a quick glance across the multiverse

Vestavia Hills to pay Redflex to "study" the need for red light cameras (RLC)

2011-11-16T12:30:00.004-06:00

In a Birmingham News article Monday, Nov. 14, it was reported that the Vestavia Hills city council was going to vote on whether to allow the mayor to negotiate a contract with Redflex Traffic Systems to "study" the city's traffic and determine if the city could benefit from Redflex product(s).

Fire Redflex

Here's a peek into the future: yes, Redflex will determine that Vestavia Hills needs to buy their product(s).

I tried four times, unsuccessfully, to post a comment to the story on al.com, so I'm going to share my initial thoughts below:

_______________

Unfortunately for Council President Rice, these cameras won't affect stop sign intersections. I believe her comments reflect the depth of her understanding of this issue. [the article quoted Ms. Rice as saying "I can tell you we do (have a problem with drivers running red lights and speeding) because I was almost killed pulling into my subdivision the other day when some guy ran the stop sign."]

If you lengthen the duration of the yellow lights at least by .5-1.5 seconds (but no longer than 5.5 seconds) and have the red lights last for a full second before the other direction turns green, you will see a decrease in accidents. The lengthened yellow light can account for a 50% decrease alone. [1] Numerous studies have shown that red light cameras do not always result in lower traffic accidents at intersections: they can also result in a higher number of accidents, especially rear end collisions.

See the statistical analyses of red light cameras (RLC) in Chicago by UIC Professor Rajiv Shah in 2010, where the total number of accidents at RLC intersections increased after they were installed. [2][3][4][5][6]

See the 2004 study of 17,271 crashes by North Carolina A&T State University showed that RLC increased the number of crashes by 40%. [7]

See the 2005 Virginia DOT study of the long-term effects of camera enforcement throughout Virginia and found that the overall number of crashes at intersections with RLC increased. [8]

See the Federal Highway Administration's 2005 study suggesting that although RLC reduce right-angle crashes, they can increase the number of rear-end collisions, leading to the total number of collisions remaining unchanged. [9]

See the Los Angeles Controller's letter to the L.A. city council affirming that the RLC there did not increase public safety. [10]

In 2010, the state of Arizona did not renew their Redflex contract for 76 photo enforcement cameras. [11]

In addition, how will the cameras tell who is driving a car and, therefore, at fault in running a red light? Are they going to assume one of the registered owners are driving it? What will the process be for disputing a machine-generated traffic ticket, whereby you cannot face your accuser in court? Will the fines have to be much higher than they are now to cover the high cost of installing the RLC and to hire a company to run them and generate the tickets?

I think Council President Rice is misinformed: probably by a Redflex salesman who promises the city will pull in more revenue due to more tickets. For a recent list of cities and municipalities that have removed RLC (by Redflex and others) recently, see http://fireredflex.com/cameras.html.

Photo by Horia Varlan

Instead of wasting money on this private camera system, I think Vestavia should:

1) Use larger traffic signal heads at intersections
2) Place traffic signal heads in the most conspicuous places
3) Use the most optimal yellow light length of time (iirc, up to 5.5 seconds)
4) Add (or lengthen) a "clearance" phase, during which all directions of traffic have a red light before switching to the next green light.
5) Educate people not to drive while drowsy, intoxicated, or distracted (cell phone or other hand held devices).
6) Re-time lights so that drivers encounter fewer red ones.

I don't think Ms. Rice has done enough research in this area. I hope the entire city council with give it more thought than she apparently has.

[1] http://tcd.tamu.edu/Documents/4196-1.pdf
[2] http://www.smartcamerasblog.com/2010/06/accident-rates-in-chicago-part-1-of-a-report-on-red-light-cameras-in-chicago/
[3] http://www.smartcamerasblog.com/2010/06/accident-rates-at-traffic-signals-in-chicago-part-2-of-a-report-on-red-light-cameras-in-chicago/
[4] http://www.smartcamerasblog.com/2010/06/evaluating-red-light-cameras-in-chicago-part-3-of-a-report-on-red-light-cameras-in-chicago/
[5] http://www.smartcamerasblog.com/2010/07/accidents-at-red-light-cameras-in-chicago-citys-data-part-4-of-a-report-on-red-light-cameras-in-chicago/
[6] http://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?dsrcid=170706
[7] http://www.motorists.org/red-light-cameras/crash-risk-study
[8] http://vtrc.virginiadot.org/PubDetails.aspx?PubNo=07-R2
[9] http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/safety/05048/
[10] http://controller.lacity.org/stellent/groups/electedofficials/@ctr_contributor/documents/contributor_web_content/lacityp_011808.pdf
[11] http://redflex.com/public_documents/asx_announcements/2010-05-06%20Arizona%20Speed%20Contract.pdf
_______________

Unfortunately for the taxpayer citizens of Vestavia Hills, the city council voted 4-1 to authorize the mayor to contract with Redflex to "study" whether Vestavia Hills needed to purchase their product. Not only will the city waste money for a private business to "determine" that the city will need to purchase their products, but the city will waste money on a product(s) that is designed to generate revenue instead of lowering the number of intersection collisions.

For more information on why anyone living/working in/near Vestavia needs to voice opposition to "idea" to Mayor Zaragoza and the city council, peruse http://fireredflex.com.

Highway 280 Corridor Transit Study Open House Nov. 9, 2011

2011-11-04T12:30:00.015-05:00

[update, Nov. 7: the RPCGB has a little more info on the open house. An agenda has been posted, as well.]

U.S. 280 Corridor Transit Study Open House, Wed., Nov. 9
When logging into the CommuteSmart website to log my carpool commutes, there was a notice for an Open House to discuss the possible alternatives for transit service along U.S. 280. The open house will take place Wed., Nov. 9, 2011, from 3-7pm, at the Marriott Hotel, 3590 Grandview Parkway, Birmingham, AL.

Although I am a resident of Hoover, AL, I avoid Highway 280 as much as humanly possible. The congestion is legendary. You'll find the traffic bad even outside the typical rush hour times. However, I realize there are many people who use the highway out of necessity. I'm very interested to see if we (Alabama) can solve this problem the right way, the first time.

The problem

"280" by Wally Argus

Highway 280 is Alabama's 2nd busiest roadway. In 2004, the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) asked UAB to study several proposed solutions to the 280 congestion problem. The computer analysis was performed in 2005 by the University Transportation Center for Alabama in conjunction with the Birmingham MPO and the ALDOT. Of all the solutions analyzed, urban interchanges helped the most. However, only seven minutes would be shaved due to the grinding halt at the narrow Hwy 280 to Red Mountain Expressway transition. That problem is a difficult one to solve. You can't widen the overpass through Red Mountain, and you would eventually run into congestion problems as more traffic hits each exit ramp and eventually runs into I-20/59.

The toll bridge
In September 2005, then-governor Riley invited the three co-chairs of Progress 280 Task Force to a closed meeting in his office[1]. There, Linda Figg (of Figg Engineers, Inc.) presented a concept of (guess what?) an elevated roadway. According to FIGG's website, they "specialize exclusively in bridges"[2]. I don't know how Figg obtained an audience with Riley, but that wasn't even the first elevated road idea. A study was conducted in 1997 by HNTB where Blaise Carriere proposed a 10-mile split elevated pair of 2-lane roadways. It was one of three options that would provide adequate capacity.

Progress 280 was part of the Regional Growth Alliance, a now defunct group which was comprised of Region 2020, Inc. (a citizen-driven, non-profit corporation that attempts to guide regional visioning), the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (a publicly sponsored regional council to "promote regional excellence and community development"), and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (a privately sponsored group that seeks to create a unified voice for area businesses in promoting development - in 2009 it merged with Region 2020 Inc. & the Metropolitan Development Board and was renamed the Birmingham Business Alliance).

Elevated toll bridge as proposed by Figg

In June 2006, at Riley's request, Progress 280 hired Figg's firm to complete a design study for an elevated tollway along 280's median.[3] Progress 280 liked the plan and conducted meetings with ALDOT to present the new plan to the public. Although there were well reasoned objections to both an elevated road as well as to a tollway, the only compromise made by ALDOT was to change the plans so that the elevated tollway would only be on the portion east/south of I-459. Ever since the Figg proposal, an elevated tollway (in some form) has always been the number one option on ALDOT's table, until they finally halted work on it on March 11, 2011 due to opposition by citizens and businesses and rejection from city governments.

A better alternative

Interchange in ReThink280 plan

A number of citizens, businesses, and cities have united behind a ReThink280 plan[4], developed by Walter Kulash, that includes toll-free express lanes, local lanes, and ground-level solutions for local access.

I think the ReThink280 proposal offers a few benefits over the elevated toll bridge plan:

Cost reduction in both upfront construction and long term maintenance.
4 end-to-end express lanes, without traffic lights, turning movements or tolls from downtown to Eagle Point.
2 (or more) local lanes added, controlled by traffic signals and connecting to all existing cross streets.
Ground-level grade separations (compact local interchanges and high-capacity split diamond interchanges, with the express lanes travelling under the interchanges).
Use of existing properties.
No worries of sink holes collapsing the bridge.

Sinkhole in Tampa [credit: Skip O'Rourke]

What's missing?
There are two problems not addressed by either the ALDOT plan or the ReThink280 plan:

The connection from 280 to downtown Birmingham via the Red Mountain Expressway is a current bottleneck. If even more traffic were enabled along 280, that bottleneck will grind to a halt. What is the answer? A wider (ironically, elevated) highway (280/31/Red Mountain Express/Elton B. Stephens Expressway) from Red Mountain to I-20/59 (even though there's a proposal to replace the elevated interstate through downtown with one on the ground)? Better interchanges at the exit ramps?
Birmingham needs mass public transit in some form, whether it be bus, light rail, etc., for future growth and public movement.

The U.S. 280 Corridor Transit Study was scheduled to be completed in October 2011 and will analyze 1) the enhancement of local bus service 2) premium bus service with queue jump lanes 3) premium bus service with 2 managed lanes in each direction & 4) bus rapid transit.

This open house is for public discussion of the study that has been completed.

Open House

If you live and/or work near the metro Birmingham area, or you just want to learn about the transit alternatives and/or give feedback, I recommend going to the meeting on Wednesday.

When searching for more information on the open house, I couldn't find anything at the transit study's website, any of the city websites, the RPCGB, BBA, or CommuteSmart websites.

[Update, 11/7] The agenda states that a presentation will be given 15 minutes past the hour (i.e. 3:15, 4:15, 5:15, & 6:15) with time for questions & comments by attendees after each presentation. This was designed to be as flexible as possible to allow people to go and learn about the project and provide feedback.

Here is the notice once logged into CommuteSmart:

JOIN US!

US 280 Corridor Transit Study

The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham invites you to an Open House to discuss the possible alternatives for transit service along U.S. 280 from I-20/I-59 in Downtown Birmingham to the Shelby/Talladega County Line. The Open House will allow people to come and learn about the progress of the transit study, give their comments, and participate in opinion surveys about transit alternatives and the potential funding sources for constructing and operating the service. Information displays, opinion surveys, and opportunities for public comment will be featured.

When:
Wed. November 9, 2011
Times:
3 pm to 7 pm
Site:
Marriott Hotel
3590 Grandview Parkway
Birmingham, Alabama

Footnotes:
[1] Progress 280 whitepaper
[2] http://figgbridge.com/focus_on_bridges.html
[3] http://www.rpcgb.org/download/mpo/RPCGB-MPO-RTP-Chapter-4-Needs-Analysis-wo-appendixpdf.pdf (page 4-87)
[4] http://elevatedhighway.blogspot.com/p/rethink280-plan.html (as presented to the Hoover City Council in 2010)

UAB's homepage.uab.edu server is going away

2011-09-28T22:34:00.002-05:00

UAB recently announced the phasing out of their homepage.uab.edu service. After October 1, 2011, the network will no longer be accessible from outside the UAB network and will be permanently shut down on June 1, 2012.

I've moved all of the content from http://homepage.uab.edu/gunnells to http://earthsound.appspot.com, including the following pages that provide information of general interest to those outside of the UAB community:

Birmingham's live traffic status and I-65 cameras
Firefox extensions (currently out of date)
Chrome text-shadow and optimizeLegibility bug

The live traffic & camera page is fed by the ALDOT, which is experiencing technical difficulties with their camera feeds in the Birmingham area after vandals cut a fiber optic cable (probably expecting to find copper) in downtown Birmingham. They're working on getting the fiber line repaired.

Misclassification of Marihuana

2011-09-16T17:45:00.006-05:00

I ran across an old English paper I wrote many years ago about the misclassification of marihuana (marijuana). It's an example of my usual tactic back then: a hurried, last-minute style of throwing something together.

Feel free to comment about the paper. I'm certain there are mistakes and out of date information in it. A lot can happen in 10 years.

On google docs: http://goo.gl/3n050

Scribd:
Misclassification of Marihuana

Supercam t-shirts!

2010-12-13T08:00:00.005-06:00

Supercam t-shirts make a great gift for your favorite Auburn fan (or yourself!). Get them for Christmas or for the BCS National Championship Game versus Oregon.

http://earthsound.appspot.com/supercam.me/index.html

There are three designs:

Adult shirts are $20, youth shirts are $15, with a discount for bulk orders.

[Update: the t-shirts have sold out]

Where kids eat free or cheap in Birmingham

2010-09-21T12:00:00.081-05:00

Having kids eat free or cheap is a great way for a restaurant to bring in people who otherwise may not stop in for a bite. This list is for anyone looking for free/cheap places for your kids to eat in the Birmingham, AL area.

Know of a place that's missing in this list? Let us know in the comments below & we'll add it!

(Be sure to call ahead to make sure the offer is still good!)

Everyday deals:

Chappy's Deli (280) 6 & under w/ adult meal, 12 & under for $2.50
Cicis Pizza (Brook Highland & Palisades) 3 & under free w/ paying adult, 4 - 10 buffet for $2.99
Golden Corral (Hoover) 3 & under free, 4 - 8 $3.99, 9 - 12 $4.99
Golden Rule BBQ (Pelham) 1 kids meal per adult meal; closed on Sundays
Ihop 12 & under, 4-8pm (call to confirm)
Johnny Ray's BBQ (Hwy 119 & Hwy 31) under 12 free w/ each adult entrée
O’Charley's 10 & under free w/ adult entrée, up to 2 children per adult
Quizno's (all locations)
Sweet Bone’s for $2.99

Monday deals:

Applebee’s
Buffalo Wild Wings 12 & under for 99¢, 5 - 8 pm
Golden Corral 10 & under, 1 kids meal per adult
Logan's Roadhouse 2 adult entrées $13.99, kids items $2.99
Moe’s Southwest Grill (Mtn Brook, Lee Branch, Patton Creek & Alabaster)
TGI Fridays 3 and under
Whataburger (BOGO free 5-8 PM)

Tuesday deals:

Backyard Burger
Chick-Fil-A (Inverness & Montclair)
Guthries (Hoover) after 5 pm
Jason’s Deli (Inverness) after 5pm.
Johnny Rays BBQ (Chelsea)
La Dolce Vita 12 & under w/ adult entrée
Logan's Roadhouse 2 adult entrées $14.99, kids items $2.99
Lonestar Steakhouse (Trussville & Lakeshore) 2 kids eat free with 1 adult purchase
Moe's Original Bar B Que (Vestavia, Hoover & Lakeshore) 3 children eat free w/ adult entrée, dine in only
Moe's Southwest Grill (280, Lakeshore & Vestavia)
Momma Goldberg’s (Homewood) $1 after 4pm
Pizza Hut kids eat free from buffet w/ adult purchase
Roly Poly (Patton Creek)
TGI Fridays 3 and under
Texas Roadhouse 12 and under
Zaxby's (Hwy 150)

Wednesday deals:

Amigo's (Riverchase) BOGO free of select combo dinners
Applebee's - kids eat for $1.99 after 5 pm
Bob Baumhower’s Wings 2 kids eat free w/ adult purchase of $10
Buffalo Wild Wings (Alabaster) $1.99 kids mean w/ purchase of reg. menu option
Costa’s Mediterranean - with coupon from their site.
Cozumel's Mexican Grill (Pelham) BOGO free of select combo dinners
Dave's Sandwich Shop (Hwy 31, Hoover formerly Schlotsky's) 1 child per adult entrée
Doodle's Cajun Cuisine (Fultondale) 1 kid eats free w/ adult entrée
Firehouse Subs
Logan's Roadhouse 2 adult entrées $14.99, kids items $2.99
Po Folks (Alabaster)
Q'doba Mexican Grill (Green Springs) kids eat free with adult entrée after 5 pm
Schlotsky's Deli (Inverness) kids eat free 4-9 pm
Smith's Oysters & Steaks (Crestline Park) kids eat free w/ adult purchase
Up the Creek (Hwy 150) kids eat for $1.99

Thursday deals:

Backyard Burger
Baumhower's Wing's
Captain D’s 2 kids meals per adult dinner
Mariachi Grill (Vestavia) kids meal free w/ adult entrée
Piccadilly Cafeteria (Hoover, Hwy 31) 12 & under, $.99, dine in only, all day
Pizza Express (280) 2 free kids meals w/ drinks w/ the purchase of 1 large pizza & 2 adult drinks

Friday deals:

See Everyday listing

Saturday deals:

Lonestar Steakhouse (Trussville, Lakeshore) 2 kids eat free w/ one adult purchase, 11 am - 4 pm
Piccadilly Cafeteria (Hoover, Hwy 31) 12 & under, $.99, dine in only, 11am - 4pm
Salsaritas

Sunday deals:

Birmingham Barons Game w/ purchase of game ticket
Buffalo Wild Wings 99¢ with adult entrée
Dave's Sandwich Shop (Hwy 31, Hoover formerly Schlotsky's) 1 kids meal per adult entrée
Firehouse Subs
Hooters
Indigo Joe’s
Jason’s Deli
La Dama Pizzeria (Liberty Park) 2 kids per adult purchase, 4 - 9 pm
Maria's Mexican Restaurant (Hwy 31, Vestavia) 10 & under eat free w/ adult purchase, all day
McAlister's Deli 2 kids per adult purchase
Q'doba Mexican Grill (Green Springs)
Pizza Express (280) 2 free kids meals w/ drinks w/ the purchase of 1 large pizza & 2 adult drinks
Salsarita's (Homewood - SoHo) 1 kids meal per adult entrée

Blues on Pandora + current traffic status and live cameras on I-65

2010-05-28T12:00:00.005-05:00

"blues isn't the music, it's what's inside you"

I'm listening to some great blues today at a Pandora station I created:

alley ramblin' blues

For anyone driving in Birmingham along I-65, between Southside & I-459, I created a page that shows a live Google traffic map with live traffic cameras from the ALDOT:

[edit: UAB's homepage server is being phased out. The new URL is:]
Birmingham's current live traffic status & I-65 cameras (from Southside to Hwy 31)

2010-04-25T14:07:00.006-05:00

Nothing exciting to post about today, just wanted to get used to sharing thoughts, plans, etc., more often.

This weekend is another busy one. Fixing up things around the house & yard + we have Amy-Renee's wedding to go to tonight! :)

MG & Miriam are out studying right now while Elias & I are cleaning up, fixing up and (well, Elias at least) playing in the yard.

We have a lot of projects coming up, some of which we'll post our experiences with here.

Most importantly, our 55+ year old house has horrible breathing in the attic. Ideally, you want your attic area the same temperature as the outside (within 5-10 degrees F). When we had loose fill fiberglass insulation blown into the attic, we told them we wanted soffit baffles installed so that the insulation wasn't blown to the edges of the attic. Did they? Nope. :(

On top of that, the house doesn't have soffit intake ventilation or any outgoing roof ventilation. It only has two gable vents, one each on the north and south ends of the house. That's it.

The general rule of thumb for ventilation is to take the square footage of your attic and divide by 150 to get the total amount of ventilation you need. Split the needed ventilation between the incoming and outgoing. Our current ventilation is woefully inadequate and is causing a number of problems, as you can imagine.

