Welcome to the   March 2006 BLOG. Didn't see the end of last month?
Click here: February 06 BLOG

Mar 30, 2006 Thu

It's official, the drywall work is done. That texture stuff has had me sneezing for three days. Ann picked a good time to be somewhere else.

We need to get the picnic table cleared off, what with the weather so nice, and the grass growing so long.

Mar 29, 2006 Wed

Robert points out that there is no escaping the long arm of the law. . .

Another beautiful sunset at Dick 'n Laura's - good dinner, too!

Mar 28, 2006 Tue

Thanks to John for this shot of a fast plane breaking the sound barrier ~~

Robert notes;

"I have been handling explosives for four and a half years."

A GREAT shot of Dave and Keith trying to outrun the train!

The drywall guys applied the final texture coat today - they are done!

Fast Saab

Mar 27, 2006 Mon

We're up at 1:30 AM to take the girls to the Middle School. They're off for a week long class trip to DC. Charter bus to Sea Tac. None of the adults too wide awake, but all the kids pretty wired. Photographer definitely out of focus.

Dick and Heidi on hair day - a pleasant afternoon.

Blair and her Mom, Jeanne

Gram finally gets a trim and style.

Then Fae jumped in her rental and headed south. Well, the next morning.

Mar 25, 2006 Sat

Fae comes to town and it's hair day! This is only a partial representation of the folks getting hair work.

This is the amazed look. Amazed that the camera remote still works after going through the wash. It's worse than that, even. I couldn't FIND the remote after returning from MI and ordered another from Olympus. A couple days later, the lost remote showed up in a shirt pocket. I cancelled the one from Olympus. THEN I ran the recently found one through the wash. I was sure this would mean reordering, and the Oly folks would think I was nutso. However, I removed the battery, dried it all with a hairdryer, and then attempted the picture below. I really didn't think it'd work.

This is what I wanted the picture of - the flooring that will go downstairs, including my office.

This is Barb's horse, formerly Anna's horse, Harley. The horse is having some dental work, in case you're wondering?

And finally, this is how pictures come put when the camera slips settings unbeknownst to the photographer.

Mar 24, 2006 Fri

The Highschool puts on a play! Anna is in it. And Thomas.

This was a very professional, and very funny effort. The entire cast was super!

How those guys reach the ceilings. . .

Mar 23, 2006 Thu

We needed to time something and couldn't find a nearby clock. Too lazy to get up. Found this swell desktop
stopwatch. Small program, easy download. FREE!

Who are these folks? Thanks to Barbara for the photos to scan. These seem to be from the late 60's.

Mar 22, 2006 Wed

How to photograph a cat:

Scores were mentioned the other day - OK, ok, here's one:

Someone we know just put this in their garage. The only consolation for us - it's too cold there to ride the dang thing! But, not for much longer, right J.V.? Can you say, Bells and Whistles?!

Mar 21, 2006 Tue

A banner day! Two years have flown by and Evelyn had her braces removed today.

Mar 20, 2006 Mon

This turned out to be
BIG FUN 
We'll talk scores another day. . .

Having been forewarned about 'busy contractors', we were able to overcome our disappointment when the drywall guys were a no show today. They actually called, after I'd only been hanging around for a few hours. 'Be there in the morning!' Well, we'll just see. They are quite busy with much bigger jobs, you see, and just trying to fit our wee dormer in when they can, sorta' almost as a favor.

Pi are square? No, cornbread are square - pie are round.
Never mind. If you need to remember one of those old equations to solve a problem today - they're all right here. Just type in the numbers and this program solves the problem for you. Go to the website, try a few - you'll be surprised what stuff comes back to your burnt out brain!
click 

Mar 19, 2006 Sun

Finally hooked up with (officer) Dave of the Tribal Police, a friend of Ann's - and now of mine, too. He'd been after us to go for a ride to this motorcycle store he knows about - called 'Scooter Stuff'. What a nice looking Harley road bike he has. Well, today was the day - sunny and pleasant - so we met Dave and his daughter, Christine, in Burlington and followed them to the north end of Lake Whatcom, about a forty mile jaunt from Anacortes. All in all an 80 mile round trip, the longest ride yet for Ann and I. We wore the full get up, and did just fine. Pictures taken with our mini video cam, set to photo. Not too steady indoors - but better outside.

