Points to Ponder

I've finally integrated my lousy blog into a somewhat useful family portal. See you there.

Found via Opentopia:

A webcam for Curt ... Rock Mountain ... purported to be in Cashiers, NC. Curt, you gotta let'em know how to pronounce "cashiers."

Wisconsin doggie cam

One for Kat: Guinea Pig Cam

Dave, it ain't Jack Daniels, but I'm sure the mash smells the same. Enjoy a virtual visit to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.

And one of MooU

More webcams .... a golf driving range?

Do the Japanese not lock up their webcams at night? Another one ... nice wooded view of the landscape, or is it a view of the wooded landscape? Shiver me timbers! Probably a quaint harbor view in the proper season, but now it looks like home to the Ice Hotel.

A webcam evidently from Ontario ... it was dark when I first viewed it. [hmmm .... lost the link]

Tucumcari, New Mexico -- much better than old Mexico [it's a joke]. The presets are not set to observe the topography ... click preset 8, then zoom out and pan to the right ... see traffic on I40, then pan right until you have the McDonalds' sign roughly centered. The mountains in the distance (Caprock?) are covered with windmills. Zoom in to take a look. The mountain in the foreground is, duh, Tucumcari Mountain.

Yep. Now the South has one ... a professional blogger.

Dion's Best Web 2.0 Software of 2005 contains a variety of applications. Perhaps some new ones you haven't seen yet -- particularly in the on-line photo album section.

Don't toss that empty Altoid can! Make something useful!

Are you seeking a new mode of water transportation? Can you wield a pogo stick? Then you may be interested in the AquaSkipper. The movie is not very encouraging, but worth the download just to see the apparatus perform.

From the "I don't know what I'm looking at" category comes a Japanese webcam with cool controls.

The top ten +1 myths of surge protection ... I'm not sure I understand his reference to cheap surge protectors "divert[ing] power line surges into data lines" unless it is via system ground. At any rate, the list duplicates the FAQ's at his company's web site. Probably more hype & opinions than fact.

On Feb. 3, be aware of the Nyxem worm on the prowl. Also known as WORM_GREW.A

And, in a bit of sick technical humor, six common sounds of your hard drive failing. (Scroll to bottom)

Our household computer has survived the past two years without Microsoft Internet Explorer ... yea, yea, I know -- you can't really remove it, but we have no shortcuts to it, and Firefox is the default browser.

Act I
Daughter, 17, needs to take an online course. Site requires Internet Explorer (sigh). For weeks she used my company-owned laptop [standard issue Dell/Microsoft box]. So, I decided to take the leap and update MSIE and give her the option of using the home computer. Do you feel the ground rumbling yet?

I sez to myself, "Self, shouldn't you update windoze prior to doing that -- ya know, all those security patches?" With pride, I click the Windows Update Website, and rediscover that I can't update Windows from a mozilla browser. Forget the XP updates, just go get the browser. Downloaded MSIE 6.sumpin from Microsoft's site -- surfing with Firefox while waiting cuz the bandwidth to Microsoft is about the size of a 300 baud modem.

When the download finished, I fired up the MSIE install, click to agree to everything [that reminds me; I need to check on my firstborn son], and the install is done.

Act II
Reboot, fire up MSIE. Seven popups and an LOP search bar slap me in the face. Download LOP's own uninstall (?) program ... chuckling all the way. Why would an uninstall program have a human verification graphic/form on it?

I refired MSIE, encountered four popups, then added the Google Toolbar to kill the blasted popups.

Act III
I'm getting there, trust me. I clicked on a email link to send some feedback on an article I had read while waiting for the MSIE to download, and !POW!, Outlook Express splashes across my screen. I have never, ever used Outlook at home and have zero desire to do so. I tried to uninstall the program -- it's not on the program list in add/delete programs. I physically removed the files from the folder, but they magically reappeared.

Act IV
I cruised to the Microsoft website and found the uninstall method. You really need to take a look at it (really). It requires a regedit to remove the offending entries, a reboot to enter safe mode, then manually renaming -- no, not deleting -- 18 files in two folders to make the program benign. I rebooted -- ooops, forgot and left it in the wrong boot mode -- then rebooted again.

