Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my sonorous songbirds! How are you? I am so glad that spring is officially here, although the plants and animals have known about it for some time now. I love to hear the birds singing and twittering at this time of year. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t heard them for some time, or if the birds are bursting with energy, but their music and chatter sounds better, sweeter in the spring. It just makes me smile to hear them.

And it also makes me smile to visit with all of my irregular friends. I do so enjoy our Wednesday mornings. A little regularity in our irregular lives is not always a bad thing. I look forward to blogging and reading your comments.

Last week I mentioned the possibility of marketing Zoltar® brand products via home parties. That is one avenue I am exploring. Another possibility, of course, is the internet. Great fortunes have been made online. And it certainly seems like a logical extension of my current activities online. So I spent some time recently researching domain names and other Zoltar related info. And guess what I stumbled upon? http://www.facebook.com/pages/ZOLTAR/70127349754 That’s right; the blooming idiot has a Facebook account. And on it, he has this:

“In a sad but quietly reported event, ZOLTAR has separated from his wife of 20 years. Official court papers claim ‘Irreconcilable Differences,’ but a close family friend spoke under the condition of anonymity that ‘Mrs. ZOLTAR chose the bottle over her long-time companion.’ This never before seen picture confirms that Mrs. ZOLTAR has issues she clearly needs to resolve if there is to be any hope for reconciliation.”

He is blaming ME for ruining our marriage, with alcohol! I hardly touch the stuff. Of all the nerve! I was so outraged, I almost cast a spell. And then to add insult to injury, he posted the picture at right as supposed proof of my boozing problem. I almost choked! That's his own mother. Everyone knows what a lush she is. Everyone, that is, except for the millions of people who visit Facebook.

I left him because he thought he was some sort mechanical bull that had to inseminate every female who walked by. I left with nothing but our child in my arms and his menacing glare at my back. He has never sent a red cent to me in support payments. I am raising Junior alone and built a small but successful business enterprise. And then he posts such rubbish about me. I don’t know if I’m more hurt or angry. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway, because lies always corrode you, and that’s the thing he fears the most. Someday he will seize up like an overheated engine, and it can’t come soon enough for me.

In the meantime, I checked out some possible domain names for an online store. I believe that I posted this one a long time ago: http://www.zoltar.com/. Obviously, that one is occupied, and by a very interesting resident. Here’s another interesting one: http://zoltar.net/. For some reason, I find that attractive. Next is http://zoltar.org/. That’s rather odd. http://www.zoltar.info/ redirects, but http://www.zoltar.biz/ is available. In fact, Zoltar.biz is a perfect fit. Now I just have to find the time, money, and energy to set it up. Oh my!

Thank you so much for reading my blog this week. I predict April showers and May flowers.

Please send your spring greetings to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

I love each and every one of you. Listen to the birds, because the bird is the word. Sudorific!

The National Speed Trap Exchange

http://www.speedtrap.org/

Oh yeah, Racine is listed, with 20 speed traps. You can add more.

Happy 50th Kitt Peak

Last night I went to a couple of talks commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Kitt Peak National Observatory. This event was the culmination of the 50th anniversary celebrations. There have been a variety of events going on the last couple of years as we celebrated the anniversary Disney style. Of course, what do you celebrate? The selection of the site, the dedication? Well, celebrate a lot!

Last night's talks were by Dr. Aden Meinel, Kitt Peak's first director, and Bernard Siquierios, education curator at the Tohono O'odham Nation's Cultural Center and Musuem.

Meinel is one of those people who make you realize how little you have accomplished. Director of Kitt Peak and Steward Observatory, founder of the U of A College of Optical Sciences, was in World War II and a rocket expert who worked with the V-2, w0rked at the legendary Area 51 and I can't remember what all else, but that is plenty right there (he even claimed that the Hubble was basically a copy of an existing spy satellite, a claim I have heard made before but this is the first time by someone that worked in a position that he might have first hand knowledge).

