Nothing else to add

Mar 29 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 80

From the paper today:

"Monday's pollen count was the highest in March since the allergy clinic began recording such data in 1995, with 5,499 pollen particles in a cubic meter of air. Tuesday's was 5,208. A high pollen count is 61-120 particles per cubic meter."

So normal “high” is 120 particles...and today’s count is is more than yesterday’s official record of 5208?

I think you could say the pollen attack is at a temporary surge level. I don’t know if the evil insurgent trees can sustain this increased level of activity or not. Maybe it is time to withdraw?

For proof of the surge I’ll paste in a couple of photos of my rental car. Realize that when I took it from the rental car agency it was a shiny black. But the daily attacks it has endured is starting to show. The car looks like it has been spray painted mustard yellow. The pollen dust is on the floor mats, on the asphalt, on the roads. Their are car tracks in the hotel parking lot that look remind me of tracks in the snow. It is the same on the road ways, the ruts where the tires contact the pavement look normal, but the rest of the road is yellowish. If Look closely at the windshield of the car...I have to clean the windshield even after just leaving the car in a parking lot for lunch.

At least the high levels seem to affect everyone and I’m not the only one who is uncomfortable. My sinuses seem to have adapted ok, but my eyes are constantly burning. At the end of the day, my eyes burn like they do after being at the beach all day long.








Mar 25 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 76

Had to get out of the jail cell today too. On a lark I went to the Atlanta Cyclorama. No, it is not related to bicycles. It turned out to be one of the most interesting civil war sights I’ve been to yet.

It is one of a few remaining large scale paintings. It’s so large that it has its own building to display it in. I don’t remember if it is life sized or bigger than life sized, but it is a 360 degree representation of the final siege of Atlanta. The detail of of the painting is phenomenal. Imagine if you were back at the height of the battle and took a 360 degree digital image, it is that good. Smoke, mud, blood, charging horses....and the way it was presented really brought it all to life like nothing I’ve seen before.

The painting is hung against the walls of a circular building. The recently (mid-90s?) remodeled building has the audience climbing up to sit in a giant round shaped viewing area in the middle. (Imagine a round Imax theater) The painting is up against the wall, at least 40-50 feet in front of you. In-between the edge of the circular seating area and the flat painting is a 3D appropriately scaled diorama that magically melts into the painting. There are trenches, small dirt mounds, horses, soldiers, fences, trees, a railroad, a bridge...all things that extend from the painting. The narration begins and shines a light on a particular area of the painting and describes the details of a particular scene...a dying soldier’s story, which battalions line is failing, what general is on the horse overlooking the battle. As the narration goes on, the entire seating area pivots around so that you can see the entire painting and continue learning about the depicted scenes without ever getting up. The narration is complete with gun fire, cannon roar, screams of the injured. It is a truly amazing display.

Just outside is the train engine “The Texan”. It is the other half of the train duo in the “Great Locomotive Chase”. I saw “The General” at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History just down the road in Kennesaw. A really good little museum and great story.

I might be bored to death at work, but I’m learning alot about the Civil War!


The Texan

Mar 24 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 75

Spring is in the air and so is all the pollen. My head hurts and my nose is running. So I decided to attack the problem head on. I went to visit the Botanical Garden near Piedmont Park. The were having an "Orchid" exhibition in their hothouses. I took some photos of the enemy, and here they are.

Afterwards, I drove around the corner to explore Piedmont Park. All in all a nice green place in the middle of the city. A LOT of people roaming around a big giant grassy area; reminded me of the Commons in Cambridge. A small lake, lots of people throwing frisbees, and the clincher...a pub right at the edge of the park! They had some pretty good Euro-beers, and thank the gods, they brewed their own beer as well. So I ordered a "Belgian Ale" and went to sit in the sun. Not quite the main square in Brugge, but it was pretty darn close.

I miss Europe!

Today's recommendation: Park Tavern

Mar 23 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 74

I am under attack. My nose hurts, my head hurts, my eyes are watering. This innocent looking cherry tree near the hotel front desk looks suspicious.

I think it is spying on me, reporting to its flowery friends that I am an outsider and vulnerable to a coordinated allergy attack. They know I am isolated and I have no intel on what indigenous plants are in the area, so they meet at night and plan the next day's attack on my senses. They hope that a constant bombardment of pollen will wear down my defenses and force me out of their stronghold.

So far there is great damage to my vehicle, a black rental car. I should have known that this car would stand out from the local vehicles and highlight me. The local insurgent plants attack the car every night, and my black car is now pockmarked with fine pollen dust. What used to be black is now a powdery yellow.

