Cotton Cone

We miss so many things in life. There is so much beauty around us and we choose to ignore it or let it get sucked into the vortex of normality. While on a hike, Lizzy and I walked by a cottony looking plant. We took a few shots of it and continued around the brook. Luckily on the way back, we spotted the true intricate nature of the plant. This incredible plant releases it's future offspring with a spectacular ride through the air. We took a couple of shots knowing that this moment soon would be gone and we would have to find the same type of plant at just the right time on a subsequent year, just to see this spectacle again.

People say I'm a great dad. I try to be but am probably not.  I'm just a guy who understands some moments in life can only be seen once, after that you only see the results of those moments.
 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The holiday that celebrates thanking god we only have to stomach dinner with our extended family a couple times a year.

A Two Tassled Sleeve Grabber By Any Other Name...

The kids and I love naming things we see on our photo safaris. If we know what it is, we call it by it's given name. If not it is fair game. I think it started when we were all on a trail and Lizzy asked what a certain plant was called. I replied, I call it Fred. Since then, the kids and I have been making up outrageous names for plants, insects and animals that we see on our journeys. Today's example comes compliments of a trail run we did, at the brook, after the storm.

Lizzy was leaning over to take a picture of a flower when she realized a bunch of things stuck to her jacket. I pulled them off but a few feet later, they were back again. These little seeds from a plant had grabbed her twice. When we found the source, we took some pictures and started to work out a name for it, We tried out one after the other. Runners up were porcuplant and daffoporcudil. The winner though was, as you guessed it, the two tasseled sleeve grabber.

Windows 8 Review (On the ExoPC)

I've been in the technology game too long to not realize it's bad being an early adopter. It wasn't an impulse buy and I've never bought a Microsoft product until at least a year after it aired. Unfortunately, I had to buy Windows 8 on the first day.

Last Christmas, I bought myself an ExoPC slate(they now call them surface tablets) that ran Windows 7. The device was painfully slow on Windows 7 and the touch screen virtually useless. It was probably one of the worst tech buys I ever made. If it didn't run the normal Microsoft programs(albeit slowly), it would have been the worst.

The reason I bought it was because I needed a business machine. Android and IOS are useless for most business users. They are excellent for games, getting email or going on the web but their business shortcomings are too many to list.

So after Windows 8 was promised to be faster and easier to use in tablet form, I thought I'd try one last ditch effort to save my poor little tablet. I downloaded and installed Windows 8 shortly before the storm. The tablet seemed snappy. The comparison wouldn't be tortoise and hare, but rock and hare. All of the programs ran and ran fast. All of my old programs worked brilliantly. Shockingly, Microsoft had released a product that seemed, gasp, efficiently coded.

Well, Sandy came and without power, I did not have a chance to use the tablet much. After power was restored, I found my old windows 7 laptop was a casualty of the storm. It had multiple disk errors and took forever to do anything. With work to do and vacation coming up, I was royally screwed.

That's when I remembered the ExoPC. It booted up to Windows 8 quickly. I began downloading all of the programs I needed; attached my blue tooth mouse / keyboard and was up and working in no time flat.

After working with Windows 8 for several weeks, I've gotten to know it pretty well. The speed is excellent, but there are several drawbacks to getting or upgrading to a Windows 8 machine.

Cons:

1. The learning curve. I am a very advanced tech user and the learning curve sucked. Nothing on Windows 8 is intuitive. Finger gestures and the mouse work differently for most functions but not for all. Swiping from the right edge brings up a menu that allows you to search, share, start and change some settings. Swiping from the left edge cycles through open programs. Using the mouse, there is no swipe and you need to point to hotspots in a right corner for the above menu, but pointing to the left corner, does not cycle through programs. It shows you a small icon of the next running program. If you have more than one other program running, you have to slide the cursor upward to see all running programs to choose from. To close a program, you can swipe or mouse from the top to the bottom of the screen.
2. On the ExoPC and I'm sure other hardware, there are still some items that do not work. In my case, it is the auto screen rotate. Microsoft recognizes the sensor but will not work with it. I have to manually rotate the screen via button to change orientation, a minor inconvenience. The OS is still young and I'm sure will take a while to mature.
3. The Microsoft App store is horrible. The complaint is not the content but the layout. I could not find the Nook reader without doing a search. Even after following the store to 'all readers' and then looking through 'every program' available. I had this problem with several other apps too.
4. Though the Metro Layout looks great, it is designed for large tiles, so when small tiles are used, weird configurations of tiles occupy the screen.
5. Goes back to number 1. Learning the smallest hints and tricks takes experimentation. I don't think the average user will experiment enough to find practical procedures that should be intuitive.
6. The OS was definitely designed for touch screens. More things(but not all) are easier to use for touch screens than with a mouse.
7. Not per se, an issue for me, because my machine runs normal Windows 8 Pro. The issue is that Microsoft made two versions of Windows 8. Trying not to get technical, one version is designed to work on tablets, laptops and PCs. This version makes a tablet a laptop/PC replacement. The second version is for phones and certain tablets and is called Windows 8 RT or Windows 8 phone. This version looks and works like the pro version except for one thing. It DOES NOT run the typical PC programs. Actually, there are similar versions of Microsoft products like Office for RT, but legacy Windows programs or Windows 8 programs will not work on it. This version is a tablet/pad replacement. Where this becomes a big problem is customer expectation. Microsoft doesn't seem to explain what RT means to the customer. They simply sell it as a Windows RT device. If you shell out the money for a laptop replacement and it can't even replace your current phone, pad or tablet. You should be pissed. Due to the technology, devices can only run one OS or the other.
8. No Clock. Well, not no clock, but in the metro view, there is no static clock. If you want to see the time, you need to go through mouse or gesture gyrations. The only other option is to get an app that will display time on a live tile.
9. There is a desktop view that looks a lot like Windows 7. This desktop view automatically pops up whenever you run a legacy program or change a system setting. This could be a plus for some but certain applications, like Windows Explorer browser, are different applications then the ones that run in the metro view.

Pros:

1. Speed. I've seen several articles that say Windows 8 is a little faster than Windows 7. That may be true for a super hetrodyne processor and memory beast, but on a slate or tablet, Windows 8 blazes. Boot up is quick and programs starts fast.
2. Looks very cool and live tiles(buttons that change their pictures) work very well especially for news and weather.
3. Windows 8 Pro version runs all programs that run on Windows 7 and runs them faster.
4. There is an easy to get to Airplane mode. Easy to get to once you figure out where it is. Hint: It is in the side menu under wireless.
5. Touchscreen is amazingly snappy and accurate. I would not say the ExoPC has the best hardware, but it's touchscreen can keep up with the best of them and I give Windows 8 credit for that.
6. Once you get to know how the system works using the mouse, keyboard and finger gestures in rapid succession really makes navigation fast.
7. Only real OS that runs on a tablet form factor or touch screen. You can play, work and watch a movie all from the same machine.
8. Multitasking. When I said you could play, work and watch a movie all from the same machine, I meant, all at the same time.
9. FLASH/ all video and audio can be played on it. Any IOS or Android 4.0 user knows what it's like to not have flash as well as have video or audio files that will not play on your device.
10. Real web browsing. No mobile browser 'cut down sites' when surfing the web.
11. Though navigating the 'App Store' sucks, there are some excellent apps. Old time favorites (like the Ebay App) as well as all new touch apps.
12. Handwriting, Voice and Keyboard input.  The choice of inputs is great.  I can use my blue tooth keyboard, the on-screen keyboard, the accurate handwriting recognition or voice input.  Now if I want to write my blog, I can actually write it.

When I first dabbled with Windows 8, I liked the speed but was frustrated with the lack of intuition and difference in mouse and finger controls. After learning it though, I think it is a damn good OS. I would not tell someone to rush out and buy it but I would not recommend someone avoid it, if buying a new machine. Does Microsoft have a ways to go? Yes, but they have already made some great strides with the way the interface reacts. Like all Microsoft products, in time I'm sure they'll get it right. Probably right before Windows 9 comes out.

 

I think I need to take a moment to apologize for the review being all over the place. I have a tablet, so that was the functionality I was most interested in. Due to my laptop crashing though, the tablet now does double duty as a tablet and a laptop. When I originally bought the ExoPC, I had replaced my IPhone with an Android phone and had several android tablets. My initial goal for the machine was to replace my various tablets with this device. I now realize with Windows 8, the device is much more than a web browser/ gamer/ email getter. It is a full fledged business machine. That being said, my goal was not accomplished because even though this device could easily replace the others, those devices are still usable and have there place.

