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I set out with the intention on Friday afternoon of removing the gravel from where the pine trees had been, but I was distracted by some crap that was growing near the patio in one of the beds left behind by the former owners.  They seemed to plant stuff almost indiscriminately.  There are beds seemingly everywhere (and I’m finding landscape timbers in weird places, buried in the ground as well).  Since I have no patience or ability at gardening, I’ve taken an “everything must go” approach.  Grass is much simpler to deal with.

After hacking up all the crap and digging up a pretty good sized bush I ripped up the metal edging in preparation for putting down grass seed.  Then I turned my attention to the gravel.  It turns out that gravel isn’t easy to get up.  You have to take a bit of soil with it if you want to get all the gravel.  This in turn makes for heavy work.  I only got about halfway through the gravel before giving up.

Saturday morning I returned to the gravel, digging it all up and moving it to the corner of the yard, where I’m temporarily piling all the wood shavings and other debris until it can be hauled to the dump.  The pile was significantly bigger when I was done. 

I then turned my attention on an old dog house that was left by the former owners in the corner of the yard.  I yanked it out and ripped it apart.  Underneath I found some old lumber that someone had buried for some reason.  What was weird was that under the lumber they had buried bricks.  When I was done digging all that stuff up I had around 70 bricks (I was tempted at first to leave them there, but they didn’t seem conducive to effective grass growing).  For now they’re stacked up against the fence until I can figure out what to do with them.

This brought me to my final, and most daunting project: the removal of a 16 ft. by 4 ft. raised flower bed that was made of landscape timbers.  Each side was composed of 8-ft timbers laid end-to-end and it was two timbers high.  The thing was held together with those huge landscape spikes/nails, which made getting them apart something of a challenge.  After I got a couple of the timbers out (and dodged the little black snake that came out from under one at high speed) I realized that there was zero probability that I was going to be able to get them to the street by myself (not only were they too heavy, the trash company doesn’t like dealing with items over 5 ft. in length).  It was getting late by then, so I decided to wait until Sunday to bring in the chainsaw.

After a trip to Home Depot to obtain a chainsaw (and another to buy “bar and chain” oil) I finally got down to the business of reducing those damn timbers to manageable pieces.  My only mistake was forgetting ear plugs.  Afterwards I could hardly hear anything.

At this point, all that was left was the clean up.  But that wasn’t a picnic, either.  I had about 40 2 ft. long chunks of 8×8 timbers (some still crawling with annoying red ants), the remains of a dog house, metal edging, 8 or 9 bags of miscellaneous crap, and the remains of a large bush to hump down to the street.  The garbage people are going to be very busy at my place come Tuesday morning.

I have a feeling I’m going to pay for all this tomorrow.  I’ve already got an assortment of aches and pains.  And I think my nose is sunburned.  It’s pretty red right now, giving me that drunken glow.  I guess it’s good that I work from home so no one at work will think I’m drunk on the job tomorrow.

In the middle of my back yard, right up against the fence, and right under TXU’s power lines were two large pine trees.  The previous owners had put down white gravel in an pretty good sized area under the trees.  It probably seemed like a good idea at the time, since nothing would really grow there anyway.  They even had an A-frame swing set on the gravel between the two trees.  Unfortunately, they took the swing with them when they moved.

Anyhow, shortly after I moved in I noticed that the pine trees were leaking sap/rosin from several areas low on their trunks.  Earlier in the year I had them looked at by a tree service who said they might be saved by micro injections (10 injections per tree at $15 per injection).  For one reason of another I kept procrastinating calling the tree service to have the injections done.  Despite the predations of whatever parasite that was attacking them, they still seemed fairly healthy.  Until last week, that is. 

Asplundh showed up to trim the trees along the power lines.  They took so much off the tops of both trees that I couldn’t see how they would make it.  Most of their good, green limbs had been taken.  So I felt I didn’t have any choice anymore but to have them taken down.  I had that done (not by Asplundh, though) on Thursday and I also had them take away some other bushes in the back yard and along the side of the garage.

All of this activity spurred me to finally get around to most of the things I’d been wanting to do in the back yard, starting with removing all that damn gravel.

I’m still here, just a bit behind in the blogging thing.  Some kind of bug laid me low on Wednesday and Thursday.  I just couldn’t focus my mind well enough to come up with anything to write.  Friday, Saturday, and most of today were taken up with a major yard project.

More to come…

Two men in Scottsbluff, Nebraska were arrested for walking through a Wal-Mart while wearing women’s thong underwear.

The men, ages 35 and 36, bought two pair of underwear at the store Tuesday, went into a bathroom and came out wearing only the thongs and T-shirts, police said.

Of course, when they told the DA why they did it, he had to let them off.

When asked why they were wearing thong underwear, one of the men said a friend “triple-dog dared” them. They will not be prosecuted, authorities said.

Ouch!

LaFAYETTE, Ga. – A Walker County man was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine after his pants exploded while he was talking to social services workers outside his home.

…

He said Doyle apparently had mixed red phosphorous and iodine in a film canister and stuck it in his pocket.

The chemical reaction caused second- and third-degree burns to Doyle’s testicles and leg, Sheriff’s Maj. Hill Morrison said.

I think this is a valuable lesson in why you shouldn’t play with chemicals unless you know what the hell you’re doing.

I’ve recently been distracted by the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter, hence no posts since Friday.  It’s an interesting premise—the story is told in first person by Dexter, who just happens to be a serial killer who only kills bad people (like a priest who molests and kills children).  Ok, so it’s not Shakespeare, but it’s an entertaining distraction.

The story is set in Miami and from time to time we’re given some interesting observations, like this one:

“Every major city has a section like this one. If a piebald dwarf with advanced leprosy wants to have sex with a kangaroo and a teenage choir, he’ll find his way here and get a room. When he’s done, he might take the whole gang next door for a cup of Cuban coffee and a medianoche sandwich. Nobody would care, as long as he tipped.”

Scientists have come up with a method of photographic analysis that allows them to determine what people are looking at.

Shree K. Nayar, a professor of computer science and co-director of the Columbia Vision and Graphics Center, took high-resolution photographs of people that include their eyes and, in particular, the transparent part of the eye called the cornea. Then, with a postdoctoral researcher, Ko Nishino, he devised computer algorithms that analyze the images reflected in these natural mirrors, revealing a wealth of information.

The system can automatically recover wide-angle views of what people are looking at, including panoramic details to the left, right and even slightly behind them. It can also calculate where people are gazing – for instance, at a single smiling face in a crowd.

Of course, while this technology has potential for good uses, there is also potential for abuse.

Because the algorithms can track exactly where a person is looking, the system may one day find use in surveillance cameras that spot suspicious behavior or in interfaces for quadriplegics who use their gaze to operate a computer.

I’d like to know just what they think would constitute suspicious behavior?  I tend to scan crowds looking for people who might be acting odd as a standard precaution.  Will this get me pegged as a shady character by the system?  How about staring at a cop’s gun?  I generally look out of curiosity to see what model he’s carrying.  Is that suspicious?  Would it get me stopped and questioned?  How is this anyone’s business as long as I don’t make any threats or moves towards the cop?  Seriously, there is no computer system that can approximate the “hairs on the back of your neck”/“what’s that guy up to?” neural warning system in our heads.  All a computer can do is flag certain behaviors for a person to check.  But that just ends up singling out lots of innocent people for further scrutiny, perhaps to the detriment of looking for a real bad buy.

On a less serious note, do we really want to be able to analyze where guys are looking?  Or do we really need to analyze it?  As the Slashdot posters mention, it sounds like it has the potential to get a lot of guys in trouble with their girlfriends/wives. 

If this became widespread I suppose sunglasses would become required accessories if you wanted to maintain even a tiny shred of privacy.

The item below and subsequent discussion on The High Road about the police actions in Oskhosh got me to thinking about another, related issue.

Specifically, the police “evacuated” a 6-block area and forced the residents to a shelter for the duration of their search.  What rights does a private citizen have to refuse to leave his home in the face of a police demand to evacuate?

My first thought about it is that in the absence of a specific, immediate threat, I would be reluctant to leave.  I’d ask the officer whether it was a request or an order.  If it’s just a request, I’ll tell him to get lost.  If it’s an order, then I think the law would require me to leave, but I’d insist on locking the house and arming the alarm.  I just don’t trust cops enough anymore to leave things open for them to get in and mess with my stuff.  This incident simply reinforces that.

Update:  This has also brought up something that’s been stewing in the back of my mind for a while now.  The weekly Keller newspaper publishes records of all arrests from the previous week.  Reading through them, the majority are either DWI (no objection there, for the most part) or small drug posession arrests based on a consent search following a simple traffic stop (headlight out, speeding, failure to signal, etc).  It amazes me that people would consent to a search in this circumstance, but I understand that a lot of people a.) don’t know their rights, and b.) are often browbeaten or intimidated into consenting.  Now that I know the Keller cops are search-happy on traffic stops (and I already knew they were like sharks in a small pond when it comes to looking for traffic violations), I’ll be more on guard.  However, asserting your rights can get you arrested if the officer feels like it.  Texas law allows them to arrest you for simple traffic violations if they feel like it.  Given this, I think I need to find a good criminal defense attorney and if not put them on retainer, at least establish a relationship.  Besides, it’s probably stupid of me to have gone this long without doing so.  Partially it’s a matter of procrastination, but there’s also the fact that I haven’t a clue about how to find a good lawyer.  I’ve found a few directories that list attorneys in the area by speciality, but I have no idea how to determine if they’re any good.

After one of their officers was shot last week, it would appear that the police in Oshkosh, WI need a refresher course on the Fourth Amendment.

From the Wisconsin Gun Owners website:

Police evacuated citizens from their homes within a quarantined area near Smith Elementary School Saturday night (July 17, 2004) to conduct a broad gun sweep of the neighborhood following the shooting of Oshkosh police officer Nate Gallagher.

  Residents reported returning home from area shelters—where they were herded by police—to find their guns gone.

  Others watched in awe as police took their firearms after giving police consent to search. Some were told by police their firearms would be subjected to ballistics tests, and would be returned.

  “However, the bullet that hit officer Gallagher was not found,” said Corey Graff, executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. “So how can police conduct ballistics tests if there’s no bullet with which to match the results? It defies logic.”

  Graff said the biggest issue is what he calls the department’s “Guilty-until-proven-innocent” posture towards citizens.

  In what appears to be a blatant knee jerk abuse of police power, the department unleashed the dogs — literally — when the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) showed up with its K-9 Unit to begin house-to-house searches.

  According to media reports, the suspect fled on foot into the neighborhood, and has not been apprehended.

  Warrants for searches were issued for at least two homes, (perhaps more) but homeowners in the area reported having all their firearms taken by police.

  Some witnesses said the whole neighborhood was evacuated by force and citizens were being told – not asked, but told – to hand over their guns. Some weren’t even asked.

      “That’s what makes me so mad,” said resident Terry Wesner in an Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004). “They had no reason [to remove firearms] without a warrant. . .I didn’t know they removed anything until my buddy, who’s staying with me, noticed they were missing. I thought you had to have a warrant to take someone’s guns.” [Emphasis Added]

  In a subsequent report, another resident, who worked the late night weekend shift, reported he came home to find a scene that looked like his home had been burglarized — he said personal belongings were thrown about — and his gun safe was empty.

  “They didn’t even leave a note, telling me what was going on,” the man said on camera.

  An elderly woman said she woke up to find police — who were reported to be dressed in black, quasi-military gear — conducting a search in her home in the early morning hours.

  “Did the fact that this poor senior citizen happened to live in the immediate area of the crime warrant “Reasonable Suspicion” or “Probable Cause” that she could have committed this heinous act?” asked Graff.

  “Is Grandma taking pot shots out her kitchen window? Is she hiding something in the cookie jar?” He said.

  In the same Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004) Oshkosh Police Captain Jay Puestohl was reported to have, “declined to say on what grounds officers had the right to remove the firearms…”

 

I think this just shows once again why you should never, ever allow police into your house without a warrant.  Of course, the police may barge in anyway, but if they do at least you still have legal standing to contest their entry.  If you give consent to a search you’ve given up the ability to challenge the search.  The same goes for traffic stops.  I will never, ever give consent to a search of my house or vehicle, even if I haven’t done anything wrong.

Because Wisconsin Gun Owners don’t provide any way to link directly to their news articles I’ve reproduced their entire article in the extended text area of this entry so it will be available in case it scrolls off of their main page.

Oshkosh police say ‘Sorry’ for trampling citizens’ rights in door-to-door gun confiscations.

  Oshkosh, Wis.—In what appears to be an admission of wrong-doing by the Oshkosh Police Department, Fox 11 WLUK (Green Bay) has reported that area resident Terry Wesner was offered an apology by the department.

  Police evacuated citizens from their homes within a quarantined area near Smith Elementary School Saturday night (July 17, 2004) to conduct a broad gun sweep of the neighborhood following the shooting of Oshkosh police officer Nate Gallagher.

  Residents reported returning home from area shelters—where they were herded by police—to find their guns gone.

  Others watched in awe as police took their firearms after giving police consent to search. Some were told by police their firearms would be subjected to ballistics tests, and would be returned.

