You make a valid point. I didn't make it because of all the choice I had in available options. You can get absolute junk for around $100. Then you jump into the thousands.
What R you doing today?
- Thread starter Tom
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Most of the sweet gum pods have dropped. I spent a while blowing a ton of 'em off the driveway, and went as far as the extension cord allowed, to blow them out of the grass and into the natural areas. I do the yard, section by section, so more will be cleaned as weather allows.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
We had a sweet gum tree in the front yard of our old house. We cut it down for all the reasons you listed.Most of the sweet gum pods have dropped. I spent a while blowing a ton of 'em off the driveway, and went as far as the extension cord allowed, to blow them out of the grass and into the natural areas. I do the yard, section by section, so more will be cleaned as weather allows.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
View attachment 119914
The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
The Missus and I got to see an accident from up close today. We were driving on a multiple lane road in the left lane, and the right lane was ending in another half mile. A car in the right lane put on her left signal, so I backed off from the truck I was behind, to let her in.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
EDIT: This was in slow traffic, so the speed was about 20 MPH. If we had been at highway speed, it would have been really ugly.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
EDIT: This was in slow traffic, so the speed was about 20 MPH. If we had been at highway speed, it would have been really ugly.
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Glad you were aware and stayed safe.The Missus and I got to see an accident from up close today. We were driving on a multiple lane road in the left lane, and the right lane was ending in another half mile. A car in the right lane put on her left signal, so I backed off from the truck I was behind, to let her in.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
If I could go back in time, or send a message back to my younger self, I'd have had the builder remove all the sweet gum and yellow pine trees from the front half of our property. It's 1.5 acres, with the back half heavily wooded. Any of these near the house would be gone!
Thanks!
My dad taught us to look at the bigger picture. Don't focus on the car in front of me, look at as many as I could see. When the 5th car up front lights their brakes or puts on a turn signal, expect something to happen. Even an extra second to react makes a difference.
In this situation I knew she was going to merge. Nothing concrete, just driver's intuition, so I wasn't surprised at her turn signal. I 'spose it's called situational awareness. 4+ decades of driving has made me paranoid.
When I was teaching my sons to drive, I told them they should consider every other driver on the road to be an idiot, until proven otherwise. And I didn't know how to prove otherwise! And that sometime they'd be the idiot. But to try to not be the idiot ...
I thought I would do some cleaning up in the cellar. In so doing, I discovered 5 kits that I bought a few years back and never started. They are LE's or RQ's from 2021 and 2022. Today, I started three of them; a WE Pinot Noir/Shiraz 2021, a RJS Monastrell 2022 and a WE Trebbiano/Riesling 2021.
I discarded the yeast and the sorbate, first because all of the yeast had expired and second because I never us sorbate. I kept the various oaks, bentonites, kiesolsol and chitosans. I did keep a Lalvin Bourgovin 212 that came with one kit because the expiration date was 5/2024 and I added a packet of EC1118 to help it along. The two red juices looked great, tasted great and showed no signs of age. The white juice had oxidized and was very dark, similar to Finer Wine whites I bought years ago. Unfortunately, I did not taste the white because I had already pitched the yeast when the thought occurred to me. I went ahead with the process even though I have little hope for the T/R. On the other hand, I have a good level of confidence in the two reds.
I don't expect anything from the T/R but I invested about $5 in distilled water and yeast to find out. We'll see what happens.
I discarded the yeast and the sorbate, first because all of the yeast had expired and second because I never us sorbate. I kept the various oaks, bentonites, kiesolsol and chitosans. I did keep a Lalvin Bourgovin 212 that came with one kit because the expiration date was 5/2024 and I added a packet of EC1118 to help it along. The two red juices looked great, tasted great and showed no signs of age. The white juice had oxidized and was very dark, similar to Finer Wine whites I bought years ago. Unfortunately, I did not taste the white because I had already pitched the yeast when the thought occurred to me. I went ahead with the process even though I have little hope for the T/R. On the other hand, I have a good level of confidence in the two reds.
I don't expect anything from the T/R but I invested about $5 in distilled water and yeast to find out. We'll see what happens.
Ohio Bob
Senior Member
Remember that the white juice has been concentrated by removing the water. So it’s not surprising to be a darker color. It may very well be alright.
I'm not worrying about the expiration of yeast any more. I make a starter, and if it starts, it means the yeast was illiterate and could not read the package. If it doesn't start, I have more yeast ...
I'm with Bob on this one. You have very little to lost by letting it rock.
I am not going to do anything to it at this point. I will let it ride and see what happens. When I say "dark," this is what I mean:
...and no, I am not going to use charcoal!
That doesn't look promising, but ya never know. Also, even if it's dark, it may taste fine.
Or you may get to test how strong your pipes are.
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