Chickens In The Coop!

So many things to give an update about. But the chickens are in the coop.

I can't believe it's been nearly three months since the last update. Progress was slow and spurty - I get stuff done, but not very quickly. That also happens to be my stock answer when I (occasionally) get asked if I ever want to be a chef.

Wow, looking back, the last time I posted there wasn't even a floor on the coop. So that's the next thing I did.

The coop floor. Note it's one piece of plywood, cut out around the vertical supports.

Simone is checking out the detail put into the linoleum floor, one piece - no seams.

Here you can see the nest box, and some of the diagonal bracing (helped with rigidity).

Simone striking a pose, amidst the roof bracing.

Simone doing some chin-ups.

Simone peeking through the egg door, she's not sure she'll fit through.

Mom and dad came down to help one day - we did the hanging screen door on the east side.

Hanging out of the feed door.

The egg door, not quite hanging flush.

Side door into the coop.

Houston, we have roof.

The only piece of the coop that is recycled - an apple branch for the roost. Also notice the aluminum threshold (for easy cleaning - covering all the seams.

The other end of the roost.

Simone thinks the storage would make a great play house.

"Let me out!" The chickens are outgrowing their temporary housing.

Dolly says, egg door works fine for me.

This way Dad!

Screen door is on.

Fine attention to detail - a bead of caulk to help when we wash out the coop with a hose.

Caulked seams and threshold.

The whole package. The whole east side is mesh for ventilation.

Simone thinks the latch isn't quite right.

Much better now that she's tightened it up.

All west doors are in place.

Singles are on, only one real aesthetic mistake - can you spot it? Also notice the ventilation gap just under the eaves.

A better view of the ventilation gap, and the flashing on the roof.

The northern doors are on, the egg door and the main utility door are hung and latched.

Mary seals the inside of the coop.

I think she's considering moving in.

The storage area gets a coat of primer.

The coop in it's final resting place, all painted.

Why not yet another picture?

I'm not sure what Simone is doing, but it involves the drill.

Rays from the sun, the coop is done. The chicken door is on, and the ramp is attached.

Of course, it turns out the chickens don't like walking down the screen. They can walk up it just fine because their three toes clamp on very easily. However, going down, they're very uneasy having just one toe(?) keeping them from sliding down the ramp. I will add more cross pieces and move the screen to the bottom (to keep them from falling through).

The chickens check out their new home.

As usual, they just peck at everything.

Articles of Impeachment for President George W Bush

Dennis Kucinich just introduced into Congress 35 Articles of Impeachment for President George W Bush.

It is simply staggering reading them all in such dry prose. And to believe we impeached Clinton over a sex scandal. And the Democrats just choose to bury the issue. I'm disgraced that Congress won't even consider these serious charges - it's their job to provide oversight, yet they just rubber-stamp everything W wants.

You can read them all yourself, though I've copied the article titles below.

Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:

Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.

1. Article I - Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.
2. Article II - Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.
3. Article III - Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.
4. Article IV - Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.
5. Article V - Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.
6. Article VI - Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.
7. Article VII - Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
8. Article VIII - Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.
9. Article IX - Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor
10. Article X - Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes
11. Article XI - Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq
12. Article XII - Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources
13. Article XIII - Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries
14. Article XIV - Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency
15. Article XV - Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq
16. Article XVI - Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors
17. Article XVII - Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives
18. Article XXVIII - Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy
19. Article XIX - Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to 'Black Sites' Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture
20. Article XX - Imprisoning Children
21. Article XXI - Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government
22. Article XXII - Creating Secret Laws
23. Article XXIII - Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act
24. Article XXIV - Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment
25. Article XXV - Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens
26. Article XXVI - Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements
27. Article XXVII - Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply
28. Article XVIII - Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice
29. Article XXIX - Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965
30. Article XXX - Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare
31. Article XXXI - Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency
32. Article XXXII - Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change
33. Article XXIII - Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.
34. Article XXXIV - Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001
35. Article XXXV - Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders
    

CarpoolMatchNW - Car Pool and Rideshare Matching Service, Oregon, SW Washington

Work just clued me into this page, which is pretty slick. You enter your home&work addresses and it'll find people who match your route (as well as times).

