Small Talk: "I'll Take Non-Show Chat For $400, Alex."

[Prevailing Wind]

I remember the days when file names could only be 8 characters long.

I worked on an iMac when I worked at a dental office.  Since we didn't have anything to do on them  but use the dental software*, I was in no position to judge Mac vs PC.

*Until Dr. Stein's 10-year-old boy showed me the dinosaur game.  I would play it after I "clocked out."  ONCE, during office hours, I was playing it & Dr. Stein caught me playing on company time. Doesn't it figure?

[Clanstarling]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I remember the days when file names could only be 8 characters long.

I worked on an iMac when I worked at a dental office.  Since we didn't have anything to do on them  but use the dental software*, I was in no position to judge Mac vs PC.

*Until Dr. Stein's 10-year-old boy showed me the dinosaur game.  I would play it after I "clocked out."  ONCE, during office hours, I was playing it & Dr. Stein caught me playing on company time. Doesn't it figure?

I remember when, in my first technical writing job working on a mainframe line editor, I was overjoyed when they introduced automatic line wrapping.

Edited May 3, 2021 by Clanstarling

[illdoc]

I'm so old....I learned my first programming language in HS with a card reader! 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, illdoc said:

I'm so old....I learned my first programming language in HS with a card reader! 

Maybe we should start an “I’m So Old…” thread in the Everything Else board, but, keeping at least tangentially within the parameters of this discussion:

I used to take naps when I was 4 with an abacus. 
👵🏻

[PBnJay]

4 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

ONCE, during office hours, I was playing it & Dr. Stein caught me playing on company time. Doesn't it figure?

I read this so quickly I thought it was Dr. Seuss who caught you. 

[zoey1996]

With the glitches and downtime with primetime upgrade, etc. I’d like to exchange email addresses or some other way to stay in touch with a couple of primetimers  when forums are down. If anyone’s interested, send me a pm, please.

[saber5055]

Sad news that the Obama's Portie Bo passed away today. Nice article, the family paying tribute to one of their own.

Bo passes away.

[zoey1996]

Lovely tribute. My hope is that someday, all pet animals will be loved and cared for all of their lives.

[zoey1996]

So, you’re in Chincoteague, Browncoat? We’re going end of June for my 70th birthday. I’ll be interested in how things are there. Have a good time!

 

[Browncoat]

17 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

So, you’re in Chincoteague, Browncoat? We’re going end of June for my 70th birthday. I’ll be interested in how things are there. Have a good time!

 

I'm a bit early in the season for tourism, but at a pretty good time for birding!  I've seen lots of cool things already (including a seaside sparrow on the fence around NASA while I waited in a long line of standstill traffic for nearly an hour -- no idea what was going on).  Also, there are a number of restaurants that aren't open on Mondays as a rule, in addition to the ones that simply aren't open.  The Island Creamery is open, though!

I suspect the town will open up considerably by June.  Happy early birthday!

[saber5055]

@Browncoat, give me the dish on the different birds you are seeing. Are they migrating still through the islands? I'm a birder although a frustrated one as the Illinois state bird is the fanciest one that comes to my feeders.

And more importantly, see any ponies? Pinto ones named Misty? All kids named their ponies Misty when I was a kid. The lucky ones who had a pony anyway.

Birthday party for @zoey1996 next month. Stand by everyone!

[zoey1996]

DSC Photography posts frequently on Facebook. As of tonight, there are 49 new foals on Assateague, and they are all adorable!  

[Prevailing Wind]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

 The Island Creamery is open, though!

Is that the haunted one?  I had their Peach ice cream when I was there. YUMMY!!!

[Driad]

Peach ice cream is my favorite, *if* it is fresh.  After a little while the peach pieces freeze dry into little rocks and I don't enjoy it nearly as much.

[Browncoat]

@saber5055, there are still a few migrants coming through -- I think I'm at the tail end of migration.  Yesterday evening on a quick spin (45 min for 3 miles!  driving!) around the wildlife loop, I saw short-billed dowitchers, glossy ibis, dunlins, semi-palmated plovers, and another wading bird I couldn't quite identify.  It was starting to get dark, and they were just a little bit too far away, but they looked slightly larger than the dunlins, and were probing the tidal flats along with the dunlins and ibis.  There are also laughing gulls and some terns that are probably common terns, but I am terrible with terns, so I really have no idea.  But that's what I was doing instead of trying to figure out what time and what channel Jeopardy! is on here.  

