Flight

A quick trip up to Mt Pleasant to drop off Zack and Jessie for Zacks
birthday preasant / weekend yielded this setting sun.

Cool Gear- Dash

When I first saw this GPS unit, I thought I was ugly, expensive and I did not even give it another thought.

Then it was released and I paid a little more attention. You see the Dash, only on sale at Amazon for now, is not just a normal GPS. This little baby has a “always on” connection through a cell radio built right into this thing. What this means is that unlike the normal navigation device this thing can send AND receive info… huh.

So what does that mean?

Say you want to look up a restaurant; you can search for say “Chinese” it can look up restaurants in the area without an address. It will find the restaurant, look up the address and then maybe even show you the menu… pretty cool trick.

Also imagine 20 or 30 or 100 of these out in your city. Imagine that you can benefit because the unit 5 miles ahead of you slows to a crawl updates the database and you get re-routed immediately, missing the traffic slowdown entirely and seamlessly.

That is the promise and according to the “beta-testers” this form of swam mentality traffic updates in conjunction with the traditional data makes a far better, faster, and more complete picture of what is going on around you.

So what’s the problem?

Call me paranoid, but I am not so hip on the whole always on data link. It really means that they can track me all the time. I have nothing to hide mind you but hell what if the data uplink starts reporting to the police that I speed. Or went the wrong way on a one way street?

So for now I am on the fence, with great technology comes great responsibility. I have great hopes for this little device as the possibilities are staggering. But also the potential for misuse is just as awesome.

More Snow

Today we were blessed with a little more snow. Woo-Hoo!

Shop update

Here are the final end tables for the small bedroom all nice and
finished.

These are 100% solid wood, 90% mortise and tennon jointery with only 4
screws in each table. I cheated with the screws to save time otherwise
just like their larger brothers in the master bedroom.

I have several more projects lined up.

Crispy Snow

As winter wanes giving way to spring, crispy snow piles are left where the melting snow is introduced to the wind and the cold night air. It makes these weird crinkly snow banks that make walking a crunchy experience.

Here you see the snow bank with Tanner peeking her way in to the camera lens.

Happy Easter

First Day Of Spring Today- But Tomorow...

Winter Storm Watch

/O.EXA.KDTX.WS.A.0007.080321T1800Z- 080322T0800Z/ WASHTENAW- INCLUDING THE CITY OF...ANN ARBOR 205 PM EDT THU MAR 20 2008

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DETROIT/PONTIAC HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT.

SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 5 TO 8 INCHES IS POSSIBLE BETWEEN ABOUT 2 PM FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND 4 AM LATE FRIDAY NIGHT BEFORE TAPERING OFF AND ENDING BY SUNRISE SATURDAY MORNING.

Got Fitness?

Check out my brothers studio.

Serving The Ann Arbor and
Ypsilanti Area.

Sony Bookshelf Speakers

Sent from my iPhone with imageMailer

I ordered this inexpensive pair of speakers of my office where my current speakers were so old the small woofers desintigrated into dust. I hope this will make a big difference in the sound.

Sent from my iPhone

Kitty the Lord of the Jungle

Sits high opon he throne looking down on her loyal subect Tanner the
dog.

Ivo From Czech Republic

Ivo (pictured) came all the way here with Patrick his mechanic to check out the 182.

Nice

A Cessna vlj, mustang was sitting on the ramp when I was there today.
Some guy let me crawl/drool over the thing. Nice.

Is that a crane in your backyard?

Or is your garage just happy to see me?

Construction started behind my neighbors house, hoping to be a boon to
the neighborhood with a mixed business condo project . Good luck guys.

An open letter to Prickly Pear restaurant, Ann Arbor, its patrons, et al.

To Whom It May Concern:

While no person can argue that dinner should be a relaxing enjoyable event… last Saturday night 3/8/08 was one of the worst dining experiences I have EVER had in Ann Arbor. Barb, Chelsea, and I went to have a simple dinner at a great place. It was not the food,that was actually great. Not the service that was quick. No it was none of that. It was the patrons.

The problem is the place is not big to begin with, and when you place people in seats and they refuse to acknowledge others are waiting for tables it is not just rude it is inexcusable. The offending people fall into two categories, one only slightly more loathsome than the next.

First there are the people who have no clue. Sure you have a table, so after that nothing else matters right. I know you are done, you have been nursing that water for 30 min and your leftover box was on the table before were got here. You really have not clue do you. Your particularly pensive server is practically plowing a path in the plywood pacing back and forth asking over and over if there is anything more they can get you pathetic prick. Your particular pedantic pontifications don’t matter, please give someone else a chance to eat, and let your poor server please turn more than one possible table you pustulant boil on the posterior of society. People are waiting outside in the cold, wake up you putz.

The second and more pathetic type is the people are who do know they are holding up everyone but don’t care. The have never pondered past their particular post. You are not special, you are positively pedestrian. I know you probably went to U of M and you are an Ann Arbor native, but get off you ass you primordial puddle of pustulant puke. People don’t care that you think you are better than everyone else; your check has been on you Table for an HOUR. A FREAKING HOUR, any longer and you will have to get mail forwarded. I am glad you are happy, you pea brained pachyderm.

So all I can say is: Prickly pear proved positive a pocket of pompous people packing a particular premises could turn a pleasantly pedestrian plan into a perturbing purgatory of preposterous proportions. Thanks people, you suck.

Hunting

Today, in the freezing cold and I mean freezing, I was invited to go pheasant hunting up in Brown City MI.

Here is a quick shot or a bird in flight, and a shot of me and Ron and his dog “Rocky”. I am the Ninja Hunter. There were 6 of us with two fields to hunt and we had excellent luck despite the high winds (temp was 20 deg Celsius, felt like “6”) that did not keep the dogs from picking up a scent or two…

Tomorrow… Pheasant for dinner.

Our Sponsors

Vaporlife readers please check out our sponsors from time to time. Located on the top the bottom right of the main blog page. If you don’t check them out, no one knows you looked at them and I don’t get credit, Get it?

Also

I know you check out the blog, I see the hits. Some of you have expressed reservations about leaving comments. I love all comments, both good and bad so leave what’s on you mind by pressing the comments button and writing down what you’re thinking.

Update on the Shop

Here are the tables after the weekend was over. Just a slightly
smaller versions of the tables I made for the other bedroom.

Mortise & Tenon

It seems like I finally got caught up on a couple of things.

I started the plane for the first time in a long time and took a quick flight. I also got some time in the shop to work on a long list of projects.

Here are some legs and rails for the some night stands for the downstairs bedroom. Hard to believe this pile of wood will be come two beautiful tables… and soon. You can clearly see here the mortise & tenon joinery.

Vue

Barb got her new Vue today, and it is pretty cool. Here is a quick shot complete with my finger in the photo.

I was going to post an "out with the old and in with the new photo" with her old van but she got all sentimental about the old van and felt bad for the vehicle she was getting rid of.