Peter Passes Motorcycle Test

My good friend Peter Jorgensen took the Florida Motorcycle Drivers Test and passed. In Florida - anyone with a regular drivers license can drive any cycle or scooter with an engine under 50cc. But if one wants to drive anything larger - you have to pass the test. The test consists of going through several courses lined by cones. You zig zag between the cones - make a U turn without touching your feet to the ground - you also do a panic stop. I watched Peter take the test and was impressed with how well he did. Peter took the test on our Vino 125. Our other scooter the Vespa ET2 has a 50cc engine and thus anyone with a drivers license may drive it. Another interesting note - you are not required to have insurance or a helmet to drive a motorcycle in Florida.

SUN Sports Set To Televise FSU Games From The Athens Baseball Regional

SUN Sports, FSN South and Turner Sports are teaming up to broadcast games from the baseball regional.

Tallahassee, FL - Fans who are unable to make the trip to the NCAA Athens Regional this weekend will be able to see FSU in action. SUN Sports, FSN South and Turner South will team to televise all of Florida State's and Georgia's game beginning Saturday. Friday's opening round game with Jacksonville will not be shown but every following game that either the Seminoles and/or the Bulldogs play will be carried including the "if necessary" game on Monday.

Florida State's game on Saturday will begin at either 2:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. depending on how FSU fairs in the opener versus JU.

You Can Add Comments to This Page

I just made a change in the "comments" section for my web page. You can now make comments that will appear on my web page. Please keep the comments clean - do not defame anyone - especially me.

Can a GPS Save Your Marriage?

I got that GPS today in the mail. It is a sweet item - endless features - an easy to become an expert quickly.

It is the Garmin C320 running Street Pilot software. It stores the info on an SD Chip - it came with a 128 meg one - I just ordered a 1 gig one at buy.com for $19. With that you will be able to store all of the US information. Florida - Georgia - Alabama - Louisiana - used up the 128 meg.

I used a PC to load the software. It is pretty simple for a PC. Put the disk in the - PC - hook the GPS via USB port - select states from the map - and load.

The screen is color - about 4 inches wide. All controls are touch screen except on and off - and speaker volume. The menus are easy to navigate.

It shows the maps in 3D or birds eye view straight down. I prefer 3D. It also shows you speed - direction - ET - distance - etc.

To get to a place you type its name right on the screen - it remembers it for future use - it helps you type. You then tell it to go and it maps out the route.

The speaker tells you when to turn and you can see it on the screen.

My first time I used it - I put the little suction device on my scooter mirror - and it directed me home. It gives you plenty of warning for turns.

It runs on 110AC - 12DC - even on its own rechargeable lithium battery.

It also has listed of all restaurants - hotels - gas stations - tells you how far - and directs you to them. It even has their address and phone number. This feature seems very valuable. You hit "French" and just French restaurants are listed.

It finds the satellite very easily and locks on well. No need for an outside antenna but it has a plug outlet for one if you insist.

The SD chip goes in the side just like a camera.

It has a docking cradle that has a wire and suction device hooked to it.

I was surprised at how bright and how loud it is - I heard it easily on the scooter - and also saw it in 12 noon sunlight.

Best Buy sells it for $445 - I bought it NEW at outpost for $279.

It also has a satellite clock - a satellite gauge - a battery gauge.

You can zoom in and out by touch the + or -.

The little lake behind my house is even on the map.

It also shows you the direction you are moving - like NW.

We have 3 big trips going on this summer - and it will be fun driving with this thing. I expect it to cut down arguments between driver and navigator :-)

Maybe we will go out for German food tonight - too bad it is 173.5 miles west in Gulf Breeze :-)

I give this toy 5 teddy bears out of 5.

Wanted - TEACHERS - Class Size Constitutional Amendment has Politicians Scurrying

''Lower class sizes are a great goal,'' said Gallagher, the state's chief financial officer and former education commissioner. ``But the inflexible mandate of the class-size amendment creates a looming financial crisis for our state, and the amendment, as it sits, requires a choice of cutting programs or raising taxes -- and either one of those is totally unacceptable to me.''

The class-size reduction act says that by 2010, classrooms must have the following limits: 18 students in kindergarten through third grade, 22 students in fourth grade through middle school, and 25 students in high school. Rough estimates say the plan will cost the state $25 billion -- a third of its annual budget.

