We had a good christmas

Christmas worked out pretty good for us. It was a nice quiet day really. Katya seemed to like all of her gifts, which was good. I think her favorite was the chair we bought for her. She has been sitting in her little chair all the time when we have been home. We're going to Karen's for new years eve.

I love this night....

I love Christmas Eve, especially since Katya came home. Tonight Rain took Katya to see my mom sing at church. I took advantage of the time and played Santa's helper. I have stuff stashed all over the house so it will be easier to get it out later after Katya is sleeping. The attic (which is where we stash most of the gifts) stairs are right in front of Katya's bedroom door, and there is always a chance that she will wake up while we are getting everything out. This way, everything is much more accessible than it has been in the past. I love wrapping al the stuff up, but what I really love is putting it all around the tree and then sleeping in on Christmas day. Last year Katya went out to the living room then came back to the bedroom to wake us up and tell us that Santa had been there. To me, it is moments like that which make parenting all worthwhile.

Stupid people

I find it absolutely amazing the number of people who will get in their car first thing in the morning and without cleaning the frost off of the windows drive down the road. This morning I saw 3 cars where they either only wiped enough off the window to see directly in front of them (not the whole windshield) or the defroster was just starting to thaw the windshield out, like the bottom 4 inches of it. Don't these people realize how dangerous it is do drive like that?

New web host

If you have the website bookmarked, please make sure that your bookmarks point to www.irvinefamily.org. I moved the web site to a new server this morning and the old direct URL will be going offline soon.

New car for Rain?

Well it looks like after a new battery and heater core hose Rain will have an (almost) new car. This will be a good thing since her car has over 209,000 miles on it. I am trying to get caught up on copying home movies from camcorder and vcr tapes to DVD. It is a painstaking process, but I am definitely making some progress with it. yay!!

I'm not happy

I just had to uninstall internet explorer 7 because my version of roxio has issues with it... :-( I guess I will just have to get the new version.

Mobile Trillian

I finally think I got it working... I have a copy of trillian set up so that it runs off of a memory stick and does not need to be installed. It's kind of a neat concept really. I can plug in the memory stick into any computer and talk to my friends...

mobile trillian

I finally think I got it working... I have a copy of trillian set up so that it runs off of a memory stick and does not need to be installed. It's kind of a neat concept really. I can plug in the memory stick into any computer and talk to my friends...

Website was down

Last night the website went down due to a server crash. I rebooted the server this morning and all is well again.

Our little girl is getting so big!

This mornign Katya grabbed a glass from the cabinet without using a stool.
The cabinets that we have has a shelf below the main cabinet where we store
the glasses. She can reach all the way back and get a glass all by herself
now. It is hard to believe that she is getting so big!

Earthquake!

Yup, that's right folks.. Yesterday afternoon I was sitting at my desk at
work and I felt the whole building shake. I'd say it was probably a 2 on the
Richter scale. It was kind of freaky, NJ isn't exactly known for
earthquakes.

Brr!

Well, it has been BRR! cold the last couple of days. I rode the bike to work both days and it was right around 20F outside. With wind chill that puts it at about -22F. The Hippo Hands make a big difference, though with my current gloves I wouldn't want to go more than about 15 miles. The windshield makes a huge difference. I am still only wearing 1 polar fleece, where last year I needed 2 to keep warm at these temps.

House Cleaning

We have been working on cleaning out the basement lately and I am finally starting to see the results. There are still piles of stuff in a few areas but the baswement is much more open than it has been in a long while. We've either given away or thrown away a considerable amoutn of stuff in the last few weeks. I hope to have the laundry area organized better sometime in the near future, which will be a big help. It is amazing how much crap you can accumulate in 8 years.

25 days till xmas

I guess I should start my holiday shopping now. I hate the crowds right after thanksgiving. I think I might take a day off of work to go shopping, that would probably be easier.

Wow...

Wow, post something about religion and the nutcases come crawling out of the
woodwork. I especially love it when religious fanatics spout hate messages
as the only defense against their ignorance. It gets even better when their
response contains "facts" that are not only unsubstantiated, but are
outright wrong. The last time I checked, Muslims worshipped Allah (God), not
Shaytan (Satan). The definition of Muslim: "a person who submits to Allah
and finding peace". Gee, this sounds an awful lot like the definition of
Christian, doesn't it? I suppose this ignorant, uneducated "Christian" will
come back and spout more hate messages at me, or better yet spout mis-quoted
or out of context bible verses at me. Do some research into a topic before
you talk about it.

I hate smokers

Smokers seem to be the biggest litterbugs on the planet. Just this morning I saw a girl stick her hand out the window and drop a lit cigarette on the road while she was driving. What makes smokers think that it is alright to throw their trash on the ground anyway? I just want to pick the cigarette butt up and toss it right back in their car.

