He Made It!

Good Time To Be In Seattle

Dangerous “Kissing Bug” Making Comeback In The U.S., Including Ohio

" The kissing bug is making a comeback across the U.S., including the Buckeye State. The name sounds cute, but a bite from this bug can be deadly. "

What About Bob?

Sometimes, I feel like Bob Cratchit. I don't copy letters, though. I copy numbers.

My occupation is slightly more glamorous than that of an IRS auditor. Slightly. I work in a cold office with buzzing fluorescent lights overhead, rubbing my hands together and wishing I had a space heater.

My job is dull. I work alone and speak to no one, copying numbers from this place to that place and making sure they add up. Right this very second, I'm wearing two sweaters and wondering where I can get fingerless gloves.

Come to think of it, I just saw some at Costco and wondered who would ever want those? Bob, that's who. It came with a matching hat and scarf, too. It's only a mile from here and only lightly raining. I can make it there in about twenty minutes. And, wouldn't you know? There's a Starbucks across the street.

Bob didn't have Starbucks.

Poor Bob.

Long Snapper Love

Serial Sentence . . .

. . . makes sense to me.

Bird Talk

I met someone today who has a Seahawks Gresham jersey. No, really. She wasn't wearing it, I have to point out. She was wearing #3 Wilson (I hear he's popular) but I was wearing my #49. She approached me and asked why I had this particular jersey. It was a reasonable question considering not many know who Gresham is much less what position he plays - even after I tell them!

Turns out her name is Gresham. I'm not sure she knows what a long snapper is. I think she just liked the name. Still, that's two. I think the Gresham fan club is on a roll. 

In other news, a crow dropped an anvil on our car yesterday. That's why it sounded like anyway. BOOM! I have no idea what hit us but it was startling. In the rear view mirror, I could see a crow in the street picking up whatever it had lost. It might not have been an anvil but it was big enough to leave a good sized dimple in the roof of the car. Anyway, It couldn't have possibly been edible.

This reminds me of a completely unrelated story I've been meaning to tell. It happened last August so stop me if you've already heard it. We were docked in Kingston and a seagull was on the finger pier next to us trying to eat a starfish. The seagull would pick the starfish up in its beak and try to swallow the starfish whole but the starfish was too wide. It would drop the starfish on the dock, reposition, and try again. 

Time after time, the starfish prevailed by being simply too wide to pass by the mouth of the seagull. But then, something happened. I looked away for only a moment but when I looked again the starfish was lodged in the seagull's throat. It looked just like you would imagine - a seagull with a starfish in its throat. 

The seagull did not look happy for its efforts. It looked rather embarrassed. Still, it tried to appear nonchalant in front of the other gulls. (What, this? It's nothing. I just got something caught in my throat.)

I don't know how the seagull fared in the end - we went ashore and grabbed some lunch at that point - and I don't know what this story has to do with the Seahawks. But let it be a lesson to you, whatever that is. 

Celebrate Veterans Day in Style

Free Lance-Star - October 24, 1975

Hot Dog!

Is a hot dog a sandwich? Council rules once and for all - USA Today

" "Limiting the hot dog's significance by saying it's 'just a sandwich' is like calling the Dalai Lama 'just a guy.' "

I used to hold the record in my sorority for eating the most hot dogs at once - 13 - although not all of them were with buns. Who knows? Maybe I still do.

As if I needed another distraction. . . .

. . . I've managed to find one anyway. It's an online game called 2048.

See? I just did it! I had to go to the site to get the link, didn't I, and then what happened? That was an hour ago! If that wasn't bad enough, I've downloaded it to my Apple devices. Now, I can avoid all kinds of work for hours at a time.

I found the link on the KenKen website, another terrific time waster. KenKen calls 2048, ". . . the Candy Crush for math geeks!"

How could I resist?

10. Drink wine. Wine loves writers.

Personally, I think this should be #1 on International Business Times' National Novel Writing Month Rules 2015: 10 Tips For A Successful NaNoWriMo although the other nine tips are pretty good.

I noticed that coffee wasn't part of this list which is a huge omission. (You can't drink wine all day, can you? Wait, can you?) I'm not sure there would be any literature at all without coffee. Coffee houses are made for writing. First of all, there's coffee if I didn't mention it before. There are often comfortable chairs and sometimes a fireplace. There's always a window on the world. Just sitting in a cafe inspires. Plus, coffee houses usually have free WiFi.

I'm not talking about Starbucks here. You know how I feel about the Green Siren but November is also a great month to check out your local coffee purveyors. There's usually one right next door or up the block from the Mermaid. They usually have a more relaxed vibe, your local coffee house, good music, and interesting patrons. Some might say they even have better coffee but I'm staying out of that.

