Small Talk: Don't Mind The Slug Excrement, Just Add More Wine!

[formerlyfreedom]

The Small Talk topic is for:

 

• Introductions
• Off-topic chatter
• Having virtual tea with forum buddies

 

This is NOT a topic for actual show discussion. When you want to talk about the show:

 

1. Figure out the nature of the topic you want to talk about
2. Look for an existing topic that matches or fits
3. If there is NOT an existing topic that fits, CREATE ONE!

 

Examples of topics that populate show forums include (but by no means are limited to):

 

• Character topics
• Episode topics
• Season topics
• Spoiler topics
• Speculation topics
• In the Media topics
• Favourite X topics
• ...you get the idea

 

Happy trails beyond Small Talk!

[Brooklynista]

The next time I see my boss headed towards my desk, I just gonna holler "HEY BEAR!" And see if that keeps her ass away from me.

[ethalfrida]

Yes, I was wondering and forget to ask if that "hey bear" tactic was supposed to be the standard way to deal with approaching bears? I thought one was supposed to raise up as tall as you could to make the bear think you were bigger. Not that I am willing to test it but still, that's what I read.

[Quilt Fairy]

From what I've seen on survival type shows, if you're hiking through bear country, you yell 'Hey, bear!" to let any bears in the area know you're around so you don't surprise them, which is when they would be aggressive. Then, in theory, they will go a different way to avoid a confrontation. Obviously, you don't have to yell "Hey, bear!", you could yell "Fuck you, bear!" and it would serve the same purpose. I have heard about the making yourself looking bigger technique, but that's specifically if a bear is coming at you.

 

I believe the type of bear also makes a difference, some are much more aggressive than others.

[cooksdelight]

I think the grizzlies are the ones you have to worry about.

Around here, black bears will run if you say something to them. I had a small one come up on my deck last year, looking for food. My dog barked like he was losing his mind and the bear scampered off.

[rainsmom]

Actually, "Hey bear" works with any species as long as it isn't hungry or doesn't feel threatened. If it hears you coming, it will be less likely to feel threatened, because it can move itself and its cubs out of your path. Grizzlies and brown bears are more *casual* about humans in their territory. They don't necessarily run; they just keep and eye on you, and will fight if threatened. (Noise makes them aware you're there, so they aren't startled into defending their territory.)

 

If a bear is hungry, though, you could be inviting him to dinner. This is actually more likely with BLACK bears than brown or grizzly bears who rarely predate on humans. Black bears don't do it often -- as stated, they're really quite shy and run away wayyyyy more often than not. But when a black bear attacks, it's planning to eat you. Fight back HARD to convince it you aren't worth pursuing as a meal.

[cooksdelight]

I will now be sleeping with one eye open tonight, thanks all! LOL

[muffkins]

This is for Walnutqueen, who asked about Atluck Lake.  Basically, my whole life until I moved away as an adult, we would go camping at Atluck and Anutz lakes pretty much every weekend starting in May until the end of October.  The logging camp we lived in was at the bottom of Nimpkish Lake, but it had a really steep drop off about 6 feet out, was always freezing cold and was always full of log booms, so no one ever really camped there.  The other lakes were smaller and warmer, much better for swimming and playing in, so everyone camped there.  Most of the people from Woss camp went to Woss Lake, but Atluck and Anutz were closer for us, only took about an hour or less to get to.  My parents had a red Chevy pickup and camper, and my grandparents had an old green canvas tent, my brother and I slept where ever we wanted, (on the beach with the dogs) or with whoever would take us.  The beach was the best at Atluck as the trees came down to about 25 feet from the water, and then it was just a nice sandy slope right down to the water.  You could back your boat trailer right down into the water with no problem and be fishing in short order.  The camp used to have a fishing derby there once a summer, and I remember Cori-lyn won it one year when she was about 6 years old.  I swear she pulled a trout bigger than she was out of the lake, but it might have only been 5 pounds or so.  We never went home empty handed though, and ate fish the whole time we were there.  Most of the time my older brother and I were running around in the bush picking Huckleberries and what we called blueberries.  I'm not sure what they really were, maybe Saskatoons, but they could've been black currants as well.  They were all over the place.  If we weren't out in the boat, we'd climb trees and jump into the lake where they hung over, and spend all night hanging around the campfire roasting marshmallows, cooking hotdogs or frying trout.  Nothing in the world is better than trout fried up in a cast iron pan with loads of butter.  Yum!   Anutz isn't quite as nice as Atluck, as the trees are farther out and its more wide open around the lake.  I prefer my camping spots in the trees, and the trees to be close to the lake.  Anutz was good for the annual fireman's picnic though, and all the volunteer firemen from the 3 camps (Nimpkish, Woss and Vernon) would come and each camp would compete to see who could be the fastest at a bunch of different things related to firefighting.  There was also loads of food, all sorts of games (3 legged races, wheelbarrow races, obstacle courses....) and a lot of people.  I wish my kids could experience a little of how I grew up, but it doesn't seem to be that prevalent anymore, the small town thing.  We only had 45 families or so in our camp, Woss was a little bigger, Vernon a little smaller, so I can't think of anywhere around my area that would be like that.  Now I have made myself thoroughly homesick and I need to call my mom.  I also miss my Gramma Muncie and Grampa Joe now, so I need to go do something to keep myself from becoming a big old weepy mess here.   Anyway, if you get to The Island, go camping, its awesome.

