Monday, April 28, 2008

Checking in...

Alright, alright, I'll say something. I'm finishing up the semester - have two more weeks of class and then two weeks of six exams. Then comes the summer, and I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with that. I applied for a job that I really want this afternoon, but we'll see.

Last week Kate and I went to Boston for Patriots' Day, caught the 11 AM Red Sox game and watched part of the marathon. Sadly we got no pictures of the marathon itself, just some beforehand shots of the finish line. The marathon was really cool to watch, and something I'd love to go to again:








We've also had lots of fun with Hobbes, and doing some dog-sitting as well:






Also, last month, we spent a week driving around and camping in northern california, and visiting friends. I'm a little bored with the upload process right now, but I'll share the pictures as soon as I can get around to sitting through it all.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Kids . . . .

I think we used to have some. Didn't we? I wonder if any of them

. . . have been to any Red Sox games lately, and took any pictures, or

. . . are making plans for graduation and/or Europe, or

. . . know where they're going for their summer cruise.

Wonder if we'll ever find out.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Anti-libertarian Humor

If you're into this kind of thing.

The Way I See It

I've been waiting for someone to write this column.

In the comments, a leftie tries to disparage Johnson by calling him "old". Classy.

Luke.

Check out the drilling rig on the front page of NEC's annual report. Click on ANNUALREPORT2007 in one of the last few comments under Nornew News. Awesome.

What we need is a few of those in ANWR or on the continental shelf. But, no, the environmentalists want to make sure that poor people stay poor.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day!



Today, April 22nd, celebrate capitalism, the industrial revolution, and man's right to exploit the Earth!

Produce! Consume! Live!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Raccoon!








Red Sox/Yankees

1. Julio Lugo reverts to form. 30-40 errors and .230 hitter. The RS would be unstoppable with a decent SS.

2. In the 7th inning stretch, the Yankees honor our servicemen and those who died defending our freedoms. Then they sing "God Bless America". And they don't do it during commercials. Kudos to the Yankees.

3. It's the bottom of the ninth, Yanks are down 7-3. There are more empty seats than filled ones at Yankee stadium. It wouldn't be that way at Fenway.

4. The bullpen is advantage Yankees, at least at this point in the season.

5. YES broadcast: Calm, professional. NESN broadcast: Jarring, annoying.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Fort Hood Herald

We're linked at www.theforthoodherald.com for Luke's post "America, Stop Apologizing for Your Greatness." Go to the link and look under The 4th ID News Feed.

Welcome to our brave men and women at Fort Hood. Thanks for all you do.

Missing Panda

Stupid dog.

Monday, April 14, 2008

"America, Stop Apologizing For Your Greatness."

From a 2003 article by Steven Tennett, an oppressed citizen in Zimbabwe:

"On behalf of the Zimbabweans who desire to live as human beings, free from the shackles of Mugabe's tyranny, I have a favor to ask of you, America.

"No, it is not a request for a check or some other handout. Nor is it a request to send over your 4th Infantry division to liberate us. Our suffering does not give us a right to your wealth or to the lives of your brave soldiers.

"No, the favor I have to ask is very different--and far simpler. America, stop apologizing for your greatness.

"Stand up and proudly champion the principles that have enabled you to earn your wealth and power: capitalism and the individual's inalienable rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. Condemn every form of tyranny and tell the world that the political system created by your founders is the only noble system the world has ever seen. Tell every individual across the globe that no matter if he is black, white or Arab, the *only* path to freedom and prosperity is through the ideas contained in your Constitution and Bill of Rights. To modify a saying from one of your great founders, George Washington: Proclaim a standard to which the wise and the just can repair.

"To do so costs you nothing--and will achieve much.

"You will give hope and inspiration to any individual in Zimbabwe, Iran, Hong Kong or elsewhere who is actually fighting for his liberty. You will earn the respect of freedom- loving people the world over--the only "world opinion" it could ever make sense to win. And by your moral certainty you will strike fear in the hearts of your enemies--and any tyrant who dares to violate the rights of the individual.

"America, when you refuse to speak out against evil--and worse, when you apologize for your virtues--you discourage those who love liberty and give hope to the Mugabes of the world. But when you proudly and guiltlessly stand up for the good, you help move the world toward your ideals.

"America, your moral voice is at once your least costly and your most powerful weapon. A lonely individual from Zimbabwe asks of you only this: Won't you please use that voice?"

I heard the above part of the article in a lecture video and was really moved by it, so I tracked down the full article. This is the message every American should hear.

Thirty Thousand Visits




Any time now.

Bitter, very bitter

So bitter in fact, I think I'm going to go shoot my gun and say some prayers. I mean, can you believe these trade agreements we've made? And what about all these illegal Mexican immigrants? Where's it gonna end?

I'd go get a job if there were any.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Blind Cat Has Kittens in Trash Can!


"I didn't know it was a trash can! I'm blind, ya know! I thought it was one of those new cylindrical birthing rooms!"

Yes, the cat, Jamie, is truly blind. I used to think she was just stupid and annoying, so I'd catch her and sic Panda on her. Now that I figgered out she's blind, she's my favorite. You should see her navigate around the barn. She bangs into things and gets up and keeps going.

I think this applies now...

The Most Recent One Hundred Visits to the Blog

Besides New York, that's Norway, Denmark, Finland, Turkey, Canada, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Luke Loves...

...Beethoven. 7th Symphony, 1st movement. You can watch the whole symphony here, but the important part is the first 11 minutes. Don't bother unless you can really blast it, something like that should never be played quietly.

Beethoven might have been the happiest person who ever lived.

Nornew News

Greetings to all the recent visitors who have found our family blog while searching for news of Nornew's activities in the Marcellus Shale. The information you've given has been enormously interesting. It is unclear whether the commenter "anonymous" is one or more people. If you'd like to identify yourselves in some way (i. e., anonymous1) please feel free.

Our experience with Nornew has been limited. We have a 130 acre farm and were approached by Nornew to lease them the mineral rights last year. While we asked for, and got, more than they were offering, it appears from some of the information you've provided that we signed for far less than some others. A post below has some pictures and information about the recent seismic testing they did on the roads that bound our farm.

Please feel free to leave comments or information that pertain to Nornew's activities in any way. From all appearances, Nornew is drilling wells and building pipelines at a furious pace. We'll be happy to provide more pictures and news as we get it. If there is something in particular that we can tell you, let us know. In the meantime, I'll be trying to figure out how to buy stock on the OSE.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Pair of Sox tickets for sale

For my birthday, Kate got us a pair of tickets to Sox vs Blue Jays on May 1. We realized today we couldn't make it, so I hopped on EBay and grabbed a pair of tickets to another game (Patriot's Day!). We figured we'd offer them up to friends and family before we bother with EBay or Stubhub.

As I said, they're for the 5/1 game at 7 PM vs Toronto. They're Standing Room Only tickets for the 3rd base pavilion. The special friends-and-family price is $68 for the pair, which is what Kate paid for two $25 seats and the "Convenience Fee" and "Order Processing Fee." They're print at home tickets, so no shipping!

Let me know if you or anyone you know wants them.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Bill Buckner

Returned today to Fenway Park. What a moment. For those of you not older than, um, thirty-five, this was a really big deal. Buckner was reviled in Boston for a long time, and it was a shame. Today, he was welcomed by the faithful and it was a tear-jerking moment.

I was thrilled. Buckner had taken it hard. I'm so happy to see him back in Fenway. He was a near Hall of Fame player.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Earthshaking Events in Earlville

A couple of days ago, a mysterious spaghetti of orange cable appeared for miles and miles along the side of our road and the River Road. The stakes you can see in the picture were already there -- they first turned up several weeks ago.


Every so often, the cable was interrupted by a buried sensor of some kind.


Boxes like this were spaced every quarter-mile or so.


At the end of Julio's driveway, there were five sensors stuck in the ground close together. Oops, wait, that's seven, at least -- I may have missed some beyond the margins of the photo.



On Sunday morning, Dad and I noticed a loud, steady, whining kind of roar that filled the air and seemed to be coming from the East. We could hear it all day long. We also saw various white trucks buzzing purposefully up and down our road. Clearly, somebody was working very hard indeed, even though it was Sunday. Finally I put Panda in the car and drove down to the River Road to see what I could see. What I could see was this:

And this:

Several guys were directing traffic around the three absolutely enormous trucks. (While I was on the South Cross Road taking this picture, Panda found a deer leg in the pine trees and fell in love.) Each truck had a platform under its belly that could be raised or lowered to be pressed against the ground. This was the source of the roar we could hear a mile away on the farm. Every few minutes, all three trucks would simultaneously raise their platforms, roll forward a short distance, and put the platforms down again. Little by little they worked their way along the full length of the road.

