Tagged: 2008 RSS

  • adam 13:31 on 2008/12/07 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, growing up, missile,   

    Old missile sites hold Cold War mystique – USATODAY.com 

    Old missile sites hold Cold War mystique
    Growing up in good old Westport, CT, I had always know that there were Nike missle sites in town – two to be precise. One of them was next to my high school and was the site of much exploration on the part of the students – and no, I’m not willing to discuss whether or not I participated until such time as any co-conspirators, if any, discuss it openly first. So there.
    You know that I myself find the concept of private parties buying said missile sites fascinating (here and here) – especially when they are puchased and turned into such interesting things as a diver’s training area or a hotel….
    So reading about it in on USA Today made me take a closer look at what happened to those sites – both in Westport and my new hometown, Milford. It turns out that former Nike missle sites are popular with the towns – probably because they get a lot of property that not many folks would be likely to buy….
    In Westport, the fight over installing the Nike sites became the basis of the film Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys!, starring soon to be residents Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The site next to the high school has been on the town property lists for a while, and they have, in the last few years demolished the above ground structures (it’s not clear if they filled in the silos and underground structures) and then built over at least part of the area to make a new middle school (which has the name of an old middle school from another part of town, but I don’t even want to talk about that arguably stupid naming decision).
    The other site in town is now the Rolnick Observatory, which I’ve been to a number of times and always forget what it was there for in the first place….
    In Milford, the sites are even more interesting: one is now apparently owned by the Board of Ed (I think for storage and office/facilities usage) and another is… well, I don’t know what it is now. It looks like it’s part of an office park, but what I find most interesting is that it’s about 1/4 mile from my house – one of my sons classmates lives across the road from it apparently. The things you don’t realize are around you….
    Anyone else have something like this near them?

     

  • adam 14:01 on 2008/12/01 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, bonus,   

    You don't see that every day…. 

    Five-figure bonuses stun Chicago plant workers
    CHICAGO – Dave Tiderman wondered if the decimal point was in the wrong place when he opened his $35,000 company bonus. Jose Rojas saw his $10,000 check and thought, “That can’t be right.”
    Wow, a company doing right by the people that got it where it is today. Go figure….

     

  • adam 09:03 on 2008/12/01 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, cd, , , , stupid   

    A waste of time? 

    Use_for_CDs.png



    Let me know what YOU think of it, ok?

     

  • adam 10:42 on 2008/11/10 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, ,   

    It’s taking a bit longer than I thought it would to put together my thoughts on our recent vacation to Disney World. What’s most surprising – but shouldn’t be – is that it took so long for the vacation to happen, then it was over before I felt it should begin. Coming back to work, in fact, sucked. But I’m sure you knew that.








    So, I’ve uploaded some photos from our trip. The whole album – all million or so photos – are available at the gallery, but only if you have the username and password. If you’d like it, let me know.

     

  • adam 11:16 on 2008/10/16 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , , blink, , , , john, johnmccain, , morse code, morsecode, , , , pow   

    Morse code, anyone? 

    I don’t recall why or when, but I used eBay to sell off my Bakelite Morse code telegraph key (very much like this one). I honestly don’t even remember WHY I had it – I just did. It was cool, especially since it also had the Morse code “key” right on it – making it easy to learn.
    I regret never learning Morse code. Sure, I know SOS (… — …) but that’s it. It was like French in high school – seductive, alluring, but out of my reach for reasons I didn’t understand. I understand now, but thanks to the internet, I don’t need to learn it.
    .- … -.- / .- -. -.. / –. — — –. .-.. . / .– .. .-.. .-.. / .–. .-. — …- .. -.. . .-.-.-
    But the point of this post? John McCain. If you’ve watched him in the debates recently, you might have noticed the same thing I did: he blinks. A lot.
    If you think about John’s service to this country – something that might have come up at some point in this election season – you’ll find that he was a POW. And one of the things that POW’s were often made to do – by coercion or even by simply breaking them – was to record a propagandized “confession.” In some cases, such as Jeremiah Denton, they were able to use Morse code to send a message to people watching the video. John McCain made one such message, although it apparently didn’t include a “secret” message.
    I bring this up because of the blinking. Is John McCain sending us all a message? There’s hours of footage of him talking, both at debates and just doing stump speeches and campaign stops. Does anyone have the time to look at a video or two and see if there’s a pattern? If we can get a “transcript” of his blinks, perhaps we can figure out his message to his “friends”….
    Interestingly, when I was writing this, a Google search on the terms “morse code pow film” and the first result was “Film Shows McCain’s Release as POW.” There is also a forum post on Snopes that discusses McCain possibly using Morse code during his propaganda film – apparently he didn’t.
    Over on Democratic Underground they discuss his blinkiness – and someone mentions Morse code there. They seem to be joking about it, but I don’t see any evidence out there that anyone has done any actual checking on this.
    Leaving the politics out of this for the moment, I think it’s an interesting challenge: look at his blinks and see if he’s sending a message – consciously or sub-consciously. While we’re at it, we could take a look at Barack Obama’s blinks, just to make things far.
    Anyone up for the challange?

