mrdubyah

01:49 pm - Verizon Omnia GPS - This is broken

OK, sometimes you just have to vent.  I recently got a Verizon Samsung Omnia.  This is a fabulous phone that I would recommend to anyone sufficiently techno-geek to figure out it's many WinMo eccentricities.   This phone, as its name implies, does it all.  It even has a built in GPS; a very important component for a handheld and one of the phone's highlights for me.  Unfortunately IT DOESN'T WORK!  On contacting Verizon, I found out that VERIZON INTENTIONALLY DISABLED IT!  The Verizon model of the phone does not allow the user to turn the GPS on (or off).  This can only be done by Verizon and they'll only do it  if you're willing to pay them $9.95 a month.  Even worse, once you pay them and they turn on your GPS (for a non-negotiable battery eating 4 hours) IT ONLY WORKS WITH THEIR CRAPPY VZ Navigator SOFTWARE!  This is unforgiveable.  It costs Verizon NOTHING for me to use a GPS I already own, in a phone I already paid for, using signals from satellites put in orbit by the US government.  If you own an Omnia, join the groundswell demanding that Verizon fix this problem.  If not, go check out the Omnia at your local Verizon store.  Admire its many wonderful features.  Then, tell them you'd buy it IF ONLY IT HAD A WORKING GPS and walk out.  Thanks for listening.

Current Mood: infuriated

12:27 pm - Alternative Energy

      Here's a photo I snapped on the road in Germany of solar panels on the roof of a residence and outbuilding.  These are very much in evidence all over Bavaria, but are scarce as hen's teeth in the US.  Asking around, I found out that the German government subsidizes these types of alternative energy installations with tax breaks and low interest loans.  We really need alternative energy sources and decentralized power generation like this here at home.  Tax incentives and low interest government loans could really help.  Still, I don't expect a lot of alternative energy programs like this from our legislators as long as they get so much of their financial support from big power lobbyists.  I suspect PG&E isn't very interested in having us generate a substantial share of our own power at home when the alternative is for us to buy our power from them.  Isn't it about time for us to devote as much effort to becoming the greatest nation in the world as we've been devoting to declaring ourselves the greatest?

03:38 pm - IE7 Aggravation

Microsquish blows it again.  If I start to post all the things I hate about IE7 this post will be way too long so I'll just rant about the ONE thing that happens to be annoying me at the moment; IE7's bad HISTORY handling.  First, the history button (like most of the other most convenient buttons) has gone missing.  If you search hard enough you'll discover that the dropdown arrow next to the forward arrow hides your history.  (That's right, to find your history, look ahead*).   Then, once you display the history, instead of getting the customary list of URLs you've visited, you get a list of every file you've ever opened including all the files on your hard drive!  This makes it incredibly inconvenient to review recent URLs.  So far, I have not found a way to make this stop (at least not in WinXP).  This looks to me like another ham handed attempt by MS to pretend that the browser is part of the operating system in another desperate attempt to force us all to use their brand name software.  Instead, it's just another MS failure and one more of the many reasons why I'm going to remain a faithful user of Firefox.  My employer requires me to use IE at work, but they can't make me like it (or consider it "good" software).  
There, I feel better now!

* This is no more Orwellian than the now familiar clicking of "Start" in order to shutdown.

07:52 pm - Crisp

Most people love the heat of a wood stove on a cold winter night but I also love the feeling of going upstairs at night when the woodstove is burning and the curtain is closed so the heat can't get up to the bedroom. The downstairs is toasty warm but the upstairs is crisp and cold and perfect for sleeping. It's a little uncomfortable at first while I get undressed and pull on a chilly nightshirt and, if it's really cold, maybe a night cap. But then I slip into bed under the comforter, quilt and blankets and the bed warms up quickly. That initial cold feeling reminds me of many places I stayed as a kid that were heated with wood stoves but had unheated bedrooms. It brings up memories of winter vacation trips to ski cabins and old houses without central heating and it reminds me of trips to Europe where there was often a heater only in the living area. It's very nostalgic. When I lived in the dorm at URI I had a room mate who liked to sleep with the window partially open every night. Thanks to him, it was always cold in our room at night and sometimes the snow blew in even though the dorms were notoriously warm with excess steam heat. To this day I have trouble sleeping in the summer when the room is too hot . That makes me long for nights like we've had this winter. Somehow it's just easier to sleep when the tip of your nose is just a little bit chilly and the flannel sheets are keeping the rest of you toasty warm.  G'night!

