anyone past 50 on here?

[ryn2]

3 minutes ago, will123 said:

Quite rugged too. 

Minimal biting flies is a big win for sure.

[will123]

16 minutes ago, ryn2 said:

Minimal biting flies is a big win for sure.

Considering the temps of last week and so far this week, it's only time before they arrive. I wonder if the low overnight temps (approaching freezing) may be why they haven't emerged?

[ryn2]

Just now, will123 said:

Considering the temps of last week and so far this week, it's only time before they arrive. I wonder if the low overnight temps (approaching freezing may be why they haven't emerged?

I know, I’ve only gotten a few random bites outdoors so far and have been wondering the same about mosquitoes here.

[Unleash the Echidnas]

8 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

I hope this year is kind, if I can use that phrase.

I'd suggest against making bets.

 

[daveb]

I really don't want to "like" that!

 

The weather service has issued a warning for a large swathe of Oregon for the next several days, warning about unseasonal high fire risk.  

It's too dry and getting too hot.  

[Deja Vu]

My beloved dog Loki passed on around 2:00 today. I've had lots of dogs, and had to help many of them cross over but this one hit me harder than any other. I've been unpacking this all afternoon/evening and I think there are several reasons for it. This dog, of all of mine, was 100% loyal and devoted to me. My others could get along without me, no problem, but not him. He trusted me totally and when I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride in the car today, he thought it was going to be fun. I felt like a total Judas. I know this feeling will pass...

 

The other thing I hadn't considered, but my sister pointed out to me, was how much loss and ambiguity we've all experienced in the last year. Poor Loki - there wasn't any clear criteria to know when it was time, there are no real signs with kidney disease. Like a lot of other things in the last year. And yet another loss. Anyway I'm holed up here now, trying to grieve for the kindest most loyal dog I've ever known. 

[Skycaptain]

@Deja Vu, *Huggles*, it's horrible when you have to do that, but it was the best for Loki.

 

@will123, that's just as stunning with no snow as your winter photos.p

 

All of the heathland and woodland here has "No bbqs or fires" signs out already because its so dry. Still below average temperature, though. 

[Myssterry]

@Deja Vu You spared your dear companion suffering and that is all we can do for them at the end.  I hope you reach the stage of comfort from his memory soon.  When I see a picture of my old dog who went to sleep at 15 I can't help but smile now, because of the warm feelings it evokes.

 

Very dry and cold here, we might get some rain showers today.  I am planning on going to a bluebell garden on Sunday.  It is at a stately home, and the bluebell wood is spectacular as it is managed purely for the bluebells.  They won't be at their best yet owing to the cold, but it will be a nice outing before term starts.  Little Dog is allowed to come too.

[ryn2]

5 hours ago, Deja Vu said:

Anyway I'm holed up here now, trying to grieve for the kindest most loyal dog I've ever known. 

*hugs*
 

It’s so hard.  It sounds like he had a wonderful life with you.  I’m sorry...

[Tyke]

8 hours ago, Unleash the Echidnas said:

I'd suggest against making bets.

 

Thanks for the data/analysis. It is looking bad, isn't it? And not much that can be done but hope?

[Tja]

Sorry for your loss, @Deja Vu.

Building that kind of trust proves the love you and Loki have for each other.

[Gentle Giant]

Sorry about Loki, @Deja Vu. Take care of yourself.

[Unleash the Echidnas]

2 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

It is looking bad, isn't it? And not much that can be done but hope?

I'd actually suggest it's more there's too much which can be done. Broadly, there are three major things.

1. Roughly a century of fire suppression means roughly a century of accumulated fuels to burn off. Last year's fires in California burned maybe half of the area of an average fire year prior to Euro-American settlement.
2. Climate change usually means warmer and drier vegetation, moreso for California than many areas. This directly favors fire and, to the extent plants no longer suited to a site die, creates additional fuel favoring more fire.
3. Settler culture operates under an assumption European land ownership, development patterns, and legal systems are appropriate to North American ecosystems. Since this is mostly wrong it's not ecologically sustainable.

