Sunday, October 31, 2010

Pictures for the day...



The top picture shows bad parenthood.
The bottom picture speaks for itself.
Steve

The last day of the month...

Happy Halloween:

No rain today, but it sure looks like it may rain.

I am now reading The Templar Salvation, a sequel to The Last Templar. The new book is interesting but almost unbelievable in the beginning. I just cannot see the Vatican forgiving the hero for what he did in the archives.

Juliet was a very good book. Two stories, one in the present day. The other story takes place in the 14th century in Siena, Italy. The older story is the first story of Romeo and Juliet. Not at all like the Shakespeare story but some the same characters. The present day story is a direct descendant of Juliet in the same family. Her aunt dies and she is off to Siena to find what her aunt left her.

I have The Coming of the Third Reich, the first of three books. The other two are in The Third Reich in Power and the last one is The Third Reich at War. All are out now, but I need to find some time to read one after the other.

Have a great Halloween.

Steven

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Pictures of the day...




More painted fields of tulips from Holland.
Steve

Raining on Saturday

Hi again:

It is raining here but stopped for long enough for me to ride my bike to Safeway to get some food. I did not get wet during this trip.

I am nearing the end of Juliet. It is the type of mystery I like to read as I have no idea what will happen next and how the book will end.

I will spend the day reading for the most part. I did record a few TV shows last night so I will take some time to watch those shows.

I did my laundry last night, putting everything into the dryer for the first time since summer started,. I did hang one towel outside but it rained so it is very wet. I will take it later today if I see it raining again.

I am listening to Saturday Weekend Edition on my computer. I do not listen to NPR on the radio anymore. It is easier to download stories I want to hear with no interruptions from local stations. I am not listening to any election stories on NPR as I already voted.

Other NPR programs on my computer in iTunes. But I am about 3 months behind on listening to Car Talk. Even more behind on This American Life.

Happy Halloween to you all.

Steven

Friday, October 29, 2010

Pictures of the Day...



Oregon has the Painted Hills, but this is the Painted Land. In Holland, the tulip fields. So very pretty.
Steven

Weekend is near...

Hi:

What are you doing for Halloween on Sunday? Me, probably watch the World Series to see if the Rangers can survive.

Is anyone taking off Nov. 11, Veterans' Day? Most people get the choice: this day or the day after Thanksgiving. I think most choose the latter day.

I ordered my fourth Kindle today, this time a gift for a friend. Nolan wanted one for Christmas so I am getting him one. He is not a big reader. I got him books for last Christmas and for his birthday but I don't think he read either one of them. One was by Bill O'Reilly and the other by Glen the Stupid.

I now have 4 Kindles on my account. The first one was my Kindle 1, which is now retired. The second one is a Kindle 1 for my father. He still has his and reads it every day. My third Kindle is for me, a new Kindle 3. I love this new Kindle. The fourth one is a Christmas gift for Nolan.

Nolan must realize he cannot order books for his Kindle. I may get a credit card from him to place as a second card on my Kindle page. That way he can order books under his own credit card.

Hope your weekend goes well. I really hope the Number 1 Ducks beat the tar out of USC. I want to keep calling my Ducks, the Number 1 Ducks.

Steven

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Pictures of the day




Two views of my upside down tomato. The top picture shows it without any tomatoes on it.
The bottom picture shows how the tomatoes pull down the vines. No vines broke off and no tomatoes fell off.
Steven

Convicted....CONVICTED...

Hi:

I was found guilty yesterday by a justice of the peace for Washington County.

Here are the facts and you be my jury:

The police officer testifies he clocked me at 74 mph in a 55 mph zone.

So I was charged with violation of the basic rule for speeding 11-20 mph over the limit.

Here is my story...see if you think the judge was wrong.

I was going south on I-5 coming out of Portland. I was in the outside lane, but behind me as another car, traveling very close to me. That car flashes his lights twice at me, wanting me to get over so he could pass me.

I was looking for a safe place to move into the middle lane Traffic was not heavy but in the middle lane had a line of cars with no place to enter the middle lane. Up ahead, I see a gap that I can safely enter the middle lane, so I did speed up to get to this place. This is when the police officer nailed me.

