At least the hail didn’t get the columbines.
Surprise!
While I was busy straightening out the maitre’d at the Margarita at Pine Creek that we needed a table for three (for Jack, my mother, and myself) instead of a table for five, I looked over my shoulder and saw my sister and brother-in-law, just flown in from California to help celebrate my fiftieth birthday.
Sky Scape
Breakfast
There were at least four hummingbirds at the feeder this morning. I managed to get this photo of two of them.
Furry Golden Horde
We are hosting my sister-in-law’s dogs, Lily and Lightning, this weekend. They earned the name “The Furry Golden Horde” when they first visited years ago, and actually did constitute a two dog invasion. (After the first visit, I went around muttering for weeks, “She ate my hat. I can’t believe she ate my hat.”) Lily (yes, she has the same name as my mare, but we can usually tell whether we are referring to the horse or the Golden Retriever) no longer destroys things, though she does like to carry soft objects around in her mouth. Lightning likes to bark at the horses, but is otherwise an exemplary Sheltie. The two are getting along with Lody and Mia quite well, and it is very entertaining to watch them try to figure out the hierarchy thing without doing anything so uncivilized as growling.
Kflickr
One drawback of running Linux as a desktop is we frequently lack cool utilities for things like Flickr. However, during a recent search through the Dapper Drake Ubuntu repository I found a slick tool called Kflickr. Kflickr allows you to drag and drop images from konqueror, gthumb or digiKam, and then quickly title, tag and upload them. It is a much quicker process than uploaded through the browser. You can seem some of my photos at my Flickr account.
New Money
I’ve barely got used to the $20 bill, and I find out that there is a new design for the $10 bill. This government site has pictures of the new money.
Relief
I became worried when I first saw Rags yesterday (Friday) morning, and even more concerned when he refused his small breakfast of horse chow. Rags and Hap got their spring shots on Thursday, and although Rags has had painful reactions in the past, he has been fine the past couple of years. However, I had never seen a horse this miserable from shots before. It was easy to tell where the shot went in: he had a huge lump on his butt.
Motivator: Inspire! Motivate! Mock!
Make your own motivational poster at Motivator: Inspire! Motivate! Mock!. (via John Scalzi’s Whatever.)
The Eternal Value of Privacy
Bruce Schneier: in Wired News: The Eternal Value of Privacy
Too many wrongly characterize the debate as “security versus privacy.” The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that’s why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide.