We have recently started a large landscaping project in our back yard. The guys at B&D Landscape did a great job. The crew of five did the job in five days. I recommend them highly. The redesign will significantly increase our area for gardening both perennials and vegetables. We will undoubtedly generate more yard waste as a result so we decided to get into the compost making business.
I purchased the ComposTumbler through Amazon since l had trouble finding good options locally. I assembled our ComposTumbler® last weekend and took a time lapse movie of the process. The instructions were good for the most part with only a couple of sticky steps that took me awhile to figure out. The assembly took me 90 minutes flat with no breaks.
I will let you know how the contraption works after a batch or two have been through it.
When I first learned about the Nature Conservancy many years ago I was excited that there was an environmental organization that aligned with my vision of conservation through free market capitalism. Essentially, if you want to protect land from development you buy it. If you own it you can do with it as you see fit.
However, the Nature Conservancy has increasingly been falling in line with the global warming alarmists. Today I have discontinued my monetary support for them and am looking for a new organization that I can give to without being subject to the “nature good, humans bad” metallity. Your suggestions for such organizations are appreciated.
Below you can read the text of an e-mail I sent to the Nature Conservancy.
Hello, After many years of monetary support for the Nature Conservancy, my wife and I have decided to direct our money elsewhere. I am concerned about the organization’s increasing focus on human carbon emissions as a significant effect on climate change. Today I received an e-mail from the Nature Conservancy announcing that I can now “offset my carbon footprint” through the Nature Conservancy. This solidified my decision to identify another organization that aligns with our vision to conserve the environment without being distracted by the hysterics of rabid environmentalism.
As a scientist myself, I find it hard to believe that your scientists truly believe humans are a significant effect on climate. Instead, I think you are using the current carbon footprint hysteria to cash in. I understand the temptation to follow the frenzy to gain funds to do good conservation work, but the ends do not justify the means.
I totally support the objective to protect wild lands through private property ownership and stewardship, but can no longer sit by while the Nature Conservancy crafts policy based on flawed science and political expediency. Please remove me from your donor, e-mail and other communication lists.
All of us get the email from our airline frequent flyer programs offering miles for buying a product from a partner company. Well I received one with an offer to join one of the wine clubs offered by Vinesse. They offer 6 different clubs, each with a different focus. When I read the offer and saw all those frequent flyer miles I began to think of how hard Stacy and I have worked all these years and boy could we use a treat. We are adults now and instead of ice cream as a treat we want wine! I did not step lightly into the wine club world, I dove headfirst and joined Vinesse’s most exclusive club, the Élevant Society. As the website describes it, this club offers:
The club featuring the most exclusive, highest quality wines, and you receive your choice of two or four bottles of pure bliss delivered to your door. The Elevant Society is a connoisseur’s service that provides super-premium wines from around the world, but with a slight leaning toward America’s best, and toward the reds rather than the whites. These wines may be cellared, but they are mature upon arrival, ready for immediate enjoyment. Such quality wines, of course, carry a higher price, and membership in the Elevant Society is not for everyone.
Stacy and I love big bold reds, and this is exactly what Élevant offered. We did exercise some restraint and only ordered the two bottle per month package. This package cost us $84.93 per month including shipping and we were glad to do it to get some “exclusive” red wines.
I waited expectantly for the first shipment to arrive. I couldn’t wait to see what the wine experts at Vinesse had selected for us. Finally, the bottles arrive and I open the box expectantly. I take a look at the two bottles and for some unknown reason think the wines don’t have an “exclusive” look about them. The two bottles were; 2003 X Winery Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Luna Benegas Mendoza, Argentina Cabernet Sauvignon. After a little googling I realize that I can buy these wines from online merchants for $15 and $10 respectively. Today, one year after this experience, the wines are still available for $22 and $10 respectively.
