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~ My Page ~ Number Four ~
~ Monday, March 23, 2009 ~
~ Another New Video ~ Part Two ~
Now.. I have been working on this video for several days, a bike ride down the Missouri River on part of the new trail they promised several years ago.. And now I think it is finished...
Again this one was 6.9 GB and too big to fit on a standard DVD, so I split it into Part One and Part Two... Hope those Blu-ray blank disks come down in price soon... But then again, my uploads to Vimeo are limited to One GB so even after rendering to .mpg for upload it was still too big at 1.03 GB and I had to edit and render again.
And now I hear from Sigi in Germany that he can't see my latest videos... and blames it on his old computer... What? Slow processor?... not enough RAM? ...Time for a new one? Well they are cheaper now for a lot more goodies... Anyway that is a a puzzle, no problem me seeing them as usual...
Anyway, the Part Two is just as or maybe even more boring than Part One... But if you may be willing...
So.. I have been working on this video for several days, a bike ride down the Missouri River on part of the new trail they promised several years ago.. and which is stil far from completion... But this section was enough for one day for me, I heard it was 3 and 1/2 miles each way..
The first day I set up the camera on a tripod and rode past and then back... to look like I was coming and going... Only did this in the first mile of the trail through, a wooded area
Then, next day I bought a helmet and fastened the camera to the top and headed off again... This time the full length of the new trail section, ending at the Argosy Casino...
Next editing the scenes to put them in time sequence, going and coming back... Then to burn a Blu-ray DVD.. Whoops.. 6.9 GB and won't fit on a standard DVD... So I split it in Two Parts... Now I had Part One on a HD DVD... and it looks great! Next I rendered it to .mpg for upload, taking three tries to get it down to 1 GB, my upload limit at one time... But now that is ready and here is the link below.. Now on to Part Two...
I am still working on editing my new Bike Video but I got a call from the Director that there was a work session at the Sanctuaary on Thursday and I was invited... Well, it started at 9 a.m. but it was chilly and I wasn't ready to go.. But I headed over to catch the noon lunch session and then the afternoon return to work... And a pleasant outing, me getting some walking exercise and watching the volunteers work.. Added to a continually growing number of videos on the Sanctuary site...
May be boring to the general public but interesting for the Committee Members and the Volunteers who keep the trails in shape...
Well, How new? I don't know, new for me anyway.. I heard the guys at the Sanctuary talking about it, been promised for a long time... Nice trail, goes all the way down river to the Argosy Casino but doesn't quite hook up to the Parkville River Trail... Yet... A kinky corner they have to work around where a marina is now... Anyway it's less than a mile East of the end of the Parkville trail with a nice parking area...
Anyway. a DNP March day (DNP=Dam Near Perfect)... 72F... 22.22C for you people with the funny numbers... sunny and beeezy... So I packed up the cameras and tripod and headed for the trail and qot a pretty good workout.. Had to turn on the AC in the van on the way back... Maybe I need an assistant to run the camera instead of me being the STAR, the Cameraman and Director all in one... I got the job done anyway...
I didn't go all the way down the levee to the Casino but you can get an idea of the trail from the video I got.. and one good thing is... it isn't too long... And maybe later I can start from the other end and get some more river footage from the top of the levee... Now to get at processing and editing the video.. more later...
~ Video Available Soon! ~
~ Thursday, March 12, 2009 ~
~ Another New Web Page ~
So, it looks like I have been neglecting my BLOG lately, not that things have not been happening, just not getting around to publishing them.. and a lot of the same old things anyway...
I just made a pineapple upside down cake I should have put on here... But it loked a lot better than it tasted.. way too sweet for me...
Anyway, the reason for this one is a new page I just completed of my gardening efforts the last two years here...And very BORING as usual.. Well bear with it...
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Well the much postponed Prairie Burn at the Sanctuary was finally done on Friday, February 20... And although Director Jim Reed said that ~I~ HAD to be there.... he forgot to call me... BUT... Dianne Kixmiller was there to get some photos and Edwin Carney was there to get some video... So, Dianne emailed the pics and Erwin brought me a DVD of his video and I proceeded to edit the video and make a web page for the Video and Photos...
Well, not a totally new site.. but a revived and revised one... The City of Parkville revised the city site and left off the link to the Parkville Nature Sanctuary... And there was some, but very little left of the old Sanctuary site and since I had made some Sanctuary pages already, the Director asked me to take over as Web Master of the New Parkville Nature Sanctuary site..
