ebbTIDE

The GOP Agenda

2011-09-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to figure out what the Republican party stands for these days. For a while now, it has been clear that those who control the party want to get rid of everything in the New Deal -- Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, etc. Of course, the national media often dismisses those statements as just things politicians say when playing to the nutjob base.

However, watching Congress -- particularly the Tea Party controlled House -- and it is easy to see that they are fully willing to destroy the Nation -- and end up in Hell -- in an effort to secure power.

JOBS
1) They want no improvement in the economy before election day because they feel they can take back the White House if the economy is bad. This isn't a secret strategy, they've come right out and said it.

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president," Mitch McConnell told National Journal.

2) Thus they oppose any jobs bill or other measures that might put people back to work.
3) In fact, much of their term has been spent trying to lay off hundreds of thousands of government employees -- which would only make the economy, housing market, consumer spending worse.
4) Their solution to the jobs crisis? Eliminate the minimum wage, cut taxes on corporations and capital gains. They don't care that you'll be shopping at the dollar store, they are all millionaires.
5) Rather than raise taxes on millionaires, they want to raise taxes on the poor -- calling them "freeloaders" and "leaches" for not paying any taxes at all -- because they are below the poverty level!

Not only do they want to take us back to before they New Deal -- they want to take us back to the Great Depression!

Scifri Videos: Boost Your Bike

2011-08-19T13:34:00.000-07:00

Stumbled across this very cool little film about a guy who created a flywheel bike. I'm a big fan of storing and using wasted energy. I think it is the other half of efficiency and a cheap and easy way to reduce our energy consumption. Very cool.

Scifri Videos: Boost Your Bike

Vintage Honda Decals and a Deal!

2011-05-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned earlier that I got these great decals from Lord Moon Pie. He has tons of high quality decal work for restoration as well as custom decal for your car/boat or bike.

If you order off his website direct and mention The Retread or my name you'll get a 10 percent discount! Check it out!

Link: Lord Moon Pie http://www.moonpie.co.uk

Sping Ride Around the Valley

2011-05-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Amy and I got out the other day for a ride around the valley. The sun was perfect, the bike was running good and Amy wanted to try out her new jacket and boots. She's very stylish, even if she had her helmet on too high at first. The bike sounds better and is more responsive with the new pipes too.

Done ... Just in time for May Day!

2011-05-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Lights, Filters, Decals

2011-04-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I got the first layers of paint on and things looked good. This week I installed a new UNI air filter and worked on the electrical system. There were more wires than I knew what to do with, but after trial and error and pouring over the wiring diagrams, I figured it out. And Lo! There was light ... including the park light.

The downside is that all those connectors don't fit inside the headlight bucket. Problem, having all those electrical connections exposed to the elements is asking for trouble. Moreover, it looks like a hillbilly's front yard.

I found the solution in my shop manual. The Rebel 450s addressed this problem with a junction box behind the headlight because the Rebels cruiser-style headlight was too small. I found a couple of junction boxes on ebay pretty cheap and so I've got one on the way. We'll see how it works.

Another eBay find were these cool vintage Honda stickers made by a seller in the UK. Very cool, they were the hold double transfer type so I only had one shot to get them in the right place, but they ended up looking VERY slick. I was thinking they would get lost in that dark blue but the contrast actually makes them stand out more. Clear coat layers are being applied as I write this. I can't wait to get things all put together and get riding.

Meanwhile the rain continues.

Hey Look, It's lights up! It's alive!

Here's the rough assembly a few days ago during a "sun break"
The front fairing looks good, wind screen my need some adjustment
- the holes don't match up.

Paint On

2011-04-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Once I got the paint off, it was time to bondo the tank and the side case. I'm not sure what happened to this bike before I bought it, but evidence is pointing to a rough life. There are signs that it went down at least once on the right side. That would explain the dent, and the missing stock exhaust and damaged side cover. Anyway, it was my first experience with bondo and it came out pretty good. Won't win any awards or fool anyone, but that's not why I'm doing this anyway.

Then it was time to prime -- prime time! I used a filler-etcher from Dulpi-color that worked really well. I was surprised how great both side covers looked under the prime. It failed to fill in all the little nicks, but I want to have a little evidence that this is a used work-horse motorcycle. Overall it looks really slick.

Once the it was primed, it was time to paint. I jumped right in and spent most of a week off laying on coats of "Dark Ford Blue" Duplicolor Ceramic Engine Enamel. It is very blue ... but a kind of blue that's different from most bikes out there. I like it. It does look similar to Yamaha blue, but oh well.

I used Engine Enamel so it would be tough and resist the oil and grease and such. It gives it kind of a tractor like finish. I'm going to hold off on the clear coat until I get everything dialed in just the way I want it.

Meanwhile, I'm still struggling with the electrics. Bought some super cheap turn signals from Asia on ebay that work great. They were an ugly carbon-fiber faux finish which I quickly painted over. Guess what, they accidentally sent me two pairs! Also bought a new battery -- sealed cell. It's working great and is about half the size and weight as the old one.

I did a final outdoor assembly just to see if I liked where this was going. It looked pretty darn good. I realized however, that the windscreen I bought doesn't exactly match up with the fairing ... which means I'm going to have to drill some holes. I also found that the school bus yellow trim paint I bought is better in small doses. I had the headlight bucket yellow and side covers, but reverted both to blue. Looks much better now.

Here's some additional progress photos:

Drag bars went on. The drag bars improve the bike's profile, making it look a little less dorky. We'll see how they feel on the road.

St. Patrick's Day and Irish Pride

2011-03-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. The time when I break out my Irish rugby jersey .

Last night I read Lindsay W.B. Yeats Irish Folk and Fairy Tales. I tell the kids about Patrick Cooper Hunt, who was born in 1830 in County Mayo and stepped off on the docks in Philadelphia in 1848 leaving a land of famine and finding a land of opportunity. He found a wife too, of course -- Mary Malone -- another Irish immigrant from the rocky west country. His son married Rose Casey, the daughter of Irish immigrants.

I tell everyone in earshot how I got to live and work in Ireland after I graduated from college. I tell them about PJ's -- where I used to keep office hours after dinner -- and where you could view the Leprechaun bones for just a punt. I tell them about St. John's Castle in Carlingford and about the old Mint where I used to work. I tell them about climbing Croagh Patrick at sunset and losing the trail on the way down in the dark. Like a guiding angel, an old gent with a flashlight appeared on the sharp rock side of the sacred mountain to lead us safely back to the trail and the warm music of the pub.

I tell them about the Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley, who once had an audience with the Queen of England. I took a mail boat out across Clew Bay to to visit her castle one day and spent the night on her little Clare island.

For though it's a Saint's day to be sure. Yet, March 17 is really about Irish pride. A chance for all of us who have found prosperity a few generations removed from needle-bone fingers of starvation to look back on the land we've left behind.

Oh, and there's yer man St. Patrick. If you want to read about himself, Slate magazine had a good scribble here.

Paint On, Pain Off

2011-03-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

So the headlight looks so good on the front of the bike, I'm contemplating leaving the faring off and going old school. That said, even if I sell the faring, I need to get the rust off and fix the mounting hardware. So off it came with a little BoltOff. Then I soaked it in CLR for a day and the rust dissolved away. painted with a couple coats of engine enamel and it looks as good as, used.

I also started stripping the gas tank with Citristrip. We've used this non-toxic chemical stripping gel all over our house and it works great, cleans up good and it is doing an amazing job on the tank. The trick is patience. Put a coat on and walk away until the next day -- it will be all bubbled up. We scrape it off and wipe off the scraper in a shopping back held over our other hand like a glove. Works like a charm. The tank is about 80 percent done already. Extra coats are needed, but not a lot of elbow grease. The tank cover, I dry sanded down and covered with two coats of duplicolor primer and one coat of engine enamel in black. This will be a contrast color, still not sure what the final color will be.

Pipes are covered in stove black after some CLR rust removal. The power chamber -- which was completely rust covered got the same treatment and all looks good. Got it all done, just before the bad weather moved in. Will get pictures soon, I promise!

She likes it electric

2011-03-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I've got the headlight on and most of the nest of wires fits in the headlight bucket, so it really cleans up pretty good. It is a really tight fit, and I have some wires that don't have a home yet, but I've successfully got the headlight and turn signals connected.

That said, two things are apparent:

1) The heavy turn signals have no place to go. They will fit on the headlight bucket, and they look kind of cool, but the stalks they came with ~barely~ fit. I've ordered a lightweight cheapo set from Hong Kong that I can attach to the faring directly. This will also solve another problem I have. I'm eliminating the chrome from this thing, since much of it is pitted and rusted. I'll cover all the chrome parts in a gloss black engine enamel. However, the retro turn signals are just too pretty to paint over. The cheapos will paint just fine and blend in instead of standing out.

2) Things aren't blinking. When I relocated my rear turn signals to the back of the bike, they wouldn't blink. Not sure if they did before, but I know they worked before teardown. So now the question is what has to be connected to get them working. When I hooked up the front turn signals, they lit up just right, but did not blink. So either I have a blinker unit that is shorted out, or all the connections need to be made to get it blinking. I'm not going to over pursue it at this point. My battery will need to be replaced for the new season and it may just be that I'm short of power to work the blinkers.

Meanwhile, the motorcycle is looking pretty good. I tried the faring out with the new bars and headlight and it's is going to look like a cool old BMW going down the road. Much work left to do however, and summer is coming.

