Finally it looks like spring has conquered the remnants of Winter, here in North Carolina. The weekend was gorgeous: sunny, warm (70*F/22*C), and dry. We finished planting our garden and Laura and Julia took the horses out to Hill Forest Sunday morning. I did some logging, got a bad case of poison ivy and I […]
I finally did it. I bought my own MIG welder!
Last Friday, a fire at the Mexican restaurant ElRodeo damaged the Eastern side of Brightleaf South and forced the evacuation of the entire complex, including the offices where I work. I was actually at home because I had a cold. Several colleagues called me around 11:00 AM to let me know what was going on and […]
Last night our 20-year-old Siamese cat died. We got her 19 years ago from the shelter, when she was just a young stray kitty. Over the years, Deha grew into a proud cat with a strong personality. When we brought Benson home, a 160-pound Great Dane, it only took her a couple of days to get that […]
For the third time in a row and for the fourth time altogether, I have a team in the annual Doughman race here in Durham. Last weekend was the “guerrilla registration” where you could get a foot in the door of this popular race by guessing the restaurants that participate. The organizers posted clues on their Facebook […]
Last weekend I spent some quality time under the truck, fixing some stuff that’s been bothering me for a while. I finally found the idle adjustment screw and turned up the engine idle speed a notch, so that the truck doesn’t just die on me all the time when the engine is cold. I also […]
Last night, one of our three emus died. We called him “Brave Bob” because he was the tamest and the first to take food from my hand. He was also the tallest of our little flock and he was always hungry. He seemed really healthy the day before, and no, he was not the one […]
A couple of weeks ago, I helped our new neighbor move a chicken coop on his property. He attached pneumatic caster wheels under the frame of this ancient, roughly 4000-pound structure. We then jacked it up with car jacks, knocked out the foundation, dropped it on the wheels and I towed it with my truck […]
The Great Beer Quest of 2013 was a complete success, despite the freezing temperatures in Winston Salem last night. A bunch of Footheads camped out in 20-degree (-7 Celcius) temperatures for a chance to acquire four bottles of foothills brewery’s finest beer – the Sexual Chocolate Stout. This year was my 3rd beer quest, and I […]
Crazy weekend … Friday we had a snow/ice/freezing rain mess, so Laura and I had to leave work early to pick up the kids from school. Saturday morning – I was just on my first cup of coffee – Laura noticed a large Rottweiler chasing the emus in the back yard. I put on some […]
Today, Jacob and I started training at our karate dojo again. It has been a couple of years since our last training, and it has been a couple of months since my last run. So I really feel the workout now. But that’s good – that’s why we went back. We’ll start practicing regularly again, […]
This weekend I replaced the two front engine mounts on my 1991 Mercedes 300D. The driver side mount was completely destroyed by several biodiesel leaks from the fuel lines that run directly above it. The passenger side mount was probably OK, but I replaced it anyway. I spent about $100 on the parts and another […]
Overall, 2012 was a pretty good year, although it also presented some real challenges to us. The most significant development of 2012 is unfolding right now: Dec. 31 was Laura’s last day at her job of 8 years as Executive Director of One World Market in Durham. Jan 2 she will start her new job, […]
The sun sets one last time in 2012.
Meet Bob, his brother Bob and his other brother Bob. They are our emus. We got them today from Bull City Farm and they live in our back yard now. More pictures … Das sind die Geschwister Bob – seit Heute unsere Haus und Hof Emus. Eigentlich sollten die Bobs die Pferdeweide von Insekten befreien […]
One of the most insightful comment about the Sandy Hook shooting comes from the mother of a mentally ill 13-year-old: I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And […]
Amazing footage from Apollo 16
A couple of days ago my 1991 Mercedes 300D counted Mile # 288888 288888 Meilen hat der Mercedes jetzt auf dem Buckel. Das sind 464920 KM. And yes, it’s 12/12/12 today. Funny numbers. PS: that’s 44,000 miles (70.000+ KM) on homebrew biodiesel just for that car.
More records from Larsen’s Sailrocket: yesterday, they smashed the Nautical Mile Record at 55.32 knots and improved their own 500-Meter record from Friday with a 59.38 knot average speed (all subject to ratification by the WSSRC). Sailrocket is on a roll! Just watch – they will crack the 60 knots average. They already hit a […]
