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GRAFFITI -- June 30, 2008 thru July 06, 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.

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June 30, 2008

0819 - Good morning. Where's the first half of the year gone? I have buckets of email to get through, and a busy four day work week ahead. I hope to get back here later today, should anything interesting pop up. I *did* fix the picture link that I posted on Saturday of the server (furniture) and art glass that we bought that day. Later...

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July 1, 2008

Progressing garden

First tomato

1837 - Good evening. Much progress. But the best is pictured - the first tomato is turning reddish. There's going to be peppers and tomatoes and salsa, oh my!

This evening's harvest included a couple quarts of green beans, and a few zucchini. We're having beans, turkey burgers and potatoes faux gratin, fairly soon. So I need to wrap this up. Later on, paper outlining for projects for class. Then there's a firewall update to implement at aroung 2100. Ciao!

Row 1 - Normal rainfall Glenn Dale Bell Station, 1921-1987

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July 2, 2008

1049 - Good morning. Here I sit, awaiting the truck that's bringing our new refrigerator. It was queued for replacement the year we bought this house, and we've stretched an extra five years out of it. But it's been pretty uneven at doing its job over the last year or so, and now seems like a good time. So the old one is mostly empty, and theoretically the truck making the delivery is due within the hour.

The rainfall has continued here at an above-normal pace. I did get the table posted into yesterday's entry, but then forgot to push that online, so scroll up a bit if you care to see the numbers. We've had nearly half a year's rain in the last three months, and the yard is happy to show it - shrubs that haven't blossomed in two years are in full bloom at the moment.

Now to check in with work email again, have a great day!

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July 3, 2008

2220 - Good evening. I recently received an invitation to a talk in SecondLife about Nanoscience. Here's part of the blurb:

Abstract: It has been claimed that nanoscience is the first realization of what is termed “post-academic” science [1] where fundamental research is largely ousted by applied, utilitarian R&D. A key difficulty with the post-academic model is that the core principles of publicly-funded academic research – such as disinterestedness and openness - are eroded in order to pursue commercial, near-market objectives [2-4].

Oh... you mean like "Global Warming"? Sigh. Tell me that Hansen isn't an interested observer? Think about the data and algorigthm hiding that was the underpinning of Mann's hockey stick? The battle's lost, dudes and dudettes. It may be time.

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July 4, 2008

0836 - Good morning. We're off to Annapolis for a while. The hunt for a table continues. Back later.

1300 - A table, huzzah! We found what we were looking for, finally, at Ethan Allen. American made, nice table, not cabriole legs (which I wanted, to lighten up the piece), but still, corner legs as opposed to pedastal design, 46" wide, opens to 112" with two leaves. We got 6 side chairs. We can supplement those with chairs from the gaming table in the library as needed. No captain's chairs, neither of us like navigating past arms to sit to supper. On the way home, we picked up a pendant light for the room, and we're about done except for Art. That might take a couple of years.

Time to relax and enjoy our Independence Day. Ciao!

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July 5, 2008

Light and shade

Running of the Zucchini

1756 - Good afternoon. It's been asked, so there it is at left: The new light fixture for the dining room. It takes four 100-watt incandescent bulbs, and because I want to be able to dim the light, they are incandescent, as opposed to CFL, which I use throughout most of the rest of the house. Besides, with two windows, there's no light needed in the day, and honestly, we won't be using the dining room every day, so there's no real harm to the bulb type. It looks low, but it'll be 32 inches above the tabletop, which is (I've discerned) about the right height for such things. Behind the light you can see that I got the sheers and the valences rehung over the windows. The background color is a slightly darker red than the carpet, but it works, and matches those in the library. So they're worth keeping in play for that reason as well.

The zucchini are producing in earnest, now. There are nine or ten more that are three days away from keeper stage, too. The plants will keep producing at that rate until fall, unless a parasite or watering system failure happens. Both have gotten us in the past. I harvested out the first tomato today, too. But it didn't survive until picture taking time. I briefly washed it, cut it into wedges, ground a little fresh black pepper and a little sea salt on the wedges ... they were gone in about a minute and a half, counting the time it took me to walk the plate up to Marcia for us to share.

I'll grill some chicken tonight. That plus zucchini and boiled new potatoes makes for a yummy supper. I'll go feed the dogs before getting our meal started. Ciao!

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July 6, 2008

Front garden

Gladiolas in bloom

1537 - Good afternoon. I haven't mowed all weekend, since it's been threatening rain every day. Had I mowed, it would have rained. As it is, the rain merely fell from late afternoon to late night on July 4, putting a crimp in the style of those who like big bangs, consequently making the dogs happier (or at least not scared, which counts the same in my book).

The front garden is doing pretty well. Of the annuals, the petunias are best this year, with the celosia and marigolds vying for last. Usually the marigolds do pretty well, but they're slow starters this year, I guess. On the perennial front, we've been keeping an eye on our tiger lilies, since they've been multiplying like crazy. First year, we had six flowering stalks. This year there are better than twenty! But they're not ready yet. In the meantime, when we put down tulips, we thought we'd cleaned out all the gladiolas. Um, nope. They've been staging a coup, and snuck up on us this year. They were prolific but I hadn't seen any flowering stalks. Then suddenly, several are in full bloom!

We celebrated Independence Day two days ago. We do so not least because of the men and women 232 years ago who fought and died for our nascent nation. Today, we still have men and women in harm's way, fighting in the cause of freedom. They honor us by their service, by the sacrifices they make on our behalf. The least we can do is to return the favor. A moment of silence .... for those who have died on our nickel. Our condolences to the families and units of the fallen:

• Staff Sgt. Travis K. Hunsberger, 24, of Goshen, Ind., died on June 27 of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device while on combat patrol near Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan.
• Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey M. Rada Morales, 32, of Naranjito, Puerto Rico, died June 29 in Khosrow-E Sofla, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when their vehicle rolled into a canal.
• Master Sgt. Shawn E. Simmons, 39, of Ashland, Mass., died June 29 in Khosrow-E Sofla, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when their vehicle rolled into a canal.
• Sgt. James M. Treber, 24, of Imperial Beach, Calif., died June 29 in Khosrow-E Sofla, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when their vehicle rolled into a canal.
• Staff Sgt. Edgar A. Heredia, 28, of Houston died June 26 while supporting combat operations in Farah province, Afghanistan.
• Spc. Estell L. Turner, 43, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died July 2 at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of wounds suffered on June 28 in Malikheyl, Afghanistan, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

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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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