Yup, it's just a convoluted way of multiplying the first three digits by 1000 and then adding the last four.

I live just "over the hill" from this courtroom and surrounded by "snowflakes." The real bottom line is . . . "Follow the money," they could really care less about the horse.

It's was great series -- the longest running sitcom ever. It centered around a trio of retirees who acted more like kids in their escapades. Peter Sallis, one of the original trio and played Norman Clegg, was in every episode and spoke the last line of the series. He was also a well respected British stage actor and voiced Wallace of the Wallace and Gromit series, first as what he thought was a "one off" for a college student's project, then to have one of the films honored at the Academy Awards. The Academy spectators were puzzled about who the ninety-year-old man was, when he arrived at the red carpet.

Bill Owen who played the scruffy "Compo" was also a long-running part of the trio but died unexpectedly. Roy Clarke, who wrote all of the scripts, just rewrote a few episodes on short notice, and the poignant episodes around Compo's funeral are favorites of many.

The supporting cast each added their own unique character personalities. Some were a part of the cast for most of the series and others for just a few seasons.

Simple explanation -- it's the same basic machine use for the walk-up locations -- why make two models.

But, on the same subject . . .

About a month ago my son and I were on a road trip to pick up a milling machine and we stopped at a fast food place to stretch our legs, use the accommodations, and get some dinner. I was studying the menu when he came out of the restroom laughing. It seems there was a baby changing station in the restroom and it had braille instructions. I'm sure they were just instructions for opening and an admonition about the safety features. But . . . the more we thought about it, the funnier the possible scenarios became. I've changed a lot of diapers in my lifetime and some of those were real disaster areas, but it had never occurred to us what challenges a major "blowout" would present to a person who was blind. Like, how do you know you've done a good job cleaning up? . . . smell your fingers?

Yes, there are many roads on the reservation that are still beyond the capabilities of a standard car. When we first started visiting the area, the road going cross-country and skirting the base of Black Mesa from Many Farms to Hwy. 160 east of Kayenta was a 45-mile plus dirt road. It was not unusual in wet weather of snow for us to leave the car in Many Farms and dad would come and pick us up in a 4-wheel drive vehicle. And even if the mud had dried out, you didn't dare get into one of the ruts or you might high center. Dad liked to tell of Ford deciding to send a group of the new Edsel cars over that road as a test drive in the heat of summer — none of them made it! One got stuck in a wash and the others were mostly disabled by high centering or damage to the oil pan or other parts from hitting rocks and high spots. Today it's a highway — not a main one but at least paved and a great shortcut across to the Grand Canyon.

No, I haven't been to Cedar Mesa. We spent much of our time west of Chinle in the Rough Rock area at the base of Black Mesa. Dad's intimate knowledge of the area and knowing many people made it possible and much easier to ask for and get permissions to visit private lands, often accompanied by a local who could point out things we otherwise would have missed. Thus we were able to visit many sites over the years that long predate the Navajo -- like a pottery-making site up on Black Mesa and view petroglyphs in the area. Forgetting the canyons and popular sites, I've spent many enjoyable hours, with camera in hand, roaming the area that affords endless variations of rocks, sand, sage brush, cedar and Pinion trees, and light — often with a mountain or mesa in the background.

The mostly one-lane road up the side of the Black Mesa was built by the CCC in the 1930s and is not for the faint of heart! That "bush" right beside the road is quite likely the top of a tree! In his "other life," dad was a heavy equipment operator. So, the Navajo Nation would provide a Cat D8 or D9 bulldozer and he would volunteer his time evenings and weekends leveling home sites, building dams for livestock water, and repairing roads — one of them being the winding treacherous road up Black Mesa. Not long before retirement, he was asked to come to a meeting on roads at the Tribal headquarters at Window Rock and the tribe surprised him by making him an honorary member of the Navajo Nation in recognition of his many years of service to the Nation, an honor bestowed on very very few.

Just for fun, I'd suggest you view the movie Mackenna's Gold before you visit Canyon de Chelly. Much of it was filmed in the Canyon and the shadow of Spider Rock points the way to the gold. If you hike the trail down to White House, you can visualize the horses in the movie racing up the trail. It was made about 1970 about five years after I first visited the Canyon. Then when you get back home you can watch it again and see how many locations you can identify.

Your biggest challenge will be deciding how to allot your time -- it's a huge area with endless possibilities and some possible surprises. Take the signs seriously on your trip north from Chinle to Monument Valley — most is open range and I've "tested my brakes" and reaction time when I've come over a hill or around a corner to find a horse or a flock of sheep in the road! That stretch has a history of bad accidents over the years.

