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hookem2010

Certifiably Surly
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Posts posted by hookem2010

  1. I learned about 'firehawks' today. Apparently, some kites and falcons in Australia will take advantage of wildfires by grabbing a smoldering stick and dropping it an unburned area to start a new fire and stir up prey animals. Wild...

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  2. 20ish years late to the party, but I think I watched this at the right time. I put it on as background while doing some housing projects, and wasn't particularly hooked immediately, but started paying closer attention as the series went on.

    Spoiler

    I knew the finale is always heralded as being special, so I was kind of expecting some big twist. But it was brilliant in its simplicity. It's a character-driven show dealing with death. Show us what happens to the characters.

    I don't think this would have hit nearly the same as a high school/college kid. But as I approach middle-age, have a young child, and will likely be going to my MIL funeral in the next couple weeks, the end definitely doesn't feel like this abstract concept anymore.

     

  3. I FINALLY got on one after about 6 tries this winter. Seems like they've been everywhere. My looks were nowhere near as satisfying as that photo though.

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  4. 15 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

    They do this at the Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory too and I really need to get my ass out there. 

    Do it. Really easy to see a ton of birds out there, especially in the winter. There are probably a couple thousand ducks on the water right now. The "pond 3" swamp down the river trail is a really good spot for things you won't see driving around.

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  5. 8 hours ago, Coach pop a bitch said:

    Anyone putting out suet with good results?

    I've really slacked on my feeder game as of late. My suet tended to get raided by starlings in the past.

  6. 4 hours ago, DougO said:

    Any hooded mergansers there? I think there was a pair reported recently. I was thinking about maybe heading that way to get it on my list, haven't had one this year.

    Nope, I haven't had any in 2023 either, actually. Even at Mueller in Austin, where they seem to be very regular, I haven't seen many reports.

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  7. I helped out with the Round Rock Christmas Bird Count this morning at Lake Pflugerville. Absolutely perfect day, and our crew of 5 recorded just over 50 species in 3 1/2 hours, despite very few ducks on the water. Highlights were marsh wren, a couple northern harriers, a pair of hidden soras calling from the reeds, and an osprey as our very last bird.

    I highly recommend checking out a CBC if you're interested in getting more into the hobby. You can see a ton of stuff, often with people more knowledgeable than you, who are happy to share what they know.

     

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  8. 10 hours ago, Thatguy said:

    Currently in this loop bigtime Brisket. Moved from LA to Houston to slow life down. Wife picks a lilly white suburb because the schools were great. Can't say as I blame because HISD. Anyway, kid is a super athletic, skinny little thing who never met anyone who wasn't a friend. We start the new school in 6th grade. A month in she is in the hospital diagnosed with Type1. She gets out then Covid. Depression sets in. 7th grade starts and she isn't the same. Scared to assert herself. Not making friends. Kids calling her the N word. Lucky for us volleyball creates a balance. She excels at that. Making elite teams at club, starting varsity, 1st team all district, but at school she is being ostracized. At first we think its because early teenager, and the usual struggles of girls that age, but then, through volleyball, we start to see that its simply "how things are" in areas like this. The light bulb kinda came on last year. The first tournament of the volleyball season we took the girls to eat and all the black girls meandered over to a table by themselves. In fact, of the 13 girls they all segregated. We lived in Woodland Hills in LA and it wasn't like this.

    Wife is from the West Coast(chinese and white) and doesn't get it. I remember this from my time growing up. Daughter is growing increasingly frustrated. Boys ask her out to a dance but then come back and say they aren't allowed to go. Wife and Daughter are both complaining. Daughter is fighting some hardcore depression. My wife's reaction isn't making things better. Solution is pretty simple to me. Move or accept the fact that you aren't making friends here and build relationships with the girls on your club team from other schools. My "fixit" isn't appreciated. So I will just hang out over here until y'all figure it out.

    Man, that's some bullshit. My wife grew up as a Korean adopted into a white family in Colorado Springs. I'm white, grew up in Spring, TX. 

