Fun with photos

I have been having fun going through thousands of photos. Some I scan and send to certain people, but most I have posted on my fototime site. I especially like the oldies from the fifties and sixties. I hope to add more. if you look at the links at left , you will see a subalbum called “the clan” be sure to check it out

here is the link to fototime

http://www.fototime.com/inv/17A7588F674BE95

enjoy

Smart Grids

Even the prez agrees that our electrical grid is so outdated that maybe an upgrade is in order. How can we save energy and reduce our dependance on foreign oil etc? Well , the first thing we can do is stop wasting energy. Have you seen an office bldg with all the lights on at 3AM? Well , there is no one assigned to the task of turning the lights off !!! How simple but ???

Just thinking about soil pull-ution

Let’s call this a work in progress involving male intuition and observation

It’s about a tree dying, not even in my yard

Well, it’s more about WHY the tree died, I have a theory

Since I moved to this property 5 years ago, I noticed that the builder/developer of this wonderful platt that I live in, used the low spot between my neighbor and I to create a retention pool for construction run-off waste. I knew this of course when I built on the property. Actually the retention pool was kind of cool. We had those 3in’ green frogs everywhere. I noticed that near the intersection of the pool and the creek , there were spring woodland wildflowers like trillium and “jack in the pulpit” abound

But of course at some point, the construction stopped and the need for the retention pool ceased to exist. So, it was turned into a culvert that now empties into the creek. that is, now the storm sewer empties into the creek instead of being retained by the retention pool which was there originally to make sure the construction run-off would leach into the soil rather get dumped into the creek

So now it has leached into the soil. I guess I am lucky that I do not own that 10ft wide drainage easement where I used to enjoy all those woodland wildflowers

jrd

Let’s call this a work in progress involving male intuition and observation

It’s about a tree dying, not even in my yard Well, it’s more about WHY the tree died, I have a theory

Since I moved to this property 5 years ago, I noticed that the builder/developer of this wonderful platt that I live in, used the low spot between my neighbor and I to create a retention pool for construction run-off waste. I knew this of course when I built on the property. Actually the retention pool was kind of cool. We had those 3in’ green frogs everywhere. I noticed that near the intersection of the pool and the creek , there were spring woodland wildflowers like trillium and “jack in the pulpit” abound

But of course at some point, the construction stopped and the need for the retention pool ceased to exist. So, it was turned into a culvert that now empties into the creek. that is, now the storm sewer empties into the creek instead of being retained by the retention pool which was there originally to make sure the construction run-off would leach into the soil rather get dumped into the creek

So now it has leached into the soil. I call this pull- ution. I guess I am lucky that I do not own that 10ft wide drainage easement where I used to enjoy all those woodland wildflowers

jrd

The 3rd anniversary

why am I doing this to myself? It’s called therapy, Write it down james, it will make you feel better. So I did it. It is what it is. If I remember right, that was the Pope’s response to the preview showing of “The Passion Of Christ” by Mel Gibson. I will not get into what I think about that movie. But I liked his (the Pope’s) response “It is, what it is”

the tube – a follow up

This kind of thing can happen at any hospital. I am not blaming the hospital necessarily, but I can just imagine a couple of MRI techs sitting there, maybe talking about what they did over the weekend, Oh I went to Hooter’s and the Hoots were great( males) or I met this guy who is soooo hot. We danced, and he wants to date me again, really not paying much attention to the scan. And since there can not be any metal in the tube, or any monitoring equipment, they really do not know what is happening to a person while in the tube. They said that at some point, they noticed that there were no artifacts during the scan. Artifacts means that there was no movement at all from the patient. If someone is alive , their chest at least moves due their breathing. This was after 5 minutes, the time it takes for a brain to go dead without oxygen. If there was not artifacts in the scan for 5 minutes, that means the patient has not been breathing for 5 minutes. Do you see the point of what I am getting at. No one noticed that there were no artifacts for 5 minutes. Therefore , I have to come to the conclusion that , no one was paying attention to the scan for 5 minutes. My imagination runs wild while my wife is dying in the tube.

james

A thing I wrote called the Tube

So why should you read “The Tube”? Why should you read anything I write. The answer is, there is no good reason. What I can say is that, I consider this a powerful short story snippet that is from my heart. I have no motive for writing it, I just had to get it out. It makes me feel better somehow. Once I saw it on paper, it tended to clarify some things that had been bouncing around between my ears all these years. It’s funny that writing it down made it somehow real to me finally, even explained some of my anger. But, the story is not funny. it is tragic. For those of you who get depressed easily like I do, you may not want to read it at all. It is ???, what’s the word I want, morose maybe? It is about my wife who died 3 years ago. Actually her brain died 3 years ago this week. I have not been the same. I may never be the same.

The Tube

They put her in the Tube, no not Utube, or the boob tube, maybe an MRI tube. You know those magical marvels of medicine, solves all your problems
Let take a look , scan your body, see what’s wrong, so they say But can’t have metal on you, no monitoring equip, no wedding ring As a matter of fact, no one will even know whether you are dead or alive , In the Tube

Got a call at work, your wife has taken a turn for the worse
Nice way of saying, your wife is now a turnip, a vege, no brain function,
in a persistant vegetative state, not likely to come back.
We tried to revive her after she came out of “the tube” they said.
Actually , we got her heart to start beating, another medical marvel.
Now I realize she would be better off dead, than dead in the head.