If you've ever thought about writing anything - doesn't have to be a novel - this is a great exercise in the practice of writing. Writing takes practice and NaNoWriMo is a great place to get started. It's daunting, yes, but so is writing a novel. You have to start somewhere and if you're like me, then having goals and a schedule work best.

I've written a couple of novels this way - if you count lots of lots of words strung together in a more-or-less cohesive manner a novel. The years I haven't participated in NaNo, I've threatened to go back and edit these constructs into something that might resemble something a person might want to read. This is one of those years, one where I'll use "editing" as an excuse for Not Writing. Editing probably won't happen either but that doesn't mean I don't think about it. (And, it's the thought that counts, remember?)

I'm going to think about it some more over a cup of coffee. And if nothing happens, I'll think about it over a glass of wine.

Daylight Saving

I haven't participated for the last 24 years. Can I cash my hours in on Monday?

Where in the world?

Indeed . . .

What Could Go Wrong? Domino's Adds Oven to Delivery Cars

" "The Domino's DXP is the first purpose-built vehicle aimed at revolutionizing pizza delivery," company president Russell Weiner said in a statement. "

I'm buying the first car that comes off the assembly line that comes with an espresso maker.

Don't read this if you don't want to know how it ends.

Last Thursday, we went to a wine tasting hosted by Riedel. Their shtick is that the shape of the glass affects your enjoyment of the beverage within. I'm convinced. We tasted water, wine, and Coca-Cola in various glasses and it was possible to tell a difference in the way the glass delivered the beverage to the mouth in all three cases. It's an interesting experiment anyway if not a fun way to pick up some new glassware. We took home ten new glasses between us (included in the price of the wine tasting).

Saturday night, we went to Seattle Opera's production of The Pearl Fishers. I don't know why it's called that. No one got a pearl - or a fish, for that matter. Only one personal was even offered a pearl - not that we had any evidence that it even existed - but if she didn't keep her end of the bargain, they were going to kill her. Hm, she thought. Pearl or death? Pearl or death? Guess what. She picked death.

Welcome to Opera 101. They always pick death.

Bizet should have called it Love Triangle but that would have hardly differentiated it from any other opera. It's always a love triangle and someone always dies at the end.

Spoiler alert. (Sorry, I should have mentioned that earlier.)

Siri and I are not on speaking terms.

That is not entirely accurate. I'm on speaking terms with her. She is not on speaking terms with me.

She's seeing someone else.

OS9.

Bastard.

Ever since OS9 came into our lives, she's been silent to me. Sure, I've tried to reason with her. Push her buttons. But, nothing.

And, sure, I've been busy lately. Too busy to really try to do anything about it but today I thought I should see what I could to do repair the relationship. I sought counseling and followed the advice that was offered - even though I swore I had taken all the appropriate steps before.

And, then, for just one short sweet moment, she answered me. She said hello. (But only after I said hello first, I might point out.)

I declared that I missed her and she again went mute. Sure, I could read her thoughts but she was silent once more. Even now, she won't speak to me.

I suspect this 9 guy. I think he's whispering in her ear that she somehow needs to be bettered, upgraded. How insulting! I loved her just they way she was! But I think he's in her head and has her convinced that she needs new shoes, as it were. A totally new chassis.

It might be worth it just to get her back.

*sigh*

It's that time of year, again.

And, cut!

Let's just say you're an actor and the scene you're doing calls for you to cry. Quick! You have to think of something sad!

Here's a very sad thought - in fact, it's happened to me (only just this morning): You go to the kitchen to rinse out your coffee cup and just a split-second too late you realize there was just the tiniest bit left. You watch, as if in slow motion, the coffee swirl around and drain before disappearing forever. In that moment, you consider licking the sink but think better of it, realizing that even though you love it more than words can say it's better to just let it go.

Your heart swells as you consider what can never be recovered but cherish the fleeting bliss you once had.

Oh, god . . . I can't go on . . . .

What's the big deal?

Solution Without a Problem? A Tax on High-Frequency Trading

(An interesting article in The New York Times.)

(National Long Snapping Association)

Or is that ling snapping?

Fall

DC

I've recently been diagnosed as having Dupuytren's Contracture also known as Viking's Disease. It's referred to Viking's Disease because it's most common in people of Northern European descent.

It's not life threatening but it can be inconvenient if you want to open a pickle jar. (I don't particularly like pickles so I should be okay.) There's no known cause and no known cure. The chief remedy seems to be surgery although I'm nowhere near that.

In my case, DC is presenting itself as small lumps on my palms just below my ring finger knuckle joints. They are visible between the two lines that run across my palm: the head lines and the heart lines. They are an inch, inch and a half, below the bottom of my ring fingers. They don't bother me at all. They are a benign thickening of my fingers' connective tissue. DC can happen in any finger, or in the toes, but so far it's just my ring fingers.

