2 Years After

I’m an engineer – not an accountant, bookkeeper, or social scientist.

But I can do math. And I can do some simple analysis.

This past week was the 2 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

I’m not going to comment on the wisdom of building cities under sea level elevation. Nor am I going to comment on providing Federal subsidies for insurance in flood zones. Far be it from me to cast doubts on building multimillion dollar beach front homes and having the, certain to occur, insurance claim underwritten by MY (and YOUR) tax dollars.

But I did do a little simple math –

The 2000 census population of Louisiana was 4,468,976. The 2000 census population of Mississippi was 2,910,540.

The people hardest hit and most affected were in the coastal zone – with New Orleans the major urban area that took the brunt of the Hurricane. The greater New Orleans metro area population in 2005 was about 1.25 million.

So, just for the sake of some simple math – let’s say half of the people in the entire state of Mississippi were severely affected by the storm. That’s about 1.5 million people.

And, let’s say half the people in the entire state of Louisiana were severely affected. That’s about 2.25 million people. Which easily covers the greater New Orleans metro area.

1.25 million plus 2.25 million is 3.5 million people. Let’s add another half million people for the hell of it and round that number up to 4 million - just to make the math easy.

Now the reported numbers of people that lost homes or were completely displaced were far far far far lower – well under 1 million total. But let’s stick with the 4 million number right now for this simple little exercise.

Congress and the Federal Government has authorized / spent an estimated 114 Billion dollars on Katrina relief and rebuilding. Divide 114 billion by 4 million and you get $28,500 per person. Not per family, but per person. Let’s say a typical family is mom, dad and 2 kids – that’s around a nice cool $100,000 per family.

The reality is – the actual number of people truly seriously affected was well under 1 million people – but we’ll use that as a maximum. Further inland, yes, trees were downed but a tree limb damaging the roof is not the same as getting your house wiped out. So, using 1 million people is still a vast over estimate of the number of people most seriously affected by Katrina.

Since I used 4 million in the math – but an estimate of 1 million truly affected people is still an over estimate – than my little math exercise should actually multiply the amount of $ per family by 4.

That’s $400,000 per family.

We’re not even talking about losses covered by insurance. Just flat out Federal money allocated and spent (or in the process of spending) in direct appropriations.

Obviously my little exercise is an oversimplification – but I’m looking for ball park figures; orders of magnitude; a rough idea of how effectively the money's been spent. The truth of the matter is that the average $ spent per family is a lot more than $400,000. Way more.

If my house were severely damaged by a storm – and the Government said – “Here Bill, have $400,000 to fix your house and buy a new sofa and TV” – I’d be a pretty damn happy camper. Plus I’d still have my homeowner’s insurance policy to pay me as well.

First I’d fix my house and buy some furniture. Then I’d head down to Leith Automotive and look for that BMW I’ve always wanted. And I’d still have a pot load of money in the bank.

Having worked for State government and been directly involved with Hurricane Fran – I know that the money from the Federal Government flows to the State and Local Governments.

Outside of initial costs, such as the Army or National Guard – the LOCAL and STATE governments undertake clean up – infrastructure repairs and reconstruction – and, through LOCAL and STATE government social service agencies – administers grants and loans to individuals and families for relief.

The bills are sent to the Federal Government. The Feds write the checks. But it’s the LOCAL and STATE governments that decide how the money is spent and allocated.

So – where the hell has the $400,000 per family gone?

Who spent it?

The initial Katrina response by the Bush administration was negligent beyond belief. It was another reflection of the incompetent appointees by George W.

But after the initial fiasco – the money starts flowing through the Federal bureaucracy and recovery and relief accountability falls squarely on LOCAL and STATE government.

It’s no secret that New Orleans and Louisiana politics have traditionally been suspect. Now, more than ever, New Orleans and coastal Louisiana politics is a cesspool.

So with the past week’s reports and news articles about how New Orleans is still messed up – I draw this conclusion: If you throw money into the toilet and keep flushing – it’s no wonder you end up with the New Orleans situation.

It’s the average people that suffer of course, but then again, they elect the shysters (Ray Nagin) and crooks (William Jefferson) along with the rest of the local sleaze.

I dislike, correction, I despise the Bush Administration. Not for it's policies (which I have a lot of problems with) - but simply for it's sheer incompetence.

However, this lack of long term recovery is one case where you can’t blame it on Dub’ya.

A While Back . . .

A while back, I got off on a tanget about The Fashion Industry and Avant-Garde Performance Artists.

A quote from my entry:

There are a lot of 'jobs' one can do which are much sillier and far more useless than being part of the fashion industry.

Avant-garde performance artists come to mind. Talk about people who need to get a job. And a life.