Legislators have allowed school districts to phase in the caps. Beginning next fall, schools face the toughest requirements yet: caps measured by schoolwide averages.

The Department of Education estimates it will take 9,000 new teachers statewide to implement the change at a cost of $1 billion. Miami-Dade alone will need 1,000 new teachers and $47 million.

Memorial Day - Cutting Down Tree - Riding in Sidecar

Today Darrell and I spent the day helping our friend Peter cut down a dead 40 foot tall magnolia tree. Peter and Corinne Jorgensen are fellow faculty members with Nancy at FSU. They live on Lake Talquin - about 20 miles west of town. The magnolia tree was threatening the neighbor's boat house - and even in the land of treehuggers - the tree had to go.

Notice that Peter did the tree climbing this time - using the tree stirrups. Peter has a degree in forestry - and he climbs like he knows what he is doing. On the ground - Darrell and I manned the ropes - pulling the tree this way and that way. Finally down it went - into the water - and clearing the boat house by about 20 feet. After the tree was down - we all helped cutting it up and getting it out of the water.

After the job - Corinne served us lunch including a home baked three berry pie with ice cream. Also Peter gave us rides on his Chinese motorcycle that is a replica of a Russian motorcycle that is a knock off of a BMW 41. You can see by the pictures that we enjoyed the sidecar more than cutting down the tree. It was hot - in the mid 90s.

Molokai Jobless Claims Fall

According to a new report in the Pacific Business News, New Jobless claims fell from 13 to 3 on Moloka'i in the last week, while total welfare cases fell from 59 to 52.

Molokai is the island that has the leper colony on it that we visited last summer.

The Very First Apple Computer

This is a picture of the Apple I - the very first Apple Computer - made by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. I took this picture at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

Panther Valley Middle School May Become Civic Center

Special to The Morning Call

The former Panther Valley Middle School in Lansford could become a borough hall or multi-use community center and lead a downtown revitalization. Those were some of the ideas that came up at a hearing last week.

About 30 people, including state Rep. Keith McCall, D-Carbon, gathered Tuesday in Lansford Community Center to discuss what to do with the nearly century-old, four-story school when the school district abandons it next year.

The district is building a middle school at its high school campus in Summit Hill and has raised the idea of letting the borough have the old school on Bertsch Street. Lansford hasn't agreed to take it, but most of the residents and Borough Council members who spoke said that's what the borough should do.

Harry's Note - The kids and teachers at the Panther Valley Middle School are/were great. The school was condemned when I started teaching there in 1970 and was still a dump when I retired in 2003. If the town takes it over - it will drain $45,000 a year just for heat and light - from a town that is already on the financial ropes. They should have a big party and burn it down. When the former junior high school in Summit Hill burned down in 1972 - the school district got a big insurance check that helped buy the new high school.

My classroom was on the top floor - the four front windows with the shades half way down.

What is a cracker?

The term "cracker" was and is used most frequently in the South, especially in Georgia and Florida. Since the 1870s a nickname for Georgia is "The Cracker State", which is displayed proudly with no hint of insult.
Historically the word suggested poor, white rural Americans with little formal education. Historians point out the term originally referred to the strong Scotch-Irish of the backcountry (as opposed to the English of the seacoast). Thus a sociologist reported in 1926, "As the plantations expanded these freed men [formerly bond servants) were pushed further and further back upon the more and more sterile soil. They became 'pinelanders,' 'corn-crackers,' or 'crackers.'" [Kephard Highlanders] Frederick Law Olmsted, an observant Yankee who visited the South in the 1850s, noted that some Crackers "owned a good many negroes, and were by no means so poor as their appearance indicated." [McWhiney xvi]
Usage of the term "cracker" generally differs from "hick" and "hillbilly" because crackers reject or resist assimilation into the dominant culture, while hicks and hillbillies theoretically are isolated from the dominant culture. In this way, the cracker is similar to the redneck.

-Wikipedia

FSU Softball Season Over - Just Lost to Arizona State University

FSU girls softball team had a great season - they were 2 games away from going to the World Series. Today they lost to ASU in Tempe AZ - so now they return home with a 40 win season. FSU's two pitchers are underclassmen - a freshman and a sophomore - so we have the makings of a good team next year.

