You guys demonstrate my theory that cottonmouths are "passive-aggressive." Dangerous in that they don't move out of the path, often, and people who are not alert can step on them. Tales of them chasing people are usually highly exaggerated. This isn't to say it can't happen. Just that it's not a common behavior. My best cottonmouth story involved canoeing by myself on Rock Springs Run. I was in an area we call the Flats. Very shallow water, with a lot of grassy vegetation. Makes for slow canoeing as you try to glide through without digging up the bottom. I spotted a cottonmouth in the water, about 2 1/2 feet long, and close to the shore. It had a dead fish in its mouth. I don't think it killed the fish, but I can't be sure of that. But the fish looked REAL dead. It was a panfish of some type (bluegill, shellcracker, one of those) and quite wide, and this snake was trying its best to figure out how to swallow it. The snake worked its mouth slowly around the body of the fish, which was way, WAY too wide for it to swallow, and even tried to force it down sideways. The fish was probably ten inches long and no way was that snake going to get it down sideways. I let the canoe drift over fairly close, as I was enjoying the show. The snake finally began working its way towards the head of the fish, where it would have had the best chance to get it down, but suddenly noticed me or my canoe slowly nearing. If snakes could change expression, this one's eyes would have bugged out and his mouth would have dropped open. If they could talk, he would have been yelling "Holy Sheepdip! Where'd THAT come from??" He did a backflip away from the fish and took off for the weeds like a streak! It was so funny looking, I almost fell out of my canoe laughing at him. I always wondered if he came back later to finish working on the fish. But I didn't wonder about who was more scared by our encounter. He definitely was! Still...I am very careful on the river or in places where cottonmouths might lurk. They normally don't care if you approach them. I admire them, but I don't want to step on one or come face to face with one at any closer range than what I just described. I'm not NEARLY as brave as Wayne! Marcia

The discussion would be completely different if the machine wasn't still running except for an intermittent 'cut out' problem. It's life beyond this year is in question as well as every year beyond the next year after that. If anything this is an example of just how hard my job can be 'sometimes' and yet you guys come in here and fight me for it every day. Everything is a joke to you Ray? I just find it funny what people like to fight over. I view it as getting a customer by actually fixing something. That leads to it breaking again. The same thing can and does happen to new equipment all the time. Being able to fix things is a skill. I mentioned the 8 track tape. Who here has a record collection. Who here knows what a record is? The record went away because of long rewind times? ha, ha, ha.

in any ID post.. tell us where you are.. big city name...is wma supposed to be western MA??? the ubiquitous juniper is rather invasive.. in my MI.. birds spreading them everywhere.. and mostly under trees above where they can drop a prefertilized seed on a rest stop.. imo.. there is no question on that ID... its interesting.. because though i call it invasive.. it is native down south.. and the basis of the cedar fencing industry.. as well as cedar bark products.. and cedar mulch... see if yo start noticing them on the unmowed shoulders of roadways.. if you are rural... its a cute little babe that turns into a rather ugly mature tree... and its not blue when its huge... you can find much better named varieties.... and even plants better than the juniper... both can and should be planted in early fall.. when the other trees start coloring up... its means dormancy is near.. and its just about the best time to plant a tree of any kind... see section one.. and then the rest of this: https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub the picea.. should be planted 20 to 30 feet from the house... it will be a telephone pole tree ... it will not stay cute and tiny.. like it is now.. ask if you must keep it potted over winter.. it can be done easily.. or you can make it hard on yourself... ask ... ken

It's vinyl flooring, not linoleum, actually. That pattern was ubiquitous in the 60s & early 70s! It was in just about every home I can remember (my grandmother had it in a lovely aqua). I wish the manufacturers still made it. It would be great in a midcentury home kitchen/den area today. Here's a brochure I found on ebay: Armstrong Tessera Colron chip. But I think Armstrong had other lines that were similar, & the other popular brands had their versions too. https://www.ebay.com/itm/266037208213