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10-31-2009 Here are a few pictures of the grand kids on Halloween '09. 10-03-2009 New video of the little guy walking. 08-30-2009 We have beans!! 07-03-2009 Look what Theresa is tickled about. 05-24-2009 I added the new cameras (to the left). If I haven't given you the username and password, you can't see them. Sorry. 03-26-2009 Here is a little fun with mousse. Hallie and Dakota. 03-14-2009 How about a little video of the little guy? 03-01-2009 New pictures of the little guy. #1 and #2. 02-22-2009 We are getting a dog. Actually, a puppy. We are getting an Australian Shepherd mix from the Fauquier SPCA. He is about 3 months old. He is getting shots, a microchip and neutered tomorrow and he comes home on Tuesday. Here are some pictures. #1, #2 and #3. 02-16-2009 Not much new today. Just a new picture of the little guy and the big guy. 01-27-2009 Look what we got today. Before and after #1 and after #2. I had a dead battery and a flat tire on the tractor. I guess I should have been more ready, huh? 01-21-2009 Right click this link, save as... and enjoy. Hallie and Dakota had Wacky Hat Night at church tonight. Here are some pictures. #1, #2, #3, #4. And here are a couple new pictures of David. #1 and #2. 12-03-2008 Here is Guinevere, the Goddess of the Gully. Here is a closer shot. She is on the mailbox side, near the driveway and the street. Here is an interesting tidbit from thinkbabynames.com - The girl's name Gwenevere \gwe-neve-re, gwen(e)-vere\ is a variant of Guinevere (Welsh), and the meaning of Gwenevere is "fair one; white and smooth, soft". Soft? Concrete? Well, at least we got 2 out of 3... 11-11-2008 Happy Birthday, Landon. And Happy Birthday, Jenn (tomorrow). I thought you might want to see the grandkids from Halloween. Here are the girls at our Neighbors house. Here they are again. Here is David with Mamaw. I went out on the deck just after dark tonight. I heard something scurrying away in the leaves. Then the sound stopped. When the light got bright enough (gotta love those CFLs, huh?) I saw something up in a tree. About 20 feet up in the tree. Here is the possum that I saw. 09-20-2008 Well, there is no other way to do this than to just do it. Theresa and I have a grandson. David Eric Fraley was born this morning. He was 7 lb, 9 oz and was 20 1/2". Mother and son are doing well. Hallie is telling everyone she sees that she was a big sister but now she is a bigger sister. I don't think Dakota understands the big sister thing yet. I posted some pictures here. 08-16-2008 I guess you have noticed the camera changes. I think I have them straightened out. 07-27-2008 Yeah, I know. I should do more frequent updates. We have been doing more fix up and painting and upgrades. I need to take some pictures of the family room (the one with the fireplace) because we got it and the hall toward our bedroom painted. Here is Theresa doing the edge work at the stair well, and before you say anything, I would never let her do anything really dangerous. The ladder is resting on a 4 inch ledge and there is a strap holding the one end to the banister rail. When we moved it to the other side, I held it the whole time (that's why I don't have a picture of that side). We are cooking with gas!!! Literally. We got rid of the electric cooktop and oven and replaced it with a gas range. I had to convert the stove to use LP but what a world of difference. Here is the before picture. Here and here are the after pictures. Now we need to do some wall paper stripping and painting in there. Always something... 02-25-2008 What a great weekend!! Congratulations to the Tennessee Volunteers Basketball Team. #1!!! WOW!!! We got another room re-done. The room that is Hallie and Dakota's was just plain white. Theresa did the design and we both did some painting. I added a chair rail and changed the ceiling fan. Here are some pictures. #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 There are a couple new pictures of the girls. Hallie scraped her knee and Dakota did not want to smile when I brought out the camera. 11-22-2007 Happy Thanksgiving!! Theresa and I were busy last weekend. We finally redid the guest bathroom. Just as a reminder, here and here are what it looked like when we moved in. The chandelier and funky sconces are long gone. We stripped wallpaper and painted and cleaned and, well, just made it more what we like. Here are some pictures. #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5. I'm still working on getting the Driveway camera working and talking to the network. Soon, I hope. 10-26-2007 There are updates with the cameras. I added one for the driveway - maybe you can catch the girls on tricycles now - and it is actually outside. It is not a true "outdoor" camera, but I think it is protected enough to work. Let's hope so. There are some new pictures of the girls in their directories. I'm not sure why they do not sort like they were before, so you just have to look for names you have not seen before. 06-11-2007 I guess you have noticed the camera changes. I am slowly getting them all running again and the ones that do not show a good picture will be replaced in the near future. I'm stll not locked down solid on where they are going to be pointing, but like everything else, when I figure it out, you will know. 12-06-2006 Not much new today. Just a picture of the Christmas lights. 10-31-2006 How about a couple of videos of the girls? Right click the links and then Save target as... Halloween 06. Halloween video number 2. They are pretty big, so please be patient while they download. 04-16-2006 There are more pictures in the girl's folders. Caitlyn took some neat pictures of rainbows the other day right after a rain shower. You want some new videos? Sure. Right click the links and then Save target as... Dakota crawling. Hallie spilled some Easter egg candy. Hunting eggs. More egg hunting. Enjoy!! 