I found a fishing lure on my morning walk. Given where I picked it up, I probably saved someone's tire, but I thought of it as karma. After all, I'm going fishing tomorrow and beat up, old, found lures sometimes have a strange appeal to fish...
No, I don't live on a lake and I'm not on vacation. That's just one of the little quirks of having a park at the end of my street. People fish in the ponds there. (Texans call them lakes, but if I can walk around one in 20 minutes...reality check, please!)
We're headed up to Lake Texoma this weekend, where we've become good friends with Captain Cal, reputed to be the best guide on the lake. Texoma straddles the Texas/Oklahoma border, so it takes a special fishing license. It is well-known for having an unusually high salt content for an inland lake, which allows Striper bass to thrive there. It is also something to consider if you plan to have your boat in the water there for any length of time.
Cal's wife can catch crappie like no one else I've ever seen--even got a record one a few years back. And some monster catfish have been caught right off their dock as well--click Bragging Rights on their site to see a 64lb monster. Personally, I'll never forget the thrill of cautiously reeling in one around 14lbs on a crappie rod! Maybe I can do that again this weekend...
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Hummingbirds
"Pooh wondered if the hummingbird knew that he was a Humming Bear. "
I put a hummingbird feeder up a few weeks ago and have been wondering if anyone other than the finches were drinking out of it. This morning I spotted one flitting through for a quick drink of sugar water while I sipped on my coffee.
Don't tell her I said this, but she seemed drab for a hummingbird. It was a small hummingbird, so maybe it wasn't mature enough to have all the colour, or maybe I just couldn't see the markings with the morning sun behind her. Or maybe she's a species where the girls have less colour, hence the "she".
I'll keep a lookout and, if I can get them visiting regularly, I'll try to get some pictures posted.
I put a hummingbird feeder up a few weeks ago and have been wondering if anyone other than the finches were drinking out of it. This morning I spotted one flitting through for a quick drink of sugar water while I sipped on my coffee.
Don't tell her I said this, but she seemed drab for a hummingbird. It was a small hummingbird, so maybe it wasn't mature enough to have all the colour, or maybe I just couldn't see the markings with the morning sun behind her. Or maybe she's a species where the girls have less colour, hence the "she".
I'll keep a lookout and, if I can get them visiting regularly, I'll try to get some pictures posted.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Groundhog Day
It's July 13th. Again. Not even a Friday, nor was it last year. And yet I feel like I'm reliving a really bad day, just like in the movie Groundhog Day.
Last year, I was laid off from startup I'd been with for six years. I knew layoffs were coming, but there's still that "oh wow, it's really happening" feeling in the pit of your stomach.
By the quirks of staying networked, I managed to start a new position just two days later, on July 15th. A contract position that I knew would be a temporary move, but as it stretched to a year I got to feel close to my team and thought it might continue a little longer.
Nope. Groundhog Day. Got the word today (the 13th) that I will finish on the 15th, a year to the day from when I started.
Isn't life strange sometimes?
Last year, I was laid off from startup I'd been with for six years. I knew layoffs were coming, but there's still that "oh wow, it's really happening" feeling in the pit of your stomach.
By the quirks of staying networked, I managed to start a new position just two days later, on July 15th. A contract position that I knew would be a temporary move, but as it stretched to a year I got to feel close to my team and thought it might continue a little longer.
Nope. Groundhog Day. Got the word today (the 13th) that I will finish on the 15th, a year to the day from when I started.
Isn't life strange sometimes?
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Bags o' milk
When I moved to the US I was amazed that there were no bags of milk in the grocery stores here. Ten years later, it seems that is being raised as a great idea. See Slashfood and Wikipedia for descriptions and pictures.
The articles I've read point out that a thin plastic bag is a huge environmental improvement over milk jugs, that countries around the world have been doing this for years and that, for the most part, it is much more convenient. Unless you are one of the posters that can't handle cutting a corner off a milk bag without spillage. The stores I frequented in Toronto actually sold a little cutting tool to help with that problem.
