January, 2005

2005.01.30–Alfred, Ohio. Notes on the election in Iraq. Violence was present but not beyond expectations. Unfortunately, some politicians apparently feel that an election equates to freedom. That is probably pretty simplistic thinking. Not so long ago Thomas Jefferson said:

An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight. It is therefore imperative that the nation see to it that a suitable education be provided for all its citizens.

Jefferson probably studied the problem in far greater detail than contemporary politicans. It seems more likely to me that we may be attempting to get the cart before the horse. Nonetheless, I hope it all works out and that peace quickly follows.

2005.01.28–Alfred, Ohio. “…when the rivers all run dry…” Not a good sign as I recall. The Hocking, Little Hocking, and Ohio rivers are all lower now than I have seen them. The Ohio river is no longer navigable and hasn’t been for days (up to twelve feet below normal levels). Four barges sank and blocked five of the eight gates at the local dam. Two of the gates remain stuck open. They can not stop the water from flowing out. It has been that way since the flood. Between the 7th and the 28th of this month, I have seen the water both higher and lower than ever before. In Coolville, I think that the old dam is beginning to show. There are also ripples in the Hocking river that I’d never seen just off U.S. Route 50. Guess what happens when there is no water in a river right after all of the surrounding ground has been flooded for a couple of weeks? The support for the surrounding supersaturated land is gone and it slips into the void… roads and all. Road closed signs are going up everywhere. Who can wait to see what unfolds in February?

Another dispatch from Boston. A memory, frozen in time, for his grandchildren. What a story!

January 28

It was -2 degrees without the wind chill this morning when I was walking to the train. 45 minutes later, a train showed up. It was so full that I had to stand next to the door. There was so much snow in the door, it would not close. I had to ride the whole way standing next to an open door with the temperature below zero outside. I got on the subway, 45 minutes late, and then got off at my station. I started to walk the three blocks to work. I got about 2.5 blocks into my walk and realized that I dropped a glove. I walked back to the subway station and found my glove then walked back to work. I got to work one hour late. Oh yeah, and I am paying $150 a month to ride the train…

HINT to Steve: try getting to the station two minutes earlier.

2005.01.25–Natick, Ma. Dispatches from special correspondent Steve in Boston.

January 23

As of 8:30 AM:
2.5 Feet of snow
Hurricane force winds
Ocean is flooding the streets of Boston
3 inches an hour expected all day.

Steve cold…

January 25

This picture (below) was on the front page of the paper today. It was caused by the waves hitting the sea walls and then freezing. Almost all the houses and buildings along the coast look like this. We are supposed to get more snow tonight and tomorrow. But at least the Red Socks won the WS before the world came to an end…

2005.01.24–Alfred, Ohio. Arrived home today without event until we walked in the door. Jeanie and I were delighted to find our bed full of flower petals and candles scattered around our room. Thank you for the nice thoughts Angie and Joe. Started reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck.

Steve and Mary Ellen report over a meter of snow and gale force winds in Boston. Steve promises to send pictures. I’ve heard that Nick has a wonderful account of a great snowball fight on his blog titled Snow Wars 05. I look forward to reading it as soon as this is posted.

2005.01.23–New Plymouth, Ohio. Today is our day again. Our 26th wedding anniversary. It was a quiet peaceful day spent in front of the fireplace, reading Candide, and in the whirlpool. Candlelight dinner tonight was very cozy, all six guests of the castle.

lower left: our cottage, lower right: the castle

2005.01.22–New Plymouth, Ohio. UPDATE: This was the 9th annual celebration of Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, at Ravenwood Castle. Before dinner we enjoyed music by a couple of troubadours. They played a cittern, a flat-backed instrument, developed in Italy around 1500, a guitar, and sang. A few people in the pub were wearing traditional Scottish clothing (kilts, tartans, etc.). Before, during, and after dinner we listened to an older gentleman read, tell stories, and sing the poetry of Robby Burns (as his grandmother used to call him). The troubadours played a song or two and we even had bagpipe music piped in (the real bag piper was snowed in). Our candlelight dinner was for about thirty five people and included:

The short winding walk to our cottage after dinner was beautiful. Ours was the furthest cottage away from the castle so we had to stroll through a tiny village (maybe eight or nine buildings) during a heavy snowstorm of large snowflakes and a nearly full moon. Lovely!

