Flew the Coop

  

This is the guy thats been living in the rafters under out our deck. He chose today to try out his wings, or else is parents "gently encouraged" him to leave the nest. He found his way to the base of an overturned wheel barrow just out side our computer room. We watched his mom feed him berrys a couple of time before we went out and took pictures. He froze when we approached, just like he was still in the nest: If I don't move maybe they won't notice I'm here....


  

A Walk in the Park

Sunday was a very nice spring day. A bit sunny, a bit windy. Warm in the sun, cool in the shade, the breeze refreshing. We took Bailey for a walk at Dawson Creek Park. It's part of a high tech industrial area. A park with walkways, several ponds and a stream connecting them. All man made, several of the ponds have fountains in them. Ducks and geese abound as do the signs that they are NOT to be fed.

  
Several trees that form a canopy for a small bridge over the stream

  

The stream from the bridge and below, Bailey slacking his thirst, or reloading to make his mark on more of the park

  

  

I took all of these pictures with my camera phone. I'm not quite sure why the color is hosed. I need to explore the photo manipulation tools available to see what can be done. It's pretty neat to be able to whip a camera out of my pocket and snap pictures when you come across something interesting. Get a lot more pictures. Don't have to talk as much that way, just show them the pictures.

We are making our plans to drive to Montreal later this month. ROAD TRIP! We got a 1G memory chip for our regular camera so we won't run out of room. We've been buying extra batteries too. This is going to be fun! Our next door neighbor told us not to miss the Head Smashed In Buffalo Head Interpretive Center outside Fort MacLeod Alberta. How can you go wrong with a name like that? Going to take lots of pictures....

Field of Blue

 

The rain woke me this morning. That's but a minor inconvience when it comes to Bailey's Saturday walk. We found this going on in the side yard of a cornor lot. Not sure what they're called, but there were a lot of them. It catches the eye: a carpet of little blue flowers. Rain is expected the rest of the weekend, after an absolutely beautiful Thursday and Friday.
Figures.


Donated some more platelets yesterday. I'm rapidly approaching 23 gallons worth of donations (whole blood and platelets.) The process takes longer now that I have lost weight. The hemaphersis process takes whole blood out of one arm, mixes an anticoagulant into it, spins out the platelets and other blood components they want and pumps the rest back into your other arm. The anticoagulant will make your body tingle, especially around your lips and cheeks. Calcium binds with the anticoagulant agent and neutralizes the effects. You get your choice of Tums or Citrical. Boy, those Tums are awful! How long the aphersis process takes depends on your bodys ability to handle the anticoagulant, and thats a function of body mass. The less body mass, the longer it takes. So, while you're waiting you get to watch cable tv or a movie. The Red Cross recently got a bunch of CD players, so now the choice of movies has increased. Yesterday I watched an old Jet Li (kung fu type) movie. This movie was so early in his career that the actors spoke chinese and it was subtitled in some other asian language as well as english. As you might imaginge, lots of action. I mean LOTS of fight scenes. And they seemed to go on forever too. I have no idea what the name of the movie was or even when it was made. But, the plot of the movie was revenge. And a love triangle. You have to use earphones for whatever you watch. They block out all the other noises around you and allow you to concentrate on the story. For someone with a good imagination it can help you forget you have needles stuck in your arms for a couple of hours. It's always a bit disconcerting to walk out, get in your car and fight rush hour traffic after being in far away, exotic, fantastic places and situations. As you can tell, I favor the action/adventure/comedy type movies while donating. A little excapism as well as an opportunity to watch those movies I might want to watch but I know P has no interest at all in seeing. Like kung fu movies.... 

Ma Nature in all her glory!

The weather reminds me of the Allen Sherman song Camp Granada, where, in the mandatory letter to home, he bemoans the weather and lists all the hardships of being at summer camp only to say at the end that it's stopped raining, the sun is shining, forget everything he just said.
It's spring.
Volatile weather is the order of the day (hour?) Haven't had any hail yet, but it's just a matter of time. Had a couple of thunder showers already, a very rare occurance for this area. Usually it just rains. Harder or softer, rain, and more rain. The warmth and rain have roused the grass out of the dormant stage. It's alive! It's growing! As are the weeds, but that's a different battle.

