Life on Spooner Creek

2012-02-16T07:43:00.022-05:00

February 17, 2012

Here Comes The Son

Yes, that was the winning song for the end of mankind; very witty and a big congratulations to the near-genius who submitted it.

Good week in Florida, our rep in that area is a real worker bee; I like working with him. I was supposed to leave the Cocoa area before lunch Thursday but we made some extra calls and I got out of there after 2:00. He told me NASA planned an Atlas V launch between 530 and 630 weather permitting. I thought about waiting around and then driving home through the night but decided there was too much on my plate(desk) so I drove home. Good thing, when I got home after midnight I checked and sure enough.......they delayed it until today.

A rare picture of my old Toyota, or one like it. Many of you would not recognize this view as all you got to see were the taillights disappearing on the distant horizon. One young lady I knew told me on first viewing this car that it wasn't so much a canary yellow as much as it was a canary turd yellow; no, that did not hurt my feelings a bit, and I soon forgot it, or did I?

Yeah, not really, I know. Not that fast of a car although the driver was more than capable

But here is something interesting; the Holiday Inn Express in Cocoa upgraded me to a small suite this week which featured this faucet in the kitchen. This is hot water

And this is cold water.

Either that or the red is on the right and the green is on the left when you're going up a creek; not really sure why they did that but it sure kept me entertained for a couple of hours.

Had dinner at Grandpa's Steakhouse Wednesday night in Cocoa ; their motto is "you can't beat Grandpa's meat" I'm not kidding, but the really troublesome thing was I wasn't sure if they were.........................

Off to Marietta next week

2012-02-04T19:23:00.051-05:00

February 10, 2012

Oh I Am So Sorry, But More Spiritual This Week!

Last week I cursed too much, this is what I meant to say:

Got it? If not, please let me know and I will clarify, OK and we're moving.......

Last week we received our invitation to participate in the annual Keli Wagoner Lady Angler Tournament June 8-9; we never fish but we do go to the party. Lovely lady, great cause, please support this tournament. Check it out www.thebigrock.com In searching through my contacts her name still pops up occasionally, can't bring myself to delete it......

No, I didn't watch the Duke-tar babies game Wednesday night, I was pretty tired from a sore throat all week and after dance class (just threw you a curve there, did you even see it break across the plate for a strike? Not to worry, you're among many.......) I went to bed early. Got up the next morning, picked up the News and Observer, noticed no headlines about the tarholes winning, told SWMBO Duke must have won. Caught the highlights on ESPN, what a game! Usually Duke doesn't come back like that, hope that kid stays around.

But in reality I'll show you how disconnected I am from the wide wide world of sports; at last week's Super Bowl five players were shown as recent inductees into the NFL Hall of Fame. What an honor, too bad I didn't know who any of them were. I guess my separation from an active participation in caring about sports has now reached that level. That's really odd

And I have to smile every now and then. Rode the old bike 325 miles last Saturday, had a lady in Greenville change lanes on me and a guy in the middle of the country east of Ayden try to run a stop sign (not a light) while watching me coming his way blowing the horn. I think he was trying to beat me to the stop sign so he could run it, must have been trying to get away from something pretty bad. I've found it pays to concentrate when riding that thing, to a point that when at a stop light I can feel myself relaxing to the edge of sleep. Probably shouldn't do that

In case you're wondering, a recent discussion revolved around the ideal music for the end of mankind; you know, if the world were to be in the process of ending what would be a good song with which to go out?

(This now involves audience participation, go to "comments" and enter your thoughts. You might could guess one of mine by the next paragraph, and no, this isn't my pick.....for a song anyway)

Feeling a little blue last Friday night on my way home and heard this old song on the radio; an old George Harrison silly song but with a nice previously unheard twist at the 3:10 mark, even made him smile. Thanks George. I saw him in New York City at a restaurant back in the 80's and I didn't want to bother him; still appreciate his music today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7yVkBwGiLc

And along this spiritual theme I recommend a listen to Reverend Bart Edwards' sermon of last Sunday. It takes 21:30 to listen to his sermon titled 23 and 1/2 hours but I recommend it.

http://www.firstpresmhc.org/sermons.htm

It's at the top of the list; if you'll listen I guarantee you'll get something out of it or your money back! All right not good enough? I'll double your money back and give you free shipping and handling. Seriously, a good one from Bart

Get it, flying fig?

