A Boston researcher discovered the obvious recently. Fish can hear sound! Or at least feel the vibrations. And they respond.

Once again I could have saved them $ 269,999 of the 270 thousand dollar grant. All they had to do was ask. I used to “talk” to my pet fish and he responded by swimming to the side of the tank to be nearer to me.

Why did they research this? To see if they fish could be trained to eat when they hear a tone, just like Pavlov’s dog were trained to a bell. The reason was to help raise fish quicker for the market.

Musical fish farms… Hmmm

We made it home last night, or should I say this morning. (about 1 am) And amazingly so did our luggage.

Kristie and I spent the past two weeks in Southern California. Visiting friends and doing the tourist thing.

We agreed that this time we'd go "cold turkey" without computers, e-mail and other modern distractions. For safety we did keep our cell phones handy, but no web surfing. Honestly it was great.

This morning I found 372 messages in my e-mail box. Some are subscriptions to news services and of course a small few are from actual people. But most are spam. Junk mail.

After I weed out the chaff I'll reply to every one as soon as I can. And of course I'll be posting our travel adventures here.


In the meantime I'll close today by saying.

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;

"Home, Sweet Home" by John Howard Payne

They're Back !!!

Right next to the driveway I saw the first mound of the season.

EEEEkkkkk !!

Quick honey run in the garage and get me one of the small thermo-nuclear weapons . I need to nip this in the bud.

It's Masters week.

The crowds are unbelievable. You have to hold a highly sought after reservation just to fly your plane into the airports there. Forget parking it. Hotels are booked solid for miles. It's a big deal.

Even though Anderson is 70 miles by air and 95 driving miles from Augusta Georgia where it is hosted we get a lot of business jet traffic during the final rounds. Today was no exception.

On the ramp today it looked like a biz jet convention.

I counted 9 jets and three turbo props.

Here is a listing:

N40CJ Citation 525
N90PT Citation 550
N426MJ Hawker Jet
N38CP Lear 60
N3900S Citation 560
N47TW Learjet
N930DC Gulfstream IV

N200CH Falcon 2000
N903AG Lear 45
N224VJ KingAir
N155A KingAir
N541MM KingAir

Million dollar coffee.

Here is a story to keep in mind while drinking coffee near your computer. This actually happened.

During its approach to London a cup of coffee was spilled over the center pedestal of a 747 jetliner. This caused a number of problems with the captain’s audio panel, the number 2 weather radar, and several of the cockpit displays.

After landing safely, maintenance changed the units involved and sent the plane back out for another flight that afternoon. Following a trouble free preflight, the aircraft departed London for the Far East. While en route both the weather radar sets failed again despite the repair and changing at Heathrow. The plane made a normal landing at its destination, however the repair crew had no replacement parts in Bombay so the plane was grounded until replacements could be shipped from the U.K. The units were changed again. This time it had no effect and the systems remained inoperative. Because of this more flights had to be cancelled while the plane was ferried without passengers back to its home base for more careful repairs. After a time in the shop in London still no fix was accomplished. A specialist was called in from the manufacturing company and the entire center console was removed. This required the removal of the pilots and co-pilots seats and a large section of the floor and the disconnection of over 600 wire connectors. A large job to say the least. When everything was removed and the area was opened for inspection they found the plugs for the radar units flooded with coffee.

After cleanup and replacement of the parts, the plane which now had been out of service five days was once again placed into flight rotation. The estimated cost of the whole ordeal including lost time and revenue was over $985,000.

That is one expensive cup of bad coffee.

As I grow older I am more insistent about naps. What is funny is that as a child we fight taking one with every fiber. Now I find myself fighting FOR taking one. At what age did I change sides?


Growing up in my house I thought Sunday naps were Biblical or something near it. You know kinda like an eleventh commandment. 'Thou Shalt snooze after Dinner'. Maybe that scripture is located in the book of First Hesitations chapter 13.

If that is the case then I am getting better with age.

ZZZZZZzzzzzzz !

Why are Sunday naps so good ?

How does your body know it is Sunday afternoon? Here I am sitting in my chair after lunch and I am so sleepy I can barely type this. Why are Sunday afternoon naps so great?

My fingers are finally warm enough to type again. I got to travel to Atlanta Thursday night to see the Braves play the Pittsburgh Pirates at Turner Field.

But it was COLD and misty all over the southeast and in Atlanta hovered around 47 degrees during the game. Factor in the heavy mist and the slight wind…it was COLD.

We had fantastic seats field level right behind home plate. And as a bonus with those seats comes a choice of items from the clubhouse food menu, brought right to you seat.

I had chicken strips and fries because I figured how can you mess that up, and I thought that would be easier to manage in a small space of the stadium seats.

The game was interesting as well. I was disappointed that starter Mike Hampton was not able to play. I had looked forward to seeing him pitch.

John and Mark are both originally from Pittsburgh and by default Pirate fans. In fact every year they drive home to Pennsylvania just to attend the home opener.

The game was tied at the end of 9 innings so it went to overtime. And after a quirky player move which I had never seen before in professional ball the Braves looked to be in control. But just like that a bad pitch, a walk and a hit had the Pirates a win.

Still though I was frozen I had a great time.

Oh the move was to put the relief pitcher in left field for one batter then bring him back to the mound for the next after a second ( actually 7^th ) pitcher did his job.

"Leatherheads" opens today The romantic comedy which was filmed in and around Anderson, makes it’s debut at the movies. Will I see myself or landmarks I know? The Calhoun Historic Lofts were the main area filmed in town. Also scenes were filmed in Greenville including Westin Poinsett Hotel. "Leatherheads" stars George Clooney and Renee Zellweger a film about pro football set in 1926 when unlike college, pro ball was like mudwrestling --- dirty and sleazy. It’s about guys who never practiced but got together once a week to “play”. Which is actually to say they got together at $50 a game, to fight and beat each other into submission. Any for the past months movie star sightings have been frequent and the community has been abuzz. Remember learned about it here first.

Last night Kristie and I attended the Anderson University Playhouse’s production of “Steel Magnolias”. The Belk Theater was turned into Truvy’s. But it is really much more than a Louisiana small town beauty shop. It is the hub of social companionship between the group of lady’s who come there.

This play was perfectly cast and they did a splendid job. Each character was engaging and before long I was truly part of the story they were telling. Laughing and yes even crying just a little.

The drama team pulled all the stops and truly created a memorable production.

We had a great time. You should try to see a play there sometime.

I hope you manage to avoid any tricks or playful pratfalls today

Writing a serious blog or anything else on April first is hard. Unless the writing is of a silly nature.
This is April Fools day. A day where we run amok playing jokes on friends, family and collogues.

For me today is one of the most exciting of the year. I get a free pass to be silly all day long. Some would argue just like the other 364 days of a year.

Today is also a day of remembrance for me. One of my best friends was born today. Don passed away a little over a year ago and I miss hearing from him. So his memories are on my mind. I think the good part of that is the privileged I had to become closer with his daughter and her family. That has been a great blessing.

I have another birthday blessing on this day. Lincoln Edward Dooley (LED is what I call him) was born one year ago this morning. Happy Birthday little man.

I hope you all enjoy a happy April Fools day.

Did you fall for any pranks yet?