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Saying Goodbye to  David J. Casey

In 1972, David J. Casey was a classmate of mine at BIS.  He was a real character with a laugh that sounded like a machine gun. It wasn’t until the Fall of 1973, however, when fate paired us in a high school biology class, that we developed a deep friendship that would last 37 years.  You see, we had a project that to me was the dreaded “bug collection.”  I hated bugs and didn’t want to get near them.  So, David bravely chloroformed them and neatly pinned them in a cigar box for me.

We had so many wonderful memories, including:

  • Laughing about my profound sadness over the folks that fell off the Bridge of San Luis Rey only to find out later that the book was fiction.
  • Making a movie for Mr. C’s Art of the Film class called, “The Streets of Burlingame”, modeled after the real Streets of San Francisco, where David made friends with the cast as well as the cast of Barnaby Jones and other shows.
  • Doing a slide show remake of Huck Finn.
  • Crab feed and working out at the Elks Lodge.
  • Showing off how much I know about computers and breaking David’s computer in the process.
  • David’s vast knowledge of movies, stars, history and landmarks, and stories about them like the closing of the famous Planter’s Peanuts building in SF.

David was an uncommonly strong person. For many years, David’s health had declined. He never complained. David died unexpectedly and is missed by so many that knew him and enjoyed his humor, perseverance, knowledge and good spirits.  David epitomized friendship and dependability. He was so very brave and independent. He always earned my admiration.  Vaya en paz.

7th Separation of Little Buck’s Engine and Transmission

8-Ball, now Little Buck, will always be my favorite 4x4. 7 times, I have separated its engine and transmission, rebuilding and repairing them so often. When you include all the time I spent with Little Buck including other engine, suspension and body work labor, you can understand why it is my favorite.  Last year, you read about Big Mac and Skipper rescuing me in a snow storm in SLC.  This year, Big Mac and I replaced the transmission once again.

We ran into quite a few problems, like a bent up exhaust pipe and rusted and seized exhaust manifold studs, and incorrect linkage and fittings.

It took many hours of die grinding, cutting, ripping and re-threading, but we managed to put it back together.  Lee had the patience of a saint working with me on this big job. And, Gary was always there to lend a hand and notify us when the vehicle or transmission was about to fall on us.

Little Buck performed admirably on OR2008. Although breaking down before the trails started and then almost rolling on a very steep decent on Snake Lake and Little Deer Lake trails, Little Buck kept up with Blue Agave and Ice-Man’s yet-to-be-named Jeep Unlimited. Listening to Big Mac’s powerful V8 powering through the snow and watching those Mickey Thompsons spin was a lot of fun. Next project: Frankenstein fuel injection.

25 Years Together

This March will be 25 years since Dianna and I met. Dianna is my strength and happiness always.  She has made our house an incredible home. This year, she expanded the house to fit our great new kitchen she designed that includes a center cooking island, blue pearl granite counter tops with tile backsplash, double convection ovens and appliances encased in beautiful custom wood cabinets and she integrated the living room with the kitchen as one enormous living space. We have a party house for sure and hope you will enjoy it with us. Cooking shrimp scampi for Gogo’s birthday party and Cioppino with garden-grown tomatoes, basil and oregano for Dianna’s birthday was a thrill shared by all who came by. I am forever grateful for all Dianna does for our home and for me.

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Mountain Bike Riding with Old Friends

Dianna bought me an incredible mountain bike for my birthday.  I stopped riding 15 years ago and forgot how much I enjoyed it.  My last bike had no front shocks, rear suspension, smart index gearing, disk brakes or an amazing 27 gears to help with the ups and downs of difficult trails. My new bike does all this and more. In CA, I have hooked up with The People’s Choice, Steve and Sue, and Mumbo for some outrageous rides in Purisma Creek and Skeggs Point.  We have so many more rides planned and hope you will join us.  In CO, Trev-man has become my mountain bike buddy!  He advised Dianna on the perfect bike and has taken me on great rides through Horsetooth and Blue Sky trails.

Seasons Greetings

2008 Highlights

  • For New Years, Dianna, Koko Head and I hooked up with the Dorans and Merrills in Silverthorne.  After we arrived at the cabin, the snows fell like we hadn’t seen in years. I-70 closed for more than a day. That meant only people that were already in the area could enjoy the ski slopes that weekend and the snow was GREAT!!!  The Merrills and I also enjoyed a great day of skiing with Cousin Brent who also got to enjoy the great ski year.

