Bird Cam: Male Red-Wing Blackbird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don't get a ton of these, but they are always pretty when they do come around. You can see a hint of the red and yellow, which is really vibrant when their wings are spread. Pretty sure that's a female cow bird photo bombing in the corner.

WOTM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survive another month. Resist how we can. The government can't tell you how to treat your neighbor.

The Spice Of Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You should put your money where your mouth is. Sometimes literally. Penzeys Spices is a good company that has been brazenly rejecting the magats running our country. They're a little more expensive and we have to have them shipped to us, but from now on our spice cabinet is a Penzey first zone. It also helps that the spices are actually great too. You can taste the difference when you use them.

Back 10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently I never blogged about my 10 year pin, so here it is. 

Sweet 15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got my pin for 15 years of service working for Metro, all of them with JIS. Hard to believe its been that long. Time does fly.

Side Rav

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great car, no notes.

Rav Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a little over ten years Mari decided it was time for the Honda Accord to go. She went and picked out this 2025 Toyota Rav 4 Hybrid Limited and it's a beaut inside and out. We ended up naming the Accord Isabeau, Izy for short, after the character in Ladyhawke. The Rav is yet to be named.

Bird Cam: Female Downy Woodpecker - Redux

 

 

 

Just yesterday I posted a pic of the female downy woodpecker from the bird cam thinking it might be the only one I ever got. Well lightning struck twice and I learned a lesson as today we got what is my favorite snap taken by the cam feeder so far. This amazing profile of the female downy woodpecker. Also she is clearly eating a sunflower seed, so obviously they eat more than just suet!

Bird Cam: Female Downy Woodpecker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a real treat. This is one of my favorite birds, the downy woodpecker. You can tell this is a female because the male has a bright red patch on the back of his head. I didn't expect to get any pictures of the downy because the kind of food this feeder takes is not what they eat, we have that in a suet feeder elsewhere. So this lady must have just been using the cam feeder as a perch for a minute. Very exciting! Well, to me at least.

No Singing At Shoney's

 

 

 

I think karaoke night might be cancelled.

Bird Cam: Female Tufted Titmouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See Male Tufted Titmouse entry. Add shrug emoji with a question mark.

Bird Cam: Male Tufted Titmouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a Tufted Titmouse. A pretty little bird that is sexually monomorphic. What does that mean? Well unlike the other birds where the male is bright and female brown, or like blue jays with subtle differences between the sexes, the Titmouse male and female look identical and are exactly the same size. So good luck telling them apart. Therefor I am openly admitting to cheating on this one. I choose this as an example of a male. It's my blog, I can do that.

Still Not Poison

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2019 on a trip to Ireland Dad and I took this picture.

Well in honor of Saint Patrick's Day, we decided to do a little recreation. 

What do you think?

Hack N Slash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kingdom Come Deliverance came out in 2018 but I passed on it. It got mixed reviews for being a bit buggy and the combat being janky. Then Kingdom Come Deliverance II was released just a bit ago and is getting rave reviews. So now that I want to play the sequel I figured I should go back and play the original. And, yep the reviews were right. I ran into several bugs and the combat is very clunky, but the story was also really good and I had fun so that's what it's all about!

Nice Wheels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad traded in the ol' 2010 minivan for this slightly used 2022 CR-V EXL. It's even nicer in person, I think a great choice.

Bird Cam: Male Starling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The male and female starling look almost exactly alike, the only way to tell is a small detail on the beak. If you compare this one to my other post you will notice where the yellow bit ends the beak its darker and blueish. Whereas on the female its lighter and more pinkish. Nothing you'd probably be able to see without one staying still on camera.

Bird Cam: Female Starling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have the female Starling. They're an invasive species to the US, so despite being pretty we are not a fan. Birders label them a "nuisance bird" and we call them bully birds since they come in swarms, muscle out all the others and eat up all the food. Whenever we can we chase them off. Of course the cowbird is also considered a nuisance bird since it does kind of the same thing, but we give them more of a pass since they actually belong here. Not the starling's fault of course, they're just doing what nature tells 'em to, but in large enough numbers they can cause real harm to other bird species, as invasive animals are wont to do. In some places there are bounties on them for that reason.

We Stand With Ukraine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prancing dipshit and his diapered puppet don't speak for us.

Coal It

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was fun to stand around the fire, talk and enjoy the heat. We'll definitely have to break this bad boy out more often!

Flame On

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With just a little kindling the fire got quite big and very hot, plus the "smokeless" part worked as advertised.

Better Conflagrate Than Never

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm ashamed to admit after Dad got us this awesome fire pit, it sat being used as a table for over a year. Well, no longer! It's cold and clear tonight, so we're gonna fire it up!

WOTM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We endure.

Bird Cam: Female Carolina Chickadee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much like the female bluejay, the female chickadee looks just like the male, only smaller. So my best guess is, this is a female. If not my apologies to this bird for any untentional misgendering.

Bird Cam: Male Carolina Chickadee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little fella is a chickadee, more specifically a Carolina chickadee since there are 7 kinds but only one that lives in the south.

