Wade's Miscellaneous Photos and Ramblings Page |
In my continuing battle against squirrels who would eat all the birdfood if I let them, I got a caged feeder...its designers apparently didn't have any red squirrels in their test area, though. He let me walk to within about 20 feet of the feeder before he decided it was time to finally abandon ship. ADDED 02MAY2007 |
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A small group of us rode to Mt. Washington in June 2005, a smaller group of us went through the clouds and rain to the summit. Now that I've done it once, I probably won't bother again....This was my first trip with my new '82 Ducati Pantah 600 (see left). Other than being a bit grumpy about warm-starts, she was a champ. I gotta get the carbs tuned, for sure. Can you hear the Sesame St music "Which of these things is not like the others?..." In 2006, I went to the top again on a different bike with Vinnie and Pixley and some other folks (see right for photos on the way up and from the top). EDITED 02MAY2007 |   |
| Though we have plenty of city and town in NH for my taste (Nashua, Manchester, Concord, Berlin, Dover, Portsmouth, and the Seacoast area in general all come to mind immediately) when I think of what makes New Hampshire what it is for me, I think of trees and space. The highest hill local to my house (about 4 miles perhaps, and 15 minutes away) is called Blue Job (pronounced JOBE),elevation 1,356 feet, atop which is a small fire tower. One can drive to within about 300 feet of the top, then hike the rest in 20 or 30 minutes. My wife and I had subs and chips on the firetower there last May, and took a few pictures. The black flies were huge & voracious during the hike up and down, but the wind at the top kept them away while we ate. Relative elevation above the city of Rochester is about 1000 feet. About 2 miles to the east is a body of water, Baxter Lake (the ocean is about 20 miles further), with Rochester another 2 miles beyond that and to the south a bit....The topo map here shows it pretty well: topo-zone link If things work right, the map that appears when you click the link will have blue job right in the middle, with the city off to the right. | ||
 Blue Job Looking West, 350K |
 Top map at topo-zone link |
 Looking East from Blue Job, 300K |
| People often wonder WWJD? Well, I think the simple answer is: |  | ...Jesus Would Read The Freakin' Manual...This was my plate for a while way back when.... |
What if the Hokey Pokey really *is* what it's all about?
(as written by Jeff Brechlin, Potomac Falls, in the style of W. Shakespeare).
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe. Anon, once more the gesture, then begin: Command sinistral pedestal to writhe. Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke, A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl. To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke. Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl. The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about. |
| RAFTING! Tim and I went rafting August 03 - what a hoot! I highly recommend it. If it's not scorching hot, rent the wetsuit. |
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A big rock beside King's Highway in Middleton NH...just when you thought it was safe.... |
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Saturn in Presque Isle...part of North America's largest scale model of the solar system |
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Our Volvo after a hit and run while parked on our street...schmucks. |
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The scenery in Palm Springs is pretty strange compared to home! |
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When in Philadelphia, be sure to visit the Rodin Museum . Every time I'm there, I have to buy more little statue reproductions. |
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Why is this squirrel smiling? He knows I'll throw him peanuts if he looks through the kitchen window. 73 Kb (added 28NOV02) |
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On Route 9 in SW NH. The sign next to it reads: Stone Arch Bridge. This twin arch structure, built without mortar and sustained solely by expert shaping of its archstones, is typical of a unique style of bridge construction employed primarily in the Contoocook River Valley in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. These bridges are a significant part of our American architectural heritage. 120 Kb (added 28NOV02) |
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A butterfly found in the driveway...nature has lots of neat patterns, no? 64 Kb (added 28NOV02) |
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A rainbow from a Maryland parkinglot, 2001, 58 Kb (added 28NOV02) |
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Nice (1Mb) Quicktime Video clip of a Taurus airbag I set off in my backyard ...it takes 4 frames (0.13sec) to go about 6 feet, and 89 frames (2.97 sec) from launch to landing...both giving an estimated launch speed in the low 30-mph range. I used a 16VDC transformer to power the squib, and the power cable can be seen falling away to the left of the launch area about mid-flight. (Also available in choppy Real Media (136Kb) format) |
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Pretty snow. 113 Kb (added 20NOV02) |
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My Mower is Bigger than yours. Eat your heart out, Tim-the-toolman Taylor. (added 15JAN00) |
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Here's a cool advert from the March 99 "Mechanical Engineering" magazine, showing riders as good guys, more or less. 142 Kb (added 09MAR99) |
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Here's another cool advert. This one ran in June 98 Sensors Magazine. (added 12MAR99) |  |
Here's a Yamaha Seca II, like the teal one I once owned |
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Here's my ball-python's right side pattern. Ain't she cute? |
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Some snake humor |
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Here's the nose-job I did on my Taurus. The original flat blank grey panel was really drab and ugly. |
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for diversion, here's a flower that was in my back yard summer '97 |
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Here's anutha flower of '97 |
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Here's a zillion flowers...well, maybe not a zillion. This picture would make a really tough 1000-piece puzzle. |
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A salamander who got stuck on my cool front steps one spring '98 morning, a few minutes in warm hands, though, and he was running away, as seen here... |
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A butterfly on the flowers outside my house, summer '98 |
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An autumn tree on the campus of Univ. of NH in the autumn of '88. |
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Two wild turkeys wandering through someone's side yard in Newmarket, NH, early winter '97. |
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A stand of pretty trees, Durham NH, 1988. |
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Fun with Explorers While driving west on Route 4 back in 1998 in Durham, NH, I watched an Explorer heading east about 3/4 mile ahead of me swerve to miss a squirrel. The woman driving steered hard left, oversteered right (left tires 1 foot over the center line), oversteered worse left (right tires near mid lane), Made it into the oncoming lane with the wheel cranked right, enough to get her direction of travel (if not her heading) nearly down the road, got completely sideways, passenger side first basically straddling the yellow line (fronts in one lane, rears in the other), and pitched it down the highway, coming to rest ahead of me in the west-bound lane. I think 1.5 full revolutions. She was damaged, but talking (though she was really wound for sound...) almost coherent and not bloody (had her seatbelt on). I guessed that she'd be ok. She climbed out of the truck pretty much unassisted. The truck was toast, and was on its roof. The squirrel didn't make it. He (and yes, no doubt it was a he, funny how that happens) was laying near the fog line of the eastboand lane, still warm. The whole event was really a sight to behold. Glad noone hit her, and she seemed to be ok. Lesson: Just run over the squirrels. |
"Mapco v. Carter" might prove that just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
So if there is a demand made for you to fill out all information on a census form, and you don't want to take the 5th, one possible remedy is to have a document prepared for the census taker, in which the census taker signs under penalty of perjury that they will personally assume all legal responsibility for any and all injury and/or violations of privacy sustained by all persons in your household as a result of their collection of the formation, and that if collection of such information is ever deemed to be unconstitutional or unlawful, that they will personally assume all responsibility, and that they agree to personally be sued civilly, and furthermore, that they will not permit the government to declare sovereign immunity on their behalf. "No constitutional right exists under the Ninth Amendment, or to any other provision of the Constitution of the United States, 'to trust the Federal Government and to rely on the integrity of its pronouncements.'" MAPCO, Inc. v Carter (1978, Em Ct App)573 F2d 1268, cert den 437 us 904, 57 L Ed 2d 1134, 98 S Ct 3090. |
Some questions which cause me to ponder:
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Last modified on 02MAY07