Act V
It's about midnight and I'm feeling really smart that I've clobbered this unwanted software. I fired up my email client, Foxmail, and YOWZA!! -- Outlook Express still has it's hooks in the machine. A DLL error box appears, but clicking OK passes control on to the email client. I'll skip the subsequent 20 minutes of redownloading & re-installing the email client to work around the dll hooks.

Epilogue
I'll prolly never again be a network admin, cuz I refuse, REFUSE to purchase any more Microsoft software. The arrogance of an organization to force upon me something that was not requested is more akin to a spyware developer than a world-class supplier. Yea, yea, Billy Gates and his wife can donate millions of dollars -- billions, even -- but I happen to know from whence that money came.

It just ain't right. Matthew 7:9 -> Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? I asked for a browser and got an unrequested email package that attaches to my machine like a leech. Yea, good term, leech. I like that.

P.S.: another Microsoft beef (1) replaced with crippled (2)

Two stories -- same event:

1 - Headline: ENGINE FIRE FORCES JET TO LAND
Detail: "One of the four engines on the London-bound Boeing 747 ignited shortly after its 11 p.m. departure"

2 - Headline: 747 IN CRISIS LANDING AT JFK AFTER FIREBALL
Detail: "A British Airways 747 jet with 300 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing at Kennedy Airport last night minutes after takeoff after one of its engines exploded into a ball of flames"

So, why would we have these two contrasting views? The 1st is an AP release, the 2nd was written by Charles Curtis of the New York Post. Now, assuming that my readers (both of them) have a modicum of intelligence, if you had to bet a paycheck on which version is a more accurate portrayal of actual events, which would you choose? AHAH! I thought so!

I detest sensationalism; the complete article Mr. Curtis wrote even refutes its own headline. You gotta register to read all the story, and I certainly don't expect my readers to subscribe to a newspaper more concerned with exploitative journalism than facts.


On a total unrelated subject: Dave, that is why I drive a 4x4 truck.

Happy New Year to All!

Among the presents I received this Christmas was a wind-up flashlight like the one on the right. Pretty neat ... five minutes of winding supply enough energy for an hour of rather intense light. In addition, my wife gave me a new peppermill -- I love freshly-ground pepper and wear a mill out every 3 years or so.








And then Dave points out this the modern peppermill pictured at the left; Wow! I'm onto something here! (NO, I didn't say I was on something here.) What about a combination of the two? A lighted peppermill whose grind handle also functions as the crank for recharging the batteries! WooHoo..... I'm in the money, I'm in the money.

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OK, so I'm very easy amused. And just because my anti-microwave and chili-on-a-stick ideas have not come to fruition does not mean my brainstorms are not worth their salt....err, uhm .... are not bright ideas.




I concede.

Enjoy your day.

The clan traveled to Tupelo, and Mom prepared sumptuous meals for us ... for example, on Christmas day I ate, uhm, 4 soda crackers and about 10 oz. of chilled Fresca. No, my mom's cooking is not that poor -- I contracted a stomach virus and missed most of Mom's fare.

In the category of Wishful thinking:
On the return trip home to Kentucky, I spied an operational bug zapper in the backyard of a home in west Tennessee; air temperature: 32 degrees F. Probably not the most advantageous use of electricity on that day.

Cynthia, Chris, Keith, Lee, and Ellis -- thanks for the holiday emails. Lee, I failed to mention I threw together a rather weak photo memorial of our buddy at my gallery (center, middle).

Dave brought to my attention a verbose ebay item description which tickled an old nerve of mine. Ya see, a former colleague of mine, Bill Lewey, was known as an expert in summarizing the documents of such gabby writers. I thought I'd steal his idea and apply it to the ebay item description. Note that I have changed the original ALL CAPS case in the event you want to read his gibberish. Green italics are my condensations of the previous paragraph.

