As usual, drove up to NoVa to spend Christmas with the family. Nuke’s parents went to the Left Coast for the Holidays so he drove up with me.
Had a good time.
Got there Christmas Eve and had dinner (again, as usual) at a Chinese restaurant.
Christmas Day - my sister made a traditional English Christmas Dinner – roast beef, roast vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, etc. It was great.
It snowed in North Carolina during the weekend so we delayed our drive back by one day. Went out to Warrenton Virginia to spend the evening with my brother (CA) and sister-in-law (BA). Had a great time there too.
The next day we headed back to the Greater Moncure Metro Area.
CA and BA also had other guests while we were there. A friend of theirs and his 7 year old son. The kid, LD, had a remote control helicopter. That thing was a blast to play with.
The next day after I got home, I went by Best Buy. They were sold out and wouldn’t get anymore in for a couple of weeks. I ordered one online.
What a great, well played game. State won 23 to 7. This is going to sound contradictory, but the game was played much closer than the score. And (here’s the contradiction) – State should have won by an even higher score. Both teams moved the ball well but both defenses made huge stops to prevent touchdowns. State’s defense was just better than West Virginia’s.
It's a good day to be a Wolfpack Fan.
Unfortunately, I’ve picked up a head cold – again. Dammit.
The story is, my dad ‘acquired’ a ship’s clock off the Liberty Ship he came back on from Europe after WWII. Or, it may have come from an uncle who worked at the Newport News Shipyard also during WWII. Either way, it’s my dad’s clock and it came to me after he died.
Around 5 or 6 years ago I took it to a clock shop in Cary for cleaning and maintenance. It came back broken and has never worked since.
I subsequently took it to two other shops – no one was able to fix it. I also contacted two different shops on the internet. Neither was willing to fix it and both told me that replacement works were not available.
Then, searching on line, I found a shop called Clocktiques in Wake Forest. The reviews for Clocktiques were all raves.
The reviews are true.
I took the clock in and once I described what had happened – the owner said the main spring may be ‘gummed up’ due to the typical cleaning method - which is to soak the works in a solution in an ultrasonic cleaner. He explained that often the springs will react to the solution and old dirt and debris can also remain trapped and turned into a gunk instead of being cleaned out.
The correct way is to remove the spring and hand clean it.
Anyway, he took the clock and said he could certainly fix it and that it would be about 8 to 10 weeks (he has a LOT of work).
Got it back today.
Here’s what he did: The spring was corroded so it was replaced. Two tuning fork jewels had been replaced at some point in the past with the wrong size and shape jewels. And even those weren’t set in properly. They were glued in instead of being enameled in. Also, the main stem was broken – probably from the ultrasonic cleaning. The replacement stem was handmade as none were available.
It would have been far easier and cheaper to replace the works – but repairing the broken works was important to keep the clock fully original.
End result – completely cleaned, jewels replaced, rebalanced, mainspring and stem replaced.
He did NOT clean the face plate or repaint / enamel the numerals. He said that should NEVER be done as the faceplate, arms and case should be allowed to age and acquire a natural patina.
The clock is beautiful, back in its place on my living room wall, and running perfectly. I'm beyond thrilled.
If you have a rare, expensive, antique or clock of great sentimental value – Clocktiques is the only place to take it for repair and maintenance. It’s expensive – but worth penny.
Just got back from a cruise. This time for 11 days instead of the usual week. The extra days were great.
The Celebrity Equinox is the most beautiful ship I’ve been on. Very modern / contemporary sleek design.
The clientele was upscale – due to the Celebrity line (and cost) and the fact it was a longer trip. I’d rather travel with these older but active people any day over the “whoo hoo” crowd.
Most of the on board entertainment was sophisticated adult fare – string quartets, jazz combos, big band, piano soloist, etc.
Overall I liked St. Kitts the best. First time there. It reminded me of Bermuda – but Bermuda of the 1960’s before it became fully developed. Very British, prosperous and not developed – yet.
It’s starting to happen. Their first resort, a Marriott has just opened. There are beautiful beaches on the southeast peninsula which has become accessible by construction of a paved road in the past 4 years. The beach bars there are still rustic – similar to Costa Maya. But that won’t last long. Oh yeah, before the beach we went to an old British fort on top of a mountain at the edge of the ocean. Very nice visit.
Had the most fun on St. Maarten. I’ve been there several times. Always gone to Orient Beach - which I think is the most beautiful beach I’ve been too.
This time we headed over to a little beach near the airport. The end of the runway is literally at the beach. There’s the beach and the sand goes right up to a tiny 2 lane road, then the airport fence and then the runway lights and runway. The planes land and take off right over you.
Dominica (which I’d been to about 15 years ago) is volcanic with high peaks and is mostly rain forest. It has 365 waterfalls and most of the island is preserved as a National Park. But – it’s desperately poor.
We took a cruise line tour and saw a couple of waterfalls and then on to the “resort” beach with volcanic black sand. The fact that this was the “safe resort area” said it all. It’s a row of slum houses / stores / bars on the beach. And I don’t mean US slum – I mean 3rd world slum.
But, the drinks were good, the beach pretty, and it was a nice place to hang out once the beggars and dope dealers finally grew tired of pestering us.
In Barbados we went to a public beach instead of a hotel / resort beach. It’s a National Park beach which the locals use. I like going to local places to get a chance to see the real island / country (albeit brief) rather than always going to the resorts where you’re insulated from real life.
The USVI were the same ol same ol. Been there a dozen times. This time I walked around town sightseeing, bought a dress shirt and spent the rest of the afternoon back on the ship.
Photos are found by following my links to the right.
Glad to be home. On the down side – while I was gone a pipe burst on the hot tub. I drained the remaining water out of it and will check out the problem later this week.
