Friday Nite Check In (on Saturday Morning)

Yeah..., we suffered a power outage at 2:48 pm on Friday before I finished this post..., and it also shut down the Internet rain gauge at the Quillayute Airport down the road..., so I don't have anything but a guess to how much rain we received until about 8:00 am this morning when the power came back on..., a good guess would be close to another inch added to the 2.5 inches I noted when I drafted this post 😓

Well..., we got "a break" in our nice sunny weather and nearly drought like conditions today with a real good dose of rain.  As of 2 pm this afternoon we got 2.5 inches of rain with no sign of it letting up anytime soon.

I obviously did not have the "movie" function operational for this shot from this morning.

In last Friday's entry about Charlie Horse's issues I noted, "He still isn't churning up the pastures by galloping around and causing me more time replacing divots than cleaning up horse manure..., yet..., but I firmly believe that he will soon."  Would you believe that in a matter of an hour or two after I posted that..., he was doing a little galloping around..., and the day after he he was following me around and when I would get too far ahead of him he would come galloping to catch up.  The day after that..., after my siesta..., I went out to clean up and I see he was a little sweaty..., so he had been working out on his own a little..., hope I can get some movies of it to post soon.  Unfortunately..., I need some practice with the movie making properties of my digital camera..., here are my attempts..., along with a couple more pictures taken during the week.

Yeah..., I didn't realize that the movie was activated and I clicked it off by mistake..., so missed most of the galloping action.

..., and I was a little late getting the movie activated again..., live and learn I guess.

Here is another attempt on the day that he was putting on a little performance..., bucking and snorting and chasing Logan around..., until I got the camera out that is 😢

This is a comparison of last years Yukon Gold potato on the left and this years potato on the right.  I want to leave this years crop in the ground longer to toughen the shins like last years model.  The keep better with that tough skin.., as you can see this years model is already starting to turn a little green..., but they both tasted fine.

And here is your Friday Nite Music Video (on Saturday Morning) of the third cut on Cody Jinks' new disc...,

 

Friday Nite Check In

Once all those apple blossoms turned to apples..., the branches were nearly down on the ground. 

Well..., I figured that the horticulturists and arborists would be screaming bloody murder at me for trimming up the apple tree at this time of year.  I had always heard that you should do your trimming and pruning during the dormant faze in late winter or early spring before the growth stage begins..., but Charlie Horse developed a bad reaction to too many carrots around the Fourth of July weekend when the neighbors campground was busy and he started limping around and would barely walk.  

Years ago we had experienced grass founder in an old mare and ended up having to put her down when the farrier we had moved away.  The vet we had taken her too had only one recommendation..., put her down.  Our farrier called bullshit and I believe that he had her well on the way to recovery..., before he moved away. 

Not knowing for sure what the cause of the founder/laminitis problem was..., I ordered a grazing muzzle and fixed Charlie up a makeshift stall in our carport with plenty of hay for soft footing and laying down and keeping him off the grass in case the grass was the problem.  After a couple days he improved enough that I let him out for exercise purposes but the grazing muzzle hadn't arrived so I monitored his grazing time closely and increased it daily.  It didn't take long to realize that he was doing better every day no matter how much grass intake he had.

I knew that the neighbors and their children had been feeding him a few carrots but it hadn't bothered him any that I had noticed prior to this..., but as he improved enough to make his way over to that pasture area I kept watch and managed to catch the neighbors in the act.  I explained to them what was happening and the older gal knew about equine metabolic syndrome and voiced a promise to quit the carrot feeding immediately and forever more.  But a couple days later I caught one of their campground guests stopping..., and Charlie expecting a treat going to meet them at the fence.  When I got there they had their hatchback opened up..., and though they denied feeding him..., I am pretty sure what their intentions were and why Charlie had went to greet them.  Another day or so later a woman was walking her dog and Charlie went to greet her..., she didn't have anything to feed him but said she was glad I warned her because she had planned to return to the campground in September and had planned to bring Charlie some carrots upon her return.  I have signs posted along the fence line now.

Charlie Horse had a bad relapse shortly after..., it being so bad that he would try to take all his weight off his front feet and place his hind feet so far under him that I thought he was going to fall backwards on his butt.  Back into the carport stall with plenty of bedding for a couple of days and the same slow return to exercise and grazing.  I was pretty confident that I didn't need to employ the grazing mask..., and that has held up now that he is in recovery mode again.  Today he was bucking and snorting and chasing Logan around.

But I am worried that too many apples could cause the same effects that the carrots did..., I have four apple trees and for the three years we have had Charlie it hasn't been a problem..., but I tried to keep him from getting too many by keeping them picked up off the ground..., but those trees are getting a bit overgrown and he can eat apples right off the trees..., so I did some tree trimming this week.

The old Toyota Tundra is load with brush.., and little apples..., once again.

There really isn't much a vet can do about founder/laminitis..., no magic cure..., they can recommend the things I have already done and some things like only letting him out of the stall in a sterile area for exercise..., or soaking his hay in water for an hour..., and buying special hay..., and taking x-rays and telling you that you just as well put him down..., so save your recommendations about consulting a vet please.  Earlier this week Charlie was able to stand long enough for our new farrier to trim up his hooves and I think that has helped as well..., as I mentioned..., he is chasing Logan around now.  He still isn't churning up the pastures by galloping around and causing me more time replacing divots than cleaning up horse manure..., yet..., but I firmly believe that he will soon.

I have been calling these "crab apples" but Google Images doesn't show them as oblong like these and they don't get much bigger than these.  That is a quarter for comparison.

That's about it for now..., oh..., Google says:

Key Benefits of Summer Pruning

• Improved Fruit Quality:
  By increasing light and air penetration, summer pruning can lead to better fruit color, size, and overall quality. 
  
• Size Control:
  Summer pruning can help manage the tree's size and shape, preventing it from becoming too large and unwieldy. 
  
• Reduced Vigorous Growth:
  Removing excess shoots in the summer can redirect the tree's energy towards fruit production rather than vegetative growth. 
  
• Encouraging Fruiting Spurs:
  Summer pruning can stimulate the development of fruiting spurs, which are short, stubby branches that produce flowers and fruit. 
  
• Preventing Overcrowding:
  Removing crowded shoots improves air circulation, reducing the risk of disease and pest problems. 

   

I couldn't resist digging a few spuds for supper tonight..., they aren't seed potato quality..., but I am sure they will taste just as good.

Except for your Friday Nite Music Video..., the second cut from Cody Jinks "In My Blood" CD..., 

Friday Nite Check In

Well..., not much action to report this week..., the weather was warm and dry and basic chores taken care of.  I did get a couple of new CD's..., James McMurtry's "The Black Dog and The Wandering Boy" and Cody Jinks' "In My Blood".  It goes without saying that they are both good..., but I am having a hard time getting past Cody's lead song on the disk, "Better Than the Bottle" for a number of reasons..., I gave up the hard liquor many years ago..., and just several years ago managed to kick the cigarette habit for good.  But back in my younger days it was pretty much full bore pedal to the metal and who gives a damn, full speed ahead...,

So here's your Friday Nite Music Video...,

Friday Nite Check In

Yeah..., the little tree limbs were starting to hang a little low along the driveway.

Well…, I wouldn’t want you all to think that I spend all my summer days sitting in the shade drinking cold beer…, so I figured that I better provide a little evidence that that is not the case.

The brush was taking over the wire gate.

In a moment of sheer insanity my beerer judgement let me down and I decided that the ceiling in the driveway was getting a little low and the brush was ready to engulf the wire gate…, so I fired up the Blue Badger and filled up the Toyota Tundra with brush and tree limbs.

We have been lucky here on The Ranch with the weather so far this summer.  We got less than a half an inch of rain in June and about that in July so far…, but we have been spared the extreme heat usually associated with drought like conditions.  We are close enough to the ocean that we get cool breezes and overcast skies that have kept the temps in the mid-60’s for the most part…, though we did have one day when we hit 92…, and yeah…, that was a sit in the shade drinking cold beer day  :) 

Logan was the Front Line Supervisor.

