Vacation - Addendum

For any of my relatives that may ever consider visiting - do not be alarmed when you arrive at the security checkpoints in Dulles International. The swarm of Middle-Eastern and African people milling about the checkpoints, speaking in strange tongues and accents are actually TSA employees. They are there to protect you from bad people.

Uh-huh.

Coors Gets Around

Man, you find find Coors beer everywhere now. Not like the old Smokey and the Bandit days. Even on a Scottish beach.

The mystery of a huge container washed up on a beach in the Western Isles has been solved.

The 27m container has been identified as a beer fermentation tank belonging to the American brewery Coors.

I like the other ideas people had for it.

One reader thought the numbers 5580 written on the container could have meant the container was used to house the chemicals used in DTD 5580, a three-part paint scheme used for aircraft all over the world.

Another website user thought it could have been a rocket stage previously launched from the South Uist launch site.

Vacation, Part 6 - Home Again

Friday morning we thought it might be prudent to check flight status, given the snow, before going out to DIA. All showed normal.

Sucker! We got to check-in 2 1/2 hours before flight time, and the flight was showing delayed an hour and a half. (Eventually they told us the captain, coming in from San Francisco for this Denver-DC-Munich flight, had called in sick.) So we got a chance for a leisurely breakfast, and chance to wander the shops, and to deal with security without time pressure.

The flight was good though. A Boeing 777, nine seats across, 9 channels of video at each seat, etc. We got in at a quarter after five, and were in our car with bags by about 6:30. Fought the traffic for 90 minutes, and had dinner in Fredericksburg. From there it's 105 miles home. Too bad it rained the whole way, as that slowed us down a bit.

We got home just before 11, schlepped all of the bags inside, brought in a huge pile from the mailbox, and went to bed. I was asleep in about two minutes.

This morning we reclaimed the dog children from the kennel (oh, were they happy to see us!), got settled in, and opened presents. Ah, it's good to be home!

The final funny bit we discovered just as we got home. In our haste to get moving a week before, apparently the door to the house never got locked. Neither did the back door. Not that where we live is small town or anything...

Vacation, Part 5 - Denver

The morning of the 26th we were off to Denver. This trip was uneventful, after an easy drive back to LAX. Except, if DIA is supposed to be such a wonderful airport, why did it take 45 minutes before any of the baggage arrived at the claim area? We visited with my parents in the afternoon, and had dinner with them. All seemed peaceful.

In the night the snow started to fall. By breakfast time it was getting ugly, and I'm out of practice driving in this. We spent the morning on a couple of short stops. Winnie had found a job to apply for just a day before we left home, and had spent spare moments filling out the application. The last step was to stop at Kinkos and mail in her transcripts.

The second stop was at Sheplers. I had been looking at Stetsons for years. Traditionally, Colorado School of Mines students got one when they got to be seniors. The tradition had kind of died out in the 70's, which I attribute in part to one weird student that no one wanted to be "like". None the less I kept looking at them, especially now that I'm so bald and in constant need of using a hat.

So, I got a salesperson's attention and asked if they had the Open Road hat I wanted. No, it's a very popular model, but they didn't carry them in the store. Just as a matter of interest, how much would it be if special ordered? $164. So, I'm hedging when Winnie says

Shut up and order the damn hat. You've been whining about this for 25 years, and I'm tired of hearing about it.

So, under orders, I did. It should arrive in a couple of weeks.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at my parents, with my sister's kids, and new great-niece. Isn't she cute?

Later, all of the family in town, 14 in all, went out to dinner, and had a great time. I went over to my sister's house, after dinner, and visited for a couple more hours. Then, a perilous trip back to the hotel in the snow, and get ready to travel.

Vacation, Part 4 - Christmas Day

Christmas Day we went over to Mark and Erin's again, had breakfast, and opened our respective gifts. Then we all jumped in Mark's car, and he took us out to Malibu. We got a chance to see crazy CA drivers. There was a wreck on the Santa Monica Freeway, and cars were moving a right angles to the lane markings to get over onto the parallel collector road. Yikes!

We had coffee and snacks (since almost nothing else was open), and walked on the beach for a bit. It was pretty nice, but very windy. Good thing there were no fires that day! Beautiful setting for houses, but it looked very perilous.

Back we went to their place, where a trans-Atlantic call to Mark's family was used so each side could open their presents together. Later Erin made us another yummy dinner, we drank a lot of wine, and eventually said goodnight and goodbye to them. (Yes, we ate a lot in Pasadena.)

Vacation, Part 3 - Christmas Eve

This is what comes of being married to someone who was first a geologist. Our entertainment for Christmas Eve was to visit the La Brea Tar Pits. This is Pit 91, from which they have removed over 250,000 fossils. The most common large fossil recovered has been dire wolves.

In the evening, we went over to Mark and Erin's and had a yummy duck dinner, but tried to get out at a reasonable hour, so they could get a little sleep.

Vacation, Part 2 - Pasadena

On Sunday we got to see a little of the town. We met Erin and Mark over at the Paseo, and did a little shopping. Erin and Winnie looked for clothes, and I found a bookstore to amuse myself. When we finished there we walked the few blocks down to old town Pasadena, and had lunch.

After lunch, we went back to their apartment for a while, and met Buster. He is a rowdy little dog, but not the hell hound Erin sometimes makes him out to be.

Later on we to the Huntington Botanic Gardens. We stayed there wandering the grounds until the guards chased us out near sunset.

Later we had dinner at Porto Alegre, which is a Brazilian steakhouse place. This meant "meat on a sword" as Erin stated it. It also meant eating until I nearly popped. The deal is they come to your table with whatever is just off the grill, slice you off pieces, and go on. That along with the huge salad/sides bar constitutes more dinner than bears thinking about. I should have taken a second statin before bed.

Vacation, Part 1 - Arriving in Pasadena

A week ago tonight we left on vacation. Our first stop was to Pasadena to see Erin and Mark.

In order to keep to non-stop flights, we left via Dulles in DC, which meant a 175 mile drive after dropping the dogs off at the kennel. We got there in plenty of time, and the flight went off without a hitch. Well, except the usual part about being squashed in coach.

What I don't understand came at the other end. We get to Hertz at about 8 pm, 3 days before Christmas, and there are four agents on duty at LAX. It took an hour to get a car and get our of there.

The drive up to Pasadena was surprisingly easy, and we got in touch with Erin right away, informing her that daddy was hungry. They met us at our hotel, and we walked over to the Paseo Colorado for dinner, which is only a block away from the Sheraton.

