Kids, and Growing Older

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Over the past four days absolutely nothing of interest happened. It was pretty routine around here. I did manage to go golfing with my friends Doug and Junior last Wednesday. That was fun because I shot a 48 for the second time in a row. That’s pretty amazing because before that happened I made a commitment, to myself, that I was going to count every stroke and play the ball wherever it wound up. If I could find it. Magically, my scores began to improve and it was quite satisfying. We’ll see if that continues. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to go back to my old ways and just count the good shots.

Tuesday evening I was invited to attend Baylee Jean Marie Cate’s 2nd grade program which was held at the high school. That’s also her Tai Kwan Do night, an activity at which she’s becoming progressively good, so I picked them up at the dojo and went straight to the program. It was a fun event all about singing picnic songs.

Baylee is in the front row, far left.

Additionally, I got a glimpse of Baylee’s niece, Danyell, who is also in the 2nd grade. She’s also my Great Grand Daughter, but we don’t get to see her very often. She’s in the middle of the back row, above the little boy who is looking at his necktie.

Baylee also got to perform a dance routine with three others which was fun.

Wednesday evening I attended a rousing session at Church Council and helped solve some problems. I don’t remember what they were but I’ll find out when I type up the minutes … I’m the secretary. I volunteered. Perhaps I mentioned that previously.

On Thursday I had coffee with two of my friends at the Kozy – Larry and Howard. Like normal, we solved some of the more important world issues that plague us, but we did it to deaf ears. No one listens to us. Except the waitresses. They’re always listening, but that’s OK. They take good care of us.

Friday morning I picked up Diane’s Uncle Bill and ferried him, and his ailing 35-year-old John Deere edger, to the outer reaches of Hillsboro, to his chosen repair facility. I swear we drove a 100 miles. Actually, I think we were on the outskirts of Seaside when we finished. The up side is we got to investigate all the new mowers and tractors, of which they have an abundance. It’s called Pape’. I made a half-hearted attempt to convince Bill that I, and the Internet, could fix his edger for practically nothing and save the trip. But, his heart was set on that ride, so away we went. We had a great conversation during the drive, so it was all good.

I picked Bill up at 0800 and it was time for lunch when I returned home. Lunch was a challenge, too, because Diane made me this …

Its was messy, but really good.

Somewhere in there Lydia and Jennifer showed up with their dogs, Solo and Kylo who had fun running around the place and eating all the dog food people forgot to pick up. At one point Oz and Kylo stood guard at the front door …

Just a few days ago Kylo was about Ozzie’s size. He’s going to be huge.

Friday afternoon Diane picked up Lydia and drove her to Hood River where she had a date with Chris to attend his Prom. He lives in White Salmon, Washington which is just across the Columbia River from Hood River. They would have stayed in White Salmon but there were no rooms available. Chris and Lydia have been friends for a few years since they met at Camp Tadmor one summer. Chris was Cedric’s friend first when Cedric worked for an entire summer at the camp.

Anyway, here is the happy couple. Our little Lyddie has grown up.

Yesterday, my birthday, I woke up all alone. Except for the dogs. Diane wouldn’t take them with her so I had to do the normal routine with them. Once they were fed, I was awake, ready to go to work pulling weeds, and whatnot, but forced myself to sit on the couch to read for a couple of hours anyway. As luck would have it, I fell asleep and had a nice little nap before Panzee barked at something.

So, I got up, donned my work clothes, grabbed my tools, and headed for the front yard where I went to work pulling grass and weeds from the dirt that should just be dirt littered with things we planted. This is the normal spring routine and I generally do it alone because Diane is very allergic to grass. She can only watch. Since she wasn’t there meant that I could also mow the front yard, which I did. Mowed the back, too.

I wasn’t alone the entire day. Jeff rode his bike up to deliver an apple fritter, which was delicious, and wished me a happy birthday. That was special. I also received birthday wishes from nearly 80 friends on Facebook. That was a treat, too, because I had no idea I had that many friends. Wow!

Though the love of my life wasn’t there, it was a good day. I did what I wanted to do, watched a couple of movies, watched the University of Oregon softball ladies advance toward the championship game of the NCAA tournament, fed the dogs and cat, etc. Generally, I just relaxed like I was told to do. But, without Diane there, even in another room, it’s just not the same, you know? I missed her.

After being relieved of Lydia Duty by Dan and Jennifer yesterday afternoon, Diane came safely back to me. I’m happy we are able to be available for the kids, but I’m also happy with every moment I get to spend with my bride. Especially at such an advance age.

I’ll be 80, just like Jim, in 7 years. Who knew I’d be allowed to live this long?

I’m a happy guy.

G’day.

RIP Chief Master Sgt. Duncan Hannigan

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This is a tough one for me because Duncan was not just another career military guy that we lost far too soon. He was married to Julie Walker, Diane’s cousin, therefore, my cousin. He was Family.

My personal interaction with Duncan was strictly social when we had the rare opportunity to visit with him, Julie, and Jake. Oh, we talked about military “stuff” because that’s what military folks do. We were curious about each other’s military ‘adventures’ because we represented both ends of the current spectrum from Viet Nam, through the Gulf Wars, to the present. That’s a lot of ground to cover and we didn’t have nearly enough time to share it all. There should have been years ahead of us to get that done. But, alas, cancer squashed that opportunity.

