Tokbox - video conferencing

This Christmas, the Johnson clan was in three cities.

Tualatin, Oregon
Fridley, Minnesota
Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin

We still got together for some fun on Tokbox - www.tokbox.com


Since it was Christmas - I'm sure every other Tokbox member was meeting up as well. The video/audio lag was sometimes near 30 seconds. That made for some funny moments...

Video calls have been around for a few years - but now they are closer than every to actual working reality. Welcome to the future.

Final Yard Work of 2009?

November 1st and November 25th - the 20th and 21st lawn mowings of the year. Most of the leaves are down, and I don' think the grass has much growing left to do. The last grass cutting was more of an easy means of leaf gathering. The spots in the yard that died off during the summer are all green again - and I probably should have spread out some seed in the more bare spots earlier. December is too late for for sprouting seed in Oregon.

I managed to fill the yard debris barrel for the last four or five weeks. It gets quite heavy with wet leaves and grass, rotten pears, and all the branches that have blown down in the recent windstorms. Now - we've got a forecast for cold coming up at the tail end of next weekend. Might be cold enough for snow - but not sure yet if the moisture will arrive at the same time as the sub-32 degrees.

So - I just barely made this post during December. I've got quite a few running around in my head - and lots of photos to post. Life is just to busy I guess. Keep watching this spot for a few soccer action shots, random fun adventures, and of course - Mt. Hood as seen from Lolo Pass Road. We just had our Annual Christmas Tree hunt up on Mt. Hood - and rain, snow, and sun were all part of the day.

Stay tuned. I hope to get some photos organized soon.

Picasa Facial Recognition and more

Have you seen that the latest version of Picasa now has facial recognition built in? Previous to this release - you could upload your photos to Picasa Web Albums, and the faces would be found and organized there. Now you can do the same thing on your computer. If you have thousands of photos it will take a lot of time for your computer to process the pile...and really - if you have had a digital camera for any length of time - you have thousands.

When it is done, and even before it finishes, you can start adding names to the faces it finds. As it looks at more and more photos - it gets better. But - if you have kids - no matter if you think they don't look alike - Picasa will find photos that will match your kids. Photos of them at the same ages will look strikingly similar.

Give it a try - you'll have a lot of fun.

Yard Work #18 & #19 - September 21st and October 10th. The grass is growing again, even as the days turn colder. The rain is increasing - though we had a nice fall, dry, blue sky week this week. Soccer games today were at 8am and 10am - and it started out at 40° this morning. But the blue sky and dry wind makes up for that.

Finally got my new camera this week - I should have some new soccer photos to post soon. Just need to install the Nikon software and download the photos....

Just give me time....

First Soccer Games - 2009

Let the season begin!

Today it was supposed to be around 90°, and we had the first soccer games for Connor and Tegan. Connor played at 11:15am, so the heat wasn't to full strength yet. All the boys did get quite hot and drank lots of water. Tegan's game didn't start until 4pm - so it was plenty warm by then. Many of the girls on her team were overheated. Both teams looked great and had moments of good passing and shooting. Apparently the action with our kids didn't happen in front of Dad with the camera. Here are a couple of run-bys...

Connor going after the ball

Tegan going after the ball

Benchmarks

We had our annual church campout at Fort Stevens State Park this past August. Lots of friends, fun, and sun. Only a little bit of rain one night and some misting for a few minutes here and there. Not bad for five days on the Oregon Coast.

One of the fun things to do there is to go see the Battery Russell. It is an decommissioned battery that was used during World War II to guard the Oregon coast and the entrance to the Columbia River. It was the only mainland location in the USA that was attacked during WWII. Shots were fired at it from a Japanese submarine - and they did not return fire. Some accounts say that they didn't want to confirm their location, and others say the sub was out of reach of their guns.

While we were exploring this time, I found a couple of benchmarks. These are locations were the position of the point is know - usually both in the horizontal and vertical positions. Surveyors can use these point to locate other locations bases on the distance and angle from the benchmark.

So anyway - taking photos of benchmarks is one of those strange quirks I have. Someday I could publish a coffee table book of the benchmarks. Yep - that would be a big seller.

Benchmark on top of the Battery Russell

Benchmark near Battery Russell, on the wall of a small bunker

So anyway - no big story here. Just wanted to let you see some places we've been recently. From a different perspective.

Yard work update... grass cutting #16 was on August 26th and #17 on September 8th. With just the few days of rain recently - the grass has started to grow again. Three more months before winter sets in and it stops growing for a couple of months.

2009 Nehalem Bay Camping, et al

The first week of August, Tegan was at camp and Connor spent some time with Grammi & Papa and his Bare cousins. So with nothing else to do - Mick and I decided to go camping.

