|
2/29
Happy Leap Day! Even though this is an election year divisible by 100,
which are normally not leap years,
2000 is a leap year because it is divisible by 400.
1900 was not a leap year, nor will 2100 be.
2/29
Today is the day to look for small Y2K bugs (the computer bugs kind).
A co-worker's watch skipped ahead to March 1! Then again, it may be too
simple to know about leap years at all.
2/29
Speaking of looking for small things, I noticed that our snowdrops in
the garden are about to bloom (or not; the buds will happily hang unopened
for a month or more in cold weather). Three are fully out, four more are
just poking their heads above ground. The tips of the crocuses and daffodils
are also visible. I read all this as a sign that the end of winter is near.
2/27
Reminder - the Friends of the Library monthly meeting is on Monday.
The annual election of Friends' officers will also be held. They ask
that you attend if possible to lend your support to their activities
(library meeting room, 7 pm).
2/23
It's National Engineers Week this week, and here I am, again the
last one to find out. Well, have a happy week, you (us) engineers!
2/21
Added a few more places to the Area Favorites
list. And please, if your favorite places are not listed,
do suggest them for the list!
2/19
Saved by the thaw! The balmy breeze helped melt the ice soon after I had
the snow removed, so I had the driveway down to black and could drive up
without the artificial aids. Sorry, salt and sand, maybe next time :-)
Of course, it did take an hour, but that's just part of the fun.
2/18
Did I mention that I like snow? (I mean recently :-) Which is a good thing,
under the circumstances - our driveway is so snowed in and icy that we're
as good as house bound. I tried driving up to the garage, but slipped down,
so I shoveled down to the ice, just to slide even easier! Tomorrow: salt
and sand.
2/17
If you experienced a moment of deja-vu this evening (Thursday), that was
me having uploaded an incorrect version of the page. For a minute or two,
we were back in July 12, 1999! Sorry about that.
2/16
It can be really neat living in the country:
I was driving on Shears Street at about 4:40 pm [Tuesday] and a red tailed
hawk swooped down right across my car and almost touched the field, then
it flew up into a tree! It was awesome!
(from DN)
2/15
Ok, ok, I changed the date on the holiday message.
I originally had the date when written, not the day when celebrated, but
I guess that must have looked odd. Sheesh, now I'm going to have to
start post-dating messages! :-)
2/15
That brief thunderstorm sure took the dog by surprise. He stopped, paused a
moment, then hung his head and slunk into a corner.
2/14
Happy Valentines Day!
2/11
Updated the Calendar
with a series of preschooler programs being held
at the Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, and added a post to the
Bulletin Board with details.
Though events at Stony Brook are generally not free, we find it a neat place
nevertheless.
2/10
It's neat the way the snow melts on top and uncovers old footprints and
tracks that were hidden. I smiled when I saw the two-week-old sled-marks.
2/10
With the roads a bit more dry now, I'm biking the dog again. He's a bit
slower than he used to be, though we don't usually run on pavement, either.
And with the great melt upon us, I expect I'll be seeing the daffodils
any day now (this is much less of a reach if you know that the shoots
were three inches tall before the snow covered them :-)
2/6
Quiet Sunday today; no athletic escapades.
I chipped a bit more of the ice off the driveway, played a lot
with the baby, and worked on some math-type problems that I've toyed
with off and on for a while now (the kind to which everybody should just
look up the answer in a reference book, but here I am trying to
solve on my own). I also got around to reading a few more chapters of
a technical book I last put down a half year ago. All in all, a great
week-end to putter.
2/6
The February Friends of the Library meeting was moved
to Monday, February 28. They'll be electing officers, and welcome everyone
who wishes to help.
2/2
Happy Even Day! Wednesday, 2-2-2000, is the first date since 8-28-888 that
does not include any odd digits (zero is an even digit because two divides
into it evenly, with a result of 0 and no remainder).