Ridge ventilation would be nice. Our initial plans are to move the loose insulation away from the edges and install soffit vents. Next, we'll either install a ridge vent or a solar powered exhaust vent in the north side gable vent. The north side is sunny while the south side is shaded all day.

As we go forward, hopefully we'll be able to put pictures, steps, etc., here for anyone interested.

We also have to fix leaks around the exhaust vents for the gas water heater and the fan in the 2nd bathroom, fix the gutters and the ends of the gutter drains (including regrading some of the landscaping around the back edge of the house), redo the air conditioner's PVC drain line (it comes down, goes up a little bit and then goes back downhill before even leaving the crawlspace), patch up some ducts in the crawl space, remove all the cursed privet in the back yard, etc.

Exciting.

2009-06-22T18:00:00.004-05:00

Bonnaroo 2009

Having been to Bonnaroo once, in 2004, I was a little better prepared this time around. However, unlike in 2004, I volunteered with Kingdom Promotions through Beau Armistead in exchange for a wristband for the weekend. I met quite a few people on this trip, a number of whom lived in Birmingham and were volunteering as well. (hello Lee, Taylor, Alex, Stephanie, John, Tuesday, Travis, Kelly, etc.)

I ended up working the VIP tollbooths on Thursday, some of it during the rain. Amy Grant, a friend of hers, and their daughters, made their way through. She knows my cousin and that side of my family, so I said hello & tried not to get too chatty while helping them sort out their RV upgrade, decal, etc. (if you ever read this, hello Amy! :))

There was a lot of great music this year, too much to see all that I wanted. I took a few pictures and some video, though I didn't carry the camera or my phone around much because the weather was so iffy. Friday night there was a huge storm heading our way with large hail & 40-50 mph wind, so I left everything at the car during Phish's late night set...and, of course, the storm never made it. The skies cleared by 11:30pm.

Here's a panorama I took down in the front of the pit of What Stage just before Phish came out Sunday night to wrap up Bonnaroo:

Panorama of Phish: Bonaroo 2009: pre-show on CleVR.com

See pictures from Bonnaroo 2009.

Here are some small clips of Phish on Sunday night.
(I haven't uploaded all of the videos yet, but hope to soon. Once they're all up, I'll edit this post to reflect that.)

2009-06-07T22:00:00.003-05:00

It was a great weekend for great beer. :) Several beers made their debut in AL this weekend (I wish Sweetwater's Happy Ending Stout would've shown up!) and a number of high gravity beers made the selection the best yet.

I forgot to take a picture of every sample I tasted, but here are all but 14 of them.

The brewfest sold out before the event started, but the logistics were handled much better this year. Looking forward to next year.

Speaking of anticipation...I'm volunteering at Bonnaroo this year. MG & I went in 2004, so this won't be too new, but there are a large number of great bands there including two nights of Phish. Volunteers work a couple of shifts, get some food, close camping & free entrance! :)

Even if it rains, it promises to be a great time...

2009-05-21T17:00:00.005-05:00

Since it's almost Friday, I thought I'd take you on a little journey to some of the places I've lived over the years. I'm using Google Maps' Street View so you get a first hand shot of how it looks today (well, recently, at least). Each place will show the city followed by the year in which I first lived there:

(some places are not shown, b/c they're not on street view, including the past few places I've lived)

Auburn, AL 1976:

View Larger Map

Anniston, AL 1978:

View Larger Map

Auburn, AL 1985:

View Larger Map

Birmingham, AL 1987:

View Larger Map

Anniston, AL 1988:

View Larger Map

Birmingham, AL 1989:

View Larger Map

Auburn, AL 1995:

View Larger Map

Birmingham, AL 1998: (also where a friend had a wreck)

View Larger Map

Birmingham, AL 1999:

View Larger Map

Birmingham, AL 2000:

View Larger Map

Auburn, AL 2001:

View Larger Map

Washington, D.C. 2002:

View Larger Map

2009-02-24T17:00:00.002-06:00

I took time during lunch to touch up an old, faded photograph of Mary Grace's immediate family + her aunt and grandmother. It was taken several months before Mary Grace was born:

Here is the original:

You can see that most of the photo has faded except the edges, as they were hidden behind the frame over the years.