04-14-2006 Did you see the picture of the girls and the Easter Bunny? It's in Hallie's folder. I put a picture of my new Cub Cadet up for your viewing pleasure. 03-31-2006 It's been so long. Have you missed us? Here's what you have missed. Did you happen to be watching the day we had the driveway paved? I forgot to take pictures while it was happening, but the camera was pointed that way while they were doing the work. Caitlyn and Michael went to the Marine Corps Junior ROTC Ball. New pictures of Hallie and Dakota have finally been posted. I sold the GTO and traded my old truck for a new Silverado Intimidator SS. 12-20-2005 Welcome to Catlett!! We are now on an Adelphia cable modem instead of the DirecWay satellite. Two cameras are on but there is not much to see so far. I haven't had time to point them at anything really interesting. Soon, I hope. 12-05-2005 I guess you've seen that some of the webcams are not updating. I've been taking pieces and parts down for the move to the new house. I'll get them back up as soon as I can. We will probably be using DirecWay for our internet provider since there is no cable or DSL out in the sticks, err, umm, in the country. I have never used it so I don't know if it is fast enough for us but I do know that it is faster than dial-up. 11-17-2005 Well, in case you haven't heard, we are moving soon. I took some pictures when we were at the house with the home inspector. They are here. Hopefully, the names are descriptive enough to let you know what they are. 10-21-2005 I guess you have heard that Eric and Kristina had another little girl on Wednesday, 19 October. This link sorts the pictures so the newest is at the top of the page. 10-20-2005 Here are some pictures from mine and Theresa's get-away to Gatlinburg. It was much needed and we really were glad to have a little bit of time just for us. 07-30-2005 I finally found the way to tell which pictures were the newest when you want to check on shots of Hallie. This link sorts the pictures so the newest is at the top of the page. Cool, huh? 07-04-2005 New pictures of Hallie are posted. Look for the ones with 04-Jul-2005 as the date. 06-05-2005 Oh my goodness. I have been a bad updater, huh? Well, I'll try to make up for it. Check out this video. Just right click and then click Save As... to save it to your computer. You will be pleased Mamaw and Papaw. The video is here. 02-28-2005 The server is back up. I had a hard drive die a painful, screeching death. Luckily, I was able to recover all but a couple of files. The rumor the FCC shut us down for allowing Hallie's diaper changes to be seen over the 'net are not true. There may be a couple more restarts as I restore a couple more things, but I'll try to keep them to a minimum. 01-19-2005 We finally got some snow. It was only about 1 1/2" but the idiots on the roads around here turned it into the normal production. Snow in the air means leave your brain at home. It was 2 hours for the 13 miles from work to home. Anyway, here are some pictures of Theresa's new truck. It stayed home all day under the carport, but the wind was blowing. #1, #2, #3, and #4. 01-01-2005 Happy New Year to one and all. New pictures of Hallie have been posted.  12-25-2004 Merry Christmas!! Here are some pictures from this afternoon (I had to work this morning). 12-11-2004 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 10-31-2004 Halloween 2004. Hallie and Granma, Hallie, and Hallie again. 10-28-2004 Happy Halloween!. We carved punkins tonight. Pictures are here and here. 10-24-2004 Theresa and Grams took a balloon ride from New Market airport over the Shenandoah Valley yesterday. They went with Virginia Balloons and had a good time. Pictures are here. 10-19-2004 Theresa and I just got back from a wonderful week in the mountains. God, how I love the mountains! We stayed at a cabin named "Someplace Special" and it really was. If you have vertigo, you do not want to look down from the deck. The cabin is in the King's Branch area, about 2.1 miles off of route 441. The only problem we had was the loose gravel on the road when we were coming back down. Loose gravel and motorcycles do not mix. We made it, but it was hairy a couple of times. We did a lot of riding and some shopping and just enjoying each other at the cabin. Theresa is getting pretty good at pool. We rode the Tail of the Dragon and before anyone gets all excited, it is just a road. If you want to try to race on it, you could easily get hurt. We have ridden on roads near Luray Caverns that are as windy, the Tail just has more of them closely together. It was a good fun ride for us. The weather was pretty good but cold. We got wet on Tuesday and Wednesday, but no rain for the rest of the week. We may go again next year, after Landon and Jenn's wedding. There are pictures here. 09-28-2004 New pictures of Hallie. Click here. 09-17-2004 Mamaw sent a picture of her and Papaw and Betsy at Medic. They got surprised when they made another donation on their anniversary. It's from the story link in the Sentinel below. 09-04-2004 Whew. I finally got the rest of the one time camera pictures posted. Enjoy!! 08-30-2004 Theresa and I attended the 21st Annual H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) rally in Richmond last weekend. We were picked to be part of the Honor parade from the Arthur Ashe Center, down Monument Avenue and on to the Richmond Racetrack. We video taped the whole ride, but since it's about 35 minutes long, I don't think I'll try to post it here. We had beautiful weather (actually pretty hot) and saw lots of nice bikes. To tell you the truth, we had as much fun with the ride home as we did at the rally. It's about 75 miles from Richmond to Woodbridge and our ride home through the country and avoiding traffic was about 160 miles. It's lots of fun to be riding along and just on a whim turn on some country road - I wonder where that goes? Anyway, here are a couple of pictures. Harley B. Bear is ready to roll. We saw Travis Tritt in concert Saturday night. A self portrait in the ampitheatre. The Club H.O.G. logo. 08-26-2004 I added some new pictures of Hallie. The cheerleading outfit is very cute. She is getting ready for September 5th. She has it covered from both sides . The bad part is that cheerleading is tiring . 