Saturday, February 28, 2009

Guesses Welcomed



Misc photo I stuck up for a desktop background for a day or two. Only hint would be that it is taken near where a JSer lives.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Friday, February 13, 2009

Some random thoughts and reactions

A Dash 8 aircraft crashed on approach to a Buffalo, NY airport last night. Fatal crashes of this type of aircraft number three before this: Bangkok, New Zealand and a Lufthansa flight into Paris. It is only the second commercial fatal aviation crash in the US in the last eight years. The one before it was in Kentucky several years ago.

The internet is helping to keep reporters honest and glaringly shows them up when they make idiotic pronouncements to fill air time because someone has decided to go wall-to-wall with their coverage. A voluntary website records air to ground radio transmissions and the recordings immediately were posted to the internet, providing some viewers with the first indication that at least the voice on the radio was female. The hours claimed as having been flown by Colgan are in obvious error by the way. I have no idea why nobody checks these things.

There have been SO many stunningly obvious mis-statements of fact that I am disinclined to go into any more of them. To me it highlights the sad state of much of US journalism today. A few minutes into their broadcast, CBS had managed to cut to the 'reaction' of the new Prez to the death of one of the victims aboard. WHO CARES??

Of more than a little interest was the effort that Continental Airlines took to distance themself from their subsidiary. The aircraft has the Continental logo on the tail, the crew wear Continental uniforms and there are Continental magazines in the seatbacks, but their website allegedly (I did not see this) was quick to post a disclaimer. They did issue a press release offering sympathy and support for Colgan airways, which call sign was used by the co-pilot and which is the subsiduary of Continental involved.

In other news, congress has passed a bill numbering over a thousand pages which by their own admission they have not had time to read, and have reneged on their promise to post the bill on the internet, and are now anxious to get out of town.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

It Snowed Here Today ... Again

Today I learned there is a difference between a jpg and a tif. I don't know (or much care) what either means, but I do now know that you cannot post a TIF on the wordpress blog site.

In between bouts of shoveling, blowing and sweeping the concrete ramp to my garage ahead of another five inches of (admittedly pretty) new snow, I also spent some inside time copying 35mm slides made in my youth (yoot if you are from Brooklyn).

I have posted four from a 1964 visit to Yosemite on my wordpress page:

http://fin2.wordpress.com/

If you DO click thru, a comment would be appreciated. I do not know whether it is difficult or not to leave a comment there. I sincerely hope not.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

SAD

The title has double meaning today. I just returned from a foray out of my cave and into the world on the second day of '09 where the temperatures were above freezing.

I went to the beach and took some nice photos which I would love to post here but they get cropped by the site when I try. So I have put one on a site here:

http://fin2.wordpress.com/

The sad in the title relates to two things: First, I went to Circuit City nearby to see about looking at laptops (for background on this you would need to check still another dam blog, this one on the new Journalspace) and when I got there, all I found was a blank wall where the sign had been and depressing metal gates across the inside of the front doors, and one sad, solitary light on. In a similar fashion, down near the beach was what appeared to be a BRAND NEW CVS pharmacy which looked like it had been abandoned before it ever opened its doors.

It is a far different thing to see these empty buildings and remember the people who had dealt with me in the past and wonder what has or will become of them, than it is to read on a webpage or hear on the news that one hundred thousand more Americans have lost their jobs.

The other meaning of SAD for me today is Seasonal Affective Disorder. I have never felt particularly prone to it, but by gum it was GOOD to get outside the house today and wander around the 'hood. I guess I was suffering more from Cabin Fever than from SAD. I am going to ponder the value of trying to post a few more of my beach pictures on wordpress.

Regards to all