This link to USA Today kinda sorta sums up (in a sad way) why I don't think much about performance (so called) art. If this can be mistaken for performance (so called) art . . . .

ESPN

When my nephew and family went back to Japan, they gave me their HDTV.

Tonight, on ESPN, College Football Season starts.

The game is #2 LSU at Mississippi State.

What an awesome picture.

Oh man, I had no idea what I’ve been missing.

How Many State Employees . . .

How many state employees does it take to install a cup holder?


Actually, only 2. The guy in the middle is Billy Bryant, Project Manager for NCSU. He handles projects for the Athletics Department.



A little while back, I posted an entry about this year's maintenance project at Carter-Finley Stadium.

At the time, we expected to be pretty much finished last week with the critical items, such as new railing, needed before this year's games. I made facetious comments about how the Athletics Department would be freaking out if they saw construction going on in the week before the opening game.

Well, not so fast with the quips there Joke Boy!

Guess what we were doing today? Yep - another Final Inspection to see if we're good for opening day (Saturday).

Hopefully all the last minute stuff will be done tomorrow (Thursday) and the equipment and crews will be cleaned up and out by Friday.

It's at the point where people aren't even yelling and having fits anymore. We're way beyond that. You just sort of shake your head and laugh a little because there's not much else you can do.

Billy, the guy in the hard hat in the first photo, sports the shaved head look. What little hair he had left he's pulled completely out.

These photos were taken last Thursday.




At this point last week, I was at a loss for words. Still waiting on some railing, last minute concrete patches were still being done, drain leaders not secured, and we were having some unanticipated problems with the anchor rods for the sideline chair seats.

Anyway, last week a Come To Jesus Meeting and Camp Revival was held. People finally saw the Light. Past Sins were Forgiven and Repentance and a Promise to go Forth and do Good was the new Order of the Day.

If not, the Athletics Director was going to make inquiries with the ROTC guys about convening a firing squad.

Today, we're there. Almost. We're really really close. Cross my heart.

BTW - Take a look at the last photo above. There will eventually be protective metal covers fabricated that will cover the anchor rods and nuts. In the meantime, no matter how neatly you cut the excess, there's still going to be burrs and spikes which could snag people and tear skin. Not good.

Billy came up with a temporary fix. In the photos below, the nuts and anchor rods have been covered. Those little caps are 3/4 inch PVC pipe end caps. They're held on with silicon glue. Once the glue sets up (hopefully by Saturday) the caps will be secure but flexible. Allowing future removal for access without being brittle like a solid drying adhesive.

Cleaned out 2 Lowes and 1 Home Depot so far of all 3/4 inch pipe caps. Still about 300 short. By tomorrow, you won't be able find a single end cap in any home improvement store in Raleigh.

LOL

I sure hope the adhesive sets up and cures in time.

Please look down upon us favorably oh ye Gods of Gluedom such that Cletus and Billy-Ray, in their drunkenness, doth not pry off the caps and fling them down upon their fellow Wolfpackers.



There's been close projects before out here. But nothing like this year.

This will never ever happen again.

I don't think people's nerves could handle it.

Trivia

How often is the football field grass cut?

3 times a day. Yep - a day. Morning, mid-day, late afternoon. Continuous cutting promotes a dense root system and creates a close and dense lawn. That field is like a putting green. It really is that nice.

Senju Kannon

Senju Kannon is the 1000-hand Goddess of Mercy.

This is from this year's annual 24 hour television fund raising event for charity in Japan.

I believe the performers are Chinese and are deaf.

Enjoy.

(Note - the original Japanese embed has been removed from youtube. This replacement embed performance is from China - I think.)

Excellent

When I got home last night – my Season Basketball Tickets order form was in the mailbox. Also, the complete ACC Basketball Schedule was released yesterday.

It’s difficult for me to go to the work week late night games. I get to the office at 0700 which means I get up by 0545. Games that start at 2100 (9 PM) means I don’t get home till after midnight.

Last year – there were a number of games I gave away the tickets because I just couldn’t go to the late games. This year the schedule is much more accommodating. In fact, for me, it’s just about perfect.

Unless I missed it, I don’t see any 9 PM home games. Or away for that matter. All the weekday home games start at 2100 (7 PM). So, it looks like I’ll be able to go to those and still get home by 2200 (10 PM) or 11 at the latest which is doable once in a while during the work week.

Last year I also missed 2 home ACC games while on the Family cruise.

This year – the games during vacation week are away. The home Miami game coincides with the Saturday we return from the cruise – and it so happens that is the one late starting game - 2000 (8 PM). So, I can simply drive directly from the airport to the game.

The way the schedule dates and times are set up - it looks like I'll be able to make all the home games this season. That's never happened for me before. This is going to work out so well!