So not really...we wanted to go camping. With a little prior planning - we packed up the camper and Explorer and headed off to Nehalem Bay State Park. Prior planning - we reserved our campsite the week before. We were very luck to find a campsite - but the amazing thing is we got the exact same campsite we had the previous July. Good ole' E-27. Not sure why people don't like it. Maybe because there is a 'sink waste disposal' location near the corner of the site. We didn't mind...though we did camp next to like 50 million people involved in a family reunion or something. I have never heard the 'pay attention to me' crys from kids in my life. We've been camping with lots of little kids - our own and nieces and nephews - and they never act like that. Even with a bike crash - the crying is done in a minute. But not these kids....

50 million people? Well - they asked me to take a few group shots one morning....5 or 6 cameras were handed to me at once. C'mon people! These are digital shots. Share a few electronic bits! You can duplicate them for practically nothing! Or send them all to you best Photoshop guru. He can make sure you are all smiling in those combined shots. Maybe even put Aunt Mabel's head on Uncle Steve's body....

Enough of that talk... We had a great time, Sunday through Wednesday. A little cloudy in the mornings and after 6pm...but in between was blue sky, sun, and mid 60°s. You can't expect much more on the Oregon coast.

Brian. Mick, Yukon (actually looking!) at the bay in Wheeler, Oregon

Mick and Brian - enjoying the beach



Yukon - enjoying the water - far, far away from him



Brian - cooking up some meat!



Campsite E-27 - our home for a few days

Beachgrass and Blue Sky? Or just bliss....

Nothing to see here, move along. Housekeeping note, inserted here for recordkeeping purposes.

August 8th - Yard work #15. We've had 28 days of no rain - I think it rained last Tuesday, Aug 11th to break the streak. I had to mow because some areas of the lawn get the overspray from watering the flowers and do keep growing. And I guess we do water the strip of grass along the driveway. The back yard is pretty much brown, with a little green where the splashes from the blow-up pool help keep it alive. Enjoy it now - the fall rains start in just over two months...

2009 Tour de Cure photos

Tour de Cure 2009 Wrap Up

We had a great time riding July 25th out in Hillsboro. I guess I am slow getting this posting written up. This has been a busy summer.

Our team (only six of us this year) raised a total of $6,185. Thanks to Rob and Cherie Rainwater for joining us. We had a great time riding with them!

The AMEC match for donations in my name was $2,549 - which was incredible. All made possible by your donations to the ADA. Thanks for your support in this worthy cause!

Here is a Picasaweb slideshow of our photos taken that day. Click here to go to the Picasaweb site.

One Week 'till Tour de Cure Portland

Today is Sunday July 19th. Next Saturday is July 25th - the day of the Tour de Cure event here in Portland. It takes place out in Hillsboro, which is west of Portland. Checking out the temperature forecasts at this point - it looks to be a hot day. The NWS Portland office hourly model shows a high temp of 99° at 5pm on Saturday. It looks to be only 79-84° at 10:30am - out start time for the 10 mile ride. No rain forecast though!



There is still time to donate to the American Diabetes Association. We have all met the $150 minimum fund raising goal, though we'd like to do more. My account (Brian) has quite a bit more, since my company, AMEC, matches the amount I raise dollar-for-dollar. They have agreed to match up to at least $3,000 - so I still have around $1,100 more to go to make use of that commitment.

A recent potluck at my office, with voting for the best food with your money - raised $209 dollars! Mick's peanut butter pie and ham and bean stew won 1st and 2nd prizes. Thanks to all my AMEC co-workers for your donations!


Yard Work #14 - July 16th. About four weeks since the last mowing - the grass is quite patchy now. Some areas that get the runoff from the driveway or where spray from flower watering helps the grass to survive - these areas have still managed to stay green and grow. Other areas - that had formerly been bark dust - are quite dry and brown. The recent 90°+ temperatures here in Portland haven't helped.

Great Wolf Lodge - the bucket

Here is a video of the 100's of gallons of water - splashing down every 90 seconds or so....at Great Wolf Lodge. This is the Grand Mound, WA location - your local GWL might be different.

Great Wolf Lodge

We had a family anniversary trip this year. For our 14th wedding anniversary, we traveled north for about two hours to Grand Mound, Washington. Located is this little town, just five miles north of Centralia, is a 'hotel' called Great Wolf Lodge. Not just a hotel, but rather a water park - with a hotel built for it. Your admission to the water park is your hotel room fee.

There was a special rate we got for the room - maybe 20% off. The rooms are quite spendy - check out the website yourself to see. And the food prices in the many on-site restaurants and in the park locations - whew. I guess this place must be one of those profit deals. Somebody has to pay the utility bill, I guess.