Mindful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hellblade 2, Senua's Saga continues the story of the Pict warrior woman's journey and he fight with mental illness. Like the first one the graphics were top notch, the story was solid, and it was interesting to try to figure out what was real and what was just in her head. The pacing was a bit off though, some parts dragged on too long and others went too quick. Still, worth the time and there's going to be a third one to conclude the series which I was definitely play.

Bird Cam: Male House Finch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have the pretty house finch in the male variety. For the longest time I thought these were purple finches, but now that I'm trying to be all scientific and stuff in my bird analysis I've learned what they really are.

Taste The Rainbow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My breakfast blueberries were specially enhanced this morning.

Attempted Snowman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a late round of snow come in today so I tried to make the obligatory snowman, but it was such loose powder no matter what I tried it just fell apart. I could have added some water I suppose, but I'm not that motivated. So here, enjoy an almost snowman.

Almost Satisfactory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Satisfactory is a game where you are dropped on an alien planet by a faceless corporation and have to set up increasingly complex machines that mines and make parts. There's a light frame of a story but it's mostly about all the logistics to get everything working. In the beginning it was really fun, but by the late stages everything was so complex and the resources you needed so spread out, even my brain wired for the joy of organization got tired of it. Still, an interesting and well executed concept.

Bowled Over

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't have much of a dog in the Super Bowl hunt this year. I like Kelce on the Chiefs and Barkley on the Eagles. I went Eagles since I have some other issues with the Chiefs, their chants and their ownership. The birds steamrolled them, so I'll call it a good game. The highlight was really Kendrick Lamar's halftime show.

Scifi Sushi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Doordashed Rock N Roll Sushi tonight, and used the Star Wars chopsticks Casie and John got us for Christmas.

Bird Cam: Extras

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just because I really liked this picture for some reason.

Bird Cam: Female Blue Jay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I gotta be honest with you folks, I'm kinda guessing on this one. I looked it up and male and female blue jays look almost exactly alike. The way you are supposed to tell are the females are slightly smaller and more "blue grey" than bright blue. Although some of the less vibrant males can be close to that shade too. So, by the best of my ability I'm gonna say this is a female blue jay.

Fast Burn

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firewatch is an indy game that's hard to describe. Less "game" and more an interactive story, though the gameplay elements were engaging enough to be interesting too. A short game, I finished it in two sittings, but that was expected for what it was presented to be. So it was all about the story, and for me it worked. I enjoyed how it unfolded, so time well spent.

Accidental Stress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a stress echo today down at St Thomas. I didn't intend to take any pictures of it, but apparently at some point I snapped this one of the floor in the exam room. Probably when I was silencing my phone. So instead of just deleting it, here's a random picture to remember a random medical visit. Only the best for the readers of Snicker Snack.

A New Age

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been quite a while since the last installment of Dragon Age, one of my favorite series. Veilguard is the fourth game in this world. They changed a lot about this one, the graphic style and gameplay was very different. I'm not sure I liked it that much, however the story and characters are where it's at with an RPG and those were still very good. So good I played it twice through which I rarely do. We'll see if there's a fifth one!

WOTM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We'll get through this. But how many won't? Those are the ones we must remember.

Bird Cam: Male Brown-Headed Cowbird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have the male Brown-headed Cowbird. I used to think this was just a "blackbird" but there are 18 different kinds of blackbirds in America. The head is dark brown and sometimes hard to tell from black. We also get Red-winged Blackbirds, but no pictures yet. Interesting (maybe to me only) is that ravens are considered in the blackbird family but crows are not. Who knows why. More than you ever wanted to know about birds!

Bird Cam: Female Brown-Headed Cowbird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One problem with identifying birds, is many of the female birds all look alike. A lot of them are brown with markings and it's subtle differences that allow you to identify them. This is the female Brown-Headed Cowbird, which from a distance also looks a lot like a sparrow, a wren, a female red-wing blackbird, and a female finch. It's the sharp-pointed beak that mostly gives it away.

Sunday Special

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday mornings with my sweetheart. Strawberry smoothies, breakfast choices, a crossword puzzle, and the birds outside. Perfect.

Plex Flex

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I first built the Plex server I thought it would just be a toy I messed with for a fun side project. To that end I put it together on the cheap in a small form factor case with limited storage. Well I had no idea how useful and popular it would become. This is the new Plex and it's a beast with plenty of room for expansion. The future of entertainment is now!

Hog Down

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gigi wanted that squeaker gone.

If You Build It

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Lego complete. A Fett inside a Fett.

Long Fast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And just like that the weekend was over, but it was nice to have some time to hang out.

Grand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two generations having a chat.

Great Grand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad and Mackenzie talking quilts.

MLK Stay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lonnie and Mackenzie came up to visit over the long MLK holiday weekend.

Bird Cam: Interloper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're getting plenty of shots of these little critters too. We love squirrels but we try to chase them off the bird cam, they have their own place to eat after all.

Bird Cam: Female Cardinal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lady of the cardinal clan.

Bird Cam: Male Cardinal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a good snap of a male cardinal.