Gas Pains

Memorial Day is more than just another day-off.

It's not just a post script to the Indianapolis 500.

Or wetting a fishing line.

This is a solemn occasion.

Take a moment today - or any day for that matter - to express your gratitude and thank the veterans in your life for their service and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Thanks!

Tom

EDIT - Added a couple of addittional pictures. 

This past winter I was busy building nest boxes for my feathered friends so I figured I should share with you what's happening with my subsidized housing tenants.

The amorous tree swallows have begun their clutches-

Mama in another nest box...

Girlfriend and I have been making the circuit and had an opportunity to inspect additional bird boxes.

Here are a couple of pictures we took yesterday morning while making our rounds...

The happy couple

More postings to follow next week.

Tom

Here it is.  I admit it.  I know absolutely nothing about The American Idol.

Sometimes I think I am the last person on the planet that hasn't had my cultural pedigree enhanced by this phenomenon.

This is a chronic affliction that first manifested itself at a company Christmas party a number of years ago.  We were engaged in a festive camaraderie of potluck food and and Secret Santa - you know - where everyone has to bring a gift valued below a certain amount and it gets thrown into the bag and the managing partner wears his Santa Hat and redistributes the gifts.

The gift I receive is obviously a festively-wrapped CD.  Peeling-off the wrapping I announce I have a Clay Aiken album.

This is met with a chorus of oohs and ahhs.  What do I do?  I lamely ask - so who is this - a rising country music star?

I am clueless.

I trade the CD for a more valuable gift - a small mag light.  As a result this Aiken guy left a small impression on me.

It gets worse.

I few years ago I have to go to New York on business and because it is on the company tab I stay in a fancy schmaltzy hotel adjacent to Central Park. 

Before I leave I have to go to the front desk to settle a charge and am chagrined to find the space of all three desk clerks occupied by a very humongous man in gangsta clothing - you know - baggy shorts that hang to the ankles, over-sized expensive basketball shoes,  a stiff baseball hat worn backwards and what appeared to be about 400 pounds of jewelry. 

I'm a bit frustrated as I'm in a hurry to catch a cab and not miss my flight home and this guy and his people are taking-up all of the space at the front desk and his people are arguing with the hotel people. 

I stay out of it since I figure it's New York, it's basically weird, it's some sort of important rapper dude and you know me - I don't want any trouble.

The entourage eventually resolves whatever issues they have and moves-on.  I spend all of about a minute taking care of my business with the nice lady behind the counter and turn to my buddy Bob and say - Sheesh, let's grab a cab and split.

Bob replies - Hey, you know who that guy was?

Nope.

That was Ruben Stoddard.

Who the hell is Ruben Stoddard?

You moron, he's the American Idol.

Yes - still clueless. 

So there you have it.  I wouldn't know who the American Idol was if the Idol showed-up on my front porch to serenade me.

I am a cultural lowbrow.

Tom

By now you've heard about the Emerald Ash Borer - EAB for short.

EAB is a non-native insect - an exotic Asian gift courtesy of global commerce that likely traveled stateside in a wooden packing crate.

It's a gift that keeps on giving and an expensive one at that.  Losses resulting from EAB infestations are estimated at $157,000 to $665,000 per 1000 urban residents.  That doesn't include losses to nurseries, the forest products industry and woodland owners.  Those numbers would be staggering.

It would seem that while the infestation has practically surrounded us this destructive little critter hasn't shown-up in Wauwatosa.  At least that we're aware-of.

When it does - this is what we have to look forward to:

I'm old enough to remember the cathedral-like elm trees that lined the city streets. 

It will be interesting to see how Tosans cope with another massive tree die-off and its aesthetic and fiscal consequences.

Anyway - this week is Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week.

Keep a sharp eye out for the symptoms and signs of EAB infestation and call the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection if you see this bugger:

The hotline is: 1-800-462-2803

Read about Wisconsin's current management strategy.

Tom

PS - The critter doesn't travel very far on its own.  Movement of infested firewood is generally how it travels long distances.  Remember that.

Did you ever Google yourself?

You know - plugging your name into Google and searching to see what you get.

The American Dialect Society voted Googlegänger as winner of the Most Creative category for 2007 words.

