Josh's Weblog

Alana's New Crested Gecko

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Apr 1 2009 11:43 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Michelle's Wedding

Misty's sister Michelle got married this weekend.

The bride:

The happy couple:

The girls:

The boys:

More family, Darcie, Ken, Michelle, and Marilyn:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Feb 24 2009 08:09 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

White Christmas? Check!

Some pictures from our unusual snowstorm:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Dec 24 2008 11:29 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Shira and Thomas in Mazatlán!

This past week the family was in Mazatlán to see sister Shira and her beau Thomas get married on the beach. I have a lot of pictures to upload, but here's a taste:

I have a few hundred pictures to sort through so more later!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Aug 14 2008 08:47 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Aww

Mother, child, and brunch:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jul 25 2008 01:35 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Mt. Adams Wildfire

According to KGW, the Mt. Adams wildfire can be seen from downtown Portland, it can be seen quite easily from my front porch:

(Click the image for a full size picture)

Update: Other coverage:

• King 5
• OregonLive
• The Columbian
• KATU (really good pictures)

Update 7/14: The Forest Service calls the fire the Cold Springs Fire, and has many more pictures. Reported size has risen to 500 acres by the end of yesterday, but KATU reports the size at 2000 acres this morning.

More coverage:

• Turns All Year
• Western Institute for the Study of the Environment (WISE)

Update 7/15: We're up to 8000 acres this morning, although I can't see much from my porch.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Sunday, Jul 13 2008 04:26 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Not Everyone Likes Cruises, But We Do

A year ago around this time, Misty, the kids, and I recreated our wedding and honeymoon by cruising the Caribbean again on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. One of the pictures from that journey, shown in the “We're Home!” entry, was sought by the Wall Street Journal this week for an article on cruising. I saw that article posted today. I'm a subscriber so I can read pretty much anything on the site, so I'm not sure if that article is visible to the general public.

I'm a little surprised that Stan Stesser didn't like cruising on Freedom as much as I did. For example,

I don't know about Stan, but we traveled with family. When you have kids with you, we don't focus on the emphasis on casinos, liquor, and vapid entertainment. The kids loved the ice shows, magic acts, and cruise activities. Heck, how much fun is it to do a Halloween Parade through the largest cruise ship in the world? As for being all dressed up with nowhere to go, I recall that I went to the midnight dessert buffet wearing a bathrobe still wet from the hot tubs under the stars on the upper deck. While they like you to dress up in the dining room it's not some oppressive disaster, it's a chance to get good pictures to remember the cruise by.

Stan did learn some things about cruise life on his tour though.

While it's entirely true that you can get a lot of of excursions, I don't see why he didn't see the tremendous variety of things to do that I did with my family. In his article he complains about not being able to go into Haiti when he visited Labadee (where we sat on the shore, played in the water, and jet-skiied our hearts out), but he did go to the same Tulum Ruins we did and seemed to enjoy it. Still, calling the excursions “liberation” makes the ship seem oppressive, which is outside of my experience.

Another surprise was that Stan didn't like the food! In the main dining hall I never had anything I didn't like. Sure, the Windjammer buffet was a buffet, but in general cruising is a delightful experience leading to significant weight gain.

Still, I can understand how Stan's experience was different than ours. It seemed he traveled alone, in an inside cabin, whereas we traveled with family and friends and made sure we had a balcony.

Beyond our cabin we also had a chance to use Adventure Ocean (a floating classroom for the kids), the Wave Rider, and hundreds of other things we generally enjoyed. If you find something you don't like there's a lot of other things you can try. Stan found something I didn't in the deck chairs with reading lights, so I guess I didn't explore enough!

Stan's article is a good read, and covers his excursions far more than his ship. Go ahead and read his perspective, but keep in mind that Freedom was a heck of a lot bigger and more interesting for my family than it was for him.

Update: I didn't realize it before, but this entry was my 1000^th blog posting.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Saturday, Nov 3 2007 09:33 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Anniversary

Four years ago today, Misty and I were married. However, I still sometimes think she wasn't sure what she was getting into back then:

She got used to the idea eventually:

it's been a wild and wacky 4 years and we're going for 400 more.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Misty, Pictures” Thursday, Nov 1 2007 09:45 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Christmas Presents

As you can see, Ryan had a good Christmas:

Alana got some interesting dolls that interact with you, I'll try to get a good pic up soon.

Verdict on the Playstation 3 so far: needs more titles, kids like Marvel Alliance.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Jan 2 2007 09:41 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

I have not done a Feline Friday in a while. Here's Snowball vs. The Chair:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Dec 22 2006 09:24 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Pacific Northwest Storm

The big storm that came through the Pacific Northwest took out my power, my web provider's power in Seattle, and even dropped a tree on the chicken coop:

However, judging by the stories we hear of people still without power, accidents with downed power lines and trees (including some fatalities), and people that have lost their homes, we're counting ourselves lucky.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Dec 16 2006 05:28 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Freedom of the Seas, Montego Bay

When you peer out from the terminal building in Montego Bay, Jamaica, this is what Freedom of the Seas looks like, towering over your head:

It's more than a little imposing.

The massive ship still doesn't feel all that crowded, except when you are leaving on the last day and the US Customs computers are having a problem…

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Thursday, Nov 16 2006 04:03 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Random Jamaican Rest Area

Our bus ride for “Best of Jamaica” included a brief stop at a random Jamaican rest area. It was beautiful.

Sometimes white, sandy beaches get boring. I really like this shore:

Now, this particular tour was supposed to be a short guided tour bus trip taking us to a yacht that sailed down this coast to the foot of Dunn's River Falls. We were supposed to walk up the falls, lunch in Dolphin cove, perhaps do some shopping, and come back. Instead it turned into 2 hours of riding a bus to Dunn's River Falls, only an hour to walk them (we got rushed out, and as a result one of our party twisted her ankle), a few minutes to shop, a lunch at a hotel (which was nice, but we wanted Dolphin Cove), a short ride on a boat for no particular reason other than to sell us hair braiding, and another 2 hours in a bus to come back (late).

