July 2013
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Eleven performances plus the July 10th dress rehearsal filled the month for Nancy and Jeannie Beth. As many as four nights a week out since April kept Nancy from all but her P.E.O. activities. Their performances in the chorus were as professional as any I've seen. The staging also put Jean in the middle in many of the scenes. Her acting looked very natural. Even when she had a cold during the opening week, it did not show to the audience. |
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 On Sunday the 21st, I was able to join the two "professional" photographers and capture shots of Act I before the matinee, and Act 2 after the matinee. I used two cameras and my two best lenses. The 70-200mm f2.8 (my sports lens) got close-ups while the 28-70mm f2.8 caught the wide angle shots of the whole stage. I see I managed to get over 460 shot, many more than the pros were taking. I'm happy I chose good ISO (640 and 800) and white balance settings. I attended two different Sunday matinee performances. My favorite scene was the cachucha dance toward the end of Act II, but before the climax when all mysteries were resolved. The performances were stressful for Nancy but I think she loved every bit of it, even if she admitted that she might not have taken this on if she had known how much work it would be. They came home with stage makeup on after each show. Nancy has made a point of not using makeup, and I'm sure it has helped her stay younger looking because of it. But still, the stage makeup took years off her looks. She catches up with my 58 years this August. |
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 Annie and Thomas Come Home Right on Time Annie and Thomas flew from Japan to Vancouver, BC and then on to SeaTac airport, just blocks from Annie's new school. They stayed here for a few days, caught a performance of The Gondoliers, and then headed to Dallas, OR to visit the Dishers and friends. When they return we expect them to move in with Susan and Ginger in west Redmond. Tom will help take care of Ginger while Annie starts work at Seattle Christian School. Annie and Thomas did have an evening out where they had dinner with Annie's coworkers in the English department at SCS. The pile of books in the photo shows Thomas sorting out books that he left with us when they went off to Korea. Annie has already begun helping clean the house some, but the real task of cleaning will begin in August now that The Gondoliers ended on July 27th. |
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 1307 99th Avenue NE Construction On July 23rd, I walked home the long way and saw that demolition had begun on the house on the west side of our cul-de-sac. It is kitty-corner northwest of us. Our phone line runs underground from the southeast corner of this lot, and our water line runs beside the cul-de-sac near their east property line. I wonder what high-end home will replace this old house? We certainly started something in this neighborhood in 1992. |
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[This article was added to my password protected gun collection web page in April.] I'd been looking for the "companion gun" to my full size M&P9 purchased in January. Today I spotted my new Smith and Wesson M&P9c (Compact, #HAR3026) at West Coast Armory. I got the model without the thumb safety since I do not plan to carry it with "one in the pipe," and that is one less item to remember in an emergency. It came with two twelve round magazines, one flush style for more concealability, and one with a pinky extension for a better grip. I had already purchased two XGRIP extensions, knowing I planned to buy a model 9c. The XGRIPS allow me to use the long 17 round magazines from the larger gun in the smaller one, and they improve the grip. I have had four of the full size magazines on order from Streicher's Police Equipment in Minnesota for over six months. I'd rather pay $24.95 and wait a year (If I must) than pay over $100 on eBay as some panicked buyers are doing.
Shooting the 9mm is similar to shooting the .38 special. A solid grip is essential. It is nothing like shooting the .22LR, which is a pop gun by comparison. Having shot the 9mm, I have no interest in going bigger. I stacked four pieces of 2"x6" untreated fir boards side-by-side and the first round I fired through this target stopped two-thirds of the way through the fourth board with a FMJ "target" load of Federal 115 grain. I hit my "custom made target" (above left) which was smaller than the size of a nickel. This is a very capable (and intimidating) firearm. Addendum: When I first got the new 9c, I discovered that it did not feed ammunition consistently. This was a big surprise, since this model had a stellar reputation. I contacted the Smith & Wesson service department and they emailed me a shipping label. I boxed up the new gun and sent it via Federal Express to Massachusetts. A month later I got it back with a new extractor and it fed multiple magazines worth of ammo flawlessly. I was anxious in parting with my 9c, especially when I took it (boxed up) to SPU and handed it directly to the FedEx driver that stops at Mailing Services each morning. The fact that there was no charge for shipping to or from Smith & Wesson, and a good final outcome at no cost to me, reaffirmed my good opinion of the company. But now however, whenever I see a FedEx truck, I think of my gun. In June, I got a call at work from West Coast Armory that an M&P9 "Shield" had come in to the store. I had asked to be put on a waiting list for this extremely popular and hard to get "single stack" pistol. It is the baby of the M&P family. It would have completed my set of the M&P9 models. I had until 2:00 p.m. to call and claim it or it would go to the next person on the list. I let the offer pass. I liked my new M&P9c so well that the coveted Shield had lost its luster just a bit. I don't have time these days to practice with any of my firearms. So perhaps shooting them will be limited to doing it with a Nikon for now. (I sold my 500 shares of SWHC, purchased in January for $8.92, for $10.23 on July 1st. It was a 33% return over the five months I held the stock. And the $637 I made paid for the new pistol. Alas, the stock continued straight up to a high of $11.40. But I'm happy with my profit. The stock sold for a low of $2.29 in 2011. I am very risk averse.) |
