Dog Days!

Thursday nite, after a vet visit for shot updates for Dolly, Franklin and Sprite, we had dinner and enjoyed the backyard and the temperatures in the upper 70s. Dolly and Rob played rope toss while Tom gardened and read a book. Sprite and Franklin sniffed around, in Dachshund fashion until a neighbor's dog came out and Franklin ran up and down along the fenceline, chasing the dog behind the fence.

Sprite

Franklin

Dolly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dolly's favorite game is rope toss in the backyard, so on Thursday, June 2 Rob and Dolly played rope toss for an hour outside. Dolly even jumps high to get the ropes... she's very athletic!

2 Tornadoes Hit Central Massachusetts

Tornadoes may be rare in Massachusetts, but they do happen. In fact, when I was a kid growing up there, I remember one that hit the city of Worcester and another that touched down in Holyoke (when my family was vacationing there!). 

HOW A TORNADO FORMS:

- Western Massachusetts seems to be more flat than the eastern part of the state, which gives the opportunity for downdrafts from thunderstorms to roll without obstructions (i.e. no buildings, hills, etc.) like a wave on the ocean's surface. 

   When one end of that roll lifts up into a cloud a tornado is born. I noticed that the Springfield tornado formed over the large river that runs through the town, so that created the flat surface needed to create the twister. 

The damages on TV are frightening.   - I saw one home that appeared to be turned upside down. Here's a video of the storm from Reuters and a Reuters story. -Rob

 

At least four dead in Massachusetts storms


REUTERS Newswire:  At least four people were killed when tornadoes and severe storms tore through heavily populated western and central Massachusetts on Wednesday, causing widespread damage in 19 communities.
  Tornadoes are rare but not unheard of in the northeastern United States.  In Massachusetts, the first tornado touched down at about 4:30 p.m. local time in Springfield, the third largest city in the state, said Chris Vaccaro, a spokesman for the National Weather Service. Heavy winds churned the Connecticut River and the area was pounded by hail and driving rain.
  A second tornado hit Springfield, 90 miles west of Boston, at about 6:20 p.m., authorities said. State police said at least 33 people were injured in Springfield.
  Damage included "trees and numerous power lines down, roofs ripped off of homes, things like cars and SUVs that have been toppled over," said Scott MacLeod, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Golden Emperor moth from India

This is a photo of a Golden Emperor moth taken from a colleague who works in Mahabaleshwar, India. Wikipedia says that its a city and a municipal council in Satara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Photo: Shiraz Satarawala

   According to Insects.org:
The moth members of this Order of insects include a large number of diverse families. Moth groups include micro moths, leaf miners, clothes moths, plume moths, ermine moths, burnets, geometrids, silk moths, sphinx moths, tiger moths, wasp moths, noctuids, underwings and many others.
The male moth is recognized by bushy, feathered antennae and angular forewings. Adult moths have primitive mouthparts and do not feed. The caterpillars are a striking dark brown color with yellow triangles along each side and metallic blue protrusions along the dorsal surface. They feed on vines until they are ready to spin their wild silk cocoons. Cultivating silk moths for fabric production has a long history starting in 2700 B.C. with the Chinese. They kept their secret until 300 AD, when their techniques spread to Korea and Japan. This moth used for silk production eats Mulberry leaves and is named Bombyx mori.

A Great Memorial Day Video of a Rescued Dog from Afghanistan

What an incredible story for Memorial Day Weekend!

Photo Journal: Flooring the Sun Porch: Day 2

Sunday was another 12 hour work day, working on the flooring for the Sun Porch and other things. We started with an 8am trip to Lowes for grout and other supplies. First thing was mixing more thinset to attach the remaining 19 tiles that surround the edges. That seemed to go pretty quickly - although it took hours. Next was cleaning out the dried thinset between the tiles with a screwdriver, so we could put the grout down. Grouting took a long time, and the grout didn't seem to want to work well. Maybe it was too watery, although Rob mixed less water with it than was specified. It was messy and kneeling on the tile was uncomfortable because the little grains of grout and thinset lay on the tile. After awhile it was like rope burns on your knees (and hands, because it got on your hands and rubbing against tools gave that burning feeling). While waiting for the grout to dry, we weeded, planted flowers, and shampooed the carpets in the house.
  By 4:30pm much of the grout dried and we started to wash it down. We finished by 7pm (second day in a row it took 11 hours).

Getting the grout at Lowes and more stuff to plant

Step 1: adhering the border tiles in thinset

Last outer tile adhered at 9:53 am EDT

Step 2: cleaning the spaces between tiles for grouting.

Grouting in progress- it was messy!

Step 3: Waiting for it to dry - we tackled other things.

Washing the grout down and cleaning the excess at 6pm.

Installing Tile Floor on Sun Porch: Part 2: Sat. Afternoon

Tom did all the placement of the tile and laying of grout and Rob cut all the tile. During the entire afternoon it was all cutting, and laying of tile. The first photo is from 3:41 p.m. and the second picture is from 7:41pm when we called it quits for the day after almost working 12 hours. All of the tiles except for 29 (along the fringes of the room) were installed. We saved those for Sunday... considering the sun was setting, our backs, knees and hands were sore and we were tired.
 - The dogs enjoyed the outdoors most of the day and came in from time to time to get into the air conditioning.

3:41pm 75% of the tiles were cut and laid down.

7:41pm all of the tiles were cut, all except the ones on the edges were adhered.

Installing tile floor on the Sun Porch: Part 1

This was a busy weekend at home for us. On Saturday, we worked from 8am to 7:30pm on tiling the sun porch that faces the backyard. We recently had vinyl windows installed in it, and needed to cover the concrete floors, so we decided on tile. It was a LONG DAY. Here's a photo journal of it, that you can use (if you dare) to install your own tile. Note: It takes a long time, and days!

