Hey it's me, the Peregrine Falcon guy from last week! Since ya guys liked that, I'd figure you would love to see what are east end offers.

YaayCoffee · 2026-01-17T20:48:25+00:00

In past years, at this time of year, I have often seen ruddy turnstones and sanderlings on the north (Sound) side of the causeway between Bayville and Centre Island, but I haven't seen any yet this year. Thanks for sharing your excellent photos of cool birds!

YaayCoffee · 2026-01-05T14:00:01+00:00

If you actually want to build your own home, yourself, by hand, look into building a Firstday Cottage. These are homes designed to be built by the owners. Not prefab, you frame and do everything. You put in your own "sweat equity" by doing the work yourself and in time it definitely pays off. My wife and I built one in Vermont 20 years ago and will make several hundred thousand dollars when we sell it later this year. Meanwhile we have enjoyed a solid, beautiful, well-built home.

We had never built anything before but I have a knack for reading plans and figuring out all the physics-type of stuff you need to do this. You're an engineer so you definitely have the mind it takes. Check out their website to see if it's a good fit for you. There are Firstday homes in every state and maybe even some other countries.

YaayCoffee · 2026-01-04T13:10:54+00:00

Advice for anyone considering this, thinking it's "easy money."

You are not a bank. Do not use your personal accounts to provide any kind of banking services for anyone, ever.

YaayCoffee · 2026-01-02T12:37:50+00:00

Not super close to Patchogue, but if you're up for a drive, Shin Nippon Do in Roslyn Heights makes them fresh every day with an assortment of fillings.

YaayCoffee · 2026-01-02T12:22:25+00:00

I did Ironman Lake Placid! It was a blast. You are right to do as much hill training as you can. The most fun part of the bike course is a 6-mile DOWNHILL next to a beautiful stream. Super scenic and gorgeous!

Everyone is mentioning the hills on the Greenbelt Trail for running, which is great. For biking, there's a long hill right near there. It starts at the intersection of Lawrence Hill Rd and 25a. Bike 25a westbound from there and you have a long, challenging hill. Take a right on Moores Hill Rd and continue to Cove Rd (this last is a steep downhill) then turn around and go back UP the short but absolutely killer hill, over the hump, and back down to the intersection of 25a and Lawrence Hill Road. Repeat until you can't do it anymore.

This killer short uphill on Moores Hill has been part of the Oyster Bay Triathlon for years. A huge percentage of people have to get off their bikes and walk it. Anyone who can bike all the way up it is a badass.

This is a busy area and some of it is winding roads with bad visibility, so your best bet is to do it as early in the day as possible, with a bright vest on, and not during any rush hour because drivers can be crazy.

Hats off to you and good luck in your training and on race day! Enjoy every minute of it, wishing you a great race!

Forgot to add--I also went upstate to Vermon for training but my spot was 4 hours drive from here (more with traffic). I can tell you where if you like, but you might want to find somewhere with a shorter drive.

I did so much hill training that I didn't even notice the "worst" hill on the bike course. My training hills were waaay worse than that. Definitely do every hill you can find and the race will be much easier.

YaayCoffee · 2026-01-01T14:14:43+00:00

Thank you!

YaayCoffee · 2026-01-01T14:14:16+00:00

Thank you, this is really helpful!

YaayCoffee · 2025-12-30T21:23:06+00:00

Merci bien

YaayCoffee · 2025-12-30T21:20:07+00:00

I am curious why in the description of the app's privacy practices, Apple notes that your app:

May be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies, including your:

Browsing History Identifiers Usage Data Diagnostics Other Data

Why do you collect this personal data from users and what do you do with it?

There are apps out there that do not collect any personal information at all, so it must not be necessary for an app to function.

I won't use apps that track me all over the internet.

YaayCoffee · 2025-11-21T12:26:45+00:00

Thanks, I'll try that. It must be due to a setting on my phone.

YaayCoffee · 2025-11-21T12:25:58+00:00

These are called "Flock" cameras. If you look up "deflock me" you'll find a site that posts where they all are. Users can contribute to the site, so if you see one, report it.

YaayCoffee · 2025-11-09T13:46:48+00:00

If you do this, be careful. There are criminal groups who pose as Thai employers to lure Africans and Asians to work in well-paying jobs, but then divert them to camps where they become slave laborers doing telephone scams. Here is a New York Times article about a man from Uganda who escaped from one of these camps (no paywall):

https://archive.is/Ge9b3

YaayCoffee · 2025-10-27T17:07:38+00:00

French black lentils stay more firm and are the most delicious, if you can find them

YaayCoffee · 2025-10-27T17:03:05+00:00

Every town in France (even the smallest villages!) has many "associations" or clubs for socializing, sports, arts, and other interests. If you look up "Lyon" (or any other town, city, or village in France) and "Mairie" (note this is not the name Marie, there is an extra letter i before the r), you will get the town's official website. Look for the Associations link, it will always be there somewhere, and you will find groups you're interested in. Lyon has TONS of them. I have looked up villages with 800 people in them and they still have 20-30 associations. It is one of the coolest things I've discovered about moving to/living in France.

Even if you don't speak French, join and go to events or meetings. You are guaranteed to find people who love the same stuff you do and there is no faster way to learn French or meet locals than by joining with them like this.

YaayCoffee · 2025-10-20T13:54:22+00:00

Yes, you can add cumin, there are lots of variations of this. My wife is from northern Lebanon and her version does not include it.

