Welcome to the May 2005 BLOG. Didn't see the end of last month?
Click here: April 05 BLOG

May 32, 2005 Wed

Uh oh. Dang.

May 31, 2005 Tue

May 30, 2005 Mon

Our wonderful weather holds out another day, to allow for our own backyard BBQ. Ann's folks, all three of her children, friends Niomi and Ivey, Becca and Tom with Talyn, sister Barbara, with Paul and Anna - just enough for most of our chairs. Chicken and steak shish-ka-bobs on the grill, potato salads plus sides, and no less than TWO cakes! Nobody left hungry. What a good afternoon.
A group shot in the back yard.

Yours truly arriving late. . .

Taking our ease

Fae, Laura and Ann - three generations.

The girls (Evelyn and Talyn) decide to sit on their Mom's laps.

An after dinner walk up the hill upon which we live. This is taken from the block above ours. From there, it appears that the water in the bay is higher than the hill!

Using the 10 power zoom (hand held) on the Polar Explorer (also seen above), anchored in the bay.

May 29, 2005 Sun

A cloudy day got nice by about noon. Just in time to ride the scooter to a barbecue. Here we see Ann changing out of her motorcycle footwear while balancing a fruit tray in one hand. I was a big help.

Weuns

The poor old Honda ended up in some pretty good company.

We followed up with a ride out Fidalgo Bay Road, which inspired us to walk the last part of the Tommy Thompson Trail. We'd walked   part of this new trail before, but hadn't seen the whole thing. Today we walked to the end. A very nice walking trail.

Evelyn's finished wall painting. She did a great job! Oh, and YES, she likes her Christmas lights up year 'round. . .

May 28, 2005 Sat

Along with the usual Saturday stuff - lawn maintenance, washing, painting (Evelyn) loafing (david)- the girls kept at their cement stepping stone project. They had selected odds and ends of colorful souvenir stones and pottery and glass. Then, arranged them on the bottom of pie tins, and super-glued screws to the flat pieces to hold them in place after cement was added. Then we mixed a bag of cement in the wheel barrow and trowelled it into the pie tin forms. In today's heat, the cement set up in a few hours. After popping them out we wire brushed the excess until the various treasure was again visible. Each stepping stone has one or two unique items, as well as selected stones. They will look great along Ann's new rock wall, making a path in the new grass, to the gate.

Here's one right out of the form. Wire brushing brought out the rest of the 'show' stones.
These will be sunk into the grass to make a stepping stone walkway. In retrospect, 'Quikcrete' would have been a better choice for this project than concrete - no stones in the mix, finer sand. But, concrete is what we had on hand. They'll work out just fine.

On the bottoms of the clear pieces, the super glued screw is clearly visible! This anchors the piece so it won't pop out.

Ann, after adding cement to the pie tin forms. What a nice day we had - right around 85 all day.

Roma snuck in the dryer to catch a quick nap on the warm towels. Ann opened the dryer door and got a cat surprise! This is the first time THAT ever happened, though they have been known to try and nap in the laundry basket.

Evelyn is adding a palm tree mural to her bedroom wall. We still need a finished picture. . .

The girls sunbathing. Whoa! Bathing beauties!

May 27, 2005 Fri

Whoa! Record heat two days in a row. Well over 80, today. Put the top down first thing, and it's still down.

Another part of Evie's costume? Or, there are nymphs in the garden. . .

Ann and Evelyn preparing the forms for stepping stones.

May 26, 2005 Thu

ageless humor?

Evelyn's ballet recital comes up in a few weeks. The rehearsals are getting pretty serious. Here she is in part of her 'make up'.

After dinner walk, yesterday.

May 25, 2005 Weds

Eggman in the Pan; strangely repugnant. . .

Ev's braces have been on for a year and a couple months. Here is the progression: starting with when they were first applied - and then as they look today!

Seen here, today - with lip gloss. . . Voila!

Further - worked on Ann and Chico's pictures - who's retired?

