Happy Birthday Kit !!

We started celebrating Kit's second birthday yesterday. She's not really going to be two until January 9th but we wanted to have a birthday party for her while she was here with everyone.

We got her a cool little art set that she seems to really enjoy. The easel folds down to make a small desk that she can use to color in coloring books or play with play dough and stuff like that.

Unfortunately the present Aunt Debbie bought for her did not get delivered yet. UPS is running really behind on deliveries due to the snow storm we've had here. The birthday present I bought for myself was due to be delivered on the 19th and it still hasn't arrived either.


I hope both arrive before Kit leaves for sunny California!

Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas is over. It was a really nice Christmas this year though. Having Kit here was really fun. She's not really aware of what this is all about yet but she's enjoying all the attention anyway.
We've had a very white Christmas this year and though I know many have enjoyed it, I for one will be happy when all the snow is gone! I long for a California Christmas where we took out our old cars for the Christmas parade and enjoyed half way decent weather during December.




At this point, we've had about two feet of snow dumped on us out here in Duvall. That's way more than I ever expected to get here in the Puget Sound. This is more like the winters I used to experience in Ohio and they're the reason I never returned to Ohio!!!

Good news though. The weather reports say that the temperature will be warming up and we'll be getting plenty of rain. That will melt the snow and produce flooding!!!

Winter Snowstorm

Wow!!! What more can I say. We had 7-8 inches of snow in Duvall overnight and it's still snowing. I did make it to work today (Jeeps Rule!) and hopefully I'll be able to make it home tonight.  The photo above is a panoramic I stitched together from four photos of our back yard.

Here's a screen shot from the King County Traffic camera of the roundabout near Duvall. Fun stuff!

Here's a photo I took coming into work this morning of the street leading up to my office.

And it's still snowing !!!!

It's Christmastime!

Well, winter has arrived in Duvall in a big way!  We had four to five inches of snow Saturday night and most of it is still on the ground!   The photo at the left is what our back yard looked like this afternoon.

I left town briefly today to run some errands and found that once I was over the hill into Redmond there was pretty much no snow.  I guess we're just lucky over here in Duvall.

After much back and forth, we decided to go with an artificial tree this year.   We picked up one of those new fangled pre-lit trees from Home Depot.  It  went up really easy and all that was left was to put on the decorations.  I think I kind of like this pre-lit concept.

While we were at Home Depot we also picked up the cute little Mickey and Minnie Mouse figures that are all decked out for Christmas.   After Christmas we'll remove the santa hat from Minnie and Carole will make a new dress for her so we can use her at car shows with Minnie the Metropolitan.

Against my better judgement, I decided to put up a few outdoor lights this year.  Mostly because the Xmas tree has white lights and I thought it would look better if we put some colored lights on the outside to help set it off.   Now the house just looks like it needs a lot more lights.   Sigh....

Carole took care of setting up the nativity out in the front yard and plugged in the lights that are in our trees out by the road.    Not a very good photo, but you get the idea.    

So, except for wrapping all the presents, things are pretty much ready for Kit's arrival on Sunday.  

Leavenworth

I wanted a little christmas spirit this weekend. Saturday we decided that maybe a trip to the mall would be the ticket. Turned out that the malls just aren't into christmas. Oh, they're into having people shop but they just didn't decorate for christmas except where Santa was availabe for photos.

Today, I figured a trip to Leavenworth would be the best option. Unfortunately, there was no snow in Leavenworth but there was plenty up at Stevens pass but not enough to require chains or anything like that.

We had a real nice time today. Kind of rainy but not too cold. It wasn't even real crowded until it got close to time to light up the town. If you've never seen Leavenworth lit up, you've missed something pretty spectacular. It's really a Christmas winter wonderland.

There are always interesting people and pets wandering around Leavenworth too, like the pair of chihuahuas in a stroller. There were a couple of other dogs with reindeer antlers on as well.

Then there's the popular horse and carriage rides that are available around the town.

We headed home right after the lighting of the town but all in all, a great day and now I actually kind of feel like it's Christmas time.

Cars, Car Companies and Congress

Seems like Detroit is in a world of hurt right now. All the liberal lefties want to blame it the product line they produce. While the big three are in Washington lobbying congress for their share of the bailout pie, the left is crying that "they should be building hybrids and electric cars" or saying the reason they're in dire straits is that they build cars that "nobody wants".

