Books I've read in the last few weeks (& recommend):

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
True story of wreck divers who find what appears to be a German U-boat. The book covers the search for proof that the wreck is in fact a U-boat, and gives history and information on diving, U-boats, and all of the people involved in the discovery and subsequent research.

Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer
A history of magic, including some, but not all, of the secrets of some of the most successful magicians. The title comes from a trick Houdini performed that was never fully disclosed, but also never truly appreciated by his audiences.

The 220 horsepower of the Apocalypse.

http://www.navistar.com/site_layout/severe/cxt.asp

R.I.P. Dirt McGirt.

Oh, and Donald Trump has released an exclusive fragrance. Ew.

This blog comes to you via Firefox 1.0, from Mozilla. Just gotta support the little guy, you know. So far it feels like Safari, but it's more compatible with the web sites I use that don't like Safari. And it isn't IE, so you know it's good.

I'm working on a sweater made from really cheap, really brown yarn. It was cheap because it came from the Scrap Exchange, who loyal readers will remember as the place that didn't hire me. It's a fun project, and using the larger needles makes it seem like more progress is being made even though there's a long way to go.



And for Kelly, here is the gear...

So, a disappointing week overall. No new president, no new job. Thankfully the skies have cleared, and the weather here is fall perfect. Perfect for hiking the local trails to see the leaves. Perfect for putting the motorcycle back together after Halloween. Speaking of which, I found out today that I got on the news for 2 seconds on Halloween. If you click here, and then click on the video link that accompanies the article, you will see me in my motorcycle costume, followed by Ronnie Dobbs and a purple haired Playboy bunny. It is seriously only for 2 seconds, about halfway in, and the quality is pretty crappy. But it's always fun to be on TV!

I didn't get the job.

Now I know how John Kerry feels.

Greetings Halloweiners!

At least I hope you were all Halloweiners this year. Last year Val and I had a quiet Halloween night, with maybe 5 trick or treaters and then we went out for a drink and then called it a night. No costumes or nothing. But we redeemed ourselves this year, or at least I hope so...



I went as a motorcycle. Complete with windshield, headlight (non-functional, unfortunately), handlebars...



...seat, taillight (functional!), and license plate. And Val was...



...my mechanic! And/or Rosie the Riveter.

We walked to our friends Stef and Brad's house, as they live three blocks away from the largest Halloween gathering on the east coast. Or so say the locals. There was a small party at their house, and then we headed over to Franklin St. in Chapel Hill, which is where everyone goes on Halloween. We were there kinda early, but it was getting crowded and there were lots of costumes, as well as lots of non-costumed gawkers. It was like Grand Ol' Day in the STP, but without any bands, and at night, and sadly no beer gardens. They do get 'round 70,000 people showing up every year though, so it is a big party.



The other weekend activity on Saturday was our trip to the Country Doctor Museum, in Bailey, NC. Lots of good pokers and gougers and bone saws. And beautiful furniture, including apothecary cabinets, dental chests, a double roll top desk, and field operating tables (morbidly beautiful). I'll try to get some more pictures up here of the stuff we saw, since their web site is sorely lacking in pictures of all the cool stuff they have, but here are a few things...



...a travel kit for powders, ointments, and unguents...



...and a selection of tools used to amputate Ol' Stonewall himself.

Fascinating! We were also the only ones there at that point in the afternoon, so we got a personal tour from the guide. Lots of cool creepy looking stuff, a perfect trip for Halloween weekend, but also historically and culturally significant.