What I didn't see in any of the articles was something I consider the most convenient part of bagged milk--that you can freeze it! Typically, I'd buy a 3-pack, with each bag being just over a litre (or a quart, for those of you who don't speak metric), slip one into the milk pitcher and toss the others in the freezer. That lets you stock up on milk when it is on sale and prevents running to the store because you are out. Unless of course you forget to note you're taking the last bag out of the freezer.
Because this option hasn't been available to me down here, I'm constantly pouring bad milk down the drain, something I rarely had to do in Canada. Sometimes, that's because the gallon jug was on sale for just 10 cents more than the quart jug, so now we've got a system. We keep a quart jug that we fill from the gallon jug and then the rest goes in the freezer.
If you've never done this, you're probably thinking thawed milk will be different somehow, either in taste or consistency. Not! It thaws beautifully and the kids have not noticed the difference. Trust me, if anyone could, they would.
The articles I've read point out that a thin plastic bag is a huge environmental improvement over milk jugs, that countries around the world have been doing this for years and that, for the most part, it is much more convenient. Unless you are one of the posters that can't handle cutting a corner off a milk bag without spillage. The stores I frequented in Toronto actually sold a little cutting tool to help with that problem.
What I didn't see in any of the articles was something I consider the most convenient part of bagged milk--that you can freeze it! Typically, I'd buy a 3-pack, with each bag being just over a litre (or a quart, for those of you who don't speak metric), slip one into the milk pitcher and toss the others in the freezer. That lets you stock up on milk when it is on sale and prevents running to the store because you are out. Unless of course you forget to note you're taking the last bag out of the freezer.
Because this option hasn't been available to me down here, I'm constantly pouring bad milk down the drain, something I rarely had to do in Canada. Sometimes, that's because the gallon jug was on sale for just 10 cents more than the quart jug, so now we've got a system. We keep a quart jug that we fill from the gallon jug and then the rest goes in the freezer.
If you've never done this, you're probably thinking thawed milk will be different somehow, either in taste or consistency. Not! It thaws beautifully and the kids have not noticed the difference. Trust me, if anyone could, they would.
Friday, July 10, 2009
My First Time (blogging that is)
I haven't felt this kind of peer pressure since high school... everybody's "doing it", when are you going to?
"It" being blogging, tweeting, Facebooking and all the other social media verbs that have us online, or at least connected by phone, 24x7. I've been reluctant to "go all the way" and commit to being that connected--heck, I already work on a computer all day, it's probably healthier to get away from it when I can--but I've always been the type to try anything once and so I've dallied... and now I'm blogging.
Like Twitter and Facebook, blogging assumes you have something to say and I'm somewhat amazed that people make time to follow as much as they do. But my peers have followers so there must be interest out there.
I've spent enough of my career writing for a living to think I can come up with an articulate posting or two. And I do think I have a unique point of view. For one thing, people often ask me about the differences between living in Canada and living in the US. And there are those faithful few who ask me when I'm going to write more--hopefully this will help me ease back into that.
"It" being blogging, tweeting, Facebooking and all the other social media verbs that have us online, or at least connected by phone, 24x7. I've been reluctant to "go all the way" and commit to being that connected--heck, I already work on a computer all day, it's probably healthier to get away from it when I can--but I've always been the type to try anything once and so I've dallied... and now I'm blogging.
Like Twitter and Facebook, blogging assumes you have something to say and I'm somewhat amazed that people make time to follow as much as they do. But my peers have followers so there must be interest out there.
I've spent enough of my career writing for a living to think I can come up with an articulate posting or two. And I do think I have a unique point of view. For one thing, people often ask me about the differences between living in Canada and living in the US. And there are those faithful few who ask me when I'm going to write more--hopefully this will help me ease back into that.
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