I think I'm a Chuck Taylor whore

For anyone that has known me for any amount of time knows that I covet the weirdest things. Some big , some small.

Men as a general rule do not care about fashion. There are two rules to that make an exception to my previous statement: Gay men, and men with enough money to have a good personal tailor.

I am neither. Although there are some women out there that have just enough of a shrewish attitude that even a man-whore like me would even be willing to take a shot in the mouth. Fortunately I have never met those women.

I have some sense of fashion. I wear clothes that do go well together, but may not necessarily be standout fashion.

I love Converse. They are my weakness. My clothing kryptonite. I can't recall precisely when I received my first pair, but I instantly loved them. They fit my personality in a way that no other article of clothing could previously or since.

I seem to building quite a collection.

I have a healthy appreciation for skulls. As a person with an interest in the macbre and a love of Halloween and a punk rocker since birth, these are my favourites.

These are the only low rider Chucks that I own.These are technically Jack Purcell's since they are the low riders. Again, it's the whole Halloween, skulls things. These were available only through the Disney Store about 3 years ago. They even came in a box shaped like a toe-coffin.

These are my failsafe Chucks. My everyday wear. Basic black goes with everything from jeans, shorts, slacks and my kilt.

These are my newest find. My wonderful Paisley found this pair for me at one of the local thrift stores. I had to have them! These Chucks have been out of circulation for a few years!! You can't even get them from Chucks website.

I figure it's a pretty harmless obsession. It's not cheap though. Have you seen the price of a pair of Chucks lately? They are obscene but worth it.

Go get a pair of Chucks today.

Jesus was kicked out of his father's home

There are two things I make it rule to generally not discuss: religion and politics. They are no win conversations that turn into hurt feelings, arguments and sometimes they develop into fights.

HOWEVER.......................this one I just can't resist.

It's seems that on October 31st, the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Des Peres, MO asked a man to leave that was dressed like Jesus.

I want to know the real reason why. I've read their local news stations report and I've been to the church's website. They tell two very different stories. At least from what I can see. Maybe the media left something out. Maybe the church withheld information as to why from the media. Maybe this man was working in conjunction with the church to get attendance up.

Did anyone forget that it just happened to be Halloween?

According to a posting on the church's website, they asked this man dressed as Jesus to leave for security reasons. Apparently wearing robes that can hide weapons and carrying a staff is cause for alarm to religious types in the state of Missouri.

What do they do to the women that enter the church wearing a dress or the men that carry an umbrella? Are those two items cause for alarm if the church is going to claim this man was asked to leave for his choice of clothing and having a walking staff? You can just as easily hide a gun in a garter as well as under the robe of Christ. You can easily assault someone with an umbrella just as easily as with a staff.

Maybe I watch too many movies that involve martial arts with umbrellas and scantily clad women packing assault weapons in their lacy undergarments.

Probably not.

Maybe our Jesus dressing worshiper is not in his right mind? Who knows. According the news report, this gentleman has been doing this for 22 years and this is only the 2nd time he's been asked to leave a church.

So with that little information available, then why didn't the ushers ask him to open his robes for inspection and ask him to leave his staff out front? It was just that simple!! No, instead they turned him away at lobby.

An individual on the news story comment board calling themselves ArchAngel says that he (or she) is an usher at the church and was there when the Jesus clad man arrived and paints a very different picture. What follows are ArchAngel's comments :

ArchAngel at 2:12 PM November 02, 2010



I was ushering when this guy walked into the church. I'm surprised that Fox2News and Teresa Woodard would run a slanderous story like this . This man comes into our church during our Reformation Sunday service. He is informs the lead usher he is there to share his "message" with our congregation. He came uninvited. To our elder and our usher team, because of his dress, erratic behavior and persistance, he presented like a person who was mentally unbalanced. He was also carrying a potentially lethal weapon. When we would not let him disrupt the service, he became agitated, loud and disruptive and he was asked to leave. He refused and tried to push his way around our elder who was speaking to him. We called the police. Your peers have taken great pains and to sensationally report other violent, unbalanced people attacking or shooting congregation members, and we don't know what he had strapped to his body under that robe. We did not trust his presence in our midst. It was the proper thing to do. I'd have them do it again. And, I'd like to point out, Teresa.. If you would have been sitting in our church with your kids and he would have sat next to you.. you would have MOVED. You hypocrite. Fox2News Owes our church an apology for this sensationalist and misleading story.

Note to self: do not become involved in organised religion and attend this church.

Honestly folks, I'm a man of science, not religion. I don't believe this man is Jesus or trying to be Jesus or anything else since I have my own doubts that there is a Jesus to begin with. ArchAngel seems a bit over the top here and too quick to defend the actions of his church and criticise the media for their coverage. Something very fishy here.

ArchAngel even admits in his statement that this man came uninvited. Of course he was uninvited!!! Not like anyone said to this man "Hey dress like the Big J and come to our worship on Halloween, it'll be a hoot!!".

I have in the past gone to churches and not been invited. I was also welcomed regardless of how I was dressed.

What a bunch of fucking hypocrites!!

And then ArchAngel post another comment just moments later:
 
ArchAngel at 2:16 PM November 02, 2010



He wasn't there to hear the word, he's done that before.. Usually in more traditional attire. Mr. Thompson said "I have a message that those people[the congregation] need to hear!"
I wear a suit and tie to church out of respect for my Lord and Savior. I think if Jesus were to show up at the church he wouldn't be wearing robes and sandals (as he isn't in 1st century Judea).. he'd probably be wearing either a nice suit and conservative tie, or L.L. Bean. I also believe that Jesus would have been much more polite than Mr. Thompson was.


