Take a load off

If you come around here at all, you know that the state has taken two of my grandkids and put them in foster care. I have lost a lot of sleep over this, because I know foster care is a flawed system.
I have heard the stories, have been involved in a few of them.
My feelings towards DSHS is distrustful bordering on paranoid.
I got some pretty glowing reports from Grand daughter A about the Foster Parents, something that surprised me.
Sunday she helped set up a visit with Mrs A and I her and Neeko and the foster parents and the two grandkids. We met at a Micky D. with a playland, and of course it was total chaos, with kids of all sizes running around screaming and yelling. It was not the best situation for a meet and greet, but it was OK. We had some good conversation, and I came away feeling much better about the situation. I hate to think of how much sleep I have lost worrying about it and feeling helpless.
If you accept the situation for what it is, The kids are in about the best place thet can be.

An oldie but a goodie.



Blatherskite

Stories you might read here are mostly true

Thursday, June 15, 2006

My Life as a Chicken Hypnotizer.



When R. was small, I decided that she could use a little experience in the feeding and care of farm animals, but since we live in a more-or-less urban area, although it is unincorporated, there are some restrictions on what you can do, not to mention the restrictions on space (I only have 1/4 acre).

I was tearing an old dilapidated deck off of the house, so I used the pieces to build a chicken coop in the back yard. Then we went down to the feed and seed store, and bought a couple of Banty chicks that became Rusty and Dusty, our two laying hens.

R was fascinated that without benefit of a male chicken for inspiration, they would produce eggs on a regular basis. Not only that, they weren't white or brown like normal store bought eggs, they were a grey-green and smaller. She used to like to take hard boiled Banty eggs to school because most people had never seen anything but regular eggs.

One day she had a couple of friends over, and she was showing them the chickens, and I asked them "Do you know it is possible to hypnotize a chicken"

"NO WAY! Could show us?"

So I did.

Later R. asked me "Dad, where did you learn to hypnotize chickens?"

As I have mentioned ad nauseum, we had a farm, and raised all kinds of things. We always had two batches of chickens, One batch of laying hens, one batch of fryers. One of the kids jobs was to go out to the hen house in the morning and gather the eggs and feed the chickens. It was always a little like a treasure hunt, because you never knew what you were going to find. Taking the eggs away from the hens could be an adventure too, as some of them took objection to us removing their eggs. After all it wasn't easy producing them.

The fryers life was short and pretty good. They were fed and watered and didn't have to produce anything to earn their keep, just put on weight. The down side was that before things froze up in the fall, would come slaughter day.

Everyone hates slaughter day. It is nasty, smelly work, but it puts food in the freezer for all winter.

The little kids were chicken catchers. Grandfather was the headsman. Uncle Fred and Dad were the gutting crew, and everyone else were Chicken Pluckers. It was our own little assembly line.

My job was Chicken Hypnotizer.

After the little kids caught a chicken, they would bring it to me. I would stick it's head underneath it's wing and then pump it (the whole bird) up and down for about 30 seconds. Then you could set it down on the ground and it would stay where you set it. Eventually it would sort of shudder, pull it's head out and look around like "Where the hell am I?", but on slaughter day, they generally never came around. If they started to, I would just grab them before they got any ideas about running off, and re hypnotize them.

It always caused me to wonder "How did someone figure this out? It would seem logical that it would be someone who wanted to transport chickens quietly and easily. Like maybe a Chicken Thief? How did my grandfather, who was from the hills of Kentucky and taught me the fine art of chicken hypnotizing happen to be in possession of this particular bit of information?"

It wasn't until many years later that I learned that this is a technique used by bird hunters to train their bird dogs. They will hypnotize a chicken and set it down in the brush, then get the dog and lead it around close to where the chicken is, then reward the dog when it finds the bird.

I have always wanted to put this on my resume'. Chicken Hypnotizer. That alone should be good for a first interview, and once you get your foot in the door anything is possible.

I have never found a use for this very rare skill in the modern world. I mean you can't exactly pick up a newspaper, and there on page 13 of the classified ads you find "Wanted: Chicken Hypnotizer. Full time. Full benefits. Must be experienced. Top Wages."

Any one need a perfectly good barely used Chicken Hypnotizer?

