Post Race!

[Shaggy Hiker]

That's a nightmare? A nightmare would suggest you were asleep and dreaming. That sounds like normal life, to me. I expect my users to have only a vague idea of what they want.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I should add that I'm not really being all that flippant, there. This may be due to my unusual situation, but I find that pinning the users down on requirements is mostly used as a way to stall progress. They don't know, and forcing them to decide results in a worse outcome that is much delayed.

That may sound a bit odd, and it may also arise from my peculiar situation. I write programs related to fish biology, but I'm also a fish biologist. As such, I'm often at least as knowledgeable about what is needed as the users are. They tell me that they want a program to capture the results from X, and I can say, "oh yeah, I've done X, I'll write what would likely have been useful to me." If I coded in a field other than Biology, I might not have that viewpoint.

[wes4dbt]

Another 106 degree day. This is definitely the hottest year I can remember. Got the largest utility bill I've ever had. That was fun.

[Shaggy Hiker]

They have to pay for the fires.

[wes4dbt]

Actually my electricity comes from local hydroelectric not PGE. The dams are fairly low and don't go through the mountains. Don't think they've caused any fires. I have a pretty low bill compared to most but it fills like a lot to me.

[Peter Porter]

Here are a few Photoshops I did the past few days. The first two was for a theme called "that one time at the county fair": https://www.fark.com/comments/133479...ounty-fair#new



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[dday9]

Photoshops like this never cease to amaze me.

[Shaggy Hiker]

That second didn't need to be a photoshop. It could be a day in the life around here.

[Shaggy Hiker]

For the first one, while it is funny, those are light guns, not pellet guns, so there's not much reason to duck. I remember a place like that from when I was young. It was pretty fun...it was also free, which made it more fun. Lots of interesting things to shoot at that responded in interesting ways. I think it would get dull pretty quick, at my current age.

[Peter Porter]

For the first one, while it is funny, those are light guns, not pellet guns, so there's not much reason to duck. I remember a place like that from when I was young. It was pretty fun...it was also free, which made it more fun. Lots of interesting things to shoot at that responded in interesting ways. I think it would get dull pretty quick, at my current age.

I was hoping they would pass for pellet guns, but after I submitted it to Fark, I noticed part of the gun's cable was petruding from the handle base on the counter.

Original photo:

[Shaggy Hiker]

Not much of the cable is visible. I was actually thinking that it was just a really fine, black, cord. I didn't realize that you had removed the cable. Well done.

[Peter Porter]

I could've done a better job with this image. There should've been kicked up dirt and dust from the charging Grizzly. The hardest part was the work I've done to this guy's face.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I don't have a problem with the lack of dust. The ground looks more like lawn bordering pavement, so I wouldn't be expecting any dust.

[Peter Porter]

I don't have a problem with the lack of dust. The ground looks more like lawn bordering pavement, so I wouldn't be expecting any dust.

You're right. The lawn is bordering the pavement, so there shouldn't be any dust. But with the Grizzlie's claws scrapping up the lawn, he should've kicked-up a little dirt

[Peter Porter]

This is the second time I used Kirk vs Gorn in a shop. I had to use an AI to upscale Kirk's face. It was a late entry for this:

https://www.fark.com/comments/133283...gged-peaks#new

[wes4dbt]

Finally got a break in from the heat. Only suppose to hit 93 today. Time to break out the thermals. lol

[Shaggy Hiker]

I expect to get frost tonight, unless it is sufficiently overcast to keep the temperatures up a bit.

[dday9]

In August? You serious?

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yes. I'm camping in a place that has some strange localized weather properties. It's a valley at around 7,000 feet with peaks on all sides. Cold air sinks down into the valley, turning it into a little icebox. Frost can happen on any clear night throughout the year...except in the winter, when frost happens...all day every day. The coldest I've seen up here was -30. My moustache froze to my beard, and I couldn't get my mouth open until I had melted it with my tongue.

[dday9]

Holy smokes, that's insane.

[wes4dbt]

Yes. I'm camping in a place that has some strange localized weather properties. It's a valley at around 7,000 feet with peaks on all sides. Cold air sinks down into the valley, turning it into a little icebox. Frost can happen on any clear night throughout the year...except in the winter, when frost happens...all day every day. The coldest I've seen up here was -30. My moustache froze to my beard, and I couldn't get my mouth open until I had melted it with my tongue.

