The Backyard Jay Babies - Update

They are a week older now. You can clearly see all 3 of their beaks and skinny little necks. I took my life in my own hands getting this picture. Papa jay was clearly very pissed off that I was near his family as all of a sudden I felt something brush my hair. I looked over on the rail of our steps and there he was giving me a very evil eyeball. Then I quickly moved a branch and stuck the camera in and I got 2 more flybys. I ran inside!

Backyard LIfe

Is there 3? This nest is in the little tree just outside our bathroom window.

Dodgers Win - Again!

Jonathon "Big John" Broxton, closer, 9th inning, 2 outs, into the stretch.....

And yes, I took that picture.

New Twitter Phishing Scam

After Barack Obama and Ashton Kutcher, the latest people to hop on the Twitter bandwagon are cybercriminals. Twitter is a social networking website that allows its users to write “micro-blogs” and since January the site has exploded in popularity. The number of daily visitors has surpassed relative veterans such as Linkedin and Bebo so it should come as no surprise that phishers and other scam artists are following their victims to Twitter.com. What is unusual is the level of sophistication that Twitter phishing has already achieved.

For example, in one widespread phishing attack a hacker creates dozens of dummy Twitter accounts which then begin to "follow" other users. When one of these users decides to check out who's following their micro-blog, they are presented with a link to a site called "tvviter". Notice the trick spelling? Another ploy is to use websites like tinyurl.com which provide redirection services so that victims don't really know where the link will take them. Once they arrive at tvviter.com the victim users find themselves at a fake Twitter login page that is controlled by the phishers. The hackers who set up the imposter web site then use the stolen account passwords to spread adult ads and spyware downloads which can earn big bucks for the phishing hackers. Many users have fallen prey to this phishing scam.

What can you do to stay safe on Twitter and other social networking sites? * Be wary of clicking on any link that looks like “tinyurl.com/kk68ca”, these can take you anywhere on the net!* If you want to preview where the tinyurl link will take you, use the free link preview service at http://www.longurl.org/.* Always double-check the address bar before logging in. Phishing schemes often rely on victims not paying close attention to the URL.* Stay vigilant- the phishers are here to stay, and sooner or later you will be a target.

-- this article courtesy of http://www.digitrust.com/

Credit Screening

Just thought I'd post a couple websites up here that have come to my attention. The first is how to freeze your credit, what it costs and this link only applies to California residences. This link is a government website.

Freezing your credit does not allow any company to run a credit check on you unless you "open" your credit via a PIN. This obviously would stop any identity theft as no business will allow a new account to be opened without a credit check.

The second link is how to opt out of receiving those irritating and potentially dangerous pre-approved credit offers.

These links have been checked and to the best of my knowledge are not false. It is important when surfing the Internet you pay very close attention to whether the site you are visiting is real or an impostor. The Federal Trade Commission has an interesting page on this here. If you have a moment, check it out as it has valuable tips. By the way, for my cousins who are starting to twitter, be very careful of new phishing scams on twitter. I'll post a blog tomorrow on this.

The FTC also has a page detailing the ONLY website authorized to offer you a free credit report. The rest are impostors either trying to get money out of you for doing the same thing that the FTC authorized one does or are trying to capture your personal information to steal your identity.

Homeless #2

I suppose I have a soft spot for some homeless and homeless women in particular. I'm not sure where this comes from but occasionally it drives Dena a little crazy. But that's my job. On a particularly chilly day I was on my way home from the post office and I see this woman waving her arms madly on the street corner. She was shoeless and only had a t-shirt on. She looked extremely dishevelled, cold and perhaps a little off. I was concerned that she had wandered away from her caregiver. No one was stopping and I couldn't help myself.

I stopped and she told me a sad tale of a stolen social security check, how hungry she was, etc. What possessed me I don't know but I offered to get her a jacket and asked her to get in my truck. On the short drive home I began quickly to regret my decision. She reeked so bad I had to open all the windows. I wondered how I would ever get the smell out. At the house I found a brand new UPS jacket that an old roommate had given me, a pair of tennis shoes and some food. I dressed her all up and drove her back to where I picked her up. I suppose in hindsight the entire affair was foolish on my part but I like to think I helped in some way.

