Almost Christmas

I have to admit to being a bit of a Scrooge. I really don't like the hype, the commercialism and the drama. I withdraw like a turtle into my shell, and peek out occasionally to see if it is over yet.
Now that we no longer have kids at home, we don't much decorate, and I hate shopping with a passion year round, but especially at Christmas.
So two of my grandkids are under court guardianship, my daughter is in the hospital recovering from a pulmonary embolism. The daughter lost custody of her kids because she is a junky.
Under the circumstances it is extremely difficult to maintain a cheerful demeanor. I don't want to bring anybody else down.
Oh well. It snowed this morning and I got to see multiple people doing stupid things. Snow provides much amusement. First you have the people that have not a clue how to drive in the snow. They accelerate too quickly, jam on the brakes, take quick turns. The car ends up going straight when they want to turn. I saw two in my four mile commute this morning having intimate conversations with light poles.
Then there is the snow bully. They usually drive big four wheel trucks or SUVs. They tailgate, blink their lights, toot the horn. Their basic attitude is "Get the Hell out of my way, I'm coming through". They don't seem to realise that just because you have four wheel drive, it doesn't mean you can STOP any faster than homebody's old beat up jalopy that they only use to drive in the snow because it is no loss if they put it in the ditch. These guys usually end up in the ditch, quite frequently upside down.
The best advice I ever heard about driving in the snow is: "Pretend you have an egg taped to the bottom of you shoe(s). It is of utmost importance that you not break the egg.."
So I was driving the 2007 Chevy HHR with the Blizzak snow and ice tires. The tires are rated as the best for snow and ice. Front wheel drive, so the front end is always trying to go in the direction the tires are pointed. Slow to moderate speed, maintain your distance from cars around you, and Look out for the idiots.
The snow was falling and Christmas carols were playing in the radio.
I almost started singing along.

Weather

It has been pretty cold for Latteland for the last couple of weeks. Down below 20 degrees several mornings. I know that would be perceived as a warming trend for lots of people this time of year, but we are real cold wussies up here. Anything below freezing is considered extreme weather.
This morning it was freezing fog, a personal favorite. I cleaned and scraped the windshield before starting out, but after a couple of blocks, I had to pull over and scrape the ice off of the window again.
When I got out of the car, everything was coated with a thin film of black ice. I sat in the car and waited for the car to warm up and the defroster to do its job, then went on.
I was very cautious applying the gas and brake, as the ends of the car seemed to want to go any direction but straight. I have to admit that 1 280Z with street tires is probably not the best choice on the ice.
But I made it to work without making the acquaintance of the ditch or anything else, so a successful venture. By tonight it is expected to return to normal, normal being rain.
We like rain. Rain we understand. We embrace rain.
On a side note, overtime this weekend. Some additional money right at Christmas is always welcome. Hopefully it will be relatively quiet, but not completely boring.
Since my daughter is being totally unresponsive to DSHS, has not enrolled in a drug rehab program, is not being forthcoming, making no progress, there is a hearing today to see about seeking a more permanent solution to her two kids custody. My grand daughter wants to keep them both, but she and her husband have been at war with DSHS ever since the kids were placed with them. Let's just say that my low opinion of DSHS has not improved any. The State of Washington is fourth WORST in the entire United States in providing legal representation for kids in Court during Custody Proceedings, a shameful statistic. No one represents the best interests of the children.
Hows that saying go about accepting the things you can't change?
Patience my ass, I want to kill something.

