Murphies

A REAL REAL Number Puzzle

2012-01-28T07:25:00.003-05:00

Okay so here's a good one in order to make up for that last one.

A teacher thinks of two consecutive numbers between 1 and 10. The first student knows one number and the second student knows the second number. The following exchange takes place:
First: I do not know your number.
Second: Neither do I know your number.
First: Now I know.
What are the 4 possible solutions?

A REAL Number Puzzle

2012-01-27T07:25:00.002-05:00

Can you find the relationship between these numbers?

362, 724, 449, 896, 790, 587, 173, 343, 692, 384

It's very proFOUND. You won't regret investing your TIME into figuring it out!

Let me know when you're all STUCK.

Happy birthday, Caleb!

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

Do some serious celebrating!

Augghhh!

2012-01-22T21:06:00.001-05:00

Steven Tyler is NOT going through to Hollywood. That was bad.

On another front, I think I get Dad's second puzzle. Think letters instead of numbers.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2012-01-21T23:13:00.003-05:00

Your family loves you.

Anudder

2012-01-20T09:00:00.002-05:00

Don't google this one. It's tricksy.

One day walking in a street, Caesar meets his old math teacher. Happy to meet him, he says hello to the teacher but he doesn't remember that his teacher answers everything with a puzzle:
-- How are you doing, professor? It's been a long time since we don't meet! Are your daughters ok? How old are they now?
-- Multiplying the three ages you get 36
-- But that's not enough to know the ages!
-- So, add up the ages and you'll get the number of that house across the street.
Caesar starts calculating, but still can't figure out. The professor seeing that he wouldn't be able to find the answer says:
-- The oldest girl plays the piano...
That's what Caesar needed to know to figure out the problem. How old is each girl?

Puzzle

2012-01-20T08:50:00.002-05:00

Define the relationship between these numbers:

81, 11, 56, 14, 90, 72, 16, 66, 33, 12, 24.

Watch This

2012-01-13T21:26:00.001-05:00

2012-01-09T07:57:00.001-05:00

Here's why

2012-01-08T16:00:00.001-05:00

I am never going bungee-jumping.

Oh dear.

2012-01-05T19:27:00.002-05:00

I was hoping this was a photoshop, but sadly no. It's a real school in Arizona, and those poor kids really are students there.

The barn's new denizens . . .

2011-12-22T21:25:00.001-05:00

. . . don't look much like the old ones.

Settlers of Catan takes serious thought.

2011-12-22T21:04:00.000-05:00

My cat sleeping in stuff.

2011-12-13T01:43:00.006-05:00

I don't know that Shrimpy has made it on the blog yet. We've had him for almost a year now. He likes to sleep in things, like granola bar boxes,

fancy glass bowls,

wedding dioramas that he knocks off of shelves in order to lie in,

and springform pans (which he fits into quite well).

Kids do Tae Kwon Do

2011-12-11T09:50:00.001-05:00

Well it's that time again....

2011-12-09T20:07:00.002-05:00

16 days 'til Christmas!

Happy birthday, Luke!

2011-12-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

Wishing you fun, and presents, and at least a little bacon.

We're going where?

2011-11-23T10:29:00.001-05:00

Are you sure?

In what?

Really?

We aren't sure about this . . .

. . . but if you say so . . .

Before:

. . . and after:

Going . . .

. . . going . . .

. . . gone.

Nous allons au Canada!

Au revoir.

An Armed Forces Tribute from the WVU Marching Band

2011-11-22T19:46:00.001-05:00

Be sure to keep watching until they reach the tribute to the Navy -- last and best.

Caleb writes to his grandparents, circa 1987

2011-11-19T13:40:00.001-05:00

A Conversation

2011-11-19T11:46:00.002-05:00

That a friend of mine had when he went to check on the progress of the mechanic who worked on Laura's car:

"Hey, how ya doin', my name is H. I'm a friend of Laura Murphy, and I'd like to talk to your guy who did the clutch on her Forester. I'll wait outside in the garage."

After a few minutes outside, I went back into the waiting room, and different guy, Dennis was at the counter. I repeated my request, and he said that he was the one working on Laura's clutch. I asked him what he replaced, and what kind of clutch kit he used.

He says, "Wait a second. Dis isn't your car.?"

I say, "I know. I'm her friend, and she asked to come and check to see what's up wit her car."

He responds, "Well, she didn't say anything to me about."