Two 10 pound bags of sugar

I haven’t made new years resolutions for several years. Just never got up the enthusiasm for that sort of thing. My weight has been creeping up ever since I stopped doing the treadmill every morning. I’d started it to control my weight after I stopped smoking. After a year or two, the extra sleep in the morning seemed to do me more good than the sweat and effort of walking a couple of miles before I was really awake. My back has been sore for a while, you know, the kind where you get out of bed and have to walk bent over for a while until you limber up enough to straighten out. I concluded that the problem with my back was that it was too far away from my front. That and the fact that I stopped wearing belts because 1) my pants weren’t about to fall down and 2) the belt buckle tended to dig into that part of my stomach that hung over it.

The company I work for, Applied Materials, is big on employee wellness, with weekly and monthly Wellness Tip emails, discounts at health clubs and the like. It was through one of those programs, a company discount at www.selfhelpworks.com that I stopped smoking. As part of the run up to last new years the Wellness Tip email offered suggestions and support for the various, generic resolutions people tend to make. It mentioned a discount for the Living Lean program at that same web site. I signed up before I could talk myself out of it. I started the program on New Years Day, and I am happy to report that I have lost 20 lbs and am well on my way to my target weight. The program consists of 12 short audio visual segments you access from your computer. The key is to recognize that you have a choice every time you go to eat something. You work on recognizing the choice and reinforcing the desire to choose what is best for your short and long term goals. It works for me.

In other news, some one was out enjoying the nice weather we've been having lately. Here is what Bailey and I found on our walk yesterday


spring

Monday Question

What did you do this weekend?

It is a common Monday morning question.

Friday, on the way home from work, I listened to an interview of James Howard Kunstler, author of “The Long Emergency”. He talked up his new book about the changes that will be forced upon us as oil supply dwindle and demand outstrips supply. He thinks we are definitely in the end of the oil era and will start seeing oil shortage changes as soon as 10 to 15 years from now: more regional and local focus product wise, as the transportation cost for goods makes prices prohibitive for many of the goods we take for granted today; urban sprawl contracting again, as transportation costs for goods and customers increases; smaller houses that are more energy efficient.

One of the phrases he used in the interview was “recreational shopping”. It was, I thought, a nice phrase. It rings true.

Utility is an economic concept that talks about the satisfaction, or utility, gained from consumption a good or service. I remember one of my instructors talked about how, for many people, the true utility in buying a product comes not from the product bought, but from the act of buying. That is where the true utility of money exists for many today: Recreational Shopping!

What did you do this weekend? We did some recreational shopping.

It got us out of the house, into the malls and shopping centers along with all the rest of the suburban shoppers. And there sure were a lot of us!

My Walk With Bailey

I got a new phone last week. As you will see, it has a camera. It is much easier to carry and use for quick snapshots. So, I thought I'd give you a sense of what was happening around our neighborhood this weekend. It was dry, luckily, and mild. The birds are back and the plants are starting to wake up to a new season....



This is the primary view when we go for a walk. It's his best side....



Even though February ended just last week, we are already seeing signs of spring.


and signs of another kind too. I always expect discolored water when flushing....

This picture didn't turn out so well, but you can still see that these trees are going to really bloom this coming week.



Little patches of color starting to push their way out of the ground.


A small bridge spans this mighty waterway. It's part of the path that cuts between two neighborhoods on the way to the dog treat store. There was a good two feet of water flowing in this stream during the January monsoons.



Such vibrant color!



As with just about every neighborhood around here, they are squeezing more and more people in. Where do they all come from???? This little area, less than an acre, is zoned for 18 units!



Daffodils are usually the first to announce the beginning of the new season.
We came around a corner and this was the fanfare that greeted us. Sending out the message loud, bright and clear.



These guys may have been hidden by the fence, but they aren't bashful. They were strutting their stuff!

Changes

What is this all about?

http://www.dwr.com/contestcorkaward.cfm

Thanks to New Skool for point this one out.

In other news: it’s raining!

It has been raining, it’s raining now, it’s going to continue to rain for the foreseeable future.

A month into the year and 1/3rd of our annual rainfall has already fallen. The reservoirs are filling up nicely and we are accumulating a nice dense snow pack in the mountains. I don’t think there will be a water shortage this year.

Friday was the last regular work day of the fiscal quarter for us. We were greeted with an email from our corporate bosses that our building is one of several in the company’s world wide inventory of building space that is to be sold to cut costs. It’s no secret that our building is under utilized. And there has been talk about trying to lease the excess space. But the announcement caught our local management by surprise. There were a couple of hurried conference calls before we were all called together and the facilities manager told us what he’d been up to and what his plans are for the near future. Ideally, we would like to sell the building and lease back the space we are using right now. We would get out from under the maintenance, upkeep and taxes on the portion of the building we don’t use. Reduce our expenses considerably. That’s at the top of the possibility list. At the bottom is the question of how far will we have to go to find just the right amount and kind of  cleanroom space to fit our current needs and future needs along with office space for the rest of us.

