Neanderpundit

awakens me this morning. Then, a few minutes later. Chirpchirp.

I recognize the noise, I think, it’s the noise a smoke alarm makes when the battery is going. I get up, stagger around the house trying to figure, which one? The time between chirps seems to vary, and the smoke alarms always seem to chirp on a regular basis. So, I wonder what’s up, and finally end up taking the batteries out of all five smoke alarms.

Chirpchirp.

I look for the wife’s cellphone, it’s charging. I look for mine, it’s off. Chirpchirp.

I sit at the computer and look to see if the UPS is drifting, or dying, and it’s not. I turn it off. FOr a while, nothing, then, chirpchirp.

Then I look out the window and see a bird on the feeder, and just as he opens his beak, I hear, chirpchirp.

I will call him the Beeperbird, and he’s in my tribe.

This…. well, this is gonna be a bit graphic, so send the kids out ofg the room. Might wanna swallow your coffee before you click to expand the page, too.
Continue Reading »

Couple days ago, Acidman makes mention of his favorite Americans; I can definitely agree with him on his list, but I can’t imagine even trying to limit it to ten; America grows ’em great and in vast numbers.

Two Americans Rob mentions are personal favorites of mine, as well; Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford.

It’s easy enough to learn about both of these men, form any number of sources, but you can tell a lot about a man by the toys he collects, and such a collection exists in regard to Edison and Ford.

In Dearborn michigan, there exists a place that is pure magic, to those of us who have a love affair with the Machine, and that place is the Henry Ford Museum, and Greenfield Village, both part of a larger Edison Institute.

The Henry Ford is a must see. Ford’s first car. Edison’s last breath. (yes, it’s there, in a test tube) One of the largest steam engines in captivity. A huge steam/natural gas generator, as big as a large home. Watt/Newcomen steam mineshaft pumps. A DC-3 hangs from the ceiling. Machine tools of all types. Tractors, harvesters, threshers. Rifles, shotguns, vacuum cleaners. A Fullerhome. THe Original Wienermobile. The infamous Rosa Parks bus. The equally infamous Kennedy limousine. The Reagan limousine. The Lincoln chair. All of these things, and hundreds of thousands more. And that’s just the museum.

The Village, Greenfield Village, that is, contains some very interesting things. Things you wouldn’t expect even existed, anymore.

The Ford Homestead. The Edison homestead. The McGuffy Schoolhouse (remember the McGuffy reader? “See dick run”) Noah Webster’s home. the George Washington Carver homestead. the Wright Brother’s workshop. The original Henry Ford shed.

What’s so special about Henry’s shed?
Continue Reading »