Joy and I went down to White Lake to get the old Mustang 17 out of storage. I hope she enjoyed her winter hibernation (the boat that is) because we are planning to have a lot of fun with her on Lake Royale when we get back from vacation. The forecast is that the temperature […]

Days 2, 3, 6, 9, and 11 Yahoo!  It is almost time for our next vacation.  Once again, we have chosen a cruise with Royal Caribbean.  When planning a cruise vacation, we know that the trip depends more on two factors than any other – including ports of call.  The first factor is the ship’s […]

Yes, the sun finally came out. After months, the boat started. Beautiful day on sparkling water. Lost in wonder I just motored down to the far end of the lake. Naturally, that is where the engine died. Apparently, the battery isn’t holding a charge or something. But even being towed back wasn’t enough to dampen […]

Birthday Boy Yesterday was Moku’s birthday. I can’t believe my little puppy has grown up to be, well, a little dog. Still cute and playful, he is so loveable (unless, of course, you happen to be a stuffed toy). Video after the break.

(click this caption to see the album) Yes, I am quite sentimental about Christmas.  Countless memories roll together to buoy my expectations each year.  So many of my family and friends have stuffed me so full of love I just can’t can’t help myself.  So, of course, when Christmas comes I’m bound to be disappointed […]

Thanksgiving was, as usual, a time of overeating.  It started on Thursday.  Not the offical family celebration day, but we had to eat, right?  Joy prepared a turducken (turkey-duck-chicken).  We loved it, but next year maybe we’ll skip the duck part.  Definitely, a yummy meal.  Friday we left the Morgantown crowd and headed north to […]

I like to think of myself as a strong man.  I have to admit that in my youth this was not so much the case.  But even a grown man can be weakened by temptations as enticing as some left lying about my childhood home.  Louis L’Amour, Agathie Christie, Rex Stout, and, most dangerously, John […]

2009 Raleigh Oktoberfest Oktoberfest! Ja, das ist das, was ich spreche. Joy and I greatly enjoyed our time at the Raleigh Oktoberfest hosted by St. Raphael’s Catholic Church here in Raleigh, North Carolina. There was an oom-pa band, Bavarian dancers, Bavarian child dancers, and a bunch of other folks from the area with a dash […]

Thanks to Wired Science, I learned of a 14 year old boy in a remote African village who should be an inspiration for all of us. William Kamkwamba noted the wind in Malawi and thought he could rig something up to power a light to read by. This boy, who had been forced to drop […]

Retirement may be a decade out, but I’ve been planning for it since I was in college.  Lately, our discussions had been rotating between a summer home in Pittsburgh and a primary residence in southern California, North Carolina, Virginia, or (a remote possibility) Florida.  But as long as our family is centered on the east […]