Tough as they come, Double battery weekend, Greenway surfing

So after Lucy’s miraculous recovery from being on her back with feet in the air Thursday and a night in our tub she seemed pretty alert on Friday morning.  She seemed to actually be pretty normal.  As a precaution we put her back in the chicken area but into the chicken tractor so she would be isolated from the other hens, just in case.  We put a few big chunks of watermelon in there with her, she wasted no time going to town on it.  It seemed amazing that this was the same chicken that was on her back the day before.

So when I got home from work Friday I looked out the window and was glad to see Lucy standing in the tractor and not on her back.  I walked out there to let her out.  Although she was standing she seemed off and her face looked very pale.  She continued to stand there as I tended to the other chickens.  As I was moving stuff out of the tractor I noticed a few drops of blood on the frame.  I quickly looked at Lucy and did not see any blood on her feet so I wasn’t sure what was up.

When Cindy got home I told her how Lucy was acting odd. Cindy looked at her and noticed some blood on her beak.  She looked at her bad wing and found something horrible.  Evidently Lucy spent a good portion of the day pecking herself, right around the swollen area.  There was an ugly bloody wound as a result.  I could only imagine why she did this, perhaps the swollen area was hurting her and she was trying to do whatever she could to relieve the pain.  Whatever the reason, we now had another problem to deal with.  We had to try to bandage the area in a way that she would not be able to peck herself.

I held Lucy as Cindy did the best she could with the bandages we had.  I felt terrible.  After covering the area we again set her up in our bathroom where we could keep an eye on her.  She was acting very lethargic and I thought we may lose her Friday night.  Low and behold we woke up Saturday morning and she seemed alert, her resiliency was pretty amazing.

So I figured we will put her out in the open with the other chickens, perhaps being isolated and bored lead to her pecking herself.  We immediately threw more melon in the yard which Lucy and the other chickens started working on immediately.  Once again, besides a swollen, bandaged wing, she seemed pretty normal.  I left the hens be as I worked on some other stuff in the yard.  Later in the morning I glanced out there and saw a chicken on her back, feet in the air, by the melons, it was Lucy.

I ran out there and she was looking at me so I at least knew she was alive.  She was flat one her back with her wing bandages laying on the ground next to her, wtf?  I scooped her up and took her inside the coop to one of the nesting boxes.  She sat there with her mouth open like she was hot but otherwise seemed pretty ok, this was almost a carbon copy of what happened on Thursday.  So once Lucy calmed down we again wrapped her up using better bandage supplies we bought from CVS that morning.  We put her back out in the yard and this time threw corn on the cob in there.  Once again all of the birds, including Lucy, went nuts for it.

So late afternoon Cindy said she saw a chicken in an odd position in front of the run.  I went out and once again Lucy was on her back, looking at me, with her bandages by her side.  I then started to realize what was happening.   She wanted the bandages off so badly that she dropped to her back and used her feet to grab them and pull them off.  However she was physically not able to flip herself back upright after doing so.  I felt terrible that the bandages were bothering her that much but I felt we had to prevent her from being able to peck the open wound.

So once again we wrapped her up.  When I took her back out to the run I stood there to observe.  She stumbled backwards as she tried to pull the same trick, making noise like she was in pain which broke my heart.  As she fell to the sand, one of the other hens, Pumpkin made an aggressive move towards Lucy which I immediately shut down.  I scooped Lucy up and took her back in the house, it was our third night of having an indoor chicken.  Before bed you could see she was still trying to get the bandage off but too tired to do so.  I totally expected to wake up Sunday morning to have her be alert and fine, again.

Well instead shortly before 4 AM Cindy awoke when she heard a noise in the bathroom.  We got up and went inside just as Lucy moved her legs for the last time.  We literally watched her stop breathing as her eyes were closed and her head was tucked down.  It instantly brought tears to my eyes but in reality I was relieved she finally passed.  She was suffering and was not going to recover.  I was glad her suffering was at it’s end but sad and somewhat guilty that we were not able to save her.  Later Sunday morning we buried Lucy in the back of the property, next to Peaches.  It was a solemn and sad event.  Lucy, despite being the most skittish and scared around us was amazingly tough and sweet in the end.

