Front Porch Update (or, “Doo doo doo, lookin’ out my front door”)

It’s important to keep the Historical Records up to date, so here’s what’s happening in the front part of la hacienda: Barn Swallows – When last we checked in on the little #@*%& fellows, their nest was almost complete. It’s now finished and positioned so close to the ceiling that we can’t see inside the… Continue reading Front Porch Update (or, “Doo doo doo, lookin’ out my front door”)

Random Thursday

It’s been a while, but since Random Thursday posts are like falling off a bicycle, I think I remember how to do them: just start typing and let gravity do the heavy lifting. Or is that “heavy dropping”? And speaking of falling off a bicycle, we sort of did that last weekend. Well, what we… Continue reading Random Thursday

ABC’s “Combat Hospital” raises moral issues

ABC is airing promos for a new summer fictional drama entitled Combat Hospital. This is a Canadian-conceived show set in 2006 in a military hospital at the Kandahar Airbase in Afghanistan, and purports to depict “the frantic lives of the hospital’s resident doctors and nurses from Canada, America, the UK and other allied countries.” Wartime… Continue reading ABC’s “Combat Hospital” raises moral issues

Currency Devaluation

Make Your Franklin is a “community art project” that lets folks redesign the US one hundred dollar bill and upload the results to an online gallery. The site even provides a high resolution scan (7300×3000 pixel) of a Benjamin in case you don’t have one handy (and I never do). A lot of the entries show… Continue reading Currency Devaluation

Stationary Hummer

So, say you’re a hummingbird trying to cope with 40mph+ winds, blowing dust and smoke from wildfires on the north and the south, temperatures in the 90s and humidity around 5%. What would you do? Probably the same thing this little guy is doing…perching on a tomato cage sheltered by a concrete block wall, and… Continue reading Stationary Hummer

Underwater Flight

It’s been years since we’ve been scuba diving, following a period where we took a dive trip for seven or eight consecutive years. We enjoyed the sport immensely, but other priorities – financial and otherwise – took over, and our gear is probably slowly succumbing to dry rot in our closet. It’s hard to explain… Continue reading Underwater Flight