PowderBeard

Well ski season is wrapping up. I finally took some time to organize the Bass Pro Shops section of my basement this week. Gear is ready, next week will be prepping the boat. Hopefully get out later in the week as temps will be in the 50s and the ice is melting. Still need 3 more cases for swimbaits and flipping baits and have two other rods coming this weekend that Lews warrantied without an issue. The both broke just below the reel seats last season, which is really strange spot to break a rod. I really liked their customer service and will see if their rods hold up this year. Plan is the local puddles and rivers until Quabbin opens on April 18th, then we move to Maine early-mid June. Should be fun exploring some new areas up there.

Wish this would keep up. Fat flakes and covered in 20 minutes.

Calling it now. @HoarfrostHubb jack at 4-5".

The "what are you afraid of?" line at the end was pretty great. Instead Putin keeps sending in forces to assassinate him. And he can do this.

Check out Meg Kinnard on Twitter. I hope it's Ukrainian propoganda.

Building is definitely on fire now on the CCTV.

Was such a good severe spot I'm getting a "Belchertucky 4 life" tattooed across my lower back. It's insanity. Serious fire fight a little while. Just fire an Iskander in there, what is the worst that could happen? I still can't believe the Ukrainians took down an SU-34, first time due to enemy fire and that is Russia's top of the line stuff.

Maine, probably the Gray/Lewiston area, got an internship up there. All but the dissertation is done at UMass but the RAs will be collecting that data so we are heading out. Oh yea, remember all those closing costs. It's just a personal challenge to me at this point, I have been a bit lazy this year in feeding the wood stove and have gone through more oil than usual. The only time it usually runs is when we are away. The stove can keep the main house 70-72, back room where the stove is usually 76-78. I crank the stove then use the fan of forced air system to pump the heat throughout the house. If I don't then the stove room gets into the 80s. @DavisStraight, not sure if you know about them but I had a friend recently come across a 30" Elm Stove. It will be in safe keeping until we find our next long-term house. It is a beauty.

I haven't really looked since October and just about shat myself. We are just under a quarter tank and the house is going on the market next month. Woodstove will be going 24/7 now.

Definitely agree the low man is punished and some abuse it. The abuse of the system is what will ruin it for the many, or will force companies install some serious monitoring tech on your devices. I think it has also made some start asking- do we really need a 40 hour week in the office to get things done? For me, I was only in the office for 16 hours a week when covid started but all my work only took me about 8-10 hours to complete. I think it does benefit employees looking for new positions. In selecting my next position, all of the places I got interviews to had the same amount of work and same pay, but 2 of them offered remote work 2-3 days a week because they know not everything has to be done in the office. That was the difference maker in selecting where I ended up. It's funny to see the big Ivy league places still have openings for those positions despite interviewing hundreds of people.

All the traffic that went through the Chernobyl area kicked up enough dust that radiation levels rose slightly.

Those videos are wild, the fuel truck convoy one Saturday especially. Starting to see some targeting BUK and GRADs today.

I wonder if they had anything to do with Medvedchuk's escape.

I think lobbing anything, especially older weapons that are not guided with super high accuracy, into civilian areas is. Obviously, if it is similar to a Israel/Palestine situation and rockets are specifically put into hospitals and civilian areas, then it gets a lot more complex. Sorry to be so on the fence, it's the philosophy degree in me. Speaking of a notoriously inaccurate weapon firing into a civilian area. This morning it looks like lots of GRAD fire into Kharkov.

Thanks, some wild footage in there. I saw the video of the person driving around explosions previously and was curious if it was cluster.

Ticker should be RUBB for rubble.

Given the amount of pictures of abandoned vehicles not sure they have enough fuel to withdraw. Ukraine is getting a bunch of new tanks and vehicles! Also weather related, spring mud season is so bad the T-90s are getting stuck?

I should have said "partially made up." You got me. You win.

History tells us he alone doesn't have a red button. There are many people in the chain to launch them. Check out Vasily Arkhipov or Stanislav Petrov.

Not at all worried about that. Putin is just going to his "safety blanket" and stoking fear like he did in 2014. Launching thermobarics into civilian areas are the biggest threat imo at the moment. The armor is an easy target since the lines are stretched. Russians need to crush the resistance to save the armor, and that resistance is currently made-up of thousands of citizens in Kyiv making molotovs, running around with newly distributed AKs, and now this morning there will be thousands of new Javelins and NLAWs inbound.

Red dye on the Alexander II assassination site.

Given Germany's 180* turn and tweets from an Intel Committee member last night it sounds like US/EU are aware of whatever he is planning. Hopefully they can calm it down in some way.

There is a great line in the Chernobyl mini-series from Gorbachev that "the Soviet Union's power comes from the perception of our power," maybe we are seeing that and Russia relies on the fear of its nuclear technologies? This entire operation appears to have been a massive clusterf--- from the beginning. U.S. and EU intelligence knowing and sharing with the public the entire Russian playbook - so either some Russian higher ups are leaking or the communication lines are seriously compromised. Strategy wise, Russia has just been dropping Spetsnaz all over Ukraine unsupported and assuming they will get the job done. Now Kyiv is surrounded by hundreds of older tanks which don't exactly fare well in urban warfare. All Russia's superior technology seemingly absent, like the S-400 systems that were supposed to help them rule the sky within a few hours. And a lack of justification where you actually have most of the world, including the Taliban and Pornhub, in agreement on something. Putin is just so wild I wouldn't put it past him that this is a massive scheme to come back to the negotiating table a couple weeks later to make sure Ukraine, Finland, et al. don't join NATO. Or that he knows his time is almost up, has something health wise going on as multiple U.S. and EU politicians have hinted at, and is flailing to secure a legacy. Who knows, but Russia is looking quite weak and its citizens are going to seriously suffer when a loaf of bread costs 1,000,000 rubles.

Yup, the IL-76s are vulnerable. At least 2 down already and seeing reports of some sort of paratrooper disaster around Odessa tonight.