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The Journal of a Duck
It began with a Blog, Le Blog de Frank. But the Blog only carried us so far. And here's where we stand now.

Who am I? I'm Frank. I'm 10 inches tall -- 25 cm -- weigh just over a pound (1.6kg), and have traveled across the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and bits of travel into Italy, the Philippines, and Mexico. Only 187 countries to go to round out the 193 total in the world (at least until another war or coup redefines the global map once more)...
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May. 1st, 2006 @ 10:05 pm Oops, been a while
Current Mood: content
I suppose everyone get caught up in the hustle-bustle of the daily world. And I'm no exception, thus, please accept my somewhat sincere apologies on the lack of updates as of late.

Yesterday, while riding the Skunk Train in Fort Bragg, California, I heard a woman telling the very pale skin kids with her they weren't going to school in protest of some immigration policy or another. The boy summed it up quick enough by asking why he couldn't go to school, given he's white. She broke into some frenzied Spanish that neither I, nor clearly the boy, could understand. And as near as I can tell, he didn't go to school today.

Given the racial mixture of Wicktonville, I didn't notice much of anything out the ordinary. Our community is a cross blending of Western Europeans and rogue Canadians, neither of whom gave much thought to the boycott/walkout/whatever/protest today. I did notice there was an obvious lack of attendance today at the cracker factory, though.

I figured that wasn't related, since the factory is mostly staffed by second and third generation Italian-Americans. What I didn't figure into things was the possibility of a sympathy walk-out, similar to what the labor unions did in days go past. As such, they reportedly churned out very few croutons today, but in the greater scheme of things, no one probably noticed much.
Frank Eye
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Apr. 16th, 2006 @ 08:18 am Hoppy Easter!
Current Mood: disappointed
Yes, the Easterly bunny hopped by and left me candy -- and that, Virginia, is what keeps me believing. From there, I headed down south several hours to Felton, California for a purported train ride and Easter Egg hunt.

The glut of rain the past week caused them to change up their plans, moving from the little Bear Mountain train to the one that runs in the summer out to Santa Cruz. The net effect there was instead of a cool little train on a small mountain top, and hunting eggs amongst the redwoods, we rode up a hill for 40 minutes, then backed down the other 40 minutes to make up the roughly hour and 15 minute ride.

The egg hunt was moved into the barn, and stuff strewn amongst alfalfa (that's "hay" for you city slickers), and the powder and dust of the alfalfa made for a rather hazy go of it.

Pictures? But of course: http://www.allaboutfrank.com/activities/holidays/easter.htm
Frank Eye
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Apr. 11th, 2006 @ 01:38 pm Your People Are Odd
Current Mood: curious
I'm driving through Wicktonville's financial district around lunch time when I took notice of what seems to be an increasing trend here in town. (And before I proceed, yes, the financial district in a town of not even 2,000 mostly consists of a savings and loan, tax preparation place that doubles as a public accounting place -- or vice versa, and a street corner big enough for little Jimmy Sanders to sell Lemonade during the summer.)

But back to me. What is the interest with humans putting racing stripes in their hair. This trend seems to be limited mostly to women I've seen, but the whole bit of having dark hair and having them put in light brown or blond stripes in the hair. Is this supposed to be achieving a particular effect? Confuse predators, maybe?

Granted, in the wild, it seems to work for zebras. Or perhaps not... with the exception of plains zebras, every variety is listed as, or is already, extinct. I guess that could be something to think about before those considering getting striped should evaluate.
Frank Eye
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Apr. 8th, 2006 @ 10:17 am More rain
Current Mood: irritated
So very tired of it. And as such, I won't devote any more space to the topic.
Frank Eye
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Apr. 5th, 2006 @ 01:17 am Number dorks?
Current Mood: tired
As I was heading to the nest from the airport, the clocks rolled over to 1:02. Which amused me, given my fondness for numbers... the whole 1:02:03 on 4/05/06 thing. Hey, every hundred years that happens, right?

I also like 2-27-87, which a good combination of two's and seven's. And my birthday won't happen again, ever, even if the date will repeat in 2087.

Hey, it's not much, but it's late at night, okay?
Frank Eye
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Apr. 3rd, 2006 @ 07:51 pm Sitting on the Porch of the Lake
Current Mood: cold
It's not a dock on the bay, but it's all I've got. It's a chilly 46°F (8°C) right now and rainy. It's a cozy 70°F inside, but for my internet access to be available (by bumming it off an unsecured Netgear router somewhere nearby), I sit outside in the chill and amongst the raindrops and rainbows.

I'm up in the suburbs of Seattle, Washington. And just to dispel the myth, today is reportedly the first time it's rained in weeks. There has been some hints that I brought the moist weather with me. Which is ridiculous, of course; if I had that sort of power, it'd be slowing with lightning. I think that'd be a pretty cool combination (no pun intended, though delightfully noted).

The rumors is I'll be up here on quasi-business; Tubby is doing something for work, and trying to fly without extending my wings, I've headed off to get a few things done with our local vendors for stuff we use at the fire station. (It seems my ability to speak in English and haggle even the most stubborn of salespople has won me the entirely undesired job of Purchasing Duck for the fire department.)

