Category Archives: Friends & Family

Just One Dragon

Posted on December 16, 2012 | 1 comment

2012 is the Year of the Dragon.


The 2012 Year of the Dragon coins (see photo), produced by Australia’s Perth Mint, are gorgeous. Available in both gold and silver and in several denominations, they are part of the Australian Lunar Series, which issues a coin each year for one of the 12 animal symbols in the Chinese astrology chart.
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Submarine First Day Covers

Posted on November 8, 2012 | 4 comments

The fast attack submarine Archerfish was launched in 1971.


When it came to correspondence, Dad saved everything. Well, perhaps the credit should actually go to the various Chief Yeomen who maintained his office files when he was in the Navy. Without them I wouldn’t have his wonderful collection of submarine first day covers.
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A Cute Halloween Card

Posted on November 2, 2012 | 1 comment

Just a friendly little greeting to wish you happy trick or treating


The card that K sent me this year arrived well before Halloween night. I’m just late in posting a scan of it. Yesterday when I was putting away my Halloween decorations, I took another look at Casper’s bewitching smile. I think it is one of the best cards she has ever made and well worth mentioning in the Mud Bay Blog.

K and her friends Cindy and Sheila get together at Treasure Island whenever they can to make cards for holidays and special occasions like graduations. They have hundreds of rubber stamps and a wide variety of paper, ink, glue, and cutting tools. Their hobby is called stamping, but to me they have gotten so good at it that I consider them to be card artists. I have saved every card K has ever sent me. Whenever I get one I feel lucky and privileged.

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A Cell Phone Story

Posted on September 21, 2012 | 1 comment

Ever lose a cell phone? People leave them everywhere, including in rental vehicles. This cell phone story has a happy ending.
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USS Long Beach (1959–2012)

Posted on July 13, 2012 | 3 comments

USS Long Beach—hiding in plain sight


The USS Long Beach, the Navy’s first nuclear-powered surface ship, had been quietly moored in Bremerton, Washington, since being deactivated in 1994. Not any more. This week the big cruiser was towed away from its berth at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (see photo), ending any chance for an easy photo op.
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Posted in Friends & Family, Government, Other Local Places

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A Clean Roomy Trunk

Posted on May 12, 2012 | 5 comments

1955 Chevrolet rear view

Tri-Five Chevys look great from the rear (see photo). That’s just one of the reasons why 1955-56-57 Chevrolets are popular collector cars. Their tushes may be a bit flat by Miss America standards (or when compared to the curvy rear end shown in the photo below of a 1951 model), but the design is clean and functional. It makes for easy loading/unloading, and that was important for many families in the 1950’s.
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Posted in Cars, Friends & Family

Reciting the Alphabet Backwards

Posted on January 24, 2012 | 1 comment

Last Sunday I watched the National Football Conference championship game at my neighbor’s house. He had also invited two friends over who live on Marine Drive, Jerry and Marilyn. Jerry is a great storyteller. Marilyn has a talent I didn’t know about.
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Bungalow Brown

Posted on June 7, 2011 | Leave a comment

New top, new paint


Bungalow Brown. That’s the color I used when I recently repainted the picnic table K’s dad made for us about 20 years ago. He died in 1994, but I think if he were still around he would be happy with the job. Sporting a new cedar top and fresh paint (see photo), the old table is ready for the coming summer.
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Posted in Friends & Family, Other Local Places

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Please ID This Cat

Posted on May 14, 2011 | 9 comments

Kitty mug shots: Viking Epic (left), UNSUB (right)

I know almost nothing about collectible glassware. So I was easily duped when I bought what I thought was a Viking Epic glass cat last month for my sister’s collection of feline figurines. In the photo her cat is the one on the right. She likes the latest addition to her cat family, but I’m left wondering what I did buy.
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Posted in Friends & Family

A Gas Story

Posted on March 3, 2011 | 1 comment

We've seen this before


My local Shell station (see photo) has hiked the price for regular gas by 9 cents a gallon in the last two days. This latest round of price increases reminds me of a long-ago trip when I experienced a severe case of “pump shock.” The story goes back to the 1970’s, a decade of oil embargoes, gas rationing, and steadily increasing fuel prices. The media summed things up then by coining the term “gas crisis.”
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Posted in Business Beat, Economy, Friends & Family