Wednesday, December 31, 2003
I must have one of these clocks. The only problem is it is a company in Israel. They are using a new technology called Active Pixel Display (APD). The clock face is a flat piece of plastic. It actually changes color to show the clock face and time. Kind of like a TV made out of a paper thin piece of plastic.
The broadcast of the midnight ball drop in Times Square was on a 10 second delay. They started their countdown, and I looked at my watch and it was already midnight. I guess that was in case something bad happened.
I had a headache through both movies. It is better now, but still hurts. My nose burns when I breathe in.
Sheri brought me a hamburger for dinner, and we snacked on some aged Cheddar and water crackers during the second movie. We will eat the snow crab and shrimp tomorrow.
Since the stone crab we got was pre-cooked I tried that too. One pound of claws probably only yielded about two ounces of meat. It was good, but I probably wouldn't get it again unless it was cooked fresh at dockside. It lost something being frozen.
I had a headache through both movies. It is better now, but still hurts. My nose burns when I breathe in.
Sheri brought me a hamburger for dinner, and we snacked on some aged Cheddar and water crackers during the second movie. We will eat the snow crab and shrimp tomorrow.
Since the stone crab we got was pre-cooked I tried that too. One pound of claws probably only yielded about two ounces of meat. It was good, but I probably wouldn't get it again unless it was cooked fresh at dockside. It lost something being frozen.
We really loved Phone Booth! It is only 1 hour and 21 minutes long, but we enjoyed it so much it seemed like it was only half that long. 99% of the movie is set in a New York phone booth. Rent it.
Daredevil was enjoyable but not perfect. It took itself a little too seriously at times. It has some good action. Get it if nothing else catches your eye at the video store. Jennifer Garner looked really good though. We think she got a boob job. We don't remember those when she was in Alias.
Daredevil was enjoyable but not perfect. It took itself a little too seriously at times. It has some good action. Get it if nothing else catches your eye at the video store. Jennifer Garner looked really good though. We think she got a boob job. We don't remember those when she was in Alias.
The rate of flu deaths in the US are classified as epidemic now. For the week of 12/14 to 12/20, pneumonia and influenza were responsible for 7.8% of all deaths!
About 92 children (kids under 5 years old) die from the flu in an average year. So far this year there have been at least 42 children flu deaths.
The CDC said there are indications that flu cases may have peaked in a few states, but they didn't say which states. [story]
About 92 children (kids under 5 years old) die from the flu in an average year. So far this year there have been at least 42 children flu deaths.
The CDC said there are indications that flu cases may have peaked in a few states, but they didn't say which states. [story]
I feel pretty bad right now. Luckily it is just my head, and not my entire body. I feel a lot of pressure in the sinus cavities around my eyes and nose. My nose is not running, so that is a good thing. When I shift the orientation of my head I can feel my sinuses shifting and moving with it. In the mornings and a little bit in the evening I have an annoying cough. I don't feel sick, but I also don't feel like enjoying a seafood dinner. Maybe I will put it off until a football game tomorrow.
Picked up Sheri's leather jacket from the little old Asian guy. I am sure he is much older than he looks, and he looks like he is 70. For as long as it took him to use safety pins to attach and unattach the claim check tag, it must have taken him at least 30 minutes to sew the button back on. He charged $4 and told me that he made it "good and strong".
He also doesn’t arrange the items to be picked up by claim check number. He looked a little confused when I handed him the claim check and called out the number. After a couple of seconds I caught on and told him "black leather jacket". There were about five or six of those on his rack so he had to look at each one and compare numbers.
Picked up Sheri's leather jacket from the little old Asian guy. I am sure he is much older than he looks, and he looks like he is 70. For as long as it took him to use safety pins to attach and unattach the claim check tag, it must have taken him at least 30 minutes to sew the button back on. He charged $4 and told me that he made it "good and strong".
He also doesn’t arrange the items to be picked up by claim check number. He looked a little confused when I handed him the claim check and called out the number. After a couple of seconds I caught on and told him "black leather jacket". There were about five or six of those on his rack so he had to look at each one and compare numbers.
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
We got a can of Old Bay Seasoning for our New Year's Eve crab and shrimp boil. I am really impressed with the ingredient list. I think it would be good on a lot of things; popcorn, corn-on-the-cob, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
salt
celery seed
mustard seed
red pepper
black pepper
bay leaves
cloves
allspice
ginger
mace
cardamom
cinnamon
paprika
salt
celery seed
mustard seed
red pepper
black pepper
bay leaves
cloves
allspice
ginger
mace
cardamom
cinnamon
paprika
FedEx announced today that they are buying Kinko's for $2.4 billion. The new company will be called Finko's.
This sounds like what UPS did when they bought Mail Boxes Etc.
This sounds like what UPS did when they bought Mail Boxes Etc.
 | If you will recall, Sheri got this great clock, that I was lusting after, for my birthday this year. They took the guts from one of the original digital flip clocks from the 1970's, and put it on this industrial looking stand, and also converted it to use two "C" batteries instead of plugging into a wall outlet.
It looks great, but it ate through a set of batteries in about four weeks. Not only is that and expensive proposition, but you can never rely on it because you always wonder if the batteries are low or not. It goes through the batteries so fast because there is a little motor in there that is constantly turning. It is too expensive of a clock to just put away, so I went to Radio Shack and bought some stuff to run it from an outlet rather than batteries. |
| The first thing was the power converter block. A "C" battery provides 1.5 volts, so I needed a 3 volt converter because the clock uses two batteries. |  |
| The connectors on their converters are all the same and accept the plug that is pictured in the top of this picture. They have a bunch of different plugs you can buy to plug into the converters so you could use the same converter to power just about anything; cell phones, boom box, etc.
Since the clock doesn’t have any kind of plug, I got an adaptor that just had two bare wires on the other end. |  |
| I took the two bare wires and attached them to a couple of alligator clips. I sealed the connection with a little liquid electrical tape.
Then all I had to do was clip the negative clip to the negative contact on the clock, and the positive clip to the positive contact on the clock. It works perfectly! |  |
As of this Friday (1/1/2004) the federal government will no longer allow the production of traditional pressure treated lumber (the light green tinted stuff) that most people have in their yards as decks, swing sets, etc.
The reason for this is that the lumber is treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), an arsenic containing compound, to retard rotting and insect damage, and make it useful as an outdoor product.
The lifetime risk of an arsenic-related cancer for children who play frequently on this type of wood is 10 times higher than the one-in-a-million threshold that the EPA usually considers a public health threat.
The reason for this is that the lumber is treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), an arsenic containing compound, to retard rotting and insect damage, and make it useful as an outdoor product.
The lifetime risk of an arsenic-related cancer for children who play frequently on this type of wood is 10 times higher than the one-in-a-million threshold that the EPA usually considers a public health threat.
…Lemm worried about the play set her daughter used in the yard of their home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Nearby shrubs were dying, and she suspected the treated wood. So she got [an] arsenic test kit from the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization that had pushed for a ban on CCA-treated wood.
Soil from under the play set had arsenic levels about 50% higher than the EPA's cleanup standard for arsenic at Superfund pollution sites…
Children who put their hands in their mouths after playing on the CCA-treated wood have even higher risks.
There are two new type of pressure treated lumber to replace CCA. One uses alkaline copper quat (ACQ) and another uses acid copper chromate (ACC). The EPA is still not sure about ACC because it contains high amounts of a cancer-causing compound for the first few months after it is produced.
[source story: USA Today]
This was my summer-time after-work hangout when I was working on the boats in my college days. At the time it was called The Angry Sea. Now it is called Mugshots.
Monday, December 29, 2003
I have been updating gas prices at gaspricewatch.com lately. I use the digital voice recorder I got for Christmas to call out the prices as I drive by.
Of the stations I have updated over the last few days, the lowest price for regular has been $1.49, and the highest has been $1.56.
Take a look at the stations in your area before you refuel next time.
I won't go out of my way just to save a few pennies per gallon, but if I can plan a certain station into my route while doing errands, why not.
Our van has a 20 or a 22 gallon tank, so knowing which station has gas at $1.49 instead of $1.56 will save me about $1.50. Not much, but if I do that once a week I will have an extra $75 at the end of the year.
Of the stations I have updated over the last few days, the lowest price for regular has been $1.49, and the highest has been $1.56.
Take a look at the stations in your area before you refuel next time.
I won't go out of my way just to save a few pennies per gallon, but if I can plan a certain station into my route while doing errands, why not.
