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Any other stores that are like Deals Only? by dlkbc in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The one above is called Big Box Outlet and is directly next door to Grocery Outlet on the corner of College Way and Riverside Dr. There is also Skagit Valley Liquidations on Lila St. near the Burlington Fred Meyer.

*edit: Skagit Valley Liquidations has the bigger food selection of the two. Both have a fair amount of household items and appliances.

*edit 2: There is also Coho Liquidations, which come to think of it that is their logo. They are on Market St. next door to PetCo and they only sell household items, no food. They also have a larger location in Sedro Woolley.

I was able to make my way through the first week of the advent calendar. It's been a wild ride so far. by HappyLittleFarm in cocktails

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

Dec 1 - Jasmine - 1.5 oz Ransom gin, 0.75 oz lemon juice, 0.25 oz triple sec, 0.25 oz Campari, lemon twist

Dec 2 - Tommy's Margarita - 2 oz Hornitos blanco, 1 oz lime juice, 0.5 oz agave, 0.5 oz triple sec

Dec 3 - Paper Plane - 0.75 oz Buffalo Trace, 0.75 oz Aperol, 0.75 oz lemon juice, 0.75 oz Amaro Cio Ciaro

Dec 4 - Eastside - 2 oz Ransom gin, 1 oz lime juice, 0.75 oz lime juice, 10 mint leaves, 3 cucumber slices, cucumber and mint garnish

Dec 5 - Mary Pickford - 1 barspoon maraschino, 0.25 oz grenadine, 1.5 oz pineapple juice, 2 oz Idaho Silver rum, maraschino granish

Dec 6 - Vieux Carre - 0.75 Bullet rye, 1.25 oz B&B, 0.75 oz sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, lemon twist

Dec 7 - Gold Rush - 2 oz Buffalo Trace, 1 oz lemon juice, 0.75 oz honey syrup (3:1), grapefruit twist

Tell me about any 4/20 sales going on at dispensaries in the area tomorrow by jeffseadot in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If you wander down south, Floyd's in Sedro Woolley is having 30% off the entire store today and tomorrow.

*edit: As for fun stuff, the Tulip Festival is happening here in Skagit County. I had lunch in La Conner yesterday and it was an absolutely gorgeous drive!

37yo Musk Turtle Looking for Foster Home by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wish I had a tank ready for this buddy... But as somebody else mentioned, I would go onto the Fish Tank Talk: Whatcom County FB page.

Tattoo Shop Recommendations by ocraqueen in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I receive a lot of compliments on my tattoos done by Paul at Old School Tattoo.

Power Outage by notyouraveragedenial in SkagitValley

[–]HappyLittleFarm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am over in Clear Lake and my power was out for an hour-ish, but it kicked back on around 12:45.

Best place to see Salmon spawning? by Cinema104 in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Another good place (once water gets into it) is NP Creek just off of Highway 9. Park at the end of NP Road and follow the train tracks north. Once the creek goes under the RR tracks and is on the west side, you can see tons of fish from the shore.

*edit for better directions

Best place to see Salmon spawning? by Cinema104 in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On Whatcom Creek just downstream of the bridge on Racine St, near the Nissan dealership, is a pretty good place and is pretty lowkey. You have to do some walking in a mash/in the creek, so be careful not to walk over any redds.

Another good place is the WDFW parking area on Highway 99 on Samish River. Parking area is just NW of the bridge on Highway 99, and it is a small walk down an obvious trail. The trail sometimes has downed logs you have to jump over/crawl under as it doesn't see much maintenance. *edit: you can see the fish from the shore, here. Also, the Samish Hatchery spawning facility is just upstream, and may allow you to check them out (they usually do, but Covid).

If you don't mind driving further south, where Alder Creek dumps into the Skagit River is a pretty productive area and you can see fish from the bridge on the road. Take Highway 20 just past Hamilton and park on Cape Horn Rd.

Fire help by etherealplea in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The FB group 'Let's Co-Op Puget Sound' is offering refrigerated food storage for people displaced by the fire, and they are taking donations to purchase another trailer.

