Bridge Jumping

Study this picture. It is an image of the Vincent Thomas Bridge that runs between San Pedro and Terminal Island, California, my hometown.


This is the most amazing bridge in the world. It moves...right before your eyes. In any given evening you will be able to watch your TV and see the bridge be relocated from Los Angeles Harbor to San Francisco to Baltimore and finally end up in the background of New York Harbor.

Isn't that AMAZING????

I think the only place they haven't tried to swap off a on-site switch-a-roo is to make the bridge appear in the background in Topkea, Kansas.

Another place that gets moved around a lot is the wall at the Point Ferman Park, San Pedro.



This wall also gets "moved" a lot to. One show it's in San Diego and the next it will show up in Seattle.

I laugh and point it out and in the beginning Kari thought I was crazy. Then I took her down to San Pedro and showed her these icons of my youth....She is now a believer.

Sam-iches

When I was an elementary school youngster, my mother would make my lunch, wrap the sandwich in wax paper and put it in my Superman metal lunchbox with a piece of fruit or cucumber slices (also wrapped in waxpaper) and a thermos of milk. I remember three kinds of sandwiches; meatloaf with catchup, peanut butter and grape jelly or baloney with American cheese and Miracle Whip. At 10-years old, you just shut up and eat what you are told to eat. As an adult I now know that I greatly dislike sandwiches that have been kept in a small metal box for four hours sitting on the class's cloakroom shelf. The meatloaf wasn't so bad, but the catchup used to get an odd after-taste after warming all morning, the grape jelly would soak into the bread and get mushy and the warm balcony and cheese would get very soft and melt into the Miracle Whip.

I used to get in trouble with the teacher because I would trade my sandwich and fruit for somebody's more yummy sandwich...like salami or cold grill cheese. The little tradee/classmate would find out that I had gotten the better part of the deal and would squeel on me to the authoritatian dictator of a teacher.

I can distinctly remember the teacher saying at 11:55AM, each school day, "Lunch time, boys and girls...and NO TRADING."

[caption id="attachment_641" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="(not exact replica)"][/caption]

I Love Babies

What a pair of cutie-pies!!!!

Grandbabies

Grandbaby Grace makes number 8 for Kari and I. The oldest is a step-grandson who is five... but Jacob, Sebastian are turning 4 and McKenzie is just turning 3 so there have been ***7*** born in the past FOUR years. I have a personal goal of 20 grandchildren.... And at the fertility rate they are going, they will have no problems hitting that goal for me.

I tried to warn them...I told them all, "Don't have kids...they will steal your money, make you poor and then you have to go to junior soccer games to watch the little darlings sit in the middle of the playing field, pulling grass, because they are tired of running... while all the other kids run up and down the field past them."

Personally I like having grandkids....you can hand the baby back to its parent and not have any guilt.... Your children say you are grumpy, but who cares...What do they know? This grumpy man raised those know-it-all adult children...that is how I got to be so grumpy.

Grace Alyn Boisvert

May I introduce Grace Alyn Boisvert born today March 26, 2009 at 7:45PM and was 8 pounds 4 ounces. Middle named Alyn (which is
pronounced Allen )  ... is named for my middle name. I cried like a baby. Mother, baby and excited Daddy are all doing just fine.

Navy Names

When I was in the Navy...on my first boat... my "handle" was Frenchie. Since "Boisvert" is a French name, someone thought it would be a good name to refer to me by.  I think that practice is mostly in the Navy, because I asked my son Frank what his Air Force handle was... he gave me a blank stare and just kind of stared at me. I suppose giving friends unusual names (Lick, Buck-Buck, Chico, Pollack and Duffus) are too infantile for the "grown-up" Air Force.

Cameron....

My son Cameron...Still stylin' after all these years!!!!

Did You Know...?

At five minutes and six seconds after 4 AM on the 8th of July this year, the time and date will be 04:05:06 07/08/09. This will not happen again until 2109.

Home Depot

You know, your woman is way to easy to please if your romantic Friday evening 'get-away' includes stopping by Home Depot..."Just to look around."

Big Bang Theory

Discovered a new show on Monday evenings at 8:00PM. It is called "Big Bang Theory" and it is about a bunch of CalTech studets trying hard to be the geeks they are.

Pretty funny in my book...Geeky but funny. (What do you want to bet that Bill Gates even watches it?????)

Tortoises Are Awake

Up fron their winter hibernation, this is J. Gorden (left) and Mary Ellen (right). It was warm enough today that the happy couple crawled out of their burrow and spent the day grazing. I've "owned" J. Golden for almost 15 years, along with his "blood brother" Wilford. Wilford, and his buddy Tommy, are sill sleepin' like babies.