Speaking of Homeless #1

In another lifetime I would stop by my local 7-11 every morning on my way to work. Almost every morning there would be a young, tall black fellow there with newspapers and watered down windex asking to clean your windshield. Sometimes I would let him but I have a rule. Never give a homeless man money. It's my rule, yes it's prejudice I suppose, but it's my money. I will buy food, which I did. Regularly we had this exchange, where I'd buy him a pastry for breakfast and my windshield would be cleaned.

Some weeks, I wouldn't see him. After one such absence I struck up a conversation with him and asked where he'd been. He'd been ill and hospitalized. I could see it, he looked terrible. Most mornings after our transaction of sorts I would ponder how he got into this situation and how would he ever get out of it. It was obvious he didn't mind working for his money instead of straight begging at least he was cleaning windshields.

So, I asked him. He explained to me that he had been a cable TV installer and had been out at a party in South Central Los Angeles and had gotten busted for DUI. DUI laws are very strong now and he lost his license for 6 months, that meant he couldn't drive the cable TV van. There went his job. He said his girlfriend dumped him and he lost his apartment quickly after that. It spiraled from there and he ended up contracting HIV. A sad tale but easy to see it happening to anyone really. One bad choice and your life turns to shit.

Several weeks after our bonding experience he disappeared. He had been looking quite gaunt and I suspected the worse. I've never seen him since. Sometimes when I approach the 7-11 I wonder....

Homeless - How Do You Recover?

The other night Dena and I were standing in line for the Ira Glass NPR event and a scruffy looking guy with a long beard walked up to the people in front of us. He asked what the line was for. They turned their back and ignored him. He asked us the same question. He looked homeless but not crazy although he had crossed Wilshire in the middle of the street and just about got hit by several cars seconds before this. After a momentary pause, I decided to answer him. He then asked several other questions about NPR ending with where on the dial was NPR. You have to be old school to ask "where on the dial".

As I write this blog I'm staring at a drawing I purchased last week from a homeless woman (well I assume she's homeless) that often sets up shop on the corner of Crescent Heights and Wilshire. She sells her drawings which are either charcoal or crayon and are quite bad truth be told. I bought one from her the other night, $ 10. She's scruffy but appears to be as well kept as I imagine she's able, her clothes are very old but seem well cared for.

These moments in time add up to a terrible National crisis. Sure, some homeless people are a little crazy, the Federal and State governments haven't cared for these middle of the road crazy people since Reagan put them all on the streets. But what about the others? What about the person that has lost their job which led to losing the apartment which lead to burning bridges with friends? What about the person who has no where left to turn to? How do they recover? How do they interview? How do they even get an interview? If they got a job, how would they afford to get started in the job with clothes and getting to work? It seems impossible.

Another 7-11 Event

This morning I popped by the 7-11 on San Vicente and Hauser near the house. My Burmese friend was there, as he normally is. He works until 8am. I suppose it's a little sad that I know the 7-11 guys schedules. I've blogged about my 7-11 buddies before, check out my previous blogposts.

He greets me as usual with "Hello my Canadian friend." This all started a couple years ago when he started hitting on me. His advances were subtle but basically he was fishing for immigration status, at least that is what I thought. Marrying an American white girl would solve that for him. So I told him I was Canadian in the hopes that he would back off somewhat and he did. He's still jovial and friendly but had stopped asking about my personal life.

This morning that all changed. He said that he "liked my style". I was of course, dressed for work. I dress in my own style, which is conservative with sharp, crisp lines. Perhaps it was my mother that ruined me for crisp lines, ironing my jeans and t-shirts but it is my style now...... After I chose my purchase and walked up to the counter, he asked me if there was a man in my life. I said no man, woman. There was a small, almost imperceptible pause and then a surprise question, "are you the she-bot or the man-bot?" Perhaps he didn't say bot, sometimes he's hard to understand, but regardless the words the implication was obvious. He wanted to know which of us "wore the pants in the family" so to speak. I politely informed him that it really doesn't work that way and strode out into the morning fog with a smile on my face.

