Creative converted homes

By Colleen Kane | CNBC.com

This is the third-annual collection of residences that were created from buildings that formerly served other purposes. The visionaries who dreamed up and created these homes started off with disused and neglected buildings and transformed them into unusual habitations designed for modern lifestyles.
Some categories of buildings are favorites when it comes to adaptive reuse. Other homes in this collection were made from unexpected structures. Whatever their starting points, the resulting examples of adaptive reuse range from simple and minimal or rustic to contemporary.
Locals call it Tracy Island, for its resemblance to the island base in the 1960s TV series "Thunderbirds," according to an article in This is Kent, but the Lime Works is a 1930s modernist former water-softening treatment plant owned by an antiques shop owner and his partner. This far-out facility shut down in 1942, and in the 1960s the water board planted poplars to hide it as it was considered an eyesore, reports the Sunday Times.

The owners bought the derelict plant in 2005 and began transforming it into a spacious residence with four floors of living space connected by spiral staircases (with the master suite taking up the whole fourth floor), floor-to-ceiling windows, a movie theater and gym, two kitchens, a rooftop swimming pool and another roof terrace, and hilltop views of the surrounding countryside. When the pair was 90 percent finished with the transformation, they decided The Lime Works was too big, and it's listed it with Savills for approximately $4,756,000, down from the January 2012 asking price of approximately $6,046,000.

more at link:
http://homes.yahoo.com/news/creative-converted-homes-191605942.html

3-D sonar provides new view of Civil War shipwreck

By MICHAEL GRACZYK | Associated Press

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — The remains of the only U.S. Navy ship sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during Civil War combat now can be seen in 3-D sonar images from the Gulf's murky depths, revealing details such as a shell hole that may have been among the ship's fatal wounds.

The high-resolution images of the 210-foot, iron-hulled USS Hatteras are being released this month to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the battle where the ship was lost. Besides the shell hole, they also show previously unknown details like a paddle wheel and the ship's stern and rudder emerging from the shifting undersea sands about 20 miles off the coast of Galveston.

"This vessel is a practically intact time capsule sealed by mud and sand, and what is there will be the things that help bring the crew and ship to life in a way," said Jim Delgado, the project's leader and director of maritime heritage for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

"You can fly through the wreck, you're getting a view no diver can get," Delgado said.

The Hatteras had sat mostly undisturbed and unnoticed from January 1863 — when a Confederate raider sunk the ship and took most of the crew prisoner — until its discovery in the early 1970s.

more at link:
http://news.yahoo.com/3-d-sonar-provides-view-civil-war-shipwreck-172044346.html

according to Mr Yikes - the death penalty

MrYikes (512 posts)
7. a person shall be put to death quickly if convicted of a crime while in possession of a firearm.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2218691

and oldbanjo agrees:
I agree and if that was the case
some of the bad guys would stop using guns, but today you can pay off a Judge Or the cops you will go free to do it again. As long as the bad guy has a gun I will have mine.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2219221

oh yeah, the Libertarian Bill Maher who is usually hated around here. that Bill Maher -

I bet you a dime to a doughnut that Bill Maher owns gun-s-. yes, I mean plural.

;-)

do it like Lucy did. except she smuggled a hunk of cheese. wrapped in a blanket like a baby.

gawds it was funny. wish I could find it on YouTube.

Nitrogen narcosis (experience it!)

Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect), is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while diving at depth. The Greek word ???????? (narcosis) is derived from narke, "temporary decline or loss of senses and movement, numbness", a term used by Homer and Hippocrates.[1] Narcosis produces a state similar to alcohol intoxication or nitrous oxide inhalation, and can occur during shallow dives, but usually does not become noticeable until greater depths, beyond 30 meters (100 ft).

Apart from helium, hydrogen and probably neon[citation needed], all gases that can be breathed have a narcotic effect. This effect is consistently greater for gases with a higher lipid solubility and there is good evidence that the two properties are mechanistically related.[2] As depth increases, the mental impairment may become hazardous. Although divers can learn to cope with some of these effects, it is not possible to develop a tolerance. While narcosis affects all divers, predicting the depth at which narcosis will affect a diver is difficult, as susceptibility varies widely from dive to dive, and between individuals.

When narcosis appears, it may be completely reversed in a few minutes by ascending to a shallower depth with no long-term effects. For this reason, narcosis while diving in open water rarely develops into a serious problem as long as the divers are aware of its symptoms, and may ascend to manage it. Diving beyond 40 m (130 ft) is generally considered outside the scope of recreational diving: as narcosis and oxygen toxicity become critical factors, specialist training is required in the use of various gas mixtures such as trimix or heliox.

more at link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_narcosis

pretty much the status quo at my place ... here are mine in all their splendor:

Prince Big Boy of Gizmo, my handsome fella


Princess Pretty Girl of Gidget, the little sister


and together they rule

dominoes, falling.