30 Days

So this is a classic what to blog post, so apologies in advance.  It struck me as I was thinking I would show pictures from 5 year ago and say some words about one, that one photo looked like the light at the end of the tunnel.  So then I thought of my photos of the light at the end of a tunnel and that has lead me to this point.  
30 days from now, my employer will shake my hand (figuratively) and send me on my way.  This job has been very good to me for the last dozen years, as it will leave me with one enduring thing and that is my wife.  Anyway this job is going away, a challenge awaits me, but first another challenge needs to wrap up.  That one is coming to work each day and continuing to do my best for myself, my team and my customer, even though in the big picture it's not terribly important anymore.  This has proven to be a very taxing and difficult task indeed.

Something Crossed My Mind

Memorial Day is upon us, I do not want what I am going to say to sound crass.  Instead it is just a thought.  Memorial Day's origins lie with remembering those who served in the Civil War however it's scope has grown to be inclusive of all veterans who died while serving in the armed forces.  Which be is great.  The thought is, are we slighting other casualties of other conflicts by not giving them their own holiday or are we slighting the fallen of the Civil War by including those that died lesser conflicts such as in our police action in the Philippines?  Or is it a reflection of the reality that no matter how important the conflict, the American economic engine cannot stand for too many holidays.  Like I said just some thoughts, and by no means do I want to slight the ultimate sacrifice so many have made so I and my family can be free.  It is not something to be taken lightly and we all owe a debt to each fallen soldier.  

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

In the paper today, an article that states liquor pricing will likely increase when privatization launches on June 1st.  Of course prices may not go up if you only purchase liquor from a certain warehouse store, or if you purchase only cheap stuff.  So hurray for the unrefined and homeowners with third bedrooms that can be turned into liquor vaults.  For the rest of us 25-72% price increases await, as the wholesalers pass on the cost of the rules of the privatization in the voter measure and the cost of being able to sell to four times more customers than before.  Not that I believe the biggest proponent of last fall's voter measure somehow has tilted the playing field to their advantage... 
We only have ourselves to blame.  
I need a drink.
Dan

300 Million Fat and Lazy Americans Thank You Eugene Polley

Eugene Polley has passed away, Polley most noted for a single invention that changed America forever.  An invention that has help create a fat and lazy nation of couch potatoes with attention spans of few fleeting nano seconds, Polley invented the Flash-Matic turner, yes the TV remote control.  Because of Polley Americans didn't need to get up and change the channel or make the kids do the flipping, "Next!"  This freed us up to enjoy more beer and bon bons, the kids having to retrieve the items for their parents.

Eclipsed

This evening I headed out to see if the weather allow for a glimpse of the partial annular solar eclipse, however the eclipse was eclipsed by the clouds.  Oh well there is always 2017, which will be a total eclipse.  Funny thing, I remember the last total eclipse visible in the state, I think I was in 3rd grade.  It was cloudy that day too, so we watched the eclipse on T.V.  I remember thinking that 2017 was an impossibly long time from 1979, now not so long.  All was not lost, today, as I was about to get a couple nice shots from the Meadowbrook bridge.

A Preview

Beginning around 7:30 PM on May 18th, 1910 the planet Earth passed through the tail of Haley's comet.  Cool, huh?  Not in 1910, especially if you were crazy, farmers killed themselves, stepfathers attempted to ritually sacrificed their step children and boys acted like boys..  In Seattle a man was booked into the city jail claiming that the comet had killed King Edward VII of England (who was already dead), and that the letter he had written him had been burned up by the comet.  In Spokane, two boys stopped at pointed to the sky on a busy downtown street causing hundreds to stop and stare at the sky  Then the boys shouted, "Rubbernecks!" and ran off.  Of course with the eclipse, the transit of Venus and the end of the Mayan calendar, 2012 promises to be much like 1910.

Mabel

I read through the Snovalley Star today only to see that Mabel M. Mackey has passed way at the young age of 95.  So who was Mabel M. Mackey?  None other than obscure welterweight fighter Chet Riley's sister (see North to Alaska 9.15.08).  Also come to find out an equally obscure relation.  Chet Riley's other sister, Norma was my Great Uncle Martin's wife.  She was likely in Alaska around the same time as my Grandfather persuaded to go north by her brother Chet.  It was there that she married and stayed until after the war.  In 1945, she moved back to Carnation with her husband and child.  Then in the 1950's, she worked for my Great Uncle Mike at the IGA.  For the intrepid readers of this blog, this an object on just how small the world is, or at least how small the valley is where we live.  I don't seem to have photos of Mabel, she was a bit younger than my Grandparents, but I do have photos of her sister, brother and former employer. 

