OT: General OT Thread [NO POLITICS, RACE OR RELIGION]

[WeekapaugGroove]

Any Bearded Dragon owners out there?

Our 5 year old has been begging for one (we are the main caretakers but she has been really enjoying learning some stuff and doing the things to help) she earned $250 for a study at my wifes workplace and she really wanted to use it towards one. (Yes, we know its a long term commitment, mama and myself have been wanting one forever so secretly its for us too lol)

Got our setup in a 36x18x18 tank. Kinda wish we went bigger for future but we can always upgrade I suppose. Have a basking light, UBV light, thermometer/humidity meters, supplements, light timer power strip etc. Hes only a few weeks old and we have the turf style substrate and have a sandy rocky substrate that is not loose.

Basically curious, am I doing this right? Lol

Best recommendations for a night heater? Ceramic sounds best? Looking for a good thermostat for it though because the room stays about 70F.

Best substrate?

Can you do natural plants?


We put aluminum foil on top if the metal grate (lights mount to bottom of grate) and that seems to keep everything at a perfect temp with cool zones. Is that a good option? Looks a bit silly but it works for now otherwise the heat just gets the basking spot and my thermometer doesnt seem to get much above 72 unless its in basking. I did order a heat gun to be more accurate as once I'm homed in I should be good since our home maintains pretty constant temps.

Thanks in advance!

Man what timing, my daughter is turning 7 in April and wants a lizard or a turtle for her birthday. We're leaning towards a Bearded Dragon because they seem a little more sturdy than some of the others. Good info!

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[buckboy]

Just a warning on any lizards that eat crickets. It's a total pain in the ass. Crickets make noise, they get out and roam around your house and they STINK to high heaven. And of course you have to go buy them all the time (they die fast).

FYI.

[Gianstoppable]

Just a warning on any lizards that eat crickets. It's a total pain in the ass. Crickets make noise, they get out and roam around your house and they STINK to high heaven. And of course you have to go buy them all the time (they die fast).

FYI.

Yeah we wont be long with crickets. Once we can get to meal worms and super worms we will be going that route, might even end up starting our own little farm for them, seems easy enough. Crickets are fun to watch them eat though because they stalk them. They do stink but I havent heard these ones make a peep strangely. And yeah they are cannibals so never keep too many in one spot or they will eat each other. Crazy critters.

[Gianstoppable]

Any Bearded Dragon owners out there?

Our 5 year old has been begging for one (we are the main caretakers but she has been really enjoying learning some stuff and doing the things to help) she earned $250 for a study at my wifes workplace and she really wanted to use it towards one. (Yes, we know its a long term commitment, mama and myself have been wanting one forever so secretly its for us too lol)

Got our setup in a 36x18x18 tank. Kinda wish we went bigger for future but we can always upgrade I suppose. Have a basking light, UBV light, thermometer/humidity meters, supplements, light timer power strip etc. Hes only a few weeks old and we have the turf style substrate and have a sandy rocky substrate that is not loose.

Basically curious, am I doing this right? Lol

Best recommendations for a night heater? Ceramic sounds best? Looking for a good thermostat for it though because the room stays about 70F.

Best substrate?

Can you do natural plants?


We put aluminum foil on top if the metal grate (lights mount to bottom of grate) and that seems to keep everything at a perfect temp with cool zones. Is that a good option? Looks a bit silly but it works for now otherwise the heat just gets the basking spot and my thermometer doesnt seem to get much above 72 unless its in basking. I did order a heat gun to be more accurate as once I'm homed in I should be good since our home maintains pretty constant temps.

Thanks in advance!

Man what timing, my daughter is turning 7 in April and wants a lizard or a turtle for her birthday. We're leaning towards a Bearded Dragon because they seem a little more sturdy than some of the others. Good info!

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

Wow that's funny timing! We told our daughter she might be moving away from home and bringing this fella with. My buddys brother bought one thinking 5-8 years, lived 22 years lmao.

[humanrefutation]

Anyone have any recommendations related to vacationing in Hawaii? My wife and I are thinking about heading there in May - probably flying into Honolulu.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Any Bearded Dragon owners out there?

