I do not think there is a clear winner in the Taurus vs. Accura contest. I was sure that the other guys car was totaled. I had a fairly good idea that the Taurus was going to be totaled as well. I guess you would call that a fight to the death and both vehicles are going to be banished to the junk pile. Now it is time to start looking for another vehicle. At least my back does not hurt as much.
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Today was a beautiful day. The rain has made it difficult to get out and shoot at lunch time. It is fun to watch the cans jump to the beat of lead or a laptop’s old hard drive meet it’s end from 40 yards with a well places 22 caliber pellet. Pictures are worth a thousand words. Think of the fun.  Cokeahola  Vapor Drive There are time in your life you wish you were in a different spot in the universe. For example, this afternoon, I wish I was not on Main Street stopped in the left lane waiting to turn left. If I was not sitting there thinking of getting a couple of chocolate shakes and a half pound of french fries for Jacob and I, the back of my car would not look like this.  Tarurus - Rear bumper trying to meet front door Of course it could be worse. I could have been the one checking music on my Ipod and looked up to see the back of a car in front of me while driving at around 40 miles per hour. That would also be a good time to be somewhere else in the universe. The consequences due to the laws of physics is great.  Acura - Headlamp tries for a new location in the firewall I guess the other part of this story is cars are designed to be driven as well as designed to crumple. It is it a new word? Is it a new concept? Or is it what the Main Stream Media has been smoking for a couple of years? What else could explain the way some people have been acting. I just hope our nation gets back to reality and our legislators fix what will make all our lives better – more freedom and less government. More on the subject of Hopeium here. It has rained an awful lot here in southern California. Rain really causes a problem with Lunch Time Fun or in other words, a little time on the lunch time pellet and BB range. Of course their has been so much rain for so long, the rain got a few other things down. The sunflower in my back yard took a beating and was down for the count.  Sunflower beaten to the ground by an abundance of rain I have taken the appropriate measures and added a support stake so that I can enjoy the bright blooms. Of course, the sun brings other things a chance to come to pass, Lunch Time Fun. It was good to get out and throw a little lead down range. The three of us hit Skippy the metal target squirrel several times without any luck. One shooter exclaimed that he must have rusted in the up position. A few seconds later, the RWS-350 Magnum put Skippy down for the count. Upon closer inspection there were several hits within a half an inch of the target zone. As for the fun, the cans were dancing in the sun and it was a great break from a long week of rain.  No can is left standing at Lunch Time Fun You know you may be getting old when the baby turns 14. We had a party for him this weekend. After a dinner where he requested home made macaroni and cheese we were in for some activities. Janet wanted to do something different for Jacobs birthday so she purchased a pinata when she was at the store. Emily and I rigged a piece of pipe with an eye-bolt on the end to attach to the basket ball hoop. With a good rope we were ready to go.  Jacob anticipating a good wack on the pinata Jacob, Emily and Eric each had two turns to avoid being attacked by the pinata and to try to whack it. They had a great time.
We then went in for cake and ice cream. Taking all the action shots of the pinata action drained the batteries in the camera so I got a quick shot of Jacob blowing out his candles with the BlackBerry.  Flames are vanquished by the victorious Pinata Warrior So what do the children do after the candles were blown out? They grab the candles and lick the frosting off them. At least that is what Emily and Jacob do. Eric, who has not participated in this type of activity wanted to get into the action. He grabbed a candle and made sure it was laden with frosting. He proceded to take a bite on the frosting covered part of the candle. What was he thinking? Was frosting a “dipping sauce” for some edible product like carrots dipped in ranch dressing? We then heard, that is gross as he started spitting out chunks of candle wax. We all laughed. Nothing like getting candle wax stuck in your braces. If I remember right, it seems like most horror films have some continuation to them, so it is with Geocaching the Trail of Terror. This evening as it began to drizzle, I felt that it was timely to grab this cache. As we walked towards this cache, we stopped briefly to see if we could become unbambozled at the cache location “Bamboozled 6.” No such luck, so we continued our trek and started looking for “Lunatics in the Riverbottom.” It began to be more than a drizzle as we continued our walk. We were now walking in sandy bottom of the river. I looked in the distance and though that I spied the cache location. As we got closer, we noted that it was a tribute. Could it be a tribute to some lost geocacher, or a tribute to some fool wandering the river bottom in the rain?  