Shorex (Royal Caribbean's excursion partner) did partially refund our money, but we still came away from it with no pictures on Dunn's River Falls except a DVD they rush-printed for us while we visited the nurse to make sure the ankle wasn't broken.

The tour guide was very helpful, as were the rest of the staff, but I'd have to say it was a disappointing day in Jamaica.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Thursday, Nov 16 2006 03:18 PM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

Montego Bay, Jamaica

In contrast to the previous entry, notice right away that Jamaica has mountains.

We didn't see much of Montego Bay, as we immediately boarded a bus to visit Dunn's River Falls and other items near Ocho Rios, where we had landed on our previous cruise.

Here's the terminal building which we whisked through in each direction. When we returned we had delayed the ship. Because we booked the tour through the ship they did not leave without us.

More on the particular tour, “Best of Jamaica,” later.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Thursday, Nov 16 2006 08:52 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Grand Cayman is Flat

Unlike many of the other exotic locations we visited on this cruise, Grand Cayman is a flat island:

You'll see with upcoming posts how much more mountainous Jamaica and Haiti are.

Update: I forgot to mention that the structure hanging over the top of the picture is the starboard cantilevered hot tub which hangs out over the sea. Those were the only hot tubs I used on the cruise and I loved them. In addition, Freedom filters its pool, flowrider, and hot tub water, making it the only cruise ship afloat without salt water in its features.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Thursday, Nov 16 2006 07:26 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Early November in Grand Cayman

Most of my pictures in Grand Cayman come from disposable underwater cameras, and my scanner software seems to be completely broken. I have no idea what broke it either, but it no longer works on any of my computers in the house.

So I offer you a picture of Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, with Navigator of the Seas peeking out from behind it, with unfortunately gray skies (click for the full size picture).

I took this shot from the “Seven Mile Beach” where we ate lunch and played in the sand after visiting Stingray City and did some snorkeling on the coral reef.

The kids did not visit the stingrays in our last trip through Grand Cayman but we brought them out to see them this time. Everyone was afraid of them at first, but Alana quickly grew to like them. Ryan stepped on one and cut his foot, so he ended up not liking the experience.

If I ever fix my HP scanner software, I'll post underwater pictures. (I have more costume pictures, too!)

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Thursday, Nov 16 2006 07:07 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pirate Girls Too!

Ryan was only one of ten pirates in our crew (and we were hardly the only guests dressed as pirates). Here are the girls.

These shots are all from the parade of children in costume through the Royal Promenade on Freedom of the Seas.

As I said before, I'll work on getting group shots posted soon.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Friday, Nov 10 2006 07:55 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pirates on Freedom of the Seas

I'm having scanner problems at the moment or I'd post more from Freedom of the Seas's first Halloween cruise. For now I offer Ryan the Pirate:

I have plenty more pix, but I need the scanner for the group photo!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Friday, Nov 10 2006 07:10 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Tulum Mayan Ruins and Xel-Ha

We boarded Freedom of the Seas in Miami, Florida and our first stop was Cozumel, Mexico. We directly boarded a jetboat from the ship and zoomed over to Playa Del Carmen, and an hour later the bus dropped us off at the ruins of the Mayan temple at Tulum:

We got to wander around for a bit before a short trip to nearby Xel-Ha (pronounced “shell ha”) to play in the water:

Then we got back on the bus and zoomed back to the ship.

Of course, we were just getting started. He were on Freedom for its first Halloween. More on this later!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Tuesday, Nov 7 2006 10:13 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

We're Home!

Royal Caribbean fixed things for us, we came home on Delta yesterday. Here's a taste of the upcoming review of the October 29, 2006 sailing of Freedom of the Seas:

It was the 22nd sailing of this latest largest cruise ship in the world…

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Tuesday, Nov 7 2006 01:44 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Rules of photographic girls, don't take pictures of them when they are sleeping in awkward positions (Snowball atop a bookshelf in this case):

Instead, find a soft backlight and get them in focus:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Sep 1 2006 07:49 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Trapped!

I'm working all day and I can see this outside my office:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Aug 10 2006 08:25 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

That Didn't Take Long

It hasn't been here a day yet, and it's already been stolen!

There she goes!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Aug 9 2006 01:39 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Top Banana

The earlier picture was from my cell phone. This morning I got a chance to use a better camera.

Those who know me recall I have another Dodge. Here they are together:

I like the Daytona accents on the “Top Banana” Charger Daytona R/T better than the standard R/T.

The interior accents include my serial number (Daytonas are limited editions) and other yellow accents everywhere.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Aug 9 2006 08:26 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Vroom!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Aug 8 2006 11:42 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Snowball attacks!

…and the bottlecap is defeated. Time to march in triumph!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Aug 4 2006 12:51 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

This Is Your Josh On Drugs

Before valium:

After valium:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Jul 22 2006 12:06 PM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

I'm Not Sauron, Honest

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Jul 22 2006 11:56 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

My picture of the cats playing Risk was so popular, they wanted to try another game.

Sorry!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jul 21 2006 06:28 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Our House At Night

Shot from the same position as the previous picture, our house at night:

I love the little LED shooting stars we have up front. I think the office shot makes me look like a bookworm.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Jul 18 2006 10:10 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Front Lawn

Been a while since I posted an addition picture. Today we have a front lawn and garden area:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Jul 15 2006 11:54 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

4th of July Wedding

Yesterday at my house Dan and Patty were married by the same minister that married Misty and myself, John McEnroe.

Everyone looked great, had a blast, and we even had fireworks to finish the day…

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Jul 5 2006 08:01 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Been Away

Some of you folks out there actually missed me. Yes, I'm alive, and so are the cats:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Jun 27 2006 04:47 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Church wants to exercise:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jun 9 2006 12:14 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

A couple weeks ago Snowball was on the floor below a triumphant Church, today the tables are turned:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jun 2 2006 07:06 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Snowball enters the matrix:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 26 2006 10:38 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Trojan Implosion

This Sunday, early in the morning, the cooling tower at the decommissioned Trojan nuclear power plant (just a few miles downstream of our house) was imploded. The cooling tower was a prominent landmark on the drive from Portland to Seattle and has been standing for 30 years.

