Conspiracy!

I was looking around on Google maps after making my post about being watched by security the other day. Here's a shot of the Oconee Nuclear station run by Duke Power.


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Did you notice the high resolution all around the plant? Duke property has been blurred out. If you zoom in, you will see the circle road with an off shoot near the bottom of the blurred section. That's where I was being watched.

At first, I thought, it makes sense that Google was asked to blur all nuclear sites as a matter of public safety. Then out of curiosity I searched for Turkey Point nuclear power plant near Homestead / Miami, Florida. It's run by Florida Power and Light. Here's what I found. -- I couldn't target the plant with google maps the way I wanted, so follow the road to the right a bit and you will see it.

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Perfectly clear!! You can zoom in at high resolution and see the two reactors clearly. Perhaps nuclear sites are not automaticaly blurred by Google. Perhaps it must be requested by the operator. Following that logic, Duke Power would have certainly requested all their nuclear sites be blurred. Right? How about we check out another site run by Duke Power.
McGuire Nuclear power plant is located near Charlotte, NC.


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Again. Very high resolution images of the grounds.

So what IS going on at Oconee Nuclear Station?

Sale of the Century

House constructed in the 1880's for Senator Diedrich Biemann. He was the first Senator from Oconee County, SC when the county was formed in 1868.

Suggested minimum bid is a bargain $15,000!

Some painting may be needed on the shutters.

So what's the catch?

You can buy the house, but not the land. Demolish the house or move it. Seriously, get this thing off my land.

More info

I am a danger!

Cari and I have been dying to get back hiking for a while now. We were expecting beautiful weather today, so I had planned a trip to a county park with trails, waterfalls, and rapids along the river. After the kids got on the bus we got our stuff together and headed out. An hour later, we arrived at the park. A large sign on each side of the road said, "PARK CLOSED UNTIL MARCH 1". I continued up the road, ignoring the sign. We reached a gate that was locked and another sign that restated the closing. To say I was disappointed does not explain my feelings. For a moment I thought about Clark Griswald arriving to a closed Wally World in the movie Vacation.

We decided to take the back roads home. Our new destination was to visit Old Pickens. It's a historical site that we have been meaning to visit.

Old Pickens is located next door to the nuclear plant run by Duke Power. When Duke built the dam and flooded the river, Old Pickens became located under the new lake. There is one original building from the 1900's and a cemetery left as a reminder of the town. We saw tomb stones dating back to the 1790's as we walked around.

The land is controlled by Duke Power and we saw a security vehicle leave the area when we first got there. As we walked the grounds, another white security truck drove by and waved at us. A few minutes later, the white truck came back and had a black SUV behind him. We were standing on a large hill that is part of the cemetery.

A dirt road circles the mound that we were standing on. The black SUV parked near the entrance of the circle road while the white truck came around to the opposite end of the circle. A man wearing a tie got out of the black vehicle and walked toward some of the graves. He had several white badges hanging around his neck on a lanyard. He didn't speak to us as he studied one of the stones across the hill from us. I had my camera out and was taking some photos of the interesting tomb stones. I would look up and notice the man in the tie standing at the same tomb. The driver of the white truck stayed in the driver seat. It was kind of eerie because it was obvious to me that the man in the tie worked at the power plant. He wasn't looking at that tomb, he was watching us. Cari and I discussed this photo as the man walked back and got into his SUV.

As his door closed, the driver of the white security truck got out and approached us. I looked toward the SUV sitting motionless. The guard was now in front of me. He asked what I was taking photos of and I told him I was just getting some of the unique graves and the old church building. He asked if I had taken any shots of the nuclear plant. He motioned with his left arm to the land behind him. The back of the nuclear plant was visible from where we stood. Several smaller buildings surrounded the reactors and a few lots filled with trucks and equipment. To the right was the dam. I told him I had not taken any shots of it. It was the truth. Cari spoke up and asked if he knew Kedar. He said he did. Kedar had been our neighbor when we first moved to South Carolina and works security at the plant. He has recently moved closer to work. The guard in front of me said that he knows Kedar well. Cari was trying to build up some amount of trust with this guy and I didn't know if it was working. The guard turned his attention back to me and told me that they obviously don't want people out here documenting the power plant. It is a safety concern. I told him I understood and reassured him that I was only interested in the history of the cemetery. He walked back to his truck and as he started it, the black SUV drove off. The security truck headed down the dirt road and left us there alone. I looked back at the power plant and didn't see anything interesting.