How gratifying to know that this generally nonproductive office pastime now has a name.

So here goes:

If you Google Thomas Gaertner here's what you get.

One of the hits is for this guy.  Go ahead - click on the link - Thomas Gärtner.   

Alright.  Doesn't this guy bear an uncanny similarity to someone else we know?

Is it possible the three of us are related?

Did someone get separated at birth?

Or is this coincidence?

If you have any plausible theories feel free to post them and I'll publish them all in a couple of days.

Tom

Gardening season is almost upon us and I have the itch really bad.

I love to garden - so much so - I have cultivated what others have characterized as my Vast Garden. 

I cannot help myself.  It is my genetic makeup.  I was born a: Gärtner.

My lovely wife is a Master Gardener.

Not me.  What I lack in finesse and expertise I compensate-for with scale and experimentation.

This is my garden - it's a guy thing.

It's almost as large as my entire lot in Tosa.  (click on the picture to enlarge).

The fetching pooch in the picture is our black lab - Girlfriend.  She is the chief rabbit control officer.

I have just finished discing-in all of last year's dead vegetation along with wood burner ashes and a delightful mix of sheep and cow manure.  Yum!

That means gigantic and tasty vegetables.

Stay tuned as there is much more to follow.

What works and what doesn't work. 

Doing battle with the critters (remind me to tell you about early morning varmint control over coffee on the porch with a .22 Marlin). 

Harvesting, canning and preserving.

I'm always looking for ideas - so please share your garden tips and techniques.

Tom

PS - I've gotten all of my seed from Burpee - but the Jung Seed Company still hasn't sent me all of my seed.

I am getting nervous.

I'm told that the price of gasoline might hit $4 a gallon before too long.  Maybe even $7 a gallon.

What about the possibility of $10 a gallon gasoline?

With the prospect of a bazillion people in China and India finally grabbing the middle class brass ring - and purchasing an automobile - demand for oil is going to grow.

And grow.

The law of supply and demand dictates that outrageous gasoline prices are here to stay.

My guess - they'll get worse over time.

I wonder what the future holds for those folks who pulled-out all the stops to leverage the building of those massive McMansions an hour or more from their day jobs?

I'm kinda glad I live in good old Tosa Town.

I can walk to a grocery, church, bank, restaurant or pub.

I'm a short fifteen minutes from anywhere by car.

We've got it pretty good.

We should flaunt it.

Just thought I'd shed some sunshine on your day.

Tom

BTW - We're also in the Great Lakes Basin.  We got the water too.

In January of 1990 I experienced a life-altering event.

I had a bad accident engaging in a seemingly fun winter sport -

Tobogganing.

There was no booze or drugs involved - just my girl friend, a bunch of friends and the kids having a blast on a sunny Sunday.

The crash left me with an unstable burst fracture of the twelfth thoracic vertebrae. 

Things were not looking very good for Tom.

Quickly collecting opinions from various docs - one surgeon seemed to stand-out.

His claim was that he could get me on my feet in practically no time.  Well - not exactly - reasonably soon.

He was one of Milwaukee's hottest surgeons.  Bright, competent, confident.

He was at the top of his game.

I underwent a nine hour surgery to reduce the fracture and stabilize the spine. 

Even with a Cell Saver I received an additional five units of whole blood.

My spine was held together with some fancy plates and lag bolts.

A week later a thoracic surgeon cracked my chest, and the first surgeon sawed-off a rib and used it to perform a posterior fusion of the spine.

After a month in the hospital I was sent home with a brace to wear.

I spent most of the following year working part time and getting better. 

In the spring of 1991 the doctor removed the hardware.

I thanked the him for his skill, confidence and inspiration which sped my recovery.

I gave-up running and embraced riding my bicycle with renewed enthusiasm.

(I kept the hardware as a souvenir of my adventure and stopped setting-off airport metal detectors.)

This was the doc.

You've probably read about this in the news.

I eventually married the girlfriend that was with me on that January day and we've been living happily ever-after.

Not so for Mark Benson.

Formerly MD.

Booze and drugs. 

A slide into the abyss.

Finally a crash resulting in deaths.

I suspect his life isn't going to end so happily ever-after.

God help him. 

Tom