They started out trying to take us to the Yard House, which we rejected when they told us it had a 45 minute wait (around 10 pm). That was fine with me. It was a screamingly loud club, which isn't what I really wanted then. Actually, it's not what I ever want.

Instead, we wound up at Islands, which was good, and what I needed at that time of night. Pork tacos, and a shared Kona Pie.

Christmas Carols

As Larry says, "now that there's funny, I don't care who you are."

Off the Grid

Toshiba has got it all set up so I can go off the grid. Maybe I can be the first on my block to own my own nuclear reactor.

Toshiba has developed a new class of micro size Nuclear Reactors that is designed to power individual apartment buildings or city blocks. The new reactor, which is only 20 feet by 6 feet, could change everything for small remote communities, small businesses or even a group of neighbors who are fed up with the power companies and want more control over their energy needs.

Collies at Play

And now, for something completely usual.

My Christmas Letter

I'll spare you the embedded photos, but this is the Christmas letter I sent in my Christmas cards this year.

Family and Friends,

It never seems like I have anything worth telling in these letters, but as I think this out for this past year, that’s not true. There has been quite a lot going on with us.

Winnie taught a couple of Sociology classes this year as an adjunct professor at a local community college. She has also been working with her old advisor on a number of projects over time, and this fall he was able to get her hired full time as a research scientist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (part of the College of William & Mary), where she specializes in the social effects of fishery regulations on coastal communities. She has also been asked to serve as a social scientist on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, evaluating the effects of new regulations for them.

I am still working as a consultant to the Virginia Department of Transportation where I’m the lead business analyst and head of testing for a statewide Geographic Information Systems project. The first portion of the project went “live” in September, but it’s still almost three more years until it will be complete. So, I gather software requirements, design the application look-and-feel, explain how it’s supposed to work to the developers, and then show them why it isn’t doing what it’s supposed to. Overall, it’s wonder they haven’t mugged me and tossed me in a dumpster, but we have an incredibly cohesive team. The boss also keeps me pretty busy as a mentor on software development methodology for subjects like requirements and software configuration management.

Erin has finished her class work at the University of Minnesota for her PhD in Astronomy. She is now working on her dissertation project which involves the detection of near-Earth asteroids using data from the NASA Spitzer infra-red space telescope, and the new Large Binocular Telescope on Mt. Graham in Arizona.

Erin was fortunate enough to be the very first observer to use the LBT for scientific observations, back in January. So far she has apparently found a couple dozen new asteroids, and is preparing a series of journal articles on her results. She’s also applying for (and receiving!) grant funds to continue the research. While she is completing her dissertation, she has returned to working with the Spitzer telescope at Jet Propulsion Lab, at CalTech in Pasadena. That helps, because that’s where a lot of her data comes from anyway, and it’s nice to get paid for work you wanted to do anyway.

Last Christmas, Erin announced her engagement to another JPL staff member, Mark Lacy. Mark is an astrophysicist, and is also working with the Spitzer telescope. As I understand it, he is mainly involved in studies of large scale galaxy formation. He was formerly a lecturer at Oxford University, in his native England. Erin and Mark plan to be married next summer in California.

At Christmas this year we are going out to California for a visit of a few days with them. Previously, we’ve only spent a couple of hours with Mark, and anyone that knows Erin understands that means that he got to speak very, very little. Maybe we’ll get a chance to find out what he’s really like this time. Maybe even check out the planned site for the wedding.

We are also going to swing through Denver for a couple of days to see my parents and other family. It’s been two years since we saw Erin or them. This will be a nice break for us, as our only non-business out of town trips this past year were a few days each in North Carolina at Nags Head and up near Shenandoah National Park.

Other than that, life is pretty peaceful for us here in Virginia. Winnie is the president for, and plays flute and piccolo with, the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble.

I am serving as a Board of Trustees member for a ‘colony’ of my old college fraternity (Alpha Tau Omega) at the College of William and Mary. I am going to be advising them on fraternity ritual and membership education.

And, we continue to share our lives with four big loveable collie dogs.

We hope everyone has had a good year, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Merry Christmas!

My (Current) Nightmare

Seriously. I dream about this stuff.

The VDOT CIO has ordered we apply all required resources to get our roadway centerlines into tip-top shape for an application being developed for delivery in the spring. I could say "what do you think we been trying to do for the last 4 years?"

As probably the most experienced staff member in editing the centerlines, I got the charming task of fixing linear referencing system measures on US Highways. Meaning? Our records of how long the highway is between given intersections didn't seem to "add up" for some reason, throwing the whole system out of kilter by hundreds of miles.

So far, in 4 days, I've fixed about 30 miles of it. All of us, together, have until the end of January to finish the entire state. Cripe! I'm more afraid someone will want me to instruct others in how to do this. If so, I'll spend more time answering questions than actually working. This takes a lot of attention, as my office mates are noticing, and it can't be done by just anyone. It requires a real intuitive grasp of the relative geometry.

Let's take the simplest example. In the photo (click the photo to make it larger), the arrow points to where the road used to be before it got moved over to the right, aligning both of the secondary roads intersecting US-11, now at a single intersection. Thus, the measures between intersections didn't add up because one of the intersections no longer existed. So you add up both lengths, and apply it to the single section of road that does exist.

Like I said, this is the simplest case. Maybe I'll post one of the real spaghetti pieces later.

Global Warming

This is what happens when your global warming gets out of control.

Tuition Money

College students these days can have trouble coming up with their tuition money. Yes, indeed, it can be expensive.

A year of school at the University of Cincinnati costs roughly $9,400. It's less at Toledo, but still almost $7,000.

But Andrew Butler and Christopher Avery hit on a novel solution - rob a bank.

Avery, 22, of College Hill, and Butler, 20, of Milford, pleaded guilty Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to two charges of aggravated robbery and six charges of kidnapping.

What? You couldn't come up with the money some other way?

Butler said tuition went up so his scholarships and financial aid were not enough.

"I was stressed out," he said. "I needed more money for college."

Avery said an internship at Kroger fell through, leaving no money for summer classes.

"I was strapped for cash," he said. "I thought I had nothing to lose."

He was wrong. Both will soon be sentenced to not less than 20 years. That "Kroger" thing rings a bell though. Did you guys ever consider getting a job?

Europeans Are Clueless

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OCSE) has selected a country to chair the group in 2010, Kazakhstan.

The Central Asian country will be the first ex-Soviet republic to chair the human rights and defence watchdog.

