Google Maps Leprechaun Easter Egg

Never say that the creative folks at Google don't have a sense of humor. Or perhaps they have been into the green beer a little early in preparation for Saint Patty's Day. Today, while driving around in Google Maps in Street View Mode, I discovered an unusual addition. There was a little leprechaun close to my search target. You can click on the leprechaun and it shows you additional leprechaun information. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

If you would like to learn how to unlock some of the inner secrets of Google Maps, here are a couple of good resources.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs

Jake violated two of his most basic rules today. His rules are; 1) Never venture out to see the sights while on a business trip and 2) Never exercise unless someone is chasing after you.

While on a business trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, Jake's boss Mr. Peabody badgered him into going for a "short run". The weather is so nice Mr. Peabody stated. Jake finally acquiesced and figured that a short run couldn't possibly do too much damage. After all, Mr. Peabody is 10 years older than Jake. So they loaded into the car to drive to a nice little running path that Mr. Peabody knew about.

Mr. Peabody ended up driving to the Garden of the Gods which is a public park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It contains numerous trails for hiking, walking, biking and horseback riding. As soon as they started running, Jake knew that he had made a rather large mistake. Apparently, Colorado Springs is at a slightly higher elevation than Alabama where Jake is from. And apparently, the air is just a little thinner as you go up in elevation. Jake discovered these laws of physics the hard way. They hadn't been running for more than two minutes when Jake discovered that his hands were all tingly and he was having a harder than normal time breathing. Jake's first thought was to use the old, "Ouch, I twisted my ankle" trick. Mr. Peabody was watching him pretty closely though, so Jake had no choice but to keep running.

Did I mention that the multi-use trails are also used for horseback riding? Apparently horse owners are not held to the same standard as dog owners and several incidents occurred during the trail running. An hour later when the run was nearly finished, it was all that Jake could do to crawl on his hands and knees back to the car. As he slowly made his way back to the car, Jake did however take a moment to notice the beauty of the Garden of the Gods. The beauty and wonder of the moment was only somewhat dulled by the incessant encouragement that Mr. Peabody shouted at Jake to continue running. Yes, Jake has learned his lesson and will go back to following his normal rules. Sometimes we just need a gentle little reminder of why we made the rules in the first place.

If you would like to visit the Garden of the Gods (Hopefully at a leisurely pace), here is the official website.

Check out the location of the Garden of the Gods on this map of places we've been.

Other Colorado Springs Attractions

• Mount Manitou Scenic Incline Railway (Colorado Springs)
• Garden Of The Gods (Colorado Springs)
  
• Manitou Springs (Manitou Springs)
  
• Mount Cutler Hiking Trail (Colorado Springs)
• Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs)
• Ghost Town Museum (Colorado Springs)
  
• Helen Hunt Falls (Colorado Springs)
• Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs)
  

Snow Storm of the Century (Disaster Preparation)

For the last several days, the folks in Northern Alabama have geared up for bad weather as the snow storm of the century was preparing to moved into the area. Residents of the city prepared for the impending crisis by purchasing every last bottle of bottled water, every last loaf of bread and every last bottle of milk off the shelves of the local grocery stores. Do you think there won't be any more water after the snow comes? Lines at the gas stations were at least a mile long. This really annoyed Jake because his gas tank was empty and he didn't have any choice but to wait in line with all of the folks in panic mode.
The morning after the big snow, Jake looked out the window and indeed, the area had received a dusting of snow. It didn't stick to the roads mind you, but it was quite lovely none the less. Upon turning on the TV and tuning in to WAFF the local news channel, Jake learned that the entire region had come to a halt. Roads were closed, schools were shut down and activities were canceled. Jake and Molly both grew up in the North East and have experienced bad winter weather before. This certainly wasn't it. Northern Alabama appears to have dodged the bullet, but if your area is preparing for a impending disaster, here are a few resources that may help you out.

Destination Imagination Anne Boleyn

Scribbles and her Destination Imagination team conducted a dress rehearsal of their event in preparation for the Destination Imagination District Competition.

Destination ImagiNation (DI) is a creativity and problem solving program for children from elementary age to college age. Teams of up to seven members compete in various challenges that require complex thinking, problem solving, teamwork and creativity. The goal of the program is to teach creative and critical thinking, presentation skills, problem solving, and teamwork skills.

The group's topic for the competition was proving the existence or not of ghosts. And the focus of their performance is on Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn (1501/1507–19 May 1536) was the second wife of Henry the VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I of England. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, were part of the complex beginning of the considerable political and religious upheaval which was the English Reformation, with Anne herself actively promoting the cause of Church reform. She has been called "the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had."

