To provide you assistance in your busy schedule today, I have taken the opportunity to review and condense the news for you so you will not be wasting a lot of time turning pages.

Weather: Looks like a great weekend, review of the Doppler Radar site at 7:22 a.m. indicated no formation of moisture throughout the Cook Inlet Region. It is going to be sunny today and tomorrow. Enjoy a day outside.

Gas Prices: Dipped slightly but we should see no great affect on current prices for
sometime. Government is considering giving us all a $100.00 rebate check - wow, that will fill my truck up one time. Reduce the Federal Taxes on gasoline and it would have some positive affect.

Hillary Rodman Clinton: Recent polls shows that 38% of the registered demorcrat voters would vote for her in the 2008 election for president. However, only 23% of those same voters would vote for Hillary Clinton. Is something wrong in this poll or do they think there are two different people or is there a stigma attached to the single name of Clinton?

Sports: Baseball - who cares. Basketball - Really no one cares

Entertainment: Flight 93 is at the top of the news, other than that there is nothing worth watching so enjoy the day outside.

That is all the news, so with the time that I have saved you, go out, rake the lawn and have a picnic with the kids. Enjoy the spring, as it is great day to do some "bird watching".

HEREBY, let it be known that proclamation Duo is declared official this date in the Year of 2006. Proclamation Duo is hereby executed by the Grand Poopah of the Eagle Clan and Elder of All Clans.

ARTICLE 13 is invoked and remains in good standing.

HISTORICAL DATA: The Buffalo that once roamed the vast prairies of our nation and the grain fields of Delta Junction was in jeopardy of becoming extinct. However, those vast herds have once again appeared in large numbers. The members of our own Buffalo Clan has likewise multiplied in numbers since the formation of that particular clan. Since the visions of the Elder, this clan has increased by a number of Septimus.

WHEREBY, With the increased population of Septimus within this single clan, it has been brought to my attention that the Buffalo Clan has an unfair advantage in friendly, competitive games of skill or chance that the clans may participate in during the gathering of the clans.

THEREFORE, Proclamation Duo is officially decreed ordering that the Buffalo Clan be separated; It is further Decreed that a Duo Clan be established by those members being separated from the Bull and Cow Buffalo.

WHEREBY, The Grand Poopah, Elder of the Clans decrees that the following members of the Buffalo Clan are hence forth removed from the herd. These members will include Joshua, Crystal, Natalie and Riley. Until such time as deemed necessary, the member Donald will remain with the Buffalo Clan.

WHEREBY, The Grand Poopah, Elder of the Clans had a vision this day. While meditating, watching the cloud formations, the Eagles soaring in the wind currents and scratching the left ear of Dutch, a vision came unto me. I heard a distant but a distinct sound. I told my faithful companion of this sound and describe it unto him so he would be further familiar of this knocking sound upon the winds.

WHEREBY, From the vision of the soaring eagle and the distinct sound of the knocking, it came unto me the name of the new clan in which Proclamation Duo establishes.

WHEREBY, Upon this date is Decreed by Proclamation Duo that the members Joshua, Crystal, Natalie, and Riley will henceforth be members of the "Woodpecker Clan" as long as the rivers flow, the green grass grows, and the winds whisper in the trees.

WHEREBY, It is so Decreed.

s/Grand Poopah, Elder of the Clans

HEREBY, let it be known that Proclamation Unus is declared as official this day in the year 2006. Proclamation Unus is hereby executed by the self proclaimed Grand Poopah of the Clans. An official title approved and adopted by the membership clans.
Be it further known, by official decree dated April 1981, the Bestowment of the title of "King" was also bestowed upon his Grandness by Official Decree after proving his prowness with a fishing rod on the Anchor River, winning each of the annual King Salmon Derbies that were conducted by the early day clans.

ARTICLE 13 is invoked and remains good standing. Article 13 stipulates that any member of the clan may claim the Title of Grand Poopah or "King" by catching, retaining and showing certified proof that they have personally landed a King Salmon in excess of seventy two (72) pounds. The King Salmon must be made available for viewing by all members of the clans. The King Salmon must be fresh, unfrozen, fit for human consumption, weighed on a certified scale and witnessed by the current Grand Poopah.

HISTORICAL DATA: At the infancy of the individual Clans, the Grand Poopah was an honorary name bestowed upon the Elder of the clans. Upon the concept of the Clan, the appropriate name for each clan was determined by the Elder. The determination of these names were not taken lightly. After consultation and meditation with the heavenly bodies, the Elder had a vision of each clan as the animal in which they appeared in his vision. Each of these animals are unique in their respective personalities and their adaptability to fishing. Furthermore, each of these animals are native to our beloved land called Alaska.

WHEREBY, the Elder of the clan did not bestow a vision upon himself or his mate. Let be known by this Official Proclamation that members of the clans determined a name for the Elder without the benefit of a vision or invoking Article 13. Further more, let it be known that the animal in which they chose without the benefit of a vision is one not native to our beloved land called Alaska. This animal is not worthy of having the dignified position as the Elder of the Clan, Grand Poopah or King. Furthermore, this animal is not worthy of being associated with the majestic bear, moose, buffalo, wolf or the high flying raven.

THEREFORE, after serious consideration and the interpretation of cloud formations and visions, the Grand Poopah makes this self proclamation that his Clan henceforth shall be known as the American Bald Eagle Clan.

JUSTIFICATION: The American Bald Eagle is a bird that represents power throughout the world, soaring on the spiraling winds of the heavens, nests in high locations looking down upon his kingdom, the white top notch demonstrating the wisdom of his age, his ability as a salmon fisherman is well documented, not only in the number of fish that he will catch but also knowing when and where to fish. Being the majestic bird that he is, it is only fitting that the Eagle represents the Elders of the clan.

THEREFORE, With Proclamation Unus on this date in the Year of 2006, the Bald Eagle with represent the Elder Clan as long as the rivers flow, the green grass grows and the winds whisper in the trees

WHEREBY, It is so Decreed.

Woke up this morning to see those little white flakes floating down to earth, it first appeared as though we would see a real snow storm, but after a couple of hours, it cleared off and we enjoyed a beautiful day of sunshine. Dutch and I spent the entire day outside, working on the multi-purpose building. Terry did join us in the afternoon and replaced some of the rock pillars on our lawn fence that the "snowplow driver" backed into over the winter. I will never have that guy plow my driveway again! I was real happy to see her replace them as I thought I was going to have to do it! However, I did support her with advice as to how to do it properly.

I do not know if anyone of you watch the Discovery Channel, I seldom do but Heath stopped by tonight to have dinner with us. He had just recently watched this channel and wanted to know if I knew the last name of the guy that invented the toilet? He had not seen the blog postings that were recently published so he had no idea of our history and that he was actually related to Sir John Robert Harrington. The program on the Discovery Channel was about the history of the toilet. From what he told me, their historical data pretty much followed the same outline as that which I divulged to you in my postings.

Progress on the "multi-purpose" building is nearing completion, at least further along than it was thirty days ago. I had to file an extension with the Kenai Peninsula Borough on my building permit. I failed to complete it on schedule but that is all right since I have also been running a "cost over run" since the keel was laid. However, the interior should be finished tomorrow with the exception of the paneling. Currently the projected completion date is this Wednesday dependent upon weather for painting. Although, I had nothing to do with it, but it has been decided by the decorator in the family that it should be painted bright colors in a spectrum of a rainbow? My personal choice would have been chartreuse and flame.

I missed the Anchor River Ice pool by one minute, it is now flowing free and for the first time in years, there were no ice jams. I was hoping to see a couple of them develop, just to carve out the bottom and give the fish a little better holding area. It is very fishable right now, especially at the forks so maybe I will sneak down in the next day of so and drift a few eggs, just to see if any King Salmon arrived. Strictly a biological data collection process, not for the enjoyment or desire to fish.