NCSU Basketball Schedule

Raccoon Photos

Since they know the food is already out and waiting for them - my furry friends have started showing up earlier for dinner.

What is This?

When the nephew, niece-in-law and great niece moved back to Japan, they left a number of Japanese items in my refrigerator and freezer.

Most of it was fairly obvious or stuff I could figure out and use – although for me, the box of seaweed wrap is a lifetime supply. Several lifetimes.

A couple of things though – I’m pretty much clueless about.

This bottle for instance. The label is all Japanese and the little pictures on it are completely baffling. It’s got a citrus smell – kind of tastes like lime.

I’ve been using it as a marinade. I soaked a small steak in it the other night – then stir fried the sliced steak with some veggies and added a side of rice. It was delicious.

For all I know – it could be a herbal foot lotion for Mami’s skin condition. LOL

Sinuses

My sinuses generate a ton of stuff. Ever since I was about 13 – 14 years old. I’d been putting up with the sinus pressure and pain all my life until about 6 months ago. My doctor told me it was silly to have the constant pain and prescribed singulair. The downside is that it’s difficult to swallow a cell phone every day. Ha ha ha.

One of the rare side effects is that singulair can cause headaches. I never get headaches – not even once or twice a year. But with the singular – I now have cleared up sinuses – but I also have a constant low grade headache. They don’t come and go – it’s 24 – 7.

If I quit taking the singulair the headaches go away within a day – but then my sinuses clog back up and I have the pressure pain.

Called my doctor and was told that it’s perfectly OK to self-adjust the dosage. Try cutting back to every other day and so on until I find the right balance between not getting the headaches while still being able to breathe.

The best analogy I can think of is taking aspirin to help prevent heart attacks as you get older. Originally people took an aspirin a day. Eventually it was determined that a small dosage is all that’s needed and one can avoid the stomach issues that can arise from taking too much aspirin.

Raccoons

I can’t even go outside on the deck anymore. Since I only feed them a little (not enough to sustain them) they hang around for a while after the food is gone hoping I might put out some more. They search around for a while and play (kind of like puppies and kittens wrestling).

If I go outside and they’re still nearby – they come dashing up the stairs thinking I might be putting more out to eat. Exactly like pet cats and dogs will come running if they hear a can opener or a food bag rattling.

Last night for example, I thought they had gone. I went outside to look at the stars and such. (And by such – I mean p . . . . uh, never mind.) The raccoons were in the yard searching for seed that had fallen out of the bird feeder and other food. One of the little ones saw me. It looked at me – did the stand up on the hind legs begging thing – then took off for the stairs to come up on the deck. With the rest in hot pursuit. I had to high tail it back inside.

Costa Maya and Hurricane Dean

Overall, Hurricane Dean came ashore in the best place possible – the practically deserted jungle of the lower Yucatan peninsula.

Direct eye wall and storm surge hit the little village of Majahual.

This place was my all time favorite stop. Most ship passengers spend their time at the dock and shopping village (i.e. the artificial Disney Land Mexican / Mayan mini-theme park) or went off on jungle and eco-tours and Mayan site tours.

Boze, Nuke’em and I went to Majahual and hung out there. Wasn’t too developed yet and was still a sleepy fishing village. Kind of like a place out of a Hemingway novel.

These were taken from reports posted on the internet:

. . . Costa Maya is a thin strip of land, with the sea to the east, and mangroves to the west, extending 30 miles inland, it is like being on an island, maybe 10 feet in height. The town is 2 blocks wide, sea to the front mangrove (swamp) to the back . . .

“From the new light house all down the town of Majahual, it is no longer Majahual, everything is gone!” Many of the local businesses, she tells us, including restaurants, souvenir shops and dive shops are gone, with only a few buildings spared.

. . . the town is gone, the few remaining buildings will have to be demolished . . .

The paper (and other sources) say's the entire town was "forcibly" evacuated by the military before hand, and no one was lost.

Here’s before and after photos from the web. A couple of vacation photos I took can be found here.

For the upcoming November trip – I’d like to see Roatan take the place of Costa Maya port. Not the same – but still pretty much a rural place.

Random Stuff

Mining

America is pretty insular when it comes to news and our perception of ourselves and world events. If something happens in the US – it’s important. Somewhere else – not so much.

Mention to just about anyone the mining tragedy and the response will be that it’s just awful – those poor 6 guys, now presumed dead, and the 3 rescuers who died trying to reach them in Colorado.

Few, if any, would even know about the mining accident in China this week that killed 180.

We seem to have a mining accident with multiple deaths every few years. When it does happen – its big news and people want to know why.

China is a huge country with a huge population. I’ve never been there and I’ve not studied it with any depth but it seems as though it’s leaping from a 3rd world country to a semi-first world country. Their energy appetite is growing furiously.