TSO

Last night was one where everything just went right.
Months ago I bought five tickets to Trans Siberian Orchestra. I am a big fan. This is the fourth time in the last fiver years we have gone to see them. I belong to the TSO fan club, and got pre-sale tickets. Five rows up from the floor stage right seats eleven through 15, I think those are the best seats in Key Arena.
It was me, Carol, my cousin Lynn and our friends Steve and Donna.
We got there early so we could have a drink before the show, and stopped into the EMP.  We got to our seats about fifteen minutes before the beginning, just enough time to settle in.
What can I say about TSO? Screaming electric guitar laser light show pyrotechnic Christmas extravaganza. An experience. The talent level of the performers, the quality of the presentation, the incredible complexity of the set, the lights and pyrotechnics are overwhelming. Sit down and hang on for the ride.
Afterward it was on to The Palisades, an upper tier restaraunt  The filet was great, The waitstaff very good, the drinks well made.
So many times you set out to have a special occasion and stuff just goes wrong, but last night everything was according to plan.
A night I will store away in memory to be taken out, turned over examined and put away many times in the future.

Awesome Bike

I came across this the other day. I have featured a bunch of streamlind art deco cars here in the last couple of months. Here is a modern interpretation, Smooth-Ness, by Arlen Ness. Incredible vision and execution. The paint alone has to be worth 20K. 

About the Caulking

Got up this morning with the best of intentions. After breakfast I went upstairs to start on the bathroom. I spent a couple of hours stripping the old caulking out of the seams for the tub. It was old and gunky and cracked., and some of it was very hard to get out. But I persisted.
The decaulking done, I was ready to recaulk.
Now, where was the caulking I bought yesterday?
Not in he bag with the rest of the stuff from Lowes. Not on the kitchen counter. Not in the bathroom. Not on the stairs. Not downstairs. not upstairs.
Well, some tile I bought wasn't quite right, so we went back to Lowes to return the tile and buy some more caulking.
Mrs A says as we walk into the sore "You know as soon as we get home the other tube of caulking will show up?"
"Of course it will dear, it's inevitable"
So we did our business and went home.
As Mrs A walked in the front door and into the kitchen, there on the cabinet was the original tube of caulking.

Growing old makes every day an adventure.

Hey Dear have you seen my caulk? I seem to have misplaced it and can't find it anywhere.

Not lately dear. Did you check in your coveralls?

Droll, very droll.

Home Improvement

Sitting here on a quiet Saturday night. Mrs. A. is upstairs taking a shower, the pellet stove is going, casting that orangish glow on the room. The dogs are curled up on the floor. No drama, no problems to speak of. Nice and quiet.
Things have been a bit chaotic lately. We are having friends come over Nov. 23rd to see TSO in concert and spend the night, since they are driving from Yakima. It is always great to see TSO screaming electric guitar pyrotechnic laser light show extravaganza Christmas show.
But nothing happens in a vacuum. This becomes a stimulus for doing a lot of things we have put off for a while. I am perfectly happy with the way things are, but Mrs. A. always sees ways to improve things.
Of course this requires my participation. As it well should. But I don't always agree with what needs to be done.  Or when it needs to be done. This leads to some lively discussion. I readily admit to my share of blame. I have been known to be stubborn and opinionated.
But when all is said and done there is nothing I like better than sitting in the quiet of the evening in my own home, warm and dry, fed and comfortable, and at peace for the moment.
Tomorrow there is another project. Tomorrow I tackle the upstairs bathroom. The tub needs recaulking.

Genetics 101

Some times things do not turn out the way you want them to. Whenever someone starts out doing genealogy, they have dreams of finding out that they are descended from royalty. But the other alternative is equally possible. You might be descended from roguery.
I my search for my genetic history I came across Pope Alvey. Do a google search on him some time.
Sentenced to death not once, but twice, but never executed. Under bond for his life they decided that he would make a good hangman.
I guess the logic was that no good man would want the onus of being the hangman, so the good state of Maryland came to the conclusion that since he was a convicted murderer and thief and seemed to have no remorse, he would make an excellent hangman.
Don't worry, he was many generations back on the female side of my family tree, and the male DNA follows the father, so very little of his DNA has passed to me.
But it does remind me of an incident in High school........
I was bored out of my mind, It was between classes. I pulled down the blind on the window next to my desk, and fooling around, made a noose.
What to do next?
I tossed it around the neck of the guy in front of me (sorry roadrunner) and pulled the blind down and let go.
It sprung back up and roadrunner jumped up out of his desk clawing at his neck.
That was about the time the teacher came in the classroom and demanded to know what was going on.
He didn't seem surprised.
Maybe I can blame it on genetics.