05:03 pm - Snow Witch

Here's that same stupid snowman I showed you last Easter, only this time he's ready for Halloween.  A bright orange projo bag does for a gown.  Remnants of a black plastic bag from the local package store make a cape and hat (held on with rubber bands) and a pencil with a couple of post-it notes poses as the witches broomstick.  Tricia added the little pumpkin bucket and voila, he's ready for another holiday season. 

04:38 pm - Milkweeds and Monarchs

     Years ago beetsie taught piano lessons to a young boy who's family was visiting this country from Japan.  His father was a research scientist studying in the area and the family was living in Providence temporarily.  While he had his piano lesson, his mother used to like to play with his younger sibling in the back yard.  We would occasionally take little nature walks together around the woods and fields behind our house.   Her english was limited and my Japanese was non-existent, but we found common ground admiring the beauty of nature together and sharing it with the children.  
     One day in late summer I found some milkweed plants in the back field.  They were filled with ripe and bursting pods.  I showed her how the pods contained thousands of tiny seeds on little silken parachutes and taught her to scatter the seeds to the skies by blowing on the pods.  We brought a handful of the pods up to the house and stood with the children outside the back door, blowing silvery milkweed tassels into the air.  The kids chased them across the yard, puffing vigorously and competing to see who could keep them afloat the longest.  It was a lovely afternoon.
     Ever since that day, milkweed plants have been growing outside the back door.  They're kind of pretty when young, and when they flower they fill the air with a sticky sweet perfume that makes my head spin.  As the season drags on they dry out though, falling apart and getting kind of unsightly, so we used to pull them up and throw them on the compost pile.  We don't do that anymore.  
     Several years ago, I gave beetsie a butterfly bush for our anniversary.  She used it to start a butterfly garden in the back yard.  Over the years she's expanded that garden to include not only butterfly bushes of varying colors but a full range of flowering plants.  They keep the back yard in bloom all summer long.  Last year, when we were about to pull the milkweed plants, she noticed that they were covered with caterpillars, munching away on the leaves and stems.  She realized that they were monarch caterpillars.  Monarchs are one of few insects that will eat milkweed.  Its milky alkaline sap is too bitter for other insects and mildly toxic.  It's one of the things that protects monarchs, by making them taste bad to insect eating birds.  We decided to leave the milkweed there so they could feed on it.  Pretty soon we found a chrysalis on a nearby twig (a sprig of rosemary in the herb garden).  Then we found another and another.  We watched them carefully and in a few days they completed their metamorphosis to emerge as winged beauties, setting off across the yard to the butterfly bush.  Now the butterfly garden is filled with monarch butterflys, sometimes a dozen or more at a time.  They're feasting on the blossoms and decorating the garden with their bright orange wings as they prepare for the remarkable journey ahead.  Soon they will fly away to the south, to congregate in the warm winds of Mexico together.  We wish them well on their journey.  You can follow along and help track them at http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/ if you'd like.  
     Now the milkweed plants are old and yellowed and broken, too withered and dry for caterpillars.  But they'll be back next year and so will the monarchs (we hope).  We'll be looking for them when the milkweed starts to grow and blossom again.  When I see them I'll be sure to think back to that summer afternoon when two people from opposite ends of the world chose to walk together and share a little bit of nature with a pair of laughing children. 

Current Mood: nostalgic

02:16 pm - Water

WATER
You've heard it before and you'll hear it again.  Let the water do the work.  All this rain makes me think of how this entire region was once powered by waterwheels.  This is the dam and spillway at the Ponaganset Reservoir.  Listening to all that water falling made me wonder why we aren't still turning turbines with it.  I recently had occasion, through a strange set of circumstances, to become peripherally involved in an archaeological investigation that included the water wheel at the Moffett Mill in Lincoln., RI.   The historic Moffett Mill is described at http://www.blackstonedaily.com/communities/lincoln.htm as follows:

Moffett Mill (1812)
The newly renovated Moffett Mill was a two-story building [and] is believed to be the first machine shop constructed in Rhode Island. Wagons, wheels, and shoelaces are just some of the products that were produced here. Resting along the Moshassuck River, on historic Great Road, this old mill now serves as a tourist attraction.

