No more DWR birdfeeder

With much sadness, Linda and I had to temporarily remove our birdfeeders. Apparently the bird who ate there told his friend about it. Well the friend told another friend and the next thing you know a racoon shows up. I have heard stories from peeps that racoons are quite dextrous and can get into lots of things (garbage cans, coolers etc).

This racoon climbs on our deck from the vertical trelles and then with it's hind legs on the deckrail it reaches for the birdfeeder and pulls it to him. This releases a bunch of seeds to the ground and he then goes eat.

I tried to take pictures of this scene but it was too dark (see sample below) . So, I re-enacted the scene with Linda's Teddybear playing the role of the bad racoon.

Riddle ...

My friend Vincent went to see the Dali Lama seeking the path to spiritual enlightenment. Mr. Lama said he would help Vincent if he could solve this riddle.

"One you eat, the other you delete."

Click on the comments to see answer.

First Customer !!

The first bird to eat out of the feeder. Customer #1 leaves happy.

Algae Attack II: Thinh Strikes Back

After 2 weeks of use, AlgaeFix is starting to show some results. Note how the Shubunken is readily visible now.

DWR Birdfeeder

Wanting to add a bit of color to our backyard, Linda and I got 3 of these birdfeeders at the last Design Within Reach warehouse sale. I am not sure who would pay regular price for these things but at the warehouse sale prices, they were a good deal. Like other DWR stuff, it is very well made and well designed. There are only 5 pieces (the ceramic egg, the aluminum plate, 2 aluminum bars and a pin that holds everything together.

We got these things up yesterday and so far no birds have fed yet. I must need a "Free Food" sign.

Algae Attack !!

The Koi (and Shibunken) Pond is under attack from green water algae since the weather is warmer. I took a trip to Jones Fish Hatchery to get some Algaefix which should control the algae and clear up in the pond in a few weeks. The algae does not harm the fish but makes it very difficult for us to see the fish.

Birthday Goodies !

It was my b-day last week (turned 36 and linda is still 28). Linda got me new tennis shoes since the Fila's I had were worn out. These Nike Breathe Free II are really nice and are much more cushioned than the Fila Torneo. They also come with a 6 month outsole warranty so it is my goal to wear them out by October.

Since getting the shoes, I have not lost a match so it must be the shoes :-)

Mom, Chu Dung and Anh Dong gave me some money as a gift so I got another Pro Kennex Kinetic 5G racquet and a Fischer bag.

Finding Suparna ...

I have lost touch with my friend (former BF4Var) Suparna. I heard from another friend, lets call him vincent to protect his identity, that she has changed her IM handle to SwaparamaY2K but I can't find her under than handle. Please post a comment if you know how to find her :-)

I really need to find her cause she promised to name a prion after me in her PhD work (image the Tbone prion - SWEET !)

The Jarvis's Home Theater Project

John Whitney and I helped Mark and Jen turn a room in their basement into a pretty sweet Home Theater. This is Home Theater Project #8 for me (2 for me and 6 helping friends) and # 5 for John. This is the fastest we completed the project. We had our initial meeting with them on April 10th to define the vision and discuss equipment options. Mark wasted no time ordering the gear (Panasonic 720p LCD projector, Rocket HT package from www.av123.com, Denon 2807 receiver with the optional Ipod dock). We were done with a fully functional HT on May 7th.

As with our other projects, the most time consuming part of the work when putting in a HT in a finished space is running the wires. Since this was project #8 and #5 for me and John, we are getting pretty good at it.

I am mounting and leveling one of the Rocket RS300 surround speakers. The white gloves were included so you don't leave fingerprints on the speaker finish



John reinstalling the baseboard on the front wall. He took off the baseboard to run the speaker wires for the front wall.

John and I unpacking the center channel speaker. Note "find nemo" is in the background as we were testing out the projector at the same time.

Mark, John and I enjoying a demo of the HT at the end of the project.

Hanging Flowers for the Porch

Linda and I got some hanging flowers for the porch. Got 2 hooks at Home Depot for $3 and had the flowers up in about 10 minutes after some measuring and remeasuring.

Fish Close Ups

Those fish are fast but I got them to slow down enough for a few glamor shots.

Koi Pond

Some pictures from our Koi pond.

The over all pond size is about 150 - 175 gallons. We cleaned it out (lots of leaves and other stuff in it) and put in fresh water. Next, the pump went in and made it look pretty good.
I started reading about ponds on the web and decided that adding some fish would make it more enjoyable as well as help control mosquitos. After further reading, I decided to get some plants with the goal of getting the right balance of fish and plant life which will keep the water clear.



The fish are a Koi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koi and a Shubunken http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shubunkin


Water Lily plant - it should bloom by June.