T&A's Big Adventure - Main Blog

Spring 2008

Andrew Koransky — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:23:00 GMT

WOW! It's been a long time since I updated our site here! I figured I'd better type up a quick update so you can see what we've been up to the past few months. Thanks to Teresa, we have a nearly up-to-date gallery posted at the usual site: http://koransky.com/gallery/v/Salida/

We last left you in April... Teresa and I realized we hadn't taken a vacation for ourselves in a little over a year. (On all recent trips, we simply visited family.) When you live in paradise, the need to vacation isn't as high on the priority list as it once was, but we decided to take a week for ourselves and go explore Arizona and Mexico.

We started the trip with a visit to some friends we met last summer. I met them through the running club. They purchased a straw bale house up here in Salida. They teach on the Hopi reservation in Northeast Arizona. They invited us to come and visit them on Hopi, and this past spring, we actually made it happen. And it was an incredible experience.

Teresa writes:

We traveled though the Navaho reservation and finally arrived at the smaller Hopi reservation within. After traveling through first and second mesa, we finally made it to third mesa, where Chris and Jessica live and work as school teachers. We hiked up to a nearby mesa and village, Old Oraibi (Old Orayvi). Oraibi is the location of an older Hopi village, one that split several years ago. There's an old Christian church that had been hit by lightening twice and many of the natives felt that was the sign of bad spirits. They split off, moving to a location off the mesa, where the village of Kykotsmovi is. Because the natives feel that a photograph will steal their spirit and because photographs have been used for negative purposes in the past, I respected the culture and didn't take any photos, even though it was killing me not to shoot something so beautiful. On our way out to hike, we ran into a couple of local kids and they guided us up to the church and then showed us a different trail, along a ledge of the mesa, that was lined with pottery shards and ancient petroglyphs. The pottery shards had the most amazing patterns and had been there hundreds of years, scattered all along the trail. The kids told us that the Hopi are not allowed to touch them, it shows that they have been there. They have ALWAYS been there. We asked the kids about some of the petroglyphs and they responded with, "Oh, those are just some kachinas", very nonchalantly. A couple of images showed the Spanish on horses, dating these around the 15th or 16th century. These were ancient rock drawings from their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents!!

Later, we went to Second Mesa and took a short hike (about three miles), down a short stair step carved in the rocks, following the edge of the mesa. Some of the local boys joined us for the hike, running and playing "Kachina" as we walked. I couldn't take any photos of the village.

Larson, a local potter, showed us around First Mesa. Again, I couldn't take pictures in the villages of First Mesa. He took us up to his village, Tewa, first village on First Mesa. We also took a semi-guided tour of the Middle and Third Village (Walpi) of First Mesa. The tour guide allowed us to walk in front of the group while Larson gave us a very personal tour. He told us more about how the kivas were used at different ceremonies and by different clans. He also told us a bit about the different clans and how some clans have died out, as well as some of the ceremonies.

It's sad to think that their traditions that lasted hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, are on the verge of dying out here in the 20th and 21st century. Many of the villages are now only inhabited by the families for ceremonies. After our walk through the villages, Larson took us for a drive to the backside of the mesa where he and his cousins have been planting some fields. The only photos I could take were of the fields outside the villages, with Larson's permission.

You can find the pictures we were allowed to take here.

The Hopi, as well as many natives I suspect, are a people caught between two worlds... the world of their native past, and the world of the modern man. They walk a fine line that is difficult to convey in words.

The people have a very strong sense of family and native traditions. Many desire to stay on their native lands close to their family, but poverty can often drive people off the reservation to find jobs and more money for their family. As a result, the reservation doesn't have enough of an economic base to support their own infrastructure. Doctors, teachers (like our hosts) are "imported," which allows the community to "function" in the modern world with education, hospitals, and libraries. We discovered you can't get a traditional home loan on the reservation because you cannot own land on the reservation... land is granted by the tribe to the head of household. (Being a matriarchal society, this is usually the "mother" of the house.) As a result, most homes are mobile and therefore can be reposessed if the owner defaults.

