The Eagle Trio

Matt, Sean, and Steven just got their Eagle award! It's nice to see my guys get their "Eagle Powers". Congratulations! More photos from the Court of Honor here.

Sorry, Kermit.

I seem to remember a Muppet movie where a scary Southern guy is after Kermit the Frog and talking about "French-fried frog legs". Well, I tried some here in the "Witches Brew". It was funny enough I felt it required a photo. I woudn't go so far as to say they "taste like chicken", but they were a relatively low-flavored white meat that had a consistency like chicken but more rubbery. I ate them at "The Bistro", which is a weekly restaurant-of-sorts that is hosted by the students in the culinary program at the Job Corps where I spend half my workweek. Their instructor is receiving rave reviews from students and food consumers (like me) alike, and spending Thursday's noontime chowing on their food is $4 well spent. Incidentally, Chef John owns Newman's at 988 in Cannon Beach, and I get the idea he took the instructor job because it's an opportunity to teach and it's relatively close to home for him. All I know is, this is a MUCH cheaper way to get his cuisine.

Fort Columbia Trip Pictures

"Let's all point things at JJ's head!"
A couple Wednesday evenings ago I went with Scouts/Venturing Crew Members on a tour of Fort Columbia. They are on the Venturing Blog here at crew628.blogspot.com.

A Classic: Lord of the Showerdance

W sure did enjoy stomping around in the shower at his Grandma J's a couple years ago, and his little routine became known as "the shower dance". I set it to music and it's become family famous. Now, making it's blogosphere debut, I give you "Lord of the Showerdance".

Long Beach Boardwalk and More Dashboard Fun!

My ladies on the boardwalk in Long Beach, WA. It was a little chilly, but hey, it's October. They were flying some kites and Laura's sportin' her new 'do. Sweeeet.


We shared a Philly all hoagied up from Surfer Sands and pulled the van down on the beach for the sunset. A bunch of other people seemed to have the same sunset idea, and one Buick got stuck (and thankfully later unstuck).


The Red Building in Astoria is now done enough to be hosting events (one of my assistants had planned on having hers there 4 months ago and had to scramble at the last minute to find a venue). We thought we'd have a look after crossing the bridge on the way home, and here I had fun getting another photo in my out-the-windshield series.

The Problem and the Solution

So I was a good high school sports booster this year and I bought a discount card for local businesses. One of the items on this card is a buy-one-get-one-free for Peanut Buster Parfaits (or is it ParFAT?). The only limit on it is that you can't do it more than once a day. Frankly, I'm sure you could really work it and hit the Astoria one once and the Warrenton one once also in the same day. But man, that's a LOT! So what's a flabby guy to do?


I think a lot of people get older and chubbier and they blame it on getting old. In my case, I'm taking responsibility for the reality that I don't eat as well as I used to and I don't exercise like I did either. But, back when I was working at the OHSU Fitness Center in dental school, I really liked the elliptical trainers. They're very low-impact and I find I get more of a workout than I think I am (like I'm surprised how toasted my legs are when I get done and try to walk around). So, I was browsing at Costco and this was the last one display model. They were willing to take it apart some, and I found online that Costco was asking half what it costs straight from the manufacturer, so I was sold. It didn't quite fit entirely into the back of the van, so I drove home with the liftgate bungied partway down. It was an absolute ordeal to get it upstairs, and my amazing neighbor Ben helped a lot! They say it can hold up to 350 pounds, and I don't doubt that it itself weighs about that much. Now Ben really really REALLY needs to have a midnight dental emergency so I can try and catch up. Anyway, we had to disassemble it more than what Costco did, and it was all I could do a couple days later to round up the parts Ben and I had hastily taken off and get it back together in a way that works.

The Height of 1970's Little Girl Fashion

We just got some clothes from my wife's sister, and in them was a dress that she and her sister both had when they were kids. It fits E pretty nicely and I thought this picture turned out nice too.


She's like a little Swiss Miss. "Hey little girl, fetch me some cocoa!"

Drivin' the Princess!

