Bridges of Danville

While I'm messing around in my spare time with some of the photos I recently took in Danville, Virginia, I thought I'd let you look at a couple of interest to engineers…bridges across a river. The first shows the rather shallow and slow running river, with a couple of modern day concrete arch bridges way in the distance. Those carry a large amount of traffic into and out of the city. That photo was taken while I was standing on an old single track, steel truss railroad bridge, which has been converted to foot and bicycle traffic only. That bridge was constructed during the Civil War, and was the main link between the city and regions to the north. A newer railroad bridge downstream from this bridge is shown in my title photo, with a train crossing.

Traditional American Industry Gone or Going

The two photos here of the now closed historic and once thriving Dan River Mills in Danville, Virginia depict just one aspect of the decline of traditional American industry over the past several decades. The textile company was incorporated in 1909 and at its peak employed 30,000 people. It was once the largest textile company in the world. After years of fighting to remain a viable company, competition from overseas and other issues eventually caused it to close in 2008. Today, the storied company's sturdy brick facilities, which together look more like a small city planted in the midst of a larger one, are gradually being torn down. Bricks that composed massive walls and foundations are being recovered and stacked on pallets for eventual sale and reuse somewhere, perhaps as a component to a new building.

It's sad to see this decline in person, but there is much more to it than just the buildings going away. So have the people who once worked there. Jobs are no more. And, it's not just Danville, it's almost everywhere in the United States today. Our traditional industries have either gone or are going the way of Dan River Mills.

The Old Stone House

For years I've driven between Martinsville and Danville, Virginia, always noticing the rock walls and doorways of an old house sitting adjacent to the highway. Yesterday I decided to stop and look. I have no idea when it was last lived in, but from the looks of the solid rock foundation and the surrounding landscape I suspect it was once a very nice dwelling…certainly better than the average home. I guess the next time I stop I'll ask those living nearby to tell me about its history. Made for a nice photo anyway, so my brief stop was worthwhile.

Green

This week "Earthday" events and activities are being held all over. Not wanting to be left out, I decided to announce that for the next ten entries to my Blog, I intend to use special green ink made from crushing the leaves of the much beloved Kudzu Vine, so well known in the Southern United States. Just wanted to get in on the activities and do my part.

Change in Climate Real or Not?

Controversial subject. But why is that so? If world temperatures are getting warmer, and as a result natural resources, wildlife and people are being adversely affected, then why not attempt to do something about it, other than just argue back and forth about the validity of global warming.

I noted in the online news media today that hundreds of Native people are presently gathered in Anchorage, Alaska to "listen to their leaders from Greenland, Russia, Scandinavia and Alaska talk about how global warming is changing their lives in the Arctic. One such leader of Greenland shared observations he gathered from Inuit people in Alaska, Canada, Russia and his country: Arctic villages are crumbling due to the melting of permafrost and increased coastal erosion. Traditional food caches dug into the icy ground are melting. Water supplies have become contaminated."

Reading about it is one thing, but I personally observed it in the Bering Sea region along both the Alaska and the Eastern Siberian, Russia coastlines in 2007. I also heard numerous native people living with the situation speak about their grave concerns. Unfortunately, too few in the world today pay enough attention to the views of Native people. Maybe this time it will be different.

Army Engineers at "home" this week

Today is the opening day for the 2009 ENFORCE Conference at the "home" of Army Engineers…Fort Leonard Wood (FLW), Missouri I am unable to attend the annual conference this year due to ongoing work to prepare the May-June issue of Army Engineer magazine. I've been to most of these conferences since they began back in the late 1980's, and I helped organize and manage a few while I was still on active duty. The job I had after retirement kept me involved for several years, and of course now in my supporting role with the AEA, I keep abreast of what's going on. It's going to be a busy week for those in attendance, and the weather forecast looks pretty nice…even a bit warmer than average later in the week.

Hopefully, I'll be able to share some photographic images of the session (in the May-June issue magazine, taken by FLW photographers) with those who could not attend, or who had no desire to do so. Stay tuned.

Best Weather Day 2009

As the wind and passing speed boats create patterns on beautiful Philpott Lake in SW Virginia near Bassett, many people like me took advantage of one heck of a nice weather day to get out and about. This photo was taken at an Army Corps of Engineers managed overlook near their Visitor's Center. The Corps manages the lake and it's immediate surroundings, including the large dam which formed the lake as a flood control project decades ago.

Twitter? Facebook? MySpace? Flickr?

So many popular (probably temporary) ways to interact on the web these days. Me being sort of a techie-geek at times, I am pulled toward doing the things that each interactive tool offers. But, I typically find that either I don't have time to interact on a daily basis, or else what I expected to get from all that interaction isn't that great.