The move has been criticised by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which says Kazakhstan's human rights record is not up to scratch.

Didn't the fact that this "European" country borders China give them any pause?

Ain't This Slick?

This story is worthy of being in a Blues Brothers movie. Or maybe a sequel to Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

We have huge chicken farms on the eastern shore, and somebody has got to truck away the waste from the processing plants.

Life along some Eastern Shore communities returned to normal today after a 20-mile stretch of U.S. 13 was stained with liquid chicken fat that leaked from a truck leaving a processing plant Tuesday.

The leak led to four accidents, including one with an injury, and several instances of vehicles sliding over the fat.

Crews from the Virginia Department of Transportation planned today to conclude a cleanup effort that included spreading tons of sand and some salt, and then sweeping it up with mechanical brooms.

Corporal Punishment

Massachusetts is considering a ban on spanking.

Parents who spank their kids - even in their own homes - would be slapped by the long arm of the law under an Arlington nurse’s proposal to make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to outlaw corporal punishment.

If signed into law, parents would be prohibited from forcefully laying a hand on any child under age 18 unless it was to wrest them from danger, lest they be charged with abuse or neglect.

"Age 18" being significant, as there is apparently no intent to outlaw such behavior among adults.

Snicker.

DWB

From Chicago -

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-7th District) said Wednesday he was the victim of racial profiling.

Oh?

The congressman said he was driving three friends home early Monday morning when two white Chicago police officers pulled him over and said he had swerved over the center line before making a left turn from Kedzie onto Douglas Boulevard.

May I translate? - "Sir, I have observed you driving erratically (down the wrong side of the road), tonight at a time (midnight? 2am?) when we find many drivers have been drinking. Have you had anything to drink tonight?"

"There was just no reason I could conjure up other than the fact that there were four black people in a car," he said.

Congressman, it was the wee hours of the morning. How did they know what color you were before pulling you over? And, again, they are looking for drunks. You prefer they wait until drunks hit something, or is driving on the wrong side of the center stripe enough to pull someone over and check it out? Also, we all know that white people find four old black people in a car suspicious, right?

He intends to fight the ticket he says was "simply wrong."

Translation - "I deny I was driving erratically, and even if I was, I'm black, I'm a Congressman, and I have certain rights you don't."

Davis is calling on city leaders to "bridge the gap" between police and the minority community.

Translation - "Fix this ticket, and we'll say no more about it."

Watch out for deer

It's that season.

Children's Choir

From John Hinderaker at Powerline.

The New Corn

A few months ago everyone seemed to be on the bandwagon to plant corn for ethanol production, including the little farms around here. Now, it's wheat instead.

A worldwide shortage of wheat caused by droughts and disease abroad is driving up the demand here, along with the price. By next summer, near harvest time for winter wheat – the only major Virginia grain crop that grows during the colder months – the price is expected to be more than $7 a bushel, said Chesapeake extension agent Watson Lawrence.

“The world inventory for wheat is the lowest it’s been in 30 years,” he said. “Last year, farmers were selling wheat for $4.20 a bushel, and they thought that was great.”

Advice from your public defender

Which would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.

I’m a lawyer, not your fairy godmother. I probably won’t find a loophole or technicality for you, so don’t be pissed off. I didn’t beat up your girlfriend, steal that car, rob that liquor store, sell that crystal meth, or rape that 13 year old. By the time we meet, much of your fate has been sealed, so don’t be too surprised by your limited options and that I’m the one telling you about them.

Mason Willams, a man of the future

Little did Mason Williams realize back in the 60's when he performed "Them Toad Suckers" on the Smothers Brothers Show that he was, in fact, a bellwether of the future.

Attention Parents!

For all of you whose children must have an aquarium, scientists have found you a better guppy.

A tropical fish that lives in mangrove swamps across the Americas can survive out of water for months at a time, similar to how animals adapted to land millions of years ago, a new study shows.
The Mangrove Rivulus, a type of small tropical killifish, seeks refuge in shallow pools of water in crab burrows, coconut shells or even old beer cans in the tropical mangrove swamps of Belize, the United States and Brazil.

More than once I had fish flop out of my tank, so this would sure be convenient.

Colonial Williamsburg

I went over to visit yesterday, on my day off. Nothing important to say, just a chance to post a picture, and point you to a few others.

So what are you reading?

My current bedtime reading material is The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America by Kevin Phillips.

I'm only about 50 pages in (out of 700), but he seems to posit that the three internecine wars that Anglos have fought (the English Civil War, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War) were all based on core religious principles, and that out of each a deeper respect for the rights of man emerged.

Compact Flourescent Bulbs

Have you bought any of these? I got my first around twenty years ago to go in a fixture over the dining room table. It was pricey. Now you can get them for about two bucks at Walmart.

A lot of the touts I hear are about all the CO2 I'll prevent by using them. I was always more interested in these points that the Department of Energy makes about life time cost savings.

• ENERGY STAR qualified bulbs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.
• Save about $30 or more in electricity costs over each bulb's lifetime.
• Produce about 75 percent less heat, so they're safer to operate and can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

So, I've done my bit:

• Two bulbs in the upstairs bathroom fixture.
• One bulb in the hall ceiling fixture.
• Two bulbs in table lamps in the bedroom.
• Four bulbs in fixtures in the living room.
• Two bulbs in the kitchen (including the stove hood, which is usually turned on about 16 hours a day).
• Two bulbs in the downstairs bathroom fixture.
• One (3-way) bulb in a floor lamp here in my office, along with my fluorescent desk lamp (the same bulb has been in this lamp for about 20 years now).

According to the cost calculator at that DOE website, my kitchen hood lamp pays for itself in about a month. That's good, because these bulbs aren't really intended to be used in damp environments like above steamy pots or near a shower. I replace the kitchen bulb about once a year. With incandescents it was about every 6 weeks.

Shenandoah Valley

I had said I'd report back about this. We got back last Sunday after three days in Luray, just west of Shenandoah National Park.

• We stopped in at Barboursville Vineyards. It was Thursday, the place was empty. Literally. Winnie and I were the only people there sampling most of the time. On Saturday I understand it was a fight to get up to the counter. It was nice to have the attention of the assistant manager during the tasting, but we both found the number of tattoos she had, the pierced tongue, etc, a bit distracting.
• Downtown Charlottesville, and Staunton are both greatly overrated. Hippies that take themselves seriously colliding with yuppieville. At least Boulder has a sense of humor about it.
  
