A Farm west of Madison, Wisconsin on a foggy day.

A set of tree views as seen through a fisheye lens

Select here to see a set of tree views by fisheye lens

How I do I know if I have hail damage to my roof? Can I tell from the ground?

If you have had hail in your area, to determine if the shingles have been damaged a close inspection of the shingles has to be made from the roof. Damage is often missed from a ground level inspection.

LeeAnnRubsam.com

As I explained yesterday, we have been visiting in the rural outskirts of Pittsburgh. 

I have been doing quite a bit of walking, partly out of desire to see some scenery, partly to find temporary solitude.  There is a hiking path about one-half mile from Susan’s house.  Getting there is semi-dangerous, as there is only a narrow shoulder along a sharply curving highway to walk on, and traffic is clipping.  I take consolation in not seeing many wildlife corpses on the road, which probably means that if I keep my eyes open, I will not end up as roadkill either.  I instruct the family before leaving that if I am not back in two hours, it is time to mount up a posse and come looking for me.

The hiking trail is an old railroad line, with a long tunnel cut through a hillside for added interest.  Woods adorn both sides, and Susan’s house is up on a bluff overlooking a creek which cuts between the trail and the residential area.

It seems that Pittsburghians do not behave quite like Wisconsinites.  The folks out on the trail are mostly intense types.  They jog, they stride energetically with arms flailing wildly, they are pulled along by unruly pitbulls, but they do not acknowledge each other’s existence as they meet.  My mother taught me as a small child that when we pass someone on the street, we smile pleasantly and say “hi.”  Pittsburghians appear to be very serious about whatever they do, including conscientiously obeying their mothers’ instructions never to speak to strangers.  I perversely insist on accosting them with a ”hi,”  although I quickly discovered this is not kosher. The typical response is a surprised stare, as if they have discovered an intriguing new species of insect and are not quite certain whether to squash it or let it entertain them.  I keep trying, in hopes of improving their standard of civilized behavior, and I sometimes even get a response, but it is difficult to change a culture in a mere week’s time.

The trail is not heavily traveled in November, so I feel a little nervous about encountering lone men when no one else is in sight, especially in the dimly lit tunnel.  I am alert to my surroundings at all times, and listen carefully to assess the danger factor.  If the guy is breathing heavily as he approaches, that is probably good.  Loud snorting, wheezing, asthmatic gasping, and pre-cardiac arrest noises are even better.  All of these mean I can run faster than them, and that predator tactics are the last thing on their mind.

One of Susan’s friends informed me that in the summertime, the men are not the main alarm factor on the trail.  When it is warm, the copperheads enjoy sunning themselves smack dab in the middle of the road.  When they get too warm, they cool off in the tunnel — and no doubt lie in wait for silly Wisconsin women who never once imagined that a ten-foot-wide gravelled road would be a snake resort. 

I passed a pleasant elderly couple along the trail one afternoon.  (They said “hi” back and smiled — probably natives of Wisconsin, not Pittsburgh.)  I suppose they were in their seventies.  She was round and he was very lean — like Jack Sprat and wife.

As I approached  the tunnel on my return leg of the hike, I encountered Mrs. Sprat peering intently around the edge of it.  Jack was on the other end, poking around in some weeds.  Shortly after I entered, what I thought was a teenager tore past me in the fastest sprint I’d ever seen outside of the Olympics.  But it wasn’t a teenager.  As he got nearer, I realized it was Jack.  Seventy … spry as a youngster … faster than a speeding bullet … no red cape  or other super hero props though.

“How’d I do?”  Jack asked, lightly puffing.

“Thirty-one seconds,”  Mrs. Sprat replied.

But the light puffing didn’t subside or even continue evenly.  “EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH!” Jack commenced gasping in high-pitched apparent distress.  I wished I had remembered to bring the cell phone.  Obviously Jack was going to need an ambulance, and no telling how long it would take one to get there and whether the driver would know that he could disregard the hiking trail rule, “no motorized vehicles allowed.”

I turned to gaze in horror.  Mrs Sprat giggled.  Jack didn’t giggle.  He just kept on with the “EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH!”  At that point I figured that either she was rather looking forward to an early widowhood, or else Jack and the Mrs. just hang out at the tunnel on a regular basis, waiting to show off their stuff for whatever unsuspecting Wisconsinite comes along, hoping to scare the daylights out of their victim.

I headed on down the trail, and I noticed when I got to the end that the Sprats, with no “EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH! EEH-HUH! EEH-HUHs” in earshot, were not far behind. 

LeeAnnRubsam.com

So after a LONG quarter at MSOE and a week of finals my dad and I went to Devils Lake for a couple days to do some camping. The weekend was very relaxing and the weather was perfect. We got up there late Friday night and had to set up camp in the dark. Not a big deal though seeing as how we had power at our site. Just plugged in the halogen work light and it was a breeze. Around 11:30 we crawled into our sleeping bags and crashed out.

