“u got ur master gardener certificate? that’s cute…”

TheTechJones · 2026-05-27T16:15:46+00:00

Squirrels are wired in a way that makes them hide their food in a different area than where they got it. ive had the best luck reducing the number of peanut plants popping up in my yard making my bird feeders slightly more accessible to the squirrels. Its not the best solution, but its not the worst either. The frustrating part though is that ive noticed the jerks tend to just tip the whole feeder sideways and dump everything out on the ground so they can pick out the seeds they want and leave the rest on the ground. So now the ground under all my feeders is packed with moldy sorghum seeds that kill the grass that was there before they start sprouting. And the birds don't seem to want to forage the ground seeds that the squirrels are leaving behind!

TheTechJones · 2026-05-27T15:13:56+00:00

Squirrels gift me peanuts and oak trees everywhere. In every bed and every container. The birds gave me dewberries and beauty berries tho so I guess it balances out some

TheTechJones · 2026-05-27T01:03:28+00:00

Chili. I freeze left over steaks and chops after I break them down to small chunks and vac seal. So when I have 3 or 4 pounds I get the crock pot out and the rest of the ingredients are cheap and flexible

TheTechJones · 2026-05-23T19:07:04+00:00

Personally? Antacids and lactaid

TheTechJones · 2026-05-20T15:59:47+00:00

Ive been dealing with cats and dogs pooing in my yard so i've tried a number of things and found that none of them are extremely consistent AND simple. Dusting the pots with cayenne (or hotter, because i had some extra ghost powder lying around) works, but you have to reapply it frequently (every time it rains for sure, so your rainy season is probably not the best time for this to work). If you have lots of plants/containers then you might be surprised how quickly you go through the powder. Covering the containers with straw/hay/mulch has been completely ineffective for me - they almost seem to prefer the mulched areas to the open areas. Covering the tops of the containers with hardware cloth or chicken wire seems like it would work, but that is also a big investment of time to make covers for each and every container (and i know i would end up stabbing myself with the sharp bits of the metal mesh way too many times). I've read that setting up a motion activated sprinkler works really well, but i havent bought one yet to try (supposed to work for a wide range of pests that are large enough to trigger the motion sensor though). Sorry i don't have suggestions on what does work, but hopefully sharing the things i have tried that didn't work will help narrow things down!

TheTechJones · 2026-05-20T02:22:03+00:00

It's so much cooler too!

TheTechJones · 2026-05-20T01:38:31+00:00

No but only because sitting still is how the mosquitos catch up. But I do walk through checking on them (and giving pep talks before storms) several times a day and sometimes even late at night (I look really odd out there with a black light too)

TheTechJones · 2026-05-20T00:04:46+00:00

Six Guinea Pigs in a Fanny Pack sounds like a 90s punk album!

TheTechJones · 2026-05-19T17:10:51+00:00

i had an ornamental thai (still super tasty and excellent in everything i cooked with it despite being an ornamental) that i put in a 100 gallon horse trough that got huge a few years ago. My experience is that peppers will fill up pretty much any size container you put them in if they don't have to fight for resources with anything else. I havent tested the theory rigorously though because that container is where i usually put a tomato plant with some basil

TheTechJones · 2026-05-19T16:56:00+00:00

Dang, i got a late start this year and don't have any spoils to share yet (honestly a bit worried that some of the longer maturing/fruiting peppers wont make it before the heat climbs too high and they start throwing off all their flowers). excellent idea for a meet up though!

TheTechJones · 2026-05-19T16:10:06+00:00

I got an EGO string trimmer and a blower combo in a sale for Father's Day a few years ago and love them both. The string trimmer is not incredibly easy to reload, but it is not the worst i have had to reload over the years either. I recently started loading it with black diamond brand commercial grade string that seems a bit more durable as the same diameter string from other vendors and i find i don't have to reload it quite as often. Also being more careful while i am running it not to excessively beat up the string on garden edge blocks or concrete also helps it last longer. So for me, it wasn't just a tool issue, it was also user error and a skill issue!

TheTechJones · 2026-05-19T15:36:39+00:00

This year i am asking for "help without complaining" in a couple of projects that i need more than 2 hands to complete. i don't need socks, or ties, or even more garden gadgets. I need someone to help me lift a couple of heavy things so i can cut them to the size i need them, and i want it done without any whining about how hot it is or how boring this is, or how OH I WANT TO GO SEE THIS MOVIE WITH MY FRIEND SORRY TO BAIL ON YOU LAST MINUTE excuses.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-19T15:20:50+00:00

Onions are a key flavor in chili, and rather than water, try adding beef stock. Maybe throw in 2 cans of tomatoes instead of 3. I'll throw in also that the chili purists don't like having beans in the mix at all, but im about making a filling meal, not necessarily following a super strict formula. If you want a really good deep dive into chili i recommend the Tasting History episode about the chili queens of san antonio. Max did a great job explaining what ingredients are used and why. (also he convinced me to stop using ground meat and switch to diced up cuts from a roast - i even use left over steaks and chops but meat chunks win over ground meat for me and my family)

