Sunday, March 30, 2008

pileated woodpecker


pileated woodpecker
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


I went hiking at Blue Hills Reservation, today, for almost two hours. It's still a bit cold for hiking, but there were a lot of people out.

While there, I saw this pileated woodpecker hammering away persistently at a tree. I've only seen this kind of bird a few times; they seem to be pretty shy.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

cattails at Cutler


cattails at Cutler
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


I went for a little hike at Cutler Park Reservation today. I started from the south entrance and hiked north to the Charles River.

I'm still trying to decide whether I'll be hiking here, much. For one, the trail is reasonably lengthy, but very flat. I might become bored with it after a few rounds, since I prefer hilly terrain. Secondly, it doesn't feel safe. The trail passes through a tunnel that goes under the raised bed of commuter rail track. The inside of the tunnel is completely covered in layers of graffiti and the trail is littered with garbage, too. It creeped me out walking through that area.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Tank forty-four

Total miles: 16216. Trip miles: 363.5. Gallons: 6.748. Price per gallon: $3.139.

Screen mileage: 50.4 mpg. Tank mileage: 53.9 mpg. A few long (3+ hour) trips. I think the pump cut off before the tank was totally full when I filled it up this time. This could be why the mileage is so good, despite the cold weather.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Tank forty-three

Total miles: 15853. Trip miles: 258.5. Gallons: 5.946. Price per gallon: $3.199.

Screen mileage: 49.1 mpg. Tank mileage: 43.4 mpg. Mostly local trips in cold weather.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Snowboards


Snowboards
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


Some people had left their backpacks at the foot of the observation tower at Blue Hills Reservation. It was a surprise to see snowboards in the packs. It did snow yesterday, but only an inch or so. I wonder if they found anywhere to use them.

Boston skyline


Boston skyline
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


I took a nice hike over at Blue Hills Reservation today. The weather was a bit raw, but not too cold once you got moving.

This view was taken from the observation tower along the Skyline Trail. You can see the Boston skyline very faintly in the distance from here.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Tank forty-two

Total miles: 15594. Trip miles: 414.8. Gallons: 7.777. Price per gallon: $3.159.

Screen mileage: 50.7 mpg. Tank mileage: 53.5 mpg. One long distance trip, the rest local.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

How to take your credit on a hybrid

I feel like a dunce for struggling to figure out how to take the federal tax credit on my new Prius that I bought last year. You might think that the numerous IRS articles on the tax credit for buying a hybrid would reference the correct form to use. Well, if they did, I couldn't find it mentioned. So far as I can tell, it's done using Form 8910, which is used to fill in line 55 of Form 1040. When I first discovered Form 8910, I noticed that Part II of the form refers to business use of the car, which made me think it was a form for business use.

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Tank forty-one

Total miles: 15179. Trip miles: 240.5. Gallons: 6.391. Price per gallon: $3.129.

Screen mileage: 41.6 mpg. Tank mileage: 37.6 mpg. Worst mileage I've had in a long time. Trips were mostly local and short.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

A review of "The Fifth Vial"

by Michael Palmer

I bought The Fifth Vial to read on a plane ride. It is a medical conspiracy/suspense novel. It suffers from a few problems.

First, it could use a lot of trimming; I often lost interest when the author sidetracked into lengthy scenarios that did little to advance the plot or meaningfully develop characters. A suspense novel should carry you along, and this one did not do the trick for me. Second, the premise is so implausible, the conspiracy so broad, that it is just too unbelievable. This is another reason that the novel kept failing to engage me; I just couldn’t suspend my disbelief. Finally, I found most of the characters to be composed of cardboard. The bad guys were like cartoons who would snarl and sneer. The only character that interested me was Natalie Reyes, who was fleshed out in a rather reasonable fashion for the starring role in a suspense novel (by this I mean to say that suspense novels are not exactly well known for interesting characterizations).

Admittedly, I have a lot of stuff going on in my life now, so I’m probably a hard case when it comes to being distractible. If you like the suspense novels of Dan Brown, you might like this. But it’s nowhere near the quality of The Da Vinci Code. It’s more along the lines of Digital Fortress, which suffers from similar problems.

I should mention that it is well worth reading the "Author's Note" which starts on p 501. Please, if you haven't already, consider signing up as an organ donor.

Monday, March 03, 2008

Fort Lauderdale beach


Fort Lauderdale Strip beach
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


While in Florida, I got to dip my toes in the ocean off of Fort Lauderdale. It was a lovely break from the cold northern winter!

Las Olas


Las Olas
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


This is a look down a little alley way off Las Olas. The kids seemed to be enjoying their day!

Las Olas sculptures


Las Olas sculptures
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


After hanging out at the Jazz Festival in Fort Lauderdale, I took a walk over to the Art Festival on Las Olas. These are some interesting mobile animal sculptures that were set up at one of the intersections along Las Olas.

Jazz festival umbrellas


Jazz festival umbrellas
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


I covered both the east and west coasts of Florida on my vacation... this is a view of a colorful umbrella at the Jazz Festival in Fort Lauderdale last weekend.

Shells on the beach at Sanibel


Shells
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

My winter vacation


Sanibel beach
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.


I've been down to Florida for a little fun and sun. It was heavenly! I even went swimming along this here beach.

February - Locked in the Cabinet

For February, I read Locked in the Cabinet, Robert Reich’s memoirs of his tenure as Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Labor. Well worth reading! This book gives us a unique, insider’s view of how and why it is so difficult to accomplish anything in government.