Joe, The bar is there to keep the hole the correct size,I make mine 1-3/8" from the bottom of the hole to the bottom of the bar.The space above the bar is for ventilation.In these plans the bar is also being used as a hinge,the door(front of the box) would then lift up from the bottom.I myself prefer the door to swing down from the top.I only had the bar on the door,not going through the side of the box as shown in the plans,I then made my hinge on the bottom.I just used a seperate piece of the bar for the pin lock.For the bar and pin,I used a piece of 1/8"brass welding rod,but am sure you could use any 1/8"rod you can find,maybe aluminum.I guess you could have the bar like in the plans and still have your hinge on the bottom,but you would have to fish the bar through all the holes every time you opened the box. Matt

Hi Jordan, Well, I think only 2 of the babies made it out alive. One day I looked out and there was a larger baby and a smaller one on the porch floor. The smaller one was barely alive. I put them both back in the nest. A couple days later, I think the smaller baby was dead on the ground. I found another bigger one on the porch floor, and put it back in. The other day I looked into the basket, and there were 2 bigger babies and one dead one. The very next day the bigger ones were gone. I hope they fledged. I'm thinking it might not be the best location for a chickadee nest. Seems like more of them should have survived.........but you never know.

If you're looking for local authentic food in Dubrovnik, look no further than a seafood restaurant. Prawns are very popular (locally called skampi), and you can either get them grilled or "na buzaru", meaning stewed in a tomato-based sauce. Grilled squid, octopus salad, whole grilled fish, squid ink risotto, brudet (an acidic tomato based fish stew, served with polenta), etc. As for meat, anything grilled is typically good but spit-roasted lamb is a local delicacy and popular. Also, anything cooked "ispod peke", or "pod pekom" is to die for. It's a method of slow-cooking where the cooking vessel is covered by a clay dome and coals/ashes are piled on top of the dome. The food falls apart and the taste/texture is out of this world. Try the local prosciutto (prsut) and any local cheeses. The most famous croatian cheese is a sheep's milk cheese from the island of Pag (called Paski sir), but anything local is going to rock your socks. Also, look out for figs. they're everywhere and cheap. Croatians are flabbergasted that figs cost a small fortune in this county :) And eat as many local tomatos as you can, because nothing I've tasted in this country comes close. Check out the local food markets, typically called "pijaca" but be prepared to get there early. For quick, cheap grub, cevapcici are the way to go as others have mentioned. They're grilled ground lamb/veal patties served on a pita, usually with chopped onion and a condiment called ajvar (red pepper & eggplant puree served with everything like ketchup, but tons better). Sorry for the stream of concsciousness but it's too hard to explain a country in a paragraph :) And as for burek, it'll give you a heart attack but it's well worth it. I never had the meat-stuffed kind, but I love the cheese and apple versions. And no meal would be complete without turkish coffee (not the same as espresso), and palacinke. And find an ice cream (gelato) shop -- amazing stuff.

Ah, the world of work. It's a crazy place. I remember when we had a meeting in a room that had a glass window to the hallway. The snacks for our meeting break were on a table in the hallway, thoroughly covered and wrapped. It was obviously not meant for passersby. During the entire meeting we watched as people walking down the hall helped themselves. At first they just kind of wiggled a finger under the plastic wrap. As that got looser, they went in for a little more. each person unwrapped it further and pretty soon it was a feeding frenzy out there. I was pretty appalled by it, although those of us in the meeting room who were facing the window were in hysterics at the comedy of it all. The people with their backs to the window couldn't understand what we were laughing at. Then when our meeting took a break and went out to eat what was left, we could see people peeking around corners for us to leave so they could swoop in for the remainders. After that we kept the snacks in the meeting room. Frankly I wished things like showers, retirement parties, birthdays, etc. would take place outside of work. They are such time wasters and you feel as if you must participate. I wish no one ever brought doughnuts and cookies and candy to work. It is so hard to resist when you have to walk past it a hundred times a day. Outside of work I would never eat a doughnut, but when I can see and smell them I eat three. And don't get me started on all those people taking up collections for someone;s retirement party, engagement party, wedding party etc. I am sure over all the years of my career I shelled out a thousand dollars or more. I was already married (and divorced!) and had kids when I went to work, so there was no payback. I left when my job was eliminated (and then decided to retire), so there was no goodbye party either. When I worked for a small nonprofit there was no budget for parties. Since I had one of the highest level positions, I felt compelled to buy most of the goodies. Leadership, and all that. Every birthday set me back $50. I'd load up on frozen TJs desserts rather than expensive bakery items. Oh well, I am just glad I don't have to haul myself off to all that craziness again. I like the idea of putting names on each donated items so those who are eating and not donating may feel awkward (but I doubt it).