There were non-chicken related things during the weekend as well.  I installed a new 12V battery into the Prius since the installed battery was starting to read low which can cause of myriad of issues with the car.  The battery is located in the trunk and is not convenient to replace but not all that tough either as illustrated in the video.

On Sunday morning I was feeling very sad about Lucy’s passing.  I tried to temper that sadness by taking the OneWheel down to the Greenway to ride.  It was my best ride yet with the board.  The varied terrain and twisting pathways made for a very enjoyable riding experience, more fun than any prior ride I had there on EUC’s.  I took the board all the way to the gulf and back.  You can get a good sense of how much fun it was from the video.

The hybrid battery installer was supposed to arrive early afternoon to replace the Prius pack for the third time.  of course that ETA was missed.  While I was waiting I decided to get out and mow despite very threatening skies.  I mowed through several rain outbreaks, luckily none of them were deluge intensity.  As always, it felt great to have the task completed.

The installer said he was delayed in Miami and showed up somewhere around 6PM.  I asked him if normally they have to come back multiple times to replace packs.  He said out of the 100 or so repairs he has done I am only the second customer that had two failures, lucky me. Once again Jonathan and his dad worked quickly, getting a new pack installed in roughly an hour.  He said I should be good to go but once again, if I have any problems to let them know.  I assured him I would do exactly that.

It was an emotional, rough weekend.  I look forward to smoother waters ahead.

 

Back from the dead

So late yesterday afternoon I got a message from Cindy to call her ASAP which is never a good thing.  When I called her she was crying, she told me that Lucy was gone.  She said she didn’t see her come out when treats were put down.  She was looking on the cameras to see her but couldn’t see anything other than Lucy coming out for some food and water around 11.  She got on her knees and finally saw Lucy laying under the coop by one side.  She was laying in an awkward position, motionless and Cindy said she did not respond in any way.  Hearing this news immediately sent a wave of emotion over me.  I told her I would try to get out early to take care of it.  Cindy had to go teach a spin class.

So the entire drive home I was alternating between sadness and dread of the task of extracting Lucy from under the coop.  I knew it would be emotionally crushing for me.  We had tried so hard to nurse her back to health.  When I thought back to the way Lucy grabbed Cindy’s finger the night before it made me tear up to think that was maybe her way of saying goodbye.

After changing I headed outside with the pool brush in hand for the gruesome task.  I figured the  long extendable handle would allow me to reach Lucy regardless of how far under the deck she was.  After laying down some plastic I layed on my side and saw Lucy’s body laying there.  The visual burst open the emotional floodgates, I broke down crying for a minute or so.

I calmed down and focused on getting her body out.  I fished the pole past Lucy and then started bringing it in.  As it touched her body her one leg shot up in the air.  I stopped in horror, I thought it was some sort of post death muscle reaction.  When I tried to resume pulling her towards me, I heard it, she was making noise….. oh my God, she isn’t dead.   I was horrified and hopeful at the same time.

So I ran to the outside of the coop to the side she was on.  It seemed impossible that the bird was alive, her head and neck were twisted back in a very unnatural looking way but her eyes were half open.  All of a sudden I was in emergency rescue mode.  There was no way I was going to try to pull her out using the pool brush, I instead needed to get through the hardware cloth that the deck opening is covered with.  I ran up to the garage and grabbed tools.  I returned and feverishly started prying out staples and cutting the hardware cloth in two spots so I could fold it down like a flap.  Once I got access I very carefully lifted Lucy out, her neck returned to normal position and she seemed to be very weak but holding on.

I carried her into the coop and set her into one of the nesting boxes.  She was able to sit there while I went inside to get some water and yogurt, one of her favorite treats.   It took some time and patience but I eventually got her to take some water and eat some of the yogurt.  I stayed out there with her for over two hours until Cindy returned home.  By that time she had definitely perked up as she ate quite a bit of yogurt off the spoon I was holding.     She even stood up and walked unsteadily to another nesting box and plopped down there.