Heath was able to drive into the "Hole in The Wall" with the four wheeler, on his way out he ran down the barrow ditch with two tires and it did help drain some of the water out of the lake. I can now see the bottom of camper on legs! We now have less than a month before all of you arrive for the "big" weekend, I have so much to get done before then. Some many preparations to make, so little time! It is so difficult being the activity chairman, I must find someone that I can delegate this responsibility to. I told the wild man that we would once again take all of his slabs for the fire pit. He assured me that he would leave a lot of bark on the outside edge. We should be able to get all of it cut up the week that "Homer" and
"Marge" of here prior to the Memorial Day weekend. We need a good supply of legal firewood, don't want no one getting "shot" this year over a stick of wood!

Spring is finally here, despite the snow that still blankets the majority of the area. Tonight, we were the first to utilize the Anchor River State Recreational Area for this season. We had Hunter's 5th Birthday party across the road from the tackle shop, a great fire, good food, and a bunch of kids! Hunter is so fun to watch, with all those kids playing together, Hunter was off on his own, having a great time. He prefers to be by himself, just him and his imagination. In watching him over the past year, I have noticed that he has a great imagination and reminds me a lot of another little boy many years ago. He actually plays cowboys!
The other day, while working on the "multi-purpose" building, he came out and was playing with some of the small pieces of wood. I watched him for a bit and ask him what he was building, his reply was "a boat". I got him a hammer and a few nails, he pounded on them but not enough to dent the board. So I offered to help, we built the first boat, then grandma helped him build a second boat. Taking his two boats, he headed for the house to paint them. A few minutes later he returned, because he needed another boat while the other two boats dried. This time, we used the saw and cut out the hull and nailed enough stud 2/4's two it to make it look like a super tanker. Again, he took off for the house only to return a few minutes later needing another piece of wood and some nails. He had his hands full as he headed to the house, I followed to get myself a cup of coffee. He did not realize I was behind him, when he got to the deck, he dropped a piece of wood, then while trying to pick up the wood he dropped the nails, the next thing I heard was "God Damm It", I know I should not have but I could not stop laughing as I helped him pick up his nails and wood.
Except for the custom built door, the exterior of the "multi-purpose" building is now completed and I am ready to move inside. Having only a hammer, some bent nails, a 12" ruler and a dull hack saw as tools, it really did not turn out that bad and should work for it's intended purpose. Shane looked at it today after reading our meter, he did not say anything but I could see it in his body language as he was thinking "and we are going to have to move this building", it really should not be that bad especially if we can find a boom truck. It has to be in place and ready for occupants in less than a month. I have started scouting out a location, but only with my binoculars from the bluff, the water is to deep in the lake. Heidi's flower bed is high and dry, that looks like the best location and will be very convenient to the fire pit, Homer won't have to walk so far. The other location that looks good is the Buffalo Clan camping spot, it has not flooded yet, no mud slides and it appears that the trees that were planted are dead as they have no leaves on them. The Bear Clan spot is out of the question, since the trailer has already washed away in the spring floods. There is that one little gully over by the Moose Clan campsite, but that is quite a distance for the little girls to walk at night, especially with Arnie still hanging around. It really looks like the flower bed next to the Wolf Clan is the moist likely spot. There is no way that we will ever get this building into the original site without clear cutting the alders, although it would be easier digging for you guys. Thoughts to ponder.

We have seen pictures of everyone else in the family with a horse, so I thought you might enjoy these as well. This was the summer that Shane and Shana were ages five and four. This is probably one of the best jokes that your Uncle Don played on me, we were living in Durango at the time so he drove the 220 mile round trip from Montrose to visit us. He was driving a pick-up with a cab high camper shell. After visiting for a bit, he told Shane and Shana that if they could "guess" what he had in the truck, they could have it. They had a variety of guesses, but never came up with the correct answer. Giving in, he told them if they would come out to the truck he would give them their surprise. I do not know who was the most surprised, Terry, I or the kids when he opened the camper door and there stood a horse, a saddle, blanket and bridle. One of the kids asked their Uncle "what is his name", he replied "Guess" consequently the pony became known as "Guess"!

No parent in the world can say "no" in a situation like that, especially to Uncle Don! So, we had our first and only horse. Although, the kids always referred to "Guess" in the male gender, the pony was actually a little filly. The kids loved the pony and there are a lot of stories they hold between themselves that their mother nor I ever knew until later years. Like Shane standing on the top rail of the fence, waiting for "Guess" to walk by and then he would jump on his back. The relationship between the pony and Terry quickly became a love / hate relationship, every time Terry would go to feed or water her, "Guess" would chase her.

From the time that Don gave the pony to the kids, anytime there was a gathering of the family, Brother Don would always have to tell the story about getting the best of me by giving the kids the pony.

So keeping this in mind, how could any parent object if a kindly old grandfather showed up with a camper load of baby goats or pigs to give to his grandchildren?

1152 (AP)
Since I rained out today on the construction of the "multi-purpose" building, I thought I might catch up on a little office work. To date, the building is looking good. The roofing and siding architectural design worked out very well, after a little exterior trim work, I will be ready to work on the door and move in to the interior finish work. Have run into a small problem, that is how I am going to move it out of my driveway and to it's proper location - I can foresee a major task in this accomplishment.

I do have a little time to figure that problem out since we are now into full "spring breakup" and the "whole in the wall campground" is slowly evolving into a beautiful lake. The one camper on jacks is still above the water line, but I did see a beaver looking at it the other day. I assume he was considering why he should build a house when a nice one was already on site. The second smaller trailer, the last we saw it was when it was floating across the highway and over the bank. I am sure we will be able to recover it later into the spring.

I know that all of you are planning to come visit me to celebrate the date of my birth on May 18th. If you are traveling in from the north, you will need to make a small detour to get to my humble adobe. Traveling the Sterling Highway from the north, you will need to pass through Anchor Point and proceed to the south end of the Old and New Sterling Highway intersection, turn right on the Old Sterling Highway and drive back north to Anchor Point. My drive way will be the second to last driveway that you can turn into before you reach Anchor Point. You may want to add 31.5 minutes to your driving time in order to take this new route to my home and the "Hole In the Wall Campground". It seems in the wisdom of the state engineers that they will be closing the Anchor River bridge on the Old Sterling Highway to all traffic from May 8th to May 18th. Being that this is a "state employee" in house construction project, I estimate that they will be done by July 4th. Problems are already starting to compound, I am just one mile from my video store business, yet I will have to drive 18 miles to get to the store. They will start launching boats on April 29th, after May 8th, all the boats will have to go around to get to the beach, another 18 mile detour. They also forgot to consider that kids will still need to get to school, although some only live a half mile from school - they go half way to Homer and back again to get to their destination. But, the good news is that the old bridge needed some work and perhaps the reason they have a target date of completion on May 18th, perhaps they are going to dedicate it to me! Heath has come up with a business concept, he figures that if he puts his boat in the river on a pulley line like they have on the Russian River ferry, he can charge everyone $5.00 to cross the river! It is going to be a mess but do not let that stop you from coming down for the spring clean up project, the campground should be de-watered by then. Once again, would someone ask me why I want to retire!

Prior to closing, I have a question that I am seeking the answer. There was a mechanic and a plumber waiting in line for admission to the "International Tool Show" at Sullivan Arena. One of them was the father of the other one's son. How could this be possible?

