Jan. 31, 2007 Wed

Hey - learn to fly one of these things!

Here's where Ann took out the wall - making our bedroom several much needed feet deeper. Most of the remaining wall you see will go, too, finally making two rooms into one by taking out the dividing closet. Maybe I'll get to help, this time?

Tizzy napping -

Awake! Ears up! This dog is nothing but muscle and bone -

Jan. 30, 2007 Tue

by Ann, from the plane (we hope)

"I want to know what happened. I went to deliver my baby and I came out like this," Mejia said.
Now, tell me again - why do folks
hate going in the hospital?

From Kurt, a rare Piebald deer

And, continuing the deer theme - this poor fellow jumped off the bridge onto the train below - and then turned too afraid to make that final leap to the ground and safety. Local Animal control saved the day, we are told.

Jan. 29, 2007 Mon

Did I mention that Ann single-handedly removed an entire bedroom wall while I was in Florida? When I asked her how she did it, she replied, "One board at a time!" Amazing woman. I am one lucky fellow.

From the week in San Diego~~

Jan. 27, 2007 Sat

Thanks to Jack -
Train went into emergency at track speed passing through Davis.
This is what was found on the fifth car at mp 37.1. The chunk of the wheel passed through the floor of the affected car and lodged itself under the seat immediately ahead of the entry point.
The car was unoccupied at the time. Think about this.
Yah - I think I'll sit on my suitcase next time. . .

While we're on the subject of things that can go awry - H2 driver; with a will to perish~~ the train was on a grade and got stopped in time.

Christmas present from Niomi that did very well!

Nice day for a walk - the dogs loved it. Plus, the mountain was 'out', today.
Ann and the TFTs (Toy Fox Terriers)

Looking a bit past them, to Mt. Baker

Finally getting a zoom of the peaks - looking like what it is - winter.

Jan. 26, 2007 Fri

The so called 'Spider Boat'  that Ann and I noticed last year is back on this side of the big water -
Oops - this ain't it - almost fooled me! Follow the link to see the real thing. more here 

There is also a reference on the Mr Completely Blog

Home inspection nightmares - very funny stuff - thanks to Jarvis
click here

Jan. 24, 2007 Wed

So good to hear from Robert, the next day. That was close.

Say - where is this girl, and why is she smiling?

Missives from afar - do you know what they are? From where?

Jan. 22, 2007 Mon

Thanks to Jack
Earlier this week, Amtrak's Cardinal suffered a double whammy when its route was blocked by a CSX derailment; and then, after the equipment of westbound Train 51 turned around to go back to Washington DC, it was stopped again when one of its two locomotives was found to have a defective wheel.

Okay, broken wheels do happen. But...this broken wheel turns out to have been BRAND NEW, and just installed.
See other wheel problems, HERE

Ann finished (amongst other things) Fae's quilt , and mailed it off -

This explains the need for the giant snowblower,  mentioned elsewhere. . .

We went with the church youth group to see the girls 'bowl'. Believe me when I say, it ain't about bowling. The main thing is that they could get loud and have fun. 'Score' was not an issue, as they bowled four at once, in the prone position, and with elaborate ritual.

Jan. 21, 2007 Sun

Yes, it's Cassady's birthday! As one might expect, attaining the ripe old age of 26 does not make it any easier to endure a mother's love and attention. . .

Aunt Linda and cousin Heidi - and pre-dining table. Note Auntie Vera's mandolin on the wall - she taught my Dad to play.

And Gram

Yes, the sun does occasionally pop out, even in the winter - and then so do I . . .
Oh - torn jeans are in ~~

Jan. 19, 2007 Fri

Thanks to Jack, and Keith - more about this wreck, the balance of the pictures and full story may be found
HERE 

The damage - and the repair

Jan. 18, 2007 Thu

Hogan eyeballing his Grampa. . .

