Fish Fear Me

The Royal Wedding

Jeez, I think I'm finally ready. The bright side is that after all of this work I should be able to nap until just before 2:00 A.M. with no problem

The Union Jack and House of Windsor decorations are all up in the living room. The English Breakfast Tea is ready to brew and the scones will be ready to serve. I'll be lighting the candles in the oiled paper bags that are along the sidewalk at 2:00 AM. The boys have been told that they can show up after 2:15 but absolutely no later than 2:45, as the really important guests are scheduled to begin arriving at Westminster Abbey starting at 2:50 and I will simply not be interrupted after that.

The broadcast will be recorded on dvd, of course, and I've arranged to have a video camera present so none of us have to get distracted by taking notes. We can just blurt out whatever we want and it will all be recorded. I still have this nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something though. Ah, I know what it is. If you have been buying into this post, you need to(watch those speakers if you're at work) click here.

My God

My thoughts and prayers go out to those people in the South who are dealing with the widespread destruction and the terrible death toll from yesterday's storms. I was in meetings all morning and was dumbstruck when I heard on the radio that the number of confirmed dead was approaching 250. In this era of advanced warnings you just don't expact that to happen anymore, but obviously it can. 

Whoop There It Is

I was surprised this morning when the NBC breaking news alert turned out to be about President Obama finally releasing the original long form version of his birth certificate today. I had to chuckle a bit when the president complained that the issue had become a distraction because it was in his power to release his actual birth certificate all along. I've been puzzled that he hasn't and in a way I'm even more puzzled today because what was released appears to be completely innocuous. Why did he hide it for 2 1/2 years?

The winner: Donald Trump, who can now claim a scalp and will be further emboldened to hound President Obama about his academic records. Trump is a buffoon, but the reality here is he is only doing what the major news organizations should have done years ago.

The losers: All of those people who have shilled for Obama by saying that he already had released his birth certificate or who peddled the lame excuse that the law prevented it. President Obama this morning exposed them as the partisan hacks and tools that they truly are. Oops! How's that view from under the bus?

There's No Place Like Home

I made it home last night after 12 days, almost exactly 3000 road miles, and more fun than I probably deserve. Some observations:

The weather cooperated pretty well, with only one rainy day while we were on Kiawah Island and only one patch of serious storms while dad and I were on the road. Now I'm back just in time for a few days of cold rain with maybe some snow mixed in. Ugh. April showers bring May flowers. April showers bring May flowers. April showers bring May flowers.

We gathered the entire immediate family together for a week: Mom and Dad, the six of us not-so-much-anymore kids and two spouses, and one niece and two nephews. The 13 of us just fit into a six bedroom house that we rented for the week. The kitchen just barely worked for cooking for that many people, but we got by and took turns cooking each night. We ate well. Probably too well, IYKWIM.

I think we figured that the house went about 5000 square feet total for two floors. As large as that is to me, it was a modest house as far as Kiawah Island is concerned. There are plenty of homes on the island that can easily double or more than triple that square footage. It is not a place to seek out a simple and humble abode.

There are a few smaller houses on Kiawah, but those are very much exceptions and even those homes would probably be out of my price range for a house. Which is okay with me. It was a very nice place to visit and I would go back, so don't get me wrong. I could never live there though. Even if I could afford it, it's not a place where I would ever really fit in. 

I learned that while cotton was king in other parts of the South, it was rice that made the plantation owners around Charleston very rich. They called it "Carolina Gold" and millions of pounds of it were shipped to Europe every year. It could only be profitable with slave-labor though, and at the end of the war not only had Sherman's army devastated the plantations, freeing the slaves destroyed their means to rebuild. Yeah, my sympathy meter didn't twitch either.

People who wail about "crumbling infrastructure" in this country need to be specific about their complaints. I just drove 3000 miles of our nation's roadways and overwhelmingly they should be graded as A or A+. The worst road I was on I would grade as a C and it was far from crumbling, just a little bumpy. I have no doubt that there are specific issues that need to be addressed, I'm just not going to accept the generic "crumbling infrastructure" anymore. 

On The Road Again

Back on the road again. This last week on Kiawah Island was great, but thank God I'm going back to work on Tuesday. I need the rest. :)

File Away For Just In Case

A recipe for making a batch of 10,000 chocolate chip cookies, from a tour of the USS Yorktown:

You never know.

The USS Yorktown at Patriot's Point is well worth the time to visit and I think they do a good job with their self-guided tours through the ship. Watch your head in a few spots though!

The one negative is the food there. If you think you will arrive at Patriot's Point with an appetite...Don't! They have the worst snack bars EVER, and take that from somebody who can and has tolerated all sorts of roadside stands that would make some men cry. So just be warned: There are few places to eat along the road into Patriot's Point. Once you park there you are doomed when it comes to food. I kid you not, doomed. 

Bumper Boats

We took a break from the sight-seeing to take the kids out for a couple of hours of arcade games and fun park activities. The go-carts were a kick and little nephew Liam really enjoyed the "big" slide, but I think the favorite was the bumper boats, something I don't think I had ever even seen before. You use one hand to manage the propulsion and steer and the other hand can fire a stream of water at any other driver in the pool. It was my favorite at least and Liam, who is only a five-year-old, probably steered his way around better than any of us.

From left to right below it goes me, Patty(youngest sister), Tim(BIL and Liam's dad), and Liam.

It's tough to see but that pic has me getting Liam with a stream of water. Truth be told though, the boy got the better of our exchanges.

Ever Get The Feeling...

...that you are being watched?

Yikes!

The estimated alligator population on Kiawah Island in 2010 was 457. For some reason I thought there were fewer and they would be pretty small, however:

Most of the alligators seen on Kiawah will be between 3-8 feet in length, though larger alligators up to 11 feet are present in some areas of the island.

Well, that got my attention.

Run For Your Life!

My hubris in declaring winter to be over has apparently angered Mother Nature:

Friday Night: Rain before 10pm, then rain and snow between 10pm and 1am, then snow after 1am. Low around 32. Northeast wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Saturday: A chance of rain and snow before 4pm, then a slight chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45. North northwest wind between 11 and 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

It's every man for himself. Get out of my way you women and children! To the South I must go with all haste and my fellow Minnesotans be damned. Let them take my punishment while instead I flee like a coward. I don't care, I'll be 1000 miles away by the time that hits. Bwahahahahaha!

In other words, I'll be on the road for a couple of days and blogging will be light.