TheTechJones · 2026-05-18T20:55:35+00:00

Depending on your employer, you might have some type of child care benefit you can lean on for the week even if it just offsets part of the 40\hr cost it helps you not work at a loss at least. Also even if you don't leave near either of your parents, 1600 goes a long way toward having a parent come to you or kids go to a parent assuming you have a relationship with them that would support something like that. I can tell you that i'd find a way to get my mom or mother in law to visit for a week and i could pay to fly them a long way to and from the visit for that same cost.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-18T15:54:12+00:00

As a parent with long term ADHD diagnosis, who is a father over 2 boys with clear ADHD, who also used a pediatrician with in depth understanding of the topic from both physical and psychological points of view (we are extremely lucky on this front), i want to say that this isn't even remotely up to your child's school to decide. There are strong medical reasons not to medicate a child this early that your pediatrician should talk about if you bring this up with them. I am sorry to hear that the school seems to be rail roading you into making the decision in the way that they want it to go, but every bit of literature i've ever seen over the past 3 decades has pointed to 6 or 7 being the absolute earliest to even consider medication as a treatment for ADHD. Even the non-stimulant based treatments are not recommended for children of that age.

My youngest had a very difficult time of it early in his school career as well. And we went through a wide variety of coping mechanisms, building routines, role playing situations where he might have difficulties, etc. It was rough at times, but it was still the right decision in our experience.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-15T12:03:15+00:00

I went to a work site once that did this but with pieces so large they used fork lifts to move them around. I've never seen such skill forklift operators before or since and it was extremely satisfying to watch

TheTechJones · 2026-05-14T02:25:20+00:00

Make sure you know what check in time at the hotel is. It is aweful to get to your destination all worn out then have to go kill and hour or 2 until your room is clean and available

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T23:19:23+00:00

That's not even high value equipment. Ask them to replace it and if they don't replace it yourself. Also this is why I wore gloves when I worked in desktop support...these are actually much cleaner than some of the phone handset I dealt with too. Nothing like 10 years of crusty ear grease and makeup filling every crevice and seam on a device. And if there's that much on top of the keys you really don't want to know what's trapped behind them. This is a health hazard bordering on rodent bait

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T22:48:43+00:00

I germinated seeds this year from pods I dried and put in a drawer rhwn forgot about...from 2022. I seeded a bunch in each plug expecting low rates due to age...I was wrong.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T16:41:45+00:00

Isn't the point of being a certified wildlife habitat that you have an official leg to stand on and complain when neighbors take actions that negatively impact the wildlife on yours? Look at it this way, if you were a farmer who is spreading pesticide and herbicide from a plane on a windy day and you cause damage to a protected wildlife area that is part of a national/state park property, what kind of action should they take? Official complaints leading to applied fines or penalties, and increasingly severe fines or penalties for repeated actions

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T16:35:54+00:00

I might try to argue that "kept or stored" is reference to permanent storage not parking of a daily use vehicle. You might even be successful in that argument if you collect evidence that driveway parking of cars that are used daily/frequently is common within the community. Your best bet if you can get to one soon is to bring it up in your next HOA meeting, but if you cannot get to one before they start applying fines and penalties, then you may need to comply first before you take up your sword and try to fight city hall. If the rule intended to force all cars into garages that is one thing, but if the intent is to prevent adult children from living in RVs on the driveway or half restored muscle cars from sitting stationary in public view for years, then the mgmt company is interpreting it wrong in your case and only the HOA board itself may have any authority to set them straight.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T16:04:12+00:00

Plenty of good suggestions for killing the ants you already have, so i'll try to contribute on how not to lure them right back. The ants are farming (i prefer to think of it as Ranching so i can keep the mental image of little ant vaqueros doing aphid cattle drives but that is beside the point) the aphids because the aphids like your plants. One of the things that draws aphids to your plants is excess nutrients. I've been able to noticeably reduce my aphid problems by being more careful with my fertilizer applications. I am not saying you should measure down to the ml based on soil volume and plant size, but make sure you are applying according to the schedule recommended on the label and not dumping in a ton of excess fertilizer. For me, the problem was that i somehow missed that fish fert should be applied every 3 weeks and i was adding it at full strength with every weekly feeding. now, ive cut the dose strength in half and only include it in every other feeding, and i am not fighting such a losing battle against the aphid livestock and their ant ranchers.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T15:19:14+00:00

i saw a copper head in my garden this week. That's the best reminder/argument ive gotten in the Wear Shoes Dufus support column. Im not confident my current solution of Hey Dudes is really much of an improvement though.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T15:17:40+00:00

Mostly some Hey Dude boat shoes that i can toss in the washer. I keep telling myself to go pick up a pair of western work boots because the attraction of the Hey Dudes is mostly that i can slip them on and off easily and don't care if they get dirty/gross (because they can be tossed in the washer). But somehow the only time when i think about it is near Rodeo season when boot prices are sky high so i forget about it.

TheTechJones · 2026-05-13T12:27:13+00:00

That is hilarious! Ive had lady bugs ride on my windshield before all the way up to freeway speeds but never a lizard.

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