First, however - these two, taken by David~

View up the stairs in the daylight. Taping in progress - resuming tomorrow, we hope.

Yes, that's yours truly with the proud look after finally buying a new tire.

Here's Ann telling me 'Buy that tire!'

Mar 17, 2006 Fri

Stuff that happened today: New rear tire for the scooter. From bald to bold. Sparing you any further motorcycle pictures at this time. Do you know how to work the 'site search engine'? It's on the main page of this website - davesmock.com - there's a link at the top of this page, by the by.

Type something in there, and you'll get a list of any pages that have reference to what you typed. We mention this in case you haven't seen enough scooter pictures. Along with the tire was a tune up, safety check AND they washed it!

The drywall 'mud and tape' guys did their thing today - three fellows got everything taped and first coated. Didn't show until after noon, saying that this was the third job of the day for them. They've got a tool I've never seen before; it applies the mud and tape into corners at the same time, and can be extended for use on the ceiling. Awesome tool.

Here's a couple before taping stitches ~

And here's taped.

Brett sends a self portrait - and a shot of Hogan

The cat is due for some attention. . .

Mar 15, 2006 Wed

Late addition - the drywall guys finished up - working from 11 AM to after 7 PM. They did in one day what it would have taken me weeks to accomplish. They also left one heck of a mess. A different crew comes in the morning to do clean up and taping.

They got everything done upstairs, and then did my office and the wall in what used to be our bedroom. Well, it still is our bedroom, in a temporary sense. It's where the bed is!

A glimpse into one of the under the eaves storage areas - still awaiting its floorboards. This is the area along side (to the right of, looking down) the stairs, and behind Evie's bathroom.

Happy Birthday to Eric!

Brett and Amy took Hogan to the beach, and he seems to be enjoying himself. Ahh, carefree days of youth!

A crew is hanging the drywall today. Now the upstairs begins to be rooms instead of space.

Tom and John finished trimming the outside of the dormer. Their work here is now caught up for awhile. I'll paint it one of these days. Now it's time for Ann and I to finish the upstairs rooms and get Evie moved. This will require paint, flooring, electrical fixtures, bathroom fixtures and trim. It'll take a few weeks, much to Evie's chagrin. We also have my office to finish. Once Evelyn is upstairs, we knock out the closet that separates her downstairs room from ours. Our small fisherman's cottage has now had an addition on the back, the side, and the roof.

Mar 14, 2006 Tue

The sheet rock arrived in a timely fashion, just after noon. This truck slung it in the dormer window (removed for this occasion). NOAH from next door was the Sidewalk Superintendent.

Showing Ni how to take the 'self portrait', using her NEW digital camera - a birthday present!

Does Ann ever set the puppy down, you may wonder? Yes, she does, at least twice a day.

Mar 12, 2006 Sun

We hung out in Burlington this morning, enjoying a birthday brunch.



Before the drywall guys can do their thing in the stairway, old drywall (over felt paper and covered with an eighth inch of old wallpaper and paint) had to be removed. Ugh. Ann helped the whole time, I might add.

There are a million staples in the ceiling that must also be removed. That's from having to close off the upstairs with plastic those many weeks it was cold, windy, storming, etc.

Hey! It's Fae! This was a few days ago. . .

Mar 11, 2006 Sat

Ann comes home to find insulation has occurred!

Mar 10, 2006 Fri

Returning briefly to the buckle story.  (Mentioned towards the end of last month.) You may recall that Dad and I each had a souvenir buckle from NM, that Dad had purchased in 1976. I wore mine all the time, literally. Dad wore his alot, but not everyday. I stopped wearing mine the day he died, as a token of my loss. Ann suggested that I start wearing Dad's. The family agreed, so I now wear Dad's buckle everyday, in his memory.

A few more 'Dad' pictures have turned up -
This is Dad with - Ann - taken at Vera's farm.

Dad and Minn Marx

Dad with my Mom, Jiffy

Dad and John, taken at Fairfield. That's Jasper the cat, too. The first Jasper, mentioned below. Jasper was well into middle age by the time this photo was taken.

A family gathering at Betty and Harold's. Linda, Barbara and Ann are in this picture, Dad and Sue, Dick and Laura, and Gram's sisters Bernice and Vera.

