Steam Trek?

This is worth the watch....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y39gHihP74

Katya is writing...

We wrapped some Christmas gifts today and Katya was writing the names on
the labels. I'm glad to see her starting to write fairly legibly. She
can also read letters to spell words she sees.
--

Resurrecting the railroad

Well, after not running my trains for many months I decided I needed to
get the cover off the table and find a way to work on it again. I
decided to start over and build a modular system. I originally had
envisioned a train system that could snap together in different
configurations and be taken apart when not in use. I think I found just
the way to do it too. When I get done with the initial pieces I will
have 4 4' straightaways and 4 90 degree bends. I will be able to make it
8x8 square, 4x12 or 4x8 depending on which sections I hook together. The
best part is that Fred can build sections to hook to it at his house and
bring them down to play. It will stack against a wall easily and can
take up the whole basement if I want to. If I get tired of one layout I
can build another piece & swap it out.
--

Dancing with the Star Wars - Video - The World of Star Wars

Dancing with the Star Wars - Video - The World of Star Wars

way cool,send a card to troops free

Something cool that Xerox is doing If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them ...

.

Thanksgiving

We had a decent, yet quiet Thanksgiving today. The food was good as
always (and way too much of it).

11/21 update

Not a whole lot going on around here as of late. Tomorrow is
Thanksgiving so we're getting things set up here for that. Katya is
doing good in school and is making some great progress. Katya is
starting to read some words on her own now and as we read her books we
have her read the parts she can read.

god bless america

my home sweet home.....

To many these words have little meaning these days. Tonight as I heard
my 5 yr old daughter singing these words as she played it made me smile.
You see, this was being sung by a little girl who was born around July
10, 2002 (we don't know exactly) in Khaborovsk, Russia. She has only
been in this country a little over 3 years now but she is as American as
they get. It's moments like this that make it all worthwhile.

I hate being sick

I lost 3 days last week because I was sick. I'm still playing catch-up.

Warm hands.. :)

Well it was 38 this morning when I left for work. I actually had to turn the
gloves down some because my fingers were getting hot. I'd recommend the Gerbing
gloves to anyone...

A busy weekend...

We started out the weekend by heading to philadelphia. We were supposed to hit the cocktail hour at the art museum but got there too late. We stayed over outside of phila. And then headed for Lancaster on saturday. We got some christmas shopping in and such and then went to the Catacombs in Mount Joy for dinner. We haven't been there in years. We bought a new cooler since the old one has just about had it. All in all it was a good weekend.

No more cold hands..

I got to try my new heated gloves today. I have to say Gerbing makes one heck of
a product. It was 45 this morning when I headed out and I had to turn the gloves
down because my hands were sweating! I rode 100 miles and my hands were nice and
toasty. I'd say I can easily get down into the 20's without too much of a worry.
This is a good thing. In the past when it dropped below 35 i could only go short
distances and below about 25 was real short trips. Now I think I can ride all
day without worry.

No more cold hands...

Well, winter is almost here and I want to ride the bike north whenever possible
still. I decided to buy a set of gerbing heated gloves. These are powered off of
the bike and after a test today, it looks like the bike can run 55W without an
issue, but 110W is too much. these gloves are 27W, so I should be fine. I'll
know in a week or so when they get here. :)

New chain and stuff

Well yesterday I installed the new chain on the bike. I'd say it had a fee
thousand miles left on it but it is just as good that I replaced it when I did I
won't have to worry about losing a chain in the middle of the winter. It's hard
to believe that I put 17k miles on the bike already. At least I'm getting my
money's worth...

This week has been busy

Well its been a busy week for me. Monday I was in Texas for part of the day.
Actually I was in Dallas for like 15 hours.

My bike turned 17000 miles the other day. On the way home form work yesterday I
was hearing some strange noises and clinks when i came off the throttle. It
looks as if my chain is wearing out so I went and bought a new chain. That is
one of tomorrow's projects i guess.

Katya is getting big....

We're at the park and today katya actually climbed over the fence all by herself. She's getting so big....

Busy week

This week has been totally nuts. The water heater sprung a leak so I ended up
replacing it under warranty on Wed. Work has been busy and is getting easier. It
looks like I'll be in TX on Monday for a meeting. Katya has been doing really
good now that she is in Kindergarten. I am already seeing a change in her with
her writing skills.

Katya is growing up

Well, katya had her first day of kindergarten today. It was a little bit of a rough start but she had a good time. Tomorrow she gets to take the bus to school.

