This cat was in the waiting area when Amber and I came through.   She was waiting to be booked into the shelter.  I don’t judge the folks surrendering their animals at the shelter.  Everyone has a different story or reason why they can’t take care of an animal.  Some are legit, some aren’t.  For the people going through big life changes, the shelter is the best chance to find a new home.  For the people who don’t value the life they’re abandoning, at least they’re not dropping it off at the side of the road.

My favorite cats this week turned out to be black cats.  It wasn’t by design, just the way things worked out.

I went to the supermarket to get some candy and found their Halloween section bare.  All that was left was candy a horse wouldn’t eat.  I wandered around for a bit, and two aisles over, they had a dozen Christmas trees on display.  So, on Halloween, they had more xmass stuff than Halloween stuff.  I may understand that they need to plan ahead…. but I go to a supermarket so I DON’T have to plan ahead.  Not having candy on Halloween is lame.  Merry Halloween.

www.lollypop.org

I started going back to Lollypop a couple weeks ago.  before that, I was just a bit burned out… with everything.  September was a busy month at work, and I wasn’t feeling well for part of it, so I didn’t do a lot of the things I normally do after work and on the weekends.

These two were pretty friendly.  I stayed with them for a few minutes.  Actually, I ran into 4 or 5 cats that I really liked today.  One cat in Cat adoption climbed up on my shoulders and gave me a back rub for a few minutes.  He used his claws for a bit, though, so I think my shirt may have a hole or two in it.

A few weeks ago, a man pulled into my driveway as I was coming home from work.  He said that he had just lost his job and could he mow my lawn for $20.   I only had a change jar for cash in the house, so I doled out $20 in quarters and gave it to him.  He asked if I had any more money, so I gave him the whole change jar.  After he left, I felt good that I was able to help someone down on his luck and forgot about it.

The next day, he came back saying that he had a flat tire, and could I give any money to get it fixed.  I said that I really didn’t have a lot of money, but he persisted, so I drove over to the ATM and got $40 out for him.  After he left, I felt a little used because of his persistence, but thought that would be the end of it.

Two days later, he came back saying that he was desperate, and needed money to pay back a debt.  I again told him that I don’t have a lot of money, but he persisted even more, so I again drove to the ATM machine and gave him $60.  I felt bad that I was being a chump, but figured that was really the end of it.

The next night at 11:21PM, I was awakened by a pounding on my front door.  The lawnmower man was back.  This time, he needed money for his sick father, and he could pay me back over the weekend.  I really didn’t want to go out that late, but he was more persistent than ever, and I eventually gave in and drove to the ATM and gave him $80.  I felt sleepy and mad that I’d given in to him, but figured that must be the end of it.

The next weekend, he came back, but instead of paying me back, he asked for more money.  I refused, even as he persisted, until eventually, he asked if he could just mow my lawn for $20.  After he finished mowing my lawn, I went to the ATM with him in the car, and got $20 out.  He then asked if I would like to buy his lawnmower.  I’ve seen those Briggs&Strattons at stores for about $200 so I finally agreed.  As he pulled it out of his car, he might have been pulling out a baby seal for all the whining he did.  He even talked to it, reminiscing on all the lawns they’d mowed together and how much he would miss it.  I figured he’d be back.

Later that afternoon, he came back asking if he could borrow the mower to make some money cutting lawns and he would return it later that day.  I figured it was worth losing the mower just be rid of him, so I let him take it.  I figured that no one with an ounce of self respect would come back after that.

Last night, he came back.  This time, he made a great show of the tooth he’d just lost, and thrust a pewter cross on a chain into my hands.  He just needed $20 to get to the dentist.  I made up a story about some medical bills and resolutely refused to give him any more money, saying that it didn’t matter what he said, my checking account was in the red.  It’s the first time he’s left with nothing to show.  He said he’d come back today to mow my lawn… with MY mower I guess.  I figure I’m going to get another unwelcome knock on my door today.

www.hearingaidtv.com

This is one of the reasons I like the boardwalk sales pitch.  Lee Majors is selling a new rechargeable hearing aid through direct marketing.  I saw the commercial last night.  Now, I don’t need a hearing aid… yet, but I was transfixed by the commercial.  The Six Million Dollar Man was my favorite show for a long time when I was a kid.  I had the lunch box and action doll, complete with small choking hazards

I don’t know why Lee Majors is selling hearing aids, perhaps he just wants to get some exposure for the 6 million dollar man franchise.  Perhaps he needs the money.  If that’s the case, then I wish him well.  He’s mostly been doing cameos and TV specials lately, but he has a couple movies coming out next year.  He’s one of those actors that I root for because of a part he played 30 years ago

Good Luck and Godspeed Steve Austin, and Billy Mays

Saturday, I took pictures of Alicia and Dustin’s wedding.  They make a great couple.  Dustin is deploying in a bit, so they only had 6 weeks or so to plan it.  It went very well.