So, I have been busy developing new pages and revising a couple old ones... And there is now a link from the Parkville City site to the Sanctuary site as before... And we are on our way again... Anyone that might want to take a look:
Well, looks like the yuccas didn't like the sub-freezing cold all that much... Now the question... into the dumpster or trim them up and see if they survived at all...
Well, they survived the 4 way split.. and one sub-freezing spell when it was just one plant... So I'll just wait til it warms up a bit before I dump them...
But the pineapples look like they are gone... Into the dumpster with them .. when I get in the mood...
~ Tuesday, February 10, 2009 ~
~ Apfelkuchen! ~
Yeah, nice New York Empire apples on sale at the Price Chopper so time to make an apple pie...
Windy and warm, stormy in the morning but cleared up some around noon... I knew the warm day was coming and I bought some chicken leg quarters the day before...
Got them trimmed and cleaned and prepped with my revised method of yellow mustard and BBQ dry rub.. and into the smoker about noon-thirty...
Noticed the smoker stopped smoking TWICE.. Wind so strong it was blowing out the propane burner... But I got about 2 and 1/2 hours in the smoker and then sauced and finished in the oven..
Now that was scrumptious with some tater salad and a hunka bread and butter...
While the chicken was finishing in the oven, I peeled apples and I like to precook the filling some so added brown sugar, a little lime juice, cinnamon and nutmeg and let them soften some,
then into a crust and into the oven when I took the chicken out... Haven't cut into the pie yet, but the way it looks.. I know...
~ How Sweet that will Be! ~
BUT... When I first went out to light the burner... WHERE WAS MY SPARE PROPANE TANK? Someone took it without my permission it looks like..
And that is very strange and very rare as we have so little of that kind of thing in this complex... So, have to see about replacing that.. and securing the next one...
~ Wednesday, January 14, 2009 ~
~ Casino Again? ~
Well, a so-so Tuesday.. Did I win more scratchers? Can't remember, maybe I should keep track... And Nathan called and wanted $15 to bail his dog out of the pound... So considering my recent winnings I put a couple twenties in an envelope and sent that, he hasn't been buggin me much for money lately.. and having a rough time getting enough work to pay the bills... In the afternoon I decided I wanted some spaghetti, so I whupped up some sauce from scratch.. And pretty good stuff at that.. I can do better than most of that store stuff by guess and by golly... I added some diced turkey for the meat and that went well too... I do love to cook...
So, what today? Up to the Chopper for some sandwich makings and cashed in a $2 winner scratcher and bought a dud crossword... Back at the ranch and nuthin to do.. Now what? well I got to thinking, I had 9,000 points at the casino, that's a tad over $20.. I'll run over and play with THEIR money, didn't want to risk any more of my recent winnings...
So I trotted over there, Got $23 from the nice lady at Casino Services and headed for my same favorite machine... And changed tactics for the day.. I usually play one quarter a roll, as you get more chances but the payout is less... But today I decided to risk it on THEIR money by doing MAX bet, three quarters at a time... I figured with only $20 it would be gone in five minutes.. but I got a couple little wins and hung in there... And within a short time and $10 left.. I hit two Double Bars and a Five Tines.. ding ding ding ding for a 300 credit win, three times what one quarter would have been... Hit that pay-out button for %85.25 and headed for the door... Nice win in less than 15 minutes...
Now, stopped by the Riverside RED-X to cacth another bingo and crossword... and back to the ranch.. and worked that Crossword for a $6 win, broke even anyway... Then a manhattan and catching up on the news.. and now .. What's for dinner?
~ Yeah and How Sweet That Was Too! ~
~ Monday, January 12, 2009 ~
~ That Time Again ~
So, I headed over to Lab One this morning for my annual PSA test... Over and done easy enough, they know where to stick that needle... Next week I go see the radiologist and he will tell me the result of the PSA and then do his thing with the glove, then charge me a couple hundred... Oh well...
And, a nice quiet Birthday yesterday... Worked a couple dud scratchers then decided to go to the casino.. Could I win three times in a row? Got me a couple twenties out of the ATM and headed over.. Put $40 in the quarter slot for 160 credits... and away we went... Up and down, finally mostly down... To one credit.. and I didn't want to quit.. yet... So in with another ten...