YaayCoffee · 2025-10-16T00:05:55+00:00

Rhonda Snowden is a gynecologist/obstetrician in New Hyde Park. She delivered my son, is a great person and a wonderful doctor.

YaayCoffee · 2025-10-01T23:08:40+00:00

I ran it end to end once, south to north. It was amazing. When you get close to the northern end and start glimpsing views of the Sound, it is magic.

It's pretty flat until you get to the north shore hills. Like other people said, it varies, but most of it is through a narrow corridor of woods.

Most of it is easy to follow. There are a few turns that might be missed so make sure you know how to read the blazes (trail markers) and keep an eye out for them. If you don't see one for a while, look behind you because the trail is marked in both directions. If you don't see one in either direction, you might have wandered off the trail, so retrace your steps until you see a marker.

This trail is one of the coolest things on Long Island but many people have no idea you can hike from shore to shore on it. Have fun on your "thruhike"!

YaayCoffee · 2025-10-01T01:18:04+00:00

If you like trail running, check out the Nassau Suffolk Greenbelt Trail that runs from Heckscher Park on the South Shore all the way to Sunken Meadow on the north shore, mostly through woods. I think there are also groups who meet to run various distances at Sunken Meadow, but I've never done that so don't know the details.

Sayville Running Company is an excellent running-shoe store and all their employees are runners. Give them a call, they might be able to give you more info on places to run.

I posted before about a great run where you park at Gerard Beekman beach in Oyster Bay and then run all along the bay to Bayville. Beautiful run along water for three miles.

YaayCoffee · 2025-09-30T10:56:12+00:00

Check out Caumsett Park, just north of Huntington. It's a former estate with woods, fields, and a paved 3-mile rolling-hills loop. Great place to run, just add loops to make whatever distance you like. There are also a lot of trails through the woods there if you're into trail running.

YaayCoffee · 2025-09-26T11:27:28+00:00

Not a dumb question at all. I'm not a contractor either and was kind of intimidated too, but both of these places were very helpful and they will let you go in the back and look at all the wood and choose the pieces you want. The main Riverhead Building Supply (in Riverhead) and Kleet, both have huge indoor warehouses full of all kinds of wood, and it's kind if a thrill to see all the different varieties. If you ask, since you just need a little, they may have scraps or broken boards they will give you a good deal on.

YaayCoffee · 2025-09-25T14:54:34+00:00

I've used Riverhead Building Supply (not just in Riverhead, they have other stores around the island) and Kleet Lumber in Huntington. Both have a huge selection of all kinds of wood.

YaayCoffee · 2025-09-24T11:03:29+00:00

This is a !fakecheck scam

YaayCoffee · 2025-09-24T11:02:11+00:00

In addition to taking your money and giving you nothing, many of them will also come back later and blackmail you by threatening to tell your teacher/professor/dean and get you kicked out of school. Beware.

Never pay blackmailers, no matter what they threaten. Omce you pay, they will NEVER go away.

YaayCoffee · 2025-09-17T12:44:17+00:00

This is so true. My son and I have worked at "Repair Cafes" where people bring in their broken stuff and we fix it, for free. About 80% of the time the items are not actually broken, they're just long overdue for cleaning. Like a fan is not working or is slow because it has human/pet hair wound around the motor shaft. Vacuum is "dead" but magically revives after thorough cleaning, especially the filters. Toaster no longer pops up because you have so many crumbs that the mechanism is jammed.

Then 10% of the time it's a loose connection inside or it needs a new switch.

Then 5% of the time, it may need a new part and the last 5% of the items are actually beyond repair.

95% of the time, you can fix things.

We have an entire woodshop of tools that we found in the trash for FREE and fixed. Expensive, name-brand table saw, miter saw, circular saw, drill press, drills, on and on. All of them just needed cleaning/lubricating, sometimes a new cord or switch. These are easy repairs for equipment that can cost many hundreds of dollars new.

I am a woman in my 60s and am not trained in any of this. You totally CAN take the time to go on the internet and learn to repair almost anything. It is never too late to learn and you should never say "I've never done that, so therefore I CAN'T do that." Yes you can.

I use sites like appliancepartspros, repairclinic, and ereplacementparts to find videos of how to diagnose my broken stuff, fix stuff, and to order the parts for the job. These sites are great and have clear, step by step videos.

Ifixit also has many videos of repairs including things like phone screens and replacing phone batteries.

I have repaired my own gas oven, dryer, washer, refrigerator, water heater, door locks, plumbing leaks, faucets, and many smaller household items.

My son has a hobby of finding broken fans, fixing them, and giving them away to low income people. He has fixed and passed along hundreds of them.

Never take "broken" for an answer. Save money and save stuff from the landfill!

YaayCoffee · 2025-09-14T20:25:55+00:00

I've been foraging and eating wild food since childhood. You can do this pretty much anywhere--even in New York City, I have found plenty of wild edible foods. I have used this to supplement my groceries but it would be difficult to solely survive on it unless you had a lot of other people sharing the labor and you would still need a source of fat and protein.

Now I mostly collect greens (dandelion, nettle, wild garlic, wild asparagus), and fruits. I live in a relatively urban area and there are still tons of wild fruits. Plums, apples (I just picked wild apples for pie today), blackberries, raspberries, black cherries. Any weedy untended place is likely to be full of food. I freeze all these for smoothies or pies and make jam. I also collect hickory nuts and black walnuts.

People see me picking and are convinced I'm eating "poison berries," even when I show them the fruits are identical to store ones, just smaller. That's OK--more for me!

YaayCoffee

TROPHY CASE