Invasion from Canada

Northern Hawk Owl
Photo: Rob Spiers/Bangor Daily News

  Here in Maine we have an invasion from Canada.  Maybe it's unusually cold up there but the owls are moving south, probably for better hunting.  Large numbers of Hawk Owls and Snowy Owls have been spotted here in Maine.  I would imagine that other border states have a similar report.
  We really aren't worried, well maybe a little.  What are these birds going to eat?  The native rabbit population has been gone for a long time; after the Coyotes moved in.  If they eat all of the mice will the foxes be next to disappear?
  Well we may need to fight Canada; take a look at this.  I know it's not much but the Defense Budget has taken a huge hit.

Photo: www.dd.com

Other plans

From: Bangor Daily News

  I started my day at 12:40AM and arrived at the 18th Annual Alcathon at about 1:30AM; there were about 5 of us there at that point.  At that point the turkeys were either cooked or in the oven, 23 total were cooked.  I helped cut up some turnips, peeled potatoes, and butternut squash. 
  I came home at 11:00 and picked up my wife and we returned to the Alcathon, she listened to the meeting and I helped my stuffing, and caught the end of the meeting.
  The Meal was served at about 2PM and enjoyed by everyone.  There had been an attendance problem all day.  At one point one other person and myself were then only ones there, we were peeling potatoes, and working on a crossword puzzle.  Numbers were low all day.
  The good news is none of that food is wasted, and there was a lot.  Leftovers all are delivered to the homeless shelters (three of them), so they get two meals of turkey for the most part.
  Our meal was open to the public too.  It was a fun day for me.  Did you have other plans?

It's Thanksgiving

No blog today, I'll be at the Alca-thon in Bangor, we have 18 turkeys to cook and lot's of veggies too.
I am there at maybe 1:00AM until ?, dinner served at 3 or 4 o'clock.  We are expecting lots of people but the weather may hinder some, don't know.
  The rain has stopped, it's time to go now.  1:00AM Happy Thanksgiving.

A couple of stories

USS Zumwalt DDG-1000
Photo: Robert F Bukaty/AP

  The first Captain for this futuristic ship is aptly named Captain James Kirk, sort of the name of the skipper of the Starship Enterprise.  It's a fitting name for the man who will serve on the bridge that has a 360 degree TV screens of all of the ships activity.
  The deckhouse that houses the radar and other sensors is made of composite at one shipyard and added to the rest of the ship in Bath, Maine at Bath Iron Works, home of the U S Navy's best destroyers.  The Zumwalt is the first in a class of three planned for this series, all will be constructed in Bath.
  The ship is the first with electric propulsion and generates enough electricity to light up a small city.  In the future the ship may have the first rail gun.  A rail gun is an electrically charged set of rails that has enough power to launch a missile, or a series of missiles in rapid succession.

  Now about how I missed writing the blog.  I woke up in plenty of time to do all that needed to get done, including the blog.  I had on my mind two things; one to go to the bank (ATM), and two to check the winning numbers of the lottery (Gimmie Five).  That all done and I ate breakfast and left.  As I was having coffee I talked with a guy about someone we both know.  That led to talk of electrical and electronic stuff the shared acquaintance knows about.
  How does that tie in to this blog?  Let me show you!

How a rail gun works::

Source: www.wikipedia - click to enlarge



Just some basic stuff here

www.ssa.gov

  I was going to tell you what the average workers retirement benefit would be ($1230.00) and the median amount was.  The problem seems to be that people who write search software don't know the difference, when I asked for "median" I was taken to "average", they are, as you know, two distinct things, and most often different things.  Boy oh boy, that 1.5% raise is going to make that average amount huge! ($1248.50).  Of course the Medicare Part B will increase probably, but I don't know yet how much.
  We've got some North Dakota weather here this morning 16 degrees with 14mph winds for a wind chill of 2 degrees.  Well Wilbur lives with it so can I.  I just went to the kitchen to start the car, point that thing out the window and BAM! the thing starts right up, it will warm up faster when I get in.  I'll be getting in very soon, it's coffee time with the gang!

The rich get richer and that ain't enough!

David Cote, CEO Honeywell, Vice Chair Business Roundtable
Photo: The National

  There is a group of 200 CEO's of some of the Country's largest corporations called the Business Roundtable and Fix the Debt.  Each of these people has retirement savings of at least 14.5 million dollars, Mr. Cote (photo) has 200 million dollars in retirement savings and could receive $800,000 in monthly retirement payments.  The most us folks covered by Social Security could receive, at full retirement age in 2012 was $2,533!
  The Business Roundtable brain trust want's to "fix the debt" by cutting the amount people can receive from Social Security!!!! These geniuses really believe you and I get too much money!! They believe the Nation debt can be cured by cutting earned benefits for the poor and middle class.
  Do you still believe in horoscopes?
for more information see: http://www.thenation.com/blog/177251/ceos-massive-retirement-fortunes-push-social-security-cuts  and http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2013/11/22/9-social-security-statistics-that-will-surprise-yo.aspx