Dad holding - me.

Dad between David and Harold, his Dad.

A picture of Ken and I from the 70's. Taken at the Green Lake cottage, from whence Ken got his nickname.

From the Mayor - a link to a neat panorama -
Paris at Night

While living on McLean I discovered the joys of cat ownership. This was accomplished by breaking a window, playing baseball in the vacant lot a few streets over. The lady that answered the bell when I went to retrieve the errant ball was very old, very grey, very hunched, and very nice. She invited me in to get our baseball and I was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of cats that lived with her. The house was clean and tidy, and did not reflect the number of feline tenants in any way except by their presence.

Of course, I offered to replace the window. While I worked, cat after cat dropped by to see what was going on? One in particular, a Siamese, sat down to watch and wouldn't budge. This was the first time that I'd been exposed to the Siamese cat personality. They are different. Intent, aloof, intelligent, playful and wise. They are affectionate and diligent, good company without being 'needy'. The old lady told me her story; she collected cats off the street, essentially. She didn't mean to own so many, it just happened. She took them to the vet, fed them, and cleaned their cat boxes daily. I lost count at over thirty cats.

As I was wrapping things up in the window department the old lady allowed, "That cat likes you." She also explained that the city of Highland Park had recently passed an ordinance restricting the number of cats per household to a mere five. She was quite distraught and feared that she would of necessity be forced to turn most of her cats over to the Humane Society. Which would humanely gas them, of course. "Why don't you take that one with you?" she suggested.

I told her that I would have to talk with my parents before showing up with a cat. They said, 'OK', with the usual admonitions about who would be the 'caretaker', empty the cat box, etc. That cat, hardly more than a kitten at the time, we named Jasper.

The first of a long line of Jaspers, as things turned out - probably four or five including the Jasper that lives with us now. That's the first Jasper's I.D. tag, which showed up in one of Dad's wee boxes in his dresser. I told you he was a 'saver'.

For those that do not remember telephone numbers when they started out with letters, 'TO' stood for Townsend, which was our telephone exchange. And the numbers had only recently gone from four to five. So, the number on the tag would be pronounced, Townsend six two seven seven four. There were no area codes. To call long distance an operator assisted you, connecting you to an operator in another city or state, who rang the number you desired. Direct dialing numbers in local exchanges was a relatively new thing. Before that phones didn't have 'dials', operators placed all calls, even next door. And you were just as apt to share the phone line with several other parties - thus the term - party line. Ahh, I digress.

Mar 09, 2006 Thu

Back to blogging.

Spent some time in Michigan seeing to Dad's effects, etc. My brothers and sister were there, as well as some of the extended family. This was emotional work, made easier by having it accomplished with the help of siblings, etc. Dad was what one might refer to as a 'saver'. A person who saved everything. Every piece of correspondence, every bill, tax record - all going back over most of his life, certainly the last fifty or sixty years. This equates to many folders in many filing cabinets, each one of which must be hand sorted into some sort of category: save, shred, recycle, sort later, etc.

With four folks sorting it still took days. Also many hundreds of books to sort.

Then move all the furniture to the Plymouth house, back where it came from, thirteen months ago.

Adam has worked up a memorial website. It may be found
HERE

There is a Memorial Guestbook page accessible from the above page, or by clicking HERE - memorial guestbook page

Some photos from the last week.

Mardi and Frances. (cell phone picture) Frances bears up well, going strong at 82. She'll remain in the Plymouth house.
This reminds me - we're getting so much flack from those that have their screen resolution set to 600 X 800 (or smaller!?) when this site is best viewed at some higher res - that we're going to make an attempt to keep the photos even smaller, at the risk of having to squint to see them.

John and Adam doing their impression of movers.

When we know who really did the heavy lifting - Devin!

Since I last saw Nick, (only a few months ago) he has grown several inches. He now joins the ranks of those that call themselves - Taller than Dave. This would be a greater part of the family, alas.

Nick and Talia are doing their best to make Devin seem very tall.

Ambie sends along recent pictures - here's Malcom

And here's Max. These are my two oldest grandchildren. Brett and Amy's Hogan is the third and youngest.

My oldest friend (since the third grade) Ken - The Green Lake Snake. Ken knew my Dad for over 50 years.