Counting Beans

The Road Goes Ever On...

2011-02-28T22:34:00.000-05:00

A favorite verse of mine that I often think about as I head out for a run:

"The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say."

J.R.R. Tolkien

Road Ends 5Mile

2011-01-22T16:54:00.000-05:00

trailmarathon - Road Ends: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

This will be my first official trail race. I'm really looking forward to it.

Rising from the Ashes...

2011-01-22T15:55:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's about time to resurrect this blog, dust it off and do something with it. First thing is to decide what it will be about. Assorted randomness? Stuff I think about while running? Coffee roasting, brewing and drinking? All of the above?

The Hockey Song

2010-04-02T18:15:00.000-04:00

Appropriate for this time of year. Thank you Stompin' Tom Connors :-)

Hello out there, were on the air
it's hockey night tonight!
The tension grows,
the whistle blows,
and the puck goes down the ice.
The goalie jumps,
and the players bump,
and the fans all go insane.
Someone roars:
"Crosby Scores!"
At the good old hockey game!

(chorus)
Oh!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!

Second Period.
Where players dash,
with skates a-flash,
the Red Wings trails behind.
But they grab the puck,
and go bursting up,
and their down across the line.
They storm the crease,
like bumblebees,
and they travel like a burning flame.
We see them slide the puck inside,
its a one- one hockey game!

(chorus)
Oh!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!

Third Period.
Last game in the play-offs too.
Oh take me where the hockey players
face off down the rink,
And the Stanley Cup,
is all filled up,
for the champs who win the drink!
Now the final flick,
of a hockey stick,
and a one gigantic scream:
"THE PUCK IS IN! THE RED WINGS WIN!"
At the good old hockey game

OH!
The good old hockey game!
Its the best game you can name!
And the best game you can name,
is the good old hockey game!

LOL

2010-03-29T21:38:00.000-04:00

If the Red Wings had lost, this wouldn't be so funny. Since they won, it's hilarious. Enjoy!

More Geocaching Adventuring

2010-03-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

"Dad, we like geocaching with you".

We had another nice day spent in the woods looking for caches. We saw some nesting ducks, a chipmunk and a robin. Not much else though. These little girls chatter about as much as the chipmunks, so most wildlife cleared off long before we got there. That's ok though. I'm glad they were chattering with me. Oh, and we were 2 for 2 on the caches we went looking for. One had some nice treasure to trade for, the other was just a book to sign. Real nice scenery at both.

On the way back, we took a break. The little ones were munching on fruit snacks:

There were being very wiggly. I wish I could bottle the energy they have and save it for later.

My new hockey hero

2010-03-23T13:10:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Howard is my new hockey hero. Howard is now a Red Wings goalie in the tradition of Mike Vernon.

First Geocaching Experience

2010-02-21T00:19:00.008-05:00

[Note to Facebook users: You will need to go to the original post at my blog (michaelsmith6.blogspot.com) to see the pictures]

Today I thought it would be fun if my eldest daughter and I tried geocaching. There are quite a few caches in and around our community, so I figured it would be easy to try and a good way to get outside for a bit.

At first, I don't think the eldest daughter was so sure about this idea of her dad's.

While we tramped around in the snow, she really wasn't sure this would all be worth it in the end. The trail seemed to just go on and on.

But, once we found the cache she discovered we could trade for small toys. All of a sudden this was the coolest thing ever! She had something in her pocket that she traded for a game:

By this time it was getting late in the afternoon, and we were losing daylight and it was time to hit the trail for home.

Now, she wants to go geocaching with her dad again. She was even going to start a small stash of trade items to bring along for next time.

The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments

2010-02-12T07:10:00.002-05:00

In a recent press release the IRS sets out to debunk frivolous tax arguments. The document is a good read. Discussions include items on the voluntary nature of the Federal income tax system, the meaning of income and constitutional amendment claims. IRS also notes that the penalty for frivolous tax arguments has increased from $500 to $5,000.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Lego

2009-11-08T19:51:00.001-05:00

I love this stuff. Lego animations are one of my favorite things about YouTube.

Some random fall colors

2009-11-03T22:07:00.002-05:00

Just some random fall color pics. These were taken a couple weeks ago on the one pleasant fall day that we had.

World Ideologies as Explained by Reference to Cows

2009-04-03T10:18:00.002-04:00

My dad sent me this today. It brought a smile to my face. I hope it does the same for you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

World Ideologies as Explained by Reference to Cows

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feudalism
You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

Pure Socialism
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you all the milk you need.

Bureaucratic Socialism
Your cows are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs the regulations say you should need.

Fascism
You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

Pure Communism
You have two cows. Your neighbours help you take care of them, and you all share the milk.

Real World Communism
You share two cows with your neighbours. You and your neighbours bicker about who has the most "ability" and who has the most "need". Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the cows drop dead of starvation.

Russian Communism
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the black market.

Perestroika
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the Mafia takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the "free" market.

Chinese Communism
You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

Militarianism
You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

Totalitarianism
You have two cows. The government takes them and denies they ever existed. Milk is banned.

Pure Democracy
You have two cows. Your neighbours decide who gets the milk.

Representative Democracy
You have two cows. Your neighbours pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

British Democracy
You have two cows. You feed them sheep's brains and they go mad. The government doesn't do anything.

Bureaucracy
You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

Pure Anarchy
You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbours try to take the cows and kill you.

Pure Capitalism
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

Capitalism
You don't have any cows. The bank will not lend you money to buy cows, because you don't have any cows to put up as collateral.

Environmentalism
You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them.

Political Correctness
You are associated with (the concept of "ownership" is a symbol of the phallo centric, war mongering, intolerant past) two differently - aged (but no less valuable to society) bovines of non-specified gender.

Surrealism
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AIG Capitalism
You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank. He then executes a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by your CFO who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on six more.

Filler Material

2009-03-19T22:18:00.002-04:00

I have some plans for some upcoming actual content, but until then here's something to fill the space:

Roasting Coffee is Easy!

2009-03-08T14:58:00.010-04:00

Whenever I tell someone that I roast my own coffee they look at me like I just dropped in from Mars and then they ask "How do you roast your own coffee? Isn't it hard?".

Roasting coffee yourself is easy. Really. If a person can make popcorn, they can roast coffee. There are many methods to roast coffee at home. There are even appliances dedicated to home coffee roasting. The method I use and will describe is with a hand crank popcorn popper. Some call it the "Whirly-Pop".

Required equipment: Coffee beans, popcorn popper, stainless steel colander, scale or measuring cups, a heat source and if indoors, a vent that pulls the smoke outside.

The first step is to acquire some green coffee beans. There are many sources to obtain green coffee beans. Some that I have used and like include Sweet Maria's, Cate's Green Coffee, Bald Mountain Coffee, Smith Farms (Hawaiian Kona direct from the farm), or Higher Grounds Trading Company. As you can see below today's batch is from Higher Grounds.

