| First off, I have to admit to a mistake. I thought disposing of my junk prior to my demise would be a good, enthusiastically received, idea, and perhaps forestall bruised feelings down the road. The anemic, half-hearted response that idea elicited suggests otherwise and I have decided to abandon this effort, and let the problem solve itself at a more appropriate time. I have taken down the letter wherein I initiated this project and at this point, all bets are off. If the US Congress can kick the can down the road, so can I. |
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It is now official, AJ (aka Alantwo) graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in civil engineering. Would you truss him to design your office building? |
| There were smiles all around, including mine. I've waited a long time for this. |
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Bucking the trend was Alanthree. He appeared rather bored with the whole affair. |
| Barbara is also glad he finished. Losing a grandchild to the greater Phoenix area is a downside, but life is full of ups and downs. |
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I have never doubted the mental agility of Alantwo (at least not after losing to him in chess), but getting him to apply himself to academic endeavors was beyond my capacity. It wasn't until Brittney got involved that school attained any priority. Perhaps she has a latent career as a motivational speaker... |
| The graduation ceremony was held jointly for graduates of both civil engineering and engineering mechanics. A total of 30 BS degrees were awarded. In addition, 5 MS and 1 PhD degrees were awarded. |
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| Two days later (a Sunday) Alanthree was blessed in the San Manuel Ward. After the meetings a luncheon was held. The food was, in my unbiased opinion, excellent (I claim an absence of bias as I had no part in its preparation) and I was a bit surprised at the number of people that we get to include in the appellation, "Family and Friends." Below are images captured at that event. |
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| Alans one, two, and three wore matching bolo ties to this event. This was done at the urging of Alantwo, who saw a experimental project I had played with and requested that I pursue the idea and produce three identical ties. |
| In theory, it was a simple project. I cut 8 slices of rock (each circa 2mm thick), four out of fire engine red jasper and four out of a brilliant white quartz. Boiling them in a soap solution removed traces of diesel oil (the coolant for the large saw). |
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Alternating red and white slabs were then layered and glued together with epoxy... |
| ...then layered and glue again to create a sandwich 8 layers thick. |
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This sandwich was then sliced into sections again 2mm thick. Every other section was rotated 90° about its long axis, and again glued. This sandwich was then sliced perpendicular to its long axis. This created a checker board pattern, that was then enclosed in black obsidian an wrapped in leather. |
| It was a valid idea, but the final product was lacking in bling. The white quartz, when sliced thin, became translucent and allowed the juxtaposed red pieces to bleed through, reducing both contrast and visual appeal. It is also too small. Perhaps I will try the design again using black obsidian in place of the white quartz and visa versa. |
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In the lapidary shop, my trim saw is worn out. Pressure on the blade would cause it to displace backwards by about 3mm and rotate clockwise 5 to 10 degrees, making precise cuts difficult. I diagnosed the problem as a combination of worn bushings coupled with a worn shaft and, after several adventures, replaced the pressed in bushings. Fred Zumwalt (and his metal lathe) helped me repair the shaft (he talked me out of trying to make a new one), and after a couple of modifications to the lubrication system and the addition of a new diamond blade (with more adventures making the blades fit on the mandrel) we are back in business. At this point, I find myself being somewhat obsessive/compulsive about lubricating this piece of equipment. |
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Alantwo concluded that the two story portion of my house needed paint and volunteered his help remedying that deficit over the memorial day holiday. House painting ranks near the bottom on my list favorite things, but the need to rectify the peeling paint problem was obvious and lacking the gumption to effect any solution to that issue on my own, I acquiesced to his suggestion. The work detail consisted of Nathen, Terra, and their family, Alantwo and Brittney, myself and Barbara. After spending a day scraping paint, we acquired a pressure washer, and spent a second day revisiting previously plowed ground. |
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We decided to use a good primer and cover it with paint. Much to my surprise, we had difficulty finding paint that wasn't also billed as serving as its own primer. We were liberal with the primer, and used the better part of ten gallons. An unanticipated problem was that the primer color (not given) and the paint color (polar bear) were the same, making it difficult to see areas deficient in paint. I have trouble believing I allowed what you see in this image to transpire. I must be getting senile... |
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The final product looked pretty good (the late afternoon sun makes it appear yellow, not its true white). Hopefully it will be some time before I have to indulge in this again (like, maybe never...). Had I to do it over again, this edifice would not have two stories. |
| Since I was not the designated cook, we ate well. It has actually been quite some time since I made pizza. |
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I had a supply of angle iron (33 pieces of 1" by 1" x20') covered with corrugated sheeting and stacked against the end of the house. Upon removing the sheeting I discovered that small rodents (mice and/or rats) had set up housekeeping in it, so I built a rack along side the shed and moved the metal there. Perhaps that will also ameliorate the rate of our recent mouse infestation. |
| The remaining images were captured at this years Allen Family Reunion (by Mylinda to whom I entrusted my camera). I can think of no particular order into which I can make them fit, so I present them at random. Enjoy! |
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Here is this years version of the dreaded family group photo. Mark chose not to make an appearance and Susan was gone, but some of their progeny are represented. This is Norma's branch of the family and though it is missing several people, but it is obviously alive and growing. |