Memories: Boot Horns

Ricardo Boot Horns like these have been around our family for a long time. The one on the left belonged to our great uncle, Uncle Terry. I guess I inherited it when he passed on in the mid 1980's. The one of the right I have had for almost as long as I can remember. I am sure I got it from a relative or something but it has been hanging around my room for a long long time....maybe since I was little.




I do not see these very often anymore and thought they were interesting memories. Uncle Terry was a rancher and it just seemed natural that he would have a boot horn. They both work great as door stops too. :)

Memories and Pictures

This is one of my favorite pictures of Emily and me taken six or seven years ago. We tried to reproduce it today when Emily decided to hug me on the small couch. I do not look so happy but it is just the fact I was waiting to smile and look up on que but Gwen got the picture off a tad sooner than I anticipated. Oh well we may try again. It seems just like yesterday we took the older picture.


Elizabeth wanted her picture taken in the same way. Pretty cool.

A Christmas Present Remembered - Buck Knife

I got to thinking that I do not really have too many Christmas presents left from my youth. So I have decided to post pictures of them as I find them. I have several lined up.

This one is from when I was about 14yrs old. It is a Buck Knife. I still carry it when I go hunting. It is good and broke-in now. :) I may wrap it up and put it under the tree again this year.

It is beginning to look alot like Christmas

Trash or TV snack as my family calls it. More commonly known as Chex Mix these days. We brought some back from Angelo at Thanksgiving that Mom and TK had made. Yum. I am almost out.

I cannot remember a Christmas without it. Not even in NZ where Mom sent me some while we were there. :)




We had a pretty good snow that got things in a Christmas spirit.







Almost filled the driveway all the way up the concrete wall.

Gwen Birthday!!!

We bought four Eclairs for Gwen's BD cake and put candles on them. Elizabeth really wanted a picture of Mom and her with the cake. Emily took the picture.

New Blog: BubbaQ-Log

I have a small affection for BBQ. Not just any BBQ but Texas-style. A few years ago I setup a blog for BBQ but never did much with it. Emily (M.E.) saw it and asked if we could start reviewing the BBQ places we visit.

So we restarted the BBQ blog and we have added a few reviews to kick it off. We have several reviews long overdue though like Cyclone and Cooper's to name a few.

If you enjoy BBQ then have a peek. We (Emily and myself) called it BubbaQ-Log.

Tech-Texas Game: This Says It All

A picture forwarded to me by a UT fan who got it from a friend. This is of that friend's kids.

Cool Birthday Card

A really cool card from the Nolens. Thx guys!

Also thanks Mom and Bob & Gale for my cards and presents! :)

GUNS UP, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Courtesy of SI via a AP Photo.

What a great shot of the game winning touchdown. You can see the great hands of Michael Crabtree though they are not showing the fact his feet are dancing less than a half a foot from the out of bounds. When he crossed into the end zone the clock said one second left in the game.

Also what a perfect shot of the football showing the Texas Tech logo! You couldn't ask for better. I was really not happy that Tech held the lead in this game all the way until less than last minute and one-half of the game and they might lose. So this game winning TD was so appropriate.

Since I first went to TTU in 1988 Tech has been able to beat Texas and Texas A&M in upsets regularly but usually Tech is not really all that good. They just rise up and play well. Spike Dyke's teams beat both A&M and Texas in a balanced number and combined than even Leach. Leach has A&Ms number but against Texas he has had a lot less success. But Tech was never a real contender when they beat either school....it was just an upset and Tech went to a consolation bowl if lucky.

This upset was only in the odds from Vegas not in Tech's ability. They really are this good (the number 6 ranking was no fluke) and can play with the best of them (Texas ranking of number 1 was no fluke). Hats off to them and Texas for a great game...perhaps one of the greatest College game I have every watched myself. (Someone reminded me of the Oklahoma and Boise State game which was incredible too).

GUNS UP!!!!!!

Leaving Portland As I Entered Portland

In the dark.

I rode the train from the Airport to City Center/Hotel in the dark. There are three lines available to ride ..... yellow, blue, and red. I was told that only red leaves the airport and to just get on a train. I did as I was told and the train said City Center and was red. About 1/4 of the way into my trip it switch to blue! The ole bait and switch. I scramble to figure out if I need to find a switch off place to reconnect with red. Then one person said it was ok that red and blue both go through the city center and had the exact same stops. Wow! Of course I had to trust this person and the train. It was completely dark and I had no idea where I was except for a town map given to me at the airport. Luckily it had the train lines and stops on it. Once we were within the boundaries of the map I could see each stop and we more confident. No worries. I got off one block away and walked to the hotel easy as cake. The train took about
40 minutes with distance and all the stops along the way.

