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Hey Ant, it was 90 friggin degrees yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time to take the T-tops off the TA this weekend! :enjoy:
Gotta get the boat in the water too. I'm going to Quonset RI on Saturday with my good buddy Steve for the air show. The F-35 will be there so we'll get to see it for the first time. Not sure if it'll be the A or B but the latter would be better so we can see it hover.

Get ready for the blast of pollen that's about to nail us HARD! All those cool temperatures of this long winter have subdued the pollen so far, so now it's gonna kick our asses in the worst way possible! Ooof. lol.

Saw this pic today on Twitter. How awesome and adorable are doggos, especially pups? And that white goose also was receptive to the affection.

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yay finally for the weather!!

Make sure you post some pics of your car (and maybe also the F35) so people know what a cool muscle car looks like.

Not into the retro look but a stock Dodge Demon can just touch the 9's in the 1/4. That's so insane that owners have to let off the gas at the end or have their cars banned from the strip for driving without a roll-cage in a sub 10 car.
 
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Especially those Canada geese! lol. I've been attacked by them several times and I was minding my own business. One came flying at me to the back of my head, surprised when I spun around at the last second it was in my face, so I had no choice but to grab it and grip it in a bear hug. I grabbed it by the neck, calmed its wings and folded them and mobilized it by hugging it. The thing was screaming and I kept telling it "oh, now you don't like it do you, now that I got you trapped!" lol A lot of people at the park were taking pictures and stuff and a couple of ladies came up to me after I gently let it go and were actually pissed off at me. They were telling me I should've ducked and lecturing me not to touch them etc. I put them in their place politely by telling them that some people handle things differently when they're attacked by animals, plus I didn't hurt it and just softly walked closer to her chicks and softly put her on the ground and wooshed her away. She wasn't feisty with me at all after that lol.

Another time I got smacked in the back of the head by a tern while hiking the Truro dunes in Cape Cod. I accidentally came close to a restricted nest site I had no idea about. Once I saw the fencing, I started walking around it and then BANG! Right upside the head. Son of a bitch. lol. Couldn't catch that fast flyer.

I also got buzzed by a Northern Goshawk in a pine forest. Ever see one of those? One of the most incredible raptors (accipiter) in the world. Blood red eyes, slate blue back and black & white barring on the chest and belly. These guys don't mess around one bit when you get close to their nest or territory. Female is 1/3 larger than the male and VERY violent. This time I ducked and then got outta dodge really fast. Don't want those talons embedded in my skull.

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Yep, canada geese are the worst, don't even bother to domesticate those (I was talking about the domesticated one, white goose like you said).

Yep I have seen goshawks, never had one buzz me thankfully ,but I know friends who have (i.e nest nearby etc).

They won't like go full on (i.e to embed like you say) but will do the glancing hits which will hurt for sure.

Brahminy Kites (in Asia) are notorious for doing that too....I think most raptors of this size tend to do it given they are in that size range where they are big enough that they can do it but not that big enough like say Eagles etc where they carry a natural deterrence by sheer size (though Eagles and even some hawks will target bears etc similarly).


 
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Hey Ant, it was 90 friggin degrees yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my driver's license expires in 2 weeks and my passport has expired. Tried to get it done on the RMV website...sorry no dice..new ID laws...you have to come in...to the RMV..oh god...the RMV..no....ugh!!! Haven't been there in a long long time.

Needless to say when I arrived the line was snaking out the door with 200 people outside and another 200 inside. Day basically ruined.

Got the "Real ID" version. Will get in the mail in <5 days...oh yay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ID_Act
 
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They won't like go full on (i.e to embed like you say) but will do the glancing hits which will hurt for sure.

Nice to see my friend Nilgiri is knowledgeable about raptors. :-) Don't get me going ohps, too late! :lol:
I've worked and volunteered with the Audubon Society for 25 years and still do on a lesser capacity, specifically with raptors. i also have several friends who are falconers (mostly down in Cape Cod) whom I trek along every once in a while in the fall on their flying and hunting trips. These guys are flying Harris hawks, Goshawks and of course Red Tails & Peregrines. One of my favorites is Ava, a 20 year-old female Goshawk that is almost bigger than a female redtail. She has the hunting prowess of an F-16. An Amazing bird and her friend Peety (Harris Hawk) is almost never tethered. He follows us from tree to tree and even follows the car back home. It's amazing to see these wild but trained animals have such a bond, albeit a controversial one for the environmental purist.

I've also worked at banding stations for many years and caught many different species of raptors and banded them etc. And as far as goshawks attacking you, you're right, they actually fist up and knock you on the head! The problem is that one of the three, forward talons can easily hang a bit low and clip you really good.

You know that there's actually 2 documented cases (this is information as of about 10 or 15 years ago so it might've changed now) of birds having killed humans. One is by a great blue heron that a biologist was handling and he let go of the neck for a split second and it jabbed him right through one of his eyes and punctured through into his brain. Very freaky. The other was a hiker who was hiking close to a great-horned owl's nest and came too close only to have the owl silently come at him from behind and grabbed him by the neck, puncturing his jugular vein. He fought the owl off and tried to contain the bleeding but by the time he reached any help and told them what happened, he lost too much blood and ended up dying. Imagine an owl puncturing your jugular? Great horned owls are incredible hunters.