Thoughts on the Meaning of Life

I often ponder what the meaning of life is. I wonder why we're all here, what we're supposed to accomplish or experience and probably more importantly, what is my place in all of it. I think this question has come up more often lately because of an AMC television series called Breaking Bad. It's an absolutely brutal show about an older chemistry teacher that turns to making drugs to support his family as he is dying from cancer. The show explores the incredibly difficult choices that our "hero" has to make, some inherent to morals, family, some to right and wrong and how one lie begets another and another and another.

One particular episode has sat with me for quite some time. It was when our co-star turns to heroine. And yes, I realize its just a television show and not reality, but when the character shot heroine into his arm he seemed so at peace. If someone who does heroine all day is rich, doesn't hurt anyone but themselves, why is that wrong? What is better a wall street capitalist making $ 100 million a year or a heroine drug user, also wealthy but equally as happy? Is following your bliss what it's all about? Does it matter what your bliss is? I suppose if my bliss were being a serial killer, then that would be wrong but if my bliss was ice fishing and drinking beer until the ice thawed every year who would that hurt? Would that be wrong?

Lots of ideas come into my head about why I'm here, well, why we're all here really. Love, friendship, happiness, "the journey not the destination", "doing unto others as they would do unto us", and the list goes on. None really ring true to me though. Is it the experience? Is it just us, a being meant to learn lessons before ascending somewhere...like heaven? Or are we these beings floating around in the fifth dimension meant to exist through different experiences expanding the collective consciousness of all? I met a guy that believed that recently. He was brilliant. He meditated himself into that collective consciousness when doing research and the answers would just come to him.

Sorry, this blog offers no answers, only questions. Answers are welcomed in the form of a comment, feel free.

Prom Queen?

We, as in the collective that is California's melting pot, can't seem to manage to vote Same Sex Marriage in as a right but they can seem to vote a guy in as Prom Queen. Fairfax High School in Los Angeles voted in a male as prom queen. Check out the article here

WipeOut

By chance last night I happened upon a show called WipeOut. It's on ABC, Wednesdays at 8pm. I don't normally surf channels but I was immediately captured by the show. The premise is absolutely ridiculous and I believe is related to the popular Japanese shows “Takeshi’s Castle” in the ’80s and the still-running “SASUKE.” I used to watch these shows when I travelled, I think I was seeing reruns on Spike TV.

The Japanese shows were funny but WipeOut had me rolling. I taped the show and actually watched some of it twice. I had to stop my first viewing at around 15 minutes because I was laughing so hard I started had an asthma attack. After a couple inhaler hits, I dabbed the tears from my eyes and tried again. Still funny! Dena was only mildly amused but a couple stunts on the finale had her laughing so hard we had to stop the show again. I'm not sure what's so funny about other people's pain, but hey, comedy has no bounds.

The premise is simple and has to do with contestants moving through an obstacle course. The guys don't wear a cup, keep that in mind when you're watching. If you've had a bad day and need a laugh, check it out, DVR it and watch it!

Clips are available here.

Another 3 Second Sound Bite

Equality for all runs into another roadblock but road blocks are dismantled and civil rights march on. Sometimes it just takes a little longer to get each road block out of the way. Today's California Supreme Court decision upheld the validity of Proposition 8, which blocked future same sex marriages. The Supreme court also deemed the 18,000 marriages that occured while it was law to stand. I think of this not as a loss but as a victory. Originally, in 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriages were a legal right according to the constitution of California. Prop 8 is an amendment to the California constitution stating that marriage = man/woman. Isn't it confusing how you can go from not having a right, to having a right, then having it taken away again? Yes, welcome to a skewed democracy where liberty for all only applies to white, straight christians.

You can bet your life there will be another amendment/proposition on the ballet, probably in 2010, overturning Prop 8 and we'll be back where we should be. After all, why should California, one of the most progressive states in the union be so back asswards to not allow it? Already 11 states in the US allow it, as well as Mexico, Canada, South Africa and most of Europe. Of course, who knows about Americans anyways, they couldn't handle the metric system and the rest of the world is doing that.....so, why would they be able to handle this?