Our van has a 20 or a 22 gallon tank, so knowing which station has gas at $1.49 instead of $1.56 will save me about $1.50. Not much, but if I do that once a week I will have an extra $75 at the end of the year.
I just occurred to me that I can not remember our computer that runs Windows XP Professional ever locking up or crashing. I have been very happy with WinXP.
After I picked Sheri up at the train station tonight we went to dinner at the nearby Indian place. Excellent as usual. We got a pot of tea because me throat has been bothering me. It helped.
Then we went to Meijer to get New Year's Eve seafood. We got about two pounds of snow crab legs, one pound of stone crab legs, and one pound of raw 36/40 count shrimp.
I think I will spread a bunch of newspaper out on the kitchen table and we will just dig in. Can't wait!
I am also going to pick up four or five New potatoes (if I can find them sold individually) and some frozen corn on the cobs to go along with the meal as well.
Stone crab fun facts:
A stone crab has two big claws. When they are caught one of the claws is twisted off, and the crab is tossed back in the ocean with just one claw to defend itself. It takes about a year to re-grow the harvested claw to full size. A crab can regenerate about four claws in its lifetime.
Also, stone crab claws are always cooked at the dock and then frozen so the meat won't stick to the inside of the shell. From what I have found I think that is a Florida DNR law. All you have to do is thaw them and enjoy.
Then we went to Meijer to get New Year's Eve seafood. We got about two pounds of snow crab legs, one pound of stone crab legs, and one pound of raw 36/40 count shrimp.
I think I will spread a bunch of newspaper out on the kitchen table and we will just dig in. Can't wait!
I am also going to pick up four or five New potatoes (if I can find them sold individually) and some frozen corn on the cobs to go along with the meal as well.
Stone crab fun facts:
A stone crab has two big claws. When they are caught one of the claws is twisted off, and the crab is tossed back in the ocean with just one claw to defend itself. It takes about a year to re-grow the harvested claw to full size. A crab can regenerate about four claws in its lifetime.
Also, stone crab claws are always cooked at the dock and then frozen so the meat won't stick to the inside of the shell. From what I have found I think that is a Florida DNR law. All you have to do is thaw them and enjoy.
I just got done downloading and installing a few service packs to update my ArcView software. I want to make sure I am all up-to-date and patched for when I will be working from home for KDOT.
[You can click on the image for a bigger view. It's not my map, but it is a nice example of incorporating satellite imagery with mapping data.]
[You can click on the image for a bigger view. It's not my map, but it is a nice example of incorporating satellite imagery with mapping data.]
These foods, all rich in nutrients and relatively low in calories - are all credited with preventing, and in some cases even reversing, heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers and dementia. [full story]
beans
blueberries
broccoli
oats
oranges
pumpkin
salmon
soy
spinach
tea
tomatoes
turkey
walnuts
yogurt
beans
blueberries
broccoli
oats
oranges
pumpkin
salmon
soy
spinach
tea
tomatoes
turkey
walnuts
yogurt
Bad news from the garage. The "Service Engine Soon" light was on. They called and said it was from the catalytic converter, and misfirings in the engine.
He said to fix the misfirings they will clean the throttle body, fuel injectors, etc. for $200.
Because the engine has been dumping unburned fuel into the exhaust, the catalytic converter has been ruined, and we probably wouldn't pass an emissions test. (We have those in Illinois.) To replace that will cost $800. Ouch!
Oh well. The van is paid for, and the service only equals what two or three car payments would be. That always puts it in perspective for me.
He said to fix the misfirings they will clean the throttle body, fuel injectors, etc. for $200.
Because the engine has been dumping unburned fuel into the exhaust, the catalytic converter has been ruined, and we probably wouldn't pass an emissions test. (We have those in Illinois.) To replace that will cost $800. Ouch!
Oh well. The van is paid for, and the service only equals what two or three car payments would be. That always puts it in perspective for me.
Israeli intelligence officials say militant groups are planning a major "non-conventional" attack [in Israel] on New Year's Eve.
Possible targets are holy sites, nursery schools, apartment buildings and hospitals.
Police have been told to prepare for three possible scenarios: an air or sea-based attack or a ground assault involving several simultaneous suicide bombings, the officials said.
Senior intelligence officials know which of the three scenarios is most likely, but are reluctant to share the information with police officers to prevent leaks, the officials said.
The warnings are connected to Israel's killing of a senior Islamic Jihad militant in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Following the airstrike, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said the death had prevented a "mega-terror attack," but security officials said the warnings are still relevant. [source]
Possible targets are holy sites, nursery schools, apartment buildings and hospitals.
Police have been told to prepare for three possible scenarios: an air or sea-based attack or a ground assault involving several simultaneous suicide bombings, the officials said.
Senior intelligence officials know which of the three scenarios is most likely, but are reluctant to share the information with police officers to prevent leaks, the officials said.
The warnings are connected to Israel's killing of a senior Islamic Jihad militant in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
Following the airstrike, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said the death had prevented a "mega-terror attack," but security officials said the warnings are still relevant. [source]
I am way over due for my annual ophthalmologist check up, and I wanted to see if I could schedule one this week or next before I start working and school again. The first place I called didn't have any openings for several weeks. I asked if they had any Saturday appoints and expecting her to laugh at me. (It seems that ophthalmologists never have Saturday hours.) They do! I was able to get an appointment for the morning of January 17.
At first I was disappointed that I couldn't get it in this week, but then I realized the good fortune of finding one with Saturday hours. Yeah me!
At first I was disappointed that I couldn't get it in this week, but then I realized the good fortune of finding one with Saturday hours. Yeah me!
We dropped the van off last night for service, so this morning I got up with Sheri and drove her to the train station. On the way back I stopped by a little shoe repair / tailor shop to have a button sewn back on Sheri's leather jacket.
The little guy that runs the shop is really cute. (Is a guy allowed to say that? Oh well. I did. Get over it.) He is a little short soft-spoken grey haired Asian guy. Probably somebody's grandfather. Smiled the whole time. He was so soft spoken I had trouble understanding him a couple of times. He would chuckle to himself when I didn't understand him. I don't think he made eye contact with me.
His hands looked like a guy that works with leather all the time: calloused and cracked and permanently stained with black shoe polish. He said it will be ready on Wednesday after he had a little conversation with himself about what day was a holiday.
Even though it is a simple job, I am excited to see his work. I want to be able to take more stuff for him to fix.
The little guy that runs the shop is really cute. (Is a guy allowed to say that? Oh well. I did. Get over it.) He is a little short soft-spoken grey haired Asian guy. Probably somebody's grandfather. Smiled the whole time. He was so soft spoken I had trouble understanding him a couple of times. He would chuckle to himself when I didn't understand him. I don't think he made eye contact with me.
His hands looked like a guy that works with leather all the time: calloused and cracked and permanently stained with black shoe polish. He said it will be ready on Wednesday after he had a little conversation with himself about what day was a holiday.
Even though it is a simple job, I am excited to see his work. I want to be able to take more stuff for him to fix.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Sheri also got this for me for Christmas. It has the perfect consistency for lips; not too hard like Carmex, and not too soft like Vaseline. It also has a nice delicate rose smell.
We both had a very nice Christmas. Very relaxing and fun. We played a couple games of Trivial Pursuit. Walked some dogs. Ate strip steaks. Watched a bunch of movies. Stayed up too late. Slept-in too late. Sheri made her birthday cake since she won't be able to eat any on her birthday. Just basically relaxed and enjoyed each other's company.
Remember when I wrote that she had to go into work for most of the day last Sunday? Well because of that she got a comp day on Friday, so she had Tuesday all the way through today off from work. Very nice!
She has been feeling run down, so a nice long stretch of free time was just what she needed to take care of herself.
This week she will leave work early on Wednesday for New Years Eve, and have Thursday off. The snow crab legs at Meijer looked pretty good over the weekend, as did the green shrimp. I think I will pick up a couple pounds of crab legs, maybe three, and a pound of shrimp for New Years Eve.
I you are so inclined, you can order a bison hide for me from Blackwing. They go for $579 and are about 40 - 45 square feet.
They also sell bison meat and ostrich meat.
I think I am all about alternative meats now. We finally tried some grass-fed beef strip steaks for Christmas. Very good. Juicy and good flavor. I am going to take some of the grass-fed beef burgers out of the freezer tonight for Tuesday night's dinner.
Today I had a 2/3 pound ostrich burger at Fuddruckers. Delicious! Better than beef, and leaner than skinless chicken or turkey.
They also sell bison meat and ostrich meat.