We are headed out of town for a couple of days. Tomorrow marks our 26th wedding anniversary. The weather (freezing rain with snow and cold expected) is a far cry from what we were enjoying last year on our 25th anniversary. Tonight we plan to have dinner and listen to a poetry reading in a castle near Old Man's Cave. Tomorrow a quiet evening together in our cottage cuddled next to a fireplace.

2005.01.21–Alfred, Ohio. What would you have said yesterday had you been sworn in as President? What issues would you have picked out to discuss? I’m thinking that my speech would have been a little different. I am curious what you would have said.

Steve notes that the Charles river is frozen over today. He also sent an almost perfect double triple. He had a screen shot (still trying to determine if it is authentic or if it was forged) showing:
Joe and Steve
Butch
Joe and Steve
Joe and Steve
Butch
Butch
Pretty neat! My response to him went something like this:

Below is one of the photos from Steve and Mary Ellen’s wedding taken by the real photographer. Of course I shrink everything way down for the web so the original is even better.

2005.01.20–Alfred, Ohio. You have no doubt noticed the random photos sitting off to the right. I’ve been noticing that every so often there are two of the same image on a given page. I’ve even seen two in a row now and then. That got me to thinking. Maybe I should offer a prize to anyone who spots three in a row. The number of images increase with the days of the month so it would be highly unlikely to ever happen early in the month. It would also become increasingly less likely as I add new photos. Wouldn’t you know it, before I could write up the details of what how the contest would work, I actually saw it happen.

Received answers from Russell about Anachronism (re-creating the middle ages). They have been posted (see the Q & A section below).

2005.01.17–Alfred, Ohio. Nick headed back to Morehead today. Jeanie and I saw In Good Company last night at the strong encouragement of our children. It has funny moments and is a good movie. However, we must have had our expectations too high as neither of us thought it should merit the glowing reviews that our children gave it. Perhaps it is a generational thing.

I finished another book and have written another book report for your enjoyment.

Questions about Anachronism (re-creating the middle ages), answers by Scott and Russell.

Q. Questions about your hobby? Gosh, I wouldn’t know where to begin. The obvious one is why?

A. (Scott) Back in my sophomore year of college I switched my major to History at the same time I thought I would look for a sword fighting class because I liked medieval history and thought it would be neat to learn. I found the SCA and contacted the local group. I went to a practice and saw full armored men hitting each other with rattan swords. I must because crazy cause I was hooked. Being in battle and being able to sword fight better than the actors in movies do is something I can take pride in.

A. (Russell) Why do any hobby? The SCA offers fun, excitement, and a chance to meet people. It also provides a community when you move elsewhere and a way to get away from mundane life.

Q. After that, I suppose I would wonder if you go to any effort to be authentic or is it all just for show?

A. (Scott) I do try to be as authentic as possible my armor is made to be an eastern European harness from the early to mid 15th century. But is more what a soldier would wear not a knight or a royal. There are limits though, I wear sneakers and cover them with leather so I can get good traction. The metal parts of my armor are made from stainless steel which did not exist in the Middle Ages. I try to purchase clothing that looks like eastern European clothing from the 15th century. We all choose a persona that guides our clothing, fighting style, etc. I try to model what I do around a 15th Century Romanian Soldier who deserts Vlad III Tepes’ army after the battle of Budapest.

A. (Russell) Some people go for full fledged authenticity (not even wearing required glasses because glasses were not invented in the period they are re-creating). Other people are willing to take a little bit of modern life to go with it. I go for a little more show though often think how can I make something more period.

Q. How many people do this sort of thing?

A. (Scott) There are about 30,000 people registered officially with the organization. However some estimates say that we have nearly 300,000 active participants worldwide. The SCA has branches in every US State, Canada, Europe, Russia, Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and pretty much anywhere with western culture.

A. (Russell) The SCA has registered over 125000 people in its almost 40 year history including Val Kilmer, Orson Scott Card, Mercedes Lackey, and Robert Lynn Asprin. Of course those are just the dues paying members and many more people have at least seen the SCA if not gone to an event. The biggest SCA gathering happens in August where 13000+ people converge on New Castle Pennsylvania to re-create a war and camp for two weeks.

Keep the questions coming if you have them.

