And the Snow Melts

Icicles from snow melting on roof.

Another Snowstorm hit the Northeast!

Before


and


After





Or

should

it be

Summer

and

Winter

Rome and Florence during a NJ Blizzard

We left for our Italian vacation on one of the last flights out of Newark before airport operations were seriously hindered by the December 26, 2010 snow storm. Although the weather in Rome and Florence was wintery, we were lucky to get out of the NorthEast USA before many flights were canceled and not to have to shovel and otherwise deal with the major snow storm.


Here is Valorie and KDB smokin' a clove on the front steps of a church in Rome. There are more photos of our vacation on FLICKR.

Valorie published Why is Hypoglycemia on the Rise?

After considerable research, Valorie published an article on Hypoglycemia in her Gaia's Pen blog. Whether you know what hypoglycemia is or not, you will likely find this article to be interesting.

Tai Chi Ch'uan (also spelled Taijiquan) Class in Central NJ

For about two years I've been attending T'ai Chi classes. If you are in the Princeton area and are interested, a new class is starting on September 25 for beginners or those who desire reinforcement in their training. See details at classes in classical Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan.

Another Tree Mangler Hits Princeton

After quite a dry spell, late yesterday, a heavy thunderstorm hit Princeton. The tree damage observed afterward suggests there were quite a few strong micro bursts. These photos show a tree whose trunk was cleanly severed right into the ground!

Congrats to KDB on her first Blog post at The New Yorker

It's great to see that KDB's first blog post at The New Yorker has been published: "On and Off the Walls: Suburban Knights".

Summer Recipes by Local Executive Chef

Valorie has published summer recipes that have recently been presented by local Executive Chef, Christopher Albrecht. To see what Chef Albrecht presented using produce locally grown in the northeast USA, see Gaia's Pen.

What is your Best Internet Access Option?

On Friday, May 21, Joe Budelis will again give a presentation to help one explore and find the best Internet Solution Provider for their location. This presentation on Internet Access will be given at the Brookdale Computer Users Group May meeting and details are available at "Comparison of Internet Access Options such as Satellite, DSL, Cable, FIOS, T1, EoC, 3G, 4G".

Some material on this topic is available at "Comparison of Cable, DSL and T1 Broadband Internet Access Options."

Cherry Blossoms in Princeton

The spring brings beautiful blossoms on the Japanese Cherry tree in front of our home. Here is a photo of Valorie framed by the cherry blossoms draping down from the tree.

Comparison of Internet Access Options to be presented at Trenton Computer Festival

Joe Budelis, owner of Persimmon Telecommunications, will present "Comparison of Internet Access Options - How to Compare, Shop for, and Choose the best Internet Access option" at TCF-2010, the Trenton Computer Festival in Trenton, NJ. Options such as DSL, cable, FiOS, T1, DS3, OC3, Fast Ethernet OCx, and GigE will be compared. The PowerPoint slide presentation is available at How to Compare, Shop for, and Choose the best Internet Access option.

More info is available at TCF Talks, Forums, and Exhibitions.

Plucking of White Pine from our Home

Since their climbers decided it wasn't safe to do otherwise, Well's Tree Service used a crane to remove the white pine from our house. At the top of the tree there were two leads. Here you see one of those leads being carried from over our home. I estimate it's less than 1/8th of the tree. However, it in itself is as large as a good sized tree!

Below is one of the last pieces being carried away from our home.

Saved By a Tree

Now that it's light out, I see that the damage to our home by the white pine would have likely been worse except that it's fall was hindered by a black locust tree on the other side of the house. If the tree people were to just cut off the top of the pine tree, the weight of the pine could move it further into the house. The tree company says their approach tomorrow will be to trim everything they can to reduce the weight before they cut the locust support.


You can see the tree guy on the roof. He's installing a tarp to provide temporary protection from the rain.

The reason that the pine tree went down is that white pines have shallow roots and the wind was able to pull the roots out:


Here's a closeup of where it was uprooted:

Rain, Wind and a 130 foot Pine Tree

This is the 130 foot pine tree that had stood 10 feet from our home. It had seemed sturdier than trees still standing around it!

Snow Blizzard in Princeton, NJ

The holly tree in the above view out of Val's second floor office window on February 10 is leaning, not because of the wind, but because of the weight of the snow on it's branches. The next day, with much of the snow removed, it looked as shown below.

KDB to Israel and Ski Slopes

This winter break, KDB joined a college trip to Israel. She really enjoyed the introduction to the country given by the tour. She also made good use of her new Canon 5 d Mark II professional camera. Here's one of the photos that she took in Israel with the new camera: Trees.

Now that she's back in New York, she's joined the ski club and, on many weekends, is skiing slopes in the Northeast US. This week she has actually skied in Manhattan's Central Park.

Japanese Maple in Princeton

I've cared for this Japanese Maple since it was about a foot tall. It started, without my help, between our driveway and our Japanese Cherry tree. For many years, the tree expert has been saying that the Japanese Cherry is ill and should be removed. However, we still enjoy its cherry blossoms every spring. I'm using it as an anchor to train the Maple away from the driveway. Presumably, because the Cherry shades the Maple, the Maple has tried to grow at a substantial angle into the space above the driveway. The Maple shows spectacular fall colors. The green and yellow just behind it are leaves on the Cherry. And, the red blotches in the upper left by the house are berries on one of our Holly trees. This photo was taken in November, Today, being December, most all leaves have fallen and I just about finished leaf raking for the year.

Are your Photos Backed Up?

Recently, our laptop hard drive had to be replaced. Luckily, we regularly back up all important data on our PCs. If you aren't, you should. We use Mozy. which is an on-line backup service offered free for 2 GB of data. For additional storage, you can pay or you can refer others as I'm doing here. This and other tips are discussed on my home page at Joe Budelis Home Page Tips & Money Saving ideas.

Diet & Weight Loss Articles

Since my last posting, Valorie's posted several interesting articles on her Gaias Pen blog, for example, Transition Diet: Nourish Earth and Weight Loss Tools That Really Work.

Protection against H1N1 Swine Flu

Valorie just published an article Ten Foods to Optimize Immunity in her Gaias Pen blog. It and other articles in her blog give useful information that can help you protect yourself for the coming flu season.