The plumbing is done, the tub is set and, with the exception of securing the new plumbing, the job is done.  As you can see from the photo below, it's only one tub instead of a twin tub.

This gives me more space in the laundry area.  I'm just happy it's done and I don't have to worry about water all over my basement floor.  Thanks for visiting, have a good day.

Normally on Thursdays I would have some long and serious topic that I hope will get people to think about something.  Unfortunately, this week I am in the middle of a pretty large topic and am unable to come up with a significant post.  Right now, I'm sore and tired and still have more work to do.  So what am I doing?  My dad and I are putting in a new stationary tub in my basement (also known as a utility tub).  My old, concrete on had started cracking and I was finding water on the floor.  The first project was to solder on some new water shut-offs which turned out to be a project in itself, but they are installed.  The next project is to break down and remove the old, concrete tubs.  I started that last night, but ended up hitting the proverbial wall.  The job will get finished today, but this is where I stand so far.

Hopefully it won't be much more work and we could carry the whole thing in one or two pieces out the door and to the garage.  So that's what I've been doing.  By the way, I did manage to cross the 45,000 word mark last night.  Have a good day.

This is the almost the end of the X-Files countdown and this week is #3 and #2.  This week I am watching two contrasting episodes.  One is a comic book-based episode, the other is a flashback episode of one of the most compelling characters. 

#3--4x07 Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man

This episode follows the life of the Cigarette Smoking Man from his early days in the army to his life with the secret government organization.  It contains a lot of revisionist history for the sake of the episode.  CSM has his own witty banter during this episode, including a take on a popular movie line.  I like this episode because of the way it shows CSM as being the most dangerous man alive.  While it deals with some serious moments in our history, it's also fictional enough that nobody would believe it.  It also has a great scene of the secret organization planning out the world's events.

#2--5x06 The Post-Modern Prometheus
The was the "fumigation tent" episode that Ananda Girl mentioned when I first proposed this countdown.  This is considered by many, including the creator, Chris Carter, to be the all-time favorite episode.  The agents investigate a woman who claims that an intruder broke in and three days later she woke up pregnant despite a tubal ligation.  It's the only X-Files episode to be filmed in black & white and is a really fun story about a comic book character, The Great Mutato, come to life.  It guest stars John O'Hurley and was originally supposed to feature Cher in a cameo.  Basically, this episode is a mashup of Frankenstein and Mask (hence, the Cher reference).

I found out after watching both episodes that Chris Owens was both the young Cigarette Smoking Man and The Great Mutato in "Post-Modern Prometheus".  Well, we are down to only one left.  What will it be?  Some ultra-spooky alien-infested episode?  A lighthearted episode with plenty of quips?  You will just have to stay tuned to this blog to find out.

I mentioned on either Facebook or Twitter a while that we need a real science and technology news network in this country.  Listening to common talking heads try to discuss a NASA launch or the significance of of water on the moon is laughable at best.  They try to sound like experts on science, but turn out sounding like absolute morons.  Let's look at both of these examples...

The Ares I-X Test Launch
The launch was delayed on many occasions because of cloud cover or an excess of static electricity in the air.  The severely under-informed talking head was laughing that, "They really have to fix this rocket if static electricity can bring it down."  My reaction was a roll of the eyes and deep sigh and, I believe, the words "Oh Brother" were uttered.  The delays couldn't possibly have anything to do with the more than 700 sensors attached to the rocket that NASA engineers would be monitoring throughout the test flight.

Water Found on the Moon
We know that most likely there is no life on the moon.  There will not be a revolution conducted by moon men.  This discovery shows that water is not as rare as we once thought.  The significance of this discovery is that the idea of a lunar outpost is now a little more possible because it would mean that water would not have to be transported.  No, we're not setting up camp tomorrow, but it does put it a little further within reach.  This could also lead to an unmanned moon mission to test the water and possibly even return some to earth for in-depth testing.

Please, let's work to keep the mainstream media away from science stories.  They simply confuse the general public and make them sound like idiots when they try to talk about what they heard.  Let's inform the public with real information instead of saying what gets ratings.

Yesterday's Musical Memories post made me realize that I have not looked at my old camera in quite a while.  Once I checked it out, I decided to share the pictures I took and show you the camera that helped me live my lavish lifestyle for so long.  OK, my lifestyle wasn't lavish, but it was fun and I did take a lot of pictures.  So, here it is, my Sony Digital Mavica FD73 camera.

Yes, the FD in FD73 stands for Floppy Disk.  The pictures that came out were 640x480 resolution and I could fit a whole 20 to 25 pictures on a diskette.  This camera was also pretty large compared to newer point-and-shoot cameras. As you could tell from yesterday's post, the pictures weren't the greatest quality, but they worked for my purposes.  There you have it, a technology memory.

As I said, I am going to give you a tour of my musical life when I was a roadie all over the Greater Cleveland area.  I figured I might as well take you back to where it all started.  I was just a lowly mailroom clerk back in 1995 when I met Sammy Free, one of our delivery drivers.  He was the bass player for a band named Rendezvous.

Rendezvous is a wedding band, but they also did bar gigs around the area.  I was asked one night by Sammy after a gig if I would help them break down because Bill, the keyboard player, hurt his back pretty badly.  Accordingly, it was only supposed to be a one time thing.  Sure.  I ended up going out regularly and helping them set up and break down.

This is where it all started, and I mean everything.  I was not only a roadie, but I was also a lighting tech and a photographer.  And speaking of the last thing, here are some photos of Rendezvous, but because I didn't have the digital camera during these earliest days, I do not have a picture Sammy Free with the band, so I will add one of him with The Buzz Band.

Bill-Vocals and Keys

Geoff-Guitar and Vocals

Rob-Drums and Vocals (left the band)

Sammy-Bass and Vocals (left the band)One thing to note on the pictures, these photos were taken on my Sony FD-73 digital camera.  The quality is a little low.  So, I hope you like this new twist on the Musical Memories feature.  Have a good weekend.

This week, Laura B., one of our resident librarians, sent us a QUEST for photos.  I decided to go back in time to 2006 when I spent a lovely Monday at Tinker's Creek Gorge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. So we're off to get to the top of the mountain (or a scenic overlook).

We start here, a dark and menacing doorway into another world of danger and probably some mosquitoes, too.

There are some beautiful rock formations in here, it looks like this one could just fall over, but it's quite sturdy.  I won't go over and push on it, though.

The walls appear to have been shaped by water at one time.  Luckily my QUEST is coming to an end and I will be out of danger.

My QUEST has ended and I have made it to the scenic overlook.  I am out of the valley, but I would gladly go back in as it is truly beautiful down there.  Thank you for stopping by and coming with me on this QUEST.  I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Quick update, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I should hit 35,000 words in my QUEST for 50,000.  Have a good day.