First, I put the "roasting vessel" on the stove to pre-heat. It takes a few minutes to get the pan hot enough. At this point it might be appropriate to mention that I am looking for good heat control, not just a lot of heat. Too much heat will scorch the beans, too little will bake them instead of roasting them. It's a balance that a person develops a feel for. Burning a batch or two on the way to getting the right amount of heat is common. The pan is pre-heated so when I drop the cold beans in, the pan can recover quicker and spend less time recovering.

While the pan pre-heats I measure out the beans I am going to roast and set them aside. Here I've measured out about 2/3 of a pound. For those without a scale this is a little more than 2 cups. Through experience I've found that is about what I drink in one week, so that's what I roast. Coffee will lose about 15-20% of it's weight while roasting. So, to end up with 1 pound roasted will require approximately 1.25 pounds green.

When the roasting vessel has pre-heated (the air just above the bottom of the pan should be about 350 degrees) and I have my beans measured out it's time to get roasting. I drop the beans in the roasting vessel and start cranking. No need to crank wildly, just crank constantly. It's important to keep the beans moving so they don't scorch.

About 4 minutes after dropping the beans in puffs of steam will start to appear. Soon after that the aroma will become very floral. After 6-8 minutes the aroma will become increasingly coffee-like and the beans will begin popping. The sound is something like the sound of stepping on a large stick when walking in the woods. This popping will continue for a minute or so. Then, all will become quiet again. This is what is known as first crack. A person could stop the roast here, dump the beans to cool and have a nice lighter roast. At this stage there will be more bean flavors and not many roast flavors. However, we can continue roasting.

After about a minute or two the aroma will change again to something best described as burnt toast. The beans will begin popping again. Only this time the popping is softer. It sounds more like walking through dried leaves. This is what is known as second crack. I usually stop the roast and dump the beans just as second crack gets started. This makes a nice medium-dark roast with plenty of bean flavor and some nice carmel notes starting to appear. If pushed farther, the bean flavors disappear and roast flavors completely dominate. If pushed too far, the beans will experience third crack, which is flaming.

Note that roasting coffee will generate quite a bit of smoke. It's best to roast coffee outside or under a vent hood that will pull the smoke outside.

To cool the beans, I dump them into a stainless steel colander. Why a stainless steel colander? Because the beans are about 440 degrees when coming out of the roaster. They would melt a plastic colander.

This batch I pushed a little farther into second crack for a somewhat darker roast. I stir the beans and hold the colander up to the hood vent fan to pull air through the beans to cool them quickly.

Once cooled I put the beans in mason jars for storage. I keep the mason jars in a dark spot in the cupboard where the temperature doesn't change too much. Light is as bad for coffee beans as it is for beer. While the coffee will be really good right out of the roaster, the peak flavor will start about 24-36 hours after roasting and hold for 7-10 days. After that the flavor will decay pretty rapidly.

It's important to note that the chaff will remain with the coffee using this roasting method. It doesn't hurt anything. Some other roasting methods will separate the chaff as the coffee is roasted. If the chaff is bothersome, take the colander outside and blow on the coffee while agitating it. Most of the chaff will blow off this way.

Resource Investor - Should You Put Gold into Your IRA?

2009-03-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

Resource Investor - Should You Put Gold into Your IRA?

Holding gold (or other precious metals) in an IRA is easy. But, it's not for everyone. This is a nice article with some things to think about when deciding whether to hold gold in an IRA.

Tony's Restaurant of Birch Run wanted for Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" - Mid-Michigan Business News - Flint, Saginaw, Bay City Business - MLive.com

2009-02-21T07:46:00.000-05:00

Tony's Restaurant of Birch Run wanted for Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" - Mid-Michigan Business News - Flint, Saginaw, Bay City Business - MLive.com

Man, I gotta get there. Sounds wonderful.

Quote from the Federalist

2009-02-09T20:23:00.002-05:00

Lately I have been reading through The Federalist Papers. The other day I came across some great quotes from Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 8 first published Tuesday, November 20, 1787:

Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.

And further...

The perpetual menacings of danger oblige the government to be always prepared to repel it; its armies must be numerous enough for instant defense. The continual necessity for their services enhances the importance of the soldier, and proportionably degrades the condition of the citizen. The military state becomes elevated above the civil. The inhabitants of territories, often the theatre of war, are unavoidably subjected to frequent infringements on their rights, which serve to weaken their sense of those rights; and by degrees the people are brought to consider the soldiery not only as their protectors, but as their superiors. The transition from this disposition to that of considering them masters, is neither remote nor difficult; but it is very difficult to prevail upon a people under such impressions, to make a bold or effectual resistance to usurpations supported by the military power.

The entire paper can be read here. These are thoughts that made me pause and think. Are we willing to be less free in order to be safe? Are we elevating the military state above the civil? Alexander Hamilton seemed to be seeing far into the future when he penned these words.

Advanced Presspot Techniques from Coffeegeek

2009-02-01T22:29:00.002-05:00

This video demonstrates some presspot techniques that I haven't tried before but might be worth a shot. Pulling the grounds off before pressing will make for easier cleanup if nothing else.

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Offline Gmail

2009-01-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Offline Gmail

This is pretty cool. Next up on the wish list: offline calendar and Google Docs. Google is very close to making it completely unnecessary to install an office (e.g. MS Office, OpenOffice, etc.) software suite on my computer.

FT.com / US & Canada - Obama slams Wall Street over bonuses

2009-01-29T22:16:00.000-05:00

FT.com / US & Canada - Obama slams Wall Street over bonuses

Sending these clowns a no-strings attached bailout was bad enough. Now they are just adding insult to injury. When the banks are paying these bonuses out of their own profits, that's one thing and I'm OK with that. It's a tried and true method to attract and retain top talent. But, when they start paying these bonuses with our tax dollars that's something else entirely. It's just not right.

First Day of Winter

2008-12-21T18:08:00.004-05:00

It's the first day of winter. Somehow it looks a lot like the last four weeks of fall. Here are some pics from the neighborhood:

First Snow

2008-12-03T22:59:00.004-05:00

Friday morning, November 21st I woke up to our first real big snow of the season. We'd already had several smaller snows. Nothing compares to the first really good snowfall though.

Of course, now that it's been a couple of weeks of repeated dumpings like this, the novelty is wearing thin. By the time Christmas is past us, I'll be ready for the snow to go away altogether. But, like an unwelcome guest the snow will hang around until early April.

I voted!

2008-12-03T16:24:00.003-05:00

I voted for my picks for the 2009 NHL All Star Game. Have you? Go here to vote: http://fanballoting.nhl.com/vote.

