800

800th Post.

Weekend in a blurr.

Friday after work Needles and I came home and did some last minute cleaning to get the house in order for our weekend visitors. Our guests arrived a little after 5pm and while we caught up with each other Needles had homemade chili simmering in the kitchen. After we got our belly's full we watched the Olympics until time for bed. The next morning I got up bright and early at 6:15am and got up to get my shower and get coffee and breakfast under way. Before long Ragged and Cynical joined me with Needles last to shake off the vale of sleep. We enjoyed coffee, scrambled eggs, turkey beacon and toast before we got showers and out the door to visit the local yarn shop for the ladies. After the yarn shop we stopped off at a local sandwich shop called Quickies with their rather peculiar menu. After we ate we ventured over to a gourmet popcorn shop called Pop Around the Clock. We looked over their unusually flavored popcorn. We left with a bag of Chocolate Cherry Bliss, Death by Chocolate, Cookies and Cream and Confetti. We then stopped at Rudy, Brando and the gang for a visit and before long we noticed our belly's growling and after consorting with the Magic 8 Ball our fate was decided to eat at Mi Casita. We arrived home around 9pm and finished off the night with more Olympic coverage before bedtime. This morning both Needles and I slept in. Needles treated us to a dessert type breakfast which consisted of Blueberry Crumble Ala mode. Its good to be an adult and eat sweets for breakfast. We brewed some more coffee and visited with each other until all to quickly it was time for our guests to leave. It was a good weekend even though it went by in a flash. Tomorrow it will be back to work and also a added bonus of training on our new Radiology Information System. I have my fingers crossed and lately the going hasn't been so smooth. I am hoping that we are in the downhill side of this project. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Happy Valentines Day!

Blue Jay
Song Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco

More Pictures.

Hawk in flight

Kestrel

Red tail hawk

Red tail hawk

Mallards

More Mallards

Bald Eagle 2-13-2010

Another video of the bald eagles in Mt. Carmel, IL. Wish we could get a sunny Saturday.

Asian Culture Night

Tonight Needles and I went to our second Asian Culture Night at VU. The night started off with some presentations and entertainment by the asian students attending the university. We then were released upon the authentic asian food. Korean bbq and edamame wasabi salad were some of the more memorable courses. We then were entertained by Chaitown. An Indian acapella group.

It was a very fun night and we were feed well. It was a great way to kick off the weekend.

Questionable Sanity.

Three to four inches of snow plus windy gusts of up to 30 miles an hours....Sounds like a perfect day for photography. Today "D" and I ventured to Olney and see if we could see the nesting eagles in the area.

When we arrived to the area we observed one of the pair flying over the water and settling down in a field about 150 to 200 yards away from the road. We decided to try to sneak into the nest area a wait on him. Apparently Mr. Eagle didn't get the message for the meeting because after setting in the wind and weather for almost 2 hours without a sighting we decided to leave. We got about half way in our half mile walk back to the Jeep when we saw Mr. Eagle do a cursory fly by of the nest area. Lets just say the Mr. Eagle wasn't the only one cursEry.

Greater white fronted geese

We decided to get lunch and move on to Mt. Carmel and try our luck there. When we arrived both eagles were setting on their favorite branch and just about the time I stopped they both jumped up and flew to the West. They circled and dove and inverted under each other in the air in what I think might be courting and mating behavior as it is just about time for egg laying. They both looked like they were having fun. After they disappeared into the blue, we wondered on back into the back area of the property and viewing station. We didn't notice a lot of activity and pondered if the wildlife might have been smarter that us and stayed in because of the nasty weather. Just before we left we went back to the nest area and had both adult bald eagles setting on their favorite limb and had three immatures fly by the area. The eagle sighting count on the day was six and I think this is the most individuals I have seen before in a single day. Over all it was nice to be out and get to spend time in nature.

Hooded Merganser

The day was overcast, the lighting was crappy and the weather was bad but probably the best time of the whole day was setting on a snow covered tree trunk and talking and sharing stories with "D".

Hope everyone had a great Saturday.

Eagle Video.

This video was edited from about 40minutes worth of footage. Not too exciting but wouldn't you know 3 minutes after I quit videoing they flew away into the blue.

Weekend Pictures

Last week I was looking over ebay and since I had some Xmas money that was burning a hole in my pocket I decided to get a new lens for my Canon SLR. The lens I got was a Canon EF 70-300mm 4/5.7 IS usm. I researched this lens and it seems to be highly praised in the non professional photography world. It is just a step down from an L lens and since I dont have 1200 to 10000 dollars to pay for those kinds of lenses this will have to do. My friend "D" and I has been going out looking for eagles the last few weekends and we thought we would make a trip to Mt. Carmel to see if we might chance upon the eagles which has made the area their home for the last several years. Upon arriving to the area we meet a elderly couple watching with binoculars from their truck and another gentleman that was watching from a car. We moved upto the area as to not crowd the people already there and started to set up. We noticed the gentleman from the car started to get his photography equipment out and I think you could have knocked "D" and I over with an eagle feather. I thought I would never see one in real life but what he had was a Canon 800mm L lens. We are talking a 11-$12,000 lens. Of course we gathered around the young man and drooled over the images on his lcd screen. Wow! Blad eagles have feathers....AMAZING! I thought they were just covered in blurr. Hmmmm. Anyway we enjoyed talking with a fellow wildlife photographer and had a rather productive day with 3 mature eagles sightings and photos on the board. Here are a few of the picks.

