Lunar Eclipse June 4th

For those of who have to be up at that hour, the drive to work early next Monday, June 4th, will have a special treat.  The full Moon will be eclipsed by the Earth's shadow that day.

According to Space.com, the partial eclipse of the Moon will begin at approximately 6am, as the Moon is setting in the West.  Only about a third of the Moon will be blocked out by the Earth's shadow.

On the web:
www.space.com/15901-partial-lunar-eclipse-june-4-preview.html
wtvr.com/2012/05/29/space-strawberry-moon-partial-eclipse-at-dawn-june-4/

The New Landlords

The new boss of the yard perches on top of my Nissan.

My front yard is under new management.  The new bosses weigh less than a pound but there is no doubting who is in charge.

A pair of mockingbirds have built a nest in the mock orange bush just outside my front porch.  I discovered this fact by accident a few days ago, when I found a baby bird on the ground beside the bush.  I spotted the nest, scooped up the bird and was putting it back when I was hit in the back by its mom.

The feisty nature of mockingbirds is legendary.  They are fearless in protecting their nesting territories; the little birds will attack anything, even hawks.  I remember a story in the Virginian-Pilot some years ago that detailed how a mockingbird repeatedly attacked passersby outside a Norfolk highrise building. 

The mockingbirds in my yard studied self-defense but apparently slept through their engineering classes; their  nest had collapsed on one side, allowing the babies to fall out.  Today after finding one baby bird dead and its brother on the ground again, my wife and I decided they needed a little help.  Mary crammed a small wooden basket into the bush, put the nest down in it, and then put the bird in.  So far, the one surviving hatchling has stayed in the nest.

For the rest of the afternoon, we have watched the two parents tend to their child and fuss non-stop at our cats, who we allow out on our screened-in front porch. 

As I write this, I can hear the calls of the equally feisty house wren in the backyard.  They're not known to attack people, but if they spot a cat in their zip code, they will alert the entire neighborhood.

Free Ice Cream (for some people) this Thursday at Doumar's

The Virginia Tourism Office is launching a new marketing campaign highlighting some of Virginia's "old school" attractions and they're using Norfolk's very own Doumar's Cones and Barbecue as the launch point.

Tourism officials will be at Doumar's this Thursday (5/24) to kick off the campaign, called Old School Road Trips.  The first 100 people in line at 2pm will receive a free Doumar's ice cream cone.  There will also be Virginia is for Lovers prize giveaways Thursday.

Doumar's is even featured in the promotional video...


Read the official media release for more details.

Volunteers Needed at OpSail

OpSail 2012 Virginia is holding an informational meeting tonight (May 21st) for prospective volunteers and tour guides.  Volunteers are needed as public information assistants and as tour guides between Wednesday, June 6th and Monday, June 11th.  The informational meeting will be held at the ODU Constant Center from 6:30pm to 8pm.

For information, call 757-441-2345 ext. 3020

On the web:
www.opsail2012virginia.com/

Free Shuttle Service to the Patriotic Festival Airshow

The city of Virginia Beach has announced it will be offering free shuttle bus service to and from the Patriotic Festival Airshow the weekend of June 2nd and 3rd.  The shuttle buses will be available at these locations:

• Camp Pendleton
• Fleet Park, Oceana Naval Air Station

Parking at the shuttle bus lots is free.

Read the media release here for additional details.

Give a Pint, Get a Gift Card from the Red Cross

Just got a media release from my friend Kristen Hatfield at the American Red Cross in Norfolk about a new incentive for blood donors.  American Red Cross Mid-Atlantic Blood Services will give a $5.00 gift card to anyone who donates blood from now until the end of May.

The Red Cross is also reporting that it is short of Type O blood, one of the most commonly used blood types, especially in emergency situations.  If you are Type O negative, your blood can be used by any patient, regardless of blood type.

Don't know you're blood type?  The Red Cross will tell you what it is after you make a blood donation.

To find a blood donation center, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or visit www.RedCrossBlood.org

Get Ready for Hurricane Season

Believe it or not, hurricane season begins in just a few weeks.  Those of us who stayed in town through both Hurricanes Isabel (2003) and Irene (2011) know that it takes only one big storm to make a bad hurricane season.  So Virginia officials are saying now is a good time to review and prepare for hurricane season.

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management has released its 2012 Hurricane Evacuation Guide.  It includes information on evacuation routes, emergency supplies, and emergency contacts.  The guide is available online here.