This morning I decide to leave a bit early just in case of problems. I was think with backtracking I could get red or blue and get to the airport. This assumption seems to be true except blue might have detoured me a bit. The lady at the front desk said take red that says Airport on it. They come by every 10minutes or there abouts. This time I had to walk down one block but then over one since the tracks go the other direction from which I come in on but one block over. I was beginning to think both ticket machines were broke and would not take any form of currency until I realized you had to push a button and pick a ticket type then it would say give me your money. :) As luck would have it a blue train to Gresham and Yellow to the Expo center came by first. So the red was next and I got on at 7:00am. At about 7:30am I noticed outside it was still dark...maybe a small small bit of daylight trying to show. It was overcast....luckily it only rained yesterday morning.

My trained arrived at 7:40am almost on the dot and I got my bag check, shopped, and ate breakfast. I am sitting here in a southwest chair that looks like first class writing and waiting to board the plane. It is 8:45am EDST. I have a bit to wait since the plane leaves at 10am. Gwen and the kids will be picking me up at the airport. Yeah! I miss them dearly. The trip is 2hrs and 30 minutes in the air. They are in ABQ spending the night and swimming at the hotel with possibly a Zoo visit this morning before picking me up. :) I unsure what is in store when I arrive but I know that Big Tech-Texas game is on at about 5 or 6pm and I am hoping to watch it. Both undefeated and both rank high (6th and 1st respectively). It is time for Tech to show they belong. I hope they rise to the occasion.

The training has been great and my stay has been great. Look a Hawaiian Airline plane is taxiing to the runway for takeoff. I did not know there was such an airline. Interesting.

Well I love and miss my family. God willing the creek don't rise I will see them soon. I love them this muchhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen just keep smiling and save me a kiss and hug.

Last Night In Portland

Well the last day of my training is complete. I have two certificates to prove that I was here....but I really did give it my best. Which is a bit unusual since classes and conferences usually leave me skipping out on somethings. Not this class. Even though I had read the book this class was based on, I tried to hang with it and do my part on our teams.

It was fun and enjoyable. I learned a great deal.

I had dinner with the gentleman who once went to 4th and 5th grade in Angelo. We went to the
Deschutes Brewery just down 11th Street (about 5 blocks) from the Governor Hotel. Unknow to me until I arrived is that Portland likes good beer and coffee. There is alot of good local breweries (some micro and some bigger) here and coffee shops that buy and roast their own. Even the Europeans at the class really like Portland because of their beer.

Anyway we ate Deschutes (an Oregon beer) which has a very nice restaurant with alot of beautiful woodcarvings to decorate the place. You can see the beer vats and what not through windows. The food is very nice (mine was a cheeseburger) and its location was on a path with Powell's Bookstore.

I gather Powells is one of the largest used and new book stores in country. Easy to believe since I need a map to get around in it. Several floors with several rooms per floor big. The floors and rooms were color coded to help with the search. It is one big place. There are several stores but the one at Burnside and 11th seems to be the biggest. Deschutes is just one block on down 11th street. All of this within a five minute walk of the hotel.

There is a region in Portland called the Pearl District which has what they call The Brewery Block. There appears to be a concentration of breweries in this part of Portland at the Pearl District which is just a bit farther down from Deschutes on 11th. We walked past the old Henry Wienhard place which is Bitz-Wienhard brewery. And you could see the old brewery vats up on stilts high in the air. Sorta cool.

It really helps to have locals give you walking tours. Everyone here is happy to help. Very friendly town and folks.

Well tomorrow, God willing, I will return home to ABQ with my family waiting for me. I now need to get down to the gym for some exercise.

Weird Crossing of Paths

At lunch today, which the training course provides, it came up I was from Texas. When I said I was born and raised in San Angelo there was a nice response from two of the gentlemen.

One said that his grandparents had lived in San Angelo. They both died in recent years and had been at the Baptist Memorial nursing home. Then the guy next to me said he went to fourth and fifth grade in San Angelo when his dad was stationed at Goodfellow Airbase. I went wow!!!
Said he used to catfish on the Concho and other things.

