I'm home from work today, at least for part of the day. With Colleen already in school, and Karen at pre-school-year in-service days at her school, we are left with Christina, who doesn't start her school year until next week and is too young to stay at home alone all day. Several days this week, she stayed with a somewhat older friend, but that friend started Academic Challenge today and so is off at Delaware Tech for the day.
So I have taken a vacation day. I'll drag poor Christina into the office at mid-day, though. I have a meeting that I can't miss. So we'll hit Dover for some shopping, a lunch in the "big city," my meeting, and whatever else strikes our fancy this afternoon.
Meanwhile, I have an hour free to play with Blogger and other toys.
I have added another link-roll to the sidebar. Recent Items of Interest is a short list of things I've found on-line that I wanted to highlight, but may not have a chance to blog about.
I have also added two links to my on-line photo collections. One is to my main flickr page which has my photos listed. The other is to the mapped presentation.
I imagine that this sort of fiddling, and golf, and photo-wandering, are what my retirement may be like.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Blogroll Changes
I've been meaning to make some changes to how I maintain and publish my blogroll. I finally went for it this evening.
I have been using BlogRolling, which is a handy little service. I found it limiting though. I wanted to start classifying blogs and linking to them by type. That would have required the paid upgrade on BlogRolling. Sometimes I'm just cheap.
Meanwhile, I've been playing more and more with del.icio.us and getting excited about "tagging." There are some easy little javascript ways to post lists of tagged items from del.icio.us to your blog.
This evening, I went through my blogroll and tagged all of the blogs I link to with appropriate tags that let me create collections of Blogs in General, Delaware News Blogs, and political blogs On the Left and On the Right.
I think almost everything I had listed is still there. I did drop a few that are dormant or have lost my interest. Notably I have left Delaware Views Journal off the list. This blog is remarkable for never having had any content at all. I got tired of waiting.
Have a look. Let me know if anything looks wrong.
I have been using BlogRolling, which is a handy little service. I found it limiting though. I wanted to start classifying blogs and linking to them by type. That would have required the paid upgrade on BlogRolling. Sometimes I'm just cheap.
Meanwhile, I've been playing more and more with del.icio.us and getting excited about "tagging." There are some easy little javascript ways to post lists of tagged items from del.icio.us to your blog.
This evening, I went through my blogroll and tagged all of the blogs I link to with appropriate tags that let me create collections of Blogs in General, Delaware News Blogs, and political blogs On the Left and On the Right.
I think almost everything I had listed is still there. I did drop a few that are dormant or have lost my interest. Notably I have left Delaware Views Journal off the list. This blog is remarkable for never having had any content at all. I got tired of waiting.
Have a look. Let me know if anything looks wrong.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
And Now: High School
Colleen started high school this week. Here's her traditional "First Day of School" photo; the first in a few years without Christina at her side. Christina starts her journey through fifth grade next week. We'll take her "First Day" picture then.Colleen is now going to Sussex Technical High School. It started as a vocational/technical school, but has become one of the better academic schools in our area. We think it will work well for her.
Though school started yesterday, Colleen has been going to the school for a few weeks now. She had a two-week band camp to get acquainted with the school, as well as two "freshman days." She's playing bass in the Tech marching band.
Being part of that group, which includes kids from all grades, has been a great help. She is already part of a crowd.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Update: Where the Photos Are
I suppose I should have seen this coming. Today, flickr added its own geotagging and photo mapping tool, using the Yahoo Maps API. It's a nice tool; they've made it quite easy to add location to the attribute data for ones photos.I think this will replace, for me, the loc.aliz.us tool that I mentioned last week. It is simply more integrated into flickr. I was able to quickly import the geotags that I had individually added to some of my photos and easily add more photos to my flickr map.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Meet Mother Nature
We found ourselves a bit closer to nature in our otherwise suburban lives today.
This morning, I stopped at a WaWa for gas. After I started the pump, I walked to the front of the car to gaze out on the traffic on Route 113. When I turned back toward the car, I was startled by a bright green Praying Mantis posed on the newly red-painted bollard that's there to keep us from driving into the gas pumps.
I had to get out my camera and take a few pictures. It's not the first time I've found myself taking photos while pumping gas.
This afternoon, just after Colleen got home from school, a deer wandered through the neighborhood. Karen and the girls watched as it crossed our front yard. Colleen took this photo.
We've had deer in the neighborhood before, and I used to see a fox running around when we first moved here and there were only a few houses. But I hadn't seen anything like that for the last ten years or so.
A week or so back, a neighbor called one afternoon to tell Karen that a deer was headed through the back yard. It was gone by the time Karen got to the window.
I think this is due to the increasing development of the fields and farms in the around Lewes. Habitat is shrinking.
This morning, I stopped at a WaWa for gas. After I started the pump, I walked to the front of the car to gaze out on the traffic on Route 113. When I turned back toward the car, I was startled by a bright green Praying Mantis posed on the newly red-painted bollard that's there to keep us from driving into the gas pumps.I had to get out my camera and take a few pictures. It's not the first time I've found myself taking photos while pumping gas.
This afternoon, just after Colleen got home from school, a deer wandered through the neighborhood. Karen and the girls watched as it crossed our front yard. Colleen took this photo.We've had deer in the neighborhood before, and I used to see a fox running around when we first moved here and there were only a few houses. But I hadn't seen anything like that for the last ten years or so.
A week or so back, a neighbor called one afternoon to tell Karen that a deer was headed through the back yard. It was gone by the time Karen got to the window.
I think this is due to the increasing development of the fields and farms in the around Lewes. Habitat is shrinking.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Insert Gallic Shrug Here
Driving home this afternoon, I passed a small flatbed truck from Grand Rental Station. Painted on the side in black block letters: "NOT FOR HIRE."
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Too Loud? Or Too Sensitive?
This evening, we were waiting outside Big Fish Grill (a favorite restaurant) when a motorcyclist pulled out of the parking lot and headed south on Route One past the restaurant.
He, or she, was on a Harley Davidson. It had that distinctive, guttural roar. As it went past a white SUV with New York Plates, the rider shifted gears with an engine rev that set off the SUV's car-alarm.
We all just stood and stared as the motorcycle grumbled down the road and the white SUV whooped and wailed.
We were just about to head in and see if the restaurant staff could make an announcement. That's when the alarm stopped.
He, or she, was on a Harley Davidson. It had that distinctive, guttural roar. As it went past a white SUV with New York Plates, the rider shifted gears with an engine rev that set off the SUV's car-alarm.
We all just stood and stared as the motorcycle grumbled down the road and the white SUV whooped and wailed.
We were just about to head in and see if the restaurant staff could make an announcement. That's when the alarm stopped.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Where the Photos Are
Here's a new toy that appeals both to my avocation and to my occupation. A new google/flickr mash-up called loc.aliz.us offers a way to present photos in a map format, based on latitude and longitude tags.This photo of the fountain in the Circle in Georgetown, for example, was taken at latitude 38.690032 and longitude -75.385909.
I've been working through some of my photos and adding location tags. I'll try to keep that up.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Tenth Golf Game of 2006
I played 18 holes at Old Landing Golf Course Sunday morning with Andy Southmayd and Sandy Schenck. It was a cool morning, cloudy, with a slight breeze. Rather a pleasant round, with good pace of play ahead of us, and no one piling up behind.It was fun to put together my "home" golf buddy and my "work" golf buddy. We've all played together before, and I think this grouping works well. Sandy and Andy are closer to each other in skill. Both are helpful golf teachers as I struggle along.
I think both Andy and Sandy broke 100. I don't recall Sandy's final score, but Andy's 91 was, he says, a personal best. My 105 may have been mine. I thought I had a shot at breaking 100 when we made the turn, but I blew up on several holes on the back 9.
We drove our round. I must admit that Cart 20 gave me some worries. I noticed as we pulled away from the first tee that it had a tendency to slide around; the steering was loose and slushy.I took a closer look and found that the left front wheel appears to be out of alignment. It made the driving fun and adventurous.
