Beating the Odds

The odds of winning at Powerball are 1 in 146,107,962; that's 0.000068 percent. This means if you buy a ticket, the odds of someone who didn't buy a ticket lucking up and finding the winning lottery ticket are very close to your odds of winning, because the difference between your odds of winning and their odds of finding the winner is less than one millionth of a percent.

If you bought 500 tickets every week for the next fifty years, your chances of winning the lottery are still less than one percent - and you have spent $1.3 million trying.

You are more likely to be struck by lightning 253 times than you are to win the lottery from a single ticket.

You are 1,660 times more likely to date a supermodel than you are to win the lottery. (Okay, I take exception to this one, as I figure -- even at 1 in 146,107,962 -- I'm much more likely to win the lottery than date a supermodel, because I asked SWMBO and dating the supermodel is out (parenthetically dropping down another level, no, I didn't ask a supermodel, but I figured that'd be a piece of cake compared to getting SWMBO to go along.).)

Over the next fifty years if you buy two Powerball tickets each week (one per drawing), the earth is five times more likely to experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid over that fifty years than you are to win the lottery.

But what the heck, somebody's gotta win; buy a ticket.

Square Foot Garden Update - 02-25-06

A lot of the plants sprouted back on the 22nd, but I hadn't expected them to sprout that quickly (three days). Because of this I hadn't picked up any new lights. Also, I had to be out of town 22nd and 23rd, so wasn't able to do anything about it. I did pick up more lights while out (as planned), but by the time I got back the plants were already tall and spindly. So I added a shelf to the Meth Lab, added many hooks, and added lights for a total of eight two-foot lights. Replanted most of what was growing, but was able to leave a few. Left sprouted (though added additional seeds to some cups):

• #01 & 03 - Brussels Sprouts
  
• #04 - Eggplant, #05 - Eggplant (barely sprouted)
  
• #08 & 09 - Grand Rapids Lettuce
  
• #15-17 - Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
  
• #18-21 - Salad Bowl Lettuce
  
• #27 - Paris Island Cos Lettuce
  
• #29, 32, 33, 39 - Mesclun Mix
  
• #48 - Broccoli (pretty spindly)
  

Several others had also sprouted but, as they were spindly, I pulled them. After replanting I watered for 2 hours. Also planted 12 Swiss Chard seeds, watered for about 3 hours or so to get the cups good and soaked. On a side note, I pulled the two parsley plants out of the SFG; the garden is now bare and waiting for plants.

That's a Funny Dog

On a recent morning as I was still in bed, more asleep than awake, I had a joke pop into mind. Not one I'd heard, but one that was sort of created from my dreams. A woman is at an upscale hotel, talking to the concierge and explaining that her husband is a bit daft. While he's harmless, he doesn't really have a one-to-one relationship with reality anymore. She asks the concierge to please inform the staff of her husband's condition and treat him kindly, just playing along with him in his delusions. As someone is approaching, she glances back and then says to the concierge "Here's Henry now," to which the concierge looks, then replies "But madam, that's a schnauzer!"

Now, I realize the joke isn't really funny, the gist of it being the lady whose been doing all of this "husband is crazy" explanation is the one who's nuts. But what occurred to me later is that my subconscious didn't come up with "But madam, that's a German shepherd!" or "that's a collie!" or "that's a Labrador retriever!" For some reason, when my mind wanted humor, it picked a schnauzer. I don't even know anyone with a schnauzer. I've never known anyone with a schnauzer. I don't think I've even met a schnauzer. Are schnauzers funny animals?

Note: Oh, and I know that picture of the schnauzer sucks, but I'm still enjoying my Wacom pad, so suck or not, I'm sticking my pictures up here.

Square Foot Garden Update - 02-19-06

Replanted the Brussels Sprouts. They had gotten "leggy," sort of tall, spindly, and then fell down. In surfing around to try and figure out what happened, it appears this comes from either not enough light or too much fertilizer. I'm thinking it was the fertilizer, so cleaned out the cups, replaced with about an 80/20 mixture of top soil and vermiculite, and replanted.

