Job is still slow going. I'm kinda frustrated by the lack of challenge. Usually I will create my own challenge and opportunity but I must account for every half hour of time in the damn accounting system. Welcome to the private sector.
Therefore, I spend my time doing boring but billable tasks, just get billable hours in. I can't build the business if I can't do any R&D or put some of these technologies to work for us in own freakin' office! We don't really practice what the F--- we preach.
My boss talked about all kinds of cool work that i could do and figure out when i started but hasn't happened yet. Starting to wonder if it ever will.
My Mom emailed asking if I could help her identify a bird that she has been seeing around her house lately. Below is the correspondence:

Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2005 3:48 PM
Son, do you know anything about eagles?Since early spring I have been hearing a high pitched sound"eeeeeeeeee". From the first it made me think about the sounds I heardwhile watching documentary on eagles. The sound has grown stronger overthe months & this morning a large bird with a wing span of about 5 ft flew over the trees & started circling above us. I had the strongfeeling that ir was checking out my dog with breakfast in mind. It tookoff as soon as we came in. Could it be a young eagle? Mom

Hi Mom,

Bald eagles usually live near water. There is suppoesed to be a bald eagle nest on the Delaware right next to the old steel mill. It might be an eagle, bald or other, I'm not sure how to tell.

Hawks screech like that, too. They live around NJ in lots of places.

What color(s) are the undersides of the wings? If they are half brown and half white, then it is a turkey vulture. They are very prevalent in NJ and at least the size you mentioned. Never heard one screech, though.

I entered some pieces of the description you gave into a bird indetification website and came up w/ some possibilities below. You should see little photos of 8 different birds including an osprey.

We went to the Delware Water Gap today for a hike. Daughter, son1 and I. We did the same hike nephew1 and I did last fall though we only went a third of the way up to a great lookout spot. the kids liked climbing on the rocks. we all loved the view but our pics did not come out at all. they tromped thru a rocky trout stream in their shoes before we headed for home.

The town fireworks last night were fantastic. Excellent show. While you could see them from the front steps, bother-in-law and I took the 3 kids to the park by across the street by the basketball court. They were going off almost over our heads!

Daughter and niece1 were on the town Garden Club float in the parade yesterday morning. They rode w/ some other girls thru the town wearing summer hats and waving. Son1 has a chance to ride on the Plumbers' float (our neighbor) but wasn't interested. Seems people on parade floats now throw candy to kids watching from the curb. Son1 has a 1 gallon ziploc bag filled w/ cheap candy! Fun at first but worse than Halloween.

xoxo
BRE
We found 8 possible Size 4. Large (16 - 32 in) Brown Hawk-like birds in New Jersey:


Cooper's Hawk


Northern Harrier


Prairie Falcon



Red-tailed Hawk


Gyrfalcon


Osprey


Red-shouldered Hawk


Rough-legged Hawk

(thanks to www.percevia.com)