Dreams take the day's events, twist and bend, turn and tumble with hopes, dreads, obsessions and skinny-eyed suspicions. Presto! Out comes a distortion, not really real, but a temporary living space, sometimes more memorable than the day itself.

I enabled IPv6 via 6to4 tunnel a couple of years ago when Fedora Core 2 made it easy to turn on.

It’s been humming along.  IP through a tunnel isn’t the best thing but that is clearly how we are going to get this done until AT&T and the other US ISPs get off their collective rear ends.

Recently, I’ve been reading up on what it will take to run single stack (IPv6 only).  It seems like IPv6 + NAT-PT + a DNS proxy services can get you most of the way there.  I’m going to try it out and see where the gaps are.

from 100 Ways to Save the Environment at SEQL - Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life
In Your Home – Conserve Energy

1. Clean or replace air filters on your air conditioning unit at least once a month.
2. If you have central air conditioning, do not close vents in unused rooms.
3. Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 120.
4. Wrap your water heater in an insulated blanket.
5. Turn down or shut off your water heater when you will be away for extended periods.
6. Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time.
7. Set your refrigerator temperature at 36 to 38 and your freezer at 0 to 5 .
8. When using an oven, minimize door opening while it is in use; it reduces oven temperature by 25 to 30 every time you open the door.
9. Clean the lint filter in your dryer after every load so that it uses less energy.
10. Unplug seldom used appliances.
11. Use a microwave whenever you can instead of a conventional oven or stove.
12. Wash clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot.
13. Reverse your indoor ceiling fans for summer and winter operations as recommended.
14. Turn off lights, computers and other appliances when not in use.
15. Purchase appliances and office equipment with the Energy Star Label; old refridgerators, for example, use up to 50 more electricity than newer models.
16. Only use electric appliances when you need them.
17. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs to save money and energy.
18. Keep your thermostat at 68 in winter and 78 in summer.
19. Keep your thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter when you are away.
20. Insulate your home as best as you can.
21. Install weather stripping around all doors and windows.
22. Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you leave work.
23. Plant trees to shade your home.
24. Shade outside air conditioning units by trees or other means.
25. Replace old windows with energy efficient ones.
26. Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when possible.
27. Connect your outdoor lights to a timer.
28. Buy green electricity--electricity produced by low--or even zero-pollution facilities (NC Greenpower for North Carolina - http://www.ncgreenpower.org/).

In Your Home – Reduce Toxicity

1. Eliminate mercury from your home by purchasing items without mercury, and dispose of items containing mercury at an appropriate drop-off facility when necessary (e.g. old thermometers).
2. Learn about alternatives to household cleaning items that do not use hazardous chemicals.
3. Buy the right amount of paint for the job.
4. Review labels of household cleaners you use. Consider alternatives like baking soda, scouring pads, water or a little more elbow grease.
5. When no good alternatives exist to a toxic item, find the least amount required for an effective, sanitary result.
6. If you have an older home, have paint in your home tested for lead. If you have lead-based paint, cover it with wall paper or other material instead of sanding it or burning it off.
7. Use traps instead of rat and mouse poisons and insect killers.
8. Have your home tested for radon.
9. Use cedar chips or aromatic herbs instead of mothballs.

In Your Yard

1. Avoid using leaf blowers and other dust-producing equipment.
2. Use an electric lawnmower instead of a gas-powered one.
3. Leave grass clippings on the yard-they decompose and return nutrients to the soil.
4. Use recycled wood chips as mulch to keep weeds down, retain moisture and prevent erosion.
5. Use only the required amount of fertilizer.
6. Minimize pesticide use.
7. Create a wildlife habitat in your yard.
8. Water grass early in the morning.
9. Rent or borrow items like ladders, chain saws, party decorations and others that are seldom used.
10. Take actions that use non hazardous components (e.g., to ward off pests, plant marigolds in a garden instead of using pesticide).
11. Put leaves in a compost heap instead of burning them or throwing them away. Yard debris too large for your compost bin should be taken to a yard-debris recycler.