Then the first guy said his other grandparents lived in White Rock and his granddad had been a guard (PTLA) at the lab. Wow again. Really weird.

Almost makes me think that I had spies working on me or something. What are the chances of this happening? :)

Then a third guy at the table said his grandparents were from Uvalde! For crying outloud. Uvalde is south east of Sonora a short to medium distance. I almost stood up and ask if anyone else had heard of San Angelo, Texas!?

Walk Around City Center - Portland

We not a big walk around but I walked to the mall (Pioneer) which covers four city blocks. Ate at a Macaroni's Grill ... not bad. Downtown is nice even at night. I had noticed a couple of interesting buildings and went to take a look.







The Telegram Building

First Presbyterian Church

Looking online I find that there are is a cluster of historic buildings and churches in this area. These two were the ones I could see from the hotel.

Tony Hillerman's Passing

I was sadden to learn that Sunday Tony Hillerman has pass away. Just imagine, I was passing thru there to the airport Sunday. Having just read his last published book several weeks ago, I had hoped a few more would come out. Likely he will have one or two that were sitting there ready or partly ready. Hillerman was 83 and a WWII battle veteran. There are not many WWII left it seems. In the article I linked to there is a quote from Elmer Kelton about Hillerman's passing. Kelton is a WWII veteran himself.

I have really enjoyed Hillerman's books over the years. His characters of Chee and Leaphorn really come to life and are now part of reading memory. There seemed to be no end to their own imaginary lifes.

As with the passing of Louis L'Amour, my reading choices have again narrowed a good bit. Who will fill the void? McGarrity has been similar to Hillerman and he fills it a good bit but I have been reading him for many years now. I do not even want to think of the void created by the one day passing of Elmer Kelton...though I reread so many of his books that it may not matter.

"No Worries"

Before our NZ adventure fourteen years ago, I had never really heard the expression "No Worries" used very much. If I had it was not often. But in NZ it seemed everyone used it in many occasions. If someone said, "thank you" then a "no worries" back at them was like your welcome. If something was not quite right then you might say, "no worries" so as to say it is good enough or no skin off my nose.

For reasons I cannot say why, I picked up this expression and have used it continually as part of my language. As time has gone by and in recent years I have noticed that more and more folks use this expression here in the States. A perfect example was tonight at AJs burger place the young lady doing the cooking answered me with a your welcome by saying, "no worries." Since I have noticed it used more I have been more sensitive to listening for it. I was surprised she used it.

Funny how our language changes and does so in a fairly fast timeframe. The ole, "No Worries, Mate" is stereotypical Aussie like in Crocodile Dundie but just the, "no worries" was not really part of that.

AJs On The Rails

Deciding to get food as fast as possible and then get to the gym for exercise was good. This way I will have more time to read, write, and play so to speak. AJs On The Rails is a burger joint with a java house inside. I asked the door-man if the place was any good and he said it was good enough since I did not want to get too far away from the hotel. AJs is just down from the India House so it was an easy walk.

When I walked in the young lady behind the counter by the grill asked if I would be dining with them. I said I would like take out and she said that was great and started to get me a menu. Then a young lady walked in and asked if I would be dining with them and when I told her what I wanted she got me a menu before the other lady could. They both were very friendly and helped me alot without me being left with questions. The burger took about five minutes and I was off the hotel to do some blogging. :)

The burger was not bad...the meat had a different flavor but it was moist and overall it was good. I doubt I would try it again since it did not have the flavor I expected but I nothing stopped me from finishing it. The fries were ok...sorta the BBK changed to fries that they changed back from. Just the friendliness would be enough bring me back if I did happen to be in Portland.

I am all done now and will wait 15minutes before I go down to the Gym for some exercise. More later.

Agile Training and Sleeps

Well the agile training is interesting and has stimulated more questions than I have time for here. :) If you wonder what is this Agile? Then go to Wikipedia: Agile. We are learning the Extreme Programming version that also includes a bit of Scrum.

Well Elizabeth, two sleeps down and four sleeps to go.

It is almost time to head down for breakfast and start the second and last of the Planning training class. Tomorrow was start a new three day class on Delivery. This means less planning and more developing/programming.

To my girls.... I love you this much!!!! Have a great day.
Terry

India House, Portland Oregon

India House on SW Morrison across the street from the Governor Hotel serves pretty good food. I was able to pick out Chicken Tikka Masla and Chicken Tandoor so I went with the Masla which hit the spot just right. The Naan bread was a bit thin and crispier than I like but it was good bread. Here at this Google map location is a link to the street view of the India House.

