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Aerie Report, April 22, 2012

Friday morning Terry and I herded the kittehs into their travel cases and hustled them down to the veterinary clinic on Route 6 to get their annual check-ups and their rabies shots. As usual, we had closed all the doors heading to any and all extra rooms and the basement so as to limit their escape routes. Even so, it's amazing how slinky and fast they can be when they sense something is afoot. Took us ten minutes to corral the little buggers.

As expected, Chester gained some weight. He is now officially over 20 pounds of pussy cat. His sister is slightly less as she topped the scales at a smidge over 17 pounds. (Next to her BIG brother, she doesn't look that big at all.) Julie, the grand dame of the group at nearly 11 years of age, lost a couple of tenths of a pound and is around 9 pounds. That wasn't much of a surprise as I had noticed lately that, despite finishing up everyone's moist food every day, Julie was more skin-and-bone-ish than the other two. That is, when she cuddles up to you and you start scratching her, you can actually feed her shoulder blades, ribs and spine. With the other two all you get is fur and fat. (Chester would make a good raccoon. He could probably turn 180 degrees inside his skin if he needed to.)

All three are fine otherwise. Chester purred the entire time the vet was checking him out and even while she gave him his shots. He then sat at her feet as Shadow went through the same routine. (She didn't purr and only hissed once when the second needle went in.) Julie tolerated the exam and the shots and willingly went back in her carry case on her own before turning to me and swatting at my hand as I fastened the door.

The trip was eventful in the usual way as none of them love being in the car and are not afraid to vocalize their displeasure. Chester and Shadow add to their protest in ways that would make the Occupy crowd proud; i.e. they foam at the mouth, and piss and poop in their cages. Good thing it's only a six mile trip to the vet's.

******

Shortly after we returned back at the Aerie, Terry took off for New Jersey to attend a baby shower and a stitching class while staying at her Mom's house and I was left alone with the beasts. Lucky for me, the shots they got make them lethargic. Besides Julie's occasional demand for some cuddle time, I've been left alone.

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Saturday there was an Earth Day event at Mill Cove Environmental Area over in Tioga. I was there as a representative of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society. I had some blue bird houses and Audubon hats for sale as well as free printed information on places to bird and bird checklists. I set up my digiscoping equipment (a small digital camera attached to a spotting scope) and had my usual telephoto camera as well as binoculars and bird books. I also had information about the eel project.

The weather didn't cooperate as much as it could have. After several weeks of virtually no rain, the damn stuff showed up around 10 AM with a fast hitting torrential downpour and reappeared sporadically during the day. Coupled with what seemed like a swift temperature drop, folks were shivering by mid afternoon. (I checked the trucks thermometer and the temp did drop, but only about 10 degrees to 50 degrees. It just felt like more.) Attendance was knocked down by the out of the way location and the weather--mostly the weather--but it wasn't bad for a first time event. (Previous years it was held at Mansfield University and that really limited the kinds of activities that could be held.)

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Saturday I snuck out to the Mainesburg Methodist Church for dinner. It was the guys turn to do the cooking and they served up some baked fish, ham, sweet potatoes, beets and creamed corn as well as some great deserts. It was well worth the money and, despite having to go alone, I ran into several folks I know from around town and elsewhere.

Later Saturday night the sky opened up in earnest and we got some very heavy rainfall as well a further drop in the temperatures. It stopped raining somewhere around 3 AM but the temperatures haven't done any rising. As a result, I spent some time restocking the firewood in the garage and putting some of it to use in the fireplace. Currently it's foggy as heck out there and I can hear some sleet rattling against the windows. The weather service has a winter storm watch for northern and western PA. This warning will extend through the night and much of tomorrow. "Significant" snow accumulation is possible in the Laurel Highlands which start around the Pine Creek Gorge area and head west from there. (Points in the Allegheny National Forest to just east of Buffalo, NY could see a foot of snow.) If we are lucky, it will stay just to our west and we'll get nothing but rain. But if the darn thing shifts a tiny bit to the east, we could certainly be looking a several inches of snow. And with many trees just starting to spread their leaves, that could prove disastrous. Terry is heading home this evening and should beat the worst of it, but she better be careful on the higher elevations between Williamsport and here on Route 15.

******

That's about it from the Aerie.

Oh, one more thing: Don't forget Portland's Mayoral Madness and vote for Jody!

Mayoral Madness

Oh my, Tim Hutton has pulled ahead of Jody in the Mayoral Madness Finals.