Thanks to my friendship with local history teacher extraordinaire Mr. Carpenter, I had the privilege of being a halftime princess chauffeur at the Warrenton High School Homecoming football game. We got to use cars from Ocean Crest, and I was driving an '07 Tahoe. I'm probably just too used to driving my GTI, but I thought the Tahoe handled very much like a really heavy blue marshmallow. My Odyssey seriously handles nicer and can haul more people and cargo. It does, however, look like a minivan. But, if you need to tow something, get under 20 miles to the gallon, or you need to be seen in an SUV, the Tahoe would be better. Regardless, it carried us in style out onto the field. It was extra cool because my passengers were my Tongue Point manager Roger and his daughter Molly. Roger and I are the two-man Tongue Point Health and Wellness Clinic Volkswagen club and he truly appreciates "Napoleon Dynamite", so he's obviously the man.
It's blurry, but you can barely see my wife up in the stands. I also thought it interesting that Chevrolet feels it's worth TWO stickers on the steering wheel plastic to emphasize that you should NOT cut it with a knife. I mean, if you're going to risk wrecking your new Tahoe's leather steering wheel with a knife, will an extra sticker really stop you? Food for thought.


The game was a landslide in Clatskanie's favor. This was only about halftime and it was already over. But, Clatskanie is one of the top teams in the state in their league, so at least they got stomped by somebody good. It was a beautiful night and we had a fun time.

Little Techno Girl

E appreciates that Daddy used his $100 iPhone rebate to get Mommy an iPod Nano. She also appreciates that it can play video. Whee!


Only a kid this small makes the Nano look large. Anyway, it's a fine piece of equipment and E hasn't been able (or rather, allowed) to wreck it yet. L now has the means to listen to fun music and podcast shows (like Preg-tastic . . . because she is, for the people out there who haven't heard) while she's doing things around the house.

I Feel Like I've Now Arrived at Real Dad-hood

As I was saying goodnight and kneeling down to give our daughter a kiss, out-of-the-blue we had this conversation:
E: "Daddy's shiny!"
Me: (Figuring out what she's driving at but probing for clarification) "Shiny where?"
E: (pointing at my forehead) "Right there!"
Me: (thinking she might not see this as much of a bad thing) "Do you like it?"
E: (reassuringly) "Yeah!"

Sweet Venturing Trip (and a sweet bike!)

We toured the Coast Guard's Aids to Navigation station at Tongue Point (thanks Mike!) and I had a good time taking goofy pictures. See all of the Coast Guard's behind-the-scenes secrets here.

Here I Go Again

Today I had lunch with the Golden Princess. Like I said, it's that
cruise ship time of year. The back end of the ship is flat and weird. The website (found at http://www.princess.com/ships/np) only talks about exotic locales like Portugal and the Caribbean . . . not Astoria. Hmmmm. But, it's fun on the site to click the link for the
webcam they have on the ship's bridge, which does show Astoria today.

Michelin PAX part 3

Well, I spoke to the Honda dealer today and the tire was punctured on
the internal sidewall. That makes sense because I couldn't see any
damage in the tread pattern. Even on a typical tire, I know they
consider it a safety hazard to patch the sidewalls. So, I'm feeling
reassured that a flat tire will not always cost me $300 (still closer
to $130 though I bet . . .)

brionicman.blogspot.com
Sent from my iPhone

Michelin PAX part II

So, the good news is that the Honda dealer 60-70 miles away got us in today to fix the flat tire on the van. L spent the better part of the day trying the keep the kids happy there, and they took a field trip over to PetCo to look at animals and also got some lunch.
BUT, they replaced the polycarbonate ring inside the tire, the gel packs, AND the whole tire, for a grand total (including labor) of $316.36. So, while I can see the value in all the stuff I got, it's crazy to think that a flat tire means a full day's time and over $300. Quite a contrast to when my GTI had a nail in the tire and I took it to Les Schwab here locally. They fixed it free in around 30 minutes. So as much as I love the idea of these run-flats . . .
I'll do a little more homework on this as to what the actual damage to the tire was and whether or not it has to be replaced typically. Then I'll channel my ire toward Honda and/or Michelin as necessary.

Today's lunchroom

It's the time of year when cruise ships are stopping in Astoria. So,
I decided to spend lunch with Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas.
The cruisers picked a day that should drive local real estate
higher . . . at least the people who discover Astoria in this fashion
tend to care about their dental health and want to pay me to help.
It's a gorgeous fall day!