2009 Crab Trip #1!

Our first crabbing trip of the season occurred yesterday. It sure started out slow but got much better as the day progressed. Even though its a little early for Wye Mills, we started there hoping to do well. We struggled for about 3 hours and moved several times but only came up with 8 crabs. By about 9:30, I had enough of slow crabbing and decided to pull up and head to Tred Avon near Easton since its only about 12 miles south of Wye Mills. We got our lines back in the water by around 11:00 but things still seemed very slow. It just seemed like we could not find them or perhaps the outgoing and slack low tide was causing the problem. We again moved several times and by 1:00PM still only had just over 1/2 bushel. We decided to try one more move and suddenly things began to happen. Our first run on one of our two 600 foot lines produced 4 nice crabs! Things were looking up. We laid the second line and it produced similar results. It was not long until the first bushel was packed and we started on the second bushel. It was about 3:00PM when we had the second bushel nearly full. After taking chicken necks off the first line to wrap it up, we ran the second line one more time before wrapping it up. That final run yielded 15, yes, you heard me right, 15 crabs! Somehow we found room to pack them in the baskets resulting in 2 lid-busting, bushels!

Check out a couple of pics! click> Crabs!

Is It Time To Ditch Skype?

Recently, a friend of mine reported that she received a sudden warning notice while using Skype. It said something like “warning! your system may be infected! Click or download “scanonlinenow.com” to clean your system!

This of course is a scam and it appears that Skype is the latest software to fall victim to malware. Folks, its time to do the wise thing and switch to Gmail and gmail video chat that is not a bloatware program but simply a small plugin for your browser. I think you will find that it works just as well as skype but apparently, much more secure. Along with video calls you can also do voice only calls through Gmail as long as you have a mic hooked up to your PC. Gmail continues to be the best of the best!

Check it out here…

2009 Regional Student Convention.

 I have uploaded quite a number of videos from this year’s mid-atlantic student convention.

The index for all of these videos can be found here> RM6565 YouTube Channel

The first link is of  the song “His Life For Mine”. What a powerful message.

Random Thoughts.

   Its been so long since an update. Not sure how this whole blogging thing is going to shake out.  Facebook seems to be the current front runner to post news and activites. I still think there is a place for blogging. I would like to include more useful links to various aspects of my life on this blog. Like links to my web albums and various YouTube videos that I have uploaded. Speaking of which, I plan to upload quite a few videos of the students convention related activities. They all did a super job!

         The weather sure has gotten warmer since my last post that featured a snow storm. We have mid 80’s for the next few days. Hopefully that will awaken the crabs from their winter’s hibernation. Can hardly wait!

Snow Storm 2009!

 After several little “sky farts” this year, we finally got  ”dumped” on.  Below are a couple of emails I sent out regarding this event…

   During the night…

Well, am I ever glad we took time on Saturday to get a little more firewood around
here! Click > (FIREWOOD) The time is past 12:30am this Monday morning and the electric has just gone out! Not with an occasional flicker either. It simplyblanked right out with no warning at all! I just got done making surethe stove in the basement was stoked with wood. It seemed to beburning nicely and i am sure it will keep us warm as our single sourceof heat until power is restored. The worse thing I will have to face is having to get our water pump primed since the check valve is bad and it always loses prime after a short period without electric! Thelast priming situation was a royal pain in the bahunkus! Oh how i dread that project. Uncle Jesse’s can sure be glad they are missing out on this sort of drama. As i lay here in bed typing this on my cell phone, since my computers and internet are out with the power, it sounds like the wind has really picked up. Last I looked outside with the flashlight, the snow is still coming down at a good clip.

This morning…

  Two really good things to report. 

 1. The power was restored after being out maybe an hour or so.

 2. The water pump did not have to be primed! (My biggest concern)

   Another really great thing is that my high speed internet is back! How boring it would be to be snowed in without that!

       I would say we have about 8 inches so far. Looking at the radar we may get another inch or so before it is supposed to end early this afternoon.

 Here are pics that will show the amount of snow since last night…

      Click> Snow 2009

In Memory Of Melanie.