Dan Sweet had front-row seats for the implosion and took some amazing pictures (click the picture for a full-resolution image):

A moment of sunlight before the implosion:

Just before the implosion:

The first charges fire (the entire implosion took less than eight seconds):

The next shot as soon as Dan could trigger it, the tower is already fallen and raised a giant cloud of dust:

Afterward, an altered skyline:

The family watched (some by TiVo) the implosion on the Newschannel 8, which had great camera angles (including from the air) of the event. They have a basic story here, but it's worth poking through their complete coverage.

All of these images are Copyright 2006 by Dan Sweet. He's reserving all rights to copy and distribute them.

Update: Some great photos on Laughing Squid and Flickr.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, May 22 2006 07:34 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 19 2006 07:15 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  1 trackback

Addition Progress: Porch Posts

Misty snapped a picture of the newly-completed posts for the front porch this morning:

We're expecting to put in gutters right away, but we're not sure we should put them on the porch. We considered a downspout integrated into the posts, or chains instead of a downspout, but now we think that there's just not enough surface area to justify gutters on that small roof. Plenty of other gutters to install on the house (especially for the four big valleys that accumulate so much rain).

The other big step is finishing up the landscaping. Monday we will have more topsoil and Hydroseed.

My folks are visiting around Memorial Day (and they are attending my graduation), so we are scurrying to finish all the remaining items.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 12 2006 11:09 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

Addition Progress: Office

Far from being a cube farm “fortress of servitude,” my office is starting to take shape nicely:

(Click the image to get a full size picture)

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 12 2006 10:05 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Church and Snowball are bent on world domination!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 12 2006 08:25 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  2 trackbacks

Science Project

Can you guess what Alana's science project is?

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, May 8 2006 09:25 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Addition Progress: Porch and Sidewalk

Forms:

Freshly-poured sidewalk:

And the porch:

I didn't spring for special colors and patterns like Clayton Cramer did, and I guess that's a good thing.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, May 6 2006 09:02 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Addition Progress

A little bit of a combination platter: cats and hardwood…

Sorry I missed Feline Friday yesterday. I got busy.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, May 6 2006 08:54 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  1 trackback

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 10

Butterflies and moths like oranges:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, May 4 2006 08:17 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 9

For one dollar you get a big piece of glossy paper and five minutes on the “Harmonograph,” a heavy pendulous platform with a pen on a solidly fixed arm:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, May 3 2006 07:30 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 8

Another bridge design:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, May 2 2006 07:08 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 7

Another butterfly:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, May 1 2006 07:44 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 6

Alana and her strong bridge design:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Sunday, Apr 30 2006 07:28 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Ask The Cats

Laurence Simon at This Blog Is Full of Crap proposes a new feature called “Ask The Cats” and today's question is:

Snowball: Shh! I'm writing my own version. Everyone should be able to capitalize on this stuff.

Church: Could someone please turn off Snowball's piano?

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures, Politics” Saturday, Apr 29 2006 10:32 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 5

Late evening shot of the fountains at the Pacific Science Center. The sculpture on the right I named “Helix”:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Apr 29 2006 10:20 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Sunny Dining Room

The floor is done, trim is going in, and the dining room looks great:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 28 2006 08:16 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 4

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 28 2006 07:23 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Church, Snowball, and feline hygiene:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 28 2006 07:19 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 3

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Apr 27 2006 06:22 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Addition Progress: Hardwood Floor

Eddie, Pam, Misty, and I started putting in the floor in the dining room yesterday, expecting to finish today:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Apr 26 2006 07:53 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 2

Today's installment is Rex, of the Pacific Science Center, demonstrating the scientific method as applied to learn more about those mysterious peeps:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Apr 26 2006 06:58 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Pacific Science Center Camp-In, Part 1

This past weekend Alana, Misty, and I went to a camp-in at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. I took a bunch of pictures and I'll post a few in the next few days.

Today's installment is a butterfly:

One of these landed on Alana's head and scared her, but they seem pretty tame to me.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Apr 25 2006 07:23 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

I realize I've been remiss in posting pictures for the past two weeks, so I'll make up for it today.

First we have Snowball claiming one of my shelves in my office:

Then we have Church and Snowball immediately figuring out where the hearth was on my fireplace tile template I was laying out on the floor:

Finally, we have them together in my office window after catching them watching birds:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 14 2006 07:21 AM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  1 trackback

Aww

Sometimes doing all that painting and trim tires you out! Misty takes a deserved rest…

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Mar 25 2006 01:30 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Addition Update

I haven't posted about the addition in a while, so I had better do so.

We had to cut holes in the window areas to breathe while we were painting. The effect is kind of like weird eyes:

Go forward a week and you can see we have fresh, unstained siding and windows:

Lots of work going on inside, as well. However, we're waiting for a few things to get finished, we'll get the drywall and texture spots we discovered fixed, then we paint and finish floors. One room is done, though: carpet, trim, door, and all!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Mar 24 2006 08:46 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Snowball is getting to be a big cat, but she still manages to find a way to sneak under furniture looking for treats that may have escaped.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Mar 24 2006 07:58 AM  |  Permalink  |  4 comments  |  1 trackback

Survived Capstone Presentation

On Friday our team gave our final presentation for the Capstone class I've been working on these past months. This is the end of my march towards a MS in Management with a focus on managing high tech companies. Capstone puts us through the process of developing business, marketing, and financial plans for a startup company. It was quite a bit of work!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Mar 20 2006 09:33 AM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  No trackbacks

Snow Women and Men

Alana's snow man eventually survived yesterday's melt.

Ryan, because he brought his inside, wasn't as lucky.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Mar 10 2006 01:56 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Sometimes Snowball thinks it's fine to sit in the window above the sink even though she's been told repeatedly that she's not allowed on the counter. Does she think we believe her teleportation story?

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Mar 10 2006 01:52 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

March Snow

The kids finally get a snow day, although I think it's going to melt off before mid-day.