Grand Rapids high school students cannot get failing grade under new policy - Grand Rapids News - The Grand Rapids Press Online - Michigan Newspaper - MLive.com

2008-12-03T10:47:00.000-05:00

Grand Rapids high school students cannot get failing grade under new policy - Grand Rapids News - The Grand Rapids Press Online - Michigan Newspaper - MLive.com

What? I thought this was a joke at first. What happened to failure being the best teacher? We are becoming a nation of lazy, do-nothings that expect to be bailed out at the first hint of trouble. Sheesh.

Ex-Tiger Mason named pitching coach for Beach Bums | The Detroit News | detnews.com

2008-11-13T21:17:00.000-05:00

Ex-Tiger Mason named pitching coach for Beach Bums | The Detroit News | detnews.com

This is kind of neat to have a Tiger connection with the Beach Bums. Not that I didn't already enjoy a nice summer evening lounging on the outfield berm at Wuerfel Park.

So true...

2008-11-09T00:19:00.002-05:00

There is some truth to this:

Florida Trip Journal

2008-11-05T07:23:00.002-05:00

The following is a journal of our recent trip to Florida.

Friday, October 17, 2008
Pack the car and drive to Romulus, MI to spend the night. Romulus is about a 3-1/2 hour drive from Cadillac where we live. We parked at an off-airport facility and our hotel stay gave us 8 days of free parking at the lot. Since we would be gone for 10 days, only paying for 2 days was a good trade off. We live in Cadillac, so why didn't we fly from Traverse City or Grand Rapids? Because tickets from Detroit (DTW) were $125 each and tickets from Traverse City or Grand Rapids were ~$350 each. We ended up saving about $800 by driving a little farther.

Saturday, October 18, 2008
Up and at 'em! Well, actually we all slept in a bit. Our flight wasn't until 12:30 p.m. and the shuttle ride to the airport was only about 10 minutes long. The flight from Detroit to Atlanta was uneventful but a bit bumpy. We had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta. Never again. In the future I will strive to schedule any Atlanta layovers to be about 90 minutes. Keeping 2 little kids occupied in that chaos was not fun. The flight from Atlanta to Orlando was delayed about 20 minutes as a couple of irate passengers had to be removed from the plane for a talk with the sheriff. Once they were off, the crew could shut the door and we were off. The crew apologized profusely for the delay and the rest of the flight was uneventful. We arrived in Orlando around 8:30-ish in the evening, grabbed our bags (they all made it- yay!), grabbed our rental car and headed off into the Orlando night. Wow was it muggy compared to Michigan. LOL. We got checked in at our hotel in Kissimmee and everyone went to bed. About 2 or 3 the next morning the air conditioning in our room went out and was making a loud screeching noise. Ick. Good thing it had cooled off some outside. We shut off the a/c and went back to sleep.

Sunday, October 19, 2008
First thing in the morning my wife heads to the hotel office lets them know the a/c broke and gets us a new room. The staff was apologetic and very nice about the whole thing. No problem at all. Once we get everything moved to the new room, we head off for breakfast at Bob Evans and a day at Animal Kingdom. Our intention was not to spend the entire day at Animal Kingdom. We wanted to get our girls (ages 6 and 2) back to the hotel by around 4 p.m. for naps and swimming. We still needed to do some grocery shopping too. We arrived at Animal Kingdom at about 9:30 a.m. and stayed until about 3:30 p.m. We spent most of our time in the Africa section and wrapped up our day with Finding Nemo - the Musical. We loved the musical. I can't wait to see it again someday. Sunday evening we went to Target on US 192 in Kissimmee to grab some supplies for the week. We needed to stock up on breakfast cereal, snacks, lunch stuff, bottled water, etc.

Greetings from Animal Kingdom!

Monday, October 20, 2008
We were up early, wolfed down our bowls of cereal and headed to Magic Kingdom. We got there just as the gates were opening. We spent almost the entire morning and early afternoon in Fantasy Land. Our little girls wanted to do everything: Small World, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, etc. We gave it our best shot. Went back to our hotel in the mid-afternoon for a nap and snacks. We returned around 5-ish and made a bee-line for Pirates of the Caribbean and then my wife and 6 year old hit Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Meanwhile the 2 year old and I killed some time in the playground under the Frontierland train station. I swear that was her favorite place in the whole park. We stayed for the Spectromagic parade and the fireworks over the castle. It took us about 2 hours to get out of the park and back to our car after the fireworks.

The castle at night while we were killing time to let the crowd dissipate.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
This was a day to sleep in. We got up late, packed up the car and headed over to Melbourne. It was about a 45 minute drive from our hotel. We found a nice spot on the beach to have a picnic and let the kids play in the surf a little. The waves were running about 10-15 feet, so we kept them away from the breaking waves and just had them play in the foamy bits. Later in the afternoon we drove up A1A through Cocoa Beach and hopped on the Beeline (528) to head back to Orlando. We had a most relaxing day just listening to the waves, watching surfers and looking for shells. The weather couldn't have been better. Sunshine, blue sky and mid-80's.

Mmmm, the beach was nice.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
After devouring our bowls of cereal we jumped in the car and headed up I-drive for a day at Sea World. At the time (and I think they still are) they were running a promotion where if we bought our tickets online we could purchase adult tickets for the child price and get 2 days for the price of 1. Pretty cool. We went to the dolphin show first. Very cool and highly recommended. We also went to the "Believe" killer whale show later in the day. That was pretty good as well. I think I enjoyed the dolphin show more though. Late in the day we stopped off to watch the pearl divers at work. My daughter ended up getting a pearl with her souvenir money. That will be way more meaningful to her than another stuffed animal. For her birthday, her grandma is going to mount the pearl in a necklace.

The dolphin show was awesome!

Thursday, October 23, 2008
Back to the Magic Kingdom today. I'll admit we were dragging a little this morning. We didn't get in the park until about 10:00 a.m. It didn't matter as we found the lines for the things we wanted to do were still pretty short until afternoon. The kids got to meet Mickey and Minnie in Mickey's Toontown Fair. That alone made it a successful day. Since we were shopping on Main Street at 3:00-ish, we ended up with a nice view of the parade. For dinner we headed over to Ft. Wilderness for the buffet at the Trails End restaurant. Yum! They had fantastic spareribs. The weather was cloudy and threatening to rain all day, but the rain held off until after we left in the evening.

Friday, October 24, 2008
It rained on and off all day. This was the day we were supposed to go to the Shamu Rocks dinner. My wife gave Sea World a call right away in the morning and got it rescheduled to Saturday. So, we were left with what to do? We decided to hit Epcot. It wasn't in our original plan but it seemed that Epcot had the best chance of doing things mainly inside all day. It turned out to be a good decision as the kids had fun doing the Kidcot activities. My 6 year old daughter got to meet Mulan in the China pavillion and both girls met Tigger and Eyore in the UK pavillion. We did get rained on a few times, but the rain was gentle and warm. After afternoon naps back at the hotel we returned for dinner and the fireworks show. Dinner was in The Land attraction. For walk-up service, it was pretty good. I think the highlight of the girls' day was the Talking with Crush attraction.