Cindy was amazed this is the same bird she had seen earlier laying motionless under the coop.  We agreed that we should let Lucy stay in the house overnight to see how she is.  There was no guarantee she would make it through the night so we would rather have her close to us.  We set her up in the cat carrier with a bed of shavings, water and some scratch grains.  Before bed I saw her eating some of the grains, another good sign.

So when trying to figure out what happened to put her in a near death state it was a crapshoot.  She did lose a considerable amount of blood over the last couple of days before we could get it stopped.  Maybe her blood pressure was really low as a result and she passed out.  Maybe she had a stroke, maybe she had a mini-heart attack, we will never know.  All I know is she is alive and kicking now.

This morning we took her back outside to the chicken area.  We were cautious and separated her by setting her up in the portable chicken tractor.  She appeared to be doing ok, hungrily chowing down on the piece of water melon we put in there.  I will be closely monitoring her over the weekend of course.  Who knows how much time she has left but I know I am thankful that she has more of it.  Never in my lifetime did I have a pet that I thought was dead turn out not to be so.  It was an emotional roller coaster that will not be soon forgotten.

 

 

 

 

No juice, Chicken nurse

 

So on Tuesday and once again yesterday the dreaded “red triangle of death” returned to the Prius.  I am on my second replacement battery pack from battery4prius.  This current pack has been absolutely fine since it was installed 2-3 weeks ago.  I was getting great mileage and had more power.  On Tuesday when the light came on I cleared it and the car was still running fine.  Yesterday when the light came on I knew it was bad because the hybrid battery cooling fan was screaming at full blast.

My code reader not only gave the general bad hybrid battery code but also two additional codes that identify at least two battery banks that are bad in the pack.  When the battery gets to this state the car is borderline undriveable.  If the battery voltage drops below a certain point the Prius shuts it off and tries to run on it’s gas engine only.  However it also affect the transmission, the car feels like it is constantly slipping.  Despite high engine revs it’s tough to get the Prius to do over 45 mph in this state.

So I babied the car on the drive home, having to pull over a couple times to reset the battery system to get me out of turtle mode.  I once again contacted the battery installers and told them my second replacement pack is bad as well.  I knew getting a refurbished battery had the possibility of this scenario popping up although I certainly didn’t expect it to happen twice in the first two months.

On the way home I actually bought a replacement 12V battery for the car as well.  The battery has never been replaced since we owned it and I was showing readings as low as 11.4 volts on the unit.  A low 12V battery can cause all sorts of strange things to happen with a Prius so I figured I should replace it as well.  Like most things on the Prius, the special trunk mounted battery needed is not cheap.  I dropped over $250 for a replacement which I hope to install this evening.

The battery installers hopefully will be out this weekend to throw yet another hybrid pack into the car.  I feel bad for them in a way but it’s not my fault that the packs they are installing just are not holding up.  I am fortunate that we live in a three vehicle household where I can park the Prius and just use my Tacoma as my daily driver for now.  I have to admit that I did submit a Costco pricing request on a Bolt yesterday, just for fun.

Tending to Lucy the chicken has been stressful.  She has at times been uncooperative when we give her the meds by mouth.  It takes a lot of patience.  Last night we removed the bandages we put on Tuesday for her bleeding wound.  Somehow during that removal process she started to bleed again.  Cindy was able to get the bleeding stopped with a very generous application of the stypic powder.  We have used so much of it at this point that I need to stop and grab some more today. We are trying to be optimistic and look at Lucy being more resistant to the meds as a sign that she is feeling better and more energetic.  We still have over a week to go yet with the twice a day antibiotics.

There was a very cute and touching moment last night.  After we got the bleeding stopped Cindy was cleaning off Lucy’s feet which had some dried blood on them.  As she was doing so Lucy gently wrapped her toes around one of Cindy’s fingers.  It was almost like she was doing a chicken equivalent of holding hands.  In our minds it felt like she was maybe expressing thanks for our attempts to help her.  Instead of placing her on the perch we let her stay in one of the nesting boxes overnight, figuring it would be a more comfortable spot for her to rest without putting pressure on the wing.