May 23, 2005 Mon

The Waterfront Festival!
Anna, her Mom, and yours truly.
This is the third year that we've been fortunate enough to make the festival. So far, we've (well, some of us) been able to dodge working any of the booths. Maybe that comes later? We go for several reasons; to support the community, of course. But that goes without saying. To see the sights, shop, and - here's the main thing: to eat junk food! I didn't get any pictures of that, but over two days, we managed to consume no less than four cheeseburgers.

Ann worked the Anacortes Youth Arts 'Fish Painting Booth' again. This year, she got her folks to participate, as well as Jeanne. Of course, Barbara ALWAYS participates, as this is one of her THINGS!

Ann and Laura

Dick and Laura working the painting booth!

Ann and Jeanne

Dick, with Ann and Laura in the background

After the festival, we dined out to acknowledge the end of John and Linda's visit. They're off to Illinois, and then on to Alaska.

Himself

John - to whom we say, 'Thanks', and of course to Linda, also - for a great time!

After a long day

Took out the oddities - too yucchhy, according to some. . .

May 22, 2005 Sun

Happy Birthday to Trisha!

Whoa! May birthdays are in full swing. So is the Waterfront Festival, yesterday and today.

So are the local idiots, running stop signs, and blasting their Mercedes into a rather large Suburban type vehicle. Truck 1, Mercedes 0.

May 21, 2005 Sat

Happy Birthday to Ambie!

May 20, 2005 Fri

When it comes to fame, one's life is changed. Sue Marx will forever and on be known to one and all as: Oscar Winning Sue Marx. This is probably not all bad. . .
Her award winning film, Young at Heart
is being shown in the
Detroit Area this very day! We wish we were there to attend.

Here's a film that will never win any awards!
Birds are nesting in the bird house this year.
You may recall that they came and went during their
Nesting period last year. However, no birds nested, at that time.

This film will be understood on a subliminal basis by your lizard brainstem. I.E. part of your mind thinks: dinner

Now, ignore the madly flashing birds a moment, and think of this:

We adults may play our online 'putt-putt' golf. Fine. Evelyn sends along a slightly more:

challenging game 

She was kind enough to include instruction in English, in case your Chinese if found to be somewhat lacking.

"  This game is incredibly frustrating (sic)... it's fun, though. I cheated and googled the solution... (we wish we knew how to do that?) and here are the rules, since the game is in Chinese or whatever.
Rules:

* Only 2 persons on the raft at a time
* The father can not stay with any of the daughters without their mother’s presence
* The mother can not stay with any of the sons without their father’s presence
* The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member if the Policeman is not there
* Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft

To start click on the big blue circle on the right.
To move the people click on them.
To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river. "

Thank you, Evie.

This is a variation of the 'Chicken Crossing the River with Foxes' puzzle, which some of you may remember?

We apologize for any pop ups from the above linked websites? We're trying to figure out from whence they came?

May 19, 2005 Thu

From Robert comes another version of putting golf, if you
enjoyed the last golf game, you'll love this one.

Ambie sends along phone camera shots taken today of Malcom, and Maxwell, my grandchildren numbers one and two. Brett and Amy's Hogan would be number three, of course.

Adam and family have returned from FL, where they helped to celebrate their Mom's birthday. Happy belated birthday to Sue Smock!
It looks as though Talia and Devon have grown up - in a weird sort of way. . .?

Caroline and John. Adam and John (and I) are brothers, you see.

Thanks to Adam for the photos. I'm sure you might find more, on Adam's website.

May 18, 2005 Wed

We've noticed that the free 'comment' and 'referring sites' stuff gets very slow to load during 'happy hour'. In other words, during those times that most folks are online, those two sites are a tad overloaded. And so, they slow down the loading of this website.

Of the two, I think I'll keep the comment block, for a spell. It does get some (minimal) use. The referrer's info isn't all that I'd hoped, anyway.