08-25-2004 There are now about 259 pictures in the one time use cameras folder. I still have another 27 but I'll let you all know when they are posted. I hope my server can handle the load. 08-24-2004 If you haven't seen the story in the dead tree newspaper, you really should read this story about Mom and Dad. It will make you smile, guaranteed!! 08-23-2004 More one time use camera shots have been posted along with the digital images from Mamaw and Papaw. I still have almost 200 from the one time use cameras. I'll get them up as soon as I can. 08-21-2004 I got the first 45 pictures from the one time use cameras posted today. There are 286 total, so please be patient. I will let you know when I get some more of them done. 08-19-2004 I added some more pictures from the picnic. Uncle Wade sent some that he had taken. Go to this page to see them. 08-17-2004 There are a few pictures at the page I made for the 50th Anniversary celebration. These are just from my digital camera. I'll have more later after the other cameras get developed (and scanned). Go to this page to see them. I haven't even renamed them yet. 07-01-2004 Oh my goodness. I've been really lazy in my updates, haven't I?? 04-27-2004 So many updates needed, so little time. Let me try to catch up a bit. We went for a Harley ride about a week ago. The weather was great, about 80 degrees and sunny. I got a pretty bright red on my arms. We went back to the Virginia Bazaar and then over to Colonial Beach and Westmoreland State Park. Here are a couple of pictures. #1, #2 and #3. Here is the story of the SSR. I had been checking into getting one for Theresa since the rumor first started out of GM. The price was rather prohibitive. Since they are limited production the dealers are (mostly) trying to make as much off each one as they can. Supply and demand, you know. It just did not seem to be in the cards for us. After we got the GTO, the SSR was still in the back of my mind. I kept checking online for inventory at area dealers and then would make some inquiries if one was available that matched Theresa's wish list. The problem was that the dealers around here were asking for $7-$8 thousand above MSRP. I spent a bit of time asking questions of other SSR owners online. I found out that one local dealer would sell the truck at MSRP but would not even consider GMS (employee) pricing. Just as I was thinking about going for that one, I did one final check on eBay. There were a few Ultra Violets listed and a couple actually had the prices in the range I was willing to pay. Since the auctions had a few days left, I watched them for a couple days and finally decided to place a bid on one. We got the truck for about $500 more than GMS. Theresa a I rented a car and drove to Ann Arbor, MI to pick it up. We had it for just over one day and had put 748 miles on it. I changed the oil when it was two days old. It is a blast to drive, but you really have to watch the other folks on the road. It has a halo effect. People will pull up next to you and stay there. The response has been great - kids to seniors alike have given us thumbs up. Here is a look with Theresa's plates and here is one of her additions. Last Sunday we took the truck for a ride. We started out going to Manassas for breakfast and then to some antique shops around Leesburg, VA. We headed out toward Point of Rocks, MD and then back into VA in Loudon County. We came across a little park called Franklin Park and stopped there for a picnic lunch and some pictures. Here is one view and here is another. The day was chilly and we were glad we took a windbreaker by the time we headed home. 04-15-2004 Well, you know I said we got Theresa a new car? The only vehicle she has ever - I mean EVER - told me she absolutely liked was a Chevrolet SSR. Being the perceptive soul that I am, and not wanting to be accused of ignoring her wishes, I bought Theresa a birthday present. And Christmas and Anniversary and maybe next year's birthday, too. Here are pictures of her new truck. #1, #2, #3, #4, #5. More details on the purchase later. I have to make supper. 03-30-2004 Lady Vols!!!!! Final Four again. On to the Championship!!! 03-29-2004 Theresa and I took our first ride with the trailer yesterday. We went to The Virginia Bazaar and spent a couple hours walking around. I'm sure there will be more stuff outdoors as the weather gets better. Most of the stuff was indoors yesterday. It was neat to be able to take the bike and to shop and if we found something we wanted we had the trailer to put it in. We are thinking about doing the Endless Yard Sale on the bike this year. We still need to figure out where to start and stop and sleep and all that. Any suggestions? 03-09-2004 We got the windows in the GTO tinted. I think it looks much better and the interior will stay cooler. That is pretty important in a black car. I know it made a big difference in the Grand AM while we had it. I took this picture and this one to show what it looks like now. 03-02-2004 Another great weekend in the books. Theresa and I went to Mahomet, Illinois (just west of Champaign) to pick up a trailer for the bike. Not to put the bike on, but to pull behind the bike. We made lots of stops for antiques and even a candle outlet going out, but made a single day run back home on Monday. 785 miles. We pulled the trailer behind the truck, in the rain, all day Monday. Today, I washed it off and took this picture and this one to show off the trailer with the bike. We'll be taking more pictures when we start taking some trips this summer. 02-17-2004 I told you I would get some new pictures up soon. Here is the emblem, the engine, the grille, the instrument panel, a view from the front, a view from the left rear, and another view from the front. 02-16-2004 Theresa has a new car. Here are some pictures. #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6,. It was getting dark, so they aren't the best pictures. I'll get some more up soon. 01-24-2004 We're #1!!! We're #1!!! What an exciting game for the Lady Vols. 01-15-2004 I have an inside source at NASA. He sent me the newest picture from the Rover. Thanks Buddy. 01-11-2004 I've been out working in the Work Shop. I have two kerosene heaters and it's not too bad out there, even with the temperature being around 20 for a high the last couple of days. I know it's cold because my water jug was frozen solid. That doesn't seem like much, but the jug was in the refrigerator!!! I have one of those cube, dorm size fridges. The Cokes were kind of like Slurpees. 01-10-2004 What a difference a week makes. It got down to 5 degrees this morning. The wind chill when we woke up was -11 F. Brrrr. 01-05-2004 How about this weather? It was near 70 degrees on Saturday so you can guess where Theresa and I were. That's right, on the Harley. 12-28-2003 Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Landon and Jenn came in on Saturday with gifts from K-town. Neat!! 12-24-2003 We have a new member of the household. Her name is Squeaky because when we went to the Animal Shelter, she was the first one that came to us and when she meowed, it sounded like a squeak. We had gone to take some old newspapers (they use them for the animal's cages) but ended up coming home with her. 12-4-2003 Well, I got the "oversized scratch pole" relocated. I still need to put some shelves in it - my gas and kerosene cans are sitting on top of each other - but at least it gets that stuff out of the Work Shop. 11-27-2003 Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!! We are so blessed. The kids are all here. Landon and Jenn, Eric and Christina, Caitlyn, Shelly. If you are checking the Randomcam, you may see Thanksgiving dinner being made. Later today, I will try to move it so you can see the feast being consumed. 11-23-2003 That thing at the corner of the Work Shop is not an oversized scratch pole. It's a Rubbermaid storage locker. It won't stay right there. It will be on a platform to the left of the double doors (when I get a chance to build it). I'm not crazy about the idea of heating the Work Shop with kerosene and storing gasoline, kerosene and oil inside. So I caught the Home Depot with a last of the season deal. Hopefully it will be moved this week. 11-10-2003 Check the newly created error message. Cute, huh? 11-08-2003 Miami who?             
 11-03-2003 I took a couple days off to get Landon moved out of his apartment. He better get his whole deposit back, because we left it cleaner than when he moved in. He is back here with us until he gets a job in the Knoxville area. 11-01-2003 Another great day. The weather is super, 75 or so this afternoon. Theresa and I rode the Harley to the Log Home Show this morning. There sure are a lot of log home and timber frame house companies out there. Every one says they are the best. Who do you believe? Who made your house, Papaw? We went for a ride around the country on the way home. We took a short cut, but it wasn't shorter, just more, well, unimproved. If we were in my truck it might have been better. It's not usually a good thing when you are on a big cruiser bike and the pavement ends. The loose gravel and ruts and pot holes were, shall we say, interesting. We came out where we wanted to, so it was all good. How strange was it to be cheering for Florida today? Those Gators did the Vols a huge favor. Now if Auburn does it's part.... 10-25-2003 How 'bout them VOLS!!!! 5 overtimes?? I was pacing around the house. I couldn't sit down. WOW!!! And that was from the fourth quarter on. We got our pumpkins carved. Here are some pictures. #1, #2, #3 and #4. 10-24-2003 Well, I win the doofus of the day award. I was taking the air conditioners out of the windows and had already taken Eric's bedroom A/C out. I raised the window a bit to get hold of the one in mine and Theresa's bedroom window and OOPS!!! Out it went. I grabbed for whatever I could grab and as I heard it crash to the ground outside, I was standing there just holding the power cord. I'm sure the look on my face was priceless. I spluttered and used a couple of words that I won't repeat here. It only fell maybe 12 or 13 feet, but they use so much plastic in them nowadays, it was a total loss. Good thing it was on sale when I bought it. I'll be watching the usual places for another sale, probably in the spring. 10-20-2003 What a wonderful weekend! How do you like the new sidewalk? Our backyard usually stays so damp and with winter coming, I decided to make a walkway to get to the doors of the Work Shop. Now my back hurts, but I think it is worth it. Theresa and I spent Sunday on the Harley. We went to Sperryville, near Luray Caverns and took Skyline Drive up toward Front Royal, had some lunch and then went back south to Big Meadows and back up to Sperryville and home. The leaves are beautiful and it was a 5 or 6 ridge day on the Drive. They describe it that way because you can see 5 or 6 ridges when you stop at the overlooks. It sure beats last year when we rode up there thru the fog so thick we couldn't see the sides of the road, much less the ridges. 10-19-2003 Did you ever wonder what caused the lights on the Work Shop to come on for no apparent reason? Me, too. Eric said he had seen some kind of critter, but I guessed it was squirrels. Last night we were sitting out back while the kids carved jack-o-lanterns. The light at the side door suddenly came on and there it was. We have a possum! It seems to have taken up residence under the shop. Later on he wandered down by the front door and made that light come on. Now I wonder if I should leave him alone or, ahem, remove him. Suggestions? 10-17-2003 So you want to see live video, do you? Well, I had been meaning to check into it, and now it works. Try it for yourself. 10-02-2003 I bought a new art print at Occoquan Days last Saturday.
