The NASA TV Channel

You don't get NASA TV on your cable or satellite service? No problem, you can watch the NASA TV channel on the Internet here or, if you don't use Windows Media Player, check here for a RealPlayer feed.

The current schedule has live ISS Mission coverage on every day at 11am Eastern.

New Birds - Woodpecker and a Grosbeak!

Just when I was starting to think I had written about all the birds that were ever going to show up in my backyard, two new ones show up today!

I was scrubbing the kitchen sink this afternoon watching The Big Guy digging up chunks of concrete left over from various long forgotten construction projects when a male Black-Headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) landed on my birdfeeder pole. I don't remember ever seeing this bird in our yard before.

Here's one of Bob Steele's fantastic photos of this bird.

Unfortunately, the Steller's Jays finished up all the bird seed earlier this morning and a Downy Wookpecker had reduced the suet to a tiny 1-inch chunk and then I had not gotten around to replenishing the supplies so there was nothing left that the Grosbeak was interested in. It fly away after a minute of looking around.

Then this evening just before we sat down to supper, a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) landed on the birdfeeder pole. This enormous woodpecker might even be a relative of the one that chiseled large chunks of wood out of our back step railings several years ago.

This picture which I snagged from this website gives you an idea how big this woodpecker is. It's at least as big as a crow, maybe even longer when you consider the tail. That beak looks like it could pound holes through steel!

I had still not gotten around to refilling the feeders so no joy for the woodpecker either. There wasn't even a tiny bit of suet left anymore.

I did refill the feeders after supper. Maybe our new neighbours will come back tomorrow.

I Bought Another Harry Dresden Book

I bought a new book the other day. I just had to have it. At least partly because I really, really like the cover illustration. It’s so film noir. And there’s something about an enigmatic man with unkempt hair in a long dark coat...


I know, I know, J., I said I wasn’t going to buy books any more just because they have very cool cover illustrations. It’s a setup for disappointment. Books with great covers rarely live up to the expectations that I develop about them.

But in this case my purchase is surely justified since Dead Beat happens to be book #7 in a series of books written by Jim Butcher about a Chicago private eye named Harry Dresden who is also a wizard and I love these books! I just finished book #5, Death Masks, and will probably start book #6, Blood Rites, soon.

I often do read two or three books at the same time if they’re very different from each other. But in this case Havana Bay is close enough in setting and mood to the Harry Dresden books that I have to wait until I finish Havana Bay before starting Blood Rites. Otherwise I’ll get hopelessly confused and start mixing up plot details and secondary characters.

Dominion Homes update

Financially, this latest quarter (reported on May 8th) has moved Dominion Homes (NASDAQ:DHOM) from profitable to unprofitable. This is no surprise given Dominion’s downward trending home sales numbers and the deteriorating US housing market but it is still a strong negative from my point of view since I only like to own profitable companies.

In their earnings press release, DHOM says it doesn’t expect 2006 to be a profitable year.

Analysts are pretty much across the board thumbs-down on the company with Hold and Sell ratings.

But as Irwin Michael says in his latest comments on DHOM, the company’s market capitalization is still only about half its book value. Sooner or later, assuming that land values and home sales don’t both totally collapse, this imbalance should correct itself one way or another.

On a positive note, the stock price has been trending slightly upward since early April. I’m in the money at this point (if I was to sell it today, I would have a small profit) and have renewed my stop loss increasing it to $8.00.


I’ve written previously about Dominion Homes here, here, here and here.

Gertrude and Heathcliffe

Last week in White Rock, which my brother said reminded him of Wasaga Beach, we encountered a pair of seagulls on the White Rock Pier. To be specific, they were Glaucous-Winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens). This gull is very similar to the Western Gull (Larus occidentalis), but I have decided that they were Glaucous-Winged Gulls because of their lighter-coloured wingtips.


But we weren’t thinking about what kind of seagulls they were.

We were thinking of Gertrude and Heathcliffe.


And guess what, I have some jokes to go with my seagull photographs!

There were these two seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliffe...

But first, to get in the right frame of mind (and hopefully you’re old enough to remember Red Skelton or else young enough in spirit to appreciate the silly jokes) you should keep in mind Red Skelton’s instructions for telling Gertrude and Heathcliffe jokes.

"First…you must believe that Gertrude and Heathcliffe are very much alive, and that you are a seagull. This is done with your imagination."

"Next, extend and stretch your arms out to the sides. Now, bring both arms to your chest, leaving elbows extended downward. Hook your thumbs into your armpits. Now move your arms as if they were flapping wings."

