New England Covered Bridges

For as long as we both can remember, we have wanted to tour the new England states in Autumn, and this year, (after 37 years of talking about it), we did. We've actually been back east on vacation eight different times to various cities and/or states, but never before in Autumn. It was magnificent.

 

And we nailed it too. We hit the peak season of 10/1 to 10/10 head on with virtually every road, route, highway, byway, and interstate that we traveled. (Approximately 1400 miles). We decided not to travel up into Canada or Maine, as peak season had already passed in those regions.

 

Flying into Hartford, we then traveled to Vermont, and worked our way down through New Hampshire, Conn., and Mass. 

 

Vermont and New Hampshire yielded the most covered bridges, which was an item on our agenda to accomplish while we were leaf peeping.  Overall, Vermont was the best state of all, and if you only have time to do one state, that is the one to do. 

 

Here is a baker's dozen sample of some of my pics from just around the covered bridge areas. There is not much foliage showing in these pics, but I've got 3 more upcoming blogs covering various subjects, and some of my other favorite pics will show up in those blogs.

 

And of course, the most beautiful woman in the world to me, rounds out the end of this baker's dozen :-).

 

 

WP & Royals Baseball

WP and I recently ventured to KC to catch a Royals game.  It was our 2nd Royals ballgame, but this time we were solo at the game, and my memories of our time together will last the rest of my life.  I am so thankful.

WP loves the analysis and statistics of the game as much as I do.  His little brain is amazing, the way he is able to process pitch counts, batting stances, pitching styles, defensive alignments, and reading the stats on a scoreboard is a wonderland.  For both of us. 

He questions and understands now virtually ever stat that is on display, from how many 2B hits the batter has had, to what FO7 means, to how many RBI's he has for the season.  It goes on and on, and he can recite player stats without making an error.

This game had a few firsts for us.  We've been to Drillers and Royals baseball games before, but this was our 1st one alone together.  It was the first time he'd seen the dancing bear up close and personal, which was right next to us, and the stadium camera caught me in the seat for 2-3 seconds. 

WP saw the little dancing girls (something normally reserved for Don Juan de Kueny).  It was the first time that I have paid $6 for cotton candy; a well deserved treat for my little trooper.  It was the first time that I have stayed that long through a rain delay.  We were drenched, but enjoyed watching it rain, watching the grounds crew cover the infield, and watching them prep the grounds after the tarp was removed about an hour later.

Unfortunately, the Royals lost, but were still in 1st place by 1.5 games.  The fireworks show after the game was incredible, though WP could barely stay awake.  Because of the rain delay, the fireworks show did not start until 11:15, and we didn't get back to our hotel room till right at midnight; which Mom tells me he then quickly fell asleep.  Unfortunately, I did not.  I was still too pumped with adrenaline, but did doze off, close to 2:30.

What a night.  So much fun, so many great memories.

I love you Will Parker!  I look forward to doing it again next year. :-)

 

Game time!  Play ball!

 

I love WP's expression.  I couldn't get him to smile; he told me later he was studying why the infield players were shifting out of normal position for the current batter.  I then explained to him that it is a relatively new defensive strategy employed by clubs who know how frequently the batter grounds the ball to certain parts of the infield.  He was amazed at the technique.

 

The rain sent probably 10k of the crowd to the parking lot; which was barely visible as it was raining so hard.  The inning directly before the rain started, the local weather man was 'live' at the ballpark and on the big screen in center field.  He said "Hello boys and girls (with a puppet on his hand), just wanted to tell you not to worry about that lightning that you see, it's going to miss us!  Your game is going to stay warm and dry!  No rain here tonight." 

 

What an idiot.  Less than 30 minutes later, the bottom fell out of the sky.

 

One of our many snacking moments. I love his crossed legs, as the feet were double crossed again at the ankles. Something that I too used to be able to do when I was a stick-person.

 

WP added 5 lbs. of water weight as the jacket acted as a sponge during the downpour.

