New England Met Spring 2023 Banter

[DavisStraight]

On 5/18/2023 at 7:54 PM, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

Here are all the birds spotted at the feeder in my backyard along the woods 

 

 

There's a golf course in Oakham MA that has tons of bird houses throughout the course, they even use bird houses as yard markers. I saw so many different birds when I played 18 there last summer I had to get my bird book out to see what they were.

[MJO812]

13 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Plenty of places within a 15 min drive or so. I know there is a Marriot in Peabody which is like 10-15 min away. Also, I wouldn't drive there either. I guess you could if you had to, but I know they discourage it.

How would I get there then ?

[CoastalWx]

44 minutes ago, MJO812 said:

How would I get there then ?

Train? Maybe Uber? I think you could still drive there somehow, but parking would be tough. 

[tamarack]

On 5/22/2023 at 9:05 PM, powderfreak said:

We did the Seresto collar for years, but have since done Brevecto (edible that works for 3 months at a time). I think they all work fairly well, but my lab swims and is in the mud so much the collar would get filthy.  It’s very effective though.

We were using the monthly meds, tried Brevecto a couple years back and within 10 minutes we were cleaning $60 off the living room rug.  Back to monthly.

[DavisStraight]

2 hours ago, tamarack said:

We were using the monthly meds, tried Brevecto a couple years back and within 10 minutes we were cleaning $60 off the living room rug.  Back to monthly.

Did you try Seresto, I swear by it, in 5 years no flea problems and there have only been two ticks on my dog in that time and they were dead when I took them off. 

[powderfreak]

3 hours ago, tamarack said:

We were using the monthly meds, tried Brevecto a couple years back and within 10 minutes we were cleaning $60 off the living room rug.  Back to monthly.

Yeah my lab seems to tolerate it. And it seems to work, ticks seem dead or barely alive if we find any at all.  Seems to be a few a summer but this dog spends almost daily hours off leash in woods, mountains and fields.

[Ginx snewx]

44 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

Did you try Seresto, I swear by it, in 5 years no flea problems and there have only been two ticks on my dog in that time and they were dead when I took them off. 

Seresto all the way. Never had a problem 

[HIPPYVALLEY]

On 5/22/2023 at 9:22 AM, STILL N OF PIKE said:

A.I has reached bubble level territory amongst some stocks . Nvidia in particular . Here is a satirical trading vid that gave me a laugh 

https://twitter.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1660631978423533568

Up 27% overnight. 

[SJonesWX]

14 hours ago, tamarack said:

We were using the monthly meds, tried Brevecto a couple years back and within 10 minutes we were cleaning $60 off the living room rug.  Back to monthly.

Mr. Tamarack, on another subject, i have some young (5-10 years) oak trees that were budding and had small leaves when the frost hit a couple weeks ago. now all the vegetation is dead/wilted. will these trees come back? a couple I don't care a lot about, but there is one (the older of the 4) that I really don't want to be dead. thoughts?

[FPizz]

12 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

Seresto all the way. Never had a problem 

We use NexGard for our Golden Retriever and it has worked perfectly for 6 years now.  Worst part is doing it monthly, but a phone reminder helps with that. 

[SouthCoastMA]

We've been using K9 Advantix II on our Golden retriever for years, and haven't had any issues. 

 

[Hoth]

On 5/21/2023 at 7:37 AM, dendrite said:

Lots of pileateds up here, but we put suet out too. 

I think my favorite bird I’ve seen at the feeder is this guy. Only saw them for a couple of days back in 2016 and then never again.

Is that a bunting? Awesome! The occasional scarlet tanager or oriole is usually my birding highlight. Never seen a bunting. 

[ORH_wxman]

1 hour ago, Hoth said:

Is that a bunting? Awesome! The occasional scarlet tanager or oriole is usually my birding highlight. Never seen a bunting. 

Indigo bunting. They are more common further southwest pf New England even though we do get them here...esp through lower midwest/OH valley/TN valley/lower MS valley.

Given it's not super common in New England (esp NNE), it's definitely a good sighting at the feeder.

[STILL N OF PIKE]

4 hours ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

Up 27% overnight. 

Insanity 

& many of the chipmakers Are soaring today as well . Semiconductor index up 5% led by Nvidia’s 29%

MSFT up 3% + on the AI growth 

Wildly overvalued as they are basically priced for future perfection but don’t try and time betting against either 

 

 

[tamarack]

15 hours ago, DavisStraight said:

Did you try Seresto, I swear by it, in 5 years no flea problems and there have only been two ticks on my dog in that time and they were dead when I took them off. 

We do a 2-step, with monthly doses HeartGuard and NextGuard from about 5/1 thru 11/1.  Ticks won't go into her fur and her being a yellow Lab mix makes spotting the beasts easy.  These meds are wolfed down while Buttercup wouldn't touch Bravecto without a liberal addition of canned cat food.

