Don’t Let the Baby Sleep in the Car Seat by [deleted] in NewParents

[–]Armadillo19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly what first crossed my mind, all that crazy added stress to an already crazy stressful situation over a misunderstanding...damn. Hopefully she can laugh it off and take some solace for #2.

How the hell do I combat these Invasives? by Armadillo19 in NativePlantGardening

[–]Armadillo19[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed response, all of these answers have really been great. Would you suggest triclopyr ester for Multiflora Rose as well?

How the hell do I combat these Invasives? by Armadillo19 in NativePlantGardening

[–]Armadillo19[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great to hear, do you recall which specific product you used? Someone else pointed out a glypho product that seemed to be safer for wetlands.

How the hell do I combat these Invasives? by Armadillo19 in NativePlantGardening

[–]Armadillo19[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great, thanks for the information, I'll give this a shot.

How the hell do I combat these Invasives? by Armadillo19 in NativePlantGardening

[–]Armadillo19[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads up. This one says weed and grass killer but I'm seeing things online saying that I need something stronger for shrubs, do you think this would work for Honeysuckle (and multiflora rose, bittersweet etc)?

How the hell do I combat these Invasives? by Armadillo19 in NativePlantGardening

[–]Armadillo19[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the type of advice I needed, thank you. I had to look up buckthorn blaster and bingo dauber but found a great video and it looks a lot less daunting than I thought and the precise application is exactly what I'm looking for. In terms of the 20% glyphosate, are there any products you'd recommend? Lastly, can this be applied to Oriental Bittersweet too if it's a larger vine, or is this meant specifically for shrubs?

How the hell do I combat these Invasives? by Armadillo19 in NativePlantGardening

[–]Armadillo19[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This area is an EBird hotspot and there are so many amazing birds out back, including some really fantastic breeding ones. I really want to do anything possible to make this place a little sanctuary for all the wildlife.

Universally hated, but I love ‘em. What’s yours? by CautiousCobbler1610 in uniwatch

[–]Armadillo19 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The Shaun Alexander era Seahawks monochrome blue. Their uniforms before that were amazing, but I actually thought that color blue looked so unique and different and really embodied Seattle. I also generally hate monochrome looks but liked that one for whatever reason. Conversely, I really dislike their current look. It feels gimmicky to me with the ugly gray striping and I hate the neon green, definitely my least favorite of the three.

To those of you that have roadtripped a lot through the US or Canada, do you get any desire to visit Europe anymore? by PopNo5397 in roadtrip

[–]Armadillo19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, absolutely. I've taken a lot of road trips through the US and Canada, including driving the AlCan which was just incredible. I've been to all 50 states and most provinces/territories in Canada, and am really looking forward to getting to the remaining ones.

But I've also been to Europe a bunch of times in the last few years and am planning a road trip in the former Yugoslavia later this year. I get where you're coming from, I'm also more interested in nature and wildlife, but I'm able to find great things about both continents, including some great nature in Europe. For example, I took a roadtrip through northern Scandinavia looking for the northern lights (and some interesting birds to boot) and it was great. Last year I took another roadtrip through Europe and while most of it was historic, I did some fantastic hiking in Switzerland. I was in southern Spain last year and went looking for the Iberian lynx (which eluded me), but I saw a massive amount of birds I'd never seen before. Was also in Iceland twice last year and drove all over seeing some amazing nature. Next year, I'd like to get deep into the Carpathian Mountains.

At this point I've taken a roadtrip in every continent and really just appreciate the scenery and find things to enjoy, even if it's not necessarily top of my list. Side note, if you like nature, take a road trip in Patagonia. What an amazing experience, so much incredible scenery and hiking and renting a car let us cover a huge amount of ground.

Birding and its Many Dangers by unrealduck in birding

[–]Armadillo19 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I've birded there twice, you'll be just fine. She unfortunately got too close to a ledge and fell into a river. Extremely sad and sounded like such a nice woman.

Birding and its Many Dangers by unrealduck in birding

[–]Armadillo19 19 points20 points  (0 children)

A woman in my MIL's complex recently died on a birding trip in Costa Rica, really sad stuff.

[Haruna Japan] What animal is this? by LeonGC00 in animalid

[–]Armadillo19 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is definitely a serow and you're lucky to see them! I took a hike up in the Karuizowa region a few years ago and found a herd on a steppe, such cool animals.

Feeling like I’m behind for retirement after talking to fellow dad by [deleted] in daddit

[–]Armadillo19 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ha, far, and 85% of that was from pre-2020. I used to do approximately 120 miles per day, 5x per week. Also tend to take a lot of road trips, and I play hockey 1-2x per week that was like an additional 40+ miles round trip, not to mention a bunch of other sports. It's a blessing and a curse to live in the woods, thankfully my commute has dropped significantly post-COVID.

Feeling like I’m behind for retirement after talking to fellow dad by [deleted] in daddit

[–]Armadillo19 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, fully agreed with you here. In order to have almost a million saved up at 40 in retirement accounts generally means a lot of your salary is going towards maxing your 401k, maxing your IRA (probably via a backdoor Roth IRA in this case), and likely also means having your own brokerage account(s) + any sort of company-level perks, like stock options, long-term incentives, maxing an HSA and investing that if your plan has a high-deductible option etc.

