Amazing eBay Auction for $50 bill
June 28, 2008 – 8:48 pmSomeone actually bid on this item and paid $59.99 for it! Optional $3 shipping! Wow.
I love the safety line - “I will not scam you.”
Airline Prices are Ludicrous!
June 17, 2008 – 9:19 pmI was checking some airline prices for a summer trip to Florida when I stumbled upon this doozy. What is Alaska Airlines thinking? A year ago, Codi and I headed back east for about $350 round trip - for the both of us! This represents a 2000% increase. Bull-honkey.
lu·di·crous
1 : amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity, incongruity, exaggeration, or eccentricity
2 : meriting derisive laughter or scorn as absurdly inept, false, or foolish
3 : Alaska Airlines’ pricing scheme
Portland Rose Gardens
June 14, 2008 – 8:28 pmIt was a gorgeous pre-summer day, so Codi and I headed out to the Portland Rose Gardens to enjoy some outside time, take some photos, etc. The sun was extra bright, so pictures didn’t come out quite like I’d hoped. Some of them are pretty decent, though. Here are a few examples:
Festival of Balloons & Carnival Rides
June 14, 2008 – 9:56 amCodi and I went to the Allstate Festival of Balloons with four friends and their G-Force loving kids. Although there were no balloons at the festival while we were there, we had a great time going on some of the carnival rides. We took some good photos, but this quick and jerky video probably gives the best impression.
(The video was taken with a pocket-sized Vado camcorder made by Creative Labs. $99. Not bad. The original video is cleaner. Conversion to Flash dropped the quality quite a bit.)
Restaurant Warning Signs
June 10, 2008 – 2:16 pmI had a hankering for BBQ the other day, so I stopped by a rather popular BBQ restaurant. It was highly recommended. As soon as I arrived, I noticed some things that I should have paid better attention to.
1. Hand written sign on door: “Jiggle door handle. It’ll open.”
2. Inside restaurant: distinct smell of cats.
3. Quote from chef/cashier: “I’m so nervous. I’m here all by myself.”
4. 75% of the people who walked in, looked around and left rather quickly.
I toughed it out and got my BBQ sandwich. Sharp stomach ache followed about 15 minutes later. Woops.
Tags: Bad BBQ
Argyle Winery Visit & Vineyard Photos
June 5, 2008 – 12:01 amI headed out to Argyle Winery yesterday to take some photos of the vines and grapes. It’s still pretty early in the growing season, but things are looking pretty nice. Here are a few shots (out of 70+). Most of the photos were of Chardonnay vines.
Ducks and Geese at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
May 30, 2008 – 11:20 amCodi and I recently visited the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in SE Portland. It’s 9 acres of rhododendrons and other flowers, but the most obvious attraction is the small lake and the hundreds of ducks and geese.
Betwen the two of us, we took about 300 photos. Here are a few samples - flowers to come soon.
Click for larger version (1920×1200, scales down to 1680×1050).
Click for larger version (1920×1200, scales down to 1680×1050).
Some More Good Quotes
March 31, 2008 – 8:36 pmThe most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
Thomas Jefferson
Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office seeking.
Rutherford B. Hayes
May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, may good luck pursue you each morning and night.
Irish saying
An eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind.
Mahatma Gandhi
It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.
Warren Buffett
A politician looks forward to the next election. A statesman looks forward to the next generation.
Thomas Jefferson
Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeates
A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.
P.J. O’Rourke
What we think, we become.
Buddha
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt
The more ignorant you are, the quicker you fight.
Will Rogers
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.
E.B. White
The man who can drive himself farther once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.
Roger Bannister
Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
Sir Winston Churchill
I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.
Thomas Edison
Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.
Spanish proverb
The short memories of American voters is what keeps our politicians in office.
Will Rogers
Character is power.
Booker T. Washington
He who considers his work beneath him will be above doing it well.
Alexander Chase
Efficiency is doing the right thing. Effectiveness is doing the thing right.
Peter Drucker.
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Pablo Picasso
In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Voters want a fraud they can believe in.
Will Durst
There is noting so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
Peter Drucker
Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.
Eric Hoffer
It is easier to fight for principles than it is to live up to them.
Alfred Adler
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.
Helen Keller
Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.
Henry Ford
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.
Mark Twain
They have rights who dare maintain them.
James Russell Lowell
Where there is no desire, there is no industry.
John Locke
There isn’t a person anywhere that isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can.
Henry Ford
The greater the wealth, the thicker the dirt.
John Kenneth Galbraith
The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
Henry Kissinger
Life is short. Live it up.
Nikita Krushchev
Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.
Gert Boyle
He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own.
Aesop
All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action.
Demosthenes
Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion.
Benjamin Franklin
Wine is bottled poetry.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Having a Bad Day?
March 19, 2008 – 5:18 pmIf you ever, ever feel down or frustrated because it seems like you’re having a bad day, just think about this poor woman and realize that you’re probably doing just fine.
Introducing the HotDamBurger
March 17, 2008 – 10:59 pm“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
I was jonesing for a hamburger. Alas, we had hamburger buns but no hamburger - only hotdogs. While some would have given up, I was inspired. I made a hotdog hamburger, a.k.a. the HotDamBurger. With homemade mustard, a little relish and some ketchup, it was pretty damn tasty!
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