Welcome to the AppalachianTrailCafe.net!
Take a moment and register and then join the conversation

And In Other News

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      I dragged our family, wife and one kid at the time, to Holland for 6 months. My son was 3 at the time and it was interesting when he'd play with the neighborhood kids as they didn't speak English and he didn't speak Dutch. But somehow it worked out fine as they all spoke "childish". I'd go back to Holland in a heart beat, nice people and a nice country with a lot to see and learn about.
      From age 1 to 2 my oldest son lived in Brazil. At 2 he did not really speak either English or Portuguese, but he understood both. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I won't be painting as I go, but I would like to take a shot at the Long Trail by the time I am 64. :)
      Fear is that it will be as tough as, or tougher than the Whites.

      At least I know I can knock out the first 100 miles. And then after a night at Inn at Long Trail the "real fun/challenge" would begin. :/
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Astro ().

    • LIhikers wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      Yes, I would say England and Scotland should count as 2, Wales as a third if you had the opportunity to make it there. :) My wife loved the farm stay so much we had in Wales (four children 7 and under at the time), that we altered our plans and stayed an extra day. Had a great time other than on the last day when my 3 year old was trying to feed the free range chickens (unfortunately fertilizer instead of chicken feed).
      Been to England twice and Scotland once. Wales is near the top of our list of places to go. Maybe after another trip to Paris followed by Southern France. We really liked Paris (am I the only one), but were only there for a few days and didn't see any other parts of the France. I don't speak any foreign languages (other than Biochemistry) but I know more words in French than any other language and am reasonably proficient at restaurant menu French. I'm not even going to try Welsh. Can you say llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?Glad to hear I am not the only one to drag a family through Europe. We took our three kids on a trip to England, Netherlands, Belgium, and Paris. Then another with two of them to Ireland. We stayed at a great B&B outside Leterfrack where we got caught in the middle of a pub brawl. I couldn't tell if they were speaking Gaelic or English with a drunk-Irish accent, but the little guy said something to piss off the big guy and they went flying across the room and landed right on top of our table. The next morning our B&B host said matter of factly "There must have been a funeral. After funerals, everyone goes to the pub and gets into fights." I said "You do know you are not doing much to dispel Irish stereotypes, don't you?"
      I dragged our family, wife and one kid at the time, to Holland for 6 months. My son was 3 at the time and it was interesting when he'd play with the neighborhood kids as they didn't speak English and he didn't speak Dutch. But somehow it worked out fine as they all spoke "childish". I'd go back to Holland in a heart beat, nice people and a nice country with a lot to see and learn about.
      I have a neat story about the Netherlands. Before my 2004 visit, I was looking through my global corporate phone directory and picked a fellow engineer out of the names in our Dutch factory. His family name had the same last four letters as mine and I guessed (correctly) that there was some significance. I asked him a bunch of questions related to transportation within the country and we kept corresponding after the trip.

      After sharing my first few AT hiking journals, he got inspired to hike the North Sea Trail from Belgium to Germany. And then he got inspired to create a book from his photos, adding in geographical and historical information on the Dutch people's relationship with the sea.



      A year or so later, he got inspired to create an English-language version and yours truly served as the translator / editor.



      So I have never been to the actual seaside of the Netherlands, but I now know more about the coastal history and the creation of the Delta Works flood control project than some Dutch folks. :)
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • I've thought about taking up sketching again and doing some pencil drawings while I hike. There was a lady who hiked the PCT a few years back and did sketches in colored pencils as she hiked that were really good. I haven't done any artwork since late middle school when I stopped art and started architecture.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • IMScotty wrote:

      Stalking Tortoise,

      RE: Seaside of the Netherlands

      Great Story!
      agree. We visited a sealife rescue center on the coast during our short trip to northern Netherlands. Also learned from a friend at work that names ending -sma were from Freisland. Of course we live in the middle of the biggest community of Dutch-Americans so we see lots of Dutch names. Always thought it would be tough to have the name DeWeerd.
    • odd man out wrote:

      IMScotty wrote:

      Stalking Tortoise,

      RE: Seaside of the Netherlands

      Great Story!
      agree. We visited a sealife rescue center on the coast during our short trip to northern Netherlands. Also learned from a friend at work that names ending -sma were from Freisland. Of course we live in the middle of the biggest community of Dutch-Americans so we see lots of Dutch names. Always thought it would be tough to have the name DeWeerd.
      My Dutch friend Paul and I share the 'stra' ending. We're also Frieslanders. As I walked around the town that my great-grandfather emigrated from, I smiled at all of the 'stra' names on businesses.
      Trudgin' along the AT since 2003. Completed Sections: Springer Mountain to Clingmans Dome and Max Patch NC to Gorham NH

      "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations...those are pretty good days." Ray Wylie Hubbard
    • max.patch wrote:

      I didn't watch -- after Trump made a mockery of the first debate what's the point -- but I thought the USA Today headline was creative. Doesn't look like I missed anything.


      Presidential debate: Donald Trump lies like a rug; Joe Biden fails to step all over it
      Obvious they didn't watch it either. :rolleyes:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I have reported and blocked more spam texts -- from both sides of the aisle; zero tolerance for that stuff -- in the last month than I have in my entire life up til now. Doesn't do as much good as it should -- I recognize the same texts being sent using a different number.
      2,000 miler
    • IMScotty wrote:

      This is terrible. There are too many stupid, rotten, a-holes in the world...

      citizen-times.com/story/news/l…a3P95rBOJpwL2KVtlNq7_4NuA
      Back 30 years ago locals strung fish hooks across the trail at eye level in the Roan Mountain area IIRC. Not aware of anyone actually being injured as a result; just scared. Locals were afraid the govt was going to take their land to create a 500 ft buffer around the trail.
      2,000 miler
    • Costco to stop selling coconut milk becasue their supplier uses monkey slave labor to pick the coconuts.

      From USA Today:

      <snip>

      "Don't expect to find coconut milk on Costco shelves on your next shopping trip.

      The retailer is the latest pledging not to stock coconut products from Thai suppliers who have been accused of using monkeys as forced labor, officials from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals exclusively told USA TODAY.

      "No kind shopper wants monkeys to be chained up and treated like coconut-picking machines," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. "Costco made the right call to reject animal exploitation, and PETA is calling on holdouts like Kroger to follow suit."
      2,000 miler
    • Max,

      This I did not know. Bought some Thai Coconut Milk this weekend because I made a nice Butternut Squash and Coconut Milk soup. After I made it, I desired some texture, so I added peppers, cauliflower and wild & brown rice.


      Looks like next time I will have to buy the Goya brand Coconut milk.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • I made Butternut squash soup last weekend - never used coconut milk. I cut the squash in half lengthwise and place face down in a little olive oil in a baking dish and roast until soft and skin is starting to char (a couple hours). I saute a chopped up apple with onion in butter in a soup pot until soft. Add the roasted squash with can a chicken broth, some Madras curry powder, cinnamon, milk, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Puree with a hand blender. It comes out very thick and creamy (my wife does not like thin soups). You could almost eat it with a fork.
    • I don't care who you are or who you're gonna vote for, this should piss you off as much as it does me.

      From the Atlanta newspaper:

      "Sick voters or those exposed to COVID-19 can vote on Election Day

      Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other voters who are quarantining themselves because of COVID-19 can still vote in person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday."

      (This is a change from the previous guidelines.)

      Background: Our Gov. went to a couple rallies on Tuesday where he had close exposure to another polititian who tested positive for Covid. He is in 14 day quarantine. He then applied for an absentee ballot but there is no way it will arrive on time. And today the CDC comes out with this. Coincidence?
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 2 times, last by max.patch ().

    • Max-Patch,

      The whole issue does raise interesting questions. Everyone should have the opportunity to vote, so is there a reasonable way to accommodate people quarantining with Covid that still work within whatever the preexisting election laws were in Georgia? I do not have an answer to this.

      But it makes me wonder what happened with all the people who were sick in hospitals or nursing homes in previous elections? I know in my town there are all sorts of partisan and non-partisan volunteers who help people get to the polls if they need a ride or some assistance. But my guess is that up till now the people who were not well enough to show up in person basically lost their chance to vote. Maybe that is what should happen in this case.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • IMScotty wrote:

      The whole issue does raise interesting questions.



      But it makes me wonder what happened with all the people who were sick in hospitals or nursing homes in previous elections?
      Good questions that I don't have an answer for.

      For people in the hospital I suspect that, for both this and prior elections, the great majority will not vote.

      Nursing homes have had a variety of work arounds to allow their residents to vote in the past, however, many of those are not possible or practical in the current environment. For example, nursing homes will not be driving their residents to the polls this year -- many (all?) require residents to quarantine for a period of time before returning to the nursing home if they leave the facilities.
      2,000 miler
    • And we have a new leader; the most watched video ever on youtube is now Baby Shark with a hair over 7 billion views.

      I'd post the video but I'm sure y'all have already seen it. :)

      Edit to add: According to google, the worlds population is 7.8 billion -- so they are still a few holdouts out there.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      And we have a new leader; the most watched video ever on youtube is now Baby Shark with a hair over 7 billion views.

      I'd post the video but I'm sure y'all have already seen it. :)

      Edit to add: According to google, the worlds population is 7.8 billion -- so they are still a few holdouts out there.
      So just out of curriousity what video did it pass?
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • LIhikers wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      And we have a new leader; the most watched video ever on youtube is now Baby Shark with a hair over 7 billion views.

      I'd post the video but I'm sure y'all have already seen it. :)

      Edit to add: According to google, the worlds population is 7.8 billion -- so they are still a few holdouts out there.
      I must be one of the holdouts cause I have no idea
      I didn't really know about it until one of the Washington National baseball players started using it as his walk up song. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      And we have a new leader; the most watched video ever on youtube is now Baby Shark with a hair over 7 billion views.

      I'd post the video but I'm sure y'all have already seen it. :)

      Edit to add: According to google, the worlds population is 7.8 billion -- so they are still a few holdouts out there.
      So just out of curriousity what video did it pass?
      I have no idea what is special about this video that would cause 7 billion people watch it -- I've never even heard of the guy.

      The King is dead...

      2,000 miler
    • LIhikers wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      And we have a new leader; the most watched video ever on youtube is now Baby Shark with a hair over 7 billion views.

      I'd post the video but I'm sure y'all have already seen it. :)

      Edit to add: According to google, the worlds population is 7.8 billion -- so they are still a few holdouts out there.
      I must be one of the holdouts cause I have no idea
      Long live the King...

      2,000 miler
    • Yesterday -- Monday -- voters received in their mail a notification from DeKalb County (near Atlanta) that 32 voting precincts had changed. This is the day before the election. They were mailed last Wednesday. When asked why they waited so long to notify voters, they responded that they had properly advertised the change in the counties legal newspaper (who reads that?) and placed ads on social media. :( Dekalb is a majority black county which may or may not be a coincidence.

      And in other news, Gov Kemp somehow received his absentee ballot in Mondays mail (no one thought that would be possible) so now he doesnt have to decide if his vote is important enough to go to the polls in person and potentially pass the virus on to someone.
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 2 times, last by max.patch ().

    • Early voting last week even after work only 20 minutes (would probably been less than half that if all the workers/volunteers were not Senior Citizens and having to sterilize the booths between voters).
      Voted to keep my $1.59 gas, hamburgers, and 401K gains over the past 4 years. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General