In Your Office

1. Copy and print on both sides of paper.
2. Reuse items like envelopes, folders and paper clips.
3. Use mailer sheets for interoffice mail instead of an envelope.
4. Set up a bulletin board for memos instead of sending a copy to each employee.
5. Use e-mail instead of paper correspondence.
6. Use recycled paper.
7. Use discarded paper for scrap paper.
8. Encourage your school and/or company to print documents with soy-based inks, which are less toxic.
9. Use a ceramic coffee mug instead of a disposable cup.

Ways To Protect Our Air

1. Ask your employer to consider flexible work schedules or telecommuting.
2. Recycle printer cartridges.
3. Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you leave work.
4. Report smoking vehicles to your local air agency.
5. Don't use your wood stove or fireplace when air quality is poor.
6. Avoid slow-burning, smoldering fires. They produce the largest amount of pollution.
   Burn seasoned wood - it burns cleaner than green wood.
7. Use solar power for home and water heating.
8. Use low-VOC or water-based paints, stains, finishes and paint strippers.
9. Purchase radial tires and keep them properly inflated for your vehicle.
10. Paint with brushes or rollers instead of using spray paints to minimize harmful emissions.
11. Ignite charcoal barbecues with an electric probe or other alternative to lighter fluid.
12. If you use a wood stove, use one sold after 1990. They are required to meet federal emissions standards and are more efficient and cleaner burning.
13. Walk or ride your bike instead of driving, whenever possible.
14. Join a carpool or vanpool to get to work.

Ways to Use Less Water

1. Check and fix any water leaks.
2. Install water-saving devices on your faucets and toilets.
3. Don't wash dishes with the water running continuously.
4. Wash and dry only full loads of laundry and dishes.
5. Follow your community's water use restrictions or guidelines.
6. Install a low-flow shower head.
7. Replace old toilets with new ones that use a lot less water.
8. Turn off washing machine's water supply to prevent leaks.

Ways to Protect Our Water

1. Revegetate or mulch disturbed soil as soon as possible.
2. Never dump anything down a storm drain.
3. Have your septic tank pumped and system inspected regularly.
4. Check your car for oil or other leaks, and recycle motor oil.
5. Take your car to a car wash instead of washing it in the driveway.
6. Learn about your watershed.

Create Less Trash

1. Buy items in bulk from loose bins when possible to reduce the packaging wasted.
2. Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient. About 33 of what we throw away is packaging.
3. Buy products that you can reuse.
4. Maintain and repair durable products instead of buying new ones.
5. Check reports for products that are easily repaired and have low breakdown rates.
6. Reuse items like bags and containers when possible.
7. Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
8. Use reusable plates and utensils instead of disposable ones.
9. Use reusable containers to store food instead of aluminum foil and cling wrap.
10. Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.
11. Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.
12. Reuse packaging cartons and shipping materials. Old newspapers make great packaging material.
13. Compost your vegetable scraps.
14. Buy used furniture - there is a surplus of it, and it is much cheaper than new furniture.

I don’t like to be a fawning fanboy but this operating system is the most killer thing I’ve used in quite a while.

The attention to detail is extraordinary.

I’ll be interesting to see if I still feel this way a month or a year from now…

We rescued a kitten from a tree on Saturday.

Friday night the police were outside checking out a car parked at the park. I was out on the porch watching the fun and I could faintly hear a kitten meowing. By the time the police left the noise had stopped.

The next morning Ayaka and I heard it again from the living room. We went outside and again the noise had stopped. We tried calling and looking but alas…

Still later, we all saw some kind of disturbance in the tree - a bunch of crows were making a commotion and then they flew away.

Finally as I was getting ready to pull the mower out of the garage I spotted something moving. It turned out a kitten had climbed up a tree. It seemed like the kitten couldn’t get back down (there were almost no branches).

We pulled out the ladder and I was able to coax the kitten to decend several feet to where I could let her have some food and then bring her the rest of the way down.

Some kids were playing on the basketball court played with kitty for a couple of hours. They ended up taking her home later that day.