Me & My Girls

 

Last Monday, I was able to enjoy about 1/2 a day with my two of my favorite g'girls.  The quickest way to their heart is through their stomach.  Boy, these girls can eat; and they come by that trait naturally, as the stories about their Pappy Fournier's appetite are legendary.  Here we are at Panda enjoying their favorite choice or orange chicken, noodles, egg rolls, and cookies. 

 

Rumor has it that their Pappy used to be able to eat an entire large pizza just by himself (true, but it was thin crust and half a large is almost max nowadays), or 15 taco's in a single serving (true too), or routinely ate a Pieces of 8 (8 pieces of fried fish, uh true again), or entire slabs of ribs (yes, but they were baby backs), or can still go to the KFC buffet and eat 15 pieces of chicken (yes, but 10 of those are wings).  That's enough, you get the idea . . .

 

I must have a higher than normal metabolism, or you might see me on the biggest loser tipping the scales at 488.  I've always been a big eater, going all the way back to by teens.  My brothers are too; goodness, their plates of food at the holidays are enough to feed a normal family of four.

 

Spaz is very quiet and reserved. She had a sudden boldness come over her (her words were "If Owen can do this, I can too."), as she needed a set of chopsticks, and I told her to go ask the lady.

 

Who knew that Lowe's sold designer duct tape?  I certainly didn't.  But, leave it to my girls to find out, and request purchase of said rolls.  Yep, of course, I said yes.

 

Emma enjoying a snack of donut holes after our grueling 20 minute excursion to Lowe's.

 

Ava chose the frozen lemonade.

 

It was Sept. 1st, and the first official day of Christmas shopping season, and Monster found some things she wanted.  For these though, Paps did say no.

 

I didn't say no though to her request to hit the sample carts, which were in full force last week.  This sample was a piece of cake, and the girls also had samples of Italian sausage pot pie, and something else that was fried.  I passed on all the samples.  I know my limit ...

 

This concluded their one-on-one time with Pappy, and we then headed to "Nini's house", where I lease out space to keep an office, a bed, a gym, a chair upstairs, and a few drawers of clothes.  But, the rest of the house is definitely Nini's. 

 

In a matter of 17 seconds, Spaz went from truck, to Nini hug, to emptying out the play closet.

 

Monster was a tad slower, as I think she was hungry and wanted a snack before proceeding.

 

And for dinner that night, we had smoked Pork Chops; um, they were delicious!

 

I love you girls!

 

I am a blessed man.   

oMike

 

 

Without question or debate, each of my grandchildren melt my heart, steal my heart, and grab my attention in their own special way.

 

With Owen Michael (oMike or Don Juan de Kueny) his special touch with me is his love language, and his incessant activity level.  His love language appears to be the same as mine; as he enjoys touching, rubbing, hugging, and giving kisses.

 

As to his activity level, it can only be described as 'busy'.  He is a great little boy, but he is just 'busy'.  Apt words used to describe his Nini when she was his age, and still applicable today. 

 

This sweet little guy is always on the move.  Remember my blog about his 'walking' 2 years ago?  He is Mr. Hop, Skip, and a Jump.  He never walks anywhere.  Not much has changed in 3 more years, other than now he 'runs' to most places.

 

He is always moving, always talking, always touching, always exploring, always chatting it up with strangers, always happy, always smiling, always laughing, and always loud! (with an exclamation point).  He is a great boy.

 

His Nini has always been full of activity.  With her pictures from youth, you can tell from her poses that it was a challenge to snap the photo; she's just always angling to burst out of the starting blocks.

 

Same too with oMike.  Man this boy has lots of frenetic energy.

 

While at B&N this weekend watching him play with the trains, I had an acronym for him pop into my head, and to me it seems so apropos for his personality.

 

Oh wow! Exploding nuggets!   

 

My industriousness confounds hapless activity experts lately.

 

Keep up everyone! Never yield!

