Feelin’ prosperous today

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I’m taking a few minutes to eat here at work, with a bowl of my favorite canned pseudo-food. Saying grace before dinner, it occurred to me again that we really live like kings here in the Bismarck-Mandan area. The least among us has got life infinitely better than the majority of the people in this world. We make fun of “pseudo food” like this stuff; yet it’s more nutrition than many people might see in a week. It’s certainly more sodium!

And perhaps it’s just the theme of the day…while shoveling generic Cap’n Crunch into my head this morning, it occurred to me that there are millions, perhaps billions, of people out there who are so undernourished that their teeth probably couldn’t even handle Cap’n Crunch.

I think of Philippians 4:11 in the Bible: “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Or Titus 6:8 as well: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” We as Americans are very prosperous. I don’t consider that an accident, either. But it should occur to us daily to be thankful for, and good stewards of, all that we have. In today’s society, and with technology advancing as fast as it is, it’s very difficult to be content. But we should always be thankful…and not to Chef Boy Ar Dee.

Close, but no cigar

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This is what it should have looked like this weekend. All the variables looked as though they’d line up. The sky was clear. No bright moon to mess up the sky. Somewhat unsettled atmosphere. Clint out standing in the field (no puns, please) with his camera equipment. The POES statistical plot showed a strong possibility of visible Northern Lights in this area. Sadly, nothing showed.

Not to mention that it was pretty darn COLD and windy, but it’s worth a try…right? If I may whine for a brief instant, I’ll take the opportunity to point out that my purchase of camera equipment capable of astrophotography coincides directly with the Solar Minimum. I’ve seen auroras so bright I could read by them, but it doesn’t look like any of those will show up for another couple of years at least. But when they do, I’ll be there. And the evidence will be posted here.

The photo above, by the way, I took near Hawktree last fall. They were originally their typical turquoise green but I changed the hue to blue in Photoshop because this image in its original size is the background for my computer monitors. In the original one can clearly make out the round hay bale in the foreground. I also have one with a BIG owl perched on that bale, but this one turned out better.

It’s always racing season somewhere

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And thank God for that! Just because the temps are below freezing doesn’t mean it’s not a good time for racing. Well, there’s ice racing, but we haven’t gone out to do that so far this year. I’m talking about the indoor kind, like the electric cars they’re running at Wheels, Wings and Hobbies today.


These guys are on the platform controlling little electric cars that absolutely FLY around the carpeted track. The track surface itself is a special carpet that doesn’t have any loose fibers to clog the motors of the cars. The guy down on the end is Jeff, the owner of the shop, who’s announcing the running order while running the computerized timing and scoring. These cars have tiny radio transponders on them so that the computer can keep track of lap times and order of each car.

These cars are VERY high-tech, with carbon fiber chassis parts and intricate suspensions. There are workbenches in this room where the racers work on their cars, charge their batteries, that kind of thing. Spectators are welcome, and the racers are friendly about answering questions in between races.

There will be another race on March 18th at Wheels, Wings and Hobbies — on the Strip in Mandan. They’re also putting on a big event called the Prairie Knights Classic (I’ll give you three guesses which casino it’s being held at) on April 1st and 2nd. If you’re looking for a really fun hobby or just want to watch some unique local racing, head out to WWNH any time. They also have a web page at wwnh.net.

Say…got and extra 577 megs of hard drive space?

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This is a composite of North Dakota as photographed from space between July 1999 and September 2002. It is enormous — 577MB file size, roughly 16,000 pixels wide by 14,000 tall. You’d better have broadband if you want a copy of this file.

This isn’t as high of resolution as imagery on Google Earth or places like that, in that you can’t zoom into cities or that sort of thing. But it’s a carefully prepared image of North Dakota from space, with lots of color and shadow correction.

You can find this and other neat files at The North Dakota GIS image download page.

Many of these files are in MrSID format, highly compressed yet accurate image files. You can download a free viewer plugin from LizardTech by clicking here.

Closed UFN – Memorial Bridge

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This was the scene Wednesday evening as all traffic, motor vehicle and pedestrian, was stopped on the Memorial Bridge. A week or two ago, a crack was discovered in one of the concrete/stone/steel pylons…a crack eighteen inches deep by some reports. I don’t know exactly what they discovered today…but if an eighteen inch crack isn’t serious enough to close the bridge, they found something that is!