Again with ArchAngel's antagonists attitude. This guy is on a witch hunt (or Jesus hunt as it were) and just can't stop putting his foot in his mouth!!! Who is he to say what Jesus would wear to church!!!??

Like he would know since he apparently believes that JC would wear what he apparently wears. How presumptuous.
We may never know as readers and outsiders what really happened. I can tell you that as long as there are people like ArchAngel involved in religion, that is reason enough for me to keep my science loving ass out of a church.

JAKE Rolls Over!!! Again!!

This past weekend Jake rolled 195,000 miles.

While I haven't done any background homework on Jake, I'm pretty positive that he still has the original engine that he was manufactured with.

He still looks good.

Here's to another 195,000 more miles.

Hollywood: Going Back To the Future

No one in Hollywood seems to have an original idea anymore. At least not in one of the big budget studios.

Remakes of original films have been going on for years. Some good. Most bad.

Well I've just read the most disturbing thing. This is actually being billed as a sequel. Still it's the principal of the matter.

TOP GUN II

*blank stares and open mouths*

TOP GUN II

I know. I can't believe it myself. WTF?

First off, the way the film is described and the realism approach are two different things.

Tom Cruise returns as a TOP GUN instructor. That's as far as the talk gets.

Now here's the real version.

After narrowly averting a crisis in the Gulf of India and successfully knocking commie pilots from the sky, Mav and Ice Man return to the carrier and a hero’s welcome.

Flash forward now 25 years since we last saw Mav and his lady “Charlie” embrace at the dinner on base. Their corner lot beach front house is on the auction block. They were the last of the holdouts…………the rest of the neighbourhood has become high end condos for the bourgeois that have had to sell their homes in the California budget crisis and downsize.

The poor little 356 Cabriolet is sitting on blocks in the driveway while a balding and slightly heavier Mav wrenches a Harley Panhead in the garage.


Charlie, now all leathery from the California sun and with puffy lips from too many botox injections, leans out the back door with her glass of Boon’s Strawberry Hill and yells for her man: “Hey Mav, take me to bed or lose me forever!”.


7 minutes later we see Mav zipping up his flight suit while heading out back to his Harley so he can go begin another day of flight instruction at the local flight academy for single engine certification. This is all that he is cleared for until the Navy budget can provide him with a much needed glaucoma surgery.

I know, not the happy pretty version you thought I was going for.

Blah! *@#! work today.................

Ya every have one of those days where you don't feel motivated at work?

Me too!!!

This is one of those weeks.

Oh I have plenty to do, I just don't really feel the urgency in completing the work. Makes me glad I'm one of the few around here that actually gets an hour for lunch.

To make things worse, it's actually sunny out and almost 70 degrees. The clincher on that is my window looks right out over the Puget Sound.

All I can think about is going home and putting another coat of black paint on the dining room table. I'm thinking about how much left over Halloween decorations that I have left over and not using that I need to take to my friend. He will be so thrilled. We're both Halloween babies, only he was actually born in Halloween and I got shafted arriving 3 days before. No matter. Halloween is still my Christmas.

I'm pre-occupied with getting all my loose materials and parts together in one spot so that I can continue with fabricating more Steampunk weapons. Ask and I will build. This is the first weapon that I made back in July. It was constructed using parts from the now defunct engine from the Paisley's Subaru. Don't worry, I put in a new engine.

Another thing on my mind is a story idea. I started this blog for two reasons: to vent and to learn to be a better writer.

I definitely deliver on the first. I don't see that my writing potential has increased.

I have started on a script idea for a short film. Sorry........that is a secret for now. All will be revealed in time.

Then I thought "I'll write some kind of short erotic story!" since apparently a lot of writers get a start doing some kind of erotic story or whatever. Only problem is that with as filthy and twisted as my mind is, I just don't have a beginning. All I hear is a drumstick tapping on a high hat cymbal and the a narrator stating "and then suddenly the maid walked in". How fucked up is that?

I had a dream last week. Very vivid. NO it wasn't an erotic dream! It was about cruise ships and the effect of having cruise ships calling port in a city and what all those dollars mean to an economy of the cities they call their home port.

Weird I know!!! I told you my mind was very ADD.

Anyway, I have a story idea on that topic.

Anyway. I don't feel motivated right now. I have too much other crap running around in my head like little kids with scissors and jacked up on Pixi-Stix.

I have to go. I have paperwork to process and coffee to get and the last rice krispy treat to nab.

The other side of the ADA story

You all know what I do, in a round about way, and why.

You know that I can't abide by people not giving consideration for those with disabilities.

Another thing that rears it's ugly little head periodically that I can't stand is someone with a disability that turns their situation into a pity party. Go seek some therapy!

We recently had a guest that (through no fault of his own) had a stateroom that had something go very wrong with it. I can't go into details, but I will say it was bad enough that he and his family had to be moved from the stateroom and into another. The problem is that they were in a wheelchair accessible room and the one that they were moved to wasn't accessible (very easily) to this guest.

Not that the crew didn't try to get him another accessible room, they just weren't available. They were all occupied by others that needed them.

This guest made a huge fuss about the ordeal through the entire voyage. Of course once back home he wrote a letter to our company telling of how inconvenienced he was and how the crew did nothing to make his sailing enjoyable and everything was horrible and that he just.......................and on and on and on and on. BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.