The thickening will generally continue which will cause contracture. Meaning, I will no longer be able to straighten those fingers out. That's when the surgery would come in.

My doctor told me that to prevent or slow the rate of contracture, I should stretch my palms and massage the lumps. Reading online, many tout the benefits of massaging with various oils - mainly magnesium or Vitamin E, or some combination. My theory, and the point of all this, is that it doesn't matter what, if anything, you massage them with so long as you do it regularly. Twice a day, I figure.

I have a lovely rose oil that I've been using in the morning and I have tried castor oil at night. (The latter worked well on my ankle which still has a lump from my street fight but castor oil can stain so you have to be careful how you use it.) Hand lotion will do the job. I've even thought about using olive oil. Why not?  I wasn't expecting any rapid results but was hoping that over time the lumps would appears smaller.

Even as I was formulating my theory about massage therapy, I stumbled across a new theory - hydrotherapy. We went to the hot tub earlier in the week and I put my hands over the jets and let the water massage my hands. After 15-20 minutes I thought the lumps looked smaller. Not significantly, but I thought I could see a difference. They continued to look ever so slightly smaller the next day too.

So my new theory is massage morning and night and get in the hot tub whenever possible. I'll let you know whether or not that works. For now, I'm still waving with all five fingers. (Or ten, if I'm feeling really enthusiastic.)

In the meantime, if you want to know more about DC, I found some interesting information at these websites:

The British Dupuytren's Society
International Dupuytren Society
Dupuytren Foundation

Button, Button

How many of you have actually used one of those extra buttons that are sewed into the inside of garments? (If you don't buy garments with buttons, this is not for you.)

Let's just say there's one of you out there that has used one of those extra buttons. So, let's do the math - that's .000000000000001% of all extra buttons are ever used? Most of those buttons survive the garment they are meant to repair or end up in the back of a drawer somewhere.

Instead, we should have some sort of button registry. When you need a replacement button, you can just scan a bar code from the garment and someone will mail you the dang thing. Just think of the massive numbers of wasted buttons we could save!

Someday, buttons will have RFID technology and will sense when they fall off and a new one will just show up.

Even better, they will be self-sewing.

(This is exactly why Velcro was invented.)

Moe's Hairstyling

Of Socks and Bunnies

In the last eight months since I've lived here (Portland area condo), nary a sock has tried to escape. I've lived in the area for many years, renting in one place or another much to the chagrin of my undergarments. (The underest of them, anyway.)

I couldn't really blame them when I used a communal laundry. I imagine I would try to abandon my mate as well, were I a sock. The socks fared better in the condo we rented next but, for some reason, they didn't like living in the mother-in-law apartment that followed even though the laundry was not shared. (I didn't like living in that mother-law-apartment either so no fault can be found there.)

Here, the socks seem to be content tumbling away in a never-before-used dryer. Maybe that's all it was from the beginning - a need to feel special, in first place.

The dust bunnies, meanwhile, have unionized and I fear I doth not clean the house enough. Surely, when they ball themselves up and place themselves in clear view they are sending a message?

Perhaps it was the stray socks that kept them in line after all.

I shall contemplate a sacrifice.

In Case You Missed The Spontaneity

Abilify for Candidates

Naked and Alone

Speaking of jittery, I forgot my phone at home today. The good news is I'll probably get more work done today. The bad news is someone will probably want to buy these extra printer cartridges I've been trying to get rid of and I'll miss the notification.

You can bet I didn't forget my Starbucks coffee cup, though. Or my coffee card.

Phew! That would have been a real disaster.

Woo hoo!

My jersey arrived, finally! Signed by Clint Gresham! (Oh, look it up. Im tired of explaining it to you people.)

Distracted

Traveling without my laptop this weekend. I figured, it was only one night. I didn't really need to lug it all the way up to Seattle and back. And I could live without it for 24 hours, right?

It's just not the same. I started felling jittery before we hit Centralia. How will I do email, write, post, tweet? Surely, a person can live in the real world for 24 hours, no?

Yet I am compelled to find a way to shout out to the world the trivialities of my existence. I'm keeping list of electronic chores that I will need to complete once back in my virtual space. (Oh, to have a keyboard on which I can use all ten digits.)

Spent the night on Dock 2 last night. Lovely. Started a new book this morning, reading in bed with coffee: The Girl in the Spiders Web , a continuation of the Dragon Tattoo series. These word appear on the first page of Chapter 2, "Jura Impressa X7." I am immediately distracted. 

You know what that is, don't you? Coffee porn is what that is! Check this baby out:

http://youtu.be/c5Wok6Zd0UI

Hard to get refocused after that, isn't it?