Think I could sell this service on EBay? :-)

Late breaking news ... the item was removed from EBay while I was performing these tasks! Thank goodness I have a permanent record! But never fear; the seller has 22 other items for sale with the same gibberish attached to the descriptions.

Enjoy

Miami weather forcast (emphasis mine):

Partly cloudy in the evening then clearing. Windy in the evening...Then breezy after midnight. Cold. Lows in the mid 40s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph in the evening...Then Decreasing to 15 to 20 mph after midnight.

hmmm.... mid 40's = cold. Shall we reduce the number of ice trucks en route to the hurricane relief zone?

Hey! Mom called to tell us that she found their house, or at least a significant portion of it. 1/2 mile to the southwest of where it once stood, a neighbor discovered Mom & Dad's floor (complete with joists) nestled between two pine trees in the woods. I hope they took pictures.

Now, how they gonna float that sucker back to where is belongs? I would propose that instead of Mardi Gras next year, the Mississippi Coast should have the world largest weiner roast heated by the world's largest bonfire. I'm having trouble comprehending how much debris is scattered throughout that region.

that Dad is not very fond of cats? Then how did they come to volunteer to cat sit for a week in Tupelo, Mississippi, for friends? Perhaps it had something to do with two weeks' free lodging in a familiar town. Plus, it put them within a 3-1/2 hour drive of our Kentucky home. Bill & Mavis are old friends --- Mavis and Mom were buddies back before electricity.

Yep, Mom & Dad have a love for the water, but the second Cat 5 hurricane in two months was a bit more than they could stand. Exit Gulf Shores, Alabama, to join Aunt Jane. Dad's sister in Laurel now has power -- read, air-conditioning -- and has a spare bedroom. No furniture, mind you (the house had been for sale), but it's forecast to be far from storm surges and tropical storm winds.

No insurance settlements yet. My folks are restless and really hungry for that stability that has been lacking in the 3-1/2 weeks since Katrina.

As I arose Monday morning to return home, Mom & Dad got word that their bank and the insurance company were open for business. We loaded up the truck with food and drink and began the westward trek toward Hancock County, Mississippi. West of Mobile, AL, we met a contingent of New York Police -- I assume enroute to their homes after assisting the law officers in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Until we crossed the Miss. / Ala. state line, the damage was limited to downed trees and, from the prevalence of blue tarps, roof damage. Near Pascagoula, the lowlands began sporting boats that had ripped from their moorings and floated inland on the storm surge of Katrina. A section of a bridge for the eastbound lanes of I-10 bridge was closed because one such towboat had lodged itself against the support structure of the bridge.

Nearing Biloxi, billboards displayed the pains of enduring category 3 hurricane winds. Some leaned, some were toppled, but few retained any semblance of a commercial message. We ducked into a truck stop just 5 miles from my folks home. Fuel and food was available, but it was obvious the building had suffered quite a bit of damage. The remain portion of the trip was through low-lying areas, and the damage was, well, near total destruction. Strong commercial structures still stood, but were void of walls and most of the roofs. Turning southward from I-10 toward Waveland, I could view very little but strewn building materials and massive troops of out-of-state utility workers.

As I drove into Mom & Dad's neighborhood, Riverview Estates, I had to maneuver around the remains of one house that had floated to it's final resting place. Their neighbor's house was just across the street from the afore mentioned house ... it had floated 1/3 before being dumped onto the edge of a canal. Turning up the last street, I began seeing pieces of metal roofing of a distinctive dark teal color -- Mom & Dad's roof. 90% of the neighborhood was gone. Gone -- not destroyed, mind you, but gone. We stopped in front of the remains of my folks' house -- 15 piers with a band of 2x12's tying them together... ten feet up in the sky.

The overwhelming view was of mud, and scattered personal effects; that is, the ones that were too heavy to float away. Pots, pans, dishes and the bedroom closet were co-located along with layers and layers of black mud that reeked of dead marine life. Dad & I poked around for a few more pieces of Mom's china, some cookware, and a couple dozen unbroken bottles of wine. Mom had earlier saved her mom's glass punch bowl, complete with glass ladle. But there was no furniture and no building material other than a few pieces of the green roof. And, no, Dave, we left the spirits for the scavengers.

