Sue's Views

Look at this cutie patutti smiling for me.

Sue's Views

We've done the unthinkable. Call us crazy with a capital "C", but meet our new kids! Introducing Fox Red Lab #1 and #2. On the left is the three week old runt of the litter and on the right is the male we picked out. We were just going to get one, but the second we went back for the photo shoot session, I fell in love with the sweet little runt. The guy that Ron works with owns the father and the mother. This is their 2nd litter of 9. The Fox Red's are pretty rare. The father is a deep chestnut red, a little darker than most Irish Setters. The mother is like Ned was except she also has red highlights. We won't get them for another 3 weeks or so. In the meantime, we're trying to come up with the pefect names. The birds will all be gone by the time we get the pups. We must like a challenge. I want you to know that it was Ron who really begged me to go to see them. Now how could I say no to these little pups? Oh fer cute!

Well I sent this to Mom, Dad, and Aimee, and they said I needed to blog this. This is the southeast wall of the mine I'm working at for the summer. You can't even see the bottom of the pit here, but if you stacked two sears towers one on top of the other it still wouldn't come to the crest of the pit. Part of my job is to check pumping/monitoring wells throughout the mine, and some of them are wayyyy out on the edge of the pit, and its pretty incredible to look out over it. In this picture you can see the crusher (right in the middle) that crushes the mined rock to about the size of a basketball and smaller. Its then transported via conveyor 5 miles and through a mountain to the concentrator in copperton. The conveyor is so long, when they stop crushing rock it takes 45 minutes to completely clear the conveyor. Also, you can see haul trucks and shovels in a few places. The haul trucks I believe are 340 tons (max-- filled with rock I believe...), and the shovels have scoops that fill up those trucks in about 3 scoops, so they're pretty big too... Its all pretty amazing, and if any of you happen to pass though salt lake this summer I'll have to give you a tour and take you to the visitors center! Thats about it! Gotta go! Love you all!!!

-Walter B.

Enough of the fruit posts!

Let's show some of Jim's favorite candy!!  Licorice, Chocolate Neccos and Runts!  Mmmmmm!  First person to tell me what's wrong in the photo wins a roll of Chocolate Neccos!  

Good Luck Cats!

The Winners?

Yes, these could have been the best figs there, since these would have been the only figs there if we had not slept in and missed the 9:30 entry time at the Marathon Fruit Festival. Not being on time, it's a Keys thing, and we weren't all that excited about the contest. To be perfectly honest, our figs do not have the sweetest taste. They certainly don't resemble the figs in a fig newton, except for the crunch, and that is what I like the least about a fig newton. Now our pineapple was another story. We ate it the healthiest way last night, cut up and plain. It was delicious, just as sweet or sweeter than Dole in a can in heavy syrup. It could have competed with the winners at the fruit festival for taste, but they were bigger, probably because they were grown in the ground, not in a pot like our was. I promise this is my last fruit post for at least a week.

I Made It!

Yes, it's me coming home after my first solo trip on my motorized bike to the gym. We both have motors now, and we have been riding around together for a week or so and I have been building up confidence for a trip on my own, and today was the day. The gym is about 4 miles away, and I put on my good luck riding shirt to keep the sun off my arms, sunscreen, sunglasses, helmet, CELL PHONE, and as you can see I made it back in one piece! I had a few things to get used to, like remember to check the gas, and sometimes when I pulled the cord to start it, my rear end would hit the on switch and turn it to off and I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't start, but now, I think I've mastered it. I'd say that the trip took less than a quarter of a tank of gas, which is about a half a cup, and my top speed may have been 15 or 20 mph. It took me about 20 minutes instead of 10. It was nice cruising over the causeway, and the bridge over Vaca Cut. I was reluctant to put a motor on my beloved Trek, but when I want, I can lift the motor and use pedal power. That's when "Mean Green" turns back into "Serene Green", and I can hear the birds and myself sing.

NANCY!

MOM DID YOU KNOW IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?!?!?!

...happy '56'

miss you and love you!
xoxoxoxoxo

Here's a picture from our feast on Monday night, my roommate had a few friends from college stay at the house I'm living in for the summer before they all went to the bluegrass festival in Telluride, Colorado. We had spaghetti with vegan "meat"balls (actually pretty good) and a really good red sauce, with chicken, bread, and (something called) a salad. It was the first time since I was home that I had a really good home cooked meal. As you can see, we also have a really cool, solid, wood table, which I really like.

