New Years Celebration

Move over Times Square. We here in North Carolina have our New Years celebration and it just may empty your streets as they rush to Mt. Olive. It is the Mt. Olive Pickle Drop! For the eighth time, The Mt. Olive Pickle Company will drop a pickle into a redwood tank. The tank is located at the corner of Cucumber and Vine in Mt. Olive.

And, being more rational then New Yorkers, the drop will occur at 7 p.m. North Carolina time, December 31st. That happens to be midnight Greenwich Mean Time (also known as Universal Time Coordinated or Zulu Time). After all, isn’t that the official start of the New Year – New York is NOT the center of the Earth despite what they think. sniff

Workbenches

This past year has been largely devoted to working on the boat and other necessary tasks or trips. When we moved into our house in 2005 I had developed an immediate list to to-dos. A few were completed such as new shower doors in the master bath, but most are in a holding pattern.

Completing the varnish work on the boat finished most of the major time consuming tasks so now to the house. Last week I finished one of the priorities, workbenches for Hazel and I. I get to use my workbench to do other home projects; Hazel uses her for stained glass. She has been making stained glass lamps, windows, and etc. for years and looks forward to more.

There are two problems. One of the projects she worked on were stained glass windows for an upstairs bedroom in our California room. Modeled after Tiffany’s “View of Oyster Bay” panel.

Hazel was constructing two panels, each about 33”x 44”. Having completed one and cut all the glass for the second, she decided to bring the panels to North Carolina in the hope we could use them. So far, no luck.

The other problem is that she liked the finish on the worktable so much she doesn’t want to mar it by working on it. That I can fix as soon as I find my hammer.

Christmas 2006

On Christmas we drove to Penick Village in Southern Pines to spend the day with Lil. I think we all had a good time (despite what one of the pictures suggest :-). The dinner menu included roast duck and prime rib - in very generous proportions and very well prepared.

Hazel had had surgery on the 14th of December. It was related to our three sons using her womb as a trampoline, practice soccer field, etc. As you can see, her recuperation has gone well.

Although many residents had probably gone home, the dining room was quite full and it struck me that we seemed to be the only family that had shown in large numbers. Penick Village permitted us to use a meeting room so we could have our private gathering.

Hazel and I were there with Jason who was spending Christmas with us. Kay and Meta, Hazel's sisters and their families were also there. The only people unable to attend were our other two sons, Travis and Josh and their families. They are living in California so that makes for a rather long drive.
















Jason, while visiting us made a drastic mistake. He agreed to let us give him a haircut. I've got Hazel trimming my hair so it seemed like an easy proposition to cut Jason's hair. He told us the setting he used for the trimmer and we dived in. Unfortunately, the setting seemed to be different on our trimmer. Since we started on the back he couldn't see what was happening until it was too late. Actually the battery ran low on the trimmer after the first few swipes so he had to walk around for a couple hours with a peculiar cut - long in front and very short in back - until the trimmer recharged. Anyway, the end result was a haricut that should last him a long time...maybe six months even. I wonder if that is why he isn't smiling in his pictures.














Please forgive the mix of font captions, I am experimenting with Blogger and Photoshop to obtain more freedom in my posts.













Meta, Bill, and Margaret




Will and Taylor




Jason and Chris can barely contain their excitement.













Bill, Will, Chris, and Taylor
















Ferdinand

Dangerous Hospital ER

The local radio stations are not wealthy and are prone to technical glitches and sometimes less then professional programing. Thus, while listening to the local traffic report this morning I was not alarmed. The commentator told of an accident earlier today which was not immediately reported to the police because "his injuries were not significant until he got to the hospital ER."

That's a proactive ER!

Person of the Year

Since I've been named person of the year, do I get a small memento? For example, a million dollars or at least a small plaque? Do I have to buy the magazine first?

No! No Vietnam

I have always felt ashamed by the way our country (and myself) treated our soldiers during Vietnam. The ugly protests, desecration, and disrespect for those in uniform. I opposed the war, I also opposed the shabby treatment - but I was silent, for that I am ashamed.