The reply he received from our guest relations department included an apology and a future cruise credit and other forms of compensation. This apparently was not good enough.

Today we received an email from our guest berating us for the offensive offer and that nothing we do could make up for his horrible trip.

He wanted us to know that he will do everything in his power to spread the bad word about our company and how poorly we treat the disabled and that he will .................BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.

The most interesting thing this guest did was leave a letter in the stateroom safe for the next guest to find with slanderous information about our company and that they will have just as bad a time as he did and that we are uncaring and unsympathetic towards the disabled.

How sad is that? When you have to stoop that low, you have a giant chip on your shoulders and your disability is just the tip of the iceberg. This is a classic example of a very angry person that is using his circumstance to have everyone feel sorry for him and take advantage of everyone and everything. When someone stands up to him, he uses his condition to bully people into feeling sorry for him in an attempt to get his own way and when it doesn't work he acts out in the manner that he has.

It makes it hard to want to help a person like this. And it's not just this individual with a physical disability. The same can be said with a mental disability or a substance abuse problem.

On a brighter side, the next guests in that room that found his letter had a wonderful time on our ship.

Catholic Shampoo

While shopping in a food store, two nuns happened to pass by

the beer cooler. One nun said to the other, "Wouldn't a nice cold

beer or two taste wonderful on a hot summer evening?"



The second nun answered, "Indeed it would sister, but I would not

feel comfortable buying beer as I am certain it would cause a scene at the checkout."

"I can handle that without a problem." she replied as she picked up a six-pack and headed for the checkout.

"The cashier had a surprised look on his face when the two nuns

arrived with a six-pack of beer. One of the nuns explained "We use beer for washing our hair, a shampoo of sort, if you will."



Without blinking an eye, the cashier reached under the counter,

pulled out a package of pretzel sticks and placed them in the bag

with the beer. He looked the nun straight in the eye, smiled and

said, "The curlers are on the house."

American travelers without compassion

I'm positive I have ranted about this before. If I have then you're going to hear it again. This is something that just hits me in the right spot.

Most Americans are insensitive to those with ADA (American Disabilities Act) needs. I hate all you fuckers that can't do the right thing.

Just a bit of a background about me. In my work position I ensure that those folks with legitimate disabilities, regardless how minor, have access to the accessible facilities that my company provides our guests. One of the ways we ensure this is that we have a form that must be completed and returned that lets us know that the guests in those rooms need them.

This week a guest called to inform us that they needed an accessible stateroom in order to travel on the particular trip they are scheduled for. After contacting the travel agents of the guests in the rooms without that form on file I was contacted by a particular agent that clearly has a problem with her morality compass and was never taught to do the right thing as a child.

When I asked her  if her guests needed the room that they were in she stated that "no they don't need it, but the wife had broken her hand and it would be easier for her to be in this room".

I asked her to please consider moving her guests to another room then since we have someone that needs this room because it's wheelchair accessible. She actually refused to move her guests.

Even after trying to appeal to her better nature and explain that this person is in a wheelchair full time and needs this room to travel she still said "no".

What a *twunt.

While I won't move her guests from the room at this time, I let the front office and housekeeping staff know that the guests currently scheduled for that room don't need it.

What is wrong with this woman that she can't do the right thing? At what point in her life did she decide that people with disabilities were lesser human beings? As someone that has a few family members that are disabled in one form or another this really got to me.

I think the ability to show any real compassion towards those with a disability is a problem that afflicts most Americans.

Yes you heard me. Americans are insensitive to others around them. They seem to have a sense of entitlement about them that is apparently a key to walk on others. It is the same affliction that makes it OK for Americans to travel to foreign countries and believe that those cultures will speak English and welcome them  with open arms. It is the same affliction that apparently provides American travelers with the belief that they will be able to have the same comfortable accomodations abroad that they would have at home and expect those comforts.

Yes I do realise that I am an American and that I'm basically painting a target on myself but I also believe that I am one of the exceptions and that there are other like me. That is after all why I do what I do. It's not a glamorous job and I make very little money for my efforts, but I believe in what I do and that is important to me.

I've rambled so back to my point.
The one singular thing that keeps me hung up on this issue is that even after telling her that if it was her guests that needed a wheelchair accessible room to travel, I would be making this search on their behalf. I even pushed it so far as to ask her "to do the correct and moral thing and let the room go to someone that needs it" and was still told "no".

I just hope that one day she will be become better acquainted with ADA laws in this country. I know that they are confusing, but they are there for a reason.




*note: twunt is my own amalgamated word combining twat and cunt. Feel free to incorporate it into your vocabulary.

Stalking celebrities in Seattle

This has been a record weekend for the Paisley and I. This weekend has brought us two celebrities sightings.

I fournd out Friday afternoon that Dan Akroyd was going to be in town on Saturday to promote his Crystal Head Vodka. We got arrived at the liquor store about 45 minutes before Dan did. He arrived in his Crystal Head RV and got set up in the store pretty quick. Once  he was in and sitting there was no messing around.  

The man Dan reaching for my copy of The Blues Brothers anniversary DVD to sign after signing my 1/2 gallon of Crystal Head.

Here's the Paisley with Dan in an awesome handshake. I had a photo taken as welll or so I thought, but apparently the guy I asked to take the photo couldn't work my camera. Such is life I guess. I know I was there and I have other photos so I'm still happy with the day.

And finally here I am with my 1/2 gallon of Crystal Head. I haven't cracked it open yet. Not sure if I will just yet.

