Making it through another year '21-'23

[aigheadish]

Sending prayers to you and yours Tom!

[doc henderson]

Godspeed for your family Tom.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well we got Pete home around midnight last night. Offered to let him stay here, but he wanted to be home to take care of the pets and just sleep. He did admit he didn't drink enough water when he was feeling poorly and the IV they gave him perked his BP right up and the syncope stopped. Now it's a wait and see to let it run it's course and see what kind of road it puts him on.
 Today is another day, lets see how it goes.

[Tacotodd]

I am just glad that everything thus far has not been a fatal decision.

Good luck for you & yours.

 God speed!

[samandothers]

Glad he's on the mend and home.

[Hilltop366]

Well today was as routine as it gets

It might of started that way but the end of the day was .

Glad to here he is doing better!

[Old Greenhorn]

True. I hope that kind of day does not become routine for anyone.

[HemlockKing]

Something something life is like a box of chocolates.. like you said. Hope all will be better from now onwards with your son.

[Old Greenhorn]

Didn't do much today, was mostly distracted thinking about my son. He slept most of the day. Finally made contact and got a shopping list from him to carry him for about a week. I put on a mask and went and picked it up and put it in his garage. Got to see him for a minute, he looks better but tired. I took a ride down in the woods earlier in the day looking for whatever chestnuts I could find and peeled them when I got home. On the way down I came across these mushrooms growing on top of a root system for a large white oak, about 22" DBH:


 



 

I ain't no mushroom guy, so I sent the photos off to my new guru and he tells me they are Omphalatus Illudens aka the Eastern Jack-o-lantern. Apparently they (the gills) glow in the dark, but this is also apparently disputed. Maybe I should run down and check? Its raining now, but perhaps later or tomorrow. More rain is coming yet.
 Ah, tomorrow is another day, right?

[aigheadish]

Good to hear about your son, Tom! 

I like your new avatar and those mushrooms are neat! Are they edible? I guess most are edible, just some may leave you feeling goofy or dead...

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, this is a day by day thing. We'll see how he is doing today.

Thanks for asking about those mushrooms because I should have mentioned that they are poisonous.
From Wikipedia:
Toxicity[edit]
The poisonous chemical compounds illudin S and illudin M were isolated from Omphalotus illudens.^[5][6] In addition to their antibacterial and antifungal effects, illudins appear to be the cause of human toxicity when these mushrooms are eaten raw or cooked. Muscarine has also been indirectly implicated in toxicity,^[7] but modern studies to demonstrate its presence in O. illudens are needed.
The cytotoxic effect of illudin is of interest for treating some cancers, but illudin itself is too poisonous to use directly so it must first be chemically modified. Inside human cells, illudin S reacts with DNA and creates a type of DNA damage that blocks transcription. This block can only be relieved by a repair system called nucleotide excision repair. Damage in non-transcribed DNA areas is left unrepaired by the cell. This property was exploited by the company MGI Pharma to develop an illudin-derivative called Irofulven for use as a cancer treatment. Its application is still in the experimental phase.^{[citation needed][8]}

So yeah, don't eat them.  :D
 Looks like that rush mushroom log order the other week is leading to more. The fella has another workshop on 10/9 and needs 45 more logs. He asked me to keep my eyes open for the proper species. This could work out because all the variables check the right boxes A) predictable orders (gives me time to hunt), B) He is open to whatever species tree will work with the spore he has or can order, and C) The quantities are such that I can cut them in about 1/2 a day or less.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Wasn't it Doc who said "All mushrooms are edible  but some only once?" :D

[Old Greenhorn]

True, I wasn't thinking about that. :D

Well Pete is doing better today and I just passed a COVID rapid test (negative), so there is that. We have spent what feels like most of the day on the phone trying to get our cable service (and bill) straightened out and reduced. It's something I have been intending to do since I retired. Too much money for a bunch of junk. It is frustrating working with these folks and I always feel like we will get screwed in the end, because we always do. But we are giving it our best shot. Next time, we will just shut it off. Still on the phone as I type this. I think we are in our 3rd hour now. I'd rather be dodging trees.

[Tacotodd]

And I thought that you'd dodge That bill by shutting off the cable (but not the phones) because free airwaves are great. It's what I grew up on. Yes later in life I had cable when I lived with mom&dad but for several years afterwards I didn't. Now my entertainment is revolving around my phone :D I love it, no cable or satellite bill for THIS guy. My wife & I had airwave TV for about 4yr when we moved to our current location, now we've got satellite and a healthy bill regarding, I tried to tell her it'd be that way, but what do "I" know : I just, well, don't know how to 'splain things to her but that's not gonna change

[Ljohnsaw]

Not to go too far off topic...

I got tired of my local cable - crappy service and bill that just kept going up.  So I dumped it.  Put up a regular antenna and I get 30 or 40 stations.  A few local (English) (I mostly just watch the News), a bunch from the Bay Area and a ton of Spanish, Korean, Japanese, etc. :D  Then I picked up a Netflix account for $7.99 (now $8.99) a month.  That's enough for me.  But, my daughter wanted more so she pays for Disney+ ($6.99?) and Hulu ($2.99).  There is more content than we can ever watch.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, you are in a different part of the world :D. During the heyday of real broadcast TV and before we could even get cable, we had an antenna up and got 3 stations, poorly if at all. It took a long time for cable to reach us, in fact the cable company said 'never' but I guess things changed. There are still many here who have no access at all. We will dwindle down over time, this is the first step. At the end of my road, as I may have mentioned there is no nothing. No cell service, no cable, nothing, but folks live there. If they have kids in school, they are out of luck with zero options. We have Netflix, that is just OK because even they don't really have anything useful. Just entertainment and not much that interests me. Perhaps 2 or 3 shows a year. They don't have hardly any old but good movies that are worth watching again. I find myself watching stuff that is just junk, but it is something. I have a TV in the shop just as noise to keep me company but it's not connected to cable. I just run videos or netflix on it. In a rural area we are second, or third class citizens if regarded at all by the politicians that 'negotiate' these cable contracts.