     

  • adam 23:24 on 2008/10/03 Permalink
    Tags: 06460, 2008, el tigre, house, nature,   

    Unlike my children I have no problems with… 

    eltigre.jpgUnlike my children, I have no problems with bugs – if they’re outside, I’m in their space, if they’re inside, their in mine. In the first case, I swat to get away, in the second I seek and destroy.
    Spiders, on the other hand, are another issue. When I can, I escort them out of the house, and if they’re outside then I leave them be. Except for El Tigre.
    I had seen this abnormally large spider around the back yard for a few days in various spots – by the swings, by the small kids toy shed, and then most recently – and in his current spot – by the back porch light. His position was actually pretty good – not in my way, and since I knew he was there, I could try to not disturb him. And that was fine.
    Until I realized he was right underneath the porch light. The night I noticed him, I decided to throw him a bone in the form of leaving the porch light on longer than normal. Like for six hours. The moths loved it, but not as much as El Tigre – he had quite a feast that night. As you can see from the photo there, he’s in the middle of working on a little snack.
    I took this photo about two weeks ago, and since then his web has been destroyed and then recreated more than a couple of times – mostly due to varying bits of rainfall.
    When my sons Cub Scout Den came for our first meeting, I made a point of bringing them outside to check him out – they all got a kick out of him. Abby doesn’t like him too much, but Ethan likes to take a stool to the back door and try to look out and see what he’s doing – I think he considers El Tigre to be like the puppy that we refuse to buy him…

     

  • adam 09:58 on 2008/09/25 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , , , sarah palin, sarahpalin,   

    Palin treatment is not sexist: it's realist 

    Commentary: Sexist treatment of Palin must end
    Oh PLEASE. They’re not being sexist – they’re just afraid of what she’ll say when she opens her mouth. Why else have they been so controlling about her public appearances?
    I think that at this point in the campaign – especially with McCain now “suspending” his campaign to worry about the economy – we’re all past Caribou Barbie and pitbulls wearing lipstick. She gives bad interviews. Deal with it. Let’s move on to our failing economy, shall we?

     

  • adam 10:16 on 2008/09/16 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , , , , fey, , nbc, , , , snl, tina, tinafey, ,   

    Politics on TV, TV in Politics? 

    If you haven’t seen it yet, go over to NBC and watch the SNL skit with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hilary Clinton. Go on, I’ll wait.
    You liked it, right? Funny stuff. I’ve said for a while – although apparently not here – that I think that Palin and Fey look alike. Especially when Jen and I watched “Baby Mama” this weekend. Very funny movie, by the way.
    In other TV news…. The BBC has an article about how the current campaigns between Obama and McCain seem to mirror those found in the sixth season of the West Wing, when Arnold Vinick (played by Alan Alda) ran against Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits). They eerily mirror the current candidates, and many of the issues brought up in the tv campaign are being raised today. And while Vinick did choose a very conservative running mate, he did NOT choose “Caribou Barbie”. His loss.
    I wonder if the McCain camp has watched the West Wing election episodes to see who won? And if they did, are they aware of the outcome?

     

  • adam 12:31 on 2008/09/10 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , , , , , ,   

    Lipstick on a pig 

    Barack Obama recently described McCain’s gum-flapping about how he’s different from King Bush II as “Putting lipstick on a pig” – it may look better, but deep down, it’s still a pig. See the Urban Dictionary definition if you’re not sure I’m right. Or any of the thousands of pages that come up when you search the phrase.
    The problem is, as CNN points out….

    Sen. Barack Obama’s reference to “lipstick on a pig” has Republicans demanding an apology and Democrats accusing Sen. John McCain of a “pathetic attempt” to play the gender card.
    McCain’s campaign said Obama’s remarks were offensive and a slap at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin — despite the fact that the Arizona senator himself used the phrase last year to describe a policy proposal of Hillary Clinton’s.

    So if McCain says it, it’s ok, but if Obama says it, then he’s insulting Palin apparently – but mostly due to Palin’s recent remarks about Hockey moms and pit bulls.
    Whatever. The campaign should be about the issues, not the personalities. I look forward to the first – possibly only – Vice Presidential debate, if only to see just how much new knowledge the Republicans have managed to cram into Palin since they chose her….

