Today, my best "Buddy" and I will celebrate his fifth birthday. Although he is registered with the American Kennel Club as "Dutch Harbor Dutchman", he is affectionately known as just, "Dutch". He was born at Dutch Harbor, Alaska on March 30, 2002. His father being , "Readventure's Artful Dodger" and his mother was, Nibiru's Molly. She graced the magazine cover of a national waterfowl magazine prior to the birth of Dutch. If you are not familiar with this particular breed, they are relatively rare with very few of them being in Alaska. The breed is the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Originally, they were bred in England in the 1800's to resemble the Red Fox which were very adapt at "tolling" or luring in ducks to a waiting fox in the bushes.
The "little red dogs" were bred and trained to go though a variety of antics, playing with a stick, or jumping around to attract the attention of the ducks. With their white markings flashing, the ducks would move in closer out of curiosity, only to find the hunter in the blind. Once the bird was down, then the "toller" is sent out to make the retrieve. The breed later migrated to the eastern shores of Canada and picked up the name of Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. The breed is still very popular in this area of Canada.

My adventure with "Dutch" began in September 2001, my wife had acquired a new computer system and asked if I would download a screen saver containing pictures of puppies. I watched the screen saver for a period of time, this one particular puppy kept flashing before my eyes, it was listed as a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever but at that time I had never heard of the breed. I talked to bird hunters, but none of them had ever heard of the breed. It was through the Internet, that I learned of the qualities of this particular breed and each of them matched what I was looking for in a dog. I looked a t a variety of "Toller" kennels on the Internet, most of them in Canada only to discover that they were very strict in who was eligible to purchase a puppy. I filled out so many applications, it was very similar to adopting a child. I got a call from lady that

Was he worth the effort, time and money? Perhaps, Dutch was best investment that I have ever made. We have developed a very close relationship. Did he live up to my expectations? He exceeded those the first year and continues to amaze me at his natural talents and intelligence. Having no vast experience at training a retriever, he made it easy on me and before I knew what was happening, he was making triple blind retrieves by hand, silent, or vocal commands. To watch him work is a constant amazement to me, but when it comes to play it is pure joy. As I write, he lays at my

feet, we are best friends.

I believe, Santa is the real thing, he answered my Christmas wish, a little late but still a very pleasant surprise for those who thoroughly enjoy the delicate, sweet nectar of the Cherry Chocolate . If you have never fully enjoyed a "Cherry Chocolate" this link will give you step by step instructions as the many ways to savor the sweet succulent flavor of the chocolate. By referring to the comments posted, you will also find additional ways to enjoy a fresh "Cherry Chocolate". My sole complaint was that the only time these fine candies were available was at Christmas. Santa heard my pleas and today, I received my first shipment of Queen Anne Cherry Chocolate Eggs! The ingredients are identical to the traditional chocolate, however, the new Easter Chocolate are twice the size of the ordinary cherry chocolate. The way to savor this tidbit is a little different than when enjoying the typical cherry chocolate, but with a little patience and practice, those same techniques will work on this larger variety. For those that are heath conscious, one "egg" is considered a "daily serving". I devour at least one box at a sitting so their concept of a serving is less than the average Cherry Chocolate Connoisseur. However, they really should be considered as a "health food", they only contain 90 Calories per serving and contain only 4% Fat and 8% Saturated Fat. For those of us that have a little elevation in our Cholesterol, these cherries contain 0% as well as having 0% Sodium.
However, there is bad news, if you live outside the area of LA you may have difficulty in locating these "new" cherries. I had to import mine from that fair city. For those that live in the LA area, I know of at least two of you that are as avid Cherry Chocolate eaters as I, but you failed to locate them or at a minimum let me know that they were available. If you were not aware of their existence, I will Share the Spirit and the Secret but it will cost you one box of Cherry Chocolate Easter Eggs. Way to Go Queen Anne - I wonder is she is related to Queen Elizabeth, I want to recommend her for Knighthood!

Back in the "old days" when you got two people together standing on the street, one would look at the sky and say, "Yup, looks like it's gonna snow", the other would shake his head in agreement and reply, "yup, looks like out of the northwest, gonna be a good one" and they would part their separate ways. The following morning fresh fallen snow was covering the ground. Years have past since these precise weather forecasts, today we enjoy modern technology that tells us everything that is going to happen with the weather by tuning in our television, radio, and especially our computer systems. At a touch of the button, we can look at the weather a week to ten days out. We can scan live pictures coming in from weather stations, Doppler radars and have an immediate live time weather report.