And, if that wasn’t enough, Friday was the last day the Cafeteria served hot meals at work. Starting Monday a “roach coach” will be stopping by to supplement the extra vending machines that are supposed to be installed. I normally take my lunch but have gotten used to supplementing it with a cup of soup every so often. It’s good to have something hot on these cold, rainy days. I guess its time for Plan B.

Greetings!

I got a summons in the mail today:

Greetings:
You are summoned to serve as a Juror in the Circuit Court of the State of Oregon for Washington County.

REPORT ON FEBRUARY 03, 2006

I haven’t had much experience with juries and jury duty. A bunch of years ago I got called for federal court jury duty. I wasn’t selected and the whole experience lasted maybe three hours. It gave me my first look inside the federal building in downtown. Pretty nice place, the rooms are big enough for the serious purpose they are used for.
A couple of years ago, two or three, I was called for this very same circuit court in Washington County. That time I reported, sat through the juror orientation, got selected for a trial to start in the afternoon. They let us go for the several hours until we would be needed. I walked around wonderful downtown Hillsboro and eventually bought a book of Damon Runyon stories: Little Miss Marker, The Apple Lady, all the characters and stories that were later turned into movies. I went back to the courthouse and started reading. Before too long, the Court Clerk came in to dismiss us, we weren’t needed after all. It seems the defendant was playing a little chicken with the prosecutor. The defendant blinked. He took the deal offered, what ever it was, to avoid the trial. We (the jurors) were no longer needed to dispense justice. The rules of jury duty, for circuit court at least, say that when you show up and have been dismissed by the court clerk, you cannot be called for another two years. Well, it must have been two years for me.
This time, if I do get selected for a jury, I hope I at get to see the inside of a courtroom at least.

In other news of the Northwest: it’s raining. It has been raining for a while, it’s raining now and it’s forecasted to rain for some time to come. All this rain has exceeded the runoff capacity of our back yard.

This is the view out our downstairs patio door a couple of days ago.


Even the birdbath was surrounded. It was like the levee broke or something....
Please note the fence in the background with the nice layer of moss on the bottom. Thats one of the ways you know you're in Oregon.

The water recedes fairly quickly, especially since we took out the swimming pool. All that new dirt soaks up a lot of water. About six or eight years ago we had a period of heavy rain followed by an unusually warm spell that melted most of the snow pack in the hills and mountains. That pushed the rivers over the flood stage. We had our own problems with the lower floor of the house flooding. But, we survived.....

Baby its cold outside

Baby, it’s cold outside! We’ve had a high pressure system over us for a couple of weeks now. It’s been cool and clear the whole time. We’ve had cold air from the east flowing up the Columbia River gorge and spilling into the Willamette Valley the whole time. There has been lots of frost everywhere in the mornings. Except for the lack of snow, it reminds me of the cold I experienced in the mid west where I grew up. (Why, I had to walk five miles back and forth to school everyday in snow up to my neck, uphill, both ways!) The forecast calls for a change, starting this evening. The warm front coming in off the ocean is finally going to displace the cold. It’s bringing some moisture too. That is where it will start to get interesting. If it starts to rain before all the cold air is moved out we could get some nice freezing rain. It’s supposed to start with the rain early this evening. I doubt that it will be warm enough then to keep it from freezing when it hits the ground. The water in our bird bath has been frozen all week long. The squirrels have broken out their ice skates to get around on it!

Black Friday plus one

Cool and crisp and damp out this morning. Just back from taking Bailey for his walk, or was he taking me for my walk?....   It rained yesterday and some last night. Temp is in the mid 30’s. No wind and the morning fog is being burned off early by the sun. No clouds this morning. It was cool out, especially in the shade, but nice in the sun. Steam rising off a lot of things that the sun was warming up:  roofs, fences, mailboxes, cars, even a few bushes. Kind of eerie watching steam rise off a bush. Kind of like it’s on fire.

We avoided the crowds yesterday, the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday. Today we’re going to stare danger right in the face and head downtown to Saturday Market, do a little shopping, stop for some refreshments at Hubers and do a lot of people watching. The best entertainment around.

Friday early evening

Friday, early evening. It’s warm, wet and raining. We’re catching up on the rainfall for the month here on the last day. We’ve gotten 1.28” today bringing the monthly rainfall total up to 1.31”. Not a lot of rain before today. This is going to green up the grass nicely!

