Who Knows What Comes Next!

Happy New Year!

The Boy

With just me, and this house of all women (my wife and 4 daughters), the grandson is simply known as "The Boy". Of course his true name is Jesse.

He turned one year old in November. This is his Christmas Day this year.


--Dan

I can say Christmas

To all that celebrate Christmas, here is the sharing of my joy. To all that do not, I share my joy anyway. If some believe in other things, I respect your right to a free will. I do believe God gave us all that great gift of love, the free will.

Peace and joy,

--Dan

That Season of the Year

I dunno why, but plumbing is a forever "situation" during the Christmas Holidays. Always, always, always...leaky pipes crop up, toilets overflow, dah dah do dah dah.

All else is reasonably well.

See y'all,

--Dan

Another amazing thing

-Photo Credits - U.S. Air Force Museum-

It was in 1960, that Joe Kittinger made his famous record setting high altitude jump. The story is amazing, as are many events during the frenzied flight testing days following the second world war.

Exerpt:

"Kittinger floated to 102,800 feet (31,333 meters) in Excelsior III, an open gondola adorned with a paper license plate that his five-year-old son had cut out of a cereal box. Protected against the subzero temperatures by layers of clothes and a pressure suit--he experienced air temperatures as low as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 degrees Celsius)--and loaded down with gear that almost doubled his weight, he climbed to his maximum altitude in one hour and 31 minutes even though at 43,000 feet (13,106 meters) he began experiencing severe pain in his right hand caused by a failure in his pressure glove and could have scrubbed the mission. He remained at peak altitude for about 12 minutes; then he stepped out of his gondola into the darkness of space. After falling for 13 seconds, his six-foot (1.8-meter) canopy parachute opened and stabilized his fall, preventing the flat spin that could have killed him. Only four minutes and 36 seconds more were needed to bring him down to about 17,500 feet (5,334 meters) where his regular 28-foot (8.5-meter) parachute opened, allowing him to float the rest of the way to Earth. His descent set another record for the longest parachute freefall."

ref. http://www.centennialofflight.gov

There are some great websites out there that document Joe's jump. look 'em up!

--Dan

Ten Things

I was "asked" to do this, so here it all is...NOT in order, as # 10 should be first.

Ten things I shall never do:

1.) I shall never, ever, give up. Not on anything.

2.) I shall never walk in the woods without looking for poison oak. Lesson learned way long ago, it still pays off.

3.) I shall never be unarmed in my home. I am the protector and guardian of my family. I need an edge to carry out that mission. I am familiar with what I say. I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and it's intentions thereof.

4.) I shall never sell my Gibson. Ever.

5.) I shall never cheat on anybody, for anything. Life is short, I want to remain true always, in everything.

6.) I shall never trust the ocean. Not at sea, nor on shore. There is way, way too much going on in those things, and I am but a grain of sand.

7.) I shall never flinch. It is a waste of time. Only true reactions are required to sudden events. A wrong move, such as a twitch while a bee lands on my leg....while I am perched on a precarious rock....no time to blink, nor slap that bug...the next move is critical, and it cannot be a frivilous one. Oh, may God help me if I fail in this one! I likely am OK there, as I rarely climb the rocks anymore.

8.) I shall never give up on any other person. We all deserve another chance...or two, or three.

9.) I shall always keep my gas tank at least as full as 3/4...at least while not traveling distances. It is not hard to do, and allows for a quick get-away when emergencies call, or even when an impromptu camping trip is upon me.

10) I shall never forget Our Creator. There would be nothing without Him. I wish to go home someday. I'll be seeing you all there too, I trust.

Note: This list was not heavily thought out, so it could have had more depth. Ah, such is the way of things.

The photo is me, at Edwards AFB air show, October, 2006, in front of the NASA 747 that carries the Space Shuttle.

Oh, and a great tribute to Pete Townshend, as well as my family is here:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1452574469


I was not going to put that out like that, it was only a demo, but it got "out" there anyway. Serena is my daughter. I was fooling with a demo, and misspelled stuff n all, but hey...my tribute to the Flying Boy, Baby Jesse (my grandson), with Pete Townshend's demo "FLYING BOY" song offered freely from his website in 2006 or so. Thank you Pete, It was an accident. It was Pete's son, that he wrote this song, several years ago, by the way. Jesse is adapted as the "new" flying boy.


--Dan

Friday Garage

Allen's garage, Friday night (last night). He broke a string on the acoustic playing "Something in the Air", switched to the electric, broke another string, then sorted it all out. Sounded fine.

Mouse in the house: The Two Losers

The loser cats are pictured here. Misty (Old Loser #1, the gray cat), and Odie (Young Loser #2, black). Here they are, in all of their shame, the morning after the mouse was trapped on a sticky sheet, in non other than our new kitchen!