Tonight we stalk Harry Connick Jr. He's in town for a concert at the winery and I got my Paisley some tix for her birthday to go and see him tonight.

Cocktail Misery

Charles Dickens walks into a bar and orders a martini, bartender say “Olive or Twist?”

Beer Convention

The CEO's of Guinness, Miller and Corona are at a beer convention. After a day of meetings and speeches and schmoozing from vendors the three decide to meet up for dinner.

Once at the restaurant the waitress ask's them each what they would like to drink.

"I'll have a Miller" says the CEO of Miller.

"I'll have a Corona" says the CEO of Corona.

"I'll have a Coke" says the CEO of Guinness.

The other two CEO's stare at him and ask why he's not having a beer to which he says "Well if you two blokes aren't having a beer then neither am I".

Clutter Free Hallway!!!

So some time ago the Paisley and I had decided that we needed to be on a more minimalist track with our lives and our home. Especially since we live in an 812sq ft condo. That doesn't leave a lot of room.

well after a lot of struggle to determine what stays and what goes we were able to reduce the amount of books that we have by a lot. This means that the two big IKEA book cases we had in our hallway have now been reduced down to just one.

Even better is that one book case can now lay on it's side opening up more of our hallway!! No more dark narrow passage. I have been feeling for sometime that I needed a miner's hat with one of those lanterns on it everytime I was making my way from the bedroom to anyplace else in the house.

You can see here from the "before" posting that we had quite a bit of books, but now with the "after" (see photo below) we have loads of room!!!!

It is sad to see so many books go, but you can find them on Amazon if you'd like to provide them with a good home!!

Drinking with siblings......................

is apparently a bad idea in my family. Especially in public.

Yep. My sister and I after a few pints and two shots of tequila.

We're the fun party.

The dining room muligan

What started out as a conversation about our tastes, likes and common interest lead the Paisley and I to a more in depth discussion about how to decorate our home.

We have been going through our belongings and donating the things that we just don't believe we can sell and setting aside the things that we can sell on line for a bit of cash to aid in pulling ourselves out of the consumer driven credit card debt we've amassed.

In the process of all this we have found out a few things about ourselves. We don't need "stuff" to fill our lives. We now have more rooms in our rooms because of the lack of "stuff". It's amazing how much "stuff" we were able to get into an 812 sq ft condo. Weird. Where were we putting it all?!

With more room in our rooms, that allowed us to view these rooms in a different manner and really take a look at how they are currently decorated.

The dining room is by far the emptiest of the rooms and the easiest to work in. After some discussion and some purussing through some Halloween literature, we came to the conclusion that our decorating style could be Halloween-like in some respect year round and still be everyday presentable.

With such an agreeable decision between us we decided on grey walls and keep our baseboard and crown molding white. 

The furniture will be repainted in all black to offset the look of the room and then the Paisley will add a few colour items to the room with a few things here and there. Look for some photos of the dining room furniture in the coming week or so with it's new look.

1967 Thunderbird: Rat Rod nation is calling

So this friend of mine has this car sitting in her driveway.

It came to her through unfortunate circumstances: the death of her dad. She can't sell it the way it sits. No one seems to want it. She doesn't know it's value. So there it sits. It is complete. What's not attached to the car is in the trunk.

So for a few Saturday's we have been going to her home after dark and sitting around the fire in the backyard and chatting and drinking and just enjoying summer. Through all this I have met a very cool man who has a very strong interest in cars as well. Especially Fords.

One night I recently asked my friend if we could rat rod her Thunderbird. She very quickly said "sure go for it". Wow that was a quick answer. Of course I had to ask her again the following day, post alcohol just to make sure the OK still stood. After all it's human nature to do and say dumb-ass things when one's been drinking and then regretted it the following day.

Not the case here. We still have our OK.

So without any further drivel from me, here it is. The winter project. Our rat rod.

I can't really tell if that is blue or if it's primer. Hard to say. I think it's primer.

The hideaway headlight covers still work!! Those can be expensive to replace.

That solid taillight piece could be a bugger to find. There is a small crack in the bottom of the lens where the top of the bumper is pushed in at the center.

I just can't believe what great shape it's in considering what it looks like right now. I can't wait to get going on this one and show it next year. Don't get me wrong, I do love having the 944, but there's just something about a big, heavy American car made before emissions controls and catalytic converters and fuel mileage.

This one will be close to home for me in a few ways. I really got along with and enjoyed her dad's company alot. He loved making hot rods. The other is that my grandfather that passed earlier this year was very much a Ford man and owned a lot of Thunderbirds in his life. In fact, he owned a 1967 Thunderbird 4 door. That one was a one a of a kind. The rear doors on the 1967-1969 Thunderbirds were suicide doors. My grandfather also ordered his with the 429 Thunderjet engine. This one is not as large at only 390 cu.in.

Don't look for too many updates anytime soon on this one. This project will be spread out over the winter, but I promise to revisit this one and show the progress.

Loaning things to family

It always happens. You have something in your possession that a relative wants to borrow.

Just about everyone who's anybody knows that I'm a movie whore and I have quite a few of them. I actually don't mind loaning out as long as my stuff is cared for. Movies are not cheap these days. Especially the BluRay discs.

On Easter my BIL finally had his computer center finished that would control his entertainment center and the disc drive is a BluRay player. He asked to borrow a couple and I'm more than happy to do so.

Angels and Demons and Death Race were the request. Little did I know that this would be the last time I would see Death Race.

