just a little is enough

Winter Camping

2012-01-29T20:43:00.005-05:00

Well, not quite, though I'm open to winter camper browsing. Here we are again at the Call of the Wild RV Center's annual open house Saturday. Great day for it sunny and mild, a little left over snow and ice from Friday's weather. Carol and I arrived a little earlier than we usually do and pretty much viewed each camper we were interested in alone. There were about four that we liked the most, depending on how things go we may be in the market this year.

Call of the Wild puts the electricity and heat on all their units so being outdoors is no big deal. This one is about the size we're looking at buying.

Nice kitchen layout here with open floor space.

Plenty of living space here.

Yeah, a fireplace with an overhead flat screen,
couldn't go "camping" without them.

Mountain dude

2012-01-25T20:17:00.005-05:00

After a short wait Ian has posted a bunch of photos on FB of his hike up Mt. Whitney and stopover in Santa Barbara. The hike had it's problems with the guide company he and his friends booked with but he made it back safe and sound with some great pictures.

On the way up.

At the summit.

TIME, TIMe, TIme, Time. time

2012-01-23T20:11:00.003-05:00

Timesheets - the current bane of my working life existence. The web based system that the company I'm now part of is sucking my brain dry. Silly me, I thought being at work was about getting things done, not spending an hour or more filling out an electronic time record that doesn't always save a line or two that I've entered thereby leading in a merry chase of my own tail. Today's exercise included the dreaded "job number transfer" procedure. First you "reverse out" the line of a job number that was entered to get negative number so that there is no charge to a number that isn't active any longer, then you re-enter the actual job number (hope it saves). First one I did went through OK then I moved to another week's timesheet and the "reverse out" link was grayed out and wouldn't work. I tried three different ways to use the link none of which did the trick - logged out and went back to my work at hand. Finally, at the end of the day I tried it again - worked like a charm though I felt like there was someone at IT Central toying and laughing at the idiot trying to get a project done that pays his salary. Grrrr.

Good weekend

2012-01-22T13:28:00.006-05:00

The weekend to weekend build up to each Green Bay Packer game has come to an end with their loss to the New York Giants last Sunday. Been some commiserating at the office with fellow Packer fans and the resident Steelers fan, some smack talk with a Patriots fan. The time has come to let it go and move on to watching the rest of the season. My picks today are The New England Patriots over the Baltimore Ravens for the American Football Conference then The San Francisco 49ers over the the Giants. All well and good but the highlight of the weekend was Ian and Alie coming here for a visit to Elaine and Steve's for Saturday dinner. The occasion was to see off Carol, Elaine and Lois' mother Margaret for her trip to Texas to spend time with their brother Greg and his family. Once we returned home we sat down and played "A Ticket to Ride - Europe" board game, a birthday gift Carol received from Greg's family. The game was a bit complicated on a look first look but Alie and Ian sorted it out and after a few turns even I was getting the hang of it. Need to play it a few more time to lock in strategies and the flow of play. Ian and Alie spent the night and after breakfast this morning headed back to New Hampshire. In addition to their visit was delivering to me the shareholder certificate of my 1 share of ownership in the Green Bay Packers that they and Carol had bought as Christmas gift. It hadn't made the delivery expected before the holiday. Carol framed it today and it's now hanging on a wall in the living room.

Disappointment to say the least

2012-01-16T20:10:00.003-05:00

Be that the football season of my beloved Green Bay Packers. In spite of a No. 1 seed in the conference playoffs the Packers never really got their high end offense off the ground other than a few flashes of what usually is a very potent attack and lost to the NY Giants 37 - 20 at Lambeau Field Sunday night. I feel somewhat mentally drained today from my lofty expectations of another trip to the Superbowl for the Green and Gold while almost simultaneously holding a measure of doubt as the Giants came into Green Bay off an upset win over the Atlanta Falcons (which I predicted) with their stout defense, a hot quarterback and a strong running game. All of which played out to the Giants advantage. My disappointment will run it's course over the next several days and by the weekend I'll be ready to watch the two conference finals to determine who will be in the Superbowl. At this point I'll be rooting for the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers though as far as predicting goes I'm leaning towards a Patriots vs Giants for the championship. As for next season my expectations for Packers are as high as ever, another title in the making.

Christmas Part 3 of 3 - There's no place like Mom's

2012-01-05T20:36:00.010-05:00

A week and a day after Christmas the local siblings finally got together for the holiday at Mom's. There was a good turnout of the nieces and nephews too. The real trick to the great photo above was snapping the shutter when we had all stopped talking, joking and laughing for a mere moment.

Inside we had our usual pot luck dinner with such delicacies as homemade Mac & cheese, BBQ-ed hotdog bites, chili, meatballs, pork pot pie, veggie and fruit platters, cheese and crackers, pumpkin and chocolate cream pies. Yeah, there was beer and wine too.

Here's Mom getting a look at the HDTV gift from us "kids". It took a little rearranging of her TV hutch but with a carpenter in the family we made it happen.

Carol. Lindsey, Kailey, Jay, Deb and Dennis during the Yankee swap between the adults of the family.

Here's my trophy from the swap. I think it's pretty neat. I'd swapped it out but then regretted it and took it back. Carol says she has an idea to put it somewhere around the deck but I'm kind of thinking that maybe I'll take it to the office and keep it in my cubicle, at least until spring.

Here's a gift I didn't mention from my earlier Christmas posts. It's from Alie's father, Victor. I've been enjoying a nip now and then since receiving it. Sure makes the cold weather a little more tolerable.

He's there and we're here

2011-12-29T19:53:00.011-05:00

Right now Ian is probably somewhere at a base station preparing for his hike to the peak of Mt Whitney beginning at 4:30am west coast time tomorrow. If I understand correctly by leaving at that time he and his companions will return to the camp by days end. We hope to hear from him the next day. In the meantime my days off this week have been pretty much what I'd hoped for. Casual long breakfasts, worked out at the fitness center Monday and Wednesday mornings. Tuesday afternoon Carol and I went to a movie for the first time since Avatar came out. This time it was Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which I liked much more the first one. Today we went to LL Beans where I bought a new winter jacket, on sale. Afterwords we stopped at the The Cafe at Freeport Inn for lunch or breakfast if you please as Carol ordered brown sugar and maple French toast and myself with a hot Italian sausage and scrambled egg wrap, both meals very tasty, from the specials board. Spent most of the remainder of the afternoon shredding outdated financial documents. Been doing some reading, not as much as I'd like, mainly Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows. Also on my Kindle app I'm reading Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell and on the side so to speak More Than One Universe: the collected short stores of Arthur C. Clark. I expect to finish the first two before retuning to work Tuesday. Another workout in the morning then more cleanup of stuff we don't need. Monday will be Christmas Part 3 of 3 with my sibling's families at Mom's.

Christmas Part 2 of 3 - There's no place like home

2011-12-26T17:42:00.007-05:00

As in years past we become homebodies for Christmas Day, our gift exchange after breakfast, having lunch and supper buffet style and for the last couple of years a bit of a movie marathon. This year it was the Bourne series; The Bourne Identity before lunch followed by The Bourne Supremacy then after a coffee/snack break we snuck in The Bourne Ultimatum before supper. Previously the third movie was viewed after supper but this year the Green Bay Packers were on in the evening so that was must see TV last night. They won clinching home field advantage through the playoffs, Yeah! A little tie-in with that, one of my presents was one share of Green Bay Packers public stock from a recent offering of the only publicly held American major professional team given to me by Carol, Ian and Alie. So now I am part owner in my favorite team. Though it is a non-voting share I am entitled to attend annual stockholder meetings, definitely on my future things to do list.

From Carol's wish list a larger crock pot with a clamping lid, benefits - helps keeps me well fed.

Ian working his way through gift opening.

At the end of a terrific holiday together.

This morning Ian left for his Dover, NH residence to prepare to leave early tomorrow for a trip to California where he and some friends will hike up Mt. Whitney the tallest peak in the contiguous United States. He'll be back in Dover on Tuesday January 3rd.

Christmas season is underway

2011-12-24T17:52:00.009-05:00

Welcome to Christmas 2011. We began with Carol's side of the family's get together last Sunday at Lois and Jim's for brunch and gift giving, also there were Ian and Alie, Elaine and Steve and Mark and Megan with their kids Brock and Lydia. Ian was put to work cooking Swedish pancakes and his cousin Mark cooked up a ton of bacon. Lois had made breaded cinnamon scrambled egg dish and other goodies. Elaine did a fruit soup and Megan brought her baked cheesy hash browns with corn flakes crumbled across the top made with lots of butter, mmmmm. None of us were watching our calories.

Ian and Alie with Lydia

Carol shows off one of her gifts, a sign that says "Welcome, where we don't keep things bottled up" next to a bottle of wine.

My sis-in-law Elaine and I imbibing glögg.

Coming up - Christmas at home, then Christmas with my side of the family on Monday, January 2nd, the earliest all my siblings could get together. The nieces and nephews with be hit and miss so we'll make do having whoever can make to my mother's house that day.

Change of address

2011-12-10T19:55:00.005-05:00

Finally this small piece of turmoil is over - moved into my new cubicle location late yesterday afternoon. The partition crew was in early dismantling any cube who's occupant had left for the day.

My cube neighbor, Michelle, exposed trying to get some work done as the crew took down the three cubicles preceding hers.

My cube all cleaned out and ready to disappear once the crew gets to Michelle's.

Everything pretty much tossed in to the new digs. I'd tidied it up some and hooked up my computer before leaving for the weekend. More changes to come as my new neighbors begin to arrive.

Moving on... over

2011-12-08T21:00:00.004-05:00

It's time to move to another cubicle. With all the changes in the office the row of window cubicles I'm located in are being taken down to be replaced by walled offices of which I am not invited to occupy. Most everybody on this side of the floor are moving up two stories but me. I'll move around to the other side of a walled corner office that in the near future will be occupied by my manager. Here's the trick, I cannot move until the present occupant finishes packing tomorrow (Friday) afternoon maybe by 4pm when everyone but me has to vacate the building as the work crew arrive to move people's stuff to their new location and then start taking down the cubes to use elsewhere while I in some haste move my stuff across to the the new space. As I wrote last December I was quite happy with the renovations of the cubes spaces then and of course I liked my particular location and view of strange things that happen out that side of the building.

Packing crates were delivered at the first of the week, one wise guy rolled the a stack in front of his manager's office, while he was in it. It wasn't a problem since he didn't want to be disturbed anyway. I'll be moving from the cube on the left to the cube on the right. Another window, another view. I'll share it next week.

