Tribute to Gayle Tinsley - Day 2

While driving to the airport to pick up Jennie Gaye and I took a detour through her old neighborhood. This is the house that Gaye grew up in although it has changed in the last 40 years.







We visited the cemetery and mortuary to ensure that all of the details were in readiness for the viewing and the funeral. Hero needed some time outside to get out the wiggles.






Restland cemetery seemed very quiet, green and beautiful - a great

Tribute to Gayle Tinsley - Day 1

We had the unfortunate experience of traveling to Dallas for the funeral of my father-in-law, Gayle C Tinsley. What a great and terrible experience - on the one side I got to know more about the greatness of a person who I had already admired, and on the other hand, realized that I would not get to enjoy his company and guidance until I, too, go through the experience of death.
I learned what a great man he was in the world. He had been on the cover of Forbes magazine. He had worked as VP and President of Docutel where he lead his team in building his idea which was eventually known as the Automatic Teller Machine, or ATM. He also worked at Xerox as a senior VP.Also, he worked in sales at IBM and Poirot worked for him up to the time that he finally left the company to start his own company, Electronic Data Systems, or EDS.
But that was not the best part. I had the opportunity to spend some time reading through his set of scriptures. They were well marked, but not with notes about what various verses mean or the definition of words and phrases, but with notes regarding how he could become more Christ-like. It certainly made me reconsider my scripture study focus. It was a wonderful experience to get to see him on a more personal level than I might have ever done otherwise.

When we finally arrived in Dallas after a 20-hour drive, Hero decided that she should ride with the luggage to the room at the hotel.

A Day In The Life - 6/24: Gaye goes back to Dallas

Gaye received a call from her sister that her father was not doing to well and that if she wanted to see him alive she had better get to Dallas within the next 48 hours.
She had planned to go on Sunday but she changed her flight, packed her bags and headed out to what was to be her last time to see him alive.
But it was a good trip. He was lucid enough to realize that she was there and she was able to express her love to him and feel like she had said goodbye before he moved to a state where he was not very coherent and then on to death.

A Day In The Life - 6/22: Rich's Birthday Party

Paul and his family are here at the house with Ben and his family. Q, of course is here because he lives here. Jennie and Kyle arrive a little later. It was fun to eat and talk and enjoy the time together.

A Day In The Life - 6/19: Juna Birthday Party

Every June we have the Tinsley family birthday party. It is a combination birthday celebration and remember Jase day.
We usually make a day of it although it is only in Tucson. This year was no exception.
No trip to Tucson is complete without a trip to Eggee's for grinders and slushes.
Then it is off to Bookman's, the biggest little used bookstore around. It is a horrible place to go because, Like Costco, which we love to call the hundred dollar club, because you never get out for less than a hundred dollars, we also never escape Bookman's without an arm full of books and magazines to read.
Finally, we end up at the home of Gaylen and Dena. They are always such wonderful hosts and lots of friends come by to wish them well and to reminisce about Jase and the good times we had together with that great young man. The food is always good with some great elk, deer and javalina burgers or steaks with all of the side dishes and desserts to make the scales scream in agony and run for cover when we get home.
Our kids gather together and chat while enjoying the food.
Dena's family comes as well. This year Jackie and Art Jacobson also came with Christa.






















And I get to have the fun with the girls. Gracie is trying to not be seen but wants to be included. Hero is having fun, fun, fun.

A Day In The Life - 6/18: Teds Hot Dogs

Here we were, minding our own business as we ordered our favorite hot dogs at Ted's and I looked down the line and who should I see but Lynn and Vicki Nelson. So we ate with them. Then a couple of weeks later (these photos) we did it again only this time on purpose. And we invited Gary and Darla Tyler to come along as well.



The only flaw in our plan was that they don't have seats big enough for more than four people. Our solution was to split up and the guys sat at one booth and the gals sat at another one.

A Day In The Life - 6/16: Jennie and Kyle to Dinner

We are so lucky that Jennie and Kyle love to come over often and have dinner with us and play games. Also, our fortunate circumstances include having Quentin around to join us for meals and conversation and an occasional movie.






If you have been very observant you have noticed that either Jennie is a fast-change artist and that there is a huge selection to choose from on the table or that these two photos were not taken the same day.
The bottom photo was most likely taken while Gaye was out of town on one of her trips.
The top photo is probably when Gaye was home . . . or someone got out the cardboard cutout of her. :)

A Day In The Life - 6/14: Bike Rides

I love riding my bike. I don't do it as often as I would like during the summer. It is not that it is too hot. While I am riding I am very comfortable. I am often riding at 9 or 10 at night but that doesn't help too much because the temperature is still hovering around 100 degrees even at that time of night.
The problem really comes when I stop riding. While I am moving the air keeps me nice and comfortable. But when I stop riding, even though I am in a nice cool house under a fan, my body has generated so much heat that it takes as much as an hour for me to cool down.
These pictures are of the area where I ride. The cities in the Phoenix Metro area have started using the canal areas as great places to make accessible to people who want to bicycle, run, walk or ride horses. It is nearly perfect because it is mostly away from traffic and the canals run all over the valley. These shots happen to be of the Tempe area where I ride. Tempe has not only paved the riding areas on one side of the canal (leaving the other side for riding horses), they have put designs in the pavement, added rest areas and drinking fountains. Near some of the parks they have put up netting to keep riders/runners from being hit by balls. There are bridges over the canal and walkways into neighborhoods, etc., to make these areas as accessible to everyone as possible.

A Day In The Life - 6/12: Rearranging The Family Room

Gaye is out of town. That much should be obvious. How else would I have survived making such a mess in the house?
I figured that I really wanted to flip the layout so that we could use the windows for light now and then.
So, I started moving things around. But some things are attached to cables. Not just electricity-type cables but ones that make stuff come on the TV, too.

