Author Topic: What did you do this weekend? (Read 208277 times)

coelacanth · « **Reply #50 on:** June 28, 2017, 07:41:34 pm »

Quote from: coyotesfan97 on June 27, 2017, 05:56:18 pm

My condolences Sarge

And mine as well.

WeTheArmed.com

First Shirt · « **Reply #51 on:** June 28, 2017, 09:22:45 pm »

Sarge, condolences and sympathies seem pretty weak right now, but please remember that you all are in our thoughts and prayers. If there's anything more we can do, please let us know.

lesptr · « **Reply #52 on:** June 29, 2017, 12:48:42 pm »

I feel for you Sarge.
My mother in law who has been in a nursing home with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's for the past 3 years was admitted to the inpatient hospice Tuesday at noon. She passed at 2245 that night with my wife and me by her side for her last breath. Although it has been expected for some time, it still sucks. She was cremated this morning. We plan a trip with her late husband's daughter later this year to spread their ashes at their favorite fishing area. We have reached the age that parents passing is expected, but burying children is not supposed to happen.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Buckeye Redneck · « **Reply #53 on:** July 02, 2017, 12:12:05 am »

Condolences, Sarge.

That fluffing sucks.

sarge712 · « **Reply #54 on:** July 02, 2017, 12:54:22 am »

Many thanks everyone. Didn't mean to be a downer. I primarily work domestic violence cases but my best buddy is a narc investigator so I hang with that unit a lot when I'm not on a DV case. Working narcotics and then her dying of a drug overdose is infuriating. But its over now.

Julie took her brother and the girls to NYC for the week to get away from it all. The boys and I stayed in NC and had some good discussions about "stuff."
Moving on.

Today went swimming in the river after we cleaned house then worked on the boys boxing skills. Then they cooked burgers. Teaching grill skills too.

coelacanth · « **Reply #55 on:** July 02, 2017, 01:35:36 am »

First Shirt · « **Reply #56 on:** July 02, 2017, 09:59:21 pm »

Went to Libertycon30 this weekend. Since The Boss was out of town on family stuff, I transferred her registration to Senior Minion #1 (the owner of the Scout project rifle). Between us two, and The Darlin' Daughter, plus the two junior minions, we had our own little gaggle, and there was enough interesting stuff to keep everybody pretty busy. Met some great people, and renewed acquaintances with some equally terrific people that I haven't seen since last year.

While I'm not a geek, I speak the language fluently, and under some limited circumstances I can pass as a native. Everybody else blended in pretty well. This is the only sci-fi convention I've ever attended (this was my fourth year) and I can't imagine any of the others being more fun!

MTK20 · « **Reply #57 on:** July 02, 2017, 10:01:38 pm »

Quote from: First Shirt on July 02, 2017, 09:59:21 pm

Went to Libertycon30 this weekend. Since The Boss was out of town on family stuff, I transferred her registration to Senior Minion #1 (the owner of the Scout project rifle). Between us two, and The Darlin' Daughter, plus the two junior minions, we had our own little gaggle, and there was enough interesting stuff to keep everybody pretty busy. Met some great people, and renewed acquaintances with some equally terrific people that I haven't seen since last year.

While I'm not a geek, I speak the language fluently, and under some limited circumstances I can pass as a native. Everybody else blended in pretty well. This is the only sci-fi convention I've ever attended (this was my fourth year) and I can't imagine any of the others being more fun!

A likely story

.

Glad you had fun! I don't think I've ever even heard of liberty con.

First Shirt · « **Reply #58 on:** July 02, 2017, 10:46:16 pm »

It's a really small convention, limited to 700 attendees, not counting authors and vendors. Since it's in the southeastern U.S., there's a large percentage of veterans, and an even larger percentage of conservative geeks. The Darlin' Daughter says it's the only 3 days of the year where she doesn't have to explain her jokes!

This year, in addition to John Ringo (who lives in Chattanooga) there were a bunch of authors there, like Todd McCafferty, David Weber, Michael Williamson, and Sarah Hoyt (along with a bunch of others that you have probably never heard of, but are really good reads, nonetheless).

And we're developing the Greater Chattanooga Chapter of the Gun Monkeys Hot Stove League, which is probably more fun than is allowed by law. (It's mostly (a) veterans (b) shooters (c) gun tinkerers.)

MTK20 · « **Reply #59 on:** July 02, 2017, 11:01:10 pm »

Got a link for the Gun Monkeys Hot Stove League?

Sounds interesting and nothing came up via internet search.

First Shirt · « **Reply #60 on:** July 02, 2017, 11:46:17 pm »

Quote from: MTK20 on July 02, 2017, 11:01:10 pm

Got a link for the Gun Monkeys Hot Stove League?