He primarily talked about the site selection process and the first trips up Kitt Peak. I found it interesting that a requirement was that the facility be below 8000 feet (he jokingly said that it hadn't occurred to anyone to build telescopes at the top of a high mountain and living facilities lower, like they did on Mauna Kea in Hawaii). I always wondered why they choose 6800 foot Kitt Peak...now I have a little more insight on the history. He had some interesting old photos and short movies of the first trip up the mountain.

After a nice traditional song by Bernard's family accompanied with a beautiful slide show (a good combination), he talked about the mountain from the tribe's perspective. There were some traditional stories which I expected, but also a lot of personal anecdotes about the mountain which were entertaining. A fitting end to the 50th Anniversary Celebration.

For those not as familiar with Kitt Peak, the idea of a national observatory was to give astronomers around the U.S. access to world class telescopes. In the '50s, most large telescopes were run by universities or private foundations. That was great if you were at one of those places (like Cal Tech which ran the Palomar Observatory) but not so great if you weren't. The National Observatory was founded to give telescope access to astronomers on a competitive basis, best proposals win time. A second observatory was built in Chile (the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory or CTIO) to obtain access to the southern skies.

Kitt Peak no longer holds the worlds largest telescopes. They have moved on to higher mountains. Kitt Peak is also being effected more and more by light pollution from Tucson and Phoenix (Phoenix has much more lax lighting ordinances). Kitt Peak still does a lot of great research, but its role will inevitably change as time goes on. Here is wishing Kitt Peak many more years of productive research!

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Old relic photos during WWII remastered in High Definition

Old relic photos during WWII remastered in High Definition
>>> Operator building on a B-25 North American in 1942



<<< B-25's final assembly line 1942
>>> B-25 hangar manufacturing in the North American 1942



<<< B-25 hangar manufacturing in the North American 1942
>>> Installation of the engine Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach California, Oct 1942



<<< Engine installed at Douglas Aircraft, Long Beach in June 1942
>>> B-25 ready to go into action North American, Long Beach, June 1942



<<< B25: Preparation for the wind tunnel of North American 1942
>>> Preparing the model of the B-25 for the wind tunnel of Long Beach, 1942



<<< Adjustments in the final B-25, October 1942
>>> Filling a Bomber 1942



<<< Women pilots 1942
>>> Final Inspection 1942



<<< Catalina, August 1942
>>> Inspection of the P-51 Mustang 1942



<<< Inspecting a Catalina
>>> inspection of landing gear on the line.



<<< worker inspecting a machine gun bubble of the nose of the B-25, 1943
>>> Moments of relaxation before takeoff 1943



<<< Worker painting at helm of a P-51 Mustang. August 1943
>>> Air Patrol-- Stinson A-10,June 1943



<<< Inspection of the engines to be mounted on the B-25 October 1942
>>> Fort Knox 1942

RUSD School Safety

Well, it's been quite awhile since I have blogged, but it's never too long to wait for some more good old RUSD crap.

I have noticed some serious security issues with a couple of our schools and I want to get some feedback from everyone.

First off, let's just say I have "ties" to two schools in particular. Fratt Elementary and Knapp Elementary. I have included a scan of a letter I received from the principal at Fratt on March 19th. As you can see, it states that "there may have been a weapon in Fratt one day during this past week." There may have been? Well, I found out today that there was. Not just any weapon either. A loaded handgun. L-O-A-D-E-D. A fifth grader brought a loaded handgun to school to give to a friend. There are so many things to be said about this, but aside from the obvious, I am disgusted at how this was omitted in the letter to the parents.

Another issue at Fratt in particular is that there are still doors to the school being left unlocked during the day and in one instance, the front door actually had a sign on it stating something to the effect of "bell does not work, please come in".

As for Knapp, they like other RUSD schools have a badge swipe type of a system to get in the doors along with a buzzer at the front door. Again, doors are being left unlocked during school hours and one in particular is left unlocked because THE BADGE SWIPE DOES NOT WORK.

As I see it, it is damn time that our leaders in RUSD start to take school security and the safety of the students seriously. We have seen many referendums over the past few years from our "leaders" asking for OUR money. One in particular not so long ago was to upgrade security in our schools. From what I have seen, security has been upgraded to a point, but WHEN THE SYSTEM DOES'T WORK HOW DAMN GOOD IS IT?