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I Was (at least) Nominated Dear Dick, Over eighty staff members were nominated this year for Staff Member of the Year. We wanted to let you know that you were one of those people. While the award has already been given out, we still felt like you should know some of the great things that colleagues said about you: “It has been my pleasure for many years to work
with Dick. His work ethic is superb; his love of Jesus Christ evident,
We hope this brightens your day, as it certainly did for us when reviewing nominations. Thanks for all the hard work you do for Seattle Pacific. We’re happy to count you among one of our co-workers. Sincerely, Sarah Schooley |
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 Emerald Heights Retirement Community Bible Class Concludes On Thursday July 25th, I finished my second eight-session series through the book of Matthew. The seniors at Emerald Heights were very appreciative once again. This summer I managed to cover chapters 12-16, just as I had outlined. I have already been invited back for another eight weeks next summer. I wonder if I can get all the way from chapter 17 through chapter 22 in eight hours? We'll be in the full auditorium next year since the new dining facility will be finished. This is a valuable class for these good folks, but it is boot camp for me. Little else gets done during these first two months of summer, but I love it. |
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Bits and Pieces
My basic 6" Kindle is fine for reading the Bible and the three commentaries on Matthew I got for $0.99 each (Calvin, Gill, and Spurgeon). But it is not up to doing serious surfing. ♦ I took a short clip of Nathanael's senior project video and put it on a web page. It takes awhile to download. It gave me a chance learn how to use Microsoft Movie Maker. (Not bad for a first effort, I'm thinking.) The balls are 3.3, 4.4, and 5.5 lbs. and he is standing on a special scale which records his changing weight far more often than the frames of the high speed camera. I even sped up the video to double speed and it is still in elegant slow motion. The juggling was the easy part compared with the data analysis. But his diploma arrived in the mail this month so all's well that ends well. My Quote from July Randy came across a bit of a poem by the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns about one of our Riddell ancestors that was apparently one of the great poet's good friends. I found the whole poem online and more about our ancestor.Riddell, Robert, of Glenriddell (bap. 1755, d. 1794), antiquary and literary patron (Friars' Carse is in the Scottish lowlands, but west of where I'd expected it near the Rutherfords in Melrose on Tweed. It is a bit over a mile southeast of Auldgirth, Scotland, on the west bank of the river Nith - north of the city of Dumfries.) SONNET On The Death Of Robert Riddell of Glenriddell and Friars' Carse. Robert Burns No more, ye warblers of the wood! no more; Nor pour your descant grating on my soul; Thou young-eyed Spring! gay in thy verdant stole, More welcome were to me grim Winter's wildest roar. How can ye charm, ye flowers, with all your dyes? Ye blow upon the sod that wraps my friend! How can I to the tuneful strain attend? That strain flows round the untimely tomb where Riddell lies. Yes, pour, ye warblers! pour the notes of woe, And soothe the Virtues weeping o'er his bier: The man of worth—and hath not left his peer! Is in his "narrow house," for ever darkly low. Thee, Spring! again with joy shall others greet; Me, memory of my loss will only meet. Glenriddell ManuscriptThe book contained 53 unpublished poems, among them 'In Mauchline there dwells six proper young belles', the 'Epistle to John Goldie', the 'Elegy on the Death of Sir John Hunter Blair', 'Holy Willie's Prayer', 'Tam o' Shanter', and the 'Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn.' Included also were some foot notes by Burns, and a transcript of the Autobiographical letter to Dr Moore; partly in Burns' own hand and partly in the hand of an amanuensis. On Riddell's death, Burns showed considerable anxiety to get the volume back. In a letter from Dumfries, undated, though probably written in May 1794, beginning 'Madam' (though according to Ferguson, addressed to Miss Sophy or Elinor Riddell, Robert Riddell's sister), Burns wrote: 'I have a favor to request of you, Madam; and of your sister, Mrs Riddell, through your means. You know that at the wish of my late friend, I made a collection of all my trifles in verse which I had ever written. They are many of them local, some puerile and silly, and all of them unfit for the public eye. As I have some little fame at stake — a fame that I trust may live when the hate of those who "watch me for my halting", and the contumelious sneer of those whom accident among my superiors, will, with themselves, be gone to the regions of oblivion; I am uneasy now for the fate of those manuscripts. Will Mrs Riddell have the goodness to destroy them, or return with them to me?' After Burns' own death, the two Riddell quarto volumes, along with the poet's other manuscripts — even down to the 'sweepings of his desk' — were sent to his biographer, Dr Currie. Currie retained them, as did his son, Wallace Currie. On his death in 1853, his widow presented them to the Liverpool Athenaeum, where they remained in a box, except during an exhibition, when they were brought out and put in a show case. After a somewhat sordid secret transaction, the Athenaeum sold them to Quaritch of London for £4,500. In spite of Scots protests, they were then sold to an American Collector, John Gribel of Philadelphia, who gifted them to the Scottish National Library under terms which ensure that they will remain in possession of 'the people of Scotland for ever'. In 1914, before sending his purchase to its permanent home, Mr Gribbel caused to be published privately in Philadelphia a facsimile edition of the two famous volumes, whose history is traced in the introduction.
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