Detective Work

My line of IT work involves a lot of analysis. "If this, then that. Does that agree with observation?" So, it was no surprise I had to do an investigation when my boss gifted me with something he found recently.

What he found was a 2GB SD memory chip, like they use in a lot of digital cameras. He was at the New River Gorge Bridge Day when he looked down and saw it lying on the pavement.

Knowing I had a digital camera of more-or-less the type to use such a chip (and his camera didn't), he asked if I could use it. I said that I could. He assured me that he had checked and the chip was empty.

Being the non-trusting, investigative sort that I am, I checked it myself a few weeks later when I remembered it again. I didn't want to throw out someone else's photos if I could help it. The boss was wrong. There were over 700 photos on the chip spanning a period from July to October.

How tough was it to find someone to contact about returning the chip to its owner? Not hard at all. Several of the photos showed kids on an YWCA outing, all wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the local phone number. A quick Google search of the phone number on the kids' shirts said this was the YWCA in Charleston, WV. An e-mail to the "Contact Us" got a quick response, I popped it into the mail, and yesterday I was informed the owner is delighted to have it back again. Good Deed done.

"Just Like Us"?

Most of what Caroline Kennedy seems to get is fluff, but seriously -

Amid all the recent buzz about Caroline Kennedy's bid for a U.S. Senate seat, there has been a great deal of talk about her connections, her power, her wealth. But the way I see it, if you strip away the glamour, the name and the money, then Caroline is . . . me. And many of my friends. Maybe even you. If, that is, you happen to be a midlife woman raising kids and returning -- or thinking of returning, or hoping one day to return -- to the full-time workforce.

She seems like you and your friends? And you are...?

Anne Glusker is a freelance journalist living in France and the host of "Stir it Up," a weekly food program on Swiss radio.

Hat tip: Powerline

Cocaine comes from the ocean

Yes! The truth comes out! The Associated Press says so!

Prosecutors said the gang allegedly arranged for sea-born cocaine shipments from Colombia to Mexico's Beltran Levya cartel.

Or, maybe we should "Yoo-hoo! Oh great professional writers and journalists, don't you mean 'sea-borne'? "

I do like the touch about threatening to feed the narco-crooks to the lions, though.

Algebra

Teaching is apparently not just a low paying job, but a low skill job.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge Friday blocked a controversial state plan requiring that all California eighth-graders be tested in algebra.

Uh, why?

...approximately one-third of the state's middle-school Algebra I teachers are either underprepared or teach out-of-field...

So, your college educated math teachers aren't conversant with algebra? Guys, this is a field that's not exactly trembling with new discoveries.

Meeting the mandate would require the state to hire 3,000 more qualified teachers and offer substantial additional training to 1,000 underprepared math instructors.

O'Connell's staff has estimated that the requirement would cost $3.1 billion at a time when the state is slashing even larger amounts from its budget as a result of the economy.

Well, not really, because you'll save a similar amount when you fire the unqualified teachers. And math teachers not prepared to go beyond multiplication tables aren't really math teachers, are they? More like baby sitters. But then I forget, NEA membership is a lifetime meal ticket.

Brrrr

Think it's cold where you are? Check out eastern Siberia.

ATO Rocks

I've been working with the Alpha Tau Omega Colony at the College of William and Mary, and they will soon be getting their charter! They got this message over the weekend.

Car Companies

The magnitude of hysteria over the "Big 3" car companies going broke is so silly.

Detroit's car makers employ nearly a quarter-million workers, and more than 730,000 other workers produce materials and parts that go into cars. If just one of the automakers declared bankruptcy, some estimates put U.S. job losses next year as high as 2.5 million.

So, your point is that if GM goes under Americans will stop buying cars? Anything else doesn't make sense. "Import" companies make their cars in the U.S. now. It's too expensive to ship many of them from overseas.

Looks like Toyota has plants in 12 states, as does Honda. What will happen to their workers if the government decides to subsidize the others?

I got 94%

There is a test about civic literacy posted at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. Apparently, a lot of elected officials have problems with basic concepts (44% correct answers). On a positive note, the population as a whole gets slightly higher scores (49%).

I got 94%. Darn Lincoln-Douglas Debates!

US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.

Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).

"It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI's civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned," said Josiah Bunting, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board at ISI.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, govern.

Mines is in a Bowl Game - Again?

Gosh, they made it to the this game last year too. In 2004 they were in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

When I was there we thought it was a stellar season if we broke .500.

(ST. GEORGE, Utah – November 10, 2008) The Colorado School of Mines Orediggers and the Western Washington University Vikings have accepted invitations to play in the 23rd-Annual Dixie Rotary Bowl Game, as announced by bowl director Gary Benson announced Monday afternoon in a press conference held during the St. George Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon held at the Holiday Inn. The game will be played Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008, at 12 noon (MST), at Hansen Stadium in St. George.

The 2008 Dixie Rotary Bowl match-up will mark the first-ever meeting between the Orediggers and Vikings on the gridiron. For WWU, the 2008 Dixie Rotary Bowl will be the Vikings’ first postseason bowl game in school history, while CSM will be making its second-straight Dixie Rotary Bowl appearance. In the 2007 Dixie Rotary Bowl, the Orediggers faced Western Oregon and came up on the short end of a 26-12 loss to the Wolves (12/01/07).

This looks like fun.

A cool year

I've seen a lot of newspaper stories about how this has been such a cool year. I was willing to nod knowingly and agree, while sweating. Then I saw this image.

Wouldn't you know it would turn out that I live in the one major area in the entire country that has seen significantly higher temperatures this year.

The Skinny on Sex

I've always said that all the plump ones had to come from somewhere.

Overweight and obese women have more sex than skinny types, a new study suggests.

The research, announced today, is based on data on more than 7,000 women collected in the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. The new analysis looked at the relationship between body mass index and sexual orientation, age of first intercourse, number of partners and frequency of intercourse.

The results seem to contradict stereotypes that overweight and obese women have less sex. If anything, the researchers said, the opposite seems to be true.

We are not Worthy! We are not Worthy!

Now that's a burger!

Denny Beer Barrel Pub has upgraded their regular menu burgers since the last time I wrote about them. This still isn't as big as their Main Event Charity Burger, though. That one was 80 pounds of meat.

CLEARFIELD, Pa. - It took Brad Sciullo 4 hours and 39 minutes to finish a marathon. A meat marathon, that is. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound western Pennsylvania chef is the first person to eat a monstrosity called the Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser: a 15-pound burger with toppings and a bun that brought the total weight to 20.2 pounds.


