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May 22, 2006

2006 Hurricane Season Outlook

NOAA Predicts Very Active 2006 North Atlantic Hurricane Season
Residents in Hurricane Prone Areas Urged to Make Preparations

NOAA's 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook indicates an 80% chance of an above-normal hurricane season, a 15% chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5% chance of a below-normal season.

The outlook calls for a very active 2006 season, with 13-16 named storms, 8-10 hurricanes, and 4-6 major hurricanes. The likely range of the ACE index is 135-205% of the median. This prediction indicates a continuation of above-normal activity that began in 1995. However, we do not currently expect a repeat of last year's record season.

2006 Atlantic Names
Alberto
Beryl
Chris
Debby
Ernesto
Florence
Gordon
Helene
Isaac
Joyce
Kirk
Leslie
Michael
Nadine
Oscar
Patty
Rafael
Sandy
Tony
Valerie
William

Links:
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
National Hurricane Center
Worldwide Tropical Cyclone Names

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May 19, 2006

Friday Feathers

It's Friday. It's time for feathers. Meet the Black-Capped Chickadee.

From the book, Eastern Birds,"this small tame acrobat is distinctively patterned with a combination of black cap and bib, white cheeks. Sides buffy." (buffy?)

I've found the chickadee to be the easiest bird to photograph since it isn't skittish. It seems to sense that you're photographing it and the bird wants to make sure you capture its good side. ;-)

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May 18, 2006

Another Apple for the Apple

New Apple Store Opens May 19
Love the architectural design! It's quite striking, a glass pod on an otherwise same 'ol NYC avenue. How clever. See it here and read about Apple on Fifth Avenue NYC here.

Is it iGlass or iPlexi? (yuk yuk.)

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Greetings, My Little Chipmunks

The brownstone next door is being power-washed. Sounds like drilling to me. Earlier this morning some moron was hammering nearby; I could tell by the taps that this person never used a hammer before. The sporadic, hesitant tap... tap... tap... was making me nuts - not unlike the drip... drip... drip... of water from a faucet.

And now for a commercial break.

And we're back... like a bad dream. (wink) I'm hungry. I began my day with 2 cups of coffee (instead of the entire pot) and a banana. Later on I had puffed wheat and fresh strawberries. (I just realized I forgot the wheat germ. Drats! Now my day is completely RUINED! she writes, laughing.) Why am I still hungry? It's not as if I'm porky pig during the day; I barely have any lunch or dinner these days, but that could easily be the reason why. I'm not purposely starving myself, I just don't have much of an appetite lately. *shrug*

Now if you'll excuse me I have some brain dusting to do. :-)

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May 16, 2006

Hello My Little Raindrop

Drip.Drip.Drip
Good morning (or good afternoon, depending on where you reside) raindrops! It's been raining cats and dogs, birds and bees and various farm animals here in NYC. The rains that the weather folks kept telling us were to descend the past 4 or 5 days finally plummeted from the skies. No complaints here; we all need water and hey, it's good for the flowers and fauna.

Tossing and Turning
I've been tossing and turning the past couple of nights, morphing what used to be sleep I could count on into a turn-left, turn-right, kick the blankets off, pull them back over me movie that's in instant replay mode. That's exactly what it feels like, and I really HATE IT when that happens. I'm totally clueless as to what this latest sleep deprivation thing is about; usually there's something stuck in my craw, but after considerable examination, I've uncovered nothing. Perhaps further data mining of the brain and my innards will reveal the source of my dis----, dis-whatever. :-)

Pardon My Incredulity
Meanwhile back at the funny farm, I received a surprising voice mail from a friend who duly declared the reason he's been so pissed off at me for the past few weeks. Though the caller readily admitted to the jackassness (note: I realize that's not a word but just go with me on this) of his thought processes, I couldn't help wondering WHY this person was incapable of understanding the reason I wasn't available when he was here. There were two very, very important reasons why; the first was jury duty. The second reason, more serious and very recent, was the fact that I had a MANDATORY meeting there was no way in hell I could avoid. There was absolutely no chance I could have wiggled my way out of either one. It's not as if he didn't know these two things were happening.

