Saturday Open Thread - 10/17/26: Odds and Ends
Good morning, good people! Hope you are all faring well this morning!
We have had an interesting 10 days around here.
First, there was Hoppy. I mentioned her a couple of years ago, the Cardinal fledgling I noticed that could not fly. My best guess is that she had fallen from her nest and injured a wing. We made sure she had water in a bowl on the ground, and bird seed, and sort of protected her from other birds at the busy feeder. After a time, out of the blue, I watched her take a flight into a low limb on a tree. She made it!
Now, it's Vinnie Barbarino Vulture. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago spotting an injured vulture walking around the pasture. Before we left for a couple of days, we did see his mate feed him. She will either bring pieces of meat from a carcass, other times she regurgitates in his mouth. In any event, when Vinnie sees her land, he squeals and runs to her. She stays a little while with him, then flies away. They perform a vulture version of Happy Dance.
The soul searching for us is whether or not he is suffering and should we take responsibility and end it. As we debated, we did set out a pan of water for him, and verified he did drink from it.
And then, something very encouraging happened. His mate fed him, and he followed her by going aloft for a few feet. He did it 5 times. His wings were lifted, but he didn't flap them, but sailed a foot off the ground. He is better.
The next task was to feed him. I took a package of pork chops from the freezer, and JtC chopped one up and put it in a pan. This is very tricky. Raccoons come out at night. However, vultures hunt in the daytime, and 4 vultures ate the pork chop before Vinnie could get to it. We tried again, kept constant watch, and he ate the second pork chop all by himself.
At night, he goes into a thicket and stays hidden until morning. This shields him from foxes and coyotes.
Vulture survival skills are impressive!
I don't know how long this drama lasts, but I know what Vinnie wants.
This is an Open Thread, friends. Share your thoughts with us. Share news. Share whatever you think is worthwhile.
Let 'er rip!
Comments
Good morning, and Happy Saturday!
I am going grocery shopping this afternoon, and will be taking note of prices, given all the wars here and there, and refineries blown to bits, and the SOH being closed FOR REAL.
Drop in whatever in the comments, my friends!
Your turn!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good morning...
Sounds like Vinnie will recover. Good thing because road kill clean up is an important task.
Gas prices around here are down to about $3.50/gal. Go figure.
It was a chilly walk around trade day this morning. The temp was about 50F but the wind was howling. Hope it settles down before we build a fire this evening. Fortunately the fairly new fire pit is well protected from the wind.
Have a good Saturday, and thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning, Lo!
We are also experiencing a cold front. It will drop to 48f tonight. Winds are gusty and the only safe fire we could light would have to be contained in a barrel.
My late husband lived and worked in Houston as a jeweler/watch maker. He was a falconer. He learned to repair broken bird wings with toothpicks. Houston cops and firefighters routinely brought him birds to help. Wish I had learned that from him.
I hope prices on fuel and food hold steady, but every pundit says otherwise. We prepared as best we can for empty store shelves. We just have to take it one day at a time and remain optimistic as possible. I will report back on prices after I shop this afternoon.
Vultures do their part in controlling flies and maggots. They have regular committee meetings with Vinnie, so they actually have a sort of culture. Interesting to watch.
Common road kill here is deer, raccoons, and possums. We may take a truck drive with a shovel and bring Vinnie a special treat.
Have a great day and a warm and wonderful evening by the fire, friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The results of your bird doctoring
.
sound encouraging. Increasing your karmic credit score by helping
the lesser critters. Offering poke chops is generous.
Thanks for the O's & E's. Have you ended the office operation yet?
Good luck!
Zionism is a social disease
Good morning, Cap'n!
I just saw Vinnie fly a foot off the ground and travel a couple of feet. He is able to lift and spread his wings, but I haven't seen him flap them while in the air.
Baby steps.
The hope is that the food and water will give him strength to eventually fly away to his mate and kettle.
