I’m hoping this is a sign that the week ahead will be better than the week behind.

Ups and Downs of the week.

 Clarksville, TN – Nice place. I’m visiting my nephew who is stationed at Ft. Campbell. I was stationed there 30 years ago and today I stood in the same office where I worked back then. My nephew is the First Sergeant of the unit occupying those same buildings.

  Ice storm – The ice storm that hit southern Illinois and Kentucky last month wreaked havoc on the trees here. Check out the damage just along I-24. (Excuse the somewhat poor shots. I shot these while driving without really aiming.)

 Bugout Gear – Nice equipment. I bought a black backpack today that can be expanded for a weeks’ worth of clothes and all my electronics or collapsed for just carrying overnight stuff. Very versatile stuff.

  Stomach woes – Still suffering from frequent sour stomach. Blech.

 Dad – Walking a bit. Now he just needs to be able to stand up by himself and he can come home.

Caught this guy snoozing down in the woods behind my house this morning. Strange to see a fox sleeping in such an open area.

Today was one of those days that make winter miserable. It was only in the low teens with a fierce wind out of the northwest and bitter cold blowing snow. Even the sunset looks cold.

Ups and Downs of the week.

  Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III – One hell of a pilot. Incredible skill and grace under extreme pressure. Amazing.

  Economy - Still tanking and showing signs of worsening. Circuit City going under with more stores to follow for sure. Bad news. 

  Kevin Youkilis – 4 more years with the Red Sox. Very cool indeed.

  Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ10 – Nice little camera. It’s now in my glovebox so I can grab images during my commute. See below.

 

  Winter Sunset – Cold but beautiful.

Today we made our semi-annual pilgrimage to the Book Barn in Niantic, CT. It’s a fascinating place for book hounds and cat lovers. Books and cats everywhere scattered over an acre of houses, barns, sheds, tents, and hovels. Many of the books are quite recent releases, but there are also loads of very old books. The cats are all the mellowest critters you’ll find anywhere and the folks who run the place are friendly and helpful. We never miss a chance to stop here when we come back east.

…I’ve been in watching the Patriots dismantle the Cards and messing around a bit with the camera. Caught some deer eating the bird food I threw out. Also caught one of my cats in her favorite spot.

Ups and downs of the week.

 Shula’s Steakhouse – Sent my sister and her husband there for an anniversary meal and they were treated like royalty. Glad good service is still in style. 

  Hurricane season – Looks like a bad one this year. 

 Red Sox – Playing better all the time. And now they have several veterans back in the lineup. Lowell was awesome tonight in his first game back, as was Beckett.

  Presidential race – When will they focus on the ISSUES???

  Mark Kotsay – Another valuable addition to the Red Sox. Welcome to Boston, Mark. 

  Kitties – Does it get any cuter than this?

Ups and downs of the week.

 Red Sox – Looking good lately, a few bad games notwithstanding. Their chances of taking the AL East are slim, but I’m more confident now that they’ll get the wildcard spot and then shine in post-season as they are able to do.

  Hurricane Gustav - New Orleans in the crossshairs again.

 Learning to hunt – Little guy gets a lesson in hunting.

  John McCain – I try to stay away from politics here, but his choice as VP candidate is so ridiculous that it’s terrifying. ‘Nuff said.

Ups and downs of the week.

 Digital Photography - A paradigm shift in the way we capture images. So much easier to take and store hundreds of images. 

  Red Sox - Game 1 against the Yankmees and they can’t even score a single blasted run. Wake up, Boys. We need this series.

 Verizon EVDO Rev A. – More than twice as fast.

  Politics- Had enough yet?

 Summertime – One more month to go.

  Summertime – Only one more month to go.