Smog Log

With basically no time left on our Suburban registration I went down to get a smog inspection on our vehicle -- a necessity to reregister the truck. Unfortunately after paying $50 for the inspection, it didn't pass. We had to pay several hundred dollars in repairs to another dealership to fix the defects on the truck to get it to pass. This expense, plus other maintenance issues needed have cost us several thousand dollars over the past 3 or 4 months. Hopefully everything is good for a while and we can keep this vehicle for another 3 or 4 years and another 50,000 miles. Time will tell.

Thanksgiving is for Family Games

Thanksgiving was spent with our adopted family, the Kenyons and their extended klan. After most folks left, we went back to our normal state of interacting -- playing 'Hand and Foot.' We had enough people that we had to play Bunco style, our own adaptation of the game.

A Visit to Azusa Pacific University

Caroline and I took a trip to Azusa Pacific University to see if it would be a good fit for her continued education after high school. It's a bit expensive, but it looks like a great school. I'm not sure how Caroline feels yet -- she's still torn between Azusa and Vanguard.

Azusa is actually broken into two campuses, east and west. This was the ...um... west one, I think. It is the newer campus anyway. I'm not exactly sure of how this other campus came to be, or in other words, how the west was won.

Return from the River

The next morning after the Canoe trip, we broke camp and began the long drive home. The return trip seemed longer than the trip to the river, but I passed the time by napping -- sorry Mark. I was tired, man.

It might look like we're about to have a head-on collision, but actually the truck ahead of us is being towed backwards by another truck.

On the River

We traveled down the Colorado River 17 miles, without incident. I was brave enough to bring my old Olympus D-400z camera with me and brave enough to pull it out of its plastic bag protection from time to time to shoot a shot or two. This was near the end of the trip, up an inlet where there is a cave we like to paddle through. I thought the deep blue water reflecting the nearby cliff made an interesting shot. What do you think?

Off to the River

The Men of PLC head off to the Colorado River for a 17 mile trek (downstream) via canoes. No motors except the power of one's arms - and the current.

This was the end of the long day before. We all took Friday off so we could get to the river and set up camp before sunset. We barely made it. As I put the finishing touches on my tent, the sun went down.

This was my 3rd time to the river for this particular adventure, and I'll be back again next time. So far, 3 dry trips. I've yet to fall in -- of course I just sports announcered myself.

The downside of real wood stairs.

Our basically brand new staircase is under repair. It has been stripped, repaired, and is now being restained and sealed.

Mom bought a new desk, which she had delivered and had paid an extra $20 to have it delivered upstairs. The delivery people who came, only 2 of them, attempted to carry this 400 lb desk up the stairs themselves. Since it was so heavy, they rested the desk on each stair and apparently slid it, because each stair has a nice gouge in it. We thought each stair was ruined and would have to be replaced, but it turns out it can be fixed, but to the tune of about $3000 or so. Yes, the furniture place's insurance is paying for it, but it certainly was sad to see our brand new staircase whacked before we could even officially use it.

Dike Repair

Recently, I was fortunate enough to watch some New Orleans Civil Engineers work on dike repair. That should have that bugger cat 5 capable in no time.

Chapel at Vanguard University

Caroline and I went to visit Vanguard University to check it out. This is one of the colleges Caroline is considering for next year. If you've never heard of Vanguard U, don't feel bad. This has only been its name since 1998. Before that, it went through several name changes dating back to its original name of Southern California Bible School. It has diversified quite a bit to be a full up university now with multiple degrees and with a good ratio of 17 students per instructor.

This particular photo was taken while on our tour of the campus, which took only about 15-20 minutes. It is a small campus, located near Costa Mesa, CA.