I’m about half way through a head cold (hopefully). It started with the twinge in the back of the throat Tuesday morning. I used some of my 400+ hours of sick time yesterday, came home for some chicken soup (that someone else made for me) and had a nice nap. Boy was my head stuffed up when I got up! It’s been draining ever since. (Nice visual, huh? Maybe a little too much information?) I went into work today for a few hours to process some paperwork. I warned people by putting “Enter at your own risk” on the whiteboard at the entrance to my room. Very few people ventured past the candy bowl just inside the door.

Tomorrow we’re heading to the other side of town to visit with R, P’s brother and drop off early birthday greetings for Eric who turns 10 on Tuesday. Double Digits!!

R and Pat L. are going back to Virginia next month to attend a memorial service for her son, one of the Navy Seals who died in the helicopter crash in Afghanistan. P will be house sitting while they’re gone and more importantly, taking care of R’s dog, Hanna, a Bassett hound in its teens and set in her ways. P will be getting instruction on how to anticipate, interpret, and fulfill all Hanna’s needs and wants. This dog is not spoiled!

R is retired now and has just enough time on his hands to go fishing every once in while….

Here is his new boat for navigating the Willamette and the Columbia Rivers.





As you can clearly see, it is almost big enough.

Saturday night, around the kitchen table.....

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 1418947

This will be a little different than the penny ante poker we play but it's sure to be fun.

Pencil wizardry

There is some one in Brazil who has too many pencils and way, WAY, WAY too much time on his hands. Check it out:

http://ueba.com.br/forums/index.php?showtopic=19022&hl

Thanks to whoever it is that runs this web site for finding it. I think he has too much time on his hands too!

Labor Day, 2005

We cleaned up around the house yesterday, chopping down the larger weeds on the far side of the house. That’s the side no one ever sees and it hasn’t been painted in years. It’s been so long that it’s still brown while the rest of the house is grey. There was a large shed up against the house when we changed the house color. The shed got painted with the new color, but we couldn’t get to the side of the house then. And somehow, in the two or three years since the shed came down and got recycled, we’ve never found the time to paint that wall. I guess it’s time now.

I had to fix the gutter along that side of the house; it was sagging a bit, needed to be nailed back in place. That led to cleaning out the gutters. It’s been a while since that’s been done too. There are trees close to three of the four corners of the house. Scott helped put some mesh material in the gutters to act as a  leaf guard for the coming fall season. Not an easy task, sitting on the edge of the roof, leaning over to finagle a piece of nylon mesh so it stays in the gutter. I think I’ll have that grit from the shingles embedded in my hands for weeks. And it gets down right warm up there when the sun is shining. At one point I moved from one section of the roof, over a peak to the far corner. I startled a couple of squirrels who were just coming from the tree onto the roof. They froze and gave me a look like “What the heck are YOU doing up here?” before scampering back into the tree and disappearing. I got a laugh from their expressions. I was that last thing they expected to see.

So, one of the tasks for this fine Labor Day will be to trim the tree branches back from the house, at least so they aren’t aiming their leaves at the gutters. If we get organized in time, we just may prime the side of the house, cover up the brown and get it ready for a new, grey coat of paint sometime in the near future. And the lawn needs mowing.

Regardless of whatever else does or does not get done today, we will be burning some meat over an open flame. Barbeque! A nice pork tenderloin is marinating in the “secret” sauce as we speak.

The end of summer ritual.


School starts tomorrow.

Blogger for Word, Test II

So, it appears to work!

Now, how does it handle pictures and links to other sites on the web?



This is a picture of the obsolete and mothballed Trojan Nuclear Power Plant. All those buildings beside the cooling tower are empty and chained shut. This plant has been shut down for years. As you might expect in a hardcore liberal enclave like the Portland area, there were quite a few demonstrations on this road in the past. It is a very nice park all around the place and there was even a company picnic going on in one area.



These geese were very interested in us when I got out to take the picture of the cooling tower but once they found out we didn’t have anything to eat and only wanted to take their picture they gave us a few choice “honks” and headed back to the shade. Indignant, as only water fowl can be….


So, it appears that inserting pictures is even easier that with the original Blogger tools. Now we have to take more pictures….

And as for a web link… lets try this: http://www.playsam.com/eng/index.htm a web site of nicely designed toys for kids of all ages.

Update----
AARRRGGGggggggggg!!!!!!

It DOESN'T support uploading pictures to Blogger "at this time"!
Drat!

I had to go back, log into Blogger and edit the posting to insert the pictures above. At least I could do it, I suppose....

Ok, Rome wasn't built in a day.

