...So Sandy Clause is busy. Here's today's haul (before being carted off to the warehouse).
All for around $80.
The sharp eyed may note a few items not normally seen as Christmas gifts. Well, sometimes you need "filler" to hit the price point where the extra savings coupons become active. But you already knew that, didn't you?
(I should have posted this two weeks ago. Oh well.)
Sandy left to go shopping on Monday, the fifth of July. She called me a few minutes later because she had a flat tire. Actually, the tire was flat before she left the driveway, but she didn't notice.
We were lucky in two ways: the tire and rim didn't get ruined and a neighbor saw her drive (limp?) by and followed her. I was happy to have the help. (Thanks Richard!)
The problem was what you see below:
I'm glad that 16d common nails aren't that common on the road.
I knew that there were several Lego conventions scattered about the globe. But I didn't realize that I had one just around the corner! BrickFair is in early August. Anyone want to go?
Has anyone added my suggested links to their feed list? If not, maybe you missed these.
This time around, I'm highlighting some nice picture sites.
The Astronomy Picture of the Day (here's the feed) can have some pretty breathtaking shots. But note that the feed only has a tiny thumbnail; you have to go to the site to get the full post where you'll get a better size picture and an explanation.
Botany Photo of the Day (here's the feed). Another picture of the day, but this time guaranteed to be more terrestrial. This is a full feed and often includes multiple pictures and detailed, but rather scientific, notes.
Shorpy Historic Photo Archive (here's the feed). The subtitle of "Best Pix on the Net" has been replaced by "Vintage Fine Art Prints", but I prefer the other tagline of "Always Something Interesting." All of these are true. The feed is a full feed, but if you got to the site, you'll also be able to see the really big scans. Of course if when you want to sell prints, 2000 x 2000 (and larger) sized pictures are a must. You can easily spend a bunch of time "catching up" with all of the great pcitures here.
The Randomness Manifesto (here's the feed). Jeff used to call this "The Roving Medievalist" but has since changed the name as the scope has broadened. Many of the pictures are scans of medieval art and manuscripts, but you'll also find more recent prints as well as photos of interesting places (mostly sacred). There haven't been any for quite a while, but Jeff has had a few rants in the past. Ignore them and enjoy the pictures.
Orbis Catholicus Secundus (here's the feed). JP Sonnen puts lots of nice pictures from Rome here. He manages to get some really nice pictures while out an about in the eternal city.That's it for today. (Shoot, it's tomorrow now.) Time for bed.
There were a few things other than food in the last few days too.
This is enough to keep you busy for a while. After you've cooked me a few of the items from yesterday.
Here are several recipes seen during the last week on the Craft and Make blogs. Enjoy.
I might even eat most of these. Anyone want to make some for me?
Let's begin exploring some of the feeds that I try to keep an eye on.
First up is the Make Magazine blog site (here's the feed). You'll find plenty of fun things to do here. Some are pretty hard-core techie, others are merely geeky, but most are fun. And you don't have to buy the magazine. There is also some cross-over with the Craft Magazine blog.
Next is Make's sister blog site Craft Magazine (here's the feed). This is kind of like the domestic side of Make. So you'll see crafts, recipes, sewing patterns, and the like. Most of the food pointers I share come from this site.
If you want crafts and only crafts, then maybe How About Orange is worth a look (here's the feed). I don't remember much in the way of overlap between Orange and Craft so you'll find some more ways to use your time (other than surfing the net).
For more practical projects, you can check out the DIY Life site (here's the feed). You'll find fairly detailed instructions for how to do stuff around the house. You'll get a tip you really can use pretty much every day.
Finally, you can check out Instructables. It's not a blog, and while it does have a feed, it has a much broader coverage and a significantly higher volume of posts than pretty much any other feed I'd mention. I'd actually recommend this site more for browsing or searching for a particular item rather than subscribing to the main feed. But since so many good projects are here, I couldn't avoid mentioning it.
So, can someone tell me which one of them this is?
There are many veterans with all types of service. There are those who fought in wars, and for us in the US, most of them were in far off places. Some of them did not come home. There are many more who didn't fire a weapon at the enemy even while serving in those same far off places. And there are also many who trained for battle but were fortunate enough to have never left base to see action.
Some veterans spent years on active duty, others in the reserves, some both.
I remember how Dad would refer to his six years in the reserves as being in the “Boy Scouts”.
Thank you Spc5 John J. Meyers for your service.
Réquiem ætérnam dona ei, Dómine.
Et lux perpétua lúceat ei.
Requiéscat in pace.
Amen.
Now that we're at the back, let's open the hatch and take a peak inside.
I like the way that the rear seats can fold down into the bin. I also like the bin itself; it should stop stuff from rolling around the whole cabin.
The process of folding the seats is pretty easy too. Just pull on the cloth straps. First you pull on the long one to unhook the seat back. Then you can fold it down.
Then you pull on the small one to lift the whole seat up and toward you.
And finally push it all the way into the bin.
There is a down side to this folding seat stuff: the seats are pretty close to the floor and there isn't that much leg room. It's really made for kids.
But let's move on to the middle seats.
The middle seats are fairly nice bucket seats. They are not as low to the ground and there is much more leg room here. Adults can handle these seats.
Not to be outdone by the back seats, these also very easy to fold up. If you pull the lever at the base of the seat, the seat folds forward. When the top is completely down, the base also lifts up.
Note that there is also a cloth strap in the rear so that you could do these from the outside or from the rear. Finally, the seats themselves can be ulatched and lifted out of the vehicle for even more room.
The last picture is of the front console and instrument panel.
So far so good.
