Add a general, non-sailing forum?

What do you think about putting a forum in the Main Index that is for general, non-sailing stuff? A place where people can talk about politics, global warming, recipes, and also their non-sailing hobbies like gardening, bicycling, skiing, car restorations, woodworking, birdwatching, photography, etc.

Outstanding idea!!!!!

I second the motion.

Can you automatically switch posts that end up being off-topic to that new forum?

I think so.

i PERSONALLY dont mind the occasional non-sailing topic (i.e. global warming, electric car,) thread in this forum. If i dont care about the topic i move on... on the other hand.. i probably would NEVER click on a politics, global warming, recipes, gardening or birdwatching forum... but thats just what I THINK

Agreed!

Do we really want another PA free for all...

I really want to spend time on the forum talking about how to save the backyard pond coy fish. Let's start a thread...

Right, and I took up Wild Bird Feeding this year as a hobby at Put-in-Bay, that has turned out to be a Squirrel feeding hobby instead.
I would outsmart them for a while, then they would invent a way to get to the seed and destroy the feeder.
So, I would come up with another way to stop them. after a couple of days, they figured out a way to get by that.

I felt like Elmer Fudd v. Bugs Bunny. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
At last, a place to vent.
Rick

It's your show, but it won't solve anything. The anti free speech freaks will still become apoplectic when they see anything they disagree with. My biggest detractors will still, figuratively, foam at the mouth, and that's fun to watch in a train wreck kind of way.

If you'll notice, the threads with the most hits are always controversial. That seems to be part of human nature. You won't get many hits on the bird watching threads, I've tried, no one cares.

Rabbit Season! - Duck Season!, Rabbit Season! - Duck, ason!
Rabbit Season! - Duck Season!

I would not use the non sailing dept., and I never mix politics and/or religion with sailing - with almost nothing actually ;-).

It would be non-productive if disagreements on these non-sailing topics would affect the sailing topics/opinions.


Martijn

Solution for squirrels destroying bird feeders (and in my case, eating my house. Literally.)

A DIANA high-powered pellet gun, later followed by squirrel-and-andouille gumbo. Yum, yum!


How to make a roux:
http://www.gumbopages.com/food/ingred.html

Why do squirrels smell so bad when you clean them? The only thing worse is armadillo.

When you clean them? You need to use the wool program, not the cotton program, that will of course ruin them. Dont put them in the dryer, but centrifuging them at 750rpms is fine. Didn't your father teach you that? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Have never eaten squrrel, they are so small around here. Taste good?

The squirrels in these parts taste like Bubonic Plague, or so I've read. I'm not willing to test that theory.

Anybody ever heard of lemmings?
Forget the squirrels!! Everybody, please try to focus on the subject of this thread -- which, by the way, is a perfect example of a thread that should be moved to that new forum. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

See Rick about that. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I already did, and he has been severely reprimanded for hijacking the thread.

So do it! It could be a lot fun!

Will "the test" be transferred?

I think it is a GREAT idea. We all have a life outside sailing. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Doug Snell

Isn't this the "Open Forum/Discussions" forum already?

I agree with AndrewScott. If you don't want to read one of Tikipete's rants on how evil it is to do anything or be anything, or to think anything then don't click on it. Its pretty simple. Personally I like the discussions on here and wouldn't bother going else where to do so. Its not like it is a problem where there are more topics that aren't related to sailing than sailing.

Rick- shoot the little bastards. If you like birds then you don't like squirrels. .22 works well, 12ga if you aren't the best shot, mortars if you really can't hit anything, tactical nuclear when all else fails. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I think this exemplifies why you should not restrict, edit, regulate the threads. This is priceless... who knew you should use wool, not cotton methods on squirrels. Who knew they were good in a gumbo.

Even Rick and Mary come up with great side topics (while discussing if side topics should go elsewhere),...

I think its funny, and very entertaining... there is plenty of fact, theory, data and info here as well.....

Can't we all just get along?

Grandpa always used a 22 down on the farm. Much easier to eat when you do not have to pick out the buckshot. And yes, they do taste like chicken, dark meat.

BTW, we are not allowed to use Tactical Nukes anymore.

Caleb Tarleton
USAR Cpt. 59-67

mmmm . . . irradiated squirrel.

After a while, they get really smart.
Bazooka smart.

and once again Matt brings things DOWN a notch.


Ok, I laughed

Since we're off topic again, I about pee'd myself when I saw this:

No need to fix something that isn't broken. This is a good place to go for general information.

I go to the H14/H16 area for boat specific stuff and I can come to the open area for boat handling/racing/repair advice.

If I need random stuff (i.e. rocket powered motor cycles, squirrel cannons, and robots) I'll can go elsewhere.

No sense in giving the commedians a chance to go crazy.

Besides, the filters at work tend to pick up the general chit chat threads. I like coming here when I'm at work.