The mountain of beef is the product of Denny's Beer Barrel Pub, about 100 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Clearfield.

Sciullo, 21, of Uniontown, said he was surprised he finished the sandwich Monday. "About three hours into it, things got tough," he said.

When asked what possessed him to eat a burger that big, Sciullo said: "I wanted to see if I could."

The burger included a bun, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, mild banana peppers and a cup each of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish, pub owner Dennis Liegey said.

For completing the challenge in the under-five-hour time limit, Sciullo won $400, three T-shirts, a certificate "and a burger hangover, as I call it," Liegey said.

Well, I should think so.

Don't believe it exists? Go here.

Apple Season

It is apple season here, so we took advantage of the holiday today to drive up to Charlottesville to the Carter Mountain Orchard. They have "pick your own", but I'll leave that to the families and those who want them 'just so'. Besides, per picked is only 10 cents a pound more, and that hill was steep.

While we were there we also did some wine tasting and picked up a bottle of Reisling and a bottle of Port. Thank goodness they had apple cider doughnuts up there, because we needed it when we got out of the tasting room. We don't usually 'sample' at that time of the day.

Storm footage

We had quite a good storm back on 9/25, though it wasn't "tropical". A few seconds of footage follow. Compare to Tropical Storm Hanna a few weeks before. I took the earlier footage from the area I show being underwater here.

The Dogs Don't Forget

After 14 months they just say "where were you?"

This Might Explain Some Things

The British commander in Afghanistan doesn't think the war there can be won.

"We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army."

He went on: "If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this. That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."

Well, he may be right, or he may be wrong. But attitudes like that certainly go a long way to explaining why, 232 years later, there are US troops permanently based in the UK, and not the other way around. That "negotiating with the insurgency" thing didn't turn out that well for them.

Market Crash

You think our stock market has problems? Try a country absolutely dependent on exports with a history of public corruption as wide as the Volga and a mile deep.

Russian shares suffered their steepest one-day fall in more than a decade on Tuesday, losing up to 20 per cent, as a sharp slide in oil prices and difficult money market conditions triggered a rush to sell.

The heads of the Russian central bank, the finance ministry and the financial market regulator met on Tuesday night for an emergency discussion on ways to halt the crisis.

Earlier, trading had been suspended on both the Micex and RTS stock exchanges as investors ignored assurances by Russian officials and a cycle of distrust set in amid liquidity fears.

Obama? Magua?

Is it just me, or does The One remind you of actor Wes Studi as Magua?

When the Grey Hair is dead, Magua will eat his heart. Before he dies, Magua will put his children under the knife, so the Grey Hair will know his seed is wiped out forever.

Another "Almost a Darwin Award"

There's a lot of water. Here. And bridges. And draw-bridges. Please, don't believe what you see in the movies.

A motorist fleeing police tried — and failed — to jump across an open drawbridge in Chesapeake on Tuesday afternoon, and emergency workers had to pull the driver and his car out of the Elizabeth River.

Michael Christopher Mills, a 38-year-old Chesapeake resident, was wanted on four counts of identity theft. After his escapade on Tuesday, he has also been charged with felony disregarding of police.

Tropical Storm Hanna

It's not much as these things go. I'll post an update if it changes.

It'll be a HOT day in hell...

At the urging of our glorious General Assembly, VDOT has contracted to turn the I-495 beltway around D.C. into HOT (High Occupancy - Toll) lanes. The idea is that car pools travel for free (like HOV lanes), but cars containing only 1 or 2 people can travel in them by paying a toll, thus saving a little time.

How much of a toll? How much time? From the Washington Post -

Using an average rush-hour toll of $1.54 a mile, as projected in the studies, a 6.3- mile morning commute between Route 29 and Braddock Road in Fairfax County would cost $9.70 and save 90 seconds over the Beltway's "free lanes." That translates to $6.47 for each minute saved -- an hourly rate of $388, which would make some K Street lawyers jealous.

Yikes! Ten bucks each way? Well, I can't afford it, but I guess there are those that can. But to save 90 seconds? Come on, you've got to have messed up the numbers.

Project officials say HOT lanes traffic will move at a minimum of 55 mph. That is why there is no cap on toll rates -- to discourage drivers who might clog up the lanes and slow speeds.

That predictability could eliminate what transportation planners call "buffer time," the extra time travelers build into their commute to cover traffic mishaps. Eliminating buffer time could mean an extra hour with family, a second cup of coffee with the morning paper, an extra hour of sleep. There also is the security of knowing that traffic will not cause one to miss that job interview or breakfast with the boss.

"Buffer time". Hmmm, call me self centered, but if I left for work an hour early, and traffic was light, and I got there, well, an hour early, I might be tempted to possibly leave an hour early. Net loss to my family - zero.

This is more like a way to screw yourself even worse. Imagine that instead of a bona fide K Street lawyer, you are a guy that uses the lanes, but feels the pinch.

The way they keep traffic flowing at a minimum of 55mph is by raising the toll. As the speed drops they raise the toll in real time. OK, you can afford $1 per mile. You OK with $1.50? How about $2? $4? Remember, it's now 20 minutes until the day care closes, and they charge you an extra $15 for every 15 minutes you're late. What do you do?

By the way, about that minimum 55mph?

Daley says the toll lanes will maintain an average speed of 55 mph, but the internal reports estimate average rush-hour speeds of 43 mph to 44 mph.

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if it was that slow. See, the Beltway doesn't have HOV lanes now. ("Huh?" is what I said when I moved into the area.) Car pools are mixed in with everyone else, but a lot of people do pool. How many? We'll find out. But remember, car pools use the HOT lanes for free. The toll payers are just using the spare capacity. Also,

Off-peak tolls could be as little as 14 cents a mile.

Yeah, you stick with that story. I've driven the Beltway late at night, or on good-weather weekends. It's 4 to 6 lanes of 75mph from the Potomac to nearly Springfield. No one is going to pay even 14 cents unless you make that 75mph the legal speed limit.

The LHC

More Gobal Warming

While claims fly that the north pole could be iceless this year, there are different reports from nearer the other pole, in New Zealand.

Mt Ruapehu is claiming the biggest snow base ever recorded for a New Zealand skifield with over 4.5m of snow on the ground.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, operator of Mt Ruapehu ski area, was celebrating what it called a major milestone today.

The snow measuring stake at Turoa previously only stood at 380cm so had to be extended to measure today's 455cm snow base.