Getting Impatient

My '77 280Z has been gone for a month and a half now for paint. I am getting a little impatient to get it back. I told my painter to take his time, no hurry, no worry.
I called him last week to see how it was going, and he said he would come by with pictures. He showed up last Friday with pictures of it in Satin Black. It looked so good that I almost told him to leave it as is and finish it up.
Almost. I have this vision of what it will look like with the purple/blue green satin color changing paint that I need to complete the project to make the vision become real.
He said he was going to put on the color changing stuff on Monday. I haven't heard from him since. Of course just laying down the paint doesn't finish the process.
Rust heads were showing around the gasket for the windshield and rear hatch window, so I had him putt both and gave him new gaskets to reinstall them. He told me that once he got the windshield out there were a bunch of pinholes to weld, so that took more time. The body shop is a side line for him, so I know he doesn't work it like a regular job. And I did tell him to take his time, so I have no room to complain.
Besides, the weather has been crap for the last month. Not inspirational sports car driving weather. But I can smell Spring in the air, and I want to be ready.
Patience, patience, patience. Never has been one of my better virtues.

Life as Defined by Two Photos

SO this little tableau is a metaphor for life.

At one end of the rainbow we have the gold/goal, the beer store. When I get off of work I'm going to The Beer Store to reward myself for my hard work. The Beer is the pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow.

After we have attained our reward, we satisfy our craving, all is well.

Then 6the other end of the rainbow is a shower of gold.

And repeat as necessary.

Valentines Weekend

I proposed to the lovely Mrs A. on Valentines Day 11 years ago. I try to return to "The Scene of the Crime" every year tom commemorate it. So last weekend it was off to The Lake Quinault Lodge.
It is in the Olympic National Forest at the edge of the Quinault Rain Forest.
No phones in the rooms, not TV no cell phone service. Lots of beautiful hiking trails, a decent restaurant in the lodge.
I was concerned this weekend because the weather forecast called for rain followed by rain, with rain expected along with high winds. We have gone there before, and the rain doesn't bother us that much. Only one time have we been there when it POURED rain the whole time.
The drive there was through light drizzle, but not as bad as I had anticipated. We had dinner at the restaurant, and it was OK. They did not offer my favorite, Cedar Plank Salmon for two. So I had a steak. I was disappointed in the steak. Being raise on beef, and our family raising beef, I know a good cut of meat from a bad one, and the quality was so-so. The steak was thin and tough. This was not a $28 piece of meat, it was an $11 cut of meat. At least they had the Marionberry Cobbler, which was good enough to be the reason for the trip.
Sunday, after sleeping in we took a long hike, about four hours. We timed it perfectly. We started out in the drizzle, and were dressed appropriately in waterproof gear. We really didn't need it, because it quit raining and we actually saw the sun, an unexpected bonus. We got in the car and drove around the lake the waterfalls were all going full throttle. Quite impressive.
Nature being a thing of balance it made up for the unexpected bonus by bringing in a howling drenching rainstorm, and the power went out in the Boathouse for five hours. The Lodge has backup power, but not the boathouse, so we were in the dark without heat. No big deal. The lights came back on about 10:30.
The drive back home was a white knuckle drive all the way. Absolutely pouring rain. As much water coming up off the road from the cars as there was coming down from the sky. Traffic would hum along, the blind leading the blind, and suddenly it would stop for no apparent reason. No accident, no stalled vehicle, nothing
we talked a lot , told jokes, got rid of a lot of tension, had some good food, had a great hike.
Couldn't ask for a better weekend this time of year. Just enough negative to make you appreciate the positive.

A little bit of humor

I was walking down the aisle to the machines to get my morning Fritos.
A rather attractive woman was walking past in the other direction.
She was staring at my crotch.
I thought "What, did I forget to Zip or something?"
No everything was normal there.
As I checked my hand brushed my left hand pocket.
I had a bottle of prescription pills in my pocket.
I realized that it looked like I was "Really happy to see her"
I found it highly amusing.

