What have you been up to lately?

[Chich]

Emm and I like zombie movies but she is not a fan of the truly gruesome ones. Have you seen Shaun of the dead?

We are into true crime of late. Dark Poutine podcast and The Next chapter (podcast & YT) are two favourites.

[KingNothing13]

Currently we are watching Vampire and Zombie movies. Last night we watched a zombie movie called "Resident Evil"

Based on the video game series of the same name.

Didn't play the games much, watched the first movie with Milla Jovovich when it came out a long time ago now, didn't watch any of the sequels.

I do like horror movies though.

EDIT: I looks like there is another RE movie? When I say a long time ago I am referring to the 2002 version.

[Butterfly Maiden]

Based on the video game series of the same name.

Didn't play the games much, watched the first movie with Milla Jovovich when it came out a long time ago now, didn't watch any of the sequels.

I do like horror movies though.

EDIT: I looks like there is another RE movie? When I say a long time ago I am referring to the 2002 version.

We watched "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" this evening, and the next one is "RE Extinction"

I think there are six movies in this franchise, with Milla Jovovich appearing in them.

We are actually enjoying them.

I don't know when the video games were released but we haven't played any of them.

[Butterfly Maiden]

Emm and I like zombie movies but she is not a fan of the truly gruesome ones. Have you seen Shaun of the dead?

We are into true crime of late. Dark Poutine podcast and The Next chapter (podcast & YT) are two favourites.

Not seen that one Chich.

We will wait until we have seen all the Resident Evil ones first then see how we feel.

We may decide to go for a completely different genre for a while, just to clear our minds of all the gruesome stuff

[Ylem]

Been painting and caulking windows, what an awful job.

Then you finally get one done, with 3 coats of paint, wait 24 hours and it's covered with pollen.

Time to get the PST out for some solar now

[KingNothing13]

I don't know when the video games were released but we haven't played any of them.

First one came out in 1996

[Butterfly Maiden]

I don't know when the video games were released but we haven't played any of them.

First one came out in 1996

I was only 2 years old then, so not the type of games I was brought up with

[Star Dad]

Wow Star Dad, this is crazy. Nobody shows up, nobody has answers, and nobody knows what they are doing for 9 weeks! I am glad to see that things are back to normal (whatever that is) and you have a lot of catching up to do now. Thanks for your report Star Dad and it's good to see you back on TSS again.
BACK

HA HA HA! So, shortly after I posted this - we lost internet - again. Fortunately, earthlink scheduled a tech to come out. Which he didn't (have to). Turns out some moron at the central office moved me and some other customer from a working connection to a dead (aka no green light) one. He asked what time the net died and I told him. Methinks somebody got a tongue lashing.

Still trying to catch up. Tonight is the first time in 4 months and 1 day since my last AP session. The weather is either cloudy or clear with heavy winds. Boy, have I forgotten how to set up. I bought a raspberry pi - for astroberry last year and I haven't used it all that much. I've got a lot to relearn. Let's hope the imaging goes better than the setup....

[KingNothing13]

Left work early today and drove ~45 minutes south to see a "Pink-Footed Goose". The first record of one in our County. It is definitely not a bird that is supposed to be here.

I will post some photos in the photography thread.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink-footed_goose

[OzEclipse]

It has been a few months. I do tend to go into hermit mode from time to time.

I was diagnosed with cancer (again) end of last summer and decided to go with surgery rather than radiation. Had it in mid January. Recovery is taking longer than I expected. Of course I've never been stabbed in the gut with a broadsword before. Surgeon said it went well and looks like they got it all? I have my first blood test and major follow up in early May so will find out then.

Hi Chich
So very sorry to hear that. I wish you all the best for your surgical recovery and negative (all clear) results on your upcoming tests.

Joe

[DeanD]

I've been on a bear hunt. (Koala bear that is.)
In my role as a volunteer Ranger I was helping out today with koala spotting and catching at one of our national parks. This is to check on the health and diversity of the population, and involves getting them out of their trees and examining and tagging them under sedation before returning them to their tree. Fascinating stuff. They are relatively big animals for tree dwellers: and get very heavy when you have to carry them a few 100 metres through the bush to the vehicles! Also very sharp teeth and claws; and they don't appreciate being caught: lots of screeching and snarling!
A piccie for your enjoyment.

Coming down: the black bags are to encourage it to back down

A happy ending for all: they were healthy and unharmed. 8 down, only 80 to go to complete the study for this year. I am going back next week.

(PS: A tip for the wise: don't stand directly under the koala as it comes down: and if you simply have to- don't under any circumstances open your mouth! )

PPS: I have deleted the images showing the people catching the koala as I don't want this research to be misinterpreted (see my next post #958 below). Sorry about that.

[pakarinen]

Still waiting to hear something definite from prospective new employer. I started talking with them over a month ago, so I hope to hear something soon. Decided to send out a few more resumes in case this falls through. We shall see…

[Butterfly Maiden]

Sophia and I had some time off work this morning so we went for a walk around Brockenhurst.

It started off quite overcast with a chilly breeze, but the rain had recently stopped which was a good thing.

I didn't take any photos on this occasion, but as the weather starts to improve I will share some of the beautiful New Forest scenery with you.