Wasted Calories are Sinful

2011-03-01T08:31:00.001-08:00

Just read Slate's review of TC Boyle's new book "When the Killing is Done." It follows the clash of an environmental engineer trying to eliminate invasive species from two islands and her running battle with an animal rights activist. The title comes from the animal rights activist who calls environmental engineers "Nazis" and states "I'll be civil when the killing is done." The Slate writer has a great line:

The killing, needless to say, is never done. Nature is as murderous as human beings, and neither is likely to change.

As an environmental science writer, I used to cover stories of these sorts of conflicts all the time. They also reveal two worldviews -- one scientific and analytical and the other moral without reason or perspective. As we've become increasingly divorced from nature as a people, we have lost our connection with its inherent brutality. The natural world is all about domination, all about killing and eating things. Our romanticism seeks to restore "order" and "harmony" that never existed. Natural systems are always dynamic and amoral. Everything is food for something else. Wasted calories are the only sin.

Latest Build Update

2011-02-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

Finally got some more work done on the CB400A this week. I tracked down the relay for the shift indicator and got that working. I also installed the grab bar on the back so I can strap my milk crate or bag there for grocery getting and trips to the library this summer. I rerouted the turn signal in the process but I couldn't get them to light up. Will try again now that the battery has a full charge.

I'm still waiting to install the headlight and turn signal. I need the headlight mounting brackets. The ones sent by Speedmotoco in Eugene were too small and so I sent them back and they are supposed to send me another pair. Speedmotoco did send me a nice black drag bar to replace the elk horn handlebars that came with it. The old bars were comfortable but you sat bolt upright like a scooter. I remember my old CB and how I longed to have lower bars for tucking in on longer rides.

I needed the drag bars to install the viper faring too. Got a little worried after I got the bars on because I thought that I would have to relocate the mirrors too, but it looks like they will sit just outside the faring. Still not sure how I'm going to mount the front turn signals. I'll wait until the brackets arrive and go from there.

Installing the drag bars was (almost) a snap. I popped off the throttle and right side controls with no problem, but I had to cut the left grip to get it off, then I found that the screw on the bottom of the left controls was about stipped and stubborn in the hole. Got to use my new impact driver for the first time in anger and it worked like a charm. Everything went on the new bars, but I left that screw very loose. Will pick up a replacement the next time I'm at the hardware store, then bin the rounded off one.

I've been watching lots of how-to videos on YouTube about motorcycle restoration. Found a great one on removing decals from your bike. The pulls decals off a fairly new Rebel with just WD40 and a hair dryer. So I gave it a go with my side panels and my heat gun.

Before WD40 and Heat Gun

This one looks okay, the other one was already damaged and got a little hot from the heat gun. It needs major sanding and repair anyway.

The finished tank looks pretty good.

The whole process took maybe an hour for all three pieces. The bigger decals came off easier than the little ones and my fingernails worked better than a scraper to get the first corner off. Have to keep a little heat on it while you peel I found. Best of all, they came right off with no damage to the paint below.

BikeEXIF recently featured this beautiful CB450 with rattle can paint job!

Not that the old paint is staying of course. I need to strip it down, fill the gaps, prime, paint and clear coat. I also have to bondo that big dent on the right front of the tank. Found some great YouTube videos on that too and I think I'll give it a go here at home. It the tank or the motorcycle was prettier, or worth more money, I'd invest in a pro paint job. But as it is a $600 bike, I'll do it myself. It can be done. Just check out this rattle-can paint job! Here's a great write up the owner did of the full ressurection/resotration. Like me, he's taking a cheap bike and making a great one with as little expense as possible. Very cool!

I like these colors ... nice car too!

That leaves the question of what color to paint. Ever since I bought the bike, Amy has said that she loves the original blue. Now that the stickers are off, I can kinda see what's she's talking about. I can see I kind of Bugatti inspired paint scheme featuring blue and black. I've always loved the old blue Bugatti racers from the 1920s and '30s.

Covering the rusty chrome with high-gloss black and re-painting the surfaces with a Bugatti blue would leave me something like this picture at right. Now that's pretty!

On the other hand, I've also been pondering a more universal paint scheme inspired by -- of all things -- a music video. My plan was for a white tank, with black and school-bus yellow highlights everyplace else.
I still love this idea, but I think I'll save it for my next bike.
The "soul" of this old CB400 wants to be blue.

Coffee Love, Coffee Love

2011-02-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

I'm in a fog, I'm half dead
Tractor beam pulls me back to bed
Until I get that first drop in my head

Morning cup of coffee, need you so

Chase away that sandman

Wash away the gloom

Morning cup of coffee how i love you so

Don't like the cream or frothy thing
Just fill it to brim and it'll make me sing
Works better than any alarm bell's ring

Black with sugar and I'm

Good

Forty days of rain

2011-02-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

Found this old ball
and here's the glove too.
I don't think they'll ever dry out
Just a few things from my past
drowned in flood
but I ...
I can't let them die

Forty days
and forty nights too
Forty feet high in my mind
Forty years
Forty years and two
God willing, I still have some years left
With you

You can see
the water got this high
highest it has ever been
High water comes
most every year
But we won't see the likes of
this again

Silver light
shines on silt-brown fields
everything is corrupted and dull
little fish
fight for life
attracting a flock of gulls

All we had
was just things you know
and memories, we still have a few
guess we better
start again
Thank God I still have you

Forty years
where'd they go
staring out the window at the
rain rain rain
Forty days Forty nights
Forty years and two
Give me forty years with you.

Forty days of rain
Forty nights
Forty feet high
Forty years
Forty years and two

Much Much Go Interview

2011-01-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ever since discovering Pipeburn Magazine I've been digging through the archives looking for inspiration amid the beautiful cafe customs. I've also been following links to some other great magazines, blogs and custom builders. The Cafe style really is the hot thing right now and I love the "fix what you found" mentality of taking common old UJMs and making them into custom rolling works of art.

I doubt my first venture will be as beautiful as anything on these pages, but it is great to take in such inspiration.

One of the best visual inspirations for the customization of my CB400 of course is the Much Much Go ... winner of a build-off down under and a very controversial show bike. It is stripped down, and customized with minimal cash. A low displacement Honda with Comstar wheels, white pipes and no chrome dangles the attainability of such beauty to backyard hackers with limited funds and unlimited dreams.

I really like the design and I might even go with the white pipes!

Anyway, found a great interview with the creator in Pipeburn and wanted to point to it: Check it out here: http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2010/12/7/interview-nick-much-much-go-eterovic.html

Pipeburn Portland and Cafe Racers on TV

2011-01-26T04:55:00.000-08:00

A friend at work just told me about a new series that started last fall on Discovery HD about the Cafe Racer motorcycle scene (or the return of that scene. ) Cafe Racer TV looks like a very cool series. Unfortunately, it is on a channel I don't get, I'm still hoping I can pick it up on Itunes or Netflix. While looking for the website, I stumbled across Pipeburn magazine, a cool Cafe Racer influenced mag from the Portland area. Great stuff here! Pipeburn also had this killer photo spread on the CB above. Check out that paint job!

Motorcycle Graveyard

2011-01-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

I remember being a kid with my dad, crawling around junkyards looking for Fiat parts. I miss those open repositories of parts and the treasure hunt adventure of searching through the industrial archeology of the recent past. My dad was an industrial engineer and so he taught me the beauty of the machine.

I wish I could fine a graveyard of old motorcycles that I could crawl through on a wet winter's day, finding that that diamond in the rust. I'm jealous of the folks at Classic Cycles in New York who had an opportunity to access such a graveyard of old motorcycles recently.Here's the story: http://dcclassiccycles.dynamitedave.com/graveyard.html

2011 a repeat of 2008? Ex-oil Exec says get ready for $5 gas

2011-01-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, so when I was convincing my wife that I needed a motorcycle again, one of the reasons I cited was that it would be great to have something that was good on gas for short hops around the valley and maybe even driving to work. I bought my Ford F150 pickup just as gas prices spiked last time. It runs E85, which is cheaper, but that drops the MPGs down to about 13. My old CB400 on the other hand was spec'd at least 45 mpg. It would be much higher if not for the auto tranny.

Now, the ScooterScoop is saying gas prices are slated to go up again. ( 2011 a repeat of 2008? Ex-oil Exec says get ready for $5 gas ) If you didn't notice, gas this Christmas topped $3 a gallon for the first time. Even with the dip in demand of the global economy, they aren't making new oil.

The Missing Link - Affordable Well Built Motorcycles

2011-01-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

One thing I love about the motorcycle magazine Hell For Leather is their lack of bias toward motorcycles. They like good motorcycles that can be ridden. They have been campaigning for a push by moto makers to attract new people to two-wheels by producing better, safer products.

Enter what they call "The Missing Link" The Honda CBR250R -- an all new, 250cc entry level motorcycle that has ABS and a decent price. Despite the small displacement, it is fully able to exceed all the speed limits and get you from point A to point B. Moreover, it looks fantastic, stops well (with optional linked front and back ABS!) and is comfortable to ride. What's the drawback? Our mentality toward bikes as a "lifestyle choice" here in the US of A.