Follow this link and then type in "India House Portland Oregon" and search then click on the A link and then on the street view. Pretty cool eh!? So cool to turn that view around.

I may make one more visit before I go. Maybe try Chicken Tandoor. :) And there are a ton of different breads to try.

Governor Hotel, Portland Oregon

Here is the hotel I am staying at and taking training here in Portland. The building and hotel will be 100 years old next year. The name has changed over the years but the building is now
a historic site. One part of the building was built for one interesting purpose which Bob Pallissard would be interested to know about. :) Have a look at this link and the history of the hotel.

Governor Hotel, Portland Oregon

Portland here I come

Have never been to Portland...actually have never been to any west coast state beside CA. Should be interesting. Get a little Agile Development training. :)

Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen I will be taking off within the next hour. My trip to ABQ was good and safe. I love each of you very much....thissss muchhh!!!!!!!! :)

Take care of each other while Dad is gone.

I love you guys lots.

Courthouses: Huerfano County

Huerfano County Courthouse in Walsenburg Colorado courtesy of Gwen Adams. The girls know I like Courthouses so they snapped this one as they went to Estes Park to visit Colorado grandparents.

Toilet By Elizabeth

Thanks Aunt TK...this is all your fault. :)

Bacon Salt - What would my Grandma think of this!?

Now this sounds cool. Hard to find home cooked meals that are fried in bacon grease. Maybe this would be a good substitute.

Bacon Salt

Sleeping Elizabeth

No it is not a new doll that Elizabeth has gotten. It is Elizabeth herself. Since their return from Colorado we got her started on no Binky. So she now sleeps with no binky...yea! But she refuses to take naps. Part of it is no binky and the other is she is now at the age where she just does not want a nap. Needing a nap is a whole other issue as you can see.

She will be motoring along and starting to get grumpy. Saying, "I am not sleepy." And in a heart beat she is asleep. Here is a few of her right where she fell asleep.



In front of the front door with plenty of daylight left.







In my arm by the computer with plenty of daylight left.











Two nights ago...she was grumping and just crawled up on the couch and asked if she could put her head on Emily's feet. Then she was out like a light. Emily is awake in this picture but playing possum.




Last night Elizabeth was sitting on the bed, again plenty of daylight, with me while I talked on the phone. Next thing I know she is asleep. Recently if I take her with me to Sonic right before dark then she will fall asleep in her car sit while I am ordering. Once she was awake when we left Sonic and even bragged about it. Then within two blocks she was trying to fall asleep. :)

A few Birthday Pictures

On Elizabeth's BD she wanted to have dinner at Gabriels which is a favorite of the whole family. She was excited to be there.







Here is the whole family with photo courtesy of David Daniel a family friend who Elizabeth invited. His wife Joann could not make since she was headed to England that day.







Here is a picture of David along with the girls.








Emily's BD came quickly after Elizabeth's and she did not have a special dinner request but she did want an ice cream cake or pie. Mint chocolate chip pie. Yum.






Here is one of her presents from grandma Texas. It is only displayed here since it was a favorite of Dad's! So nice to use on that laptop. :)

Been awhile

Seems that since coming back from Colorado we have not been doing much posting. School started not long after the girls go back and we have been busy.

Gale is doing good after her surgery. It just took time to heal and get stronger. I think the girls all enjoyed being there but were also glad to get home to their own bed and things to play with.

Emily started fifth grade and her Eleventh BD is tomorrow. Elizabeth's fourth BD was Friday a week ago. She was very happy to have a BD. She talked about it all day long. She got to eat at the Bandilier Grill in White Rock for lunch then we went to Gabriels for dinner for her. David Daniel, a friend from work, joined us. Elizabeth really enjoyed her meals for her BD. When we got home she opened her BD presents from the family. She has been playing with them a lot.

ALB is going to preschool/daycare three days a week. On Thursday she goes to preschool while Gwen goes to a ladies bible study then they meet me and the Nolen's for lunch. As Steve calls it the Familys' tradition.