The future looks bright for the Seminoles as they bring back eight of 10 positions players and all three pitchers for next season.

The best part of girls softball - besides it being played by girls - is the fact that they are students first and athletes second. They get good grades and realize that they must do something else for a living. Also - did I mention that the games are admission free?

Wait until next year.

Coal Could Be King Again

New York Times - today -

Coal, the nation's favorite fuel in much of the 19th century and early 20th century, could become so again in the 21st. The United States has enough to last at least two centuries at current use rates — reserves far greater than those of oil or natural gas. And for all the public interest in alternatives like wind and solar power, or ethanol from the heartland, coal will play a far bigger role.

But the conventional process for burning coal in power plants has one huge drawback: it is one of the largest manmade sources of the gases responsible for global warming.

We Rode Bikes Down to the Coast and Back This Morning

What a nice morning. We left home at 8AM with our party to ride bikes down the old railroad trail to the coast. It used to be for lumber trains - now it is for bikers. We rode 6 miles each way - the whole trail is 17 miles each way. At the end we had breakfast at St Marks near the marina.

The marina is neat - we watched them put a boat into the water. One can keep their boat there for $7 a foot a month - in a loft protected from the sun and hurricanes. Not a bad idea - makes one reconsider having a boat.

The picture shows everyone in our party - front row - Joel Dawson - Nancy - Shirley Wiegand - Ira Dawson - Bruce Dawson. Second row - George Dawson - Doug Dawson - Wayne Wiegand - Harry. Bruce is George's brother visiting with Ira from Louisville. In the background you see Wayne's car and George's van and the bikes.

The last picture shows a little green frog that rode between our truck cab and bed all the way back from the bike trail.

Do you ever use CraigsList?

I went to the Tapple Meeting last night. I was totally surprised about how few people know about http://tallahassee.craigslist.org. At my table - 4 out of 5 did not know about this wonderful free buying and selling service.

Craigslist was started by Craig in SanFrancisco. You can place free ads on it - with free text and pictures. You can also shop the ads on there for free. I have had lots of success buying and selling stuff in Tallahassee on - http://tallahassee.craigslist.org/

It is so easy to buy and sell - just go on the page - register for free - and start shopping - buying and selling.

It is not an auction - you read the ad - contact the person by e-mail or phone - you go see the item - then negotiate a price.

It is also available for many other cities in the USA.

Latest on the Barn Project

As of today - Friday - the final roof shingles will be put on. What is left outside? Pour the concrete pads on the two porches - put the steps up to the second floor - build and install the custom pocket door - stucco the foundation.
Inside - electrical work - plumbing - bathroom - kitchenette - AC/heat - drywall - wood floor upstairs.

How Jay Hoffman Got a New Apple Mac Computer for Free

Jay Hoffman and I have deep roots. Jay and I taught together for 33 years - I was the science guy - he was the math man. Jay's parents and my parents lived in Coaldale close together - and they went to Coaldale High School. My Dad worked in Number 8 - the big anthracite mine in - you guessed it - Coaldale PA.

Here is Jay's letter -

Harry,
Lots of news -try to make it brief.
I've been without a computer for about the last month. I was having trouble with the iMac in that the screen would go blank or the computer would shut off in the middle of a web search or an email. Took it to Double Click in Bethlehem and they had it for two weeks and tried multiple things with the end result being they called and said they could not fix it. They suggested I call Apple direct and they gave me all the parts numbers and dates of order involved with my machine. I first talked to a sweet young lady who said the problem was beyond her so she transferred me to a technical rep named Daniel- very nice gentleman. When he heard all that was done to the computer he gave me 2 options (1) he would send a tech to my house with everything conceivable that's inside the computer and attempt to fix it OR (2) give me free of charge (since I followed the advice of my good buddy Harry and purchased AppleCare) a spanking new computer. After much deliberation (About the blink of an eye) I opted for a new computer that was delivered to me on Monday the 22nd. Its the new iMac that is comparable to my old one but this certainly has more bells and whistles (faster, more memory, and intel,etc.) And so you see as I once was a Coaldale Tiger I am now the proud owner of MAC OS X v10.4 Tiger
Talk to you soon.
Jay

Note - Jay bought his Mac three years ago.