CarpoolMatchNW - Car Pool and Rideshare Matching Service, Oregon, SW Washington

I'm only driving to work 2 days a week now (boo-yah!) but still it'd be nice to share the drive.

Fresh Cherry Gelato

Mary picked 10 pounds of Bing cherries the other day - wow, so much tastier than the store-bought ones.

So as not to eat them all in one sitting, we looked for recipes and Mary found Sass & Veracity: Fresh Cherry Gelato.

I made it last night, and ... yum!

Analysis of "What Patriotism Means To Me"

I just read: The Last Psychiatrist: Election 2008: "What Patriotism Means To Me" and what stands out to my (cynical) eye is that McCain's speech easily dove-tails with "trust the President, it's for the good of the country" whereas Obama's message is more that "we the people" are in charge of our destiny.

Mission Accomplished

This story is making the rounds, and is another depressing reminder of our last 8 years...

Ten Years Ago, Bin Laden Demanded Barrel Of Oil Should Cost $144

Fit Bowl Winner!

Fit bowl started five months ago, and thanks to the 10# bump Ron's scale gave me on the initial weigh in, I won!

I'm not necessarily proud of the 10# bump, but I'll take it. Either way, Sam, Ron, and I each lost over 15% of our body weight, and Ingrid lost almost 10% of hers (and gained a bunch of muscle at the same time). In total, we lost almost 150#. Pretty impressive.

My final weigh in was @ 225 pounds, thanks to a double work-out on the last day, and I'm pretty happy with the results. I think I'll continue to try to lose some weight, maybe get down to 215. We'll see. After the peanut butter popcorn, I imagine I've got a little ground to regain.

Peanut Butter Popcorn

On the forth of July I tried this recipe for Peanut Butter Popcorn. Indeed, it was as good as it sounded. The whole crew (Sam, Ingrid, Mary, Mom & Dad) enjoyed it.

Beware of the Peanut Butter Popcorn - for you cannot resist eating it.

Study: Teachers not being taught math properly - Yahoo! News

Study: Teachers not being taught math properly:

Author Julie Greenberg said education students should be taking courses that give them a deeper understanding of arithmetic and multiplication. She said the courses should explain how math concepts build upon each other and why certain ideas need to be emphasized in the classroom.

Sadly, this matches my limited experience with the math education students I met at Cornell. I won't rehash my .999 = 1 story, but let me summarize it by saying the education students appeared to be woefully lacking rigorous math knowledge.

Math is the basis for all science... everyone should really understand the basics.

American Civil Liberties Union : Major David J. R. Frakt's Closing Argument in Favor of Dismissal of the Case Against Mohammad Jawad

American Civil Liberties Union : Major David J. R. Frakt's Closing Argument in Favor of Dismissal of the Case Against Mohammad Jawad:

February 7, 2002. America lost a little of its greatness that day. We lost our position as the world’s leading defender of human rights, as the champion of justice and fairness and the rule of law. But it is a testament to the continuing greatness of this nation, that I, a lowly Air Force Reserve Major, can stand here before you today, with the world watching, without fear of retribution, retaliation or reprisal, and speak truth to power. I can call a spade a spade, and I can call torture, torture.

A well written closing, worth the read.

Wordle!

Awesome! Wordle

The first is of my del.icio.us tags, the second is of this blog.

Simone Is Counting

Simone has been repeating numbers back to us for a while now, but just Sunday she had a pea pod in her hand - exclaiming "pea!" I handed her a second one and she responded, "two peas!" Pretty amazing to see her learning in action. And it wasn't a fluke, she did it twice.

Not Quite Sure How To React

My company may be bought out... the positive side is that they'd be buying Mentor for my department (Calibre)...

