1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

Funny moving from draught territory to rainy as F. Got some short sun today and it felt glorious. Can’t have it all.

I’d much rather drive than fly.

 

You can travel by freighter for under $100/day but it's going to take like 35+days round trip.

 

That's rough. We got 55" but had long periods this spring without rain.

 

I was going to say drive to the tip of South America, take a boat to Antartica, ride a snowcat across and then take another boat to Australia from the other side. How complicated could that be?

 

A few pontoons and paddle tires, how hard could it be?

 

Came here to reply this ^^ but @GODZILLA beat me to it. (ya bastard )

Time is money. I used to be willing to sacrifice 2 hours each way to Birmingham to catch flight deals, saving me a hundred bucks or so. But the thought of making what would be a 2-3 hour flight into 5 hour between drive and flight is just ... hell naw.

I'm glad I can afford to make that choice w/o hesitation today. 15-20 years ago, it wasn't such an easy decision.

 

I hate flying. I’d be happy if I never had to fly again.

 

Won't work for me. My wife wants to see the whole world apparently. I think we're going to Finland this year.

 

Finland might be the one exception. That country is just plain beautiful. I’m 75% Finn, so I think it’s a genetic attraction. No wonder I live in Minnesota…

 

She wants to see the Northern lights and has narrowed it down to there. So we're going to go there during winter and freeze our asses off. We can get round trip tickets for around $1,200 total($600 each). I figured it would cost a lot more to fly there.

I know absolutely nothing about Finland other than it looks cold.

 

just think northern Michigan/Minnesota but with everyone speaking a crazy Russian-like language.

 

And Saunas are big there

 

I hosted two guys from Finland several times on their way through to race in Kona. I really do owe them a visit someday. I was too scared to go while I was single, figured I probably wouldn’t have come back.

 

You sound like my ex. "You came first, you bastard."

 

I worked with a couple guys at my company who worked at the Vardo radar site in Northern Finland.

Drinking and snowmobiling were big up there and they weren’t mutually exclusive. One of the guys even came back with a wife after 2 years of being there.

 

I think i'd have to buy a beater to go to finland.

this is norway, but same-same
https://youtu.be/e1zRozIurOU

 

Gonna make some smoke today. Got a thick layer of wet ash and charcoal (still standing water) under the fire.


Not actually making much smoke, the heat sink in the stack is helping with a clean burn.


when you've seen some shit...

 

I'm late to the party, but happy new year.

 

Trying out the salt block Madre got me for Christmas.

 

Trip is worth it, but gotta say you can see the northern lights in this country...

For your planning - remember their days kinda don't end in summer.

 

I’d be interested in a dedicated salt block thread. Don’t know anything about ‘em, but it’s a “thing”.

 

Supposed to be strongest 2025-2026? Best odds? Solar maximum and all. Heard you can get lots of amazing long exposure photos during the leonids, or persiads.

 

i gave mine to my deer after i shattered it. Wrong temp, wrong humidity, whatever, i cooked some jalapeno poppers, after smoking, and it shattered. Figured its probably an oven tool.

 

I know shit all about it other than the directions for first use said to step it up in temp over about an hour then let it cool overnight.

Potatoes were good, steaks are on deck for later

 

What’s the point of it? Does it flavour food, or just look cool?

 

I told her that. Finland was more appealing than Alaska to her. We'll probably end up seeing Sweden too.

 

Supposed to add (obviously) salt flavor and whatever mineral is present in the salt.

Supposed to be good for meats slapped on it and refrigerated.

 

Cat protectors?

more like everyone else protectors.

 

My company would send @FirstGenVol and his family to Thule Air Force base in Greenland for a one year stay free of charge where he can watch the Northern Lights most of the day and eat seal and reindeer at night.

Can’t say they have many takers.

 

i'd take that. And any data you need. Me and my dog.