It’s cold. Unseasonably cold. Forecast to get down to the teens at least 3 nights this week and even colder next week. Yikes!
And that is why one goes on a cruise ship vacation.
Email between my brother-in-law (who turns 70 on the 28th) and me. He sent his email to everybody on the family and friends list. I, of course, replied to all. LOL
On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 6:26 AM, Adrian C. Havill wrote:
Please, do not mention my birthday to me, others, or the children. Do not send or give me presents. Do not have a waiter stick candle on a cupcake. Get the picture? Am very serious about this. There are consequences. ACH
to"Adrian C. Havill"
ccfamily@####.com
dateTue, Nov 23, 2010 at 8:16 AM subjectRe: Fair warning mailed-bygmail.com
No problem. Especially since I don't give a F*%&.
WDS
And this reply showed up from my nephew (ACH's son), ROFL
to"Adrian C. Havill"
ccfamily@####.com
dateTue, Nov 23, 2010 at 9:40 AM subjectRe: Fair warning mailing list Filter messages from this mailing list mailed-byhavill.com unsubscribeUnsubscribe from this mailing-list
I guess we better cancel the Ann Coulter look-a-like stripper.
First, the head cold is just about over. Still have a lot of congestion but that’s mostly residual along with my ‘all my life’ sinus issues. When I turned 14, along with all the other changes, I started having full time sinus congestion. It was so continuous my parents eventually sent me to the Duke allergy center. Chronic sinusitis – no cure, no fix, just deal with it.
Windshield
Earlier this week I was contacted by SB from Wake Stone Corporation. SB took down what little information I had about the dump truck and offered to try and identify the trucker / company.
Friday, got an email from SB with the trucking company info and contact information. I’ll get in touch with them next week. Honestly, I doubt that the driver will own up to responsibility – but – it sure won’t hurt to call and ask. Heck, I may even be surprised.
I was surprised and very appreciative when I was contacted by Wake Stone (I had sent them an email with a link to my entry about the windshield). Wake Stone is the quarry - NOT the owner of the truck – so it wasn’t any of their responsibility. And frankly, I’m just one guy with a windshield so it would have been easy to ignore my email.
But – the folks at Wake Stone are stand up people and tracked down the trucking company info for me. Now that’s doing the right thing.
I’m very impressed - kudos to the folks at Wake Stone.
Movies
Watched A Serious Man and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead this week. The Cohen Brother make interesting movies. Serious Man is very very dry Jewish humor. I really enjoyed it – even though I didn’t understand some of the ‘inside’ jokes. Here’s a hint – if you rent this movie – after the end credits the film gives you humorous definitions of a lot of the Jewish idioms and words. Definitely worth going past the credits for.
Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead is an excellent movie. Very distressing to watch. But Seymour Hoffman is a tremendous actor and his role in this movie is outstanding.
Addendum
State 29 - UNC 25
Game was even closer than the score indicates. Carolina had the ball with 50 seconds left and down 2 points. A field goal would have won it. State made the plays that counted. Downing our punt to UNC at the 4 yard line and then sacking Carolina in the end zone for a safety.
State's defense had 7 sacks in the game.
Sunday Night Addendum
Just finished watching Winter's Bone. Incredible writing, story and direction. Unbelievably awesome acting performance by Jennifer Lawrence. Outstanding performances all around. Awful premise and terribly distressing to watch. Five out of five stars.
Since I've lived here, about 11 years, I've had two windshields cracked by rocks from the dump trucks leaving the quarry. Today was number three.
The truck pulled out of the quarry behind me but then passed me going north on US 1. I was doing the speed limit, 65 mph; the truck was going a good bit faster. Maybe in the 75 mph range.
The truck started losing rocks as he went over the Haw River bridge. I suspect the rocks were dislodged from the bouncing caused by the joints in the concrete bridge deck. That and the high speed. Even though I was pretty far behind the truck, I'd estimate 400 or 500 feet, my car started getting pelted and I slowed down.
Anyway, I saw the big rock coming. I saw it bounce on the road and then pow - right smack in the middle of the windshield.
Modern safety glass is pretty amazing. It was a good sized rock but it didn't come through the windshield. Scared the silly putty out of me though.
In North Carolina, dump trucks do not have to have license tags on the back of the truck. I remember when the law was changed years ago to exempt dump trucks. The reason / argument was that dump trucks have difficulty keeping license tags on the back due to rough construction sites and the action of the dumping beds. That's complete bullshit. The real reason is so that people like me won't be able to get the tag numbers of the trucks when rocks smash our windshields.
Interesting, they can't keep license tags on the back but there's no problem keeping their rear lights and brake lights attached. Hmmmmmm . . . .
I called the Highway Patrol on my cell but they didn't have any cars in position to come and pull the guy over. The HP officer also checked with the Chatham County Sheriff and the Wake County Sheriff as well - no patrol cars nearby. By this time he was pretty far down the road anyway - due to his speeding.
I did see the truck take the New Hill exit but I kept on heading north to go to work. Besides, the driver would likely deny responsibility anyway.
So, I'm out the $100 deductible (again!) for my comprehensive insurance.
The dump truck was a white International and the name on the side was Mac Trucking.
That's working out to a smashed windshield about every 3 to 4 years.
Still have the head cold, but today I’m feeling somewhat better.
Saturday was the final home football game of the season. We beat Wake Forest pretty soundly. Wake was successful using quick shovel passes in the first half to defend against State’s blitz. But the coaches adjusted and State took over in the second half.
NC State has surprised everybody by exceeding expectations. Heck, preseason State was thought to be a bowl bubble team. Would we be able to manage a 6 and 6 season to become bowl eligible?