"Hold thumbs in armpits and wiggle fingers. This gives the illusion that you are flying."

"Next. Make your jaw recede, giving you a buck-toothed expression. Look at the tip of your nose with both eyes. This gives you that bird’s-eye, cock-eyed expression."

"Now, when you speak with your lower lip touching your upper teeth, you will acquire a twang and a slight lisp. You are then ready to tell a seagull joke."

There were these two seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliffe...

It’s at this point that Red Skelton usually starts laughing. If you aren’t laughing yet, you can watch this video to get into the proper mood.

Anyway, there were these two seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliffe...


(Gertrude and Heathcliffe are walking on the beach and he looks down and sees a broken mirror.)
Heathcliffe: Good heavens! Come here, Gertrude, and look at that. What is it?
Gertrude: (looking down) Why, that’s me.
Heathcliffe: Well, thank heavens. I thought it was me.


Gertrude: Heathie, what were you doing behind that rock saying "How do you do? How do you do? How do you do?"
Heathcliffe: I was shaking hand with an octopus.


Gertrude: Look Heathie, that ship has dropped anchor.
Heathcliffe: I knew they’d loose it. It’s been hanging off the side of that ship for days.


Heathcliffe: Gertrude, why is that stork standing on one leg?
Gertrude: Because if he lifted that leg off the ground he would fall down.


Gertrude: Did you ever notice that when geese fly in their V formation, one side of the line is longer than the other? Why is that?
Heathcliffe: There are more geese on that side.


Gertrude: Hey, Heathie, how would you catch an alligator?
Heathcliffe: Well, I’d probably do it with a telescope and tweezers.
Gertrude: A telescope and tweezers?
Heathcliffe: Sure. I’d look in the wrong end of the telescope and when the alligator got real small, I’d pick him up with tweezers and put him in an empty jelly jar.


Heathcliffe: What’s the matter, Gertrude, don’t you love me anymore?
Gertrude: Well, for one thing, your table manners are terrible and you’re very selfish. Last night for dinner we had a small fish and a large fish and what did you do? You took the large fish and left me the little one.
Heathcliffe: What would you have done?
Gertrude: Taken the little one.
Heathcliffe: Well, you got it. So what are you mad about?

---

For more silliness, you can listen for free to some of Red Skelton’s radio shows from the 1940s and early 1950s (be patient, they’re slow to download.)

While Waiting in Line...

I just got back from the passport office and am greatly relieved that that chore is done. It was actually my second visit this week. The first time I forgot to bring my citizenship papers. Tell me, what idiot forgets their proof of citizenship when applying for a new passport!?

It’s been more than five years since my last passport application and the process has changed a bit. The paperwork is slightly more extensive and they’re pickier about the photos. But the lineups and the waiting is still much the same, although augmented by some interesting electronics.

There are three lineups. Well, maybe there are more but I only had to wait through two of them today. Lucky me, I guess. The sign for the third lineup said “Pick-up and Information”. Maybe I’ll get to wait in that one when I go back to pick up my new passport.

When I went earlier this week, the first lineup where you get your number so that you can wait in the second lineup only had three people in it (I’m not counting the babies and kids) so it only took me a few minutes to find out that I was an idiot.

Today, the first lineup was much longer. Much, much longer. It stretched from Counter No 1 in the passport office, out the office door, down a short hall, around a corner and halfway down another hall to the elevators. Happily, the line moved very fast (lots of people finding out they’re missing some critical piece of passport-getting paperwork and being sent away) and I got to Counter No 1 in about 20 minutes. The same person who pointed out my memory lapse a couple of days ago was there again today. I don’t think she remembered me, so I didn’t have to be embarrassed all over again. Whew!

She checked to make sure I had everything I needed, paper clipped it all together, gave me a piece of paper with A113 on it and said I should watch the electronic signs for my number to come up. I found a chair amongst all the other 200 or so people each clutching their little piece of paper and looked up at the electronic signs.

The nearest electronic sign said something like this:

B432  11
F751  7
E696  16

Another one had a different set of numbers.

D524  9
A104  6
F763  12

There were two more signs on the other side of the room behind me. Every few seconds the numbers on all the signs would shuffle around into different positions and/or to different signs. Occasionally a number would drop off and get replaced by a new number. After watching the signs for a long time and getting into a discussion with the person beside me (C379) and also the next person over (A117) the three of us figured out the following:

• The second number on each line refers to a specific counter in the office where you go when your number comes up.
  
• There were six separate sequences, beginning with A, B, C, D, E and F.
  
