16-0!

In perfect fashion, the New England Patriots finished a perfect regular season.

Now, call me greedy but...if they could just win 3 more.... That is, they need to win their 3 post-season games, including the Super Bowl to complete the magic they've accomplished thus far.

His Excellency

Mary surprised me with a gift perfect for me—a biography of George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis entitled His Excellency. While I've learned a great deal about Jefferson, Madison, and Adams, Washington has always been on the periphery of my knowledge. Now is a very good time to learn about him in a focused fashion.

The preface has given me a good feeling about Mr. Ellis, who is new to me.

For example, "[George Washington] is in our wallets but not in our hearts." Ellis cites Richard Brookhiser as the source of this quote. This immediately reminded of my friend's observation on how Turks commemorate Atatürk in contrast to how Americans remember Washington.

Well, as much as I admire Washington, I look forward to learning more about him, to anchor him deeper into my heart. I especially look forward to Ellis' scholarship in light of the context in which he writes. For example, in his preface, he reports:

...the reigning orthodoxy in the academy regards Washington as either taboo or an inappropriate subject, and any aspiring doctoral candidate who declares an interest in, say, Washington's career as a commander in chief, or president, has inadvertently confessed intellectual bankruptcy.

Properly, Ellis criticizes this orthodoxy as "thoroughly ahistorical and presentistic." At the same, Ellis writes that he seeks to avoid portraying Washington as a cartoon hero. In short, he says he seeks to portray Washington, the man free of myth.

To this end, he closes his preface with this astute observation:

It seemed to me that Benjamin Franklin was wiser than Washington; Alexander Hamilton was more brilliant; John Adams was better read; Thomas Jefferson was more intellectually sophisticated; James Madison was more politically astute. Yet each and all of these prominent figures acknowledged that Washington was their unquestioned superior. Within the gallery of greats so often mythologized and capitalized as Founding Fathers, Washington was recognized as primus inter pares, The Foundingest Father of them all. Why was that?

I look forward to seeing how Mr. Ellis tackles this question.

New Template

A couple of days ago, I tried out a new template. Now, I'm trying another one. This one gives me more choices for adding new elements. Also, it includes a widget from Amazon.com. Very cool.

Amazon's widget gives you the option of making some money for referrals to its site. I passed on that for now. The pennies I might make weren't worth the work of reviewing the contract Amazon understandably requires. The cool widget is enough value for me.

If you want to add this widget to your blog, just click the "Get Widget" button. That will take you to a very simple Amazon wizard. All you need to do is make choices.

Technology rocks!

One Chance

I'm happy to report that I now have a copy of One Chance, Paul Potts' first album following his remarkable performance on the British version of American Idol.

Thank you, Mary!

Force Over Football

As a New England Patriots fan, I was excited to hear that their upcoming game was going to be broadcast on CBS and NBC. My excitement turned to horror when I learned that this event was happening because our government pointed a gun at the head of the NFL.

The "smoking gun" in this case is the threat of revoking the NFL's "antitrust exemption". That threat confesses the antitrust laws' inherently capricious, arbitrary nature.

As such, they allow the arbitrary use of force for whatever a bureaucrat and/or politician wishes. In this case, it happens to be something as small as a football game. Yes, it's a big game for fans of football. However, our government has made it a far bigger game for anyone who values freedom and hates seeing it slip away.

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is the best movie I haven't liked in a while. By that I mean this—evil is cast a potent while the good is feeble. Ayn Rand called this the malevolent universe premise.

No spoilers here. I'll just say that it was interesting to read a Time magazine article about the Coen brothers collaboration with Cormac McCarthy. The Time picture contrasting the brothers with McCarthy told a story in itself. The story in the film ends up being a fusion of gripping story-telling (thank you, Coen brothers, for the screenplay) and the aforementioned malevolent universe premise (no thank you, Mr. McCarthy).

The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

On a search for new art work to adorn my newly renovated walls, this candidate (by Caspar Friedrich) caught my eye. The subject appeals to me because of my lifetime of philosophic travel, forging through thousands of years of fog. I stress candidate because this painting is new to me. I'm still digesting it.

