South Beach Day 5

Not being one to break tradition, it was eggs again this morning with a nice side of turkey bacon. Megan brought a lunch consisting of turkey, cheese, light mayo, and lettuce wraps. She found this great hydroponic lettuce at Trader Joes that stays good for a long time due to the root system being left in tact in a specially made plastic container. For dinner she made a great Indian style dinner, sans bread.

I attended two community events today. I had high expectations for one and low expectations for the second. As it turned out, my expectations were opposite of the results. The TMACOG walking tour of Lagrange Street, starting with the Ohio Theater was a disappointment to me (no, not because of the rain). The only thing nice I saw about the street was exactly that, the street, curb cuts, sidewalks, and trees. The walk was led by two city councilmen (Kaps. and Ashford). I think they did a good job, but I really didn't see how they could consider this the most pedestrian friendly commercial district in the city. Especially considering the constant heavy truck traffic, probably in part due to the metal scrap yard a few blocks further up Lagrange. The businesses looked very run down and shabby, and I didn't see anything appealing about that neighborhood or business district. I really feel that the Walk Westgate project would have more chance of success at commercial investment and a high degree of civic participation.

The second event was the Open Source Software Panel Discussion, held at UT's Engineering auditorium. The caliber of discussion leaders, combined with the terrific turnout (~250?), really surprised and encouraged me. It made me proud to be UT Engineering Alumni, and also proud to work for Pilkington. Our CTO Bill McCreary was the originator of the project, though many others contributed to its success. Beforehand, I really thought the issue was passe, and that the prospects of getting good discussion would be difficult. But really I have to say I was impressed and got some great perspectives from the talk. Bill Hilf from Microsoft joked that he would be the pinata at the party, but his explanations were some of the most pragmatic and useful. Jerry Mayfield from Novell was also on the ball with new perspectives.

South Beach day 4

Breakfast was an egg, cheese, and asparagus omelet. Lunch was a large salad including various sliced lunch meats and cheeses. Dinner was this great grilled chicken breast with ricotta cheese, salad with cucumbers and peppers, and jello for desert. Both of us have remarked that we have plenty of energy and are not craving sweets like we used to...though I'll be happy when we start eating some whole grains again.

South Beach Day 3

Today we had eggs with lean turkey bacon for breakfast. I couldn't stomach the veggie juice, so some crystal light had to do. For lunch I had a roman chicken salad from Quiznos. Dinner was steak (free range) with a bell pepper salad and broccoli. Snack was ricotta cheese flavored with cocoa, it tasted so much like ice cream!

I went to my first PTO meeting tonight for my son's school next year, Grove Patterson Academy. I met some nice people and am looking forward to joining them in making the school better. They announced that the school will be rebuilt on existing grounds, just further back in the vacant land. I actually like the layout and exterior design of this school. It reminds me of something Frank Lloyd Write would have designed. It is very symmetrical with art deco elements to it. The interior space is run down though, and I can see that it would be expensive to update the mechanicals and style to something more modern. Also the space must be too small considering the temporary trailer class rooms off the rear of the facility.

South Beach Day 2

Megan is very good at planning things out, especially when it comes to recipe's and grocery lists. We are on portion control, but luckily she is a good cook. For breakfast she made these quiche like cupcakes, with eggs, cheese, and veggies. Lunch was a salad from Subway. Dinner was salmon, salad, and asparagus. Snack was jello, plus she had portioned out sugar free snacks for discretionary use throughout the day. Surprisingly, I didn't go to bed hungry!

weekend log

Friday was spent working from home, overseeing the new gas line installation. I have to say Ron from Alternative Plumbing did a great job on it. Mom picked up the kids around 5 so Megan and I had the evening to ourselves. Saturday was the big garage sale. One man's trash is another's treasure...we sold a lot of treasure! The rain held out until 2pm, by which time we had so little left we just moved it all into the garage. Sunday we went to Ann Arbor for church, and the bi-weekly run to Trader Joes. Now that the spring semester @ UT is over, Megan has more time to cook. She would like to try out the South Beach Diet. I foolheartedly agreed to join her for moral support. I guess I should have researched more about what I was getting into. The first two weeks are brutal, we'll see how this goes...