In mining, China averages 13 deaths per day. No – that’s not a typo. A lot of their mines are very small – almost mom and pop type operations. It’s unrealistic to expect Western standards and operations in an emergent economy. But that is no consolation to the families of the 180 that died in this week’s accident.

This week’s accident in China was a small news article buried deep in the Sunday paper – if reported at all.

BTW – there was also a bridge collapse in China shortly after the Minneapolis collapse. Killed a lot of people. Anybody hear of it?

Sleazy

Speaking of knowing why – I find myself completely disgusted with that Bob Murray fellow. I don’t think it’s a lack of experience in dealing with the press and public – I get this visceral bad reaction to him. If he told me the sun rises in the east and sets in the west – I don’t think I’d believe him. I’d go outside and look for myself.

Hurricane Dean

One of my favorite cruise stops is Majahual, Mexico. (Marketed as Costa Maya) Been there once. I’m booked on a cruise that will stop there in November and again on the family cruise in January.

I hope we'll still stop there.

From what I can tell from tracking maps and Mexican news sites - looks like Hurricane Dean is expected to make a category 5 landfall somewhere between 20 miles north to 20 miles south of the Majahual bulls eye.

It’s a tiny place with cinder block stores, restaurants and a few 1 and 2-story hotels. It’s also right on the beach. From what I recall there are 3 sort of paved, mostly dirt, roads that run parallel to the ocean. The school is on the 3rd street– maybe a thousand feet inland from the beach. At most.

I have a sinking feeling that what little there is there is going to get wiped out.

If enough of it survives – I hope we still stop there. That will be as good a place as any to spend our money. They’re going to need it.

Raccoons

Due to the unusually long streak of hot weather and lack of rain, I've been putting a little dog food out everyday for the Raccoon family. Normally it's better to put out food only occasionally. But the heat and drought has undoubtedly made foraging for food more difficult.

I don't put out enough to sustain them - just enough to help them out. They are clearly still hungry once they've eaten because they go crazy looking for more food after they've finished what's there.

I want to put out more but I can't let them become dependent on my handouts. Otherwise they'll lose their natural ability to hunt and forage.

I've also changed my feeding habit with them. I had been waiting till they show up to put the food out. Putting it out early attracts ants which they don't like.

But - the 3 small ones have been getting too accustomed to my presence. They were rising up on their hind legs, dancing around, and grabbing at me and the and cup I use to pour the food in the bowl. They almost got to the point where they would try and climb up my pants leg.

I just don't want to take the risk of accidentally getting nipped in their excitement and hunger. I have no desire to have to get rabies shots.

So - the food now goes in the bowel when I get home. They'll just have to deal with the ants.

They still come up to the screen door to check me out - but that's as close as I now let them get. They're wild animals and need to stay that way.

They also like to play. A lot. They've discovered the bathtub / hot tub toys that Erika left. I keep them on a small round table next to the hot tub. The small raccoons grab them and play with them and scatter them around the deck every evening. I occasionally have to collect them from the yard.

Two Weeks

2 weeks till kick off. NC State football is an interesting phenomenon. We’ve have good years, bad years, but mostly mediocre years. Yet – we have a big football program mentality. We pour money into our program like crazy.

We thought we were finally going to routinely be in the big time when we hired Chuck Amato – but he proved the Peter Principal. He was (and is) a top notch assistant defensive coach. But he was one rung too high when he became our Head Coach.

New Head Coach Tom O’Brien inherited a 3 and 9 team. The most reasonable expectation this year will be 4 and 8. Yet – Carter-Finley Stadium will be packed with 60,000+ fans for every game. Except for seats held for students and the allotment for visiting teams – Carter-Finley is Sold Out. As it has been every year for the last 7 years.

We figure – in say 3 years – we should be routinely wining 8+ games each season and going to some pretty good bowl games. However, I was just watching an interview with TO’B after Meet The Pack Day. He’s expecting a winning season and a bowl game this year.

Now coachspeak is coachspeak. But listening to him I get the feeling that TO’B actually, and matter of factly, really expects to break .500 this year. If that happens – hell – we’ll have a parade for him and the team.

The approach to football over at UNC Snooty Hill is a bit different. Over there, Basketball is King. Even with new high profile coach Butch Davis – football just doesn’t excite the fans. Pretty much a whine and cheese crowd. Here’s a link to BobLee Swagger who writes an all around UNC blog.

Speaking of basketball – here’s an early preseason prediction. Head Coach Sidney Lowe's NC State team is going to surprise a bunch of people this year. I pretty much expect to see NC State in the NCAA Sweet 16. Depending on how our point guard position develops and with a little luck and no injuries – the Final Four is not as crazy as it may sound.