The computer my BIL has in the rack lays on it's side so the DVD drive is on it's side as well. Well somewhere along the way, my disc had magically jumped out of the DVD drive and rolled into the back of the computer.

I finally got it back two weeks ago, minus the DVD case, and with with two spots that are now frozen and making the disc unwatchable.

It would have been nice to know that the case had been lost. There was no word of that.

Then it freezes 36 minutes in and again just over the hour mark. This is critical dialogue people!!!

What made the situation bad, was when it was mentioned to my BIL and SIL, they reacted poorly. We received a very confrontational response stating that "fine we just won't ask to borrow anything from you again".

I let them know what version I had........I always by the deluxe edition and with the iTunes copy for my iTouch. What they brought me was the deluxe without the iTunes. Grrr.

This is just the second run in I've had in a month with the BIL/SIL over the treatment of my belongings. See blog post from Enuff Stuff. I've stopped holding my breathe for an apology and have resigned myself to the fact that they will not be making my nephew be accountable for his actions.

I've never ruined a friendship over goods being returned broken, but relatives (even if by marriage) is another story.

PNW PCA Picnic: Jake attends a show and shine gathering

So Jake and the Paisley and I crashed a picnic last month.

OK not really. We were invited by my father in law who (unlike me) joined the Porsche Club America (PCA) and had an invite about the member picnic locally at one of the county parks and all were invited to bring the cars, garage queens or not.

Apparently that last part is aimed at Jake. He's no garage queen. In fact he was the roughest boy there. I made him uncomfortable and parked him right up front where he could be seen from the picnic shelter by everyone. I was actually surprised at how many people asked me about him.

The other great thing was that everyone was really nice and didn't look down on me for having a "work in progress" car.

Sure all the other cars there were in pristine order and look like they have their own caretakers, but this one thing was bringing us all together. This was the kind of camaraderie I had been seeking with the BMWCCA for 4 years and had not found. Apparently Bavarian Motour Works loosely translated means "car snob".

We saw some really nice cars and met some nice folks while we were at it.

This is one very nice 914-6

Two 968's: the model after the 944. Jake's younger siblings.

The always elusive 968 Cabriolet

That white GT RS on the end is one mean car!

Jake was one of only two 944's that showed that day, as it was mostly 911's and Boxsters. We still had fun and I can't wait to do a PCA weekend drive.

New Joint Venture Blog!!!

For a few years now the Paisley and I have had our very own blogs chronicling different things in our lives.

I believe hers is way more organised than mine, however.

That kind of leads me to our joint venture. Organisation.

The Pais has been reading a lot of blog lately about minimalisation and we have been clearing our home of unnecessary clutter for a few months now.

I'd have to say we have done a good job in getting rid of things in our life that we just don't need anymore.

I won't go into detail here. That  is the purpose of the new blog. The new one is simply titled: Enuff Stuff: Confessions of our Possessions. I had actually wanted it to read: "Enuff Stuff: True confessions of possession whores" but the Paisley wasn't having any of that!! Not that she is opposed to the word whore (since we freely throw it around in reference to my ex), she was just looking for something that conveyed we are consumer hogs in a more professional sounding manner.

Please take the time to click on over and have a read. This is where you can watch us transform our home and our lives to be more independent of consumerism that we as Americans are driven to believe we need to be.

We will still maintain and continue to write on our seperate blogs. Don't worry. There will always be material to read from your favourite Kilted Agent.

Happy Reading!

Deck Build: Coming to a halt?

It seems that one of my neighbours has taken issue with our deck. The funny part is that we don't know what that issue is. She won't say.

Even in her email to our property management rep she didn't specify.

Here's her email to our representative at the property management company that oversees our condo.


Good morning S and M

cc V


Yesterday K inadvertently told me she was helping the T's build their deck.......
.......and we had a little more mild conversation with me saying they cannot do
that and K saying oh they have permission.....and so on...


So! I am pretty sure I know the answer to this but my question to both of you is
if you remember any conversation etc about this in the past. K seemed to think
it must have been approved by a "previous board". And that their "stack" was fine with
it.


Well, I am not fine with it!!


We simply cannot let this happen.


And I am gathering info I may need to stop it.......help me!


I have spoken with V. She is out of office until about 2pm today, but I will get back with her then.
And I will go around and see what I see....and let you know more when I do.


Thanks, D

It all sounds so urgent yet when I pick through this email I find nothing to back up her urgency in stopping us from builing our deck.

Let me point out that our "stack" she is refering to are the residents that can actually see our yard from their condos. D is not one of them. She lives at the opposite end of the building. In fact the only way for her to see our yard is to leave her unit and actually walk her nosey arse into the backyard and walk all the way down to our end and stand in it.

All of our neighbours that can see the yard have no issue with a small deck being built there and quite often we do have neighbours down to socialise and enjoy our yard in the summer months.

This is the same woman who demands that the animal owners in our condo take their pets off property to do their business. By animal owners she is refering to the DOG owners. As a cat owner she has no problem in letting her bundle of fur outside to piss wherever it pleases.

She also suggested that we ask the landscaping company to use all electric equipement instead of gas powered tools when mowing our grounds and blowing leaves into a containment area becuase for the the 6 hours a month that they are there (every two weeks for 3 hours) she is bothered by the smell of gas and the noise their equipment makes.

My neighbour and I recently fixed some latches on both the garbage kiosks at our condo. Guess who complained about the repair?