Emily's most notable activity at school is that the fifth graders are running to Austin, Texas. Why Austin I do not know but they as the fifth grade are adding up the miles they run in the morning at school to see if they can run to Austin. Family and friends can join as often as they like to run with them. I ran with Emily a week ago Friday. She had a half mile on me by the time I arrived then we ran together until time was up. She got 2 miles and I got 1.5 miles. Not bad for the Adamses. So far she is doing very well in school and adjusting to her new teacher. Both teachers of the fifth grade seem to be turning up the school thing a notch or two with a lot more work and responsibility on the kids than four grade. They are adjusting well.

Tomorrow is also Gwen and my seventeenth anniversary! We were going to Taos for two nights at a nice B&B without the kids but we along with Elizabeth have been sick. We were able to cancel and get a gift certificate for two nights good for a year. Yea.

One finally note...the All-Blacks beat Australia this morning to win the Tri-nations tournament again. It came down to the finally test to decide.

Elizabeth Pictures

The infamous shoe shot.







Self Portrait








You tell me ... a ducky thing.

Utopia Shoot Pic

Just found this over at the Utopia Shoot page. I had forgot they took a picture that day back in June.

Love You My Family

Well it has been wonderful to be here again and get to do things with my family.

Gale keep getting stronger and get up lots. I love you and will see you soon. Bob start playing some horseshoes. Elizabeth is ready to go anytime. And I think Emily is ready too. :) Thanks for everything guys.

Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen...I love you guys soo much...how much....this muchhhhhhhh! Remember to think of Grandma and Grandpa first no matter how tired you get. Lord willing and the creek don't rise I will see you all soon. Give Bri a hug for me when you see her please?

For all my family wherever you are....I love you.

Elizabeth Having Fun

Elizabeth has been wanting to practice her HorseShoeing since Bob and I cleaned out the two sandpits for the horseshoeing. I placed a mark on the ground for her to stand behind when pitching the shoe. She made a ringer on her second throw. She does pretty good.
















Emily and ALB like swinging on the swings and ropes in the back. Here is a little video of ALB swinging from the rope.

Heaven and Hell

No this is not about John Jakes novel from the North and South series. This is about two interesting books I have read lately and they are of the most serious nature.

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper tells of his after death and return to life experience. Don (a minister) was killed in a terrible car accident (1989) and was dead for 90 minutes. He tells that those 90 minutes were in heaven and that he returned to life trapped in the crushed car with another minister singing and praying over him. His life was very difficult for the next two years as he recovered from the accident.

23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Wiese tells of his personal experience of being dropped into hell. Bill's story is not about a near death experience or dream but of how Jesus greeted him after his brief but horrific trip to hell and asks Bill (not a minister) to warn others (non-believers and believers) that there is a hell and it is not a place anyone wants to go. Bill never wants to have even one second in hell again it was that terrible and horrible. A video of Bill telling his message.

ALittleBit's Hole In One at Putt-Putt

If you can listen closely then Elizabeth will declare her hole in one. :)

Estes Park Updates

The girls with their Colorado Grandma at the hospital. Gale is now at home.











Elizabeth and I took a walk downtown this morning. She is petting the Bit Cat statue downtown in Estes Park.










ALB wading downtown with the Beaver sculpture in the background.












M.E. in her karate outfit











Elizabeth trying out the outdoor theater in Estes Park. The hills are alive with the sound of music.

Appaloosa and Resolution

Recently I picked up a copy of Cowboys & Indians because it had this cover of Tom Selleck on it. I do not usually pickup Western magazines unless it had Selleck, Elliot, or Duvall on them. If you have not seen it then the article is worth the read. Some interesting stories about Tom Selleck and how he got into western movies.

But totally unrelated to Tom Selleck is another article about the novel Appaloosa by Robert Parker which is going to be released as a made for TV movie this fall. It will have Ed Harris and Vigo Mortenson(?) as the leads. While reading the article I discovered that Parker is a mystery writer who created the Spencer character in Spencer for Hire and the Stone character that is on TV played by Tom Selleck...ok so this is related to Tom in some nth degree of separation.

I found the fact Ed Harris and Vigo M were going to play in this western interesting so I checked out Appaloosa and the sequel Resolution out at the library.

Appaloosa is basically about two gunfighters who do their fighting as official lawmen. The main character is Virgil Cole who has been doing a gunfighter/lawman for hire for many years. His partner a West Point graduate ex-military Indian fighter named Everett Hitch. Cole is cool as a cucumber gunfighter and Hitch is a tough and almost as cool sidekick who uses a ten-gauge shotgun as his main weapon of choice. They are usually hired as lawmen to clean up a town under the town's laws which are usually written by Cole and signed by the town counsel.

