So what do you think? Is it time for some new guns to take control? Are we going to miss his advancements?

With our recent nasty weather, I was trying to check a storm’s direction to see if I could get out golfing. I went to weather.com and then tried another weather site, called the weather underground. Really cool site with tons of information that other weather sites don’t have. What caught my eye was their interactive weather map, called the wundermap. A lot like weather.com’s interactive map. What makes their’s special is storm tracking. You just click a storm track checkbox and it will display direction arrows for major storm cells. Cool, cool stuff. Check it out if you need a diversion.

WunderMap Interactive Radar & Weather Stations : Weather Underground

My desire to document the progress of the garden always starts out strong and fades. So, the information in the planting list is partial at best. It is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby so I guess I shouldn’t worry about it.

The planting list

Strange time to pick a release but I imagine it is tied up in their record breaking attempt.

Does any care about the Guinness record? I certainly could care less, but I suppose I am just a grumpy old man. Just give me the new browser.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

You should check it out, for one simple reason; the browser is exponentially faster than Internet Explorer and even previous versions of Firefox.

Spread Firefox | Download Day 2008

All of the vegetables are planted at this point and the mesh sides await their trailing vines. We have planted morning glories at the base of each post and I am sure that I will learn to regret this decision. I can already see the bed filled with thousands of voluteer plants come next spring. The two large plants that will be attached to the mesh are watermelons and bushel gourds. We also have asparagus beans and a lemon cucumbers that will benefit from the vertical support. Tomatoes fill out the exterior of the bed. In the inside of the bed, there is basil, onions, parsley, and several varieties of lettuce.

I will post more pictures of the successes or failures of the arbor as the season progresses.

Click here for the project page.

My tomatoes are planted on the outside of wire cages made from concrete remesh. This has worked very well in past years as a support for the plants. Most gardeners plant just one single plant in each tower. I take a different approach and plant 4 plants all on the outside. While looking at the cages, I realized that there is probably enough room inside of each cage for sunflowers. Since sunflowers tend to be fairly sparse lower on the plant I shouldn’t have a problem with crowding. I also have had some problems with the wind knocking my plants over. The cages should also solve this problem since they will be growing inside of the wire cage.

Obviously, this is all an experiment. If all progresses well, then I should have nice tomatoes, highlighted by sunflowers poking out the top.

Google Sky

New to this game possibly is Microsoft. Always one to stick their noses in numerous areas comes Microsoft Worldwide Telescope. At first glance the application seems polished and well integrated. I found the application to be a little sluggish in loading some of the imagery but that is where this application truly shines. It has an extensive collection of imagery from numerous sources. The downside from my perspective was that the application is so extensive. It was a little hard for me to know where to go. I could break down and view demos or for that matter read the manual, but I didn’t.

WorldWide Telescope

Both applications allow you to view the sky or earth. I found Google’s application to be slightly less complicated to use and more interactive on my system. The Microsoft tool certainly seems more feature rich. One note is the Microsoft application is still in beta and I have noticed some quirks. One quirk was that it has a tendency to control your cursor even if the application isn’t currently the foremost window. At any rate, two great tools to enjoy our wondrous Universe.

Years ago, I, along with my sisters had the pleasure of working at this place called Camp Nuhop. Unassuming name for a camp that was anything but ordinary. This camp was and is a haven for kids to find their inner youth and innocence. A place where everyone could realize their true potential. A place where discovery comes first. If this place sounds a little like Nirvana, I think that it probably was for those of us lucky enough to share in its magic.

The camp was the brain child of a couple of wacky kids, by the names of Jerry and Terrie Dunlap all the way back in 1974. Since that time, the camp has grown and grown. Still truly a family operation, the camp holds strong all its original values. Jerry Dunlap became Camp Nuhop and you would be hard pressed to think of him without thinking of the place where “Warm Fuzzies” roamed free. Lucky for us, Jerry left the camp in loving hands.

During my short time at Camp Nuhop, I became great friends with the entire family. My life is truly richer for my time spent with them. I cannot possible extend how truly sad I am at the lost of the leader of their family and their best friend. I have described the camp as a place for children and that is truly what it states on their web site. However, in my case it would be hard for me to say who learned more, myself or the children under my watch. I reluctantly started working for Jerry and Terrie as an obnoxious 25 year old boy who just couldn’t find his way. I wont pretend to say that my summers working at the Camp gave me all of the answers. Instead I will insist that it made me confident and relaxed enough to know that what ever direction my life took would have meaning.

To the family, I am sorry for your loss and I am so very thankful that you let me share in your life. We will miss him but certainly not forget him.

campnuhop.org

So, I proceeded to rummage through our kitchen drawers for a chopstick. I had seen tv shows where the chef had used a chopstick to remove the pits. I had tried this method in the past and it too left a lot to be desired. However, during my search I found a tool that worked very well.

What I found was the sleeve from an instant read thermometer. The thermometer itself has been missing in action now for a few weeks, but the sleeve itself remained. I simply took the end centered it over the stem end (after removing the stem) and pushed. The sleeve itself slid through the cherries quite easily. I also pushed 100% of the cherry pits from the 30 or so that I was preparing for the picnic. It seems that the hollow tool served to capture the pit in the recess preventing the pit from sliding to one side.

Pitting cherries is still time consuming but my hollow tube worked much better than the tool purchased and was easy to use.