Nothing to post about...

Well folks, at this very moment, i have nothing to post about. I read the news and it is just the same crap every day, murder, car wrecks, war, oil prices...ect ect. It is going to be very hot here today. They say around 102 degrees! That is really hot and with the lack of rain, the grass just burns up. We have a sprinkler system at our house. I like to water early in the morning and late at night so as to not burn the grass up. I see other people in our neighborhood watering their lawns like at 3.00pm What a bunch of dumbasses!! That is the hottest part of the day and it will burn the lawn up. The water acts like a magnifying glass with the sun. People, Water Late at night or Early in the Morning, NOT during the day. The other day, on the news, they reported the highest water usage in Chesterfield County ever. It was something like 65million gallons all due to us South west yuppies needing to water our lawns.

I am reading Bush at War by Bob Woodward. It is a very good book I am on chapter 8 at the moment. I just wonder how he got all the information in the book? It talks about the days before September 11 and in chronologically the days after that with exact quotes and Bush’s locations and Top Secret document titles. How did he get the information? I seams to me that some of this should be classified. Just my thoughts so far. I hope to be able to finish it soon and start on the next one. I guess sometimes that it is nice to be able to ramble on about nothing specific.

I got an invite to my fraternity’s reunion this year in Texas. The frat is called Phi Boots Roota. It is a service frat for the Drum Line at SFA. It was very fun to be in for 3 years while I attended SFA from 1989-1992. If I am settled I would like to go to it, but I also have my brother’s bachelor party and wedding to go to in November. The reunion is in October, might be too close for me to pull off.

I am going to the gym this morning when I get off work to go and do my back and cardio while my daughter and her friend do yoga. I am going to be one tired puppy after I get home…

That is all for now.
What is your opinion?

Road Problems...?

I have lived in a variety of climates and states over the past 10 years. Some I have liked and some I have not. Let’s take Indiana as one example. I lived in Merriville Indiana. I worked about 2 miles from the Southern shore of Lake Michigan. The weather was less than hostipitable in that area. With many months of sub-freeing cold and snow/ice on most of the roadways; it was a continual cycle of construction. One thing that was used was salt to clear the roads. They use that in Massachusetts where we have lived also. Salt, as we all know, makes steel rust. Even if it is painted, it will rust. They have to be very vigilant in this duty in the northern environments and states. Just use the Golden Gate Bridge as an example. They have to keep it painted or it will rust.

The roads stay torn up die to the continuous expansion and contraction from the freezing/thawing process. I remember seeing rebar in the concrete roads that was rusting due to the cold/salt/thaw process going on. So let’s look at the bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis was a very tragic event. They gave out warnings that the bridge needed repair and that it had stress fractures. Given the environment that it is in: over water, up north, cold/hot/freezing; it is no wonder that it fell. It is just a wonder that more have not had this happen. It appears that America’s infrastructure is in need of some major overhauling.

In Massachusetts we lived about 62 miles from Boston. That state has the worst roads in the US in my opinion. You get free windshield replacement if you live in that state due to the road conditions. We lived in a cul-de-sac that had pavement sidewalks. When the snowplows came to clear our road, they would tear up the sidewalks and roadway. Just think about this on a concrete road that is uneven due to settlement or the roadbed, expansion and contractions due to weather both hot and cold and the added salt to help erode the surface.

In Colorado, the state uses a liquid de-icier called Magnesium Chloride to pre-treat the roadways to keep them from icing over if the temp is above 16 degrees. This solution has less of an environmental impact on the surrounding plants and animals as well as not tearing up the pavement or causing metal to corrode. Perhaps we should all look at how the roads in our area a maintained especially if you live in a colder climate. If we fail to do this, we may see a repeat of this happening soon.


What is your opinion?

Cha Cha search

It looks like Google might have some new competition on the block. Cha Cha search gives better results than Google and they are more direct! Give it a try!

According to Slashdot, "Indiana University Dumps Google for ChaCha.

Cha Cha uses people to do their searches instead of algorithms like Google.

From their website:

INSTANT SEARCH - Just like all those other search engines... only better. Because ChaCha keeps getting smarter. Our search experts are constantly handpicking cool, hard-to-find sites so you get only the best, most relevant results... OR

LIVE GUIDED SEARCH - Instant search not cutting it? One click hooks you up with a live ChaCha Guide. A real person that will ask you questions, understand exactly what you want, and send you results that are dead-on. Computers can't do that. It takes a community of people who are motivated to help you get the answer you seek - no matter what it takes. The brainpower behind ChaCha.

The next generation of search engines is here. And it's all about people

What is your opinion?

The Orb - Orbus Aquarium DVD

A friend of mine did this DVD. It is of a band called The Orb. They are a really good band to see live and i saw them in Washington DC at the 9.30pm club. They have some really nice atmospheres and beats. If you love this kind of music, go and check out this dvd!! You will not be sorry that you did. They have been around since 1992.

Link:

http://www.vuze.com/details/VW725LIGPFKWTGCBSG2DJEDX4FYTKKBZ.html

What is your opinion?

Two New Panorama Pictures

I took this downtown shot from the foot bridge that goes under the Robert E. Lee Bridge to Belle Isle.

This is the foot bridge to Belle Isle.

Hollywood Cemetery:

Established in 1847. U.S. Presidents James Monroe and John Tyler are here as is Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Gens. J.E.B. Stuart and George Pickett are joined by 18,000 Confederate soldiers including more than 2,000 removed from the Gettysburg battlefield.The southern section of Hollywood overlooks the James River and affords some of the best views of the river and the city skyline.

Here is a Google Map of the location of the Cemetery and also seen is the Robert E. Lee Bridge where i took the top picture of downtown Richmond on 8.1.2007. Both were taken on that date. I took the Hollywood Cemetery pic from Belle Isle.

What is your opinion?

Jamestown Settelment

It was better than i expected and it did not really cost that much to see all of the museum and attractions.

Pictures...

I have some to put up tonight. I will do a ping when I am ready.

 

RMStringer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood

over questions of reality and illusion.

I know this: if life is an illusion, then I

am no less an illusion, and being thus, the

illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I

love, I slay, and I am content.

(Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast, Weird Tales, May 1934)