I'm open to suggestion? Of course, anyone may also e-mail their comments. . .

But who wants to take the time? The comment block has potential, if we could ever post anything worth a comment?

If you've ever read something and wondered, is this a
hoax or real? This site has them all.

Re: random website generators -
I'm looking again. That last one was too heavy on the XXX for this website.

The three sisters (and husbands) dined out last night to celebrate some birthdays while John and Linda are in town. I managed to shoot at the wrong setting. The camera was on 'aperture priority'. Dang.



cat waiting for phone call

cat waiting to play piano

Finished ramp waiting to dry. It worked nicely on garbage night!

May 17, 2005 Tue

Re: Linkdump - went bye bye.
I'm enjoying the links. I would like to know how they are being generated?

They seem to lean towards a younger age group, i.e. games, and 'hip'.
Still and all, It's worth a look. I've yet to get a repeat.

At the risk of this becoming a 'Bob Smock' blog, Dad is sending along another missive:

MY FIRST MEDITATION: If No Self, Who Is Bipolar?
By Robert B. Smock, Prof. of Sociology Emeritus

Last Tuesday evening. May 10,2005, at about 9 P.M., I wasn't sleepy but I didn't want to do anything. I thought, what I'd really like to do is MEDITATE, but I don't know how. So I thought, if you want to do it, DO it. Just do whatever it looks like Buddha is doing in his pictures.

I managed to sit down on the floor but crossing my legs with my knees bent proved impossible, so I lay flat on my back and stared at the ceiling. But my busy little mind remembered something from Society of Religion. I.E. Buddha's wisdom included the recognition that reality is so fluid there really ISN'T any Self that would justify self-centeredness. But if there is no self, who the hell is trying to meditate? So I closed my eyes; which shut up the smart-aleck in my head...

Every little twitch of thought or feeling distracted me until I realized that the only thing that could meditate was all of me-body, mind, and spirit all together. I nearly stumbled there because I never thought I knew what "spirit" meant, but now I knew. It meant all my feelings and memories and links to everything from loved ones to the Whole Vast Universe. Now my mind and body and spirit meditated. And the more calm and whole I felt, the more I realized I was happy, and was filled with love for it all.

I also realized I wanted to SAY all this stuff to somebody - about spirit and love and all that. And the second that notion was in my head, I saw a middle-aged blond rough hewn sort of everyday-looking guy, twisting in front of me with his mouth open eagerly as if saying : I WANT TO KNOW… WANT TO KNOW. And I kissed him and told him Everything that had been in me to tell, including about being linked to EVERYTHING in love and on and on. I spoke of Dr. Jay Carter's idea that BiPolar's (Manic-Depressives) are the next stage in human evolution. When manic their brains are much faster and more creative than in present humans, and when depressive their temperaments are more spiritual and more empathic than present humans, and manic and depressive alternate-
Because evolution never could combine them, because combined, they are self-destructive, and while alternating they add to survival possibilities and life expectancy. After a while, I realized I had been quietly grinning for a long time and I wanted to get up. I didn't let myself think about it because I was afraid I'd spoil it. I just went to bed-still grinning. .
end

Bob Smock is happily retired. Also, happily married, and has been through 'gay/bisexual' phases, in the course of his 80 odd years. BTW - Happy Birthday, again, to my Dad!

May 16, 2005 Mon

Another pretty decent
Random URL generator   Since the last one I liked went away.
Edit; May 17th -
Sorry, too XXX for this website. We had to remove this link.

May 15, 2005 Sun

Dad is enjoying his new computer - an 80th birthday present. He sends this, after discovering Google:

MY 1st GOOGLE: CIRCUMCISION by Robert Smock
Professor of Sociology EMERITUS
University of Michigan Dearborn May 10, 2005

The large amount of information about circumcision on the Web is justified because so many men are circumcised-including most of us-and because circumcision may be unjustified by any reason more important that the amount of income it provides to doctors.

