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Prep the lawmower before winter storage

From Radio Iowa

by Matt Kelley on November 13, 2009

in Human Interest

For many Iowans, it’s time to prep the snowblower and retire the lawn mower for the winter. Jeff Bartos runs a repair shop for small engines in Omaha/Council Bluffs and says Iowans should follow a few guidelines when winterizing their equipment. Bartos says to clean up the lawn mower before storing it.

“Make sure the mower deck is all cleaned out at the bottom,” he says. “We recommend using stabilizer in the fuel. Once you put that stabilizer in there, run it for about 15 minutes so the stabilizer is in the carburetor and it should be good for the wintertime after that.” Bartos says it’s not a good idea to empty the gas tank before putting your mower in the shed for winter.

He says, “If the gas tank is empty and it’s metal, it can condensate and get water in there, so by leaving it with a full tank of gas with the stabilizer, you should be good for all winter that way.” Once the warm weather returns, Bartos says there are a few things to do before using the mower for the first time.

Now in the spring, you should drain the old gas out and put fresh gas in before trying to start the mower, but he says, that’s all you really have to do on trimmers, chainsaws and leaf blowers. If your machine is a four-cycle mower, Bartos says there’s no need to drain the oil before storing it. He says it can cause big problems if you forget to add new oil in the spring.

“I’ve seen people make the mistake, they drain it out and forget to put oil back in it in the springtime and they ruin their machines,” Bartos says. “The best thing to do is leave the oil alone and in the springtime start it up and let it run for a few minutes, then change it. Then you are good for the summertime.” When spring arrives, check the filters and spark plug to make sure your equipment is in good running condition for the season ahead.

Love

LOVE

Love can be fun
Love can be cruel
Love sometimes means to be with someone
Love at other times can mean to be lonely

To Love means to expect nothing
In return for your something
To be loved means to take what is given
And give something for sharing

Love is caring
sharing
giving
togetherness
Love also can be hating
selfishness
taking
separation

Love is a word
An expression of a feeling
That no words can explain
Love is Caring
Love is Pain

LOVE is LOVE -MM

Michael Manley

Copyright ©1987 Michael Manley

NASA find water on the moon, more than expected!

LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon

11.13.09

The visible camera image showing the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after impact.
Credit: NASA
Click image for full resolution.

Data from the down-looking near-infrared spectrometer. The red curve shows how the spectra would look for a “grey” or “colorless” warm (230 C) dust cloud. The yellow areas indicate the water absorption bands.
Credit: NASA
Click image for full resolution.

Data from the ultraviolet/visible spectrometer taken shortly after impact showing emission lines (indicated by arrows). These emission lines are diagnostic of compounds in the vapor/debris cloud.
Credit: NASA
Click image for full resolution.

Click here for more images of the results.

The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water.

Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

NASA today opened a new chapter in our understanding of the moon. Preliminary data from the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole.

The impact created by the LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket created a two-part plume of material from the bottom of the crater. The first part was a high angle plume of vapor and fine dust and the second a lower angle ejecta curtain of heavier material. This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years.

“We’re unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and by extension the solar system. It turns out the moon harbors many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding,” said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Scientists have long speculated about the source of vast quantities of hydrogen that have been observed at the lunar poles. The LCROSS findings are shedding new light on the question of water, which could be more widespread and in greater quantity than previously suspected.

Permanently shadowed regions could hold a key to the history and evolution of the solar system, much as an ice core sample taken on Earth reveals ancient data. In addition, water, and other compounds represent potential resources that could sustain future lunar exploration.

Since the impacts, the LCROSS science team has been working almost nonstop analyzing the huge amount of data the spacecraft collected. The team concentrated on data from the satellite’s spectrometers, which provide the most definitive information about the presence of water. A spectrometer examines light emitted or absorbed by materials that helps identify their composition.

“We are ecstatic,” said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. “Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water.”

The team took the known near infrared spectral signatures of water and other materials and compared them to the spectra collected by the LCROSS near infrared spectrometer of the impact.