     Its hard to believe its already been one year since Melanie’s “Ultimate Healing”. With the way things are going in this old world these days, I almost get jealous of her! Some glorious day, the pain, sorrow, and disappointment, that is so much a part of this life will be a distant memory swallowed up by the very presence of our King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s! Have you made your preparation? Have you trusted in the ONLY means of salvation? The only Hope we have? Yes, Jesus Christ our Saviour.

     We miss you Mel…

    

  Here is the slideshow that was put together during the time of Mels funeral…

 Click>       Remembering Mel

    Also see the wonderful memorial done on her family’s blog >  MLMILLER FAM

A Few Thoughts….

Its really been an interesting week. Of course history was made with the inauguration of America’s new president. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the whole issue. Rush, of course, continues to amaze me with great analysis on the whole political spectrum. Recently, Sean Hannity stopped by his studio to interview him. Check it out here…

I also found this interesting emphasis on prayer for president Obama:

How To Pray For Obama…

We’ve all heard the reasons people give for opposing Obama politically. But we must remember that opposing Obama for his views does not mean we have to, or even should, hate him.

Like you and me, Obama is a mortal man. Obama has religion. Having religion is not the same as knowing Christ and having a genuine relationship with him.

It is out of this truth that this Facebook group click>   (Pray For Barack Obama) was born. Every time you pray for our new president-elect,

Pray:

that Obama’s heart would be softened to the truth of Christ

That the whole Bible is God’s Word (including the passages about Christ being the only Way truth and life, and Romans 1, where God condemns deviant sexuality in very clear words).

That he would come to a full saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

That God would turn Barack Obama’s heart to him and give him a tender conscience.

That God would give Obama compassion for unborn children, and turn his heart towards them, and repent of his support of the right to kill them.

The Bible says that the effectual fervent prayers of the righteous availeth much, and that God turns the heart of the king.

Now that is change I can believe in.

A Great Column By Cal Thomas.

One of my favorite columnists is Cal Thomas. Check out this column he recently wrote titled  click> “Welcome to Town, President Obama”

Finally, A Real Digital Photography Solution! (And Its Not Facebook)

I wonder how many of you out there have been grappling with what to do with all the digital photos that you are accumulating? I wonder if the scenario plays the same at your home. There are often several digital cameras involved with families these days and even several PC’s. Photos end up scattered everywhere. With the advent of blogging, a few of these pictures may make out on a xanga post, blog, or the current rage of Facebook. While this type of picture posting and viewing is ok, it can still be cumbersome to get back to the photos and viewing them often requires a lot of mouse clicking. Even sending pictures in email is not all that great. Recipients get your pics either in the wrong size or after getting them they end up scattered somewhere in the piles of pictures on your PC.

Then there is the issue of backing up pictures to prevent tragic loss in the event of a hard drive crash. How many of you really take the time to back up your pics on CD, DVD, or external hard drive?

After much thought, and trying various options related to this issue, I have finally found a great solution:

The solution is PICASA and its related Web Albums!

Picasa is the best I have found in a free photo editing, hosting, and viewing service. Since it uploads a larger file size than a typical blog or facebook, it actually serves as a backup for your pics. The larger file size also allows for better print quality and you can even order prints right from your web albums!

The thing that concerns me is, instead of using a great service like Picasa, folks are caught up in the rush of Facebook and blogs for photo sharing. They settle for less than second best and miss out on the great slideshow feature in Picasa Web Albums to name another feature. The better way to go is to upload your pictures to Picasa Web albums then simply post a link to them on your Facebook page. People can still comment on your pictures right on your Facebook wall.

Download Picasa free right here>   PICASA and start doing the right thing with your photos. You will not be sorry!

Check out one of my albums right here>  Christmas 08 and try out the slideshow option.

Make it a New Years resolution. GO WITH PICASA!

Winging My Way Or, Winging It?

  My brother Marty and his family teamed up with ours to have the Sunday evening program at church in November. One of the songs we did as a quartet included “Winging My Way Back Home”.  Martin was having a little difficulty remembering where he was supposed to come in with his part during the song. He handled it well and it helped to lighten the atmosphere a bit.

To see the video….

  Two more songs follow the song mentioned here.

  It was a good evening, for the most part, considering it was the first program Martin and Lori’s family was invloved in since Melanie’s passing in February of this year.