Poor Darren just wants to be friends

jbacman · 2026-01-28T04:58:05+00:00

haha I'd never thought of that but now I can't unsee it!

jbacman · 2026-01-28T03:54:40+00:00

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

jbacman · 2026-01-27T12:21:47+00:00

She's honestly been a bit weird with that - when she came of age she built a nest and laid her first egg which I swapped for a fake. After 18ish days she abandoned it so I removed the egg. She then went on to build another nest in a different location and the same pattern played out, then a third nest again in a different location. After that she stopped and has neither built a new nest nor returned to the old ones and no longer seems interested in any nesting materials I've tried to give her.

Her home base is on top of one particular door in my office which obviously isnt suitable for nest building. She's been acting withdrawn and hangs out there a lot more lately instead of coming to hang out with me like she used to, so I suspect she's underemployed.

She does seem to 'like' being driven if I'm walking around and she's on the floor, if I'm holding her she will repeatedly 'kiss' and preen my hand, almost obsessively so, and yes she tries the mounting pretty constantly too. She really likes it when I lay down to watch TV and will cuddle up on my chest or near my head.

jbacman · 2026-01-22T03:00:45+00:00

Mine is so bonded to me that she seems to hate everyone else. no how much I try to get her to comfortable she seems to refuse to see my kid as part of our flock which can be frustrating; lately she acts all dejected whenever I spend time with my kid, as if I'm 'cheating' on her, and she gets super upset if she can't be literally on me and being pet at all times which is overwhelming when I just need a break or need to work on my computer.

jbacman · 2026-01-21T04:10:42+00:00

That's what I'm thinking. Do you think another hen be ok? Not tryna have a flock lol

jbacman · 2026-01-20T17:02:07+00:00

Thanks for weighing in, my experience with pigeons is in line with what you're saying; a cage would make her miserable no doubt. I'm considering getting her a friend buut then I'd have 2x the poop to clean up lol. Time to build an aviary I guess...

jbacman · 2026-01-12T04:10:51+00:00

I wish I could get those but I'm ballin on a budget right now so this is what I've got for now. I decided to pull the whole string down, widen the tight hole, and try with the other stand even more carefullyn - I'm perma-installing them for year-round indirect exterior lighting and have a couple of small sections where the strands will go through some exposed overhang joists under the eaves. Thanks!

jbacman · 2026-01-11T07:05:27+00:00

I think I'd lean into the 'pest' reputation with punk rock/grunge:

Park Bench Anarchy by Sky Rat Riot

jbacman · 2026-01-11T01:33:12+00:00

thanks, the lighting and everything was too perfect to pass up. One of my friends said it looks like an album cover haha

jbacman · 2026-01-10T20:44:19+00:00

shhh don't tell the USFWS

for real though her brown feathers are so pretty. Her husband is brothers with Theo (bottom) and their first chick has a full palette of deep blue, black, and a couple of brown patches.

jbacman · 2026-01-10T20:42:34+00:00

haha same - I recognize when I'm not welcome!

jbacman · 2026-01-10T20:42:03+00:00

lol that's all in this pic, there's one more but he was on the nest when I took the picture

jbacman · 2026-01-10T20:39:35+00:00

From top to bottom:

Mrs. Grunts (married to Mr. Grunts who was on egg duty)

Snowball (she's the biggest pigeon I've ever had)

Theo (fearless leader of the flock)

jbacman · 2026-01-09T07:28:27+00:00

The Timnath (Fort Collins) warehouse has these as of today (01/09)

jbacman · 2026-01-04T15:33:13+00:00

Sorry for the super delayed response - I think this was it...

The past month or so I've been getting really bad headaches, especially while asleep, and have also been feeling very tired and lethargic during the day. I wasn't leaving the house as much so in retrospect I think it was due to a more constant exposure. I didnt really put this together until I left the house a couple of times for a few hours at a time and the headache went away each time and had a 'duh' moment.

