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Today we started the day picking up the last of the lumber needed for Jacobs Eagle Scout Project. He is constructions boat racks to store the Sabot sailboats in the sailboat house at Fairmont Park. Today’s activities required cutting lumber and painting. Next project workk day will be construction. As for the cutting and painting the pictures are below?
 Painting the boards in the rack after they have been cut and had screws put in the ends.  The short boards  The long boards So what do you do when you are finished painting? Go sailing. Jacob has gone with sailing with me before. Today Lanny, a friend, talked Eric into going out with Jacob to teach him. Jacob sailed the boat and Eric gave instructions.
 Eric instructing Jacob on sailing Eric is not really into sailing, so he returned to shore. Jacob went out on his own. He almost went over once when he was not sitting on the upwind side of the boat and a gust of wind came. He quickly moved.
 Jacob having fun sailing We had a great afternoon. It was then home to turn some boards and paint the other side.
Eric now has had his first behind the wheel lesson and has an official drivers permit. He does fairly well behind the wheel. The only thing he has really done wrong is roll through a stop sign in the Home Depot parking lot. Why you ask, he was following the car in front of him and did not see the large STOP painted on the asphalt. I guess that is why they call it a learners permit.
 Eric - the Driver
In regards to the controversy at a high school regarding students who were told to not show the American flag on their clothing or go home, what country or world do I live in? I fly the American flag in front of my home every day. Am I supposed to take down the symbol of freedom on the 5th of May? The symbol that so many brave men and women have fought for? Hell no. Perhaps next year I will flay a few more American flags on the 5th of May.
Today was a day that Eric has waited for. It was the day of his appointment at the DMV to get his learners permit. As we arrived, the parking lot was fairly full. I was surprised that we found a parking spot after driving past the line waiting to get in the DMV.
 Line - a great example of a long line As we approached the building, I was a little apprehensive to walk past the line of people. Our appointment was to 9:20 and we were there on time. We walked in and stood in a line for those that had appointments. He were checked in, given a number, and found a seat. We listened to the announcements and looked at the TV screen. I said to Eric, “How do you like sitting here and watching DMV-TV” as we waited. His response was, “If this is what it is like to be an adult, it sucks.”
 DMV-TV Soon the magic number was called and we went to window four. Paperwork was done and he was given the test. As I waited I watched five other young people go up to the “corrections” counter and have their test scored. One young lady passed and the four young men did not pass. I asked the worker if that was normal. She stated that every day there are many young people that do not pass. One young man bragged about how he did not study and it would be easy. He messed 24 and accused the worker of using the wrong key to score the test. I guess, in youth there are many that know it all. For Eric, he stayed up late last night and read the study book. He was glad he did.
It is easy to pass the test if you listen to the advise, study first. Then again, there are lots of easy things in life, if we just follow the instructions and do the right thing. The other option is to stand in the line a couple of hours outside the building so you can get you number to watch DMV-TV and have the opportunity to take the test again. As for me, getting an appointment, having a boy that studied and pass the test was great news. We were on our way out the door at 10:00, a mere 40 minutes in total for the DMV experience. What would really suck is having to stand in the line outside the door.
I was putting a friends chronograph in the truck this evening when I noted a disturbance from 30 feet away. As for the chronograph, it is a device used to measure the speed of a projectile. One from an air driven rifle or some other type of firearm. As for the targets, a pair of raccoons. The raccoons will never find their way into the cross hairs of an air rifle. However, they may find their way into a trap. Especially if they knock my trash cans over.  Cute? - Target one and target two I guess the question of how fast the moving projectile should be for said targets will have to wait for another day. If they do find their way into my trap, I will kindly relocate them to the park down the road.
Friday afternoon Eric and I left home to pick up Jacob and head to the mountains to Camp Emerson. Camp Emerson is near the city of Idyllwild and at an elevation of about 5400 feet. We know that it snowed a couple of days before we were going to be there so we were prepared.
Upon out arrival we were greeted by a smile in the snow.
 A smile for a greeting We set up out tent in the snow covered meadow. it is actually just to the right of Jacobs head.
 Eric and Jacob We then went to our classes. Eric and Jacob were attending the Venturing Leadership Skills Course in building on the hill. My class, Wilderness First Aid has a more rustic or wilderness like setting.
 Wilderness First Aid Classroom As the evening wore on, the sun going down, it became colder and colder. I brought a pad to put in my chair to insulate my body as well as wore a light jacked covered by a heavier jacket as well as a knit cap. However, my feet were getting cold just by sitting on the snow and not moving. We all left the class cold. Especially the young men that came to class in their shorts and t shirts. I thought we were going to have living examples of hypothermia.
