Wapsi Square Forum

I hate to obtrude ugly reality - but i think i mentioned that i recently lost one of my oldest friends (forty-five years acquaintanceship) when he fell from his roof doing some sort of minor maintenance.

You naysayers have it all wrong! Didn't you notice his revision?

It is a well-known fact that most hare-brained ideas, many of which end up meritorious of the Darwin Awards, start with the statement: "Here, hold my beer and watch this!"

Obviously, wanting to avoid such a mistake, Hansontoons has provided his own beer holder (observe, at the top right of the image), so as to not have to pronounce those fateful words...

I therefore predict a resounding success for this endeavour!

Hansontoons wrote:Hmm. Interesting observations by Glytch and scantronb. I evaluated your concerns and determined what I felt was the best solution to the concerns. See revision 1.

lake wrangler is obviously well-studied in the art of make-do and realizes genius when he beholds such.

Sgt. Howard wrote:Look, I'm just three degrees this side of a rubber room, and what you sketched scares the crap outta me! Do something that keeps your feet on the ground... or inside your home.

Yea, verily!

There are better ways to end up, than giving the sardonic guy next door an opportunity to roll his eyes and drawl "Yeah... that went well."

Dave wrote:

Sgt. Howard wrote:Look, I'm just three degrees this side of a rubber room, and what you sketched scares the crap outta me! Do something that keeps your feet on the ground... or inside your home.

Yea, verily!

There are better ways to end up, than giving the sardonic guy next door an opportunity to roll his eyes and drawl "Yeah... that went well."

You'll see! He'll show them!

He'll show them all!!!

Mwuah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !

lake_wrangler wrote:Mwuah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !

Ahh. Indeed.

I believe I recall that's on page 37 of Bartlett's "Familiar Quotations".

Something about "the ten most common 'last pronouncements' of an overly enthusiastic madboy, just before he gets himself cremated, atomized, mulched, eaten by rebellious mucoids, or otherwise taken out of circulation in an extravagant fashion."

Ahem.

Remind me... Who is the mad scientist here?

I agree with the center-of-gravity observation. Another option is to set up a counterweight, but I would trust that a bit less.

(Wow, this is weird... I'm nitpicking instead of Lake... I've entered a bizarro world...)

AmriloJim wrote:I was also going to suggest a drone, but he may want to avoid spooking the subjects with a whizzing-buzzing-what-the-hell-is-this-ugly-hummingbird.

I've also seen a couple of boobtube vids of raptors attacking drones. I think anything flying too suspiciously might end up with battle scars...

And Hanson, I thought it was traditional to hand your beer to someone and say 'Watch this..."

Jabberwonky wrote:And Hanson, I thought it was traditional to hand your beer to someone and say 'Watch this..."

That's just it: by avoiding that "traditional" statement, he avoids the equally traditional ensuing fate...

lake_wrangler wrote:

Jabberwonky wrote:And Hanson, I thought it was traditional to hand your beer to someone and say 'Watch this..."

That's just it: by avoiding that "traditional" statement, he avoids the equally traditional ensuing fate...

Murphy's First Corollary: Knowing Murphy's law doesn't help; Murphy is self-referential.

GlytchMeister wrote:Ahem.

Remind me... Who is the mad scientist here?

I agree with the center-of-gravity observation. Another option is to set up a counterweight, but I would trust that a bit less.

(Wow, this is weird... I'm nitpicking instead of Lake... I've entered a bizarro world...)

We have a saying, for that, around here:

C'est le monde à l'envers!

I applaud the comments and concerns over my worthless hide! No way am I rigging such an Aggiefied contraption with the pivot points spotted by sharp-eyed observers!

Iffn I was really serious about a vantage point, I'd buy a deer blind with a/c, mini fridge, and comfy chair and then have a crane deposit it on my roof.

I still might go get a mo'betta lens.

A comfortable chair with a seat-belt, a bunch of helium balloons, a long sturdy rope, and you're good to go!

Jabberwonky wrote:I've also seen a couple of boobtube vids of raptors attacking drones. I think anything flying too suspiciously might end up with battle scars...

The Dutch government is actually experimenting with training raptors to target drones. They figure that if hawks and eagles are used by people to take out herons and wolves and whatnot, why not use them on drones as well? Apparently the biggest difficulty is protecting the birds' feet from spinning rotors.

Catawampus wrote:A comfortable chair with a seat-belt, a bunch of helium balloons, a long sturdy rope, and you're good to go!

Hey, it worked for the A Team, there's no reason it shouldn't work for him...

Hansontoons wrote:Iffn I was really serious about a vantage point, I'd buy a deer blind with a/c, mini fridge, and comfy chair and then have a crane deposit it on my roof.

I still might go get a mo'betta lens.

A better lens, a really fast shutter setting, a hang glider, and a trebuchet might be a workable combination... and safer than that ladder arrangement by far.

Dave wrote:

Hansontoons wrote:Iffn I was really serious about a vantage point, I'd buy a deer blind with a/c, mini fridge, and comfy chair and then have a crane deposit it on my roof.

I still might go get a mo'betta lens.

A better lens, a really fast shutter setting, a hang glider, and a trebuchet might be a workable combination... and safer than that ladder arrangement by far.

And bottle rockets, gotta have lots of bottle rockets...

Hansontoons wrote:And bottle rockets, gotta have lots of bottle rockets...

Somehow, I doubt that the old Menthos-in-the-Diet-Coke-bottles trick would be sufficient to propel anything...

The kids are alright. Rather bold this afternoon, standing around. Saw one of the parents earlier in the day being chased up the street by a Mockingbird.

We had a pretty good blow come through this morning, toppled some trees in the neighborhood, left .625" rain and put plenty of small branch/leaf debris on the ground. Wind gusts of 50+ MPH were reported at the airport.

I'm torn, between wanting to stroke the soft fuzziness that I know is there, and realizing that I'd almost certainly draw back my hand minus several fingers (at best).

No new fuzzy birdie pics today. The two yesterday were courtesy of a second day off work due to a cold/sinus thing. I would drag it outside to see if there was any action and managed to get a few shots from ground level. No fiddling on the roof.

So here's a Jasper. Looking noble.

Hansontoons wrote:So here's a Jasper. Looking noble.

Distinctly Peabody-ish to my eye.

She really is beautiful.