RE: Don't buy the new Christmas stamp

I got the following email sent to me today:

 

 

CHRISTMAS STAMP How ironic is this ?? !! They don't even believe in Christ and they're getting their own Christmas stamp, but don't dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property? USPS New Stamp This one is impossible to believe. Scroll down for the text. If there is only one thing you forward today.....let it be this! pdF REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of PanAm Flight 103! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon ! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military barracks in Saudi Arabia ! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa ! REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE! REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001! REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks! Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class holiday postage stamp. REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp when purchasing your stamps at the post office. To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors. REMEMBER to pass this along to every patriotic AMERICAN

 

 

Here is my reply:

 

First off, this is NOT a Christmas stamp!!!!! Why is it that Christians seem to think that all holidays must center around their religion? This country was founded on religious FREEDOM. Muslims have as much right to have stamps issued for their holidays as Christians have to get stamps for Christmas.

 

Read the article here to get the facts on this stamp, and it has been issued every year since BEFORE 9/11/01: http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/eidstamp.asp

 

Get the facts straight before you go protesting a postage stamp!

 

If you want to protest terrorist acts, remember these also:

 

Remember the Westboro Baptist Church (www.godhatesfags.com). These are the CHRISTIANS who praise the killing of our troops by IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan and protest at the funerals of our troops! These "Christians" are protesting at soldier's funerals weekly! I have shown up to show these nuts that their terroristic acts are unwanted in this country, have any of you?

 

Remember all the children who were molested by CATHOLIC priests!

 

October 2, 2004 - Christian terrorist group kills 44 Hindus, wounds 118 in Northeast India.

 

January 16, 1997 - Christian Identity terrorist Eric Robert Rudolph bombs a gay nightclub

 

July 27, 1996 - Christian Identity terrorist Eric Robert Rudolph bombs Centennial Olympic Park. Kills 1, wounds 111.

 

1969-2001 - over 3000 people are killed in Ireland and the United Kingdom as a result of bombings and other violent acts between the predominently Roman Catholic Irish nationalists on one side, and the predominently Protestant Unionists and secular British Crown forces on the other. More than 1800 of those killed in "The Troubles" are civilians, many the victims of sectarian attacks.

 

In the United States, arson, firebombing and vandalism of abortion clinics, along with harassment of clinic employees and patrons have been cited as examples of terror tactics employed by anti-abortion extremists. Occasionally the perpetrators have been self-proclaimed Christians.

 

Want to read more about Christian terrorist acts? Look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_terrorism

 

Keep one thing in mind. These acts of terrorism, etc. are being carried out by EXTREMISTS. 99% of the Muslims in the world have the same values as Christians in the world. Much of the Muslim belief is rooted in the same place as the Christian faith, and they believe in many of the same occurences historically.

 

If you are going to protest something, protest terrorism! Leave the Muslims alone, they are not the problem!

Conversations with a 4 year old

Some days I think it is funny the things that my daughter comes up with.

K: Do you want to go to Pennsic?
J: Yes I do, but Pennsic isn't until this summer.
K: Did you go to Pennsic when you were a kid?
J: No, grandma & grandpa never went to Pennsic.
K: Do they know where Pennsic is?
J: No, they don't.
K: We need to show them where Pennsic is. I know where Pennsic is. You know where Pennsic is. Momma knows where Pennsic is.

Nuts at work

Wow, this week has been absolutely nuts at work. We have been having software glitches, server glitches, you name it.. It has just been insane!

Just some thoughts

Rain's new job seems to be working out real well for her. I can see a noticeable diffrence in her stress level since she started the new job. It looks like mom is getting a new car so I think we will inherit her car. This is a good thing since Rain's car has 206,000 miles on it. So far Rain's car is reliable, but it is a matter of time before it needs some major work that just won't be worth doing to it.

What a weekend

Well, we buried Tut on Monday, that was kind of sad. Katya wanted to help dig his grave and put him in it so I let her help me. She even carried him outside. This was entirely her idea, by the way.

 

It is interesting to observe the feline social structure in action. Gizmo and Zoomba went around the house together most of the day looking in every little crack & crevice for Tut. Since Thursday, Lovey is much more social and we are seeing him much more in the living room than before. Zoomba is my new breakfast lap cat. Tut used to hop in my lap a few days a week while I eat breakfast, and on a rare occasion Zoomba would, but since Thursday she has been in my lap every morning.

 

Katya has handled it very well. Rain slept on the couch Thursday morning because she got up real early worrying about tut. Katya brought her all of her stuffed animals while she slept and covered her with them so she wouldn't be lonely. At one point Rain was crying and Katya went and sat on the couch. She patted the couch next to her and said "Sit here Momma, don't cry." When Rain sat next to her Katya gave her a big hug and told her it was alright, and not to be sad. I am amazed att he amount of compassion that this 4 1/2 year old shows.

 

Thanksgiving was pretty uneventful for the most part.

Test

--

Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

RIP Tut

We'll miss him.

What a thanksgiving

It looks like Tut won't make it until morning. He was a good cat. He will be
missed.

I'm appalled

To think that you can enter this country by any means nd not show a passport is, to say the leaast a shock to me. I can't believe that it would not be a requirement, especially after 9/11/01. Passports are easy to obtain and are not expensive.