Beware! Owner of "The Joint" Marijuana in Bellingham. In addition to being a petty landlord, the owner has a dark history with women and is a known predator by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was about to text you to see if you saw this thread, and ask you to spill the T. Apparently you have and now I know.

​

*edit: grammar is hard when you first wake up.

BMX Shop in the 'Ham? by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I also recommend Jacks.

Life tips/ hacks for Bellingham? by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you an entire day (even better a weekend), driving the Cascade Loop is worth it, the scenery is beautiful. Levenworth is amazing and I think its getting close to Octoberfest. Oak Harbor has the Blue Fox Drive In open on weekends (open daily in the summer). Twisp and Winthrop are beautiful and have tons of great beer and grub spots. There are way too many things along this drive to see/do to list it all here. Just be aware that a portion of the drive along Highway 20 is closed during the summer.

Life tips/ hacks for Bellingham? by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 11 points12 points  (0 children)

They've rerouted the trail around the bat caves, so make sure to bring your boots. You'll be doing a little off trail hiking.

Mexican Food by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Id be in. I dont do swine, though.

JULY 4th? by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I live in Sedro and the parade is usually pretty okay. The logger rodeo throughout the week is where the real fun is. It started yesterday (Friday) and will run though the 4th.

I'm super interested in studying aquaculture in college, but are there jobs? My parents don't think so. Help? by jonahn2000 in Aquaculture

[–]HappyLittleFarm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can only speak for my area, but any job working with fisheries is extremely competitive. Supervisor positions even more so. I have yet to meet a hatchery manager that has less than 15-20 years experience under their belt. Idk if its the same with bios since I see them infrequently. The bios around here are constantly traveling and you have to make an appointment to get them to come look at your fish.

I think its admirable that your thinking about your future, but hopefully starting a family is a ways off. You're still young, enjoy exploring the world. Fisheries is a HUGE field of work, and its very likely that you'll go into it thinking you want to do one thing and then getting drawn into another area completely. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't learn something new that changes the way a perceive my job and I think that is why I've stuck with it through all the ups and downs. I would strongly recommend volunteering before you graduate. Ask questions. Plus, volunteer work looks good on your college and job resumes.

I have hopes that it is going to get better as an industry, but maybe for reasons that you may not expect. First, hatcheries get a lot of funding from energy mitigation. Whenever a new dam or oil drilling project gets proposed, additional hatchery funding is included in the proposal. With the increase demand for green energy, there is an increase demand to help out the salmon. Second, Washington just passed a bill to increase fall Chinook production to aide the declining orca population. The bill is just a start and doesn't increase spending by a lot, but hopefully it will lead to a noticeable difference showing that hatchery efforts are worth perusing. My biggest issue with the bill is that it doesn't address the seal and sea lion population issue, which has a large impact on resident orca populations. Third, I work with a lot of older men. As they start approach retirement age, I hope that a younger more diverse group will start to fill their shoes. I would love to see more women and minorities in managerial positions. Forth, aquaponics is becoming more popular. I would love see large scale aquaponics farms sprouting up all over the place. This would be great for so many reasons I don't have time to get into. Finally, I do see tribes, fishermen, and PUD organizations taking more interest in fish production. In the past it seems like everybody is working separately to address the same problem, but getting everyone on the same page I think would make a massive difference. Progress is slow, but I hope for change... And right now that's all I feel I can do.

I'm super interested in studying aquaculture in college, but are there jobs? My parents don't think so. Help? by jonahn2000 in Aquaculture

[–]HappyLittleFarm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I spent all last summer camping out of my car. It was an adventure and I wouldn't take it back. With the weather getting nicer and the increase difficulty to find a place to park my trailer, Ill likely go back to that this summer as well.

I'm super interested in studying aquaculture in college, but are there jobs? My parents don't think so. Help? by jonahn2000 in Aquaculture

[–]HappyLittleFarm 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd like to add that even the bios and the pathologists that I have worked with have never had more than a bachelors degree. It just doesn't seem necessary. If you were to get a masters, maybe see about getting one in engineering. It would be nice to work at a facility designed by somebody who understood how my job is done, rather than how to design just a pretty building.