Chicken coop:

Barn:

New addition:

Hangar:

View from high in the hangar:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Mar 9 2006 07:09 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Soon To Be My Home Office

Yesterday the carpet was installed, so we are moving forward rapidly on having a home office. Misty is doing trim today while I finish my work for my degree and the desk is expected a week from now.

Sheetrock was hung in most of the addition yesterday as well, so the house is a total disaster with most of our stuff piled high in the living room. Mudders and tapers are expected Monday.

The cats are freaking out over the constant changes.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Mar 4 2006 01:47 PM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

The Old Door and House Front

I got a comment asking about how the house looked before the addition, so here you-all go.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Mar 3 2006 12:02 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Mar 3 2006 07:13 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Pimp Gun

Looking through my pictures archive I discovered my .357 picture was corrupt, so I fixed that. Then I noticed I had never posted a picture of the “pimp gun” here:

And it can't be a pimp gun without a Miami Vice caliber:

Obviously this gun is used primarily for special occasions. Shooting a lot of 10mm is rough on the gun.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Guns, Pictures” Wednesday, Mar 1 2006 09:36 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Addition Door Detail

Okay, perhaps I'm overexcited about having a new entry in the front of the house, but I like it a great deal better than the old one.

And, finally, an inside view. The cats are loving the exploration of a new space.

Sheetrock by Friday. No news yet on windows and siding. Carpet for the office and the kids rooms next week!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Mar 1 2006 08:46 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

We have a door!

We're getting closer. We have insulation and a door and the inside wall has been taken down. Soon I'll need to start posting pictures of the inside.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Feb 28 2006 08:59 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Church, Snowball, and I have been banished to an outbuilding while they rip out the wall for the addition. Since the hangar has somewhat limited facilities, the cats sure are bored.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Feb 24 2006 08:30 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Addition Roof

It's been up for a few days now, and the electrical runs have been inspected, so this coming week with a plumbing inspection we should start with siding, insulation, and maybe even sheet rock.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Sunday, Feb 19 2006 09:46 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Back From Austin

I'm back from Austin, by the way, and here's evidence I was there:

Almost live from the Broken Spoke in the deep south of Austin.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Feb 16 2006 02:10 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

More Addition Progress

The cats and I are working from the hangar lately as there are way too many noisy and dangerous goings-on over there in the house. Misty is painting the office, the plumbers are building the new bathroom, and the insides are almost framed up. The old outside wall stills stands, however, and won't come down until the addition can be secured.

Biggest change to see from the outside is the porch roof. Imagine some nice posts coming down in front of that and you'll be thinking of the new main entrance!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Feb 13 2006 01:22 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Feb 10 2006 09:24 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

I need to get Snowball to do more cute stuff that doesn't look blurry when I take a picture. Church is a master at this.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Feb 3 2006 07:19 AM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  2 trackbacks

Canine Friday

In my opinion, Alana spoils Bingo.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Feb 3 2006 07:12 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  2 trackbacks

Progress

By popular request,

January 27:

January 30:

February 1:

Sometimes the rain gets a little old.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Feb 2 2006 04:57 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jan 27 2006 09:57 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  1 trackback

My Lawn Today

Tomorrow we will be visited by the Concrete Fairy and have a foundation, but today we have forms and rain.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Jan 26 2006 02:07 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Gun Pictures Are Popular

I get a lot of hits on my website looking for gun pictures, even more than cat pictures or my commentary. Here's a little more for the folks that come here looking for guns!

John McEnroe took the picture, but it's my hands and my Wilson Combat Protector (a very nice 1911, if I say so myself). Notice all the wear and tear on the poor thing as it's my day-to-day carry piece.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Blogging, Guns, Pictures” Tuesday, Jan 24 2006 06:23 PM  |  Permalink  |  5 comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jan 20 2006 07:50 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Church and Snowball look for a fly.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jan 13 2006 12:32 PM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

2006 Dodge Challenger Concept

The Detroit Auto Show is in full swing, and there's a Dodge Challenger coupe concept car (from AutoBlog):

Lots more pictures on AutoBlog here.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Jan 11 2006 09:47 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Carnival of the Cats #94

The 94th Carnival of the Cats is up at pages turned. Church and Snowball have returned to the carnival after a short break over Christmas.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Jan 9 2006 06:16 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

These two are cats now, not kittens. Not only have they had important non-reproductive surgery, but they've grown from these sizes:

…to these:

Okay, so maybe they don't look that much bigger after Christmas vacation, but take my word for it: they're adults now.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Jan 6 2006 07:48 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  1 trackback

Marble Chutes and Ladders

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Jan 3 2006 08:47 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Ryan and Brownie Mix

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Sunday, Dec 18 2005 04:21 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Christmas 2005

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Sunday, Dec 18 2005 09:59 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Dec 16 2005 09:32 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Test Image

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Dec 15 2005 12:43 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

As some may have noticed, we got a Christmas tree up last weekend. I got some pictures of cats slinking around a new thing wondering what the heck it might be, but Misty captured the “cats in the tree” meme far more effectively:

Snowball got such a good closeup, Church had to dive in front of her a second later:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Dec 9 2005 10:45 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  2 trackbacks

Big Green Box

A big green box appeared under (besides) the Christmas tree for Misty. Whatever could it be?

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Misty, Pictures” Wednesday, Dec 7 2005 06:24 PM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Time for Friday catblogging.

During Ryan's birthday, Church and Snowball were relegated to the guest apartment. Church doesn't seem to be too bothered by having a new space to explore, even if it was for only one day.

Snowball still insists on chasing my mouse pointer when I'm working. I thought this was a particularly cute pose.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Dec 2 2005 09:53 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Sometimes cats like to cause trouble together (last week they were separate):

Well, that doesn't seem like trouble, but Mom wanted to sit there.

When I had my birthday this past Sunday, Church and Snowball were far more interested in the wrapping than the presents.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Nov 25 2005 08:41 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Today we have some self-satisfied cats…

Church knows he's not supposed to be on the kitchen counters, but does the kitchen window count?

Must have been a good meal, eh?

