, tough, and absolute death incarnate for rodents, he once presented a mostly dead rattlesnake as a trophy to my stepmother). The next time he had passed (got in a fight with a dog pack, not his first but he was old and not quite quick enough anymore). That year was particularly bad, 3 different pairs had moved in and dropped litters, so there were a couple of dozen rats running around. Didn't like using poison, always worried that one of the dogs or cats would get into it or eat a poisoned rat.

Spent three nights chasing rats, wound up bending the rule about not using guns for the task (one year my uncle nearly shot my father) and used a CO2 pellet gun and a hand crossbow. Finally got them all.

No point to this story except that I really hate rats, and miss Scamper. He was better at Cat than any other I've known, "If you can't eat it or screw it, it doesn't exist." Only liked three people his entire life, which pissed off my step brother because it was supposed to be his cat, and he wasn't one of them.

--Dave

[Mandella]

Speaking of cats, I've had some success in using dry cat food as bird food. Yeah, why would I do that? But I've been pissed off at the birds on my porch feeder scratching and shaking the feeder to spill out all the seeds they don't like to get to what they do. It makes a mess on the porch, plus bird seed ain't cheap!

But cat food brings in the Cardinals and they eat every bit of it, and what they might spill the cats get, along with any bird that is brave enough to fly down to the floor.

Circle of life...

[Signe]

Get sunflower seeds.  Just about all the birds love sunflower seeds and you can them cheap.  We have very robust and bossy wildlife here.  The cardinals and squirrels push their wee tiny faces against the windows and patio door to mock my cats. The cardinals live in Rose of Sharon that's in front of the window behind the sofa where the cats like to sleep.   My Lister is terrified of a bossy little cardinal who won't leave him alone and taunts him mercilessly.   I've named her Vinnie. 

You give my kitties wildlife to look at during the day and an empty box in the evening and they're entertained all day long.

[Morat20]

So got home (had a good weekend. While I was gone, rain and tornadoes assaulted my neighborhood. But my friends and I all got away without damage. Hearing a tornado was ripping off house roofs a mile away is disturbing though) and played the "Let's see where the washer leaks" game.

Wall. Drain line is partially clogged. It can drain a speed wash or other small amount of water, but a regular load of laundry? About half drains, the other half spits up. Because of the shape of the wall drain, it JETS out so the wall stays dry. Doesn't quite hit the machines either, so it's just sudden lake on the floor in about 15 seconds.

Lucky I happened to be checking when it happened.

Easy fix though. MUCH nicer than a washer service call.

[rattran]

Used cat litter across the path the mice use works pretty well at keeping them out. Not actual poops and pees, just the used litter with the scent.

The 8 month old kitten is in heat. It's funny, sad, and annoying all at the same time. Our 25 pound neutered male it taking it with seeming dignity.

[Chimpy]

4 meeces caught in less than 24 hours once I put the traps out.

One of them while I was watching tv and could see it messing with the trap.

[01101010]

Used cat litter across the path the mice use works pretty well at keeping them out. Not actual poops and pees, just the used litter with the scent.

The 8 month old kitten is in heat. It's funny, sad, and annoying all at the same time. Our 25 pound neutered male it taking it with seeming dignity.

I had an old girlfriend who had a kitten that started following me around every time I was home, meowing the whole time. Finally caught on what was going on... So I know exactly what you are saying.

[Yegolev]

There is an episode of It's Always Sunny which Sky is now living.

[Sky]

Ooh, I'm on hiatus of my Sunny watch-through. Love that show.

Cast is off, and I now have 6 1/2" pins sticking out of my toe at various angles. We've dubbed it Frankentoe (though I will of course correct my fiancee to call it the monster!). So nice to have some limited walking and standing ability, though bumping it REALLY sucks. Also the pins rub on anything I put over it, which really sucks.

But seriously, fuck that cast. Sucked worse!

[RhyssaFireheart]

Pics of the Frankentoe, pls.  Or it never happened.

Anyways, I have discovered - rather late to the party - the wonders of Pandora.  Mostly because I don't feel like listening to my iPod and also mostly because I can stream through the browser at work, thereby using their bandwidth and not my phone data. 

Anyhow, enjoying listening to JRock/JPop while working.  Now to get a cable extension because I have to take out my earbuds every time I turn around in my chair.

[Viin]

Spotify is way better, if you ask me. I really enjoy listening to whole albums.

[Samwise]

Pandora's great for discovering new music, Spotify's better for listening to known quantities.  I've discovered quite a few bands via Pandora -- just for example, I didn't know Tenacious D existed until "Tribute" showed up in my Pandora mix.

[Hawkbit]

I've been a strong advocate for Rdio for a few years, maybe close to 4 years. I like their service and product over the other companies, but I'm not sure how long they're going to be around. They don't seem to be innovating and there's very little change to the service. Which is great for users, not so great for investors and growth.

[Sky]

I was doing Pandora maybe 10 years ago and it really helped my journey into the blues. So many great recommendations, I'd just upvote every cool tune and look up artists I didn't know, then cross-reference.

And do we really want a picture of wires sticking out of my toe? I mean, I could upload it, but really? It's kinda gruesome.

[Merusk]

Pandora's great for discovering new music, Spotify's better for listening to known quantities.  I've discovered quite a few bands via Pandora -- just for example, I didn't know Tenacious D existed until "Tribute" showed up in my Pandora mix.

Wait.. really? You mean years ago, right?

