Last day for Blogger FTP

Today is the last day (or yesterday) for file transfer protocol (FTP) using blogger sourcing: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/02/02/google-discontinuing-ftp-support-for-blogger-blogs/

Even though I own the domain name lefthandedliving.com and I host the site through a third party, I still use Blogger to create and publish my content- although my content is few and far between. Not sure what will happen.

So, until I figure this out.


Lata

one of my fav pics from the Virgin Islands

Give

I come flying off the highway after work on a Friday afternoon, i'm banging down Carondolet Street, in New Orleans' Central Business district. It's a picture perfect spring afternoon, blue skies, a slight breeze and warm afternoon sun. As I park my car, I notice an old man sitting on the sidewalk, soaking up the sun and looking content. He looked very peaceful, sitting quietly, probably listening to the birds. As I paralleled into spot, the old man on the sidewalk came into plain view. He was wearing a green, US Army fatigue jacket, sitting on a small wooden cart with caster wheels, and he had no legs.
My first impression was he was a Vietnam vet. When I got out, I realized that the meters were still running and I didn't have a quarter to pay for parking. Just my luck, i get a sweet spot downtown and I don't have any change for the meter. As I'm standing there in bewilderment, the man reaches out his hand and offers me a Quarter (for the meter). I thanked him, but declined his kind gesture. After all, how was I gonna take a handout from a guy with no legs, sitting on a homemade push cart? After declining his offer a few more times, he unabashedly placed the coin in my hand.

Wish I had a picture of him.

In other news, I'm going to have to switch my lefthandedliving.com setup, because, blogger is no longer doing FTP- file transfer protocol, for uploading posts and pictures to third party servers. It goes into effect May, 1, so i'm going to have to find another editor to do my posts on.

Acronyms are for Assholes

It wasn't put just that way, but the premise was the same. I forget the guy's name but what he said was that acronyms are lazy ways for people to communicate and could be vague, confusing, and exclusionary to those who don't know what the acronyms mean. This was in 2006, though.

On the other side of the coin, acronyms are great for communicating in short hand. You can communicate your msg with less characters. They are inclusionary; for those in the know. If you are amongst friends, work or social groups, acronyms are communications in code. Twitter is kind of like an evolving acronym dictionary. It reminds me of Morse code.

Shoutout: Cape Cod

I was just listening to this Nas song, Hustlers. I like Nas, but I've never heard this song before. I couldn't believe my ears, but he starts off the third verse with a nod to Olde Cape Cod. Listen for yourself @ 36 seconds ---

Senator Brown

I love this guy already: "Arianna's definitely not available but Ayla is," he bellowed during his victory speech. He's already giving his daughter away to the people. I would take her out.

FOrget the tea party, this guy looks like a bull in a china shop. I can't wait to see what he really does and how he votes. I don't think either candidate really promised anything beyond healthcare voting.... He was running on an independent platform and kept abortion out of it.

Help Haiti

The people of the Caribbean are strong and resilient, having to rebuild their (mostly poor) small island nations, after being ravaged by hurricanes, which seems like every other year. Seeing those crumbled concrete buildings was so sad, because much of the destruction and death could have been avoided if buildings were built properly. It's pretty sad, when the presidential palace can't withstand an act of nature.

Nobody in the Caribbean saw this coming?

Most people think of concrete (poured and block) as being strong, tough, durable; which it is, if it's built properly and reinforced/designed sufficiently to withstand the loads that may be applied. What struck me the most from the pictures was that all the structures were made of concrete; no wood framed buildings.

When the pictures and video started to come out from Haiti, I was reminded of my work in the lumber industry. In addition to being based in New Orleans and focusing much of our efforts on construction in the Gulf states, which suffer from many of the same threats as islands in the Gulf of Mexico.

With the plethora of forest products) building materials available (at low prices)due to the global recession, American and multinational countries can and should donate materials, shipping, tools and equipment, to both showcase their materials, get rid of their old stock and great PR.


Utilizing the International Building Code (IBC) and the Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM).

Maybe we should put the Pallet house to use (see below).