Well, as I said, I was peripherally involved in an archaeological investigation at the mill.  When the archaeologists got to the wheel, they found it was a turbine, probably one of the first drop turbines in the state, and most certainly the first drop turbine to power a machine shop.  The water turbine was much more efficient than its predecessor, the overshot wheel.  The one at Moffett Mill was extremely well preserved because it was packed so tightly in fine silt.  After documenting it, the decision was made to pack it back into the silt so the preservation can continue.  I'm pleased to know it's there, reminding us what we can do with nature if we are industrious enough. 

We really should get new drop turbines up and operational and start cranking out electricity.  We're wasting energy otherwise.  Beetsie and I walked part of the Blackstone Bikeway a few weeks ago and stood in awe of the power of the mighty river sending its waters roaring over the Ashton Dam.  Those waters once powered an industrial revolution.  They can do it again. 

12:07 pm - The coming of spring

There's been a snowman standing on the receptionist's desk where I work since before Christmas.  Last week, somebody decided it was time to update the decorations a little bit.  (Trish later confessed).  I think she did a fabulous job.  What do you think?

12:00 pm - Thanks.

By the way, many thanks to each of you for your kind thoughts and condolences.  It's good to hear from you and we appreciate your comments.  We'll miss Rupert a lot, but life goes on.  I guess now we can take a vacation and not worry about who'll care for the dog!

11:04 am - Eulogy

Ok, I know.  He was only a dog.  Let's not get too carried away.  Still, I couldn't resist the urge to write down a few Rupert rememberances.  If you want to, you can read them, but they're kind of lengthy, so I've put them behind the cut.  If you feel up to it, read on.

08:43 pm - Lost a best friend.

Today beetsie came home to find that Rupert, our beloved pet and friend of 15 years had fallen and couldn't get up.  He was old and weak and apparently had dislocated his front shoulder.  His hind quarters have long been next to useless through atrophy and arthritis.  He was in pain and in shock so we took him to the vet where katrinkles joined us.  After some deliberation we all decided that what he needed most from us was for us to be strong enough to let him go.  We all stood around and petted him and told him what a wonderful dog he was.  He pulled himself up through the discomfort to give us little doggie kisses on the hand and say goodbye.  It hurt like hell letting go.  I took a picture, but chose not to show it here.  That's not how I want to remember Rupert.  Here is is (left) out for a walk in the woods.  That was his great joy in life and the best way to remember him. 

RIP Rupert "Doozer"
7/12/91 - 2/23/07

05:07 pm - A couple of hot links

To see the rest of my crappy cellphone pictures of my trip to American Samoa, visit my Flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/mrdubyah or view a video of Ian and I sledding on the lower 40 at www.ianw.org .

12:09 pm - Sunrise

Crappy cellphone camera shot of sunrise at Wakiki in Honolulu where I'm laying over temporarily en route to American Samoa.  The mountain in the right center is the famous Diamond Head, an extinct volcanic crater that looms over the beach.  Sorry I can't show you the beach, but it's on the other side of the tower where I'm staying.  I'm at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Spa and Beach Resort, in the Kalia Tower.  We have a few hours today before we need to catch the flight to AS and plan to do some touring.  One of our party has a car for the day.  This may be my last post for awhile as I'm not sure about access in AS.  Had to pay $4.95 for an hour of access here to get this post up.  Off to hotter climes!

12:42 pm - 14.5 minutes left

Well, the story did air last night on ABC's local affiliate.  You can see it here.  Overall, it's a pretty good summary, albeit pumped up a bit in the classic style of TV news.  Thanks Elyce!

