Tin Man and Her Sickness

So, Cora has been sick. She lost her voice. She managed to find a little of it tonight. Have a listen!

Cute, huh?

You Know How It Is

You know how it is when you get a song stuck in your head? I have been dealing with that all week. I don't mind, since it is a decent song...ok, I really like this song.

So, I finally downloaded it last night. I also downloaded a couple of others. But, it is this one that sticks in my head. This morning I decided to see if there was a video that goes with it. There is. Now, providing your computer allows it, have a look at this video. Listen to the song and tell me if you like it.

Bicentennial Post

200. 2X100. 4X50. I have now posted 200 times. I have enjoyed this blogging thing. I don't necessarily know how many people read this blog, but I enjoy writing it for those who do. I also enjoy writing it for myself. I used to write in a journal when I was a teenager. I look back on it once in awhile and at times am astonished at my subject matter and sometimes amused. I think writing in a journalhelped me become a better writer. I am aware that I am not the best writer, but I know I am not a horrible writer, you guys can at least keep up with my train of thought...most of the time.

Today, I got up and made coffee and then proceeded to relax for awhile. Cora left for work nd I began cleaning house. Dogs. I think we should shave our dogs. Just for the simple fact that it requires so much work to clean up all that hair. I also took Cora a sandwich for lunch and then came back and used her computer (at her suggestion) to edit a video of our geocache from Sunday. I even put it on DVD with music and titles and everything! It is only about 7 minutes long, but I had fun and I need to practice for Africa and China. Now, I need to learn to upload to You-Tube. I also know I want to take more footage so I have more to choose from when I edit it. Now, I know why directors take so many takes.

Cora and I went to The Mummy 3...it was a good movie! I now want to watch the other two again. We ate at the theater. You know that healthy stuff they stock. I went with a polish sausage and she chose a hot dog. Add the bun and relish and you have most of the food groups, minus bacon.

I have an update and a minor excuse next. You know I took my computer in. My computer is now aged. I bought it in the fall of 2005. The computer guru at the shop said he was surprised at how well mine has held up. He then said that I was lucky with the Toshiba Satelite 25...the following models apparently were not as good. He also said that to expect more than two years out of a laptop was being optimistic...I thought they'd last longer than that...mine has. It is now 3 years old and apparently going strong...so long as I can keep clear of malware. On the down side, it has a few quirks.

My computer has all its keys; though, a couple are only held on by hope. Some of the keys no longer work. My computer has a function key, you press it and press one of the f keys and you can turn down the screen brightness, or the volume, or turn the mousepad on and off...or you could when it was new. Now, if my mouse dies, I have to borrow Cora's mouse to turn on my keypad. I mentioned that my Z key was no longer reliable, now, after this last visit to the shop, my A key is ALSO unreliable. There is a crack in the backside of the screen. The cord pulls out without notice and the battery has long since ceased to hold a charge. I might get three minutes out of the battery, I usually get the notice from the computer that I should plug it in AS the screen is fading! Yes, she is a wonder of the world, but I love my little Toshi!

So, 200 posts and I still don't have a hit from Montana or Nevada or West Virginia. So, I will leave you with some open attempts at search engine baiting: When I was a kid my parents volunteered with the city parade float. My Mom designed the float for three years in a row...and got numerous awards (yes, they give awards for floats). For two years we went to Butte, Montanna. Some company rented it for the city parade there. It was a neat experience. We got to go to the mining museum there. It was home to a large copper mine. Butte, Montana was not much different from here, though I saw a real hard rain there. It came down in sheets and then two minutes later it was done and the sun came out again...weird.

When we lived in California, we went to Reno, Nevada with my parents. All we had to do was drive about 2 hours across the Sierra Nevadas. We drove past Truckee, CA and then on to Reno. We had to gamble in a casino in Nevada, so we played slots. We went with 10 dollars and came back with 11! I say we came out head! I don't think you have patients for me to write about West Virginia, and, frankly, I am tired! I hope you all have a good night!

