NYC Weekend

Here are way too many photos of our weekend in NYC with Von and Jordan.

Annisa's Senior Project

All Seniors at Hempfield are required to complete a Senior project, which is a writing assignment.  Here is Annisa's.  In her own words.

Graduation Project



Over the past three summers, I have volunteered on community service projects with my church youth group at Unitarian Universalist Church of Harrisburg. The Unitarian Universalists do not have a single sacred place of worship instead we do work to help others, which is one of the church’s seven principles. As part of our community service, I participated in three pilgrimages with my youth group. Most people think of a pilgrimage as a journey to a sacred place, like Mecca or Jerusalem. However, my church calls this these trips a Pilgrimage because it a journey to help others who are in need. The summer before my tenth grade year, I went on a service trip to Washington D.C. for a week. The focus was on helping homeless people. The summer before my eleventh grade year, I went on a service trip to New Orleans for a week. The focus was on helping people that were affected by hurricane Katrina.


In Washington D.C., our Pilgrimage focused on helping homeless people. We volunteered at a soup kitchen, which served breakfast and lunch. That was really fun because we got to help make the food and we were able to sit and talk with the homeless people. We got to learn about how they became homeless and how they are trying to change their lives. We helped sell their newspaper, which was called “Street Sense”. I hated selling the newspaper because it brought me to grips about how a homeless person felt. I was ignored and got glared at. I could tell that individuals passing by did not like the fact that my friend Derek and I were helping out the homeless. I became so mad at these individuals because most of the people would just walk by without saying anything. We were under the impression that most people would respond to us by at least said “no thank you” or “sorry” instead of ignoring us. While we were selling the paper, we figured out that individuals wearing suits were the worst. They wouldn’t even look at us or respond when we asked them if they could help out. It brought to light how rude people can be and how overlooked the homeless population is in D.C.


One day during our Pilgrimage, a couple of friends and I went out to eat at Subway and we couldn’t finish our food. We were going to take the food back to the church where we were staying but we saw a homeless person outside and I suggested that we give our leftovers to the man. Everyone agreed with me, which was good. We gave the man the food and he thanked us. He expressed that he was grateful to be noticed. I was really happy that we gave him the food because it made me feel like I was doing the right thing. It also made me feel like I was being a good person. While I was on the Washington D.C. pilgrimage, I got a chance to talk to a homeless person and asked them how it feels to be homeless. They told me that it’s hard because most people don’t even notice them, which makes them sad. Let me give you a heads up, if you ever see a homeless person, please consider talking to them or giving them some money because that would make them feel really good. My experiences talking to homeless people were interesting. They told me how people ignore them and how that makes them feel. Some of them say that people give them dirty looks and make disgusted sounds at them. One of them suggested that every time I see a homeless person I should always say hello to them because just one simple hello will go a long way.


In New Orleans, our pilgrimage focused on helping people who were affected by hurricane Katrina. Before we left we watched a documentary, “Trouble the Water,” that told us about what happened during Hurricane Katrina. The one thing that I will always remember about that movie was when people were stuck in their attic and they called 911. The woman on the phone said that they couldn’t do anything about them being stuck in the attic. They had to say that because too many rescue works were out and about helping other people. This movie definitely impacted my view of those suffering from Hurricane Katrina and made me anxious to get started helping the people. My youth group was stationed at the 9th Ward; the area hit the hardest by the Hurricane. Our main goal was to clean up a garden so that the people would have a place to grow vegetables. Many people thought that the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina was all cleaned up and taken care of but it was the complete opposite. We saw locations devastated. One elementary school was no longer standing. In place of it was a field of grass. Also, the homes were still all broken and the black and red "x’s" located on the windows were still visible.


I had a great experience going on these trips. It made me feel good because I was helping those in need. I also felt sad because it was difficult to compare all of the things that I have in my life to what little the homeless and those suffering from the Hurricane have. As part of my dedication to my church, I will continue to participate in pilgrimages and look to assist people in need in any way possible. This year, another trip is being planned in the Appalachia area. There will always be individuals who are suffering; however, one person can make a difference and I want to be that one person.

Eagles

Jody and I got to see the Eagles and Giants today.  The Eagles didn't show up to play, but we had fun, non-the-less.  Thanks, Susan, for offering us the tickets!