Life marching on

2011-12-04T20:46:00.013-05:00

Work
The company I work for which was acquired by a large global company is still going through a heavy duty integration, locally and nationally. At my location we are combining with two smaller offices that were already part of the global company as a buyout a couple of years ago. After adding an additional floor to our lease they are moving into our building later this month. This will almost double the size of the staff here and we have gradually been involving each other in projects and proposals. The same is going on in many offices across the country that have redundant offices because of the acquisition. So far no layoffs and nothing to indicate that there may be some planned. We’ve been rolled into other benefit and retirements plans beginning January 1st and we get a steady flow of company news updates from all regions and countries we’re located in. It’s been interesting and also a bit overwhelming. Besides the drama during the changes in the office in the last couple of months my workload has increased both in project and intensity. Doesn’t leave me with much energy by the end of a day or a weekend to write a blog now and then.

House Renovation
Part of what we’ve been doing with a financial advisor was refinancing our debt at lower interest and shorter terms. This included money for some home improvement work. We started with having the roof cleaned of lichen, moss and mold. Quite the salad. Looks almost like new.

We followed that up with re-siding the house with vinyl. Excellent job by the contractor. With the remaining funds we’re looking at how we can remodel the main bathroom next.
Holiday
Thanksgiving Day dinner at my brother’s was a great time. My sister-in-law Debbie worked on the dinner beginning the previous day and it showed. All the fixings, appetizers, pies and other assorted goodies. A good turnout on both sides of the families. Bonus, watched the Green Bay Packers beat the Detroit Lions handily.
Ikea
Last weekend Carol and I made the trip south of Boston to Ikea. Had lunch, picked up a few items and looked at things we’d like to use for remodeling the bathroom. Nice to get away on a sunny warm day for a drive.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-24T09:34:00.003-05:00

With yesterday's snow cleanup out of the way and Thanksgiving Day upon us I'm looking forward to a holiday family gathering at my brother Dennis and his wife Deb's house. Ian is home for the day so with Carol the three of us will make the short drive there. It will be a combination of both Dennis and Deb's families. Of course there will be absences of several members but all told there will be about 20 attending. Thankful for family and good health and also taking a day to step back from a very busy time at work and around the house - all for the good.

Great news ',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',','

2011-11-22T19:58:00.004-05:00

More snow before Thanksgiving even gets here. At least the snowblower is gassed up and aimed at the garage door for the first foray up the driveway as Carol heads out to run a morning errand. Around noontime for her to make an appointment, if it isn't cancel first. And just a little later for Ian to arrive for the Thanksgiving Day holiday. I'm just hoping we don't get as much as that October storm. Can only say "just a little is enough!"

Final Jeopardy answer is "leaves"

2011-10-30T18:04:00.005-05:00

Which of the following doesn't belong with the other two, snow, snowblower, leaves?

So we couldn't even make it to end of October without a northeaster coming though. Depending where you measured we had a foot to a foot and a half of snow overnight. With the temperatures averaging well over the freezing mark the snow will be gone soon enough but any snow this time of year is little to just a little too much.

A bit early for snow pictures and me complaining
about it but hey, it's my blog.

The camper had to beat a hasty retreat to
winter storage a day earlier than I'd planned.

Sunny skies and cooler walking...

2011-10-20T18:31:00.004-05:00

... a couple of the better things about this time of year, of course it comes with less daylight. Leaving for work usually a little after 6am is pitch black with clear skies or a morning like today with rain and fog leaves a lot to be desired. There will be a bit of relief in a couple of weeks when we set the clocks back and as I've lamented here before we reset the progression to A.M. darkness. Occasionally on my lunchtime strolls around downtown Portland I get a taste of my admiration for well constructed scaffolding and Monday's wanderings brought me upon a fine specimen of exterior skeletal order and stability on Park Street shown in the photo. I have no desire to clamber about the structure towering above the brick walkway though as a child jungle gyms provoked a fascination that I was seldom able to partake in so I admit there is some connection.

Assault on the attic

2011-10-16T18:42:00.003-05:00

Now with the weather cooling down Carol and I are making a push at clearing out our attic which is over the garage, we also needed to reopen some space for the deck furniture and the screen room to be stored for the winter. In as we don't have a basement the attic was built as a full second floor, about 26 feet long and maybe 16 feet wide. There is plenty of room for a lot of stuff much of which we could get along without quite nicely thank you. How to make that stuff disappear is the real trick. So far we've managed to sort out most of it. Some goes to curbside trash and the recycling, trash that doesn't go that way needs to be trucked to the transfer station the next town over. Good stuff we don't need goes to the Salvation Army's store across town. This coming Saturday there's a electronics recycling drop off in another town nearby. What all this will gain us is space to figure out the next steps - what to do with what we keep and re-evaluate what else we can be rid of. All this sorting amounted to staging the various goods in one of the two bays of the garage - motivation to finish the job soon or I'll be clearing snow off the truck before going anywhere.

Sign of the season, close up the camp

2011-10-10T19:07:00.010-05:00

Yeah, Columbus Day weekend, time to batten down the hatches at the camp. Not quite a nautical situation but things must be dealt with before the onset of winter. I accompanied Lois and Jim up to my mother-in-law's where we spent Friday and Saturday nights for a visit and then a couple of hours Saturday morning taking care of business at the lake. Jim drained the plumbing system added some RV anti-freeze to the pipes and retrieved the waterline from the lake with Lois and I carrying up the concrete blocks used to hold down the line on the lake bottom. Then the three of us lift the lower two ramp sections and stack them on the upper most ramp.

The weather this weekend was unusually warm, temperatures got into the 80s!

Here the ramps are stacked safely away from the shore.

While Jim worked on the pipes Lois and I brought in the folding picnic table and the swing seat then cleaned out the wood shed.

Buttoned up and ready for winter - more than I'll be!

Where would we be?

2011-10-05T20:20:00.003-05:00

Steve Jobs, RIP October 5th, 2011

Back in 1988 I barely ever had my hands on computer that I could make do stuff. By the end of 1988 I was all over Apple's Macintosh SE and this 30 year old drafter became a graphic designer and hasn't looked back since. Granted by 1994 at work I was on a Microsoft Windows computer I was on my second Mac at home and eventually on a PC there as well but I always coveted getting back to a Mac and still may someday. Mac was struggling it's way through the mid 90s when Steve Jobs returned to Apple and had thereafter inspired the push to what many of our day-to-day devices have become. From computers to music players and smartphones their competitors have been pressed to keep up with the ideas and production of products conceived by Jobs and his prodigies.

57 Chevy I'm not

2011-09-21T18:35:00.004-05:00

Beginning today I am 57 years old though. Sneaking through my 50s and still having juvenile moments that eventually will be considered my senior moments. If it wasn't for aches and pains I'd have problems identifying myself as 57. Now that Carol and I have begun getting serious about preparing for retirement by getting in cahoots with a financial adviser I'm kind of looking forward to when that time comes, getting tired of working for a living. If the present government would stop screwing around with the economy maybe there'd be enough left of my savings to retire at 62. That's what I like, a 5-year plan.

September 9th, 2001 - Never forgotten

2011-09-11T19:28:00.002-05:00

Thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of those who died by the tragic actions of the terrorists of 9-11. Also prayers to those who gave their lives or health to help in the aftermath.
God bless them all.

It's that time of year

2011-09-11T18:45:00.003-05:00

Football, NFL at that. The only thing that curtails lamenting about the end of summer. The season began on Thursday night with my World Champion Green Bay Packers hosting the previous champion New Orleans Saints and winning the game on a potential game tying play at the goal line with no time left on the clock. The fun continued today with three games available to me this afternoon and one soon to start this evening. Two more tomorrow night. Crazy but this will dominant my random thoughts through to the Superbowl in February - then I'll awaken to the remainder of the long cold winter...

Can never get enough of Mt Desert Island

2011-09-05T18:30:00.009-05:00

We returned from another Labor Day Weekend at Mt. Desert Island. Over the last several years we've been spending LDW or Memorial Day weekend there every other year or so and in spite of all the tourists, present company included, it's just a nice place to be. Lots to do or finding places you can sit quietly and enjoy the scenery. we managed to do some of both. Together with Lois and Jim we stayed at "Smugglers Den Campground" in Southwest Harbor.

We began Friday night with me grilling up some sausages to set the tone of what kind of meals we'd be imbibing and emptying several bottles of wine in the process. It just so happened that my brother David, wife Carolyn and son Danny were staying at the same campground with Friday being the last night of their visit to MDI so we were able to spend time with them. In the morning the four of us headed for Seal Cove Auto Museum, a wonderful special collection of vehicles of the Brass Era of automobiles. If you're interested visit the link for the complete collection list and I've provided a few of my own pictures here.

1927 Bugatti

1913 Stearns-Knight

1913 Peugeot

After visiting the auto museum we drove south to the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse with it's great public access to the rocky coast line that surrounds it.

Later that afternoon we payed a visit to Carol and Lois' cousin John and wife Linda. John is a lobsterman and Linda a shop owner in Bar Harbor so of course supper there was a lobster bake with corn on the cob.

The view from John and Linda's lower deck as sunset approaches.

Linda, John and Jim dig in.

Sunday morning Lois and Jim got up and left at 4:20 am to go out on John's Lobster boat. After the returned we all meet up with John and Linda at the "Thirsty Whale" in Bar Harbor for lunch where they serve up some great fish sandwiches at a very reasonable price. Mine was the Blackened Haddock Sandwich with fries, wash down with a Guinness – life is good. Afterwards we stopped at Bar Harbor Cellars and after a little wine tasting we bought three bottles of wine then returned to the campground. Before settling down for the remainder of the day Carol and I took a bit of a bike ride to nearby Southwest Harbor

As usual time few by, a couple more days in the region would have been sweet but there's always more to do at another time.

Goodbye Irene

2011-08-31T18:58:00.005-05:00

About two hours after posting the "Hello Irene" blog ta-da, the electricity went out – three days and 10 gallons of gas later we're back on the grid. I hate to think what's going to happen when the big solar plasma storm the scientists expect hits. It's nice to have a generator in this situation but the insistence sound of the motor at a constant roar on our deck doesn't take long to get to you. I shut it down at night though a couple of our neighbors have a regular backup system that starts up when needed and shuts down when the power returns. They were just far enough away to not disturb a nights sleep. Relatively not much damage in our yard, a lot of leaf and stick material scattered about. The wind did sent the propane grill off the deck, the cover must have acted as a parachute and gave it some lift. Now that the power is back on I told Carol I feel as though I have a touch of Stockholm Syndrome, I miss the dominance of the generator... oh, there, its passed. I wonder if there's a cold brew in the fridge?

Hello Irene

2011-08-28T09:51:00.005-05:00

Moving quickly former hurricane now tropical storm Irene is moving into my region of the storm path and should max out here late afternoon through midnight or so. Already awash in waves of rain and gusting winds I took a walk around the yard and up the driveway down which water running like a brook. At the roadside I have a 4" PVC buried perpendicularly on the high of the driveway entrance that diverts rainwater and snow melt that runs down the road shoulder from spewing down my pavement. Recently it's been clogged up so I took a spade, cleared and bermed the dirt sending runoff into the pipe again. Not like it was a big deal but I'd been meaning to do it and not like this there was a lot else I could do in this weather. The wind and rain has kicked up again just now, if it gets worst that this later it could be more likely that we'll have some power outages. Tomorrow's forecast, sunny and breezy.

Another lake vacation flys by

2011-08-25T19:06:00.012-05:00

Must be something about getting older because even though I came home a day earlier than usual the days my mother and I were there still seemed to be just a blink of the eye when all is said and done. It's not like we hurried through anything, a lot of reading, basking in the terrific weather for the final two days, Wednesday was particularly perfect. I did mow the grass and some string trimming in the afternoon. Earlier I'd planted a hydrangea at Margaret's that Lois sent up. Mom was invited by Margaret to attend the monthly senior citizen appreciation dinner at the local American Legion hall.

Patches always knows how to kick back at the camp, he too enjoys looking out across the lake.

Thursday morning begins with a peaceful calm.

Though not a clear sunset that evening it definitely was an interesting one with some pretty weird swirls and such, part of the reason I watch and photograph it each evening.

Patches can't be bothered by the sunsets, a little sensitive about being color blind.

Friday morning brought out a sculler. Later after running an errand into town I took Mom on a tour along the camp road to see the other camps, we don't have a boat. As a bonus there were two yard sales along the way, a favorite activity of Mom's. She picked up some good stuff at both places – I even bought the T-shirt I'm wearing in the next photo, from Wales no less... the one in Great Britain, not in central Maine, "Cymru" for you old school types.

The truck is loaded, camp tidied up Mom and I are ready to head home.

Greetings from the lake

2011-08-17T06:30:00.016-05:00

Click on the image above for an enlarged view of a panorama of the lake sweeping from the shore line of each side of my location. Distorted but interesting, I took it with my cell phone which has better features than my regular camera?!?

As mentioned in the previous blog post my mother joined me for this vacation at the lake. Some rain had come through but the clouds opened up for a few nice sky photos, no sunset view to speak of as heavy cloud cover at the horizon. Mom settled in quickly after arriving and has been enjoying the atmosphere of the camp and region in general. She brought along several books to catchup on as well as the two of us teaming up to prepare meals and bonus for me, she insists on taking care of the dishes.

Monday was mostly cloudy, mild enough to sit outside and look out across the lake and do a little reading. I did have a task for the day – yank done the squirrel damage ceiling over the bathroom shower and close it up with stronger material. It isn't pretty but it's tree rodent proof.

As Mom (right) and I were finishing supper my mother-in-law Margaret and her sister Carolyn (left) stopped by for a visit.

Yesterday began as a rain out which had begun soon after midnight. I began the day by starting a fire in the camp's stove that is used as the central heating system, cooked up some breakfast and took to reading for awhile (Absolution Gap, Alastair Reynolds). Later in the morning we took a ride around the more northern region as a sort of tour for my mother which was a good excuse for me as I enjoy looking at the landscape of this part of Maine. We picked up a few grocery items along the way, grabbed a nice lunch at a small diner in Fort Kent (Shirley's Diner) then drove south on Route 1 along the St John River between Canada and the US passing through the towns of Frenchville, Madawaska and Van Buren before returning to the camp by mid afternoon.

My lunch at Shirley's Diner, chicken quesadilla with bacon and ranch dressing... oh yeah, a couple cups of coffee to wash it down. Mom had a soup and half a sandwich followed by a slice of pumpkin ice cream pie with redi-whip and crumb sprinkled topping. I got a sliver of it it, nicely decadent.

As we drove along the St. John I pulled over at a public boat launch/park. Nice to be able to easily get down close to the river. Since we were the only ones there we could wander down the long boat launch ramp without mixing up with anyone wanting to put into the water. Patches took it in stride, glad to be out of the truck for a stretch.

Margaret joined us for supper, I grilled up some turkey burgers and Mom fixed a a salad.

While talking before staring supper Patches gets to pull his infamous "I not on the couch, I don't know anything about what my backend is doing" maneuver. Well he has to be forgiven, it's his 12th birthday.

By late afternoon the sky did open up and a sunset was available, sweet.

End of the day, Patches ready to enjoy his birthday gift.

Wait for it

2011-08-07T18:37:00.004-05:00

Been an interesting weekend though yardwork wasn't a part of it. It began by getting out of work only a little late Friday due to a time and deadline driven project which led me to go into the office Saturday morning. After getting home Friday Carol and I did kickback with supper and a couple of bottles of wine plus two episodes of Doc Martin. When leaving the office at noon the next day I received a text message from Ian stating that he and Ali would be arriving late that evening which was welcome news since we're always eager to see him, and Ali we hadn't seen since January when she left to do a study abroad in Rome aincluding some vacationing about Europe. Before all that we had a dinner gathering at my sister-in-law Elaine's place afterwards returning home to await the arrival. In the meantime we watched this week's Netflix delivery "The Adjustment Bureau", starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt – we liked it. Our visitors arrived much later than we had expected – after we had gone to bed. Other than rousing the dogs though they managed to settle in for the night on their own and we were able to enjoy our company over breakfast through lunch before they had to leave. A heavy rain began overnight and today has been a wet one mostly from drizzle and high humidity. Now the "Wait for it" part, one week before I go to the camp for my annual lakeside vacation. As it seems every year during the summer things have been relentless at the office so being at and about the camp will be a welcome respite. This year I invited my mom, Bert to come with me. Other than about ten years ago when she came up with Carol, Ian and I on the 4th of July week I don't think she's had ever been to Aroostook County. Beside getting some extended time to visit with one another she'll all be able to visit some with my mother-in-law, Margaret.

Low hanging necessity

2011-08-04T20:15:00.007-05:00

Took the truck in for an oil change on the way to work this morning. As I checked in where I have all my automotive work done the counter guy mentioned that there was a manufacturer's recall that included my 14 year old Ford F-150 truck with 203,000 miles. Seems that the gas tank straps have been wearing out and will be replaced by the manufacturer at no costs. The guy asks me if I'd like to schedule in for inspection and replacement, I decided I'd call back about when. The waiting room has a monitor hooked to a video camera that views across the service bays and it doesn't take long for the oil change to be completed when counterguy approaches and asks me to come with him. We proceed into the service bay area heading for my truck and I wondering what now has broken down in the old white mare. He pointed through the rear left wheel well and lo and behold the front gas tank strap had broken off on the left side and was dangling beyond the bottom of the recently filled gas tank. I ended up grabbing a ride to the office while they as a temporary measure ran a cable to hold the strap in place while we await the arrive of the replacement. All in all, if they hadn't told me about the recall they could have just told me it needed the repair and charged for it. Given the age/mileage and abuse I wouldn't have given it a second thought.

Crisis, what crisis?!?

2011-08-02T19:18:00.003-05:00

So after weeks of our fine members of Congress and those in the Senate deliberating on what's best for us and our country what do we get? More of the same, nothings changed and our national debt will continue to increase. Yeah, this has been going on forever and a day but there is more to it in this day and age. What's so hard about setting a debt limit and cutting spending from here on in? The ultimate rhetorical question.

Weekend relativity

2011-07-31T18:55:00.015-05:00

Two months in the making just to find a date we could get together most of my siblings with what of our grown kids that could make it gathered at my brother Dennis and his wife's place for a Saturday afternoon cookout. Of course there was plenty of great food, I almost filled up on the appetizers, grilled burgers, hotdogs and kielbasa and naturally plentiful beers, wines and mixtures. Topped off with a couple of rounds of croquet, our family style which means a fight to mockery. Given the sprawling irregular shaped, obstacle enhanced backyard the field of play was more of an all terrain affair which made for more than a few extra follies.

Brother Dennis about to start a campfire

My brother-in-law Marc and Carol.

My other brother Dave and his wife Carolyn

Carolyn, my Mom, Dave and our sister Kathy.

Most of the gang.

Dennis and Debby piling up some dessert.

Nephew Danny making some serious dessert choices.

Nephews Jim and Eric

Kathy savoring her dessert.

Danny and his cousin Jim.

Strategy session in the midst of a round of croquet.

We're having a heat wave

2011-07-23T19:01:00.003-05:00

It's a official heat wave, temps in the 90s for three days in a row and it's been pretty hot before this. When I left work yesterday the car thermometer was reading 105 degrees. About 5 of those degrees were sun baked pavement temperatures but 100 degrees was official setting a record for the date. To add to the steamy conditions we lost the electricity three nights during this week including the last two evening. None were for a long period, about a couple of hours the first two times, then last night was around 45 minutes and I broke out the generator for that one. As hot as it's been there was a concern for the perishables in the fridge and freezers. Got to keep my beer cold too.

getting a little sticky

2011-07-12T20:04:00.007-05:00

Finally the summer temperatures have shot up and humidity has increase in kind. That means sleeping on top of the bedding and listening to the dogs panting throughout the night. Generally I can sleep well in the heat and carefully note that I am not complaining. As I like to say, "you can't shovel heat" but snow you have to, not to mention being cold outside for a long time. Last summer the air conditioning in my old truck stopped working and I haven't gotten around getting a price to recharge the cooling fluid. Seems I only really need it half a dozen times a year. As it is I usually drive around with the windows open. So what do we do when it gets hot – we grill damn it!

Steak for dinner with tin foil potatoes and stir-fry broccoli.
Homemade blueberry pie for dessert.

Vacation over, back to retrieving rocks

2011-07-10T19:18:00.004-05:00

It's been a good week off, didn't seem to go by too fast and I'm ready to get back to work. Today we installed the gates on the fencing (shown in the photo's foreground and background). The double set are driveway gates but workout well for the gap we needed to span and provides flexible access to this part of the yard particularly the lawn tractor. We finished up by lunch and its just as well, started getting quite hot so we kicked back for the rest of the afternoon. Always nice to not rush through things the day before returning to the office.

Everyday is a Saturday...

2011-07-09T08:26:00.008-05:00

... well, when you're home on vacation. Once returning from the holiday weekend in Aroostook County we've been working around the homestead mainly finishing re-fencing the the backyard. We completed that today as Carol and I attached light kennel fencing to the post and rail that we've started and stopped over the last year and a half.