I started by making a feathered selection around the faded area. I adjusted the levels, manually corrected the color balance in the shadows/midrange/highlights, adjusted the levels again and then did some minor touch up with the spot healing tool.

The result isn't perfect, but good enough. :)

It's much easier work when the original hasn't been in the sun:

2008-08-28T22:00:00.001-05:00

With the voting ritual coming up, here's a very funny, yet sad & true clip. Enjoy!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

(yes, that's Mary Grace at the end of the video!)

2007-02-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

Miriam receives more gifts than the rest of us and it comes as no surprise to us when she's given a book or two.

What did surprise us was the last page of this Miffy book:

Some parents complain that it's inappropriate. Our response was along the lines of "can you believe they put that in there?" followed by laughter whenever we saw the book or explained to someone what's in it.

On a side note, we took Miriam & Elias on their first visit to Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus a couple of weekends ago. Neither one of them were particularly excited, though Miriam did show some interest in the animals, including the Bengal Tigers who were "displaying their natural behaviors to patrons":

I love the swat at the beginning of the video. I found myself almost wishing to see something tragic happen just to change the pace of things. Maybe next time.

david

2006-11-26T22:00:00.000-06:00

We just returned from Florida after spending the past four days with the Walker extended family for the biannual family reunion/Thanksgiving/Christmas trip. We're exhausted and still full. :)

We're going to put some pictures up when we get a free minute this week.

It was great spending time with everyone & we won't wait until the next to see everyone.

When we returned, I had a letter waiting for me from an old friend that I haven't seen in a number of years and that I'd been trying to run down. It was the perfect ending to a great break. :)

david

2006-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

hello katie! :)

I just wanted to write a quick note in case you made it here...we need to start using this space more.

Yesterday was OK, for a birthday. Nothing too exciting about being at work, you know? We had a Thanksgiving potluck lunch yesterday at the office, so that made the day feel a bit special.

Since MG's birthday is next week, we're going to celebrate both of them this weekend. Some sushi and a dollar movie may not sound very fun/romantic to many, but that's what we're doing.

I have work to do, so that's it for now.

Random charity of the day:

The Wild Foundation

2005-12-03T21:27:00.000-06:00

Hello to who ever is reading this... probably just David or myself (not to exclude anyone). This is my first time to ever post a blog. So... just to catch everyone (or ourselves) up to date from last entry: .... actually not much is changing or too terribly exciting. We are kindof just laying low in between all of the time we have spent and are about to spend with family for the holiday seasons.

Just last week we went to Tennessee to meet Kristens family and celebrate Thanksgiving. We ate a previously happy turkey and then spent 2 days in Knoxville relaxing a bit. When we got back into town we celebrated Elizabeth's, Daniel's, David's and my birthdays. Fun stuff... Elizabeth got drunk and there was a cover band. wow.

Anyway, we have our one year anniversary coming up on the 11th of December and then shortly after that we are going to be going up to Colorado to spend Christmas with David's clan. After that we have 4 days with my side of the family and then hopefully a long nap... didelly doodilly neighburroo.....

So, mostly all's well here. Miriam is amazing. She is rolling over now from her back to her stomach and finds it utterly amusing to do so while having her diaper changed. Her personallity is growing fuller and situations are now starting to have more perminate effects on how she feels each day.

Well the computer is messing up again so i shall go read instead.
much love to all
mg

First post...welcome!

2005-11-28T14:11:00.001-06:00

After some thought on how we can keep family & friends updated on what's going around here, we decided to start this blog.

Hopefully we'll be able to keep it filled with stuff that isn't just related to what Miriam's latest developments are or how warm the weather has been lately in Birmingham.

We like to laugh, take pictures, read, cook, travel, spend time with family and friends, raise our daughter, drink Guinness, hike, and try new things (in no particular order).

You know, the same as everyone else. ;)

Welcome! Kick your feet up, enjoy your time & drop us a note sometime.