Gold Medal Sunday

We began the day with watching the Olympics. This evening, we are still watching them. Cora worked on her blanket. I cleaned up the back yard a little. And Cora did some other house work. We went shopping. We also went on a most interesting geocache/scavenger hunt.

My dear dad left it for me. Well, my mother worked hard on it, too. We started not far from our house and ended up 11 miles away just outside Cora's office. She rolled her eyes when she realized we were on the way to her plant. I liked one of the legs of the hunt, in that it ended up right next to my favorite winery. Piety Flats. Not one to pass up an opportunity to taste wine, Cora and I went inside. I tried their Pinot Grigio, not normally a fan of white, I actually think it was drinkable...and might, on hot evening try it out. I went ahead and bought a bottle of their Mercantile Red before heading off to finish the scavenger hunt (the blend is Cab Sauv, Syrah, and Merlot. Last year's had some Cab Franc in it...I liked it, too). Cora helped me with the entire thing, and actually found the clue on first stop, which was buried.

I had apparently stepped on it and dislodged the noise maker that was inside. We kept hearing a siren going off and I walked off thinking it was somewhere else...she pointed out that the noise was centralized. I came back with the spade and out popped the clue. We mistakenly attributed this feat of magic to my dad's genius. We later found out it was more a freak of gravity and my foot placement than my dad's strangely prescient planning. When we got to the end, just outside Cora's office window..., we found something well worth the trip...a few dog treats and some chocolates...and something trully important to us both: a Starbucks gift certificate!!! My parents rock!

I took the dogs over to the school to let them get some energy out and I have some video of them with their tongues hanging out. Unfortunately, I still have some work to do on learning how to edit video on Cora's Computer. She generously offered me the chance to practice with it whilst she worked on her blanket. I need to use another program, because the one I tried today sucked.

We bought several things today. I got a head light...not for the car, for my head. There is a cave on the south side of Mt. St. Helens that was created by the volcano. It is what is called a lava tube. It is the world's longest, I think, about 2 miles...forgive any mistakes, my info is from memory which is close to 20 years old. What happened was lava was flowing out of the volcano and it cooled and hardened on the sides and top of the flow, while the flow continued, then the eruption stopped and the lava ran out, leaving a hollow tube, which was later buried. My family and I went inside it many years ago. It was an awesome experience, which I want to share with Cora. Hence the head light...

We also bought baby clothes and a couple DVDs. One of the DVDs was a Chris Farley flick, may he rest in peace. It is Tommy Boy...a classic. Chris Farley, nevermind his drug problems, was a comic genius. My favorite part is the deer...oh, and the Bees...if you know the movie, you know what I am talking about. We also bought Stardust...I read the book because Cora said it was good...it was. The movie was good, too.

We also bought a couple camera cases...we couldn't decide! Nah, we got one for the video camera and one for the Elph...we have one for it, but it is a bit bulky, so Cora decided we needed one that was more...thin.

without a reason or introduction, here is a picture of the deck of the USS Hornet...

And while you are still here, I mentioned my dad's devious spirit earier, it isn't just him. I have done things to him, too. For instance, take these pictures below. My parents visited us in California and I took my dad to the USS Hornet and Mare Island Naval Base.

Here, we see my father in one of the drydocks at Mare Island. See how tiny he looks? He decided, in his brilliance, to see how long the dock was. He decided to pace off the distance. I walked along behind him, listening to him count. Up on the walls of the dock were numbers. I, rightly, comprehended these to be the distance from the mouth of the dock. I did not mention my assumption to my counting and somewhat silly-looking goose-stepping father. We got to end and he pronounced it to be 770 feet long, I tried to whistle softly and nonchalantly (didn't work), and said, "how about 785? He looked at me and asked how do you figure? I pointed to the numbers on the side. Fortunately, my father is NOT a violent man.