Also planted several lettuces (Grand Rapids, Black Seeded Simpson, Salad Bowl, Paris Island Cos (Romaine), and a Mesclun mixture), bell pepper, banana pepper, hot lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, and broccoli. Planted all in 80/20 mixture of top soil and vermiculite. Watered all for about five - six hours; I wanted to make sure enough seeped up to get the seeds good and wet. Sometime prior to their emerging, I've got to get some more lights to keep a light over each row of cups, and I won't fertilize until the second leaves form - and then I'll cut it in half.


All the planting was in the Meth Lab and not in the SFG proper. I planted:

• Burpee 53967A, "Tasty Nuggets Hybrid," purchased in 2006 direct from Burpee (Cup #1, 2, 3)
  
• Wal-mart Gardens Brand Grand Rapids, Tipburn Resistant Lettuce, purchased from Wal-mart, spring 2005 (Cups #8-12)
  
• Burpee Black-Seeded Simpson (Loosehead Type), purchased spring 2005 from Wal-mart (Cups #13-17)
  
• Wal-mart Gardens Brand Salad Bowl Lettuce, purchased from Wal-mart, spring 2005 (Cups #18-22)
  
• Wal-mart Gardens Brand Parris Island Cos (Romaine) Lettuce, purchased from Wal-mart, spring 2005 (Cups #23-27)
  
• Burpee Mesclun Salad Mix, purchased spring 2005 from Wal-mart (Cups #28-39)
  
• Walmart brand California Wonder 300 TMR Bell Pepper, purchased from Wal-mart, spring 2005 (Cups #40-42)
  
• Burpee 65045A, Bananarama Hybrid Banana Pepper, purchased in 2006 direct from Burpee (Cups #43 & 44)
  
• Burpee 54320A, Hot Lemon Pepper, purchased in 2006 direct from Burpee (Cup #45 & 46)
  
• Walmart brand Long Thin Cayenne (Hot) Pepper, purchased from Wal-mart, spring 2005 (Cup #47)
  
• Burpee Green Goliath Broccoli, purchased Feb, 2006 from Wal-mart (Cups #48 & 49)
  

For Number One Daughter

Man, don't they grow up quickly. Number One Daughter turned twenty-one this past Wednesday. The picture below-left was taken last week, I think, while the one on the right is from her birthday. We kept her at home for a little while the night of her birthday - at least I can still get her attention with steak & shrimp.





Last night I dreamed she was a baby again, just starting to aaaalmost walk, and something had happened to scare her, so I picked her up and sat her in my lap. She was about to cry, and I made faces at her and laughed until she started laughing, too. After a couple of little baby laughs, she said, in her little baby voice and with a big smile on her face, "Daddy." From my dream perspective, this was the first time she had ever said "Daddy." It was about here that I woke up, and was either thinking or dreaming that in her saying "Daddy" she was recognizing that here was the guy who made everything all right.

I don't really know how an infant sees those around them, but I do hope when Number One Daughter was small, along with being the big blobby thing that made coughing sounds on the rare occasion I changed a diaper, I was also the funny-face-make-her-laugh guy, the read-to-her-guy, the hold-her-close-guy, the loves-her-no-matter-what guy, and, yeah, the guy who makes everything all right. I've tried over the years to do that: love her no matter what and make everything all right. I've failed at times on that last one. I can't fix it when a boy friend breaks up, and there are times when I have seen something is bothering her and she doesn't want to tell me about it. I used to push to find out, but it only caused more upset; now I suffer along with her and keep quiet, hoping that things -- whatever those things are -- will get better. And there have been times when what I thought would make everything all right might not fit into her plans.

But I do think I've helped to make a few things all right, the little things dads can do. Fix the bike, skate, car when it's broken. I can still make her laugh, and that brings me as much joy as it did when she was a baby. We can sit and talk about dumb stuff, and that's fun. She may still live at home but she has her own life now, and SWMBO and I grow less and less a part of it; it's sad, but it's how it's supposed to be as your kids grow up. I do hope we stay close, though, because that, too, is how it's supposed to be. Whatever the case, she's turned into a great person; smart, funny, a bit lazy (like her Dad) on chores she hates, but works hard at the things she enjoys. Nobody on the planet can drive me up a wall quicker than she can - and I think that feeling is mutual. One thing I have done, even in those times when we had the arguments: I've loved her no matter what. I hope she knows that, if nothing else. So Number One Daughter, as you become an adult remember you'll always be my baby girl, I'll always try to make everything all right, and I'll always love you no matter what.

