this site has been retired…

…in favor of a new site I’ve created that is heavy on feeds of your posts. Take a look and contact me to find out how to share your events, links and adventures. I hope you will visit soon.
Peace,
P.

all in all, a good day

 

Pinellas and Pasco chapters of the Florida Native Plant Society together! Ferns, blooming orchids, and some Harrisella with old flower stems, nesting hawks, a friendly turkey, June in FL. Everyone survived. Well, not my pants. I heart Brooker Creek Preserve. Thanks, Ecologist Craig Huegel, for showing us a special place few people have seen.

Click for a larger image, back button to return.

new baby birds in this yard

After a few days of trying I barely managed some pix of our precocious baby Titmouse, already landing on my potted plants (despite my yelling) and hanging upside down in the bougainvillea. While trying for these photos I noticed two baby mockingbirds watching me calmly. It’s been a good spring. Click on the photos to see an 800×800 size.
Peace,
P.

goomba news

I love this news story: no, Goomba’s Pizza of Palm Coast, FL is not open now. It seems people stayed away after the owner pistol-whipped a customer who complained about his calzone. Now there is a report the owner Joey Milano was aka ‘Crazy Joe’ Calco, in witness protection after rolling over on the Bonnano crime family of New York. Seriously? Witness protection placed Joe in FL at a pizza place called Goomba’s? They’ll never find him there! btw my cockatiel Fredo is smarter than Joey. He blamed the customer for the incident but police reviewed his own store security video which showed his nasty attack. Watch it here. He also managed to acquire a sex harassment lawsuit while working at Goomba’s. Way to keep a low profile, Joey. Photo: flagleronline dot com.

walmart put a bible in my pants

This small bible turned up in the buttoned back pocket of some khakis I bought. My receipt shows two polo shirts, pants, chicken tenders and potato logs hot from the deli. Store manager Eric Hirons name and phone number appears as well. I had not decided how I felt about the find when I made two calls to inquire whether the bible was put there by the store. The staff I spoke to seemed badly frightened by the question despite my unemotional tone. I was placed on hold for someone else a total of nine times. Both my calls ended in a hangup after a long hold.

owl has two syllables…

…if you are from the NYC

Here’s a pic of a sleepy screech ow-wul displaying himself to a group from Clearwater Audubon walking in Pilippe Park of Safety Harbor last week. Clearwater does not rest after migration season ends, they go out on walks all summer.

aint gonna go to Barbados

Barbados has a dirty secret: private parklands that attract the migrating birds so they can be shot for sport. Here’s an article that tells the unhappy story efficiently:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/3304078/Barbados-wildfowlers-attacked-over-slaughter-of-birds-migrating-from-US.html

It’s not really a secret but it’s damn hard to find references to it on the internet. Let’s change that. And let’s link the end of the bird’s massacre to the only way Bajans have to make money: tourism. Please post the issue on your blog (or myspace, twitter, facebook or whatever you’ve got) and invoke the tag “aint gonna go to Barbados” every chance you get. If you contact me I will send you a periodic update and suggestions on how you can participate in demanding the end of this.
Peace,
P.

black pepper, so beautiful!

Here it is blooming outside the Cooperative Extension office of Largo on 15 February, undamaged by recent light frost events. The plant has been under cultivation by south Indians at least since the days of the old Tamil Nadu civilization. ‘Pepper’ comes down from the Sanskrit ‘Pippali”. The peppercorns in your mill are dried whole fruits of Piper nigrum. Thanks to our friend Victor for providing scale.

the ashes of Angelo Carbone

This happened right on my street: a firework stand made of two small kit buildings completely burned, the remains of the owner inside. The Sheriffs do not suspect foul play in the death of Angelo Carbone or in the fire.

They don’t? Why was a 40 year old man unable to get out of the small shed? What was he doing there? Sleeping? This is not a firework season. Was he living there? And why did an electrical fault in one building burn both?

Here in the big 34691 we mainly get news stories like this: two guys on their way home from a gentemans club, one beats the other in the car with a fishtank because he did not cough up $3 for gas. Plenty of detail and the story gets repeated all day on local radio and TV. But Angelo’s story interests me a lot more. Why such careless reporting?

hardware failure and bad Geek Squad customer service

I wonder if I will bring it up?

So, one day my computer just freezes. I reboot and start a backup but that process does not finish, my machine freezes again and it does not come back. When the power button is pressed there are two quick beeps followed by six beeps. Hardware failure! My computer is a 2005 model, maybe the RAM memory is bad since the problem is intermittent? Maybe it’s the cockateils. I am further at sea than Will Bleakey. I decide to take the machine in for service at Best Buy, the only place open this time of the evening.

At Best Buy I explain the trouble and the beeps. The computer boots up (wtf?) and they run some diagnostic and announce it shows nothing. The charges are explained. $200 to diagnose, $100 for labor, $50 per ddr memory chip – which is twice the street price. Time to fix: 5-7 days. OMG it’s got to be done faster than that! “Sorry, there’s like 30 machines ahead of yours”.

Day 4: I call the store to obtain a progress report on my computer. Someone takes a message, no one calls back.
Day 5: I call the store to obtain a progress report on my computer. A disinterested sales associate takes a message for the geeks to say I would prefer to take my machine back rather that wait any longer.
Day 6: I call the store to obtain a progress report. The phone just rings.
Day 7: I call the store to obtain a progress report. The phone just rings. I wonder if they have blocked me.
Day 8: I go to the store to obtain a progress report. I am told that my machine is in the midst of a ‘bench test’ that cannot be interrupted.
Day 9: I call the store after work to say I need my machine and ask to speak with a manager. I’m put on forever hold. Second time I call I’m told by a young and listless-sounding person that someone will call me. No one calls back.
Day 10: I call the store when it opens to remind them I want my machine back and ask to speak with a manager. Late in the day I get a message to call Bob at the store. The phone just rings.
Day 11: I call the store when it opens. A contempt-filled voice tells me my machine is ‘ready’. I fetch it home and on the second test it fails exactly as before. Reason does not return to me until late in the day (after the administration of a tranquilizing agent). I begin again where I left off 11 days ago and, to my surprise, my troubleshooting isolates the problem – cockateil damage. It is Sunday evening and I manage to get back in business just in time to record Nitro Circus. Joy!

An addendum. The store wrote me a considerate form email to say:
“Thank you for putting your trust in the geek squad. We hope that your product has been serviced to your satisfaction. If you are displeased with your experience for any reason,or there is anything else you need, please contact the Geek Squad Precinct. We aim to make things right.”

Thanks for your indulgence of this rant.
Best,
P.