Motorcycling in our countries has an image problem, one that puts up barriers in front of the venerable CBR250R and other machines like it. Despite our self-inflicted economic meltdown, big, bad-boy egotism still drives our industry. I will go so far as to say they are our industry. Everywhere else in the world, motorcycles are transport as much as they are recreation, and what’s more, they are OK with that. You don’t need to be on the extreme end of any spectrum: the fastest superbike in production; the baddest custom chopper; or some adventure soft-roader with GPS and aluminum hard cases to be cool. In Brazil, in Italy, in Japan and most every biker culture just being on a motorcycle, anymotorcycle, is cool. Not so here. Ride outside the box at your peril. .... This is the mountain, the towering height of fickle public opinion, that the Honda CBR250R has to scale if it is to succeed. Honda are no doubt aiming at not only sensible types (the ones we labelled “uncool”), but also people completely outside motorcycling’s bandwidth. There are a lot of consumers out there who like the appeal of motorcycling, but until now have been too intimidated by the image and products on offer to step in. They are the kindergarden kids, looking over the fence at the grade 1 playground, envious of their toys and increased freedom, but too afraid to cross over. Those people, professionals and students, young and old, with the right media message, will discover that they too can be cool and enjoy riding motorcycles, just like another generation of ordinary Americans once discovered.

Another Honda Hawk CB400A Sighting!

2010-12-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

Hey, That's My Old Bike!

Ever notice that once you buy a new car, suddenly you notice that you see the same cars everywhere? Part of this is perception of your environment. We're more attentive to familiar or significantly novel stimulus.

That said, I've been seeing the 1978 Honda Hawk CB400 show up everywhere. The latest sighting is in HELL FOR LEATHER! That's like having Johnny call you over on the Tonight Show. (Okay, you youngsters won't get that reference.) It's like making the cover of Rolling Stone. Anyway, it's not featured, but still pretty cool.

Actually, it's in a photo spread for a Corazzo jacket review. Cool jacket, and something I'd wear. My daughter Grace even says I look like the guy in the picture. Anyway, look at the bike he's standing on -- see that under his right foot -- yup, it is the unmisstakeable profile of the 1978 CB400. Looks just like the Goldfish I had in college.

My guess is it is probably a Hondamatic. After all, it is the only motorcycle in a sea of scoots, so it fits right in!

Mint Bikes!

2010-12-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

When I bought my CB400, I wrote off the idea of doing a full restoration to stock -- but instead planned a low-budget customization project. I knew there were some mint bikes out there and that I could never match their quality with my dollars available. Besides, I wanted to ride. Today I came across a couple of mind-blowing mint condition CB400s. The first lived on the showroom floor for 24 years of a dealership! The second looks like my bike except it looks brand new. They are both for sale on eBay. Check 'em out!

Black on White? Some Simple, Beautiful Customs

2010-12-13T13:16:00.000-08:00

I've been looking for inspiration for the paint job on my HONDA CB400A. The folks over at Death Spray Customs have a great White on Black simple design that I'm tempted to emulate. It's a 1970 Triumph TR25 and it is rugged and clean. I've already got the black frame and will likely end up with a white or black overpaint on my exhaust system.

I also like the white pipes and clean lines on the Much Much Go as profiled at BikeEXIF. This is a cheap but beautiful custom of a similar vintage machine that won the Deus Ex Machina comptetition. What do you think?

Airbag crash testing...

2010-11-17T17:18:00.000-08:00

I've been wondering how you go about crash testing motorcycle airbags....

Airbag motorcycle jacket crash tested

2010-11-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

The history of the Dainese airbag system

2010-11-17T17:13:00.000-08:00

Blinders

2010-11-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

Hey, how long have you been sitting there?
Me, I'm just plugged into my electric chair
Hey, is there weather still outside?
Don't want to seem like a coward
But all I do is hide

I got my blinders on
I got my blinders on
I got my blinders on
Can't you see I'm gone.

I'm sitting in the dark
Getting no tan from this screen
Pale back light, Holy LCD
It's become the only light
The only light that I see

I've got my blinders on
I've got my blinders on
I've got my blinders on
I've got my blinders on

I don't answer when it rings
That's why God created caller ID
(bridge)
Hey, Even I
see the irony
Escape the real world by watching
something called Reality TV
It's real to me
(chorus)

I got my blinders on
I got my blinders on
I got my blinders on
Can't you see I'm almost gone

Hey, I hear the world is fallin' apart
Won't anyone come in my den and break my heart
My thumbs are getting tired
But I've still got my pride
My stupid pride

I've got my blinders on
I've got my blinders on
The world around me's lost
But I've got my blinders on

Hey, How long have you been there?

Best No-Bake Cookie Recipe EVER

2010-11-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a lot of requests for this: Amy's No-Bakes are the best:

Melt one stick butter (1/2 cup) in a heavy saucepan. Then add 1/2 cup milk, 2 cups granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons raw, unsweetened cocoa (I usually do heaping). Combine in saucepan over medium high heat. Here's the tricky part that has taken a lot of practice for me. When the mixture starts to boil in the middle of the pot but hasn't come to a full rolling boil, I set my timer for 3 minutes since I can't do seconds on my oven timer. Stir constantly and let it reach a full rolling boil. Remove from heat when the timer gets down to 30 seconds (2 min. 30 sec. boiling time total). Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup peanut butter (I usually just scoop out a huge spoonful's worth). Stir 'til combined then add 3 cups raw oatmeal. Quick cooking or old-fashioned both work just fine. Drop by spoonful onto foil or parchment paper and let cookies set. The boiling time is the trickiest part. Too short and you will end up with goopy, tar-like cookies that you have to eat with a spoon. Too long and they will be hard, dry and crumbly. Don't be surprised if it takes a few batches to get the consistency just right. Once you get the hang of it, they really are very quick and easy to make and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. ~Amy Hunt

Old Bikes Good for Old Bones?

2010-11-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

It's a stretch but the health benefits of motorcycles comes from our friends over at the Kneeslider:

A daily dose of whole body vibration may help reduce the usual bone density loss that occurs with age, Medical College of Georgia researchers report. Researchers found vibration improved density around the hip joint with a shift toward higher density in the femur, the long bone of the leg, as well. Hip fractures are a major cause of disability and death among the elderly. Well, the study didn't specifically cite motorcycles, but what better whole body vibration machine is there? Combined with previous studies that show lifting weights keeps bones strong among older folks, this could be a nice boost for Harley Davidson, or any big bike for that matter, giving all of us Boomers a great new reason to fire up the big V-Twins for medicinal purposes and ride forever.

The UK Hondamatics

2010-11-01T07:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a look back at the 1970s Hondamatics from Brit magazine Visor Down. Pretty cool to see how the UK bikes were set up different than the US bikes. Also interesting to see that only about 1,000 were sold.

A monumental step forward in motorcycling history. The Honda CB400 Hondamatic was the firm’s last foray into automatic technology. With a dizzy 27bhp propelling 200kgs of lardy, badly suspended rolling stock the performance was never going to be electrifying. (http://www.visordown.com/features/history-of-the-hondamatic/11934.html )

Visor down's look back was inspired by Honda's attempts to reintroduce motorcycles with automatic transmissions in the US and abroad with the DN-1 (nicknamed by dealers as the Do Not buy One) and the VFR 1200 (UK version )

They like the transmission better:

In operation it’s amazingly good. Smooth, fast, drama-free, predictable and slick. On the track I tried really hard to assess the two automatic modes but, to be honest, as good as it may be, on a race track it’s crucial that the rider makes the gearshift decisions.

On the road, though – the DCT system really came into its own allowing more brain capacity to be used for absorbing everything going on around and about.

Which is the whole reason I like my old hondamatic...

Read more: http://www.visordown.com/features/how-does-the-dct-on-the-honda-vfr1200-work/11876.html#ixzz142cIky3z

Allstate TV Ad: Quarterback Mayhem

2010-10-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

This commercial features my motorcycle getting hit by car and knocked down. Looks identical to my bike.

Putting things away for winter

2010-10-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here's the CB400 without the Vetter

Well the endless parade of rain clouds stretching out into the horizon on the forecast convinced me it was time to put the bike up for winter. I'm planning to do a lot of work on it this winter so I knew I'd have to get it stored away and taken apart.

The first thing I did was removed the Vetter Windjammer fairing. It just doesn't seem to fit the bike right, and I don't think this model was ever meant for a 400cc bike. My guess is they took one off a CB750 and used the same mounts.

This rat's nest of wires makes no sense. Must Fix!

Anyway, getting Vetter off was a snap, but afterwards I had to look at the jumble of wires.

This poor bike has seen its share of ham-handed amature electricians over the years. It has wires that go nowhere, and some that have four or five joints in just a few inches. I've found a number of wires that don't go anywhere at all -- they were just taped together and folded under a panel.

One of my major tasks this winter is trying to return things to the original wiring diagram while replacing the front headlight and turn signals. Should be fun.

Here's how I drained the tank.

Next I drained off the gas out of the tank and removed the tank and seat, then put the bike down in the basement where it will be out of any flood waters and relatively climate controlled.

This winter, the bike will be a series of little restoration projects and if all goes well, it will run better next spring. The tank has a dent and a number of rust spots on the outside (no rust inside!). I'll try my hand a bondo and see about getting it painted up for next year. I have a bunch of ideas for colors, but Amy wants to keep it blue.

Time to pack it in?

2010-10-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Well, the rain came down, down last week and it looks like winter is finally here. I've got the basement set up for motorcycle restoration work this winter and it's about time to get the bike out of the garage. Of course, one it goes in, it won't be coming back out for a while ... so I keep checking the weather forecast to make sure there's not one more sunny day in the week ahead.

When it goes into the basement, I'll be tearing the bike down to the frame for restoration, so it's not like I can just hop on it if we get another sunny fall day. So, I keep procrastinating. Maybe Friday ....

Endorsed

2010-10-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Took three days and went up to Olympia a few weeks ago to take a Motorcycle Safety Course. The course is attractive in that you get a reduced fee for your endorsement and don't have to take the test at the DMV if you pass the test at the end of the course. I took mine from Puget Sound Safety and was glad I did.

Twenty years ago, I taught myself to ride. With the Hondamatic it was as easy as riding a scooter. I learned about countersteer AFTER I was doing it. Basically a fellow rider pointed it out to me one day. I was cautious but I thought I was pretty skilled.

The MSF course gave me a wakeup call. Hidden under the veneer of caution was a whole bunch of bad habits and vast gaps in knowledge about the art of riding motorcycles. I had not idea that you shouldn't brake when in a turn for example. Zack, our instructor actually has a great line about this:

"There is no penalty for entering a turn too slow," Zack told us. "There is a huge penalty for entering a turn too fast - possibly the death penalty."

There were a dozen other little things I didn't know that have changed the way I ride -- safer, and smarter.

The MSF course also had the advantage of learning in a controlled environment. We rode little Suzuki GZ250 microcruisers that had a low center of gravity. I learned to run the clutch -- something I had never done before and found it was much easier than I feared. In all it was a great class. Passed my written with a 100 percent and my driving test with a 93.

Many states are looking to make these safety courses -- Washington's is state subsidized -- mandatory for endorsement. I think that's a great idea and could reduce motorcycle fatalities. Education is better than regulation I think, when it comes to the future of motorcycling.

Hondamatic Lovers

2010-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Is my Hondamatic a real motorcycle? The automatic transmission takes something away from the motorcycle experience, but the experience of motorcycling -- of the wide open, the leaning in turns, the one-ness with the machine -- all that is still there.

I'm sure I'll move on to a larger bike once Amy and I are ready to take long trips, but I don't know if I'll ever give up my little Hawk. Did that once and regretted it, and most of the people I come across -- serious bikers -- like to keep these around.

When Larry sold me this bike, he seemed reluctant to give it up. "It's just fun to hop on and scoot around," he told me, clinging to keys.

Richard at hondamotorcycles-usedmotorcycles.com seems to value these little bikes too. He has a special section on his website for his "fond memories" of these "wonderful motorcycles"

"I could write a book about these little machines and I won't be surprised if I end up with another one at some point; perhaps in the 750 version too. For those unfamiliar, these wonderful motorcycles had a 2 speed semi-automatic transmission that you could shift but didn't require a clutch. Also, you could just put it in high and ride the whole day like that without shifting at all. An amazing concept that honestly would do Honda good to reinstate. I suspect cost of manufacture ended up putting this wonderful machine on the shelf. "

When the Rain Falls

2010-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

It's raining now, and I'm looking for a sun break to take the bike out for a zip around the valley. The weatherman says next week -- when I'm working and sleeping during the day -- will be sunny and warm, but until then, nothing but rain.

The bike is in the garage and this is what I have to look forward to all winter. So I checked a bunch of books out of the Library: Proficient Motorcycling and Riding In the Zone as well as How to Restore Your Motorcycle. More on each of these titles later.

This last has some great ideas about the first steps. I need to get a shop manual so I can see how things come apart and how they go back together. I'm bidding on one on eBay right now and already bought a sales brochure. Still deciding on whether to keep the Vetter faring or to take it off to reduce the weight. The wiring harness is a mess and I'll redo it this winter with some heat shrink -- wiring at least is something I'm comfortable with.

Our helmets came from the internet earlier this week -- early enough that I managed to get a ride in. Both helmets are DOT and very cool. Mine felt a little large at first but I'm getting used to it -- and during a ride around the valley it felt secure and unobtrusive. I got the flip up kind so I could put it on without taking off my glasses and that works great. I picked it up - brand new -- for $30 at an eBay store. Sizing was tricky, we tried a bunch on in a cycle shop but the sizing is so different between brands that measuring our heads was a much better way to get a good fit.

As for my first zing around the valley, it was fun. I did parking lot practice at the Rosburg School and gained a lot of confidence on the bike. Looking forward to taking it down to the fire hall on Autumn evenings and giving Amy her first ride.

I've also got a line on a Motorcycle Safety Course in October which I'll register for this week. Taking a motorcycle safety course reduces your insurance (which is only going to be $65 a year) and counts as your endorsement test. Plus, I'm sure I'll learn a lot which is the most important thing. I'm determined to use all the accumulated science and knowledge to be a safe rider.

That's really the thing that weighs heavy on me. The idea of endangering myself now that I have a wife and children has really been the only barrier preventing me from getting back into motorcycles all these years. So now I've resolved to do it right and to be the safest motorcyclist on the road.

That won't eliminate all risk, but what is life without risk?

Full Circle

2010-09-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Twenty years ago I sold my old 1978 Honda Hawk CB400A motorcycle.

Lindsay and I with my new motorcycle

This week I bought a 1978 CB400A Honda motorcycle. It's Hondamatic!

I stumbled across it on Craigslist two weeks ago. It was for sale in a town 10 miles north of here as the crow flies. Of course, since the logging roads are closed with gates, actually driving there takes the better part of two hours.

Yet the price was right - about half what similar bikes were going for -- and it was running. I told Amy and she said yes.

It has cosmetic damage and a Vetter Windjammer faring. Not sure I'll keep the faring, but if I take it off I'll have to track down the parts to reconstruct the front light bucket and turn signals. We'll see how ambitious I get this winter. In the meantime, it sits in my garage. Sometimes, I go out and just look at it to make sure it's real. It's been a long time coming.

Lindsay has dibs on it .... someday

It's Hondamatic

2010-09-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Honda Hawk - Two Gears, 400 cc - FUN

It had been a hard year. I had quit college in 1988, hooked up with the Girlfriend From Hell and made bad decision after bad decision. By November I was in Tacoma, staying in a friend's apartment while I looked for work as a recording engineer. There were no jobs and no jobs that paid. Finally, I was at an interview at Ironwood Studios when the guy interviewing me set me straight.

"First," he said. "You'll never get a job as recording engineer that pays." There were tons of kids living in their basements willing to work for free just to be around the music. They'd push brooms and learn the business from the inside. My trade school knowledge was fine, but the kid who hung out night after night would eventually get the nod. "Second," he said. "Go back to college. Get a degree in anything, it doesn't matter. A four year college degree shows you can stick with something for four years. It will give you an advantage in every job interview and no one will ask you what your degree is in."

Back at my buddy John's apartment, I told him and his roommate about what the guy at Ironwood had said. His roommate Pete jumped in. "Go back to college," he said. "College is the only place where you can bee poor and still have fun."

That was it. I drove from Tacoma straight over to WSU and signed up for classes scheduled to start in January. I crashed on a friends couch for a few days and got a crappy apartment. I was back. WSU called it a "leave of absence" since I only missed only one semester.

Money was tight. I took a bunch of jobs to pay the bills and put tuition on my credit card hoping that financial aid would pay things back. Eventually, I got a check and paid my bills. I had about $500 leftover.

This bike is identical to mine - right down to the engine guard.

I had hung out at motorcycle shops for years. I would sit on bikes, ask questions. I think I stopped into Laplante Cycle on the way to My Office bar. Inside was the new bikes -- A Transalp, Pacific Coast, GB500 -- cool stuff, but way out of my price range. Out front stood a line of old bikes. It was orange, and as I threw a leg over, the dealer came out and said "It's an automatic."

An automatic motorcycle? I'd never heard of such a thing. He got the key and I took it for a ride. It was April, sunny and the road had a silver glare to it that I still remember. I had never ridden a real motorcycle and I was scared as hell, but this was a blast. This was a sign that 1989 was going to be a better year. That I had turned it around.

I wrote him a check and picked up a Nolan helmet and rode the thing home. It was Awesome!

I had buddies at the newspaper who were motorcycle riders. They made fun of my "scooter" but I had a blast on that thing. It had a crack in the front fender that rattled at speed and it leaked oil from some unknown place. Other than that it started and ran like a dream.

At the end of the school year, I borrowed my Step Father's truck and took it home. That summer I worked for Community Action Program in The Dalles. Rode it to work just about every day. The Gorge roads were perfect for motorcycles, but the winds buffeted the light bike around. I had a rubber goldfish keychain. I wore cowboy boots. I gave girls rides around town and through the hills above Lyle.

Best.
Summer.
Ever.

This orange bike looks exactly like my Honda Hawk

The next year at WSU I rode my bike until the now came, then stored it out back. At the end of the school year my big plan was to go up to Alaska and work in the Cannery. Make a bunch of money for school and for a new motorcycle. I had my sights set on a Harley 883 Hugger.

To get to Alaska, I had to pay my own airfare. That meant coming up with cash at the end of the school year. So I sold my Honda -- I still cringe just writing it -- sold it to a roommate who was graduating.

Alaska turned out to be a bust. I barely made enough to return to school. None was leftover for motorcycle payments. My first motorcycle, turned out to be my last.

That was 1990 - twenty years ago.

First Times

2010-08-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

My first time with a motorcycle and I got my finger's burned.
It was back in Turnersville, NJ and I was about eight years old. Jimmy Davys was a friend of my dads who came by on his motorcycle. If I remember right, it was a White AMF Harley. It was cool. He was cool in a 1970s kind of way. He was back from Viet Nam, wearing a white wifebeater and no helmet. I was told to stay away from the bike, but touched the tailpipe and burned my fingers. Got blisters and everything.

I was a big Evel Knievel fan back then, and my man rode a Harley scrambler. (check out this cool inforgraphic about EK) I had the wind up stunt cycle of my own that I jumped over the dirt Grand Canyons in the back yard.

My dad stoked my motorcycle dreams by getting me a Roadmaster bike with shocks and motorcycle seat.
I was cool. The bike weighed a ton and looked and rode like hell when the BMX bikes came out a few years later, but for awhile, I was the king of the neighborhood. We jumped the heck out of that thing on the mounds of dirt between the houses.