This morning, after giving her the morning dose of meds she immediately started on her chicken business, seeming normal outside of the drooping wing.  Birds are very tough, usually they will do an amazing job of hiding ailments until the very end.  Cindy and I are hoping for a miraculous recovery but even if it doesn’t happen we are both committed to doing whatever we can to help Lucy.

In a nick of time, Have to fall

So I followed up my mower repair and normal mowing session on Sunday with mowing the back half of the yard yesterday.  It was totally dry and if I have learned anything since living in Florida, you have brief windows of time during wet season where you can mow before the next deluge arrives.  My steering repairs held up to the very bumpy terrain in the back yard. I also had the big generator running for a good portion of the day, powering the AC in Cindy’s RV, cooling it down and giving the unit some time to circulate.

I took advantage of the dry and now totally mowed fenced in yard with my One Wheel.  I rode the board all over the back which was much more difficult than paved or concrete riding.  Your lower body is just in constant motion adjusting to the shifts in terrain, it’s physically demanding.  I fell off a couple times but didn’t hit the ground (that came later in the day)  My body felt tense which was the opposite of what you want.  It’s all a matter of practice and repetition. Just as I finished the ride a super storm blew in, dumping at least three inches of rain in a short period of time.  The rain event turned the dry property back into a swamp in no time, making me feel all the better about getting all of the mowing done before it hit.  You can actually see the first part of the storm at the end of the video.

We lost power later in the day, after the storms ironically.  I suggested to Cindy that instead of listening to all the beeping UPS’s in the house we take Elsa over to the school so I could ride the One Wheel some more while they hung out.  She was down with the plan.  I had fun riding all around the school property.  The only negative was a relatively hard fall I took when I tried to cross a small grassy spot between sidewalks.  It had more of a gully in it than I realized which instantly stopped the board and sent me flying where my right hand and hip took the impact.  My hand was fine thanks to the wrist guards I always wear.  The hip hurt, leaving a second bruise next to the other One Wheel mark from a couple weeks prior.  Even with incident I had a good time.  Learning to ride EUC’s and the One Wheel at this stage of life has at least kept my motivation and determination levels actively engaged.

We have been giving Lucy her meds  from the vet orally  twice a day using a little syringe.  Surprisingly she has been pretty agreeable to the process.  Yesterday we got a scare.  After giving her the meds we sprayed down the area on the mass that was cut by the vet to try to drain it with antiseptic.  As Cindy wiped it down  Lucy jerked violently, evidently the scab came off.  She started to bleed badly from the area.

If you ever had birds, you know that when they bleed it can be a big problem as their blood does not clot well.  We originally just tried applying pressure with a paper towel but it quickly became soaked in blood.  Luckily I had just bought stypic powder, a substance used to stop bleeding on birds.  Cindy ran inside and got some as well as additional bandages.  I was really worried as there was a LOT of bleeding but eventually we got it stopped and got her wing wrapped up.  I checked on her several times during the evening.  She was fine and appeared normal this morning which is a relief.

It’s done, Long day, More automation

So they finished up installing the metal roof yesterday, applying the panels to the front of the house and capping off all of the seams.  I feel less stress about the panel inconsistency I saw on the west side as after a day the contrast already seems to be lessening, making me think it was just some panels being directly exposed to the elements while others weren’t for three weeks.

I did not see the same variation in the panels across the front of the house which was good.  I think everything will be fine.  I am looking forward to the first decent rain to get a sense of how it will sound in the house.  I expect it to be a sound I will enjoy.

I had a long day of work yesterday, having to do some work down at our Marco Island office after business hours.  If things went well I would have been done in 15 minutes.  It took me 90 minutes so you can draw your own conclusions.

So as high tech as our chicken coop is a couple days ago I ordered something to make it even more cutting edge.  The chickens are early risers.  Usually when we get up in the morning we see the hens bunched up in the corner looking at the house for any movement.  They want to be let out of the run and into their fenced area.

