Deb's Last Staff Lunch

Deb is serenaded by her co-workers! Her last staff lunch with her friends at the City of Happy Valley:

From the happy valley they say you are going
We will miss you giant certificate and sweet smile
For they say you are taking the sunshine
That has brightened our path for awhile

Come and sit by our side in your bubble, Do not hasten to bid us adieu, But remember the City of Happy Valley, And the cowboy's who loved you so true

Won't you think of the valley you're leaving
Oh how lonely, how sad it will be?
Oh think of the fond hearts you're breaking
And the grief you are causing to Cathy

Come and sit by my side if you love me, Do not hasten to bid us adieu, But remember the City of Happy Valley, And the cowboy's who loved you so true

As you go to your home in Boise
May you never forget those sweet hours
That you spent in the City of Happy Valley
An the love we exchanged mid the flowers

Come and sit by our side in your bubble, Do not hasten to bid us adieu, But remember the City of Happy Valley, And the cowboy's who loved you so true

I have begun an investigation into these "Cowboys", and will find out just what did happened "mid the flowers!"

President Bush Impersonation

An excerpt from the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner. President Bush’s presentation included an impersonator, Steve Bridges, who "interpreted" the president's remarks for laymen.

Very Funny!

Idaho House Technology Part 2

Whole House Audio

Music anywhere you want it, at the touch of a button. That’s what you get with a Russound CAA66 Controller Amplifier solution. Classical in the bedroom, rock in the den and salsa in the kitchen. A multiroom system for everyone that delivers music to match your mood, and a cost to fit your wallet.

Adjust the bass, treble, balance, loudness and volume from elegantly designed keypad options for one-touch control of home audio. The system supports up to three keypads per zone, available in five colors, that fit perfectly in any Decora® plate.

The CAA66 can be daisy-chained, easily expanding up to 36 zones for any size home or budget. It includes extensive infrared command codes and learning capabilities, making remote and keypad control of the system as simple as pressing a button.

With advanced features, simplified programming, audio playback adjustments and extensive expandability, the CAA66 is the only choice for affordable excellence in multiroom audio.

View the CAA66 Brochure

Idaho House Technology Part 1

The new house is full of technology that I have not seen before in home construction. I will share the new tech as it is added to the house. Standard batting pink insulation? Not if you want an R value of 19 in a 2 x 6 wall. Check out the:

Blow-In-Blanket Insulation Process (from bobvila.com)

Bob is joined by Mikde Hobson of Westchester Insulation as the crew prepares one of the Mashpee houses for insulation installation. Hobson explains that this is a patented insulation system that uses special fabric stapled and drawn tight across any cavity that needs to be insulated. The crew works with pneumatic staplers to get the fabric in place across all the walls and the joists of the cathedral ceiling. The fabric is not intended as a moisture barrier of any kind and is just there to hold the insulation in place and prevent it from settling. Hobson shows Bob the white fiberglass that will be blown into the cavities. It is white because it is a virgin product, completely free of treatments, binders, or chemicals. Certainteed and Johns Manville both produce fiberglass insulation that is suitable for the Blow-In-Blanket installation. Once all cavities have been enclosed, the insulation contractor cuts a slit in the fabric and inserts a hose through which the fiberglass is blown. The cavity is filled to a density of two pounds per cubic foot which is visible to the eye by a slight bulge in the fabric. At this density, an R-value of 15 is achieved in two-by-four cavities like walls. In attics and ceiling cavities that are two-by-six, an R-value of 38 can be achieved. This insulation is inert and will not support moisture, mold, animals, or insects. It also serves as a sound insulator and can be blown in around drain lines, in interior partitions, and around tubs and showers. Blo-In-Blanket insulation is suitable for new construction or retrofit applications where it is blown in through the sheathing from the outside or through interior drywall to fill wall cavities. Blow-In-Blanket insulation costs about 50 to 60 percent more to install than traditional batt insulation, but offers such energy efficiency that it pays for itself within two to four years.

