Girls in the Greenbelt

Saturday we had an all ladies work party. Tess, Katie, Alyssa, Gianna, and Val all came out to volunteer on one of the first really sunny and summery days yet. Together we sheet mulched 300 sq. ft. and removed 300 sq. ft. of ivy. Tess sang for us (Her Myspace Page), which was wonderful, and then we had 3 more ladies come out to perform who are in a local country trio.

Xplore Rugged Tablet PC

We received our tablet back from Xplore this week and opened the box today only to find that it arrived in unsatisfactory condition (physical damage due to poor packaging by Xplore).



Here is another angle. Sorry about the blurriness, but the parts are small and hard to focus on.



Here's a shot of the undamaged connector on the x dock for reference.



Here is a series of shots showing the unpacking of the tablet and x dock.




Remove bubble wrap.

Lift tablet from resting directly on the x dock with the screen facing up and the battery compartment nested directly (no padding) onto the shelf of the x dock.

In this photo, the plastic has been pulled back to expose the contact locations of the tablet battery compartment and the shelf (with Xplore painted on it). During shipping or possible at the time of packing, the shelf bent the battery contacts severely (see reference photo above for undamaged battery contact on docking station.

This is what Xplore sent upon creation of RMA: All return units should be shipped back in their original containers with original packaging. If these are not available, please assure that units are packaged to prevent any shipping damage. Failure to do so may invalidate any warranty coverage. Any customer induced damage will be assessed upon receipt. For non-warranty repairs a Purchase Order will be required before any repairs are made to the unit. We will provide you with a detailed estimate of repairs and cost.

Originally (when first purchase last fall), the tablet and X dock were shipped in separate boxes. The malfunctioning tablet and dock were returned to Xplore as described above. Xplore returned both units in a single box that seems different from the above requirements and has caused damage to the unit.

I am quite ready to throw the towel in except that I don't know if we can find a product like this somewhere else. However, what good is a rugged PC that doesn't function properly or arrives broken before we can even bring it out in the field? We've had a non-operational systems since September 2008. The tablet has been returned for service twice and the X dock once since the original purchase. Now we have to send in the tablet a third time. I am concerned that the warranty will expire by the time we have a working machine (by working I mean even just in an office to open a word doc or check email - nothing fancy - but something any far cheaper computer can do). And even if the warranty is extended, how long will it take to get it up and running. My time is valuable (this report took another hour of it), our Tech person's time is worth 5X my time, and the time lost in not having an operation computer is ridiculous.

Please advise on if and how we go about resolving the saga once and for all. I would expect a full %100 refund for all units and accessories including carrying cases, styluses, and key boards purchased through Xplore.

Truman's Last Day

Truman came out for their last work party of the year today. They did such a spectacular job this year! They came out rain or shine every Tuesday and Thursday from September until June. The students became experts at restoration, and many could now easily lead a group of adult volunteers. We're really proud of everything they accomplished and we couldn't have done nearly so much restoration out in the Greenbelt this year without them.



Today they maintained 1000 sq. ft. by weeding cleavers, blackberry, and other weeds and invasives at Highland Park Way and West Marginal Way along the road and in the 'bowl'.

Before:


After:


Then they also cut and dug another 300 sq. ft. of blackberry right along Highland Park Way.

Dylan and Thomas as Sasquatch

Summer Finally Begins

On Tuesday Truman came out and maintained 5000 sq. ft. at 14th and Holly. They also planted 18 trees - several paper birch or betula papyrifera, and several red alder or alnus rubra, and then another 8 conifers. Although it's past the season when we usually plant, we received these plants in the last few weeks and decided to give them a shot.

Thursday Truman came out battled the mosquitos to maintain 6000 sq. ft. at 14th and Holly by pulling blackberry and weeds. The area looks fabulous now! They also pulled 3 cubic yards of ivy in the lower ivy site at 14th and Holly. Laura's House home school group also came out on Thursday for a couple of hours. They dug blackberry and maintained 500 sq. ft. next to the wetland at 14th and Holly.