As we get further into Spring the new growth of plants, ferns and trees will add colour and atmosphere to the Forest - then the magic begins

[Ylem]

The mud is starting to subside around here
The good thing about mud is you don't need those vibration pads

[OzEclipse]

The mud is starting to subside around here
The good thing about mud is you don't need those vibration pads

Yeah but holding polar alignment is the issue. Ever get that sinking feeling?

Joe

[JSBach1801]

I had jury duty today. First time I have ever been on one. Not the most savory of legal situations, but that is all I am able to say about it. Going to take until Friday, they say.

[SkyHiker]

I've been on a bear hunt. (Koala bear that is.)
In my role as a volunteer Ranger I was helping out today with koala spotting and catching at one of our national parks. This is to check on the health and diversity of the population, and involves getting them out of their trees and examining and tagging them under sedation before returning them to their tree. Fascinating stuff. They are relatively big animals for tree dwellers: and get very heavy when you have to carry them a few 100 metres through the bush to the vehicles! Also very sharp teeth and claws; and they don't appreciate being caught: lots of screeching, snarling and crying!

That looks pretty traumatizing and dangerous for the animals. What kind of problems make it necessary to do this?

[DeanD]

I've been on a bear hunt. (Koala bear that is.)
In my role as a volunteer Ranger I was helping out today with koala spotting and catching at one of our national parks. This is to check on the health and diversity of the population, and involves getting them out of their trees and examining and tagging them under sedation before returning them to their tree. Fascinating stuff. They are relatively big animals for tree dwellers: and get very heavy when you have to carry them a few 100 metres through the bush to the vehicles! Also very sharp teeth and claws; and they don't appreciate being caught: lots of screeching, snarling and crying!

That looks pretty traumatizing and dangerous for the animals. What kind of problems make it necessary to do this?

There are a lot of problems for koalas nationally: due to ridiculous amounts of (to me unnecessary) land clearance in the main habitats in the eastern states, disease issues etc. In fact they are listed as "endangered" in New South Wales: their once-main habitat. Personally I think that is a national disgrace that needs to be urgently addressed. The ones endemic to South Australia are so far serious disease-free, but have a limited gene-pool and therefore we need to monitor them to ensure a healthy and happy population, as well as research and understand their behaviours and preferred habitats and micro-climates. (Something I believe we need to do world-wide to begin to reverse human-generated environmental destruction.) The ones caught yesterday were all released into the same tree (their home range), and were monitored until they had recovered from the anaesthesia and were up their tree and feeding (they are generally loners, and only found with others if they are offspring or it is mating season). Actual handling and health checks are done by qualified professionals: Rangers and Vets.

I am just trying to do my bit for conservation, education, and environmental restoration and management: hence my supporting role as a Volunteer Ranger.

If we can succeed in maintaining and supporting koalas then other less "sexy" and less well known species will get a leg up too: such as pigmy possums, gliders, and even ground-dwellers such as bandicoots, betongs, bilbies, platypus... (have fun looking all of them up if you don't know them!), a huge range of reptiles, insects etc. Sadly, South Australia has one of the worst records in the world for mammal extinctions, and we don't want to lose any more and we want to re-introduce species where possible too.

The great thing about koalas in this work is that they are easily spotted and much easier to work with than other less robust species. Also they have no natural predators (a tree-dwelling predator called the "Marsupial lion" or Thylacoleo seems to have died out in the late Pleistocene, maybe 8,000 years ago), and they are quite phlegmatic about being closely approached. They are even known to occasionally enter people's houses locally: and leave only when they feel like it (not when invited to!). Longitudinal studies have shown no deleterious effects to the catching and monitoring program, both to the individuals involved and to the population (in fact the population seems to be increasing as we understand the issues and promote conservation).

- Dean

(PS: Perhaps one other thing to mention is that the research and methods have the approval of the rigorous Ethics Committee of the University involved, based on accepted international criteria.)

[Butterfly Maiden]

I bought a new pair of riding breeches and top last year (see photos below), but unfortunately I snagged the thigh of the breeches on a gorse bush whilst we were out riding in the Forest recently.

It couldn't have been lower down my leg could it, otherwise the boots would have protected me

Needless to say, I persuaded Sophia to 'allow' me to buy a new outfit

Just kidding. Actually, we just renew stuff when required so everything is okay.

The 'HorseGloss' brand is very good quality. Good stretch in the breeches so gives a very comfortable ride.

Sophia has a similar outfit but she didn't have an argument with the same gorse bush as me though.

We were riding side-by-side but I was too busy chatting with her that I got too close to the bushes on my right and only realised when it was too late. My horse was unscathed though

[Star Dad]

Well, I got out Monday night - first time in 4 months. Man, did I forget about getting set up. It took me almost 2 hours to set the equipment up - usually it's 15 minutes or less. Then I completely forgot how to use the Astroberry software. The laptop I normally used for doing my polar alignment had a serious crash in the intervening months - and I forgot that the polemaster software only works on a modern windows 7 machine....(I had reinstalled win 7 original with no updates). So I had to switch to another win 7 laptop I had set up (I forgot I had done that). Then my first set of images is god-only-knows-where-or-what, because I forgot to plate solve. And I still haven't learned astroberry very well, so I was struggling with it's huge "scrolling" screens. My - what a difficult night. But I'm just writing it off to cobwebs in the brain. Hopefully the next session won't be 4 months from now - though the weather looks pretty bad for the next 7 days.