I sold my office property on the 9th. My final court appearance for my last 2 probate cases is November 10th. Meanwhile, I am getting an occasional phone call to have a deed or will drawn up. Honestly, it will take a couple of documents a month to show a profit. I am providing a deed for a client this Thursday. I am of the age and length of practice to be an emeritus, so I do not pay the annual licensing fee. There is also a push to give us free or reduced fee continuing legal ed required courses. 15 per year are mandatory. Two hours of self-study is accepted. The Bar offers about 4 free hours per year. The average cost per hour is $65. One will produced more than covers that expense.
I thought that mentally and emotionally, I would find it tough to do this transition. Instead, I am overjoyed, relieved, and free, for the first time in 40 years. I have grown so weary of taking on other people's problems.
Vinnie is finishing up his breakfast chops. Tomorrow, it will be beef ribs. We found a couple of packs of them that have been buried in the meat bin. They are old, and will be perfect for him.
Enjoy your weekend, friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Perhaps it is slightly intimidating
.
to totally shut down involvement with commerce
but for those of us who have been self employed
for most of our careers, it is a gamble of our diminished
energy and precision to perform once 'given tasks' into a
reduced capacity that is a bit scary. Sounds like you are
well situated by contacts in the field, so you will be in a
good position going forward. May there be no shocks.
In my experience, once you start using the term 'no thanks'
it tends to snowball into other realms. All of the excuses to start
living the life you imagine 'retirement' entails disappear.
Zionism is a social disease
What a wonderful
story of kindness. Well done!
And congrats on being able to lean into retirement. I hope to join you there one fine day, Gawd willin’ and the creek don’t rise… (;-)
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Good morning, ufs!
I must say, this Vinnie saga has been rewarding and educational. Seems that vultures truly care about their kettle bros. I can't express how beautiful it is to observe them. We have made them out to be the bad guys, and vulture is a smear. Think "vulture capitalists". They hurt nobody and no animals. We humans do. We got it backwards.
The retirement process went much smoother than I had expected. My old lawyer buddies are so jealous, they don't even want to talk to me! Lol! One of the aspects that made it easier was my lack of debt. For years as a self-employed person, I knew getting loans and credit depended on me having a good year. A bad year is not the time to buy an auto or get a bank loan to make some home or office improvement. I have had a 40 year habit of paying off debt early, and of paying cash for major purchases. Of course, we all have property taxes, insurance premiums, vehicle registration,etc...Ownership is sort of a suggestion, ain't it?
Well, retire when you can, enjoy some music, books, some fun trips, and good company, friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good morning otc, glad you are finally free.
Ms. Torac thanks you for taking care of Vinnie
This is her cage mate, Prince Charming getting some sun:
They were both non-releaseable rehabs and very good buds of my wife and I.
Among their defenses is vomiting, most critters can't stand the smell of it and leave them alone. They can digest stuff that woould kill most critters and exactly how is still a bit of a mystery. Do keep up the good work.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good morning, el!
Well, you know first hand about dealing with vultures! I knew they fed their babies with vomit, and saw Vinnie's make vomit into his mouth, but didn't know they used it as a defense. Vomit from eating a carcass is no doubt smelly.
Our hope is that he will mend and resume normal life.
Meanwhile, a skimming of today's news headlines devotes more space to the fired press secretary than the moves being made to start WWIII, of course.
The mid-terms will fix everything!
Enjoy your weekend, dear friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Archaeology Department
https://rt-english.com/africa/647302-egypt-discovers-remains-royal-statues/
That first picture sure looks like the side view of a garden gnome to me
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
But,
there is no tourist money to be made on garden gnomes!
At any rate, that is a very cool find and maybe that gnome is an accurate depiction of Ramses II?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Grocery prices
have not risen as of today. Shelves were all well stocked. So far, so good.
I got distracted and missed the fuel price signs.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Marseille, Milano, Lille
"The US is also a one-party state, but with typical American extravagance, they have two of them." -- Julius Nyerere