Found our tiles at Lowes

Tom wheeling the heavy tiles out of Lowes

Step 2 Cutting orange underlayment

Step 1: Washed concrete. Step 2: Measure Underlayment

Step 3- Laying grout (Rob mixed it all) for underlayment

Step 4- Underlayment 1/2 done

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First tile inserted on top of underlayment

Interesting Archeaology News!

Here are two interesting stories I thought I'd share from the news!

Mummies tell history of a modern plague
Boulder CO (SPX) May 26, 2011 - Mummies from along the Nile are revealing how age-old irrigation techniques may have boosted the plague of schistosomiasis, a water-borne parasitic disease that infects an estimated 200 million people today. An analysis of the mummies from Nubia, a former kingdom that was located in present-day Sudan, provides details for the first time about the prevalence of the disease across population in ancient times, and how human alteration of the environment during that era may have contributed to its spread. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Mummies_tell_history_of_a_modern_plague_999.html

Satellites reveal 'lost' Egyptian pyramids
Cairo (UPI) May 25, 2011 - A satellite survey of Egypt has revealed 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements in infrared images that can detect underground structures, scientists say. Seventeen lost pyramids are among the structures identified in the survey, two of which have already been confirmed with initial excavations, the BBC reported Wednesday. http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Satellites_reveal_lost_Egyptian_pyramids_999.html

Fun Puerto Rican Style

Our neighbor and friend Yolie had us over for a Puerto Rican dinner and dessert. Everything was incredibly tasty, and Tom enjoyed his margarita. :) Our other friends and neighbors DeeDee and Bill were there, and Yolie's boyfriend, Rocco. After dinner and dessert we all played cards!  It was a first for Yolie, Tom and Rocco. None of them had ever played cards, so DeeDee taught Rocco, I helped Yolie and Bill helped Tom. What's interesting is that Bill and Tom won the majority of the hands, so I guess Bill is the best poker player and he taught Tom well! 

Tom's got another winning hand as Bill watches (right)

Rocco and DeeDee listen to Yolie's bad hand... she went out after!

Rocco, DeeDee and Yolie study their losing hands.

  

Boston Globe- Medicare Saved

There's a lot of misinformation in politics today on all sides, but one thing that really pisses me off is that the Republican Party is trying to put the screws to our elderly by making Medicare into an $8000 a year voucher system. That means elderly people get that voucher to pay for all of their costs all year. *So, if your grandma breaks her hip, there goes the entire voucher. What if she needs medication later? Gets pneumonia? Has to go to the ER? Gets the flu and needs to visit the doctor?  The Republican Answer to the Elderly: "TOUGH LUCK. FIND A WAY TO PAY FOR IT."

   Unfortunately, it's a lot of Seniors that vote Republican because they're fooled by the mask of conservativism and the use of religion to get votes.  Hopefully, they will get the information and realize that it is NOT to their benefit to take a GOP-sponsored voucher. I personally think it's Cruel.

GOP’s Medicare plan falls in Senate

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats voted down a Republican budget yesterday along with its controversial plan to partially privatize Medicare, a vote that forced many GOP senators to endorse cuts to a popular program deeply valued by older voters.

In Tuesday’s special election in upstate New York, Democrat Kathy Hochul scored an upset by railing against the Republicans’ proposed Medicare overhaul.

The 2012 budget that House Republicans approved along party lines last month contained deep cuts and would have transformed the government-run Medicare program into a voucher system, with a fixed payment provided to seniors that they could use to purchase insurance. It also would have raised the Medicare eligibility age to 67 from 65. 
FULL ARTICLE IN THE BOSTON GLOBE: 
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/05/26/gops_medicare_plan_falls_in_senate/

Helpful Telephone Insights

Thanks to our friend Micky in Maine for sending these insights on telephone stuff! 

*Always ask what "unlisted" or "nonpublished" means before you sign up for the service. Unlisted means simply that that the phone number is not in the phone book. It's probably still available through directory assistance and shows up on Caller ID. "Nonpublished" probably means that the number will not be in the phone book, directory assistance or show up on Caller ID. But you should still double-check.
*AT&T callers can block Caller ID by hitting *67 before dialing. Doing so blocks your name and number from being sent on calls – and prevents others from capturing your unlisted number. It's free and you can read more about it here.
*Phone companies can lure people into even pricier privacy services. AT&T has Caller ID and "privacy manager," which screens calls marked "private" on Caller ID. This, again, is probably a waste of money for most customers.
*If you're worried about telemarketing, join the free Do Not Call list. It's free. Call 1-888-382-1222.  But signing up won't prevent you from getting all telemarketing calls. Charities and political calls, for example, are exempt.

U.S. Atlantic Seaboard at Night from Space!

From NASA's Earth Observatory:  

    One of the largest conurbations in the world is located along East Coast of the United States, and has been termed the Atlantic Seaboard Conurbation (ASC). The ASC extends over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) and includes the major economic, governmental, and cultural centers of Boston, Massachusetts; New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington, District of Columbia.

    This astronaut photograph includes every metropolitan area in the ASC except for Boston (located off the image to the northeast). This night image highlights the position and extent of each metropolitan area through urban lighting patterns. The establishment and growth of the conurbation was facilitated by transportation networks—railroads, highways, and air travel routes—for the transfer of goods, materials, and population between the cities.

Two other large metropolitan areas are visible in the image—Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, at image lower left—but neither is considered part of the ASC. In contrast to the city lights along the sea coast and interior, the Atlantic Ocean appears as a featureless dark region filling the lower right quarter of the image.

Credit: NASA, Astronaut photograph ISS027-E-20129 was acquired on April 6, 2011, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using an 80 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center.