Silliyak

Happy New Years from the left coast

2012-01-01T12:52:00.000-08:00

I've been playing with imovie

2011-12-20T13:09:00.000-08:00

So I redid the Gran Fondo video. More pictures!, Music! Sound effects! Titles! SPANDEX!

There were 7500 people signed up, not all of them went through here. Sadly, this years (2012) course will not include going by here.

Title page picture

2011-12-08T17:03:00.000-08:00

After this was taken there was a MAJOR wind storm that blew over the light pole and ripped the plywood and canvas covering off the top of the caboose.

Well, speaking of things train restoration related...The good news is we "found" this, and it's been donated to our group for "free". Its all the stuff that goes underneath the car in the next picture, built by the same manufacturer in 1868. (It's upside down) and includes the trucks (wheel assemblies)

The bad news is, it's in Baltimore and has to be removed by mid February (or it gets scrapped) and the trucking estimate alone is $10,000

There is a lot of scrambling going on, and I'm sure it will get saved, but it's providing LOTS of excitement in our little group.

Post Thanksgiving update

2011-11-25T18:56:00.000-08:00

Had a nice Thanksgiving, went to a wine club that has excellent food who had a pot luck dinner where they provided the Turkey, Ham and mashed potatoes. The guy next to me was a close match to Keith Richards, mannerisms, appearance. Just lacking the accent. Great wine of course. (Lost on me, I don't drink)

Today was very productive, a trip to town, Yoga class, paid ATT bills, signed up for Comcast phone service. (Which, combined with the internet and TV we already have, SHOULD result in a savings) I'll believe it when it happens. Then shopping, then a call(via cell phone) that the phone tech was enroute. It took 4 hours and many trips to other places (for the tech) but about 6pm we got our dial tone back. There was a break somewhere else. When I asked earlier on about just using a different pair of wires, I was told they were all full. So more good news, next week there will be a pair available! Tech was very nice.

Comcast person confirmed my deceased mom was STILL listed as primary and showed me that he had changed it on the computer. I was shown the same thing years ago the last time this issue came up. Color me dubious.

But for now all is good (other than the 49rs loss, which they deserved)

Thanksgiving Telecommunications Hell level 1a

2011-11-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

We're spending some time out at the coast over Thanksgiving. When we got here late Monday, the phone was not working.

Went to a neighbor's house to report the problem. There was never any option to talk to a real person, and they wanted a contact # to confirm we would be home between 8am and 8pm. HELLO! OUR PHONE IS OUT!!!! And there is no cell phone coverage in this area.

Tuesday no repairman. So Tues night I went online and went around and around trying to report it but was unable to get a confirmed report. This morning I was able to get another 12 hour window, so we wait.

Meanwhile I got to thinking, why not go with Comcast who provides out TV and Internet out here? We can get a discount on top of it! So after much gnashing of teeth and fingers I get to an online chat person to confirm everything, "What's the name on your account?" Myname. Uh oh suddenly I recall the hell that is Comcast. When my mom died in 2006 I transferred the account to myname. Since then, every time I want to do something they say I don't have the authorization because I'm not MyMom. I eventually get it straightened out and they assure me that her name has been totally and permanently removed from the account, WE PROMISE! Lying sacks of turkey dung!

Where's that cop with the pepper spray when I need him?

Time to take a break from reading obituaries

2011-11-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

If there's anyone not already at "that age", at some point many/most people start reading the obituary section, "To see if I'm in there!"

Age, natural selection, bad luck all take a toll.

There are a number of people I knew in high school that I have lost track of, and have been curious about. Last week I saw an obituary for an older woman with the same last name as a "missing" friend. Indeed it was his mother, and, sadly, he was listed as having predeceased her.

His parents had been missionaries. He was in the journalism clique, although I knew him from band. He had convinced a local church to let him set up a weekend coffee house in the basement. I spent a lot of time there helping with this and that. It was there,after closing one night, that we got robbed at gunpoint. I had 4 quarters, which got dropped by the gunman, and I retrieved. But it went into the report and I got repaid a year or so later. The gunman was an AWOL airman from the local base. The gun, BTW, was a .22 pistol that looked like a shotgun to me! I met a lot of interesting people and had some very interesting experiences there.

We had hung around together a few years in high school, but by senior year he had lost interest in our friendship it seemed. The last time I saw him was immediately after our graduation ceremony when I called out to him. He waved and said "catch you later". I never saw or heard from or about him again.

I posted a message on Facebook asking if anyone had any info, and one classmate responded that he had killed himself in the early or mid 70's.

So sad

New pastimes and retirement advice, not in that order

2011-10-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

First bit of retirement advice is if you are asked to be on a Board of Directors, this is NOT a Sally Fields Moment (They like me! They REALLY LIKE ME!) They have you pegged for a sucker. Do it if you really want to, but have your eyes open.

So after I retired, and after some consideration, I got involved in a railroad historical society that was doing restoration of an old caboose near where I live. (BOD #1) My skill sets lean more towards deconstruction than fine woodworking. This came in handy when two additional cars were acquired.

I have an interest in historical preservation/documentation, so it has evolved that I have done much of the still photography documenting of the reconstruction. We also have a videographer. And it happens that my digital camera has a video function. In the last year, freight service has been re established in our area after an absence of many years and trials (literal trials in some cases) and tribulations in the interim. So I began documenting some of the return with the video function, and how better to share that Utube?

It turns out that there are quite a few people who are REALLY into trains. This has encouraged me to video the local trains. I've branched out a bit into our local waterway (Also very historic, basically the reason for our towns founding) I came across a site that tracks maritime traffic, (http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/) and has pictures of many of the vessels. You can upload pictures of the ships. A local company has a number of ships, so I have been taking pictures of them and uploading them. If I can ever catch them moving/unloading a barge, I will video that and post it on Utube. I also did a utube video of the Sonoma County Gran Fondo bike ride as it passed a spot on the coast.

All this is leading up to my posting of two of the most viewed videos I've done. I don't guess there are train buffs here, but you might enjoy them anyway (they're short). The first is popular because of the audio I think. The second has some historical significance. And despite what you see here, I think these are the only times the two locomotives have run together. Enjoy!

For dog lovers (from a cat owner)

2011-10-12T20:50:00.001-07:00

Walk on the beach, revenge is a ball

2011-09-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

My back is finally feeling well enough to walk on the beach and pick up garbage, so I did just that Monday afternoon as we fled once again from the heat inland.

