Electric car

I’ve been mulling over purchasing an electric car (well, one that goes farther than a block, anyway). I found one that’s being sold locally and is in pretty good shape. One thing about electric cars is the question of range. Depending on the batteries used, an electric car can range from 30 to 100 miles without being recharged. Thus, with some trips it becomes important to know where a recharging station might be found.

This reminded me that the City of Raleigh announced some sort of electric car partnership in February. In partnership with an initiative called Project Get Ready, Mayor Meeker announced that experimental charging stations would be installed around downtown, which would seem to solve the charging station problem.
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So this is what jogging’s like

Today I decided to do something to justify my low resting heart rate! This was a morning that Kelly and I had to ourselves, as the kids were away on their first friends-house sleepover (my mom rightly pointed out that this sleepover wasn’t their first as they’ve stayed with her and my dad before). We awoke before today’s non-stop rain began, put on our jogging gear, and took the dog with us on a path around the neighborhoods. Though I haven’t done any real running in a year or so, I managed to keep up with Kelly and the dog.

Kelly estimates we made it around the 2.5 mile course in about 25 minutes. There were several pit stops for the dog as well as pauses to chat with friends we saw on the way, so its not a definitive time. Regardless, it sure felt good to get out there!

Mater plants

I picked up some tomato plants a neighbor was giving away. She says they came from the governor’s garden.

The plants are probably two feet tall and are of different tomato varieties, one of which being the Cherokee purple variety that we loved last summer.

I’ve been well behind getting our garden going. I don’t expect to have much in the way of vegetables or fruit come fall. Getting some plants that are already sprouting flowers provides a much-needed head start.

Mordecai Historic Park Blast from the Past

We got back from Mordecai Historic Park’s Blast from the Past and had a terrific time! There were lots of kid-friendly things to do as well as lots of historic things to see. We watched as a team from a local antique automobile association put together a disassembled Model T in about than 8 minutes. We also watched a fashion show detailing the latest 19th century ladies fashions. We also got in a tour of the home and a tour of part of downtown Raleigh on the Mordecai trolley. It was a lot of tun!

Busy day ahead

There’s a lot going on around town this weekend, particularly today. We’re heading over soon to Mordecai Historic Park for its first annual “Blast from the Past” day. Re-enactors in period garb will be wandering around the park, leading tours. There’ll be music, kids activities, free tours of the house, and the most popular attraction – free trolley rides around town! As a boardmember at Mordecai, it will be my chance to see what the public thinks of our work.

Today is also the first day of Artsplosure, the city’s annual arts festival. We’ll wander around the downtown streets, checking out all of the art, music, and festivities. It should be a great time, and as long as the weather stays dry it should be an ideal day to see everything.

This afternoon the kids are heading over to their very first sleepover, leaving Kelly and I with our first 24 hours alone in a long while. We plan to head back to Artsplosure to hear Buckwheat Zydeco play at 8 PM. After that we may wander around downtown and take in some of the nightlife. It should be a fun-filled day!

Back from Fred Fletcher awards

Tonight was the Fred Fletcher awards ceremony, during which I presented two awards: one to Mordecai Historic Park volunteer Beth Cobb and one to Cub Scout Pack 314 for their cleanup efforts on the Durant Nature Park greenway. I greatly enjoyed meeting all the great volunteers and finding out about all they do for the city. And Fletcher Theater is a beautiful facility. The event was a lot of fun.

There was one drawback from tonight, and one I seem to get more and more. Travis was excited to see me (briefly) home from work and asked hopefully if I could practice basketball with him. I had to tell him no because I had to get ready for the presentation. He didn’t seem outwardly disappointed, but I felt bad about turning him down.

Community service is all fine and good but too often it comes between me and my family. I don’t want to be remembered as the dad who never did anything with his family.

House Bill 1180 will deregulate N.C. phone service

A bill is sneaking its way through the state legislature that will effectively deregulate telephone service in the state. House Bill 1180 will free telecom companies to charge whatever they deem necessary, without regard to citizens having any other choices.

Not surprisingly, the AARP is against the proposal, and urges its membership to let legislators know. If you don’t want telecoms having free reign to do what they want in this state (and we’ve seen how that works out, haven’t we?), please do the same!

Suiting up

If I thought I was busy the past few days (and I was), it’s about to get busier for me! Thursday evening I have my usual Mordecai House board meeting at 6, but will be leaving it before 6:30 on my way to the Fletcher Theater. I’ve volunteered to present awards at the Fred Fletcher volunteer awards ceremony Thursday evening, so I’ll be dressing up and introducing two award winners at the presentation. I get to stand in front of people and speak again: what could be more fun? Then next week begins my crunch week: East CAC meeting on Monday evening, Raleigh CAC meeting Wednesday, and Parks and Rec meeting Thursday evening.

Life: it doesn’t stop until it stops.

V-chip

Anyone remember the V-chip? That wondrous addition to televisions which would automatically keep televised Yucky Bad Stuff from entering our homes? Does anyone actually use it? And why does the FCC still think it needs to be a nanny now that every TV owner can automatically filter out “filth?”

Windows Live really, really cares

I reported a phishing scam that was using a Windows Live email address to Microsoft. Below is the response I got. While I feel better knowing the rep “can only imagine how inconvenient” the phishing email was, I don’t feel it rises to the “group hug” level implied by this response!

Hello Mark,

Thank you for writing to Windows Live Hotmail Customer Support. My name is Antonette and I understand that your concern about the message you received involving the customer-care-accounts-unite-dept@live.com account. I can only imagine how inconvenient this may be for you and I understand how important it is to resolve your concern as soon as possible.

Mark, I have checked the customer-care-accounts-unite-dept@live.com account and found that it has been already closed due to violation of our Terms of Use.

You can view our rules and regulations by visiting http://tou.live.com/

We appreciate your continued support as we strive to provide you with the highest quality service available. Thank you for patience and understanding on this matter.

Sincerely,

Antonette C.
Windows Live Hotmail Customer Support