The Whakapapa side of the mountain also had 350cm of snow, the biggest since 1995.

For the metrically challenged, a 455cm snow base translates as 179 inches (about 15 feet).

So, anyway, how is that whole ice-free, basking on the beach, polar bear-drowning thing working out? Uh, not.

...data sources show Arctic ice having made a nice recovery this summer. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center data shows 2008 ice nearly identical to 2002, 2005 and 2006. Maps of Arctic ice extent are readily available from several sources, including the University of Illinois, which keeps a daily archive for the last 30 years. A comparison of these maps (derived from NSIDC data) below shows that Arctic ice extent was 30 per cent greater on August 11, 2008 than it was on the August 12, 2007. (2008 is a leap year, so the dates are offset by one.)

Our Governor is an F'ing Fool

Obama - Change You Can Believe In

Ah, another endorsement

Barack Obama is not a left candidate. This fact has seemingly surprised a number of progressive people who are bemoaning Obama’s “shift to the center.” (Right-wingers are happy to join them, suggesting Obama is a “flip-flopper.”) It’s sad that some who seek progressive change are missing the forest for the trees. But they will not dampen the wide and deep enthusiasm for blocking a third Bush term represented by John McCain, or for bringing Obama by a landslide into the White House with a large Democratic congressional majority.

A broad multiclass, multiracial movement is converging around Obama’s “Hope, change and unity” campaign because they see in it the thrilling opportunity to end 30 years of ultra-right rule and move our nation forward with a broadly progressive agenda.

You might want to click through on that link and see who's endorsing him.

Too Good To Be True

I'm not even going to bother researching this, because I don't care if it's true or not. It just mirrors my preconceptions about modern art, and that's all that counts.

A giant inflatable dog turd by American artist Paul McCarthy blew away from an exhibition in the garden of a Swiss museum, bringing down a power line and breaking a greenhouse window before it landed again, the museum said Monday.
The art work, titled "Complex S(expletive..)", is the size of a house. The wind carried it 200 metres (yards) from the Paul Klee Centre in Berne before it fell back to Earth in the grounds of a children's home, said museum director Juri Steiner.

The inflatable turd broke the window at the children's home when it blew away on the night of July 31, Steiner said. The art work has a safety system which normally makes it deflate when there is a storm, but this did not work when it blew away.

Those Who Can't Do Math, Take The Train

The local paper has a story about all of the people switching to riding Amtrak.

Imagine lines of passengers waiting for departure, baggage sprawled about, sold-out tickets and chaos in the parking lot.

This is the scene at the Newport News Amtrak Station throughout the week at any given departure time.
With high gas prices and tough economic times upon us, it's no wonder why many people are deciding to park their vehicles and board a train.

Karina Romero, an Amtrak spokeswoman, said that as of June, the company reported an 11 percent increase in ridership across the country.

This picture shows the Newport News station. Chaos in the parking lot? How is that possible? It only has 50 spaces.

"My husband and I were just noticing that it is a lot more crowded than we expected," she said. "I think more people are riding the train because it is less than flying and because gas has gotten so high. Gas is terrible."

Obviously we have a situation where these people can't do simple math. Or, they drive real gas hogs. Or both.

Let's do the math, shall we? I just priced the cost of a round-trip from Newport News to NYC on Amtrak for a three day trip. The cost of the fare is $220 for two.

Now my thrifty little Civic gets 40 mpg with just me in it. Let's assume it gets only 35 mpg once I add in the spouse and baggage (Sorry, honey.) So, for $220 I could buy 55 gallons of $4 gasoline, and travel 1925 miles.

Problem is, the distance to NYC is only about 400 miles, so the price of gas for a round-trip would only be about $92. Granted, they won't be paying the cost of parking once they get there ($65/day at the Holiday Inn in SoHo, for example), or tolls on the NJ Turnpike, but still, gas prices are no excuse folks.

It is better as you travel further. The roundtrip for two to Denver would be about $1000, and it takes 48 hours one-way to make the trip. Gas for my car would run about $440 for that distance, plus an undoubted need for an oil change when I was done.

Still, jeez, I've driven that same run in about 36 hours. Can you imagine being on trains continuously for 2+ days? No chance to wash decently or anything.

Au contraire! Those classic private cabins are still available on the train. They do bump up the cost though, to about $2950 for 2 people.

By the way, the same trip via Orbitz is about $1038 for two people, packed in like sardines, but for only 9 or 10 hours, not 48. First class tickets are available from about $2050 for two.

I'll Give Him One Thing...

...and he'll give her another.

One positive point to John Edwards admission of having an affair. At least he appears to know which end of the girl it goes in.

Did They Think This Through?

Olympic Trivia: The 2008 Olympics in Beijing were designed by Albert Speer.

Just by coincidence, or maybe not, Albert's father, also an Albert Speer, designed the 1936 Olympics for Adolph Hitler. The elder Speer server as Hitler's Minister of Armaments, and later spent 20 years in Spandau prison after his conviction at the Nuremburg war crimes trials.

It's almost enough to make me wished I had watched the opening ceremonies.

Almost.

Recall Update

They're doing pretty well with the petitions I wrote about earlier.

An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 signatures have been gathered by a grass-roots group of volunteers seeking to remove from office four members of the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors.

In the third full day of collecting signatures across Gloucester, residents were lining up at tables from Gloucester Point to Gloucester Court House to sign petitions seeking to oust supervisors Teresa Altemus, Bobby Crewe, Michelle Ressler and Gregory Woodard.

To put that in perspective, Gloucester County has a population of under 39,000 of whom about 30,000 are of voting age. In the election that brought these critters to power, there were only about 1,700 votes cast in my precinct (Crewe won by 218 votes). In the one Supervisor race that was at-large there were under 9200 votes cast (Ressler won by 1,642 votes).

My understanding is that in order for a recall to be authorized, they have to get signatures equaling 10% of the votes cast in the last election. So, 170 or so for Crewe, and 920 for Ressler. Sounds like they'll have that to spare. Which is good, as the judges will throw out the signatures on any technicality.

But, looks like we'll be voting again soon.

Recall

After the great time we've had with our supervisors here, the recall process has begun.

Just after noon Friday, Garr Johnson walked into Burke's of Gloucester on Main Street with copies of 250 petitions that seek to remove four members of the county Board of Supervisors from office.

Within an hour, the petitions hit shops and sidewalks in Gloucester, and residents were already lining up to sign them.

