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Saturday, March 14, 2009
Being Gone
I love to ski, and because the season is drawing to a close and the conditions have been wonderful, I've been spending several days a week at our cabin in the mountains. It is convenient to stay there as it is so close to the ski area, and I find myself going there often after a long day on the slopes.
The cabin is small, but has everything we need. A living room with a fireplace. A very nice sized kitchen that is just perfect. A full bathroom, a smallish but cozy bedroom, electricity, running water, a septic system and a gorgeous view. (The picture of the Mountain [Merchant Peak] you see in the header of this blog was taken from there.)
Because it is a cabin, we have no phone, tv or Internet. I have to go out on the deck and place my cell phone in one particular spot on the railing in order to receive a signal. Otherwise I have to drive down to the little cafe on Hwy 2 to make a call or check my messages.
I do a lot of reading or watch movies when I'm there. I love not having the distractions that I have at home. I also love the solitude, and the peace and quiet of Index. Bob and I have both occasionally seen one or a pair of Bald Eagle, and last week I saw two Bobcat running up the dirt road in front of the cabin. Besides lots of spawning Salmon, we've seen Bear, Deer, Osprey, Heron, several varieties of Duck, Cedar Waxwing and lots of Kingfisher.
I go to the cabin when I want to get away.
Friends and family have an open invitation to come visit for a day or stay over night any time they'd like.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Oh Canada
We just spent the last 5 days in Whistler Canada. Skiing is one of our favorite winter time activities and Whistler is one of our favorite places to ski. We have been fortunate enough to get a room at the Cascade Lodge in Whistler Village for the third time. It is a resort comprised of all one bedroom condominiums and is just lovely. It has an outdoor heated pool and two giant hot tubs with breathtaking views of the two mountains. It is conveniently located one block from the center of the village, and two blocks from the lifts.
One of our favorite places to ski at Whistler is Seventh Heaven on Blackcomb Mountain:
The views from this area are spectacular:
Getting away once a year in February.......be it to ski or sun ourselves on a warm beach.......has become a tradition for us.
One of our favorite places to ski at Whistler is Seventh Heaven on Blackcomb Mountain:
The views from this area are spectacular:
Getting away once a year in February.......be it to ski or sun ourselves on a warm beach.......has become a tradition for us.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The American Form of Government
It's important all Americans understand our Nation's form of Government. I ran across this simple explanation. It is worth every moment of the approximately 8 minutes this video takes to view. I encourage everyone to watch it and think about how our form of Govt affects you.
Link
Link
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Here's to Lucky!
Lucky the Hummingbird has been gone for over 5 days now. I have been corresponding with another Hummingbird enthusiast and his bird disappeared shortly before Christmas. I'm wondering if it is normal for Hummingbirds to migrate on in winter to better or more numerous feeders?
In any event........here's to a very entertaining and fun little creature.........Lucky.
I'm going to miss you!
In any event........here's to a very entertaining and fun little creature.........Lucky.
I'm going to miss you!
Catching up!
We spent a peaceful week after Christmas cleaning up around here and relaxing after a whirlwind December 25th.
On Christmas Day, we got up early and headed up skiing. We had purchased Bobby's girlfriend Nico a gift of rental ski equipment and instructions. It was her very first time up, and we wanted to get there early. After we got Nico set up with her equipment and took her to her meeting place with the instructor, Bob and I took off for a few hours of skiing. Bobby joined us after a few runs and we were all off for some fun.
We had a very good time and met up with Nico around 11:30........right when her lesson was through. She said she enjoyed the lesson and wants to do it again. After returning Nico's gear and retrieving ours, we rushed down the mountain and joined the rest of the family at our house. As soon as we were all gathered, our Christmas began in earnest.
New Years Eve was spent together with our friends the Stroms of Goldbar, and some of their very nice neighbors. Because the roads were so very dangerous, we spent the night in their guest room with the intention of getting up the next morning and driving up to Stevens Pass to do some skiing. When we got up in the morning, and after donning our ski clothing and heading out the door, one of the family members told us they'd heard that Highway 2 was closed due to avalanche danger. It remained so for the next 4 days.
We ended up going to breakfast with the entire family and then heading home later that afternoon when it was decided we wouldn't be able to get our car into the driveway of our cabin and off of the street completely because of the huge amounts of snow. A good lesson for us........we had our driveway plowed that week.
We did manage to get up to the cabin to stay the next weekend, and I understand there is 18" of snow still on the ground.
I guess I'll just have to go up and see for myself later this week. I miss skiing and need to get up there before the season is gone.
On Christmas Day, we got up early and headed up skiing. We had purchased Bobby's girlfriend Nico a gift of rental ski equipment and instructions. It was her very first time up, and we wanted to get there early. After we got Nico set up with her equipment and took her to her meeting place with the instructor, Bob and I took off for a few hours of skiing. Bobby joined us after a few runs and we were all off for some fun.
We had a very good time and met up with Nico around 11:30........right when her lesson was through. She said she enjoyed the lesson and wants to do it again. After returning Nico's gear and retrieving ours, we rushed down the mountain and joined the rest of the family at our house. As soon as we were all gathered, our Christmas began in earnest.
