Friday Afternoon: Long Way From Home
June 28, 2013

Friday afternoon and I have a lot of asphalt to go before I can get home, but it's all worth it to say so long to this old fart who retires today. I'll miss him, and I'll really miss taking money from him each and every time we play golf. He enjoys the game much more than normal people, and I hope he gets to play thousands of rounds now, and ride his little Yamaha scooter a bunch, so long to a tireless worker

And so long to a million mile BMW rider, 81 year old Ardys Kellerman died in an accident in Alabama this week. Now the 1,000,000 BMW Women's Club has only one member. So long Queenie

And hello Annabel, this week was Beach Week, the Sanford crew could only stay until Tuesday, but we all had a great time.

But somehow or another they forgot to take this one with them when they left, so he's been the King of the Beach all week. Heard about all of his adventures and look forward to seeing him tomorrow morning. See a common denominator here?

In touch with my old bike's new owner this past week, she's the gray beauty with the trailer. He's done a lot of work on her, including building this lightweight trailer for trips. He told me he doesn't even realize the trailer is attached. He and his son completed a 2,500 mile trip in late May, you think I'm jealous? New shocks and new tires, he tells me she rides like a new bike. Good news that his trip was a safe and happy one

And now here I sit, broken hearted (you know the rest I'm sure), 12:00 PM on a Friday and I'm in Ohio. Oh well, part of the job. I'll be in town all next week, we have to figure out how to celebrate Jay's birthday on the 5th. Hard to believe we have a kid who is now 33, boy oh by is TAR starting to get old. Maybe we should start by telling him the fireworks and celebrations the night before his birthday aren't really for his birthday................

Next Saturday I leave in search of adventure, more on that later

We Need A Bigger Boat

June 21, 2013

Six years today since we lost Jesse, still all good memories of the best dog God ever made, gee I wonder why we haven't got another?

Saw this poor guy in a hotel Wednesday morning, I honestly can not see how he could get that rig out on the Interstate to run at any speed. When I first saw it I thought he was broken down, but no, that was his setup for moving or vacation. Whatever, but buddy, you need a bigger truck. 

This cobia was recently found in our boat cooler. Nice 15 pounder, just the right size for the tastiest of meat. We need a bigger cooler. They come with bigger boats attached...........that water sure tasted funny all day

FO is shown here proudly holding the fish. Obviously there is some controversy as to who actually caught the fish as someone in the background appears to be disputing the claim. SWMBO once had her picture taken holding a real Oscar. But she didn't win one, just had her picture taken.........................

Oh well, there will always be that mystery.......mystery solved! I got up the next morning and was able to walk upright about and act normally, well my idea of normally, whatever that is. FO was in bed and took painkillers all day. Yes, he caught the fish. I conservatively estimate he fought the fish for about 50 minutes. We were lucky he wore him down with light weight tackle for so long, once gaffed and in the cooler he flopped around a couple of times and zonked out. That was good news, cobia have been known to take control once boated. Good supper that night and nice trophy for the FO

Beach Week 2013 begins today with an unusually undramatic entrance. Well, other than having the Dink hotline ring at 5:30AM, undramatic. I look forward to seeing everyone coming down here over the next few days.........................

Next week: Ohio, and pictures of grand-babies

Happy Father's Day

June 14, 2013

Made some calls on the way to Raleigh Wednesday and ended up on the floor at my old high school. I've been in there a few times since they made me leave, but only in the gym. We walked through the halls and classrooms, saw all of my athletic and academic trophies that I earned; yes each and every one that I earned was on display.....or should that be each and every one I earned were on display? That question should give you a clue as to where they is, ain't, are, or aren't. They're going to make a middle school out of this, fun to go through a quick walk through. 

Sum sum summertime, and the living's easy. Mixed metaphors there but you know what I mean. 

Speaking of the US Army and their 238th birthday today, saw nephew Kevin and his crew Wednesday night. Been a long time, but now that he is an officer in the US Coast Guard in Elizabeth City we hope to see him, Heather, Caroline and Grace much more often. That dog is so sweet, but I sense he has the devil eyes, the devil eyes I tell you, DEVIL EYES!

This weekend the weather will be absolutely perfect for offshore fishing, and the Fishin Optishin will soon be on his way. We don't have a chance, but it will be fun. Since we're all out of fathers around here we get to make our own plans for the weekend, and it involves going to a few artificial reefs off our coast. 

Maybe some pictures next week, but I'll leave you with a picture of a car model which would be a suitable replacement for the motorcycle.....someday, not today but one day in the future. It's a BMW Z-4, such a beautiful shape of a car, and of course as SWMBO has decreed, a convertible. So let it be written so let it be done! Anyway, this was seen in the parking lot of a customer in Williamsburg last week; could they have picked an uglier color? 

And what a great post! At no where in here did I post the video of my sister-in-law brushing the "icing she sat in" off the back of TAR's dress! Yea me!

Pictures? I Got Your Pictures Right Here!

June 7, 2013

In response to your requests for less writing and more pictures:

I call him Radio-Man, sent here from a strange planet to listen and protect

This is the Tuscarora-Nooherooka Fort site on Highway 58. 300 years ago our militia along with other North Carolina Indians attacked the Tuscarora fort and killed hundreds of men, women and children. They burned the fort and sold 392 Tuscarora Indians as slaves. Many escaped, tried to negotiate peace, and were sent to a reservation in New York. 

I'm sure this is sacred ground to the Tuscarora Indians but I wish it came with some explanation. The monument is made of what appears to be a beautiful brushed stainless material with several symbols. Maybe that is the way it was designed, or maybe it will come later. 

Stopped by my daddy's grave, the dandelions are in full bloom. Must be part of the sequestration process, although not intentional it actually looks pretty. There was a fresh grave close by that had been mowed closely. 

This is part of the Smithfield Ham processing plant in Smithfield, VA. Pictures that make you go hmmmmmm, wonder if this is a chink in their armor?

This seen in the parking lot at the Ferguson HQ in Newport News, VA. I call it The De-Volution of the Jeep

And congratulations to Cooper, finished the year with a Riley standard 4.0 GPA. OK, that was a stretch

Like the less-talky? Next week's travel plans are falling through so I might be around here to clean up after TS Andrea.