East Valley Tribune Daily Arizona news for Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale

Poor Tut

Well, it looks as if Tut (one of our cats) is dying. He's 21 so nobody can complain really. He has lived a very long life for a cat. Tut will definitely be missed when he is gone. He was my morning lap-warmer when I eat breakfast. For the last day he hasn't eaten anything or gotten up really and I can see that he is on his last day or 2.

Our little girl is growing up

Katya is definitely growing up. We just got her school pictures back and wow, what a difference even from last year to this year. She's potty trained now and the other day told Rain that she didn't need her pull-ups anymore. Now I am working on desigining a loft bed for her that incorporates a fish tank under it. I made a deal with her that she couldn't get her big girl loft bed until she stopped peeing the bed. It took her a few months but she is at that point now. I was hopin gto work soem cubbies into a set of steps to go up to the bed but it would take up too much of her room if I did. I can always add that on later if I figure out how to make it work better.

FW: THE LORD AND THE BIKER

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A biker was riding along a California beach when suddenly the sky
opened above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, "Because
you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish"

The biker pulled over and said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can
ride over anytime I want."

The Lord said, "Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous
challenges for that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach
the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would take! It
will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it
is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little
more time and think of something that would honor and glorify me."

The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally he said, "Lord, I
wish that I could understand my wife. I want to know how she feels
inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why
she cries, what she means when she says nothings wrong, and how I can
make a woman truly happy."

The Lord replied, "You want two lanes or four on that bridge?"

--part1_456.953280d.3280515e_boundary--

--WebTV-Mail-12085-8850--

A biker was riding along a California beach when suddenly the sky
opened above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, "Because
you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish"

   The biker pulled over and said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can
ride over anytime I want."

The Lord said, "Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous
challenges for that kind of undertaking. The supports required to reach
the bottom of the Pacific! The concrete and steel it would  take! It
will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it
is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little
more time and think of something that would honor and glorify me."

The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally he said, "Lord, I
wish that I could understand my wife. I want to know how she feels
inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why
she cries, what she means when she says nothings wrong, and how I can
make a woman truly happy."

The Lord replied, "You want two lanes or four on that bridge?"

Menus are fixed

I got the menus fixed. Now to continue adding new galleries to the system.

Galleries messed up

The gallery menuing is mangled right now. I'll have it fixed soon.

Galleries messed up

The gallery menuing is mangled right now. I'll have it fixed soon.

New pages added

I added some new galleries to the site. I am up to Feb 2003 on the
galleries. I am re-doing all of the galleries in date order so I can be sure
that I got all of the pictures.

I was hacked....

It seems that a new software package that I was running on my server had a security hole and my server was hacked. For about 6 hours our site was replaced by an ebay password stealing site. Now for the funny part. One of the zillion people that were emailed as part of the scam clicked the link (foolish mortal) got our actual website because I had already fixed the issue. It turns out she is a part of the Irvine clan in Scotland. Their crest is an archer. Is that weird or what?

Happy hands

I bought a set of hippohands (www.hippohands.com) for the bike. THese things are great. They install on the handlebars over the controls and basically enclose your hands in a pocket of still air, eliminating the wind chill. This morning I rode to work it was 50 degrees and I had my perforated summer gloves on and my hands were WARM. I can't wait to see how they perform when it is really cold out, but th eidea is that it will be as warm inside these as it would be if you were standing still. At 35 degrees and 55MPH the windchill is 2 degrees. It is hard to keep the fingertips warm at these temps. I might be able to get by with a lighter set of gloves all winter.

New website look

If you hadn't figured it out yet, the website is undergoing a major facelift. Stay tuned for more changes.

kids are funny...

Last night we watched "it's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown". Katya thought it was funny. When it got to the part where snoopy was flying his doghouse, Katya said "why is he flying his house?" I have to admit, that is a pretty good observation for a 4 year old to make....

Had a good weekend

Well, we had a good weekend. Rain drove down to try & gt more comfy with the drive. She also started a new job yesterday and so far she likes it. This is a good thing.

 

 

Its been a bit of a busy week. We're nearly 2/3 the way through re-recording all our CDs to MP3. Rain is starting a new job next week, so life is about to get a little more interesting I think. We're off to MD for the weekend....

New brakes

I had to do the front brakes on the bike last night. After 7500 miles they were pretty much gone. It was a simple enough job to replace them and the squealing is gone. I need to be sure to have DOT4 brake fluid on hand next time. I lost a bit of fluid and the reservoir was pretty low. The brakes were very spongy until I topped it off.

 

What a trip!

The trip back for Chicago was interesting to say the least. Our flight was scheduled for 1:50PM. When we got to the time when they would board the plane, they announced a delay due to a fuel gauge problem. About 15 minutes later, they announced that due to lightning in the area, nobody was allowed outside on the tarmac, so all work was on hold. Once the lightning cleared, they resumed work. At about 2:30 they cancelled the flight and began rescheduling everyone on other flights. We started out at gate F10. Our rescheduled flight was at gate E8 - a little bit of a walk but not too terribly far. Our rescheduled flight was to take off at 4:10. At about 3:30 they announced that the incoming plane was delayed due to the weather. The time was first updated to 4:30 and then to 4:55. Due to the last time change, the gate had to be changed... to F10! We then walked back to our original gate. Our outbound flight took about an hour longer than it should have due to the fact that they had to route the plane around the storm system... We landed at about 9PM EST! 6 hours after we were to originally take off, and it is only a 2 hour flight. Needless to say we were all tired.