And just a couple of months ago,
11-19-1999 was the last Odd Day until the next one in 1-1-3111 (or perhaps
11-11-3111 if you always use two digits for month and day).
2/2
The technology news services are reporting that Samsung is designing a $200
consumer PC. Everything is built in, nothing is upgradable, nothing is
replaceable - if it breaks, just get a new one. The era of
disposable computers is apparently at hand.
2/2
I was somewhat surprised at the New Hampshire primary results - the
magnitude of the Republican upset took me completely by surprise.
1/31
We visited Mirror Lake over the week-end, and had a great time on the ice.
On borrowed skates, no less! (thanks once again :-)
Wobbled, but didn't fall, which we'll be
kind and ascribe to not having stood on skates since high school,
and not having skated regularly since the age of ten.
1/31
Found the home page of Medfield,
and added it to the Locals page.
1/29
We hear the Family Sleigh Ride was a lot of fun, with a pair of jingle-bell
horses trotting an open sleigh around the snowy white field.
The enthusiastic turnout came at a price, however, as the horses were
exhausted by noon, and the rides had to stop.
1/29
On the way back from our sleigh non-ride we looped around Mirror Lake to
take in the sights and enjoy the lovely scenery.
1/29
Last night I once again braved the wilds of Wachusetts for a little frolic
in the frost.
It being a nippy winter day, and me a fan of the cold and all,
I wanted to enjoy the cold before the weather warmed again.
Boy did I get my wish. It was -5 at the base and -13 at the summit
by 3:15 pm, and it got colder and windier later. I bundled in layers
upon layers to keep me from turning into a crispy popsicle.
Oh, and I finally got the guts to try the black diamond runs, which turned
out to be a lot less difficult than I dreaded.
1/25
The Norfolk Cooperative Preschool is holding a free kindergarten readiness
workshop next month. Scroll down to the Bulletin Board
for full details; there's also a Calendar entry for Feb. 10-th.
1/25
If you were considering taking your family on the sleigh ride offered by the
rec department, it's on this coming Saturday. If the snow holds up, it should
be quite pretty.
1/25
Ok, that was fun, but I need a rest now. Though this light, dry, icy stuff
was easy (and fun!) to shovel, if we get a lot more snow in the near future,
my arms might fall off.
1/21
Added the link of the
Central Massachusetts Senior Babe Ruth
baseball league web page to the
[ Town Info : Clubs ] page.
Norfolk was state champion in 1996 and also in 1999!
1/21
The men's "over 30" softball league is now accepting registrations;
details are on the Bulletin Board.
1/20
Mirror Lake sounds like a fun place! Listen to this:
Another note from Mirror Lake. We had a fairly idyllic afternoon
yesterday. After my daughter got home from school we went skating on
the lake. The ice is good for natural ice and we enjoyed ourselves as
the moon rose over the east end of the lake and the sun set over the
west end. Then as the resident kingfisher chattered away and darkness
fell we went in for cocoa. Life is good. From d again.
1/20
It's snowing even as I type, so no chance of seeing the lunar eclipse
this time. But I must admit, the yard looks very pretty all covered
in white. The forecast is from 3 to 6 inches in northwest Rhode Island
northeastward through Franklin and
Waltham with 2 to 4 inches anticipated in the Boston metropolitan area.
1/20
If you're in the mood for a tasty hot drink and don't feel like cocoa,
try my sister's hot apple cider recipe.
You take the cider, spice it with cinnamon sticks, some cloves, and a few
orange slices, then heat it on the stove to just short of boiling,
and let it sit a spell. Delicious!
1/19
Got a note from a reader:
We live across the street from Mirror Lake in
Norfolk, and today the ice was cracking. It sounded at times like a
humpback whale, a bunch of frogs croaking and a snare drum! It was
making the most interesting sounds!
Would have liked to hear that myself. Thanks, d@earthlink!
1/19
If it does snow tomorrow night, as expected, we may miss the lunar eclipse.
(The latest weather service advisory is available on the bottom of
this page.)