As I read the book and saw the development of the characters I could see Ed Harris as Cole and Vigo as Hitch perfectly. If they can adapt the characters then the movie should be interesting. Parker develops two characters whose re pore is incredible. I found their dialogue to be cool and at times intelligent.

But as a western it is just fun. It is nothing like L'Amour and totally not like Kelton. The characters may be more like Grey. The books are a fun read.

I only have a few cautions, there is a lot is profane and nasty language and a lot of talk about sex and prostitution. Most of it unnecessary to make these novels work and believable to a point. There is also a lot of violence that is a bit more over the top than L'Amour or Grey. Honestly I was not sure I could finish off Appaloosa due to the language and some of the graphic nature...it just detracted from the story in my opinion. I do not recommend the books based on these cautions.

If the movie adaptation can remove most of the language, voilence, and sexual references then it should be a good movie. But after watching Costner's last movie with Duvall then I am not so sure Hollywood will remove these things. I look forward to seeing if Ed and Vigo can pull off these two characters.

Rocky Mountain National Park

A few weeks ago the family drove up into the Rocky Mountain National Park. We drove up to the lookout near the top of the pass on Fall River Road and back down on Trail Ridge Road.

Elizabeth was on a Marmot hunt but we found a lot of wildlife and flowers to look at along the way. Here we found this beautiful bull in velvet.




And here we found Elizabeth one of the yellow-bellied marmots she so wanted to see. We also saw many pikas too.







We once took a picture of Gwen, Emily, and myself at this waterfall, I think was Chasms, so we decided to do it again now that we have Elizabeth. Not too bad.

I Love My Family

Well just a quick note to my family. I love you and God willing and the creek don't rise I will
be seeing you around 2 or 3 this afternoon. I look forward to it.

Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen I love you thissssssssss much!!!!!!!

Mom and TK I love you guys lots too.

God's Blessings this morning.

Color Purple

Several years ago I was following a Florida columnist, Bill Maxwell, who was a visiting Angelo State University as professor of English and Journalism. While in Angelo he still wrote his column for a paper in Florida. He wrote about teaching black literature to the ASU students and he mentioned the novel The Color Purple. His article piqued my interest in this book and recently I found a copy close at hand and started reading.



The novel was written in an epistle style where the main character wrote letters to God. As the novel gets on then the main character's sister write letters to her. The book is interesting and powerful. It gives much insight into the African-American culture of the early 20th century particularly in the South. The ending can tear your heart out.

But I had a hard time continuing the book after several chapters. This book should be rated a hard R. There is a lot of domestic abuse, a lot of graphic sex and sexual abuse, and other adult situations. The book could have stood on its legs even without this but it may not have given insight into the black culture. I DO NOT RECOMMEND Reading this book due this alone.

I remembered when the movie came out in the mid 80s and knew it had gotten Academy awards and what not. And that Oprah and Whoopie received a lot of attention in those early years of their careers. So I rented the movie wanting to see if Spielberg was faithful to the book. I was nervous that he kept a lot of the rough stuff in the movie. The Movie was very good and though faithful for the most part to the book, Spielberg shot many scenes with only the inference of abuse and graphic sex, though some of the adult themes were obviously kept in the movie. The adult themes alone keeps me from recommending the movie. I am tentative on recommending it. Though it was not as hard as the book it was still tough to sit through. The movie was well done and beautifully shot. The acting was outstanding.

Basically the book and movie left things in my head that I really do not need there.

If this story is only half accurate about black culture then I learned a lot that I had not realized. Did I see Mr. __________ as a sympathic character?...not really. Not as Bill Maxwell mentions.

Left Behind: The Kids Series

In a parallel series to the original Left Behind Series, the Kids Series is a pretty good read. Action packed and non-stop is how I would describe them.





Emily started reading them before the end of school and has been continuous in her reading since then. I do not know where she is now but in the early 30s (there are 40 books in the series). I decided to read them along with her. I have been a book or two behind her but I may have passed her in the last few weeks since I am home alone.

This series is definitely an exciting way to learn about the Gospel and God's reaching out to us through His Son Jesus. I may just have to read the adult Left Behind series now.

Tram And Feeding Squirrels

The girls have been wanting to go up on the tram so they could feed the squirrels and chipmunks. The view from up there is great. You can see all of Estes Park and more.