Questions about Nascar, answers by Lisa.

Q. Is there any benefit to one seat over another (like a 50 yard line seat in football)?

A. The best seats are whatever you prefer. The most expensive tickets are usually higher up where you can see the entire race track. These are usually tower seats. Most people consider these the best seats but me, I prefer to feel the action. I prefer the cheap seats which are the first 10 rows and are cheaper because you usually can not see most of the track and is considerably more dangerous *flying debris and whatnot* I enjoy feeling the speed of the cars and having them whip my hair as they pass by. Of course, this is a personal preference but I believe every race fan should experience it!!

Q. Do you have to reserve tickets in advance or just walk in?

A. There are some races that are extremely hard to get tickets too including the Daytona 500 and the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway. If you are planning to attend a race, you should look into purchasing tickets at least a couple of months in advance. Most races sell out rather quickly.

Q. How much does it cost to attend an event?

A. OK, for the prices. The prices for Nextel races come in a large range. Some tickets are as cheap as $40 and as expensive as $150 or more. I usually pay an average of $75 for my race ticket. I have been to 8 of the 21 tracks. One of the days I’ll hit them all. Out of the tracks I’ve been to, I would suggest Talladega and Bristol to anyone who wants to attend a race. These races are sure to please!! Any more questions??

2005.01.16–Alfred, Ohio. Ever have an interest in Nascar? Lisa is counting the days until the season begins and wrote a very nice article about Nascar for beginners and provided a few photos. True to form, she is willing to answer questions. Just send them in.

2005.01.15–Alfred, Ohio. Social Security is making the news these days. The younger generation is thinking that social security will not be available to them. I have always wondered about that for myself, and still do, to an extent. If you are at all interested in the subject, I invite you to read my thoughts on Social Security.

Frost this morning. It is 22°F and dropping in these parts. Still bright and sunny. Still flood waters. Many roads around here have been underwater for nearly two weeks. The weather map I looked at this morning shows bitter cold in Montana (-30’s and -40’s). It made me curious about how cold it must be in Canada. It isn’t much worse actually. Next, I checked Antarctica. Of course it is summer there but I still figured it would be freezing. Nope. There were places there that are clear up to 40°F.

2005.01.14–Alfred, Ohio. Bright, sunny, and still fairly warm today.

Scott wrote in and told me that he is involved with the Society for Creative Anachronism. He has been involved with the heavy weapons fighting (full armor with rattan weapons) for about 4 years. He is currently making some new armor pieces and welcomes any questions you may have.

2005.01.13–Alfred, Ohio. It got up to 70 degrees today. The high tomorrow is expected to be in the 30’s. It is raining again tonight.

Recall the knights of old? One day as I was leaving work, Russell was near the parking garage putting on a suit of armour. It was quite unexpected. Once, while visiting the White Castle in the tower of London, I saw a wonderful collection of armour and old weapons. It didn’t seem so strange in London. Seeing it in Parkersburg was very peculiar. Having a somewhat civil chat with a half dressed knight about to get in his car, is not part of my daily routine.

That one incident was so far off my beaten path that I decided it would be a good topic to discuss. If ever you wanted to know something about medieval times, I invite you to write and pose your question. I’ll see if we can't twist Russell’s arm enough to answer your questions.

2005.01.12–Alfred, Ohio. Here is a new twist on an old game. 20 questions or less asked by a machine. Try it. It is fun!

Received another note from that old goat Kris Kringle today.

Hawkshaw? Bah Humbug!

2005.01.11–Alfred, Ohio. Russell writes about a close encounter with the tsunami. There must be thousands of such stories. Nearly a year ago Jeanie and I were in the middle of the Pacific ocean (Hawaii) and I recall seeing signs to watch out for high waves and tsunami. Everything I had read before going warned to never turn your back to the ocean. The waves are unpredictable enough that we probably did a pretty good job of watching the horizon for trouble the first couple of days and like most people were probably pretty lax soon after.

The temperature reached 60 today. The rain returned again tonight. It is currently (9:48 EST) 81 degrees in Maui.

2005.01.10–Alfred, Ohio. It has been unusually warm for this time of year. It started raining again tonight.