So I found some extra coaxial cables. But you can;t just hook those together because someone who wasn't as smart as the guy who invented water hoses put the same kind of ends at both ends.
I went and found some adapters. Things were falling into place. But, when I got it all done, there was an extra piece - a leather chair and foot stool that was still sitting in the middle of the room and no where to put it because it would have to sit in front of the laundry room door in my layout.
So, back it all went to the original plan. I guess it is just tough to improve on Gaye's system.

A Day In The Life - 6/11: Hero Loves Tomatoes

Hero LOVES cherry tomatoes. She loves to pick them. She loves to eat them. And she loves to wear her bear backpack while she does it. So we send her out with a bowl (and a helper) to pick cherry tomatoes. It is very entertaining to watch.



Hero is picking them from the bunch on the stalk.

















One-at-a-time is NOT the game plan here. It is more similar to Stuff-your-chipmunk-cheeks.

A Day In The Life - 6/09: Pricing Dirt

Today I went to price some good, composted dirt for the garden boxes and the new garden area that I am planning. I was shocked at the price of that . . . DIRT! For the amount that I need it is over $600! But, after thinking about it, that may still be a fair price but just more than my budget wants to bare right now.

A Day In The Life - 6/08: Kyle and Jennie for Dinner

Gaye is off gallivanting all over Texas (her dad had some cancer removed and is not doing as well as had been expected so she flew out to Dallas to spend some time with him and Audrey). So I am entertaining on my own. It was a fun evening. Notice that when I am doing the cooking that we have steaks and when she cooks we have real food. :)

A Day In The Life - 6/02: Hero and Tomatoes

We discovered that Hero, Paul and Jessica's daughter, loves cherry tomatoes. And then she discovered that you can just walk out to Opah's garden and pick them right off of the stem. So she is packing those cheeks like a squirrel who has seen winter just around the corner.
Having tomatoes and peas in the garden has been a mainstay for us over the years. When the kids would not eat the canned or frozen stuff from the store is was still nearly impossible to keep them away from the garden when the plants were producing.
When Ariel was over a few weeks earlier, she and Jase were eating them as well . . . at least Ariel was. But Jase wanted to pick them anyway. So we got them the colander bowl and the two of them nearly filled it with cherry tomatoes. We had all we could put in salads and snack on at work and at home for several weeks. And that was only about half of what they could have picked at the time.

So now we have created the Cherry Tomato Addict. She will have to be in rehab and therapy for years to come. She'll be hopping peoples fences in the middle of the night to get her fix of fresh tomatoes. She will try to deny that it was her but the red stains on her hands and clothing will give her away every time.

A Day In The Life - 5/28: Round Squash and Pfat Ankles Cafe

Today, the 28th day of May, being a Friday and having taken it as a day off from work, it is a yard work day before we head out of town for the weekend. Mow the lawn, trim the edges, spray for weeds, trim the trees and try to get the front gravel in order. The lawn has finally greened up and is thick and wonderful in most aspects. It still needs airating and de-thatching but that will come. The garden is pretty sad this year. I took too long to get it started because I just couldn't give up the winter peas and lettuce that were still producing wonderfully. The only solution to that is to have two garden areas so that one can continue while the other gets planted. That would also allow all season long for the dormant garden to get prepared for the next season.
As you can see from the photo at the left, I have tried a new variety of squash. They are round Zucchini that I picked up from Harper's Nursery up on McKellips Road just west of Gilbert in north Mesa. They are delicious and tender, even when you let them grow too long and too large. They preserver better than the regular variety of Zucchini squash since these have an outer skin that is more like a pumpkin, I think.

We headed out for Farmington, New Mexico for the Memorial weekend with Dawn & Bo and Gaylen & Dena. I believe that Gaylen chose this location so that we could go and visit Chaco Canyon, an ancient tribal location that has been uncovered and was one of the largest gathering places in the area.
On our way north, near Heber, Arizona, we saw the sign for the Phat Ankle Cafe and just had to check it out, even though it was a couple of miles past the turn-off we needed to take. The food was nothing special but it is a family run business and the girls who waited on us ranged from 12 to 17 and were very friendly. And with a name like Phat Ankles, who could resist the fun of such a place.

A Day In The Life - 5/27: Graduation and Levis

I actually did TWO things today that were memorable. It was graduation for all of those seniors at Dobson high School again. One of our neighborhood friends, the Reeds, have a daughter who graduated. The past couple of years the weather has been poor and due to holding the ceremony in-doors, the number of people who could attend was restricted. So, anticipating that, we did not go. We later found out that they held it out doors anyway. Darn - it would have been so much fun to go and watch these kids celebrate their escape from Azkaban. :)

Since we could not attend, or so we thought, we went and decorated their home for Taryn with a sign and a banner.

Earlier int he day Gaye and I went out and finally bought me a couple more pairs of Levis so that I could stop trying to wear the ones with holes everywhere I went. That was cause for celebration.

A Day in the Life - 5/26: Jennie and Kyle Come to Dinner

Gaye has created another wonderful dinner. Jennie and Kyle come over about once a week to eat and have game night with us.

A Day In The Life - 5/25: Start a Daily Picture

I read something about documenting your life by doing a photo a day and that sounded interesting so I thought I would try it. I have not managed to remember to get something every day and have actually missed some big ones.

Now I need to get caught up and add to it as close to daily as possible . . . or at least weekly.

This day, 5/25 was not only Ann Mellor's birthday but the day I had to take the car back into the shop for brakes. I had the front brakes done at the beginning of the year and then had the rears done recently but the system was acting funny so I took it back in. They were great! They turned the front rotors and re-surfaced the pads at no charge! I would recommend these guys to anyone looking for an auto shop.

Central Casting in Green

I was out this past Saturday attempting to be healthy as I rode my bike the quick six miles over to the temple to help with some of the landscaping. As I was riding along on that beautiful sun-shiny morning, this land fish came sailing right out of this guy's yard and onto the sidewalk. With no time to stop or swerve I slammed into the air grouper and sailed over the handle bars doing a double flip and not quite landing on my feet.

OK. I was riding my bike, dinking with a head phone that was making its escape from my ear when I realized that I was going too fast. With only one hand on the handle bars I grabbed for brakes, which ended up to be "brake" and faster than you could say, "Hit the road, mister!" I was hitting the road.

But it was a beautiful sun-shiny day.

Needless to say, my pride was severely bruised. I hopped up, hooked a leg back over the bike and continued onward.

Six miles on the bike, two hours of working at the temple, eight miles by bike to the church building to help clean for an hour, then two miles home just in time to go to Dad's 80th birthday party. Finally I settled down to relax for awhile and the hand began to ache some. And it began to swell some. I said, "I'll give it a few days and if it is not getting better by Monday then I will call the doctor."

Monday came and it was not looking good. So I called the Doc on Monday and got in to see them on Tuesday morning. They sent me over for x-rays on Tuesday afternoon. Then they sent me to be casted on Wednesday morning.

The choice of cast was tough. Should I get neon orange to go with the computer bag so that I can get into work incognito or shall I be a little more flamboyant? I got a high-lighter green one. I think there is a need for more attention - at least my wife says I am attention deficit.

At central casting they scheduled me for an MRI. Isn't that one of those meals that the Army guys have to eat? That takes place this Saturday morning as in tomorrow.



Wednesday I go back to see the casting doctor to see if the broken stuff is all staying where it is supposed to. It was something called the Distle Radius or some such thing. As far as I can tell, it is the bone that supports the thumb structure. Oh, yes - and I really scraped up my leg, too. In fact, between the two, the leg hurts way more than the broken wrist does.

So they put this cast on me enclosing my thumb so that the bone won't move. But of course they do it in such a way that I can relate to my two cats (who do not have opposing thumbs). This inability to make my thumb useful has made me aware of the great draw backs of not having thumbs.

One of the most difficult things to do with no thumbs is to zip up my zipper. So if you happen to see me with my flag at half mast, just understand that I tried but probably either wore myself out trying or just plain ran out of time before needing to be somewhere.
And being a mildly artistic person (or so I humor myself) It was not long before my cast received it's first piece of body art.

Since the doctor was kind enough to leave me in an eternal hitchhiker's pose, I figured that it was only appropriate to decorate my new appendage with the symbol of one who travels the galaxy with towel in tow.

Thumbs up, everyone. Thumbs up and out!

Bamboo Ranch

Thursday, February 4, I took a trip to Tucson to visit the Bamboo Ranch. It is near Grant and Greasewood on the west side of town. The term "ranch" is stretching things a bit. There were no Bamboo round-ups, no Bamboo branding and no Bamboo stampedes. But the owner did take me all over the 1-acre "ranch" and he told me about each variety in the clumping type I was interested in.
There are two main varieties of bamboo - clumping and running. Running is a lot like Bermuda grass in that it sends roots out and they start new growths of bamboo. Clumping does not do that but adds new stalks to the clump that it is a part of. To grow new ones you have to remove a part of the root cluster and plant it in a new location.
He showed me several varieties that grew tall and in large diameter, some large enough to build bridges with. He showed me some that were more for shade, some that would make nice barriers, some that were decorative and some that were colorful (and expensive).
It was a fun trip and I learned a lot. I now think I know enough to choose the varieties that I will need to fill in my new spot without infesting the neighborhood with unwanted bamboo.

Gourd Class

The first weekend in February (Friday, 2/5) I went to Casa Grand to the Running of the Gourds Festival which is sponsored by Wuertz Farms, where the gourds are grown. It is always so much fun to attend. The festival is held at the Pinal county fairgrounds. They have one huge building where pieces done by members of the Arizona Gourd Society can be viewed. There is a second huge building that has vendors selling every tool you can think of, every type of addition you could want for your gourds and finished gourds themselves. Outside there are huge bins of gourds which have been grown by Wuertz and dried and are available for purchase. There are classes that you can sign up for if you register early enough. And, like any fair, there are the food vendors and the entertainment, which sounded like an island group from my outdoor classroom seat.
This year I did not spend enough time at the fair because, after signing up for two classes, which took the entire day, there was no time to shop or see the displays or anything else but class. And though the fair went from Friday to Sunday, I was booked with other activities on the remaining days. That was a bit disappointing but I will remember that for next year. And, since I had bought gourds a couple of months earlier and grown some of my own gourds in my garden, I was all set in the fresh gourd department.
As I mentioned, I took two classes. The first one was one wood burning. She showed us some techniques and basically had us try out the tips on our burners. It was OK but not really worth the four hours or the price of this class. Also, the piece that I took home with was nothing more than a practice gourd - nothing worth putting somewhere to show. I did discover, however, that if I want to get serious about burning gourds I am going to need to trade in my $20 burner from Michael's for one of the $250+ models which have much more heat, variable power, multiple pens and exchangeable tips.
The second class was a great class and worth the price and time. It was a class on a painting technique where you do part of the painting with melted crayons.
This technique requires a specific heating well to melt the crayons which will get them to a temperature that will not overheat the medium and cause it to separate into color and wax but also be hot enough to be able to get the melted crayons to spread before to is too cold to be smooth. The picture above is the result of my class and, although not a perfect piece, is a nearly finished piece that I can put a finishing coat on and put on display.
The day was an enjoyable one.