What I don't like is that the man is looking down into the fog from his vantage point. It's as if he still has questions lingering in the fog. I'd like to see his head lifted upward toward sunlight and new heights to climb, emphasizing leaving the fog behind forever.

Love seat & chair

The two final pieces of my new living room furniture arrived today. It blends in perfectly with the color scheme Mary recommended.

My neighbors' playful envy made the delivery fun. They were trying to leave when the furniture truck arrived, blocking their path. Since there were only two pieces to deliver, they waited. While they waited, they ooh'ed and ahh'ed the love seat and said playful stuff like "You shouldn't have gone to such lengths to buy us Christmas presents! Hey, why are they bringing that stuff into your place? Our condo is over here!"

Covet away, good neighbor. Just keep yer paws off! ;^)

Of course, I called Mary right away, not only to tell her how happy I was about how it all looked together but to call her a genius. Her excellent judgment hit another homerun.

Must Be Jelly

Gotta take a moment out of my chores to sing the praises of Must Be Jelly by William Clarke. The xylophone woven with the mean harmonica and the rest of the arrangement makes it complete for me. Damn, I love this song!

My thanks to Pandora.com for introducing me to his music.

Will Ferrell & the Landlord

Now, I'm not a big fan of Will Ferrell, but why does this make me laugh?

Miata vs Maserati

This summer, Mary and I paid a visit to her sister in Maine. While we were there, she let us drive one of her cars. Not big on cars, all I keyed in on was that it was sporty and close to the ground. I loved it. Later, relating it to friends, all I recalled was that its name started with M. I ended up confusing Maserati with Miata. I drove the latter not the former.

Later, I was duly corrected as to the magnitude of my gaffe. Yikes!

So, here's the evidence. Me in a...Miata!

Of course, we're in the driveway before take off. Unfortunately, Mary could not run fast enough in front of the car on the highway to catch me in action. (Come on, Honey! Put some effort into it!) ;^)

Ok, I'm ready to go, baybee!

Vrrrrroooom, Vrrrrroooom!

Tecnu

This is more a reminder to myself than a plug to you for a product named Tecnu. I mention it because I'm now about 6 weeks into trying to get over a serious bout of poison ivy.

Yes, I've seen a doctor. Prednisone was part of my treatment. That got the worst out but more lingered. My doctor thinks it may have triggered shingles. Though I doubt that I can't argue with the success of the medication he prescribed: famciclovir; the remainder of the rash is retreating quickly now.

Phew!

Hence my advocacy of Tecnu. Had I used it within 8 hours of raking piles and piles of leaves for Mary, I could have been spared a lot of discomfort. The stuff is effective in removing the oils within poison ivy that bonds to your skin. It's even fairly good in mild cases of poison ivy once you get it.

Live and learn. :^)

Pacifica Space Saver

I spotted this little number at Bed, Bath, and Beyond while shopping for other bathroom items. Now, as you can see, it's part of my new bathroom. To the right, you can see my new brushed nickel towel holders. All at affordable prices, thanks to the many genuine virtues of capitalism. Life is so very good.

Thanksgiving: Capitalism vs Communism aka Life vs Death

John Stossel has an interesting and very short article posted at http://www.nysun.com/article/66843?page_no=1. Check it out. Its content gave rise to this post's title.

TV/DVD Stand

Finally, here's a pic of the TV/DVD stand. The speakers on top are supposed to be surround sound but they don't work, at least not yet. I'm still trying to fathom that part.

If my struggle with the DVD player speakers continue, I'll just return the DVD set to the store and stick with a simpler system. Besides, the placement of the surround sound speakers requires more work than I'm willing to do for the space with which I'm working.

Not shown is my VCR. Can't get that to work yet either. It's heading to storage for now. More pressing tasks await. :^)

Coffee table

Check out this coffee table we picked up at Pilgrim Furniture in Southington. It's an excellent space saver.

No company? No problem. Just leave the set as is.