We also discovered a lot of trash heaps outside of family homes. I found this surprising, given their respect for the eath. I guess, in the past, midden mounds were typical traditional ways of dealing with trash... but the "natural" garbage decomposed a lot better back then. I asked others about this behavior, and I think their reasoning was "poverty angst."

Then there is technology versus tradition. For many years, many Hopi would take ancient stairs down from the top of the mesa to get water. But now, they have the option of installing a pump. Which would you prefer?

There was a sense of distrust in foreigners. When we were with our friends or a native, we were welcomed with open arms... even to the point of being invited over for dinner one evening! But when Teresa and I wandered into a grocery store, unknown faces without local friends, we felt a tiny bit out of place. People weren't really unpleasant... just guarded. I walked away with a much greater understanding of the dilemma facing the natives of our country. Thanks so much to our native and non-native hosts! It was a special cultural experience I won't soon forget.

On to the rest of our trip...

We like to travel with no agenda, and this trip was no exception. Our vague plans called for us to head towards Chaco Culture National Historic Park, but we left plenty of time in our schedule. After studying the map for a bit, we decided to take a circuitous route to Chaco, first stopping in El Morro. (photos here) From Teresa:

We drove into El Morro, where a natural waterfall and pool used to draw travelers from all over the area hundreds of years ago. There's a cliff face of sandstone with petroglyphs and historic engravings. While people camped here and filled up on water, they carved their names and other sayings onto the cliff walls. Almost all of the engravings were Spanish, many dated. The oldest one was dated 1605, several years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock! Some sayings were poems, others were simple declarations of who they were and why they were here. Some declarations were quite boastful, with another saying close by mocking the first. There are several Native American petroglyphs and other elaborate carvings.

Next stop? Bandera's Ice Cave and Volcano... a bit of a tourist trap, but still kinda neat. (photos here) From Teresa:

We'd heard about this before, but missed it on our previous journeys. In a very volcanic area, the bottom of this cave always contains ice. Of course, we asked about why. It seems that the bottom of the cave is insulated from the earth temperature by several feet of lava and the top is also insulated from outside temperature swings. Cold air sinks into the cave and the water there remains frozen year round. Workers on the local railroad in the early 1900's used to keep their beer cold in the caves.

El Malpais was surprisingly nice. It's basically a massive volcanic flow with a few cinder cones scattered about. There was tons of hiking and open terrain. There is so much to explore, we may return another time. (photos here) From Teresa:

El Malpais is the location of a 2,000 year old volcano. We did some hiking on the lava. The surface was erratic and rough, but your shoes stuck to it like glue. We rock-hopped out to the ancient caldera, jumping over large cracks in the lava. It seemed strange the way the lava suddenly stopped at the edge of the flow.

On to Chaco, but the super high winds (50 mph) kept us in Grants for an extra night. Chaco is exposed, and the last thing we wanted was to try to sleep with our truck rocking back and forth. Part of the way to Chaco, we turned around and headed back to Grants for a hotel/laundary night. We did finally make it the next day, and although the winds were up, they apparently weren't as bad as the day prior. (photos here) From Teresa:

Chaco is the ruins of an ancient Puebloian culture. The Hopi are believed to be the decendants of these people. This site is not easy to get to, possibly saving it from too much tourism. It's many miles out on a dirt and gravel road into the middle of nowhere. It's the largest collection of Pueblo Great Houses that's been discovered. Some of these houses cover acres of land in the desert and are believed to be used mainly for ceremonial purposes. We visited many of the ruins, but Pueblo Bonito is the most famous. We saw it from above while we were hiking up on a nearby mesa and it's truely amazing! We also saw a "ladder" up to the mesa from below that was carved into the rock face. I can't believe someone perched on the side of the rock wall while carving the next step! If you ever get a chance to go, GO! But it's not a place that you'll just pass thru, you have to WANT to get there.