    I'm sure we have it easy compared to other mixed race families, with our little one being light-haired and light-skinned. I know my wife dealt with plenty of racist shit growing up though. I got to experience some in-your-face racism when our cars and driveway got vandalized while living in Decatur for 18 months.

    I never gave a thought as to where I would feel comfortable raising a family until the last few years. I'm so sorry your daughter has been made to feel unwelcome where she lives and goes to school. The Houston suburbs seemed liked a great, albeit boring, place to grow up as a white boy. As an adult, I see my parents and the friends they surrounded themselves with, and know that my hometown is not where I would want my kid to grow up. I just hope Round Rock ends up being a good place for our little guy.

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  9. 7 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

    Sigh. And fuck. And shit.
    Continuing saga of adult daughter at home and struggling to figure her shit out. Incredible tension and friction, and as of now, the family is spinning apart.
    Counseling session on Sunday was a disaster. Daughter is now afraid of mom. I made the mistake of telling mom this, who now feels hated and worthless (seriously…I fucked WAY up, bigly and badly…like, one of my worst of all time). They already weren’t talking. I expect it’s about to get much, much worse.
    Daughter wrestling with her shit, and she’s really hard to parent right now.
    And now mom feels worthless and unloved and unlovable, a failure as a parent because she’s a bad person.
    And fun fact, the boy comes home in less than 48 hours, and he’ll be walking directly into this storm.
    As for me? I’m visiting with the counselor solo tomorrow, to see if there’s anything I can do to hold shit together. I’m not optimistic. This is going to be a rough as shit holiday.

    Good luck, man. Sometimes, the frustration, fatigue and occasional boredom that comes with raising a toddler is really exhausting. The emotional toll dealing with a teen/young adult though sounds like a whole different level.

    Our 18 month-old is becoming a lot more fun. The words are still coming very slowly, but he is at least attempting to communicate what he wants rather than immediately throwing a fit, and playtime is waaaay more fun than when he was younger. He's also made it through 3 straight weeks of daycare without getting sick, a new personal record!

  10. 9 hours ago, Getafix said:

     

    Just FYI - a minute of Anthony Hill, unfiltered.  Lulz.

    (Twitter was borked when I posted this, so reposting as a psa ... .)

     

     

     

    I love how this dude, who was in high school this time last year, stops runners in their tracks without giving up a single extra yard. He could be at a standstill and the ball carrier with a full head of steam gets wrapped up and put down without Hill giving up an inch.

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  11. Yea, that's some bullshit. It should be at an island nation that could be underwater by the end of the century. That way, at least the decision-makers have to look the people who are most fucked in the eye as they kick the can down the road.

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  12. 16 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

    I love this site. Never what know you will learn or weird shit you will see.

    For instance I recently learned a type of Lemur (aye-aye's) have one long as finger that serves as a hook to pull termites out of mounds. I asked if it was the middle finger and it was not well taken. But in nature they look more like rats.

    image.jpeg.1d544d15e0f19ef46cee1533196a1ad5.jpeg

     

    And native Madagascar people do not like them, perhaps because they are the creepiest little fuckers you could dream up. Just imagine hearing a Tap-Tap-Tap while walking through the forest at night and seeing this freak staring back at you, long finger extended menacingly.

    Unfortunately, that's probably part of the reason they're endangered, jn addition, of course, to Madagascar's forests vanishing.

    Oh, badass skull though.

    20090507__AyeAyeMomp1.jpg

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  13. Shit has been slow around here recently, but I'm becoming increasingly optimistic that I will be joining my birding friends in NE Colombia next August. Basically heaven on Earth for a birder. 

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  14. 2 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

    Fuck Dvoracek for being a Sooner and getting an extra year of eligibility for being a drunk and violent asshole, but I do appreciate a color announcer who points out things like Finkley making the play on that TFL by setting the edge. 

    He and Greg McElroy are frustratingly competent.

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