Dennis goes back in to call you, but got your voicemail. When he returns, we talk in the waiting area, which is a good thing because there are other customers there to witness our conversation. He seems much more receptive to talking about the issue.

I ask, "So whadaya think is wrong with dis thing?"

Dennis says, "It needs to break in. I been readin' on some of da forums and I think it could be the slave cylinder."

I asked, "Was da pedal stickin' to the floor?"

He says, "Before we get started, how much do you know about dis car?"

I respond, " Well, Laura told me that the engine was running but da clutch was slippin' so da car wasn't moving. Dis was when she had it towed back here da second time. But if da slave is losing pressure, den da clutch is engaged. So it sounds like she's describing clutch slippage. You replaced the everything in there, right?"

He says, "Yeah, da pressure plate, a new disc, da bearing, and dose two clips..."

I ask, "Ok, and everything's torqued down, right? Did you resurface the flywheel?"

Dennis says, "Na, it was good"

I reply, "Ok, so ya checked the runnout and it was good."

Dennis volunteers, " I've done like 20 of dese Subaru clutches."

I ask, "And da front of da trans. was dry?"

He says, "Yeah. We had dis damn thing on the floor and it didn't leak nothin'."

I nod and say, "Ok, it was completely dry. Dat's good. Now dere's a plate next to rear main and dat sometimes leaks."

He says, "Nope, it was completely dry. Man, I can't stand dese damn Subarus. Gotta reseal dis and dat."
.
Dennis continues, "Yo man, when we got dis thing, the clutch fork was hangin' off, dere was nothin' left in dere. The lip on the trans was swollen."

I ask, "Swollen? You're talking about da snout at the front of the trans.? It wasn't grooved?"

Dennis says, " Na, it was swollen. I don't know, maybe it overheated. You know, when I gave her a quote, I didn't know what I'd hafta do, so I had to cover myself. I thought we might hafta replace da trans."

I say, " Na, man, dese trannies don't die unless they run dry, and dis thing's not leakin' and it's not makin' any noise so it's fine. But yo man, I understand you gotta business to run, you just gotta make dis thing right for my friend Laura, and you've had dis thing for three weeks."

"He says, "I told her I couldn't fix it unless I could replicate the problem. It wasn't until I had my boy drive dis thing up to da Northeast that it started to act up. I think it might be losing pressure from the slave cylinder."

I ask, "So it happens only after it heats up?"

"Yeah, only after it's been driven awhile."

"Ok, it could be da slave. But that's easy enough to replace. It's right on top of the engine. Sometimes it can be the master. too. I've replaced slaves before and then wound up also having to replace the master."

"I thought dis just had one thing. Where is it? "

"Na, dere's a slave right on top the engine, and den a master up on the firewall next to da brake master. I don't know if her car has two air filters but if it does, den it's under the bigger air box right on top of the engine. Yo, but dis things drives fine until it heats up, right? --the clutch is smooth, right?

Dennis shrugs and says, "Yeah, it drives, but it bucks like when ya let out da clutch too fast. It needs to break in."

I say,"Na, a new clutch shouldn't do dat. I've worked on a lot of Subarus, too, man. If it's judderin' like that, den it's either the flywheel or you need to put a repair sleeve on da snout at the front of the trans. Cause, you know, if dere's a groove on da snout, da thow-out bearing moves around on it when you engage the clutch. Yo, man, I know it's a pain in the ass to split the tranny and engine, but you gotta make dis thing, right for your customer."

"Well, after we make a final determination tomorrow, I'll see if I need to order a slave and master cylinder. And if I need to drop the tranny, it's no big deal. It only takes me an hour, you know to drop the driveshaft and all"

I say, "Alright, Dennis, so you're gonna make dis thing right, right?"

"Yeah, I'll give her a call."

We shake hands, and I leave.

2011-11-16T21:40:00.001-05:00

. . . from the New Hampshire Boyds.

Bar jokes for grammar nerds

2011-11-14T19:42:00.001-05:00

from McSweeney's:

1. A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.
2. A dangling modifier walks into a bar. After finishing a drink, the bartender asks it to leave.
3. A question mark walks into a bar?
4. Two quotation marks “walk into” a bar.
5. A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to drink.
6. The bar was walked into by the passive voice.
7. Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They drink. They leave.

The new mayor of Ithaca

2011-11-09T06:37:00.004-05:00

S-E Class of 2005. While others have been occupying parks, he's been getting things done.