     

  • adam 23:57 on 2008/09/09 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , , , ,   

    Republitards…. 

    2008_thursconvention.jpgLike many people, I have multiple email addresses. I’ve been having a small problem with one address – it’s apparently tied to some demographic profile of my wife and I, so I occasionally get crap sent to it. It’s one thing when it’s a local car dealership – at least it’s quasi-local, and makes some sense.
    But how is it that I am getting emails from the John McCain campaign, asking me for money? Technically, I’m an Independent voter – perhaps that’s why?
    I’ve commented before about the junkmail before, but this is the first time it’s invaded my Inbox. And I have to say that opening an email titled “57 Days Until Election Day” that allegedly comes from John McCain, and then finding his lying face in the message – that was a bit of a shock.
    Click here to donate to Barack Obama…..

     

  • adam 23:02 on 2008/09/06 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , , , ,   

    Not surprising, really….. 

    Since it was such a lovely day for driving today, I decided to go take care of a customer in New Haven. Initially I didn’t want to go, but they were having problems with their router since yesterday afternoon and were rather anxious to get online – a feeling I know all too well.
    Traffic was pretty light, considering Tropical Depression Hanna was on the way to destroy life as we know it. I had also just had the struts in the car replaced to alleviate a very expensive sound coming from their general vicinity, so I felt that I should do what I could to pay them off somehow.
    0906081147a.jpg
    About half way through West Haven – ironically near the location of the “Vagina” billboard * – I was passed by an SUV.
    As you can see, it’s a Hummer H3, one of the more fuel efficient vehicles in the Hummer line. Normally, the black ones don’t look to bad, but there was something different about this one. I don’t know if it was the brush guards, the “lived in” look that it had (like it had actually been driven off-road), or the vague sense that whoever was driving it had actually served their country and had spent more than a few months behind the wheel of a military Hummer. What I do know is that it stood out – more than a vehicle that gets approx. 14 mpg doing 70+ down the highway does. What you can see in the photo is an arrow pointing to where their lone bumper sticker is.
    What does the bumper sticker say?
    Should read 'Obama for President 2008'
    Now, I shouldn’t have been surprised that the person driving the fuel-inefficient vehicle on the road was a Republican, but somehow, I still was. From what I understand, a rather large percentage of the people serving in the armed forces are Republican, despite the fact that their Commander In Chief keeps putting them in harms way. Guess I still hold out hope for some people out there to have a decent head on their shoulders…..


    000073.JPG * When the “Vagina Monologues” came to New Haven, they paid for a billboard along I-95 in West Haven that said VAGINA in huge letters, and monologs much smaller. Obviously done to get attention, it made headlines across the state, and, to some extent, across the region. Panty-twisted conservatives across the nation got their panties twisted even more tightly, and there was much griping, complaining and gnashing of teeth. Jen and I went to the show and had a wonderful time. (top)

     

  • adam 11:33 on 2008/08/11 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , , bluefish, , , , pirate, weekend   