1/17
Winter can be really neat. I love the snow and the cold!
Saturday my cousin and I went on a
spur-of-the-moment night skiing trip up to Wachusett Mountain.
Skiing was great, the runs were in terrific shape, and it was cold.
I never knew that an icy cold wind could cause a headache!
1/17
Keep an eye out this coming Thursday for a curious date. Come evening,
the clock will read Jan 20, 20:20:20 2000.
1/17
Also, there's going to be a full lunar eclipse on Thursday, beginning at 9:30 pm.
1/13
Wow, this is the season for unexpected events. Not only did it snow,
but Bill Gates resigned as CEO of Microsoft. An aggressive executive with
his entire adult life invested in a company he co-founded does not step
aside lightly; this may be the most direct admission yet that the
anti-trust trial is not going well.
1/13
The Norfolk Public Library story hour for 2 to 5 year olds will be accepting
applications from Tuesday, Jan. 18, through Monday, Jan. 24. Details are on
the Bulletin Board.
1/12
Snow is once again forecast
and I'm all ready, sipping my mug of hot cocoa and sitting in my thick wool
socks in front of the cozy glow of the computer screen.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory
for tomorrow, Thursday. Below are the 4pm highlights, but it looks like it's
for real this time. So stay bundled up, stay indoors, stay warm!
Snow is expected to develop around mid morning in Rhode Island and eastern
Massachusetts. It should become heavy mainly south of the mass Pike
from around noon into the early afternoon hours.
It still should be snowing in the Boston and Providence Metro areas
until approximately 6 or 7 pm.
. . .
Snowfall accumulations are forecast to Range from 3 to 6 inches across
Rhode Island and much of Southeastern Massachusetts.
. . .
After the storm passes, very windy and extremely cold conditions will
rapidly set in. Temperatures are forecast to drop well into the single
digits over interior areas with northerly winds of 30 to 40 mph, producing
extremely cold wind chill indices of 25 to 35 degrees below zero.
1/12
The
Franklin line MBTA schedule URL has changed, and I updated
the link (thanks, jakej). Their new pages seem a bit over-engineered,
but I found the text-only section which works better.
1/12
Found out about the
Circle of Friends Coffeehouse
in Franklin.
They're a non-profit organization that sponsors folk music concerts on one
or two Saturday nights a month throughout the year except during summer.
Their web page has a lot of interesting information about the organization
and the music, including upcoming performances; you may want to take a peek.
1/12
Apropos music, here is the URL of the
King Philip Music Program.
The page includes the calendar of upcoming performances, and is part of the
King Philip High School
web page (which was fun to poke about, too).
I've added both music links to the
Area Favorites page.
1/5
We have posted some information about the
Norfolk Cooperative Preschool,
which is currently accepting applications for the 2000-01 school year
(though some spaces are still available for the January 2000 term).
To read more about the school click on the link above, else
you can find them again later from the
[Town Info : Schools] page.
Details about the registration process are on the Bulletin
Board.
Cut-and-paste ready copy was provided by the school, making it delightfully
easy to type :-)
1/4
Someone in town is active in the
North American Border Collie Rescue Network
and e-mailed us their URL, and I've added it to the
pets page.
1/4
I don't know whether to laugh or to cry about the weather.
It was 64 degrees yesterday, breaking the previous record of 62,
and there is a good chance that it will be warmer yet today.
(Typical highs in early January are in the mid-thirties).
1/1
Happy new year! So the power is still on, we have heat, the traffic
lights work, the phone has dialtone, the computer booted just fine,
and the Web is up.
Things are looking good! We may make it through this Y2K after all.
1/1
If you own dogs, it's again time to register them. All dog tags
expire on the last day of the year, then we have until the end of April
to get new ones. After April, a fine will be imposed. After June, the
town Animal Control Officer will be notified (hi, Hilary! :-)
1/1
Tax day is coming. If you file estimated taxes, the filing deadline this
year is January 18.
Previous Archive, 1999
Home
|