Bikes have been substitutes for motorcycles for generations. I know I wasn't the first to pretend that there was a motor powering my lead weight bike instead of my little legs.

My brother and sister's friends all had dirt bikes when we moved to Washington State. It was the late 70s and the motocross dudes were the demigods of Klickitat county.

My first time on a motorized two-wheeler was on a scooter. A Honda Cub to be exact. The Cub and Supercub (and later the Passport) was the vehicle that made the Honda corperation. They are still making them and at 60 million and counting, it is the most mass-produced motorized vehicle in the world.

My stepfather - Lester - bought the Honda Passport in 1982 for my mom. We were living in The Dalles and Lester was a impulse buyer. He had just bought a CB900 for himself and he wanted to teach her to ride. She hated motorcycles.

On her first lesson, we took the Honda up to the parking lot of the nearby church. She went round and round on the scooter and was doing pretty good until he told her to shift into second. It's an auto transmission, so shifting is easy, but it gave her a little jolt. She tensed up and thereby squeezed the throttle. She started going round and round like a 78 record on 45, unable to stop until she finally went flying off and into the bushes.

That was the last time she ever rode it. My brother Chuck and I loved the thing and rode it all over town. It was a blast and I wish I still had it. Would love to get a used one, or even by a new Symba -- which is a brand new Cub built by a company in Taiwan that used to make them. (See TeamSymba for more. )

I'm still a sucker for Hondas and Harleys and all this lead to the foundation of the my motorcycle dreams.

Welcome

2010-08-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I already have a couple of blogs that I've created, but this one is new. It is to document my return to motorcycling after 20 years out of the saddle. I'm trying not to become another statistic of an Over 40 motorcycling novice that wrecks his bike within the first year. In fact, I'm trying to avoid all the mistake most new motorcyclists make. I don't want to assume I know how to ride -- even if I did ride a lot 20 years ago. I don't want to buy a bike that looks cool but is hard to ride or impractical. I don't want to buy too much bike for my needs.

So this blog will detail not only my dreams of motorcycles, but the process of safely turning them into reality. Safety will be key. I'm an Emergency Room Nurse, so I know the damage a spill can do to the human body. I love my family and my life. This isn't a mid-life crisis thing, I just miss riding.

Toward a Hybrid motorcycle

2010-07-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

I was all excited about the Piaggio hybrid MP3 until the specs came out. Seems like the same lesson learned by the 4-wheel hybrid rush of a few years ago: If the gas milage and performance aren't significantly BETTER than the gas only counterpart, people won't buy 'em. Wonder who will be the first to apply the new plug in model to the hybrid motorcycle -- namely -- high performance electric motor with a range extending gas engine.

Unhitching the ICE engine from the drivetrain allows for it to be optimized for recharging batteries. Meanwhile, the lightweight, high performance electric motor can drive the wheels. Keep the overall weight down (by using the ICE range extender instead of batteries) and you could have a fun, economic commuter that doesn't use ANY gas for most in-city trips.

The big challenge is that there are plenty of scooters that already get over 100 mpg on gas alone. My mom's old Honda SuperCub (Passport) could do it 30 years ago. So two-wheelers have a much higher road to climb to make the switch to hybrid power economical. The other problem is that -- like cars -- the increasing range and performance electric only power is making hybrids unnecessary. With production electric motorcycles exceeding 100 miles on a charge, it is a wonder that Piaggio doesn't just come out with an electric-only MP3. If the specs were right, I'd buy one.
Links: Hell for Leather: Hybrid Mp3 Grows Up | Piaggio USA

Building the Pattio

2010-06-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

The Launch Pad

2010-06-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the new launch pad at Dun Elsie. This is an area with our cell phones and a place to put anything we don't want to forget to take out the door with us when we go.

This is the culmination of a long term project that I've been working on for over a year. As you can see we have our cell phones on two Touchstone wireless chargers and our kitchen phone all in the same place. This way if something rings, you always go to the same place.

Also, cell reception is lousy in our house other than in the kitchen by this wall.

You walk in the door, put your phone down on the charger and it magnetically "sticks" and starts charging.

The launch pad itself is just a simple corner shelf with the power cords to the charging bases hidden in a tiny gap. The cords themselves go through a small hole drilled into the cabinet you see on the left, where they plug into a powerstrip.

The result is -- even up close you see no cords at all. Pretty nifty!

The power strip lives in the charging cabinet which I created to charge all of our electronic devices out of sight, without any visible tangle of cords.

The girls' DS games, the electric toothbrush base and other devices can be charged in the cabinet and easily found when preparing to head out on a road trip.

I also have my watch and change catcher, as well as cases in the charger cabinet so that everything is centralized.

More information on the charger cabinet. I needed a pantry for our kitchen when we were fixing up our kitchen but all the ones I could find were too expensive or two feet deep. Instead I took three wall cabinets and attached them to the wall one on top of each other. At the base I installed four bun feet simply screwed into the base cabinet and finished with tounge oil. This cabinet works out great and actually cost less to construct that many of the pre-fab pantries.

The small middle cabinet was planned from the begining as a charger cabinet and has a hole cut into the back to allow access to the wall outlet before it was hung. Works great!

Zep'lin by Renault

2010-04-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

In my latest them of cool things in the air -- this is a design project by the Renault autogroup. Solar powered airship. Very cool.

Festo AirJelly

2010-04-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Festo is a German company specializing in pneumatic actuators and the like. What they've really gotten attention (at least my attention) for is biologically inspired systems. Check out this video of the AirJelly - inspired by a Jellyfish. Probably too windy for this around here, but they also have a bionic kite!

Our Room

2010-03-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

Finally got our room done. I think it looks pretty good. It certainly feels more clean and enjoyable to be in. Click the pic below for the full gallery.

Our Room

Lindsay's Birthday

2010-02-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

We delayed Lindsay's birthday party by a few days to make sure we had a date where everyone could come. It worked out great at the Rosburg school. Instead of cake, Amy had the girls decorate cupcakes with frosting and candy. Our friend Mary brought her donky cart and gave rides and the girls decorated the room with streamers and used chalk to make a giant birthday card outside. Small group, low stress, beautiful sun, great day. (click through for full size pics)

lindsay birthday

Best Books of 2009 (that I read)

2009-11-30T08:10:00.000-08:00

I love reading books. I'm also a HUGE fan of our local Timbland Library system which gets me access to just about any book out there with just a web search and an email when it arrives. Through Timberland I've read some great books this year. This seems like a great time to list a few, in case you were looking to buy a book for someone for Christmas.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - This is an incredible magical adventure for grown-ups set in the early 1800s in England. Clarke has imagined an entire history of magic and has extensive footnotes to books that don't exist. It's one of those books that is so well written that it spoils you for other novels for a while.

Shadow of the Wind - This book is so good I bought it. It's a book-lover's mystery novel set in Barcelona after WWII. Amazing writing.

Pinkerton's Secret - Great novel of the life of the founder of the Pinkerton detective agency - and the modern private-eye business, the secret service and many undercover and investigative techniques. Pinkerton is someone who should be much more famous than he is. In this novel, Pinkerton leaps off the page. Fantastic historical novel.

Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation - Great non-fiction about the history of Occult and alternate belief systems in the development of the United States. Very easy to read and a lot of fun. Fascinating history whether you are a true believer or a skeptic!

Misquoting Jesus : The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why - Biblical scholar answers the question you've always had about the Bible but didn't know enough to ask. This book was so good and had such a human take on the story of early Christianity that I checked out 4 more of his books -- and read them all cover to cover. Misquoting is the best. His latest is Jesus, Interrupted - which is good and includes a new way of thinking about the authors of the Gospels and why the way we read the bible is all wrong.

Death From The Skies: Astronomer Phil Plait takes on Astronomy in the most engaging and easy to read style by using the end of the world as a start of each chapter.

Homesteading Space: My dad was involved in the Skylab project -- the now forgotten first US space station -- and this recounting of that adventure is a detailed and fascinating space history.

Great Scooby/Zombie Mashup

2009-10-27T08:11:00.001-07:00

'we've got some work to do now' alt. version, originally uploaded by Dr. Monster.

Great Halloween mashup of Scooby/Zombie. This is how Velma looked in my 13 year old boy dreams....

Lindsay's Room

2009-10-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

This pictures are late, but this is what Lindsay's room looks like. We still have a few final touches like trim and posters for the walls (we've ordered one of Paris of course, and Van Gough's Starry Night) and we're looking for a vanity/desk. The floor looks great and we're already planning on doing our room. Click below for more photos!

From Lindsay's Room

Paul Hawken Quotes Me ...

2009-08-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

In my former life, I helped create a proto-blog/news service called Tidepool for the non-profit group Ecotrust. Starting from scratch, we built the idea of a human edited news aggregator supplemented by original reporting and insightful commentary. It was fun and a little insane since back in 1997 nobody was doing anything like it.

Of course, in 2004 I went off to become a registered nurse and Tidepool and Ecotrust amicably parted ways soon after. Tidepool went to Northwest Environment Watch, which became the Sightlines Institute and Tidepool has become the Daily Score.

Needless to say, a lot has changed.

To my surprise, however, people are still reading, or a least thinking about all that stuff I wrote so earnestly ten years ago. In his new film "Blessed Unrest" Paul Hawken quote something I wrote way back when:

"It is my belief that we are part of a movement that is greater and deeper and broader than we ourselves know or can know. ... During the span of the 20th century, big ideologies were worshiped like religion. In the words of Ed Hunt, ideologies stalked the earth, clad in armor. They fought for control of our minds and of the land. ... There comes a time for all that is harmful to leave."

