For those of you not in the know, Nitnoy (or the Nit) is my boss's pet bird. Specifically it is my boss's pigeon. According to my boss, Nitnoy is Turkish for "little bit." I have no idea if that's true. "Why on earth would someone want a pet pigeon?" you ask. Good question. Here goes.
Once upon a time, my boss (I'll call him George) was working in San Francisco. He does it regularly. I've done it myself a couple times. He'll fly down Monday morning, work all week, and fly home Friday afternoon. Well, one time he had just finished a customer in downtown San Francisco and had to rush across the Bay Bridge to make his flight out of Oakland, which is no easy task on a good day. On the sidewalk just outside the building, a crowd was gathered and he just had to know why. It turns out they were looking at an abandoned baby pigeon on the sidewalk and wondering what to do with it. Most people would have volunteered a pet cat to take care of things, but George, for reasons known only to himself, decided to save the pathetic little thing and scooped it up. Not knowing what else to do with it, he stuck it in his carry-on bag when he got to the airport. There this bird sat for 3 hours or so until he got back to Portland. This means the bird sat in a bag under somebody's chair for a couple hours without making a peep, and apparently without making a mess of the bag either. This also means that he got to ride through an x-ray machine that was several times stronger than the average vet would prescribe. I suppose a baby bird, either dead or alive, is not really much of a threat, even in the hands of Osama Bin Laden himself. However, I'm pretty sure a clothing bag is not an approved pet carrier and an uninspected pigeon is right out. Anyway, nobody stopped George or the pigeon and they both made it back to Portland just fine. I'm sure George's wife was thrilled.
To put this all in perspective, George is a nice guy, but not exactly a softy by most standards. He's got a Harley, and even rode it up and down New England last year to attend a biker rally -- at 60 years old. In the past he's gone back and forth across the country hitching rides on freight trains. Most of his stories of growing up in Jersey involve some friend with a colorful Jersey nickname and the mischievous or downright illegal things they got away with. All this makes it that much more disconcerting to see him fawning over a damn pigeon.
To his credit, a pigeon that doesn't live in a dumpster is actually kind of a pretty bird. The Nit has very shiny feathers that shimmer different colors depending on the light, and he apparently spends a good deal of time grooming them. He's very friendly, and after he's decided you're one of the family, he has no problem sitting on your arm or your head or whatever you'll let him get away with. He gets along great with the cat. And most of the year he live in a hard-side pet carrier with no door that has been nailed up under George's eaves. (Ironic: he rode in the plane in a bag, but lives in a pet carrier.)
George tried several times to release the Nit into the wilds of the Portland area, but it never worked. He even took him to a park full of pigeons, but the Nit wasn't interested in them at all. Eventually, George resigned himself to owning a pet pigeon.
One time, when a skimmer boat was cleaning the canal behind George's house, Nitnoy flew out and sat on the front window of the boat for the rest of the afternoon. When the boat got back to the other end of the lake, the bird was obviously a pet, so the workmen put it in an animal trap until word of mouth in the neighborhood tracked down George. It even made their community paper.
Nitnoy lives what appears to be a pretty good life for a pigeon. He has his own personal shelter, people to roost on and a regular diet. His one problem is the local hawk that likes to harass him. This has been going on for ages apparently, but yesterday the hawk got lucky. George had just returned from another California trip, and right after he got home, he and his wife heard the bird cooing in the back yard, but it wasn't right. They got outside just in time to scare the hawk up into a tree and away from the Nit. Nitnoy was very hurt, but still alive. George's wife apparently had to talk him out of getting his shotgun and blowing the hawk to smithereens. I'm guessing the neighbors should feel lucky. Anyway, George got his pigeon to the vet quickly enough that, 10 stitches up the breast later, it looks like the bird will probably be okay.
This has to be the luckiest pigeon alive. So far he's survived parental abandonment, hours stuffed in a bag, an unhealthy dose of x-ray, a cat, and a hawk. What next?
Friday, April 27, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
I've Officially Lost My Identity
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Wind Power is BIG
Yesterday on the highway headed north for work, I got to see most of a new wind turbine being delivered somewhere. I guess is was made somewhere in Washington and was headed into Oregon to take I-84 out to the empty windy parts of the Northwest.
Every few minutes during my drive, another truck passed with another part of the tower. There were five or six total carrying the tower. There were three or four huge cylinders, maybe 70-80 feet long and at least 15 feet wide. Each was essentially made into a trailer with huge sets of wheels clamped to each end. The whole contraption was about twice the length of a normal semi-trailer. Following those were two tapered sections, just about as long, but with the smaller ends sitting on top of wheels. The last part I saw was the actual wind turbine. This fit on top of a flatbed trailer, but from what I hear, it is by far the heaviest part of this convoy. Last year, one of these rolled over on the ramp from I-205 onto I-84 East and was stuck there for two days while workers tried to figure out how to drag it out from under the bridge without destroying millions of dollars worth of hardware.