The web link insertion and upload worked though!

Testing Blogger for Word

This is a test of the Blogger for Word add-on for Microsoft Word. If this works as advertised I should be able to write a blog entry while I’m using Word and post it to my blog on the web with little to no trouble.

Here goes the first test!

Summertime

It's 83 degrees out and not quite yet noon. Just finished mowing the lawns. It was 75 when I started and it's suppose to hit the mid-90's before the day is over. Tried to balance rising temp with the fact that it is Sunday morning as to when to start lawnmower.

When I was cleaning up, washing off the mower, sweeping the driveway I could hear the sounds of kids playing in the distance. The yelling and screaming. I can't see them, but imagine them running through a sprinkler and splashing in a kiddy pool set up in the backyard as they chase each other around, burning off some of the boundless energy that kids have. I could also hear some crows scolding the kids, adding their voices to the the sounds echoing over the neighborhood.

I put the mower away, that chore done for at least another week, and go rest with my feet up, a cool drink and the tv remote. What more could you ask for?

Yesterday was the second annual Portland Pen Show. We went last year and got good deals on some very nice pens. This year was no different. I scored a Visconti Opera Club fountain pen, Summertime color. Check it out


Looks nice and writes like a dream. A new favorite....

We also got a Namiki fountain pen with a dragon hand painted on the barrel. It will take a bit more practice with the camera to get pictures that do it justice.

Back to work tomorrow. Last two weeks of the fiscal quarter for us. The usual scrambling. Our ISO auditor is scheduled to visit for a couple of days at the end of August. We have started preparation meetings. Time to dust out the cornors, double check to make sure that we have the evidence that shows we follow our procedures. It is also review time. The managers have until close of business this Friday to give us our reviews. Not having anyone working for me, I don't have to worry about giving reviews. I only have to worry about receiving one. The first rule of reviews is "No Suprises". This will be my first review from this boss. Always a little apprehension before a first review.

This Tuesday, besides a staff meeting, and an ECO Review Meeting I'm scheduled to give whole blood after lunch. The Red Cross comes to Etec three or four times a year to harvest. I've been lucky the last several time in that the whole blood donation date fell in the middle between my monthly hemaphersis donation appointments. I believe I'm working on my 21st or 22nd gallon of blood products donated. All I know is it's a lotta time with needles in my arms but for a good cause.

Back Home

Arrived in Portland just before 10 last night. Had a great view of the fireworks going off all over the place, especially on the Washington side of the river. Kind of interesting looking at them from the top down. By the time we got off the plane, collected our luggage, got the shuttle out to the parking lot and ransomed our car we were in the midst of all the people going home from watching those fireworks. Bailey was sure happy to see us! He hasn't let us out of his sight today. Can't says I blame him!

We were about an hour late getting into PDX because our takeoff time had been pushed back from 6:45 to 7:15 to 7:32. And then we were in a long line of planes waiting just to take off. There wasn't any problem for the flights heading west, but the ones going east had to contend with the thunderstorm activity that passed through in the morning heading northeast. We didn't have any problem driving to Chicago, just a bit of heavy traffic that slowed to a crawl several times to give us a chance to gawk at some poor unfortunate souls at the side of the highway with car problems, getting a ticket or exchanging insurance info because of a minor accident.

A thunder storm moved through Milwaukee and woke us up around 3:30 Sunday night. We rarely get thunder storms in the Portland area. Lots of rain but none of the drama. At any rate, it had stopped raining and dried up a bit by the time we checked out of the hotel. We decided to stop at the Zoo after all. Naturally, when we were the farthest spot from the zoo entrance and our car it started raining once again. At least there wasn't any thunder or hail. We were a bit damp by the time we got back on the road to Chicago. At least it wasn't cold, but then the mugginess and humidity isn't something we are used to either.

Sunday evening, after the get-together, Allana found a fireworks display that was going to happen on the 3rd instead of Monday the 4th. We tagged along. We took the round about way to the high school where it was held, but the Wilgus luck held. Dave got a pretty good parking spot, we walked about a block to the school, got a good spot to sit on a little slope, Allana and the rest of the boys found us within 5 minutes and the fireworks started a few minutes after that. Very good timing. It was a pretty good firesworks display too. It has been years since P and I have gone to a fireworks display. Usually we just watch the goings on in the cul de sac in front of our house.

The get together Sunday afternoon was a good chance to talk to everyone and catch up. Here is the obligatory picture:


The crew

It was interesting to hear Bo's take on the No Child Left Behind act, what it means to him as a school principle.
Toni is doing well, with Rachel planning to take the Dental School Entrance Exam this fall and Brooke going to school to become a nurse. The grandchildren are growing like weeds.

