Traveling....

Been traveling way too much the past few weeks, so posting has been minimum. Last week I was in Raleigh (neat ballroom under renovation in the historic district) and Goldsboro. Best quote from the trip: "that is what you call a frog stranglin rain".

A few pictures from the weekend...

Shocking...

Sometimes work is so fun. I had to observe a fish and wildlife class where they were surveying the fish population in a stream. I would of stayed the whole time if I did not have another meeting to go to.

Bad Hair Day...

Never fear, he used food to get it flattened out before breakfast was finished :-)

Big Creek

Christine, Seamus, Her folks, and I went to Big Creek on the western edge of the county. Great day for Wildflowers.



There was no good way for Seamus to sit at the picnic table so he had to eat in his baby jogger. He did not seem to care. BTW, I haven't mentioned it before, but this jogger has 4 cup-holders. 2 for the infant and 2 for the adult. I suppose if you had the inclination you could go on a very long jog without fear of dehydration.

Timber... sports.

I work in a Department of Natural Resources. One program in our section is Forest Management Technology. This weekend the Forestry Club and program hosted the 2008 Mid-Atlantic States Intercollegiate Woodsmen's Meet on our campus. It was a huge amount of fun. Fair warning: there are a lot of photos here:-) ESPN even recorded the event.

Seamus shots....

Seamus had his first swim lesson on Saturday. He is classified as a "swabby".

Seamus enjoys some warm spring like weather in Western North Carolina.

The Truth...

Seamus' Spot...

Seamus has taken to sitting on this lower shelf in the kitchen. He has a whole room full of toys and a toddler size recliner, but he prefers the bottom shelf :-)

40 #@*!!

Birthday card from Christine and the kid. Seemed so appropriate.

Google Time Machine

Best feature yet :-)

Bath and Laugh....

The final installment of the Bath Trilogy.

Seamus Bath II...

In case you (Nana, Papa, Grammy, and Grandpa) didn't get enough the first time...

A short stroll...

The good ole' days....

I don't get to do as much science as I like anymore, but occasionally I get access to some cool projects to take pictures of.

For St. Patrick's Day...

Abandoned Abbey visible from the Rock of Cashel.

One of our last stops on the Ireland trip a couple of years ago was the Rock of Cashel. From Wikipedia:

The Rock of Cashel (Irish: Carraig Phadraig), also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick's Rock , is a historic site in Ireland's province of Munster, located at Cashel, County Tipperary.The Rock of Cashel served as the traditional seat of the Kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion, though few remnants if any of the early structures survive. The majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century A.D. The buildings which crown the Rock of Cashel present a mass and outline of great complexity, rivalling other sites in western Europe. The complex has a character of its own, unique and native, and is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture to be found anywhere in Europe.

Goofing off...

Just playing around with some photographs and photoshop. I kind of liked the mood in these.

Seamus on the move....

Rainy day around here... I am working on some video of Seamus walking, but he is like a little football player when he sees you with the camera and it makes it difficult to get extended footage.

Seamus takes a bath...

Seamus takes a bath. Warning: this video is not exciting, but the smile in the last 5 seconds makes it worth it.

The Rocking Chair...

Stormy Day

We had flood, wind, and tornado weather alerts today. When I arrived home the rain had stopped, but there were very unusual cloud formations out. Pictures don't really do the clouds justice, but you get can get an idea. It was almost as if the clouds were out of scale with the rest of the landscape.

Seamus goes down the tubes...

It was over 60 F today, so Christine and Seamus went to a local park where she took these pictures. If only what I did today was 1/2 this fun.

Winter Sun Dog... and not so deep thoughts

Tucker was enjoying the warm day out on the patio. Made for some interesting shadows.

I had a few minutes to think today and kept coming back to effective strategies colleagues can use to slow any project down. Yes, you can guess what type of week it has been. I used to get upset about this stuff, but now I just laugh.

PERSONAL TOP 10 LIST of MOST COMMON METHODS TO SLOW PRODUCTIVITY.

1. Pretend my e-mail never arrived, even though almost all modern e-mail clients (including the one I use) report when Sent mail is opened.
   
   
2. Pretend my second and 3rd e-mails never arrived.
   
   
3. Don't answer the phone when I call, but answer immediately when the administrative assistant calls to schedule an appointment.
   