Results of research on the functions of foreskin, and the consequences of the loss of foreskin include the following: Foreskin constitutes about 50% of the mobile skin system of the penis (or 15 square inches) specialized to protect from abrasion, drying, callusing, and contaminants of all kinds.

A one-half-inch-wide band of corrugation around the dramatic catching-edge between the head and the stalk of the penis is the greatest and most under-rated source of the triggering of the male orgasm, and its circumcision "reduces the full range of the intensity" of male and female sexuality.

The "gliding action" which is the hallmark mechanical function of the natural human Penis is lost with circumcision.

"Pathologists estimate that between 10,000 and 20,000 specialized pleasure-producing nerve cells are lost with circumcision."

Circumcision reduces natural penis length and circumference because, when its double-Layered wrapping is missing, the circumcised penis is "truncated and thinner" than a full-sized natural human penis.

The natural emotional bonding between baby and mother is disrupted by circumcision.

Interest in intimate physical contact is inhibited by circumcision, replaced by fear, con-Fusion, and a sense of betrayal by his mother.

"Sex works best when we have all the parts we are born with." We must find a way to enforce the rule: "NO CIRCUMCISION WITHOUT INFORMED CONSENT!"

My father and mother were suckered by a medical or religious or cultural or mythical Fad - and I, with many other millions of men, have paid for it. The Information Revolution has as much potential for human transformation as the Industrial Revolution. I wish I weren't circumcised. Hear me, my grandsons Nick, Dillon, Devan, Lee, Brett, Jake. And your sisters, and your parents-let us challenge the relevant doctors. Then make certain that: NO MORE MALES UNNECESSARILY UNNATURAL.

Thanks to Jack, for what he describes as a
'fun time waster' .
The 'five' on the first hole was my first attempt. It gets better.

Here is about the third effort, and first time playing the whole course.

Here are some more different and Other games from the same folks.

Jarvis sends along news of a type guitar we've never heard of: a harp guitar.
Harp guitar site 

May 14, 2005 Sat

The Concord, seen at the Air Museum the other day. Finally got around to making this 'stitch' to get the whole plane. When flying at altitude and speed, the plane is between 8 and 11 inches longer than when it's on the ground. This according to the literature. Made me wonder just who made the measurements at over 2000 miles per hour? This plane crossed the Atlantic in just under three hours, and still holds the record. Powered by four of the largest jet engines ever made.

Ann finishes her rock wall today. Oh, a few odds and ends to keep her busy another day, perhaps. But the wall is done. The cats are watching from their wire house.

Ann carried every rock herself.



The ramp  to the alley is finally cemented. Four bags of concrete mixed one at a time in the wheel barrow. Then squooshed around broken slabs of cement we happened to have laying around. Lots of time spent trying to level the pieces of cement. The final result left a bit to be desired, I think. We'll see when the forms come off. It'll be better than the steps, that's for sure.

Laura and Barbara, pushing their wares at a craft show. Laura's pottery and Barb's 'bags'.

May 13, 2005 Fri

Happy Birthday to Bob Smock. Eighty, this day.

Now, you'll sometimes hear folks say, 'eighty years young!', and I'm sure they mean well. But as anyone eighty can tell you, it ain't young.

John (my brother) will be forty this year. Maybe at forty, you can still say - forty years young? I'll be sixty. I don't feel especially young, I may assure you.

For sure, one can 'think' young. Which I guess means, try to keep thinking? One may also try to 'stay healthy', which must mean, try to stay alive?

The older we get, the more effort it seems to take, to accomplish these things that are taken for granted by those under forty. We used to say, (in the sixties), "Don't trust anyone over thirty!" So, maybe we need to make that - taken for granted by anyone under thirty?

It is certainly true that life may deal some cruel blows before even age thirty. Even to the point of facing the loss of friends and/or loved ones. Usually not health issues, though. Not on a personal level. Not before thirty. Folks are still pretty healthy (and still smoking, etc.) even into their thirties, and later. I still thought that I was invincible as I neared fifty. I was an idiot. Even that late in life. Might still be.