    A good weekend… 

    0810081041a.jpgOver the weekend, we went to go see the Bridgeport Bluefish take on the Long Island Ducks – and no, I’m not making the names up – honest. We got there early to meet up with the rest of our group – some other folks from my sons Cub Scout Pack – and so were in our seats and feeding children by the 6:05 game start (I got to mouth the National Anthem while waiting for a salad and some pretzels, I think). Thanks to our Pack leader, we got upgraded to seats that were just about on the field – and since we were behind home plate, it couldn’t get much better than that.
    A good tip for those going to a local, or “farm team” type game – go to your local AAA office for tickets or other specials. Our team offers Bluefish Bucks. AAA sells them at 0.85ยข for each $1 in Bluefish Bucks – so for the $85 I spent on Bucks, we got $100 worth of stuff at the game – well worth the extra effort to get the Bucks, especially since spending $100 at the park on food and “stuff” is insanely easy.
    Anyway, late in the 6th inning Ethan was being a bit… cranky. I decided to take him and walk around a bit, figuring that if he fell asleep while we were doing that (carrying him is a good way to make that happen, and the hooded sweatshirt he had on wouldn’t hurt), it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I had just gotten up to the walk way between the field seats and the cheap seats when I heard a ball being hit, followed by the crowd making the noise usually associated with a foul-tip that’s going into the stands. Seeing as how they’d knocked a few others in the same area, I started looking to see where everyone else was looking, then looking in that direction – to find the ball coming down about 20 feet in front of me. It bounced once, then bounced again a few feet in front of me, and then it was in my outstretched hand – I hadn’t really thought about it, just grabbed for the ball. It wasn’t until I felt someone behind me that I started to think about the fact that I was carrying Ethan at the time – had that been a MLB game, we might have been crushed in the frenzy to get the ball. That was close.
    I walked up some more steps to get to the top of the park, acknowledging all the “Good catch” comments, not really thinking about what I had done – I’m not a huge sports person, so it was more than a little surreal – when Cap’n Long Island (one of the mascots) approached me to sign the ball. He then asked me to stay put, and took the ball over to BB, the 7 foot tall bluefish, to get his signature. Ethan was a little put out by the ball disappearing at first, but when I explained what was happening, and then when we had the ball back and he could see it, he was ok with it – and a little excited about it, too.
    After walking around with Ethan for a bit, I returned, to find that Noah and his friend were both excited to see (aka touch) the ball. Ethan kept asking to hold it, but he also kept trying to throw it, so that didn’t last very long – clearly he had the wrong idea and was trying to help the umpire out with his dwindling supply of balls.
    The 9th inning gave us more excitement, but that was in the game itself: the Ducks managed to catch up the 5 runs they needed to tie the game, and then they managed to deny the Bluefish any runs in the bottom of the 9th. We ended up leaving at 10:15 or so, before the 10th inning started. We had wanted to stay for the fireworks, but with two kids asleep, two more on their way, and Jen scheduled to be at work at 7:00 the next morning, it wasn’t likely we’d be able to stay for that long – mirroring every other attempt we’ve made to catch a game that has fireworks after it. The closest that we’ve come is seeing the Connecticut Cutters fireworks from the parking lot after the game, and that was mostly obscured by trees.
    0810081649a.jpgSunday we went to some kid’s pirate themed birthday party. That some kid would, of course, be Logan, my “God-child.” I won’t get into the reason for the quotes there, so let’s just leave that alone for the time being. Ethan, having known about the Pirate theme for days, brought his own hat to fit in – and ended up being the only appropriately attired guest in attendance. Who knew?
    After dinner we went to the SBC Restaurant in Branford. We’ve always had a good time there, and this proved to be no exception: they had hired a magician to go from table to table, keeping the kids happy. This guy did a good job with some little tricks to keep the kids happy, then made a turtle, a sword and a mermaid out of balloons before moving on to another family. It’s safe to say that it was the first balloon mermaid he had ever made – and quite possibly his last….

     

  • adam 11:07 on 2008/06/16 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, june, , picts, plasq, skitch,   

    Just for fun….. 

    Cam
    Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

    This is me, trying to stay awake while things happen around me. Joy.
    Oh, and Skitch! is an interesting tool from plasq that allows you to do screen shots (or images captures right from your iSight or other camera), edit them, and the post them to the web. Right now I’m using their servers, but you can put it to flickr, .Mac (soon to be MobileMe), or right into your FTP account. It’s pretty cool to play with, and I’m finding more things to do with it each day. Go check it out!

     

  • adam 12:09 on 2008/06/01 Permalink
    Tags: 2008, , certified, , mail, , usps   

    USPS being slightly less than helpful… 

    USPS-track-confirm_thI came home from Noah’s baseball game yesterday to find a “Sorry we missed you” note from the fine folks at the USPS. It seems that someone is trying to send us a certified letter and no-one was home to sign for it. Now, for most people, the question becomes: who’s sending us a certified letter? And even more importantly, why?
    Did we inherit some money? Are we overdue on some bill? Is the town about to take our property and turn it into a park? Did my letter to the furnace maker have something close to the desired effect? Except for the last one, I’m not sure. The furnace maker actually had something in the mail that same day, telling me I was foolish for neglecting to include the serial number of our furnace. Silly me, thinking that if my name is the same as the one that paid for the dang thing, that they’d be able to look me up. But I digress.
    The problem here is that I can go to the USPS website and track the certified letter – it’s got it’s own tracking number and everything. But when you go to the page, you learn more about the letter and where it’s going than you do about where it’s supposed to end up. While I can see that this would be useful for the sender, it seems that having even the city and state that it’s coming from might also be helpful.
    For the sender, to maybe make sure they entered the 20 digit tracking number in properly (especially since it can be hard to read the handwriting on the little slip).
    For the recipient, to maybe give you a small clue as to who’s trying to get in touch with you. Granted, something like “New York, NY” might not tell you much, but it’s a little bit more than knowing that someone from somewhere is trying to send you some bits of paper and really wants to make sure you have it.
    But that’s just my thoughts on the matter.
    Oh, and Noah’s team won, in case you were wondering.

     

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