Poltrack Blog

Cathy says Hi…Bob and I visited Maine this summer….a great time, although we missed Lillian.  The hat collage pic was done with Lillian’s hat.  So I thought I would take a pic of everybody at Coffee Pond wearing Grandma’s hat.  Molly asked if she could have her picture taken sitting on the dock with her feet in the water so she would look like Babcia (see pic of Lillian on dock)!!!  That was one of her favorite spots!  Cathy Aunt Lillian at Coffee Pond, Maine A Collage

When we returned from vacation we were given the sad news that Pickles our elder feline warrior did not return from his nightly hunt of rodents and moles. It was impossible to keep this guy in the house for any length of time (and we tried). He loved the outdoors and and would complain loudly if we didn’t let him out. He was definitely a warrior, we found him as a stray many years ago. Over the years he lost a fang, managed to kill some big game (a rabbit) and gathered a few battle scars. He was gentle with us and the other cats but was not interested in typical cat distractions like boxes, bags and laser pointers. He couldn’t be bothered with such frivolities. Paris and Buster are still with us. Paris is an indoor cat and Buster spends time outside only when he gets banished for tormenting Paris. He’d rather sleep on an amplifier than hunt. Paris concentrates on insects and moths. If vermin are in the house I know I can depend on her. Pickle’s got along with both of them. He will b...

The only bright spot during this dreadful weather pattern is the constant appearance of hummingbirds around the feeders. The rain seems to have dampened the flowering of their native food sources so the feeders are quite attractive to them. It’s great being a teleworker, I can work while listening to Hank Williams and watching hummingbirds. Now if it would only … please… STOP RAINING!

On April 16th, 1944 over three hundred bombers and fighters of the 5th Air Army took off on a mission to bomb and strafe the Japanese airfields located at  Hollandia , Dutch New Guinea. The mission was successful and no aircraft was lost to enemy action, however their safe return was blocked by a massive weather front. 37 aircraft were destroyed or went missing because of the bad weather.This event known as  Black Sunday  and marked the biggest operational loss due to weather in WWII. My uncle piloted a  B-25  on this mission. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Ed Poltrack's Squadron The experience of crews who did find an airfield was no better. Alfred B. Colwell,Jr., was the Navigator/Bombardier on a B-25 in the 38th Bomb Group based at Nadzab, New Guinea April 16 Mission #48 – Hollandia. … The whole area was full of planes-B-24s, B-25s, A-20s and P-38s. We got down to 50 feet above the coast and followed it towards Sa...

At Mary and Melissa’s graduation we were once again privileged to experience a performance by our very own “Pyroman” as well as great firework display. Pyroman has spent many hours perfecting his craft. He wears a special Kevlar and Nomex outfit along with a motorcycle helmet affixed with pyrotechnic devices. The pyrotechnics are electronically ignited, a process that consists of each device being attached electrically to a trigger box. This setup allows Pyroman to coordinate his performance to a musical score. Pictures cannot adequately capture the essence of the performance but I tried to take a few. I have been lucky enough to witness other Pyroman displays but this one was the best ever. The smoke did not obscure the stage and several new innovations were added. This year a pinwheel was added that produced a lovely dynamic spiral effect. At the end of the performance, we were treated to several large mushroom shaped fireball effects that may have be...

Terry gave me a lead about research material that formed the basis of the article that I read online in the Pakistan Daily . Apparently this was lifted from a article posted by Rev Ted Pike and posted in June 2006. You can find it here . It’s a bit sad that Reverend Ted doesn’t spend more time with his sculpting, painting and poetry, he seems to have talent with these pursuits. His skills as a preacher are a bit more questionable. Of course once something is posted on the internet it get aggregated and rehashed in thousands of sites. I found one site that takes me back to the literature that Aunt Adeline sent us in the early sixties. All the old favorites are mentioned: The New World Order, Communists, Freemasons, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberg Group,  Club of Rome, and the Illuminati. You can find that article here . The internet is a smorgasbord for conspiracy fans. I am so sorry that Adeline did not have these resources when she was doing h...

The latest combined casualty numbers for Iraq and Afghanistan is 4,962 dead. As a child I remember at my grandmother house at the famed 4th street address seeing a picture of 3 smiling young men in the South Pacific. This picture was shown in the local newspapers and is significant because it was a reunion of two brothers and their cousin. From left to right, Joe Kowaleski (cousin), Francis Poltrack (Marines) and Edward Poltrack (Pilot). What is is extraordinary about this picture is the reunion part. The Pacific is a large place, it’s wartime, the only communication is sporadic letters. Ed writes about how he managed to arrange this meeting on Nov 22, 1943. He got Joe and tracked down Fran. He remarks about how thin and worn his brother looks. He writes how he asked about the fighting then regrets bringing it up. About a year later the Commander of the 1st Marine Division predicted that the island of Peleliu could be taken in about 4 days. The battle lasted for 2 months. Peleliu...