I had been reading about the red tide, an abundance of plankton and algae that is harmful to many creatures, and indeed, the shore was littered with muscle shells and a few abalone type mollusks. Starfish are also dying but I did not see any of those.

Having reached the end of the beach, I turned to make another pass at a different level looking for garbage. I came upon a couple with two unleashed dogs, a no no, but I don't really have a problem with that, except that as I was talking with the "gentleman" about the dead sea life, one of the dogs took a crap in the sand, and the "lady" was using a plastic ball thrower to toss it into the surf. He saw the look on my face and said "Oh we forgot our plastic bags"

I continued my walk in the opposite direction they were going, and I came across a tennis ball. I put it in my garbage bag and as I walked away I could hear him saying "Hey boy, where's your ball?"

Check out my COOL new bandage!

2011-08-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

Just for donating a pint I got this cool bandage I get to wear for 4 hours!

Oh, and I got this too.

AND the Giants won (despite giving up 5 runs in the 9th)

Van back, Back Gone

2011-08-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

Got the van back late Monday, about 4 hours earlier, for no apparent reason, my back started tightening up. By the time we picked up the van I was taking Muscle relaxannzzzzzzz.... what was I talking about?

So Tues was spent in bed except for the occasional hobble to the bathroom. Had to double up on the Muscle relaxannzzzzzzz.... what was I talking about? Some details will NOT be discussed. Glad to have an Ipad and glad a bunch of folks I follow had posts. Bought a book on line, (Turn Right At Macchu Picchu)

Wed I could occasionally shuffle places (bathroom again) briefly. All the muscles that had been compensating were complaining about having apparently run a marathon.

Today I CAN WALK! Briefly. Wash dishes, lay down rest, take out garbage cans, lay down rest, get the mail, lay down rest. Previously compensating muscles are in the "Whoa" stage. Guilty party muscles are in the "Who gave YOU permission to run a marathon?"stage. Back to recommended dosage of Muscle relaxannzzzzzzz.... what was I talking about?

So as proof that previous to this I was not a total slug, I provide video. I had pictures, but just realized I already used them in a previous post!

Shot this 8 days ago. May not be interesting, but it is PROOF I used to have a life outside my bed

Time to get back in bed. BACK in bed!! Hah Hah Get IT? I crack myself up. And say, it's time for another Muscle relaxannzzzzzzz.... what was I talking about?

Karmic flashback

2011-08-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was a workday at the train restoration yard. I had started painting, but got pulled off because the paint needed to be thinned and we didn't have any thinner. So I started work on the Baggage car (NWP 605). A couple of us pulled some non original wood off one end, and then started removing much of the roofing materials. Much of this was done after lunch when it had gotten warmer. Not a lot of fun and I was sore the next day. So I got to thinking that Monday was predicted to be cooler and I had nothing better to do, so 8 a.m. Monday I'm on the roof.

As I'm tearing off stuff, a motorcycle cop drives by and glances at me. I immediately flash back to when I was a kid. When I was very young, a troublemaking friend had this brilliant idea to climb on top of this decrepit single car garage on a dead end street, which became the bridge of a warship and we were fighting off attacking planes with the only weapons at our disposal, pieces of composition roof. They sail very nicely BTW. Later that evening my dad gets a phone call from the LOL who kept her car in that garage.

So my friend and I had to go down immediately and clean up our mess. The roofing, being old and brittle broke into zillions of pieces which had to be swept up of course. Our dad's spent the weekend reroofing her garage. I don't specifically remember the punishment, but I'm guessing I wasn't comfortable sitting for awhile.

In the top shot, the heaviest layers ( about an inch of tar and paper) have already been taken off.

The green in the foreground is the original canvas based roofing. I left it on for now for documentation, and it looks kind of cool.

So far, I have gotten only compliments, but I don't think I will be playing war games on garage roofs again.

It's 3 am, do you know where your car is?

2011-07-27T03:26:00.000-07:00

Ours is still out front, but has had a rowdy visitor shortly after 2am (when the bars close)

Amazingly we slept through this, but neighbors who heard it and saw a fleeing white vehicle woke us up and called the police. No perp so far. GOOD MORNING!

Another" Heads Up" life lesson

2011-07-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Although it seems obvious in hindsight, 20/20 vision and all, it did not occur to me that allergy swollen eyes would be contraindicated regarding Downward Facing Dog in yoga. Now into self diagnosed Conjunctivitis, I look back in wonder.

Just as well, the instructor had indicated that the class would be doing Handstands, so I was already wondering "well what shall I be doing during that period?" Instead an early exit. Now I'm wandering around in a Benedryl induced haze.

Update: After phone consult, MOST likely allergies (vs Conjunctivitis)

Learning from other's mistakes

2011-06-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

...and getting a chuckle in the process

Last week, while waiting for the train, the wife of another rail nut urged her husband to tell "the story". So he related that once upon a time he had been doing some surveying work on a hot day near some rail road tracks. The crew broke for lunch and he sat on a rail.

After some time he heard a very loud "TINK!" and wondered what that might be. Sometime later he heard it again, only this time it was accompanied by incredible pain in his butt.

He was sitting on a rail joint, the heat expanded the rail, "TINK", pushing the rails ends together, BITING HIM IN THE ASS! It took a piece of his pants AND a small chunk of him.

I'll leave the moral to you all. (both of you)

How I spent my afternoon

2011-06-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

...watin' on a train, not quite in vain.

Ever had a bad shoe day?

2011-06-21T19:30:00.001-07:00

Me neither, but I'm proud to say I'm married to someone who had one today. I give you exhibits "A" & "B". "B" being the first replacement after "A" had a slight malfunction.

"B" are "Practically new"

One more

2011-06-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, this song caused me to read about Ann Sexton and some of her poetry.

Why wasn't this in the LAST post?

2011-06-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

BTW his voice is as good as ever.

A Concert Review

2011-06-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

I hate to say negative (searchable) things, so perhaps if I put the name P.e.t.e.r. G.a.b.r.i.e.l like this he won't get his feelings hurt.

It started off with 2 songs by one of the backup singers. Not awful, reminded me of Alannis Morrisette, with some unusual vocal inflections.

Then a bit of a monologue by PG about how he has been trying to work with other artists, covering each others songs. In the background meanwhile, sits an orchestra. What turns out to be good news, is that he hasn't gotten a lot of cooperation/production from this scheme. (Thus short on material?)

