Category Archives: General

That was fast

Elaine posted a link on how to use leftover Netflix flaps and I surprised her 5 minutes later with this:

Netflix Tray Origami
Netflix Tray Origami

I have a few extra flaps laying around.

I also wanted to show off my new monitor, a Samsung 943BWX. It has a 16:10 aspect ration and you can rotate the screen so you get a profile instead landscape presentation. Very neat. As you can see on the screen, I was able to get the equivalent of two screens of the origami instructions at one time.

Elaine was rather surprised at how easy it was to configure the X11 file to rotate the display and to have it actually work.

Note to self- don’t use a black-sided flap for the origami if you are going to take a picture of it.

Gift Giving

As we approach the New Year and ready ourselves to reflect on the past and to ponder, however briefly, the future, it is traditional to gift those with whom we share our lives.

Why not give a gift that will keep on giving? Give them a book.

Some more Friday

I am going to try just thumbnails inserted into the post and see if the thumbnail will allow you to pull up a larger image.

Looking down the Valley
Looking down the Valley
A Frosty Tree
A Frosty Tree
Two Frosty Trees
Two Frosty Trees
A little different from Thursday
A little different from Thursday

A brief Fall Winterland that only lasted a few minutes. Then it was gone, and so was I.

Friday was a bit different.

Friday morning we awoke to bright sunshine and the remains of a fog that crept in on deer’s feet in the night. It would not last long.

The fog had moved down valley
The fog had moved down valley

But had left a bit of itself behind.

A bit of Fog
A bit of Fog

hmmm, maybe these pics are too big a file size. Let me try some other options.

Cloudy Thursday

Another experiment – Thursday was a cold cloudy day.

Can you find the frost line?
Can you find the frost line?

And from a slightly different angle

Can you find the hidden critter? I din't even know it was there when I took the pic.Can you find the hidden critter?

I didn’t even know it was there.

This is a bit of an experiment inserting images into my post.  I have some more coming from Friday.

Being Lazy

I just came across this site that gives some guidelines on developing worry-free investment portfolios. They make sense to me and I think I am following them with my own retirement planning.  I do like #5 – If you’re not saving 10%, you’re spending too much.

I wonder about this quote:

Albert Einstein put it very simple: “There is no greater power known to man than compounding interest.”

I checked on Snopes and it is undetermined that Einstein really said anything like that. So he probably didn’t. Even though the sentiment is right on.

I don’t worry about what my portfolio is doing these days and I keep telling Elaine not to worry. We have set up a portfolio as best we could and we will see what it looks like in a few years.

My concern about the current state of the market is for the overall state of the US and Global economy. We have to live with the macroeconomic fallout of this meltdown and I don’t see any reliable hands the helm at present. But what do I know? Maybe paying dividends to shareholders of failing financial institutions is the best way to go. Not.

A World Record Setter in the Family!

My sister Cate recently participated in a World Record Attempt for Wingsuit Formation Flying. And they succeeded! As I understand it, they used the first four days to get folks use to formation flying and then 71 of them made the formation happen on Nov 12.

Why my sister Cate wants to throw herself from an airplane with nothing more than a wing and a prayer is a story from another day.

Congratulations Cate!

Why have the UK papers covered it so well?

The Telegraph

The Daily Mail

The Sun ( with a picture Slide Show, but it is The Sun)