General Family Photos

Von and Jordan at Kitchen Kettle

Triquetra end of Summer Party

Barnstormers

Sasha and I went to a barnstormers game with Ed and Andrea tonight.  Sharon was too beat from the week, so she couldn't join us.  Here are some photos.

Indian Echo

This was an excursion Tami organized as part of the family "staycation".  It was really fun!  Thanks, Tami!

Carolyn and Norm's 30th!

Our good friends, Carolyn and Norm, celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this month. Their boys, Scott and Sam, helped organize a surprise party to celebrate the OUTSTANDING milestone. These are some photos from that very nice event in Landsdale.

Helping at the farm

Annisa

Sasha

July 2011, Jody Cleans the Pool

Some July Photos

Assateague 2011

156 photos but no videos.

Avalon 2011

Over 200 photos.

Memorial Day Swimming

Alan Jacobs: The Mill House burns, AGAIN

Alan Jacobs: The Mill House burns, AGAIN: "The mill house at Snapper Dam and Nolt burned again tinight. Last time was five months ago, almost to the day, on Christmas Day. Since that..."

Rugby

Annisa played in a Rugby tournament in Delaware today.  The teams were seven to a side, fourteen minute games, which is called "Sevens".  It's short and fast - seven minute halfs, full field, and tons of break-aways.  Hempfield girls won their bracket, and Annisa scored a try.  I had my camera on the wrong setting for the whole day.  Argh!

This is only about 18 photos and two videos.

Businesses That Care Expo 2011

Here's where I will be today.  Stop over!

The Lancaster Hempfield Rotary Club will conduct the Businesses That Care EXPO III on May 14, 2011 at the Farm & Home Center in Lancaster from 10am to 4pm. Local businesses that care will sponsor booths for non-profit agencies. The agencies will have an opportunity to demonstrate their services and solicit volunteers from the audience that attends the EXPO. (The number of visitors was approximately 800, last year.) The agencies will compete on the basis of the number of votes that they receive from the EXPO visitors. The four agencies with the highest number of votes will receive $2000, each. Two agencies will be selected, randomly, to receive $1000.

Admission to the EXPO is a food donation or $1 which will be given to the Landisville Food Pantry or a pair of slightly used or new shoes which will be given to Soles4Souls. Last year nearly $1000 in food or cash was donated to the Pantry. In addition, a local non-profit organization will provide cafeteria and refreshment services for the EXPO. A similar non-profit earned $400 for their mission project in Brazil at EXPO II.

Sponsors for 2011
Platinum Sponsor: Engle-Hambright & Davies, Inc.

Gold Sponsor: Oak Leaf Manor
Booth Sponsors for 2011
Engle-Hambright & Davies, Oak Leaf Manor, NAI Commercial Partners, Mongiovi& Mongiovi Law Offices, 'lyn Paddock Prudential Real Estate Agent, Reinsel Kuntz Lesher LLP, Certified Carpet, R. H. Ranck, Inc, Law Offices of William C. Haynes, Fulton Bank, Strategic Endeavors, LLC, Edward Jones Investment, United Way of Lancaster County, Simon Lever, Accountants, The Ellenberg-Herr Team, Veleska Jewelry, PNC Bank, Ron Alarie Prudential Agent, Red Rose Hearing, E G Stoltzfus, Jr, Inc, Stout Advisors, Lancaster South Rotary Club, The Desmond Foundation, Conversations, Inc. Sindall Truck Services, Class 8 Parts, McKonly & Asbury, LLP, Crognale & Collins Family Dentistry, Sindall Transport, Inc.,Primerica Financial Services, Leadership Advisory Services, CONTACT Lancaster Hotline, W E Consulting LLC, Triquetra Law offices, Integrity Bank, Scott Russell, Oyster Point Family Health center, Isaac's Restaurant and Deli, Environmental Recovery Corporation, Tomlinson Bomberger, Ross Buehler Falk & Company LLP

Mother's Day Photo

Paul took this photo.

Jody's Graduation

Here are 33 Photos from Jody's Graduation.



Also, the video Grandpa took of Jody crashing in to the guy in front of him.  You can see it here.

Alan Jacobs: My Last Marathon

Alan Jacobs: My Last Marathon: "Here are 90 photos and videos from the Gettysburg North-South Marathon. I have decided this is the last Marathon I will ever run. My third..."

Easter 2011

Annisa Played Rugby!

Annisa had a Rugby Game today, and she played nearly the entire B game.  Next week they travel to State College.

