Our New Christmas Tree

For the last several years Veronica and I have enjoyed our 3 foot Christmas tree that was lit up using fiber optics. This year we decided it was time to get a new tree. We decided to get a bigger tree...7 foot from bottom of base to the top of the tree and once again we chose to get a fiber optic tree.

We found that these fiber optic trees were getting a little harder to find and that there weren't a lot of styles to choose from.

After the tree arrived at our home, we decided that it was time to get some new decorative tree bulbs along with a tree skirt and topper. Luckily all of these items were on sale at our local KMart so we ended up saving some money on the items.

Below are a few photos of our new tree, which we put up in our bedroom.

I also took a movie of the fiber optic lights in motion but this photo does not do the lights justice.

We are both very pleased with the way the tree turned out and we expect this tree to last for many years to come.

The Fox

My friend John Jakobs, from Vermilion Bay in Ontario Canada has been sending me some photos of fox that he has befriended.

This fox seems to have quite the sophisticated palate and has shared Johns bologna sandwich and now appears to like the hotdogs that John has been bringing him/her.

John told me that this fox will take a piece of hotdog and then bury it in the snow.

I can't say that I blame the fox for doing this. They have some long cold winters up in that neck of the woods.

Below are a couple of photos that John has sent me of his new forest buddy.

Thanks for sharing John.

Ryanair Is In The News Again

Quite some time ago I wrote about a no frills European airline carrier called Ryanair. As I wrote about previously, this is the same airline carrier that's threatened to introduce pay-per-use lavatories on all of its flights.

Now it appears that Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary is at it again.

In a report written by Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY:

The Sun, one of London's splashy tabloids, on Tuesday reported O'Leary is intrigued by the idea of an in-flight app that would let his passengers pay for streaming entertainment options such as games and movies.....and gambling and porn.

It appears that Mr. O'Leary subscribes to the opinion that any attention or "press" , whether it be good or bad, is better than no attention or "press" at all.

For more details on what is possibly just another attention grabbing publicity stunt by Ryaniars CEO, please click on the following link... Ryanair Considering In Flight Porn

For some reason these ideas that CEO Michael O'Leary comes up with remind me of a song from the 1973 Emerson, Lake and Palmer album titled Brain Salad Surgery.

The song is titled Karn Evil 9 and there might be a few of you out there that might remember some of these lyrics:

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
There behind a glass is a real blade of grass
be careful as you pass.
Move along! Move along!

Come inside, the show's about to start
guaranteed to blow your head apart
Rest assured you'll get your money's worth
The greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth.
You've got to see the show, it's a dynamo.
You've got to see the show, it's rock and roll ....

Soon the Gypsy Queen in a glaze of Vaseline
Will perform on guillotine
What a scene! What a scene!
Next upon the stand will you please extend a hand
to Alexander's Ragtime Band
Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!

Performing on a stool we've a sight to make you drool
Seven virgins and a mule
Keep it cool. Keep it cool.
We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown
were exclusively our own,
All our own. All our own.
Come and see the show! Come and see the show! Come and see the show!
See the show!

If I close my eyes tight enough, I can actually visualize Mr. O'Leary singing these lyrics and motioning his arms as he welcomes his flying customers aboard one of his planes.

Well played Mr. O'Leary. You got our attention.........again.

An Enjoyable Sunday Morning

Veronica and I were planning on getting up a little earlier than usual, so that we could load our bikes onto our bike carrier and drive over to the Wright Brothers First Flight Memorial.

We were planning on making some coffee and put it in our thermos and bringing a couple of pistachio muffins for our little bike ride, picnic breakfast adventure.

We woke up later than planned and Veronica's alarm clock had not gone off for some reason. I then noticed that one of our clocks showed a time of 1 hour earlier than what all of our other clocks showed.

It then dawned on us that we had missed setting our clocks back an hour before going to bed last night.

As a result we ended up heading out the door at the time that we had originally planned.

We drove the 3 miles to a really small airplane landing strip that is adjacent to where the memorial is located.

We off loaded our bikes, loaded up Veronica's new wicker basket that attaches to the front of her bike, loaded our breakfast in the basket and headed off on our morning adventure.

There were not many people out at all on the bike/walking paths so it was really a peaceful quiet bike ride.

Veronica and I rode about 3 miles through neighborhoods that we never knew existed along with some really nice views of the bay and then we took a breakfast break at a boat launch area.

there was a small pier that was part of the boat launch, so Veronica and I walked to the end of the pier, parked our bikes and sat down for a breakfast of coffee and pistachio muffins.

After enjoying our breakfast we decided to head back to where the car was parked.

We ended up riding about 6 miles on our first bike ride.

I am sure that we will do this again as long as the weather and Veronica's work schedule allows us to.

Below are some photos of that we took during our breakfast break. They were taken from Veronica's IPod Touch so the picture quality is not that great.

Visits By Our Deer Friends

I have not been spending much time making entries in this blog lately.

I could be suffering a case of writers block or maybe a case of not much going on that I feel is important enough to write about.

I have been keeping busy doing my workouts, walking and at times riding my new bike.

Right now I feel like someone who is on a raft just drifting along lazily on a very slow moving river...just kicking back and taking it all in at a very slow pace.

The weather around here has turned Fall-like with temps in the 60s during the day. The days seem to be getting somewhat windier. At times we have had winds blowing at 20 plus mph, which makes walking and bike riding a little less enjoyable.

With all of the exercise that I have been doing, physically I am feeling better and better as each day passes.

I have been leaving out corn for our friends, the deer, every afternoon/evening.

They seem to have got themselves into a routine and pay the corn buffet a visit at least once a day.

I will start putting the salt licks out once it starts to really get cold around here.

Below are a couple of videos I took of our deer friends as they are eating only about a foot away from our window.