I didn't get to see the propeller blades this time, but I have seen them on the move before. That's a sight. Each blade is well over 100 feet long, so it makes for quite a trailer. The end by the turbine is huge, so the whole thing is sitting at diagonal to make it possible to carry it at all. I had a hard time identifying the giant wing the first time I saw one of these things.
It was fun to see the whole tower over a short time. I've seen the turbines in place on top of ridges but you don't get a sense of how big they actually are until you see the parts up close. I think the blades span a circle about 250 or 300 feet across when running. The total height is something like 500 feet. Now imagine a couple hundred of these things at one place and imagine the convoy delivering giant windmill parts.
Every few minutes during my drive, another truck passed with another part of the tower. There were five or six total carrying the tower. There were three or four huge cylinders, maybe 70-80 feet long and at least 15 feet wide. Each was essentially made into a trailer with huge sets of wheels clamped to each end. The whole contraption was about twice the length of a normal semi-trailer. Following those were two tapered sections, just about as long, but with the smaller ends sitting on top of wheels. The last part I saw was the actual wind turbine. This fit on top of a flatbed trailer, but from what I hear, it is by far the heaviest part of this convoy. Last year, one of these rolled over on the ramp from I-205 onto I-84 East and was stuck there for two days while workers tried to figure out how to drag it out from under the bridge without destroying millions of dollars worth of hardware.
I didn't get to see the propeller blades this time, but I have seen them on the move before. That's a sight. Each blade is well over 100 feet long, so it makes for quite a trailer. The end by the turbine is huge, so the whole thing is sitting at diagonal to make it possible to carry it at all. I had a hard time identifying the giant wing the first time I saw one of these things.
It was fun to see the whole tower over a short time. I've seen the turbines in place on top of ridges but you don't get a sense of how big they actually are until you see the parts up close. I think the blades span a circle about 250 or 300 feet across when running. The total height is something like 500 feet. Now imagine a couple hundred of these things at one place and imagine the convoy delivering giant windmill parts.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Idaho Pics
I've tried to put these pictures up several times, but Blogger acted like it took them and then gave me the stupid red X boxes. Anyway, better late than never. These are a few of the cool things I saw in Idaho. Lots of potatoes, but this stuff too.
This is the Snake River Canyon from just under the bridge to Twin Falls, Idaho. I'm sure it wasn't at this spot, but this is the canyon that Evel Knievel jumped in the 70's. The green spots you can see on either side of the river are golf courses. My co-worker that was with me in September was drooling over these, but he didn't get a chance to play them. The best thing about this canyon is that you don't suspect it until you are right over it. This part of the Snake River Valley is really, REALLY flat, so you are going along a very flat very straight road and then BAM, you're over this crazy deep canyon. Very cool.
This is Shoshone Falls, a couple miles upriver from the picture above. Most of the snow had yet to melt when I was there, so most of the flow was going through that power station on the left. For comparison, that building is several stories high. During the late spring and early summer, all the rocks on the right are covered by the waterfall. The pictures I've seen look very impressive, but I've never been there at the right time.
This was a tree growing out of the lava at Hell's Half Acre, the geological point of interest at the rest stop on the way to Idaho Falls. The lava is pretty thick and is only about 4000 years old, so only really hardy things have grown over it so far. These trees are relatively old, but they apparently have a rough life. I'm sure the cold of winter and the hot dry of summer make for tough living in a place with no flowing water and no wind shelter.
This is the dam at the falls in Idaho Falls. The dam runs about a quarter mile along the length of the river to divert water through a power station at the lower end of the falls. It was very windy on the day I was there and the waves running along the river held together as they went over the falls. The lines you can see above looked like they were running along the face of the dam. It was very cool. I took a video with the camera I had, but it had a hard time focusing, so it isn't very impressive. This picture will have to do.
This is old fish hatchery in Idaho Falls. Now it's part of a park on an island between the river and the power plant diversion canal. It's also a graffiti gallery. I've seen better. Some of the stuff is concrete, but a lot of it is made out of local stone, which in this case is lava rocks. I've only seen construction like that in Hawaii, so it was interesting and unexpected.
There. I had a few other pics that might have made it too, but Blogger gave me enough trouble with these, so they'll have to do.