I'm headed out in a little bit to do some birding on foot in the refuge.  I opted to sleep in (until nearly 6) this morning, but I hope to get out to see the sunrise tomorrow.  Depends on how tired I am tonight -- sunrise comes very early this time of year!

@Prevailing Wind, I don't know if it's haunted!  I hadn't heard that -- the ice cream was delicious, though.  When I go back, I'll ask about the haunting.

Edited May 18, 2021 by Browncoat

[zoey1996]

3 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I don't know if it's haunted!  I hadn't heard that -- the ice cream was delicious, though.  When I go back, I'll ask about the haunting.

It's probably Muller's, which I think has closed.  Muller's is in an old house on Main Street.  We went there once; it was very good, but Island Creamery is my favorite.  My son-in-law really liked Mr. Whippy's, also good, but soft-serve without a large variety of flavors for the ice cream, but a big variety of sundae toppings.

Also, if any of the restaurants are serving Smith Island cake, you must try if you haven't had it before. Ten thin layers with jam or icing in between the layers.

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by zoey1996

[Browncoat]

50 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

Also, if any of the restaurants are serving Smith Island cake, you must try if you haven't had it before. Ten thin layers with jam or icing in between the layers.

I haven't noticed, but I was distracted by ice cream.  I'm sitting in my hotel room now, eating lunch I brought with me, after a fabulous morning in the Refuge.  So many birds!  And I even got a glimpse of the ponies.  Birds of the day included white ibis, little blue herons, black-bellied plovers, least terns, and a yellow-billed cuckoo.  I can't wait to see what I'll see this afternoon!  I didn't make the sunrise this morning, so I'll try tomorrow.  Maybe if I actually set an alarm....

[saber5055]

@Browncoat, I am so excited about the birds you are seeing. I take photos of birds, then I can ID them when I put the pics on the computer and am able to view them closer and clearer. My favorite was taking a pic of some blob that turned out to be a Brown Creeper.

I used to go out with my birder friends, we'd shoot the Bald Eagles that winter here at the Mississippi lock and dams. Those spots have turned into mega tourist places, the Corps has built overlooks and people come from all over to see and photo the eagles. Anyway, my friends had never seen/photographed a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. Some dog friends in northern Iowa said they had one that came to their feeder. So we made the drive north and spent the day sitting in their front yard with our cameras ... and yes, the Grosbeak came for his photo shoot!

We get a variety of wading birds here. My house is on a flyway for Canadas, they always let me know when they are flying over. (Noisy!) Some Sand Hill Cranes parked themselves here once, which was pretty cool as they are not common in this area. Sometimes I see herons and egrets flying over. They are silent flyers and look like pterodactyls with those legs out behind them.

Keep us posted about your adventures. It's nice to be On The Road Again, no?

1 hour ago, zoey1996 said:

Also, if any of the restaurants are serving Smith Island cake, you must try if you haven't had it before. Ten thin layers with jam or icing in between the layers.

I vote ten big YESES for this.

[Browncoat]

2 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

I take photos of birds, then I can ID them when I put the pics on the computer and am able to view them closer and clearer. My favorite was taking a pic of some blob that turned out to be a Brown Creeper.

I sometimes try to take photos, but all I have is a little pocket-sized point-and-shoot or the iPhone.  Neither one is adequate to the task of the bloody sandpipers and peeps off in the distance.  I can see them with my binoculars, but a spotting scope would be better.  Even with that, I have a terrible time with those -- they just all look so similar!

Cool about the sandhill cranes!

And yes, it is nice to be somewhere other than my house and/or work.  

[saber5055]

1 minute ago, Browncoat said:

I can see them with my binoculars, but a spotting scope would be better.  Even with that, I have a terrible time with those -- they just all look so similar!