Cadence Proposes to Acquire Mentor Graphics for $16.00 per Share in Cash

MENT is up 25% already to $15.40

Interesting Summary Of Weight Loss Studies

Joe Friel wrote the book I'm using to help guide me in training for triathlons, he has an interesting round-up of weight loss studies: Weight Loss

His conclusion:

So what's the bottom line? It appears that when calories are reduced to lose weight, which is more effective than increasing workload, the protein content of the diet must be kept at near normal levels.

Only 2 weeks left in fit-bowl '08.

OPB, Corporate Shill

While driving to work this morning, I heard this story on the radio: OPB News · Online Site Helps Measure Your Carbon Footprint

It's nearly 5 minutes long, and the whole thing is just a big advertisement for Portland General Electric. It's embarrassing.

I've written to OPB, we'll see if they respond:

This morning I heard the radio story (http://news.opb.org/article/2339-online-site-helps-measure-your-carbon-footprint/) about measuring your electricity carbon footprint.

My response is that I sure hope you got a large donation from PGE, because this was one long commercial. (5 minutes!)

While I appreciate the idea there is a place where we can measure our carbon footprint, this story focused solely on the one created by PGE (as opposed to other, independent, web sites). PGE only offers power in a limited area around Portland, much smaller than your where you broadcast (all of Oregon, and SW Washington). Why not do a story on the variety of renewable energy options available in your entire area (Pacific Power, for example, offers similar options to its customers)?

Kristian Fodon-Vencil asked some questions that sounded like they could be probing (how does PGE benefit from this service (web site)? is this mandated by law?) But the questions were softly lobbed to Thor Hinkley who easily turned the answers into yet more plugs for how wonderful PGE is.

I am embarrassed to know my contribution (and my corporate matching dollars) were used to fund this advertisement.

This was not a news piece, it was not even an informational story. It was a direct advertisement.

I expect better from OPB.

My Work In A Press Release

Just found out there's a press release that talks about what I'm working on:

Mentor Graphics Outlines IC Implementation Strategy to Address Sub-45nm Challenges: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance:

"A new Calibre nmLVS tool with interactive debugging features (to be released to the general market in the second half of 2008) that will speed layout-versus-schematic checking with automated suggestions for fixing the design, improved short identification, and overall improvements to the environment to reduce debugging time."

I'm the one writing the new LVS debugger. woo-hoo

The organisation of denial: Conservative think tanks and environmental scepticism - Environmental Politics

Just saw this paper. No, I didn't read the whole thing. The conclusion is simply amazing, 90% of the environmentally skeptical books are funded by conservative think tanks. Yet another example of how just because there are two "sides" to every story doesn't mean they have equal weight.

The organisation of denial: Conservative think tanks and environmental scepticism - Environmental Politics:

"Environmental scepticism denies the seriousness of environmental problems, and self-professed 'sceptics' claim to be unbiased analysts combating 'junk science'. This study quantitatively analyses 141 English-language environmentally sceptical books published between 1972 and 2005. We find that over 92 per cent of these books, most published in the US since 1992, are linked to conservative think tanks (CTTs). Further, we analyse CTTs involved with environmental issues and find that 90 per cent of them espouse environmental scepticism. We conclude that scepticism is a tactic of an elite-driven counter-movement designed to combat environmentalism, and that the successful use of this tactic has contributed to the weakening of US commitment to environmental protection."

How It All Ends

Global warming, risk management breakdown. A thoughtful analysis of the meta-argument we should all be having. Oh, and bonus, he's a sports racer.

YouTube - How It All Ends

Run For The Hills 2008

Last year Tom and I ran this race. We were both going to do it again this year, but he decided getting a job was more important. Priorities.

This year the weather was a little nicer (overcast, cool, but no rain), and I finished over 2 minutes faster (average heart rate of 173, gasp). The run felt pretty good considering the 8k was the furthest I've ever run.

The oddest thing about the run was how everyone said the view from the top of Bald hill was so beautiful. A view? After walkingsprinting up the backside, there was no time to take in a view because the race was all downhill after that.

Interestingly, I placed 50th both this year and last (there were more folks this year, I'm not sure how many, but well over 100).

