Some fun I had a couple of years ago with Struxx and a webcam.
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Category Archives: General
Dogs playing
Just an idea
Charlie on facebook
Child Abuse in Toronto
Toronto, ON(AP) – A seven-year old boy was at the center of a courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him.. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible..
The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him.
After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.
After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.
My Bejeweled Score
Just in case you missed it.
292,050!
Instant savings from new doors and windows
In December of 2007, I received my power bill and it was up to $490! To say I was a little shocked was an understatement. I moved into my log home and from everything that I had heard, log homes were very warm but I was paying $490 for a month that hadn’t reached the -20 range yet. After that bill came in, we started to replace 17 windows and 2 doors. Today is 365 days since that bill came and and I am happy to say the renovations have dropped the bill down to $387, $103 dollars difference and that is with the power rate hike from last year. The difference in kilowatt hours is 1282, at lasts years rate would have been $97.69 and this year is $110.38. I should also mention that my billing cycle last month had charged me for 28 days and this year it is 31 days. So per day, I have gone down from 171 kilowatt hours to 113 kilowatt hours. Other things that may have contributed to this change in electricity use is the fact that we have much drier wood for the wood stove this year and we have also replaced a ground entry wall in the basement and placed R20 insulation in wall. We also got rid of a dusk to dawn light that we payed $12 a month for plus the electricity is was using. We did this because our property wasn’t receiving the benefit of the light. Additionally, with a log home, you will get air leaks between roof and logs and I have caulked many of those seems reducing the separation. I have also applied for energy grants from the federal and provincial governments to help with the cost of the renovations. Some stats of my home are as follows:
The home is 30 years old, explaining the lack of insulation in the basement. There are 3 floors (each floor roughly 1000 sq feet). Sources of heat are wood stove, fire place, electric fire place, and electric water baseboard heater controlled by 3 zone valves per floor. We never turn on the basement heat unless we are leaving the house for several days. The basement only has exterior insulation. Our mud room and laundry room do not have any source of heat at the moment except the wood stove. The logs to our home are 8″ white pine and that is our insulation. The roof/ceiling on the top floor is a cathedral ceiling and there is 2 1/2″ foam insulation.
If you have energy saving techniques that you have gone through recently, share your experience. I would like to hear about it.
My father is lossing his battle with cancer
It has been a long hard 18 months since my father was diagnosed with colon cancer. He has been in a coma since Saturday and hasn’t had any foods or liquids in 5 days. He is in the palliative care unit at the Saint John Regional Hospital.
Bought some new power tools this week
Two power tools that I really needed to get were a gas powered MTD 2-cycle trimmer and a gas powered Honda 5.5 HP pressure washer. I have a battery powered black and decked trimmer, but that sucks balls when you own 1.6 acres of mainly trees and bushes. I needed something with more kick. So I broke down this week and bought the trimmer. I had purchased a electric powered pressure washer a couple of weeks ago. It had two modes, worked like shit, and didn’t work. The thing kept blowing my fuses! Then the machine finally died. I used it twice. I brought it back to Kent and bought a pressure washer that was on sale from 349 to 299.
I tried out the trimmer tonight and have quickly realized that I might need to wear work boots, gloves, jeans, and safety goggles with this thing. I think it can take down a small tree with it. Weird getting it started though, but I think I have the hang of it now. Haven’t tried the pressure washer yet, but I am kind of scared to use that much power on my logs. I will keep a good distance and I should be fine though. Just got to find the right range. I think the manual said 2100 PSI. I promise not to point it at any small squirrels that I catch in my live traps 
George Carlin Dead
I will leave you with the following from George:
Rat shit! Bat Shit!
Dirty ol’ Twat!
Sixty-nine assholes
Tied in a knot!
Hooray!
Lizard shit!
Fuck!
George Carlin, 71, the much-honored American stand-up comedian whose long career was distinguished by pointed social commentary that placed him on the cultural cutting edge, died last night in Santa Monica, Calif.
His death was reported by the Reuters news agency and on the Los Angeles Times Web site. He had long struggled with health problems and a heart condition dating to the 1970s.
Carlin was selected last week by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize, a lifetime achievement award presented to an outstanding comedian.
Over a career of half a century, Carlin placed himself in the forefront of comic commentators on the American scene. He was particularly known for an album that referred to what he described as the seven words that could not be used on television.
The playing of the album on a radio station led to a case that went to the Supreme Court, and the material was judged indecent but not obscene. The legal controversy brought about the enunciation of a rule permitting a ban on certain material when children are most likely to be in the audience.
ad_iconThe case was one of the highlights of a career that included TV and radio performances, including HBO specials and many comic albums.
The New York-born performer, who also was an Air Force veteran, once summed up his approach:
“I think it is the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”
Carlin’s entertainment career began in 1956 at a radio station in Shreveport, La. while he was in the service.
In the early 1960s, he began his one-man act, and his live appearances and the albums he recorded proved highly popular.
His wife Brenda, predeceased him. They had a daughter, Kelly. A second wife survives him.