Winnie and I signed this morning. They were set up at a card table in the parking lot of the post office, and they were keeping a line about 5 deep in the few minutes I was there. Shouldn't take too long.

My office

Yes, it's pretty awesome. I really do have my own office. I think this was my reward when my boss couldn't get my hourly rate raised, or get me hired permanently. Of course, I do get to share it when there is other testing to be done (you can't see the other computers in the corner), but that seems a small price to pay.

My suggestion would be...

...never talk to a judge this way.

$5,900,000,000 more = "budget woes"

The Governor has announced a hiring freeze (damn!) because of falling general fund revenues.

This year, Kaine implemented a series of cuts based on forecasts of reduced revenue. As a result of those cuts, the state finished fiscal 2008 on June 30 barely in the black -- $5.4 million in a general-fund budget of $17.2 billion.

But, when you look at the budget for previous years, you see the general fund expenditures have increased by a quarter billion dollars just over the previous year ($16.96B), and are still a little above those from two years ago ($17.03B).

The article also whines about the difficulty of making the state's $77B two year budget, when the previous two years totalled $71.1B. Gosh guys, an extra $5.9B from 7.7M residents (~$375/person/year) isn't enough of an increase? Who's getting the money? The state employees aren't seeing any pay raises.

Stephen, you naughty boy!

The Barenaked Ladies are one of my favorite bands. However, Stephen was bad.

Barenaked Ladies singer arrested on drug charges

07/16/2008 5:13 AM, AP


The singer and guitarist for the band Barenaked Ladies has been arrested on drug charges in upstate New York.

Police say Steven Page was charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance on Friday in the Syracuse area.

Authorities say the arrest occurred at about 2 a.m. after police noticed a suspicious car with its driver's side door left open. They say they found Page and two women in a nearby apartment, along with cocaine and marijuana.

Barenaked Ladies' manager Terry McBride confirmed the charge to the Post-Standard of Syracuse but declined to comment further. The singer, released after paying $10,000 bail, is due in court Thursday.

Page helped form the band in 1988. The group, know for hits such as "One Week" and "Pinch Me" recently released their debut kids CD "Snacktime."

Gosh! And only a few days ago, they were announcing their upcoming concert with Disney.

I love this quote from a Canadian news story.

"I do not think it's going to hurt them in the long run," said Arsenault, whose client roster has included children's entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram, Fred Penner and large music events including the Junos.

She noted that other celebrities with wholesome images have weathered far worse scandals, such as Jamie Lynn Spears and her teen pregnancy, and teen queen Miley Cyrus who appeared in a suggestive photo spread.

The problem, guys is that Jamie Lynn and Miley apparently sex, or got naked. Not quite the same as smokin' and snortin'. And, both are American citizens. Stephen is a Canuck, and if convicted of felony possession, even if he doesn't go to jail, he could be banned from entering the country for life.

The last month

It's been a month since my mom passed away. Almost everyone in the family was there. It all still seems a little unreal. I miss talking to her.

Electric Cars

Hey, if you want to go green, how about buying a new Tesla?
It's all electric.
It does 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds.
Gets 220 miles on a single charge.
"Fuel" costs are under 2 cents per mile.

They're taking reservations now, and the first production models are delivering.

Cost? Oh, the base price is $109,000, and delivery is in 12 months. If you want to lock in an earlier delivery date, that can be done for an additional $55,000. Full payment being due 3 months before they deliver your car.

New Energy Sources

I've heard quite a lot lately in the news about "why don't energy companies invest in technologies like solar, or wind?" Even so, progress is being made.

In Massachusetts, the Patrick administration's Commonwealth Solar rebate program, implemented in January, is part of a push to increase the amount of solar energy used from 4 megawatts to 250 megawatts over the next decade. (By comparison, the Pilgrim nuclear plant has a generating capacity of nearly 700 megawatts.) A novel program included in the state's new energy bill would allow utilities to own solar panels for the first time.

Uh, whoops. Wait a minute. Did you say the electric company was prevented by law from owning solar panels? So what was supposed to be their interest in seeing solar technology prosper?

It makes me wonder what other dumb laws like this exist. Probably designed to 'level the playing field', but in fact preventing those with capital from using it.

I'd love to hear an oil company exec actually say "Senator, we are pursuing all alternative forms of energy. We look forward to a day when the use of oil is banned. And when it does, with the technologies we will own, you can bet your booties we'll jack the price sky high."

Hat tip to Ace of Spades.

Blowing her nose

This girl nearly got her nose blown of.

A delicate moment

I've told a story similar to this to family members.

A report of a family fight Wednesday afternoon in New Castle didn't turn out to
be what police expected.

A nine-year-old girl called 911 after she awoke from a nap and heard her mother screaming. She went to her mother's bedroom and thought her mother was being attacked.

Turns out, her parents were just enjoying marital relations.

But the New Castle Police Department responded to the little girl's call, and even filed a report, noting "Mom and Daddy were involved in a romantic moment and daughter mistook them as fighting."

"Enjoying" being the operative word.

Too Good To Ignore

Some stories are too good to ignore.

Would-be car thieves could learn from a New Bedford man's mistake: If you're going to steal a car, avoid the idling state police cruiser — especially if two troopers are inside.

Jose Alvarez Nieves was arrested Monday night after he allegedly tried to break into three cars in a convenience store parking lot, including an unmarked state police cruiser, according to state Trooper Paul Gifford.

"It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime stories," Trooper Gifford said.

Not quite a "Darwin" story, but close. Give Jose some time.

Ah, small town life!

It's so fun to live in a small community, where everyone gets in everyone else's business.

Four members of the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors and the Gloucester sheriff were indicted on a total of 15 misdemeanor charges by a special grand jury Tuesday.

In addition, a Gloucester developer faces 10 felony charges in connection with the forgery of county documents.

Supervisors Teresa Altemus, Michelle Ressler, Robert "Bobby" Crewe and Gregory Woodard each were indicted on charges of transacting public business in private, unlawful warrantless search and computer trespass. Crewe and Ressler also faces charges of coercing and intimidating a county employee as a result of a closed-door meeting on Jan. 8 with former Planning Director Jay Scudder.

Sheriff Steve Gentry faces a single misdemeanor count of malfeasance or misuse of office for conducting unlawful searches and seizures related to the entry of the offices of former county employees Bill Whitley and Danny Stuck.