  “However, the bullet that hit officer Gallagher was not found,” said Corey Graff, executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. “So how can police conduct ballistics tests if there’s no bullet with which to match the results? It defies logic.”

  Graff said the biggest issue is what he calls the department’s “Guilty-until-proven-innocent” posture towards citizens.

  In what appears to be a blatant knee jerk abuse of police power, the department unleashed the dogs — literally — when the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) showed up with its K-9 Unit to begin house-to-house searches.

  According to media reports, the suspect fled on foot into the neighborhood, and has not been apprehended.

  Warrants for searches were issued for at least two homes, (perhaps more) but homeowners in the area reported having all their firearms taken by police.

  Some witnesses said the whole neighborhood was evacuated by force and citizens were being told – not asked, but told – to hand over their guns. Some weren’t even asked.

      “That’s what makes me so mad,” said resident Terry Wesner in an Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004). “They had no reason [to remove firearms] without a warrant. . .I didn’t know they removed anything until my buddy, who’s staying with me, noticed they were missing. I thought you had to have a warrant to take someone’s guns.” [Emphasis Added]

  In a subsequent report, another resident, who worked the late night weekend shift, reported he came home to find a scene that looked like his home had been burglarized — he said personal belongings were thrown about — and his gun safe was empty.

  “They didn’t even leave a note, telling me what was going on,” the man said on camera.

  An elderly woman said she woke up to find police — who were reported to be dressed in black, quasi-military gear — conducting a search in her home in the early morning hours.

  “Did the fact that this poor senior citizen happened to live in the immediate area of the crime warrant “Reasonable Suspicion” or “Probable Cause” that she could have committed this heinous act?” asked Graff.

  “Is Grandma taking pot shots out her kitchen window? Is she hiding something in the cookie jar?” He said.

  In the same Oshkosh Northwestern report (July 20, 2004) Oshkosh Police Captain Jay Puestohl was reported to have, “declined to say on what grounds officers had the right to remove the firearms…”

  “If officers were acting honorably and respecting property owners’ rights, why not say so? Why not be upfront? Why the secrecy?” Graff said.

  One resident in the neighborhood may have found himself the subject of the investigation simply by refusing to consent to a search (entirely within his rights) according to the news report.

  The Oshkosh Northwestern story quoted one neighbor — who suspected homeowners who exercised their right to refuse consent to the heavy-handed searches, were presumed guilty by police — as saying:

      “. . .[T]hey’ve been downright rude to us. . .You don’t treat so-called civilians this way.” [Emphasis Added]

  The news story goes on to say that Captain Puestohl “. . .declined to say whether officers pursued the warrant because the residents refused a consent search.”

  This hysteria-driven Oshkosh neighborhood gun grab could establish a nightmarish precedent for a wide-open abuse of police power to be unleashed upon Badger State gun owners said WGO.

  The silence from other gun rights groups on this issue is deafening.

  “The institutional gun lobby is just as scared as the poor people in that Oshkosh neighborhood,” Graff said. “They might be thinking, ‘If I speak out, will my guns be next?’”

  Wesner, one of the brave gun owners to speak out against the rash of gun confiscations that occurred after the shooting, said police confiscated his guns after entering his home without a search warrant.

  He reported in a Thursday, July 22 television interview with WLUK-FOX 11, “They [the police] are not going to come in my home again [without a warrant].”

  That same report stated that the police “acknowledged a lack of proper procedure [in not obtaining a warrant].” 

Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. said the most effective response for gun owners is to join and contribute to the organization’s bold, no-compromise educational crusade. 

Sometimes you get an unexpected combination of input data and the system barfs all over you.

Jim Cara wanted a vanity license tag that would make people laugh.

But when he chose “NOTAG” for the plate on his Suzuki Hayabusa, a sleek blue and silver motorcycle with a speedometer that reaches 220 mph, the joke backfired.

The new tag arrived Saturday under an avalanche of Wilmington parking violations.

“All the traffic tickets say, ‘Notice of violation. License number: no tag,’ ” Cara said.

City computers, talking to state Division of Motor Vehicles computers, had finally found an address for ticketed vehicles that lacked license tags: Cara’s home in Elsmere.

“I messed up the system so bad,” Cara said. “I wonder if they can put me in jail or something?”

He has received more than 200 violation notices. The mail carrier came twice on Saturday. Cara opened a few. They ranged from $55 to $125 for violations such as meter expirations.

Fortunately, they’re going to correct the problem in the system, but I find it kind of amusing.  I guess no one thought that anyone would ever try to actually use “NOTAG” as a valid license number.