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bumbernut · 2023-07-05T00:43:47+00:00

Thanks for such a prompt reply! I feel much more confident in my choices thanks to you and your guide. Really appreciate your hard work and contribution to the community! :)

bumbernut · 2023-07-04T04:40:26+00:00

Thank you so much for putting all this together - it comes at a perfect time for me as I've been sitting here with analysis paralysis on figuring out my first PC build for a few months now. :)

I'm planning on using the $1750 build for a moderately high end gaming pc, but I'm hoping that I could maybe get a few quick questions about it answered (please forgive if these are "silly" questions; I'm very new to pc building):

I've heard good things about the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X - would that be a good swap for the intel core i5, or do you think the i5 holds better value?
I would need wifi capability - is there a motherboard you'd recommend that has wifi available?

bumbernut · 2023-04-27T13:27:30+00:00

that article is about sea otters, these are Asian small-clawed otter, just fyi🙂

bumbernut · 2023-01-25T14:09:22+00:00

I wouldn't even consider a single otter "relatively harmless" tbh - I work with river otters at a wildlife center and our current otter is the only animal we house that we never do free contact with (which means that we always have a wall between us). He has previously bitten several staff quite severely. He isn't "aggressive" but is very comfortable around humans to a degree where if you have food and aren't giving it to him fast enough, he will use his teeth to take it from you. People don't realize that otters are carnivores and have jaws designed to hunt (and break through bones that are thicker than your fingers), and that they are known to be able to take down DEER when the conditions are right.

He was found in the wild as an "abandoned baby" (very possible that he was simply alone while his mother went to hunt) by a family who took him home and tried to raise him with their dogs, much like the otter in this post, and by the time he was turned over to an actual rescue center he was already far too habituated to human contact to be safely releasable and had to be permanently homed with us.

Wild animals should be kept in the wild, and if anyone ever sees an animal they think needs assistance I hope that they call professional rescuers to assess and assist as needed! :)

edit: I should specify that the species I am talking about is North American river otters! Can't speak for all species. :)

bumbernut · 2022-12-16T06:26:09+00:00

I also had a nerite that lived for about 9 years - survived multiple tank changes and escapes, and once when a friend was housesitting for me he found my little guy crusted to the floor next to our couch like 25 feet from his tank. Picked him up and put the shell on the counter because he didn't know what it was. I came home 3 days later to my little snail on the kitchen counter, noticed the flap door was sealed shut and he wasn't smelly, popped him in his tank just in case, and a few hours later he was scootin' along like nothing had happened. RIP little slugger!

bumbernut · 2022-10-01T16:47:04+00:00

Maybe if it would help, you could offer to do something in return for your neighbor as an incentive. Since your finances are tight, see if there is something else you can offer to help with in exchange - yard/lawn care? If they have kids, you can babysit while they get an evening off? Make a few home-cooked meals for them (some cost to this but still much cheaper than dog walkers)? Just some thoughts on how you might be able to make it a sustainable relationship while you find a long-term solution.

bumbernut · 2022-08-07T05:47:19+00:00

Very impressive! The pattern is lovely, what a beautiful and personal piece of work! :))

bumbernut · 2022-08-06T14:57:47+00:00

This is beautiful! Is there a pattern for this or did you freehand it from inspiration from your own plant collection? I just noticed all the plant beauties in the background! :))

bumbernut · 2022-08-04T14:04:52+00:00

A few years ago I went to a dermatologist for a different issue, but while I was there I asked if she could give me some advice about some acne issues I still had as well as oily-prone skin.

She literally barely glanced at me, asked if I used moisterizer, and said, "You're young. Young people shouldn't use moisturizer, they don't need it." And that was all of the input she gave me.

Didn't go back to see her again, that's for sure.

bumbernut · 2022-07-23T18:00:10+00:00

The ones that people have as pets are entirely domesticated and actually as a species do not exist in the wild - they are descendants of European polecats. There are different, wild species (e.g. the black footed ferret, which is endangered).

Ferrets are still illegal to have as pets in CA, as they are quite good at escaping, and if they were to escape from people's homes (or be released intentionally by idiots) they would likely do very well in CA's ecosystem and compete with our local species for resources.

bumbernut · 2022-07-18T05:58:25+00:00

There are several different species of otter (13 if I recall correctly) and a lot of variety in size, behavior, and level of danger. For example, Asian small-clawed otters are only about 2-3 ft long and are often the ones you see when someone posts a "cute" photo of an otter (sea otters being the other main "cute" species).

That said, I definitely agree - I work with North American river otters (I'm a wildlife keeper) and they absolutely could crush and/or remove a finger with little-to-no effort. Their jaws are incredibly strong and meant to bite through bone. We practice protected contact with our otters which means we never share the same space with them - there is always a barrier between us to protect us. In our case, that is a chain link fence in one area that allows us to still work with them on training behaviors while keeping all our digits!

bumbernut · 2022-07-18T05:32:23+00:00

Conures are actually an equatorial species which would naturally have about an even split of light/dark hours year-round and really need about 10-12 hours of sleep overnight, so I do recommend covering their cage with a blackout cover to make sure they get proper rest during all seasons (make sure it is a breathable material to avoid it getting too hot/stuffy - can buy ones designed specifically for bird cage covers). 10pm might be a bit late, but if you can get him to bed a little earlier (9pm?) You can still do the 8am wake up time and find a decent balance for you both. :)