EVERY SINGLE SONG in the first half was slow and depressing. The only song I recall was Paul Simon's "Boy in the Bubble" Can you imagine that slow, with NO beat? If he had kicked into a beat the last verse it would have brought the crowd to it's feet! As it was, I felt staff should have frisked people for sharp objects before they were allowed in.

I guess I have to admire his commitment to his artistic vision, and his bravery....

The second half was mostly his stuff, with an orchestra. Again brave, but...

Oh, I should mention "In Your Eyes" (which he did as his first of 4 encores) F A V O R I T E S O N G
E V E R !

It's JUNE! How much could it rain?

2011-06-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

On our last workday before our annual dinner?

I guess we're going to have to buy some PFD's (personal flotation devices)

Railroad snipe hunt

2011-05-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

Amongst train restoration/history enthusiasts, it's ALMOST a joke about "the locomotive sitting in a pond in a quarry" waiting to be rescued.

Even with this knowledge, Thursday morning at 7 am, I set out with a group of people who should know better, for a 4 hour drive north to the site of an old train station next to a river. Here, it was related to us, had sat some old passenger cars on blocks, that were burned in place, and the metal remnants shoved over the bank next to the river. There is a picture of the cars. There is a first person account of seeing the metal over the side. So permission was eventually obtained from the railroad for salvage/access rights. These could be valuable original parts to use in our restoration of several cars.

I ended up sitting in criminally uncomfortable rear seats in a 4X4 pickup truck for a total of about 7 hours, 3 of which were unpaved bumpy roads.

After following directions, maps and Google satellite photos, we arrived to find the tracks themselves covered by 6 foot high Scotch broom plants we had to wade through to get to the bank which was covered with large trees, blackberries and poison oak. And lots of leaves and old railroad ties and metal strapping.

But nothing else.

But the river was beautiful, as was the drive (which I couldn't take pictures of due to my rear seat perch.)

This is the road to the river I took so I could look up and see something. (I didn't)

There were a few clearings, a lot of I can't take a picture because all you'd see is branches.

This shot is somewhere in between. Look carefully and you can even see some rail.

An elevated shot of the river.

Oh, and it was all very wet because it rained a lot on our way there. My feet were soaked all day, and I got home at 8:30 pm.

I should also mention that the timing was partially due to weather timing and partially due to planting timing as this is located in the midst of what is known as the "Emerald Triangle" where the largest cash crop is, as they say, off the books.

VE SAW NOTHING! NOTHING!

Crime is not paying as well as it might

2011-05-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

thanks to Paypal YEA! We just got notified that they are crediting back our full amount we paid towards a vacation rental in NYC.

I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in,

2011-05-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

(again, hopefully this works) and stops my mind from wanderin'

Another half gallon of roof patch on top of the previous quart we tried on the first attempt.

This occurred the day before we left on vacation. The good news is that the paper sucks back in when it dries out, and we have a dehumidifier right below it. Pain is unavoidable, suffering is optional....

Ever wondered what those Google mapping cars look like?

2011-05-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Spotted one on the freeway last week.

I assume the camera is in the "tuck" position for freeway travel.

NYC Architecture

2011-05-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

This first bldg is "just" a multi use office bldg. The artwork is called "Metronome". It borders Union Square, which is so named because it is the union of several streets

No, it's NOT out of focus

Here it is in early evening, it is next to the Highline. As best I can tell this is called the Chelsea Pier bldg. Pls correct if I'm wrong.

NYC Faces

2011-05-17T16:05:00.000-07:00

She didn't look like Christy Brinkley, lots of people thought so. (Interview on Access Hollywood for her appearing in Chicago the musical)

Christy's legs didn't look normal

Mary Hart doing a promo for her stop at Letterman. She's retiring from ET after 29 YEARS?

More NYC High line pics

2011-05-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Water features in early evening. We didn't stay later because it was our last night and we had to get up at 4am the next morning.

The windows only show during the day...

No longer live from NY, but I have pictures!

2011-05-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

I love my ipad, but it's the first generation, so I can't take pictures with it, and transferring pictures from camera to ipad away from home is thus far problematic.

The thing I think we liked best was called the Highline.

This "chaise" is on rollers

Latest sighting

2011-05-11T11:11:00.001-07:00

We saw christy Brinkley being interviewed on Access Hollywood by the NBC Studios, we, and many others, had to be told who it was. Time and/or surgery has not been kind.

Meow!

Addendum to below

2011-05-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

While we were waiting on line, Mary Hart shot some footage of herself pointing to the Billboard. (She later was on Letterman reading a top ten list) I think that will be on ET which is on As I write this.

Just got in from seeing a taping of David Letterman

2011-05-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

This show starred Mark Harmon. The process to get in was quite arduous, not for the meek.Lots of waiting in lines before we were essentially culled and banished to the mezzanine with all the other codgers. Very loud music.

This place really DOES hop

2011-05-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

We wandered down to Ground Zero this afternoon, since we missed all the celebrations last night. We got interviewed by Shepard Smith(FOX News). Since then we've heard that Obama wil be there Thursday. we'll have to check that out.

Live from New York! It`s Silliyak and Moonrabbit!

2011-04-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

I want to make clear that anything that might appear as whining here, is done with the understanding of the great suffering areas of the country have and are continuing to endure. Our hearts go out to everyone who has suffered in this terrible time.

It was a rough start on Thursday. reservations were made for a vacation rental for 2 weeks which included being picked up at JFK.
After a smooth flight, it was a bumpy arrival due to bad weather. Despite this we were 30 minutes early. 90 minutes later, after 3 unanswered calls and an email to the "landlord" we caught a shuttle, "Straight to your door" They didn't mention that there was a transfer, and that was a smaller bus that we couldn't get on and had to wait another hour for the next one. THAT bus dropped us off on the wrong street, but we caught the mistake before he got away. When we finally got to "our" rental, there was no one to meet us, no one knew the name we had or anything about a vacation rental in the bldg.It was nice having my Ipad to make a reservation right then, we got the last room.There are Brits EVERYWHERE here.
By 7pm, we caught a taxi to the Wellington Hotel near Times Square. We have still not heard from the scam artist, and it's pretty clear it's a scam. We have filed a dispute with Paypal, and will make a police complaint next week if we haven't heard anything.
We spent Friday morning watching the royal wedding and filing the dispute. We wandered down to Times Square and ended up in a crowd watching on a bunch of large screens with commentary by "Say Yes To The Dress" from TLC channel. We also started shopping for another hotel, ending up Friday at the Sheraton 4 Points Chelsea. Not exactly saving money.
Our stress level has lowered and we are enjoying the trip. Pictures to follow It's interesting to note that our usual pattern of taking massive amounts of pictures the first several days has NOT occurred.

