No homeschoolers allowed to participate – or, apparently to proofread the rules

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This is a Subway contest that you can find online by clicking here. The contest involves writing a story using one of four starting points provided by Subway. There’s only one caveat:

No home school kids are allowed! No reason is given. Judging from the first thing that jumped out at me when I read his ad, I can see why:

Apparently the ad was typed or proofread by a product of the public school system!

I don’t actually buy into the stereotypes of public vs. home schooled children completely. For instance, I know plenty of smart products of public schools. But I think home schooled kids should be allowed the same opportunities as public school kids. I remember a stink a few years back about a kid who wanted to compete in NDHSAA speech events, for instance. I’m all for it.

The fact of the matter is that home school kids wouldn’t be sneered at or excluded if they weren’t often 1) pretty proficient, and 2) Christians of some sort. I don’t know which of these is a threat to Subway, but it’s a bit of a black eye in this instance nonetheless.

Just in case they (ahem) make the mistake go away, you can click here for a screen capture of the original contest entry page as I found it.

The Grant Marsh situation

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With all the talk about the need to replace the ailing Memorial Bridge, I hadn’t heard a peep about the good ol’ Grant Marsh lately. That’s why I was surprised to see this nastiness above one of the support columns, near the boat landing. That doesn’t look very healthy, does it?

I did a quick web search to see if there were any reports of this repair, but didn’t come up with anything before having to dash out the door. Thankfully someone’s getting after it. I don’t know how much of that eroded away naturally and how much was chipped away to begin repairs, but the fact that it had crumbled so badly is not very reassuring. It looks like the rest of the support is going to get a treatment as well, judging by the scaffolding.

In retrospect, it probably wasn’t such a great idea to have drainage hammering down on the end of that concrete support over the years. I’d chalk that up to a design problem. The black bandaid hanging there is supposed to help divert things, but I’m sure the damage had already been done long ago. Now it’s a matter of trying to patch it up.

I saw a report on TV many years ago (I think I was still with NBC, actually) that talked about the disrepair of the nation’s bridges. I thought it was a little unsettling then, but with two of Bismarck-Mandan’s major bridges showing such extreme wear I’m between unsettled and alarmed! Thankfully it looks like someone’s on the situation, and we don’t have to deal with the thing collapsing before paying attention to the condition of its supports.

In the mean time, maybe I’ll use the Expressway Bridge. 🙂

There’s always the sun

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Not only did I drop the title of a Stranglers song into the title of this post, but I also get to show you what happens when the power plant (is it Milton Young Station? I’m not sure) gets silhouetted by the setting sun! I got out to Double Ditch just in time to capture the sun dipping behind the power plant near Center. The power plant, that is…the sun wasn’t anywhere near Center. Except the center of our solar system!

Windmill at midnight

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I was out running around with a friend last night and, after a brief stop at Applebee’s, we found ourself out by an old familiar waypoint in my GPS: this windmill. It was dark except for the (in this case) inconvenient light of a full moon, so I took a long exposure. You can tell by the streaking of the few visible stars in the photo. Clouds were starting to roll in on the horizon and the moon was ruining any shot with a clear star field in it, so we packed up and kept driving around.

One nice thing about being a couple of Christian guys is that we can be out after midnight and our wives don’t have to worry about whether we’re out drinking, cheatin’ on them, or other nonsense. That’s if a Christian guy is actually walking the walk. In our case, we are. So it was just two dudes in a truck with a camera and some good conversation.

Thursday night moon

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I was loading the boys into the evil gas-hogging SUV tonight when I noticed an incredibly bright moon up in the blue evening sky. I couldn’t resist dashing home and grabbing the camera. While trying to find a clear shot between all those pesky trees on our property, I found a rather interesting branch next to a clearing. That’s when the idea for a neat composition popped into my head. This is the combination of two shots: one with the branch in focus, one with the moon in focus. I combined them in my beloved Photoshop and sent a copy to my friend K-Lo, who put it on KFYR-TV’s weather as part of his Sky Spies feature.

Snow sticks to artificial turf

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I was really excited at the potential of a photograph of the snowy lawn at the state capitol last Saturday. Sadly it was not to be so; the snow wasn’t sticking to the grass as it was some other surfaces, so the white coat wasn’t quite what I had hoped for. While looking for a nice spot overlooking the river, however, I spotted a surface that was quite conducive to a blanket of white: the field at the Bismarck Community Bowl. I’m sure it has to do with the height of natural grass as opposed to the artificial playing surface. Oh well, there will be May snow some other time..despite what the global warming hoaxers want you to believe.

