This is a chunk of windshield glass in our garden. The glass comes from the drip tray on the machine that makes windshields. Every so often the drip tray needs to be cleaned out and big chunks of glass like this one are the results.





Today we got our first "snow" in Dallas. On my way home yesterday it was 78 when I got in the car and when I got home it was 55. It was raining most of the day today and was below freezing, so now we have ice...

So I was out on one of the Nikon sites (http://nikonstunninggallery.com/) that shows pictures captured using the new Nikon D80. Well the second picture in the list titled "Palm Ceiling" was actually shot with a Minolta, not a Nikon. Oops...

Yesterday we went to see ICE at the Gaylord Texan (a local hotel). It was really neat to see the level of detail in some of the carvings. They also put lights in some of the ice as well as coloring, as you can see from the guy next to me. I do say that it was a bit expensive for what it was, but I guess they did let us use the fancy coat you see me in as well as validated our parking.

Well today is the day after Thanks Giving and we have now started decorating for Christmas. As part of our tradition, the lights are up and glowing.

This is the table for the big feast. Everything was great and Ashley's turkey was GREAT! I think I like her sweet potatoes the best though...

We took Radar over to the park with Joan and Steve today. We figured if we did some waling it would help off-set all the food...

Ash is finishing up preparing the Turkey before it gets put into the oven. Steve is making his "World Famous" clam dip. He never tells us what the special ingredient is, but it is always good. Really I think he changes the ingredients every time he makes it...

Got to love sales reps...

Quack quack...

Being a geek, I prepare for various technical situations. Rather I need to rigg the TV up to the Toaster or the Microwave to the Door Bell, as a geek I should have the right cables and connectors to do such a thing. The thing I hate most is when my equipment fails me. I tend to sped a fair amount of money on electronics and it is VERY disappointing when they are not ready to preform or preform poorly. However today things just seem to be working...

As one of my hobbies, I frequently monitor the local public safety radio transmissions (Police, Fire, Dog Catcher, etc.). When I got up today I started to monitor the Local Frisco Police Department when I heard a quite interesting call on my scanner(BC250D) in our old neighborhood. Not only was my scanner ready, I had also recently installed a new recording software (Scanner Recorder 1.9) on my laptop that allows me to record the event. So once I heard the call go out, I launched the program and began the recording process. Apparently a guy had left a threatening note and had a gun, but was passed out on the couch. The Wife and kids left the house and called the police. After listening for a bit I could tell that they were not going to get this guy out of the house in a short amount of time and that they would be calling for more assistance. I got my other scanner (BR330T) out of the car and started listing to other frequencies.

It was great, both scanners ready and charged, recording software online, and I was listening at the right time. I love it when a plan works... At the current moment the Frisco Police are setting up a Command Post (CP) and have recently just put SWAT on standby. I will post the audio file after the event is all over...

UPDATE 10:44
This incident ended peacefully. They were able to make contact with the guy and he came outside where the police took him into custody.

Click HERE for the audio file.