YOU GOT IT!!! D!!! She didn't like that one of the four bolts replaced was not uniform to the others.

REALLY??!!

What I can't believe is that she has to be the only Democrat that is encouraging a nanny state living situation for everyone in our complex.
I will keep the good thoughts that this will blow over and that the rest of the board will see that our deck not only enhances the yard, but that it will somehow increase our property value since where we are placing it can't grow grass. It's a shaded area and all the water run off from the yard in the winter months runs right into that corner causing moss to grow where grass should be growing.

Here's to hoping that this ends well for us.

Deck Project Pt II

Spent a bit of time yesterday in all my busy-ness working on the area that will soon be our deck.

Our neighbour came down and helped pull out the rest of the moss and sod and root systems.

Once that was finished we graaded and leveled it was stamped down to pack it into place.

Graded and leveled. Ready for the next stage.

Next was the trip to Home Depot where we picked up 500 pounds of sand and some heavy duty visqueen.

We turned my neighbours Honda into a lowrider with all that sand.

I had a little fun at the Paisley's suggestion:

A temporary zen rock garden !!! Fun to do until I get the lumber.

Building A Deck: Pt I

So we have a resident in one of the other buildings in our condo that had permission from our former HOA president to have her common area yard pulled apart and professionally landscaped.

Well that just opened up a the Paisley's brain and together we started thinking that we really need to do something to make our backyard our a little personal and make it fit our needs/wants.

We have done some landscaping and trimmed back (severely) a hedge that the landscaping service can't seem to trim on a regular basis.

So now it's time to get someplace to socialise. Let's face it, a 6' X 8' concrete patio just doesn't have enough room to have people gather in nice weather. It's time to build a deck.

The SW corner of the yard is graded for water runoff/drainage and is completely shaded with trees. What this means is that where there should be grass there is only moss. This is a huge turn off to me since I like my grass and I like it trim and green.

The other nite I came home got on the working in the yard clothes and the gloves and started to pull out the moss/sod and pull out root systems and rocks. I still need to finish the clean up and break up the dirt and and then level and grade the area. That should happen today or tomorrw.

Here is the progress to this point:

The start of digging out moss and sod

With all the moss and sod gone and most of the rocks and root systems pulled out.

Steampunk Weapon Build: Fresh from the DSB Workshop

So without any blabbering from me here is a preview of the first steampunk weapon to come out of my workshop.

This little gem was constructed from parts from a 1999 Subaru EJ25 water boxer engine. Mostly. The gauge is from one of my father in laws many previous Studebaker's. The brass connector fittings for the braided hose were just sitting around in a peanut tin on the shelf. The braided hose was found in a drawer at the work bench.

It all started with a cast aluminum coolant pipe.

 Then both the long ends are cut off. I used a Dremel tool. A metal hand saw will do just fine as well.

The opposite end of the pipe is cut off.

Now to add something special. Here is the fuel rail assembly and two injectors from the port side head of the EJ25 donor engine block.

Once it's back in the vice, I can drill the necessary holes to mount the fuel rail and injector assembly to the side the barrel.

This was the first stage of setting it into place. Once the holes were drilled to make sure that it would work in this location the upper holes were left unthreaded to allow the rubber o-rings around the base of the injectors to allow them to rest snug in the holes. The smaller holes though were threaded using an average tap and die set that is in the workshop. I had to make sure that with the injectors being long that I used a pair of long bolts and custom cut a pair of hollow sleeves for the bolts to go through in order for the whole assembly to be mounted on the port side of the barrel.

Jumping ahead a few step, here is the almost finished weapon in the vice with the injector assembly permanently mounted and the fuel line twisted to meet the brass fittings connecting the pipework and the braided line together. Just above the handle you can see I've added an amp-metre as a filler to the hole that is in the cast aluminum pipe where the cars thermostat used to be mounted.

A close up of the gauge.

A view of the topside of the steamy weapon.

It's so close to being finished.

Here it is getting the first coat of copper paint.

This is all I can show you for now. It still has more work coming. I need to get a cap for the bottom of the handle and I'm considering wiring it with some fibre optic lights and a little something to make the gauge show this weapon has a positive charge when the trigger is pulled.

Be on the look out for the finished product soon and start looking for the next weapons project from the DSB Workshop.

How Steampunk Weapons Are Born

OK I really wanted to wait to write about this little gem until I had finished it, but I'm just getting to excited about it.

I've taken up a bit of a new hobby. My wife (The Paisley) and I belong to a local group called the Seattle Steamrats. We are steampunkers. We have been doing this since last year and have met some really great folks of all kinds of talent.

You will get a chance to meet a few as I start to interview them in the coming few months.

Back the topic at hand. Weapons. Steampunk weapons to be more precise.

Last year I had to replace the engine in the Paisley's Subaru. After replacement the old engine has sat in a wooden cocoon in my father in law's garage for the past 10 months. Well a few months ago I finally got over there and started pulling the heads off the block and the old flywheel and other items that I thought I would be able to part out and recoup some of the money that the new-to-me-used engine cost.

No such luck. After a month of advertising I hadn't sold anything from the old EJ25 sitting there and taking up space.

An idea struck me as I was staring at it wonder how to unload these parts or make them useful..........Steampunk weapons!! YES!!!  

We met a gentleman in the SSR that spends his time scouring the thrift store and yard sales and other low cost and freebie sites for old lamps and candle sticks and other bits and uses them to make steampunk weapons. Pretty ingenious really. He makes some really great looking items.

