Mark Turner

On The Road

I’m in Annapolis tonight and tomorrow, by the way, on the front end of a week on the road. Wednesday through Friday I’ll be in Brownstown, Pennsylvania outside of Lancaster in the heart (or so I assume) of Pennsylvania Dutch country. If the install there goes well, I could be headed home on Thursday, but I’ve got Friday scheduled just in case.

Next week I return to Annapolis to attend a training session and then to do another installation. Two travel weeks back-to-back is unusual, but I’ll make the best of it. Working directly with customers is one of my favorite parts of my job.

Weird Al Coming to Raleigh

My buddy rarousse alerts me to Weird Al Yankovic’s upcoming show in Raleigh August 5th. Alas, I can’t go, as we’ll still be in Washington state, wrapping up our vacation.

I was sixteen when I last saw Weird Al in concert. It was 1985 and I was working at Carowinds, where he and his band played at the Paladium. Al puts on a pretty good show: just the kind of kookiness you’d expect from him.

I see from the above link that Al is playing the Paladium again this tour. I wonder if he’ll look around and notice I’m not there?

Alcohol

Alcohol
Barenaked Ladies
Words & Music by Stephen Duffy & Steven Page

Alcohol, my permanent accessory
Alcohol, a party-time necessity
Alcohol, alternative to feeling like yourself
Oh alcohol, I still drink to your health

I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol

Forget the cafe latte, screw the raspberry iced tea
A Malibu and Coke for you, a G&T for me
Alcohol, your songs resolve like
my life never will
When someone else is picking up the bill
Continue reading →

The Last Run of the Norfolk and Western 611

When the kids see me at the computer, they like to ask to see a train video. Today I decided to find a video of a steam train. That’s when I found clips from the last steam run Norfolk Southern ever made: the Norfolk and Western 611 excursion train making its last run to its final resting place in Roanoke, Virginia in 1994. I wish I had known about it then.

Take a look at these clips on YouTube. Hear that steam whistle? Haunting, isn’t it? I can imagine what it must have been like in the 1950’s, lying awake on a rainy night and hearing that lonely whistle sounding across the dark landscape. That whistle has soul. No diesel’s air horn will ever sound like that.

The 611 was well-prepared for its retirement by its Norfolk Southern crews. It is now on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Just last month it was rolled out of the roundhouse, still looking ready to go.

I’ve got to visit the 611 the next time I’m in Roanoke!

Intrepid Earth

Every time I fire up Google Earth I marvel at how much fun it is to zoom around the Earth from the comfort of my easy chair. The other night, a friend sent a Google Maps link to India’s Alang shipyard: the place where supertankers and other ships go to die.

Zooming around the imagery of Alang, I spotted an aircraft carrier waiting to be dismantled. That lead to a Google search of its identity, revealing it to be the former British Royal Navy HMS Vengeance. While the story of Alang is fascinating in itself (and worth a read, or a look on Google Earth), I happily discovered a site that documents these Google Earth finds:
Intrepid Earth.

Intrepid Earth scours the world through Google Earth, bringing you the good stuff. As a former “spook,” I was pleased to see the all the military and defense-related images, such as Iran’s Bandar Abbas naval base or Russia’s behemoth Typhoon-class submarine. Intrepid Earth makes for a great tour guide.

MT.Net says check it out!

New Theme for MT.Net: Random Image

I’ve chosen a new theme for MT.Net: Random Image! It randomly rotates the photo on the banner, so it should keep things interesting.

I will soon stock it with my own photos. I hope to take some shots of Raleigh landmarks to add to the rotation but I have surprisingly few of those at the moment.

AT&T DSL for $10/month!

BoingBoing pointed out the secret deal where one can get DSL service from AT&T for $10/month.

BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow says AT&T is evil and doesn’t deserve your business. I say that’s precisely the reason everyone should sign up. At $10/month, AT&T must surely lose money on every line. Therefore, sign up as many of your friends and family as you can!

The Consumerist: AT&T’s Secret $10 DSL
Bellsouth: Bellsouth FastAccess DSL Term Agreement Plans Available

Ebola: Now Available Locally

I once read a book called The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, a true story of an Ebola outbreak in Northern Virginia in 1989. I think its one of the most terrifying books I’ve ever read, particularly since I lived nearby around that time. So maybe I’m just being overly paranoid, but I’m not too keen about our government’s potential plans to set up a bioweapons lab in Butner. The NBAF would be playing with fun stuff like anthrax, Ebola, avian flu, and other deadly pathogens right on our doorstep.

The Butner facility is being deemed a replacement for the aging Plum Island facility in Long Island, NY. Plum Island has generated a lot of attention with books like these, detailing alleged safety violations at the bioweapons facility.

Hey, I like job growth as much as anyone. I just don’t like the potential of infecting the local population with some plague in order to get it. I’m thinking the NBAF is one Yankee transplant to which we can say “no, thanks.”

Telling Time By Teeth

I’ve got another dentist appointment today, one of my every-six-month checkups. While taking care of my teeth is not news, the fact that another six months has gone by is. To me, anyway. Whenever I’m making my next appointment, I always think wow, six months is a long time. Then its here before I know it.

Where does the time go?