Tomorrow I'll add some gate work in a couple of places. This makes the dogs area smaller and easier to maintain both summer and winter. We've broken up the labor part of the remaining week, Thursday with a genealogy info gathering trek for Carol's work on tracing our family's lineage. In searching for data on my side of the family we traveled to the town offices of Bristol and Pittston where she acquired birth/death records and local cemetery locations. On the way to the next destination we stopped off at the A-1 Diner in Gardiner for a terrific lunch then up the hill to the St. Joesph Cemetery. There we located graves of several relative including my grand and great-grand parents and photographed the grave markers. In addition we were able to connect up with a second cousin who lives next to the cemetery who has done a lot of genealogy work and provided insight and grave site direction. Once finished there we had accomplished the trips goals by mid afternoon so with time to spare we visited with my mother who lives a nearby before heading home. The weather couldn't have been better and we managed to drive routes we hadn't been through before all making for a great day. Friday while picking up the kennel fencing we also purchased our first gas grill. My reliable charcoal grill will now be regulated to camper duty. For the remainder of the summer we'll be doing most of the cooking outdoors.

The new addition to the deck.

The first meal on the grill - chicken thighs, grilled
potatoes and onions, stirfry veggies accompanied by
Yellow Tail Moscato for Carol and Yellow Tail
Cabernet Sauvignon for myself.

The conclusion of the weekend at the camp

2011-07-07T20:33:00.012-05:00

I did end up doing a campfire for Carol and myself Sunday night as we worked our way through a couple of bottles of wine. We got into a little game of naming a song and the other one of us coming up with the group. That was going pretty well in spite of our wine induced mood when the clouds that had prevailed throughout the day decided it was a good time to rain. Bummer.

Here's our front row seats for Stockholm's 4th of July Parade. L-R, Ian, Carol, Lois and Jim. Patches doing his best impersonation of a rug.

Johnny, (sis-in-law Bev's dad) on a classic tractor driving in the parade.

This is Graydon, Johnny's son, like father, like son.

After the parade for lunch I'd cooked up some burgers for Carol, Ian and I, then... more rain, by the bucket load came barreling across the lake. This photo was taken through the screen from the porch where we had to seek refuge inside as the wind bellowed even harder. Lots of thunder with flashes of lightning with that old time hand of doom effect.

Later that afternoon at the invitation of Graydon we joined his family for a cookout. Ian and I began with a four way game of cribbage with Jonathan and his grandfather Johnny who I teamed up with as we took two games from the youngsters. By then Graydon had grilled up some chicken, a large Angus steak and a pile of Alaskan Copper River Salmon he had brought back from there himself. With a huge potato salad Lois made and a garden salad with a macaroni salad by Graydon's wife Jaymie we managed to stuff our self silly. Ian, Jonathan and Graydon's grand daughter Kristen had the energy to play lawn bowling.

Finally - a sunset. Next month there will be more when I take my vacation at the lake.

Lois, Carol and Patches celebrate the 4th after sundown and before a final campfire for the weekend. Sadly there wasn't much for fireworks over our end of the lake this year. Should be better next year.

Weekend at the camp

2011-07-03T11:09:00.003-05:00

Independence day weekend has arrived and Carol, Patches and I arrived at the camp yesterday. Jim and Lois are here also, setting up their RV behind the camp and after the holiday will drive into Canada for the rest of the week. Nothing fancy planned, we ate at the local American Legion hall last night, a bean supper affair followed by a local "talent" show. Today's lunch are take-out chicken dinners from one of the region's churches and I believe we'll just be chillin' the rest of the day with maybe a campfire if the weather holds out. Little cloudy in the early part of the day though when Carol went intown to pick up the dinners it was sunny there, maybe three miles away. If the skies clear enough perhaps I'll get some sunset shots to post. Stay tuned.

summer treat

2011-06-28T19:44:00.002-05:00

Fresh pavement on our route to work. Once we get off the back roads from our house we get on a state route which takes us to the interstate highway. The state route lost a lot of pavement this past winter, very busy bit of roadway. Road crews were prepping to pave yesterday at the far end and when we turn on to it this morning at least as far as we were both sides of the road had a smooth fresh topcoat. Nice, savor the moment and the rest of the summer as that goes.

Money I don't spend

2011-06-27T20:13:00.003-05:00

That would be retirement money. Carol and I are still in the process of making changes in our retirement savings though it seems for all the answers we gotten in the process with our financial adviser more questions or tasks have appeared. Not only are we sorting through the money part there's long-term care insurance, an estate plan and refinancing our debt at lower interest rates. On the surface it all makes sense but looking under the hood there are things whirling around that will take some study to get a grasp of it. At the moment understanding annuities is at the top of my list – I'm leaning towards avoiding them at this stage of the tuneup, your mileage may vary.

another wet weekend

2011-06-26T20:01:00.003-05:00

Certainly had our share of rain again. If anything the weather doesn't seem to want to make up it's mind - warm and sunny, cold and damp. Carol was away with Lois yesterday on a quick pilgrimage to Ikea. With a wet yard it was a good excuse to visit my mother. As always enjoyed the time talking with her about a variety of things, amazing how the time flies. Afterwards I swung by my sister Kathy's and helped her set up the email on a new computer before heading home. The movie for Saturday night was "The Mechanic" starring Jason Statham. It was alright, nothing special, we were in the mood for an action film so it fit the bill. Today was for taking care of odds and ends. Next weekend with the 4th of July holiday things will pick up a bit.

m u s t – w r i t e – b l o g

2011-06-25T16:04:00.006-05:00

There, that wasn't so difficult was it? It's only been a month since my last blog post. Now then, what to write about? Let's revisit a subject blogged several times before – new cellphones. Carol and I were eligible for upgrades and for a particular reason we're going to smartphones. When was the last time you saw someone using a PDA? If you did it may have been me. Both of ours are on their last legs and though mine seems to have revived itself recently Carol's is responding erratically. We use them for the calendars, address lists and note keeping. If you go online to see what's available you won't find much because all the manufacturers have gone to smartphones so we did too. Actually there is so much more than our justifying reason to upgrade to a smartphone – the APPs. Like the jokes "there's an app for that" is a pretty accurate remark. We went the Android route, specifically the Samsung Captivate. Still getting use to them after five days, adding free apps and how to use the swipe typing. Amazing technology to walk around with in your pocket.

Campground Weekend

2011-05-28T15:41:00.004-05:00

A little change of scenery for the long Memorial Day weekend, much as we usually do. This time though we're closer to home, less that an hour drive to the Kennebunkport area. Beautiful little campground befitting it's name, Hemlock Grove Campground. We arrived and set up the camper last night, had to spray on some bug repellent as the mosquitoes were unrelenting. By evening there were a lot less and between lighting a citronella coil and starting a campfire we were able to enjoy a couple of bottles of wine with supper followed by sitting next to said campfire without any further bloodshed. Today we struck out for a visit to the Seacoast Trolley Museum which was interesting and included a riding one of the trolleys on a trip through the local woods and back. Spent the remaining time we were there exploring the many unrestored trolleys housed in large sheds. I had some pictures from there but due to an unfortunate Trojan attack on my laptop I loss a all my photos and other files. I should be able to restore everything but today's pictures from my backup drive when I get home. Since returning from the museum we've been relaxing, reading, napping, etc. The menu for tonight are grilled tuna steaks – maybe a beer or two will accompany that as well.

This week's Friday night wine indulgence

2011-05-20T20:42:00.003-05:00

Carol is working though the Yellow Tail Chardonnay, one of her favorites while I'm favoring a Merlot we bought at a Whole Foods wine tasting. I like it. So much for my wine review. These with a supper of chicken curry on brown rice – contentment.

Another morning at the ranch

2011-05-18T20:08:00.005-05:00

Came into the office this morning, started the computer, launched the email – hey, a message from the CEO, we've been sold... again. This makes the seventh name of the office I've spent 24 years at. It's been about 10 years with the name we have now so I guess we were over due. Our present company stands at about 50 plus offices and around 3,000 employees in the US. The new owners are global with a strong US presence. The ongoing story will be how well we merge into a new culture and how my role will be affected. Stay tuned.

Blooming madness

2011-05-17T18:42:00.004-05:00

Ah, spring has arrived, and in spite of all the rain flowers are blooming, the trees are leafing out, the black flies are swarming around and you can't turn a corner without coming onto some road construction. Around Portland driving from point A to point B means merging traffic into one lane, dug up streets, detours, flaggers, and slow going usually in several areas along the way. Fairly typical anywhere you go for that matter. Given the economic times we're experiencing I'm glad the roads can get the repair work needed it's just that about the time its finished up and we can enjoy the finished work it's gets covered by ice and snow. The circle of life in these modern times.

Photo of the Day

2011-05-16T19:25:00.003-05:00

A doomed gnome. Taken through a

Exchange Street storefront window
while on my lunchtime walk.

Planning ahead, with a little bit of help

2011-05-15T14:20:00.007-05:00

Procrastination – a character fault or a lifestyle choice. More truth in the former and more mirth in the latter. One subject that has been victim to my procrastinating has been serious retirement planning. Always in the back of my mind that I'd study up on the subject of retirement planning I've been fortunate that participating in my employer's 401K retirement savings program hasn't left me in a hopeless situation – but could it be better? Here are a couple of things that can cause trepidation in many a guys soul, making a doctor's appointment and making an appointment with a financial adviser. Either way with no justification we figure we're going to hear bad news. It'll be a prostate thing or work until we die. Ironically both have a lot to do with age. With that said Carol and I recently met with a financial adviser (insert reader relief here). The scary thing on the subject is how to find the right adviser. Fortunately for us Lois and Jim were able to give us a reference on their adviser who has "more than paid for the fee" of his services. After our first consultation with "Shawn" we are off to a good start and he felt we are in a good shape at this stage with our 401ks and IRAs and will be able to build upon it to retire comfortably. He'll be reviewing our present portfolio and in a short time meet with us to go over his recommendations on how best to move ahead. If there is one aspect that I'll be glad to get help with will be the allocation of my investment choices. I'm pretty sure that I'm a more than a little heavy on aggressive funds to the point where I've felt that if I did anything, it would be the wrong thing. One of the best things about this process has been Carol and I discussing what we'd like to be doing in retirement. Where we'll live, what we'll do with our time, personal projects, some traveling, volunteering, part time work. Nothing settled yet, it will be a subject we'll revisit regularly and will be on the forefront of our thinking here on in now that we are getting a handle of our financial future.