As I moved into the middle lane the car behind me took off like a shot past me.

My argument is that I complied with the basic rule, finding a place where I could move to the center lane.

The judge said I was speeding nevertheless.

The amount of fine on the ticket was $190. The judge said he could only reduce the amount by 25% according to the law. So I have to pay $143.

I have the right to appeal this the circuit court, but another trip to Hillsboro will take too much time and probably not change the result. So I am paying my fine.

With all of this rain, I am planning to read this coming weekend. I will periodically check the football score to see how badly my Number 1 Ducks are beating USC. (Again, my wish and hope is that the terrible Beavs lose again).

Seems like it later in the week rather that just U.

Steve

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Raining hard at times since last night...



Hi again:

I am trying again to put a picture with my posting today. We shall see how this works.

This picture speaks for itself.

It rained hard yesterday afternoon and night. It is raining hard at times today.

I am half through Juliet now. It is a very good book. I will review this work once I am finished with it in a day or two.

My speeding trial is tomorrow afternoon. I will let you know how it turns out on Tuesday.

I finished my cranberry pie after breakfast this morning. It sure is good. I will put the recipe here is you want to see it. It is easy to make now that we have fresh cranberries available in the grocery store.

Looks like Oregon will be on top of all polls this week. I hope this lasts till the end.

What are your plans for the coming weeks? Mine, trial tomorrow.

Steven

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Picture of the day....




My pictures for you.
The top one is............................a pool table.
The bottom picture speaks for itself.
Steven

Good, the Yanks are out...

Hi:

The only sport I watch on TV is baseball. It was so good to see the Yanks lose last night. I did not watch the World Series last year with the Yanks in it. I hate the Yanks.

My favorite team is the Dodgers of LA. But the Dodgers are not in the playoffs this year, much to my dismay.

I do expect my Number 1 Ducks to demolish the Trojans next Saturday. Every win this year of the Ducks they have won by double digits. I expect to see the Number 1 Ducks to beat USC by 25 points.

I am enjoying reading Juliet. I am 100 pages into this 447 page book. I will tell you about once I finish it in the next few days.

My cranberry pie is wonderful. The recipe calls for baking it for 40 minutes, but I give it just 33 minutes and find it is done.

Rain is coming but is not here yet as it just past 10:00 am as I write this.

No garage sales today.

Steve

Friday, October 22, 2010

Picture of the day



Two pictures from Bill in Eugene.
The top picture is...............................................light beer.
The bottom picture are.....................................................................tap dancers.

"Tis Friday now...

Hello:

It is going to rain this afternoon, but I have some clothes hanging outside. I hope they get mostly dry before the rain starts.

I made waffles this morning. Very good for a change.

I am now reading a novel called Juliet. Tied into the Shakespeare play in parts, it is a great novel. I know what I will be doing this weekend, as the rain is coming for our weekend.

I published Creation on the Kindle page. In a matter of hours it will be there. It is called Creation, an Epic Poem. I priced it at $2.99.

My trial on my speeding ticket is on Monday. I think I have a good defense to it, so we shall see.

Have a good weekend.

Steve

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Time to retire?????


Yes, indeed, time to retire.
Steven

Toward the end of the week...

Hi:

How are you today?

I am going to make a cranberry pie later today. I found some fresh cranberries at Safeway so I will try it again.

This year I will buy a bunch of fresh cranberries and freeze them so I can use them to make a cranberry pie in months were fresh cranberries are not available.

I cracked half a cup of walnuts this morning for my cranberry pie.

Reading Overhaul is like watching sausage being made. Too much detail for my liking. So I will skim the rest of the book and get onto other books here.

I got some Jingle Java from Safeway this morning. It is available only in the fall, but it is such good coffee. I grind my own beans every morning. Today I am on my second pot of this great coffee.

It looks like rain is coming.

Steve

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Flowers blooming



Some late-blooming flowers across the street from us. We had one blooming in our yard about a month ago, but I did not get a picture of it.

This weekend, if it does not rain, I will dig up some bulbs here to replant them in other locations.