Sounds interesting and nothing came up via internet search.

Of course not! We're gun monkeys, not computer geeks! It's all very much on the down-low.

Show up to the con, look for the guys in the smoking area who aren't smoking. Listen to what they're discussing. If you hear "ballistic coefficient" or "powder burn rate" in the discussion, you've found us them.

sarge712 · « **Reply #61 on:** July 03, 2017, 01:13:22 pm »

Quote from: First Shirt on July 02, 2017, 09:59:21 pm

Went to Libertycon30 this weekend. Since The Boss was out of town on family stuff, I transferred her registration to Senior Minion #1 (the owner of the Scout project rifle). Between us two, and The Darlin' Daughter, plus the two junior minions, we had our own little gaggle, and there was enough interesting stuff to keep everybody pretty busy. Met some great people, and renewed acquaintances with some equally terrific people that I haven't seen since last year.

While I'm not a geek, I speak the language fluently, and under some limited circumstances I can pass as a native. Everybody else blended in pretty well. This is the only sci-fi convention I've ever attended (this was my fourth year) and I can't imagine any of the others being more fun!

Was that in Chattanooga?

sarge712 · « **Reply #62 on:** July 03, 2017, 01:15:48 pm »

Nevermind me. Derrrr

Double derr.

Raptor · « **Reply #63 on:** July 04, 2017, 05:51:54 pm »

Flew down to Florida for a long weekend. Mama and Papa Raptor are building their retirement house on the gulf coast, and they're at the point in the construction process where they have to meet with the contractors and pick out the paint, flooring, countertops, cabinets, decide where they want the electrical outlets, all that stuff. So they're down there for a while, and my brother and I flew down (seperately) for a few days.

Saturday morning, Mom tells us to sit down because "your father would like to speak with you." Uh oh. That's never good. So we sit down at the table, Papa Raptor comes in, sits down with us, and says, "Boys, have either of you ever wanted to go jet-skiing?"

I confess that my first reaction was to wonder who this man was and what he'd done with Papa Raptor. He's never really been into that kind of thing before, at least not when it involves spending money. Long story short, Papa Raptor rented a Waverunner and the three of us (Papa Raptor, Little Brother, and myself) rode up the Gulf Intracostal Waterway Channel past part of Manisota Key. Mama Raptor stayed on shore. She lost her sense of adventure back before I was a teenager, but I digress. We only had the Waverunner for an hour, so we went north up through Lemon Bay for maybe 7 or 8 miles, then turned around and came back. Papa Raptor drove, since he was the only one born before Jan 1, 1988 and was exempted from needing a Florida Boating License. Technically, we could've driven too since we were with him, but there really wasn't anywhere to pull over and switch drivers, and none of us felt like jumping off in the middle of the channel.

Pic is attached below. Papa Raptor's driving, Little Brother's in the middle, I'm on the back.

Had an awesome long weekend. Flew back home today, and came home to a house suffering from a (hopefully minor) infestation of carpenter (I think) bees. Woohoo.

Kaso · « **Reply #64 on:** July 04, 2017, 06:57:50 pm »

What exactly constitutes an 'infestation' of carpenter bees?

Raptor · « **Reply #65 on:** July 04, 2017, 07:20:54 pm »

Came into the house, there were 2-3 in the kitchen. Went back in the pantry to grab the swatter, and there were about a dozen of them. Checked the rest of the house, another 8-10 in one of the bathrooms. Went outside, there were probably a hundred flying around and/or crawling around a spot on the exterior wall just above the kitchen. And I can hear them crawling around in the kitchen ceiling.

Called an exterminator: he suspects they're in the process of setting up a hive and recommended I hit the spot on the exterior wall with a garden hose. Apparently that tricks the bees into thinking that they've picked a location that will flood easily, so they'll leave and try to find a new spot that hopefully isn't our house. It seems to have done the trick: they don't seem to be coming into the pantry anymore (that's the suspected entry point), there aren't as many of them outside, and I don't hear as many of them in the kitchen ceiling anymore. Exterminator's still going to come (at my request) and finish off the remainder of the hive.

Buckeye Redneck · « **Reply #66 on:** July 04, 2017, 09:40:50 pm »

Permethrin SFR.... Magic wonder bug control chemical. Hit youtube for how-to apply videos.

*It's basically the same crap the Corpsman sprayed on your cammys before going anywhere tropical.

cpaspr · « **Reply #67 on:** July 04, 2017, 10:23:32 pm »

Quote from: Raptor on July 04, 2017, 07:20:54 pm

Came into the house, there were 2-3 in the kitchen. Went back in the pantry to grab the swatter, and there were about a dozen of them. Checked the rest of the house, another 8-10 in one of the bathrooms. Went outside, there were probably a hundred flying around and/or crawling around a spot on the exterior wall just above the kitchen. And I can hear them crawling around in the kitchen ceiling.