A thoughtful neighbor

2011-04-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

put this up for our lost friend, an "ex" (no such thing) Marine.

R.I.P Norma

2011-04-19T12:32:00.001-07:00

Our wonderful neighbor is gone, almost a year to the day after her diagnosis.

Lost again in a genealogical fog

2011-04-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

Late last night, a bunch of "hints" came up in Ancestry.com. I had some free time before my yoga class this morning, so I thought I'd start winnowing them out, I find them slightly annoying, something that has to be dealt with. About half were on a line I'm not following anymore, but half were on my dad's line. As I perused the information, I found Samuel Maris Wilkinson. Born 1897, died in France 1918. So I checked military records, and found that he had enlisted in the Marines in Dec 1917, was wounded in June 1918, and died of his wounds. So few facts, but one can imagine so much. I may research June 1918 battles, but next thing I know I've missed Yoga.

I feel like my heart got exercised a bit, and a bit of poor Samuel has resurfaced.

Update, this happened in June of 1918.

The Battle of Belleau Wood.

Genealogical Critical Mass

2011-04-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my genealogy tree for a couple of years now, joining Ancestry.com as needed, partially because one brother is a Morman, and also out of curiosity. Typically, I would make great strides, then get stuck for a LONG time. Last year,after a long hiatus, I hired a genealogist via Ancestry.com to try and break through on the male line of my dad.

We got "over the pond" back to Antrim, Ireland in 1712. I found that when they came over, they were Quakers in North Carolina, near Raleigh. Sad to say they were slave owners for a time. I'm not sure how to feel about that. One ancestor married a Presbyterian and got kicked out of the Quakers.

The family fortunes seemed to have declined, and my line moved to Arkansas for a few generations. The only nagging question left for me is the date of death of my great great Grandfather and the circumstances. (And why he was named "Egbert", it's not surprising that he's the only one!)

Anyway, the point I wanted to get to, is that after all this struggle for bits of information, you come to a point where you start intersecting with other peoples trees and are suddenly FLOODED with new distant relations and the information about them. And every time you enter them, Ancestry.com gives you new links, which lead to even MORE new relations. These people knew how to have babies! I'm talking about 8-10 with the first wife, then a few more with the next! Then maybe 60% live to breed and have another 8-12 kids!

So I've stopped entering "new" people, unless someone shows up who is "closely" related or otherwise interesting. I have one relation with the nickname "the kid" who was killed by a bushwacker. I'm guessing that nickname predisposes you to that sort of thing, versus longevity. Another was a minister who founded a church in Arkansas, who was kicked out of the same church for drunkeness.

It's been interesting.

More storm damage

2011-03-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

While I was meeting with the Tree Guy to arrange the clearing of the fallen tree, I got a call from my boss that a large part of our back fence at the coast had blown over. The termites must have been frightened by the storm and stopped holding hands.

Our Gust meter indicated a high of 50 mph, but it reads a little low I believe. We got off lucky, just behind our house I saw THIS.

This took out phone and power lines for a bunch of houses, and they weren't repaired for several days.

Neighbor update

2011-03-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

Our dear former neighbor who lost her house, then was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer last Easter Sunday, made an appointment with Hospice today. She is no longer able to keep any food down. This is just so unbelievably unfair.

The only upside is that she knows how much everyone in our community loves her and how much she will be missed.

She is a former Marine and very patriotic. The picture is of her house July 4th 2009. She did all the retaining walls herself as part of a landscaping plan the would have been lovely, but now will never be done. I used to call them The Great Walls of Norma.

A busy day

2011-03-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Lots of rain yesterday/last night. Two inches in 24 hrs. It was forecast to be very windy, and it apparently was, but I slept through it. Got up, went to Sunday morning yoga, feeling all warm and relaxed, stopped by the trainyard to check on things. At first glance all I saw was garbage cans and chairs scattered around. Then I saw the tarps had been blown nearly off the cars. It was more than I could fix so I called in reinforcements. Amidst some rain and hail, we spent two hours redoing the tarps. In the middle of THAT, I got a call from my tenant that some trees were down. The ones across the road had been cleared by the Fire Dept, but another was kind of, sort of, on the house. A number of other trees on the same street had gone down, several others across the road.

No lunch for the wicked I guess.

house to right

More rain forecast for tonight and the rest of the week. I'm now "on the list" for the tree guy. I suspect other trees may need some attention as well.

A reflection on impermanence

2011-03-15T13:53:00.001-07:00

So long Joe, we hardly knew ye

2011-03-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

Lost amidst all the recent tragedy, was a small notice of the passing of Joe Morello, best known as a drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which itself was known for producing music in odd/unusual time signatures.

I always thought he was something special, but I am biased because I have been a Brubeck fan since the mid 60's. REAL appreciation of drumming I believe is rare, and I probably don't even know how good he REALLY was, but people "in the know" seem to agree he was something special.

He wasn't particularly fashionable, but he was damn cool none the less.

An odd "memory" I have of him was that he was part of a very vivid dream I had when I was about 15. In the dream I was watching him on TV doing a drum solo on the Mike Douglas show, when the doorbell rang. I answered the door and an old lady lady shot me. I was dying, the sensation being that of numbness starting at my feet and moving up my body until it got to my head and I woke up. Actually I had another vivid death dream the next night also. The following night I was understandably not anxious to fall asleep, but I resumed "normal" sleep/dreaming. ( I actually rarely remember dreams)

How was YOUR wedding?

2011-03-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

I'm sharing this because it's the beach near our house where I've taken a fair number of pictures.

No snow, but a new (working) stove

2011-02-27T11:30:00.000-08:00

Snow was forecast, and I would have loved to have gotten some caboose in the snow shots, but instead it was just damn cold.

Couplers finally finished with the mounting of the knuckles. The linkage is all hand forged iron, real craftsmanship.

Bench seats in progress

Real door latches! I'll kind of miss the "Super secret" piece of wood that held the doors closed until now. The latches portend the imminent installation of glass in the doors.

And then I just got a call from my renter that his furnace has died, on a Sunday, in a cold snap of course...

I'm off!

