Pictures for the stormy day.....

The last of my snow pictures. The top one shows the spring flowers of Wilco covered with snow. The bottom picture shows a very old Japanese Lace Leaf Maple tree.

You can tell how wet the snow is here from how it clings to the branches of trees without leafs.

Steven

Winter storm today...

Hello:

A big winter storm is hitting us now, with heavy rain and wind. The wind awoke me this morning at 4:30 am. I have been up ever since.

I am reading about Scientology on my Kindle, about a person who joined then left the cult. What a strange organization. Not a church, but more closer to a cult.

My client comes to see me today at 5:00 pm. It is will be a long meeting as I walk him through the processes we are going through.

Both my Kindle and Nolan's Kindle now have the 3.1 update. It is suppose to give us page numbers but only of new books. I checked many of my ebooks and no page numbers in those.

Not much else happening here today.

How is your week going?

Steve

Sunday picture...

A contrast in pictures today. Spring flowers in the top one, and the snow of last week.

Steven

Sunday today...

Hi:

How are you today? It is getting warmer out but I don't know if it will snow.

I have been reading on my Kindle today. One article was on China and how the commies are worried about what is happening in the Arab world and what they can do to avoid it in China. The second article is why no one from Wall Street is in jail yet. At least two dozen of them need to spend some time in jail. That would do more than any other thing to reform those jerks.

I am germinating some peas to make sure they grow when planted. All are showing growth so I will plant them later this week. I get my peas from the ones I grew last year. I save about six of them, watch them dry and they place about six peas in a paper towel that is constantly wet so see if they germinate.

Tomorrow night my client is coming here to answers the many questions I have on his tax exempt status and the grant I am working on for them.

March is coming...birthdays are coming too.

Steven

Pictures for Sat...

More snow pictures. The top one is full alley behind our house.

The middle one shows the Catholic Church near our house here. This picture shows the back of the church.

The bottom picture shows our alley again, but this time from the back of our house here.

Steve

Very cold here...

Hi again:

It was 9 degrees here this morning when I got up. We have an indoor/outdoor one, that shows both inside and outside. Right now, at 3:15 pm on Saturday it is only 20 degrees outside now. The snow is disappearing now, subliming away in this cold weather.

Read an article today on the drought in norther China where the country's wheat is grown. No rain for many months and yesterday just a brief snow dusting. This is what the commies fear the most, food costs and not enough food to feed the 1.4 billion people in China. Remember China is about the same size as the United States but with four times as many people as the U.S.

The two cities I lived in China were both bigger than the entire population of Oregon. Shanghai has over 18 million people. Xi'an has over 4 million people.

Continue reading my Kindle 3 today. So many new articles I put on there over the past two weeks, I need to read them. I estimate I have over 250 books on my Kindle now; it can hold 3,500 books, or so Amazon says. I will not ever get that many books on it. I am more discreet now on the free books I put on. When free ebooks first started showing up, I downloaded many of them. Now, I read what the ebook is about before downloading it. Today I got a free ebook on publishing on the Kindle.

I have put five books on the Kindle page already. I have three more in the works. It is easy to get a book on the Kindle page, but promoting it is another matter. For example, with the poems of the late Raymond Geraths, I created a blog for his poems. For Nolan's ebook on a tax guide for the small business I also created a blog for it too. According to what I learned, I should also create a website for each but I do not know how to do that.

Cold out still. Are we expecting more snow this weekend?

Steven

Pictures for F....

The top picture shows some wild daffodils trying to make it in the snow.

The bottom picture was at 5:00 am yesterday from our front porch. The tree branch was hanging down to frame this picture.

Steve

So cold and snow still here

Hi:

It has been very cold here today, so the snow has been subliming. Going from a solid to air without turning into water.

I slipped and fell outside today when I stepped on a tile hidden under the snow. I slipped and fell quite a bit in Xi'an China when the snow was there for four months. They do nothing to their sidewalks there, as many do here, cleaning them.

I walked to Safeway yesterday for a little shopping and a Starbucks coffee. Most of the sidewalks on the walk there were already cleaned off. We had about four inches of snow yesterday and another 2 hours last night.

Quite surprised to see so much snow so late in February.

