Good morning!!!!

[txdon]

I tell my wife that we need to hire someone to sit between us so we can lean over and say, "What did she-he say?" I do fairly well at home or in small settings but in a big crowd I have no idea what is being said a lot of the time. Ed

Excellent idea, an interpreter! I feel the same way when I don't have my hearing aids in, which is most of the time. When I do have them in, they mostly filter out noise (road and crowd) rather than just increasing the volume making easier to understand. In the car they especially work well knocking out the road noise.


Good morning 30˚. Going to meet the organ man this morning. He is scheduled to refurbish the Church pipe organ. Maybe I can take my rubber bands off the sticking keys today.

 

[daugen]

I get more elaborate junk mail solicitations from the local hearing aid chain stores.
Expensive stuff to print, part of the reason hearing aids seem excessively expensive.
I wonder if most of the 2000 dollar hearing aids are just elaborately re-marketed as 5000 dollar hearing aids
since that's what the locals know will earn more money. And I suppose it gives them bargaining room.
Anyone here every negotiate over the cost of hearing aids?
I'd like to know what the point of diminishing returns is. Where do you get 80-90 percent performance for half the cost.
And i know size and ease of use and warranty are big issues. As well as the competency of the audiologist.

Growing up in church I sat behind an old lady that had a first gen hearing aid. It used to whine and whistle and she couldn't hear it. She would fiddle with it, take it out and try to adjust something, put it back in. Our church now has half a dozen headsets for folks to use, amplifiers basically.

Very hard to know if you are getting good value here, not like Consumer Reports is doing tests on these things.
I had tinnitus early in life, seemed to clear up and I think I have pretty good hearing overall. But I'm sure my treble hearing is way down. Just happens with age.
But it's not hearing my stereo better that worries me, it's understanding the speaker in a crowded room who is speaking too softly, like really old folks do.
I'm missing more, which is what I hear is not uncommon.

itching to go outside but it looks like another two hours of rain. It's 65...those magic peas are talking to me, and I might slip out.
All I need is my finger...the ground is so soft and wet.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning all! Low of 22* this morning, high of 54*. Chance of flurries this morning. Up north getting 2-10 inches depending on elevation.
Drew, you're lucky to have such an early start on planting the garden. We can't even think about planting outside until the end of April. Sounds like your garden plans are going to be amazing when done.:thumbsup:

Toppop, it's wonderful that your club has done so much for so long! I'm sure your club has made many, many lives better. Keep up the great work!:drink:

Jay, any pics of your trip? The suspense is killing me! (Just don't use any $10 words in the captions, takes too long to look them up)

For all those still needing prayers: they're on the way!
Everyone have a great day!

 

[lostcreekranch]

that's a lot of good done by a bunch of guys. Attaboy Toppop. It's all about giving back and being a giver and not a taker.

going to see if I can plant these overachievers today.
Ron, the dates make no sense to me either, with my Northern DNA. But I have three different localized planners to read, including the NC State Guide for Eastern NC Gardening.
Uh, that's me. And they all say start planting outside Feb 1. The problem of course is the killer frost. I'm only planting these peas where I can throw a sheet over them. But the cabbages? Yeah out they go. They are supposed to be almost like collards, tough things that like the cold and don't like the heat. This is going to be a live and learn special. Of course I could just have a big greenhouse built there.... where it would block the sight of my one eyesore neighbor.
What's interesting here, very interesting actually..., is that my destitute neighbor farmer has the remains of three large greenhouses all stacked in pieces after the hurricane went through.
So all the frame parts are available. I'm only thinking of a cold frame.
Not this year for sure.

Drew, maybe you need a Farmers Almanac for guidance? They have regional editions. My grandmother was a believer and always used the FA for planting dates.

Old Farmer's Almanac - Weather, Gardening, Full Moon, Best Days, Astronomy

 

[lostcreekranch]

Jay, any pics of your trip? The suspense is killing me! (Just don't use any $10 words in the captions, takes too long to look them up)

!

I agree Jay! I’ve used up my “look up” allocation on Google for entire 1Q 2018.