Happy Halloween!

Meet Frankeneinstein, famous for his theory of irrelevantivity.
I saw this on the internet and ordered a pattern, which I transferred by hand to a pumpkin. Then it is a three level carving to get the different levels of light. I had a bit of a hard time envisioning what I was doing until I put the light inside of it. Should have thought of that a lot sooner.
It is exactly opposite if drawing or painting where you add something to give the picture form. Here you are taking stuff away to add light.
Never done it before, but I like to stretch my brain on occasion.
The result is a little rough, but definitely ok for a forst time.
Anyway, Happy halloween

Genetic confusion

I have been playing around with various genetic websites while waiting for my test kit. It gets pretty confusing, because a lot of them don't agree.

The fins a gravestone site lists James warren and Sarah Horrell as the parents of Alfred Alexander Warren. This is bad information. As a matter of fact, Alfred A warren is the son of Charles Warren. He is listed in the will as inheriting part of Charles's estate.

Charles is also listed as being executor of the estate of William Warren, who I figure must be his father. But I haven't been able to find anything that supports that. William warren was born in Maryland, in the area that would become D.C., but so far I have not been able to find anything concrete.

This has been fun, trying to ferret out small facts out of an enormous pile of........facts

Well, maybe not.

About the royal blood thing.....................
There are two mind sets about Guddun, Princess of England.
One side says she is the daughter of William the Conqueror, one side says not.
Her tombstone says she is, so I'm sticking with that.
I still have not connected the two halves of my genetics together, The sticking point is James Warren, who married Sarah Horrell in Kentucky in 1817. He was not born in Kentucky, but was born in Maryland, which would go along with family oral history. There was a migration of Catholics from Maryland to Kentucky in the late 1700s and early 1800s and the information I have managed to dig out is that he was born in 1790 in Maryland, died in 1870 in Kentucky.
I have joined the Warren family DNA site and have ordered a test kit, which will be used to compare 27 genetic factors of the warren family and should give me a match.
It will take a couple of weeks.
You may call me SIR.
Or not

Royal Blood?

I have been fiddling around with Genealogy lately. It all got started with me going back to recover some some recent history, mainly our family's activities in the Four Corners area of New Mexico.
One thing led to another and next thing I was doing a family genealogy. I had a decent place place to start, with a genealogy put together by my Uncle Ben.
I dug it out, and it took me back as far as Charles Warren (1748-1820) and Monica Drury (1785-?)
With that as a starting point I just slogged it out with the Internet until I worked my way back to William de Warren, who was William the Conqueror's right hand man,fought beside him at the Battle of Hasings and married his daughter Gundren the Princess of England.
The blood of kings flows in these veins!
They can have it back whenever they want, it doesn't seem to be doing me any good.
Next thing you know people will expect nobless oblige.

Won't be able to fart or burp or pick my nose.

Fie on the peasants I say, FIE!

The Grandkids

We went up to Concrete last Saturday to visit Amelia and James and the grandkids. It was good to see them settling in. The baby had gained 2 lbs in a week, which is significant because it was from seven to nine pounds.
It was a beautiful fall day for a drive. As we got out of town and a little up in elevation the leaves began to turn color. We stopped at a State Park along the Skagit river and walked on the trails for a while.
The mission was two-fold. We had clothes and stuff for Rs kids and a birthday present for Neeko's fifth birthday. It was hectic, with two five year olds together. They are already acting like sibs, in other words half the time they are playing together and riffin off of each other and the other half of the time they are fighting. Pretty normal.
Cps has been less than supportive up until this week, so we brought clothes and money. Although the State had awarded custody to Amelia and James, CPS was dragging their heels trying to find some other alternative. Rs lawyer finally nailed them with : The state has already given custody to James and Amelia, you need to take this case out of investigation and give it to a case worker so they can get the support owed them through the court. Good for him.
Monday they finally got a support check for clothing for the kids, who had arrived with practically nothing,
Looks like things might settle down now.