Chief Duncan was a stellar Guy. Someone I would have cheerfully served with had circumstances been different for us. That’s my personal perception of Duncan, but virtually every article and comment I can find about him reveals that it was a universal feeling for anyone who interacted with him.

He was supposed to retire late last year but his illness delayed that to the point where his retirement party, and memorial were celebrated at the same time. I think Duncan probably smiled down on everyone at that solemn event, appreciating the irony of the dual purpose.

I lament that we didn’t have more time to visit and learn about each other, and I was honored to know him.

Nuts, Bolts, and a Mower Engine

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Just checking in to calm those who may have been concerned about my health and welfare after that marathon run to Bremerton a couple of days ago. I’m just fine. For those of you who may not be concerned about my health and welfare, for any reason, that’s OK. Lots of times I’m not concerned about my health and welfare, either which usually ends in a trip to the emergency room for stitches. You would think it’s because I’m careless, which is definitely a contributing factor, but the main reason for my accidents is because I’m concerned about your health and welfare all the time.

It’s distracting.

Makes me lose focus.

You’d think I’d learn, right? Especially after all those lectures I get about being more careful. Oh well, I generally mend OK and the many scars I have are like the rocks I pick up on the beach. I know what I was doing when I got it, and where I was at the time. They are memories.

Now I’m happy to share the good news that I’ve successfully earned the right to call myself a Small Engine Repair Guy (SERG). Remember that mower engine I tore apart last week? Well, today I got it all back together, didn’t have any engine parts left over, and it runs like new. I’m so happy! There’s more to this story, of course, and it’s another one of those frustrating trips, but the end result was worth it.

It all started yesterday morning when I took Diane’s truck to Emmert Motors to discover why the backup lights are always on. I may have mentioned that I semi-resolved the problem by taking the backup light bulbs out. It was tempting to just leave it at that and not bother taking the truck in for a checkup. There was always the chance of a more serious underlying issue, however, so I drug myself off the couch at 0745 so I could honor the 0800 appointment.

I checked in with Tom, gave him the keys and the backup light bulbs, then went to talk with Steve for a while. I always do that when I visit Emmert, visit with Steve. Sometimes I go there just to visit with Steve. He’s my favorite car salesman and he always has candy on his desk. After a short visit I went to the lounge area and fiddled with my iPad until Tom appeared and asked me to follow him. I did.

He took me to the garage and demonstrated for me that the backup lights were functioning just fine. He believed me that they were on for 2-3 days, like I reported, but they were working fine now. He just said to bring it back if it happened again, preferably during the failure. So, apparently I fixed it by taking the bulbs out. Go figure. But, we’re keeping an eye on those things, believe me.

After that morning trip, I returned home and at a sandwich in preparation for tackling the lawn mower engine. Diane insisted. She was preparing for her trip to the court house to finish ups some community service she was assigned. No, wait. That was a couple of weeks ago. She finished her community service. She was going down to join her friends on the counting board for the current ballot.  Yeah! That’s it!

After the sandwich I attired myself in some of my better dirty work clothes and made my way to the church. It was raining more than not, so I was planning on getting wet because the lawn mower is stored in a small shed with no room to work on anything. As it turned out, though, the sun shined most of the time which allowed me to sit in the wet grass to do the majority of my work which was to put everything back together.

I got busy by first scraping off the old crank case gasket using a starter shim I happened to have from the last time I installed a starter on the old ’68 Chevy truck. I meant to take a chisel or knife, but forgot, but the shim seemed to work just fine. Just took a while. Made my hands sore, too.

Then I cleaned up all the parts as best I could, considering the circumstances, and went about the process of discovering where all the parts, bolts, and screws went. That really wasn’t a huge challenge because all you have to do is match up bolts to the holes they fit in. For instance, there were 10 bolts holding the crank case together and they were long ones. They wouldn’t fit anywhere else. This was pretty much true for the entire reassembly process. The tricky part was the new cam shaft which required me to match two little dots together on the cam gear, and the shaft gear. It took a while, but I did it. It just didn’t happen as easily as I had anticipated. From the YouTube video I watched it seemed to be pretty simple.

When the last bolt was tightened, I set the engine in the proper place on the mower frame and manually turned engine over to see what happened. No way was I going to try it with the starter first. No sir! Good thing I did, too, because it spun around nicely for about 1.5 rotations then went “clunk” and stopped. Turning it backwards the same distance produced the same result. So, I figured I must have missed the mark when lining up those two dots. However, I’d had about enough small engine exercise by that time, called it quits and went home.

I was only on the couch for a short time, recovering, before Diane returned home, released from the Counting Board for good behavior. We went through what has become a daily routine of “what do you want to eat,” and “I don’t care,” then Diane got a couple of egg rolls and some rice. She suggested that I eat the last Kung Pao TV dinner, which I did, along with a couple of egg rolls of my own. We have a large box of them in the freezer. It only takes 3.5 minutes for heat a couple of them up. It’s 4 minutes for the TV dinner.

This morning I got up with that stupid mower engine buzzing around in my head, mentally preparing myself for the necessity of dismantling it again to see what I did wrong.

As I was pulling the mower out of its little garage, it started pouring rain so I just picked up the engine and carried it into the mower space and went to work.

