Saw the First Fireflies of the Year

I stepped outside last night after watching the hockey game and saw two fireflies blinking out in the front yard.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen lightning bugs here this early in the year.

It reminded me of catching fireflies with my brother when I was young, during summer vacations on my grandpa’s farm in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

First we would get canning jars from my mom and punch air holes in the lids with a hammer and nail.  Then we would run all around the yard and farmhouse, in the dark, trying to catch fireflies by hand.  It was difficult to catch them without running into obstacles like stumps and rocks, but that is what made it all so much fun to do.

After catching one or two dozen fireflies in each jar, we added some lilac branches so the lightning bugs could crawl around inside the jars.  Each jar went on the nightstand right next to each of our beds, and my brother and I got to watch our own personal lightshow as we drifted off to sleep.  The next morning we turned the fireflies loose in the bushes outside, none the worse for wear, to be caught again on some other night . . .

Picture from Jamelah/Flickr Creative Commons.

Took a Walk Around the Block

Went for a little stroll around the block today on a bright Sunday afternoon.  Since I live in a semi-rural area, a walk around my block is actually 3.4 miles according to my car odometer.

My goal is to walk around the block 3 days a week, in between all of my gardening.  I’ve been walking since January, when I had to dress up in all my wool deer hunting clothes so that I could walk when it was 5 degrees above zero.  At one point I was walking about 15 miles a week and developed shin-splints, an inflammation of the tendons along the front of the leg above the ankles, so I’ve cut it back to 10 miles a week or less.

The scenery is great since my route takes me past horse farms, cows out in the pasture, huge ponds, and old barns.  There’s always some kind of wildlife to see . . . today I saw a turtle bigger than a Frisbee sunning himself on a log in a pond.  On other occasions I’ve seen deer, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, and white swans.  This winter I even had a wild partridge walk right up to me in the road, and then walk alongside of me!

I took my camera along with me and snapped a few pictures.  Click on any of the thumbnail pictures below to open a full size picture in a new window.

 

My Garden is Planted & I’m Exhausted

I took advantage of the really good weather over the last week and holiday weekend, and planted my entire 35 foot x 35 foot garden.

Before planting anything I first had to prepare the ground by turning over the dirt with a shovel, tilled the ground with a small Mantis tiller, built two raised beds, & marked out all the rows.  I definitely got my full share of exercise, & then some.

I transplanted over 100 tomato plants in 7 varieties . . . Big Beef, Sunny Goliath (orange), Early Girl, Lemon Boy (yellow), Yellow Jellybean (yellow grape), Red Jellybean (red grape), and my all-time favorite, a small red plum tomato called Juliet.

I also transplanted over 100 pepper plants including the Jalapeno, Cayenne, Cubanelle, Anaheim Chili, and Bell varieties.  Other transplants included 200 Onions & Leeks, and dozens of Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Broccoli, Bok Choy, Basil and Parsley plants.  All the transplants (except onions) were started for me by my Dad in his greenhouse up North.

As for seeds, I planted Carrots, Radishes, Beets, Leaf Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Spinach, Bush Beans, Pole Beans, Peas, Cucumbers, Salad Greens, Dill, and Zucchini Squash.

I’m exhausted, my muscles are sore and stiff, my back is aching, my sunburn is stingin’, and the worn out sole fell right off one of my work boots, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Young Sandhill Cranes are Growing Fast

The Sandhill Crane family continues to visit my backyard several times a day to eat the dried, whole-kernel corn I put out for them.  Both youngsters are growing noticeably fast.

One unusual thing about Sandhill Cranes is that their knee bends forwards instead of backward.  I’ve seen them stand on one foot and scratch their chin with their other foot.

Earlier this year I saw an adult Sandhill Crane chase a raccoon out of my backyard.  As the Raccoon was leaving the yard and entering the marsh, he was unknowingly heading in the direction of the other Crane sitting on the nest about 40 yard away.  The Sandhill Crane ran across my yard, charged into the marsh, and chased that Raccoon until he was heading in a different direction away from the nest.  Raccoons are serious predators of eggs and young birds, and Sandhill Cranes are very protective of their young.

