SpainCo

A chicken run with plastic sheeting up as a windbreak, battened down with strips of lath

Similarly, we've battened down our chickens for winter wind

A trading junk with battened sails, thin strips of rigid wood to reinforce them

Sails can be battened as well - 'battens' are just strips of stuff to reinforce things.

Aurora, over a rooftop

An American Tail poster with lil ol mouse immigrant Fievel

It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life

The confluence of the St Croix and Kettle Rivers. There's a background level of trumpeter swans hanging out.

Reached the end of the hike only to encounter a group of trumpeter swans and an eagle right at the confluence; felt like the universe was giving me a thumbs up.

With AI degrading everything online, hyperlocal print crankery is more important than ever (sincere)

There's at least some reason for it - they're expecting younger and healthier people to drop coverage in response to losing the credit.

Without those folks, the risk pool gets worse for the remaining folks.

Kiddo: 'I have that song from the Zombies stuck in my head'

Mom: 'In your head?'

Me: 'In your head.'

Trump officials discussed sending elite Army division to Portland, text messages show A high-ranking White House official was indiscreetly texting about the Portland, Ore., planning last weekend, according to messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

A model of the first level from Mario 64.

A model of a snowy level from Mario 64.

The Japanese Mario 64 official strategy guide is an incredible thing. "Can we make little hand-made dioramas of all the levels?" "Sure, why the hell not."

'Oops! All Tuvoks'

Question for bigger Trek nerds than I:

Between the transporter clone, mirror universe and bearded parallel universe, Lower Decks had 4 discreet Boimlers -

Did anyone else in Star Trek have as many? Picard's gotta have that beat, or maybe Spock?

I mean, once you realize that you can make transporter clones on demand, why stop at two Tuvoks.

The real important question is where do you land on the Tuvix issue?

Just heard my eight year old shout "I plead the fifth!" from the bathroom.

No idea what's going on in there and not sure if I should be concerned or proud

Entomologists out there, just yucking ants' yums.

Our Doordash order:

Wasn't what we ordered

Wasn't in my name

Wasn't even from the correct restaurant

It wasn't even a Doordash order, it was some unlucky random Uber Eats order

They need a 'D, All of the Above' for their support portal.

Ant queen lays eggs that hatch into two species Bizarre discovery of interspecies cloning “almost impossible to believe,” biologists say

The weird new ant paper that shows queens laying eggs of a completely different species has me thinking that more species are probably cloning sperm in their spermathecae than we’d thought.

After all, most queens only mate once and cloning would be a great mechanism for keeping the party going.

I've officially entered my gentleman farmer era

A brown speckled pullet egg from our Sapphire Gem

A real egg! With a shell and everything. The third time was the charm.

Gytha (our Sapphire Gem) is an absolute unit for a pullet and this is nearly as big as a full size egg.

Oh yeah, everyone in the long line is terrified of being seen as that guy. (And collectively judged)

Every once in a while there's a real hero who's capable of just asking.

This is a distinctly Minnesotan failure mode.

The assumption is that the people in the long line must know something you don't and that there's probably a reason they aren't in the short line.

Half the people in the long line will be wondering about the short line but not willing to make a fuss.

A small attempt at a chicken egg, with a leathery soft shell but dusted with the beginnings of a hard shell.

Gytha (our sapphire gem) had her second attempt at an egg today - actually egg shaped this time with the beginnings of a shell, although definitely still leathery instead of hard.

Last time was like a water balloon, I'll spare you the picture.

Just going to watch The Death Of Stalin again for no particular reason.

Extremely in the same boat here.

100% just walked past Tim Walz here.

That man is uncannily stealthy at the Fair, his own security detail could lose him

... And gone!

Once again: I understand the temptation to say this, and it's partly true, but a LOT of the healthcare cuts (including to Medicaid) kick in well before the midterms:

acasignups.net/25/07/30/hea...