When I lived in Seattle years ago, the Blue Angels came to do a demonstration for Seafair.  They blew, or rather flew, into town a few days early and practiced over the city for the big event.   I remember walking home from work one afternoon/… Read full post »

 

It is ten years after our debacle in Iraq began and I'm sitting here with the lyrics from a song by Ten Years After bouncing around in my head:

"I'd love to change the world

but I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you."… Read full post »

_{This is a ride report I did for my Sport Touring group.  They like this kind of stuff...  May not be for everyone but given the rather extraordinary events, I thought I'd post it here.} 

 

^{Please wish the ol' 919 a Happy Birthday.  She turned 40K this weekend.}… Read full post »

Hello OS Peeps,

You may have noticed that Cap'n Parrotdead is back.  I tried to be Major Mojo for a while but I've come to realize that the rank of major gets me into my own personal level of incompetence.  I was born to be Cap'n PD.  That's all there is to… Read full post »

  It was that old Catch-22.  He knew it was unwise to leave the Interstate on a blistering 110 degree day like this especially with the cord showing through on the back tire of the smoke-trailing motorcycle.  On the other hand, he was feeling the first effects of… Read full post »

On Tuesday I lost my BFF, suddenly and unexpectedly.  When I wrote my last post here, Requiem for a Friend, I never guessed that I'd be doing this again six weeks later.  My two best friends are both named Mike and they both left this world in the space of 45… Read full post »

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” ~ Edward Abbey

Where do I begin to tell you about a lifetime of memories with my friend, who left us too soon? Some of/…

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 Her name was Rhonda and she was a cute little redhead, my classmate in the 7^th grade, in the ultimate BFE, Tonopah, NV. She liked to sit in the row next to me and tease me, constantly asking if I wanted to see a beaver. Of course I said/… Read full post »

  When I left the ranch this Labor Day for a leisurely little lunch ride, the front pastures were dotted with bright yellow dandelions.  They looked as if Van Gogh had dipped his expressionist brush in pigment of his own making and flung it across the verdant fields. As dry… Read full post »

_{* This actually started life as an email to a friend and then I decide it would make an interesting post.} 

 

My weekend ride turned out to be quite an adventure.  We had a great ride down to The Dalles, OR.  The highlights for me were Lyle Canyon/… Read full post »

 

As many of you know, our OS stalwart Triggerdude is feeling a little down these days. Unlike yours truly, he is a bit of a novice at the whole broken-heart thing so I thought I'd help him out by compiling a list of the best songs to nurse one/…

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 I'm a well known sap. Let's just get that out of the way from the start. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and my musical taste leaned toward 'soft rock'. The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, The Hollies, Tony Orlando, The Eagles and of course, those quintessential soft-rockers,… Read full post »

In the moments after the news of the latest terror incident broke, this one in Norway, there was an immediate assumption that Muslims were behind the violence. Within minutes, one Facebook friend posted a link that said that a rise in rape in Norway corresponded to a rise… Read full post »

_{We do those other modes too.} 

It's been a little over two years since the GWB economy bit me and mine HARD right on the ass.  That's two years that I hope never to repeat. 

I've considered a lot of options to find my way out… Read full post »

Last fall I had the good fortune to spend a week in Amsterdam.  I fell in love with that beautiful and amazing city. 

On the morning after my arrival, I was up very early due to my body adjusting to the time difference. … Read full post »

Mom and Dad - Molokai, HI 1965

^{*This is a repost from Father's Day last year. I couldn't think of a damned original thing to say this year. Maybe you missed it last time.*}

I guess my indifference at lunch that day was just… Read full post »

When I was very young, my best friend, Kirk Spencer, lived two doors down from us on Utah Ave.  Even at that young age, preschool and Kindergarten, I managed to envy Kirk.   It seemed like he had it all.  His dad was a dentist and even though/… Read full post »

 

Like a lot of you, I have many fond memories of the halcyon days of my childhood, when the world was still innocent and unblemished. Tink's post on the age of innocence got me thinking about all of this. Seriously, my youth really was resplendent with innocence and/…

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A lot of folks were out partying and carrying on the other night when the news of Bin Laden's death was received. Personally, I will not miss him one iota, but a few of us managed to keep our emotions in check enough to actually think a bit.… Read full post »

For nearly two years it's felt like I fell into a black hole and there was no way out.  Since losing my job in May of 2009, I had come to the conclusion that there were no jobs to be had in my industry and that I would have to make… Read full post »

Kathy Riordon's excellent post about the Brandon Davies scandal at BYU reminded me of an old BYU joke.

 

A BYU coed was driving back home after the annual BYU-Utah rivalry game.  As she passed The Point of the Mountain, home to the Utah State Prison, she saw a man hitch-hiking… Read full post »

Yesterday, Emy Army Bunny asked if I was going to let her use the Passat this weekend for her one year anniversary celebration with her boyfriend. I gave her an honest answer, something along the line of “Why, did pigs finally fly?” She stormed off as I tried… Read full post »

 

A unionized public employee, a teabagger, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table there is a plate with a dozen cookies on it.

The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the teabagger and… Read full post »