We are up to around 20 humming birds now I think. Little buggers woke me up today.
Well even though it's raining I still got a few things done today. Got tired of searching the web for the plastic fence weave I was looking for. Got off my sorry little butt and drove over to Home Depot. They had only 1 roll of the color I needed (needed 6). So I went to Customer Service and had them do a stock check of the Red Bluff Store. They had 20 so I put my stuff back and drove down and got 8 rolls (6 redwood and 2 brown). Suprised me that they still had some since the company that makes the clips is definately out of business.
Got home and the server was making noise so I shut it down to take a nap figuring I'd deal with it later.
Woke up and called an old friend to wish him happy birthday and noticed a package had arrived. My Buffalo TerraStaion Pro 2TB Raid 5 box showed up 2 days early.
While I was talking to my friend I started tearing down my systems. My desktop rackmount case sits on top of the server. So to work on the server, take the workstation down. Anyway it was just a cpu fan with the bearing going out. Fortunately I had a spare and was a quick fix.
My TerraStation Pro took longer to get out of the box than to get it setup on the network. Raid5 eats up 1/4 of the total drive capacity. But that still leaves me with 3-500gb SATA drives to fill-up with movies and pics. Of course it may take until Monday to get all the 200+GB of movies moved over I allready have.
So I guess I'll just go back and watch tv again and wait for some sunshine. I'd rather be working outside.
What words, for the life of you, can you never spell correctly?
Submitted by Byrne.
Freind...I mean Friend. I'm guessing that it is because the real ones are too far and few between.
It's been an adventurous week. Had to go to Quincy twice this week to replace a monitor. Hp warranty sent the wrong one. On the way back on Monday I played with the camcorder a bit.
I thought it might be cool to film the trip back while I'm driving. So I setup my tripod kind of in and around the console of the jeep and ran the windshield washer a few times. Mounted the camera and letter rip. Suprisingly enough it, didn't do too bad all considering. I only had one tape with me so I was only able to film from Quincy to Chester but that's all I needed.
After I got home I found out how easy it was to get the clip into the computer over firewire so it could be edited. Editing however will be a challenge because of the available formats I can import. My choice is WMV or DV-AVI. My mpeg editor can't handle these files so I'm gonna have to learn to use Sony Vegas. Found a deal on Vegas Movie Studio+DVD Platinum that was only $30. after rebates. It's certainly not the proversion but has a lot of the stuff in it that Vegas 7 has for the pro's. All this of course will add time to my DVD project.
Speaking of which the DVD project is currently at a halt. Mostly because I've been spending less and less time sitting at the computer. last weekend I installed a couple drive caddies in my server and cloned the hd. Was running out of space. I've run into the same problem almost on my video server.....2TB Raid5 is on the way! That should be here Monday.
The fence guy finished the cyclone fence at the back of the property this week. I was a little dissappointed that the company that made the fence weave I used last year seems no longer to be in business. So matching may become a problem unless I redo everything. I might roam around this weekend to see if I can find some old stock. I only need about 5-6 rolls so someone may have some somewhere.
Over the last few weeks I've had a mild sinus infection that is a little bothersome...randomly bothersome though now. I'm starting to notice more aches and pains in my joints at night so sleeping is also more of a challenge even though I seem to be doing more of it lately. And oh yeah, I'm down to aprox 3/4 of a pack a day from 4 packs so far.
Humming Bird population is growing around here. I counted 10 the other day. They are starting to cooperate at times. The feeders only have 4 holes each. The other day I saw 3 birds taking turns on one hole. One bird on the perch, and one on either side. The resident avian cook is spending a lot of time monitoring the feeders as a result.
Not sure exactly what I will do this weekend. Way to early to tell.
A while back I posted about a huge burger I could get down the street. This one tops them all. You may want to read the articles here..... http://www.cheese-burger.net/stories/worlds_biggest_burger.html (link to part 2 at the bottom of that page).
ONLY 78.5 POUNDS!
Finally! I've been working on this a little at a time. It's taken literally months to do this. The lower section is actually a retaining wall of sorts. The panels are pre-made but required cutting down to fit between warped posts and keep the overall height acceptable to the city and everyone concerned. My goal is to finish this side of the yard this year.
The Rose of Sharon bush I got from an online nursery a year ago finally got planted along with some marigolds in the 1/2 barrel. The bush can grow to around 12 feet and has some awsome blossoms when the plant gets bigger.
