Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:21:28 GMT
New Laws Restrict Cell Phone Usage
© David the Pimp Daddy
Effective July 1, 2008, the state of California will impose new cell phone laws that contains the following high points:
- Anyone under the age of 18 can not use a wireless phone or mobile service device. This includes telephones equipped with a hands-free device.
- Anyone 18 and older can not use a wireless phone unless equiped with hands-free operation.
- The law permits a driver, regardless of age, to use a wireless telephone for emergency purposes.
- $20 fine for the first offense and not more than $50 for each subsequent offense.
For more information take a look at the California Department of Motor Vehicles
Posted by: James Koopmann Read more Source
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:50:55 GMT
Yet another day
Those are some mighty big deer tracks, aren’t they? Note the toe of my boot for scale. We found these tracks all over the place down by the dam, around parts of the lake, throughout the pecan plantation, along the eastern fence line, and into the forest. It must have been a whole herd of really big deer.
Or it may have been something else, since we found a lot of this in all of those same places:
Maybe our interloping visitors were the ghosts of cattle from the days when Roundrock was part of a ranch. Or maybe they were actual cattle that had somehow found a way in to Roundrock and made a bovine mess of things.
This was what greeted us when Seth and I got down to our woods on Father’s Day. And from the looks of things, we had just missed the visitors. In fact, I suspected that the cattle were still around somewhere, perhaps in the trees where they could find some shade.
With this in mind, we began tracking the trespassers. It was easy to do. They pretty much tore up the ground wherever they went, leaving their big prints in the soggy ground (plus their soil-enriching additive), and mashing down the grass and scrub in the direction of their getaway.
From the top of the dam, we followed the deer down into the pecan plantation. They mostly wandered around down there, though one of the pecans was pretty much destroyed by what I guess was a cow scratching herself on the post and cage around it. (I hadn’t factored in itchy cattle when I designed those cages for the little trees.) Their tracks lead into the trees along our eastern border, and I thought we just might be able to find them in there.
The tracks grew muddled in there. It looked as though the bulk of the herd went south in the direction of our woods we call the Hinterland. That seemed likely since it is deeply forested and was probably cool. But those tracks petered out and the only clear direction we could find was a few cattle wandering along the slope south of the pecan plantation toward the dam.
The cattle had crossed the dam, though a few ventured down the edge of it to the water to get a drink. Some also wandered down the face of the dam and back into the pecans again.
After that, we lost their track. We were to learn later that they had grown smart. They had simply walked up our road where there was no grass or scrub and where the ground was comparatively firm. They later found the only break in the fence along our northern property line and entered our neighbor’s corn field. Not only did they tear up the soft ground there, but they appeared to have had a good time munching on his knee-high corn. The cattle that didn’t avail themselves of the fence break for some free corn found their way onto Good Neighbor Brian’s land by exiting through our pine plantation.
The wet ground gave their tracks the appearance of being fresh, but they may have been several days old. Their droppings suggested otherwise, and I really do think we just missed seeing the herd on our land. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are still hanging out in my woods. Plenty to eat and fresh water available. Life would be good there.
Needless to say, our morning did not start out as we planned, so our original agenda was modified. We still managed to get a few things done though.
Missouri calendar:
- Bullfrog breeding is at its peak.
Today in Missouri history:
- In 1933, a shootout at Kansas City''s Union Station results in the death of one criminal and four federal agents. "Pretty Boy" Floyd was one of the shooters. Bullet holes are still visible in the wall of the train station.
- Actor Mark Linn-Baker is born on this date in St. Louis in 1954.
Posted by: Roundrockjournal Read more Source
Mon, 19 May 2008 00:20:51 GMT
Cultural Differences With Dating
Does dating someone from outside your culture present difficulties? I've dated people from many different cultures, and from personal experience I can say it really didn't. Still, I caught this article about dating a non-Latino, and thought I'd throw the question out to all of you.
I've found personally that dating someone outside your culture gives you more opportunity to learn about the person. But I suppose it also depends on how different your beliefs are. You're more likely to stay together with someone long-term if you share the same ideas about faith, lifestyle, children, wealth, and family. You can be from a different culture and still share the same life goals. It's when the details about your cultural beliefs are contrary that there might be problems.
But that's just my opinion. What's yours?
Posted by: Cherie Burbach Read more Source
Fri, 09 May 2008 01:44:16 GMT
Tin Can Artist
David Wasserman (1917 - 1999) was a graphic designer and cartoonist who experimented in his spare time with the artistic possibilities of metal collage. For more than thirty years, he nailed small pieces of tin cans, aluminum soda cans and other metals to sheets of plywood, to create large-scale but incredibly detailed pictures.
Since he wanted to explore all the possibilities of his chosen medium, the style of his work ranges from abstract to cartoon to realistic, and his subject matter includes famous people, powerful beasts, the depths of space, family photos, and an urban cityscape.
