The Cucumber That Ate Cleveland

My Frau discovered this mutant giant with the cantaloupes.

An errant pickle vine found its way off the reservation and produced this monster.

She thinks we should prepare it somehow for a meal. I briefly considered pickling it. Whole.

I’ve nixed both ideas. It's probably tough.

Big Stuff on the Road

I would bet you that even Don Quixote doesn't know where these wind turbine parts are going.

I sure don't.

I frequently see these towers tooling down the road accompanied by their pilot vehicles and I've often wondered where they're coming from.

Where they made somewhere else and enter through the Port of Green Bay or is there another answer?

A little Googling led me to Tower Tech Systems in Manitowoc.

But how do you explain one of these heading south of Green Bay towards Manitowoc?

Living Below Sea Level

Today marks the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest natural disasters in the history of the United States.

Many residents lost their lives and their homes with total property damage estimated at $81 billion dollars. Today, a massive project costing nearly $15 billion dollars is well under way to connect and strengthen the levees, flood walls, gates and pumps to protect the residents and cities that failed five years ago.

Read more about the project and see a Hurricane Katrina then-and-now slide show .

Selling Out

The recession has taken a toll on individuals, the Federal Government and also U.S. cities and states.

Many cities and states are looking for ways to raise cash. In order to raise cash to fix and rebuild streets and bridges, Indianapolis voted last month to sell its water and sewer utilities for $1.9 billion, including the assumption of about $1.5 billion in debt, to a charitable trust. Other cities are considering following suit and privatizing utilities to raise cash.

How bad is it for states?

A recent report by the Pew Center on the States says that states as a whole face a trillion-dollar gap between the $2.35 trillion states have set aside for pensions and other benefits and the $3.35 trillion needed to pay those benefits.

See a slide show on the worst state budget gaps and the Pew Center on the States report.

Stink Dog

It was bound to happen before too long.

The other day, while out for a walk, Girlfriend materialized from some really dense cover bringing with her an eye-watering stink.

Skunk.

See that wet patch on her shoulder?

That is the source of the stink.

Lots of scrubbing and an afternoon on the porch to dry-out and the this Lab was allowed back in the house.

Sunset

This is a Zepaltas California Rose.

2008.

Porch-sitting and watching the sunset with friends is a pastime that is hard to beat.

Fire! An Update

Here is the published account of the circumstances surrounding the fire.