In my blog the other day I did not mention what we did Friday before last. Woody and the boys and I (later to be joined by MK) went to Longville. We went to fish at my sister's pond and Woody brought is new kayak. The fishing sucked, but we had a good time with the kayak.

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Today the boys, my Paw-in-law and I went to Longville again. I did catch one small bass, but other than that they were not biting. After that we went to my parents house for coffee. My brother Terry had caught a bunch of bass at the pond earlier in the day. He fried them at and they were great.

Tonight I made a several posts on Christian forums' Semper Reformanda defending my post titled Luther and Erasmus. Lisa and I also went on an evening walk around the neighbourhood.

Later,
Kenith

Ps. Yes, thats me all wet in the kayak. I was the first person to flip the kayak/ I was trying to catch a small turtle.

Saturday, we boiled and dyed eggs for Easter. Sunday we worshipped at Bethel and then returned home. We returned home and at dinner, Lisa had prepared Spaghetti and it was very good. After dinner I hid eggs for the boys and they hunted eggs. They were competing to see who was the best egg hunter. It was very unusual, because they tied three times.

After the egg hunts we went to the porch were we were joined by Elizabeth and Woody. We paqued eggs. (Pâques is the French word for Easter) Paquing eggs is old Cajun tradition. Two people battle to see who has the toughest egg. We do this by tapping the pointy end of two eggs together until one of the eggs cracks. The strongest egg wins.

The above pictures are the boys paquing with Elizabeth and Woody. (BTW: Their baby -- we call her/him Pudin Tater -- is due in May). If you look closely at Woody's egg you will see that he lost that battle.

On Monday the boys and I went to Florida to visit Christian. While in Pensicola we visited and old fort, the Naval Aviation. One extra treat is that the Blue Angels train every morning at 8:30 and you can watch them for free. It was a great treat.

We came back home Wednesday. We stopped in Mobile and toured the USS Alabama, etc...

It was good to see Christian and the boys had a great time.

Later,

Kenith

I finished my graveyard shift this morning. We had a busy set of nights at work. Usually nights are rather slow. You get to work, make relief with the person who work the same job that day, get a cup off coffee, log onto a computer, read the notes from the previous shift, read your orders for the night, check your email, and then make a round through your units (i.e. if you are an "outside operator" you go to your units and check out your equipment or if your on the "board person" and running things from the control room , you look over the units on several computer screens. You observe the flows, temperatures pressures, etc... on on your equipment).

We had lots of pumps, compressors, units and other items to prepare or put back in service this series of nights, so that kept us busy, The units that were running were struggling so the folks running the board (the control computers) were also busy. I'm the "top operator" on our shift. The top operator is not a foreman, the "top" is more like a lead man. The "top" works with both the inside and outside operators. He also is the one who communicates with the shift foreman.

Well, I finished this morning and I've started vacation and won't go back to work for a couple of weeks. Hallelujah!!!!

I hope to take the boys fishing Friday. They start their Easter holiday on Good Friday.

One more thing. Today is the 25th anniversary of Lisa and my first date. I had flowers sent to her at work today. I can remember the day of our first date because it was three days before my 23 birthday.

Our first date was a near blind date. I had seen her once before, from a distance, in the dark. My brother Terry decided to set us up. He bugged me for days to go out with Lisa, I was not sure what she looked like, and finally gave in and agreed to a double date, just to get him off my back.

Lisa and I met on March 19, 1983 and five and a half months later we got married. We've had our bumps, but it has been a good match. We have had a good relationship. I've got as good or better marriage than anyone else I know. God has blessed me with a beautiful wife, who is my best friend and the mother of our four children.

Later,
Kenith

Today was a typical day in my life. I got up with Lisa and the kids. Lisa took the boys to school and then she left for work. I took it easy this morning. I Wrote on my blog, posted on some blogs I visit and on Christian Forums. I read some and did a little cleaning.

After that I ran some errands returned home, did a few exorcises and some more cleaning, mostly in the garage and kitchen. When the time came I picked up the boys at school. They climbed into the truck bed and we came home.

My youngest son and I played sword fighting in the backyard for a while. He won the sword fight. For supper the boys and I made omelets. The broke the eggs, mixed them, poured them in the pan and added the condiments and I did the folding and serving. Lisa called when she left work for home and I made her an omelet so that it was ready when she got home.

