Archive for 2007

Blowing the Glass Balloon

Saturday, October 6th, 2007

While we were in Lincoln City, Oregon, Steph arranged for us to learn how to blow glass at the Jennifer L. Sears Glass Studio. I've been interested in learning more about glass blowing for years, so this was a chance to finally have some hands-on experience with the process. We both made hanging ...

A Battle of Boyne Veteran

Friday, September 28th, 2007

I was doing some research for a project yesterday and came across the clipping that follows. It is an excerpt from the March 5, 1776 issue of the Londonderry Journal, the newspaper of the time in what is now Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Several things are interesting about it. First is the extraordinary age ...

The Dorymen

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

In the first light of day, before even the dawn, they come. Down to the base of the dune cliffs, down to the sea’s edge, they come.   . They come as men have always come, to go down to the sea in small boats. These boats, the Dorys, and these men, the Dorymen, go ...

Heath Aeroplane Company

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

File this one under “you learn something new every day.” While at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinville, Oregon (highly recommended) I noticed this small gasoline engine on display. It combined several of my lifelong interests: aviation, historical aircraft, motorcycling, historical motorcycles and something from my youth, Heathkit. When I was nine my ...

Desert Island Books - Round Two

Friday, September 14th, 2007

Back in January I asked you to answer the question: If you could only take a backpack full, what books would you take to a desert island?   I got quite a few responses, most of them within days of my posing the question.   Just about everyone who submitted a list ...

Two Interesting Perspectives on the Housing Bubble

Monday, September 10th, 2007

My comments last month about the U.S. Housting bubble generated a lot of comments, however, it came before I started this blog, so they all came back via email. This will be your chance to share your comments with a wider audience than just me. Since last month we've seen a further ...

Money Creek, MN rally site destroyed by flash flood

Monday, August 27th, 2007

Message below from our Milwaukee friend Bob Grambling.   I met Bob at a sushi bar down the street from my apartment when I was living in downtown Milwaukee. We later attended many BMW rallies together, along with his partner Bunny. Bunny was the key element and one of the prime instigators of ...

In This Land

Monday, August 27th, 2007

Please see the PDF document at: http://www.hackneys.com/docs/in-this-land.pdf   You will need an Adobe PDF document viewer to open this file. You can download a free PDF viewer from Adobe at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2_allversions.html

Why there will never be publicly funded elections in the U.S.

Friday, August 24th, 2007

We just spent a couple of weeks in Iowa. During the presidential campaign portion of the election cycle. During the pre-caucus portion of the presidential campaign portion of the election cycle. There is nothing quite like that experience. Especially if you have friends and relatives who are normal Americans and watch ...

Iowa Factoids

Friday, August 17th, 2007

We spent last weekend at my hometown’s big annual event and doing our yearly pilgrimage to the Iowa State Fair with our granddaughter. While we were at the fair some banners containing information about Iowa’s agricultural output caught my eye. I started doing some research and came across some interesting and sometimes ...