China Makes Artificial Rain for Beijing

From the article...

Chinese weather specialists used chemicals to engineer Beijing's heaviest rainfall of the year, helping to relieve drought and rinse dust from China's capital, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Technicians with the Beijing Weather Modification Office fired seven rocket shells containing 163 cigarette-size sticks of silver iodide over the city's skies on Thursday, Xinhua said.

What Really Saves Gas? And How Much?

From the article...

With gas prices so high, the media is awash with lists of gas-saving tips. Well how's this for a tip? If you listen to us, you can see hybrid-type savings without having to buy a new car.

By changing your driving habits you can improve fuel economy up to 37 percent right away (depending on how you drive). Combine several tips and perform routine maintenance and you will save real dollars, not just pennies.

A miracle? All we did was take several of the most common tips out there and put them to the test over a remote 55-mile route in the high desert of California. Some of them worked like a charm. Some of them didn't work at all. We'll give you the breakdown.

Printable Maps

Do you need a simple prepared map that you can print at home, at school, or in the office? Look below at our expanding list of maps formatted to be viewed, printed, or downloaded.

The National Atlas has prepared reference and outline maps of the United States that you can print or use online. The reference maps display general reference features such as boundaries, cities, capitals, major highways, rivers and lakes, and terrain. Outline maps showing county boundaries, State boundaries, capitals, or other basic features are also available. Maps without labels are included for students and teachers of American geography. The maps are in color, but will also print or copy well in black and white.

Why do we say 'um', 'er', or 'ah' when we hesitate in speaking?

Not everyone says "um", "er" or "ah" when they hesitate while speaking. It depends upon the language.

For example, speakers of Mandarin Chinese often say"zhege" which roughly translates as “this”. In English we say "um", "er", "ah", or other vocalisations for reasons that linguists are not entirely sure about. "Um", "er", and “ah” contain what linguists call "neutral vowel sounds" making them among the easiest sounds to make.

It may be that they can be said without a great deal of thought too. So that may be part of the answer. "Um", "er", and "ah" are what linguists call "fillers". "Fillers" help conversations continue smoothly.

New House Is Changing Fast!

I was able to get some photos of the house building progress during my last visit to Idaho on Friday. Since my visit of only a week ago many things have happened! The house is now fully wired, insulated, sided, sheetrocked and taped. The house now also sports a partially completed roof and garage doors with electric openers. They have plumbed natural gas to both the upper deck and lower patio as well as adding a 220 volt line for the hottub on the patio. I approved plans for the detached shop that will be placed along the property line on the left side of the house. It will have the same touches externally as you see on the house, so it will blend in and look nice.

Below are some Then and Now photos so you can see the changes.

Then & Now Master Tub

Then & Now Living Room

Then & Now House Back

Then & Now House Front

Cell Phone Symphony

From the article...

Last Spring I received an email from someone who had heard about us on This American Life. He wrote:

There's a scene I've been wanting to pull off, but I don't have the manpower. Feel like helping?

This is the gist: you know The Strand? (I work there). Know the bag check? As you can imagine, with all those bags and coats and things, people leave their cell phones with the guy. Occasionally they go off.

What I'm thinking is, you get a group of people, thirty or so, who all come into the shop and check their bags with their phones in 'em. At some later point, every single phone checked into the bag check starts to ring at the same time. It'd be bedlam.

Best Buy - Mission Confusion!

From the article...

The idea for this mission was submitted by a stranger via email. Agent Slavinsky wrote in to suggest I get either a large group of people in blue polo shirts and khakis to enter a Best Buy or a group in red polo shirts and khakis to enter a Target. Wearing clothing almost identical to the store's uniform, the agents would not claim to work at the store but would be friendly and helpful if anyone had a question. There aren't any Targets in Manhattan, so I decided to go with the two-story Best Buy on 23rd Street.