I don't know exactly where I am going to go with this, but I can't just let it be anymore. Something has to be done and I am looking for suggestions, opinions and ideas from all of you.

Dark Skies Crusader: Episode I

I thought this would air in a couple of days but it showed up in my podcast feed today. Today's episode of the 365 Days of Astronomy features the premiere of the Dark Skies Crusader. The DSC rides around on his environmentally friendly bike helping citizens beat back the scourge of light pollution.

This episode tells you about Earth Hour, Dark Skies Week, and the International Night in Defense of Starlight. I will do a post on each of these events separately as they come up. In the meantime, enjoy the premiere episode and eagerly anticipate the DSC's next exciting adventure.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

Vietnam Wall

First click on a state. When it opens, scroll down to the city and the names will appear. Then click on their names. It should show you a picture of the person, or at least their bio and medals.

This really is an amazing web site. Someone spent a lot of time and effort to create it.

I hope that everyone who receives this appreciates what those who served in Vietnam sacrificed for our country.

The link below is a virtual wall of all those lost during the Vietnam war with the names, bio's and other information on our lost heroes. Those whore member that timeframe, or perhaps lost friends or family can look them upon this site. Pass the link on to others if you like.

Virtual Vietnam Wall

Mini Chill Out

Charlie, on the right, loves his Mini Chill. I also tried some earlier today. I think it works - maybe - I'm not sure.

I was quite worked up over a number of petty incidents that occurred while I was out running errands. When I returned home, I thought, "This is a great time to try out Mini Chill." I picked up a bottle and shook it well. Then I cracked it open and took a sip.

It tastes identical to iChill to me. Mini Chill calls their flavor Berry Bliss, and iChill tags theirs Blissful Berry. Can that be a coincidence? Like I said about the iChill, the flavor is reminiscent of a cheap candy. It's not repulsive, but not very tasty, either. I drank the rest of the Mini Chill and noted that after about a half hour, I belched some of it up, thereby reliving the taste. This was to happen a number of times, even after I ate supper. It's a repeater for me.

As to the Mini Chill's effects, I remembered that Lizardmom reported that she felt more relaxed in about a half hour after drinking it. So I waited for about 40 minutes before I tried to note changes in my mood. I was undoubtedly more relaxed than I was when I first returned home. The thing that bothers me, though, is that I'm almost always more relaxed at home than when I am making social contact.

So, would I have calmed down just as much, or less, if I hadn't drunk the Mini Chill? Who knows? Because the makers of Mini Chill were kind enough to give us free samples, I'm willing to attribute my mood change to their relaxation drink. And if anyone wants me to evaluate a new car or computer, I'll attribute whatever you want to that, too.

Thank you, Mini Chill. http://minichill.com/

Compassion...Is that a Lost Art?

The other day is I was walking into work, I was greeted by some laughing co-workers. What were they laughing about? Apparently, some co-worker thought it would be a great idea to take another co-worker's picture, photoshop it with a derogatory message about his manhood, and then mass texted it to other co-workers. No, I did not receive the message. When I saw it on another co-worker's phone, I was outraged and offended! I admit the victim is a little "slow" and can be a little difficult to work with because of his handicaps. Is that a reason to treat him this way? I don't think so!

I'm aware that some teasing and practical jokes go on in the place, but this was downright malicious! A workplace is a place where professionalism and courtesy take priority. Everybody's got a right to a peaceful working environment. After seeing the victim walking around looking downtrodden and beaten like a dog, I decided to say something. I mentioned the incident to the supervisor. He mentioned that there was little that he could do about the cell phones, but he will look into all teasing and that goes on and take action. After all, workplaces can be sued for incidents like these....


Just last night, my son and I were having dinner at a local restaurant. We noticed that a noticed a handicapped lady with a walker was having a hard time pushing open a door. Someone threw fries at her! WTF! I was disgusted! My son then got up and opened the door for her. That's my boy! He has a kind heart where others do not.

All these incidents has got me thinking. Where has the compassion gone is this world? Is being mean to other people really that funny? Has this generation gone to crap? I guess I was raised differently. I was taught to be compassionate towards others less unfortunate than I am.....