Guests arrive? As needed, just roll out one or more of the four stools. Each has a soft, microfiber cover.

This coffee table is part of the set I purchased over the weekend. The set includes a long TV stand, love seat, and comfy chair. The love seat and chair set are on order with delivery scheduled for sometime in early January. The TV stand is not ready for a pic yet. Still messy in that area. Stay tuned.

Thanksgiving 2007

If you haven't already seen my post about Thanksgiving, you can view it here.

This year finds me especially thankful for my personal experience with a genuine producer, Mary. She's an attorney, a good mother, an office/operations manager, actively involved in her town, my personal general contractor and home improvement consultant, and much more. I count my many blessings.

While we're counting, here's a snapshot of the latest fruit of our labor.


Gone now is a 20 year old small metal medicine cabinet. This one is a foot wider and, as you can see, wood. It's loaded with space for my supplies and Mary's. This combined with the increased acreage in the vanity has gone a long way to boost my condo's eventual resale value as well as its value to me now.

Technical note: With just the two of us trying to mount this big, bulky thing to the wall as neatly as possible, I turned my attention to options for handling that. The thought of my arms shaking and tiring quickly while Mary, properly, took her time to get the positioning just right was solid motivation. The idea I came up with was scaffolding. Two plastic crates proved to be perfect foundations for this idea. We mounted them over the faucets and then added my drill case, a couple of one inch wood blocks, and, finally, a few shims to get everything perfectly level and positioned at precisely the right height. From there, all I had to do was to hold the cabinet steady while Mary drilled the holes and applied the toggle bolts into the dry wall.

The light fixture above it is new too. The previous light fixture was built into the old cabinet. It was a dusty mess. The electrician I hired on Mary's recommendation did an excellent job. He had to punch a hole in the wall to install a junction box and then snake a wire to handle the lights at the higher level you see here to make room for this healthy sized medicine cabinet.

While the electrician was here, I had him install an electrical outlet on the kitchen wall. Not having one there had been forcing me into having electrical cords straying across traffic paths. Things are much neater now...thanks to this particular producer—my electrician.

2007 has been a year of productive effort from the following crew:

• Carpet installers (Lowe's)
  
• Tile installers (Lowe's)
  
• Painters (me and Mary, especially Mary's knowledge of patching all kinds of holes)
  
• Ceiling scrapers (me and Mary)
  
• Furniture movers/installers (me and Mary) and toilet remover/installer (me)
  
• Plumbers (Lowe's dishwasher installation & Fletcher's rebuilding my washer/dryer pipes)
  
• Washer/dryer mover—(me; This was one of my biggest coups. I found a set of heavy duty metal casters at Lowe's to deal with the substantial challenge of moving my large washer/dryer from a very tight space alone. It was a job for 2 young, fit men. Narrowly avoiding the loss of the tip of one of my fingers, I managed to perch (precariously) the washer/dryer onto the casters and then fought it past the old carpet tacking that was still under it. Once I got it clear of its narrow confines, I finished mounting the washer/dryer safely onto the casters with Mary's welcome assistance. The casters now sit permanently under the washer/dryer for easy maintenance—just roll that puppy out as if were in a drawer!
  
• Town dump transporters (me and Mary)
  
• Linoleum removers (me and Lowe's)
  
• Wallpaper removers (me and Mary)
  
• Wallpaper installers (Mary and her apprentice, me)

All this and more was a logical extension of my decades long integration of Ayn Rand's ideas (Objectivism) into the fabric of my life. Ideas are not mere words that float in conversations...if you take ideas seriously. Ideas are calls to action. Honoring an idea in action requires you to do something many don't do—hold context across time.

"Life is good" my friends often hear me say. Well, that fact is now vividly evident in the structure of my home, literally from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. The permanence of lovely tile states it clearly, calmly, and surely. The sturdy, reflective wallpaper echoes it lightly. The new ceiling fan and light fixtures echo it. My new furniture and high definition TV (pics forthcoming) reflect it.