The other day I got an idea in my head that I floated past Cindy.  When we built the coop we incorporated an automatic door to the coop itself, allowing the chickens to escape in the morning while closing automatically at night to keep them safe.  My idea was to buy a SECOND unit and build it into the fenced in run, allowing the chickens to go out into the yard as early as they want without any interaction from us.  Ditto for securing them at night.  It could allow us to not require as much help if we are away as the chickens could have secured access in and out of the coop without us lifting a finger.

The unit should arrive early next week, I look forward to the next step in building the most futuristic chicken coop in southwest Florida.

 

 

Chill, Lash egg

Yesterday was my first day of the staycation without a to do list hanging overhead.  After our early morning run we cleane dup and headed out mid-morning.  I actually stopped in at the office for about a half hour to say goodbye to a co-worker that was retiring after 36 years.  She and I always have had a funny relationship where we pick on each other like brother-sister.  It will be sad to see her go but she is still young enough to enjoy her retirement which is cool.

We stopped for lunch on the way back at Fuzzy Taco’s one of our fav eating establishments.  It was nice to be able to live like a retired person for the day.  Later in the afternoon we had to head back out to drop the Tacoma off for it’s 20,000 mile service, even though it is about 500 miles short of that mileage.  When you buy a Tacoma they give you free maintenance for 25,000 miles or two years, whatever comes first.  I did not realize that I am actually a few days past the two year mark.  Since I have been daily driving the Prius, the Tacoma has been seeing a lot less mileage.  My service advisor said she would still be able to get me the work done for free since it’s so close but this will be the last freebie.  On the way back to the house we picked up Sadie for another long weekend.

Last night Cindy and I worked on stuff, with my attention being mostly on solving an odd 3D printing problem which turned out to be a bad SD card.  I also dove into WoW hard core for the first time during the staycation.

This morning when I was cleaning the coop I saw this thing on the floor that almost looked like a hardened egg yolk.  Upon researching it later I discovered it is a “lash egg” which appears to have come out of Kristen, our only white chicken.  A lash egg is not an egg at all as you can see from the words on the picture.  It is a symptom of a serious and potentially fatal infection in the bird’s reproductive system.  There is a chance a chicken can recover on it’s own from such an ailment but I read that it is more common for this to be the ultimate demise of the animal.

I am going to see if I can find some sort of antbiotic we can give Kristen as well as getting liquid yogurt to try to help boost her immune system as well.  I am crossing my fingers she can recover.  She is a sweet hen, one of my favorites.  She is still acting normal otherwise but that is often the case with chickens, they will hide ailments until the very end.

 

Worried

So our only white chicken, Kristen, was not acting normal yesterday.  I had noticed the night before that she may have “pasty butt”, a rather disgusting scenario where the back end of a chicken gets clogged up with dried “organic matter”.  Not only is it gross but it can also be lethal if not cleared.  Cindy is the one that does all the leg work when this comes up, I usually just serve a support role.

Cindy said Kristen did not want to come out from under the coop, even for treats which is a big warning flag.  She eventually got her out by using a hose and then worked on cleaning the hens backside.  When I came home I noticed Kristen was back under the coop and still not responding to me like she normally would.  I asked Cindy if we could try cleaning her some more with me helping to hold her so a more thorough inspection could be done.  Kristen was pretty calm as petted her softly while saying sweet chicken things to her.

Cindy saw some pieces of stuck on broken egg back there.  It seems like possibly an egg broke on the way out, dried, and caused the problem.  Cindy worked diligently cleaning things up.  I was worried that when I went to put the chickens to be that Kristen wouldn’t be up on the perch but she was.  This morning I checked again on the coop DVR to verify she was still doing ok.  Cindy said this morning Kristen seemed to be doing well and was out and about with the other birds.  It’s things like this that make me nervous about leaving the hens to go out of town for an extended period of time.

My 3D stands are selling well.  Last night I had one person order three stands, the last three of the the newer 2.1 models I had.  I may wind up putting some of the stands I am using for my own wheels up in the store if I can’t keep up with demand. 🙂

And now with the plugs!