The nursery

A nice day today. I went out to mow the lawns so I wouldn't have to do it on my recouperation day when we get back. Here is what greeted me when I went out the patio door:


This is what I saw when I looked for the source of the mess....


There are three baby robins in that nest. They appear to be getting fairly big, about time to test out their wings. Momma was keeping a sharp eye on me as I was taking these pictures...

Had to get up on a stool to get this one: eye to eye

Beer and Brats

Woo Hoo!

On vacation until next Wednesday! Going back to Milwaukee for a family reunion. Catch up on all the happenings since the last one, see how the nieces and nephews have grown, what they're up to now. Even the cousins will be in attendence! A good time will be had, guarenteed!

I took today off even though we don't travel until tomorrow. Figured it would be nice to have a day to do nothing before the hub-bub of traveling, partying and generally carrying on for four days. We will be coming back late on the Fourth so I scheduled a vacation day to recuperate before heading back to work. I'll need it! That will make for a very short week as I'm scheduled to give platelets at the Red Cross Friday afternoon. I'm working on my 22nd gallon of donated fluids: whole blood and platelets. I've got the scars on my arms to prove it too.

The other big deal coming up is the Portland Pen Show, 15-17 July. We went last year and drooled over the beautiful pens, new and vintage. It was kind of overwhelming: too many choices. I kind of know what to expect this time so I've been trying to do my homework, scoping out the pen catalogs recently received. Eye candy! Still too many to choose from. And then there will be all those vintage pens! What a delightful dilemma!

Road Trip

Brother H. et. al. will be traveling west after the reunion in Milwaukee, and will swing through the Northwest. Time will be limited (isn't it always?) so we need to point out the highlights, the "Must See's" as opposed to the Should See and the Nice to See. To that end, we figured we'd better get off out butts and see some of the stuff people had been telling us that we should see. Well, this is what we saw yesterday:



This is called the Vista House. It has been closed for four years for renovations. It reopened two days ago. This is why it is called Vista House:

The view looking east, up the Columbia River Gorge, and

the view looking west, towards Portland.

We proceeded east, up the Gorge to the town of Hood River, known around the world for the quality of it's apples and the fact that the geological configuration of the area creates a natural wind tunnel. It provides excellent wind surfing conditions almost year round. We stopped and watched some of the "Dudes" practice their moves


You can't see it very well, but there are a bunch of guys kite surfing out there.

We've got a nursery under our deck. Not one, not two but three birds nests.
I guess the word got around from the birds that used the ledge outside our computer room last year.

These are robins nests, this year. They get up very early to sing. Like 4:30 am! With open windows and the calm of the morning they are LOUD!

Brrrrrrr

It's suppose to be the hottest day of the year so far. I'm in my little room here at work with a sweater on. The AC is over compensating until it gets it right. In the mean time I have a very cold draft blowing on my neck and back. I have to get out and take a brisk walk around the halls to warm up. I've taken to washing my hands just to warm them up! It's got to be close to 65f in here.

In other news, the weekend is almost here. A long, holiday weekend. The Indy 500 weekend. Naturally, the weather is suppose to cool off, cloud up and possible showers. It's a long weekend, what did you expect?

It was just about this time in 1977 I got out of the Air Force and drove to Las Vegas. Stay'd with Jay W for a week before heading to Portland with Dan. Twenty eight years! I can remember it (well most of it, there was a lot of partying going on then) like it was yesterday. We were all so much younger, with more energy, more potential, and dare I say, alot more stupid. That assumes that we've learned a thing or two since then.... Of course, if we hadn't killed so many brain cells drinking we'd probably remember those lessons!

P. U.

Someone hit a skunk last night on the road I take to work.

You talk about an eye opener!

PHEW!

It's like it gets into your clothes or something.... you can smell it long afterwards, kind of like the phantom pains people with missing limbs feel. You know it isn't rational yet it sure is real!

With any luck, it will keep on raining and wash the smell away or at least dilute it to the point where you don't smell it when you drive by with your windows rolled up.

And I pity the county road crew worker who gets called upon to pick up and dispose of this road kill....

Lost Time

Woke up to the rain coming down the spout right outside our bedroom this morning. It had been threatening all day yesterday but held off so I could mow the lawn. It was a busy week in the cul-de-sac: the people almost directly across from us moved to a ritzier neighborhood, a house with three garages. And even with three, they won't have space for all their vehicles in doors. Five cars and trucks and an RV between the two of them. The cul-de-sac got a little cramped at times. Now, a retired real estate attorney has move in. He and his two dogs. And his four cars! That's a lot of cars for one person... Our kitchen window has the prime view for all the goings on in the cul-de-sac. It's not like we're nosey or anything...