Focusing on What's Important.

It was a couple of days after the storm and Lizzy and I decided to go to the brook and the falls. I was working on some macro shots and the auto focus wasn't cutting it, so I decided to give Lizzy a quick photography lesson. Lizzy has been having trouble focusing objects through the lens the way she frames them in her mind. I switched my camera to manual focus and prompted her to do the same. She found it awkward at first and couldn’t understand why I wouldn't let the camera focus. That was until she reviewed her first few shots.
She still had trouble with minimum focus distance of the lens but the results were inspiring for her. 

The below pictures are all Lizzy's...

 

Friday After the Storm - Main Problem.

Friday I was woken from a sound sleep at 6:00a.m. by a banging at my front door. It was my neighbor. He explained that the water main two houses down had broken and was gushing water; debris into the road. I ran upstairs and filled a bucket of water for flushing the commode with the last that the bathtub faucet had to offer. Lizzy woke up with the sunlight.  I explained to her that our situation had gone from bad to worse.  We pulled a Parmilat milk out of the cupboard and had bowls of cereal. Lizzy wanted to play more trump, so we did. Around noon, we decided to go on a photo safari at the Swimming River Preserve. I was glad Lizzy was going to get a chance to use the new lens I bought her, before we went on vacation. We decided to start at the Northeast trails. There is a high and a low trail, the low trail follows the river.

Lizzy and I headed for the high trail. The woods had been severely thinned out by the storm. The great pine trees that had met us at the top had lost their battle with the wind. We made our way to the edge of the high trails and could not believe the amount of trees that were no longer blocking our view of the river.

With no leaves and none of the trees we were used to, we decided it was a waste to try and find the old trails, so Lizzy and I decided to make our own. I pushed Lizzy to her limits when I asked her to take a short cut down the hill that overlooked what had been the lower trails. After making it to the bottom, we found the old trail that would have taken us down easily. At one point recently, the trail we were walking had been under water. We followed the river to where the old path crossed a stream. We found the old crossing bridge pulled from it's pilings and lying sideways.


Lizzy's 'Surviving The Storm'



Realizing that the stream was too wide to cross, we decided to head back to the high trails. When we got there, we found what appeared to be a marked trail. We followed it to the back of a school a half mile from where we were parked. We met a man on the trail there walking a dog. He explained that all of the water crossings had washed away in the storm. We continued down the trail to where it ended behind a house.

I asked Lizzy if she was ready to head back. To my surprise, she wasn't. She wanted to take the winding river trail to the lower lands. Walking down the trail, we took several detours to take in the views. Reaching what appeared to be the end of the trail, we were slightly disoriented. The plateau we were standing on was way to close to the water. The trails we used to take were gone. The storm had cut a new path for the river. We decided to head back to the car. We had a long way to go and the stream would still need to be crossed.




Lizzy's 'Hanging On'



We got lucky and found a thin part of the stream with two rocks barely sticking their heads out of the water. It led to a lot of mud and leaves, but short of taking the high trail back, this was as good as it was going to get. Lizzy hesitated jumping to the first rock, but confidently navigated the second to the slippery ground beyond it. We followed what could have been the old trail, but the swollen river kept it a secret from us.

We got back to the Escape and with no lights and no water at the co-op decided to go to Tinton Falls. On the way, we saw that the deli was open and grabbed a bite for lunch. We ate at the parking area for the falls. Exiting the car, the condition of the falls could be seen on Lizzy's face. The hurricane and the tides left none of the trails we had known. I decided to take her to the haunted bridge. There was not a lot of walking to do, so we crossed the street to the Crawford house and the Slave Burial Grounds.

The trails there go from pristine to nearly impassable, after the storm, they were somewhere in between. Lizzy and I found some neat berries and trees to take shots of. While walking back to the car a large deer ran across the path in front of us.

Arriving home, my road was closed and the water main was being repaired. The ex drove Emily to the co-op; Lizzy, Emily and I played trump with our light rations and read Poe before bed.

A Memory To Trump All Others.

 Somehow I got the days of the last few posts screwed up. I think 'Hurricane Sandy Halloween' was supposed to be part of Tuesday. I wrote two entries that day at two different times and time during the outage was only delineated by day and night.

