The Big Ditch

We took a liitle jaunt around. The Grand Canyon is still there!

Sara's Search

Sara's old boyfriend is history.








Now the search is on for the next suitable candidate.

Chile

I resently flew to Santiago, Chile for business. The job site was in Quillota and I stayed in great hotel in Limache called Las Tortolas. It is springtime there and beautiful.

The people at the hotel were very acommodating. The restaurant there is excellent with wonderful local wines. The vino tinto is world class.

The first picture shows the grounds in back of the hotel with the first door on the right (#3) being the entrance to my room.


I can not say enough nice things about everyone I met. My Spanish is almost non-existent and everyone was quite tolerant of my stumbling efforts. I think that I must do better with the language for my next trip.

Sara's Boyfriend

I found a picture!!!!!!!

I Wonder How Fast the Rav4 Will Go?

While traveling for work, I occasionally find myself in with some interesting sights.

Wouldn't it be a blast to see just how fast...........

After a Hard Day at Archery

Sometimes after a hard day at the range we like to clean up and go down to the watering hole for a little rest and relaxation.

We enlarged the Wanted Poster and put it below as these are fairly dangerous outlaws.

Note the mean look on the one on the left and the close set eyes of the other. Telltale signs of bad medicine. Believe it or not, the one on the left is a female that is known as Heartless Heidi. Her trademark is to shoot all her victims square in the heart leaving them heartless. The taller one on the right is pure mean and goes by the name of Crusty Colt. He is as mean as he is in need of a bath. Both should be avoided at all times as they are never in a pleasant mood.

More Archery

In the black at 40 yards! We both get better as we keep practicing. Let's see if this Saturday brings us some more bulleyes!

Archery is Fun

My younger daughter has been bugging me to get a bow since her trip to one of the school outings where they had an opportunity to shoot. I have been shooting for many years, I even remember when we had to chip out our own arrowheads from the flint quarry before we could go dinosaur hunting....But I am getting off topic. Some of the new youth bows are quite nice as they have a draw length of 18-30". This will allow them to shoot the same bow for a few years. We went ahead a got one for her as an early birthday present. She is shooting some of my old arrows that are too heavy but bombproof out of a 20# bow. She loves it! This is really fine as I always like someone to shoot with. We shot Saturday & Sunday mornings at the Tucson Mountain Park Archery Range. This is nice facility as we consider anything that has running water and restrooms to be quite civilized. We shot at the field range as she had some concern about not doing well and having a bunch of people watching. She is doing well and constantly improving. We shot 4 dozen arrows on Saturday and she wasn't sore and was ready to go Sunday morning again. I was ready to go but sore. Sunday brought us the first bullseye! Congrats! Woohoo!

The Sky is Falling. Oops, I Mean Warming

"The Inconvenient Truth" is indeed inconvenient to alarmists
By Tom Harris
Monday, June 12, 2006

“Scientists respond to Gore's warnings of climate catastrophe”

Border Patrol Agents Opinion

This NewsMax article is worth reading.

“U.S. Border Patrol Agents Angry with McCain”

Bedford Gets National Award for Excellence in Education

My old school - Way to go Kicking Mules!

Article published Friday, June 9, 2006 - Toledo Blade
TEMPERANCE - Bedford Public Schools has been selected as one of three in the country to receive an award from a national community education group.
The district, along with counterparts in Lincoln, Neb., and Chicago, will receive a "Community Schools National Award for Excellence" from the Coalition for Community Schools, a branch of the Institute for International Leadership in Washington. The ceremeony will take place Wednesday in Baltimore, Bedford Superintendent Jon White said yesterday.
The award, which will be bestowed for the first time this year, honors districts that have strong partnerships with their communities, said Martin Blank, coalition staff director. Three communities are also receiving awards, he said. The coalition received 40 applications from communities and school districts.
"What stuck out about Bedford was the comprehensiveness of what they're doing," Mr. Blank said yesterday. They have "an array of programs and services centered around the schools. Bedford represents the deep and long-term connections that need to be built between school systems and community, and community organizations."
Mr. White was "elated" with the news, calling it "validation" for the district's approach to community education and inclusion.
Sharon Throm, director of community education at Bedford, lauded volunteers and staff.
"They play a vital role in the continued success of our programs," she said.


I will add my two cents:

Cheer, cheer for ol' Bedford High
For it's the best school under the sky!
Sing it's praises far and wide,
We honor, we love it, it's our pride!
On the road to victory,
we will pledge our loyalty,
Onward, always to the end,For dear ol' Bedford High!

The Upstairs Bathroom or How I Spent Memorial Day Weekend

The tub surround turned out nice and the girls are pleased to have their shower facilities back. I am glad also so they may now stay out of the downstairs bathroom. The only challenge was final fitment of the vinyl. This unit had the molded corners that actually expect the wall corners to be square. I am sure that the company that built these houses didn't own a single square and probably wouldn't have known how to use one. This was only a minor challenge for one with my skills. You can do almost anything with enough caulking!

Senate "Amnesty" Bill

The following article by Senator Jim DeMint is worth reading.

“Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the Senate Amnesty Bill”

I wish our Senator McCain was opposing instead of promoting this travesty.

Remodeling a Bathroom

The old ceramic tile was loose and leaking so here we go. The tile and green board have been removed along with some nasty pieces of drywall. New wallboard has been put in place. The old tub is still in good shape so a new vinyl shower enclosure will go above the tub. I still have a little patching and painting to go but should be ready to install the vinyl and new fixtures over the holiday weekend. I am not sure which is worse, going somewhere on the holiday and join the throngs of people or to stay home and do chores all weekend. I like doing this just about as well as replacing fences - not. I hope my darling daughters enjoy having an upstairs shower again.

25 MPG

I love it! First fill up and decent mileage. I was driving about 50/50 hwy/city and with a heavy foot occasionally. It is necessary to play with a new one for a while. I received the tow hitch that was ordered but am still waiting on the wiring harness. It will be fun to see what mileage it gets pulling the boat. I can feel a run to Parker Canyon Lake coming. I hope the Toyota mud flaps arrive before the weekend so that I can get them on. Pictures of the RAV4 will then be posted for viewing pleasure. I expect that I will post some on the RAV4 forum site and maybe one here.

New Car

The trip was a success. Hats off to Power Toyota in Tempe. There were no surprises and all paperwork was in order. This is the best experience I have ever had at an auto dealer. We have already nicknamed the RAV4 the "Go-Kart" due to its relative size and performance. It is quick and fun. We will see how the mileage turns out.

New Car Coming

It appears that we will bring one of these foreign cars home tomorrow. Amazingly enough, I can drive this. I am 6'7" tall and have difficulty with many vehicles. I could not find a US made version that would come close on mileage. I have owned a couple of foreign jobs on the past. One was an Audi S90 that was fun, comfortable, and was broken more in 5 years than all other cars combined. The other was a Buick/Opal that was not so comfortable but OK. I am disappointed in that I could not find a US equivalent. 269HP, 240 ft/lb, and 22/29 MPG. What is wrong with the big three to let themselves get completely outdone in this market?

Now for the fun part. Don't you love car shopping? There are two Toyota dealers in Tucson. Both seem to feel that the MSRP is the lowest price available to you and do not budge from it. The first place I went to test it out had one that was close to what I wanted. The salesman did not how the middle seat belt worked for the rear seat. Nor did the next salesman who 's help was requested. My wife asked if anyone thought it might be a good idea to look at the owner's manual. While salesman #1 is off looking for another more intelligent knowledge source, we look over the vehicle for the manual which was not to be found. This was finally solved after about 10 minutes. Now the salesman can proceed to educated on how to work an automatic transmission. D is for drive! I am serious. I did not know whether to laugh or get really insulted. This was a real zoo. The Primeval portion of my blog name is partially true. Most of my classmates are grandparents. This guy listened to absolutely nothing that was said to him. He was either deaf or the perfect salesman. Next he started with quoting payments instead of bottom line. Wrong tactic. He wanted to know what he could do to sell me this car. I was vaguely interested but did not want all the options on it so money talks. They did not budge and we left.