Our 6 year old with Nemo and friends.

Saturday, October 25, 2008
The rain went away, the sky cleared and we had a marvelous day at Sea World. The girls got to go trick or treating and meet all sorts of interesting characters. In the afternoon we went to the seal and otter show. The mime before the show was pretty entertaining. The show itself was good and ended up with some improv humor as the seals were not cooperating. The highlight of the day was the Shamu Rocks dinner buffet and then the Shamu Rocks show that evening. We got reserved seating for the show with the dinner. During the dinner the staff let the killer whales come into the pool next to the dining area. It was pretty neat to just watch the killer whales hang out and relax. We went through the Wild Arctic attraction in the afternoon. Wow! That was probably one of the neatest things we did at Sea World.

The Shamu Rocks show really rocked!

Sunday, October 26, 2008
One of the things we wanted to do was take our 2 year old to feed the Giraffes at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. We have a membership at the Toledo Zoo and one of the benefits is admission to zoos that are members of the same association. Well, we went, she fed the giraffes and I'm glad we didn't have to pay full price for admission. The zoo in Toledo is much nicer. At Lowry Park a person feels like they are being nickel and dimed to death. Sheesh. Pay admission and then pay for everything else too. We had a nice time, but upon reflection I would have chosen to do something different. Like go to the beach again. A nice bonus was that on the way back to Orlando we stopped in Lakeland to take some pictures of the Detroit Tigers (my favorite baseball team) spring training facility. Nothing was happening, but it was fun just to see it.

Those giraffes were hungry!

This was a nice bonus! Being a Tiger fan I was pretty excited to just see the stadium.

Monday, October 27, 2008
The goal for this day was to go back to Magic Kingdom and let the kids pick their favorites to repeat as well as hit a few new things. Surprisingly, both girls voted to repeat the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger spin thing. We thought it might be a little scary for them. They loved it. My 6 year old chose to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the 3rd time! She's not real daring, but she loved it. Both girls also voted for Pirates of the Caribbean to make it 3 times in one trip. They just laughed and laughed all the way through it. They thought the lady chasing the pirate with a broom was hilarious. In the morning my 6 year old daughter became a pin trader. She bought a set of Tinkerbell pins with a lanyard, asked about the trading and she was off. By the end of the day she had one Tinkerbell pin left and all sorts of really cool other ones. She is a natural pin trader.

Late in the afternoon we went over to Downtown Disney. One of our goals was to visit the Lego store and boy did we. I swear we spent at least 3 hours there. Dinner would turn out to be at the T-Rex Cafe. We had read that it just opened in October so we were eager to check it out. We went at 5:15 p.m. and walked right in. No waiting. By the time we left at about 7:00 p.m. the wait was well over an hour. Very cool atmosphere. Kids that are into dinosaurs will love the place. Something to not miss is letting the kids dig for fossils in the sand by the gift store. Food was ok. The decor was definitely the star of the show, not the menu.

Dinner at the T-Rex Cafe is somewhat interactive.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
What's to say? We packed up, checked out and left. All the flights were uneventful. The drive back to Cadillac was a little long and we were all pretty tired. Back to reality. Dang it. The good thing is we started planning next year's adventure on the drive back (Smokey Mountains Nat'l Park) and we started talking about our next Disney adventure (in 2011). For our next Disney adventure we are thinking of driving down, taking our camper and staying at Ft. Wilderness for at least part of the time. When we reflected on parking in a remote lot at the aiport, we came to the conclusion that it worked out really well because 1) We got 8 days free with our hotel stay and 2) The shuttles were quick and convenient. We grabbed our luggage, jumped on a shuttle and 10 minutes later we were in our car.

Just to sum the whole thing up, these were some of the highlights and reflections from the trip:

We will avoid having to fly through Atlanta in the future. If we have to, we'll try to keep the time between flights to something reasonable while still allowing for delays. Next time we fly to Orlando, we will most likely take a direct flight. Delta, Northwest, Southwest and ATA all have direct flights to Orlando from Detroit. Even if we end up paying a little more for the direct flight it will be worth it to not have to navigate Atlanta with kids.
For us, being able to devote 10 days to our trip was a plus. It gave us flexibility in case we had a washout day. Next time we'll devote 10-14 days as well. We realize this isn't possible or practical for everyone. It's just what works best for us.
Water. Drink lots of water. Doing all that walking in the Florida sun I was drinking 1.5 - 2 liters of water per day. Getting dehydrated would be no fun at all.
Sunscreen. Use lots. The Florida sun is strong. Bullfrog SPF 36+ was great. We used the gel which dries almost instantly and leaves no greasy residue. No one got a sunburn. In fact, we hardly even tanned.
For us, building days into our schedule where we planned relaxing activities worked great. It allowed everyone to recharge and process what we'd done so far.
We loved the Shamu Rocks dinner and show afterward. We'll probably do it again someday.
The buffet at the Trails End restaurant was wonderful. It's perfect for families with kids. Especially kids that don't like to order and then wait for their dinner.
Getting a nap in the afternoon some days was awesome. I felt so refreshed even after just a 20-30 minute snooze out of the sun in the air conditioning.

No Soda Pop Experiment - Day 1

2008-10-14T23:41:00.002-04:00

Just finished day 1 of my no soda pop experiment. So far, so good. It's easier than I imagined it would be. Probably the toughest time is right around 5-ish in the afternoon. Why am I doing this? Because I feel I am getting far too much sugar in my diet right now. Cutting out the Dr Pepper and the Coke was an easy way to start cutting down.

The Official site for International Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19

2008-09-19T07:25:00.001-04:00

The Official site for International Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19

Avast ye scurvy dogs! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Have some fun with family, friends and co-workers by using some pirate vernacular today. You're sure to get some funny looks at lunch or dinner when you break out with "Well, me hearties, let’s see what crawled out of the bung hole." See the link for what that really means. LOL. Well me hearties, it's time for me to get back to work. Arrr!

Five New Favorable Developments in Housing Taxation

2008-09-12T07:17:00.000-04:00

Five New Favorable Developments in Housing Taxation

Wow, there's some good stuff in here to be aware of for home owners for the coming tax season.

Petoskey News-Review - Sports - Stanley Cup coming to Traverse City

2008-08-10T09:36:00.000-04:00

Petoskey News-Review - Sports - Stanley Cup coming to Traverse City

Just in case you don't have plans on Labor Day. The Cup will be in Traverse City September 1 with Dallas Drake. Cool!

Bowman leaves Wings for Blackhawks

2008-07-31T17:53:00.000-04:00

Bowman leaves Wings for Blackhawks

It's been a quiet summer around here. This caught my eye today though. So long Scotty, we'll miss you. I can understand Scotty Bowman going to the Blackhawks. He'll get to work closely with his son. By now Scotty Bowman has probably taught Mike Babcock everything he possbily can anyway. Hopefully Scotty Bowman can make a positive impact on the Blackhawks organization, but not too positive ;) We wouldn't want the Blackhawks pushing the Red Wings too hard in the regular season now would we?

