Brian and Sarah Marry

Posted on by chappyshi

Here are a few photos…I will post more in my photo album shortly…from the wedding of Brian Derr and Sarah.  Brian is the son of my sister Kim’s ex-husband.  She did not adopt him so I guess he is kind of a pseudo-step nephew.  No matter how I describe the relationship, Brian is a great guy and Sarah is a great gal.

He and Sarah, who met at a JMU running club, are privileged to have each other.  I was thrilled to have been invited to their wedding.  The ceremony took place in an Episcopal church in Smithfield, Virginia.  The reception was at a hotel in Suffolk.  Both the ceremony and the reception were well attended and very enjoyable.  I wish Brian and Sarah great happiness in their life together!

The priest, Father Ross, if I remember correctly, asked we attendees to completely turn off all wireless devices and refrain from taking pictures or movies.  A number of us discretely stowed our cameras and leaned back to take in the ceremony.

Later, after the ceremony, at the reception, while everyone was finding and/or occupying their seats at the dining tables, Father Ross came up to my table, where I sat alone, for the moment, and said that his place card indicated that he was sitting with us, us being at least Kim, Don, Julie, Ed, and me.  Somewhat disconcerted, I asked him if that meant we had to stop drinking and swearing.  He hoisted his glass of wine to me and said “Hell no!”

Christ Episcopal Church, Smithfield, VA.

Brian and Sarah Derr

Brian and Sarah

Kim and Don Brown.  Kim is the ex-wife of Brian’s dad.  Kim and Don just got married in August of this year.

Kim and Don Brown

Brian’s brother AJ, his girlfriend Tina, and Don Brown shaking it.

AJ Derr, Tina, and Don Brown

Don getting his freak on with Linda.  Linda is Brian’s dad’s brother’s wife, who is from England.   Great lady.

More of the crowd grooving to the dance tunes.

Dancing the Night Away

CBS 60 Minutes – The Electronic Wasteland

Posted on by chappyshi

I read or saw something one or two years ago about how shipping containers of electronic waste from the U.S. were shipped to China where Chinese laborers without any kind of protection were stripping the waste down to parts from which the precious metals could be retrieved and recycled.  It was and is against the law to ship this scrap out of the U.S. so some unscrupulous types were amassing loads of scrap to ship to China where more unscrupulous types would buy it and have the various devices/parts stripped down by poor Chinese laborers who were not aware of the health and environmental risks posed.

Since I have, through work, disposed of 15 to 20 thousand pounds of electronic parts over the last four years, I have tried to ensure that the product was disposed of and/or recycled in an environmentally safe manner that did not involve some poor uneducated laborer in a third-world country.  Unfortunately, I can only do so much.  I quiz my recyclers about where the scrap goes after they separate it and sell it to their business partners.  I have been told that they carefully screen those business partners to ensure that they are being as ecologically and humanly friendly as I wish them to be.  The bottom line is that once the scrap is out of your hands, you lose control and really have no idea where it goes.

Watch the clip from CBS.  Apparently, even after an expose one to two years ago, shenigans are still going on.  I wonder what really happened to the scrap I have disposed of through the years:

The Electronic Wasteland

Vermont Vacation, October 2008

Posted on by chappyshi

I do not have much to say here other than that I had a great vacation earlier in October.  I spent all but one night in Vermont.  The other I spent at a KOA in the Poconos, PA.  As regards the latter, I will say only, way too much road noise.  The caretaker, who smelled a bit of booze, put me in the campsite closest to the road.  It was not until later when I reviewed where I had been on the campground map that I realized I could have been at least a few hundred yards further away from the road than where I had been.

I posted a a couple of my favorite pictures from the trip two weeks ago.   Here are three more.  To see the rest of the pictures and read the story…..

Paddle on dudes and dudettes.  Hike on.  Camp on.  Get it on!

Lake Willoughby

A UFO is preparing to drop aliens down on Mt. Mansfield.

Mt. Mansfield from Grand Isle

Watch your graying wood.

Mt Pisgah South Side

October and Still Paddling

Posted on by chappyshi

I got out on the Potomac River at Algonkian Regional Park on Sunday.  That location is turning into one of my favorites.  It is about the same distance away as Burke Lake but much more entertaining.  The day was gorgeous with temperatures up in the mid-sixties.  The leaves, even for the last week of October, still had not changed much, at least on the riverfront.