It was a good round. We had fun. There were some great shots and some amusing miss-hits. I had a par or two and at least one shot at a birdie (lipped-out).
I was particularly pleased with how I finished. After flubbing and flailing along on 16 and 17, I hit a solid drive off the 18th tee, and a decent second shot to lay-up to the water on the par-5. I cleared the wide water to put my third just over the green. Unfortunately, I put that third shot into a green-side bunker.
I hate sand. It took me two to get out and two putts to get in the hole. Ah well.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Grumble, Grumble, Grumble.... A Book Meme
Annavenger says I gotta....
1. One book that changed your life: The Tin Drum. I've been thinking about this book again, perhaps because the author, Gunter Grass, has been in the news recently. I read this in high school, after my writing teacher suggested it. It opened up a new world of literature for me; bringing me to international writing and to writing that breaks the rules of reality.
2. One book that you've read more than once: A Soldier of the Great War. This is a wonderful book by Mark Helprin. I'’ve mentioned it here before. It follows a young Italian man through World War I. There are several books by Helprin that are worth owning and returning to.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island: Any one of the Foxfire Books. These are folk-craft how-to books. They apply more to being lost in the Appalachian Mountains, but seem worth a try.
4. One book that made you laugh: Right Ho, Jeeves. Or almost anything by PG Wodehouse.
5. One book that made you cry: The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. Maybe not when I first read it, as a young teen, but in retrospect.
6. One book that you wish had been written: Why I Stayed with Baseball and Gave Politics a Pass, by George W. Bush.
7. One book that you wish had never been written: I don't think there are any. I'’ve seen others answer this with Mein Kampf or the Qu'Ran. That just seems silly. Without Mein Kampf, how would we be able to study the madness that caused Hitler to do what he did? And to think that a holy book of any specific culture is at fault for a conflict we may have with that culture is jingoistically foolish.
8. One book you'’re currently reading: The Far Side of the World. I'’m still making my way through the Aubrey/Maturin series. Again.
9. One book you'’ve been meaning to read: Blue Shoes and Happiness, by Alexander McCall Smith. This was a Father's Day gift from Karen, but it keeps slipping to the bottom of my reading pile.
10. Tag five others. Well. Who to lay this on next? How about Del, Amanda, Paul, Howard and Fritz.
1. One book that changed your life: The Tin Drum. I've been thinking about this book again, perhaps because the author, Gunter Grass, has been in the news recently. I read this in high school, after my writing teacher suggested it. It opened up a new world of literature for me; bringing me to international writing and to writing that breaks the rules of reality.
2. One book that you've read more than once: A Soldier of the Great War. This is a wonderful book by Mark Helprin. I'’ve mentioned it here before. It follows a young Italian man through World War I. There are several books by Helprin that are worth owning and returning to.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island: Any one of the Foxfire Books. These are folk-craft how-to books. They apply more to being lost in the Appalachian Mountains, but seem worth a try.
4. One book that made you laugh: Right Ho, Jeeves. Or almost anything by PG Wodehouse.
5. One book that made you cry: The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. Maybe not when I first read it, as a young teen, but in retrospect.
6. One book that you wish had been written: Why I Stayed with Baseball and Gave Politics a Pass, by George W. Bush.
7. One book that you wish had never been written: I don't think there are any. I'’ve seen others answer this with Mein Kampf or the Qu'Ran. That just seems silly. Without Mein Kampf, how would we be able to study the madness that caused Hitler to do what he did? And to think that a holy book of any specific culture is at fault for a conflict we may have with that culture is jingoistically foolish.
8. One book you'’re currently reading: The Far Side of the World. I'’m still making my way through the Aubrey/Maturin series. Again.
9. One book you'’ve been meaning to read: Blue Shoes and Happiness, by Alexander McCall Smith. This was a Father's Day gift from Karen, but it keeps slipping to the bottom of my reading pile.
10. Tag five others. Well. Who to lay this on next? How about Del, Amanda, Paul, Howard and Fritz.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)