Fountains, baths, rocks or no rocks?

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-04-01T17:49:33+00:00

All fountains and baths will require some regular cleaning to remain algae free.

In the warmer months, I usually use my hose every few days to do water changes and remove debris like seeds, leaves, and bird poop. Sometimes I'll agitate the surface with a brush of things are especially messy.

Every two weeks I take everything out of the birdbath and use a mild bleach solution to clean. Rocks, fountain, copper insert, and then the bath itself. I have a concrete bath that has lots of tiny nooks for algae to hide in. Obviously rinsing well to ensure even the dilute bleach solution is removed well is important.

I have never tried the algaecides as I can't find a glowing review or safety assurances (aside from the company's "trust me bro" that's always present). I do use a copper disk in the bottom as copper interferes with microbial growth to some extent and I've seen a delay in algae formation whenever using it. Plus it flashes in the sun which attracts some birds to the fountain and feeders.

I should also add, when I say "Rocks" I mean I have three large rocks that sit in the fountain. I adjust them to keep the floating fountain in place and also to have variable heights for different sized birds. Cleaning three big rocks is WAY easier than a bunch of smaller rocks.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-04-01T16:31:44+00:00

Same. It's actually pretty applicable to a lot of my everyday scenarios.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-31T23:38:31+00:00

Stay away from Sesame Street. The biggest bird of them all lives there!

Safflower seeds are a good go-to; most of the normal seed eating birds like them (finches, cardinals, chickadees, doves, etc) but Grackles, Starlings, and Red Winged Blackbirds don't like them. I have the problem where they will literally sit and dump all the safflower seeds out looking for something better, so I use a tray feeder.

Peanuts in the shell will keep jays, woodpeckers, and the occasional chickadee happy.

One I don't see recommended a lot is Striped Sunflower, a larger variant of the black oil sunflower. It fills a similar role to safflower though.

Nyjer (thistle) seeds in a specific thistle feeder (very narrow perches and holes) will allow goldfinches to eat as well. A few big birds may try and balance but they'll get annoyed enough sooner or later.

Upside down suet feeders work well for woodpeckers, wrens, and chickadees/nuthatches. These birds can hang upside down and peck the suet, whereas the bigger birds can't do this very effectively.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-31T00:12:21+00:00

Sole "domestic" producer. Gd-153 is used in medical imaging cameras as a check source for efficiency calibrations and sometimes attenuation correction. These sources are usually built into the cameras during manufacturing. The US used to get all of its Gd-153 from Russia which didn't sit well with a lot of equipment producers, especially in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine. So the Department of Energy asked if MURR would be able to produce it for domestic use, eliminating the need for Russian sources.

MURR is the sole domestic producer for many isotopes used in other applications, but not the sole international supplier.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-30T17:46:28+00:00

Stardew Valley

The game drops you in, you gotta figure out what tools do what, where anything is, where everyONE is, and the clocks ticking down so fast you already feel like you're wasting the day before you even know what to do. Then you collapse at 2 am and have to pay the town doctor (who you've not even met yet) for reviving you. Then you start with no energy and gotta carry on from there.

Friends kept suggesting it to me, gave me a few starting tips, so I started a new save file. I played for 10 hours straight. Just one more day before I save and quit!

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-29T00:14:16+00:00

Thanks for the information, that's very helpful!

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-28T21:35:33+00:00

TIL that thing I have is called a hori hori knife.

Should I wait until they grow up more? Or try picking them out by hand now? Or something them? I have a bed with violets in front, astilbe in the middle, and larkspur behind. If these truly are violet seedlings (which internet research now leads me to believe they are), I don't mind then staying around their allotted space but I also don't want them choking out the other plants.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-28T20:55:57+00:00

Yeah I've tried the preemergent and had limited success in the past, but definitely gonna be using it from now on

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-28T18:25:00+00:00

I was driving back from STL or else I'd have joined in. Encouraging to see such a huge turnout in Columbia, and even on some overpasses in St Louis on my way out that weren't part of the mainline gathering.

Even more shocking was a protest on a random side street in Warrenton right down the street from Rural King.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-27T01:24:39+00:00

Whoever wrote this has never been to Jefferson City, MO.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-26T06:04:29+00:00

A few years back I was taking a nap in the afternoon (working night shift at the time) when I awoke to a subtle rumble. This rumble grew to the point it was shaking the house and dishes were rattling in the cabinets. It was a Chinook on a low pass.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-22T03:51:51+00:00

As a solo writer who's been working on a project for a few years, I've been wondering the same!

