Saturday, September 24, 2011

Groundhog Day - 9/24






After three weekends, I finally live trapped the groundhog which was living under my storage shed.  I have tried placing the trap at various locations around the shed and tried different baits with no success.  I finally found the right combination of location, bait, and timing.  The trap was placed on the left side of the shed.  I used Gala Apples and dehydrated bananas from Trail Mix that I bought from Aldi.  I set the trap around 9:00AM, with plans to go grocery shopping in the AM.  As usual, I got distracted, and the Pitt game was on TV at 12 Noon.  I looked outside and there it was, in the trap.

I was not sure how sturdy the cage was, so I wanted to relocate the groundhog as soon as possible.  I lined the trunk of my car with a tarp, cardboard, and newspaper, in case the animal got nervous and completed a bodily function.  I read you should cover the cage with a towel so the groundhog will not get nervous - I used a black T-shirt.  Lifting the cage, then carrying the cage was difficult, as the animal got nervous and was moving and clawing inside the cage.  I finally got it in the trunk and drove to North Park.  For the first five minutes of the drive, I could hear the groundhog clawing at the cage.  I found a good spot to release it and again carrying the cage while the animal was moving got on my nerves.  I placed the trap on the ground, and opened the trap door.  I tapped the other end of the cage and the groundhog bolted right out the door into the woods.

I have not read that they are social animals, so hopefully there was only one groundhog under the shed.  I have read that the mother has babies in the spring, and the babies eventually leave the burrow when they are ready.  I am going to reset the trap Sunday morning (and Monday too since I am taking off work) to make sure there was only one groundhog.

My work is not done.  I have to block access on all four sides of the shed.  With winter coming and the amount of daylight getting shorter, I have some work to do.

Happy Groundhog Day!

 


Friday, September 02, 2011

New Wheels
















My big news since my last post is my new Do It Yourself Home Built PC. Here are the specs:

Power supply: Corsair TX750 V2
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth p67
CPU: i5-2500k, 3.3 GHz
Cpu cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus
RAM: Corsair 4 x 2GB
Dvd drive: Lite-On Ihas324
Hard Drive: Western Digital 1 TB, 6.0Gb/s
Video Card: XFX HD 6770

This is a huge jump in technology compared to my old PC which is over 11 years old. My old PC only has a 667 MHz processor, and the maximum amount of RAM it can have is 768 MB. I am very happy now.














Sunday, June 12, 2011

Updates

It has been a month since my last post, so here is what's been happening in my little world:

  • I have been trying to decide on a Personal Information Manager to use on my home PC. I am organized at work, but at home, I seem lost with no direction. The candidates are: Microsoft Outlook 2007, Mozilla Thunderbird, Mozilla Sunbird, Task Coach, Chandler Project, and Essential PIM.
  • I have been very lazy with my exercise program. From January through May, I made a lot of excuses not to work out. In May, I slowed started cardio session. In June, I started weight lifting again. It is going to take a while to get back in shape. It is my fault for being a couch potato
  • I am looking forward to all of the comic book based movies this summer.
  • Every year, I keep saying that I will build a new PC since mine is over ten years old. Will I finally do it?
Later

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The Mentalist - Season Finale



I thoroughly enjoyed the Season Finale of the CBS TV show "The Mentalist". I had a hunch that O'Laughlin was the mole at CBI. The big question is: Was the man that Patrick Jane shot really Red John? I have my doubts. Here are links to a couple of reviews:

Daemon's TV
Pop Star Recap Part 1
Pop Star Recap Part 2

One of my favorite screen caps above: Lisbon pretty in a pink bridesmaid dress.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Royal Wedding

If you are interested in following the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, here is the official website.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Google is Great


Google is Great. I was watching re-runs of the CBS series Cold Case, and decided to do a Google search for the lead actress Kathryn Morris. I found a great fan site, Kathryn Morris Fan, with an amazing picture gallery. This pic is from Oct 16th, 2010 - the 20th Annual Environmental Media Awards. She is 41 years old in this picture. Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Avril Lavigne, Goodbye Lullaby



Avril Lavigne released her fourth album today, Goodbye Lullaby. I have not purchased the album yet, so I do not have a review. So far, reviews have been mixed. Since her last album, Avril has gone through a divorce, and is now 26 years old. She is not a teenager anymore, and is growing as an adult, hence the perceived difference in her new album. I am a big fan, but I will keep an open mind. Here is a link to a live performance on MSN, Enjoy!

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Orie Mistrial - Cut and Paste Hack Job


The judge in the case for Senator Jane Orie declared a mistrial today. The reason, the defense submitted some documents where the signatures where doctored, a bad cut and paste job. I did my own cut and paste job and show the doctored sections side by side.
  1. Look at the "Original" - You will see two signatures, one is on top of the other and the two signatures overlap.
  2. Look at "Cut/Paste 1" - Look and you will see that the signature still has the overlap area.
  3. Look at "Cut/Paste 2" - The most obvious part is the red circle where you see two black underlines. The green circle shows a bad attempt to white out the overlap area.

You would think with today's software and technology, the cut/paste job would have been better. Both the Post Gazette and the Tribune Review have electronic copies of the doctored documents.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Rambling Reps

Just a few random rambling thoughts running in my brain lately:

  1. Cold Update - It has been 3 weeks already. I am better, but not 100% yet. My last lingering symptom is a slight cough and drainage in my throat. About twice a week, I will get an exercise induced asthma attack.
  2. DSL Broadband Service - I had to call tech support for my DSL provider because I could not access my DSL router to enable the WiFi. There were two problems: 1) My DSL router was not configured properly, so I had to reset it back to factory defaults; 2) It appears the firewall software that I was using, Comodo, was causing issues. I have switched to Zone Alarm, but would like to use Comodo once I figure out where I screwed up.
  3. Charlie Sheen - Has he lost his mind?
  4. Lindsay Lohan - What happened to the sweet girl that was in the movie "Mean Girls"? I thought she was cute and adorable in "Mean Girls", but I guess she has grown up, and not too well.
  5. I am ready for Spring.

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Random Reps

So I have been a bad blogger, I have not posted since 1/1/2011. Just a couple ramblings:

  1. I just caught my first cold of the year. I am a little congested with nasal drainage, lovely.
  2. I am been lazy with my workouts. I guess every winter, I gain a some insulation around my tummy.
  3. I switched from dial up internet access to broadband DSL service. Went from 56 kps to 3 Mbs. Big difference, but my PC is still old, so on line videos are not great. I am please with the speed.
  4. Getting ready to watch the Superbowl. Go Steelers !

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year to All !