Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo

Judi waved while freezing, hard to believe she was born and raised in Wisconsin.

The wind was picking up (wind chill is a killer), so I had to hide behind the wall I hope you can get an idea of what it really looked from our perspective.

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo

It is a White Christmas, sort of.

Salem is located in the Oregon's valley. One hour east of the coast and one hour west of the Cascade Mountains. Yep, you got it. One hour to the sea and one hour to the snow. Oregon has the same geographical features as Puerto Rico in the sense that all the moisture of the cold Arctic air hit the mountains and precipitates over the valley. The air which flows to the east of the Cascades is dry making eastern Oregon a desert. The same is true in Puerto Rico in which cold moist air flowing north to south, from the Atlantic ocean to the Caribbean sea, hit the "Cordillera Central" keeping the north side of the island wetter than the south.

This geographical feature keeps a lot of rain in valley during the end of Fall, all Winter, and the beginning of Spring. Rain start at the end of October and stops on early April. Now, Summer is awesome here in Oregon. We were told that very rarely snow hit the valley floor due to its low altitude. They claim snow does not fall below 500 feet very often, but our house is only 361 feet above sea level and I have seen snow flakes both winters. Go figure !!

Judi and I spend Christmas Eve with Molly's family here in West Salem; and x-mas day was spent with Karla, Judi's partner in crime when Child abuse has been reported.

The Weather News predicts 2 to 3 inches of accumulated snow after midnight. I can only hope. Have you noticed the hills around the house?

Erin Lynn Mann

WELCOME HOME ERIN !!!!! Michael and Holly Mann are the proud parents of a healthy baby girl named Erin Lynn. She was born at 0410 hrs on December 22nd, 2007. I think she is quite a lucky girl to be born in such a loving family. I have no pictures of her but as soon as I get them, with the parents consent of course, I will let you have a pick on the new Mann's baby. Congratulations Michael, even when it was Holly who did most of the work and all the labor.

RE: The Manns, posted on April 22nd 2006. (20 months later, huh?)

Blog Update

Hello there, I hope you got the chance to enjoy the updates I have been adding to the blog. First you may notice two (2) weather gadgets added to the blog. I added one (1) because I like to keep track of the movement of wind current and NOAA information. The other because it has a lot of cool features.

1. It has access to the web cams around the state with a link to its original page.
2. It also has access to Gaiagi, a cool satellite photo program.
3. It has a few days weather forecast by the Weather Bug and you can also see a little weather forecast clip.
4. More stuff, just play around with it.

I also added three (3) sources of local news, since the blog is kind of center around our lives in Oregon. Two (2) are TV stations gadgets and one (1) is a local news paper.

I hope you like the improvements.

PS.

Well, as I searched for gadgets to add to the blog, I came across a gadget about earthquakes. I thought, Oregon has the Cascadian Fault of it's coast, maybe a "watch" gadget will not be such a bad idea. Then I thought, why be such a pessimist. So I did not include it in the early updates.

I was proudly showing Judi my accomplishments as a "blog master"and she pointed out that the news feed has reported a 4.7 quake out of Oregon's coast tonight. So here I am adding this gadget. I hope you like the gadget as well, feel free to play with it.

Check Out, If you are a Trekkie of course, the tribute to Star Trek 40th Anniversary at the bottom of the page.

Mannheim Steamroller (Fresh Aire)

Click on the post title for a link to Mannheim Steamroller's web page.

This is how close we got to see Chip Davis and Mannheim Steamroller. We sat on table 36 and I took advange of the complementary wine. Judi attacked the cheese and crakers, typical Cheese head.

The "Show" is on its way.

Judi broke the Gingerbread man's heart.

Is the season to be Jolly.

This was an excellent village display

On November 30th Judi and I went to the Quarter Rose Auditorium in Portland to enjoy a Concert by Mannheim Steamroller. I became a fan of this group back in December of 1984. Bobby Beceril, a friend of mine, introduced me to a song from their first Christmas album.

I liked it so much that I did a diligent search and started to gather their Fresh Aire collection, first on tapes and now in cd's, all 8 of them. During the years I have also collected 5 of their Christmas albums, but I doubt I will collect all 7 of them since they are getting repetitive, Mannheim Steamroller meet the mouse, Yellowstone: The music of nature, Classical Gas, Saving the Wildlife, Romantic Melodies, and 2 of their Ambiance collection. Yes, I am a big fan.

In recent years Mannheim Steamroller became popular with their Christmas albums. Prior to the success of holidays music, only few people like me knew about them, not so good for bus sines. Now all they seem to focus is Christmas music. I am disappointed since I really enjoy the Fresh Aire style Chip Davis created. Now, I guess, I will never hear them play those song live. Anyways the concert was excellent.

First Movie

Here is a copy of the first short movie created by the Furry Herd Production company. The film was taken in the winter of 2004 in Wisconsin. The company agreed that an old fashion appearance was the key factor for the activity display by the protagonist.

2007 Summer Project Update

Hey Luis, are you done yet? asked Judi.

Can you finish today? asked Judi.

I dig and dig just like a chain gang inmate, but I make no progress.

What should I do with all this dirt?

The work just piles up around here. said Luis

Here are more pics of the project. At this progress , it may become into the "Summer 2008" project. Of course Judi will kill me if I let it go that far. besides I am ready to see the whole plan get together. I'll keep Ya'll posted.