Developer George Woodhouse, who was Crewe's largest campaign contributor and who also contributed $500 to Gentry's campaign, is accused of forging county certificates of occupancy, which are documents that certify that a structure complies with county ordinances regulating building.

We've all been waiting for this ever since these four decided they were going to personally remake all of Gloucester's government.

I sneer at $4 gas

Yeah, because it only hits me a few bucks at a time, spread out over the entire year.

But, this house gets hot water for taps and baseboard heat from a fuel oil fired boiler. Fuel oil prices are about 20 cents per gallon higher than last year, and to get a discount price I have to pay in a lump sum for the year up front. That'll be around $3500 - 4000. I'm not sneering at that.

Jim Webb - not VP

So, our senator says he doesn't want to run with Obama.

Freshman U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, in a statement just released by his office, said he's told presidential nominee in-waiting Barack Obama, "Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for vice president."

Given that he only won his Senate seat by 0.5%, I don't see that he would have been that much of an asset anyway. Or, since it's Virginia, was that supposed to prove he's a centerist?

Stay Strong Lou

One of my favorite bloggers, Lou Minatti, is going through some rough times. Having lost both my grandmother and mom this spring I've got some idea. Stay strong, pal.

Bling

Damn! Now we're going to have home invasions to steal our doorknobs. Well, I guess it could be worse.

Robert "Boochie" Burrest Jr. has always liked to tinker.

As a child, he'd go around his neighborhood with a wagon full of tools, doing odd jobs. In high school, he'd make his own wooden shoes. As he grew older, he began customizing cars.

About eight years ago, after fooling around in his workshop, Burrest came up with his first invention. It's a wooden or metal ring on which you can screw an assortment of decorative doorknobs.

Maybe ol' Boochie here can figure out how to get rappers to use these doorknobs, instead of gold teeth, as a new status symbol.

Foreclosure Rates

Not that I'm saying some houses have been overpriced, or anything, but here is a diagram of the foreclosure rate in the area where I grew up. Each little house symbol denotes a property in foreclosure.



Now, here is the area where I live now. If you looked really closely you'd see I had to fudge a bit. I had to zoom out by one more step in order to get any foreclosures to appear.

It is hot.

Very hot. And humid. Very humid. Mikey is staying indoors except to water flowers and take out the trash. A/Cs on full blast 24x7.

So, I'm playing on the computer, transcribing my grandmother's diaries from 1937-1941. I'm about 85% done. The best part is that I got a new 22" LCD monitor yesterday, to replace my old beater of a 17" CRT. Much easier on the eyes, and I can open multiple windows at once, and see them all.

Arctic Ice Disappearing due to Bush Administration and Volcanoes, but mostly Volcanoes?

Yeah, volcanoes. Under the ice cap.

Recent massive volcanoes have risen from the ocean floor deep under the Arctic ice cap, spewing plumes of fragmented magma into the sea, scientists who filmed the aftermath reported Wednesday.

The eruptions -- as big as the one that buried Pompei -- took place in 1999 along the Gakkel Ridge

Meanwhile, in the Colorado mountains...

...they're still skiing.

With an average of 3 feet of snow still covering the upper slopes of Aspen Mountain, the Aspen Skiing Co. will open the top of the mountain to midday skiing this weekend.

Seven runs and 45 acres of mostly intermediate terrain will be served by the Ajax Express lift, officials announced Monday.

The mountain will be open to skiing and riding Friday through Sunday; the Ajax Express chair will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily. Skiers and riders must upload and download on the Silver Queen Gondola, which will be running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the last ride down at 4:30 p.m.

No, that's not a misprint.

It all evens out

It's been really hot here on the east coast, but on the west coast, all that climate change has people dying.

A Bellevue man who intended to spend only the day on the slopes of Mount Rainier has died after being caught in a blizzard.

Two others in the hiking party, suffering from frostbite and hypothermia, are awaiting rescue at Camp Muir at the 10,000-foot level.

What? It's June. Surely that can't be right. Hmmm, better check another story.

As Western Washington residents thaw out after the coldest June week on record, forecasters say drivers heading for the mountain passes could expect up to 5 inches of snow to fall by Tuesday morning.

What the hell? That can't be right. We were all supposed to be suffering the hottest temperatures ever seen. Well, I guess not in Washington.

With summer only 11 days away, what Seattle has is higher sustained heating bills from the unusually persistent chill of what is now the coldest spring on record for the Seattle area, traction tires required to slip through the passes Tuesday and a threatened growing season for local farmers.

Overall, daytime high temperatures in the region have averaged at least 10 degrees below normal -- while overnight lows have been only slightly chillier than normal -- translating into more gas and electricity use higher bills.

Whew! So I guess they'll be spared a little longer than us.

Almost a Darwin

So close. So very, very, close.

Some of the folks on my project team were meeting with the people in the VDOT bridge section to discuss a new product being built with our GIS Roads layer. It's intended to help steer overweight vehicles over appropriate roads, and to keep them away from weight restricted bridges.

In the middle of the meeting their beepers and phones start going off.

A one-lane bridge in Giles County collapsed yesterday when a heavily laden cement truck tried to cross the weight-restricted span.

The state Route 713 bridge over Walker Creek was posted with a restriction limiting the maximum weight of vehicles to 8 tons.

"It appears that an overweight vehicle violating the posting collapsed the bridge," said Malcolm T. Kerley, the Virginia Department of Transportation's chief engineer.

The 2003 Mack truck was carrying 15½ tons of cement, said state police Sgt. Michael Conroy. "The [cement] alone . . . pretty much doubled the limit on the bridge."

"This is an example of why we post weight limits on bridges," Walus said. "We want to remind all drivers to heed posted weight limits and follow posted safety instructions."

A/C Day

Today we reached the yearly milestone where I have to tote up the window air conditioners from the basement, and put them in the bedroom windows. Up until now it's only reached the mid 80's about 3 days total, but it's supposed to be up there every day this week. It was over 90 today.

So, it was fun working out in the yard later cleaning up from our minor disaster on Thursday. A moderately large (12 in diameter) branch came down out of our oak tree in the back yard. Fortunately we were both at work, and the dogs were inside. Everything it hit was smashed.

Most annoyingly, it came down on top of our clothes line. The lines were fine, but the aluminum post bent! I got out there and pushed it back up, and it seems OK for now.

It was also fun getting out the little chain saw, and carving it all up into pieces. The saw hadn't been used since Isabel, back in 2004.

The saving grace of the day was probably the Williamsburg Farmer's Market, where Coriander got much adoration, and Winnie bought us two quarts of yummy organic strawberries.