The fun was just as described on the website. Constant water, warm, and fun. But - what they won't tell you....it is crowded.

With around 400 rooms - and between 2 to 8 people per room....there are a lot of people running around the place. Also - you can start playing in the park at 1pm on the day of your check-in, even though check starts at 4pm. You can play the whole next day as well. So do the math....minimum of 2 people x 400 rooms = 800 people. More likely count is 4 people x 400 rooms = 1,600 people. Then figure that maybe 50% of the people are there after check-out... maybe not. So 1,000 to 2,000 people? I know that is not how many people are really in line for the Howlin' Tornado ride - but it sure feels like it.

It is also loud. Really loud. Constant water noises. Constant people having fun noises. Loud. You can't hear the voice on the people you are talking with more that 10 feet away.

Tegan running across the water

Connor uses his hands a little

How do you get into your hotel room without a key?

For a while now - hotel rooms have stopped using keys, and have changed the locks to card readers. Not sure exactly how this makes the guest's life easier. I guess it makes the hotel's job easier, because there are no keys to store and manage. If a card is lost - no problem, just reset the door and program a new card.

At Great Wolf Lodge (at least the Grand Mound, WA location) - they took the room key situation and made it even better. Better - at least if you are visiting a water park, and you don't know what to do with the room key/card while you are swimming.

Your park entrance entrance bracelet also works as your room key. Very nice!

One issue - only the adult bracelets have the room key RFID. I guess this isn't a problem - it just means the kids have to stay with their parents....

Star Wars the Complete Saga

Check out http://www.lucasarts.com/games/legostarwarssaga/

This is the website for Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga. "Kick some bricks in I through VI." If you haven't played this game before - make sure you have a long weekend, or a summer vacation ahead if you really want to play it right. It took me six months to get through all six movies - with six chapters per movie. And I still need to go back and 'free play' the levels to be able to get all the hidden items and other goodies not available on the first play through.

So - check out the website. You can watch a game trailer, or take the Character Quiz. Find out what Star Wars character you are... It is not a very good quiz - many questions have no realistic answers. Then again - what did I expect?

Anyway - here is my character (not quite me...but I did the quiz).

Lego Star Wars - The Complete Saga

• Take The Quiz
• Visit The Site

2009 Tigard Festival of Balloons

This past weekend was the Tigard Festival of Balloons. We have never actually gone to Cook Park to see the fun. Usually we just go out the back door and watch the balloons float by. This works out if the winds are from the north or northeast. If the wind is blowing from the south, the balloons head off into Beaverton or Portland. Not good - as a test flight on Thursday had a not-so-good landing in Beaverton.

Friday morning started out with dissappointment. Due to possible rain and winds - no balloons flew. We decided to go there Friday night and see the night glow. We actually didn't think through how long we would be there. We got there at 5pm so we could get dinner, and then we planned to walk around until the night glow. Well - that wouldn't be starting until 9pm or so...

At around 8:30, they announced that due to possible rain - they would not be doing the night glow, but rather just 'candlesticking.' Apparently when weather causes problems, I guess they just setup the gondola's without the balloon and fire up the burner. I bet this is just to prevent riots from all the people who really wanted the night glow. We decided we didn't want to wait around for another 30-45 minutes - so we called it a night.

Saturday saw the launch of 19 balloons. Connor and I sat out in the Tualatin Elementary field and saw at least 17 of them. The wind was coming from the northwest...so the balloons didn't fly overhead, but rather off the the east. No landings near us...


Saturday night, we headed back to Cook Park and saw the night glow. We didn't want to pay the $5 parking - so we decided to park at the Tualatin Community Park, and walk to Cook Park. We had biked this before - but it was a good walk - probably a mile or so. And - we didn't think about the walk back until we were almost there...this path has no lights.

There were seven balloons setup, and it looks pretty awesome when then all fire at once. The wind was picking up a little, but there were no real problems. Fun stuff! The walk back to the car was fine - but we had to watch carefully for slugs. The path was full of those guys - not sure where they were trying to go.


Sunday morning - I was up alone to watch for the launches, as we didn't get home Saturday until after 10pm. When the first two balloons went up - they took off almost due east. Not a chance that they would fly near our house, so I jumped on my bike and took off. Less than 10 minutes later I was at Cook Park - just as the last balloon took off. So I took a few photos and headed back home.

We still keep an eye out for balloons throughout the summer. Sometimes we can see them off towards Sherwood.

