Punk Pram

Can you guess where this picture was taken? After church we went with our friends to Venice Beach. This punk family pushing a pram was just one of the odd things we saw. We saw many people who needed more clothes, and we saw people who needed less food.

We showed our friends why Venice is named Venice - the canals. Wonderful architecture and plantings.

From Venice we went to Melrose so they could shop. We waited at a Starbucks watching the odd people pass. Melrose is an odder odd than Venice.

There were many Jewish families in this area out and about for the High Holidays. We saw some Jewish young men in dark suits blowing their shofar.

I love LA -- You never know what you will see.

A Different Beat

After taking our friends to return their rental car at LAX we drove around showing them parts of LA. On our way to Apple Pan for lunch we drove past this lady who was dancing and rocking out to her music in an unusually modified golf cart. It was styled like a Hummer, complete with metal rims, and over-sized seats. This was the sight to see in LA this morning.

6th Floor

After a conference we had a few hours before our flight, so we went downtown to visit the 6th Floor. A well done display.

Two Reasons I Love Texas

There is a place in Texas where Chick-fil-a is next to a Sonic. Here I can get a Chick-fil-a sandwich and a Sonic lemon-berry slush to have together.

It's a good thing this is not close to my house, or I might become an average American.

Math Games

While having a snack at the Farmer's Market, I taught the boys the shell game - and the math behind 'Monty Hall' 3 door game. They thought I was doing some kind of trick!

All Well

Cooper had his check up and all is well. We are greatful for another year without restrictions.

Cooper is always very still and calm in the office, very unlike his normal high energy self.

Long Distance

We had another great staff event at GTY. Today we had a conference call with the International Space Station - and friend of the ministry Jeff Williams. I got to help set up the conference with the Johnson Space Center - nothing better for a tech-head than to be able to say, "Can you wait a moment that may be my NASA contact."

It was great to hear all that Jeff is doing, including taking more that 70,000 pictures.

He says that he can spot the GTY building from space! When he returns to Earth he will have been in space more than six months. He says he is never bored, he loves seeing God's creation from space.

We all look forward to his safe return.

Soccer

Campbell has practice twice a week this season. He loves his team name, and the players.

This year he is learning new skills from his coach. Should be a better year than last.

I need to see some ID

Sorry sir, the picture on your ID does not match your money. This MD has more rules and signs than any other - 3 refills max, 1 sauce, no loitering, no outside food, no extra ice. Come to Castaic and enjoy the rules. If it were cleaner you might think you were in Singapore.

40 Reasons to live in Valencia

After dropping the boys at in Burbank. We went shopping and then decided to beat the heat and head to the sea. Our house is a little more that 40 miles from the sea, when we arrived it was 40 degrees cooler. From 108 to 68 - wonderful.

Coming soon to Town Center?

While shopping at the NFC I spotted these tables with ads in the center. The whole food court is full of them. Don't let the people at Town Center know or we'll have them too.

Goodbye ol' Blue

Seems like only yesterday that Jay and I were diving across the desert in 105+ heat (it was the cool time). When we left Lafayette we had AC and a dream of cool sailing. When we reached Houston, it started getting humid and warm in the car. At first I thought that the AC had iced over, so I turned it off to let it melt (keep telling yourself that Fickett). After about 20 min, I turned it back on and it felt cool -- well cooler than the oven we were in at the time. At the next rest stop we pulled over and gave the belts and such a look. All looked fine but we could not make it cool. After anointing it with machine oil, we gave in and knew that it would not be cool till we got to a hotel. For the rest of the trip we drank iced water and cola. After we arrived safely in Valencia I took Blue to get its AC repaired. It worked about 80% of the time, and then only made the car cool after about 10 min -- my ride home is about 7, so the AC was only semi-helpful.

After four years of faithful service our blue car has gone to its reward. Actually it went to Make-a-Wish, it needed to go somewhere and that is where we decided. It was too iffy to let a sem student get stuck on the side of the road when it wanted a rest.

For us it was fine - as I only took it to and from work, so our worst-case was less than 4 miles from a friendly place.

Now all we have is red and gold, I bet they will miss blue, but I'm sure our neighbors are glad to see it out of our driveway.