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   September
10, One Real Vacation Day this Summer
It had been a few years since we'd been
to Don and Judy's cabin at Lake Cavanaugh in Skagit County.
They've completed their major
expansion and renovation.
Nancy, Jean, and I visited on Monday the
10th. I'm the only one who braved the water. The new
water slide was the big draw for me. I turned as I went
down so Jean could catch a good look at my face with my Nikon.
190 pounds does not look at all athletic.
Before the swim, Don and I had a brisk
sail. Then, after sliding and swimming, I tried the stand
up paddle board and then the kayak. It's been so long since I've
been swimming, it's nice to know I still have the knack.
Amber, at three years old, is a
diligent guard dog, but once she learns you are friend not foe,
she can be pampered as she deserves. She sailed with us,
rode with Don on the paddle board, and when I laid on the living
room floor in the cabin, she joined me for a vigorous belly rub.
Shadow is only a wonderful cat because she acts like a dog, and
it's dogs I love. I'm surprised I was not too sore the
next morning.
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Laurie and Zack Visit at Susan's on the 8th
I'm an introvert, and a Saturday afternoon to relax at home and
listen to the Husky game (UW 45-3 over North Dakota), do some
reading and perhaps some cleaning, was my original plan.
But then I heard that Laurie was taking care of grandson Zach
and would be visiting at Susan's on Saturday. Nathanael,
Cynthia, and Jonathan would be there too, so plans changed.
Laurie was still in town after the high school reunion.
She'd sent Tom back to Colorado.
 Charis
is quick to smile around everyone but me. She invariably
starts to cloud up when left in my care. At least at this
stage, I'm not a favorite of hers. But Jonathan gave me a
big smile as he pulled on my glasses and hair. The babies
get passed around the family. Many hands make child care
easier.
 Annie
had planned a salad bar style lunch, and it turned out we had
nearly all of the fixings at our house.
Speaking of salad fixings, I've discovered that I like a snack
or meal of a slice of toast with a layer of Gorgonzola cheese
broiled on it. The Gorgonzola from COSTCO is
"Italian Blue Cheese" (from Wisconsin.) My typical salad
includes lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, hard boiled egg, croutons,
green onions (if I have it), nuts, and raisins, and is dressed
with ample blue cheese.
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  Debrief
& Relax
The West Seattle High School 45th
reunion was a great success last month, and the celebration at
Lisa Bergman's house overlooking Shilshole Bay was a follow-up
party.
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The Catharsis of Shopping
I do not gamble, but I do shop eBay as
a need arises. I got myself four pair of Air Force
surplus shorts for only $11.98, to encourage me to spend more
time on the elliptical. Worth their weight in gold if they
encourage me to exercise.
Last month I got a case for my smart
phone for $7.99. It will protect the screen and it holds
my bus pass, so there's one less thing to remember each morning
on my way to school.
And I got Nancy to pick out the style
of Swiss Army knife she wanted, and was surprised and please to
win the bid for a pair of these "Super Tinker" style ones for
only $22.72, when two brand new ones would be at least $64.
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  1225
100th Ave. NE
To think that a few years ago
we almost bought the former house on this lot for under
half a million dollars. The new home that went on
sale this month has no basement but is 4,882 square feet
and has its bonus room on this top floor! The
first floor has kitchen and entertaining areas, and a
mother-in-law apartment. The 2nd floor has two smaller
bedrooms, an office or third bedroom, and a huge master
suite. The asking price is $2,680,000.
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  The
New 1234 99th Ave. NE Goes Up
Just over our west fence and the easement at
our northwest corner, the new two-story house is well on its way. I'm sure
it will be elegant, but despite our 0.42 acre lot, it's a big change to
now be hemmed in on both our east and west sides by new, tall
construction. So far, the only downside is the fact that their
Honey Bucket sits just over the fence near the north end of our garage.
I often wonder if the refrigerator in the garage has failed because of
the smell, then I remember . . .
Susan's Apples
Susan had a big crop of apples that Nancy
insisted we harvest.
I was willing to help, even though I had to
watch the Seahawks - Cowboys football game on Susan's small screen.
(Seattle won 24-13). My real reason for "giving up" a Sunday for
this project was another chance to watch the grandkids grow!
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 IWI
Jericho 941 F9
(added September 25, 2018)
Why one more semi-automatic pistol? My
reasons may not seem valid to some, but here they are.
-
 Initiative
1639 on the Washington State ballot this November encouraged me to
purchase one more before State laws possibly changed.
-
I
wanted a range gun that was known for its accuracy, was all steel
not polymer, and was hammer fired not striker fired.
The frame
mounted safety makes it like my S&W 9FS, but its DA/SA trigger will
provide a much different shooting experience.
-
I
had decided I wanted a CZ 75 styled gun and had examined many.
The CZ models from Czechoslovakia were higher priced, and other
quality models were made in Turkey, which I found unacceptable for
political reasons. But "IWI" stands for Israel Weapon
Industries. The Jericho 941 F9 is the standard side arm of the
police in Israel and by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
It
was my honor to do my tiny bit to support Israeli manufacturing.
