“The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealised past.” – Robertson Davies, “A Voice from the Attic”, 1960
Friday, February 17, 2012
SciTech Academy Awards
Here is a nice photo of Lynne and me at the Scientific and Technology Academy Awards where Vision Research was recognized with a Scientific and Engineering Award for our digital high-speed cameras used in motion picture production. More of the story and more photos are on Lynne’s blog.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 02/17/2012 at 07:48 AM
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Friday, November 18, 2011
Immature Bald Eagle
On our walk the other day, I shot this picture of an immature bald eagle.
Posted under: New Jersey • by Rick on 11/18/2011 at 12:41 PM
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Tuesday, November 01, 2011
The Big Snow
It doesn’t have a name like “Irene”, but the Big Snow of October, 2011 deserves one and I can’t put it on this blog and keep it family-friendly. The Big Snow actually happened while we were away on a couple of days of vacation in New Mexico. We came home the day after the Big Snow, and had no problems with flights or getting to the house.
But, we came home to a massive power failure. By the time we got home the electricity had been off for almost 24 hours. There was 15 or so inches of snow on the ground. Trees were down everywhere.
The first action Lynne took once we got home, to her credit, was to locate the fire extinguishers. I guess she knew that we’d be turning our kitchen into the equivalent of a bomb factory within minutes. I found the two butane camp burners we have, and I managed to create a small butane explosion within a few minutes, singeing the hair on my hands. And, I carefully filled the oil lamps which could be turned over with the swish of a dog tail.
Still, we managed to successfully cook some spaghetti for dinner and lived through it.
We picked up the dogs on Monday morning and did some minimal shopping. Most shops were without electricity and closed. I learned that there are three things that sell out immediately: D-cell batteries (for flashlights and lamps, I assume), matches, and jugs of water. There may be others, but those are the ones we needed and had trouble finding.
Luckily, from our preparations for Irene, we still had about 15 gallons of fresh water stored and had located lamps, lanterns and flashlights as well as candles. The only thing we had used up was the Gentleman Jack.
Water is an issue. We need water to occasionally flush the toilets, and for drinking, cooking and cleanup. We did manage to buy about 8 gallons of fresh water and we are melting snow into buckets, so we should be good for a few days.
It is cold in the house, but we have a nice fire going continuously in the wood stove and we have a kettle of water on top of it for hot water. Sleeping under a double layer of covers and next to a dog and cat helps us keep warm at night.
Of course, living without electricity is a pain. We have to manually open the garage doors, there is no heat, no light, etc. And, we had to buy a percolator for coffee as well as ground coffee (we usually grind beans).
Thanks to those of you who have inquired about us. We are surviving. It took a while this morning, but I did make it to work where it is warm, I can recharge the mobile appliances, and I even was able to take a nice hot shower (poor Lynne.)
We are expected to have electricity between Wednesday and Friday. We can see the down line on the street below the house (but, that might not be the only one.)
Lynne has photos on her site.
Posted under: New Jersey • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 11/01/2011 at 10:38 AM
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Hanging Out in the Drug Store
The other day I needed to fill a prescription. On my way home I drove by our local RiteAid and got that process started. I don’t often hang out in drug stores, and as I waited I was fascinated by all the products they sell to help people deal with ailments (real or imagined). The array of diet products was amazing. They had things to kill pain and other things that looked like they would inflict pain. They had stuff to help you pee and help you not pee. Fascinating!
But, the display that I studied the most was a rack of about six shelves, near the pharmacy checkout.
The top couple of shelves contained personal lubricant products. There were products for guys and products for women. Some were meant to stimulate, others to kill stimulation. Strawberry, edible, jars, bottles and squeeze tubes. They came in colors ranging from gray to purple. There were “jellys” and there were “oils”.
Just under that display were the condoms. I have not spent time studying the condom selection in a drug store since I was in college and things have not changed too much. Still, way too much choice in my opinion. They come in every color you can imagine. Flavored, ribbed, even large and x-large (none were advertised as “small”.) Boxes with three and boxes with three dozen. I’m hoping they don’t expire.
And, just under that were two shelves of birth control test kits.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 10/19/2011 at 06:54 AM
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Sunday, October 02, 2011
Heading Home
On Saturday morning we were up at 6:00 and had everything and everyone packed and in the truck by 7:30. The final checklist was done: flues, heat, water, propane, rat traps 
We stayed at our regular “trip home” place in Council Bluffs, Iowa on Friday night. There is a Hardy’s there where we can eat 2000 calories in one sitting.
Up at 6:00 on Sunday and on the road by 7:15 or so. We had gassed up the night before, so a coffee and breakfast sandwich at MacDonalds got us launched.
Tonight we are just inside Ohio and also gassed up and ready to take off in the morning. We are waiting on a delivery pizza from Tano’s. It is always comforting to stay in the same places and even eat the same things as we travel. Takes away some of the stress. We even stop at the same rest stops for dog pees.
We’ll be out of here around 7:00 tomorrow and home around 4:30.
No real news from here, just wanted to finish these series of posts with a final summary.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 10/02/2011 at 05:40 PM
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