I will not be silent again and as opportunity presents will strongly oppose a return to that type of behavior. I would encourage a very large, peaceful, orderly turnout of the many Americans that respect and support our troops. Who understand their sacrifice, the need for a military, and are proud of its high professionalism. Through our presence let others know that many have "backbone."

I respect others opposition to the war and feel torn about it myself, but I WILL NOT TOLERATE a return to Vietnam era protests when service people were ill-treated. I am also disappointed with the Chapel Hill-Carboro Chamber of Commerce . I have emailed them about my disappointment and encourage you to do the same. The business community must step forward too.

Kids Going Shopping Too?

Suggestion for parents. If you have a camera phone or a small digital camera, take a picture of your child before you take them to the mall. Should you become separated, you will have a visual record of what they are wearing and can show it to store employees and security.

Surprise Movie

Hazel and I watched the "Worlds Fastest Indian" last night. Had it sitting around for awhile as I was feeling dubious about watching it. Finally relented and was pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed it. It stars Anthony Quinn and is about a New Zealander that set world records on his modified Indian motorcycle. As it dealt with someone our age, it is nice to see that we may yet set some world records.

San Francisco Painting

We own a painting by Anthony
Holdsworth which depicts a
downtown San Francisco view
of Market Street. On our trip
there in September I thought it
would be neat to make a photo
of the same scene and match
it as closely as I could to the painting.












The problem is that I had forgotten to bring a snapshot of the painting so had to work from memory as to camera position and, of course, the time of day and lighting would be different. Luckily, the fog broke a little so I was able to get some blue sky. Never the less the closest photo (I shot several) came out substantially different in color balance, has a light post and crane not present in the painting, and varies in perspective. Okay, time for Photoshop to come to the rescue. I thought this would be a great chance to see what I could accomplish through photo manipulation.


I altered the tint, lightened the shadows, shifted the perspective, and removed the lamp posts and the crane. I had to add a building toward the end of the street angling off to the right (not very visible on this blog). That was rather hard since I didn't really know what to use but it came out okay and I developed more skill with Photoshop. Overall, I think it would be easier to simply return to the city and take another photograph, this time with a snapshot of the painting for reference.

Mayfaire Cinema

Wilmington has a new movie theater complex, Mayfaire Cinema. Today I decided to see whats playing so went to Movietickets. com. Even though I thought I knew where the complex was located, I clicked on the map button. Now I have to say this must the first complex totally oriented to the boating public.

I wonder how the employees get to work?

Helsinki Complaints Choir

I'd send this to my email addressees if I did that sort of thing. And, while I was at it, Manchester bollards too.

Blogger Trouble

Was trying to post a new blog with some images and repeatedly get "We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request." Upon researching the problem I suspect it was a spammer attack on Blogger. Noted on the Blogger Forum that many others are having a similar or identical problem. Also possible that it is a software bug in Blogger Beta. Anyway, this may slow my posts.

Surely nothing I'm doing, I never make mistakes.

Parental Advice - Chapter 123

I strongly recommend that you have a sit down dinner at least once a week (daily is better) at the dinner table - not in front of the TV, with your children. Travis and Aki, this means you need to have a sit-down dinner with Jax.

MPAA Home Theaters

The MPAA also seems to be a nice target for satire.
MPAA Home Theaters

Drambuie Update - Again Again

Drambuie has finally got a new Honey Teak coat. It is done! A major job that took more then two months but it turned out pretty good. Now reassembling all the hardware. Spent today working on the winch - actually two winches; removing the old grease, regreasing and reassembly. Messy job. All that remains is replacing the ground tackle system - bow rollers, anchors, etc.

Next we will take her to Wilmington to be hauled and her bottom repainted. Wilmington is about 25 miles and a fairly easy trip except for docking at the boatyard. If the current is running that may a little dicey so will try to time it for slack tide.

Walter Leon Hester

1947-2006

The Final Flight

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free,
I’m following the path God laid for me.
I took His hand when I heard His call,
I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to work, to play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way,
I’ve found that peace at the end of the day.

If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,
Ah yes, these things I too will miss

Be not burdened with times of sorrow,
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow,
My life’s been full, I savored much,
Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,
Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your heart and share with me,
God wanted me now, He set me free.


May God's arms hold you Walter, our good friend and our neighbor.
We miss you.