Riverbottom Memorial - Site of a lost Geocacher or some other lost soul We made our way to ground zero and were successful in locating the cache. We made our way back to higher ground and considered ourselves somewhat safer on the Trail of Terror.  Jacob standing in the light rain in the riverbottom From here we returned to Bamboozled and withing a few minutes located the one piece of bamboo that contained the cache in the large area that once was a small bamboo forest. Once all the bamboo is sawed off at about a foot from the ground, it becomes a challenge to find the one sawed off stalk of bamboo that contains the cache. Of course this was not our first or second visit here and it was nice to find this one.  Geo. F. Trumper West Indian Extract of Lime and the Clauss New Departure Razor It was a wonderful day to have a good shave. A good night’s rest works wonders for the outlook on a day. I had the desire to spice up and brighten the day go I chose Geo. F. Trumper West Indian Extract of Limes. On their web site it is described as follows: “Bright green bursts of life-force charge from the tangy sharpness of tropical Limes, while vibrant citrus flashes allow a gentleman’s mind to surge with the majesty of life. And as every pore is infused with the zing and zest of freshly squeezed West Indian Limes, so an exhilarating thrill is marvelously bestowed.” That description was what I was looking for on this day. I picked up my Clauss New Departure Razor and ran it across the strop several times preparing for the zest and zing of West Indian Extract of Limes. The brush I chose today is the Simpson Chubby 1 Super Badger Brush. It works well on the hard soaps. Soon I had a rich lather going. The soap had a light lime aroma. It was pleasing as I applied the later to my facial hair. I worked with the grain on my first pass and the facial hair came off quickly. For my second pass, it was more against the grain, as the razor slid on my skin removing what was left and leaving me with a smooth face. I rinsed off my face and picked up the West Indian Extract of Limes Skin Food. It is a product that can be used as a pre shave preparation or an after shave. As I applied the Skin Food it provided a vibrant citrus flash in a pleasant way. For extra measure I applied the West Indian Extract of Limes Cologne, which is full of the zing and zest of freshly squeezed West Indian Limes.  La Toja of Spain Today I decided to head to Spain for the Shave of the Day. The product is La Toja and they had soap many years ago. Form a web site, “The original name for this famous soap is ‘Sales de La Toja.’ La Toja is named after the tiny island off Galicia where it was founded. The mineral springs there were said to have healing powers and La Toja began making soap from the spa’s mineral salts in early 20th Century.” As for the shave, the La Toja shaving cream lathered up well with the super badger brush. The cream itself had a pleasant fragrance. I worked it into my facial hair I wondered what healing powers it may bring me. As I picked up the Dovo razor and placed it on my skin, it glided across slickly and left me with a smooth and clean shave. I rather enjoyed the aftershave. It has nice fragrance that seems to have a little Spanish zest. Overall it was a wonderful and relaxing shave. Several times a week, my lunch consists of a “Lean” frozen entree and water. How can a guy live off of a 300 calorie lunch? Well, I am and I am losing weight. What do I get in return? I get to eat what I want now and then. For example, I started my day by cooking up 2 pounds of thick sliced bacon and made my favorite sourdough pancakes topped with real maple syrup. Add a big glass of milk. You know the one with the red cap. Not the one capped with pink or light blue to indicate a milk substitute. Put it all together and then you have a not so lean cuisine. Monday will be here to soon and it will be back to the lean cuisine. As I was out doing a little plinking during lunch I could not help but notice what a beautiful day it was. The sky was blue, the air was warm and Skippy the metal squirrel target went down on the first shot. Hitting the right spot, a spot just over 2 inches in diameter, at 40 yards with open sights starts “Lunch Time Fun” the right way. The RWS 350 Magnum spring-piston air rifle is a great rifle. It is a 22 caliber air gun that can deliver close to 25 foot pounds of muzzle energy. It gives Skippy a good thump when the pellet hits. It also makes soda cans jump with delight. As for the beautiful day, I thought I would take a picture of the rifle with the Ford tractor that is parked in the area where we participate in the Lunch Time Fun.  RWS 350 Magnum and the Ford tractor with optional pitch fork For weeks I have heard, “You need to buy me a new battery.” Eric has wanted a new battery for his M-4 Airsoft gun. He has some friends that have a little group that have airsoft combat. He cannot miss out on the action and he absolutely needs a new battery, at least in his eyes. Today he tells me his battery is completely dead. I will not work at all. He has charged is for three days and it does not even work. I checked the battery and there was voltage. Voltage and not working, we must dig a little deeper. My first thought is to check voltage at the trigger and or motor. Eric started to disassemble his M-4. It looked like a fun project, so I decided to help. There were times that we did research on YouTube to determine the method of disassembly. I guess if it is a product that youth use, you can find something on YouTube. After disassembly, we could not find voltage anywhere. I took a look at the basic layout and followed the path of the wires from the battery to the fuse holder – fuse holder – could it just be a fuse? Eric opened it up and I took a good look and exclaimed to Eric that he had a blow fuse. He asked, how I could tell. I replied, “If you look closely, It is broken; there is a gap in the middle. Eric asked if I had one. I walked over to the bin containers that were my fathers and before that my grandfathers, and there was a bin labeled Fuses. There happened to be one 20 amp fuse. Once the fuse was replaced, things started working.  