My daughter never ceases to amaze me. last night after dinner she asked if we could play carcassonne. Since this game is rated for ages 10+ I would say that this is pretty good. She is actually starting to get some of the basic concepts of the game. Granted, I have simplified the rules, but Katya is really a bright kid.

Windshields are a good thing

I have to say that I am definitely glad that I have the windshield on the bike. It has been like 50 degrees in the morning lately and I have been good with just my riding jacket. Last year I needed a polar fleece at that temp.

carcassonne

This was Katya's first game of Carcassonne. :-)

Minimum wage....

You know life sucks whan you get a raise because minimum wage went up by $1.00 an hour. This just happened in NJ and I just saw this happen to over 500 people. Wow....

Not too wet

Yesterday was wet to say the least. We had torrential rains - got over 6
inches of rain in les than an hour. The creek by the office overflowed after
I headed home. I came home to find about 1/3" of water in part of the
basement after the sump pump got stalled. We had to use 2 shop vacs & vacuum
it all up. The basement will hopefully dry up in a few days. No damage to
anything that I could see luckily. I posted a few pictures form my phone
yesterday.

Flooding pics

#2

We did a 200+ mile run to & from Wildwood Saturday. It was a good ride all in all. Rain has been helping plan a friend's wedding lately so that is keeping her somewhat busy. Katya continues to amaze me with some of the things that she comes up with, she has a very good sense of reasoning.

Ok So I haven't posted much lately...

I need to try and be better about that. We're going to Wildwood for the Roar
to the shore bike rally today. It was a good event last year, lots of
vendors. This year we're winding through the pines on the way down instead
of heading straight down the parkway. Rain is unemployed again but looking
very ard for a job. I know she'll find something soon. Its time to find a
mortgage company and start looking at houses so we can see about moving out
of Manahawkin sometime in the next few months. Kayta is doing good, she's
going through the whining, not listening to adults phase so life has been
interesting as of late, but we'll survive.

Pennsic was a blast! We're finally unpacked and have most of the stuff put away now. Katya had fun, we relaxed - it was a good war. I found a new passion.. Carcassonne. Its a very addicting game. I need to get Fred addicted now too...

We're back!

Pennsic was a blast! We're finally unpacked and have most of the stuff put away now. Katya had fun, we relaxed - it was a good war. I found a new passion.. Carcassonne. Its a very addicting game. I need to get Fred addicted now too...

Interesting photo

I took this with the camcorder at Pennsic.

Let there be fire!

Rain rain go away.....

Its raining at Pennsic. One of those rains that promises to keep going for a while. This is what camp looks like... Everyone is in their tents waiting for it to stop. At least its only supposed to rain a little bit tonight.

Rain rain go away.....

Its raining at Pennsic. One of those rains that promises to keep going for a while. This is what camp looks like... Everyone is in their tents waiting for it to stop. At least its only supposed to rain a little bit tonight.

The castle on the battlefield

Greetings from Pennsic

War has been good so far. Katya is doing pretty well. She hasn't been napping, so of course she is cranky at night, but she is handlng it well. I'm getting some video of some of the more day to day happenings. Weather has been good so far, no rain and decent temps...

Katya made a new friend....

Katya made another friend

It's good to relax...

1:30 saturday afternoon... Went to get ice, other than that haven't done darn thing... :-D

First photo from Pennsic 35

Here is the first of many I hope to post from Pennsic. This is taken at the top of the parking lot.

Excellent parking job

Terrorists are at it again....

Just saw this on yahoo… scary.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060810/ap_on_re_eu/britain_terror_plot_49

Another picture test

Another picture test, originally uploaded by graewulf.

I'm getting ready to blog from Pennsic.. Hope this works the way I want

Blog post test

Blog post test
Originally uploaded by graewulf.

If I did this right, there should be a picture attached.

2 days to Pennsic

I can't wait to get to Pennsic. We could all use the vacation. It looks like the weather forecast is good for next week, around 80 each day.

Pennsic is just around the corner for us now. I am going to start loading the big stuff in the trailer today so there is no real big rush to get it all done. I can't wait!

Life has been just crazy lately. We remodeled the kitchen over the weekend. Wow what a difference new cabinets can make. We actually have counter space now.. yay! Pennsic is approaching fast, so its time to start getting all  of that stuff ready. This weekend I will probably start loading the trailer so I don’t have to rush to get anything done on that end. Where does the time go?

This post is to the person tht called DYFS... you know who you are. Nice try, thanks for nothing. I suggest you forget who we are.....

I've been a bad blogger lately... anyway... We're getting new kitchen cabinets this thursday so this coming weekend should be fun. We're doing the work ourselves...