 Seems the production crew of Leverage has been spreading street money and calling it "hiring extras!" We know what it is, however, good old fashioned vote buying! Jody doesn't go that route! She's as ethical as can be and a real straight shooter. Her word is her bond.

So don't get taken in by the smooth talking, flim-flam artist, Timothy Hutton! Vote Jody!

And remember: You can vote once a day every day through Monday at 8 PM (PDT) when the polls close.

Well, what are you waiting for? GO! VOTE!

Mayoral Madness, Portland, OR

It's the Finals in Willamette Week's Mayoral Madness. It's actor Timothy Hutton vs. Jody Stahancyk, a divorce lawyer and my daughter-in-Law's boss. Go here to vote for Jody and go back every day to vote again until it's over.

It's Time to Vote Some More.

The polls have opened (again) in Portland's Mayoral Madness of the Willamette Week.

My daughter-in-law's boss, Jody Stahancyk, has made it to the Final Four. She needs your vote(s) to move on to the Final. You can vote once each day through the closing of the polls on Monday at 8 PM (PDT).

So go here to vote Jody!

Vote Jody!

Portland, Oregon is doing something different.

Okay, that's not news. They are always doing something different in Portland, Oregon. What is different is that they (and by "they" I mean the Willamette Week) are having a mock mayoral election. Because, you know, their current mayor hasn't been mocked enough. (The current mayor, Sam Adams, may have made a great beer when he was back in Boston, but the waters of the Willamette have messed up his thinking.)

They ran this election as though it were the NCAA basketball championship, brackets and all. They call it "Mayoral Madness". Things have progressed to the Elite Eight contestants.

I bring this up because my daughter-in-law's boss, Jody Stahancyk,is one of those contending for a place in the Final Four.

It's all in good fun and you can help. Go here and Vote Jody into the Final Four!

Kristen and Rich got married!

Saturday morning Terry and I drove into New Jersey to help celebrate the wedding of our niece, Kristen to her long time boyfriend, Rich. They had tied the knot on 11-11-11 but held the "reception" on the 19th.

Blue Ice Sculpture

Table Centerpiece

Rich & Kristen

Rich & His Mom, Kristen & Her Dad, Al

Mrs. Seraphine and her husband

Ruthann with Sandy (Kristen's Mom and sister)

The food was great, the bar was open, and folks had a fantastic time on the dance floor.

Dancing!

Dancing!

A traditional three tier cake...

Rich is a volunteer fireman.

...with a special decoration.

The crowd was actually pretty tame for having numerous volunteer firemen! (And Ryan, Sandy's husband.) Ruthann must have intimidated them!

A good time was had by all!

Things Seen on the Road

Driving around the other day I spotted a Nissan Cube.


It's one fug uckly box of a car but the one I saw made me smile just the same. The vanity plate read: "Rubiks"

******

This morning a truck parked in Mansfield had one of these on the rear bumper:



All I could think was, "No. Haven't got any in the freezer...yet,"

Rainy Day Activity

So it's a rainy day and you've got nothing else to do. Perhaps you've been lucky at your penny ante poker night and you've got lots and lots of pennies laying around. Or maybe you've just got a jar full of pennies from your pocket change--or your kids piggy bank. If so, you can explore the wonderful world of civil engineering. "Huh?" you say? "Yeah!" says I. Here's an inspirational web site that does just that: Pictures of Pennies



Looks like fun as well as educational. There's lots and lots of photos of things from towers to bridges to build out of several dollars worth of pennies or poker chips or other disk shaped objects.

Got this via email...

They say riding a bike is a skill you never forget once you've learned how. THis guy takes bike riding to a whole new level(s).

As the email said: "I wonder what his Mother must be thinking when the says he is just going off to ride his bike!!!"

To Blog or Not to Blog

That is the question!



Tell me you can listen to this and not have 1) our toes a-tapping and 2) the tune running through your head when he's done.

(h/t to Miss Cellania)

Just for Fun

Saw this video of one of the best Rube Goldberg devices ever. Over at The Speculist and thought you might enjoy this do-nothing machine. (Kinda like the Democratic Congress.)

Hogwarts Faculty Member?

DSC00701.JPG
Originally uploaded by lieutfaber

While Terry and I traveled to Baltimore to visit Rick, Jessica, dressed appropriately, attended the sale of Harry Potter's latest tale at midnight Friday.

A fine weekend in Baltimore

http://search.cityguide.aol.com/baltimore/bars/kocos-pub/v-102384502/reviews
http://www.kocospub.com/menu.htm
Friday we met Rick at the motel just off I-695 and drove downtown for dinner. I had told him I wanted crab—I mean why else go to Baltimore—and he took us to a little place called Koco’s Pub.