I took out all the bolts, removed the crank case cover and stared intently at the new gear I’d installed yesterday with great care. It only took me about 30 seconds to see that I’d not matched the cam gear dot with the crank shaft gear dot, but with a gear on the crank shaft that was just different that all the others. About 20 teeth around the corner was the little dot I’d missed. I firmly believe that the folks who build Briggs & Stratton engines make their crank shaft gears like that just to fool folks like me with the intent of getting them to try cranking it with the starter before checking to see that it works. Well, I previously proved that I didn’t fall for that tactic. No sir! No, I didn’t get it right the first time, but I didn’t break anything, either. All I wasted was a little time.

I released the rocker arms from the cam shaft push rods, turned the engine to the spot where the dots would line up, slipped the cam shaft into place just as easily as the guy on YouTube did in his video. The crank shaft cover went on just as easily, like the video, and things just fell into place. All those bolts and nuts went back like I had been doing this kind of work for years. Once together, the engine turned freely, as it should. The little rocker arms danced up and down just perfect, the carburetor almost attached itself, as did the exhaust pipe. When I looked around my work space, there was only one piece left, an odd looking bent wire thing that I hadn’t removed. It had fallen off something when I took the engine apart and I had no idea if it was even part of the process because I’d just found it laying in the lawn.

I had a feeling it belonged somewhere around the carburetor and studied that area for a long time before giving up, cleaning up, and driving to the Scappoose Sears store to look at the new mowers and see if I could find something similar on them. No one questioned me as I wandered around the dozen or so mowers on display, lifting the hoods and staring intently at the  engines. I can only surmise that they didn’t want to take a chance they’d have to talk with me because I was pretty ratty looking, even though I had arrived in a pretty nifty little car.

This investigative effort proved to be a waste of time so I went back to the church and dialed up Bing to see what I could find.

Finally, I found a reference that gave me the answer. The left-over piece was the part that chokes the engine when the accelerator lever is pushed to the maximum level. So simple. Well, now I know and think I could repeat this job quite easily, without YouTube, in a fraction of the time I’d spent learning.

Once the engine was together, I bolted it to the frame, installed the pulleys, connected all the wires, and whatnot, then sat in the seat. I didn’t try starting it right away, but just sat there a bit, resting. Actually, I was casting good mojo at the engine, willing it to turn over and run. Apparently mojo works because when I turned the key it fired right up and ran like a top. I only let it run for a few seconds before realizing that I’d failed (again) to replace that 48 ounces of oil I’d drained from the engine at the start of this process.

Withe new oil installed, I started it, and ran around in circles in the little yard next to the shed before putting it all away. There would have been more circles, but it was raining pretty hard.

I’d done it! I fixed the mower! The small engine repair guy said he could do it in 5 hours, at $80 an hours, plus parts which I paid about $80 for. So I saved the church $400, minimum. All it cost me, in addition to those parts, was some of my time.

To put that in perspective, considering I was making about $40 an hour when I retired the second time, had I been charging for time it would have cost the church about $480 in time plus parts.

Good thing my time is free, right?

In my eyes, that time was well spent because I’d learned a new skill. I’ve busted a lot of those little engines over the years, but had never been compelled to tear one apart to see what makes them tick. That’s odd, too, because I generally tear everything apart right away to see what’s inside, but not engines. Turns out they are actually pretty simple and made me realize that had I been a little braver, or inquisitive, I could have saved a lot of money over the years by fixing those things instead of replacing them.

Now I’m a mechanic. Really, I am. Once my hands heal up, and my sore muscles go away, I’m pretty confident I can talk someone through this process should the need arise.

All that’s missing is the hood. It’s all good.

Maybe I’ll go find my Bubba Teeth and make my own video.

From a Flawless Plan to an Adventure

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The plan was:

  • Jennie to take Cedric to Sandy for double-header – Lydia was to pitch both games – and Diane and I would meet them there.
  • After the games, take Cedric back to his ship, USS Nimitz CVN-68, in Bremerton, WA.
  • Diane would drive Jennie’s car home while we headed north to Bremerton.

Simple plan, right? Well, it morphed quickly into the Adventure when Diane returned home from her dermatologist in the morning with lots of burned, crispy spots on her neck and doctor’s orders to remain out of the sun for 4 days. Considering the way the sun shines around here, that could take a couple of weeks. When I returned from golfing, which I did while Diane was at the dermatologist, she said she wouldn’t be going to the games which changed the entire plan for driving Cedric back to his ship.

The new plan was for me to drive Jennie and Cedric to the game, then just head north after the games. Simple, right? Well, to get ready, I had about an hour to mow the front yard, shower, and pick up Lydia and Cedric for the 1.25 hour trip to Sandy. Traffic was horrendous and it took 2 hours so we missed the first inning. It was OK because Lydia wasn’t pitching. Brooklyn was! Shock. She was supposed to have been off doing her Columbia County Rodeo Queen responsibilities. So, the six seniors got to play two more games together. Lydia pitched the first 3 innings of the second game then moved to first base.