The above, a phone picture of my grandson, Hogan, taken in Florida. I was lucky enough to spend a pleasant week there, thanks to the generosity of my oldest son, Brett. Ann and Evelyn were also invited but alas, were unable to make it, due to things like school and work -- both of which have become somewhat foreign to me. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but here are a few~~
Hogan, a bright and precocious three-year-old (yes, I am his granddad) took immediately to his new guitar, a gift from his grandma Ann.

Hogan is already pretty good at tuning his instrument since he already owns a ukulele!

I was very fortunate, in that temperatures in Florida averaged 20° above normal during my stay. Where temperatures here in Anacortes averaged about 20 below. Below normal, that is. Plus, it snowed and was generally nasty. I'm really sorry to have missed all that, of course. In Florida I had little to do besides hang out on the beach and enjoy the 80 plus degree weather. Nothing to compare with the excitement of putting chains on the tires etc. Here is Himself, Brett Alan Smock~~

Amy took a couple days off -

as did Jim the Vee -

Managing to look rather well for a fellow of his advanced years (well, he is a year or two older than I)

Jacob, too, took a day or two off~~ there's Jim's wife, Pam

and we ate well, as you might imagine. I ordered the lady's size prime rib and was shocked to see the rather large chunk of cow that was delivered ~~

Jan. 16, 2007 Tue

With some luck got my pictures downloaded - but no software available to compress them for internet use. We'll work on that over the next few days.

Jake is going to be online pretty soon! He's already got a new laptop -

You can write him at:   jake@davesmock.com   for now.

Ever notice how fast kids can grow in a few short years?

Jan. 15, 2007 Mon

The weather continues to hold - 80 plus again today. Ann says the chains stay on another day. I got lucky, weatherwise! My Oly took a dive - dang.

They wait, they watch. . .
Roma and Jasper, keeping an eye out the window ~~

Jan. 14, 2007 Sun

Jan. 13, 2007 Sat

Jim the Vee

Whoa! Turned chilly. Hmmmm. I guess my timing was fortuitous - near 75 and walking the beaches today. Haven't figured out how to get any of my pictures onto a computer.

Jan. 12, 2007 Fri

Not to make you feel TOO badly, back there in the snow - but, I see palms, a pool, and it will be near 80 tomorrow!

Jan. 09, 2007 Tue

Thanks to Keith - Shuttle launch as seen from the space station -

Early morning Barista - Barista, a person that operates an espresso machine. A few short years ago I'd no more idea what a Barista was, or even espresso - than the man in the moon. Now I are one. . . not a wide awake one, maybe - but this was 7 AM - very early for a retired person.

Those that arise everyday at this time, seem perfectly bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Mighty big snow blower - thanks to Jack

Keeping the rails clear for the through freights - and Amtrak, of course.

That
USGS site  that I mentioned a day or two ago emailed this news today - 5.7 earthquake in S.E. Alaska. That is not so far from here, as the crow flies. It is along a fault that runs right down through to southern CA. The San Andreas fault - the one that will someday dump parts of CA into the Pacific. Fidalgo Island is already IN the Pacific, but I worry, anyway.

Jan. 08, 2007 Mon

It had always been difficult to get a handle on how big the universe is, and where we fit in it. Here is a website   that can help. The map above shows many of these superclusters including the Virgo supercluster - the minor supercluster of which our galaxy is just a minor member. The entire map is approximately 7 percent of the diameter of the entire visible Universe.

We're wanting to allow that we owe RA another nod for giving us a heads up to the text/picture site (mentioned yesterday) way last April. We knew it looked familiar!

So, what exactly does, XKCD actually mean?
I actually know,  and you can, too.

Jan. 07, 2007 Sun

The Mayor has
posted some of his fine photography  - all shot by hishonor hisself, processed and printed hisownself, too. Jim bemoans the terrible loss incurred by blogging digitally, but at least we get to see them.

Everybody has to get lucky sometime - this fellow appears to fit into that category. Just how lucky?
Visit the site  to see the rest of the pictures.