 Very nice and very reasonably priced. I'm betting you can see it in a few stores in the East Tennessee area. 10-01-2003 Well, were you watching? I changed the water pump in my truck and then I let you watch me start the chili for tonight's supper. 09-26-2003 I've been thinking about changing the Boocam to something more generic. I want to be able to take my laptop out and use it. Maybe in the workshop if I need some information from diynet.com or really just about anywhere. Since it has a wireless card, it seems like overkill to have it just sit with the camera looking at Boo's scratch pole and nothing more. Maybe I'll rename it the Roaming cam and let the camera go around with the laptop. You never know what you might see in that case. 08-29-2003, part 2 Pictures! Here are some pictures from our trip to the mountains. You can look at as many or as few as you would like. Most of the names are self explanatory, but if they are too long to read on the linked page, just read them in your address line after you click on them. 08-29-2003 Comcast comes through, again. NOT!! The cable dropped out yesterday afternoon and they finally got us fixed and back up this afternoon. Boo-hiss to their customer service. Oh well, at least it's working now. 08-28-2003 Once again, I have been slow with the updates. Sorry, again. It's been a busy month. Theresa and I rode to Indiana to see her Mom and our good friends, the Rumlers. We had planned to go to the Brickyard 400, but got rained on so many times that when we got soaked on the way to the track, we turned around and went back to her Mom's house and watched the race on TV. We got rained on 5 out of 6 days on that trip. We just got back from a wonderful 5 days in the mountains. We left on Saturday the 23rd and spent the night in Gatlinburg. The next day we had lunch at the Red Lobster in Sevierville with Mom and Dad and then checked in at Eagle's Ridge Resorts. We stayed 3 nights at a cabin in the hills above Pigeon Forge. We rode to Clingman's Dome and to Cade's Cove and Townsend and around the country. I've said it before and I'll say it again, God done some really, really good work down there!! And unlike the trip to Indy, we didn't get rained on at all. We took 80 something pictures but I still need to sort and resize and rename them, so give me a bit and I'll post some of them. 07-30-2003 New pictures of the Harley!! A side view and the new wheels. Shiny stuff is good!! 07-26-2003 I finally finished the stairs to the front door of the Work Shop. It's hard to tell from the web cam shot, so I took a picture for your viewing pleasure. Just having functional stairs was not part of it. They had to look good, too. It was more work than I expected, what with all the funky angles and such. But, the part I really like is that you can walk down stairs whether you are going left, right or straight out the door. 07-21-2003 I guess you noticed the new look of the site. I hope you like it. I'll get around to changing the pages deeper into my site soon (I hope). For now, let me know what you think. 07-17-2003 Yesterday was "Ride to Work Day" and there were pictures taken at work. Here is the shot that was taken of me and the Harley. 07-06-2003 If you were up at about 10:30 - 11:00 PM the night of the 4th, and you happened to be looking at the Backyard Cam, you might have thought the new Work Shop was burning down. Well, what you see is not always what you get. In fact you would have seen us lighting some fireworks, all very legal and above board. If, on the other hand, you were not looking, here are a few pictures of what you missed. #1, #2, #3 and the finale. The third one looks much worse than it was. There are NO scorch marks on the workshop. 07-04-2003 Happy Birthday To Me!!! 07-03-2003 Another slow update. Sorry 'bout that. I guess you've noticed that it takes more effort to WORK in the work shop than to watch someone else build it for you. My Diggscam will be kind of stagnant for a short while. My main computer has been having some problems lately, and since it was due for an operating system reload for a while longer, I'm taking it down this morning to clean it up and get it back on the good side. 06-06-2003 Wow!! It's been a while since I updated this. I've been busy. I've added the ramp to the double door end of the Work Shop. There are now lots of electrical outlets inside. I'm waiting to get the loft in before I put the lights up permanently (I have a couple in so I can work), and I have installed the air conditioner and the ceiling fan. When we refinanced our mortgage, Bank of America sent a nice welcome package that included a 10% off coupon for Lowe's, so I put it to good use yesterday. I bought the lumber for the loft, the stairs at the single door and some shelving and a work bench and then had them deduct the coupon. My poor trailer was straining to haul it all. I would list all the wood, but suffice it to say, Eric and Will (Eric's friend) earned their Taco Bell carrying it down to the Work Shop. I'll try to make my updates more frequent. Oh yeah, the nail gun Scott gave me was working great - until the trigger valve blew out. I'm not sure if it was the fact it was at the bottom of the lake or if I had the pressure set too high or what, but as soon as the new one gets here from the service center, I'll put it in and hopefully be back in business. 05-20-2003 I have power!!! Electricity to the Work Shop. It's just one GFCI and some extension cords for now, but it's better than stretching a cord from the house. I also have my air compressor in. Now if I can grab a few moments to get the regulator hooked up, I can use that nail gun Scott gave me and get a ramp made. The mud and muck is getting real old right about now. 05-15-2003 OK, bear with me on this next attempt at technological neatness. I took the pictures that were saved to document the WorkShop from start to finish and created a slide show. Actually, there are two - one for folks with DSL or a cable modem and one for those on dialup. The first one is 1.2 megabits and the second is about 475 kilobits. If you can stand the wait, the first one shows larger pictures and I like it better. It's your choice. You will need QuickTime movie player to view either of them. If you do not have it, you can get a free download from Apple. 05-14-2003 Complete!!! Well, the construction guys have done their part. Home Depot didn't do me any favors. They did not include the brick mold with the double doors. A call to millwork got me nowhere, so I called a manager. He sounded very concerned and said he would call me back as soon as he found it. That was at 12:20 this afternoon. It is now 9:20 PM and no call. Tomorrow, I dance on his desk. Geez, it's only a couple strips of brick mold. It seems they are trying to make a Lowe's customer out of me. Anyway, I'll be doing more to the outside as I get time. A ramp and stairs. All that good stuff. I will add lights at both doors after the County's final inspection. Electricity was not included in the building permit, so I have to wait a week or so for that. Finally, I will change the camera out back to a regular webcam, similar to the other two real soon. 05-11-2003 Notice the little backyard picture has been updated. The Work Shop is almost complete (at least the outside). I still have lots of work ahead of me inside. Chris had another prior commitment today, but he will probably finish his part tomorrow. Shingles and siding and the doors. Then I have to build a ramp to the double doors and a "porch" or landing and stairs to the single door, run the electricity, add shelves, a loft (yep, it will be almost a full two stories inside) and the various things I have always wanted but didn't have the space to do. And my honey-do list isn't getting any shorter. Ah well, such is life.
