WE WISH YOU A...

H A P P Y

B I R T H D A Y
D E B B I E !

As we peddled like crazy to keep the bike upright, she asked, "Are we grown-up's yet?"

I replied, "Not yet honey, not yet."

Finally Starting The Shop!

After 8 weeks of waiting, the permit for the shop has been approved! Ada county is backed up with so much new construction that a small building (read not a house) is moved to the bottom of the pile. Now that the permit is in hand it should go fast.

Boise Hot Air Balloon Festival!

All of these balloons lifted off from down town Boise Saturday morning at 6:30am! As luck would have it, our hotel room just happened to be facing in the right direction! I slid open the door to the deck and started shooting! It was a great site indeed.

26 Extra Minutes In The Evening!

Due to Boise's location on the far western edge of the Mountain time zone it looks to me like we'll be getting a bonus of extra light each evening as compared to Portland. Just today alone I enjoyed 26 more minutes of light tonight than did Deb at home in Vancouver. Sure she'll get her 26 minutes of light back tomorrow morning, at the ass crack of dawn, but she'll sleep through it.

This tidbit on information is all the internet's fault... How else would I have proven this?

The following information is provided for Portland, Oregon

(longitude W122.7, latitude N45.5):

SUN
Begin civil twilight 4:45 a.m.
Sunrise 5:23 a.m.
Sun transit 1:13 p.m.
Sunset 9:04 p.m.
End civil twilight 9:42 p.m.

The following information is provided for Boise, Idaho

(longitude W116.2, latitude N43.6):

SUN
Begin civil twilight 5:29 a.m.
Sunrise 6:05 a.m.
Sun transit 1:48 p.m.
Sunset 9:30 p.m.
End civil twilight 10:06 p.m.

Those Crazy Japanese!

The Grand Canyon Skyway

When standing at the rail of the observation deck of the Sears Tower– one of the tallest buildings in the world– many visitors experience some degree of vertigo at the brink of the sheer, 1,353 foot drop-off. This is a natural response as the body's self-defense system reminds its owner of the dangers of gravity. If you're not fond of heights, a new construction project underway in Arizona will probably cause that self-defense mechanism to chew its way out of your body and flee for safety. It's called the Grand Canyon Skyway, and it dabbles in altitudes which dwarf that of the Sears Tower.

The horseshoe-shaped walkway, scheduled to open later this year, will jut out seventy feet off the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, suspending its occupants about 4,000 feet above the ground (about thrice the height of the Sears Tower) as they stand on a glass floor, looking down. The walkway's walls will be comprised of the same four-inch-thick glass as the floor, which will leave the spectacular view relatively unobstructed, even for those people who opt to remain on all fours.

Article from: www.damninteresting.com

The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

You may have heard about Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon before. In fact, you probably learned about it for the first time very recently. If not, then you just might hear about it again very soon. Baader-Meinhof is the phenomenon where one happens upon some obscure piece of information– often an unfamiliar word or name– and soon afterwards encounters the same subject again, often repeatedly. Anytime the phrase "That's so weird, I just heard about that the other day" would be appropriate, the utterer is hip-deep in Baader-Meinhof.

Most people seem to have experienced the phenomenon at least a few times in their lives, and many people encounter it with such regularity that they anticipate it upon the introduction of new information. But what is the underlying cause? Is there some hidden meaning behind Baader-Meinhof events?

Article from: www.damninteresting.com

North Korea's "Secret" Hotel

Under the personality cult of leaders Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung, North Korea has become fiercely isolationist, nationalistic, and totalitarian. Despite being one of the planet's poorest countries, the communist state looks for any achievement to boost itself in eyes of the world. Its people know little or nothing of other nations except for the fact that Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is vastly superior.

The DPRK is also one of the world's most secretive nations. For a North Korean, contact with a foreigner can land one in jail… or worse. But there is one embarrassing secret that is hard for the government to hide, literally. It's the Ryugyong Hotel in the Potong District of North Korea's capital city of Pyongyang. It's difficult to hide because it's a massive, 105-story structure which dominates the city's skyline. It's an embarrassment because it's a complete engineering failure… its empty, dilapidated husk lurks over the capital, mocking the citizens of the proud country.

Article from: www.damninteresting.com

Where The Hell Was Matt?

Where The Hell Is Matt?

$300 A Day Sitting In A Car?

