Blood-Curdling

We have a screech owl living in the woods behind the house. I hear it once in a while during the night and man, is that thing creepy to listen to.

Rocket Jones, Decorating Guru

Suzette was waxing rhapsodic about the joys of spray paint, and in her comments I suggested decorating with rockets. Here's a shot of my den, where I keep a few of my big rockets on display.



Let me relate a story that illustrates why this is cool. My oldest daughter came home for a weekend with one of her college friends and they stayed in this room because the couch folds out into a bed. One night, looking up at my wall o' rockets, her friend said, "You know, that's kind of hawt."

I rest my case.

Vacation Recap

For our 30th Anniversary, Liz and I booked a cruise over a year ago. Finally the day arrived and we enjoyed our first cruise ever.

I really didn't want to go to the Caribbean, so instead we headed north on a 9 night New England and Canadian trip. Leaving out of Baltimore, we made stops in Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, then stops in Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. On the way back to Baltimore we spent a day in Boston.

I like cruising more than I thought I would. We really hit it off with our table-mates for dinner, which helps. We had one very rough day at the beginning as we sailed into the remnants of hurricane Katia, and one mildly rough day at the end as we grazed another that stayed well out to sea (Marie?).

In Portland, Liz and I hit the LL Bean flagship store (in Freeport, not too far away), where I got to eyeball a bunch of gear up close to perfectly prioritize potential purchases. Say that 3 times fast.

In Bar Harbor, I did a bus tour of the stunningly beautiful Acadia National Park, including to the top of Cadillac Mountain. My hike on the Ocean Trail was cancelled. Apparently not enough people are crazy enough to think walking outside is fun. Dammit. I bought maps and guide books, Maine isn't *that* far away from here.

In Saint John and Halifax, Liz and I just headed into the towns and enjoyed exploring on our own. In Boston, I took the "Freedom Trail" walking tour, where we visited the burial ground where Paul Revere (among others) is buried. Then we went to the site of the Boston Massacre, then the North Church (one if by land, two if by sea) and Paul Revere's house. Lots more along the way as well. Pretty cool.

Of course, as soon as we got home, the flu kicked my ass. I still went to work most of the week - self-quarantined - and I'm just starting to feel better.

Here are a couple watercolor paintings I did while on vacation.

A buoy in Portland, Maine:


This was inspired by a lighthouse in Nova Scotia:

Break Time!

I'm outta here for two weeks for a long overdue vacation. No internet and spotty cell phone service sounds like heaven to me.

Take care, I'll be back soon.

Heh. Bush's Fault

Someone tweeted that the east coast earthquake originated on Bush's Fault, just like everything else according to some.

So I'm at my desk, seven floors up, and the building starts jumping up and down and rumbling. My first thought is 'earthquake' because I'm a California boy. I immediately dismiss that thought and think 'something blew up'. I stand up and look out the windows (I'm in the corner so have a decent view in two directions) but don't see any smoke rising.

Thinking to get a better angle, I start walking towards the windows when the second shock hit. This time, filing cabinets are rattling and fixtures are swinging. I moved away from the cabinets that might fall on me, back to my desk and start throwing stuff in my briefcase.

A quick look around to make sure I had everything and it was to the stairwell.

I was pissed at the number of people who were more interested in calling or texting than paying attention and getting the hell out of the building. I filed a formal complaint afterwards too. Stupid assholes.

Walking to our assembly area, I heard no sirens and saw no smoke columns, so I figured that it was indeed an earthquake.

We were cleared to re-enter the building about 45 minutes later, and soon after I left for home (my regular time).

I haven't seen traffic that bad since a big mid-day blizzard a couple of years ago. DC was gridlocked. Two hours to get home, and most of that was spent navigating the first five miles.

Heard that the National Cathedral took some damage, and I'm supposed to check online tomorrow to see if I'm supposed to report to work. I'm sure I will, it wasn't that big a quake.

So Far, It Hasn't Collapsed

Daughter Robyn and granddaughter Lorelei came to visit last week, so we took a morning to hike out to the bridge I helped build on National Trail Day. As bridges go, it's on the small end of the scale, but I invested sweat in its construction, so it's special to me.





We went early enough to beat the worst of the heat, and only did a mile or two in all. Lorelei enjoyed the birds and pointing out the berries popping out on the various bushes, and as she rode on my shoulders (part of the time) she quickly learned to spot the webs that enterprising spiders weave overnight from one side of the trail to the other. A quick wave of the hand usually clears the way, and we stopped a few times to watch spiders do their little spider morning chores.