• South Court Inn was great, at least as good as the web site makes it look.
• Luray Caverns was a disappointment. This was a largely "dead" cave, with little evidence of any growing formations. Worse, a lot of the stones near the paths had obviously been broken by busy passing hands.
• Much more entertaining was the Dayton Farmer's Market. The wasn't much in the way of produce there that day, but a lot of baked goods, basic groceries, and gifts. And, a lot of traditionally dressed Mennonite families.
• The Victorian Inn provided a very good dinner. (We both had rack of lamb.) I was mildly peeved though that they were out of the more moderately priced red wines. I wound up getting their most expensive bottle. It wasn't much compared to what you'd pay in a big city, but still...
• The park was nice to look at at, but it was cold and windy up there that day. Here's one photo, but nothing of iconic proportions.

Mmmmm, Chili

Tonight I am making beef chili. Not for us, but to take to work on Tuesday. We are having a "going away" for one of my coworkers. USA Major Carr has been called back for a second tour in Iraq. Last time he was gone for about 18 months, and I think he's only been back about 2 years.

I'm hoping this will come out pretty good. Winnie set out all of the spices for me before she went off to band practice tonight. So far it looks, smells, and tastes good.

It's bound to be better than the dinner I made Friday. I did a chicken pot pie, with lots of vegetables and white meat chicken. It looked great. It tasted awful. Mikey has a disturbing tendency to cook without tasting. Otherwise he would have known it needed about 4 times as much salt as I put in. The only salt you could taste, was where I sprinkled a little across the top of the crust. It could also have used some thyme or something.

And then there was the matter of the vegetables. I tried not to over cook them before it all went in the oven, and the result was the potatoes, parsnips and carrots were all hard.

But the dogs loved it.

Local Story

Personally, I fail to see the connection of this story to a handful of rural and exurban Virginia counties, but that's just me.

Well, Duh!

The Latest Buzz About Chinese Toys

Or, maybe the latest buzz from a Chinese toy.

A 19-month-old boy was in a Queensland hospital after ingesting a toy that was yesterday banned interstate.

Bindeez have been found to contain a chemical that converts into the toxic illegal drug GHB, also known as fantasy, when ingested.

Toasted Cheese Sandwich Anyone?

Normally, I'm not a big fan of such sandwiches, but under the right circumstances I could reconsider.

Le Petit Singly, spécialité fromagère à base de lait maternel de femme, peut se déguster en fin de repas accompagné d'un bon vin rouge, mais il peut également faire le régal des tout petits au goûter. Il apprécie aussi bien d'être savouré en quiche ou en salade, froid (mais jamais glacé) ou légèrement tiède, voire grillé sur des toasts.

Hmmm, 15 Euros for about 18 ounces. And, they ship.

Cubicle Defense System

Oh, baby! I'm gettin' me one of these.

This is what passes for a sheriff here

Somehow, I don't think Mr. Bowser is going to sweep the upcoming election, and be our next sheriff.

A candidate for Gloucester County sheriff says he will "go to my grave" before complying with a judge's order that landed him in jail Friday on a contempt charge.

Substitute Gloucester Circuit Court Judge Walter J. Ford ordered Clarence Bowser, 58, to serve 10 days in jail. Ford found Bowser in contempt during an Oct. 12 hearing, but gave him until Friday to comply with an earlier ruling by Gloucester Circuit Court Judge William Shaw III to clear an obstructed easement.
Bowser remains adamant that he will not comply with Shaw's order, so it remains unclear what his status will be Nov. 6.

The deed-granted easement on Bowser's 18-acre property in north Gloucester is at the center of a land dispute that involves Sheila B Guenard, a former Gloucester resident who now lives in Louisiana but still owns nearly six acres next to Bowser that can only be accessed by the disputed easement.

Mr. Bowser slipped a note to a reporter before they hauled him off to jail.

"This trial is an example of a low-level crime, that crouds our jail (It is a matter of interpretation for the Sheriff) When our justice system uses terrorist tactics to high-jack property and hold the individual hostage until he complies where is the justice in that? What happen to due process. I will go to my grave before I comply or give satisfaction to public corruption. This case may not benefit me but it will benefit those who come after me." (sic)

Desperation

Some of those Mexicans crossing the border around San Diego must really be desperate.

Six undocumented Mexican immigrants were arrested today by U.S. Border Patrol agents at Qualcomm Stadium, after a report that they were stealing food and water meant for evacuees, Border Patrol spokesman Damon Foreman said. San Diego police responded to a call about alleged theft from the evacuation center and encountered six people in a van who didn't speak English and didn't have California driver's licenses, Foreman said. The police officers called the Border Patrol, and its agents arrived at the stadium and made the arrests, he said. Border Patrol agents are not looking for illegal immigrants at the center but will continue responding to police calls for assistance.

Always an invention behind

The Japanese think they are so darn smart and modern.

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - If you're stuck in traffic when Mother Nature calls, Japan's Kaneko Sangyo Co. has developed the loo for you.

The manufacturer of plastic car accessories drew back the curtain on Tuesday on its new portable toilet for cars.

The toilet comes with a curtain large enough to conceal users and a plastic bag to collect waste.

But, they are always behind us. Or we're behind our cars. Or our behinds are on our cars. Or something.

I give you "Uncle Booger's Bumper Dumper."

Yes, a B&B

Next week we are going to get off the Point for a few days. This is alleged to be our room. Nice. Crystal chandelier over the whirlpool tub, etc. I'll let you know how it was when we get back.

The Yorktown Pub on a quiet night

Winnie and I went over for dinner to the Yorktown Pub. Please note the massive crowd. We were the only people in there when we arrived just after 6. I told the waitress we were there to offer moral support.

Why? Please note the empty back bar. As a result of various, umm, mistakes, they got their liquor license suspended for 30 days.

Hopefully, this little You Tube video played no part in the suspension, though it was taken during one of the offensive incidents.

By the time we left, a few more people had arrived. Amusingly, they were trying to close early (7:30) on purpose tonight, as carpenters were coming to replace the back bar. Well, at least they get their license back on Thursday.

Hot, not, hot, not

The weather here can't decide. One day I'll open the windows and turn off the A/C because it feels so good and then, like today, it goes back up to 85.

Add this to our ongoing drought, and the autumn won't look to good. Still there is starting to be some color.

Improv

Finally, improv modern art I can understand. Or, is it improv comedy? Abercrombie & Fitch employees mostly looked OK with this, but finally security had had enough.

Well That Blows

I can hardly wait for the World Series to start, and have to call a game for snow.

Break out the kites and keep the wool hats, mittens — and snow shovels — handy!