05-08-2003 Rain, rain, go away. Work Shop won't go up if you stay. No work today due to the weather. No work tomorrow due to a prior commitment. Saturday and Sunday - walls and a roof, hopefully. Chris (1st Choice Construction) said he would work on Sunday if it was OK with me. I have to work myself, so if it's OK with him, it's OK with me. 05-07-2003 I broke my cell phone, so I had to get a new one. I'm glad I started the insurance with Cingular last month. Now I need to remember to call them to cancel it again. This one is a Nokia 8265i. It has a changeable cover. So, now I'm looking for an Orange & White UT Vols cover for it. Anyone know where I can find such a critter?
05-02-2003 Ooops!! Eric was well intentioned when he took the building permit off the fence where the construction guy had nailed it - he didn't want anything to happen to it - but the result was the inspector would not do the inspection on the holes since he did not see it. I guess it didn't matter that an inspection can only be schedulaed AFTER you get a building permit. I had just left the house to run some errands so he could not ask me where it was. The inspection has been rescheduled for Monday morning, so we should see some piers Monday afternoon. 05-01-2003 HOLES!!! I have holes in the back yard. Now I have to wait for the county to come out and inspect them so the piers can be installed. Let's hope that doesn't take very long - if it rains a bunch before they inspect, and the holes fill up, I'll have to bail them out or they will fail us. It makes me wonder how Scott ever gets approval for a dock - THAT IS BUILT ON THE WATER!!! There are obviously differences in the code, but the part of my brain that just says, "Huh?" sometimes kicks in at inopportune moments. 04-26-2003 This was a good day. Eric and Kristina went to Eric's senior prom tonight. I took a couple of pictures, but I'm only posting one for now. I'll post another one when the "professional photographer" ones come back. That will be from the picture taken at the prom.
04-23-2003 Shop update - or should I say Bureaucracy update - The County is backed up for the inspection of the piers, so 1st Choice wants to wait until closer to when they will be here. If it was to rain and the holes got water in them, they would fail the inspection. So, the digging will probably not start until the weekend or early next week. 04-22-2003 This has not been a good day. I was awakened at 6:30 AM with a phone call by Landon. His car had been broken into. They broke a window. They took the radio and the CD changer. They also took the subwoofer, a pair of tweeters and a whole bunch of CDs. If that wasn't enough, they also took the tool box and all the tools that I had bought him since he started driving. That just torques my jaw. Man!!! You just don't mess with a man's tools. The police department here takes their good easy time when you file a non-violent report. Landon called them at 6:30 AM (just before he called me. They finally came to take the report and collect evidence at 3:15 PM. So, it was too late to get the car to the insurance adjuster today. I have an appointment at 9 in the morning for the adjuster and 11 AM for having the glass replaced. Luckily, I don't have to work until 5 PM. Landon already lost a day of work for this.
04-12-2003 Backyardcam is running, but I have not done anything fancy to display the images from it. For now, when you click the picture above, you will be presented with a page that is just a list of the files that have been created. Instead of having the files being constantly overwritten with nothing really "saved for posterity" like the other 2 cameras, this one is saving the files with the date and time as part of the file name. I hope to have some sort of web page to replace just having you click the files, but that is not ready yet. When the construction is finished, I want to make a little slide show with before, during and after. Then, the camera will be changed to work like the other two. Soooooo, to make a much too long story a tad longer, you just might click to the backyard page and see files today and click tomorrow and they will have been deleted because there was no change in the status of the backyard. I will be zapping stuff that is not useful (like black pictures taken at night and shots that do not show any change). Trust me, we'll both figure it out soon. 04-10-2003 28 years ago today, I signed up for the Delayed Enlistment Program for the US Air Force. It seems like yesterday (or maybe the day before).
04-09-2003 Serious today... Is this the most incredible thing you have ever seen on TV? I've been sitting here this morning watching the news. I can't seem to tear myself away. I have chores to do and don't seem to care. I've been watching the coverage from the center of Baghdad. Seeing the joy on the faces of the people coming out to greet the GI's. The naysayers have been proven wrong again. I saw the greatest thing. It was Iraqis walking around with a sign "Human Shields Go Home." The Iraqis climbing up on the statue to put a noose around the neck of the image of Sadaam. How appropriate. I think I might shed a tear of joy when that statue finally comes down. They are actually arguing over who gets to swing the sledgehammer next! Whether you support the war or not, you have to feel good for the troops. Never forget the ones that have fallen and the POW/MIAs. I'm rambling. God Bless America! 04-05-2003 Chuckle for today... With thanks to Non-Sequitur, the comic strip. 03-31-2003 Girl Scout Cookie sales have ended. Caitlyn ended up with a total of 537 boxes sold. A very nice total indeed.
