The 2011 Tour de Cure pages for the Portland, Oregon event were taken down at the end of August. For now - our teamtegan.com URL points here - to this almost forgotten blog. Apparently - 2010 and 2011 have been busy. We've been too busy to post!
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.
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.
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....
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tegan running across the water
Connor uses his hands a littleFor 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!
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).
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!
Good morning.
Welcome to the world of digital TV broadcasting.
Without a converter box, this is your TV today - and forever.
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.
Just playing around with the technology I've got available. This is what I used recently...
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?
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!
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