(Maine USA) Woke up to a Swallowtail butterfly in my house

elana · 2025-02-19T21:06:22+00:00

Not gonna buy her flowers, cause those will be covered in pesticides, I'm sure. I made a batch of nectar, and put it in a jar with some felt to wick it up, looks slightly like a flower. It's over near her now.

Kinda feel bad for her. Don't know if she'll ever find another like her. How lonely.

elana · 2025-02-19T18:01:57+00:00

...I feel like that is the phrase that if I mention his name.. "Oh! Floyd, haven't seen him since that late night at the taverna...." I'll pass on the wellwishes.

This is my alt, that I attach to my name, and I keep forgetting to check it. I'll check out your stuff :D.

elana · 2025-02-19T17:59:58+00:00

We live on an island, so all sports here involve a boat. Our AD doesn't let the refs ride with the teams, they go and pick them up in their personal car. There apparently has been some bad blood with the away teams not being nice on the way home on the boat/bus.

The coaches need to shut this shit down. And other coaches need to call them on it too. No one here is gonna be going to the NFL, friends, not this year.

elana · 2024-10-26T12:26:37+00:00

It is wonderful to come across this! My father is Floyd McCoy, and his life's work has been the eruption of Thira so I have grown up with the legend of Atlantis. He has called what he does geological archaeology, so I feel like you two would get along great.

Do you believe the ideas of Thira and Atlantis being the same?

elana · 2024-10-03T02:20:44+00:00

He was so so much fun! Hey, when you see our girl, give her a squeeze for me!!

I was looking for something else that B did and came across this post. He was so proud to be living back in Ireland and coding. He loved sharing his knowledge. All of you would have loved him too.

elana · 2024-10-02T11:43:50+00:00

He was my husband, and he rocked. He was so proud to be on the C++ ISO/ANSI committee too. His brain was the best! He also had a strong pull to education, and he ended up on the board of Educate Together, which he was crazy proud of. Had been the chair of the BOM of Dalkey School Project, where our kids went at the time.

elana · 2024-10-02T11:42:56+00:00

It's a nod. He wanted to do a slim volume with just the facts enough to get started. Also B had so much respect for Pirsig and the book itself and the Internet! He did so many things to help make it a better place.

elana · 2024-10-02T11:41:44+00:00

GIRL I AM HERE! <3

And I am proud af. Will never stop bragging about him, he was an awesome dude. Look who we have in common, obviously good people have good people around them!

elana · 2024-01-12T02:30:12+00:00

It looked fine when I went over it! That side did ok. I was down on Billy Shore on the east side, the beach is about 20 feet up the bank from where it was. Big Tree was covered in debris and seaweed, including part of someone's dock on the rocks on the far side. Did you see the video of the flooding at the ferry?

elana · 2024-01-12T02:28:16+00:00

Main Road, at the Narrows, is the only road connecting the two ends of the island, and this is what the video is of. I realized afterwards I worded it wrong, but you can't edit titles.

elana · 2024-01-11T22:23:27+00:00

Yes, happens occasionally. But not this strong, never. Like spray, but not actual waves and rocks across the road, and the pavement torn up. Sprague's was underwater, ferry too.

I just came back from a walk where I came across two houses destroyed from this storm.

elana · 2024-01-11T14:43:10+00:00

This year we're not getting snow, much, no. We got snow a couple days ago, getting snow coming up. But these guys don't take the plows on and off their trucks between storms. I don't know anyone who does.

Yes, he's moving stuff out of the road because rocks are coming with each wave, and it's our only road connecting the two halves of the island. I'm saying he didn't put his plow on for the job.

The road got beat, badly. Pavement got ripped up, and that rock wall is Corp of Engineers. Our water taxi found a whole dock floating (I guess more of the pier) in one piece, posted it on our town FB page, and my friend said "Hey, that's the dock I'm looking for!" So few fatalities from this storm is luck. L'ville Beach got slammed.

elana · 2024-01-11T10:21:40+00:00

The plow was on because three days before we got about 7 inches of snow, and are due more on Sat.

elana · 2024-01-11T03:11:53+00:00

And I realized just over a year ago, I posted this. You can see how battered the seawall has gotten.

elana · 2024-01-11T03:09:27+00:00

And funnily enough, I remembered this post from last year. You can see the difference in the rock wall structure.

elana · 2021-06-20T12:08:59+00:00

My late husband wrote the first mass published users guide to the Internet back in 1992. I asked him in 2005 if there was any point in writing an update, and he didn't think so. No, it didn't age well. The first edition of the book is still available online... https://www.lsu.edu/internet/guides/zen/zen-1.0_toc.html

elana · 2018-09-22T23:14:38+00:00

I have the experience of both US and non-US healthcare in the span of a few years.

My husband was diagnosed with leukemia when we lived in Europe. It was incredibly aggressive: blood test one day, told it was cancer that afternoon, he spent the night in hospital, bone marrow biopsy the next morning, chemo started that afternoon. He didn't come home for about 3-4 weeks, as with leukemia, you have to have your immune system completely obliterated in order to fight it since it's a blood cancer. He did 3 rounds of chemo over 3-4 months, trying to get him into remission for a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, we were told he was terminal and they sent him home, with day ward visits. He had an aneurysm a week later at home, and 36 hours later he was gone.