03-30-2003 This is spring? Geez-o-pete... 03-24-2003 We had a good weekend. Theresa and I, along with Landon and Jenn, (and 160,000 of our closest friends) went to Bristol for the races. Saturday was the Busch series - Harvick ran a smart race and avoided the crashes for a big win - and Sunday was a very exciting Winston Cup race. Here is a picture from inside the track before the race. This is someone with waaaaay too much time and money on their hands. I'm a fan, but I don't think I would drive that as my regular car. 03-13-2003 Coming Soon!!! WebCam #3. This one will be a backyardcam. I will be starting the new workshop soon. You will be able to see the progress as it happens. For now, I just have this "before" shot of the backyard. Eventually, the new workshop will go to the left side near the old shop. After the new one is built and I salvage what I can from the old one, it will be my extreme pleasure to take the old one down and haul it to the dump. It would be better if I made it into a big weenie roast, but permits in this part of the country are few and far between. Anyway, I'll let you know when the new webcam goes online. 03-10-2003 Guess what we did this past weekend? Girl Scout cookies!! Caitlyn had cookie booths Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. On top of that, she took a wagon full of cookies around the neighborhood for a walking booth after we got home Sunday afternoon. We sold about 250 boxes. I took some pictures. The first is Caitlyn in the neat Do-si-do cookie outfit. This is the back view. When Caitlyn had to take a nature break, I even convinced Theresa to wear it. I think we actually sold some cookies because of the suit. You know, "I didn't really want any cookies, but that is so cute. Let me have a couple boxes of Thin Mints." 02-21-2003 I found another funny on the web. It's the cover of the new French magazine for Soldiers. 02-17-2003 Looks like Mother Nature doesn't want us to ride the Harley. Check this out. Here is another picture of the snow. It's just a sidewalk - and a pile of snow from Theresa's morning of work while I was sleeping. No, I'm not cruel, I worked all night. 02-14-2003 Happy Valentines Day!! I've been trying to figure out how to make my vision better. On the Harley, that is. Specifically at night. It seems like such a waste that the halogen driving lights are wired in with the low beams and when I switch to high beam, they go out. It would seem to be better to have them on with the high beams, too. Problem solved. Now, the low beam (and with it, the driving lights) stay on when I switch to high beam. I have made the same modification to my truck and plan to modify Theresa's Grand Am soon. The instructions are here. You can buy a kit from jcwhitney.com, but that is about $20 plus shipping. If you decide to go that way, it is listed as being for 90's model Chevy/GMC trucks. It works on all vehicles if you follow my instructions with their kit. Enjoy. BTW, I formatted that picture to fit on one page, if you want to print it. 02-04-2003 Does your life ever resemble this?
12-29-2002 Landon asked why I had not posted a picture of the Christmas tree. Good question!! Here is one. I'm not sure why the picture came out making the tree look like it is leaning. I guess I better see if the cat was in there. Here is Theresa's mini tree with her mini Hallmark ornaments. 12-08-2002 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!! You want proof? Check these #1..#2.. Theresa and I went on a bike ride today. Yeah, I know, it's cold. But it was for a good cause. We went with East Coast Harley Owner's Group on a Toy Run. Everyone brought toys and we rode to the local Boy's and Girl's Club to give them away. Theresa and I got there early for registration, so we were the first bike in line behind Santa. And it was Harley B. Bear's first ride, too. Doesn't he look good? 12-02-2002 I guess it's been a while since any updates. I'll have something more involved soon, but for now I wanted to let everyone know about the new addition to our household. Harley B. Bear. Theresa and I made him today at Build-a-Bear. He is going to be taking some rides with us on the Harley. Unfortunately, he will be watching where we have been, since he is going to be sitting on the luggage rack behind us. Oh well. I'll get a picture of him on the bike soon. 10-02-2002 I finally got some electricity hooked up to the carport. The main circuit box in our house is a strange critter. The breakers are only available at one store near here and they were out, so I had to wait a bit for that. If anyone offers you a Federal Pacific box - run away. Get something more standardized and available. And cheaper, too. The single pole 20 amp breaker was $20 when I can buy Square D's all day for $8 at Home Depot. Anyway, Here are some pictures of my handy work. The combo GFCI outlet and switch and the overhead flourescents and the motion detector and lights up at the peak inside. 9-17-2002 We got a new carport to keep the Harley (and of course my truck and Theresa's car) dry and out of the weather. Pictures? You want pictures? Of course I have pictures. #1, #2, #3. Of course, I have a hard time walking past the Harley without snapping a picture or two, so here are a couple of new pictures of it under the carport. #1, and #2. It wouldn't be a complete day without a smile, so check out Boo in his most relaxed splendor. And you thought the Grand Canyon was in Colorado? Check this one. Enjoy!! 8-29-2002 The offer for the "Tennessee Volunteers" license plate frame still stands. I had one made, but all I could get was gray with black letters. I really wanted one with an orange background and white letters. Anyway, here is what I have now. 8-28-2002 I almost forgot that I was going to put up a picture of the quilt we bought. Here it is. Nothing fancy, but I really like the pattern. I think I got rid of the hornets. I got some Real Kill Wasp & Hornet spray. It's advertised to kill for 4 months, so maybe the few that were out of the nest will get zapped when they try to return. 