It could be worse, of course. I was treated to a buffet-style buffet today for lunch, and I decided that being the third day of April Showers, I should go all out with the carbohydrates: pastas and breads. And a soft serve for dessert, though honestly, the ice cream was merely garnish for the plethora of rainbow sprinkles that adorned my bowl.

I'm just waiting for Tubby to figure out how to tie his shoes ("over, under, in and out, that's what shoe tyin's all about"), then we'll be heading out for the evening meal of dinner (or supper, depending on your regional preference). I note this only as I heard the guy behind me order a "pop" as his beverages shortly after I got my "soda." Maybe I'll see if I can get "soda water" to make a comeback as as an in-vogue phrase with the under 70 crowd...
Frank Eye
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Apr. 2nd, 2006 @ 02:49 pm Holy Clocks, Duckman!
Current Mood: surprised
Either the time change this spring got far less news coverage than normal, or I'm living even further under a rock than I'd realized. It was after 12 noon (Daylight Time) before I realized the clocks leapt forward this morning at 2am. Phooey! And more Phooey! because I'm usually on top of this stuff. More over, I ended up a solid hour behind all my plans, because of that lost hour.

So, I want my hour back. I complained to the customer service folks, who talked at length with me about my claim for the refund of an hour. They assured me the refund will be issued, but it may take six or seven months to get the hour returned to me, and I should look for it in the mail in late October.

The tragedy here is they thought they were funny. I've met funny. I am even folly enough to sometimes think *I'm* funny. But they, sirs and madams, were not funny at that moment.
Frank Eye
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Mar. 30th, 2006 @ 10:11 pm Stoopid April Showers
Current Mood: cranky
It's one thing for March to come in like a lion and go out like a light, and quite another for how April showers bring May flowers. In the first place, I'm allergic to most flowers, so April is doing nothing good for me. In the second place, how did April allow March to usurp its showers? It's been raining nearly daily for over a week, and nary a single sniffling flower to gaze at from behind a double-paned window. Just tons of puddles, a duck pond that's on the brink of overflowing, and cold wingtips when I go outside in the morning.

Is it June yet? I'll take floating in the pool with an umbrella in my Diet Pepsi any day. And the only chill on my wingtips will be from the delightfully cool 70 degree pool water.

Mmmm, umbrellas.
Frank Eye
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Mar. 24th, 2006 @ 09:13 am Tubby Passes on a Donut!
Current Mood: bored
NEWSFLASH - Dateline Today:
Hardly a news flash except for stockholder and stocky youths, but this morning around 8:30am, Tubby encountered a Krispy Kreme donut box at work, and while he reportedly took a glance, he did not engage in the consumption of a single sugary, glazed yummy-yum-yum.

Next think you know, he'll be instant messaging me every trivial detail of the events in his life he didn't do, and given how little he does so, could cause the Yahoo! chat server to overload and self-destruct. And I'd rather pass from this world to the next before I switch to the dark side, er, AIM.
Frank Eye
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Mar. 21st, 2006 @ 01:11 pm Just Sayin'
Current Mood: confused
I was heading over to the local $mallMart the other day and found it excruciatingly slow in parking. Traffic wasn't an issue, but rather a couple in their late 60s or early 70s. The first thought I had was how if they'd walked as a group, the impact to those driving down the aisle wouldn't be an issue. Instead the husband was a solid 10 feet or more ahead of the missus. Secondly, I'd have been far less delayed if, while following behind by 10 paces, she did so without walking nearly dead center of the path.

All of this I could have dismissed as their age, and on account being full of wisdom and life experience – but the fact that once inside the store, they were running and skipping like a couple of school girls on prom night. It wasn't the first of the month, so it wasn't the social security check happy dance, and there were no free laxative samples out today, so rule that out as well. maye it was nothing more than the delight of being inside the $mallMart and all its low, low prices?
Frank Eye
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Mar. 15th, 2006 @ 11:56 pm Why are we beware-ing the Ides of March?
Current Mood: tired
Sure, the soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," made sense to Jules, but that was nearly 2,000 years ago, and none of us are are Roman rulers.

Perhaps we're to be wary of the weather. It seems darn near all across the west coast, weird, wet weather is on-going. And while I do enjoy the rain, it's just too much.

So I opted to take in a flick. You know it's going to be a great one when, as soon as the ticket taker tears your ticket, she hops on the walkie-talkie to "Angie" to let them know that Nick sold someone (me) a ticket -- apparently this means how they had to show the 9:45pm after all. And true to form, I was the only one there. But it was a fab film -- Joyeux Noel. I'd recommend it, though I suspect it won't be in theatres long, or in many...
Frank Eye
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Mar. 13th, 2006 @ 07:22 pm Fire Truck!
Current Mood: exhausted
Yes, it's another fire truck posting. The fire crew did some drills today with the crew out from the Fieldburg FD, and we drove around, shot a bunch of water at things, and for reasons I can't quite fathom, I was put in charge of overseeing restacking the hose into the crosslay and hose beds. It was interesting -- I didn't realize how dirty my wings would get after handling 600 feet of hose (450 feet of 1 1/2" line and 150 feet of 3" hose).

