Alison has gotten me to thinking

In her latest blog posting Alison has gotten me to thinking more about my own thoughts about the state of things in the "modern" world that seem to be reverting to past situations that have not been too good for most folks. I have been reading some of the writings of David Brin. Among the many things he is writing these are two that ring true and seem to support some of the things that Alison has been saying -- Part I on Modernity, Part II on Modernity and Part II on Modernity. Brin's discussion focuses on the efforts of conservatives to rule with an iron hand and the lack of foresight of liberals to come up with a working plan. Alison is looking at how similar activities are taking place in her homeland. Those activities are being promulgated by religious conservatives who could care less about anyone who is not male and an aristocrat. (My words not hers.) At least that is what I have taken from her comments.

I think that there is a long history of male dominance that has sought to subjugate women to an inferior position. The position may be couched in terms of someone has to bear and nurture the children. But it has been the male who has steadily sought to keep women under control. In the US women are becoming more sure of themselves and demanding their rightful place in the controlling hierarchy. It is a struggle that is no wher near over. I will have more comments on this struggle in future postings, both here and in Things I Have Stumbled Across.

Aluminum and Brass Don't Fit Together Too Well.

Last month when I took our Honda Oyssey van in for routine maintenance the technician indicated that there was some expected wear at the drain plug in the oil pan. He indicated that the oil pan is made of aluminum and the plug is made of brass. Even a rocket scientist will recognize that there is a potential problem of wear at this spot. Sure enough that is just what happened. It is a 2001 model we purchased new and it has about 75,000 miles on the odometer. All of the service has been done at the dealership.

Apparently Honda engineers needed to do whatever they could to minimize the weight, hence the aluminum oil pan. I can only guess that the maintenance techies did there best to not screw the brass plug into the oil pan too tightly. However, they bored out the hole, re-threaded it and installed a larger plug. Well, guess what? That didn't work. I began to notice a spot of liquid on the garage floor.

When we returned from an errand on Monday I finally looked at the spot more closely. Sure enough it appeared to be oil. I made an appointment to get the van in for service. As you have already figured out, the oil pan needed to be replaced -- a rather expensive proposition. (Don't worry kids, we have already got the Christmas presents purchased.) There are no quick fixes beyond what had already been done. It took about three and a half hours to get the job done. Now I can rest easy. Maryann uses the van more than I do.

My vehicle of preferance is a 1995 Honda Civic Del Sol with the VTEC engine. I call it my poor man's Ferrari. Some day I will post photos of both vehicles. In the meantime I have to check on the loaf of Whole Wheat Cornmeal bread I am baking. Maryann says it is excellent. I concur.


#75

More Christmas Decorations

Maryann and I wish you all a very Happy Holiday. We had a great time decorating this year. We will be spending Christmas at home with each other this year. We will miss having the kids being with us. We have planned to have a special dinner out prior to Christmas. There is a fantastic restaurant in the Kansas City area that specializes in French cuisine. The name is Tatsu's. We have been there a couple of times in the past and it is the perfect place to celebrate Christmas.

We thought you might like to see what the lights looked like at night. We are quite pleased.

Christmas is coming and the decorations are here

As usual, the day after Thanksgiving we get serious about decorating for Christmas. This year Maryann and I will be staying home and no one is scheduled to visit. It will be a quiet yet joyous time. The decorating will take two days. We did finish the interior on Friday, and it took most of the day.

The first room we finished was the dining room. The small tree on the buffet is an heirloom from Maryann's mother. It is amazing how it has survived with only one broken "bulb". We also took care of the entryway table and hung Maryann's Santa stitchery.


Next we worked on the sofa table in the great room. Fortunately we had some photos from last year to remind us how we might want to do it this year.


We next tackled the small tree in the den. Last year I finally got smart and left the lights on the tree. It was a lot easier this year than in past years.



We also placed a decoration on the door to the den and a computer "Watch Deer".




The last thing on the inside was the large tree in the great room. It comes apart and the work I did last year on the lights worked perfectly.

I hope you enjoy these photos.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. There are so many things for which we can all be thankful that they are too numerous to mention here. I invite you to go to a Thanksgiving Movie
The treat is on me. Enjoy the movie and the rest of your life.

May peace and love be with you!

The Attack of the Moles

They're everywhere! They're everywhere! They're everywhere! Just like Chickenman. Only moles are not here to amuse or fight crime. They do make a mess of a really nice lawn.

Wouldn't you know it, they managed to come up for air or a look around right along the front of our property and near the corner.