And there may be no higher quality arms manufacturers than those in
Israel.
-
 While
this is a range gun, it is first and foremost an investment.
High quality firearms maintain their value very well. Those
firearms I paid $100-$120 for in the late 1970's are worth over $600
today.
I
had actually tried to purchase the slightly shorter Jericho 941 FS9
earlier in September for $587 from LowPriceGuns.com here in Bellevue.
But for some reason, the online order did not go through. When I
decided to try again, I went with the longer model F9 because this was
to be a range gun. The longer sight radius increases the accuracy
just that much more. Its all steel
 construction and
large size means it will not be a carry gun. My S&W 9c, SCCY CPX2,
and S&W Model 36 do fine as carry guns.
I found this model for
$550 online at Davidson's Gallery of Guns. MSRP was $655. It
was shipped to
LowPriceGuns.com from North Carolina on Wendesday, September 26th, and I
picked it up on Friday, the 28th. Ellis Kao, who had sold me his
SCCY CPX-2 the year before, was there when I picked it up.
At left,
it's clear that the 16-shot Jericho 941 is almost exactly the same size
as the 17-shot Smuth & Wesson M&P 9FS ("Full Size"). But the
all-steel Jericho is 37 oz. to the M&P's 25 oz.
Initial tests in my clandesine range, show that
I'll need to adjust the sights a bit on the Jericho 941. My target
circles are dime sized, and all five shots were just low.
← 1280x800 (LEFT IWI
Jericho 941 F9), 1920x1080 (RIGHT S&W M&P 9FS)
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Bits and Pieces
  ♦
I have a tooth! On the 5th, I finally got the second implant I'd
been waiting for since the end of January. Jake Carlson took my latest
portrait, since my "studio" was setup in my outer office to photograph
Drs. Chung, Dadzie, and Nguyen, and our new Executive Assistant.
Our new EA, Kathleen Cochran (right), is a Juris Doctor by way of
Seattle University. She seems competent but unsure of herself.
I hope she will grow into her vital role in the business school. I
heartily approve of the username she choose, "KFC."
 ♦
On Friday, September 21st, police shut down both directions of the
SR-520 floating bridge because of a disabled vehicle and a driver with a
shotgun in the vehicle. But the gun was never used in a
threatening way. The police shut down the bridge for over an hour
at the height of the Friday homeward bound commute. I was on the
271 METRO bus about 400 yards from the stand-off.
From KING TV: "One person was taken into
custody following police activity on the 520 floating bridge Friday
night. Police surrounded a truck in the eastbound lanes around 4:50 p.m.
at the West Highrise. All traffic was blocked in both directions of the
bridge. Around 5:45 p.m., a man inside the truck walked onto the
bridge with a dog. Police took the man peacefully into custody. It's
unclear what led up to the incident."
♦
I went to my first West Seattle High School Alumni Associate meeting as
the class of 1973 rep. Seven board members and only six class reps
were in attendance. It was, shall we say, instructional.
 ♦ Jean
has signed on with Molly Brown Temps who consolidated their Bellevue and
Seattle offices this spring in Seattle at 520 Pike Street, Suite 1310,
Seattle, WA 98101. She starts her first assignment next week in the
Eastgate area.
♦ Our
coordinator in our Center for Applied Learning, Jennifer Danke, left us
at the end of the month. I learned of her departure on the 26th.
We had her farewell party on the 27th, and she was gone on the 28th.
Her departure was a medical necessity due to brain trauma suffered in
an auto accident early in the year.
♦
I have a cold on this last weekend of the month. Lecturing on
Monday for four hours may be a problem.
♦
Three months into my 4-day work week, I can't say I've come to
appreciate the days away from SPU.
My Quotes from September
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“And hence it is, that to feel much for others and little
for ourselves, that to restrain our selfish, and to indulge
our benevolent affections, constitutes the perfection of
human nature; and can alone produce among mankind that
harmony of sentiments and passions in which consists their
whole grace and propriety. As to love our neighbour as we
love ourselves is the great law of Christianity, so it is
the great precept of nature to love ourselves only as we
love our neighbour, or what comes to the same thing, as our
neighbour is capable of loving us.”
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“In a nation distracted by faction, there are, no doubt,
always a few, though commonly but a very few, who preserve
their judgment untainted by the general contagion. They
seldom amount to more than, here and there, a solitary
individual, without any influence, excluded, by his own
candour, from the confidence of either party, and who,
though he may be one of the wisest, is necessarily, upon
that very account, one of the most insignificant men in the
society.”
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“How many people ruin themselves by laying out money on
trinkets of frivolous utility? What pleases these lovers of
toys is not so much the utility, as the aptness of the
machines which are fitted to promote it. All their pockets
are stuffed with little conveniences. They contrive new
pockets, unknown in the clothes of other people, in order to
carry a greater number. They walk about loaded with a
multitude of baubles, in weight and sometimes in value not
inferior to an ordinary Jew's-box, some of which may
sometimes be of some little use, but all of which might at
all times be very well spared, and of which the whole
utility is certainly not worth the fatigue of bearing the
burden.”
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― Adam Smith, Quotes from The
Theory of Moral Sentiments |
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