What we're trying to get at here, is the notion that before a certain time in one's life, good health and even immortality are just taken for granted. The idea that one might have to expend actual thought, effort and planning to stay alive - is completely unknown. What do you mean, watch my diet? And exactly who invented this business about cholesterol, anyway?

So, on Bob Smock's 80th birthday, we are congratulating him for having made the decision -on his own- to go into an assisted living situation that meets his needs. He did this on his own and without anyone pulling any strings, making any phone calls, etc. He just figured that it was time. I hope to be that smart.

However, this is dad's first birthday celebrated under these circumstances. We are glad to know that he is having dinner with his wife and friends and family. In our family there are a lot of birthdays in May and June and July. We like to have one big party. That party will be in August this year. That will be fun. I wish it was today.

Dad would love to hear from you.

dad's e-mail addy

May 11, 2005 Wed

We all owe our roots -

Jack and April's garden is taking shape

Mardi, david and Sara - then and . . .

Hey! We went to the Boeing Air Museum yesterday. Big fun.
They have huge and giant aircraft on display. And, this little guy. Only four feet long, which one cannot tell from this perspective. The craft was hanging from wires, with nothing in the background to give a size value?
None the less, it's famous, as the first unpiloted airplane to fly across the ocean. Just one of the many interesting stories from the Air Museum.

We were a group of 17, and took advantage of the member discount.
John and I (and Linda, of course - the 'baby'), were the 'kids' - that is, under sixty -
That's John, second from the right.

Some of this group (most) are the Anacortes 'IDGABTT' (It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This) team, that kindly let me accompany them on a trip to Fryes electronic store, a year or so ago. Electronic Meatball Tourists 
This is a huge place. . .

May 10, 2005 Tue

May 09, 2005 Mon

Ann took these on film. I scanned them at pretty low resolution. The prints are great!
Ev's red hat!

Girls a horseback.


Duet

The best thing about having everyone over here for Mother's Day? Leftovers today!

May 08, 2005 Sun

Happy Mother's Day to all the ladies, surrogate mothers, etc.
Here is Ann and yours truly, enjoying the company of family.

Ann and her Mom, Laura

Ann and Barbara. Barbara is not really suggesting that Ann move all that dirt back. . .

Since Evelyn's computer table was usurped as a serving/side table, she had to go online from - her hammock? Yup.

Anna and Evie regale the old folks.

So much of our lives seems to revolve around computers.

Linda and John

Paul and John (Discussing where to buy shirts?)

May 07, 2005 Sat

An interesting thing happened on the way to the forum. I decided to rile my neighbors!

The 'check engine' light in Ann's Toyota has been coming on and going off for the last few weeks. It was a little low on radiator fluid, was all I could find. (Oxygen sensor is my next guess, usually). Our oil change fellows suggested that disconnecting the battery for five minutes would reset the check engine light. So early this morning, before Ann headed out of town to photograph a wedding, I grabbed the small toolbox, popped the hood and disconnected the battery. Waited for five minutes. As soon as I replaced the battery cable the alarm went off.

I forgot Ann's Toyota even had an alarm?! But it does, an especially loud one, early on a Saturday morning. It doesn't honk the horn. It's a regular air raid siren kind of alarm. "Everybody into the shelters, NOW!"

I was reduced to standing there helplessly (although I tried to look busy) as the neighbors all came to their doors - until the alarm cycle timed out and the siren quit. A VERY long time, it seemed. However, I could see that the alarm system light was still flashing on the dash, and realized that the alarm (NO!) was still set.

Two or three years ago we had fooled with the alarm. At that time we could locate two of the small battery operated remotes that turn the alarm on and off. Even with new batteries in them, the remotes were remarkably unreliable for whatever reasons - probably lack of use. Plus, we didn't have any instructions to explain how to use the two buttons on the remote? One might play with the buttons until the alarm set itself on and still not be sure exactly what one did to accomplish this? Then, the problem becomes turning the darn thing off again. As long as the little red dash light is flashing, one dare not open a door or anything else, for fear of the air raid siren.