Holiday weekend

Well, the weekend was a success. We set up the fly next to the gazebo Saturday
and had a bunch of friends over. I actually got to use the whole grill for once.
:) We left the fly up yesterday when we went to New Hope for the night and I
forgot to tie down the ridge pole. The wind picked the canvas up and it came
down on the pin and put a small hole in the fly.. GRR. One more hole to fix
before next weekend's off-road trip. We stopped at a new (to us) winery on the
way home and got some more wine. I love wineries.

Rausch Creek Offroad park

We spent the day yesterday at Rausch Creek Park out by Harrisburg, PA. The park
is definitely better than Paragon was. The trails just seemed to be more fun for
some reason. It was a long day. We got up at 4am and were on the road by 4:30.
After off-roading all day, dinner, and the drive back it was like 12:30am this
morning before we got home. We're supposed to be going again in a few weeks and
amping there that time. I can't wait to get back there.

Pennsic updates

Well as of this morning there were 10300 people here. it rained really hard last night but we faired well. Its hot again already but yesterday was good...

Pennsic is good...

All is going good so far. It has been a little on the hot side But not too bad. As of this morning there are over 9000 people here. From what i have heard, there are over 16000 people pre-registered. It's overcast and cooler today which is definitely a good thing.

Pennsic is almost here

begin:vcard
fn:Joe Irvine
n:Irvine;Joe
adr;dom:;;262 Sextant Rd;Manahawkin;NJ;08050
email;internet:joe@irvinefamily.org
tel;cell:609-290-0946
url:http://www.irvinefamily.org
version:2.1
end:vcard

Well, technically it started last Saturday, but for us it starts
tomorrow. I can't wait. I have most of the gear already loaded in the
trailer and will have the rest loaded up by the time I go to bed
tonight. I just have a few work-related things to finish up on and then
we will be good to go. Yay!

Pennsic-opoly is a reality

I finally finished my Pennsic-opoly game yesterday. I have the game
board, money, property cards, pieces, etc. It came out great! I'll be
bringing it to Pennsic with me to show off all my hard work. I can't
wait to see people's reactions when i tell them I made the game from
scratch!

Pennsic is less than a week away. The trailer is pretty much packed
already and we can't wait to get there. We're fast becoming friends with
the Horde and it looks as our watch period may be ending at Pennsic and
we will become members of the Horde. yay!

Camp gear is almost done

With Pennsic less than a month away, I have the camp gear almost done. I
just made 2 more benches which gives us 4, re-did the shelves so they
fold up and are one piece, made Katya's bed longer, and repainted the
trailer. I've been a busy bee...

Been pretty busy

Things have been busy lately. I took the bike in for its 12k checkup and
it passed. The brute that took the battery out broke a terminal off of
it, so they had to replace the battery. I was pissed but they made good
on it.

Saturday Katya & I rode our bikes to the park, which is about a mile
each way. She did real good and I was surprised that she made it back up
the hill. I just wish I had more time to do this stuff with her.

Today we had mom & dad over for a cookout to celebrate mom's birthday
and father's day. We had fun until it got too hot.

Catching up

Well, we're finally starting to make some headway in the basement. We're working on cleaning out the crap slowly.

The bike turned 12k miles today. That's pretty impressive since it turns 2 years old in about a week. I know that most bikes don't see that many miles in 10 years.... i think i may hit 20k before it turns 3.

Cardo teamspeak headset

I'm really loving the new headset i got for the bike. I've tested it up to 80mph and no wind noise at all. I can even use the voice dialing with no isssues. If anything i am speaking too loud for it.

What the??????

I got home last night from a run to staples and when i was putting the bike away I noticed that the license plate was bent all the way up under the fender and had been rubbing the tire. The only way that this could have hapened is if someone bent the plate (and metal frame) far eniugh to hit the tire. When I pulled out, the tire did the rest of the work. The way i park it could not have been a car, it had to be a person...

Quest isalmost upon us...

Well, Quest is almost here. I still need to check out the stoves but we are pretty well set to make things happen. I could use a few days off.

Its raining!

Well, it was a long day, the motorcycle is on the trailer behind the
Jeep, the valuables are still loaded & ready to go, but we're still
home. The wind has died down again now that the cold front has blown
through. Its raining which should help some with the fire. We can
actually open the windows for a bit to air the place out. I'm beat, it
was a long day. Hopefully tomorrow I can unload all the stuff and get
life back to normal.

Still here....

We're still home. The street to the end of the block got the evac order about 2 hours ago.