Here to there and back kind of day

2011-04-30T10:12:00.004-05:00

A really nice spring day. The grass is greening over, flowers are popping up and the tree buds are fattening up ready to burst. While going over the lawn tractor in the shed I interrupted the birth of some mice. Dealt with that, later I'll have to open up the engine block and clean out the nesting materials and whatever else was dragged in there over the winter. Hard to keep those little buggers out, having a cat on the prowl doesn't deter them as long as the door is shut Scotia can't get in there. Though I'm still suppose to be taking it easy from last weeks surgery I did a little leaf raking in one part of the yard where the late season leaf dropping formed a impenetrable blanket that even moles had difficulty emerging from. This afternoon Carol and her sisters are taking a etching class. I'll drop her off with them then I'll head into the office to use my office computer which has the software I need to produce my town's warrant and budget document. Need to get that started and well along. That and the town report were things I used to do as a part-time employee on a computer system they provided. The software, Adobe InDesign, is a bit expensive so I haven't yet purchased. I was able to do the town report on my home computer with a free 30-day trial version. The task does add some coin to the household budget and keeps me from straining myself, at least for today.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T19:03:00.004-05:00

Another Easter has come and gone. Again this year my family gathered at our Mom's house, 14 of us altogether. Again as good of a time as can be with the usual family give and take of stories, politics and kidding with news of recent activities and those on the horizon. Some nieces and nephews grown up with jobs or others commitments as well as a sister and sister-in-law not able to attend my thoughts include them in the hope that we'll see them in the near future. With all the gabbing and eating it's funny that no thought to snap a few photos though the Easter Bunny Cake made it's appearance reflected with frosted diversity - when the cake was done baking Mom realized she didn't have any white frosting so she went with coconut and pecan, a bunny of a different color. Tastes good anyway you frost it!

Compare to last year's Bunny Cake

Is that a laser in your pocket?

2011-04-21T18:11:00.005-05:00

My GreenLight Laser surgery for BPH was successful though the final effectiveness may be a week or more before the results manifest itself. I'll spare readers the details, I don't think it makes very good reading. Suffice to say I'm glad the surgery is over and I look forward to getting through the recovery stage. Some of the prep for surgery was something familiar to many and for me when I had accompanied Ian for some foot surgery a few years ago. Such as how many people ask you what your name is and what's your birthdate? What kind of surgery are you having today? Have you ever had surgery before? Do you have any allergies? Are you allergic to latex? At least four people for each must have asked me those questions and more though I thought the janitor stopping by to ask was a little too much. The gurney ride to the the operating room was surreal, is it normal to think about jumping up and running out to the parking lot? Then there's that movie scene of looking up into the giant lamps hung over the the operating table and the nurses moving around making last minute adjustments. The anesthesiologist's assistant setting the oxygen mask near my mouth instructing me breath regularly and then... waking up in a new room with new faces and of course - new questions. I think I got them right because a little while later they let me leave.

First time for everything

2011-04-14T18:48:00.002-05:00

In this case it's surgery. I've decided to have prostate reduction surgery. It's a minor procedure so I'll be home by suppertime and will be out of work recovering for a few days at least. A couple of weeks ago I had a cystoscopy exam and my urologist determined that I had BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia), enlargement of the prostate. Earlier this year because the blood work from my annual physical showed a rapid rise of the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) since the previous physical I had a biopsy to check for prostate cancer, the lab results came back benign so that was a relief. So began the journey to the point I'm at now. It seems urologists can't get enough of what's going on down there.

I think it's a good time to have it done at my age and being in good general health. The method of surgery I'm having is called GreenLight Laser Therapy which working through the urethra vaporizes the intrusion and more of the prostate that has closed in the part of the urethra that descends from the bladder. Pretty freaky but I'll be under anesthesia so I can avoid witnessing the process. The recovery isn't quite a bed of roses for a reason I'll spare you from in this space but I will say "it's going to sting".

Let the healing begin

2011-04-03T18:54:00.004-05:00

Now back to our regularly scheduled programing. Justalittleisenough is never enough when it comes to RV shows. Carol and I made our annual stop at the Portland RV and Campground Show. The organizers were able to put on a much better show than they had the last 2 or 3 years and there were plenty of interesting campers including a couple lines of expanded teardrop type campers. Nice quality but still very compact. There were a couple of travel trailers we liked and a "park model", basically a little house good for seasonal campsites which in this case was of cabin style construction with a screen porch. This sort of dovetailed into a booth we visited when we first arrived, campsites you buy as part of a campground on a lake in New Hampshire. Tempting.

Came this close?!?

2011-04-03T18:24:00.002-05:00

So much for my delusions of grandeur to win $260 if Kentucky was to be victorious in their semi-final game against University of Connecticut, they lost. Carol and I watched the game forgoing our usual Saturday night Netflix DVD. It was an exciting game though Kentucky never seemed about to seize the lead for any length of time and the clock ran out on them. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Now it's baseball season so that will be the sport of choice through the summer - PLAY BALL!

Just a reminder, it can snow in April

2011-04-02T09:57:00.003-05:00

At least in Maine, we know that all too well. In this case it happens on All Fools Day, appropriate for anyone thinking that it's spring time and we've left the snow behind. Here on Ledge Hill the tally is around 8 to 10 inches. Though I'm expecting it gone in a few days I did clear the driveway and enough of a path for the dogs to do business. On the plus side temperatures are on the rise for the next week and some rain will fall. The wait for "true" spring continues. As a teaser Carol and I will head for another campground and RV show, this one in Portland. Also, two weeks from today it's pick up the camper day as I'll retrieve the rig from storage in Cumberland.

Man at Work

2011-03-29T19:17:00.003-05:00

Many a time in a blog post I've blurted out about how busy I sometimes get at the office. Well here it is again, for the last several weeks it's not just being overly busy but has become much more intense as well. Ever since I've had this job every day seems to fly by, mostly because I enjoy what I do and generally there's a lot of it to do. Doing graphic design within an environmental engineering firm encompasses everything from graphs and charts in reports to covers for project proposals. PowerPoint slide shows and visuals for company sponsored events, the list goes on. Co-workers are actually my "clients", they email, call or drop by my cube for a variety of reasons some of which are beyond producing graphics for their project or proposal, such as removing the date stamp from a photograph, making changes or extracting things from PDF files, sign for a job site, oversized phone list for older eyes. So besides being busy for 23 years I find it hard to be bored but the amount of work I've seen over these last few weeks has been cranked up several notches. The real problem that contributes to the intensity is the effect it has on being creative, adding just the right touch to something that make a visual more effective. I find myself just churning out basic stuff that meets the need, just not as good as it should be. A couple of weeks ago I had my annual review, it was a good one. My manager (not a graphics person) every year is looking for ways of challenging me since as a senior graphic designer I'm at the end of my career path in the company. This is not a problem for me as the items I mentioned near the beginning of this post are what drives me - well that and a paycheck, sick and vacation time come in handy too. He tries hard to come up with things for me to do over the next year though it usually ends up with me being too busy to accomplish those ideas. Regardless I’ve been told I’m getting a raise and that I’m presently working at the increased amount. I’ll figure it out when I get my pay stub.

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated (Mark Twain)

2011-03-28T19:34:00.003-05:00

Breaking News – GAME ON! Amazing but true in spite of not having a horse in the race for the NCAA Men's Championship, myself and two other people are the only ones with a chance to win the office bracket pool - and I'm presently leading in points?!? There are points awarded at each round of the tournament and up to this time I have the most and one outcome in next round will determine whether I win or it's between the other two. Here is how it will end:

Connecticut wins the national title - J.W.
Connecticut loses the title game - B.S.
Connecticut loses to Kentucky - me

$260 on the line. My original picks had Ohio State and Kansas in the finals, I was mistaken in my earlier post about having Connecticut in the finals. So if Kentucky wins neither of the other two will acquire the points to overtake me. It's pretty unusual how the whole tournament played out not having any of the No.1 or No.2 seeded teams making it to the finals thus allowing some strange scenario such as this to play out. Adds a bit of spice to the whole thing... don't you think?

As the ball bounces

2011-03-27T10:31:00.005-05:00

Usually during the time between the end of the NFL Superbowl and the start of the Redsox and Major League Baseball season I go into a kind of semi-hibernation of sports interest. I pay some attention to NASCAR, a bit to the Boston Celtics (NBA), Boston Bruins (NHL) and even some of the NCAA men's basketball championship tournament known as March Madness. This year, for the first time I filled out a bracket for the tournament (at the office, $5) and my attention level has swung to the upside of the "got my attention" meter. What began as 68 teams playing a single game elimination series of games brought the winners of two games each to this weekend known as the "Sweet 16". A lot of these games have come down to victory being decided in the last few seconds, even some in overtime. Though I picked a few losers in my bracket I still had my final four intact - until the first round of this weekend. Ohio State lost in a close game, then in yesterday's second round games Florida lost to Butler but UConn beat Arizona, both very close games. Today my remaining final four pick, Kansas takes on VCU. If they can win and with UConn the following round next weekend they'll face each other in the final (my pick is Kansas). I barely follow college Basketball in the regular season and if someone was to ask me who the best teams were before the tournament began I wouldn't of had a clue. That said the way the game is played by these young men is exciting with hardly any sign of the whining/complaining about referee calls you see from NBA games. Regardless I think I've received more than $5 worth of entertainment.

UPDATE: Well Kansas lost, that breaks my bracket as I had them winning it all. Better luck next year. Since one of the teams I'd picked to make the the Final Four, University of Connecticut, made it I'll root for them to win it all - GO HUSKIES!

On the brink of spring...

2011-03-19T18:26:00.005-05:00

... and we get 3 inches of snow first thing today. At least it covers up the old melting, dirty snow.

Knowing that the temperatures would be rising throughout the day I cleaned off the deck in case it took until tomorrow to melt the fresh stuff. No way was this to deter us on our plans for the day. RV and campground show at the Augusta Civic Center.

We had a great time looking around, particularly at several models we liked a lot though the Air Stream shown in the picture would be way out of any price range we have in mind, $63,000.00. Where's that lottery ticket?!? We then left to visit a couple of the local shopping plazas, I was able to check out a Barnes and Noble for my first time and picked up Joel Shepherd's "Breakaway", the second novel in the Cassandra Kresnov trilogy. Also, there were a couple of B&N's e-readers, the Nook available to try out. Meanwhile Carol had gone to the neighboring Michael's to stock up on cross stitching supplies. The next stop included another craft supplier and I picked up a couple of dog items next door.

After working up an appetite we stopped at long-time Augusta lunch icon Bolley's Famous Franks and both of us consumed a sandwich basket of which mine was a hotdog, fries and coleslaw. Carol went with the haddock sandwich. We then finished our travels with a long ride south along the west side of the Kennebec River to Bath then picked up Route 1 to Yarmouth and thereafter home. Oh, all the new snow was gone by the time we arrived home.

Crystal Daze

2011-03-08T20:02:00.007-05:00

We had a little freezing rain yesterday, here's what it looked like early this morning.

Surprising in spite of a sunny day and mild temperatures there was a fair amount of ice still clinging to the the surrounding branches.