Instead, here we are near the end of the season with only 3 losses and a shot at the ACC Championship game. The best games were vs. Florida State and vs. Virginia Tech. Both came down to the final 3 minutes. VT was the slightly better team and won that game. We were the slightly better team and won the Florida State game.
We were the better team in the ECU loss but we dug ourselves way too deep a hole in the first quarter. Still, we overcame the 21 - zip first quarter. Ended up losing in overtime - interception.
The Clemson game? Geez, what to say. We just stunk it up. Lost by 1 point! Should have won by 2 touchdowns, if not more. We were clearly the better team - we just didn't get it done. Offensively we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot every time we had a scoring opportunity to put Clemson away.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda only have 1, maybe 2 losses instead of 3.
Still, we've done way better than anyone, myself included, thought. I'm a happy camper.
The Atlantic Division is tied up between NC State, Florida State and Maryland. FSU plays at Maryland this weekend. State plays at Maryland the following weekend. It's up for grabs and tie-breaker games will likely decide who goes to the ACC Championship game. Of course total ACC wins / loses count - so State needs to win over at Chapel Hill this Saturday.
It was a beautiful day for football. Thanks to FG who drove down from NoVa to go to the game and DB who drove over from Nashville. No, not that one - the one in NC. Nuke came up last weekend and went to the game of course.
Friday was the first basketball game of the season. Nuke and I went but left a little after halftime as I was feeling pretty bad. We have some serious talent. This could be a really fun season for NC State.
Nuke and I have just finished watching The Last Emperor. I’d never seen it. Nuke insisted. Excellent movie.
That’s about all for the update. Still feeling a little under the weather.
Head cold. I'm really sick. Sore throat, completely stopped up sinuses, headache, joints and muscles aches - the works. Aspirin, orange juice and gargling with salt water to help ease the sore throat.
NC State Football
Lost by 1 point to Clemson. Should not have happened - in fact - State should have won by a lot. Three times we were inside Clemson's 20 and came away with Zero points. With three minutes left in the game TOB decided not to go for it on fourth down and one - totally gutless decision. Still, it never should have come down to that situation in the first place.
Clemson played a sloppy ineffective game, 5 fumbles and 1 interception. But thanks to State's inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities - Clemson won.
I'm really ticked off at this loss. It was totally inexcusable.
Basketball
Season Tickets arrived this week. Looking forward to the upcoming season. I hope we have a good year like we've had in football (Clemson game notwithstanding).
I'm going to be out of town next week, so I went to early vote Saturday morning at the Board of Elections in downtown Sanford.
Here in Lee County, we briefly used touch screen voting machines but switched back to the cards where you blacken in the ovals. These things are pretty much foolproof. And, there's a written / paper ballot in case the software malfunctions and you can go back and do a hand count if necessary. Foolproof.
Anyway, there were ballots on both sides of the sheet. When I went up to feed the ballot into the scanner / counter I asked the guy overseeing the scanner if it mattered which side was up.
Election Official: "No. It will read no matter which way you feed it in."
Here’s 8 minutes of video so you can see for yourself. She is not being humorous, not being sardonic or sarcastic and she is not being quoted out of context.
“Where in the Constitution is the separation of Church and State?” @ 2:45.
“You’re telling me that the separation of Church and State is found in the First Amendment?” starting @ 5:25.
By the way Christine, since you’re so ignorant, here’s another little bit of information that might surprise you: The first 10 Amendments are called “The Bill of Rights”.
Rights, Christine; The Bill of Rights! The right to believe and worship as you wish. The right NOT to have government dictate religion.
Typical Saturday – did some house chores and then watched college football.
ECU beat State in overtime. This was a disappointing loss as State clearly did not play well. We let ECU run all over us in the first quarter – 3 touchdowns! Second quarter – State scored 3 touchdowns.
In the second half – nothing. The game goes into overtime and ECU wins after intercepting Russell Wilson for the 3rd time in the game.
We pissed away the ECU game. Granted, State does not have a lot of depth (especially on defense) and midway through the season we’re banged up without a lot of backup. But if we had played our game (and not ECU’s) – we would have won. The kids put out a great effort – the loss was due to poor preparation and coaching (IMHO).
Later Saturday was the annual neighborhood block party / pig picking. Perfect weather – nice and sunny and mild. I forgot my camera so I don’t have any photos. A lot of people were asking about all the clearing I had done on my lot. I joked that I was putting in some trailers to rent out to migrant workers.
Interestingly, a couple (actually 3) of politicians showed up – NC House candidate and a couple of County Commissioner candidates. Being a semi-rural soccer mom and almost totally white neighborhood – the politicians that showed up were of the tea-bagger variety. Well, not tea-baggers, but all 3 were Republicans.
I actually had a nice time talking with these guys. One on one – you can have an intelligent conversation once you get away from the jingoistic campaign crap. One guy though (running for County Commissioner) – well – he’s weird. I mean weird.
Sunday
The Lee County Community Orchestra is pretty good. They play several concerts each spring and fall in Depot Park. Today was their first concert of the fall season.
Sitting outside on a warm sunny afternoon – listening to nice music – great way to spend the day.
Good week this week. Work is going well and life on the home front is routine – which is good. Had the brakes done on the Focus – 92,000 miles – which is a very long life for brakes. Of course, most of my commute is interstate so the brakes don’t get used or abused.
Went to the Boston College at State game Saturday, of course. State was hitting on all cylinders – offense and defense. In fact, the last meaningless BC touchdown was when State’s bench was in and both teams were expected to just run out the clock. I think it ticked off Coach O’Brien because when we got the kick off – he let reserve quarterback Mike Glennon throw the ball and move down the field. We almost scored another touchdown before time ran out.
It was hot sitting in the sun. The temperature may have been in the mid 80s but it sure felt a lot hotter than that.
