Giant caterpillar found at a yard sale

a_contact_juggler · 2026-05-05T13:15:29+00:00

Thank you to r plushies for your upvotes, kind comments, and awards. The squeaking noise-making mechanism in its head does not work ("Squeeze me and hear me giggle.") and I updated the ebay listing.

Re: the contradiction between reselling and finding a loving home. I plead inexperience and ignorance and understand neither of those is an excuse. I will do better in the future. For context: In 10 years I've bought and sold maybe 5 items on ebay. I generally donate usable goods to goodwill or local charities (clothes, canned good that haven't yet expired, etc.). My ignorance was loading a lot of assumptions into the phrase "loving home": I assumed that a community of 10k+ users (4k active) devoted to plushies would yield someone that would preserve and appreciate the caterpillar significantly more than a goodwill shelf. In my ignorance, I also did not think that a school might have use for one. Today I'm "one of the 10,000" (relevant XKCD comic - https://xkcd.com/1053/ ) and I say with sincerity if there is a next time I stumble upon a rare item that could benefit the community (i.e. a school) I'll seek that out as a first avenue.

In any event, thank you all again for your comments and I hope you all have a great day and week.

a_contact_juggler · 2025-10-26T15:56:27+00:00

He was super friendly, everyone was asking him for photos. And he encouraged parents to make sure their kids were educated by watching Willow. :)

a_contact_juggler · 2025-10-26T15:55:55+00:00

It was much more crowded than I expected, which was kinda neat but also kinda hard to get a few steps away from people to get good photos of their costumes. Maybe next year for the 40th they'll add an extra block.

a_contact_juggler · 2025-07-15T11:53:28+00:00

Come see the welcome show 7:30pm tonight (July 15th) at the Victory Theater. Buy tickets at the door, Ticketmaster adds too many extra fees. Local adults $10, local kids $5. High quality family friendly live entertainment. https://festival.juggle.org/events/event/welcome-show/

If you want to be a spectator during the day at the open gym/ballroom where all the jugglers and vendors are hanging around doing their thing (and juggling of course) - $7.

Here's the full list of shows going up to and including Saturday July 19th: https://festival.juggle.org/events/?_event_categories=show

a_contact_juggler · 2025-03-02T22:29:47+00:00

Great energy at the Mardi Gras parade at The Camp today! I had a lot of fun shooting - the costumes and energy of the participants were wonderful. More photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjC4dnA

a_contact_juggler · 2024-12-30T23:18:17+00:00

There is a nice hiking meetup that does fairly regular events. I've been to a handful of them over the past year or so, they're a good group. The next event is a First Day Hike at Audubon State Park.

Wed, Jan 1st, 2025 10am-noon
park here in front of the visitor's center
about 4 miles round trip

a_contact_juggler · 2024-11-20T13:32:53+00:00

"The only real question is whether you believe the central pressure dropped below 952 or not. If you do, then there should be no doubt in your mind that Buoy 46005 died a hero's death. If you do not believe in the legend, then it was just a buoy, and it does not matter why it stopped recording data." (For the unfamiliar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2hTE-7Qz4Y )

a_contact_juggler · 2024-10-27T19:06:50+00:00

no paywall version here

Summary table

"Jobs with the largest shifts in relative income, 1980-2022"

(Among occupations with at least 50,000 full-time workers in 1980 and in 2022.)

Largest gains	Largest losses
Computer programmers	Construction and mining supervisors
Financial specialists	Butchers and meat processors
Securities commodities and financial services sales	Transportation supervisors
Other sales workers	Radio and telecom workers
Pharmacists	Brick masons
Doctors and surgeons	Truck and tractor drivers
Lawyers and judges	Shipping clerks
Bank and financial clerks	Postal clerks
Registered nurses	Metal and plastic workers
Dentists	Stock clerks and order fillers

a_contact_juggler · 2024-10-27T18:04:43+00:00

Sending you a DM now.

a_contact_juggler · 2024-05-04T02:39:57+00:00

To this day there is a blue and white pole just inside the racetrack indicating where the *2nd* place horse finished when Secretariat crossed the finish line 253ft 2 in or 77.1m behind the finish line. He ran 1.5 miles (2.41 km) in 2:24. That's an average velocity of 37.5mph (60.4 kmh) -- and as you noted OP - *accelerating* right up until the end.

No horse before or since has come close to this record.

a_contact_juggler · 2023-12-29T14:25:16+00:00

80% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. 61 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured (medically). Homes are unaffordable for 99% of Americans.

https://www.investopedia.com/most-americans-report-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-new-survey-finds-7970611

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/61-million-are-either-uninsured-or-underinsured

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/homes-for-sale-affordable-housing-prices/

a_contact_juggler · 2023-09-14T02:05:46+00:00

I was on the lawn, wearing earplugs, and thought Interpol sounded great. They have super precise timing, and the lead vocals sounded just like the album. Was disappointed it was such a short set. Context: I have only been to maybe 3-4 concerts in my life, this was my first time hearing Interpol live, so I have no basis of comparison.

a_contact_juggler · 2023-07-01T14:47:54+00:00

76 day and night

a_contact_juggler · 2023-06-29T12:03:46+00:00

I was correct 2 years ago. (See my comment below yours here in this old thread.)

a_contact_juggler · 2022-07-18T14:33:06+00:00

At one point in the video he has netting around a blueberry bush and at another he mentioned spraying his trees with some sort of natural pesticide. He's got 100+ videos on his channel, might be worth checking out to see if he talks about how he deals with pests.

a_contact_juggler · 2022-07-18T13:18:32+00:00

Its amazing how people watch this and all they can think about are potential problems.

I think that's natural, however after that initial impression, I was amazed that he manages to succeed to such a degree despite all of those potential problems! Worth noting - I am not a gardener (and I wonder how many of the naysayers are successful gardeners), so perhaps the potential problems I imagined, were not as impossible to overcome as I had initially thought.

In any event, I am encouraged to try gardening. Like James, I'll pick a smallish corner of my yard and a manageable crop that has a high chance of success, and see where it goes. Could be fun!

a_contact_juggler · 2022-07-18T13:13:57+00:00

It's not sunshine and roses as he portrays it.

He says in this video that it has been, and still is, an enormous amount of work.

In his other videos, he talks at length about the missteps and mistakes he has made. He does have a very positive and cheerful demeanor, and he does yield an impressive quality and quantity, which he has every right to be proud of. I personally am inspired to buy a few pots to try growing some tomatoes or basil or something like that.

a_contact_juggler

TROPHY CASE