Ender 2 on GearBest EU Plug – https://goo.gl/v5bNRG $159 USE COUPON – “Enderen”
Ender 2 on GearBest US Plug – https://goo.gl/v5bNRG $159 USE COUPON – “ENDERC”
AnyCubic I3 MEGA – US WAREHOUSE – https://goo.gl/BKwhEu $329.99 USE COUPON – “I311GBUS”
AnyCubic I3 MEGA – CHINA WAREHOUSE – https://goo.gl/BKwhEu $315.99 USE COUPON – “I3MEGA”

CR-10 on GearBest – https://goo.gl/6M9DHi use coupon – GBCRUS
CR-10S5 on GearBest – https://goo.gl/3295a6
CR-10S on GearBest – https://goo.gl/rFztnC
GearBest US Warehouse specials! – https://goo.gl/nvL8uF

Get free cash back for stuff you are buying anyway – https://www.ebates.com/r/DUF391?eeid=28187

Esun Cleaning Filament – http://amzn.to/2zP3qwW
Creality Cr-10 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2w7yqIF
Dagoma Neva 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2hYNjoV
FlashForge Finder 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2sCllp7
Hatchbox white PLA filament – http://amzn.to/2rrIfMt
ESun white PLA filament – http://amzn.to/2sBRv42

The gimbal I use – http://amzn.to/2lJbZCa
My GoPro camera – http://amzn.to/2kkBUmJ
GoPro foam windscreen – http://amzn.to/2maDI2B
Selfie stick – http://amzn.to/2mJTJLL
Segway MiniPro – http://amzn.to/2lddTNt
Segway S1 – http://amzn.to/2A8CkQQ
DJI Mavic Pro – http://amzn.to/2kpV4Tk

My EUC protective gear
Killer 187 Wrist Guards – http://amzn.to/2p8y9m9
Triple Eight Helmet – http://amzn.to/2p8uuoH
STX Elbow Pads – http://amzn.to/2oNMrYJ
Killer 187 Knee pads – http://amzn.to/2oYtAHw

Looking for Gotway, Inmotion or KingSong electric unicycles?
Go here for free shipping! – http://ewheels.com/eucarmy

Check out all my sites!
http://eucarmy.com
http://duf.net
http://dufisthenics.com
EUC Army YouTube – https://youtube.com/eucarmy
Duf 3D YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBnqqxnkBqc5ISDQRr0YkiA

Social media
Instagram – @duf67
Twitter – @duf67

Cindy’s site – http://fitfarmchick.com
Cindy’s YouTube channel – http://youtube.com/fitfarmchick

Recognized, Worried

So yesterday I was at one of our larger remote branches and suddenly heard someone say “Do you have a YouTube channel?”  With a  surprised look on my face I looked up and saw the question was coming from the security guard.  He went on to tell me he is a 3D printer hobbyist like me and has seen a number of my 3d printing videos.  He said he heard my voice and recognized it immediately.

We talked a little bit, he has five printers as I do so he is as deep if not deeper into it than I am.  It was the first time I have been recognized out in public by a stranger solely from my channel, it was an odd but cool experience at the same time.  The channel has now added another 10% to it’s subscriber base in the last couple months and the channel is closing in on 2.5 million views.

So last night when I put the chickens to bed I immediately noticed that Pumpkin was out of place.  For some reason she was under the nesting boxes on the floor, in a corner.  I picked her up and placed her on the perch but she looked uncomfortable.  Cindy just happened to come in the coop while I was doing this.  I told her where Pumpkin was and how she looked a bit odd to me.

When we looked at her more it sort of looked like she might need to lay an egg.  It is not unusual for the hens to sometimes drop an egg during the night although it doesn’t happen often.  Well, with Peaches fall and ultimate death several weeks back I didn’t want to take any chances.  I pulled back the netting we cover the nesting boxes with at night and placed Pumpkin in there so she could lay an egg if she needed to and that she would not be at risk of falling if something else was wrong.