Update: Here's another close-to-home electoral success.

"To hell with Steve Jobs" - Occupy Wall St

2011-11-06T17:23:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvacSIzgSEo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Colbert Occupies Occupiers

2011-11-06T17:17:00.001-05:00

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/401092/october-31-2011/colbert-super-pac---occupy-wall-street-co-optportunity---stephen-on-location

Moved!

2011-11-03T15:11:00.005-04:00

After an exhausting two days (even WITH movers we were still completely beat last night) we are finally moved in. There are still a number of kinks to be worked out, but we have internet as of 20 minutes ago, and that's what's important. Now, furniture shopping. We threw out our bed during the move, and have no bookshelves or a sofa.

The future kid's room (for now, a staging area):

The kitchen:

The dining area:

We have a pair of Ikea dining room chairs and an Ikea loveseat that are available (the chairs for free to family, and available now, the loveseat for a small amount and available once we get a real couch). Let me know if you're interested.

Ineptocracy

2011-11-03T09:25:00.000-04:00

Ineptocracy (in-ept-o-cra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

Maybe NYRI wouldn't have been ALL bad.

2011-11-02T22:09:00.001-04:00

Oh, No!

2011-10-31T11:56:00.002-04:00

At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America.

What a thought.

"We meant that OTHER people should share, not us!"

2011-10-28T06:55:00.000-04:00

"The Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff launched a 'counter' revolution yesterday -- because they’re angry about working 18-hour days to provide food for 'professional homeless' people and ex-cons masquerading as protesters. For three days beginning tomorrow, the cooks will serve only brown rice and other spartan grub instead of the usual menu of organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese, and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad . . . Many of those being fed 'are professional homeless people. They know what they’re doing,' said the guard at the food-storage area."

Well, at least the professional homeless know what they're doing. Apparently the professional protesters don't. When you are camped out in a park proclaiming the injustice of the gap between the haves and the have-nots and passionately insisting that the rich have a moral obligation to share their wealth with those who have less (meaning you) -- it should not take a whole lot of reasoning ability and self-awareness, not to mention media savvy, to realize that it might not be a great idea to refuse to share the organic chicken and sheep cheese that YOU have with people who don't even have homes.

Cows and Heifers Tested

2011-10-25T14:23:00.002-04:00

57 "USA" tattoos. 57 metal eartags. 57 Shipping fever vaccinations. 57 TB tests. 57 blood draws, from the jugular, for brucellosis and anaplasmosis. 57 treatments for ticks.

The cows are really looking forward to the move. They've heard that the farmers in Canada are nicer than the farmers here.

The World Serious

2011-10-24T20:09:00.002-04:00

Seen any? It's one of the best in a while. Ron Washington and Tony LaRussa are worth watching. If you missed the 9th inning last night when Ron Washington came out to take his young starter out of the game after he threw 116 pitches and walked a batter while not allowing a run, you missed a lovely piece of theater. There were two hand-held cameras. One behind Washington and one catching Holland in profile. Close up! The shots would alternate between Washington (From behind) shaking his head as he said, "You've done well, son, but Neftali is gonna close it out," and Holland (from the side) saying, "But, coach, I can get a ground ball for a double play and finish this thing." The exchange went back and forth several times before Washington raised his right arm and called for Feliz.
Washington is smart. He sent Holland off to the cheers of the Texas crowd.

Is there a dumber bastard than Joe Biden?

2011-10-24T12:55:00.001-04:00

I doubt it.

Mark Steyn:

In one of those inspired innovations designed to keep American classrooms on the cutting edge of educational excellence, the administration has been sending Joe Biden out to talk to schoolchildren. Last week, it was the fourth grade at Alexander B. Goode Elementary School in York, Pa., that found itself on the receiving end of the vice president’s wisdom:

"Here in this school, your school, you’ve had a lot of teachers who used to work here, but because there’s no money for them in the city, they’re not working. And so what happens is, when that occurs, each of the teachers that stays have more kids to teach. And they don’t get to spend as much time with you as they did when your classes were smaller. We think the federal government in Washington, D.C., should say to the cities and states, look, we’re going to give you some money so that you can hire back all those people. And the way we’re going to do it, we’re going to ask people who have a lot of money to pay just a little bit more in taxes."

Maybe we should move to Estonia?

