I Voted!

 Yeah, life in the fast lane and all that.  We had mail in ballots but you can also turn them in to the County Clerk's office so we did that.  We did NOT go to the early voting place because:  

That was the first day of early voting; it's been worse since then!  Besides, the volunteers who run the early voting are just not that great.  We had one a couple of elections ago who was having trouble with the alphabet!

Anyway, we are hopeful that Mr. Trump gets a nice strong message about what an idiot he is and how many people in this country wish he'd just disappear.  Besides that there are FIVE prospective ammendments to the Nevada Constitution.  I mean, does everything need to be addressed in the constitution?  Don't we have any other laws?  

Other than voting, it's been a quiet time.  The high temps are still in the 95F (35C) range but when we walk in the morning it is more like 50F (10C).  This is one of those places where the heat just keeps growing all day so our high will be between 4 and 5 in the afternoon and sunset is at 6pm.  We are still required to wear masks when in public places and most people wear them.  A certain number will wear them incorrectly so the nose isn't covered but you just have to hope that they catch something nasty.  We continue to visit our local restaurants; they are working at half capacity so they can't be doing more than hanging on.  I've upped tipping to 30-35% because the wait staff has to be hurting too.  

Eric Trump came to town to star at a meeting at one of the local winerys.  Needless to say people weren't wearing masks and weren't social distancing.  Happily our local government was paying attention and the winery was fined something over $8,000 for hosting the event.  I liked that.  Of course this is a winery who has lost their liquor license.  The business changed hands and the new owner was given something like 18 months to get the license but they just didn't bother so finally the county commissioners did their job and yanked the license.  What idiots!

I guess that's all the news from this end of the lane.  Keep trying to be careful & stay safe.

Exciting stuff!

 Today we received our mail-in ballots for the election!  Ok!  Here's hoping we can Dump Trump big time.

We have been doing our usual thing:  walking in the morning; going to one of the local restaurants for lunch; cooking dinner at home.  All very normal stuff except for extra hand washing; antiseptic in the car glove box; and wearing masks.  My wife made 5 or 6 masks way back when this stuff started but eventually I bowed to reality and bought extras for us.  Most people are pretty good about wearing their masks but there are a few who either can't manage it or wear them like over the mouth only.  Dumb shits!  

We do like to walk in the morning and sometimes we see something special.  A neighbor has a large cactus in their yard and once in a long while it flowers.  Late last month was it's time.

A few weeks ago we managed a road trip and stayed in a couple motels.  Part of the trip was just to see how our dog would manage travel; turned out he did great!  But there was this one motel that had added a little humor to their decor.  Found on the bathroom wall.

And a rather interesting shower curtain.

Yeah, some people have too much time on their hands!  Really it was interesting traveling during the pandemic.  Restaurants seemed to all have reduced menus and not a good number of employees.  (That isn't happening here in the Valley; you can order anything on the menu and it is as good as ever.)  We had no real trouble finding pet-friendly motels.  We ordinarily don't stop for lunch unless it is something like a sandwich so that was no problem.  (It was way too hot to leave the dog in the truck!)  

Anyway, that's it for me today.  I've gotta go cook dinner:  Choucroute Garni complete with some skinny little pork chops that I smoked for an hour or so the other day.  It should be good.  Take care and be careful out there!

More quiet times!

 We have been pretty quiet lately.  Not a lot to say except that while I hope the President regains his health I sure hope he loses the election!  I cannot imagine a President refusing to acknowledge that he failed to win re-election but I know what my response would be if I were in charge of the White House security team.  And, no, it wouldn't take long for that stupid fat head to be on the way out the door.  I'm pretty sure I'd order a transfer to the nearest golf course; he wouldn't complain about that.

Anyway, it's pretty quiet around here.  The highway department has decided to put a crosswalk across our main street:  they are saying it should be done by the end of the year!  Jeez!  It's not an overpass!  Oh well, it might save a life or two in the next century.  Speaking of traffic, there are people on the sides of the road who are trying to sway your vote.  There are people around saying stuff like 'Women for Trump' - but all the people at the stand are men!  Hmmm?  Then there are the ones who want to recall our Governor Sisolak; gee, he told us to wear masks.  Is that your big problem?  Hmmm? 

We are going to all our favorite restaurants regularly and unless something awful happens I'm tipping well over 30%.  Those servers are living on 50% of the usual load of customers too!  Of course we've managed our usual monthly visit to the VFW's Food Bank and are thinking we should double our donation.  We've got plenty of vets in the area.

The air has been pretty clear around here but the California fire smoke has been covering the valley at a very high altitude from time to time.  You can't smell it but it sure colors the sky.  That is such a horrible thing; losing the wilderness is bad enough but all those people losing their homes and businesses just makes it so much worse.  (On a side note, all us wine drinkers are scared about where our next bottle is coming from!)  More seriously, why the hell didn't anybody in the government think about the dead trees causing a fire hazard?  I mean trees have died from bark beetle and no one thought that might be a problem?  Hmmm, this quote is from back in May.

Anyway, it's late and I need to shut up.  Have a great day!  Take care.