It has been a damp few days. However, it got up to fifty today, and the scooter came out of the shed. I just mention that hoping to irk the mid westerners - who may be getting the last laugh. There have been some abnormally high temps out east.

Jan. 06, 2007 Sat

From brother John  -
A new movie coming out -
John speculates that it is: "A new movie genre... Genetically altered barnyard farce horror."

The TEXT IMAGE SITE  - takes any picture and converts it into a 'text picture'. Why? You might ask.

Yes, Hmmmm - if nothing else, there are some interesting photos on the site, one of which was this 'bump sign', for us to ponder.

Jan. 05, 2007 Fri

We're going to leave John's Movie Trailer link up for another day - it's worth a visit.
Here's a thought - do we all know what a hyper link is? It is; a link to another webpage, or another part of the same webpage. Hyperlinks are underlined in blue, and your cursor changes when you move your mouse over them - to a wee little hand. You cannot harm your computer by clicking on a link. After you get where the hyper link takes you, clicking on the 'back' button will return you to the page from which you started. Clicking on hyper links is how we navigate the web. Some browsers display the URL (web address) of the webpage associated with the link when you place your mouse over it.

Let's talk about two different websites, and I'll have hyperlinks to each of them.

This first one (Thanks to Bill) will take you to a website that features just
every type of music  you can imagine. Pick your year, pick your style or taste of music, and it starts playing like a juke box. The quality is amazing. The page you will browse to is swing - but there is all sorts of other music, going up and through the MTV period. Now, you will notice that not only the words, 'every type of music' are a hyper link, but so is the entire picture of the jukebox. Clicking either will take you to the site.

This next link is to a
site to which we subscribe  that will email you whenever there is an earthquake above a magnitude that you select, in any part of the world. Again, the picture is part of the hyper link, which is, I think, all one word - hyperlink. We have the email parameters set to only email if the magnitude of the earthquake is over 5.5 on the Richter scale. It is then possible to visit the USGS site itself, and learn more - see the exact location on a map, see other nearby quakes - see if they're coming your way, etc.

Jan. 04, 2007 Thu

Email penpal -  mentioned last month - Clare - of the WeiSong automation Information Technology and Electronic Engineering Department
Jiaotong University, Xi'an P.R.China

Now, here's a major project - sort of a sign, actually - of how slow things have been since the start of the New Year...
Remembering, of course, that I am STILL on light duty for wrist problems...
The addition of new knives and spoons overcrowded the silverware section of this drawer. Ann suggested adding another divider behind the front ones, and that solved the problem. No, I didn't dado in the new board, either. S'ok, it works and it ain't going anywhere.

Putting in some heavy hours on the Swinomish Police website  - finally making progress.

Jan. 02, 2007 Tue

Evelyn and Lynzee - La Crepes!

A small party for Niomi and Ivey, Jeanne and Jerry and Blair

Toasting YOU in the New Year!

Richard would be proud - Ukes in action!

Jan. 01, 2007 Mon

We love this about the New Year - the 'blank slate' effect. Nothing is written yet about this day, this month or this year. It is all new, and anything can happen!

Recalling that Frances does NOT use a mouse, and runs her computer entirely by keystrokes, we came upon this list of:
General Keyboard Shortcuts:

* CTRL+C (Copy) * CTRL+X (Cut) * CTRL+V (Paste) * CTRL+Z (Undo)  this one is very handy * DELETE (Delete) * SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)(YES!) * CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item) * CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item) * F2 key (Rename the selected item) * CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word) * CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word) * CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph) * CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph) * CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text) * SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document) * CTRL+A (Select all) F3 key (Search for a file or a folder) * ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)

* ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program) * ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object) * ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window) * CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously) * ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items) * ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened) * F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop) * F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer) * SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item) * ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window) * CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu) * ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu) * Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command) * F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program) * RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu) * LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu) * F5 key (Update the active window) * BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer) * ESC (Cancel the current task) * SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)