This is even a better view of their progress.

This is just one of the piles of dirt from their digging. I guess I am going to have to google moles to determine the best way to deal with them. The folks who took care of our attic mess also deal with critters. In fact they are called Catch-it Wildlife and Pest Control. They will set traps to capture them and remove them. The fee is probably worth it--$129 for 5-12 traps and an additional $59 to remove each critter. They even have a 30 day guarantee. However, the $59 removal fee will still be charged. Maryann and I will discuss it and decide. It has taken a long time and several lawn services to get the yard looking as good as it did this year.

Another Joy of Home Ownership

When we built the house and had it landscaped we thought that the weeping mulberry at the northwest corner of the house would be a very nice little tree. It was for the longest while, like ten years. Then it began to grow closer to the house and the branches would get into the gutters. It also had to be cut back several times year so that the lawn could be mowed without serious injury to the head of the person mowing.



This year we decided to make a change. After all we had to remove the Bartlett pear tree between the houses. It had grown so close to the house that it was misshapen. Last year an early, very wet snow storm came and broke two big branches on the pear tree so we had to have it taken down. It was a beautiful tree. We should have had it planted in the back yard.



This year we decided that the mulberry had to go. We replaced it with a Boulevard Cypress tree. It has a bluish cast to the foliage. It is supposed to grow about a foot a year, and not exceed 5-6 feet in height.


Right now that side of the looks a little barren compared to how it used to look. We hope that as it grows it will look better. With the work to be done on the patio which will include a new fence, that side of the house will look considerably different. We can hardly wait to see the results.

November 17th

Another day in beautiful Lansing, KS. The cold weather arrived and I decided that it was time to test the old adage that we should bundle up in cold weather. If we don't we will get a cold or worse. So Tuesday I decided Not to wear a warm coat over my sports coat when we went out to do our chores. It was probably the coldest day since last winter. The temperature was in the 30's and it rained and snowed at the same time. The wind was gusting at about 35 MPH. It was damned cold and clammy.

We had a good meeting with Phil our financial advisor. Our investments are better than a year ago. We will be making a few minor changes to improve the portfolio.

We then had lunch with a former neighbor. We didn't realize how much we had missed seeing her until we did see her. She used to live across the street and we would sit on her front porch, weather permitting. It was nice to catch up and the lunch was very tasty.

After that we did some shopping and I finally was able to replace the French press coffee maker that had been broken. However, with the cold, I haven't felt much like drinking coffee. Perhaps tomorrow I will feel more like it. One thing about it is that it is larger than the last one.

I have also been communicating with my brother who lives in El Paso. He has a new Mac Laptop. Because we can chat with iChat we do just that. It is an audio instant message. He is learning how to use this one more than the older model this one replaced. It is fun to guide him along. Some of the time he is the guide. The nice thing about it is that we can be viewing the almost identical screen.

It seems his latest project it to lay out a template for a letterhead or prepare a brochure. He has spent most of his adult life as a graphic designer. He is finally looking to the computer to be of assitance. He is also painting more than ever. I hope that we will be able to get his art studio web site up and operational by the first of the year.

More later.

Serve well!

It lasted a little more than a year

An important piece of advise, a French press coffee maker does not make a very good catcher's mitt. This morning as I began the morning ritual of getting ready for breakfast the unthinkable happened. I broke the glass container of the coffee maker. Hazel, the cat had been brushed and fed, now it was time to get my breakfast. My usual ritual is to put the Brita water in the microwave to heat to the appropriate temperature. The next step is to get out he coffemaker. It is kept in an upper storage cabinet. Today there were a number of small items in the way. The shelf space will not accommodate the coffee maker with the top on so I keep the side by side. I removed the pot and was holding it in my left hand while removing the top. It was than that I discovered that a small, plastic container of Aleve has a lot of strength. I accidentally bumped it and, without even trying, caught it in the pot. Much to my chagrin and disappointment, the glass broke.

Well that does it. No coffee for me today. I went to the web site for the company that sells that particular model. I had to send them an email to ask for information on a replacement. I have already received a response. They have discontinued that model.

Well, I guess my other online research will pay off. It is time to visit Bed, Bath and Beyond and pick up the 8-cup version of the Bordum Chambord French Press.

Wouldn't you know it, the flyer we received from Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday had a $5 off coupon in it. I can foresee a trip in the offing. I just hope I can wait that long. Thank goodness I drink decaf so there won't be any withdrawal problems.