Left to right: Brooklyn (pitcher), Kayla (3rd base), Bailey (left field), Ceiarra (1st Base), Mercedes (catcher), Lydia (any position needed)

Towards the end of the game Cedric gave us a huge sigh, hung his head, and reported that he had forgotten his keys at home. That required another change to the plans. Instead of going directly north via the freeways, we had to detour back through St. Helens. This increased the 3 hour trip to 4 hours. He had also forgotten one of his hats. OK, it happens, so we just dealt with it and went on about the business of watching the rest of the game.

Before leaving, Cedric had time to say good-bye to Lydia who was going home on the bus with the team. She got very emotional knowing she wouldn’t see him until next February, at the earliest. She cried, something she rarely does. For that reason, and others related to female hormones, some of her team mates started crying too. It wasn’t long before many of them were crying in support of Lydia’s sadness, and Cedric was getting hugs from many of the girls who don’t even know him, wishing him luck. It was a Kodak moment the coaches couldn’t ignore so they gathered the team for a picture of them crying and laughing. Cedric was very touched by it all, as were we.

Then something happened off to my left that caused a reaction that soothed the crowd.

With all this emotion going on Coach Little told Jennie to just take Lydia home with us, which we did. She slept with her head in Cedric’s lap most of the way. During the trip it Lydia said she’d like to go to Bremerton with us because she’d never been on a navy base and would like to see Cedric’s ship. School on Friday was the only issue but Jennie resolved that quickly and the deal was done. Lydia was going with us.

We got to St. Helens around 2030, Lydia got a go bag while Cedric passed out more hugs with his brothers, Jeran …

… and Ahmed …

… and away we went. It was dark, nothing to see, and Jennie drove from home to Bremerton. We got on base no problem, and dropped Cedric at his ship’s liberty gate. Lots of lights but not a photo-op.

Then we went in search of the Navy Gateway Inn and Suites (NGIS). It took an hour to find it and required the help of a person on the phone guiding us while she used a map of the base. While looking for parking I noticed signs indicating the spots we’re reserved for NGIS which looked suspiciously like NCIS so I didn’t park in them. Finally, I looked closer and noticed it was for the hotel and gratefully parked.

When checking in I bantered with the desk clerk, Randy, and learned he was born on Guam. Jennie piped up, “I was too. In Agana!” she said. What a small world even though Jennie was born there about 20 years before Randy.

Room had one bed and a recliner. Lydia, to be kind, said she wanted the recliner but I declined her the recliner and reclined in it quite comfortably the entire nite while the two girls, one of whom forget her Jammies, rested nicely on the queen bed. Even though Lydia slept in the clothes she wore for the trip, she intentionally didn’t bring Jammies, so I guess it was Jennie’s Jammies that didn’t make the trip. It was OK. By the time we got the lights out, it was about 0100 and we were all dog-tired.

Got up about 1000, left the room, then went to the NEX for some trinkets to commemorate the journey. Then I drove them all over the base to get a good view of the USS Nimitz in the daylight so the girls could see it. Last night it was too dark to see it clearly.

Then we went to breakfast at Denny’s which was almost all the way north in Silverdale. We all ate quite well. Lydia had a bacon burger with avocado which I had doubts that she could wrap her mouth around …

… but she did …

Jennie had this, but didn’t want the sausage links …

… so I got them with my Denver omelette …

After breakfast, Jennie drove us south toward home, the long way through Shelton, because we didn’t want the freeway stress. About 50 miles from the finish, she cried Uncle and I took over to the end. She drove the lion’s share of the trip and didn’t scare me even once. I was proud of her. After I started driving it began raining harder, and harder causing me to run the wipers at full speed much of the time.

I got them home a little after 1500, waited for Lydia to get her softball gear, then took her back to school for practice. The team has one more game on Friday then they can put their softball gear away. Lydia will pitch the entire game Friday because Brooklyn is definitely done for the season.

I arrived home to an empty house because Diane is at the court house again, working with the election committee. Well, the house wasn’t really empty because the dogs were here, and they were very happy to see me. They’re always happy to see anyone, even if they’ve only been gone a couple of minutes.

Oh, and the hat Cedric forgot at home? He forgot it in the truck when he got his stuff to go to the ship. Lydia found it.

I was feeling pretty good until I put this all down on paper and now I’m tired again. If it was a little later, I’d go to bed but it’s only 1730, so I’m going just have a nap.

Oops! Diane just buzzed into the garage in the roadster so maybe a nap isn’t an option. I may have to go out and kill something for her to eat.

Lunch at the Senior Center

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Today I accompanied Diane to the St. Helens Senior Center for lunch. Today was the day that some ladies from our humble little Bethany Lutheran Church served. They do this once a month. Today it was Diane, Jeannie, Sue, & Barb. There were other helpers, too, and I’ve been known to pitch in once in a while, myself. However, today Diane gave me $5 so I could just sign in and eat. I figured that was a sign I should stay out of their way. So I did. All the ladies working there were all excited about the ‘new’ car and wanted to see it. But, we didn’t drive it to the center. They were very disappointed and shunned us for a short period of time.

I sat down across from my friend, Richard, who knows the Bible probably better than the people who reportedly wrote it in the versions we see today. Richard conducts Bible study at our church every Sunday morning and his excitement and enthusiasm about sharing his knowledge is infectious. He’s an amazing man and I was blessed to have wound up across from him for lunch. In addition to having a terrific lunch, I received an education from a special person.