New Years Eve was spent together with our friends the Stroms of Goldbar, and some of their very nice neighbors. Because the roads were so very dangerous, we spent the night in their guest room with the intention of getting up the next morning and driving up to Stevens Pass to do some skiing. When we got up in the morning, and after donning our ski clothing and heading out the door, one of the family members told us they'd heard that Highway 2 was closed due to avalanche danger. It remained so for the next 4 days.
We ended up going to breakfast with the entire family and then heading home later that afternoon when it was decided we wouldn't be able to get our car into the driveway of our cabin and off of the street completely because of the huge amounts of snow. A good lesson for us........we had our driveway plowed that week.
We did manage to get up to the cabin to stay the next weekend, and I understand there is 18" of snow still on the ground.
I guess I'll just have to go up and see for myself later this week. I miss skiing and need to get up there before the season is gone.
Perspective
I found this very interesting post on my favorite information web site..........Silicon Investor............and thought I'd post it here so that people could get some positive perspective (as opposed to all of the negative perspective we're bombarded with on a daily basis by the MSM) on the economy as a whole.
I've pasted a direct link to CARPE DIEM under my favorite information site in the upper right hand corner of my blog.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite Current Economic Slowdown, Consumers Have Never Had It So Good. Ever. Anywhere.
I have been purchasing some old Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs on Ebay to have accurate, historical retail price data on typical consumer goods in various years, and then be able to compare the prices consumers pay today for various household goods to prices in previous periods, measured in the number of minutes or hours worked at the average wage to earn enough money to purchase the items. Here is the first in a series of CD posts comparing today's prices to a previous year:
Pictured below is a 9.2 cubic foot Sears Coldspot Spacemaster Refrigerator, available on sale in the 1949 Sears catalog for $224.75:
..
The average hourly manufacturing wage in 1949 was $1.26, meaning that the average worker had to work for 178.4 hours (22.3 days or 4.5 weeks) in 1949 to earn enough money (before tax) to purchase the refrigerator.
Pictured below is a current Sears model 9.5 cubic feet refrigerator, available on sale for $339.99. At the current average hourly manufacturing wage of $18.03, the average worker would have to work today for only 18.9 hours (only 2.4 days) to purchase the refrigerator.
..
The difference in hours worked to purchase a 9 cu. foot (approx.) Sears refrigerator in the two years is displayed graphically below:
Bottom Line: We hear a lot of comparisons of today's economic conditions to the 1930s and the Great Depression, as if we're about to slip back to the living conditions of the 1930s and enter Great Depression II. Hopefully some of these comparisons will serve as an antidote to all of the daily gloom and doom.
A comparison of the price of a typical household appliance in 1949 (178.4 hours of work to purchase a refrigerator) to the price today (only 18.9 hours of work) is just one of hundreds of examples that demonstrate the significant increase in the average American's standard of living over time.
If consumers were paying the same price for a refrigerator today as consumers did in 1949 (178.4 hours of work at the average wage), the retail price today would be about $3,200 for a basic 9.5 cubic feet refrigerator (178.4 hours X $18.03 per hour). For a more deluxe Sears model refrigerator (retail price of $1,757 or 5.2 times more expensive than the basic model), the cost today would be about $17,000.
Despite the current economic slowdown, consumers have never had it so good. Ever. Anywhere.
LINK
I've pasted a direct link to CARPE DIEM under my favorite information site in the upper right hand corner of my blog.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite Current Economic Slowdown, Consumers Have Never Had It So Good. Ever. Anywhere.
I have been purchasing some old Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs on Ebay to have accurate, historical retail price data on typical consumer goods in various years, and then be able to compare the prices consumers pay today for various household goods to prices in previous periods, measured in the number of minutes or hours worked at the average wage to earn enough money to purchase the items. Here is the first in a series of CD posts comparing today's prices to a previous year:
Pictured below is a 9.2 cubic foot Sears Coldspot Spacemaster Refrigerator, available on sale in the 1949 Sears catalog for $224.75:
..
The average hourly manufacturing wage in 1949 was $1.26, meaning that the average worker had to work for 178.4 hours (22.3 days or 4.5 weeks) in 1949 to earn enough money (before tax) to purchase the refrigerator.
Pictured below is a current Sears model 9.5 cubic feet refrigerator, available on sale for $339.99. At the current average hourly manufacturing wage of $18.03, the average worker would have to work today for only 18.9 hours (only 2.4 days) to purchase the refrigerator.
..
The difference in hours worked to purchase a 9 cu. foot (approx.) Sears refrigerator in the two years is displayed graphically below:
Bottom Line: We hear a lot of comparisons of today's economic conditions to the 1930s and the Great Depression, as if we're about to slip back to the living conditions of the 1930s and enter Great Depression II. Hopefully some of these comparisons will serve as an antidote to all of the daily gloom and doom.
A comparison of the price of a typical household appliance in 1949 (178.4 hours of work to purchase a refrigerator) to the price today (only 18.9 hours of work) is just one of hundreds of examples that demonstrate the significant increase in the average American's standard of living over time.
If consumers were paying the same price for a refrigerator today as consumers did in 1949 (178.4 hours of work at the average wage), the retail price today would be about $3,200 for a basic 9.5 cubic feet refrigerator (178.4 hours X $18.03 per hour). For a more deluxe Sears model refrigerator (retail price of $1,757 or 5.2 times more expensive than the basic model), the cost today would be about $17,000.
Despite the current economic slowdown, consumers have never had it so good. Ever. Anywhere.
LINK
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