I'll shoot for 49th place next year.

Simone Pics May 2008 (and others)

Finally downloaded some pics from my phone, thought I'd share them.

Simone swinging in the swing with a bag of corn chips. This was after a 3.5 hour nap while driving home from visiting the Mattson's in Yakima.

One of our many walks to see the horses, here she is trying to feed the horse from afar.
She ended up getting close enough to actually hand the food over. Luckily the grass is really long this time of year - letting us feed the horses without too much worry of hand-in-horse's-mouth syndrome.
Instead of riding a horse, Simone likes to ride an elephant. We found one just her size in Newport, where we headed for some RnR. You'd see cute pictures of Simone on the beach, only it was freezing and windy as all get out (we weren't expecting that). We went to the aquarium instead.
Simone loves her mermaid - who we've been trying to name "Frida."
Simone's first breakfast as a 2 year old. That's raspberry jam, not makeup.
The grandfathers and Simone (and my finger?). Sorry about the photo Bob, not real flattering, but the other one was so blurry it made you look like a ghost.
Simone and I took a walk to see Matty's new bunnies. Here are the pictures. This white one was the runt of the litter.
They're keeping the black one (little Davie has already named the rabbit .... Hassenpfeffer? - I kid).
This little guy hung out in my hand the entire time we were there, 20 minutes or so. Matty tried to pawn him off on me, but I told her that by the time I got done with the rabbit hutch, the rabbit would have driven the chickens nuts.
Ah, yes, Simone and I went to the waterfront to play in the fountain. I was a bit disappointed that the regular pattern of water spouts wasn't happening. There just wasn't enough spouting for my taste. Simone seemed to enjoy herself. She ran around for an hour.

Fountain!
More fountain!
Simone helped Mary wash the window screens, and herself.
Very sleepy girls.
I'm not sure, but I believe she challenged me to a Sumo match.
We had a very nice walk on the nearby boardwalk.
Simone and her two favorite companions right now. Frida and ... dolly. Still looking for a name for the doll. They're both growing dolls - as Simone feeds them lots of cookies and cupcakes.
Gotta dry off after playing in the sprinkler.
Quick! I see a bug! Follow me!

They were beautiful, those chickens in the mist...
Getting to know our chickens.
Testing out the new bench (er, old bench, new location).
A family photo - pretty sneaky of me to get myself. It was actually planned.

twitter

I've heard buzz about twitter. People in the blogosphere are using it constantly, and many think it's the neatest thing since sliced bread.



I was listening to stackoverflow (or maybe this one) on my run yesterday and Jeff Atwood was waxing on and on about twitter.

And then it hit me. Twitter is just a way for people to feel connected to their community on the web when they can't be in front of their computers. Or, put another way, people who are not comfortable in their current social setting/community.

Imagine being out with friends - at a restaurant, or sporting event, or rock climbing, whatever. You pause and enter a little twitter message. Who, exactly, are you communicating with and why? Your friends probably think it's rude (I certainly would), and how does "connecting" with your titter community reflect on your current social situation? And receiving other people's twitters in those situations? Are your friends boring you?

Seriously, it's OK to not be connected all the time, it's OK to be alone for a little bit.

Simone Is Two!

She turned two today. Pretty amazing. Just thought I'd write down a couple of memories before old age gets me.

We had a lovely day working on the chicken coop and in the yard. Simone fell asleep in Mary's lap on the back deck while nursing - which she doesn't do as often as she used to. She woke up for some reason, so we transferred her into the Burley for a nice long ride - where she got the rest of her nap.

The grandparents and god-parents came over at 2 for some cupcakes, which Simone loved (apple sauce cakes with cream cheese frosting... I'll have 3 please). She got some lovely gifts, and had a great time bouncing from person to person. Of course the blue balloon was the hit gift (I chose it just for her - it matched her dress).