During the past week, we have seen the price per gallon of gas increase rapidly with the forecast that it will eventually exceed $3.00 per gallon. The price of crude oil closed out on the New York Stock Exchange at historic high of 75.00 per barrel on Friday. Disregard the fact that also within this past week, it was announced that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a major oil producer was paid $400,000 million this past year. The question that one must ask themselves is the price of gasoline to high? This thought occurred to me today as I stood in front of the gas pump and watched the little numbers rapidly rolling past. I was difficult to concentrate on the dial because next to my car another person was filling his Suburu, while his wife and three children patiently waited. He expounded on the fact how high the gas was and it was some type of conspiracy between the government and the big oil companies. Finishing his task before I, he opened his car door, took a swig of beer from his open bottle setting in the console and with his checkbook went inside the station / convenience store.
Following him inside a few minutes later, he was continuing his ranting about the high gas prices as the clerk was preparing a "latte" for the little lady in the car and three Pepsi-Cola's for the little ones. After he left, the clerk shook her head and said, "everyone is complaining about the high price of gas". Upon paying her, I thought to myself, "are the gas prices to high" and why should I take it out on the clerk, she definitely has no control over the price of gas. During my drive, the thought of "high gas prices" was plaguing my concentration so I decided to do a little cost analysis. With pen and paper in hand, I entered the local convenience and liquor store just a block from the gas station that I had just visited. This cost analysis was taken in Anchor Point on this date with a random selection of products and their current market price:

Gasoline Price Per Oz: .02 Cents / Price Per Gallon $ 2.81
Milk 2% Price Per Oz: .04 Cents / Price Per Gallon $5.35
Water Price Per Oz: .06 Cents / Price Per Gallon $7.68
Sobe Drink Price Per Oz: .07 Cents / Price Per Gallon $8.96
Pepsi / Coca Cola Price per Oz: .08 Cents / Price Per Gallon $10.24
Lipton Ice Tea Price Per Oz: .10 Cents / Price Per Gallon: $12.80
Coors Beer Price Per Oz: .10 Cents / Price Per Gallon: $12.80
Dole Fruit Juice Price Per Oz: .11 Cents / Price Per Gallon $14.08
Amp Energy Drink Price Per Oz: 12 Cents / Price Per Gallon $15.36
Alaska Amber Price Per Oz: .25 Cents / Price Per Gallon $32.00
Irish Latte Price Per Oz: .25 Cents / Price Per Gallon: $32.00
Corona Beer Price Per Oz: .29 Cents / Price Per Gallon: $37.12
Korbel Champagne Price Per Oz: .54 / Price Per Gallon: $69.12
Barringer Chardonnay Wine Price Per Oz: .59 Cents / Gallon $75.52
Bacardi Light Rum Price per Oz: .67 Cents / Price Per Gallon: 85.76
Seagram 7 Price Per Oz: .73 Cents / Price Per Gallon: $93.44
Meyers Rum Price Per Oz: $1.10 / Price Per Gallon: $140.80

Conclusion:
(1) We are fueling our vehicles with the most economic type of fuel?
(2) If the current market price for gasoline was a conspiracy between the government and the oil companies, why don't they team up with the makers of Meyers Rum and make all of our cars capable of burning alcohol?
(3) Water at $7.68 per gallon should not be used, it will cause your car to flood.
(4) No type of alcohol should be used in your cars as Drinking and Driving is against the law.
(5) Don't take your frustration on the poor clerk at your favorite station, they are only making $7.15 per hour which is equivalent to 2.54 gallons of gas per hour.

Well, after several attempts at downloading drivers and software from HP, I finally got my scanner to working. I will wait a day or so before I go through that with my digital camera.

Do I Really Look Like Easter Bunny?


Being Easter Bunny Is Really Boring!


This picture was taken by Donnie while we were all together for Brother Don's Memorial Service.

2245 (AP News)
I am assuming that everyone in Anchorage has been out playing in the sun over the last couple of days or perhaps laying on the couch, enjoying the sun and eating bon bon's! I make this remark after visiting all of my "favorite" blog sites - wow, it is a ghost town out in cyberspace. I may be verbose, but at least I keep you entertained on the regular basis!

Heath hit the inlet for the first time today, we had fresh King Salmon and Halibut for Terry's Birthday dinner. They brought in a couple of small halibut and one King but lost several others, he still insists trolling with his fly rod! One day, he will hook that new world record King and loose it because he likes that flyrod! But, surprisingly, the salmon was very good and coming from me that is a very high compliment.

Ran into a little problem on the "multi-purpose" building, nothing that cannot be fixed after I remove all the work that I did today, oh well it was a very nice day to work outside.

Got a nice email with pictures attached from Donnie today. It was good to hear from him and all is going well with them. The pictures that he sent was of Cliff, Dort and I when I was out in January. I printed one of them to show Terry, she looked at it for the longest time, had kind of blank look stare and "my god, I was trying to figure out how you got a current picture of you and your mother"! As soon as I get my "scanner" working, I am about to throw the entire process in the garbage, I will scan it into one of my blogs. Donnie has visited the blog sites, he had never seen that picture that I put on the blog a week or so ago with all of you as little "tinkies and dinkies". I almost had a heart attack last night, nothing to serious, but it scared me! I answered the phone and the voice on the other end was so familiar, his first words was "How is it going?" and then he continued talking. It took me a good three or four minutes before I started breathing again when I recognize the voice of Shane. He sounded so much like Don, whenever he would call, he would always start out "How's it going bro". It got my attention.

Not much happening around town, the latest crime, which I really do not view it as a crime, but our little neighbor that lives on the bluff overlooking the Slide Hole that has all the goats. You have seen him around town walking his goats or they ride in the back of his truck with their heads inside the rear window. He has about a half dozen of them and they are harmless. He was out walking his goats yesterday and was in the parking lot at the Anchor River Inn grocery store. A couple of the local hoodlums decided it would be cute if they turned some brodies in front of him to scare his goats. Well, Howard is quick to temper, especially if someone is messing with his goats, he picked up a large rock and put it right through their windshield! I can't wait to see the police blotter this week in the Homer Gazette. The legal question is, were the goats civil rights being violated or was the owner of the goats protecting his personal property or were the hoodlums guilty of wreckless driving or was the owner of the goats guilty of assault with a deadly weapon or were the hoodlums guilty of assault with a motor vehicle and cruelty to animals. I can foresee some very serious legal questions rising from this incident. Not that I really like goats or event sheep, but I am going to root in favor of the goats in this case! It could only happen in Anchor Point!

Well, you have the "hot flash" from Anchor Point for this day, I will now go back to my "tinkering" to see if my scanner and digital camera is compatible to this new system. I did finally figure out my e-mail, had to call ACS just to find our how to get the Send / Receive button to show. There has been a lot of changes over the years, I was just getting use to my Windows 94!

2337 (AP News)
Hey, this concept of having two computers on your desk is great, got them both working at the same time. Doing my normal Monday night homework, printing out a 86 page weekly video check out form. Thank god for inventing the two sided printers (duplexing). "Duplexing" is a new computer word I learned from visiting the local computer stores in Anchorage. If you want a "duplexing printer", don't look for them in any store in Anchorage. I know, I visited everyone of them. For some reason, they do not stock them in stores but all of the manufacturers are making them. I am having to order one from HP to replace the one that I have.

Woke up to a skiff of fresh snow on the deck this morning, the good folks in Homer got about five inches but it was melted off by noon. The rest of the day was beautiful, worked on the "multi-purpose" building all afternoon in my shirt sleeves. Got the skylights installed today so I will finish capping off the overhead tomorrow and possibly start covering the ribs. Couple of days, I should be ready to move inside and do the interior. Speaking of moving inside, while working today and admiring my craftsmanship and reviewing the blue prints, I came to a major decision. As the elder and what you guys refer to as the "Grand Poopah", one of my proclamations for this year is that there will be no camping or sleeping in the "multi-purpose" building. I know when it is cold, raining and the wind is howling, it will be very tempting to seek the sanctuary within the comfortable, dry and warm confines of this building but to be fair to all, we will need to avoid spending an excessive amount of time within these sacred walls.

In the event that anyone just might happen to forget, tomorrow is Terry's birthday! We did not accomplish our little task, but that is ok because the computer is not ready for her either. Maybe we can get it done by her next birthday. Weather conditions and surf permitting, Heath is going to make his first run in the morning looking for that first King Salmon of the season along the beaches. Looks like I might be able to drive into the tackle shop by the 1st of May, still a lot of snow in the parking lot. The river remains iced over, with a little flowing water.

Current update on the oil rig across the valley from us, that we can hear all night, they are down to 550 feet and planning to go as deep as 1,000 feet looking for oil. If they do not find it, then they will convert it over to a gas well. Evidently, the initial testing and reports looked good for finding oil. Now would be a good time to buy property and a business in Anchor Point. As soon as this oil boom hits, prices are going to escalate. Just happen to know of a video store that is priced cheap!