Science With Franny -- Butter
So she got me again last night. I'm falling asleep and I hear "What IS butter?" "It's fat Franny. Good night." "But how is it made?" "Are you serious? Alright..."
Butter is mainly fat. It also has some water and other milk remnants, proteins and such. Some milk is sold as is straight from the cow, although usually pasteurized first. However, most dairies separate the cream out first. The result is sweet cream, which is ~35-40% fat, and skim milk. Some of the cream is then added back in in whatever amount needed to produce the proper blend (1%, 2%, or whole, about 4%) for the grocery store. This is more exact than trying to take out just a certain part of the fat in the original milk. Therefore the final product is more uniform and the American consumer does not have to be distressed by inconsistency. The rest of the cream can then used to make butter. It is somewhat processed (pasturized and then cooled), and then churned. This mainly breaks up the fat globules and makes them stick together better. It also works out most of the remaining water. In an industrial process, this might be done under a nitrogen environment to help prevent rancidity during the process, which allows for larger batches at a time, but doesn't mean much to the end product. The cream has now been separated into solids (the butter) and liquid (buttermilk), which are sent on their separate ways. Depending on the desired product, other things might be mixed in at this point, such as salt, preservatives, or colorings (to get that particular Land-O-Lakes yellow or whatever).
There you have it. Where butter comes from. The cream might also be used for other things like ice cream (excellent use), or the whole milk might be used for cheese or yogurt or whatever instead.
Butter is mainly fat. It also has some water and other milk remnants, proteins and such. Some milk is sold as is straight from the cow, although usually pasteurized first. However, most dairies separate the cream out first. The result is sweet cream, which is ~35-40% fat, and skim milk. Some of the cream is then added back in in whatever amount needed to produce the proper blend (1%, 2%, or whole, about 4%) for the grocery store. This is more exact than trying to take out just a certain part of the fat in the original milk. Therefore the final product is more uniform and the American consumer does not have to be distressed by inconsistency. The rest of the cream can then used to make butter. It is somewhat processed (pasturized and then cooled), and then churned. This mainly breaks up the fat globules and makes them stick together better. It also works out most of the remaining water. In an industrial process, this might be done under a nitrogen environment to help prevent rancidity during the process, which allows for larger batches at a time, but doesn't mean much to the end product. The cream has now been separated into solids (the butter) and liquid (buttermilk), which are sent on their separate ways. Depending on the desired product, other things might be mixed in at this point, such as salt, preservatives, or colorings (to get that particular Land-O-Lakes yellow or whatever).
There you have it. Where butter comes from. The cream might also be used for other things like ice cream (excellent use), or the whole milk might be used for cheese or yogurt or whatever instead.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Science With Franny
This is Franny's idea. Most times, Franny finds science and how-things-work of only passable interest, at least when I talk about them. However, once in a while, and usually laying in bed almost asleep, I'll hear something like, "Do rocks have cells?" Actually, that was a question that she apparently asked a friend during biology class in high school, but it's a good example of the kind of stuff that comes up. Anyway, I dare say I have a more extensive science education (and interest) than she does (although in her defense, she does know a lot more than she lets on), and since I'm am also a known nerd, I am obliged to come up with answers or explanations for these sometimes ridiculous issues. Occasionally, these conversations even end up making me think about things in new ways and make connections I hadn't considered before. For me the topic is usually done by the time I fall asleep, but Franny usually at least pretends my explanations were interesting and has several times said that I should blog about them in case someone else is wondering about the rock/cells debate. So here goes. This is science related stuff that was interesting to Franny at least once. (This particular batch of stuff all came up last night.)
Recently, Franny spilled some oil from an oil lamp onto a bathmat. She blotted up most of it and then threw it into the wash. She showed it to me at this point and the spot where the oil had been had melted/dissolved/deformed and looked like a 4 inch wide brain poking out of the bottom of the mat. Anyway I mentioned to her that washing oil soaked things is discouraged and drying them is a big no-no. As the warning on our machine says, drying "anything that has ever had any type of oil on it (even cooking oils)" can cause "death, explosion, or fire." The mat never made it into the dryer thank goodness, and by the time she had blotted up the stain, it probably didn't have much left on it anyway, but I'm glad we didn't test the theory. The problem is that oil becomes much more volatile at higher temperature and presents a fire or explosion hazard due to all the motors and relays and such that can make sparks. It's even worse if you have a gas dryer, for obvious reasons. When Franny and I were moving to Portland, we stopped in Worland, Wyoming, which is exactly in the middle of nowhere and is where my mother spent some years growing up. Anyway, we specifically stopped to do some laundry and I was amused by the signs saying "No Roughnecks". You might think that's a redneck joke, but roughnecks are the guys that work on the oil rigs. Since they are often drenched in oil, this is exactly the issue the signs were about. Most things are not designed for use in environments where explosive conditions exist, and most electrical items have some potential for making tiny sparks during use. Some things are designed as explosion-proof, including some of the scales that I work on, since they sometimes need to be used in places with flammable gases or powders. (I do work in some hazardous environments occasionally, but the only time I've ever had to worry about this type of thing was in a flour mill of all places. I had to get some guys to stop welding because a pipe had developed a leak and was spewing a cloud of flour through the room. They understood just fine, but I still got flour all over everything, included my up-until-then precision weights. What fun to clean.)