This discovery angered me right away. I had paid $84.93 for $25 worth of wine. This is a horrible deal in anyone’s book. I know I need to pay shipping in the club but $60 of shipping and handling is outrageous. I called and emailed Vinesse immediately and expressed my disappointment. I will say that Vinesse was very polite, responsive, and cooperative in our discussions. They did not have a satisfactory reason for why they send “average” quality wines for an “exclusive” quality wine club. They would not refund my money but offered to send replacement wines. I asked them to only send one bottle and that would be the end of our short lived relationship. They sent a bottle of 2002 Amicitia Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon which sells for $28 today.
After this experience, I realized I would be better off randomly buying two bottles a month for $85 at a local wine retailer. I would recommend you be skeptical of wine clubs in general but Vinesse wine club in particular.
As most of you know, Stacy and I are huge Macintosh users and own almost everything Apple makes. With the announcement that Apple will be releasing the next generation iPhone in July, I scoured the internet to see a sneak preview of the new features. I found the following video where the iPhone’s secrets are revealed. I hope you enjoy.
Ok, I have been back in the good ole USA for over two weeks now and am just getting over my anger at Dulles International Airport customs. After 10 days on the road, the return trip was harrowing once we got to Dulles from Heathrow. Let me provide you with a detailed description of how things went down.
The eight hour flight from London was uneventful, we slept, watched a couple movies, listened to iPods, etc. Upon landing we taxied to a gate. No wait, the gate had a broken down airplane stuck there so lets park on the tarmac and unload the passengers on people mover vehicle thingies. The people movers must hit traffic in route because it took an eternity for the first one to arrive. We stood patiently waiting while the mover got loaded and just before Stacy and I were to board it was declared that the thingy was full. Now we must wait for the next mover to clear traffic and get to the plane. When the thingy gets to the plane it must park near the door of the plane and then engage the hydraulics to lift the mover cabin up to the level of the plane’s cabin. Once it is at the correct level. It adjusts the walkway to jut out and meet the plane’s sides and provide a safe method of boarding. This all takes time. Stacy and I board the thingy with 100 or so of the smelliest overseas travelers. For some reason, once the thingy was full we needed to stand still and wait for 10 minutes until at some unknown signal the doors were closed and the mover cabin was lowered to ground level and we made our way to the customs area.
As a follow up to my previous post regarding video footage from Dubai, here is all 2 minutes 30 seconds of video from London. It will just give you a sense for the area of the city we were staying. You will also see the “Traditional English Breakfast” that we had several mornings. The breakfast was good and not very different from what I do at home save for the baked beans.
At the end you will see a reference to “mind the gap”. When riding the Tube, this is a seemingly never ending reminder played over the loudspeakers at every stop. I assume there have been some costly lawsuits over people getting feet, clothing, bags etc. caught in the gap between the train and the platform. I found the word choice interesting compared to the American “watch your step”. In another example the Brits used the sign “way out” for uses where we would use “exit”.
Before going on a vacation I always get excited about all of the photography opportunities I will have. I try to keep my camera bag to a minimum of gear but can always think of a reason I just might need this or that gadget. I end up with a bag absolutely stuffed with everything and end up with shoulder problems in the airports. Then, when I finally get to the destination, I end up leaving the camera bag in the room most of the time. I feel like a spectator to my vacation when I am photographing all the time.
This trip was no different, I took the new video camera and almost every piece of still camera gear I own. However, when I finally got to Dubai, I did not take a fraction of the pictures I had planned to. I wanted to actually experience this trip as a participant, not just a spectator, without the burden of always looking for the next great shot.
I only took about 400 pictures during the entire 10 day trip to Dubai and London. This is laughably few for someone who considers themselves a photographer. Anyway, here is all 2 minutes and 38 seconds of video I shot in Dubai. Near the end you will see the worlds tallest building as I shoot it from a taxi.