I awoke to the sun rising through the foggy morning air. Unable to go back to sleep I grabbed my camera and took a few photos of our campsite and the woods around us. Once we both were awake and functioning dad decided breakfast and some coffee were in order. Hit the log cabin resteraunt for some hash browns, biscuit & gravy and eggs. Great way to start off a morning of camping. Later in the day we had the campfire going and cooking some food over the hot coals. Dad made a killer shish-ka-bob of steak, green peppers and potatoes on the charcoal grill for dinner. Just add some brown rice to that and we ate well. Through out the night we kept adding wood to the fire while we kicked back and talked. After a couple hours of relaxation we got antsy and decided a coffee run was in order. After returning full of caffeine we got the fire roaring again and got back to the telling stories…

What does this have to do with motivation and inspiration? Spend the weekend camping with your Dad and you’ll see. Even after twenty-six years being around him you learn new things about him. A lot of it comes not only from what he says, but how he says it. I’ve never been good telling people how I feel or think about something flat out. So I’ve found that I try to explain to them how or why I do what I do. It lets people see and understand what you’re thinking on their own because sometimes the summary of your thoughts don’t do them justice. Rather than reading the summary of a book, you can get a better understanding of what it’s saying by reading the whole book.

As for inspiration, take a look at the pictures I took on that foggy morning. The last one is my new desktop image.

Oh hey everyone, it’s a whole new two-page True Story About. This time, the “about” refers to Graffiti, not in the broader, more general sense, but rather a specific instance of it. It happened one day in… well, I’ll let the story speak for itself.

It’s the first one in this series that I’ve written outside of area code 55057. Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good weekend.

Going shopping tomorrow?

Ask yourself what local, independently owned businesses would you really miss if they disappeared and make sure to get into those stores tomorrow.

For every $100 you spend locally, $68 stays in the local community.

If you shop or eat at national chains, only $43 stays in your community.

If you shop on-line nothing stays local, did you hear that? Nothing.

Rather than suck up to the giant conglomerates drink from the fountain of pure and  local and rest in the knowledge that almost $.70 of each dollar you spend will go back into your community.

I wrote about this in more detail a few days ago and also here.

P.S.  Last year I wrote about spending $100 locally. (So okay, maybe I did have this idea first.) But seriously, it’s pretty good.  Read it.

P.P.S.  Obviously, this is geared toward Madison, but the same applies to any local economy.  Just do it!

Let me know your three choices whether you are here locally in Madison or elsewhere!

Freeskier magazine has posted the finalist videos for the annual Salomon Backyard Jib contest.  The setups and skills these skiers whip out further proves that massive elevations aren’t necessary for honing the park skillZ.  In some cases snow isn’t even needed… which just so happens to suit the Midwest perfectly at this time!  Check out the four finalists on Freeskier.com

The BerryLaker pointed out a while back there would be a Tea Party in Marinette on Dec. 5th.

Here are the details via the event’s page on Facebook.

Attention Freedom Loving Citizens

We are holding a TEA PARTY on December 5th

at the University of Wisconsin Marinette

Doors will open at 12:00 pm

Speakers will begin at 1:00

Come on out and meet other Conservative minded people!

Here’s your chance to once again show Steve Kagen and the rest of the liberals in Washington and Madison that you’ve had enough of the direction they are trying to take this country and state.  Let them know you’re NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Related articles by Zemanta

• US conservative activists form Tea Party (telegraph.co.uk)
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• Dallas Tea Party activists push back against Gingrich’s straw men (michellemalkin.com)
• Tea Partry Fired Up (berrylaker.blogspot.com)
• Gunpowder Tea, Anyone? (realdebatewisconsin.blogspot.com)

Thanksgiving Day games against the Detroit Lions used to be a tradition for the Green Bay Packers.  Here’s some tradition – the Packers fight song!

Cheer the Packers on to victory while enjoying your Thanksgiving meal.  Game time is 11:30 am CST.

Related articles by Zemanta

• NFL Thanksgiving Day Game Previews (bleacherreport.com)
• Top 4 Thanksgiving Halftime Shows That Made the Gravy Go Bad (ballhype.com)

Happy Thanksgiving.

Craftacular! This Saturday, November, 28^th for 10am-5 pm at the Masonic Temple in downtown Madison. I have a huge range of items, wonderful gifts for your loved ones and yourself. Pillows and Skull drawing will be there, making a rare outing!  More info at Craftacular!

 Identifiers

IPUAC name	Tryptophan or (2S)-2-amino-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic acid
Other names	2-Amino-3-(1H-indol-3-yl)propanoic acid
CAS number	73-22-3 Y
Molecular formula	C11H12N2O2
Molar mass	204.23 g mol-1
Thermodynamic qualities	Phase behaviour Solid, liquid, gas
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 C,100 kPa)

Clinical research has shown mixed results with respect to tryptophan’s effectiveness as a sleep aid, especially in normal patients.

Turkey meat and drowsiness

(information compiled from the ASC,CRC chemical and physics handbook,Wikipedia, and more)

tom braatz           

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