• Sequences A and D get serviced the fastest.
  
• Counter No 6 handles all the As. (Later, this was proven false when the person behind Counter No 8 came back from lunch.)
  
• The system is not fair. D571’s number came up before mine even though they got assigned their number 20 minutes after me!
  
• There is no methodology that we could figure out just by watching who went up to which counter when their number came up that predestines who gets an A, B, C, D, E or F.
  
• The government (Canadian Passport Department) seems to believe that people will wait more patiently if you give them an incomprehensible system for taking turns to figure out. Maybe they should pass that tidbit on to the Healthcare Department? Maybe they already have?

All in all it took just over 1½ hours and I had to pay $87. I did get complemented on my passport photo by the person behind Counter No 6. Nice and clear, good lighting, good colour, plain white background, won’t be rejected. Apparently it doesn’t matter that the photo makes you look like you were just dragged out of bed at 4am with an acute hangover.

Housekeeping Woes

The two or three of you who regularly read this blog might remember that in my recent rat rantings I mentioned having a mice infestation some years ago.

This morning I was getting my brother’s room ready. Not the chainsaw brother, I mean the recently retired brother who’s decided to come visit his sisters on the West Coast. Anyway, while unfolding the fold-up couch I found evidence of that same mice infestation. I guess you can tell that we don’t get many overnight guests given that I haven’t unfolded this couch for so long...

Disgusting.

I hate the mess that mice leave!

Filthy little buggers.

So I pulled the mattress covers (two layers, a futile attempt to make this bed more comfortable) off the mattress and threw them down the stairs in the general direction of the washing machine. I hauled out the vacuum cleaner and sucked up the mice poop and fluffy mice nest materials. I inspected the mattress for holes. Who knows, maybe they actually lived inside the mattress? No holes, luckily.

Then I sprayed everything with Febreze Antibacterial Fabric Refresher (“Kills 99.9% of Bacteria that Cause Odors”) and hoped for the best.

I least I haven’t found any more dead bodies.

Of course mice bodies aren’t as bad as rat bodies. Mice bodies can be flushed down the toilet. Rat bodies have to be secreted out with the garbage.

I’ll never win the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval at this rate.

Worsted or Double Knitting Weight?

I’m sitting here at my desk eating trail mix, drinking orange juice, and scanning knitting pattern book pictures. I want to sell this knitting pattern booklet on eBay so I need to scan the pictures and write a description.

Don’t tell The Big Guy but I’m also feeding Andy peanuts from the trail mix. The Big Guy is on a diet and he’s super-critical of anybody eating anything that he misses eating himself.

Aaak! He’s drooling all over the carpet, I better take a picture...


Anyway, I’m about to write a description of this knitting pattern booklet for the Ebay listing and I’m trying to figure out the weight of the yarn used in the patterns.The booklet was published in 1986 so of course Patons isn’t selling Cotton Sahara yarn anymore. The gauge is 19 stitches and 30 rows in 4 inches with 4½ mm needles in stocking stitch. The 19 stitches makes me think it’s a Worsted weight yarn but the 30 rows suggests that it’s more likely a Double Knitting weight. 4½mm needles could be used with either weight so that’s no help.

So I google patons cotton sahara and after several frustrating minutes hunting through search results that are 95% expired eBay listings I get clever and google patons “cotton sahara” –ebay and the list of search results dramatically shortens to two entries.

Being clever doesn’t always work. Neither search result is useful.

But one of them, a blog written by a fanatical knitter, was great fun to read!

This pretty much always happens to me when I start researching something on the web. I get distracted when I stumble across something totally off topic and waste the next 45 minutes happily reading stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with what I wanted to find out in the first place!

OK, I gave Andy the last few sunflower seeds and, with the trail mix bowl now empty, he’s gone off to check whether The Big Guy, whom I can hear clattering around in the kitchen, will give him something else to eat. Who taught this dog to be such a mooch, anyway…

And the yarn? I’m going to take a chance and say it’s Double Knitting weight.

Tree Maintenance (Back in March)

Here are photos that I took back in March when I was in Ontario. One of my brothers came over with his boys to help clean up the trees in Mom and Dad’s yard that were damaged in a very heavy snowfall this winter.

My brother (at left) instructs my nephews (at right) on how to use a chainsaw while Dad (centre) looks on.


First, cut a wedge on the side that you want the tree to fall.



You can see where the tree trunk split and snapped off during the storm.


More instruction about trimming branches.



My nephews practice their ladder technique,


While Opa tells them which branches have to go.




Cleaning up