Just yesterday I was reading reviews for monocular scopes that attach to smart phones to turn them into telephoto cameras. Check those out when you get home, then start saving your money.

I was looking to buy one just for spotting things, but decided my binoculars were just as good, plus I have multiple cameras and a zillion (expensive!) lenses so passed on the scope. But it really sounded cool for people who take pics with their cell phones. Photo quality on most phones now is as good as the expensive SLR cameras, and a monocular scope would be a cool purchase for a birder.

[Browncoat]

I've often thought about getting a scope, but I don't want to have to worry about a scope and a tripod and all of the things when my travel includes an airplane.  I prefer not to check a bag if I can help it, and I'm not sure that tripods are allowed in carry-on bags.  I don't remember.  Monopods are, but hiking poles are not.  And then, of course, I have to try to tote the scope and the binoculars and the tripod while navigating trails.  I'll just stick with the binocs for a while, I think.

[Prevailing Wind]

5 hours ago, zoey1996 said:

It's probably Muller's, which I think has closed.  Muller's is in an old house on Main Street.  We went there once; it was very good, but Island Creamery is my favorite.  My son-in-law really liked Mr. Whippy's, also good, but soft-serve without a large variety of flavors for the ice cream, but a big variety of sundae toppings.

Also, if any of the restaurants are serving Smith Island cake, you must try if you haven't had it before. Ten thin layers with jam or icing in between the layers.

 

Yes. It was Muller's that was haunted. I never noticed Island Creamery.  Gee, you think I need to go back & check it out?  I thought Smith Island was famous for pies. Cakes, too?  Aiyiyi! I really need to go back there.

[Grundoon59]

I am not a birder but one of my go to movies for cheering myself up is The Big Year - which gives me a whole new respect for birders (along with many smiles).   I never made it to Chincoteague - you all are making me want to put it on my to do list - I have heard wonderful things about it over the years.

[Browncoat]

The ponies moved near the main road this afternoon!  Not quite close enough for me to get a good photo with my crappy camera (or phone), but if you squint and hold your mouth right, you can tell that the fuzzy blobs are ponies -- with baby ponies, too!  

But I had a terrible time trying to find a place to eat tonight.  All the restaurants require reservations for dining in, and at least two weren't even offering takeout.  One required that I call in my takeout order, despite my standing right there at the hostess table.  I finally was able to get takeout, but they weren't happy about it.  I had crab imperial tonight, and brought it back to the hotel room as the restaurant was close to the hotel.

Wish me luck in being able to get up early enough for the sunrise tomorrow!

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Wish me luck in being able to get up early enough for the sunrise tomorrow!

Hopefully this will encourage you to get up for the sunrise even thought it's earlier and earlier these days. This was this morning:

[Browncoat]

5 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Hopefully this will encourage you to get up for the sunrise even thought it's earlier and earlier these days. This was this morning:

Thanks for the encouragement!  Sunrise here is at about 5:30 or so.  The Refuge opens at 5:00, so I figure I need to be up by about 4:30ish.  At the latest.  It makes me a little tired just thinking about that!  So we'll see....

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

This was this morning:

Not at my house, where it's been raining for the last four days and will be into next week. Although I guess it does look like here after all, just take away the colors. The  bottom half of the photo is dead-on accurate.

[Browncoat]

Well, it's 4:48, and I'm up, dressed, and almost breakfasted.  It's still full-on dark outside my window, but mostly clear, and 55 degrees.  A little chilly for me!  I think I'll wear a jacket this morning -- and probably take a nap later.  

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

Well, it's 4:48, and I'm up, dressed, and almost breakfasted.  It's still full-on dark outside my window, but mostly clear, and 55 degrees.  A little chilly for me!  I think I'll wear a jacket this morning -- and probably take a nap later.  

Perfect!

[Browncoat]

The sunrise was lovely!  I tried to frame some of them to be used as Zoom virtual backgrounds.  Unfortunately, I took them all with my camera instead of the phone -- if I'd taken them with the phone, I could have AirDropped them to my computer and shared now.  But I didn't bring the camera-to-computer cable, and my camera's not smart, so I'll have to share after I get back home.  There were quite a few people out, too -- some fishing, some shell-collecting, some headed out to surf, but most appeared to be there for the sunrise.  