My other computer just finished up, so now I have to go back to work! Have a good day!

Hoping that all of you had a good Easter, we were up and around for the annual visit of the bunny at 6:30 a.m. Heather was the first one up and had most of the eggs spotted before Hunter showed his little face, it takes him a little time to wake up and then only after his first cup of "warm hot coco". Went into town and picked up your grand parents for dinner, of course had to stay long enough to see the new TV hooked up. It is a very nice plasma 42" screen that even rotates by the remote control. Your grandfather can see the images on it but cannot see the smaller details but much better than he had before. Heath, Erica, and kids also had dinner with us. Shane called later this evening to check in, he went over to the in-laws for dinner and had to set through 4 hours of videos of the Italy trip. He said the travel pictures were good but having to set through all videos on the concerts that they did got very old.
Still working on my new system, early this morning I loaded my scanner, printer, and camera. It would not accept the camera unless I downloaded an update from HP, which I did. To date, I have about four hours invested in trying to get the camera to load and still can't get the computer to locate it. So, I decided to let it rest and go onto something else like sending you a posting with a picture, two hours later and I still can't get the computer to recognize that a scanner is installed! So you, get no picture, yet! Other than all of that, I like the new system, it even looks like Microsoft Office 2003 is going to be better than my old 2000 - but I will wait on that decision until I see if the computer changes it mind and does not recognize that either. My internet is still not right, but it does connect and always at the top speed that you can expect from a dial up server. Where is the "tinker the dinker" when you need one? Sure will be glad to get it all done so I can have my office back in shape, right now it has pieces of computer equipment scattered all over the place - hardly enough room in here for my good buddy, Dutch but he can still curl up in his little alcove surrounded by shotguns, I think it makes him feel secure. Might be a while before you here from Erica, she is still trying to get her computer hooked up as well. But, you have to see their new dog! Just a pup but a cross between a basset hound and black lab, he is got this long body and short little legs but the head and color of a lab. He appears to be a pretty smart little dog, he is already retrieving a ball and seems to be aggressive to learn. Well, once again I have been verbose and exceeded the normal limits of an acceptable length posting - but I have to much wisdom to share with one and all!

Let me be the first to wish each and all a very Happy Easter. Hoping that you find your baskets full of goodies and taking just a moment to reflect upon why we celebrate this day. As a child, Easter Sunday was always a special day, living in Colorado in the spring, the green grass was just starting to appear and the days were warm. It was never even considered that the Easter eggs could be hidden inside the house! I think this was a tradition that was started in Alaska. Prior to Easter, I would spend several days gathering sticks and grass to build an actual nest out on the lawn, under a tree or beside a bush. As is most things with boys, it was very competitive to see who could build the most elaborate nest. As with Christmas, on Easter morning there were chores to do, horses to feed and water which had to be done before any festivities could take place. Carrying water to the horses in buckets, we had to walk past the lawn to get to the corrals, each trip we would scout out a few more eggs. By the time we got the chores done, we had most of the eggs spotted. Regardless of how well we scouted the eggs prior to the hunt, we never saw those that were so well hidden in the trees, in holes, and under our own nest. Easter Bunny was one smart rabbit! Once we had all the eggs found, had breakfast and consumed as much candy as we could, we would then take turns hiding the eggs once again. We would spend the majority of the day, hiding and finding eggs. There was always one special egg, that we tried to avoid as it was traditional in our family that one egg would be colored but not thoroughly boiled and anytime we ate an egg, we had to break it on our heads. There was a lot of egg trading taking place in order to avoid that one dreaded egg. The last person that got one of those eggs that I remember was Taylor! I wonder who snuck that egg into the basket - naughty rabbit! Have a good day and let the kids eat as much candy as they want!

2200 (AP News) I am now on line with my new system, currently, I have the new one set up with the old one sitting beside it, I figure it is going to take several weeks to convert all the files I want to transfer over to the new system, not to mention address books, accounting systems, etc. Five or six years of accumulation to transfer, it is like loosing an old friend. So far the only problem that I have encountered is that the new system did not come with seat belts for my office chair, with the new speed, it keeps knocking me out of my chair but I guess I will get use to it. Haven't hooked up all of the other hardware, like my scanner, I know you will be disappointed but it may be awhile before you get any additional pictures for your photo albums. At least, I have all of my favorite blog sites listed on my "favorite listing" so you will not get lonely! Got to play, talk with you later.

0761 (A.P. News)
It appears to be another beautiful day in the "little village where the sea and the river meet", sorry the slogan "hamlet by the sea" was already taken by the Homer Chamber of Commerce.

I was really nice to see Sir John the Plumma cruising through the blog sites this morning, he was the only form of life that I observed at dawns first light. I was cruising right behind him, it did not take either of us very long to read the latest postings. After my brief encounter at each site, hoping to pick up a tibit of news or humor, I quickly formulated an opinion as to why the trip was so short in duration to those sites that I visit on a regular basis. Not being one to quickly form an opinion without researching the subject, I visited each of the sites a second time. The following is a chronological listing of those selected sites in relation to current events. The dates indicated in this project are those dates that the most current posting are displayed.
Brittany (March 27th)
Erica I (April 1st)
Erica II (April 4th)
Donny (April 8th)
Heidi (April 10th)
John (April 12th)
Shana (April 14th)
Stan (April 15th)
This information is provided to you as a service of my site, I would recommend that you print and clip this listing and tape it to your monitor, that way if you are on a limited time budget you can go directly to those sites that have a history of maintaining current sites that provide you, the blogger, with the most current news, humor, and surpurolous prattle.

2310 (A.P. News)
Another beautiful day in Anchor Point, spent most of the day outside working on the multi-purpose building. Once again, I had a good helper, although he is a touch lazy I think he has an aptitude for carpentry. At least, he lays under the chop saw while I am cutting boards with sawdust flying all over him. He does interrupt my work on occasion when he thinks it is time to play ball or retrieve the dummy. But, we kept out of your mother's way while she was in her "spring" cleaning mood. Would you believe to the point that she was out on the roof of the house cleaning the second level windows. The last time I ever remember her being on the roof was when she went to clean the chimney at the Homer house, got scared to get off the roof and screamed for help from you guys, but you were all in the house and did not hear her! So at least it appears that she has cured her "roof" phobia!

Work on the multi-purpose building progressing well, finally got a new extension cord. Ready to install the skylights tomorrow and complete the overhead. So, by Sunday I should be ready to finish the plating on the hull. If I am following my blueprints correctly it should finished out at 3.33 x 6.0 cubits. Do you realize how difficult it is to find a tape measure that measures in cubits! I finally had to go to the "Lion and Lamb" bible store to find one. Just telling "Dutch" today, that if by chance it only serves as a multi-purpose building for a short while, it can always be easily converted over to a great, two story dog house or a smoke house.

Thought by now that our latest crime in Anchor Point would be solved, but evidently while I was gone, no one worked the case very hard. I guess they have three "people of interest" from the great robbery, but no suspects! If I were the chief investigator, I would be looking at those with very low I.Q.'s. Setting up the case, you have a liquor store that fronts on the main highway and within sight of the bar, hotel and residence of the owner. This liquor store has a front door and a back door. So the three burglars choose to break down the front door, enter the store, steal booze, Camel Light cigarettes, and packed off the entire safe! How do I know there were three of them, I failed to mention that an oil rig worker staying in the motel just happened to go out of his room to start his truck to go to work and saw three guys leaving the store at 4:00 a.m. in the morning. Reportedly, he did not think anything strange about that, perhaps they were maintenance people.

The Anchor River ice is still holding in place, although some water is flowing on top of the ice above the bridge. Currently, with this weather trend it would be projected that the ice will break and start jamming up on April 23rd at 7:12 p.m.

In closing, I apologize that I could not publish all of the A.P. News in five sentences or less so I do appreciate your indulgence in my verbose hyperbole prattle.

