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But I'm late for sure! Happy B day Vicki! (just keep celebrating)

Watson says,.. "mmm. Keys taste good! Hope mommy feed good dog keys everyday!"

Cool Vicki! Keep us informed how your long term relationship goes. I'm planning on getting a dog in a year or so. I don't think I could beat the "cute factor" of yours!

Great idea for a thread Wayne. Over the weekend when I was at the Monterey Jazz Festival, I asked one of my pals who bar tends in Los Gatos (which was my old stomping grounds) if he'd heard from a mutual friend of ours Rick Tharp. My buddy looked at me like my head was on fire and then asked if I really didn't know? I knew that this was going to be bad but I had no idea! He then told me the story of Rick's disappearance about 8 years ago. He was a well known graphic artist and was working on the plan to bring the Olympics to San Francisco. One of the most clever and interesting guys I've know (and believe me when I say, I've known way more than my fair share). Rick was struggling with depression when he went missing so his family and friends were very concerned. Then, a report came in from the Cal Highway Patrol that his backpack was found on the Golden Gate Bridge along with an eyewitness report saying a fellow meeting Rick's description had jumped. Anyone whose even driven across that bridge can attest that someone who jumps from that height is serious. It was a while before they found Rick's body so the family and friends could have some closure. From what I gather, Rick was taking antidepressants and rumor has it that he's stopped taking them on his own. Depending on the medication, this is very ill advised unless the person can be put on suicide watch in an institutional setting. Can't say if this is was what happened, but this wouldn't be the first person I know whose lost their life to "self medicating". I'm very sad to hear of Rick's passing but it does drive home a point. The medical profession certainly has it's faults just like any other, but that decade of study isn't all for looks. The health professionals in our lives should be listened to and if you get a second or third opinion, follow the advice of one of them. Medicine and our heath should be taken very seriously. And the older we get, the more seriously we should take it.

Thanks again you guys! It's really nice to be thought of and to be part of this wacky community!

Watched the finale last night,.. holy shit! I really loved that show and I'm thinking about watching the whole damn thing again! Did you guys check out the Blue ray set? http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Bad-Complete-UltraViolet-Digital/dp/B00EEDNA4M The barrel is a nice touch!

24/44.1 from HDtracks

Hey Wayne,.. Happy B day brother! Hope things are going as well as they are for me!

Many thanks you guys! Bought myself my first iPad for B day. Fun fun fun.

Great news Shelly! Foot problems are the worst. They can linger a lot longer than normal simply because it's impossible to function normally without abusing a foot injury. Then when it starts to heal, your gait is all screwed up (but that goes away pretty quick). When I was having bouts of gout (good name for an album?) I bought a pair of fleece lined moccasins for around the house.

Just got back from the Monterey Jazz Festival and it didn't disappoint. Highlights for me was Dave Holland's band Prism with Kevin Eubanks, Craig Taborn and Eric Harland. Heavy fusion influence and all of the players absolutely smoked! Just before them (on Saturday night) Joe Lovano (who was this year's artist in residence) Dave Douglas Quintet played an awesome set which included a commissioned composition by Wayne Shorter. Joe also played with his regular band "Us Five" and just torn the place up. The two drummers and the way they "conversed" with each other was stunning! Sunday night Wayne Shorter's Quartet played. Lots of material I hadn't heard and the guys were in the best form I've ever heard them. Amazing! Friday night Gregory Porter started the weekend sounding great and had the crowd eating out of his hand. That was followed by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra that played a commissioned piece dedicated to Dave Brubeck. There was lots of Brubeck tributes since Dave has been a regular at the festival (I think I've seen him 8 times there). I attended some great talks but the best was a conversation with Lou Donaldson. He was so funny as he talked about his life in jazz.

Here's a decent video on bypassing the switch.

Once you pull the front/top of the case off of the washer you'll be able to get a good look at the switch. It could be that all you need to do is tighten the screws since it sounds like it still works. If you think about all the crap that fall down into that hole and all the vibration it endures, those switches (and the whole machine for that matter) are remarkably robust! It could also be that it's not making contact very well, so maybe just a squirt of contact cleaner will fix it. And sometimes it just isn't working until the switch is depressed all the way. The best thing is to just replace it since it's usually pretty cheap, but if you can't, you can always just short the wires (bypassing the switch) so it will always go into spin whether the lid is closed or not. The switch is a safety device since the spin motor has enough torque to just about pull your arm off! (think about how much weight it has to spin at high RPM's) If you have kids around, this is a very bad idea!