Detroit builds the cars everybody wants. They don't have just a single line of cars, they build big, small and in between. Contrary to the perception the media and congress would have you believe, GM has more cars that get over 30 mpg than Toyota does. Yes, Toyota builds the Prius. A nice little hybrid car that meets the needs of some people. Toyota also builds the15/19 mpg Tundra, a huge full size pickup truck, and a line of seven SUVs that includes the 13/18 mpg Land Cruiser. All total, the Prius only accounts for about 5% of the units sold for Toyota.

A lot of things have led to the problems Detroit has, but building SUVs isn't one of them. SUV's are the one area where they really made money. Yes, the marketing people in the big three could do a much better job of market research and understanding what Americans want to drive but if they're guilty of anything it's trying to please everyone. In fact, Detroit probably will have to reduce the variety of choices it gives consumers in order to gain some efficiency.

Most lawmakers are lawyers, not engineers or businessmen. They're not the least bit qualified to provide management consulting to any business, let alone a business as complex as automobile manufacturing. They live in a world where the value of the product or service you produce has no direct correlation to the income received. Let's face it, nobody wants what congress produces. According to Rasmussen, only 12% of Americans think congress is doing a good job. The American auto industry on the other hand is actually getting pretty high marks from the American consumer. The Ford Expedition get's a 9.1 on a ten point scale, same for the Chrysler 300. The Corvette gets a 9.3. So now, we have lawyers who are getting a 12% rating advising companies who produce products that get 90% plus ratings that they need to change the products they produce. Now, the government wants all the automakers to move in the direction of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles but they're very cars that make the least amount of money. Like I said, they're lawyers, not businessmen.

The big three CEO's will do their pandering to congress though. They'll present plans that focus on new lines of fuel efficient cars. The bozos in congress (sorry Bozo, no disrespect intended) will probably even buy the proposals. The average consumer of cars is going to be a tougher sell. In spite of all the buzz around the Toyota Prius, it's not really a huge seller and it's not a profitable car for Toyota. Toyota sells two to three times as many Camry's as they do Prius's.

If the American auto industry is going to survive it's going to need to continue to produce products that American drivers want and they're going to need to do it for a price Americans are willing to pay.

And they're going have to work extra hard to keep the left wing liberals in congress from running their car companies for them.

Year End Review

Well, 2009 is fast approaching so I figured it was time for a little review. Last year I made some new year's resolutions, something I rarely do. Upon further review, I now know why. Here are my 2008 resolutions and my comments about them.

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#1. This is the year I'll finally ride my motorcycle cross country. Taking a motorcycle trip across the U.S. is something I've wanted to do since I was a teenager. This year is the year!

NOT !! I didn’t even take a long trip on the bike in 2008. Even though I had the vacation time accrued, I wasn’t permitted to take a month off for a cross country trip because of the work schedule.

#2. Play golf. Yes, I know it's been 10 or 15 years since I played but I think it's time to start again. Back when I used to play, the game became a serious addiction that threatened to ruin my life. Now I think I'm old enough to handle it without becoming addicted.

Nope! I never even touched a golf club. They’re still up in the storage area above my shop.

#3. Shoot more. I don't spend nearly enough time at the range. This year I want to compete in some IDPA matches and maybe take up sporting clays.

Don’t I wish!! While I may have actually shot more rounds of ammo than I did in 2007, I never did compete in any IDPA or IPSC matches and haven’t shot a single clay target with my shotgun.

#4. Sell a vehicle. I don't know which one, but we have too much stuff and it's time to start getting rid of some of it. I think probably the camper will go, and maybe the boat.

Now isn’t this one funny. Not only did I not sell a vehicle, I bought a 1972 corvette and a 1961 Metropolitan! I did try to sell the camper and the boat but was unsuccessful.

#5. Finish the interior of the '57 Chevy. I made some real progress in 2007 and 2008 is the year I finally finish it!

OK!!! I may actually be able to claim success on this one. Although the interior still doesn’t have center console, it is effectively “done”. New carpet, new front seats, new upholstery front and rear with matching door panels, new steering wheel & shifter. It’s looking really “done”.

On the plus side, there's really no need to make new resolutions for 2009. I can just recycle the 2008 resolutions and see if I have more luck with them next year.

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  It sure was nice to have Greg, Dianna and the girls here this year.   It was definately an exciting week around here.  Having a two year old and an eight year old running around made the place a lot more lively than it usually is.

They've only been gone one day and I already miss them!  

Well, I finally got around to buying a new amplifier. I sold my Mesa Boogie and Fender Twin some time back so I've been without an amp to play the electric guitar for quite a while.

The amp I chose is a Line-6 Spider Jam. It's not overly powerful at only 75 watts but it has a ton of features.

To start with, it has over a hundred jam tracks built into it along with a dozen different amp "models".

