We did some kayaking at mansfield hollow state park... beautiful area for kayaking , undeveloped shorelines like a small marsh yet as large as a big open lake. Just Beautiful.
I bought a delorme gps (more will be written about this inside kafe) and used it to track our paddling and attempted my first Geocache find which took me off the water and up into the woods , limping around with my banged up ankle (more on this too) I was also attempting to fish .... all this activity had Lori a bit beshmuggled (yeah I made it up but I`m sure you can ascertain its meaning) At one point , upon leaving the boat , the lure caught onto the back of my shirt and I was unable to remove , Lori had to paddle to shore and rescue my shirt , dangling from the rod and lure as I had whipped it off and started climbing up a hill in search of my cache.
See geocaching.com to get a grasp on what I am talking about.
Anyway , couldn`t find the cache , my gps had me pointed back into the water for it so something wasn`t right.
The next day , did much better and found 3 geocaches.....(more to come)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
cuecat scanner and good reads
I bought a cuecat scanner off amazon , so I can scan the books that I own (probably over 1000) only 1/3 of which I have read, and enter them into goodreads. Goodreads is an online social book cataloguing site where one can post books they read , would like to read , own etc; the cuecat isn`t a super smooth scanner but it does its job and for 12 bucks or so , has kept me entertained and helped me organize.
I want to catalog the books I own and haven`t read because with the volume of books I own , I find myself holding a book in my hand wondering if I already own it or have the author or its sitting in my to trade pile... I`m documenting this to remind myself that I must complete this project
If you want to know what a cuecat is - see wikipedia article - cuecat
Check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/profile/Kasualkafe
I want to catalog the books I own and haven`t read because with the volume of books I own , I find myself holding a book in my hand wondering if I already own it or have the author or its sitting in my to trade pile... I`m documenting this to remind myself that I must complete this project
If you want to know what a cuecat is - see wikipedia article - cuecat
Check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/profile/Kasualkafe
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Maybe the dumbing down trend can be reversed
The downfall of the US economy`s paper industries may be a good thing in the long run. We don`t make anything anymore , and in the services or high-tech fields , we are being beat out by foreign companies. We produce nothing of value , instead we have created industries that take slices out of anything of potential value .
F-I-RE - Financial , Insurance and Real Estate have all taken a hit . I`d like to include Lawyers , another group that generally eats up value.
Finally , advertising and marketing and PR has taken its hits as well , as returns on these products have dropped , many business and industries are in the process of restructuring or folding. Well , thats good too. It seems that most companies , instead of producing a better product , would rather spend the money creating better marketing that convinces the consumer its products are the best they can be.
Many well schooled people are out of work and are looking at new ways to make close to the kind of money those industries offered them. Many are looking into entrepreneurial paths , hopefully to spark the next good idea that can increase our standards of living which has been in decline despite steady technological advances.
The internet serves up all kinds of HOT JOBS lists and at the top of all these lists are specialists in Science , Engineers of all kinds , Bio-Tech , and anything in the health industry.
There are many students in top colleges , rethinking their transfers to high finance and other such dying industries and returning to the core studies of math and science that produce the leaders of fields that may be able to solve some of our most problematic issues such as our crumbling infrastructure , health care , global warming , energy dependence. Maybe , the next generation can lead America back to the top in manufacturing and services.
Or maybe the decline and fall is inevitable.
F-I-RE - Financial , Insurance and Real Estate have all taken a hit . I`d like to include Lawyers , another group that generally eats up value.
Finally , advertising and marketing and PR has taken its hits as well , as returns on these products have dropped , many business and industries are in the process of restructuring or folding. Well , thats good too. It seems that most companies , instead of producing a better product , would rather spend the money creating better marketing that convinces the consumer its products are the best they can be.
Many well schooled people are out of work and are looking at new ways to make close to the kind of money those industries offered them. Many are looking into entrepreneurial paths , hopefully to spark the next good idea that can increase our standards of living which has been in decline despite steady technological advances.
The internet serves up all kinds of HOT JOBS lists and at the top of all these lists are specialists in Science , Engineers of all kinds , Bio-Tech , and anything in the health industry.
There are many students in top colleges , rethinking their transfers to high finance and other such dying industries and returning to the core studies of math and science that produce the leaders of fields that may be able to solve some of our most problematic issues such as our crumbling infrastructure , health care , global warming , energy dependence. Maybe , the next generation can lead America back to the top in manufacturing and services.
Or maybe the decline and fall is inevitable.
Monday, June 01, 2009
June 1st update
So far the spring has been cool , took our kayaks this past weekend to Cedar Lake near the cockaponsett forest . Beautiful little lake , worth doing again. We did an uneventful 1 mile in 1 mile out hike in the cockaponsett forest. There are much cooler trails but I didn`t have maps for the area I went in , need to go back there with the Ct walk book East and do those trails.
Sunday , checked out Gardner Lake , was a bit windy and some boat traffic , Not sure Lori and I are ready for that lake , maybe later in the summer when its warmer and we have a few more trips under our belt , we went to Lake hayward nearby , a nice area but almost every parcel of land is owned and a house blots the landscape.
A few weekends prior we went to Squantz pond in New Fairfield , it was beautiful water. The park was filled with a lot of punks who were loud and obnoxious so we simply went straight to the water. Saw some turtles and an egret and explored lots of undeveloped shoreline and coves. Everything was wonderful until I lost my fishing rod while changing the lure. That sucked and ruined my life ...
O.k it didn`t ruin my life , but it did suck a lot ....
I got a tow hitch put on our new Subaru forester and picked up a bike rack , Lori and I have biked the rails to trails by our house a few times. Lori is not exactly a well seasoned bicyclist but she is picking up and eventually I`ll get her on some more interesting terrain.
Tonight we did a quick 1 hour kayak at Bolton notch park down the road from our house , its kinda cool to do that after work while the sun is setting and just floating in the water with no one else in it but a few fisherman on the side , jealous of our mobility as I snag fish after fish from pockets they cannot reach.
I didn`t actually catch fish , but that thought made me smile as the work day melted away. Beautiful.
Sunday , checked out Gardner Lake , was a bit windy and some boat traffic , Not sure Lori and I are ready for that lake , maybe later in the summer when its warmer and we have a few more trips under our belt , we went to Lake hayward nearby , a nice area but almost every parcel of land is owned and a house blots the landscape.
A few weekends prior we went to Squantz pond in New Fairfield , it was beautiful water. The park was filled with a lot of punks who were loud and obnoxious so we simply went straight to the water. Saw some turtles and an egret and explored lots of undeveloped shoreline and coves. Everything was wonderful until I lost my fishing rod while changing the lure. That sucked and ruined my life ...
O.k it didn`t ruin my life , but it did suck a lot ....
I got a tow hitch put on our new Subaru forester and picked up a bike rack , Lori and I have biked the rails to trails by our house a few times. Lori is not exactly a well seasoned bicyclist but she is picking up and eventually I`ll get her on some more interesting terrain.
Tonight we did a quick 1 hour kayak at Bolton notch park down the road from our house , its kinda cool to do that after work while the sun is setting and just floating in the water with no one else in it but a few fisherman on the side , jealous of our mobility as I snag fish after fish from pockets they cannot reach.
I didn`t actually catch fish , but that thought made me smile as the work day melted away. Beautiful.
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