We finally got some time off that enabled us to take a 5 day vaction at Steve and Melonie's (my sister and brother-in-law) house near Morehead City, NC. Cecilia was able to visit with her mother for a few days. I got the chance to fish for 5 days! They have two dogs and a fenced in backyard, so we are now allowed to take our two pets when we visit our family in Morehead. Our friend Misty was also able to come down for a few days and hang out in the sun and have fun.
The first few days I did a good bit of fishing in the creek adjacent to Steve's house. They are situated on a small creek off the inter-coastal waterway. Steve graciously allows me to use his boat that is on a dock lift, on the creek of course. It's such a great setup as all you have to do is walk out the back door, lower the boat in the water, and your off; no need to drive to the boat ramp, wait in line and launch a boat. Plus, I probably used at most a few gallons of gas all weekend. The fish bite occurred early when I was by myself and Cecilia still in bed. I caught the largest speckled trout of my life and two nice flounder the first few days. I took Cecilia, Misty and Melonie out several times, but no luck, however, it was satisfying to just float around and soak up the rays.
The dogs, in particular, our relatively new pet Cady, had their first fishing experience in Morehead. They fished with me each morning and came along for the mid-day excursions. Near the intercoastal waterway is a long sandbar that's exposed at the lower part of the tide cycle. We anchored and allowed them to swim and chase birds for a while. Cady was so worn from all the activity that she burrowed under the bow on top of the cool and wet anchor rope and slept the rest of the day. Just a funny side story, her first trip was at Christmas. She had so much fun, mind you, dog fun is when their tails are wagging, that by the end of the trip she developed limp tail. This is a condition that develops when a dog is not condition and wags their tail too much for too long. She's conditioned now as they run with me each morning, so "limp tail" did not occur on this trip :-)
It's been 4-5 months since I've had the chance to fish offshore. We took the 31' Bertram offshore in search of mahi-mahi on Memorial Day. Steve guided us to a total of 7 mahi and 1 king mackerel, which is a decent, but not record shattering day. Last year we caught 12-15 on multiple trips. Nontheless, the two I brought back for our freezer will keep us in good shape for a few months. In fact, we've already had it twice thus far. I also caught about 15 blue crabs off Steve's dock. After this blog is posted we will have blue crab omelette for breakfast. With that said, see ya!
Cecilia finally started her new job this past week and by all indication thus far, she's going to really enjoy the job. Her schedule in terms of when she leaves the house and returns home are essentially the same, but she has every other Friday off and all Saturdays, plus her pay is just about double. She is still coming up to speed on a few of her new duties, but is already being invited to meetings not particularly related to her workload because of her previous 18 years of experience. So, in short, she has basically hit the ground running full speed.
In a group/team like human resources compensation, as I understand from listening on the sideline, each person in the group manages a certain part of the company. Her new boss is a fantastic manager and has assembled a team that is not only beyond competent, but they have no personality conflicts; several of them are friends. I relate it to a seasoned football or basketball team where there is very little effort wasted holding the hand so-to-speak of a team member, every one can independently complete their job with little micromanaging. Part of the reason she grew tired of the job before was that in order to save a few million dollars they forced out the long-term experience/seasoned workers and hired in newbies straight from college. How's that for stupid? This may provide a short-term boost in profits, so the CEO's get a nice bonus, but it harms the long-term viability of the company. I think they started started seeing the error of that and Cecilia's boss hired back not only Cecilia but another long-termer. So, let's hope she'll be able to hang on for 5 years or so.
I guess some recent news with my job can be classified as a new start. In an effort to streamline government spending our group, which is officially a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) division, is going to be absorbed or transfered to the US EPA. Before, the EPA basically hired us out from NOAA, but they had to pay NOAA not only our salary, but a large overhead. Their basically cutting out the middle man, which all of us certainly agree with. Many conservatives seem to really dislike the US EPA because they do oversee regulation on businesses, but I'll wear the EPA badge with honor as we move forward and protect the planet, a beautiful gift from God.
I'm slipping into politics it seems, so why not just dive in full bore. It is clear now that Obama will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. This week our current President used the Israeli parliament to launch a veiled attack on Obama. They are trying to now back down and say it was general attack on whoever disagrees with their foreign policy direction, but people close to the President acknowledged it was aimed at Obama before our President made the speech. Plus John McCain was quick to pounce on Obama after the speech leaving no doubt that it was aimed at Obama. It is despicable for the President to play domestic politics overseas. I've got to think that Obama's been holding back in his fight against Hillary because he did not want to be seen as an angry black man fighting a white woman because absolutely crushed, in my opinion, John McCain and George Bush. If you do not think about anything else, think about the fact that our intellegence says that Al Queda is as strong as at 911 and we've been fighting them for 6.5 years what will cost by some estimates 2 trillion dollars, sacrificed easily over 100 K lives including Iraqi civilians and our brave soldiers.
Here are some of his words if you can't watch the video:
You know, after almost eight years, I did not think I could be surprised about anything that George Bush says, but I was wrong. Yesterday, George Bush was before the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, to help commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence. That's a wonderful occasion and a time for celebration.
But instead of celebrating and offering some clear ideas about how to move the situation in the Middle East forward, the president did something that presidents don't do, and that is launch a political attack targeted toward the domestic market in front of a foreign delegation.
...
George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for. They've got to explain why we are now in our sixth year, entering our sixth year of war in Iraq.
We were supposed to be going over there for weapons of mass destruction that we never found. We were told that it was going to last a few months and cost a few billion dollars. We have now spent over $600 billion, thousands of lives lost, and we have not been made more safe.
They're going to have to explain the fact that Osama bin Laden is still at large and is sending out videotapes with impunity.
They need to answer for the fact that Al Qaida's leadership is stronger than ever because we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan.
They've got to answer for the fact that Iran is the greatest strategic beneficiary of our invasion in Iraq. It made Iran stronger, George Bush's policies.
They're going to have to explain why Hamas now controls Gaza, Hamas that was strengthened because the United States insisted that we should have democratic elections in the Palestinian Authority.
They're going to have to explain why it is that Iran is able to fund Hezbollah and poses the greatest threat to America and Israel and the Middle East in a generation.
That's the Bush-McCain record on protecting this country. Those are the failed policies that John McCain wants to double-down on, because he still hasn't spelled out one substantial way in which he'd be different from George Bush when it comes to foreign policy.
Good week all! Cecilia is on her last week at House of Lights, my ankle is on the mend and we're both updating our vehicles. Cecilia will start in a little over a week back at Progress Energy working for Misty Easton. She has a good idea of the new work assignments, so she's not worried about the transition. When I first tweaked my ankle I was sure that the recovery would last into the first part of the summer, but after walking with my removable air cast for a week and a few days, it feels great. We went to a friends 40th birthday party last night and I went castless. I think I'll be able to walk the dogs and do my normal stuff including fishing soon. Finally on our family update, Cecilia's Taurus station wagon's transmission has been slipping for a year now, but at the same time last week the alternator and starter crapped out. We're going to give it to her sister who will put a new transmission in it for her niece, who is in a bind. We found a 1999 Toyota Camary with low miles this week. We're also buying a 2002 Accord from our friend Misty. So, I plan to sell my little beater car and drive the Camary. I've never paid over 4K for a car, so the Camary will be luxurious to me.
Could NC play a part in what could be a historic election? I think so. Many so called experts agree that if Obama can win NC the superdelegates will start moving to him in large numbers and the Democratic primary will be over. We went to a friends party last night and there was a collection of all types of people from good ol' country boys, upper middle-class and couples in their 20's. We've hung out with these friends quite a few times in the past and really never heard any political leanings. I was talking with one acquaintance who is a good ol' boy and out of the blue he goes on a hate filled rant on Obama. It was stunning the amount of hate towards a guy who has never done or said a thing personally or politically to warrant such criticisms; I could sense that it was mostly racial. Another country couple, the husband, said something about negative about Obama and wife spoke up about their political disagreements, so I got the message that she was pro-Obama. I talked with a younger friend and his girl friend about his strong plans for the middle-class and they liked Obama. I guess the point I'm trying to get to is there is a political buzz like I've never seen before, which is a great thing despite who wins.
Why I support Barack Hussein Obama
1. Our politicians in Washington are controlled by lobbyist. A great example is the drug benefit program for seniors that was crafted a few years back. The drug lobby worked directly with the Republicans in Congress to make drugs available to seniors using our tax dollars. Congress basically allowed the drug companies to charge whatever they felt for drugs, no negotiation on getting prices lower, just whatever they wanted to charge. Once the bill passed, several of the key Congressmen went to work for the drug companies as lobbyist for millions of dollars. This needs to CHANGE now and Obama is in the best position to do it. The government is suppose to work in the best interest of all people, not a select few.
2. The man himself. He is an elite. Some people like to tag him as out of touch or an elite, but as I've heard other say, do we not want a President who we feel is a lot smarter than us regular folk? We talk about how we have elite warriors in the military or we want to send our children to school so they can get an elite education. Well, I want an elite president and I've paid a lot of attention to Obama and he's a real smart person that could be an elite President of the US.
3. History. It would be historic if Obama became President and I want to be part of that CHANGE. Many like to say that opinions throughout the world do not matter. We should not base our policies on world opinion alone, but when it's on your side it's good. Obama as President would show the World what America really is; a place where all men are created and treated equal. It would not only improve our image abroad, but I think it would mark a huge change in race relations.
4. The middle-class. He will cut taxes for those 95% of Americans who are making less than 70K a year. He will shift tax breaks from companies who have all their products produced overseas to companies who keep jobs in the US. There is a lot of momentum behind the green revolution. He will put money back into science to develop an alternative to oil, coal and nuclear power. The US can be a leader in the use of wind, solar, geothermal sources of energy. You know what, jobs that will result from this shift will be jobs that pay well and stay in the US. The end result for the middle-class is lower energy costs.
5. Foreign policy. His judgment that the Iraq war would lead to fighting between specially the Sunni and Shiite and would end up taking our eye of the real enemy in Afgan/Pak was prophetic. We're at a point where by some estimates we've spent as much as 2-3 trillion dollars thus far on Iraq and reports last year and actually one this week indicate Al Queda is as strong as at 911 and they are growing stronger in Afgan/Pak as we speak. Think about that for a second. We've (military families in particular) gone through hell for 5-6 years now and we've made no progress on Al Queda, our military has been crippled and we've made Iran more powerful. Obama has judgment to tackle foreign policy in a more comprehensive way. Not only that, but he will appoint Republicans like Chuck Hagel and maybe Colin Powell and very skilled and respected Democrats like Jim Webb, Sam Nunn, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson.
I know many in the family are probably registered as Republican, but if your not registered or registered as Independent like myself or Democrat, I urge you to at least think about Obama because I have no doubt he'll be a very good president.
Well, I finally made it to the doctor about my foot on Wed and it was just a bad sprain. A $500 air boot later and I was on my feet walking again. So, I jumped back on the chores Friday and Saturday. I posted a picture below of the tile job and new bathroom vanity we've been working on the last few weeks. Cecilia just completed her last Saturday at the old job as a lighting consultant. She'll start back at Progress Energy in two weeks. We'll have more time on the weekends together and hopefully that will translate to more joint trips to Marion for family visits.
Here's a recent shot of my main raised garden. Snow peas started producing in force a week ago and are to the far left. The bigger plants in the center are broccoli; the crowns are starting to shoot up, so it will be ready for consumption in a few weeks. Lettuce and spinach in near the center of the first bed, we've been eating salads this past week. I also started replacing the lettuce with warm season crops like tomatoes and peppers.
I've prepared the bed around out back patio and just planted a lot of tomatoes and peppers. The pots have basil that I use to make pesto, a few cucumbers and some specialty cherry red sweet peppers. The next image is my herb, onion, shallot and carrot bed.
This last picture is of a couple planters I made from the shell of an old grill. These are planted with lettuce and garlic. Behind these planters are my blueberry bushes. I have all beds sprayed by an irrigation system I installed a few months ago. A neat battery powered valve hits the plants with water twice a day.
Everything was going great this past week. Spring weather started again in full force Wed and Thur and we were anticipating an almost summer-type weekend with temperatures in the mid-80's. I had a long awaited, first offshore fishing trip of the season set up on Saturday in a effort to reload the freezer. It all came crashing down literally as I stepped off the back porch Thursday evening. Our new dog Cady dug a small trench and my foot turned 90 deg to my leg. I heard two distinct pops, so I figured I may have fractured my ankle. The X-rays turned out negative as far as the local clinic doc could tell. I'll have to get an MRI this coming week to see if the ligament are completely torn. Hopefully its only a bad sprain, but we'll see. The hardest part is staying still. I've earned the name in my household, the ever-ready bunny as I'm always doing something around the house and it's tough because Cecilia took out my batteries :-)
I don't want to bore with much of my political thought this week, but did want to paste something I wrote to Mom that I thought was interesting.
I was reading a supplemental to the ensign early this morning about President Hinckley and was amazed at one paragraph in the section "A Friendship with Marjorie". He talks about going to college around the start of the Great Depression and how this was a time of terrible discouragement. He says that the testimony which had come to me as a boy remained with me and became as a bulwark to which I could "cling" during those very difficult years.
You've probably heard about the comment Obama made in an effort to describe the people of Appalachia Pa. I never thought he was putting down people for their strong religious or 2nd amendment rights, he was just, from more of an academic viewpoint trying to analyze the truth that when people have very little they find religion as their only constant or bulwark. He did say that the way he phrased it was clumsy. I just thought it interesting that Obama spoke almost the exact words of President Hinckley.
Here are some pictures of Adam's old boat that myself and a friend from work are fixing up. We had to put in a new floor, a new/used motor and built some storage boxes in the bow. We should be ready to test it in a couple of weeks and may do the first fishing trip as soon as I get it registered.
Check out the previous blog to see our old boat we're fixing up. Thanks again Gram and Briggs for helping get the outboard motor. We should have it ready for the water just in time for the spring run of fish at the coast. Once the water temps rise to 64-70 a fish called an Atlantic Bonita magically shows up off the Carolina coast for several weeks before migrating across the ocean. As they leave the Spanish mackerel and king mackerel show. Hopefully I'll be going offshore this week in search of yellowfin tuna, wahoo and mahi-mahi.
I wanted to just write a little about a person I think is being mis-represented by right-wing snipers. First of all, I urge those who read this to be wary of all political emails you may receive from friends/acquaintances. I use the word sniper above because the email is becoming a great tool to pass on mis-information, please forgive, but I have some anecdotal evidence that Republicans are much more active that Democrats. Not to stray off too far, but Barack and Michelle Obama are at the top of a list on Snopes.com, a non-partisan site that does fact checking to confirm or debunk various claims that are mostly of the viral email variety. Out of 12 of these claims against Obama, one was confirmed and that was him not placing his hand on the heart during the national anthem (not a modern day requirement), but he was singing to this great country like his grandfather taught him. The Obama's are not the only victims of completely false information, but these are the most recent, numerous and complete out of step with Christian ideals that the Republican party is suppose to represent. Ok, the moral of the story, if you get an email that sounds a little sensational, then it may be. If you want the truth, it's pretty easy to use google or snopes.com to find more information or a different viewpoint.
Ok, back to the story at hand. I tell this just to provide a different viewpoint in an effort to mainly counter some of the falsehoods that these emails portray. Michelle Obama came this past week to speak at my university, NC State. I took the opportunity to listen to what she had to say. She spoke eloquently for over an hour about her family without a single note, which to me is a signal that she was truly speaking from the heart and not prepared, set narrative. A main theme of her talk was the idea that there is a bar set in the US that represents a level that if we reach we can expect to make a reasonable living to support our family. Now, for different people that bar is at a different level, for instance, a person who does not go to college, but has developed a trade that person, if they work hard, should be able to make enough to put food on the table, pay rent and have access to health care. She spoke about her upbringing in the intercity of Chicago. Her Korean war veteran father was a maintenance worker for the city. He developed a disability from the war, but she said that he never complain, got up every morning and did what he had to to support the family. She said that back in those times a father could make a living while allowing a mother to stay home and raise the kids to be productive members of society and that nowdays the bar has been raised. In a family like hers both the mother and father has to work to get by, which leaves less time for the parents, especially the mother to nurture and teach the kids. It was her mothers influence that put her on the right track that eventually led her to be accepted at one of the best schools in American, Princeton. It was the hard work of her father and Christian values taught by both parents that made her a success. This day in age the bar is constantly being moved because of the high cost of health care, fuel, food, etc which makes it difficult for average Americans to get ahead.
She then made a pivot to Barack and his history. Obama was raised in his early years by a mother from Kansas who dreamed of seeing the world (I recommend taking a look at the article linked here. She was one of the early foreign aid workers for the US in Indionasis helping disadvantaged women. She taught Obama several important lessons when he was young. One was "not be limited by fear or narrow definitions, to not build walls around ourselves and to do our best to find kinship and beauty in unexpected places". Another important message was the value that to whom much is given much is required. She also taught him ideas like the measure of a person is not what they do when everyone is looking, but what they do when they are out of the spotlight. I personally see these as not only core Christian values, but core values of humanity. These kind of values stick with a person as they grow. Just one quick example, I remember my Mom telling me about Aunt Joe buying a refrigerator for the church, but she did not want anyone to know. To this day I try to keep charitable contributions, etc private. So, Obama grew up, got a scholarship at Harvard, graduated and became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review. I don't know much about this title, but evidently a person who achieves this level basically has the credentials to work in big city law firms making on the order of a million a year or more. Get this, and this is extremely important, he turns this opportunity down in the late 80's and goes back to Chicago to work as a community organizer in an effort to make the lives of those disadvantaged better. To who much is given, much is required was what he recalled from his mother. Or, the measure of a man's character is best gauged when others are not watching, as Obama was not in the national spotlight.
There is an under-current that is being forced by many of these false emails that Obama is against personal responsibility (real this article about how he thinks parents need need to be more involved with there children). About 1 of 8 people actually still think that he is a trojan horse Muslim extremist. Probably half the people in the US think he will raise taxes. Some think he is racist even though he said that he channeled his white mother in his speech a month ago, in particular her teaching "not be limited by fear or narrow definitions, to not build walls around ourselves and to do our best to find kinship and beauty in unexpected places". Some like to think of Obama as an elitist even though he grew up in the middle class, used scholorships and loans to make it through college and turned down a high paying job to work in and for his community. If you think he's elite because of his high intelligence level than I see that as a good quality and something we need in a President. I urge everyone to turn the focus from the ideas put forth in these emails that he's a scary person to the facts that are on the table. I can appreciate if his so called "liberal views" are challenged, things like full health insurance coverage for children (SCHIP), affordable heath insurance for those who want it, ending 200 billion a year spent in Iraq, tax cuts for the middle-class, student Pell grants to those who work in community and national service programs, helping parents with child-care costs, etc. But, what is not productive are the third rail issues that only attempt to divide America. In closing Michelle Obama said that the kind of change that they are pushing will not happen if Obama simply gets elected, it will be hard work for everyone, because it requires us to be more introspective of how we see each other and that remove boundaries that separate us. We don't have to compromise our own values, but we at least need to try to understand viewpoints other than our own. Here's a flyer I plan on handing out in my own neighborhood that outlines some of Obama's ideas. One other story that made me tear up just a little (I'm a little to sensitive some times). When the Obamas were in SC Michelle made a stop at a local beauty salon in a Black area of town. After she talked a little girl came up and tugged on her dress to get her attention. The girl tells her that if Obama gets elected it would he historic. Michelle asked her why she thought that way and the girl said something to the effect that it would mean that she could do anything or be anything that she wanted when she grew up. I could see an Obama Presidency having a huge impact on the Black youth in our country who now look up to rappers and sports figures. It would in effect raise the bar in a good way.
Cheers and have a nice week!
Rob
PS please excuse any grammar errors, I do not have the time right now to proofread.