I think I am all about alternative meats now. We finally tried some grass-fed beef strip steaks for Christmas. Very good. Juicy and good flavor. I am going to take some of the grass-fed beef burgers out of the freezer tonight for Tuesday night's dinner.
Today I had a 2/3 pound ostrich burger at Fuddruckers. Delicious! Better than beef, and leaner than skinless chicken or turkey.
Saturday, December 27, 2003
...more than two dozen countries banned U.S. beef this week [because of the mad cow scare]. The United States lost 90% of its beef export market, industry officials say, and producers stand to lose up to $6 billion a year in exports and falling domestic prices. Agriculture Department officials went Saturday to Japan, a top buyer that has banned American beef, to discuss maintaining trade... [full story]
Friday, December 26, 2003
The Benadryl helped to stop my hands from itching and reduce the bumps, but it also knocked me flat on my back. I was dead to the world for about four or five hours. I didn't hear the phone ring twice. Didn't hear Sheri walking around the bed room putting laundry away. Nothing. Was the cure worse than the symptoms?
I was listening to the news today about the cow that tested positive for mad cow disease in Washington. In the course of the story they used the term "downer cow". This is an official USDA term for an animal that can not make it to the slaughter station under its own power.
They were talking about how downers are not supposed to make it into the human food chain, but sometimes they do. Normally they get ground up into animal feed.
I just thought it was interesting that there was an official USDA term for this.
They were talking about how downers are not supposed to make it into the human food chain, but sometimes they do. Normally they get ground up into animal feed.
I just thought it was interesting that there was an official USDA term for this.
Thursday, December 25, 2003
One of the best Italian dishes I have ever tasted was a sauce that Sheri's sister Sunny made from a smoked ox tail.
Either she didn't like it, or Martin didn't like it, so she gave it to Sheri and me, but I thought it was fantastic. It had a very light and pleasant smoky taste. This was probably around 1990 -1991.
Either she didn't like it, or Martin didn't like it, so she gave it to Sheri and me, but I thought it was fantastic. It had a very light and pleasant smoky taste. This was probably around 1990 -1991.
We were playing our new Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary game that we got for Christmas, and Sheri was reading a question to me that started out "What was the apt name given to…", but she read the word "apt" as "apartment".
In the history book that I got for Christmas all of the dates have "CE" and "BCE". (i.e. 650 BCE or 1200 CE)
BCE means Before Common Era, and CE, of course, means Common Era.
BCE is equivalent in meaning to BC, and CE is equivalent to AD.
The reason for this change is to be religiously neutral. BC stands for Before Christ, and AD stands for a Latin phrase that means "in the year of our lord". Non-Catholics think "Well he's not my lord."
BCE means Before Common Era, and CE, of course, means Common Era.
BCE is equivalent in meaning to BC, and CE is equivalent to AD.
The reason for this change is to be religiously neutral. BC stands for Before Christ, and AD stands for a Latin phrase that means "in the year of our lord". Non-Catholics think "Well he's not my lord."
They have not heard from the British Mars explorer, Beagle II, yet. It should have landed about 9:00 PM Christmas eve.
If they don't hear anything by January 3 the mission will have been a failure. That is when the mother ship that is orbiting Mars will leave orbit and begin its mission.
An interesting fact I heard on the news is that the radio on Beagle II is about as strong as a cell phone! Only 5 watts.
If they don't hear anything by January 3 the mission will have been a failure. That is when the mother ship that is orbiting Mars will leave orbit and begin its mission.
An interesting fact I heard on the news is that the radio on Beagle II is about as strong as a cell phone! Only 5 watts.
One of the things that Mom and Dad got me was a box of gunpowder tea and a metal tea ball to brew it with.
The individual pieces of tea are about the size of shredded coconut that you buy at the grocery store. Each of these little pieces is actually an entire tea leaf that has been individually hand rolled into this little ball shape! This is the definition of gunpowder tea from Epicurious.com:
This fine Chinese tea is considered the highest grade of green tea and is noted for both its form and its flavor. The small, young tea leaves are rolled into minuscule balls, giving the tea a granular appearance. Gunpowder tea is light in color, with a distinctively sharp flavor.
I thought it was called gunpowder because it was roasted to be very strong. It is actually green tea. It is called gunpowder because the little balls were about the size of British gunpowder granules.
After you brew the tea, the little balls unroll into full tea leaves. A full tea leaf is about ¾ of an inch long and about ½ of an inch wide. These are the tea leaves referred to when you hear about telling your fortune from reading tea leaves.
It is very good. It has the body of coffee without having all of the acid or feeling as heavy. I have had several cups this evening.
Some sites I have found on-line said because the whole leaf doesn't let the flavors escape from the leaf as fast as the ground tea, so you can use the tea leaves for about three brewings. It works! I just kept the ball in my cup and added more hot water when I reached the bottom. One level teaspoon (measuring kind, not from the silverware drawer) I think is a little strong for a large cup, and ½ teaspoon makes the cup too weak. Tomorrow I will try ¾ of a teaspoon for a large cup, and I think that will be just about right.
I have a porcelain tea pot around here somewhere, which would be perfect, but I don't know where it is. I will put that on my to-do list.
I am definitely going to keep this tea on hand from now on.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
The TNT Network is showing A Christmas Story for 24 hours straight. This is probably my favorite Christmas movie. It is funny, and I could probably watch it in the middle of summer it is that good.
Anyway, it will be shown repeatedly on TNT until 4:00 PM Christmas day. (Ending at 6:00 PM)
If you have not watched it before, make sure you do. Great movie.
By the way, it is set in Chicago in the 1940's.
All he wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun, but all everyone says is that he'll shoot his eye out.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
We rented A Mighty Wind to watch tonight. I am looking forward to it. It is like This Is Spinal Tap, except for folk music instead of heavy metal. All of the main cast from Spinal Tap are in A Might Wind.
It should be funny. It received 7.3 points out of 10 on imdb.com.
It should be funny. It received 7.3 points out of 10 on imdb.com.
Surface-to-air missiles were being deployed around Washington…
.
.
In addition to Washington, anti-aircraft missile batteries may be deployed around New York City, and a senior Pentagon official said "irregular air patrols" had been ordered.
.
.
One senior Pentagon official described the terrorism threat level as "true orange," noting that some previous orange designations had been viewed with skepticism.
.
.
A senior Defense Department official described the intelligence that led to the orange alert as "specific, reliable, credible."
[Full Story]
.
.
In addition to Washington, anti-aircraft missile batteries may be deployed around New York City, and a senior Pentagon official said "irregular air patrols" had been ordered.
.
.
One senior Pentagon official described the terrorism threat level as "true orange," noting that some previous orange designations had been viewed with skepticism.
.
.
A senior Defense Department official described the intelligence that led to the orange alert as "specific, reliable, credible."
[Full Story]
This is for Mom so she will stop getting pop-up ads trying to sell Viagra to her.
1. Click this link, and then click the giant button that says "Download Google Toolbar".
2. A window will pop up that asks you if you want to open or save the file. Hit "Open".
Sit back and wait for any on-screen instructions.
That's it! No more annoying pop-up ads.
Call me if you have any questions.
1. Click this link, and then click the giant button that says "Download Google Toolbar".
2. A window will pop up that asks you if you want to open or save the file. Hit "Open".
Sit back and wait for any on-screen instructions.
That's it! No more annoying pop-up ads.
Call me if you have any questions.
...Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network, possibly trained and licensed to fly passenger jets, may now be pilots for some foreign airlines, ideally positioning them to carry out suicide attacks...[story]
So who cares about the reinforced cockpit doors or armed air marshals. "They" could already be in the cockpit ready to perfectly crash the plane where ever and when ever they want.
So who cares about the reinforced cockpit doors or armed air marshals. "They" could already be in the cockpit ready to perfectly crash the plane where ever and when ever they want.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
The U.S. Air Force launched another GPS satellite into space today. It will replace one of the initial GPS satellites launched in 1990.
There are four more launches scheduled for 2004. Today's launch was number 10 in a series of 21. Yeah GPS!
There are four more launches scheduled for 2004. Today's launch was number 10 in a series of 21. Yeah GPS!
In our house we don't go by the Homeland Security's color system. We think it is too amateurish. We use the military's DefCon (Defense Condition) system. We currently have the DefCon 3 protocols in place.
We were briefly at DefCon 1 last week when I left the toilet seat up.
| DefCon 1 | Active declared war |
| DefCon 2 | Open hostilities |
| DefCon 3 | Immanent threat of open hostilities |
| DefCon 4 | Low threat of hostilities |
| DefCon 5 | All clear |
Welcome to Threat Level Orange,
and Merry Freakin' Christmas!
