THE Random Chat Thread - AKA "The RCT" - No shirt or shoes required - Open 24 / 7

[Blak bart]

In all honesty, I think I would love to go and spend a few days in the snow ❄️ I've only briefly ever seen it and only actually touched it a few times. My old friend was forced to move to Michigan for work. He would send me pics of these insane winters with total ice and snow conditions.....he would go on long rants about how fun the snow is, and how they love snowmobiling, skiing, ice fishing, and all sorts of winter type activities......at about the 5 year mark everything came crashing down. Massive mental break !! And an astonishing announcement.

I can't take this cold anymore. I only came here for the job, and it's not worth it. I came because of work, and my wife's family. I'm moving back to Florida, and this was the worst decision I've ever made. My wife can come with me or we can get divorced. He left that week a d never looked back.....his wife followed a couple weeks later.

They were distraught over difficulty selling there farm....this all happened when Michigan was legalizing pot......in the end there farm sold for huge money because they had a heated horse barn on property.....the weed growers saw that barn and paid him an incredible price for the farm......that barn became a climate controlled grow house !!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[pepperj]

I put an oil heater in the barn day before to help my spoiled flock.

Last cold morning for a few days coming up.
Those temps in F are -2.2F feeling like -14.8F

 

[pepperj]

In all honesty, I think I would love to go and spend a few days in the snow ❄️ I've only briefly ever seen it and only actually touched it a few times. My old friend was forced to move to Michigan for work. He would send me pics of these insane winters with total ice and snow conditions.....he would go on long rants about how fun the snow is, and how they love snowmobiling, skiing, ice fishing, and all sorts of winter type activities......at about the 5 year mark everything came crashing down. Massive mental break !! And an astonishing announcement.

I can't take this cold anymore. I only came here for the job, and it's not worth it. I came because of work, and my wife's family. I'm moving back to Florida, and this was the worst decision I've ever made. My wife can come with me or we can get divorced. He left that week a d never looked back.....his wife followed a couple weeks later.

They were distraught over difficulty selling there farm....this all happened when Michigan was legalizing pot......in the end there farm sold for huge money because they had a heated horse barn on property.....the weed growers saw that barn and paid him an incredible price for the farm......that barn became a climate controlled grow house !!

Up here one can grow 4 plants legally at any one time.
Get a medical slip stating you need it.

And the limit is 150+ plants.
Now I have a feeling that a person really can't be going through 150 plants.

 

[pepperj]

This is what I said was referring to

You need a set of levelers for ladders when working on slopes.

 

[Bamasteve]

In all honesty, I think I would love to go and spend a few days in the snow ❄️ I've only briefly ever seen it and only actually touched it a few times. My old friend was forced to move to Michigan for work. He would send me pics of these insane winters with total ice and snow conditions.....he would go on long rants about how fun the snow is, and how they love snowmobiling, skiing, ice fishing, and all sorts of winter type activities......at about the 5 year mark everything came crashing down. Massive mental break !! And an astonishing announcement.

I can't take this cold anymore. I only came here for the job, and it's not worth it. I came because of work, and my wife's family. I'm moving back to Florida, and this was the worst decision I've ever made. My wife can come with me or we can get divorced. He left that week a d never looked back.....his wife followed a couple weeks later.

They were distraught over difficulty selling there farm....this all happened when Michigan was legalizing pot......in the end there farm sold for huge money because they had a heated horse barn on property.....the weed growers saw that barn and paid him an incredible price for the farm......that barn became a climate controlled grow house !!

Yea I was talking to one of our IT people in Louisiana the other day and told her we were expecting snow and she got real excited saying she wished it would snow there.
When I told her how much I hated it she just couldn’t understand. It’s pretty when it’s falling and you’re in a nice warm house looking out, but when it turns to ice or starts melting everything gets pretty ugly real quick!

 

[Gulf Coast Pirate]

You've got it all wrong....you can stay if you turn the heat on. My son is my hero !! My wife is the one who opens the windows in 56 degree weather.....my son being of the same warm blood as me, had enough since to get up and get the house warmed up to 72 from 66 !! I cannot move from the cover of my blanket until the temp has gotten above 70.....at least !!

It's 9 am and it's just got to 70 degrees in my house! That's what I get for living in an old wooden cracker house...

 

[releventchair]

This is what I said was referring to

Yuuck.

(A ladder makes a better sled than a sled makes a ladder.)