“We were only able to match the spectra from LCROSS data when we inserted the spectra for water,” said Colaprete. “No other reasonable combination of other compounds that we tried matched the observations. The possibility of contamination from the Centaur also was ruled out.”

Additional confirmation came from an emission in the ultraviolet spectrum that was attributed to hydroxyl, one product from the break-up of water by sunlight. When atoms and molecules are excited, they release energy at specific wavelengths that are detected by the spectrometers. A similar process is used in neon signs. When electrified, a specific gas will produce a distinct color. The ultraviolet visible spectrometer detected hydroxyl signatures just after impact that are consistent with a water vapor cloud in sunlight.

Data from the other LCROSS instruments are being analyzed for additional clues about the state and distribution of the material at the impact site. The LCROSS science team along with colleagues are poring over the data to understand the entire impact event, from flash to crater, with the final goal being the understanding of the distribution of materials, and in particular volatiles, within the soil at the impact site.

“The full understanding of the LCROSS data may take some time. The data is that rich,” said Colaprete. “Along with the water in Cabeus, there are hints of other intriguing substances. The permanently shadowed regions of the moon are truly cold traps, collecting and preserving material over billions of years.”

LCROSS was launched June 18, 2009 as a companion mission to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After separating from LRO, the LCROSS spacecraft held onto the spent Centaur upper stage rocket of the launch vehicle, executed a lunar swingby and entered into a series of long looping orbits around the Earth.

After traveling approximately 113 days and nearly 5.6 million miles (9 million km), the Centaur and LCROSS separated on final approach to the moon. Traveling as fast as a speeding bullet, the Centaur impacted the lunar surface shortly after 4:31 a.m. PDT Oct. 9 with LCROSS watching with its onboard instruments. Approximately four minutes of data was collected before the LCROSS itself impacted the lunar surface.

Working closely with scientists from LRO and other observatories that viewed the impact, the LCROSS team is working to understand the full scope of the LCROSS data. LRO continues to make passes over the impact site to give the LCROSS team additional insight into the mechanics of the impact and its resulting craters.

What other secrets will the moon reveal? The analysis continues!

Diabetes Awareness Day /World Diabetes Day

World Diabetes Day Is This Saturday, November 14, 2009

Kristin Lund
Nov 12, 2009

World Diabetes Day is a global awareness campaign that’s celebrated every year on November 14. The goal is to encourage action to further the prevention, treatment, and care of diabetes, as well as to support the United Nations Resolution on Diabetes. Landmarks and monuments across the world are lit in blue to create a united voice for diabetes awareness, and diabetes events are held around the globe. As of Monday evening, November 9, the World Diabetes Day website reports that 366 registered diabetes events are scheduled for November 14^th, in countries ranging from Saudi Arabia to Argentina to Morocco. In addition, 623 monuments are being lit in blue around the globe. More are sure to be added to the list as the day draws closer and closer.

The U.N. Resolution on Diabetes focuses world attention on the need to stop the diabetes epidemic through urgent action. Governments need to promote low-cost strategies that alter diet, increase physical activity, and modify lifestyles in order to reverse the diabetes tide. According to the California Diabetes Program (DIRC) website, “For governments, [World Diabetes Day] is a call to implement effective strategies and policies for the prevention and management of diabetes to safeguard the health of their citizens with and at risk for diabetes.”

What I’ve Learned – Agatha Christie

I learned that one can never go back, that one should not ever try to go back – that the essence of life is to go forward. Life really is a One Way Street. ** Writer Agatha Christie **

Joy

I live by one principle: Enjoy life with no conditions! People say, “If I had your health, if I had your money, oh, I would enjoy myself.” It is not true. I would be happy if I were lying sick in a hospital bed. It must come from the inside. That is the one thing I hope to  have contributed to my children, by example and by talk: to make no conditions, to understand that life is a wonderful thing and to enjoy it, every day, to the full. **Musician Artur Rubinstein**

New Isabel Bloom

Mike Peppers inspires Isabel Bloom sculpture
He wears red shirts, black suspenders and black boots just about every day.

