Yard work around the homestead...

This past weekend we did a lot of work around the yard. We removed more sod from the area of expansion, laid down bags of mulch to create two walkways and planted some veggies. The garden, which resides in the back of our house, has grown from 10 x 10 to about 12 x 12 (less lawn to mown!). In addition to the rhubarb plant, we've planted tomatoes, onions, beans, pumpkins, and a variety of herbs.


In the front yard along the driveway my wife has been working on a perennial flowerbed since we moved to our current home almost 2 1/2 years ago.


Early yesterday evening after taking the above photo I noticed a butterfly hovering around the chives. I sat patiently next to the chives and was able to take this photo:

BBQ and Birds

Yesterday I was a friend's house for a barbeque and had an excellent view of my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird hovering around a shrub. In addition I saw a male and female House Finch perched on top of an evergreen tree.


(found this nice photo on flickr)

Free Wi-Fi at St. Paul Libraries!

This is sweet...You can now get free wi-fi by visiting your nearest St. Paul Library.

Nuts to CBS...

Last week I posted about the demise of Jericho by CBS. I noticed that the wave of fan mania is at full strength...Here is a partial list of articles, save Jericho sites, letter-writing campaigns, blogs, and yes the NUTS TO CBS campaign which have sent many thousands of pounds of peanuts to CBS.

http://savejericho.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/savejerichonow
http://www.syfyportal.com/news423672.html
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=41626
http://www.nutsonline.com/jericho
http://www.jericholives.com/
http://mediabiz.blogs.cnnmoney.com/2007/05/21/angry-jericho-fans-think-cbs-is-nuts
http://banjosworld.blogspot.com/2007/05/update-save-jericho-letter-writing.html


Boxes of peanuts ready to be shipped to CBS.

Female Red-winged Blackbird Sighting

Saw a female red-winged blackbird at our neighborhood swamp (really a drainange pond). Here is an image of the female Red-winged Blackbird:



With the exception of the Northern Cardinal, House Finch, and Dark-eye Junco, it's interesting to note that most of our bird sightings thus far have been male and not female birds.

Things You Can Do With Google

Ran into this article at Lifehack.org about things you can do with Google. In addition to math, you can now get stock quotes and the latest weather forecast by typing for example weather: 55406.

New Hobby...Birding

Since early March I have been taking up birding as a new hobby. My interest was due in large part because my youngest liked watching (Black-Capped Chickadee is his fav) and feeding birds in our back yard. It is great fun to be able to identify the different birds that hang out in our part of south-central Minnesota.

Thus far we have been able to identify these birds in our back yard:
Black-capped Chickadee
House Finch
Dark-Eye Junco
Common Grackle
Flicker Woodpecker (the only woodpecker that likes to feed from the ground)
Brown-headed Cowbird
Blue Jay
Northern Cardinal
Mourning Dove
Robin
House Wren
White-Capped Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
White-Throated Sparrow
Brown Creeper
Cedar Waxwing (a flock outside work window)
Chipping Sparrow

The next thing I have been trying to do is to recognize bird songs. A great resource I discovered is the Macaulay Library of Animal Sounds.

Jericho gone?!?

I've been reading a number of post that one of my fav shows, Jericho, has been cancelled by evil CBS. Here is a link... I think that CBS did viewers a great disservice when they decided to put Jericho on 6 or maybe 8 weeks hiatus. Which super-duper brain at CBS thought that up that idea should be... By the time Jericho returned most viewers had forgotten about the show. ABC learned it's lesson with LOST and now has committed to have 3 more season of LOST each running 16 weeks at a time without a silly hiatus.

Another Free Wi-Fi Sighting

It is now possible to get an oil change and check your e-mail at our local auto repair shop...Just saw a sign proudly announcing a new plasma TV and free wi-fi. Speaking of autos, I recently noticed that my van was keyed. Yep, someone decided to scratch the side of my van for no apparent reason. Was it racism? I am Asian after all. Maybe I was just unlucky to park next to someone who had a bad day? Did I cut someone off while driving to Target? Maybe I'm just a baaad driver and the 'keyer' decided that something had to be done about my poor driving skills.

Here is a photo of the keyed area...

$40

This past Saturday I dropped off an old tv, vcr, dvd player, and Mac Plus (all broken) at a local Earth Day event. It cost me $40 to get rid of those items which have been sitting in my garage for far too long...Make every day Earth Day...Remember to Reuse, Reduce, Recyle!

T-mobile phone arrives

(could not resist)


The t-mobile phone I ordered the 1st of May arrived this afternoon. I was quite surprise that the 2 to 4 business day shipping time was actually met. Once the new phone arrive the the sim card was immediately removed from the old phone and inserted into the new one...Whamo, the new phone works!

New car, soon?!?

It's becoming more and more painful to have one car! This conflict, that conflict, waiting for this ride or that ride, asking relatives to use their car...this is getting old! I thought that I could hold off on the second car for another year but it looks like this summer will be the moment of truth! We've been a one car family for a loooong time and have tried avoiding a second car by carpooling, bumming rides, and taking the bus...

Here is a quick list of potential second cars based on budget:
Honda Fit: (33 and 38 mpg) heard there is alooong waiting list :(
Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe: (30 and 36 mpg)
Mazda 3: (26 and 33 mpg)
Kia Rio5: (35 and 38 mpg ...auto trans)
Saturn Ion: (~24 and 32 mpg)
VW Rabbit: ( 22 and 30 mpg) Why is this lower than the above?

Note: no hybrid due to high cost of acquiring one, even a used vehicle.

Wi-Fi and more

On the way to my rehab session via the bus I saw a huge sign for free wi-fi at a local laundromat. It is amazing to see how wi-fi has become institutionalized to the point where a person can check their e-mail while doing laundry.

Maybe not...

Just kidding! Lately I have been obessing about cell phones my oldest is not happy w/ her phone. After trying it out I understand her frustration -- that Nokia 6010 has the worse UI and the buttons stink. I've been looking for a new (upgrade from her evil Nokia) cell phone and have settled on the Samsung t319 from T-mobile. I find that the t-mobile prepaid phone works the best for our family. I just can't stand the monthly cell phone bill so I got rid of it last year and switched to t-mobile prepaid plan and have been very happy!