Still here

Well, the fire jumped rt 72 last night and burned brighton at barnegat
and the campground out there. This is less than 10 miles from home. At
this stage they have the fire less than 10% contained so I am working
from home today. I spent part of the night watching (and taking pictures
of) the glow from the fire on the horizon. This morning the sky i grey
with smoke and i can definitely smell smoke in the air.

fire watch

Well, we're more or less in the path of what is definitely a huge forest
fire. The smoke has died down considerably in the last few hours but we
have had watch planes circling over the area now for a while. We're
prepared to go if we have to, the cat carriers are out and the really
valuable (and non-replaceable) stuff is sitting in a pile in the living
room. Hopefully we'll be putting it all away in the morning. More later....

I hate mice

Well, it is that time of the year again when I break out the camp gear
and check things over for the season. I am so glad I do that every year.
It seems that mice took a liking to the canvas of my tent and chewed a
few small holes in it. Needless to say I was not happy when I put the
tent up, but the holes were small enough to be patched, so I spent a
couple of hours yesterday patching holes.

On the plus side I made a pair of folding benches for the table. I am
definitely happy with the way that they turned out. It should be much
easier than sitting on the stools that we have been using....

It's hard to believe that Katya will be starting kindergarten in the fall. This June 25 makes 3 years since we brought her home. Wow, how time flies..

You're here illegally... Go home!

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.app.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Farticle%3FAID%3D%2F20070502%2FNEWS03%2F705020339%2F1007%2Frss03

Thank you rider ed....

Today I was so glad that i took the rider ed class.... I was headed down the parkway in the left lane in pretty heavy traffic. We were doing about 50mph. Next thing I know is i hear the screech of tires - you know, the kind that usually ends in a CRASH! I immediately rolled off the throttle, reached for the clutch and both brakes. As I was doing this, i started to see brake lights in front of me as cars swerved left and right. I hit the brakes hard and at the same time looked in my mirrors to see if I was going to get rear-ended. I was prepared to swerve between the car in front of me and the k-rail to my left. Somehow I managed to shift down from 4th to 1st at the same time. Luckily the guy behind me was quite a ways back. I stopped about 5 feet from the car in front of me. If it wasn't for rider ed I don't think i would have reacted as well.

We're getting ready to register Katya for kindergarten in the fall. It is hard to believe that she will be 5 in 2 months.

We're working on the house so we can put it up for sale soon. I need to replace the bathtub among other things... Fun fun fun!

It's a good day....

Its a good day for vodka lovers... Rain managed to find a bottle of Russian Standard vodka at the liquor store. This is the vodka that we brought back with us from Russia! Yay! Now i don't feel so bad when i want to break out the Russian vodka. I know thati can get some decent vodka in this country for a change....

Warm weather is a good thing....

Well, now that warmer weather is finally upon us we decided to buy a gazebo and set it up in the back yard. We actually ate dinner out there tonight and it felt great! I can se me taking the laptop and working out back on the days that i work from home.

Wildwood bike rally

Today we webt to the bike rally in Wildwood... It was pretty lame, nothing like the roar to the shore in the fall. Oh well, maybe next year will be better.

APP.COM - Trooper driving Corzine didn't realize his speed | Asbury Park Press Online

APP.COM - Trooper driving Corzine didn't realize his speed | Asbury Park Press Online


Yeah, ok.. if that isn't the biggest crock of shit I have ever heard. Troopers speed all the time, rarely doing less than 80 on the GSP. Not only should this trooper be ticketed for speeding, he should be made an example of. Going that fast is downright dangerous, and there was no reason for him to be going that fast. Troopers are trained in high speed driving, they know exactly how fast they are going...

Film is dead

Well, I shot my last wedding on 35mm this weekend. I did some research
and found that the Sony Alpha is really the redesigned Minolta 5D (which
is the digital SLR that I wanted to buy). I went out and bought one
Sunday and am in the process of getting to know the camera. Oh how I
missed my SLR. There are things that you just can't capture with a point
& shoot. I'm gearing up to become a professional photographer for
weddings, etc. I figure why not? I have the skills and talent to do it.

I have a new job

Well, it looks as if at least for the near term I will be supporting 2
payroll companies. I don't see this as a big issue really since the
demands on my time at both won't be that heavy at least initially. It
will mean a long commute occasionally but I will be able to telecommute
most of the time so I think this can work out for the best really.....

New photo galleries

I have re-done the photo albums with a new gallery system. If you
haven't been there in a while, check it out.

we had a good cabin party

We went to West Virginia for the weekend for our annual cabin party. This years' theme was sci-fi and fantasy. It was a very relaxing weekend for us. We only had 7 people because Karen had to cancel last minute. Next year we hope to have more people come out with us. The weather was pretty warm this year. We took Rain's car since it gets like 35 mpg. Next year we are doing a circus theme, which should really be fun......

Katya is growing up...