As for the night it was somewhere between 24 and 27 degrees depending on who you talked to. At 3:30 in the morning, Jacob taped me on the head and wanted to go to the bathroom. You teach the buddy system and he wanted a buddy to trek to the restroom building. When we returned, I looked at my thermometer and it was reading 30 degrees. I figured something like that because the moisture from out breath had condensed on the inside of the tent and frozen there creating small ice crystals that sparkled in the beam of the flashlight.
The boys finished there training Saturday evening and I took them down the hill where Janet picked them up. The came home to pizza and a movie in a warm home. I returned for our first aid scenarios. The ones where you find life like mannequins in the forest under the darkness of the night who have broken bones, knife injuries or just plain stopped breathing. You need to act quickly, determine what is wrong and render first aid. Most lived and a coupe did not. Better to learn on a mannequin than a living being.
We finished the class at about 4 on Sunday evening and I headed home. It was nice to be back. Best part was going out to dinner with Janet.
Eric came home from school on Thursday and announced that he needed a suit for a dance that he was going to on Saturday. We went out Thursday evening and purchased a suit, dress shoes and a white shirt. While we were at the store, Eric received a call from the young lady that asked him. Her Uncle, who is her guardian wanted to talk to me. He was a little surprised that his niece had asked a young man to a dance and that he was out purchasing a suit. I said that we were. I asked about the dance and apparently Eric’s date and her two sisters are part of the Kimberly Juniors. The older sister was going to graduate from the Kimberly Juniors and the dance was part of the activities. Eric arrived at the Redlands Country Club tonight at 8:55 for the dance. I will be back to pick him up at Midnight. As for the important part – the picture.
 Eric and his date UPDATE: As the evening wore on, Eric and his date became more comfortable. They even could provide a smile for the camera.
 Smiles are brighter at the end of the evening
As Eric contemplated his date tonight, I started the day with a brisk walk around the lakes at Fairmont Park. It was a brisk walk of 1.66 miles at 5.2 miles per hour. On my walk I was passing a man who had a fish on and he asked me to get his needle nose pliers. Without missing a beat, I circled around, grabbed them, handed them off and back on track I went. Then it was back to the Sailboat House to start working on the sailboats. We pulled them out and rigged them and put them in the water. Made a list of what was needed to get them ready for this summer and the youth sailing classes. Of course they needed to be tested.
 Testing out the sail boats When I got back in and we start putting the boats away. I got my Blackberry out of the truck and noticed that I had missed a call. Riverside Mission Florist had called at 1:47 and the closed at 2:00 and it was 2:43. I quickly drove to the florist. I called on the way and they were still there. Picked up the corsage and headed home.
Later in the evening it was slightly amusing watching Eric get ready for his date. The shirt, the tie, the jacket. It was all a step up from Levis and a t-shirt. Once he was all ready, we got in the truck 30 minuted earlier than we needed to. I started the engine, looked at Eric and said, “Have you got the corsage?” With big eyes, he answered, “No” and ran back inside to get it. We arrived in Redlands early. As I got off the freeway, I stopped on a side street and turned on my Geocaching Navigator. The closed cache to pop up was GC24AD1 – First Date. I thought that was an only appropriate cache to find in the spare time we had. We looked for another, but it was muggle difficult so we moved on to a third and quickly found it. From there it was off to the Redlands Country Club for Eric’s date.
I have been exercising and walking to loose a little weight and be in better shape. Part of that is recording what I do and pushing myself to do more. As for today, I charged up the down road of Mt Rubidoux. It is steeper and a better workout. I then came down the up road briskly. 3.35 miles at 4.1 miles per hour. When I can go up the down road briskly, I will know that I am well on my way to being in shape. As for the details, they can be found here.
If I was gutsy, I would post my weight so you could monitor it. I will just post a picture that helps me reason to think that I need to lose a few pounds.
 Bigger than a Joshua Tree
I picked Jacob up this afternoon and asked him if he would like to go on an Easter egg hunt. He said sure. We traveled to Jack Rabbit Trail off the 60 Freeway. When I made the turn off the freeway he gave me the look of, what type of Easter egg hunt were you thinking?
A geocacher named 2orMoore placed 10 Easter eggs along Jack Rabbit Trail. I thought it was a clever idea. One of my caching friends did the series of caches with his son this past week and I thought it would be a great idea to do the same.
 Jack Rabbit Trail close to one of the Easter Eggs hiding spot Jacob found the first two then I found the next one. In the end we each found five in the 10 cache series. It was great fun. The road turned to dirt and was washed out in a couple of places. It was nice to have a truck rather than a car to find the caches.
 Jacob near another cache location After the Jack Rabbit Trail Easter Egg Hunt series, we caught a few more caches on the way home. It was a nice activity.