Could you live without your cell phone?

I posted this on Facebook, but here it is for you guys:

Could you live without your cell phone...would you absolutely go nuts without it or would you find it a relief not to be bothered?

I have a smartphone (although I really don't think I need one and I don't think it's that smart). I personally think I could really do without all the gadgets...do I need to check my email constantly, nope. Do I, yep...

And, yes, all my numbers in the world are in there; if I lose it...oh-oh....but then maybe all those people will call me on my land-line...maybe.....or email me and I would pick up those messages on my PC...

I put my shopping list on it...I put all my appts on it...all sorts of things that could be handled with a calendar and scratch pad....

So how about you?

The results are beginning to come in!

I had a feeling that if I was going to need to relax,
it was going to be at work.

It took a couple days but today
about put me over the edge and I was glad
I brought one of these little babies with me.

I would personally give it a 8 out of 10.
Here are my reasons for this -

The flavor -
did not like at all :(
that alone dropped the rating, sad to say

Effectiveness -
After 1/2 hour I didn't want to kill anyone
(that was quite an improvement!)
I was also taking note of how my muscles felt
since my shoulders felt like they were up to my ears.
The neck and shoulders were considerably
more relaxed than before I took the little bottle.
They are back down where they belong.

I am alert, not tired at all, and I DO feel sharper
than before I took it. Stress dulls you
and lack of it helps, and that is what this does.

I also found it hard to drink out of,
the opening is so tiny.

Improve the flavor and I will
have to start buying in bulk!!

I look forward to the others' take on this!

Four for Fridays

Hi everybody! Wow! Those Fridays sure come up fast! Today's questions are just random...

1) What is your favorite color?

2) Do you send or send back chain e-mail?

3) What is your mood today?

4) What is your favorite day of the week?

Enjoy your weekend!

Weird NJ: Nike Missile Bases

I know this is long, but it brought back some memories for me.

Sudden Acceleration: How to stop your car if it happens to you

It's been in the news so much lately, so that's what you do.

Here's a slightly different version: http://video.consumerreports.org/services/player/bcpid1078549944?bctid=48234862001.

Who Cut the Cheese?

Actually, the Judges cut the cheese!

21 Wisconsin cheeses make final round in world championship contest

Wisconsin cheese makers produced 21 of thetop78cheeses that will compete Thursday in the final round of the 2010World Championship Cheese Contest in Madison, giving America's Dairyland a strong shot at the world title.

Check with JSOnline for the complete article.

A place I like to go to get cheese and many other good things is Tenuta’s Deli in Kenosha. To bad Racine does not have a store like this, but then I guess we have bakeries.

VW & Camper From 1974

This looks like it could have been fun. I never remember seeing any advertisement for them.

Old Farts

I'm passing this on as I did not want to be the only old fart receiving it.

Actually, it's not a bad thing to be called, as you will see. Old Farts are easy to spot at sporting events; during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner. Old Farts remove their caps and stand at attention and sing without embarrassment. They know the words and believe in them.

Old Farts remember World War II, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal , Normandy and Hitler. They remember the Atomic Age, the Korean War, The Cold War , the Jet Age and the Moon Landing. They remember the 50 plus Peacekeeping Missions from 1945 to 2005, not to mention Vietnam .

If you bump into an Old Fart on the sidewalk he will apologize. If you pass an Old Fart on the street, he will nod or tip his cap to a lady. Old Farts trust strangers and are courtly to women.

Old Farts hold the door for the next person and always, when walking, make certain the lady is on the inside for protection.

Old Farts get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and children and they don't like any filth or dirty language on TV or in movies.

Old Farts have moral courage and personal integrity. They seldom brag unless it's about their children or grandchildren.

It's the Old Farts who know our great country is protected, not by politician's, but by the young men and women in the military serving their country.

This country needs Old Farts with their work ethic, sense of responsibility, pride in their country and decent values.

We need them now more than ever.

Thank God for Old Farts!

Pass this on to all the Old Farts you know.

I was taught to respect my elders. It's just getting harder to find them.