A high wind watch for the metro area has gales blowing up to 45 miles in the Front Range foothills with gusts tonight and early tomorrow of up to 80 miles an hour, said meteorologist Jim Kalina of the National Weather Service.

Meanwhile, snow in the mountains has triggered chain laws for commercial vehicles at the Eisenhower Tunnel and Vail Pass on Interstate 70 as well as Loveland Pass on U.S. 6.

And a "big cool down" on Sunday could bring rain and snow to the foothills — and even the Denver area, Kalina said.

Please! Send Help!

Because we are, you know, living in a disaster area.

The acting U.S. Secretary of Agriculture designated 78 more Virginia counties and 34 cities -- almost the entire state -- as primary natural disaster areas due to drought and high temperatures, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced today.

Well, it was in the 80's again today, but at least it rained for the first time in over a month.

Another Almost-Darwin Driver

This one, from back home.

Darwin Award - Almost

This police officer meets an officer from an adjoining jurisdiction each night, at midnight, at a railroad crossing, to exchange info. Yesterday when he got there, he finds a lost woman sitting in her car talking on her cell phone. He has a hard time convincing her to get out of the car.

For the rest, let's roll the tape. (There's no sound for the first 30 seconds - the officer was too far from his car for it to pick up.)




Damn right you should thank him lady. Next time when an officer tells you to get out of your car, you might want to be a little more cooperative.

Fun in Holland

In Amsterdam, apparently young Bilal Bajaka didn't like the police:

On Sunday, Bajaka entered the police station of Slotervaart, stabbing two police officers with a knife.

Although having sustained serious injuries, one of the officers, a policewoman, shot and killed her alleged attacker on the spot.

From the age of 13 up to his death on Sunday, the police said, Bajaka had been involved in several major criminal incidents, including armed robberies and a series of violent incidents. He was allegedly part of a criminal gang.

In addition, police said he was personally acquainted with Mohammed Bouyeri, the convicted killer of the late film director Theo van Gogh, as well as with other Moroccan-Dutch terrorist suspects.

For some reason, as you may note, news reports about this are casting Bajaka in a negative light, and his "community" isn't happy about it.

Moroccan-Dutch residents of Slotervaart complained to reporters they were "sick and tired" of continuous "negative news reports" about fellow Moroccan-Dutch, adding they felt increasingly stigmatized.

Hmm, what to do when an entire ethnic community is cast in a negative light? Have a meet-and- greet session? A community street fair? Well, let's at least do something in the street.

A group of dozens of youths in the Slotervaart neighbourhood in western Amsterdam set cars on fire, damaged several other cars and threw stones through the windows of a police station.

Perfect! That should help dispel those negative stereotypes.

Gettin' So Old

I went to the VIMS fall party with Winnie on Saturday. Students that tarted here years after she did are now married and brought their kids. Yikes!

October Days

What are October days like here? Clear, crisp air with that chilly tang? The season of ripe apples and pumpkin filled fields?

how about people lazing on the beach in90 degree weather. Bah!

Real Estate Taxes

I wrote last October about the giant snafu we had with our real estate reassessment. Apparently, the company that did the work, and the county, are still going at it. Here is an excerpt from todays nice long article, that pertains to our house.

George Woodhouse, who served as BOE chairman, says the board was confronted with such a mess left behind by Blue Ridge that its members believed they had to start over in many instances to correct Blue Ridge's mistakes.

"We had to dig," Woodhouse said. "Basically we had to do their job."

Woodhouse explained that Blue Ridge failed in many cases to take into account depreciation of properties, especially along the Route 17 commercial corridor, and that many one-time residential properties that are now zoned commercial aren't marketable for commercial use.

"The lots are too small. They'd have to be stitched together with other lots to be of any use as commercial property. Those weren't realistic values," he said of the Blue Ridge assessments. He denied that the BOE overstepped its bounds in the process. They were not empowered to estimate values, he explained, only to apply factual information, such as square-footage, use, sales references and location, to the template Blue Ridge created to reach a value estimate.

So, now there trying to do it all over again.

Telecommuting

I've started telecommuting a day per week. This is nice. An extra hour of sleep. No 130 mile drive that day. I'm done one or two hours earlier than I would have gotten home. No one barging into my cubicle while I'm trying to strain my little gray cells. A real office that's mine. The radio playing what I want to hear. And collie dogs lying around my feet. Maybe I could talk them into two days per week.

Marine Science Field Work

Winnie thought this was pretty lame, but I think it's vaguely funny. It does seem to hit the high points of what I hear the students say about field work at sea.

I'm Screwed

Several months ago investigators from the state corporation commission interviewed me about the "rebate program" that my dealer offered when I bought my last car, three years ago. See, the rebate doesn't come immediately. You have to wait 39 months. I was supposed to get back almost 10% of the original price of the car.

Too bad it's (almost) a scam.

An administrative judge gave Casey a preliminary legal victory last week in a clash between state regulators and the dealer. The three judges of the Virginia State Corporation Commission must still decide if they agree that the program doesn't violate securities laws.

The program has been the subject of an intense investigation by the staff at the SCC since last December. Casey immediately ended the program at its Hampton Roads dealerships, but had already issued 8,532 certificates worth tens of millions of dollars.

The SCC sent subpoenas this year to interview 17 current and former Casey salespeople, and sent out questionnaires to 400 former Casey customers in the program.

Casey says some customers came back to the dealership making threats and demanding money, to no avail. Some dissatisfied customers had not followed the program's rules.

Crap!

The Arctic Icecap

Yes, it's true! The arctic icecap has shrunk!

The European space agency said its images showed the rate of overall ice loss had risen sharply to its highest rate since satellite records began thirty years ago.

That's opened up the historically impassable Northwest passage through the Canadian Arctic, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The famous sea-route has, until recently, been completely ice-bound throughout the year. Scientists say global warming is to blame for melting the ice and making the route navigable for the first time since records began in 1978.

OMG! The melting has reached the greatest rate seen in the 30 years of records!! Ice levels have reached their lowest levels in 30 years of records!!! Uh, wouldn't that mean that, on average, the icecap had been greater in the last few years than 30 years ago?

Katie Couric

Those viewer polls are harsh!

NEW YORK (AP) - If some people thought traveling to Iraq and Syria was a ratings stunt for Katie Couric, it didn't work out that way. The "CBS Evening News" tied a record low with just under 5.5 million viewers last week, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Last week and Memorial Day week are the two least-watched CBS evening newscasts since at least 1987, and probably far earlier.

CBS said it wasn't surprising, and argued that last week's
numbers were artificially deflated because of U.S. Open coverage.

This is when you know you are sooo screwed on TV - your viewer figures are "artifically deflated" by a tennis match.

President Winnie

Not content with being just Professor Winnie, she has now moved on to President Winnie.

ACLU Pervert - Update 3

I've written about this creep before. Former president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU. Kids soccer coach. Railed against porn filtering software on library computers. And now -

A former Arlington County youth sports coach and civil rights lawyer who once headed Virginia's American Civil Liberties Union chapter was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison for buying child pornography that prosecutors labeled sadistic and masochistic.

Charles Rust-Tierney, 51, pleaded guilty in June to downloading hundreds of pornographic images of children as young as 4. Authorities said Rust-Tierney used a computer in his 11-year-old son's bedroom to view the files, which included a six-minute video that depicted sexual torture of children, set to a song by the rock band Nine Inch Nails.

Why?

Rust-Tierney told Ellis that he viewed child porn as a way to escape "despair" in his personal life.

Poor baby.

Compulsory Health Care

Most of the Democrat candidates talk about instituting universal health care. John Edwards is the only one recommending compulsory health care. Not just compulsory that your employer provide it, but compulsory that you go to the doctor.

"It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care," he told a crowd sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Cedar County Courthouse. "If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK."

He noted, for example, that women would be required to have regular mammograms in an effort to find and treat "the first trace of problem."

Teen Drinking

The Wall Street Journal touches on the practice we always followed in our house.

In societies where children drink with their parents, this typically means giving a kid a small amount of wine or other alcohol, often watered down on special occasions or a family dinner. Many European countries also lower the drinking age for children when they are accompanied by parents. In the United Kingdom, for example, the legal age is 18, but for a family at a restaurant it is 16. In France and Italy, where the legal age is 16, there is no age limit for children drinking with parents.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum

Well, this would be different.

The Icelandic Phallological Museum contains a collection of over one hundred and fifty penises and penile parts belonging to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland. Visitors to the museum will encounter thirty eight specimens belonging to fifteen different kinds of whale, one specimen taken from a rogue polar bear, nineteen specimens belonging to seven different kinds of seal and walrus, and ninety three specimens originating from nineteen different kinds of land mammal: all in all, a total of one hundred fifty one specimen belonging to forty two different kinds of mammal. It should be noted that the museum has also been fortunate enough to receive a legally-certified gift token for a future specimen belonging to Homo Sapiens.

We'uns not goin tuh Collug

Gloucester officials were pleased that more students took the SAT tests this year, and the scores increased slightly. (About 35% of the senior class took the tests this year compared to 30% last year.)

Average scores rose this year by 15 points in the math section to 503; 12 points in the verbal section to 516; and six points in the writing section to 487, Belvin said.

The average U.S. student's scores were 515 in math, 502 in verbal and 494 in writing. The average Virginia student's scores were 511 in math, 511 in verbal and 498 in writing.

So, last year the math score was 488, the verbal 504, and the writing 481. Combined math/verbal scores were 992 last year, and are 1019 this year.

At William and Mary the range of SAT scores that would put you in the middle 50% of incoming freshmen is 1270 to 1430. So, with a score of 1019 you are well down in the bottom 25%.

At the University of Virginia the average composite score is 1325.

At Christopher Newport University the average is lower; around 1152 two years ago.

So what is presumably our top 35% of students gets scores that on average put them in the bottom 20% of kids going to college at the better local schools. They might fare better at CNU.

That's not to say some of the kids didn't get great scores, but then what does that say about the others?

My school? Mines? The middle 50% currently ranges from 1170 to 1340. That's kind of embarrassing.

The price of (heating) oil - 2007 edition

Last year I was worried about the pre-buy contract I was being offered for heating oil by my supplier. I can get it at a fixed price if I pay in advance on whatever amount I want to buy.

This year the price was $2.599 per gallon. I bought 750 gallons, the same as last year, figuring the price had to go up to $3 a gallon later on.

Today I bought gas at $2.589, the lowest price I've seen in many months. I'm starting to wonder "did I guess right, or do I lose this year?"

This year, amazingly enough, the price is the same. They say I used 766 gallons last year, so I'm tempted to bet low and go with 750 gallons for the third year in a row ($1950). (There's no thought in my mind saying "what if the prices drop?")

However, you get a 5 cent discount if you order 800 gallons or more. If I went for that, I'd pay $2040. $90 more for an additional 50 gallons. Hmmm, I'd use it up eventually.

What happens if you don't pre-buy? Well, you can still sign up for their "even payment program", where they estimate the price, and your usage, for you and send you monthly bills where they try to smooth it out. You pay the current market price, but with a cap of $2.85. That could add hundreds to my bill. I think not.

Wind Power Article "Translation"

Der Speigel has an on-line article about problems with wind turbines. I thought the funny bit was this. I'm sure the original German article doesn't use quite this, um, colloquialism.

Indeed, with thousands of mishaps, breakdowns and accidents having been reported in recent years, the difficulties seem to be mounting. Gearboxes hiding inside the casings perched on top of the towering masts have short shelf lives, often crapping out before even five years is up.

I don't think I've ever seen that used in a news report before. Certainly not outside of a quote.

Another beautiful day

Yes, the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Umm, singing silently. Oh, wait...they're panting. It's 93 degrees out right now, with a heat index of 105. My lawn needs mowed so bad, but no way am I going out there to do it.

The Constitution - For Sale

Do you suppose these guys get a lot of business this way? Selling an MS-Word document of the Constitution.

[The full Constitution, in both hypertext and word-processor formats, can be purchased and downloaded for individual local use from the LII. For details click here.]

If so, please give me about 15 minutes, and I'll sell you a copy for half the price.

The Power of GIS

I read Lou Minatti's blog every day, and he posted a photo over there that I've seen before. It appears to be a newspaper photo from the Roanoke Times of a smoking woman standing in her front yard pondering what the sound of jackhammers will do to her unborn child. (Get it? Smoking. Pregnant. Sound of jackhammers is worse.) I agree with Lou that the caption could have been Photoshopped.

I don't think it's a faked photo though. In fact using the truly awsome power of GIS here at the Virginia DOT, I've even tracked down the exact location the photo was taken. Take a look at Lou's original blog entry. Compare that to my photo. (Click to make the photo bigger.) The hydrant. The house of the left side of the street. The Hardees down the block.