Unfortunately, most of the world and especially the United States will hear a 3 second sound bite that says "California Supreme Court upholds gay marriage ban". That's the beauty of the 3 second sound bite, it's misleading and points people in the direction that particular news media wants to slant it. Bush/Cheney and Carl Rove were masters at this FUD tactic, (fear, uncertainty and doubt) and in today's fast moving, media frenzied world, 3 seconds is all we have time for.

I'm sure tonight will be a night for rallies, protests, arrests and maybe, if we're lucky, even a riot or 2. You can discover where the rally near you is by going to this website. http://www.dayofdecision.com/

“Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.”
Sun Tzu - Art of War

Eco Flushing

Big flush or little flush? You decide. The new rage in toilet flushing mechanisms.

How Does Your Garden Grow

Lately, not so much. Pretty much every morning before trotting off to work I happily mosey out to my garden to check, admire and water. The first batch of lettuce seeds that went in the ground never seemed to come up. I tried germinating more in the house, see blog below, and painstakingly planted them tiny root by tiny root Saturday morning. Do you have any idea how small lettuce seeds are? The roots are thinner than a thread. Sunday morning, I go sauntering out in the hopes that the little guys have come up but alas they are gone. Where did they go? There are little footy prints in my garden plot....

I've been none to happy that all my little lettuce seeds have disappeared, twice. And the established lettuce all has lovely little bite marks out of it. Slugs and Lace Worms are the cause of the bites and according to the very knowledgeable lady at Mordigan's Nursery, birds are the cause of my missing lettuce babies. As for slugs, my sister reminded me of last years slug wars and the effective and cheap treatment for that. Please note blogpost The Slug Wars.

So, in lieu of lettuce, I've planted corn and some eggplant, both Japanese and regular. The lady at Mordigans told me it's too late for lettuce, that it will go to seed faster than you can eat it because of the heat. I guess it must be a better fall crop for Southern California. For the corn I'm told that I will need to play bee later on and rub the stalks together to pollinate. This is why it's planted in rows. A friend at work who is from Iowa said that they used to hire kids to run thru the rows and pollinate the male and female corns that were in side by side rows. Of course the question is, how do you tell a female corn from a male corn?

Well It Worked

I planted all kinds of fruits and veggies in my little garden in the back when my Mom was here in early April. All are doing well except the green lettuce. Matter of fact, last night we had an entire salad made up of the "mesculin mix" that had already matured enough to eat. The green lettuce I planted didn't even come up. I was trying that from seed.

So searching the internet I read that soaking seeds for 24 hours in warm water then planting will help. Also scoring them with a knife or sandpaper will also speed the process when used with warm water. Well, if you've ever seen a lettuce seed you'll know that neither of those is possible as they are soooo small. I also read that if you soak for 24 hours and then can't plant right away, you can put the seeds in a ziplock baggie in your window in the sun with a moist paper towel and let them grow roots.

I did this and this morning they are well rooted and I'm going to plant them. It took 4 days. Pretty good I think. Now if I could just figure out what is making tracks in my little lettuce plot I'd be happy. It's not birds because I see 4 little footie prints. Squirrel? It's almost like it jumps or falls from above because there are no tracks anywhere else.

Star Trek and What Demographic?

I heard a news brief the other day commenting about how the new 2009 Star Trek Movie , slated to release this weekend is focused on the teen and twenty something demographic. They didn't want to spend money luring the original series fans for some reason. Are we too old? Do they assume we'll go anyways? Hey, we have disposable income, dammit! We give that disposable income to those teens! I demand that we be paid some sort of homage! We are the reason that Star Trek is still viable in all of it's formats and re-incarnations, perhaps with the exception of Voyager.

So this director, Abrams, who is supposedly the hottest thing in Hollywood is making this movie appeal to the all important 18 - 30 year old male demographic. Who made them so important? Why are they important? Do they have more money than the rest of us? Are they more nerdy than the rest of us? Perhaps they have nothing better to do than go see Star Trek 12 times. I guess the bottom line is that I don't appreciate being the older, completely unimportant demographic that is not catered to in the least. I like to be catered to....