Housekeeping - Yard Work #13 was June 19th. The grass is starting to look less green, as the rains have slowed down. We water the front yard some because of the flowers. The back yard doesn't get much - and now with a inflatable pool out there - we'll soon have dead patches.

Only about four weeks until the Tour de Cure ride. Still time left for your donations!

http://tour.diabetes.org/goto/TeamTegan2009

Digital is now the standard

Good morning.

Welcome to the world of digital TV broadcasting.

Without a converter box, this is your TV today - and forever.

Friday Afternoon Traffic

Just checking Google Maps to see what traffic looks like before we head out "Over the river (Tualatin & Willamette) and through the woods (Stafford Area around I-205)" for a strawberry waffle night at the Larsons.

Not starting out good this Friday. At least we are not on I-205 South....looks like an accident.



Yard Work #12 - June 9th. Less grass to cut - either the growth rate is slowing down, or the less hardy grass plants are giving up. Not much rain recently.

Tour de Cure - Team Tegan Promotional Video

Just playing around with the technology I've got available. This is what I used recently...

• Nintendo Wii - fun stuff, no matter how old you are.
• 
  
• Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga - I've completed all six levels on episodes 1, 2, 3. I'm ready to move on to Star Wars - A New Hope! See the original Star Wars movie trailer here! "A billion years in the making...and it's coming to your galaxy this summer"
• 
  
• Sony VCR SLV-N750 - This lets me watch the Wii action on the TV, as well as provides the necessary video out for recording by my camcorder. Soon - the VCR will only be recording channel 3 - after June 12th, all over the air TV will be coming through our digital TV converter box - the DTVPal, TR-40 - now sold out!
• 
  
• Sony Digital Handycam DCR-TRV310 - This is almost ancient in the video world - it is circa 1999 technology - it actually uses a 8mm tape! But it has Firewire, and it connects easily for transfer to computer. It also allows you to record video/audio from RCA ports. So this is my analog to digital conversion tool.
• 
  
• Windows Movie Maker - There are probably better movie editing software out there, but this came with Windows XP. So I used it. Pretty intuitive - but don't try and make a slideshow type movie using 30 to 40 JPEGs....it crashes every time.
  

Here it is. Nothing really fancy...just watch and enjoy. After watching - I'll bet you really want to go purchase Lego Star Wars...or maybe even donate to the Tour de Cure!

We had a tree climbed

We had a guy over to climb our tree this week. Actually, we didn't have the guy over. Dave, a remote control airplane pilot hired the guy to climb our large tree in the front yard. Dave was flying his plane in the large field over by Tualatin Elementary, and he had a mayday event happen. His plane crashed into our tree about 50-60 feet up.

The tree itself might be climbable by an adventurous youngster. Having been a tree climber in my earlier years - it is definitely doable once you reach the first branches 14 feet up. Straight climb up, with branches every four or five feet. However - I am much older and hopefully wiser now. And the kicker - my body has a lot more mass. Something that falls under Newton's Second Law of Motion. That law that I can experiment by throwing different balls up into the air. Something I won't prove by falling out of a tree. Also - it wasn't my $300 plane up there. I had no incentive to risk my life.

So anyway - there was a professional tree climber who ascended the tree and retrieved the airplane. He also threw down a couple of loose branches. Good thing too - because today we had a nice windy storm pass through. This image is supposed to be an animated GIF - but I don't think blogger likes it.



Final note - yard work #11 was June 2nd. The grass keeps growing - and this storm helped with the watering.

Are you ready for this?

Are you ready for this?

June 12th - your analog TV stops receiving over the air analog broadcasts. The long talked about and delayed transition from analog to digital TV occurs in just under two weeks. Do you have your digital TV tuner? Or a new HDTV? Or maybe you subscribe to cable or satellite - you don't need to do anything yet, because they probably provide a device which outputs an analog signal to your good old Channel 3.

Remember when TV was simple?

Housekeeping note - Yard Work 2009 #10 - May 25th. A little later (and thus the grass was longer) than needed due to the Memorial Day Weekend. Now - we're in a stretch of warm without rain - maybe the grass growth rate will slow down. If you compare the your current 'weather' with your expectations due to the 'climate' of where you are - it seems that it is never normal. Right now is just about Rose Festival time in the Portland area - and that usually means rain on your parade.

For an interesting book on how we as humans deal with randomness in everyday things like the weather - check out The Drunkard's Walk - How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. Not too mathy for those of you without a math degree. Interesting ways to think about experiences and how our brain classifies them. Like - with ten checkout lanes at the grocery store - why do you always pick 'the slowest line'?



Just how random are these letters? Did your brain run a randomness test? Probably not. I'll bet even unconsciously you are looking for patterns. One pattern is highlighted for you.