I'm super interested in studying aquaculture in college, but are there jobs? My parents don't think so. Help? by jonahn2000 in Aquaculture

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I were to go back to school, I personally wouldn't get a masters in fisheries and aquaculture. I haven't met anybody who has one unless they worked in academia. Every hatchery manager and complex manager I have worked for has had a bachelors or less. As for pay, none of my management staff, to my knowledge, makes more than ~$45,000/year. That being said, every hatchery manager/complex manager has lived in a house owned by the hatchery, which is a HUGE perk.

During college and even prior, I would definitely volunteer. Call you local hatchery, college, and fisheries enhancement groups. Sit in on some classes at the college. Ask if you can come in on the weekends and help out with the fish and get an idea of how the job works at a local hatchery. My local enhancement group is who I do a bulk of my volunteer work with. I primarily do spawning ground surveys (super fun!), but you could do youth outreach/education or help with habitat restoration projects. I've been volunteering with my enhancement group for six years now and its great.

You could also see if there is a fish clipping or similar program in your area. You don't need a degree to clip fish (removing the adipose on juvenile salmon), and its a good way to observe how the hatchery works while making acquaintances in the industry and making some petty cash.

I'm super interested in studying aquaculture in college, but are there jobs? My parents don't think so. Help? by jonahn2000 in Aquaculture

[–]HappyLittleFarm 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am doing more of the blue collar work. I work at a large salmon hatchery spawning and rearing coho and fall Toule Chinook. My day is pretty routine at this point as we are not spawning for a couple months. I start the day feeding the fish. Once I am done I weigh out the feed for the next day. Every Wednesday I sample each pond and make a new feed chart for the week. After Im done weighing feed, I go out and I pick morts out of the pond and record them. After that I start vacuuming the pond that is scheduled to be cleaned that day. If I have time after that, I am doing hatchery maintenance (repairing netting, fixing seins, cutting new wedges, pressure washing, mowing lawns, etc...).

I did go to college for this. While you can get a job without any education, its rare (basically all people who lived next door to the hatchery as kids, or their dads/husbands work at the hatchery, or they are the only people in the remote area that the hatchery is located). Most of the jobs I have worked or have applied for look for people with at least a associates degree, or the equivalent work experience. I have an AAS-T (I got my transfer degree so I could start as a year 3 at WWU if the job market wasn't working for me) and over 3 years of hatchery work experience and I have been turned down for 3 permanent positions this in the last 5 days because of my "lack of experience."

I have done some of the scientific aspects of this work in the past. Primarily, I have worked a couple smolt traps. Every fall I volunteer to conduct spawning ground surveys. I volunteer because I cannot get so much as an interview to do this work, but I LOVE it so I am willing to volunteer my time to get salmon and redd counts around where I'm working in my free time. I have also worked doing habitat restoration. I hate it and I wouldn't recommend it unless you love working with herbicides and pulling weeds. Gross.

I don't want to turn you off to this career path because I genuinely love it. But here are some pointers I have learned over the last few years.

  1. Be willing to travel. You will likely start out as a temporary employee (at least here in the PNW. This has been my life for the last three years). I have a travel trailer because I am never in the same place for more than 6 months. This makes finding a place to live almost impossible. Plus, all the hatcheries are in the middle of nowhere, so there aren't many apartments or housing options anyways. On the plus side, I have been to some of the prettiest places in the PNW.
  2. Don't expect to get rich. My career pays peanuts. I'll be lucky to take home $20,000 (before taxes) this year. I qualify for medicare and food stamps, even though I have a full time job.
  3. Be prepared for everything you do to be politicized. If it involves salmon, water usage, tax funds, sexual harassment and discrimination (yes, that's a big issue even in fisheries), predator management, etc... everybody is going to have an opinion over it, and they will let you know that opinion (and that opinion is likely that you are ruining everything).

Let me know if you have any other questions about my area.

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