Day 30

Keep Out!

Grayson and his friend Charlie were making signs Sunday in the back yard. I noticed this today hanging in the tree in our front yard. The sign reads, "Do Not Enter Tree." I guess it is some kind of fort or something. He says he doesn't want people to "climb the tree and break branches and mess it up."

Click on picture to enlarge it and you can read the sign... And please remember, if you come over to my house, stay out of the tree! Thanks

My Creative Engineer

I was working last night and after stepping outside to roll by an oncoming train I reached into my feedbag to grab some grub. To my surprise I was greeted by this friendly banana. Complete with a smile and the greeting "Hi Keith."

Such a happy looking banana it was almost hard to eat it.

Cool Flower

Before

Fill 'er Up!

Waiting at Hinkle for fuel. Each locomotive holds about 4000 gallons. That is a lot of gas.

The Prom 2008

Austin and his friends have the prom tonight. Oh-Boy, they are all growing up. Lori and Austin spent a lot of time this week getting everything just right. Clean the suit, get the shoes rented, and pick out the flowers. The corsage was purchased from Kern Park Florist, a place my dad has bought flowers from since I was a small kid. The owner pulled out different ribbons for Austin and Lori to choose from to custom make the corsage. The one he chose is from a spool he had laying around that he claims is from 1945. Kind of an interesting tid-bit.

Here are some pictures to enjoy...

Austin and his lovely lady Sammi


The entire clan...

1500 Hits And Counting

Well, the day has come that is just a small milestone for weaphermobile... 1500 hits. Since I tend to be *anal-retentive*, I actually keep track of silly stuff like that. Not quite as many hits as Google, Microsoft, or even Yahoo, but hey, a guy has to start somewhere doesn't he?

I started weaphermobile because I enjoy taking pictures, I enjoy writing thoughts about my life, and I just wanted to do it. The occasions of life pass us by so quickly and events come and go so I wanted to create a place for me, and those who are interested, to come and see our world. It is actually quite enjoyable to do and thanks to all who have left comments, given me photo ideas, and shared a part of our world!

weapher

* The term anal-retentive (or anally retentive, anal retentive) derives from Freudian Psychology, although in common usage the original meaning has been altered. This term is often referred to simply as anal. Conversationally, the term is often used to describe a person deemed to be overly obsessed with minor details. Its roots are said to be from the theories of Sigmund Freud. The term is often used in a colloquial, derogatory sense to describe a person with such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others, and can be carried out to the detriment of the anal-retentive person.*

Thanks Sigmund...

High Speed Cat

I'm not sure why my orange cat has been featured so much in my blog... Guess I like the dumb thing more than I want to admit. Who knew?

This is him playing with the tennis ball.

Feeding Time

Here are some cows for your viewing enjoyment.

Day 25

Muscle trucks

Built Ford Tough!

View From First Base

I was umpiring the bases today and thought I would take a picture

Nick and Friends

Sunday afternoon Lori spent many hours in the kitchen cooking up her masterpiece "red sauce enchiladas." She had a sort of big occasion to prepare for and wanted the afternoon to be extra special. Ryan (left) and Chad (right) are leaving for the Army this week and she wanted to send them off with their belly's full and their heart's warmed.

Ryan and Nick have been best buddies since they met in 1996. They have been through a lot together and spend a significant amount of time with each other. Chad has been friends with both Nick and Ryan for quite some time now and Ryan and Chad are making the commitment to serve our country for the next four years.


I am hopeful for these two young men and I am looking forward to their safe return. Lori has been like a second mom to Ryan since he lives only with his dad so she feels a special connection to him. I know she will be praying for the two of them for the weeks to come.

Chad and Ryan, we wish you the best in your adventure in the military. Be strong, stay safe, watch each others back. May God be with you both.

weapher

Run For The Arts 2008

Another year of Run For The Arts. Grayson's school had their run today and we all froze our tails off watching the kids run for 30 minutes. The kids had a great time and the motivation was pretty good in spite of the cold. Gray ran 21 laps and when I was going home he said he wanted to "come home, get comfy, and eat some clam chowder"... Sounds like a good idea to me.

Grayson and his friend Charlie cruising along...


All his friends hanging out after the run


Sung showing off his tally marks


Grayson showing off his tally marks


Popsicles for everyone :)

Bubba's Last Year

Here is the story. "Bubba" the gym teacher has a lot of history with me and Grayson and the rest of the family as well. This is Pat's last year of teaching and he is looking forward to his retirement and his ability to have more time for him and his family.

