The change of the year

Sears 4500 tractor

Today I learned that the Sears lawn tractors are useless in the snow without wheel weights and also chains. So.... we went to Sears to buy both, but, it turned out that the chains will not be available until Tuesday. Scot put the weights on and I found that the chains really are needed also. When I tried to go up a tiny hill, the wheels spun. So until the chains become available, it is no go.

I needed the little tractor to go feed the neighbors horses despite the snow that ordinarily stops my perambulation. Fortunately, after I became exhausted from the tractor no-go, Lona volunteered to go do the job of feeding the horses.

Snow removal

I bought a Sears model 4500 lawn tractor and snowblower attachment. It arrived too late for the attachment mounting process to be completed before the expected snowstorm. Later this week, Quick and I plan to take all parts to his garage where we hope to figure out the complexity and also to work in comfort. But it looks like we are going to be snowbound until then.

Domesticating bears, raccoons, pandas

Wolves were domesticated long ago as dogs. Wolves, bears, raccoons and pandas are closely related evolutionarily. It therefore seems like an interesting experiment to try moving the dog domestication genes into related animals. A friendly panda would be very popular to be sure. Best of all, the foregoing are different sizes, so, specialized friendly brutes can be created for both useful purposes and for fun.

If anyone is wondering why I haven't been posting lately, it is because I'm working on some heavy duty physics stuff that is taking full time.

new blog

...not like i need another one...

http://littlehousekitchen.blogspot.com/

The Barisol Guns

In India along the coast there are sometime booming sounds of unknown origin called the Barisol guns. A similar sound occurs in North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia called the Seneca guns. Yesterday, in the afternoon and evening of 26 June 2010 both my wife and I heard the phenomenon in Accokeek, Maryland for many hours. It was not thunder due to lightning as no lightning was visible. The sky was totally clear, and of course, it was only a few days after the summer solstice. As it happens, it was also only shortly after a lunar eclipse.

I have long noticed various strange electrical phenomena a few days after the summer solstice. I attribute this to the solar wind dragging electrical charge into the North magnetosphere and out the South magnetosphere toward the outer reaches of the solar system. That the recently eclipsed moon would also have been directly away from the Earth from the Sun, also suggests that, in the case we heard yesterday, that the moon might have been the target of all that charge.

Although a humid atmosphere discharges local charge, it is a dry atmosphere that best for long distance charge transport. The reason for this is that water molecules adhere with electrons and consequently bind and slow them during transport. Consequently, it is a dry completely clear atmosphere that would best fast transport charge from the Earth's surface up to the magnetosphere, and, thence, to outer space.

It is fun to stay up at night after the summer solstice and and await the astronomical midnight. On most occasions there will be observed a phenomenon usually termed "heat lightning" in a completely clear sky. Astronomical midnight is when your local longitude is exactly away from the sun. Therefore in computing astronomical midnight you must both take into account both daylight savings time and your exact longitude within the longitudinal time zone. Here in Accokeek I seem to recall it occurs around 1:20 am daylight savings time. A more exact calculation is possible, but an exact calculation isn't necessary to observe the phenomenon since it occurs at a wide range around astronomical midnight. I attribute the midnight heat lightning to the same cause as the Seneca or Barisol guns. Notably, heat lighting shows no visible lighting stroke anywhere, the sky just flashes.

How a Sewing Machine Works | Dossier

How a Sewing Machine Works | Dossier

Sunspots and the Climate

There is increasing doubt that the current solar cycle will be normal. Instead many fewer sunspots are expected. It is also becoming increasingly clear that global warming was due to previously high solar activity. With low activity expected for this solar cycle, we might well see global cooling for a very prolonged period. Watch out for another cold snowy winter, especially in Europe.


I have added the link below which puts fake email addresses into spammers searching the web for email addresses.
Anti Spam Blocker - Help Fight Spam Email!

Legionnaire's Disease and Windshield washer fluid

Recent research indicates that use of windshield wiper fluid (mostly methanol) prevents Legionnaire's Disease from breeding in your wiper fluid compartment. In other words, do not use ordinary water.

Reducing your oil use

Here is a good article with tips to reduce your oil footprint:

Reducing your oil use � Always Well Within

Ruffled Feathers

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My rooster with the famous tail was cornered in the garage and attacked by some vile creature. Amazingly enough he is fine. The funny thing is he shed his tail like a skink. I never would have imagined that tail might serve a functional purpose but it was enough of a subterfuge to allow him to escape. Feathers were going from the front to back of the garage in large clumps. If they hadn't left the feathers I would suspect a hatmaker.


Poor little man wanted to go to bed early. His tail used to touch the ground when he was on his perch.



I could make some really impressive hats or fishing flies.

pizza pizza pizza

Tonight's dinner was: shaved asparagus pizza. With goat cheese and caramelized onions. And, of course, a more traditional pizza with chicken sausage and mushrooms. But the asparagus pizza was the highlight. Who would think to put asparagus on pizza? Not me! (although its definitely a better idea than ziti--what is the point of putting pasta on top of pizza?) I never would have thought to shave asparagus either. Apparently you can also shave eggplant and zucchini, and probably yellow summer squash, too.







We followed this recipe with a few changes. Mom made whole wheat pizza crust, and it was a larger pizza than 12". After shaving the asparagus, not only did I toss it in olive oil, salt, and pepper, but also a splash of lemon juice and some crushed red pepper. I used about 3 oz of mozzarella and 4 of goat cheese, along with some romano (maybe a little less than a quarter cup? I didn't really measure anything). The asparagus itself was yummy, I think I'm going to try making a salad with shaved asparagus and grape tomatoes sometime this summer.

Hopefully all you homemade-pizza-lovers will try this sometime!

To make and bring to a bbq tomorrow: deviled eggs (with avocado? depends if it magically ripens overnight!), blueberry cornmeal cupcakes, and something else TBD. Happy memorial day!

Going to the Amish grocery store

Having heard from my brother about an Amish grocery store near Charlotte Hall, MD, I decided to visit and see what it was like. The prices were astonishingly low for many things. A loaf of bread was $1.29, a jar of raspberry jam was $0.85. Some other things like coconut were relatively expensive, but on the whole, it is a wonderful place to shop. I picked up a big jar of peanut-butter for $2.30 or so, but upon arriving home, immediately heard complaints that it contained "transfats". OK, so maybe not all is well, but they also had transfat free peanut butter for about $3.35 a jar according to Jon. I didn't read the labels so I didn't know or care. The best deal of all was a can of oyster stew for $0.85 cents.

After the visit, I read up on Amish culture and saw the following advice: no photographs, don't stare, allow them to keep their distance. It is advised to wear suspenders, a mono-color shirt, preferably black. Women preferably should wear long dresses with no ornamentation. The Amish regard ornamentation and bright colors as a lack of humility.

Hallie would enjoy visiting in order to practice her German. These days the Amish also speak English well.

Guten Abend!

Ich bin mit meiner Mutter in Düsseldorf. Morgen gehen wir nach Köln.

Dienstag sind wir von New Jersey nach Amsterdam geflogen und Frietagmorgen sind wir von Amsterdam nach Köln geflogen. Dann sind wir mit dem Zug nach Düsseldorf gegangen (ich habe im Zug geschalfen!). Heute haben wir nach ein Museum gegangen. Auch sind wir nach einen Markt gegangen.

Morgen ist Mutterstag...Herzlich Mutterstag! Und heir in Deutschland die 13 Mai is Vaterstag...

-Hallie

I was just wandering through

Hmm ....
Here is a good cartoon.