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Wiping out technical issues across the globe with a single swipe.

Ghetto Beanwiches!

1. Heat up the beans and mash them.
2. Toast open-faced hamburger buns
3. Plop spoonfuls of mashed beans on buns and top with shredded-cheddar cheese
4. Melt the cheese and garnish with chopped onion.
5. Assemble the bunnage and try to eat without everything squirting out the backside of your buns :-)

Deer Head!

While visiting with the girls Saturday we stopped at a resale shop that was packed floor to ceiling with a LOT of stuff. Jamie picked up this wooden deer head. We had a great time on the way back to Jamie's house, she held the deer head out the window like a dog might do, moving the head around as if the deer head was checking out people in cars next to us. It was pretty funny.
Within one night Jamie transformed it into a great dia de los muertos work of art.

Here's some pics off my phone from when we loaded Chels' VW to take it to it's new home. Thank goodness for come-alongs!



Here's one I took just after getting to Chels' house

Rain Barrel update

this is where the barrel ended up parked at. I think I should have dropped the position of the spigot at least an inch lower. I really like Dad's idea of making a collar that catches even more rain. Currently the barrel has been out since Oct 8, and the water level is just now getting above the spigot.

Going to Austin this Friday night

Inside of Chelsea's VW. She built this with her father. I thought I had a pic of the outside, but I can't find it.

I've rented the smallest U-Haul Truck I could find along with a car carrier so that I can bring Chelsea her old Volkswagon. I haven't driven a truck and trailer since back in the 80's so I am a wee-bit apprehensive, but I'm sure I'll do okay. I had hoped that I could get away with only renting a trailer, but as it turns out our truck isn't rated to carry just the trailer without having a weight distributing hitch installed.

Chelsea is going to have to drive me home on Sunday because U-Haul charges an additional fee of .99 cents a mile if you return with the truck and trailer. If it's a one-way trip to Austin and I drop the truck and trailer there, the mileage fee is waved. How strange is that?

I'm a dirty two-timing blogger!

Been posting in my "No Impact" blog for this week. Actually, it's more like "Lower Impact" for me, I'm finding bad old habits die hard I'm afraid. But I am making small changes, and the project is definitely making me think about what I am doing.

The OTHER blog

Join thousands who are trying No Impact for a week!

Join thousands who are trying No Impact for a week!

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Wedding of George and Mary Brewster

Wedding of George and Mary Brewster
Originally uploaded by Michael-Ann

28 November 1905, Manhattan NY.

George Wellington Brewster

George Wellington Brewster
Originally uploaded by Michael-Ann

(Dad's maternal Grandfather) One of two photos that Nancy (Dad's cousin) shared with me today.

Wazzhappenin here

Well... at the top of the list is we heard from G Jr. this morning who is now back in Kuwait and preparing to head to his base out just off the Tigris river, near the border of Iraq and Iran. He was eligible to get out of the army at the end of this month, however the army always reserves the right (and usually exercises that right) to extend a soldier's enlistment time until they are done with you. G Jr will be over there for a year. We already feel anxious and miss him.

Gordy and I have decided to be a little radical and paint our house in what we like to call a "Caribbean" style. I haven't admitted to G just yet that I am a little hesitant about our color choices, but hell, it's just paint, we can change it eventually. Behr has a neat little app on their website that allows you to play around with color choices and see them on various styles of houses. Once you think you have decided on something you can order little 8 oz samples of the paint for about $7 bucks a piece. I received my three samples yesterday and couldn't wait to see what it was going to look like. Along with the paint samples Behr sends a little paint-roller with little roller trays, so during my lunch break i painted a small area of the backside of the house.


This picture doesn't do a good job of showing the actual colors. Actually, the colors look kinda yucky in the picture. In real life they are definitely "bold" but I have come to like them, i think. sure i do... yep.

Last weekend one of my little yard projects was to get some dog-proof containers and plant some veggies in one of the areas that is now open to sunlight. I planted tomatoes, romaine lettuce, zucchini, brussel sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, along with a few herbs: dill, oregano, basil, and mint.

Getting a trademark

Back on July 1, 2009 I filed online with the US Patent and Trademark office, for a trademark on "iBirdCount." I can't fathom what sort of research is involved with this process. Checked the status of my application, and learned that as of Oct. 2, the examining attorney could see no initial problems with the trademark and so the status has been moved to "Approved by the examining attorney for publication for opposition."

Of course I had to look that up. What they are going to do is publish our application for trademark in the Trademark Official Gazette, where any entity having issue with the name "iBirdCount" has 30 days to dispute it.

If everything goes well, the US Patent and Trademark office states that we may be issued a certificate authorizing our use of the word in 12 weeks after the publishing period... *phew* this seems like it is taking forever.

Homemade Rain Catcher

Used a "Brute" contractor-grade garbage can. The spigot is a 1/2" PVC ball valve so that a standard hose could be attached.

This isn't going to be tied into a downspout, I'm going to place it near my working compost. Hopefully get enough rain to keep the compost pile moist when I need to.

Garbage can: $30
Spigot and PVC couplings: $5
2 washers: 54 cents

Since I had the screen and glue already, total cost today was $35.54

I hope it holds up okay and fulfills its intended purpose well-enough.

I'm going to stick a potted plant on the center of the lid to "purty" it up some.

Here's another pic of the lid: