Chazd's (Charles Dowdell's) News Burps

Some mornings the birds are so loud it really sets a mood. It is a good mood that should be allowed to saturate. Here is a list of some of the birds I have heard and/or seen between 2014 and 2024. Great Blue Heron Yellow Crowned Night Heron Baltimore Oriole Eastern Bluebird Eastern Screech Owl Veery Red Shouldered Hawk Red Bellied Woodpecker Common Nighthawk Gray Catbird Worm-Eating Warbler Wood Thrush Fish Crow Great Crested Flycatcher Swainson's Thrush American Crow House Finch Belted Kingfisher Carolina Chickadee Pine Warbler House Wren White Throated Sparrow Brown Headed Cowbird Carolina Wren White Breasted Nuthatch Mourning Dove Ruby Throated Hummingbird Eastern Towhee Blue Jay Northern Cardinal Pileated Woodpecker Chickadee Eastern Catbird American Robin Downy Woodpecker Song Sparrow Brown Thrasher Green Heron American Goldfinch Chipping Sparrow Kingfisher Canada Goose Mallard Duck Mocking Bird White Crowned Sparrow Black-hea

We took the new Tesla Model Y up to Tugaloo State park on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. I bought non-OEM cross bars for the canoe. The install was a bit tricky since the mounting is in exact places under the roof glass. The test was successful since I was driving up to 80 mph with 50 mph winds. No issues whatsoever. I did put a line from the bow down to the truck for some additional piece of mind. We did some canoeing, but not as much as hoped due to strong currents in the Tugaloo river. Cooking and eating out in the woods always makes food taste better.

I remember the first "Earth Day" in 1970. I remember it well. I was in third-grade at Oakview Neighborhood School in West Irondequit, NY. We had energized school lessons regarding care for the environment and there was a common thread in our cultural changes that we all need to care more about nature and ourselves. There was almost no opposing dialog. We had seen large fish kills, weird colored skys, and bodies of water we wouldn't even think about swimning in, including Lake Ontario. This was almost 10 years before the awakening of " love canal " in nearby Nigagra Falls NY. Generally, in 1970 the dialog was about polution and what we can do to reduce polution. Polution consisted of many things, trash along the highways, untreated sewage and industrial dumping and runoffs. Don't forget about sound polution, also part of the polution spectrum. We were also significantly concerned about needlessly cutting of trees and wasting paper. Since 1970 we have made g

I have almost two weeks at my new job and they are trusting me with some expensive product :-). I got to operate an excavator and a large off-road dump truck. It was a fun bit of training and since I work out of a training center, quite convienient. That is me in the cab.

I am always interested in new experiences. Well, most new expereiences if they are not obviously dreadful. I have a new commute to my new job. Google maps says its an hour. In practice it is longer (in my straight up following lord and master maps of Google) due to car wrecks, and general bullshit. I don't have to be in the office everyday but a long commute is new to me. I am evaluating it. I am listening to audio books which is a great use of time that I otherwise probably wouldnt be doing. I dont have any pictures, I am too busy watching the road ahead for flashes of brake lights and nutso drivers.

I was successful getting to all 8 countries I planned. South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, and Namibia. The trip was 14 days with 13 flight segments. The shortest flight was 15 minutes in an ultralight and the longest flight 16+ hours. I rented a 4x4 in Lesotho and another in Namibia. Among many other things in my travels, I walked across the Victoria Falls bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe and took an ultralight aircraft ride over the same bridge and falls. Namib Desert from the air. Look for my 4x4. Skeleton Coast Heart of Namid desert near uranium mine Maputo, Mozambique-- City Hall and Samora Machel statue Maseru, Lesotho-- I was delayed at the airport leaving Lethoto by about three hours. I had to find a nother hotel in Namibia since I wasn't going to drive after dark. The delay was caused by the Airport being shut down because of an expired battery in the airport fire truck. We had to wait to get a n