Coming around

I have not frequented my blog of late. In general, I do not do well in the winter. Whether it is the weather or the lack of sunlight or whatever,  Throw on top of that not knowing where two of my grandkids are, and all of the uncertainty with their mom, it is hard to stay on an even keel.
SO I withdraw from the world, read and do genealogy, go to work, work overtime, and pretty much hunker down. I'm OK but the daily slog is just enough of an uphill slog to require a little determination to keep up at it.
I had a great time watching the Seahawks thump the Broncos in the Superbowl. Things are looking up.
But I am still having a lot of trouble gaining traction to go anywhere or do anything.
Oh well, Spring will come, the weather will improve and if things go well, I can retire this coming December.

"Z" Paint

I turned over the 77 280Z to the painter today. I have been planning to get it resprayed for some time, and have been saving the money up.
Strictly by coincidence, my friend Gabriel that I lost contact with a couple of years ago showed up a couple of weeks ago, and he came over to take a look at the car to give me an estimate on a respray. I want to do something a little different this time. I love the emerald green to cobalt blue color changing paint, but I got some stuff that also has purple in it. I think the color change will pop better if it is covered with a flat clear.
At any rate, that's what I'm going to get it sprayed.

If I decide I don't like it flat, I can always get a shiny clear sprayed over the flat. I've seen a couple of examples, but only tesr swatches. There's no hurry, so it will be a couple of weeks at least.

Pictures to follow when I get it back.

Grandkids

I said goodbye to my two grand kids on Sunday.
I may never see them again.
"i" was out of control, a situation made worse by CPS. The won't allow you to punish a kid that is placed under your care by the courts. I am not a proponent of beating kids, but find nothing wrong with the application of a wooden spoon to the "seat of knowledge". If you completely take that tool away from parents/guardians then it becomes almost impossible to control kids.
When a five year old is telling you he is going to kill you, and you find him stuffing paper in the electric heater, there has to be a more rigid form of punishment than giving the kid a time out.
Since they were having so much trouble controlling "i", they had to find some place outside the family to send him. They found someone that would take both kids. X is five months and the cutest little thing you ever did see, but the objective is to keep the two kids together. Since the place they are going has no other kids and a stay-at-home mom, she should be able to give the constant attention to "i" that he will need.
But Grandparents have no rights, so I am just SOL.
So I took the day Sunday to go up to Concrete and say goodbye to the grand kids.
Tough day.

Pothead

Anyone who comes around here regularly over time know I live in Seattle, or as I like to put it, Latteland.
Maybe I should start calling it Potlandia, as the infamous weed is now legal in the State of Washington.
Of course just to make things ridiculous, there is no way currently to purchase it. Distribution centers have yet to be set up.
It takes about 500 politicians a couple of years to roll one joint.
One thing that is in place is Medical Marijuana. If you have one of certain medical conditions, you can get a prescription. Well, I have Glaucoma, which is one of the few recognized universally conditions that can be treated with Marijuana. Glaucoma is excessive pressure in the eye, and pot relaxes the muscles of the drains for the eye,
The main reason was really insomnia. I haven't had a decent knight's sleep in years. So I wanted to see if it would help me sleep. Cost me $100.00 to go see the Naturopath, 11.00 for a gram of weed. They gave me a sample of a chocolate with THC, said it would help me sleep.
It did the opposite. I was up all night. Mainly because my mouth got so dried out. My sinuses swelled shut so I couldn't breathe through my nose, and when I breathed through my mouth it dried out my tongue so bad I had to take a sip of water.
Miserable night. It DID relieve the pain in my neck and shoulders. Maybe if I take  claritin before I indulge, it will work out. But not on a work night.

Bullet Hole

Mrs A went about her usual chores and stuff on Tuesday. Worked out at the gym, Want to the thrift store. Bought a few groceries.
She was coming back from dropping off some movies at Redbox, when she noticed something unusual.
A bullet hole in the hood of the car!
When she got home, she came in and said "Y0ou've got to come look at something."
I went out and looked, and there was a perfectly round hole in the upper passenger's side of the hood. From the way to hole is, it was apparent to me that someone had shot a gun in the air, and the bullet had come down on the hood of our car. From the angle, the impact was vertical.
So we got to inform the insurance company, call the Police for a Police Report, and go in for an estimate.
$750.00! For one little hole!!
We have an appointment next Monday to get it taken care of.
This kind of thing is always happening to Mrs A. Always being in the wrong place and wrong time. At least she wasn't standing where it hit.

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