Wednesday(Halloween) morning, comcast, at&t and the storm all seemed like bad far off memories. I drove to see the kids, they were freezing. They hadn't used the gas fireplace at the house because the pilot light had gone out long before the storm and no one could figure out how to light it. I lit the pilot light and played with the kitten for a little while. Lizzy decided to come back to the co-op with me. We stopped at mom's to see if she was OK. She was fine but was going to need food for her dog by the weekend.

Lizzy and I got back to my place as it was starting to get dark. I explained to her that we had to ration the battery backup, so we decided to only use the lamp light from 7:30 – 9:00p.m.. We made cocoa with all of the candles and flashlights lit. At lights on, we grabbed a deck of playing cards and I taught Lizzy the game of Trump.

I explained to Lizzy that the game of Trump was taught to me by my Nanny. As a child, I would stay with my Nanny when I was sick and my mom had to work. Trump was my favorite game and I would ask her to play it over and over again.

I was glad that even though the storm took so much, it brought back so many great memories. Lizzy loved Trump and we played several full games until it was time for lights out. I found my extra Italian military blanket and Lizzy got ready for bed. In honor of Halloween, I read her Poe's 'Mask of the Red Death' by flashlight and she went to bed.

I went downstairs and washed dishes by candlelight while I relived old memories and planned on making new ones with a photo safari in the morning.

Hurricane Sandy Halloween.

Happy Halloween. Still no power, no heat, no cell service, water pressure started to diminish.  Our town happenings board read, 'Halloween Canceled'.  Though I don't think the actual holiday was cancelled, we all got the point.

A neighbor brought over some really good quiche for lunch. Rumors were that Seabright was closed indefinitely. Still no traffic lights. The roads were still cut off going south, so I couldn't see how the kids or my mom were doing. I was able to txt Emily. They didn't have any power and it was cold in the house.

I decided to have the neighbors over for a cookout. I had steaks in the freezer and a lot of them were starting to defrost. They brought over some bacon and mashed potatoes. We had a variable feast compared to the soups and canned foods we had been eating.

One neighbor ventured out for gas and after four hours in line was told no gas was left at the pump. With the gas she had left in her car, she barely got home. Luckily, another neighbor had a gas can and filled her car enough that she could eventually make another gas run.

In the evening, the weather started getting rougher. Dark clouds hung low as the sun disappeared and the moon struggled significance behind them. That night, the temperature got colder, the cocoa tasted better and the blanket never felt so warm.

The Power of the Storm.

More Excerpts of the writings I did during the power outage. Unfortunately, my laptop did not make it through the storm, so I'm working on getting more photos for the upcoming blogs.

Monday, It's now the afternoon of the hurricane. Wind is picking up and the rain is starting to come down a little harder. The power went out, so I don't even know if this blog will be published.. Ironically, My network is on battery backup, even my comcast modem has battery backup. The problem is not on my end, comcast with all of their engineers are too stupid to realize that when the power is down, so is their service. That's neither here nor there though, I can always surf the web on my phone if I need to.

Watching the trees blow from side to side and hearing the sounds of the storm is exciting. I thought of driving to the falls or the preserve, to see the water levels, but for now, I think it would be best to settle in. Days like today, I try to imagine what it must have been like to live in the days before electricity. Of course I say that while typing on my Bluetooth keyboard, attached to my tablet; listening to music from Pandora and boiling water, for a cup of tea on my gas stove. I didn't say I could relate, just that I wonder what it must have been like. I'm sure if power is out for more than a couple of days, I'll revert to burning the tip of a stick and writing my blog on a stone tablet.

For now, I'm in good spirits. I'm healthy, the battery backups are holding and the storm is providing interesting entertainment.

Tuesday, The morning after the storm. Strange clouds are moving overhead. Depending on where you looked in the sky, you would predict a violent storm or sunny weather coming. Estimate for electricity restoration 7 to 10 days. AT&T and T-Mobile service gone. Really? No power, no network, no phone. I'm not a high level engineer, but people at these companies need to be fired. Have they never heard of a generator? I can't get in touch with my kids or mom they're on AT&T too. One bright spot, txting kind of works. If it goes through it is severely delayed though.

I tried going to see if my mom was OK, but no traffic lights and all roads leading to her house are closed. Luckily the road closed right after the brook. So I decided to take a walk and some picture. The brook was high, but not flooding. Different colored siding materials were floating to the edges. The trees had been stripped of their leaves. It looked more like a winter scene than a fall one. As I walked back to the car, I planned a route to the falls, with all right turns, to avoid the stupid drivers on the road who did not understand the function of a stop sign.