Holding context across the decades of my life, I have passed by the disappointing spirits that gave up along the way, thinking that maturity consisted of abandoning the eternally youthful vision projected in Ayn Rand's writing. Few things are more immature than such a spiritual surrender.

So, here I am, 30 years after reading the introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of The Fountainhead, wrapping up condo renovations to set the stage for the next stage of my life and the welcome challenges it holds.

That said, let me give thanks to the most important passage of non-fiction I ever read:

The best of mankind’s youth start life with an undefined sense of enormous expectation, the sense that one’s life is important, that great achievements are within one’s capacity, and that great things lie ahead.

It is not in the nature of man—nor of any living entity—to start out by giving up, by spitting in one’s own face and damning existence; that requires a process of corruption whose rapidity differs from man to man. Some give up at the first touch of pressure; some sell out; some run down by imperceptible degrees and lose their fire, never knowing when or how they lose it. Then all of these vanish in the vast swamp of their elders who tell them persistently that maturity consists of abandoning one’s mind; security, of abandoning one’s values; practicality, of losing self-esteem. Yet a few hold on and move on, knowing that the fire is not to be betrayed, learning how to give it shape, purpose and reality. But whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man’s nature and of life’s potential.

There are very few guideposts to find. The Fountainhead is one of them.

That is one of the cardinal reasons of The Fountainhead’s lasting appeal: it is the confirmation of the spirit of youth, proclaiming man’s glory, showing how much is possible.

Chicago Blues...

...is one of the cool stations I was able to set as one of my favorites at Pandora.com. Mary and I enjoyed the blues during the renovations to my living room & kitchen.

Pandora

Check out Pandora.com. It's basically a free, personalized radio station. You set it up to play music you like.

While doing that, the site takes into account what you've already played and starts playing similar music from other artists you may like. If you hear something you don't like, click the "thumbs up" to signal your pleasure. Otherwise, thumbs down or, if you're on the fence, ignore it. Thumbs down ends the song immediately and a new song starts playing.

Easy stuff.

I've found some nice tunes for my iPod using this site. For example, I created a Tangerine Dream station. Right now, Pandora is playing The Real Dream of Sails by Harold Budd. Never heard of him before but I like this soothing music in this context of late night typing, ending my broadcast day. :^)

Earth-rise, courtesy of Japan

Have you seen this yet? It caught me unaware of Japan's space technology. Wonderful!

Growing up in the 60s, "Made in Japan" was a common joke. Talk about being light years away from that context!

Bathroom Upgrade

Well, at long last, I've finally found some time to report on major changes to my condo's bathroom. I opted not to collect before pics. It's sufficient that those who have seen it will appreciate the contrast.

Reminder: Click a pic to see it enlarged.

Vanity First, check out this vanity. It's 36 inches wide vs. the old one's 24. For my taste, I had too much space on either side. I wanted to fill it with something attractive as well as gain drawers (none in the older one) and ample storage space to reduce counter clutter. This pic also gives you the first view of my new wallpaper. I really like this pattern. I like how it catches the light as well as blending in with the other light colors of the room.

Sink This pic is a closer look at the granite sink. It was on sale at Home Depot. It's quite a contrast to the cheap vinyl top of my previous counter top.

Wallpaper This pic shows a corner of the bathroom to highlight the new wallpaper. However, looking at it now, I realize it needs something there to set it off well. The shopping continues!

Shower This final pic is, of course, of my shower stall. Check out the tile about it. That space right under the shower nozzle was previously occupied by peeling, thin wallpaper. How the previous owner/builder thought it prudent to place wallpaper (not even wallpaper suitable to a heavy water area) directly underneath a shower nozzle escapes me. Worse, the wallpaper was affixed without first priming the drywall. Now, as you can see, tile adorns the area above the shower. Sensible and pleasing to the eye, at least to my eye. This angle also shows the kind of look Mary and I were going for in our selections—wallpaper, tile, and tub juxtaposed. The new shower nozzle and its extension have been a welcome treat. Missing here is a pic of the new nickle plated light fixture and the new towel rods. We're not done with those yet. More to follow. I can't end without thanking Mary effusively for her relentless help in every detail, including installing the wallpaper. Productivity is a major Objectivist virtue. Mary owns that virtue in spades!