We also got to talking about a gift card to Ritz Camera that we have and what she might buy with it. I mentioned a wide-angle attachment for her camera, and I was surprised to find out that despite here excellent photography background, she didn't know what I was talking about. The focal length of a lens determines how much of your field of vision appears on the imaging surface of the camera (either the film or digital chip). Most of you have probably seen this when adjusting the zoom on your camera. You may not have known it, but you were adjusting the focal length of the camera and thus changing how much of what was in front of you would make up the picture. Most people have used a zoom to get more detail about a portion of a scene, but most cameras can only shorten the focal length to a certain point. A wide angle lens or attachment shortens the effective focal length further and allows more of the scene to be in the picture. This isn't much good if you want more detail, but it helps if you are trying to photograph something relatively big and getting further away from it is impractical.
I can't remember what prompted it, but Franny mentioned that she didn't really understand radio waves. I noted that they were basically the same as lots of other things: microwaves, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays, gamma rays, and I believe cosmic rays too. She said that those didn't make much sense either. We got into a discussion about photons and what they were. A photon is sort of a wave in that it acts like a wave when interacting with other light waves and in the way it can be manipulated, and sort of a particle in that it does not require anything else to propagate it and it comes in discreet, although very tiny amounts. It's not really a particle though in that it has no mass and is moving, ironically, at the speed of light, which particles can't do without infinite energy. It's not really a wave either, in that it has momentum and in large enough quantity, can push things. It can be affected by gravity, as in bending around star or getting stuck in black holes. One thing I couldn't remember last night was whether you could affect any of this with magnetism. I feel like you can, but I couldn't come up with an example. It was late, so the discussion didn't get into much more detail than that.
If you didn't know I was a nerd before, I've certainly confirmed it now. Much of my science is remembered from college chemistry and physics, so it may be remembered incorrectly or just plain wrong. Please leave a comment if you'd like to make any additions or corrections. I assume I got something wrong, or at least incomplete anyway. And Franny, if I mischaracterized anything you said, hey, it was late.
Recently, Franny spilled some oil from an oil lamp onto a bathmat. She blotted up most of it and then threw it into the wash. She showed it to me at this point and the spot where the oil had been had melted/dissolved/deformed and looked like a 4 inch wide brain poking out of the bottom of the mat. Anyway I mentioned to her that washing oil soaked things is discouraged and drying them is a big no-no. As the warning on our machine says, drying "anything that has ever had any type of oil on it (even cooking oils)" can cause "death, explosion, or fire." The mat never made it into the dryer thank goodness, and by the time she had blotted up the stain, it probably didn't have much left on it anyway, but I'm glad we didn't test the theory. The problem is that oil becomes much more volatile at higher temperature and presents a fire or explosion hazard due to all the motors and relays and such that can make sparks. It's even worse if you have a gas dryer, for obvious reasons. When Franny and I were moving to Portland, we stopped in Worland, Wyoming, which is exactly in the middle of nowhere and is where my mother spent some years growing up. Anyway, we specifically stopped to do some laundry and I was amused by the signs saying "No Roughnecks". You might think that's a redneck joke, but roughnecks are the guys that work on the oil rigs. Since they are often drenched in oil, this is exactly the issue the signs were about. Most things are not designed for use in environments where explosive conditions exist, and most electrical items have some potential for making tiny sparks during use. Some things are designed as explosion-proof, including some of the scales that I work on, since they sometimes need to be used in places with flammable gases or powders. (I do work in some hazardous environments occasionally, but the only time I've ever had to worry about this type of thing was in a flour mill of all places. I had to get some guys to stop welding because a pipe had developed a leak and was spewing a cloud of flour through the room. They understood just fine, but I still got flour all over everything, included my up-until-then precision weights. What fun to clean.)