I also should admit, I'm living with three girls. No, this isn't the start of a mormon lifestyle, but when I was looking for a place I really didn't want to end up in the same situation I was in last summer. I decided to take my time looking for a place and really find a situation I was comfortable with. The rent is cheap, the house is a huge 100 year old mansion with all hardwood floors, and the girls are three of the least girliest girls I know. Two of them work for an outdoor recreation programs for adults with disabilities and troubled children, so they're usually busy on backpacking trips. So far its a lot of fun, and I've met a lot of new people the past few weeks.

I've had a good start to work. I've been busy on a training schedule where I rotate mapping with the geologists, monitoring slopes with the geotech engineers, and monitoring inclinometers, extensometers, and wells with the hydrology technician. I like it so far, and my boss has told me they'll be pretty flexible with a project for me to work on. So far I'm more interested in the hydrogeology side of things. They monitor wells to get porosities of the various types of rock around the mine, and use that to calculate pore pressure in the walls, which is a major factor in slope stability. They use wells to draw out water and de-pressurize the walls. In a mine as HUGE as Bingham Canyon, its very important to take out as many factors as you can that may contribute to a failure. I never really saw hydrology as something I'd get involved with, but I kinda like it so far.

Thats enough blabbering from me! More later! Better leave room for the next post! Love you all!

-Walter B.

I got this Henna tattoo today at Easttown's Bizarre Bazaar.  In case you don't know, henna tattoos are temporary they last 1-4 weeks.  This is the first time I've ever done one.  I have some Indian friends who have showed me their wedding pictures and I always thought it was so cool.  But it is so hard to keep the paste on!  I've got lots to do today - good thing I had it put on my left hand - but still, I've knocked some of it off.  The longer you leave the paste on, the darker the tattoo will be.  So, after I got home, I put a lemon juice/sugar paste on it - I hear that helps keep the paste on longer.  I'll post another picture after I take the paste off.  

SUMMER IS HERE

WHAT A WEEK!

Well, brandon finished his first year in the internship at the church and what a year it was. So much time goes into preparing for every service when you have over 6,000 members and they take classes too! So now he is off for the summer and working at JaxPort for a family friends business. They import fruits and vegetables from Puerto Rico and they also pump liquid latex that goes to Sherwin Williams. Not the best summer job but its something!

So Brandon it away this weekend with the middle school youth on their summer trip, he is good friends with the middle school pastor Josh. Speaking of... his newborn daughter was diagnosed with some genetic disease and a month later her DNA came back clean! kinda indescribable. you can read about it a http://www.rileyturner.com/

So I am doing homework all weekend cause I have a class that ended this week and all online assignments are due sunday! I have good work news!!! I will be in Seattle on July 23-28! Humm I wonder if Candy and the boys have time to hang out with a nanny and three more boys?!?! I hope sooo....

Miss you guys soo much and it's getting real hot down here. How are the Keys this time of the year Aunt Sally and Uncle Bill?

New Wheelz!  We picked up our new Honda Element tonight (or as some in the "fam" prefer to call it just an "E").  I think ours will be known as the bike box for a while.  We really like it because our Tandem will fit inside... standing up!  Not even our Suburban will do that!   

We need a name for it, our tandem is Mango Tango, and this color is Tango Red...  We see the tie-in, but not sure how to bring the names together.  We'll accept suggestions!

Happy trails cats! 

The Best!

Half the reason we go to Key West is to go to GFS to get our favorite popcorn, yes, it comes all the way from GFS in Michigan! This time we bought 8 pounds of Pop Weaver's popcorn! Two Tablespoons makes one quart, so all I know is that's a lot of snackin' in our future. We cook it in our microwave popper almost every night. Bill likes a little olive oil and Cajun seasoning on his, I like a little olive oil and parmesan on mine, or as Mom would say, and maybe correctly, "Par-MEEE-shian." Mmmm. You can't beat it, but it's the best when you have a Red Wing hockey game to go with it. The other half of the reason for going to Key West is shopping at Chico's and a beer at Rick's.