 

~

 

I love you Owen Michael Kueny (and for those of you reading, your key to the acronym), as each of the words start with the letter from his name.

 

- Pappy 

 

 

 



The Gateway Arch

 

New construction for expansion with more parking and more museum room. Another reason to go back in a few years and see the improvements; :-)

 

This was my 7th 'trip' to the Arch, (though I do not count going twice in 3 days as two trips, I just count it as one). During this trip; I'd just arrived, and was in my normal state of awe, wonder, and respect. After gazing for 4-5 minutes, Pam thought she'd photo me. I was having flashbacks as to what I already knew about the Arch, and was reflecting on those thoughts.

 

Did you know that the Arch was originally envisioned back in 1939? That no one died during construction, though 13 were expected to? That the federal laws of today relating to ecology, water lands, unions, OSHA, and territorial rights would have likely prevented it from ever being built? 

 

Experts today say that the Arch would have had a .042% chance of being built with the same standards of construction, safety, reclamation, and unions; using laws of 2012 vs. 1959.  In 1959 it was a huge risk, and literally took "3 acts of Congress" to make it happen. 

 

And that was with 1/919th of the federal laws in force today as compared to then.  I am so glad that the 1959 politicians were somewhat saner than the ones of today.

 

One of my favorite angles. From this, you can really get a feel for the amount of trigonometry, algebra, geometry, and calculus that went into engineering and construction of the Arch. This angle always reminds me about the men taking measurement readings by the stars at night for required alignment adjustments. If they were off 1/64th of an inch, it would have been disaster at the top, as the curvature would have increased the spacing from 1/64th at the base to over 2' at the top.

 

The men were not able to take accurate readings during the day because the sun heating the stainless steel skewed the refractory settings. Plus, also from this angle, you can almost still see how the huge fire hose water cannons were used to cool the sides on the last day of construction to allow for 1/2" of steel stretching at the top during the final piece of installation. Fascinating.

 

An amazing feeling, shooting straight up. The sway is non-detectable; but you know it is there. The equilibrium at the apex; wow, it just blows me away. The engineering that went into construction of the Arch is so advanced that I had to buy the new book this trip; which I devoured over the course of 2 days. A fascinating read, and now a centerpiece in my bookcase!

 

Of course, the ubiquitous pose of 'holding up the Arch'.  Totally cheesy, but I don't give a rip.

 

During my second visit this weekend, I got there when the doors open, and only had to wait 10 minutes to get in.  When I left 4 hours later (yes, I could have stayed longer), the line to get in was 90 minutes.  The tram to the top was a 2 hour wait for that group.

 

The Lewis & Clark museum was still great, the book store was much improved, the 'building the Arch' movie was still inspirational. The only thing new was a wild-west candy store; and it was packed. Peeps gotta have their sugar.

 

The photo as I am walking away from my most recent trip.  I will be back.  I love the Arch too much not to return.  I must have been an engineer and/or architect in a former life. I love the math involved in those vocations too much not to have experienced it.

 

If you have never been, go.  It is so worth it.

Pi

 

 

3 . 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 5 3 5 8 9 7 9 3 2 3 8 4 6 2 6 4 3 3 8 3 2 7 9 . . .

 

Last month, we went to St Louis for a weekend getaway (unfortunately, the Cards were on a road trip). This picture is in front of one of St Louis' top rated pizza places.  Appropriately called Pi, with of course the symbol on the door, and the digits running all around the building.

 

The server told us a story about a little boy that started looking at the digits, and told the restaurant owner "you're missing a number".  The owner didn't believe him, but did look it up, and sure enough, the artist applying the numbers to the walls did miss a number.  That little boy could have been me many decades ago!

Ever since I was a young child, I have been fascinated with Pi.  I think because it is as close to infinity as our finite minds can grasp. Infinity; there is no start, there is no end, it always was, it always is, it always will be.