Last year we had stopped at a place on the south side of town that specialized in whole crabs. You bought a half dozen or a dozen and they steamed them with lots of Old Bay seasoning and served them on a bed of salt. Way too much salt for even my taste and I like my chips and pretzels saltier than the Dead Sea! I don’t remember now if I had two or three beers with my dozen crabs but I do remember my lips and tongue tingling for two days afterwards. Koco’s was ten times better!

It’s not a fancy restaurant by any means and parking can be a problem. It’s just a friendly neighborhood tavern with a few tables to serve meals. But what meals! Instead of whole crab, they specialize in crab cakes. Their crab cake platter was served up with fries and cole slaw had one HUGE crab cake the size of a softball and consisting of lump meat that must have come from at least three giant crabs and maybe half a dozen medium sized blue claws. There was virtually no filling of peppers or bread and just enough batter to hold the thing together. Delicious!

If you’re ever in Baltimore and want some great crab cakes, this is the place to go.

After dinner, Rick took us up to Druid Hill Park so we could get a view of the city. Druid Hill is one busy place! Basketball players, joggers, cyclists, tennis players and picnickers were numerous. The view was extensive, but the Inner Harbor was hidden by several small hills.


On Saturday morning we drove down to the Inner Harbor to go to the National Aquarium. (Why does it cost so much to get into the National Aquarium, yet the National Zoo (like all of the Smithsonian exhibits) is free? Perhaps it’s because it is NOT a government run operation. Who owns the land and building, and who directs the Aquarium? )

Inside, we enjoyed the special exhibits of Australia and of the Tropical Rainforest. They have recreated the environments of both areas in walk-through fashion. The Australian exhibit starts with some aboriginal pictographs:


(For those who may be Disc World fans, I didn’t spot any pictographs of kangaroos or wizzards.)
Both exhibits had aviaries where birds were free to fly. The rain forest featured this ham who perched right along the side of the walkway in bright sunlight so you couldn’t miss seeing him.


Taking pictures of fish, turtles or frogs through the glass would have been possible, I suppose, but I didn’t even think to do so. Sorry.
After several hours of watching the fish swim around and around, peering through glass cases to spot the colorful poison arrow frogs, and dodging the birds in the aviaries, we emerged into the bright daylight to walk along the Inner Harbor for a bit.
Lots of people gathered around the outdoor performance area to watch some kind of break dancing display.

Others were renting paddle boats to venture out on the water. The most popular paddle boats were shaped like Dragons. I suppose they were supposed to be Chessie, but they looked more like Champy (from Lake Champlain) to me.


Other folks were just waiting for the water taxi to take them on a tour or to simply cross the Harbor. Or they were enjoying the sunshine and watching the boat traffic which included this sternwheeler.

We stopped at the Tír na nÓg Irish Bar & Grill for lunch. From there, we could overlook all the Inner Harbor activities yet have a quiet glass of ale with our meal.

After lunch we walked back to The Power Plant, home of ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Café and Barnes & Noble. We were looking for some books, so you can guess which of the three we went to.

No, we were not in search of Harry Potter’s latest adventure. I know where I can lay my hands on a copy of that. From a Hogwarts Faculty Member?

Next on our agenda was some more park hopping. First up was Patterson Park to see the most unusual Pagoda. Unfortunately, the building was closed. Apparently it is only open on Sunday. Oh well.

The park area served as a gathering point during the War of 1812 and from the vantage point of Hampstead Hill where the pagoda now stands, folks could allegedly see the glow from the fires of the nation’s capital and the bombardment of Fort McHenry.

However, by 1861 when the Civil War threatened to dissolve the Union, all parks and open spaces were earmarked for troop occupation. Camp Washburn was established. Later, a hospital, Camp Patterson Park, was set up. Once again, Hampstead Hill was a strategic military lookout and fortification.

From Patterson Park, we drove back through the center of the city and south to Fort McHenry. It was, of course, the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814, during the War of 1812, that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” that became our National Anthem.

”…O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? …” YES!

The Francis Scott Key Bridge viewed from Fort McHenry.

Next up was Federal Hill Park on the south side of the Inner Harbor. Like almost every high point of land, this flat-topped hill served as a strategic lookout during the Revolution and the War of 1812. It was occupied by Federal troops during the Civil War. Their purpose was to ensure Baltimore behaved and remained in the Union. If Baltimore, and the rest of Maryland, succeeded in seceding, Washington, D.C. would have been isolated. Today, the Hill provides a lovely view of the Inner Harbor and the Outer Harbor.