Take Facebook, for example. On the recommendation of a friend, I gave it a try. About a month later, I dumped it…never could get enough "friends" involved so I could do any interaction. Twitter? I looked at it, and felt it was rather dumb. Especially when the main goal for many is to just get as many "followers" as possible. MySpace? No way, this one is for teens and I damn sure ain't a teen. Flickr? Yup, I like it. I can post my photos for reviews from others, and interact in many ways with other photographers to solve problems or just get the scoop on what's hot in the way of new gear.

So, do you Twitter? How's your Facebook doing? Can you imagine someone asking you those questions a couple of years ago?

A typical day "at work"

Given that (1) I am semi-retired and can adjust my daily work schedule as I please, and (2) I am a creature of habit, a typical work day for me starts with a cup of coffee and a bowl of my favorite dry cereal…Honey Nut Cheerios anyone…sitting in front of my computer monitor, checking for new email, updating this Blog and AEA's website, and then viewing one-by-one several favorite websites containing topics which interest me…most all being related to photography and graphic design.

In the process, I may watch a video tutorial of two instructing me how to do things which hopefully will improve my digital publishing skills, and I may get temporarily distracted my one of our cats looking for some attention. My coffee is usually cold by the time I finish all this, because I can't hold the cup and type or navigate on my computer screen at the same time (I use a Wacom Tablet by the way and it's just about the best thing since fried pork skins).

I'm usually wearing my morning sweat clothes after my daily 2 mile walk (many years of jogging and running in the Army messed with my knees so I now walk), and I have yet to brush my teeth or shave. But, I eventually get around to personal hygiene by the time I go upstairs from my office to eat lunch with my wife (and cats). For us, "lunch" starts around 1330, or sometimes even as late as 1400. Like I wrote earlier, I can set my own schedule and my wife is agreeable.

Afternoons are filled with (how shall I put it) all "work stuff". I get totally engrossed in creating magazine page layouts, writing articles for the magazine, fixing photographs to look like I want them to, and sometimes talking on the phone to advertising customers about upcoming ads for the magazine. I usually try to stop work between 1700-1800, but at the peak of my magazine work time, my day may extend to 1900, or when my wife starts shouting down to me that "Supper's ready, and I'm going to start eating with or without you at the table." After supper I may come back downstairs to finish whatever I was doing before being called to eat, but usually I let it wait until the next day.

I don't do all this every day, because I have other home chores as well, like mowing the grass or fixing something my wife wants me to fix. All in all, I'm pretty darn lucky to be able to work as I do. AND, have one heck of a lot of fun and professional enjoyment in the process.

Sign of Spring

Are the dogwood trees blooming where you are? They are here in SW Virginia…in a big way.

Computer Operating Systems

I am a heavy user of Apple products…computers and monitors…to do my work, iPod to give me some enjoyment listening to music and watching videos, and various software programs which I use for both work and fun. But, I have used Windows PC's a lot in my time, generally to great satisfaction.

Over recent months there have been TV commercials touting the advantages of both Apple computers and PC (Windows) computers. Loyal users of both products and systems get very emotional about things when people from "the other side" say their stuff is better. I recently had an experience which sums up why I prefer Apple products.

Last week I bought a new router, so as to wirelessly network our home. The router was an Apple product, but it works on both Apple and PC computer systems. I first decided to install the router next to my wife's Dell (Windows) computer running the Vista operating system. Her computer is upstairs while mine are in my downstairs office. I figured it would be better to have the wireless hub upstairs…better reception throughout the house. To get it all up and running, I had to install wireless network settings on the Dell with Vista and it was, in short, a total nightmare. I AM NOT a technical network guy, so between my inexperience and Vista's total lack of helpful dialog I could not get it to work.

Windows Vista is, to me at least, almost impossible to figure out what's going on behind the scenes. As I mentioned earlier, I am not a novice with the Windows operating system, I used it from it's earliest beginnings at work and at home. Windows XP was and is a great operating system. But, Vista is something else.

So, with my failure to get it to work using Vista, I decided to install it in my office downstairs, on my Apple Mac Pro. As I did, the computer gave me prompts that some settings I'd set initially on my wife's computer were wrong…caused when I went through the same setup on my wife's computer using Vista, which gave me no such prompts, leaving me to guess what to do. The Mac Pro told me which settings to use in plain language, and within seconds I was up and running.

This example is why I prefer Apple over any other computer. And why Apple's operating system OSX is so much better than Windows Vista. I can't say that, however, in relation to Windows XP. It is very good. But Apple has, overall, left Microsoft behind in the dust. And, Apple computers can run BOTH OSX and Windows operating systems on the same machine.

Oh, don't buy all the TV commercial hype about how much more an Apple laptop costs than a Windows PC laptop. Figures can be manipulated to fit any argument. Plus, not having to put up with the frustration of using Vista in the first place is worth lots more than just money.

Your right

Your right what? Hand? Door? Window? No, I'm referring to something that is starting to make me believe people today have forgotten how to write properly.