The Red-wing Blackbirds that live in the marsh around my house think they run the show around here, and they don’t like interlopers wandering through their territory.  Some of the bolder ones will dive-bomb the Sandhill Cranes when they pass through.  On one occasion a Red-wing Blackbird didn’t pull out of his dive soon enough and landed right on the Crane’s back.  The Crane swung his head around to look at the Red-wing Blackbird and seemed to be thinking . . . “Did you just land on my back?”  The Red-wing Blackbird was looking back at the Crane and probably wondering . . .“Did I just land on your back?”  It was very comical.

Picture from Flickr Creative Commons.

Bluebirds are one of my Favorite Birds

Bluebirds have to be the prettiest birds that I see around my house.  Bright Royal Blue is not a color often found in nature, and it’s a nice change from the gray-brown-black colors of most birds.

They like to perch fairly high up, like the posts on my deck, or the telephone line in front of my house.  They scan below for fluttering insects, swoop down to collect their meal, and return to their perch.

I’ve noticed the Bluebirds especially hang around when I’m mowing my lawn.  The shorter grass makes for easier hunting, and the lawnmower tends to rile up a lot of insects.

Bluebirds are especially good to have around a garden, because of all the insect pests they can eat.

Public domain picture by Ken Thomas, Wikipedia.

Free and Open Source Software

I’m not a computer expert, but I do like tinkering with my computer and I really like finding a good deal.  There is some pretty good free and open source software out there if you know where to look.  When you don’t have much money to spend, free is good, and sometimes free works even better than commercial software that costs lots of money.

I live in a semi-rural area and still use dial-up internet access, which just isn’t practical for downloading large 10Mb – 150Mb programs.  I use the high-speed internet at my local library to download programs onto a small, portable USB flash drive (thumb drive, memory stick).  When I get home I always run a virus scan first on the flash drive, and then I can copy and install programs onto my home computer.

Here are some programs I’ve found to be very useful:

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
I think it’s just as good as antivirus products from Norton & McAfee, and it’s free for personal use.  Go to www.download.com and search on the phrase “AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition” with the quotes.

Advanced Systemcare Free
A utility program for spyware removal, Registry cleaning, a privacy sweep, and deletion of junk files.  Go to www.download.com and search on the phrase “Advanced Systemcare Free” with the quotes.

Comodo Personal Firewall
Secures your system against internal attacks such as Trojan viruses / malicious software and external attacks by hackers.  Go to www.download.com and search on the phrase “Comodo Personal Firewall” with the quotes.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Scans for and removes Malware (malicious software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer without the owner’s consent).  Go to www.download.com and search on the phrase “Malwarebytes Anti-Malware” with the quotes.

SyncBack
Back up or restore files to drives or removable media.  Go to www.download.com and search on the phrase “Syncback” with the quotes.  If you’re not backing up your important files, just wait until your computer crashes and then you’ll wish you had backed up your files.

OpenOffice.org
An office productivity suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet program, presentation manager, and a drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to those of other office suites. OpenOffice.org also works with a variety of file formats including those of Microsoft Office.  Go to www.download.com and search on the phrase “Openoffice.org” with the quotes.  This software is excellent, and you can save your documents as .pdf files.

WARNING!  You can really mess things up if you don’t know what you’re doing.  If you’re not familiar with installing software, find someone who is, who can help you.

Planting Potatoes on the Nye Farm

The day after Mother’s Day I spent a few hours helping my Dad plant potatoes.  First my Dad tilled up the garden with the tractor using his rotor-tiller attachment.  The tractor has a rear Power-Take-Off that rotates a shaft that spins the tines that chews up the soil.

Next, my Dad replaced the rotor-tiller with another attachment that has a plow.  He drove down each row and dug a furrow one foot deep.  I dropped seed potatoes into the furrow about 8 inches apart, and then I spread a thin layer of fertilizer with a handheld spreader.

Lastly, my dad put a third attachment onto the tractor that has six “claws.”  He drove down each row again, and the “claws” pulled the dirt over and covered the furrows.  I have to admit to being kind of impressed with the whole process.

Travelled up North for Mother’s Day

I travelled up North to spend a few days visiting with the family during the Mother’s Day weekend. They are located near the small town of Hessel in Michigan’s Eastern Upper Peninsula, about a 300 mile five hour drive from my house. Hessel is part of an area that includes 36 islands and is known as Les Cheneaux (pronounced “Lay-She-Know”), which is French for “The Channels.”

