Penguin in a Wetsuit

Poor fella loses his tuxedo and the folks at Oceanic Worldwide comes to the rescue with a miniature wetsuit. Lookin' good Pierre! Here's a link to the Associated Press story.

F-117A Nighthawk

The Stealth Fighter was retired today (introduced to the public back in 1988).

Earth Day 2008

Mark your calendars for April 22, 2008... that'd be this year's Earth Day when everyone who opts to jump on the bandwagon will be observing environmental consciousness.

I was having a fast-food breakfast this morning while reading the Sunday paper. Two young adults were leaving, getting into their Cadillac and sucking down OJ from those small waxed cardboard containers (I call them milk cartons, but go figure). The empty cartons get tossed from the car onto the parking lot just before leaving. Florida license plates, so maybe the law, or attitude, is different on the opposite coast.

While perusing the newspaper, I found this article in the Parade section.

Whatever it is we do to observe Earth Day, we should try to make it a way of life, however difficult that may seem. As Kermit the Frog has said, "it's not easy being green".

The Heat Is On

The heat is on for me to pony up some funds to cover an unexpected expense. My central heating went out a few months ago, and I have procrastinated this long, staying warm with blankies, cuddling up with my boys at my feet, and portable area heaters.

The culprit was worn bearings on the fan of the motor assembly, but the technician also provided a routine check on the health of my central heat and A/C. He asked if I would mind climbing up onto the roof (yes, it is a rooftop unit) to look at something. He pointed out the metal heating elements and the two areas on either side where they were split (like tin shears taking to a tin sheet). Ouch.

His analogy of the consequences is that of putting my mouth around a car's exhaust... yup, nothing like a dose of carbon monoxide (CO) while I'm staying warm.

The irony is that a couple of months ago I purchased a CO detector on sale and stuck in a 9V battery I had lying around. A few weeks later it was chirping all loud as hell, so I yanked the battery and figured it for needing replacement. Which, by the way, I hadn't done. There's a moral here, that perhaps I should take heed to what that alarm was trying to tell me, but back to the HVAC unit.

It's gonna cost me, and cost me big. A crane is going to hoist the old unit down and the new one up. This for the comfort of keeping warm on 30 degree days, and staying cool on those days that hit above the century mark. That's a big OUCH!

These Boots...

... are made for riding. I had to purchase a new pair of motorcycle boots in case my present pair gives out; the heels are getting quite worn from constant use. Last night I decided to try them on en route to the gym where I have my volleyball leagues. The break-in period sucks, since the new leather is very stiff, and also makes it a challenge to upshift through the motorcycle gears.

(shifting gears on motorcycles is done with the left foot moving a pivoted lever upward and downward).

I had a similar experience with breaking in my boots last year, and believe that it took over a week before it felt comfortable. Guess I will need to find a cobbler who can replace the heels, since the rest of the boot is still holding up pretty well.

Thru The Years

These are pics from my driver's licenses which I assembled and scanned. Not the highest quality pics, but remember that these were shot by DMV amateurs using cheapo cameras, then scanned through laminated plastic used for the licenses. It's chronological left-to-right, top-to-bottom, missing earlier photos and the current one that's stashed in my wallet (too lazy to get to a scanner to include in this post).

This is why I'm better off behind a camera rather than in front of one!

Today's Ride 4/12/2008...

...in case anyone was interested (click here for map).

With gold fever in full tilt (currently around $1000 per ounce), what better place to ride than up to the foothills -- the gold country where it all began. Part of my ride was along Hwy49, which roughly follows the route of the gold seekers back in 1849. I bought a gold pan kit years ago, but did not bring it along. Yup. Darlin' Clementine's miner was a 49'er.

Digicams

Last night I was surfing the web gathering information on the current crop of digital cameras. I've been using a Canon clamshell compact that's gotten long in the tooth (technologically), but it still does a damn good job. It's spec'd at 4.0 megapixels with 3x optical zoom.

The compacts and ultracompacts have advanced dramatically. Image stabilization and higher rez come to mind. Then there's the pro-sumer models which bridge the gap between pocketable cams and professional-class digital SLRs (DSLR). These generally have a non-interchangeable high-zoom lens and use a lot of plastic. Lastly are the professional (or near-pro) cameras that offer interchangeable lenses, metal bodies, better image sensors and other specs that push the techno envelope.

However, it would be rather hard for me to justify a replacement at this point since I haven't been doing a lot of snapping. Gotta make the effort and stop procrastinating.

Technology is nice, but creativity begins with the heart and mind.

Exploding Cola

Yup. I did it again. Another can of Diet Coke goes pop in the freezer because I had forgotten I stuck it in there... the night before. Two previous cans puffed out but did not split; not so fortunate with two Diet Pepsi cans.

If you're counting, that's five times in recent memory that I've done this. You'd think that this is some kind of experiment on aluminum container integrity, but really, I just get forgetful sometimes.

No, really!

Charlton Heston (1923 - 2008)

Wither the Rain?

It's April Fool's Day, but I did not bother celebrating this year. Rather pointless seeing that just about every other day is such a day, or am I just kidding? I dunno.

Last month was one of our driest on record, having gotten a few drops from a passing "storm" last Friday on my way home from work. I don't know how much was recorded if not negligible; clouds remained throughout most of Saturday, which began clearing by late afternoon. The forecast for tomorrow, Wednesday, was another chance for some showers but looks to pass us by according to the weather station I'm watching right now. It's our local weather channel, because there isn't anything else on the boob tube that I care to watch.

Instead, the precipitation will probably end up in the mountains to the east, even better if it's in the form of snow. Used to be I'd clamor for the rain so we wouldn't end up with a drought stricken summer, but now I'm wondering if I should have been so concerned. Our water supply in the valley comes from the amount of water in our snowpack in the Sierras. If managed properly we should be okay.

Hoping that that's not a big if.