High Condition(Orange)
A High Condition is declared when there is a high risk of terrorist attacks.
In addition to the Protective Measures taken in the previous Threat Conditions, Federal departments and agencies should consider the following general measures in addition to the agency-specific Protective Measures that they will develop and implement:
• Coordinating necessary security efforts with Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies or any National Guard or other appropriate armed forces organizations;
• Taking additional precautions at public events and possibly considering alternative venues or even cancellation;
• Preparing to execute contingency procedures, such as moving to an alternate site or dispersing their workforce; and
• Restricting threatened facility access to essential personnel only.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
For my beef-mushroom-barley soup I also bought a turnip and a parsnip. I have never cooked with them before, but every now and then I will pick up a cooking magazine and I see them in a lot of ingredient lists.
They are firm like a potato, but hold up better to the long cooking times of soups.
They are delicious raw! I made Sheri try a bite of each, and she really like them.
The parsnip is sweet like a carrot, aromatic like celery, and on the dry side.
The turnip is not as sweet or aromatic as the parsnip, but it has a very very slight horseradish taste, and a slight "green" taste kind of like the celery taste I mentioned above, but not quite. It is has more moisture than the parsnip too.
I think you could add either of them to recipes that call for potatoes or carrots. Possible even broccoli.
My beef stock is sitting in the garage right now so the fat can rise to the top and solidify. Tomorrow morning I will pick the fat layer off, and then put it back on the stove and cook the turnips, parsnips, mushrooms, and barely. I will also add some bay leaves, Kitchen Bouquet, and adjust the seasonings.
The stock smells very very good right now too. I got two packages of neck bones and one big soup/marrow bone. I roasted them in a shallow open pan for 30 minutes in a 450º oven.
I put the roasted bones in my stock pot with enough water to cover. I added ½ cup of cold water to the roasting pan to deglaze it, and scraped all of the good browned pieces of meat that caramelized in the pan. I emptied all of that into the stock pot.
Since the soup wasn't ready for dinner, Sheri drove through Portillo's tonight and got me a hamburger and an Italian beef with hot peppers.
Then we watched Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. It was a fun movie.
Sheri went to the doctor today for her cold, and her whole head is infected: her ears, nasal cavities, and throat. He told her to take Sudafed during the day, and Nyquil at bedtime. If she doesn't feel almost cured in seven days, she is supposed to go back to the doctor.
They are firm like a potato, but hold up better to the long cooking times of soups.
They are delicious raw! I made Sheri try a bite of each, and she really like them.
The parsnip is sweet like a carrot, aromatic like celery, and on the dry side.
The turnip is not as sweet or aromatic as the parsnip, but it has a very very slight horseradish taste, and a slight "green" taste kind of like the celery taste I mentioned above, but not quite. It is has more moisture than the parsnip too.
I think you could add either of them to recipes that call for potatoes or carrots. Possible even broccoli.
My beef stock is sitting in the garage right now so the fat can rise to the top and solidify. Tomorrow morning I will pick the fat layer off, and then put it back on the stove and cook the turnips, parsnips, mushrooms, and barely. I will also add some bay leaves, Kitchen Bouquet, and adjust the seasonings.
The stock smells very very good right now too. I got two packages of neck bones and one big soup/marrow bone. I roasted them in a shallow open pan for 30 minutes in a 450º oven.
I put the roasted bones in my stock pot with enough water to cover. I added ½ cup of cold water to the roasting pan to deglaze it, and scraped all of the good browned pieces of meat that caramelized in the pan. I emptied all of that into the stock pot.
Since the soup wasn't ready for dinner, Sheri drove through Portillo's tonight and got me a hamburger and an Italian beef with hot peppers.
Then we watched Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. It was a fun movie.
Sheri went to the doctor today for her cold, and her whole head is infected: her ears, nasal cavities, and throat. He told her to take Sudafed during the day, and Nyquil at bedtime. If she doesn't feel almost cured in seven days, she is supposed to go back to the doctor.
I was looking for Kitchen Bouquet yesterday at Meijer to put in the beef-mushroom barley soup I am making today. Sheri never heard of it, and we couldn't find it at Meijer. The stock-boy we asked for help had never heard of it either. I got a bottle at Gordon's today.
Kitchen Bouquet is a browning and seasoning sauce. It has caramel for color, and then vegetable base for flavor. There is very little salt in it which is a good thing. The vegetable base consists of:
onion
celery
parsnips
turnips
parsley
I will add between an 1/8 of a cup and a ¼ of a cup to my soup during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
I did a little research and found that Kitchen Bouquet brand name is now owned by the Clorox company. The other food products that they also own are Hidden Valley Ranch, and K.C. Masterpiece.
Clorox is apparently a very large conglomerate. They also own:
Glad and GladWare
Black Flag and Roach Motel
Kingsford Charcoal
Jonny Cat, Scoop Away, Fresh Step, and EverClean cat litter
Armor All
Formula 409
STP
Tilex
S.O.S. steel-wool soap pads
Soft Scrub
Pine-Sol
Brita water filters
Liquid-Plumr
Kitchen Bouquet is a browning and seasoning sauce. It has caramel for color, and then vegetable base for flavor. There is very little salt in it which is a good thing. The vegetable base consists of:
onion
celery
parsnips
turnips
parsley
I will add between an 1/8 of a cup and a ¼ of a cup to my soup during the last 30 minutes of cooking.
I did a little research and found that Kitchen Bouquet brand name is now owned by the Clorox company. The other food products that they also own are Hidden Valley Ranch, and K.C. Masterpiece.
Clorox is apparently a very large conglomerate. They also own:
Glad and GladWare
Black Flag and Roach Motel
Kingsford Charcoal
Jonny Cat, Scoop Away, Fresh Step, and EverClean cat litter
Armor All
Formula 409
STP
Tilex
S.O.S. steel-wool soap pads
Soft Scrub
Pine-Sol
Brita water filters
Liquid-Plumr
Sheri is feeling miserable from her cold, so we went out for comfort food tonight at the nearby Indian restaurant. She had the lamb curry again, and I had the lamb masala. Both were excellent.
Both dishes comes with a bowl of rice, a basket of naan (Indian flat bread), one poppadum (crispy wafer made from chick peas), and five sides.
One of the sides was a dessert called rasgulla. These are small balls made of fresh cheese that are steamed and then soaked in sugar-water flavored with rose essence. It sounds weird, but when Mom and Dad came to visit and I took them to an Indian buffet, even though Dad was stuffed from the meal, I think he went back for seconds and thirds of the rasgulla. I never would have guessed they are made from cheese. It seems more like a dense doughnut.
The other sides were:
• Spicy lentil soup (believe it or not, Sheri's favorite!)
• A savory cauliflower and potato dish. My favorite.
• Cucumber raita (a nice cooling and rich yogurt sauce)
• Another dish that I am not quite sure what it was, but it had a good amount of garlic, and was probably something like eggplant or beans in a food processor. Very good.
Indian food is the best comfort food in the world. Sheri was in a noticeably better mood when we left. Smiling and laughing. She said an Indian meal gives her almost the same feeling as an endorphin pepper high. I agree with her, but I am not sure why it makes us feel that way. The food this evening was spicy, but not hot-spicy. Not like buffalo wings or hot salsa. Maybe it's because Indian food always seems like home-style cooking, so it makes you feel good. You can imagine a little Indian grandmother in the back that has been cooking all day.
Both dishes comes with a bowl of rice, a basket of naan (Indian flat bread), one poppadum (crispy wafer made from chick peas), and five sides.
One of the sides was a dessert called rasgulla. These are small balls made of fresh cheese that are steamed and then soaked in sugar-water flavored with rose essence. It sounds weird, but when Mom and Dad came to visit and I took them to an Indian buffet, even though Dad was stuffed from the meal, I think he went back for seconds and thirds of the rasgulla. I never would have guessed they are made from cheese. It seems more like a dense doughnut.
The other sides were:
• Spicy lentil soup (believe it or not, Sheri's favorite!)
• A savory cauliflower and potato dish. My favorite.
• Cucumber raita (a nice cooling and rich yogurt sauce)
• Another dish that I am not quite sure what it was, but it had a good amount of garlic, and was probably something like eggplant or beans in a food processor. Very good.
Indian food is the best comfort food in the world. Sheri was in a noticeably better mood when we left. Smiling and laughing. She said an Indian meal gives her almost the same feeling as an endorphin pepper high. I agree with her, but I am not sure why it makes us feel that way. The food this evening was spicy, but not hot-spicy. Not like buffalo wings or hot salsa. Maybe it's because Indian food always seems like home-style cooking, so it makes you feel good. You can imagine a little Indian grandmother in the back that has been cooking all day.