Next week State travels down east to East Carolina Teachers College. State will be favored but the Pirates also have a pass oriented offense. Fasten your seat belt - there could be 80 points put up in that game.
Thanks to brothers Dave and John and their mom for going to the game with me.
Printed out the photo taken at the Dook - Army game for Chip, Erica and John. Put them in frames and dropped them off on the way home.
Sunday
Met up with Serxner for breakfast. Then came home and did a little housekeeping and yard work. Nothing special - just another lazy Sunday.
Took some time in the afternoon to watch Julie and Julia on Netflix. 4 stars.
This week I'm going to start power washing the deck. It should be mild when I get home and that will make for more pleasant work. I try to clean the deck yearly. Otherwise it can be a real chore if I miss a year or two.
The NC State – Virginia Tech game was exciting. State honestly looked like the better team. We moved the ball better and our defense didn’t let VT get any long drives till late in the game. But VT made a couple of big plays (kickoff return and interception - both for touchdowns) that made up for their generally average play and at the very end VT made just enough of a defensive effort to win the game.
Also, Virginia Tech managed to stop State at the end of two very long drives - when State was in scoring position. Anytime you leave 2 touchdowns or field goals worth of points on the field – you make winning harder. Combine that with VT’s 2 big touchdown plays – and VT wins.
After the game, Nuke, Erica, Chip and I stopped at Sadlacks for a beer. There was a band playing which was amazingly good. So we ended up staying till the last set.
Have some video of the band and the gang dancing. But Nuke threatened me if I posted the video. He does look like a chicken when he dances. Guess I’ll just hold on to it in case I need to do some blackmail in the future.
Overall - a good, fun, weekend. Would have been even better if State had won.
This post is copied from StateFansNation, the web site of the NCSU Athletics lunatic fringe. Of which I am a proud crazy member.
The post captured my feelings almost exactly about this year’s football team. The original SFN post was put up rather quickly (complete with syntax and spelling errors) and needed some editing to better reflect my personal take.
So, with some editing, here’s how I (and SFN) think NCSU fans should handle the current wonderful success on the football field.
Which game is the most important? The next one.
Major Tom O’Brien was hired to win and has found himself, for any number of reasons, unable to accomplish his mission. This season would be a pivotal one where the most rationale fans would be trying to determine whether he was “right” for the Wolfpack and the most fanatical believers in “Operation TOB” would be trying to figure out whether their messiah was a false prophet. TOB needed to start at the basics; stop worrying about the entire season or the fate of the program; he needed to focus on winning the next game and nothing more. The most important game this season would be “the next one”.
NC State’s most important game this season is Virginia Tech this Saturday at home. We must beat Virginia Tech. We have to beat Virginia Tech. The fate of our program for years to come amounts to this one game.
After this week, we must beat Boston College. We have to beat Boston College.
After that - ECU.
Let’s keep our noses to the ground, hunting for our next kill and keep our egos even lower than that. If NC State wins, it will not be because we swaggered and bullied our way to the top, but because we are led with Marine-like discipline to become an elite, efficient, and fear-invoking machine stopping any offense that comes our way and slicing deeply with surgeon-like precision through our opponent’s defense.
Keep humble, Wolfpack. The hunt is going to be long and the prey will be strong. Let’s not concern ourselves with all the other opponents on the schedule. Only concern ourselves with the opponent on the field at the moment. Only concentrate on our next prey.
Respect our opponents.
Be grateful and enjoy the success. Cheer and support our team in all the right ways. Celebrate with humility and grace. Meet adversity and setbacks with determination.
As a team and as loyal Wolfpackers – let's do it - ‘the right way’.
At the start of the season I honestly thought we’d be 2 and 2 by now. Maybe even 1 and 3. Clearly we’d beat Western Carolina; and though we’d be (and were) underdogs for UCF, Cincinnati and Georgia Tech – I was hoping we’d have an upset win over 1 of them. Overall, I was expecting a .500 season at 6 and 6.
We are 4 and 0.
All 4 wins have been decisive. Yes, we let UCF and GT hang around and try to stage a late game comeback – but in each game we did more than just hold on to win – we finally put them down. We knew our offense would be good - the real surprise - a vastly improved defense.
Today’s game - NCSU 45 – Georgia Tech 28 was as impressive as the score. We dominated.
4 and 0 and our defense can still improve. And will improve – making NCSU even better and better.
Next Saturday Virginia Tech comes to town. VT has stumbled but is still one of the better teams in the nation. Yeah, they dropped out of the top 25 with a stunning loss to a FCS team – but VT is better than a third to half of the teams in the top 25.
If we beat VT Saturday . . . .
Here’s how the rest of the season looks like at this point.
Games / Teams we should be expected to win / beat:
Boston College, @ECU, Wake Forest and @Maryland. Yes, we could also lose a couple of these games. But if we keep playing like we are now – that’s not going to happen. Winning these 4 games gives us a totally unexpected 8 and 4 season.
Games / Teams we should be expected to lose or be very close:
VT, FSU, @Clemson and @UNC.
Right now – the way we’re playing - we could win these games. Win them all? Unlikely. But if we can knock off 1 or 2 of them we’re looking at a 9 or 10 win season – and a serious bowl game.
Next Saturday Virginia Tech comes to Raleigh for a game that is huge for both programs.
Hanging Out Saturday
Hung out with Chip, Erica and John Saturday. Watched the first part of the State – GT game on ESPN and then went to Durham to watch Army at Dook. It was pretty hot. In fact – Saturday set a record high.
Had a good time and then came back to Raleigh and walked around the Hillsborough Street block party. A few bands and some food. Then I drove back to the Greater Moncure Metro Area and finished the evening watching some great games on TV.