My little rebel, Che and Charlie Horse were Second Line Supervisors..., and I think that is a duck backing up Charlie  :) 

The pictures of the Tundra all loaded up reminded me of a Head East album cover…, so here’s your Friday Nite Music Video…,

Friday Nite Check In

 The weather forecast for Tuesday was for the low 80’s…, but we hit 90 here on The Ranch.  Luckily there as a little breeze off the ocean that took the edge off the heat…, and the cold beer in the shade lended a helping hand as well.  The Garden appears to be happy about a little extra water from the sprinkler and isn’t complaining about the cooling down on Wednesday and Thursday and the overcast and heavy dew that has materialized on our Friday.

And I welcomed a link to this video via email from my friend Aaron Newman over in Idaho…, so I am using it for your Friday Nite Music Video…,

Friday Nite Check In

 

The Potato Garden was thankful for the half an inch of rain a couple  days ago…, it seems to like the rain water better than the well water from the sprinkler.  

I has been warm and dry for the most part this summer…, far from normal here on The Olympic Peninsula.  The town for Forks has already asked residents to volunteer to conserve water and other cities have issued mandatory conservation measures.  The forecast for the next week is for even warmer temps…, 80+ for a couple of days.

That sounds like a forecast for me to sit on The Front Porch and sip ice cold beer from The Saddle Bar(n).

Cheers  😀  

..., and of course..., here's your Friday Nite Music Video...,

"Summer Rain" by Johnny Rivers  😀

Friday Nite Check In

Fourth of July…, and I won’t be celebrating with any fireworks…, my dogs don’t care for them…, and that’s a bit of an understatement.  I hope the neighbors don’t put on any shows either.

I already had one dog take a long hike last week.  Little Bindy doesn’t usually get too far off the front porch when she goes out to do her business…, but last week the old gal was clear down at the end of the driveway where it meets the blacktop county highway.  She is the last survivor of the Tessa - Smokey litter and her hearing is bad and I am not sure how good her vision is either.  But I didn’t suspect that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s yet…, though it might explain why I finally had to go look for her when she didn’t show up after more than an hour.

I first walked down the driveway…, thinking that she was just over exploring the uninhabited house across the road…, but I saw a white spot beside the county road and I reluctantly walked up there to investigate…, and was relieved to find that it was just a paper plate.

I came back and got in the Tacoma and drove down the hill real slow…, watching the ditch line for sign of her.  I met one black pickup coming the other way…, and as I continued on down the road about a mile I see that black pickup coming behind me so I pulled off the road to let it by…, and it stopped beside me.

“Are you looking for a dog?”…, the gal driving asked. “YES !!!”…, I exclaimed.  Sure enough her male passenger was holding Bindy wrapped in a little blanket.  I said I was surprised that she let him pick her up…, she doesn’t evan like me to pick her up…, let alone a stranger.  He replied that she didn’t want him too…, but thankfully he managed it.  They said they found her another mile down the road…, and I was amazed that she had gone that far !!!

I still have no clue what she thought she was doing or where she thought she was going…, but I have been keeping a close eye on her since then…, and will be keeping an even closer eye on her this evening with the possibility of fireworks in the offing.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Fourth of July…, here's your Friday Nite Music Video...,

Friday Nite Check In

 I was disappointed that the passing of Bill Moyers was not a more news worthy event.  But I guess I don't watch much TV these days..., but I caught this on our PBS News Hour yesterday.

I began watching Bill's show on PBS back in 2012 every Friday night for three years and was always amazed at the quality and insight of the program.  Here is a link to the Wiki story about the program.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyers_%26_Company

Back in those days..., before Facebook..., I used to contribute regularly to a blog called The Agonist.  It had two face pages..., one where about everything that was submitted got published..., and the other was The Front Page.  The editors of the blog would elevate posts that they deemed worthy to The Front Page.  It because almost a ritual that I would submit a link to the Moyers show and a brief description of the content and usually a few quotes from the program every Saturday morning to The Agonist.  They were almost always elevated to The Front Page.  I was pretty disappointed when he retired that program..., but there is still a website that contains a treasure trove of Bill's work over the years..., here is the link.

https://billmoyers.com/

So...., here is your Friday Nite Music Video...,

"UPDATE" :  I found this tribute to Moyers on the Common Dreams website this morning...,

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bill-moyers-death

Friday Nite Check In

 

The Spuds are hilled up to the max now.

They are even about ready to flower.