It seemed that any amount of button pushing would not turn the alarm off. Corroded connections somewhere, no doubt. High frustration levels prevailed. Once it finally did turn off, after prolonged button pushing (and for reasons of its own) we decided not to use the alarm system. Related moral question: are you now obligated to tell your insurance company, (that has given you the 'alarm discount'), that you've decided not to use said alarm? That was then. And until this morning we hadn't heard another peep out of the alarm.

In the now eerie quiet of a Saturday morning I stare glumly at the flashing alarm light. I wonder where those wee remotes have got off to? We were able to turn one up (the really crummy one) after a moderate search. Its battery checked out and I anxiously went to the Toyota and started pushing buttons. The light kept flashing. Knowing from past experience that jamming the button through the circuit board will not help matters, I continued (gently, mostly) pushing and trying different combinations. The flashing light continued to mock me.

I decided that I needed to get the hood open and have access to the battery cable. After several more minutes of button pushing, which accomplished nothing - I opened the door and set off the alarm - again! AAHHHHH!!! RUN - HIDE! I pulled the hood latch and opened the hood and snatched off the battery cable as if my life depended on it. Blessed silence once again reigned over Anacortes. Now what?

The first thing that I decided was that the dang siren had to go. For some reason, as I had opened the hood, it seemed that the siren noise was coming from my left? A prolonged search of the left-hand side of the motor compartment turned up no sirens. Say, when is the last time you tried to identify anything under your hood? Believe me when I say, it is a whole new ballgame. A broader and more time-consuming search revealed the siren - -located against the firewall on the right hand fender, pointing down. Thus, the siren noise went under the motor and bounced up on the left-hand side. No matter. A few brief moments with the wire cutters and I held that rascal up in triumph like it was an 8 pound trout.

Upon reconnecting the battery terminal I could hear a solenoid somewhere, cycling on and off, trying to operate the now gutted siren no doubt. Ha ha! I didn't care, for it was pleasantly and delightfully quiet.

Ha ha! The joke is on me. For there is also an ignition interrupt built into this alarm. That's right. As long as the alarm is in the 'on' configuration the vehicle will not start. More playing with the remote followed. And as usual, just as I was about to give up and pull out all my hair - the alarm switched off. Hallelujah! I elected not to reinstall the siren just on general principles. And we decided to keep the alarm remote in the vehicle, for the next time the battery had to be disconnected for some reason. And we also elected not to use the alarm, once again.

Amazingly - the 'check engine' light - was off!

It will not be necessary to notify the insurance company. I had opted for silence the first time.

May 06, 2005 Fri

Anna reminds us of the
1000 words website .

Late additions - Ann moving heaven and (mostly) earth. She's filling low spots with dirt from the new expanded rock wall location. I'm estimating that she's going on nearly one ton of earth moved. 13 shovels to a wheel barrow load. 6 whlbrws to a cubic yard, 12 (roughly) cubic yards to a ton of earth. Oh yeah, she's there.
Someday, this area will be our driveway.

This is where the dirt is coming from. The idea is to have an unobstructed walk to the gate. Also, the gate will now be able to open 'in', rather than 'out'. You might note that several yards of earth have been moved to make this possible? That raised area used to extend to nearly the house. Well, to the loose rocks behind Ann, anyway.

Ahh. The new edger blade has done a fine job.

Here is a pretty good Random URL generator . NOTE: Eric has taken down his website and URL generator? I'm trying to connect with him.

The idea here is to visit totally random websites. (Who's retired?)

There is some strange (and oftimes boring) stuff out there. But to surf in a totally random fashion can be a challenge. And, who wouldn't like another challenge? This fellow's URL generating method is pretty unique, and random. It uses the dictionary as a jump off point - so any website that doesn't have some sort of actual word in its URL won't be found. But that still leaves a lot of room to surf.