And probably not a surprise to you mechanical types, but I was delighted to find how much smoother the ride is when it's got a full 500 gallons of water in the tank -- I guess the extra 3,750 pounds helps even out the ride (although it did slow me down going over hills).

Anyway, good times, eh?
Frank Eye
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Mar. 8th, 2006 @ 08:32 pm Okay, this is just eerie...
Current Mood: distressed
As I'm sitting though the movie Alive (1993), it occurred to me that I've been watching a lot of plane crash movies... just in the last few days, I've also watched Airport 1975, Airport '77 and The Concorde: Airport '79.

Makes me think it's time to fly somewhere, now that my confidence in air travel is so high. (And my faith in quality sequel movies is so low...)
Frank Eye
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Mar. 3rd, 2006 @ 09:14 am Maybe I've gone overboard
Current Mood: crazy
But would a town without a building taller than two stories need an ariel snorkel fire truck? I'm thinking yes. And is it wrong for me to have dreams of driving this 45 foot long saver of lives? In my mind, no.

Wanna see the listing? If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can (the file is about 450K, which is only miserable if you're on dialup... sorry): http://www.allaboutfrank.com/hosted/ebay/snorkel_truck.pdf
Frank Eye
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Feb. 27th, 2006 @ 08:11 am Happy Birthday to Me!
Current Mood: cheerful
I'm 19 today. Please send your well wishes and gifts along, and I'll be sure to get a thank you card in the post in 6-8 weeks. Salud!
Frank Eye
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Feb. 26th, 2006 @ 06:33 pm And survey says...
Current Mood: bored
... he does NOTHING interesting. Long story short, he and three other human types drove the seven hours to Legoland, had a lot of fast food he swore off over a year ago, and generally did little else. I did get to see a fight between two lads at the motel, though, which is something, even if the photo turned out, well, poorly. But there you have it -- we're not missing a thing.
http://www.allaboutfrank.com/activities/gatherings/stowaway.htm
Frank Eye
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Feb. 24th, 2006 @ 11:12 am Treachery afoot!
Current Mood: curious
Stealing Stewie's line, it seems Tubby is trying to escape from his home for the weekend. While he sometimes does take to the road without telling me, often it's just a local trip to the market or to buy that silly shampoo that allegedly regrows bald head's hair. But not this time. I heard from a reliable source he's packing up for an entire weekend's holiday.

So I trekked down to his town and am planning to stow away in a duffel bag and see what it is he does when I'm not there...
Frank Eye
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Feb. 18th, 2006 @ 10:31 pm The electric meter dial spins... backwards!
Current Mood: content
After a long-running project (read, begun in July), the part-time solar-powering of my nest is finally complete. As you may recall (assuming you care a'tall), in early October there was a flurry of installation activity, but it wasn't powered up. That didn't happen until January 16, when the fiasco of misplaced parts and creative wiring by a since-fired crew delayed things.

In the last month, I've been solar-generating power that's been fed back into the "grid" (what the local Wicktonville Utility department feeds into homes and businesses) for free. WUD finally came out and replaced my meter, so it spins backwards when I generate more power than I need, so by next month my utility bill should be far lower than today.

The concept isn't totally foreign, though I didn't realize I can't generate the 95% of my own power as the sales pitch claimed -- that would require batteries to ensure the power is available throughout my needs. Rather, I generate power from sun-up until about 2-3pm, when the sun disappears across the ridge of my nest's roof. The end result is in the morning, I'm generating 300% of my current needs, so the extra 200% is fed back to WUD, and after 2-3pm, I'm buying that back (and then some; lots of electronic gizmos around the place).

Is it a cure-all to electricity woes? Nope. But it's a pretty cool deal, and has some nice tax credits, to boot. I figure I'll chirp up an opinion when they get to the point of designing the Wicktonville Fire Station #1 to ensure it's solar-friendly. All in all, we like solar.
Frank Eye
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Feb. 14th, 2006 @ 10:02 pm Tennis + Valentine's Day
Current Mood: content
Some may feel it was daft of me to go to the SAP Open tennis match on Valentine's Day. But bear in mind, the ticket and parking were free. Beyond that, the sport has a point level called "love" -- how perfect is that? Honestly, I didn't get the scoring method, nor did I really understand why one ball and two players requires nine line referees or a small army of ball-chasing pre-teens. As you'd expect, or at least hope fur, the American bloke beat the Spanish bloke.
http://www.allaboutfrank.com/activities/sports/tennis/index.htm
Frank Eye
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Feb. 12th, 2006 @ 06:51 pm Comics convention, anyone?
Current Mood: chipper
With an invite in wing, I headed out to San Francisco to attend the WonderCon comics convention, this year celebrating its 20th year. I didn't really know what to expect, given this typically isn't my thing or scene, but it turned out to be a rather delightful jaunt out and about, with Rachel and Theo as my drivers. I love having drivers.
http://www.allaboutfrank.com/activities/gatherings/wondercon2006.htm
Frank Eye
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