It's here!! Time to chill, mini chill that is :)

Our complimentary samples of Mini Chill have arrived!
I am excited to try it, now if only I could get upset again
to see how it works :)

If you'd like to be one of our product evaluators for
the company to give feed back about
their product, please contact me
and I'll hook you up!! :)

click here!
( I hope I did that right!)

Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipes

My corned beef and cabbage turned out fine...it had to be finished up on the stove-top cuz the low setting the slow cooker is just plain too low...I should have started it at 5 a.m. and put the taters in at about 2 pm to eat at 6 pm...

Yes, I did put onions in...thanks, kk...I have never, ever had so much trouble adjusting my brain to a recipe like I did with this one...never having had 'boiled dinner,' it just boggled me...I never cooked meat with so much liquid in my life.

I have to admit that it was good...I just think Mr. D could have done better.....he has been cooking this right along and here I am like a fish out of water. And I sure was...I'll do better next year....

Thanks again, kk...and Orbs, I added the veggies in plenty of time...they were done...the meat was just taking its good nature time....

Dear Madame O'Zoltar

Top o’ the day to you, my luscious leprechauns! How are you? Are you wearing green? Are you drinking green? Are you feeling green? I’m green with envy of the Irish today. Erin Go Bragh! I love seeing green sprouts coming up on a day like this and even some grass greening up in Racine. The weather is beautiful. It’s a wonderful day. God bless the Irish, and God bless everyone else, too.

There was an email from the enchanting Ms. kkdither this week. She wrote:

My dearest Madame,

I hope this email finds you well.

I was watching Pawn Stars in the early morning, sleepless hours I have been keeping of late. In this particular episode, Chumly, who works in the pawn shop, found himself compelled to go to an auction to place a bid. In this auction, there was a fortune telling machine named Esmeralda whose beauty and allure he could not shake loose from his mind. He was hoping to place a maximum bid of $500.00. Alas, the machine's price rose to over $6,000.00, and he left feeling defeated and lovelorn.

My question is... do you know of this Esmeralda? Is she a relative? I do hope you hold some royalties on the Zoltar brand name of these devices. It appears with times being so difficult, everyone is looking to know what lies ahead and the popularity of these machines is on the rise.

Upon further research, I found this link: http://www.bmigaming.com/games-arcade-fortunetellers.htm.

I had no idea Bill Clinton was among those offering up predictions, horoscopes or visions.... :D

Yours truly,
kkdither

Thank you so much for your query, my dear Ms. kk. It is always a delight to hear from you. I am doing fine (or as well as can be expected in these trying times) and I hope that you are well, too.

I am well acquainted with this Esmeralda that you speak of, and thankfully she is no relative of mine. From her first incarnation in Notre Dame to this very day, she breaks young men’s hearts, just like Mr. Chumly’s, while relieving them of their funds. Her beauty and dancing are legendary. Her wiles and charms are many. She is forever young and appealing. Humph! The tart!

Unfortunately, Mr. Zoltar was also well acquainted with Esmeralda, if you catch my drift. That is one of the many reasons that he is now my ex-Mr. Zoltar. Also unfortunately, I did not realize the value of Zoltar fortune telling machine royalties during the divorce negotiations. He got the machines, I got the kid. However, I am sole owner and proprietor of Zoltar® brand psychic products for home use. I’ve even been thinking of starting a Mary Kay type of franchising operation. Representatives of Zoltar® products could call on you in your homes and bring my potions and predictions to you. Or perhaps you’d prefer to attend a Zoltar® party at one of the representatives’ homes. There you could see and try the full line of products I’ve prepared for you. Oh my, the possibilities are endless.

As for Mr. Clinton offering up visions, I suggest that a fortune telling machine might do just as good a job of running this country as any of our current politicians. Maybe even better. And certainly more cheaply.

Well that’s another exciting episode of my blog for this week, dear Irregulars. I hope that you all are hale and hearty on this gorgeous spring day. Don’t forget that Madame Zoltar cares about each and every one of you.

Please send your prose and poems in Celtic to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Have a wonderful week, my friends. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, or vice versa, but what happens in the middle is anybody’s guess. Gra Go Deo!