50 WAYS TO SAVE YOUR LIFE

50 WAYS TO SAVE YOUR LIFE
Pro Riding Secrets by Motorcyclist Magazine

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle
1. Assume you’re invisible
Because to a lot of drivers, you are. Never make a move based on the assumption that another driver sees you, even if you’ve just made eye contact. Bikes don’t always register in the four-wheel mind.
2. Be considerate
The consequences of strafing the jerk du jour or cutting him off start out bad and get worse. Pretend it was your grandma and think again.
3. Dress for the crash not the pool or the prom
Sure, Joaquin’s Fish Tacos is a 5 minute trip, but nobody plans to eat pavement. Modern mesh gear means 100 degree heat is no excuse for a T-shirt and board shorts.
4. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
Assume that car across the intersection will turn across your bow when the light goes green, with or without a turn signal.
5. Leave your ego at home
The only people who really care if you were faster on the freeway will be the officer and the judge.
6. Pay attention
Yes, there is a half-naked girl on the billboard. That shock does feel squishy. Meanwhile, you could be drifting toward Big Trouble. Focus.
7. Mirrors only show part of the picture
Never change direction without turning your head to make sure the coast really is clear.
8. Be patient
Always take another second or three before you pull out to pass, ride away from a curb or into freeway traffic from an on-ramp. It’s what you don’t see that gets you. That extra look could save your butt.
9. Watch your closing speed
Passing cars at twice their speed or changing lanes to shoot past a row of stopped cars is just asking for trouble.
10. Beware the verge and the merge
A lot of nasty surprises end up on the sides of the road: empty McDonald’s bags, nails, tv antennas, ladders, you name it. Watch for potentially trouble-some debris on both sides of the road.
11. Left-turning cars remain a leading killer of motorcyclists
Don’t assume someone will wait for you to dart through the intersection. They’re trying to beat the light, too.
12. Beware of cars running traffic lights
The first few seconds after a signal light changes are the most perilous. Look both ways before barging into an intersection.
13. Check your mirrors
Do it every time you change lanes, slow down or stop. Be ready to move if another vehicle is about to occupy the space you’d planned to use.
14. Mind the gap
Remember driver’s ed? One second’s worth of distance per 10 mph is the old rule of thumb. Better still, scan the next 12 seconds ahead for potential trouble.
15.
Beware of tuner cars
They’re quick and their drivers tend to be aggressive. Don’t assume you’ve beaten one away from a light or outpaced it in traffic and change lanes without looking. You could end up as a Nissan hood ornament.
16. Excessive entrance speed hurts
It’s the leading cause of single-bike accidents on twisty roads and racetracks. In Slow, Out Fast is the old adage, and it still works. Dialing up corner speed is safer than scrubbing it off.
17. Don’t trust that deer whistle
Ungulates and other feral beasts prowl at dawn and dusk, so heed those big yellow signs. If you’re riding in a target-rich environment, slow down and watch the shoulders.
18. Learn to use both brakes
The front does most of your stopping, but a little rear brake on corner entry can calm nervous chassis.
19. Keep the front brake covered - always
Save a single second of reaction time at 60 mph and you can stop 88 feet shorter. Think about that.
20. Look where you want to go
Use the miracle of target fixation to your advantage. The motorcycle goes where you look, so focus on the solution instead of the problem.
21. Keep your eyes moving
Traffic is always shifting, so keep scanning for potential trouble. Don’t lock your eyes on any one thing for too long unless you’re actually dealing with trouble.
22. Think before you act
Careful whipping around that Camry going 7 mph in a 25-mph zone or you could end up with your head in the driver’s side door when he turns into the driveway right in front of you.
23. Raise your gaze
It’s too late to do anything about the 20 feet immediately in front of your fender, so scan the road far enough ahead to see trouble and change trajectory.
24. Get your mind right in the driveway
Most accidents happen during the first 15 minutes of a ride, below 40 mph, near an intersection or driveway. Yes, that could be your driveway.
25. Come to a full stop at that next stop sign
Put a foot down. Look again. Anything less forces a snap decision with no time to spot potential trouble.
26. Never dive into a gap in stalled traffic
Cars may have stopped for a reason, and you may not be able to see why until it’s too late to do anything about it.
27. Don’t saddle up more than you can handle
If you weigh 95 pounds, avoid that 795 pound cruiser. If you’re 5-foot-5, forget those towering adventure-tourers.
28. Watch for car doors opening in traffic
And smacking a car that’s swerving around some goof-ball’s open door is just as painful.
29. Don’t get in an intersection rut
Watch for a two-way stop after a string of four-way intersections. If you expect cross-traffic to stop, there could be a painful surprise when it doesn’t.
30. Stay in your comfort zone when you’re with a group
Riding over your head is a good way to end up in the ditch. Any bunch worth riding with will have rendezvous point where you’ll be able to link up again.
31. Give your eyes some time to adjust
A minute or two of low light heading from a well-lighted garage onto dark streets is a good thing. Otherwise, you’re essentially flying blind for the first mile or so.
32. Master the slow-u-turn
Practice. Park your butt on the outside edge of the seat and lean the bike into the turn, using your body as a counterweight as you pivot around the rear wheel.
33. Who put a stop sign at the top of this hill?
Don’t panic. Use the rear brake to keep from rolling back down. Use Mr. Throttle and Mr. Clutch normally - and smoothly - to pull away.
34. If it looks slippery, assume it is
A patch of suspicious pavement could be just about anything. Butter flavor Crisco? Gravel? Mobil Oil? Or maybe it’s nothing. Better to slow down for nothing than go on your head.
35. Bang! A blowout! Now what?
No sudden moves. The motorcycle isn’t happy, so be prepared to apply a little calming muscle to maintain course. Ease back the throttle, brake gingerly with the good wheel and pull over very smoothly to the shoulder. Big sigh.
36. Drops on the faceshield?
It’s raining. Lightly misted pavement can be slipperier than when it’s been rinsed by a downpour, and you never know how much grip there is. Apply maximum-level concentration, caution and smoothness.
37. Emotions in check?
To paraphrase Mr. Ice Cube, chickity-check yourself before you wreck yoself. Emotions are as powerful as any drug, so take inventory every time you saddle up. If you’re mad, sad, exhausted or anxious, stay put.
38. Wear good gear
Wear stuff that fits you and the weather. If you’re too hot or too cold or fighting with a jacket that binds across the shoulders, you’re dangerous. It’s that simple.
39. Leave the iPod at home
You won’t hear that cement truck in time with Spinal Tap cranked to 11, but they might like your headphones in intensive care.
40. Learn to swerve
Be able to do two tight turns in quick succession. Flick left around the bag of briquettes, then right back to your original trajectory. The bike will follow your eyes, so look at the way around, not the briquettes. Now practice till it’s a reflex.
41. Be smooth at low speeds
Take some angst out, especially of slow-speed maneuvers, with a bit of rear brake. It adds a welcome bit of stability, by minimizing unwelcome weight transfer and potentially bothersome driveline lash.
42. Flashing is good for you
Turn signals get your attention by flashing, right? So a few easy taps on the pedal or lever before stopping makes your brake light more eye-catching to trailing traffic.
43. Intersections are scary, so hedge your bets
Put another vehicle between your bike and the possibility of someone running the stop sign/red light on your right and you cut your chances of getting nailed in half.
44. Tune your peripheral vision
Pick a point near the center of that wall over there. Now scan as far as you can by moving your attention, not your gaze. The more you can see without turning your head, the sooner you can react to trouble.
45. All alone at a light that won’t turn green?
Put as much motorcycle as possible directly above the sensor wire - usually buried in the pavement beneath you and located by a round or square pattern behind the limit line. If the light still won’t change, try putting your kickstand down, right on the wire. You should be on your way in seconds.
46. Everything is harder to see after dark
Adjust your headlights, carry a clear faceshield and have your game all the way on after dark, especially during commuter hours.
47. Don’t troll next to - or right behind - Mr. Peterbilt
If one of those 18 retreads blows up - which they do with some regularity - it de-treads, and that can be ugly. Unless you like dodging huge chunks of flying rubber, keep your distance.
48. Take the panic out of panic stops
Develop an intimate relationship with your front brake. Seek out some safe, open pavement. Starting slowly, find that fine line between maximum braking and a locked wheel, and then do it again, and again.
49. Make your tires right
None of this stuff matters unless your skins are right. Don’t take ‘em for granted. Make sure pressure is spot-on every time you ride. Check for cuts, nails and other junk they might have picked up, as well as general wear.
50. Take a deep breath
Count to 10. Visualize whirled peas. Forgetting some clown’s 80-mph indiscretion beats running the risk of ruining your life or ending it.