Update, I found a repairman (step #1 harder than you would have thought) AND they will bill me so I don't have to drive up to meet him for payment, small yea.

Caboose brake adjustment

2011-01-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

A little too much travel, let's move a few linkage pins around...

Much better
And if you recall the fence damage..

Not pretty, but hopefully functional

Last night's entertainment

2011-01-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

Our Xmas present to my BIL & SIL.

As my BIL observed "They don't have this were we live"

Both pictures are of the same individual. At the end they introduced people and where they were from. This is Kevin. Kevin's from New Mexico. It occurred to me that if New Mexico had Lion fish, this is what they would look like.

Click to enlarge (If you dare!)

Job opening?

2011-01-13T17:01:00.000-08:00

Maybe a background in gymnastics would be good for this job.

New follower and another old story

2011-01-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

Came across http://firefighterparamedicstories.blogspot.com/ the other day, and his posts keep reminding me of old stories, so here's one.

A few months after my "department of origin" was merged into a larger county department, I was put "on the route" which means I had no permanent station, and drifted from station to station to fill in as needed. This was mostly not a happy time. Almost always I was at the station for a full 24 hour shift, but occasionally I had to commute.

One particular day, I got sent midday from a busy 2 company station to a slow 1 company station for 12 hours, returning to the first about 11pm as an extra person. The only bed open for me was the only bed that was in it's own room with a door no less! Atypically for this station I had a nice uninterrupted sleep. The next morning I went out the apparatus floor and noticed the truck I was assigned to was dripping. It had rained after I returned the night before. This is not good, and when I went into the dayroom I was greeting with lots of smiles and "Hey Sunshine! Sleep well?"

For the first and only time in my career I had slept through a call.

Ku Klux Kacti

2011-01-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

Every time there's a Kold night predicted, these guys show up. At least they're quiet, but they do have prickly personalities.

A comforting thought perhaps

2010-12-27T16:45:00.000-08:00

A synopsis of an old Shelley Berman routine

Due to the process of photosynthesis " No matter how mean, or cruel, or sinful you have been throughout this day (or year?), every time you breathe out, you make a little flower happy"

Another Utube post, I still got nuthin'!

2010-12-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

I feel so cheap!

2010-12-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

OK so I "stole" this off a facebook post by someone else, but I got nuthin' !

Headline-Restored Caboose saved by string of Xmas lights!

2010-12-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Speeding, reckless, (and probably Godless) teen loses control of his car careening into fence protecting 111 year old caboose then takes off, conveniently leaving his front bumper with license plate at the scene.

(I may have been watching Fox "news" too much. The caboose may have been in less danger than the first pictures shows.)

A weekend in So Cal

2010-11-16T16:29:00.000-08:00

Drove down to Palm Springs to visit our former neighbor and return some unsold but potentially high value items. She's doing fairly well. She's staying with a friend in a condo on a golf course. We got a short tour of the area. It was relaxing, but our butt muscles were already bruised from the 8+ hr drive down, and we ended up sitting a lot anyway. While there we visited an aunt of my lovely bride. We haven't seen them in 20+ years, but had a nice visit.

Saturday we drove up to San Luis Obispo and checked into a nice B&B and visited an Uncle. I'm pretty sure we met many years ago, but he did not recall meeting me before. We had a nice visit and lunch at the Madonna Inn, then a drive to Avila Beach. We got there late in the day, but there must have been a school of fish in the bay because the Pelicans were constantly diving for fish. It was spectacular and made the whole trip worth it.

Busy working 4 day weekend

2010-10-18T13:31:00.001-07:00

Friday morning, yoga, then 3 hours of site prep for the impending (Monday 7am) arrival of a set of trucks for Car 29

Saturday, Board of Directors meeting in the am (record set for brevity, yahoo!) Another 3 hrs site prep in the afternoon.

Sunday, Rain, Yoga, more rain, early delivery of forklift minus the keys, Rental place never heard of us yada yada yada, got the keys moved it into lot, all in the rain...rain stops when we're through. TV Football, TV baseball playoff (lose)

Monday am, instead of 7am arrival, now scheduled for 8, but not everybody gets the word. We get a WHOLE lot accomplished with the forklift before they arrive at 10 am. Unload and place trucks, then there are a few other things we can do with this cool forklift, so I don't get out til noon.

Incidentally, no persons or objects were harmed in my operation of the forklift, there MIGHT have been a few close calls, but no harm, no foul.

Neighbor update

2010-10-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

On the good side, although she apparently tires easily, she seems to be doing well otherwise and still has her hair.

On the down side, her platelets were too low several treatments in a row and she has been "released" from the trial. Her tumors have shrunk significantly, so her doctor is trying to get her on the same standard chemo that she was on for the trial.

Bigger bummer is that the bank is foreclosing on her house. It does not appear she can sell it for what is owed on it. The neighbors have cleared it out.

We still have a few things that we just can't bear to just donate. A schoolhouse clock, a German Box clock and some artwork. The artwork we are going to take down to her in Southern Ca when we visit in a couple of weeks, and the clocks may go to a consignment shop here or there.

Neighbor update and a good deed as yet unpunished

2010-10-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

Last Easter Sunday, our neighbor at the coast who had been feeling a little poorly, woke up jaundiced, and by the end of a long day found out she likely (and later confirmed) had Pancreatic cancer. Even before that, she had planned on selling her house and moving to Southern California because the annuity she was living on had been decimated by a local swindler, and she could no longer afford her mortgage. (No fault of hers, the money was given to a local state college and THEY trusted this a-hole)

She is in a clinical trial in Southern California now, and although she was assigned the standard chemo treatment, she seems to be doing well. It wasn't that long ago that Pancreatic cancer was "How long do I have? 2 or 3 weeks?"

The weekend before last there was an estate sale. My BIL & SIL have an estate sale company. They had a very successful 2 day sale despite a wildfire that closed the main road out to the coast from Saturday afternoon until Monday midday. There was also a cliff rescue a block away Saturday afternoon and a motorcycle accident (broken leg) on Sunday. Both times people came running up to the houses Yelling "Call 911!) The problem was that the fire had taken out the phone lines. By Sunday we were able to directly call the fire station but not outside the local area.

So meanwhile I had talked to a friend who told me about doing this with her father and the sales just covered the cost of hauling off the leftovers. This made me think about having a 2nd sale this last Saturday for the leftovers, and saving the cost of the cleanup.

