“Oh shit – I haven’t posted!”
My exact words to Uncle B just now. A Google Images search of “oh shit I haven’t posted” calls up, among other things, this hilarious ancient meme.
Oh, well. Wednesdays are my day off. Nothing happened. I cleaned out the vegetable crisper drawer on the fridge and got rid of all the pre-Christmas vegetables I didn’t eat. Wondered how you can tell if a parsnip is really off.
Oh, and my dreams of a nautical life are crushed. Uncle B said that boat probably doesn’t have a motor.
And I’m like – “at all? How does it move around?”
And he’s like – “it doesn’t.”
And I’m like – “wait, you just sit around tied to the dock? What’s the fun in that?”
And he’s like – “oh, yeah – it’s great.”
It doesn’t sound great. It sounds stupid. But then, I have to admit, that thing doesn’t really look seaworthy, does it? And there weren’t any pictures of a wheel or an engine or anything. I’ll be damned.
Posted: January 11th, 2023 under personal.
Comments: 9
Comments
Comment from durnedyankee
Time: January 11, 2023, 8:42 pm
So…boat house, not for sail?
Comment from Anonymous
Time: January 11, 2023, 11:29 pm
Mustelids to the rescue! We over here on the West side of the pond maybe could round up a team of North American River Otters to send over to your East side, and you could train them to tug that houseboat around for you. Think of the youtube channel you could run!
I’ve actually seen a few river otters here in Sarasota County skulking and sneaking around like the fine weasel cousins they are.
Edit: Uncle Al here, absent-minded again.
Comment from Uncle Al
Time: January 11, 2023, 11:40 pm
My mostly serious guess is that the boat’s motorlessness is deliberate, and is a way to stick it to the nasty tax man and licensing bureau-rat. Hiring an occasional tow is likely tiny in comparison.
There’s also the elimination of the risk of being expensively cited for drink sailing.
Comment from Armybrat
Time: January 11, 2023, 11:59 pm
@Uncle Al- friends of mine recently purchased a place on the Braden river. About a week or so ago I was swilling wine on their dock while the boys were drowning shrimp and we watched 2 large river otters swim by. They stopped and laughed at the boys and moved on by. And then an eagle flew overhead. And this is why I live where I live.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: January 12, 2023, 12:20 am
@Armybrat – I bet you could still see all kinds of wildlife up in Harvard Square.
Lol…And I thought it was bad in the mid 70’s, I can imagine what it looks like now.
Comment from Sabrina Chase
Time: January 12, 2023, 2:18 am
Houseboats are very much a thing in the Seattle area. Basically they are just fancy barges, and if that was good enough for Cleopatra … Yeah, you have to hire someone to tow it if you change your dock location, but people seem to like them. And they can be floating palaces if you have the dough. Or just little shacks. There’s an area on Lake Union that is all houseboats…
Comment from Armybrat
Time: January 12, 2023, 3:12 am
@durnedyankee…last time I was in Harvard square (about 3+ years ago now) it was positively civilized! Now shit went downhill real quick with the lockdown nonsense in 2020…the wildlife was once again wild. Just added to my list of reasons why it was time for a different way of life.
Comment from Drew458
Time: January 12, 2023, 5:40 pm
Totally off topic, but while I enjoy whatever posts get made here, primarily I come here for chicken and banjo posts. And if I find anything chicken or banjo related, I’ll put it up here, because I’m not the only C/B fan out there.
So …
Sunglasses for chickens is a thing. Sort of. When too many chickens are in a hen house, they become bloodthirsty little savages, even worse than tropical fish. Peck peck peck kill. And they will turn cannibal too. Apparently chickens can see in color, or at least the color red. So they get extra violent when they see blood, but any other barnyard stain doesn’t get them worked up.
So in 1939 a company developed rose tinted glasses for chickens, which filtered out the red colors, and the chickens didn’t go into Kill Mode. The devices were taken off the market some decades later, as the mounting pin for the sunglasses was drilled through their beaks, which was considered inhumane. So now the same company has blinders and shades for several kind of birds, with a stretch fit (no beak pins). And that’s enough to cut down on the hen house mayhem.
https://www.nationalband.com/chickens-can-put-their-shades-on-too/
https://www.nationalband.com/plastic-clip-on-blinders-peepers/
Comment from tomfrompv
Time: January 15, 2023, 12:52 am
What about narrow boats? Cruising the cut, as Brits apparently say. Up and down England, a new port every night. I think that would be everyone’s first choice.
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