Since the sites generated are truly random, and there is a certain amount of adult material on the web, one may occasionally be directed to adult sites. So, if you find yourself in one of those nasty loops where no matter how many windows you try and close, three more pop up - do this: alt + f4. You can close windows using this keystroke faster than they can open.

Of course, most browsers these days have built in pop up stoppers - but, what fun is that?

May 05, 2005 Thu

Ivey is another year older! I'm sticking my neck out, and saying that she's twelve. I think Ivey and Evelyn are now the same age for the next few months? Then Evie goes a year ahead, again, in July.

Here's the whole party gang, at the local mexican restaurant.

The chief mischief makers - Niomi and Ann

Evelyn and the birthday girl.

Late additions to our gathering were Jerry, Jeanne and Blair. They made it a real party.

May 04, 2005 Wed

The CATS!  cats get their turn at the vet. Time for their shots. Ouch! No fleas, no mites. They seem to be enjoying good health, as well they should - being only in their twenties, in cat years.

Working on an older PIII Dell laptop. Guy managed to get the ram up to three something - but it still has only a six gig HD and under 500 MGHZ chip. It's running XP (a recent upgrade), but only has a 100 meg or so of free space on the HD. That's what I'm changing. He just wants this machine for use as a navigation computer on his boat. It should do that, once it's uncluttered. I gave him the 'no reformat' price, hoping that I am right. We'll see. I can't get the dang thing to go online, even tho it has a working (and 'found' my network) PCI card. Shouldn't be necessary, for what we're attempting, anyway. It's just the idea. . .

Called Netgear. (They make our wireless router). Good choice. Their tech got this old Dell online in about 10 minutes. In spite of the language difficulties. Mostly, mine. He spoke great english, but spoke very fast - in part because I think they were supposed to be charging me for this phone help? The (my net gear router) unit is over 90 days old, and I never registered it - or so they say. At any rate, running the Netgear installation software didn't help. Running XP stuff didn't help. Time is money, and I spent over an hour or so of mine, yesterday, trying to get this guy's old Dell computer to go online. Which - it now is! Yay! It's like the 'asking for directions' syndrome that we hear so much about? I'm learning - ask. Ran McAfee first thing. No problems.

Now to just reduce the number of files taking up space on this machine. Time consuming, but less than a full reformat, is what we're hoping.

We're trying to do like the auto mechanic - if you don't need it right away, you get the discount rate?

This fellow actually needs it pretty quick, since he suspects a GPS problem (on the boat), on top of these other difficulties. And the boating season is upon us. We're working out a compromise rate.

May 03, 2005 Tue

Chico went to the vet. Three teeth pulled. He's a gummer, now. Actually, he's still got all his 'chewing food' teeth. And both canines. He's just lost quite a few of those other hooked front teeth. Probably from lack of use, though he does try to get in some ankle biting whenever he can. However, since we're wise to him, he has to wear his muzzle when he's out and about. This was taken just after he got home, and was still dazed.

On the way to the vet, what do we see? A dog sitting on the roof.

Here's Chico sleeping off the drugs. See how thin his fur is? That's why we can see the fleas (all gone, now!) romping. Note the skin pigment, showing through from under his 'fur'.

A neat old Volvo we saw on our after dinner walk. We couldn't be sure what the 'dots' are all about? Not rivets. . .
Note exhaust coming out ahead of rear tire - ala our 1967 Austin Healy.

The mountain was 'out' this evening. This was from our street.

Here is some artwork. There is a prize to the first person that can identify the artist?

Edit: May, 18th -
Congratulations to Rich! He got it first!

May 02, 2005 Mon

Ann, using no less than TWO popcorn poppers to roast coffee beans! Then we grind the beans, and then we make esspresso. There is actually a savings, by doing it this way. Sort of.
\
The last time I ran the edger, it didn't seem to do anything? Even after sharpening it. This is the old edger blade atop the new one. No wonder it wouldn't edge! (That's my Chicago Starbucks Coffee cup from Fae, in background.)