Darwin Award - XI

You know the phrase "never bring a knife to a gunfight"? Well, never bring a BB gun to a shotgun fight.

FORT WORTH -- A robbery suspect entered an west-side donut shop early Friday armed with a BB rifle, but a good Samaritan who came to help a shop employee had a shotgun.

Conclusion: the robbery suspect died from a blast of 12-gauge buckshot to the chest, police said.

The incident was reported about 2 a.m. at the Happy Donuts shop, 109 Roberts Cut Off Road, said Lt. Paul Henderson, police spokesman.

The suspect was Richard Lane, 45, of Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.

"What I understand," Henderson said, "is this particular suspect was known in the area for possibly other criminal activity -- other robberies, other burglaries."

The neighbor who shot the man was not arrested.

Headline of the Day

Great tits cope well with warming

Well, I should think so.

Canadian Anchor Babies

Dr. Winnie asked me recently if I'd feel as bad about Canadians sneaking across the border as I do with Mexicans. I said sure, they were all dope heads and had funny accents. Now, it also turns out they're coming to raid our health care system.

More than 100 Canadian women with high-risk pregnancies have been sent to United States hospitals over the past year - in what a doctors' group attributes to the lack of a national birthing plan.

The problem has peaked, with British Columbia and Ontario each sending a record number of women to U.S. neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Specifically, 80 B.C. women have been sent to U.S. hospitals since April 1, 2007; in Ontario, 28 have been sent since January of 2007, according to figures from the respective health ministries.

André Lalonde, executive vice-president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, said the problem is due to bed closings that took place almost a decade ago, the absence of a national birthing initiative and too few staff.

"Neonatologists are very stretched right now," Dr. Lalonde said in a telephone interview from Ottawa. "We're so stretched, it's kind of dangerous."

Great! So they come here to give birth, making their kids American citizens. I scanned the whole article, and apparently the provinces are footing the bill. But there is a question of why they can't open their own neonatal units. Maybe Canada isn't such a great place after all.

Stephen Bennett

The reason I was really interested in going to the concert where we saw Tommy Emmanuel (see previous post), was to see Stephen Bennett. He's married to a VIMS professor, and I see him from time to time around town.

For the concert shown here, the Fifth Harp Guitar Gathering, we were in the audience, for the third time at one of these festivals. Every one that has been held near us. (The other two gatherings were in OR & FL.) We were sitting just a bit to the left of the camera. Just awesome.

Tommy Emmanuel

Charles at LGF posted this, and I couldn't help piling on. I've gotten to see Tommy once, because, Winnie wanted to go, and he was amazing.

Tornados and such

While we were missing the Sierra Madre fire on the one hand, we were also missing the tornadoes at home on the other. Well, nearby tornadoes anyway.

Or so I thought. Apparently they were a lot closer than that.

And yes, purely in the interest of studying the social effects of natural disasters on communities, when we got the chance we moved toward the fire, not away. Kind of like when there's a storm.

UPDATE: Here's a great bit of tornado video, from the camera inside a parked ambulance.

The Wedding

We are just back from our daughter's wedding in Pasadena. Despite what some folks at the reception asked, no we were not the wedding party that had to be airlifted out of the Sierra Madre fire zone.

It was in a park, though, just south of Jet Propulsion Lab. I've posted the video above, and there are some photos loaded at Flickr. My thanks to Michele, who took all the best shots.

The County Budget

Here is why so many of us find government incomprehensible from the get go. I live in a county with a population of about 34,000.

The proposed budget for the county for FY2009 is $122 million dollars. That's seems incredibly large. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of spending that much money for anything in this county.

Sixty million goes to the school district, which has about 7,000 students. Plus federal dollars.

I know the numbers all add up and make sense, but the sheer scale makes me feel like I'm trying to do my personal finances by counting on my fingers and toes.

And the Government Shall Set You Free

Obama needs to learn to shut up. Fresh off of this -
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them…And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Then he says this -

"What is absolutely true is that people don't feel like they're being listened to," the Democratic presidential contender said. "So they pray and they count on each other and they count on their families. You know this in your own lives.

" And what we need is a federal government that is actually paying attention. A government that is fighting for working people day in and day out making sure that we are trying to allow them to live out the American dream and that's what this campaign is about."

You see when people have problems they shouldn't be praying or turning to friends and family. Their first thought should be that the federal government should be doing something for them. That's sure my American dream.

Bringing Up Baby

Parenting is hard enough when everything is going smoothly, but it gets worse when the parents can't agree on "how to raise their kids." Sometimes it can even lead to fights.

When police asked the woman why the two had separated, she said they have "different ideas about how the baby should be raised," according to a police report.

When officer Daniel Swift asked the woman what she meant by that, she said that the two belong to different street gangs. "They could not agree on which gang the baby would claim," Swift said.

How about we all chip in and send them a little bitty prison uniform?

Gobal Warming Causes Volcanic Eruptions

You knew it had to come up eventually.

Increased volcanic activity is linked to ice melted by the effects of global warming, a study has found.

So much ice in Iceland has melted in the past century that the pressure on the land beneath has lessened, which allows more of the rock deep in the ground to turn to magma. Until the ice melted, the pressure was so intense that the rock remained solid.

Carolina Pagli, of the University of Leeds, led research which calculated that over the past century the production of magma had increased by 10 per cent.

The research team, reporting their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, said an extra 1.4 cu km of magma has been created under the Vatnajökull ice-cap in the past 100 years.

Since 1890 the ice-cap has lost 10 per cent of its mass, which has allowed the land to rise by up to 25m (82ft) a year.

Son of a B! The area where this ice cap was has risen 25 meters per year for the last 118 years? Where there was a flat plain before, now there's a mountain nearly 10,000 feet tall? That in itself ought to pretty well accommodate a measly 1.4 cu km (0.34 cu mile) of magma. But what a great tourist attraction!

19 March 2005 - Day Thirty-one

Another momentous day has arrived! First, the kids got their first real solid food today. I feed them about 4 oz. of cooked hamburger, split 8 ways, this morning.

Then, they got their first trip outdoors! We moved the pen fencing out onto the patio, and let them roam for a bit. You never heard such complaints! This floor is hard! My toes are getting cold! What happened to the walls and ceiling? That light is too bright!

Anyway, I think you'll have to agree that they are adorable.

