Playing With Fire

We heat our house with an oil-fired furnace; we also have an oil-fired hot water heater. Both of those appliances produce heat by burning oil and the exhaust goes up the chimney. We deal with one particular oil company because they’ve always treated us right: reasonable price on oil and a great service contract to cover anything that goes wrong. Part of their service includes a yearly inspection and tune up of the furnace and hot water heater. At that time, everything gets cleaned and tested to insure they’re working at peak efficiency.
We recently got a post card in the mail reminding us that our burners were due for service so I called up to make an appointment. While I was on the phone, the person I was talking to recommended having our chimney inspected – and possibly cleaned – by another company they work with. I know chimneys periodically need cleaning to prevent residues from building up inside which could cause a chimney fire, and I knew ours was overdue for a cleaning, so I agreed.

 Before my father was a licensed union electrician he was an oil burner repairman. I often watched him work on the system in the house I grew up in, and I remember him cleaning our own chimney. When Ro and I first bought our house I used to clean our chimney myself as well. It’s been many years since I did that, however, so I was interested to get a price from this new company. 

When the chimney company guy arrived, the first thing he did was open the metal door at the base of the flue (the inside of the chimney where the exhaust gases go). It’s where soot and residue land during a chimney cleaning, and it’s where these wastes are collected so they can be discarded. He proceeded to take photos up the flue with his camera on a long stick. 

The flue is actually comprised of numerous clay or tile blocks inside the chimney (the outside of which is usually built of bricks – the part that you see). As he was retrieving his camera, he noticed something inside this lower chamber and reached in to pull it out. It was a large chunk of the chimney flue, which had broken off at some point. There were also many smaller pieces. 

 If I hadn’t been there to see him take those pieces of the flue out, I might have thought he planted them there, because I knew immediately that our chimney couldn’t just be cleaned; it needed a new flue or liner. 

When the flue inside the chimney starts to break apart, it’s usually because of all the residue in the flue being affected by acids that form when water vapor (a by product of burning oil) reacts with the chemicals in the residues. They eventually eat away at the flue and the mortar that holds it together. If enough of the flue breaks apart, it could either clog the chimney, allowing carbon monoxide to build up inside the house, or cause a fire to start inside the chimney. Of course I knew this had to be fixed as soon as possible. 

I usually get at least three estimates before having any work done on our house or property but I liked this guy who was quoting me a price of $1,650 to reline our chimney with a new double-walled, stainless steel flue insert. After Googling the procedure online, and gathering all pertinent information on the subject, I found that the average price to perform the procedure on a chimney like ours was $1,500. He agreed to do the job for that price and I gave him the go-ahead.

(Stock photo found on the internet)

  You can’t put a price on peace of mind.

The Real Marshall Tucker

Unless you’re a die-hard Marshall Tucker Band fan, you could easily think the Southern Rock group was named for it’s lead singer or another member of the band. Not so, says a recent post in a Classic Rock blog that I subscribe to. It seems the real Marshall Tucker was a blind piano tuner who passed away recently, on January 20th, 2023, at the age of 99. The band mourned his passing as they prepare to embark on a 50th Anniversary Tour this spring  

It seems the band were practicing in an old warehouse, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, when they first formed in 1972. At that time they were called Toy Factory, after founding member, Toy Caldwell, but were not happy with the name. One day during practice, they found a key chain with Mr. Tucker’s name on it. It turned out that Marshall was renting space in that very same warehouse so he could repair and rebuild pianos there. The band were desperate for a name for their group and decided that Marshall Tucker had a nice ring to it, so they adopted the moniker for their own purposes.

 

(Photo found on the internet, photographer unknown)

 

In a 2020 interview with Mr. Tucker, writer Jack Lunn learned that Marshall never even knew the band had used his name until a friend told him. He said he really didn’t mind as long as they didn’t desecrate his name. In the long run, he said it helped his business as many young musicians sought him out to work on their pianos. Marshall Tucker actually was reported to have perfect pitch, meaning he could distinguish any note just by hearing it; only about one in 10,000 people have it.

Rock Fantasy, Pinball, Middletown, NY

While we were spending some time upstate New York at our son’s place in late June, he suggested we take a ride to Rock Fantasy, about 25-miles away, in Middletown (Orange County). Rock Fantasy is a record/CD/head shop, with the unexpected bonus of having 45 vintage (mostly working) pinball machines scattered within several rooms of a cavernous old store on Main Street.

With a 2010 population of only 28,086 people, Middletown is the last place I’d expect to find such a mind-boggling attraction. Besides records and CDs, there are rock and pop-culture posters, photos, and apparel throughout the place, with black light posters adding additional ambiance.

 

My son, grandson, and I had a great time playing the numerous games, and my son managed to pick up some records he had been looking for. My favorite pinball machine was an early Beatles game, featuring songs and footage from TV appearances and concerts on a small screen, as well as a record spinning in the middle of the playing field that sends your ball careening off in different directions if it passes over it.