Getting technical with The Technician

2011-03-01T20:52:00.009-05:00

Last weekend I finished reading "The Technician" by Neal Asher. A story that stands on it's own though part of the history took place in a previous book "The Line of Polity" with bits spread among other Asher books. The type of stuff readers of Asher's books revel in. The story reads a little different than most of Neal's books as there isn't as much all out action earlier on as is common in his writing but often as I'd plan on putting the book down after completing a chapter or a point of view section I found myself sneaking a peek beyond and lingering a little longer. Not to say there wasn't a spot of action here and there but there was a fair amount of groundwork to be laid. Sure enough plenty of action was to be had as the story progressed and the twists in the story began to come together I found myself at times reading faster than necessary. Anyone interested in gabbleducks, hooders, clever AIs or millions years old ancient civilizations won't be disappointed. As with all the other of Neal Asher's books I've read I enjoyed it immensely.

Ice is slippery

2011-02-23T20:17:00.002-05:00

Headed out for my noontime walk today and as I stepped off a curb to cross the street stepped on some old street blackened ice and BAM, landed flat on my back. An older gentleman walking by with his wife held out a helping hand to get me up with asking if I was hurt. I wasn't, more stunned then anything else. That's the second time I've taken a fall on ice this winter, last time was about a month and a half ago while snowblowing the driveway. Pulling the snowblower backwards I stepped on some ice and my feet went out under pulling the snowblower down with me I landed hard on my ass – I think I gave myself a butt concussion. I can't remember the last time I took a fall on ice now I've done it twice in one winter. About a year ago a friend of mine stepped out of his house to retrieve the morning newspaper, hit some black ice on the walkway extended both arms behind to catch himself and broke both arms and elbows. He's quite recovered now but it was a long process of surgery and physical therapy, still doing PT. I count myself fortunate.

Tomorrow, who knows?

2011-02-19T18:59:00.004-05:00

Mrs Packrat54 has left the region for the weekend with her sisters to visit their mum in the northern part of the state leaving me with the task of cleaning out the refrigerated leftovers, and a fine task it is. Beef stew and a bottle of red wine last night – a bowl of chili chased with a glass of almond silk tonight. Saving the stout for later during tonight's movie. Spent part of today visiting my mother. Winter temperatures have been swinging up and down over the the last week with a decided turn for the colder this evening aided by a strong steady wind. Looking forward to putting together some sort of coherent blog tomorrow.

Get "Bankruptcy for Dummies" at Borders

2011-02-16T20:22:00.004-05:00

Cruel but appropriate. Borders has been one of my favorite stores to visit since it opened at the Maine Mall in South Portland and in spite of filing for bankruptcy that store and three others in Maine are expected to remain open. Obviously I love browsing at bookstores both ones that sell new books and those that sell used books and Borders is no exception. They just flat out have more going on than the others I visit. But the stores aren't their only problem – their online presence and ebook stuff apparently isn't competitive enough. I buy books online from them, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and recently from The Book Depository in Great Britain so it's not like I'm super loyal to anyone place but Borders is my "comfort" bookstore. I hope they get their act together and come on strong, there's plenty of business for everyone.

Maine State of ________ (fill in the blank)

2011-02-15T19:10:00.005-05:00

Maine is a great place to live - we've got our four seasons well covered, particularly now with the snow all around us. We've got terrain of all types - mountains and hills, rivers, streams, lakes, seacoast. Interesting animals - moose, deer, eagles, black bears and black flys. Vocations in business, engineering and architecture, agriculture, livestock, fishing, medical, etc. I could go on but you get the idea. We also have some issues that need to be addressed - balance the state budget, tax reduction, keeping our youth from moving out of state, road and bridge repair, health care and retirement saving, that lists is ever growing but now our state government has something more important to deal with - designating a Maine State "Treat". The candidate is... The Whoopie Pie?!?

Let's see, so far we have the following:

Maine State berry: Wild Blueberry
Maine State bird: Black-capped Chickadee
Maine State cat: Maine Coon
Maine State fish: Land-locked salmon
Maine State flower: White Pinecone and Tassel
Maine State fossil: Pertica Quadrifaria
Maine State gemstone: Tourmaline
Maine State herb: Wintergreen
Maine State insect: European honey bee
Maine State mammal: Moose
Maine State beverage: Moxie
Maine State soil: Chesuncook soil series
Maine State song: State of Maine Song
Maine State tree: Eastern White Pine
Maine State vessel: Arctic exploration schooner Bowdoin
Maine State motto: Dirigo ("I lead")

I was a little taken aback to find out we had a State soil, would that also qualify as the State mud. Some would claim that's one of our four seasons. This really can open up some possibilities...

Maine State Comedian: Bob Marley (ours doesn't sing, and is still alive for that matter).
Maine State Pothole: this would be a revolving honor as some get repaired and new ones develop. My candidate is presently on Route 122 in Poland, I hit it last Saturday doing 55 mph. I think I need the front end of my PT Cruiser realigned but I digress.
Maine State joke: "you can't get there from here", spoken with the local accent. Not really intended as a joke since there's some truth to it, see next item.
Maine State east-west highway - oh, I forgot, we haven't got one, dang we should do something about that.
Maine State liquor: Allen's Coffee Brandy (low hanging fruit).
Maine State casino: Hollywood Slots, well, its the only one we have but not for long.
Maine State invasive species: I'd think that would be milfoil though a lot of folks would claim its tourists.

and my favorite - Maine State trait: a great sense of humor.

2011-02-13T13:36:00.005-05:00

Just finished reading Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama" (1972, Hugo and Nebula Awards)". Terrific storyline though I found the characters and action rather sterile compared to my recent favorite authors. Clarke is one of the Grandmasters of the science fiction genre. It's been around 35 years (!?!) since I last read one of his books, "Imperial Earth". I think I have that copy up in the garage attic, I'll have to reread it as I don't remember any of it. I've seen the movie made from another of his novels, "2001: a Space Odyssey" as any SF nut has and the followup "2010: Odyssey Two". I bought Rendezvous with Rama at a used book store as well as 2 followup novels "Rama II" and "The Garden of Rama". I just recently found that there's a fourth novel, "Rama Revealed". Curiosity will impel me to continue the series, I didn't 'dislike' the book, just needed more to sink my teeth into. Perhaps the sequels will satisfy me.

We are the Champions!

2011-02-12T17:34:00.003-05:00

Trying to get caught up a little on my blogging - one thing happening is that I'm still basking in the glow of the Green Bay Packers' victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at last Sunday's NFL Superbowl. A nerve wracking game that went down to the wire. This team is full of young players and had a large number of players on the injured list so it's reasonable to expect them to be in contention for several years to come. GO PACK!

Ian returns from Aconcagua

2011-02-12T15:03:00.008-05:00

A week ago today I drove down to Logan Airport in Boston to pick up Ian who was returning from his trip to Argentina where he summited Aconcagua. For about two and a half weeks he traveled, prepared, camped, climbed the Mountain and also spent a few days enjoying his stay in Mendoza. His description of his time was dazzling and his mother and I are thrilled for him. As I had hoped it was not just about climbing a mountain – it was about everything else as well. Quite the experience. Bonus, he took some great pictures!

Keep'em covered lads

2011-01-24T19:40:00.003-05:00

Gotten pretty cold lately - particularly overnight and tonight, temps dropping to below zero Fahrenheit. And the range of sub-zero temps are anywhere from -5 to -22 degrees in locations a mere few miles apart. That said I took a walk at lunch time as the temperature in Portland rose to above the zero side of the equation still only in the single digits. Makes for a brisk stroll abouts town.

Inflating results

2011-01-23T19:33:00.005-05:00

In a title take off of my September 28th blog, "Deflating results", today the Green Bay Packers have won the NFL's National Football Conference's championship beating the Chicago Bears and two weeks from today will play in the Superbowl the winner of tonight's American Football Conference's championship game. As the final seed in the conference playoffs all of Green Bay's games have been at their opponent's home stadiums, three straight wins. That's quite an accomplishment and I believe it's been done only once before since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The NFL Superbowl Championship will be played in Dallas Texas on Sunday, February 6th. Look out Dallas, here come the Cheeseheads!!

Winter wunderland

2011-01-23T13:56:00.003-05:00

Friday's snow storm wasn't a big deal, six inches maybe. The timing was nice though. We came home from a day at work followed by working out - got the car into the garage and let the snow wait until Saturday morning, sweet. It was a glorious winter day, sunny, barely a breeze and temperatures in the teens. High praise from me who usually laments cold and snowy winters. Don't get use to it.

More white moments

2011-01-19T20:09:00.003-05:00

Started and ended the day moving snow. Did have some rain last night into today as well but I'm trying to catchup with it all as more snow may be coming Friday. After that the temperature is supposed drop. Wet Snow + cold = hard to shovel snow. The snow coming down this evening had that peaceful ambiance going for it. There was even a blurry moon veiled by the falling snow.

another good read

2011-01-18T20:15:00.004-05:00

Finished reading "The Prefect" by Alastair Reynolds. Again I'm not disappointed. Though the story is based in a region of the galaxy as many of his other stories this one is a detective story wrapped in science fiction. I'll tell you one thing, today's criminals should consider themselves lucky they don't have to face an officer of the law in possession of a "whiphound." I have two more Reynolds books on my shelves to be read - "Terminal World" and "Absolution Gap". I'll probably read two or three other books before starting one of those, give the last one a chance to linger in my mind for awhile.

The joys of winter

2011-01-18T20:02:00.003-05:00

A good bit of snow has blown in today. I've run the snowblower after getting home from work even though the snow is still coming down. It's a nice dry snow, over six inches when I started clearing the driveway so I could remove it fairly quickly and I'm hoping a quick pass in the morning will hold for the day then I can do a final cleanup tomorrow evening. The catch... the snow is suppose to switch over to rain for awhile and then the temperature is going to drop. Tis the season.

A date with a mountain

2011-01-16T11:24:00.014-05:00

Photo by Sergio Schmiegelow, 1/2005

Today our son Ian is in Mendoza, Argentine preparing to climb Aconcagua as part of a group led by a guided climbing service. He left yesterday, flying out of Boston to Miami, then Santiago, Chile and finally landing in Mendoza this morning. He was able to call us to confirm his arrival this morning.

~ Photo taken on Table Rock, part of the
Teton mountain range, July 2010

Tuesday he'll be at the base camp (webcam photo below) where the climb to the the top of Aconcagua will begin. The climb is part of a challenge know as the Seven Summits, the tallest peak on each of the world's seven continents. Aconcagua is the 2nd highest and checks in at 22,841 ft (6,962 m). Time will tell if he goes after the other six. The excursion itself will take about 18 days which is on the north slope approach and is the most basic route to the top. The level of difficulty increases on all other approaches.

