Eat Mo' Moonpies

Eat Mo' Moonpies
Originally uploaded by 1Sock

You know the trouble with signs like this out in the midwest on some old highway? The sign entices you in - 'cause who doesn't like a nice moonpie now and then - but the store is completely gone. All that's left is an old parking lot with a lot of old rusted out cars and some antique signs ... much like the moonpie sign.

Pam and I spotted this sign while sitting in line at a construction site along New Mexico State Route 68, south of Taos, New Mexico.

No moon pies were had. Just disappointment.

Redskins Rule!

Well, it's official -- I am now a Redskins season ticket holder! Got my seat assignment - section 405, row 21, seats 19 & 20 with parking in the grey lot. Now I have to get a decal like this for my Cube....well maybe not exactly like this but I do want one. I'm not real excited to be rooting for Donovan McNabb (too many years rooting against him as an Eagle) but hopefully I can grow to love him.

The Pioneer Woman Part Deux

I got on the computer this morning and did my normal checks - Woot, Facebook, CNN, and then Flickr - when to my tremendous surprise and exaltation I saw that one of my photos had been chosen for Group 4 of the Pioneer Woman's bug photography assignment! Woo-hoo! I've been submitting my pictures and hoping to be chosen for quite a while now. If you read my previous post you know of my love of the Pioneer Woman and her website - http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/ - and not just the photography part. But, go, go see my picture on her site. The screen-capture here is just not as impressive!

A Hat - A Straw Hat

A Hat - A Straw Hat (as read by William Shatner)

Imagine my surprise when I saw the hat,
The hat - a straw hat,
close to the rat,
up on the placemat.

My feet ran pitty-pat,
as the cat jumped at the rat,
and the hat - a straw hat,
went flying with a splat!

The moral is that,
a hat - a straw hat,
should not be set on a mat,
by a cat and a rat!

Hello from Wisconsin

Ever been to River Falls, Wisconsin? That's where I am now - taking some technical training (long overdue). The weather is great - cool but not too cool - and sunny. My brain is working hard trying to cram as much information in as possible without concentrating on the fact that this new knowledge may mean many many hours of re-work when I get back to NIST. Haven't had a chance to take any photos - hopefully will before I get to the airport on Saturday. There's a great kayaking river here in town - the Kinnickinnic - but no time to do it. The university where we're holding class is practically empty since it is June so the town is almost shut down. It only has 12,500 population listed on the sign. It's less than an hour from the Twin Cities airport. Anyway, guess that's it for now....lunch break is over.

GPS

So, be careful in New Mexico when you're following GPS directions. You may end up off-road on dirt paths they call roads in middle of a forest in Cloudcroft after dark surrounded by elk! Thank goodness we had a 4 wheel drive vehicle - a RAV 4 - that did pretty well. The other thing to be careful of is driving on tribal land without permission. We had a nice friendly chat with a Warchief about that when trying to go to the Taos Peublo yesterday. But he let us continue on the road only to find out that the peublo was closed - think he would have known that. But nevertheless we went there today. No pictures of that though.

The Pioneer Woman and Me

Last Tuesday I did something very unusual for myself. I took off work early and went somewhere where I knew there would be a crowd and general pan-delirium....a book signing! The Pioneer Woman (she's the one who is not me in the photo) is a wildly popular blogger - http://thepioneerwoman.com/ - that I've been following for quite some time. She's the only blogger I follow with any regularity besides my wonderful brother-in-law, David, of course. I apologize for the blurriness of the photo but I clearly did not take it and I thought I had it set correctly for the lady that did but apparently not. I intentionally made the background black & white because otherwise it was a riot of color that I found difficult on the eyes. Anyway, back to the signing, it was indeed pan-delirium but luckily I got there early enough to get a ticket in the third group of 50 (turned out to have 9 groups by the time they were done) to get my book signed. I sat for a couple of hours waiting for it to start and stood in line for a couple more...very not like me. But she is just infectiously adorable and a fun and fabulous writer so I couldn't pass up the opportunity that she'd be in Virginia for a signing (she lives in Oklahoma on a cattle ranch normally). I met some very nice ladies in line and that made it much more fun to stand for hours. So that's my brush with fame.