The following day I spoke with the competition (Dealer #2) who did not have what I was looking for either but had another shipment coming in, could do a five state search, and could order one if I wanted. This all sounded hopeful but was not. Two weeks went by and calls went unreturned. Yesterday, I called twice and upon leaving the second message told the operator that I would not be calling again. Hours went by. They must be sitting pretty to ignore people who are trying to buy something from them.

I know that some of the dealers in the Phoenix area have large inventories. I called one of the big boys. Two minutes on the phone and he is faxing me the sheet on the vehicle. I call back and give him a deposit. The price of a fully loaded Sport version was less than that of a Basic in Tucson. They mark up $500 from their invoice (not MSRP) and go from there. Their price was right in line with Edmunds. Hopefully all holds firm tomorrow.

A man I do not know from dealer #2 calls back towards the end of the day. Says the original guy is hungover, jk indisposed, and he is responding in his place. I told him that I had given up on them and went on to a Phoenix dealer. Now they want to earn my business. I told him it was simple, here is a description of the vehicle and the price, all you have to do is beat the price. He seemed to be choking on the price but said he would get back to me. I have yet to hear anything and am not holding my breath!

Our So-Called Representatives

I am amazed that our government is considering another amnesty (call it what you will) program when the last one was a dismal failure and independent polls show a very clear majority oppose this. I am independent. If pressed for a classification, I would say that I am a constitutionalist and feel that both parties should be ashamed. The radar is up and tracking is in progress to see who votes for what. I will respond accordingly at the voting booth.

Being independent does means that I have no qualms about picking on rabid republicans or democrats. For example: When with a group of republicans, I say that Rush is nothing more than a radio entertainer and a shill for the party. When with a group of democrats, I announce that I always vote however the NRA tells me to and that the ACLU are a bunch of commies. The ensuing lectures to correct my way of thinking can be lengthy and spirited.

Regardless of your stance, contact your reps and always VOTE. Remember that the letter to the Gov that was being composed in the movie Blazing Saddles, by the good folk of Rockridge, is probably not beneficial.

Boat Got Wet #2

My goal is to see how many time this boat can be used through the first year. Last weekend we went to Big Lake. This was a camping/fishing trip open to all ages. It is referred to as the family fun run. The wiser family members (my wife) usually do not go to the high elevation lakes (over 9,000' ) at this time of year. She has in the past and seems to be a fast learner. The weather prediction was for the possibility of a little rain on Friday and clearing that night.

We stayed at an established campground this time where our norm is to go primitive. I did not have to dig a slit trench and set up my folding toilet seat. Don't laugh, it's a place to sit. I am getting to old and beat up to be perching over some rock and hoping I don't fall down.

My daughter and I had the tent and camp set up well before it starting SNOWING. Most of the it was melting as it hit as the ground had been dry with sun the last few days. This continued on until about 1 AM by which time we had about 2" accumulated. I was awaken several times to talk to my daughter who was concerned about little things like being cold, will the tent collapse, are there bears, will the lightening hit the tent, can we leave the heater running in the tent, and trudging over to the toilet. She was a real trooper. During our midnight trip to the toilet her only comment was that, "I wish I were home right about now". There are adults who would have already bailed out by now.

I arose about 5 AM. We had 2" or better of snow and the sky was clear. The weather prediction was partially correct! My daughter got up about 6 AM. It seemed colder than it actually was. Being the hardy outdoors family that we are, I started the Bronco and told her to get in. She warmed up in the truck while I brushed snow off the vehicle and boat cover. We decided that going on the water would be rather cold right now and that we would wait till later in the day. We sat in the nice warm truck and had hot oatmeal, coffee/hot chocolate.