Every road I turned down ended up being a dead end. Trees were down, wires were down, drivers brains were down. I settled for going to the preserve. Getting there would be easier. As I rolled up to the bridge at the preserve, tide was moving out. I met a man who was looking down the water in a daze. We began talking. He was from the Tinton Falls Road works department. He was proud of the work his crew had done, but admitted that there was much more. When I told him that I could not make it south, he seemed to take it personally. I felt bad for mentioning it and told him the work he and his crews were doing was greatly appreciated. He made me aware the roads that were most problematic. We talked about the preserve for a while and he left.

I decided to take the high trail, or what was left of it. At the top of the hill, the difference in the landscape was immediately apparent. Amazing how one storm could change the land with such ease. I followed what I assumed was the trail I had taken so many times before. Looping down to the lowlands I was shocked at the sparseness of trees. Even with the tide going out, the river had swallowed up much of the land. As I sat determining my next move, a cold wind woke me to the possibility of the danger of sitting under hanging branches and weakened limbs. As I turned to start my way back, A large crack to my right, followed by a splash, forced me to speed up my departure.

Getting back to the Escape, I decided it was time to make a quick attempt at getting to the falls. The falls is close to the preserve, only one main road and I'd be there. The drive was smooth until across the main road, there was a large tree blocking the way. I took a few pictures and cut to the back roads. The back roads were not much better but passable.

The trails at the falls were non existent. The water had risen and even at low tide, the damage had been permanently done. I walked to the sides of the falls and even found a trail leading to the top, under the Haunted historic stone bridge(Another blog about that some day.).

I made my way back to the co-op. On all my journeys, no phone signal from AT&T. Still not sure if the kids or my mom are alright.

Getting back to the co-op, I realized we were relatively lucky in my community. Some blown off flashing, some damaged siding and some trees but nothing too bad.

Weather Insanity - Darwinism Has Gone Extinct.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting some of the things I wrote during hurricane Sandy.  The two weeks following the storm, I had no electricity, sometimes no water and thanks to Comcast and AT&T no communication with the outside world.   This was written on the day of the storm.

I never understood the stupidity of people stocking up on meat and dairy products before a storm. My neighbor went to the store to get soups yesterday and asked me if I needed anything. Earlier in the week I stocked up on water, canned goods and dried foods, so I had all I needed. My neighbor couldn't believe the mass hysteria at the store. They explained that the meat aisle was wiped out as well as the dairy case and the frozen food aisle was being picked through violently. We laughed. How the hell did these people expect to keep the meat and dairy fresh if they were not going to have power? We didn't even discuss the frozen foods. Maybe it is because my complex has multiple power outages a year, so the residents understand the formula (refrigeration – electricity)=lost food. I'm guessing though, that it leads to a much deeper stupid in these peoples lives. In times of potential strife, these creatures aren't running for cover, they are purchasing things that comfort them, needs be damned.

When I was younger, I worked in a supermarket. I remember a particularly bad snow storm that I walked to work in. Cars were swerving all over the road and in the mile walk, I saw several accidents. When I got to the store, it was chaos. The supermarket was out of eggs, milk and chopped meat(most meats, but people were complaining about the chopped meat). People were freaking out and demanding that we get them the goods that they wanted. I remember seeing a friend and his wife there. I asked them, why in their right minds, would they risk their lives coming out to the supermarket in such a bad storm? The answer floored me. They were bored, they had no power, so they decided to go food shopping.

I've been bored before. Just never enough to say, “Hey let me risk my life for a, soon to be spoiled, gallon of milk and dozen eggs.”. I can't believe in creationism but seeing the current state of the human race I truly believe Darwinism is a hoax. If what we have is the fittest, the human race should be plunged into the bowels of hell.

I'm not saying that our ancestors never should have left the cave for fear of being eaten. I'm saying if Darwinism held true, these peoples' ancestors would have left the cave, even if the sabre toothed tiger was standing at the mouth, just to pick flowers and berries and we wouldn't have to deal with their ancestors today.

Thank You For Our Freedom!

In a time when most of our countrymen trade freedom for tyranny, our soldiers still fight to keep us free.

Thank You for your sacrifices!