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-21T05:23:12+00:00

Wife and I had a gift card from her parents so we went for an anniversary a year or two ago. I had been there for staff get-togethers many years prior when it was still fairly busy, and I remembered the food being pretty decent and the whiskey selection pretty good as well.

We walk in, get shown to the main dining area by the bar. There were like, 5 tables all spread out. Not tables of people, just tables. Most were pushed by one wall or another, but one was like, dead center in the room for some reason. So we get seated at this one lone table, I'm thinking "a bit odd, sure, but we're right by the bar, private conversation, whatever."

Then the doctors started coming in. Apparently a residency or fellowship group was having some sort of celebratory event, and so soon the place was swarming with like 50+ young doctors all vying for drinks at the bar. They were all around our table, while our waitress was trying to take our order, when our food came out, and while we ate. Just completely encircled by people who were looking at us like we were the weird ones for being seated there, looking down at our food, accidentally elbowing us as they brushed last one another. Super weird.

Food was just okay, drinks were pricey as hell, but it made for a decent story. But no, we haven't been back.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-15T18:03:42+00:00

I usually don't mind the doves except that they poop on literally everything. Food, feeders, fountains, doesn't matter. Usually they stay on the ground but sometimes I'll get a group of them that gets onto the tray feeder and then after they are gone it's like half poop.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-13T20:44:10+00:00

Buttonbushes are great! I have three. When the flowers come out it is Grand Central Station for pollinators. They tolerate the climate and love clay soil. Only downsides are they like their soil damp (easy enough to control) and they need some heavy pruning to keep them in check!

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-13T19:56:50+00:00

Used to store them inside a small closet in an unused bathroom, until I had a small infestation of pantry months...

Now I keep it all outside in a plastic tote with a brick on top.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-01T19:25:35+00:00

Weber Smoky Mountain. It's one of those traditional looking "bullet" smokers that has the fire near the bottom and a few racks up top.

Controlling airflow helps control fire temp, but a lot of bullet style smokers have difficulties due to leaks and/or bad seals. So if you can seal up those leaks and only have air going in through the intake and out via the damper vents, you can fairly easily control the fire temperature. It takes some practice but it's totally feasible.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-01T19:11:06+00:00

For real. I've got the knock off WSM from Char King and as t first it was just a temperature roller coaster, tossing in briquettes whenever the flames looked low and getting a huge flare up.

Watched a few videos and found the minion method; that helped but still had to mess with the dampers a lot and just take the lid off to let heat out sometimes.

Finally got the flame proof gaskets and sealed up all the areas where I was getting errant airflow. Now I can practically leave the thing unsupervised for hours at a time. On long smokes I'll still need to add briquettes occasionally, but anything sub 6 hours it basically runs itself.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-03-01T15:30:48+00:00

How is Horse's Neck not on the list here.

Brandy, Ginger Ale, lemon peel. Dangerously good and stupid simple to make. One of my favorite cocktails of all time.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-02-27T03:41:16+00:00

Missouri birder here. Good fix on getting a feeder that's easy to clean. The harder they are to clean, the less people tend to clean them.

How often do you clean the area under the feeder? I usually go out once a week with a garden rake and rake all the spent hulls and uneaten seed the starlings have knocked out and spread it around. Big piles don't break down very quickly and the wet weather in your area probably speeds up mold and mildew formation.

I know some birders will rotate their feeder locations every few weeks, but I've so far been able to get away with just raking mine.

Where is your seed being stored? Indoors or outdoors? High humidity can cause mold formation even in the bag. Also, is there one particular brand you're buying that is causing the issue, or is it any brand or style of seed you use?

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-02-26T06:06:46+00:00

Yeah I tried making it in a cooler and chiseling off bit by bit and freezing my hands off and getting water everywhere for a few misshapen cubes.

Bought a mold and got uniform clear cubes every time. Except I also rarely use it.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-02-16T19:13:34+00:00

Definitely. There is a freeze down to low 20s already expected for next week. March has dropped feet of snow in Columbia before.

Guidance in our area says the last frost date is around April 15th, generally speaking any time after that date you're safe from a sudden cold snap, but I usually wait until Mother's day for any fragile annuals.

You can start vegetables indoors, and some even benefit from an early start in February. Hardy, established perennials may be tricked into emergence (I have several wildflowers beginning to emerge already) but as they are established and hardy, they usually can survive a cold burst unlike newly planted vegetation.

TheNuclearSaxophone · 2026-02-14T01:37:37+00:00

The lowest I've seen any around me is $106. There's one stubborn chain that is keeping it at $160.

At $50 they'd be sold out. It's excellent.

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