2011-10-22T07:47:00.001-04:00

Remember this? Now comes this, a fascinating snapshot of an earnest little country trying to grow along a path the rest of Europe seems incapable of imagining.

O Canada

2011-10-20T10:44:00.002-04:00

It looks like the rest of the herd is sold. Many a slip twixt cup and lip, but by Thanksgiving there may not be any Jersey cows at Stornaway Farm. Life's sure gonna be different.

More Red Sox

2011-10-20T10:42:00.002-04:00

Well, maybe I got a little carried away with criticism of the players and manager. This is a very sensible piece by Pete Abrahamson. And the various points made about the hysteria of the media are well taken.

Bwahahaha

2011-10-18T21:23:00.001-04:00

Occupy the dairy section!

2011-10-16T13:13:00.000-04:00

Cool Story

2011-10-16T11:43:00.001-04:00

Boxer spends 26 years in jail for crime he didn't commit, is exonerated and then wins a pro boxing match at age 52.

Cultivate Bull$#!%

2011-10-15T22:20:00.002-04:00

Red Sox

2011-10-13T11:19:00.002-04:00

Well, things look pretty grim. Our boys of summer almost universally covered themselves with crap. Perhaps excepting Pedroia, who may be the only one who understands what playing baseball for millions of dollars means. I never liked Beckett or Lackey. I can't stand the owners. I hate NESN. Why would I continue to be a fan? Baseball is a glorious game, but it seems to have been totally corrupted by the 2011 Red Sox, from the top on down, Francona included. Losing is but a small part of it. Whatever happened to dignity and class?

What think the rest of you? Got any plans for your baseball future?

And my most favorite of all!

2011-10-11T22:16:00.002-04:00

And another....

2011-10-11T22:03:00.002-04:00

Here's a good one...

2011-10-11T21:59:00.001-04:00

Down with Evil Corporations

2011-10-11T10:27:00.002-04:00

Steve Jobs vs. Ted Kennedy

2011-10-07T08:56:00.002-04:00

"But reflect for a moment on Steve Jobs. He took resources from no one. He coerced no one. He pandered to no one. He made hundreds of millions of people happy. He ended up being responsible for the creation of tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs, and inspired countless others to mimic him, or to beat him, or to otherwise complement his work. He asked for no special favors. He was adopted, and certainly was not dealt the best hand in the lottery of life. He blamed no one else for his failures. He shared in his successes. I would argue that this one man’s short life was far more important than a century’s worth of politicians who claim to be working in your interest."

I'll never forget the hoopla the Red Sox created when Ted Kennedy died. They called him a great American Hero.

Thomas Sowell

2011-10-05T09:15:00.001-04:00

"An arrogant elite’s condescension toward the people — treating them as children who have to be jollied along — is one of the poisonous problems of our time. It is at the heart of the nanny state and the promotion of a debilitating dependency that wins votes for politicians while weakening society."

My thoughts on the Red Sox:

2011-09-29T04:47:00.000-04:00

1)It breaks your heart.

It is designed to break your heart.

The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.

You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.

Today, it stopped, and summer was gone.
- A. Bartlett Giamatti.

2) Stupid assholes.

Yes he really just said that.

2011-09-27T00:02:00.002-04:00

I realize I'm about 2 weeks behind on this one now, but if you haven't seen this, you really need to. This guy is a total creep.

You can dress us up...

2011-09-23T05:59:00.003-04:00

...but you can't take us out.

Update: the top picture a little bit lighter.

Heh

2011-09-21T14:32:00.002-04:00

Sign Editors at Work

2011-09-17T17:48:00.002-04:00

Lots of funny ones here.

We Need a Control Group

2011-09-12T15:38:00.002-04:00

Sez Frank Fleming:

"But despite the obvious importance of science, one group of people does everything in pure defiance of scientific methods: politicians.

What do politicians do when they think they have a great idea? They just go and implement it. It’s like someone thinking he’s got a cure for cancer and immediately injecting it into everyone he can. That’s a madman, not a scientist. You always have to at least try out your idea on monkeys to make sure it doesn’t kill them."

"So what we need to do is isolate part of the country to be the control group. They’ll be free from new taxes, won’t take part in government programs and regulations and can have all the guns they want. In the rest of America, politicians can go crazy with every Keynesian idea, ban trans fats and salt and just generally control everything. Then we can compare the results of the two groups and finally have a scientific answer on what works."