In spite of himself, Athletic Director Lee Fowler has managed to luck into hiring 2 great coaches. But then – a stopped clock is still right twice a day.

Here's the link to the Andy Griffith classic - What It Was Was Football.

Construction

In the construction industry, variations of this joke / cartoon have been around since - well, forever. This is the latest version that's been floating around.

Football

Each year in the off season, there's furious activity going on to complete maintenance and upgrades to Carter-Finley Stadium.

We're in the last stages of this year's work. And not quite on schedule - as usual.

A lot of the old worn concrete and asphalt concourse has been replaced. A lot of sub-surface drainage improvements (which the fans will never see). All the old railings will have been replaced. New concourse lighting installed. Well, it'll be finished on the east stands anyway. High intensity discharge lights - think super bright supermarket type lights. New drainage for all the upper stands and discharge pipes. Lots of joint seals and expansion joints have been replaced. Concrete repairs and patches and sealant applied. About a million dollars worth of maintenance.

This is the new asphalt and concrete concourse. The asphalt areas are on the east side. Eventually, we expect another sky box and club seat tower just like the Vaughn Towers will be built on the east side and the concourse and plaza will be upgraded to look like the west side. If anybody wants to write a check for $60 Million - we'll get started right after the last game.




All the railings in the stadium are being replaced. The little cylinder is a hydraulic tension test of the anchor rods. The old sleeves have been removed; new concrete installed; holes drilled and new anchor rods embedded that are 9 to 12 inches deep in the concrete. Each and every anchor rod is tested. I told them to replace all the flange nuts with either lock washers or lock nuts. Why? Because drunk asshats and students would be able to take off regular nuts and throw them down on people. The nuts are about an inch and a half in diameter. Ouch!


We've finally paved the area between the east gates and the first parking lot roadway. This used to be gravel - in theory. In reality, when we had heavy rains - this area was a sea of mud and water. Several inches deep. The paving was cheap. The drainage pipes and infrastructure cost a ton o money.

All construction activity has to stop tomorrow at noon and all equipment moved out and access to the stands blocked off. Saturday is Meet The Pack Day. Sunday - everything gets moved back in for the final hectic week of work.

The plan is to have the rails finished; concourse work finished, the new drain pipe down leaders strapped and anchored in; and concourse seating installed (the rows of seats on wooden platforms installed - which believe it or not are considered premium seating) all done by next Friday. Giving the athletic department the following week to set up for the opening game.

The contractor thinks he'll be able to get the west side high intensity lighting installed by then as well. We'll see. If he's close - we'll let him go a few extra days - say till the following Wednesday. Which will be just 3 days before kick off.

If the Athletics Department sees construction going on in the final week before kick off - they'll have a freaking fit. Lee Fowler would probably have a stroke.

Hey, that's the way constructiton is. I can live with that.

LOL

PS - Chip

The regular stadium maintenance crew ordered up a whole bunch of replacement cub holders this year. The head of maintenance took down your seat number and said he'll take care of it.

I Give Up

Sunday night (actually Monday morning) I set my alarm for 0200 so I can see the meteor shower. After watching for a while and seeing nothing, I decide to hop in the hot tub for a bit. With the faulty switch – it will run for maybe 5 ~ 10 minutes before the faulty switch trips the circuit breaker.

Reset the breaker and hop in. While I’m waiting to see some meteors, I idly play with the control panel. After absently mindedly pressing the light button a number of times, suddenly, the light turns on!

OK – let’s see what’s going on. I press it again. Light goes off. Again – light comes on. You can feel the switch is a little sluggish – like it’s sticking sort of. But after turning it on and off a number of times – it progressively gets ‘less stuck’ feeling.

Since Sunday night – it’s been working fine. No stuck switch. No tripping circuit breaker.

The unreliable service technician?

He called today.

As for the meteor shower – I only saw 2 – very faint ones.

I give up.

Oh My God . . . .

This car ad is not PETA approved:



But wait - it gets much much worse:



ROFL

Long Week

I’ve been working outside on project sites all week. The temperature and humidity made it difficult. I’m glad it’s over. We still have a number of University projects that we’re pushing to get completed before school starts at the end of the month. The next couple of weeks will be busy, but shouldn’t be non-stop outdoor work like this week was.

Most of my time was spent in Butner. I have a 45 minute commute to Raleigh and the trip from Raleigh to Butner is another 45 minutes. The older I get, the less I like to drive. The hour and a half trips between home and Butner have been especially irritating with north Raleigh traffic to deal with and then the drive back after working all day in the heat.

Like I said – glad this week is over.

Thermospas

Let me recap the hot tub status. The light switch in the control panel has been malfunctioning. And causing a short which trips the circuit breaker.