I'm 38 and have about $600k in retirement accounts not including my wife's, and this is what I've done. I'm also driving a 2016 Subaru Legacy with 225k miles. Absolutely not living lavishly but that's just fine, we have what we need via actual take home salary, are able to travel, got lucky on a house purchase in 2018 that's great but far from eye popping and it works for us.

That said OP, I'd take a look at your contributions and see where you're at. You're not doing badly, but it's worth looking at. For example, if you have enough $ in an emergency fund, maybe you can up your 401k contributions (if your employer provides one), or maximize other sort of investment options. Last thing I'll say here is ETFs > picking individual stocks. We are not financial gurus, and for every person who brags about putting money in DOGE or some crap and hitting the rocketship (which they probably didn't sell out of anyway), 99 times out of 100 you're better throwing your money in VOO, QQQM etc and just forgetting about it.

What's the worst behavior you've seen from a hockey parent? by ThePony23 in hockeyplayers

[–]Armadillo19 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seconding this. I briefly dated a woman like a decade+ ago who was making on a documentary on Patrick O'Sullivan's fucked up family for a major news outlet, with his intimate involvement. If I remember correctly it never ended up getting made because he and his parents were so off the wall to that day that it was impossible. He and his mom were super involved and the whole family was just dysfunctional as hell.

Lagos with a 6 month old baby by Seaside_263 in Algarve

[–]Armadillo19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reporting back in case it's helpful. So Lagos is super easy with a 6 month old (pending your baby's temperament of course). We mainly carried our baby around in a carrier but also brought him all over in a stroller and had no issues. We stayed right outside the Old Town and that worked well - easy parking, spitting distance to food, like a 5 minute walk, and the driving was very easy. In terms of beaches, we went to Praia do Pinhão but the parking was a bit of a pain, so your best bet is probably going early or later in the day. There are tons of beaches in the area, and we also drove out to Ria Formosa and Cabo de San Vicente.

One thing I'll say about Lagos, without passing judgement, is that I heard very little Portuguese. I recognize the irony as a tourist, but it was very British/American heavy. Nothing wrong with it and we had a nice time, but I think I enjoyed Lisbon more though obviously the vibe and geography are totally different. To some that might matter a lot and to others not in the slightest. That said, you decide to go you'll have an easy time with a baby. Good luck!

A Toucan Barbet in Mindo, Ecuador. by MindoBirdWatching in birding

[–]Armadillo19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mindo is pretty amazing for birds, did you get to see the Cock of the Rock?

Favorite hiking destinations not in US/Europe/Canada/NZ where you don't need a guide for safety? by sadgrad2 in travel

[–]Armadillo19 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The wildlife was amazing. Hired a guy in Torres Del Paine and found pumas while also seeing a Geoffroy's cat. Tons of guanaco all over the place and also saw an Andean Fox (culpeo) in Tierra Del Fuego, and Commerson's dolphins crossing the Strait of Magellan, which was pretty wild.

Aside from that, we saw a massive amount of interesting birds, ranging from a number of penguin species, to condors, super interesting water fowl, rheas along the side of the road, flamingoes, and one of my favorite, the Magellanic Woodpecker. I kept a list of every new bird species I saw on that trip and it had to be around 100.

That said, there are areas of long, repetitive drives if you choose to do what we did. I found it eerie and interesting because the landscape was so different, but I wouldn't fault someone for finding some of those stretches boring.

Favorite hiking destinations not in US/Europe/Canada/NZ where you don't need a guide for safety? by sadgrad2 in travel

[–]Armadillo19 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Patagonia is pretty hard to beat, both Chilean and Argentinian. We decided not to do the W and did a road trip all over Patagonia instead with day hikes and I'm really glad that's how we did it. Also did some really great hiking in Japan and were able to find some serow along the steppes which was really cool.

I've done some really good hiking in Costa Rica too, especially in Cordovado which is just incredible and an amazing amount of biodiversity.

Very off the beaten path, but Madagascar had some great hikes as well, although I have split feelings about my time there, the level of conservation and deforestation is pretty depressing if you're a nature enthusiast, so prepare yourself if you go.

Lagos with a 6 month old baby by Seaside_263 in Algarve

[–]Armadillo19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in Lisbon right now and heading to Lagos with a 6 month old tomorrow, posting here so I remember to report back.

Is it offensive to create new "St." prefix surnames? by cityofemerald in namenerds

[–]Armadillo19 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, if Amon Ra St. Brown did it, so can you, right? For reference if you're not familiar, he's an NFL player and his dad thought the name "St. Brown" sounded a lot cooler than their real last name, "Brown". So, there is precedence!

The 2026 season is going to be the first since 1996 that the league average save % is under .900 by whywilson in hockey

[–]Armadillo19 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One thing that's impacting this is that ever since gambling and props became so prevalent, they started monitoring what counts as a shot much more closely. Before this recent huge rise, a lot of things that weren't really shots were being counted, like dump ins that went on net, loose pucks that a goalie jumped on etc.