Red Sox 2007 World Champions!

Yup, my beloved Red Sox have done it again. I've come out of blog hibernation to cheer their success. I've been watching or, more often lately, listening to them while I've been deep into renovating my condo, working & living atop a concrete floor for weeks.

My favorite quote on the Sox achievement comes from the Boston Globe: 2004 was an exorcism. 2007 is an exclamation point. Red Sox rule!

That said, unlike conventional Sox fans, I don't like the chant "Yankees suck!". I admire the storied Yankees history! I don't like Steinbrenner. Torre is a great manager and deserved better. That said, thanks Steinbrenner for making it a bit easier for the Sox to win the eastern division of the American League again...and again and...!

Wi-Fi Rookie

I'm happy to report that I'm now on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. Mary already has it working at her place. I spent a tedious but ultimately fruitful afternoon getting it to work at my own place.

If you haven't already heard, Wi-Fi is an acronym for wireless fidelity. What it means to a techie homebody like me is this—no wires to connect to the internet!

Now, my place is not big. Still, I like the option of being able to watch a movie on my laptop in bed and quickly switch to IMDB.com to learn a little more about a particular actor or get a quick update on the Red Sox.

More importantly, my place can be much neater now that it's not dependent on the odd location (the middle of the kitchen wall!) of my internet connection. Instead, I can park my netgear there and have my computer elsewhere. Ahhhh.

Since I'm geeking out here, let me sing the praises of NetGear. This will include a discordant note about Linksys.

Today, I tried to use Linksys for the second time. The first time, over a year ago, the Linksys router simply died on me after less than a year. Back then, I had no interest in using it as a wireless device. I simply pulled cables into it.

This time, I tried to go wireless with it. It took me through a long installation process only to end up killing my internet connection.

Rubbing salt in the wound was Best Buy, from whom I had purchased the router. The salesman told me it would cost $50 to get it set up if I had any trouble. So, off I went to my home to do the set up. Wasted hours and another road trip later, the guy at the Geek Squad desk said help would cost me well over $150. I don't think it was a bait and switch but it felt like one. More likely, the sales guy just screwed up. In any event, I was not happy. End of sale. Gimme my money back.

On the way home, I decided to give Staples a try. It was a long shot, since local Staples help, especially on techie stuff can be spotty. But, then, it's spotty everywhere. Genuinely good techs are hard to find. Lo and behold, I found one!

Given my bad luck with Linksys, I opted for Netgear. This time, I got another failure message but immediately. This was, oddly enough, progress. This made it clear that the installation CD was messed up. Specifically, the message was "Ethernet card defective"—that is, the card with which I was able to connect to the internet successfully without Netgear.

So, on another long shot, I call the Netgear support line. Wonder of wonders, I got a live person in under 5 minutes! Her Indian accent was a little thick and hard to decipher at times but that was minor compared to this all important fact—she knew her stuff!

In short order, she had me toss out the CD. That was replaced with a Netgear site that worked directly with my Netgear router. She guided me expertly through the setup steps successfully.

As a bonus, she helped me secure the Wi-Fi network so my neighbors couldn't tap into it. For this, Best Buy was going to charge me $150...on top of the $100+ for the hardware. Instead, Netgear handed me the knowledge gratis, as an integal part of the router installation.

So, in my book, Netgear rocks! Linksys? Not so much. Best Buy? From now on, I'll give Staples the first shot.

P.S., For $25, I was able to connect an old, pre-Wi-Fi era computer to Mary's Wi-Fi network. This gadget the size of some new car keys plugs into a USB port and voilà—wireless internet connection! Nice!

Brendan's Bar & Grill

If you're ever in NYC in the vicinity of Times Square and the Empire State Building, consider dining at Brendan's Bar & Grill. Mary and I had dinner there recently.

We were happily suprised. Our expectations were low because this establishment's appearance from the outside is plain, on a side street away from the heavy pedestrain traffic. This turns out to be a virtue; that is, if you're interested in a good meal in a pleasant, quiet setting in the midst of NYC's hustle and bustle.