“Traffic is bad. Spend 2 hours or pay me $10 and get there in 20 minutes”

Updated Google Earth View

Here is the latest satellite view of the Arrow Rock development, soon to be our home in Kuna, Idaho. I hope that the next update will actually include a top down view of the house in some stage of construction.

Here we go, there we go ...

It has so far been a near-perfect success - with brilliant stadiums, a chilled-out atmosphere and a near-total absence of hooligans. The only thing the organisers of the World Cup appear to have got wrong is the number of toilets provided. Biologists have warned that trees in Berlin are in danger of dying because of male fans urinating in the bushes. The huge, leafy 'fan mile' in the centre of the city has regularly been attracting crowds of up to 700,000 who have gathered to drink beer, eat sausages and watch games on giant screens - but it only has 280 portable loos. 'The urea sinks into the ground as ammonia. In small quantities this is a good fertiliser, but too much acidity is bad for the soil and could damage or even kill the trees,' warns Tilman Lamparter, a biologist at Berlin's Free University.

House Photos Update

The Idaho house as it Looks today. This would be great... Except for the three freshly painted white roof gables. They are supposed to be "Moroccan Brown." We contacted the builder and this will be addressed Monday.

Wood flooring has been installed. We like the wooden heat vent covers.

Bookcases are going into the living room.

Kitchen cabinets and hardwood floors are looking good in the kitchen!

From left to right... Bills desk, kitchen counter, and then oven on the bottom and microwave on the top.

This is the stove hood with glass door cabinets on either side. Below will go the stove once the counter tops are installed.

Tile is going up all over the house including in the walk in shower.

Tile around the tub.

Slate is being installed out on the Lanai.
Crazy big front door! I think it is 4 feet wide.

They Should Scare You Too...

A Very Sad Time

In Loving Memory Of

EDWARD D. SPENCE

Born
October 22, 1940 - Blytheville, Arkansas
Died
June 13, 2006 - Eugene, Oregon

Mermorial Graveside Service
Rest Lawn Cemetery
Monday, June 19, 2006 2:00P.M.

Officiating
Lupe Phillips - Police Chaplain

Honor Guard
Eugene Police Department

Arrangements By
Musgrove Family Mortuary
Theresa Isaksen, Funeral Director

Obituary

A memorial graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, June 19th at Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Junction City for Edward Spence of Eugene, who died June 13th of heart failure at age 65.

He was born October 22, 1940 in Blytheville, Arkansas, to Ulysses and Charlcie Brown Spence. He worked as a police officer for the Eugene Police Department for 25 years.

Survivors include two sons, Craig and Bradley, both of Eugene; a daughter, Debra Whitten of Battle Ground; his mother; two brothers, Leonard of Eugene and James of Roseburg; and three grandchildren.

"CROSSING THE BAR"

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me,
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark.

For tho' from out our bourne of time and place
The flood may bear me far.
I hope to see my pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

Alfred Tennyson

Crazy Video

Worlds Fastest Growing City!

In many areas, it is not easy to see Dubai's sky without at least one crane in your view; Industry experts cautiously estimate that 15 to 25 per cent of the world's cranes are in Dubai. Some US$ 90 BILLION are on-going in Dubai alone.

Animator vs Animation

click opening screen to start.

Hole In One!

Spelling Bee, Stalling For Time!

The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments:

Kennedy Space Center

Welcome to John F. Kennedy Space Center. Hot and Humid!

A memorial to those lost

Yes, they have alligators in Florida!

Rockets and Engines

"Change the oil please, and check the tires."

A mock up of the Space Shuttle

The Real reason I am not an Astronaut!

June Motivational Poster

And The Winner Is...

Here are the last submitted amounts: $325.00 - $465.00 - $350.00 - $362.05 - $300.00 - $427.38 - $267.00 - $261.48 and $347.28.

The actual amount of change in the pile is...

$352.71

Making 'Dad' the winner with his guess of $350.00! "Since $300 is already taken" seems to have worked out pretty well. Congratulations! Your prize will be slightly modified due to your tropical location, since I don't think you have a Best Buy or Starbucks in your local area!

A runner up prize will go to 'Sandra E'! She came in early with a guess of $347.28 and stuck to her guns. I am working on what that prize will be... I'll let you know soon.

5 Park-like Acres in Brush Prairie Part IV

Let's try $325,000, shall we?

Coin Count Results Posted On Tuesday

I am currently in Orlando Florida, so I will post the winner on Tuesday night.