Katya has learned to tie her shoes! She tied them all by herself today.

a new penpal

In have a new pen pal. I got an ICQ message from a girl in Novosibirsk,
Russia this morning. It seems she is looking to improve her English. I
am hoping she may be able to help me with my Russian.. :)

new photo albums

If you have not been to the site in a while, I have been busy adding photo albums to the site... I have everything from 2006 to january of this year loaded and some of 2003 and 2002... I hope I can get more online soon...

its been busy lately

Work has been consuming much of my time lately. It seems that the new office is working out, but it is still too early to tell if it willl become permanent or not. I'll hang in there and see where it all leads me, at least for now.

Katya got new lenses for her glasses and we are workiing on eye patching to try and strengthen her right eye. Only time will tell just how good the eye gets, but Katya is willing to go along with it for now.

Katya is learning to write her letters pretty well now. This is a good thing. Katya is showing some artistic talent as well. She loves to draw and color.

Our daughter is smart

My wife recently witnessed our daughter's abilities full force.... We
have magnetic child locks on some of the cabinets which will not open
without the magnet. My wife saw our daughter (keep in mind she's 4 1/2)
using one of her alphabet magnets from the fridge to open a cabinet. She
was moving the magnet across the door where she thought the latch was
until she heard it click open. I find this absolutely amazing...

Rain Rain go away

Wow, talk about weird weather. It was snowing last night and this
morning it is raining like mad. I haven't had the bike out in almost 3
weeks because it has either been snowing or too cold to ride. :( Next
week is looking better though.

APP.COM - Keith Urban sues N.J. man with same name | Asbury Park Press Online

Get a life... this guy needs to lay off. Its not his fault that someone else got the domain name first....

APP.COM - Keith Urban sues N.J. man with same name | Asbury Park Press Online

Who left the freezer door open?

Can we say Brrr??? Its 9 degrees out this morning. So much for taking the bike though.. It will have to sit till later this week when the temps ome up into the 20's as the overnight low. Its just too cold for the g\ear that I have for these temps.

fish tank

Call mewell it looks like the fish tank should be ready for fish. we lost most of the fish when I changed tanks, unfortunately. Tonight i'll move the remaining 2 fish over to the big tank and then I'll empty the small tank. Once I build Katya's new bed I want to make the 30 gallon into a terrarium for katya so she can have fish and frogs....

we have a sick duckling...

It looks like we have a sick duckling on our hands... She didn't want to eat dinner and is running 101 fever.

Fishtank

I got tired of the fishtank being green, so I drained it all the way down and started over. I put in sand instead of rock and the tank looks great!

the new tank setup....

the new tank setup...., originally uploaded by graewulf.

I decided it was time to re-do the fish tank. here is how it looks now.

Multimedia message

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by graewulf.

Multimedia message

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by graewulf.

2 bags of freshly washed play sand

2 bags of freshly washed play sand, originally uploaded by graewulf.

katya helping clean the fish tank

katya helping clean the fish tank, originally uploaded by graewulf.

New menu

I replaced the menus on the site with a tree-based menu. Enjoy!

I got new goves for the bike the other day. According to the manufacturer they are good to -40F. They are definitely warmer than my regular riding gloves, so that is a good thing.

 

Things are still going screwey at work. I have no idea where it will end up, I just hope that it works out in my favor.

Dead battery

Well it looks like Katya left the dome light on in the Jeep over the weekend and I have a dead battery now. I called AAA for a jump start since that is what we pay them for.....ugh!

 

Katya is growing up. She wanted to make her sandwich and got a drink container out and filled it with water all on her own.

I'm an uncle again

Well, it looks like I'm an uncle again. Amy had a baby boy on Friday.

It looks like Rain is going to become a permanent employee at her office. This is a good thing since she really loves her job.

Katya is such a big girl

Katya has been bugging us for a few weeks to get her ears pierced. Today we decided it was time to get it done. Katya handled it very well. She sat in my lap and i could see she was wscared, but she didn't complain and let the girls do their thing. The piercing pagoda had 2 people working so they did both ears at once. That was a great idea. Katya cried for a few minutes and after about 15 minutes she was fine again.

True heroes

Passers-by catch tumbling toddler - CNN.com

new phone

I got my.new phone today. I went for the Cingular 8125 which is a Windows Mobile phone. It seems strange to be running Windows on a cell phone. The keyboard is much bigger and slides out from the side of the phone... very funky.

Toilets & cell phones don't mix

Last night I managed to drop my treo in the toilet. Needless to say it did not react well to this. Once I got it dried out the phone is working for the most part. The touch screen has stopped working and sometimes the phone locks up. I guess it is time to get a new phone. I guess you could call this an expensive oops...