17 March 2005 - Day Twenty-nine

Chris Evans and grandson came by today to look at the pups. It sounds like Chris and David will be getting one of our girls, probably Miss Ginger Snap. That was two spoken for, two we keep, and four to go. however, Erin called and said she didn't think she was going to be able to keep a pup in her first year of graduate school. Poor thing would be alone most of the time. Plus, renting a place where they would allow her to have a dog would be very expensive.

The collie daddy seems to be taking quite a shine to the babies. He will get in and nuzzle and check on them, being ever so careful not to step on anyone.

16 March 2005 - Day Twenty-eight

Four weeks old this evening. And the rough realities of life strike. Tonight, Woody (Arrowhead) and Star (Spiral) got their first baths. Star was pretty good about it but Woody complained, a lot.

The last few days have been fairly rough dealing with these guys. They are eating rapidly growing amounts. We were using the formula plus rice cereal, but the kids were also getting constipated, and taking turns with a lot of grunting and groaning. We are about to finish our second carton of formula in a week, at $30 a carton. Tonight we are trying competing methods to soften puppy kibble for them. I'm soaking a few in milk. Winnie pulverized a few in a mini-blender container. We'll try feeding them soon and see.


The area we set aside for them in the dining room is good, but there was a problem. I had lined it with a plastic sheet, topped by a canvas painters drop cloth, topped by newspaper, and then their soft rug. I was assuming the canvas drop cloth would bead up more moisture than it did, and it was getting wet.

Our friend Donna suggested a piece of linoleum as a base. That's what she used when her dog had pups. So, we bought a 6x9 piece at Lowe's. When I pulled up the other stuff I was in for a rude surprise. The plastic drop cloth had leaked, it was damp underneath, and going to ammonia. So, first that had to get cleaned up. What a smell!

We have our first definite 'forever home' for one of our girls. They hope to come visit soon and meet every little body.

We were down

For a day or so we had electrical problems here. Seems we had a failing neutral wire in the line between our electric meter and the breaker box.

Why? The doofus that installed out deck three years ago scraped and pinched the insulation off the wire. We're damn lucky he didn't manage to burn our house down, or electrocute us.

10 March 2005 - Day Twenty-two

The first bowl of formula went down this morning, and they just devoured it. We had been planning on supplementing with this just once or twice a day, but maybe they are ready to accelerate through the weaning. Maybe give them just formula a couple ore times today, and then start mixing in some baby cereal tomorrow. I want to be careful, so they don't get constipated, though.

Today was also a big day, as we moved them around the house to give them more room, and more contact with us. They had been in just the wading pool, and they were feeling very isolated and frustrated in there. There was a lot of whining going on. So now, they are in the dining room, with about 3 times as much space as before.

8 March 2005 - Day Twenty

OK, they are beyond getting near to having teeth. They have teeth coming in. Momma is starting to look a little hesitant about nursing. We'll need to start weaning them on.

The weeing is really commencing, we are having to wash the liners twice a day now.

7 March 2005 - Day Nineteen

Let the weeing begin! Cinny did not want to get into pool this morning to feed the pups. The pups were very wiggly too, or maybe, as a result. Eventually I decided that maybe it smelled too much like puppy pee, so I pulled up the cover to wash it, even though it had only been in since the night before. Silly me! The pups have started to wee in earnest, and the papers underneath were significantly wet over large areas. As soon as I cleaned this out, and put in fresh liners, everyone settled down.

Also, these guys are getting near having teeth. We can feel the little bumps on their gums.

6 March 2005 - Day Eighteen

(And if you think a picture of a collie puppy is cute, check out the video.)

The pups continue to grow very big and very fast. It's getting hard to do photos
of them, because they are always in motion. And if not in motion, too sleepy to be
really fun! Their eyes have opened a bit, and they see us when we come into the room.
They crowd over near the edge of the pool for a pat. If it's momma, they all crowd
around, and get rowdy waiting for a meal.

I weighed the biggest (Arrowhead), and smallest (Bitty Girl) yesterday, and the
range was about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds. That's not too bad. I thought the range was
probably more, as that boy's head is about twice the size of her's.

Personalities are definitely coming out. Blaze is a climber, Bitty Girl is a
growler, and all of them are little loves. They nuzzle up to our hands and lick us, and
try to suck our fingers.

The issue of names is also being worked on. Their eventual owners can name them as
they like, but we'll use our usual "spice" scheme in giving them some sort of names to
start with. What we've come up with so far, is something like this:

• 'Spiral' - Spiral Galaxy Star Anise ('Spiral' or 'Star')
  
• 'Big girl' - Nutmeg Custard ('Meggy')
  
• ''Bitty girl' - Ginger Snap ('Ginger')
  
• 'Arrowhead' - Sasparilla or Sweet Woodruff ('Woody')
  
• 'Island' - Something something Wasabi something ('Wasabi')
  
• 'Big Boy' - Something something Coriander something ('Cory')
  
• 'Short Stocking' - Something something Basil something ('Basil')
  
• 'Blaze' - Blazin' Hot Chipotle ("Blaze')

• 
  

What My Kid Is Up To

Damn that Global Warming!

It's just not safe to go outside anymore.

GILFORD, N.H. (AP) - Much of this week's winter carnival in Gilford has been canceled, due to too much winter.

Parks and Recreation Director Herb Greene notes that the cancellation of 2 events was due to poor road conditions and snow-filled parking lots.

Of the three events originally scheduled for Wednesday, the Cardboard Box Sled Derby has been rescheduled to Friday morning.

Cole Porter Got There First

A college education I should never propose,
A bachelor's degree won't even keep you in clo'es,
But millions you will win if you can spin on your nose.
Be a clown, be a clown, be a clown.

Obviously, this guy wasn't listening.

After James McGrath graduated from Christopher Newport University, he spent a year or two "working miscellaneous odd jobs here and there" while looking for the opportunity that would become his career.

He expected it to be some form of social work - that's what he had planned when he took his degree in psychology with a minor in religious studies - but instead, he would up turning a college hobby into a role in The Greatest Show on Earth. McGrath, 26, has returned to the Peninsula this week in character as Crickett, a spike-haired clown in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Well, I always wondered what people did with a Bachelor's in Psychology.

28 February 2005 - Day Twelve

It wasn't our imagination last night. The pups are wiggly. Today they are all, in effect, walking. Unsteady to be sure, but up on all fours, and bellies off the ground. Another day or two, and their eyes should open.

They are also getting very cuddly and cute. Yes, the cuteness factor is beginning to rise exponentially.