After dinner (her first grilled cheese sandwich - I missed the picture with the cheese stretching from mouth to sandwich), we headed over to Matti's house (our neighbor to the south), to meet her new bunnies. She raises angora rabbits and spins the fur/hair into wool. One of her rabbits just had a litter of 6. They were pretty sweet, I held one for 20 minutes (the longest I've ever held a rabbit), and Simone liked them all.

So, what is she doing now that she's two? She sings songs a lot, especially Raffi and asks for his music by name. She walks around constantly, pulling one or all of her 4 pull toys. The mermaid (we're trying to name her "Frida" - but so far "mermaid" is still winning) follows her everywhere - she feeds the mermaid most everything she eats herself.

Simone loves broccoli, french fries, yogurt (a whole-body experience), apple sauce, gold fish, goat milk, spiced baked apples, and recently enjoyed a crusty baguette. She feeds us tea and cupcakes and bagels and cookies (all imaginary). Oh, and salt and pepper - we pantomime that on most everything. I do draw the line on peppering yogurt.

We read a lot, she picks books out. Her current favorites are, Girls Hold Up This World, A Lot Of Otters, and Once Upon A Potty, with the Peace Book a close runner-up.

Simone wiggles her eyebrows up and down, still likes butterfly kisses, loves playing on playgrounds (going down slides on her own at times). Bath time is full of her toy frogs and fish dancing around, and hopping (frogs and bunnies hop - which Simone is trying to do herself).

Probably my favorite single memory of the past two years was waking up one morning next to Simone, she woke up turned to me and said, "Papa!" Very sweet moment. Most every day is like that, whether it's "blastoff" (she said that for an entire day after I threw her up in the air counting, "1 2 3 ... blastoff!"), or her just greeting me at the door, or watching her and Mary fall asleep together, petting Jupiter, everything.

Looking forward to the next two years (and more).

Detailed Proof of What We Knew All Along

From: Iraq: The War Card - The Center for Public Integrity

President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.

935 lies in two years is an average of 2.5 a day. Oh, and of course these are just the lies about Iraq. There's the missing email from 2003, the Valarie Plame incident, torture, warrantless spying on Americans, the list goes on and on.

So incredibly frustrating.

Beautiful photographs of a thunderstorm meeting the plume of an erupting volcano

Check out the slide show: Fotos Tormenta eléctrica en erupción del volcán Chaitén - TERRA

Forgive my geekiness, but it looks exactly what I imagined the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog looked like had it happened in real life. Here's what others think it looked like.

XPilot

I've no idea what brought this memory up, but back in grad school we found the XPilot game and became addicted. You could play people all over the world, any time of the day. We hosted our own, local, games, and enjoyed seeing who would join (sometimes we got players from Germany).

The XPilot craze lasted a few months, but many of us first-year grad students lost days to playing this. I'm glad to see it is still an active game, though I doubt I'll play it again.

Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand - New York Times

NY Times has a story on the Pentagon's use of retired Generals to bolster the case for the war. A telling quote from Di Rita (one of Donald Rumsfeld's closest aides can be found on page 7:

New York Times: "Mr. Di Rita, no longer at the Defense Department, said in an interview that a “conscious decision” was made to rely on the military analysts to counteract “the increasingly negative view of the war” coming from journalists in Iraq. The analysts, he said, generally had “a more supportive view” of the administration and the war, and the combination of their TV platforms and military cachet made them ideal for rebutting critical coverage of issues like troop morale, treatment of detainees, inadequate equipment or poorly trained Iraqi security forces. “On those issues, they were more likely to be seen as credible spokesmen,” he said."

The contents of the article is not very surprising, what I find surprising is how "shocking" this appears to be. Some of the media is now waking up and "realizing" they've been "snowballed."

Right.

They knew it all along, spinning the war in a positive light sold advertisements, it got you in good with the powers that be. This just reaffirms that we don't have news, we have entertainment. Real journalists would have found their sources, as opposed to just unquestioningly welcoming experts who appeared, as if by magic, on their doorstep.

