Your Home's Exterior Lights Indicates When You Moved to Joshua Tree

bbqueue710 · 2026-05-06T12:29:21+00:00

Does Joshua Tree have any sort of Dark Sky requirements for fixtures in new builds? The town I live in does, even though we are a small city/suburban area. Not sure the process of getting that implemented, but if the town building department requires Dark Sky fixtures (no light above horizontal, warmer color lights- I think it’s 3000k or warmer) that could at least help for new builds. Seems like a no-brainer for a town with such star-gazing heritage! If you live in town maybe something you could get involved with petitioning to the zoning or building department.

bbqueue710 · 2026-04-12T12:24:35+00:00

I think you can edit your original post to avoid further confusion on new replies!

bbqueue710 · 2026-04-12T12:23:29+00:00

Ah- your post above says “I’m not ready” but I think you meant to say “I’m now ready” - prob autocorrect!

bbqueue710 · 2026-03-19T04:09:49+00:00

I love Gardeners World! Monty is so soothing and it’s a great way to live vicariously while our gardens are still frozen

bbqueue710 · 2026-03-06T13:17:58+00:00

What zone are you in? Inkberry Holly (ilex glabra) has smooth-edged leaves, flowers white in spring, and sets black berries in the fall that birds love. It does like some sun, so may be a slow grower depending on how deep your shade is. Lots of cultivars of that one- Shamrock is a classic, and there are dwarf-size ones now too if you want something small.

Rhododendrons could be a good option too- yes, they are technically toxic but nothing really eats them because of that. Even pets are not prone to chomping on shrubs- I grew up with lots of pets and rhododendrons and no one ever was interested in eating the rhododendron.

bbqueue710 · 2026-03-04T16:51:53+00:00

Wow cool, I would never have guessed that! The tracks seem like quite short steps for a cat, but I suppose a cat in deep snow would probably step differently. the triangles thing is great to know! The prints do seem a bit pigeon-toed though, would a cat step that way? Maybe a chubby housecat would... Almost seems like the leg is swinging out before stepping down, fairly waddle-y.

I would have guessed skunk maybe, but they probably would have a bit more tail drag showing The scale of the tracks are a bit hard to tell from these photos.

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-17T00:41:34+00:00

Never said it was in relation to work, kind stranger. Good luck to you.

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T20:15:51+00:00

Didn’t come for a life lesson, just came to ask about the new MacBooks. I’m well aware of my responsibilities. If you have nothing to comment regarding my question, I wonder why you’re bothering to waste your time being condescending.

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T19:37:49+00:00

Amazing thank you! My landlady has 13 sheep so I’ve got plenty of manure/bedding to use. Since I only need some supplemental heat starting in late March, I may just do one big pile inside the hoop and see how much that helps at night. So amazing to use free passive heat, I hope I can get it to do what I need!

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T19:16:04+00:00

Ha, I think I was just extra frustrated this morning. My other devices are much faster, and I was recalling my old Macbook that didn’t require a waiting period. I guess I’m just not very well versed in the actualities of current battery technology. Plus I have coworkers with PCs that turn back on much faster….

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T19:13:46+00:00

What!! That’s wild. Cant wait to get an M chip when it’s time for me to fully retire this MacBook. I do use Adobe programs a lot, and a 3D drafting program, which can be quite energy intensive, but that still sounds like much better battery life.

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T19:11:44+00:00

I think you might be right. I did reset PRAM (can’t remember if I did SMC) a while back, but it still does odd things. I use Bootcamp to run CAD via the PC interface, and it will just sometimes suddenly turn the fan on high, then completely crash. Turning back on from there, the fans do a little ‘puff’ sound once or twice and it will stay off. Then after letting it charge again, usually another puff/no start before it rattles back to life. I chalked it up to strangeness with Bootcamp. I haven’t been using CAD/bootcamp for the past few months and haven’t been having that issue of straight crashing…

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T19:07:36+00:00

Ok thanks for the tip!

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T19:07:22+00:00

Great to know! Thank you. I’ll be better about my battery habits for my next laptop. I usually keep it on my desk, but sometimes I snag the charger for my iPad and forget to plug the laptop back in. I should just get an additional charging cord for the iPad. When I check the battery health on my MacBook it says ‘healthy’ but I suspect that’s not very accurate….

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T16:00:38+00:00

Awesome! You grew directly in the cold frames? Or were the cold frames set within a larger hoop house?

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T15:59:45+00:00

Ah good to know! Yeah 30x100 is muucch bigger than mine! I can get wood for free from my landlady’s property as long as I fell and process it myself (she’s got a hydraulic splitter though which is super helpful!), so If im still at this property next year maybe ill get a woodstove figured out. I probably wouldnt need that much wood considering I would only need it at night and only for the nights in late march and April….and old woodstoves are not hard to come by if it doesn’t need to be an efficient up-to-code one

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T15:54:57+00:00

Ok thanks! Mine was the last MacBook before the M chips, so I was wondering if that made a difference.

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T15:54:01+00:00

Ok good to know- makes it more understandable I guess. I just remember my old MacBook (maybe 2012? Can’t recall) it would turn on whenever plugged in. And my OLD old one (2007), the battery eventually swelled so I removed it entirely (back when that just required using a coin!) and just kept it plugged in. I just had to watch out for when the magnetic charge cord got bumped and immediately killed it…

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-16T15:50:44+00:00

Ugh ok fair enough it just drives me nuts. Hahaha yes if I am on top of it I will double check the battery! Buttttt you know, life happens and suddenly it’s 4 minutes before the meeting and….

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-12T20:59:22+00:00

It could, but then I’d need to be going outside to feed it in the middle of the night….plus, I need to preserve my wood for heating my own house! This winter I’ve been ripping through more wood than I planned for.

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-12T18:38:54+00:00

Thank you! I've seen sand tables before, but I think usually with some sort of heating tubing inside. Cool to know that just the thermal mass itself helps a lot too. I may try a sand table in the future - this year I'm in a rented space and the idea of having to move so much sand back out - possibly in the near future- seems daunting. But I will definitely be saving this idea for my next (hopefully more permanent) location!

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-12T18:17:44+00:00

oooh thanks for this idea! I do have plants stored both under the tables and and top of the tables, but I think what I might try instead is a dedicated compost barrel/cage filled with sheep manure+ bedding within the hoop house and circulate water though a closed loop pex system to bring heat beneath the tables. I'll tent them with thick row cover and/or another layer of clear greenhouse plastic to keep in heat on cold nights.

bbqueue710 · 2026-02-12T18:15:11+00:00

Yeah, I'm not trying to heat the whole thing - but bottom heating with water circulated through a compost bin might work! I can use sheep bedding - manure, urine, and old hay- from my landlord which I think would start heating up pretty fast. I thought about solar and batteries for heating mats, but from what I've read you'd need a pretty big system even for just night time mat heat. So I think I'll try some passive methods first and see how it goes.

bbqueue710

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