"My name is Stan, I am an addicted weather watcher". This morning, I clicked onto the National Weather Bureau site to check my morning weather, much to my surprise the Kenai Peninsula was "yellow" indicating a "heavy snow warning". This cannot be, the sun was shining brightly through my office window. Fearing the worse, I hit the "refresh" button, but the "heavy snow warning" remained in affect commencing at 5 a.m. Monday through Monday night. I switched to the Doppler Radar site, the scope was clear for the Cook Inlet Region. I switched to the Doppler Radar site for the Gulf of Alaska, it was also clear. If there is a snow storm out there, I cannot find it! Perhaps the prognosticators know something I do not, which is very likely, however, unless conditions change overnight, there will be no heavy snow storm on the Kenai Peninsula while we are on daylight savings time!

As a youngster, I can remember sitting around and listening to the "grown ups" talk, we were forbidden to utter a comment or render an opinion. I fear the "freedom of speech" was not always adhered to in the 40's, 50's and early 60's. Come to think of it, it was just not us "young ones" that felt this infringement on our constitutional rights, but for the most part, adult women also fell into this category. I can still recall those words that make us all cringe, "Back When I Was A Kid" or "Back In The Old Days". However,the years have passed, we have all gained our birth right in the execution of Freedom of Speech, but I still smile to myself , when I hear myself repeat those words when talking to friends of my age or to my grandchildren, "Back When I Was A Kid" or "Back In the Old Days". It seems to come up in my conversation on a regular basis as each year passes.

I remember when they tried to ban Elvis Presley from performing on T.V. because he rotated his hips while singing, or referred to him as Elvis the Pelvis. Shameful, back in our days they would not let him do that! Rock and Roll, girls in bobby socks, screaming at their singing idols, little harlots, no girl acted that way back in the old days. Boys walking around with Duck Ass hair styles, greased down and long sideburns, punks, never worked a day in their life and would amount to nothing, not like the old days. Girls wearing pants even without a girdle on, how slutty can you get, "I'll bet she will be with baby before she is 14"! Drive in Restaurants, "by god if you can't sit down at the table and eat, you do not deserve to eat!" Look at those "long haired hippies from that foreign country, that ain't singing and what is with that dumb name, "The Beatles" they should get haircuts, go home and get a job". I could write a book and famous quotes of the 50's and 60's.

Compared to the days of "old" we have become an enlightened society. Ladies can now appear in public wearing shorts and bra less without being branded a "loose woman", children have achieved the status of being able to speak and render a conclusion without being slapped silly.
We have even granted the women the right to vote and allowed other ethnic groups to share a bathroom with us. We do not have to repeat the silly "old' Pledge of Allegiance anymore because it infringes upon our freedom of speech. We can burn our National Flag, after all we are just expressing our freedom of speech. We do not have to refer to adults as Mr. or Mrs. or even Miss because we are all equal regardless of age. Neither the news media nor us have to refer to the person holding the highest office of our land as Mr. President or President Bush, we can just refer to him as George Bush and if we are in a hurry to make a point, "Bush" will do. I love my "new" freedoms, there are so many things that I can now do that I never had a chance to do back in the "old days". The only thing I would really like to see changed, back in the old days, anyone could wander in off the street into any store and purchase a package of cigarettes. With our new found freedoms, even I have to prove that I am "old" enough and then it takes twenty minutes and three padlocks later for the clerk to retrieve you the wrong brand of smokes. Was not like that back in the "old days" but I got freedom!

In October 1963, I enlisted into the United States Navy that continued for twenty years active duty. In November, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. In May 1967, the U.S.S. John Kennedy (CV67) was christened by the President's nine year old daughter, Caroline and joined the fleet one year later. In May 1967, I was a member of the ships company aboard the U.S.S. Shangri-La (CVA38) home ported out of Mayport, Florida. I left this area for reassignment in October 1967. Today, after nearly forty years of service, the commission pennant of "Big John" was lowered at Mayport, Florida marking the end of an of a proud and distinguished naval career. Affectionately know as the "Big John" the U.S.S. Kennedy was the "top of the line" for many years serving in a variety of roles in the protection of our sea lanes and providing military support whenever called upon. During her last major mission, Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Kennedy and her air wing dropped 54,000 pounds of bombs on Iraq.
She was home ported out of Norfolk, Virginia for the majority of her career, transferring to Naval Station, Mayport, Florida for a few years to serve as a training carrier. The Captain's In Port Cabin was designed by the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy and eventually will be on display at the Navy Museum. Reportedly, it is the only room on a U.S. Navy ship with wood paneling.
Today, with the remaining ships company lining the decks of ship in dress uniform, bands playing the final tribute was made to this great warship, the last of her kind. For a sailor, that once walked the decks of these ships, it is always a bitter sweet moment to see these great ships tied up to a pier for the remainder of their lifetime or until they are sold for salvage. Although, never being aboard the "Big John", she had a reputation and it was honorable, she served our country well. The U.S.S. Kennedy was one of the two remaining fossil fuel-powered aircraft carriers, the one remaining is the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk will be decommissioned this next year. Our remaining carrier fleet which is vast and continuing to grow are underway on nuclear power.