And so it went , good thing I had UNH for, a quarter mil they did pay
Her family came down, I was in no shape to entertain
I could not even get out of bed, so depressed.
It was hard even to go to the hospital, and see her like that
I wanted to roll up in a shell and die, like some sea creature

Lost my job that Friday, they said “we need somebody here” in this seat
No compassion, just your ordinary biz decision
Then get this, an outlaw in-law decides to rub it into my wounds
“Your not a man, even Jesus is disappointed in you!” He sure knew how to push my buttons.
Good thing I had a hangover, was not capable of kickin his ass on the spot.

And so it goes, trips to the hospital, an hours drive away.
Kept holding on, thinking of the “Lazarus story” Remember that one?
Jesus can raise a friend from the dead, if He wants to.
Miracles do happen, I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but not this time.

I had to be the heavy, you know, the guy who says “Pull the Plug”
My in-laws did not like that term, the medical jargon is
“Do Not Sustain Life” or better yet DNR on the chart, Do Not Resuscitate
Such a technical term. Why don’t they just say ………… I won’t even say it.

So it started in the tube, my life has not been the same
Without my soulmate, my encourger, well, I’ve lost my purpose, or is that porpoise?
So what is the point of it all?, HELLIFiKNOW rhymes with rhino

j.r.d. C@2008

Could T Boone Pickens be right?

enjoy my latest parody song, It’s called “Ordinary SUV Driver

Melody and chord progression is based on Joe Walsh’s “Ordinary Average Guy”

suvDriver.mp3

If you have been watching the biz news at all , you realize that this country does not have an energy plan. Dispite the price of gas going to over $4 and the price of a barrel of oil going to $147 , no one in Washington seems to have a solution. Actually congress does not have a clue because the price inflation in oil and food does not affect them ($3 $4 , what’s the diff) When you make over $200k it just does not affect you. That much cheap oil has been the norm for some long that , hey who gives a hoot! Except now that people are struggling to pay those mortgages that they should have never qualified for, their mortgages exceed the value of their home (good reason to just walk away, forclosure city)  and their price of food and gas has skyrocketed, the avergae comsumer has started to notice. I will write something about the the whole ethanol boondoggle, that is a whole article in itself. I watch a guy called Jim Cramer on CNBC and he had an interesting observation to make. Nancy P, the speaker of the house invested $0.25 M in a little company called Clean Energy, CLNE is the symbol on the NASDAQ. Funniest thing, CA just mandated Compressed Natural Gas to be used on certain state of CA vehicles. Talk about inside information. Martha Stewart got thrown in prison for trading on inside information of the stock market. CNE is part of the T Boone Pickens plan. He also owns a stake in CLNE.  I think the people in the energy biz know what the solution is better than the government. He knows that to start replacing deisel semi trucks, that are traveling the interstate highways, with CNE trucks could start happening now. But the whole wind,biofuel,  and solar thing will take much longer.

Here is some info copied from www.pickensplan.com

“According to NGVAmerica, there are more than 7 million Nat Gas Vehicles (NGVs) in use worldwide, but only 150,000 of those are in the United States.

The EPA estimates that vehicles on the road account for 60% of carbon monoxide pollution and around one-third of hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions in the United States. As federal and state emissions laws become more stringent, many requirements will be unattainable with conventionally fueled vehicles.

Since natural gas is significantly cleaner than petroleum, NGVs are increasing in popularity. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recently announced that 16,800 old diesel trucks will be replaced, and half of the new vehicles will run on alternatives such as natural gas.

Cheaper

Natural gas is significantly less expensive than gasoline or diesel. In places like Utah and Oklahoma, prices are less than $1 a gallon. To see fueling stations and costs in your area, check out cngprices.com.

Domestic

Natural gas is our country’s second largest energy resource and a vital component of our energy supply. 98% of the natural gas used in the United States is from North America. But 70% of our oil is purchased from foreign nations.

Natural gas is one of the cleanest, safest and most useful forms of energy — residentially, commercially and industrially. The natural gas industry has existed in the United States for over 100 years and continues to grow.

Domestic natural gas reserves are twice that of petroleum. And new discoveries of natural gas and ongoing development of renewable biogas are continually adding to existing reserves.

While it is a cheap, effective and versatile fuel, less than 1% of natural gas is currently used for transportation.”

And did I mention that compressed natural gas costs 40% less than gasoline?

So, could the Pickens Plan work? I believe it could if the government and the oil companies got behind it. T Boone Pickens is a rich man , but he is also gettting older. I personally do not believe he is doing this to get richer. He is already rich. He is spending $10M of his own money to promote this.

More Later

I grew up with motown and the stones

Ok, I admit, I loved all that motown music while I was playing the stones, beatles, byrds, etc

here is one I Love from the Motown era

Soul Man

j

Everyone has a favorite tune

Ok, we do not want to play favs

what if someone said to you “what is your fav song?” For some , it would be hard to choose. I mean we are talking decades here. I grew up with the Beatles, Stones, Etc. Then came the harder stuff, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Airplane, Doors. Then came disco (no favs here). Funk it up, folk it down, try a lttle jazz, ever been to Jamaica… latin grooves, eases my wounds, any way

if I had to choose the song that made a difference in my thinking AND it was pre psychedelic

here it is, enjoy

Hideaway – Clapton with Mayall

another song but from the heart

let’s go from frivolity to reality

it’s called “She Lives”

Sharon Lives

this song is important to me

piano – Ted Gary

Lead Gtr – jmdebord

the rest – me