The Dawning of the Age of Aquariums

The newly formed Baby Boomers group at church went to the NC Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium Friday night and had a ball! I know, you don't believe I'm old enough to be a Baby Boomer..........and you're right; I went with Terri.....who is! Just kidding, we had a really good time. We've been to several parties through the years there, and one major league wedding reception this past year for Heather and Captain Nephew Kevin; but this party was a little unique; watch the videos and see why.

First up, a shot from the big tank; Terri encourages me to take a pretty fish's picture; or at least I think that's what she meant

This features a nice channel bass with lots of spots

A nurse shark comes by; that is a nurse shark isn't it Heather?

A lionfish and an eel; lionfish are now off the NC coast

In this shot, several sharks, a couple of cobias, tons of jacks and a beautiful tarpon cruise by

Now here is where the evening took a turn; many of you have been to this aquarium, ever seen it from this view? This is the rail above the U-boat display tank. Warning: the noise level is very high due to the water pumps in operation, you might want to turn the volume down before opening.....especially if you are in an office right now.

The last video, again with a high noise level due to the pumps, shows lots of sharks, jacks, and at the end three cobias cruising over the top of the U-boat.
We had a great time.

This week: someone in our family is retiring. Want to see some pictures? Tune in later

December 6, 2008

I was in Ohio all week, ran into a pretty good snow shower near the Winterplace resort; it laid down after that but got heavier near Cleveland. Traffic slowed to a crawl but then picked back up on the turnpike.

Going to Columbia SC tomorrow, I'll work with MidSouth Marketing in the Carolinas all week.

December 3, 2008

And how better to celebrate the birth of flight than some pictures of number one nephew doing his thing..........hey wait, that's December 17th not the 3rd.........oh well, too late now.
Here are some shots from Kevin in Iraq

We are very proud of that young man!
And last, and certainly least, someone asked for the recipe for Merry Old Sole, here t'is
Still in OH, heading home Friday night with some snow videos

Thanksgiving 2008

A sharp dressed man showed up, looking good in that sweater vest and barefooted, I think he started on that sippy-cup pretty early Thursday morning.

We had family, in-laws and out-laws here for Thursday's dinner. Didn't hear any complaints about the food, we had accommodations for everyone, and there were no fistfights or stabbings.............inside the house anyway.

Terri (who also celebrated her birthday on this day) was able to breathe a big sigh of relief that everyone had plenty to eat, liked her house addition, decorating and furniture, and had a good time. She has three more weeks until retirement, but who is counting................everyone!!!) ?

And here's a look at some of the crowd that day; the end of the video is for you K-girl, thanks again.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone; off to OH Monday through Friday; might post some snow video when I get back.

November 21, 2008

Still up all night due to the lingering effects of another West Coast jet lag; I thought I would proceed with another post right on top of the last one. Don't look for many more for a while....unless I go fishing this weekend or get creative at the Thanksgiving party.

On Saturday I went to Carlsbad CA for a few days to participate in the annual AHRI meeting at the LaCosta resort; pretty nice digs for an old eastern NC boy; although I did have to go a few days without BBQ. Mr Sulu at Hertz tried to get me to upgrade to a Hummer, Corvette or a Shelby Mustang; I told him I was having dinner with the owner of our company Monday night, didn't think that would look quite right. By mistake he gave me a Mustang at the same price as the mid-size I reserved. Not a bad ride, very attractive, little light on HP but better than the Chrysler POS I'm used to getting.

Sunday morning we had our board of directors meeting, after which I went to ride and found this gourmet restaurant. Can you say ANIMAL STYLE? They make good burgers here; but I apologize to my So-Cal buds, I prefer Jack in the Box, sorry.

On Monday evening I was invited to the Powers residence in Laguna Beach; I arrived at 4:00 in time to watch a magnificent sunset. The Powers were gracious hosts; I saw the military memorabilia and had Swedish meatballs! Good times.

The colors were much prettier than my little camera was able to reproduce.

After the sun set the shape of Catalina Island could be seen on the horizon. A visit there is one of the things on my list before I check out of here. I've flown over it but never been.

Here is some video I captured during the sunset.

Tuesday afternoon I went to ride in the Mustang. I went east, kinda hard to go west there, and went up into the hills and did a little exploring. Saw an area which had burned, just a small place,but there were lots of fire trucks on the scene. In this video I am trying to run down an exotic sports car of some sort, it was either a Ferrari or a GMC pickup, I forget which. Didn't think about the music until after wards, hope you like ELO.

I like driving in Southern California! As long as there are no jams, people are moving. I was told on the back roads like you can flash your lights repeatedly at anyone who holds you up, and if you keep doing it they will eventually pull over and let you through. Often they will salute you with an expression that lets you know they think you are the number one driver in the state! Hey slow drivers, I think you're number one too!

Later I went to the beaches beginning at San Juan Capistrano (boy those polysyllabic words are hard to swallow, get it....swallow.............San Juan Capistrano.......OK I digress) and headed South. I stopped at several surf spots I've read or heard about; probably the best lineup I saw was at San Onofre. I think I could surf these waves; as long as you have to trim the board and then get up (on my feeble knees that takes a while); I could make this work. Lot of difference in these waves and what we see on the east coast; this guy has a good long ride

Bought a t-shirt at Hobie Alter's, stopped several places and ended up at La Jolla around sunset. Jay took a picture of Terri and me there many many years ago; I found the bluff but couldn't find the old picture. I'll post it if I can find it.

Around San Clemente I saw a carrier offshore; helicopters were running back and forth carrying cargo containers suspended by cable for quick release. All in all a fun afternoon, and then back to NC Wednesday morning.

November 20

28 is Fred Lorenzen, 11 is Ned Jarrett. Tiny Lund won the race in an upset; he drove the #21 Woods Brothers car after Marvin Panch was burned while practicing in a Ford/Maserati for the sports car race. Lund ran to the burning car and pulled Panch out; Panch recommended Lund for the ride. Lund was later killed at Talladega in a wreck with J.D. McDuffie. Rumor had it that Lund took the webbing out of his helmet because his head was so big.

And this is what a batter faced when batting against Sandy Koufax. What made the picture unique was he only hit 2 homers in his career, and this was one of them. He pitched left and batted right; what kind of imbecile does that? Oh never mind......that's right.................... the Old Paratrooper tried that trick if I remember correctly.
Anyway, Koufax pitched in 397 games, won 165, saved 9 (believe it or not, he and Drysdale used to also pitch relief during their prime years in the early 60's), struck out 2396 in 2324 innings. He was a great all around athlete, but only hit 2 dingers in his 12 years in the majors.

CA pictures and videos coming up soon.

Life Magazine November 19, 08

Saw in USA Today that Life/Google made a library of pictures available online; only had a couple of minutes before heading to the airport but thought I would post a couple.
Can you name these drivers?

Not really that hard if you're an old NASCAR fan; where was the race? What year, and who won? Just got a little harder didn't it?
Now here is a unique picture, can you tell why?
Heading to the San Diego airport in a sec; I'll post some videos and pictures when I get the chance.