goolsbee.org, serving useless content from an undisclosed location since 1997
Today was a nice sunny, though cold, day. Instead of going for a drive in the Jag (something I should have done) I finished the job of stripping the down tree of all its branches and limbs. It is just a pair of trunks now. Next I’ll find somebody who has the skill and equipment to reduce it to small chunks of firewood.
As Audi’s Le Mans win in 2006 did for Diesel, 2007 should do for renewable fuels. Way to go Audi!
That’s the extent of it, beyond a few branches from other trees. We were without power for 32 hours. This is a mid-sized Douglas Fir, at 103′, which came down in our back yard, roots and all.
I have a confession to make… I don’t like power tools. Most of them at least. I especially don’t like the ones with rotating blades… mostly because I am something of a klutz and always have visons of chopping vital parts of myself off. As such I do not own a chain saw, and really don’t forsee ever having one. I do have a saw, a hatchet, and a long-handled axe.
Above: Sue & Nick next to the tree roots.
Above: Nick clowning around in front of the base of the trees.
Above: the top limbs removed.
Above: about halfway done.
We spent the day removing branches from the downed tree… with the hand tools. It took a while, and I’m *real* tired, but nobody lost any arms or heads. I worked my way up and down the trunk and removed all the limbs and branches, while Sue & Nick pulled them away and started stacking them. Sue left us around mid-day to go ride her horse. Later, once the majority of the trunk was exposed, we chopped and sawed off the top 25′ or so of the trunks (there are actually two, as this tree is bifurcated. Once we uncovred the fence, we saw that it was salvagable. We brought the pickup truck out and hauled the top of the trunks away, then raised the one bent fence post. We tie-wrapped the wire mesh fence material back on and basically made it dog-proof once again, and released the hounds… just as it got dark. There are still a bunch of limbs to clear, but the hard work is done… I think.
I wasn’t able to photograph the finished work, as it was too dark. I really want to get this work done before the rains return, which will likely be Monday.
The trunk will require a chainsaw, so I’ll either have a neighbor do it, or we’ll hire it out.
A very famous car. An ugly car too, but still very famous.
Naming the car should be easy, but does anyone now what lies under the ugly skin?
Find yourself on the Map of the Internet!
OK, I fess up, my “undisclosed location” is between Something Awful and The Department of Defense. Pretty cool map of IPv4 allocation. My only beef with it really is the absence of the correct terminology applied to “the swamp”… which they call merely “various” here, and two spots of RFC 1918 space – the 10/8 one mislabelled “VPNs” (WTF?) and the other, (172.16/12) just plain missing . Oh well
Now you know.
By the way, YOU ARE HERE. 😉
Like Buckaroo Banzai said, “no matter where you go, there you are.”
VIDEO: Self-parking Lexus befuddles Automobile editors
I hate the introduction of useless technology to the world of automobiles. Satellite navigation, onboard DVD players, rear-view remote cameras, car phones, etc. All they do is distract drivers, cause accidents, complicate troubleshooting, and worst of all ADD WEIGHT. Cars already weigh too much as it is. They are, on average, way too inefficient and that is largely due to weight.
Adding completely useless gee-gaws, like a “self parking system” is an idiotic waste of everyone’s time. If you can’t park the car, your should not be DRIVING the car.
Ugh… it gets worse, every day.
Same museum as yesterday’s shot, awesome car. This is a on-off of a well-known marque. Anyone recognize it?