The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

We have a gas hob and a double stove wall mounted. One of the stoves is fan assisted. I do like the air fryer. It's easy to use and it cleans up pretty easily,

Y'know, I'm trying to recall--remember, we sold the place, due to some familial inheritance issues-but in rethinking this, I'm 99% sure it was the 48" not the 60". Yup, I just pulled out some old Kitchen pics and 99%, NOT the 60".

Still looked GREAT and I loved cooking on them.

Hitch

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I am so ambivalent about the air fryer thing. Firstly, I have a convection oven.

We have a Breville Smart Oven Air fryer. It's our toaster oven, air fryer, dehydrator, proofing drawer and small batch oven for anything that cooks in a 13x9 pan or smaller, and stays on the counter where toaster oven used to live.

Highly recommended. Just wish we weren't on our third one in just over 5 years...glad that Breville always replaces them, just wish they didn't have to.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Thasaidon

The best baked potatoes are those cooked in a cast iron coal fired kitchen range which was also used to heat the kitchen, cook food, and boil water for baths and washing clothes.. You could put some spuds in the oven and leave them as long as you wanted. It cost nothing because the range was kept burning every day, all day during the winter.



I was brought up in such a house and they were still common in the 1950s.

As a child in England we had a Rayburn, similar to an Aga, in the kitchen. It had multiple fixed temperature ovens, hot plates on top and a water tank that supplied the heat to half the radiators in the house. There was a separate gas fueled water heater for the rest of the radiators.

Coal was delivered on a regular basis to a coal hut by the side of the house.

I believe my sister in England still has an Aga in her house.

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

[Rumpelteazer]

On Monday the energy company is going to replace the main cable from the street into the building and all the way up through all the fuse boxes (which are in the stairwell). The work is planned between 8 am and 4 pm and whilst their working there will be no power. I can't go out because they want someone available for each apartment. Probably for access to the fuse box, though most people, including my sister, never lock the door on the storage closet its in. During the weekend we have to empty the closet of other things; my sister keeps some brooms and paint supplies in there.

I'm now making a list of things that I need to charge over the weekend and have a look on Netflix what to download in case I want to watch something. It's annoying that for most of my current hobbies I need power

On Monday morning I usually run some errands, hopefully I can get away for an hour to do that. I'm annoyed I have to stay at home all day, with no power. It's not like I had anything planned for Monday and I can still read, cross stitch and watch something I've downloaded on my Chromebook or tablet. But just the thought of not being able to do whatever I want to annoys me.

[cromag]

We're having our second very mild winter in a row. That in itself isn't much of a problem, but it appears to have brought about a dramatic increase in the local mouse population -- and they're trying to move in with us. So far my trapping efforts are (just barely) keeping up. Hopefully the local fox and hawk (and snake) populations will expand to meet the challenge soon.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by cromag

We're having our second very mild winter in a row. That in itself isn't much of a problem, but it appears to have brought about a dramatic increase in the local mouse population -- and they're trying to move in with us. So far my trapping efforts are (just barely) keeping up. Hopefully the local fox and hawk (and snake) populations will expand to meet the challenge soon.

We have a lot of this "wildlife balancing." We (as may of yo may recall) have coyotes, bobcats, Great Horned Owls, a variety of otherowns, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles, snakes of many varieties (rattlers and kings, the usual sorts, bullsnakes, yadda) and the like.

What we find is that after a mild winter or heavy breeding season, the Senior clan of predators (the mature ones) tend to congregate where the free buffet starts. The bigger the food supply, the larger and fatter the predator class. I already know, from watching what's happening on our property, that we're going to have more coyote pups this year. A bigger litter or two of bobcats. And all that. I can't imagine that it would be any different for you--the foxes, hawks, etc. will all relocate where the All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet is the best.

(When we lived in the city, the coyotes always looked like half-starved GSD mixes. Up here, they look like they're getting ready to go to the Westminster Kennel Club Coyote show--fat, sassy and shiny coats. Not kidding, really.)

FWIW.

Hitch

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Hitch

(When we lived in the city, the coyotes always looked like half-starved GSD mixes. Up here, they look like they're getting ready to go to the Westminster Kennel Club Coyote show--fat, sassy and shiny coats. Not kidding, really.)

FWIW.

Hitch

Sounds like the coyotes I see wandering around my urban neighbourhood. When you no longer have to worry about being shot, life gets much easier.

[cromag]

Originally Posted by Hitch

We have a lot of this "wildlife balancing." We (as may of yo may recall) have coyotes, bobcats, Great Horned Owls, a variety of otherowns, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles, snakes of many varieties (rattlers and kings, the usual sorts, bullsnakes, yadda) and the like.
...
Hitch

I don't know how long it's been since you've visited NJ, but we have a pretty healthy population of eastern coyotes these days. In fact, there's a pack a couple of blocks away that I used to walk past at night when I had Shadow, my German shepherd. Eastern coyotes don't seem to be too interested in mice, but hope springs eternal!