I paddled up on the north side of two islands and came back down on the south side.  I saw two Bald Eagles playing around in the sky above me at one point, noted numerous Great Blue Herons including one which I presumed to be immature, and  watched an Osprey ride the air currents for about five minutes.  I missed the Redskins game but got to do and see what the “Redskins” might have done and seen 300 years ago.

The only half way decent picture I got…a much smaller Great Blue Heron that those I normally see.

Small Great Blue Heron, Perhaps Immature

The Derek Trucks Band, Encore

Posted on by chappyshi

I saw the Derek Trucks Band (DTB) when they opened for Santana at Merriweather Post in Columbia, MD, in the spring with my sister Julie, brother-in-law Ed, and Matt Koeniger.  Derek Trucks, nephew of Butch Trucks from the Allman Brothers, was awesome.  I thought DTB was the headliner so I was surprised to see that they were opening and Santana was headlining.  Both bands were outstanding.

I was surprised again to hear that DTB was playing at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD, this past Thursday.  I knew that Joe Satriani was playing at the Warner Theater the same night.  I seriously considered going to that show but when I heard on Tuesday that the DTB was in town I went for it.

Instead of the 45 minute opener they did for Santana at Merriweather, they just jammed for about 2:15 hours plus a 20 minute or so break.  They opened up the second set with two or three sit down, foot stomping Delta blues tunes.  That sent the tone for the whole evening for me but DTB is hard to classify.  The do blues, rock, fusion, and jam.  If you like that kind of variety from very talented artists, check out DTB sometime.

You can see the playlist for the Strathmore concert here and listen to it here.

Carolina Heart Wrenching

Posted on by chappyshi

The Carolina Wren, particularly the male, and maybe only the male, is loud.  He is sometimes hard to find and, most times, annoying, to hear.  I have a pair which I assume are the male and the female who get up on my balcony railing occasionally.  The female usually jets when she notices me.  I have the same problem every where I go.

Here are two pictures of the male, in one of whom he is in full voice.

Celebration of My Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary and My Sister Kim’s Wedding

Posted on by chappyshi

While in Suffolk, VA, for Kim and Don’s wedding, we celebrated 50 years of marriage for my parents.  We all sent a bunch of photo’s to Kim who spent some 80 hours getting a photo album put together for Mom and Dad.  We treated them all to dinner at the Bennett’s Creek Marina Restaurant.  I think there were 12 of us including Mom, Dad, Julie, Ed, Ryan, Kim, Don, AJ, Tina, Brian, Sarah, and myself.  Dinner was very enjoyable albeit long.

Kim and Don’s wedding was the next day at an Episcopal Church retreat called Chanco on the south side of the James River in Surry, VA.  The setting was beautiful, and although the weather was a bit warm, very pleasant.  A storm blowing through just missed Chanco, thankfully.  We improved on the friendships we started with Don’s parents earlier in the week and met more of Don’s family and friends of both Kim and Don whom we had not met before.   I was so happy to see Kim and Don married.

Kim and Don, the night before the wedding

Kim and Don, Soon to Be Wed
Mom and Dad.  We’re all out for dinner to celebrate their 50th

Mom and Dad, the 50th Anniversary Couple, at Dinner

Mom and Dad at Kim’s before we all went out to dinner

Mom and Dad, In Front of Kim's House

Julie and Ed at dinner

Julie and Ed at the Anniversary Dinner

AJ and Tina at Chanco before the wedding

AJ and Tina

Brian and Sarah at Chanco prior to the wedding  They will be married on November 15th

Brian and Sarah

Covered seating for the attendees overlooking the James River at Chanco

The Wedding Site

Kim and Don at the altar

Kim and Don

“Altarations”

Kim and Don
More “Altarations”

Kim and Don

Paddling the Potomac at Algonkian Park in Sterling, Virginia

Posted on by chappyshi

Hot, crotch pot cooking hot, as I think Robin Williams said in “Good Morning Vietnam.”  Nonetheless paddling up the river even in the hot sun felt good.  There was a bit of a breeze which I thought was working against me with the current as I went upstream.  For whatever reason or my lack of direction, the breeze was blowing back against me as I headed back down river.  Murphy, eh?

I believe this is a Double-breasted Cormorant.

Double-breasted Cormorant