Helen Keller Photo

Related Articles

• 8 October 2007 - Helen Keller's Birth Place.
• 24 March 2008 - Important events in Helen Keller's Life.
  

The Kansas City Star has reported that researchers have uncovered a rare photograph of a young Helen Keller with her teacher Anne Sullivan, nearly 120 years after it was taken on Cape Cod and tucked inside a family album. See the full article.

We visited the birth place of Helen Keller during our travels last year.

Helen Keller's Life was popularized in the classic movie Miracle Worker. In the movie, 7-year old Helen Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy. She has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch the only tool they have in common and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Honey Do

Molly started her new job this week. She enjoys the job, but the rest of the Pohick Clan is going through a period of adjustment. We had grown used to having her at our beck and call. Now we are all having to fend for ourselves a little bit. Check out the video of what happened at the Pohick house during her first day at work.

District Band Concert

Scribbles was selected to represent her school in the District Band. Luckily Yellow Hair video taped the concert, because Jake was unable to attend. (See Previous Entry) The attached video is a medley of the songs that the band performed. I'm sure you will recognize a few of the tunes.

Alone In The Wild

You're in rural Alabama on a Saturday evening thirty miles from your home. Your daughter has to get to a district honor band in thirty minutes. You're car gets a flat tire. Not just a leak or a nail, but a big old slash in the side wall. You change the tire using the stupid little doughnut tire that serves as a spare . Skinning your knuckles in the process. Then you discover that the spare tire isn't holding air either. The valve stem is broken. Did I mention that it's Saturday evening in rural Alabama. Triple AAA asks, "What would you like to do." You respond, "I would like you to take my daughter to her concert and then fix my flat tire." There is silence on the phone. Then the triple A rep asks, "Do you know that you're in rural Alabama?" I don't think you are going to find someone to fix your tire on a Saturday evening down there. When the tow truck driver showed up, he asked, "What would you like to do?" Well, can we take my daughter to her concert and then get my tire fixed?" Silence..... "Did you know that this is rural Alabama?", the driver asked.

Scribbles got one of her friends to drive her to the concert. The tow truck driver called in a favor and got a buddy to stay open late at the Sears Automotive store. Jake spent lots of money getting the tire fixed. But alls well that ends well.

First Lego League

Robots are cool! This weekend, Yellow Hair along with the rest of her robotics team, "The Electro-Bots", competed in a competition with 43 other schools as part of the First Lego League. The First Lego League introduces children around the world to the fun and experience of solving real-world problems by applying math, science, and technology. The Electro-Bots did well taking first place in the teamwork portion of the competition. They have already begun designing their robot for next year's competition with their sights set on taking the overall first place trophy. Click here to see some additional photos from this year's competition.

Georgia Aquarium

After Christmas, the Pohick Gang drove to Atlanta, GA and visited the Georgia Aquarium. The aquarium was pretty awesome and well worth the drive. The Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia at Pemberton Place, is billed as the "world's largest aquarium" with more than 8.1 million US gallons (30,662 m³; 30,661,835 liters) of marine and fresh water housing more than 100,000 animals of 500 different species. To see a few more pictures from this adventure, check out this link.

Great Granny Pohick

The Pohick gang had a great Christmas this year. Jake's mother squeaky visited. We also had a visit from Molly's sister JD and Great Granny Pohick.

Hiking in the Pohick Swamp

The Pohick gang all went hiking in the Pohick Swamp this weekend. We saw lots of wildlife and the weather was just perfect for hiking. Not too hot...Not too cold....Not raining. Just a lovely afternoon.

Spooky

Despite Jake's insistence that he was not going to decorate for Halloween this year, he changed his mind at the last minute. After arriving home from work at 5PM, he quickly located all of the Halloween decorations and managed to pull the whole thing together in under an hour. The entire ensemble included the graveyard with electric lights, spiderwebs on the house also with lights, a murderer with strobe light in the upstairs window, spooky music, carved pumpkins and a fog machine. Not bad for one hours worth of work. We had about 70 trick or treaters and they all seemed to enjoy the ambiance. To see a few more pictures, check out this link.

SciQuest

Step One - Enter Teleportation Chamber
Step Two - Close Chamber Door
Step Three - Enter Teleportation Coordinates
Step Four - Energize Teleportation Chamber
* Warning - Ensure that no other biological entities are in chamber prior to energizing.

Dog Gone - I guess we should have read all of the instructions prior to pushing the go button. Oh well, It's really not that noticeable is it?