That's pretty cool. Anyway, for those wanting to know where that quote came from, I can't remember. However, archives of the two weekly columns I wrote for Tidepool are still on line. Hunt and Peck's archives are Here and the old ebbTIDE can be found Here. Check out a clip from Blessed Unrest

Thanks to Howard Silverman's People and Place for catching Hawken's reference! Howard was my boss in my old life!

Graces New Room

2009-08-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, we caught a wild hare and decided that the girls needed separate rooms. We'd remake the toy room, the old nursery, into a room for Grace. It started out with just a couple cans of paint. Then we decided that this little room would be a great place to try out laminate flooring. The results are stunning ...

From Grace's New Room part one

Moving Day for Grace

2009-08-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today's the big moving day for Grace. I'll start moving her furniture into her new room this morning while she's at playgroup. Will post pictures when all the furniture is in and arranged!

From Grace's New Room part one

Early Riser

2009-08-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

early morning, house is silent and the light is gray

I drink my coffee and

think about

what I have to do today

Let the past drip down the shower drain

let the coffee percolate

the ghosts of all your dreams away

early riser, don't be sad

these are the moments

the crystal moments

that you always wish you had

the future starts each day when you arise

so make the best

the very best

of each day

you are

alive

Grace's New Room

2009-07-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, we agreed that it was time to get the girls their own rooms. They go to bed at different times now, and Lindsay likes "alone time" to read before bedtime and during the day. So we decided to take the "toy room" which they never play in and remake it into Grace's room. Grace chose the colors and everyone pitched in. See the great pix of phase one below. Once Grace's room is done, it's Lindsay's turn.

2009-07-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a wordle based on my book. Ever wonder if you use the same words over and over again?

The Dalles and Cherries

2009-07-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Way behind on my posts. Last weekend we took a trip down to The Dalles. Found Lindsay a new bike and picked Cherries with Aunt Mindy.

The Dalles in July

It's the latest venture for us in what is turning out to be a busy summer. Here's the rundown on summer so far...We had a fun little 4th of July at Dun Elsie in Grays River. Saw a Beaver Game in Portland went to Eastern Washington to for Emily's first birthday. Grace graduated from pre-school. Click through to view the whole gallery.

To the Portland Beavers Game

Pasco and Emily's First Birthday

Westport

Pre-School Graudation Day!

Bury Me In...

2009-05-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

What would you want to wear to your own funeral?

For me, it's a moot point. I've signed up for whole body donation so that all my parts get recycled into more than just worm food. Yet, it's fun to ponder.

The subject came up in a book I was reading the other day. In the novel, friends come to a viewing of a body and notice the woman dressed completely differently than how she dressed in life. Thus she looked "uncomfortable" in her own coffin.

This got me thinking about the clothes we wear. I've been blessed in that I've never had to wear a suit to work. Most of the time I could wear comfortable, practical clothes every day. As a nurse, I get to wear scrubs, which are so comfortable and practical that just about everyone who works in the hospital wants to wear them. I've never had to "suit up" as it were, other than for a job interview or a wedding. I own one tie, one dress shirt, one pair of dress slacks. They get worn about once a year.

Moreover, I could easily wear the exact same thing every day. There are some pretty smart guys who I admire who actually do this ... the thought being that life is too short to waste time thinking about what to wear. Dean Kamen has his denim shirt and jeans, Steve Jobs has his black turtleneck and jeans, Albert Einstein had his gray sweatshirt.

So it is a interesting question. What's your uniform? What would you wear if you could wear anything you wanted, every day?

For me, it would be wearing what I wore today -- cotton pocket t-shirt, Levi's denim shirt (red, but a I have several) Docker's khakis and a pair of Chuck Taylor All stars. When it gets cold, I'd add a sweater. When it gets warm, I add a pair of cargo shorts and Chuck's would be low tops. That's it. I could live like that.

Sure I look like a generic Levi's ad from the 1980s or 90s, but hey, that's me. I used to make fun of people who locked in on the style of dress or haircut. As if they tried to stop time at the age when they were at their peak in life. I grew up around old guys trying to work a 1950s DA long after their had the hair -- or the youth -- to do it.

I don't wear the same thing every day. Nor to I follow fashion. There have been times I've been tempted to purge my wardrobe of anything that doesn't fit the pattern. After all, I know what works and what's comfortable. Why wear anything else? Why spend time worrying -- even for a second -- about what to wear?

So here's the question: If you could fill your closet with seven copies of the same set of clothes, what would you pick? What would you be comfortable enough to wear in your coffin?

Visit to Meme's

2009-04-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Had a good visit to Mémé's in this weekend. The sun was out and we got watch Elliott play baseball, watched some dog romping and planted some flowers. Pics below.

New Dog at Dun Elsie

2009-04-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to get a new dog this week. This dog's life reads like a movie script. He was born on th estreets of Thailand, lost and eye when he was hit by a car. Lost a leg and his tail when he was hit by a train (hencthe name) Brought back to health and to the US by a Vet on a medical mission trip. Finally adopted from Must Love Dogs NW to a nice little family in the country when cows and chickens and cat named Gus. He's a happy dog, poodle or poodle mix so he doesn't shed. Doesn't bark much (only at the cat). Loves to play tug of war with the girls. He's really the perfect dog for us. Might have to do something about the name, however. Amy sez it is cruel to name an animal after something that once ran it over. I'm thinking maybe we should call him Lucky..

Spring cleaning

2009-04-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

We've been on a mission to clean the house inside and out now that the weather is nicer. Grandpa Hank has an excavator that the girls call "Big Wall-E" after the movie. He offered to bring it over and tear out some sickly looking Rhodies and a Verbina in our front yard. He did that and more, clearing out a lot of the vinca that had taken over the back of the house and even knocking down a maple tree that was threatening to fall on the front yard. Now, I've got a lot of work to do to clean up all this brush, but Hank did in a few hours what would have taken me all summer. Thanks!

Click on the picture to see the whole album of photos.

From Spring .. first act

Spring Weather At Last!

2009-04-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

Great day working outside. The Girls helped grandma pick up sticks from the hay field and I worked on clearing out the old holly tree and building my fence in the back yard. Photos below.

Snow and Science!

2009-03-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Out my window this morning...

This afternoon the snow was gone, the sun was out and we were conducting experiments in gravity in the back yard for Lindsay's science fair project. Bowling Ball in One Hand, Soccer Ball in the other (Lindsay taking the picture at a safe distance). You'll have to wait to see how it comes out next week!

The other Mp3 plug in -141 mpg!

2009-03-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

My drive to work is 45 miles each way. It's the price you pay for living out in the country and working in the city. Most of the time it never bothers me. It's two lanes with hills and banked turns along the Columbia River. It is often stunningly beautiful when the sun is setting in silver, pink and purple, or when you round a bend to find a giant ocean going freighter heading up river just thirty yards from the fog line.

Although I haven't owned a motorcycle in the 16 years I've lived here, I've often thought it is the perfect motorcycle road. Two lanes, of twists and turns, not much traffic, beauty in all directions.

Of course, when I arrive at work, I'm in the emergency room, where I get to see what happens when people wreck their motorcycles. Needless to say, it gives me pause.

About a year ago I read about the Piaggio MP3 -- a maxiscooter from the makers of Vespa with three wheels on the road instead of two. Videos of these things show them cornering at wicked angles, the front wheels cambered to always remain in contact with the road. There's less chance of washout, and much better braking with the new configuration. All the benefits of motorcycle riding, with a little more safety to boot. Plus, they are different, and kind of weirdly cool.

Older motorcyclists have picked up the Piaggio MP3 and had some fun with it. Check out the series "No Age Limit" where two guys twice my age take a couple of MP3s from coast to coast. Tell me that doesn't look like fun.

Meanwhile, we have two cars here. A Honda CRV with 130k on it and my F-150. The Honda is all wheel drive and performed perfectly in the snow this past winter. It's a great bad weather commuter and so reliable that Amy and I have said we'll probably never sell it. The Ford is my truck. 'Nuff said.

So what to do when gas hits $4.80 a gallon again?

Hell for Leather reports this morning that Piaggio with sell a 141 mpg MP3 hybrid. The vehicle can run in four modes including electric only, and electric and gas to give faster acceleration. This would give me a great way to save money during the summer months while blowing by Peak Oil gas prices.

Most importantly, it'd be fun too.

Mt Hood Gettaway!

2009-02-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went up to Mt Hood. We go up every year to go sledding and play in the snow. The girls haven't tried skiing just yet and we have lots of fun sledding and avoiding the crowds. This year we got to go for a hike to Trillium lake and stayed as we usually do in the Huckleberry Inn -- they have some sort of magic pastry called a Persian Roll which is just stupid good. On the way home we stopped off at Multnomath Falls and hiked up to the bridge. Enjoy the pictures! Click through to see the pictures full size!

Birthday Week

2009-02-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

Last week was a busy one with my birthday, V-day and Lindsay's birthday all in the same week. Lindsay also had Cheerleading camp all week ... so things were crazy. We're all a bit wiped out this week, but we sure had fun. Photos below!

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Geocaching

2009-01-25T17:49:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, Mindy was telling me about a Geocaching adventure. You use GPS coordinates to find hidden boxes. Some boxes have trade items, others just have notebooks where you can write your name and the date. It reminds me a lot of the Orienteering and Mailboxing that I did when I lived in Ireland. I decided to look into it and thought it might be a fun way to get the girls out hiking. I bought a Garmin Etrex off Ebay for $50 and today we went on our first trial run. We found the cache near the Grays River Bridge and had lots of fun. Check out the pics.