 

If you love pinball and are ever in the area, I’d strongly recommend stopping into Rock Fantasy.

Birds of Summer

Last summer, I had a pigeon hanging out at our house. Every time I walked outside, I would see him (or her) perched up on our roof. I figured it might be hungry so I’d throw some bird seed on the garage roof for it. After about a month, it took off and I haven’t seen it since.  

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Then, while we were up at our daughter’s house in Connecticut for a few days last summer, I sat under some trees in her yard, reading zines, and was able to get some good photos of birds at their feeders with my telephoto lens.

Getting the Music OFF the TV

Living in a condo that was built 40 years ago means there are some thin walls, floors and ceilings to deal with. When I watch a music video or concert on my TV through a tv channel, DVD player, YouTube, or Netflix, I like to turn the sound up but don’t want to disturb my neighbors. In addition, I could be watching something on the TV in the living room, and my wife might be watching something on the TV in the bedroom (on the other side of the wall from my TV). Either way, my logical step would be to use headphones.

The problem is, even though I've got a Smart TV, it doesn't have a jack anywhere to plug in headphones. Sure, I could buy a set of BlueTooth headphones but who wants to spend that kind of money if you don't have to? Besides, my wired headphones sound great! I do, however, have an Optical Digital Audio port on the back of my TV – but my headphones have a standard 1/8- inch male stereo plug on the end of their cable.

So, here's what I did: I bought an Optical Digital to Analog converter on eBay for $15; it also has a coax input, and RCA output ports that I can plug external or portable speakers into. My headphones have no volume control on them but the headphone port on the converter does. I bought a 15-foot Digital Optical fiber-optic extension cable ($12.79 on eBay) to bring the converter over to the couch. The converter is powered by a USB port on the back of the TV so I paired a 15-foot USB extension cable ($8.50 on eBay) with the other one; I kept them together using small plastic wire ties.

Now, if I want to watch music videos late at night, I just unroll the paired cables from under the entertainment center, bring them over to the couch, and I toggle the “sound out” setting on my TV to “external” and I'm set to go, without disturbing anyone else. I also have a splitter that allows two sets of headphones to be used if a friend comes over.

The Birds of Homosassa Springs

Sorry it's taken so long to add to this particular blog but I seldom (never?) get any comments on it so I often wonder if anyone is actually looking at it.

Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park was formally privately-owned and operated before the state of Florida took it over in 1984. It's located 75 miles north of Tampa on U.S. 19, and about 90 miles northwest of Orlando. (Click on any image to enlarge it.)

While it has on display many animals native to Florida like deer, bear, and fox, wild and free manatees regularly can be found in the waters surrounding the park; the overabundance of birds found here makes it a bird-watchers' paradise. Some of the residents in the park have been injured and/or rescued, like a hawk with only one wing. Many inhabitants, however, are not in cages but roam, swim, fly or nest freely within the park's confines. Visitors may start off their tour with a boat ride from the visitors' center to the entrance of the park itself.

During the short boat ride, some local wildlife like crocodiles and turtles can be seen in the water before you even get into the park.

The following are some of my photos that I shot during the winter months within the past two years; the camera is a Panasonic Lumix FZ150 (super-telephoto "point & shoot").

Many birds nest in the trees and can be seen bringing building supplies or food to their nest.

There's a wide variety of waterfowl in their natural habitat for you to enjoy.

Poughkeepsie Walking Bridge Across the Hudson

The Poughkeepsie railroad bridge originally carried trains full of people and freight high across the Hudson River. It's now become a part of the New York State Parks system and invites folks to walk across the river at a height of 212 feet. At 1.28 miles long, it is the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world. Walkway State Park officially opened to the public on Saturday, October 3, 2009.

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

 (Above): This public domain photo shows the

Wisconsin Varsity Rowing Team

posing beneath the structure in 1914.

Ro and I visited it on in July, 2014, and

accessed it from the Poughkeepsie side

via a staircase off Washington Street.

The Poughkeepsie end of the bridge disappears into a densely wooded area.

(Above) Looking west, toward the river.

A tall chain link fence protects cars on Route 9

(and people on the ground) below

from objects that might fall or be thrown

off the east end of the bridge. 

(Above) Looking south down the Hudson River

at the Mid-Hudson Bridge connecting Poughkeepsie

and Highland (on the west shore of the river).

A barge makes its way south along the river

under the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

Ro finds it's pretty windy high up in the center

of the walking bridge.

(Above): Looking east toward Poughkeepsie.

From the vantage point high above, you're

actually at the height of tall trees in the

community below.

We only walked halfway across the bridge

before returning to our starting point

but we plan on going back.

If you're in the area of Poughkeepsie,

take the time to walk across the bridge

and appreciate the unique experience it affords you.