Regardless of the momentous special affects that I'm sure will be prevalent in the movie, I am looking forward to it. There were 10 Star Trek movies in their day. I think the Next Gen movies were the best. And thank goodness that Captain Kirk was killed in the last one because I could do without seeing him again. Don't get me wrong, I love Captain Kirk, it's William Shatner I've had enough of. Ah, the trouble with tribbles just popped into my head.

Water and Los Angeles

As of June 1st Los Angeles will be on a mandatory 15% water reduction ordinance. When the news first came out it was stated that you have to consume 15% water than you consume now. Dena and I were concerned. We are pretty water conscious now, watering only when necessary, turning off the water when brushing our teeth, using shorter cycles on both the clothes washer and the dish washer and the best conservation is the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" rule. In our house, that saves a lot of money as I have a small bladder.

We were concerned because I couldn't imagine how in the world we were going to cut another 15% off our water total. We already have low flow everything, we did that long ago. I read that if you use over your first tier that you will be penalized by paying a significant amount of money for anything used in the 2nd water tier. I have no idea what this means.... This morning I called the DWP (Department of Water and Power) for clarification. It turns out that your first tier of water is 28 HCF. HCF stands for one hundred cubic feet which = 748.05 gallons. Dena and I's bill last billing cycle was for 11 HCF. Check out your DWP bill to see how much you are using. A billing cycle at the DWP is 2 months. The lady at the DWP this morning was very nice and said that we were doing great and didn't have to do anything else to conserve than we were already doing. We were already so low in our usage that we were not a factor. She was very nice and encouraged us to keep up the good work!

I am relieved to be sure. I was even considering putting a pail in the shower to collect the water that goes down the drain while I wait for the shower to get hot. I was going to water the plants with it.

Links with tips

1. http://www.bewaterwise.com/tips01.html
2. http://www.lacity.org/ead/environmentla/tips/waterSavingTip.htm
3. Flush less, if you cannot afford to replace your older toilet or don't want to do the "if it's yellow let it mellow" thing, then put a brick in the bottom of your toilet. You'll use .5 gallon less per flush.

Rebates:

1. http://socalwatersmart.com/index.php
2. http://www.watersavinghero.com/rebate-program.html
3. http://www.bewaterwise.com/rebates01.html

To Do Lists and other Musings

On my drive home from San Diego I was listening to the news. I heard a clip about how Obama popped in on a press briefing at the Whitehouse quite unannounced and talked about how he just got off the phone with Souter and how he's going to retire. I'm not sure if Obama mentioned that on his list now is to fill the upcoming vacancy or whether I thought it but.....
It got me thinking. What does his to do list look like? I see a yellow pad on that big desk in the oval office. In neat penmanship is his list of things to do. Below is what I see:

 Announce Chief Justice Souter’s retirement
 Get troops out of Iraq, make a plan
 Swine flu outbreak, try to comfort public
 Stimulate economy so the unemployment rate doesn’t plummet to 12%
 Deal with torture issue
 Close Guantanamo Bay
 Meet with credit card company executives to stop fee gouging

I would imagine that he felt so excited that there was something he could write on his list and cross off right away that he had to run out to the press corps and tell them. I know I would. I get a sense of accomplishment when I cross things off. Below is my list:

 Fix the leak on the back house faucet
 Decide on a contractor the kitchen remodel
 Take vitamins so I don’t get moody
 Try to get Flex Health Pay plan raised for 2009 with payroll
 Work out with trainer
 Weed garden
 Deposit checks to joint before we get hit with the $ 35 overdraft fee

I've already done 4 of them today. I can't imagine having things on my list that take years to accomplish. I suppose that's the difference between great people and the rest of us. There to do lists take longer....

Cell Phone Chargers

You'll all be thrilled to know that the days of your drawers, desks and countertops littered with different cell phone chargers are limited. The CTIA wireless assocation has endorsed a plan to create a common format, MicroUSB, for all cellular phone chargers. The idea was first put out there in February 2009 and has backing from all the major cell phone players, aka AT&T, Nokia, etc.

But, don't throw away all your chargers just yet. Implementation is targeted for 2012. Patience....

By that time cloud computing will have taken over and Wireless would have changed again...