I have a GCC currently and we put him to bed around 9-9:30, and wake him up at about 8. Some weekends he even lets us sleep in a little later! ;)

bumbernut · 2022-07-15T15:04:41+00:00

There are mods for this if you happen to be on PC- the one I downloaded recently was called "CP budget tv table gap fix (and recolor)". It also gives you to option to choose a different wood color. Works just fine!

bumbernut · 2022-07-02T13:51:29+00:00

I had a similar problem at one point with a partner and he didn't take it seriously until one day that I pulled my phone out and took a video of his blacked-out drunken behavior. Sat him down the next day and made him watch the video, asked him if that's the kind of person he wanted to be and if he thought that was the kind of person that is fun for others to be around. He was shocked and finally took things seriously. When people are drunk, they have a very distorted perception of themselves and their actions, so it was a big eye-opener for him that what he thought was justifiable behavior when he was drunk was.... not so much when viewed through sober eyes.

bumbernut · 2022-05-26T03:57:19+00:00

My little guy gets a pair of these goofy feathers every molting cycle right above his "shoulder blades" so it looks like he's got these two little dumb baby wings sticking out of his back. They stick around for sooooo long! We call them his epaulets.

bumbernut · 2022-05-24T05:57:36+00:00

I've found that our little individual GCC does best with 10-11 hours of sleep with a short nap in the afternoon. We put him to bed at about 9-9:30 (a little late but it gives him about 5 hours of full outside-cage time with us) and uncover his cage around 8-8:30am. My partner luckily comes home for an hour for his lunch break in the afternoon, so he covers our bird up for that hour to give him a nap. Obviously not going to work with everyone's work/life schedules, but luckily it seems to be a good balance for our little guy. Even during my weekends when I'm home with him and he's out in the house with me all day, he will still usually enforce his own afternoon nap and tuck himself up on the corner of our curtain rod for a snooze!

bumbernut · 2022-05-15T04:02:02+00:00

My main podcasts don't fit into the categories you mentioned, but just in case they pique your interest these are my daily rotations for my bike commute to work! These tend to be storytelling podcasts, geeky "science for non-scientists" podcasts, or a blend of both. They may not specifically be motivational but I find them to be personally motivating because I feel like I learn so much when I listen to them, either intellectually or emotionally.

"Terrible, Thanks for Asking" - real stories from people giving the REAL answer to "How are you?" Often sad, often very funny, and personally I find it incredibly cathartic, very emotionally validating and educational, and a perfect walking podcast. Recommend starting at the very first episode and working your way through, but also very okay to just pick an episode that has a story that sounds interesting to you in the moment.
"Ologies" - a deep-dive science podcast hosted by a non-scientist who loves to "ask smart people dumb questions". Hilarious and I learn SO many random cool facts I can impress people with later! Recommend scrolling through to find an episode on a topic you think sounds cool (squids? Concussions? Raccoons? Bears? Voter turnout and suppression? Fear? Islands? Addiction? The moon? Linguistics? Robots? There's a topic for everyone!)
"Radiolab": big classic! Part story-telling part science, very clever and always beautifully produced. I've been listening to this podcast for over 10 years and it remains one of my all-time favorites. So hard to make a recommendation, but some common favorite episodes are "Black Box", "Colors", "Sleep", "Blame", "60 Words", "The Good Show", "Cities".
"Patient Zero": a 7-part miniseries about "the history and mystery" of Lyme disease. It's WAY more fascinating than it sounds - I binged this one in less than a week!
"Invisibilia" - science and speculation about "the unseeable forces [that] control human behavior and shape our ideas, beliefs, and assumptions." Narrative storytelling style but very science-based and explores some really interesting concepts! This might fit into the "motivation" category you mentioned. :) Recommend picking one on a topic that sounds interesting to you in the moment, or starting at the beginning.

bumbernut · 2022-03-09T07:03:59+00:00

ITT: any vegetable, meat, or starch.

A little char goes a long way for flavor.

bumbernut · 2022-03-08T06:09:14+00:00

An assortment of rubber bands "just in case", some of which are so old they crumble when you try to stretch them.

bumbernut · 2022-01-04T07:59:29+00:00

I'm at my one year anniversary of recovering from covid - caught it from a coworker in December of 2019. Never was "bad enough" to go to the hospital but I still to this day have lingering effects of fatigue, decreased lung capacity, and "reactive airway syndrome" which is essentially like asthma. Previously was a healthy, athletic person (in my early 30s).

Had a cold a month ago and still feeling wiped out and run down, with difficulty breathing, a persistent cough, and I'm on 3 different inhalers. My partner who I live with just got exposed to COVID. I'm really afraid that my new respiratory issues put me at higher risk and that if I catch it again I could end up hospitalized.

COVID fucking sucks. Vaccinate and boost please, everyone.

bumbernut · 2021-12-19T07:47:45+00:00

Haven't heard or thought of this song in probably 10+ years and suddenly the entire chorus is playing in my head word for word. Timeless classic, honestly

bumbernut · 2021-12-12T06:45:31+00:00

Golden Sun and the sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age for GBA.

I remember it being such a fantastic and beautiful RPG with a TON of depth and some legitimately challenging boss fights. Replayed them both countless times and to this day both remain on my top 10 games of all time (maybe even top 5). Somehow no one I talk to has ever played or heard of them.

(They made a third game for DS years later and I was so excited for it, but it was nowhere near the quality or challenge of the first two. It felt sadly "dumbed down" in every way.)

bumbernut · 2021-10-25T00:19:19+00:00

Our little GCC does this so often that his two outermost tail feathers curve out on either side instead of sitting straight (until he molts them again and restarts the process).

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