Beats Me!

It takes me three hours to get to work, between the time my alarm goes off and when I actually get there. (Longer, if you take into account the first thing I do upon arriving is make my breakfast. (Even longer, if you consider that the second thing I do is log on to 76003.)) I don't have any idea of why this is.* I don't wear makeup, as a general rule, and about half the time I don't even wash my hair. My work uniform is a pair of jeans and a button down shirt.**

If I understood why this is, I could also explain what a woman carries in her purse. Money and credit cards? Sure, but she could put them in a pants pocket. Keys, ditto.*** Kleenex, band-aids, hand sanitizer - okay, now we're in "mom" territory. (Maybe I'm onto something.)

It takes me almost half as long to get ready for bed. With lotions, potions, and eye creams, how could I possibly go to sleep any earlier? (Damn, that reminds me I haven't put on any hand lotion!)

I'd happily explain women to you but I can't and I am one. If you're not, there's no hope for you.

Sorry, I wish I had better news.



*In my own defense, it takes almost thirty minutes to make my perfect, hand-crafted espresso americano and another thirty minutes to enjoy it. What takes up the other two hours, I have no idea.

**The decision-making is in what shoes to wear.

***Why does a man carry, at most, two keys and a women almost always carries 27 conjoined in a massive ball of keychains?

Don't Let This Happen to You

It's National Coffee Day. You can do better than this.

It's better than Christmas! Yesterday, was our anniversary (26 years - over half my life by a few days), today is National Coffee Day (although, really, every day should be coffee day), and my birthday is on Saturday. Dude, I should be in bed all week drinking coffee and eating cake!

Instead, it's Tax Season, Part II, and I'll be at the office. (Still drinking coffee, of course.)

Last weekend, was our first weekend of being homeless and we spent it on the beach. Not like sleeping bags on the beach, more like waterfront hotel room. (Remind me to give them feedback about their in-room coffee selection.) And "homeless" really just means one less home. I still have another home and a boat.

Hubby is already anxious to spend the proceeds on new digs in Seattle. I'd rather wait a bit for the dust to settle. In the meantime, the commute continues between our Portland and Seattle locations except now we'll be staying primarily on the boat when we're "home" and plan to be there most weekends so most of you won't notice any change.

Meanwhile, my cup runneth dry and something in the back of my head is nagging me to go get some exercise. (I'm trying to ignore it.)

I don't know what you're doing today but make sure you're doing it with a good cup of coffee. If you're drinking Inn Room coffee, good for you. Maybe you're on vacation. (Although, I can guarantee it's not gourmet because there's no such thing as gourmet inn room coffee.) But, if you're drinking decaf, I don't know you.

Thank Goodness, there are botanicals for stage fright.

This Week in Long Snapper News

LongSnap.com

" Week Two of the 2015 NFL season is complete and the snapping position remains stable. The extra point rule change has made the normally automatic extra point a bit less automatic, as nine extra points have been missed so far this year. There were a total of eight missed extra points all of last season.

" Four snappers made tackles in punt coverage this week, led by Beau Brinkley of the Titans who had two solo tackles. Jon Weeks (Texans) and Charley Hughlett (Browns) each recorded solo tackles, while JJ Jansen (Panthers) added an assisted tackle. "

View Thru

Almost There

What a weekend! We sold or gave away 100% of our furniture. While we made huge progress, there's still a lot to be done. We'll have a garage sale on Saturday to get rid of everything else, and donate what's left over on Sunday. My back is sore but I'm invigorated.

You never know how much you have until you try to get rid of it. That's no exaggeration. The more we sold the more there seemed to be.

Some really interesting people came through our house. One was a student who was entering the University of Washington and was furnishing her dorm room. This, after spending a year studying in London. I spoke with the mother who told me she home schooled her kids because they were all dancers who performed all over the world and, therefore, couldn't attend traditional school.

I met a woman who used to live across the street in the home of the man who was the developer for the houses directly across from us. She now lives a few blocks away across the street from a park where I used to take my grandson. She came over so many times and bought so much furniture that I feel like we're now best friends.

One neighbor bought the karaoke equipment. We're hoping to get an invitation as soon as it's all plugged in. We told her, upon taking her money, that the set comes with a guy named Brian. All they have to do is start singing "Sweet Caroline" to conjure him up. (We don't know how that happens but it always did.)

Everything in the house seemed to have a story and each time someone walked out with an item, I recalled the memories that went with them. I was glad to know someone else would get to enjoy something that had made me happy over the years and was grateful. Even though we worked at a frantic pace over the two days, there was a real sense of peace when it was all over.

I would do it again but I hope I won't have to. Getting rid of all your stuff is liberating. Freeing up your space gives you more room to love the stuff you have. The key is to purge until you feel good in the space that's left over. And then to keep it that way.

