Auspex

@tilton@fursuits.online I found ChrisFix to be a pretty easily digestible resource for learning how to do common jobs. The service manuals are good resources too in my experience.

@tilton@fursuits.online We've been pretty happy with our standalone pebble ice maker, it gets a lot of use in our house! Pebble ice is way easier and more pleasant to crunch on than big solid chunks. As a kid I loved a local restaurant that served pebble ice with Surge soda so there's nostalgia at play too.

Spent a solid 6 hours playing Riichi Mahjong today over at Vulpine Taproom with a furry group that goes there regularly. Was pretty fun! First time I've tried playing it in real life with actual tiles.

It was humbling too, I still have a lot to learn -- being aware enough of all the yaku to know what to go for and recognizing when I'm in tenpai and what all my waits are, for example.

@tilton@fursuits.online Ooh I'm envious there are ravens that live nearby where you are! One of my favorite animals, even amongst birds. I always stop what I'm doing to listen to them when I hear their calls outdoors, they're so intelligent and have such a wide range of sounds they can produce.

We'll know the country has truly gone to hell when there's no more funding for USCSB videos

@tilton@fursuits.online I was on Turo looking for fun car rentals for my San Diego trip and I think there were like 27 manual cars in total available. Selection is getting slim out there. :<

I find it fascinating that a core experience of most of my life as an adolescent and teenager was being active in a Boy Scout troop, but there is zero presence that I can find of that troop on the internet. Anywhere. Even on internet archive.

@tilton@fursuits.online I know what you mean about wrestling with indoctrination in Scouting. I received my Eagle Scout, but my board of review happened in parallel with my discovery and acceptance of atheism.

It was tough to weigh all the wonderful outdoor experiences I had locally with the Christian-coded bureaucracy at the national level and in the Scout literature.

Excited about taking a trip down to San Diego next month to visit a friend for a few days! Looking for recommendations to help me decide what to spend our time on there and noteworthy places to eat!

I'd love to try out more Mexican food down there -- the only place that's really impressed me locally is El Camión in North Seattle.

@tilton@fursuits.online The Venera landers are fascinating to me! The subject of a few of my late night wikipedia binges. It's wild trying to comprehend the insane conditions at the surface that a lander on Venus has to operate within while marveling at photos of the surface.

I find Venus a lot more interesting as a human outpost than Mars, personally -- I recently read A City on Mars and while it wasn't the focus of the book I was disappointed with how dismissively the authors brushed off the concept of a floating station in the sweet spot in Venus's atmosphere.

Ooh neat it looks like we've managed to get in to Campfire Tails this year! We've never been before, and I've always wanted to try experiencing an outdoor con.

Being around nature will be a nice break from the sterile hotel vibe. Maybe I'll even hear some ravens! Plus I grew up in Oregon, so it feels like home territory for me.

@tilton@fursuits.online Speaking of Milwaukee, this is by far my favorite tourism ad for the city:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXnPT1qH8qE