My cousin Craig works at CBS and he asked news correspondent Kenneth Craig if he could do a quick Happy Birthday video for my dad, Ken Craig. Kenneth Craig says in the video that he's never met anybody before with the same name. 

The Craig name is as old as Scotland. Older, maybe, as it is considered by some to have been given to a group of Picts who lived in the rocks, or crags. Our family tartan is made to look like moss covered rock and is, unlike most tartans, actually very beautiful. 

Our clan crest is of a knight in full charge, riding into battle with a broken lance and our motto is 'Jai Bonne Esperance', which means 'I have Good Hope'. They used to say of the Craigs, 'Well, they're not very bright, but they're optimistic!'

The name Craig was originally pronounced and spelled in several ways, like Craik, Craegh and Craigie. Most immigrants to the US, Canada and Australia took the opportunity to re-spell their name Craig, which just sounds better, including our great grandmother, so I'm told. 

My dad and I and all the first born sons in our family were born James Kenneth Craig or James Kenneth Craik. My dad goes by Ken and I go by Jay, which was a compromise. My dad, of course, wanted to name me James Kenneth Craig. My mom wanted to name me Damian, which would have been cool, too. So they named me James Kenneth Craig but gave me the nickname Jay. 

There are many notable Craigs and Craiks who have left their mark on history. James Craig was the architect of New Town in Edinburgh, which is pretty fucking cool. James Craik, however, killed the Father of Our Country. James Craik was Scottish and came to this country and became the Surgeon General of the US Army. He also became a good friend and personal doctor to George Washington. When George Washington got ill, Dr James Craik gave him a good old-fashioned blood letting, whether he needed it or not. 

If I ever had a son, I would have voted to name him Kenneth. I never did but when I rescued a Cairn Terrier, I named him Kenny. A couple years ago, after having him for ten years, Kenny retired and went to live in Connecticut with my parents. Kenny immediately attached himself to my parents and I'm sure that while my dad was watching Kenneth Craig say that he'd never met another Ken Craig before, Kenny was right there at my dad's feet. 

UPDATE!!

My cousin Johnny has been doing some research on Craigs/Craiks and found something veerry interesting... 

It is an honest-to-freaking-god Mason membership card from a relative named George Washington Craik!! Of course the Freemasons killed the Father of Our Country. And of course our great grandmother changed our family name from Craik to Craig!

It's all beginning to makes sense!

For many years I used to spend most nights hanging out/working at my friend Denny's shop at the Fenpro in Ballard. There was a constant flow of very entertaining people who would stop in for a whisky or to get something made, or usually, both. If you needed something fixed or fabricated, it would usually cost you a bottle of bourbon. 

One guy that came by a lot was Darryl. He used to be a sculptor and Denny helped him out a lot when they both had shops over at the Foundry in Fremont. Darryl was an amazing artist. He did the sculpture of the girl holding origami birds over by the University Bridge and a series of rock and roll legends including John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix. The statue of Jimi is up on Broadway on Capitol Hill.

Darryl graduated with a degree in art history and is the most talented artist I have ever known. But he absolutely hated the business of art. Some artists love selling themselves and scoring big commissions but he hated it. All he wanted to do was make stuff but that's not how things work so he got a job for many years as a security guard. He recently retired and is now painting custom motorcycle tanks, which makes him happy. 

One thing that he was always proud of was how nobody ever fucked with his statue of Jimi. Even though it had some very delicate parts. Nobody ever snapped off any of the tuning pegs and he saw that as a sign of respect for the work. 

Nobody respected Darryl more than Denny. But if Denny were still here I would have sworn he was the one who put a snowman's head on Jimi a couple days ago.  

The verdict is in and the trial is over. It was a horrible accident that killed five international students and wounded several others. Ride the Ducks of Seattle received 30% of the liability while Ride the Ducks International, who supplied the amphibious vehicles, received 70%. 

I worked for two years as a Duck Captain, back when the driver also gave the tour. Then I left for a couple years and drove for Metro, MTR Western, who charters luxury coaches and ran the Emerald City Trolley, and a senior living facility in Ballard. After the Accident, I went back to the Ducks where I now just drive. .

Without question, Ride the Ducks of Seattle has the highest commitment to Safety that I have ever seen. We have to. We are under the oversight of both the State and the Coast Guard and get regular COIs (certificate of inspection) where we break down each duck and go over every inch of it.  

Before a duck leaves the Nest in the morning, it has had three inspections. A Post-Trip inspection done at the end of the day by the driver, a Pre-Trip inspection done by a mechanic, and a Pre-Trip inspection done by the next driver. All inspections include getting under the duck on a creeper to inspect tires, wheels, brakes, steering, suspension, hull plugs, etc. We check all alarms and systems, even if you're the one who ran it the day before. 

Drivers are also Captains, which is a built-in weeding out process. Every Duck Captain has not only gotten a Commercial Drivers License, but also at least a 25 ton Coast Guard Masters license. A man or woman behind the wheel of a duck is probably the most trained and safest driver on the road. Our safety record is actually pretty amazing. We have a full-time Safety Manager whose job is to ensure the safety of our tours. We get briefings every morning about the weather and traffic. We have cameras and GPS and if you do anything wrong Moti will know about it. 

Our policy is to stay under 30 mph at all times, even if the speed limit is 35. If you do 32 on Westlake, Moti gets an alert and you will hear about it. We go through additional Coast Guard training every 90 days. We review video of close calls constantly. We are, by far, the most safety conscious company I have ever worked for. We have to be. 

I love driving a duck. I love showing off this beautiful city and sending people home with a wonderful impression of this city. And I'm always sure to tell them how much it rains here. Seattle's a great place to visit but you wouldn't want to live here, for sure.