Meanwhile, Virginia's annual Hurricane Supply Sales Tax Holiday is coming up May 25th-31st.  Hurricane supplies like batteries, bottled water, and flashlights costing less than $60 each will be exempt of Virginia sales tax during the week.  Generators costing less than $1,000 will also be exempt of state sales tax.  Complete details of the tax holiday are available here.

Toll Work is Underway

Work to add the first tolls to a Hampton Roads interstate since 1996 is now underway.  The Virginia Department of Transportation has begun installation of the gantries that will hold the automated toll collecting scanners on the west side of the Downtown Tunnel.  The construction is not expected to impede traffic.

The tolls, which will pay for a major expansion of the Midtown Tunnel and improvements of the Downtown, were to take effect later this year.  But, because of a massive outcry after the state's deal with Elizabeth River Crossings was announced, lawmakers agreed to push the start of tolls back two years to 2014.

By the way, if local politicians were caught off guard by the tunnel toll deal, they shouldn't have been.  In an interview on my public affairs show 15 months ago, VDOT official Stephany Hanshaw told me the Midtown Tunnel agreement, complete with tolls, was pretty much a done deal.

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Energy Saving Tips from Dominion Power

Dominion Virginia Power has released a top ten list of ways you can lower your energy bills during the summer. Many of these are common sense.  I, however, usually have to be reminded to change the air system's dust filter (see item 4).

1. In the summer, set the thermostat to the highest comfortable temperature.  Dominion and the U.S. Department of Energy recommend 78 degrees for maximum efficiency.
2. On hot days, cook outdoors, use a microwave oven or prepare cold meals to avoid excess heat in the kitchen. If you cook outdoors, plan carefully to minimize the trips in and out of the house when hot air can enter and cool air can escape.
3. Use ceiling fans to make it feel colder so you can set the thermostat higher and still be comfortable.
4. Replace or clean forced-air heating/cooling system filters monthly.
5. Wash clothes in cold water and clean the lint filter in the dryer after every use.
6. Use the moisture-sensing automatic drying setting on your dryer if you have one.
7. Air must be able to circulate freely around the outside unit of your air conditioner or heat pump.  Keep the area around it clear of weeds and debris.
8. Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units.  A unit operating in the shade uses as much as 10% less electricity than the same one operating in the sun. 
9. Keep the water heater set at 120 degrees and insulate the heater and adjacent pipes to prevent heat loss.
10. Close the flue to any fireplace that is not in use.

The heat of an early summer is not expected to hit anytime soon.  The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting normal temperatures and precipitation for Hampton Roads for the next month.

Another Computer Virus...Sigh

Just got finished removing another pesky computer virus.  This time it was my laptop.  Not one, not two, but three different "search toolbars" had installed themselves on my browsers.

It had been a while since I've had to handle a situation like this.  So long, in fact, that I had to refer to one of my own blog posts to remember how to remove it.  In most cases, using Windows System Restore will handle it.  Learn more here.

Also, don't forget to check the "uninstall a program" directory in the Control Panel.  In most versions of Windows, the directory can be sorted by the program's installation date.  If the name of the most recently installed software looks unfamiliar, it may have installed itself without your permission.  I would recommend a Google search of the program just to make sure it's worth removing.

Another File Converter

Here's another website that's useful for converting computer files from one format to another.

www.Zamar.com

It, like the site I profiled in March, will allow you to convert a .pdf into a Word .doc file that can then be edited.  It also purports to be able to download Youtube videos, but so far in my tests, the resulting file has been unusable in Windows Media Playe.

A better option for downloading Youtube videos, from my experience, is the Real Player.  It's available for free here

Virginia Offers Prizes for Visiting its Website

The Virginia Tourism Corporation, the state's tourism promotional office, is trying a novel approach to attracting more visitors to its website.  Prizes, prizes and more prizes.

The web address is www.Virginia.org/OneInAMillion.  For every 100,000 visitors to the site, a new set of prizes is unlocked and put up for grabs.  According to a press release from the tourism office, the higher the number of entries, the bigger and better the prizes. 

People can be entered once by registering on the main page.  They can gain more entries by sharing a link to the page through email or social media.

Officials are hoping the contest will attract more website visitors and possibly more in-person visits to Virginia.  Gas prices, which have dropped about 15 cents a gallon since last year but remain fairly high, could affect the summer travel season, travel experts are predicting.

The promotion runs through May 31st.

On the web:   www.Virginia.org/OneInAMillion