Experiment Gone Mutant

We finally finished the showshoes. They were not quite done here in this photo but we got them all put together, webbed and shoe holds put on them. As is typical, some are better than others and some look like plastic soldier mutants - you guys knwo what I mean. When you melt those little plastic sodiers and the goop you get when you are done.

When you are doing snowshoes for the first time and you add Boy Scouts of different ages into the mix, we ended up with some shoes that were pretty good (the end ones by the older Scouts) and some that look a lot like toasted - no, burned marshmallows. But they will work for the activity that we have in mind.

Has anyone got any suggestions about how to dispose of these things? We could donate a pair to the Bishop for his wall. :) If we gave a pair to each Scout that would about deplete our supply. But it was a very fun activity.

The Next Experiment

I went to Lowe's this evening to buy some gray PVC pipe. Home Depot, which is almost next door, didn't have gray. White or black, but not gray. And why gray, you may ask? Because the instructions said so. And supposedly, because it bends better when heated. Yes, heated. Not boiled. Not melted. And certainly not ignited! Just heated.

And what is The Next Experiment? Ah, that is the rub. As those of you who know me may remember, I hate cold. I hate drinking cold drinks. I hate showering in cold water. I hate being cold. And most of all, I hate sitting on a cold toilet seat. So how in the world did I get talked into going on a snow camp out by a bunch of Boy Scouts? I don't know.

I suspect that it must have had something to do with the challenge of a new experiment to take my numb (with cold) mind off of the fact that I am going to have to sleep, eat and play in the cold for about 24 hours. We are going to make snow caves to sleep in, also. That, too, will be fun after the numbness leaves my hands from digging in the snow.

So, I quickly went to the internet and let Google find me everything about snow shoes. Too much information. So I let Google find everything about making snow shoes. Better. After reading one blog about how they had made the cool looking shoes (shoe?) above I wanted to know how. I sent off an email. But I am just not the type of person who can sit and wait for a response. This time I let Google find me Snow Shoes DIY. That lead me to a page that appears to be produced by the same guys (Redwood Scouter) who did the previous page about making these things.

He says that you have to heat and bend this PVC (gray PCV, to be exact) and then drill it and string it. I wonder if one strings it too tight if you could make music while you walk? Perhaps another experiment in the making. Hmmmm...

I have a torch. I bought some PVC. Not just any PVC. Not white or black PVC. I bought GRAY PVC! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. And I will let you all know how this saga plays out. Just the cold facts.

As Tears Go By

My Cannon G3 PowerShot bit the dust Monday. I have had this camera since about 2002, have taken it everywhere from sailing the Pacific to Canada to Mexico to Catalina Island to the Caribbean and from D.C. and New York to many points between there and Phoenix. It has been my rather large, clunky friend for these past seven or eight years now and I am missing it all ready.

The passing was quick and painless - at least for my friend. One minute it was working fine and the next, ZAP! and it was all over. And a rather loud ZAP it was, too. Sort of a pop with great intensity.

It all happened when I was plugging it into my computer to download the pictures off the memory card. When the cord touched the camera it was lights out for my buddy. I had warned him about giving me static. But his life was coming to a close. The third set of batteries was already in use. One lens had been dropped and the crystal lens chipped. And, compared to his more youthful rivals, he was beginning to show his age.

So now, when I think of my newly-passed friend, I'll be thinking of the Stones song, As Tears Go By, as I sit and watch as tears go by...

New Hair for my Bride

Gaye has been wanting to do something with her hair for awhile now. She tried pulling her bangs to the side but that wasn't working, at least not fast enough. She was looking a lot like a teenager as she continually swept her hair to the side of her face, so maybe it was giving her that youthful look she was searching for.

I guess not. She tried colors. It gets a little bit redder each time. She may look like an old-time police car with the "cherry" on top if she isn't careful. I had to ask if she had cataracts just to be sure that she wasn't seeing it a lot less red than it was. She doesn't take to teasing about that sort of stuff as well as guys do, you know.

So she went to see Nikki to get it cut again and they finally agreed on this one. I think that it looks good. I would call it a "fun" style with out too much work except that she still spends a fair amount of time in the mornings getting the doo to do what it does.

I think that I'll get mine done next. That one all the guys my age seem to be wearing looks better and better. You know the one that I mean - the one with the hole in the middle. And when I start the moustache again, I'll just tell her that I'm just trying out another "men's doo". I'll let you know if that works.

Investing in Relationships

I was reading a financial blog, Get Rich Slowly, which was guest hosted by Tyler Tervooren from Frugally Green where he suggested that as we apply the principles that make us wealthy, it is important to give back to others. Not only will it make us happier in our own lives but "it is lonely at the top. Why not take some friends with you?"

He went on to mention how none of us has gotten to where we are today without a lot of help from others - even those who are very self-reliant. There comes a time when we should start giving back to others things that will help them on their way through life. There is nothing that we can take with us when we leave this life but we can choose what we leave behind, the most important of them being our legacy. What have I done to leave a legacy behind today? I can serve others around me. I can do something each day to make someone else happier.

Learning to give back is kind of like learning to make the bed every morning. Giving to others is made up of small habits which, after a time, become a part of us that makes us happy rather than just being something we do. The only question required when making a decision of how to give back is whether this course of action will provide value to someone else. And amazingly enough, this works for every part of life. It works in business. It works in finance. It works in relationships. If you want to make your business grow, serve your clients with everything that you've got. If you want to be more successful in your job, do the things that will make your boss successful. If you want to be loved more, love others more. It is not money that sustains us but our relationships. The best way to get ahead in life, in every area of life, is to constantly provide value to others - as Christ said, to be come the master you must be the servant of all.

Give much and much will be returned to you. You know the old saying, "What goes around, comes around." The thought is that if you do bad things, bad things will eventually come back to get you. But it is not just bad things that come back to "get you". Good things have a way of coming back to you as well. The more that you pass on good, the more that good will come back to you in many ways.

Will some people take advantage of you with such an attitude? Yes. I still remember being approached by a young man who told me that he had an interview for a job scheduled but needed a place where he could shower and clean up. I gave him $20, thinking that if that was all he needed to get a job it was worth the twenty bucks. Then a few weeks later I saw him again, giving the same line to another person and realized that it was a scam. At first I was angry that he had taken advantage of me. But then I realized that he may have gotten $20 from me but I was not having to live that kind of life. I was much happier. And I have also come to realize that the happiness that I receive from giving does not have to be tied to how someone uses my gift. I still feel sad for these people and the path that they have chosen in life but I am still happier giving, even when the approach is not totally honest. I have still tried to help.

Also, like investing your dollars, diversify your giving. Give something to all within your sphere of influence. I tend to have my favorite places to donate some dollars or time. I need to branch out, to work at a soup kitchen, donate to a homeless shelter, help to build a humanitarian home, and many other things that I have not tried yet. Some acts of kindness will pay better dividends than others but as you begin giving, it always seems to come back to you in many ways that you may not have expected.

Remember that your giving doesn't always have to be money. We also have time, skills and social resources that we can share with others along our path through life. Take time to watch a friend's child so that they can have some alone time, help to build or repair something for someone, give a listening ear to someone who is struggling, or visit someone in the hospital - maybe someone you don't even know.


As I was reading the above blog, it reminded me of my nephew, Jase Tinsley. He passed away on his 19th birthday in 2004. He was a young man who was old beyond his years in building a great legacy and giving to others of his time and abilities. He would often take time to visit his grand parents. He would talk, listen and do small chores for them. He fixed things, reached things they could not and got up to places that only young people seem to be able to get to in order to trim, clean and retrieve. He was always pleasant and helpful.

He enjoyed a good time as much as anyone. There was the time when he, with two of my boys, found a can of gold spray paint and it wasn't long before we had three little "Oscars" running naked and gold-colored around the backyard. But he did not even make a peep when a rough brush and granular Tide were used to scrub the paint from his tender skin.

I remember him also as a cub scout. For a time he was the only boy in the Webelos den I was working with. He and I both had fun doing the science activities and trying to swing a bucket of water over our heads with the goal of not getting wet. I guess it didn't quite work the first time. Fortunately, boys dry fast.

And there were the Cub Scout "Pig Parties" where a rain gutter would be placed on the back patio and filled with ice cream and the boys favorite toppings added along with whipped cream and a cherry. And then they would all dig in - without spoons. Jase's face was covered with ice cream, whipped cream and some sort of topping, but two big round eyes and a big grin were still shining through all of that messy stuff dripping off of his chin.

What a pleasure it is to have known Jase and to remember him with fondness on this day of Thanksgiving.

Yesterday a Miracle Occurred

Yesterday a miracle occurred. We have lived in our home for about 12 years now. In that 12 years we have not been able to park a car in the garage most of the time. We have had our "stuff" in there and we have had "stuff" from different kids temporarily stored there.

About a year ago we were able to consolidate this "stuff" down to one side of the garage when our youngest child got married and we convinced her to start carting her "stuff" to her new home. At that point we were able to shoehorn our medium-sized sedan into one side of the garage. That seemed sufficient until I realized that my plan for building a model railroad set was never going to be realized without either abandoning the idea of parking a car in the garage or disposing of, and re-packaging, the "stuff" that was consuming so much of our garage space.

Yesterday I got this wild hair that I could complete the task of clearing the garage in about an hour. But since some of the stuff was my wife's and some of the stuff was my daughter's, and the wife wanted to be involved in the disposal of the daughter's stuff, I asked for her help.

As some of you who have worked "in committee" realize, nothing done by a committee gets done fast. You need to discuss this and do "a study" about that. Make assignments. Bring refreshments. Decorate. And on, and on, and on. But I was brave and asked her to help anyway.

The miracle occurred because we actually got through it all, loaded two trash and recycle barrels and donated stuff to Good Will in only about 3 hours. I hung one of Shelley's old balls from The ceiling for my new parking marker. (Shelley chewed all of the tennis balls up years ago). We put Quentin's "stuff" in the cabinets, which we could now open because there was no "stuff" blocking the doors. I arranged some of the "stuff" of mine from the front of the garage to the other side to make more room for bumper space. It will have to be relocated again to clear the intended Train Table spot, but that is OK.

Now the wife and I have to stop and admire the emptiness of the garage each time we come and go. It is a lot like having a king sized bed all to yourself. You can park left, or you can park right. You can park in the middle or all whopper-jawed. Now that is what I call freedom! If it lasts until the 4th of July we will really have something to celebrate this year.

The Blue Man

I am not one to dress up much for Halloween but for some reason, when I heard that we needed to come in costume to the party, even though I was working in the spook alley, I decided to go as one of the Blue Men from the Blue Man Group. I really didn't know much about them except that they were blue and they did shows. I had seen them a couple of years ago on those Intel TV commercials and they had intrigued me.

So, I went to the costume shop and they had everything I needed for feeling a little blue. Just $35 later (now I am really feeling blue) I was on my way out the door. Gaye did all of the hard work to make this happen, since she knew a lot more about make up than I did, and since she has a colleague at work who has done a lot of acting.

First came the cap. You glue the thing on! I guess that is why they send you home with the glue remover as well. Then there is the powder. No idea what that is for but they said I needed it. Then we started getting blue. It took about an hour to get me ready to walk out the door. But it was a great success. Lots of comments. Most of them were positive.

If I do this one again, though, I need to do some better prep. I went out to YouTube and watched a couple of clips from their concerts. They were really entertaining, like the DrumBone concert, or the I Feel Love concert. First thing is, they don't talk. The second thing is they drum on things like PVC pipes. And then, according to The Complex Tour there are standard rock concert movements that I need to be up on, such as Head Bobbing, the Fist Pump and Up Down Jumping Motion.

Now I have a plan. Shop for drumsticks (not the chicken kind). Shop for big pipes that will slide inside of each other. Practice drumming on everything until Gaye threatens me (and then just a few more to be sure she means it).

See you next Halloween!

Your Credit Score and How it Works

The October 2009 Reader's Digest had a good article about that number called your FICO Score which affects how low of an interest rate you get when buying a home or car and even whether you get a loan or not.

What is edit Score?
I'm glad you asked. Your Credit Score is a number which indicates in one simple 3-digit statement how reliably you will repay any loans extended to you on time. It is a calculation based on a formula owned by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) and they charge credit bureaus a royalty for each use of that calculated number. The number ranges from 300 to 850. The higher the score is, the more likely it is that you will be given the loan and the better interest rate that will be offered. Each of the credit reporting bureaus pulls their information for a slightly different group of lenders and so they will each have a slightly different score, sometimes as divergent as 50 points.

The Reader's Digest chart displays the scoring as something like this:

• SCORE RATE
• 760+ 4.981%
• 700-759 5.203%
• 680-699 5.380%
• 660-679 5.594%
• 640-659 6.024%
• 620-639 6.570%
• Below 620 It will be tough to get a loan at all.

So, if you are buying a home where you will borrowing $166,850 (after your down payment and including any additional costs), the difference between having a top score, where your monthly payment would be $893.75 for a total cost of $326,900 and the low score (620) where your monthly payment would be $1,062.30 for a total cost of $387,578 is a difference of $168.55 every month for the next 30 years, or more than $60,000 dollars.

You are entitled to one free credit report each year. You can get your scores, based on your TransUnion and Equifax credit reports through myfico.com for $15.95 each. The third agency, Experian, no longer sells its FICO scores to non-businesses.

How is Your FICO Score Calculated?

The score is designed to show how well you've managed your debt. Bad choices such as late payments stay on your record for seven years, some types of bankruptcy stay for 10 years.

Some credit-type factors don't affect your score such as employment status, income, debit card habits, savings, bounced checks, overdraft fees, utility bills and late rent . . . if they have not gone to court.

35%: Payment History
The bureaus use when you last paid an account late, how often you pay late and by how many days. To make this work for you set up automatic payments to guarantee that you are never late. One skipped or late credit card payment could drop your score 100 points which could cost you big time on the percentages above. To improve your score pay your bills on time, every time and you will improve your score within months.

30%: Total Debt
Higher debt loads work generally against the consumer (you). To make this work for you watch your "usage ratio" - the percentage of credit that you have used up on your cards. To keep this percentage low, don't max out your cards and don't cancel credit cards.

As an example, you have five cards with a total credit limit of $5000. Spread across these five cards, you owe $500. Your usage ratio or percentage is 10% (500/5000). Now, suppose that you consolidated all $500 onto one card and canceled the other four. This card has a limit of $1000. Your usage ratio is now 50% (500/1000), and that is enough to lower your FICO score.

To improve your score, according to the article, the people with the best scores tend to use no more than 9% of their available credit limit. They also never go above 50% of available credit because that affects the score in a big way.

15%: Duration
The longer that you have had an account, the better. A hit on a newer account will hurt your score more than the same late payment would on an older account. To make this work for you avoid opening new accounts that are not needed. Keep your oldest accounts active so that they don't get closed by the lender. To improve your score and keep the account open, set up an automatic payment each month from your oldest accounts and pay them in full every month.

10%: New Credit
Multiple credit requests imply that you are a greater credit risk. The FICO formula takes into account the number of new accounts opened and the number of requests/inquiries for your credit score or report. To make this work for you to squeeze your applications for loans (mortgage, car, school, etc.) into the same 45-day period so that FICO will consider them one request. Banks and insurance companies routinely check credit reports on their clients. if your credit score has dropped they may possibly raise your interest rate, lower your credit limit (or both) or cancel your card. Beginning 2/22/2010, companies will no longer be able to raise your rates on old balances if you have a fixed rate card.

Some requests do not count agains your credit score. These include making a request for your own credit report, and those "preapproved credit" offers.

To improve your score don't apply for new credit if not needed since the inquiry will hit your score. If you do need to apply for credit, do all of the requests within 45 days so that they are viewed as a single request.

10%: Types of Credit
The FICO formula looks at the number of each type of account as well as the "quality" of each type of account. For example, a major banking card carries more weight than a department store card. To make this work for you realize that revolving accounts (credit cards) carry more weight than installment loans (mortgage, car, student loans) because they tend to better predict debt management abilities and control. If your "mix" of debt seems off balance to the FICO formula it can cost you points on your score. You can have too many cards (4 or 5 is probably okay) and not enough other types of loans. Again, how long the accounts have been open plays a role here as well. To improve your score be aware of the types and numbers of accounts that you have open with thoughtfulness regarding what types of credit that you need to stay balanced.

Can You Improve Your Score?
If you've made mistakes, get back on track quickly. The faster you clean up your situation, the sooner your score begins to improve. In today's tightened credit economy, you will need better scores to get the credit benefits that you used to get more easily.

Don't get fooled by the "free" reports that aren't
Check all three of your credit reports annually. Do not check them all at once. Check one every four months so that you can see trends happening to your credit more readily.

Check your reports for free at annualcreditreport.com. Don't fall for those commercials and ads for other free sites. You get three for free (one from each reporting bureau) every year without charge.

Check your reports for errors
Check for accounts that you don't recognize that do not belong to you.
Check for addresses where you have never lived.
Check birth date and SSN.
Check inaccurate reporting of delinquencies.
Watch for stolen identities or cross reporting with someone of a similar name.

Report any errors found
One study found, according to Reader's Digest, that 79% of all credit reports had mistakes. One in four had mistakes that could cause a lower score to be calculated. Report errors to the appropriate credit bureau. It has 30 days to investigate and respond.

Don't get flipped
Sometimes figures get flipped in error such as reporting that you owe what your limit is and that your limit is what you owe, which would impact the credit score dramatically. If this happens, write to the credit reporting company and to the creditor that provided the information providing the details of the inaccuracies.

Time your report requests
Since you don't really have a permanent report, but rather a report which continues to change as lenders report information, if a business asks for your report the day before you have paid all of your bills, it will be different a few days later. You acn request a "rapid rescore" but it will cost you $30-$90 per reporting agency.

DIY
You don't need to hire (and pay) experts to fix your credit score. You don't need credit monitoring services. You don't need dispute mills to argue every black mark on your report.

Some items will disappear (for awhile) because a lender did not respond to a letter within 30 days. But if it really belongs on your report it will reappear on your report in a month when the lender again reports your status. The best strategy to get your score up: Change your financial habits sot hat your score will go up and stay up.

The Wealthy Family

I believe that I will begin a new line of thinking, or perhaps just a different twist on the financial line I have talked about previously. I have, up to this point thought along the lines of how someone like my self or my children might become wealthy as an individual or as a couple. But while I was employed by IBM a number of years ago, one of my co-workers, William Oyang, wanted to purchase a house. He spoke with his father and "the family" loaned him the money to make the purchase. He would then pay back into the family, still paying interest but not as much as the market was charging. It was a win for both sides. William paid a lower rate than what was out inthe market but the family fund was paid more interest than they would have made by keeping the money in the stock/bond market or in CDs, etc. Just as with a bank, "the Family" held the lean on the house and the terms were basically the same as with a normal mortgage if you did not pay. The nice thing was that there was a little councilling that came along with the lending (or not lending if it was a bad investment).

I don't know much more about the details but I was impressed that in his family there was a fund where loans could be obtained at reasonable rates for some of the great things in life. I thought about what it must be like to have funds available for missions, education as well as a home.

How would such a fund be obtained? How would it be administered? How would it be handled or distributed as the family, children, grand children and great-grand children, expanded the family into greater and greater numbers.

What other benefits could be obtained through banding together to get better rates? Fleet insurance on cars and trucks? Services such a yard care or home maintenance?

These are the topics that I will begin covering as I investigate what it would take to make a wealthy family rather than just a wealthy couple.

The Dogs in my Life

Our dog of fourteen years quietly left mortality a few weeks back. It was a time of sadness for all of us. But it made me reflect on the dogs that have been in my life over the years.

It seems that I can hardly remember a time when there was not a dog in the family. Even before my earliest memories, there was a dog in the family that my parents recalled with fondness, a black lab named Sally. She lived with us until I was about five, I guess. My one memory of her was that she protected the baby chickens from other dogs that were trying to get into the cage in our yard in Tucson. I understand that she tolerated my baby curiosity in gargantuan servings. We moved to a different home about the time I was five and I never knew what happened to that old pup.

We soon got another dog, a Cocker-Miniature Poodle mix that resulted in a white Cocker with curly fur. She was a pretty dog named Cracker. She became my brother's dog when I went off to school. He loved that dog and played with her daily. He was most devastated when she died due to being left in a container outside in Arizona. He and my mother tried to get home quickly when he remembered but even a short time in the Arizona heat was too much for her and she was gone.

It wasn't too long before another Cocker, this one like golden honey and with her tail in-tact, was welcomed into our family. Again she was my brother's dog, and that was okay. She was known as Dolly and my brother loved her and trained her and loved her some more. She was the only dog we ever had that would smile at you when she was in trouble. I think that my Dad taught her that. She lived to be a ripe old age for a dog.

Sometime before Dolly was gone there was a new contender for the doggy throne. A smaller-than-usual German Shepherd named Midnight became part of our family. She was a strong runner and my brother and I had the job of taking her for walks. Dad thought that it would "be good for us".Most of the time she was very good but when she would see another dog or something that attracted her, we were just not big enough to keep her under control. She would pull and eventually we would end up running as fast as our little legs would go to keep from being dragged onto our faces. Eventually she would win the race and we would let go of the leash and off she would go like a rocket. Then came the task of following her to where she went and attempting to catch her. I remember more than once having to walk home and tell my mother that the dog had gotten away again and that we couldn't find her. We would hop in the car and drive around the neighborhoods until we finally found her and she was ready to get int he car for a ride home. Our "walks" with Midnight came to an end when she finally got into a fight with some piece of lunch-meat for a dog and broke its leg. It might not have been so bad if the offending rat-in-a-dog-suit was not in his own yard. To keep the dog from being put down my dad gave her to some people who owned a ranch where she could run far and wide.

