The freezer is freezing!

Defrosting the freezer

The Wi-Fi temperature sensor (black wire at the top of the photo) has been reporting disturbingly high temperatures in the garage freezer for the past couple of weeks, signaling the need for defrosting.

We’re tackling the problem this morning.

That’s not blood on the bottom of the freezer – it’s juice from bags of cherries we brought back from Indiana in July.

I shifted the frozen meat and vegetables into a couple of coolers and set up a high-intensity work light to get some heat into the freezer, since the ambient garage temperature of 45° was too cold to quickly melt the slab of ice on the back of the freezer.

Remembering Pete

Pete was our first Aussie. He came into the world on Nov. 5, 2005 and left it two years ago today when his liver betrayed him.

His dad was a miniature Australian Shepherd and his mom was a full-size Aussie, so Pete was smaller in stature than standard dogs of his breed.

He was a wonderful, affectionate, sensitive boy who loved us unconditionally and he left a hole in our hearts when he died. He also ruined us for any other breed of dog, which is why we have Jack and Dora today.

Here he is leading Ruthie on a merry chase around the back yard on March 20, 2008.

We’ll never forget you, Pete, and we look forward to seeing you again someday. You too, Ruthie.

November in Indiana

This is one of my favorite autumn images of Indiana and I just made it my Facebook cover photo.

The windmill is in a freshly harvested field on the north side of Ind. 47 just east of Darlington, Ind. and I shot it in 2007 just before I became an Arkansan.

The wide range of tonal detail results from editing the image with HDR software.

The temperature was 24° here this morning, but the trees in northeast Arkansas are still in their fall colors – some of the oaks hang onto their leaves all winter long – but I suspect things are looking November-bleak in my old Indiana homeland. Just like this photo.

They can’t complain about never being photographed

I like to say I had Homer Simpson’s style of parenting, but I did a damn good job of documenting my sons’ lives with photography.

I’ve been sifting through tens of thousands of images on black & white and color negatives and color slides in recent months and as a result, hundreds of previously unseen images are coming to light.

Darkroom printmaking is laborious and time-consuming work, not to mention expensive and demanding a level of skill I never took the time to cultivate. Consequently, lots of images that might have been difficult to print never got the attention they deserved.

My Nikon Coolscan IV transparency scanner and Photoshop changed all that and now I can share more of Sean and Steve’s early days.

Here’s Sean on the kitchen floor at my parents’ house with Snoopy the Humane Society dog eyeing him and my mother loading the dishwasher.

And here’s Steve throwing a ball to me in the back yard of our home at 5009 N. College Ave., in Indianapolis.

This is my mother’s first-year (1964½) Mustang. Sean and Steve took it for a spin when we visited my parents in Delphi, Ind. on Thanksgiving, 1986.

Countdown to Kroger

I drove by the new Kroger store location this morning and tried to get a good shot of the countdown clock. Unfortunately, the LED display operates at a frequency that defies complete capture by my iPhone 5.

But you get the idea – 6 days, 9 hours, fifty-something minutes and some seconds until the Nov. 19 Grand Opening.

Why do I care? It appears this will be a huge store with way more variety and services than the old Kroger a block north on Caraway Road. Unfortunately, the universal alcohol sales measure on last week’s ballot failed, so this remains a dry county and there will be no beer and wine department at Kroger for the foreseeable future.

The cold front has reached the Mid-South and the temperature here stands at 37 overcast degrees with no likelihood of reaching the forecast high of 43.

I went to St. Bernards Health & Wellness with the intention of working out, only to discover I failed to put a t-shirt into my gym bag. Since I’ve been feeling chilly all morning, I decided not to waste the trip and I spent a half-hour marinating in the hot tub before showering and heading to Starbucks to cash in an empty coffee bag for a free cup of dark roast.

The Wifi sensor in our garage freezer has been nagging me via iPhone text messages for the last day or two about the worrisome lack of frigidity – 29.1 degrees at the last report – so I’m going to see what I  can do about that this afternoon.

Never a dull moment, eh?

Old School Midterm Election

This is how democracy used to work in small-town America – tamper-proof paper ballots marked in the privacy of a voting booth.

There are photos I shot on Nov. 1, 1966 during the mid-term election at Tipton, Ind.