To my left sat Derek Anderson’s Grandpa. He lives just down the block, and around the corner from Diane’s Mom, Jean. Derek is a small town success story from Scappoose, where I grew up – long before Derek was around. He was a childhood friend and classmate of Sarah Jean Underwood who is also from Scappoose. She’s another success story of the kind boys in my classes dreamed about but never knew. Now that I’m older and wiser now I can honestly say I don’t feel that such an omission from my past was a loss. My classmates were all great, in all grades, except the ones who picked on me because I was small for my age. Yes, I was bullied. Quite a lot, actually, but, you know what, I didn’t realize it at the time. Bullies were an accepted aspect of growing up in the 50’s that served up character-building moments. I learned to deal with it by injecting humor into tense moments and that has served me well. I’ve done OK. Of the notable folks who bullied me, one became my best friend throughout high school, one went on to become a PhD kind of guy who has this absolutely awful limp-fish handshake that gives me the creeps, and I out-lived the rest of them. No, I had nothing to do with their demise. They just kinda withered away on their own.

So, it was a good lunch, and I lied about the girls shunning us. They’re great friends and were just disappointed they wouldn’t get to see it. Funny how little cars like that get folks excited.

After lunch I passed through the kitchen with Diane as she made her way out and she stopped to talk a lady who looked familiar. She knew Diane and she knew me. Diane was perplexed that this stranger knew who she was so asked for her name. I beat this stranger to the punch as her name passed clearly through the very small portion of my brain that provides me with information that I can confidently rely on as accurate. It’s like a flash of clarity that splashes answers on the inside of my forehead where it’s easier to read. “Kerry Kennedy!” I blurted, knowing I was right. Giving a slight nod, indicating I was correct, she added that she used to be Kennedy but is now Kelly. With this knowledge I surmised that she didn’t have to change any of the monograms on any of her linen because KK doesn’t care what the second K stands for. I don’t really think she had that thought in mind when selecting a husband, but it worked out OK for the linen.

Kerry and I were school classmates for all of my school years in Scappoose. Sadly, since I left Scappoose not long after graduating from high school, and remained gone for most of 27 years in the Navy, I missed the part where my classmates grew older with me. In my head, I’m the only one who got older. The result is that I just don’t recognize most of them when our paths crossed. I was so happy that I recognized Kerry and made this one small connection to my childhood.

I was also humbled to learn that Kerry reads my posts. When someone tells me this, I’m always amazed. I’ve said that before, and it’s always true. It’s a humbling experience for me to discover that someone other than family reads this stuff, and you are all over the map

So, to all of you who choose to bless me by spending your valuable time reading this, Thank You. It makes an old guy pretty happy. I still don’t know why strangers spend their time with me, but I’m at the point in my life where I’m finding that I know really need to know. I’ll just appreciate that folks find what I write interesting even though I tend to fib a little once in a while.

Now it’s time for bed. Diane said so.

G’nite.

Speed Run To Nampa

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Last Saturday Diane decided we should take a trip to Nampa to visit Jim & Donna. The main underlying reason was to pick up her ‘new’ car that Jim checked out for us and deemed it to be in great shape. Based on his superior input, I made the deal and away we went. In addition to getting to spend some time with J & D, we also got visits from Daniel and his girlfriend, Stefany. Stefany was another reason for the visit because we needed to meet her and ensure she was worthy.

She most definitely is.

We also had to meet Birk, Tyler’s puppy, a Shitzoodle, or Pooshitz – we never came to an agreement on his heritage. Doesn’t matter because he’s adorable and full of mischief. He played with us for a while then went to explore the house. Saturday evening he managed to christen Donna’s living room, the one with no TV, with a firm #2. That was the indicator that it was time for Tyler and Birk to leave, which they did. It was good to see Tyler. He’s never been around in the past when we get permission to cross the Idaho border.

So, two goals met, only one more to go. That had to wait until after church on Sunday because it required that we drive to a secret address in Boise, where Ken lives, so we could buy his car. We did that then drove back to Nampa and had lunch at the Sizzler. It was a good choice because Jim got his wallet out before I did and we all ate well.

Then we took the car, who’s gas tank was empty, to Fred Meyer for petroleum, then back to the house to relax, sleep off lunch, and get to bed early so we could get up early this morning and get through Portland traffic before the rush hour.

It was a tough drive because we both had to drive the entire way. Very tiring, but we stopped more often than normal and made it home OK. Well, there was one semi truck driver who tried to kill me, but other than that, it was a great trip.

Here’s what we brought home …

It’s a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire Limited Roadster.

Now I really do need to get rid of there old truck.

60+ to 80+, a broken lawnmower, and other Stuff.

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Yup! That’s what happened. The temps turned on a dime from a high of 60 something to 80 something. The weather things I’ve looked at show 81 for today, but our thermometers registered 86. Now, my challenge is to get my lawn mower cleaned up before the rain comes back day after tomorrow.

I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but it may as well. I thought I heard that we’ve had more than 141 days of measurable rain this year so far, a record. That’s kind of tricky, I think, because there have only been 123 days registered in 2017.

Could be I have no idea what I’m talking about which is not news. I rarely do. But, it’s fun trying to make sense of what I think I hear. Diane’s solution for that is for me to wear my hearing aid, but that takes all the fun out of it.

