Completion

All these weekends working on renovations are finally starting to pay off. This weekend we put on about 2.5 gallons of paint in the main entranceway and hallway. And we finished the French doors! Well there may be a bit of finish work on the trim but essentially they are complete. So in honor I am going to post a couple of picture of some of the work we have finished.

Here are a couple of shots as we were moving in.
Entranceway, which shows the landing, the "arch" into the living room, and the three teirs on the stairwell.





Some in progress shots. Note archway had been completed by this time, and you can see that the wall on the top tier of the stairwell has been extended to the ceiling.




Here is the finished French Door view. The paint colors are a bit off in these pictures, a mix of many different lighting, including natural, incandescent and flash, sorry about that.




Here is our game room "kitchenor" (hint - Bachelor). We don't really have a before shot but its at the top of the steps built in behind the extended wall where the third tier of the stairwell was.



I don't have a before shot of Ryan's bathroom, but this is the boys bathroom when we moved in which is basically a mirror image.


And the after shots.




We have had several other projects, some small, some not so small, and many more still on the list. Here is the early shots of our backyard, before pool and fence, when there were trees where the pool is.





And a very recent backyard shot which shows the pool, the fence and the shed.

Brrrrr....

What a crazy, if not typical bout of Texas weather. Last weekend was working outside in shorts, temps over 80F, I actually had to put the A/C on for a couple of short spells to cool off the house so everyone could sleep comfortably. We've practically been in a drought so far in 2009, then as of yesterday, the temperature drops to below 40 for the high and we get about 3.5 inches of much needed rain in 24 hours. I had to switch the thermostat back to heat as it cooled off so much. Forecast for the next couple of days is continued cold and wet, then back to seasonal temps.

Last weekend was our chapter meeting and we had a huge turnout. We were awarding our long flyer patches in commemoration of our chapter riding in excess of 2 million miles in 2008. Here is a copy of the patch.



We had a rather large support group from the Panther Creek Chapter in Allen come out and recognize us on this milestone.

Also a bit of excitement, one of our good friends, Doug "Mini-T" Hull is in contention for a spot on the next season of America's Biggest Loser. For those unfamiliar with the show its essentially a televised weight loss competition. Doug is in the third stage of "auditions" and was taking a video of his activities and his support group, which is of course his extended family. So for the video Darlene panned the rather boisterous group of about 100 or so. I think it certainly will provide the impact desired.

New Photography project

I think going to take on a new project, just to make sure I do this thing I've had in the back of my mind for a long time. I don't know the best way to describe but it has to do with hulking masses of abandoned and discarded mechanical equipment. This facination goes back many, many years. I guess in part back to the the old Ford graveyard on my uncles property. They always drove Ford vehicles and when they died or otherwise ended their useful life, they old cars and trucks ended up at the bottom of the field. As a kid it was cool look around, play in the vehicles (not always safe since we were shooting out lights and windows with pellet guns, etc) but see the different innovations, like pushbutton transmissions, etc.

Over the years I've taken pictures of these sites, but not to extent I would like to. Typically my shots have been more focused on individual items than "collections", but in our travels I have seen some interesting collections. And these collections appear to serve many purposes. Some are artistic, like Cadillac Ranch, some are commercial, like the wide variety of salvage yards that dot the countryside, and even then there is a subset within this commercial category. A great example of that subset is Earl Mann's Bug Shop in Ardmore, OK. I visited that yard several years ago (pre-digital) and it was great, countless VW's and in various states of dis-repair with grass growing up through them, etc. Great place for photos.

Some of the other collections appear to be just that. Some may have some commercial enterprise just by default, but the origin tends to be either like my uncle, a dumping ground for useless equipment, or perhaps a personal taste or passion by the owner and the start of a collection that has grown out of control. There is one collecition of rusted tractors, mostly smaller tractors, in a yard just west of Paris, TX that is really the inspiration for this project. I have ridden by it many times, each time thinking I need to go back and shoot.

I have seen a variety of these "boneyard" including boats, bicycles, motorcycles, tractors, lawnmowers, and lots that aren't that specific although those are as interesting to me as a specific collection.

Greg Windsor posted a couple of pictures recently of a Combine boneyard (near Canyon, TX) that I have to track down at some point. But for now, here is a teaser of Cadillac Ranch.

Day After Chili

Well I must be more competitive than I thought. We came in 2nd place. Still very, very good, but I admit I was actually quite disappointed. I was really hoping to win so that we could bring the trophy back to American Eagle so we could host next year.

It was another long day, long week actually, two hockey games and still had to prepare the meat and get supplies and packed. Up fairly early Saturday and off to Bedford. It was very windy and the setup was different than the last time in Bedford, so we were quite exposed. Luckily all the canopies held and the flame never blew out till it was almost done.

The judges came back for a second sampling, so I have a feeling the competition was close. We got some very positive feedback from the tasters so overall I feel pretty good, we were recognized, but still.

