Archive for May, 2008

Ford’s Ford

Friday, May 30th, 2008


Here’s Henry Ford’s personal Model T. Note all the custom features. That guy believed people should be satisfied with simple, basic transportation. At least he practiced what he preached. Photographed in Henry Ford’s personal garage at Fairlane.

No post yesterday. And Short Shrift tonight. As mentioned previously, we went to The Theater last night. The show was very nicely done. Lots of good points – the acting, the singing, the musicianship, the sets, and the direction. I had a little trouble staying awake during a few of the quieter songs, but nothing serious. We all enjoyed it.

But we got home after midnight, so there was no blog.

Almost no blog tonight. It was my turn to go to work on my off Friday, and then I went straight to the Oakland temple and met Loyal Reader Number Four, who had gotten a ride from some friends. It was stake temple night tonight, and there was a pretty large crowd. We filled up the biggest room in the building.

On the downside, I got out of the office later than I had intended, and missed my dinner. I was pretty hungry, but I suppose it helped keep me awake. Have no fear, Loyal Readers; I made up for lost food upon arrival at home tonight.

Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve are coming over tomorrow. It’s stake conference weekend too, so there will be plenty of meetings; less time at home than usual on Saturday and more than usual on Sunday. Can’t complain.

The truck, went back to the shop today to have its defective front brake job fixed (they’ve been overheating quite seriously, including once when they faded badly (link note – I may have to get some of those things) and again two days ago when they faded slightly – not good!). They replaced everything (pads and rotors) they did the first time. We’re picking it up tomorrow and are very hopeful for better results this time.

Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.

Plane guy

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008


Here’s a cool logo from an old WW I warbird at the Henry Ford Museum. Winged skulls must have been just the thing to spook the enemy.

Greetings from Lardville! That’s right, we made it home today. As with the trip out there, our first flight (Detroit – Denver) was right on time and our second flight (Denver – San Jose) was two hours late. No permanent harm done, but we were a little annoyed by the delay. Still, our bags were all there and we made it in one piece. On top of that, all was well with the house. So our complaints are few and brief.

Still, we don’t feel in any hurry to fly United again. Really.

There were 256 new email messages waiting for me when I connected my laptop to the server this evening. That’ll give me something to do on the train for the next few days.

But not tomorrow, alas. I can only work half a day or so, so it’s the car for me. We’re going to see The Phantom of the Opera in Sacramento tomorrow evening. We’ve had reservations since Christmas, and we’re looking forward to it. I’ll provide a brief review tomorrow.

See you then.

Weinermobile

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008


Here’s Loyal Reader Number Two enjoying the coolest exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum. Picture taken last Friday.

No post yesterday. I was . . . thinking.

Actually, I was busy at a nice family picnic at Loyal Reader Number Eight’s house, which is where we’re now staying. Moved on Saturday night.

Went to Greenfield Village on Saturday, as planned. They were having their Civil War recreation weekend. It was nice, but not why we went to the Village. We went for the cool old buildings, recreation of early American industry, arts, and crafts, and the general classy ambiance. It was there in abundance.

We watched a Jacquard loom in action. The loom’s been there for quite some time, but this was the first time I’ve seen it work. Apparently, they had nobody who knew how to work it until a couple took on the job. They figured it out and are making some nice stuff. It’s pretty cool to see it in operation. Many people consider the Jacquard loom to be the first true programmable computer. When you think about it, they just might be right.

Also hung out in the locomotive roundhouse for a little while. I got a lot of pictures, some of which will be featured here in the future.

– Much later –

It was at this point that LRN8’s wifi went dead and never came back to life. Don’t worry, Loyal Readers, we checked with her by phone after we got home and it’s back up. More in Wednesday’s post.

Treasure house

Friday, May 23rd, 2008


Here are Loyal Readers Numbers One and Two checking out the treasure house of happy vacation hours. Picture taken today at the Henry Ford Museum.

Lots of fun at the museum today. We saw tons of cool stuff, including several things I either own now or have owned. Such as the Speak and Spell, Simon, a Taurus, and an Escort. Scary. The Loyal (but non-blog reading) Mom came, which we enjoyed too.

Nice family dinner tonight. We had several nieces/nephews/etc. and chicken.

Greenfield Village tomorrow morning. That will make three out of three Official Vacation Objectives accomplished. Wish us luck.

I’m being mocked for spending too much time blogging, so it’s time to quit. See you Monday.

Bears

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008


Here are Loyal Readers Numbers One and Two in front of the Detroit Zoo’s famous bear statue, now a part of my famous Statue series. The bears are on the right. Picture taken this afternoon.

Greetings from Detroit! Well, from Royal Oak, anyway. We arrived – only two hours late – at about 2:00 this morning. Stayed up talking until 4:30 or so and finally got to bed. Everybody’s a little sleepy this evening.

The plane from Chicago was delayed nearly two hours because of a problem with the cabin lighting system. They had a tech in there fiddling with it for quite a while. The lights would dim, go off, and come back on. Over and over again. I imagine he thought it might start working right if he just turned them on and off enough times. Finally, he signed them off and we were on our way.

Watched a bunch of Chris on Camera shows on the iPod while we were waiting. Also saw Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women. I had downloaded that one from the Internet Archive, I believe. It’s an old Soviet Russian science fiction movie that was poorly dubbed into English. It was (unintentional) ridiculous nonsense from beginning to end. Recommended, but you won’t want to see it more than once. Trust me. At least it’s free.

Went to the zoo today, as you know. The weather was cool and cloudy, and it had been raining earlier. Perfect weather for hanging around outside. We wore sweaters and had a great time. We’re off to the Henry Ford Museum tomorrow, which was one of our three objectives for the trip. The others being Greenfield Village and visiting with family (link warning: this is perhaps the most unreadable website I have ever seen – proceed at your vision’s own risk). So far, so good.

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.