Cari and I walked down a path in the woods back to our car. She got in the car to feed Brenna before we finished the drive home. I wanted one more walk around the old church. As I did, I looked down toward the river. There seemed to be a path in the woods leading down to the water. Curiosity drove me to walk into the woods a few feet. Then I scared myself by thinking there may be cameras watching me approach the dam. I backed out of the woods and finished a quick trip around the building. As I came back into view of our car, a white security truck came quickly up the hill and blocked the back of our car. It looked like a different driver. My first thought was that he showed up because I walked into the woods.

These guys were clearly uncomfortable with us hanging out. I got back in the car and the truck pulled away. Cari suggested that he wrote down our tag number. I asked her if she remembered to pay the power bill this month, thinking that we had agitated them in other ways.

I told Cari I was going to drive around that circle one more time and get a quick shot of the power plant from the car, just because they said not to. As I started the car, she asked me not to do that. We pulled down the dirt road and looked to the right where the circular road was. Two white security trucks were parked blocking access to the road. One truck was pointed in each direction. It appeared they didn't want me to go back up there. We made a left turn and headed home.

For the next twenty minutes we wondered if we appeared to be terrorists plotting an attack. Cari didn't believe most terrorists would carry around an infant as they did research. Then we discussed how dangerous I almost behaved today. I considered jumping the fence at the park and then I was trying to take unauthorized photos of the power plant. And that was all before lunch.

Scandal! Axlegate.

This weekend is time for another Pine Wood Derby with the cub scouts. If you remember last year, it became a very close competition. This year Cari and I didn't make our own cars. We each helped Randy with his. On Friday afternoon, I saw Cari pull some special Dremel parts from the back of the candle drawer.

"Why are those in there?", I asked. Cari gave a sly look without saying anything. I pressed her for an answer. She finally said they were probably still in there from last year.

DO YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED? Her car beat mine by an 1/8th of an inch last year. She cleaned up the axles and wheels with the dremel and even used some polishing compound. When she was done, she hid the parts from me. I never had access to these unknown tools because SHE HID THEM IN THE BACK OF THE CANDLE DRAWER! I ended up polishing my axles by hand. It was a much slower and less effective method.

Of course, she denies "hiding" the parts from me. At first she stated that she didn't know how or when the parts got hidden in that drawer. After several minutes of interrogation, she broke down and told me she probably put them in there while cleaning. I guess putting the Dremel tools into the Dremel box was not convenient. Especially since I might have found them there and won the race! Maybe I should confiscate her trophy and declare myself the winner. Take the poll at the top of the page and help me decide.

Duck Pond

Almost two weeks ago we headed over to a big park with a nice play area and a large duck pond.

There were dozens of birds, ducks, and geese at the pond. Several people were tossing stale bread and chips at them.

We had left all our stale bread and chips back home for dinner, so we didn't have anything to throw at the animals except rocks.A nice lady with a whole loaf of bread gave a piece to Meredith. I don't know if she thought my daughter was hungry, or was just giving her an opportunity to feed some birds. Either way, that's when the miracle happened. I was lucky to have caught the moment with my camera. My kids. . .were . . . SHARING!
There was also a large goose walking around that allowed you to pet it, as long as you let it peck you. Ask Meredith about that one.

When I crouched down to pet the beast, I noticed that it was at the perfect level to peck my eyes out. I slowly stood up and backed away.

Instead, I spent some time trying to take some action shots of the gulls flying. I even got this one to turn and smile at me.Then I realized he was probably just checking out my eyes, dreaming about pecking them.
I started to pack up our stuff to leave for the day, when I looked up and saw Meredith talking to a goose. Funny thing about it was that the goose was talking back. SERIOUSLY! Enlarge the photo and look at the goose to the left of Meredith!
We all made it home safely. Everyone still had all their eyes and parts in tact and we even had one piece of fresh bread left over that we shared as a snack.

I told you SO!

Wednesday afternoon was not a fun evening at work. At the end of the night, I had hoped to get home in time to take some shots of the lunar eclipse. We left work twenty minutes late due to the idiot I was scheduled with. When I got home, I had five minutes of the total eclipse to try and get some shots. The whole time I was still upset and tense from work. Poor Cari had waited up for me and I was not very good company. I rushed out to take some shots and stayed in a foul mood for a while.
Here's a shot of the eclipse: (you can see the bottom was starting to reveal again- thanks to working late)
And one when it was 99% done. You can see the top right is shadowed a bit. :I decided not to put any on flickr since everyone and their mom is putting up eclipse photos tonight. You should be able to click on my photos to see them larger if you want to.