Off to FL next week; yeah I know, Buffalo or Cocoa in February? I try to make that swing in the wintertime each year, beats making that call in July when they're really busy in the 100 degrees heat. Ask me really nicely and I'll bring you back some fresh honey-bells...........

And don't forget this week's blog came with homework, so let me know what music you think would be best, and then pass this blog address on to others!

2012-02-01T21:03:00.033-05:00

February 3, 2012

A Few Days Off

Got home last Thursday night but my laptop didn't make it until Tuesday evening. At first I was a little pissed but then discovered late Sunday that I hadn't been in the office all weekend, not a bad feeling. Monday was a semi-normal day but by Tuesday afternoon I was nearly out of things to do without being hooked up. Somehow I remained sane, or at least my perceived current version of it. TAR will be out of town this weekend so I'll be able to get some work done Sunday afternoon.....what football game?

So I promised pictures from Chicago. The hotel was inexpensive but pretty nice. Here is the view overlooking the Chicago River. Coincidentally that is also the location of the baggage handler that sent my bag to some unknown destination, fortunately I got it Sunday evening. I have a friend in our industry who went to a HARDI meeting a couple of years ago and her bag did not come in the next day. She was really surprised to receive an industry award the next day, and yes, still wearing the same clothes. Good luck for her she doesn't travel in jeans the way I do when I can...... Here's the view, pretty isn't it?

This is a legitimate company. Dink now has a hat with their logo on it, not sure if she's worn it yet or not. I actually brought it home for TAR but decided it was hard to walk with that hat up my ass sideways so I gave it to Dink. Not kidding, well, not about the company name anyway. Boy that still hurts......here is their website http://www.bigassfans.com/ go ahead and look I can wait. OK, shall we move on?

I tried to win this for the FO but then was informed by him that this was barely enough for the Super Bowl, not a "lifetime" supply. Didn't win it, didn't matter, but curious, how would one get that home if flying?

Since I stayed out of the office over the weekend I took Dink to Oriental, or as she says it Ornamental. We rode the (free for now but for how much longer? Come on, honestly, you're going to set up a ticket booth and hire extra personnel to charge a couple of bucks, OK $5 for the ride over? Better to throw a tip jar in the lounge, but as usual, say it with me......I digress) ferry over and had ice cream. Oriental seems a little tired over the past few years; not quite the same buzz as it had 20 years ago. But somehow in this picture taken from the HarborCam you can see TAR and I doing whatever we do, Dink's van, and if your eyesight is really good, Dink woofing down a cup of vanilla ($3.95) ice cream

And in follow up to my shocking revelation last week I did attend my first dance class since the 4th grade. or 5th, or 6th I forget. I still have no clue as to what I am doing but now am knowledgeably convinced that I am doing it worse than ever. Somewhere in that building there has to be a beer keg, and up until February 23rd I'll be looking for it. Mark the calendar, Lent joke # 1 for this year! Might have to sneak a flask in...........Everyone else makes it look a bit too easy, could I have been set up? Is this a coerced effort to expose my Achilles Heel(aw come on, it's right there above my heel)? My Krytonite? My foil? No probably not, I simply have no rhythm and can't dance worth a flying shit, odd that I take this opportunity to clean up this post...... And no, I did not have to go to a dance class to make that amazing discovery Magellan

Dancing reminds me of meeeee olde racing days; one tiny little incredibly small bad move and you screw up the entire lap, yep, a lot like that. Let's just say your partner goes the wrong way (because as you probably well know it wasn't my fault!) , yeah, let's go with that scenario, you're messed up. Time to wait for the instructor to start over with a 1-2-3 and................. Boy I sure hope he can go with me to every dance opportunity I have, otherwise if there is no one to count 1-2-3 and..........I'm neck-deep in the big muddy, again, odd that I take this this time to clean up my act!

Not caught up with office work yet, but headed to Raleigh for an open house, and then oh my! The boat show is in town. Might take a motorcycle road trip tomorrow; is Indy next week? I'm counting your hits, send this on to others please, but also.....your thoughts?