Steven

Midweek now...Hump Day

Hi again:

I voted today, straight Demo with no R.

I am putting Creation on the Kindle page today. Tomorrow I will copyright it and another book we published there.

I have not been reading as much I want to do so in the past few days.

I did not vote for the #73 nor #75. Number 73 increases jail sentences for certain criminals. We do not need more jails as we cannot afford any more with the recession in Oregon. Number 75 would allow a casino to be built in the Portland area. We don't need that kind of activity.

I voted yes on the four others.

Mowed our lawn yesterday, hopefully for the last time this fall and winter.

I need to get this posting done as Google will close uploading of new photos starting at 5:00 pm today for a few hours.

How is your week going?

Steven

Monday, October 18, 2010

What are these pictures????





What are these?
The top is an....I Pod.
The middle picture is....Dr. Pepper.
The bottom picture is a...Card Shark.
Steven

Monday, Monday...so good to me...

Hi:

Tis Monday, the first day of this week. No rain today, but cold enough out for Fall.

I am off to get some more apples very soon. I will put them in the garage refrigerator and use them over the next few weeks.

I am listening to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, a podcast from NPR that took place on Saturday at 11:00 am on KOPB. I don't listen to the program on my radio. Instead I download the podcast to listen to it at my convenience.

I am getting the firing of the CEO of GM in Overhaul. This is one reason I read this book, to learn when the administration made the decision to fire him. I learned it was after his first meeting with the Auto Czar. The CEO blamed the economy, the Japanese and UAW for GM troubles, not focusing at all why it spending $12 billion in the hole in the last month.

I do hope your week goes well.

Steven

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Picture of the day...


Here are the Kindle 3 boxes at Clearwater High School in Florida. The school bought the Kindles with both WiFi and 3G. These are the ones that cost $189.00. The school got a 6% discount from Amazon for buying so many of them. All 2,100 students got one. Each teacher also got one. With the discount the school paid a little more than $400,000 for these Kindles.
Steven

Sunday morning

Hi again:

It is Sunday morning here. I don't go to Church anymore as I have no faith. I don't believe what is in the new testament at all. It is all allogory and none of it is true.

I made a cake yesterday but this time I put some of my applesause into it. It makes the cake so much more moist.

My clothes outside dried yesterday, but it took all day.

The picture I will attach later shows many Kindles. A high school in Florida is giving every of its 2,100 students a new Kindle 3. Most of the textbooks are put on their Kindles. The vice principal of the school, appearing on the Kindle Chronicles podcast, said their biggest problem as been the publishers of textbooks. Not enough of them are putting textbooks in ebook format.

I am reading The Oregonian on my Kindle. Today I have the Sunday Oregonian on it, but I see no comics on it. I have another week left on my free trial of The Oregonian so we shall see how much I read it.

I am still reading Overhaul, the story of the auto bailout of GM and Chrysler. Both companies are paying back what they got from President Obama but not paying back what they got from Bush.

I was going to read The Weekend that Changed Wall Street by Maria Bartiromo. But I saw her on BookTV on C-Span II this weekend. She is not very bright. In fact she is somewhat dumb so I don't think I will be reading her book. I read about this weekend in Too Big To Fail.

I am still reading The Quants on my Kindle so I will continue with that book instead of Maria's book.

Hope your weekend is going well.

Steve

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Picture of the day...



The top picture shows the last days of my upside down tomato. I got only about 6 tomatoes off this plant, as opposed to the my two Willamette in-ground which produced over 150 tomatoes between the two of them.
The bottom picture is "oops."
Steve

Weekend is here...

Hi:

This may be the last weekend I can hang my clothes outside. It will probably take all day for the stuff to dry.

I am now reading Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry. The author was the Car Czar, but now is in trouble with SEC. He will have to pay a big fine and probably a jail sentence.

We forget it was the Bush administration that created the TARP not President Obama.

The $700 million TARP fund was Bush not Obama.

The Oregonian is now on the Kindle page. But for $8.99 a month. I am getting my 14 free trial of the paper. I rather doubt I will pay that fee every month for getting the paper on my Kindle. That is over $90 a year for this paper. Too much money.