For many who remember the bridge’s unique steel decking, this bridge is special. It was a real trip riding motorcycle over this bridge, with the gridwork tugging the wheels side to side while giving a perfect view of the water beneath. Then, when the bridge needed extensive repair work, someone thought up the unique solution of piling another couple dozen tons of concrete on top of that deck. I mean, if the bridge is suffering structurally, wouldn’t the natural response be to increase the load on it?

This is an awkward situation, since the bids for the bridge’s replacement should have already been awarded. But nobody submitted a bid when the process opened last November. Presumably the concrete shortage in the Katrina aftermath and the volatility of steel due to demand and tariffs make bidding a job like this a pretty risky proposition. Other reasons I’ve heard is that major construction firms that do this sort of work are just too darn busy.

I videotaped the ceremony where they announced the new design and had a bunch of muckety-mucks shaking hands with Senator Conrad on the Mandan side of the river. This was last summer. The new design will be very nice, with memorials constructed for the veterans. After all, the existing bridge is dedicated to them. They won’t be forgotten when it is replaced.

So now what? How much money will it cost to nurse this thing along until construction can begin on a new bridge? When does the DOT say it’s not worth it, and abort repairs in preparation for replacement? Hopefully the details will be released to keep us in the know.

Turkey crossing

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Seen on South Washington. These guys seem pretty nonchalant about traffic nearby. Hopefully they don’t get pasted as they confidently strut across the road.

There’s another big group of these birds on Highway 1806 just south of Mandan. A friend of mine flies helicopters for the army, and says it’s bizarre when they fly the Missouri River bottoms at night with their night vision goggles, and the trees are FULL of turkeys. Sounds like a South Park episode I saw once…

Today’s How-To: Brand yourself a jackass for under five bucks

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I’m all for brand loyalty…but who’s the idiot who came up with this sticker? They must be a rich idiot by now; I see these things all over the place. Many of them use the character Calvin of Calvin & Hobbes fame, without license I’m sure. Then you just pick the logo of your least favorite car/truck/whatever and voila’! Instant jackass!

Wake up, people! You’re putting a picture of someone URINATING on your vehicle for all to see. Hasn’t that occurred to you? Are you really too crass to care? How do you suppose the world sees you? It makes me wonder what kind of person would put something like this on their car. Does it just not sink in? Do they think this kind of humor is funny? Do they show their own kids and laugh?

I couldn’t agree more with this guy’s sentiment towards Fords. But there’s such a thing as common decency, and I think a depiction of someone peeing is far over the line as far as decency’s concerned.

Who speaks for them?

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Well, I do, of course! These poor little guys were all fluffed up and cold yesterday during the blowing snow. I wonder how those little guys get by all through the cold North Dakota winters. Certainly they must be good at finding shelter. In this case they were fluttering around by Farmer’s Livestock and settling into the bushes when the wind came up.

You can get bird feeders cheap at Wal Mart and big bags of bulk seed there or at GTA on east Broadway avenue. I’m considering some sort of heated water dish for them in my backyard, too. Together we can make a difference.

Observation deck

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If the words “observation deck” make you think of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek, you are a geek. No, this is from my beloved capitol building. After doing some poking around at the state archives (okay, maybe I’m the geek) I ventured upstairs and saw these really cool clouds. I had the whole 18th floor to myself and was able to snap some cool shots from all directions.

A quick email to my friend Kevin Lawrence over at KFYR got this picture on the news at 10pm. Mighty gracious of him. I guess that makes me a Sky Spy™! I know he likes cool cloud formations so if you get some neat weather-related photos, send them to him. They have an updated website at kfyrtv.com with a section where you can upload your photos.

One disappointment about going to the top of the capitol building these days is that the elevators have been “updated.” You see, in each elevator there used to be an actual guy with a little bench who operated the elevator with a big brass handle. Then they “modernized.” For a while there was one elevator left with an actual human who operated it, but I guess those days are gone for good. I’m guessing the fella who did it retired, then they got rid of those controls altogether. It’s really too bad. That was a neat part of visiting this building.