First Paycheck! Timely arrival, give that our quarterly assessment is due to be paid on Monday. It's nice to be able to put a little coin into savings, too. Slightly larger than the next few, given that insurance hasn't begun to be withdrawn on them yet. (I get insured starting August 1.) Plans for next paycheck - contemplate a new couch, and start catching up on old debt. Revising a budget to accommodate *more* income and savings should be fun.

I don't really want an iPhone, but I would like a Nokia N85. Perhaps initially a little expensive, but still cheaper in the long run. Maybe after my current nifty-phone (LG enV) bites the biscuit. Who knows how long that'll be... it's pretty dang rugged and I just got it a few months ago. I am getting a blackberry and a laptop with my new gig, but those are purely business toolkit goodies. I think I'm still more jazzed about the Wii, as far as silly toys are concerned.

Scientific American has an fascinating feature An Earth Without People, not to mention these renderings of what the city might look like sans humans.

via chuckm -

Eternal Plastic

The Register has an interesting article reminding us that plastic lasts forever. Every piece of plastic you've ever thrown away still exists somewhere out there in the world. Every fork, every cup, every GI Joe.

In this particular case, it's a flotilla of 10,000 plastic duckies that escaped a sinking cargo boat in 1992 and have been sailing the world's oceans ever since. From the article:

The luckless fleet of cursed, wandering sea-going toys - Flying Duckmen, perhaps - circled the northern Pacific for some years before a fresh horror befell them as they drifted into the Arctic. Here they became frozen into the pack ice, suffering untold torment in their icy prison as they slowly transited past Greenland into the Atlantic.

Their yellow paint has washed away to ghostly translucent white. I can only imagine what 10,000 of them look like floating by. Every now and then one little duckie breaks off from the main group and washes ashore. Apparently they're considered quite a collector's item. The rest are all doomed to float like phantoms on the currents of the ocean.

Break It Down!

But there may be hope. According to The New Scientist, an American company has created a specialized microwave that can break plastics back down into diesel grade oil and gas. Non-hydrocarbon materials are left untouched. That means you can easily convert the plastic coating on a length of copper wire as oil, and leave the pure copper behind for recycling as reclaimed metal.

Among the first companies to use is an automotive reclamation plant in New York. They plan to use the machine on what they call "autofluff". That's a very cute word for all the non-metal stuff that comes off a car and usually ends up in landfills. This machine will allow them to break down the plastics within the autofluff. Supposedly this process will generate enough oil to power the machine itself, meaning its self sustaining and will additionally reduce the amount of car material going to landfill.

Now to round up those duckies...

Advice from someone in their fifties to someone in their twenties.

Your Score: Orpheus

33% Extroversion, 66% Intuition, 83% Emotiveness, 71% Perceptiveness

You are an artist, an aesthete, a sensitive, and someone who has never really let go of that childlike innocence. To you, all of life has a sense of wonder in it, and the story of Orpheus was written about someone just like you.

When the Argo passed the island of the Sirens, Orpheus played a song more beautiful than the Sirens to prevent the crew from becoming enticed. When his wife died, he ventured into the underworld to charm Hades but, in his naivete, he looked back becoming trapped there.

You can capture your unique world view and relate it to others with the skill of a master storyteller. Your sensitivity and creativity make you a treasure to the human race, but your thin-skinned nature and innocence can cause you a lot of disenchantment and pain. What's doubly unfortunate is that, if you try to lose those traits, you never will, and everyone will be able to tell that you're putting up an artificial shell to prevent yourself from being hurt.

Famous people like you: Hemingway, Shakespeare, Mr. Rogers, Melville, Nick Tosches
Stay clear of: Icarus, Hermes, Atlas

Link: The Greek Mythology Personality Test written by Aleph_Nine

3 WORD QUIZ

You have to use 3 words to answer each question.

No more or No less.

1. Where is your cell phone?: on my belt

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?: I married her.

3. Your hair: needs a trim

4. Where is your father? Burned to Ash

5. Where is your mother? Sunny South Florida

6. Your favorite thing to do? Relax at home

7. Your dream last night?: I don't remember

8. Your favorite drink?: diet cherry cola

9. Your dream car?: The Love cube

10. The room you're in? pretty patterned walls

Where is 11?

12. Your fears?: hurting loved ones

13. What do you want to be in 10 years? Comfy and cozy

14. Who did you hang out with last night?: Blackhellkat / her Mom

15. What you're not good at? playing xbox SSX

16. Muffins?: blueberry or chocolate

17. One of your wish list items?: robot vacuum cleaner

18. Where did you grow up?: the east coast

19. The last thing you did?: hit enter key

20. What are you wearing?: my play clothes

21. what is your favorite TV show?: Red Dwarf, Baby.

22.what is your favorite song?: Pick just one?

23. Your computer?: needs an upgrade

24. Your life?: No complaining here

25. Your mood?: thirsty for adventure

26. Missing?: where's the kitties?

27. What are you thinking about right now?: new job's paycheck

28. Your car?: Needs a bath

29. Your work?: play with trains

30. Your summer? July 4th fireworks

31. Your relationship status? I'm happily married

32. Your favorite color(s): rust, forest green

33. When is the last time you laughed?: Did I stop?

34. Last time you cried?: the other day

35. School?: Florida Atlantic University

Newton, a Year ago

Likely plans for next week with the Newsoms -

July 3 (6:30 pm)

Free Summer Concert/Fireworks

5th Street & Bay Avenue on the Pavilion, North Beach - Bring a blanket and the kids and watch the fireworks over the water after concert. www.nbeachmd.com or 301-855-6681

July 3 (Dusk)

Chesapeake Beach Fireworks

Bring your family to enjoy the spectacular fireworks display in Chesapeake Beach. Beautiful colors reflecting across the Chesapeake Bay. www.chesapeake-beach.md.us or 410-257-2230

July 4 (8:00 pm)

Fireworks Cruise

Calvert Marine Museum, 14200 Solomons Island Road. Watch the beautiful Solomons fireworks show aboard the historic Wm. B. Tennison. Food and beverages provided. Advanced reservations required. www.calvertmarinemuseum.com or 410-326-2042