She is number 12, with the red forearms. 

Alan Jacobs: It's all About the Browser

Alan Jacobs: It's all About the Browser: "So it seems like the world is Browser happy these days. Here's my take on some of the more popular ones. Internet Explorer 9 - Fast an..."

Post to new Blog

When I post to my new blog, I'll almost always send a copy to this blog.  It will look like the one below.

Alan Jacobs: Running the Greenbelt

Alan Jacobs: Running the Greenbelt: "Today, Jody, Dan and I, ran most of the Greenbelt. We are in training for the May 1 Gettysburg Marathon. The Greenbelt is a 20+ mile..."

New Blog

At Isaac's we are slowly building an on-line presence for the company, which includes Facebook.  I need to contribute to our Facebook presence, so I started a new blog that I will use linked in to Facebook.  It will be a public blog, and it won't link to this family blog, or my photos.


You can see it here http://alanrjacobs.blogspot.com/

Mustering the depths of creativity, I named the new bog "Alan Jacobs".  If I could have managed this evolution better, I would have named my work blog The Sandwich Board and my family blog Alan Jacobs.  But sometimes things just work out in unexpected ways.


In general, The Sandwich Board will be my private family blog that isn't found when searched by search engines, and my new blog will be public, but not have obvious links back to our private family stuff.  The new blog will be a lot more boring!


It seems like a good plan to me, but it might involve twice the time to blog.  As it is, I sometimes go weeks without posting to ONE blog.  Oh my.  We'll see how it goes.


You can see on the new blog I already linked to my Jacobs Family Recipes blog, but that blog doesn't link back to our family blogs, so I think it's OK.


I'm probably taking this all much to seriously.

Rugby

I went to Annisa's rugby match today.  She is still recovering from an injury, but we hope she can play next week.  She was an awesome water girl!

Perigee full moon

Last night the moon was at it's closest point to the earth, due to it's elliptical orbit, and it was also a full moon. Evidently that's an infrequent event. This graphic shows the orbit, although the comparative sizes or the earth and moon are not accurate - they would be much smaller.

Here is how the size of the moon appears when photographed with the same lens, when it's near and far away.

My brother Paul took this fine photo of the Perigee Moon last night.

We saw it from our house, too.

One side of the moon always faces the earth. The other side is exposed to space, and never seen from the earth. Humans got their first look at the other side in the 60s, when we sent lunar orbiters around to take photos. The far side looks totally different from the earth facing side.

I think the far side gets hammered by space debris, while the side facing earth is somewhat protected. Or perhaps it has something to do with how the gravity of the earth affects the geology of the moon. I like the far side of the moon. It's wild and scary. Aged and wizened.  Gazing out beyond.

15 Mile Saturday

Today was a GREAT day for a run!  We stopped at my house during the run to refuel.

We saw this guy who was training for Boston.  This was his final 20 miler before the marathon.  Boston runners are elite.

These are the qualifying times runners need this year to get in to Boston.  I'm only an hour plus off pace!

Computer Virus Fun

I had a fun computer virus on a Windows 7 PC today!  It was delivered to a user in an email that looked like a UPS package tracking email.  When she opened it, her computer pretty much shut down, and when she tried to log on, she would get to a screen like this, except it said "CleanThis", instead of "ThinkPoint".

So we went to work!  Initially, I always assume the Virus has the upper hand, and it's best not to let it know that you are hunting it.  If they know you are on their trail, that just makes them mad.  Be stealthy!


Rebooting brought us back to the same useless screen, as did rebooting in safe mode.  Task Manager did not work, so we couldn't shut anything down.  We couldn't do anything on this computer.  It was dead.

I noticed that as we were shutting down, we received what appeared to be a legitimate Windows 7 message saying it needed to stop gog.exe in order to shut down.  A clue!

We restarted in safe mode with command prompt.  Regedit brought up the registry editor, but I didn't think to search that (missed opportunity).  Typing explorer.exe brought up Windows Explorer!  I searched for gog.exe and found it in the user's profile under "Roaming".  We opened that folder, and I created a new text file called gog.ex3.  Then I renamed gog.exe to gog.old, and quickly renamed gog.ex3 to gog.exe.  It's possible this would give us the advantage in the battle for control of the PC.