As the sun was going down we built a fire in the fire pot on the porch and talked for a while. As the fire was burning down and it was time for the boys to take their baths, we came inside. Now I will go say their prayers with them and get ready for bed. Then Lisa and I will visit some more.

That's a fairly typical day in my fairly mundane life. I enjoy my life (most of the time).

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Yesterday, I got up with the family. I brought the boys to school, came home and spoke with Morgan about a paper she’s writing for school. Then I went to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church for their Wednesday morning Eucharist service.

After that I picked up lunch for Morgan and then for Lisa. Mona Kay was there to visit Lisa and so I hung out for a while and visited with them. I then went to Lake Street Liquor Store to discuss what I needed for Morgan and Danny’s wedding reception. While there I picked up a fifth of Scotch and a bottle of Ouzo.

I came back to home in time to pick the boy’s up from school. The boys jumped in the back of the truck and we headed to the house. When I got home I played fetch with Oakly for a good while.

Gary J. came over. I offered him a Guinness or we could try the new Scotch I had picked up. He opted for the Scotch. I got the bottle, jiggers, ice, and we sat of the porch and poured a couple of jiggers of Aberlour 12 year old single malt Scotch. It is a good Scotch.

Woody saw us on the porch as he was driving by, and so he pulled in and joined us on the porch. We had a very good visit while enjoying our Scotch. MK also showed up later that evening as did Elisabeth.

It was a good day full of family and friends.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Marc, one of my best friends while in the Navy, has emailed some old pictures to me. These pictures were taken while he and I were on "Detachment" to Atzugi, Japan and on board the USS Lockwhood (1981). Here they are:

Hanger surfing after a hard rain at NAS Atzugi

Chief Bynoe and me (in my flight suit)

Me on the flight line at Atzugi.

That's me and Chief Bynoe behind me on the flight line.

Getting ready to take off. (Cool eye glasses)

Me on board the USS Lockwood.

Marc going for a flight.

The H-2 Sea Sprite a fearful war machine of the Cold War.

Our view out of the "console" widow when coming in for a landing on the Lockwood.

A little R&R on board the Lockwood

Don Ferguson, (unknown), Ric Rew, and that me in the yellow
Ric having a little fun.

Marc and me on a train somewhere in Japan

Chief Gino Fuller, Jeff Faucher and me eating in Japan

That is me at a train station.

Jeff, me and Marc at Ground Zero (Hiroshima, Japan)

The Atomic Dome - one of the few buildings to survive the atomic blast in Hiroshima. Today it's a memorial of that day when the power of the atom was released on man.
Marc, thanks for the pictures. Sorry I took so long getting them on the blog. I've been working too much.

Later,

Kenith

Our latest shutdown is over. When I walked out the gate this morning, my part in the unit start up was over. We are ready to finish starting up but we were prevented from doing so because of problems in other areas of the refinery. Once again our area leader pulled everyone of the shutdown before it was completed, but I am glad that I will be able to stay home and sleep in my own bed tonight. I will also get a full day off work tomorrow before I start days on my regular shift on Thursday.

This morning after leaving work I went to Izzy's and fed his dog. He has been out of town and I take care of his dog when ever he is gone. After feeding his dog I came home and played fetch with Oakly for a little while. It is 37 degrees outside, that is cold for this time of the year. The sun was coming up as I tossed Oakly's toy and there were bird's singing. It was so nice.

After that I went inside and woke the boys for school. I am now getting ready t go to bed and Lisa will finish getting the boys feed and off to school.

Kenith

I was yanked from my regular shift earlier this week and placed on another shutdown. We had trouble in one area which dominoed through the refinery. The original troubles did not affect us, but when one of the units was starting back up, they sent bad product to our charge tank and that bad product took us out.

This shut down was not bad. We have done what was needed and tonight we should start coming back up and should be up and running by tomorrow sometime, if all goes as it should. I am hoping this is true, so I can have a couple of days off before I have to start back on days Thursday.

On Friday Lisa drove to Pensacola to visit Christian and she came home again today. Morgan and Kim (a niece) watched the boys while Lisa was out of town.

I have been doing a lot of searches and downloading from Google Books. It is a treasure trove. Books in the public domain can be downloaded for free. I am now going to do a new searh there as soon as I post this blog entry.

Coram Deo,
Kenith