Driving Directions from Google

How cool is this? Google's driving directions show you what to look for on the street:

YouTube - Driving directions with Street View on Google Maps

David Lebovitz Hits Another Home Run

I don't recall who turned me on to David Lebovitz's blog, but I must certainly thank them.

Last week I tried yet another recipe of his: My Killer App Candied Peanut Recipe and I must say, it rocks. I chose to candy almonds (not peanuts), and they turned out beautifully roasted, and coated with just the right amount of caramelized sugar. I added a hint of cinnamon and salt, and will probably bump the salt up next time (I love salty sweet, which is why I dig Kettle Corn). The recipe was, just like the others I've tried, just as easy as he explained, and had results that looked just like his. Wow.

I had to give away about half of it at work because I slowly snacked on the nuts at home.

Lebovitz's recipes for hot chocolate, butterscotch pudding, and the easiest chocolate ice cream ever all worked out beautifully. The one recipe I've tried that didn't turn out amazing, Clotilde's Very Chocolate Cookies, produced decent results, just not what I wanted.

I do look forward to trying the Chocolate Idiot Cake, Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake, Dulce De Leche recipes (and probably some others too...).

He's not making my diet easy, that's for sure.

GM Crops Yield Less

I've been chatting with a friend off and on about farming, organics, GMO, and other related topics. One question he had was about yields, and I didn't know if GM crops had better yields or not, but figured Mansanto (and other seed companies) would have marketed them as having higher yields. But I would obviously question what Mansanto said since they are trying to sell their own product.

Turns out, GM crops yield less: Exposed: the great GM crops myth - Green Living, Environment - The Independent

Simone In Action

Nearly 23 months old, she's changing every day. Here are a couple of videos we've made on little walks. Notice her use of the sign "please" when talking about looking for the horses.

Coop update

I spent a little bit of time working on the coop again this weekend. It doesn't look that different, but there are a lot of small changes. The roof beams are now cut to the proper length (they were about 3 inches too long), the 2nd floor now has horizontal beams, and there are a number of triangular supports providing stability.

Jupiter lookin gout the north end, pretending he's in the nestbox.

Jupiter is startled he didn't lay an egg. Or maybe he's afraid the chickens saw him scoping out their pad.

We don't need a stinking truck! Just throw it on top of the Subaru! That's 8 sheets of 3/8" plywood.

Simone isn't so sure Jupiter belongs in the coop.

Odd Weather

I don't normally care that much about the weather, things are hit and miss until May or June - that's pretty standard Oregon weather. But this past weekend was really odd.

Check out the snow we had Sunday morning:

When was the last time you saw snow on top of tulips? And on our walk it hailed, one of the 6 times it hailed on Sunday. It was crazy hail, the size of split peas, coming down hard:

Clip Art House

Mary and I walk a loop past the duck pond, around the country club, and up over the hill. We walk through some new developments, and one house stands out. Take a look at it:


Does anything look odd to you? I'm not sure if the picture conveys what you see in person. Take a look at the rock facade. Does it look funny? Perhaps like it was taken from clip art? Or perhaps is from some 3-D video game in the late 90's?

That's exactly what it looks like in person. It's unnerving, it looks artificial from every angle. Really bizarre.

Diet, Month 3

Fit bowl has finished its third month - I don't yet know the standings, but I imagine I'm at the bottom of the top pack (i.e. in the middle). I'm down 25 pounds or so, and things feel pretty good.

This week was a bit tough. I was in Wilsonville 4 days for a class. Good class, but I was stuck in a room for 8 hours a day with brownies, cookies, muffins, etc. Two of the days I completely blew my calorie limit. It also didn't help that I didn't fit any exercise in.

But all is well, I'm back on the band wagon. I ran 4 miles today with Simone, and we had our now standard pizza night. And I even had enough calories left for a couple chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk.

The milk is from a local farm, raw cow milk. I've never had raw cow milk before - it's pretty yummy. I'm not sure if the milk is yummy because the cows are happy, because the milk is raw (not pasteurized), or if it's because it is whole milk. But I approve.

