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Prices at the gas pumps rising… inflation. does anybody have money really to travel for vacation?

So its time to adapt. And do a vacation of exploring our local communities. Their is plenty to do around lancaster, we plenty of parks. The Lancaster County Park is partly in the city limits. So today I visited the park and snapped some photos at “Garden of Five Senses”.

I grew up a dirt poor kid in Lancaster. So I have been visiting the parks and fished the Contestoga river.I do not worry when the money belt gets a little tight, pertaining to vacation. I been through it many times before.

Visiting the Park, and the Garden of five senses is free. Its great for couples are kids, and no need for big plans to visit.

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Hard to believe these Eastern Pines Grow in the city limits. I wish i could upload the Smells and odors of this garden. too bad i cannot find the right file format.

Plenty of signs that explain the natural history and life in The Garden of Five Senses. The one on the left is in braille for the vision impaired.

I love to hear the water move in the garden. this is a pond right in the middle.

With no money to travel, we mind as well see how nature flowers in flows at home!

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Call me Ishmael, but I have been obsessed on getting a decent picture of the Red- Tail Hawks that have been flying into the City of Lancaster. Despite being called a “chicken Hawk”, these common birds of prey feed on mostly rodents, and rabbits. They generally like open places to hunt, such as farms or open fields.

So i am surprised to see them in the city limits, where it is tough fly and hunt with their wide wing spans.

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Left: is the huge antenna at U.G.I, near Farnum field. You can see the skeleton of the new Convention Center in the backround.
Right: is  one of two Red tail Hawks who are in the “light stage” this means they are just past the juvenile stage.   You can see the white breast, which will become darker as the bird ages into its “dark stage”.
well i am sure I can get some closer pictures in the future,
All well, Happy Memorial day.

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Senator Barack Obama held a rally yesterday at the Lancaster Train Station. With The Pennsylvania Primaries coming on Tuesday, Lots of supporters came out.

This is not a political website. But this is where I was Yesterday, with several thousand other Lancasterians.

Sen. Hillary Clinton was campaigning in York, Pa. Mean while Sen. Obama was here in Lancaster, with friend and respected Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey.
The weather was beautiful and the air was thick was excitement. and I kinda chuckled when a few young girls nearly swooned beside me. The Political issues are always the most important thing, however you cant underestimate the charisma of Obama, admits the very festive atmosphere.

The Rally included a local, proud veteran, some fine Lancaster Rock bands. Senator Bob Casey (middle right  second pane) talked briefly and stood in support of Obama.
Hootenanny singer Earl Pickens received a couple humorous Jeers for mispronouncing Lancaster (its pronounced LANG-kist-er). his performance was fun and engaging he is definitely worth checking out at is site: myspace/earlpickens.

the Senator from Illinois did pronounce “Lancaster” correctly and that is the most important thing (hehe).

Some overtime for these two fellows.
The Primary is on Tuesday Aprill 22nd. Vote early and vote often!

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while cleaning up my computers folders i found a couple pictures I took last year.

This was a damp night in December on Queen st.

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Lancaster has two squares: Penn Square and Lancaster Square.

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late fall picture. I had taken this with my first camera… I bought the camera right in time for the fall leaves change.

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peace!

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dear mr. Obama,

If i am going to vote for you, twice possibly… I would like you to understand me a little better.
I live in one of those towns in Pennsylvania, where gun control laws,illegal immigration, and religion are always a topic. I am sometimes frustrated and bitter just as you recently said.

However, I do not think that I or others in my community build the whole of our values on our frustrations and bitterness.
This is Pennsylvania, the Keystone state, with many towns older than our country. It is a state also a state where sporting is very big part of life.
The constitution and the principles of our founding fathers has a influence on our values, just as the colonial architecture, and heritage influences the scenery.

* The debate about gun control is an argument over constitutionality. It not a diversion from bitterness.

* the debate over illegal immigrants has a lot to do with citizenship…I for one encourage that everyone who wishes to participate in America, should strive to be a tax paying citizen. my value of citizenship, has nothing to do with frustration or bitterness.

* religion? well as far as i can tell the majority of people use faith as means of building values. again it has less to do with frustration or bitterness at the kernel.

does frustration drive us? should frustration us? I think so, but I think you have confused on how Pennsylvanians value.

Do we all agree on issues such as illegal immigration, gun control, and religion? of course not.
Thats what diversity is all about. We may find a unified America of diversity… an Integrated America, within the principles of responsible liberty, that our founding fathers worked so hard for.

I think fine sir, that you can make a great president, but you can at least take another look at Pennsylvanians Values. I think you missed the mark the first time.

Regards,
Chris

With the skyrocketing cost of gasoline; With my truck being worked on, It seem a good chance to look for some alternative modes of transportation. Today I chose to take the bus to work.