Rick, what you posted is a glass-half-empty perspective. Don't think of it as feeding the squirrels, use it as an opportunity to train them for more enjoyment!

I recall seeing a video (probably one of those funniest home video shows), where some people (I think in the UK) had trained some squirrels to go through a whole maze, including high wires, ferris wheels, etc. to get to the food. Extremely entertaining.

Of course, to satisfy the rednecks on the forum, you could rig a microswitch with some black powder to eliminate the little bastards when they finally get to the seed.

OK, maybe that was a bit much...

Mike

PS, Matt, you have entirely too much free time on your hands to be coming up with these pictures. Keep up the good work!

Hey, did I tell you guys about the time I went to band camp? We talked about politics and global warming, it really is true, the World is coming to an end and the evil doers are to blame and Suri sure is a weird name and I hate that new blue car general motors make.
SAILING........CATAMARANS..........hehehehehe, that's all folks!

Aren't there too many forums to begin with? Pile everything together.

Why does it take two Aggies to eat an armadillo?

One to watch for traffic.

Rick for real entertainment soak the seed in port and let em at it. I watched it done with possums eating bread soaked in port on the bank of the Murray river, they were falling out of trees onto boats, swimming, fighting, just like people in a pub its priceless. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Maybe it has to do with attention spa...

Did someone say varmints?

how were you guys embedding a youtube video in a catsailor post?

Awww heck...here's a link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CFaUlPHSY4

My point is this:

You don't tune into ESPN to watch Soap Operas.

I don't come to Catsailor to talk about politics. Politics and the issues surrounding them make me VERY angry. I mean, seriously, extremely, jekyll-hyde type transformation. I wont apologize for it, because I'm very passionate about it.

Secondly,

For people who complain about "too many forums already".... thats a ridiculous claim. From a search perspective, searching through the open forum is already a nightmare. As it is, threads don't get moved to their appropriate subforum for easier access. All these Nacra 20 threads need to go to the F20 forum where people can say "hey, I wonder where I could find information about my new Nacra 20... maybe I should look in the F20 forum... oh wait, its all in the open forum." Cleaning up the open forum is something that is practical.

That and it gives Pete his own sandbox to play in.

OMG!!!! THATS SOOO FUNNY (but wrong)

Rick,

I think Jake is really on to something with the slingshot squirrel remover. However, the squirrel will just come back if you don't provide a persuasive arguement for him to find new turf.

A trebuchet should do the trick (as well as the dog follow-up).

Dave, that seems like alot of work to excersize your dog.... couldnt you just let him chase cars?

I felt like Elmer Fudd v. Bugs Bunny. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
At last, a place to vent.
Rick [/quote]

http://www.deadsquirrel.com/

WOW, Those folks are really serious. The repellant sounds good, but recently, but using seed that squirrels do not like has worked. Also, I have the feeders now on steel posts and I grease the poles.
the birds are happier.

Mary now refers this thread as Rick's Squirrel Thread.
Rick

Nobody cares, Rick.

My father was sick of squirrels in his bird feeder he build for my mother.

He figured out something with running current through a metal rail connected to the house's main breaker.

I was like 3 at the time, so I don't remember the details.

Ohh but we do... look how much feedback there is.... about Ricks squirrels !!! (sorry Mary)




I want to see video of squirrels trying to climb a greased pole... or them building a ladder, or a squirrel pyramid to defeat Rick....

I believe the post with the most hits and replies is that "TEST" thread from way back. It has meandered through a variety of subjects, and currently is carrying on about "naming your rock band" which I find intensly amusing.

It just keeps getting better.... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

While I often find myself in heated discussions regarding this topic myself, I would have to comment that if you are DEBATING a topic, you should be leaving emotion out of it.

A debate that involves emotion is perhaps more properly labeled "ranting" or "fighting"...

I would think it's okay to be passionate about something, but you should not be disrespectful of others' opinions.

What seed do squirrels NOT like? I'm serious, please tell.

Although I have to say that the pellet gun solution has been quite effective. The squirrels literally avoid my yard, although they are elsewhere on the street. There has been the occasional young'n'dumb one, and he goes in the pot, and then it's just the birds again. Hot pepper in the seed didn't work, BTW. The critters just got used to it and kept on eating.

I wasn't kidding about the squirrels eating my house. There are chew marks in the wood in several places, they were getting into the house, and chewing the window frames. (this when we first moved in, the PO let it happen.) And when we tried the hav-a-heart one way traps, they chewed the metal and broke their way out the traps.

I can't see sense in waste, so I just skin 'em and eat 'em. And no, I don't find they smell any different than any other dead game.

I wouldn't mind did they just eat the seed, but they destroy the feeders and chew my house, they had to go.

I am not sure if this video contains the original but at least it is on the same theme.

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/squirrel-impossible-mission-p1.php

Solution to the problem is easy - a couple of well-trained gundogs! (proven). Squirrels, cats, rats, mice, foxes, badgers - all no problem. Although they must be trained only to go 'on command' or it will be a pointless exercise. Also, no need to be a marksman.