2011-09-11T09:54:00.002-04:00

I posted this last year, but today seems like the right time to do it again. Here's a link to Dad's post from last year with the background story.

A remarkable story

2011-09-09T20:08:00.003-04:00

. . . from September 11, 2001.

How Sherburne looks today

2011-09-08T19:45:00.004-04:00

The photo was taken by Frank Speziale for the Evening Sun.

Red Sox and Yankees

2011-09-03T22:13:00.002-04:00

The Red Sox and Yankees have had TWELVE lead changes in the division race so far this season. I went back and checked the past few years, since the Red Sox got good in 2003, and this is really quite remarkable. They've never had as close of a race before across the entire season like this. Even in 2005 when they finished tied at the end, the Red Sox were actually leading by 3 games or so for most of the season. I suppose it makes it slightly less exciting that the loser of the race is practically guaranteed to get the Wild Card spot, but still, this is quite a race!

Steve Jobs

2011-09-03T21:48:00.002-04:00

A must read:

http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2011/09/steve-jobs-worlds-greatest-phi.html

Although, I'd have titled the article "Steve Jobs: Better Than a Philanthropist."

Storm Damage

2011-08-29T18:35:00.002-04:00

Branches down outside my apartment.
Goodness, look at all of those leaves!
And flooding, too!

Your Government at Work

2011-08-26T10:53:00.001-04:00

Read this. Just read it and then tell me everything's OK.

Earthquake refubees?

2011-08-24T07:39:00.002-04:00

That bump you can barely see in the center, below the branch, is a swarm of bees that showed up in downtown Norwich, just outside my office window, about an hour after the earthquake. They milled around in mid-air over East Main Street for a while and then clustered in this tree in the park. I have no idea whether the quake could have disturbed them -- anyone know?

The newest cousin

2011-08-12T20:06:00.002-04:00

Here are pictures -- and a few videos -- of Olivia's 1st birthday party, taken by a friend of Uncle Pete's who's good with a camera. Her family looks as if they know how to have a good time! Bonus: if you ever wondered how "Oh Bla Di Oh Bla Dah" sounds in Czech, now's your chance to find out.

Wow.

2011-08-10T21:10:00.002-04:00

Watch this in full-screen mode, or you'll miss the full effect.

So close!

2011-08-10T20:05:00.003-04:00

Look, Dad is touching an exit sign! It was very exciting for him:

Don't these dresses look familiar?

2011-08-03T19:07:00.004-04:00

This picture is from an Evening Sun article about the Sherburne "Heritage Day" event last Saturday. I don't know who the people are, but I do believe the lavender/pink dress on the left is Beth's, the gray one near the right is Meg's, and the green plaid on the far right is Jo's.

Right?

Dad in performance

2011-07-27T20:54:00.000-04:00

with Red, Jenni, and Carl, on Saturday.

A Joke

2011-07-25T19:24:00.000-04:00

Waddaya call someone who thinks bums shouldn't be allowed to marry?

2011-07-24T07:54:00.000-04:00

Keep buying that Chobani yogurt!

2011-07-21T18:51:00.003-04:00

More good news for Chenango County -- 450 new jobs.

One of the best flash mobs yet!

2011-07-10T20:47:00.001-04:00

We've been in this Stop 'n' Shop, not far from that campground in Wellfleet.

More from Pittsburgh

2011-06-29T20:26:00.006-04:00

Scary people --

beloved people --

and fireworks!

We Go To Pittsburgh

2011-06-27T21:20:00.001-04:00

Beer and Taxes

2011-06-27T21:03:00.000-04:00

THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100...

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this...

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do..

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20". Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men ? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,"but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, is how our tax system works.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T10:25:00.002-04:00

From, Your Children

Happy 1st anniversary!

2011-05-30T09:32:00.001-04:00

Friends

2011-05-27T07:02:00.001-04:00

Someone Watching Baseball

2011-05-20T11:34:00.002-04:00

Someone was watching baseball last night. A pop fly was hit behind first base. Pedroia, Drew, and Gonzalez were converging on it at full speed. Someone yelled, "DON'T HIT EACH OTHER! OH, MY GOD! TALK!!"

Someone is really cute.

Train's Comin'!

2011-05-20T10:53:00.001-04:00

A Visit from the Amish

2011-05-17T13:26:00.003-04:00

An Amish man from Lebanon clip-clopped up the drive way today. A few minutes later another one came up. They are interested in buying the farm. They don't like to have pictures taken of themselves, so I took them of their rigs. The guy in the above picture was here for three hours.