What a great way to end our trip! Two tickets in the 4th row of Royal Albert Hall to see the amazing Mark Knopfler. We were within 20 feet of the stage and 25 feet of Mark. The songs were great and the musicianship was excellent. The newest member of the band is a young Scotsman who plays the fiddle, recorder, and sitar masterfully. We could tell that Mark himself was a fan and watched in amazement as the Scotsman played.
The hall itself is a beautiful building and a great spot for a show. I would not have guessed that it is 140 years old.
We were amazed at the international diversity of the audience. Before the show even started, Stacy and I asked a couple to take our picture in front of the building and we returned the favor for them. It turns out they are from Spain and came to London for the concert. Stacy sat next to a couple of nice young Brits who were seeing Mark for the 3rd night in a row. There was a family of Phillipino’s behind us. A middle eastern couple sat next to me, and we were guessing the men in front of us were Italian!
The show was memorable and I hope to take Max and Avery to see Mark when he comes to our backyard, Red Rocks, in 3 weeks.
I have not blogged in several days. Tuesday was a travel day, hot, crowded, uncomfortable flight at the back of the plane. The only positive out of the flight was watching “I am Legend” for a couple of hours. It turns out I was starting to get ill on this flight and have been fighting it ever since. I never should have eaten that piece of “jet” fruit (no idea what it was) the vendor offered me with his bare hand! My desire to be courteous won over my common sense. No more mister nice guy!
The London Underground was a great way to get from the airport to the hotel. The “tube” system is very easy to navigate and very convenient. We are near the Earl’s Court tube station in Kensington. The neighborhood is loaded with hotels remodeled from old row residences.
The blisters started to form today as the miles continue to mount. The feet, more than anything else, will enjoy the return to the USA. I don’t mean to complain too much, we are actually having a great time. We will soon be leaving to meet Silvia for a drink before we see Mark Knopfler at the Royal Albert Hall in concert. Silvia is an IABC colleague of Stacy’s from London who gave the “opening remarks” for Stacy’s workshop in Dubai.
How many miles have I walked today? I do not know, but more than my feet would like by a long shot! After walking the city near the hotel I took a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates, the worlds largest mall. The taxi ride is 30 minutes and goes through some of the worst traffic I have seen outside southern California. The first thing I saw upon entering the mall is……SNOW! At least it was on the other side of a glass wall. The ski Dubai area is a year round ski resort. I use the term “resort” loosely. Check out the picture below. A nice view of people on the ski lift through the window of the T.G.I.F Friday’s restaraunt.
The feet beckoned me to return to a stationery position so I hailed a cab for the return trip. On the way, as we were passing the worlds only 7 star hotel I asked Amman (from Pakistan) if he could get me close enough for some pictures. He obliged and we spent the next hour and a half driving around taking photos. The language barrier fell away as he bought me a bottle of water and informed me he does not like Phillipinos or Iranians. He speaks portions of 10 languages and will never return to Pakistan.
He also took me to a beach so I could wet my toes in the Arabian Gulf, the locals do not like to call it the Persian Gulf. The water was clear and as warm as a babies bath water. I wished Stacy and the kids could be with me and we could play in the ocean. The beach was literally littered with shells. I picked the five up at my feet in one place and walked back to the taxi. Avery and I have walked a quarter mile and spent an hour to find fewer shells than I found as a second thought standing in one place! Pack your bags kids, we’re headed for Dubai!
The drive home took me by the world’s tallest building once again. The amount of construction here is astounding. We have heard that somewhere between one third and one half of the worlds construction cranes are in Dubai. I believe it! I counted 14 high rise construction cranes in one field of view.
Stacy finished day two of her workshop and everything went well. We quickly made our way to the pool area to wind down. The evening was terrific, a warm breeze with the sun setting over the gulf. We had the priveledge of talking to (and buying beers for) two navy service men from the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier on shore leave. This was the second group from the Abraham Lincoln we conversed and shared a drink with. Thank you John, Luke, and Chuck, it was a pleasure meeting you!