We attended Stephanie & Jesse’s graduation today. Both graduated as engineers, Jesse is a mechanical engineer and Stephanie is a chemical engineer. Stephanie is a member of the Society of Women Engineers. This commencement was “Green”. Power for the ceremony was supplied by methane produced by a landfill. There were recycle and compost bins near the food area. Shuttle service was available and I noticed a train depot right on campus. I was especially impressed with the commencement address given by Gary Hirshberg the CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm . I have a warm spot in my heart for the Stonyfield Yogurt folks because for a short time I lived next Samuel Kaymen one of the founders here in New Ipswich. When he came over to introduced himself I was actually cooking up some of my own yogurt in a Salton yogurt maker (this was in the wonderful 70’s when we were going to change the world and be self sufficient). I remember having a fine burrito supper with his family with plenty of win...

The character Daniel Faraday played a lovely piano piece in the Lost Episode “The Variable”. I suspected the piece was composed by Chopin and a little research confirmed that. Daniel was playing the middle part when his mother informed him that he had no time for music. Definitely a poignant scene. Give a listen: Impromptu, Op. 66, Fantaisie-I...

Tomorrow, Emily will be running in her first Boston Marathon. She is very excited and we wish her well. Her Bib number is 24690. We will be down there cheering her on. Thanks to all who sponsored her. The picture is from the Eastern States 20 miler that Emily ran on Mar 29. 2009.

The iced storm was devastating to our forests. Now that the snow is retreating we can see the piles of downed limbs and brush to be cleared. Roadside signs have appeared offering chipping and brush clearing services. These limbs are green wood and are very heavy. Some are bent under tension so when I’m using the chainsaw I need to pay even more attention to the direction of the cuts. Everywhere in town folks are trying to burn piles of brush unsuccessfully because green wood is not very flammable. Kerosene helps for this task. The other day I noted that chickadees were visiting the broken branches of maple trees. They were drinking the sap which is running freely now. My driveway is wet, my windshield is covered with it, all oozing from broken branches. In the morning after an overnight freeze I was greeted with maple flavored icicles, quite tasty I must say.

Of course March 14 (3.14) is just a rough approximation of the “real” value of π but leave it to those quirky folks at the Exploratorium to have a proper celebration.

My nephew is a mechanical engineering student at UNH. He sent me a photo sequence that makes me a bit queasy but I’m a bit nervous about heights. I’ll include his description of what he is doing. For those of you out there who think that Engineers just sit around all day in front of a computer, here is a little taste of what we do on a regular basis. For those of you who don't know, I work for Sig Sauer (one of the world's foremost handgun manufacturer) as a Design Engineer. I work primarily on R&D and the design of firearms and firearms components. An average day for me includes several shootings, the handling of a minimum of 20 different firearms (more often than not there are machineguns, grenade launchers, and suppressors thrown in the mix also), and it is not uncommon for me to have to move a firearm or two to get at my keyboard. The pictures depict me investigating the possibilities for wind power at my parents house. I scaled the 32m (105ft) tower to get dim...

Maxine’s daughter Martha wrote a beautiful testimony to her mom: In January of last year, I attended a Day of Recollection for caregivers and was struck by the words of the homily during Mass. Our celebrant referenced the Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins‘ reflection on the scene of Jesus’ birth speaking of “God’s infinity dwindling…dwindling into an infant.” Our celebrant then paralleled this by saying we see the same dwindling in Christ’s crucifixion – God’s infinity dwindling into the reality of the world we live in. This theme of dwindling struck me as I too was witnessing my mother’s failing health. It was painful at times to watch this once vibrant and energetic woman “dwindle” into the form of an infant. And I know it was painful for her to reconcile herself to her state of health but eventually she “let go” of her need to do for herself and trusted in God’s mysterious designs. It was the greatest lesson my mother taught me – to “accept and trust in God’s plan”. My mothe...

I know that I carried a few folks in high school. I was pretty good at figuring out the English homework.

Even though it is fake photo, this fashion statement won with 13 votes 8 votes for the bucket look, but UV protection too! This was my favorite, but it only received 5 votes Thanks to all for participating and Happy Groundhogs day

                    Unfortunately the damage caused by the ice storm has not abated since December 12th. My neighbor's stately oak was split quite badly by the storm and met it's end today. This tree has been here for as long as I remember and because it was growing by itself instead of competing with other trees, it grew into a spreading form. It is a little difficult to estimate it's age because the outer rings are faint, but we are guessing about 70 years. So many years to grow and so few moments to fall.