Saturday afternoon my Dad grilled up a few rib eye steaks, while my brother Mark separately cooked some asparagus, mushrooms, and onions. I made the pasta salad with a creamy horseradish dressing, and my Mom didn’t have to cook at all. Everything was delicious.

Sunday was Mother’s Day, so we crossed the Mackinac Bridge and went out to eat at Darrow’s restaurant in Mackinac City. Afterwards we took a short stroll near the beach by the Mackinac Bridge, but the wind was too strong and too cold to stay for long. My brother Mark and I each gave our Mom a Fuchsia hanging basket plant for Mother’s Day. She hangs them up just outside the windows of her sun-porch where they attract hummingbirds all summer long.

On Monday I helped my Dad plant potatoes for a few hours, and on Tuesday I helped my Mom and Dad transplant hundreds of onions and leeks. I was feeling a bit sore and stiff the next day.

Wednesday I travelled back home to Whitmore Lake with a car that was jam-packed with transplants my Dad grew for me from seed. I brought home hundreds of transplants that included Cabbages, Broccoli, Bok Choy, 3 kinds of Herbs, 4 kinds of Peppers, and 7 kinds of Tomatoes. My car was so full of plants that I couldn’t even bring my suitcase home; I had to leave it up North!

Pasta Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing

Serves 6
Makes a nice accompaniment to grilled steak.

Ingredients:

- 8 oz. radiatore pasta
- 1/2 lbs cooked, cubed beef sirloin (optional)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (optional)

Creamy Horseradish Dressing:

- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup fat free sour cream
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1-1/2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish
- salt & freshly ground black pepper

Cook radiatore pasta according to the directions on the package for al dente. Drain & rinse briefly under cold running water, set aside.

Combine mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk in a small bowl; whisk in garlic, mustard, horseradish, and salt & pepper to taste.

Place pasta in a serving bowl, add steak, onion, tomatoes, celery, & parsley, toss gently. Pour dressing over mixture and toss gently. Cover & refrigerate from 1-24 hours, garnish with blue cheese just before serving.

From the Pasta Salad: 50 Favorite Recipes cookbook, by Barbara Lauterbach, page 55.

***Tips: Horseradish can be very strong so don’t add all 1-1/2 Tablespoons at once; add incrementally to taste. I add more chopped celery, onions & tomatoes than the recipe calls for, and I make a double recipe to make sure there are some leftovers. Pasta will absorb most of the dressing very quickly, so I make an extra batch of the dressing and mix with chilled pasta right before serving. I don’t mix the tomatoes with the pasta salad until ready to serve. First I layer the serving dish with pasta, then halved tomatoes, then another layer of pasta, then halved tomatoes, etc. The horseradish dressing gives this pasta salad a real kick, and it’s just delicious.

Baby Sandhill Crane!

For the first time in a month both adult Sandhill Cranes came into my backyard together, and they had two new little reddish brown fuzzballs with them. Just two proud parents out taking a little stroll with the kids.

Baby Sandhill Cranes are called "Colts," and they look like ducklings but with longer legs, and HUGE feet like oversize clown shoes. Their little wings don't have any flying feathers yet, and they actually look more like flippers on a fish. When the little ones run around, they stick their "flippers" straight out like airplane wings to help them keep their balance.

The adults dig around in the ground looking for worms and grubs, or they will pick up a piece of dried whole kernel corn with their bill and feed it to the baby Cranes. Both little ones compete for food and attention by jumping up and down and flapping their little "flippers" as fast as they can. It's pretty clear their body language is saying . . . "Feed me! No Me! Me! Me! Me!" It's pretty hilarious, and they are very entertaining to watch.

Picture from Wikimedia

B-17 Bomber Flying Over My House

There's a World War II era B-17 bomber flying over Hamburg . . . Michigan! It's the "Yankee Lady," owned & operated by the Yankee Air Force located at Willow Run Airport, Ypsilanti, MI.

The "Yankee Lady" is a refurbished B-17G Flying Fortress heavy bomber, one of only 11 B-17's that are in flyable condition today. The "Yankee Lady" was manufactured in mid-1945 near the end of the war, too late to see any combat service. The "Yankee Lady" was used in the 1969 filming of the movie Tora Tora Tora!