Received a letter today from Dalene, she wrote a very good poem about Don and his cabin,by coincidence, I came across these pictures this evening. The picture of all of us were taken several years ago on our first visit to the cabin. I re-visited it a second time the summer I went out for a class reunion. That was the year that Pat and Brandy were also there and the story of the "Black Bra" was started. He, with some assistance from my mother, built this cabin. It is located on the Little Cimmeron River, east of Montrose. It is located just a couple of miles from the location that the movie "True Grit" was filmed with John Wayne. Don worked for many years with the Nicholas brothers. They were the largest of the sheep ranchers in the area. They own several thousand acres of land in this area. Don lived and worked with them for many years, they were his second family. They told him to select five acres of land, anywhere he wanted on their property and they would deed the property to him. He counter offered that there was no need to subdivide a piece of land out of the middle, that he would prefer to just lease it for 99 years or until he passed way. That is the way it remained. It is located a couple of miles off the road, most times you will need to have four wheel drive to get to the cabin. He cut all the trees, mother would peel the bark and the two of them built the cabin. It is quite nice and a regular museum to his life. He developed a small lake behind the property and stocked it with brook trout. Each year since, he was hunted elk from his cabin, normally getting his elk on opening morning. The cabin brought him and his son Donnie back together, each fall Donnie would travel from Phoenix to go elk hunting and play dominoes with his dad at the cabin. I had breakfast with Auggie Nicholas the morning following the memorial service, although the agreement between them and Don has legally terminated, he assured me that it would always remain as "Don's Cabin" and we would be welcome to visit it anytime we desired. It was Don's last wish that his ashes be spread at the cabin, the family will gather at the cabin in July to carry out this wish. It should be a great party.
Don took this picture of your mother and I when he was showing us his lake, he later installed "plastic" pink flamingo's along the edge of the lake as a practical joke on Donnie.

0903 (AP) It was great being with all of you once again, really feel bad that we did not get the time to see John and the girls, but we will soon. Trips to Anchorage are always so hectic, especially with all the errands to do which is one more reason that I think it is time to retire. No more businesses to worry about while we are gone, no reason to rush home, and no reason that we cannot go somewhere at the drop of a hat. At any rate it was great seeing all of you again.

We were able to pick up your grandfathers big t.v. and t.v. stand which weighed about two hundred pounds and of course unassembled. We got back early enough into the day that I was able to assemble that for him but ran in freight when we started looking at how to hook up the plasma t.v. - 43 jacks on the back of that t.v. and he wants to install seven components including the amplifier. There is at least seven miles of cords to hook up - as you know, I do not "tinker" nor "dinker" but he has arranged for a friend to come up and help him, who fortunately has just recently set one up just like it for himself. Needless, to say, my new computer system still sets in the box which it probably will until Saturday. Real estate agent is showing the house on Saturday and I do not want to fill the office up with two systems because it will take a awhile to copy all the files and get set up.

I actually rushed home to read the latest postings, boy was I surprised! Everyone took a couple of days off while I was gone but that is o.k., I understand you need a leader that sets the example to follow.

A beautiful day out, going to be a perfect day for Dutch and I to go work on the multi-purpose building! Your mother is in the cleaning mode in preparation for the house showing on Saturday - all of you have been through that and know the best thing to do is stay out of the way, don't ask questions, and never, never, ever, offer suggestions. She is convinced that she can move the piano down stairs by herself and put it in the alcove - she will!

I hear her coming towards my office with the vacuum cleaner, Dutch just headed for the utility room so I had best back out of here and disappear. You all take care and see you soon.

Of all the pictures that I have of Dad with horses, this is one of three that I have of my mother with a horse. I do not know when the picture was taken, but looking at the background, I am assuming that it was prior to the migration from Nebraska to Colorado so it would be pre - 1944 and before I was born. She was a young woman, but I love those bib overalls, they must have been the fashion for ranch / farm girls back then just like Carharts are acceptable apparel today for women.

6:12 p.m. (A.P. News)
Grandmother Mary is now home for from the hospital, doctors ordered her to stay at home and rest, we will see how long that will last, give her 24 hours and she will be back to the studio.
As she got out of the hospital, Heath went in! He went to the emergency room earlier this morning because he could not breathe, his lungs are more congested than your grandmother. I saw him around noon and he was on oxygen. I spent the afternoon with the kids until your mother got home, had Hunter and heather both helping me build the new project. Hunter thought it was pretty neat, fixed him up with a carpenter apron, nails, hammer, pencil and nails - then spent the rest of this afternoon checking to see where the nails were being use. Found two driven into my tires, hopefully your mother will get time to change them this evening. I would expect Heath to be released tomorrow, but do not know for sure so we are on hold, pending your mothers dental appointment at 9:00 a.m. and the status of Heath. If we are coming north, it should be around noon.
Did finish up the first floor bulkheads today, now we are ready to put on the second story, if nothing else, it can be converted to a good smoke house later. As a word of warning, if you intend to build anything this summer, buy your 2x4's anywhere other than Homer. Last week, I bought a bundle in Kenai at Home Depot for $2.39 a piece, as normal, my blue prints were off just a touch so I went to SBS in Homer to get some more today, $5.25 a board! The skylights are ready to pick up, as soon as I finish the second story that will be the next project, the roof and sky lights!
Diner is ready and Hunter got a head start - got to go!

Another week has silently slipped past, bringing us ever closer to "fun under the midnight sun". As normal, I always enjoy reviewing the past week to see what has been in the thoughts of those who post. It would appear that Brittany has no thoughts, Donny got a good start and then somehow got distracted by a game of football in the street. I thought, I had taught my children to never play in the street! It would appear that the "hot" topics this week revolved around toilets and the various functions that take place in these little rooms of solitude. When the evolution of spring, "fish" also seemed to dominate one particular site with some spectacular but strange looking creatures coming from the briny deep. After I had exhausted two worthless guesses, I finally figured out one of the two species posted in this trivia contest. It was only, after I had noticed the name of the photographer and entered his name into the internet, he is a well established photographer of marine life. So, I guess this past week was the week of poop and fish!
Enjoyed a great concert with Dean and the professor of voice from the U of A, both of them did very well and even performed an old English song titled "Trout". According to the pianist they inserted the song into the program just for me. She was of Japanese origin and had a beautiful voice, her series of songs were done in French, German, and English. Dean played two solo's which were very good. Following, I discovered why they serve strawberries with champagne! The taste of a strawberry followed by a sip of champagne almost makes the champagne tolerable! It does add a entire different taste to the champagne, should give it a try.
Mary is still in the hospital, we checked on her before we came home last night, still showing signs on her x-rays but typical of her, she is feeling better and needs to get out! Terry and Jack will be seeing her this morning after the doctor visits her to see if they will let her go home.
We will be coming to Anchorage on Tuesday, dependent on the condition of Mary. We do not want to leave Jack since he no longer drives and make him dependent on someone else to drive him to town. Our load is getting larger and I foresee a U-haul truck in the forecast, one 42" inch plasma t.v., t.v. stand and a computer system and that is before your mother even goes to Walmart!
My hands are feeling much better, the weather looks like it is going to be clear and warm today so I will return back to my construction project, now that I have to use a hand saw, it will take a little longer but I will keep "plugging" away, but staying away from electrical plugs!
The "dogs" are ready to play, your mother is jogging around the house, the sun is out so I had best go get started on the the "project" or all of you will be tip toeing to the woods or up the hill again this year.

0821 Doppler Radar - Looks like Anch is having rain
0821 Doppler Radar - Looks like A.P. will be rain next hour or so
Grandmother still in hospital
D&C will be in today
D playing concert this pm
Dinner last night at Homestead, T., S., A., P. Very Good
Hands feel better this am - bandages off early in next week
Got to go to work

I do not know if any of you have access to Turner Classic Movie (TCM) on your cable or whatever you have, but it is on our satellite, I watch it on a regular basis. Tonight, at 6 p.m. (AKDT) they will air a movie by the name of "Tribute To A Badman" starring James Cagney and filmed in 1956. This was the second movie that dad played a "walk-in" role and provided the horses for the movie. The big Palimino horse that James Cagney is riding in this movie was dad's personal horse that he thought more than any horse that he ever rode. His name was "Pal" and I have several pictures of them together. The movie was filmed entirely in Montrose, if you can remember the big flat top abode hill on the northside of town, it shows up in this movie several times. The long distance shots of "Flat Top" was most likely shot from our yard judging on the position and distance. It is an "old" western, but very authentic and worth viewing on it's own merit.

