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GRAFFITI -- April 21, 2008 thru April 27, 2008 >> 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   
April 21, 2008

0731 - Good evening. I'm "done" early. There's probably schoolwork waiting for me when I login there, and I've got a firewall policy update to push out at around 2200, but other than that, it's a fairly smooth Monday night.

Water everywhere... Although our rainfall here has been lighter than other areas, especially west and south of the District, we've gotten over two inches of rain in the last 48 hours, and the total's still climbing. That's great, because we'd been dry for about three weeks &mdash unusual for this time of year. The lawns will be going wild shortly - I need to fertilize, overseed, and maybe get some sod to lay into the barest patches in the back yard. In addition, I could always plant the front flowerbeds in the upcoming weekend. That plus the dining room is likely to eat most of four days off (I'm thinking I'll take Thursday and Friday off work).

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Mon    TUESDAY    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
April 22, 2008

1956 - Hmmm..... back in a few minutes.

2010 - Dave just wrote to note:

March 31, 2008 thru April 06, 2008

Arghhhhh - you've regressed.

Indeed, the page "dateline" was wrong. But why? Here's my reply:

Wild.

Here's the variable declarations at the top of the page:

$StDay=21;
$StMonth=4; 
$StYear=2008;

Only the top line said this:

$StDay==21;

and instead of failing, it did the math... differently. Sigh. I hate computers.

Thanks for the heads up.

.brian

--
Brian Bilbrey : [email protected] : www.orbdesigns.com
Katrina's Law: Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is
indistinguishable from malice.
(coinage attrib. to Paul Ciszek)

Now I've got to burn a couple of DVD images of RHEL 5.1 &mdash much better to pull them down here than to whack the bandwidth at work. Then another firewall update, and class forums to check up on. Ciao!

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Mon    Tues    WEDNESDAY    Thu    Fri    Sat    Sun   
April 23, 2008

No post, too busy....

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Mon    Tues    Wed    THURSDAY    Fri    Sat    Sun   
April 24, 2008

Happy Birthday to me! I'm 2F today. Post tomorrow.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    FRIDAY    Sat    Sun   
April 25, 2008

Marcia's Lilac

Front yard bloomer

2123 - Good evening. Hey, it's tomorrow already. Yeah, I know. Today I installed four flats of annuals - celosia, petunias, and two types of marigolds. At 1900 I ran out of steam, and didn't install the vegetables or herbs (two more flats), but that'll be relatively easy, as the herb pots and raised beds don't require as much hands and knees work, nor as much arranging of the mulch.

Marcia's Lilac, (right, above) is blooming and beautiful and heady of scent. Four years ago that was a pathetic little stick in the ground. In another couple of years, I may have to prune it, if Marcia will let me. It sure doesn't grow as fast as Forsythia does - we put that in two years ago, and the tallest branches were over 8 feet tall. I pruned that away from the house a little bit, and took the height down to about 6 feet. Now all that energy will go into the leaves and shoots and build a bit more mass for next year's flowering. You can't see the Forsythia, though, it's well hidden in today's second snapshot (well, yesterday's, to be precise).

Another strong bloomer, this tree we have in the front yard is glorious right now. Peak is about past, and a few blossoms are already hitting the lawn. I'm sure someone's told me what that tree is before, but I just don't remember. And searching this site (where I might note the receipt of such information) doesn't yield much either.

Lucy went to doggy day spa today for the full treatment. When she was done, we took Molly down to visit and get her nails cut - because we don't walk her enough, her nails were going all Howard Hughes on us. Or rather, on her. Well, at least the 'nails part.

So, along with garden work tomorrow, I have a group project final feedback round to participate in for school, and maybe a little cleaning downstairs. In addition, I have a threshold piece to make for Linda's sewing room at her condo - she had a laminate floor installed, but did not get a threshold to terminate against the carpet. The carpet has a fold-over edge strip in place, so I'll just ride over the top of that if I can. Busy is good, no? Ciao!