The theory is to hogtie the virus by removing the "exe" extension, but replace it with a lobotomized exe file that can't do anything.  The lobotomized exe file looks like a legitimate part of the virus, just in case any of the other pieces of the virus are trained to look around and repair itself.

We restarted in to normal mode, and everything looked fine, except the background was black.  This was a sign we had scored a hit, and we could begin coming out of the shadows!  

I quickly started Malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE), and updated both successfully.  This was a sign that we were gaining the advantage, because good viruses block those updates.  Obviously we had wounded our foe, but may not have delivered the fatal blow.  We decided it was safe to step out in to the open and show our weapons.  It was time to go for the kill!


We ran concurrent scans with Malwarebytes and MSE.  MSE found something "severe" and removed it.  Success!  I know the official word from experts is a computer should never have more than one security package at a time, but I often run two, with nice results.  Who's to know?  I'm not really an expert, so I'm allowed.

Then we browsed to the folder where the offending gog.old resided, and deleted that, and three other files that had the same "modified" date as the original gog.exe.

We did not remove our neutered gog.exe, which is an empty text file.  My theory is that a trojan mother might still be sleeping deep in the computer, and her job is to wake up periodically and see if gog.exe is there, and if it isn't, she birth's another, reinfecting the PC.

So that's my story of the day!

So, beware of opening tracking emails that appear to be from

or your computer could be recruited in to service in a worldwide botnet!

March Activities

In 51 photos

Japan

My running buddy, Dan, has a daughter who recently went to Japan to live for a few months.  She was in the earthquake, but is safe.  She wrote about it in her blog.

http://bear-in-japan.blogspot.com/

The IT Manager's job is never done!

This is the coupon dispensing kiosk in Giant on Centerville road this morning, being attacked by malware.  I sure know what that's like!

Running in the Rain!

Warning:  this post is long, and it really has no redeeming value.
My friend Dan and I continue to train for the Gettysburg Marathon.  Today's goal was a 15 mile training run.
It was raining, but we agreed that maybe it will be raining on Marathon day, so we need to train in all weather conditions.  Plus, we aren't wimps.

Compared to Jody.  He's a wimp.  He originally said he would run with us, but then was too afraid of the rain.  He's a wimp.  And his indoor cat's a wimp, too.

We ran through Landisville and Salunga.

We left the towns and headed out on to the open road.  This is a video of us running on Harrisburg Pike.  It's not exciting.  It's just us running.  But that's what it feels like.  Except it goes on like this for two and a half hours.

We saw Sea Gulls.  Mom and Dad, have there always been Sea Gulls around here?

Dan described conditions as "not ideal", "challenging" and "harsh".

We saw these chains at a bridge.  My guess is they are to keep animals like cows from going under the bridge.  It just seems like an elaborate setup for that.

We went up Prospect Road by Groff's farm.  Again, this is just a video showing running.  I suggest you skip it.  You'll never get that couple of minutes back - they'll be wasted forever.

We look happy, but we weren't.  It was a difficult day.  But this picture shows a couple of half-century aged men giving it the gass around mile eleven.  Ha!  Take that, world!

 

After running thru Silver Spring, we both just about had enough.  We decided not to do the last mile, and instead ran the direct route home along the row of trees beside Ivy Drive.  We have a video that captures the excitement.

If you are still reading, then you have almost as much endurance as Dan and me.  Congratulations!  Here's our route summary, as recorded with Endomondo on my Blackberry.  As we stepped on our driveway, the phone robot announced "Fourteen Miles!"

When we got home I roasted a chicken.

The Quickening

You can say you knew them when.

Overwhelming uncreativeness

Due to an overwhelming uncreativeness and writers block, I downloaded the photos from my camera from the past week, and picked some to post.

Saturday 2/19

I've resigned myself to the realization that my posts for the next couple of months will be about my weekend long runs.  Sorry for you, dear reader.

Today the wind was strong, gusting up to 60 MPH.  It blew the cover off our grill.

And collapsed the aluminum frame of one of our gazebos.  Amazing.

Everything was wrong with my run today.

• I didn't get enough running in through the week.
• My route was against the headwind most of the way.
• Whenever I stepped in to the grass beside the road, it was muddy and soaked: I just sunk in.
• My route took me to a low point at mile 2, and then it was uphill the rest of the way.
• I immediately got it in my head that I should have worn my other shoes.  So, true or not, the notion plagued me.

I started at the red arrow and ended at the red.