The Seattle Seahawks accomplished an unusual feat today. In beating the New York Giants 36-25 at the Meadowlands, they won a game played in the Eastern Time Zone. Even better it was the early game, starting at 10:00 AM on the West Coast. I don’t have a statistics staff to research how rare an East Coast win is for the Seahawks. Trust me, they don’t happen often and are worth a blog post.
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Winning the Early Game
Posted in Sports
Enjoying the Baseball Postseason
I spend hours watching the MLB playoffs and the World Series. October is the time of year when I’m just getting back into TV after a summer hiatus. The best part of the postseason so far—the Yankees have already been eliminated! That’s right, the rest of the month is going to be Yankee free.
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Posted in Sports
Great Minds Think Alike
Cheaper than paying minimum wage
What do the Jiffy Lube and Blockbuster Video franchise stores on Kitsap Way have in common? One similarity is that both are using an inflatable dancing man (see photo) in an attempt to attract customers. I have no idea if this advertising technique boosts sales although it did make me take notice. Plus it’s cheaper than posting a sign-waving minimum-wage employee out front like some mattress stores do and a bargain when compared to investing in a top-shelf LED message center.
There’s more information about these so-called dancing balloons at web sites like ArizonaBalloon.com, which also refers to them as wind dancers. Despite the latter name, the web site advises that they work a lot better indoors where wind and sun aren’t factors. That’s because the balloons can spend more time on the ground than dancing on a breezy day and the light spinnaker material they are made of doesn’t last long in strong sunlight. There’s a tradeoff though. If you want motorists on Kitsap Way to notice your business, they have to dance outdoors.
Don’t Close This One
USPS 98312 - Note the dahlia garden
To help deal with a severe budget deficit, the USPS has proposed closing about 3700 post offices over the next year. None of Bremerton’s three branches are on the closure list. But if the list expands and the USPS cuts Bremerton back to two outlets, the gorgeous landscaping at the post office on National Avenue (see photo) should be a point in favor of keeping it open. I have never seen a post office with more curb appeal.
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Posted in Government
Mud Bay Lighthouse
A tiny beacon
Just catching up on posts I missed this summer when I was away from my computer. While Mud Bay, or Dyes Inlet for that matter, doesn’t need a lighthouse, it has one now (see photo). I got it at the Allyn Days festival in July. I had some birthday money to spend and bought it on a whim. The lighthouse was made by a woodworker named Mike who runs a small business called Laughing Dolphin Keepsakes. The little light at the top is solar powered. The lighthouse doesn’t emit enough light to warn any kayakers who might get too close, but it does lend a nautical look to my deck.
Posted in Home, Mud Bay & Rocky Point
Total Video Is Closing Soon
A total loss for the neighborhood
I don’t rent DVDs during the summer so I was probably one of the last people to notice that Total Video on Kitsap Way is closing soon (see photo). The store stopped renting movies and games a few weeks ago and is in the last stage of selling off its stock of DVDs and VHS tapes. Everything that’s left is on sale for $2. Yesterday I picked out a couple of DVDs to zero out the small balance in my rental account.
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Posted in Business Beat
The Little Pour
Where did the dirt go?
Last September I posted an entry about patching my driveway called The Big Pour. By the amount of cement used, yesterday’s pour was nowhere near as big a job. But the patch covers a far more serious problem (see photo)—one that I hope went away as mysteriously as it appeared.
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Hunting Big Game in Silverdale
Clear Creek elephant
You can hunt big game along Silverdale’s Clear Creek Trail. Of course any shooting needs to be done with a camera as there’s no way to get a Washington hunting license for the animals I bagged yesterday (see photos). Constructed of several sheets of ¾-inch plywood, the animals tower over a field of tall grass in the Clear Creek Valley just north of town. A series of crop circle-like paths through the grass allow for close-up photos.
A passing hiker told me that the animals were put up by a private party who wanted to create a memory of his trips to Africa. It worked for me. With just a bit of imagination I was transported to the Serengeti Plain. The best part was the total surprise. I had no idea that there are life-sized animal-shaped billboards along the Clear Creek Trail. Having my camera with me wasn’t luck. As I have said in other posts, a small digital camera should always be included as standard equipment when you go to Silverdale.
There’s one more photo after the jump.
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Elwha River Trip
End of the hike---Whiskey Bend
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Do Mud Bay Tidelands Qualify?
A wildlife habitat home on Rocky Point
Is your property a certified wildlife habitat? A home on Rocky Point that I pass by on walks and bike rides proudly displays a sign that it qualifies (see photo). Their sign made me wonder how many of the basic habitat elements (food, water, cover, and places to raise young) my property provides. Also whether owning the Mud Cat, a stealthy but rarely successful stalker of songbirds and rodents, is a no-no.
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Posted in Mud Bay & Rocky Point
Mud Bay Blog 