If you peep my profile photo, the weapon I'm posing with is a creation that my friend made to give you some idea of his style.

This had me thinking that I could do the same, but with engine parts. This was just too perfect since my father in law has not cleaned out his garage in the 20+ years I have known my wife. He has lots of engine bits hanging about waiting for me to make strange and utterly bizarre weaponry from them.

So to shortly follow this entry I will be unveiling my first weapon from the new creative outlet of my twisted little mind.

I have to get on the ball and finish this one up. Steamcon II is coming this fall and the Paisley needs some small dainty lady like weapons from my workshop.

One Tired Dog

Sitting at our neighbours the other day I looked over to see our furry child, Bon Jovi passed out in the Paisley's lap. I love this photo of him. He was just so worn out.

Chocolate Covered Bacon

I love to eat.

There are just too many good things in this world to not like eating.

Vegetarians and meat-eaters alike all have that one food that just send us over the edge and makes us want to gorge until we pass out in a food coma.

Mine is bacon.

There is only one thing that could make bacon better. Chocolate.

I had been thinking for a few weeks that I needed to make chocolate covered bacon. This was a totally random idea when it hit me. I'm not sure what prompted it. No, it wasn't marijuana, although you might suspect it was.

It wasn't alcohol either. People don't get the munchies when they drink. They gain karaoke prowess.

I had a bit of time off over the 4th of July weekend and decided to use part of that time to dable with my food Frankenstein. We had just gone to Costco a few days earlier and one of the items we picked up was a twin pack of bacon weighing in at just over 5 lbs.

I wanted to make the whole thing as easy as possible so the chocolate that I used was Saco Dulci dips. It's the easiest chocolate to use for dipping things into and forms a hard shell when it cools. All you do is heat it in the microwave and after about 2 minutes it's ready for dipping.

I had preppared 8 strips of bacon and let it drain to get the excess grease off of it and then cut each piece down into bite sized portions.

Before cutting into bits

The next step is to then dip (quickly I should say before the chocolate starts to cool) the bacon and give it a good coating of chocolate and place it on some wax paper to completely cool.

Once the chocolate has set, in say 10 minutes or less, you then have a tasty little snack that offers the salty-meaty goodness of the bacon and the sweet of the chocolate combined in one neat little package.

Look out Recee's, I'm sure I've just made the next great food product of the 21st century!! I better call Anthony Bourdain to see if he needs an assistant.

It really is good. I plan on trying peppered bacon and a variety of chocolates to make the ultimate chocolate covered bacon.

Just try it if you're in doubt. After all in some countries, pan fried spiders are to die for.

A Steampunk Motivational Poster

Cars and Coffee..............no you can't dunk the spare.

Now that the weather is somewhat cooperating in my little neck of the woods, one of my favourite weekend past times is back. Cars and Coffee at the Shoreline Central Market.

This is the 2nd year that Shoreline has hosted Cars and Coffee and it's a growing event.

The original Cars and Coffee originated in Irvine, California and has now transplanted a group of car afficianados here to host a similar event and was started by one of the orginal Irvine creators.

I love this gathering. There is no entry fee. There is no set up ritual. There is no show and shine event. There is no judging. Ahh. No judging.

I've been several times last year and had never take the Bronze Bitch since it was in a constant state of construction, but last weekend I took Jake and he loved it.

I loved it too. I loved that I met some really great people with restored classic cars, expensive Italian cars and a few rat rods and everything in between. The fellow car folks I meant were great to mingle and talk with and can appreciate all manner of cars...............even Jake.

I think I'll be back this Saturday and get there earlier this time. I'll have to start getting some photos as well.

The Book of Zombie premiere update

WOW!!!

FUCKING WOW!!! This was just amazing!!!! The Paisley and I decided we needed to leave a bit early last Friday nite to make sure that we get to the premiere on time.

Along the way I needed to stop for fuel and as I'm holding down the petrol nozzle into Jake's filler I hear a sudden hysterical laughter. It's the Pais, but I can't tell what she's lauging at. Upon asking she points to the corner and what do I see? The best omen I could ever hope to see. Mormons. Yes you heard me......mormons.

Mormons were stalking us before the big premier of The Book of Zombie

This was perfect!! we're on our way to a film about mormon zombies and this was the greatest gift we could receive!!!

When we arrived there was already a line forming for people that were hoping to get tickets at the door. There were a few folks in the will call line. Man what a difference 15 minutes made!! The will call line was at least 20 deep and getting longer and the at-door sales line was getting longer as well.

The venue for the big premiere!!The Pais and the poster!!

There were two shorts prior to our film. The first was Blue Moon Day and The Familiar. I really loved Blue Moon Day !!! So much was done in just 4 minutes. The Book of Zombie was the last to show that nite.

It looked damn sweet on a big screen and the soundtrack put together by our very Adam Gehrke was excellent!!

The real talent lies with the actors and the directors/writers. Here's most of the talent with the Q&A after the showing.

L-R: Dave Preston, Adam Gehrke,Paul Cranefield,Adrew Loviska,Marcel Banks,Erik Van Sant,Adrienne McIain,Larissa Peters. The last dude there was hosting the Q&A.

I'm really glad that I decided to do this. I've never done anything like this before in my life and I certainly hope it won't be the last. This reminded me of what I really enjoy in life and what I should be doing instead of working for the cruise line. It only makes sense. I'm a movie geek and I should be making movies.

Imagine it: The Kilted Movie Maker instead of The Kilted Travel Agent. Still has a good sound to it, yeah.