weekend log

Checked out the new Westfield addition Friday night. We were going to catch the 10:30 show of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but realized we missed that boat when the speaker came on at Borders saying it was now 10:45! Spent Saturday visiting the various mothers/grand mothers. Had a picnic and a walk at Wildwood with Megan and our kids on Sunday.

weekend log

Saturday we spent de-cluttering the house in preparation for the mega-yard sale coming up in two weeks. Sunday we headed north...church in Ann Arbor. They had a May pole set up. We couldn't stick around because we were off to the Timberframe Expo at the Pontiac Silverdome. Those Lindal Cedar homes are just plain rad! Also, I've seen some real nice homes in magazines lately from Riverbend Timberframes, and here to find out there in our own back yard (Blissfield, Michigan).

the way diesel was meant to be

Stories about UT's apparent success with Biodiesel and solar research really fill me with pride. Originally, 'diesel' fuel was 100% renewable...yes, the inventor by the name of Diesel had an engine that ran on peanut oil. Later, it was actually found cheaper to use byproducts from the petroleum industry.

Marcy Kaptur has brought some great research money to Northwest Ohio in these areas (Lourdes Research Grant, Grant to Enhance Math, Science Teaching, Alternative Energy Partnership).

These are steps that truly work toward energy independence as a nation, but also the world over. What I mean by that, is by using finite/non-renewable resources, the whole world becomes dependent upon a finite resource. Conflict is bound to arise from this situation when resources become scarce. They are scarce now, which is why ANWR is being breached by the GOP energy plan, and prices are escalating. I think it is actually a good thing that prices are raising too, because economic impacts are the only thing that get good research, and innovation moving.

weekend log

Spent Saturday puttering about town with the kids. Sunday we took a road trip to COSI Columbus. That place is amazing!!

got books?

I took the kids over to the new South Branch Library today. It is absolutely gorgeous and uplifting. The photo on the site does not do it justice.



As you can see, the outside is modern, relatively, considering the rest of Toledo. It comes close to being deconstructionist because of the odd angles, overhangs, and crevices. Inside, you are greeted by a wide screen TV and some great seating. The central area has very high ceilings and lots of natural light. The children's section is nice, though not huge. The saltwater aquarium is beautiful, measuring 6 ft wide by 4 ft tall, it is alive with so many different creatures. A librarian stopped by to point out 'Bob the builder', a fish who scoops up rocks with his mouth and built himself a little cave. Then he peers outside in a constant state of paranoia. I've noticed a few people on my street with that same behavior...

Toledo Steam Plant

There has a been much 'spirited debate' all of a sudden on the old steam plant by the river. I've followed this story on and off over the years because I work downtown and like walking the downtown riverfront. Here is a partial timeline of some articles I queried from the blade. As you can see, many ideas have come and gone for this property, and the debate always seems to heat up in the summer time for some reason.

Personally, I still like the idea of an Aquarium...it would fit really nicely with Cosi and could coordinate with the Zoo. By stacking up these downtown venues (stadium, cosi, valentine, farmers market, night clubs, etc) you really create synergy and a destination.

Toledo Steam Plant Articles

June 13, 2003
June 28, 2003
July 17, 2003
August 20, 2004
August 21, 2004
April 13, 2005

A good day for artificial intelligence?

A randomly generated research paper was accepted for a scientific conference. Why is this story not surprising? I think I've read books composed with this program! Strangely enough, you probably would learn a thing or two by reading the paper; plenty of new definitions of words that you must look up in a technical dictionary.

I've felt a disturbance in the force...

Bye bye childhood friends, hello cash.

a very sad situation

Three Palestinian teens were shot to death by the Israeli border patrol today...this is going to hurt. Both sides have different accounts of the incident (what's new). The Palestinians say they were chasing a soccer ball and the Israelis say they were smugglers. My question is, why do you shoot to kill 3 individuals suspected of smuggling instead of trying to question or capture them? Especially when there is a very fragile cease fire in place.

I saw a documentary on Gaza Strip a while back and it broke my heart. Neither side is innocent and it is a very complex situation. However, to see generation after generation of children being raised in extreme violent, hostile conditions is a true tragedy. To see children conditioned and programmed throughout their childhood to hate the other side will ensure the continued conflict for many years to come.

Its amazing to me how soo much physical conflict can be rooted in opposing religions. Its an odd way to win new converts.

