We've seen this before
Posted in Business Beat, Economy, Friends & Family
Saying I don’t like poetry would be too strong a statement. A better way to put things is that generally I avoid it, especially modern free-form verse that doesn’t rhyme. So yesterday when my sister called to read “Hippos on Holiday” to me while I was waiting for the ferry to Seattle (poetry by cell phone), I was pleasantly surprised. I also had an insight and wondered if I have been missing something by only reading prose.
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Posted in Books & Movies, Friends & Family
My Texas brother has recently become interested in tracing family history. One of his first projects was to compile a list of the ancestors and descendants of my paternal grandmother, who died in 1928. When he shared it with me, there was an interesting side benefit. I had not realized how many times the descendants have honored my father when naming their male children.
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Posted in Friends & Family
A cool new ride
Posted in Friends & Family
I like visiting Port Gamble, the restored lumber mill town on Port Gamble Bay in North Kitsap. I drove my old Chevy there today—a gorgeous Sunday in May. There are acres of open space, a couple dozen historic homes, stunning views of Hood Canal, an old post office and general store, antique shops, a summer car show, and an annual Civil War reenactment. If that’s not enough the town’s promoters have scheduled several ghost-related events for the coming October.
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Ever have an idea that bogs down when it gets to the implementation details? Like when some person or organization doesn’t do what you had expected or hoped? Last Saturday my friend R. B. and I thought of a great way for him to save time and effort while creating masterpiece pizzas at home. But our brillant plan was derailed by a real-world issue—cost.
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Posted in Friends & Family
In everything I have read or seen about the Tiger Woods scandal, no pundit has addressed what I think is the most important question: Is there anything the average person can do to help Tiger? Of course to even begin to answer the question assumes the public would want to help Tiger, whose downfall seem to be self-inflicted. For purely personal reasons, I do. I would like to see him save his marriage and rejoin the PGA tour next year.
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Posted in Current Events, Friends & Family
Buttermilk bars, preferably unfrosted, are my favorite type of donut. Unfortunately, not many bakeries make them. Locally, they are available, on a hit-or-miss basis, at Larry & Kristi’s Bakery in Manette. When I visit my dad and sister in Del Mar, CA, we always make a trip to the legendary V.G.’s in Encinitas, a great bakery and creator of some of the best buttermilk bars made anywhere. But if you can’t find them at a nearby bakery, you can make buttermilk bars at home. While they aren’t the same as the donut-style bars, they are devilishly good, and it’s worth passing on the recipe.
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Posted in Friends & Family, Home
Highfield & Myers sign
Just before the Trident submarine base was built at Bangor, Data-Design Laboratories, the company I worked for, decided to open an office in Silverdale. I volunteered to help staff the new office and relocated here from Norfolk, Virgina, arriving in October. During the Trident boom the office grew to more than 100 people. But when there were just a few of us, thousands of miles from our East Coast homes and unsure of what to make of rainy western Washington, it was Blaine and his wife Doris who extended a warm Kitsap County welcome. He found office space for us, first in a trailer across from the old Poplars Motel and later above Mitchell Lumber. In 1977 his real estate firm, Highfield & Myers, built what was then the largest office building in Silverdale on busy Bucklin Hill Road. We were the first tenants. I should call Blaine and ask him if he wants the sign as a keepsake.
Posted in Friends & Family
“It tastes like instant coffee. Good, but definitely instant coffee.” That was my sister’s verdict this morning on the Colombia blend of Starbucks VIA Ready Brew instant coffee (the company calls it “Soluble and Microground Coffee” that has a “Smooth, nutty flavor any place, any time”). I agreed with her although I was also thinking the slightly bitter and slightly burnt taste left no doubt it was definitely a Starbucks product. So how do you conduct a long-distance taste test?
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Posted in Friends & Family