Driving the Z

So the Z had been dormant for a couple of years, because the dash lights were all out and it had developed an alarming "thunk" in the rear end.
It has been back on the road for a couple of weeks now, and I had really forgotten how much fun it is. I have slowly pushed the performance every day to just a little quicker, a little faster, until today I was back a the point where I remembered why I love driving this car.
The acceleration, while not neck-snapping, does push you firmly back in he seat. It doesn't take long to go from 25 to 60, and on up. Top end is around 140, but I've never had it above 120. With the ground effects kit on, it is firm on the road with plenty of pedal left at 120.. Some people may not like the removal of the bumpers and addition of the ground effects kit, but I hated the look of the enormous ugly front and rear federally mandated five MPH bumpers. And it is much more stable at high speed.
The handling is superb. It hugs he ground and corners like it is on rails. The car itself is a little on the heavy side, but  no ponderous. The power is adequate to pull through the corners, and one of the joys of driving it is hitting that point riding on the edge of control, when going around a corner you can just feel the rear tires just beginning to break loose, feathering the gas to retain control.  Hyper alert, senses at their peak, knowing you are riding the edge of disaster. Pulse racing.
Oh yeah!

On the Road Again

Well, after a couple of years of sitting dormant, the Z is back on the road.
I had put it out of service because all of the dash lights had blown. Since I work ten hour days, starting about now it is dark when I go to work and dark when I go home, so interior lights, while not being absolutely necessary, are a definite plus!
It is not perfect. They two immediate things are that the Brake light that comes on when you set the emergency brake is always on. It is mildly annoying, but no big deal. I need to fish around under the passenger's seat and see if I can find the wire.
Also, in my hurry to get it back on the road, I neglected to hook up the speedometer. As I tend to drive by the tach and engine sound, this is not a big deal. If a cop stops me and asks how fast I was going, my reply will be "3200 RPM in second gearr" Sounds perfectly good to me.
I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to drive.
But it sure came back in a hurry! Definitely not the best car in the snow unless you put some superior tires on it. I have a set of spare wheels, I wonder how much a set of Blizzaks would set me back?

Court

Today was the custody hearing for placement of R's two kids. My grand daughter and her husband have been trying to get custody, but it has been an uphill battle.
Her hubby has a record from back when he was a kid. It was all a long time ago, and minor stuff. His last charge was seven years ago, for carrying a pocket knife. He would have been about 16, Certainly not reason to block their placement. Bu CPS had a wild hair up it's ass.
I wrote a letter of recommendation for them. My recommendation matters because I am the grandfather, and I have been approved by CPS, since I adopted and raised one of my grandkids. I also
helped them write a letter to the court.
Court was this morning. They agreed to place the kids with Amelia and James. They called me just over the moon with happiness. They will pick up the kids tomorrow.
I hope they know what they are getting themselves into. "i" is five and has some behavioral problems from being dragged around by his drug-addict mother. The little girl is only six weeks old. This is a life changing event. I wish them all the best.

Power Without Accountability

By God, I hate CPS.
They are a perfect example of what happens when you give marginal people power without accountability.
The individual who is working with R. to arrange for care for her two kids told her (rightly so) that because R was not in jail and not yet in care, she has the legal right to have a say about where her kids are placed. Think of it this way: It is legally no different than if she asked someone to babysit her kids so she could do something. That is her legal right.
The people from CPS took violent exception to this. After all, they had not approved of the placement. They were still doing background checks on my grand daughter and her husband.
So given the conflicting information, she went down to pick up the kids. Everything was going along fine, when CPS shows up with the cops, and demands custody of the kids.
They tell Amelia that it is not her, it is her husband that they object to. They refuse to say why or what he has ever done to cause such a disturbing display of jack boot Nazi trampling of of basic human rights.
It is my opinion that they were just pissed that they had gone down to pick up the kids before they had been given the official OK. In other words, a childish temper tantrum of monumental proportions that had absolutely nothing to do with the welfare of the kids.
And will anything ever be done about it?
Of course not.
Power without accountability.

