Warning: First part of this story is not happy.

Last week we noticed a small egg in the flower basket on our front porch. The egg wasn't in a nest and it wasn't being cared for as far as we could tell. two days ago we came home found the flowers out of the pot (they're fake flowers so they're light). We're not sure if it was a big wind or possibly a cat. That's when we noticed two newborn baby birds were dead next to the egg. They couldn't have been more than a few days old at most. We also noticed a small nest in the corner that we didn't see before the flowers were knocked out. It was empty with no mama bird around. :-(

A short while later I came back with a tiny little box for the dead birds and I took a closer look inside the nest. It wasn't empty! There was one tiny baby bird at the bottom, a day or two old, eyes closed and barely breathing at all. But still no mama bird in sight. I went back inside to look up options on the internet. We called a few wildlife rehabilitation numbers but couldn't reach anybody. Not that I knew what I would be doing anyway, but since the baby wasn't even opening it's mouth there wasn't much I could even try - and the temperature would be dropping below freezing overnight. We're still not sure what happened in the first place but nature would have to take it's course. :-(

In the morning I left for work and intentionally ignored the flowerbox. The last thing I wanted to see was the baby bird possibly still suffering. Then during my commute, Patty called my cell phone. She told me that the mama bird returned and was inside the nest! After work the mama bird (possibly a sparrow?) was still in the nest. She stayed there staring out all night.

Then this morning when I went to work again I looked in to find that the mama bird was gone. I knew she'd come back again but more importantly I was able to see inside the nest again. The little baby bird was alive and moving. He's not out of the woods yet but looking much better. :-)

Labels: other

Roon tagged me and I am now morally obligated to fulfill his request.

The rules:
* link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
* share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Two years ago I posted 50 Things about me to my blog so I've already done this 10 times over. But I'll now make it 55 things about me by adding 5 new facts. Hmm, I can't mention television awards, movie appearances, or sea-monster sightings... this is going to be hard but I'll do my best.

Five (new) Random Facts:

1. Since Roon ended his facts by mentioning that he's been to Yankee Stadium many times but never went to Shea Stadium, I'll start by saying that I've been to Shea Stadium several dozen times but I've never been to Yankee Stadium. Other than Shea, I've been to Major League games in Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, and Minor League or Spring Training games in Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, and Maine.
2. I have been downstairs in the basement archives of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, way beyond where the public is allowed to see.
   
3. On more than one occasion I've hiked to the top of a cold, ice-covered mountain in the middle of the night using only a flashlight.
4. Since January 1st I've been mapping the progress of hiker Ryan Carpenter on his 1,800-mile journey of from Key West, Florida to Springer Mountain, Georgia. (I've never even met Ryan before.)
5. I am in Wikipedia. shhh. (I am not the one who wrote it (that's against the rules) but I did correct it once.)
   

Here are the 5 bloggers I've tagged, and now "they're it" and they have to list 5 random facts about themselves and so on and so forth.

Joe Video - Friend from college. Already tagged with this meme but he hasn't responded to it yet.
Kraig Koelsch - Former colleague, now living in sunny Florida.
Brian & Dawn - Current colleague and his wife.
Ian Isanberg - New York networker and fellow PSTV alumnus.
"Steele Creek Blogger" - Unknown Charlotte area neighborhood blogger I read.

Labels: other, trivia

Happy July 7th, 2007... or 07-07-07.

Remember the hype and phobia over June 6 last year as the date 6/6/06 was associated with the Devil? Well, the buzz around this coming Saturday is even bigger. For, 07/07/07 in the Western world is being associated with perfection.

Here's why. Seven is a crucial numeral in the Bible. Creation took all of seven days, there are seven petitions of the Lord's prayer and, not to forget, there are seven levels of Heaven. Rationalists may wince at this but couples across the Western world are flocking to the altar in droves this Saturday to keep their 'date with destiny'. ...more

In a related story, China announced that the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing will begin on 08-08-08 at exactly 8:08pm. The number 8 is considered to be very lucky and represent prosperity in Chinese culture.

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Who are you? Who is reading my blog?

Whether you already know me and visit often or you're a complete stranger who just happened to wander in, please click here or the "comments" link below and just say hello. It will be like when I used to have a guestbook on my website, before all the spam ruined it.

P.S. For the majority of you who don't have a Blogger account, just choose "Other" for your identity and you'll be able to type in your name. Including a webpage is optional, but no commercial spam.