Now, the lawn mower … it’s the one that Floyd and Nancy bought for the church. Just recently it decided to not start so I tried to get people to dig out all the small engine repair people they know so we can take advantage of the good weather. Thankfully, Howard mowed the church yard so all we need to do is clean up the cut grass. Having the mower run would help.

Well, I didn’t get any valid offers of help, except from Don, so I went to school on YouTube and figured out how to do it myself. Armed with my new-found knowledge I took my tools to the church, rolled the mower out, yanked the engine out off the frame (with Howard’s help),

and dismantled the engine down to a bunch of little parts, just like I learned on YouTube.

Doing so revealed that the bad part is exactly the one I expected it to be based on my recent education, a dysfunctional cam shaft …

It looks nice and almost new, but there’s a part broken that helps get the engine past the first compression point during the start process. It was in little pieces in the bottom of the crank case. Now I have to get a new one and figure out how to get everything back together again. I need to do that fast because I’ll forget where all those screws and bolts go in a few days. That’s all it takes. I’ll take a photo of any success I might have. If I fail, you’ll never hear about this again.

Here’s what I had for lunch yesterday … leftover meat loaf. It was really good.

I think there’s about a pound of meat there, but it’s all protein, something I can eat a lot of. Keeps my B-12 levels up there in the stratosphere.

Here’s our trailer while I’m check to ensure the lights work before we left Devil’s Lake State Park for the trip home.

While we were enjoying ourselves at the beach, the bamboo took advantage of our absence and reached for the sky. Might have to trim it down a little.

This afternoon Lydia’s softball team had a double-header with Parkrose. Lydia pitched 4 innings of the first game and played 2nd base the last 3 innings of the 2nd game. It was a lot of fun. They lost the 1st game 3-2 and won the 2nd one 8-4. It was a good day. One of the highlights was when Jennifer was trying to talk with Lydia over the cement block wall of the dugout, but couldn’t hear her. So, she did this …

She had sneakers on so didn’t slip, but it’s something she would have raised heck about had one of the kids, or me, done this. Just so you know, she extracted herself from this precarious position without injury. Made me proud. It was a good day.

It’s time for me to head to bed, after I let the dogs out to bark at something and pee in the tall grass out front. Ozzie just had a $37 haircut but that doesn’t stop him from plowing through the grass in search of a spot where one of the big dogs may have relieved themselves. He’s predictable, and doesn’t care about hygiene at all.

Good nite.

The Beach

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Greetings from the wilds of Lincoln County. Last Thursday Diane and I hitched up the trailer – actually, I hooked up the trailer while she loaded it – and headed southwest to Lincoln City where we had reservations at Devil’s Lake State Park. To make the trip interesting, we let Veronica, our GPS Lady, pick the route. We were thankful that she chose to NOT take us through Dundee, the slowest way to Lincoln City Ever, we thought, until we found ourselves in the equally slow back streets of Salem. We figured it was a toss up as to which way took the longest. We’ll be going home via Dundee to check that out. 

It rained most of the way on the trip but we didn’t care. We were going to the beach. The weather didn’t matter.

The main reason for the trip, in addition to the beach, was to meet up with Kathie and Kevin Coon. They’ve been married for a while but we’ve never met Kevin. We had seen a few random shots of her and Kevin traveling all over but everyone knows photos can be doctored. We were looking forward to meeting him. 

That happened Friday morning, shortly before lunch, so we can verify to the masses that Kevin actually exists. He’s not a figment of Kathie’s imagination. He was a little surprised that his cover had been blown. 

He calmed right down once he realized we weren’t a threat …

As a bonus, almost all of Kevin’s family were there, also. What a surprise. Including Kathie and Kevin, there were thirteen of them: Will, Casey (Kevin’s daughter), Wyatt & Gracie (Will & Casey’s), Jason, Rhonda (Pam’s daughter), Cody & Colton (Jason & Rhonda’s), Danny, Pam (Kevin’s sister), and Cam (Kevin & Pam’s Mom). Cam, incidentally, is 95, and a fun lady. The reason for this family gathering was the semiannual hand off of Cam from Kevin & Kathie to Danny & Pam as she transitioned from California to Washington. It’s a special event and we felt blessed to have been invited into Kathie’s new family to share it. 

Danny and Pam. Pam is Kevin’s sister. 


Left to right: 

Cody, Wyatt, Will, Colton, and Jason Kooy the famous race car driver. 

Will owns Wyatt and the older boys are Jason’s. 

Rhonda, Will’s wife, Mother of Colton & Cody, daughter of Pam & Danny.

Diane, not related to anyone present except Kathie, a 2nd cousin, and me, a 1st husband. 

Cam, mother of Kevin and Pam, mother-in-law to some, Grandma to the rest. She’s 95. 

Casey, daughter of Kevin, wife of Will, mother of Gracie and Wyatt.  I have no photos of Gracie. She moved around too fast for me to get a still shot. 


For lunch at on Friday we drove K&K to Depoe Bay to visit the Sea Hag, our favorite place. Had to have my crab Louie. K&K also had crab Louie’s and Diane had fish and chips. Turns out it was all excellent, served by my new favorite waitress, Shannon, who Kathie said was going to spit in my food if I didn’t leave her alone. I’m pretty sure she didn’t but you never really know, do you? It all worked out nicely for Diane and me because Kathie grabbed our bill and made Kevin pay it. 