Mr. Tamarack, on another subject, i have some young (5-10 years) oak trees that were budding and had small leaves when the frost hit a couple weeks ago. now all the vegetation is dead/wilted. will these trees come back? a couple I don't care a lot about, but there is one (the older of the 4) that I really don't want to be dead. thoughts?

My guess is that they will produce a new set of leaves, possibly a bit smaller than if the frost-kill had not occurred.  The 22/26/25° sequence of May 11-13, 2010 destroyed the new leaves of our oak, ash and some of the maples, and all re-grew foliage.  It's a strain on the tree, as anyone who's seen the effects of multi-year Gypsy (now "spongey") moth defoliation.  Our trees were much older but if yours were vigorous in previous years, they should withstand one year's frost toasting.
(Somehow, last Thursday's 25° morning failed to touch leaves or apple blossoms here.)

[weatherwiz]

Anyone who follows gas/oil 

WTF has been going on. Gas will drop like $.15 in a few week span and then all of a sudden jump up $.30 in two days. 

[SJonesWX]

22 minutes ago, tamarack said:

We do a 2-step, with monthly doses HeartGuard and NextGuard from about 5/1 thru 11/1.  Ticks won't go into her fur and her being a yellow Lab mix makes spotting the beasts easy.  These meds are wolfed down while Buttercup wouldn't touch Bravecto without a liberal addition of canned cat food.

Mr. Tamarack, on another subject, i have some young (5-10 years) oak trees that were budding and had small leaves when the frost hit a couple weeks ago. now all the vegetation is dead/wilted. will these trees come back? a couple I don't care a lot about, but there is one (the older of the 4) that I really don't want to be dead. thoughts?

My guess is that they will produce a new set of leaves, possibly a bit smaller than if the frost-kill had not occurred.  The 22/26/25° sequence of May 11-13, 2010 destroyed the new leaves of our oak, ash and some of the maples, and all re-grew foliage.  It's a strain on the tree, as anyone who's seen the effects of multi-year Gypsy (now "spongey") moth defoliation.  Our trees were much older but if yours were vigorous in previous years, they should withstand one year's frost toasting.
(Somehow, last Thursday's 25° morning failed to touch leaves or apple blossoms here.)

thank you. should I give it a good watering every few days?

[HoarfrostHubb]

34 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

Anyone who follows gas/oil 

WTF has been going on. Gas will drop like $.15 in a few week span and then all of a sudden jump up $.30 in two days. 

It's been somewhat volatile for a few reasons.  Speculation is always a big driver, but changing fomulations to "summer" blends and the anticipation of the summer driving season makes it a fun market (fun as in not so much).  

Crude oil is pretty low right now

[weatherwiz]

2 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

It's been somewhat volatile for a few reasons.  Speculation is always a big driver, but changing fomulations to "summer" blends and the anticipation of the summer driving season makes it a fun market (fun as in not so much).  

Crude oil is pretty low right now

Thanks...figured moving into summer blend had something to do with it...which I always found to be a bunch of crap and just a reason to drive prices up  but what do I know.

It's just so frustrating...there is absolutely zero reason for prices to be this high...absolutely none whatsoever. 

[HoarfrostHubb]

2 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

Thanks...figured moving into summer blend had something to do with it...which I always found to be a bunch of crap and just a reason to drive prices up  but what do I know.

It's just so frustrating...there is absolutely zero reason for prices to be this high...absolutely none whatsoever. 

The corporate bigwigs need their $$$     look at the profits

[SJonesWX]

3 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

Thanks...figured moving into summer blend had something to do with it...which I always found to be a bunch of crap and just a reason to drive prices up  but what do I know.

It's just so frustrating...there is absolutely zero reason for prices to be this high...absolutely none whatsoever. 

plus it is Memorial day weekend. Lots of people travel by car, so the prices almost always get bumped up  few days prior

[weatherwiz]

1 minute ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

The corporate bigwigs need their $$$     look at the profits

And there's nothing to really prevent it from happening :/ 

Just now, SJonesWX said:

plus it is Memorial day weekend. Lots of people travel by car, so the prices almost always get bumped up  few days prior

Oh for sure...but this cycle has seen to be going on for at least a few months I've noticed. Now my sample size is small (basing on a few gas stations in Springfield then down in CT but the past 3-4 months it seems like we'll get a drop in gas prices (closing in on $3 at times and even a bit below) and then within 2 days its up $.30 again...then in a few weeks it will drop into the 3.10's then within 3-4 days be into the 3.40's...and each drop is higher then the previous drop and each max higher then the last. 

 

[SJonesWX]

22 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

And there's nothing to really prevent it from happening :/ 

Oh for sure...but this cycle has seen to be going on for at least a few months I've noticed. Now my sample size is small (basing on a few gas stations in Springfield then down in CT but the past 3-4 months it seems like we'll get a drop in gas prices (closing in on $3 at times and even a bit below) and then within 2 days its up $.30 again...then in a few weeks it will drop into the 3.10's then within 3-4 days be into the 3.40's...and each drop is higher then the previous drop and each max higher then the last. 

