Virginia Is For Families

I was having trouble discovering a topic to write about today. I was even considering writing about Sparky and Malarky my two German Shepherds who guard the house while we are gone. They are downstairs at the moment imagining how great the trash man would taste and discussing who will get the more tender parts.

But that’s not going to happen. He’s a good guy. Still I don’t want to tell the dogs it won’t happen . In the first place they would be upset with me. And in the second place they might try to eat me. And I am not safely on the other side of the door like our neighborhood trash guy.

I left him a trash can full of woodworking trash today. Lots of little 2 X 4’s that add up to about half a ton. He’s probably not too happy about that right about now. He has to pay a whole lot more money for gas just to get here and then I am weighing down his truck with all this wood.

I’m a bad customer.

But on the other hand I could share some good news with him. This will make him happy enough to forget about a bunch of 2 X 4’s.

Oil slipped off a record high above $143 a barrel today as US crude rose 11 cents to 140.59 a barrel. I know that seems like not so good news. You have to dig deeper to find the pony as President Reagan used to like to say. Because the US Energy Information Administration revised down US April oil demand by 863,000 barrels per day. That’s nearly 4 percent below demand last year in April.

“This revision of the US oil demand for April has certainly put pressure on crude futures. This is demand destruction before our very eyes” said Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading. “This is a huge revision and it happened when fuel prices were still lower, so you can expect that there could be more future downgrades in demand data.

On the other hand we have the weak dollar and escalating tensions between Iran and Israel over Teheran’s nuclear program.

Those two are gonna have a showdown at some point. But what I interpret this guy saying is that there is probably a huge glut of oil out here and the traders have gone too far. Prices are going to start down in the very near future.

And we can all take our cars out on the road again! Who has cut back on their driving?

Just about everybody. We all make those little decisions that cut our fuel costs by five, ten or twenty percent. And it adds up! So I need to run down the street and catch my trash man before he turns the corner. And tell him the good news.

Maybe Sparky and Malarky would like to come? Would you guys? Great! Come on then. Let’s get some exercise and run down there to see the trash man!

Father’s Day this year was something special. Beth took your blogging buddy out to breakfast and I was able to enjoy lots of treats that you will not find at the local fast food place. And then we wandered over to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens for the special event they planned for the day.

I have some photos to share of the antique cars and Harley Davidson motorcycles. Also a really cool dragon fly! Some of them are posted at Photo LinkLove which has enjoyed or endured depending on your perspective another face lift. I really think this will be the last one for awhile since it incorporates everything I had ever hoped to do to it.

And then there was Tiger Woods and the US Open! Talk about golfing excitement! Tiger put on an incredible show as he fought his way to the lead on Saturday, came out on Sunday and immediately gave it up when he played the first hole as if I had taken possession of his body and then fought back again to tie the leader on the last hole.

So it’s not over yet! We get to see eighteen more holes today. Father’s Day is extended this year for another day! How cool is that? Do you think I can get someone to take me out to breakfast again before the golfing resumes?

Probably not. Tiger hit some amazing shots over the weekend. He was putting shots in the can from all over the place and the crowds were going nuts. And viewers all over the world were no doubt jumping off their couches and doing the same thing. It was a great day for golf.

And Tiger was hurt too. His recent knee surgery is still in the painful stages when pressure is put upon it. And a golf swing will put lots of pressure on it. At some point yesterday the number one golfer admitted taking the number one pain killer and stopped grimacing in pain. But it was an adventure.

We still can’t figure out why he hit a driver into the thirteenth hole after Lee Westwood put his ball in no man’s land and had to take a drop. Why?  And then on the next hole he hit an iron when he should have hit a wood. Why again?  And he lost a couple of shots for what reason?   But that just made the ending even more dramatic as he made a birdie from a hundred yards or so to send the tournament into overtime.

Tiger is a new father himself these days. Maybe that’s why he was sinking putts from all over creation. I don’t know. But it was a lot of fun and a golf tournament many of us will never forget. Want to see a photo of a cool car?

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I talked to my friend Eddie Askowe about ways to save money on gas since it now is officially over four dollars per gallon around here. Eddie and I go back a long ways although at some point we decided on different turns in the road as Robert Frost might say.

Eddie is a practical guy and this is what he told me he is doing to save money on gas.

“First of all I took the back seat out of my car. I hardly ever use it and it costs money to lug that thing around. When the kids ride with us they bring pillows and sit on the floor.”

What about seat belts Eddie?

“I didn’t take out the seat belts. They don’t weigh very much.”