I was in my first newspaper job, working as a reporter for the Tipton Tribune, a six-day-a-week daily serving Tipton County, north of Indianapolis.

There was never a discussion about photo IDs because that technology was years in the future. Besides, in a place like Tipton, everyone was a registered voter and everyone knew everyone else.

When you finished marking your ballot, you folded it and handed it to the man who put it into the ballot box that was probably used for voting since Woodrow Wilson or before.

After the polls closed, the county clerk and his deputies, along with party officials and the press, sat around in the clerk’s office waiting for the poll workers to count the votes and bring it the ballots and their tallies. That’s Hamilton Rigg, my editor, with his back to the camera.

Here’s “Ham” Rigg totaling up the votes on an old mechanical adding machine in the Tipton County Clerk’s office. I think it was on the second floor of the County Courthouse, but my memory may be faulty.

A sack of ballots from one of the precincts arrives at the clerk’s office. I love this shot.

One of the clerk’s deputies on the right (I can’t recall her name) goes over the vote tallies with one of the precinct workers.

Counting paper ballots is a time-consuming process and it was late in the evening before the first precincts came in. The final totals weren’t known until well after midnight.

Caveat emptor

A Facebook friend sent me this Craigslist ad this morning, wondering if I was interested.

Considering that Tom Wittmann, one of the foremost German militaria collectors and dealers in the country, is offering a Röhm SS dagger for $22,995, the $600 asking price is a huge red flag. Legitimate SS daggers go for $2,000 and up.

This made me smile

This photo made me very happy when I saw it on Facebook first thing this morning.

It’s an homage to the album cover art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, staged by Sean and more than 20 of his friends who showed up at a party at his Rock & Roll Bed & Breakfast to celebrate his birthday.

Sean is the one in the pointy silver party hat in the middle of the back row – I think – it’s kinda murky.

I was a little concerned and his pit bull Honey Pie (bottom left) might be lonely way out there on Sauvie Island. Apparently I need not have worried.

Sean has carved out an ever-enlarging niche in the lively Portland music scene and that makes me happy and proud.

For you WWII history buffs

Click on the map above to see a PDF version in glorious detail, including a supplementary map on the reverse side.

This was among the items my late father-in-law brought back from World War II. Capt. Phil Kroon served in the 144th Field Artillery Group and ended the war in Austria.

Sometimes you just have to sleep on it

The Amazon Vine Program sent me the new Corsair H2100 Wireless Dolby 7.1 Gaming Headset this week for evaluation and review.

I’m not much into video games, but the prospect of a high-end (MSRP $99.99) set of headphones for music and videos and maybe Skype appealed to me.

The package arrived yesterday afternoon and I began the setup process, the first task being to get a full charge in the build-in lithium battery.

That took until about 7 p.m. Downloading and installing the supporting software and getting the computer to install the appropriate drivers involved a couple of extremely time-consuming reboots.

I broke away at 8 p.m. to watch this week’s episode of Grimm, followed by a movie and finally got back to the setup work about 10:30 p.m.

That’s when the real frustration set in: The Bluetooth connection appeared good – I could work the volume control on the headset and see the volume slider on screen move up and down, but there was no sound.

I read and re-read the quick start guide that came with the headset, checking and re-checking each step until I was absolutely convinced that I’d done everything right. I turned the headset on and off several times, wondering if the Bluetooth connection was the problem and finally went to bed about 11 p.m., still unable to get sound from the headphones.

When I woke up this morning, it was with the thought that the problem was in the computer settings.

Sure enough, it turns out I needed to get into the Sound control and designate the headset as the default sound device.

Suddenly, the headphones sprang to life and all was right with the world.

I judge an audio device partially on the basis of whether it shows me something new in my music that I never knew was there. The Corsair H2100 passes the test, revealing instrumental details that previously eluded me.

There are doubtless better headsets out there for the audiophile, but they would be wasted on me because of tinnitus and loss of frequencies through age and hearing abuse. These headphones are comfortable and they sound great to my 69-year-old ears.

I haven’t tried the microphone yet, but I expect it works fine.

It would be really cool if I could pair the headset with my iPhone 5 for music and conversation, but it appears that isn’t possible.

Happy Birthday to my firstborn

Forty-seven years ago today, at 3:45 a.m., my son Sean drew his first breath in a delivery room at Coleman Hospital in Indianapolis.