Square Foot Garden Update - 02-16-06

Watered everything, used 7 drops/quart of the liquid fertiziler in the Brussels Sprouts. Watered sprouts for two hours, rest for four. Sprouts have gotten tall and spindly and are falling over. Doesn't look good.

A Little Less Bling Bling

With the NFC winning the Pro Bowl yesterday, the NFL football season comes to a close -- at least the playing does. Now starts the free-agent negotiations to make a bit more money, the upcoming draft where new players will be getting rich, and a few players will be trying to renegotiate their current contracts in an upward direction. Let's face it, bling bling costs money.

On that note: the total of the NFL salaries runs in the neighborhood of $2,784,000,000, the NBA about $1,470,000,000, MLB comes in at $2,123,000,000, and the NHL hits around $1,304,000,000. That's a total of $7,681,000,000. That's over 7.5 billion dollars, in case you don't want to count the zeros, and that doesn't include many, many millions in Nike, Reebok, and other endorsement deals. That's a lot of bling bling.

Ignore the endorsement money --– with just the salaries alone every person in Mississippi could have a double-cheeseburger and order of fries from the McDonald's dollar menu three times a day for the entire year, with a billion and a half left over for cake and ice cream. Or instead, the entire US population could go to Outback Steakhouse one night a year and have prime rib and a couple of beers. Well, maybe not on the same night, as Number One Daughter (who's a server at an Outback) would complain about being "slammed" -- but we could work out the details. Nurses whose last name starts with the letter "T" could go June 25th, plumbers named "Douglas" on August 7th, and so forth.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a sports fan, an ESPN Insider, listen to the Dan Patrick radio show, watch PTI, the whole schmear. But every now and then some athlete makes a comment along the lines of Latrell Sprewell saying he needs more than his $14.1 million per year because he's "got mouths to feed," and I find myself wondering if we couldn't better spend this money. Let's face it, without basketball Sprewell is probably handing out those MickyD burgers the money will buy. You know he'd play basketball for $100K/year instead of not playing pro ball at all; beats $6.50/hour and "you want fries with that?" (yes, we do, it's part of the deal). I guarantee you, if every major league sport had cut all annual salaries to $100K five years ago, you'd be watching the same players as you are now and Mississippi could be eating three double-cheese burgers daily. And don't worry about us Mississippians eating all of that junk food; we are already the most obese state in the nation. Heck, it'd probably be an overall improvement in our diet.

There isn't really a point to this post, other than pointing out how I hear about these salaries, know that the players getting them would play for a tenth -- or even a hundredth -- of that salary, and wonder how exactly that came about. I don't blame the athletes for taking the money, but you gotta be curious how folks dumb enough to pay it out became rich enough to pay it out.

Gardening in Bed

This past Friday night I fixed SWMBO and myself a mocha bianca with whipped cream (forgot the shot of vanilla), a large cup each. After drinking this (which was pretty darn good) neither of us could get to sleep; it was around three-thirty before we even turned in. We ended up sleeping until almost ten, something we haven't done in a long time. While still lying in bed, we turned on the television and I noticed something, a bit of a disconnect in thinking in my opinion.

I've noticed before, but never really thought about it, that Saturday morning is prime time for gardening shows, home improvement project shows, and the like. Yet the very people these are aimed at are not in front of a television – they're out in the garden, or working on the lawn, or doing home improvement projects. I wonder if that's ever occurred to any of the network execs who do the scheduling? It could have, and unbeknownst to me the shows are actually aimed at couch potatoes who enjoy work, just work being done by other folks. I'll admit, I woke up this morning much less sore from watching work yesterday than from doing work last weekend.

My Kids Should be Terrified

I'm not sure how my kids hide their worry. They seem to be reasonably carefree, with just the average teenage to young adult dramas going on, but they should walk about with a look of sheer terror on their face. I mean, let's face it, based on discussions with them, they obviously believe that sometime between your twenties and forties your brain begins to atrophy. For me, it apparently began when I hit forty – coincidentally, the same year Number One Daughter hit thirteen. There had been some signs (again, based on discussions) that my problem was beginning around age thirty-seven, but by forty the onset was obvious. I couldn't understand simple things (per Number One Daughter) such as why she should be able to stay out past ten o'clock at night, or how there was no need for her to keep her room clean, or the obvious reasons she should be able to date prior to being sixteen years old. Believe me, from empirical evidence, it's gotten worse over the past seven years.