This is a great website for learning even more about Pi.
http://www.joyofpi.com/

I memorized the first 30 digits of Pi some time ago, and can quote them by rote just like I typed them above.  If you want to really be challenged though, go to this website. It lists the first million digits of Pi.  As late as 2011, Pi digits have now been mathematically calculated (by a super computer) to go out as far as 10 trillion digits. We all know that infinity goes farther than that, (as does Pi), but think about it. 10 trillion known digits. Amazing.
http://www.piday.org/million/

What is Pi? 


Enjoy your Pi :-)

A Special 37th Anniversary Tribute

I know, I've used this picture before!  (Last year I think when I was blogging about guns and grandkids).  But hey!, it's my blog, and she's my wife; so I can do what I want :-). 

Besides, if you don't think that she is the most gorgeous thing that you have ever seen (other than your own wife if applicable), then send an e-mail to:  Mike@I.Dont.Give.A.Rip.com

~

Happy 37th Wedding Anniversary to my loving wife Pamela Jean!  I love you sweetheart!

This is one of my all-time favorite photo's of you.  I don't know if it is the power of the gun against the femininity of the hot pink, or the total sexiness of your hair, or the perfect smile, or just the fact that I know you are all mine.  Yes, I have to share you with two incredible daughters, and six equally incredible grand children; but wow, when I have you alone all to myself, there is nothing better in this life for me. 

As WP would say "it no matter."  My 'one on one' time with you is priceless, and I can't believe that we have been 'empty nesters' for almost 15 years now.  Whether my time with you is spent on one of our many travel vacations or frequent weekend getaways, or something as simple as daily watching a movie upstairs, or sharing a tea from QT as we tool around town in the Vette, or cooking a meal together for dinner; there is nothing else that I would prefer doing than being with you.

And of course, stealing a glance (or a few seconds of oogling) while watching you walk in front of me, anywhere, anytime, is an all-time favorite activity, even more so than watching baseball, and you know how much I love to watch baseball.  I love to watch you walk.  Besides, how else will I know how great you look in those jeans?!  I oogle at two things; you, and Corvettes.

Thankfully, I'm not one of those guys that only tells his wife or shows his wife how much he loves her on her birthday, on Valentine's Day, and on their wedding anniversary.  Nope, as you call me, I am Mr. Extreme; I am on the other end of the scale.  I do it 12x a day, every day of the year.  So much so that you get tired of saying thank you, and even on your self-professed 'bad days', you laugh at me and tell me no way.

I love to kiss, to touch, and to hold.  Not only my wife, but my daughters, my grandchildren, and all those 100's and 100's of babies from working in the newborn church nursery for 15 years.  It is part of my love language.  It is part of being Mr. Extreme.  It is who I am. 

I love hearing my wife's voice on the telephone.  I love to make her favorite grilled Ribeye steak dinner (and make sure the fat edge is charred just right).  I even enjoy helping her fold the laundry.

I can not imagine why any man would want to trade-down to get a new trophy wife.  My trophy wife gets better with age, my love for her grows more each year, and the glow of my wife's love proves again and again that she is absolutely the best (and only) trophy wife that I will ever have.  I do wish however that this grueling menopause thing would hurry up and be over with so that I don't have to guess anymore which version of my wife is going to be waking up today...

I Love You Pamela Jean.  37 years.  13,514 days (counting 9 leap days).  Not nearly enough time.  So glad that I've got all eternity to enjoy with you!

Even though we dated for the later part of '76 when this song was a hit, and we both liked "Still The One"; I wouldn't actually say that we knew it was 'our song' until many years later.  And now when I hear it on the radio, it gives me butterflies thinking of you.  I love you so much. 

Click on the link below if you want to read the lyrics (I could have written them myself) or listen to the song.

I am a blessed man.  Thank you for saying yes.  Thank you for helping to build a legacy, and to forge a heritage with our family.  59 years for my parents, 37 for us, 14 for Jackie, and 8 for Angela.  Wow.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/orleans/stilltheone.html