Mad Man
The most sobering video from Japan's earthquake
If you haven't seen this video, it is the most telling I've ever seen regarding a tsunami. The power of water is clearly displayed. It's long, about 5 minutes, but you will get a new appreciation for what the people in Japan are dealing with now in its aftermath. link ...
Antique Tackle Show this weekend
For any fishing friends out there, assuming I have some, there is a big antique tackle collectors show this weekend at the Days Inn Conference Center. That won't mean much to some of you, but antique lures are highly collectable and some bring really big prices. I was talking with ...
Stressed at Work? You're Not Alone
It might not come as a big surprise, but according to a recent Harris Interactive Poll reported by thinkstock.com, more than 3/4 of the working population feels anxiety caused by stress at work. The most common cause was low pay from the job, which 14% of respondents said they were ...
Is anyone going to win the office pool?
Everyone who put a buck in the NCAA men's basketball office pool is scratching their collective head, trying to figure out what happened. (Does anyone bet on the women's tournament?) No one could have guessed the combination of Final Four teams that came to pass. Everyone around here assumed either ...
Quote of the week- or decade
I suspect this quote from Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post won't make anyone happy, but I think it's profound in light of what we have seen transpire in our nation's economy over the past decade. I've said to friends we're in a shakedown period, where a very large percentage, ...
Big hole golf - a fun idea
Unfortunately I won't be able to play in the golf tournament tomorrow at Pine Needles, but it's got to be a fun event. I'm as serious about the game as the next hacker, but the idea of putting to a golf cup that's 15 inches wide makes me salivate. Think ...
Date night and the Oscars
Took my bride out for a date last Friday night and we went to see The King's Speech. I'm glad we did, though it was odd that there was not a single young person in the theatre. Maybe they'd all seen it already. Anyway, we went to The Black Swan ...
As the Mid-East Rumbles
My thoughts after watching the developments in Libya the past few days...more questions than answers... When things first started shaking loose in Egypt a few weeks ago, I wondered out loud in the office if we would see a ring of fire around the Mediterranean Sea in the near future. ...
Sam Bush fires it up in Raleigh
Raleigh is beginning to get some notice as a music scene, with lots of action downtown in the pubs and restaurants, but last night the best show in town was Sam Bush and his band, featuring Scott Vestal on banjo at the Progress Energy Center. If you've never seen Bush ...
Watson ushers in a new era of Artificial Intelligence
My next door neighbor is a retired psychology professor and when we first met he said one of his primary interests is in artificial intelligence. Haven't talked to Mike yet, to get a reaction after a new supercomputer named Watson smashed its competition in Jeopardy over the past three days. ...
The National Anthem
Christina Aguilera's tortured attempt at the national anthem prior to the Super Bowl was the worst I've ever heard. If there was ever a case of a singer falling in love with her own voice and then forgetting the words to the song, this would be exhibit A. It was ...
Icy things in my yard
For the past year I've been combing my yard with my camera and an eye for close-up images that caught my attention. During the recent ice storm, I spent a couple of hours slipping around and ended up with these images, which are posted on our photo galleries. In the ...
Living proof of ACC's forgettable year
There has been a lot of talk about the relative weakness in the ACC basketball picture this year, with only Duke showing the league's customary strength. While I think UNC will continue to improve over the ACC season, there are not many other teams who seem to stand tall in ...
In the name of security
On t.v. news the other night there was a story about armed drone airplanes and how effective they have been as a weapon against the "ghost" army that opposes US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. I wondered at the time how long it would be before the idea of using ...
Perfect day
Sometimes in a kid's life, everything comes together perfectly to make a memory so powerful that, 20 years later, you say to your old friend, "remember that time..." Sunday was just such a day; a perfect snowstorm, not too cold, no school, and friends around who's moms said it was ...
Our Christmas Cactus Bloomed Again Today
This morning our Christmas cactus bloomed for the first time in several years. Its not a big deal really, except this single flower marks something of a rebirth, and stands as a symbol of hope. We've had the plant for 28 years, having received it when my mother passed away. ...
Poking around Pittsboro on a winter afternoon
Following the Carriage Christmas Parade on Saturday, Leilani and I headed off on an uncertain path for the afternoon, and ended up in Pittsboro. It's about 45 minutes or so from here, about half way between Chapel Hill and Sanford. Pittsboro is an interesting town, full of art and antique ...
A different idea for Thanksgiving dinner
Pity the poor Thanksgiving cooks around the country tomorrow. They will slave for hours, sometimes days, to put together a perfect feast, working to time it such that everyone sits down at the same time and the food will still be piping hot. Twenty minutes later, the food is devoured, ...
America changed forever on this day
For the boomer generation, it must have been somewhat like Pearl Harbor Day was to our parents. No matter where you were or what you were doing, you remember the exact moment when you heard President Kennedy had been shot. I missed school that day in 1963 but was feeling ...
On the election results
Seems to me through observing various Congressional makeups over the years that our country is best served when one party controls the House and the other party controls the Senate, because neither side can run away entirely without support from the other. There has to be real compromise to get ...
