Month: June 2005

I’m Having A Garage Sale

If anybody locally is going to be around tomorrow (Friday), we’re having a garage sale at the Ortman place. It’s going to be Friday from 9AM to whenever we get rid of all of our stuff. And what stuff is that? We’ve got some furniture (futon, dresser, dining chairs, for example), lots of baby toys and supplies (backpack, bike, high chair, Johnny Jumper), and a bunch of other random stuff that we’re getting rid of (some throw pillows, TV, Denon Reel-to-Reel). Feel free to stop by, at least say hi.

We live at 1319 NE Watson Dr. in Bend. Here’s a map to the place.

June 30, 2005

Don’t Try To Photocopy Your Butt

Bad things happen when you do…

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June 30, 2005

A New Workout

And no, Barney, I didn’t know the punchline to this….

A friend passed on this exercise suggested for seniors, to build muscle strength in the arms and shoulders. It seems so easy, so I thought I’d pass it on some of you. It is recommended you do it three days a week.

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-LB. potato sack in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides, and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, then relax.

Each day, you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-LB. potato sack.

Then 50-lb. potato sacks, and eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb. potato sack in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute.

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each of the sacks.

June 30, 2005

3rd Bend Slideluck Potshow

Simone is organizing another local Slideluck Potshow. If you’re a local photographer, or have any interest in photography and seeing other people’s work, then be sure to make it to this event.

Interested? Read on for the details from Simone (who really should post this on her blog)…

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June 30, 2005

We Need Your Help

I need every Oregonian out there to read this. My wife’s uncle, who lives in Sisters and shall remain nameless for right now, has gone missing. Now this is all hearing third-hand from my wife (as talking to her family right now is impossible), so bear with me for the lack of detail. Apparently he came home from work early today, grabbed a tank of propane and drove off in his older flame-painted black Jeep Cherokee. Nobody has a clue where he is.

Right now, I don’t have the license number for the car (I can’t get a hold of family as they’re out in the woods looking for him), but will update it if I get it. But if you have seen an older (Mid 80s, Black, Flames on the side) Jeep Cherokee driving around the highways, please contact the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office or e-mail me using the form on this site.

Update about 5 minutes later…: Figures, the minute I post something, the phone rings. The DCSO found him, apparently he was trying to do himself harm with the propane tank (he has tried stuff like this before, which is why they were worried). He was found unconcious out in the Three Creeks Wilderness, and is being taken to SCMC as we speak for treatment.

Update the next morning…: OK, after talking to my father in law this morning, I’m getting a bit more of the story. So far, here’s how the story goes…The uncle was found at a campground up on the McKenzie pass. He was actually reported by some campers that the uncle was talking to while he was up there. The campers found it odd that a man was up there with no tent or anything and didn’t even look like he was planning on camping. The campers wondered what happened when he walked off later without saying much. After looking around a bit, they found him locked up in his Jeep, letting propane leak into the cab. They broke the window of the Jeep to get him out and called the police, who weren’t really too far away at that point. He was rushed off to SCMC and is there right now. My in-laws are going over to the hospital later today to see how he’s doing and hopefully get him some help (as this is apparently the second time he’s tried this and was caught before finishing the job). I really hope he does get some help, or at least allows other help him.

June 29, 2005

Geek Manicure

If I were a bit more feminine and was going to do my nails, I’d do them something like this. Link via BB.

June 29, 2005

There’s A Web Page For Everything

Like this list (with photos and videos) of celebrities playing table tennis.

June 29, 2005

This Actually Assumes I Had Money

But if I did, I’d follow some of these tips here, and make sure to avoid doing stupid things.

June 29, 2005

Flash Fun

These are great little adventure games that are simple, don’t have any text, but are quite fun.

June 29, 2005

Are Track Measurements and Records Accurate?

Anybody who knows me knows I’m a track and field geek (used to compete a lot more, but haven’t since my back surgery). So when I came across this story on Slate, I was certainly intrigued.

The Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell set a new world record for the 100-meter dash on June 14, with a time of 9.77 seconds. The previous record, set by American Tim Montgomery, was 9.78 seconds — just one-hundredth of a second slower. How accurate are the devices used to time these events?

They can record to the ten-thousandth of a second, although that level of precision is not commonly used. That’s because every track (and every lane) differs in length by a minuscule amount, so two runners who race at exactly the same speed might cross the finish line with times that differ by a tiny fraction of a second. In the 1972 Olympics, for example, two swimmers finished a 400-meter race within two-thousandths of a second — or a few millimeters — of each other. As it turned out, each lane of the swimming pool had been constructed to a precision of just 10 millimeters, so there was no way to determine the winner.

Luckily I raced longer distances where a centimeter ain’t going to matter worth a damn, but I can see this being a problem in shorter events.

June 29, 2005