Friday, June 14, 2013

Father's Day 2013

To celebrate Father's Day, I post these pictures of my Dad, Jack O. Dvorak.

He spent his life, not by telling me how to live it, but rather allowing me to see him, by example, live it to it's fullest.  He was always there with his wisdom, encouragement and support.  Life is what we make of it.  Attitude is what we give it.  But Dads exemplify it!

Thank you Dad for helping to make me what I am today. 

We love and miss you, but are always in our heart and on our mind.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Drive Time




Average Commute Times 

What Places Have the Worst Commutes?

Average commute time by ZIP code.

 The average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Move around the map or enter your town or zip code to find commute times for your area.




 Click on the link below to find out what the average commute is where you are.
 <iframe src="http://project.wnyc.org/commute-times-us/embed.html?layer=0#4.00/38.18/-95.43" height="690" width="100%" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe>


If Slate’s Farhad Manjoo can’t persuade Marissa Mayer to allow Yahoo workers to work at home, perhaps the map above can. Created by WNYC’s John Keefe and based on data from the American Community Survey, it shows average commute times by ZIP code. In many places, commuters travel for nearly an hour to get to work. Hidden in the averages are the 600,000 “megacommuters” who travel more than 90 minutes to work.
The worst ZIPs can often be found in metropolitan areas with the worst traffic congestion, such as Washington, Los Angeles, and New York. However, traffic congestion doesn’t explain it all. People who rely on public transit have longer commutes on average than those who drive, according to census data.
Long commutes are a well-documented source of stress and unhappiness, not to mention pollution. The average one-way daily commute in the U.S. is about 26 minutes.

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All contents © 2013 The Slate Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes...We have a new Pope




Appearing on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica a short time later, the new pope greeted a vast crowd gathered below in St. Peter’s Square with salutations in Italian and led a prayer for his predecessor, Benedict XVI.


"Holy Smoke", the Vatican announces to the world that a new Pope has been elected.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Cardinals elected a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday, overcoming deep divisions to select the 266th pontiff in a remarkably fast conclave.
Tens of thousands of people who braved cold rain to watch the smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel jumped in joy when white smoke poured out, many shouting "Habemus Papam!" or "We have a pope!" - as the bells of St. Peter's Basilica and churches across Rome pealed.
The pope, whose identity isn't yet known, is due to emerge from the loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square to deliver his first words as the bishop of Rome. The lag time was giving Romans plenty of time to get to St. Peter's and a steady stream of pilgrims and tourists were making their way.
Chants of `'Long live the pope!" rose from the throngs of faithful, many with tears in their eyes. Crowds went wild as the Vatican appeared on the square, blaring music, followed by Swiss Guards in silver helmets and full regalia. At least 50,000 people jammed into the square.
"I can't explain how happy I am right down," said Ben Canete, a 32-year-old Filipino, jumping up and down in excitement.
Elected on the fifth ballot, the pope was chosen in one of the fastest conclaves in years, remarkable given there was no clear front-runner going into the vote and that the church had been in turmoil following the upheaval unleashed by Pope Benedict XVI's surprise resignation.
A winner must receive 77 votes, or two-thirds of the 115, to be named pope.
For comparison's sake, Benedict was elected on the fourth ballot in 2005 - but he was the clear front-runner going into the vote. Pope John Paul II was elected on the eighth ballot in 1978 to become the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
The conclave played out against the backdrop of the first papal resignation in 600 years and revelations of mismanagement, petty bickering, infighting and corruption in the Holy See bureaucracy. Those revelations, exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year, had divided the College of Cardinals into camps seeking a radical reform of the Holy See's governance and those defending the status quo.
The names mentioned most often as "papabile" - a cardinal who has the stuff of a pope - included Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, an intellect in the vein of Benedict but with a more outgoing personality, and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the Canadian head of the Vatican's important bishops' office who is also scholarly but reserved like Benedict.
Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer is liked by the Vatican bureaucracy but not by all of his countrymen. And Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary has the backing of European cardinals who have twice elected him as head of the European bishops' conference.
On the more pastoral side is Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, the favorite of the Italian press, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the back-slapping, outgoing archbishop of New York who has admitted himself that his Italian is pretty bad - a drawback for a job that is conducted almost exclusively in the language.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi said it was a "good hypothesis" that the pope would be installed next Tuesday, on the feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of the universal church. The installation Mass is attended by heads of state from around the world, requiring at least a few days' notice.
Benedict would not attend, he said.
Thousands of people braved a chilly rain on Wednesday morning to watch the 6-foot- (2-meter-) high copper chimney on the chapel roof for the smoke signals telling them whether the cardinals had settled on a choice. Nuns recited the rosary, while children splashed in puddles.
Unlike the confusion that reigned during the 2005 conclave, the smoke this time around was clear: black during the first two sets of smoke signals, and then clearly white on Wednesday night - thanks to special smoke flares akin to those used in soccer matches or protests that were lit in the chapel ovens to accompany the smoke from the burned ballot papers.
The Vatican on Wednesday divulged the secret recipe used: potassium perchlorate, anthracene, which is a derivative of coal tar, and sulfur for the black smoke; potassium chlorate, lactose and a pine resin for the white smoke.
The chemicals were contained in five units of a cartridge that is placed inside the stove of the Sistine Chapel. When activated, the five blocks ignite one after another for about a minute apiece, creating the steady stream of smoke that accompanies the natural smoke from the burned ballot papers.
Despite the great plumes of smoke that poured out of the chimney, neither the Sistine frescoes nor the cardinals inside the chapel suffered any smoke damage, Lombardi said.