    • Isabelle’s Baptism

  • Jojo and Dan held Isabelle’s baptism in July.  Dianna and I had so much fun playing with Matthieu and Isabelle and then enjoying the corn roast party after the baptism. Thanks for being great hosts as always.
  • Dianna and I had a great hike in Lory State Park on the trails to Arthur’s Rock.
  • All the trips to Japan, Thailand, S. Korea and China. Tours with Masa, Karaoke with Osamu and seeing the Forbidden City, Olympic Village in Beijing, Old Beijing, Temple in Hanjou, and the Great Wall with David.
  • Louie and Dianna surprised me with a visit in California. Jordan and Louie had so much fun together with the balloons and driving Jordan’s Ford Truck. We got great photos of the kids playing together.

  • Jordan took us to Discovery Kingdom for a fun day with the animal exhibits, the flying dolphins and the rides!
  • Playing golf with Little for his charity benefit was the best golf day ever!
  • Our wedding anniversary dinner at his restaurant and being so proud of Chef Nic.
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    Spooktacular Halloween

    Jordan Zorro Koukis bought me a Gentleman Ghost costume and took me to the airport to meet up with a skeleton (Louie), Bob the Builder (Michael), a ninja (Austin), a soccer player (deMichael), the Joker (Raspy), Dracula (Chica) and the Hulk (Benny Bear). We trick-or-treated all the way to Grandma Gogo’s house on an unusually warm night and then had dinner at Hunan’s.

    Green Plug Blogging

    Green Plug has been an amazing experience evangelizing the merits of an open systems power interface for electronic products. Work has taken me all over the US and Asia to the most popular electronics companies.  Please visit our blog site (http://blog.greenplug.us)  and tell us how you feel about all the black bricks and wall-warts needed to power your products!  And vote for Green Plug at www.iwantmygreenplug.com.

    Visiting Mom

    I’ve spent at least a week a month in the Bay Area and visiting mom, Jason, Cris, Jordan and Gary is the best part of the travel. This Spring, Dianna and I took Louie to visit Jordan and the boys had a great time driving Jordan’s truck and going to Pier 39. Dianna and I visited in September and all of us went to Wild Kingdom to enjoy the animal exhibits and rides. Thanks, mom, for giving me room and board so many times when I am in the Bay Area.

    (Check out the Photo Gallery)
  • Paul had a quick but fun visit with Bryan, Kathy and Patty in LA.  Wonderful to see you guys.
  • Dianna, Marph and I spent a great weekend in Denver. We ate at Chef Nic’s and the girls cheered on the Avalanche!  It reminded me of the fun we had on Martha’s birthday at Elway’s and staying afterwards at the Ritz.
  • What a feast Eugene and Janelle took me to recently at the Silver House. Thanks!
  • OFD's River Ratz came by for a feast and rafting application party, testing our new kitchen. Dianna, OFD, Monster and I cooked up a feast, including guacamole and chips, apples, pears and cheese with crackers, Doug Planchon's grandfather's amazing western chili, Monster's scrumptious twice-baked potatoes, Thai stuffed noodle chicken, grilled portabello mushrooms, onions and broccoli, and sweet cream berry dessert with chocolate fountain. Yummm!
  • Koko Head told us that we need to take him to spend Thanksgiving with Lala, Uncle Gary, Jordan and Jordan’s mommy and daddy, because they miss him.  So, we arrived that night and had a wonderful holiday. The boys played at Malibu Grand Prix racing, playing interactive video games, playing miniature golf and riding Jordan’s Solstice and Ford F150. Louie got to see the ocean for the first time by Alan, Christina and Nic's, and afterwards, Jason made a barbecue and we watched Wall-e.  The boys have become great friends over the years.
  • We had lunch at Il Fornaio on Mom’s birthday and Jordan was dressed so nicely in a suit and tie.  Dad was with us in spirit as Dec, 4th is also mom and dad’s wedding anniversary.

    • I’ve started a mountain bike email distribution list for weekend rides when I am in the Bay Area.  Please let me know if you would like to be included on the emails when we plan rides. May your holidays be perfect and your 2009 the filled with good fortune and happiness.