After the films and the Q&A the Northwest Film Forum had an after party complete with free food and free beer and.......................

NORDIC GO-GO DANCERS!!!

Fuzzy boots and all!! There were more of them dancing their little Scandic hearts out, but these two were the closest so they got their photo taken.

So now flash forward to Monday and the announcement was made that The Book of Zombie won an Audience Award. That is great to hear and we hope that there will be many more accolades in it's future.

Next up: Crypticon. If you missed the opportunity to see it at STIFF then here's your chance to see it again. It will show at Crypticon at 3 pm this coming Saturday June 19th if you happen to be in the Everett Washington area. Get an all day pass and enjoy the horror!!!

The Book of Zombie Premiere!!!!

Well in just a few short hours, the Paisley and I will be on our way to the North West Film Forum for the premiere of a small indie film we worked on called The Book of Zombie.

This was a project that was started in 2007 as a lunchroom joke between some coworkers at a local tv news station and eventually developed into a story which in turn was turned into a script and just kept steamrolling from there. 

We became involved when one of these newsies (a friend of ours from way back) asked the Paisley if she would like to do costumes and then I came along and ended up working on the production crew and the rest is history I suppose.

One of the best blogs that chronicled the making of this film was put together by our DP. You can follow along here and see just what it took to put this film together. There are somethings that you won't find in there like the super secret ending. No hints just yet!! I think it needs to be out for a while before I discuss it. All I can say is that the writers were just fucking genius with the ending!!

We've had a lot of support from a local radio station and from the followers on the sites Facebook and Twitter pages.

There has been one review that I have seen so far from a paper here in my little corner of the world. Thankfully it doesn't reveal too much. I'm holding out trying to read anything about the film until after I've seen it later tonite.

If you live in or are visiting the western Washington area hopefully you have prepurchased your tickets as tonites venue is sold out and there will be limited tickets available at the box office.

T-minus 6 hours and counting!!!

Taking a break and posing with one of the prop firearms

The Oregon Files: The destination

Every journey has a final destination. For our anniversary that destination was the McMenamins Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon.

The Grand Lodge was originally constructed as a retirement home for Masons in 1922. There is also an orphanage on sight for children of Masons. The facility was used until 1997 and then purchased by the McMenamin brothers, renovated and reopened in 2000 as a European style hotel with on sight restaurants.

If you've never been to a European style hotel, you're really missing out. We had a queen size room with a small sink vanity and a closet. There are nice tall windows to allow in a lot of light and wi-fi.That's it. No high end bathroom with a whirlpool tub or TV or radio. The McMenamin properties are all about entertainment and getting away from everyday living.

The Grand Lodge boasts a restaurant called the Iron Grillworks. The food is excellent and the portions generous. We mostly ate from the happy hour menu which as I mentioned provides generous portions and of course the low prices associated with happy hour.

Except for the two beers, all this food was $12. That burgers were roughly $3.50 each, the garlic fries, $2.50 and the salad was the other $2.50. The beers (brewed on sight) were $3 each. This was a really great way to eat while we were there. We had actually purchased a package called the Hammerhead (named for one of the micro brews they make on sight) which gives us $20 credit towards breakfast on our check out morning and $50 credit towards dinner on our final full nite.

The Grand Lodge has movies and live music on the second floor in the Compass Room theatre. The basement has a billiards room and vintage pub in the Doctour's office.

The Compass Room Theatre

There  is outdoor/casual dining at the Yardhouse Pub, which serves many of the same foods offered in the Ironworks Grill. There is seating inside, but you won't really want to sit inside. The outdoor dining has four times the seating and there are large propane heaters and blankets available for chilly days and evenings.

Outdoor seating at the Yardhouse Pub.

The hallways boast a lot of local artwork and concert posters for musicians and bands that have played the Grand Lodge in the past 9 years. There is a Frisbee disc golf course on site and time for relaxation later on in Ruby's Spa or in the outdoor soaking pool.

Forest Grove is a college town so there are plenty of things to see and do locally and for a fair price.

During our stay there was a medieval faire put on by Pacific University. The grounds were made to look like a small village with demonstrations in fencing, archery, royal court protocol, medieval cooking, crafts, book-making and more.

My favourite part was being able to walk the ground with a tall pint in one hand and a cigar in the other and not being chastised for it.

Here in Washington state, we are forbidden from smoking indoors in any building, in public parks and within 25 feet of doorways and ventilation openings. Basically we can smoke in our homes or our cars only. While I no longer smoke cigarettes anymore I do like a cigar or smoke a pipe periodically and don't like to be hassled about it.

There are more than enough wineries within the Willamette region as well for tours and tastings. The Tillamook valley is an easy drive for tours of cheese facilities on your way to the Oregon coast for a dip in the Pacific ocean.

 This is just one of many Chinese dragon's in the hotel. This one is in the Ironworks Grill. There is another at the entrance of the hotel. As you can see behind the dragon there are quite a few books available for reading. I actually did find myself doing some reading while there relaxing and just taking in the fact that I was out of state and away from my everyday world.

This statue greets you at the entrance of the Ironworks Grill.I think this was my favourite. I seem to be attracted the past few years to symbols of Eastern religions. I'm sure it has to do with being about inner peace, serenity and being closer to the earth and all that it brings to us and the need for harmony between earth and humans. Something that I find I want more of in my life as I get older.

Tomorrow I'll write on our visit to McMinnville and the Hotel Oregon which is also a McMenamin's property.