One of the benefits of my weight loss is that my snoring has (apparently) ceased. Mary says she doesn't hear me snoring any longer, and that's a good thing. Also, my heartburn is much less frequent - so perhaps my GI tract is happier. (Remember, I've got a stricture in my esophagus, and gall bladder inflammation (and stones).)

On a related note, some guy changed his life by hopping on a bike. Anyone can lose weight, you just have to change your life.

On another related note, this is Jared's 10th year of eating right (Subway fame). The quote I like the best from that link is:

"If you don't like the life you're living while you're losing, you're much more likely to gain it back"

Words to live by.

Chickens

We got some chickens.

"What?" you say.

"Yeah, chickens."

I mean, Who doesn't like eggs? No, we're not going to eat the chickens - I mean they're gonna have names and everything. I certainly am not looking forward to telling Simone that "Gladys" went to the big coop in the sky.

So we got some chickens, 3 in fact. I believe the breed is "Buf Orphington." Mary actually picked up 11, eight were for a friend who couldn't make it to the store the day the chicks arrived.

Mary has been wanting chickens for quite a while - I never fully understood the attraction, but now that we have them, I'm getting pretty stoked. We'll get eggs, probably over a dozen a week once they get going (next year, they'll reach laying age right when winter starts to set in and egg production drops). And they'll turn all our kitchen scraps into nice fertilizer. Plus we'll get some friendly pets to follow us around the yard.

Currently, they're living in a big Tupperware bin, eating, drinking, sleeping, cheeping. They're a hoot (guess that'd make them owls). Simone loves to say "hi" to the chicks.

Longer term, they'll obviously grow out of the Tupperware bin, heck at this rate they'll probably be too large for the bin in another two or three weeks. In the first two weeks they've at least tripled in size. They've transformed from cute little fuzzy balls into mangy-looking small chickens. Why are they mangy looking? Their feathers are coming in, and the initial feathers aren't completely full - they kind of look like what you would get when putting a pinata together.

So what do chickens live in? A coop of course! Where do you get a coop? You can buy them... Or you can make them.

Being the handyman I am, we chose the decision to make one.

There are all sorts of different variations, but none quite fit what we wanted, namely bigger than small, with storage underneath for the bags of food and bedding.

Perhaps at some point I'll put up the plans (it was disappointing to see the lack of detailed plans available on the web). But the basic plan is a 3'x5' base, the bottom vertical 3 feet is storage, and above that is a floor for the chickens. We bought a linoleum remnant and are putting that down to ease cleanup after the chickens.

Here are some pictures of progress so far, Simone helped quite a bit.

The base and the initial frames for the walls. The whole thing will sit on those cinder blocks you see on the right.

Simone sitting in the framing for the storage door. She's making sure everything is square.

Simone is verifying all the screws have the same number of threads, and the threads all go in the same direction (nice to be sure which direction to turn the screwdriver).
Finally you can see the overall framework, including the roof line. I'll be trimming the the vertical and roof beams appropriately this coming weekend.

And here are the chickens:
This is all 11, ours are the yellow ones. See how small they are compared to the feeder?

At age 3 days (well, one week? dunno, this is three days after we got them).

And here they are after two weeks at home, notice they're about the same size as the feeder now. They let you scratch their chest now if you're real gentle.

Button

Beaver Freezer 2008

So... how'd I do?

I placed 86th out of 270 people, 63rd out of 128 men, and 8th out of 21 men ages 35-39.
I'm pretty stoked with the results, especially considering how little I trained. Looking at the overall results, the field seems a little weaker than in the past. I finished faster than in 2007, but slower than in 2005, yet placed much higher than both years.