The Space Between Want and Need

2009-01-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

Lately, Amy and I have put ourselves on the Dave Ramsey "baby step" program to getting totally out of debt -- The Total Money Makeover. Before I changed careers we had saved a lot of money and had no car payments and no credit card debt. That came in handy when I got laid off and had to pay for nursing school -- and start over at the bottom of the career ladder. When I got my RN, however, I bought a new truck. The old one was 13 years old and had 280,000 miles on it -- and no airbags and no back seats for the girls. We also took a trip to Hawaii. We ended up with a truck payment, credit card debt and student loans.

Thanks to Amy and Dave Ramsey, we're getting them all paid off.

However, along the way we've had a lot of conversations about things that we need and things that we want and how to have fun, fix up the house, etc ... without spending money.

It's actually a lot of fun to think this way. Creative thinking. That said, it doesn't mean we have to give up our dreams. We don't really need everything that we want, but it is still okay to want it. There's nothing wrong with aspiration, as long as material things are comfortably ensconced in their proper place.

Most importantly, it's vital not to live your life centered on the yearning for some material thing. Once obtained, it will only disappoint. Even if it is perfectly adequate, practical and as beautiful as you hoped, nothing lives up to the imagined contentment of our desire.

I need nothing that I do not already have. I have a home, a good job, a family -- air, food, water and love.

Wanting, however, has a place. It moves us forward, fuels progress, creates beauty. It motivates. Long days at the library were often punctuated by visits to the dealership to test drive trucks. A new truck wasn't my only motivation, but it was a symbol of the financial security for myself and my family that lay ahead.

Somehow, even in our contentment, I think it is good to see something and want it. I still have this reaction when I see beautiful industrial design or works of art. I often experience the "I want that but I don't have anywhere to put it" sort of feeling. I know I don't need it, can't afford it, can't practically keep it even if I could.

But I still want it.

Last summer, a friend offered to give me his sail boat for free. It was a great little sail boat, and it wasn't in too bad of shape. Even the moorage cost was pretty cheap. However, it just didn't feel right. It wasn't the right time, the cockpit was too small and shallow and the girls still too young. I wanted it. I still want a sail boat and I have ever since I was a kid watching the tall ship races during the 1976 bicentennial.

Yet, I found I was more than comfortable just wanting it.

I don't know that we have a good way to describe this space between wants and needs -- these aspirations we are content to leave unmet. It is kind of the material equivalent of infatuation. If you can think of a word to describe this feeling, I'd love to hear it.

Meanwhile, I'll be looking at my favorite websites for motorcycles, high tech gear, boats, hot air balloons, airplanes ....

Cleaning Up

2009-01-23T14:35:00.000-08:00

We've had sunny -- but cold -- weather here the past few days and I've spent much of it outside cleaning up the stuff that washed up in the flood. I've also started to get to work early on some of the projects around the yard that we want to do next spring. Give that it doesn't stop raining here until July, we've found it's best to start spring projects whenever the weather permits -- even if it is 30 degress. I've taken down the picket fence and cleaned up a lot of the fallen tree branches in the back yard. We've had two big burn piles and I'm working on a third. Amy's dad came over last week and cleaned up the deep silt that was still on our driveway. Pictures later this weekend.

Why the Future is Electric

2009-01-12T08:57:00.000-08:00

When gas hit $4.25 a gallon last summer, I started researching alternatives.

Readers will recall that I was always a big fan of hybrid and electric cars and motorcycles. Well they are finally coming into their own.

It's not just the Tesla roadster and competitors that are paving the way for electric vehicles. At the Detroit Auto Show this week the basement is set up as a test track for electric cars and almost every company has an electric vehicle on the display. Chevy has the Volt. Chrysler seems to be staking its whole future on EV dreams. Ford has plans to have battery electric and plug in hybrid electric cars in every category in a few years and is pushing for government policy changes to help make that happen. (check out Autobloggreen for the best coverage)

A few years ago, battery folks were stone-agers while everyone touted the hydrogen economy. However, hydrogen fuel cells are just a fancy -- and expensive battery. Once that was revealed, the infrastructure costs of hydrogen distribution seemed daunting. Things moved slow.

Meanwhile, batteries kept getting better.

I argued that hybrids were the way to go in the interim because no matter what the power source, the electric drive train was going to be what moved wheels on the road. With electric motors at or in the wheels -- anything could provide the electricity -- hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen ICE, batteries of any kind. Electric motors are flexible in a way that other drive trains are not. They don't care where the electrons come from -- so any source -- even multiple sources can be used.

For example: say I build a electric car with batteries. If I use Lithium batteries it will be expensive, but get good range per charge. For my commuting needs I can just plug it in. If I need more flexibility on range, I can have a range-extending generator on board. This generator could run on hydrogen, gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, natural gas, ethanol, methanol, coal fired steam, kerosene. Heck if it is a sterling engine -- you can run it on multiple fuels. So long as something charges the batteries, the batteries and the motors don't care -- the driving experience stays the same.

Let's say I add a small gas generator to my electric car to extend the range -- but gas suddenly goes up to $10 a gallon. I can pull out that generator and put in a natural gas generator and bypass the gas stations. The batteries and the electric motors don't care.

Moreover, let's say I build my car with lead acid batteries because they are cheap.

However a year later, NiCad or Lithium polymer batteries come on the market much cheaper. I can switch out batteries and leave the drive train unchanged.

Today when I plug in my car I charge it up with hydropower and wind power. If I lived on the East Coast it would be coal and nukes.

It's not just cars. The future is electric in the home as well. A few years ago I wanted to supplement my wood fired heading in my home (stove and pellet). I looked into oil and natural gas and decided on a solid ceramic electric heater instead. These Econo-Heat heaters draw about the same power as a light bulb use convection to heat a room. They work great, have no moving parts and are easy to install. Best of all, however, is their flexibility. If electricity gets more expensive in the Northwest, I can supplement by adding wind and solar here at the house. The heating system -- the drive train -- doesn't need to change.

In short, the future is electric because electric devices, drive trains and heating systems aren't picky about where they get their juice. That allows flexibility as we make advances in how we power our world in the year to come. There likely won't be one magic bullet to replace the carbon monster. Electric power allows all options and a mix of options to keep the lights on, the home warm and the wheels on the pavement.

Evangalizing!

2009-01-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

Okay there are some things that I've discovered that I'm always telling folks about. I'm kind of an evangalist for the cheap and interesting secret stuff of the world.

Cheap Eyeglasses

I discovered these when my daughter Lindsay had to get glasses and I couldn't bare to spend $200 on glasses for a seven year old who would likely lose or destroy them. I'm bought most of my glasses for $8 or $9 a pair -- total for prescription and frames. Most have come from Zennioptical.com but I just bought a pair for Lindsay from Eyebuydirect.com. But follow the links from fellow blogger Glassyeyes to get discounts on even cheaper glasses. When I got an updated perscription recently, the store said it would cost $240 even with insurance! I got the same glasses for $25. How can they be so cheap on-line. Slate Magazine did a great article on the subject.

Buying Used Tech

I've been a Mac person since my first computer -- a pre-Mac Apple IIe. We had Macs in my middle school classes and I leaned to program BASIC on them in 6th grade. I bought a Mac 512 after college for $25 and used it for years of writing newspaper articles and novels at home. I'm now writing on a G3 Ibook that I bought off Ebay last year for $60. It came with a wireless card and all the latest software including Microsoft Office for Mac. I bought two ibooks for my daughters for $25 each on ebay. Batteries were dead but with wireless I can still plug in anyplace in the house to surf the web, blog etc.

I bought my Palm 650 for $50 from some guy who was upgrading to a iphone. That's the trick, people are upgrading to the latest tech all the time. I like to swoop in an take advantage of these early adopters as they get rid of their "old" tech.

I stick with brands I know -- Mac, Palm etc, and sell on-line when I want to upgrade. I think PCs age faster and have a harder time upgrading so I avoid them. LowEndMac.com is invaluable for know where to find the best deals as well as the capabilities of older machines.

Whole Body Donation

A patient in the Emergency Room told me about this one. Instead of having your body rot in the ground with no benefit to anyone -- I've decided to donate mine to medical research. My inspiration was the great book Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach -- which tells all about the things we do with bodies after we die. I was lucky enough to benefit by studying a human cadaver when I was in nursing school. I want to pass on the same benefit to future generations. I'm signed up with MedCure whole body donation -- which donates your body to medical research projects at no cost to you or your loved ones. I'm also an organ donor or course.

After the Flood

2009-01-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

Note- This was originally written for the Chinook Observer after the 1996 flood. The most recent flooding rivaled that event and reminded me of this. This and other essays are in my book Content.

   Standing in the water in my basement, I couldn’t help but realize how blessed my life has been.
   Four inches of water downstairs was nothing compared to what other folks were going through. Houses sliding down banks, roads stranding people far from their homes and families; water wiping out all that some people had with no warning and no insurance. As I stacked waterlogged boxes on folding chairs up out of the water, I couldn’t help but smile at how lucky we were.
   It shouldn’t take suffering of others to remind me.