The woman was standing right behind the stone wall of the house on the corner on the right. Corner of Bullitt Ave & 8th St E, Roanoke, VA. Latitude 37.267867N, Longitude 79.93010W.

Google Earth - Turned 180 degrees

I've enjoyed scanning areas around the planet on Google Earth. The new version (4.2.0180.1134 (beta)) gives you something more.

When you select "View Sky" it lets you do the same sort of zoom and pan on astronomical images, mostly from the Hubble telescope. (Click on the photo shown here.)

There is also a feature that puts the planets in motion, allowing you to watch how they will move over the next three months.

I've only started exploring, and I'm in severe danger of wasting many, many hours on this.

Spider Season

This is the time of year that you find yourself blundering through huge orb spider webs strung up in the darnedest places. Between trees. From my car to the carport. Wherever.

Actually, it's kind of creepy. When I remember, I try to stick one hand out in front when wandering "between" things when I can't see too well. Like when going to the compost pile after sundown.

Each year though, these guys take up residence in our vegetable garden. Argiope aurantia. They're kind of hard to miss, being bright yellow and three inches long. The webs are usually a couple of feet across.

Global Warming - A Small Correction

We keep hearing about how every recent year is the warmest ever. NASA has just released revised temperature figures. The warmest year on record is no longer 1988 (it's #2). The warmest year is 1935. The "dust bowl", remember? The #3 year is 1921. #4 is 2006!! But #5 is 1931.

Now, this graph, for the U.S. alone, may not mean much. Or it may. How do you decide? The trend is "up", but with all of 125 years of data how useful is that?

More Heat

At 8 am the temperature was 85.6 degress with a dew point of 77.6 degrees. That makes it a heat index of 97 degrees. This doesn't look like a good day.

More Copper Theft

This time at William and Mary. -

A few weeks after $7,500 in copper gutters were swiped from buildings at the College and William and Mary, thieves have struck again.

Two more copper thefts have been reported on the campus - with $2,000 in copper downspouts missing from the Dillard complex on Ironbound Road on July 28, and $250 in copper stolen from the machine shop in Small Hall on July 30, college spokeswoman Suzanne Seurattan said.

On Thursday, four 8-foot-long downspouts were taken off of Seasons restaurant near the intersection of Jamestown Road and Route 199, James City County police spokesman Mike Spearman said.

This weather is nasty

It's 9:50 EDT in Gloucester Point, and it's 86 degrees out with 73% humidity. That's a heat index of 96.

Tis the Season...

...for picking blueberries. We've already frozen about 1 1/2 gallons of them, there's another quart in the refrigerator, and I don't know how many more still on the bushes. Problem is, it's nearly 80 degrees at sunrise, so picking isn't too fun.

Darwin Takes a Vacation

Oh, well. Better luck next time.

Meanwhile, in Minneapolis

No, not the bridge collapse.

Today the Astronomer-in-Training passed her PhD oral exams. So, it's off to do her dissertation project. Well, that and finishing her written exams.

In the meantime my big project is to try to finish paying off her BS degree before she gets the PhD.

Denver Light Rail

They whine when you don't build it, and then whine when you do.

...the preferred route under consideration now would use Union Pacific or Burlington Northern railroad tracks.

That brought a storm of criticism from residents such as one woman who predicted that middle-class residents will flee their neighborhoods, leaving behind crime-ridden slums instead.

Uh, so the people living in the trailer parks next to the railroad tracks are afraid this will hurt the quality of the neighborhood?

Outside the meeting, Olsen, a real estate appraiser, said she voted to fund FasTracks, thinking that it would simply run parallel to Interstate 25, just as it does in the south metro area.

That's true, but she has it backwards. In the south end of the city the highway was built next to the railroad tracks, not the other way around. In the north end...well nobody lived there when they built the highway so they just aimed for Cheyenne and started pushing dirt.

Anyway, she thought they'd build along the highway. That makes sense. Build the light rail in the one area that is already built up densely. Traffic-wise, that makes good sense. Cost wise it doesn't. How many businesses and homes would have to be torn down to build it in that case versus building on a 100-year old railroad right-of-way? You'd think a real estate appraiser could understand that.

Abusive Driver Fees

They were trying to raise road funds here by instituting "abusive driver fees" for habitual offenders. A judge struck them down.
A Henrico County general district judge ruled this morning that the state's new "civil remedial fees" are unconstitutional.

The state will appeal Judge Archie Yeatts' ruling to Circuit Court.
A lot of the arguments against these were that it wasn't fair to the poor schlub that got a ticket to have to also pay these fees. So, what was this particular case about?

The defendant, Anthony Price, had pleaded no contest to driving with a suspended license for the fifth time.

Ah, how about we skip the fine, and move straight to jail time?

MYOB

There is a private group out of Colorado that is working with Amtrak to revive luxury rail service. Travel now and get a bonus.

Amtrak is trying to gin up new business by offering $100 in free alcohol to customers on some overnight trains.

The national passenger rail company is making the unusual offer to promote a new high-end service being offered on a trial basis for certain sleeper car trips.

Members of Amtrak's guest rewards program—the railroad equivalent of frequent fliers—can get a $100 per person credit for alcohol between November and January.

But someone has to be a spoilsport.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving questioned whether $100 in free alcohol was too much.

"This sounds like a lot of credit toward possible overindulging," said MADD spokeswoman Misty Moyse.

Uh, I thought the point was, they aren't driving. In fact some of these trips take three days. That's still several drinks per day though. The only response I can think to make to that is - mind your own business B-.

Well, it works! He's French!

And, of course, he's a civil servant. -

A man with an unusually tiny brain managed to live an entirely normal life despite his condition, caused by a fluid buildup in his skull, French researchers reported on Thursday.

Scans of the 44-year-old man's brain showed that a huge fluid-filled chamber called a ventricle took up most of the room in his skull, leaving little more than a thin sheet of actual brain tissue.

"He was a married father of two children, and worked as a civil servant," Dr. Lionel Feuillet and colleagues at the Universite de la Mediterranee in Marseille wrote in a letter to the Lancet medical journal.

I suspect this is a fake story intended as a bit of product placement for the new Simpsons movie. Nobody could really live with this little brain.

What a Day!

