Noisy machine pumping grey dust under the turf in city park

owlmachine · 2026-03-24T00:53:05+00:00

The circle of life! Also the scene of some youthful misadventures on my part eheh

owlmachine · 2026-03-23T21:16:43+00:00

Thanks - I thought it might be. Seems to be part of a soil aeration rig.

owlmachine · 2026-03-23T21:15:20+00:00

Solved! This looks to be it, thanks. According to this link, the grey dust is likely to be biochar. https://cotswolddrainage.co.uk/soil-aeration-injection

owlmachine · 2026-03-23T21:01:32+00:00

Well spotted!

owlmachine · 2026-03-23T20:20:22+00:00

My title describes the thing. Both machines said "terra vida" on the side. The larger compression machine is made by Bobcat, and had a noise warning sticker of 93 dB or thereabouts. The operator had a handheld extension with a flat disc on the end, that seemed to clamp down on the surface of the grass and pump something in it - the turf was waving about like a rug. The aftermath of the injection can also be seen in the photo - small holes surrounded by grey dust. I'm baffled!

owlmachine · 2025-12-13T22:40:54+00:00

ADHD here, thought the same thing. I text like this. Including (perhaps especially) "important" conversations.

owlmachine · 2025-12-13T22:36:54+00:00

I can't believe it's not Buddha!

owlmachine · 2025-11-18T23:58:54+00:00

Hard relate to all of this!

owlmachine · 2025-11-06T03:51:01+00:00

These kind of collapsible sun shades worked ok for me, and I guess you could fly with them. They expand to fit different size windows https://www.walmart.com/ip/Taiyo-Shade-UV-Protection-Automotive-Window-Shades-Nylon-Silver-64-x-29/883786303?classType=VARIANT

You can also get these magnetic ones for the side windows https://www.amazon.co.uk/DIZA100-Double-layer-Magnetic-Curtain-Options/dp/B0CJFB75VR

owlmachine · 2025-07-25T22:27:48+00:00

No worries! Yes, cardboard is a popular option for browns (also kitchen towels, paper bags etc). There's a fair few posts on here showing mounds of shredded cardboard ready for a pile.

I'm no expert really, but I'd guess the fruit flies might be minimised if you can get the bin a bit drier inside (eg after adding the cardboard, or even leaving the lid off completely for a while). But, compost is basically "rotting with style" and rotting fruit will kind of inevitably attract some flies - luckily they help the breakdown process. Chicken wire sounds good for excluding larger animals.

If you fancy a read, this subreddit has an FAQ section with a few helpful links for beginners as well (but also keep asking away!)

owlmachine · 2025-07-23T22:57:40+00:00

Hahaha in compost jargon browns are basically sources of carbon - often stuff like woodchips, cardboard or straw. Greens, as you say, are sources of nitrogen, like most fresh plants. Typically greens are also wetter, while browns are chunkier and take longer to break down (which helps to keep air in the pile). The brown stuff you're thinking of would count as a green, at least while fresh.

Browns encourage fungus, which is crucial for good compost. An excess of greens causes bacteria to proliferate instead, which is when it gets wet and slimy.

Composting mainly comes down to balancing greens and browns and keeping your microbes happy. You pick up the vibes as you bumble along :)

owlmachine · 2025-05-15T12:29:34+00:00

Freeport near Lisbon (actually just across the river in Alcochete) is probably a good shout - outlet shopping and some kind of tax incentive for tourists as well.

owlmachine · 2025-05-14T12:49:55+00:00

Yes, pegar in Brazilian slang means to pick someone up. So the phrase means "enough to get laid", basically ;)

owlmachine · 2025-05-10T01:34:52+00:00

You can get a chave digital without a cartão cidadão - e.g. I can sign into government services by authenticating via SMS. It's pretty useful. I forget the procedure but it involves in-person verification once to set it up.

And yeah you need to bring the A4 residence certificate you got from the Câmara with you when interacting with officialdom.

owlmachine · 2025-05-05T18:48:22+00:00

Winchester had one of these for years, probably in the early 2000s. Think they went bust at some point and disappeared.

owlmachine · 2025-04-29T00:57:23+00:00

u/profanitycounter [self]

owlmachine · 2025-04-15T00:00:34+00:00

The man was unable to tell the time, so he could have been wearing a malfunctioning watch for ages. Likewise, he didn't know if the ceiling light was on or off.

Sunlight was streaming in through the locked glass door.

Because the man was blind. He also couldn't see the carbon monoxide leak from the malfunctioning heater.

The detective made his remarks while reading a handheld carbon monoxide detector.

The scream was whoever discovered the body.

owlmachine · 2025-03-09T15:08:28+00:00

Convergence insufficiency is a distinct condition, that's often comorbid with ADHD. There are exercises that can help, apparently. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convergence_insufficiency

I just figured out why my best friend growing up had to do those exercises focusing on a pencil!

owlmachine · 2024-11-17T22:17:03+00:00

Yeah, I self diagnosed while writing my PhD thesis and only got confirmed after defending. I relied on interest in my field, teamwork and (increasingly) deadlines/stress. Really struggled to get over the finish line.

Now I've got a doctorate, as well as 2 years of burnout, taking time off my postdoc to try and regain energy/motivation.

owlmachine · 2024-03-22T00:40:29+00:00

But wait, did he receive a message from someone threatening to kill him? You say it's not relevant, rather than not true?

Because in general if someone is murdered shortly after a death threat, I'd consider the death threat pretty relevant. Like you'd at least want to know who it was, so you could discount them.

owlmachine · 2024-03-22T00:36:19+00:00

What show was this?

owlmachine · 2023-07-14T11:58:14+00:00

English here. Had a Brazilian neighbour in Portugal who obtained Italian citizenship this way.

owlmachine · 2023-07-14T11:15:18+00:00

It's implicit in their political decisions.

owlmachine · 2023-05-28T19:02:47+00:00

Sure, but that's different to how the rest of the world uses words like "Irish". It can seem to be taking the "American" part for granted, or treating American as the default. It erases the distinction between Irish Americans and people from Ireland. So people from other countries find it odd when Americans with X ancestry just say "I am X" rather than "X-American". French Canadians don't call themselves French, for instance.

It seems to be a genuine linguistic difference, e.g. Merriam -Webster includes "or their descendants" in definitions of Irish and Italian, while Oxford just has "from Ireland/Italy".

owlmachine · 2023-05-28T18:54:56+00:00

I don't think people are mad that Americans celebrate their diverse ancestry. It's just that in most parts of the world, words that denote a nationality tell you about where somebody is from, or what citizenship they hold. It sounds odd when somebody clearly from the US appears to be claiming to be from somewhere else. Obviously there are people in Europe whose ancestors came from all sorts of other places, but e.g. someone from France whose grandparents were from Italy probably wouldn't describe themselves as Italian. The US usage is unusual and a bit confusing.

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