The B-17 was primarily used to bomb German industrial, civilian, and military targets from bases in England during WWII. The Flying Fortress was noted for it's ability to absorb battle damage and bring it's crew home safely. The B-17 was an icon of American power and a symbol of the Air Force.

The "Yankee Lady" flys by my home often, and I can easily recognize the deep throaty roar of those four engines from a long distance, even while inside the house. It's great to see a piece of history still in action, just like what people saw over the Engish countryside 65 years ago.

Picture by Jimmy Olson, Flickr Creative Commons

For more information on the B-17G Flying Fortress "Yankee Lady," see this link:
http://www.yankeeairmuseum.org/

Sandhill Cranes Nesting Nearby

I have a pair of Sandhill Cranes nesting in the marsh behind my house. I put out dried whole kernel corn every day to bring them into my backyard where I can see them. Originally both birds came in together, and one would eat while the other kept a lookout for danger. Now I only see one Sandhill Crane at a time, because the other adult is on the nest keeping the eggs warm and protecting their young.

Sandhill Cranes are Michigan's largest bird, standing 4-5 feet tall with a wingspan of about 6 feet. They will forage for food in fields or shallow water, and will eat insects, worms, frogs, tadpoles, seeds & berries. Sandhill Cranes are famous for their dance, a series of jumping, bowing, & stick-tossing movements, and well known for their remarkably loud, trumpet-like call.

Sandhill Cranes have a 12-25 year lifespan, and they mate for life with pairs returning to the same nesting area every year. They normally lay two eggs; the chicks grow quickly and are ready to take their first flight 10 weeks after hatching.

Picture is from Wikimedia.

You can read more about Michigan Sandhill Cranes at this link:
http://www.bakersanctuary.org/crane.html

About Me

I was born and raised in the metro-Detroit area, and currently live in the Hamburg/Whitmore Lake area located 10 miles North of Ann Arbor and 26 miles West of Detroit. I live in a house on 2-1/2 acres of property surrounded by wetlands, and I enjoy seeing all the wildlife that passes through. It's a songbird paradise.

I enjoy being outdoors and doing things like mowing the lawn, or working in my 35ft x 35ft organic vegetable garden, where I specialize in growing tomatoes & peppers. Outside of gardening season, I like to exercise by walking around the block (3.4 miles) several times per week. I enjoy hunting, fishing, and visiting my family who live in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula on property that has been in the family for nearly 100 years.

I'm in my early forties, and I have been involved in the sales of electronics, instrumentation, & services to automotive R&D for nearly 20 years. I am fascinated with all things in Automotive Research and Automotive Engineering.

I got involved in electronics in high school through Amateur Radio, and taught myself about electronics through studying the Amateur Radio Relay League Handbooks. After high school I attended Central Michigan University for two years and studied Pre-Engineering.

I'm a fan of Ford Motor Company, and my last 4 cars have all been Ford Mustangs. I am a big fan of Detroit Red Wings hockey. I'm kind of a computer geek, and I like learning about website design including blogging, HTML, CSS, etc.

I am currently unemployed due to downsizing, and am seeking new employment as an inside sales rep, outside sales rep, or business development rep selling electronics or test equipment to industrial or automotive R&D.

I hope you like my blog, and I'll try to keep it interesting.

- Michael Nye

Michael Nye's Resume

SUMMARY:

Highly motivated Sales professional with 8 years Automotive experience using a broad product knowledge & strong selling skills at RS Electronics to capture over $1.25 Million dollars in business from the competition over the last two years. Executed sales of $5 Million dollars per year in electronics, sensors, & instrumentation to 24 Ford R&D locations and several Tier One automotive suppliers.


WORK EXPERIENCE:

2001 - 2008 Sales Representative, RS ELECTRONICS, an electronics & test equipment distributor, Tier One automotive supplier, and Ford Purchasing's Commodity Management Supplier of electronics & instrumentation for all plants and R&D facilities in North America.