I worked on bylaws for a not-for-profit corporation today. I found one online and modified it to fit my needs. My client has not been to see me today. We must go over his tax exempt status paperwork I have done, review the grant application I want to start and finish the following week, and his new bylaws he must approve and sign.

His corporation is The Long Trail Home, a service to warriors coming back from our two wars. They go through four Native American ceremonies to refresh them and get them back on track to living with their families in a civilian life.

I am reading The French Fry Connection on my Kindle 3. It is the 1999 series of articles from The Oregonian that won its first Pulitzer Prize. I recall reading in 1999 when it first came out. Surprised now to see the failing economies of the Far East causing these french fries to make a convoluted trip around the far eastern countries.

I am going to read on my Kindle for the next few days to get through the articles I put on it the last two weeks.

The weekend approaches. What are your plans?

Steven

Snow in late February

The top picture I took at 5:00 am this morning from our front porch. It was dark and I used a flash but all it got was the snow falling and a short scene.

The second picture is looking from the front lawn to the Catholic Church near here. These last two pictures I took just after 7:00 am this morning.

The bottom picture shows the house the across the street from us.

Steve

A winter wonderland this morning

Hi:

I woke up to snow on the ground here this morning. I got up at 5:00 and tried to take a picture then but it was too dark and snowing too hard to see much.

The pictures I will attach later show the snow here.

A late snow here, in late February. A sign of climate change in the world no matter what you might believe. To call it global warming is wrong; it is a climate change event.

I started reading a story I read some years ago in The Oregonian. It was the story that brought The Oregonian its first Pulitzer Prize, The French Fry Connection. I have it on my Kindle. I was reading in Safeway while drinking some coffee there. So I bought for the first time some frozen french fries and had them for lunch. I baked them in the oven but the next time I may try to fry some in oil.

The story took place in the early 1990's as the financial crisis hit southeast Asia. The five part newspaper piece takes the trail of french fries from eastern Oregon across the Pacific and back and back there again.

Do you watch NOVA SCIENCE NOW on PBS? Last week was on social robots. One looked like Phillip Dick, the science fiction writer who was mentally ill for most of his life. But he was a good companion, sort of like Watson on TV last week.

Instead of reading books from the library I am reading stories on my Kindle. A long story on Phillip Dick and his mental problems while he wrote the stories that made him famous. The second article was on the french fry as a good lesson in global economics.

As I told you before I would rather magazine and newspaper articles on my Kindle rather than on my computer screen.

I got my new software update on my Kindle this morning. It is suppose to give me page numbers that correspond to the DTB (dead tree book) pages. But only for certain books, none of which I apparently have on my Kindle. I really don't care whether page numbers are there. My main concern for Kindle is that it cannot accept library books from our local library. Other e-readers can do this but the Kindle cannot do this, due to the DTM (digital text management) restriction on the Kindle.

It is warming up here this afternoon, so the snow is melting but we expect more snow tonight again.

Steven

I made a mistake

Hi again:

I made a mistake when I gave you Nolan's blog site. It is an old site I stopped due to technical difficulties.

The new blog is http://www.nolantaxbook.blogspot.com

This is the new blog site, taking you to the latest posts.

Steven

Picture for U

Two intellectual pictures here. The top one is a folio version of Cymbeline, one of Shakespeare's lesser plays.

The bottom picture comes from the KinWorm website, a place for Kindle owners.

Steven

Today is U...

Good morning:

I spent most of the day yesterday working on Part III of the last poem of Raymond Geraths. I separated the poem into three parts, as it is 92 pages long. Yesterday was the first edit of it and it took me over seven hours to do this first edit.

If you have a Kindle, go to the Kindle webpage and look for Creation, an Epic Poem and Redemption, an Epic Poem. Both poems are there for you to purchase or sample. The author is the late Raymond Geraths. His son, Nolan Geraths, found these three epic poems after his father died.

It would have been so nice to have found these poems before Raymond died so we could talk to him about writing these three long poems (the poem we are working on now is Sanctification, an Epic Poem).

I created two blogs one for poems of Raymond Geraths. You can find this blog at: http://www.raymondgerathspoems.blogspot.com Go this blog to see long samples from the first two poems.