I had a service call appointment with the technician – which he didn’t keep. He came a day early (when I wasn’t home) – decided the control unit was OK (which it isn’t) and didn’t replace it. It’s still broken

I called last week. After a bit of phone tag I finally hooked up with the technician. He said he’d have to look at his schedule and would call me back to arrange another service time / date. He never called.

I was able to reach him this week - Wednesday morning. Oh yeah, I was the guy with the control panel problem. He thought he might be able to get back out to the house this week but he wasn’t sure. He’d have to look at his schedule and would call me. Confirmed he had my home, office and cell numbers. Guess what? Never heard back from him.

I’ll call him again Monday.

I like the Thermospas hot tub. It’s designed pretty well and the materials and equipment is first rate. Like any device with electrical and mechanical parts – they require occasional maintenance. Being a bit of a specialty hot tub – Thermospas will only warranty work performed by their own technician. Parts are covered by 10 and 20 year warrantees – which is pretty much a lifetime for hot tubs - pro rated of course which is understandable. But all work must be done by Thermospas technicians. So I’ve got to deal with this guy who doesn’t seem to be organized at all. So far I haven’t been able to rely on his showing up or calling back when he says he will. I’ll keep trying to work directly with him for another week. If things don’t get fixed by then – I’m going to have to call the factory in Connecticut and see if they can get the problem resolved.

My nephew and his wife have moved back to Japan. It can get down right annoying with his “all things in Japanese society are superior to America” spiel. But I’ll say one thing – this kind of shitty service (or lack thereof) wouldn’t happen in Japan. Over there – the technician would show up – on time – probably wearing white gloves – and wouldn’t leave until the problem is repaired. And apologizing the whole time for the control panel malfunctioning in the first place.

If the Thermospas technician doesn’t get his act together – Maybe I'll introduce him to the concept of seppuku. I have knives. ;-)

Weather and a follow up word about Fashion

It's hot. 99 today. Forecast is 101 tomorrow and Thursday. Naturally, I'd scheduled a week of field work on the hottest week of the year. Drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated. Then again, I work outside in the winter too, when it's sleeting and below freezing. I guess it evens out.

Hot Tub

Haven't had a call back yet from the Thermospas technician. I stop by the office before I head out in the field so I'll call him tomorrow morning to find out what’s up. More likely, I'll end up leaving a message and start the whole phone tag game.

Fashion

I referred to the fashion industry as the silliest waste of time and money on the planet in an earlier entry.

I was talking with a friend last night (and who reads this blog). He's pretty funny and we drifted onto my little quip about the fashion industry.

This is sort of a paraphrase of part of the phone call.

He pointed out that almost everybody wears clothes and that without style and fashion - we'd all be wearing sheets draped over us. Hmmm - well, the burka look is the 'style' of many in the Middle East. I guess it works for them. Plus all the easier to hide the explosives strapped to .....

My friend also pointed out that lots of people have to make their living at Target selling clothes, shoes and accessories and such and that there sure are damn sight worse things to do for a living.

Although we were joking around (in a very rude way) - He's right.

I amend my derisive put down of the fashion industry as applying to what is commonly called haute couture. Overpriced and over hyped. And leave it at that.


There are a lot of 'jobs' one can do which are much sillier and far more useless than being part of the fashion industry.

Avant-garde performance artists come to mind. Talk about people who need to get a job. And a life.

Fortunately performance art isn't nearly as pervasive as fashionistas are in the world. I guess even the idle rich (the patrons who fund that sort of crap) have their limits. LOL

Then - there's Modern Dance. At least that's athletic and, I guess, creative. Not sure how its useful - but it's better than performance art.

So, yeah, there are far more useless things one could do than be a fashion designer.

Come to think of it, my brother-in-law writes articles for the tabloid magazines. So who am I to judge what a worthwhile job is?

:-)

Raccoon Photos

The raccoon family came by early this evening while it was still light so I could take photos of them.


Here, the smallest one came up to the screen door to check out me and the camera.

This is natural light, not a filter or photo editing. It's almost dark - essentially twilight. I came right in and uploaded the photos. In the 10 minutes it took to do - it was dark outside.

Fake Steve Jobs

It's lunch time and I'm at the office computer - so I'll make this a quick entry. I was perusing the news and I saw an article where the Fake Steve Jobs blog author has been revealed. I've been reading it for about 2 or 3 months now. I can't remember who turned me on to the blog but it's a beautiful thing. Like an iPod. Have you heard of it?

It's been sort of like Primary Colors was; a guessing game as to the author. Difference is the FakeSteve site is actually funny. Irreverent and just close to, but not quite, going over the line. It's a lot of fun watching someone pop the pretentious balloons of the self absorbed.