We stopped in Navajo City (blog) while we enjoyed their wonderful food and talked to Pat. You meet some amazing people on the road, and Pat was one of those people. Intelligent and engaging, we probably chatted with her for an hour or two before heading on to Santa Fe, where we managed to get a priceline hotel smack next to the Blue Corn Cafe brewpub! Beer? It was ok. The IPA was descent. Finally, on to home! It was good trip, and it was nice to spend time together, just us two, for a change.

As I wrap up this blog entry, we now find ourselves on yet another family trip. I write this from Florida, where we are attending a family reunion (Teresa's side) as well as visiting my grandma. Next, we head North to Alaska for more family fun. My mom is turning 60, and she's taking the family in a cruise. Hopefully, the weather will be better than last time! I plan on updating the blog with our summer activities as well (assuming I can find internet) during our trip.

Chicken Lips moved

Andrew Koransky — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:29:00 GMT

Howdy Folks...

Just a quick note to state that our Chicken Lips show on KHEN.org is now being podcasted from the newly revamped KHEN website, and will no longer be a part of our podcasts here at adventure.koransky.com. We also will limit our podcast to 10 shows in the feed.

To subscribe to the podcast, check here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/KHEN-ChickenLips-Podcast

Thanks for your support!

T&A

Mo Chicken, Mo Lips

Andrew Koransky — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:41:00 GMT

Err... I should have posted this a few days ago when we actually made the decision, but life has been a bit crazy recently.

Teresa and I have decided to do another hour of Chicken Lips. We start tomorrow at 7 AM now, and go until 9 AM Mountain time zone.

Bike Ride 250-5630 Shavano loop

Andrew Koransky — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:16:00 GMT

Nice bike ride this afternoon. Felt good to get on my mountain bike for a serious ride! Headed up towards Shavano on CR-250 and back on 5630/Wash Out Rd loop (13 mi) Check it out here:

Pangea Day

Andrew Koransky — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:28:00 GMT

We participated in Pangea Day last Saturday by going to a local viewing here in Salida. We were originally going to host a Pangea Day gathering, but ended up merging with a larger gathering in downtown. The goal of Pangea Day is to bring the world together through the power of film.

http://www.pangeaday.org/

Not being a huge fan of movies, I was originally skeptical, but in the end, I was deeply moved by the production. I was glued to the screen for nearly 4 hours. I think the most powerful thing they did was show how we all, regardless of where we live, experience the same emotions, such as love, hope, fear, etc... To me, the most powerful message was simply: we are all human.

Here is an example. A film about, perhaps, the bravest people in the Palestinian and Israeli conflict:

http://www.pangeaday.org/filmDetail.php?id=68

Pangea Day started through TED, a forum for amazing ideas:

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/55

Be careful... the TED website is addictive.

My only complaint? Let's hope they get some better musical talent for next year!

Chicken Lips On The Air

Andrew Koransky — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:09:00 GMT

As mentioned in our last post, Andrew and I have been considering trying our hand at DJing at our local community radio station KHEN (Community Radio = Volunteering = No Pay). We did our first show as volunteers for another DJ as she was out of town one evening.

Well, we will begin doing a morning show, Chicken Lips, this Wed, 8-9am (Mtn Daylight Savings Time; adjust your time zone accordingly). KHEN does have streaming of their broadcast, so check it out if you can. We may archive it after the fact. We will be doing this regular one hour morning music show on Wednesdays, I guess until we get tired of it. Let us know what you think of our show!

Chick's Voices - Our First KHEN Broadcast

Andrew Koransky — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:31:00 GMT

As I've mentioned before, we have a very cool local community radio station here in Salida: KHEN-LP 106.9 (website). I've been spending many hours straightening out the KHEN computers, the KHEN network, and getting their radio automation software up and running. It's fun working with all the good folks down at the station.