He is much on Carol and my minds as he pursues this adventure and we have a lot of confidence in Ian's abilities and we know that this trip isn't something he takes lightly. One of the last things I told him before he left was "have the time of your life!"

Boatload of snow

2011-01-13T19:55:00.005-05:00

We had a pretty good snowstorm that came through yesterday. It started at daybreak in this region and finally petered out in the evening.

Here's the early morning view from my cubical.

Managed to leave more than a 12 inches in snow in my yard.

If 2010 was all about the books

2011-01-10T20:27:00.011-05:00

During the course of blogging in 2010 I think I lamented that I hadn't been reading books as much as I'd like. Well if I got the count right I did manage to squeeze in maybe nineteen, one of which I haven't finished yet but I'm only reading it a few pages at time, "Young Men and Fire." Another unfinished is "Galactic North", e-book version is a collection of short stories which I've set aside for awhile. Two are non-fiction and one is a non scifi fiction. I'm sure you don't have to guess that most are science fiction and many are very good at that.

Here's what I read over 2010, the order is a little shaky, my ratings are in parentheses 1 – 5 (highest) based on what I like:

Chasm City, Alastair Reynolds (5)
Shadow of the Scorpion, Neal Asher (5)
The Universe Between, Alan E. Nourse M.D. (2)
Hilldiggers, Neal Asher (5)
Reckoning Infinity, John E. Stith (2)
Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card (5)
Green Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson (5)
A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean (4)**
The Voyage of the Sable Keech, Neal Asher (5)
Helix, Eric Brown (3)
Soothslayer, Mike Resnick (2)
Redemption Ark, Alastair Reynolds (5)
Galactic North, Alastair Reynolds (5)
Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (5)
The Search for God and Guinness, Stephen Mansfield (5)*
For Us the Living, Robert Heinlein (2)
Young Men and Fire, Norman Maclean (4)*
The Reality Dysfunction, Peter F. Hamilton (4)
Divergence, Tony Ballantyne (4)

I'm presently reading "The Prefect" by Alastair Reynolds and my stash of purchased used books is plentiful and there are some new books scattered in amongst the used ones on my book shelves. Someday I expect to acquire an e-book reader but with all the used books available it's hard to justify in the near future. Also, where is the e-book reader technology headed. My little bit of research doesn't show much compatibility between manufacturers. I really think that the future would be along the lines of the iPad for computing/internet and e-book/publication reading. The e-books I have I've read through PC Apps from the suppliers, i.e. Borders and Barnes & Noble which is OK occasionally but a little hard to manage for general reading.

* non-fiction
** non-SciFi Fiction

a little bit of snow overnight

2011-01-09T21:00:00.003-05:00

Greeted this morning with maybe a half inch of snow. Didn't take long for the day to turn sunny. Spent the afternoon watching two of the first round NFL playoff games, my Green Bay Packers beat the Eagles in Philadelphia to advance to the next round against the conference #1 seed, the Atlanta Falcons. That will take place on Saturday night - GO PACK!

Grapes are not just for jelly

2011-01-08T14:27:00.005-05:00

Within the last year Carol and I have taken to sharing a bottle of wine over Friday night suppers. Earlier in life I never had taken much interest in the consumption of fermented grapes. Carol has been enjoying wine for years, as for me it's been beer/ales. Of course I've had the occasional glass of wine here or there but the acidity seemed to be something that I didn't care for. Then a couple of years ago we had one of my brothers over for dinner a couple of times and he'd bring a bottle each of red and white wines. I think that it may have been a combination of his choice of wines and perhaps as I've gotten older I was beginning to develop a taste for what wine brings to bear. Now I have an additional reason to look forward to Friday nights when Carol and I settle in for a quiet supper with a glass or two of wine talking over recent events or things on our minds. For several months Ian worked part time at a New Hampshire winery. Carol and Lois have been buying wine from there that has become part of the weekly rotation as well as different ones picked up here and there. This Christmas past was a banner holiday for receiving wines as gifts. Ian's girlfriend Alie brought us a white and red from her and her mother. The red we enjoyed very much, the white has yet to be opened but it will be soon. My boss included a Pinot Noir as part of gift bags he was handing out to his staff. We drank that last night, it was quite good. At my family's Christmas get together at my mother's we did a Yankee Gift Swap between the adults. I managed to hang onto a wooden velvet-lined wine box which included two bottles plus sterling silver stoppers and pourers. I should partake in some wine tasting events and learn more about the lingo and such – not much of an issue with beer.

Yes they do

2011-01-06T20:04:00.003-05:00

If there was a theme for the year past I'd call it "things change", not to be mistaken for "hope and change" though some of that may have some impact thank you very much federal government. With Ian graduating from college to taking a major family vacation. The end of my part time job for the town and I also stepped away from producing a local churches monthly newsletter both of which I'd been doing for a number of years. That which really garners my curiosity though are the little things, a new traffic light on one of my routes to work, the office renovation which changed some ways of interacting within the office. Weather patterns unlike I can remember anytime in my adult weather enlighten years. The town changing the trash pickup day for my street (I don't like it). The grocery store stopped carrying the stir fry noodles that I had quite fond of preparing and eating. Plus a number of other things that just don't come to mind at the moment but I seem to be bumping into throughout each day. It's not that I want to live in a rut, ruled by a uninterrupted routine, it's just that I think there are less pros than cons when totaled up.

New Governor at the Helm

2011-01-05T20:49:00.004-05:00

Interesting day in the history of the State of Maine with the inauguration of the new governor, Paul LePage. In what turned out to be a very close race for the office LaPage eked out the election by 1% of the vote last November.

He has his work cut out for him and though our state's financial issues pale in comparison to California and Illinois there is still much that needs to be done and I wish Gov. LePage all the best to be successful.

Long road to less

2011-01-04T20:32:00.003-05:00

Later this week will be the fourth anniversary of my weight loss program. For the last year I've been hovering a pound or two above my original goal of 180 lbs. After my first year I was down to less than 175 lbs which I held around for about two years before the upward creep. I would like to get back to that range, need to get re-serious to do it. My exercising over for almost two years now has increased substantially but it alone hasn't been enough to return me to my former glory.

Another holiday season is behind us

2011-01-03T20:46:00.003-05:00

Back at work today and the rest of the week as well. After three short work weeks and three long weekends I'm actually happy to return to the routine. I feel like I'm beginning the task of getting through winter. After a stretch of mild weather the temperature is dropping and the winds have increased, helps keep me in the proper frame of mind for the job.

Welcome to 2011

2011-01-02T17:04:00.002-05:00

Upon review I'm a little surprised that I had 53 blog posts in 2010, a poor showing indeed. As much as I like blogging and reading blogs I didn't really put much into it last year. In some ways I have a little more time available for online activities – on the other hand the intensity I've felt at my job the last few months has left me creatively spent by the time I sit down at the computer and seems to overlap into the weekend. Regardless it's not like I particularly need to be creative to write a blog post but it does play a role in how I think. Maybe I'll go into "throw something up against the wall and see what sticks" mode. Oh, you lucky visitors!

Christmas comes and goes so fast

2010-12-24T19:43:00.004-05:00

Our Christmas holiday has and is coming together nicely. Last Sunday we were at our nephew Mark and his wife Megan's for Carol's side of the family's get together with brunch and gift exchanging. We had a very nice time there, Ian was able to be here with his girlfriend Alie. The day before Carol and I made the rounds to get most of our shopping done. Ian was back with us last night and is home until Sunday when he needs to return to work in New Hampshire so its us and the pets for Christmas Day. Sunday, Carol and I will join with some of my brothers and sister's family to celebrate at my mother's. I need to remember to slow things down in the mind to appreciate the time we get to spend together with our familys.

Cubical makeover

2010-12-22T13:34:00.005-05:00

Over the last few weekends and through several more in January my company's office has taken on a office space renovation. Cubicles, walled offices and carpeting have become quite shabby and a makeover was well over due. We occupy two stories of a nine story building in downtown Portland, Maine. I think we've been at this location about fifteen years and moved in with the cubicles we had from our former location. The office areas were divided into phases which took place over the described weekends – my location was included in last weekend's phase.

Here's my cube's "before" appearance with it's "disaster in progress" motif. The deco is a cross between a neglected museum and a vandalized campaign headquarters. The makeover was a welcome relief and an excuse for starting over.

The four packing boxes on the left hold nearly everything that I couldn't throw or cart away and the remaining few items get thrown in a box on my way out the door for the weekend.

My "after" photo. Monday morning I had to hit the ground running to meet a couple of deadlines though I did a bit of unpacking during the day and finished up yesterday before leaving for a few days vacation. I'll say that it will be keep neat and tidy but only time will tell.

Holiday season time off

2010-12-21T16:16:00.003-05:00

Getting near the end of the year I have about five days of vacation left so I'm splitting it up over these last three weeks of December. There is no carry over of vacation time into the next year. Sad to say the one I took last Friday ended up with me going into the office for a couple of hours anyway. I took that pound of flesh back on today's timecard entry. Tomorrow and Thursday will be free and easy days off with nothing at the office to pull me back. Friday is the company's Christmas holiday then next week I'll work the same schedule as this week with Friday being our New Year's holiday.

Another winter is upon us

2010-12-07T19:32:00.002-05:00

Not officially of course but then again for the longest time I have considered the beginning of December as the first days of winter. These pictures are from the back yard last Saturday morning after I shoveled off the deck. First good coverage of the season.

Didn't last long as the sunshine over the course of the day melted most of it away. Late yesterday afternoon though brought us a fresh 3 inches of snow before Carol and came home from work and a visit to our fitness center so my day's workout wasn't over yet. It was the light fluffy variety so all-in-all it didn't take me long to clear the driveway or Carol to clean off the deck and front patio.

I'll be keeping the shovel handy and the snowblower gased up.

Mighty winds

2010-11-10T21:22:00.007-05:00

Beginning with some mighty rain overnight Sunday we've had some pretty strong winds blowing through the region, the leftovers of Tropical Storm Tomas I guess which blew up the eastern seaboard then into the Canadian Maritime Provinces.

On my noon walk Monday I came across this tree split at the base up at the Eastern Promenade.

Tuesday's walk included this view of Deering Street. Most of the leaves are down forming a soggy carpet along the roadway.

This morning on my way to the office I noticed this sign which as I approached appeared to have been bend over from the winds. On closer examination the wind had knocked it over but only because it had been installed by attaching it to the brick work. Maybe getting hired by the public Works Department should require some sort of IQ test.