This amazing display of pissedoffness over my absence left me thinking nothing more than Yes, that must be 'jackass' with a capital "J" and you've got to be kidding me. As a good friend so often puts it, I really must learn to lower my expectations of people, no matter what the circumstances.

You Suck. But in a Good Way
This week brought an email from another friend that read, You suck, but in a good way. Yes indeedy honey buns, that surely got my attention. Again I said to myself, you've got to be fucking kidding me. This time I didn't hesitate. I grabbed the phone and proceeded to dial the phone number of Mr. You Suck in order to kick some friendly butt. Seems my collaborator/business partner on a recent project couldn't understand WHY I paid him MORE money than he expected. I'd say that was a GOOD thing, wouldn't you? Regardless, I knew what he meant yet couldn't restrain myself from voicing the reason WHY he was paid more. Sheesh. Ungrateful little brat. (wink) Some folks just don't realize that they grossly underprice their work. It's my job to set them straight on that. :-)

Design Intervention Required
IOEN (in other exciting news), I can tell I'm ready for a blog design reinvention or three. I've spent way too much time looking at the designs over at CSS Zen Garden and wondering how I could implement something similar in this space. Hmm. And that concludes this edition of Tales from the Funny Farm.

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May 15, 2006

Free Calls for Skype Users in the U.S./Canada

Skype, the Web telephone company, said on Monday it is offering a promotion through the end of 2006 that will allow Skype users in the U.S. and Canada to make free calls to conventional wireline and mobile phones. - Reuters

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May 12, 2006

Friday Feathers

I have an online photo gallery that I use as a depository for my photographs. The gallery is usually updated once a week with the most recent photo reflected here in the sidebar. Every so often I'll add a group of photos to the gallery, such as the collection of photos I took in Colorado or the photos taken during a visit to the Steamtown Historical Site in Pennsylvania.

However, there are many photographs that just don't see the light of day in the gallery unless they become a collection. I try to mix them up when it's time for a new photo; you won't see consecutive photos of flowers, animals or places I've visited. My latest photographic pursuit is birds, and I've accumulated a number of photos that have yet to be added as a collection. So... I thought I'd feature photos of birds in this space on Fridays, starting today.

When I spotted this particular bird in my mother's yard, at first I thought it was a cardinal (the ever-elusive one I've yet to get a good photo of) but soon realized it wasn't. What caught my eye was the red head.

When I returned to ye olde homestead and ported the photos from camera to laptop, a quick look at my reference book on birds found that this particular bird is a finch. At least I think it is. Anyway, what amuses me about this photo is the white long-johns this bird has on its legs. ;-)

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May 11, 2006

Today's Fave News Story

Deer lead police on chase through the Bronx

*chuckle*

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Finding My Way in Europe

I was on a business trip to Europe and my schedule was booked solid from start to finish. The first leg of the trip was to Berlin, Germany, which would serve as my home base for the next two weeks. Upon arrival in Berlin, I spent three days in numerous meetings around town. On the fourth day, I boarded a plane at 7 a.m. to Munich, and from there I'd connect to a flight headed for London. The day's schedule would have me in three countries within 24 hours: Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands. A good deal of research and planning went into my itinerary and I gave myself enough time in between each leg of the trip. I would travel back and forth to Frankfurt Airport three times that day (part of my quest to earn more mileage on Lufthansa.)

My 7 a.m. flight from Berlin to Munich was without incident. I sat in my seat on British Airways waiting to begin the next leg: Munich to London. I had two meetings in London; a lunch meeting with a business contact and another meeting later that day about a job opportunity. While sitting there on the tarmac waiting for the plane to move, I thought about these meetings and how much I was looking forward to them. I pondered the job opportunity and how I'd been recommended for a prime position with an American company's European office. I was feeling really good about myself, confident and happy with excited anticipation. In the middle of my silent festival of self-worship, an announcement was made that the plane would be delayed on the ground for one hour due to poor weather. I looked out the window and saw the sun shining with no hint of wind. Poor weather? WHAT POOR WEATHER, I thought. And so we sat there. An hour or so later, the plane finally took off.