If it stopped before the spin cycle, you might be in luck. You know how the machine will stop when you open the door only during a spin cycle (if it's a top loader). There's a switch that has to be enabled for spin to work. The switch is inside of the top of the machine and you might be able to see it through a little hole. The lid usually has a little rod or something that goes through the hole when the lid is closed and enables the switch. Pretty stone age stuff but it's one of those "it just works" kinda things. It's very common for this switch to go bad or even the little rod that pokes through the hole to break. If you do a search you may even find a YouTube video on removing the front and top of your exact machine (but many are very similar). The switch is attached to the top. Take the switch to an appliance parts place and get a replacement. Like I said, if you're lucky, you're looking at a repair cost of under $20 bucks. Good luck!

Not gout than. Gout is usually associated with toes but can be in just about any joint. The cold makes it worse and folks that have it usually have flair ups in the winter when their feet get cold. It can be extremely painful to the point that even the weight of a blanket can cause a high levels of pain. The pain/swelling/redness is caused by uric acid crystals forming in the joint but no one know exactly why those crystals form. Use of some medications and dietary habits seem to be associated with it but nothing is conclusive that I know of. I had it pretty bad a decade or so ago. It just went away thank god!

Happy B Day Stretch!

Grilled a thick ass ribeye last night in honor of the 49ers getting the asses kicked by Seattle once again! Almost made me forget how miserable the offense looked (but Breaking Bad did make me forget!)

Happy B Day! Enjoy your day!

Yeah, when I heard about Kimi not being paid on time, I couldn't help but wonder where Lotus would be if they had proper funding. That must've been an awkward moment for whoever had to tell him! I guess Lotus's problems started in 2012 when they had the biggest financial loss in F1 history. I guess that happened because of loss of sponsorship funding. You can't have a world wide recession without everybody getting burned at least a little. I'm glad to hear that Flavio's ban was lifted. They could use more characters in F1 IMHO. I get kind of tired of the cool, collected pit wall bosses. Racing is all about passion!

Good points about Massa. Actually, I'm thinking that the financial bind that Lotus is in may make up their mind about a replacement for Kimi. Maldonado and the oil money he brings with him comes to mind. Having him and Grosjean on the same team would be scary but it might be the only way to keep Lotus afloat. I always liked Flavio. There sure was some great chemistry with Alonso when they were with Renault. I can't really remember how long he was banned from all FIA events but it seems like it was for a long, long time. I was actually surprised to see him in the pits.

Thanks for the heads up on that one Mike! Wow, aside from the V6 turbos which will mean a ground up car design for all the teams, having Kimi back at Ferrari is a huge one! I wonder who's gonna take his place with Lotus? Massa?

If you've gotten the original screw out, it could be that it's just not a common looking part. You'd be surprised how many crazy looking fasteners are out there. Try this site. Bear in mind that you might need a thread gauge to get the right replacement. http://www.fastenersuperstore.com/index2.cfm

Cool pictures guys. I don't know about gators, but snakes don't go out of their way to attack humans like movies would lead you to believe. When I was a kid in Georgia, I used to run around in a patch of zudzu vines sometimes. One year, my dad caught a bunch of Copperheads in that patch to sell to some lab. He filled a 55 gal drum about 1/4 of the way in just a couple of days! In my kid-bliss, I'd never even seen one there.

Possums are not the smartest creatures around. Their pursuit of food and privacy seems to override their survival instinct sometimes. My backyard fence is a highway for the ones in my neighborhood and when I first moved here, I tried to stop them but gave up. I'd take a hoe and poke them till they'd almost fall off the fence then take a rake to force them to turn around. I did this every night for a while but the peach tree a few houses down beckoned so my efforts were in vain. When I was a kid, I had a buddy pick one up by the tail. It became kind of fierce, hissing like a cat and snapping like a gator. Very unpleasant and kind of reptilian! Skunks on the other hand act like they're at the top of the food chain (even though they're no match for a Buick). When I lived in a poolhouse up on the ridge of a mountain, they and raccoons used to come to the pool at night. A couple of times, I almost tripped on skunks in the night and thank god, they didn't spray me. On the contrary, they'd just go about their business after looking up at me as if saying "You lucky SOB, if I wasn't so busy,..". After I found out that they dug into yellowjacket nests and ate my most hated bug, I was happy to coexist with them (enemy of my enemy,..). Depending on the rain fall, I get lots of different animals pretty close to my house. Deer come and eat the pretty flowers, I hear coyotes howl and yap all the time and I've even seen a huge mountain lion about 2 miles away crossing a quiet street. Although I don't like the idea of disease being spread, it's kinda the "bad" that comes with the "good" IMHO. And when it comes right down to it, deer can spread disease just as easily as a possum. It's just that they aren't so fuckin ugly!

Interesting stuff Wayne. When I started thinking about it my first thought was, 'about the same height as my dad'. On second thought, I don't think that's a coincidence!