Conceptually they're fairly simple to address.

1. Manage fire by enabling it rather than suppressing it. There's thousands of years of indigenous practice available to learn from, particularly if racist colonial law and policy prohibiting them can be suspended.
2. Switch to a carbon negative economy. This probably means doing things like abandoning the myth of the tragedy of the commons and removing negative externalities by adopting environmental economics.
3. Restructure settler land use patterns for ecological sustainability. Moving homes and rebuilding communities is time consuming and expensive but the choice is between doing so voluntarily or having fire force the process.

Since these amount to accepting settlers are no longer colonial and rebooting settler culture accordingly I suspect they're going to take a few hundred years.

 

California is trying to do more about its carbon footprint than much of the United States and changes have happened in some areas with regulations for planning new subdivisions and adoption of more fire resistant and resilient building codes. I would suggest, though, that the state's overall politics remain in denial. Funding remains allocated primarily to fire suppression instead of more cost effective measures such as retrofitting existing construction or providing economic safety netting. Rather than accept some homes were built with too much fire risk to be insurable the state's become the insurer of last resort. From time to time at the local level the political will emerges to get ahead on adapting to fire but such cases are currently exceptions rather than the norm. There are some aspects of the issue, particularly those around high housing costs and pressures for urban expansion, which receive little attention and I think may prove extraordinarily difficult.

[Nick2]

7 hours ago, Deja Vu said:

My beloved dog Loki passed on around 2:00 today. I've had lots of dogs, and had to help many of them cross over but this one hit me harder than any other. I've been unpacking this all afternoon/evening and I think there are several reasons for it. This dog, of all of mine, was 100% loyal and devoted to me. My others could get along without me, no problem, but not him. He trusted me totally and when I asked him if he wanted to go for a ride in the car today, he thought it was going to be fun. I felt like a total Judas. I know this feeling will pass...

 

The other thing I hadn't considered, but my sister pointed out to me, was how much loss and ambiguity we've all experienced in the last year. Poor Loki - there wasn't any clear criteria to know when it was time, there are no real signs with kidney disease. Like a lot of other things in the last year. And yet another loss. Anyway I'm holed up here now, trying to grieve for the kindest most loyal dog I've ever known. 

"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than own own, live within a fragile circle; easily and often breached.  Unable to accept its awful gaps, we would still live no other way.  We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan...

 

Irving Townsend, separate lifetimes.

[Muledeer]

On 11/1/2016 at 9:03 AM, Blitzentan said:

Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love, they depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog; it merely expands the heart. If you have loved many dogs, your heart is very big.

E. Jong

@Deja Vu I have saved this quote from five years ago on this very thread.  May it help comfort your loss.

[daveb]

My condolences, @Deja Vu.  

Sounds like Loki was the answer to "who's a good dog?".  

[Tunhope]

Hugs @Deja Vu I'm sorry about Loki.

[Gentle Giant]

Has anyone been getting a notice on your computer about Windows 10 end of service coming soon and needing to upgrade to 20H2? I looked to see what the date is, sounds like it is May 11, 2021 but I’ve seen it mentioned as in 2022. I'm guessing it is actually May of 2021. I have version 1909 currently. I’m assuming it’s something needing to be done because there will no longer be updates for this version. But I wanted to be sure when it ends exactly so I can get it done before then. Also if anyone has done this already how did it go? Did it take long?

[Myssterry]

@Gentle Giant I simply couldn't get my computer to upload this so I gave up.  It kept getting to 99% and then going back to 0% and stuff like that.

[daveb]

1 hour ago, Gentle Giant said:

Has anyone been getting a notice on your computer about Windows 10 end of service coming soon and needing to upgrade to 20H2?

Not so far.

 

Looks like it depends on which version of Windows 10 you have on your computer.

 

Never mind. I just realized you mentioned 20H2. And that's what I already have, so I wouldn't get the notice.

[Unleash the Echidnas]

38 minutes ago, Gentle Giant said:

I’m assuming it’s something needing to be done because there will no longer be updates for this version. But I wanted to be sure when it ends exactly so I can get it done before then. Also if anyone has done this already how did it go? Did it take long?