When the plane landed I turned my mobile on. While walking through the terminal and on my way to find the tube station at Heathrow, the phone rang. It was my lunch date, who was sitting at the restaurant waiting for me. I was an hour and a half late, and I still had more travelling to do. To say I was pissed that the plane was late is putting it mildly; there was no bad weather in Munich, nor was there bad weather upon arrival at Heathrow. Damn it anyway! My heart began pounding and I could feel my blood pressure rise. Lunch was now out of the question, since meeting number two had priority over a social occasion. Thankfully my lunch date understood and I promised to make it up to him.

Now that lunch was cancelled, maybe it would make up for the delay that set my schedule back an hour. I rushed through Heathrow trying to find the tube. Previous trips to London didn't involve taking the tube, so I found myself in unfamiliar territory. The next thing I knew, I was at the passport check area and couldn't find a way out. Regardless of my insistence that I was merely passing through that day, the folks at the passport check weren't listening. They had me get in line with the rest of the arrivals. By the time I got up to the head of the line it was 20 minutes later. I showed them my passport, my plane tickets (Munich-London-Amsterdam, etc.) and asked for directions to the tube. Upon reading my plane ticket, they told me it wasn't necessary for me to go through passport check (uh, no kidding. I stood on line because I followed your instructions.)

After I found my way out of passport check I bolted toward the tube entrance. I had no clue what train to take. It didn't help that I was dressed for cold weather and the temperature was unseasonably warm. Between the rapid heartbeat and the perspiration, my neat and pulled-together appearance quickly began to wilt. I was grateful that the gentlemen in the information booth at the tube was not only a jolly fellow with a big broad smile, but also sympathetic to my confusion and did what he could to help set me on a proper course. Once I settled into my seat on the tube, I prayed for a quick trip, only to find that it was taking much, much longer than expected. I attempted to phone ahead to my next appointment to say I was delayed, but the mobile wasn't working now. I was screwed. This isn't the way I do business. I hate being late for anything and it's just plain rude, plus it's a guarantee that the first impression of me has literally gone down the tubes.

When the train pulled into Covent Garden I took off like lightning. I needed to find the address quickly. I stopped the first person I saw on the street and asked for directions; I soon found out that he pointed me in the wrong direction. When I realized this, I stopped someone else. I begged and pleaded. PLEASE HELP, I just need proper directions. This kind soul offered to walk me over to where I needed to go. Once there, I climbed the stairs taking long strides and bypassing 2 or 3 steps in my haste to get into that office. By this point I was dripping with perspiration, the wool of my suit and stockings stuck to my skin. I was a mess.

The receptionist, a lovely pulled-together woman with impeccable taste, eyed me up and down when I gave her my name and told her of my meeting. She informed me that her boss, the CEO of the office, had grown weary of waiting for me to arrive, that he couldn't believe I didn't call ahead to say I would be late, and assumed I wasn't showing up. She then told me he'd gone out of the office with a colleague. Though I understood perfectly that the man need not sit around waiting for her highness to arrive, I couldn't help but feel that my efforts to get there were in vain. I was disappointed, but decided to wait it out and sat there so I could at least apologize to him face-to-face.

Half an hour later he walked through the door. Somehow he knew I was his tardy appointment, and he turned and looked me in the eye and scolded me before I had a chance to explain. I knew at that moment that I didn't want to work with this guy. There was something about him terribly off-putting, and though he ended up meeting with me anyway, I surprised myself when I recommended one of my Berlin colleagues for the position. I figured it was the least I could do -- give him something so all would not be a complete waste of my time and effort.