Sue's Views

Check out this iris in my yard. What a beauty! It's a good thing I took the picture before the pounding rain we had. My poor moccasin flowers really took a beating. I'll send some other flower photos. I love trying to get just te perfect shot with my little camera. I'm healing fast. Thank you for all the prayers. How about Tim Russert? Mother always loved him. Well, let's say she enjoyed him. Well, let's say she always tuned into him. Well, let's not even go there. She'll be seeing a lot of him now. Is that bad humor? I don't want to be sinful. You know what I mean. I'm outta here.

NEWSFLASH: Michigander tries to murder AC unit

I know Florida peeps would never disrespect their AC unit like I just did. When we used the AC for the first time last week, we noticed that the house wasn't cooling very well. I looked out the window to see that I had left the winter cover on the A/C unit (WHOOPS!). I thought I cooked the old girl! I had the service guy out this morning...It turns out I was saved by a capacitor that buned out. It cost me a few bucks - but I was expecting much worse. Next year I'll pull the fuse when I cover it! (A fine tip from my AC Repair man!) Stay cool cats!

old school

This weekend I flew down to Anchorage to hang out with Brian. I flew with Era, which only flies in Alaska. Friday after work, I walked into the airport, got my boarding pass and just hung out in the waiting area. No security when you fly Era. When it was time to board, we walked out and onto the plane. No assigned seats either. (you're looking at a DeHavilland Dash-8)

Anyway, it's a nice way to go. I got in to Anchorage in time for dinner and left after dinner on Sunday night. Sure beats a 6 hour drive each way.

I blogged some pictures from the weekend on my blog. Saturday we went to the motorcycle shop, Thunderbird Falls, Eklutna Lake, Moose's Tooth(!) and Indiana Jones! Sunday we tried to walk through the tunnel to Whittier but got some bad information ("yeah, show up any time before 3:30!" but the last bus left the parking area at 3).  Anyway, it was pretty down there too.

After the fun weekend I've been keeping busy around here with work and stuff... the usual. Went out for groceries yesterday and loaded up the panniers. Work has been frustrating/challenging lately. We're upgrading our drafting software and it's slow going trying to learn to do things a different way and trying to make sure things show up the way we want (not easy when I don't even know what they're supposed to look like at this firm!).

Not much else is new... I better find some dinner. Much love, Nubhtars!

Aimee

Book Review

I just finished reading Escape by Carolyn Jessop. This book details her life in as a member of the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints, and how she escaped with 8 children from her polygamist relationship with her husband, Merril Jessop. It was unbelievable to me how so many people could live in the 21st century sheltered from society, and continue to survive under the strict rule of this cult. I know there are a lot of disfunctional families around, but the dynamics of 5 wives and 30 children living under one roof was really unbelievable. After reading her account I realize how hard it would be to give up everything you were taught, and start all over in the real world. I wouldn't recommend carrying this under your arm if you were living in Utah, but I think it is a real eye-opener, and an interesting read.

Sue's Views

Poor Tootie Toots went to the dematologist and had her lip numbed so the doctor could cut out the pre-cancerous blemish. He did a biopsy so I won't know the results for about 14 days. While I was there, he also re-hit all the brown spots all over my back and hip areas. OOOHHH! I was certainly in a lot of pain. I'm just stating the facts. I'll be fine in a week or two. Don't I look like I've been to "h-e double toothpick" and back again? But boy, those suntans were great. I could use some sun now. It always covers up all the brown spots. I think I need a vacation in the keys. I would take along some spf 50.

Answer

The top picture shows the sculpture ("Cloud Gate") at Millenium Park in Chicago. The second picture is the picture I took, looking up at the sculpture as I was about to step underneath it. I circled myself and also used red arrows to show the various reflections of me - there are more, but they get harder and harder to see! Very cool sculpture!

Here is the description of it: "Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the U.S. THe 110-ton eliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives."

Self Portrait

Can you see me in this picture?  I'll give you a clue - I'm in it multiple times.  

The "Goods" delivered!

We had fun visiting with Aleyn!  She knew so much about our family!  It was pretty neat to see what a great friends her an mom had become.  

Have a great rest of the weekend cats!