Wishing all of you a "good" morning. Cruising through my blog list this morning, it was clear to see that a "bunch" of people slept in this morning. As usual, John was up and around very early but that was the only sign of life. Just visited one of my favorite sites, the National Weather Service. As of 0943 this morning, the Doppler scope showed a rain squall moving into the area, currently the majority of it is situated at the entrance to Cook Inlet with a few scattered showers at the entrance to Kachemak Bay and to the north as far as Anchor Point. There is a small indication of moisture at about river mile 5 on Deep Creek. The area north of Deep Creek through the Anchorage bowl area appears to be clear of any moisture baring front. So, perhaps for those of you in Anchorage, it may be a good day to get out and pick up the yards of winter debris and start preparing your compost piles. As for those that live south of Deep Creek, it would appear to be a "bad" day to run power saws outside, so perhaps it would be a good day to watch the Master's Golf Tournament or take a nap!
No additional information pertaining to Mary, Terry is preparing to go into town to pick up Jack and go up to the hospital. She called us at about 9:00 p.m. last night, she was so groggy that she did not know what day it was, she thought it was 9:00 a.m. in the morning. I am sure it was most likely the medication that she was on so hopefully today, she will be more alert. Not real happy with the Homer hospital but what is new, as the late Doctor McAnelly once said, likely the most intelligent thing he ever said, "The Homer Hospital is the most expensive first aid station in Alaska."
You all have a good day and as the snow drifts start to melt down around your back yards, remember, "you are a redneck if you find your barbeque grill under the snow".

Your grandmother is resting in the hospital overnight, just so they can keep an eye on her. She was diagnosed with a slight case of pneumonia, her oxygen intake was down about 5%, she was pretty uncomfortable all night. Jack called us this morning at about 7:00 a.m. asking us to come in and take her to the emergency room. Terry spent most of the day with her and doing some phone call errands for her. Dean and Cindy are on their way down, it was a scheduled trip as Dean will be performing in Kenai tonight and again tomorrow night before he comes into Homer to perform on Sunday. Will keep you posted.

The deck has been laid on the construction project as well as the starboard and port bulkheads. Had a beautiful day to work outside today, even had to stripe down to just my shirt by mid afternoon. Like the majority of my projects, I under estimated the amount of lumber that I needed, so I guess I will be going back to the lumber yard - again. Can you spell cost overrun? With my bad legs and not being able to carry a lot, Dutch and Goldie helped out by carrying wood for me, of course it was the small ends that I had cut off and all they wanted to do was play! Talk about poor work ethics.

Surprised to see a new Blogger last evening, read his posting today pertaining to the crappy problem they had at work, being related to Sir John Harrington, I was able to offer some helpful advice as to how they could clean out their sewer. He is a pretty good writer, injects a little humor and very graphic. Must get it after me, I always try to interject a little humor, but most often it is taken wrong.

Got some new neighbors into the neighborhood last night, they sure are loud, have a couple of kids. Could here them playing outside last night so I yelled at them! Promptly got a telephone call from the mother wondering why I was yelling at her kids! Her voice sounded very familiar! Anytime, I am expecting to see Butch wandering through the trees and snow on his way to visit us. It did sound awful good to hear their screaming little voices filtering through the trees, knowing that they were our grandchildren and living close by. Sure would enjoy hearing more of those little voices- but May will soon be here.

Has anyone come up with any other ideas concerning a Blog name for your mother? The time frame is drawing very close! If plans do not change due to circumstances beyond our control, we should be coming north the first couple days of next week - can you spell new computer? That is if all goes well and I find the machine that I want - it has to have at least 250 gb hard drive, CR/DVD/CDRW, 3.5 floppy, 3.5 Zip Drive for 250mb discs, and a 5.25 floppy drive - I have files on all of these types of discs that I need to access. You want to have some fun, go into a computer store and ask if they have any 5.25 floppy disc drives, either internal or external. Most of the computer nerds that work in those stores aren't even old enough to remember those old discs - it has not been that many years ago. I am one of the fortunate ones that still has a computer that will accept a 5.25 disc. Of course, I also have a whole big box of 8 track tapes and player. It will be no surprise to you to know that I also have a box full of beta tapes and a beta VCR! So, what if I still have 10.6 miles of super eight film, but I have the projector that will still show them. On this trip to Anchorage, we also hope to get a color t.v., I guess they have pretty well got that concept figured out and you can actually see the t.v. shows in living color.

Anxious to get a chance to come to Anchorage and go shopping with your mother at Walmart. I hate shopping, but I find things to do to occupy my time. I would guess they are all the same, but the store on Diamond and Old Seward has a McDonalds right in the store, out front there is a bench with a life size Ronald sitting there. I always enjoy sitting on the bench with my arm around Ronnie and my head on his shoulder. People sure look at you funny. Another favorite trick is to go over to the grocery isle, get a small bottle of catch-up and then go to the tool section of the store where they have all those big saws, when no one is looking, spread a little catch-up on the floor, start a saw, fall to the floor and start screaming. You can also have fun in the women's section of the store, you know how crowded those clothes racks are? Well you can hide inside one of those and you can't be seen, wait patiently until some lady comes along and starts browsing through all the clothes,then whisper "pick me, pick me, pick me! One of my favorite past times is to go into the dressing room, wait a few minutes and holler out, "hey you are out of toilet paper in here" and when all that fails to amuse me, I go to the electronic department and ask those "experts" if they have a vcr in the beta format - it usually takes at least an hour and a teleconference between all the employees to come up with their stock answer, "we are out of those right now but we expect a shipment next week". By the time I have made my rounds, your mother is halfway finished with her shopping, but that is o.k., because it is going to take me at least an hour to find her in that store. Have a good evening.

This is a picture of my sister Dorothy Arlene Harrington as a young lady. She was born on September 22, 1935 in Benedict, Nebraska. This picture was taken after the family migrated to Colorado from Nebraska in 1944. Dort graduated from Montrose County High School in the class of 1953 with honors and scholarships to various colleges. She married her high school sweetheart in September 1953, Clifford Miller. They continue to live in the same home that they built together shortly after their marriage on the "family place" west of Montrose. They are a true example of the definiation of the term "family values". This particular picture was taken of her, standing in front of the house in which I was born in 1945.

Having sensed a little doubt in the thoughts and written word of those who responded to the Posting in regards to Sir John Harrington, I took the opportunity to do additional research pertaining to this subject. I was able to confirm the actual history of the "flush" toilet. Knowing that it was a major concern of yours, I did take the opportunity to locate a copy of the material and lecture outline for the treatment of wastewater developed by the EPA. A small part of this lecture pertains to the History of Wastewater Treatment. Under the topic of Closet / Flush Toilet the following information was provided:
1596 - Sir John Harrington, modern flush toilet
1775 - Alexander Cummings, valve for flush and gases
1872 - Sir Thomas Crapper, valveless toilet
1800 - Thomas Jefferson, 1st water closet in White House
Date Unlisted - George Vanderbilt, 1st Bathroom, lavatory, tub and toilet in White House

Although, I realize that this does not prove the ancestral connections between ourselves and Sir John Harrington. That documentation is provided in written form via genealogy charts from the present back to pre-Sir John Harrington. I have these organized in succession for each of the families for those of you that would like to review them.

At this point you are wondering to yourself, how does he know all this or is he leading us astray! Perhaps it would place a little validity to my postings if I would reveal to you that I have been working on this research for the past eight years and just now feeling comfortable that my work is near completion.