Today is the first day. Since my first day is one of my clearest childhood memories I’ll know it’ll evoke that when we walk up to the school.

I bought a Core 2 Duo today.

It’s my first new Intel processor since 2002.

Verdict: Thumbs Up!

We did a little tournament today.

We all made pretty dramatic improvement during the week.

Tyrone Woods, who plays for the Dragons just knocked his third out of the park againts the Giants.

He added a base hit to go 4 for 4.

Even by the standards of gaijin godzillas this was an impressive performance.

Iraqi government officials traveled to Iran in late March to seek help in establishing a cease-fire with Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Al-Mahdi Army. Iran convinced al-Sadr to order a cease-fire in the city of Basra, which has largely held to today. However, a cease-fire on May 11 for Baghdad's Al-Sadr City failed and fighting continues today, indicating that Iran's influence and al-Sadr's orders are unable to stop the fighting. The Shiite militias are divided into localized groups with their own interests and grievances that must be dealt with before cease-fires will hold.

Because government forces are unable to defeat the militias, the interests of these groups must be accommodated and compromises must be made to give them a share of power. The U.S. policy of treating all opposition groups as gangs that must be defeated by Iraqi and U.S. forces is not working. If the U.S. military, which is widely perceived as an occupying army, begins significant withdrawals, the current Iraqi government will gain legitimacy in the eyes of estranged Shiite groups. At the same time, the shrinking support of the U.S. army will weaken the military strength of the government to defeat the outsiders. Both of these factors will encourage the government to give opposition parties a legitimate share of power, thus reducing the fighting. Until a greater sharing of power is established, peace is unlikely. The presence of the U.S. military only encourages the Shiite militias to continue the fighting.

I spent the morning in the cafeteria reading a book and working on some ideas.

There was a tornado drill - it was kind of cute to watch the little kids duck and cover in the hallways.

You don’t have to choose between economic growth and protecting the environment.  They are two sides of the same coin.

Economic growth is all about efficiency.  You are always doing more with less; faster, better, cheaper.  Any waste is inefficiency.

When a car exhausts CO2 or nitrous oxide into the troposphere you lose heat and energy that makes an ICE less than 100% efficient.  Also - there has been a rise in the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere that can be linked to human activity so it seems likely that at some point somebody will be willing to pay to try to recapture that gas which could mean that many of us that have been releasing it will have gotten a free ride.

This is not a new idea and it’s certainly not my idea.  It is also not a complete solution for environmental problems.  It is clearly impossible for us in the current time to accurately calculate the eventual full costs of a current action.  Small actions have a ripple effect and interact to create larger problems.

But as with anything difficult that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t even make an attempt.

How many times have you driven by the tall "pink" building in Rocky River and always wondered what it looked like inside? For me....hundreds.

Well, last night I was lucky enough to get inside the landmark for my monthly girls-only dice game. The exquisite art deco design and architectural details were enough to make anyone with a slight passion for design drool. Everything from the hallway signage to the scrolling iron work, the relief sculptures that welcome you into the asian-inspired lobby to the hand silkscreened wallpaper was in immaculate condition.



The "Westlake Hotel," was constructed in mid-1920s, has 11 floors and now serves as an upscale housing complex. If you are lucky enough to be in the market for a swanky Humphrey Bogart-inspired pad, I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to live in this historic space of Cleveland.

Old buildings with historic charm..one of the reasons I heart cleveland! :)

This is one of my favorite pictures - for obvious reasons.

They are on the way home tonight.  Can’t wait.

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Welcome spring with a celebratory feast just like the French do. Join Chef Ruth Kostadinov of Gatherings Catering where she will create an exquisite food experience. The evening's menu consists of creamy mushroom soup with a french baguette, carmelized onion & gruyere tart, bibb lettuce salad, rack of lamb with buttered noodles and fresh berry napoleons.



Space are filling up FAST! For reservation contact Gayle at 216.362.9200. $20 per person. Hosted by Trevarro, 12610 Corporate Drive, Parma, OH 44130.