A Toast

It is Mother's Day and World Cocktail Day.  Normally I would speak about how great moms are, specifically mentioning my mother and my wife,  This year Mother's Day is shared with World Cocktail Day, now since I am very likely to mention Mother's Day again, so sorry moms, it all about World Cocktail Day.  I not really sure what the day is all about, other than a reference that it started in 1999 in Prague at the Alcron's Be Bop  Bar.  That's not really important, well I suppose it is, rather what is important is that you celebrate with your favorite cocktail and a friend or a mother.  Tonight I celebrated with a friend that is also my son's mother and my wife.  She dreamed up this tasty treat.

Cheers!

Dan     

Our Big River

Back on May 11, 1792, Robert Gray entered the Columbia River, which at the time had no name, so Gray named it after is ship.  When it did have an Indian name, Wimahl, but by eighteenth century standards that didn't count.  Lucky for us, or non lucky, I suppose two weeks earlier Captain George Vancouver sailed pasted the river without attempting to explore it.  Had Vancouver entered the river it would have been more difficult to wrestle the Pacific Northwest from the British.  Tonight the Columbia at Astoria.  

The Bearded Invaders From The North

42 years ago today, the United States withstood an invasion by young bearded Canadians some 450 to 600 strong.  The breaded invaders came to the Peace Arch in Blaine, WA to protest Nixon's announcement that U.S. troops would pursue North Vietnamese troops into Cambodia.  The invaders crossed the border at 2 PM and headed toward Blaine on foot.  The incursion caught officials on both sides of the border off guard and they did nothing to stop the invasion.  First stop was to rip down the plaques on the Peace Arch that read, "May These Gates Never Be Closed,"  then they used paint to creatively update the look of the arch.  From there they planned on marching 19 miles to Washington State to occupy the country for six weeks, just like Nixon planned to do in Cambodia.  As they set off on their march they blocked the border in both directions and then went into downtown Blaine.  Once in Blaine they threw rocks and bottles at shops and banks and tore down several American flags.  All of this was too much for the brave men of Blaine and with minimal assistance from authorities they began a counter offensive designed to rid the nation of the breaded foes from the north.  The scene quickly became one long running fist fight from downtown Blaine to the border.  The invaders regrouped at the border and tried in vain to recapture Blaine but no avail, as the locals pushed them back across the border.  Once back in Canada the bearded ones began throwing rocks at trains headed north and then around 5 PM they simply went home.  Canada has never formally apologized for this unprovoked incursion on to American soil.

A Rare Find

So it was a beautiful day today.  To mark the occasion, the family and I went to the Mercer Slough in Bellevue.  We found this gem behind the Winters House.  It is an old boiler house that proved heat to greenhouses in a rhododendron nursery. 

A Birthday

Today is my sister's birthday, so happy birthday.  Not only is she one of the finest humans on the face of the earth, she is also a faithful reader of America's Finest Blog.  

Mayuary

It's back, yes Mayuary that February like month that comes on the heals of New February.  All told the weather this year has, thus far, been rather nice and in fact New February was much more like April than the recent past.  However the last 48 hours have been cold and wet, with temperatures in the 40's and there has been about 1.5 inches of rain as well.  But it's suppose to be in the 70's by Monday, so with that in mind here's a picture from a warm May day.
Enjoy
Dan

Hooray For Jefferson

Today marks the 209th anniversary of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the nation at the cost of four cents per acre.  It is hard to believe that it barely passed through congress and there was great concern about whether or not Jefferson could even negotiate the treaty.  Consider the nation without it, well for starters us Westerners would be likely Mexicans or Canadians or some hybrid of French, British and Spanish settlers.  Another odd thing about the Purchase, Jefferson waited until July 4th, to announce the deal.  Consider that in the modern world, it would be politician suicide.  The wait did allow one Merriweather Lewis to start planning and purchasing supplies for a trip west from St. Louis.  Tonight a photo of a goat trail just outside of Pomeroy that Lewis and Clark and their party used on their return to St. Louis from the Pacific.