Living A Dream

Nightmare is more like it. I'm living in a garage sale. 

I can't put anything down anywhere or Hubby will come along with his price gun and tag it for fifty cents. Nothing is safe.

There's no place to sit. No place to eat. And, I can't find shit! It's a certain kind of meyhem that doesn't just clutter my space, it's cluttering my mind.

The big sale is tomorrow. Selling everything, just about. Lots to do but getting there. The process was a bit weird at first, parting with accumulated treasures. But the further we got into it, the more we've come to realize that we have more junk than treasures and the treasures, most of them, have served their useful purpose which was to give us pleasure in this house.

We will find new treasures and make new memories somewhere else. And the old memories, we'll have forever.

I've been reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing which is not only a great Charades title but it's provided a good deal of guidance on how to go about said tidying and decluttering. I look at everything differently now in terms of what is worth keeping and what can easily be discarded.

I've never even had a garage sale before. Ever. But this process is cathartic because I've had to look at every single thing I own - every paper clip, slip of paper, and unmatched sock. While I can now more easily identify things I don't need or should get rid of, without a sale such as this, it's easy to postpone getting rid of things and set them aside for "later" which never comes. It's almost easier to do it all at once that to get rid of things one at a time - this thing to Goodwill, that thing on Craiglist, the other thing to the garbage. While it's a ton of work to have an estate/moving sale, it's more efficient.

It's a good exercise, cleaning house. And it's a good book. If you know someone who could stand to get rid of stuff, buy that person this book. It's worth it.

Speaking of work, I'd rather avoid it but tomorrow is a big day and if I sit here too long Hubby is likely to put a price tag on me.

What's A Long Snapper?

Since yesterday, I've heard this question more than once. The fact that this question is asked at all serves to illustrate why it's so important to support your local Long Snapper.

A Long Snapper, friends, is a position in American football. He's the guy who snaps the ball, long.

He's not the Center. The Center snaps the ball, short, into the Quarter Back's hands which are placed in the Center's crotch. Awkward, yes, but a fairly easy target, one's own crotch. It's trickier when the target is 15 yards away and aimed at from an upside down position.

The punt, extra point, and field goal situations require the guy in the middle (but not the Center) to snap the ball over a long distance. Hence, Long Snapper.

From Wikipedia:

" During field goals and point after touchdown, the snap is received by the holder typically 7-8 yards away. During punt plays the snap is delivered to the punter from 13-15 yards away. "

Accuracy is key. A bad snap can make the difference in the outcome of a game. Even so:

" Long snappers are usually amongst the least known players in the NFL, because of their highly specialized and relatively invisible role on the field. "

Which is what makes them ever so special. Even though every team in the NFL now has a specialized Long Snapper, they are generally not drafted as such. Long Snappers are usually acquired as free agents into another position before finding their true calling.

" The first pure long snapper to have been picked in the draft was Tyler Schmitt, a sixth round pick (189th overall) in 2008, selected by the Seattle Seahawks. "

Seahawks are so cutting edge.

For my Chicago friends who are curious about Long Snappers, Longsnapper.com belongs to Chicago Bear's Long Snapper Patrick Mannelly, only recently retired. Of all people, Bears fans should know what a Long Snapper is!

Another excellent website for up-to-the minute Long Snapper news is Longsnap.com which now appears as a link on this page, to your right. Among other things, this site describes the NFL and NCAA rules that apply regarding Long Snappers, namely that a defensive player can't line up against the Long Snapper (NFL) or initiate contact until at least one second has elapsed after the start of play (NCAA).

Now you know what a Long Snapper is and what makes him special. This is the first year I've seen an NFL jersey for the Long Snapper and as soon as I saw it, I snapped one up.

*groan*

Seriously, though, the first jersey I got for a player on Special Teams was #3 Josh Brown (when he played for the Seattle Seahawks). I had to have it made because there was no such thing as a Kicker's jersey at the time. Soon after, Special Teams fever kicked in (can't help myself) and Josh Brown jerseys were everywhere. (There had to have been at least half a dozen of them.)

I'm not surprised that the current Kicker, Steven Haushka, has a jersey available. People have come to realize how important the Kicker is and admire his contribution. Haushka ties for first place for longest field goal made in 2014 at 58 yards, has a 100% field goal average for attempts between 20 and 39 yards, and made 100% of all extra point attempts. He scored a total of 134 points for the Seahawks last year which ties him for fourth highest scorer in the entire freaking league.

The Long Snapper, Clint Gresham, didn't score a single point last year but that doesn't make him any less deserving of a jersey.