The Lake Erie UFO

The web has been buzzing with reports of UFO that keeps appearing over Lake Erie as seen from Euclid, Ohio. It is appearing at the same time every night which instantly set off my BS detector since a bright new denzien is gracing the western skies after sunset. MSNBC even carried a report.

Now to the moderately trained eye, that looks like Venus/Jupiter/Mars (whichever is nice and bright near the horizon at the time) shot at high zoom with a shaky hand (well, it doesn't take much of a shaky hand when you zoom in!) These guys can be very bright and when they are close to the horizon, Earth's atmosphere can make them shimmer and change colors quite convincingly. I was at the U of A softball game Saturday night and a friend asked what the bright light was in the west. I said Venus and she responded that it was surprisingly orange.

And of course he admits he is not an astronomer...that should be a clue that maybe the reporter should FIND AN ASTRONOMER!

Now here is a kicker for you. The local Fox news station interviewed him. He showed a "still" picture during the interview. I did a screen capture of it.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I went out tonight and saw Venus. Just for fun, I zoomed in on to maximum zoom and snapped a picture not using a tripod. Compare.

Interesting, huh? Okay, I had a tree in my foreground...big whoop. If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...you know the rest.

Summary, it looks like Venus, Venus is up in that part the sky during the time frame they are observing. It's probably Venus.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

An Iridium Flare, Venus and the Moon

But not all at the same time. First, just a very young crescent Moon and Venus taken earlier tonight.

Let's zoom in a little closer.

The Moon was fairly young so I was surprised it was so visible. Next month should be even better as Venus and the crescent Moon will meet higher in the sky.

But the main event tonight was trying to photograph my first Iridium flare. Iridium satellites are used for satellite phone service. If you are in the right place at the right time, the Sun can reflect off their parabolic dishes and give a very bright flare. The brightest can be seen during the day! I saw a good one here tonight at 7:20pm (local time) and saw that the center line was only a few miles from my place so I went for it.
When observing Iridium flares, you want to be as close to the center line as possible. My townhome is only about 6.4km from the center of this flare (according to my GPS) and that costs you three magnitudes of brightness. So you really have to be sure where you are to get the best view!

Not the best picture, but here it is.

It's that bright streak right in the middle. I did center it nicely! I should have zoomed in more on the flare region, but was a little gun shy on that since it was my first try. Next time.

If you want to observe an Iridium flare, Heavens Above is the place to go. You can enter your city, but your GPS coordinates are better. Don't know your GPS coordinates? They have a map you can use to zoom in on your observing location down to the street level. When looking at the magnitudes, remember that lower numbers mean brighter flare. -8 is the brightest you can get. 0 is much dimmer but easily visible. You can click on the flare and it will show you where the center line is relative to you so you can get closer to it.

These last only a few seconds, so obviously I didn't get a second shot tonight. I have an app on my cell phone that helps map these now, so if I pay attention, I should have more good chances to get pics of these.

Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog.

"Digital police radios black out public access"

From the Journal Sentinel Online:

"The [Milwaukee police] department's digital radio system, known as OpenSky, became fully operational in early February, replacing the department's analog system and leaving scanner listeners in the dark. Milwaukee police have no plans to make their broadcasts available to the public again, primarily because of concerns about officer safety, department spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/87731882.html

Traditonally, news sources have relied on police and fire scanners to pick up on breaking stories. And there is also a loyal following among some listeners.

I thought it was great when I realized that the local police scanner is available online, but I haven't listened that much lately. I'm not sure how I feel about the public being unable to listen to digital police radio transmissions. I can understand officer safety concerns, but I also know that they have a secure analog channel that they switch to when the need arises. As one guy in the story said, I've never heard the police announce a drug raid while I was listening to the scanner.

I grew up next door to a family that had a scanner on 24 hours a day. The father was a fireman. Even when they watched TV, the scanner would be on in the kitchen, the volume low. Maybe it's something I've just taken for granted all these years. I suspect, though, that digital scanners will be out in one form or another, legal or illegal, before too long. It's almost impossible to stay ahead of the technology.

RADICAL MOTORCYCLES