The things we do in our quest for happiness. lol

That's one good thing about being old, don't have the energy for self abuse. It's crazy the things I did when I was young. I'm very much into comfort nowadays.

[Shaggy Hiker]

The temperature didn't drop quite so low. It was in the 30s, but with a few clouds, it didn't reach the level of frost. Pretty nice weather, overall, though there was a fair amount of smoke Wednesday evening. The smoke had cleared out for the most part on Thursday, thanks largely to a change in the wind.

[wes4dbt]

Glad you didn't get frostbite. lol

Maybe you should think about being a firefighter. That way you could be walking in the wood and making money at the same time.

[Shaggy Hiker]

And breathing a whole lot of smoke.

[Peter Porter]

This photo was originally a rally car jumping, but I replaced it with a land Megalodon chasing after some surfers. I could've done better, but I wanted to get this entry in at Fark.

[wes4dbt]

What a nice change. Went from weeks of 100+ weather to multiple days in the 80's. Hardly ever have 80's in August around here. Usually high 90's.

Should be a big difference in the utility bill. Maybe I can afford that new Ferrari now.

[dday9]

Omg, the guy faceplanting and the other guy smirking. That does it for me.

[Shaggy Hiker]

The expressions were pretty on point. Did the original have those expressions, or did you adjust them?

[dday9]

@homer - did you know Scott Bloomquist? If I recall correctly, you did quite a bit of dirt biking.

[Peter Porter]

The expressions were pretty on point. Did the original have those expressions, or did you adjust them?

The running surfer was happily jogging until I changed it with another face. The guy who faceplant wasn't a surfer.

I had Dall-E 3 create the Meg. I wanted it to look like it's swimming through the Earth, not gliding over it.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Good job. The faceplant guy totally looks like a surfer, and the running guy has a very appropriate expression.

[Peter Porter]

Good job. The faceplant guy totally looks like a surfer, and the running guy has a very appropriate expression.

Thanks! I could've done a better job, but I didn't have time to do so.

[dday9]

Yesterday, a 7 year old boy in Montegut got off the bus. The bus driver, who was a substitute, didn't see him cross the road and hit and killed him. Apparently the mother was hysterical and the other kids on the bus were yelling at the driver that he had just hit the boy, but driver drove off. When the police finally stopped him, he said that he was having issues with his heart and that was why he took off like he did.

Montegut isn't far away from us. Makes me realize that I took my child's safety on the bus for granted.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Well, yeah, but I've never heard of anything like that happening. Very rare events still happen with a large enough sample size. You can't protect against every risk.

[wes4dbt]

Definitely no guarantees for anyone, young or old. The odds are really good you'll make through the day but no guarantee. Your kids are probably safer on the bus than when riding with you. People die in car wrecks daily and they weren't doing anything wrong. Wrong place, wrong time.

Sad story though. Always seems to have more impact when it's close to home.

[wes4dbt]

Crazy weather here. Only going to be 76 today. I don't remember the last time it was in the 70's in August. Of course at my age that doesn't mean much. lol

[dday9]

"Wes, it was 70 degrees last week. Don't you remember?"

[Shaggy Hiker]

We're going to have highs in the low 70s for the next couple days. That seems remarkable, but when I look back over the last few years, it turns out that something similar has happened around mid-August each year. This might be the most extreme version, depending on the noontime temperature, but it's not as unusual as it feels like.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'll have to keep that in mind. If I want to take five months to bike across the country, I need to get started fairly early if I want to still get across the cascades before it gets too cold. The deadline would be November 15th, or thereabouts, but I probably need to target about a month earlier than that.

[wes4dbt]

I'll have to keep that in mind. If I want to take five months to bike across the country, I need to get started fairly early if I want to still get across the cascades before it gets too cold. The deadline would be November 15th, or thereabouts, but I probably need to target about a month earlier than that.

That doesn't sound fun at all. Give me five month of a beautiful beach, reclining chair in the shade with a light tropical breeze. Add in some some good food and drinks, I'd be a happy camper.