[walnutqueen]

Thank you so much, muffkins.  You have brought great joy to this old BCer (stuck in sunny SoCal), and I shall read your post many times as I reminisce about my beautiful homeland.

 

I, too, wish we could go back to those wonderful days of yore - camping, picnicking, fishin' & swimmin'.  I feel sorry for the kids who will never experience those simple joys, and am almost glad I don't have any kids to deprive of those experiences.  :-)

[rainsmom]

Hey, my DIrecTV menu is showing something called "Alone: An Inside Look," with episodes for at least the next two Sundays. I don't have the show that they said was going to air this Wednesday though. Is anyone else having that problem?

[cooksdelight]

I have DISH and am not seeing that. You might want to call your local DirecTV office.

[walnutqueen]

I have ATTUverse.  It lists the Sunday show (which repeats on Wednesday) as Alone: An Inside Look, but the episode title is "The Hunger", which was the most recent episode aired.  I'm assuming it is one of those repeat shows with either extra footage or commentary. The other show airing on Wednesday is titled Alone: After the Rescue.

[cooksdelight]

And my DISH shows are all mixed up regarding episode numbers. They aren't correct. But I've got them all on my DVR so I don't care. This is one show that I'd shell out the bucks to buy the series on DVD, especially if they included outtakes.

I want to go camping so bad, but it's hot as hades right now. Cannot wait to take my dog out for a few days in the woods. He loves it because he gets to eat whatever falls off the grill.

[Quilt Fairy]

I think Alone: An Inside Look is an "enhanced" episode with extra footage and commentary on a particular episode, so it will have the same episode title as the original episode, but they get to air it as a 'new' episode rather than a repeat.  They actually tried to do this after the first 2-3 episodes had aired and I DVRed it assuming there would be new info but it turned out to be a straight repeat, nothing new. Let's hope they get it right this time, because I would love to see an episode with expert commentary added. And for some reason I thought it started next Sunday, but it looks like it's on tonight.

 

Alone: After the Rescue  appears to be a separate episode with a behind the scenes look at filming and a reunion-type interview with the early tapper-outers. Assuming that this was filmed before they had a winner, I'm not sure how that's going to go.  I hope that it's more than a conglomeration of all the little 2-3 minute extra videos they have on the web site.

 

I have episode continuity issues as well. When I looked yesterday, Comcast listed the new episode on Thursday as #9, but it should be #8. I hope that gets fixed.

[cooksdelight]

The episode numbers are REALLY screwed up. And thank you for mentioning an episode tonight as my DVR didn't automatically find it.

[ethalfrida]

Can I mention this here? There is another TV show called Mountain Men where people live in near isolation all over the US (possibly Canada too) and it is not listed in the forum. It includes one woman who lives along it seems. I would suggest it in the new show request but I am not that good at naming the post segments. Anyone watched it?

[rainsmom]

I watch it. There's only one show left this season, so probably too late for a forum. I don't find it as compelling as this, but I get sucked in each week. Those are some tough people!

 

We don't need to take over this thread.

 

Hey, how about another thread for discussion of other survival shows. I know we get off topic occasionally with comments about other shows. Just for short conversations -- not to take away from their forums or anything.

[cooksdelight]

This thread is for off-topic talk. We cannot have a thread specifically for other survival shows, that won't fly. :)

[walnutqueen]

I watch Mountain Men - specifically for Tom & Nancy.  I love those two!  For whatever reason, Tom's trapping doesn't bother me nearly as much as Marty's does.  I remember on the TWoP forum we renamed Eustace as "Useless"; I had no use for him, either.  Don't even get me started on what's-his-name who loves his dogs so much he sends them chasing after cougars.  The old cowpoke with the young son is OK.  I think there's a new guy who is trekking to his recently purchased land - or is that another show?  They all blend together after a while.  :-)

 

I watch all those types of shows, including Life Below Zero and Railroad Alaska; my latest "find" is Port Protection ... anyone else watching this?   :-)

[cooksdelight]

I watch Ice Road Truckers, and Moonshiners since it's filmed here. And I know Jim Tom, who is a riot in person. I never got into the whole "survive by living off the grid" shows for some reason.

[walnutqueen]

I am SHOCKED that nobody has capitalized on "The Alone Diet Plan".  Guaranteed weight loss of 60 lbs in 60 days.  We drop you off on North Vancouver Island (say, to a nicely appointed Yurt) and tell you you can eat anything you want (and can catch).  A medic checks on you every few days, and even brings you fresh drinking water.  I could sell this to fatties with more dollars than sense and make a small fortune!   Now, who's with me?   :-)

[Quilt Fairy]

I'm assuming there's been no reply from Alan on our questions. We should have just posted them on FB. Those he seems to answer.

[rainsmom]

Does anyone else miss this show and forum as much as I do?

[walnutqueen]

Does anyone else miss this show and forum as much as I do?

 

I miss you all as much as I miss the Pacific Northwest (that's a LOT)!  :-(

 

But I have all the episodes saved on my DVR, so I can do a marathon when I get REALLY depressed.  :-)

[Ocean Chick]

I miss the heck out of this show.  Specifically I miss the scenery, Alan, Mitch and Lucas.  And maybe Sam.

 

Oh, and as to making yourself look bigger in order to ward off animals?  That's what you're supposed to do with cougars.  Won't help much if he's really hungry, but it will give you something to do with the last 13 or so seconds of your life [trademark Bill Bryson].  Grizzlies aren't supposed to be the best tree climbers, so you could try outclimbing one.  Chances are he'll just knock the darn thing (and you!) down though.  I think conventional wisdom is that you play dead for grizzlies, and hope they get bored, and fight like a demon for black bears and hope they just give up.

[rainsmom]

I think conventional wisdom is that you play dead for grizzlies, and hope they get bored, and fight like a demon for black bears and hope they just give up.

Yep. Because grizzlies generally attack out of defense and black bears predate.

[cooksdelight]

I'm going to move that to the main episode thread, since it relates to the show. Oh boy....

[cooksdelight]

Sign this woman up for the show!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/17/a-starving-wolf-stalked-a-woman-and-her-dog-for-12-hours-then-along-came-a-bear/?tid=sm_fb

[Ocean Chick]

I read that story right before I came on here to talk about last night's episode.  Smart woman.  I'd probably just have curled up and died from pure fear, being surrounded by 2 different threats.  LOL

[walnutqueen]

OK - I need some advice from my B.C. peeps.  I'm a technophobe who's never even owned a cell phone, and my 85 y/o Mum in the Fraser Valley has been transferred to a hospice in Abbotsford that doesn't allow any long distance calls on her bedside phone.  I call her twice a day from sunny SoCal, but want her to get a cell so she can make a few calls to pay her bills (while she still can), and call me if she's feeling down or in need.  Can anyone suggest a place for me to start looking online?  She used to use a Yak long distance plan when she still had a home phone; I need to get her something simple, easy & cheap.

Thanks for your time!

[riverheightsnancy]

Hey Walnetqueen, sorry about your mom. I am not in BC, but I have seen these phones made specifically for people not as comfortable with "smartphones" called Jitterbugs. Maybe that would work? See here: https://www.jitterbugdirect.com/   Walmart may sell them as well. 

[walnutqueen]

2 minutes ago, riverheightsnancy said:

Hey Walnetqueen, sorry about your mom. I am not in BC, but I have seen these phones made specifically for people not as comfortable with "smartphones" called Jitterbugs. Maybe that would work? See here: https://www.jitterbugdirect.com/   Walmart may sell them as well. 

Thanks so much, rhn - I will definitely check it out!

[Quilt Fairy]

wlanutqueen, if you go to Walmart, check out Tracfone as well. It's pay as you go and you can probably get a "dumb" phone for $25-30. I still have the flip-phone I bought 6 years ago when I was having a knee replacement and I was going to be in the hospital and a nursing home for a month.

[walnutqueen]

7 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

wlanutqueen, if you go to Walmart, check out Tracfone as well. It's pay as you go and you can probably get a "dumb" phone for $25-30. I still have the flip-phone I bought 6 years ago when I was having a knee replacement and I was going to be in the hospital and a nursing home for a month.

I will be checking out the Walmart.ca site tomorrow, Quilt Fairy.  Thanks!  Trying to do stuff for my Mum from so far away is stressful and time consuming, so I really do appreciate everyone's help and suggestions.

[cooksdelight]

Tracfone is what our local nursing home gives their residents. It's a wonderful thing they do, as some of these people never see their family members. My late mother managed two nursing homes before she died and it broke my heart to go there on a holiday and see people sitting alone. She was their angel, and when she died, someone brought them all to the funeral home in vans. It was the perfect send-off for her. :)

[lidarose9]

All my elderly relatives have TracPhones. Also Consumer Cellular specializes in really cheap, really flexible programs with really easy-to-use "dumb phones."  I have one myself! They provide both the phone and the service.

