Felt like a must-see stop along America's classic and historic Route
66. Oh and yes, we did listen to the relevant Eagles tune as we rolled
into town.

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This week I find myself traveling across the country with my father-in-law or at least across most of the country. We started in Detroit MI and will end up in San Jose. Continuing our trip this morning from southern Wyoming under dark skies, I watched as the day's sunrise developed into what you see above. I've photographed enough sunrises and (more often) sunsets over the years to know that they offer a very short window of time in which their show is at its peak. At what I hoped was just the right moment, we paused our travels so I could get out and capture some photos of Mother Nature's spectacular morning show.

The show was no disappointment! The morning light shimmered and seemed to glow from within the clouds it illuminated. Every few minutes the skies canvas would completely change. After taking a few photos I looked around and found an unexpected bonus. It was when I looked away from the rising sun that another show presented itself. I don't know why I looked there but the sky in the opposite direction was putting on a show of its own.

Shown here, the sky opposite the rising sun presented an amazing display of virtually every color imaginable. I could see a dizzying array of colors from blues and violets to gold, orange, yellow, red and even some greens. It was truly breathtaking and unexpected! It was soft and subtle, a contrast to the sunrise it faced. I only wish my photos could do it justice but they pale from what we saw.

Sometimes it pays to look away from the obvious. There may be surprises in store.

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I would never have thought I would see the great Harry Carey, heralded baseball announcer who ended his career with the Cubs, caricatured as a canary!?

I wondered too, what would Harry Caray have thought to know he would one day be impersonated by a blow-up cartoon canary at a minor league venue somewhere in eastern Tennessee. Maybe he would have loved it. I wonder...

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The packing crew arrived at 8am sharp this morning and two hours later
my entire office is in boxes! I guess I have to face the fact this
move is really happening. It's not just something we talk about...

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Ohh baby... I'm just guessing but I'm thinking this homeowner is
really REALLY ticked off with the neighbor. This is a property line
between two somewhat closely situated homes here in Vestal. This person
had no less than 10 "NO TRESPASSING" signs lined up for the neighbor's
viewing pleasure. (That's NOT a road in the picture but actually the driveway) There couldn't be more than 15' between them. Think
they get the point? Yeow!

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What any of us wouldn't give for the simple life of a cat. Here we see our cat Lightning enjoying all he really needs, some sunlight streaming through a window and a soft carpet to stretch out upon...

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Here are a few photos from our yard today. Just like everyone in this area we got hit overnight with roughly 20" of snow. Yesterday morning we could see the grass across most of the yard. Today not so much.

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The longer I watched, the more this man pulled out and placed in the Toys for Tots donation barrel. One toy after another, most still in their original boxes and in pristine condition. Somewhere this Christmas there are going to be some very happy kids. Maybe even more so there will be some happy dads trying their best to keep those kids from cracking open a collectible Hess truck and running it into walls and doors.

I commented to the man that I believed I was seeing toys from a good twenty years of collecting. He stopped for a moment, thought a bit and said in fact it was 26 years. He had two such collections of which one was his sons and his son had in turn given it over to his son (this man's grandson). He said that after having these for so many years this was the year he had decided they might be appreciated by others. He seemed to be taking great pleasure in dropping them (carefully) into the donation receptacle.

I was wishing later that I had grabbed a photo of all of those toys he left in that Toys for Tots bin. There were some classics! The photo above just shows a few of my own boys Hess toys from the last few years. All I can say is that my heart was racing a bit just to see this fabulous collection of toys being given away. Christmas is a good time and brings out good is lots of people. I hope that man has a great holiday!

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"When the little drummer boy went to visit baby Jesus, he was sad that
he didn't have a gift to give, so he played. So, why didn't he give
him his drum?"

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We took along a donation for the local CHOW charitible organization and enjoyed the live music played right from one of the train cars! Even though it was a very chilly evening we had fun with the boys and they didn't complain (till the show was over). Santa made a brief appearance on the train and the music helped warm things up. I had a great time dancing with Collin (on my hip). In spite of the cold he didn't want to leave until the last song was done!

All in all a fun evening and a little support for local charity at the same time. Thanks Canadian Pacific!!

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On 9/11 and during the weeks and months which followed, waves of "Second Responders" flocked to New York City. Thousands upon thousands of doctors, scientists, construction professionals, volunteers, social workers and many others came to do what they could in the wake of the tragedy. They came voluntarily, they came as members of federal teams, they came without hesitation. We are very aware of the First Responders of that day but most are unaware of these Second Responders and their sacrifices from being there.

Since 9/11 many of the Second Responders have suffered and many passed due to the effects of their time in NYC. Thousands of these individuals have been diagnosed with diseases or medical conditions which are chronic and may well shorten their lives as a result. So far it has been our family's experience that the Federal Government has provided for medical support in these cases, but this could soon change. My wife was one of the Second Responders for the 9/11 tragedy and now suffers a chronic condition attributable directly to that experience. She was there the evening of 9/11 and for much of the next few months which followed.