We got a call from an old lady who owned a huge estate that had 75 acres of pure, white pine forest and she was complaining that some "birds" were attacking her and her driver whenever they were getting in and out of the car. This happened many years ago and it was springtime. So my friend Norman knew exactly what it was and we went out looking for these goshawks (since it had them written all over it) and sure enough, there was a nest and the male was very aggressively protecting the nest's territory to the point he was attacking them coming out of their mansion and getting into the car lol. We hiked the forest, found the nest, set up shop, my friend Norman climbed the tree to retrieve the 3 chicks to band them so that falconers won't be able to take them (only falconers are allowed to take goshawk chicks straight out of the nest unless they're banded and registered) and he wore a hardhat and a heavy, leather jacket while he was climbing the tree. The female must've buzzed him 20+ times and you can hear the whacks on the hardhat many times as she tried smacking him. It was really something to see.

Brahminy Kites (in Asia) are notorious for doing that too....I think most raptors of this size tend to do it given they are in that size range where they are big enough that they can do it but not that big enough like say Eagles etc where they carry a natural deterrence by sheer size (though Eagles and even some hawks will target bears etc similarly).

Indeed. Accipiters are generally very high-strung birds while Buteos not so much. Falcons are probably the least stressed of all. I was in an aviary returning a redtailed hawk and I put her on her perch and turned around to exit the aviary when I decided to turn around and be sure she was still on there and wasn't going to flee once I opened the door and what do you know, she was about 2ft off the ground gliding towards the back of my legs with her talons completely forward! Freaked me out! I jumped faster than I ever did in my life. And she was actually a very docile bird that I handled many times before and never had a problem with her. This time, for some reason she was pissed off that I was in her territory or her sexual maturity had peaked and was going through something. One of many fun stories from all these great experiences with these magnificent creatures.

This is my friend Norman who goes to Logan International Airport and catches all the snowy owls that come there in the winter and hang around because of the abundance of prey. This was this past February where he caught 4 the night before and we were releasing them the next day, further away from the airport at Duxbury Beach. This is a young female and look at that incredible white. Spectacular bird and what a hunter! We've seen one take down a great blue heron and another kill a peregrine in mid air! Talk about one of the ultimate hunters.

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Notice the transmitter antenna behind her head?

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So my driver's license expires in 2 weeks and my passport has expired. Tried to get it done on the RMV website...sorry no dice..new ID laws...you have to come in...to the RMV..oh god...the RMV..no....ugh!!! Haven't been there in a long long time.

Needless to say when I arrived the line was snaking out the door with 200 people outside and another 200 inside. Day basically ruined.

Got the "Real ID" version. Will get in the mail in <5 days...oh yay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ID_Act

Yeah you can't board a plane with the old ones now. I got mine in February but I'm not sure it's the new one like yours because I think that new law came out a bit after if I'm not mistaken. Gotta check.
 
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Absolutely lovely those ones yep. Really enjoyed reading your long post. Was worth it :tup:

Sorry it was a long post! I could've went on about many other stories but I actually refrained myself believe it or not! lol Told you not to get me going, Nilgiri.

Hey Ant, check out this brand spanking new killer GMC convertible SUV the Libyan general Haftar is riding! This thing is sweeet. Don't see convertible SUVs much, if at all.

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Sorry it was a long post! I could've went on about many other stories but I actually refrained myself believe it or not! lol Told you not to get me going, Nilgiri.

Hey Ant, check out this brand spanking new killer GMC convertible SUV the Libyan general Haftar is riding! This thing is sweeet. Don't see convertible SUVs much, if at all.

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Does the top really come up...or is this convertible permanent?
 
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So I get my "Real ID' yesterday...and compare it to my old license...there is only one *slight* change. in the top right corner there is a tiny gold star. That's it.

All that's keeping people "safer" is hoping somebody can't paint a gold star on their license.

Here's a sample pic from the RMV...

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Can this "security measure" be more stupid?
 
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Can this "security measure" be more stupid?

That's it, the gold star? lol. Yeah, I just checked mine and nope, don't have it and what ticks me off is that I had to renew my license in February and this new law passed in March or April, only a month or two after. Why didn't they just start it at the first of the year? That would make more sense. Jeez.

As far as the security measure, it's basically to make sure illegal immigrants don't get a driver's license or valid ID. It's one of the steps being taken towards curbing illegal immigration by the current administration.

Does the top really come up...or is this convertible permanent?

You know, that's a great question. I have no idea. I'm thinking it has to have a top of some kind, otherwise the interior would get trashed easily, if not from unexpected rain but from dust.
 
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Man, Mother Nature is not to be messed with. That Kilauea volcano in Hawai is creating havoc but what imagery coming from it like this one. I hope those homes are insured with that funky "Act of God" clause since I'm almost certain this would fall in that category.

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Manhattan, NY.

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What is with americans and creating hockey teams where there isnt even snow/winter happening at any time of year?....and then those teams whooping our Canadian team butts? LA, San Jose, Vegas...srsly....

HOW IS LAS VEGAS BEATING WINNIPEG AT HOCKEY? Stupidest thing ever lol...coz you can import all the canadians to play for you. Its why I feel sports has to bring back some nominal clause of hiring some majority of players ACTUALLY FROM THE FRIGGING AREA thats being represented lol.
 
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