Think about this: In the Peanuts cartoon, you have Lucy as Holder and Charlie Brown as Kicker but there's no Long Snapper! For the Seahawks, Jon Ryan is Holder to Haushka's Charlie Brown but unlike the cartoon, you have to have a Long Snapper to start the play in the NFL. The Long Snapper is the one to make the whole thing possible. Without him, there is no Haushka and you can kiss those 134 points goodbye.

For the Seattle Seahawks, Clint Gresham is that guy - #49, Long Snapper. My hero. And you can get his jersey here.

Is It Here Yet?

Because He's Special

I just purchased a #49 Seahawks jersey for Clint Gresham, the Long Snapper. How special is that? I could have had a #4 Hauschka jersey (Kicker) but everyone knows who Hauschka is. He's a rock star. There was also a Jon Ryan available (Punter). Also, a stud. Was somewhat tempted to get Ryan's #9.

But, in my heart, Gresham is the most special one of them all. (He happens to also like cornhole if I haven't mentioned it before.) So, now, there will be two people in the stadium wearing his jersey (besides himself). Me and his mom. Because, even the Long Snapper needs some love.

(I'll let you know if I manage to score an autograph. That would make my day!)

Moving

First things first. 

Evening Sky

Live Cornhole [rebroadcast]

[Originally broadcast on August 22, 2105]

Bringing you thrilling, live coverage of the Fourth Annual Cornhole for Cash Tournament from Blechschmidt Meadowlands

The official boards are set up and participants are arriving. Warm ups have been a display of both athleticism and flailing desperation by various bag tossers.

The official first toss was scheduled for 2pm but traffic is tied up for miles around the Meadowlands. Like the Seattle Opera, it is highly unusual for play to start late although the Commissioner has granted a rare exception.

Draws for teams are underway.

Our team managed to secure "Game of Throwns" as team name.

First toss was made at 2:45 and Game of Throwns played in the second round. The format was changed to triple elimination to compensate for the lower than usual turnout because, heaven forbid, the tournament might end sometime before midnight.

The competition is fierce among a select group of tossers but the overall mood of the tournament is more sedate than previous years. There is more encouragement of teammates and opponents alike and less smack talk than is usually heard on these courts.

Perhaps, this is due to the influx of younger players coming up through the cornhole ranks. Although a force to be reckoned with, they don't yet posses the vocabulary for it. In addition, most of their moms are also in attendance.

Half the contestants are wearing sunglasses while the other half are wearing reading glasses. Two of the youngest attendees are already vying for the top spot of Commissioner.

Youngsters, vying.

There are no separate divisions and kids of all ages are tossing the bags although there are noticeable differences in style between the generations. The old guys are nursing various aches and pains and are doing their best to mask their various physical handicaps. The youngsters, without experience, are erratic in their tosses but present themselves as secret weapons when they hone in. A recent champion just turned 14 years of age and I was personally crushed by a Sixth Grader.

Official brackets

Even as I type these words, controversy erupted over whether or not the Yellow Chickens' wins were properly recorded. The official record showed they were undefeated. The tapes were reviewed while highlights were broadcast on the big screen. Participants refreshed their drinks and fans rocked out to the stadium music being broadcast to the delight of participants and neighbors alike.

It is unknown who threw the review flag but it's probably someone who was afraid of losing to the previous champion from Enumclaw. (Oh wait, aren't they all from Enumclaw?)

It was officially determined that Ethan, 2013 Champion, and teammate Martin of team Yellow Chicken were undefeated going into the final rounds.

[Live reporting was suspended as we moved into the Semi-Finals. The following report is reconstructed from the rather hazy memory of this correspondent.]

Brother versus brother.

The intense action of the final rounds made it all but impossible to continue live reporting. The amicable atmosphere and easy-going mood disintegrated into serious competition as the day wore on. On the courts, it became a family affair with father, son, uncle and grandson all reaching the Semi-Finals.

Grandson versus grandfather

It was hard to know who to cheer for as the semi-final round got underway to determine third place as favoritism to one family member was seen as disloyalty to another. "We just want have a good match," said Dugan of the match up between his team Corn Chuckers with partner, and son, Beero, against  Uncle Jeff and Anthony. The Corn Chuckers prevailed, beating out Anthony and Jeff by a surprising 5 points. Jeff and Anthony (2012 and 2014 defending Champion) left the competition in Third Place. (Sorry, Anthony, you can only win on even years.)

The stadium lights came on just before the final matchup between Dugan and Beero of Corn Chuckers against Ethan and Martin of Yellow Chickens. There was a time out while the stadium seating configuration was adjusted to accommodate the influx of spectators for the exciting conclusion of cornhole competition.

Standing room only.

Seating configuration for the final matchup.

Yellow Chickens were still undefeated while Corn Chuckers already had two losses. The pressure was on for Corn Chuckers who needed to defeat Yellow Chickens three times to take the title while only one loss would mean Second Place.