We also got to talking about a gift card to Ritz Camera that we have and what she might buy with it. I mentioned a wide-angle attachment for her camera, and I was surprised to find out that despite here excellent photography background, she didn't know what I was talking about. The focal length of a lens determines how much of your field of vision appears on the imaging surface of the camera (either the film or digital chip). Most of you have probably seen this when adjusting the zoom on your camera. You may not have known it, but you were adjusting the focal length of the camera and thus changing how much of what was in front of you would make up the picture. Most people have used a zoom to get more detail about a portion of a scene, but most cameras can only shorten the focal length to a certain point. A wide angle lens or attachment shortens the effective focal length further and allows more of the scene to be in the picture. This isn't much good if you want more detail, but it helps if you are trying to photograph something relatively big and getting further away from it is impractical.
I can't remember what prompted it, but Franny mentioned that she didn't really understand radio waves. I noted that they were basically the same as lots of other things: microwaves, infrared light, visible light, ultraviolet light, x-rays, gamma rays, and I believe cosmic rays too. She said that those didn't make much sense either. We got into a discussion about photons and what they were. A photon is sort of a wave in that it acts like a wave when interacting with other light waves and in the way it can be manipulated, and sort of a particle in that it does not require anything else to propagate it and it comes in discreet, although very tiny amounts. It's not really a particle though in that it has no mass and is moving, ironically, at the speed of light, which particles can't do without infinite energy. It's not really a wave either, in that it has momentum and in large enough quantity, can push things. It can be affected by gravity, as in bending around star or getting stuck in black holes. One thing I couldn't remember last night was whether you could affect any of this with magnetism. I feel like you can, but I couldn't come up with an example. It was late, so the discussion didn't get into much more detail than that.
If you didn't know I was a nerd before, I've certainly confirmed it now. Much of my science is remembered from college chemistry and physics, so it may be remembered incorrectly or just plain wrong. Please leave a comment if you'd like to make any additions or corrections. I assume I got something wrong, or at least incomplete anyway. And Franny, if I mischaracterized anything you said, hey, it was late.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Things on My Mind
Heavy things lately. Last week wasn't exactly all roses, and now Virginia Tech. I'm actually somewhat familiar with the campus and I know the buildings involved, although it's been some time since I was there. Still, listening to the news reports all morning Monday, I had very vivid images of where they were talking about. What an awful day, although I really don't have sufficient words for it all. A sister of a friend who is a VT alumna now living in Australia had a better take on it all. Very eloquently put.
They released a bunch more details about the guy today. What a lunatic. The radio was making a big stink (on a BBC program) about whether it mattered that he was South Korean. Nobody here seems to care too much, but I guess the South Koreans are taking it pretty hard. Apparently, they have a far more collective idea of guilt and responsibility than we do. The show pointed out that the Koreans made a huge international incident out of a traffic accident a little while back where a US serviceman in Korea killed a couple kids. They held the US responsible for that incident and we didn't understand why. Now they are collectively grieving and feeling somewhat responsible for this tragedy and we don't understand why. Unexpected culture clash.
Also, I'm already tired of the gun-control discussion that will rage forever and go nowhere. The first quote I saw from Bush on Monday noted that he was sending his prayers to the families and community and, oh, yeah, he still supported the 2nd Amendment. Good thing he pointed that out. I've already heard from one side that we are the only gun-happy industrialized country and that should end immediately. I've also heard from the other side that if more law-abiding citizens had been armed, this would have ended much quicker. As usual, not much middle ground.
I was working at the US Forest Service laboratory at OSU this week. We only actually got the contract because the guy that has been calibrating their stuff for the last 25 years of so just passed away last month. He was about 85-90 years old and has been working this area longer than my boss. He was apparently a nice guy who like to tell stories going back even before his time on an aircraft carrier in World War II. Usually when I work a new place, it's because whoever was doing it before annoyed them too much so they are happy to see change. This was different because everyone seemed to like him a lot, so I felt like the runner up that they didn't really want to see. It didn't help that every time I replaced one of his stickers with my own, I felt like I was erasing a piece of history. I can look forward to doing this a lot in the next year since his daughter has been giving us a referral for all his old customers.
There's been some light stuff too. I had a dream the other night. Usually I don't care much to hear other people's dreams. They tend to be much more interesting to the person who dreamt them, and then often only until they say them out loud. But this was different (yeah, right), and anyway, this blog has no point. Anyway, it was loosely based on the end of I, Robot, although way more apocalyptic. For some reason, Will Ferrel was working with the robots, and in an odd twist, was not acting like his normal stupid-but-lovable buffoon self. He was actually very mean and evil, including a black leather jacket, head scarf and a couple guns. I reached for one of his guns, and he noted that he had another one pointed at me, so I took that one too. He laughed because when I shot him with it, I found that it was a water pistol. So I choked him with it. Apparently, I don't like Will Ferrel very much.