Two thumbs up.

Tracking US Flights

Did you know that you can track US flights at http://flightaware.com? I didn't until recently. I've found it handy to keep track of friends and family coming and going cross-country. And it's free.

Paul Potts Review

For more on the Paul Potts story, check out this review.

Brooklyn Bridge

This romantized view of the Brooklyn Bridge is a fitting image for my recommendation that you read The Great Bridge by David McCullough.

Like the bridge's web of suspension cables, rich human stories are woven into it as well, deeper than the cables' roots in the bedrock under the twin gothic towers. To really see the bridge, read this book. Look at the spirit of man in action.

By man, I don't just mean men, of course. A key player in this epic story is Emily Roebling, chief engineer Washington Roebling's wife. Without her, it's not the same bridge. Look at how she saved the day after her husband is striken with what we now know as the bends but was then a complete mystery. Look at how she is honored at the completion of the bridge.

Look at the fragile, dramatic nature of history as Washington Roebling survives the battle at Gettysburg and ends up as the bridge's chief engineer, effectively finishing the design from memory!

Look especially at the injustice hurled at Roebling by the press. Then, contrast that to the tepid reaction to the glaring fraud committed against Roebling and the cities of Brooklyn and New York. Then, consider who we honor today when we visit the bridge.

Look at the backdrop of the bridge's creation, featuring the rise and fall of Tammany Hall.

Look at the unknown heroes who contributed to the building of the bridge and, in effect, New York City's first skyscrapers.

Look at all this and more. Then, look again at the bridge. See not just the landmark but the spirit it represents, the spirit we need to embrace to build even greater achievements now and for the future.

The Best of Two Worlds?

What, pray tell, was I shopping for in the mall, a friend asks? A computer, a laptop to be precise.

A long time Windows user (but not a Windows "bigot"), I wanted to see if I could reasonably straddle the technical fence between Windows and Mac. My interest has been piqued by news of Apple's Boot Camp and third-party software named Parallels.

So, I walked into West Farms Apple store to ask a salesman about it. He wanted to sell me a laptop, of course, but he steered me away with the report that Boot Camp is still in beta. He couldn't speak to Parallels. His main point was approach this option carefully, if at all. The concept is still new.

That's enough to put me off Mac for a while. My livelihood is based on the Windows world. I have no problem with the Mac world. In fact, I was sorely tempted by the excellent quality of the Mac Pro diplays.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I welcome them. In the meantime, it looks like I'll have to stick with the Windows world and buy a laptop suited to it.

Cafe Nordstrom

This is a plug for Cafe Nordstrom in West Hartford, CT. It's tucked away in an out-of-the-way corner of Nordstroms, on it's second level. The salad I ordered was the best I've had in a long time. It was a tasty mix of goat cheese, chicken, greens, thin slices of green apples, apple chips, some kind of crunchy sweet nuts, and more. Very yummy and quite filling!

Its out-of-the-way location lent itself to this unusual mall event -- no teenagers. It may have been the hour (between 5 PM and 6 PM) and the day of the week (Thursday). Whatever the cause, the effect was pleasant and welcome.

Also, being in the corner of the mall, there were windows. Ahh, there's a world out there!

The price was a little more than an average salad but it was well worth it. I'll be back!

Paul Potts

Have you heard of Paul Potts yet? If not, check this out. What a story! What a talent!

DDT Ban = Mass Death

Check out this interesting NY Times article.

Excerpts and comments follow.

This “Fable for Tomorrow,” as she called it, set the tone for the hodgepodge of science and junk science in the rest of the book.

This astute observation is what is wrong with many of the politically-motivated claims of environmentalism. Keep an active mind as opposed to an "open mind" on this (or any) topic.

