After I wrote that I had been viciously attacked by yellow jackets while innocently spraying their secret hideout with some toxic spray, a number of readers have advised me there are several ways to get rid of those pesky critters.
They suggested things like putting a sheet of Bounce on the ground or wearing some in your shirt pocket. Yellowjackets and hornets hate it and would rather swim the English Channel than chase you with Bounce on you.
If a suspicious looking woman is spotted in a neighbors yard after dark, clutching an armload of pink, plastic flamingos, darting around lawn sculptures and diving into bushes to hide from passing cars-don't worry-it's for a good cause.
For Teri Ensley, papering an unexpected someone's yard with plastic birds, decorated in boas and Mardi Gras beads, holds a higher purpose than playing practical jokes on loved ones for special occasions.
"Flocking," as it's called, is part of a fundraising effort by the Furry Faces Foundation, one of West Seattle's newest non profits, foun
From a business standpoint, the racehorse West Seattle Boy is a profitable venture - he's won over $84,000 in stakes at Emerald Downs, which is a lot more than his purchase price.
The horse's owner, Lisa Baze of Eatonville, paid $5,000 for West Seattle Boy a couple of years ago after a claiming race, in which people get a chance to buy the winning horse for a set price.
West Seattle Boy is a 7-year-old thoroughbred, the breed that runs in the Kentucky Derby and the other races of the Triple Crown.
As they paint and sand, the two boys enjoy the work and understand that they need to do a thorough and respectable job.
They take pride in showing their progress and love it when the residents admire their handiwork. They also find opportunities to have fun, joking with each other, singing and doing that teenage mouth rhythm thing they call beat boxing.
After more than 50 years Hank Bakken, one of King County's most popular homebuilders hung up his hammer and saw.
He and his wife Jean now content themselves with just puttering and gardening. He can't tell you off hand how many homes he built but figures it upwards of 200.
Pick up nearly any magazine, turn on any TV, or watch any movie and you will see gorgeous women parading around in next to nothing. Their skin is porcelain, their hair and make up are flawless, and they are skinny.
These women are perfect, the apparent peak of feminine beauty. No matter how many times the phrase, "It's what's on the inside that counts," is repeated, it will not change the fact that the outside is what gets noticed.
Snake oil and other potions have been hawked for centuries to humans who hoped to find a way to outwit the grim reaper. The fountain of youth has been sought after by explorers through the centuries.
And yet our older friends are still dying of that ailment called old age. Will we ever beat the odds against living forever? Well, we can't be faulted for trying. The information revolution has resulted in more people than ever learning how to beat these odds.
At first blush, the headline on the top of this edition's page one is scarey to anyone who lives at the northern end of the West Seattle peninsula. More planes coming in lower and closer is not good news in northern Delridge, City View, Pigeon Point or along Harbor Drive and the view homes above.
For a half century the planes have been flying over Magnolia in the approach path to King County International Airport, Boeing Field to most of us, and one of the busiest non-hub airports in the nation.
A friend recently asked me why unions hate Wal-Mart so much. He said that, while he wishes Wal-Mart employees made more money, he shops there occasionally and he doesn't like being made to feel like he is doing something evil.
Here's what I told him.
Wal-Mart isn't evil. People who work there aren't bad people; they're just struggling to get by like the rest of us.
King County officials are in a holding pattern over whether to ask federal permission to change the flight path for incoming airplanes at Boeing Field, which would lessen aircraft noise in Magnolia but turn it up in West Seattle, particularly for people living near Duwamish Head.
King County is balking because a recent study showed the change in flight paths could impede more than a third of the planes approaching Seattle-Tacoma International Airport about five miles south of Boeing Field, also known as King County International Airport.
Secondly, while the change would l