Can you find your name in these letters?
- What if your name was John Twelve Hawks?
What symbol is made by following the letters in a word you can make up?
- What does that mean?
Why are six hearts visible?
- Does that have anything to do with six letters in 'random'?

If the letters are random - there is no meaning there. But what if they are carefully placed on the table, and not just poured from a container? Did someone hide a clue for you to find? Or is your brain trying to make sense of randomness?

Fun stuff!

Marshmallow

Memorial Day Weekend
South Beach State Park
Newport, Oregon

A family tradition

Tour de Cure 2009

The cool looking poster for this year's Tour de Cure in Oregon...come join us!

http://tour.diabetes.org/goto/TeamTegan2009

Yard Work 2009 #9

May 14th - break in the rain, and a jump start on the weekend. Lawn work number nine of 2009.

May 16th - my neighbor mows his lawn for the first time this year. Guess what his yard looked like before he accomplished that task....

The previous week, our other neighbor had a yard service come in and trim some bushes, pull some weeds, and lay down some nice bark dust. Her yard was looking pretty good - and now I didn't have to think about the bushes growing through the fence. A few days later - up goes the For Sale sign. Not quite sure why she is moving - she has only lived there a year and a half, and we really don't see her much at all. Maybe it is the mortgage crisis...

Maybe the work involved in keeping up a house was too much for her. It sure ain't no picnic. She did have woodpeckers knocking on her chimney. For a while - we had the same problem. They land on the chimney cap and hammer away on the metal cover. Inside the house it sounds like a machine gun in the fireplace. We solved this problem by putting a small 'dome' of chicken wire on the cap. The woodpeckers could no longer land where they wanted to - so they moved to the neighbor's house.

I don't have any woodpecker photos - but here is a squirrel that was chirping away quite loudly yesterday morning. He wasn't happy about something. Maybe he had been talking to Woody...

Yard Work 2009 #7 & 8

Another mindless post...feel free to ignore. My in-depth analysis of days between lawn mowings is still to come.

Cut #7 was April 30th - a quick break of a sunny day in between rain.

Cut #8 was 8 days later on May 8th. A sunny day after quite a bit of rain. In fact - soccer practice was canceled this Monday night because of the rain downpour. Not your normal Pacific NW light rain - this was a Midwest thunderstorm.

Some cool photos to be posted soon. Stay tuned!

Yard Work 2009 #6

Quick housekeeping post - please ignore. I know these yard work postings can be boring.

April 22th - cut number six of 2009. Seven days between cuts - and three bags of grass each.

It's a jungle out there...

Clean out my refigerator!

We need help cleaning out my refrigerator.

We've got the normal food and drink in our refrigerator. We've also got something you probably don't have in your 'dairy' section. You would probably put eggs or a butter dish in here.

In our frig, this is where we keep insulin.

Lantus and Humalog Insulins - fresh and cold

Insulin is hormone that in a healthy person is made in the pancreas. In a person with Type 1 diabetes - the pancreas no longer makes insulin. In the body, insulin acts as a key that unlocks the cells doors allowing them to use glucose as energy. Without insulin, the glucose cannot get from the bloodstream into the body's cells. As the blood glucose level rises, the kidneys work hard to extract out the excess glucose. This causes excessive trips to the restroom and a great thirst as soon much water is being removed from the body.

Since insulin is a protein, a type 1 diabetic cannot take a pill or drink a solution of insulin. The insulin would be digested and never reach the bloodstream. Diabetics must take insulin subcutaneously using needles. The bottles of insulin a diabetic is using should only be at room temperature for about a month. So the future bottles of insulin that will be needed are kept cool in a refrigerator.

There is currently no cure for diabetes. Diabetics must manage their blood sugar levels by balancing the amount of food they eat, the amount of exercise they get, and the amount of insulin they inject. This process is like those performers who balance multiple plates on sticks. Sometimes it seems like everything is going well and no great effort is needed to keep them spinning. But then a little something happens - like a breeze blows by, the performer gives a little too much spin, maybe they bump the table, or something unexplainable happens and a plate just falls.

Diabetes management is just like this. For days everything can be going well - blood sugars are in the normal range, insulin injections are timed perfectly with meals, exercise is normal, and the body is healthy. Throw in a late meal, a missed insulin dose or maybe mismeasured dose, a little bit more effort in an exercise routine or soccer practice, a restaurant that serves up a regular Coke instead of a diet Coke (no joke - this has happened more than once), coming down with a cold....or something else that you'll never figure out. Soon there can be high blood sugars causing discomfort in the muscles or low blood sugars risking the possibility of becoming disoriented or passing out.