Red Wings win the Stanley Cup!

2008-06-04T23:20:00.002-04:00

Highlights from game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Red Wings win the Stanley Cup. Woot! I hope the Penguins fans enjoyed watching the Red Wings hoist the cup. I'm sure they will enjoy it even more in a year or two when the Penguins are hoisting the cup. The Red Wings were better this time. The Penguins have a great, young core moving forward and will challenge for the cup again.

This is it. No more hockey until next fall.

The Red Wings celebrating:

Red Wings/Penguins Game 5

2008-06-03T21:14:00.004-04:00

Oh my. Who would've thought the Red Wings would come out flatter than yesterday's Vernors? For the first and second periods the Red Wings didn't look very good. Give the Penguins some credit, they came out flying and kept up the pace all night long. Under the new rules, speed is everything. Here's hoping the Red Wings can find their legs in time for game 6 Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

Red Wings/Penguins Game 4 Highlights

2008-06-01T13:11:00.002-04:00

Woot! The Red Wings lead the best of seven series 3-1 now. Monday night the Red Wings will have a chance to win the Stanley Cup on home ice. Game 4 was a close game but the Red Wings looked like they were in charge the whole time. Pittsburgh looked like they were having a tough time finding open space on the ice to work with. Go Wings!

Hannah's Dance Recital

2008-05-30T23:04:00.005-04:00

My 6 year old daughter had her dance recital today. Of course, proud parents that we are, we recorded some of it. It was rather informal as dance recitals go. The kids really seemed to have a good time though.

Some pics from the recital:

Red Wings/Penguins Game 3

2008-05-30T19:29:00.003-04:00

Highlights (lowlights?) from Red Wings and Penguins in game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals. I never expected the Wings to sweep, so I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet. The Penguins should have (and did) come out strong in their first game at home in the series. Game 4 is Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Go Red Wings!

Red Wings/Penguins Games 1 & 2 Highlights

2008-05-27T22:17:00.003-04:00

Wow, I never would have predicted the Penguins getting shut out two games in a row. Sidney who? The Penguins are really on their heels right now. I'm hoping the Red Wings can keep them there and win the Stanley Cup. And next time Gary Roberts wants to pick a fight, he should pick on someone besides Pavel Datsyuk. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Pittsburgh. It should be a tough contest. I can't wait.

Game 1:

Game 2:

Red Wings/Stars Game 6 Highlights

2008-05-22T11:31:00.003-04:00

Just in time to get us fired up for the Stanley Cup finals: Highlights from the Red Wings Vs. Dallas Stars Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Kris Draper scoring on a bank shot off of his face was awesome. Way to give it up for the team!

Stanley Cup Finals start Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Versus. Bring on the Pittsburgh Penguins. It should be a great series. The best young offensive talent in the against the best, most experienced, defense in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to watching.

Red Wings/Stars Game 5 Highlights

2008-05-19T18:26:00.002-04:00

The Red Wings had a 2nd chance to eliminate the Dallas Stars on Saturday and failed. Here's hoping that the third time is the charm.

Red Wings/Stars Games 3 & 4 Highlights

2008-05-16T16:45:00.004-04:00

I was out of town for a few days, so got behind on the highlights. I'll keep posting them until the Red Wings are out of the playoffs or they win the Stanley Cup. Go Wings!

Game 3:

Game 4:

Red Wings/Stars Game 2 Highlights

2008-05-12T00:15:00.001-04:00

Highlights from Game 2 of the Western Conference finals between the Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas Stars. The game was not as close as the score would indicate. Good thing Marty Turco was fabulous in net for the Stars or the score would have been far worse.

Wings/Stars Highlights from Game 1, 5/8/08

2008-05-09T08:38:00.002-04:00

Highlights from the Dallas Stars vs. Detroit Red Wings in game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Stars came out flat and the Red Wings looked like they didn't miss a beat since sweeping the Avalanche last week.

Red Wings @ Avalanche, Game 4

2008-05-04T00:44:00.003-04:00

Highlights from the Game 4 dismantling of the Colorado Avalanche by the Detroit Red Wings. The Avalanche were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Detroit Red Wings advance to the Western Conference finals. Enjoy!

Oh, and just in case you missed the incredible goal by Henrik Zetterberg, here it is again:

Fantasy Baseball

2008-05-02T11:06:00.002-04:00

My fantasy baseball team is mired in third place in a ten team league. Not that I am complaining too much. Last year I had a hard time getting and staying above 7th. I must've learned a little bit. My goal for this year was to not finish last. So far so good. I try not to look at my team's performance too often. Things have a way of evening out as the season progresses.

Why do I enjoy fantasy baseball so much? Not sure. I've tried other fantasy sports and just don't enjoy them as much. Maybe it's because of the natural statistical order of baseball. Once the sample sizes are large enough, the stats become meaningful and performance can be predicted with some degree of accuracy. Other sports aren't like that. In baseball if a career .250 hitter suddenly starts mashing at .450 for a few weeks I know not to get too excited because there is a cold period coming up where that player will regress back to their mean. Similarly if a career .300 hitter starts scuffling at .175 I know to just let it ride and he'll come back. It might also be the individual nature of the battle between the hitter and the pitcher. Other sports depend far more on team effort for individual success. In baseball, no one is going to help Miguel Cabrera hit home runs other than Miguel himself. In hockey the most skilled player in the world will not shine without a good supporting cast around them.

I guess in the end I enjoy crunching the numbers of all of those baseball players and seeing if I can dig up a sleeper that will launch my team to the top.

Go Wings!

2008-04-25T20:25:00.003-04:00

It's late April in Michigan so that means the Red Wings are rolling along in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just started the Western Conference semi-final round against the Colorado Avalanche with a win. Woot! There were a few flashes of the new rivalry that is shaping up shown in the game last night. A few little scrums, some pushing and shoving, and some big open ice hits. I can't wait for game 2. These two teams were making the NHL must-see television in the US before the lockout. They could easily reach that level of intensity again. Go Red Wings!

Get cookin' -- it's tax time

2008-04-09T08:12:00.000-04:00

Get cookin' -- it's tax time

Tax day in the United States is coming up on April 15th. Hooray! Since I am a CPA, that means the end is in sight for me. I've almost survived another tax season. If you haven't thought about filing your tax returns for 2007 yet, now is the time to jump on that. Have a great day!

Scotty Bowman Answers Your Questions - Slap Shot - Hockey - Sports - New York Times Blog

2008-04-08T15:46:00.000-04:00

Scotty Bowman Answers Your Questions - Slap Shot - Hockey - Sports - New York Times Blog

A great read for any hockey fan. Scotty Bowman is a living legend. Enjoy!