(thanks Steven)
Posted by: Gerard Read more Source
Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:14:58 GMT
Mediocrity....
Do you shoot too low and destine yourself for mediocrity?
The Blog Entrepreneur has an interesting entry about how we condemn ourselves to mediocrity because of several factors the most important of which is aiming to low in our goals.
Many of us are just scared to aim too high because we are afraid that we will not hit our target and be failures because of it. Some others fear that they will succeed and will not know how to handle it.
In other words we need to get out of our comfort zones if you are going to get above mediocrity. We have to be willing to take chances with failure, and if we do fail we take the lessons learned and grow from it. Then we will rise above mediocrity and truly become successful.
Posted by: John Dornoff Read more Source
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:12:36 GMT
My Blueberry Nights
"A big deal no one is making: the first Western-language films by the two most inimitable, imitated Asian filmmakers of our time are opening in New York on the same day." So, on the same page, the L Magazine''s Mark Asch reviews both Hou Hsiao-hsien''s Flight of the Red Balloon and Wong Kar-wai''s My Blueberry Nights, "a film as American as apple pie, and as out-of-time iconographic as that phrase implies."
"If I was a snarkier writer, I''d say that this is a love story to New York from someone who''s still afraid of Manhattan subways," blogs David Lowery. "Which is true, as evidenced by some of the dialogue in the film, but Wong''s foreign perspective on Americana isn''t necessarily a problem; nor is it the English delivery that makes his dialogue so bad, or Norah Jones''s lack of acting experience that makes her lovelorn monologues so cloying. It''s just that it''s all so damn trite, a problem exacerbated by a serious case of self-importance."
Updated through 4/5.
Posted by: dwhudson Read more Source
Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:56:09 GMT
Exchange Rates: Beware of Assumptions
If you do a lot of business with customers in the U.S. you might be feeling the pinch due to the Canadian dollars rise against the U.S. dollar.
I do a lot of business with clients in the U.S. and back in 2000 I remember getting 1.57 CDN for each U.S, dollar. Today it is just $1.04 or $1.05.
Big difference. Failing to re-examine changes in the assumptions behind your business can result in bankruptcy:
A high Canadian dollar and new passport rules are driving away American clients, says the owner of an eastern Ontario woodworking school that recently went bankrupt.
Since January, new rules have required U.S. citizens to carry passports when they fly to and from Canada. Those rules have been lifted for the summer while the U.S. tries to catch up on a backlog of passport applications.
"On any given week, you'd have basically three full-time employees, a couple of the guest teachers, and then up to 14 students," he said. "Even though Rosewood was only here for a short period of time, it's done a lot for the town." Via
CBC
Posted by: Greg Balanko-Dickson Read more Source
Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:19:59 GMT
Well Done
Croatian creative agency Bruketa & Zinic have designed an annual report for food company Podravka that has to be baked in an oven before it can be read.
Called ''Well Done,'' the report features blank pages printed with thermo-reactive ink that, after being wrapped in foil and cooked for 25 minutes, reveal text and images.
Posted by: Gerard Read more Source
Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:51:30 GMT
Do You Love Pets?
Join up with All About Pets, provided to you by The Blue Cross, Britain's pet charity in the UK. Now you'll have a place to get together online with other pet lovers and pet owners. Get information from other people about pets or just hang and chat.
There is a chat board that you can use on All About Pets to chat with other people about pets. You can also upload your own pet's photos and videos too. Show him or her off and let other pet lovers know how much you love your pet. Make your own All About Pets profile page. Then go see what other's have done on their profiles and rate them.
Posted by: Linda Roeder Read more Source
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:03:49 GMT
Lifesaver Rihanna
Rihanna has helped save the life of a leukaemia patient.
The ''Umbrella'' singer was so moved by mother-of-two Lisa Gershowitz Flynn''s story she joined forces with DKMS, the world''s leading bone marrow donor centre, to find her a match.
The 41-year-old New York lawyer was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukaemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow last November, and was given just four to six weeks to find a donor.
Following Rihanna''s public plea for help, 5,000 potential donors contacted DKMS and a match has now been found.
Lisa broke the happy news to her supporters in an email, saying: "Today a 32-year-old guardian angel consented to be my donor, even though in all likelihood she has never met me and does not know who I am."
Lisa, who has a five-year-old son Michael and three-year-old daughter Alexandra, said no words could ever describe how thankful she was.
She added: "My life will be saved because of you, my family and friends. My children will have their mother, my husband will have his wife, and my parents will have their daughter.
"The English language does not have words that are adequate to thank someone for working to save your life. Please continue to spread the word about how important it is to fill the bone marrow registry with donors to save others."
Last month, Rihanna, 20, explained her decision to help Lisa, saying: "When I heard about Lisa''s plight, my heart broke. I said, ''I need to get the word out about Lisa right away.'' "
Posted by: Melissa Read more Source