[Negritude]

So now we need the bizarro version where people from "primitive" cultures (for lack of a better word) have to survive in the modern world. They could be given entry level office jobs, apartments, have to learn to drive a car, etc., and see how long before they tap out.

[ProfCrash]

23 hours ago, riverheightsnancy said:

Wow, after reading that I am surprised more places that have the Geese issue don't organize authorized hunts for bow hunters or something like that. And, it could help stock soup kitchens as well.  I don't recall, has anyone seen a Canada Goose on the show?

Actually, the Geese that are hunted to reduce numbers in Maryland will be going to food banks and shelters.

Random post but the Canada Geese conversation was requested to be moved here so here is my response.

[riverheightsnancy]

22 minutes ago, ProfCrash said:

Actually, the Geese that are hunted to reduce numbers in Maryland will be going to food banks and shelters.

Random post but the Canada Geese conversation was requested to be moved here so here is my response.

That's awesome. Wish they would do that in NJ. Plenty of Geese here too. 

[lidarose9]

[rainsmom]

So. Damn. True,

[AZChristian]

Back when our beloved Yorkie was still with us, we'd walk her around our community lakes every day.  We decided that if there was a way to make dog treats that looked, smelled, and tasted like goose poop, we'd be millionaires.  All of the dogs LOVED it.  Yuck.

[mlp]

Speaking of community lakes...................  When State Farm constructed their world headquarters here, they included a beautifully landscaped man-made lake on the grounds complete with walking trails for both employees and the public to use.  It was a Canada Goose magnet.  Now, in season, it's surrounded by what looks like thousands of geese and no people because of the ground cover of droppings and the smell.  Walkers can't use the trails because the geese are aggressive and threaten anyone who gets too close.  So far, State Farm hasn't figured out how to get rid of them humanely.

[qtpye]

I said in another thread that my work actually had a similar problem and they handled it by placing fake coyotes and foxes all around the lawns.  It is like if you have any water feature and you live on the east coast or midwest...they will come like demons from hell.

It would be funny on this show if someone tapped out because of the geese.  Bears, wolves, and mountain lions are no problem, but they just can not take the effing geese.

[cooksdelight]

16 hours ago, mlp said:

Speaking of community lakes...................  When State Farm constructed their world headquarters here, they included a beautifully landscaped man-made lake on the grounds complete with walking trails for both employees and the public to use.  It was a Canada Goose magnet.  Now, in season, it's surrounded by what looks like thousands of geese and no people because of the ground cover of droppings and the smell.  Walkers can't use the trails because the geese are aggressive and threaten anyone who gets too close.  So far, State Farm hasn't figured out how to get rid of them humanely.

I experienced the same thing in Richmond when I worked at Heilig-Meyers' headquarters next to a huge manmade lake. Going from your car to the building, or vice versa, was always a challenge to avoid the poop and not have a pissed-off bird coming to see what you have in that bag. Thankfully, it was corporate (no customers) so we got used to it. Sort of.

[walnutqueen]

I like geese.  Always have, always will. 

[DA77]

Thought I'd get my feet wet to see how the forum works. Looking forward to the next season of Alone.

[cooksdelight]

Here's a good place to start:

http://forums.previously.tv/forum/48-announcements/

[jvr]

Hey @DA77, greetings. Definitely read some of the stuff in the link that cooksdelight posted. I'm happy to see more people are here talking about Alone, you see the same names over and over and you generally already know what someone thinks or how they will react. So I'm happy about the consolidation of people even though you guys lost your home.

I've glanced in the imdb message boards once and awhile and it generally seemed to be the wild wild west over there lol but sometimes you could find really good discussions being had. Over there people posted topics, like you just did, for any stray thought they might have and people responded or did not respond. Here we like to keep things very neat (dedicated episode threads, a media thread for all things media related, sometimes specific contestant threads, etc.) and we like to make our thoughts fit into those threads. BUT if something doesn't fit (and is a topic that many people probably do want to discuss) we create a new thread. Maybe you can change this thread title into a Season 4 Speculation or Season 4 Anticipation (a little early but oh well) or Improve Season 4: No More Medical Pulls, Let Them Tap or Die...whatever works. :) Change the title and we can use it going forward. And also get to know you.

Oh and if you want to just talk about random stuff, you can do it in this thread below (including introducing yourself and maybe talking about the imdb board a little, finding all your lost buddies lol): 

Edited February 15, 2017 by jvr

[zamberlan]

Hi there! Just don't do what I did and assume that the threads stop at the first ad. Until just now I thought there were only four or so threads on this board! The good news is I have ALOT of reading to do.

Oops and now I've discovered that I'm breaking all the protocol about idle chatter and so forth.....Sorry!