After all that is over - well - you keep on doing it. This is not a disease that can be cured. You don't go to the doctor's visits to get well - you go to see how well you are managing a process that your body should be doing on its own. Four (or more) shots of insulin a day. Eight (or more) finger pricks to get out the blood to be tested. Carbohydrates to count on everything you eat. Guessing how much less insulin you need for those 15 minutes of exercise. Fighting with the insurance company over the most absurb things (how can they be so incredibly blind? Oh wait...I forgot. It's a profit thing.) Diabetes is a real thing. Concentration is always needed. No time off. Not for birthday parties with cake. Not for Halloween. Not for midnight snacks (unless you wake up incoherent due to low blood sugar). No vacation days from diabetes.

So how can you help us? How about donating to the American Diabetes Association (ADA)? The ADA is involved in efforts to improve diabetes care - and efforts to find a cure. There are many research programs in need of money. Our family is participating in one of the fundraisers again this year. The Tour de Cure is a series of bike riding events all over the USA. Bike riders pay a small fee to register, then go out and raise money to support the ADA. Last year our team of riders raised $8,340. We'd like to raise that much or more again - but the donations this year are coming in very slowly... It is disappointing - but I realize people just may not have that much extra money. Maybe if you can't donate - help spread the work. Pass along this posting and our donation page URL. http://tour.diabetes.org/goto/TeamTegan2009 Or you could join our team and raise some money yourself. We are looking for some more riders...

If you want to donate - head on over the the Tour de Cure page and go to the Portland, Oregon event. We'd love it if you donated to (or joined!) Team Tegan and Her Daddy - but anyone registered would love your support. Check out the ride in Minneapolis - Uncle Kevin, Auntie Paula, and cousins Jake, Luke, and Kyle have their own team - Tegan Power. Sponsor them! Both Tegan and Her Daddy (that's me!) would be very grateful.



Help clean out our refrigerator.

Repositioning of the steps

This past weekend I finally got a latch installed on my new gate. I added a new gate up near the house when I was rebuilding the fence this past summer. My only problem is that I needed to move the steps I had built at the old gate location. I also had to get a latch installed on the new gate, and I just about finished up the fence/gate work as the November rains hit last fall.

I had to raise up the latch catch a few fractions of an inch, due to the way the latch fit together. A small piece of metal from the garage worked for this. I wasn't wearing work gloves at this point, which soon caused me some pain. As I was screwing in the first screw - it caught the metal, which began to rotate. So - at drill speed - the sharp corner of this piece of metal sliced a finger on my left hand holding the piece in place. A few drops of blood later, putting on some gloves, and a small scrap of wood kept the metal from spinning any more. The latch was now installed.

New latch - with the owie bad metal

In order to place the steps, I had to do a little digging first. Before I could do the digging, I needed to remove some of the ground cover plants. No problem here.

I then needed to remove some dirt near the curb so I could place some flat concrete blocks. I needed these to be the support at the bottom of the steps. Due to the slope up to our yard, I also needed to remove some dirt where the step hangers would be. More dirt also needed to be removed from the top of the bank for more concrete blocks to provide a firm foundation for the top of the steps. Since Sunday was over 80° - this was starting to feel like a hard summer's day worth of work. Connor was a big help to me. He managed to move the concrete blocks from the old stair location to the new. There were just about at his maximum strength - but he did it. That gave me more time to keep digging. But - I still ran out of time, though I did get the steps level and stable. I still need to do a little more construction - a small landing or one step up to the deck. I guess that will have to happen on another day.... But for now - we can get out the back fence without having to walk to the corner of the yard. This would have been really great all winter long when the grass was soaking wet each day. I also need to make the latch workable from both sides of the fence...a piece of string would work, but I am thinking of something a little more sturdy. Check back later for that solution.

Steps moved...not quite OSHA approved yet, but workable

Yard Work 2009 - Extra!

Pretty flowers no one sees - they are on the back side of the house

The weather was so nice this weekend - we got out in the yard and tended to all kinds of issues that had waited patiently all winter. Maybe not patiently...but the issues themselves could only nag at us. I certainly felt fine ignoring them for a while.

Mick did a great job weeding out our flower beds and the long strip down our front fence. It looks awesome now.

I cleaned up some large branches that had fallen in our backyard from a neighbor's tree during the December snows. I trimmed up the small stuff, and cut up the large main branches for firewood. We're going camping soon - so that pile of cut up branches just might last about an hour or two.

Right...don't believe everything you read

I also pulled out the edger and spent way too much time edging. I posted a while back about our 'bump-less' edger that didn't work. It still doesn't work, so every couple of feet of lawn I have to pull off the housing on the bottom of the edger and advance the spool.

