February Thaw

Today it reached 54 degrees.  As I watched the lake this morning you could actually see the snow melting.  It is supposed to be unseasonably warm until at least next Wednesday – that is 4 days of 50’s temperatures.  All my hard work to make ski trails is gone down to water on the ice.  No more trails.

We took the warm weather as an opportunity to varnish the clear glossy coat of Cetol on the boarding ladder.  It is drying as we speak.  When it is warm the space heater does not cycle as often and thus saves on kerosene.  SAM did the complete coat while I observed the melting snow.

Parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum)

This aquatic invader has been spotted just downstream from our lake.  What a pest this will be.  

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/weeds/aqua003.html

Technical Information

Description 

Parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) gets its name from its feather-like leaves which are arranged around the stem in whorls of four to six. Parrotfeather has both submersed and emergent leaves, with the submersed form being easily mistaken for Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum), a close relative. The submersed leaves are 1.5 to 3.5 centimeters long and have 20 to 30 divisions per leaf. The emergent leaves are 2 to 5 centimeters long and have 6 to 18 divisions per leaf. The bright green emergent leaves are stiffer and a darker green than the submersed leaves. The emergent stems and leaves are the most distinctive trait of parrotfeather, as they can grow up to a foot above the water surface and look almost like small fir trees. Submersed leaves are limp and often appear to be decaying but the stems are very robust. Adventitious roots form at the nodes. When attached to a bank, parrotfeather stems can extend out several yards over the water surface. Flowers are inconspicuous and are borne in the axils of the emergent leaves. The white flowers are approximately 1/16 inch long.

Doom & Gloom

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Porsche said Tuesday that January U.S. sales fell 36% to 1,658 vehicles from 2,595 a year ago. January Boxster and Cayman sales dropped to 266 vehicles from 758, sales of 911s fell to 445 units from 829, and Cayenne sales fell to 947 vehicles from 1008 last year.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday reported a 42.1% decline in January U.S. sales to 90,596 cars and trucks, down from 156,391 vehicles a year earlier. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales dropped 35.1% to 28,707. Total trucks fell 40.5% to 61,889 with the flagship F-Series pickup down 38.6%. Ford blamed a 65% drop in fleet sales for the retreat while saying its retail business has stabilized in the past four months.  The losses continue to mount at Motorola, which reported a fourth-quarter loss on write-downs and provided worse-than-expected guidance for the first quarter.  The company plans to deepen cost cutting and suspend quarterly dividend payments in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet. Motorola also said that Edward Fitzpatrick, senior vice president and corporate controller, will add the role of CFO to his duties, replacing Paul Liska.  Motorola posted losses of $3.6 billion, or $1.57 per share, for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with profits of $100 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same period last year.

A Glen Beck Interview: Netanyahu

Be afraid, very afraid.  The world has gone mad.  It must be lead in something or maybe it is just another radical Islamic view.  Nukes?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm4zuKukUco

Optins, Options, Options

I have so many communication options these days it is amazing.  I started with blogs a long time ago and thought they were pretty cool.  Then along came My Space – I guess I never really thought it was too cool – but I never really gave it a chance.  I still have an account somewhere.

After My Space came this blog, then Facebook and Twitter.  This blog is connected with Twitter so I can Tweet from inside.  I also have a bunch of plugin’s that can do cool things with YouTube, videos, flash and others.  Twitter is kind of nice for those short keep the family in the loop sound bites.

Facebook is my major time sink these days.  Almost the whole family is on  Facebook.  Those Texans have to get with the program though.  Facebook is kind of like a blog that is open to all your Friends except that if you give FB half a chance they are recommending new friends you might be associated with.  You know what?  They found some of my old college buddies and classmates from high school – how do they do that?  I guess I really do not want to know as I am sure it is an invasion of my privacy.  I’ll bet the FBI and CIA are monitoring things pretty tightly too.