Friday, December 19, 2003
Metatec, where Sheri used to work, has a current stock price of $0.006 per share! That means you could buy 167 shares for $1.00. You could buy all of their outstanding stock for $39,220.
Literally just last week I told Sheri that if we ever get a boat I would like to name it either "Beagle", or maybe "Beagle II" out of respect for the original. Today I find out that the British launched a space craft in June to Mars named Beagle II.
Well, since their Beagle II is not a water craft I guess I could still use it. I certainly don't like the sound of "Beagle III". Also, I can't be the first person to ever think of this, so there has to be at least hundreds of other boats also named Beagle and Beagle II.
[click for full sized image]
Well, since their Beagle II is not a water craft I guess I could still use it. I certainly don't like the sound of "Beagle III". Also, I can't be the first person to ever think of this, so there has to be at least hundreds of other boats also named Beagle and Beagle II.
[click for full sized image]
Thursday, December 18, 2003
I was up until 6:15 AM this morning. Mostly playing a game that I bought back in May or June, but have been too busy since then to spend much time with it. Once you get in the mode to play a computer game and finally settle down to do it, two hours can pass and you swear it only seems like 20 minutes. I just couldn't afford to do that when I was looking for a job or going to school.
This is the website for the game, IGI-2; Covert Strike. Take a look at some of the screen shots in the three galleries that they have. Some of them almost look like real photographs. This image is what it looks like when you are looking through a sniper rifle scope.
I just ordered Getting to Know ArcObjects from Amazon.com. What else do you do at 3:45 AM in the morning?
Text teaches programmers of all skill levels how to work with ArcObjects, using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Teaches the basics of VBA programming.
Text teaches programmers of all skill levels how to work with ArcObjects, using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Teaches the basics of VBA programming.
 This post is mostly for Mom.
We talked about rewiring this cool old lamp that I got from my Grandparents in Akron. The socket is not your standard light bulb size, but one size bigger. I don't know if I have ever seen them in the store. When this burns out I think I would be screwed. The last picture shows the bulb in the lamp now next to a regular light bulb for comparison. The plastic globe is also cracked and is just barely balancing in place. There is a lamp shade that sits on top of the globe but is not pictured here. The lamp is all solid metal and ways a ton. |
See how the globe just sort of balances on the socket base?
After we left Columbus last weekend we tried something new. Rather than go through Indianpolis on the way back to Chicago we went through Toledo. It is only 8.3 miles longer.
We had a nice lunch, relaxed for a couple of hours, and picked up and dropped off Christmas presents. Mom and Dad wanted us to open up a couple of presents they were excited about so they could see our reaction. One of them was this Sony under-cabinet radio/CD player that was on both of our Amazon wish lists. Very cool! I just mounted it today and took a picture of it. Very good rich sound for such a small slim package.
We had a nice lunch, relaxed for a couple of hours, and picked up and dropped off Christmas presents. Mom and Dad wanted us to open up a couple of presents they were excited about so they could see our reaction. One of them was this Sony under-cabinet radio/CD player that was on both of our Amazon wish lists. Very cool! I just mounted it today and took a picture of it. Very good rich sound for such a small slim package.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Here is Brad's computer tip of the day:
1. In Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to the "Tools" menu, and then select "Internet Options…" near the bottom.
2. It should open up a dialog box, and the "General" tab should be the one selected. In the middle of the General tab, in a section called "Temporary Internet files" click the button labeled "Settings…"
3. On the window that opens up, near the top it will say "Check for newer versions of stored pages:" and then have four choices below that. The default is "Automatically". To make sure you get the most recent version of a web page, check the option that says "Every visit to the page".
4. Click "OK" on that window, and "OK" on the original window.
Let me know if I confused you or got you lost somewhere.
1. In Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to the "Tools" menu, and then select "Internet Options…" near the bottom.
2. It should open up a dialog box, and the "General" tab should be the one selected. In the middle of the General tab, in a section called "Temporary Internet files" click the button labeled "Settings…"
3. On the window that opens up, near the top it will say "Check for newer versions of stored pages:" and then have four choices below that. The default is "Automatically". To make sure you get the most recent version of a web page, check the option that says "Every visit to the page".
4. Click "OK" on that window, and "OK" on the original window.
Let me know if I confused you or got you lost somewhere.
When I was at Bank One they brought in a new manager. When I first heard the announcement it was a month or so before she would start. Her name was Susan Pony. Or so I thought. It turns out her name was Sue Zumpone, but when you say it fast it runs together, and I didn't see her name in print, just word of mouth.
A friend of ours bought a small house in a very rural part of Georgia. The backyard is very large, but when he bought it, it was so overrun with undergrowth and mosquitoes that he couldn't even go exploring. He has spent most of the summer cleaning it up. This is the latest funny story of his adventure:
The backyard of the house is actually starting to look pretty good, especially considering that the only tools I had for yard work were the Kabar knife and the sling blade that Slingblade Mike had loaned me.
Rather than get rid of all of the jungle, I decided that forging paths through the overgrowth would allow me to have different areas of the yard, rather than just a large open space. So, there is an area dedicated to vegetable gardening, an place for the fire pit, a spot for a reading hammock, and a space for the bee farm in the spring. The problem, however, with making trails which go from place to place, is the ivy.
The ivy loves my yard the way Cane Toads find Australia "quite pleasant". It crawls along with wild abandon, clinging and clutching anything that attempts to pass. It was my hope that walking the trails enough would wear the ivy down, revealing a path, but after several weeks of walking, it was still a hazard, and I had been tripped and brought down by it several times. I started to think of a way to define a trail as inexpensively as possible. Gravel and pebbles cost a fortune, and sand would be kicked and washed away in no time.
After pondering the problem for some time, I eventually came to the conclusion that wood chips would do the trick. I had an excess of branches and small trees that I had pruned out of the yard, and my father had loaned me a chipper machine to get rid of them.
First, the piles of branches, sticks and logs had to be trimmed down into an acceptable eating size for the machine. Then, after feeding a couple of piles of wood into it, the storage hopper of chips had to be emptied into plastic yard bags, and the entire process repeated. I spent an entire day like this. It was the kind of work where you don't think you're tired until you sit down for a minute, then you never want to get up again. I turned on the water hose, put my head in my hands and sprayed a cool mist on my face for what felt like hours.
When I poured the chips along the trail, I was pleased to find that they were perfect. They covered the ivy, and showed clearly where the paths were. The disappointing thing was that four giant bags them still did not do the trick, and although I was only about a bag shy of finishing, I was out of wood to chip.
I started to think about what could fit into the chipper. Unwanted furniture? The old door in the basement? I wasn't using it...
Yesterday, Safety Julia and I were driving along, when I saw some workers from "King Tree Experts" taking off the branches of a giant magnolia tree. The owner of the house was standing in the front yard, looking on approvingly. He'd probably hated that tree for years. Maybe he kept it around because his wife liked it. Maybe she's left him, or maybe he's found out she's been unfaithful, and the tree was the first to pay for it. Either way, it meant wood chips for me! I darted over to the big truck and climbed on board like he was the ice cream man. It was the summer of 1986 all over again, and I was looking for a nutty buddy.
I asked what they were going to do with the wood when they were done, and he said he didn't know. I told him to drop some branches, chips, whatever to my house, and I told him where it was. Although he nodded in agreement, I never really expected to see him again.
But about an hour later, there was a knock at the door. They had backed the big truck into my driveway, and were asking where I wanted my wood chips. It was a happy, happy day for me. I gestured to the end of the driveway, thinking about how I could finish the trail and I might even have enough chips left over to go over the existing paths, just for good measure.
The back of the truck opened up, and there were a LOT of wood chips in there. I had expected to see some mighty piles in there, but it was more like Fibber McGhee's wood-chip-closet inside, packed to the very top. I asked one of them if I could help to rake out what I needed, and he looked at me strangely, and told me that they could manage. He took out a small chainsaw on a stick, and used it to cut a dead branch away that was hanging over my driveway.
Now THAT'S gratitude! I thought. They've been working all day long on that tree, but since I'm taking a couple of bags of chips off their hands, they still take a minute to get rid of that branch over my driveway. That wasn't bothering me... without asking...