Thanks to Chippy for the Dook tickets.
Sunday
Spread some more fescue and clover seed over my septic field early this morning. The extended heat and mini-draught has killed all the grass that started to grow after the field was repaired. We’re having rain today and possibly more rain next week along with cooler temperatures. Hopefully this second round of seeding will be successful.
Oh, did I mention we’ve got a huge game next Saturday against Virginia Tech?
Afternoon Addendum
The AP Top 25 just came out. NC State is ranked 23rd. Miami and NC State are the only 2 ACC teams in the Top 25.
I don't get HBO, Showtime or any of the premium channels. I use Netflix - via DVD and instant download. For 9 dollars a month I can watch anything - anytime.
What a great, funny show. The writers clearly need some serious psychotherapy.
In a couple hours I'm headed over to Chip and Erika's. We're going to watch the State @ GT game on TV and then go over to Durham and watch Army @ Dook.
Appropos of nothing - I think I've posted this before. But it's a good one and worth a repeat.
Ron Cherry is my favorite ACC Referee. Even though this call is againt State - I still love it.
Ron Cherry calls a Personal Foul:
And here's a little humor from Coach O'Brien's weekly press conference Q&A yesterday. A lot of people think TOB is dull. That's not true - he's actually got an extremely dry / droll sense of humor:
Q. When you look for somebody to fill your fullback spot, what attributes are you looking for and how does Taylor Grant fit that mold?
COACH O’BRIEN: Taylor Gentry is our fullback.
Q. How big of a role has Jon Tenuta played in the defensive improvement you’ve made to this point?
COACH O’BRIEN: I think he’s contributed.
Q. What is the dynamic between he and Mike Archer?
COACH O’BRIEN: It’s very good. Mike’s the coordinator, and does the coordinator job, and Jon’s the linebacker coach, and does the linebacker coaching job.
An absolutely awesome movie. It's heartbreakingly sad. Therefore, I do not recommend it to anybody. Watch it at your own discretion.
One of the best screenplays and lead acting I've seen in quite a while.
I'm going to go to the library to get the book.
NCSU Football
State is 3 and 0. First time since 2002. We were favored over WCU and underdogs to both UCF and Cincinnati. We won all three games decisively.
Saturday we're at Georgia Tech. I checked the USA Today odds and Tech is an 8 point favorite. Going by our youth and depth - I'd say that's about right. But I wouldn't bet against State. Our offense is every bit as potent as we were last year and our defense has been tremendously better than it was supposed to be.
GT has a flexbone option offense that is hard to defend and a quarterback who is really, really good. State is doing a lot more blitzing this year which leaves the wide receivers open for long completions. You either get to or pressure the quarterback - or you get burned for big plays.
UCF isn't a household name - but they are a solid, and rising, football team. Coached by George O'Leary, they won 8 games last year. They are likely to have an even better record this year and be the Division champion in the Conference USA.
Last year State's defense was awful. Conservative defensive schemes and poor execution. Our offense averaged about 31+ points. That will almost always give you a big winning season. But not when your defense allows 33+ points.
The key to this year's surprising defensive turn around? Jon Tenuta.
The Pack doesn't get a break though. In 4 short days we play Cincinnati - Thursday night, ESPN.
Cincinnati will be heavily favored. They should be. Cincinnati went 12 - 1 last year losing only to Florida in the Sugar Bowl. The year before last, they went 11 - 3 beating Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
We'll give them a good game. It's unlikely we'll win; but it's not out of the question.
My regular HVAC guy came by today (Pete's Heating and Air Conditioning - Sanford).
To recap - the 72Degrees guy told me I had an electrical house wiring problem. He disconnected the heat pump because he said he was afraid of it causing a fire. Other than that - he had no idea what the problem was. Recommended that my HVAC heat pump be replaced ($ thousands). But first, he said I needed to get an electrician to check out the 'problem' with the house wiring.
He also said the HVAC components under the house were suspect - or rather, quote "I checked under the house - it's a mess down there". Whatever that means.
Oh - and their office called Monday to 'follow up' on my needing a new heat pump. I told them I wanted to have my regular guy look at it first before I committed to spending a lot of $ to replace the system.
First, my regular HVAC guy had to hook back up all the wires the 72Degrees guy left undone.
Once wired back up - a device or relay or something needed to be reset. Refrigerant levels checked out and OK.
Started up the unit - everything is fine.
My guy spent extra time double checking the wiring and such, including double checking things under the house (heat exchanger, etc.). Everything checked out OK. House wiring is fine.
Scroll units (like mine) have fewer parts than traditional compressors and thus are supposed to last longer and are more energy efficient.
Per my guy, my unit has at least another 5 years to go - maybe even 10.
Note: I've been getting a number of visits via Google Images for the above photo. This is Tuffy, the new mascot at NCSU. She's not a real wolf. She's a Tamaskan - a Finnish breed that looks remarkably like a wolf. Here's an article from the local newspaper about her and a little history of our mascots - including wolves, cows, dogs and a coyote. You'd think with our Ag school heritage and having a Vet School we could tell the difference between a wolf and a coyote. lol
Football season has finally started.
NCSU rolled past Western Carolina as expected. The real topic around town is UNC. Under a cloud of investigations - the Tar Babies went to Atlanta to face LSU on the game of the opening weekend.
With over a dozen prime players left back home in NC - it looked like LSU was going to roll. By halftime, it was all over except for the clock running out. But UNC did not give up - got back in the game - and made for one of the most exciting finishes I've seen in a long time.
With just seconds left - UNC was on the 6 yard line and had 2 chances to score the tying touchdown - the extra point would have won the game. Both incomplete passes were off the fingertips. Oh so close.