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    SATURDAY    Sun   
April 26, 2008

(Hover your mouse to get image titles)

2052 - Good evening. I had to finish up in the yard today before the expected thunderstorms roll in. So I did - another 7 hours worth. I'm whacked. Above you can see some of the results of yesterday's efforts in the front yard, and a parting shot from that tree, with half its blossoms now groundlings. And out in back...

The potted herb garden is in place. There's Thyme (repotted from last year, it was rootbound), Parsley, Curry, Fennel, Nasturtium, Chocolate Mint, Greek Oregano, and Sweet Basil all in view (the Basil is coming up from seed, with the extra spread out among the tomatoes in the raised beds). There's a couple more pots containing Sage and Rosemary. Marcia cleaned out the previous year's dead leaves and stems - the Strawberries are putting out flowers like mad (Yay!). In the upper raised beds, I have six plants each of Early Girl, Better Boy, and some variety of Roma. In one of the mid-beds I've alternated Zucchini and Yellow Bell Peppers. The other mid-bed is all from seed - Spinach and Bush Beans. At the bottom beds, there's one bed full of Jalapeño and Cayenne Peppers. The other is alternating plantings of Cucumbers and Eggplant.

I'm a bit tired. See y'all tomorrow.

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Mon    Tues    Wed    Thu    Fri    Sat    SUNDAY  
April 27, 2008

1725 - Good afternoon. I've had a moderately lazy day. We shopped, and I also picked up a Logitech joystick for use with X-Plane, which should be fun and instructive - it's multi-platform, too. Linda's over for supper, so I'll have to start getting that ready shortly. We got about a quarter inch of rain on my freshly planted stuff, so that's a good thing, right? In Middle East news, the sacrifices made by our troops to achieve their objectives fill me with pride and sorrow. Our condolences to the families and units of the fallen.

• Spc. Lance O. Eakes, 25, of Apex, N.C., died April 18 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.
• Cpl. Benjamin K. Brosh, 22, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died April 18 at Forward Operating Base Anaconda in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered in Paliwoda, Iraq, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.
• Airman Apprentice Adrian M. Campos, 22, of El Paso, Texas, was found dead in Dubai on April 21 due to a non-combat related incident.
• Petty Officer 1st Class Cherie L. Morton, 40, of Bakersfield, Calif., died April 20 in Galali, Muharraq, Bahrain.
• Spc. Steven J. Christofferson, 20, of Cudahy, Wis., died April 21 in Bayji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.
• Sgt. Adam J. Kohlhaas, 26, of Perryville, Mo., died April 21 in Bayji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.
• Pvt. Ronald R. Harrison, 25, of Morris Plains, N.J., died April 22 at Forward Operating Base Falcon near Baghdad, Iraq, of a non-combat related injury.
• 1st Lt. Matthew R. Vandergrift, 28 of Littleton, Colo., died April 21 from wounds he suffered while conducting combat operations in Basrah, Iraq.
• Sgt. Guadalupe Cervantes Ramirez, 26, of Fort Irwin, Calif., died April 23 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, of injuries suffered in a vehicle incident.
• Lance Cpl. Jordan C. Haerter, 19, of Sag Harbor, N.Y., died April 22 from wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Cpl. Jonathan T. Yale, 21, of Burkeville, Va., died April 22 from wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.
• Pfc. John T. Bishop, 22, of Gaylord, Mich., died April 23 in Golden Hills, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a vehicle incident.
• 1st Lt. Timothy W. Cunningham, 26, of College Station, Texas, died April 23 in Golden Hills, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a vehicle incident.
• Staff Sgt. Ronald C. Blystone, 34, of Springfield, Mo., died April 23 in Baghdad, Iraq, from wounds suffered when he encountered small arms fire during a dismounted patrol.
• Staff Sgt. Shaun J. Whitehead, 24, of Commerce, Ga., died April 24 in Iskandariyah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when he encountered an improvised explosive device while on a dismounted patrol.

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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.

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