It also has inputs for a microphone, a bass guitar or an acoustic electric guitar and a built in four-track digital recorder.

D.B. Cooper

Today is the anniversary of the hijacking of Northwest Orient flight 305. In 1971 a man called D. B. Cooper claimed he had a bomb and demanded $200,000 and two black parachutes with reserve chutes. He lowered the rear stairway of the 727 and jumped out somewhere over southern Washington and disappeared without a trace. Some of the money turned up in 1980 but the case is still opened and unsolved.

The incident is memorable to me for a couple of reasons. First, anything to do with jumping out of airplanes was of interest. I had just graduated from U.S. Navy jump school the previous june and was an active jumper stationed in Naha, Okinawa at the time. When this happened it was a major topic of conversation around the parachute loft. After all, jumping out of a jet was not something the average skydiver experienced.

The second thing that makes the incident so memorable is the impact it had on air travel in the United States. Hijacking was not something that happened in the U.S. There had only been one prior to this and that was a cuban militant in 1958. Hijackings were not uncommon in Europe where people used it as a means to escape the Soviet Union but the U.S. was relatively immune to that sort of thing. Then along came D.B. Cooper.

After Cooper's hijacking the airlines began putting metal detectors in all the airports and air travel would never be the same. Prior to November 1971 air travel was almost as easy is riding a bus. Buy a ticket, go to the gate and board the plane. Guns? Not a problem. My handgun was usually in my carry on bag and the stewardess would store long guns in the closet with all the suit bags for you. No one ever gave them a second thought.

Aleya and Milana are visiting

Greg, Dianna, Aleya and Milana arrived safely from San Diego today. As you can see, Aleya is really excited to be here. As I'm typing this I'm hearing some yelling and it sounds like someone (probably Milana) fell down a couple of stairs and Aleya is trying to explain how it happened. She's OK though, they're off to make some cookies with Grandma. Going to be an exciting week!!

They're getting so big. Milana just loves to talk and is always picking up new words. I guess we'll have to be REAL careful around her or she'll be picking up words that she shouldn't.

We have lots of exciting things planned for their visit. They want to go visit the snow up at one of the passes. (I'll pass on that, I HATE snow!!). A trip to downtown Seattle and Pikes Place market is on the agenda as well. Of course we'll be having a couple of big family dinners as well. One on Sunday and one on Thanksgiving day when we'll finally get to meet Amanda's boyfriend Joe.

Time for a national civics lesson

I'm afraid that our country is in a pretty sad state right now. It was recently reported that our elected officials really don't know much about our country, our government or economics. According to the Intercollegiat Studies Institute, the average score for an elected official on their 33 question civics quiz was just 44%. Not that the average citizen did much better at 49%. You can view all the results at the following link:

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/2008/additional_finding.html

Two things jump out at me.

First, it's painfully apparent that our teachers are not teaching American history. That or they're teaching some sort of revised version of it which bears no resemblence to what actually happened.

Second, We really, really need to do a better job of electing people to our government. I kind of think that a test should be required before they're permitted to run for office to prove that they have a basic knowledge of how our government works and what rights our citizens have and what restraints there are on government.

Want to see how you fare against the people who govern you? Take the test at the following link. It's only 33 questions so it won't take too long. If I hadn't read about the results from previous test takers I would have been upset at my score since I consider myself to be a bit of a history buff and pretty knowledgable about the founding principles of our country. But, given that the average citizen only scored 49% and the average elected official only scored 44%, my 87.88% (I missed 4 of the 33 questions) looks pretty darn good. Still, I think I should have done better.

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

Bill of No Rights

The following is often attributed to State Representative Mitchell Kaye from Cobb County, GA but was actually penned in 1993 by one Lewis Napper, the Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi.

Being about 15 years old now (he wrote it during the Clinton administration) and sometimes referred to as the "email heard 'round the world", everyone has probably already seen it but as we approach the inauguration of our first socialist president I thought it was worth posting.
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We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid anymore riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt-ridden, delusional and other liberal, bed wetters.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: That a whole lot of people were confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights.

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth. More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended. This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you! You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.


ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing. Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you still won't have the right to a big-screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job. All of us sure want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness - which, by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.

New Blog

Ok, I've finally created a new blog on blogspot like the rest of the family.

Stand by for some really, really interesting posts on an electic bunch of topics ranging from politics to motorcycles to the odd behavior of teenagers and the elderly.

On the topic of the elderly. A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and says,"I hate to ruin your day, but I haveto tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

"Dad, what are you talking about?" the son screams.

We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the father says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this," She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says,"they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way."