On Friday House Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer announced they will bring the 9/11 Health Bill to Congress for another vote. This bill provides funding to continue the governments support for medical treatment of both First and Second Responders to the 9/11 tragedy.

At a time when millions of Americans longed for a way to make a difference the Second Responders stepped up without fanfare or expectations of grandure. Now they need your help! Please contact your Congressman and urge them to vote in support of this critical bill. With your help we can assure that the sacrifices these individuals are making will not go without proper care and support so deeply deserved!

Thank you.

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What a night! Last night Ryan and I took advantage of a family sleepover night at Kopernik Observatory & Science Center in Vestal, NY. I'm blown away at how much they were able to squeeze into this one night.

• A sunspot (dark spot on the sun)
• Venus before dusk and after
• Jupiter and four of its 60+ moons
• Andromeda Galaxy (amazing to see!)
• Double star (one was very blue)
• Mars
• The Moon of course!

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• Building a model of Jupiter with four of its moons
• Printing a black & white photo in their darkroom
• A nighttime rocket launch with glow stick onboard
• Computer time with Stellarium planetarium software (amazing and a FREE download!)
• Even breakfast in the morning!

We BOTH had a blast. We were the last hold-outs of the evening not hitting the sleeping bags until midnight. Many thanks to Keith of the Kopernik Astronomical Society for patiently targeting heavenly bodies well into the night for Ryan and I to view!

I have to say I really enjoyed making the photo print with Ryan in the darkroom. I've done it a million times myself but this was a first for him. I was waiting for it and he did not disappoint. Once his exposed photo paper hit the developer tray and the photo began to reveal itself he exclaimed "Look Daddy! My photo is appearing!" Such a fun thing to see in the printing darkroom.

This was the first time that Kopernik has had a family focused overnight campout and I hope they will do it again in the future. I know we would be there and would bring Dawnie and Collin along for the fun too! Big thanks to the Kopernik staff for providing us with an experience Ryan (and I) will not soon forget!

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This semi-private campground and surrounding wilderness is a true hidden gem with a picturesque lake, lightly used hiking trails and campsites large and distant from one another. We spent this weekend enjoying what seemed a campground all to ourselves.

A short hike from our campsite offered a stream of beautiful scenes like the one pictured here. We found open fields staged with volleyball nets and plenty of room for fun with frisbees or hitting a ball around.

All in all a very relaxing destination to take advantage of if you are able to search it out!

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Last night we went to the Indianapolis Speedrome, "Home of the Figure 8 World Championship". The Speedrome is a 1/5th mile paved oval track located on the east side of Indianapolis, IN.

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It was a fun night of old school racing entertainment with many different styles of racer on the track including young kids racing carts, adults in Legends cars and the featured Late Model cars of course. We had a great time taking in the local flavor racing action at the Speedrome!

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Here is the view from the top of the monument in Monument Circle downtown Indianapolis, IN. Tomorrows annual Indy 500 Festival Parade will wind through downtown Indianapolis circling past this scenic spot. Thanks to the generosity of a friend we are enjoying the benefits of a nice condo just a few blocks from here for the weekend. Fun weekend.

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http://www.youtube.com/steadmantech#p/u/1/L1vaQ1foYR4

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Sometime back in February I lost my Palm Prē cell phone in a snow bank. I had been out making photos during a particularly nasty snow storm, went to three specific locations and trudged around in the snow grabbing shots. When I got back to my office, I found that my phone was gone. NOT good!

So I headed back out into the blizzard to search. I borrowed my wife's phone, went from location to location and searched while trying to ring the phone. No luck. I searched thoroughly everywhere but with the snow coming down hard the phone was nowhere to be found. Being a relatively new phone and not insured (DOH!) this was going to be an expensive whoops.

This week nearly three months later I had reason to be out in these same locations again. A friend had suggested now that the snow had melted I might have some luck finding my phone. So why not? I stopped and did some looking. Nothing... until a home owner farther down the hill shouted out to me "Hey mister. You lose something?" He had my Palm Prē!

The phone battery was completely dead of course and the phone was looking pretty ragged. Its case was covered with evidence of being in mud and snow runoff water. The helpful home owner told me he had found the phone a week or so ago some 100 yards down the hill from where I had been making photos back in February. I think my phone had endured a rather cold, wet and sloppy few months. But will it work?

When I got it home I cleaned it up a bit and put it on the Touchstone charger. And I'll be darned if it didn't pop on and start charging!! Within a few minutes it also started pulling in new data via my home wireless network too! It just might be my lucky day!

After charging overnight it was time for the real test. Will this phone still work on the Sprint network? Will it still make calls and do all it is designed to do? With a phone call to Sprint support within a few minutes I had my answer, YES, the phone works!

Now I've had my Palm Prē back for a a day or two and it is wonderful! I had forgotten just how much I love this phone and the webOS. The only signs of the ordeal my phone endured are some slight dark streaks on the inside of the touchscreen surface (I am guessing those are from muddy water that may have seeped through the phone) and some rusty dirty residue inside the phone I couldn't get cleaned out.

But, I've got my phone back and IT WORKS!! I love it!

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