2012-01-27T13:42:00.009-05:00

January 27, 2012
Easy Post

Yes this is easy, no laptop to show you some pictures, it will be back in the house early next week. And yes, I have some good pictures from Chicago to show you, sorry, had some issues which required more IT help than I could offer. You'll see them later.

The Chicago show was good and bad, hot and cold, hopeful and discouraging. We skipped the past few years but thought we had a pretty good booth location, 20 feet, corner, across from Modine..................just in the wrong hall. Monday was busy until about 3 or 4; Tuesday seemed good through about 2, Wednesday was pretty slow. Logistics went well, we were in the truck rolling at 4 Wednesday afternooon.

Chicago is a great city with a lot to offer, went to Lawry's Monday night, McCormick and Schmick's Tuesday night. Good times with our engineer Jeff Fogle.

Got the big boat back today, going to get the motorcycle this afternoon. They did quite a bit of work on the boat and trailer assembly; the bike was a pinched wire and a short. Might ride some in the morning while SWMBO sleeps in................

Office next week, dancing lessons on Wednesday night, yes, I wrote that

2012-01-17T16:16:00.031-05:00

January 20, 2012
What The Heck Is That?

Wednesday night I worked on the old yellow boat cleaning out the grout and assorted what-not around the drain plug. As you no doubt recall this area has a tendency to leak, not a problem when using it as a swim platform in the good old summertime; however a sticky wicket when fishing in winter. I have tried several solutions to this problem, yes I have duct tape already installed, but figured I would start from square one and re-think the whole thing. First off, clean out what is already there. I found this lodged into the floor between the plug, the deck, and the transom. After trying unsuccessfully to remove it, and scraping it with my trusty rusty needle nose pliers, I deciphered that
1) I think it is a penny
2) Maybe I shouldn't dislodge the damn thing, it might be holding the entire boat together. I love that old yellow boat, I just can't seem to think of a good name for her; you know.....that old yellow boat....................

I've always considered a found penny as good luck, so in it stays; I'll work around it with some rubberized paint when it gets a little warmer and more conducive to this installation. A question for any experienced or budding metal-smiths: is there a metal material reason for this penny being installed here?

I wasted about two hours yesterday trying to re-subscribe to the Kaspersky antivirus program on TAR's computer. Anyone else have problems with this company? I couldn't believe that:
1) There was no customer service available by telephone
2) Some of their FAQ listings lead to websites which could not be identified.
So what's up with that? For the last couple of years Boris and Natasha came through for us; what happened? Oh well, uninstalled, refund requested, another service used; all for the lack of quality customer service. "We" are indeed always right to companies who stay in business.
Bitsy Howard died this week, she was a fixture at our church, second row right side. One of my favorite Christmas Eve memories was from a couple of years ago when a soloist sang my favorite Christmas song "O Holy Night" and I looked over and Bitsy was singing with her. Great lady, we'll miss her. We sang "He Lives" during her funeral, haven't heard that one in a while, Pastor Tim commented that it sounded like we knew it. It's odd that at funerals I hear songs from my childhood that I don't seem to hear very much anymore, and I know the words! Not the tune, can't carry a tune in a bucket but I do know the songs. Heard a bunch of them at Casey Wagner's mother's funeral, maybe that is one of the reasons I go to funerals...............Two songs I've requested for my own funeral were done yesterday, who remembers any of those? Come on, this is important, do you know my requests? Oh well...................
This from a tar baby road trip to Florida, why? Because:
1) I find it funny
2) I obviously like making lists this week.

And so you ask, who watched Then Came Bronson, who remembers it, and for that matter who cares?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnPIOH8bCfk
Traveling on a bike is something that I always wanted to do, and hopefully will one day. Not sure if TAR will be on the back, she doesn't travel lightly and I love her too much, but we'll see. In the mean time I'm off this morning for New Bern, Grifton and Ayden in search of new NCWRC landings and good BBQ. Bum's or Skylight? What is your favorite and why?
1) Taste
2) Texture
OK I'll stop now. Flying to Chicago tomorrow, catch Skuttle at booth number 1624 at the AHR Expo (http://www.ahrexpo.com/)
See you there? How good was this blog? Send it to 100 of your friends? 10? 1? I need more views

2012-01-09T09:38:00.028-05:00

January 14, 2012
Halfway Through January? Are You Kidding?

