Sofia's Birthday Bash

I posted this on Facebook but not here, curse me for a witling. Granddaughter Sofia turned three yesterday and here are a couple of shots from her party. It's hard to believe she's grown so much. We're all very proud of the princess and love her dearly.

The Tally-Ho Coach

     Another of my many model kits is the Tally-Ho Coach. The one on top, from Revell, is the original issue. The lower one, from Universal Powermasters Corporation, is the reissue. Notice the different size boxes. You'd think the one from UPC is much larger. Wrong, stable breath. They're both the same kit from the same molds. UPC was a packager who rented molds not in use by other companies to reissue various kits. If I ever build this I'll let you know what it looks like.


     A followup to yesterday's birthday notice. Linda and I went to the Muckleshoot Casino. I was losing at first so we took a break to have their lunch buffet (or boo-fay as an ex-coworker used to say). I had a very good salad followed by the worst hunk of alleged prime rib to ever disgrace a plate. I spit out the second bite and let the busser take it away with the scraps. The piece of chicken I had wasn't much better. The side dishes and desserts were fine.
     I've eaten there many times and never had a bad item so this was a bit of a shock. Luckily I had enough Player's Club credits so I didn't have to pay for the meal.
    After lunch I went back to my favorite game and ended up $131 ahead.
     I also got some nice presents from the family. Thanks, family. End of report.

Happy Birthday to Me

That's me, center, with Ron Harris (left) and Steve Stilwell. We're at Art Scott's house after a San Francisco Bouchercon. Oh, to be that weight again.

Happy Veteran's Day

A salute to my fellow vets, especially my father and uncles George and Gene.

T-Town Sites 9

     Back at the zoo, where I took my daughter and granddaughter this summer. Top photo shows one of the Asian elephants; either Suki or Hanako. Below is Sofia watching the snow leopard kitten. That kitten was on the news tonight and is twice that size already. A gorgeous animal.

Town Sites 8

This sculpture greets you as you enter the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, a few miles down the road from my house. Kids climb on this Family of Man rendering all the time, and in doing so have polished the brass to Teflon-like slipperiness. I'm amazed no one has smashed his head open yet. In the background is a stage where zoo employees give presentations of various critters. It's geared toward children and they seem to enjoy it a lot.

Happy Halloween

I'm passing out eye candy this year.

T-Town Sites 7

     How about this, a T-Town site that's actually in the city limits. In fact, this handsome mailbox is about two miles from my home. I don't know if it's commercially available or custom made, but it looks really neat along the roadside. Mine is a miniature red barn, which the yellow jackets attempt to build a nest in very summer.

T-Town Sites 6

Our last visit to the cemetery. I assume this rocket honors the Air Force members buried at Chambers Creek. I believe the rocket was created by someone with a blowtorch and scrap metal, but it looks good.

T-Town Sites 5

     Back to Chambers Creek Cemetery for a look at the Navy veterans' memorial. We had outstanding weather that day.

T-Town Sites 4

I found these two markers at Chambers Creek Cemetery and thought they were pretty neat. The top one is obviously a trucker. The lower one is either a late railroader or model train enthusiast.

T-Town Sites 3

Okay, once again this isn't in Tacoma proper, but it's close. This huge anti-aircraft gun sits in Copper Creek Cemetery, in the veteran's section. I have several other pictures from this location I thought were interesting that I'll be posting by and by.

T-Town Sites 2

The Vashon Island Ferry.

Vashon Island lies across Commencement Bay from Ruston, a small town on the north tip of Tacoma. The crossing takes about 20 minutes and brings commuters from Vashon to Tacoma and returns them home again. Our usual ferry has been undergoing maintenance, so the Chetzenoka (pictured) has been substituted. In my 34 years of living in Tacoma I've ridden the ferry twice. Once with Linda to drive around the island and enjoy its rural sites, and once I walked on with my two girls. We sailed across and sailed back, watching the vehicles unload in between.

Wedding Pictures 2

 

 

One of the few wedding photos I'm in that doesn't make me look like an ape in a tux. 

Wedding Pictures 1

If you didn't see it on Facebook, here  it is again. My girl Stephanie, a bridesmaid, is on the left and my girl Kristine, the bride, is on the right. Excuse me if I'm overly proud of them.

I Go Pogo

     This isn't the possum but a strange aircraft from the 1950s. I'm only doing this because I wanted to see if my blog would upload a photo taken at random from my files. Yay, it did.

Snafus R Us

     Great. Just when I start this blog up again my computer decides it doesn't want to upload pictures into it. My fault. A few days ago I was STUPID enough to respond to a message that my IE needed an upgrade. Ever since then I've had nothing but hassles. Any advice would be appreciated, but remember you're talking to a largely illiterate computer guy.

     I tried turning off the popup blocker, BTW. No help.


     Thanks you for your support.

T-Town Sites 1

Okay, kids, the blog is back in business. I intend to have a recurring theme of places or things of interest in Tacoma, as well as other items of interest.

Today we start out with a salmon sculpture from the Proctor District. A number of these fish were given to local artists, who decorated them according to their whims. They were then erected in various places around the Proctor area.

Adios

I see no reason to continue this blog. It sucks, and the responses I get are so few that I'm wasting my time and yours.

 

 

 

 

This is my dog, Molly.

Napierian Nuptials

Yesterday, July 20, my baby girl Kristine married Jacob Jorgensen. Here they are at the reception at the Tacoma Yacht Club. It was a great ceremony and party and a good time was had by all. They're now honeymooning on a cruise to Alaska. My other daughter, Stephanie, was a bridesmaid and her daughter was the flower girl. My sisters flew up from Arizona for the affair as did one of my cousins in Southern California. Thanks to all of them for attending.

 

 

 

 

                             The happy couple with an unknown drunkard at the yacht club.

                                            A better focused photo of Kristine and Jacob.