2005.01.09–Alfred, Ohio. My book report on The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is available for your perusal. Old grammar teachers of mine would likely faint if they knew that I was reading something other than comic books and writing these reports for pleasure. The fact is, I will give credit to the comic writers of old for helping to make reading enjoyable to me. The adventures of Scrooge in particular stand out in my memory.

2005.01.08–Alfred, Ohio. Earlier, I wrote that I would soon have another travel story for you. Here it is. Back in 1997 we headed West for a family vacation.

2005.01.07–Athens, Ohio. 8:00 a.m. My truck was scheduled to be serviced at Don Wood’s this morning at eight. I knew that the river was up so I brought a camera. Wow! Misti wrote and added a couple of flood pictures from Logan. It has started raining as I write this and is expected to continue all night. Click any of the images in the slide show below (be patient if on dialup) to get a popup with a larger view.

Jeanie pointed out that I didn’t even mention a family vacation we took in 1997 on my travels page. This was a wonderful two week camping trip we took out west. You wouldn’t think a person would easily omit seeing Rocky Mountain National Park, the sights and wildlife of Yellowstone, climbing the Tetons, the bikers around Mt. Rushmore and Sturgis, and a last minute jaunt up to Canada… but I did. Written in reverse chronological order, I must have been tired by then. It is a good story and I’ll write about it soon.

2005.01.04–Alfred, Ohio. Chapter 4: The Shriners’ Parade in St. Louis: Hand Me that Fez!! was sent in by Allan. Allan and I are old friends. How old you ask? We met in 1970. Since most of the people on earth were not even born yet, permit me to reminisce for a moment to give you a sense of that time. That was back before there were speed limits out west and gas cost 19.9 in Missouri and 21.9 in Ohio. It didn’t much matter what it cost as I didn’t have a car in Athens my freshman year anyway. You could ride a Greyhound bus to anywhere in this country. Passenger trains still ran (long before Amtrack). You could also hop a freighter by working manual laber for meals, lodging, and passage to anywhere in the world. I worked for 1.15 an hour (there was no minimum wage). Vinyl mono records were still sold in stores as were eight tracks. You could take a one hour course in the slide rule at Ohio University and most engineering students did. Nixon was president. Neal Armstrong was the first to walk on the moon only a year earlier. $5 would cover any of one of my utilities (gas, electric, phone, water) for a month. The Internet would not become popular for another quarter of a century. We spent most of our days quietly, living in a van, down by the river. You can tell from the somber photos that survived the ravages of time that everything back then was either black, white, or a shade of gray.

2005.01.03–Alfred, Ohio. Has anyone noticed how wet and warm it has been? We are expecting showers and highs around 60 today. Not complaining, just observing.

2005.01.02–Alfred, Ohio. Yesterday we enjoyed cake and ice cream at Joe and Angie’s place to celebrate a quarter century of Joe. It was a nice time and an easy relaxing day for us.

How did my resolutions go on the first day of the year? No, no, yes, no, no. Pretty feeble I’ll admit but it is a start. Today, I’ll try again. The one yes is because I finally finished a book that I’ve been reading for a couple of months. Here are a few of my thoughts on Iceland’s Bell.

2005.01.01–Alfred, Ohio. Happy 25th birthday Joe!

Happy New Year to all! It is a new year so I have decided to change the look and feel of my site. You will of course notice the colors have changed. Last year, I used dark red colors. This year, I’m using a mix of warm tones (oranges and browns) with cool colors (blues and green) with dynamic (random) links for many of the photos you see. It works for me. Hope it doesn’t offend your eyes. The old stuff is still readily available under the archives link in the sidebar. TIP: you can also just type the year in the URL.
http://www.frogtails.com/2005/
http://www.frogtails.com/2004/
http://www.frogtails.com/2003/

Did you make any resolutions to begin the new year with? I did.

• Exercise
• Eat better (and a little less)
• Read more
• Write more
• Learn more about wireless networking, 802.16 in particular

That’s it. Nothing grand. The past eighteen months have been grand. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and Jeanie’s parents 50th. We celebrate as two of our children were married. We celebrated as one graduated from college and one from high school. We took a Carribean cruise and vacationed in Hawaii. We have had so many extreme ups and downs and outright changes in our lives during the past year and a half that I think it prudent to just “settle” a bit.

Credits: Onyx RSS parser by Ed Swindelles, CSS by Ruthsarian Layouts