Eric went airsofting with some of his buddies today. They play in an area that has taggers that come through and paint a couple of walls and buildings. So as they are taking a break, a Sheriff’s car shows up. It could be for the taggers as young men playing war games in a wooded ravine are innocuous.
So car number two shows up, then car number three and finally car number four appears in the area. Then one of the officers takes a M-16 out of his car. Two of the young men, dressed in Levis and t-shirts decide to walk up to the officers and talk to them, figuring that they should say something. They leave their airsoft guns behind.
They talk to the officers and let them know that they are airsofting. The officers let them know that there was a report of someone in a ghillie suit, you know, that fluffy suit snipers wear. There was also a report of someone with an assault weapon with a fore-grip on it. The officer asks for the two others to come out of the ravine. Out come a young man in a ghillie suit and Eric in his black BDU’s. The young men were admonished to keep their guns out of public view.
 Eric the Airsoft Warrior
A few nights ago we left a couple of bags of old popcorn on the back porch. They were to make it to the trash can. However, before they made it, the bags became torn open and popcorn tossed across the back porch. I cleaned up the mess last night and wondered what had made the mess.
This morning I went to the garage to get some oil and do a little metal polishing. As I neared the garage on this beautiful spring day, I picked up a foul odor. It smelled like something had died. I moved toward the empty trash cans and lo and behold, another opossum. It was not a month ago we caught an opossum in our trash cans. They used to get knocked over so I put a hook on the fence that hooks a handle and keeps them upright. I blamed the raccoons, but it looks like the trash cans are an opossum thing.
What do you do with an opossum? According to the cookbook White Trash Cooking, there are two recipes, Aunt Donnah’s Roast Possum and Mama Leila’s Hand-me-down Oven Baked Possum. I kind of like the one where you sear your skinned possum in bacon fat. Bacon makes everything better – just look at the latest menu at your favorite fast food establishment.
I let him sit in the can for the rest of the day. Later this evening I liberated the possum. After he was liberated I looked in the trash can and there was evidence of who tore open the popcorn bags and spread it all ever the back porch. Perhaps the possum should not have lived another day.
 Canned Opossum
If you are inclined to play CSI you can enlarge the picture and count the undigested kernels of popcorn.
 Taylor of OLD Bond Street - Shaving Shop
Spring is in the air and the birds are singing. I reached for one of my favorites for today’s shave, Taylor of OLD Bond Street in the fragrance of Shaving Shop. The Taylor shave cream lathers up richly with the super badger brush that I was using. I also noticed the light sophisticated fragrance and a slight tingle in my skin from the aromatics in the shave cream. I always enjoy the rich imagery that the purveyors of men’s product use. From the web site of Taylor of OLD Bond Street:
“Revitalising fresh Citrus traces blend vigorously with the sophistication and ruggedness of precious Cedar and Oak woods. Add virile undertones of musks over a floor of Sage, Rosemary and Petitgrain for an alluring composition that stimulates the senses and excites the emotions. A true Gentleman’s discreetly fragranced cologne. Passed down from generation to generation in the Taylor tradition.”
With that said, or so quaintly painted in our minds, the shave went on. The shave was clean and efficient as the shave cream not only produced that wonderful fragrance, but was slick and allowed the razor to slide efficiently across my skin. After cooling off my face I applied a liberal dousing of after shave in the Shaving Shop fragrance. With the ruggedness of precious Cedar and Oak woods, the virile undertones of musks over the floor of Sage, Rosemary and Petitgrain, I venture out for a hike up Mt Rubidoux as a fine gentleman.
Jacob made it thorough the day without being captured digitally as far as I can tell. His day started “with a 2 + plus mile tour of Arlington National Cemetery” where he “experienced the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of Unknown Soldiers.” Then it was off to a tour of the the Capitol building. I am sure that was interesting. Then they went to the “Smithsonian Museums (American History & Air & Space)” which is an appropriate place to go after the Capitol building. There has to be a display there describing what is done with hot air.
Enough with the commentary, so we are back to the events. After dinner they “completed a walking tour of the Vietnam, Lincoln & Korean Memorials.” I am sure it was an event filled day. It seems like the saw a lot pf places today. Jacob did report at 9:07 – Washington time – that he was having fun. Quotes are from the official blog that is here.
As for the Hot Air thought, it was the French that actually flew the first manned hot air balloon in 1783. A replica of that type of balloon is at the Smithsonian.
 Hot Air Balloon at the Smithsonian
Day two started out early for Jacob. Today’s adventures took him several places. The day started at the “White House National Archives, the Natural History Museum in DC proper and then headed a little ways outside of town to Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington” as reported here.
 Jacob in front of the White House
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