Oh well, back to normal today, more home projects. Finishing details. Cut and installed trim on the french doors, hung the piece of crown moulding and did some caulking, including Ryan's bathroom. Stuff is nearing completion.

Chili-axing...

Its the big event tomorrow. The southwest regional chili cook off... Support your local HOG chapter. Spices are mixed, meat is, well lets just say we're waiting for our next job to come in...




Also on Sunday, the Krewe of Barkus will be having their parade in downtown Mckinney. Check it out.

Shreveport Mardi Gras Picture Dump

A sampling of the pictures I took in Shreveport last weekend. Click on the individual shot to enlarge. As they say, every picture tells a story.

Shreveport trip

Busy week, a bit behind on my posts. We had a great trip to Shreveport, 200 miles each way, we left early Saturday and stayed off the interstates for the most part. We arrived to a good group and a good turnout. Lucky for our group, one of the guys, Steven Foster, had an in to a guest tent. We paid a small fee, got some food, a long sleeve tshirt, and primo seating for the parade. Had a lot of fun. I'll post some pics under a seperate post.

I'm not much of a gambler, and true to form, I didn't lose any money, cause I didn't gamble. However, Darlene does partake a bit and as such, we had some entertainment and value for our $$ for a while. And no, we did not win.

Monday was a holiday for us, and since we came home on Sunday, that means home project work. Actually several of our projects are getting to the point were they just need to be finished and we are getting much closer. We finished up some painting on Monday and it feels good.

Can't seem to get ahead though. This Saturday we will be in Bedford all day cooking some prize winning chili! Hopefully one of our two teams will win and we can bring next years competition back to AE and won't have to travel so far!

Prayers for David

Hey Dave, just want to let you know we are thinking and praying for you, Annette and the kids. Everyone is keeping us up to date on your progress and we are looking forward to you being back in the air and on your motorcycle.

Headway

Long and busy weekend. Weather was quite nice, overcast and mild. So Saturday morning I washed and waxed my bike and Darlene's car. Sat night we went to some friends and learned to play blackjack in anticipation of a productive trip to Shreveport next weekend (NOT!) Anyway, we had a lot of fun even though I lost about $125 of pretend money.

We also (well Darlene) painted the bannister for the faux balcony so its pretty much ready to hang now.

Of all the household, handyman chores, Sunday was the one I hate the most. Of course we are in texas, so no, you can't have a smooth wall, you have to have textured walls and ceilings (better to hide the drywall imperfections....). So we tackled the remaining knockdown texturing we had to do. And we have this wonderful little patch kit to do about 70 square feet, including arch. After a short break to go get more media, we finished. Yes, we finished, the knockdown texturing. We are now ready to paint, and can soon hang the doors, the bannister and the crown molding. Yes, crown molding..... Be sure to stay tuned for that one!

Super Bowl Sunday

Darlene and I are going to a Super Bowl party this evening. Its being hosted by one of her co-workers and it should be a lot of fun. We are bringing poppers (jalepeno) and some dessert.

Go Pittsburg! Actually it really doesn't matter that much to me, I'll likely be rooting for Pittsburg even thought they are the favorites and I typically root for the underdog.

Yesterday was a nice day and we had a ride. It was for one of the charities we support, the State School in Denton. After dropping off a load of mittens and hats we did a parade of about 40 bikes around the facilities for the residents. Some of them were obviously very excited.

Then it was on to lunch at Babe's in Sanger. Babes is a popular destination for bikers, its just off FM 455 which is one of the better roads to ride in North Texas, in fact we rode several miles on it on the way home. Babes is famous for their fried chicken which it typically served family style, and they didn't dissapoint.

One I forgot

I had one more picture from the other day that I really liked, but I had a bit of a compositional problem with it. The big bright spot in the upper left corner. But I really like the shot, even with its faults so I will share it. I am a bit photoshop challenged, so therefore I was not able to hide this fault, so there!

Horse Wreck

Heard an interesting term today... Had the inspector come by today for annual termite inspection. Lousy day to do so, but anyway, we were talking and he mentioned a few years back he got in a "horse wreck". A horse "throwed" him and he got all busted up, with broken ribs, collarbone, punctured lung. He's ok, just had to rest as there's not a lot can be done for those injuries. But he got in a "horse wreck". Must be a Texas thing, but its the first time I heard that one.

Ice Storm

Yesterday we had an ice storm. The roads were a mess this morning, starting after supper last night. Today it is warming up above freezing so in all its probably not as bad as it could be but fortunately I can work from home so I really don't know how bad it actually was, other than what was on tv, and it looked pretty bad!

We had a hockey game last night, the roads were too bad for me to risk and shortly after I made that decision, some of the other guys thought similiarly. The rink probably should have cancelled games but at decision time I guess the conditions weren't that bad. Oops just checked the score, looks like we lost 10-0. We obviously didn't have a full bench and from the looks of the shots, we were in pretty bad shape.

So anyway, figured I get up and out to take some photos before I settled into work. I expected a bit more ice on the trees and stuff, but I think I got some good shots.