See the New Apple Store in New York City

http://www.apple.com/retail/fifthavenue/

Drunk Driver 18 Times Legal Limit of Alcohol in Blood

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) - Lithuanian police were so astonished when they pulled over a truck driver and his breathalyzer test registered 18 times the legal alcohol limit, they thought their testing device must be broken. It wasn't.

Police said Tuesday 41-year-old Vidmantas Sungaila registered 7.27 grams per liter of alcohol in his blood repeatedly on different devices when he was pulled over for driving his truck down the center of a two-lane highway 60 miles from the capital, Vilnius on Saturday.

"This guy should have been lying dead, but he was still driving. It must be an unofficial national record," Saulius Skvernelis, the director of the national police traffic control service, told the AP. "He was of high spirits and grinning the whole time he was questioned."

Medical experts say anything above 3.5 grams per liter of alcohol in the blood is lethal for most people.

Sungaila, who was slapped with a 3,000 litas ($1,110) fine and the loss of his license for up to three years, told police he had been drinking the night before and tried to freshen up by downing a pint of beer for breakfast.

Lithuania has one of the worst road safety records in the European Union.

Building a Corvette in Your Driveway

The day started innocent enough - we were invited by Melissa and Josh Gross over for brunch at their place and also a chance to shoot some clay pigeons behind their home. They have a lovely home along the shore of Lake Jackson north of town. Melissa is a fellow library professor of Nancy's and also a fabulous cook. Josh - her husband - is a true renaissance man. He loves guitars - cars - boats - toys - and literature. He is a psychologist by trade.

After the lunch - we shot clay pigeons - I used my stainless steel pirate shot gun. To my surprise I hit the first 3 and shot maybe 20 of 30 total. Not bad for a "sawed off" shotgun shooting 12 gauge with No. 8 shot.

But the highlight of the day - besides Melissa's apricot scones - was meeting Bare and Connie Schenk. Bare is a forensic arborist - he decides which trees live and die in town. But his first love seems to be cars. Bare built many cars - but the most impressive one to me is his daily driver - the Z-53.

Right in the driveway - under a tent - he built this car from scratch. He took the body of a wrecked 1953 Corvette - you recall that Chevrolet only made about 300 of them. Then he mated it with the chassis of a new Corvette to make the world's only Z-53. Words can't describe the quality and detail in this 500 HP daily driver. Here are some pictures - the fit and finish rival a new Mercedes.

Caribbean Volcano Ash Grounds Flights

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) A huge cloud of ash billowing from an island volcano forced the suspension of some international flights over the Caribbean on Sunday, airline and airport officials said.

The airlines took action after a dome atop a volcano on Montserrat, located about 275 miles southwest of Puerto Rico, collapsed over the weekend, sending volcanic debris cascading down the mountain and shooting ashes 10 miles into the sky.

There no injuries reported on the island with a population of about 5,000, although authorities there said residents should remain indoors as ash fell from the sky.

Flights of Venezuelan carrier Aeropostal between Venezuela and Miami were grounded, as well those to and from Aruba, Curacao, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.

Constitution Says All Florida Classrooms Must Be Below 25 Students by 2008

The new law on class size is going to make things reallying interesting in the next 2 years.

The state Department of Education puts the total cost of implementing the amendment at $25 billion, of which the state has dedicated about $7 billion over the past four years.

By the fall of 2008, when Sansom takes over as House speaker, school districts will have to start calculating their class sizes on an actual classroom basis instead of a school-wide average. By fall 2010, no classroom can have more than 25 students, and prekindergarten through third grade will be capped at 18 students.

"There is not a school district in Florida that's even close to that," Sansom says. "This is going to dominate my two years."

The Restaurant at the Station in Tamaqua

On our last night in Tamaqua - Nancy and I visited the Tamaqua Train Station. There is a beautiful restaurant there now. The station was restored by a group in town led by Ken Smulligan called SOS - Save Our Station. With the help of preservation grants the station was meticulously restored to better than new condition. As we dined there - I recalled my days as a youth hanging out in the dilapidated building and using the 5 cent a minute phone booth. I also remember when Bill Fritz - Gail's husband was a clerk for the Reading Railroad there.