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Nov 18 2005 09:51 AM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  1 trackback

Little Indians

We sent a couple little Indians to school today for some sort of Thanksgiving festivities. No school next week and about 3 hours warning for poor mom and her sewing machine. (I hear that's typical.)

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Nov 18 2005 08:23 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Creative Team

Alana and Misty make a pillow. We're all recovering from colds (and a early evening power outage), but we're still getting things done.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Nov 12 2005 12:39 PM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

Intent Gamer

Ryan in his natural habitat, playing a game. He is well-prepared to join the Pajamahadeen.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Saturday, Nov 12 2005 12:37 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Yesterday I posted some Snowball pictures, so here's a picture of Church sleeping on a fuzzy friend.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Nov 11 2005 06:21 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  1 trackback

Snowball Helps Me Work

A little early for Feline Friday, but this was too cute…

Snowball is mesmerized by Civilization 4.

Snowball fills in for me on a conference call. She is also a fan of the Klingon War Phone.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Nov 10 2005 02:08 PM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  2 trackbacks

Dime-Sized Hail

We just got some unusual weather. A crash of thunder and dose of hail!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Nov 7 2005 02:19 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

For Halloween, we have the attacking kittens:

Snowball slays a dress.

Church suppresses a twine riot.

After Halloween, however, the two were much more mellow. Later we'll talk about how Mom laced their scratching post with catnip…

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Nov 4 2005 09:07 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Pumpkin Carving at the Hannas'

Misty and Ryan:

Kimmy:

Sara and Kayla:

Ryan and me:

Ryan and Alana:

Alana's complicated carving pattern:

Katherine and Clarence:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Oct 31 2005 12:46 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

A little bit of contrast…

Snowball rests by an angel.

Church cleans his tail vigorously.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Oct 28 2005 10:35 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Mission Accomplished 2

What age difference? At least they aren't growling and hissing at one another so much now.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Wednesday, Oct 26 2005 03:00 PM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  No trackbacks

Mission Accomplished

Mission accomplished.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Oct 21 2005 10:42 PM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  No trackbacks

Some Miracles Are Man-Made

Ya know what, as far as my daughter is concerned, the Internet needs to keep the secret that this one is “Snowball II” and not just “Snowball.”

Let's hope my daughter doesn't actually read my blog as much as she looks at the pictures. Thank you, fine employees of All Pet.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Oct 21 2005 02:18 PM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

From last weekend, an alert and happy Church and Snowball:

Five days later, the day before before Snowball went into the vet:

Snowball is still at the vet, getting IV fluids and Nutrical, and will be getting X-rays and blood work today.

Update: Snowball passed away today. Most likely cause was FIP. We told the vet to go ahead and test for a cause, but it's pretty depressing to lose such a cute cat.

In memory.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Oct 21 2005 07:51 AM  |  Permalink  |  15 comments  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

Misty caught Church and Snowball in a sibling embrace:

I caught them fighting:

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Oct 14 2005 07:21 AM  |  Permalink  |  5 comments  |  No trackbacks

Rabies?

Ryan has too much fun in the bath.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Oct 7 2005 07:08 AM  |  Permalink  |  4 comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

More Church and Snowball.

They seem to be always sleeping, but they are not always cute when sleeping:

Some have noticed that there is a character named Church in Red vs. Blue. It's not a coincidence, although Church is also named thus because he was abandoned at a church.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Oct 7 2005 06:59 AM  |  Permalink  |  5 comments  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

Now-named Church and Snowball catching a nap in the chair next to my computer. Church was suspicious of the camera.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Sep 30 2005 06:28 AM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday Bonus!

Misty dropped the kids off at school this morning and discovered that they had received some abandoned kittens on their doorstep. It was either our house or animal control, so we have new residents!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Sep 23 2005 01:24 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Another shot of Dust Bunny, whose camoflauge doesn't work so well on cedar decking.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Sep 23 2005 08:35 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Atticus gives me the evil eye for waking him up with the flash.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Sep 16 2005 09:59 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

One of the first pictures I have of Atticus, from 2001.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Sep 9 2005 02:00 PM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Leigh Maynard's cat Yankee, in a self-reflective moment.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Sep 2 2005 11:59 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

A little Friday Catblogging. This cat belonged to the owners of The House on the Hill where we stayed our last night in Oceanside, OR.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Aug 26 2005 09:14 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Oceanside Vacation, Part Seven

Beyond the anemones we have starfish!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Aug 26 2005 08:57 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Oceanside Vacation, Part Six

Some anemones at low tide.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Aug 26 2005 08:54 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Oceanside Vacation, Part Five

Probably my best sunset picture of my collection from the shore. Tough to do well!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Aug 26 2005 08:50 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

July 4 Picture

Leigh Maynard must have noticed I was posting pictures, because he just sent me some pictures he took of me at my Independence Day Bash. Here I am with my intended pyrotechnic splendor. It worked out pretty darn well, I must say.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Aug 23 2005 11:52 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Oceanside Vacation, Part Four

Ryan liked the water, but it was so windy he hated the sand in his face. It stung! However, going further out from those rocks in the background helped with the stinging sand issue.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Aug 23 2005 11:36 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Oceanside Vacation, Part Three

This shot is from the lighthouse at Cape Meares, OR.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Aug 23 2005 10:18 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Oceanside Vacation, Part Two

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Aug 23 2005 10:14 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Oceanside Vacation, Part One

We've been enjoying the view and weather in Oceanside, OR for a few days. This was a morning shot. There's others for evening coming up.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Aug 22 2005 07:51 PM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Orange Rooster Crows

This bantam is pretty darn funny when he crows. He's pretty much a contortionist chicken when it comes to crowing. Since I have harvested the two big Rhode Island Reds, he considers himself one of the lords of the roost, except he has two bigger brothers and another red that's older.

This one needs his wings clipped. Notice he's on top of a fence.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Aug 19 2005 05:02 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Waterfall

The backyard waterfall is close to ready for the Independence Day BBQ. We'll be clearing up the water and getting the depth right.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Jun 27 2005 07:36 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Memorial Day Project

Today, while working from home, we also did a concrete pour to increase our patio. Unfortunately we are experiencing showers which makes it hard to finish concrete.