Life is nuts

Life has been nuts lately. Rain lost her job yesterday all of the sudden. That sucks, we might have to cancel Pennsic as a result - still waiting to see how that works out. I think Katya is finally fully potty trained. She has not had an accident at night in over 2 weeks. Our little girl is growing up so fast. She turned 4 on the 10th and we are having a birthday party on Saturday. I start getting allergy shots today, so that should help with he allergies in a few months time.

We had quite a busy weekend. On Saturday we took Katya to a birthday party, went to Ikea & ordered new kitchen cabinets then went on a night ride through the pines. Sunday my parents took Katya to Storybook Land and we took the bike down & joined them for a bit.

We're getting ready for our 4th of July BBQ. We're havign some friends over. I'm glad I got the new grill. This one works so much better than the old one, and has electric ignitors which makes it much easier to ignite.

Well, nothing terribly new happening on this end. Rain loves her new job, Katya is starting to learn to write her letters. We're doing a BBQ on the 4th at our place this year, so that should be cool. I had to buy a new grill because the valve got plugged up on mine and I'm not about to try and fix that part. Plus, I wanted a side burner and this is a little larger a grill than the last one.

We had another busy week. This weekend (today) I'm taking the experienced rider ed class. Katya is done tumbling class for the moment, We neeed to see what she wants to do next session.