Meanwhile, Mom talked with a neighbor who had arrived about the same time as we. Her home and all possession were nowhere to be found, except for a metal wire plant stand. Again, no furniture, no personal effects, no nothing. Gone.

You've seen countless pictures of the destruction by now, so I'll spare you the visuals here, but feel free to see the gallery for the few pics I took. I wish I had scans of the "before" pics; perhaps later. [pics not posted yet ... one day.....]

We cruised to the bank. Yes it was open, but only for cashing checks. Next, off to the insurance company office (a card table in front of the strip mall). "You'll just have to find the adjuster; he's wearing a cowboy hat and driving a small white truck. " Cellphone service is still spotty, so we couldn't contact him. Now off to the post office; after waiting in line for 30 minutes, Mom discovered that only the last two days' of mail were here. The remainder was being held somewhere outside of the disaster area.

All in all, the drive to ground zero was pretty much a wasted trip. However, I'm glad I got to visit the place with Mom & Dad. Outwardly, they appeared strong, but the thoughts of the invested sweat equity kept them largely silent as we plundered throught the mud and effects. As I began the drive back to Gulf Shores, Mom & Dad fell asleep before we passed two mile markers. Hot, tiring, mentally draining day for me ... even more so for them.

I spent the night at our son's apartment near Moo U on Friday, then arose early to complete the last half of the nine-hour drive to Gulf Shores, Alabama. My sis-in-law offered my folks free use of their condo on the Alabama coast when it became apparent that there was not an inhabitable home in Bay St. Louis, MS -- for anyone. Dad says I cruised down just to "check their pulse", and I would say that's a pretty accurate statement.

As Mom & I walked the beach picking up seashells, I would occaisonally walk out into the Gulf and playfully avoid the giant 6 inch waves. At one point, I gazed southward into the distance where the water meets the sky and asked the Gulf, "how could you be so angry?" Today, there are 6 inch waves. Thirteen days ago, 23-ft waves pounded my parents neighborhood -- 3-1/2 miles inland from the Mississippi coast 120 miles to the west of me. I had a bit of difficulty rationalizing the dissonance. What my eyes could see was incompatible with the energy of Katrina.

And, oh by the way, Gulf Shores was not severely struck, but Katrina left her trademark. The hurricane-force winds lasted so long that the leaves and needles of every tree within 1/2 mile of the coast were brown. A newpaper article compared it to the wind-whipping that would occur if one placed an uncovered tree in the back of his pickup, then drove for 10 hours at 90 miles an hour. Really ugly, but the news article was optomistic that they'll recover.

I appreciate your kind words via comments and emails ... blogging sure makes the world a bit smaller and more personal.

Today, my parents left Laurel, Mississippi for Gulf Shores, Alabama. My sis-in-law has been kind enough to loan her condo to Mom & Dad for as long as they want. It works out pretty well ... this puts them within a 3-hr drive of their un-home to faciliate any remaining legal issues that remain. And it keeps them near salt water, where they have been for nearly 20 years.

Before departing Mississippi, another "funeral" occurred. Pardon my digression.

Mom & Dad are very hospitable folks, and can get along with most anyone. And such was the nature of the neighborhood in which they lived in Waveland. In round numbers, perhaps 150 homes were in their neighborhood, and most of those were vacation/weekend houses. Among the permanent residents, there was an unusual bond that manifested itself in numerous impromptu gatherings that coincided with their love of freshly-prepared seafood (or any food). These old-timers were the neighborhood watchdogs, the "community council", and created a "small-town" atmosphere within the area. When the weekenders arrived ready to relax and de-stress, the permanent residences served as the gathering points for all.

It was with two of those families that Mom & Dad evacuated to Laurel, Misssissippi. That small town 100 miles inland was struck very strongly by a hurricane feeder band, and was without electricity for a couple of weeks. During that period, the group endured. Dad says that complaining did no good -- they had all lost their homes. Who would listen? Mom & Dad shelled out the remaining pork butt among the evacuees and the neighbors, and hung around long enough to learn the fate of their home.