Update: Changed the title to “Memorial Day Project” as the old title was misleading.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, May 31 2005 12:58 PM  |  Permalink  |  5 comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

Dust Bunny in the middle of a construction project.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 27 2005 06:51 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Team Building on Dog Mountain

Today the team skipped work and charged up Dog Mountain for a little team-building…

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, May 26 2005 08:36 PM  |  Permalink  |  6 comments  |  No trackbacks

Big Sky Audio

Before I moved to Oregon in 1995 I helped build a studio in Springfield, Pennsylvania named “Big Sky Audio.”

A few weeks ago ago Drew Raison sent me some pictures of the place that would be good to share.

There's some pretty big main speakers behind those screens on either side of the window. The glass in that window was quite thick, half inch on one side and three quarter on the other. The thick glass laid at angles to each other helped deaden the sound between the control room and the studio.

That little bench/step thing on the side also houses a cable run. There are a lot of balanced lines to run in a big studio.

These two shots on either side of the airlock don't show how thick and heavy the door is. It's hung on piano hinges and has layers of sheet rock and other heavy material to reduce its ability to transmit sound.

The studio is spacious and has several isolated rooms, this shot was from the door of one of the rooms into the main studio. You can see the other side of the glass in the control room here, too.

These shots bring back memories of crawling through the ceiling, pulling cable and laying insulation.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, May 23 2005 04:39 PM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

Feline Friday

The cat of the Hanna Family, although it managed to escape eventually. Evil red eyes are due to the fact that the picture was taken on Halloween.

It is the same papa-san as the unicorn picture with my own Atticus.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 20 2005 07:33 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  1 trackback

Photo Friday

For Photo Friday.

This week's Photo Friday theme is “Green.”

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 20 2005 07:22 AM  |  Permalink  |  4 comments  |  No trackbacks

Photo Friday

For Photo Friday…

This week's Photo Friday theme is “Space.”

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 13 2005 01:18 PM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Bonus Fowl

Ever wonder what happened to those baby chicks I posted here before? Now they're grown up and out of the house. Of course the other chickens are giants to them, but they are fitting in well.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 13 2005 12:33 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Atticus liked to sleep.

Last night we were visited by a cat that seemed to be curious about the chickens. Bingo chased it up a tree but I didn't get a picture. At the time we thought Bingo had treed a racoon… we had to drag her away to figure it out. The cat was wild and once it made it to the ground ran off with amazing speed. You have to be fast around here to beat the coyotes.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 13 2005 07:51 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  3 trackbacks

Fowl Friday

Last Summer when the family visited the grandparents in Michigan we went to the Zoo. I have a lot of interesting pictures from the trip that I should post, but I was particularly fond of this one.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 13 2005 07:42 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

People have wondered why I don't have pictures up of the current cat, Dust Bunny. Well, first of all the cat is always off hunting somewhere and only hangs out in the not-so-photo-friendly night-time hours and second of all gray cats are pretty darn hard to see against our local surroundings. It's a little hard to catch Dust Bunny with a camera in the field.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, May 6 2005 05:50 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

I've done so many “happy” shots of Atticus I figured it's time for me to throw in an evil one.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 29 2005 08:23 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  2 trackbacks

Canine Friday

We've had a request for more Bingo. Here she is in the back yard, cropped from a shot where she was helping Ryan play catch with me.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 29 2005 08:19 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  2 trackbacks

Ring Bearer

From Wendell and Hobbit's wedding, we have a fine goat.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 29 2005 08:17 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Feline Friday

Atticus appears to have found a fuzzy unicorn. He was a big fan of fuzzy.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 22 2005 07:32 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Canine Friday

Wendell Joost's Angus of the Leonberger clan. Unfortunately Angus is no longer with us.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 22 2005 07:29 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

Atticus loved my fireplace. If he had something to lean against he'd be on the carpet near it.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 15 2005 08:02 AM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  1 trackback

Poultry Friday

On March 10th we had baby chicks. This is what they look like on April 8th:

You'll notice the feathery feet of silkies in this batch.

However, we do have grown-up chickens too. For example, the current ruler of the roost:

That's a more traditional chicken than a silkie.

Can't have a ruler without a roost:

The middle rooster is in this pack. He likes to beat up the youngest rooster:

This little guy was born last June and his voice still breaks when he crows.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 8 2005 08:58 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  1 trackback

Equine Friday

Feeling reflective today, I wandered around catching more pictures. Horses get their own entry, next will be the chickens.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 8 2005 08:54 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Canine Friday

Family dog Bingo, satisfied with the success of barking at crows and waking up the house. I was happy to get a clear shot of her face despite the fact that she was trotting back to the house in hopes of receiving her triumph, laurels, parade and Senate seat.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 8 2005 08:16 AM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

Makiko, family friend Wendy Fleming's gato, image by Grandma Wendy as well.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 8 2005 08:07 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  2 trackbacks

Feline Friday

Some people have monitor lizards (I use to have one, too). I've also had monitor crabs, monitor whales, and, of course, a monitor cat. Atticus loved the warmth of CRT tubes. I suspect he'd hate my modern flat panel if he was still around.

Update: This picture made it into the Friday Ark.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Friday, Apr 1 2005 10:49 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Alana is Eight

Alana turned eight today. She seems pretty happy about it.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Mar 31 2005 04:07 PM  |  Permalink  |  2 comments  |  No trackbacks

The Other Reason We Invented The Web, Part Three

Not quite out of the bag, yet.

I used to leave paper bags around the apartment which Atticus liked to climb into, but he was skittish, so a shot like this is rare. He had an incident with a paper bag that was inside a plastic bag. He got spooked and the handles of the plastic bag got caught on his foot. He ran around in circles panicked by the noisy bag chasing him down. I had to catch him and extricate from the situation, but I think it was pretty traumatic for him. He was afraid of plastic bags ever since.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Mar 21 2005 08:49 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Reasons to Go Cruising Again, Number Eleven

(Photo by Josh Poulson)

John McEnroe searches for another photo opportunity in Labadee, Haiti.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Tuesday, Mar 15 2005 01:57 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

The Other Reason We Invented the Web, Part Two

Atticus used to love high places where he could observe and/or attack people sitting in chairs below.

Update 3/20/2005: This posting has been featured in the Carnival of the Cats 52—First Anniversary Edition!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Sunday, Mar 13 2005 10:15 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Reasons to Go Cruising Again, Number Ten With a Splash

(Photo by John McEnroe)

Belly flop contest on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Saturday, Mar 12 2005 09:12 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Reasons to Go Cruising Again, Entry Nine for Jamaica

(Not sure who took this picture on an underwater film camera…)

Somewhere on Dunns River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica. In this photo are Clarence, Katherine, Josh and Misty.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Friday, Mar 11 2005 11:49 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

A Sure Sign of Spring

Peep peep peep!

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Thursday, Mar 10 2005 11:31 PM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  1 trackback

Mount St. Helens Burps 36,000 Foot Plume

Plume from Mount St. Helens, as seen from the Cascade Volcano Observatory Office roof, taken approximately at 5:30 PM, PST. Plume is drifting east-northeast after reaching approximately 36,000 feet above sea level.

USGS Photograph taken at approximately 5:30 PM PST on March 8, 2005, by Matt Logan.

Photos from Mt. St. Helens appear here.

I live a little over forty miles from Mt. St. Helens but I did not witness this event because I was at baseball practice with Ryan and Alana.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Tuesday, Mar 8 2005 07:36 PM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  No trackbacks

Little Leaguer, With Rooster

(Photo by Misty Poulson)

Ryan started peewee league this year. Still a little unclear on how to catch a baseball, but throwing has improved. The rooster is a little protective of his brood when Ryan is nearby.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Mar 7 2005 01:26 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

The Other Reason We Invented the Web

The primary reason we invented the World Wide Web was to share information. The second reason was to post pictures of our cats.

Atticus is currently over a year MIA out here in Coyote Country. I miss him.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures” Monday, Mar 7 2005 12:07 PM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  1 trackback

Reasons To Go Cruising Again, Entry Eight

(Photo by Dan Sweet)

Another shot of the Voyager of the Seas, anchored at Labadee, Haiti.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Monday, Mar 7 2005 09:51 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Reasons To Go Cruising Again, Entry Number Seven

(Photo by John McEnroe)

This is the swimming area reserved to adults on Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas. We sat in the hot tubs in the shade (they would be off the left side of this photo) at least once.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Sunday, Mar 6 2005 02:52 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Geeks With Guns

The Internet already has Geeks With Guns and even a Geek With a .45. I do qualify, however:

(That's my Wilson Combat Protector.)

Maybe I should try to be The Geek with a .357:

(The modern equivalent of this Taurus is the Model 627 Tracker.)

Sure, the pictures are old and grainy, but I think they make the point.

If that fails to establish my bona fides I'll have to go for “Geek With a .223…”

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Guns, Pictures” Sunday, Mar 6 2005 08:28 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  1 trackback

Building a New Category “Pictures”

Because I post pictures here, I think I'll add a new top-level “Pictures” category and reassign a few of my previous postings there.

It'll make it possible to dismantle my other picture pages and bring them over.

However, now I need to figure out a better way to handle thumbnails and posts. My previous methods have been hit-or-miss. Some might suggest flicker.com but I'd rather host the photos myself, just like the blog.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Blogging, Pictures” Friday, Feb 18 2005 11:21 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

USS Swamp Rabbit

(Photo courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.)

Via the Little Green Footballs article “Carter vs the Swamp Rabbit” we discover that there are pictures (thanks to the nice folks at narsil.org) of the rabbit that attacked President Jimmy Carter on April 20th, 1979. What's even more amazing is that the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum is happy to furnish the photograph, which they say is in the public domain.

(Photo courtesy of the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.)

Since the Navy is about to commission an attack submarine in Jimmy's honor, perhaps it should be nicknamed the “USS Swamp Rabbit” in honor of this fearsome beast that held the leader of the free world in abeyance.

Update: Vodkapundit points out that it's a “Bad Omen” for Jimmy to get an attack submarine named after him, because of previous nicknames for submarines.

Paul at Wizbang is having difficulty with the idea of Jimmy getting an attack submarine. (Me, I am amused by the fact that this is the last Seawolf-class boat. Wolves eat bunnies.)

Finally, day by day has an excellent comic on the subject, with no rabbit:

Update²: Jay Tea at Wizbang posts “What's In a Name?” sneering at our antics but also relating an amusing history of ship-naming in the United States and England.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures, Politics” Wednesday, Feb 16 2005 05:00 PM  |  Permalink  |  3 comments  |  No trackbacks

Valentine's Day

A lot of bloggers are posting rants about Valentine's Day today, ranging from calling it VD to hating rampant commercialism. I have to admit that I was never a big Valentine's Day fan myself, inspired from an early age by the obligatory schoolroom antics that the girls loved and the guys hate. Girls back then loved to see boys squirm. During the few precious years they mature faster than boys do they have power over them. Others are lonely this time of year. It's easy to see why many people hate Valentine's Day.

I'll admit that I was still a little cynical last year and got in trouble for not making a bigger deal about Valentine's Day. To me it was a a day celebrating the death of Saint Valentine, who created a phenomenon by writing love letters to the daughter of his jailer. Why celebrate love one day a year? I pay attention to my wife every day, not some random cold rainy day in February.

(Photo by John McEnroe at the Tugboat Brewpub in downtown Portland, OR)

I'm not going to be like that this year. I just had a weekend getaway with my wife, Misty. We disappeared to a place more symbolicly romantic than anything. It was all about spending some time together without too many outside distractions, getting to do things we don't otherwise get to do. (That means watching movies for people over the age of 8.)

At the end of it we ventured out and watched Hitch in the theaters to top it all off. It was simple innocent fun. Also, it was contrived like most romantic comedies are. We enjoyed it anyway. Normally that sort of stuff sickens us.