There's a lesson here. The cheating thugs and miscreants stayed home. The clean, real "student - athletes" almost (and in spirit and heart) won the game. Had the backups been the ones practicing all through spring and fall camp - UNC would have won the game.
Coach Butch David can institute a change in values and direction and still win big at UNC. He should start by firing John Blake.
My congratulations to UNC on a close game played under very difficult circumstances. Moral victories don't count on the stat sheet - but the good players over at UNC have my respect.
Heat Pump
My AC went out Friday night. Couldn't get through to my regular HVAC guy so I called another company instead. BIG MISTAKE. The guy from 72Degrees seemed inexperienced. He was clearly in over his head at diagnosing the problem. It's OK to not be able to do something - but one MUST recognize their limitations and know when to give up.
The unit was left with wires burned and hanging out. I hope to be able to get hold of my regular guy first of the week.
I hope 72Degrees didn't damage the heat pump beyond what was / is already wrong with it.
Sunday PM Addendum
Holy Moley - Nuke and I watched the Tulsa at ECU game. What a wild offensive game with a story book ending. ECU scores the winning Hail Mary touchdown with 0:00 on the clock for the 51 - 49 victory.
Even though we hate ECU - we were high-fiving the game.
Later, Nuke and I went to City Tap in Pittsboro for dinner and a beer.
My nephew (who works for Google) got his mom to switch to a smart phone / PDA.
This is my (very dear) sister who:
Got a website set up for her Marriage Celebrant business and then "forgot" she had it (this LINK goes to a review site - not her 'forgotten' site - lol)
Can't 'download' a simple file sent to her (such as a photo or Word document)
When she can't hear someone on the cell phone (such as in a loud restaurant) turns the speaker phone on in hopes of hearing and sending clearer. Yep - she really thinks that works!
Used to send out mass emails with the subject "blog" containing family updates (like those God awful Christmas letters). Thankfully she's quit doing that.
And so on.
When I saw this cartoon - I started laughing as I immediately thought of her.
Many of us keep treats on our desks at work. Clyde keeps chocolate; Clara keeps peppermints; I used to keep Jelly Belly beans but switched to Jolly Ranchers.
Jolly Ranchers are individually wrapped, so it’s more sanitary.
But Jelly Bellies are tastier and more of a treat – I’ve decided to switch back.
Stopped at the Super Target in Apex on the way home – picked up a 2 lb bag and headed to the checkout.
Cashier (very young and cute) – “How are you this evening?”
Bill – “I’m fine. Hope you are too.”
Cashier – “No, I don’t feel so well.”
Bill – “Sorry to hear that. I hope you’re on the way to feeling better and not the other way around.”
Cashier – “No, it will get worse.”
Bill – “Cold? Those summertime colds can be awful.”
Cashier – putting hand on stomach – “No, not a cold.”
Bill – TOTALLY DENSE & CLUELESS – “The flu! Those are awful too. Take care of yourself. I hope you feel better.”
Cashier - "Ah, it's not the flu either."
Lady Behind Me (middle age), with a grin – “It’s the monthly stomach pain thing.”
Bill – taking change and putting in my walled – “Oohhh! Lalalalalalalalalala. OK, I’m leaving now, bye.”
Cashier and Lady – both laughing and making a show of waving – “Bye!”
And, of course, the other people in line were observing the whole thing and snickering at me too.
Please - for the love of God - we apologize - take her back already!
Addendum
From the comments posted on youtube - I think these two kind of sum it up:
"....thank you for making the rest of the world get the wrong idea about real artists and making us ashamed to admit our professions or passions."
"I can only imagine how frustrating and insulting this must be to a legitimate, struggling artist who would kill to have an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art."
At first, the player / agent NCAA investigation over at Carolina looked like an isolated case.
One, maybe 2 players coloring outside the lines – mostly due to youth, immaturity, and generally being dumb asses. Well, Greg Little is more of a thug than a dumb ass – but still – he’s young so I could cut him some slack.
The thing that caught my attention through it all was John Blake still being employed as a defensive coach. Heck, how Carolina even allowed him within the town limits of Chapel Hill, much less actually on the campus of UNC was beyond me.
(FYI - when BobLee refers to lupines and ABCs (Anybody But Carolina) - he's talking 'bout us Wolfies over here in West Rawlie. Oh, and that amphibious dig was pretty cute too)
But then, all of the sudden – this whole brand new academic cheating thing that just exploded – within the last couple days.
What the hell is going on over there? This is not UNC. In the last 3 days we've basically watched the Carolina football program implode before our very eyes.
Honest to God - I really hate seeing this happening.
Two defensive starters (and potential NFL drafts) have been reportedly kicked off the team. And the rest . . . .
The latest unconfirmed reports (as of Friday afternoon) are that 4 players on the vaunted, top 5 nationally ranked defensive starting unit have been cleared. The rest are – and this is the quote – “toast”. This is (or maybe was) a defensive unit that had 5 to 7 for sure NFL draft picks – and possibly more depending on how the season went.
Watching the live press conference last night – I thought Coach Butch Davis was on his way to a heart attack. Chancellor Holden Thorp looked like a deer caught in the headlights. AD Dickie Baddour – he’s trying to keep it together – but that’s a man who’s getting slammed from all different directions – and it shows.
And John Blake is still employed as a UNC defensive coach.
We (our office) are considering a move to mini computers.
I’m playing with one of the HP 310 mini laptops for a few days.
We shifted from traditional desk top computers (keyboard, under the desk computer ‘box’ and monitor) a few years back. Current typical set up is a laptop (which, of course, travels with us when in the field), docking station, monitor and full size keyboard. Basically, we swapped out the under the desk computer with a laptop.
What we’re looking at now is to down size the laptop. No big deal.
