If you are looking for my vacation post it is below this one.

The news has not publicized the illegal actions of the Denver and Aurora Police during the Democratic National Convention. They have used the time proven techniques of assaulting peaceful protesters, illegally covering their badges so that they can not be identified, arresting people not violating the law including those recording their actions, assaulting the demonstrators without giving an order to disperse, etc.

I have liked Mayor Hickenlooper prior to this. My respect for him is now on trial. He is a politician, and hopefully will respond to public pressure. Please email him at MileHighMayor@denvergov.org

Below are a few links to reports.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/08/the_right_of_the_people_to_pea.php#more
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/8/26/denver_police_arrest_91_fire_pepper
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/videos/detail/police-use-force/

I sent the following in an email to the mayor.
--------------------------

Mayor Hickenlooper

I am an admirer of what you have done for the City and County of Denver, and as a Colorado voter am hoping that you consider running for other offices. That said, I am very concerned about how the police have acted during the DNC. There are too many reports of officers with their badges not visible (illegal), violence to non-violent protesters, cruel conditions in the detention center, compact flash cards containing pictures of police action not being returned after detention, etc.

I understand, and support the arrest of those violating the law.

My future support of you depends upon how these actions are investigated. Trust can be restored by a complete and open investigation. If those that violated the law, both protesters and police are prosecuted I would probably vote for you in the future. If all photo documentation of police action is returned to their rightful owner immediately I would probably vote for you in the future. If you are part of a cover-up, not only would I not vote for you, but I would support your prosecution as an accomplice.

Stanford Smith

Dianne and I just got back from visiting Daria, Andy, Summer, Baxter, Lucky, and Yedi in Vermont.


I asked at work when I could get a vacation and they said ASAP, so we called Daria to see if we could visit. She said it was OK as long as we brought sunshine with us. We told her that she could send the rain our way. We both kept our end of the deal. We were on track for one of the driest years on record. The day before we left it started to rain, and in two days we got a couple of inches of water. We needed the water, but it delayed our flight three hours. In Chicago we ran through the rainbow tunnel to catch our next flight. Luckily it was delayed about 40 minutes.

Waves are not a good thing in airports.


Sunday we went to the Orleans County Fair where Daria and Andy were photographing for Vermont Life.


It's Sunday, so you have to have religion! If you click on the picture you can read the blue sign on the left of the picture. There were two people sitting and listening, and musicians waiting to perform.


"Ker-Bri Farm Natural Colored Sheep" I didn't see any non-natural colored sheep, so I guess I'll have to use my imagination.


Patriotism is painting your car red, white, and blue, putting a flag on the roof, then taking it to a demolition derby! The haze is from smoke coming from the far end of the field.


We watched a couple of heats of the 4 cylinder class. The last three cars running went on to the finals later in the day. The yellow car and the one behind it both moved on. Click on the picture to see how smashed up they are. Many of the cars moving on were dragging a non-turning wheel. Those that made it to the finals must drive these same cars, so they will be doing as much repair as possible.


Summer and Baxter waiting to ride the Gravitron. Click on the picture to read the sign in the background.


Wikipedia can describe the Gravitron better than I can. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitron Summer and Baxter were at the back of the line for the ride.

In general the people of Vermont are healthy. The attendees of this fair were an exception as the picture shows.

This was the second time riding the Gravitron, and once too many times for Baxter. He felt awful for the rest of the day.

On the way to the fair I saw cars in a field. On the way back Baxter was asleep, and Andy stopped for me to look. I saw this 1958 Plymouth (red and yellow car), and went to take a picture. My intent was to find a phone number and get back in the car. When I approached the driveway several dogs came out barking along with the owner. I told the owner what I was doing, and said I wanted a contact number. He decided to show me his yard.


We went beyond the trees in the previous picture. I didn't want a tour. All I wanted was a phone number. Baxter woke up, and Dianne started to yelled for me. Being in the woods I didn't hear her at first.

The owner only wants 1.6 million for the whole yard! (No one is buying.)

On Tuesday Summer had a party in a park. I only took one picture, and it was awful of everyone there. You will have to wait until Daria posts something.

On Friday we got to spend the afternoon and evening with Summer, and Baxter. We started out by taking them and their friends Mia and Will to putt-putt golf.

Andy took Daria on a date.



Mia
Will
Setting up a shot.


After golfing we went to Mai's and Will's house to go swimming. Summer got into the water quickly, and stayed in after everyone else got out. (Dianne and I stayed dry.)


This is Max, the younger brother of Mia and Will.


Mia after swimming.


Will in a water fight. He was having problems because the elastic in his swim trunks was worn out.


We went to dinner at Friendly's. Baxter decided he wanted to try and win a toy rather than have ice cream. This machine is set up to be "play till you get a prize". The previous player gave up, so Baxter played without putting in money. He tried to get a race car, or anything else except a ball. After about a half hour of trying he ended up catching a ball. Since the play was free, we gave him the $2.00 it would have cost us.


On Saturday Daria went to the Deerfield County Fair. Dianne and I rode with her, and went on to Bennington. Our first stop was the Hemmings Motor News car display. This is a 1934 Brewster Town Car.



This is the first auto museum that I have heard of that allows anyone to touch their cars. I was speaking to an employee and explaining that I like old luxury cars. He told me to sit in the back of this Buick.


They have more than just cars. At the front of the place there is a working service station with a gift shop. There are signs, tools, and much more on display. This is a Packard.


After the museum we went to Bennington Potters. The entrance to the shop had this cow with it's head inside the shop. Sorry that the picture is so busy; it was. There was also a moose in rubber boots sticking it's head into the shop.


After picking up Daria at the fair we stopped at this diner.




On Sunday Daria had a party at the house. At this particular moment Yeti was still.


Daria and Kathy Kjelleren


The party was not even over when I caught this mess! Dianne and I did a lot of preparation, but Andy ended up doing the lion's share of the cleanup.


Yeti loves chasing the ball. From the living room we would toss the ball upstairs and Yeti would run up to get it. Normally he brings it down, but during these photos he was dropping the ball through the railing. With my slow digital camera I was unable to catch him at the moment of the drop.




The first picture is of the pond liner in front of Daria and Andy's house.

Our remodel is at the stage that the rooms are all usable, and look good. We still have a many unfinished items. In this post I will be showing some of the items that Dianne and I did.

The vanity in the master bath is finally in and done. The vanity was a dining room sideboard that we bought used with a damaged top. We bought granite for the top from Habitat for Humanity, but the granite cutter had a scrap that was thicker so he used it instead. We re-donated our piece of granite to Habitat.

I like the blue bath towels with the yellow hand towel and wash cloth. These were purchased as three piece sets of all yellow and all blue, so we also put out the reverse color combination; yellow bath towel with blue hand towel and wash cloth.

Dianne's towels are in the picture. There is another towel rack to the right of this picture for my towels.
The sideboard was not as deep as a vanity. I used some of the wood from the original top to extend the depth to the wall. I matched the existing curves on the bottom of the sideboard. As with most walls this one is not perfectly straight. I didn't want a piece of trim hiding the gaps, so I scribed this piece to fit against the wall perfectly.

I also leveled the vanity by placing spacers under some of the legs. Both of these legs have spacers.
There was a space in the closet that was wasted. To salvage it I made this shelf to sit on the floor. The material is shelving scraps from the remodel.

It is hard to see the shelf in this picture. I have my boots under the shelf, and my paint clothes on top of it. On the right are shoe shelves.

Another item we purchased used was the this fan that is now in the master bedroom. It is a Hunter Douglas fan intended for a much larger space. I'm sure any honest sales person would tell us that it is too big for the space, but we love the ability to blast air.

The second bathroom is coming together also. Dianne made the curtain to cover the front of the washer/dryer. When doing laundry the curtain swings towards the window.
I made some shelves to go over the top of the stacked washer/dryer. There is a pull out a section of closet rod (left over from the remodel). We store empty hangers on it, and when Dianne is washing she can pull it out to hang clothes. The rod is hung from a full-extension drawer track. There is also a basket on the upper shelf that can be pulled out.

I made the supports for the shelves to that they each have an adjustment of three heights. To keep the selves from sliding forwards the selves have notches in them (on the edge of the shelf in the picture below). I still need to add a lock on the height adjustment to insure that the upper shelf does not rock forward.

Dianne got these laundry hampers that fit in the jog of the hall wall.


We use the deck a lot. Dianne put up hooks for the hammock. When not in use the hammock hangs from the hook on the house end (under the roof). The gray cover behind the hammock is for the hot tub.

We are not done yet. Dianne will make a valance for this widow. The new doors need to be stained. There is still trim that need nail holes filled and painted.

From my posts it looks like I have done most of the work. Dianne has done at least her share. She was the one on site during the construction. She did her share of the painting. She went shopping for all the great things I utilized. She kept track of the budget. She did and is doing the decoration. She lived the project.