Although Sir John Harrington was the god son of Queen Elizabeth, it did not earn him automatic knighthood although he was in very good favor of the Queen. In 1559, the Earl of Essex set out on an ill fated expedition to Ireland. The Queen never trusted Essex, especially on this military expedition. She sent her Godson John Harrington as "Master of the Horse" with orders to "to take account of all that passes in your expedition and keep journal thereof, unknown to any in the company, this will be expected of you. I have reasons to give for this order." It was during this expedition that Earl of Essex knighted John Harrington.

With the invention of the flush toilet, as part of the documentation pertaining to his invention, he wrote the following, "how unsavory places may be made sweet, noisome places made wholesome, filthy places made cleanly" at a cost of thirty shillings and eightpence.

So the next time you got to the flusher, think of this wondrous invention that you set upon and thank Sir John Harrington for not having to go out to the little shack out back.

Everyone I talk to or read from their blogs, they continue to look for the signs of spring. In reality, you should be looking at the first signs of summer. We have passed through the three days of spring and now moving into the summer season. I know this because, today the first tomato plants went into the ground.
No progress to report in regards to the shrine out back. Today was devoted to planning and the acquisition of needed building supplies. However, while shopping the appropriate name came into my thoughts as to the appropriate name for this fine building. Being honest, I do have to admit that Terry came up with the name and it is perfect! After the trip to a lumber store, I am not happy to report that the project has now exceeded the cost estimate and moving rapidly into the "cost overrun" category. This is concerning in the fact that the only thing that has been accomplished is the laying of the "keel"

None of the above is the issue that I wanted to address, just seemed like a good place to insert my howlings. Secrets are sometimes exposed to you when you least expect them or in the strangest places and circumstances. This was the case today when a "secret" was exposed to me. A secret that I can't share with you at this moment since I am sworn into secrecy, an oath that I take as sacred. I have a secret and you don't know what it is!

The question was asked from a previous posting about the name of "Henry". Although, the lineage of "Henry" has been passed down for several generations, it is not the most predominant name in the Harrington lineage. The name of "John" has been the most popular of the family names, first originating with Robert Sir Harrington (1262 - 1297)with the birth of his oldest son, John De Harrington in 1281. The name remained consistent for several generations before it was lost, since then the name John will appear but not as the eldest son of the family. The second most popular name was "Robert". This was the name of one of our earliest ancestors, Robert De Haverington. The name Haverington was our original name changing to Harrington in the time frame of 1262. Robert De Haverington was born before 1189 in Haverington, Cumberland, England. He was the son of Oswulf Or Osulphus believed to have invaded England from Germany. The Harrington lineage begins at that time. The names of "John" and "Robert" remained as a consistent name through John Harrington (1651 - 1741) being born and dying in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts. The family then went through a period of time where the predominate names were biblical names.
The name of "Henry" appeared as a family name in 1808 with the birth of Henry Moore "Harry" Harrington in Ellisburg, Jefferson New York on December 18th. He was the son of Brooks and Betsy Harrington. Since his birth the name lineage has been consistent to this time. His son was the 4th oldest in the family and was named Henry Harrington (1837 - 1921)and my great grandfather. He had a son which he named Henry Philo Harrington (1874 - 1944) which was my grandfather. He had a son who was named Henry Laverne Harrington (1912 - 1990) which was my father. His oldest son was Henry Rolland "Tad" Harrington (1937 - 1969)who was my brother, he was named after my father and my fathers brother, Rolland, who died at the age of five. Tad's oldest son was named Henry Michael Harrington (still living in Montrose, Colorado)and retired from the U.S. Navy. His son is also named Henry Michael. The name of "Henry" has been consistent in the Harrington lineage since 1808 (198 Years). The name has remained consistent with the oldest son of the family bearing the name of "Henry".
After reviewing this lineage of family names, the question that one must ask themselves is that a "Harrington" daughter married a man by the name of John Robert (the two most common names in the Harrington lineage) whose profession is plumbing. A direct ancestor of this daughter was Sir John Harrington, inventor of flush toilet. Is this coincidence or is it historical fate?

I am happy to announce that on this date the "keel" (some refer to it as an foundation) was laid on the construction of a dual purpose building which will be situated within the "Hole In the Wall Campground". The estimated time of completion will be in approximately ten days. This is a best guess estimation and dependent on the availability of the "plumber". The "dual purpose" use of this building will be revealed at the "ribbon cutting" ceremonies. While on the subject of plumbers, several years ago I was doing some research on the Harrington family and came across an interesting tibit that I shared with the only person in our family that knows anything about plumbing. Although, he did hear me out, I could tell by his body language that he was not buying what I was selling. Today, while searching an entirely different subject, by coincidence a familiar name came up on the internet. Recognizing it, I followed it to it's source. I will not go into all the details, however, at one time there was a gentleman by the name of Sir John Harrington. Dependent on the source, sometimes you will also see the name spelled as "Harington". In a nutshell, I will provide you this "quotation"; "Harington's father enriched the family by marrying an illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII; his second wife was an attendant to the Princess Elizabeth, who stood as godmother for John. Educated at Eton, Cambridge, and Lincoln's Inn,London, England". the research that I conducted several years ago revealed that Sir John Harrington was born in 1561 and died November 20, 1612, Kelston, Somereset, England. He married a lady by the name of Mary Elizabeth Rogers on September 6, 1583. They had ten children, with the fourth child being named Henry which was the start of the name of Henry in the Harrington family. He was primarily and I quote from the article "English Elizabethan courtier, translator, author and wit, but Sir John's name was immortalized with the invention of the flush toilet"
Sir John Harington (Harrington) was your Great Grandfather (13th time removed) and the father of James Harrington which was your Great Grandfather (12th time removed). I find it ironic that after 445 years we have a "John" in our family that is still working on the toilet that Sir John invented. This is also the reason that even today the toilet is referred to as "the john". I think that should be good for a raise in his salary. Now, I can sense all of those doubtful thoughts out there, so I would ask you to go to the following web page http://user.icx.net/~richmond/rsr/ajax/johnharington.html on this page you will find a brief history of Sir John Harington as well as a picture. Additional documentation will be forth coming in my autobiography.

It has come time to retire Hyperbole Prattle Trivial Pursuit. I apologize, but the cost of the expensive prizes to the winners was becoming cost prohibitive. I know how all of you will be disappointed, but I think you will enjoy the new feature equally as well. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Historical Prattle:


This picture was taken in the "grape arbor" at your grandparents house in Montrose. I am assuming it is Heidi's 2nd Birthday party as the cupcake has two candles and her face is covered with chocolate. Included in the picture is Shane, Shana, Donald Jr.(Donnie) and DeeAnna (DeeDee) so at that time Don and Patty were still married. Patty now lives in Phoenix with DeeDee after going through a couple of marriages since she was married to Don. Enjoy the memories!

To: Heidi
Just wanted to send you a small token of my appreciation for all the work that you have done on my site over the past month. I also wanted to express my appreciation to you for re-storing the pictures back to the original design and the elimination of the obnoxious little skunk. Thank You.
Dad

