News from Houston, Ship, Bridge, Art, Pirates,and more.

News From My Sister

I got a note from my sister today. She is fine, and in her Houston house, where she writes that water has been restored.

Picture of Sue's house from Google Maps street view.

She writes, "My Houston house is fine. Trees+ fences down + a tree fell on my storage house... I am still without power so am really limited as to what I can do or eat." She uses her car to keep her cell phone charged, but service is still spotty.

Her Houston neighbors houses suffered extensive damage, and she is helping them as much as she can.

No power means no A/C, and in Houston, that makes life a bit sticky. She says it has cooled down some, but she cant open her windows at night because of the looters.
Streetlights are out and there is a curfew.

Her children and grandchildren have been helping to clean up the yard, and her neighbors yards as well.

As for Crystal Beach, she writes;
"Poof! No more beach house! How many people do you know that has lost (TOTALLY) 2 houses in 4 years??" (Her Houston house burned down 4 years ago.) "Lady Luck I'm not!"

Crystal Beach, where Sue's beach house used to be.
I found this picture on the internet, taken September 16th.
According to my sister, the Bolivar peninsula is currently a no fly zone, as they are still finding dead bodies of people, who foolishly, "Stayed to ride it out." She wrote that one of her Crystal Beach neighbors found out, that, although Sue's house was blown away, her neighbors house was one of the few still standing. Unfortunately, the damage was so bad that the house is a "tear down".
Looters are not much of a problem there yet, the road into Crystal Beach is impassable.

Here in Redding

LMP Trio perform at Rosie the Riveter museum site
Marian, (piano player, above), called me Sunday to let me know our latest CD, (Ain't She Sweet), was going like hotcakes, and I should make a bunch more. This is the 14th CD that we have produced to help the Richmond Museum of History. The donations we receive for the CD's go toward the restoration of the Red Oak Victory.

Red Oak Victory at Terminal 1, Richmond, CA

Red Oak Victory, now at Rosie the Riveter Museum

Recently, Marian visited the ship. She said the hold had been transformed into a ballroom and meeting hall, and that it looked very nice. The last time we played on the ship, we were up on deck.

I started to burn some CD's on Sunday, and realized I was out of labels. On Tuesday, I received some money from Marian, and I set out to get the labels.

First stop, Gas.

Gas at the Arco on September 22, 2008

The price of gas has been going down, here in Redding. I am glad my predictions of huge increases were wrong, so far.
A trip to Office Depot, and I am ready to burn, print, and package CD's.

How I make my Blog posts.

Screen shot of what I see when I write, 'Phil's Place.'

I put it together in Google Docs first. It's a really powerful document program, sort of like "Word", but it exists in cyber space and is stored on Google.

Highlighting quote on an iGoogle page.
I may be looking through my iGoogle pages of news, technology, music, etc. and see something I would like in my blog. I highlight it, copy it with an apple keyboard command, and paste it here...

No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.
- Judge Gideon J. Tucker

Checking my Gmail I find a great recipe
Garie, forwarded an omelet recipe that I would like to try, or maybe you would like to try it and let me know how it works.

Ziploc Omelets:

1. Crack 2 eggs into a quart size Ziploc bag
(not more than 2) shake to combine them.

2. Put in a variety of ingredients such as:
Cheeses, Ham, Onions, Green Peppers, Tomatoes,
Salsa, Etc.

3. Add ingredients and shake the bag to mix.

4. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip
it up.

5. Place the bag into rolling, boiling water for
exactly 13 minutes.

6. Cut the bag and the omelet will roll out easily.

Is that really any easier than using a skillet?

Pretty Bird

Paradise Tanager from iGoogle pictures of the day

It's a beautiful morning.
70°and sunny.
The birds are singing, and all is as it should be.

Morning by the Sundial Bridge 9/24/08

Sundial Bridge in the Morning Sun 9/24/08

Sidewalk Art
Jo Anna sent me another e-mail with pavement drawings. They are really amazing. So much so, that I wanted to put a couple on this page for you to enjoy. Just for fun, I Google searched, Juilian Beever, and found his website with lots of pictures and some information about him. I put in a link for you, after the "Times Square" picture.

Julian Beever tests the water in his chalk drawing

How he did it. 2D to 3D on the sidewalk!

Times Square on Times Square
To see many more Julian Beever pictures, visit his website.
Pavement Art

Pirates

Image of what the word, "Pirate", normally evokes.

The U.S. Navy said on Wednesday it appeared pirates had tried to attack one of its big military oil tankers.

Somali pirates have in the past mounted attacks on merchant shipping from skiffs launched from so-called "mother ships" in the waters in and beyond Somalia.

Pirates of today

Heavily armed Somali pirates have hijacked more than 30 merchant vessels this year, with attacks off its coast and the Gulf of Aden almost every day.

The first pirates probably appeared around the time of the first boats.

Speaking of Firsts

First leaf to change for fall 9/24/08
I was just sitting on the balcony, enjoying this beautiful 86 degree day, when I spotted the first leaf that changed on the Japanese pear tree. I am told that fall, here in Redding is spectacular. So far, so good.

The Adventures of Bat Girl

Bat Girl visit's with friend along the trail

"Stay tuned for my next exciting installment."

Today's Relatively Appropriate Song;
What a Wonderful World
Louis Armstrong

Unconditional Love