I love my wife. I had a wonderful weekend. There are moment I wish would never end. If that's what we celebrate at Valentine's Day then I'm all for it. If it's all about chocolate, cards and presents I'm another curmudgeon and cynic like everyone else.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “General, Pictures” Monday, Feb 14 2005 09:05 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Bushmaster XM-15 (AR-15) Memories

Poking around the search engines, I noticed my picture of my Bushmaster XM-15 has gone way down in rank on Google's image search. After the arrest of Lee Malvo, I got thousands of hits on pun.org because of my picture, linked to below. Not that I'm celebrating anything Malvo did, I'm not, but I thought it was interesting that my rank was so high then, and so low now.

(click on this image to get the full-size version)

Nowadays my Bushmaster looks a little different. I changed out the trigger with a Chip McCormick Super Match Trigger Group with the help of trusty gunsmith John McEnroe. Also, I have a ambidextrous safety which is useful for left-handers like myself.

Misty's AR has the trigger group change, but not the ambi-safety.

The only other big differences are that I got a .22 LR upper, in the A2 configuration, for target shooting from Fulton ARmory. I definitely recommend Fulton ARmory for AR-15 parts. I haven't had a chance to try their work since John is so much closer to home.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Guns, Pictures” Thursday, Feb 10 2005 06:10 PM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks

Reasons To Go Cruising Again, Sixth Entry

(photo by John McEnroe or Dan Sweet, at this point all of their work has been mixed up in my storage)

Sometimes a reason to go on vacation again to inflame fond memories. I have no idea what the joke was that Dan made at this moment, but clearly we had different reactions to it. Obviously I liked this a great deal better than when we were doing portraits standing on a anthill.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Wednesday, Feb 9 2005 01:49 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

State of the Union Emotional Moment

(picture from Lucianne.com via Lori Byrd's Byrd Droppings.)

I only caught part of the State of the Union address on the radio last night, as well as part of the Democratic response, so I don't have a lot of analysis on those as of yet. I suppose I should have TiVoed it.

However, I heard the commentators after Bush's speech explain the long period of applause after the President introduced the parents of Sgt. Byron Norwood, who had been killed assaulting Fallujah. The parents stood and the mother, Janet Norwood, was hugged by another guest, Safia Taleb al-Suhail, daughter of a man slain my Saddam Hussein's intelligence service. Earlier in the speech she had been identified and had raised his purple-stained index finger in a salute to the recent Iraqi election.

It was a visual confirmation of the appreciation the Iraqi people felt for the sacrifice of American troops. For me it was a visual picture until I found various postings this morning. Even over the radio, the commentator's description got to me. If anything undercut the weeks of Democratic sniping at the Iraqi election it was this moment.

If I dig them up from audible.com I'll comment further on these speeches.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Pictures, Politics” Thursday, Feb 3 2005 08:59 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Portland International Auto Show

Today we packed up the whole family and went off to the Portland International Auto Show. Why did I go? Dodge all-but-promised me a look at the new Charger. In reality, I have a chance to win 30,000 towards any Dodge, Jeep, or Chrysler.

I did get my picture taken with this odd car…

And Alana, Ryan and myself appear here with the dual-hemi Jeep concept vehicle…

The show was a lot of fun, but at the end of it all, Misty and I agreed that conversion vans were more appealing than minivans for our needs. sure, they had lousy gas mileage, but Mommy doesn't go all that far with the kids.

I still need a sedan that's fun to drive, safe, and gets good gas mileage though. Still working that issue. I liked the 300Cs we saw at the show, but I want to try a Charger.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “General, Pictures” Saturday, Jan 29 2005 07:56 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Reasons To Go Cruising Again, A Fifth Entry

Well, I'm not getting married again, as much fun as Alana thought that was, but it was certainly the highlight of the last cruising. Misty's friend Katherine is performing crowd control in this scene.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Sunday, Jan 9 2005 12:20 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Reasons To Cruising Again, Fourth Entry

On Voyager of the Seas this buffet is called the Windjammer. This was lunch on our first day at sea. (This is also the first time I've included pictures of Alana and Ryan on these pages. Hopefully it will be okay.)

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Friday, Jan 7 2005 09:44 AM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Reasons To Go Cruising Again, Entry the Third

We saw this beautiful trimaran on our way out to see stingrays at Grand Cayman.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Tuesday, Jan 4 2005 08:58 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Reasons To Go Cruising Again, A Second Entry

Yes, it's my wife Misty! She had a blast playing with dolphins and stingrays.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Sunday, Jan 2 2005 01:42 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Reasons To Go Cruising Again, First of a Series

(Voyager of the Seas, shot by me from a tender as we stopped in Labadee, Haiti, November 2003.)

This Christmas I informed the family we were going to go cruising again. Not right away, but in November of 2005. It's always better with lots of warning. Already we've begun the budget, the weight loss program, and, of course, we have ammunition for New Years' Resolutions…

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “Cruising, Pictures” Friday, Dec 31 2004 08:50 PM  |  Permalink  |  No comments  |  No trackbacks

Wendell Marries Hobbit

Wendell Joost, a friend of mine for the last few years on the Pacific Northwest firearms training circuit, got married yesterday. I manged to be there with a camera. While we have a large quantity of raw pictures I'm not comfortable sharing them until we have cleaned them up a little. I did send Wendell the URL so you can harass him when he's back from the honeymoon. Click the thumbnail to the left for a larger image.

Wendell has been my Master Training Counselor since 2000 when I came up to Seattle for my instructor training in Pistol and Personal Protection and when I became a Training Counselor myself. We have collaborated on instructor training (and even TC training) in Oregon, Washington and even Montana.

Wendell and Hobbit have both been active with the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. While Girl Scouts can go after any merit badge a Boy Scout can get, with their local council approval, we haven't seen a lot at our Rifle Merit Badge extravaganzas. Even so, they have set up evilscoutmaster.com.

Josh Poulson

Posted in category “General, Pictures” Sunday, Aug 22 2004 09:14 AM  |  Permalink  |  1 comment  |  No trackbacks