The neighbors were fantastic, both in helping run the sale and in buying things, often paying more than the asking price or rounding up the total. We made over $800 but still have a few things we'll try to sell on Craigslist. The rest will be donated in her name so she can use the receipts as tax deductions.

Trying to find a new home.

2010-09-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

Among my late step father's possessions was this bust. We kinda like it, but we wouldn't be unhappy if it had a better home, say, a relative of the artist.

DC HAINES = David Crocket Haines (1897-1980)
Born in Ukiah, CA on Dec. 6, 1897. Haines lived in Oakland during the 1930s
and 1940s. For 40 years he was a draftsman for Caterpillar Tractor Company.
He died in Santa Rosa, CA on Nov. 22, 1980.
Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Index of Artists Supplement (Daniel Mallett); City Directory; Death Record.

I'm posting this more as something to be found by search engines if someone is looking. I did a Google search and found a David C Haines who's a prof back east. I emailed him, but have not heard back, so I assume he is not related.

A Poll

2010-09-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Multiple answers are allowed.

Presuming their existence

1. Which of the following would be most likely to create fear, hate and division.

a. God

b. Jesus

c. Satan

2. Which of the following would seem to benefit from the sowing of fear, hate and division.

a. God

b. Jesus

c. Satan

d. Mass Media

e. Fringe political and or religious groups

A Found cell phone, a new friend....NOT!

2010-09-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

So Thursday morning we were walking the beach, picking up trash, when my beautiful bride found a cell phone and charger on the sand. It looked as though it would have been in the water at the last high tide, but it worked briefly when turned on. It turned itself off due to a low battery.

I charged it up and turned it on to check for a number I could call to return it, but it was locked and needed an access code.

So today I took it to the service provider thinking they could ID the owner and give me contact info. All I got was a name and town. So I looked in the phone book, no luck. Then I looked up the name through Google. The first hit was a link to a service that shows recent arrests...and previous arrests...many previous arrests.

It had occurred to me to leave the phone on and see if someone called and I could get word to the owner that way. I got a robo call for a service to repair credit.

Now I'm thinking I don't think I actually want to meet this person, no matter how grateful they might be.

So off to the cop shop to turn it in with the info gathered so far. Let THEM deal with it. It's only fair, they probably are on a first name basis.

NWP baggage car 605 on Utube

2010-09-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is an updated version of a previous post.

There is a 53 minute video also...

Studly Segal returns!

2010-09-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Just before the picture of Lily and the recently departed mouse was taken, I was celebrating the return of Studly Segal. He had not been around for many months, and I thought he was gone for good.

For those who don't know the story or have forgotten, Studly is the inheritor of a long tradition of spoiled critters at this house on the coast. His predecessor was Charlie who taught my step father to hand feed him a LONG time ago. When my step father died in 1997, we started thinking about how long he had been feeding Charlie, and it had been over 25 years. Charlie trained my mom after my step dad died and when my mom died in 2005, he became less picky and would let several people feed him if they were properly quiet and respectful. Charlie died several years ago, but before he did he brought another bird around to show him the ropes and how to train us.

His name was Studly Segal. He tried to train me for many months, but the best we could do was when he would land with a flop on our carport I would defrost a hot dog and approach the birdbath. But I never got close enough to have him take it from my hand. I always had to toss it the last 3 feet.

Yesterday, after being MIA for many months I heard the familiar flop. I went out and there was a seagull staring at me like "So WHERE is my hot dog?" He walked to the edge of the roof and when I went to the birdbath he flew down for the toss. I'm sure it's Studly because he always hopped down off the birdbath after getting a piece of hotdog, then hopped back up for the next piece. He seemed a little more confident than in the past. Later he came back and I gave him some bread. Still later he came back again when there were several of us in the back yard where there is an alternate feeding spot, the corner of the carport.

This spot offers a way to hand feed that can make him feel safer. Additionally, I turned my head away to not seem threatening.
SUCCESS!

Lily the huntress STRIKES!

2010-09-06T11:59:00.001-07:00

Yeh that's right, I'm BAD!
Anybody else in there want a piece of me?

So then it moved and I JUMPED ON IT LIKE THIS!

Notes to self

2010-08-18T21:10:00.001-07:00

1. Lift foot 1 inch higher than next step. Particularly when barefoot.
2. When donating blood, and the blood sucker can't find your pulse because he's "had too much caffeine" and you got similar results the last TWO times he's drawn blood from you. ASK FOR SOMEONE ELSE!
3. When using a small screwdriver on a smaller stuck screwhead, put it on something solid! (And I don't even remember what happened with the fingernail)

"New" baggage car in new home

2010-08-14T22:24:00.001-07:00

A nice article in the local paper meant a fair number of observers and visitors when 605 reached her new home.

Here, she's leavin' town, heading for the freeway and probably the fastest she's ever traveled. (55mph)

Not sure what was the scariest

2010-08-10T21:14:00.001-07:00

1) The threat of hypothermia, (we never saw the sun, and it was drizzling a lot, then the wind came up.)
2) Being left alone to video everything for the last 4 (of 6) hours with someone else's equipment. (and still have to take still pics)
3) Watching the car lurch up down sideways and the boss's wife commenting "At least adrenaline keeps you warm"
4) Getting a phone call in the middle of all this mayhem "Honey, the computer's acting up" which turned out to be a dying (now dead) keyboard. It's good to have friends who have extra Mac keyboards to loan!

A railcar turned, another dumpster filled

2010-08-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

And yet there is more "stuff". So that means another dumpster to be filled. We have tried to recycle/reuse as much as possible. It's turned 90 degrees from it's previous placement and is now headed downhill.

The plan is to load it onto a truck this next week and transport it to it's new home next Saturday.

righteous indignation/crisis addiction recovery

2010-08-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

Today I overheard a conversation where one person was telling another that they were very tired and that everyone she knew was tired.

I got to thinking about why this might be. I have no reason to believe that the following applies to these people.

I think many people are addicted to righteous indignation and reaction to whatever crisis' are in the news at the moment, real or fomented by groups that might benefit in the short term. I'm guessing it's what some need when their tolerance for caffeine has risen so that they no longer get the buzz they crave.

For some, like Andy Kaufmann, they'd rather believe that man never went to the moon, Obama's not a real citizen, he's a Muslim etc because it's more exciting than the boring truth.

The same government that is incapable of doing anything, IS capable of elaborate conspiracies.