And finally, more than once the same rock I was eying as a perfect vantage point for a photograph was also a rattlesnake's favorite place to enjoy the sun! Be safe and enjoy your trip.

That's a hard question! From a photography viewpoint I prefer Canyon de Chelly over the north branch Canyon del Muerto. Canyon del Muerto is richer is historical sites (and I love history) but are usually hard to photograph from the bottom of the canyon and are sometimes little more than a nondescript crevice high on the canyon wall.

Also take into consideration that the canyons are very deep and very narrow, making the time sunlight reaches the bottom of the canyon very limited from area to area. In many areas the canyon is as deep as it is wide. The drive up to an overlook through the sage brush often gives no hint that you are approaching a 1000-foot-deep gash in the surface of the earth and what you are seeing in the distance may be on the other side of the canyon.

The hike from the rim to the White House Ruin is a fun one but takes quite a bit of time. If your "on the bottom" tour is up Canyon de Chelly, then one of the early stops will be at White House. The only difference would be time of day you would be there. To me, the most memorable are the times I've photographed Spider Rock from the rim in the spring and summer and also in the winter with a blanket of snow and then being in the bottom looking up toward the top.

Of the other national parks, my favorite is Bryce. Arches comes in second but it takes a lot of time and hiking to get to the best locations for photography.

I'll visited Canyon de Chelly many times over the last 55+ years. My wife grew up on the Navajo Reservation and her parents lived there until retirement. In the early years, when tourism was not as heavy, we took several excursions in dad's 4-wheel drive vehicle into both canyons and up past the base of Spider Rock. Now visiting the canyon floor, which is privately owned, is restricted to guided tours except for the trail down to White House ruins. Now the best views of the White House Ruins and the ruins below are obscured by a cottonwood grove that has grown up over the years.

When our kids were young we took the all-day tour because it was no longer allowed to for us to explore and picnic alone even though dad was familiar with the canyons and could go whever he needed to go on official business. It was a fun day even though we were in a group. The driver/guide gave his name in Navajo and English and explained that he grew up in the Canyon. One lady was from New York and was totally intrigued but also totally out of her element and peppered the guide with questions. At one point the guide pointed to a Camp (group of hogans and houses) and said, "My grandmother lives there." Dad just said to him, in Navajo, "I thought that was the _____ Camp?" Giving a family name that didn't match that of the guide. The guide's answer in Navajo was, "Yes, my Grandmother's Camp is too far away to be seen, but it makes a good story for the tourists." That set off the lady, who asked, "What did he say? Dad just answered, "I just asked him about his family." That brought the response, "You mean you can understand him!" and more questions. Up until that point the lady had no clue that there were three people in our group that were fluent in Navajo.

I got a chuckle when I realized that two of the Sam's Cubs that are closing are in Washington in the "back yard" of the Costco headquarters. Kind of gutsy to put them there in the first place.

"Full Service" it is not, but I'd argue that it is often faster service where the attendants will often take your cash and not make you go inside to pay in advance when paying cash. All it takes is to go across the state line into Washington or California and find higher gas prices and still have to pump it yourself to counter the argument that changing the law will lower the prices. I will agree that higher state taxes are a part of that difference, but we're trying to catch up with four cents being added in Oregon as of January first.

My grandson got a job at a local station and quickly learned from another employee that he could often nearly double his pay by just greeting each customer with a smile and washing windows as he had time while the gas was pumping and thanking them for stopping. He now jokingly refers to the little old ladies that tip him as his "girlfriends."

Just read the first line as if it is being asked by the person taking the order for the stocking.
We won't talk about how stupid the person was that took the order, or the person that ran the embroidery machine.

My wife is a Funeral Director and she has a comic of a row of mourning snowmen filing past a bucket on a funeral bier.

One area of modeling that is going strong today are those built with Legos. Some have thousands of pieces and cost hundreds of dollars. The were the staple gift for years for our kids and grandkids. Our daughter and two grandsons are avid modelers. One grandson builds mechanical things with the gears, motors, and computer controls the the daughter and grandson build static models -- some from kits and standard plans and others using their imagination. Our daughter is a surgical nurse and says working on a model is very relaxing for her. She also enjoys getting a parts list for a model she want to build, figuring out what parts she already has and then visiting the Bricks and Mini Figs stores in our area to dig through their bins of loose bricks and parts to find what she needs to finish the model she wants to build. That sometimes takes months of searching and if she really gets stuck, most parts are available from others on the web -- it's big business.

Every time I watch the video I get a chuckle when I see Ronald Reagan reading Variety in the last vignette.

Check out the History Channel for "Hunting Hitler." They've found several hard to explain things in Argentina and other South American countries.