This visitor to our front window is a white-lined sphinx moth, one of the largest flying insects in some deserts. It is also known as a hummingbird moth because it hovers and feeds on nectar like a hummingbird.

Traffic Laws Have Changed

The first traffic law I was aware of that had changed over the years was U-TURNS. It used to be that you couldn't make a U-Turn unless it was posted that you could or you were in the middle of nowhere and no traffic was around. Now you just have to be careful.

I have talked earlier about the Speed Limit: the de facto speed limit is 10 miles above the posted limit.

If you were to follow at 1 car length per 10 miles of speed like you used to, or even at the 3-second rule, you will probably get honked out of existence. (I don't care, I still do.)

Apparently, the blind spot that used to exist is gone. This law of human anatomy has been repealed. That is what it seems like when you watch people in the lanes around you.

How Bad are the COLORADO ROCKIES ?

When I was growing up, I followed the Denver Bears avidly. They were the AAA Baseball team. I remember listening to their games on my transistor radio as I collected payments for my paper route. My dad was a pharmacist, so he got free tickets from the Liquor Salesmen and I got to go quite often. They were succeeded by the Colorado Zephyrs (the ZZZs). When we finally got a Big League Ball club I really looked forward to it. I went to several games in the first seasons, first at Mile Hi Stadium (originally Bears Stadium), then at the really cool ballpark Coors Field. We nearly named our dog after Andres Gallaraga.

You can't afford tickets to the other Denver Sports Teams, the Rockies need to be geared more to the common folk.

The only records the Rockies have are concerning sold-out games, they did really great at first. Then they got their new stadium and even (barely) made it into the playoffs in 1995. In 1996 and 1997 they had winning seasons, but only 1 winning season (2000) since then, and probably now 2007. They really do draw good crowds when they have something to watch. When the Yankees were in town earlier this season, the city went crazy. You couldn't even get on a train to get to the stadium on time.

The only problem I see keeping the Rockies from being a big league franchise is the ownership. The original owners Monus and Antonucci were caught up in the Par-Mor embezzlement scandal. It went to Jerry McMorris, who was a prince of a fellow who got the money to invest in the Rockies by declaring bankruptcy at his trucking company and leaving all his drivers unpaid for long periods of service. Currently the controlling partners are the Monfort Brothers, who have had labor problems in their meat companies for many years (ConAgra), and tend to underpay all their (mostly legal) workers. These are the guys who reportedly require their version of Christian Ethics on the players, including no Playboy Magazines in the locker room.

1993-2006: 14 seasons
winning seasons: 4
playoffs: 1, 1995: lost 3-1 games to the other wildcard team.
Attendance seems to have a direct relationship to the number of games won.
The Rockies of the mid-90s looked great. Where did they go from there?

See some statistics here

See more about the Rockies at the.wikipedia article on the Colorado Rockies

Horse Chestnut Tree

I didn't know what those pods were until someone told me: My neighbor's tree is a horse chestnut tree. The pods are all around the neighborhood, distributed by the squirrels. The horse chestnut is poisonous, in fact all parts of the tree are poisonous. It won't kill you, it will just make you stumbling around sick.