I created a second blog for Nolan's tax guide book, called Short Cuts for the Small Business. This blog is at: http://www.nolangerathstaxbook.blogspot.com. I edited this book last night to change some things in it, including the price. I reduced the price from $5.99 to $4.99. This ebook will not be available for a day or two as I edited it last night.

My Kindle 3 can hold 3,500 books. I estimate I have nearly 400 books on mine now. So much to read on my Kindle.

Hope your week is going well.

Steven

Coffee pictures...for Sunday

Two views of the French Press in action.

Steven

Another S post

Hi:

I read this one my Kindle.

You know you are drinking too much coffee when you go to AA meeting just for the free coffee.

You know you are drinking too much coffee when people get dizzy just watching you.

You know you are drinking too much coffee when you can jump start your car without batteries.

You know you are drinking too much coffee when you don't sweat, you percolate.

You know you are drinking too coffee when someone says "how are you" and you say "good to the last drop."

You know you are drinking too much coffee when you introduce your spouse as your coffeeemate.

You know you are drinking too much coffee when you want to be cremated so you can spend the rest of eternity in a coffee can.

I am drinking tea at least two days a week to not drink coffee every day. I use a French Press and it makes such good coffee. I also grind my own beans for it.

Steven

Picture for S...

Exactly what I think of Fox News. I do not watch it as it offends my liberal sensibilities But no facts come from that station. Nolan likes it and continues to quote facts that we hear from no other source. I am a news junkie so I know what Fox nuts say is nothing close to the facts.

Steven

Sunday now...

Hi:

My cousin in Argentina had a birthday yesterday. Her name is Mecha Schwindt. Even though she is married she keeps her maiden name, as do all of the rest of my female cousins in Argentina.

Two more birthdays this week of friends in Oregon.

Good to get notice of coming birthdays on Facebook.

I may be talking with the Library Foundation of the Stayton Oregon in the near future on the Kindle. They may advertise the talk so the public can come to the talk. We shall see if this comes to fruition.

A friend got her husband a Kindle 3 for Christmas but he does not like to use it. He prefers the feel of the book. I told her I get lost in what I am reading, whether it be a book or my Kindle. I may have to visit with him to see the advantages of the Kindle. I may change the registration on his Kindle to my registration. In that way I can transfer books from my archives that he may be interested in reading.

Like I told you earlier I don't like to read even short articles on my computer. So I copy them to Word, and send it to my Kindle account by email. It comes back to my Kindle by WiFi. It is so much easier to read on my Kindle.

I am watching the X-Files on BBC America as I write this. I guess I did not see some of the shows. I recall saying the show is either the monster-of-week or conspiracy theory. This one is conspiracy theory one.

My client arrives back from northern California this week. I will get together with him so I can write the grant he needs.

Have a good day... and a good week.

Steven

Picture for today...

It looks like a scene from central Oregon, but his is scene from China. The river looks good for fishing.

Steven

The weekend is here...

Hi:

My last post did not work well so I am back to posting without the picture again.

I am still reading The Weird Sisters, a good book.

I am collecting Tess Gerritsen books on Rizzoli and Isles. I have read three of the books and I have four more here, with one more to get at our bookstore. We have big used book sale here the end of March and I will see if I can get the last two there.

I was looking through my baby book again today. It has been some years since I saw it. Being the first born, my mother spend quite a bit of time on my baby book. Something I don't want to share with anybody.

March is coming up, the big birthday month for me. Two of my children, both of my brothers, my mom and dad; and even my ex-wife.

Have a great weekend.

Steven

the weekend nears...

Hello again:

This picture is a typical market in China. The bananas you see in the foreground are great. I bought a very big bunch from a market in Xi'an for about $1.00. The bananas there were a long bunch, and I asked for half of that. I put a banana in my oatmeal every morning. I stored the bananas in the refrigerator. They got black but were fine that way. I had read a book on my Kindle about bananas. They are all a clone of each other.

I am back to reading The Weird Sisters, the book where the father talks in Shakespeare language to his three daughters: Bianca, Cordelia, and Rosalind. I will spend this weekend reading this book.

I found two estate sales, but I am not interested in going out to sales this weekend. I await the spring when there are many sales taking place.

We shall see how this works, with one picture per post. My guess it will not work as the picture is large.

Have a good weekend.