Still have more panels to install. I've got 8 more to work with on the budjet. That's enough to finish the side you see and a few across the front of the place. Can't do the front though until I finish hauling in material for the new lawn. When the front 3 panels are installed...the origional driveway is formally closed for business. (That's what your seeing in front of the new fence).
Even unfinished, I can sit on the couch now with the door open and not see the headlights of cars driving down the hill. This means also that they can't see in as easily either I suppose. It will be nice to look ot the front door and see a nice garden though when it all comes together. Once I finish this side, I can start planting stuff in my raised flower garden on the side of the neighbors garage.
Here's some of the early pics of how it looked before....
The side of the neigbor's garage looked kinda bad when I actually started. On our side there was an old delapidated lattice with an obnoxious vine growing in it. Eventually as the project progressed, I got the neighbor to put some new siding up. My origional plan changed and I ended up removing the railroad ties I put in that are shown behind the wheel barrow. The raised flower box is lined with concrete and rock with weedcloth on top of that. Then the dirt went in. When designing, I considered my watering could weaken his foundations and sometime he may need to work on that side of the garage. So the fence poles are actually removable. Apparently it was ok to build right up to the property line at one time around here,
When we bought this place there wasn't a bird to be heard. Now it sounds like a giant mosquito ranch in the backyard. Near as we can figure the people before us let the feeder go empty too long and the birds just gave up. Of course the cat isn't even interested in them anymore which also helps.
The male birds seem to be very aggressive/possessive and would prevent the other smaller birds from feeding. One bird seemed to be ruling the roost. With about 3 others he was constantly chasing off, I decided we should add another feeder. My thought here was that it's difficult for him to cover both spots at once.
Before that though I noticed a couple of them would fly in to get chased off. Then another two would come in and eat while the first two were keeping the big guy busy. A great tactical move I must admit.
Not sure exactly why but we have 8 or 9 regulars now that go through at least a feeder-full of stuff a day. Must not be enough nectar producing flowers yet to support thier voracious appetites. Either that or thier sources have dried up.
Not many people know this, but if you stand still enough and put your finger in front of one of the feeding holes, a humming bird will land on your finger to eat.
Man calls police during robbery
Douglas Farrell
A Red Bluff man was arrested Tuesday after calling 911 to tell police that he was robbing a bank on Main Street.
Well the police surrounded the bank and he went peacefully. Apparently he didn't have a weapon nor did he threaten any of the bank tellers at US Bank. I can't help but think this guy wanted to go to jail. His welfare or unemployment must have run out. Notice the orange jump suit in the picture. It looks like the guy got what he wanted because of the smile on his face.
I hear a lot of horror stories from my clients about how lowsy tech support is. People really don't understand how difficult it is trying to disipher a problem over the telephone. Now granted most first level technicians (glorified call screeners) likely don't own a computer, but they do pretty good to get me out with the correct part usually.
Here's a few good vids for a laugh
Ok now I can go to work tomorrow in a better mood...friggin idiots!
It's a blistery 89 degrees or so today out on the old Ponderosa. I'm having a cyclone fence put in to replace a POS wire fence the previous owner put in ions ago. Of course this means several things needed to be done to do this. Who ever puts it in will need to be able to get the post hole digger in.
That area of the yard never really got alot of attention by me or anybody else as it looks like. I pumped up the tires on the boat trailer and the motorcycle and moved them. Did some raking and had a little bon fire. Cut down a 35' tree and trailered it. Mowed some of the lawn and started trimming some of the bushes back along fence line.
The tree, I have been pondering how I was gonna get rid of it for a couple years. Depending on how it could fall, it could take out the neighbors phone and power lines. I ended up climbing up a ladder and tying a rope to it and then anchored it to a telephone pole. When it was ready to go, I untied it and pulled the direction it needed to go...no muss no fuss.
Pretty productive day all in all. It may take another couple of days work to get the fence line ready. Part of the job is to pull out some of the sucker trees so they don't end up eating the new fence down the road. Haven't decided if I'm gonna use the jeep or call in a tractor yet. The real problem now is that the trailer is full. Not sure how much more I can stack on top.
Little Joe decided she wanted to see how to run the new mower today. It's still under warranty and new so I figured she would have many problems...no problems!
Hop Sing is starting dinner so I guess I better go cleanup.