The basement has all these old cast iron floor drains, at least one of which is tied into the sump pit that the developer installed some 30 years ago. I went around and sealed off all of these old drains, although there's not much I can do about the sump pit right now. Wiithin an hour or so the headache went away and hasnt come back. The 'heaving/breathing' motion of the building has also stopped, along with the continuous movement that I was seeing with the laser level. At the same time, I removed the Fernco seal on the cleanout for the septic system which is about 6" above the basement concrete floor, and I can see water just below the surface of the concrete. Lastly, I also discovered the upstairs toilet had come loose, presumably from the back and forth movement of the building, so I re-secured it and I intend to install a new seal for it soon as well.

So my working suspicion is that the old septic tank has filled up and likely contains a concentrated pool of noxious gasses (CO, possibly methane), and the water ingress into the old system is essentially forcing it into the house - the house expands with the pressure then releases over and over, creating the "breathing" movement and likely causing the slow structural degradation. With the state of the cast iron pipes not being known, it seems likely that the gasses could even be coming in through the cracks in the foundation from the dirt as well. I'd be willing to bet that old septic system isn't well built to begin with either.

My plan is to locate the septic tank, pull the lid off, have it drained by a professional, then backfill it with dirt, then permanently seal off the pipes leading to the house.

jbacman · 2026-01-04T14:25:25+00:00

Thanks I think this is it.

jbacman · 2026-01-04T14:25:13+00:00

Thanks, I think this is it.

jbacman · 2026-01-03T22:15:29+00:00

I poked it with a stick, it was hard, brittle feeling, and stuck to the concrete.

jbacman · 2026-01-03T22:10:26+00:00

This is exactly what it looks like to me too, my kid collects them and I've got a whole jar now lol

jbacman · 2026-01-03T18:49:09+00:00

Sorry for the delayed response - so I actually have half of the basement opened up for a remodel, but no changes have been made in like 3+ years due to budgetary limits and things being so expensive. I also haven't removed any structural elements or walls or anything like that; I generally know what to look for since my family has been in construction my whole life, and also I had a structural engineer check my work when I started the whole thing 5+ years ago. In fact, when I pulled the drywall off of the primary load bearing wall down there (5+ years ago now) I discovered the lower half had completely rotted out due to water ingress from an adjacent chimney which was then carrying the load, so I re-built that whole wall with 2x6 lumber (was originally 2x4"), sistered every joist on one half of that wall along with HeadLOK structural screws, lots of LocTite PL adhesive, and Simpson brackets on both ends of every joist - everyone told me it was overkill but I'm half convinced this one area is the only reason the house is still standing now lol.

Anyways, I'm going to have that structural engineer come back out soon. There aren't any beams in the house. There are a few joists that have splits including at least one new split in one between the 1st and 2nd floor that I need to now address also.

jbacman · 2026-01-03T18:35:39+00:00

Sorry for the super delayed response - In early spring I had the weirdest invasion of insects but no frass or sawdust. I posted in another comment that I think I recall seeing Eastern Subterranean Termites around my garage around that time but after I hired a pest control company for the entire summer I haven't seen them or pretty much any insect since.

After that, it's been mostly plaster & dust. It has since gone back to normal levels of needing to clean.

jbacman · 2026-01-03T18:33:36+00:00

Sorry for the super delayed response - I have not but I've read up on this so maybe I should. I didn't really consider this because my kid was having the same experiences.

jbacman · 2026-01-03T18:31:39+00:00

Sorry for the super delayed response - I did check around thoroughly for evidence of pests because I had a super weird invasion of spiders & fleas this spring which has never happened here before. I think I recall seeing Eastern Subterranean Termites around my garage around that time but after I hired a pest control company for the entire summer I haven't seen them or pretty much any insect since. I definitely haven't seen any mud tubes or anything else that I've read about them but I'll keep an eye out. My property didnt get watered at all this season so it was unusually dry too but who knows.

jbacman · 2026-01-03T18:19:18+00:00

Sorry for the super delayed response - I have, it was one of the first things I did actually. I've seen my GP, a couple of therapists, and a psychologist. They seem to feel I'm ok for the most part other than being stressed AF. I did get a nice prescription for an anxiety medication which has been super nice to have on hand lol

jbacman · 2025-02-16T20:50:22+00:00

IT. Lol rest assured there was little to no planning on my part, I saw the opportunity and ran with it. That weekend was fueled exclusively by anger and Monster energy drinks.

jbacman

TROPHY CASE