This morning when I woke up I looked at the coop camera and saw she was in the box with her head down.  I didn’t see any movement so I was concerned.  I then used my phone to turn on the light in the coop remotely to see if she moved.  I still didn’t see anything however after the coop door opened up automatically at 6:30 I saw she was up and about which brought out a literal sigh of relief.  I don’t need any more abrupt chicken deaths in my life.

I made this last night.  Katie still has her mail delivered to our house so it can pile up in between her pick ups.  The 3D printed mail/key holder should be just the ticket to keep it safe and organized moving forward.

And now with the plugs!

Ender 2 on GearBest EU Plug – https://goo.gl/v5bNRG $159 USE COUPON – “Enderen”
Ender 2 on GearBest US Plug – https://goo.gl/v5bNRG $159 USE COUPON – “ENDERC”
AnyCubic I3 MEGA – US WAREHOUSE – https://goo.gl/BKwhEu $329.99 USE COUPON – “I311GBUS”
AnyCubic I3 MEGA – CHINA WAREHOUSE – https://goo.gl/BKwhEu $315.99 USE COUPON – “I3MEGA”

CR-10 on GearBest – https://goo.gl/6M9DHi use coupon – GBCRUS
CR-10S5 on GearBest – https://goo.gl/3295a6
CR-10S on GearBest – https://goo.gl/rFztnC
GearBest US Warehouse specials! – https://goo.gl/nvL8uF

Get free cash back for stuff you are buying anyway – https://www.ebates.com/r/DUF391?eeid=28187

Esun Cleaning Filament – http://amzn.to/2zP3qwW
Creality Cr-10 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2w7yqIF
Dagoma Neva 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2hYNjoV
FlashForge Finder 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2sCllp7
Hatchbox white PLA filament – http://amzn.to/2rrIfMt
ESun white PLA filament – http://amzn.to/2sBRv42

The gimbal I use – http://amzn.to/2lJbZCa
My GoPro camera – http://amzn.to/2kkBUmJ
GoPro foam windscreen – http://amzn.to/2maDI2B
Selfie stick – http://amzn.to/2mJTJLL
Segway MiniPro – http://amzn.to/2lddTNt
Segway S1 – http://amzn.to/2A8CkQQ
DJI Mavic Pro – http://amzn.to/2kpV4Tk

My EUC protective gear
Killer 187 Wrist Guards – http://amzn.to/2p8y9m9
Triple Eight Helmet – http://amzn.to/2p8uuoH
STX Elbow Pads – http://amzn.to/2oNMrYJ
Killer 187 Knee pads – http://amzn.to/2oYtAHw

Looking for Gotway, Inmotion or KingSong electric unicycles?
Go here for free shipping! – http://ewheels.com/eucarmy

Check out all my sites!
http://eucarmy.com
http://duf.net
http://dufisthenics.com
EUC Army YouTube – https://youtube.com/eucarmy
Duf 3D YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBnqqxnkBqc5ISDQRr0YkiA

Social media
Instagram – @duf67
Twitter – @duf67

Cindy’s site – http://fitfarmchick.com
Cindy’s YouTube channel – http://youtube.com/fitfarmchick

 

Relentless

So despite my repeated efforts to thwart an animal from trying to dig up Peaches, the latest being covering the spot with the chicken tractor, the behavior has continued.  We thought the digger had to be a possum but I don’ think a possum would fit in between the wires.  Well regardless of the animal, the behavior had to stop.  I resigned myself to the gruesome task of having to dig Peaches up and relocate her.

I got out my shovel and wagon and started on the miserable task.  I gave the other birds treats to keep them distracted while I dug away.  At first when I was close to two feet deep and didn’t see anything I though that possibly somehow the corpse was drug out of the grave completely.  However after going even deeper I reached the burlap that we wrapped her in.

To be honest I was preparing myself for awful carnage, figuring the animal that has been digging has been eating the corpse.  Well to my surprise the burlap was intact and I saw no signs of any carnage.  I did mouth breathing to insulate myself from the smell as I wheeled Peaches back to the far corner of the property, beyond the back fence line. I did put the body inside of a plastic garbage bag as well to further insulate it.

I had tears in my eyes as I dug another deep hole that I back filled and then topped off with more dug up grass.  I then covered the grave with palm fronds and a dead cactus as further deterrent and marked the grave with a piece of palm cross thatch that I drove into the sand with  my shovel.  As I went through the somber process I just couldn’t shake the feelings of guilt that weighed on my back.  I just kept thinking about how a few different choices could have meant Peaches would still be following me around the yard, first in line, as always.

I have yet another tiresome week of nearly all day work meetings that I am in the middle of.  I just keep trying to focus on the finish line, despite it being far away at this point.

And now with the plugs!

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Ender 2 on GearBest US Plug – https://goo.gl/v5bNRG $159 USE COUPON – “ENDERC”
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Get free cash back for stuff you are buying anyway – https://www.ebates.com/r/DUF391?eeid=28187

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Creality Cr-10 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2w7yqIF
Dagoma Neva 3D printer – http://amzn.to/2hYNjoV
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Hatchbox white PLA filament – http://amzn.to/2rrIfMt
ESun white PLA filament – http://amzn.to/2sBRv42

The gimbal I use – http://amzn.to/2lJbZCa
My GoPro camera – http://amzn.to/2kkBUmJ
GoPro foam windscreen – http://amzn.to/2maDI2B
Selfie stick – http://amzn.to/2mJTJLL
Segway MiniPro – http://amzn.to/2lddTNt
Segway S1 – http://amzn.to/2A8CkQQ
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Killer 187 Wrist Guards – http://amzn.to/2p8y9m9
Triple Eight Helmet – http://amzn.to/2p8uuoH
STX Elbow Pads – http://amzn.to/2oNMrYJ
Killer 187 Knee pads – http://amzn.to/2oYtAHw

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Check out all my sites!
http://eucarmy.com
http://duf.net
http://dufisthenics.com
EUC Army YouTube – https://youtube.com/eucarmy
Duf 3D YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBnqqxnkBqc5ISDQRr0YkiA

Social media
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Twitter – @duf67

Cindy’s site – http://fitfarmchick.com
Cindy’s YouTube channel – http://youtube.com/fitfarmchick

Sooo excited, Tricky Rick

So when we first got Elsa it took awhile until she started to trust us.  There seemed to be something in her past that obviously made her skittish and untrusting of people.  However over time we have been able to melt away those barriers and now Elsa is just a bundle of fun and love, although still filled with plenty of quirks.

When I get home at night she is just so ecstatic to see me.  Usually I will try to immediately sit down on the couch so she can jump up for a thorough petting session.  Her excitement level is off the charts.  It seems like she is most happy when Cindy and I are both home, when one of us is missing it’s just not the same.  Even though I had some trepidation about signing on to getting another dog, I’m now glad we jumped in as she is a bright source of fun and love in our lives.

So our slimy governor, Rick Scott, who was in opposition to medical marijuana which was passed in the state during last years election, is playing games to try to make the implementation of legal medical cannabis problematic.  You see Tricky Rick has deep ties to Big Pharm and the medicine for profit industries.  His lobbyist friends are not interested in a simple, natural product elbowing in to their extremely fat bottom line.

Late last month Scott signed a bill regarding how medical marijuana dispensaries are supposed to be managed by individual counties.  Basically it says a county has only two options, they either have to ban medical marijuana completely or they have to allow it anywhere with no middle ground.  So in a very image conscious place like Collier County, despite their desire for legal marijuana dispensaries inside county lines, the idea of having no control over the number of them or locations is not realistic so this law would force them into banning it completely, which is not what anybody really wants.

Of course the Trickster knows that a lot of counties are not going to be comfortable with having no control but he can put on a false face and say “Hey, the law says the counties can have medical marijuana anywhere they want!!” with that slimy, disingenuous grin of his.  It’s so transparent.

Luckily, there is a good chance that Rick’s shenanigans will not stand up in court.  It is likely the legislation will be challenged in court and be overturned but in the meantime many Florida residents just continue to wait for something that have voted to implement for over 5 years.