Just last night, we did our first radio broadcast on KHEN-LP 106.9 Salida, CO. The DJ for a program called Chick's Voices was out of town and asked us to sub for her second hour. (With a name like KHEN, shows names generally have something to do with chickens. My favorite show name is "Mechanically Separated." ) We were pretty darn nervous, but started relaxing a bit towards the end. Attached is a low quality (48kbps to protect artists' interests) copy of the show.

Where is the audio? Check enclosure/Attachment(s) links at the bottom of this entry for the audio!

Here is our play list:

Name	Artist	Album
White Rabbit	Blue Man Group (featuring the voice of Esthero)	The Complex
Sweet Tooth	Mudcat (Atlanta artist, featuring the voice of Lori Beth Edgeman)	Mo' Better Chicken
Throw No Stones	Liz Barnez (Colorado artist)
Circle	Sarah McLachlan	Fumbling Towards Ecstacy
Having A Hard Time	Paris Luna (another Atlanta Artist)	City Lights
Scooter Boys	Indigo Girls	Shaming of the Sun
I Try	Macy Gray
Poetry Cocktail	Candye Kane	Swango
It Might As Well Be Spring	Sophie Milman	Make Someone Happy
Come Away With Me	Norah Jones	Come Away With Me
Summertime	Angélique Kidjo	Spirits of the World
Marta's Song	Deep Forest	Deep Forest
Destiny	Zero 7	Simple Things
Seven Wonders	Nickel Creek	This Side
Oh, Atlanta	Alison Krauss	Now That I've Found You

Epstein-Barr drops by for a visit

Andrew Koransky — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:53:00 GMT

It had been a good winter so far. Work has been steady. And after a slow start, the snow has been quite plentiful, but not to the point of being debilitating... at least, not in our immediate area. A couple of miles North of us, people couldn't get out of their driveways or down some of the county roads due to snow drifts. Apparently, blown snow forms drifts which are far more difficult to remove than the freshly fallen stuff. Some folks were stuck for a week or longer. However, here in Salida, especially in our subdivision, it can snow far less versus the surrounding countryside. We never had any problems, making us extremely thankful that we made the choice to be near this little town. There have been so many days when we look up at the mountains, encased in snow showers while we enjoy sunshine here in our rain-shadow, desert paradise... or other times, I drive out of a raging snow storm at Ski Monarch into sunshine on my way home.

I've really come to enjoy our local ski resort. When I skied my first few runs there last season, I was kinda down on the place due to the slow lifts and short runs, but you know what? Monarch has got a lot of fun runs, ne'er a lift line, and there's almost always powder around if you look hard enough. And after some skiing at Ski Cooper, where I literally skied a black (advanced) run which could have been a green (easy) anywhere else, I'm even more thankful. (Ski Cooper would be a great place to learn though!) This season I made it up to Monarch at least once a week for about 7-8 weeks because I signed up for Town Challenge, a locals' race league. I suck at racing... It's a totally different technique compared the skiing I learned. My skis are short and soft, so they aren't really designed for racing. There are people twice my age blowing my doors off, which, if you think of it, is actually pretty cool! There aren't many physical sports where an 80 year old can beat a 34 year old sheerly on technique! In any case, I figure it gets me up there for the day, skiing with friends, and it keeps me active, which is the important thing. My ski season, however, just came to an abrupt end (or, at least I'm experiencing an extended interruption) due to an unwelcome visitor.