Correct. See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/release-information for end of life dates.

 

I recently updated an older 1909 machine at work (Intel 2nd gen) to 20H2 and it took less than half an hour to download, install, and reboot itself. Might be longer, maybe depending mostly on your download speed.

[Myssterry]

35 minutes ago, Unleash the Echidnas said:

Correct. See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/release-information for end of life dates.

 

I recently updated an older 1909 machine at work (Intel 2nd gen) to 20H2 and it took less than half an hour to download, install, and reboot itself. Might be longer, maybe depending mostly on your download speed.

Lucky you!  I tried to get help for the issue, otherwise I am stuck on the old version with no updates.  Great!

[Myssterry]

56 minutes ago, daveb said:

Not so far.

 

Looks like it depends on which version of Windows 10 you have on your computer.

 

Never mind. I just realized you mentioned 20H2. And that's what I already have, so I wouldn't get the notice.

Lucky you, too!

[Unleash the Echidnas]

47 minutes ago, Mysterry said:

Lucky you!

Well, maybe not that lucky. It was kind of a saga that started with weird error messages about missing updates but no updates being listing. I ended up having to go to the office and babysit the machine through installing updates it'd somehow missed up to two years ago and then manually running the Windows 10 Update Assistant. I have two 2004 machines to update as well, one of which is also older and might not be happy with 20H2, but I'm ignoring them for now since 2004 is good for a few more months.

 

The rollback from 99% probably means there's some step near the end of the update that's failing. Usually there's a log file you can find and dig through to get a clue if the Update Troubleshooter can't figure it out.

[ryn2]

2 hours ago, Gentle Giant said:

have version 1909 currently

I believe 1909 goes off support 5/10/22.  It’s 1809 that goes off support next month.

[Gentle Giant]

Thanks to all who responded to my question. I saw the 2 different end dates and in the chart @Unleash the Echidnas provided the link to shows them both for version 1909. Mine is Windows 10 Pro, so would be the May 11, 2021 date. I don’t know what the Enterprise one is, never heard of it, and that is the one that says end date of May 10, 2022. In my updates area it does have the link to click to download and install 20H2. So must be ready to do or else I wouldn’t have gotten the message about it in my notifications area in the right side of computer screen. Hopefully I don't have any issues when I do it. I worried about my last major update to 1909, but that went fine and quick too. Just wish we didn’t have to worry and mess with so much stuff so often.

 

Sorry you’re having trouble with your update, @Mysterry, hope you can get someone to help you with it.

[daveb]

34 minutes ago, Gentle Giant said:

@Mysterry, hope you can get someone to help you with it.

seconded

 

It's no fun when you have to deal with these things in any event. Even less so when it's basically being forced on you and isn't exactly straightforward or user-friendly.

 

It's definitely warming up here. Got past 70F inside my house, without running the heater (didn't even have the oven on at any time today). If this keeps up I'll be doing my summer migration to the basement.  (and buying summer supplies, such as ice cream)

[Unleash the Echidnas]

49 minutes ago, Gentle Giant said:

I don’t know what the Enterprise one is, never heard of it

It's a business oriented edition with a few extra features (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsforbusiness/compare), one of which is an extended support period.

[ryn2]

1 hour ago, Gentle Giant said:

Mine is Windows 10 Pro

Ah, gotcha.  I hope you can get the upgrade to work!

[Deja Vu]

8 hours ago, Gentle Giant said:

Has anyone been getting a notice on your computer about Windows 10 end of service coming soon and needing to upgrade to 20H2? I looked to see what the date is, sounds like it is May 11, 2021 but I’ve seen it mentioned as in 2022. I'm guessing it is actually May of 2021. I have version 1909 currently. I’m assuming it’s something needing to be done because there will no longer be updates for this version. But I wanted to be sure when it ends exactly so I can get it done before then. Also if anyone has done this already how did it go? Did it take long?

No - this is the first I heard about it.