The entries about the 'cleansing diet' and 'leakage' are coarse but left me laughing so hard my eyes watered. I also like the recurring Google entries. I think my all time favorite entry was the one where Hillary Clinton came to a secret meeting to extort campaign money. Classic.

Along the same skewering line (but definitely not in the cerebral category) is my guilty pleasure - I watch The Soup religiously. Don't tell anybody - it'll ruin my snooty image.

Peace out.

Racoons are cute - but . . . .

Raccoons are cute – but they are wild animals.

I’ve been watching the raccoon interact with her offspring this week. She has some different behavior patterns from the previous mother raccoon from a couple of years ago.

The previous mother raccoon was very patient and tolerant of her offspring. She would let her kitts eat first and was generally pretty gentle with them. She was also very wary of me and would take off if she saw too much movement by me in the house.

The current raccoon is much more aggressive. She doesn’t share the dog food with her offspring and will snarl and fight with them if they get too close while she’s eating. She’s also less wary of me. She’ll come up to the screen door where I’m watching and isn’t bothered by my walking around in the house or coming up to the door.

I had been putting out some yogurt for her when she came up to eat. I had to shoo her away because she wouldn’t run when I opened the door to place the bowl on the deck. I’ve quit putting the yogurt out because I felt she was getting far to acclimated to my presence and because she generally has a more assertive demeanor.

The 3 kitts have different personalities as well. There is one that is most assertive. He, she, it – whatever it is will fight back with the mother at the food bowl and snarls and fights with the other 2 kitts.

One is the meekest and gets pushed around a lot by the aggressive kitt and mother raccoon. Not surprisingly it’s also the runt of the litter – obviously only gets leftover food. The runt of the litter also makes the baby raccoon trilling sound a lot – which is a call for the mother and siblings. Seems as though it needs or wants more attention and security – which it doesn’t get. It’s also the most hesitant to explore and hides a lot while the others check out food and eat.

The middle baby raccoon is just that. Kind of in the middle when pushing for food, asserting itself, exploring and such.

The previous raccoon would keep a close eye on her babies. When they would make sounds she would immediately go and investigate what was up.

The current raccoon doesn’t bother. She just lets the kitts fight and cry and ignores them. I’ve watched the whole family take off for the woods and simply leave the runt behind.

Last night for example, the mother and top 2 offspring left the food bowl, went to the water fountain to drink and clean up and then left the deck headed for the back yard and woods. The runt stayed near the food bowl to find whatever food was left and didn’t see the others leave. When it realized it was alone, it immediately started to call for its mother and family. The rest, in the yard, made no answering calls and the mother didn’t come back to find the one left behind. The runt eventually saw where the others were and took off to follow them.

It’s interesting how sounds elicit responses. When a baby cries or even when a puppy or kitten cries, there’s a natural tendency to want to help. The sound a baby raccoon makes does the same thing. Last night, when it was crying and calling, I wanted to go outside and shoo it off the deck and towards the family. But you have to resist and let nature take its course.

They’re fun to watch – but they are not pets.

I have to limit my interference to putting out food 2 or 3 times a week.

Football Tickets

The FedEx guy drove up right after I got home from work.

The Football Tickets have arrived. It’s official – I can now start boring all my friends and family about NCSU sports.

Yaaaay.

I look forward to going to the football and basketball games. The Wolfpack Club and season tickets are the one extravagance I allow myself. I don’t drive expensive vehicles; I go on cruises but always get the el-cheap-o rooms; nice clothes – not hardly (Are you kidding me? The fashion industry is one of the silliest wastes of time and money on the planet); and I’ll never be a first adapter when it comes to technology or electronics. But I do spend the moola on NCSU sports.

Unfortunately, this year there’s a downer when it comes to going to the games.

My college buddy Boze will come up for some games. Friends Chip and Nuke’em are available for games as well. But for the past 5 years the main company I could always count on was my nephew and niece-in-law. He’s the Linux whiz who updates his blog maybe once or twice a month (link to the right). Both ADH and MIH are well versed sports fans. Hockey is their primary sport – but they were knowledgeable great company for football and basketball games.

However, the n and n-in-law moved back to Japan this year. I’m really sad they’re not going to be around to go to the games with me anymore. There are plenty of folks at work who went to State and are sports fans like me – so I won’t have any trouble finding folks to go to the games. But it won’t be the same. Bummer.

Oh well, things change and life goes on.

Kick off is 3 weeks away.

Hot Tub Addendum

Technician just called. He'll get back to me next week as he needs to look at his schedule. He said he will give me a call and let me know when.

I'll rework my schedule around his so hopefully there won't be any near misses.