He has never failed to impress me and he makes me more proud than I can ever say.

Happy birthday, Sean!

It was my birthday, but not my town

July 14, 2001 – Rich Nathan and I were on the first day of our campaign to ride the entirety of U.S. 50, which runs from Ocean City, Md. to Sacramento, Calif.

Rich, of course, shot the photo. That’s his red BMW R1100RS in the background.

It was my first visit to Flora, Ill. According to Epodunk.com, Flora, Illinois was named after the daughter of one of the founders, so it’s not a surname. Flora, Indiana is named for my forebears, who were the first white settlers in Carroll County. There are also towns named Flora in Ohio and Mississippi.

We left Indianapolis a little after 7 a.m. and finally went to ground at a Day’s Inn in Ottawa, Kans. about 9:30 p.m., having covered 660 miles.

We did the eastern leg of U.S. 50 on the third week of October.

Here we are at Ocean City, Md.

Reviving the generator!

Before she left for work this morning, Maria implored me to check with the small engine repair shop that just relocated to new quarters down the road from us about getting our generator working.
The last time we needed it was June 6 when we were without power for almost two days. That's enough time for a lot of stuff to go bad in the refrigerator and freezer.
We ended up borrowing a generator from our neighbors, who had one to spare.
But with winter only about six weeks away, Maria is keen to have us prepared for power outages.
The generator is way too heavy for me to lift into the back of one of our SUVs and I'm not even sure it will fit, so I decided to try some starting fluid.
I've never used starting fluid before, but I figured I could puzzle it out. That said, I dragged the generator out into the driveway so as not to burn the house down if things went bad.
I gave it a squirt in the general vicinity of the carburetor and yanked on the cord. To my amazement, the engine fired, ran a couple of seconds and died.
I repeated this sequence about five times before the engine started to run on its own and took off at full speed once I moved the choke lever to the Run position.
I don't know about Maria, but this is a huge relief to me to know that, even if the beast doesn't want to start on the first or the 20th pull of the cord, I can make it go with a $3 can of starting fluid.
I have it humming along in the driveway now, running the tank dry so I can refill it with fresh gas and fuel stabilizer for the next time the lights go out.

It’s Shadenfreude and I’m proud of it

Scanning nearly 600 of today’s newspaper front pages on the Newseum web site (www.newseum.org), this one jumps out.

The New York Post is known for its lurid front pages and headlines, but this one is such a gleeful expression of schadenfreude (German for “pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others”) that I was naturally drawn to it.

This is the first time in the six years since Obama was elected that I have felt anything approaching hope and optimism for the country’s future.

Emperor Obama will almost certainly try to do as much damage to the republic between now and the end of his term as he possibly can, but one hopes the Republican-controlled House and Senate can promptly counter his vengeful edicts.

At the very least, GOP control of the Senate means Obama can’t replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg with one of his loony tune Marxist cronies, like for instance Eric Holder. Ditto all of his other Federal judge appointments for the next two years. Knowing that the Supreme Court won’t drift further to the left, for the time being anyway, is a huge relief.

Now, let’s bring home that $2 billion that U.S. corporations have sheltered overseas, green-light the Keystone pipeline, clean the vipers out of the IRS, the DOJ, and the VA, and shine a spotlight on the administration’s shameful role in Benghazi. Oh, yeah, and let’s restore the armed forces, secure the borders and smash ISIS.

Early birthday present for Sean

My son Sean is a recording engineer/record producer/audio genius whose home on Sauvie Island northwest of Portland, Ore. is a rock & roll bed & breakfast where musicians can sleep over and enjoy the pastoral ambiance so conducive to creativity.

His 47th birthday is coming up on Friday and I was trying to think of something to give him. His younger brother Steve turned 44 on Halloween and his gift was easy, since he has a fairly current wish list on Amazon.com.

I enjoy the Mr. Coffee espresso machine that Steve gave me years ago. In fact I enjoy it damn near every morning with a mocha cappuccino.

I figured an espresso machine would be a nice amenity for the r&r b&b, so I arranged for the current version of the Mr. Coffee machine to appear at his home this afternoon and he sent me this photo of it in his kitchen.

Reading the listing on Amazon.com today, I came to the realization that the package does not include a stainless steel frothing cup. I assumed it did because mine did. No problem. Amazon.com says a stainless steel cup will be delivered to Sean on Thursday.

