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.

You don’t have to live in ND to be our US Senator…

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…but you have to make it look that way. Yet we’ve got the 21st century version of the carpetbagger in North Dakota. I consider Dorgan a Virginia resident, although I’m sure he has a nominal address here in ND to hang on to his cushy Washington gig. He comes around to express concern about all the problems his fellow North Dakotans face, then zips back home. Yet our water intakes along the Missouri River system are sucking mud, farm prices and inequities with Canada haven’t gotten better, and he votes with his California Cronies™ instead of in line with the more level-headed folks he’s supposed to represent.

So what about Senator Conrad? At least he cast North Dakota’s vote when it came to confirming Judge Alito, but would that have happened in 2004 or 2005? I think it was an election year vote. The biggest thing about politics is being there…whether you’re a Republicrat or a Demican. So I trust all Congressmen to vote in one way: whatever lengthens their stay.

Back to the point of this post: Check out this picture. Supposedly our Senators Conrad and Dorgan inhabit these two meager little 8-unit apartments paired up in North Bismarck. It’s not exactly prime real estate. They’re not even security buildings. I lived here once…I wonder if the Senators and their wives have the same 70s-throwback olive green carpeting and appliances I did?

Hardly the kind of digs you’d expect for United States Senators, unless only their names live there. I’ve never seen them there. I haven’t lived there in years, but their names were on the mailboxes when I got there in the mid-90s and it’s still there today. So, I guess that makes them North Dakota residents…technically. Unless it’s some random schmucks with the same name (and living with a Lucy Calautti and Kim Dorgan. It can happen…right?)

I recently looked up who owned these buildings, and they’re owned by GKC Apartments, LLC. It appears to be a partnership set up by Kent Conrad, and I don’t know who else is involved. When I lived here the lady managing the property told me that the Senator’s brother owned them; I originally thought that would be Dorgan’s brother, but a little further investigation showed that “Conrad Brothers” was listed in the county records. In 2004 a quit-claim deed was filed to transfer the property to GKC Apartments. I assume GKC stands for Gaylord Kent Conrad, which is Kent’s real full name.

Anyway, it’s good to see that our two Senators get along so well that they decided to be neighbors. After all, that will help them coordinate their efforts to bring all those federal dollars home. Maybe then we won’t care if they sell our state’s soul to the devil and Nancy Pelosi.

Note: I promised (see the upper right panel) that this isn’t going to be a political blog, although I might be prone to a rant infrequently. Chalk this one up. Now it’ll be a while until you see another.

You’re likely to have an opinion on this.

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What’s a guy to do if he’s got 1) a spare S-10 chassis and 2) a spare Pontiac Firebird body lying around? Well, I think the answer is as obvious as peanut butter ‘n’ chocolate.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to hang around and talk to the owner/creator of this beast. I think the conversation would have been insightful. I recognize the S-10 running gear because of the skidplates (I have a set on my truck, they’re standard) and the tastefully applied “Vortec” sticker on the front quarter.

What I’d really like to know is: is this the same fella who has a 4×4 Cadillac Fleetwood, presumably on a Chevy Suburban chassis, complete with nerf bars? Or the 4×4 Mercedes SL sedan? Inquiring minds want to know. They’d also probably like to know what possesses a man to do such a thing…wrong or right, these vehicles sure do stand out. Especially during a winter snow emergency.