Why weren’t all of the new poisons killing people? An important clue emerged in the 1980s when the biochemist Bruce Ames tested thousands of chemicals and found that natural compounds were as likely to be carcinogenic as synthetic ones. Dr. Ames found that 99.99 percent of the carcinogens in our diet were natural, which doesn’t mean that we are being poisoned by the natural pesticides in spinach and lettuce. We ingest most carcinogens, natural or synthetic, in such small quantities that they don’t hurt us. Dosage matters, not whether a chemical is natural, just as Dr. Baldwin realized.

Interesting. Food for thought, pardon the pun, when considering organic vs non-organic food.

The human costs have been horrific in the poor countries where malaria returned after DDT spraying was abandoned.

Echoing this critical point on mass death is this article which reports: "The environmentalists' ideological opposition to pesticides has no basis in science. It is a death sentence to millions."

Spelling B Runner-Up

On the same day that a 13 year old boy won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Hillary Clinton's campaign pulled this number.



Can you spell "tomorrow"?

I found this snapshot at Foxnews yesterday. I can't find the link to the article now. But I found the error and its timing deliciously ironic.

View from the Mirage

Another video clip from Mary's camera. This one is of the Vegas strip from the front of the Mirage hotel.

Valley of Fire Videos

Here are 2 video clips I took with Mary's awesome Nikon Coolpix L3 camera. I had to drop this clip off at Google Video and then embed it here in my blog. Roundabout but not too much work.

55 pounds of fur

55 pounds is the combined weight of these 2 giant fur balls. The guy on the left is named Catie [sounds like Katie] (before realizing that "she" was a he) and the one on the right is Meowth. Catie is about 25 pounds while Meowth weighs in over 30 pounds. Yikes!

Still, as you can see, these heavy weights get along nicely. In particular, click the pic to see the hand-holding, er, paw-holding. Awwwww....

Hammonasset Kite Festival

This year's kite festival at Hammonasset was dampened by rain on Saturday. Fortunately, Sunday cleared up and allowed some fun under a chilly sun. Some pics follow.

This guy wasn't flying a kite as much as a parachute. He fought mightily to stay on the ground!

My fav shot of the day—Kermit the frog in flight.

3 kites being flown by one guy! He had some kind of gear around his waist managing the kite strings along with his hands. I was impressed!

Another shot of the 3 kites managed by 1 guy. It wasn't enough that he got them into the air; he got them to do cool synchronized acrobatics.

Back at ground level, spectators look on.

This year's festival was not as dramatic as it has been in the past when truck sized kites dominated the skyline. I don't know what accounts for that. Perhaps it was the threat of rain. Still, it was a good enough for a nice day in the sun, even though it was unusually chilly for late May.

Later, Mary and I walk along the Hammonasset boardwalk. Good thing we brought our jackets! We were pleasantly surprised to find that the boardwalk has been completely rebuilt with some kind of spongey material as firm as wood but not as susceptible to decay. Lower maintenance is good!

Into the closet!

Before

After

Once again, Mary guided me to a nice home change. In this case, you can see the difference above—from a one dimensional board/clothes rack to a layered arrangement with a simple, affordable purchase from Lowe's.

The hard part was working in the closet's tight space, scraping the ancient popcorn nonsense off the ceiling and then finishing the painting.

With this effort completed, the bedroom is ready for the next big step—what to do with the floor. While I was keen on a laminate floor, I'm now leaning toward something like a Berber carpet for resale purposes. Still thinking about it. Stay tuned.

Self-Refuting Modern Crap

Check out the current video at the Sothebys site: www.sothebys.com/video/privateview. It's an excellent example of pretentiousness, of denying the evidence of one's own eyes that one is looking at crap.

The emperor is naked.

Buffalo burgers, splitting logs, bubbles, and more

Except for chilly evenings, the New England weather this weekend was perfect. So, outdoor activities were the order of the day.

As always, I enjoyed helping Mary with her lovely yard. Since it slopes down a slight grade, it gave me a good aerobic workout while I hauled mulch down to the back where her huge stretch of wisteria plants grow. I look forward to seeing them bloom.

Later, I had my first experience with splitting small logs. While I had heard of the simple wedge often used for this, I was not familiar with the 4-sided wedge. They funneled down into a common, blunt point, making it easy to pound it into a log with a sledgehammer. The idea is simple—just tap it into place and hammer away.