I think I get the picture. What else do you do?

“Well I also took out the spare tire and the jack. And since there isn’t anything in there I unbolted the trunk hood and stored it in the garage. Water just runs right through there. It gets a little rusty but rust doesn’t weigh much.”

Really? Your vehicle must be pretty light and I can see how that would save you money on gas. You really have thought this out.

“Just wait a second. I’m not done saving money by lightening the load. I don’t take my wife with me anymore. She gets embarrassed anyway riding with me now so we just leave her at home. So that lightens the load considerably. And then I cut the engine off every chance I get.”

What do you mean Eddie? How many chances do you get between here and there?

“Plenty! Steep hills are easy. But not everyone realizes you can coast a very long ways once you hit one hundred miles per hour.”

OMG Eddie!

“Drafting works wonders too. Get behind an eighteen wheeler and head on down the road! I like to spend time at the area truck stops and get to know some of these guys. You know they will give you a tow if they like you! That’s the ultimate gas saver right there. I always carry a rope because you never know when one of your good buddies is going to want some company. It’s lonely out there.”

Eddie you always come up with unique ways of doing things. That’s amazing.

“Yeh. Be prepared to jump on the brakes.  And wear a helmet!”

“Oh I almost forgot. I took out the AC unit of course. That was the first thing to go but it gets pretty hot in there during the summer months. So I sometimes like to drive around in my underwear. My wife got me these some nice purple ones and they are kind of a fashion statement. Did you know that you don’t have to wear shoes when you’re driving? That’s just one of them rumors probably started by a shoe salesman or somebody who likes shoes. My wife likes shoes and she refuses to come along without them. She won’t dress down to her underwear either.”

“In fact I think she may be getting ready to have me served with divorce papers so that will mean the kids won’t be coming along much anymore. That will save some more on fuel right there.”

Eddie I am sorry to hear about that.

“Thank you but I think it will be alright. I’m going home right now and talk with her. I’m going to propose we just buy a few bicycles and forget about the car. Maybe we can just leave it in the driveway from now on. Turn it into a giant planter and grow vegetables in it. Roll it under the shade tree during the hottest time of the day.”

That’s right Ed. Be a trend setter. I bet you could grow quite a few squash in that open trunk and the vines will be up your antenna in no time. Take care big guy!

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Lifehacker weighs in on saving money on gas

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It has been quite awhile since I have ruminated in a random fashion here at Virginia Breeze. “Why is that?” you might ask. But a better question might be “Why are you pretending that we are talking to you?”. And I don’t know the answer to that question to be perfectly honest. Except perhaps it has something to do with my widgets. Because ever since I did what they asked and upgraded to Wordpress 2.5 some of my widgets have been complaining. And some of them haven’t been doing what they are supposed to do. And who can blame them? They had no idea when they were born that someday they would have to deal with Wordpress 2.5. How could they anticipate what would be required of them?

So they have slowed down certain processes. And when I change something in the sidebar it takes about twenty minutes for it to show up. There’s a delayed reaction as WP 2.5 digests the new code and spits it out again in the sidebar.

All of this is pretty boring I know. But I just want YOU to know that if you don’t see something around here like a piece of your last post in the comment you made it’s not my fault. (And if I go nuts later tonight you will understand why).

And I also would like to tell you about a guy who is my hero. I don’t know him personally but I see him all the time. Usually he is coming in the opposite direction as I cross the James River close to our home. And he usually is wearing an Eskimo parka with a scarf that covers most of his face.

And there is a very good reason for him to dress this way. He drives a tiny little motorbike with twenty inch wheels. I guess it is his sole mode of transportation because he drives it all year round. He is hunched over this thing with his knees sticking up in the air and his scarf blowing in the breeze as he flies across the bridge at about twenty miles per hour. The rest of us are going about fifty in our cars and it’s a very narrow bridge. One line either way and no room for bicycles either. It’s a very old bridge and it is full of potholes.

When I see this guy coming I couldn’t be more impressed if he was a biker in leather driving a Harley with huge handlebars and tires making a big racket as he goes sixty miles per hour on the back wheel.

I’ve been carrying my Nikon D70 on the passenger seat hoping I can get a photo of him as he navigates the bridge. But it is a very narrow passage and I am afraid I might run over him while trying to drive and focus the camera at the same time.

So that idea is out the window. You will just have to go with the picture I have tried to draw for you in your mind’s eye. Because writing is an ancient form of photography.

And I am the Ancient Mariner.

Sorry. But I did warn you.

Back to the widgets.

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