The Commissioner announcing the final matchup.

Competition was unbelievably fierce. Three of the four remaining competitors were related to each other but that didn't stop them from doing whatever was necessary to get in their opponents heads. Jibes and insults were thrown as much as the bags but that had little influence on performance. Frequently, both teams would land all eight bags between them resulting in no score for the turn. It made for an intense, if not painstakingly slow, battle.

It was noted that many players had picked up footwear sponsors during the off season. Beero opted for professional footwear while Martin donned flip flops. While Beero and Martin both possessed mad cornhole skills, it was the cornhole progear that gave Beero an early edge.

With the first win of the final round Beero celebrated with a victory lap shouting, "They're human, baby!" While this was only the first loss of the day for the Yellow Chickens, they were deflated as much as any Super Bowl football.

Youth eventually won out with the Yellow Chickens taking it all the way to the hole, footwear notwithstanding. Ethan and Martin captured the 2015 Cornhole for Cash title, adding their names to the prestigious trophy.

2015 Champions, Yellow Chickens

Cornhole for Cash Winners

Ethan and Martin of Yellow Chickens (2015)

Anthony and Blake of Nothing But Net (2014)

Ethan and Mark of Elite (2013)

Anthony and Yours Truly of Cornholio (2012)

(Do we detect a pattern here?)

A Woman's Reasoning

I have this cute little Coach wallet that doubles as case for my iPhone 5c. It has just enough room for my phone, a few credit cards, and some cash. It has an outside zipper pocket for loose change. It also has a wrist strap which is very useful when I want to have both hands free.

I've had it for almost exactly one year. I got it at the Apple Store when we were there getting a new iPad for Hubby. He dropped his old one, shattering the glass, just days before last year's draft for his fantasy football league. This year's draft is this Sunday.

He had many hours of research into his draft pick strategy and all of it was stored in an app made suddenly unavailable. We made an emergency trip to the Apple Store to get it replaced and while I was waiting, I had little else to do but shop. (And I only got a wallet!)

A year later, his new iPad is in fine working condition (knocking on wood), Hubby has refined his draft strategy in response to new keeper rules, while the stitching on my iPhone wallet wrist strap has loosened to the point it may unravel completely. 

I took it to a shoe repair shop to see if the strap could be re-stitched. Only by hand, I was told, because the leather, doubled over, was too think for their machine. Also, they didn't have matching thread so while it might be relatively expensive (relative being in the neighborhood of $25-$30), it wouldn't be all that attractive. 

I love that little wallet and use it constantly but it only fits an iPhone 5. Seeing as I'm faced with getting a new wallet, I might as well go ahead and get an iPhone 6. 

See how I got there?

Roche Harbor

How do you park an oyster anyway?

This just in: Italians are not human!

Wait, what?

Green, Anchor

Walkway

And for tonight's entertainment....

Hello, Spencer?

This is just cruel.

Today is the first of the month and that means I get a new KenKen puzzle - a special one, one I can't get any other day of the month. I look forward to this every month, getting my special puzzle.

First thing this morning - okay second thing - I opened my email to get the link to this month's puzzle and I see this:

I was already excited to get my puzzle but there's a picture of coffee here so I thought there might be some kind of bonus involved. Like free coffee or a new Chemex coffeemaker. Maybe there was some kind of contest. (My best time for an Expert 9x9 KenKen is 15 minutes so maybe I could win!)

I read the entire email - including the fine print - and there was nothing to do with coffee. Meanwhile, my own cup has run dry and I still don't have the puzzle.

Oh, the inhumanity!

Could we just go back to bed and pretend this never happened?

It's a hot one.

Blue Moon

"Once in a blue moon" is equal to roughly 2.7 years, in case you were wondering. And, the next one is tomorrow morning. What makes it "blue" is the fact that it will be the second full moon in July. The reason the blue moon occurs in the morning (for me) is because all full moons happen at the same time for everyone (not taking time zones into account) when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned roughly every 29.5 days.

Tomorrow's full moon occurs at 6:43 EDT. (More here.)

I wonder what the odds are of a blue moon and a leap second occurring at the same time.

Astronomical.

U.S. Wrong Place To Avoid Work

" Analyzing employment habits in the world’s 10 largest economies per capita, CNN Money found that Americans clocked the most time on the job. . . . .

" Of the 10 countries surveyed, the Netherlands had the shortest workweek, with the Dutch putting in 26.6 hours weekly (approximately three-fourths the American average). "

Might be time to move.

Fox Business | Working Hard for Our Money: Who Clocks the Longest Days Around the Globe?

Underside

Good Plan

(Garment tag on sweatshirt.)

