Twinkies—Goodbye for Now

Posted on November 17, 2012 | 1 comment

Is this the end of a sweet ride?


In happier times the Mud Bay Blog ran the above photo in a post titled Must Be a Great Job. My tribute to the passing of Hostess Brands snack cakes is simply to run the photo again only with a different and sadder title.

I don’t know whether to blame labor or management (or both) for the Bakers Union strike that caused the company to announce that it is shutting down its operations and selling its brands. So I’m not going to take sides. Hopefully, sooner than later, some enterprising investor will figure out a way to start making Twinkies, CupCakes (my personal favorite), and the rest of the sinful Hostess treats again. Then maybe the Twinkies van, with a new logo, can get back on the road.

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Posted in Business Beat

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What Is It?

Posted on November 15, 2012 | 4 comments

Pontoon busters: who you gonna call?


The first question that popped into my head when I saw the Big Concrete Object (see photo) that washed up on my neighbor’s beach last night is the title of this post. More important points to ponder include where did it come from? and what can my neighbor do to get rid of it? Dyes Inlet is having 13+ foot high tides for the next few days, but just because the BCO floated in on one doesn’t mean it is going to float back out.

A few musings before I post the photo. The BCO looks like it broke away from a commercial marina or a breakwater. I don’t think it is part of a floating concrete walkway though. Not with those rusty bolts protruding into the center channel. The top part is normally above water as only the lower portion is encrusted with barnacles. Concrete floats or at least it floats when the pontoon’s air chamber is big enough. How long has it been floating around posing a threat to boat traffic in Dyes Inlet and Port Washington Narrows?

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Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point

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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Posted in Friends & Family

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A New Bike

Posted on November 6, 2012 | 1 comment

I kept the old bike rack.


Last Friday I bought a new bike. That’s something I do less often than vote in a presidential election, but not by much. By coincidence, I also marked my ballot on Friday. As I write this post on Election Day, I’m wondering if the country will opt for a new ride or keep its present one for another term.
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Posted in Biking

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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Posted in Friends & Family

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Sick Kitty, Big Vet Bills

Posted on October 22, 2012 | 2 comments

Pi, my 9-year-old Bengal (aka the Mud Cat), doesn’t have kitty health insurance. After last week’s illness, my credit card balance reflects that. Fortunately, he’s better now, but I’m left wondering if I can cover him under the insurance changes mandated by the Affordable Health Care Act. There should be a Medicat option.
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Posted in Pi

No Mail from Fife

Posted on October 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

Enforcement depends on the direction you are driving.


Every afternoon last week I checked my mailbox for an official-looking letter from Fife. On Sunday I learned that I won’t be getting any mail from the small city that straddles I-5 just east of Tacoma. And that’s a good thing.
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Posted in Government, Other Local Places

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Would You Have Stayed at This Motel?

Posted on October 8, 2012 | 3 comments

Was this motel for real?


From what I can find out there really was a Norman Bates Motel in Fife, Washington. The motel, located on Pacific Highway East (Highway 99), was razed several years ago. All that remains is the sign (see photo) and a cement pad, broken up by a carpet of weeds, at the back of the lot where the foundation used to be. The picture, taken yesterday afternoon, seems appropriate to post with about three weeks to go until Halloween. I wonder how creepy the site is at night.

I generally watch one scary movie a year. A couple of years ago my movie-critic friend recommended Psycho as that year’s Halloween night movie. As I watched it, I remembered some of the scenes from seeing the movie as a kid. But I must have been in the lobby or hiding under my seat when Janet Leigh, caught in a storm, checks in to the Bates Motel. After watching the movie as an adult, I can answer the question posed in the post’s title this way: No way. Not even if it was the only motel in western Washington with a “Yes” light on.

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Posted in Other Local Places

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Bremerton Construction Projects Updates

Posted on October 6, 2012 | 1 comment

Looking south toward the 11th and Warren intersection


The Mud Bay Blog played a role in getting Bremerton to start providing more timely information about construction projects in the city. Well, not actually the blog, but its purveyor. That would be me. But what does it matter who gets the credit as long as Public Works keeps updating the Construction Projects Status and Updates page on the city’s web site?
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Posted in Government, Other Local Places

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Baseball Playoffs: Betting and Pizza

Posted on October 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

You can’t really win this much.


Betting on the 2012 MLB playoffs and pizza aren’t usually linked unless your wager involves a pizza. Mine doesn’t. In fact I can’t even make a bet via my computer because online gambling is illegal in my state. But notice how it appears to be easy to clean up on a World Series bet if you interpret the sample SuperBook betting card too literally (see graphic). I will explain and also try to resolve the pizza dilemma.
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