David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Even though it was raining, there was a lot of activity at the bird feeders. Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmouse, American Goldfinch, and new for me a Marsh Wren. The squirrels stayed off the bird feeder — I don’t know if that means the electric shock worked.
Individual images in the slide shows can be viewed here.
Some bird activity at the bird feeders — American Goldfinch and Blue Jay. But then the rogue Black Squirrel figured out how to get up and work on the sunflower seeds. Afterwards, I reconnected the electric fence cable to the bird feeders. It shouldn’t impact the birds since they don’t touch both the ground and feeder at the same time. The squirrel on the other hand has two paws on the grounded center post.
Individual images in the slide show can be viewed here.
Time-lapse video from the perspective of an iRobot floor vacuum. Images taken with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera. I am actually impressed with the iRobot. I thought the floors were relatively clean, but had to stop and empty the bin several times. I guess my beard has been shedding. The robot does this random walk as it moves through each room. It automatically stopped and switched direction when it came to the stairs to the Great Room. At the end of an hour when the battery was getting low it found its way back to the charger.
I noticed a black squirrel eyeing the bird feeder on my patio today. For the past 25 years, the squirrels in my backyard have all been the grey variety. I do remember seeing a black squirrel in Princeton several years ago. So maybe the black ones are expanding their range.
Individual images in the slideshows can be viewed here.
I picked up an Elby 9-speed electric bicycle. Some assembly required — attach the left pedal, and straighten the handlebars. Plus adjustments to the seat height. My last bicycle was a single-speed Schwinn that I had trouble getting up the hill to my house. The Elby has four-levels of power assist, and four-levels of battery regeneration (when going downhill or breaking). A bit of a learning curve to figure out how to use the SRAM X5 derailleur for shifting since the levers were a bit too close to the RC3 controller. I also installed a mount for my Garmin VIRB-360 camera (the bike has a USB power outlet). Once I got things figured out, the power-assist was great, and got me up the hill to my house. One potential downside is that the company that provided the BionX 500 watt DC motor for the bike went bankrupt. I look forward to having the bike along for my next road trip.
