Big boys

It's hard to believe these two are in school as I type this. Time flies......
(Mason and Quinn Simmons)
I was going through some old photos.

Good read

No matter how you come down on the Al Gore energy use debate (click here), this is a really good discussion of it by average people from all sides of the political spectrum (Click here). Remember, the issue here is not whether or not Global Warming exists, what its causes may or may not be, what we should do or not do about it... the issue is why the self appointed spokesman for the cause is so much more a contributer to the claimed causes than the average Joe.

Hmmm

Iowa man discovers he's a lucky 'idiot'

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa - Ed O'Neill's bank account just got a lot bigger, thanks to a co-worker who told him some "idiot" hasn't claimed an $800,000 Powerball lottery prize.

O'Neill, 58, who works for the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, bought the ticket for a Jan. 6 Powerball drawing. He told Iowa Lottery staffers he didn't think to check the results until a couple days afterward when a chamber receptionist pointed out an article in the local newspaper.

"She said, 'Read this article about the idiot that hasn't claimed his ticket.' So I read it and noticed where the ticket was bought," O'Neill said. "I thought, 'Gee, I better look at my ticket.' That's when I said, 'I think I won.'"

Then he called his wife, Diane, 58, who thought he was pulling a prank.

O'Neill said his wife told him to "quit horsing around. I'm watching Oprah."

O'Neill countered: "No really, Diane. I won."

Hysteria soon ensued as Diane realized he wasn't joking.

On Monday, the couple cashed in the ticket at the lottery headquarters in Des Moines, but not before meeting with an accountant and planning how to handle the winnings.

"There's a lot of responsibility that comes with that kind of money," O'Neill said.

O'Neill won by matching five white balls in the Powerball game. He also had purchased the Power Play option, multiplying a $200,000 prize by four.

After taxes, the couple will get about $560,000 - much of which will go to pay off their mortgage, pay off their children's mortgages and save for retirement.

There will be a little left for fun, too. O'Neill said he and his wife are planning a trip to Ireland.

They also plan to donate money to Prince of Peace Catholic Parish in Clinton to help pay for construction of another church.

"Special Seasonings" ??

Hungry for KFC? Click here (link leads to new page)

Cool

Click the picture to see more:

Friday Joke

From an email I got today:

Two Newfies, Archie and Harry, were driving down the road drinking a couple of beers. The passenger, Harry, suddenly said, "Lord tundering jaisus... up ahead -- it's a police roadblock!! We're gonna get busted fer drinkin' dese here beers!!" Don't worry," Archie said. "We'll just pull over and finish dese beers, then peel off the label, stick it on our foreheads, and trow the bottles under the seat."

"What fer?"

"Jist let me do de talkin', OK?"

So they finished their beers, threw the empties out of sight and put a label on each of their foreheads. When they reached the roadblock, the police officer took a long look at the two of them and said, "You boys been drinkin'?"

"No sir," said Archie, pointing at the labels. "We're on the patch."

FL Slideshow

bugsyboat

Sunsets

The first two are from our last night in FL. The third is the sunset we came home to on the mountain across the street.

Sort of a test

Great Sand Dunes Nat. Park

The party's over.

Back home again.... We got up at 4:00am (FL time)yesterday and were back in New Mexico by 11:30am (NM time). The kids were great on the plane and it was as smooth as could be expected. Of course, they were all up by 4:50am this morning because of the time change. That is after one "bad dream" and one "I wet the bed" sleep interuption break around midnight/1:00am. We have plenty of snow to deal with in the driveway but things look good at home. Work is waiting...

Good

Some things

Mason showing off his "guns"
Arden looking out to sea
A gopher tortoise

More fun

Here is Grampy and Arden lighting sparklers in the back yard.
They stopped at a fireworks place on the drive down.

A few of the bigger teeth found today.

Collecting prehistoric sharks teeth has been a favorite pastime of visitors and residents of the Venice area for years. They may be black, brown, or gray, depending on the minerals in the soil in which they have been buried. They range in size from one eighth inch to three inches, and on rare occasions more.

Sharks of all species continually shed their teeth and grow new ones. They have 40 or more teeth in each jaw. Behind the functional rows or teeth are seven other rows of teeth developing into mature dentures to replace teeth as they are shed or lost. In ten years, an average Tiger shark can produce as many as 24,000 teeth.

Besides sharks teeth, fossils of other marine creatures are also found in this area. Because millions of years ago most of Florida was under water, many fossils are found inland as well as on the beaches. State law prohibits digging without a permit however.

LEMON

CARCHARODON

The largest and most impressive of extinct sharks

DUSKY

SAND SHARK

BULL SHARK

Bull, Dusty, and Black-tipped are abundant, however they are difficult to distinguish from each other and from Lemon Sharks

EXTINCT MAKO

SHORTFIN MAKO

Mako teeth range from 0.25" to 2" long and are one of the more plentiful finds

EXTINCT TIGER SHARK

ANOTHER TIGER SHARK

Tiger shark teeth are usually less than 1"

SNAGGLETOOTH

Identification of sharks teeth, which come in many different shapes and sizes, is relatively easy. All of the teeth in the mouth of a single type of shark are the same shape. They vary only in size. The shape of the teeth of each species is distinct.

Nice days

The weather has improved significantly in the past few days. It's been in the 70's and sunny for a while. Our days typically go like this: Wake up, eat a big breakfast, walk to town or swim in the pool, go to the beach for a few hours, come home and eat lunch, kids take a nap, eat dinner, go to bed, repeat the next day.

The tree in front of the house.

A perfect tree for climbing. That's Mason hanging out.

A slow day in FL.

Grampy took a moment to mentally prepare for the trip to the beach.

Where it was cloudy and 50.

Florida

We left sunny NM for rainy/cold FL on Saturday. Sunday was cool but we managed to get to the beach for part of the afternoon. I found 128 sharks teeth but the searching wasn't that great, a big storm had washed a bunch of seaweed up and made hunting a little difficult.
It's 55 F with cloudy skies but the kids are all in the pool having fun. Off to the beach a little later.

COLD!

It was as cold as the proverbial "Witch's bosom" last night: -26ºF one street over from us, -24ºF at the radio station (one block away), and -34ºF in Alamosa, CO, about an hour north.
I need to call Craig and see how night in the yurt was. They are often colder than Alamosa.....

A visitor in the night....

When I went out to shovel this morning (5 more inches) I saw that we had been visited by an old friend last night.
I'll post a picture of him when I get home tonight.
2 more days 'til Florida!!

As promised, here is the culprit (a picture I took last winter):