While eating, Kathie spied Pam walking past on the sidewalk carrying a box of wine from which she was able to decipher the name of a winery. Using that info she searched Google on her phone and discovered there was a tasting room only three doors north of the Sea Hag. So, after we were done eating we went that way.

Upon entering the tasting room potential customers are greeted by a low ceiling with dollar bills taped all over it. The story, according to the wine steward on duty is that the dollars are removed once a year and the total is matched as a donation to charity.  Pretty nifty. 


I believe the tasting experience was a success because Kathie & Kevin bought some. I’m unclear as to whether or not they also bought into the wine club plan the Wine Lady offered, but I don’t think they did. 

The rest of the day was spent visiting and relaxing while Pam BBQ’d a lot of dead chicken for supper. I suspect she had help but I have no firm information regarding that. I could speculate, but that wouldn’t be fair because I’d miss someone for sure and won’t be invited back next year. All I can say is the chicken was awesome, as were the beans and potato salad. Also, the banter at the table as we ate was very familiar to us. Just like being at home when the family gathers. Very nice to be involved. 

On Saturday we arrived later, after lunch, and I stayed outside with Ziva working on this blog entry, outside in the cold wind, while Diane and Kathie went bra shopping at Goodwill. I understand they both came away with items that were as good as new for less than half the price. If I properly understood the gist of the conversations regarding their treasures, we’ll probably be buying our underwear from Goodwill from now on. I’ve looked at them before and noticed that most of the items offered do not have labels, but that doesn’t matter because they are also color coded so there’s no doubt which is the front or back. That’s really handy unless you’re trying to out them on in the dark. That’s when you have to resort to using the scratch-and-sniff feature also available on their used underwear. While extolling the virtues of these items I learned that not everyone is a fan of used underwear. Seems like such a waste. 

The foregoing topic was covered at another incredible dinner that Pam made … BBQ ribs. Really, really good stuff. I discovered that I really like ribs and that I’m a pig because I ate too much. 

Sadly, after spending 2-3 has hours hammering out my blog entry I turned off my iPad with the intent of finishing it later. Turns it that if you don’t make an attempt to save it, turning off the iPad just makes it go away. Forever. So, I had to start all over. I suspect you don’t really care about that but had to tell you anyway. 

All to soon it was time to part as Kathie & Kevin’s clan had to depart early Sunday morning so the respective wives could get home in time to rest so they could be all fresh for work Monday morning. We said our good byes and travelled back to the trailer, and Ziva, who was returned there before dinner. She was excited to see us, as she always is, no matter how long we are away. 

This Sunday morning, we jumped in the truck and headed south to Agate Beach. There are no longer agates on that beach, but there used to be.  It was pretty bare. Pretty, but bare. Diane found a stick that interfered with putting her hands in her pockets. I suggested she drop the stick and she said, “No. I might find something I want to Poke.” I understood, and kept my distance.


It took us about 20 minutes to walk all the way to the waters edge, the tide was so low. Ziva had a nice walk, as did we. The beach was mainly for Ziva because Diane promised her another trip to play in the sand. But, she didn’t play. She just followed along with us, sniffing things that interested her, ignored those that didn’t,  it was always on the alert for another untethered dog to visit. There weren’t many of those, as your can see. 

Diane stopped at the Newport Fred Meyer for gas, but they didn’t have a gas station, so she bought some food and candy for us. Then we went a little further south to a Shell station that honored our Fred Meyer card. Saved $2.05. Then we went back to the trailer and took a nice walk in the sun. I didn’t mention that it was sunny, did I? It was.

We walked through the park to the lake with Ziva and came across this duck swimming around in space C-4. Many spaces here are flooded like that because of the incessant rain lately. I’m sure the duck didn’t have a reservation for C-4 but doubt if it mattered. There are many other spaces available. 

A little rest stop. This is just one little finger of the lake. It’s much larger than this. 


Now we’re back ‘home’ in the trailer for our last night. Tomorrow we depart for the other home. 

Hope everyone had as good a weekend as we did. 

Prom and a Party

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Yesterday was Prom Night for St. Helens High School kids, the time of year when girls get new dresses and boys get new ideas because of the new dresses. Every year the cycle repeats. This year our Lydia, a senior, chose to observe this special event by avoiding the boy/girl drama by going with 9 of her friends. She did, however, invite her brother, Jeran, a Junior, and the family’s foreign exchange student, Ahmed, who is from Pakistan. So, it was 10 girls and two boys who were, I have no doubt, the envy of every other boy who attended. Avoiding the dating drama for most of her High School career has allowed her to focus on school work and sports. For her, and her friends, the drama is something that can wait because it will always be there.

So, here’s the crowd who reportedly had a terrific time. I only know a few of their names so will have to make something up for those I don’t know. On the left is Jeran, then a cute little red-headed girl in a white dress, a cute blonde in a purple dress, Maryssa, Lexi, a cute brunette in an aqua dress, Fiona, Lydia, a cute girl in a jacket, Ceierra, another cute girl in a white dress, and Ahmed. Good looking bookends for ten lovely young ladies. This photo was taken in front of the Midway Veterinarian Hospital in Warren, Oregon where Jennifer works. She’s Mom to Jeran, Lydia, Ahmed, and some times Ceierra, and had to work so they blessed her with a drive-by on their way to Portland. How cool is that?

