Mild Winter

Without wishing to “break the streak”, we have had a very manageable Winter so far in Central Ohio this year. We have had some snow, but only a few inches at a time, and it has definitely milder that I’m used to.  Yesterday, I left work and it was sunny and still daylight, which was a pleasure to see for a change. So, if we can just hang on for a few more weeks, we’ll hit spring running and can turn the heat off in the house again.

A Very Techie Christmas

While we are not exactly “luddites” at our house, neither do we typically spend a lot of money on gadgets and electronic items. This year was a bit different – as via the generosity of our in-laws and through some particularly sneaky layaway skullduggery by my wife – our family gathered up a laptop, a PC, a Kindle (not the “Fire”) and a flat screen TV.

Now, the TV was from our in-laws, and the PC was made by yours truly to ensure “bang for the buck”, but still. I was expecting my usual “Dad” gifts, and would have been quite content with that. It’s just nice to know I can still be surprised, and the realization that at least in some ways, gift giving can be a display of affection between family and friends.

The Holidays!

We got our Christmas tree yesterday, and we set it up this afternoon after untying it and trimming the bottom (it was all trussed up from the store). It’s actually been sort of soothing seeing it slowly “unfurl” itself during the evening. Tomorrow we’ll dust off the decorations and make it look presentable. I guess the holidays are really here!

A Merry Digital Christmas

And They All Walked Away

Wonder why they were using a helicopter to put up a Christmas Tree?

Fall Comes Around Again

As it will, Fall has come around again. The clocks were dutifully put back an hour, the days are rapidly cooling off, the leaves are pretty much gone from the trees, and the Cleveland Browns are plodding through another miserable season. How many years have they been rebuilding now?

Neccessity Is The Mother Of Invention

My Grandad (“Papa”) used to say that, and it was actually something he lived by. He was a tinkerer of some skill and some of that passed on to me, I think. Not with cars, unfortunately, but with other mechanical things. Yesterday, I fixed an issue on my laptop that has been bothering me for a while – with a small piece of sponge (yes, like you would clean the counter top with). Papa would be proud.

A Pale Blue Dot

This is a remarkable photograph taken years ago from one of the Voyager spacecraft, showing a tiny image of our Earth from the perspective of the outer part of our solar system. The words are by the late Carl Sagan, and are pretty sobering and profound.

You can click to see a bigger version of the whole image.

I Remember

Auld Friends

Just spent a few days with a friend from Scotland who was on a visit with his son to Canada and the US. I have known Mike since we were in, well, not diapers, but short pants. Yep, little boys wore short pants back then – luckily I have lovely knees.

So, quite a bit of beer was consumed and many tales of derring-do were recounted and elaborated upon. I also got to meet his son, with whom I was very impressed. Nice visit, indeed – I needed something like that to recharge the batteries.