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A new scientific study shows that one of the best predictors of automobile crash risk is astrology. That's right, your zodiac sign is a more significant factor in whether or not you're likely to get into an accident than other factors commonly used by car insurance companies like age and where you live. The study showed that Libras and Aquarians were the worst drivers while Leos got into the least accidents. I'm a Leo and aside from a low-speed/no-damage fender tap when I was in high school, I've never been in any sort of accident. ^{(knock on wood)}

Labels: other

I've seen "50 Things About Me" done on many other websites and blogs and thought it would be a good idea for my website. Sometimes these lists are generic questions and answers but I'm choosing the more free-form route of listing pointless trivial facts that are somehow supposed to summarize my life. Enjoy.

Updated 10/24/07

1. Name: Michael Sussman.
2. Age: 30-something.
3. I'm originally from East Northport, New York, on the northern shore of Long Island.
4. I lived in only one home my entire childhood.
5. I lived in West Lebanon, NH, Salisbury, MD, and Plattsburgh, NY between 1995 and 1998.
6. I now call Charlotte, North Carolina my home.
7. I am married to my college sweetheart.
8. I thoroughly disliked writing the word sweetheart above.
9. We never got to go on our honeymoon.
10. I have two daughters.
11. I have two dogs: A Rat Terrier named Boomer and a Pug named Hobo. They rough-house constantly.
12. I am currently a Senior Producer in the field of broadcast television promotions.
13. Despite my profession, I do not have cable or satellite television. Just rabbit ears.
14. I have two Emmy awards.
15. I also have a National Addy award, which is one of only two ever won by a local television station for work done in-house.
16. My work is included (with many others) in a permanent collection at the United States Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
17. I should be paid more!
18. I am also an NFL Official. No, I am not a Referee so I don't make any game decisions.
19. I had a role in the Will Ferrell movie, Talladega Nights.
20. Everybody except my mom is sick and tired of hearing that I was in a movie.
21. I went to Northport High School.
22. I was on the varsity wrestling team. I've been told that my name was painted on the wall of the wrestling practice room after I graduated but I've never seen it.
23. My wife went to the same high school too but we never dated until college.
24. My sister was valedictorian in high school, salutatorian at her college at Cornell, received her PhD from Yale, and is now an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
25. I graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a degree in Mass Communication. That's all.
26. I actually began my college career as a Physics/Engineering major.
28. In college I took a test to determine what career would be best for me. The result of this collegiate advisement test was that I should be a bus driver.
29. I am a brother of Alpha Sigma Phi National Fraternity. My Delta Xi chapter is now defunct.
30. I don't drink beer.
31. My favorite television show is The Simpsons.
32. I am an expert on The Andy Griffith Show, even though I had never even heard of the show until I moved to the south.
33. My favorite musical artist is Billy Joel and my favorite musical group is U2. I also like AC/DC, The Beatles, CCR, Green Day, and a lot of classic rock.
34. The best concerts I ever went to were Billy Joel (Storm Front at Nassau Coliseum, 1989), U2 (How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, 2005), and believe it or not, Living Colour (Time's Up at the RPI Field House in Troy, NY, 1991)
35. The worst concert I ever went to was Genesis at Giant Stadium. The band was okay but the seats sucked.
36. The day I moved in to my first house a huge swarm of bees decided to make my front lawn their new home and we had to hire a bee keeper.
37. Lets Go Mets!
38. Lets Go Panthers!
39. I play fantasy football and baseball. I first played the original Rotisserie Baseball way back in the 1980's.
40. I play disc golf. Charlotte has many great courses and I occasionally play in amateur tournaments.
41. I enjoy Letterboxing.
42. I enjoy creating websites, both for myself and for clients. I taught myself HTML/XHTML, CSS, and some PHP. I prefer to hand-code all of my websites and I'm proud to say that I do not use any authoring tools.
43. I am a Wikipedian and a DMOZ Editor.
44. I visited 33 U.S. states plus Washington, DC by the time I was 16 but I still haven't been to any other country except Canada.

create your own personalized map of the USA
45. I've voted in every single presidential election since I turned 18.
46. I swear I once saw the legendary sea-monster Champy as a kid while row boating on Lake Champlain.
47. My wife thinks this list is stupid.
48. My wife is right.
49. I skipped #27 and you didn't notice.
50. I can't believe you read this whole post.

Labels: other

So as I'm sure most of you have done at one time or another, I did an internet search for my name. What I discovered is that among many other Mike Sussman's in the world with a website, there is one "semi-famous" guy named Mike Sussman. He is a writer for Star Trek Voyager and also plays a crew member. Now because of all the Trekkies out there making fan-sites to this guy, my website gets lost among a thousand sites dedicated to this other Mike Sussman.

Labels: other