Called an exterminator: he suspects they're in the process of setting up a hive and recommended I hit the spot on the exterior wall with a garden hose. Apparently that tricks the bees into thinking that they've picked a location that will flood easily, so they'll leave and try to find a new spot that hopefully isn't our house. It seems to have done the trick: they don't seem to be coming into the pantry anymore (that's the suspected entry point), there aren't as many of them outside, and I don't hear as many of them in the kitchen ceiling anymore. Exterminator's still going to come (at my request) and finish off the remainder of the hive.

We had bees trying to build a nest in our current house several years ago. T-111 siding has those wonderful grooves, such that when the trim piece goes on at the top there's this really neat 3/8" x 1/4" pathway leading up into the attic. (/sarcasm) Anyway, we apparently noticed it fairly early in the process, but we had hundreds of bees entering and leaving the attic space via one particular groove. I set up a shop vac in the morning with multiple extension wands, such that the tip of the top wand was about 1/2" below the opening. Left it on all day. (Sorry, neighbors.) We apparently got enough of the worker bees coming and going that the queen probably died, because after that day we didn't have a problem with bees flying into that groove.

We try to avoid spraying water on the house siding. As noted, on this house there are grooves that are straight channels up into the attic insulation. On a previous house, we found out that there was a straight shot into the house when I pressure washed the siding. The water shot right over the top plate and into the master bedroom. Stupid contractor.

Chief45 · « **Reply #68 on:** July 05, 2017, 08:47:29 am »

what did I do this weekend ?

well, wife and I were heading to the grocery store.
my duty officer jumped up a stolen car.
no other officers within 15 miles, so I went to back him. (well, yes, I did have a radio and my gun,)
car ran.
high speed (sorta, never went over 85) following in the secondary position, running radio, in our personal truck, with my wife, for the first 15 miles of the chase, until he go onto the interstate and a state trooper caught up about then. we stopped and looked for stuff he had thrown out the window at that point.
wife was super excited, she had not ridden with me on a chase for about 25 years.
several stop sticks (tire deflation devices) and 40 miles later, he was on steel and finally stopped, no incident.
multiple felony charges, stolen car, stolen credit cards, felon in possession of a firearm, agg assault on a LEO (swerved toward a cop putting the stop sticks out), guy has a rap sheet about 14 pages long, going back to when he was a JV and adjudicated as an adult, he's 32 now and sitting in our jail on a 100K bond.

we did make it to the grocery store, just took a bit.

First Shirt · « **Reply #69 on:** July 05, 2017, 09:18:06 am »

Wow, you sure know how to show a lady a good time!

Chief45 · « **Reply #70 on:** July 05, 2017, 11:49:49 pm »

I may be a cheap date, but D###n we can have fun on a tight budget

coelacanth · « **Reply #71 on:** July 06, 2017, 10:11:49 pm »

Nice.

Re: the carpenter bees, if you can plug up the ingress hole they will move on without you having to spray water in your attic and also without having to poison them. They are basically harmless and great pollinators for local plants so IMO it would be a shame to have to exterminate them if it could be avoided. Are there any apiaries or bee relocation services in your area?

We had a whole nest of them in our fig tree in the backyard for three seasons never once had any problem with them. They were probably twenty five feet or so from the back door and once we got used to having them around we kind of missed them after they were gone. I think it was a really hard freeze that made them abandon the nest.

Raptor · « **Reply #72 on:** July 07, 2017, 10:19:52 am »

We found the entry point: area of major water damage at a gutter downpipe. Papa Raptor has known about it for a while, but it was kinda low on his priority list. Until now, that is. And we actually had an exterminator come Wednesday. Turns out we were wrong: they were honey bees. We had to get rid of them ASAP since they were getting into the house and Mama Raptor is deathly allergic to bee stings. Thank God she's out of town for a few more days.

Chief, I think your weekend was way more exciting than mine. And proved that you married the right woman.

Kaso · « **Reply #73 on:** July 07, 2017, 05:09:27 pm »

Uh... Yeah... Honey bees and carpenter bees look nothing alike.

Raptor · « **Reply #74 on:** July 07, 2017, 05:16:16 pm »

I know zilch about bees. I mean, I can tell the difference between a Bumble Bee, a not-Bumble Bee, and a Wasp/Yellow Jacket/Hornet, but that's it. Mama and Papa Raptor assumed they were Carpenter Bees because they'd moved into the wall rather than build a hive outside the house. The exterminator (who deals exclusively with bees) ID'd them as Honey Bees.