Short update today

We still don't have a lot going on around here but yesterday evening as we were eating dinner I felt dizzy.  Then I looked up and realized it wasn't me, it was the world!  There was a magnitude 5.5 earthquake about 200 miles southwest of here in California.  We could feel the shaking and our hanging lamp moved around a little but that was it.  You are supposed to go find cover in a doorway or some such but there wasn't enough time to even move.  It probably lasted 5 or 6 seconds here.  There have been 3 aftershocks but we haven't really felt them.  I haven't heard that there was any damage in Nevada and that part of California is pretty empty too.

The casino's in Nevada got to open at 00:01 this morning and you can bet they did!  LOL  Here in our little town I was surprised at the number of cars in the casino lots.  I guess there are people who were missing the gaming.  We'll probably get in there sometime in the next week or two but we aren't the people that keep the doors open.

The gym we occasionally attend had an ad in the paper announcing that they are now able to re-open.  They went on to say that occupancy was limited to 50% of the possible occupancy but since that never happened in the past they weren't worried about it happening now!  It's great that they could have a sense of humor in the wake of losing two months income.

That's all I wanted to share.  Take care, keep distancing and washing those hands!

The start of new normal?

Here in Nevada we are in Phase 1 of a return to normal.  At this point restaurants are starting to re-open; casinos are down the road a bit.  We tried going to our favorite Japanese restaurant but they are still only doing takeout.  So we went to a Thai restaurant who is open.  They have removed half of their tables and have you sitting well over 6 feet apart but they were open.  Unfortunately we were the only customers during the time we were there.  Being open and not having customers has to suck!  We have also checked out our favorite Mexican restaurant earlier in the week.  They had plenty of customers and had half their seating marked off as unusable.

We had an earthquake last week just to prove nature is still with us.  It was up by our county seat, Tonopah, which is 167 miles from here per Google Maps.  However it was also at 4 something in the morning so most people including us just snoozed through it. 

We did have one taste of normal:  a balloon landed just down the road from us.

We were getting ready to take our morning walk so got over there while they were still getting the balloon flattened out and stuffed in it's carrier.  It was just a 'joy ride' because there were only two people taking the ride.  Still, it was nice to see people having fun.  The walking is our version of fun.  I had a pain in my hip and was unable to take those walks until just recently.  It feels great to get out and about again.

Spring in the desert does bring signs of life just like anywhere else.  One of our cacti is happy.

The bees were really  enjoying those flowers too!  I was glad they were more interested in the flowers than in me.  The flowers will be gone in a week or so but something else will come along; something we would consider a weed but I'm sure the bees will enjoy it.  If you look beyond the cactus you will see what 'normal' land looks like around here:  flat and dry.  There are trees in the far distance.  Those trees were planted and watered for many years.  People have wells out here so the only cost for water is the electricity used to pump it.  The result is that many people have trees surrounding their home.  My wife and I consider it a waste of water to have all those plants that have no business growing here.  Farmers in the valley used to grow cotton here; now there is hay to feed dairy cattle.  At least those people are using the water to support themselves.

Gotta go.  Stay safe and keep up that distancing.

Wow, almost a month!

Somehow it's been almost a month since I last blogged.  It's been mostly kind of dull (which I don't mind at all!) and a little excitement.  It's getting something over 100F (38C) most days but that's pretty normal.  We like to get out before 06:00 for our walk and it takes at least 50 minutes.  We aren't power walking so talking about what the neighbors are doing in their yards, etc. takes time.  There is also the big discussion about what's for breakfast!

Last last month we flew to San Francisco for four days to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.  That was fun.  We stayed in a place on Hyde Street where we could go up on the roof and see Alcatraz.

The hotel is part of Wyndham's Shell Vacations Club.  We don't belong but they let a few rooms to civilians I guess.  Anyway, it was a nice little 1 bedroom apartment.  It wasn't cheap but nothing in the city is.  The rooftop area is clearly quite small but there aren't a lot of apartments in the place.  As you can see we had great weather and even managed to get a little sunburn.  Grrr!  Here we leave the desert and get a sunburn in what is supposed to be a nice foggy city. 

This is looking the opposite direction.  It was taken over looking what had been the parade ground.  There were quite a few parts of the island that were off limits.  We were there at a time when the birds have had their young and the park service didn't want us disturbing the birds.  They were everywhere!

We like to just walk around so did a pretty good job of covering the tourist water front from Pier 33 where the Alcatraz boat docks over to the Presidio.  We had two days of over 10,000 steps per my wife's Fitbit.  When we wanted to go farther or come back in comfort we used Uber.  The rides were in the $10-13 dollar range which we thought was pretty reasonable.  The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is reasonably nice to older tourists:  round trips from the airport to downtown and back were $9 each for seniors.

We like to take a ride around town sometimes and this time we took a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour.  It was 2.5 hours roundtrip but we got to see quite a bit of the city AND it took us across the Golden Gate Bridge where you could catch another bus to Sausalito if you wished:  we didn't.  I must admit going across the bridge was a chilly trip.

We got home and resumed that quiet life until just yesterday.  For the 4th of July nature threw us a party:  an earthquake!  The quake, 6.4 in magnitude, was centered in Searles Valley in California but we sure felt it here!  By the road it is 160 miles away but it is actually only 84 miles away.  (I use a great site called Freemaptools.com to give me the distances.)  It was quite a long quake and our house got quite a shake.  All that lead me to checkout earthquakes around here and I found www. earthquaketrack.com.  We get a lot more that I ever imagined.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print.  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good one.

What can one say???

My heart goes out to the people of Christchurch, NZ who have been so devastated by the terrible earthquake.  How can it be understood to be riding along in a bus and have a building fall on it!  What can prepare one for that?

"How's your mum?"
"Oh, she's dead."
"Oh, I'm so sorry.  How did she die?"
"A building fell on the bus she was riding in last Tuesday."

What's with that!  Well, I guess it's better than what's happening in the Arab world.  In New Zealand we are talking 65 dead; in Libya it might be 500 or 5,000.

The changes we are seeing there; almost minute to minute are staggering.  What on earth can one say about the Egyptian leader leaving office after 30 years?   There are certain to be amazing changes in the direction of Egyptian politics.  Then there are the other Arab/Islamic nations who are feeling the desire for change - Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, who knows where?

I'm no foreign policy genius but any nitwit can see that when an autocratic regime suddenly disappears there is a power vacuum and there is no guessing what will happen.  All those boffins who advise the leaders of the world will be grasping at any straw to suggest the future direction of these countries.  I'm glad I'm not one of the boffins or the leaders!   Come on Obama, I supported you because I thought you were smart enough to lead us through mine-fields like this.  Go buddy, go!

All I know is that almost everyone prefers stability to disarray so I'm expecting some military take-overs in some Arab countries really soon.  The prince of Bahrain, in canceling the Bahrain Grand Prix, has signaled that he wants to talk with at least some of his people.

"Bahrain's priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together to remind the world of the very best that Bahrain is capable of as a nation once again united. At the present time the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain."

At the very least, the Prince's words give one hope for this one nation.  Libya is certainly not so fortunate!  The death toll is still unknown; most likely will never be known.  Who knows about the other Arab nations?

 This is one of those times when I wish I believed in a God.  I would certainly be praying for peace!