fence


In the world of small town zoning there is the concept of the “buffer”. The buffer is akin to the roll of super absorbent paper towels produced on the home-front after an accident has occurred.
So, lets say the City planners locate Industrial zoning in a low income neighborhood next to houses. Such a fence can be required as a buffer.

Screen 3 (“S-3”).  The S-3 buffer/screen requires an opaque landscaping scheme, one that blocks views between two adjacent properties. This type of screening is for use between dissimilar land uses, where the maximum amount of visual shielding is desired. The plantings allowed by the S-3 designation consist of the following…
…With the approval of the director, an opaque wall or fence may be utilized for, or as part of, a required S-3 screen. Where allowed, such wall or fence (including any gate(s) forming a portion of such structure) shall be at least six (6) feet tall, or an alternate height deemed necessary by the director to protect required sight distances along a public right-of-way.–CHO Code 34-871

Does the fence stop the noise? Does it stop the smell? Does it block the view of the 85 foot tall manufacturing facility? No.
But it makes the planners feel they have done their job.

Asphalt

every fire chiefs' dream
How much asphalt is enough?

After graduating from college with a civil engineering degree, I found myself working in my home town for a local engineering firm doing mostly municipal engineering (roads, sewer pipe, water pipe, stormwater). A fair percentage of my time was spent convincing people that, when it came to their road, I knew more than they did.–Charles Marohn, “Confessions of a Recovering Engineer”, Strongtowns blog

This urban landscape would be a dream come true for any fire chief. Ample room for the trucks to cavort, lots of defensible space, gigantic turning radii accommodated. The ultimate product of a standards and design manual, a landscape where automobiles feel at home.

objective correlative


I am back home, hoping to file taxes, print pictures, do things that these days are facilitated by computers.
Both my home machines are displaying the Mac version of the screen of death. In five years of owning and using these two machines I have seen this screen on one machine on one occasion.
Naturally I wonder, what is causing OSX unexpectedly to quit?
I am pretty good on the Mac maintenance front, repair permissions regularly, avoid odd downloads, have redundant backups. This seems to be a software issue. Both machines are power PC macs running OS 10.4.11. Both will run in “safe” mode.
So, if there are any Mac cognoscenti out there that would be willing to read and interpret crash reports, help!
Unresolved kernel trap…
Thus it is with my soul.

immobile

Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: motionless, fixed
Synonyms: anchored, at a standstill, at rest, frozen, immobilized, immotile, immovable, nailed, nailed down, pat, quiescent, rigid, riveted, rooted, stable, stagnant, static, stationary, steadfast, stiff, still, stock-still, stolid, unmovable, unmoving–Dictionary.com

Computer operating system froze-up multiple times yesterday, kernel panic, whatever that is. Seized this morning in Photoshop, rather than rework the original file (from Providence RI, near Thayer Street, February 26) a screen shot with a point and shoot of the frozen computer screen will do.
These technological tools border on the miraculous. When the functionality get rough around the edges, I need not complain.

day of rest


I am trying to discover the names of the kind souls who made the two cornus florida trees appear at my sister’s funeral service.