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GRAFFITI -- June 26, 2006 thru July 02, 2006 >> Link to the Current Week << Last Week << Mon   Tues   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun >> Next Week Search this site : Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable.     About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message.

MONDAY    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
June 26, 2006

0908 - Good morning, in a sense. We're not flooded out, although many places are around here. The "official numbers", measured at airports, show rainfall over 8" since last Thursday. Yesterday alone was in the 5" ballpark. Some places have recorded over a foot of rain in that same timespan. We're due for a couple inches more through tomorrow, so the fun isn't over yet.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remains my game of choice for the time being. I've been playing it in the odd hours here and there over the last couple of months. Haven't made much progress, but then I rarely play for more than an hour or two at a time. Fun, engaging storylines, help when it's needed, decent combat. Worth playing.

Back to the grindstone. Have a great day!

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Mon    TUESDAY    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
June 27, 2006

0821 - Good morning. Well, good for someone, I'm sure. Still raining here. We're above 13" of rain (regionally, locally higher or lower) for this entire storm series (since last Thursday). A normal whole summer around here is around 10", so we're a bit waterlogged. We've got another inch or two due through tomorrow morning, then it's supposed to ease into the standard summer pattern of sporadic possible late-afternoon localized thunderstorms. I'm just happy that our sump pump is working fine. A surprising number of people either don't have them, or had failures, and flooded out as a result.

Not much excitement on the tech front. But Congress is headed into the mid-term pre-election silly season with a vengeance. The flag-burning amendment debate is in full cry. You'd think there would be something more important for them to do than screw around wanting to make more changes to a document that seems to have held up pretty well. Earth to the House and Senate: How about encouraging enforcement of those laws you already have on the books? How about working on sunsetting thousands of old crufty laws cluttering our books? How about paying attention to what the voters care about, instead of what your funding sources care about? How about voting yourselves a pay cut, and a national increase in the minimum wage? Irresponsible bastards, the lot of you!

Back to work with me. Have a great day!

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Mon    Tues    WEDNESDAY    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
June 28, 2006

0917 - Good morning. I saw my shadow this morning. Does that mean six more weeks of rain? Sheesh, I hope not. More downpours last night, but that's the end of the big rain for a while, according to the weather liars. Meantime we're in end-of-quarter crunch time, just like every other company. Time to get back to the mines.

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June 29, 2006

RIP Jim Baen, 1943-2006

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June 30, 2006

0945 - Good morning. Welcome to the last day of the half-year. My, how time flies! In the corn is doing fine, well past the knee-high-by-the-fourth-of-july milestone already. I harvested out some peppers and cucumbers yesterday afternoon. The first ripening cherry tomatoes disappeared ... odd. The next few are a couple of days out.

Not much else to report, I fear. Happy Friday!

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July 1, 2006

0740 - Good morning, such as it is. A restless night, capped off with the little dog vomiting on the bed. I hope it isn't going to be one of those weekends... Oh, oh! Happy Birthday, Moshe!

I'm going to start off with a trip to the nursery, as I need some more flowers to fill in a bit. Then I'll head over to Lowes, to pick up some more Japanese beetle traps and a hanger or two. The current traps are doing well, and I'm hopeful of preserving a lot of plants by trapping as many beetles as possible.

Beyond that, what trouble can I get into? The day is young, and I don't have Executive Branch powers to tempt me. So we'll see. Have a great day!

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July 2, 2006

1138 - Good morning. I had a busy day yesterday. I was out of the house, stopped at four places (counting gassing up the Santa Fe) and back by 0930 in the morning. I had six Impatiens to replace the rather sorry-looking Pansies that were in the hanging baskets out front. Then I had another five discounted, potted flowering annuals for some of the containers on the back deck.

I started out front. As I went for the first hanging basket, a bird flew off. Taking down the basket, I saw why the bird was there.

Five little eggs were in a tiny nest. So I hung back up that particular pathetic pansy. I ditched the other five, and installed the Impatiens. Bright pink flowers and dark foliage - looks great against the house. The one unexpectedly spare plant will be an inside denizen while the little family does it's thing. Afterward, if the inside plant is still alive, I'll transplant it then. While I was doing all that, Lucy was doing what she does best: napping.