By Friday, the sun shone like August in a cloudless sky and I looked at the world with new eyes.
We cleaned out the basement, trashing most of the dozen or so boxes I had pack ratted away from various stages of my life. There was a scrapbook from high school with blank pages; several pounds of assorted papers we saved for some future use that will never come. There were tapes of lonely songs and angry nights that have sat unplayed for years as well as souvenirs of wanderings I made alone. Why did I save these wounds and scars of my life before Amy?
It didn’t take long to pile the truck down and haul the whole load to the dump.
It is some small neurosis I possess, this inability to throw anything away without a major event to press me into action. I can’t even bring myself to throw away the scraps of paper, receipts and cough drop wrappers I squirrel away in my back pocket. They collect upon the flat surfaces around the house -- every place but the garbage where they belong.
In that way, for me this flooding was a blessed event. A cleansing moment like the biblical flood that washed away the apathetic and unholy. It was an imperative to clean out the accumulated garbage of 20 some-odd years. Some of the garbage anyway. At least it will be a start.
Perhaps even more so, it was an opportunity to look at the blue sky last week and see the contrast between dark winter and perfect clear blue of tomorrow. I love living in the land of so much rain. It makes me appreciate the sun so much more than I would otherwise. When I lived East of the mountains -- where no clouds appeared between April and October -- I had no appreciation of the sun.
When times are good, you don’t appreciate the good times.
Yet, give me a natural disaster and I suddenly remember how to count my blessings. Last week was too kind on that account. Too many reminders were waiting to slap me in the head.
I could turn in the middle of my world and see how my life is now. In the bright light of a false spring, there was Amy planting sweetpeas in the garden. The dogs played in the mud, and the water slowly receded back to the banks of the river, leaving patterned shoals of silt behind. Great logs were left in the fields for us to cut up into firewood. Gifts brought by the high waters. I could look at these things and see all that is too easily forgotten when days are not so bright.
Our minds are muscles of habit. We are beings of assumptions, generalizations and programmed reactions only occasionally awakened from our automation trances to view the world as it really is. We seek order so we fail to appreciate it-- call it boredom, demand more.
I grew up thinking that contentment was a state of stagnation. Those who grow content in their lives fail to improve their world. To some extent that is true. Too often however, I think we use this as an excuse to create disasters for ourselves in hopes that we may escape the soft arms of contentment and the guilt we feel in their embrace.
We need to embrace the good things in our lives while striving to change that which still can be improved.
I awoke early on Monday, my 27th birthday. My back and legs sore from hauling truckloads of manure fro a the new life growing beneath the surface of our garden.
Sore as well from hauling the dead things away. Empty boxes and water logged memories are heavier than one can imagine. The work in the clean fresh air had felt wonderful, the soreness serves as a reminder of the good work accomplished. I pulled on my jeans and struggled to button the top button. Getting fat I guess -- a reminder of work still needing to be done.
On Tuesday, Amy and I celebrated Valentine’s Day with candies, root beers and cards, as well as the quiet realization that we don’t need to set a date on the calendar to say that we love each other.
How blessed we are, we who have our health, our loving family and a roof over our heads. How sad it is that we need to be reminded by the suffering of others.
How joyous and thankful we should let our hearts be when those reminders to come.

The Return of ebbTIDE!!! by Ed Hunt

2009-01-08T15:49:00.000-08:00

In 1997 I helped create the Tidepool.org (now sightline) news service. It was a great resource for covering the Pacific Northwest. We had a thin budget and some creative minds but we were making it all up as we went along. One afternoon, I created a weekly column linking to the best news articles and putting them into context for the Tidepool readership. It was a combination recommended reading list as news analysis. In short -- I created a blog ... before there was a name for such a thing.

Things change, I've gone on to a new career as a registered nurse but I still have the itch to read and write about the world on a regular basis. ebbTIDE is going to be that forum. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Floodwater subsiding

2009-01-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

Looks like the floodwaters have gone down quite a bit. Chickens are and about (and gave us an egg in the middle of the storm last night!) We got about 3 inches of water in the basement but all the important stuff is fine. The girls all have a stomach bug (Gracie started it Monday night) and so we're all flopped around in the living room watching the water.

I tried to run to the store earlier today but SR4 is closed at Seal River and at Skomokawa. There are some major slides in the Naselle area from what I hear.

Luckily we don't have anyplace to go. Dun Elsie is our fortress once again, safe from the world outside.

Still raining, and the water is still rising...

2009-01-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

It's still raining and the water is still rising. My my marks we're at the level of the 1996 flood, which is a benchmark around here. We drove around on SR 4 and it looked like it was still passable over Seal River but we decided not to chance going to town and risk not being able to get back home.

That was smart -- we just got word Seal River is completely flooded. Sounds like there's a lot of water in Naselle too. One of Lindsay's friends is now over visiting because her mom couldn't get back across Seal River.

We're still fine here. It's strange with no traffic on the road ... just the odd truck cruising around looking at the high water. Grays River is completely impassable. Back home, I had to cut a trail around the picket fence so that we could get to the truck -- the water on the driveway is now too high for our boots. In the basement, we have about two inches of water that has seeped up through the floor. WE keep everything up high and so there's no damage. Our wood supply and pellets are elevated as is everything else -- and it all drains right back out through the floor as soon as the ground around the house is less saturated.

High Water

2009-01-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

First photos of the flood are up. I'll be adding more as things go on. At about 10:00 am the water started coming up fast and the school called to say they were sending kids home. The bus driver told me that she had to drive through water on SR4 to get to our house "and I don't think it's done coming up yet."

Our cars are moved to high ground and the garage and driveway are underwater. The house is high and dry as always. The weatherman says this sort of storm system hasn't been seen since the big flood of 1996 -- we'll see how it goes as the day goes on. Should peak about 4 p.m. this afternoon.

I get all the news I need from the weather report...

2009-01-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

The headline is a quote from a Paul Simon song and just about sums up the news in Grays River today. We received more than an inch of rain last night and they are expecting another 4-5 inches of rain over the next 24 hours. The fields are flooded out in front of the house and the radio reported that Grays River is expected to peak at five feet above flood stage at 17.6 feet this afternoon. Don't worry, we'll all still be high and dry and watching the water go by. We've got power, the wood stove and plenty of food so no worries.

Amazingly, thus far Portland and the valley has had more flooding with the now melt that we had here at the house. I guess the Grays is better built to take it -- that and we don't have storm drains to get clogged like they do in the city.

Looks like I completely forgot to post Christmas pics. Here are few below. I'll get some flood pics on line later today.

Grays River Valley in the snow.

2008-12-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

Even more great photos on-line at my Picasa web album or check out the slide shows below. BTW: If you click on any slide show on my blog, you'll get a bigger version of the pictures.

BLIZZARD!

2008-12-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

We got a lot of snow this week. Here's a few of the latest pictures. More to come of course. Looks like the snow will be around for Christmas --- back to rain after.

Almost White Christmas...

2008-12-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Wow, did we get some good snow the past few days. The drive in to work has been slow and snowy but not a problem in my little Honda. Last night it snowed like crazy and this morning it was about six inches total of powder. I'm at work, but Amy says there's ten inches of snow at home. Check out the latest pics -- Grandma found some old skis at a thrift store and the girls finally got to try them out today. After sledding and skiing it was time to come in for some hot cocoa!

Grange Christmas photos

2008-12-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

Check out the photo blog of local newspaper photographer who snapped Grace running up to see Santa Clause at the Grange Christmas party.

Snow!

2008-12-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

We got Snow this morning. Last night we walked around the lighted streets of Astoria finishing up some Christmas shopping. This morning, the snow was on the ground and swirling in the air. The girls and I ran out and played for about an hour. Photo slide show below. Click through to see bigger slide show.

Ballet Videos

2008-12-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, these videos aren't the best, but I'm experimenting. Here's a clips Amy took when Lindsay was dancing at the Astoria School of Ballet performance at the Columbia River Maritime Museum as part of the Weathering the Storm performance. Lindsay is in the purple in the center.

You can view another video here.

Ballet and Christmas decorating

2008-12-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a few pics from the Ballet performance at the Columbia River Maratime museum and our recent tree decorating. The girls are getting so big and so good and decorating. I have video from Lindsay's performance, which I'll try to get posted later (still learning how to do video...)

Gobble Gobble Gobble

2008-11-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving at the Nelson house with family. Grace said Grace "Thank you God for our food." I was content even while watching the Seahawks lose for the 30th time this year. Life is just too good.

Okay, now I know why my sister Mindy always called this gobble gobble day. Boy did I eat. The girls and I made chocolate dipped pretzels while Amy whipped up a smoked oyster dip. Then across the field to Grandma's house for Turkey, two kinds of stuffing, two kinds of cranberry sauce (homemade and the kind shapped like a tin can for traditionalists) green bean casserole mashed taters and pumpkin pie. Did I forget anything? Nope I ate it all!
See all the Thanksgiving Photo Album Here

New Windows....

2008-11-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

We finally got new windows up. Check out the great work the folks at Beach View Windows did. It's already made the porch much warmer.

A House is a ship at anchor...

2008-11-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Hunt Family Blog, where you can get a look at the latest pictures and keep track of what we're all up to these days. I decided to start this blog up after packing a flood, ballet practice and a major house project into just one week. Anyway, the hope is you'll be able to bookmark this page and check back to find the latest updates.

About Dun Elsie:
Dun Elsie is the name of the house, or at least that's what I've called it for the past 16 years. Dun is celtic for "fortress" and Elsie refers to Elsie Torppa - a lady who lived in this house for about 40 years. Amy remembered coming across the fields and eating Elsie's cookies in the kitchen when she was a little girl. I guess this house has long been our little fortress -- a safe place for us to return to far from the maddening crowds of the workaday world.

A House is like a ship at anchor

The waters gently rock it to and fro

It may turn its face into the teeth of the wind

But it holds fast, it holds fast

as the years come and go