Steven

Pictures for W...

Two pictures for you.

The top one, from China, shows you sleep where you work.

The bottom picture shows a car in the U.S. I wonder if the driver finds any UFOs; I doubt it.

Steven

W today...

Good morning:

I have been busy the last few days, so no new posts. Sorry about that.

It is early morning here, as I listen to Morning Edition on NPR. I do not use my radio to listen to the program; instead, I download those stories I want to listen to on my computer. I can listen only to the stories I want and avoid the local TV promotions on it. I do get 12 second ads about every three to four stories.

Instead of reading The Weird Sisters, I am now reading Inside the Outbreaks, a story of the history of the CDC. A very good book if you can get by the comic cover. It amazes me how many illnesses come from oral-fecal contact. Good reason to wash your hands often.

There is a good story on Morning Edition on Portland Oregon. Seems like Pdx gets more unemployed people during the recession. A good story on the history of Pdx.

Hope your week is going well.

Steve

Picture for Sun..

Pictures from China, from a blog I found and read regularly now.

The top picture I saw happening all of the time, more than 2 people on a bike.

The bottom picture shows what we cannot have in Oregon: a firework that heads into the air.

Steven

Sunday eve now...

Hi:

I am listening to All Things Considered now.

I finished watching BookTV for today. I found a good book talked of on that program, Deadly Choices, a book about the people who don't believe in vaccines. I found out I need to get a vaccine against shingles. The doctor author recommended this for everyone over 60 now. I got the chicken pox, mumps and measles as a young child. The kids now have vaccines against all three of those childhood diseases. I ordered this book from our library here.

When my son Aaron was born both Annette and I had whooping cough but asystematic. We had the infection control nurse check our blood tests as my wife was ready to give birth. We had to wear face-masks and gowns for the delivery.

Tomorrow I going to Salem with Nolan who is getting his hearing tested. I will take my Kindle with me to read while he is busy.

I am enjoying reading Rock Paper Tiger. Now the hero is heading to Xi'an. That is where I was for seven months.

My next book is The Weird Sisters, a novel where the father speaks in Shakespeare. The three daughters are named after characters in Shakespeare plays. (as a side note, the rule we heard in school was "i before e except after c." So what about "weird" and "their"?????)

It rained hard here last night with wind blowing hard.

Steve

Pictures for this Sat.

I got this picture from the James Fallows blog. For the past few weeks he is using guest bloggers as he is in China finishing a book there.

This is a grade school in Dunhua, in northeast China.

Steven

The weekend is here now....

Hello:

I am now reading a good mystery set in China. The book is Rock Paper Tiger. The author is not Chinese but spent many years in China. Most of action is taking place in Beijing. I never visited Beijing so I do not recognize the places in this book. It is a good book.

I went on a long bike ride yesterday in doing my errands. I ended up at the library where I saw my dad. I had reserved two books on the Volga Germans in the northwest. My grandparents came from the Volga region of western Russia. I gave these two books for my dad to read.

I am listening to the Kindle Chronicles as a podcast. The interview today is with the owner of the Tattered Cover in Denver. Not a good interview as I have no interest in this or any other bookstore. It is a boring interview. Usually his interviews are better than this one.

Coffee prices sure are rising now. At Costco, the 2.5 lb bag of coffee beans used to be $8.99; earlier this week I was there and saw the price for the same coffee at $11.99. That is over $4.88 a pound, still much less than Starbucks.

I am going to drink tea at least two days a week, mainly to get the caffeine out of me.

Have a good weekend.

Steve

Only one works correctly

Hi again:

Use this blog address only:

http://NolanTaxBook.blogspot.com

If you use the other one it takes you to the old blog I want to delete.

The one cited here is the correct one to get to the blog.

Sorry about the confusion.

Steve

New blog created

Hi again:

I did create a new blog for Nolan's blog. You can now find it at:

http://nolangerathstaxbook.blogspot.com

If that does not work try this one:

http://NolanTaxBook.blogspot.com


It is difficult to manage three different blogs on this computer. I have to create different passwords and sign-in names.

Steven

Pictures for H

This happens only in China. You take a rickshaw to get on a high speed train.

I rode one of these high speed trains that runs from Shanghai to its airport. It gets to over 200 mph on this 30 mile trip the airport.

