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Friday, 11 June 2010

Avian Dogfights

I just rode my bike back from Gumby's (pizza/bar). I had to stop in the middle of 13th to let cars go by (pretty typical.) I happened to look up because I noticed a couple of rather large birds that seemed to be chasing each other. Now lately I've seen songbirds and starlings going after crows so I thought that's what it was, for a brief second. Then I realized it was an osprey and a bald eagle.

The osprey had apparently caught a fish and the eagle wanted it. The eagle was on the attack, but didn't seem as agile as the osprey who managed to evade for a minute or two. Then (curses!) they started flying behind some trees. I could get occasional views with the osprey still with the fish. Then a crow pops into view, following the action apparently for the hell of it. All three go behind a big tree, and the eagle flies out with the fish, and the osprey and crow in hot pursuit. Then they sadly flew out of my range of sight. And I remembered I was standing on my bike in the middle of the street (I was between a couple of medians... not that stupid).

Anyway, it was exciting, and low to the ground (they were almost skimming the trees). Very fun to watch. And that is my nature story for the day.

Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Fiber, fire, The Fly and cycling much too far

"May your life be interesting" is probably a curse. Although, to be fair, if life was boring I probably wouldn't enjoy it so much. Or have so many interesting stories to use as conversational pieces.

So, the first story. Many of you know that I knit. A lot. I freely admit to being a fiber junkie. I'd say that that is the first step to curing my addiction. But I'd be lying.
Along with knitting I also somewhat learned how to spin with a drop spindle. As awesome as that is, it takes a very long time. So, I'd been looking for a spinning wheel. Well, okay, I'd been hoping that the old spinning wheel hiding in the attic would actually work. Turned out it was a 1/3 model, and while it worked (sort of), the bobbin could only hold a tiny amount of yarn. Not so good. So when Christmas rolled around it started to look like I was out of luck (since buying a spinning wheel would have been rather expensive). When my Aunt Diane was down Christmas Eve, it came out that she had a spinning wheel sitting in her garage. Seeing as my Aunt Diane is not what you call crafty, this was rather surprising.
So in the end, dad fixed the one broken part and shipped it to me. He is pretty sure that the spinning wheel belonged to my great grandfather who probably made it. It works pretty well, and is so much faster than my hand spindle. And oh yeah...SO MUCH FIBER AWESOMENESS!
That and I may be taking up weaving too.

Next story: One of the classes I'm taking is Advanced Ecosystem Restoration. Also, Mark in our lab used to work wild fires. It was an awesome coincidence. Mark got Jason and me into a fire in Florida ecosystems lecture at the Disney Wildlife Preserve. It was awesome. Now I finally know what central Florida ecosystems are supposed to look like. We didn't get to see a prescribed burn that day because of the weather, but we did get to see what a landscape looks like with a good fire regime. Very cool, and definitely helpful in my class.

This somewhat leads in to the third story. This Sunday I did a crazy thing. I participated in the Battle of Olustee. No, not one of my Civil War reenactment things. This was a bike ride. A 113 mile bike ride. Yes, in one day. And my mileage ended up actually being 119 miles. Yes, that is almost 200 kilometers. It is very far, and so my butt told me. I did not finish in the main group (more like 2 and 1/2 hours behind it). But I finished! Thanks in part to Larry and Joe (thanks guys!) Now, if you wondering how this ties in to the previous story, here it is. The farthest point of the ride was through the Osceola National Forest where as it turns out, they were doing a prescribed burn right off the side of the road. Very exciting! (This was also around where I got dropped from the main pack.) (Also, saw a bald eagle on the ride...very cool.)

Okay, finally, The Fly. Someone in ENSO (the Entomology/Nematology Social Organization) got the fantastic idea to watch insect related movies (that is not sarcasm you are detecting...just awe at the awesomeness). So tonight we had our first movie night and watched The Fly, starring Jeff Goldblum, circa 1986 (yes, I know thats older than me, shaddup!) It was very fun, many great snide comments were made. Ah, bad science horror flicks.
There were some good questions raised though. For example, why are some arthropods considered 'good' and some 'bad'? For example: Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes Spiderman. Apparently this is 'good'. The Tick and Arthur (moth) = 'good'. The Metamorphosis (probably a cockroach) = 'bad'. And apparently Bundlefly = 'bad'.
Now bees always seem to be controversial (as evidence see "The Swarm" vs. "Bee Movie"). Moths also may be good or bad (Arthur again vs. Mothra). Mosquitoes and locusts are always bad, as are leeches. Actually, flies always seem to be bad. Wasps are always bad (why? why????) Ants are often bad, but sometimes neutral or good ("Them" vs. "A Bug's Life") There are of course many other orders that are typecast on various sides of the moral compass (although giant bugs do seem to generally be extremely bad).

Okay, I may be starting to ramble. Must cease and desist. The movie reviews may be an ongoing thing though. Be warned...pointless entomological may ensue. On the upshot, maybe I'll actually start updating more often. Hey, it could happen!

Friday, 17 July 2009

Bad things come in threes..no, wait, make that four...