Seen here (again, old blade laying atop the new blade), and showing the relationship to the 'cut off' portion of the edger. It becomes obvious why the old blade no longer 'worked'. It was dead even with it's chopping edge.

We also noticed that the new blade has no sharp edges. It's the piece (cut off bar?) on the edger itself, that has a sharp edge. Live and learn.

Here we see why Jarvis is not riding. Bad casting? That's his motorcycle clutch handle, we see in pieces. (And his wee thumb!) Jarvis got a new camera, one might note - takes swell macros!

This is the machine awaiting the clutch handle. . . for want of a horse, and all that. . .

Anyone that enjoys a game of pool, will recognize this scenario. Especially those of us that like to try and keep the games close. I had the 'little' ones, in this game. Those are my balls, laying just outside their intended pockets. This is what happens, when one is so far ahead, and dares to show off. Suddenly, ones opponent comes to life, and one is left with their balls hanging. Just outside the pockets. Maybe I was set up? These are not games of chance, you see. So, if you happen to notice that your opponent is leaving his balls just close to the pocket? He's better than you, and trying to give you a chance. Therefore, come to life and kick his butt - which is what happened to yours truly, in this instance.

May 01, 2005 Sun

Yes. Welcome to May.

Bob Smock (as in, my Dad - turning 80 this month!) has a new computer, replacing his windows '95 machine. Ten years out of that computer! It was remarkably stable. It was built by a fellow that Ken recommended, now retired. However, careful inspection of his work (he built us three computers, and then upgraded them) showed me a lot about solid construction techniques. There was nothing slip shod in that fellow's work.

Machines that he built would include my Pent I (and it's upgrade), that I drove down to KY and installed for Ambie in 2001, my Dad's Pent I (and then the upgrade - more memory, zip drive - the one that he just replaced), and my Pent II plus upgrade, that's still in service across the street. These are now out dated machines, to be sure. None the less, adding a CD/RW drive to my Pent II was the first 'inside the case' work that I ever attempted. That's about when I realized the importance of coughing up good money for a better (as in, more easily accessible) case. And thanks to Jarvis, I realize once again - who took me to a computer sales show/event AND convinced me that I might actually be able to assemble all those parts into a working configuration - called a computer.

A few quick words about 'stability'. Reliability. Having a solid machine, that does what you expect. Imagine - a computer than ran for ten years without going in the shop, or having a problem?

Right. Dad never asked too much of his computer, that's true. But not just dad used it. Every family member used it, when they were at his house. It ran very well, for a good long time.

What am I getting at, here? Just this: you get what you pay for.

Want a bunch or problems with a low end computer? Buy a cheap one. This is the 'Mercedes' argument. You can buy a Yugo, or you can buy a Mercedes. Or any number of machines in between. But, the bottom line is always the same - you get what you pay for.

Buy a cheap computer? Wonder why it gives you problems? Duh.

Adam gets major cudo's for his self sacrificing work today, in setting up Dad's new machine, moving files, etc. And, of course, Mardi, for seeing the opportunity to obtain it. I hasten to add that they have avoided the pitfall, of spending just enough to fail. Dad's new Dell is a fine machine. Dell, especially, has come a long way over the last few years. I do feel for Dad, who will now have to learn a new e-mail program, after finally getting the hang of his last one. Dad feels pretty confident, all things considered.

Ok, a few quick pictures:
This is Ann and Chico, after bathing. Well, Chico was bathed. Ann stayed mostly dry.

Now, THIS is my kinda' lawn! House a few blocks over. . .

John, preparing a piece of plexi for the boat - replacement windshield piece - test run.

Part of the gang after pizza, last evening.

Yours truly, after a game of billiards with Tony.

Ann keeps punishing her wheel barrow.

We might have it solid, this time.