My nightly read tonight was the continued devastation of our oceans due to Global Warming. The author made a point in his article with the giant iceberg picture on the left. It is his theory that because of Global Warming, the water volume in our oceans are continuing to decrease. A few days ago, I made a posting contradicting this statement because "their" indicators showed that the tidal flow had increased in Sitka, Alaska. However, to be "fair and balanced", let us disregard that discrepancy and focus on his theory. The picture speaks a thousand words. This is definitely a very large iceberg that appears to be high and dry on some sandy beach. Please note the six (6) small black figures in front of the iceberg. By enlargement, you will discover that they are those little "Happy Feet Penguins", they provide you a very good size comparable when considering their small size in comparison to this iceberg. Next thing you might note is the sand waves of the beach, those sand, snow, and ice waves are created by tidal flow. Not knowing the tidal currents in this area, I conducted a little research utilizing March 24, 2007 as a target date for the tidal data.
Time: High / Low
0056 6.75 ft
0655 .46 ft
1320 7.35 ft
1947 .72 ft
The tidal flow in this area is much less than we see in our area, however, it could be concluded that an iceberg this size grounded itself on the beach from prevailing winds and since that time, with a maximum height of the tides are not high enough to extract that volume of weight off the beach. Due to the "ice slides" along the side and base of the iceberg, this monster has been in place for some time and not a recent result of Global Warming. However, the photographer, did not pay the attention that they should have when they included the "Happy Feet Penguins" in the picture. Water is the life of the Penguin, they do not venture far from their escape route and feeding areas. I would venture to guess that any sign of water has been cropped from the picture or a simple airbrush job has been done. Beware what pictures you believe in this day and age, look for what is wrong with the picture instead of taking it at face value. In this particular case, it was "Happy Feet". Look for the release of Academy Award Winning, "Happy Feet" at your favorite video store on Tuesday, March 27th.

Aviation history was made today, when the new "Airbus" made it's maiden trans-Atlantic flight. Eight hours after take off, it landed in the United States following the same flight course of Charles Lindbergh. The big "Airbus" is as the name implies. It has the capacity to carry 550 passengers and twenty three crew members. It also has two dining dining areas, including one that serves full course diners. We have all waited in line at airports, waiting to board an airplane, this morning it took 20 minutes to load the capacity of the aircraft. I have waited at Homer International much longer to load four passengers! Keeping in mind the effect this "Airbus" could have on "Global Warming", it only consumes one gallon of gas per passenger every eighty miles. I did the math for you based on 500 passengers, the flight covered 3,500 mile in eight hours. At that rate, it averaged 437.5 miles per hour, burning 21,875 gallons of fuel!


On May 20, 1927 at 7:52 a.m., Charles Lindbergh became airborne in an attempt to complete the first trans-Atlantic solo flight to Paris, France. The "Spirit of St Louis" made aviation history by landing in Paris on May 21st after being airborne for 33.5 hours. Compared to the "Airbus" he traveled at the speed of 104.48 miles per hour. For his flight, Charles Lindberg accomplish the feat on 451 gallons of fuel. For his comfort, he packed three sandwiches and two canteens of water. The "Airbus" has a total of four pilots, Lindbergh did it by himself. He had a compass, no automatic locating device, no GPS, and no communications with the ground, he did not even have a "in flight movie". You be the judge as to the whom the best pilot is, the "new era" pilot driving the "Airbus" or the guy with a lot of guts and will to survive that flew this route by himself eighty years ago.

Sorry, no pictures of this aviation story that was buried in the back pages of your daily news. On the same day of the maiden voyage of the "Airbus" . On a different airline flying the route between Deli to London, a gentleman in the First Class section was surprised when the flight crew seated a passenger next to him while they were in flight. She had an in flight upgrade from Coach to First Class. The only problem and quite upsetting to the gentleman passenger, she was dead! She had passed away in flight and not wanting to cause stress and duress in Coach, the flight crew thought it best to move the body to First Class. Her daughter was then brought forward and seated in First Class Section so she could watch her mother and begin the mourning process. Problems were encountered, although they strapped the lady in and braced her with pillows, she kept falling over on the gentleman passenger. If perhaps, you consider this as one of my prattlings. The name of the gentleman passenger was Paul Trinder, age 54 and flying on British Airways. Although, British Airways has apologized, I think Mr. Trinder will most likely have open tickets to anywhere he wants to fly for the remainder of his life. Stop and think for just a second, what would you do if you were in his position? For me, I think I would be spending the next nine hours locked in the bathroom!