Scotty Bowman Answers Your Questions - Slap Shot - Hockey - Sports - New York Times Blog

2008-04-06T17:38:00.001-04:00

Scotty Bowman Answers Your Questions - Slap Shot - Hockey - Sports - New York Times Blog

Get your questions in ASAP. I can't wait to see what Scotty has to say.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

2008-03-23T00:27:00.002-04:00

Who remembers the TV show Cheers? Lots of us do. I'm old enough to have watched it when it was in production, but it's still in syndication all over the world. I'd like to draw your attention to the lyrics of the theme song.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name
By: Gary Portnoy & Judy Hart Angelo

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

Quite profound really. The song captures what everybody feels. The lyrics are just as true today as they were 20+ years ago. People want to go somewhere where when they walk in the door everyone says "Norm!" (or whatever their name is). The song is a challenge to me to be more friendly to everyone I meet. Maybe I can provide that Cheers experience for them. Just a random thought. Hope you found it useful.

Stuff that Makes My Life Easier

2008-03-19T14:42:00.005-04:00

There are several web based tools that make my life immensely easier. These are things I use to stay (somewhat) organized, informed and save time.

del.icio.us - When I first saw this I never thought I would find it useful. Since I started using it I wonder how I ever got along without it. Del.icio.us allows me to store all my bookmarks on the web, accessible from anywhere. I can tag my bookmarks with keywords to organize them and then I can search and browse the bookmarks by keyword. Very handy when I know what I want, but can't remember the name of the web site. Also, I can view the keywords as a "cloud". The keywords in the cloud become bigger as more items are tagged with that keyword. That helps me see what tag I am using the most.

Google Reader - I use this as my news aggregator and to subscribe to the rss feeds of all my favorite blogs. Instead of jumping from site to site to read all the updates, any new updates are delivered to Google Reader where I can browse them in one, central place. A person needs to have a Google ID use this service.

Google Docs - This is a web based spreadsheet and word processor. It's very handy to be able to create and edit documents anywhere there's a web connection and not have to depend on the presence of a specific office suite. Again a Google ID is required to use this service.

Twitter - Answers the question 'What am I doing?". If anyone wants to know what I'm up to, it's posted at Twitter. Also, I've linked it to my Facebook status so that any Twitter updates also update my Facebook status. This is another tool I never thought I would find useful. However, I've found "micro-blogging" to be an effective way to let people know what I'm doing.

Babel Fish - I have some Italian, Dutch and French speaking friends. I can impress them with my language skills by translating what I want to say with Babel Fish. They know I don't speak their language, and their english is better than mine, but they appreciate the effort and it's fun to learn something new.

Spring Training Impressions

2008-03-13T09:29:00.003-04:00

My impressions of the Tigers so far: Wow, they are going to mash this year. They have a lineup where Gary Sheffield is just an ordinary, average guy. It's going to be fun watching these guys.

The big concern is the bullpen. With Zumaya hurt, Rodney hurt and Todd Jones still looking for the strike zone, holding a lead could be interesting. It won't be a big deal for this lineup to score early and often. What could prove to be the Tiger's glaring weakness is the 7th-9th innings. If I'm the opposition I'm thinking all I need to do is stay within a few runs of the Tigers until we can get into the Tigers bullpen. I'm no Todd Jones hater. Most of the time he does a great job. I just hope Mr. Jones finds whatever he needs to fix real soon.

Nice Start

2008-02-28T09:35:00.004-05:00

My favorite Detroit Tigers got off to a nice start with a 4-2 win over the New York Mets. It's absolutely meaningless, but it was nice anyway. Jeremy Bonderman gave up a couple of runs early. I suspect that had more to do with holding a little back to test his elbow rather than a continuation of last year's first inning woes. He said later the team didn't allow him to throw any sliders.

Today I'll be listening to my second favorite Twins take on the Reds. I love the Twins broadcast crew. I loved watching Dan Gladden play and I really like his analysis now.

Play Ball!

2008-02-27T07:45:00.004-05:00

Today the Grapefruit league begins for Major League Baseball. I couldn't be happier for two reasons: 1) I like baseball; and 2) It's a sure sign spring is just around the corner in the frozen north.

Today the Tigers take on the Mets. The game won't really tell us very much about how good either team is. It will still be fun though. I'll be listening on MLB's Gameday Audio service. It'll be great just to hear a baseball game being called after a long winter break.

My intention is not to make this a baseball blog. I will be making comments about the Tigers as the season progresses. Hopefully the comments will be constrained to things like "I can't believe they lost to the Royals" or similar.

New and Improved

2008-02-15T14:10:00.001-05:00

Now those with an OpenID identity may leave comments. Previously only those with a Google ID were allowed to leave comments.

The Official Site of The Detroit Tigers: News: For Tigers, the playoff chase begins now

2008-02-11T08:24:00.000-05:00

The Official Site of The Detroit Tigers: News: For Tigers, the playoff chase begins now

This morning its -16F outside. Spring is the farthest thing from most of our minds. However, baseball season is about to get started. I am so geeked! That's a sure sign spring is on the way. After all the hot stove action it's finally time to see what the 2008 Tigers can really do.

Christian/Christ Follower #4

2008-01-23T20:22:00.000-05:00

This is the last in the series. Hopefully the series has spoken to you. Do we need external stimulus to charge up our worship? I hope I don't. The Spirit is within and I shouldn't have to depend on emotion to worship. Like the guy said, the Spirit is built-in, integrated for someone who has accepted Christ.

Vintage21 Jesus Video #2

2008-01-22T07:39:00.000-05:00

I really hope you see the humor in this as I did. Our conceptions of Jesus can be so out of whack that they become humorous. I know this video series has challenged me to think about my conceptions of Jesus to make sure I'm basing them on what's in the Bible and not what's in popular culture.

Enjoy!

Zeitgeist, clip and full length film

2008-01-17T17:58:00.000-05:00

Normally I don't use this for political related commentary. However, this video bears watching. If it's all true, it's scary. I haven't personally verified all the claims made in the video yet. Watch it yourself and then start checking into it. The time for some critical thinking is upon us.

See the whole movie here:

Link to the movie: www.zeitgeistmovie.com

I don't necessarily agree with what the movie's producer's are trying to say, but it is worth watching to see their viewpoint.

Christian/Christ Follower #3

2008-01-12T12:16:00.000-05:00

Enjoy!

Do we have to restrict ourselves to listening to Christian music to be a Christian/Christ follower? No, I don't think so. I listen to and really enjoy a lot of Christian music, but I also enjoy jazz, blues, bluegrass, newgrass and some good old fashioned rock and roll. We must be wise about what we listen to, but it doesn't seem that restricting ourselves strictly to contemporary christian music makes us a better Christian.