Of course, it's not just mindless action. You should be mindful of your surroundings, careful not to hurt yourself or anyone (or anything like the family cat) wandering nearby. Also, getting accurate control of a 5 pound sledghammer takes a little practice.

I ended my introduction to log splitting with a perfect strike. As the two halves of the log fell to the ground, the wedge wound up stuck like a spike into the large stump I was using as a work surface. That was cool.

At Sunday dinner, Mary and her son introduced me to buffalo burgers. They were delicious. Mary says they're better to eat because they're less fatty. Fine by me; I just enjoy how they taste.

When the wind is gentle enough, I like to break out a little toy that shoots soap bubbles by the dozens. It's a fun diversion (and pretty much all I can handle after wearing myself out with yard work).

Mary showed me one of the Durham attractions—Mica Ledges. I forgot to bring her wonderful camera. So, this pic will have to do for now. The view is much better than this pic. Mary's home is somewhere off to the pic's right.

Back in New England

After all that desert travel, fascinating as it was, I welcomed my return to the New England spring. Here are some highlights from Mary's yard.

This lone flower captured my attention. It's now tied to Mary's number on my cell phone. I enjoy seeing it pop up whenever she calls.

Here's part of Mary's back yard. Notice the abscence of leaves. I happily invested many aerobic hours in clearing them. The result was worth the effort.

A tree blooming near the property line.

Meowth giving his best "don't mess with me" pose.

Then, when he thinks no one is watching, he frolics like a kitty.

Hoover Dam and Boulder City

On the dam, we, of course, walked across the borderline into Arizona. Here, you see the intake tower on Arizona's side of the line.

Here's a closer shot of the Arizona intake tower. Shortly, you'll see that the clock is the same time on the Nevada side as on Arizona's. They're not always the same since Arizona does not comply with daylight savings. On this day, they happen to coincide.

This plaque marks not only the Nevada/Arizona border but the first time I've been in two places at once. If only I could bottle that phenomenom and use it when I do my chores!

Here, of course, is the Nevada intake tower.

Next to the dam, cut into the rock, is an ice cream shop. Not only is it a wonderful contrast to the hard core engineering feat, it's just coolly refreshing to down some ice cream after being baked in the desert heat.

After leaving the ice cream shop, we passed by this sculpture. More information on it is available here.

Up the road from Hoover Dam is Boulder City. It's beautifully eerie to remember that this city is in a desert when you see its lush green lawns.

The palm tree on the left is a reminder that I was not in New England.

The sign on the pole reminds us who works for whom.

Great view of Lake Mead from Boulder City.

The Boulder City Hotel, where Mary's friend Ilana was staying. I like this hotel. If I visit this area again, I'll stay here instead of in Vegas. The rent is much cheaper and the small town pace and feel appeals to me. It was an especially welcome contrast to the intense pedestrian congestion in Vegas.

End of the day in Boulder City.

Valley of Fire & Hoover Dam

Here's another pic from the Valley of Fire. I like the blue-green color of the clumps of grass. I don't recall ever seeing that color before, not in plants anyway.

Still in the valley, we stopped at this spot for the view and to walk up a stretch of rock. Notice all the vegetation. Visiting the desert in April is a practical choice. I doubt that vegetation will still be that color in August.

Our visit to Hoover Dam was a fitting change of pace—from desert to dam. Mary is posing with her friend, Ilana, for my first dam picture and not the last of my dam puns.

Mary and I strike a pose.

Next, it's Ilana's turn with her husband, Angus. Both very sharp and a lot of fun.

The swirling, life-giving water of the now tamed Colorado River.

A shot from the dam.

Notice that the towers are at an angle; a logical concession to the rough terrain.

The leaning towers are set in sharper contrast here against the straight, vertical line of the observation tower.

Here, you can see the foundation for the bridge that will eventually span the river. It will relieve the considerable congestion of the traffic that flows across the dam daily.

That's it for now. More to follow.