And then they were faced with another death -- the loss of the neighborhood. Quite obviously, these fellow evacuees had all lost their homes, but had not faced the reality that a virtual neighborhood does not compare to the community they had enjoyed for the past few years. With a parting meal of turnip greens and cornbread (hold the greens, please) the couples departed sad-faced in different directions to begin anew -- somewhere.

My parents didn't mention it, but I will assume that the drive to Gulf Shores was the quietest 3-hr drive they ever had. Yep, they're fortunate to have made it out, BUT ..... House -> gone. Stuff -> gone. Close-knit neighborhood -> gone.

The aftermath report of my parents and the loss of their home due to Hurricane Katrina will follow, but I want to step up on the soapbox first.

Fellow Christians at Taylor Bus were contacted by another local church with a request to rent buses to bring some evacuees from the disaster area to our little town. "Rent!?", was their reply. "We'll donate all the buses and drivers you need!" A community effort ensued: a volunteer police officer and nurse for each bus were gathered, a local Woodmen of the World summer camp was readied for off-season guests, and donations of cash were solicited to accommodate day 1. At 4AM Saturday morning, 116 tired and dirty citizens arrived at their new temporary home on four school buses.

I'll write more on the subject later, but I want to make the point that these actions are not isolated. You may have seen a report on the national media regarding a businessman from San Diego who chartered a 727, freighted supplies to New Orleans, then evacuated ~100 people to San Diego. He executed a great effort (at a cost of $200,000), but there are uncounted hundreds of other similar heroics. Neighbors helping neighbors -- a grand concept. Not new, but grand.

A late addition from a New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune:

On Friday, Gary Maclaughlin of Santa Cruz, Calif., flew to Nashville, Tenn., where he bought a diesel-powered 1990 yellow school bus for $2,000. He charged $1,500 worth of water, diapers, granola bars and peanut butter crackers on his credit card and headed straight for the shelters.

By Sunday evening he was driving loads of evacuees from the New Orleans Airport to a rescue shelter in Covington, La.

My parents made the trek from Laurel to Waveland, Mississippi today. The house is gone. And I don't mean destroyed -- I mean gone, as in nonextant, AWOL, unaccounted for. They found many weighty personal effects scattered from the site of the house to perhaps 100 yards southwestward, but they were encased in mud and tangled with other neighbors' stuff. Forced to walk into the neighborhood through 4 inches of mud , and endure the stifling heat, the treasure hunting was quite limited. A friend from Louisiana met them with a drum of gasoline to ensure an undelayed trip back to Laurel.

The finds: A glass punch bowl, complete with undamaged base and glass ladle. My mom had purchased it for her mom, so that my parents would have a nice punch bowl at their wedding reception in 1956. Never mind that this bowl was at the highest point in the house -- on an open shelf above the refrigerator; it survived. Also, a couple of pieces of Mom's china, a few stainless steel pots & pans, and a picture of our oldest daughter. Heaps of clothing were scattered about in the mud. The kitchen sink and the toilets.

Unfound: a single piece of dimensional lumber, like a 2x4. Yep, not a stick of wood (other than the still-anchored 12"x12" piers that supported the house. No furniture. No TV's.

It was the graveside services for the death of their house. Not pretty, not fun, but a necessary step to moving on with life.

Katrina was our first hamster. The girls were perhaps 5 & 7 years old and treated her like royalty. Alas, she died of constipation -- so the youngest daughter says -- and her lifeless body was wrapped in Christmas paper and buried in our informal "pet cemetery" on the back of our property in Pulaski, TN. Until this week, she was the most significant Katrina in our lives. What a difference a week can make.

Any of you that normally read this blog have noted that I follow the progress of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. My Mom and Dad have property in Waveland, Mississippi, on the Bay of St. Louis -- extreme Southwest Mississippi. In the past 5 years, upon the approach of major storms they have evacuated perhaps a dozen times, ridden out a couple of tropical storms, and are pretty laid back with the whole process.