 

Ahmed, Lydia, Jeran

Jeran , Lydia, Ahmed

I can’t go through those names again so refer back to the first photo …

We’re proud of our young adults and the values they embrace. In case any of you are wondering where those last three photos were taken, it was at Cathedral Park, which is under the eastern end of the St. Johns Bridge, which spans the Willamette River, which courses through down town Portland. Another interesting thing about Cathedral Park is that it’s where the Library resides in the TV Series, “The Librarians”. Watching that show gives folks an opportunity to see bits and pieces of Portland. “Grim” gives you more but, sadly, that show ended recently.

This afternoon, after church, we had a party at the house for Baylee who is going to be celebrating her birthday on April 30th. We had the party today because Diane and I won’t be home and we wanted to have fun, too. It was a simple affair with a herd of little girls running all over the house having a great time. There is one little guy, Donny, in the front row next to Baylee, but he wasn’t there for the festivities, just the photo-op.

They had a piñata, a Hello Kitty piñata, that took them a long time to destroy because I was in charge of the rope. Everyone had a good time and had a chance to take a whack at it, even the big kids. Here’s what was left of it. It was on the stake for just a short time before a short person grabbed it and made a gallant effort to destroy it by hand.

This is Eilena, a little girl Lydia babysits who many folks thinks is her daughter, which she finds adorable. Eilena (I’m guessing at the spelling) is like a Lydia Mini-me. I had to take this photo because Eilena managed to get cupcake frosting all over her face without ever attempting to take a bite of the cupcake. She dipped her fingers in the frosting one hand at a time, cleaning the fingers of one hand while the other was dipping up a little more frosting. Economy of motion. Smart kid.

Here’s Baylee, Gilligan, and Jerrie on their way home after the party. I think the smiles are a good indication that things went well. The candy didn’t hurt at all in swaying that good feeling to the positive side.

Here’s Lydia and Ceierra with that cute red-head in the white dress at Cathedral Park.

This is Gilligan and Abba resting with Ziva … in the very wet grass, that I haven’t been able to mow, because it’s so wet. Did I mention the grass is wet?

And, finally, here’s a rainbow Diane and I saw yesterday. We don’t often get rainbows where we can capture both ends. Quite festive.

Now it’s getting late and time for us to head to bed. I have ‘tasks’ tomorrow and need to be alert.

Bless you all.

4.20

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Four-twenty. Kind of a benign combination of numbers but they cover a wide range of associations. For instance, a lot of famous folks were born on 4.20, a few of which are:

  • Adolph Hitler in 1889
  • Jessica Lange in 1949
  • Luther Vandross in 1951
  • George Takei in 1937
  • Ryan O’Neal in 1941
  • Crispin Glover in 1964
  • Carmen Electra in 1972

Then there’s significant events, of which there are mass quantities. Here are a few:

  • 1939 Ted Williams for his 1st hit, a double.
  • 1948 NYC doubles subway fare, from 5 cents to 10 cents.
  • 1949 Jockey Bill Shoemaker wins his 1st race.
  • 1951 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enewetak
  • 1962 Neil Armstrong takes X-15 to 63,250 mph.
  • 1967 US Surveyor 3 lands on the Moon.
  • 1981 The final performance of TV show “Soap” airs.
  • 1986 Michael Jordan set NBA playoff record with 63 points.

Lots of stuff happened before 1939, of course, but I didn’t recognize any of it. Probably because I wasn’t paying attention in History class.

Another “important” 420 association is in the wonderful world of Marijuana. 420 became a kind of code word amongst those who dabbled in the the early 70’s world of pot. The link above will provide you way more information that you really need about 420 origins and what it means.

Now, about the one all the media missed, and one you will not find with a Google search, is, without a doubt, the most important one in modern history. On that day in 1968 I was permanently joined with my high school Sweetheart. Two days ago marked our 49th anniversary. Whatever else happened on 4.20, the one in 1968 will always be the most important.

In case you’re wondering, we celebrated our 49th by me leaving Diane alone all morning while I attended Coffee With The Guys at the Kozy, then an American Legion Officer’s meeting, followed by a trip to the Christian Church to get food from the Lion’s club that we deliver to the high school every Thursday. I would have delivered them, but they were finally too heavy for me to cart any distance, so I went home to get our hand truck. Diane was up by then and said she’d help me and that we should just continue on over to Park Rose for Lydia’s soft ball game. We did that. We made it all the way to Portland, in the rain, before Lydia texted to let us know the game had been cancelled. So, we enjoyed a 49th anniversary lunch at Home Town Buffet, $20 for both of us,

then spent an unproductive visit to the nearby Habitat for Humanity Restore Store. Empty handed, we hung our heads low and made our way back to St. Helens where we stopped by Lewis TKD to see about martial arts lessons for Baylee. Turned out the TKD Master, and owner of the facility, was a Marine and we had a lot to talk about. He and Baylee get along nicely.

We got Baylee there at 5:00 pm to get registered and she spent the next 1.5 hours trying to knock people down. She’s a quick study and will do well. There will be more on this in the future.

I’m a lucky guy.