   
4. Start off any conference call with "Let me tell you why this will never work...."
   
   
5. End any conference call with "Good luck with THAT!"
   
   
6. Act like a CAVE person (I heard this recently somewhere I wish I could give someone credit for the acronym Colleagues Against Virtually Everything)
   
   
7. Pretend you know what everyone is talking about even when you are clearly lost. People are usually willing to stop and explain....this goes much better sooner rather than later.
   
   
8. Claim you missed a deadline because you are tired from being overworked and before the meeting is over talk about the wild weekend you had.
   
   
9. Send a representative in your place that has been told nothing about the project.
   
   
10. Make a funny about my hair. Hey I can laugh at myself, but coming up on 40 your joke is likely not original and I probably heard it before. If you are going to make fun, target something easier like the lack of my ability to dress to the current decade. More folks will laugh, especially the other bald guys in the room.

Just to let you know that I am not too jaded, soon I will post a Top 10 of truly amazing things colleagues have done without even being prompted. I do have good days at work to.

Your Big Mac.....

From BioScience......

A Big Mac meal --- burger, fries, and coffee contains about 20 different plant species with origins all over the world.

I feel like a world traveler already.

Velorutionary...

This article in the Chronicle of Higher Education describes a progressive program at Ripon. Students get a bicycle and the campus has far fewer drivers. Powerful simple idea.

Travel artifacts...

As I packed for a work trip today, I found these goodies in a luggage side pocket ...from a trip taken a couple of years ago . As a result, I had an idea for another blog (as if the world needs another blog :-) ...as if I could possibly keep up with another blog :-)

I am always running across stuff like this and I bet lots of other folks are. It would be neat to see people post stubs, receipts, restaurant bills etc. from trips on a theme blog.

Dog days....

Ole Tucker spends most of his time napping in the sun these days. He seemed particularly content this morning.

Last Seamus Birthday Post Until Next Year...

The First Birthday Celebration

Seamus turned 1 yesterday, but we celebrated today.


Once he figured out his cake "was cake" he had a good time with it. About 1/3 in the mouth, 1/3 on his person, and 1/3 on the floor.

Devin, Mica, and Clifton also were in attendence. The parents of these children were all in our birthing class. The kids were all born within a month of each other. Seamus has been a party animal the past few weekends.

Lots of friends came out to wish him well!

Happy Birthday

Not sure how long this link will be active, but our friend Karen sent this bluemountain card for Seamus ...and it is hilarious. Just click on the picture for a laugh.

Super Bath I

Christine's friend Nicole and her son Clifton came over to watch the Super Bowl. This led to a halftime bath event. Seamus is checking 'the vig' from his bookie.

Florida Weekend IV

Cochina stone near Matanzas inlet.

Gaillardia growing in the dunes.

I really like the skylights at the Orlando Airport. They do a nice job of bringing the Florida sunshine in to a climate controlled space.

I took this 4-part weekend series with Christine's Olympus 790 point and shoot camera. It is tiny and takes pretty impressive pictures.

Poem

Ode to the walker
by Christine O'Brien

When I first saw you I didn’t know what to do, you were so shiny and new

At first I just chewed the toys and didn’t make much noise.

But all of that came to an end when I found my speed and sped from end to end.

Nothing could stop me as I sped through the house with a smile on my face, not even when the wheels became frozen in place.

As I zoomed across the floors I noticed mommy tied on a swiffer to help with the chores.

One day while speeding past tables and chairs I found myself at the top of the stairs.

Down down down I went, please remind me to never repeat this descent.

Everything was all right, but I gave daddy and mommy a big fright.

Now I look at you all tattered and torn, thank goodness I was first born.

Grammy and Grandpa wish Seamus a Happy Birthday

Grammy and Grandpa O'Brien will be traveling to Nepal soon and so won't be at Seamus' birthday. They wanted to send him a Happy Birthday from the beach and tell him they will be in the neighborhood for the month of April.

Florida Weekend III

Turtle and bark from a live oak tree at Washington Oaks Garden south of Matanzas Inlet.

Florida Weekend II

Much of the ocean front residential road washed out near Marineland, Fl. Leaving some interesting relics.

Some of the largest live oaks in Northeast Florida are at Washinton Oaks Garden. Their long horizontal branching habitat makes for incredible epiphyte habitat.

What would a trip to Florida be without a gratuitous banana flower picture?