Have you ever wondered what a stampeding animal is thinking, or IF they're thinking? I wonder about the people who are so enraged about immigration. I think they're being stampeded. Yes, there is illegal immigration. There always has been. Is it worse now? Really?What is the evidence besides short video clips that make it seem that human waste and body parts now mark the border with Mexico. Yes, there are some very bad people. Are we all so threatened that we have to give up constitutional rights?

I haven't seen a video of people lining up for the jobs that are being taken by illegal immigrants.

Health care, remember death panels? What about all the lies we have been told, why do we still believe them? Why do we pass on the emails that promote them?

Anyway, it seems like we're in a (no doubt temporary) lull in things to get excited about. The oil leak is not so spectacular, looks like we're getting out of Iraq soon. I think the crazies have run out of imagination for new unbelievable outrages.

Hate takes a lot of energy. So does righteous indignation.

Give it a rest.

Let's all just take a deep breath, and then another.

Don't believe everything you think.

Meditate.

(Now I'm tired)

A picture of NWP 605 in better times

2010-07-31T17:09:00.001-07:00

This appears to be taken in the town where it was likely built, Tiburon, Calif.

Double click for zoom in.

(Tiburon, for you trivia fans, is spanish for "shark")

NWP 605-the video

2010-07-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

Baggage Car Update-Leave early, miss the fun

2010-07-28T18:24:00.001-07:00

So I left early, figuring how much more could they get done. Quite a bit it turns out. In addition to removing the last of the attached pieces, they got an ID on the car!

Welcome NWP baggage car 605, formerly SF & NP baggage car #5, built in 1892, "retired" in 1939, back to the world! (NWP records say "condemned" as it is apparently also painted on the side. So disrespectful!

Uncovering a baggage car

2010-07-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

One side and the two ends cleared, one side to go.

Next project!

2010-06-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

Another 30 seconds of my 15 minutes used up...

It's even harder to see this "car" from the outside. There is quite a bit more to be stripped off, although the mover may be doing more of the stripping this time. Lots of mysteries to be solved, questions to be answered.

Find more videos like this on Northwestern Pacific Railroad Network

I'm on YouTube! (am I famous now?)

2010-06-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is an early version. The birth year of the car has been changed and is more likely 1869.

This is moved without disturbing the tree right in front of it.

Allergic to "fencing"?

2010-06-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

So the theme of this week seems to be fencing.
Replacing a rotted, and slotted post, I was NOT besotted with the prospect.

And painting. I built this fence with removable sections so that I can pull them out and power wash then paint them on saw horses, rather than bending over, getting stuck with rose thorns etc
But I still don't enjoy doing it. So in the midst of my mental grumbling the question occured to me, "If one were allergic to 'fencing', would you treat it with an epee pen?"

Open Caboose!

2010-06-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Next week is the annual dinner, so this week was spent tidying up and putting back the ladders and adding steps to one end to make it all pretty.

Now if the cupola would just make an appearance..

The general opinion is that it is starting to look like a caboose.

Another stroll on the beach, another prize!

2010-06-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

I should have put a coin next to this for perspective, but it's slightly smaller than a quarter.

Romance and citations on the beach

2010-05-30T07:31:00.001-07:00

On my walk this morning, I found two interesting things by the beach. One was this marriage proposal, "Will You Marry Me Smoopy?" and to my right was a group of about 18 people being cited for illegally harvesting mussels from the rocks. It's a full moon/low tide/3day weekend and all. I didn't think it would be polite to photograph them, so I took pictures of the low tide.

Other people are simply above it all.

Our new ( hopefully it will keep out the deer) gate

And this is just a shot I took a while ago

UPDATE!

Later, Moonrabbit and I went for a stroll and garbage pickup along the beach. We scored a decent towel (to be a nice rag for the garage) a nice suede billed baseball cap, and an unopened pint of Bacardi rum!

How cool is this?

2010-05-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

Busy day on the railcar restoration front. Became something of an expert on the installation and removal of brake beams (Don't ask) Pulled lots of nail and staples. But the COOL thing I did was use some paint stripper to uncover two of the clerestory windows to discover....

911? There's an alligator attacking my house!

2010-05-09T11:05:00.000-07:00

For what it's worth, this is about 300 yards from the rocks rubbed smooth by Woolly mammoths that I blogged about awhile back.

Elderly Couple meet

2010-05-09T10:57:00.001-07:00

They awoke to their first dawn together on Mother's day. Sure, there's a 30 year age difference, but at 111 vs 140ish, whose to say it's wrong?

What I've been doing in my SPARE time

2010-04-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

I didn't paint ALL this. But I "painted" a lot of it. (I don't paint so much as slop)

BTW this is the 1898 caboose

No moss on my...stones

2010-04-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

This is not something that has actually taken any time. It's just a blatant appeal for sympathy. I picked this up about two weeks ago at the hardware store parking lot. Don't you just love people that can't drive well enough to back out of a parking space without hitting something? And then not leave a note.
3 out of the last 4 Saturdays have been spent uncovering this 1860's passenger car. It is close to being ready to be moved, probably early May.

The remodel is done except for the shower curtain rod and attaching the handheld shower.

An erupting volcano in Iceland changes our dinner plans

2010-04-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

So we are having a couple over for dinner along with his sister, b-i-l and niece. They are visiting from England. We thought to invite another couple who are friends in common. He is English and she French. So that is 9 for dinner. With the addition of a card table we can all fit together. We just received a call that the sister of the 2nd couple, is visiting from France along with a grandson. They were supposed to leave early today, but their flight was canceled due to ash from the volcano, so they will be dining with us also. More the merrier! However, now there are two tables apart from each other.

Rail car recovery

2010-04-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

More progress. We're inside now, but outside demolition is delayed by permit issues.

We cut into the false ceiling to see the clerestory. The oval ended space is glass painted over. It's covered on the outside by roofing. It will be awhile before it sees the sun, but this hasn't been seen for many decades.

A sad Easter

2010-04-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

This was not a great Easter. We have a neighbor out at the coast who is very lively. She's considered the unofficial mayor. She had recently started talking about selling her house and moving south to be with most of her friends in the desert. We were mourning her possible departure already.

For Easter, she made reservations at another neighbors new restaurant for a bunch of us. On Friday she said she wasn't feeling well. On Saturday she said she probably wouldn't make it to the lunch. When we got back from lunch on Sunday there was a phone message that she had driven herself to the hospital.