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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Nope!



VATICAN CITY — Black smoke rose above the Sistine Chapel on Tuesday, signaling that 115 Roman Catholic cardinals failed to agree on a new pope during the first day of the papal conclave.
The "princes of the church" began deliberating inside the Vatican after swearing an oath of secrecy and entering the papal conclave at about 5 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).
The smoke was created by the burning of ballot papers used by the cardinals in their deciding vote, with chemical cartridges being added to ensure the smoke did not appear to be white — the sign that a decision has been reached. It means the conclave will reconvene on Wednesday morning.

Monday, March 4, 2013

We are offically "Artists"

Well, art is subjective!  One man's treasure is one others piece of junk.

So, Heidi and I have been involved in clay projects for these past few months here in Arizona.  Hers has been free hand building and mosaic clay work; mine has been stoneware clay sculpture.  Just so you know, it is very therapeutic, if you have never done anything like this before.  I've always considered myself somewhat of a non-artist, as I nearly failed all the college courses I took as electives to fill the necessary quota of credit hours.  But, both of us have come out of our "artistic shell" and are creating some really neat pieces.

This past weekend we participated in a juried show (meaning the pieces were judged in various categories) and we received ribbons for 2nd and 3rd places and I thought that I would share them here on the Westboundkid with all of you.

Brinkley, is a Boston Terrier, and won a red ribbon.  He captures the character of my in-laws real dog, and is now in their living room for all visitors to be welcomed at the front door, by the real Brinkley and the sculpture.

 Heidi, won a white ribbon for her rendition of our yellow Labrador Retriever, Abby.  The piece is titled, "My Abby" and has a 3 dimensional quality to it.  The nose, ears and neck are not flat the rest of the clay mosaic.  It is truly, "one of a kind" art piece.  As Brinkley greets people at the front door of Jack & Vivian's house, My Abby will greet our visitors at our house.

I did have another piece submitted in the Novice Sculpture category and that was a bust of Abby.  It is a good likeness, but in retrospect, I should have entered in mixed media or some other section.  My Bad!
She too is now in a corner of our living room, guarding her territory.


All-in-all, it was a very nice weekend and we enjoyed being a part of it. 

Monday, February 18, 2013

12 Jobs WAY Worse Than Yours

 If you've been in the workforce for a while, you may know full well the horrors of "cooking" fast food, answering phones, and doing data entry. Those jobs may be bad, but the 12 jobs in this photo gallery make them seem like being the CEO of Happy Co. If Monday is getting you down, be sure to share this gallery of the worst jobs in the world. Your co-workers will thank you.

Catching Elephant Dung

Insane Heights Painter

Crocodile Feeder

Honeymoon Horse Wrangler

Indoor / Outdoor Window Washer

Mascot

Crocodile Dentist

Demolition Derby Photographer

Human Ladder

Port-a-Potty Cleaner

Underarm Smeller

+

Rhino Inspector

Enough said; right?
Happy Moan-day, everybody!