Speaking of flowers..., these Fire Weed's are coming on strong.

Well…, The Potato Garden better take advantage of the longest day today.  I always thought that the 21st was the date of the Summer Solstice…, but Google says:

The 2025 summer solstice arrives at 10:42 p.m. EDT on June 20 (0242 GMT June 21). On this day, skywatchers across the northern hemisphere will enjoy the longest stretch of daylight all year. In New York, for example, the sun will spend more than 15 hours beating a path through the sky.

No, the summer solstice is not always on June 21st. While it is commonly associated with June 21st, it can also occur on June 20th or June 22nd. This variation is due to the difference between the Earth's orbit around the Sun and our calendar year, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich. 

Back in the 70’s and 80’s when I lived in Idaho we used to celebrate The Solstice on the Saturday closest to the 21st…, and it was always a delight when the 21st fell on a Saturday and I was thinking that it was happening this year…, until I checked Google the other day.  And now that I am retired I guess it really doesn't matter what day it falls on for me to celebrate it. 

So I guess this song from Bryan Martin “We Ride” will do for your Friday Nite Music Video to help celebrate…,  :)

Friday Nite Check In

                                            Facebook Fiasco

This is the message I now get if I try to log in to Facebook

I wrote and sent this letter below to Meta..., I also emailed it to three of the email addresses listed on Google.  I doubt if I will get any response from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) program that appears to be running Facebook.  I hope that enough of my FB friends realize that I did not "unfriend" them and did not just willingly drop out of sight with no explanation.  If anyone noticed and egregious violation of "Community Standards" or "account integrity" on my account before it was disabled I would appreciate it if you would inform me as to what it was..., because FB refuses to provide me with any details.

Meta Support:

It started on 4/15/25 at 07:56 with an email from Facebook saying:

Scott R., you have 180 days to take action.

Hi Scott R., Your Facebook account has been suspended. This is because your account, or activity on it, doesn't follow our Community Standards on account integrity. If you think we suspended your account by mistake, you have 180 days to appeal our decision. If you miss this deadline your account will be permanently disabled.

Two minutes later at 07:58 I got an email from Meta for Business saying:

Hi Scott R., We've noticed some unusual activity on your Facebook account and have restricted its access to advertising. Any ads connected to your account are currently disabled. To learn more, please review our Advertising policies affecting business assets. If you believe your account was incorrectly restricted, click the Fix issue button below to verify your account. You have until October 12, 2025 to fix the issue before the account is permanently disabled. We used technology to detect this violation and carry out this decision. Further violations of our Advertising Standards may result in your account being disabled or restricted.

Well…, I have never done any advertising on my Facebook page so I kind of ignored the second email but did check out the link to “account integrity” and tried to “appeal” the information on the first email.  The website for account integrity provided this information:

https://transparency.meta.com/policies/community-standards/account-integrity/

Policy Rationale

In order to maintain a safe environment and empower free expression, we restrict or remove accounts that are harmful to the community. We have built a combination of automated and manual systems to restrict and remove accounts that are used to egregiously or persistently violate our policies across any of our products.

Because account removal is a serious action, whenever possible, we aim to give our community opportunities to learn our rules and follow our Community Standards. For example, a notification is issued each time we remove content, and in most cases we also provide people with information about the nature of the violation and any restrictions that are applied. Our enforcement actions are designed to be proportional to the severity of the violation, the history of violations on the account, and the risk or harm posed to the community. Continued violations, despite repeated warnings and restrictions, or violations that pose severe safety risks will lead to an account being disabled.

I was pretty sure that I had posted nothing that was a safety or security risk, but there was no “notification issued to provide me with information about the nature of the violation” other than the very broadly based “Community Standards” or “account integrity”.  The usual procedure is to take down the content of particular post and issue a warning and a “strike”…., and after five strikes you entire account can be suspended.  I received no warning what so ever…, my account was suspended.  I tried to appeal the decision but that link took me to a page that indicated that my account was suspended and I would have to do a “Video Selfie” to confirm my identity to go any further with the appeal.  I didn’t think my lap dog computer had a camera to enable that…, but managed to get on a “chat” with a person/BOT and tried to explain the situation and the reason that I couldn’t do the video selfie and noted that my bank, or retirement account, or investment account or Social Security account was able to confirm my identity without a video selfie and questioned why Facebook need one?  After going round and round with the person/BOT he/it said that he/it did not see any “suspicious activity” on my account and closed the chat and I have not been able to do any more chats.  I assumed that the problem had been corrected…, but that was not the case…, when I tried to log in to Facebook…, I still got the page saying I would have to submit to the video selfie if I wanted to continue.  