To see some additional photos from our trip to the science museum click here.

Tate Farms

The Pohicks headed to Tate Farms in Meridianville, Alabama today. We all had a great time. While there we jumped in hay, jumped in cotton, took a hay ride, picked pumpkins, petted goats, petted pigs, petted bunnies and got lost in a hay maze. To see some more great pictures from the day, click on this link.

Disco Fever

Just a little video from the good old days.

Alabama Music Hall of Fame

No Pohick adventure would be complete without a little toe-tapping Alabama Music. The group swung by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame was opened in 1990 to honor the many contributions made to music by Alabamians. The Hall of Fame inductees include: Tammy Wynette, Lionel Richie, Emmylou Harris, the group Alabama, The Commodores, Nat King Cole, W.C. Handy, and Hank Williams.

Helen Keller Birthplace

Related Articles

• 5 March 2008 -Researchers have located a rare unpublished photo of Helen Keller.
• 24 March 2008 - Important events in Helen Keller's Life
  

Today's adventure took the Pohick Clan to Tuscumbia, Alabama and the birthplace of Helen Keller. Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deaf blind person to graduate from college. The story of how a remarkable teacher broke through the isolation the lack of language had imposed on the child, who blossomed as she learned to communicate, are staples of American folklore. What is less well known is how Keller's life developed after she completed her education: she became a radical campaigner for workers' rights and an advocate for many other progressive causes.

Here are some additional photos from our visit.

We were very excited to see Helen Keller's birth home having grown up watching the classic movie Miracle Worker. In the movie, 7-year old Helen Locked in a frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness since infancy. She has never seen the sky, heard her mother's voice or expressed her innermost feelings. Then Annie Sullivan, a 20-year-old teacher from Boston, arrives. Having just recently regained her own sight, the no-nonsense Annie reaches out to Helen through the power of touch the only tool they have in common and leads her bold pupil on a miraculous journey from fear and isolation to happiness and light.

Update (5 Mar 2008) - Researchers have located a rare unpublished photo of Helen Keller.

Corn Maze Craze

Once again our band of intrepid adventures journey into the unknown. Seeking out new civilizations. Going where no man has gone before. Well, no man except for the guy who cut the path through the corn maze. The Pohicks journeyed to a nearby town and took a hike through a corn maze. It was fun but as the weather was still in the 90's today, it just didn't seem like a good day to be participating in Fall activities. Who wants to drink hot apple cider when it's 90+ degrees out I ask you? Anyway, the gang still had fun and Jake got to prove that he is not as directionally challenged as Molly sometimes likes to portray him.

A Bug In Your Ear

How to Safely Remove a bug from your ear.

A little over a year ago, I did a blog entry entitled, "A bug in your ear." Little did I know that this particular entry would become the number one source of traffic on Pohick. I was at the time, using the phrase as a figure of speech or an idiom, and not an actual bug in the ear. Apparently however there is not a lot of qualitative information on the web concerning what to do if you actually get a bug in your ear. I have been amazed at the hundred of queries for "bug in the ear" information. Queries have included:

• What do I do if I have a bug in my ear?
• Can a bug live in your ear?
• How long can a bug live in your ear?
• How do I know if a bug is in my ear?
• How do I get a bug out of my ear?
• Removing bugs from ears?
• Types of bugs that live in ears?
• Ear bug removal
• Put a bug in my ear

I feel bad that there are so many folks dealing with bug in the ear issues. As a public service, I have compiled the following list of references for what you can to do if you have or believe that you may have an actual bug in your ear.

• Having a live insect in your ear can be extremely uncomfortable.
• People are often desperate to get the bug to stop moving.
• If you do not have a known hole in your eardrum, it is usually safe to place a few drops of mineral oil into the ear. This will kill the bug and allow you to calmly and safely continue with additional care. Click here for detail instructions on safely removing the insect from your ear.
• Removal of any object from the ear can be very difficult, and should only be attempted by a doctor skilled in the techniques of safe removal. Usually this can be done in the office, but sometimes general anesthesia must be used when the object is lodged deeply in the ear or if the patient is uncooperative, such as with a young child. It is important to remember that the most common reason that an ear is injured from a foreign object is because of inadvertent damage occurring during the removal of the object. (Source: www.medicinenet.com)

Here is what it looks like when you have a bug in your ear.  Video.

(** Jake Pohick is not a medical doctor, nor does he play one on TV. This advice is provided as a public service and you should seek competent medical advice as soon as possible.)

How to Safely Remove a bug from your ear.