[aigheadish]

My guess is that you are out in the hills enough to not get decent reception OGH, but if you haven't tried rabbit ears since they switched to digital you should give it a shot. You may be surprised by what you can now pick up and all the major stations have sub-channels now, so there's like 5 or 6 PBS, and typically your normal broadcast top 4 and all their sub-channels.

I've got several of the subscription services but mostly I watch Pluto.tv it's free, with lots of bad commercials, but there is a ton of content on it. I'm a fan of the 24 hour a day Love Boat channel. If you have the internet you can watch Pluto.tv.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well TV is not an important thing in our lives. ;D just heard last night the town is likely going to amend the cable contract and get the line down to my buddies house, but that may take 3 years. I am still in shock over that.

I sent an email off yesterday to some guys that do a local radio show up in the hills about local forestry once a week. They have interviewed a number of people I know. I asked if they are going to do another on mushrooms and when they do could I give them some stuff to talk about regarding log harvesting and sales. Education on this would be helpful to the growers and I know the mushroom guru they usually have on for this shows would do a good job (he is a client now). 
 They responded this morning and asked me to come on the show and speak to it myself. I countered and suggested a joint show with the guru but left it up to them. Maybe this will help folks learn a bit and give me less grief with phone calls and emails, or maybe not. :D

Anyway, we will see what develops. I do have a face for radio, but perhaps not the voice.
Today is another day and we are food shopping since we both cleared our rapid tests. Then off into the woods hunting trees.

[doc henderson]

you will prob. get more calls, with the free advertising.  good thing this mushroom log thing is so easy!  

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, right good thing. :D
 The point was to get some more accurate information out there based on reality for both the buyers and wanna be log cutters. I am beginning to wish I had kept my mouth shut. Last night I got another email that they really thought I could easily carry an hour show and wanted me to go solo and gave me three dates in October. So I thunk on it and made some talking point notes for myself to help put it in some format, then I emailed them back and said "OK, lets do the first Wednesday in October." Got an email back shortly that said they already offered that date to the Mushroom guru. SO I said well, doing two shows in a row on mushrooms might be a bit much, so then we had an exchange of emails and they suggested doing a single joint show. I have no idea where it stands now. I left it up to them, it's their show. I can do what they want either way.
 I know Spike60 has done this show a couple of times. But he talks about stuff a lot of folks 'get' everybody knows what a chainsaw and portable equipment are even if they don't use them. There is an easy connection there. I am not so sure how this subject will fly. I am used to speaking to a classroom full of folks, that's easy, and I can't count the number of times I have done interviews for radio shows or print subjects, but this strikes me as different. Because it's different, it has me a little apprehensive. I am sure it will be fine, but I already am anxious to get it over with. :D One good thing is that you can be mis-quoted on live radio. So there will be no "board smoother" remarks to deal with.
 In other news, my son continues to have a rough time of it even though he seems to be working through it. The inactivity is killing him as much as the pain in his lower back, I think from sleeping and sitting so much. i talked to him today and he needs to walk around more, take some Advil for the aches. He is just lack luster with zero energy. He has no sense of taste and little appetite. Looks like it's going to be a longer haul for him. I wish there was more I could do for him besides wait.

 In more frivolous news: the mosquitoes are as bad here as I have known in 30 years. Sprays and such are not helping much and they are driving me out of my skull. Today when I was splitting wood, I nearly whacked myself in the face with a pickeroon. That would have left a mark. They bite right through my t-shirt now. I have blood spots on my shirts all down the back. Looks like I lost a paint-ball battle. Tomorrow I am going to look into getting my propane fogger cleaned up and working again. It's the only tool I have left that might provide some relief but it requires just the right conditions to work. After that, I go through my rolodex looking for friends that still have a valid blasting permit. ;D

[doc henderson]

check you security/game cameras, maybe it is vampire bats.     8) 8) 8)  
can you spray your clothes with permethrin. (sp)  I have tons I have not used cause I am too mean and taste bad, and they only bit me once. :D best wishes for your son.

[Ljohnsaw]

the mosquitoes are as bad here as I have known in 30 years.

Out here with the lack of rain, the mosquitoes are nearly nonexistent this year!  But I'd put up with them if we just got a little moisture...

[Old Greenhorn]

the mosquitoes are as bad here as I have known in 30 years.

Out here with the lack of rain, the mosquitoes are nearly nonexistent this year!  But I'd put up with them if we just got a little moisture...

Be very careful what you ask for ;D :D it is insanely bad here right now. A few weeks ago it was the deer flies on my ankles. I could kill 3 with one swat, now the skeeters have outdone them.

[HemlockKing]

Haven't seen a deer fly in at least 2 weeks, mostly black flies and skeeters now although not many, and the black flies just circle you rather than bite much? 

[aigheadish]

OGH- Do you know if the radio show makes a podcast out of their show? I'd be interested in a local forestry show. I don't have tons of time for podcasts, or radio, but I'd be interested. Even more so if you were on the show. Sounds like it'd be a neat opportunity.