Realizing it would be easier if I had a couple of bags to fill up, I yelled over the chainsaw. "I'm going to get a lawn bag to put it in, okay?" They waved at me and nodded. I ran into the house to get the bag. While I was pulling it off the roll, I started to consider the idea of bringing out TWO bags. I hated to be greedy, and while it would be a lot of chips, and more effort for the guys to fill up both bags, I decided with a nod that I really needed two bagfuls. For a brief moment, I wondered if they'd get mad if I wanted three bags.
While I was trying to find the opening to one of the lawn bags, I heard a loud noise coming from the truck in the yard. I stood on the porch, and saw the back of the truck start to tilt back. With a sickening lunge, the chips shifted back, towards my driveway.
As the first chips landed, I snapped out of my dazed stupor. "No! OH NOOOOOOO!!!!" I screamed, suddenly awake. The guys with the truck couldn't hear my cries over the din of the hydraulics, and the bay continued to ease back. "I JUST NEED TWO... NO, THREE BAGFULS! NOT THE WHOLE..." The chips slid out of the truck, and two full tons of wood chips poured out in a tidal wave onto my driveway.
At some point, I just gave up and started taking pictures.
Then it was over. The sawdust was settling like fallout and the truck bay began to lower with a loud hiss. Looking up, I was able to see that the real reason the branch had been cut was to clear room for the truck. I walked over to the mountain of chips, which was as tall as myself. I wondered what I was going to do with all the wood chips, when one of the guys waved a gloved hand at me. I waved back weakly. I realized I was still holding my lawn bags when he called out, "I don't think those bags are gonna be enough man. You need, like... a wheelbarrow!"
The backyard of the house is actually starting to look pretty good, especially considering that the only tools I had for yard work were the Kabar knife and the sling blade that Slingblade Mike had loaned me.
Rather than get rid of all of the jungle, I decided that forging paths through the overgrowth would allow me to have different areas of the yard, rather than just a large open space. So, there is an area dedicated to vegetable gardening, an place for the fire pit, a spot for a reading hammock, and a space for the bee farm in the spring. The problem, however, with making trails which go from place to place, is the ivy.
The ivy loves my yard the way Cane Toads find Australia "quite pleasant". It crawls along with wild abandon, clinging and clutching anything that attempts to pass. It was my hope that walking the trails enough would wear the ivy down, revealing a path, but after several weeks of walking, it was still a hazard, and I had been tripped and brought down by it several times. I started to think of a way to define a trail as inexpensively as possible. Gravel and pebbles cost a fortune, and sand would be kicked and washed away in no time.
After pondering the problem for some time, I eventually came to the conclusion that wood chips would do the trick. I had an excess of branches and small trees that I had pruned out of the yard, and my father had loaned me a chipper machine to get rid of them.
First, the piles of branches, sticks and logs had to be trimmed down into an acceptable eating size for the machine. Then, after feeding a couple of piles of wood into it, the storage hopper of chips had to be emptied into plastic yard bags, and the entire process repeated. I spent an entire day like this. It was the kind of work where you don't think you're tired until you sit down for a minute, then you never want to get up again. I turned on the water hose, put my head in my hands and sprayed a cool mist on my face for what felt like hours.
When I poured the chips along the trail, I was pleased to find that they were perfect. They covered the ivy, and showed clearly where the paths were. The disappointing thing was that four giant bags them still did not do the trick, and although I was only about a bag shy of finishing, I was out of wood to chip.
I started to think about what could fit into the chipper. Unwanted furniture? The old door in the basement? I wasn't using it...
Yesterday, Safety Julia and I were driving along, when I saw some workers from "King Tree Experts" taking off the branches of a giant magnolia tree. The owner of the house was standing in the front yard, looking on approvingly. He'd probably hated that tree for years. Maybe he kept it around because his wife liked it. Maybe she's left him, or maybe he's found out she's been unfaithful, and the tree was the first to pay for it. Either way, it meant wood chips for me! I darted over to the big truck and climbed on board like he was the ice cream man. It was the summer of 1986 all over again, and I was looking for a nutty buddy.
I asked what they were going to do with the wood when they were done, and he said he didn't know. I told him to drop some branches, chips, whatever to my house, and I told him where it was. Although he nodded in agreement, I never really expected to see him again.
But about an hour later, there was a knock at the door. They had backed the big truck into my driveway, and were asking where I wanted my wood chips. It was a happy, happy day for me. I gestured to the end of the driveway, thinking about how I could finish the trail and I might even have enough chips left over to go over the existing paths, just for good measure.
The back of the truck opened up, and there were a LOT of wood chips in there. I had expected to see some mighty piles in there, but it was more like Fibber McGhee's wood-chip-closet inside, packed to the very top. I asked one of them if I could help to rake out what I needed, and he looked at me strangely, and told me that they could manage. He took out a small chainsaw on a stick, and used it to cut a dead branch away that was hanging over my driveway.
Now THAT'S gratitude! I thought. They've been working all day long on that tree, but since I'm taking a couple of bags of chips off their hands, they still take a minute to get rid of that branch over my driveway. That wasn't bothering me... without asking...
Realizing it would be easier if I had a couple of bags to fill up, I yelled over the chainsaw. "I'm going to get a lawn bag to put it in, okay?" They waved at me and nodded. I ran into the house to get the bag. While I was pulling it off the roll, I started to consider the idea of bringing out TWO bags. I hated to be greedy, and while it would be a lot of chips, and more effort for the guys to fill up both bags, I decided with a nod that I really needed two bagfuls. For a brief moment, I wondered if they'd get mad if I wanted three bags.
While I was trying to find the opening to one of the lawn bags, I heard a loud noise coming from the truck in the yard. I stood on the porch, and saw the back of the truck start to tilt back. With a sickening lunge, the chips shifted back, towards my driveway.
As the first chips landed, I snapped out of my dazed stupor. "No! OH NOOOOOOO!!!!" I screamed, suddenly awake. The guys with the truck couldn't hear my cries over the din of the hydraulics, and the bay continued to ease back. "I JUST NEED TWO... NO, THREE BAGFULS! NOT THE WHOLE..." The chips slid out of the truck, and two full tons of wood chips poured out in a tidal wave onto my driveway.
At some point, I just gave up and started taking pictures.
Then it was over. The sawdust was settling like fallout and the truck bay began to lower with a loud hiss. Looking up, I was able to see that the real reason the branch had been cut was to clear room for the truck. I walked over to the mountain of chips, which was as tall as myself. I wondered what I was going to do with all the wood chips, when one of the guys waved a gloved hand at me. I waved back weakly. I realized I was still holding my lawn bags when he called out, "I don't think those bags are gonna be enough man. You need, like... a wheelbarrow!"
I want to watch this three-part PBS special about the life of Charles Dickens. It premiers tonight.
This map of London is from the special, and it indicates areas of London that had significance to Dickens' life. [Anything with a map has to be good, right?]
All of this history that happened in London is why I want to visit there again, but this time with greater background knowledge, maturity, and an appreciation of history. London is probably the most important city of western civilization. For example, Dickens is buried at Westminster Abbey, next to Chaucer, Tennyson, and Kipling.
The house is still standing where he lived from 1837 to 1839 and finished writing The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby.
I want to see Regents Park too. I learned about it in my Land Use Planning class and why it was such a breakthrough in city planning.
This map of London is from the special, and it indicates areas of London that had significance to Dickens' life. [Anything with a map has to be good, right?]
All of this history that happened in London is why I want to visit there again, but this time with greater background knowledge, maturity, and an appreciation of history. London is probably the most important city of western civilization. For example, Dickens is buried at Westminster Abbey, next to Chaucer, Tennyson, and Kipling.
The house is still standing where he lived from 1837 to 1839 and finished writing The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby.
I want to see Regents Park too. I learned about it in my Land Use Planning class and why it was such a breakthrough in city planning.
I just had a slight scare with the printer. It had a paper jam, and I thought I might have stripped the gears or something when I removed the paper because it just made grinding sound when I would turn it off and on. The error message lights indicated that the ink cartridge sled was jammed.
I went on-line to look at HP's troubleshooting guide, but everything they suggested checked out fine. I took the back of the printer off and did not see any paper scraps jamming any gears.
Finally, from Brad's trouble shooting guide, I took a pair of pliers and pulled the sled out from behind the docking position. I took out the ink cartridges, closed the lid, and then turned it back on. It cycled through and gave me the error that there was no ink rather than a jammed sled. I also didn't hear any grinding! I put the cartridges back in, turned it back on, and it worked like normal. Weird.
I went on-line to look at HP's troubleshooting guide, but everything they suggested checked out fine. I took the back of the printer off and did not see any paper scraps jamming any gears.
