Flags at half staff over Marysville IL

It was a breezy and sunny weekend. Daffodils are up and tulips are trying, red buds on many trees wave against the blue sky. But a lot of people in this community didn't see any of that, probably couldn't see anything of beauty through the tears in their eyes. It was a terrible thing for a pastor of a growing, thriving congregation to be slain in front of his church family. All of the community were aghast at the atrocity. Businesses posted their sympathy on the fluorescent venue signs, the papers and TV news and radio stations carried the funeral, every church took donations for the young widow and the family. This good man fell in the line of duty serving his god, and it was a tragedy. How does someone turn as crazy as that? Remember the church in Texas 10 years ago who lost many people with a lot of other injuries? They sent their pastor up here to console the flock with 3 sermons yesterday. Don't ask, there are no answers.

Greetings from Chicago

It is cold and sunny here, after a weekend of rain and delayed arrivals. I am working PittCon, (Pittsburg Conference for historical reasons). This is a huge meeting, and yesterday was booth training and old home week for the sales staff and product managers who work the booths displaying our latest and greatest. This year, some 200 of us are working the show, down from 300 last year. We had the usual hours of blah blah blahblah training followed by dinner and lots of motivational rah-rah by high managers. They did a good job of making our part of the company sounding not as bad off as it could be. At least one of our competitors pulled out of this show altogether, which is where companies come to introduce new equipment and historically, at least, customers come to make buying decisions. It is apparent that the stimulus package will include a big $$$ for instrumentation, and the east coast account managers are reporting a deluge of requests for quotes from scientists expecting funding added to existing grants to arrive the end of April. Even a one-time influx of $$ would be most welcome. So it's all about keeping the game face on, moving the tire-kickers along and sniffing for customers with budget, and keeping the feet in shape for the long hours on the show floor. At least women are no longer expected to wear heels!

This comment deserves a separate post, not a footnote, but I am short on time so i will just say, THE PRESIDENT STATES NOW SCIENTIFIC POLICY WILL BE DETERMINED BY SCIENCE FIRST NOT PARTY POLICY FIRST. Now anyone who believes there won't still be an agenda would be naive, but policy can't deal with problems that policy refuses to acknowledge exist. Lots of bad news out there, but this is a return to how things should be.

LiveFuels

Last year as the food riots hit Mexico after the cost of corn skyrocketed, it had already occurred to me how crazy it was to grow corn for ethanol. I never did think you would get more ethanol out of it than it took to produce the fertilizer and plow and harvest the crop and separate the oil from the corn. I have been watching as scientists struggle to cope with the cellulose and ferment grasses, sugar cane leaves and so forth to produce alcohol. Today I went to a start-up and learned about growing algae in ponds to process for biofuels. There is a lot of biology to manage, and then you have to deal with all the non-fuel components. One way to make it economically feasible to use algae for fuel is to also be able to harvest some high-value product such as a pigment or a dye. My chemist got a free lunch, I got an education. Stay tuned.

Vacaville

This is cow town for those readers who don't know. It was in the middle of nowhere at the edge of the central valley before it built up. I drove there today and it was a lovely drive. The hills were green and verdant, the trees were pink, rosy, yellow or bare, and the fields of mustard were buttery. California, like any state, is beautiful in the spring. It's going to soak us this weekend, ensuring the green hills will last another few weeks

Travel is SO broadening

Greetings from the Richmond (which has 3 syllables, by the way) International Airport, where I am quaffing beer while waiting for Cuz to get off work and fetch me. I love it when I get to go to a new airport, and this one is quite nice, fairly new, and I have a lovely view of the runways. This is one of the flattest places I know.

I must say I like the people I work with. They are a lot of fun and even the pointy HBWT only skewered me once. We have one class clown who really could do stand up comedy so that is vastly entertaining. Everyone hugs and jokes and it is not too dull. Of course, I like to hug the people I like. I tried to hold out my hand the PHBWT when we parted, but she insisted on a hug. Whatever.

So I went to Philadelphia Airport today after my meeting finished. I tried three terminals before finding the right one, got checked in and dumped my bag, made it through security and went to check out the ladies' room. I found a stall big enough to get my computer bag and me into at the same time, arranged myself and found myself staring at a very substantial latch on the door with a label reading " Hiny Hidey". Yup, I'm not making it up.

ahHA. There it is

By golly, I found that sweater at last. I knew it must be here somewhere, as I had found the bill of sale. In the outer pocket of a suitcase I seldom use, there it was, all new and a bit wrinkled, still with the tags on. I'm so glad I found it before it got too warm to wear it this winter. Pshew!

A work in progress

It seemed like a simple enough idea to lay some pavers next to my new rosebushes on the edge of the new veggie garden. And so it was until the resident engineer stepped up to suggest improvements. Bags of sand and gravel and a quantity of lumber needed to be purchased, and then of course the soil must be removed to put in a frame. So while I thought it was straight and level, it did not pass inspection. We are the proud owners of a used jackhammer from Home Depot rental store, and have purchased a shovel attachment for it. So Sunday it all came out of the garage, got assembled, and I got instruction and started to remove more earth. That thing is fast, it's heavy, and the shovel does not, thankfully, cut the extension cord, just dirt (don't ask). I can only use it as a digger, not an actual shovel due to the weight. I'm probably about half way there, and the path needs to be more level, but I can see it happening. Monday my hands hurt so badly I needed both naproxin AND aspercreme. Today is better, we are down to just naproxin. Can you see the rosebud on the new bush? It's going to be nice. But this may be the last walk I excavate.