When I pointed out the trail blazes* to Lorelei, she quickly got into the game of looking ahead for the next one. This trail is blazed with an odd aqua color, which I think is supposed to be blue (see the tree above her).



On the way back we had to road walk a fair distance because the county had a crew trimming trees along the trail. We did a little bushwacking to get around them on the way out, but coming back it was just easier and safer to use the road. The flagmen even held up traffic in both directions for us as we walked a narrow part of the road.

All in all, a good time. Tick free too, which is always a bonus.

* A "blaze" is a small rectangle of paint, about 2 inches by 3 inches (I think), painted on trees along a trail to help you stay on course. Different trails have different color blazes. For instance, the Appalachian Trail is blazed in white for its entire length, whereas all of the intersecting trails along the way are blazed with anothe color (ofeten blue or yellow) to avoid confusion. In areas without a lot of trees, i.e. above the treeline or in a desert, a rock cairn is sometimes used instead.

Preview

If you want to see what I did Friday and Saturday, look here.

Next Best Thing

According to South Park, you should ask yourself, "What Would Brian Boitano Do?"

If you're still not sure, ask me. Brian Boitano and I went to the same high school (he was a few years behind me), so you've got that going for you.

Adventures On My Lunch Break

You may recall that I'm eccentric and still use fountain pens when I write. Since my office moved last year and we now work in downtownn Washington D.C., I've been meaning to wander over to visit Fahrney's Pen Store. Fahrney's has been in business since 1929, located within a block or two of where they're at now. I needed a few doo-dads for my pens, and since I was making the walk a nice bottle of ink was well deserved, and today was the day.

Fahrney's is located on the other side of the Ellipse from where I work, so I found myself braving crowds of tourons seeing the sights. Walking past the White House, there was excitement in the air, and I saw the First Dog out for his noon constitutional. Handsome animal, and very calm considering the ravening hoard barely contained by the tall iron fence between them. Of course, Bo was attended by a staff of two, one of which looked to be in a tux (White House staff perhaps?) and the other looked - honest to God - like a Secret Service agent. One of the gentlemen carried an umbrella, for himself or the dog is unknown. I saw no canine bodily functions on display, but like I said, I was on my way and just passing through.

Not long after, rain drops started to fall and I walked into the store just in time. Imagine a long, narrow space about the size of a single-wide trailer, immaculately maintained and elegantly appointed (the high ceiling had carved wooden moulding), and that's the interior of the store. I expected it to be much larger than that. Even so, no less than three people were behind the counters, and a fourth was in a small workshop/office in a back corner, the clutter hidden away from casual view.

I made a quick tour of the place, but because I had a list of exactly what I wanted and because I was on my lunch break, I dawdled just long enough to let the brief rain pass outside. I did note that the most expensive pen I saw there went for just shy of $3,000.00.

With my modest purchases in my happy little hands (simple pleasures), I headed back to work. Past the White House again and spotted the Presidential Vegetable Garden, meticulously maintained (by the riff-raff no doubt.) I was pleasantly surprised to hear conversations in Chinese, Korean, French, German and a few others I couldn't identify. It's kind of neat when you think of it, that so many people from around the world would come to America to see D.C.

Probably not one in ten knew what it was, but there was a huge plot of bright red tulips in full bloom. Standing at the base of the bed, you'd realize that it was a tribute to the First Infantry Division - The "Big Red One".

According to Google Maps, it was a two mile walk. Very pleasant, very touristy. I can't imagine going to Fahrney's again for a year or two, so y'all are probably spared another post like this for the forseeable future. *insert sigh-of-relief here*

Shut. Down.

I've been declared "essential" during the Government shutdown, but only for 4 hours a day. I guess that makes me half-essed.

They're Watching, And They Learn. Oh Yes They Do.

Our dog Trix learned from one of our other, long departed dogs, that one's higher canine purpose was to protect the world from vacuum cleaners. He'd be proud to hear me say that our vacuum is *never* turned on without him attacking the hose.

Ozzie the rabbit has obviously been paying attention, because he now, too, attacks the hose and nozzle as we vacuum his cage each day. It's all in fun, they're not afraid of it, it's a toy to them. In fact, Oz still enjoys being vacuumed, which is incredibly helpful during shedding season.

It's funny how in sync Oz and Trix really are. Trix gets fed once a day, at 5pm, and there are many days when I get home from work and need a nap. When asked when I want to get up, the answer is usually "dinner time". Sometimes Trix will let me sleep until 5:30, but mostly his internal alarm isn't that patient and he wakes me up at five-ish for dinner.

