60!!! WOW!!!!!!!!

My Mom has given me flack for a long time about giving her new titles:

Mother (I'm the eldest, though I think that she secretly likes this one)

Mother-In-Law (a definite hard one for her to swallow)

Grandma (oh, how she thought that made her seem old)

But now, I am saddled with having my mother in her 60's! THAT is what makes her seem old, because I am certainly not old enough to have a 60 year old mom!

I am glad, however, that she is still young enough at heart to play in the sand box (on the left above), and I love the majestic silver at her temples.

Happy Birthday Singin' Sixties Sal!!!

We love you and wouldn't have turned out this good without you.

Siege Engine in the Snow

Loving all things mechanical, as I do, I had the Scouts who I am work with on their Engineering Merit Badge make a trebuchet for a 'plan and build' project. We started with the first picture as our plan, which I grabbed on the net.

After detail planning and suggestions from one of the boys, we ended up with the second pitcture.

It is made of PVC pipe (3/4" dia.), and is 120 cm on the base. It was throwing snowaballs about 30 ft. out on the frozen lake where we camped last night.

Here is a video of it throwing a snowball in our driveway.

MS Vista is almost ready for Alpha testing!

I decided to put together the justification that Microsoft has given for not purchasing the Vista operating system, until it has released Service Pack 2 or 4, with the performance of its last few operating systems. Check it out:

Windows 95 too long ago, I don't recall

Windows NT SP4 or else you had a ton of problems

Windows 98 SP2 or else you couldn't do much of anything

Windows 2000 SP4 or watch out

Windows ME not sure, never used it

Windows XP SP2 or security holes galore

People have long maintained that Microsoft sells its software before it is really ready, and they have not done anything over the last several operating system releases to prove us wrong.

Learn from Microsoft itself, don't buy Vista yet, wait until SP2 at least.

I love real toys!

(Thank Springwise.com for the photo and bringing this to my attention.)

I love real toys. Lego, Playmobile, yo-yo's, frizbees, boomerangs, tops, parachute men, model rockets, gliders, rubberband powered planes, paper air planes, juggling balls and hackey sacks. Things that take some thought, and allow tons of activity and creativity. No preprogrammed sounds when you push the button, no Spiderman re-branding of a classic board game, just fun stuff to do.

Bubbles belong on that list too. My kids will play with bubbles for seemingly hours (though I hyperventilate well before their enjoyment is over). They are fun, and look to get even more fun this spring with the release of Zubbles, which are colored bubbles. It looks like a great product, I am anxious to see how well they handle the disapearing color (they claim that it is non-staining). Check them out at: http://www.zubbles.com and see a video of kids playing with them at: http://www.zubbles.com/flash/zubblesvideo.html .

No Geeks Here!

Anyone who knows me, knows how false that statement is. A moment of inspiration while looking at my desk, its obvious that a geek sits here. So, as an introduction, you have an 'I Spy' look at my environs.

This blog will focus on profundity like travel logs, random thoughts, things I read, etc. Hope that you enjoy!

Can you find:

15 business cards in a stack

6 different color of writing instruments (name 'em)

3 portable electronic devices

3 different sizes of post-it note
2 wax investment casting patterns (because that's what EVERYONE needs)

1 binary clock (what time is it?)

1 bottle of lotion for dry hands (I love the winter)

1 corporate branded water glass

1 screen cleaner

1 geek riddle (can you read it? did you get it right the first time you did?)

1 stress ball (because some days it is just so tough to deal)