October 2009

There were 43 posts published in October 2009 (this is page 4 of 5).

Weatherford auction

Yesterday we drove home from T’s soccer game to see signs for an auction at a neighborhood house. We stopped by to see what was going on and found the auction was at a home near ours that belonged to the late Rebecca Weatherford, who used to own the property our house was built on. The house’s items were being auctioned.

I was looking through the home when I recognized Dan Blue, who is handling the estate affairs. He told me some history of the place: that it used to be a dairy farm from the 1920s to the 1960s that encompassed about 70 acres. There was a plantation-style home that dated from the late 1800s but burned down long ago. My neighbor once told me he used to play on the majestic porch of the now long-gone home. I was fascinated to learn that such an old home was once nearby, and saddened that it no longer exists.
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Celestial sunrise show

Saturn, Mercury, and Venus at sunrise

On my Thursday morning walk through the neighborhood park, I saw a particularly spectacular sunrise. Three lights in the sky hung above the rising sun. I recognized Venus of course, but the two smaller lights were a mystery.

My copy of Stellarium told me today what they were: Saturn and Mercury! If you’re up at sunrise, you should take a look at this wonderful celestial show!

Crystal Ball

Crystal Ball (YouTube)
Keane

Who is the man I see
where I’m supposed to be?
I lost my heart, I buried it too deep
under the iron sea.

Oh, crystal ball, crystal ball,
Save us all, tell me life is beautiful,
Mirror, mirror on the wall.

Lines ever more unclear,
Not sure I’m even here,
The more I look the more I think that I’m
starting to disappear.
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LCROSS go bye bye

NASA’s LCROSS mission to the moon comes to a crashing halt around 7:35 AM ET this morning. You can watch it crash into the lunar pole on NASA TV.

Update 08:00: LCROSS is no more. I couldn’t see much of anything significant when it crashed. Also, I find it funny that NASA applauds this kind of moon landing: a crash! Hey, this is one NASA mission even I could be in charge of!

Post-election stress disorder

It was a long, long day on Tuesday when I volunteered to be a poll greeter for the campaigns of Rodger Koopman and Russ Stephenson. My feet hit the floor at 5 AM and I basically wasn’t off my feet until midnight that night.

After showering that morning, I threw my umbrella, a folding chair, and a bunch of campaign signs into the car and headed out to nearby polling places to make sure signs were out. Then I picked up more from Rodger’s house and headed north.

I arrived at my assigned polling place at 6:35 to find the parking lot full already. My Odom counterpart, Collin, was already there greeting voters. I set up my chair closer to the “no campaigning past this sign” limit, held up my sign and smiled in the drizzle at the disinterested voters who walked past.
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This blog is turkey based

I stopped into Subway for lunch in-between working the polls yesterday and ordered myself a Cold Cut Combo. It was then I saw an odd notice on the menu board:

“All meats are turkey based.”

I couldn’t help but interrupt the woman making my sandwich.

“Excuse me, what does that statement ‘all meats are turkey based’ mean?”

“It means all the meat is turkey,” she answered without looking up.

I was incredulous. “Even the ham?”

“Yes, even the ham.”

I’ve got nothing against turkey – I eat it frequently. When you’re selling a sandwich meant to have turkey and ham in it you expect to get real ham.

Maybe the next time I pay for my Subway sub, I’ll hand them money with a disclaimer that says “all currency is newspaper-based.” We’ll see how they like that!

Election Night

My friend Rodger Koopman lost his Raleigh City Council District B race to John Odom. I spent the day outside a polling place meeting voters and asking them to support Rodger. My sense around midday was that Rodger was getting one out of three votes – a prediction that was eerily accurate when my precinct’s numbers came in.

Though it might seem otherwise at first glance, elections are not won or lost on election day: by then it’s too late. If you haven’t done your homework in the weeks leading up to the election there’s little you can do to turn it around at the last hour. I’m still analyzing what went wrong but it’s a shame that a fine candidate like Rodger Koopman won’t get another term.

Election Day

Tuesday is Election Day, where Raleigh will be voting for candidates for mayor and city council. I’m taking the day off to work the polls for Rodger Koopman and Russ Stephenson. Then afterward I hope to celebrate some victories at some downtown establishments.

You won’t get much blogging from me for the next 24 hours. Hopefully the next post will be a positive one!