Stupid Dog

2011-05-10T13:13:00.002-04:00

John Sebastian Frey 1926-2011

2011-04-14T09:04:00.002-04:00

Grandpa Frey died Monday night after battling Parkinson's disease in his later years. He never complained about his affliction. He did as much as he could for himself for as long as he could. He was grateful for the efforts of his family to keep him home and comfortable as long as possible.

He grew up one of ten children in a small house in Corning. He played football, served his country, and graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law School. He was proof that hard work will lead to success.

He was highly intelligent and had a remarkable memory. It was never necessary to say things to him twice, and he remembered every thing ever told to him. He disliked telling jokes, saying, as his mother did, that one should only tell jokes about oneself. Yet, he always got the joke. He was delighted by his children and grandchildren, and they are his legacy.

It was an honor to help care for him in his last years. I will miss him.

2011-04-10T00:01:00.002-04:00

How many thousand walks did we not go together, so that we still turn to see if he is following at his padding gait, attentive to the invisible trails. Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives. Yet, if they find warmth therein, who would grudge them those years that they have so guarded? Nothing else of us can they take to lie upon with outstretched paws, and chin pressed to the ground; and, whatever they take, be sure they have deserved. - John Galsworthy

By Way of Reply

2011-04-08T09:26:00.002-04:00

Foreplay in Smyrna (or North Brookfield): Get in the Back of the Truck!

And a request was made some time ago for the Tickets to Pittsburgh joke which has pleased many generations of Murphies. This is it, to the best of my knowledge:

A priest and a rabbi approach the train ticket window where the young lady behind the counter is quite clearly braless. The priest says, "We'd like two pickets to Tittsburgh, please!" The Rabbi says, "Yes, and can we have our change in dimes and nipples?"

Dear Woman

2011-04-08T09:22:00.003-04:00

Seriously, be prepared to barf.

Sometime today . . .

2011-04-05T07:43:00.004-04:00

. . . the blog will reach 60,000 visits.

Eagle Nest Cam

2011-04-03T09:25:00.002-04:00

Check it out. Ya hafta watch a 30 second commercial. And that's a dead rabbit in the foreground.

Watch some Milton Friedman while you're there. There are several videos of him on the same blog and he is just wonderful.

The Art of Conversation

2011-03-31T07:13:00.002-04:00

Now, if only video cameras had existed back when Laura used to talk on that toy phone, she too could be a YouTube sensation!

xkcd Radiation Dose Chart

2011-03-27T15:09:00.003-04:00

(Click to view full)

Click here to read the accompanying blog post for some background info.

What spring looks like in Chenango County

2011-03-22T16:10:00.002-04:00

Any Murphies

2011-03-20T21:14:00.003-04:00

or Murphy friends or relations or hangers-on who have not seen the movie Moonstruck should do so, without delay.

Also, look out the window at the moon. Last night was the biggest full moon since 1993, and it did look amazing, hanging there like a lantern in the tree branches close enough to touch. Tonight, it ought to be almost as . . . well, striking.

Teachers Unions Explained

2011-03-14T14:29:00.001-04:00

Go, United States Navy!

2011-03-14T11:23:00.002-04:00

Here's a concise description of the role of the Navy -- and of the USS Ronald Reagan, the aircraft carrier where Luke worked a couple of summers ago -- in providing earthquake relief in Japan.

Before and after

2011-03-13T10:00:00.003-04:00

Here is a staggering set of images of communities along the Japanese coast before and after the tsunami.

How I plan to spend this afternoon

2011-03-10T08:52:00.002-05:00

Look for me downtown!

You can never have too many laughing babies.

2011-03-08T18:25:00.000-05:00

I want baseball.

2011-03-06T12:25:00.001-05:00

26 days until the Red Sox opener! Who's excited!? Who's coming to Pittsburgh to see them in June?

The Red Sox will be total "bi-winners" this year.

What horsepower really means

2011-03-05T10:25:00.004-05:00

Dad needs this team! Check out the rodent fleeing for its life from under the hooves of the horse on the far right (and alarming the horse second from the left) at about 20 seconds in.

Why Teachers need Unions

2011-03-04T09:21:00.002-05:00

Here.

Hey, Luke!

2011-03-03T13:36:00.001-05:00

Didja move yet?