Jeez, 10 days! Really?

Ok my mind has been on other things but now I've got to remember what I've been up to lately.  Not too much actually.  We are getting out by 06:00 so we can walk in the morning.  If I wake in the night I open the windows to let in a bit of fresh air.  It gets down to about 70F (21C) about 02:00 in the morning.  By 09:00 we have closed up the house because it will be 85F (29C) headed for 102F (39C) or so by late afternoon.  Next day we go through the whole thing again.

My wife has been complaining about the dinette seats in the RV; the foam is too soft and the cloth is wearing in places.  There is an upholstry shop in town so we took the seats over to the guy.  He is in his 70's and is letting his business kind of wind down but we were able to find some fabric that we liked so had him replace the foam and then cover them using the new fabric.  It took him a couple days but he did a really nice job and from just trying them out we think it's a great improvement.  We'll get to test them out later this summer when we go for a little trip.  I'd take a picture but they just look like they belong.

Last Thursday we drove over to Death Valley Natl. Park just for something different.  We didn't actually go to the valley though, we took a side road to a point called Dante's View.  You are on a cliff overlooking the park.  The cliff is at elevation 5,475 ft (1,668 m) and you are looking down into the valley which is, of course, below sea level at -280 (-85m) right below you.  It's really a pretty cool view.  Didn't bother to go down into the valley since it was already warm!

Then on Saturday my wife and I went into Las Vegas for some general shopping.  There are just plenty of things you can't get in our small town so if you want, for example, some nice cheese, you've got to travel.  Likewise if you want clothing that doesn't come from Walmart, you've got to travel.  We wanted both.

I also needed to find my way to Harbor Freight.  I did something fairly dumb a few days ago and decided I really need a little mobile tool cart.  What was the dumb thing I know you want to know....  I'm embarrassed but I was checking the fluid in the battery in the truck.  I used a screwdriver to pry the caps off - then left the screwdriver in the engine compartment!  Next day I took the truck into town for something or other and was fortunate that screwdriver didn't find it's way into the fan or even short out the battery and cause a fire.  Now I've got a cart that I can put stuff on rather than balance things on top of things in the engine compartment.  Well, I will have a cart when I get the thing put together. 

Sunday was a fairly do-nothing day.  When we went to China it was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.  Sunday was the actual day.  So we talked, had a special meal and watched a couple of old movies.  Very quiet but after all, we'd gone to China to celebrate already! 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good one.

Flag Day

Happy Flag Day!  Kinda breezy around here.

Have a good one!

Piggn' out!

No, I'm not talking about that lovely pizza we got the other night.  I'm not even talking about the two huge steaks we got at Sam's Club yesterday.  No, this is something different.

I was driving into town when what should I see but a couple of pot-belly pigs.  Apparently they had decided to go 'walkabout'.  I wasn't doing much so I stopped and they came to me!  They were still kind of damp with mud so I figured they must live in one of the houses along the street.  No answer at the first house.  The guy at the second house denied all knowledge of pigs.  No answer at the third house.  About this time I decided I needed Animal Control.  Here are my two little buddies.

A guy came along and I flagged him down hoping he might have an idea.  He did.  He knew of a family that had quite a few animals and volunteered to go ask if they were missing pigs.  He returned in a few minutes with the news that they weren't missing any animals.  About this time my phone rings, it is Animal Control saying their truck should be at my location in five minutes or so. 

Just about then a car pulled up to the house across the street.  A boy jumped out and started running over to me and the pigs.  Happily I was able to tell Animal Control that the mystery was solved and they needn't respond.  I think the Animal Control lady was as happy as I was.  Pigs might have been a little different for them but sometimes you don't need different. 

The boy got a little food and the pigs decided they had a new best friend.  I found them cute and pretty friendly but let's just say I was sure glad to see that kid! 

My big errand that had me out on the street this morning was to buy some stuff for the VFW Food Bank.  We have plenty of vets out here who need help.  Some live up on the side of the mountain in old trailers, vans and even tents.  They may be a little crazy but they need to eat.  We like dropping some food off every now and then.  The Food Bank requests things that don't require a can opener; even things that don't require cooking!  What can you say besides heartbreaking?

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good one.

Not a lot going on!

It's smmer in the desert so outside activities aren't as popular as on the shoulder seasons.  If we haven't taken our walk by 07:00 it's going to be pretty sweaty.  The extra attraction is that we see more wildlife; not that there is a lot.  We see bunnies and jack rabbits mostly.  Aside from finches we mostly see doves, quail and the ocassional hawk.  If we walk in the desert, away from any of the houses, we might see a coyote.  Of course walking on the roads we get to check up on what the neighbors are doing to their houses and all but that .  I think we prefer the wildlife.  So we are staying inside a lot.  The tv is interesting to all of us. 

It's really odd what gets the cat's interest.  He spends a lot of evenings either on my lap or my wife's.  (Yes we watch tv most evenings at least before the sunset.)  Every now and then there will be some sort of animal segment on and he is ON IT!  He's almost 19 and doesn't hear very well and I'm not sure about his vision but he does know what he likes.  One time he even went around behind the tv to see where the animal went when he disappeared. 

Here's my excuse for sitting at the computer so much these days.

This was day before yesterday about 6 p.m. - the one on the left says 105F the one on the right says 101F.  That's 40C & 38C for the rest of the world.  One remote is on the north side of the house and the other on the south.  We usually have a difference like this.  Happily the interior temp is 78F (25C).  Makes you feel for the folks who lived here before the invention of air conditioning.  Our local museum has one of the houses built by an early pioneer.  They managed to find some spare railroad timbers and built the house from that.  Those huge chunks of wood actually did a pretty good job of insulating the place.