Elizabeth was really excited and had asked everyday if we were going.









Here she is getting a squirrel to come up and take the peanut from her hand.

Fat Albert!

This is one of the Pallissard's ground squirrels who hangs out and eats behind the house. Who knows if this is Fat Albert the First or one of his kids or grandkids but we call the fattest squirrel here Fat Albert.






It seems the squirrels and chipmunks love watermelon rind.

Carry On My Wayward Son: Romeo

This Romero a white German Shepard who lives at one of the christian bookstores in Estes Park. He is a very calm and lazy dog. Who loves to be petted and have attention. We learned that Romero is a Los Alamos native! He was an abandon puppy from Los Alamos due to the Cerro Grande Fire of 2000. The owners picked him out and adopted him. A very special dog who has a wonderful home now.

Travels

Well I am off to Colorado to visit my family and in-laws. It will be nice to get away from LA.

Mom I forgot to tell your Happy Anniversary yesterday on the phone. I thought about it all day then forgot when you called. I love you both very much.

Elizabeth, Emily, and Gwen...I love you and hope to see you soon today. God willing and the creek don't rise.

A Picture From The Ether

Ramona (Gwen's cuzin) sent me this picture from her cell phone. This is at the hospital where Gale (Gwen's mom) is having surgery to replace a replacement value in her heart.
Elizabeth looks to be clowning around with Marmalade the clown. It is wonderful to see Elizabeth. Now if Ramona would send me pictures of the rest of my family. :)

All Blacks Win!

First Tri-nations game against South Africa....the ABs won 19-8 or something like that. It sounded hard fought against the reigning world champions from SA.

A good win against a side that could really test the All Blacks. So far Ireland and England did not put up much resistance.

A Little Shooting Today With Friends

Near lunch I wanted to go to the range for some strange reason. So I called Steve to see if he want to go. After looking at schedules he said he wanted to go and he asked if he could bring Caleb. Not a problem. I loaded up my long range rifle for Steve and me to shoot and brought two 22lr for Caleb when we got around to shorter ranges.

It was hot and the mirage was pretty bad. I could not hit anything at 300 yards but Steve seemed to have some luck on a prairie dog target. We moved into 15 yards and we set Caleb up to hit a prairie dog. He borrowed the cricket that we got Emily and was able to hit most of the target most of the time. He did very well and was excited. He took the target home to show his Mom and grandparents who happened to get to the house right before he got home.

We also got a chance for Caleb and Steve to watch two guys shoot trap. They were pretty good shots so it was fun to watch.

We packed it in since it was pretty hot. It was a good day at the range and Caleb got to doing his first shooting with his Dad. A memorable moment. Hopefully he will want to do more.

It started raining this afternoon and hailing a bit. Not bad though. But the rain was needed.

I am missing the family and wishing for hugs and kisses.

Strange: Pringles Not A Potato Crisp

Yep you heard it here first...well maybe not first.

Pringles not potato crisps - UK court

Reuters | Saturday, 05 July 2008

Fans of Pringles are savouring a court ruling that the snack is not a potato crisp.

The judgement is likely to save manufacturer Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) millions of pounds and ensure its customers will not have to pay more for the distinctive-tasting snack in a tube.

P&G had gone to the High Court in London to appeal a VAT and Duties Tribunal decision in May that the snack was subject to VAT as it was a potato crisp product, unlike most foodstuffs that are exempt from the tax.

With global sales of one billion dollars, P&G had argued Pringles were not similar to potato crisps, due to their texture, "mouth melt" taste, uniform colour and regular shape which "is not found in nature".

P&G also maintained crisps do not contain non-potato flours, and are not packaged in tubes, while Pringles are more like a cake or a biscuit as the snack is manufactured from dough.

"This appeal is allowed because Pringles are not, on the facts found, products 'made from the potato, or from potato flour or from potato starch'," said Judge Justice Warren in his judgement.

Shattering Day

Well today was pretty good. I got a lot of work done around the house and ate at home.

I fixed the new lawn mower by moving the old lawn mower blade to the new one. The new one got bent a few weeks back when I hit a tree stump with it. The old lawn mower had had problems in the past and our neighbors fixed it when it broke on their watch. They did not have to but they did. When they got it back together the old mower shook a good bit and made it hard to mow without your arms starting to tingle from the shaking. So I bought a new mower and kept the old one for mowing dirty jobs and/or parts.