Franny and I took the Mizz to the tulip festival this weekend and met a couple other people with kid of the same name and only a couple days younger. We've been there before, but not with him. Not the same thing. We took him away from the flowers pretty quickly since he mainly wanted to pick petals off. I thought this seemed like excellent babysitting since they had several acres of flowers, but reluctantly decided against it. Luckily, there were lots of kid-friendly activities that we walked right by last time. The Mizz had more stimulation than he knew what to do with. He especially liked the roller slide, which was about 15 feet high, so I went with him. I apparently don't have enough padding on my behind, as it was pretty bumpy. None of the kids seemed to mind though.
The Mizz got to experience hail this evening. It was coming down in about 1/4 inch balls, so we went out on the front porch to watch. I caught one for him, and he thought that was great. He held it until it melted and then wanted another one. I caught several more until my feet got too cold. He didn't want to go back inside, but I distracted him with the doorbell. At least that's still easy.
I should write smaller things more often. Sorry for the rambling.
They released a bunch more details about the guy today. What a lunatic. The radio was making a big stink (on a BBC program) about whether it mattered that he was South Korean. Nobody here seems to care too much, but I guess the South Koreans are taking it pretty hard. Apparently, they have a far more collective idea of guilt and responsibility than we do. The show pointed out that the Koreans made a huge international incident out of a traffic accident a little while back where a US serviceman in Korea killed a couple kids. They held the US responsible for that incident and we didn't understand why. Now they are collectively grieving and feeling somewhat responsible for this tragedy and we don't understand why. Unexpected culture clash.
Also, I'm already tired of the gun-control discussion that will rage forever and go nowhere. The first quote I saw from Bush on Monday noted that he was sending his prayers to the families and community and, oh, yeah, he still supported the 2nd Amendment. Good thing he pointed that out. I've already heard from one side that we are the only gun-happy industrialized country and that should end immediately. I've also heard from the other side that if more law-abiding citizens had been armed, this would have ended much quicker. As usual, not much middle ground.
I was working at the US Forest Service laboratory at OSU this week. We only actually got the contract because the guy that has been calibrating their stuff for the last 25 years of so just passed away last month. He was about 85-90 years old and has been working this area longer than my boss. He was apparently a nice guy who like to tell stories going back even before his time on an aircraft carrier in World War II. Usually when I work a new place, it's because whoever was doing it before annoyed them too much so they are happy to see change. This was different because everyone seemed to like him a lot, so I felt like the runner up that they didn't really want to see. It didn't help that every time I replaced one of his stickers with my own, I felt like I was erasing a piece of history. I can look forward to doing this a lot in the next year since his daughter has been giving us a referral for all his old customers.
There's been some light stuff too. I had a dream the other night. Usually I don't care much to hear other people's dreams. They tend to be much more interesting to the person who dreamt them, and then often only until they say them out loud. But this was different (yeah, right), and anyway, this blog has no point. Anyway, it was loosely based on the end of I, Robot, although way more apocalyptic. For some reason, Will Ferrel was working with the robots, and in an odd twist, was not acting like his normal stupid-but-lovable buffoon self. He was actually very mean and evil, including a black leather jacket, head scarf and a couple guns. I reached for one of his guns, and he noted that he had another one pointed at me, so I took that one too. He laughed because when I shot him with it, I found that it was a water pistol. So I choked him with it. Apparently, I don't like Will Ferrel very much.
Franny and I took the Mizz to the tulip festival this weekend and met a couple other people with kid of the same name and only a couple days younger. We've been there before, but not with him. Not the same thing. We took him away from the flowers pretty quickly since he mainly wanted to pick petals off. I thought this seemed like excellent babysitting since they had several acres of flowers, but reluctantly decided against it. Luckily, there were lots of kid-friendly activities that we walked right by last time. The Mizz had more stimulation than he knew what to do with. He especially liked the roller slide, which was about 15 feet high, so I went with him. I apparently don't have enough padding on my behind, as it was pretty bumpy. None of the kids seemed to mind though.
The Mizz got to experience hail this evening. It was coming down in about 1/4 inch balls, so we went out on the front porch to watch. I caught one for him, and he thought that was great. He held it until it melted and then wanted another one. I caught several more until my feet got too cold. He didn't want to go back inside, but I distracted him with the doorbell. At least that's still easy.
