News and Views

Today Carl the carpenter brought all the pieces of the entertainment center that he has been building for the past 3 months. He only had a small trailer, so he had to bring it piece-by-piece, and it was too late to start assembly today. Right now all the pieces are standing behind the sofa in […]

[Read more →]

For Christmas Gisele and I got a Roomba, robot vacuum cleaner. We like it! Every night at 3:00am it wakes up and wanders around the lower floor vacuuming up dog hair and dust bunnies. In the morning I get up and empty the dust bin, and put it back down, ready for another day. Our […]

[Read more →]

Geek alert. May not be interesting to the casual reader. Technical, gadget-type stuff. We have had our current water heater for over 15 years (it came with the house). It’s inefficient and I’m concerned that it is ready to cause another flood. So I updated to the latest technology. I got a GE Geospring water […]

[Read more →]

Devon is coming home for a belated holiday visit. He will be arriving Thursday afternoon and staying until the 20th. He wanted to come during the real holidays, but his various jobs wouldn’t permit.

[Read more →]

6 years ago I had cataract surgery, with a replacement lens inserted. The improvement in vision was striking, as everything become suddenly much clearer and brighter. Over the years, the natural capsule in which the lens is inserted has slowly opacified, to the extent that my vision had gradually returned to about where it was […]

[Read more →]

Dale and I took Donna out for her first backpacking trip this past weekend. We went out in the desert near Superior, Arizona (about 50 miles south-east of Phoenix). We started around 2300 feet elevation, hiked about 8 miles, and camped at 3100 feet. This is high desert, where saguaros are rare, and century plants […]

[Read more →]

Dale and I made our hike into and out of the Grand Canyon. It was spectacular. It’s a different experience at each level as you drop down. It cannot be captured on film, any more than any aspect of the Canyon can. You have to experience it first-hand to understand. We started down on the […]

[Read more →]

Dale just called me from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. There were two backcountry passes available for this weekend. I told him to grab them. Sunday we are hiking down from the South Rim to the river, where we will camp for the night. Monday it’s the long climb back up. I’m excited! […]

[Read more →]

Dale, Karen and I got back yesterday from a 4-day, 45-mile hike in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, in Kings Canyon National Park. It is essentially the same hike that Devon, Derek and I took in 2003, with a few differences. It was a difficult, exhausting and exhilarating adventure. Dale had a minor battle […]

[Read more →]

Our new floors are in! The carpet has been down in the guest room for over a week. The tiles in the bathroom and laundry room are finally complete, though they had to redo them more than once to get them reasonably even. The laminate is complete in the family room, hall and office. At […]

[Read more →]