8-21-2002 The weekend was very good for us. Theresa and I took the back roads to Luray Caverns. We actually went over the mountain and thru the cavern, then back over the mountain to a quilt place and then back over again to get up toward Front Royal and Winchester. We had a good time and the weather was pretty good. It was kind of hot, but the rides thru the mountain were nice. On Monday we were off again - down to Stephens City looking for antique shops (I should have stopped to say hello and thank you to Kelley Washington's Mom) and of course we stopped at the Harley shop in Winchester. Here are a few more pictures we took. #5, #6, #7, Theresa. I'll try to get some of the pictures from inside the cavern up, but that will take some time to sort and edit the bad ones out. 8-16-2002 We'll hopefully be taking some good pictures this weekend. Caitlyn is going to Virginia Beach with her Girl Scout troop from Sunday until Tuesday, so Theresa and I are going to break in the bike with a trip to Luray Caverns and whatever we see and decide to venture to in the Shenandoah area around Front Royal from Sunday morning until whenever we get back on Monday. The Harley is scheduled for it's 500 mile checkup on Tuesday morning and we've only got 140 miles on it so far. We should make it, no problem. Anyway, here are a few new pictures. #1. #2. #3. #4. Tank Console. My sweetie, in front of the house with the bright sun in her eyes while I took pictures of the bike. One other thing, there will be a special reward for the first person to send me a motorcycle license plate frame with "Tennessee Volunteers" on it. 8-15-2002 It's time for me to be heading to work, but I wanted to post this first picture of the new bike. It's at the dealer even before we signed all the papers to actually take possession. It was late (dark) when we got home, so I'll have to get some more pictures later. For now, it's off to work so we can afford the payments. 8-14-2002 Remember the pictures of the monster hornets nest in the hollow tree last fall? I thought I had killed those bad boys. We started seeing a few around the front porch light at night, but I didn't think much about it since I never saw any during the day. They must be visiting from the neighbors, right? WRONG!! They are in the weep hole of our house. You know how the bottom row of bricks gets a couple of places with no mortar between the bricks so rain and such can drain? The hornets are in there. I don't know if they are up between the bricks and the inner wall or down in the cinder blocks of the foundation, but they are there. I sprayed them with 4 cans of hornet spray this morning. I guess I'll have to get some more to finish off the stragglers. Geez, ain't nature wonderful? These guys make the yellow jacket nest we found in the front yard seem calm. At least a quart of gas and a match and the yellow jackets are done for. When you are spraying poison full force at a hornet and he literally laughs in your face and swears to return (like Ahhhnold - "I'll be Back") it's a little freaky. Oh yeah, Theresa and I are going to pick up the Harley this afternoon. New pictures will be up soon. 7-15-2002 The Honda is sold. I had a notice up at work for one day, and a guy there scooped it up - for his 60 year old father. Here's hoping he rides it in good health and for a long time. Man, I sure hope nothing happens to the new Harley. It's bad enough that I will be without a bike for three weeks. At least part of those will be in Indiana (and I can get a ride on my friends Harley when we get there). Here is the first picture I have seen of the color on my new bike. Don't worry, when I get the bike, you will see some actual shots of it. 7-8-2002 I finally got the call from Waugh Enterprises Harley-Davidson today. Theresa and I will soon be the proud owners of a 2003 100th Anniversary Harley-Davidson FLSTFI (Fuel Injected Fat Boy - no smart comments, please). That's a pretty good 25th Anniversary present to each other, huh? It will be shipped from the Harley-Davidson Factory on July 23rd and I should have it as soon as we get back from Indiana and the Brickyard 400. That means the Honda is for sale now. $2,400 or best offer. Cash preferred. 7-4-2002 HOT HOT HOT - That is the only way to describe it. I don't know how it is where you are, but it is just plain HOT here. Want proof? Check this and notice the high temperature earlier in the day (on the left side). At least it has cooled down to 102 by 4:30 pm. 5-7-2002 My truck was running rather sluggish lately. I thought it may have been because I had been putting off replacing the cap/rotor/plugs/wires. I replaced all of those and it was still having a hard time getting out of it's own way. Yesterday the little light bulb finally came on. Yep, the one above my head when stuff makes sense. My catalytic converter may be clogged, I said. So off I go to my favorite shop for a second opinion. Dan agrees - it sounds like the correct diagnosis. So, he cuts out the old one and welds in a new, hi-flow cat. The old converter was shot. The stuff inside (don't you hate it when I get technical?) was almost completely blocking the passage the exhaust was supposed to take. But the new one cured me. And all is good with the world again. It sounds good, even. I took a couple of pictures of the new MSD plug wires, if you care to see them. Left side and Right side. 3-31-2002 Here is an update to the motorcycle page. The exhaust I put on in 2000 was (or seemed to be) a good deal. It was less money than replacing it with stock and the manufacturer advertised more performance than stock. They didn't tell me that it would rust quickly and look pretty bad after only two years. So, off I went to the Honda dealer and did what I should have done in the first place. I replaced the exhaust with the factory stuff. Front to rear. Stem to stern. The whole shooting match. Well, you get the idea. The bike is now quieter, and if I do say so myself, it looks better. It has dual pipes instead of that boy-racer single I had. Here are some pictures. Left side, Right side, From the back and one with Caitlyn next to the bike. She loves to go for rides with me.
1-31-2002 The old maple tree in front of our house is finally gone. I made another page with some pictures. 1-25-2002 WooHoo! I got new wheels and tires for my truck. Check it out. I wanted something bigger and wider, so I got Borbet CW1 wheels and Goodyear Wrangler AT/S tires. Here is a look at the truck in the snow. The wheels are 16x8" and the tires are 285/75-16. Not bad for a '94 Chevy with over 125,000 miles, huh? |
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