Laura's House


Saturday was a small group of dedicated volunteers - Isaac, Jamie, Katie, and Lisa, but they did a huge amount of work. The group maintained 6,000 sq. ft. at 14th and Holly by digging blackberry, and started maintaining/removing hawthorn, holly, and mountain ash in a 1,000 sq. ft. of the future WNPS '08 site. They also blazed an exploratory trail into the blackberry down at that site.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Last week was busy with 5 different work parties!

Tuesday Truman High School maintained an area down at Highland Park Way and West Marginal Way removing 2 cubic yards of material. The students also installed 'purple traps' for the Emerald Ash Borer Beetle. The traps are 15" x 24", purple, and non-toxic. The Department of Agriculture is using them to determine if the beetle, which kills ash trees, has come to this area. Look for them out in the Greenbelt.

Wednesday Alyssa came out to the Greenbelt and helped weed approximately 100 sq. ft. along the Highland Park Way, and then plant 14 Nutka Roses.

Thursday we hosted 2 different work parties. Truman came out from 9am-2pm, and planted 5 Douglas Fir, 2 Shore Pine, 2 Grand Fir, 3 Western Red Cedar, and 12 Nutka Roses that we had received from a local nursery at a discounted price. After planting the students sheet mulched 2000 sq. ft., finishing off the site at Pigeon Point that we'd started on June 7th.



Thursday evening our REI Vanpool group came out for their first visit to the Greenbelt this summer. They hiked through the Greenbelt and then weeded 800 sq. ft. along Highland Park Way.



Saturday 10 individuals came out to volunteer and enjoy the nice weather. We weeded over 800 sq. ft. and maintained another 800 sq. ft. down at Highland Park Way and West Marginal Way.

Saturday Work PARTY

This past Saturday we had a terrific turnout with 60 volunteers coming out to Pigeon Point Park/Cooper Elementary School. We had groups from Seattle Works - Safeco/Herrera, Democrats Work, Cascadia College, and The University of Washington, in addition to many individuals who came on their own, and some of our awesome core volunteers.

The group began in the morning maintaining several areas by digging and cutting blackberry. Then we shifted to sheet mulching in the afternoon. Altogether we accomplished thousands of square feet of work maintaining 23,800 sq. ft. and sheet mulching 3,000 sq. ft.!



To top off the day we had Ben come out to play the Japanese flute from 11am-12pm, and then Orkestar Zirkonium www.orkestarzirkonium.com, a local 14-piece! Balkan inspired band come out from 1pm-2pm. All the music was really motivating and a lot of fun!

Despite All That Rain...

Truman came out both Tuesday and Thursday last week to our Highland Park Way and West Marginal Way site. They weeded approximately 4000 sq. ft., so that the native plants we put there in the fall and winter have a greater chance of survival. In addition, braving the June rain and cold, they pulled approximately 600 sq. ft. of ivy, getting quite muddy in the process.

Mulch Mountains with Cooper Elementary School

Last week we had a blast with Cooper Elementary School. We were able to host every class in the school, K - 5, for half an hour to an hour. We went over local environmental issues with the classes, talking about the differences between native and invasive plant species, and comparing invasive removal and sheet mulching to getting a cut, cleaning it out (removing the invasive plants), and putting a band-aide on it (sheet mulching). Despite the young age of many of our Cooper students, all were still able to help and participate in doing some restoration work. Over 4 days we maintained approximately 1500 sq. ft. of Blackberry, and sheet mulched approximtely 4,000 sq. ft.! The kids really got into it, with many of the teachers commenting that they'd never seen their students work so hard. Buckets and mulch mountains = happy kids.

Joining Cooper on Thursday was a home school group, who also really enjoyed helping us with the sheet mulching.


Saturday buphalo hosted a successful work party of 13 volunteers, many who were coming out for a repeat visit to the Greenbelt. They removed 1400 sq. ft. of ivy at our 14th and Holly St. location while listening to Dean on percussion.