 

[Blak bart]

We caught shrimp last night.....got 30 shrimp in an hour !! We live at a very famous spot to catch shrimp !! We wait for cold, high wind, and out going tide. When all these conditions come together our neighborhood comes alive with activity. We live on a piece of crazy construction. Way Back when, a guy decided to cut a trench right through the island. This way he would be able to go from the Florida bay to the ocean, without having to go an hour north or south to get from the bay to the ocean. So this massive canal was cut through 30 feet of rock right through the middle of the island, and "Adams" cut was created !! This awsome land mark quickly became the primary route for boaters who live on the bay, to get to the ocean quickly. It's also a highway for marine life migrating back and forth. For some reason it became the absolute #1 spot to catch shrimp during the winter. Hundreds of people will brave the winter gales to stand on the bank of this cut, to scoop up the shrimp and crabs as they flow through with the tide !! It is a right of passage, and as a local everyone does it at some point.so last night was my sons first time ever shrimping, and he's hooked !! Ill have to launch the boat next time, and stay out till 4 am !! We saw tarpon, manatees, snook, shrimp, eels, blue crabs, and porpoise. The porpoise and tarpon were scaring the shrimp right into my shrimp net !! Woooo hoooo !! Shrimping madness. Everyone playing bumper boats out there......luckily I have neighbors who live on the cut, so we can just sit on there dock and scoop them up....normal grass shrimp last night.....no giant clear shrimp, and no big keywest pinks, but nice average shrimp !!

 

[aShardOfHistory]

Yuuck.

(A ladder makes a better sled than a sled makes a ladder.)

My possibly fractured heel approves that 🤣 still need to get it checked out at some point

 

[releventchair]

Mornin all.
Temperature is at lucky 13F. here.
Should snowblow the road today.
crappy broken hard stuff vehicle tires break up.
I don't like running it through the blower.

A hard packed base is ideal. Then just clear it off when it snows after.
Not happening this way compared to the out of service plow truck though.

Then there is the deep slush at top of our dirt roads end at main road . Piled from county plow trucks.
It's loaded with salft from deicing attempts (futile in deep cold) and sand spread for traction.
Running that through the blower is hard on it too. Salt being corrosive.
And sand trying to help knock rust off but also making sure any paint residue it contacts gets blasted.

It would be interesting to reach one of the frost free hydrants /faucets on the house.
Not going to though as running a hose to wash down equipment isn't going to work.

Heat makes salt work. So engine heat or good sun ect. are partakers.
Till temps break freezing salt isn't a big deal on equipment/vehicles.
But then what?
Distant car washes that are open display some interesting ice. Oh , wet ice.

But, trash needs to go to main road for the morning. Or should go anyways.
I didn't go the 2/10 mile yesterday to the mailbox either.
That ups the odds of it's door being open to snow and plow driven slush ect..
Assuming it hasn't been knocked down. l.o.l..We've a string of them and mine is the second or third so it doesn't get the brunt of snow plow driven crap pounding it.
I clear in front of them too so the mail delivery can drive there vs a bank of , you guessed it plow driven crap.

Trick to snow. You move below freezing snow and it compresses it. This is how I banked the back deck on one side and after it firmed up cut the side away until it is only about a foot thick instead of a big pile.
So anything plowed or blown or shoveled ect. can be expected to set up unless well salted and temps near or above freezing.

Do it wrong and you can create a tank trap. Meaning ruts you can't escape . Like the ice ruts I popped out of and escaped last week that sent me down the road broadside after getting free.

Dogsledders can describe what the bottom of a trail means.
If it's fallen out that means your done!
Our road is similar but I used to keep the ice layer below at around roughly 3-4 inches.

Ahh well.

 

[releventchair]

View attachment 2127186View attachment 2127187

View attachment 2127189

We caught shrimp last night.....got 30 shrimp in an hour !! We live at a very famous spot to catch shrimp !! We wait for cold, high wind, and out going tide. When all these conditions come together our neighborhood comes alive with activity. We live on a piece of crazy construction. Way Back when, a guy decided to cut a trench right through the island. This way he would be able to go from the Florida bay to the ocean, without having to go an hour north or south to get from the bay to the ocean. So this massive canal was cut through 30 feet of rock right through the middle of the island, and "Adams" cut was created !! This awsome land mark quickly became the primary route for boaters who live on the bay, to get to the ocean quickly. It's also a highway for marine life migrating back and forth. For some reason it became the absolute #1 spot to catch shrimp during the winter. Hundreds of people will brave the winter gales to stand on the bank of this cut, to scoop up the shrimp and crabs as they flow through with the tide !! It is a right of passage, and as a local everyone does it at some point.so last night was my sons first time ever shrimping, and he's hooked !! Ill have to launch the boat next time, and stay out till 4 am !! We saw tarpon, manatees, snook, shrimp, eels, blue crabs, and porpoise. The porpoise and tarpon were scaring the shrimp right into my shrimp net !! Woooo hoooo !! Shrimp ingredients madness. Everyone playing bumper boats out there......luckily I have neighbors who live on the cut, so we can just sit on there dock and scoop them up....normal grass shrimp last night.....no giant clear shrimp, and no big keywest pinks, but nice average shrimp !!