Finally, from Brad's trouble shooting guide, I took a pair of pliers and pulled the sled out from behind the docking position. I took out the ink cartridges, closed the lid, and then turned it back on. It cycled through and gave me the error that there was no ink rather than a jammed sled. I also didn't hear any grinding! I put the cartridges back in, turned it back on, and it worked like normal. Weird.
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
My favorite nuts in the world are roasted Virginia peanuts, and roasted salted almonds from the Krema Nut Company in Columbus. When ever we visit Columbus, or Greta visits us, she usually has a bag of each waiting for me. [I forgot to thank you this time. Thank you Greta!]
They roast them right there at the "factory" on West Goodale Boulevard. They are very fresh, sweet, and crunchy. Almost like you just cracked them out of the shell yourself.
Lisa gave us a Honeybaked gift basket that was made up of all Krema products. If Honeybaked thinks it is good enough to put their name on, that also tells you something.
I would like their natural peanut butter, but they do not add salt. You need a little bit of salt in your peanut butter.
The best natural peanut butter I have found, and I think I have already written about it here, is Meijer's brand. It is so fresh that the oil does not have a chance to separate. The production date stamped on the jar is usually only a couple weeks old when I pick up a jar. They must move a lot of it. The best part is that it only costs $1.99, as opposed to Krema's $3.99.
I just took a look at Dell's website to see what kind of prices they have on PC's. You can pick up one of their Dimension 2400's for $399. I think they also might have some free shipping deals going on too.
When our older computer finally gives out, I would replace it with one of these. It is more than enough for internet, e-mail, etc.
Since there is no more flu vaccine left, I can't tell you to get get a vaccine, so instead I found a good Q&A on what to do if you think you might have the flu:
Q: How can I tell if it's influenza or just a cold?
A: With flu, the child becomes sicker, faster. Symptoms include high fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, chills, dry cough, sore throat, headache or runny nose.
Child symptoms can differ. Infants may show solely a fever; toddlers often vomit or have diarrhea. Very young children can't explain symptoms — be suspicious if they quit playing and refuse to eat or drink.
Q: What's a flu emergency?
A: Get immediate medical care for signs of bacterial infection or other flu complications:
• Trouble breathing. Breaths may be rapid, heavy or gasping; you may see skin around the rib cage suck in or nostrils flare.
• Dehydration. Common signs include dry diapers, a lack of tears while crying, sunken eyes, dry lips and mouth.
• Appearing very pale or bluish; limp or floppy; or not waking up and interacting.
• Being inconsolable, or too irritable even to be held or consoled.
"Any normally sick kid is going to want to be held or comforted. If they don't, that's something to be worried about," says the University of Maryland's Dr. Rennels, an American Academy of Pediatrics flu specialist.
Q: My 5-year-old's fever hit 103º. Is that too high?
A: Fever itself isn't damaging; it shows the body is fighting infection. What to do depends on the child's age and fever's extent.
Call the doctor about any temperature over 101º in a baby younger than 1 year.
For toddlers and older, call the doctor if fever persists beyond several days, reaches as high as 104º or doesn't drop despite medication.
Q: What treatments help?
A: First, never give a child or teenager aspirin. Use acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever.
There are four anti-flu drugs, one approved for children as young as 1, that can slightly shorten flu's misery when taken within 48 hours of first symptoms. They're important for high-risk children.
For most kids, drinking enough fluids is the main prescription. Keep them comfortable; no sweating out a fever. Over-the-counter remedies offer little help.
Q: My toddler seemed to be getting better but now her fever's back. Is it a relapse?
A: Call the doctor. Once the original fever's gone, it should stay gone. If not, a bacterial infection might be setting into flu-damaged airways.
Q: Will my daughter spread her flu to the rest of the family?
A: Probably. Remember, kids put their hands in their mouths and noses and then touch, well, everything you touch.
So wash her hands and yours frequently. Wipe off doorknobs and faucets. Use alcohol hand gels when soap is unavailable, like after leaving the pediatrician's office. Keep sick children home to cut flu's spread. Teach them to cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
Q: How can I tell if it's influenza or just a cold?
A: With flu, the child becomes sicker, faster. Symptoms include high fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, chills, dry cough, sore throat, headache or runny nose.
Child symptoms can differ. Infants may show solely a fever; toddlers often vomit or have diarrhea. Very young children can't explain symptoms — be suspicious if they quit playing and refuse to eat or drink.
Q: What's a flu emergency?
A: Get immediate medical care for signs of bacterial infection or other flu complications:
• Trouble breathing. Breaths may be rapid, heavy or gasping; you may see skin around the rib cage suck in or nostrils flare.
• Dehydration. Common signs include dry diapers, a lack of tears while crying, sunken eyes, dry lips and mouth.
• Appearing very pale or bluish; limp or floppy; or not waking up and interacting.
• Being inconsolable, or too irritable even to be held or consoled.
"Any normally sick kid is going to want to be held or comforted. If they don't, that's something to be worried about," says the University of Maryland's Dr. Rennels, an American Academy of Pediatrics flu specialist.
Q: My 5-year-old's fever hit 103º. Is that too high?
A: Fever itself isn't damaging; it shows the body is fighting infection. What to do depends on the child's age and fever's extent.
Call the doctor about any temperature over 101º in a baby younger than 1 year.
For toddlers and older, call the doctor if fever persists beyond several days, reaches as high as 104º or doesn't drop despite medication.
Q: What treatments help?
A: First, never give a child or teenager aspirin. Use acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever.
There are four anti-flu drugs, one approved for children as young as 1, that can slightly shorten flu's misery when taken within 48 hours of first symptoms. They're important for high-risk children.
For most kids, drinking enough fluids is the main prescription. Keep them comfortable; no sweating out a fever. Over-the-counter remedies offer little help.
Q: My toddler seemed to be getting better but now her fever's back. Is it a relapse?
A: Call the doctor. Once the original fever's gone, it should stay gone. If not, a bacterial infection might be setting into flu-damaged airways.
Q: Will my daughter spread her flu to the rest of the family?
A: Probably. Remember, kids put their hands in their mouths and noses and then touch, well, everything you touch.
So wash her hands and yours frequently. Wipe off doorknobs and faucets. Use alcohol hand gels when soap is unavailable, like after leaving the pediatrician's office. Keep sick children home to cut flu's spread. Teach them to cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
Everyone defines themselves by a time in their lives where they really fit in and everything was going well. Good times. No worries. Glory days. My time was probably between 1986 and 1988 when I was working on the boats in Toledo.
The company had three boats. The first and smallest one could carry 50 passengers for sight-seeing cruises up and down the Maumee River and is the boat I started on. This is also the boat that we recently chartered for Mom's surprise birthday party.
The next boat was a replica paddle wheel river boat. It had a huge paddle wheel that turned, but it did not propel the boat. It just spun from the backwash of the propellers. It cold seat about 100 people, maybe more, for dinner on two decks. It had a bar on each deck. Every cruise had live entertainment.
The wheel house was a little box that sat on top of the roof of the upper deck. Two decorative smoke stacks sat to the front left and right of the wheel house.
The time that I feel most proud of was when I was just promoted from deckhand to first mate and was assigned to go out on a dinner cruise with the owner of the company, also a licensed captain. A deckhand works the mooring lines when the boat leaves and returns to the dock. They do a lot of the cleaning, maintenance, and anything else the captain or first mate tells you to do.
The first mate is responsible for getting the engines and engine room ready before cruises, maintaining the official Coast Guards logs, working the mooring lines, and when the boat is under way spends most of the time in the wheel house helping the captain navigate the boat.
Any way, so I had been a first mate for probably only a month or so, and I get assigned a night-time dinner cruise with the owner. Once a cruise leaves the dock, all of the other captains turn off the decorative lights that run up and down the decorative smoke stacks in front of the wheel house so you can see the river. The owner, however, wanted them on the entire cruise so that it looked better from shore. There must have been 100 bulbs in a line running down the front of each stack. Unless something on the river had its own lights, it was almost impossible to see it.
Most captains would also stay up in the wheel house most of the cruise. They might go down for 15 or 20 minutes to mingle with the guests, but most of the time they were in the wheel house. The owner couldn't get out of the wheel house fast enough. He wanted to mingle and schmooze with everyone.
So, I am in the wheel house by myself heading north-east towards Lake Erie on the Maumee River, and I am getting the boat lined up to go under the I-280 bridge. It is a drawbridge, but if we line up just right we can fit under without needing a lift and stopping traffic. I am probably about 400 yards away going at our normal cruising speed, which is probably about 80% power. I will probably be under the bridge in about 30 seconds. Just then the captain calls up and tells me to turn it around and head back towards downtown, and then he goes back to mingling.
