“Karmageddon: It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.”
Monday, June 04, 2012
Monday Chores
Today, we plan to do some cleaning and laundry. Then, a long walk to the pond with the dogs. And, finally, a lazy afternoon.
Yesterday, we drove to the Snowy Range where we had a picnic lunch and the dogs played in the snow and cold water at 11,000 feet. I got some slow motion shots of waterfalls that I will post soon.
In the mean time, here is another shot of Bella running. Note how her tongue flops up and down with each stride. This is one second of real time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 06/04/2012 at 07:57 AM
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
The End of the Season
I just ate my last Thin Mint cookie for the year. Another season gone.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 04/12/2012 at 06:46 AM
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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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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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