And then I was down to about my last twenty credits again and hit a NICE one.. Two white 7s.. and a five times.. HAH, 500 credit win... that is $125... So I cashed out and headed home, first going by Riverside Red-X to pick up a bingo and crossword scratch... and I won $6 on that...
Stopped by the bank later to stick in $100.. My original $50 bet and some profit.. and some still in my pocket...
Back to the ranch to put some enchiladas in the freezer, getting stuffed again.. So I called BJ to come and get it... Gave him some Bean burritos and enchiladas and some of my birthday cake for him and his kids... And then on to use up the rest of a pretty nice day...
~ and How Sweet That Was! ~
~ Sunday, January 11, 2009 ~
~ Happy Birthday! ~
Well I made it another year, How long can this thing last anyway? Well, as long as I am still having fun, let's go with it!
So, I baked me another spice fruit cake. The one for Christmas went rather well, but this time I made a sheet cake out of it... Full of spice cake mix, lemon pudding, chopped dates, craisins (dried sweetened cranberries), mixed tropical fruit, apricot nectar, a couple ounces of bourbon and some chopped walnuts... (sorry Sigi, I like them)...
~ and a Lucky 77 for this Year, How About that? ~
~ Friday, January 8, 2009 ~
~ Ratatouille! ~
Well then ... Happy New Year!... No blogs since Christmas eve but I have been busy... at what? Can't remember... Anyway, some good luck at the casino and on scratchers in November and December ... and the first week of the New Year so far...
Started off this Tuesday on a winning streak... Went to buy a scratcher and won, back for another and I kept winning ... I won a $6, $6, $6, $3, $10 and a $20... Lost on the last one so I quit for the day... Then was thinking what to eat and came up with a ratatouille... Hadn't made one since summer before last with goodies from the Farmer's Market in season...
Well, the Price Chopper has great fresh produce.. so up there to get a nice firm eggplant, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, garlic and green peppers... And some shredded Parmesan cheese... And a crusty loaf of Italian bread...
Then peel and dice and chop and into a casserole and into the oven, finished up that afternoon but put it in the fridge overnight to meld the flavors and finish next day... topping with cheese... And It IS good!
OK, started Wednesday right with a $10 and $6 scratcher win... Still had some of the previous days winnings.. But I wanna go to the casino... But I has $20 in cash and I like to take $40 and I didn't want to go to the ATM.. soooo... I decided to play casino at the Scratcher machine at the Price Chopper, in with my $20 and picked a bunch of $1, $2, and one $3 ticket... Back yo thre rsnch and started acratching... Out of all I got a $1, $2, $4, $4, and a $6.. $17 win... Then I had one called Ace in the Hole, they give you two numbers. and ten winning numbers... If you match the number you get that prize.. If you uncover an Ace, you win double.. and if then you get an Ace in the Hole Card.. HAH, you win all ten prizes... Well, I got zilch on all ten numbers,, but then in the Hole Card... lookee there! .. an Ace! So I scratched off the prizes.. all $10.. 10 times 10 is a HUNNERD, ain't it?
NOW!.. Off to the casino.. with over a hundred in my pocket.. But I left all in the van except two twenties.. and headed for my favotite machine... Played up and down awhile. then hit a good one and cashed out for $87.25 and headed for home with a $47.25 win... Now over $150 in my pocket, starting the day with $20...
OK, what on Thursday? Headed up to kicks and won me another $6 one.. traded that at the fast stop for a couple losers... Now what? well, I put all my money except $40 in the drawer and headed back top the casino.. Saying, I get $20 ahead I will quit... Got the same machine, up and down.. and back again.. HAH, finally hit Two 7s and a 5 times and cashed out for $77.50,.. and headed for the door...
~ What today? Maybe get a couple scratchers but stay out of the casino,, I am due for a loss now, doncha think?
~ Wednesday, December 24, 2008 ~
~ Christmas Eve! ~
This is early this morning, Christmas Eve and we don't have to dream of a White Christmas.. We have one.. Surprise! And the Snow plow has been by already at 5 a.m. messing up my photo
No one coming and I am going nowhere, and don't even have to cook, I have plenty of re-runs left in the freezer from Thanksgiving, Roast Turkey and all the accessories...
But, I did bake another fruit cake yesterday and will sample that sometime this morning, I do hope it is as good as last year, the BEST fruit cake I have baked or eaten!
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