Progress report...

Progress report...  We've been slowly whittling away at the 25 million little things that need to get done around the place.  We've hung numerous pieces of art, built a bed board, rewired the entire first floor (second floor and basement still to go), installed a couple dozen heating registers (and even more remain to be done), installed interior door hardware on the five doors in the barn, and (yesterday) did the first bit of wiring in the barn. 

That last bit was a learning experience for me – I'd never used plastic conduit before, so I was learning as I went.  I installed two outlets on the ceiling, right next to the garage door opener's motor, and ran conduit with 14/2G romex between there and the breaker panel.  When doing a project like this, one becomes acutely aware of all the angles in the building :)  That run took 8 pieces of straight conduit and 7 90° bends (called “sweeps” for some reason), along with a surface-mounted junction box and a threaded connector for the circuit breaker panel.  The installation involved mis-cutting several pieces of conduit, glue, and creative use of English (especially phrases involving words with four letters).  I did get it installed and working, though – and the rest of the wiring should involve somewhat less learning...

Rosetta's shadow...

Rosetta's shadow...  This photo was taken on Valentine's Day, on Rosetta's swoop low over Comet 67P.  The camera's resolution at this height is 11 cm (about 4 inches) per pixel – so you're seeing some mighty fine detail here.  If you look closely, you can see deposits of “snow”, shadows of angular features, overlapping “plates”, and, amazingly, the fuzzy shadow of Rosetta itself (near the bottom center)...

A dust devil on Mars...

A dust devil on Mars...  Captured from high above by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).  If you're a denizen of one of the darker corners of the Intertubes, then this is dust raised by a vehicle traveling to a secret CIA interrogation compound, or persuasive evidence of intelligent life on Mars, or an imminent invasion of Earth by Little Green Men.  NASA's implausible story about a Martian dust devil is obviously just cover for the real story.  Via APOD, of course...

Dawn is approaching Ceres...

Dawn is approaching Ceres...  Here's a bunch of good information about it...

Photographers and their famous photos...

Photographers and their famous photos...  A fascinating collection...

Why is this completely unsurprising?

Why is this completely unsurprising?  Headline in the New York Times this morning:

Hillary Clinton Used Personal Email Account at State Dept., Possibly Breaking Rules

What rules did she break?  That would be those “rules” called “the law” – particularly the Federal Records Act of 1950 that requires government officials to preserve all records of their official business (paper or electronic).

I'm actually amazed that the New York Times – sometimes known as the branch of the Democratic Party with press credentials – reported this at all.  They toned down both the headline and the content to make this seem like less of a deal than it is, but at least they did report it.

The Clintons seem to embody the old saw “laws are for the little people.”  You and I, or any non-Democrat, could never get away with something like this.  The Clintons, Obama, or any other high-profile Democrat?  Move along now, nothing to see here...

Rope.
Tree.
Progressive politicians and their press lapdogs.
Some assembly required.