This past weekend was a trip, to say the least.. The usual drama at the wedding, It was a nice ceremony. Katya had fun chasing her cousin around - I think he's like 6. They were inseparable during the wedding and reception. Katya is starting to get more brave in the pool, but isn't ready to trust me enough to let me teach her to swim.

Busy Busy Busy.... That's my life lately. We're going to WV for Rain's niece's wedding this weekend. I've been keeping pretty busy, trying to get rid of some of the accumulated junk in the house, etc. It's a slow progress but we are getting there. It is hard to believe in about 2 weeks will be 2 years since we adopted Katya.

It was another exciting week. The Jeep is still afraid of the dark, but I think it might just be a loose connection somewhere or a door switch moved a little. The exhaust is louder and I have a rattle. I think the exhaust might be loose. I'll look at it tomorrow. we had our 2 year review with the social worker yesterday so the report can be sent over to Russia. Only one more report to do and we are done.

Iam trying to work on the website. I want to re-do the photo albums and tweak the site some. It has been a while since I added new pictures etc.

This is worth watching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucdKXGwrHic

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

The SCA made Ripley's.....

What a weekend!

We went to Quest this past weekend. The weather was good, a bit hot at times. No rin to speak of which was a good thing. I managet to put a small hole in the tent when taking it out of the trailer. It is a good thign that I have a patch kit on hand for it. Katya had a good time and made a few friends. Linda brought her telescope with her and we got to see Jupiter and 4 of its moons and the rings of Saturn. That was way cool to actually see the rings with my own eyes. On the way home, we had an accident, but the Jeep was nto damaged much, just a minor bend to the frame. The front hitch took the brunt of the impact. We're all OK, nobody got hurt in our vehicle.

 

 

Someone has way too much time on their hands

http://www.wrightthisway.com/Articles/000154.html
I thought this was too funny.

This weekend we replaced the front door on the house. Wow, does the house look different, and we can shut the door without having t push on it. What a concept....

I've been busy lately getting the camp gear ready. I am glad that Iset the tent up, as soon as I did, one of the rope loops let loose, and I had to re-sew it onto the tent. I guess I can't really complain, the tent is 10 years old, and this is the second repair that I have had to do.

 

 

 

Well, tonight we're going to see Cirque du Soleil. This will be Katya's first show. I can't wait to see her reactions.. :) it will be fun!

It looks like I am heading up the reunion committee this year. It is hard to believe that it has been 15 years already.....

Well, the basement is coming along. The entertainment section is separated from the play area by shelves & the TV stand. It seems like it will work out well. There is still debris everywhere but it is coming along nicely.

My dad gave me a pile of old home movies on video tape. I plan to transfer them all to DVD. My parents need a new DVD player - apparently theirs won't play DVD+R discs... go figure.

 

I moved my computer desk over to where the hale of the train table used to be... I still have debris to clean up then I will be moving Rain's computer desk over next to mine. Once I do that I'm moving the entertainment center to make a partition wall and making a play area for Katya that will be entirely here - and have the best view of the train too! Katya likes seeing the train running. Last night she asked me to turn it on again so that she could watch it run.

 

Easter was a good day. Katya had fun, lots of candy to go around. Saturday Katya actually sat in the Easter Bunny's lap for pictures with no fuss. No more tears.. yay! I love the new camcorder. I can transfer the video to DV now and make as many copies as I want. I am working on copying all the old home movies to DVD.

A sad day in model railroading

Tonight I demolished half of my model railroad in an attempt to save the remaining half. The half that I took down, I had planned to re-do anyway, but in the last 2 years have not made any forward progress on it. Like the phoenix, it WILL be reborn!!! I still will remove the big mountain and turn it into a double oval. At least this way I can run the train, which is much more than has happened over the last year. It is running as I type this. I can't remember the last time I could say that ,which is really sad......

I've been bad at blogging lately, no clue why...

 

Saturday we bought a new digital camcorder. This thing is nice.. weighs like a pound and can film in 16:9 format. I realized that we weren't getting any video of Katya because the old camera was being finnicky & being a general pain to use, so we decided it ws time to invest in a new one. I'm glad we did, this one will be going everywhere with us so we can get lots of video of her. We took it to Nick & Marie's wedding and I downloaded the video to the computer & am working on editing it to put it on DVD. We also bought a DVD recorder so now I can take all the old home movies & put them on DVD. I have done a few already and it works great! Katya is signed up for a dance class starting this week.

We went to WV for the annual cabin party. It was a fun time. Katya stayed with the in-laws and we had a rather uneventful trip. Linda had her new telescope (computer controlled) but we couldn't use it because of the clouds. Next year we're doing "Sci-fi & fantasy characters". That should be interesting....e

 

Thanks,

 

Joe Irvine

Director of Information Technology

The Business Office, Inc.

Phone: (609) 597-1155, Fax: (609)597-2860

www.tbopayroll.com

 

We had a busy weekend. I bought an over the stove microwave and replaced the vent hood with it. This really cleared up counter top space for appliaces, etc. Our vacuum sealer died so we bought a newer one that has the accessory port on it. We're now able to use the vacuum canisters as well as bags, and this one has storage for a roll of bags built in. Much easier to use. We've been reorganizing our drawers to make better use of the space which is helping a whole heck of alot.