Ducks

According to Jay Leno, "Experts have determind that many ducks are gay.... What kind of QUACK came up with that fact?"

Nordic Countries

My buddy asked me today:

"Did Kari catch "Good Morning America" this morning? They were in Finland thought she might enjoy (I expect she's far ahead of me) I saw it on my way out of the house this AM."

I responded:

Norway, buddy, not Finland... Norway!!!  Although they are both Nordic countries they are different as night and day. Fin's are a bunch of drunks and Norwegians are a very kind and gentle people... that at least wait wait until they get on the airplane, to go to Spain, to over-indulge. A Swede is a Norwegian with half a brain. People in Denmark sit in street cafes and drink Heineken all day. Iceland is a gray country... 99% of the buildings are made of  concrete... after all, why paint when it snows 10 months out of the year!!!

I LOVE Norway. Been there eight times. Been to Finland (Helsinki) twice, Sweden three times and Copenhagen once and was not overly impressed. The very best thing I remember from Helsinki was listening to a musical group, in the main park, that came from Peru, and a troupe of trained cats...  Sweden was OK and the best thing in Copenhagen was the Little Mermaid statue...it really IS "little".

BTW, don't let Kari hear you imply that she is Finnish.... She would thrash you about the head and shoulders.... Kind of like the time we were in Rjukan at the "heavy water" plant and the tour guide called me British... When I corrected him he said, "Whatever...both the same." I put him in his place with The Look.

Gizzy's Wild Night

Oh why did I drink so many beers last night?

Work

If you call me at work and I'm on the phone, please leave a message...I have a little message blinky-light. I spend about 33% of my time on the phone and the other 56% doing e-mail and 10% running around in circles worrying that the sky is falling which leaves 1% for lunch, talking to my wife about the grandkids and bathroom breaks.

 

I am going on two business trips in the next two weeks. One three day trip to San Diego CA and the next week a four day trip to Mesa AZ. I'll keep you posted.

HEY!!!!

(From Jay Leno's Headlines)

HEY!!!! What are you DOING back there?????

The Amazing "Seaview" Submarine

The 10 Biggist AMAZING things I learned from watching "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" and then learned differently after joining the submarine Navy were:



10: Only on the Seaview can the boat be headed downward and the fairwater planes be on full rise (pointing up).

9: Only on the Seaview can there be eight gigantic glass windows in the bow.

8: On the Seaview there is a big pool with a shark swimming around.

7: Only on the Seaview, the boat can be doing a 25 degree up angle and inside the decks are perfectly level.

6: The Admiral has a secretary (a lieutenant!!!) that likes to buggy-woogy on the mess decks while a shipmate blows on his horn.

5: The above mentioned secretary can scamper up and down ladders in super tight skirts and high heels...the AMAZING thing is that not a single sailor looks upward to see her climbing down the later in the aforementioned tight skirt.

4: The crew of the Seawolf can tap into underwater telephone lines and make phone calls... Oh wait, the USS Halibut (SSN-587) really did do that.

3: Giant octipuses, the size of a barn, can eat the bow of the Seaview and get scared off by shooting electricity through the hull from the

2: The nuclear reactor glows blue

AND

1: The van Allen Radiation Belt can catch on fire

Schmickle

From www.urbandictionary.com

Schmickle: "An almost tickle. When someone starts to tickle you but doesn't actually do it. Often when someone says they aren't going to tickle you, the schmickle is the end result. It is usually just a touch without the actual tickle action but drives you crazy anyway."

When Frank was a little boy he was so ticklish, and all I had to do was get him to THINK I was going to tickle him and he would uncontrollably laugh. I'd get Frank to stand next to me and hold his arm up exposing his armpit...I'd move my index finger towards his pit and he would giggle and giggle and giggle.... until there were tears coning down his cheeks.

I never understoof why he didn't just run away and hide.

Garden Progress Update

This is a crude mash-up to show the progress with the planting today in the new garden. Water and power is run but still needs work and 2/3 of the stepping stone bases are pored and placed. Fence posts and mid line supports are set in concrete and curing. Tomorrow after church I want to start getting the fence boards up.

I Had Lots Of Help In The Garden Today

Urine or You're Out

I got this from my cousin:

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.

Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them? Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their rump--doing drugs, while I work. . . . Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?

I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'.  Pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't. Hope you all will pass it along, though.  Something has to change in this country - and soon!!!!!!!

Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon we have dinner with my cousins Mike and Lori Weatherbie, Frank, Jeni & Caleb and granddaughter McKenzie. We have a wonderful meatloaf and very good conversation. After dinner we migrated to the backyard to see the progress of the graden.  Here are the pictures:

[gallery]