A window of opportunity

2010-10-29T19:36:00.003-05:00

Last week while Carol and I were at work some creep(s) took the opportunity to pry open a window and made off with our flat screen TV, some cash, a backpack with a sleeping bag and MY laptop. I came home first to discover the break-in and called 911. A Deputy of the County's Sheriff Department was dispatched to investigate and take our statement. He was very thorough and we were very impressed with the job he did in gathering evidence and asking us questions. Definitely a fine example of law enforcement in our region. Some folks have speculated that I must feel violated to have some stranger in our house going through our stuff. No, that's not how I feel... I'm angry, angry that someone would enter a regular person's home and take "stuff"!! No diamonds here, we have no fancy jewelry, no famous art pieces, no weapons, no prescription drugs, just our STUFF including my simple not too fancy but likable laptop. I do find it difficult to define the perpetrator as a thieve. A thieve must know what he's doing, the risk he is taking is worth it - can you imagine the possibly of doing jail time for taking someone's stuff, please. I know, it happens all the time. Actually, in the twenty-five plus years we've lived here this is the third time we had a break-in, each time while we were away at work and each time nickel and dime stuff but this was the first time a TV and computer were taken. Unfortunately we've been keeping the dogs out back in the kennel. Now one resides in the house while we're away. We have a few ideas to improve security to protect our stuff, this is a work in progress, we'll get there

That time of a election year

2010-10-12T19:24:00.003-05:00

More mentally painful than scratching fingernails along a blackboard - this election year's ads. You'd thing that each of the candidate's opponents were axe-murders or jackboot wearing contestants on "The Taxes are Right". Well in some cases accusations may be close but please if they'd just run the ads a little less I'd appreciate it. If there's truth in an ad then it's exaggerated, if not then they stretch the truth. Good thing truth is resilient but you need to dig to find it. Read the candidate's website for documented claims then track down the facts elsewhere. Check out the news sources, do they seem to have their own agenda? This is not work for the faint of heart. Just know that what you want may be flawed if you don't weight the consequences of one policy/issue against the ramifications. One truth is that maybe this elections is no worst that past election year's but it sounds like it to me.

A day to remember

2010-10-03T18:42:00.001-05:00

Today is Carol and mine 35th wedding anniversary. I think she likes me.

These guys are going to Deerfield Fair...

2010-09-30T19:01:00.007-05:00

... and so are we. Carol and I will load up the camper and drive to a campground not to far from the fairgrounds. After a year's absence, last year we did the Loon Mt. New Hampshire Highlands Games, now we'll be back at Deerfield. All day Saturday we'll wander around the exhibits, visit the livestock barns, watch oxen pulls, eat foods that aren't very good for us but taste great and generally enjoy being part of a mass of humanity crowded together doing these same things. Not something I want to do frequently but once a year I'm into it. Truly the day revolves around food. The base plan, subject to change, goes like this - breakfast at the 4H booth, sausage with green peppers and onions for lunch, a steak and cheese for supper and everything else in between including other food goodies like french fries, sweet potato fries, ice cream, fudge, bison burgers, fresh roasted nuts of all types, soup in a bread bowl. I guess that's why everyone keeps walking, got to burn up a few of those calories somehow.

Here are some photos from earlier years

Deflating results

2010-09-28T18:46:00.003-05:00

Aaron Rodgers ready to let one fly downfield.

Stayed up to watch the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football play the Chicago Bears. Things started out pretty well with an early lead by the Pack but signs of the Bears getting their act together and the Packers losing their edge were indications for a poor second half for the Green and Gold. 18 penalties finally did the Pack in as a late fumble by WR James Jones led to a winning drive by the Bears as the Packers self-destructed with a couple of personal foul penalties totaling 30 yards was the final straw to what began as classic battle between these long-time rivals. Frustrating lost (20 - 17), at least it's early in the season and still a lot of football to be played. Last game of the season is January 2nd... Bears come to Green Bay, should be a drag out knock down affair, I wouldn't miss it.

Books on deck

2010-09-26T19:07:00.005-05:00

After a slow start in 2010 the list of books I've read and am reading has reached twelve. Given what time I've had I'm pretty satisfied at this point and am expecting to read three or four more at least by years end. Funny thing is, I find that I have had two or three ongoing at the same time. That's a little hard to explain as I'm not quite sure it makes a whole lot of sense myself. I think some of it is that I've been reading a few non-SciFi books which though interesting don't feed the space opera beast within me so to compensate I'll grab a used purchase of mild interest read a bit of it now and then. Since beginning that practice I've continued it regardless of what else I'm reading that I consider my "main" book. The books pictured below are what I'm now actively reading. Alastair Reynold's "Galactic North" is the first ebook I've bought and am reading it on my computer, it's a collection of short stories which so far seems to backfill story lines in his following books. The program I'm using is from Borders and it works very smoothly and am surprised at how easy it is to read this way. The "Reality Dysfunction" by Peter Hamiltion is a tome, its 2 inches thick though the height and width of a standard paperback. That's a wine cork standing next to it. I bought it used from a online book reseller. The book itself is the first of a trilogy which is comprised of two books each that I had already purchased the remaining parts of the series used at Anne's Bookstop none of which are quite as thick. The last one is the present long term ongoing book, Robert Heinlein's first book he tried to get published and wasn't, "For Us the Living". It was found long after his death and then published. I've read most of his books and this one pales compare to the main body of his works but I feel obligated to complete it. Found it in a used book store.

When work isn't work... at least for a little while

2010-09-22T19:25:00.002-05:00

One of our project managers held a photo session/lunch get together for his project team to celebrate the re-procurement of the ongoing contract with a big client of ours. I was invited as I provide frequent graphics support for their efforts. The photos of the members of the project team are used as part of a calendar and a holiday greeting card (both done by yours truly) to the department of the client that we work directly with. Today was that day and late this morning we car pooled to Portland Headlight, one of the most photographed lighthouses in the United States which we used as a backdrop for the group photos.

Next we went to the Lobster Shack at Two Lights where we had lunch at picnic tables overlooking the rocky coast and the ocean beyond. All in all not a bad mid-day at the "office".

I had the Lobster Roll Boat
(photo of roll shows one bite taken).

Sign of the season

2010-09-09T19:07:00.002-05:00

National Football League season that is. Tonight is the first game of the season, the Minnesota Vikings at the New Orleans Saints. I'm sure I won't stay up until the end of the game though I'll be rooting hard for the Saints as the Vikings are in my beloved Green Bay Packers' NFC North division. They'll be duking it out for the division title, both have potent offenses while the Vikings defense is quite good and the Packers' is getting better in the new system they began using last season. Unlike the other major American sports the NFL is the only one that I'll watch most every game I can and if the Packers are on I'll stay up for the late games. I don't have Direct TV and the NFL package so I can't watch every game they play so when Green Bay plays on one of the regular channels I try to make sure I'm in front of a TV.

Labor Day Weekend Sightseeing

2010-09-06T18:58:00.034-05:00

Sunday Carol and I were out of the campsite before 9am for an early arrival at Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Observatory. We paid $5 each to visit both venues which was quite a bargain in these days when many places are squeezing the be-dickens out of our wallets. We headed straight to the observatory where only two vehicles were parked. I'd figured getting there early would avoid waiting to go up the elevator and maybe sharing the view with very few people. It couldn't have worked out better as when we arrived at the base of the observatory's tower the Park Service Ranger directed us right into the empty elevator. A forty story ride in two minutes where we were met by another ranger who pointed us to a narrow flight of stairs two stories to the top level and it's 360 degree view of the Penobscot Valley. We had the place to ourselves for over a half hour before other people began arriving. We used our time looking around us and taking some pictures. As recommended in the literature I viewed online I had brought binoculars. We also watched an eagle flying along the riverside. You have to bear with us as the photos from the observatory have reflections from shooting through the windows. The bridge that the Penobscot Narrows River Bridge replaced has as of yet has not been demolished as you'll see it in several of the following pictures.

That's Fort Knox in the foreground.

Looking down at the old bridge

Compass directions inlayed on the floor.

Yep, I was there.

Afterward we to drove back to the park entrance parking lot and proceeded to Fort Knox. I expected to make short work of this visit, was I wrong. I think we spent over two hours wandering over almost every square inch and though there was nothing particularly stunning it was nonetheless an intriguing visit itself along with the wonderful view around us.

After leaving we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the campground for an afternoon of kicking back and reading before I fired up the charcoals to grill a large steak to go along with the potatoes and corn on the cob Carol prepared followed by more reading into the evening by the campfire.

One dark day in the middle of the night...

2010-09-04T17:37:00.015-05:00

Sort of describes the effect that (now) tropical storm Earl (the former hurricane) had on our first day at Balsam Cove Campground. Waves of rain started moving through the region around 1am with increasing variations every couple of hours. At about 5am I found a spot where water was coming into the camper so that needed attention to keep it under control. A combination of a couple of small pots and the occasional toweling masterfully managed by Carol. The forecast for clearing skies this afternoon was the case and actually began well before noon. To celebrate we took a drive around the peninsular area encompassing the towns of Penobscot, Castine, Brooksville, Sedgewick and Blue Hill, much of it with views to the bays and small harbors surrounding them.

Daylight view with the rain coming down.

Mudflats looking out over Penobscot Bay.

Maine Maritime Academy's training vessel.
I've seen this docked in Portland Harbor also.

These are more photos of the Castine Harbor

Overall view of our campsite.

So this blog's title is from a little ditty which I learned at some point of my childhood that goes like this:

One dark day in the middle of the night
two boys got up and started to fight.
They drew their swords and shot each other.
A deaf policeman across the street
heard those boys and came over and shot those boys
and if you don't believe me just ask
the blind woman across the street,
she saw the whole thing!

The things that stick with you from childhood.

Seasons change, as does life

2010-09-02T20:39:00.005-05:00

This past weekend Ian finished his summer job with the White Mountain Forest Service and moved into a house near UNH shared with three other guys. He began the week as a teachers assistant working with a dendrology class and since has added working with a Wilderness EMT class. He was also hired today to work at a vineyard part-time. What's next, who knows...

Walk this way

2010-09-02T19:30:00.000-05:00

Paid a visit to a podiatrist this week. A small lump developed in the middle of the ball of my right foot a few weeks ago and wasn't about to go away on it's own. My foot was x-rayed from two directions then I met with the doctor. He scrapped it down a bit with a scalpel, turned out not to appear to be a wart, that was good to hear. So I guess the diagnosis was that I had a small lump on my foot. The doctor described it as something that may have started as a small indent that filled with dead shed skin that calloused over forming the bump that became a discomfort. He cleaned out the indent then used an irritant to encourage the skin to push the indent out of the surface of the skin. Since then the area stings a bit particularly as the day wears on. By evening I can't wait to get off my feet. It does seem to feel a little better today, I hope it improves a lot by the time Carol and I visit the observatory.