I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Steve

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Picture of the day



A motorcycle and tractor, both made entirely of car parts. I don't know if each of these work, but they are art works.
Steven

H today...

Hi again:

Sorry about no posts the past few days. I have been busy, with meeting and downloading other books to my Kindle 3.

Today is applesauce day. I got a big box of apples so I will make applesauce and can it today. I estimate it will take me most of the day to do this. I use an applesauce recipe that is microwaved. I like lumpy applesauce, so this is why I like to do this.

I downloaded The Oregonian and The Wall Street Journal to my Kindle 3. I am going to cancel the WSJ as I don't have the time to read it. I get the first 14 days free on these subscriptions so I have until October 25 to make my final decision.

I heard today there is a new movie out on Carolos the Jackal. It is 5 and 1/2 hours long; there is a shorter version out too. I want to see the long version.

I did finish Henry IV, Part 1 yesterday. I am now on to Henry IV, Part 2. I sure do miss my college textbook on Shakespeare. It is well-footnoted and an excellent book. That book remains in China. Once I go China in the near future I will pick up that book as well as some other books that remain in Shanghai.

Time to start my applesauce now.

Steve

Monday, October 11, 2010

Picture of the day...


Pioneer Park in Stayton. Before the Columbus Day storm in 1962, you could not see across this park like you see now. Big fur trees were blown down by this storm. I walked across this park in the fallen trees, never once touching the ground.
Steve

Monday, Monday.,..so good to be...

Hi:

I read and finished The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Phil Pullman. This author creates identical twins, Jesus and Christ. Jesus is the teacher and the one who claims the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Jesus, in the garden before he is betrayed (not that this ever happened) he claims what I claim: you talk and talk to God but she never answers us. Jesus complains bitterly about this. All talk on one part and no one answers. Christ stays in the background, writing the stories Jesus tells, or somewhat.

Pullman believes like I believe, there was no resurrection. In this book Jesus is killed but his body is stolen, giving the impression of a resurrection. Christ then takes the place of the missing Jesus, and leaves them after 40 days to live elsewhere with a new wife and his new children.

In the end, Pullman talks about myths. Myths are what the gospels are and a myth is what Pullman writes.

His story makes as much sense to me what you see in the gospels.

Now I am reading The Quants, a story of the math experts who started the hedge funds and almost destroyed the stock market in 2007.

Both of these books are on my Kindle 3.

I am heading on to Costco soon.

Steven

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Picture


Must be hot for this panda to stay in the water.
Steve

Raining hard today

Good Morning:

It is raining hard today, this Sunday, the 10 day of the 10th month of 2010.

I started and finished The Sinner yesterday, the third book of the Rizzoli and Isles series. After reading The Surgeon, as well as the The Apprentice, I am now reading other books, now reading The Cobra by Frederick Forsyth. I read many of his prior books. This book is a spy novel.

My trial has been postponed. I was set for trial on next Tuesday, October 12. Now it is set for October 25. I am contesting a speeding ticket I got. I think I have a good chance of being acquitted due to the basic rule.

Time for some breakfast here.

Steve

Friday, October 8, 2010

Cartoon of the day...

My feelings about Fox TV to the exact.

Steve

The weekend has arrived...

Hi:

I am glad the Phillies won again. I sure hope the damn Yankees don't make the World Series again this year. I hate the Yanks.

I finished The Apprentice today. Now I am on to The Sinner, the next book in the Rizzoli and Isles mysteries.

I am going to dry my tomatoes again. I picked 15 of them yesterday. With nothing to do with them, I guess drying them is best. Like I told you earlier, I bet I got 150 tomatoes off my two in-ground plants. I got a half a dozen off of my upside down plant.

This weekend we will correct Creation on more time.

I went to a garage sale today. I got a Columbia coat that fits me. It is waterproof and a very nice coat. It cost me $5.00.

I hope your weekend goes well.

Steve

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Picture of the day...



I get a daily cartoon from The Progress Group, a liberal think tank.
If you don't know it yet, I am liberal through and through.
Steven

Only a text post with pictures coming later

Hi again:

With the last post showing no paragraph separation, I am going back to the text only posts with a separate post for the pictures.