We were there last Sunday night - Mothers Day - at around 8PM. The food was excellent and the service outstanding. It will always be one of our first stops in Tamaqua.

The pictures are dark because it was 8 PM and we did not want to disturb the other patrons with a flash.

All the desserts are homemade.

Pictures -
1 - Train Station outside at dusk.
2 - The Entry Foyer.
3 - Dining Room in our men's waiting room.
4 - The Lunch Counter and Booths.

I am Tracking Web Traffic with Sitemeter

The other day I was trying to get people to let me know when they read my web page. One of my friends - Mona Lisa - told me about a neat program called sitemeter. Sitemeter is a free service found at www.sitemeter.com. Once you set it up - it will track the number of "hits" on your web page. It also gives you a lot of other information like - graphs - charts - and numbers per hour/week/month/year. At the bottom of your web page you can also set up a counter to show the number of hits that you got.

Take a look at the map above. This dynamic map shows you each hit. The red one is the last hit - the green ones are the last 10 - and the white ones are all others. You can have the maps show you 1 hit - 5 hits - 10 hits - 100 hits - all of your hits. You can also see world hits on another map. It is a lot of fun for me. It is fun seeing that other people do read your web page. It also tells you how long the hits are and if they go to other links that you have.

You can check it out at www.sitemeter.com. It is free - and thank you Mona Lisa for showing it to me.

Builder Bill Says Barn Outside Will Be Done in One Week

Pictures -
1 - West side from screen room
2 - Guest apartment looking toward bathroom corner
3 - Guest apartment from bathroom
4 - Workshop with 8 foot pocket doors
5 - south side facing toward lake

Bill Gwynn is the builder of our barn. He lives across the street from us and has been building in Tallahassee for 30 years. Bill said today that he expects the outside to be done in a week. He has a crew of about a dozen fellas that he keeps busy - usually 3 or 4 are here.

Some of the neat features are -

1 - The 8 foot wide pocket doors. When closed - they will have windows just like the rest of the place - when open they will go right into the wall to save floor space. The downstairs is 18 x 24 and would hold a car if you wanted.
2 - The upstairs 6 foot wide French doors - they fold all the way back against the walls.
3 - Two two concrete porches - they are constructed of wood - but the final touch is going to be a pad of concrete poured over a heat sealed membrane.
4 - The diagonal support posts for both of the porches.
5 - The truss construction of the roof and the upper floor - the floor trusses are one foot thick allowing for all plumbing - electrical - and other utilities to be inserted there.

Deja Vu - Lulu and Dana

We just spent a week back in our old hometown of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

We stayed at Lulu's old homestead with Lulu's Mom.

Here is one of the first pictures that I took of Lulu - 35 years ago. Lulu's Goddaughter and niece - Dana - reminds me of Lulu a lot.

The house looks the same - the steps are a little different - but the two young ladies have a striking resemblence - or is it just me?

Safe at Home in Tallahassee

It is 9 PM - we just got home.

We left Tamaqua at 9 AM this morning - it was pouring.

We got to the Philadelphia Airport around noon. We checked our luggage - then went to our gate. Our plane was there but they kept delaying the flight - something about flying a part in for it. Then they announced that we might have to stay the night in Philly. 300 people rushed the desk - but not Nancy. She quickly got on the cell phone to Delta - and told them of the problem - and demanded they book us on another flight. They said all flights were full. Then she said she was a medallion customer and insisted they book her on another airline. She checked and Airtran was flying to Atlanta - so they booked us on the Airtran flight free of charge. Then Nancy asked for meal coupons because we were delayed and got them.

So we flew to Atlanta on Airtran and then caught a Delta flight in to Tallahassee - arriving here at 8 PM. Of course our bags are on the other plane - and who knows when we will get them. We do carry our computers onto the plane so we have them.

Keith picked us up at the airport - and we got home in the dark. The house is nice and we checked out the workshop with a flashlight.

We had a great two weeks on the cruise and back in Pennsylvania and New York. It was nice to see George, MaryRuth, and Michael Taylor - Tim and Diann Fudge - Lee Schilling - Marylou and Carl Zimmerman - Jean Freed - Charlie Depuy - Bob and Nancy Henninger - Betty Cox - Lori Ansbach - David Cox - Tyler and Dana Ansbach - Delores and George Boyle - and of course Drew and Robin Everhart in Syracuse.

