Kris, I have missed you!I try not to do that too much, FB gets pretty darn toxic, opposed to most of the people here. I mean this thread and chicken friends are awesome, but I’ve seen some pretty nasty stuff here on BYC too (mostly the preadator and meat bird forums). So I don’t want to burden anyone, or seem overly negative, add in all of the overwhelm and… not good.
There’s also the fear of negative backlash from not portraying the expected positivity. Right before my big social media purge, we had some issues with flooding, and supply chain issues, which led to of course more panic buying and general nonsense here. So, being alone without transport, and off grid (yes, eventually even I run out of my carefully stockpiled fuel…) so they put a 30L (7 gallons) limit on gasoline. No biggie, if you can get to the gas station. Some of my FB “friends” were being obnoxious about people complaining about it. I (stupidly) thought elaborating on how it affected me might add some different perspective about things like accessibility and need. I got absolutely lambasted by this person, told I didn’t understand rationing, mocked, and called a stupid snowflake… all while dealing with DH in the hospital, being physically trapped by flooding, losing my pet, and a nasty little cold snap. Really kicked me when I was pretty down but still trying hard to stay upbeat, publicly at that, and then several of her friends (complete strangers to me, started in on me too). Just for trying to give a different perspective on the fuel rationing situation.
So, I did a massive FB purge, 300+ people unfriended, and most of them won’t even notice I am gone. Over 3/4 of my “friends” gone. I kept family, really close friends with shared interests, anyone who lives on the same (literal) island as me. The result? I’m not bombarded by a bunch of peoples opinions on everything, especially current “events”. I have more peace of mind, honest positivity, and feel better knowing if I make a post that isn’t all about fake positivity and “flexing” my lifestyle, the people who will see it are ones that matter to me.
Some Additional info about my living situation for any new friends here… I’m completely off grid, on an island with one, questionable at the best of times, road access to our side of the island. I run a Gas powered generator to charge my batteries for RV lights, the water pump, and electric heat when the generator is running. (RV is a mid 90’s model! So not a spring chicken or a three season either, because it’s “temporary”while we build our house). Being off grid, I stock up a little at every shop to keep a decent supply of basic stuff. So we don’t need to panic but when life sends us hiccups, not even TP! I usually have on hand about 120L (31 gallons) of gas, one (now two with my heater) jerry can of diesel, and we have 5 20lb BBQ, and 3 taller 30lb propane tanks (we also have a propane heater, fridge, stove/oven. When it became clear a resupply was going to be problematic, I immediately started rationing my supplies (we won’t even go into the chicken feed situation! I have a lot of chickens) and only treating myself to the bare minimum 1-2hrs of generator power to keep everything functioning. I went basically one month with no supplies or shopping, and oh boy, was it nice when DH finally got home with feed and gas!
Long story short FB is evil… BYC is way better.
I wouldn't be here on this and other parts of BYC (including some who post here who have their own wonderful threads) if it wasn't a generally rational, caring and respectful bunch. I would encourage anyone to flag anything on BYC that is otherwise. Seems to me that's the only way to curb bad behaviour. Let's show and enforce some boundaries...
I love it here, with people who are truly interested in how others approach life and life with chickens. This thread's sanity is very much due to Bob and I am grateful for that. Thank you, Bob!
and saw either the same guy or another push it open and about to go in before I scared it away. The last mile of the close, the last half-inch - was too loose, but in pushing the door open further there was resistance, so making the spring stiff enough to hold it tight was making it hard to get the Buckeye weight-to-treadle/ door-fully-open right. The maker is very good at answering questions and providing help and he confirmed the mechanism needs a stiffer spring than one without it. I decided I didn't want to deal with it further for now because training the hens to use it was priority so I backed it off so it would have no effect. When the resistance is too great for the chicken's weight the treadle won't reach the bottom and be fully open, the treadle will float and wiggle some, which is another new and weird-feeling, and potentially unsafe thing for the chickens to deal with.
You are too kind.