Our 5 year old has been begging for one (we are the main caretakers but she has been really enjoying learning some stuff and doing the things to help) she earned $250 for a study at my wifes workplace and she really wanted to use it towards one. (Yes, we know its a long term commitment, mama and myself have been wanting one forever so secretly its for us too lol)

Got our setup in a 36x18x18 tank. Kinda wish we went bigger for future but we can always upgrade I suppose. Have a basking light, UBV light, thermometer/humidity meters, supplements, light timer power strip etc. Hes only a few weeks old and we have the turf style substrate and have a sandy rocky substrate that is not loose.

Basically curious, am I doing this right? Lol

Best recommendations for a night heater? Ceramic sounds best? Looking for a good thermostat for it though because the room stays about 70F.

Best substrate?

Can you do natural plants?


We put aluminum foil on top if the metal grate (lights mount to bottom of grate) and that seems to keep everything at a perfect temp with cool zones. Is that a good option? Looks a bit silly but it works for now otherwise the heat just gets the basking spot and my thermometer doesnt seem to get much above 72 unless its in basking. I did order a heat gun to be more accurate as once I'm homed in I should be good since our home maintains pretty constant temps.

Thanks in advance!

Man what timing, my daughter is turning 7 in April and wants a lizard or a turtle for her birthday. We're leaning towards a Bearded Dragon because they seem a little more sturdy than some of the others. Good info!

Sent from my SM-G986U using RealGM mobile app

Wow that's funny timing! We told our daughter she might be moving away from home and bringing this fella with. My buddys brother bought one thinking 5-8 years, lived 22 years lmao.

I live in AZ so a desert tortoise is an option but that's like a 50+ year commitment lol. They're cool though, one of my neighbors has one.

She really likes turtles but they seem harder to care for. Likely going the bearded dragon route.

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[WeekapaugGroove]

Anyone have any recommendations related to vacationing in Hawaii? My wife and I are thinking about heading there in May - probably flying into Honolulu.

Only place I've been is kauai. It was really pretty and a nice chill family spot. We did an ATV ride up in the mountains, that was super fun.



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[MikeIsGood]

This isn't the exact tour that I did, but swimming under the waterfalls in this region/on a similar tour is quite possibly my favorite life experience. This is on Big Island.

https://www.hawaii-forest.com/tours/kohala-waterfalls-adventure/

EDIT: Oh, another top memory - this one from Maui. Sunset on top of Mt. Haleakala, where you watch as the sun sets through the clouds.

https://adventuremaui.com/haleakala_sunset_tour.htm

[BUCKnation]

Anyone have any recommendations related to vacationing in Hawaii? My wife and I are thinking about heading there in May - probably flying into Honolulu.

Been to Hawaii, mainly Oahu, numerous times. Would rec a few days in Waikiki, but renting a car so you can drive around, its small enough where you can see a lot in just a casual afternoon drive. Tons of great asian food and other restaurants in Waikiki and surrounding areas, which is why I rec it as a central spot. Staying on the north shore isnt a bad idea either, its much quieter.

Kualoa ranch or the dole plantation are great touristy spots to check out. Hiking diamond head is easy and very much worth it. A helicopter tour, while kind of expensive (usually $200+ per person), is incredible. I did one last year and my mind was blown flying around the east side of the island.

I've done Maui as well and love it. In general it will be more expensive, esp in these covid times. Would recommend staying on the southern side, as its drier, the resorts on the west side are very nice too. The Hana highway is a pretty wild experience.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Anyone have any recommendations related to vacationing in Hawaii? My wife and I are thinking about heading there in May - probably flying into Honolulu.

What do you want to do?
Want beach city feel? High-end resort? Quiet timeshare? Easy 1 hr hikes? 10 hr hikes that are crazy beautiful but also dangerous as hell? Is this the only time you will ever go down there, or will you probably go a few more so you don't NEED to see anything.

It is kind of amazing how different people spend their time on Hawaii.

I personally liked Maui. The drive up the mountain is like you are driving in the sky and you are literally above the clouds.
One advice is if you do Hana, try to stay in Hana. otherwise just a long drive. We stayed at a locals coconut farm and camped. Only one on property with outdoor shower and view of ocean with only a horse farm between us and the water.

[buckboy]

Just don't miss Kauai. Agree with a lot of the other stuff already said.

[crkone]

Yeah a few days away in the warm is pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

[Ill-yasova]

I loved the effort Beas brought to the Bucks during his brief stay here. Unfortunately, judging by this video, he’s having a rough time working through his problems and I hope he gets the support he needs. Everyone needs that group of friends they can unload their burdens to and it seems like he hasn’t found that situation and he’s had more problems than most with people taking advantage of him. If you care about someone out there dealing with a similar situation help them if you can.