I should write smaller things more often. Sorry for the rambling.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Hi
It's been a long week. I went out to Colorado for a couple days for Aunt Gin's funeral. It was a Catholic service, so a little out of my normal realm. But it was very moving and I don't think there was a dry eye in the place -- definitely not mine anyway. I'm glad I was able to make it out there. Ginny was one of my favorite family members (if you're allowed to have favorites) and we've always been close to her and her family. It was good to see everyone, even if the circumstances weren't what I would have liked. Anyway, she's now got a very scenic place at the top of a hill overlooking huge swaths of Colorado. She's about 15 minutes from where she lived and was concerned (in her tongue-in-cheek way) that nobody would come out there and visit her. She didn't need to worry about that.
Since then I've just been busy working. Take a few days off, and the work still keeps piling up.
On a lighter note, I ran across an article in Wired, "What Would Jesus Wiki?". It is about "A conservative encyclopedia you can trust." Conservapedia is a conservative (read "way-far-right Christian") answer to Wikipedia, which it claims has a far too liberal bias to be trusted. The Wired article notes some of its much more "trustworthy" claims and links to lots of other folks who find it amusing as well. The links are definitely worth checking out.
Since then I've just been busy working. Take a few days off, and the work still keeps piling up.
On a lighter note, I ran across an article in Wired, "What Would Jesus Wiki?". It is about "A conservative encyclopedia you can trust." Conservapedia is a conservative (read "way-far-right Christian") answer to Wikipedia, which it claims has a far too liberal bias to be trusted. The Wired article notes some of its much more "trustworthy" claims and links to lots of other folks who find it amusing as well. The links are definitely worth checking out.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Happy Easter
The Mizz approves of this tulip.
Happy Easter to the other half of my readership. We don't have any special plans today, but I'm sure we'll continue to tear into the candy that Tutu sent for the Mizz. We aren't really giving him much of that stuff yet, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste, what with all the antioxidants and such. Hopefully, Colorado will save some chocolate for me to enjoy tomorrow too.
Just for fun, click this.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Happy Passover
Are you even supposed to wish someone a happy passover? Is it appropriate to wish happiness when commemorating oppression and slavery by ancient Egyptians. Maybe "Merry Passover" would be better.
Ours was definitely merry anyway. We went to a Seder this afternoon, which is a few days late, but it was a potluck event put together the Portland J-Mamas, all parents of toddlers, so it was the best we could do. It wasn't traditional per se, but we did okay. The person with the Hagaddah (the official prayer book that is followed for the beginning of the meal) was late, so we started with My First Passover Board Book. Everybody seemed okay with it and it was educational to me anyway. Most of the rest of the time was spent chasing children, which made for some disjointed conversations. I'm glad we were able to do something this year. A Seder is usually a large family/friends event, and I know Franny has been sad that we haven't been able to attend one out here since all her family is still back east. It's nice to stay connected to your roots and I'm glad she found a way to do so. Plus I got to do something social, which happens far too rarely.
In honor of Passover, I just wanted to note that I ran across by far the best holiday paraphernalia ever in one of Franny's magazines, the 10 Plagues wine markers. Click on the picture for a bigger version.
Ours was definitely merry anyway. We went to a Seder this afternoon, which is a few days late, but it was a potluck event put together the Portland J-Mamas, all parents of toddlers, so it was the best we could do. It wasn't traditional per se, but we did okay. The person with the Hagaddah (the official prayer book that is followed for the beginning of the meal) was late, so we started with My First Passover Board Book. Everybody seemed okay with it and it was educational to me anyway. Most of the rest of the time was spent chasing children, which made for some disjointed conversations. I'm glad we were able to do something this year. A Seder is usually a large family/friends event, and I know Franny has been sad that we haven't been able to attend one out here since all her family is still back east. It's nice to stay connected to your roots and I'm glad she found a way to do so. Plus I got to do something social, which happens far too rarely.
In honor of Passover, I just wanted to note that I ran across by far the best holiday paraphernalia ever in one of Franny's magazines, the 10 Plagues wine markers. Click on the picture for a bigger version.
In case you can't read them, this picture shows what the charms represent. I know that half my readership, such as it is, already knows this stuff by heart, but we can't all be Chosen People.
Merry Passover!
Friday, April 6, 2007
Where have I been?
I've been out of touch for a few days. Not long after I posted that last video, I found out that my great aunt had passed away. I spent a couple days moping around a bit. It wasn't a sudden thing, but it was still unpleasant. I'm going down to Colorado in a couple days for the funeral. :(
I have been doing a few things in the meantime though...