Man does time travel like an arrow, fruit flies like a rotten banana (sorry, I love that joke). Last weekend Jackson and I drove to Rocky Mount and caught the train to DC. Had a great hotel with an upgrade to a suite. Thursday evening was simple, Five Guys. Hard to beat although the Occupy DC encampment did obscure the view from our luxury hotel (joke made by Jackson)
Got up Friday and found our way on the Metro to Arlington for a couple of meetings with some industry guys. Jackson is thinking of a DC internship some time in his college career. Afterwards we went to the George Washington Masonic Memorial (http://gwmemorial.org/) which obviously has some new meanings to young Jackson. That night we went to the Bullets, uh excuse me, Wizards NBA game.
Early on it looked like we were the only ones there but by halftime the arena was pretty much filled

I could care less about basketball these days, especially the NBA; however I was very much entertained by the Knicks and John Wall of the Wizards. Great game, but my oh my, the halftime............................the Red Panda! Watch if you dare, really you must watch this video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSB4O_p6pxw
Keep in mind that before this video she already flipped one, then two, then three and then four big old Jethro Bodine cereal bowls onto that little saucer on the top of her head. I got the idea she'd done it before..................
Another picture of Jackson at a presidential assassination site, I'm starting to see a pattern

Saturday we spent most of the day on our first trip to the Holocaust Museum. I am a history geek, or maybe just a geek............. and learned much about this period of German history.
This in front of the National Archives

Later we went to our mandatory Air and Space Museum visit (the planetarium what the kids call sucks) and then to the Natural History Museum for the i-Max Mission Impossible movie. I don't spend very much time in movie theaters but after they showed a ten minute preview to the Batman movie I wanted to just stay and wait for it. Still pissed off that I didn't get to see Senna, especially in an I-Max. If anyone knows where I can see it at an I-Max I'll send you a silver dollar, but as usual I digress...............Oh well, great movie followed by a good dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill. I've eaten there a few times and it is always a true DC experience. One of these days I'm going to try to eat in the dining room...............
And of course on our walk home, and no, Barry couldn't see us. Still a beautiful home at night, so much history within the lens of the camera

Home Sunday afternoon, quick pickup at Bill's BBQ and back to Morehead by dark-thirty. Jackson enjoyed his first train ride; great little getaway weekend. Trying to come up with a musical score for this film shown below but it keeps going back to That Lonesome Highway from Then Came Bronson, but that involves another transportation mode of which I have grown to become very fond..................OK, who remembers Then Came Bronson? Seriously, anybody? Maybe you can see an underlying theme here, if not then Google it

And this my friends is in here because I like this picture; did I mention a third is on the way?

Anonymous reader question: the fishing trip was on Hancock Creek off the Neuse near MCAS Cherry Point
In the office all week; clean up, fix up, start up week. What adventures lurk on the horizon?

2012-01-05T10:48:00.021-05:00

January 6, 2012
2B1ASK1

Busy weekend with the High family in Morehead; once again we used a seafood theme to welcome the new year. We did so in good fashion, played Let's Make a Deal with a somewhat reluctant guest, everyone stayed awake until midnight, we went to bed, and then awoke to find that "someone" broke into our house and slayed several empty wine bottles during our slumber. In the paraphrased words of OJ "I will not rest until I find the real killer.................."
Let's see, tomorrow is Daddy's 90th birthday, still hard to get my thoughts together on that idea.
Holly and Jay are expecting, maybe on the third try we'll get that Duke name in there somewhere. Dinky Duke has a nice ring to it. I saw where someone named their newborn Y'all-Jealous Jones, so they can't use that one............wonder if Y'all-Jealous is a boy or girl name? Kind of like Frank Zappa's kids Moon Unit and Dweezel.................
You can now ask Jackson because oh yes, he was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason this week. Our secretary commented at the end of the meeting that tonight we watched a father raise his son, an uncle raise his nephew, and a grandfather raise his grandson. Pretty long night, but a good time for all.
I know you want pictures and videos, so from Hancock Creek last week:

This video is for the FO; fish here and get an air show free! Who knows if this will work or not, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. If not please try again

Off on some personal business for a couple of days and the in the office next week