• Transformed a customer service oriented position into a proactive, revenue-generating sales position, focused on maximizing profit and increasing market share. Blended elements of Marketing Research, Business Development, Field Sales, Inside Sales, & Customer Service.
• Created cost savings opportunities for Ford R&D through product substitution, alternative sourcing, pre-owned test equipment, Vendor Managed Inventory programs, & specifying products to solve problems or produce process improvements in automotive testing.
• Interfaced with engineers & technologists, program coordinators, test operations supervisors, facility managers, key requisitioners, engineering finance, and North American electronics commodity buyers.
• Accessed Ford non-production Part Specs, Requisitions, RFQ's & PO's in Ford's Webquote & CPARS purchasing systems.
• Negotiated new partnership opportunities with instrumentation manufacturers and mfr reps resulting in reseller agreements with product discounts for RS Electronics.
• Sold a broad spectrum of electronic components, electronic tools, sensors & transducers, value added services, Vendor Managed Inventory programs, portable electronic test equipment, and instrumentation for test stands.

2000 - 2001 Inside Sales, AUTOMATIC CONTROLS, an industrial process control manufacturer's representative.

1990 - 2000 Inside Sales, ELECTRO RENT CORP, a test equipment rental company.

• Sold/Rented/Leased a variety of Computers and General Purpose, RF/Microwave, Digital Design, and Data Acquisition electronic test equipment.
• Grew revenues in remote Ohio / Western PA. territory until enough critical mass to open a satellite office in Cleveland, resulting in the acquisition of my competitor.
• Increased sales at Morrison Knudsen from $10K to $1 Million per year.

TRAINING & EDUCATION:

• RS Electronics, Joe Ellers Inside Sales & Field Sales Training.
• Electro Rent Corporation, Professional Selling Skills I, II, & III.
• Central Michigan University, 2 years undergraduate studies in Pre-Engineering.

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

• Volunteer event staff for Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show for 4 years.
• Volunteer Clark Township webmaster for 4 years; redesigned the township website.

REFERENCES:

Available upon request.


SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION:

.pdf Copy of my Resume including contact information.
.pdf Letter of Recommendation from my former employer.
.pdf Product Line Card from my former employer.
.pdf Letter of Congratulations from Agilent for sales efforts at Ford.

Contact Me

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Click on this link to open the Contact Form in a new window.

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Make Links Open in New Window

When I include links in my blog posts, or in the Blog List and Link List Widgets, I want the links to open in a new window so that I don't lose my blog audience.

For links in blog posts edit the HTML and add the code in red:
<a href="http://www.quackit.com/html/html_help.cfm" target="_blank">HTML Help</a>

For links in Blog List and Link List widgets, go to Edit HTML, check the Expand Widget Templates checkbox, locate this line of code:
<li><a expr:href='data:link.target'><data:link.name/></a></li>

and replace with with this new line code:
<li><a expr:href='data:link.target' target='_blank'><data:link.name/></a></li>

Feedburner Email Subscription Fix

The Revolution Lifestyle theme for Blogger by Brian Gardner on Magznetwork is fantastic. However, the suggested code for the Feedburner Newsletter Widget isn't valid since Google acquired Feedburner.

Using trial & error, and the invaluable information in the Feedburner Email Subscription Request Problem blog post by Danny Ng, I came up with a fix specifically for the Revolution Lifestyle theme.

Go to Layout > Page Element, add a HTML/Javascript widget to SIDEBARTOP section. Add this code,

<div class="newsletter">
<h2>eNews &amp; Updates</h2>
<p>Sign up to receive breaking news <br/> as well as receive other site updates!</p>
<form id="subscribe" action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" target="popupwindow" method="post" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YOURFEEDBURNERID', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true">
<input id="subbox" onfocus="if (this.value == 'Enter your email address...') {this.value = '';}" value="Enter your email address..." name="email" onblur="if (this.value == '') {this.value = 'Enter your email address...';}" type="text"/>
<input value="YOURFEEDBURNERID" name="uri" type="hidden"/>
<input value="eNews Subscribe" name="title" type="hidden"/>
<input id="subbutton" value="GO" type="submit"/>
</form>
</div>

Change YOURFEEDBURNERID with your own Feedburner ID, located at the end of your feed address: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/YOURFEEDBURNERID

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If you need further help, please see the information in the Feedburner Email Subscription Request Problem blog post by Danny Ng.

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