Jim’s Ramblings

Wow, it’s been 11 months since I posted here. I just purchased a new video camera on Amazon.com - Canon Vixia HF100. It has been over 10 years since purchasing my last camcorder. What a difference 10 years makes! This new camera is really compact - about the size of a pop can (click on pic for larger view). Other than the lens, this camera has no moving parts - no disk/tape drive. The video is recorded on SD or SDHC cards. I am playing with a 2 GB SD card that holds about 30 min. of HD video. I have a 16 GB SDHC card on order that will give me a decent amount of recording time. I like the fact that I can pop out the SD card and read the video into my computer using my existing card reader. This new camcorder records in AVCHD formatted files. AVCHD = Advanced Video Codec High Definition. I hope to be able to take video clips and put them on the web and in this blog. I have a little bit of a learning curve ahead to be able to convert the video so it will be web viewable. I played with the camera yesterday right after I got it and really like the image stabilization feature. I also like the fact that I can record in full HD if I want - 1920×1080. The first camera that I settled on to purchase was the Panasonic HDC-SD9. With the Panasonic, I really liked the 3-CCD sensor and Leica lens. I chose the Canon over the Panasonic because the Canon has an external mike jack which the Panasonic does not have. I want the external mike jack so I can use my remote mike that I have used for years.

I walked out to my garden yesterday between the raindrops and saw that my mint was flowering and covered with butterflies. It is good to know that since there is a scarcity of bees, that the butterflies are there doing the pollenating. It was such a pretty sight that I went an grabbed my camera. Note: See the humongous horse fly in the first photo.

Bluebonnets were in bloom here last week - a sign of spring in Texas. Bluebonnets, the Texas State Flower, add some nice color along the highways this time of year.

As you can see from the photo, each of the volunteer onions have split into two or three separate plants.  They really should be separated, but I think I will let them alone and just pull the weeds. These ‘Texas Sweet’ onions were good last year. The bulbs did not grow as much as the tops through the winter on these volunteer onions. It has rained 3 1/2″ this past week with the last of the rain ending yesterday. It’s still too wet to till the garden, but it’s good for pulling weeds. I want to get some tomatoes started soon and need to get all the burmuda grass out of the garden. I want to till in some good mulch and/or top soil before planting. We didn’t have squash or zuccini last year - we got more than our fill of these two vegetables the year before - now it’s time for some more.

---

I was walking to my car on the Richland College campus today and saw these great tulips. Had to take a photo because I saw that some of the blossoms are gone. The next time I pass that spot they may all be gone. They are pretty and enjoyable while they last. I like the color combination of the plants in this bed

---

I’m getting ready to get started on my vegetable garden for this year. Today I was out perusing the situation and saw all the onions that have come up volunteer after last year’s crop was harvested. I don’t remember any of last year’s onions going to seed, so I’m not sure where these onions came from. They are in the same bed location where the previous crop was located last summer.

This week was spring break at Richland College where I teach and also spring break at the Univ of Southern Miss where my friend Gary teaches. Our wives are long-time doll collectors and spent the week doing doll related things. The other day, right after a rain shower Gary pointed out a Gerbera Daisy in the flower bed in front of his house. It was so beautiful I had to take a photo. My wife Janis is using the photo for her computer desktop background.

Link to Original Photo 2048 x 1536 (479KB)

My friend Gary just introduced me to Nvu for designing/building web pages. What’s interesting is that Nvu is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Not very many software packages are available for all three platforms. Nvu has a lot of the capabilities of DreamWeaver, but the best thing is that Nvu is free.

Nvu Web Authoring

Free Webpage Graphics

Free Webpage Templates

Currently, I drive a 1995 Nissan Altima and get around 24 MPG. If money was not an issue, I’d drive a Toyota Prius. But, from what I have recently learned about the 2009 Prius targeting 115 MPG, I would wait for the 2009 model.

Toyota CEO says that the 2009 Prius will use cheaper, lighter, Li-ion batteries with a target MPG of 100 plus mpg.  There are rumors that this Prius may be “pluggable” making it a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV).

Waiting for the 2009 Prius?

CALCARS: 2009 Prius

2009 Prius may have an “Electric-Only” button

2007 Prius (Courtesy Toyota)

My main interest right now is alternative energy - specifically

• installing a net-metering photovoltaic (solar cell) electric system for our home.
• installing a solar hot water system to pre-heat the water entering our propane hot water heater, and
• installing a solar charged battery system for providing backup power for ham radio commuications during power outages

Blog up and running!

I’m visiting my friend Gary in Hattiesburg, MS. Gary told me about WordPress, so I just downloaded it and installed on Bradbury.org to start this blog.