On Google I found an email address to “appeals@fb.com" and tried that…, twice with no response either time…, I also replied to the Facebook email with no response.  

On 4/26/25 I got this from Facebook:

Scott R., you only have 168 days left to take action

Hi Scott R., We noticed that you didn't finish the steps to appeal our recent decision to suspend your account. We want to help you get back on Facebook, so we give everyone 180 days to appeal. You only have 168 days left to complete this, before your account is permanently disabled.

I replied to that email…, 

“I have sent two emails to "appeals@fb.com" and have received no response.

I also did a chat explaining that I cannot do the selfie video and was told that my account had been reviewed and no suspicious activity was found..., but my account has not been restored.

I have no clue what the heck is going on over there ????

Scott R.”

Needless to say…, there was no response. So after waiting patiently for over a month I tried the video selfie thing.  My computer actually has a FaceTime application that will enable me to do video calls with someone else who has a FaceTime account…, but I had never activated the app so I had my doubts that it would work for Facebook…, but it did work…, and after just a couple of hours I got this email from Meta Support:

Your review was unsuccessful

Hi Scott R., Your Facebook account has been permanently disabled. You requested a review of this decision, but we still found that your account, or activity on it, didn't follow our Community Standards. You can't request another review. Learn more about why we disable accounts by visiting the Community Standards.

I replied:

“I have never been informed of the specific activity that resulted in my suspension.

The "failure to follow Community Standards" covers a very wide range of possible violations.

I do not believe that I have violated any of those "Standards".

It is possible that a hacker has entered some such violations unbeknownst to me, but I have not seen any such activity on my page.

I have reviewed the Oversite Board Review process and would appreciate the opportunity to request such a review but I was not offered a "reference number" to do so.

I never received any "warning" or "five strikes" that are supposed to be utilized prior to disabling an account.

Please let me know how to resolve these issues.

Thanks,

     SRS”

At this point I am not sure what to do?  I seems obvious to me that Artificial Intelligence (AI)has been used to initiate all the actions taken so far by Facebook.  The posted operational policies have not been followed by informing me of the specific content that has been such an egregious act of “posing severe safety risks”.  If a responsible and logically able human had reviewed my account over the years it would be obvious that I am not the type of person who would issue such content and would see right off that I have not engaged in any “advertising” content.

It would also be obvious to a logical person that I must have been hacked by some sort of pervert who posted some kind of perverted content on my page.  

I would like to believe that Facebook would be as conscientious about protecting me from such abuse as they appear to be about protecting their “community standards”…, but sadly that does not appear to be the case here.

Disabling my account for something that I did not do and not explaining what you think I did does not seem like a proper business model to follow.  Please take a look at the issues…, and at the very least issue me a “reference number for an Oversite Board review.

I am a 73 year old man and lived for the first nearly 40 years of my life in a small northern Idaho town and graduated from high school there.  The remaining 30 plus years of my life have been in western Washington.  Facebook has been a wonderful way for me to reconnect with old friends and family who I had lost touch with for many years…, some of whom I had not seen or heard from since high school.  Many thanks indeed for that Facebook.  It nearly moves me to tears to think that I have forever lost touch with those old friends…, and the tears did roll when I recently read in the on line version of the old Idaho local paper that one of those old friends, classmate and teammate lost his middle aged son to suicide.  I have no way to contact the old friend and offer my condolences now that my account has been permanently disabled for something that I have no clue about…, and reverently believe was none of my doing.

Please help me resolve this issues detailed in this letter…,  as I have had no luck getting appropriate action by other means documented on your support pages.

I am mailing you this letter in addition to emailing support@fb.com, appeals@fb.com, and disabled@fb.com  due to that fact that other emails have been unsuccessful so far.

Respectfully,

Scott R. Spence

scottr@olypen.com

(360) 374-9721