My feet are still cold!  Of course I went barefoot and got my feet wet!  And now I'm having second breakfast. 🙂

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

There were quite a few people out, too -- some fishing, some shell-collecting, some headed out to surf, but most appeared to be there for the sunrise.  

My feet are still cold!  Of course I went barefoot and got my feet wet!

Google says "Today's Chincoteague sea temperature is 60 °F," which is just barely warm enough for me to swim, if the air is warm or at least it's sunny, which it looks like it will be this weekend there.🌞

Here near Rochester, Lake Ontario is below 50 °F 😕 but Lake Canandaigua is already 58 °F and is the same distance from my daughter and her husband and also closer to his family, so maybe that's where I'll wind up buying a place.

[ABay]

The Finger Lakes are gorgeous, probably the most beautiful part of New York. Plus wine tours! If they weren't so far from Canada and more-than-regional airport, I'd think of retiring there myself.

[GrannySmith]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Google says "Today's Chincoteague sea temperature is 60 °F," which is just barely warm enough for me to swim, if the air is warm or at least it's sunny, which it looks like it will be this weekend there.🌞

Here near Rochester, Lake Ontario is below 50 °F 😕 but Lake Canandaigua is already 58 °F and is the same distance from my daughter and her husband and also closer to his family, so maybe that's where I'll wind up buying a place.

I live in Canandaigua, and it’s a great place, but if you want to live on the lake, be prepared to spend a million. There are plenty of reasonable places near the lake and in town, though, and we’re friendly. 

[shapeshifter]

2 minutes ago, GrannySmith said:

I live in Canandaigua, and it’s a great place, but if you want to live on the lake, be prepared to spend a million. There are plenty of reasonable places near the lake and in town, though, and we’re friendly. 

A short walking distance to Canandaigua lake would be nice. I saw one reasonably priced place, but it was 2 miles. 
In other news, I put my toes in Lake Ontario today and it wasn't that cold. A few people were swimming!

[Browncoat]

I'm going to try to upload a couple of the sunrise photos I took a couple of days ago at the beach....  I flattened them a little so I can also use them for Zoom backgrounds.

 

 

ETA:  Not too horrible for my crappy little point-and-shoot, I guess.  Maybe one day I'll get motivated enough to get a "real" camera and learn how to use it properly!

Edited May 21, 2021 by Browncoat

[shapeshifter]

Even my iPhone 7 camera is so much better than any camera I had back in the day. 
I’ve taken way too many sunrise pictures. I see your camera also makes the red-pink sun white. My iPhone Pictures app can do a lot to adjust outdoor pictures with the Shadows and Exposure options, but I’d have to take the picture into PhotoShop to make the sun the color I see. Or paint it that way. But sunrises make better photos than paintings —at least if I’m the one painting —I have seen some great sunrise painting by others. 

Anyway. It sounds like time well spent!

[saber5055]

Beautiful photos @Browncoat, and you even captured a flying pterodactyl! Good For You! Wish I were there. But then, I wish I were anywhere. But here.

Thanks for sharing. Love them.

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I’ve taken way too many sunrise pictures.

I've taken way more sunset pictures than sunrise...

[Driad]

I saw a green flash once.  Cool.

[saber5055]

11 hours ago, Driad said:

I saw a green flash once.

Well, that's something I've never heard of before, so thanks. Although now I have to start looking for one, elusive though they are.

At first I thought you had met Barry Allen's brother.

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

12 hours ago, Driad said:

I saw a green flash once.

Well, that's something I've never heard of before, so

My parents lived their last 30 years together 5 miles up the slopes of Mauna Kea, facing west, so I thought for a long time that green flashes were only visible in Hawaii. But my sister has lived the last 30 years in Ontario Canada on Lake Huron facing west, and just mentioned a couple of years ago that they have green flashes too. I have seen innumerable sunrises over Lake Michigan, a few over the Atlantic, and now many over Lake Ontario, but have never seen a green flash during a sunrise. Maybe now that I know green flash sunrises are a thing, I will notice one. So far it's just been neon pink.