Steve

H today

Good morning:

I have been busy the past few days.

I created two more blogs for my authors on the Kindle page.

The first one I told you about in my last posting. It is for the late Raymond Geraths for his three books of poetry.

You find this blog at: http://raymondgerathspoems.blogspot.com

I created a second blog for Nolan Geraths and his tax advice book.

You see this blog at: http://nolangerathtaxbook.blogspot.com

But I may delete this last one as I created it wrong. It is linked to his late father's blog so I cannot put any posts on it. I will let you know if a new blog comes forth; otherwise you can still access Nolan's blog from that address.

I have my own blog which you can see at http://steveninoregon.blogspot.com

It started as steveninchina but changed when I got back to Oregon.

Back to work now.

Steven

A picture for U

This is my first cousin Marlene. She had a stroke about 10 years ago and is now in a group care home in Mt. Angel. She cannot talk and is disabled. Like most of cousins she is 10 years older than me. She seems to getting along fine in this home. My dad and I visit her about once a month.

Steven

u today

Hi again:

Been a few days since I last posted. Been busy, but not watching the Super bowl. My most hated team won so it would not have been fun anyway.

I started a new blog, this time to highlight the poetry books of the late Raymond Geraths. You can find this blog at:

http://raymondgerathspoems.blogspot.com

You can go this site to see what I wrote about these three books and see long samples from each book.

So you see what I have been doing today.

I cooked dinner tonight. Teriyaki chicken thighs over rice with some of my canned asparagus. So very good.

I am now reading China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Should Know. It is a short book but a good one too.

I need to add a counter to my new blog so that is my next task.

Have a great week.

Steven

Picture for F

The vortex of a plane landing. It blew red smoke behind it to show the type of vortex a plane makes as it lands. I got this picture from the James Fallows email he sends out every day. He is a senior writer for The Atlantic magazine.

Steve

F eve now

Hello:

The weekend has arrived. Super Bowl time but not for me. I don't watch professional football on TV anymore. I have not watched a pro football game in decades. I don't miss it at all. I like to read so much. So I will be reading a new book by Sunday.

My dinner meeting last night was very interesting. These two Native Americans have the idea of using Native American ceremonies for veterans returning from the two wars. These ceremonies will help each vet transition into civilian life. My job is to find grants for them to accomplish this goal. I started working on it today, making up the fee agreement for me as well as applying for the DUNS number. Once I get that I can go for the CCR number, the MPIN number and then register at grants.gov.

Guns on college campus in Texas. How stupid are the legislators there?????

Not only guns, but concealed weapons permitted. How downright crazy are they????

No account for the stupidity of some Americans.

Steven

Picture for W

A preview of what is coming in June here.

Steve

W eve now...

Hi:

I worked hard today but now work is over. I have had my dinner.

I am now reading The Templar Conspiracy, a novel of the anti-Templar's. It is a good novel but apparently the fourth in a series of books on the Templars: The Sword of the Templar, The Templar Cross and The Templar Throne. I did not realize these three books came before. I can tell by reading it references to prior books. But the book I am reading is very good. I am reading 150 pages per day, meaning I will finish it in 3 to 4 days.

I got some boneless chicken wings at Safeway. Too much pepper for my liking. But good nevertheless.

Hope your week is going well.

Steve

A picture for U...

This picture shows up on The Smithsonian website. It is a hybrid whale from its DNA. Two groups of different pods of whales never meet as they migrate in different parts of the Pacific.

But the parents of this whale obviously met somewhere in the Pacific.

Steven

Sunny and cold here

Hi:

I rode my bike the library this afternoon. It is sunny outside now.....but cold and windy. I had a flannel shirt but the wind chill went right through me.

I picked up three books at the library, one a novel, one on China and the last one is Mark Pendergrast last book on infections. I will read the novel first to get back into reading.

I am making another apple/raspberry crisp.

It is Chinese New Year tomorrow. I remember being in China where fireworks were firing. Over there you can buy these big round things. Once you light them each cylinder fires off into the sky. We had three big round fireworks and shot them off in the garden area of our apartment. But for three nights you could not sleep as many fireworks flew off all night long.

It is the Year of the Rabbit this coming year.

Steven