3/7/2015. Our stoop is covered in snow from the roof!

After the landscapers finished clearing the snow from the roof, we had lots of snow on our stoop. They cleared it off again, thankfully!

Sent from my 64 GB 5th Gen iPod Touch.

Found a tree frog sanctuary while out bike riding, heard Spring Peepers.

 It was unseasonably warm today for a March 13th, with temperatures in the 70's, so I decided to clean up my Dahon D7 folding bike and take my first ride of the season. My ride takes me through a business park, which is usually quiet, and good for biking. Near the end of the road, where I usually turn around, I suddenly heard a "cree-cree-cree" sound - VERY LOUD. I realized this was the song of the tree frog, and there were apparently a LOT of them. You could easily hear them over the noise of traffic on the nerby highway. I stopped to take a couple of photos of the area with my iPod Touch, and also to record a minute or so of the sound with it. I researched the sound on the web site http://nyfalls.com/wildlife/Wildlife-reptiles-frogs.html, and was able to identify the tree frog calls as that of the Spring Peeper (Pseudacris c. crucifer). On the site, in addition to photos of the frog, are recordings of the exact song I heard that day:  http://www.nyfalls.com/wildlife/sounds/spring-peeper2.mp3
I hope you enjoy the songs as well.

3/8/2015 - SORRY FOLKS,  those links no longer work!  I just found a YouTube video of an actual Spring Peeper frog singing it's song here:  http://youtu.be/ZX9uODHi0zg

Gino's Diet Success 40%

 

Gino's LoseIt Diet Success Photos

Well, here I am breaking tradition. Instead of photos of snow and stuff, I am posting a photo of myself before and after my LoseIt diet.  I started the diet in January 2010, after leaving work in an ambulance - sort of a heart scare. I decided I was too heavy at 172 lbs with a 36" waist.

I found a free app for my iPod called LoseIt. I set an initial goal of dropping 30 lbs, and surprisingly reached the goal in 6 months. I then decided to go further, reaching 124 lbs (down 48 lbs), with a 29" waist in Sept 2011. Along the way, I took several photos of myself. On the right is a nice photo of myself at 128 lbs.

Since the "After" photo, I have been working out in a gym, and have developed a lot of muscles, and weight is up to 131, but waist is still 29, and I wear size 29 skinny jeans all the time. Not bad for age 66!

I hope this helps others on LoseIt to see yet another example of success.
 

And here's the bike at the base of the Kensico Dam.

For a change of pace, I drove to the Kensico Dam Plaza and took a photo of the 9/11 memorial "The Rising"

I folded up my Dahon, put it in my trunk and drove down to the Kensico Dam Plaza, where I parked. I unfolded the bike and rode on the Bronx River Pathway. Very nice ride. On my way back to the car, I took this photo of "The Rising", a memorial to 113 Westchester Residents who died in the World Trade Center disaster of 9/11/2001.

Here's the bike at the Kensico Reservoir. Nice scenery for fishing.

I brought my little folding stool from REI with me when I stopped for this scenic break on my ride.

Here's one leg of my bike trips. A baseball field in Armonk's Town Park

My daily bike trips first go to the Kensico Reservoir, about 1 1/2 miles from home. Then I go to this field in the park for a break before going on.

Here's the Dahon D7 locked to a tree in the woods at the Kensico Reservoir with my fishing gear on it.

My fishing vest is in the back pack, and fly rod and wading staff are on top. This is my first stop only daily bike trips

Here's the first in a series of pictures of my bike at places I bike to

This is the gazebo in Armonk's Wampus Park. Please forgive the fuzzy photos. This is the resolution you get from the iPod Touch's rear camera.

Here's a new section for me blogging about my biking

Here's me with my new Dahon D7 Speed folding bike in April 2011. I'll be posting photos of my bike in the various places I have biked to. Although this was shot with a decent camera, many shots were taken with my iPod Touch 4th Gen.

My Review of Mirrycle Mountain Bike Mirror

Originally submitted at REI

This rear-view mirror is designed specifically for mountain bikes and installs easily in the end of your handlebars.

Mirrycle Mountain Bike Mirror

Clear wide view on folding bike

By ginofs from Armonk, NY on 6/16/2011

5out of 5

Pros: Easy to Install, Well made

Best Uses: Folding Bikes Too

Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational

Was this a gift?: No

Wasn't sure if this would fit my Dahon D7 folding bike (from REI), but it sure does! It gives me a brilliant, wide view of the whole road behind me, and doesn't wiggle or vibrate. As long as it's tightened properly, it never moves no matter what kind of jaw-breaking bumps I hit; yet it's still easy to adjust while riding.

Top Photo: Example of how it fits on folding bike handle.

Next Photo: How mirror fits when bike is folded

(legalese)

Great view out the bedroom window!

The snow crew dug us out, and here's the end result. Huge piles of snow.

A nice view from the living room after the storm.

Here's the snow stick reading about 9". Later it read 11". Although the snow was not as deep as the blizzard of '96, where the first snowfall was 22", this snow was heavy and thick, and caused a lot of highway accidents. Driving my car, I slid down the hill at the bottom and couldn't stop. I had to slide into a snow bank to stop. A truck behind me couldn't get around me and the driver dug me out of the snow bank so I could get out of the way. Iwas on the way soon.

Well, GinosPlace is getting refreshed for the first time in a long time. Here's the result of our first big snow storm in a while - on Friday, Feb 26, 2010. I had off from work, but had to get the cars cleared off in time for the snow removal crew to clean things up. The snow stick was reading about 9", but more was to fall later on.