The rabbits get fresh greens every evening at 8pm. If we're a little late, Ozzie will run into the bedroom where Liz watches TV, makes some noise or thumps to let her know he's there, then runs back to his cage. Translation: "Dinnertime, dammit!"

I look over at their cage and three beady sets of eyes are on me. Each of them are chewing away, Oz and Java at their hay bins (apparently they love this new batch of timothy grass we got them), and Fred one level above, munching pellets.

Staring.

*chuckles*

Liz is in the other room, feeding the bunnies. The dog is in there too, because he knows he gets a small dent-a-stick when the rabbits eat. As the critters gather for the feast, I can hear Liz say:

"Everybody gets pets tonight. Everybody wang chung tonight."

Way Better Than An Imaginary Friend

Granddaughter Lorelei is visiting for the weekend, and I think it's hilarious that she's named her reflection in the mirror "Bob". She knows that it's her, but she treats Bob like a friend.

She also saw the Mummy in my room, so we taught her to walk around with her arms held out going "Mmmmmm. Mmmmmmm."

Brush Mileage

I read somewhere that the only way to improve as a painter was to accumulate plenty of "brush mileage." In other words, the more practice, the better you get. With that in mind, I've done several new works this month. Check 'em out over at Quiet Tales, my other site.

Good Times / Bad Times

We just got back from a week in Florida. A leisurely drive down and back, a few days in Ocala with the in-laws and a couple of days at Daytona Beach, staring at the waves and recharging. Only had internet access once, for about a half an hour the entire week, and it was nice.

On the down side, a co-worker unexpectedly died while I was away (that's what I found out during that half hour of access), as did a favorite Aunt from my Dad's side of the family.

Good thing I'm not superstitious, or I might never go on vacation again.

Toasty

Today's project for my daughter and I was to construct a camping quilt from a kit I bought. The idea being that since the insulation keeps you warm by trapping warm air in the "loft" of the layers, then the part of a sleeping bag that you lay on isn't doing you any good, warmth-wise. Hence, the quilt.

The kit was supposed to take about 8 hours of work to finish. Cutting, pinning, sewing, more cutting, more pinning, more sewing, and so on. Luckily for me, Mookie has an industrial sewing machine (can you say 12 layers of denim?!?!?!) and tons of experience, so we actually finished in about five hours. It was definitely a two-person job.

It's rated for 40 degrees, and I'll definitely be testing that when it warms up a little bit. It weighs in at less than two pounds, which is music to my backpackin' ears.

I'm really looking forward to camping this year.

Frustrating

I can't look at my Amazon Wish List this time of year because I may figure out what I'm getting from the family. That's no fun.

No Sniveling

Well, maybe a little. I spent a long morning in the chair at the oral surgeon, and am now waiting for the next blessed wave of Vicodin to kick in.

What's Been Happening

Heaps, mon! Heaps o' heaps!

At work, I finished up my annual and perennially chaotic end-of-fiscal-year project and immediately got slammed with an even bigger and shorter-deadlined project.

Wife Liz has had a couple of surgeries lately. Pure success, but some lingering complications from the last one are being watched closely by all concerned.

Son TJ is still employed and living in the area. These days, you count your blessings.

Granddaughter Lorelei turned two. I taught her to eskimo kiss.

Daughter Robyn is a great mom and a helluva cook. She frequently uses the old Rocket Jones recipe archive.

Son-in-law Henry got his new orders (Navy guy). They'll be staying in the Virginia Beach area as he transfers to an F-18 squadron attached to the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush.

Daughter Rachael has been promoted again at WalMart. Six months ago she started as a part-timer, now she's over all the department managers for clothing, jewelry, shoes and accessories.

There, now you're all caught up.

Laid Low By Grevious Designs

I'm recovering from a nasty case of food poisoning. Self-administered. Two things kept this completely localized to just myself - first, I was alone in the house this weekend, and second, even if I weren't, nobody else here likes French Onion Soup.

Oh yes, the homemade soup is definitely the culprit. More specifically, the beef base I used to make the stock. I have been thoroughly mocked and ridiculed for my stupidity, which in Obama-speak, was mock-worthy and ridicule-ready.

Still, it was a magnificently tasty batch of soup. I hated to throw the rest of it out when I realized what I had done to myself. A few ideas did cross my mind, but I don't know if anyone on my "short list" likes onion soup. I shall make enquiries. For future reference.