Our snakes include copperheads -- a nearby neighbor was hospitalized last year when she was bitten twice by one. They'd be happy with mice, but I was hoping more for milk snakes, corn snakes, rat snakes, etc. (Our neighbors have no idea how many snakes live in the woods out back.)

(They're not much good for mouse control, but we also have quite a few black bears these days. I encountered one in my back yard a few years ago, just a bit too close for comfort. Back in the 70s I worked for Fish & Game, and for my last few months with them I had a truck and picked up the roadkill deer in four northern counties. I had to pick up a bear on I-80, and I didn't believe it until I got there and saw it for myself. They've been busy multiplying since then!)

But, in the meantime, the traps are working. I just have to buy more peanut butter.

[DNSB]

Just a rant about an idiot pedestrian. I was stopped at a red light waiting for a left turn signal. When I got the left turn signal, a pedestrian decided that the left turn signal was the perfect time to step off the curb and start crossing the lane I was turning into (all this while studying her cell phone screen). I stopped to avoid her and honked just to let her know that she was being an idiot.

Finished driving home and next thing I know my doorbell rings. Answer the door and there is a police officer there. He informed me the pedestrian complained about me almost hitting her and honking at her. I agreed about the honking but disagreed on the almost hitting and stated that she was crossing illegally while staring at her phone. I was told that if it was my word vs. hers, hers would likely be accepted.

At that point, I went to the car, dug the µSD card out of my dash cam and playing back the relevant section for the police officer. Nice bit of video since the left turn signal could be seen flashing when she stepped off the curb and still flashing when I came to a stop and honked while the pedestrian signal showed a red hand. I suggested she might appreciate a ticket for jaywalking and perhaps a reminder of the penalties for making a false police report.

[Comfy.n]

good thing you had the dash cam on

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Comfy.n

good thing you had the dash cam on

Yeah, I was very happy about that. This was the first time I've actually used the dash cam video for anything other than checking oddities like "Was that a bear we just drove by?".

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Just a rant about an idiot pedestrian.

<snip>

I suggested she might appreciate a ticket for jaywalking and perhaps a reminder of the penalties for making a false police report.

Brought to mind the title of a prehistoric BBC comedy: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

BR

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Just a rant about an idiot pedestrian. I was stopped at a red light waiting for a left turn signal. When I got the left turn signal, a pedestrian decided that the left turn signal was the perfect time to step off the curb and start crossing the lane I was turning into (all this while studying her cell phone screen). I stopped to avoid her and honked just to let her know that she was being an idiot.

Finished driving home and next thing I know my doorbell rings. Answer the door and there is a police officer there. He informed me the pedestrian complained about me almost hitting her and honking at her. I agreed about the honking but disagreed on the almost hitting and stated that she was crossing illegally while staring at her phone. I was told that if it was my word vs. hers, hers would likely be accepted.

At that point, I went to the car, dug the µSD card out of my dash cam and playing back the relevant section for the police officer. Nice bit of video since the left turn signal could be seen flashing when she stepped off the curb and still flashing when I came to a stop and honked while the pedestrian signal showed a red hand. I suggested she might appreciate a ticket for jaywalking and perhaps a reminder of the penalties for making a false police report.

And what did the police officer say when you showed them the video?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

And what did the police officer say when you showed them the video?

Basically, he agreed the video matched up with what I said and not with what the pedestrian was saying other than the time stamp on the video which closely matched with what the pedestrian said was the time at which I had almost run her down. He apologized for bothering me and I said that he was only doing his job. I will not be charged with anything. I am still hoping that the PD will have a chat with the pedestrian

I suppose someone might want claim that I went home and edited the video but that is unlikely to happen and for the most, part editing videos tends to be obvious when looked at closely.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Basically, he agreed the video matched up with what I said and not with what the pedestrian was saying other than the time stamp on the video which closely matched with what the pedestrian said was the time at which I had almost run her down. He apologized for bothering me and I said that he was only doing his job. I will not be charged with anything. I am still hoping that the PD will have a chat with the pedestrian

I suppose someone might want claim that I went home and edited the video but that is unlikely to happen and for the most, part editing videos tends to be obvious when looked at closely.

I was hoping the officer would have been pro-active and going after the false statement.

I had a similar situation a while back. I get home from work, and shortly afterward, an officer pulls into the driveway. Someone said I was involved in a hit and run. I was not. The officer examined my car and saw no damage. The "incident" allegedly happened in another town, and he said the officials there had a history with the person making the allegation. Never heard another word after that.