Saturday, August 27, was not unlike the previous occasions on which they closed the shutters, tied the boat on its trailer to allow it to float with the high water, and packed a couple of changes of clothes. Sunday morning arrived with a few inches of water already over the road, so the activities accelerated. My mom is notorious for keeping mass quantities of food in her two refrigerators and freezer, so two or three large ice chests of food were placed in the back of the pickup for feeding the other evacuees at the “farm” – the safe house – 15 miles inland. Mom told me that this time she also grabbed a few pictures of the grandkids – just in case. Arriving at the farm surrounded by tall trees, Mom & Dad made the wise decision to continue northward to a friend’s house 100 miles inland in their hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. I spoke with them on Sunday to confirm, that yes, the evacuees had reached their temporary housing.

A little about their house: Mom and Dad built their home themselves – stick by stick – with the help of one handyman, Tim. Dad cut the timber off his homeplace in Laurel, Mississippi, had his cousin rip the logs into timbers and lumber, and then hauled the timbers to be pressure-treated. Said timbers were used to elevate the house on piers (you’ve seen them) to have the main floor of the house eleven feet off the ground, thirteen feet above sea level. My son helped them build the seawall that separates their lot from the canal that leads to the Jourdan River 200 yards away. Complementing the seawall is a small dock to which they tied their vintage pontoon boat. My favorite feature of the house is the area “under” the house – always shady, usually with a breeze, and adjacent to the dock where the kids try their luck with fishing and crabbing.

Today was an extreme of highs and lows. I had previously been unable to reach them via cellphone or landline, but finally contacted them via landline at their host’s house. Conditions are tolerable: No power, neighbors’ houses with trees on (and beneath) the roofs, and stifling heat. On the positive side, the hospital is functional, one grocery store is open, they have plenty of food (thanks to Mom) and they are comforted by the company of three of their Waveland neighbors. Though hot and anxious, they are safe and sound.

The low spot came just a few hours prior when I viewed some online streaming videotape shot by a newscopter from WLBT-TV from Jackson, MS. It was painful looking downward and seeing the destruction from Waveland to Gautier – houses moved off foundations and splintered into piles of lumber. But that didn’t prepare me for the last video I viewed (trip #3 for those interested). The red line in the pic traces the path of the skycopter from the Gulf of Mexico into the Bay of St. Louis. As the aircraft rounded the point and directed the cameras toward the housing developments, 95% of the houses were gone without a trace! No strewn timbers, no roofing material, in some cases, no piers! What was a neighborhood now appears as a mudflat.

While talking to Mom & Dad, we pretty much conceded that there is a good probability that there will not be any evidence of their house to go visit. Paradoxically, the last time we had this discussion was in 1998; anyone remember the NASCAR Daytona Pepsi 400 that was rescheduled from July to October of 1998? Yep, my parents lived in Daytona at that time, and after taking one of the vehicles for servicing, returned to a roadblock in their neighborhood. The wildfires were approaching their development and they were given a couple of hours to get their stuff and get out. Another story for another time, but you get the picture.

After sharing a few tears about the probable demise of their Waveland house, Dad mentioned that the bank that contains their lockbox of papers was adjacent to a demolished store. Hmmmm… we can see quite a few obstacles in their future. Mom & Dad will have to prove their sheer existence to untold parties in the coming weeks and months. No house, no papers, heck – even the courthouse collapsed.

Of course, we offered them our garage apartment in our west Kentucky home (sorry, Son), but Dad wants to stay within a few hours' drive so they can go inspect what remains of their house at a moment’s notice. At present, they don’t even know what the new starting point of their lives will be … after viewing their house (or lack thereof) at least they’ll know where to begin.

If you're still reading, appreciate what you have folks. Yesterday, as I inserted coins into a machine at work for a cold drink, I thought, "Boy, I'll bet there are a few million folks just south of me that would like the opportunity to do this." Thanks for listening.

While attempting to update my WinXP machine at home, I visited the microsoft.com site and clicked on the link for Windows Update and received the following reply:

Thank you for your interest in obtaining updates from our site.