12:33 pm - Slow news day

    Today I had the honor of being interviewed by the lovely and talented Elyce Kirchner of WLNE news (left).  It must be a slow news day.  Last night we (Maguire) had a public workshop in East Greenwich at which we presented  the Town Council and interested citizens with some of our ideas on how to manage access along Route 2 (South County Trail) in the face of intense development pressure.  Elyce was there and decided to do a story on the meeting. 
    This morning she called and dropped by to interview me about our ideas and the public reaction to them.  She obviously understands the issues involved and asked clear and intelligent questions.  I described key recommendations like a new "backage road" (as opposed to a frontage road) to relieve traffic on Route 2 and a roundabout at Middle Road to eliminate an existing signal.  She asked about the public reaction and I described it as generally positive, although there were some concerns voiced about roundabouts.  People who remember driving an old rotary are quite wary of these new roundabouts. 
   As long as nothing important happens to preempt the air time, the story should air on WLNE (Providence Channel 6) at 6:00 PM tonight.  Here's hoping for a continued slow news day!

12:29 pm - Let 'em lie

Dogs really like to sleep on the couch!

01:12 pm - Ghosts of Christmas Past

I was doing the retail thing the other day and found myself in the vicinity of the North Burial Ground.  For some reason I was drawn to drop by and visit the family plot.  Long ago an ancestor donated this plot of land to the City for use as a cemetery.  The donation required that space be provided for his descendants.  As a result, the mortal remains of several generations of my family are interred here.  The photo at right shows the family plot with my grandfather's marker in the foreground.  The flag is there because he was a WWI veteran.  My grandmother's ashes are buried next to him while those of her parents and other antecedants are arrayed around the big stone in the background.  It occurs to me we've never added her name to the monument.  I made a mental note to add that to my list of things to do someday.

09:27 pm - First Snow

     This morning I awoke to the first snowfall of the season.  Many people hate snow but I love it.  Just once I'd like to hear the weather forecast say: "great news, we've got a big snowstorm on the way and it's going to be incredibly beautiful outside tomorrow".  I think the unseasonably warm weather was affecting people adversely around here.  I've been doing stupid things like locking my keys in the car and leaving things behind in people's conference rooms after meetings.  Many of my friends report similar difficulties.  After the leaves change color and drop off it's supposed to get cold.  Instead, it's been in the sixties pretty consistently around here.  It's been weird and somewhat un-nerving.  I'm just not used to working in the garden in November.  Maybe now that the seasons have finally changed things will go back to normal. 
     My street was a winter wonderland this morning (see right).  Darned if that didn't bring on just the tiniest touch of holiday spirit.  Now we're going to need several more good snow falls if I'm going to start cross-country skiing out back again. 

10:01 pm - Route 1 Student Presentation

I had the pleasure last night of attending a public workshop conducted by URI Landscape Architecture students. Their topic was the Route 1 corridor in North Kingstown, between Route 102 and Route 4. They did a nice little presentation on the corridor, accompanied by some striking visual aids, and then conducted a very effective "round-robin" of activities to solicit people's opinions on the corridor. All in all it was quite well done and very effective. It's too bad more people didn't show up to participate. Click the image to check out a couple of other crappy phone pictures I shot at the meeting.

11:56 pm - LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES LIES

This evening I was subjected to a push poll by the Harrah's casino people that removed any doubts I might have had about voting against the casino. This purported "opinion poll" included innumerable obvious lies about the nature of the proposed constitutional amendment. Carefully phrased as questions, these were designed to make the casino sound wonderful and to make its opponents sound evil.  The interviewer read me about 20 statements (mostly untrue) about all the good things a casino would bring to RI and asked if I agreed or disagreed.  E.g., "The casino will generate 2,000 high paying jobs for Rhode Islanders" and "The casino will bring the state $144 million in property tax relief".  Then she read me half a dozen statements about what slimeballs and cronies the supporters of Save Our State were and asked if I agreed or disagreed. E.g. "SOS members are just insiders trying to protect their own interests." Strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree.

This is called push polling and is illegal in many states (but not in Rhody). It should be made illegal here too. I consider it a sign of the desperate lengths to which Harrah's will go to get it's way on the casino vote. I also consider it a sign of desperation. They must realize they're going to lose big. The last time a casino went to a vote in RI we voted it down 2:1. I predict we'll do it again.

My message to Harrahs: Calling people up and lying to them while pretending to conduct an opinion poll is very likely to backfire. It just helps confirm the impression that you are dishonest, slimy little weasels who'll do anything to get your way. You may have bought our state legislators, but you can't buy the voters. Go back to Vegas and leave us alone.