Woody got me up early, and wouldn't let me get back to sleep this morning. Also, this was the first day in a week where it wasn't 95 out. So, I got a lot done.
Went to the grocery store
Made breakfast
-Breakfast-
Cleaned up from breakfast
Went out and got a car safety inspection
Went to the self-service car wash
Bought dog food at Petsmart
Bought the new Harry Potter book at B&N (That's funny? Winnie now has a complete set of 7 1'st editions.)
Ran a load of washing.
Walked the young dogs down to the beach (about 3/4mi round trip)
Walked the old dogs around the neighborhood (about 3/4mi round trip)
Fed the dogs
-Lunch-
Cleared the backyard of dog pooh
Vacuumed upstairs
Cleaned the upstairs bath
Dusted upstairs
Vacuumed downstairs.
Ran two more loads of wash.
Hang two loads of wash outside.
Took down and folded one load of wash.
Went shopping for clothes (no luck)
Made a second grocery run.
Made hors d'oeuvres (well, baguette w/ spreadable cheese and Merlot)
Made dinner
-Dinner- (including the consumption of 3/4 bottle of Ravenswood Merlot)
Cleaned up after dinner
Dried the last load of wash
Folded the last two loads of wash

Mikey is now seriously tired.

Homer Erectus

Which one is the fertility symbol?

Stunts to publicise the forthcoming Simpsons filmhave begun in earnest. A 180ft image of Homer Simpson waving a doughnut aloft as appeared adjacent to the ancient Cerne Abbas giant, the 17th Century chalk fertility symbol in Dorset. Though Homer is drawn in biodegradeable paint, local pagans aren't amused, saying that the proximity of Homer is disrespectful. Ann Bryn-Evans, joint Wessex district manager for the Pagan Federation adds that they'll be doing some "rain magic" to wash it away (which surely shouldn't be necessary given the current weather).

American Vacations - 3

Another thing about American vacations - a lot of them are spent visiting family.

When I take vacation days and visit my parents, I'm traveling 1550 miles as the crow flies. (Try using this handy dandy distance calculator.) This is the same distance as from London to Istanbul. I'm betting most Europeans can drop in on their parents a little more conveniently than that.

Visiting my daughter in Minneapolis would be a little better (1039 miles, about the same as London - Riga, Latvia), but it will be much worse when she moves back to L.A. (2342 miles, about the same as London to Timbuktu, Mali).

So don't bother comparing American travel to a London to Paris jaunt (213 miles). I driven that far to go shopping.

American Vacations - 2

I wrote some time ago about how Americans aren't guaranteed a vacation. Who knew I was in the vanguard when it comes to simply not taking them?

Many Americans seem to eschew traditional vacations — a trend that has some experts worried that workers are not getting away from their jobs to relax and recharge, both physically and mentally.

The reasons vary, from having too few vacation days available to lacking money for travel. But in some cases, it seems, many people just aren't getting into the habit of getting away.

A recent study by Orbitz, the online travel company, found a drop in the number of people taking three-week or two-week vacations and an increase in those taking a week or less. One-third of respondents said they took five or fewer days of vacation in the past year.

Well, I do take all of my days, but usually this means a big block at Christmas, spent at home.

...it can be difficult for working couples to coordinate time off, and that some people worry that they'll fall hopelessly behind at work if they take even a few days off. There's also technology that can keep some people connected to their jobs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — creating the sense they can never get away.

The first is true. The last is not. I often wonder if they'd even notice if I left for a month. Maybe they'd prefer it that way.

One Down

One less presidential candidate:

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore has withdrawn from the race for president.

In the e-mail, Gilmore said it has become apparent that the combination of his late start and the frontloaded nature of the primary schedule make it impractical for him to continue to pursue the nomination.

That's silly. The frontloaded campaign has no impact if you have supporters. He didn't. He was an embarrassment as Virginia Attorney General and as Governor. Good riddance.

That's Got to Smart

Look at the picture. Click on the picture to see the larger version. Note where the end of the bull's left horn is at. Can you say "ouch?"

Darwin is apparently still on vacation.

Darwin Takes a Holiday

Sometimes even those that need to be sorted out of the gene pool get lucky. Damn.

BEND, Ore. — Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks — and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons.

Destination: Idaho.

With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast — he could turn a spigot, release water and rise — Couch headed into the Oregon sky.

Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home.

Wedding Day

Erin, please tell me yours will be nothing like this.

Neighborhood Birds

On Wednesday, with all of the traffic going down to the beach, somebody managed to run over a possum right across the street from us. It was vaguely funny watching people cringe away from the little furry corpse as they walked down to see the fireworks that evening. Especially one kid who was being a total whiny pain to his parents, then turns around, sees it, and screams. I wonder how many people tripped over the damn thing going home in the dark?

The next morning we had the clean-up crew out here taking care of it. Coragyps atratus - Black Vulture. Unusual to see vultures in our yards, and when you do it's usually a Turkey vulture.

Robert Heinlein 100th Anniversary

Robert Anson Heinlein was born 100 years ago today in Butler, Missouri. He attended the United States Naval Academy, but was disability retired a few years later. Struggling to make a decent living, he stumbled across writing, and the rest is histories. Or, histories. Future ones.

I came across my first Heinlein book in about the 8'th grade in the school library. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I was hooked. I read everything of his I could find in that library, and the town library.

The intro pages always said "author of Stranger in a Strange Land", but that title was never on the shelves. I didn't see it in any of the stores, either. Finally, on a summer break after 9'th grade, in Toronto, I came on a copy, and bought it. Thank god my parents had darn little interest in what I was reading. Was there ever any other "literature" that was more subversive to the general social order?

My favorite series of stories had to center on the life of Lazarus Long. so, even though his passing 20 years ago saddens me, I still wonder every time I see the names Sperling or Weatheral in the newspaper. Is there someone out there who approaches a stranger as slips into the conversation "life is short..."

But Officer, my Prius will save the planet!

Al Gore's whole family is very up on saving the planet. His son drives a hybrid Prius, don't you know!
A

l Gore's son was pulled over for speeding on a California freeway early Wednesday and arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs, authorities said.

Al Gore III, 24, was driving a blue Toyota Prius about 100 mph south on the San Diego Freeway when he was pulled over by sheriff's deputies who said they smelled marijuana, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

The deputies searched the car and found less than an ounce of marijuana along with Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall, which is used for attention deficit disorder, Amormino said.

"He does not have a prescription for any of those drugs," Amormino said.

Gore was being held in the men's central jail in Santa Ana on $20,000 bail.

There's a little more at the LA Times.

UPDATE:

Former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday he's glad his son is safe and getting treatment a day after the 24-year-old was arrested in California on suspicion of illegally possessing marijuana and prescription drugs.

Why are these people always going into treatment only after they've been arrested or otherwise publicly humiliated?