Cheesy name

Maria, who is Italian on her mother's side, really dislikes the name of this pizza place.

Why?

Because it mocks the way Italians say "Mario's," rolling the r, supposedly sounding like a d.

I never got it until she pointed it out.

New Canon printer/copier/scanner/FAX

This time last year, I was struggling along with an aging USB connected Epson printer.

Now, thanks to the Amazon Vine Program, I have a couple of wireless 3-in-1 machines that I can access from anywhere in the house with desktop, laptop, netbook and smartphone.

The most recent addition – a Canon Office Products MAXIFY MB2320 Wireless Home Office Inkjet Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax showed up on Wednesday. I lugged the 33 pound box up to the office and it sat on the floor until this afternoon when I cleared away the Epson and set up the Canon.

I tested the scanner feature with a set of nine 1966 Polaroid prints from my days as production manager and columnist for The Indiana Statesman, the student paper of Indiana State University. The 600 dpi scan looks pretty good and was forwarded to the Photoshop software on my desktop computer, just like it was supposed to be.

The Canon machine has an MSRP of $200, while the Brother MFCJ6920DW Wireless Multifunction Inkjet Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax I got 13 months ago has an MSRP of $300. I plan to do some side-by-side comparisons for speed and quality before I write a review for Amazon.com of the Canon unit.

The Canon makes pretty good color prints. I haven’t been able to make a color print with the Brother, but I haven’t worked very hard at it, either.

Heated clothing

It was a chilly 41° when I decided to ride to the post office this morning.

Instead of my Polizei jacket and Gerbings jacket liner, I opted for my old 1990s Firstgear TKO jacket with its Gerbings-wired liner and my bulky-but-warm Olympia heated gloves.

I couldn’t help feeling smugly superior as I zoomed down U.S. 49 into a wind chill of 24° experiencing welcome warmth spreading across my back and torso, down my arms and around my hands.

The jacket and custom wired liner are more than 20 years old, but it’s still a supremely useful cold weather motorcycle garment.

BTW, the photo is me at the summit of Beartooth Pass in Montana, warm and toasty in my TKO jacket.

Waiting for the UPS guy again

I have a whole bunch of peripheral devices connected to my desktop computer with USB plugs – so many that I need a couple of USB hubs to keep everything hooked up.

But I’ve discovered over the years that USB connections can be iffy and some ports on hubs can go dead for no apparent reason. Or they can go wonky, like the one that lives on my keyboard tray that stops talking to my wireless mouse dongle when I plug in my iPhone to sync it.

It happened once too often earlier this week, so I poked around on Amazon.com and found this seven-port USB hub that has excellent reviews and only costs $17.95 (shipping is free since I have Amazon Prime).

The UPS tracking site says it’s out for delivery, so I’m sitting at my desk and waiting for the big brown truck to show up.

The UPS guy is a familiar face around here since we make lots of online purchases.

He was here yesterday, delivering a Canon Office Products MAXIFY MB2320 Wireless Home Office Inkjet Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax that the Amazon Vine Program sent me to use and review.

It’s still in the box, sitting on the upstairs office floor while I try to figure out where to put it.

I’m probably going to have to drag an old printer stand up from the garage, which means shuffling stuff sitting on it around a bit.

It’s cold (53°F) and blustery today and the air is full of falling, flying leaves.

Maria went off to work without her iPhone this morning. She decided she needed it about 8:30 a.m., which gave me a chance to see how the Gerbings heated jacket liner and German Polizei jacket work in seriously brisk weather.

They work very well.

I ranged from toasty warm to maybe a little too warm. My gauntleted Olympia Kevlar gloves were a different story, but once I put my glove liners on under them, my hands were reasonably comfortable. I had the heated handgrips and heated seat on and off and remain convinced that heated handgrips are of very little value. Ditto the heated seat.

They seem like nice amenities, but they only put warmth in the palms of your hands and the seat of your pants. When you’re riding in cold weather, your attention is naturally drawn to the coldest, most uncomfortable places on your body and the grips and seat can’t overcome that.

I have a pair of heated gloves that plug into the sleeves of the jacket liner, but they’re so bulky and clunky that I save them for the most severe conditions when I’m riding long distances on the interstate.