Another Little Piece of my Heart

One of THOSE phone calls yesterday.
It was my Grand Doughter, Amelia.
She called to give me some information
1) My daughet was going in to in-hospital rehab for drug addiction. This is not news, I think this is the third time, In between she is just a junkie.
2) The reason Amelia knows this is because CPS called and wanted to know if Amelia would take the kids for a month or os while R was in the Hospital. KIDS as in multiple. Tha last time I saw her was at Christmas and there was only one. I heard rumors about a second kid, but have not heard from my daughter since Christmas Eve. Now there is a six week old Grand Daughter I have never seen. I don't even know her name.
My daughter can kick the crap out of my without ever even talking to me.
Why do I continue to let het do this?  I have been told that she isn't even mine, something I was always pretty sure of, but figured in the end made no difference.
But she stilll sneaks in there ad breaks another little piece of my heart.

The Gloves

Well, I got a lot of the information about the gloves wrong.
First of all, they weren't purchased by my dad.
My Uncle Father (Richard?) Clark was a priest on the Ute reservation in the early part of the 20th century, When he retired from his position he was presented the gloves by the tribe in honor of his service.
When he moved back east uncle/Father Clark gave the gloves o my dad, who was working for the Trading post and acting as Assistant Postmaster at Towaoc.
So that makes the gloves even more relevant, I guess.

Family History

I've been doing a little family history research lately. This all started when I came across my dad's silver and turquoise ring that he bought out of the Trading Post he worked at as a young man. So of course I had to find out which Trading Post it was.
I knew he had worked at a trading post on the Navajo Reservation, but on questioning my mom, I found out that right out of high school, he worked at Towaoc at the Ute tribal headquarters. He spoke Ute very well, and acted as an interpreter for the tribe. He was also the Assistant Postmaster at this time. He purchased a pair of beautiful beaded gloves there in 1938 or 1939. We still have them, and they are in excellent condition. They have beadwork roses on the back of the hands. It is the plan to return them to the tribe when my mom passes on. I figured I would personally deliver them so I could spend a little time in the four corners area where my family lived. The trading post is gone now but the Utes still have their Headquarters in Towaoc. The gloves are exceptional and belong in a museum.
In the early to mid 20th Century my Grandfather was farm manager for a Boarding School in Waterflow New Mexico, so this same train of thought got me to wondering about the school. My search turned up the Sacred Heart Academy in Waterflow. I doubt there was any other Catholic Boarding School in the area, so this must be the place.
Included in the short history of the school was a picture of the students in 1928. I figure my dad and a couple of Uncles should be in the picture, but I haven't seen enough pictures of my dad as a child to pick him out. The school was run by the Ursuline Sisters, who have an active web site. I have sent them an inquiry about Grandfather and the students in the picture.



Chicken Gumbo

Desperation drove me to the Cafeteria today in search of sustenance. The Cafeteria does not serve food, it serves fuel to keep the workers moving.
Today one of the soup choices was Chicken Gumbo. I make traditional Cajun Gumbo from scratch. This is nothing like that. Calling this Chicken Gumbo is an insult to all other Chicken Gumbo's. It is my theory that they tie a cleaned chicken carcass on a string and drag it through a 55 gallon drum of stock. Occasionally a piece will fall off. If it is your lucky day, you get the piece of chicken.
Because it is made for mass consumption, all the flavors have been tamed down to insipidity (is that a word? if not it should be). If you take the Gumbo and add enough Tabasco to it that your nose runs and you break out in a sweat, you can occasionally get a hint of what real Gumbo tastes like.
Almost.
The real problem is that in order to make real Chicken Gumbo you need to start with a stewing hen. Do they even sell stewing hens any more? I think they all go to soup makers. At least I never see them in the Supermarket.
Oh heck, now I'm hungry for some seafood gumbo. My recipe does not start wih: Fill a 55 gallon drum with water.