Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: MightyGiants on February 07, 2025, 02:17:19 PMThe other week on my Saturday walk, there wasn't a tree within a hundred yards of me, and some bird xxxx on me 

That's a sign of good luck. Or... birds just hate you. Watch out for crows stalking you. They swarm.

Quote from: MightyGiants on February 07, 2025, 11:12:36 AMI struggled when I tried this.  The normal respiration rate for an adult is 12 to 20 breaths a minute.  When you add up the three legs, that's nearly 20 seconds (19 actually), which works out to 3 breaths a minute.  That's way too slow for me

I know what you mean and it takes a little getting used to. The key is breathing very deeply on the four seconds part. You need to really fill up with oxygen on that part. The deep breathing itself is part of the relaxation process. I find that it's just enough time without feeling strained. It definitely works for me, although it took a few nights of practice before I felt like I got it down.

I knew it was a legit technique when I could feel my heart rate physically slowing down in the middle of it. The other part of it that I think is important is the mental count. By counting the seconds out one by one in your mind, you simply have no choice but to focus exclusively on that. So any "thought clutter" that was going on in your mind prior to the process is literally forced out. That's a big part of it for me.

This is me with birds.

https://youtu.be/CUUKrHO3wZU?si=fxOxME40NI2GgyGy

I don't park under trees in my driveway but I got a lot of bird droppings after we moved to a more rural location. I must be in a flight path for mostly small birds. It's not uncommon to talk to my car and find a dozen or so droppings on it.

Quote from: squibber on February 08, 2025, 11:25:23 AMThis is me with birds.

https://youtu.be/CUUKrHO3wZU?si=fxOxME40NI2GgyGy

 

Great movie also.        

I mentioned this to my son and he sent me a bunch. Here are a few

My one and only bird story:

Driving down the highway about 60 MPH, feeling pretty uppity in my spanking new '99 Buick Riviera. Not the best or favorite car I ever owned, but certainly the one with the most far-fetched luxury



When a splat hit my windshield the size of a cow plop. It covered the whole windshield and a good portion of my hood. I couldn't even see where I was going. To this day, I have no idea what kind of bird dropped its load on me...maybe a goose, maybe an eagle 

I had to pull over and get some stuff out of the trunk in order to clear away a spot where I could see well enough to go straight to the car wash. It actually left me shaking

That cupcake idea is something I will use. Having a mustache, I always refuse cupcakes because half the frosting ends up in my stache

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on February 08, 2025, 12:54:11 PMMy one and only bird story:

Driving down the highway about 60 MPH, feeling pretty uppity in my spanking new '99 Buick Riviera. Not the best or favorite car I ever owned, but certainly the one with the most far-fetched luxury



When a splat hit my windshield the size of a cow plop. It covered the whole windshield and a good portion of my hood. I couldn't even see where I was going. To this day, I have no idea what kind of bird dropped its load on me...maybe a goose, maybe an eagle 

I had to pull over and get some stuff out of the trunk in order to clear away a spot where I could see well enough to go straight to the car wash. It actually left me shaking

Quote from: Sem on February 08, 2025, 01:02:59 PM

I think that bird plays records with his beak too. Ask Fred or Barney.

Quote from: squibber on February 08, 2025, 10:16:14 PMI think that bird plays records with his beak too. Ask Fred or Barney.

Yes!! I hadn't thought about that in years.

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on February 03, 2025, 12:06:00 PMA few that work, but beware

1) Squeeze bottle ketchup: People automatically squeeze the bottle from the two flat/soft sides. To do it right (or so says the life hack author), you must "squeeze the bottle from the two rounded/hard sides". So I tried it and lo and behold, it worked like magic. It creates a vacuum the pulls the ketchup out instead of being pushed out. Beware: man o man does it work...and once it starts, you can't stop it. It will empty the entire bottle if you don't quickly turn it upright. In my experience, I smothered a hamburger in ketchup before I realized what was happening. It ruined the burger (fixable by using a knife and scraping most of it off), made a mess of my kitchen counter all the way to the sink where it was still coming out. Bottom line: it definitely works, but use caution

Definitely going to try this. 

Not all life hacks are a good idea.   My neighbor (who is an XXXXXXX) tried to get clever before the last snowstorm (3 inches of snow plus freezing rain and sleet).  He put a huge tarp down on his driveway. 

He was none to happy when he discovered he couldn't move a tarp with hundreds and hundreds of pounds of snow and ice on it.  Plus, he couldn't use his snowblower out of fear of pulling in the tarp.   He had a bit of a project clearing enough snow off his tarp so he could finally remove it.

Speaking of snow, when a storm is predicted, you should put your windshield wipers up so that they don't freeze on your car.

Plus something I have always done. Again, if we were expecting a decent snow, I always move my car closer to the street, in my driveway, so that there will be less to shovel in order to get the car out. It is easier to just make a path to the car and then move the car up and I have a nice area with no snow to shovel.