To use this site, you must be running Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or later.

To upgrade to the latest version of the browser, go to the Internet Explorer Downloads website.

I think Microsoft doesn't get it; I don't use Outlook and IE Explorer on my home machine for solid reasons -- they're designed for computer browsers, not computer users. Now, is Microsoft suggesting that I can't update my OS because I don't use their web browser? I'm not really comfortable with suppliers who inform me that I must use their tools or no tools at all.

I'm miffed.

Now the Canadians are sneaking across the border. The next thing you know, the Japanese will dig a tunnel under the Pacific to sneak into our country.

The outlook is bleak for those of us planning a trip to Panama City Beach, FL.
:-(
Our destination is at the tip of the yellow arrow

To the right is a glimpse of the land in which I live ... the lakes region of western Kentucky. This is a live shot of a dock at The Moors Marina .. if you only see a security light, that means it's dark here (-:
Land Between the Lakes was a TVA reservation, but now is operated as "park lands" by the National Park Service.

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Long before we moved the tribe to western Kentucky, we visited family near Paducah and were treated to succulent frog legs at Jeremiah's. Afterward, my bride and I elected to take a horse-drawn carriage ride through downtown. Being rather young at the time, the driver asked if we wanted the romantic tour or the historical tour. "Why not?" I said. "Give us the historical tour." As we turned down Broadway, our host said, "See that building on the right? It's a very old building. And down there on your left is another old building." So much for the educational tour, but I enjoyed his humor.

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The primary draw to the center of the city is the concrete floodwall featuring paintings of Paducah's past. Done by renowned mural artist Robert Dafford of Lafayette, Louisiana, and his crew, the colorful scenes depict chapters in the city's history, from its founding in 1827 by William Clark, of Lewis & Clark fame, to mule-drawn wagons hauling barrels of tobacco from the steamboats. One mural remembers the devastating floods of 1884, 1913, and 1937. The '37 disaster covered most of Paducah and prompted construction of the 12.5-mile floodwall.

A article from Wired on June 17 ... Alternate Space Shuttle Aces Early Test

Definitely don't click HERE if you are hungry! Nicole lists some awesome recipes on her blog (left column ... scroll down). Thanks, LJ, for the link.

And for my son, the SEC's favorite guy to boo, Matt Walsh. Whadda hoot!

Humorous videos for those with some bandwidth.

Again, the tropics are active. We're planning a trip to the Florida panhandle next week & my parents live on the water near New Orleans ... I tend to keep an eye to the south. The Nation Weather Service has some neat products these days. For example, click here, choose a metric, choose a time window, and see a graphical forecast for up to one week. Yea, yea, we know the accuracy of weather forecasters, but the graphics sure are cool.

Cleanse yo palate for some delicacies delivered on a Martun.

Kids bored this summer? Why not get them involved in a new activity?

Dave brought to my attention a private developer who is seeking to use the new eminent domain ruling to build hotel on Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter's land. Now, it appears there is growing financial support for such a move. See "I will pay to spend 7 nights in a hotel built on property seized from David H. Souter". Let the fun begin!

I couldn't pass up a site URL like dis: http://www.crappy.org/. And while we're on the subject of crappers, slide your mouse and Click rat cheer

I'm not sure I understand the anti-risk-taking agenda of the Westchester County (NY) Executive Mr. Andy Spano. Have a looksee at an example of Mr. Spano's overblown, boastful spewing techniques in a recent news article that Dave brought to my attention. I'll quote my favorites:

Spano angrily asserted that post-Sept. 11 security measures in place at the Westchester airport were not duplicated at Danbury, where the single-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk departed at about 1:30 a.m.

A stolen plane, he said, "could possibly be a weapon" and the Cessna "could have crashed into any number of areas," he said.

The theft, he said, "couldn't happen here in Westchester."

Let me decode that: So, if everyone doesn't do as Westchester does, they are a threat to the general public? Is that what I hear? In addition, an airplane can crash into many places! That's rather earthshattering, Mr. Spano .... you may make the Jay Leno monologue with that piece of investigative work.