We enjoyed our brief visits to Mexico - Grand Cayman - Aruba - and Puerto Rico. It was nice seeing Philadelphia even just for a little bit.

Next trip - New Orleans in June. But right now - it is nice to be home.

Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee

This is my favorite picture of the Florida Capitol. As you can see - the Capitol is made up of 2 buildings - the Old Capitol in the center and the new Capitol which is built around it on 3 sides. When they built the new Capitol about 30 years ago - they completely restored the Old Capitol to its 1850's splendor and turned it into a museum.

This picture was taken facing west. Directly behind the Capitol buildings is the Supreme Court where Jeb fixed the 2000 election for his brother George. Beyond that Supreme Court is the State Museum and Library.

About 1/4 mile west of the Capitol is the Florida State University. Nancy cruises by the Capitol on the way to work everyday. Our home is about 1 mile to the south or left of this picture. The street that runs directly in front of the Capitol is Monroe Street.

You Can Take the Girl Out of the Hills But You Can't Take the Hills Out of the Girl

We are spending some time in Nancy's old home near Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.
1 - Here is a picture of Lori (Nancy's Sister) - Betty (Nancy's Mom) - Ethel (Nancy's Aunt) - Ruthann (Nancy's Cousin) - and Nancy
2 - Here is a picture from 35 years ago of Nancy when she was 4 on the same steps
3 - Nancy's grandmother and her coal miner grandfather lived in the little house out back for 20 years
4 - Nancy's Azalea bushes in the backyard of our old home in Tamaqua - note the hole where Steve Simchak remopved a bush as a memorial to Nancy and me and took it to Maryland where he lives
5 - Even though Nancy left the "coal regions" - beautiful flowers still bloom there. Nancy is the coal miner's granddaughter
- The Pennsylvania Coal Cracker

Everhart's Return to Visit Tamaqua

For the first time since we sold our Tamaqua home in August of 2005 - Nancy and I are returning to Pennsylvania. We will arrive in Philadelphia by plane from Puerto Rico and will rent a car for the final 90 mile drive. We will be staying with Nancy's Mom - Betty Cox. We hope to get to see our friends and family while there. We will also get to visit Drew and Robin in Syracuse on this trip.

Puerto Rico Surprises Us How Nice It Is

Our cruise is over - and we are spending two nights in San Juan before flying to Philadelphia. We spent Saturday walking around Old San Juan. San Juan reminds one of Key West except San Juan is much bigger and has many more people. Puerto Rico has almost 4 million people. I doubt if all of Puerto Rico is like Old San Juan - just as all of France is not like Paris - but we like San Juan a lot. It is a little like - New York - Rome - Hawaii - Key West - Bermuda - but probably more like Havana than any other place we visited.

After expecting the people to be right out of West Side Story - we have stumbled into a very sophisticated city. It has plenty of high end shops - nice places to eat - and a very clean appearance. There are lots of very pretty girls and like the rest of the USA - they all carry their cell phones and ipods. The streets in Old San Juan are made of blue glazed cobblerstones. There is decorative tile everywhere. The weather is superb - sunny - tropical - and at noon we experienced our shadow going directly down under us - not north - south - east - or west.

Puerto Rico is a land of extremes - one end has a tropical rain forest - the other end is arid. The mountains go up to 5000 feet - and the Puerto Rican Trench just off shore goes down to 30,000 feet - the second deepest place in the world.

We have been using the local bus system - very inexpensive - and similar to any other major city bus line. We are staying in a Holiday Inn Express maybe a mile from our cruise port. We have two more days to enjoy. We are able to use our Verizon cell phones here with no extra charge.

Pictures - 1 - One of the ramparts of the 500 year old El Murro Castle - 2 - Our cruise ship Grandeur of the Seas leaving us behind as it goes to the Virgin Islands and then to Baltimore - some of our friends stayed on board - 3 - Nancy and me in El Murro Castle - very similar to the fort in St Augustine - 4 - In a church in San Juan we stumbled onto the burial site of Ponce De Leon - Tallahassee and Leon County's "patron saint" - 5 - The tour guide in El Murro Castle practices her English on Nancy.