Turns out this is seismic testing, part of the natural-gas prospecting going on right now in Smyrna, Lebanon, and Hamilton. The trucks were sending vibrations through the ground in order to locate areas of natural gas where gas wells might be drilled. I learned from the Internet that the trucks are called "thumpers" or "VibraSeis". It's also possible to find the natural gas by blasting dynamite underground. This will create the necessary vibrations but it apparently can also cause problems with aquifers, water wells, and cracked foundations. We're glad they're doing it this way instead!

The next morning, the trucks made their way down County Road 22. Eventually they showed up at our house. Dad took these pictures.

He said that when standing near enough to take these pictures, he could feel the vibrations right through the ground. Here's a close-up of one of the trucks showing how it's all put together.


All three trucks are synchronized -- they put their platforms down together, wait together until some signal (computerized?) tells them that it's time to move on, then pull them up together and roll onward. In this picture, one of the trucks has its platform up a little bit ahead of the other two.
Here's a close-up of the platform that does the vibrating. It extends across the full width of the truk.
When they got done at our house, off they went down the road. The cable and sensors stretch all along County Road 22, over the county line into Madison County, and at least a mile farther up the road. If there is natural gas under the ground around here, these guys are going to find it. We hope they find it at our house!

Watch this space

for pictures and descriptions of the seismic testing the NatGas company is doing. The big trucks are about to go by our house. I'll take Pictures and Mom will write it up.

WalMart Sucks

An underemployed senior citizen I know was paying 27$ to fill a blood pressure prescription at the "local" pharmacy in Sherburne. He was pretty happy when he became old enough to get the senior citizen discount, reducing it to $25. Until he found out that he could get the same prescription filled at WalMart for $4.

How does Walmart get away with this? how can a local pharmacy owner get wealthy if he can't rip the faces off the local citizenry? It's an outrage.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

I'm off to spread manure.

Justin Case you wanted to know. After that, I'm going to smooth the ground where the feed truck will have to navigate tomorrow to bring feed to the dry cows and heifers, who are tired of being mentioned in the same breath, year after year. The heifers are, of course, young and hip and know where it's at. The dry cows, however, have been around the block a few times and look at the heifers as young and stupid. These are the trials of the dairy farmer. Managing and massaging disparate groups of animals into a cohesive whole that can function as a unit. I know it sounds like a bunch of psychobabble, but I assure you that each group of bovines must have its needs met. If there is a job description of a dairy farmer that is succinct and apt, it would be, simply, "Meeter of Needs."

I'm off to spread manure.

A Weather Report from Last Month

March

The calendar said winter's past
But still we ducked an icy blast.
we lived in worlds of snow and flood.
Of alternating ice and mud.
The world was grey, in tones of dust;
The sun departed, in disgust.
The calendar insisted, still.
We tapped the maples on the hill.
Their buds held pollen on the trees,
Delighting optimistic bees.
The sun peered out, then warmly spread
Green struggles in the tulip bed.
Then all the birds began to sing,
And,in the nick of time, came Spring.

Anne Frey

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

A Weather Report

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

- Robert Frost

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

A Must Watch

Dr. C. Bradley Thompson explains the injustice of the public school system, and advocates its complete abolishment, here. If you ask me, the public school system is, right now, the single greatest threat to freedom in this country. In the public schools, children are forcibly indoctrinated with collectivist, environmentalist, and anti-science ideas from age 5 to 18. It might not happen everywhere, but it sure as hell happened to me. Even if it didn't happen anywhere, the fact that the government is allowed the power to make it happen is wrong. Even if the public schools taught capitalism I would still be against them. Anyway, Dr. Thompson does a much better job explaining it than I could. I highly recommend taking the 59 minutes to watch this video.

Gmail Custom Time!

Check out Gmail's new feature that allows you to send e-mails with false timestamps. You have to be signed out in order to see it, and make sure that you click on the link.

Also, check the date.