In Which the Deer Ignore Alex, and Alex Ignores the Deer

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July

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A New Preserve, Around the Corner

DZ (GRAVID) AT PARADISE, 1991

When I first bought the blue house in 1991, Dave Takacs informed me that I was living right around the corner from his favorite swimming hole in the county, a place called Paradise. Over the years, that piece of land off Irish Settlement became a place to walk the dogs, to bring the baby in a backpack, and to brave the ice cold water on hot summer days. The Baldwins, who owned most of the land, had cut a deal with the Finger Lakes Land Trust the year I moved here that kept the land wild yet allowed public access, at least for those of us in the know. Someone, perhaps Mr. Baldwin, mowed random paths that were lovely for dog walking.

Then, a few years back, Roy Park's daughter acquired the parcel and sold it to the land trust. Suddenly, more people knew about the land, a parking area sprang up, and a more formal trail was built. This tells more about the new Roy H. Park Preserve, including the history of the pine trees, which were apparently part of a sixth-grade project back in 1980. The last time we walked there, around Thanksgiving, there was a sign discouraging us from walking down to the swimming hole, which apparently is not part of the preserve itself.

Today, the land trust is working on a handicapped-accessible boardwalk just north of Paradise, which will allow people to view the wetlands close up in addition to walking the simple field loop. The good news is that the land will be preserved in all its glory. The bad news is that it's now a bona fide destination and not a neighborhood gem.

WALKING IN THE PRESERVE, 2012

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Daring the Chickadees

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First Snow

The first real snow on the mountain—late, this year.

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Once Again Screwed, cont.

And now we have a guy from GeoTherm in Tully, who informs us that just like all the Gleason systems he's seen, ours was installed incorrectly and needs to be gutted and redone.

We can't sue anyone, because Gleason's in Chapter 11 as far as we can tell.

Perhaps more interesting is the fact that in order for consumers to use NYSERDA money to install renewable energy systems, the state requires them to use certain hand-picked vendors, but they apparently don't vet those vendors very well or follow up in any meaningful way. I'm not saying that kickbacks are involved, but it might be nice to know just HOW they choose.

LATER: Paul has informed me how NYSERDA chooses. If someone wants to be an approved vendor, he/she must take a state-sponsored workshop for X dollars. Most small vendors can't afford the time or money. If it's like most mandatory state-sponsored workshops, and Paul and I have suffered through a few, it's worthless. So I am sticking to my sort-of-like-kickbacks story: To get on the list, vendors have to pay the state.

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"Once Again Screwed"

Last year's projects were the broadband tower and the geothermal heating/cooling system. Both took longer than expected and required a good deal of griping and fussing from our end, mostly by Paul. Now he reports that the reason the geothermal folks haven't responded to his recent calls is that the company, Gleason, has gone belly up. It is not unexpected; they were (1) horribly overextended; (2) staffed by a bunch of people who, while very nice, seemed not to know what they were doing; and (3) beset by difficulties of one sort or another due to points 1 and 2.

Meanwhile, I did not get Paul's message—"once again screwed"—via email, because our Internet went down at about 10:30, causing me to miss several frantic messages from clients involving an 11:00 conference call. I was working on a project that is entirely online, so I took the opportunity to run some errands, missing the call entirely. When I got back at noon, the Internet was back. So at least Clarity Connect is not on my shit list today. Much.

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Paul's Wildflower Garden

After the geothermal guys tore up the yard, Paul planted the back meadow with a selection of wildflowers, most of which are currently blooming. Photos don't do it justice.

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The Tower Is Live

Not that anyone called to let us know, but when Paul asked, he was told that Dryden's newest broadband tower is ready to go. He tested our new connection with his iPad and scored 20Mbps down, compared to our usual 0.4, so that's good news. We've alerted the neighbors and will change over once we get back from vacation.

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Blueberry Season Starts Early

Blueberry jam, blueberry muffins, and a boatload of blueberries left.

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Geothermal Is Not Just for Heating

It is 90 degrees in Freeville at 3 PM, with enough humidity to make it feel like 97. Tomorrow will be similar, with a chance of thunderstorms. But Olivia and the dogs and I are indoors where the temperature ranges from 70 degrees in the TV room to about 74 in my office.

It's hard to describe how delightful this is. Don't have a geothermal system? If you can plow through the nuttiness, you can do it yourself!

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Dumbest Nest Ever

The little junco who thought this was a good idea is ruing the day she built at the foot of the stairs to the garage in a set of shelves that we pass by dozens of times a day.

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Speaking of Projects That Are Supposed to Improve Our Lives But Instead Make Us Nuts

Then there's the broadband tower, another project begun last year that should have been done nine months ago. The tower is up, far taller than we'd been led to believe it would be, and entirely nonfunctional, since it is not connected to any power. Neighbors who have called to ask have been told that the system is being held up by a dispute with the landowner. That would be us. It would be funny if it weren't so irritating. As I write, my "high speed" DSL via Frontier tests at 800 kbps down and 162 kbps up. I think PZ did better in Mongolia.

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Geothermal, cont.

We signed the paperwork almost a year ago, and our lawn has been torn up for nearly eight months. But finally someone came to smooth it over, remove the rocks, and reseed the lawn. He was by far the best of the workers we've had.

Heat and hot water are still problematic, although 90 percent fixed. Air conditioning works like a dream.

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In Which the Babies Discover the Wading Pool, and Much Rejoicing Ensues

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Backyard Visitor

This little guy kept the squirrels away this morning, at least for a while. A few weeks ago, Olivia and I watched him dive under the deck, come up with a junco in his talons, and then sit on the lawn and squeeze it to death. He's small but effective.

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Hanukkah

The best gifts are chocolate gifts. We'll celebrate Christmas later in the week!

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Broadband Tower, Continued

They are building pieces on site. The crane comes Wednesday. Then there will be a brief pause for the opening of gun season. Wiring should happen immediately thereafter. It's nice that the weather has cooperated thus far.

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Broadband Tower Goes Up, Slowly

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Ithaca Calendar Clock

Made in Ithaca, Civil War era, restored by Paul with a little help from the Clock Guy. Absolutely fabulous.

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