Spotify's radio stations aren't too bad for discovering new bands either. However I'll agree they didn't seem to have the same variety in the algorithm as Pandora, which is odd since Spotify has so many albums available.

However, I dumped Pandora a bit over a year ago when they announced, "Yes, we're going to go ahead and play the people we pay less to more often." Payola was bad for Radio and reverse payola isn't any better for internet radio or artists.

http://www.npr.org/2014/11/26/366339553/pandoras-new-deal-different-pay-different-play
 

[Sky]

I also dumped them long ago. Fiancee uses Spotify, has an account and a whole social network there, I think. I mostly stick to my Google Play account (I'd have well north of 10k songs if I get off my butt and upload the rest of my stuff, maybe even 20k). More recently Amazon Prime has been good. Not only the Autorip feature (mp3 versions of CDs I buy, yes I still buy CDs), but they're also aggressively expanding the Prime selection of freebs.

My current favorite discovery channel is actually on youtube, for doom/stoner/sabbathy rock: https://www.youtube.com/user/StonedMeadowOfDoom93

He's trying to keep ahead of youtube's crap policy on copyright, most of these niche bands love the exposure and are selling more because of this guy. He's a great curator with informative write-ups about the bands, he recently uploaded a band I almost became bassist of. I should really practice bass and call those guys back, they're sooo good. Anyway, his backup channel while expiring the strike on the main channel is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkqjcQwTNvsxQWT44N6ESrA

[Samwise]

Pandora's great for discovering new music, Spotify's better for listening to known quantities.  I've discovered quite a few bands via Pandora -- just for example, I didn't know Tenacious D existed until "Tribute" showed up in my Pandora mix.

Wait.. really? You mean years ago, right?

Yeah, this is waaaay back, might have even been before the Music Genome Project had the "Pandora" branding.

[HaemishM]

My problem with Pandora is that I hate listening to radio format (where the artist changes by the song). I listen to entire albums, not singles. My Spotify account is chock full of playlists of entire albums. I've discovered a lot of bands just by hearing their name, pulling up their discography and just making a playlist of every album, then listening to albums in order. I'm kind of OCD about the way I experience creative content - I like listening in the order of creation (so I can see the artists evolution) and listening to as much of it as I can.

My wife, OTOH, sometimes won't even finish listening to a song before playing a different one. Drives me fucking nuts.

[ezrast]

I'm similarly incapable of liking just one track. When I discover a song I enjoy, I put its album into a temporary Spotify playlist. Once I get around to listening to it, either the whole album graduates to my real playlist or none of it does.

For general listening I usually choose 2-4 albums that match my mood and shuffle them together. If I don't get to finish the playlist I experience a terrible lack of closure.

EPs ruin everything.

[Bunk]

And do we really want a picture of wires sticking out of my toe? I mean, I could upload it, but really? It's kinda gruesome.

Not me. If you do post it, please spoiler the shit out of it. Not a big fan of medical anything pictures. I am the poster boy for passing out at the sight of other peoples blood and not afraid to admit it. My own injuries have never bothered me though, oddly.

[MahrinSkel]

I just can't listen to an entire album by the same artist unless they show a lot more breadth than most. By the third track, the progression of notes is so predictable it is actually annoying, like it's rubbing spots on my brain repeatedly until they chafe.

Which is pretty much the reason why I can't stand modern Country. I liked Outlaw Country back in the day, but if I want to hear that sound, I can listen to old Waylon, Cash, etc. They literally haven't done anything but randomize lyrics for the last 30 years.

--Dave

[Yegolev]

Wife listens to the first 45 seconds of every song.  Insists it is not indicative of severe mental disturbance.

[Selby]

More recently Amazon Prime has been good. Not only the Autorip feature (mp3 versions of CDs I buy, yes I still buy CDs), but they're also aggressively expanding the Prime selection of freebs.

My main gripe is when I rip an album, I want all of the songs to be the same audio volume as the CD.  The last few albums I've bought and chosen the Autorip feature have had half the songs on an older "original" master recording and the rest the "remastered" version resulting in jarring volumes and tones between songs.  That drives me crazy.  That's why I still buy CDs and just rip them the old fashioned way.  Load it on the iPod and be done with it.  25k songs can't be wrong, even if it's getting a bit stale after 20 years...

[Trippy]

Use mp3gain (or aacgain) to fix.

[Selby]

That sometimes just washes things out & makes it worse ;-)

[Lantyssa]

And do we really want a picture of wires sticking out of my toe? I mean, I could upload it, but really? It's kinda gruesome.

I can do without, mainly because I've seen what it looks like in my own toe.  Looking at it didn't bother me, but it sure could freak the hell out of my friends.

Only being able to take baths sucked, especially since it was my right foot and that put my back against the spigot in a tub I was already too tall for.

[Rasix]

Which god do I have to pray to in order to make my required Java version work with my SAN management software? Besides groveling in front of the Alter of Install-A-VM.

This shit should not be this hard. 

[Merusk]

Ganesh might help.

[Yegolev]

Which god do I have to pray to in order to make my required Java version work with my SAN management software? Besides groveling in front of the Alter of Install-A-VM.

This shit should not be this hard. 

I'd say "Welcome to IBM" except that would be weird.  Although I suppose I don't have the depth of experience with other vendors to say if they are also locked in to some specific JDK version which hopefully you archived the installation file of.  I'm thinking of the V7000 storage array which I sort of remember required specifically 1.7.0.11 or else you would have a bad day.