However, we’re looking at changing our overall IT services set up.
To combat corruption, over the years (decades actually), NC government has centralized core services such as office supply purchases, vehicle acquisition, etc. This prevents local offices from giving deals to their friends and family. And it applies the power of mass / bulk purchasing to get better prices saving taxpayer dollars.
Of course, as in all things bureaucratic, there are inefficiencies and unintended consequences.
For example – our office pays for ‘turnkey’ IT services. For a fee we get hardware (laptops, monitors, etc.), connectivity (LAN hardware, software, access) and internet access.
Essentially – we pay for email, internet access, maintenance and such and we ‘rent’ our laptops / hardware.
With the move to the HP minis – we will purchase outright the hardware – mini pc’s, flat screen monitors, docking ports, keyboards, etc. We’ll continue to contract with NC IT Services for LAN and internet access / services and server operations and maintenance.
With the purchase of the minis – we’ll contract with Verizon for unlimited cell phone data service for the new mini pc’s. That way, when we’re out of town, we won’t have to search for free wifi – we’ll have access via cell phone towers. This is kind of like ‘bundling’ since we already use Verizon for our cell phones and service.
Even with our one time expenditure for new hardware and the addition of cell phone data service – we will save about $30,000 in the first fiscal year alone! That’s about $500 per person for an office of 60.
The savings comes from no longer ‘renting’ hardware from IT Services. Yep – we are paying a LOT to rent our laptops, monitors, etc.
After the first fiscal year – the savings will be even greater since we won’t be buying totally new equipment each year.
Bottom line – a reduction in annual costs with continuation of existing IT Services provided LAN, email (Microsoft Exchange), internet access, server maintenance and operations PLUS adding cell phone access.
What makes the initial pc outlay sweet is that Verizon / HP is going to make $ on providing bulk cell service for 50+ laptop users. In the same way cell phone providers make money on services (practically giving away their phones) Verizon / HP is giving us a huge discount on the mini pc’s and associated hardware.
Essentially, it’s like phone service. Cell phones are basically commodities – cheap or no cost. Laptops are headed that way as well. The internet access services contract with Verizon will be pretty much the same as a cell phone contract. We get the pc’s cheap – pay for the connectivity service – and every couple years or so – trade in the pc’s for new ones.
Better equipment, expanded service and a big reduction in annual costs – that’s how it supposed to be done.
Man - If I'd only had this parking spot when I was in school!
(Click for a larger image to see my little grey Focus)
After work, drove up to NoVa to visit the 2 local nephews and 1 Tokyo niece who is in Reston visiting her grandparents. (There are still 2 Chicago nieces who I have yet to lay eyes on!)
Saturday, Nuke, David and I went to the National Air & Space Museum at Dulles Airport. I've been there before but this was the first time for N and D.
They have a lot more planes on display then the last time I was there.
Today (Monday) after work, I stopped to get my tires rotated, balanced and alignment. I do this every 10,000 miles. Naturally, was told that I didn't need the rotation and balance. Instead - I needed new tires. What was supposed to be a quick $80 maintenance errand turned into a $700 visit.
Generally speaking, I could care less about Proposition 8. Or California, for that matter.
I do care about government. I think it should be as limited as possible. That includes government staying out of people's private lives and not intruding on individual liberties and freedoms. I care about that a lot.
Conservative guest columnist - The Wall Street Journal
Considered a leading Constitutional expert on the Bill of Rights
Self-described Libertarian - advocate for personal freedoms and limited government
Founding member - Federialist Society - "To promote the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be."
Appointed by President Reagan - Assistant United State Attorney General - Justice Department
Defense attorney represented President Reagan - Iran-Contra
Appointed by President George W. Bush - Solicitor General of the United States
Finalist (twice) - consideration for nomination as Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States by President Bush (nominated Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito respectively)
Mr. Olson represented President George W. Bush and argued President Bush’s case in Bush v. Gore before the Supreme Court of the United States - Resulting in the Landmark Decision allowing Florida’s Electoral Votes to be awarded to Mr. Bush – resolving the contested 2000 United States of America Presidential Election
This man "gets it." Oh, and the Judge? A Bush appointee also.
True conservatism - not the teabagger fake conservatism crap.
The lot work is done. There's some stuff the guys will haul away tomorrow or Tuesday. They ran out of room on the truck.
The field is seeded and strawed. Should start to see some grass in about two weeks.
They guys got sick and tired of hauling wood. So they left some in the back woods.
Yep - the stack is taller than me. But then, most things are.
Oh, BTW
At dusk yesterday, Nuke was on the back deck having a smoky treat. Stuck his head in the door and said "Come out here, but be quiet".
We see doe all the time. Everybody sees does all the time.
This was a stag. Fairly young - 2 points - antlers about a foot long or so.
First one I've seen in the yard in at least three or four years.
Food
We ate well this weekend.
Friday night, Hazel fixed old fashioned spaghetti sauce. Tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, ground beef. That with some garlic bread – we were stuffed. (Leftovers Sunday night - yummy.)
Saturday morning I set up a bar-b-que. I dragged the gas grill / smoker into the yard and gave it a thorough cleaning. Went and got the spare tank filled. Made some simple eastern NC vinegar sauce (cider vinegar, brown sugar, kosher salt, red pepper flakes).
I had picked up a whole pork shoulder from Nahunta on the way home from work and put him on the grill around noon.
(BTW – way too much for the four of us. I should have gotten a Boston Butt – about half the size of a whole shoulder. There’s a lot of leftover pork in the freezer.)
I put some water and white vinegar in the drip pan under the shoulder. The drippings combined with the liquid and helped smoke and steam the pork to help it flavor and make it tenderer.