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

My parents lived their last 30 years together 5 miles up the slopes of Mauna Kea, facing west, so I thought for a long time that green flashes were only visible in Hawaii. But my sister has lived the last 30 years in Ontario Canada on Lake Huron facing west, and just mentioned a couple of years ago that they have green flashes too. I have seen innumerable sunrises over Lake Michigan, a few over the Atlantic, and now many over Lake Ontario, but have never seen a green flash during a sunrise. Maybe now that I know green flash sunrises are a thing, I will notice one. So far it's just been neon pink.

I've tried several times on the Oregon and Californian coast to see one, but alas, never have so far.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

I've tried several times on the Oregon and Californian coast to see one, but alas, never have so far.

You obviously are not living Your Best Life.  :-P

Edited May 21, 2021 by saber5055

[Prevailing Wind]

On 5/21/2021 at 11:30 AM, shapeshifter said:

My parents lived their last 30 years together 5 miles up the slopes of Mauna Kea, facing west, so I thought for a long time that green flashes were only visible in Hawaii. But my sister has lived the last 30 years in Ontario Canada on Lake Huron facing west, and just mentioned a couple of years ago that they have green flashes too. I have seen innumerable sunrises over Lake Michigan, a few over the Atlantic, and now many over Lake Ontario, but have never seen a green flash during a sunrise. Maybe now that I know green flash sunrises are a thing, I will notice one. So far it's just been neon pink.

I have a friend that saw one from west coast Florida/Gulf of Mexico.  I'm envious.

Browncoat mentioned the CBBT - I love taking that. My SIL complains that DelMarVa is boring, but I enjoy it immensely. She's probably bored because there's no Cheesecake Factory on Rte. 13.  Once, there was a "wide load" heading south, as I was. It was waiting in the shoulder in front of the first tunnel.  They had already stopped the northbound traffic. I don't know why they didn't stop us to let the truck go through by itself, but they let a bunch of us take the tunnel with no oncoming traffic. It was so much LESS nerve-wracking not to have oncoming traffic in that narrow-laned tunnel.  Last time, I had to stop at the gift shop & get a sweatshirt. It was late May and only 60°F in the early afternoon. Damn, I was COLD.

Edited May 23, 2021 by Prevailing Wind

[saber5055]

7 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Last time, I had to stop at the gift shop & get a sweatshirt. It was late May and only 60°F in the early afternoon. Damn, I was COLD.

Eh, I would be wearing shorts and driving with my windows down.

[Mindthinkr]

The finalists are posting their favorite recipes. 
 

http://bit.ly/3bu8NGa

[Bastet]

17 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

The finalists are posting their favorite recipes. 
 

http://bit.ly/3bu8NGa

Of course Veronica's is a pie.

[saber5055]

2 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

The finalists are posting their favorite recipes. 

Hoping you will get some good new ideas about what to make and drop off at the T41, where I will be and where you, no doubt, will not be. It can be a TOCFJC smorgasbord!

[saber5055]

Got a laugh that Everyone's Favorite Boy Ryan's recipe is West Virginia Pepperoni Rolls since we had quite a discussion about those either here or in the FJ Contest thread. Now we know how to make them. Will the fact I've been to West Virginia mean I can do a good job and make delicious ones?

(Answer to that is a big NO.)

[j5cochran]

4 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

The finalists are posting their favorite recipes. 
 

http://bit.ly/3bu8NGa

Ryan's recipe is a West Virginia classic -- pepperoni rolls! I have threatened promised to bring them to a Final Jeopardy Contest table for however-many!

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Got a laugh that Everyone's Favorite Boy Ryan's recipe is West Virginia Pepperoni Rolls since we had quite a discussion about those either here or in the FJ Contest thread. Now we know how to make them. Will the fact I've been to West Virginia mean I can do a good job and make delicious ones?

(Answer to that is a big NO.)

 

1 minute ago, j5cochran said:

Ryan's recipe is a West Virginia classic -- pepperoni rolls! I have threatened promised to bring them to a Final Jeopardy Contest table for however-many!

Great minds type alike! I've never made them myself, since you can buy pepperoni rolls at every wide place in the road around here.