The other in camp arose as it suited them. A friend with his two kids had brought their pop-up camper and seemed fairly comfortable. Another fellow and his dog had come up with a travel trailer. We were the only hardy souls in a tent although I must admit that it isn't that bad with the heater. That is just my opinion as my daughter was sure that it should be at least 40 or 50 degrees warmer in the tent.

The day continued to warm with clear sky's so we put the boat in before noon and went off for the rest of the day on the water. Fishing was poor, weather was good, company was good, and it was a great day! Time to plan the next trip.

The Boat Got Wet!

The day before we were to make a family fun run to the White Mountains to try out the new boat was the usual orderly event. Everyone knew exactly where everything was that they needed for trip. This location must be in my wife's mind as the normal question heard throughout the day was, "Mom, do you know where the (fill in the blank) is?". Thankfully, I know where nothing is. This lack of clairvoyance left me free to finish up some wiring on the boat for the battery, electric motor, gas motor, stern light, and bow lights. I hooked up the gas line to the fuel tank only to have gas running out. I discovered that the tank had the wrong fitting on it after saying a few choice words and praising the people who prepped this boat. Now I must stop trip preparation and go the boat store. The correct fitting was installed by the parts manager.

I will diverge for a moment here. Even though they use "Marina" in their name and the term "Blue Water", I will only call it a store. There is no harbor and the water, if any, flowing down the Santa Cruz River is definitely not blue water. It is what you would expect from a boat store in Tucson. My experience there has been poor to say the least. They had the boat I wanted but tried to show it to me on a trailer for a shorter boat, I installed the oar sockets when they finally came in, the fuel fitting was wrong, and.....See the previous post "Neighbors & Boats" for further little details on their level of competency. OK, I have that little piece out so that we may continue with the fun.

We were packed up, ready to go, and it wasn't even dark! This is a new record for us but it is most likely because we were staying in a motel instead of camping this time. Sunday morning we hitched up the boat trailer and we were off. The trip to Springerville was uneventful and therefore perfect. We hadn't planned to go to the lake that day so the motel was the first stop to check in and get settled. That night while watching the weather report it was discovered that there would be high wind advisories for all the next day. We had watched weather forecasts prior to leaving so this was a surprise. This area is always breezy but 35-40 mph is a bit much.

I got up Monday morning and was windy but not severe (yet). We all got ready and went to the lake. There was no one at the lake except a Forest Service employee in his truck. I went over to speak with him to inquire about road conditions to other lakes, how the fishing been, and other pleasantries. He was very pleasant and we spoke for about a half hour. During this time period the wind was steadily picking up. He said he wouldn't go out on a boat today and echoed the sentiment. By now you could stand 20 yards from the lake and get rained on by the spray from the white caps. The original wind speed estimates were considerably low. I would estimate gust ranging from 50-60 mph at times. We returned to the motel and parked the trailer. It was time to visit the local gift shops, book stores, and other inside activities. We decided that if it was the same tomorrow that we would leave a day early and take the boat to another little lake by Tucson for the morning. You must realize that I am anxious to try out the new boat.

The next morning was perfect. We launched the boat and trolled around the lake. At times the lake was a mirror. I had my limit of trout in two hours being the master fisherman. Those were the only fish caught that day. The girls took turns rowing the boat and did well. Both motors ran quite well so I got some decent breakin time on the gas. The eldest got to pilot the boat using the electric motor. My wife got to hone here launching and anchoring skills and performed admirally, as usual. It was a nice day.

We noticed that the wind was kicking up again and decided that everyone was satisfied. The boat was much more difficult to get on the trailer as the wind started to shift and pick up velocity. Both my wife and I ended up wading to trailer the boat. She performed with great bravery and forethought when she walked down the ramp into the cold water to make sure that the nasty old van didn't get any scratches on the nice new boat. It was a great time as finally the boat got wet and so did we!