I did finish The Tiger last night. As I told you, this Siberian tiger killed two people. As the group from Information Tiger hunted this particular one, they found him on a logging area. They saw fresh tracks and all came with big guns. As they walked on the landing, the main guy of the group and one of the main characters in the book, was attacked by the tiger. He shot the tiger but the forward motion brought the tiger to him. His compatriots also shot at the tiger but they had such high powered guns, the bullets went right through the tiger. The tiger was alive as it leaped on this guy and tried to bite him, but the tiger died quickly. This book is so good. I recommend it with the highest praise.

Now I am reading the Rizzoli and Isles books by Tess Gerritsen in order. I read The Surgeon and now I am half way through The Apprentice. After that comes The Sinner. I will read each of these books in two days; two days per book.

I hung my clothes outside today, and it took all day for them to dry completely. It will rain both days this weekend from what I see on The Oregonian website.

I made French Toast for my dinner tonight. I have some left over for breakfast tomorrow.

Have a great weekend.

Steve

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mid-week or hump day




Hello:
This picture show accommodations in parts of Argentina. August in Argentina is cold, according to my cousin there, Mecha Schwindt.
I am trying to put pictures here now to see how this goes. The picture is medium size.
An openly gay character in the Archie comics. Talk of the Nation has a long story on it today.
For dinner, I cut up four tomatoes for my dinner. I did not eat them all yet. I had soup in addition to my tomatoes.
In The Tiger, it ends as two people are killed by this tiger. The subtitle of this book The Story of Vengeance and Survival. The author is John Vaillant. With 50 pages to go I know the tiger will be killed as it now hunts humans. It is hard to attribute human emotions to animals, but this tiger, before it killed a second young man, raided an empty camp, dragged a mattress 50 yards away and settled on that mattress, waiting the next human to come by. The second victim went out to check his traps, as animal trapping is a popular way to earn money there.
The tiger ate both people so there was not much left to bury.
The authorities in eastern Russia got permission from Moscow to kill this tiger as they are a protected species.
The book ends with the hunt for the tiger.
Like I told you earlier this is an excellent book.
Steven

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Pictures of the day once again...



More panda pictures. The top one shows them searching for something lost. In the bottom picture one panda is giving a boost to another one who is trying to get up the tree.
Steven

Bland day this day

Hi:

This is a bland day, not much happening here.

I am still reading The Tiger. It is an excellent book.

I copied two recipes today. One is for fudge brownies. The other is for Very Special pancakes. I will try to make one of them this week.

I ate a tomato salad for lunch today. My tomatoes are so very good, both the Willamette and the Early Girl one (hanging upside down).

I am still working on my cookies I made an Saturday. It looks like they will last me all week.

Still editing Creation, an Epic Poem. Spent three hours today making the corrections I made last night in the nth reading of it on my Kindle 3. I hope this is the last edit. We shall see.

I have been recording my TV shows.

I do hope your week is going well.

Steve

Monday, October 4, 2010

What the spell-checker does got get..

The tiger attacked the man, and did not become attached to the man.

The tiger did not just kill the man, he ate most of him. The coffin was very light according to the people at the funeral. They never told his wife what happen to him, just that a tiger killed him. She wanted him buried in a new suit so she rushed around to find one. Needless to say, but suit did not fit what was left of him.

This book is excellent as it goes into the history of tigers around the world and even back in time the to saber-tooth tigers.

Steven

Pictures of the day...



More panda pictures. In the top picture one is asking the other for a napkin.
In the bottom picture this panda is saying his confession. My fellow mackerel snappers will understand this last one.
Steven

Monday now...

Hello:

I made snicker doodle cookies over the past weekend. Mine are not a round and fluffy as the ones I bought at the used book sale, but this is my first effort.

I am sure a Kitchen Aid mixer would have helped me, especially the dough hook attachment. I wonder if every thing got mixed together as I prepared the cookies. I will check on Craigslist to see what one costs these days. I know my ex-wife got on as a wedding gift when we got married, but she is probably still using it as she was one of the best cooks I ever met.

