Vulture Dog!

Remember Snoopy, hanging out in a tree being a vulture?

Apparently Gus goes, too...

Christmas Memories

Christmas came to Avery again, and it's always a wonderful day. This year, it included the traditional tree, with decorations...

Cookies made and inspected...

Idgie getting even with racoons...

Opening presents...

A nap!

Lots of great food...

Odd kids in Russian hats...






Getting sleepy...

And a good night's rest! Merry Christmas to all.

A Spirited Driving Experience

A Mini Cooper update, for those following the action from home:

We drove a Cooper S this morning on the way to bring Frankie home from Berkeley. The one we drove in Sacramento a while ago was a regular Cooper, and we were in Friday-evening city traffic when we drove it (and with the sales lady in the back seat.)

Today was different. East Bay Mini didn't feel the need to tag along, just gave us the keys and sent us off on our way. (I guess Minis truly do sell themselves...) We had a 6-speed Cooper S, and our quest for better mileage might be detoured by the sound of the engine about 4,000 RPM... Well, a little at least.

The car is an absolute blast to drive. Quick, nimble, easy to see around you (which is major problem in most sports and sporty cars.) Gotta sell me some books and buy one!

Stockton

Very sad and disturbing news in Stockton, today. The man I work for at Lao Family was murdered last night outside the non-profit's office on Hammer Lane.

His name was Pheng Lo. He learned English as a janitor in Florida after fleeing Laos in the 1970s, got into social service work in Denver, and has been at Lao Family, mostly as Executive Director, since the mid-1980s. From what another employee told me, he wasn't robbed, just shot as he closed up the office for the evening and locked the door.

That's really all I know. I have no idea who or why anyone would do this, and don't know what it will mean for the agency. A period of struggle, to be sure, but I hope after that the agency will continue.

Random Updates and Room to Breathe

It's a rainy Tuesday monring and for the first time in three weeks or so, I don't have a thing listed in my appointment calendar or on my to-do list.

So today I get to take a deep breath.

Mostly I've been busy with grants. Three major applications, due on three successive Mondays. Got the last one wrapped up Sunday night (I was up and working on it at 5:30 a.m.) and now have to just wait and see if I hit on any of them.

Had a meeting in Davis yesterday with a public/private institute on the Davis campus. They need good out reach and writing, and it could be a nice ongoing partnership.

Have two other projects past the first-draft phase, awaiting client feedback, and a couple of others in the conceptual or out-to-bid phase. Had a nice conversation with my book editor on Friday, and it was all of the things I've heard from other publishers, minus all the "buts." They like it, they get it and they think they can sell it. ("It'll be an easy sell," my editor said.) The contract department is slow and already on holiday time, so it'll be early January before I sign the contract and get the first half of the advance.

I do have chapters on my white board now, including one I'm supposed to finsih by Friday. (My deadline, not the publishers.) So I guess I could consider that an item on my to-do list today.

Nah. Today is a mental health day. I've been repairing/restoring a speedometer I got on the eBay for my BMW, and today may be the day I get to spend a little time on it. Unless, of course, the phone rings.

Oh yeah - the storms hanging out today and tommorow might just make this a white Christmas in This Land. Haven't had snowfall here yet, but it's falling not too far up the hill. I'll post photos if it happens.

31.6 Pounds of Gusness

Gus got another shot today and he's 31.6 pounds, about 14 weeks or so. New collar. Same goofus!

Baggy Pants and a Big-Ass Hat

Here's a picture of the Cal Band marching out on the field, led by the guy dressed funny in the baggy pants and big hat.

It's interesting, today, in that next year, it'll be Frankie wearing those pants and that hat. Tonight he was elected Drum Major of the University of California Marching Band!!

Puppy and Puck

Need we say more?

A Constantly Evolving Plan...

Yes, we're still focused on cars here in This Land, and this is the latest.
This is the new Mini Cooper, redesigned for 2007 and beyond, although it's hard to see the changes. Why are we looking at such a car? There are at least 35 reasons - each one of them a mile-per-gallon the Mini gets.

We like both of our current vehicles, but bought both when we had a bicycle touring company and to use with the bicycle touring company. I love having a truck, but use it as a truck less then 5% of the time. The rest of the time, I'm highway driving in a 20-mpg vehicle. Diane's SUV gets 22, and although we will always want to have one 4-wheel-drive vehicle for the snow up here, it also doesn't need to be an all-the-time daily driver.

In San Francisco this weekend we checked out the Minis at the auto show, and compared them to the Altima Coupe I liked and a few others, and both quite liked it. I'd never sat in one before and wasn't sure how well I'd fit, but there's tons of room.

Been doing the research, and the redesigned model gets high marks. They used to get dinged hard on reliability, but now rank "above average" by consumer reports. The car reviews like them, and if you keep the options in check they're not expensive (especially compared to everything else I've been looking at.)

Did a spreadsheet today to see what one Cooper S could save us, based on it replacing 60 percent of our current miles. Even with it using premium gas, we'd save $1500 to $1800 a year in gas (depending on where prices go), more if it replaces more of our current miles.

So who knows. Plans form. And as careful readers might have noticed, change...

Well That Kinda Sucked...

The best thing I can say about Cal's season-ending loss to Stanford in the big game Saturday is 1) Stanford's new stadium really is rather nice, and 2) We got free tickets.

Wasn't much else positive to say. The Bears will play in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth (we are not going), which is nice for them (maybe) and nice for Frankie and the band. So, go band!