 

[lostcreekranch]

31 degrees here, feels like 23 degrees. Forecast is for low 50’s for our high.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Wngsprd: "wild crocus"? Is it from seeds from your plantings or do they actually grow wild? Do they look the same?
Have to take the wifey to Costco today, hope we get out of there easy (never seems to happen, always spend way too much) I know what I'm having for lunch for sure.

After we get home, hopefully I'm going to get a little work done outside today. Have an old well house to break apart (made of cinder block) then fill in the hole. When the original land owner put it in, he put it about 4 ft into the ground and about 2 ft out. It's been defunct for about 10 years, so long overdue to get rid of it. I have a couple of bucket loads of 10-12" white quartz rocks that I'll put in the hole first, then cover with dirt. (Finally found a new use for those rocks) , plus I get to play on the tractor.

 

[PJSprog]

15°F and cloudy this morning, going up to 35° today. We missed most of the weather that rolled through the area this weekend, only getting a thin layer of ice over everything Saturday night. Would rather have had the snow, but they didn't ask me.

Wife took me to another one of those group painting thingies again yesterday afternoon, and dragged the boy and his girlfriend along as well. This one wasn't quite as fun as the first time. Maybe it was the guy running the thing, or maybe it was the smaller group. Dunno. We did have a tasty dinner at 54th Street Grill afterwards.

Interesting conversations I missed here over the weekend.

 

[jbrumberg]

LS_mt125_owner- I really do not have that many pictures and my MacBook Air's Photo will not let me load my pictures from my little point and shoot digital camera since I got a IMac to which I can upload pictures. There is some king of conflict going on that I do not understand. Wifey takes most of the scenery pictures. I'll see what I can pull up later. This is a travel day. Hopefully no more stream fordings and a nearby gasolineria so we can get to Jaco/Villas Calettas.

We really are the second class "citizens" here. Very few of the patrons here drive here themselves. They hire drivers or they fly in. The few people that we have met can not believe that we drove here.

We are in the "cheap seats" here. I do not do ziplines and no longer ride horses down here.

I am also a "drone" hobbyist.:embarrassed: I've lost count of all my RC aircraft (heli's and drones) that I have and/or lost due to crashes or fly-a-ways. I built my own. It's about 3' across prop tip to prop tip. I call it the "Flying Cuisinart." It can "top" trees and has been modified and rebuilt (crashes & upgrades) more times than I can remember. This is a really good drone-eye view of where we are now and the surrounding countryside:

Hotel Punta Islita - Costa Rica Resorts - Luxury Beach Resorts

I am still surprised they let us in. The first thing they do when you arrive is take your passport and credit card. I bet they do a quick credit check

This little guy was on our floor. It's now in scorpion heaven. The little scorpions in nortern CR are pretty harmless. Down in the Osa the little ones are a little nastier.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

We still have Berryman痴 here... need some sent?

I did a little pokin' around on Berryman's web site. Turns out there's several formulations of their Chem Dip product, but none of the ones in the one gallon can with the basket contain the magic ingredient: Methyl Chloride. However, they still sell a "professional" version in a five gallon can with basket, and a one gallon "replenisher" can of the same stuff with a screw on lid. And I'm pretty sure I can get both of those at the local auto parts store. I'll call 'em today and find out for sure. Berryman does not recommend any of the MEK based products for use in an ultrasonic cleaner, but say the water based stuff should be OK. But I'm thinking that the MEK product would make a good pre-wash, then a dip in the UT tank to clean that off with Dawn dishwashing detergent and water as the fluid.

I still had a can of Chem Dip on the shelf, and tried it yesterday. I noticed right away that about a third of it was missing, and it didn't have that strong Berryman's smell. After 45 minutes in the stuff, the parts were cleaner, but not as clean as with the "good stuff" of years ago. The basket in my can is also plastic, and I don't think it would hold up in the good stuff. So I think what I'll do is dispose of what I have as hazardous waste, but keep the can. Then get a gallon of the replenisher for the five gallon "good stuff", and use an old metal basket I kept from the good ol' days. Even with all that, though, reviews on Amazon for the pro cleaner say it's still not the same as the good ol' days formulation. But it'll better than what comes in the gallon basket cans, which seems to be water based with no Methyl Chloride at all.

So thanks for the offer, and I might take you up on it if I can't find the replenisher locally or just over the border in Reno. I'll let you know!:thumbsup: