I Wanna be A Jet Pilot!

Pancakes,planes and Golf!

We woke up and had pancakes at the house. Then we all went to the Willow Grove Naval Air Station to see the aircraft museum. We found a driving range that was under cover as it was raining. We hit a couple of buckets of balls. Then Marilyn suggested that we go get Rita's water ice. Left in plenty of time for the filght. But filght was delayed getting into Philadelphia. And as of this post Adrik is still on the runway in Philadelphia.

Crossposted from AdriksBigAdventure
--Rico

Why is it.

When you want to go thru the check out in the grocery store fast at 9pm on a Saturday night the crazies are out. There was this lady in the express lane ( 15 items or less ) with $250 of groceries and a book of coupons and an attitude ( hey that item is 67 cents not 72 cents.... )

Banquet...

Last night we asked Adrik what his favorite food was "Asian" was his answer. So we took him to East Cuisine. They have Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. So we had some steamed dumplings, crab rangoon ( Adrik's favorite ) then some California roll, some Crab stick sushi, then some Pad Thai and Teriyaki Chicken. We ate a bunch took a bunch home but tasted everything.

My Galley Slaves!!

Here is a picture of my galley slaves just before I had them walk the plank!!!!

ARRRRUGH!!!

No Jellfish were harmed....

We went down to Rock Hall with Adrik. Traffic was MEAN! stuck twice and ended taking 3 hours to get down. Good we left early. We got underway quickly and kept the top up, no sailing, because Marilyn was pretty sun burned already. Motored for an hour for the tour of Rock Hall, then anchored in the creek. Adrik jumped in and I did a cannon ball. A ran and jumped a couple of times then OUCH!!!!! OW!!! it's Burning! Stung by a jellyfish. We poured lemonade on it and any other acid. Acid breaks down the venom. We the sting lasted about an hour. We motored back to the slip and rinsed off. A's sting moderated then we jumped into the pool.

Off to Maryland.

This morning we are going to Maryland to go sailing, and swmming. It's going to be stinking hot today so getting in the water will be great. Adrik is looking forward to it. I'm going to let him steer the boat. I just hope well be back before 10pm!

Philly N Stuff.

Philly was fun but hot today. At least no case of sunburn like Marilyn got yesterday in Wildwood. That cloudy sky will get EVERY time. Camera gave out. I took about a 100 pictures. Adrik, Adrik and Marilyn, Adrik and Marilyn at Independence hall, Adrik and Marilyn looking at a Marker, Adrik and Marilyn telling me to stop taking their picture Adrik and Marilyn chasing me as I take their picture. But the camera goofed up and all the pictures I took. Adrik ended with a blister on his heel as he wore sneakers and no socks. We took the train home rested for a few and went out to see Harry Potter. After the movie Stacy called and was quizing Adrik on what he had for dinner. Ummmm dinner.... Ah not yet! We were on the way to the diner for a late night bite. Boy are we in sooooo much trouble! At least A in tucked in bed now and we beat the 2am dead line by more than 2 hours.

Wild thunder storm here. Closed lightning knocked out light in the living room / kitchen area. Dimmer switch is dead.

Philly Style...

We went down to Center City today. Took Adrik to Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. Wow stinking hot. I took lots of pictures but somehow the camera ate them! Only left with a few of Ben Fanklin. Going to see Harry Potter more later.

Wild in Wildwood

Yesterday we went to Wildwood NJ. After a two hour drive it straight to Uncle Bill's pancake house for breakfast. Afterwords, it was kind of a slow start as I wanted to find a place to change, park the car and a place to shower later. I rented a Motel room which gave us a base. Then we hit the beach. Adrik went crazy for the big surf boogie boarding and body surfing all afternoon. Around 5:30 he was just exhausted. We showered and went to dinner. After a walk on the boardwalk and a few rides, including a mean looking roller coaster we were on our way home. We got in about 2 am because of traffic. More with pictures later.

Welcome Adrik!

Spent the last day at Omicron just waiting to go on vacation..... ( is it 3:30 yet!!!! ) I ran out of there and headed to get Marilyn to go to the airport. Running thru Center City the phone rings and it's Adrik! He's calling from the plane on his mobile. Sheesh 12 years old eh! He told me this flight was leaving and on time. So we drove to the airport and got the boarding pass to go to the gate. We could only get one so Marilyn waited at the gate. His flight was on time and landed Ok. We went out to Phil's in Blue Bell. Then to the house. We got a big day ahead of us tomorrow so stay tuned.

New Blog

I set up a blog for Adrik for his trip here this week. When Adrik comes look here for news of his big adventures.

Party Next Door

Our Neighbors had a part for their son Timmy who graduated from high school. I told Joe that he could use our yard for more room at the party. Joe had a "Moon Bounce" set up this morning for the kids. As soon as it was set I turn to Joe and said let's go! Both of us got and started bouncing away and laughing like idiots.

Made in USA

On Friday I got a free gift from the kite guys for out first order online. I ordered special kite string for the "stunt" kite we use at the beach in the box came a little kite and an American flag. Proudly made in China. Gotta love it.

New Job

So far the new job has been running like I have expected which is, no change. I have about 10 pounds of forms to fill out from health care forms to I-9 forms which I have to prove I belong in this country to request for my college transcripts. I'm going to California in 2 week in August for a conference so I'll see more of my fellow co-workers on the west coast.

Clean Up

Today Marilyn and I are cleaning up the house. This week Adrik is coming for a visit so we are trying to clean up a bit to make his trip more comfortable.

Surprise!

Well we had a company wide meeting this morning. Turns out out customer OSISoft bought our group. I don't work for Omicron anymore. I now work for a San Leandro, Ca company. They are going to leave us here and every thing is going to be pretty much the same just the name on the check will be different.

Great Morning Commute.

I rode the motorcycle to the train station this morning. I was just great weather this morning, I had a big smile on my face! I just hope it's not stinking hot when I get off of work.

Aw Shucks ...

We picked up some local sweet corn when we came back from the boat trip yesterday. It's the start corn on the cob season. Mmmm, pass the butter.

Baseball notes....

The Phils lost 10,000! Ummm Er .... Good Job!

Now Win a Few will Ya!

Boat weekend.

After all the blob scare we went down to the boat to relax. We anchored in Swan creek and I jumped in the water to try out my new snorkeling equipment. I bought it so that I could clean the the bottom of the boat better. I also tried a suggestion that the prop manufacturer gave me. I had to take a zinc off the bottom of the boat using the snorkeling gear. It worked ok and I didn't drown which is all good! We'll see in a few weeks about the prop.



Afterword we relaxed in the creek listening to the radio and reading. I think that's what Marilyn was doing holding the book with her eyes closed.



When we got back to the dock our neighbor Phil mentioned.. " You know who Marilyn looks like??" " No Who?" "Meryl Streep"


Well that's not the first time that we heard this.













Hmm... What do you think?

Return of the Son of the Blob 3.......

Well here is that scary group that had made it to the blob on Friday night.








The parade of the tin foil hats.....

Scream Contest... We have a winner.

Is that the Blob?

Special Guest Appearance!

Blobarama

Last night we went to Blobfest . It certainly was the blobiest! There was a large crew this time. Marilyn, Meg, Chris, his brother, and Amelia. The tin foil hat contest was a scream and the scream contest was a er... um... tin foil hat. Wes Shank, the blob wrangler was there and also, Mary Jo Pehl, from Mystery Science Theater 3000. Turns out she was Meg's friend from Minnesota. The big finale was the run out from the theater. Pictures will come later this weekend.
The crowd then went down the street to the Columbia Resturant for late night munchies.

Pictures should be our photo album here under index 004.

Phils win.....

Ok the Phils did the unexpected and win. Breaking 10,000 will have to wait.

Phantasitc Phillies!

It's a countdown to an aspicious number. The number... 10,000. What is it?

It's the count to 10,000 major league losses. Seem like the Philadelphia Phillies have been around since 1883 and have been losing long enough that they have 9999 losses. To be fair they have 8808 wins. But the closest team has about 1000 less losses. It would take about 3 years of losing to catch up! You can see the stats at this link. But the stat is that they have more losses that any sports team in history.

Today the Phillies play StLouis. I'm not sure if it is an omen that the Phillies lose 10,000 on Friday the 13th?

Win or lose the Phils win tonight!

Out and About edition

Last night we meet up with EJ and Judy, Marilyn's aunt and uncle, who were in town to see Ken Davis. Ken has been going to publishing conventions to drum up business for the book printing plant in San Paolo Brazil. He's still doing missionary work down there. So he was combining the trip to also get some more support for the missions work.

The five of us went to Charles Plaza to have dinner. It was a good choice as the food is good and the atmosphere is conducive for conversation. Charles is the best as he was giving cooking and health tip thru the evening.

The conversation mostly fell to Ken as he is leading the most extraordinary life. With family in Brazil, doing the book publishing and missionary work, he kept our attention all evening.

Great Italian Garlic debate.

Seems like there is a debate raging it Italy about garlic. I always thought this was settled area. But chef Filippo La Mantia find s garlic to overpowering for more delicate flavors. Also, he said that people who eat garlic are, "..second class, backward, unsophisticated."

Read the article from NPR here . Or in McPaper ( USA Today) here. or here I love the quote from a from a fellow selling garlic in the market.... "What are we supposed to eat, shallots? Will that make us more elegant? More French?"

The debate is closed as far as I'm concerned. The more garlic the better. Filippo better find a job slinging high class hash in some French restaurant. Now if you don't mind pass the garlic.

Oh By the way here is Fillippo' s recipe for garlic free pasta ::

It could just use a little garlic to make it better!!!!

Garlic-free Pasta
Start to finish: 15 minutes
Servings: 4
8 ounces linguine
10 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup toasted almonds
Handful of fresh mint
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh or dry oregano, to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
Caciocavallo cheese (a savory Italian cheese), for grating (Parmesan could be substituted)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until al dente.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes, almonds and mint. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the olive oil, oregano and lemon juice. Mix well. Set aside.
Drain the pasta and add to the bowl. Toss to combine. Top with cheese and season with salt and pepper.
Recipe from chef Filippo La Mantia of Rome's Trattoria restaurant.

Upstairs Room.

We have a room upstairs that we keep a desk and books in. Lately it's been the home for stuff that had no home. Old computers, cables, boxes, instruction sheets, and a gaggle of stuff that we could not part with. Well we cleared it out. Right down to the carpet. Then we finally installed that ceiling fan. No more electrical cord dangling from the ceiling threating to zap someone. Not the shorter someone, the taller someone. But, true to form no home improvement project is complete without 3 trips to Lowe's for screws!

With the room cleaned up now we have a place for Adrik to stay when he visits later this month.

Sore throat....

Marilyn came back from Missouri with a throat tickle. Now it's blown up to an official sore throat. Looks like we are going to cancel a bunch of things we set up for the weekend.

We have to give Marilyn lots of Matzo Ball soup and Ice Cream.

Man overboard

We were helping a neighbor dock to near the pump out station. He had this huge 35 foot catamaran. The wind was whipping up docking was pretty difficult. There were 3 of us on each of the lines and we were having a tug of war bringing this catamaran in. After we got it docked Ron tripped over the dock lines and fell into the water with a splash. Unhurt he climbed out of the drink and was dripping every where. It was the first time I saw someone fall off the dock in the marina.

Fourth of July

We went down on Tues night to Rock Hall to see the fireworks. We got a couple of sandwiches, some drinks and Fig Newtons and we watched them from the back of A La Belle Etoile. The display was really great this year as they used some new really big mortars, huge displays that boomed and filled the sky with dazzling colors. Some of the new and improved ground display could be seen from Swan Creek now. They had a snaking display that looked like it was shooting red green and gold mardi gras beads in the air. The display had to be delayed for a little while as the fire dept had to fight a fire that the fireworks lit in the woods above Sailing Emporium.







We took a walk the next day down main street as they were setting up the parade. The complete album of photos are here.


We walked to Java Rock for coffee and a bagel. We watched the Rock Hall flat five 5K race finish.
After coffee we headed back to the boat and enjoy the beautiful weather. Nice and breezy cool and no humidity.

We headed home and were greeting with a tornado watch....

Here are more picture from a Rock Hall Fourth.

Fireworks

Tonight we are heading down to Rock Hall for the fireworks. They always shoot them off on the 3rd of July and have the parade on the 4th. The parade is usually fire trucks boy scouts maybe a marching band. Real small town America.

We're just going to sit on the back of the boat and watch the show tonight.

Marilyn Back in town....

Marilyn made it back into Philly International last night. Flying Southwest was a good move. Seems like they have some semblance of customer service. Quite unlike USAir.

I had to wait for Marilyn's flight to come in so I joined the masses that were parked on the shoulders of the outer roads of the airport waiting for a phone call. Seems like since you can't get to the terminals without a ticket and short term parking is a pain and is expensive. Many people just park on the shoulder waiting for the call to pick someone out at the baggage claim.

It worked out ok but I had to "go around" again because I got to the terminal faster than Marilyn got out. That was ok but I got on the exit and was going on 95 south. My loop was a little bigger that I thought. Nothing is easy as it looks.....