Shrimp!
I'd become a permanent fixture when they were about.
And have a burner gong onshore cooking shrimp.

 

[Blak bart]

Shrimp!
I'd become a permanent fixture when they were about.
And have a burner gong onshore cooking shrimp.

Funny that we live in this Hotspot, and often times don't participate......but we do exactly like you say, and we often eat them off the grill piping hot. Also the grill acts like a camp fire, and keeps you warm. Now that my son is old enough to enjoy it, we will do it alot more. These shrimping get togethers often include music and booze, and a good time party atmosphere. Often we will stay for a complete tide, which is 6 hours. Other times we will go on a bigger commercial type boat and anchor all night !! Most times it is just me and the cats heading and cleaning shrimp till daylight !! If I catch 10 pounds of shrimp....the cats and I will eat 3 pounds ourselves !! All in all it's a great activity shared by friends and family, and it's something not everyone does, unless you live in certain areas where it's possible.....my distant relatives often remember the good times shrimping down here !!

 

[Blak bart]

 

[pepperj]

Mornin all.
Temperature is at lucky 13F. here.
Should snowblow the road today.
crappy broken hard stuff vehicle tires break up.
I don't like running it through the blower.

A hard packed base is ideal. Then just clear it off when it snows after.
Not happening this way compared to the out of service plow truck though.

Then there is the deep slush at top of our dirt roads end at main road . Piled from county plow trucks.
It's loaded with salft from deicing attempts (futile in deep cold) and sand spread for traction.
Running that through the blower is hard on it too. Salt being corrosive.
And sand trying to help knock rust off but also making sure any paint residue it contacts gets blasted.

It would be interesting to reach one of the frost free hydrants /faucets on the house.
Not going to though as running a hose to wash down equipment isn't going to work.

Heat makes salt work. So engine heat or good sun ect. are partakers.
Till temps break freezing salt isn't a big deal on equipment/vehicles.
But then what?
Distant car washes that are open display some interesting ice. Oh , wet ice.

But, trash needs to go to main road for the morning. Or should go anyways.
I didn't go the 2/10 mile yesterday to the mailbox either.
That ups the odds of it's door being open to snow and plow driven slush ect..
Assuming it hasn't been knocked down. l.o.l..We've a string of them and mine is the second or third so it doesn't get the brunt of snow plow driven crap pounding it.
I clear in front of them too so the mail delivery can drive there vs a bank of , you guessed it plow driven crap.

Trick to snow. You move below freezing snow and it compresses it. This is how I banked the back deck on one side and after it firmed up cut the side away until it is only about a foot thick instead of a big pile.
So anything plowed or blown or shoveled ect. can be expected to set up unless well salted and temps near or above freezing.

Do it wrong and you can create a tank trap. Meaning ruts you can't escape . Like the ice ruts I popped out of and escaped last week that sent me down the road broadside after getting free.

Dogsledders can describe what the bottom of a trail means.
If it's fallen out that means your done!
Our road is similar but I used to keep the ice layer below at around roughly 3-4 inches.

Ahh well.

I like it when the temps are stable, not the warm/cold/thaw/freeze = ice.

From having Max and the salt issues, and also having it around we have gone to using oyster shell.
So anywhere like the steps when it's wet I sprinkle a bit down, then it freezes into place and stays exposed.
Kind of like having 10 grit steps for traction.
In the spring it just used by the birds it seems. or blends into the landscape as I never see it in the summer.
50 lbs at the feed store runs about $45.00 and lasts us about 4 yrs, that's even using its intended use as a chicken supplement.

 

[pepperj]

 

[Blak bart]

You can imagine how tired ya get....and with 2 or 3 people at a time dipping shrimp, and having a good time, it's a great sport !! It gets way better than these videos, so I've got to make one....we really do it right....not any videos of the cut....ill go take one tonight....its crazy boating madness !!