Still grumbling, I started reading some blogs and was instantly cheered up by Aaron at Outdoor Living. Check out his post.

I read some more facts about Chuck after reading Aaron's post and they got me laughing pretty hard. Here's some of my favorites:

• When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
• There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
• Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
• Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
• Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
• Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.
• Chuck Norris' hand is the only hand that can beat a Royal Flush.
• Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink.
• Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
• If at first you don't succeed, your not Chuck Norris.
• Ghosts are actually caused by Chuck Norris killing people faster than Death can process them.
• Chuck Norris can build a snowman out of rain.
• Chuck Norris can strangle you with a cordless phone.
• Chuck Norris didn't wet his bed as a child, the bed wet itself out of fear.

Tomorrow is a new day. Oh, and I don't have to work on that day. I expect it to be great.

Full Moon

I had planned on writing about a nice day at the park and sharing some photographs. Instead I'll take this minute to tell you that the full moon makes people crazy.

It's been a crazy past two days at work. Tuesday was one of the worst in a while. I had to work the evening and I noticed the full moon when I left. I really believe that people are a litle crazier during full moon. I make that statement after years and years of working with the public.

I work the evening again on Wednesday and I don't expect it to be much better.

Have you ever noticed that people are a bit different during the full moon?

Turn Over

Brenna is now four months old. Cari told me she was able to flip over from her stomach the other day. I was at work when this happened, so when I got home I requested to witness this event.

We put the baby on a blanket on the floor.Then we waited.

She kicked around a little. Then she started to eat her fist. Then the blanket.

Cari laid down and tried to talk the baby into performing her new trick. Brenna finally decided she didn't want to be on her stomach anymore.
Did she flip over? Nope. She just started crying.
I suggested to Cari that Brenna has never turned herself over, but Cari insisted that she had done it twice that day.

It turns out that babies don't always perform on demand. Unless you are asking them to poop. They seem to be able to do that in any circumstance.

Too Much Money

Have you ever had so much money you just didn't know what to do with it? I've never had that problem either. George Vanderbilt may have had that problem. So as a single 27 year old man, he commissioned the building of the Biltmore Estate near Asheville, NC.On roughly 125,000 acres he built a castle. 250 rooms, 65 fire places, 43 bathrooms (built in a time many homes didn't even have one), 3 kitchens, a bowling ally, and an indoor swimming pool are just a few of the enormous statistics on this home.Cari and I visited this home that was completed in 1895. We had a fantastic time exploring it together. It is absolutely amazing. EVERY single thing was just detailed to the end. Room after room, we were just amazed at what was in front of us. I could type all night about the things we saw in there, but I don't have time for that. Most likely, you don't have time to read it either. The gardens are another major feature of the property. The 8,000 acres around the estate are landscaped and designed by the man that designed Central park in NYC. We didn't see any plants today due to the winter weather, but we walked through some of the garden areas. This is definately a place to visit during spring or summer.

The entire visit is really amazing. If you are ever in the Western part of North Carolina, the Biltmore house is well worth a minimum of a day. This may not be the best spot to take children only because young ones would probably become bored of walking through a house. We were able to go while the kids were in school and have a friend get them after school today.

Cari and I (and Brenna) had a wonderful Valentine's Day together at Biltmore.

Missed the Call

I missed a call from my dad the other day. My dad reads this blog and he really enjoyed the photo of Huckabee a few days back. Not because he supports Huckabee. Quite the opposite actually. My dad enjoys the fact that if you scroll the page a bit you will see a photo of Huckabee with the word VOMIT under it.

When Cari delivered the message to me, she said she found my dad's humor funny.

Me? I'm glad I missed the call.

SUBJECT TO EXPULSION!

FAQ

Q: What did you get Cari for her birthday?

A: The box I carried in my trunk for over a week was an artist easel. It has adjustable height, it can tilt the canvas from horizontal to vertical, and has a storage drawer built in.

Cari is a great artist but hasn't really done much recently. Hopefully this will prompt her to create a space to work in and set her stuff up.

When she gets going again, I'll be sure to post some photos of what she does. That's if I can get past her tough copyright regulations!

Break Even

Basketball season is over for the rec. league. Those eight games were some of the most exciting games of basketball I have ever seen.

