Lisa’s sister Christine and her husband Dave came to Anacortes for a visit a couple of weeks ago.  Here are some pictures taken from their visit:

Sad news to report: Lisa has a problem with her left eye.  It’s called “posterior vitreal detachment” and it’s something that can’t be fixed or cured.  When she looks out her eye, she sees a hologram image (like a 3D movie image), floating to the left of center.  Lisa finds it very annoying.  Check out the informaiton on the web.

Since I left government service a couple of months ago, I’ve noticed I have a lot less time on my hands.  As such, there has been little time for keeping the blog up to date. 

So Tim, “What have you been doing with all that FREE time since leaving government service?” (not)  Let’s begin here:

Lisa and I have had a lot of visitors this summer and have spent a lot of time on the sailboat.  As a result, we are finding that the sailboat has been lacking in attention in the area of maintenance by the other owners, and the role of repair and upkeep has fallen to us.  Suffice it to say that I’ve repaired a few problems that have been needing attention for years.  Lisa and I surmise that the other owners have simply lost interest.

Lisa and I have made an offer on a 10 acre parcel of land south of Freeland, Wa, on Whidbey Island.  There is a house on the property, but we are planning on burning it to the ground if we end up buying the property.  The value is in the land, not the house.  The property has been in continuous ownership by one family for four generations and our realtor mentioned that they have not logged the property, unlike the rest of Whidbey Island which was logged 100 - 150 years ago to provide lumber for a growing Seattle market.  We are in our due diligence period, determining what the cost is to get rid of the house and clean up the property.  

You may recall that last year, I and a number of men from our church, painted the Bray home.  A couple of weeks ago we painted their garage and their pump house.  I think we are finally done painting stuff for them.  I wonder what’s next on their to do list?

This week Jim Kniskern, Gordon Lehman, Ian, and I built a deck and a connecting handicap ramp for a church member, Tom Bigelow.  Tom has MS and is now confined to a wheelchair.  

I’ve been playing in a men’s golf league this summer (once per week) at the golf course in Anacortes.  There are four people on our team and we are currently in third place and in the playoffs.  Not bad given there are twenty-two teams playing in the league.  I won low net a couple of weeks ago (a combination of low score and handicap) and walked away with $40.  The league championship round is in two weeks.  Wish me luck.

Lisa and I are leaving on vacation tomorrow.  Our first destination is Glacier National Park in Montana, then onto Star Valley, Wyoming.  Lisa’s sister’s side of the family is having a family reunion in Star Valley beginning on Thursday and we have been invited to attend.