His office looks like the North Pole, with Santa Claus decorations and Christmas trees everywhere — all year long.

And, now, Mike Peppers, 67, has one more thing to add to his collection: a new Isabel Bloom sculpture that has been created in his honor.

The new piece, called “Santamobile,” was inspired by Peppers — on his 40th anniversary of helping Santa in the Quad-Cities — and the bright red convertible sleigh-mobile that Santa stores at Peppers’ business, Sergeant Peppers Auto Shop in downtown Davenport.

The sculptures, priced at $25 each, are available only through Dec. 31.

“They’re going to be sold all over the world,” Peppers said. “I think that’s really something that I’ve accomplished in my lifetime. I’m very honored to have that.”

Donna Young, the head designer for the Davenport-based Isabel Bloom company, said it was Peppers’ enthusiasm for Christmas and his commitment to bring smiles to children’s faces that sold her on the idea.

“He’s passionate about what he does,” she said. “I just think that’s huge.”

One fateful ride in July

About two years ago, Peppers left one of his “Santa” trading cards, along with a note, in the guest book at the Isabel Bloom store in the Village of East Davenport. He asked to have someone call him because he had an idea.

When Young called, Peppers told her this year would be his 40th anniversary of working closely with Santa. He wanted to know whether she might consider creating a likeness of his Santamobile. The idea intrigued her.

“A lot of the best sculptures come from customers’ suggestions,” she said.

So Young and a team of Isabel Bloom employees met Peppers at his auto shop on a hot day in July, and they all donned Santa hats and took a ride in the Santamobile, which is a convertible. She said he had holiday music blaring and people were waving as they drove past.

“It was so funny,” she said, laughing. “He spreads cheer all year long, he really does.”

That ride sealed the deal for the sculpture, but Young was a little concerned. She often creates people, animals and wildlife out of tinted cement — but not cars, she said.

No worries. Peppers is thrilled with the end result, noting how Young captured the curve of the wheel wells, the front end and the lights.

“I thought she did really well with it,” he added.

Santamobile stays at Peppers’ shop

The locally famous Santamobile was built almost 20 years ago, during the early 1990s.

It’s been repainted twice at Peppers’ shop, where he tells children he stores the vehicle for Santa. It’s kept in Davenport because it’s the “almost center” of the country, he added.

The sleigh-type convertible is good for those times when there’s no snow on the ground — as well as when the snow flies, Peppers tells the children.

“Santa has been seen in his big red Santamobile with his elf, driving around, checking on all the good boys and girls,” Peppers wrote in an essay this summer. “I know he works all year-round so Christmas will be special for everyone.”

Peppers was only 27 when he first agreed to assist Santa with his duties, doing so on behalf of the Davenport Jaycees. His brother, Bob, was president of the organization at the time, and he asked Mike to help deliver toys with him.

Those innocent faces, with their big eyes open wide in surprise and happiness — that’s what got Peppers hooked.

Eventually, he began assisting Santa at the Davenport Public Library and the Quad-City Arts Festival of Trees, along with other projects that help handicapped and low-income children.

Peppers’ office is filled with all kinds of Christmas mementos, including photos of children with Santa.

“They get so excited,” he said. “It’s tremendous.”

The WOWCHINS – A Sugar Rush for sure

World, meet “The Wowchins.” The donut created for our own @jwhouchins by Daylight Donuts! For those of you that are curious, “The Wowchins” is a long john, stuffed with crushed Skittles and topped with crushed SweetTarts! fr@WGEM

Anyone want to buy an Intel 486DX2 66Mhz $5,399

Anyone want to buy an Intel 486DX2 66Mhz processor computer with a whopping 32MB RAM and a 1.2 GB SCSI Hard drive and 2MB video Ram. All yours for only $5,399 in 1993. My how things have changed.

Looking back, I can’t believe I spent $4,000 on a computer system in 1993. It amazes me how things have evolved since my first computer a Timex Sinclair 1000 back in 1982. I remember paying $217 for my Commodore 64 in 1983, it was my third computer by then after my Vic 20. Where has the last 27 years gone?