Franny and I watched Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. I didn't have too high an expectation for this film, but I was still disappointed. What a bore. There were a couple of funny moments (the "interview" with Alan Keyes comes to mind), but for the most part we just sat there waiting for something funny to happen. This movie was billed as using a boorish character to bring out the worst traits in people. What could have been a clever way to expose prejudices and hypocrisy mostly just degenerated into poop jokes. I imagined more. He did have a good time poking fun at antisemitism though. The actor is Jewish (In fact, his "Khazak" dialogue is actually Hebrew.), and had a field day bringing out the most outrageous stereotypes. "One of them had taken the form of an old woman. You could barely see her horns." Mainly though, the movie just wasn't worth the effort.
Since I worked two straight weeks in Idaho, I took a couple days off this week. I accompanied Franny to the rhododendron garden on what turned out to be a meeting of her moms' group. It was exactly what I always expected. It took almost five minutes to get down to discussing the latest birth story and nipple pain. Apparently I can't be disturbed anymore. Joys of parenting. Actually, Mizz and I had a good time wandering around chasing geese and ducks and identifying every tree, rock, and pine cone. I also got the job of steering him through the goose-poop minefield. The rhoddies were nice too.
Franny showed me an interesting article. It claims that Jews as a group are demonstrably smarter than average, and attempts to explain why. Um.....nuh uh. (Mizz will be at least half smart anyway.)
Alma had this great video on her blog. I liked it mainly because I see too many of these shows when I'm travelling. There's Pimp My Ride (the MTV original), Overhaulin' (a similar show with a joke's-on-you twist), and something on CMT where they do the same thing to semi rigs. Anyway, this video does a pretty good parody of the characters that seem to be represented in all of them.
(I just realized; I should really expand my blog reading beyond my wife, her friend, and occasionally her friend's husband. From what I hear, there's a lot of stuff out there on the internets.)
Working at home isn't as interesting as travelling, since I see this stuff a lot. I did get to take a new route through the Columbia Gorge yesterday though, since they have closed an exit I really need for a few months. Something about the bridge cracking and starting to slide down the hillside. Anyway, the detour took me along the old road that FDR christened the Columbia Highway long before the interstate bypassed most of it. I had no idea how many falls there were right near the road; more remnants of the Missoula floods, I suppose. Now I have to go back sometime when I have the time to take the family and stop and see things.
I have been doing a few things in the meantime though...
Franny and I watched Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. I didn't have too high an expectation for this film, but I was still disappointed. What a bore. There were a couple of funny moments (the "interview" with Alan Keyes comes to mind), but for the most part we just sat there waiting for something funny to happen. This movie was billed as using a boorish character to bring out the worst traits in people. What could have been a clever way to expose prejudices and hypocrisy mostly just degenerated into poop jokes. I imagined more. He did have a good time poking fun at antisemitism though. The actor is Jewish (In fact, his "Khazak" dialogue is actually Hebrew.), and had a field day bringing out the most outrageous stereotypes. "One of them had taken the form of an old woman. You could barely see her horns." Mainly though, the movie just wasn't worth the effort.
Since I worked two straight weeks in Idaho, I took a couple days off this week. I accompanied Franny to the rhododendron garden on what turned out to be a meeting of her moms' group. It was exactly what I always expected. It took almost five minutes to get down to discussing the latest birth story and nipple pain. Apparently I can't be disturbed anymore. Joys of parenting. Actually, Mizz and I had a good time wandering around chasing geese and ducks and identifying every tree, rock, and pine cone. I also got the job of steering him through the goose-poop minefield. The rhoddies were nice too.
Franny showed me an interesting article. It claims that Jews as a group are demonstrably smarter than average, and attempts to explain why. Um.....nuh uh. (Mizz will be at least half smart anyway.)
Alma had this great video on her blog. I liked it mainly because I see too many of these shows when I'm travelling. There's Pimp My Ride (the MTV original), Overhaulin' (a similar show with a joke's-on-you twist), and something on CMT where they do the same thing to semi rigs. Anyway, this video does a pretty good parody of the characters that seem to be represented in all of them.
(I just realized; I should really expand my blog reading beyond my wife, her friend, and occasionally her friend's husband. From what I hear, there's a lot of stuff out there on the internets.)
Working at home isn't as interesting as travelling, since I see this stuff a lot. I did get to take a new route through the Columbia Gorge yesterday though, since they have closed an exit I really need for a few months. Something about the bridge cracking and starting to slide down the hillside. Anyway, the detour took me along the old road that FDR christened the Columbia Highway long before the interstate bypassed most of it. I had no idea how many falls there were right near the road; more remnants of the Missoula floods, I suppose. Now I have to go back sometime when I have the time to take the family and stop and see things.
Monday, April 2, 2007
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