Seth has photographed a very Silicon Valley bird. Yes, if I were a nesting bird, I’d find a coil of coax to be the perfect shape for a nest. I wish I had a photo of the bird’s nest I saw in a traffic light.

Rule 240 is an important term for airline travelers to familiarize themselves with. It defines what rights a passenger has when delays and cancellations occur. And these days it seems delays are inevitable. Prior to deregulation, Rule 240 was a federal requirement, nowadays airlines keep it as a good business practice. However, it’s up to the passenger to know what he or she is entitled to, since the frazzled airline agent might not be forthcoming with help unless you mention the magic words. Each airline has their own version, but in general you may be entitled to rebooking (on another airline if necessary), meals, hotel rooms, and phone calls if your flight delays were the fault of the airline. Unfortunately, weather and strikes do not qualify. But most of the recent delays I’ve encountered have been classified as “mechanical problems” which were actually the result of mechanics “slow downs”, so those would probably qualify. OneTravel.com has even more airline specific details in their Rules of the Air section.

Who makes fire engines? You can’t just run down to the Chevy dealer, pick between red & yellow, choose a tank capacity and then finance it with GMAC. Or can you? Every community needs fire engines, tankers, pumpers, hook & ladder trucks, rescue vehicles, and so on. There are fire fighting museums and web pages devoted to antique fire trucks. But where do new ones come from? American LaFrance Corporation. Digging a little deeper, I found, as I semi-sadly often do, that it is a small part of a much bigger deal: DaimlerChrysler. Strictly speaking, it is a subsidiary of FreightLiner, LLC, which is in turn a “DaimlerChrysler company”. American LaFrance is headquartered in Cleveland, North Carolina and has ten manufacturing facilities. They offer free training courses (with purchase!), including “the science of magnetism“. And they list their most recent deliveries on their website. The company started in 1832, making hand-pumped fire engines, went onto steam fire innovations (“We guarantee 80 pounds of steam in five minutes from cold water.”), survived a monopoly restructuring in the 1890s and became the industry leader. So, no you can’t just waltz down the street to get a fire engine, but it appears that you can finance one with DaimlerChrysler Financial Services. Which leads me to wonder: how much do these things cost?

Why didn’t someone think of this sooner? Or maybe they did. Pledge Grab-it Mitts look so very handy! You wear them on your hand and dust dust dust. More control, more fun, less dust in those nooks and corners! These are throwaways, though. I suppose I can take my reusable dust attracting cloths and sew them into gloves. Then I can have washable dusting gloves. Hmmm. Perhaps I can sell those and make my millions.

One of Powell’s current Great Deals is the trade paper edition of “Cryptonomicon” by Neal Stephenson for $6.98. Not bad, considering they list a used copy for $10.95. I’m still kicking around a hardcover copy in the stacks by my bed and I was surprised to find that it’s worth in the ballpark of $70. Powell’s is listing a first edition, first printing, standard condition hardcover at that price. I’ve verified that the one we have matches those parameters. That means this book has increased in value more than certain stock purchases made in the same timeframe. Eeek! For a contemporary (modern? current?) author, Neal Stephenson seems to have pretty decent resell value on recent first editions. Alibris has a useful article: “Identifying First Editions for Beginners”.

I couldn’t figure out what was making me feel uncomfortable about Williams-Sonoma’s current seasonal color, jadite green. Then I suddenly realized — it’s the Martha Stewart-ubiquitous green! (I actually own a lot of light green things … it happens to match my carpet. Which came with the condo. Maybe a Martha or green glass fan used to live here.)

I have a bookmark folder for home and kitchen websites and the list keeps getting smaller. I just noticed that Tavolo.com now redirects to a section in OurHouse.com. I missed the December acquisition announcement.

Ever wonder what the difference is between a Boston bagel and a New York bagel? Ever go to Boston and wonder “where the heck can I get a decent bagel around here?” Don’t despair, there’s a Boston Bagel FAQ just for you. The executive summary: “Boston bagels are relatively small, roughly donut-sized (but with a smaller hole). New York bagels can be used as spare tires on Geo Metros.” And: “People in California think that Noah’s bagels are wonderful, which is yet more confirmation that all that sunlight and smog turns your brains into bean dip.” Bean dip? In my own head? Pass the chips! (And where does one go for a decent Boston Cream pie in CA?)

Steve found an article on what They Might Be Giants has been up to. I can tell I have been a bad fan because although I’ve been watching Malcolm in the Middle semi-regularly since its debut, I had no idea it was TMBG singing the theme song. My mind went through vague “oh it’s one of those new ‘we’re so witty’ bands that try to sound like TMBG” thoughts but it didn’t catch on that it might actually be them. Ooops.

After posting about the first man in space last week, I realized I did not know who the first woman in space was. I know Sally Ride was the first American woman up there, but I was pretty sure we didn’t beat the Russians at this one either. The first woman was Valentina Tereshkova, who was actually skilled at parachuting, not piloting as most cosmonauts are. She took off on June 16, 1963 for three days of orbiting and, of course, parachuted out after re-entry. It was her only spaceflight and Russia didn’t send another woman up for nineteen years.