The Northcam's Back! Just in Time for the Ash Street Project

After being offline for over a week, the northcam is back.

And just it time to show what's happening at the Ash Street Project. The crew started cutting up the street outside, barely an hour before I got the camera and the online display talking to each other again.

The camera is near the corner of Ninth Street south and Ash, in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

Replacement Webcam Working

So far, the webcam set up in a west window, looking toward the same intersection as the normal one, seems to be working. Which is a little surprising, considering how often I dropped it.

The last fall happened overnight. My son tells me that he found it on the floor, and put the webcam back in it's usual place, on my laptop. I'd wondered who had done that.

I've got the webcam secured firmly this time, I trust, in the lower-left corner of a west window, looking to the north-northwest, with a card set in place to shield it from the setting sun.

The view isn't as good as from the original Ash Street webcam's location: but it will do for now.

I certainly hope that I get the main computer back in working order soon.

A Webcam and a Bucky Computer

This afternoon, my main computer started misbehaving. There may be something wrong with the hard drive. Or possibly the file allocation table.

Or, maybe I've got gremlins in the tower.

The long and the short of it is that until some time next week, the webcam photo will be stuck at 4:53 PM, May 21, 2008. Unless I work something out.

I told my 12-year-old son that I'd try setting my laptop up as a substitute. He told me that he'd thought of the same thing (which I believe), and added, "great minds think alike, hmm?"

That's my boy.

I'm taking the main computer in for therapy right after the Memorial Day weekend. That was the earliest opening they had, where I had the thing built.

"Due to Technical Difficulties..."

The 'main' computer here is slightly on the fritz. Something to do with the hard drive, I'm afraid.

I've arranged to take it in to the shop next week, and am hoping for the best until then. Meanwhile, there well probably be a time or three when those once-a-minute updates won't happen.

Frustrating.

Swapped Feeders: Now Comes the Waiting

I finally got the new hummingbird feeder washed, rinsed, filled, and hung out.

Why did it take over a week? Good question. I've been a little frazzled lately: more about that at "Through One Dad's Eye."

So far, no hummingbirds, but it's early days: two weeks into May, and the first couple were cold, off and on.

Today, the thermometer registered nearly 80. If this keeps up, we may see hummers yet.

New Hummingbird Feeder, and a Birdhouse

I picked up a new hummingbird feeder late this afternoon. The one you see in the webcam photo is photogenic, but I realized that the enclosed space in the bottom will be hard to clean.

Besides, the current model doesn't have a perch for the hummers. I read that, although hummingbirds can feed 'on the fly,' they benefit from having perches.

Down side, they'll probably feed more efficiently and spend less time at the feeder.

Up side, I'll have the warm, fuzzy feeling of having helped hummingbirds conserve energy.

I'd gone to Wal-Mart to see what sort of easy-to-plant post they might have for a bird feeder my wife pointed out to me. Didn't find a post - but I'll be taking another look at the bird feeder tomorrow.

Keeping an Eye on Ash Street

Yesterday, I put up a "Keep an Eye on Ash Street" sign. You may have seen it.

So: There's the corner of Ash and South 9th in Sauk Centre? It looks quiet now, but that will change. Ash Street's pavement ends, about a block north of here.

Small Town America: Minnesota Arrives

This blog's purpose, right now, is to give people who watch one of my webcams a chance to talk back.

So: If you've got something to say about Sauk Centre's first view-on-the-street webcam, the Ash Street Project (heading my way), Sauk Centre, or a related topic, Feel free.

That webcam gives a new photo every minute, by the way, and I'm hoping for hummingbirds later this month.