We pulled him off the grill around 1800. Some had bbq sammiches (w/cole slaw); some just had chopped pork. We also had fresh corn on the cob from the Farmer’s Market. Pound cake and ice cream for dessert.
They were up for a competition being held in Sanford.
I watched for a while on this morning. It's a really cool avocation and a lot of fun to watch. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and appreciation of the training and skills. Just like you can "get into" any other sport like football or basketball.
Here are owners / handlers familiarizing themselves with the course before one of the sets of runs.
This is practice area.
This is one of the waiting areas. Kind of like "The Pits" in auto racing.
Folks relaxing before the start of the trials.
And finally, a couple of videos of the competitions.
This first video is almost a good run. Started out great, but the dog lost his focus at the weaving station.
Here's a good run.
Notice the time stamp on this post. I went to the trials, stayed a while, then came home to do chores (yard work) and to post this entry.
Yep - it's just before 1100. The competitions start around 0800. Most of the entrants show up at the venue very early to get set up, practice and prepare. Ward says 0600 is not unusual.
I have a fireplace for which I buy a load of firewood each year.
I get the firewood delivered in the spring so it will have time to season for the following winter.
Here's this year's stack of wood ready for this winter. This is about the amount I'll burn during a typical winter. Sometimes a little less.
When discussing the drain field work and which trees needed to come down, GJ (Maple Hill Farms) said he'd have the guys cut up the usable wood and stack it. Later they'll bring a splitter and spit it up for me.
That's a great idea. Saves the cost of hauling off the wood. Plus - wood to burn.
Today, when I pulled in the driveway - I started laughing so hard my side hurt. The sight that greeted me struck me as "Holy Cow!" funny.
Before and almost After photos of my home's drain field area.
First photo taken in May. Notice how nice and full the clover is?
In June, an early heat wave and mini-drought killed off most of it. Second photo taken today after work.
On to the post -
Living in the country means I don't have connection to a Municipal Sewer System. (I do have water via the city / county water system).
The typical rural single house system is a septic tank with drain field.
When I built my house, North Carolina was reacting to a number of large multi-home on-site system failures. These systems were promoted by a "certain" company that was building and installing ground systems serving whole neighbourhoods and communities.
Well - I'm a Civil Engineer and I knew that large scale application of these systems were bull*&%t. Or rather, human*&%t.
Back then I was in private practice. I encountered that "certain" company on a few occasions.
One project was a subdivision where I had to come in and design a municipal system in place of an idiotic (and very expensive - $354,000 as I recall) Rube Goldberg* system the other company / consultant had designed and was trying to foist off on the developer.
My design came in around $225,000. Gravity lines and manholes, duel lift station and force main.
It wasn't that big of a deal subdivision / project at the time. So I'm not exact about my system cost - but 225k is in the ballpark. I do remember that my design also handled over three as many homes as the "idiotic" system.
And - we're talking mid 1990's dollars.
The development / subdivision was (is) in Wake Forest - off US 1 - North of Raleigh.
But - I digress.
A lot of those Rube Goldberg* systems failed and there were some pretty serious repercussions - in terms of both environment and cost.
Heavy regulation followed which trickled down (pun intended) to individual homeowner systems. Which hadn't been a problem. Classic case of overreaction and subsequent over regulation.
Anyway - my house construction got caught in the middle of it.
Instead of a simple septic tank and drain field - my house (under the then "new" rules and guidelines) required a huge drain field, imported dirt (for improved percolation) and the soil scientist identified the ideal drain field location uphill from my house.
Which required a two tank system with pump, equalizing pressure manifold and timed dosing system. It's what's known in the industry as a Low Pressure Pipe (LPP) system.
I built my house 12 years ago. At that time - a simple tank and drain field cost around $2,000 or so. My LPP system cost a whopping $8,000.
LPP systems are classified as 'commercial / public' by definition which means my system has to be "operated" by a licensed operator. In my case, that means the operator comes by twice a year - checks everything out - and sends reports to the County Health Department.
Over time, however, I neglected my drain field. I didn't keep it cut and cleared. Eventually the vegetation took over to the point where I had small trees growing in it. That is BAD. In all capital letters.
The past two weeks - I've been having the field restored. Since there are small PVC pipes just below the ground - you can't go in there and knock things down with a bulldozer. Everything has to be done by 'hand'. Care has to be taken to not damage the pipe system. Machinery has to be specialized and lightweight just for this application.
Fortunately, I've found the perfect company to fix my field - a landscaping company out of Siler City called Maple Hill Farms (no web site).
Those guys have been working carefully for 2 weeks. They are also taking out about a dozen dead and dying trees since they're already here.
The coolest thing was watching them smooth, till, and grind down small tree stumps and roots with a machine that I can only compare to a Zamboni. Except it's for dirt.
Basically the trees and undergrowth have been all cut down by hand. Fine chipped and spread back out. The rest of the weeds, brush, etc. mowed down and spread around. Then the Zamboni thingy mulches / tills / grinds / and smooths the soil.
I'm told my drain field (1/2 acre active field + 1/2 acre reserve field) will end up being a really nice lawn.
Cost so far? $5,850 and counting.
BTW - Eventually sanity returned to the sizing, design, permitting and installation of individual home septic systems.
If my house were built today - it would likely be a regular single tank with a gravity drain field about 2,000 square foot in size.
If the soil really did require an LPP system - the active drain field size would increase to about 3,000 or 4,000 square feet. NOT the 1/2 acre my system has.
Yep - the drain field for my system is about 6 times the size it needs to be. Click on the photo - there's a guy standing in the filed. That will give you an idea of the size.
Sometimes I can be full of s*#@. LOL. But it would take me and a small army to crap enough to need a field that size.
*Note - Speaking of Rube Goldberg and apropos of nothing - here's a happy video:
