detector returning

Here's a response I got from Garrett Metal Detectors, about 45 minutes after I sent an email to them asking if they received my metal detector, which I sent via UPS one week ago today:   Good morning Mark,   Just want to let you know that your detector has already been repaired and shipped back to you. I tracked the packaged and shows your detector should be arriving to you today by UPS. The problem they found was you had a bad coil, so they replaced the bad coil and recalibrated your detector. Let us know if you have any more trouble out of your detector.  _____   Garrett has a good reputation for customer service, and I'm impressed with how quickly they did this.

I try to edit as I type, but I always miss at least one error until after I publish a blog update. After I read back through, I notice it. However, going back in to edit is messier and more difficult than the initial post. In the post below, I used an "a" when I should have used an "an."  So sorry.  Maybe I'll fix it sometime. Maybe I won't.

Maple Syrup Festival

The Maple Syrup Festival continues this weekend at the Sugarbush Farm in Salem, Indiana.  You might want to go. That's the reason I bring it up.  If your tastes bend toward the rustic and you like sugar from trees and don't mind the 45 minute drive, head on up; the weather this weekend will likely be much better than it was when we went last weekend, for which I would have added the adjectives "cold" and "muddy" to "rustic" when informing you of the event.   My favorite part came right after we arrived. There was a outdoor fire tended by a woman in Native American costume and a man in a pioneer trader outfit. They explained how the American Indians used maple sap and maple sugar. They had a hollowed out wooden log to act as a trough, which was full of maple sap; using wooden tongs, they pulled hot stones from the fire and dropped them into the sap, rapidly bring it to a boil. They then added some buffalo meat, cooking it.  Maple sap and maple sugar, they said, was a favorite additive to food, but salt was rarely or never used. The man used his knife to pull some of the buffalo meat from the steaming liquid and offered to share it. I, of course, had to try it, and it was pretty good.   We took the girls on a mule carriage ride, which was bumpier than I imagined. Kim's dad bought us a pancake lunch, which was delicious. He also bought us a whole gallon a maple syrup and some other treats.  We looked at a few farm animals, petted some llamas, and tried to console Jill, whose patience with the cold was draining away quickly and whose tiredness and boredom were casting a pall over my enjoyment.   It ended up being one of those things that I wanted to leave long before we actually did, but which was fun and interesting in retrospect.  You know, more fun to talk about and remember than it was to actually do. I'm glad I went and I was glad to be home. I'm also really glad to have a gallon of maple syrup.

It's hard to imagine why the congregation never voted to rename the church.  Maybe it's full of people who have a sense of humor like mine.   (photo courtesy a co-worker)

Snow soccer, a few days ago

The three I love most

Another one from a few weeks ago

Jill declined to come outside when she realized it was raining (freezing rain, which is probably the same in her mind), so Erin and I sculpted a "Snow Jill."

Ice storm photo, a little late...

I know it was more than three weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to taking photos off the camera and taking a look at them. I thought this one turned out well. It's a cute picture, and you can see what a wreck things are.

The girl in the bag

Message to WHAS TV 11

Dear Sir or Madam,   I watched WHAS's news coverage of the ice storm a few weeks ago, including the school closings. Your coverage was, as always, quite good. One additional thing stood out for me: the music that is played as the school closing list is run.   Your news station has used this same music for not just years, but decades!  I remember it being used when I was an elementary student in the '70s.   The music to which I refer is orchestral, and has a "Muzak" feel to it, and captures the mood of a snowy day perfectly. It brings back many fond memories, and has the thrill of being associated with the all-too-rare (for a child) snow days.   Can you tell me the name of this piece of music, and also tell me how long your station has used it?   Please never change it!  I enjoy it whenever I hear it.     _____ I'll post any reply I receive.

Metal detecting tally for 2008

In 2008, I found 343 coins, plus a few Hot Wheels cars and a few other relics, old and new, of little interest to anyone else.

I don't think that's too bad, considering the most of my hunting was done on lunch breaks and I had little time to spend anyplace "old" (I don't have any silver and I only found one wheat penny; that will all change this year, I'm sure.)

I have some good places to hit when the weather warms up and I have a few hours.

Linoleum block print: Ohio River Scene

Here's the 6 x 9" linocut I've been working on. I don't think it's too bad for being the first one I've done since Reagan was in the White House. I'm pretty satisfied that the cutting on it is done, although there might be a few tiny areas I could fine-tune. What I really need to work on is my ability to put ink on the block. My brayer is a little too hard for the job, I think. There is also a strong possibility I just need more practice to get rid of the white spots where ink is supposed to be (see the far lower right for what I'm talking about.)

For those of you unfamiliar with the process, or who just don't remember it from your elementary school art class, linocut printing involves taking a sheet of linoleum that has been mounted on a wood backing. One cuts into the surface; the areas that are cut away remain white. Printing ink is then applied with a roller to the raised areas. A sheet of paper is then pressed onto the lino and mashed down really well to pick up the ink.

I want to work on a multi-color print next.

3-year-old comedy

I was just reading The Order of the Stick (at http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0623.html) when Jill walked through the room. She slowed down, looked at the monitor, and got a big grin on her face. "Charlie Brown!" she exclaimed with delight. "Not quite," I told her, although I guess I can see the resemblance.

On a somewhat related note, Jill was sitting on the potty yesterday when Kim walked in, and I overheard their conversation, which went something like this:

Said Jill, "I made a mess, but I cleaned it up."

"You did? What kind of mess?"

"When I pulled down my panties, some poopies flipped out, but I wiped it up."

"Uh, OK. Can you tell me where it was?"

"On that carpet."

"Where on the carpet?"

"Riiiigghhhtt where your foot is."

Map: U.S. states vs. other countries in GDP

A little bit fun...

 

http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/131-us-states-renamed-for-countries-with-similar-gdps/

 

Last night I had a tense dream that the city was taken over by the walking dead and I was hiding in subterranean tunnels and sewers.

 

My sensitive metal detector

Last night I retrieved a cardboard box from the garage
and started dismantling my metal detector to ship it back to the manufacturer.
After I had it broken down, I got a damp cloth and wiped dust and grit from the
shaft and inspected the parts. Then I thought for a moment…I hadn't ever taken
it apart this far since I first received it a year ago. I decided to experiment
a little more.

So I held the unattached detector coil in my hand,
and plugged into the batter/circuit box the long cord that is normally wrapped
around the detector shaft. I turned it on and waved it around. It seemed to
function fine. I was basically just holding the battery pack in one hand and the
coil in the other.

I cleaned the shaft a little more and put it all
back together. It worked fine.

Just now I came back from lunch, which I spent
detecting over at the park near my office. I had no trouble with the detector,
and found about 95 cents in coins as well as a little metal car.

My theory: There was some debris caught inside the
shaft/handle of the metal detector that was rattling around and throwing things
off.

I think it's fixed, but I'll be keeping a close eye
on it.

linocut printing progress

Last night I pulled a print from the linoleum block I'm carving. It was just a test. I have a lot of cutting yet to do on the linoleum before I have a finished image, but I wanted to see how the cuts and gauges I've done so far carry over into a print. I'll post a picture of it later, probably along with the finished version. For now I'll just say I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out. I think that by the time I work on my second piece I'll have a pretty good sense of how to handle it, and I'm even more excited about starting on a multi-color print.

 

metal detecting

My detector is beeping erratically and annoyingly, even when pointed at the sky. It is going back to the manufacturer. Yay, warranty!

 

art/baking/garden

Last night I started cutting on my first linoleum block print since high school art class. I really don't have any good idea how it will turn out. A little natural finesse and intuition are qualities I feel I possess when it comes to exploring new media; I think I often get a pretty good sense of how to manipulate the physical objects to get things to look pretty good. There are, however, some basics here that are unknowns to me. How deeply do I have to cut to get a good printable relief? Is my ink any good? For multi-color reduction prints, which will be my next project, will getting accurate registration be a job that's just too frustrating for me to want to fool with?

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Yesterday I made some apple bread from scratch. It turned out really good, and even better with cinnamon butter on it. The recipe called for a cup of grated apple, but I grated a whole apple and ended up with about 2 cups, all of which I threw in. I liked the results much better than the orange mini muffins I made on Saturday.

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I actually mowed on Saturday. It was mostly to run all the gas out of the mower, but I also wanted to chop up and obliterate the leaves that I'd missed while raking. Some of the grass was actually long, but it was brown and horizontal so it didn't look too much like it needed to be cut. It did look better once I had mowed it, though.

I also dug up more gladiolus bulbs. That's pretty much all of them now. I don't know for sure where I'll plant them in the spring, but I have lots of them- and I'm willing to share. Many of them are new baby corms ("cormels") that might not flower for another year or two. I hope they will be safe in the garage during the winter.