Interestingly enough when I removed the bend blade on the new mower I noticed that the blade was not in the same direction as the old mower. I carefully study both mowers and they both turn the same way and the blade on the new mower had the sharp edge aligned correctly. So the old mower had it blade on backwards with the blunt edge moving in the cutting direction. Funny thing is that it cut the grass just fine other than the shaking.

I though hmmm maybe this is why it shakes....maybe being backwards it is out of balance. But once I got it on the new mower and working correctly then the new mower now shook similarly as the old one. But it was still functional and I got the yard mowed. Yea!

Now for the shattering part. I was cooking dinner for myself and had broiled a steak in the oven in one of our square Pyrex (spell) dishes. When I was done I placed the dish in the sink and without thinking turned the water on it to clean it up before the crud set on it. Well that was a mistake....you think? The dish went from about 450F to about 75F and of course it went from a nicely formed dish to popped and absolute glass pieces. Any that were still pretty good size, which was about 4 pieces were shattered but holding together. Luckily for me it all seemed to stay in the sink and none flew up or out. I was in shock...I had never had a Pyrex shatter like that. Maybe it was not Pyrex. Sadly it was a wedding gift and fit a nice square wicker basket. Oh well.

I got out our "bought to clean up ugly messes" vacuum and cleaned up the mess. And vacuumed then swept the kitchen floor to be doubly sure. I guess the lesson learned is even Pyrex has changes in temperature threshold limits. :( One would think as a fizzicist that I would know better. Praise the Lord.

The bourbon steak and pasta frigoli soup was wonderful though.

I have been watering most of this evening. I have two more spots to cover and all is well. Laundry is slowly but surely getting done too.

And Zoe and Carol dropped by and of course Zoe was looking for the girls. I gave her a treat and visited with Carol a good bit...mostly about New Zealand of all places. She vacationed there in 2004. Always nice to visit about NZ. And to boot a stranger mentioned, "Nice jersey" to me in the Smith's parking lot. I happened to be wearing my All-Blacks jersey. :)

Los Alamos Transit

Well yesterday was a busy day with me getting almost everything done I had scheduled, plus a bit more, without having to start my truck up.

I need to go to work and get some of my snacks out of the fridge then to head downtown for some chores then back to the hospital for blood work. I decided to walk the whole way for exercise.

When I got to work I found out that my appointment was in less than an hour and I needed a way to get downtown to do some chores first. Then I remember the transit system that is free which I had just rode on Tuesday for the first time. So when I left the lab I headed for the transit station which is located on lab property at the guard gates.

As I was walking up to the station I noticed from a distance several kids playing and laughing at the station and thought wow who would be riding the bus with that many kids. As I got closer it was Steve and April with their kids plus a couple others. I had forgot they were going to try the transit system up from White Rock to the Farmer's Market. They have to switch buses to get downtown. Turns out alot of folks had the same idea so the bus was full full.

I got downtown and went by the insurance place then by the post office for stamps. I needed to go by the library and to the grocery store but did not have time before getting blood worked up. So I hiked to the hospital then home. After doing some chores around the house and eating it was time to head to a movie. I walked to the end of our street and jumped on the bus with ten minutes to go before movie time. I had to switch buses for downtown at the transit and then I was let off right by the movie theater. I saw Hancock which was a bit slow at the beginning and seemed to be not so good but by the ending it had some twists that made it worth going to see. I then had to hike to the post office to mail some letters and stuff.

At this point a storm was coming so I headed home on foot hoping to get picked up by the bus if it started to rain. Luckily I got home just as the rain started. So I got some good walking in while doing chores today.

I stopped by the library on the way home and found the books are in White Rock. So I checked the bus schedule and found out I just missed the departure bus to white rock and it would be an hour before the next one. I did not have time to wait since the library may close so I drove down. I took Tali a present from Emily and stopped by the library then went to the White Rock grocery store to get stuff for today. Then headed home by then it was getting late and I still had some chores to do at home.

Anyway, it was an interesting day and if one is not in a hurry then the transit works well. I got somemore laundry done and hit the hay.

Today I have gotten more chores done and exercised and ate breakfast. I need to keep working and get a shower.

Happy 4th everyone!!!!

Another 300 yard target for M.E.

We went to the range again and Emily gave the long range rifle another try. When she focused then she dang near hit the bulls eye. I am very proud of her.