My pictures feel a little cliche, I didn’t get any pictures that really stand out to me.  Maybe I’m just being too critical.  I was happy with the pictures I got with the 90mm and sb-600 flash.  The flash had enough power to shoot from a distance.  Before, I’ve had to get really close with the 17-35mm.  With the 90, I could stay on the edge aisles and take pictures without interfering with the ceremony.

Flickr Photo Set

Lollypop’s internet connection was down when I got there, so I couldn’t take pictures today.  The intake and inventory system is hosted, so I couldn’t run the cats without pictures report.  Oh, well, Amber and I walked around for a while before heading out.

Purricles… that cracked me up   Those are signature bricks on the walk outside the shelter.  I can’t believe I never saw this one before, it’s right next to the front door.  If Amber hadn’t stopped to sniff the roses (well, pee on the roses, actually) I would have missed it again.  We found a couple friendly horses, had a nice chat with a lady and her Doberman/Shepard, then headed over to Best Buy to fruitlessly search for computer software.  I did the “I’m looking for something” 360’s in each aisle, but no help.  I went to the “help” desk, but he sent me to the shelf that had windows… not windows software.  Sigh.  Lowe’s was much better, I only had to do 2 360’s before someone came up to help

I’ve taken pictures at two weddings so far.  After each one, I’ve told myself that I wouldn’t do it again.  It’s not that I really dislike taking wedding pictures, but I feel like I’m skating on thin ice.  I’ve heard so many stories of photographers who get raked over the coals for missing something or not getting the right shots.  Even the mild criticism I’ve gotten at the two weddings has cut deep, more because I take it to heart than any ill will on their part.  “I didn’t think much of your photographer when I first saw him, but the pictures turned out great.”(Bride’s father)  “You took too many pictures, the flash was going off in my eyes all the time.” (Bride’s father)

See?  Not too scathing as far as criticism goes.  Somehow, I’ve talked myself into two more weddings this summer.  A friend asks and I can’t say no.  I have a wedding next week, and one in September.  Is this how people back into careers?

Getting to the Air Show was a little challenging, they closed the main streets near the show, so I had to park and take a shuttle.  It was worth the waiting because the second plane was an A-10 Warthog, one of my favorite planes.  It’s built around an 8 barrel Gatling gun that fires 12″ inch long depleted uranium shells.  It’s the durability of this airframe that I like more than the firepower, though.  the pilot is encased in a titanium “bathtub” to protect him/her from all but direct fire.  Also, the engines are deigned to fall off the airframe if they receive too much damage.  That lets the pilot get home, even if the plane sustains massive damage.

F-15 Strike Eagle

Acrobatic Airplanes

It was a fun show.  There were only 5 planes in the show, but they were interesting planes with expert pilots.  The planes are very quiet when they’re coming towards you and very loud when they’re going away.  I felt buffeted by sound as the F-15 blasted away from the crowd on afterburners.  Then he dropped down to the deck before going straight up into a Cirrus cloud.  Getting that high in a commercial airliner takes several minutes… this guy did it in about 15 seconds.   Cool.

http://www.rochesterairshow.com/

My Flickr Set

Wikipedia Entry

Think of the earth as an egg.  The yoke is the metallic core.  Here, the temperature is high enough that iron should be in a liquid state.  Gravity compresses the iron to the point that it re solidifies.  Surrounding the core is the mantle, an area of liquid metals that swirls around creating the Earth’s magnetic field.  That’s the white of the egg.  Surrounding everything is a thin shell.  that is like the crust of the Earth, where we all live.  Proportionally, the Earth’s crust is no thicker than the shell of an egg.

As the mantle flows around, it affects the crust above it in several ways.  The shell is cracked into slabs that float above the mantle like leaves in a pond.  When the slabs collide, one has to go under the other.  This process creates mountains, rift valleys, even whole islands.

I’m sure you’ve seen the way that south America and Africa seem to be two puzzle pieces that lock together.  250 Million years ago, they were locked together in one large continent called Pangaea.  Since then, the plates under the continents have moved away from each other at about the same speed that fingernails grow.

It wasn’t until the 1960’s that the largest formations between the plates could be seen.  The Atlantic Ocean is bisected by a massive crack as the European and North American plates move away from each other.  Parts of the mantle are exposed to the bottom of the ocean and solidify into new ridges.  We didn’t know about the mid ocean ridge until US Navy sonar mapped the bottom after world war 2.

Plate Tectonics is the force that allows heavy metals from the interior of the planet to come to the surface.  It also recycles elements as the crust reenters the mantle and melts.  You could say that the Earth “Breathes” as the crust moves.