I sincerely hope he doesn't decide to just 'show up' again. I want to be there - and told him that.

With me - if you make a commitment or appointment - stick to it.

It's not only the proper way to conduct business - it's also basic good social manners and behavior.

Anything else is lazy, inconsiderate and half assed.

Quick Update

Nothing new or exciting going on; pretty much the usual routine.

Thermospas

The control panel on my hot tub has been malfunctioning. The technician was supposed to come by today (Friday) – but called yesterday (Thursday) from my house. Said he was able to come by early, looked at the control unit and it was functioning properly.

It is not. It’s still got a short or malfunction in the light switch which also keeps causing the circuit breaker to trip.

It’s not like it’s an intermittent failure – it’s not working all the time so I don’t know how the guy decided it was OK.

I wish he had stuck with the appointment so I would have been there. Instead, now we’re playing phone tag and I’ll have to work around my work schedule – AGAIN – so I can be there.

The technician was all happy on the phone when he called. Everything checked out so he was going to put it down as no service call needed and thus save me the standard service charge.

Here’s how I see it – he did not save me a service charge.

Bottom line – here’s what he did – and didn’t do.

He didn’t keep our scheduled appointment – which I had rearranged MY schedule so I could be there. He didn’t replace the control panel. He didn’t fix the problem.

I now have to play phone tag with him. My rearranged schedule has me in Butner tomorrow (Saturday), NCSU on Monday, back to Butner Tuesday and Wednesday, and back to NCSU next Friday. Thursday could work out but I’d rather be in the office getting MY work done.

And – during this whole time the hot tub will NOT be working.

He did NOT save me a service call charge.

What he DID do was thoroughly piss me off.

I wish people would keep their appointments and do what they say they’ll do.

Grrrrrrr

Work

Work is going great. We’re in the busy season trying to get a lot of University projects completed before classes start. It looks like I’ll be out in the field a lot between now and the beginning of September.

Football

Speaking of September – Fall football practice officially begins today.

I really like the coaching and staff change we’ve made at NCSU. I think Coach Tom O’Brien is a quality guy who will bring consistency and discipline to the team. With TOB in charge – I think we’ve got the potential to be a top contender over the next 10 to 15 years.

Of course, the rest of the ACC has potential too. Well, except for Duke.

Down at FSU, Bobby Bowden has basically overhauled his staff. With Jimbo Fisher in charge of the offense and Chuck Amato back running the defense – I can easily see FSU getting back to it’s domination of college football. In the long run - FSU could be the one team that might consistently stand in the way of NCSU being able to win our division – going to the ACC Championship game – and playing in a BCS bowl.

Of course, there’s always Virginia Tech to contend with in the other division.

Among the rest – Miami, UNC, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Maryland and Boston College - all have aspirations of joining the football elite on a regular basis. Looking at the other school’s coaches and staff plus fan support and commitment to their programs - I really think that long term – it could shake down to FSU, VT and NCSU.

Time will tell.

TOB did say the other day in an interview that he wants an indoor football practice facility. Estimates are in the $10 million ballpark.

Where did I put my checkbook . . . . .?

Raccoon Update

I’m up early this morning because mama raccoon brought her 3 kitts around at 4 AM!!!! They weren’t looking for food – they were playing around and climbing all over stuff on the deck. Basically knocking stuff around and making a lot of noise which woke me up.

I shall have to speak to mama raccoon about proper etiquette.

Baby Raccoons

I finally saw the baby raccoons last night.

The previous mother raccoon used to bring her kitts up to the deck when they were very small. So small that if you picked one up (which I did NOT do) they would have easily fit into the palm of your hand.

The current dominant female raccoon has a slightly different routine. Last year, and now this year, she waited until her offspring are much older and larger before she brought them onto the deck (last night for the first time).

They are about ½ the size of the mother with full adult fur and markings. They basically look like adults only smaller.

Also just like last year – there are 3 offspring.

She’s been remarkably successful considering her handicap – she is blind in her right eye.

She is the offspring of the previous female raccoon and I have photos of her she was just a baby raccoon. Her right eye was blind as a baby. I didn’t think she’d survive. But she did – and this is her 2nd successful litter. That makes her 3 years old now. I don’t know the typical lifespan of raccoons in the wild – I’ll have to look that up.

I’ll try and take a photo of the new litter and post it soon.

Addendum

I don't have a photo yet of the baby raccoons. I do have photos of what Nuke and I believe is their den. The tree is leaning over which has created an opening underneath. Taking a peek inside - you can see where it's been hollowed out and signs of being 'lived in'. Nobody was 'home' when I took these photos - Wednesday PM.

According to this site, average lifespan in the wild is 2 or 3 years. But their lifespan can be far longer - as much as 17 years.