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!