Looking at the mechanism in there - it seems like it has a good idea behind it. I guess if the line gets short, the edger should rotate faster. Then a little switch should move in place based on solid physics principles. When the edger is stopped and started again, the mechanism (I like that word) should advance the spool. This rotation should allow more line should go out, thus slowing down the rotation of the motor. Simple physics. Maybe I just can't figure out what angle to hold the edger. Maybe it needs a sudden stop to jolt the little switch. Maybe the switch has some friction in the wrong spot, preventing it from moving at the right time. Maybe I just bought a defective product - and the other 99,999 edgers of that 99.999% defect-free batch are fine.

Enough of that...it still bugs me.

Look at that edge!

I also got to work on moving the step for the new gate I built in our back fence. Connor helped me with this - I had a lot of cinder blocks to move from the old location to the new spot. That will have to be another post...stay turned Uncle Earl. I know you can't wait for the Fix The Fence saga to be completed.

Soccer 2009 - Warm!

Tegan and Connor had their fourth class this Monday. We had nice weather all weekend, and it continues to hold on for a few more days. This Monday was nice and clear and warm. No sweatshirts, long pants, or gloves this week. Tank tops and shorts were the attire this night. The high temp during the afternoon was at least 80° - most likely higher, but our Oregon Scientific thermometer was most likely in the sun - since it read around 89°.

Tegan's class gets a pointer in a scrimmage from their coach

The setting sun, Mt. Hood, and the warm breezes almost made up for the freezing time we had a week ago.

Can't wait to see what next week brings!

Sunset at Newport, Oregon

Just continue to repeat...and imagine yourself at the beach....

Soccer 2009 - Cold!

This past Monday night - spring soccer practice continued.

Connor and Tegan have their UK soccer classes Monday nights at Tualatin High School. The classes are held by soccer players from England. There was a week we missed because the players had to return to the UK to renew their visas - but we are back on track.

The first week - it snowed for a few minutes at the beginning. Temps in the 30°s.

The second week - it rained. A lot. A good soaking rain. Oh...and temps in the 30°s again.

The third week - it was summer! Temps started in the low 70°s maybe....it did get colder during the night, but I think we ended the night in the 60°s. Nice.

This week, week four. Summer had left without a "Goodbye!" or "Bye your leave" and winter returned without a single "Pardon me" or "Hope you don't mind". The thermometer in the van said it was about 42°. That might be nice if you are an active participant, like Tegan here...

Tegan in action during a scrimmage

Or like Connor - his class was from 6-7 pm. After his class is over he usually plays with a friend. But the friend was missing this night...so Connor decided to walk the track. Four laps later and he had walked a mile. Nice job!

Connor after practice, enjoying the setting sun

Brian - dressed for warmth, but still a little cold

The forecasts now put the temperature for next Monday at 80°. No rain. Maybe even time to wear shorts....hmmm...even for the parents on the sidelines. Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!

UK International Soccer Camps

Yard Work 2009 #5

Quick housekeeping post - please ignore. I know these yard work postings can be boring.

April 15th - cut number five of 2009.

Also - taxes are due today. Hope you paid Uncle Sam. Unless of course, you don't live in the United States. Sometimes I forget that people read this blog who don't live in the US.

Hello France!

Hello Spain!

Hello Finland!

Hello Germany!

Hello Turkey!

Hello United Kingdom!

Hello Morocco!

Yard Work 2009 #4

19 - 12 - 9

April 7 th - cut #4 of the year. The days between cuts are getting shorter. Cut #5 will be due in about a week at this rate.

The grass is starting to really get going, and the with the temperatures in the upper 70°s yesterday - there is no turning back now. The grass cuttings are now in the two-bag range. The back yard almost filled up the mower's rear bagger attachment. Now - after 4 or 5 days of sun, rain is due to return for a few. Hopefully sun returns for Easter...or the egg hunt will happen indoors again. Not as much fun as the wide outdoors!

I've managed to keep up with the emerging weeds in the lawn - not many are visible at this point. I did have to put down a lot of moss-killer fertilizer back in February. The wet winters out here in Oregon causes lots of moss growth. The moss-killer did most of the work, and the moss is now mostly dead. Now I have to go and thatch it out. And keep an eye out for weeds - that keep getting re-seeded from the neighbors. Not much time is spent on their yard work....

I really need to go find a good aerating tool, too. There are sections of lawn where the ground is really hard, and the grass is sparse. I've seen a tool at Home Depot that will put nice holes in the ground, but it does not pull out a plug. I'd really like it to do that - and then spread those topsoil rich plugs to areas of the lawn that were formally bark chips areas. That grass seems to die out rather quickly come July, and the ground doesn't hold any water there - and I'm sure there are not a lot of nutrients either.

