New birds

For some reason we had a couple of new birds come to the yard a few days ago. A red bellied woodpecker came to the feeder, and a northern flicker (another woodpecker) was out in the yard trying to find ants and other bugs. Check out the pics below.

In other outdoors news, we finished the new garden along the side of the garage. Planted a bunch of different flowers and a couple of interesting bushes—hope they survive. Also started growing sweet peppers and oregano.

Red bellied woodpecker


Northern flicker

Graduation rain

It's graduation day for the rest of the university (mine's next Thursday), so of course it's raining. Nothing worse than rain on your graduation day—slogging through the rain in your gown, taking pictures inside instead of out in the spring sun, family members getting drenched.

I remember my undergrad graduation day, it was absolutely pouring. My poor parents got soaked waiting outside for me after the ceremony, then everyone skuttled over to the student center for the reception and pictures. On the other hand, my grad school graduation was a perfect day in Washington Square Park in NYC. Wonder what my third (and FINAL) graduation will be like?

In other news, one of my favorite bands, Testament, will be in town in May 27 for a show, so we're checking that out. Along with Metallica and Megadeth (and many others) they were one of the originators of the Bay Area Thrash sound in the 80s. They're still going strong more than twenty years later.

All finished.

Well that's all she wrote, folks. Had my last final exam yesterday, so I am officially finished with law school. Graduation is next Thursday.

Now I'm sitting on the front porch, sipping coffee, reading the news, and enjoying a nice spring morning. Birds are buzzing around the feeder, and a bright red cardinal is on the neighbor's TV antenna, singing his song.

I'm staying home today, but still doing work Law Review. That'll be ongoing until probably August. Bar exam preparation starts on the 26th, and goes until just before the exam, in late July. My job doesn't start until January now, so I'm not sure what I'll be doing for those few months. My guess is a combination of volunteer legal work and home improvement.

Happy Birthday, Michele!

Still wet.

It's still raining.

The roof is leaking in my office.

Our grass is a foot high.

The vegetables we planted are probably waterlogged.

The sunflowers aren't getting any sun.

Please stop raining.

Wet

Is it ever going to stop raining? We're stuck in one of those big rainy messes that seem to come once every couple of months (and that delayed the World Series for a couple of days). It's basically been raining since last Wednesday.

Our grass is about a foot high; I should've mowed it during the brief break from rain on Saturday, but we decided to drink beers and listen to baseball on the deck instead. It was worth it.

Flu fear

Following up on that last post, is this article really a surprise? "Emergency Rooms Fill With Record Numbers, but Many Aren't Ill, Just Afraid." Gee, I wonder how people got so scared?

Swine flu

This swine flu thing is really getting to me. The media coverage is all about how many people have it, how many have died, where is it going to go next, etc. The stories I've seen haven't talked about what it actually is, how you get it, how dangerous it is, the symptoms, etc. It's like the coverage of a political race where all they talk about is who's in the lead instead of what the issues are. That's not to say that there isn't any coverage of the practical issues, but it's far outweighed by articles stoking fear.