Let's see... We went to MD for the weekend since it was Madison's b-day. The Jeep is getting like 21MPG now that the rack is off the roof. I was amazed at the difference. I made cushions for the bike. I took 2 pieces of memory foam and stacked them to get 3" of foam and made a vinyl cover for them. They are definitely comfy and I attached elastic so I just had to slip them on the seat and they aren't going anywhere. :)

 

We put 150 miles on the bike Friday. It was a good ride, Now we're thinking of making a longer run - maybe Lancaster or such since that is about how far it is 1 way. We might make a 2 day trip of it though - I don't know if Rain can take that long a ride (300 miles round trip) in 1 day.

Well.. I did our taxes finally. We get the resr of the adoption credit this year.

I took Katya to her first movie in the theater Saturday. We went to see Curious George (Wasn't all that good). Katya did well and sat through the whole movie pretty well behaved. I hope the weather gets better soon. I wanna get on the bike again. I'm only riding 1 day every other week it seems. When its warm, its raining. GRR.

2 years.....

Wow, it is hard to believe that 2 years ago today we were putting the finishing touches on packing for our first trip to Russia to see Katya. We flew on Leap Day 2004.  We were nervous, anxious, and scurrying to make sure that we didn't forget anything critical as we prepared to fly better than half the way around the world for a week long trip to Russia.

I had a busy weekend. Saturday I helped a friend move, and Sunday I had to replace the wheel bearings on the Jeep.

A little humor to brighten the day

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY DESTROYED BY FLOOD

Crawford, Texas
A tragic flood at the personal library of President George W. Bush
destroyed both his books. The flood began in the presidential bathroom
where the books were kept.
A White House spokesman said the president was devastated, since he
had almost finished coloring the second one. The spokesman added that
the tragedy could probably have been averted, but repeated calls to FEMA
went unanswered.

Its been a crazy few weeks...

 

Work is nuts.

 

This past weekend we went to Phila for a weekend away. The hotel was OK, but Saturday night around 12:30am water started pouring thorough the bathroom ceiling from the room above us. I don't know what happened, but it wasn't a good feeling. It took running the water for like 10 minutes to get hot water except in the morning (when everyone else was using hot too) because the hotel was so old.

 

On the way home Sunday, we passed a guy in a little Honda-type car high-centered in the 10" of snow on rt70. We stopped and pulled him out of the snow, only to find out that he had a flat front tire. No wonder he got stuck. People who drive low cars should stay off the road when its snowing that hard, they are a danger to themselves and to other drivers. Not to mention the plows couldn't plow that ramp because he was stuck right past the end of it. ugh! I'm glad we took the Jeep. I took the roof rack off because I wanted to be sure that we would be able to get into the parking garage and not get  snowed into a lot on Sunday.

 

I think I'm going to keep the rack off the Jeep, as much as I liked having it up there. I'll mount the Hi-Lift on the luggage rack and think I will look for a plastic box that has a good latching lid that is like 48"x24"x4" to replace the plastic containers I had my gear in. This will make the Jeep about 6" shorter than it was before, plenty of room to fit into a garage if I need to.

Era Ends: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams - Yahoo! News

Era Ends: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams - Yahoo! News

Funny, i didn't know they still sent telegrams...

We had a great ride yesterday. We got together with a few of the Southern Cruisers and did about 100 miles through the pine barrens. We stopped and had lunch along the way.

Looks like I may have a water heater problem.. we ran out of hot water awfully fast this morning. I'll have to see if we have hot water when I get home tonight.

#

 

Thanks,

 

Joe Irvine

Director of Information Technology

The Business Office, Inc.

Phone: (609) 597-1155, Fax: (609)597-2860

www.tbopayroll.com

 

RIP Lady Bug

We lost Lady Bug this morning about 3:30am. I guess we can't complain, she was 18 years old, which is real old for a cat. She didn't suffer much, she was gone in less than 2 days from the time she started to decline. We'll miss her.

I've been lax about posting lately - I need to fix that.

 

Let's see.. We went to the Franklin Institute on Saturday and saw the Body Worlds exhibit - pretty cool. Katya liked it too once I explained to her which parts of the body she was looking at.

 

Life has been hell at work - but that is year end as usual. I'm real busy working on a whole bunch of projects.

 

I have been working on scrap booking lately. I'm starting with a cabin party book and then think I will work forward from there. It is actually pretty fun cutting gout all the pictures. Now the real work begins - putting it all in a book and making it look pretty. I'm sure I'll learn quite a bit as I do it.

 

I ordered a battery tender for the bike since I'm not riding anywhere near as much as I used to be.

 

Well I got to use my new jumper cables yesterday. Rain's car had a dead battery so I hooked up and the car started without having to wait for it to charge. I guess the 2ga cables were worth it. Most jumper cables are like 8ga.

 

We're almost dug out from the Xmas stuff. There is still some stuff piled in the living room but we are slowly but surely getting it all put away. I got to use the small ice cream maker this weekend at the cabin.