Pine Barrens Cleanup 2005

I had a blast yesterday. We had about 60 or so 4x4's show up for the cleanup. I dragged my trailer along for the ride. Our trail leader was pretty good to us, he watched out for the deep spots so us stock Jeeps wouldn't sink. I had a 2005 Liberty following me with no tow points. It was kind of fun pulling the trailer through the water and mud. I just kept on the gas and it made it through with no problems (other than a broken weld on a fender - anyone local have a welder and willing to do a quick repair job?) We made it through most of our trail ride with an empty trailer ( I was starting to wonder if it was a good idea to drag it along). Then we hit the jackpot. All kinds of stuff, wood lathe, a dryer, other crap. Its amazing what people will dump in the woods (Anyone ever hear of bulk pickup????) We filled 2 30yd dumpsters and could have probably filled another one.

I've been a little busy. Yesterday I installed a remote start in the Jeep. That is really going to come in handy. Last night I had to buy some 12v relays to turn the negative pulse that the start puts out for th edoor locks to a positive. Now I can actually use the keyless entry - the infrared that came with the Jeep was awful. I also ordered a new light for the fish tank - it has built in "Moon lights" that supposedly simulate moonlight for night time in the tank. It was an overdue replacement for the 55 gallon tank - the lights that I was using were from the 10 gallon tanks and one had died nearly a year ago. I should have the new one in a few days.

Yahoo! News - Anglicans Criticize U.S. Church on Gays

Let's hear it for worward progress....

And people wonder why I don't go to church.....

Yahoo! News - Anglicans Criticize U.S. Church on Gays

We had a blast in Lancaster this weekend. Katya liked the Corn Maize, though we cartried her most of the way. Saturday night we went to the Good N Plenty restaurant for some family style food. Man was that good! I definitely recommend it. We all ate way too much because the food was so good. We'll definitely do it again, and the price was very reasonable.

A-Maize-Ing

This weekend we're going to take Katya to the corn maize outside of Lancaster. It should be a good trip - I'm looking forward to seeing the way she reacts to it. I'm bringing the backpack stroller since I know she won't be walking the whole thing - it's a long walk to do one of those mazes. She'll get to meet Linda for the first time as well, which is a good thing.

I've been busy the last few days. We are trying to re-do the old computer room . I yanked the electric heater & thermostat off the walls and patched them. Now I just have to sand and then we can see about painting the room.

George Orwell was only off by 20 years....

Borrowed from: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=13&u=/ap/20041013/ap_on_hi_te/fda_implantable_chip

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) on Wednesday approved an implantable computer chip that can pass a patient's medical details to doctors, speeding care.

VeriChips, radio frequency microchips the size of a grain of rice, have already been used to identify wayward pets and livestock. And nearly 200 people working in Mexico's attorney general's office have been implanted with chips to access secure areas containing sensitive documents.

Delray Beach, Fla.-based Applied Digital Solutions said it would give away $650 scanners to roughly 200 trauma centers around the nation to help speed its entry into the health care market.

A company spokesman would not say how much implanting chips would cost for humans, even though chips have been implanted in some, including Scott R. Silverman, the company's chief executive officer.

The company is targeting patients with diabetes, chronic cardiac conditions, Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites) and those who undergo complex treatments like chemotherapy, said Dr. Richard Seelig, Applied Digital Solutions' vice president of medical applications.

It's the first time the FDA (news - web sites) has approved medical use of the device, though in Mexico, more than 1,000 scannable chips have been implanted in patients. The chip's serial number pulls up the patients' blood type and other medical information.

With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and leaves no stitches.

Silently and invisibly, the dormant chip stores a code — similar to the identifying UPC code on products sold in retail stores — that releases patient-specific information when a scanner passes over the chip.

At the doctor's office those codes stamped onto chips, once scanned, would reveal such information as a patient's allergies and prior treatments.

The FDA in October 2002 said that the agency would regulate health care applications possible through VeriChip. Meanwhile, the chip has been used for a number of security-related tasks as well as for pure whimsy: Club hoppers in Barcelona, Spain, now use the microchip much like a smartcard to speed drink orders and payment.

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On the Net:

VeriChip: http://www.4verichip.com/index.htm