We all drove in to see if we could help. She had woken up to find herself very jaundiced. Initial tests show a mass on her Pancreas. This is NOT good. She has since had further tests but no results in yet. I can't imagine any good outcome. She was resistant to filling the prescription for vicodin. We insisted she fill it. She's taking it and still reports a 9.5 on a scale of 10 for pain.

This is just SO sad and unfair. I worry that she will never have another "good" day, and that her time may be very short. She will be missed by many.

Further remodel progress

2010-04-08T19:43:00.001-07:00

So today was the day for new carpet in both bedrooms. Not too exciting to look at. I spent much of the time weed whacking cape weed, and when I took a lunch break I came in to find this scene. My lunch is on the other side of this mountain. Hunger is the mother of innovation and I eventually tunneled under the table into the kitchen and had lunch.

They were finished about 1:30 and I left about three. As soon as I got into cell phone range, I got a message that the granite guys were enroute. Back to the house.
The other progress was made on Tuesday, when the floor went in the bathroom as you can see. Today I noticed the installers grouting skills leave something to be desired. There was grout on the door, grout on the shut off valve for the toilet, holes in the spots where the grout was supposed to go. I'll have to address that tomorrow
But the granite looks nice, and allows the plumber to come tomorrow to finish his work.

A new day a new railcar

2010-04-04T00:10:00.001-07:00

Like a butterfly emerging from it's cocoon, or appropriately on the day before Easter Sunday, an old wooden passenger car, possibly as old as 1860, has additions torn from it to reveal itself, and begin a new life. (after years of restoration to come)

More remodel progress

2010-04-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

Today was the electrician's day. New vent fan, new cover for light in shower, several new outlets, new light for new cabinet, and a "toe kick" heater/fan.

Meanwhile, I've been replacing towel racks,shelves. New roller shades in the bedroom. A chunk of plaster got knocked out during the installation of the fan, so I filled in the hole. Tomorrow a 2nd coat and primer hopefully for the painter's last day (Saturday?)

Contractor is on jury duty. I may have prejudiced him by quoting Marge Simpson, "Kill 'em all and let God sort them out!"

Caboose update

2010-03-27T16:59:00.001-07:00

Progress on many fronts.

I have finally finished stripping and sanding the ceiling.

The first bench is progressing as seen. The vertical painted boards are recycled from our remodel awhile back. They are 1X4 T&G redwood that had been wainscoting.
The plumbing for the air brakes is proceeding nicely with lines to both ends and ready to hook into the brake cylinder.

All the steps are done. Today they got a coat of special zinc primer. Since it's going to rain in a couple of days, we should find any spots we missed. Gray paint on sandblasted metal makes it hard to see missed spots.

A Natural break from remodeling

2010-03-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

The contractor was out for about an hour for some small details to have the cabinets ready for the granite tops. I came out shortly after to check the new windows shades to make sure they fit right. The contractor yelled "Hey look across the street!" Fortunately I had my camera available. This is at full zoom, it was probably 50 ft away. It was beautiful. He/she acted normal and appeared to be looking for gophers who have been VERY active since the rain stopped.

Progress on a Saturday!

2010-03-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

Underlayment down, cabinets (paint grade) in, painter showed up, rec'd instructions and will be working the next several weekends. Monday contact Granite guy for top fabrication.

Remodel Progress

2010-03-19T17:01:00.001-07:00

Tiles done. Tomorrow the flooring underlayment goes in and the cabinets get delivered. The new floor is scheduled for 4/6 and new carpets for both bedrooms on 4/8.

Still waiting to hear from the painter.

Further rooftop adventures, wherein our hero once again defies natural selection

2010-01-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

So today it was back out to the coast, with contractor and roofer to fix and assign blame for the leaky roof.

Here's the apparent culprit.

This is a disconnected vent we should have taken out, but what's the problem as long as it doesn't leak, right?

So while we're watching, I mean supervising, the repairs we notice the strap that attaches the power line to the weatherhead. This is not good with another storm with high winds approaching.

So the local utility (PG&E) is contacted and they will be out "Sometime today". I disconnect any expensive electronics I can think of that might be ruined by a catastrophic failure, and then wait....and wait. They didn't say by 5 or by midnight. So I rig up a tensioning ratchet rope to prevent total failure, and then reconnect everything I had disconnected. I turn on the computer and the tech shows up. So now it's about 2 pm. It's starting to get dark again. The tech doesn't have the part, and besides I've rigged up a nice system! They'll get to it next week.

I pack up and leave trying to think of anything I've forgotten and also thinking about whether I trust the setup I left. Two miles down the road I realize I've left my good shoes back at the house and I don't feel good about what I left.

I turn around, it starts to rain. Halfway back there are two lightening strikes in the ocean. Should I get up on the roof? I'm really not happy with the set up. It's raining harder. I get home, grab the ladder, get up on the roof and fix the set up and get down ASAP.

As I get into the car it starts raining like only a thunderstorm can rain.

What a nice rain, let's drive out to the coast...

2010-01-18T17:24:00.001-08:00

When we got out there, the rain had stopped, but this turned out to be a very good thing. Gee what's this little puddle in the middle of the floor? SSSSHHHHIIIIIIITTTT!!!

An hour later after borrowing all the tarps and plastic we could find, working in gale force winds, with lumber scraps, & all the buckets at our disposal filled with rock, bricks, & stepping stones, it's sort of tarped. So it's back out tomorrow with a contractor and some sort of plan. (5 gallons of wet/dry mastic?)

It's a small leak, but right through some of the fine woodwork. The dehumidifier is running.

This does NOT appear to be in an area the roofer worked on.

Real life mystery for those of the horsey set

2010-01-04T15:54:00.000-08:00

You can cut and paste the following or click HERE!

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091231/ARTICLES/912319960

It's a shed, It's a flophouse...

2009-12-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

It's an old boxcar?

The grab rails are the best clue.
Heritage still to be determined.

But from talking to a neighbor, it was used by itinerant fishermen. They used batteries and 12V appliances.

Something to make you think

2009-12-13T19:37:00.001-08:00

Saturday I went to a memorial service for the late president of the railroad historical society I belong to. The last speaker mentioned that in his belief system we will all meet again and that the departed was probably looking down on us and enjoying the whole scene. At that point a cell phone belonging to someone sitting right behind me rang, and his ring tone was a train whistle.

Feline Queen of the Mantle Contest

2009-12-01T17:03:00.000-08:00