I was able to get some good photographs while at the games. Taking photos at the game presented a new challenge in taking pictures. One that I hadn't really practiced previously. A large space with really high ceilings and fast moving objects. The light wasn't all that bright for photos, so there were several issues to deal with. All that was interesting to work through, but the games themselves. . . MAN! Just awesome. I'm sure some of that is just because my son was one of the players. I ended up becoming very excited for all the players and watching our team. Yeah, I was among the rest of the parents that would shout, "SHOOT IT!". Yeah, I was among those that would cheer when we made a basket. Yeah, I was really hoping we would give the biggest player on the other team a hard foul.

"He's just a little boy!", Cari scolded me.
"They would only have to foul him hard enough to make a little boy cry, then.", I replied.

Our team finished even for the season. Only eight games. Four wins, Four losses.

VOTE!

Vomit

I wasn't feeling too good when I went to work this morning. By eleven I was unable to do much of anything except sit at my desk and stare. It was time to go home.

As I walked to the car I started feeling nauseous. I started my thiry minute drive home focused on just getting there. Ten minutes later with the window down and the radio off, I realized I needed to pull over. I found an empty field one block off the main road. I stopped the car and took a few deep breaths.

Throwing up is such an unpleasant thing. I think it might only happen to me once every other year. Today would turn out to be that day.

I opened the car door and my stomach constricted. The squeezing was so hard. My eyes were closed tight with pain. I had not eaten anything but my muscles demanded I lean out of my car. The muscles would loosen and then again sqeeze. I didn't open my eyes until I felt my body relax. What an absolutly horrible experience. I found my bottle of water and rinsed my mouth.

I put the seat back in the car and layed there for a few minutes. I was sweating and very tired.
After I finished the drive home, I went immediatly to bed and slept several hours. It's now ten at night and I'm feeling much better. Cari reminded me that I refused to get the flu shot a few months back. So, I reminded her that the flu shot does not prevent people from getting sick, just the flu.

I'm headed off to bed now. I'll wake up at a quarter to five in the morning and try it all again.

Happy Birthday!

One of the things Cari has been wanting for well over a year now is a new stove. She wanted a flat top stove to replace the old coil elements that only worked sometimes. A few weeks back I mentioned I would get her a stove for her birthday. She shot back with, "You better not get me a stove for my birthday!"

Well, Saturday was her birthday. I went outside around noon to get the mail. Before I went back inside, my good friend Rick showed up in his truck. His arrival had been planned earlier in the week. He made the several hour drive from his house with our new stove in his truck. Cari came out of the house as we were taking it off the truck. Rick looked up at Cari standing at the door and gave a cheerful shout, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Cari came running down to the truck and was just about as excited as she could be. She gave Rick a big hug before running past me to see the new stove. She was really happy. I thought, "didn't she just warn me that I better not get her a stove for her birthday?"

We previously had a drop in unit that was built into the cabinet. Rick stayed to help me install the new slide in unit. It required removing counter tops, cutting cabinets, raising the floor under the stove, re-wiring, and re-installing the counters. About an hour and a half later, we had it all done. I should say, Rick had it all done. I couldn't have done it as well as he did. *THANKS RICK FOR GIVING YOUR DAY AND HELPING ME OUT!!

After the install, Cari was still beaming. I was glad that she loved it, but I was baffled. I actually had not intended to get this on her birthday. It just worked out that way kinda by accident. I let her believe that the stove was all I got her.

I have been carrying around her real present in the trunk of my car for about a week. She knew it was in there. When she saw the stove, I told her the box in the trunk was empty and was only there to throw her off. She was still thrilled. Hmm.. So much for a practical joke. I went and got her actual present out of the trunk and gave it to her.

"You didn't think I would actually give you a stove for your birthday, did you?", I asked as I gave her the box.

"I love my new stove", was her reply.

Silly Walmart

Cari had some pictures printed at Walmart this afternoon. She uploaded it from our computer and picked them up on the way to scrap booking.


When she got to Walmart, the lady at the counter didn't want to give her the prints. She said that Cari wasn't allowed to print professional shots.


Randy was with her and witnessed the conversatoin between the clerk and Cari. He said, "mom pitched a fit".

They eventually let Cari pay for the prints, but not until she signed a released form. That means I can't run over to Walmart and complain that they copied my photos. If I do, they'll probably just give me Cari's phone number.