Category: Living

Living by Joe WilcoxOct 2, 20077:55 pm

Long May You Run

I continue to mourn our two rabbits, which went to a new home on Sunday. We can’t take either of them with us to California. 🙁 I’ve been thinking about Daisy and her romps around the backyard; how happy she would be. For some reason, I find Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” coming to mind when I think of the bunny.

My basement office is a desolate place now, and the backyard is a field of dread. Something about the rabbits—and their simple tranquility—represents a lifestyle lived in this house. Their departure has taken away part of our home. I loathe coming down into the basement to work now. I count the remaining days to our departure. We can’t leave this place soon enough.

Critters by Joe WilcoxSep 30, 20077:40 pm

Bye Bye Bunnies

Today we sent our two beloved bunnies, Daisy and Mayflower, to a new home. I’ve referred to them on this Weblog as Bun Bun and Little Bun, respectively. Daisy was hardest for me to let go. She and I shared my basement office for more then four years. She was a delightful companion.

For weeks, we had been looking for a home but with no success. Last Monday, my wife posted to three home school lists, with no promising response from anyone. The week ahead would have been one of desperation, with the rabbits going to an animal shelter on Saturday if they had no takers. We didn’t want to put them in a shelter.

Critters by Joe WilcoxSep 15, 20076:50 pm

Daisy Days

Today was another cleaning day, as we prepare to move to another city. I took Daisy out in the backyard to chomp on clover. For years on this blog, I referred to her as Bun […]

Society by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 20075:51 pm

My Math Team Memory

One of my best friends (there were only two) from my senior year of high school tracked me down over the weekend. I had wondered about her for years. She’s back in Maine, although she […]

Living by Joe WilcoxSep 7, 20075:46 am

In My Dreams, 33.8 Hours

New Labor Department jobs report is out. Average work week is 33.8 hours. Geez, I easily work twice that some weeks, and never fewer than 50. What a life to work only 34—or even 40 […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 3, 20076:54 pm

The 80-200mm Nikon Lens on Parade

Today, marked an important test for the Nikon AF NIKKOR 80-200mm 1:2.8D ED lens, whether or not I would keep it. I got the lens as part of a trade for use with my new Nikon D200. Field test was dramatic: Kensington, Md.’s annual Labor Day parade. The newer model 80-200mm lens costs about $1,000, while I got this older 80-200mm for a fraction of the price. I don’t mind a used, older lens—as long as it performs.

I wasn’t disappointed, but I also wasn’t overly impressed, either. Maybe having used a Canon 135mm Prime lens had spoiled me, raising my expectations about clarity and sharpness. More likely, from looking at the photos, I needed a lens hood. More time with the D200 (I hadn’t used one for almost a year) would have helped.

Sports by Joe WilcoxAug 14, 20075:50 pm

Breaking the Ice at Ice Town

This morning we returned to that rink in the mall, Ice Town, for a dramatically different skating experience. I had wondered, “Who puts an ice rink in a shopping mall?” The rink could be fun for kid and teen shoppers, but little more. My bad. A lot more.

Ice Town packs in the serious skaters. My daughter returned during the Tuesday morning Freestyle session, where there were plenty of high-level skaters, including a young man representing Mexico in world competition.

Sports by Joe WilcoxAug 13, 20076:15 pm

Ice Town

Vacation 07 had to include skating practice for my 13 year-old daughter. My wife did some Internet research and located a rink fairly close to our motel. But when we got to the address, we […]

Living by Joe WilcoxAug 12, 20073:42 pm

No Jet Blues

We don’t vacation often, because it costs just too darn much to travel. Besides, there are plenty of attractions in Washington, D.C. Everybody comes our way to see the monuments. Anyway, we flew out to San Diego last […]

Video by Joe WilcoxJul 27, 20077:53 pm

We Mourn

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwBIzkp4V6Q] Overnight, one of the teens in our community died after falling while skateboarding. We can’t offer deepest enough condolences to the family, which lost their youngest child (he was 18) and only […]

Living by Joe WilcoxJul 13, 20076:25 pm

Fill Her Up

When I was 14, the local radio station—with 50,000 watts of power—broadcast from neighboring Presque Isle, Maine. I found one DJ, whose name is lost to memory, quite exciting. One summer afternoon, the he put […]

Living by Joe WilcoxJul 5, 20075:52 pm

What Will Be the Returns?

Today’s New York Times column “An iPhone Changed My Life (Briefly)” hits at the device’s fundamental problem: Hype. There was too much of it—and not really from Apple—that may have over-raised many people’s expectations. The issue Michelle Slatalla raises is one of returns. Will she return her iPhone? She writes, “I have started thinking seriously about returning the $599 phone, despite a 10 percent restocking fee. It hasn’t really changed my life in the ways I’d hoped”.

But she may have started with overly unrealistic expectations, which the runaway hype helped foster. The name includes “phone” for a reason. Apple didn’t promise a device that would cure cancer or feed the starving.