I finished The Surgeon late last week. The ending shows up on the TV show on TNT of Rissoli and Isles. I have 3 more books here I got at the used book sale at the used book store in early September. I also ordered three more books from the library. I know The Surgeon started the series but I must figure out the order the next six books.

Now I am reading The Tiger, a true story of a Siberian tiger attach in eastern Russia. The attach seems like vengeance to me. I will not give away the entire story, but it starts with a friend of the victim finding what is left of his friend. The tiger not only attacked this person but the tiger also destroyed his cabin and out-buildings. The officials there first thought the victim shot and killed the cub of a female tiger. But the paw prints were just too big for a female. I am about half way through this book.

My plan now is to read, alternatively, a book from the library, a book in my Kindle 3 and a book from my private collection.

But I fear I will break this new tradition right away. My next book is one the three books you would want to take back to the Renaissance, The Sixteen Pleasures. I got this from the library.

Waiting for me at the library is the 1,000 page book Fall of Giants, the new Ken Follet book. After reading a review of this book on my Kindle today, from The New York Times, I think I will wait to see the movie or wait until all 3 books of this trilogy come out. Follet moved from the Middle Ages to the start of the 20th century with this new trilogy.

How was your weekend? Feel free to leave a comment on this site. When you scroll down to the bottom of a post you see where you can leave a comment. Either do that or send me an email at schwindt68@hotmail.com

Pictures will come in my next post.

Steve

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Picture of the day



Two panda babies sleeping where they can find it.
Steven

Big haul at book sale today

Hi again:

I went to the used book sale at the Community Center. Here is a list of books I got for $5.00 per bag. I got one bag of books:

The Elements of Editing
Rhymes of the City of Roses
Cliff Notes for The Scarlet Letter
Handbook on Haiku
My Beloved: Classic Messages of Love
Leadership and the One Minute Manager
Chinese Dishes
Better Homes & Garden Best Wok Recipes
Step by Step Chinese Cooking
The Oregon Trawlfish and Shrimp Story
World's Best Fish and Seafood Recipes
Vegetable Dishes
Home Canning of Meat
Reverse Diabetes with Food
Eat to Beat Diabetes
Better Homes & Garden New Cook Book
No Regrets: Junior League of Portland
Single and Single: A Novel
Therapy: A Novel
The Navigator: A Novel
Seven Days in May: A Novel
The Andromeda Strain
Burr: A Novel
Crock Pot Cooking
Pillars of the Earth
The Spies of Warsaw
Elements of Management (as a Kindle cover, not to read)

Quite the list. Some novels on this list I read in the past but many years ago. Two others I plan to use as gifts in the coming Christmas season.

I bought some snicker doodle cookies yesterday. I never ate one before, so I went online to find the recipe. I made a batch today. Mine do not raise like the ones I bought. But this is the first time I made these cookies.

I am almost finished with The Surgeon, the first book of Detective Rossili. It is a good novel.

How is your weekend going.

Mine is going fine.

Steven

Friday, October 1, 2010



My rhubarb just before I cut it for the 5th time. I may fertilize it again to see if I can get six cutting off it.

Steven

The weekend is here...almost

Hello:

I went to the Friends of the Library used book sale. There are so many books, after tomorrow the bulk will go the recyclers. There are boxes and boxes of books under the many tables. I bought some last night and some today. Tomorrow, Saturday, it is $5.00 per bag of books. I will go there to look one more time. I have not found all that I wanted there. I saw no books by Tess Gerritsen nor any books I want on Shakespeare there. They do have one big book of everything Shakespeare wrote but it has no footnotes.

I am going down to the Used Book store here sponsored by Friends of the Library to see what I can find there. The book prices are a little higher there but not so much.

I am reading The Surgeon on my Kindle 3. It is the first book by Tess Gerritsen that features Detective Rossoli and maybe Medical Examiner Isles. I watched the TV show on TNT.

The Kindle 3 still does not have page numbers but it does tell you how are along you are in a book by percentage. So in this book I am now 29% through it. I will finish it probably tomorrow, then on to read The Tiger, a true story of a tiger attack in eastern Russia.

Hope your weekend goes well.

Steven