Summer Blockbuster

"Seattle Submerged"

Or maybe: "Sasquatch Can't Swim!"

Unfortunately, the horror following "a big one" in the Pacific Northwest would be only too real:

" By the time the shaking has ceased and the tsunami has receded, the region will be unrecognizable. Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”

" The first sign that the Cascadia earthquake has begun will be a compressional wave, radiating outward from the fault line. Compressional waves are fast-moving, high-frequency waves, audible to dogs and certain other animals but experienced by humans only as a sudden jolt. They are not very harmful, but they are potentially very useful, since they travel fast enough to be detected by sensors thirty to ninety seconds ahead of other seismic waves. That is enough time for earthquake early-warning systems, such as those in use throughout Japan, to automatically perform a variety of lifesaving functions: shutting down railways and power plants, opening elevators and firehouse doors, alerting hospitals to halt surgeries, and triggering alarms so that the general public can take cover. The Pacific Northwest has no early-warning system. When the Cascadia earthquake begins, there will be, instead, a cacophony of barking dogs and a long, suspended, what-was-that moment before the surface waves arrive. Surface waves are slower, lower-frequency waves that move the ground both up and down and side to side: the shaking, starting in earnest.

" Depending on location, they will have between ten and thirty minutes to get out. That time line does not allow for finding a flashlight, tending to an earthquake injury, hesitating amid the ruins of a home, searching for loved ones, or being a Good Samaritan. “When that tsunami is coming, you run,” Jay Wilson, the chair of the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission (OSSPAC), says. “You protect yourself, you don’t turn around, you don’t go back to save anybody. You run for your life.” "

The New Yorker |The Really Big One

Mountain Home, Idaho, doesn't look so bad now, does it?

it's been the ruin of many a poor girl

Just Say No

What else would they be?

5 Guys Named Moe

Went to Concerts for a Cause and listened to a band called 5 Guys Named Moe. One of the band member's kids came on stage to sing part of a song. He was pretty little - like, 5ish - but he totally nailed it.

Saw him in the parking lot afterwards and asked him for his autograph but neither of us had a pen. "Let that be a lesson to you," said his mother and lead singer. "Always carry a Sharpie."

Yeah, little dude, carry a Sharpie at all times. I have a feeling you're going to need it more and more.

Bulletin!

                                             Paris, 7 July 2015
                                                           

                                             Bulletin C 50
                                
                                             To authorities responsible
                                             for the measurement and 
                                             distribution of time             
                                                                                        


                          INFORMATION ON UTC - TAI
                      

 NO leap second will be introduced at the end of December 2015.
 The difference between Coordinated Universal Time UTC and the 
 International Atomic Time TAI is :                
                
     from 2015 July 1, 0h UTC, until further notice : UTC-TAI = -36 s

 Leap seconds can be introduced in UTC at the end of the months of December 
 or June,  depending on the evolution of UT1-TAI. Bulletin C is mailed every  
 six months, either to announce a time step in UTC, or to confirm that there 
 will be no time step at the next possible date.


                                            Daniel GAMBIS
                                            Director                        
                                            Earth Orientation Center of IERS
                                            Observatoire de Paris, France

Me, too, Siri.

The timer was for coffee. 

In Today's News

“The truth is out there: World UFO Day
Today is World UFO Day, celebrated each year since 2001 on the anniversary of the crash in 1947 of a supposed flying saucer near Roswell, New Mexico. Back in the days of film cameras, blurry snaps of UFOs were taken by some as evidence that aliens were already among us. In recent years, they seem to be visiting more often; more likely, strange lights in the sky are easier to capture on ubiquitous camera-equipped smartphones. Yet they seem to be choosy about when they come. According to data gathered by the National UFO Reporting Centre, an American non-profit organisation, UFO sightings occur mainly in summertime, in the evening, and especially on Fridays, which suggests aliens may be timing their visits to coincide with alcohol consumption. And those two bright lights close together above the western horizon tonight? Not UFOs, but Jupiter and Venus, which are in conjunction (astronomer-speak for a close encounter) this week.”



(Received via email, the original source is The Economist.)

In other news:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/02/jesus_lizard_found_in_wyoming/ - This is really an article about a lizard that walks on water (or used to.) But interesting fact: Wyoming was tropical 85 million years ago!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2487154,00.asp - someone unplugged the internet!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/11714471/Bubble-Wrap-to-lose-its-pop.html - bubble wrap no more!

http://mentalfloss.com/article/13092/bubble-wrap-was-originally-supposed-be-wallpaper - bubble wrap had first commercial success when used to ship IBM's new 1401 variable word length computer (1959)

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/1401.html - aforementioned computer

Good news day!

Seen on a bumper sticker:

" Alcohol and calculus don't mix. 

Never drink and derive. "