Watch on YouTube

[ReginaldDwight]

I work 'remote' and have been in the office 3 days since I started in September. I'm worried that I would be called in at some point, but no issues on-boarding or working. If you are fully designated as remote I would go for it. The flexibility to either travel (work from hotel), workout during lunch, etc is amazing

If you are worried about facetime, see if they would be allow you to fly in 1-2 times a month to jam pack meetings/lunches since there easy flights from either ORD or MKE.

Yea, I think that might be the route I go. This is a lot more responsibility and I'm at an amazing company, but a vertical move for significantly more money is enticing.

I started before remote but I've helped onboard many over the past 2 years. We have a pretty seamless process. Would you be remote permanently or just for now?

I would be permanently remote and would travel down there quarterly. There are a few others being fully remote, but they're encouraging people to start coming back in. I just worry as a director that it would be too hard to manage a team that's in office.

Biggie touched on this I think, but IMO take the more money and remote working chance. Not commuting is the best **** ever and shaves an hour off your workday easily if not more.

[emunney]

Yeah a few days away in the warm is pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.

Took a long weekend in Santa Monica a couple weeks back and I must concur.

[crkone]

Anyone else think those Niche rankings for cities are bull? Brookfield getting a B for Diversity and an A for Nightlife is hilarious.

[MickeyDavis]

Thinking of Smoky Mountains NP. Any tips (staying/entering from the TN side)?

[humanrefutation]

Anyone have any recommendations related to vacationing in Hawaii? My wife and I are thinking about heading there in May - probably flying into Honolulu.

What do you want to do?
Want beach city feel? High-end resort? Quiet timeshare? Easy 1 hr hikes? 10 hr hikes that are crazy beautiful but also dangerous as hell? Is this the only time you will ever go down there, or will you probably go a few more so you don't NEED to see anything.

It is kind of amazing how different people spend their time on Hawaii.

I personally liked Maui. The drive up the mountain is like you are driving in the sky and you are literally above the clouds.
One advice is if you do Hana, try to stay in Hana. otherwise just a long drive. We stayed at a locals coconut farm and camped. Only one on property with outdoor shower and view of ocean with only a horse farm between us and the water.

We're mostly looking to relax - some time on the beach, some nice drives, some easier hikes, etc. Mostly want to be close enough to nice restaurants and local attractions, but a short drive away from some beautiful nature.

[stellation]

Had a great day, having a great night now. Hope you're all having a good day or night wherever you are. Listening to Belle and Sebastian, drinkin' beer, mansplaining cats vs. dogs to my beloved.

My son and I are off to the footy tomorrow, first round of the season- a big star on our team is a chance to kick his 1000th career goal- only 5 guys have ever done it at that level, records date back to the 1890s- it'll be a remarkable achievement if we get to see it live.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Anyone have any recommendations related to vacationing in Hawaii? My wife and I are thinking about heading there in May - probably flying into Honolulu.

What do you want to do?
Want beach city feel? High-end resort? Quiet timeshare? Easy 1 hr hikes? 10 hr hikes that are crazy beautiful but also dangerous as hell? Is this the only time you will ever go down there, or will you probably go a few more so you don't NEED to see anything.

It is kind of amazing how different people spend their time on Hawaii.

I personally liked Maui. The drive up the mountain is like you are driving in the sky and you are literally above the clouds.
One advice is if you do Hana, try to stay in Hana. otherwise just a long drive. We stayed at a locals coconut farm and camped. Only one on property with outdoor shower and view of ocean with only a horse farm between us and the water.

We're mostly looking to relax - some time on the beach, some nice drives, some easier hikes, etc. Mostly want to be close enough to nice restaurants and local attractions, but a short drive away from some beautiful nature.

From my very limited experience, I think Kihei in Maui would be nice. That area has the laid back beach town feel, beaches* within walking distance, close to boat launches for snorkeling the crater area, coolest 90 minute drive up a mountain, and plenty of cool hikes (bamboo forrest, etc) on the drive to hana.

*Depending where you go you could be disappointed in the beaches. Waikiki beach looks really nice, but that is because they hauled in a bunch of sand (arent allowed to do it anymore) and now eroding, Kihei has a lot of small dark brown beaches in the public area, other parts of maui has cool black beaches and such. Just be ready that not every beach is endless white sand.