By the time we left Federal Hill Park, it was time for dinner. We went down to the Rusty Scupper located on the south shores of the Inner Harbor and under the shadows of federal Hill and enjoyed another excellent meal while looking out over the Harbor.

Looking Northwest from Federal Hill across the Inner Harbor to Downtown Baltimore.

Looking to the Northeast across the Inner Harbor from Federal Hill. The partially red building just to the left of center is the Rusty Scupper.

After dinner, Rick drove us back to our motel, where Terry and I took a quick dip in the pool before turning in for the night.

Sunday morning, Rick showed up with some things he wanted us to take back to the Aerie. He has just two weeks remaining in his summer post with Baltimore youths and then he is off to Guyana with WorldTeach to teach high school math.

Terry plays the proud Mom to Rick’s “aw, shucks” Son.

Things couldn’t have been smoother on our drive back to the Aerie. It’s just about 220 miles from the motel at which we stayed (maybe 10 miles from the Inner Harbor) to the Aerie. But we did have some anxious pussycats demanding to know where-the-heck we had been and insisting they be fed…NOW!!..when we opened the door.

It was a great weekend and the weather couldn’t have been better. Hazy, hot and humid days departed for the three days we were in the city but promise to return by Tuesday so I guess we lucked out.

Make your own GIANT Cadbury Crème Egg.

Step by step instructions for a sinful snack(?). (More like a meal for 10.)

A Cadbury Crème Egg the size of a football. You’ve got to see it to believe it.

The vital statistics:
Standard creme egg : Height : 2" Girth : 4" Weight : 40 g Calories : 175
Creme de la creme egg : Height : 8". Girth : 16.5". Weight : A whopping 2.25 kg!! Calories : estimated 10000!!

Hey it’s ONLY 10000 Calories.


At Pimp That Snack.

It’s coming! Are YOU ready?

No, I’m not talking about Global Warming.
(This one is for you, Mary Jo.)

Pi Day will be celebrated Wednesday, March 14th. Are you ready? (For the record, I believe some of the folks cited in the article have just way too much time on their hands. Or perhaps it's a result of long winters and cabin fever. THAT I can understand.)

This is a story about love. About inscrutable complexity and remarkable simplicity, about the promise of forever. It is about obsession and devotion, and grand gestures and 4,000-word love letters.

It is about a curious group of people with an almost religious zeal for a mind-numbing string of numbers. Actually one number, made up of a chain that is known _ so far _ to be more than one trillion digits long.

They are the acolytes of the church of pi.

Some go to great lengths to prove their devotion to this simple yet elegant number.

This is how Akira Haraguchi, a 60-year-old mental health counselor in Japan, puts it: "What I am aiming at is not just memorizing figures. I am thrilled by seeking a story in pi."

He said this one day last fall after accurately reciting pi to 100,000 decimal places. It took him 16 hours. He does not hold the Guinness world record, only because he has not submitted the required documentation to Guinness. But he has his story.

(Incidentally, the world record belongs to Chao Lu, a Chinese chemistry student, who rattled off 67,890 digits over 24 hours in It took 26 video tapes to submit to Guinness.)

Even at 100,000 decimal places, Mr. Haraguchi has a way to go. Pi is a non repetitive (so far as we know) decimal expressing the ratio of the diameter of a circle and its circumference.

Supercomputers have computed pi to more than a trillion decimal places, looking always for a pattern to unlock its mystery. And for centuries the number has fascinated mathematicians.

That’s one trillion decimal places. 1,000,000,000,000 decimal places.

There are logical gathering places for people like this, and one of them is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where, on March 14, students have been known to wish each other _ out loud _ a happy Pi Day.

The school plays a role in encouraging this: In the past it has tried to mail its acceptance letters on March 14. (It didn't work out this year. And last year, when an MIT official wrote on an admissions blog that it probably wouldn't work out then either, he was greeted with disappointment. "Pi Day seems so romantic," one prospective student wrote.)

There's a popular chant, an MIT rallying cry, that includes "3.14159." (It rhymes with "Cosine, secant, tangent, sine!"

A bit nerdy perhaps…okay, VERY nerdy.

Beer Cannon

A magnificent weekend project guaranteed to raise testosterone levels and wake up the neighborhood: a beer cannon! And the videos are cool.

At Innocent Bystanders via LauraW. over at Ace of Spades