Video from Samsung SC-MX20 w 36X optical zoom.

Hello Stranger...

Today "D" and I got a late start on the day and with the crappy lighting due to the second weekend in a row with overcast clouds, we stayed local. We started driving around the back roads in an area he has chanced upon eagles before. We were able to see a few hawks and other wildlife. We drove up to a road that runs parallel with the Wabash river and with all the ditches and creeks running full, we were wondering if the road might be washed out due to the recent rain and snow melt. Before long the car came to a sudden stop and I heard "D" say "There he is!" I think we were both amazed and excited that we just happened upon an adult bald eagle that we really wasn't expecting to see. I jumped out and snapped a few pics but with the crappy lighting, I didn't have my 2X on the camera. After snapping a few shots with the 300mm, I decide to try to get the 2X attached when the stranger hopped off the branch and flew away into the distance. I am just glad we got to see another bald eagle even though the encounter was brief.

Apple is iPain in the Arse.

I purchased an ipod touch 16G 2 gen for Needles a couple of months back. It was to be a Xmas present for Needles and we waited until Dec. 23 rd to open the item. Upon opening the iPod and syncing it with Needles computer it seemed fine for about 15 sec. or so and then the dreaded white screen of death. I called Apple and the young man told me how to reset the iPod by pressing the button on the top left of the ipod and the bottom button and hold for 10 sec. After I did this the screen bounced back with the Apple logo. I hung up with the Apple phone support person and just as I did the screen went white again. I tried to reset the iPod several times and when that didn't help I called Apple again. After being on the phone with another person for 15 to 20 minutes we did the restore on the iTunes program. After starting the restore I was told to call back if this didn't resolve the problem. The restore took about 20 minutes or so I checked the iPod and while restoring the screen started to flicker. I called Apple for a third time and talked with a lady who instructed me to remove all Apple programs from the computer, reinstall all Apple programs to the computer and then do yet another restore in iTunes and the final result was that the computer couldn't detect the iPod. All in all I was on the phone with Apple for around 3 hours. After this I was on hold for another 10 minutes until I got to talk with a supervisor which told me to email a couple of diagnostic files from the computer to him. After this was done I was told since it was the holiday that it would be next Wed. before I heard anything back from their TECH dept. It turned out to be about 10 days later that I finally got a call from the supervisor. He shipped a box to me so that I could send the Ipod back to Apple. I received the box on the 6th and shipped it back the next day. We got an email that the item was replaced and was sent back to us. The problem now was that when they shipped it back they sent it Direct Signature. This means that someone has to be here to sign. No print out a signature page form the website and sign it so that they can leave it at the door. FedEx would deliver 3 times and then the package would go back to Apple. They tried to deliver it last Thursday. No one was home to sign. They tried again Friday and still we were working and not going to take a day off to sign for a package. Today Needles was able to stay home for MLK day and she was finally able to sign for the package on the 3rd attempt. I already made up my mind that if this didn't get delivered today due to some screw up and it went back to Apple then I was going to demand my money back. I am glad Needles now has her Ipod but I a feed up with Apple and the way they take care of their customers. This will be the last Apple product I purchase.

Goodbye Old Friend.

Sam 1993-2010

This is Sam. She has been a faithful companion to my friend "D" for 17 years. Sam passed away today and I am glad to be one of the privileged to have known her and have her in my life the brief moments that I could. She was sometimes crabby but mostly very sweet and loving. You could tell she loved her owners arms wrapped around her and the spot on the stove over the pilot light. She left behind 3 younger siblings Lilly, Simon and Reggie. My heart is hurting for my friend "D" and it is always hard to see the hurt, pain and feeling of loss when things like this happen. They say time heals all wounds.....Right now it doesn't feel like it. Goodbye sweety you will be missed.

Immature Bald Eagle Spotted

Look what I spotted while driving around in the country 1 mile West of Sumner, IL.

Here is a reference image of a known immature bald eagle to compare.

New OH TEN Pichers!

Juvenile Eagle in flight (3year old) White head but dark tail feathers.
Red Tail Hawk in flight.

Red Tail perched.

Doves.

Today was a balmy 12 degrees when I got up. My friend "D" and I had plans to make a trip to Mt. Carmel to see if we could get a few pics. When we arrived the temp had topped out at 20. It was nice to be able to get out and snap a few shots again. Until next time.

Youtube button

Happy New Years OH TEN!

Earthquake wine for New Years.

We are finally back home after being gone what seemed like weeks. I think over the last 6 weeks we haven't been home much. Three weekends in a row at Needles Mom's, first deer season then Thanksgiving and then second deer season, then a visit from my Parents for about a week and then Christmas Eve & Christmas at Needles Mom's followed by a trip to Kentucky then another visit to Needles Mom's for late antlerless deer season. I am glad to be home. I was successful in the late antlerless season for more details visit the hunting blog. I think we are going to try to relax and enjoy the last couple of days before we both have to go back to work.

Above is a picture of wine we had for New Years. It is called Earthquake wine because when it was being fermented it was shaken by the April 18th 2007 5.2 magnitude earthquake. This winery is within 10 miles north of the epicenter of this quake. Hence the name.

Kentucky Trip

Needles @ Enchanted Yarn & Fiber in Russellville, Kentucky.

Christmas is over for another year.

Christmas has come and gone. This year I got to spend time with both side of the family. We spent the week leading up to Xmas with my parents and then Thursday night we headed to Needles Mom's to spend Christmas eve night so that Needles could help her Mom with the turkey dinner. Everything was very good. Turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and homemade rolls. For dessert we had squash and pecan pie with ice cream. Mmmmmm. I mostly got cash or gift cards this year. I did win 20$ on a instant lotto scratch off card. That was nice. The next several days are going to be busy. We are heading down to see my parents in Kentucky on Monday. Wednesday we are coming back and then going to Needles Moms again for New Years and the late antlerless deer season which is looking like it is going to be extremely cold. I hope my new UA thermal underwear does a good job. I hope everyone had a great Xmas.

Xmas 2009

Merry Christmas in psychedelic splendor.

Christmas times a coming.

This weekend has been a little work, a little play and some relaxation. Friday after work I helped a friend move a lot of his bigger items into a truck in preparation for his upcoming move. Saturday I awoke with sore muscles and the need to finish up our Xmas shopping. We ventured to the big city to Rural King where they were having a tax free weekend sale. I managed to pick up a Xmas gift for me from Needles. Also we finished up shopping for her uncles and my Dad. After shopping we had breakfast at Denny's and ate way too much. We skipped lunch and just waited until my work Xmas party to eat supper. Today has been filled with sleeping in and relaxation on the couch. I think as far as shopping we are finished for Xmas. We are almost half way through December and it still doesn't feel like Xmas.

I needed this.

This weekend Needles and I had plans to head South to the promise land. Since I had to work late Friday and Needles was working on her 50 page paper and we have been run ragged over the last few weeks, we decided to postpone our trip and relax this weekend. This morning my friend "D" and I decided to go to our favorite photography place and snap a few hundred pics. It had been a long tme since I had been able to go and I was ready to have fun and relax. Here is a few of the pics that made the cut for displaying. Hope you enjoy them.

Mallard
Leaf

Barred Owl
Northern Harrier Hawk
Bald Eagle on Nest
Mallard Ducks
A lot of Mallards
Sandhill Cranes
Young Redtail
A bunch of deer
Three bucks

Deer Season 2009.

This deer season was filled with ultimate excitement followed by ulitmate dissapointment. If you want to know more visit my hunting blog. Ramblins Hunting Lodge.

Back from the weekend.

We went to Owensboro for the weekend. We arrived at our destination around 5:30pm Friday evening. When we arrived our hosts had beef and vegetables from the crock pot. Mmmmm. Then we had to make a late run to Coldstone Creamery. We got back to Cynical and Ragged's place and before long we were yawning and looking for a place to curl up for the night. The next morning we were treated by Cynical's parents to B'fast at Sho e (Shoney's) but the lights were out in the n,y and s. It was good but probably not good for us. After that the ladies parted from us and headed to their planned outing which I am sure Needles will post about. Cynical and I made a run to Sam's then Walmart. When we got back I did a little Xmas shopping online for Needles and then we just relaxed on the couch until the ladies came back to pick us up for another run to Walmart and then Target. After we returned our hists ordered Domino's pizza and we had brownies warm from the oven for dessert. We stayed up late watching the movie UP and then it was time to go to bed. This morning we got up to cinnamon rolls fresh fruit and "organic" yogurt and juice. For lunch we stopped by Panera Bread and when we got back it was time for us to head back home. We had lots of fun and even more to eat. Its always fun to visit with Ragged and Cynical and we thank them for their hospitality. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

More Pumpkins Exploding!

Halloween 2009 video.

This is a short video of the front yard on Halloween night. We started putting this out about 10am and by 3pm we were finished. Trick or Treating was disappointing this year in our area with a final tally of 53. Trick or treating started this year at 5pm which was still daylight and lasted until 7 pm. We usually have it 6pm to 8pm. For our first hour we had a total of 2 trick or traters with the rest of them coming in the last hour. Our final vistor was a little after 7pm. We started packing up and by 9pm it was all back in the garage. I sat on the couch a dozed off a time or two before finally calling it a night and going to bed a little before 10pm. Today we went out to "G" house and picked up the rest of the airblown and blow mold items. They are also tucked away in the garage for another year. Next up deer season...I can't wait.