Hobo Jungle

[rogruth]

Wayne,

Very interesting except for the part about Starbucks.

I Knew about the use of the cochineal beetle for coloring
[I wonder why?].Sneaky way to work in an insecticide ad.
I will need to look up the beetle.

You need to send a picture of your plant to the appropriate
place and fix that size error[?].

[Rufus T. Firefly]

*I hate it when the internet lives up to Rufus' dim view of its accuracy.

[healey36]

I feel like I've been wrestling the cactus...got the vet bill for what we are now calling the "owl-incident". He said he cut me a break...$220. Maybe I shoulda just walked back there with the grocery bag, the blanket and the tire iron. Nope, couldn't do it.

This pretty much wipes out the Spring-York funding stream.

Healey

[Mitch]

So Healey, did the fokker live?? Tire iron would've been a lot cheaper. I mean, it's not like you hit somebody's dog or cat. Animals get wiped slick every day on the highways. Hell, I remember my first trip down to Miami in an 18 wheeler. Seemed like there was a dead armadillo every mile!

[healey36]

Yup...survived. The vet said the wing was dislocated in two places...he, or should I say she, will recover, good as new. He said she must have been concussed by the blow, as she would have torn me up otherwise.

I think he said they were eventually sending her here:

http://owlmoon.org/

If it had been a deer, possum, squirrel, rabbit, groundhog, cat (sorry Wayne), or most any other creature it would have gotten the business end of the old 5-iron I carry in the trunk of the car. I'm a softy, however, for dogs and birds.

So now I'm noticing a small chip in the upper left corner of the windshield of the ol' Vibe. I'm just waiting for a nice hot day for it to crack from pillar to pillar. Isn't there a chip filler or something I can do to prevent that?

[rogruth]

I remember my first trip down to Miami in an 18 wheeler. Seemed like there was a dead armadillo every mile!

You know why the chicken crossed the road?
To prove to the armadillo it can be done.

[Mitch]

Any of the windshield installers can most likely fix the chip. Companies like Safelite if they're in your area. If you get it fixed before it spiderwebs you'll be ok.

[healey36]

Thanks Mitch...they're in the book. I'll give them a call on Monday.

Healey

[v8vega]

My Border Collie was badly injured by a neighbors Pit Bull last Dec. He is all healed up and it didn't dampen his spirit at all. I filed a report with the dog catcher then plus numerous phone calls and nothing happened.
In Feb the same dog attacked my neighbors dog and the dog escaped and both of us went to the LA. Dept of Animal Care and Control and talked to the head man. He said he would send a officer out and talk to the Pit Bulls owner but the officer never came.
Last night the same Pit Bull was loose again and ran into my neighbors yard and even into his house and badly injured his little dog. The dog is in the hospital and may not make it.
My neighbor is a Mexican immigrant, possibly illegal, and his specialty is yard cleanup and all kinds of work of that sort so this is a major financial setback for him. The hospital bill is $1,600 so far.
He went to the dog catcher this morning and about noon the dog catcher showed up. The officer told us to go home and left after talking to the pit Bull's owner without talking to us.
As I understand it if the dog is in a fenced yard its considered secure and they won't take it. People are coming and going at this house all the time and they are careless with the gate.
School children walk past this house daily.
This afternoon we went back to the dog catcher, a half hour drive, and complained again about this vicious dog. He said he is going to have a hearing, maybe we can get them to take the dog then. I think this is a court like hearing.



I just happened to be reading June 2003 Model Railroader where they review a MTH. 1:32 which is correct size for American 4' 8 1/2" track Hudson. Metal and plastic it weighs 15.5 lbs. 30.5" min radius, $800. I'll bet its impressive, Ive never seen one.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

April 16 is . . . . National Stress Awareness Day and National Eggs Benedict Day

[HONDO74]

April 16 is . . . . National Stress Awareness Day and National Eggs Benedict Day

Dang, I love eggs Benedict, wish I would have known that before I fixed breakfast burritos. Now I am really stressed.

Thanks alot Rufus.

[J. S. Bach]

...snip...
I planted one pad from a neighbor's plant 17 years ago. So, does anyone know, would that make this one 17 years old or should I add about five years from the neighbor's plant making it 22 years old. Plus, I don't know if the neighbor started it from seed or a cutting from an even older plant. Let's just say it took 17 years to grow from one pad to a 9 or 10 foot height.

...snip...

This prickly pear (far side of the Queen Palm) was started from a couple of pads gotten out of the back of a pick-up truck at work around 1990:

Note that it is about fifteen feet plus tall but would be significantly larger if Wilma had not pruned about a third of it in 2005.

[webenda]

Looks like Opuntia ficus-indica. Ficus-indica can grow to 24 feet in 24 years. Most people in Tucson trim them back before they get that high.

I have observed they freeze in Tucson occasionally and have to start over either from the trunk near the ground or from seed. Mine froze in 2003 and came back. It was eight feet tall when it froze again in 2011. It never came back from that freeze. Your picture makes me want another ficus-indica. I will have to keep my eye out for trimmings beside the road as I drive around.

[webenda]

Flower on Foothills Palo Verde (Parkinsonia microphylla)


The thing that identifies Parkinsonia microphylla from other Palo Verdes is the "White Flag" feature of the flower.

[rogruth]

More please.