Epstein-Barr has paid me a visit, and unfortunately it it will likely be an extended visit. Come Wednesday (a week and a half ago), Teresa and I headed up to Monarch for her first lesson this season, and I wandered off with a friend to explore some of the steeper runs. The lesson went well, and I had a good time, but on the way back, I started feeling like total crap. It just went downhill from there. I kept telling Teresa that something just felt "different" about this. It wasn't a typical flu virus. I couldn't sleep it off, or at least, sleep didn't make me fell any better. It kept getting worse. I didn't want to eat, and I felt nauseous. I had a fever and visibly swollen glands. Over the next 5-6 days, it just got progressively worse. The sore throat so intense, I went on a liquid diet for 2-3 days. Finally, after multiple discussions with my dad (a doctor), I went in to the local doctor and asked him to run a culture test to rule out strep, some blood tests to check for the Epstein-Barr virus, and what do you know... my dad was right. I came up with a positive test for mononucleosis (cause: Epstein-Barr virus).

It's so weird... according to everything I've read, I should have contracted Mono years ago... 95% of Americans have already had this virus by my age. Also known as "the Kissing Disease", the virus is mostly transmitted via saliva, so maybe this says something about my teenage love life... (hah.. who am I kidding... what teenage love life? I was a GEEK! ) What's also interesting, is that Mono virus stays in your blood and can become active at any time. But since 95% of the population has had it and are immune, it's no big deal. Unless you've never had it... Lucky ME! I may have very well caught this from Teresa, or anyone. And like chicken pox, it is worse to get as an adult. Anyhow, it's not fun, and there's no vaccine, just lots of acetaminophen... and I could have up to six months recovery time! I'll probably have a full recovery six weeks (2 down, 4 to go), but that's still a very long time. I'm definitely on the mend now, so that's good news.

Enough of my whining! To wrap up our winter fun, here are some photo highlights...

In mid January, we hosted a post-holiday house warming:

Nice winter shots:
Check out ther herd of antelope which decided to call Salida home this winter.

Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park...

And Lyons, CO (home of Oskar Blues brewery)
Yes folks, good beer can be canned!

Engineering at KHEN
I've been volunteering at our local community radio station a bit recently, trying to get their computers straightened out. Here you see me manning the computer at the "underwriting recording party!"

Leadville
We took a trip up to Leadville with the Arkansas Valley Brewing Club. I skiied a day at Ski Cooper, and Teresa hit a snowshoe trails with friends. Check out this car!

More Photos of Leadville, Rosie's Brewpub, and Teresa's snowshoe hike.

And a little soapbox rant: In case you hadn't heard, we are in danger here in the Arkansas Valley. It is thought that nearly one BILLION gallons of water contaminated with heavy metals is backing up in a mining tunnel in Leadville, and the fear is that this water could "blow out," destroy a nearby neighborhood, and surge down the Arkansas River destroying water quality and wildlife habitat. This is all thanks to Leadville's dirty mining past and Federal Government inaction. More info: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8266153. Let's hope Leadville's mining future is monitored more closely!

An era has ended. The Holiday Ramber rambles on (sold!)...

You know you are a Coloradoan if...

Andrew Koransky — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:01:00 GMT

I got this in an e-mail and thought it funny enough to post. It is interesting to note, for our Southern friends out there, that there are rednecks everywhere...

It's in a Jeff Foxworthy style, but I am unable to actually figure out it's source. It probably started as a chain, went back and forth a few times, while folks added their own lines to it. We had to add the last line. :-) Unfortunately, our employers don't truly understand the meaning of Powder Day. Well, here goes...

You are a Coloradoan if...