A couple and their two dogs move into the rental next door to us this week too. They have larger dogs, a labrador and a mixed breed. Larger than Bailey. There was some barking going on at the fence as they and Bailey started working out the pecking order. The squirrels use the top of the fence as a pathway around the yards. I saw the fence shake yesterday from one of the dogs running and jumping on the fence trying to get a squirrel. This morning I was sitting at my computer, still trying to wake up when all of a sudden one of the fence panels popped off into our yard. The dog must have been going after another squirrel! A second later I saw a nose and then a head poke through to sniff and scope out our yard. After a minute or so of looking around he lunged through the opening, popping off another fence panel and took off to the other end of our yard. He must have seen another squirrel. Not exactly the thing you want to see at 8 am on a blustery, rainy Sunday morning while still in your sweats. I had throw on a jacket, get the dog back into his own yard and patch the fence. The dog was surprised to see me when I came out the door. He had his tail between his legs so he knew he wasn't where he was suppose to be, but the tail was wagging too, hoping for the best... I got him back through the hole in the fence and replaced the panels. I did my best to secure the panels. That portion of the fence is getting a bit old and weathered. I was cold and damp and not in the best of moods by the time I'd finished. I do have to say thank goodness for cordless screwdrivers. I'm afraid that if I used a hammer and nails I might have done more harm than good, such is the state of the fence.

How many clocks do you have in your house? Luckily we have a number of "atomic" clocks that pick up the radio signal from NIST or wherever so they are always right. But all the rest have to be set by hand. It is this time of the year that P's Micky Mouse watch collection becomes a liability.

Slap Happy?

Here is an amusing way to waste a few minutes of your time:

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Change is in the Wind

Just got back from my walk with Bailey. Blustery! Raining almost sideways at times. But that doesn't deter the dog, just spreads the smells around a bit more, have more bushes, trees and clumps of grass to check out. All the blossoms on the trees, well, they aren't there anymore. Now the baby leaves are showing. Another part of Ma Nature's Spring Show. The rain in Oregon, this time of year means only one thing: Spring Break. The weather people say we may have some sunshine by the end of the week. Don't get me wrong. The rain is great! We haven't had nearly enough yet this winter. We will take all we can get right about now. I was suppose to go on another fishing trip with R tomorrow but it was canceled. Not enough water in the rivers! I'm going to have to wait a bit longer before going after steelhead.

Tab heads to the coast this week, with a couple of adults and a gaggle of teenagers. You have to be young with lots of energy for the likes of that. Good Luck Tab!

Eric, Troys son is turning out to be quite handy with the tools. He made his own pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts. And he did a very good job too: his car has won every race it's been in so far. Next stop is the Regionals! (or is it the District Finals... I have a hard time keeping it all straight.) Eric has attended a number of Saturday classes at the local Home Depot and is amassing quite a tool collection. Every job is easier when you have the right tool, you know....

Along with all the kids getting the week off, I get the week off too. A shutdown week for Etec and Amat. While Amat is in the black and beat estimates last quarter, the projections for this quarter are below estimates so this is the way they choose to cut costs, reduce their accrued vacation liability and yet still keep the employees around with out laying them off and hiring them back. The new, flexible workforce... As for Etec, we are getting a lot of interest in our improved tool. Soon, soon.

All that free time on my hands is burning a hole in P's pocket, so to speak. We tackled a couple of closets today. Unearthed some things that haven't seen the light of day in years! Lots of small clothes and other interesting, miscellaneous finds. I still have my highschool LetterSweater: Class of '69, with the white L instead of the usual red one signifying that we had won the Conference Championship. Wow, that was a long time ago. I got that in 1966 for being part of the Varsity Cross Country team. To think that I could run 2 miles in under 12 minutes at one time in my life. Kind of seems like a dream right now!

Lot of memories in those closets.

So, I've made one trip to the Goodwill and anticipate a minimum of one more before the week is over. Lots of treasures for somebody. The interesting part of this exercise, cleaning/tossing/donating, are the decisions: you weren't willing to part with it last time you came across the item, yet this time you are. What changed?

That is the ultimate question as you get older isn't it, What Changed?