Growing up as a youngster in Western Colorado, we always had horses, at times it would range from just a few head up to thirty or forty head, depending on what my father was using them for at the time. My father was most likely one of the greatest horsemen that I knew. He not only knew how to handle and get the most out of a horse, but he also respected them. However, he was not the best "cowboy" that I knew. When I think of a cowboy, only one image comes to mind and that was a gentleman by the name of Art McKelvey. His family and our family had been friends for many years and he worked with dad anytime that he had a large party of "dudes" or hunters to pack into the high country of Colorado. Art always had a few head of stock around his place, but never had the money to have a large ranch, instead he applied his trade as a cowboy to the other ranchers in the area. He and his wife Ruth, had sons and daughters that were similar in age to my older siblings. If you enjoy a good western movie, I would recommend the new release of "Monte Walsh" starring Tom Selleck. In this movie, Tom Selleck represented what Art McKelvey lived. When I was stationed as a recruiter in Durango, by coincidence Jack McKelvey was teaching school at the High School level. Learning that I was there, we were able to renew our friendship, he was the same age as my brother Don. One fall, he came to me and wanted to know if I would go Elk hunting with him on Missionary Ridge, the stipulation was that we would put in the kind of hunting camp that our fathers had when they worked together. Organized, neat and orderly with four foot wall tents. Jack had several head of horses and we hunted each year together for several years, each time putting in a very comfortable camp.
Art McKelvey lived in the Montrose area until the late 1960's, working the ranches in that area, predominantly working with cattle. In the early 1970's he and his wife moved to Moab, Utah to work on a large cattle ranch. Art not only was a cowboy, but he looked like a cowboy. He was the only person that I knew that had his cowboy boots custom made. Each year, he would have a new pair of boots made by a leather shop in Ignacio, Colorado which is located on the Mountain Ute Indian Reservation. They were no ordinary cowboy boots, the tops were extended almost to the knee. The reason that he chose to do this was to eliminate the need for "chaps" on most occasions. The last time, I saw him he was still wearing the leather cuffs around the cuff of his shirt sleeves, again to keep them from snagging on something while working in the brush or around cattle. After getting re-acquainted with Jack in Durango, I would occasionally ask him about his father and what he had heard from him. His reply was always the same, "Talked to mom, said Dad had been gone for thirty days and would be home soon". Art preferred to be a cowboy, he had no use for town or even a roof over his head. Into his late 60's and 70's, by himself, Art would take a herd of cattle onto the range land of Utah and remain with them, taking them to fresh grass and water, always moving. In his late life, he had what he needed the most, a herd of cattle to watch over, riding a good horse with a pack horse carrying all the things that he would need to enjoy the good life of a cowboy. I think of him occasionally and picture him sitting around a campfire on the high plains, a pot of hot coffee steaming on the fire, a coyote barking in the distance, the sound of the cattle, and a million stars overhead. The lights of town are out of his thoughts, what he loves most is what he is experiencing at that moment, his solitude and being a real cowboy. He was a cowboy and with his passing, the real cowboy has also passed from our history.

It is Round Sextus Decimus, this should be an easy trivial plattle for you to answer, but to answer correctly you must see what you should see and not what you think you see!
WE HAVE A WINNER - WE HAVE A WINNER
SEE THE COMMENT SECTION


(1) Who Is This Young Man?


(2) Who Is This Young Man?





Tie Breaker: Who lived in this house and where is it located?

To my good friend "Dutch", wherever you roam, where ever you have strayed, I just want you to know that I miss "our picture" together, and hopefully someday it will return to us - I am so depressed, I do not even feel like writing anymore, my constant inspiration gone, my only picture of you gone! The artist conception of you does not help, that is not you and I together - that picture has no memories of us to share, I miss see your smiling face sitting next to me, devoted friends forever!

It is time to play another round of Hyperbole Trivial Pursuit. In this round, you have three pictures of horses with riders, these pictures were all taken in Colorado in the late 1950's.


(1) Who is the rider on this horse to the left?



(2) Who is the rider on this horse to the right?


(3) Who are the two horsemen that you see in this picture?

Trivia answers are getting better, however, we are still having a hard time in getting the correct dates, I realize that the 60's and 70's were several years ago - but not really that far back. Heidi, was the first to respond, she did fair. The picture is of Terry and I in front of the White House in D.C. but she had us childless. Shana remembered the picture was taken when Terry and I went to D.C. and guessed close to the correct year, but did not say where the picture was taken. So, I guess there are no winners again! Now, I believe I have been very fair in this decision! The year was 1973, the first week of August. I had been selected as Navy Recruiter of the year and was sent back to Washington D.C. to meet all the admirals and to show off! They treated us grand, limo service every place we went including the White House. But due to the Vietnam protests, we did have to travel in civilian clothes some of the places that we went, which included the White House.
The only problem was that Terry had just had baby Heidi three weeks prior to our departure. When this word reached Washington D.C., she was babied so much by the Admirals and top executive wives. But we had to do something with you guys, your grandmother Harrington volunteered to baby sit. The above picture is the day we left you with her, in the picture of course is Shane, Shana, and baby Heidi, your grandfather and in the background is your Great Uncle and Aunt, Jim and Irene. Heidi was three weeks old, we left you there for two weeks! Following that, I often wondered why we ever returned and picked all of you up!

Do not know why, but I feel I am behind today, did you ever get that feeling that you have lost an hour in your schedule and cannot get caught up. Why do they have to have the first day of the month occur on a weekend - that really messes up a normal work week!
In review of this week, I am still looking for my "dog", he has yet to appear on my Blog site as of 3.5 minutes ago - really miss seeing his smiling face! After cruising the various blog site comment sections, I could not help but notice a lot of accusations are being pointed at me for "dinkering"! Trust me, I do not "dinker" or "tinker", even on my own site. If I were to do something like that, my whole site would disappear, not just my "dog". Sure wish him, wish some little fairy would restore him! If I was as good at "dinkering" as I am being credited for, I then could perhaps find out how to leave comments on the "moose clan" site! I have pushed every button I can find on the site, even those that do not look like buttons! Although, evidently while pushing buttons last night, I left my system on and went to sleep. Woke up this morning to find 231 pictures of a bunch of little girls dressed up in cheerleading outfits! If you know any parents that need a printed picture, they are on sale at thirty nine cents a piece or "free" with the purchase of a box of cookies!
Let's see, what else have I learned this week! Shana gets up very early in the morning, she is always the first to post - this next week it is my goal to beat her on the posting time. Did have a great time with our little visitor yesterday, looking forward to this summer and watching this "new" line of little ones being together. For some reason, I can picture Melissa and Butch having a great time together! We have such a wide spread of ages, from teenagers to infants!
As for the breaking news that I eluded to yesterday, totally surprised but your mother came into the office and said when we update our computer systems so she once again has her own dedicated system, she would like to have a blog site. This comment serves as a triple purpose, (1)She will be able to keep track of all of you without me having to print everything out for her to read, (2) It will give me the excuse I need to get a new system (3) It will prove my innocence into the "dinkering" that has been going on! Here is the plan, she has a birthday coming up on 4/18 in the event any of you had forgotten. I will hopefully upgrade to a new system on this trip to Anchorage and transfer all my files to the new system. I will then take this system, which is still o.k. and convert it over for her use. Now this is where you guys have to help. For her birthday present, you guys need to come up with a Blog Site name for her and design a site that she can work with easily. Keep in mind, that she will only enjoy it if it is simple and easy to move around on. We can post the site, everyone can make initial comments and on her "birthday morning", I will bring it on line for her. This should pretty much dispel any thoughts or rumors that I am more computer literate than I actually am or I would design the site! Heidi, I really do like my site, it is simple and easy to get around on so something similar to this one that you designed for me would be good! As for a Blog Site name, everyone can submit names and then we will take a vote on them, I will track those for the next week and post a ballet.
In closing, if anyone should happen to see my good "dog" Dutch, would you send him home, I really do miss him and I hate skunks - had one spray me once when I was a little boy and I have never got over the trauma.
P.S. Every once in a while you can score big. Been fighting our printers in the video stores for the past three years - dot matrix printers are hard to find. The old printer at the A.P. store was so bad, the girls could not even read the invoices. I have been looking for a replacement for the past several months. Decided to try Salvation Army yesterday, they had one, a Okidata and it looked relatively new. I purchased it, took it to the store, plug it in and it even work, did not even have to load the drivers, it was compatible and works like a charm - total cost $7.50! I was so elated that I went to the Okidata web page, the printer sells for the best part of $400.00! So the moral to the story, be patient and good things will happen - perhaps my dog will re-appear today!

Happy April Fool's Day 2006 and welcome to the Quartus Decimus round of Hyperbole Trivial Pursuit. Today's picture appears to be simple, but the stylish dress should assist you in the pursuit or making a correct guess. Note the large "white purse", the short skirt but also take note of the "white bucks and "white belt". The questions in which you must answer are:
(1) Who is in this picture?
(2) Where was the picture taken?
(3) The tie breaker question is: What month and year was the picture taken?
With the clues you have been given by now you should have the answer in which you seek.