 

[releventchair]

Funny that we live in this Hotspot, and often times don't participate......but we do exactly like you say, and we often eat them off the grill piping hot. Also the grill acts like a camp fire, and keeps you warm. Now that my son is old enough to enjoy it, we will do it alot more. These shrimping get togethers often include music and booze, and a good time party atmosphere. Often we will stay for a complete tide, which is 6 hours. Other times we will go on a bigger commercial type boat and anchor all night !! Most times it is just me and the cats heading and cleaning shrimp till daylight !! If I catch 10 pounds of shrimp....the cats and I will eat 3 pounds ourselves !! All in all it's a great activity shared by friends and family, and it's something not everyone does, unless you live in certain areas where it's possible.....my distant relatives often remember the good times shrimping down here !!

This is not good video...At least the action.

Smelt drinking!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
Long before being interested in drinking , smelt dipping was a spring ritual. It wasn't spring without smelt dipping.
Still enough snow pack tucked in shady areas to ice them down with , the spawning run meant winter was gone.

U.P. bridge was around 6 hours North then.
Cross it and start checking creeks and rivers along the South coast .
any tributary meant a possible run.
Water temps factored. Multiple things did . But to a kid it was , find em!
Not till dark. Tiny fish been assaulted thier whole lives. Why stop trying to survive now?
Maybe late in the wee hours.
Sure there were hold overs on deeper holes during the day. Thats smelt chasing though. Not dippin.

One sure sign could be vehicles parked along the road. Some rather precariously. Some with old truck campers. Here a tent. There a fire.
Could be a sure sign means it could be some dedicated smelt drinking going on instead.
Like if we hang out here and drinklong enough maybe the smelt will arrive here. If not tonight , maybe tomorrow. Or not. But it's spring anyways. Yahoo!

So we go down to the water. Always down.
Lanterns are /were the way. Part of my hobby and like of older Coleman lanterns are part of that. But just part.
Anyone in the cold water dipping?
Anyone around?
If dipping was going on you really didn't need to ask anything.

Wire nets best. Swing it downstream (fish face upstream during a run) just ticking bottom now and then. Current affects speed , adjust to just tick bottom now and then. You'll feel the different tick of smelt too if few.

Newbies are a riot. Bring one when possible.
A hunting fishing trapping partner couldn't go on one of the last trips I went on but his brother could.
After umpteen stops after dark through the night heading farther West , (activity started at the bridge ad as season progressed spread Westward) we went down to yet another water and it was quiet.
A couple guys were round and when asked how they were doing one answered , the creeks full of em!
Which contrasted with the lack of people in the water.
But we boogied down with to check and , the creek was full of fish. Side to side and top to bottom.
we filled our containers (more on containers later) relaying five galoon pails.
Then stood in the creek grabbing the biggest ones (not the best eating due to bone size) by hand and letting them go.
Our newbie was having a riot.

There were suckers to net during the day. Or night if smelt weren't running.
Other fish could be netted but not kept.
Heard someone splashing away at our approach when some of us youths armed with nets and chasing suckers headed upstream from a big culvert under a road.
There on an exposed sandbar were a few trout arranged in a row by size. Naughty naughty!.
Pretty sure it was the same area a bunch of load drinkers (I didn't call them drunks , yet) had a "BOOM"! in thier camp and it got quiet real quick. Then louder laughter than before.
Butane lighters were not overly popular yet then , but an owner of one lost it out of his shirt pocket bending over near the fire and it got in the fire.

The limit was reduced to a gallon or two of smelt. I quit going a while after.
If stocks were down I wasn't going to help by dipping any.
Out salmon program probably factored.

But as a kid , two clean plastic garbage cans was our personal limit.
Our family put such a bounty to good use.
But plan on three days of cleaning them two garbage cans of little fish.

The best eating was the first batch on a Coleman gas stove at the first stop after breakfast.
A friend I didn't dip with used to cook them when on the waters edge. We never did.
Usually ready to snooze by the time we were done.

A good memory is as an adult tenting up there along the road but a ways in below a large lakes outlet to Lake Michigan in the earliest spring smelt drinking time chasing fish after dark.
Woke up just comfy as could be ,(which was comfy) to some mysterious bird with the most musical but perfectly suiting the environment song..... Just laid there a while listening..
Sun already warming. It was going to break freezing again ..
Fire up the (Coleman) stove and get coffee and breakfast goin. It's going to be another great one.

 

[releventchair]

I like it when the temps are stable, not the warm/cold/thaw/freeze = ice.

From having Max and the salt issues, and also having it around we have gone to using oyster shell.
So anywhere like the steps when it's wet I sprinkle a bit down, then it freezes into place and stays exposed.
Kind of like having 10 grit steps for traction.
In the spring it just used by the birds it seems. or blends into the landscape as I never see it in the summer.
50 lbs at the feed store runs about $45.00 and lasts us about 4 yrs, that's even using its intended use as a chicken supplement.