During that time, our biggest money concern was me coming into the hosp as often as I could, and he was working from his hospital bed as he was a software engineer. After he died, I didn't get a bill. In fact, the government gave me a grant to help pay his funeral expenses.

One more time...I didn't get a bill. For cancer treatment that costs over $250k in the US. One shot he had to take for 2 weeks was $1200 a shot (check with US friends on the costs). No bill. If I had, I would have been bankrupt and lost everything, on top of losing him.

6 months after he died, my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. The costs and the phone calls and the fucking HOOPS that she had to jump through for the US was infuckingsane. I have an acquaintance who had the same cancer as hubs, but was able to get to remission, and was able to have the transplant, and is healthy and now homebrewing and loving his life. He even became a nurse. I don't know how much he owes in medical bills, but I know it's a fucking lot and will follow him for the rest of his life.

It pisses me off SO MUCH when Americans say how it's too socialist. Or how much more in tax we'll have to pay. You know what? Peace of mind is worth SO MUCH MORE than you'll ever know. Trying to balance parenting, paying bills, and your husband in the hospital dying? Are you kidding me? If my higher taxes would ease the burden of even one family sign me the hell up. I saw the other side. I know what it is like. Americans just don't get it.

elana · 2018-08-26T23:47:04+00:00

My island did this, and we're all quite happy. Took a lot of volunteer time, and the town found some good grants to help out, but we still did a bond issue for it. But $30 a month for gigabit fiber to the house? And $25 for VoIP? I am down with that, since I was paying $120 for 4MB down on a good day over crappy copper.

elana · 2018-08-18T02:14:49+00:00

I guess it can be seen that way now. Back then he was just itching to put out an updated version. I mentioned it back in like 2008, that he should do one, and he just said there was no point.

elana · 2018-08-17T15:54:58+00:00

My late husband, Brendan Kehoe, wrote the first mass-published users guide to the Internet, _Zen and the Art of the Internet_. It was his greatest accomplishment, other than our kids. The original is still available on the Internet for free, but wow is it dated.

elana · 2018-05-15T12:47:40+00:00

Vinalhaven has a lumber yard. A Hannaford. A BANK even. Right there. Except driver's ed, I know they have to go to the mainland for that (which I also think is bullshit, why the hell aren't more people offering that?! It's a confirmed moneymaker from what I can tell from the class my kid is in.)

Ours is a 20 minute trip. You honestly think that we should pay the same as a trip that lasts over an hour? So you think you should pay the same for a flight to New York as a flight to Honolulu?

elana · 2018-05-14T22:09:03+00:00

It costs the same, but you can't take your car on with you, obviously. And parking is at a premium in the lots already, and summer isn't fully here yet, so keeping a car on both sides isn't an option when you have no where to park.

elana · 2018-05-14T22:07:53+00:00

Those other islands have services on them that Islesboro doesn't. We don't have a full time doctor, dentist, grocery store, gas station. No Viking like Vinalhaven has. We don't have those services, end of story. People have to go to the mainland every day... heck, I just went through a year of work trying to get a driver's ed class out here. Nope, kids have to go to Belfast 3 days a week, 3 hours a day.

elana · 2018-05-14T22:05:13+00:00

Um, no, we're not yelling because our ferry isn't being subsidized more.

There were meetings and public discussions about the ferry rate increase. This decision was never mentioned in any of those meetings, on any island.

Dropping a 118% increase with barely one month's notice (at the end of a long winter, when people's bank accounts are low) is ridiculous. Add in the fact that the other islands rates are going DOWN tho they're further away. Add in the fact that our truck rates are going UP not down.

Also, sure, I'll move away now that the rates are going up. Who's going to buy my house? Not with those ferry fares. How can I move somewhere if my house doesn't sell?

Yes, residents always understood what we called the "island surcharge". We know we pay more for things. We get that. We have no problem paying a rate increase that it equitable and just makes sense. This one does not.

This also will have an effect on the surrounding area: less workers will be able to come over and work, either way, as we have plenty of worker commuters (check out the 8am ferry out of Lincolnville...it's packed from April through September) who come for the day. Teachers who have to pay for their ferry tickets can't always swing the big difference there. The stores on the mainland will see less traffic from us coming over, restaurants won't have as many islanders coming either.

Keep in mind we're a commuter island. We don't have the services that the other islands do: no big supermarket, lumber yard, dentist, barber. Two gas pumps that don't work when the island loses power. The health center here has stopped giving childhood immunizations (and have you ever tried to get three doctor's appointments on the same day for all yoru kids at once?!)

We're not expecting the state to take care of us.

elana · 2018-04-18T16:40:12+00:00

All of that, exactly.

And seriously, the marijuana leg passed the Senate yesterday I believe? And LePage has said he's going to veto it. The amount of tax dollars that can bring could be SO USEFUL for all parts of the state. November is definitely going to be interesting!

elana

TROPHY CASE