After some weeding, followed by mowing and edging in front and back, I potted the plants in back. All told, that took about five and a half hours to get the job done. Then I took some snaps of the garden, because it's been a while.

The question in my mind is about the corn. Last year threw up good stalks, but not much corn. What there was, though, was eaten mostly by the Japanese beetles. I've got traps out for those, and with luck there'll be more corn, and more corn for us, too.

Two days until Independence Day. And a big chunk of our fighting men and women are overseas, executing the mission. Thanks! I'm proud of y'all! And you have my condolences on the losses of your friends and comrades under arms...

• Cpl Ryan J. Buckley, 21, of Nokomis, Ill., died in Baghdad, Iraq on June 23 of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations.
• Staff Sgt. Alberto V. Sanchez, 33, of Houston, Texas, died in Balad, Iraq on June 24 of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations.
• Pfc. Devon J. Gibbons, 19, of Port Orchard, Wash., died on June 23, in the Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, of injuries sustained on April 11 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle during combat operations in Taji, Iraq.
• Spc. Channing G. Singletary, 30, of Sylvester, Ga., died in Baghdad, Iraq on June 23, from a non-combat-related cause.
• Master Sgt. Thomas D. Maholic, 38, of Bradford, Pa., died on June 24 in Ghecko, Afghanistan, when his patrol unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during a cordon and search mission.
• Sgt. Benjamin J. Laymon, 22, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, died on June 24 in the vicinity of Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries sustained when he encountered enemy forces small arms fire, and an improvised explosive device which detonated during a dismounted patrol.
• Sgt. Justin D. Norton, 21, of Rainier, Wash., died on June 24 in the vicinity of Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries sustained when he encountered enemy forces small arms fire, and an improvised explosive device which detonated during a dismounted patrol.
• Cpl. Paul N. King, 23, of Tyngsboro, Mass., died June 25 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Staff Sgt. Raymond J. Plouhar, 30, of Lake Orion, Mich., died June 26 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Cpl. Jason W. Morrow, 27, of Riverside, Calif., died June 27 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq, on June 26.
• Sgt. Terry M. Lisk, 26, of Fox Lake, Ill., died on June 26 of injuries sustained in Ar Ramadi, Iraq when his unit received indirect fire from enemy forces during combat operations.
• Staff Sgt. Joseph F. Fuerst, III, 26 of Tampa Fla., died in Panjway District, Afghanistan, on June 24, when his HMMWV came in contact with enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire during combat operations.
• Sgt. 1st Class Terry O.P. Wallace, 33, of Winnsboro, La., died on June 27, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations in Taji, Iraq.
• Pfc. Rex A. Page, 21, of Kirksville, Mo., died June 28 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Pfc. Michael J. Potocki, 21, of Baltimore, Md., died on June 26, of injuries sustained in Al Asad, Iraq, when his unit came in contact with enemy force’s small arms fire during combat operations.
• Cpl. Jeremy S. Jones, 25, of Omaha, Neb., died on June 27 of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device during dismounted combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Cpl. Aaron M. Griner, 24, of Tampa, Fla., died in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on June 28, of injuries sustained when his vehicle struck a mine during combat operations.
• Cpl. Ryan. J. Clark, 19, of Lancaster, Calif., died on June 29 in the Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, of injuries sustained on June 17 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations in Ar Ramadi, Iraq.
• Spc. Christopher D. Rose, 21, of San Francisco, Calif., died on June 29 of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq.
• Pfc. Justin R. Davis, 19, of Gaithersburg, Md., died in Korengal Outpost, Afghanistan (near Kunar Province), on June 25, when he came in contact with indirect fire while on patrol during combat operations.
• Sgt. Bryan C. Luckey, 25, of Tampa, Fla., died on June 29, in Mosul, Iraq, when he was shot by enemy forces while on mounted patrol.

The shopping's finished, and I've got several projects in mind. Or maybe I'll take a nap, instead. Probably not, though. I've got to finish up a project for Jerry, and I want to clean up the shop downstairs. More than that, who knows? Happy Sunday!

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