Don't get me wrong, I've got great kids, but it is obvious from the rolling eyes that I'm just being humored as my simple-mindedness grows worse and worse. Suggestions I make (saving money, dressing reasonably, pointing out that eight hours sleep can start at eleven at night and end at seven in the morning as well as start at four AM and end at noon) are apparently given without any comprehension of the complexities of the teen-to-early twenties life. Since I have to believe they don't think I somehow skipped right from six years old to thirty-six years old, they must think I can't relate to anything in that age range due to my rapidly diminishing capacity for intelligent thought. While I prefer to disagree with their assessment of a lack of understanding, what I mostly don't understand is how they can go through life not trying to figure out how to avoid this diminished capacity that strikes when your first child hits puberty. If I were them, I'd be terrified.

Garden Update - 02-09-06

The second seed in cup #02 (Brussels Sprouts) sprouted - eleven days.

Note: this comment actually added on 2/11; decided to keep a Garden log here as well as on my computer, but will be putting the dates as to when it actually occurred.

Garden Update - 02-05-06

Watered, forgot and left overnight. Was pretty soaked the next morning. Used seven drops (per/quart) of Schultz 10-15-10 liquid plant food.

Note: this comment actually added on 2/11; decided to keep a Garden log here as well as on my computer, but will be putting the dates as to when it actually occurred.

And in this Corner. . . .

The fight of the century is about to take place around the ole homestead. In the near corner, wearing a sprightly orange, standing 18" long at the blade, and sporting 45cc of pure power is the Husqvarna 345 Chain Saw. With a throaty growl and vicious teeth churning it's ready to take on all comers - and it's good it's ready to go, because . . .

In the far corner, weighing in at several tons, with age estimates ranging from 100 to 300 years, measuring in the neighborhood of five feet at the base, is Massive Giant Oak. Oak has lived long, but was felled on September 25th when the remnants of hurricane Rita swept through the area. Over the years it watched children play, looked over the work of a blacksmith shop, saw many changes at which I can only guess, but finally lay down. However, the Gentle Giant is gentle no more, ready to wreak havoc on the Husqvarna that attempts to move him on to the final resting place.

Contestants pointed out, you can click the tree's image for a large view of what I'm up against in removing this tree. Number One Daughter is in the picture and while that particular picture shows the size of the base it doesn't really show the entire tree - I'm not sure one picture can capture the entire problem facing us in getting rid of this thing. The picture here can also be clicked on for a larger version, and gives a different perspective on the entire tree. In it, some of the damage to the deck off the back of my shop can be seen. Myself, SWMBO, and Number One Son spent much of yesterday clearing off the limbs on the deck, and we also cut a few more on the opposite side of the tree (not to mention shaping up some shrubs and cutting some down to the nub for later removal). In the picture, for scale, SWMBO is standing holding the chainsaw. The chainsaw isn't running in this picture; SWMBO hasn't yet held it while running but plans to take a whack (pardon the pun) at it sometime soon. There's also an interesting note on that picture. I took several pictures at late dusk, and noticed in the preview on our digital camera they were very dark. I wanted to try and get the flash to go off (though I think it actually did go off on most), so covered the lens with my hand to "darken" the photo and get it to think it was darker. On this and one other, while the flash didn't go off, it held the shutter open longer for more light capture and it looks much earlier in the day.

The plan is to cut this thing little by little, keeping any parts we want for firewood and burning the rest right in the area. I'll point out that my three brothers and my dad are taking bets on when it'll be finished, and I'll also note they aren't picking which month, but which year. Nobody picked 2006, by the way.

