davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

[davidd]

So, smarter than AI then? 

I should have asked AI to offer alternatives. 

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25 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Full-On Farming Failure

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Out of curiosity, I planted the seeds from a cantaloupe melon a couple of weeks ago. I rinsed off most of the seeds from the cantaloupe and planted the entire glob a couple of inches deep in a planter pot raised up off the back porch.

To my surprise, within a few days I had dozens of seedlings sprouting up.

Over the course of a few days I thinned the seedlings, as one is supposed to do, until I was left with seven vigorous little plants.

A few mornings later, I was down to two vigorous little plants. A malicious midnight marauder with the munchies made mincemeat of my agricultural efforts.

The next morning, the remaining two plants were gone.

I don't know how the pioneers survived. For that matter, I don't know how modern farmers manage to produce crops considering the voracious nature of... nature.

25 June - A Doll A Day 2024

[Alliecat]

Aww, that's too bad. Slugs?
You can always try with another cantaloupe. Maybe start them inside, and buy some slug bait!

[davidd]

Aww, that's too bad.  Slugs?

It could have been slugs or snails, although I've never seen a slug or a snail around here. Plus, no slime trails.
I'm thinking maybe field mice. Those little monsters are everywhere!

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26 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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VAMPIRA'S LITERARY LOUNGE PRESENTS:

Framing Floors, Walls, & Ceilings (2009) by Fine Homebuilding Magazine

Reading this book was akin to reading something written in a foreign language. The target audience for the collected articles is definitely contractors and ex-perienced carpenters. Nevertheless, there was information applicable and accessible to neophytes.

The layout was clear, and the photo illustrations were pertinent to the subjects under discussion.

I learned what the little horizontal notch in the tab on the end of most tape measures is for.

26 June - A Doll A Day 2024

[davidd]

27 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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A Walk among the Yucca Stalks

[Alliecat]

Ooh, the yucca flowers look interesting.
So, what’s the notch for??

[davidd]

So, what’s the notch for??

The purpose of the notch was not revealed until the final chapter of the book. You wouldn't want me to spoil the ending, would you? 

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28 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Poking About Out There Among the Prickly Pear

[Alliecat]

Never mind, I googled    Found a good site for home reno advice.

I’m not a fan of pokey plants, but the flowers of cacti are pretty. Must have been a bit tricky getting your little model in there.

[davidd]

Never mind, I googled    Found a good site for home reno advice.

I was gonna tell ya; just tryin' to draw out the suspense!

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29 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Bristlecone Pine Trees

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Chessmen Ridge Spur Trail
Cedar Breaks National Monument
Utah, USA

[Alliecat]

What lovely places you have to roam. I wish I was there. (I wish I was anywhere else, really. )
I count 9 of these little gals so far (?)...

[davidd]

What lovely places you have to roam. I wish I was there. (I wish I was anywhere else, really. )
I count 9 of these little gals so far (?)...

You have lovely places to roam nearby as well... which is possibly contributing to your reticence to leave.

You're right, nine so far! I didn't realize I had that many different ones! How 'bout another?

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30 June - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Let Us Eat Pancakes

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This recent series of photos of small keyring charm figures has proven exceptionally unengaging even relative to the usual abysmal engagement metrics of my images.

Nevertheless, we soldier on... with half-eaten pancakes. Because nobody's looking anyway.

30 June - A Doll A Day 2024

[davidd]

1 July - A Doll A Day 2024:

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Totally Tubular

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I'm hoarding cardboard tubes again.

I rarely find anything useful to do with them, but I feel a compulsion to keep them until so many pile up that in a fit of frustration I discard them all at once... followed by remorseful wondering: what if I need one for something?

Nertz! Pix aren't displaying properly! I'll look in again tomorrow.

Christopher said he made a note on his calendar to check the site in a day or two to see if the Security Certificate updated properly.

[Alliecat]

Glad the security thing *might* be fixed.  At least we don't have to rely on the AWOL owner for that, I guess?

I've rarely needed a cardboard tube (although I'm not building sets out of scrap material) ... you are probably safe tossing recycling them.  There will always be more.

If you're taking pictures for "engagement metrics" rather than because you think it's fun, you're always gonna be disappointed.  Why do we think we have to do creative things to please everyone else and not ourselves? Because "society" and social media tell us to?
Found in a Meat Loaf group, although I don't think it's an actual quote from him:  "Your art isn't about how many people like your work, your art is about if your HEART likes your work... if your SOUL likes your work.  It's about how honest you are with yourself and you mustn't ever trade honesty for relatability."

[davidd]

Reply isn't working for me now.

Believe it or not, they don't recycle cardboard here, which is another reason it pains me to discard cardboard tubes and cardboard boxes. But y'know, rising fuel costs are making the transportation of materials for recycling prohibitively eensive. You'd think, logically, that it would cost less to recycle existing material than it would to make new material from raw materials, but apparently that is not how things work.

I don't usually take pictures for "engagement metrics," but I do "look at the numbers" from time to time. It's sometimes discouraging, sometimes confusing, but mostly just kind of interesting.

Anyway...

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2 July - A Doll A Day 2024:

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2 July - A Doll A Day 2024

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The DM website still seems to be janked up.

Today, July 2, marks the exact middle of the calendar year. This would be a good point at which to abandon A Doll A Day if I elect to do so.

[Alliecat]

They don't recycle much of anything here. Other parts of the province do... but it costs too much to truck it away on the ferry. So I throw out cans, plastic containers, boxboard.... hate doing it. I used to at least take a trunkload to a drop-off depot if I was going away, but when they added more items to curbside pickup for the mainlanders, they eliminated all the recycle depots
I'm kinda not surprised they don't there either. Is recycling not as much of a Thing in the States? I was gobsmacked how many little plastic bags HEBs in Texas use. I mean, they could at least use bigger ones so you wouldn't have as many?? I brought all my grocery bags home with me because you can't get them here anymore!!, and what are you supposed to use in your garbage can -- you have to BUY plastic bags for it?!

Anything interesting in the box?

[davidd]

Is recycling not as much of a Thing in the States?

Anything interesting in the box?

Recycling varies state-by-state and locality-by-locality. In some places it is mandatory, with fines if too much recyclable material is mixed in with household rubbish.
Over the past few years, however, news stories have reported that some states (run by the "progressives") that mandate recycling have been dumping the recyclable material in the landfills with the regular trash because it costs the cities and states too much to process it. So a lot of the recycling is "for show."

New water heater in the box. I'll be attempting to replace a gas (propane) water heater with an electric one. Starting... now!

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3 July - A Doll A Day 2024:

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A Spanner in the Works

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Completely reconfiguring a gas spigot rather than simply turning off a valve was not factored in to today's task.

3 July - A Doll A Day 2024

Also: Christopher Fritz reports that the site should be fully functional. "It's fixed right now," he said!