For example, I read blog posts all the time, where people write, "Your right", when they mean "You're right". Better still, how about "They right", versus "They're right".

Our education system is falling apart before our eyes. Or else, cell phone texting is just making people lazy.

Defense Cuts

Yesterday as I was returning from Greensboro, NC (35 miles away) after helping to stimulate the economy there by spending a few bucks (more than just a few, but whatever), I listened to a talk radio host offer his views along the lines that with the recently announced proposed cuts in defense spending made by Secretary Gates, the SecDef and the administration are essentially sending a message to the world that we don't care that much any more about "defense".

What was being said was (to me at least) somewhat laughable, because he seemed to have a lack of even basic understanding about what actually was being proposed to cut. I concluded that his views were that any cuts in defense spending would be unacceptable…regardless. Because, "we had to take care of the troops." As f we were not now doing so…since the new President had taken office, etc, etc..

What's being missed here is recognition by the public of the amount of money it's going to take just to replace or refit the items of equipment that have been pretty much used up since 2003, while fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. As far as we engineers are concerned, just sum up the amount of money needed to deal with the tired and worn construction equipment fleet of graders, dozers, loaders, trucks, etc. How the defense department will manage those costs, in comparison with costs associated with new equipment developments, such as the Army's FCS program, is not going to be easy.

I'm not a regular talk radio listener (anymore) and it's the misinformed and often overly emotional and totally political views of many of those so engaged as "hosts", that makes me prefer good old country music instead. In that regard, here's my local favorite. KZNN in Rolla, MO ain't bad either.

Passing of the colors

No, I'm not writing about the change in vegetation from drab winter colors to brighter spring hues we're now seeing (at least where I am), I'm referring to the symbolic military ceremony of passing the flag (colors) of a unit or organization, from the out-going leader, to the incoming individual. Like 91 others engaged in such ceremonies before, the colors of the Army Engineer School were passed last week from Colonel Bob Tipton to Colonel Bryan Watson.

Watson was designated a brigadier general and incoming commandant last Fall, but has yet to pin on the rank. Tipton had been serving as the commandant of the school awaiting Watson's arrival from a prior assignment. Tipton has now assumed the duties as Assistant Commandant of the school.

This all got me remembering the photo frame line-up of past commandants of the school, hanging on the walls of the school. Almost all of those pictured wore the rank of major general. It was only a few years ago when the school commandant position was supported with a brigadier general. Most pictured also commanded at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with the first school commandant being designated at Fort Leonard Wood in 1986.

Watson joins a very distinguished line of prior school commandants. Each had their own challenges, and of course each served in a somewhat different Army…because the Army always seems to be changing in some way.

Many will join me I'm sure in wishing soon to be BG Watson well, during his tenure as school commandant.

New season, new mower

Tomorrow, assuming everything goes as now planned, I intend to mow our large,almost 3 acre hilly and treed yard for the first time this year. When we first moved here in 2002, we purchased a John Deere lawn tractor to take care of all lawn duties. Never having owned such equipment before (the homes we lived in before had MUCH smaller real estate to mow and take care of) I'd always used a basic walk-behind power mower, that worked just fine. Not so here.

The John Deere model we purchased in 2002 was OK, but over the years I learned we'd purchased a somewhat under powered model, and the stress and strain on the machine, mowing along the steep slopes we have on our property, slowly took their toll on the equipment. So, we decided this year to "move up" and yesterday a new, more powerful John Deere lawn tractor was delivered (X520 model if you care about such data).

Tomorrow, it gets the first test doing its job for me. I'll keep you posted later on how it all works out.

Happy Birthday Apple

April 1st, 1976 was the day Apple Computer Corporation was founded. At that time I was a Major, working in the Pentagon, and had zero interest in what was going on in the world of technology. I was mainly trying to keep my head above water, running (literally) Army staff actions throughout the massive halls of the building. But, I digress…

Later in 1986, I purchased my first Apple computer and have been a loyal user since, except for a period when I was forced to use a Windows PC, due to the job I had at the time. Today I rely totally on my Apple Mac computers to perform publishing magic for me every day…whether it be posting this blog entry, updating the Army Engineer Association website, or preparing another issue of Army Engineer magazine.

Without my Apple Mac, I'd be dead in the water…but I have no plans to be without my Mac. (Knocking on wood). I also would not want to be without my Apple iPod, which I listen to most every day, and sometimes as I go to bed. In that regard, I did so last night, wanting to listen to a new album I'd downloaded off iTunes.

Unfortunately, it was a long album, Chris Botti's live concert in Boston last Fall, and by the time it had finished, I was not. Meaning I had a hard time falling to sleep. Lesson learned is that it's not a good idea (for me at least) to start listening to music just before 12 midnight. But then, I did not have to get up early today, so I got my normal number of hours of sleep.

Anyway, I'm thankful for Apple Corporation, and just wanted to say "Happy Birthday" to all those working there today.