Cinny went to the vet today. They said her ear problem is a yeast infection. She has some ear drops to set her right. One of the techs was wondering if the pups are all spoken for yet. Her mom would like a collie.

We also started looking at other names for these guys. The plan was to give them spice, herb, or pepper related names. I also wanted to sneak in pastries there somewhere. So far it looks like Big Girl will become "Nutmeg" (Meg), Bitty Girl will be "Ginger Snap" (Ginger), and Spiral will become something like "Marjoram" (Margie) or Pennyroyal (Penny).

In jest I've suggested Arrowhead become "Arrowroot Biscuit". My other leading names for boys are Coriander (Cory) and Sweet Woodruff (Woody). Finally, maybe an Ancho or some such in there. I also suggested "Jalapeno Cornbread". Well, OK, maybe that is a little too silly.

27 February 2005 - Day Eleven

I had an e-mail from a lady in Arizona today. She has been looking at my page,
and wondered if I knew of collie rescues or breeders she could contact. I sent her
info for contacting rescues through the Collie Club of America, and breeders through
Collies Online.

• Pup #1 - 'Spiral' - 35 ounces (+4)
  
• Pup #2 - "Big girl' - 36 ounces (+3)
  
• Pup #5 - 'Bitty girl' - 28 ounces (+2)
  
• 'Arrowhead' - 41 ounces (+5)
  
• 'Island' - 34 ounces (+3)
  
• 'Big Boy' - 38 ounces (+4)
  
• 'Short Stocking' - 33 ounces (+1)
  
• 'Blaze' - 37 ounces (+2)
  

Well, I think this was the last night for the "weighing". They were all so
wiggly I could hardly get them in the sling long enough to check them.

Cinny is showing a new problem. I've noticed for a couple days she had a lot of
bloody crusts in her ears. It comes right out with a Q-tip, but we are concerned
she might have ear mites or some such thing.

Renewable energy, but not very reliable

Windmills sound great, but not so good in practice at times.

A drop in wind generation late on Tuesday, coupled with colder weather,
triggered an electric emergency that caused the Texas grid operator to cut
service to some large customers, the grid agency said on Wednesday.
Electric
Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said a decline in wind energy production in
west Texas occurred at the same time evening electric demand was building as
colder temperatures moved into the state.
The grid operator went directly to
the second stage of an emergency plan at 6:41 PM CST (0041 GMT), ERCOT said in a
statement.

Cosmic Convergence

I have to love it when these things all come together -

A York resident — who apparently wants his cremated ashes to be brewed into a special ale for his wake — was recently named "Beerdrinker of the Year" by a Colorado-based brewery.

Wynkoop Brewing Company named Matt Venzke the winner of its "12th annual search for America's ultimate beer fiend" last weekend in Denver. Along with the coveted title, Venzke wins "free beer for life" at Wynkoop Brewing Company, a $250 beer tab at his favorite bar, the Taphouse in Hampton, and the opportunity to create a special beer with Wynkoop's head brewer for next year's Beerdrinker of the Year" event, according to a Wynkoop statement.

My favorite place to go for a beer!

26 February 2005 - Day Ten

Not much to tell today. They just keep on growing like crazy, and keep getting cuter.

• Pup #1 - 'Spiral' - 31 ounces (+1)
  
• Pup #2 - "Big girl' - 33 ounces (+2)
  
• Pup #5 - 'Bitty girl' - 26 ounces (+1)
  
• 'Arrowhead' - 36 ounces (+2)
  
• 'Island' - 31 ounces (+3)
  
• 'Big Boy' - 34 ounces (+2)
  
• 'Short Stocking' - 32 ounces (+3)
  
• 'Blaze' - 35 ounces (+3)
  

Global Warming Kills

I t was just a matter of time, wasn't it? They've been warning us all along, and now it's happened.

Six people have been killed in three days by icicles falling from buildings in a central Russian region, ITAR-TASS news agency reported Tuesday.

Darwin Award - Almost

Didn't it used to be that people went crazy trying to steal gold? Is it just here in Virginia that the people are so low-rent that they go for copper?

A man Richmond police say was trying to steal copper from a Dominion Virginia Power substation was seriously burned Saturday night.

Richard Croker, 36, was taken to VCU Medical Center with burns over 65 percent of his body, authorities said. He was listed in stable condition this morning.

Richmond police said officers were on patrol just before 9 p.m. Saturday when they saw a large ball of fire and explosion at a Dominion substation in the 4300 block of Hull Street Road.

When they pulled up to the fenced-in substation, they found Croker inside with his clothes on fire.

Police said Croker had climbed over the fence and was trying to steal copper wiring.

Police have obtained warrants charging Croker with trespassing, felony destruction of property and larceny. He has not yet been served with the warrants, police spokeswoman Wendy Jenkins said.

25 February 2005 - Day Nine

OK, Cinny was more than a little ill last night. It was a full blown poop-a-thon. I discovered she had her first accident at about 10pm. Got that cleaned up and went to bed. Left Winnie a huge note. See, to get Cinnamon to eat her dinner we've been jazzing it up with cooked beef liver. I don't think that is agreeing with her tummy. So, the note said "No more liver!"

Anyway, for all the good that that did. I was up with her again at 11pm (another oops), and at midnight (oops, again). Finally got the procedure down then, and got her out at 1, 2, and 3 without further incidents. Except, of course, for my not getting to sleep. When I put her out at 3, I lay down on the couch and was out for an hour. When I got her back in, she finally slept until wake-up time at 5:30.

So, needless to say, I was more useless than usual at work on Friday.

She did get 1 1/2 cups of regular kibble for breakfast, but pooped indoors twice more during the day. This evening I've gotten 2+ cups of kibble into her, with no gross results. Hopefully laying off of the liver has fixed this.

The puppies, of course, are wonderful. Definitely pushing up on their legs now and trying to walk. Even the smallest is now a 1/2 pound larger than the biggest was at birth. The largest is over 2 pounds. They seem to be keeping a gap of around 8 ounces, or so, between the largest and the smallest among them.

• Pup #1 - 'Spiral' - 30 ounces (+2)
  
• Pup #2 - "Big girl' - 31 ounces (+2)
  
• Pup #5 - 'Bitty girl' - 25 ounces (+2)
  
• 'Arrowhead' - 34 ounces (+1)
  
• 'Island' - 28 ounces (+1)
  
• 'Big Boy' - 32 ounces (+2)
  
• 'Short Stocking' - 29 ounces (+2)
  
• 'Blaze' - 32 ounces (+2)