 

been similar up here too. Around $3.30 is about as high as it goes, drops down to around $3, then creeps back up towards $3.30. it's almost monthy it does that

[weatherwiz]

2 minutes ago, SJonesWX said:

been similar up here too. Around $3.30 is about as high as it goes, drops down to around $3, then creeps back up towards $3.30. it's almost monthy it does that

It's like as soon as you get used to the lower price...boom its back up

I think I paid $3.77 in Windsor Locks yesterday and I was just about on empty so just over $40 to fill up. I feel terrible for those that take double that to fill up. 

[STILL N OF PIKE]

1 hour ago, weatherwiz said:

Anyone who follows gas/oil 

WTF has been going on. Gas will drop like $.15 in a few week span and then all of a sudden jump up $.30 in two days. 

Also Crude prices fell 3+% today as financial speculators repositioned their oil price “investments / bets” after Russia announced they will not cut back production of oil like “markets” (investors / gamblers ) were concerned about ..so if that holds it will trickle thru to further cuts 

also medium term ..as the economic outlook for Many country’s softens that would Get investors/ bettors to drive lower prices as lower economic activity would be in line with less demand .

Small perceived current and future changes to supply and demand often have a exaggerated response bc financial markets can receive a ton of inflows that moves prices (in a relatively modest size commodity market)  much more than would be the case from a strict supply/ demand Perspective . Happens with grain / food prices as well . 

[DavisStraight]

40 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

It's like as soon as you get used to the lower price...boom its back up

I think I paid $3.77 in Windsor Locks yesterday and I was just about on empty so just over $40 to fill up. I feel terrible for those that take double that to fill up. 

When that happens to me I'll put $20 in and fill up when I get back home. I always found your area to be cheaper for gas, not sure why Springfield sells it cheaper but when I worked out there, I'd fill up before I came home.

[weatherwiz]

15 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

When that happens to me I'll put $20 in and fill up when I get back home. I always found your area to be cheaper for gas, not sure why Springfield sells it cheaper but when I worked out there, I'd fill up before I came home.

Springfield is really weird with prices. I know it depends on station/area but some stations in Springfield are rather cheap (relatively speaking) and some stations are sky high. There is a Citgo and a Shell maybe a mile apart and the Citgo is like $.15 to $.20 cheaper. That just seems absurd to me. 

[tamarack]

1 hour ago, SJonesWX said:

thank you. should I give it a good watering every few days?

Like many garden plants, an inch per week is often recommended, whether it's from the clouds or applied by the gardener.  This month is something of a head-scratcher here for watering frequency - had 5.4" 4/30 thru 5/4 then only sprinkles for 15 days.  Then 1.8" the night of 20-21 and another 3 tenths last night.  Trees are less quickly water-stressed than veggies/flowers, though newly transplanted trees warrant watering almost daily as about 90% of their roots are left behind when dug for transplanting.  I transplanted several small (18-30" tall) white pines shortly after the early-month deluge, and watered them every 2nd day thru the 16th before traveling 17th-23rd.  Your oaks should be fine with the 1"/week total as the frost did no harm to the root system.  (Also, oaks as a genus are more drought-resistant than most other New England deciduous trees, though adequate water ensures top vigor.)

[SJonesWX]

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Like many garden plants, an inch per week is often recommended, whether it's from the clouds or applied by the gardener.  This month is something of a head-scratcher here for watering frequency - had 5.4" 4/30 thru 5/4 then only sprinkles for 15 days.  Then 1.8" the night of 20-21 and another 3 tenths last night.  Trees are less quickly water-stressed than veggies/flowers, though newly transplanted trees warrant watering almost daily as about 90% of their roots are left behind when dug for transplanting.  I transplanted several small (18-30" tall) white pines shortly after the early-month deluge, and watered them every 2nd day thru the 16th before traveling 17th-23rd.  Your oaks should be fine with the 1"/week total as the frost did no harm to the root system.  (Also, oaks as a genus are more drought-resistant than most other New England deciduous trees, though adequate water ensures top vigor.)

thank you for the detailed response. I have had similar rainfall distribution

the one I am worried about is in a low-lying area that is typically pretty wet. it is well out of the reach of a hose (about 500' from my house) so I'll dump water from a bucket around it every few days.

[Brewbeer]

On 5/25/2023 at 1:54 PM, DavisStraight said:

When that happens to me I'll put $20 in and fill up when I get back home. I always found your area to be cheaper for gas, not sure why Springfield sells it cheaper but when I worked out there, I'd fill up before I came home.

Springfield is on an oil pipeline that runs between Westover ARB and the Connecticut coast and has bulk handling and loading facilities.  

I almost always buy gas close to Springfield.