I feel sorry for all the innocent locals caught up by the untargetted pollen. The nightly local news broadcasts the daily pollen count and the daily toll on the populace. But I have made it clear to the insurgent plant leaders, despite the collateral damage I will not leave until my tasks are done.

Mar 22 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 73

This is the Dragon's Shower. It's across the street from where I work. Every once in awhile the dragon that lives nearby wakes up and takes a shower. He makes alot of noise and splashes water everywhere.

It's actually a huge watercooled windtunnel. This is a pretty bad picture from the phone, but it was an amazing sight this morning in person, the water was going everywhere and the sun was shining through the mist in a really pretty way.

So when they fire this thing up, it makes a huge amount of noise and water is cascading off of the thing like a minature Niagra Falls. You have to shout to be heard when you're close to it, and the waterfall has a big mist cloud around it, even more-so when the temp is low and humidity high. So loud roaring noise, water spraying everywhere...Dragon's Shower...get it? Duh.

Even when I get my clearances to work on the F-22, I probably won't be able to see this thing in action from the inside. That's because these days, even more clandestine things are being tested behind the high security doors and razor wire than 5th gen fighters. No one outside the "black" projects have a schedule, you just know the evil spies are at work when you walk out to your car and hear the dragon taking a shower. What program is the government working on here, something that will be used to torture their citizens, something that the Neo-cons have been cooking up to use on the "dissenters" to squash rebellion? Something Orwell predicted? What evil is it?

NASCAR! Yep, all you "sky is falling" liberals put away your "Impeach now" signs, b/c NASCAR is the supersecret organization at work here. They rent time in the tunnel to test their designs and are extremely tightlipped about it all. That stinkin' F-22 badge won't get you past Bubba and company when they're busy testing their car!

Mar 20 - What tree is this?

I stopped and took this picture this morning on the way to work. These trees are in bloom everywhere. From a distance they look like big cotton balls.

Quick google search reveals they are called Bradford Pears. Ornamental only, and they supposedly don't smell very good. That's a relief...I thought it was me!

Mar 16 - Escape (temporary) from Marietta!

Documenting my escape from secretly CIA run torture chamber @ marietta. Rosie odonell, where are you when i need u? How about a quick pick-me-up rant on my behalf? Want to know real torture? Try typing an entire paragraph on a cell phone, while the guy next to you yells into his wireless micophone. Evil CIA bastards!

Mar 15 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 66

whew,

glad i got that whole photo thing worked out. i will editing out those experiments, maybe. but then again, whose reads this anyways?

turns out that the AF security clearances finally showed up...for the other guy. something about not having brazilian relatives. who’d have thought. so he starts in Florida next week. and i get to go home this weekend so i can swap out the winter clothes for spring clothes. yay....

it’s spring alright. all the trees are in bloom. don’t know what they are, but they look nice. fran said she went for a nice walk yesterday at yorktown natl park. wish i was there.

ugh...the talking heads on TV are re-hashing Rosie Odonells latest PMS surge. ranting about secret CIA prisons where she KNOWS torture is going on and that poor poor terrorist was so abused that he admitted to alot of things. poor poor terrorist. at least he doesn’t have to listen to her crap on tv. now THAT is torture.

todays recommendation:

Adluh Stone Ground White Grits, Ops checked at Corner Kitchen in Asheville. never thought i’d be a fan of grits, but their recipe was awesome!

Mar 15 - more from the phone

Mar 15 - Test from phone

this was taken, sent, and blogged from my phone. seems easier than getting a photo from the computer to the blog!

Mar 15 - gotta figure out this image stuff

New Album 3/15/07 7:36 PM

Mar 15 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 66

So how do i publish a photo anyways?

insert test photo here: (it was delicious by the way)

Mar 14 - Marietta Hostage Crisis - Day 65

no real news on my clearances, except that the AF did notice i didn’t sign 2 of 69 pages correctly so that had to be re-accomplished.

i am sure that noticing that error took at least one week of some gov’t employee’s time. and filing the newly re-signed and re-faxed fax version will take another week or two. i hate gov’t employees.

recommendations:

dogfish head 90 minute ale one of the best we’ve had. ops tested in asheville at the biergarten restaurant

Mar 14

what, no comments? i see i will have to resort to MSM tactics in order to get noticed. i will have to make up the news.

Mar 11 - 2

just set up the account.

move along, nothing to see here

Mar 11 2007 - starting something?

Opening MacJournal to see if i’ll like it as either a journal and/or a blog. will it journal? will it blog?

will i continue to do either?

can i import pictures or sounds here?