Yesterday my 2016 Subaru Crosstrek passed the 100,000-mile mark. I knew the odometer was close to rolling over, but I didn’t observe the magic moment when the digits all changed at once. I was too busy daydreaming about things I needed to do. The event made me wonder though how my odometer miles and driving habits compare with other drivers.
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Is it too late to ask President Trump for a birthday present given that tomorrow marks the nation’s 250th? It might be if I was hoping for a gift I can unwrap. But I don’t want anything material. Instead, my request is for an intangible present—behavioral changes in the form of things the president could stop doing.
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I’m slow to change what other people have done. Accordingly, I end up living with thing I don’t like for years. Such was the case with the Shark vacuum cleaner at Treasure Island—a clunker I hated as much as any appliance I have ever used. Last week it died, and hate has quickly turned into love for its replacement (see photo).
Continue readingPosted in Business Beat, Home, Treasure Island
My life is plagued by leaks. I’m not referring to divulging secrets (although I can’t be trusted with them). Instead, my continuing fate is to be challenged by a series of plumbing and roof leaks that never seem to end. But when it comes to boats, the few I have owned have always been leak free. That includes my new (to me) Grumman canoe (see photo).
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I’m a big fan of John D. MacDonald (1916–1986). Other than his sci-fi novels, I’m pretty sure I have read every full-length book he wrote. As a JDM book collector, I own all but a handful of them. So, it was a surprise for me when an Internet search turned up an unfamiliar title.
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I signed up on the Let’s Go Washington website as a volunteer to help IP26-645 (see screen capture) get on the ballot in November. IP26-645 is an initiative to the people that would repeal the 9.9 percent tax that was passed by the legislature in March and is to be levied on incomes above $1 million starting in 2028. Although the sample of people I talked while collecting signatures is unscientific, that doesn’t keep me from having some observations about the process.
Continue readingPosted in Current Events, Government, Mud Bay & Rocky Point, Treasure Island
Tagged "Millionaires" tax, IP26-645
The cutting board in the photo is not just any cutting board. It was a present from my sister. As the “before” view shows, I went far too long before attempting to restore it. As the “after” view shows, the product I used helped refresh the board’s original matte luster.
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My lower driveway has a small sinkhole. It isn’t deep enough to swallow a car, but it does need a new top patch every few years. When my neighbor and I poured the concrete for its most recent patch, we added two containers of charcoal cement color to the mix. Three would have been better (see photo).
Continue readingLast week I watched about a half-dozen college commencement keynote addresses on CSPAN. The speeches were entertaining, inspirational, and, for the most part, mercifully short. I don’t remember the keynote speech at my own college graduation some 54 years ago this weekend, but from what I have read about it online, it wasn’t like the ones I watched recently.
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I’m still learning things about my new GE gas range. One “feature” that’s not covered in the operator’s manual is shown in the photo. When the kitchen is completely dark, I can see two small rectangular green lights reflected on the wall behind the stove. What’s up with that?
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