Following the electron path and the old bin of fuses We had a good time working together. It was a better use of time rather than listening to “You need to buy me a new battery.” I guess my new line will be, “How is your fuse feeling?” As I awoke this morning I contemplated the New Year. A lot has happened in 2009 that has made the year bitter sweet. Scott passed his board of review to become an Eagle Scout. A couple of months later, Dad was diagnosed with cancer and shortly thereafter, he passed away. As with each day, I like to be greeted by the morning sun. It is one of the constants in our universe. I decided to take a New Years day stroll around the back yard and see if there was anything that would add to this day. Past the leaves on the ground signifying that we have passed through fall and are in winter, there were some things in the garden that may express in pictures how I feel this New Year.  Blooms - the spent, the old blooms and the new As with time, there always seems to be a season that contrasts with the other seasons of the year. In life, quite often, we see contrasts over time in our lives. We see the old and thing so the past. We see the spent blooms, the blooms that will soon lose their shape and petals, and those new blooms with their potential to flower. We may see the present, and it may not be as bright as we would like. If we look to the future, we can hope and have faith the there will be a brightness and newness.  Morning sun kissing the petals of the rose It always seems that with light, it brings a warm glow; that with the future, we can hope that it may be bright and that it will flourish. Just as I look at the petals of a rose, kissed by the sun and waiting to open for a new day.  A sunflower for the New Year - no need to wait for spring for the sun to kiss its bright yellow petals Then there is the sunflower, which came up in the garden this fall. A few weeks ago I watched this plant emerge, wondering why it would want to show itself as the days were getting shorter and the nights colder. It does not know that today is the first day of 2010 and much of the country is cold and some of it covered in snow. It just is ready to ring in the New Year and proclaim that 2010 is going to start brightly and warmly, just as the morning sun filters through its bright yellow petals. May all of you have a great New Year, one that is bright, new and full of hope and faith.  Polar Ice As we are right smack dab in the middle of winter here in southern California, I thought it was time to look up north. For today’s shave I chose J.M. Fraser’s shave cream and aftershave lotion in the fragrance of Polar Ice. These products are a product out of Toronto Canada. With the wind out of the north, it was feeling a little polar in the house and it was time to shave. I started by preparing my trusted Dovo razor, giving it a keen edge. I then prepared my three days worth of facial hair with some good hot water to soften the whiskers. With a moderate amount of Polar Ice shave cream on my face, I began to work it into my whiskers with one of my favorite brushes. The save cream lathered up wonderfully and has a nice fragrance. The Dovo made quick work on my downward pass. I was starting to look respectable again. Lathering up for a second time with the Polar Ice saving cream was quick. I had another face full or rich later. Working upward the remnants of what was left after the first pass quickly disappeared. I then cooled my face down and applied a liberal splashing of Polar Ice after save lotion. The face felt great and my sweetheart appreciated the smooth finished product. Today Jacob and I went to a local attraction that has a couple of miniature golf courses, batting cages, go carts, laze tag and arcade and a few carnival rides. I cannot tel you how many times I have been around that small go cart track in a very small car. Of course, I do not think my feeling a little dizzy is from that. I think it was those carnival rides. Jacob got me in some bear ride and grabbed the wheel in the middle of the bear and spun us around until I felt like I was going to lose my lunch. A good nights sleep will probably be the cure. The crazy thing was, he wanted to get me in that bear again under the guise of spending time together. I let him ride the spin rides all he wanted after that. To me, at least today, he is the Spin Monster.  The Spin Monster As he spun past me, I looked at the manufacturer on the information plaque. “Wisdom Industries” from Colorado. The real wisdom was staying off the ride.  The Spin Monster taking a car for a spin |
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