So some of you may have heard about our refrigerator dying. Had to buy all new perishables, despite a valiant effort by the only roommate home to get things on ice in the two styrofoam containers we had. Great fun. At least we got a brand new fridge. So pretty!
Next my bike started acting up...again. I've had it long enough, ride it enough, and just generally abuse it enough that some of the cables for braking and gear changing purposes loosened up. Actually, the back brakes loosen up a few months ago and I took care of them. This time it was the front derailler. This time I would have also tried to do it myself, but the screw holding the cable on was so tightly rusted on that the guys at the bike shop had to use the grinder to get it off. Also had soft tires and a wonky chain, but those were easily fixed with my tire pump and chain lube.
Then I killed the apartment's blender. Luckily I brought my own, which is nicer anyway. Damn pesto. This is why I want a food processor! I think it may have still been working when I finished with the pesto, although the smoke caused great concern, and was the reason I rapidly unplugged it. A couple days later I mad a blueberry shake, and while it valiantly tried to come back on, the poor blender finally gave up the ghost. Good thing I had my blender on hand.
Finally came the phone. Yes, my trusty cell phone broke. The hinge just went kaput. So I had to go get a new phone. And then, well, all the pictures transfered....but not the contact list. So I spent an hour and a half last night transferring all my contacts over. Great fun, let me tell you.
Hopefully four will be all. Hopefully.
Hopefully this weekend will also be one of the last searching for home improvement items. (Yeah right). Still looking for a knife block, sewing macine and fabric for curtains, tall table for the kitchen, and I also need to pick up more mulch for a path. Tired of tripping on stuff in the dark when going to get laundry. Also hopefully going to hook up with the cycling club here. Here's hoping I can keep up.
<a href="http://teamfloridacycling.org/cycling/aff/62/1" >Team Florida Cycling</a>
Hey, it could happen. Maybe today I'll go on a short run or ide when I get back from work. Maybe it will help me get in shape. Hey, it could happen! Maybe Saturday I'll find everything I need, my bike will never break again so badly I can't fix it, and I'll finally get those seeds started this weekend. Hey, it could happen!
I'm gonna need alot more chain lube though...

Tuesday, 14 July 2009

Oh mosquitoes...

So I'm currrently working on mosquitoes at my summer internship (makes sense, since I'm in the Mosquito and Fly Unit). I'm doing my own research using long term trap data, which requires me to spend lots of time on Excel, and researching the environmental preferences of...mosquitoes. I also help with my boss's work, for which we go out in the field to trap...mosquitoes for an experiment, then do bioassays with fabric and vegetaion from the same and other experiments using...mosquitoes! After work I often spend time gardening, during which I am quite often bit by...mosquitoes. Last night they invaded the house. I belive I murdered three...mosquitoes. And in case you were wondering what I'll be studying at University of Florida, I'll be looking into native...bees!
No new knitting news, except that I finally got around to ripping the wrong portion out of mom's vest. Now I have to recalculate, and start anew.
I have also started debating making a bath mat and a mat for my bedroom, seeing as I'm tired of dirt sticking to my bare feet from the hardwood floors. The bath mat will likely be neutral, but the one for my bedroom may end up a bit more...colorful. We'll see. I do need to finish Mom's vest first.
So, last summer I spent bored out of my mind. I read the entire series of Horatio Hornblower in less than a week, and was probably averaging something like 6 books every weekend. Although that number may have been higher.
This summer I have too much to do! Weekends are filled with activities, and I have plenty of things I could be doing after work, pretty much every day (although I am often awfully lazy). Between gardening, cleaning the house, killing cockroaches and mosquitoes, fixing my bike (yes, again!), getting stuff done for grad school, cooking, and all the various other things I'm doing, I've been staying pretty busy. In fact, I'm down to one or two books a day. Thats like my normal! Amazing what a difference a car and cable TV make!
Anything else interesting going on? No, no wait...Leverage new season starts Wednesday!!! Happiness...

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

Bored in Florida

I always forget how much I hate Excel...until the next time I use it again. At least its all in the right format...I hope. At least my job is better than last year. I know what I'm doing for one. For another, I actually get to spend some time in the field (dying from heat and bitten by mosquitoes) and the lab (actually more likely to get bitten by mosquitoes there). So even if its still a little boring (we count mosquitoes...also very exciting), at least it gets me off the computer, which makes me happy. I also have more human contact, so I'm not slowly getting more crazy and antisocial. Instead I'm maintaining my normal level of insanity.
Completely enjoying my new car. Blue Honda Fit Sport. It drives so well, and is so much fun, as well as having pretty good seating and lots of cargo room. It's AC works great (lifesaving in Florida), and it has cruise control and is a manual. What more could a girl want?
In knitting news, pretty slow. Tried to start decreasing for the neck of Mom's vest, only to realize I planned wrong. Have to rip about 4 inches out. Grrr. Oh well. Its not like there's a rush. Its a hot summer.
Still don't have Internet access at the house I'm at. Which is why I still haven't uploaded pictures from my last trip onto Facebook. And awesome pictures they are. Maybe I'll physically hookup, since it's the wireless password we can't figure out.
In the meantime, back to work.