A single engine plane is not much of a weapon, Mr. Spano. It's gross weight is about 2300 U.S. lbs and it has a fuel capacity is in the neighborhood of 43 U.S. gallons. A garden variety Ford F-150 weighs 4700 U.S. lbs with no one on board and an empty 26 gallon tank. So, if we did the calculations, which vehicle can cause the most damage? Ah, I see.....you can't get your name in the paper over a truck incident, but an airplane, that draws the national media!

Your motives seem to consistently involve scare tactics, Mr. Spano. Your push to close Indian Point Nuclear Plant resulted in a $385,000 expenditure and displays a lack of balance in the risk-taking department. From that article:

... prevent this hazard that I think is here from being a calamitous situation sometime in the future.

This is not effective leadership -- it's succumbing to the media hype approach that flourishes in the presence of deceptive misinformation campaigns (is that a double-negative, or what?). Mr. Spano may be a good public servant, but the risk-averse attitude is laughable. Perhaps there is sitcom awaiting an actor with talents such as yours.

Sidebar: I am not defending the actions of the pilot in question, Mr. Philippe Patricio. He obviously has decent piloting skills, but displayed unbelievable stupidity. Hmmm..there is certain symmetry between Mr. Patrico & Mr. Span .... able to perform at a basic level, but applies efforts in an irrational manner.

That's the view from here.

Mike and I have probably spent no more than 24 hours total time together in our lives, but he continues to make an impact upon me. Our moms grew up together, went to school together, and remain best friends in spite of living 250 miles from each other.

News items such as this one were almost about to spur me to consider joining the anti-war amalgamation, but then my dad shared with me his recent conversation with Mike. Mike Pettigrew has been in the Army for 20 years -- he just returned from Afghanistan where he lost four of his men in an attack, only to find that his wife had moved and was attempting to keep his three children hidden from him. He needs to mop up that mess and complete the divorce, but our country has called him to lead a group in Iraq, and there's not time to settle the domestic disputes prior to his departure to foreign lands.

A little more background ... Mike's mom and mine grew up in Mississippi in the 40's & 50's and followed most of their friends in becoming slightly-right-of-center Democrats. Don't construe that to be a negative -- Republicans were a rarity in that state prior to the 90's. [confession - I am a registered independent.] Mike's mom loves him, but only gets to see him every 3 years or so.

In his brief visit with his mom before his trip to Iraq, she made a comment to him along the lines of, "Bush just needs to bring our boys home; whadderwe doin' over there, anyway?" Mike calmly replied, "Momma, if I don't kill 'em over there, we'll be fighting them in Cleveland, Detriot, and Seattle; I don't want that for my kids."

I remember Mike as that quiet, well-mannered kid from long ago. We last talked at his sister's wedding in the mid 1980's. I am concerned for his safety, but his attitude tells me not to worry -- he understands his mission and is convinced that the outcome will be better than the current situation.

Hat's off to ya, Mike. Most of us do not understand how you are protecting our "way of life", but I'm beginning to see the light.

While windoze is now more stable than the 95/98 versions, I am still no fan of Windoze -- have a look at Windows RG ... be sure to click start and open Word.

I confess ... I read Dave Barry's Blog (see left column of this blog). My comprehension of the world has been greatly improved due to his revelation of the DogIsland web site. For more such stuff, move yo mouse to this spot on your screen and click away.

What you have here is your basic uninteresting blog post. I use the blog to hold time-sensitive links -- such as tropical storm updates. My Mom, Dad, and sister-in-law live along the central Gulf Coast, so's I gotta keep an eye on them.

>>> Station 42003 - E GULF 260 nm South of Panama City, FL (a buoy in the Gulf of Mexico)
>>> NOAA Storm Tracker - Arlene

For you DOS addicts, here's something a colleague of mine discovered today:

at the run window, execute:
cmd /f:on
then, Ctrl+d to toggle thru folder names, or
F7 for a GUI-based command history

Neat! (But I'm easily pleased