Orlando here I come

Seeing how I'm the closest thing to a MS fanboy at Pilkington, they are sending me to TechEd '05 down in Orlando. Oooh that should be NICE.

nlogger update

I'm working on a side project called nlogger (Windows logger). Its a capacity planning tool. I've learned a fair amount about perfmon logging behavior. Here are some shots of charts I'm generating with a free chart control I pulled off the code project. I'm trying to run this similar to MRTG, showing 24 hours, 28 days, and 24 months. Right now the statistics are rolling, but I may eventually make it so you can look at any period.



The gap between 6 and 21 is because I don't have a full 28 days of data yet. You might ask, what is wrong with the stock perfmon reports? My nlogger is making the info very digestible and practical.

Visual Studio Tweak

My Visual Studio .NET 2003 has been dog slow to load for the last few days. I've tried things like getting rid of the startup page, limiting the MRU list to 1, shutting off dynamic help, etc. After loading VSTweak 1.0 I was able to easily wipe out the entire MRU history. Even though it only had one listed in the File list, there were a bunch hidden in the registry. After completely wiping out the recently used solution/project lists, VS starts like a rocket, esp with all that other 'stuff' turned off! Obviously some old project path was timing out every time I launched VS.

Car washes double as lawn ornament prisons!

Erie PA is very conscious when it comes to crime. These small prisons peppered about the city, co-located with car washes, is an ingenious way to cut costs and also get the message out to garden gnome youths to shape up their act.





I took this pics a few weeks ago and finally got around to posting them. LMAO every time we visit Megan's folks.

can I quote you on that?

I was reading an interesting opinion piece on whether bloggers should be considered journalists for the purpose of not only 1st amendment, but shield laws. I have to admit I don't know much about the shield laws, and haven't formed a strong opinion on this matter yet. Obviously I feel bloggers should be able to speak their mind and give their opinion under the 1st amendment rights. But at what point can or should a line be drawn to separate them from professional journalists? On one hand, any citizen could report on noteworthy information. On the other hand, what stops an intellectual property thief from just stealing private information, publishing, and then claiming journalistic protections? There is a degree of responsibility when a journalistic business can go out of business due to reporting bad info. There is no accountability or authentication taking place on the part of bloggers. Its a tough call!

In other news, the Supreme Court has been busy this week grilling MGM and others in the Grokster case. I feel the ruling should swiftly follow the betamax precedent but you never know what can happen.

A greener Frogtown?

I doubt it...

Megan and I have recycled heavily ever since we've been together. We always saved our recyclables and took them to the local Kroger or Metropark each week on our run for new groceries. Actually, I've recycled ever since I can remember. As kids, my brothers and I used to pick up bottles and cans along country roads and grandpa Lindhorst would truck them to the scrap yards in exchange for some cash. Napoleon instituted a mandatory recycling program before I moved away 'to the big city'. They took all plastics up to 7.

Thats why it struck me that in Toledo we could never recycle above number 2. People probably don't even check this or realize it. I wonder if it hurts anything when they mistakenly toss in other plastic numbers? Actually more and more products we use fall into the higher numbers.

I have heard no mention of this problem during the recent recycling push from Mayor Ford. We currently cut about 1/5th of our household garbage by recycling cans and plastics 1 & 2. Also we still save our cardboard and drop it off since that is not collected at curb side. However, what will it take to get the city recycling more materials so that we can get it up to about 1/2 of our weekly garbage? Here is a response to my recent question to the Solid Waste department to confirm that they only take numbers 1 & 2.

---
Aaron,

The City of Toledo Curbside Recycling Program accepts #1 and #2 plastics, to include milk jugs, soda pop bottles, laundry detergent bottles, and shampoo-type (narrow necked) bottles. Any plastics which contain higher numbers are currently not accepted at curbside or at the drop-off locations.
Also, styrofoam is not accepted for recycling at curbside or the drop-offs.
If you wish to recycle styrofoam, you may contact Archbold Container Corp.
at 419-445-8865. The Wrap 'N Ship located at 3137 W. Central also accepts packing peanuts and bubble wrap.

If you have additional questions, you may call the Division of Solid Waste at 419-936-2510.

Thank you for your interest in recycling!
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There you have it. If you think this is a problem like I do, give them a call or drop them a letter. Also, composting at home is often overlooked as an excellent way to reduce curbside waste.