When our meeting was over, I had little time to return to Heathrow and get on the plane to Frankfurt and then make my connecting flight to Amsterdam. Somehow, some way, I made it back to Heathrow, the flight to Frankfurt slightly delayed, and I found myself begging for the flight attendant's help (I was seated in the last row of the plane) to get up and out to make my connection. I have no idea what she did, but after resigning myself to the realization that I'd miss the flight due to waiting for the entire plane to empty, I still made it to the gate and caught my flight. When I arrived in Amsterdam, a friend was waiting for me at the airport and she asked me what I wanted to do. It was 11 p.m. in Amsterdam. I told her I just wanted to sit down, catch my breath and have a cocktail. *sigh*

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May 10, 2006

It's That Time Again

Lack of wordage results in nothing more than the following brain dust:
Blah blah, blahblahblahblah. ;-)

Feel free to give me a topic to wax on about. Help the helplessly silent one put forth something more than just a color and photo change on this blog. Go on, you know you want to.

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May 5, 2006

Blog Migration Advice Sought

Dave Pollard at How to Save the World needs some blog migration advice. All you wunderkinds (aka the techno elite,) please share your wisdom and sound advice with him.

Thanks!

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26 Things-Photographic Scavenger Hunt

26 Things - The Photographic Scavenger Hunt has a new list up. Yay!

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Let's Hope You Never Need This

How to Get Through Having Your Identity Stolen - Consumerist

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NeutraNet

When, seventeen years ago, I designed the Web, I did not have to ask anyone's permission. The new application rolled out over the existing Internet without modifying it. I tried then, and many people still work very hard still, to make the Web technology, in turn, a universal, neutral, platform. It must not discriminate against particular hardware, software, underlying network, language, culture, disability, or against particular types of data.

The Internet is increasingly becoming the dominant medium binding us. The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. It is the basis of science, by which humankind should decide what is true.

Let us protect the neutrality of the net.

- Tim Berners-Lee on Neutrality of the Net

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May 4, 2006

Apple's Get a Mac TV Commercials

I think they're funny. Find them here.

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I "squippered" off some steps the other day...

For those unfamiliar with doing a 'squipper,' I present you with two previous posts. Read them and return for the rest. :-)

Doing a Squipper
Squippering at the Gym

Here's the latest entry for my ever-growing collection in The Clumsy Chronicles.
(and here you probably thought I was cured or something. Nah-uh.)

It was early morning, a beautiful day had dawned and the birds were chirping. I walked out the door leading to the patio, coffee cup filled to the top. There were 4 steps to descend before making a sharp right to the patio where I planned to sit and ponder life. Somehow my legs didn't succeed in navigating the 4 steps and morphed the 4 into 1. As the legs moved to descend the steps, the brain registered some sort of danger. Unfortuntely it was too late. All 4 steps were bypassed as if I decided to leap over them. Suddenly I was on my knees, literally sliding on my kneecaps from the base of the steps toward the driveway. All I needed was an electric guitar and some big hair and a stage; I was transformed into a rock 'n roll guitarist, sliding across an invisible stage on my knees, guitar in my hands.

Thankfully it was early and quiet and no one around to see this latest acrobatic trick. I actually said out loud, "I can't believe I just did that," as if the birds in the trees were going to agree with me. Sheesh.

p.s. I neglected to mention that only a bit of coffee spilled out of the cup. Goes to show you what's important, eh? :-)

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May 3, 2006

U.S. mothers deserve $134,121 in salary

A full-time stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year if paid for all her work, an amount similar to a top U.S. ad executive, a marketing director or a judge, according to a study released on Wednesday.

A mother who works outside the home would earn an extra $85,876 annually on top of her actual wages for the work she does at home, according to the study by Waltham, Massachusetts-based compensation experts Salary.com. - Reuters

Salary.com offers a Web site where mothers can calculate what they could be paid, based on how many children they have, where they live and other factors. The site will produce a printable document that looks like a paycheck.

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