Cheshirecatman

They now stay away from feeders with safflower seed and thistle seed. The finches love both
I was putting out Suete in cages and they were disappearing overnight.., not sure if it was squirrels or racoons. So, the girl at the Wild Bird Center suggested using hot Suete. The birds can't taste it and the mammals can and won't eat it.
That has worked as well.

Belonging to the American Legion we just did a 21 gun salute at a memorial service for a former mayor. I was trying to steal the M1 to bring it home for the squirrels. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
Rick

410ga. works good for me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K2tXcVS45U

Uh Oh! I have more than Squirrel Problems.
Rick

There is your protest committee issue solved. Let him process any protests <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Wow, now I've got something to try, shooting a squirrel with a 30-06. (I've got a Garand Rick <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />) I bet if you hit it right it'll just explode.

Hey hey hey...mr. non-sailing post hater...the least you can do is stop being hypocritical and stop posting non-sailing related posts.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...how do you embed video!?


<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nomeW2FDDtM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nomeW2FDDtM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

We had problems with squirrels crawling down the power drop and building nests under the roof tiles. I took some 1.5 inch x ten foot black plastic pipe, cut a slot length-wise, and snapped it over the drop.

About ten o'clock that night I heard a bang on the deck. A squirrel had gotten about a foot on to the pipe and slipped off. That was the end of that problem.

I was never so impressed with the intelligence in those pea sized brains ... when I was living with my parents in Chattanooga, we had a bird seed / squirrel problem with a feeder that was mounted off the edge of a 2.5 story deck. They invested in a bird feeder that the roost post was counter weighted...anything other than a bird that stood on the post to get at the seed holes would be too heavy and a steel plate would swing shut over the holes. We laughed watching the squirrels dumbfounded at where the seed went when they jumped on the feeder....that is, until one week later. We saw a little tiny baby squirrel, who wasn't heavy enough to trigger the counter-weight, standing on the perch shoveling seed between his legs like a dog digging a hole. A glance over the edge of the porch rail revealed 12 adult squirrels eating it up as it hit the ground. Bastards.

Thanks to Rolf over in F16-land:

"Embedding video is really simple. When you make a new post or reply, first click on the "Make post" dropdown box and select "using HTML and UBBCode". Now on the Youtube page where your video is, copy the code where it says "Embed" in the righthand corner."

Aaha!

To be fair, it was Tony_F18 who posted the solution for embedding videos. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

But what does that have to do with squirrels<img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Oh please. If there was an off topic forum, then this would be right below TEST.

Jake,

Why is the crew not trapped in? He's using the dogbone as a handle it looks like... Is that the Hobie Way?


And I can see what it has to do with pansies, but what does it have to do with squirrels? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Nothing...but to get back on topic.....

10. Squirrels kill and castrate other squirrels.
Naturalists have discovered an alarming behavior among certain squirrels. A Male squirrel will invade the tree of an enemy squirrel and bite off the nuts of the young in the nest.

And you know this BECAUSE???????


Clayton

http://www.deadsquirrel.com/top10.html

If you need something to haul away all those dead squirrel carcasses, this might work.

http://www.wildfiremotors.com//index.php...t&Itemid=75

Check out the interior shot. This may be too basic, even for me. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

These are available from a dealer here in SW Florida. Designed in the U.S., built in China.

The interior looks pretty luxurious, compared to my car's...

But in this car, I don't keep track of Gas MPG; I have to check the Oil MPG more often! I've never had to "change" the oil, it's just a constant replacement process. It doesn't pollute, it's just on a quest to return the oil to the ground from whence it came!

ummmmm....ummmmm....aaaaaa.....ummmmmmmm (enough said) <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Oh! I forgot the tie-in... It may actually run on squirrel power. It always sounds like there are a couple of angry squirrels under the hood.

British motors always sounded like Angry squirrels with knock-knees: I have had 2 MG Midgets that the parts were always falling off from, like my beloved while-hated Austin-Healey 100-6. I thought seriously about putting a small modern Japanese engine and 5-speed tranny in one of them. Didn't tho.

Rick...

For your squirrel problem....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CFaUlPHSY4&feature=related

Hey Michael, we miss you hanging out at SSP.
Caleb
BTW, gave you a rating boost from one star.

Well, this thread is so broad now, I might as well throw some of my old music in here when I used to entertain from the late 60s to early 80s.

I managed to get the songs digitized from 45 and LP by a local DJ, converted them to mp3 and put them on the site in the Hall
Check them out, if you want at
http://www.catsailor.com/hall_fame/RickWhite.html

Now this is a classic:


Damn, Mary. You got some legs, girl! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Post deleted by Mary.

my dogs nose is cold and wet.

http://memberpictures.aol.com/aolvisions/naturesbest/2007winners

Too wholesome for words; guess that's why they're pictures.