Vintage21 Jesus Video #1

2008-01-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

This is the first in a series of videos made by Vintage21 to take a look at popular misconceptions about Jesus. Here is how they describe the series on their web site:

"In the Spring of 2003, Vintage21 had a four week series on Jesus Christ, taking a deep look at what He said and did. It was difficult at times to get past our preconceived notions that had been developed by staunch, starched Sunday School classes of old. This is a satirical look at what some people think Jesus is like. Thank goodness He's not."

While I hope you enjoy the humor as much as I did, I hope these also cause some critical thinking about what our perceptions of Jesus are.

That's a scoop -- Guinness is good for you - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

2008-01-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

That's a scoop -- Guinness is good for you - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie

Well, who knew? It turns out there might be a grain of truth to Vitamin G :) Slainte!

Christian/Christ Follower #2

2007-12-31T22:15:00.001-05:00

This is #2 in the series. Do we display our faith with bumper stickers and stacks of all the right books or do we just live it?

Christian/Christ Follower...

2007-12-22T11:59:00.000-05:00

This is more from GodTube.com. I debated about posting this here because the comments on GodTube have been varied. There seem to be two camps: Love it or hate it. I love it. It makes some important points about how we approach our faith and how we portray it to others. Is it genuine and heartfelt or is it superficial? Do we go to church to be seen?

NHL embraces religion, but keeps faith more private

2007-12-19T07:32:00.000-05:00

NHL embraces religion, but keeps faith more private, the Detroit News

A great read. Sometimes I wish hockey players would express their faith more publicly but I can understand the reasons for not doing so. Its good to know that the players take their faith seriously, even if they don't make a big deal out of it.

Baby Got Book

2007-12-17T00:14:00.000-05:00

This is too funny.

Whyyyyyy?

2007-12-15T10:14:00.000-05:00

....is my 1-1/2 year old daughter's favorite new thing to say. It doesn't matter what I say to her, she responds with "Whyyyyyy?" in her cute little baby voice. It could be something like "We're having Hershey bars and ice cream for supper". She'd ask why. The best part is I can answer with "Because I said so" and she'll just say "Ok" and go on her way.

Pearl Harbor Day

2007-12-07T07:21:00.001-05:00

Today we remember the attack on Pearl Harbor that occurred December 7, 1941. My grandfather was there aboard the battleship U.S.S. California. The California was sunk that day, but was raised, repaired and returned to the fight. Let's all remember the brave men and women who gave their lives for freedom that day and let us also remember to be vigilant for threats to our freedom in the future.

Just before my grandfather passed away, my dad got him to talk about Pearl Harbor a little. Here is the account:

The first hand account of 22 year old, John B. Smith, Gunners Mate 2^nd Class:

“ I was in turret #1 -1^st Division. We lived in those turrets. Slept on folding cots which we stored in an immersion tank, a pit in a 14” gun turret with 16 inches of space.

We had a crazy 1^st Lt. who was always holding drills. I was pressing some whites to go ashore. General Quarters sounded. We all thought it was that crazy Lt. holding those drills.

My battle station was the upper powder handling room in Turret #1. Deck hands and other gun crew members were coming in, it takes 75 guys to fire a 14” gun. 10 were on the training deck, we thought it was a drill. By the time we got our phones on and checked in with the turret Captain the first torpedo hit. It felt like the ship ran aground. She felt pushed aside then another torpedo hit.

We were tied to a Quay on Ford Island. We were the battle force flag ship and had a four star Admiral aboard. We got a couple of bomb hits aft.

We had a mechanical cow on board and it made ice cream. Worst ice cream I ever tasted. We called it the Geedunk stand. One of the bombs hit the room it was in and blew it up. It was the best thing about the whole raid.

Fire and damage control people were fighting fires. The ship was listing to port. We made a mark on the water immersion tank and sure enough, the ship was listing to port.

The Captain and Staff and the OOD, (Officer of the Deck), said to train all turrets to starboard to counter-balance the list. Turret #1 tore right thru the canvass covering at 17 degrees. The turret relief valves were at maximum and they yelled for me to dog, (tighten) them down but the power went out and the guns never went any further.

The Chief Ship-Fitter went down and opened the flood valves to counter flood the list and it did so.

During this week and next we were going to have a landing force inspection. All the man hole covers were off. That’s why we ?? and sank like a rock. A battleship is a maze of water tight compartments, all were open.

About this time the word came to take my crew down four decks below the water line to a 5” AA magazine to hand pass the ammo as the electrical hoists were out. Water was slopping around us when we went down.

I had 12 men when we started out and arrived with 8. We nearly had the magazine emptied when they said Abandon Ship. We started up but then they said go down again. We finished the magazine. No others would come. I said to go back to our battle stations. I went out by a hatch near turret #2 with the rest of my men. 50 to 75 guys who went the other way were trapped below and drowned when the 50 ton main hatch cover was closed and locked. It was made of 5 or 6 inches of grade A steel.

Norman E. Scott was a machinist mate and a friend. He later got the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was supplying air to the 5” AA guns from an air compressor. I said to him, “Scotty get out of here, he said no. as long as they want air to the guns I’ll stay here. That was the last I saw of him, he died at his post.

The old 5” AA shells had to have the fuses set by hand. Some of our shells were landing in Pearl City and exploding. They reported they were being bombed, some shells hit like bags of sand.

We jumped out of the hatch by turret 2 and I landed on a pile of wooden Church chairs. Banged up my knees and legs. A bunch of our guys lay dead on blankets on the deck. I took ?? guy burned all over with crisp ??? to the turret. We had ?? tubs of grease and I covered him with it. I went back to get another but they had removed them.

The ships Doctor came along and took me to a large bomb hole in the deck and we pulled out the torso’s only, arms and legs of the guys killed. Then they said abandon ship. I ran forward to turret #1. Jessie Pike, turret Captain said, “where have you been, they are all gone. I have been waiting for you. Get your shoes off and lets go.”

I jumped over the side. The water had oil on it, some of it burning. Boats were nearby but I waved them off and swam 50 yards to the beach on Ford Island. Pike and I had oil all over us. Some Hawaiian girls on the beach had buckets of kerosene and helped us get the oil off.

They took us to a hangar and we got clean clothes. Jessie and I got 2 browning machine guns from a plane and we set those guns up with plenty of ammo. 3 or 4 sailors helped us.

I was bleeding when I came ashore and they sent my parents in Beaver Crossing a telegram that I was wounded and then killed.

The dumbest thing those Jap guys did was sink the ships in shallow water. If they had waited until we were underway they could have gotten everything.

We stayed with the machine guns a couple of hours. A Coke machine was nearby as we were getting thirsty but we had no money. We opened it with an iron bar and I had a Dr. Pepper but I have never had one since.

The Arizona blew up behind us, the Oklahoma rolled over.

As soon as it got dark they said anything coming down the channel will be unfriendly. Two planes came down and we shot them down.