I live about twelve miles from where i work. It usually takes me a half hour, through morning traffic to drive to my destination. My beat up truck has a tiny 4 cylinder engine and it uses about 2/3 a gallon of gas to get to work.

So today, in rebellion to the the addiction to the great American Heroin, OIL, I woke about an our early to walk downtown. Not the safest journey in the predawn hour… Detouring through Water st has some hazards… I was only proposition by one prostitute, nothing too dangerous.( i wonder if google has taken its now notorious 3D map of water st. hmm)

I reached the Red rose transit authority lancaster bus stop early. So I took some pictures to kill the time.

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Some people were out in the early morning. Not much traffic yet.

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Their seems to be art studios everywhere in Downtown Lancaster. This window display added a sentimental detour to my trek to the RRTA terminal on Queen st. “Where The Wild Things Are” was a favorite book of mine as a small child. Its regarded as classic.

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Ms. Clintons campaign headquarters on the corner of Walnut st and Queen st. With the Pennsylvania primary coming up on April 22nd. Its impossible not to walk ten feet without tripping over a political sign. (I should of asked that prostitute who she is voting for…)

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And finally to the new bus terminal on the two hundred block of Queen. The Terminal is very clean and attractive. This picture was taken from the bus i was on.
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What i learned today. It cost me $ 2.15 and an extra hour of time to get to work. That time was a pleasant experience. I personally do not believe the price of gasoline is ever going any direction but up.So I found a successful alternative today.
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Chris gets on his soap box: every week is a chance to explore on more way to find alternatives to our out-of-date energies. shutting down unneeded power sources in the house. Using low energy light bulbs.
using mass transit, car pooling or riding a bike to work.
Time for us to beat “America’s Heroin” addiction. mind as well have some fun doing it.
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www.redrosetransit.com

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As spring calls out to me to enjoy the great outdoors…my computer keeps trying to call me back with goodies:
* Wordpress released its wordpress 2.55 package and a new dashboard design for the free wordpress.com

* Openoffice.org the opensource equivalent Microsofts office just released Openoffice 2.4

* Avant Browser, a lite speed cruisin browser just released its new build.

* Modzilla is planning to release Firefox version 3.o on wedseday,outside of Beta.

So many new toys!… Its a conspiracy to keep me away from my fly fishing rod and hiking boots… oh my computer it is such a horrible enabler to my internet addiction.

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Julia was part of America’s “Greatest Generation”. She was a poor child of the depression. She was an aspiring musician who played on a couple radio programs in the 1930s.( today I have her saxophones)

She joined the U.S army during WW2 and she was one of the first women stationed abroad in the U.S military.

Julia was a single mother who worked full time to raise her child. She became the first Female council woman of Lancaster City government, while raising her family and working full time.
My fondest memory of Grandma Julia was, when she took me too my first Philadelphia Phillies Baseball game. I was eight years old. (the worst memory of her is when she told me she had become an Atlanta Braves fan.. he)
Julia (1922 - 2007).
We finally got her favorite type of tree (weeping willow) tree…
planted spot on the Conestoga river. tomorrow is her Birthday.
Happy Birthday Grandma.

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Hillary Clinton will be at Millersville State University tomorrow evening.She is the first of the major candidate to do so.

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…The Download for the unofficial list of candidates in the Pennsylvania 2008 Primary….
i thought i’d pass on the link.

This link is for the PDF download (as with Adobe acrobat reader)

http://www.dos.state.pa.us/bcel/lib/bcel/elections/petition_filers.pdf
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click below for the HTML (viewed in your browser):

(VIEW HERE)

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This short list is updated and unofficial.

(this post has been re edited. It was a bit jumbled after i moved things around. The unofficial list is a neutral non-partisan list…sorry if it was confusing, before)

Today, i worked a half work day. It was a voluntary Saturday shift… too cold to really do anything outdoors … and i could always use the money. The opportunity of taking some pictures of my ride home was evident as well.

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After work, The feed mill is always the first image to greet me. Often the swirling clouds appear to be interacting with mill. I work out in the rural country, near Mt. Joy . This image of the mill represents a great deal of central Pennsylvania. Both the Blue Collar and Rural values are imminent.
I left behind my forklift and machine workday … took in the view (and odor) of the mill and country side…
And head for home in my beat-up pick up truck.

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heading for home i traveled across the railroad tracks. The Amtrak carrying passengers and the Conrail carrying freight both use these tracks. The farms of both the old-order Mennonites and Amish dot the country side…
(its a myth that these two groups don’t use tractors or any power at all .
Each Amish or “older order” Mennonite community has different views on what mechanical vehicles or appliances they will use.)

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Across the quiet trout streams like the Conewago Creek. When i snapped this picture, four bicycle riders swooshed by me. Bicycling is a popular hobby in Lancaster County…An obsession for some. We have many great bicycling paths here. They were moving to fast for me to take a picture.