Somewhere in there came a Toy Poodle named Sugar. She was a pretty ugly dog but my brother loved her, too. Somehow I ended up with the job of keeping her clipped. It was good training for another job that I never wanted as a profession (along with yard maintenance.) This dog was always mothering something and when we got some new kittens she would nurse them along with her own pups. My brother had determined to breed her and, although she was not a papered dog, he found someone in the neighborhood who would let us use their male for breeding in exchange for a puppy. She would have four or five pups and my brother would sell them for about $80 each without papers. He made some good money for a short period of time.

When I got married in Tucson, I could not imagine a home without a dog. Before the vows had been taken, my bride already had a dog (a St. Nikolaus Tag gift). Kerl was a great German Shepherd dog and lived up to her name (which means "mischief") on more than one occasion. She would often get into the garbage and taste everything that had been tossed out. That is, until the time that we came home with sub sandwiches. The little jalapeno peppers we left in the papers which had wrapped the sandwiches. We left the house for about 10 minutes to check out a fire engine in the neighborhood and when we got back, the dog had been in the garbage again. But when we let her in to where her water was, she spent about 5 minutes trying to drink away the sting of those peppers on her tongue. She never got into the garbage again.

Soon a second German Shepherd joined the family. He was a small blond Shepherd pup. He was named Kitty so that I could enjoy the irony of calling, "Here Kitty, Kitty" and having this big dog come running. His ears were not very strong and so they leaned. He always looked like he was in a big wind storm.

Eventually we moved to an apartment where we could not have pets and so the two of them were given to a good home together. Another sad day.

Kids came along to our family while we lived in Phoenix, and so did more dogs. We had a honey Cocker who lived for a long time, was eventually blind and passed on. There was, during that time another dog that did not stay with us too long. She was a chewer and when she eventually chewed up my glasses, which I was mostly blind without, she was off to the Humane Society.

Eventually, after time in San Diego and then back in Tucson, we got another dog. She was a pretty good dog, partly Pit Bull (American Staffordshire Terrier) and mostly blond. But eventually, she too, butted heads with me over something and was back to the Humane Society.

Then came Shelley. She was a great dog. She was half coyote, half German Shepherd and looked like a blond Shepherd. She was also most likely the smartest one in the family but never devious. She learned to come, walk, lay down and stay, using either voice or hand commands, without any training. She just understood and was obedient. She did shed a lot, A LOT of fur. She had this really soft under coat but it was constantly coming out whether summer or winter. And when you were done brushing her, she would shed some more.

Over the last couple of years of her life her hips started getting bad until near the end she could hardly walk. She quit coming upstairs to sleep and eventually, could hardly get up on the couch to sleep. About that time she started growing a couple of tumors - one on her chest and another on her rear ankle. Neither seemed to bother her, and a friend who worked in a veterinarian's office looked at her tumors and indicated that they were probably benign but to watch them. The one on her chest seemed to go dormant but the one on her foot continued to grow slowly but larger until it was the size of a softball. But that was still fine until a cyst began to grow in the tumor. Evidently this cyst was not something that could be ignored by Shelley. She started licking it all the time. Eventually she started gnawing at it. We tried bandaging it and other things to keep her from worrying it but you know how that goes with dogs. Eventually it got infected and she would bleed whenever she got up to walk somewhere.

Between the tumor, the bleeding, the hips and her old age, we finally decided that as much as we wanted to keep her, it was best to put her to sleep. What a hard decision that was. Fortunately, the veterinarian was so kind and thoughtful about doing this for our friend. I carried her into the office and they lead us into a room where we could spend some time with Shelley. They explained how they would give her a shot to calm her and then, when we were ready they would administer a dose that would put her whole body to sleep. We could stay with her as long as we wished. Jennie wend with Gaye and me. It was hard to let her go and we cried for awhile but were so grateful that the people at the vet's had been so gentle with us.

We still miss her. The dust bunnies are fewer. There is no need to do "poop patrol."There is no one sitting in the front window barking at anyone who intrudes upon our space. There is no one to meet and greet us at the door. No one to take camping with me. No one to put her head in my lap and look at me with sad brown eyes. No one to get excited when I come down in my Levi's because it means I will be home all day. She is really missed . . .

A Day in Tucson with Grandkids

We spent a wonderful day with Ben and Jenn's kids in Tucson Saturday, 8/29,2009.

First we took the kids (without parents - mine or theirs) to the Tucson Zoo. It is the perfect size for young children . . . and old people like us! When I lost Noah at one point, this two-year-old said, "You stick with me, Opah," and he took my hand and lead me off to see some new critter! That made us laugh :)

We did that for a couple of hours and then they had to go to a birthday party for a friend. So, Ben took us out to see the location and model of the home that they are having built in Sahuarita, south of Tucson.




Next we were off to meet the kids for some kid time at the Children's Museum on Sixth Ave., north of 22nd St. That was loads of fun. Noah was my buddy again and we played in the train room and had to see the dinosaurs. He was scared spit-less by the T-rex but he had to watch it move and open it's mouth anyway. We rang the bells and ran the lights and sirens on the fire engine and police motorcycle. They shopped in the Mercado and climbed the kids rock wall. They drew, painted, ran the submarine and a dozen other hands-on activities.





It was hard for the kids to leave the museum but we finally convinced them with the promise of ice cream. So, off to Austin's we went. When Gaye and I were young married, we used to take the kids to Austin's for good report cards, when it was still on Broadway close to the U of A, still small and crowded, and still owned by the Austin family. The kids loved it - and then crashed big time. They were home and in bed by 6 PM. Ben and Jenn were happy to have an evening to themselves.

It was then off to El Coral for steaks for the two of us before we left town. And gas was $2.45/gallon - $.15 better than in the Phoenix area.