They hauled us over to Honolulu and fed us baloney, sardines and beans. When we went to chow there were powder grains lying all over the island from the Arizona. She blew up so fast these grains did not have time to explode. There were pieces of iron and angle iron blown three to four miles.

A man on the Oklahoma escaped through a 14 inch porthole. He was a lot larger than a 14 inch port hole.

The ships Chaplain, (Lt. William J. Kergaly), a good friend – a great cribbage and checker player was the bravest man I ever saw. He had a set of phones and described the attack like a football game to the crew below. The men idolized him. He survived.”

The image at the top of the post is from the National Archives. It provides a dramatic picture of what was going on that day.

Looking Elegant

2007-11-30T14:43:00.001-05:00

My real life wife and I enjoy exploring the virtual world of Second Life together. Here is her avatar recently looking mighty elegant:

What a babe. But then that's one of the many reasons I married her.

Howstuffworks "How Second Life Works"

2007-11-26T13:54:00.000-05:00

Howstuffworks "How Second Life Works"

This is one of my favorite ways to unwind before hitting the sack at night. Second Life is what a resident makes of it. It can be positive or negative. There's a lot of envangilism that is being done in Second Life but there's much more to be done. As in real life, the harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. To find out more get a free basic account and head over to the Eternal Creations beach and talk to some of the residents hanging out there.

Court Sets Its Scope on Handgun Ban - WSJ.com

2007-11-26T13:40:00.000-05:00

Court Sets Its Scope on Handgun Ban - WSJ.com

Read this for a really nice summary of what the case is about and the questions to be considered.

Taking The Second Amendment To Court, The Supreme Court Prepares To Examine DC's Right To Ban Handguns In The Context Of The Constitution - CBS News

2007-11-26T13:37:00.000-05:00

Taking The Second Amendment To Court, The Supreme Court Prepares To Examine DC's Right To Ban Handguns In The Context Of The Constitution - CBS News

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted the case. Keep an eye on it.

Supreme Court may take up D.C. handgun ban - 11/09/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

2007-11-13T13:17:00.000-05:00

Supreme Court may take up D.C. handgun ban - 11/09/2007 - MiamiHerald.com

No matter which side of the issue you come down on, this bears watching. Whichever way the Supreme Court decides will have far reaching implications. No rant, just a recommendation to read the article and keep an eye on this.

2007-11-12T14:45:00.001-05:00

Found this gem today and I just had to share it here:

Enron Capitalism

Feudalism: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

Fascism: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them and sells you the milk.

Communism: You have two cows. You must take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

Enron Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt-equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred through an intermediary to a Cayman Island company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The Enron annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.

From the About.com Political Joke Archives

Red Wings - More Impressions

2007-11-08T16:53:00.001-05:00

Is it just me, or can Chris Osgood not lose right now? He is money. I know the Wings want to work Hasek back into the lineup to keep him sharp, but it must be hard. The Wings have tightened up their defense and are winning with goal tending, solid defense and puck possession. Just hope they can keep it rolling and no major injuries strike the team.

One Guy's View of Second Life

2007-11-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard of it, one of the hottest things on the internet right now is Second Life. This is how Linden Lab (the creator of Second Life) describes the experience: "Second Life is a 3D digital world imagined and created by its Residents."

Such a short phrase and yet it says so much. I had to see what all the buzz was about. So, I created an identity (and no, I'm not revealing it) and started exploring. After reading some of the stories in the popular media I was expecting the worst. Instead of a virtual world filled with scam artists and moral depravity I found something else. I found a microcosm of the world we live in. Sure, a person can find all the trouble they want if they look hard enough, just like at home. A person can find some extremely positive areas and activities as well. Again, just like at home.

A large adjustment for me is that there is no "objective" or "mission". There are no points or lives. The environment is what you make of it. Sounds a lot like real life: You get out of it what you put into it. If you want to be a virtual slacker, go for it. If you want to be a virtual entrepreneur, have at it. For now I'm going with the slacker route.

The key phrase in the description above is "imagined and created". The sim is what I make of it. This is daunting to me, but with enough exploration to see what others are doing I'm learning what that means.

So far my favorite part is exploring and meeting people. It's really cool that every avatar I run into represents another person. Striking up conversations has been a blast. I have found some Christian themed areas that are friendly and make the experience positive.

In a virtual environment people seem to have fewer inhibitions, so they are more apt to stop and talk with virtual strangers. Of course, as anywhere on the internet, it's best to not reveal too much personal info.

In short, I'm glad I gave it a try.

Coffee Roasting Resources

2007-10-30T17:23:00.000-04:00

The following are some home coffee roasting resources:

Sweet Maria's Home Roasting Basics

This is a fantastic resource that goes through all the major methods of roasting your own coffee at home.

Homeroaster Association

A nice resource and a discussion forum dedicated to homeroasting.

The Coffee FAQ

Everything you ever wanted to know about coffee and then some.

Red Wings - First Impressions

2007-10-23T09:33:00.000-04:00

First impressions of the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings: This is a good team. They should be able to win their division. The recent west coast road trip wasn't good for my sleep patterns, but from what I saw this team is impressing me already this year. The team is showing more toughness than in the past. Team speed looks to have improved over last year. Defensively the team needs to improve. So far this year the Red Wings are 17th in Goals Against. Some positives are team scoring (2nd in Goals For), and the improved power play (22.22%, 5th in the league) Overall what I see leaves me feeling optimistic and looking forward to the hockey season.

New Element

2007-10-16T17:02:00.000-04:00

Over on the left I've added an element for shared items. These are articles I run across that I feel are interesting enough to share with others. These will tend to be articles dealing with my interests of accounting, baseball, hockey, fly fishing, camping and kayaking. Occasionally I may comment upon an article in a post.

Accidental Blend

2007-10-14T20:35:00.000-04:00

When roasting coffee the accidental blends sometimes turn out to be the best ones. The only bad part is that they are difficult to repeat. My most current accidental blend success is a 50/50 blend of Sulawesi Toraja grade 1 and Yemen Mohka Kadir. To make it better I broke a "rule" by roasting them together. Took them about 10 seconds in to second crack for a nice dark roast. After 36 hours of aging, yum! Very sweet and syrupy. It would probably make a good espresso as well, but I'm too busy drinking it from my pour over and my press pot to try.

Tax Reminder

2007-10-10T13:34:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder for those that filed extensions last April. Your 2006 income tax return is due next Monday, October 15, 2007.

Fall Color

2007-10-09T23:07:00.000-04:00

It's autumn in northern Michigan and that means the trees are full of color like this one:

This tree was along side the big-fish pond at the Oden fish hatchery. The kids had a great time feeding the big trout that reside in the pond.

Just Moving In

2007-10-09T13:09:00.000-04:00

Pardon the dust and boxes. I'm just moving in to this space.