Spring Break 2009, or Camping in a Tsunami Zone

This year for spring break we went camping at Nehalem Bay State Park. We hadn't really planned this all out weeks or months ahead of time - we were flying by the seat of our pants.

A few weeks before, we checked the State Parks reservation website, Reserve America. There were no yurt sites anywhere in the system. We decided to break out the pop-up trailer early this year. A little more work than a yurt, but then again - we have most of what we needed already packed. We didn't see too many open sites and we got distracted and just never managed to make a reservation.

With less than a week left, I set about searching to see what was available. I also had to determine which actual site to reserve. Some sites are better than others due to length of the paved pad, amount of trees, grass or sand areas, location of the fire pit, closeness of neighbor sites....on and on. We've camped in quite a few Oregon State Parks - but really haven't kept track of which sites we've like. I should make a note to do that...

So - after a few searches and looking at the park maps - I did my 'final search' - as in "This time I will reserve a site!" And this time - two yurts were available at Nehalem Bay. I had been looking mostly at Beverly Beach, due to the location near Newport. When given a chance for the yurt - we grabbed it. It was only $11 more than a tent/camper site ($27 instead of $16 - winter rates at Nehalem) - so it was definitely worth the extra cost.

The yurts come with sleeping for 5 or 6, an electric heater, a light, a deck, picnic table (sometimes two), fire pit, and basically no insulation. One night we had nice 60° temps in the yurt, the second night when it was clear and not raining - the yurt got down to 56°. The outside temps got down to 35° - which is quite cold for the Oregon coast.

We always bring a cube frig (still working 20 years after college!) and other fun stuff like Christmas lights to hang outside the yurt. I always manage to forget something - like extra extention cords and outlet splitters... They never put outlets in convienient places - or the same place in every yurt.

Our Yurt for two days at Nehalem Bay

We had a great two days and nights at Nehalem. We ate in a restaurant in nearby Manzanita one day - and at the Tillamook Cheese Factory another day. That blog post about our visit there is coming soon...watch for it. Or send me an email saying "I really, really, really want to know how they make the cheese in Oregon!"

There is another interesting item to know about camping on the Oregon Coast. Most of the campgrounds are located in a Tsunami Hazard Zone, in fact - most of the cities on the coast are as well. Kinda scary, eh? The South Beach park in Newport even has an evacuation route to a high ground location right in the park behind a few yurts. So when you hear the loud warning in the middle of the night (I hope it is loud - I've never heard it!) - you can climb up the path and watch the ocean rise, come in, and flood the campground.

Tsunami Sign at Tolovana Beach Park in Cannon Beach

Sign outside Nehalem Bay campground pointing to safety

We survived the dangerous conditions (no earthquakes on this visit - though the Juan de Fuca plate is counting down -tech words here, Pacific NW Earthquake info here) - the rain Tuesday night was the worst. Looking at the tent campers next to us after that downpour made us very glad we had the yurt.

Yard Work 2009 #3

A day of no rain - March 30th - cut number three. It was plenty long and was ready to be cut last week. Now - I have to watch out for these dry days. The grass is growing at a rate of one cut a week. Can allergy season be far away?

I know, I know. Not much of substance here. Keep watching - a post about spring break is coming soon!

Yard Work 2009 #2

March 18th - lawn mowing number two.

The rain broke for a day - and with more running coming the next few days, I had to get a jump on the growing grass. At this rate - cut number three should come in two to three weeks. Maybe closer to two weeks as it is getting warmer now.

After a few more cuts - maybe I'll try and setup a Google Charts example showing how 2009 compares to 2008.

Sure...when I get the time. Don't be holding your breath...

Soccer 2008 Action Shots - Connor

Connor also had a great 2008 soccer season. Here are a few of his action shots. If you want to see more, stop by and check out our Picasa...we take quite a few shots. In the pile of photos - there are a few that just work out right!

Connor was a great defender

Chasing down the ball

Heading towards the goal

Connor gives a power kick

Soccer 2008 Action Shots - Tegan

Here are a few action shots from Tegan's soccer games from last fall. She is quite the soccer stars. Don't you dare blink and miss the action. Keep and eye on her!

It's Mine!

Looking for fear? Look elsewhere. No fear here!

Tegan - princess of the air

Changing the direction of the game - again, in the air

Soccer 2009 Started

This Monday night, right about the time it was snowing...soccer start up for Tegan and Connor. They are taking a soccer skills class taught by a bunch of soccer players from the UK. They had a great time - even with the snow and 36° temperatures.

Tegan and Connor