But, when just compared to myself, I'm happy with the results. The run was my fastest yet, and my T2 time rocked. Here's the breakdown:

Trey's 2008 Beaver Freezer

Stage	Time	Pace	Place in Stage	Cumulative Time	Cumulative Place
Swim	8:26	1:41.2	93	8:26	93
T1	2:39		96-T	11:05	89
Bike	38:59	18.5	69	50.04	71
T2	1:31		98	51:35	68-T
Run	25:31	8:13.9	123	1:17:06	86

The race started off fairly smoothly, my swim felt smooth, and not at all rushed. I passed a guy, who then passed me back and but didn't swim very fast - so I just relaxed and swam a little slower. I felt great getting out of the pool - after having to wait a few seconds for the guy to get out.

The first transition felt very rushed - it was very difficult getting the socks on my wet feet (gotta remember to get loose socks and to dry feet off), and I had trouble putting my race belt on. But off I went.

The bike ride felt great - I could totally tell I'd lost some weight because I could comfortably use the drops. My legs felt a little tired, but I passed a number of people, and played leap frog with #80 about 5 times (she beat me in the end).

The 2nd transition was great, I knew exactly where to go, and changing into my shoes was easy.

The run was similar to last year's: the first lap felt horrible, the second lap was bearable, and I had to keep reminding myself to push it on the 3rd lap. The last 100 yards felt good and I crossed the finish line pretty spent.

Sam and Ingrid came down to cheer me on, which was nice. Sam has some pics here. Mary's mom (Gin) came over from Albany and gave support too. And, of course, Mary and Simone were there giving it their all - soon Simone will be running along with me.

Things to remember to do next time: get there early - Simone and I took the Burley around 2 hours before my start and got an excellent spot on the rack. Dry feet off well after the swim. And run like hell.

Looking back at my goal from 2007 which is to finish in 1:12, I'm thinking I might push for 1:10 because it's a nice round number. Of course, to do that I'll have to run 7 minute miles (gasp), and kick up the swim (sub 8 minutes) and riding (20.5 mph) a notch. The run is the key.

Results of Beaver Freezer 2008, April 5, 2008

Just Say "No" To Irradiated Food

Sign the petition to let the FDA know you're against them allowing irradiated being labeled as simply "pasteurized."

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Triathlon in Two Days

I've got two days (not even 48 hours) until my Beaver Freezer triathlon. I've not trained quite as much as I'd hoped, but I'm pretty happy with the shape I'm in all things considered. Heck, just tonight I finally fixed my road bike seat I broke 3 months ago.

But running is feeling good - my distances are still pretty short (finally got new shoes a couple of weeks ago), and the swimming picked up well (I've swum maybe a dozen times this year).

My last two results were 1:18 and 1:15, and I'm hoping for 1:20. We'll see.

Probably the best training so far has just been losing the 20+ pounds I've lost during the fit bowl.

As long as I don't lose to the oldest guy (66).

True: No Impact Man: Why I'm fond of saying wisdom trumps science

I read this the other day and it rings so true.

No Impact Man: Why I'm fond of saying wisdom trumps science:

"And to my mind, the debate over the science is pointless. All over the world, countries are going to be increasingly buying renewable energy. The question is, does the United States want to be at the forefront of the renewable energy sector or not? Do we want to be exporters of the new green tech, and create green jobs in doing so, or not?"

Whether or not you think global warming is real (it is), or if preserving the environment is worthwhile (it is), or if it's better to spend money on schools or jails (schools), or if healthcare is a right (should be in a "civilized" society), or if supporting local/organic food sources is healthier/better (it is), there's often something to be learned by taking a step back.

No Impact Man sums up the issue about climate in a way that even the corporate-shills-we-call-our-elected-leaders should understand - should we (the U.S.) lead or follow?

I've often argued that even if you're a "conservative" you should support programs to help dis-advantaged families/children, provide basic health care to all, and support public education. If for no other reason than to ensure these people don't become a drain on society. Sure, that's a negative way of looking at the problem, but I think it's one that could be compelling to those who are fiscally conservative and against "government handouts." In other words, would you rather spend the money up-front to make these people productive/healthy? Or would you rather spend much more money housing/feeding/caring for them in jail, and paying increased health care costs to cover the un-insured who go to the ER for services?

Of course that argument totally ignores the fact that it's the Right Thing to do (WWJD?).