Pat Hergert was my freshman health teacher in high school and he is the uncle to a gal who hung out with my older siblings... you know who you are. He also went to the same church as I did several years back so we have been able to stay in touch for many years. It will be hard to see him leave the school because I look forward to chatting with him every time I am there.



Bubba has been a great P.E. Teacher for Grayson and has inspired him greatly to stay active and run, run, run. He says that he is going to substitute teach next year a little bit so he can continue his interaction with the kids... let's hope he can do that. If any of you want to surprise him with an email his contact info is at this link. Click Here

Good luck in your retirement Bubba!

This Is All I Need.

Do you remember the ending to the movie "The Jerk?" Steve Martin wanders out of his house taking with him all the things he couldn't live without. Well, I was sitting at 15th and Powell today for four hours and I thought I would take a shot of all the things a freight conductor can't live without. Here they are:

• current news paper
• satellite radio playing St. Louis Cardinals baseball game
• coffee
• water bottle
• baseball cap
• binoculars
• ink pen
• wheat thins and salmon flavored cream cheese
• pistachios
• signal awareness form...
  

That's all I need to survive a 4 hour delay! After parking the train here for four hours they finally determined we didn't have enough time to make it into the terminal... so they sent a van to come get us. Not bad, pay a guy $125 to hang out on a train.

There are certainly more difficult ways to make money.

Geese In The O.C.

I was going by Oregon City falls again today and I was able to capture a photo of these geese flying off the tracks. Have you ever noticed they are always in pairs. My understanding is that they mate for life... With today's divorce rate, maybe we could learn something from the geese.

A few months back we ran into one... I can imagine the other goose was quite distraught for days... I know I would be.

Winter Wonderland?

I received this picture today in my email from my sister. It is 39 degrees and snowing in central Washington. I am beginning to think that we are going to go from winter to summer and just forget about having a spring this year. Summer solstice is only 2 months away and the weather is not really warming up. Must be global warming...

Thanks Kris for now being one of the few contributors to my photo blog... great picture :)



weapher

Oregon City falls

I roll by Oregon City Falls many times a month while traveling to Eugene. I can't help to wonder what it might be like today if our society had the same thoughts about our environment back in 1830 when this mill first began. Imagine the political red tape one would need to go through to build a mill such as the Blue Heron Paper Mill in this picture. I am thankful for our nation taking a stance on the effects of industry and the environment, and would really enjoy seeing Willamette Falls without a great big stinky mill on it, but I guess back then it was all about using the natural resources to build a better America. Can you blame them?

Just a thought

weapher

Hail Storm

We had a pretty good hail storm this afternoon. Can't really tell by the photo, but it did come down pretty good.

Hail 2

Nice yard

Went walking in hermiston this evening.

Mischievous Old Cat

I spent an hour or so making some steak burritos that I wrap in foil and freeze for taking with me to work. I heard "Orange" meowing at the front door to come in so I let him in. He did his usual meet and greet with the dogs and then began to roam around my feet. I was at the sink doing some dishes and he decided to help me clean the table. Well, I guess I don't need to wipe the table down now...

Stealing Home

Grayson stealing home today at his game. Safe!







Look at that form! His team won.

More Mountain Pictures

Riding the lift...


At the top ready to hit the slopes...

Day 16

So I gave in and shot them another day...

Day at Mt Hood Meadows

I spent the day at Meadows with Austin, Bruce, and Linda. We had a great day. I used a few muscles I haven't used in years and ended the day about an hour earlier than everyone else. Ended better than this poor guy. He went home in an ambulance...

The weather consisted of a little of everything. I wasn't really able to get any slope pictures because I didn't want to get my phone wet.

meadows 2

meadows 3

meadows 4

meadows 5

meadows 6

Tax Day April 15th 2008

Well, off they go... We filed our tax forms today. I am not sure if the process of filing taxes is as simplified as it could be. It took me about 7 hours to get my stuff together, prepare, and file returns. Glad I had most of it done a few weeks ago. I am not sure why I have always done it on the 15th of April though. I guess it is hard to break old habits. We are due refunds from both state and federal and have received refunds ever since I quit being self employed, so I think next year I will try to do it in March... who knows!

Hope you all have a great tax day!

15 Days of Tulips

OK, I have taken a picture of this group of flowers for the past 15 days and now I guess I am tired of seeing a blog full of tulips. I have included in this post all 15 days worth and decided I will only shoot them again like, when they die. Hope you enjoyed them :)

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15