You switch from 'Heat' to 'A/C' in one day.
You know what the 'Peoples Republic of Boulder' means.
Your sense of direction is: towards the mountains and away from the mountains.
You're a meat-eating vegetarian.
The bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane.
You're able to drive 65 miles per hour through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without even flinching.
You take your out-of-town guests to Casa Bonita even though you would never go there otherwise. (I haven't been here yet!!)
You think your major food groups are granola bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.
You design your kid's Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.
You think that sexy lingerie is wool socks and flannel PJs.
You know all 4 seasons 'almost winter, winter, still winter and spring blizzards
You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a CU/CSU victory.
You know the 'correct' pronunciation of Buena Vista or Salida.
Your car insurance costs more than your car.
'Timberline' is someplace you have actually been.
You know what a 'Chinook' is
You know what a 'Rocky Mountain Oyster' is.
You know what a 'fourteener' is.
...But you don't know what a 'turn signal' is.
Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning rod.
You have surge protectors on every outlet.
You can never figure out why your out-of-town guests faint from altitude sickness on a picnic to the mountains.
When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.
People from out of state breathe 5 times as often as you do.
A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.
Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.
Thunder has set off your car alarm.
You have an $800 stereo in your $300 truck.
You think a red light means 3 more cars can go.
Where we're going, we don't need roads!!
You know where the real 'South Park' is.
You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.
Driving directions usually include 'Go over_________ Pass.'
You've checked for ticks.
You've dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka with a hood.
April showers bring May blizzards.
You've gone snow skiing in July and... You've played golf in January and... They were in the same year!
You've urinated on the Continental Divide just so it could run into both oceans.
You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both down stream.
You know what a down slope and an up slope weather pattern is.
You actually understand these jokes and send them to your Colorado friends.
You can drive over a 12,000-foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can't get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.
You (and your employer) knows what "Powder Days" are.

Hope this made you laugh...

In recent news, Teresa and I celebrated Teresa's birthday with a trip over to Lyons, CO, doing some snowshoeing in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, and visiting Oskar Blues for some outstanding blues music and phenomenal beer. Watch for photos, and maybe a more detailed post later...

An Interesting Argument for Action

Andrew Koransky — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:45:00 GMT

Here is an elegant argument which applies risk management to a problem that's making headlines nearly every day now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg

Ok... so maybe it ain't so elegant, but it is hard to deny his reasoning.

I do have a few issues with the way he presented it though. I do realize he had limited time to make his point, and he chose to look at the big picture mostly. Here's where I think he missed a few things:

What about the power of the individual? So what have you done to reduce your carbon footprint? Have you analyzed your footprint? For example, have you replaced any of your incandescent light bulbs with CFLs? How about them leaky windows or your ancient refrigerator?
Second, he ignores the secondary benefits of fighting global warming:

Reducing our oil consumption - we're gonna run out of it eventually anyway! A sudden end to our oil supply would certainly prove to be catastrophic, so why not look for alternatives now?
A more just foreign policy - as a result of less dependence on foreign oil.
A more sustainable future - our children won't be as reliant upon an ever shrinking supply of resources.
Healthier air and water.
A new thriving sector of the economy - green products.

So what do you think?

Holiday Rambler for Sale

Andrew Koransky — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:16:00 GMT

Anyone interested in owning a piece of history? You can now own our 26 ft 1972 Holiday Rambler for a bargain price... approximately what we paid when we bought it, even though we've made many improvements. We lived in it full time for a while and everything works. For it's age, it is in phenomenal shape. We are getting rid of it because we don't really have a use for anything this big. More info here:

http://denver.craigslist.org/rvs/531725966.html

Let us know if you are interested.

Own a classic piece of history: 26 ft, 1972 Holiday Rambler, four season (extra insulated, plumbing runs thru enclosed flooring that also houses the heating ducts), no leaks, we've sealed the roof, replaced much of the plumbing, new 10gal water heater, in great shape and everything works! AND a built-in BLUE VELVET SOFA and tie-dyed curtain, just bring your own velvet Elvis painting! It's great for someone who wants to use it as temporary housing or a hunting/fishing cabin. It has 4 brand new tires (1 year old, only traveled from Denver to Salida, CO) and we're including insulated plywood skirting to go around the bottom to keep it warmer in winter.

Happy Holidays 2007

Andrew Koransky — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:36:00 GMT

Happy Holidays to everyone! Please check out our 2007 Holiday E-Card, hot off the press!