How it’s spelled

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I took today off from work because I’ve got some guys here working on my house. I happened to get sucked into the Discovery Channel program How It’s Made for a little bit. I’m a curious sort, so this program tends to draw me in quite handily. I hit the program guide on my satellite remote and immediately spotted an easy typo: aluminium. That’s a misspelling to us Americans, but in many other places it’s the proper spelling of good ol’ element #13.  In any case, it caught my eye.

It’s a disorder. Really. I often spot typos in a flash, many times in my peripheral vision. Last night when Jay Leno was doing funny newspaper clippings, I spotted a typo in something that was up for two seconds or so and wasn’t related to the joke. The National Atomic Museum I posted about earlier? I spotted typos on the placards there right away. I even took a picture of one, because I’m a nerd:

I’m not saying I don’t make the occasional typo, or otherwise plant my foot firmly in my mouth. On the rare occasion when I go back to proofread my work, I tend to spot most of those as well. But it is an odd “gift” to possess, and can cause one to find one’s self nitpicking the Discovery Channel.

Where Eagles Fly

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I couldn’t get the Sammy Hagar tune out of my head Saturday as a friend and I hiked our way up to an eagle’s nest…thus the title of this post. It was COLD, too! We stood nearby as a pair of eagles nervously checked us out. We kept our distance in an effort to minimize our disruption of their routine, and took lots of photos of them perching in the trees and circling overhead. Sadly, it was a very gray day…so I blued up the sky a bit in Photoshop. Now that my friend has clued me in on the location of this nest, I hope to be able to visit them often! Maybe I’ll come away with some cool eagle photos, and if I’m lucky they’ll grow accustomed to being photographed.

Rocket, baby…yeah

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I couldn’t resist dropping a Def Leppard lyric into the title of this post! I had some time on my hands Monday, so I geeked out and perused the National Atomic Museum, also known as the National Museum of Nuclear Science and Technology. What can I say…I’m a nerd! While there were large sections of the museum devoted to nuclear medicine, nuclear power, and even nuclear weirdness, I of course focused on the fireworks. If it’s space-based or makes a very big explosion, I’m there!

Ever wonder what a GPS satellite looks like? Wonder no more. There was also a display highlighting the different types of satellites used to detect other nations’ nuclear tests and stuff, such as the Vela and DSP (Defense Support Program) satellites. They even had sample payloads on display.

These are the three stages of rocket motors of an ICBM. Note that the fourth stage has cones where the warheads would go. I didn’t see anything resembling Boston hanging around the third stage, probably because I would make an 80s music reference if they did. Oops, I did it anyway!

The portable, or “suitcase” nuke. Designed to be humped into enemy territory by SEALs or other special forces. Doesn’t look very light… I’m not sure I’d want to have to lug that thing into a hostile area!

Cones. These are nose cones from missiles, the left having been tested to see the effects of reentry from space. I can’t believe I actually touched something that’s been in outer space! Hey, there weren’t any signs…

I won’t bore you with all the rocket, missile, bomb, and warhead photos I took. This is just a sample. The one in the back is released from a plane and parachutes down. That wicker-looking bundle in the background is the chute. The chute decelerates the 2,500 pound bomb from 920mph to 50mph in about two seconds!

Fat Man, right. Little Boy, left. Just like the ones that stopped World War Two. Thankfully it only took two, since there were some extras left to put in the museum I guess we probably had some more queued up and ready to drop.

The Titan rocket. This was my last stop before the gift store. I somehow resisted the urge to buy all kinds of positively geeky things there! That left just enough room in my carryon bag to bring home some toys for my little boys.

The museum is working toward building a new facility and expanding quite a bit. They also have a lot of science classes and special activities there, something that would be really cool for the kids. So if you’re in the mood to fly to New Mexico, stop on in! The geek in you will be pleased.

Home Depot closure leaves dozens homeless

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Upon hearing the announcement of Home Depot’s impending closure, my thoughts immediately jumped to two things: first, where do I get my Cable Cuffs? That one was easy: here! Second, what happens to the birds?

These little birdies make their nests in the bottom of the pallets on which much of the merchandise is shipped and stored. At one point I saw three little fledgelings poking their heads out of one of the pallets… what’s going to happen to such feathered fellows once Home Depot goes away?

They’re also going to lose a good source of valuable nutrition, as nobody will be leaving bags of seed around or spilling it on the concrete floor. Sadly, these little birdies will have to go back into the harshness of the wild world.

Many employees are going to be impacted by the closure of our beloved Home Depot. We loyal customers (I hate Lowe’s) are going to feel the effects as well. But who thinks of the birds? I do.

By the way, Home Depot claims it is closing fifteen or so of its stores because they’re underperforming. Could I possibly have been a little clairvoyant when I banged out this joking blog post a couple years back?