A great poem (from the New Yorker)

I remember Michigan fondly as the place I go
to be in michigan. The right hand of America
waving from maps or the left
pressing into clay a mold to take home
from kindergarten to mother. I lived in Michigan
forty-three years. The state bird
is a chained factory gate. The state flower
is Lake Superior, which sounds egotistical
though it is merely cold and deep as truth.
A Midwesterner can use the word "truth,"
can sincerely use the word "sincere."
In truth the midwest is not mid or west.
When I go back to Michigan I drive through Ohio.
There is off I-75 in Ohio a mosque, so life
goes corn corn mosque, I wave at Islam,
which we're not getting along with
on account of the Towers as I pass.
Then Ohio goes corn corn corn
billboard, goodbye, Islam. You never forget
how to be from Michigan when you're from Michigan.
It's like riding a bike of ice and fly fishing.
The Upper Peninsula is a spare state
in case Michigan goes flat. I live now
in Virginia, which has no backup plan
but is named the same as my mother,
I live in my mother again, which is creepy
but so is what the skin under my chin is doing,
suddenly there's a pouch like marsupials
are needed. The state joy is spring.
"Osiris, we beseech thee, rise and give us baseball"
is how we might sound were we Egyptian in April,
when February hasn't ended. February
is thirteen months long in Michigan.
We are a people who by February
want to kill the sky for being so gray
and angry at us. "What did we do?"
is the state motto. There's a day in May
when we're all tumblers, gymnastics
is everywhere, and daffodils are asked
by young men to be their wives. When a man elopes
with a daffodil, you know where he's from.
In this way I have given you a primer.
Let us all be from somewhere.
Let us tell each other everything we can.

-Bob Hicok (New Yorker, May 19, 2008)

Aimee's homemade solution to 24 hours of daylight!

Too good to be true!

The chick-a-dee must have flown the coup!  This will work out good, I have to go to Ypsi/Ann Arbor this weekend, I think I'll stop at the senior villagein Chealsea and give this to Ms. Toogood.  Sally can you email me her contact information??

NOW - everyone read  Sally's blog and watch her video.  IT'S THAT GOOD!

Old Bike, New Motor

And is it sweet! 45CCs, 1 and a third horsepower, 200mpg! It only holds about a quart of gas. We haven't had it near full throttle yet. We've just been testing it out around the island. It needs a few minor adjustments, and boy is our dining room/workshop a beautiful thing right now. We need a basket and a rear view mirror, and then, Winn Dixie here we come! We? Who get's to take it grocery shopping? We like it so much, we may get another. Hey, the sound is pretty cool too, just like when we clothespinned a playing card onto our trike spokes. Check out the sound on "Beachbloggin".

Sue's Views

Well it was the "Blessing of the Bikes" weekend in Hillman recently. It almost looks like Joe Thill showed up, but he went to some other town where they had a benefit for a rider who lost his son(?). I don't know what came over me, but on Sunday, are you sitting down?, I WENT TO CHURCH! Yes it's true. I went to the church I've wanted to try for three years now. It was great! It's called Word of Life Baptist church in Alpena. Our new neighbors go there. I knew a lot of other people from the bank that also go there. They do a lot of singing so it's uplifting, fresh and new. The minister was good. I'll probably be back. I couldn't wait to tell you that I "took the plunge". (No pun intended) Ron was working at the property. Well it looks like we have another night of hockey. I'd better get out my Red Wings flag out and put in on my car. "We want the cup!"

I sure am tired!

We had a very late night last night. I am trying to wash the events of the early morning from my brain. Like Dad would say - if it was easy everyone could do it. I am blaming the loss on the Freep - yesterday, every article was practically in the past tense - as if the Wings had already won the game on Monday. They'll pull it out, but I'll have a few more gray hairs to show for it!!!

Tonight I took a hike up Ensign Peak, its just north of the Utah Capitol building. Really quick hike, basically straight uphill. This is where Bringham Young and his mormon pioneer friends decided they would make a city. They thought the great Salt Lake was the pacific ocean, but it was really a huge, lifeless (except for sea monkeys...) body of really salty water. The Great Salt Lake is to the right of me, behind that ridge that pokes up. Its a beautiful place to watch a sunset, as you can see! Tomorrow I start my first day at Kennecott Utah Copper, probably lots of riveting safety and new miner training. In other words, lots of "this is what happens when you don't look both ways" (and with 340 ton haul trucks running around, theres a good reason for that), "heres where you find so and so", "don't get on even a step ladder without the proper fall-protection-equipment", and hopefully coffee. Not that I'm a cynic, but safety is very important in mining! Anyways, I hope to have lots more pictures like this one this summer. Enjoy! Love you all!

-Walter B.