And a little bit of news... Tanda Enterprises, our little company recently joined the Heart of the Rockies Chamber of Commerce, was recently on the local radio stations KVRH/KBVC. You can hear all the excitement here or you'll catch it if you are subscribed to our podcast.

Happy Holidays everyone!

We're Back

Andrew Koransky — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:05:00 GMT

In more ways than one, we are back. Back from our Thanksgiving whirlwind family tour and back from the dead...

Stepping back in time, before we headed out for our Thanksgiving trip, we did a little trip down to Taos, New Mexico to participate in the Taos Balloon festival with Salida friends Doug, Trish, Lum, Steve, and Mike. Check out more beautiful photos in our gallery.

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Teresa and I successfully completed our Thanksgiving whirlwind family tour, flying to Atlanta for a week (photos here and here), then visiting everyone in Florida for the second week (photos here and here). We managed to visit nearly all of the immediately family within the span of two weeks. It was intense experience. Next year we may have to spread it out. Still, it was good to see all the family.

Our travels did include some fun stuff. We got to finally see the Georgia Aquarium with Teresa's sister Sue and her family who were passing through Atlanta. It was an interesting facility, with some beautiful marine life on display, but it definitely felt a bit commercialized (IE this exhibit brought to you by...). In some ways it felt like a celebration of Atlanta corporations as much as it was about the marine life.

We also made a side-trip to Solomon's Castle on our way down to Ft. Myers... in the middle of no-where Florida, an artist built his own castle in the middle of the swamp and filled it with his own eclectic artwork. The names of the pieces were pun-riddled and hilarious. It was a fun, kitschy detour.

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During our time in Ft. Myers, we visited Edison and Ford Winter Estates.

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On our way over to Boca Raton, we took the more southernly US-41 route, spent a night in the tiny town of Everglades City, and rode bikes through Shark Valley... it was a nice break between families.

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Unfortunately, upon our return, Teresa came down with the flu. I got it as well, but thankfully, I was 48 hours behind her so we could take care of each other on our worst days. I forgot how miserable flu could be. Each of us had one really bad day... headache, fever, chills... suicide seemed like a nice treatment option! <sigh> It seems nearly every time we travel now-a-days, we get sick on one end of the trip or the other. Now we are just dealing with lingering coughs. But we're finally back, and in reasonably good health.

While both of us were getting over the flu, Salida got hammered by some beautiful winter storms. Thank goodness. Our local ski resort opened 3 weeks late due to lack of snow, but they got 70 inches in 4 days and were able to open the entire mountain or so within a week's time. There is still lots of snow on the ground.

In other news, I've finally broken down a purchased a few web cams. We've got one we use for video chat with Skype. I even bought one for my family so we can video chat. I also bought one that that we've configured for our back yard web cam. Be sure to check it out around sunset/sunrise for the wildlife that wanders through our yard.

Tanda Enterprises WebCam

We'll leave you with some shots we took around our home...

It's good to be back home.

Happy Holidays Y'all!

PS Keep looking for our 2007 holiday e-card.

Hitachi asks: Are you a terrorist?

Andrew Koransky — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:13:00 GMT

I went to fill out an RMA form on a Hitachi GST website and saw this... made me laugh. Would a supposed terrorist actually click "I do not agree"?

Where's that bottle opener?

Andrew Koransky — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 17:15:00 GMT

Every now and then, a really amazing, yet simple product comes along that just blows your mind. This is probably old news to many of you, since it's showed up on digg.com, among other sites, but it is so impressive, I just have to share it:

http://www.yoshiritsu.com/sentol/

http://www.whynotbe.com/

A simple bottle opener, but one that is so easy to use, it's downright elegant. Leave it to the Japanese to figure this stuff out.

A friend up the street bought a bunch of these to give away as gifts. He handed one to us while enjoying a home brew. Check out the packaging. About the only thing in English on the package is the bottle they show in the picture. I guess that's better than Engrish.