The fire in this photo is in our old garden spot. I'll scatter the ashes around on the chance that I use the area for a garden again. Right now I don't plan to expand on my square foot garden, but have thought about adding a separate raised bed for asparagus and might do so in that area; if I do, when the roots dig deep maybe the old oak will live again. In the picture, the "V" ditch is the property line, though my property also runs down into the lake you see in the background. We love this view but, unfortunately, it's not nearly as good from the house. I think the previous owners of the house built the deck on the shop just to find a place to enjoy the view, though I don't think they ever used it -- just as we never do. The picture is clickable for a larger version as well.

Brussels Sprouts in the Meth Lab

I built a plastic-covered frame to start seeds in for my square foot garden, and the kids have christened it the Meth Lab. From what little I have picked up on the manufacture of methamphetamine, mostly while watching cop shows on television,it doesn't involve plastic enclosed areas with "grow lights," but if the kids don't know what it takes to start a home-version of a meth lab, I'm kind'a happy that's the case. Thankfully, they didn't mention my contraption looking like a friend's indoor marijuana farm, which it probably more closely resembles than a meth lab.

But while it might not be useful as a meth lab, it is working as originally designed; my first seeds to go into it were Brussels sprouts, planted this past Sunday, and as you can see they're already poking their heads out. These get set outdoors in two or three weeks, and will be the first plants to be transplanted into my square foot garden. Nobody but me is particularly excited about the Brussels sprouts or, for that matter, the square foot garden. But I'm having fun.

Books of January

To the disappointment of nobody, I've been neglecting this little spot on the web for a number of days - and I really don't have time for a decent post now. But I did want to take a quick moment to post, if for nothing more than a later reminder to me, the books I read in January. I'm not sure I remember them all, but:

Predator by Patrica Cornwell. I loved the first couple of Scarpetta books, but I think Cornwell started going downhill shortly after those. I can't remember exactly how many I read, but I do remember finishing the last one and thinking this was written because it was time to publish another book. The entire story could have been told in a couple of chapters, and it really didn't hold my interest at all with what I thought - not to mention the characters seemed to be all headed toward self-absorbed jerkdom. But Number One Brother loaned this one to me (in a stack of others), and I gave it a shot. Same thing. Characters are all full of themselves, the niece is still this super-hotshot-do-anything person who continuously makes obvious mistakes, everyone not a central character is an idiot. The niece (Lucy?)is now wealthy from writing software, yet can't handle computer security issues that a high-school computer gamer wouldn't screw up; she's never been able to get the computer stuff correct. I'll pass for a few more of Cornwell's books before trying another.

The Jericho Sanction by Col. Oliver North is the second of the Newman trilogy, and wasn't all that bad bit really wasn't a page-turner either. Good enough that I'll read the third, but it won't bother me to stick a few books in between.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz is the second of the Odd Thomas books, and I enjoyed it as well as the first. I'm a Koontz fan and while I wouldn't put the Odd Thomas books at the top of the Koontz list, they're a good read.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire was an interesting take on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but from the Wicked Witch's point of view. A pretty fun book to read, but it didn't make me want to grab any other Maguire books (he has several of similar ilk) anytime soon.

Ukridge by P.G. Wodehouse; I'm a fairly recent Wodehouse fan, so still have a number of books to read before running out. Each book is a gem, and I'll be very disappointed when I've gone through them all -- which I will. The only reason I don't grab them all at once is because they're like a great wine you can never buy again. Once gone, there will be no more.

S is for Silence by Sue Grafton is the latest in the Kinsey Millhone Mysteries, the alphabetical series that started with A is for Alibi. This was another loaned to me by Number One Brother, and it was a good book. I always liked Grafton's books about Millhone and had read through somewhere around "M" or so, but never felt the need to buy them in hardback. I keep forgetting to pick up the paperbacks, but I'll probably go back to my bookshelf and see where they left off and pick up the ones in between.

Other than a couple of gardening books (reread of parts of a couple and read Cubed Food Gardening by Christopher O. Bird) and some magazine articles, I think that's it. Well, there are a few blogs I read as well, and various other ramblings on the net, but I think that covers all the books I've read this month. I could have missed one, but can't think of it if I did.

Currently reading Disappearing Nightly by Laura Resnick, but it'll be a February book.

Garden Update - 02/01/06

Watered seedling tray for two hours.

Note: this comment actually added on 2/11; decided to keep a Garden log here as well as on my computer, but will be putting the dates as to when it actually occurred.