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I detoured away from my usual drive home today. it was Saturday after all.

I love walking or even driving by creek in the country..
With Lancaster County’s Population passing the half million mark…and shopping centers popping up more and more frequently,
These quiet and unpolluted scenes are becoming more scarce. But when i am walking along these creeks I am not thinking of that.
I just taken the scene for what is.
If it wasnt so damn cold, i would have spent all day there.

But i did have a couple chores to do so I snap this shot of some old random mill… and continued on my path back to Lancaster City.

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As I headed into into the City of Lancaster, I was greeted by it”s heritage and history immediately. Traveling down Marietta ave. I pass by Wheatland.

Wheatland was the final home of ex President James Buchanan. He was the 15th president, one before Abe Lincoln.
He is best known today for his lack of action during his tenure. Southern states seceded from the U.S. … soon to create the Confederacy. He believed that he could not Constitutionally prevent this. The American Civil War would soon follow.

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Back in “civilization”, I stopped at Manor Shopping Center. The conveniences of Multiplex Movie theaters, grocery stores, and barber shops .. all in one place.

I sometimes wonder, with all of the nature i see on my drive home…
Why the hell Seagulls congregate at shopping center parking lots. perhaps they like the modern conveniences .
Me? I came to the shopping center to pick up kitty litter for this guy..

waiting for me at home…

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Home, finally home.

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my view of Lancaster Pa from my neighborhood.

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well the the lunar eclipse was a bit of a bust compared to the last one. The Snow and clouds made it hard to get a good view of the moon over Lancaster City.

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Well .. hmm thats s good as it gets…
I thought the nice frame would make it look better

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I have on three occasions now received Fraudulent E-mails.

They used the name of well known banks of Pennsylvania, and they all claiming that their is a problem with my account. I need to urgently click on the link they give me that leads to the “banks” homepage.

I shall paste from the latest one:”

….

From: [bank name removed by me]
Date: 2008/2/14
Subject: Your  account features have been restricted !
To:
.

Dear [bank name removed by me] account holder,
.
Because of several failed sign on attempts to you online account, your Regions Bank account features have been restricted as of the time of this notification. For more account information, to restore your account features, to verify your Available Credit, to request a Credit Line Increase or make an online payment, you must contact us at
.
[link removed be me]
.
This message is for information purposes only.
Please understand that we cannot respond to individual messages through this email address. It is not secure and should not be used for credit card account related questions.

To restore your [bank name removed] Banking features, please follow these steps:

1. Contact us at [link remove from me,it used the rel banks name in it]
2. Sign On to your online account and verify your Available Credit

After you submitted your message, check for a response within 48 hours. Just return to the Write to Customer Care section and select View/Update Message link.

© Copyright 2007 [ bank name here]. All Rights Reserved.
Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender .

”

— I did not even have an account with the bank listed….

This an identity theft scam. The web site it directed me to is fraudulent site. The idea is to fool me into giving a name password or even a social security number up.
This is what is called Phishing.
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BANKS DO NOT DO BUSINESS THIS WAY. BANK ACCOUNT PROBLEMS ARE NEVER HANDLED VIA E-MAIL. IF YOU GET AN E-MAIL LIKE THIS IT IS PROBABLY A SCAM.

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What to do if you recieve an e-mail like this:

*DONT: click on any link or reply to the E-mail. You give up your computers IP

* DONT: panic. if you are concerned with your account, contact your bank by proper channels.

*DO: report it, if you can. Most Banks have an e-mail address for this kind of thing. Contact the bank via telephone or go to their legitimate WEB site and search “abuse” of “Fraud”.
Normally they will ask that you forward the scam E-mail to an address. They can shut down fraudulent links quickly, so no one can get taken in by an identity theft scam.
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Remember the WEB is a community. It is up to all of us to keep the WEB safe for everyone else.

Thanks.

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There are three types of people in an Art museum:

The Artist–thats the one so free that they can expressions on a wall to interact with.

The Art collector– thats the who wishes to possess and show of their tastes in their den.

And lastly the Art appreciator — the one who is too talentless to create art and too poor (or to cheap) to buy Art.– and that would be me.

Last weekend I scurried of to the Lancaster Museum of Art. I sometimes go with friends…
Usually i go by my self though. I like to just wander around in the small building. Take in the Art and envy the Artist.

The museum is free, but i always donate a few dollars when i visit, so i don,t feel like such a cheap bastard.

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This weekend I went with my mother. This is good thing because she gave the donation tip .

Its also nice because my mother and I have different tastes and different views. In the Art museum you don’t have to intellectualize everything. You don’t have to decide whats a profound. You just go by yourself or with others and say I like this… I don’t know why.

My mother and I both loved this one, even though she is spiritual and I am not.
by Thomas Scullin.

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An Art museum is always a great place to get lost in. I don’t “understand art”, but i don’t think i ever need too. Its good to get lost.

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