Aaaaaaa!!!! Panic! Panic! I can barely see what's around me. I have a full head of steam, and rapidly approaching the bridge. The span that is tall enough for us to go under is also fairly close to the north bank of the river. No time to think, just react. I take both engines out of drive and put them into about 50% reverse to take off some of my forward motion before I try to start changing the direction of the boat. The bridge is still approaching. I don't want to use too much reverse because it makes the boat vibrate and the sound will cover up the band and might panic the passengers. Don't want to do that. After about 10 seconds of straight reverse, I put the right engine in neutral and keep the left engine in reverse. This will make the boat start to spin counter-clockwise. I am worried about the front of the boat swinging into shore, which is about 200 feet away. I also bring the rudder hard right. It started to work. The left engine in reverse is not only turning the boat, but also is helping to pull it away from shore.
At this point I am not worried about hitting the bridge or the shore, but now I am concerned that I am pivoting in place too fast. I don't want to leave the shipping channel, and I don't want to spin past 180º. I take the left engine out of reverse and put it at about 50% forward power. I move the rudder to just a few degrees right of center. I leave the right engine in neutral for now as back-up help. If I do end up overshooting, I can put it into reverse to check my spin.
The left engine is starting to bite the water and slow down my spin. It's looking pretty good. At about ¾ of the way through my pivot I take the left engine out of reverse. I leave both engines in neutral to see what my inertia looks like. I still have a nice gentle spin. I put the left engine in forward at about 25% power to check my spin. When I am slowing down and almost hitting the 180º position, I slip the right engine into forward and match the engine speed of the left engine. We are making straight forward headway! I did it! I slowly increase throttle on both engines to get back up to cruising speed.
The owner was a hot-head and didn't have any problem yelling at you if he thought you messed up or didn't do something right. He never said a word, so it means I did it perfectly! I remember feeling like an adult for the first time that night. I think I was only 19 at the time.
This is the biggest boat the company had. I helped bring in back from Rhode Island via the St. Lawrence Seaway with four other licensed captains. It is being run out of Cleveland now. It could seat about 400 people for dinner on two decks. It also had an open-air observation deck on the same level as the wheel house. Thankfully, no decorative smoke stacks! We also took this one out into Lake Erie. On weekend nights we took it out to the harbor light for a midnight dance cruise. In the middle of the week we took it to Put In Bay for an all day trip. We stayed at the island for four hours.
I don't know where the paddle wheel boat is now.
The company had three boats. The first and smallest one could carry 50 passengers for sight-seeing cruises up and down the Maumee River and is the boat I started on. This is also the boat that we recently chartered for Mom's surprise birthday party.
The next boat was a replica paddle wheel river boat. It had a huge paddle wheel that turned, but it did not propel the boat. It just spun from the backwash of the propellers. It cold seat about 100 people, maybe more, for dinner on two decks. It had a bar on each deck. Every cruise had live entertainment.
The wheel house was a little box that sat on top of the roof of the upper deck. Two decorative smoke stacks sat to the front left and right of the wheel house.
The time that I feel most proud of was when I was just promoted from deckhand to first mate and was assigned to go out on a dinner cruise with the owner of the company, also a licensed captain. A deckhand works the mooring lines when the boat leaves and returns to the dock. They do a lot of the cleaning, maintenance, and anything else the captain or first mate tells you to do.
The first mate is responsible for getting the engines and engine room ready before cruises, maintaining the official Coast Guards logs, working the mooring lines, and when the boat is under way spends most of the time in the wheel house helping the captain navigate the boat.
Any way, so I had been a first mate for probably only a month or so, and I get assigned a night-time dinner cruise with the owner. Once a cruise leaves the dock, all of the other captains turn off the decorative lights that run up and down the decorative smoke stacks in front of the wheel house so you can see the river. The owner, however, wanted them on the entire cruise so that it looked better from shore. There must have been 100 bulbs in a line running down the front of each stack. Unless something on the river had its own lights, it was almost impossible to see it.
Most captains would also stay up in the wheel house most of the cruise. They might go down for 15 or 20 minutes to mingle with the guests, but most of the time they were in the wheel house. The owner couldn't get out of the wheel house fast enough. He wanted to mingle and schmooze with everyone.
So, I am in the wheel house by myself heading north-east towards Lake Erie on the Maumee River, and I am getting the boat lined up to go under the I-280 bridge. It is a drawbridge, but if we line up just right we can fit under without needing a lift and stopping traffic. I am probably about 400 yards away going at our normal cruising speed, which is probably about 80% power. I will probably be under the bridge in about 30 seconds. Just then the captain calls up and tells me to turn it around and head back towards downtown, and then he goes back to mingling.
Aaaaaaa!!!! Panic! Panic! I can barely see what's around me. I have a full head of steam, and rapidly approaching the bridge. The span that is tall enough for us to go under is also fairly close to the north bank of the river. No time to think, just react. I take both engines out of drive and put them into about 50% reverse to take off some of my forward motion before I try to start changing the direction of the boat. The bridge is still approaching. I don't want to use too much reverse because it makes the boat vibrate and the sound will cover up the band and might panic the passengers. Don't want to do that. After about 10 seconds of straight reverse, I put the right engine in neutral and keep the left engine in reverse. This will make the boat start to spin counter-clockwise. I am worried about the front of the boat swinging into shore, which is about 200 feet away. I also bring the rudder hard right. It started to work. The left engine in reverse is not only turning the boat, but also is helping to pull it away from shore.
At this point I am not worried about hitting the bridge or the shore, but now I am concerned that I am pivoting in place too fast. I don't want to leave the shipping channel, and I don't want to spin past 180º. I take the left engine out of reverse and put it at about 50% forward power. I move the rudder to just a few degrees right of center. I leave the right engine in neutral for now as back-up help. If I do end up overshooting, I can put it into reverse to check my spin.
The left engine is starting to bite the water and slow down my spin. It's looking pretty good. At about ¾ of the way through my pivot I take the left engine out of reverse. I leave both engines in neutral to see what my inertia looks like. I still have a nice gentle spin. I put the left engine in forward at about 25% power to check my spin. When I am slowing down and almost hitting the 180º position, I slip the right engine into forward and match the engine speed of the left engine. We are making straight forward headway! I did it! I slowly increase throttle on both engines to get back up to cruising speed.
The owner was a hot-head and didn't have any problem yelling at you if he thought you messed up or didn't do something right. He never said a word, so it means I did it perfectly! I remember feeling like an adult for the first time that night. I think I was only 19 at the time.
This is the biggest boat the company had. I helped bring in back from Rhode Island via the St. Lawrence Seaway with four other licensed captains. It is being run out of Cleveland now. It could seat about 400 people for dinner on two decks. It also had an open-air observation deck on the same level as the wheel house. Thankfully, no decorative smoke stacks! We also took this one out into Lake Erie. On weekend nights we took it out to the harbor light for a midnight dance cruise. In the middle of the week we took it to Put In Bay for an all day trip. We stayed at the island for four hours.
I don't know where the paddle wheel boat is now.
Wow! I didn't expect a response about my beans this quickly:
Thanks for contacting us regarding our products. We are sorry for the incident you described and any inconvenience it may have caused. The white lining inside our cans is a food grade enamel that is safe for use in cans. We use it to preserve the product shelf life and to keep the product from tasting "tinny". It should not flake easily, although poses no health hazard if it does. We will look into this situation and check our supply of cans for this type of damage. We appreciate you reporting this to us. I will send replacement coupons to you by mail. Thanks again.
Joy Garrett
Bush Brothers, Consumer Relations
Thanks for contacting us regarding our products. We are sorry for the incident you described and any inconvenience it may have caused. The white lining inside our cans is a food grade enamel that is safe for use in cans. We use it to preserve the product shelf life and to keep the product from tasting "tinny". It should not flake easily, although poses no health hazard if it does. We will look into this situation and check our supply of cans for this type of damage. We appreciate you reporting this to us. I will send replacement coupons to you by mail. Thanks again.
Joy Garrett
Bush Brothers, Consumer Relations
Monday, December 15, 2003
A U.S. soldier of the Fourth Infantry Division climbs out of the spider hole, in which Saddam Hussein was hiding when he was captured by U.S. troops on Dec. 13, during a media visit to the farm near Tikrit, December 15, 2003.
'I'm Saddam Hussein, I'm the president of Iraq and I'm willing to negotiate',' he was quoted as saying by Major Brian Reed, of the Fourth Infantry Division which captured him. (Reuters Tv/Reuters)
