28 August 2010

Latest Projects


It's hard to see, and this is the best shot my poor li'l camera could manage, but at the left end of the kitchen bar, there is a shelf (covered with stuff already, of course).  The new shelf allowed us to move all the spices and such from on top of the microwave and thereby move the coffeemaker from the bar to the microwave.  Which allows a lot more open space on the bar.   Which, I'm told, looks better.  :)

 Another project, a bit more complicated (c'mon, a shelf is just a chunk of board after all), was to build a little desk for the girls' room, so we could put the computer that had been living on one end of the dining table -- with its massive CRT monitor -- in their room.

Jen's boss gave her a couple of old (non-funcional) solar panels  -- or, as Julia calls them "panner solos", with the remark "Bob could use one to build a desk."  And so I did.  To the right we see one of the panels.



And here are some of the pieces/parts, preparing to be assembled into the new desk.



And, finally, a shot of the (mostly) finished desk, set up in the girls' room, where it is being enjoyed immensely.  Well, not at the moment, because it's the weekend, which means the girls aren't here.  The girls will be painting the desk (the panel/top lifts right out of the framework, so they won't paint it)... I believe the latest plan is "black with white musical notes".

We hope to do some upgrades soon and be able to get rid of the CRT, which will make the desk even more usable.

The End.

21 August 2010

Introducing.....

The New Kitteh on the Block:


Yet to be named, 'cause for we just got her from the shelter an hour ago.

She and Raxi have been introduced, and the expected growling and hissing has commenced -- although Raxi's protestations are already seeming a bit de riguer, so I 'spect all will be well very soon.

Эти образы невероятно! (Eti Obrazy Neveroyatno!)

Well, that's what Google Translate says the Russian is for "These Images Are Incredible!" and I must agree.

Stealing the blockquote, as I have the post, from Lockwood DeWitt:
...Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944) undertook a photographic survey of the Russian Empire with the support of Tsar Nicholas II. He used a specialized camera to capture three black and white images in fairly quick succession, using red, green and blue filters, allowing them to later be recombined and projected with filtered lanterns to show near true color images.



Go to Boston.com's Big Picture to see the whole incredible full-size gallery of images.

03 August 2010

01 August 2010


From Lockwood DeWitt's Sunday Funnies.  You must check them all out.

31 July 2010

All-Time Obstructionism

I knew the Republicans in Congress were doing all they could to block presidential nominees, but holy crap!!


And so the government limps along, not being able to be effective, and the same Republicans who cause the problem claim -- without admitting they caused it -- that it's proof that government is ineffective.

Sheesh.

30 July 2010

Tiny House Movement

This makes the old Secret Lair ( aka '73 Winnebago) look big... and the house we live in here in Costa Rica positively HUGE!!


Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

29 July 2010

Pics from Granada

Here's a sampling from my latest "border run" to Granada, Nicaragua (to satisfy my passport status):

Mid-day in Parque Central

Capitalism at work
The garden (courtyard) at the Garden Café

Waiting for the bus outta town, there's a lumber yard across the street

The municipal building, complete with helpful policeman.

24 July 2010

More Childish Childhood Memories

Remember LPs?  Records?

I know all of you do.


When I was a kid, I used to listen to records all the time.  My parents' and my "own" (I didn't buy them , and many of them were a part of the household before I even came along, but as my sibs were all muuch older [or so it seemed at the time] than me, the records were mine).  So at a young age I was well-versed in The Sons of the Pioneers, Harry Belafonte, Bing Crosby -- and lots of the Walt Disney records.

Which brings us to tonight's memory:


Kipling's Just So Stories, read by the inimitable Sterling Holloway (who was also the voice of Pooh Bear).

Can't you just hear him saying "the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River"?

Kitteh Pics

Guard Kitteh -- "protecting" the front step

Carred Kitteh - Raxi likes to be in the car, as long as two conditions are met.  1) no one else is in the car and, 2) the engine isn't running... because if those two things happen, that means she's going to the place with the metal table and the man who pokes and prods at her.  Kitteh no like that.

21 July 2010

11 July 2010

One Years Ago

A year ago today, I got a kitteh:

Look how much smaller I am now:

Oh, wait. I guess it's Raxacoricofallapatorius has gotten bigger.

Happy Raxi Day*, everyone!


(*aka, my birthday)

06 July 2010

Something About This Isn't Right

...but I can't quite put my finger on what it is.......

04 July 2010

Can't Let the Opportunity Pass By...

...to post something from The Bestest Movie EVAHtm, aka 1776.



Happy Independence Day to all you subjects citizens!

And now we're off to the beach....

23 June 2010

Photo Dump

I used my camera today, and found some left-overs from ... the past.  Some were worth posting, and so here they are:

Two months ago I went on a "Passport Run" to Nicaragua.  It was a three day visit and I took a grand total of four photos, all at the bus stop crossing the mountains between here and the Pacific region in Costa Rica....



This one is from about two weeks ago, when I managed to catch Raxi chillin' on the car....


And these last two from today. It got very foggy and then rained hard for about 20 minutes, then cleared off....




21 June 2010

Almost A Shame They Changed the Name....

Anyone remember what the former name (in the US, at least) of the petrocompany responsible for the current oil disaster was?


Irony, it is here.

09 June 2010

I've Seen The Mountains of NC... They're Real

As all'a y'all know, before I moved to Costa Rica I had lived my entire life in Teh Mountains of North Carolina. Now, what most'a y'all don't know is that as far as the State (as in official, gummint-type things) is concerned, the mountains and, indeed, most of "Western North Carolina" get short shrift. Politics by the rich and for the rich is far from a new concept in NC and, historically, it was landed gentry in the eastern portions of the state that controlled things.

I had thought that was not so much anymore, but I followed a link to a news story earlier today, and couldn't get past the banner at the top of the page:



Here's a map of NC (with some crude annotation):

(Sandhills area is part of the Coastal Plain)

Does anyone notice what part of that map is missing from the banner of "N.C.'s only statewide news channel"???


Oy.

07 June 2010

Ever wonder how fast your connection really is?

I like to doublecheck from time to time, and make sure we're getting what we pay for.

speed.io - Der DSL Speedtest
(click the pic to test your own connection)


We are.
.

03 June 2010

Memory Lane

I remember reading, when I was a wee lad, a book about a steam shovel that dug a hole it couldn't get out of. Now, when I say remember, I really mean I have vague recollections, so I couldn't recall any more of the story (and I know that the memories were from over 4 decades ago). Every once in a while I would recall these snippets, but couldn't ever remember more.

Just now, I had a thought of it and -- finally -- used Teh Google to see if I could find it.

Anyone else remember this book?



Here's the Wikilink for the book.

And the first page of the story:



And a funny re-reading of the story (which shows the illustrations from the book):