View attachment 2127202

Gots to have oyster shell(calcium for good egg shell development)with chickens.
I used to gather fine smooth gravel for them too. A quarter size of a pea sized roughly ,plus or minus. I plussed and minused for variety's sake.
I used deep litter on the floor and would toss a quarter flake of hay in the coop to help entertain them on days they were not going out..
So the gravel went in a tuna can on an out of foot traffic spot above the floor where it wouldn't get spilled.
It was well received in crops to grind food.

 

[Blak bart]

This is not good video...At least the action.

Smelt drinking!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
Long before being interested in drinking , smelt dipping was a spring ritual. It wasn't spring without smelt dipping.
Still enough snow pack tucked in shady areas to ice them down with , the spawning run meant winter was gone.

U.P. bridge was around 6 hours North then.
Cross it and start checking creeks and rivers along the South coast .
any tributary meant a possible run.
Water temps factored. Multiple things did . But to a kid it was , find em!
Not till dark. Tiny fish been assaulted thier whole lives. Why stop trying to survive now?
Maybe late in the wee hours.
Sure there were hold overs on deeper holes during the day. Thats smelt chasing though. Not dippin.

One sure sign could be vehicles parked along the road. Some rather precariously. Some with old truck campers. Here a tent. There a fire.
Could be a sure sign means it could be some dedicated smelt drinking going on instead.
Like if we hang out here and drinklong enough maybe the smelt will arrive here. If not tonight , maybe tomorrow. Or not. But it's spring anyways. Yahoo!

So we go down to the water. Always down.
Lanterns are /were the way. Part of my hobby and like of older Coleman lanterns are part of that. But just part.
Anyone in the cold water dipping?
Anyone around?
If dipping was going on you really didn't need to ask anything.

Wire nets best. Swing it downstream (fish face upstream during a run) just ticking bottom now and then. Current affects speed , adjust to just tick bottom now and then. You'll feel the different tick of smelt too if few.

Newbies are a riot. Bring one when possible.
A hunting fishing trapping partner couldn't go on one of the last trips I went on but his brother could.
After umpteen stops after dark through the night heading farther West , (activity started at the bridge ad as season progressed spread Westward) we went down to yet another water and it was quiet.
A couple guys were round and when asked how they were doing one answered , the creeks full of em!
Which contrasted with the lack of people in the water.
But we boogied down with to check and , the creek was full of fish. Side to side and top to bottom.
we filled our containers (more on containers later) relaying five galoon pails.
Then stood in the creek grabbing the biggest ones (not the best eating due to bone size) by hand and letting them go.
Our newbie was having a riot.

There were suckers to net during the day. Or night if smelt weren't running.
Other fish could be netted but not kept.
Heard someone splashing away at our approach when some of us youths armed with nets and chasing suckers headed upstream from a big culvert under a road.
There on an exposed sandbar were a few trout arranged in a row by size. Naughty naughty!.
Pretty sure it was the same area a bunch of load drinkers (I didn't call them drunks , yet) had a "BOOM"! in thier camp and it got quiet real quick. Then louder laughter than before.
Butane lighters were not overly popular yet then , but an owner of one lost it out of his shirt pocket bending over near the fire and it got in the fire.

The limit was reduced to a gallon or two of smelt. I quit going a while after.
If stocks were down I wasn't going to help by dipping any.
Out salmon program probably factored.

But as a kid , two clean plastic garbage cans was our personal limit.
Our family put such a bounty to good use.
But plan on three days of cleaning them two garbage cans of little fish.

The best eating was the first batch on a Coleman gas stove at the first stop after breakfast.
A friend I didn't dip with used to cook them when on the waters edge. We never did.
Usually ready to snooze by the time we were done.

A good memory is as an adult tenting up there along the road but a ways in below a large lakes outlet to Lake Michigan in the earliest spring smelt drinking time chasing fish after dark.
Woke up just comfy as could be ,(which was comfy) to some mysterious bird with the most musical but perfectly suiting the environment song..... Just laid there a while listening..
Sun already warming. It was going to break freezing again ..
Fire up the (Coleman) stove and get coffee and breakfast goin. It's going to be another great one.

That's it RC....you nailed it....smelt netting and shrimp netting have the same vibe, and many similarities!! Those videos all suck on youtube....there all to serious about the video, and not showing any of the fun times it is.....im convinced to go film this crazy madness now !! .

 

[oldmxrat]

Good morning