Peace has returned to the office

Good news in the office today. After several months, maybe even longer, a co-worker's daughter had commited to playing basketball for a full scholarship at the University of New Mexico.

All of us in the office are very excited for Vanessa and her family as now their life can return to normal, as normal as it can get with a daughter going off to college to play basketball.

Congrats! I may have to watch Women's College Basketball in the future. Go Lobos!

Nnaji chooses New Mexico

December Article

Re-organization

Everyonce in a while you have to reorganize things. This past weekend we redid our office area, which was much needed. In doing so you tend to find things that you always had, but had either forgotten about, mis-placed, or otherwise neglected. In our cleanup I found some wedding picture disks that some of our friends had given us some time after the wedding. Well I just posted several on the wedding blog site, including an absolutely fantastic series of shots from Rod Dixon.

Crazy Texas Weather

I rode to work yesterday but took my truck today as I had some errands to run. Tomorrow I plan on riding again.

Interesting weather, sunny, dry, dry for weeks actaully, we are really in need of some rain and some sustained rain. And this dry weather is making for some interesting temperatures.

Yesterday it got fairly mild, it may have reached 70 but not sure. Today it will definately get into the mid 70s and tomorrow its supposed to get into the low 80's. But the real interesting thing was the low temperatures this morning. In Mckinney, which is a bit of a low point, it was 25F. Yet just west of Ft Worth, it was 50F, within 40-60 miles, east/west and with no front, there is a 25 degree variance. This afternoon the temperature will be much more consistent throughout.

The weather guy blamed it on the dry conditions, with the temperatures. He compared it to the desert, where is so dry and the temperature variation between day and night can be significant.

Of course this weekend we will have another cold front, cold and windy and generally miserable on Saturday. If we're lucky we'll get some rain.

First Place

In the words of Ricky Bobby, if you're not first, you're last... Well victory is bittersweet. In the case of the American Eagle Chili Competition, victory means doing it again in a few weeks at the regionals. So, yes, we are on our way to Bedford.



As impossible as it may be to believe, stacked up against 10 other entrants, the judges felt our chili was the best so we received first place Judges Choice!

As always it was loads of fun, and our intent was to win presentation! Who cares about how the chili tastes if your tent looks good! Well that's not quite true, I really do care how the chili tastes and actually put a lot of effort into making a competitive chili.

So this year, we got beat in presentation, by Bobby and Jo-Ann Mims and Bill Davenport, who had a cowboy setup that a movie set would be envious of! Very well deserved on their part. Tremendous effort and in truth I know how much work that is, so would be surprised to see a repeat in the future but very much looking forward to that likelihood.




I learned a couple of things this year, and have some tips going into the regionals. After travelling all over the metroplex the past couple of years, it would be nice if we or Billy-icious could bring it home to Corinth!

It's On!

The Chili competition is heating up! The trash talk has begun in earnest.

Our Annual chili contest is this year. We entered for the first time last year, mainly for show (I can say that now that I have recovered from the taste loss....). So this year I have a bit of a different attitude, focused again on show but with a new theme this year.

A new recipe, I think its a bit easier at least all the spices I can pick up locally. Actually I really enjoyed last years recipe except that one of two cuts of meat did fall apart a bit too much.

We picked up most of our props yesterday and should have all we need.

Not sure if we will join the trash talk or not. I have a feeling we will have a "job" to do later this week and a chili competition is a convenient way to "dispose" of the "evidence"....

New Year's Rides

So far in 2009, the weather has been very cooperative for riding. But I am sure that will change as today for example, we are having freezing rain.

New Years Day is our annual Brass Monkey Ride. This year we are a bit late getting out the door so we caught up with the group and joined in mid-ride. I don't recall the exact number of bikes but I believe I heard numbers of 82 bikes or so, and we were not the only riders that were not part of the official count.

Here's a classic picture of Mini-T leaving the festivities!



We started off in warm gear but the temps got very nice, and standing around was definately shirt sleeve weather, but riding still needed leathers.

Then on Saturday, Jan 3, we had our chapter meeting and went out for lunch after the meeting. It got over 80F that day. I rode in a long sleeve shirt and was very comfortable. There were bikes everywhere and groups of riders. Not what you would expect in January. Of course, typically, a cold front arrived Saturday night, although without the usual light show. It got into the 50's overnight and supposedly got up to 60, but that wind made it feel a lot colder.

50 / 50

Trying to establish holiday traditions can be tough, but you just gotta stick them out sometimes. Last year we initiated an annual polar bear swim in our pool, after a previous effort at a friends house. Last year was quite successful with lots of the boys friends getting wet.

This year we had high hopes for a good turnout, but unfortunately even best laid plans can fail so you can imagine if the plans are poorly communicated..... Especially with teenage boys.

So while we were low in numbers, Marc, Corey and I took the plunge. We had a couple of spectators but no other takers. Other visitors arrived well after the event and far too late to participate.

The air temperature at the time of the jump was 50F. The water temperature was also 50F. Needless to say, the time in the water was short indeed.