Yeah, I know...the mouse was the real big loser.

--Dan

Happy Thanksgiving!...sort of...

There has been a lot going on these last few days.

Included is my wife, Cruz, at her childhood home for the last time ever, sadly to liquidate the property.

The flu, or some stomach bug, is slamming us on Thanksgiving Day. The turkey is OUT of the question.

On a good note, the Garage has new mountings, and yes, that IS Pete's autograph for Allen's picture on his wall.

Otherwise, time off of work, holidays, etc., all is not as bad as it could be.

Happy Thanksgiving!



--Dan

Garage

Allen, with Rachel Fuller (black and white printer, it was), in his garage, in front of his CD player. To the left, you can see his signed copy of Mikey Cuthbert's CD. The photo was later placed on his Wall of Fame.

Rachel has made it to the Garage, after all!

Other photo: A rather somewhat famous drive-in donut shop. My wife, Cruz, grew up just a few blocks away from this critter of a building. It is still there.

--Dan

Another Grandpa

The Baby Jesse, is seen here with his Dad's Dad, Jesse's Grandpa, Juan, while at a big birthday bash in early November. His Grandma's arm is just barely in the picture, she is Martha, or "Nana". His Mom and Dad, are in the back, though quite headless, it seems!

Also, a photo of the boy with his Mom and Dad, reaching for his cake. It was a well attended event. He is extraordinarily loved.

--Dan

The grandboy had a birthday party on Sat., 11/4/06, number one. Here he is in his high chair, on the real day of his birthday, Nov. 3rd, with his cake.

Other photos are from the party.

I am one.

--Dan

Wadda ya know?

After managing a few words with this fellow, the other day, he signed my concert program from the previous Saturday. I only requested his signature...but Pete had other plans. A pleasant surprise, he wrote my name.

--Dan

ATTIC JAM, Hotel Cafe

Pete and Minnie Driver, Pete and me, Allen and Rachel, Allen and Pete. Rachel and me, Mikey and Allen (before the show), and the unclear photo is Pete being mobbed in the alley outside.

No particular order, just posting as quick as I can.

Though quite warm, A very cool night.

--Dan

Abbey Road revisited

Abbey Road, the eight track, was found to be somewhere in a box in our kitchen that we are remodeling. I always knew I had these things rolling around, just can't throw 'em away I guess. Here it is on the table where my computer is sitting. The screen is logged to Neil Emery, by the way. All the essential tools of computing are evident here, as the round toothpicks are handy, the Marine Band Harmonica is available, as well as the trusty USB cable for the digital camera.

--Dan

Hollywood Bowl, the show

A feeble attempt with a cell phone camera, from our seats, but oh what a show it was! The energy of the band was something. Very, very cool.

--Dan

We are going to see The Who tonight in Hollywood. I thought this plane from last week's airshow would be appropriate.

See my previous blog entry on the Hollywood Bowl with photo, to know where we will be tonight.

The little grandboy, Jesse, had a birthday yesterday, 11/3/06. He is now one year old. Pictures will be posted when I can.

Peace,

--Dan

Air Show at Edwards AFB, California

Here are just some of the photos from Sunday, 10/29/06, at the Edwards AFB 2006 Open House and Air Show. A beautiful Sunday. Myself and 3rd daughter, Rachel, are featured. The USAF Thunderbirds, an LAPD (Los Angeles Police Dept.) helicopter, the B-2 Stealth Flying Wing Bomber, B-52, the 747 Space Shuttle Transport Vehicle, F-22, F-16, P-51, A-10, F-117 Stealth Fighter, and the F-15, are all represented in these photos. Enjoy!

--Dan

22 year Wedding Anniversary Dinner, evening, 10/27/06

Cruz, my wife, at the chow, me on camera, before chow myself.

--Dan

These last few days

My wife and I were at the 75th anniversary of the construction of our church building. It was a very nice evening, Sat., 10/21/06.

Allen's garage, a different view. One was taken a few days ago, the other, with Allen, is from Friday (yesterday). Note that as he plays guitar, he now knows he is going to ATTIC JAM. He is happy!


--Dan L.

Hollywood Bowl

Our seats at the Hollywood Bowl will be where the shaded area is on the right...with the big green thing in front of us. This is an old picture of the Bowl, before recent changes (I think), but it is does the job. We sure hope we can see from there!

We are looking forward to a great evening in November.

--Dan

New construction

In the past several days, there has been some transformation taking place at the house. This, is our new patio cover in the final stages of completeion. Some more touch-up, some roofing, a new light fixture, and that will complete this project. We are very proud of it. I did not build it alone. I am not that capable. A fine craftsman was recommended to me, and he is "The Man".

--Dan