Fences, gates and ingenuity on Easter Island

This one is for the Virtual Ranger. We found much ingenuity in the use of materials on Easter Island. Everything must be shipped in from the mainland (2000 miles away) with the consequent markup in cost, so they try to get all of the use they can.
I wonder if the Virtual Ranger can tell me if this gate is hung correctly (hinges on the right).

Note the use of inexpensive eucalyptus tree branches from the island, even as hinges.





Another part of the wall had a gate made of an old bed frame. You should clearly be able to see the rusty springs that give away the provenance of this piece.




Other folks use a lock to hold the toilet paper holder closed, on Easter Island a simple twist of wire will do.




Even the hotel we stayed in right before and after the horse back riding portion of the trip didn't waste money on fancy materials when simple particle board with varnish would do. You can even see the green dye that marks the edge.

Kudos to the Easter Islanders for their ingenuity and reuse of materials.


tags: Easter Island, Rapa Nui, Te Pito O Te Henua, gates

I am a voracious reader who defies classification...

... but I took this quiz anyway (thanks Exploding Aardvark)

Your Result: Dedicated Reader

You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.

What Kind of Reader Are You?


tags: quiz, books

Back from faraway lands

We are back from our travels. Can you guess where we went?

First comment who figures it out gets bragging rights.

Honeymoon Accomodations

Philadelphia flights were delayed on Monday night due to rain and wind direction. Surprise, surprise. Thus we missed our critical flight to Santiago.

Should we get a room for the night or wait in the Miami airport for 6 hours. You make the call.

Top 10 things not to do the day of your wedding

Or ten things not to do the weekend of the wedding, from the groom's point of view.

10. Risk an allergic reaction and a swollen faced mother of the groom by having the rehearsal dinner at a great seafood restaurant, when she is allergic to crab.

9. Dare your friend, the deacon who is presiding at the wedding, by saying you are sure there is nothing embarrassing that he could put in the sermon for your wedding.

8. Chase your bride out of the new house when she is trying to get ready so that you can give your family a tour, just because you are not allowed to see her before the wedding.

7. Have the whole wedding party tempt fate and a broken ankle by playing on the rocks in the creek behind your new house the morning of the wedding.

6. Mechanically smile for every one of the two thousand pictures that will capture the memory of this day - forever.

5. Arrive at check-in after the other unrelated wedding party that is also happening that weekend so that it takes you an hour to get to your room, well behind schedule.

4. Play near open windows or busy streets, speed and get caught by the police, or accidentally get on a plane to California or any number of the activities that would stop you from making it to the wedding - if you lived in a sitcom.

3. Attempt to play Rummy 500 in the final minutes til V-hour (vow hour) when all you have left is the concentration and composure of a blindsided crooked politician on 60 Minutes.

2. Run with scissors.

...

And the number one you shouldn't do during your wedding weekend...

1. Blog




tags: wedding, top ten, Wilmington

Mostly good news on the election front

Did you vote? I hope so. That's what makes it a democracy (or technically a republic, but you get the idea).

The Good News

If the President didn't get the message as he watches the Democrat Party take over the House and the Senate he really isn't listening. One suggestion that he is listening is the ouster of Secretary Rumsfeld. It is funny to hear him all conciliatory today, since yesterday they were on the attack.

Rick Santorum was defeated by Bob Casey. I would have snuck across the border to vote in that one if it was legal. My big problem with Santorum: The National Weather Services Duties Act of 2005, which would have made me pay for the weather data I was already paying for with my taxes just so Santorum's Accuweather buddies could have exclusive access to the data. Bye Bye Rick.

Political ads will go away for awhile. As entertaining as they got toward the end, they do seem to saturate the airwaves. I expected 93.7 WSTW in Wilmington to have dead air time today as the station manager scrambled to find advertising to fill the 12 hours of political commercials a day that have stopped since the election.

The Bad News

Beau Biden defeats Ferris Wharton in the Attorney General race in Delaware. I think Biden traded on his name to get this one, and was probably helped by the general buoyancy of the Democrats this year. For all of the complaining about that the Biden ads did about Ferris Wharton's attack ads, I heard ten Biden ads for every Wharton ad. I am guessing a lot of money was spent on that race.

Nobody but the same old people on the ballot in Wilmington. I left the council seats and legislature seats blank when I voted because there was only one candidate (Democrat, what else) and I wasn't going to vote for the same people that have let Wilmington sink into crime and financial trouble.

On the whole a good election, let's see what happens next.

tags: Delaware, election, Wilmington

Can't have too many regional dialect quizzes, can you?

Guess where I am from? My only hint: the results of the regional dialect quiz below.

What American accent do you have?
Your Result: Philadelphia

Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.

What American accent do you have?

Take More Quizzes

I know that I have discusssed regional dialects before somewhere.

tags: dialects, language, American english, linguistics

You still have time to vote!

It's 5pm. Did you vote today? If not please run out and do so.

Diesel Sweeties spoofs computer voting machines taking over the world and takes a swipe at Delaware, all at the same time.

Anyone should be honored to receive Delaware as a consolation prize after the machines take over the world.

I, for one, would like to be the first to welcome our new error-ridden, fraud-prone, and paper-trail-lacking computerized voting machine overlords.

tags: voting, comics, Delaware

Recursively wearing "mummy raking leaves" t-shirt while raking leaves

The infinite series boggles the mind. I wore my mummy raking leaves t-shirt while raking leaves.









I imagine that the mummy on the t-shirt has a similar t-shirt on under the wrappings.

(T-shirt through diesel sweeties)

Gunshots way too close to my house in Wilmington

I was rudely awakened by gunshots at 1:34am, early this Saturday morning. At least that is what I thought they were, never having heard gunshots before. This was confirmed by the arrival of many police cars and an ambulance to take someone away from the house whose back faces mine across the alleyway. A glance at the police report in the News Journal shows that the incident hasn't appeared yet (at 9am).

An ambulance took away the alleged victim. Here are two police cars disgorging officers to look for shell casings

This looks more interesting on CSI. They were using rubber gloves to mark the location of the shell casings as they found them.

And I think they cleanup their rubber gloves after they use them to mark the locations. These were on the ground in the morning.


This morning in the light I took picture of the door with its new decoration of bullet holes. I hope they replace this before I have to sell my house.






It sounded like three gunshots last night, but a careful examination shows five. Did you know that the foam core doors have foam in them? On "This Old House" they usually provide a cutaway for explanation. This seems like a more violent way to find that out.



Thank god I am out of here in few weeks. Once the gunshots reach your neighborhood, it is time to abandon the area. This isn't the first time the police have visited the area. I certainly have no complaints about the Wilmington Police department, they have always responded quickly, politely and efficiently. It is too bad that the tougher neighborhoods in the city still seem to be sliding downhill. Perhaps I could express my displeasure with the management of the city by voting for someone else when I exercise my franchise on Tuesday? Oh, wait it is the same people on the ballot all the time, choice in a Democratic machine controlled city is an illusion. (I'm still going to vote.)

The official score:
Urban 1, Urban gentrification 0

tags: crime, gunshots, gentrification, Washington Street, Wilmington, Delaware