Well, if the weather allows, we will be changing the west side of the house. I built a shed next to it a number of years ago. We changed the house color while it was up and now that it has been torn down, that side of the house is still the old color. Going to have to clean it, put on a coat of primer and then the final coat. Of course that side of the house will look great, freshly painted. That means that the rest of the house will need some fresh paint too. This is all part of P's master plan....

Preparation for a nice salad!

Blooming so hard it must hurt!

The Second Act

First Peek

Potential

Before

This is Wrong, just plain wrong!

Here it is, the end of February, and I just finished mowing the lawn for the first time this year. Not only is it sunny today, a balmy 65 degrees, it has been nice enough for long enough to cause the grass to start growing. Growing enough that it needs mowing! And Mother Nature was kind enough to schedule a beautiful day like today on a weekend for a change, just so we could work out in the yard. This shouldn't be happening for another three weeks at least! It should be raining non-stop this time of year, especially on the weekends! Unless things change drastically in the next couple of days March is going to come in like a lamb, not like a lion per its reputation.

Later-

We took advantage of the weather to crank up the bbq and burn some burgers this afternoon. I have a little grill that takes the small bottles of gas. It all fits quite nicely on a table on the deck off the dining room. Our deck is off the top floor of our tri-level so when the meat starts burning and the grill gets real smokey, that smell drifts off over the neighberhood. Everybody knows what we're having for dinner. The deck is half covered so I can cook there even when it rains. I bbq'd last Sunday for the first time this year: a couple of marinated pork tenderloins. Excellent! There's something about burning meat over a flame out of doors that makes it taste better somehow. I guess it is not my place to wonder why, just to enjoy it and burp with pleasure.

I thought I'd take the before picture of the garden today. It will be a while before I can really get started on it. I'm sure we're in for frost at least once before mid-April. So here is what I will be working with:


Before

I ran the lawnmower over the weeds when I cut the lawn. The area is covered with pine needles too. I will have to cut back the limbs of the tree just to the left of the picture. This year we will be growing more tomatoes and some corn. I tried with the corn a couple of years ago and got some stalks to grow but didn't get any ears. I want to try some carrots again too. Last time they were too close together and I hadn't rototilled the soil deep enough. We got some carrots but they were itty bitty things, no more than a couple of inches big. Yup, got big plans for the garden this year!

At least it wasn't underwear

Today was Troy's birthday. Yesterday was Scotts. Birthdays are ok, but we really don't want to talk about which one it is. Not so much as to how old the boys are as to how old it means their mother is! This year the gift of choice was shoes. Both boys needed some. At least it wasn't underwear.....

At work the company came out with the last quarters results today: slightly better revenue and profit than expected by Wall Street. Unfortunately, the forecast for next quarter is down a bit more that expected also. The company announced they will be shutting down the week of 28 March, the week of spring break, as a cost saving measure. We can use vacation time or take it as unpaid. It's been all most 18 months since the last shut down week. All part of the swings the chip industry goes through. As for my portion of the company, we are making some progress on product improvements. We need to continue to make more. The sooner the better. We are the leanest we have ever been. As we have no official drafters anymore and the only other people in the company proficient with the drafting software are tied up working on product improvements, I tried my hand at some simple updates to a couple of drawings: note changes. It took me several hours to do what an experienced drafter could have done in 15 minutes. Next time, it will take me much less time! This week is my boss's last week here. He took another job with the company in Austin Texas. We're going to miss him. He was a good buffer between us and management. We're going to have to adjust to his boss until they get the ok to replace him. In the current climate they will delay as long as possible. In the mean time, we and our acting boss will be teaching each other exactly what is important to get done and what isn't. Hopefully it will continue to be a two way street....

Currently on my night stand:
Durant's History of Civilization, Volume III: Ceasar and Christ
Volume 1 of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
The American Scholar Magazine, Winter 2005

Sounds kind of heavy. I guess I'm still in my history phase.

The Big Game

About an hour to the big game start. We're just about ready. Lots of snacks, plenty of beverages and the TV has been warming up for an hour or so. I'm thinking of Tivo'ing the whole game just so I can back it up to all the commercials if need be. Ratine these commercials is serious stuff. I'm sure there will be several web sites dedicated to rating them based on internet votes. I don't have a laptop that I can surf on while I watch the game and my desktop is in another section of the house from the biggest TV we have. I know, I know.... deprived... We will be rooting for Philly, just because they are the underdogs. Most of all, we want it to be a good game!

We watched the movie Ray last night. Good film! Jamie Foxx did a very good job. Very believable. Ray Charles was a creative genius with some ghosts. It was the music. The music kept him going. Exploring, creating, always working for something new, fresh, inovative, entertaining. We enjoyed the movie.