No, this isn’t a Game of Thrones post. But we are anticipating our first freezing temperatures of the season this week, so preparations are underway at Casa Fire Ant. It’s slightly ironic that our landscape is looking better than it has all year, just in time for a killing frost. Here’s a sample of some… Continue reading Winter is Coming
Contest! Turn this shotgun into yard art!
I recently took possession of a 1960s-vintage 12 gauge single-shot shotgun, formerly owned by my father-in-law, who says the gun was shot only a few times. This was partly because the unchoked barrel made the gun pretty uncomfortable to shoot, but he also wasn’t a hunter. So, the gun has been rusting away in a… Continue reading Contest! Turn this shotgun into yard art!
“Dread Champion”
Gladiator is one of my favorite movies, a masterfully crafted film with a compelling plot and outstanding performances (proving once more that a well-made movie can make a hero out of an unlikeable actor, but that’s another topic for another day). The main character, Maximus, is a high-ranking officer in the service of the Roman… Continue reading “Dread Champion”
The running adventures of an adventurous runner
Editor’s Note: I actually drafted this a couple of weeks ago, then promptly forgot about it. It’s yet another post about running, so you may be excused if you have something better to do, like trim your toenails or re-roof your car. But be warned; I’ve now created a new category entitled “Running,” so the… Continue reading The running adventures of an adventurous runner
The hills are alive…but not necessarily those who ride them
We had just pedaled – very slowly, with agonizing effort – our recumbent tandem up a 650′ section of road with an average slope of 17.2%, and once things finally leveled out a bit, my wife wondered aloud whether we were getting too old for that sort of thing. I wanted to dispute that notion… Continue reading The hills are alive…but not necessarily those who ride them
Wrong Way Looking: Remedial Driver’s Ed
So, let me ask you a question. Is it just me, or have you also noticed that many drivers pulling up to an intersection tend to look to their right, and then back to their left after they start to move into the intersection? I can’t find any definitive statistics about whether the driver’s side gets… Continue reading Wrong Way Looking: Remedial Driver’s Ed
The Directional Driller’s 23rd Psalm
My pal Kelly posted his version of the 23rd Psalm on his Facebook wall, written from the perspective of an oil driller. I was inspired by his version to create my version, which is similar – but since my company drills nothing but horizontal wells while Kelly tells me he’s primarily drilling vertical wells, my… Continue reading The Directional Driller’s 23rd Psalm
Introducing the iBeam: floppy phones fixed
Despite the fact that only nine customers (out of 10 million orders) have reported problems with iPhone 6 bending, the alleged phenomenon has spawned numerous memes and generated its own Twitter hashtag, #bendgate. Since the internet is never wrong about stuff like this, I immediately recognized that this is a world-class problem in desperate need… Continue reading Introducing the iBeam: floppy phones fixed
Running Thoughts
Some random observations arising from yesterday’s run… It’s amazing what a 10° difference in temperature makes. A week ago, with temps in the low 90s, I was struggling after only a couple of miles. Yesterday, I made almost five miles (I stop at 45 minutes regardless of distance) and felt good. OK, “good” is a… Continue reading Running Thoughts
It took almost seven years…
…but they finally made it to our backyard. I’m not thrilled about having squirrels in our neighborhood, but their appearance was inevitable. We are sequestered by at least a quarter mile of treeless pasture on every side, but a lot of trees come in via landscapers and it was just a matter of time before… Continue reading It took almost seven years…