That's all I've got for today.  Have a good one!

Sheriff Election continued!

Ok so last time I told you about how the guy I really thought would be the best candidate managed to screw things up by ripping up signs that were rude about him.  That's stupid and, of course, illegal.  However it's only the start of the story.  The guy who put the signs up was watching them being pulled out of the ground.  He even filmed the candidate pull the darn thing up!  Jeez.  Then he called a detective that he apparently knows and likes.  This detective and FIVE other deputies show up and ARREST their fellow cop.  Apparently it wasn't a calm arrest, there is some discussion about guns being drawn!

Did I  mention that the current sheriff was out of the country on vacation so the guy being arrested is in charge during his absence?  Honestly, you can't dream this stuff up!  So the next week, those six deputies and one other apply for paid 'Stress Leave'.  Apparently arresting your boss then having to go to work with him the next day is stressful.  Hmmm, maybe they should have thought about all that before the made the arrest so showy. 

So now we have seven deputies out on stress leave.  What do you think they are doing?  Resting?  Talking with a doctor?  Maybe a shrink?  Naw, at least three of them are out CAMPAIGNING against the guy they arrested.  Really?  I'm basically at a loss for words.  What a bunch of idiots. 

Other than all THAT it's being pretty quiet around here.  We are into the low 100's (39C) which is pretty normal for this time of year.  We are walking early in the morning, like 06:30, to avoid the heat.  By 09:00 I'd be pretty sweaty after the first half mile.  The bbq gets plenty of use as well because heating up the house just seems wrong.  Besides, who doesn't like bbq? 

Here's hoping that things aren't quite as crazy where you are! 

Voting Day

We have 'early voting' here so my wife and I were able to vote in the primary election today.  This is when candidates are chosen by the major parties.  My wife and I are independents so we get to vote on a couple positions that are in theory non-political.  This includes the position of Sheriff.  We don't have a local police force so the county sheriff is the only cop we've got.  It brings out some really weird folks. I'm not going to use names but I'll just list them giving their primary experience.  First I'll list the ones I pretty much reject out of hand.

1.  A corrections officer from another state who calls himself the 'constitutional candidate'. 

2.  An investigator for the District Attorney who has previous experience as a police officer.  This candidate happens to be the only woman in the group.

3.  A detective who is currently working in the sheriff's office.

4.  A Private Investigator and former deputy.  He is alleged to have illegally siezed a woman's home.

5.  A deputy currently working in the sheriff's office.

6.  A former customs agent.

7.  A local guy who is at least 70 years old and has run for sheriff numerous times never getting more than a couple hundred votes.

Then there are these two whom I feel might actually have the training to be the sheriff.

8.  A man who retired as a Captain from the sheriff's office a couple years ago after being offered early retirement for budgetary reasons. 

9.  A man who is currently an Assistant Sheriff who was given a recommendation by the retiring sheriff.  This guy's name is Rick.

So how to chose between numbers 8 and 9?  Well, it was going to be a tough choice until Rick, number 9, went out and actually was filmed pulling political signs out of the ground!  How incredibly foolish can someone be?  Of course it is illegal.  It also shows a total lack of judgement.  It just stinks.  So how about the signs this guy thought were so  bad?

LOL!  The actual signs Rick was caught pulling up and throwing on the ground were considerably smaller than this version but it was the same sign.  I don't know what old Rick did to this guy but it sure must have been something.  And Rick reacted.  That reaction sure helped me decide who I'd rather have for sheriff. 

To make things even more interesting Rick has spent as much as the next four high spending candidates in the running.  We'll see if money can buy respectability.  Here's what our local paper reports about it.  Stay tuned!.

Happy Memorial Day

Skipping the flag post this year but this IS one of the few days we fly the flag.  People sacrifice a lot for that little piece of fabric.

This year has been pretty good for travel but not so much in our RV.  In February we did take the RV to San Diego.  However then in March we flew up to the Pacific Northwest for a relative's birthday.  In April we flew to China for a two week tour.  Finally in May we have driven back to San Diego to attend the internment of a family friend.  Lots of coming and going! 

China was amazing, absolutely amazing.  Because of the slight language problem, we wanted to go on a tour where we would have our hands held the whole way.  We chose a tour sponsored by the Viking River Cruise group.  We flew into Shanghai where we spent two days.  Then flew to Wuhan where we boarded a river cruise boat for a five day trip up the river.  We got off at Chongquig and flew to Xian where the Terra Cotta Army was discovered.  Finally we flew to Beijing for the last couple days of sightseeing.  The trip was exhausting but amazing.  It also taught us a few things about our desires for future travel but more of that later.

Shanghai was amazing; a city for international trade for many years.  It is also a very Chinese place. These are typical apartments as seen from our bus.  We spent a lot of time on buses!

We got off the bus to walk through a market area to a garden.  What would I see but......

The garden we visited belonged to a very important official a few centuries ago.  He had five acres and this was one of the gate houses.  The bridge leading to it isn't straight because evil spirits can't make the turns.  Today it is a coffee house.

We flew a couple hours and then spent another hour or two on another bus.  This time we were getting on a river cruising boat.  It was set up for 200+ people; we had around 180 on board.  When we would stop somewhere it would take seven buses to cart us all around!  We got off in one city and there were some local craft tied up nearby.  I can't decide to call this an inboard or an outboard.  Heavy for sure though!

Cruising along you could see people working on the banks of the river.  I've got no idea at all what they were doing!

We often read about the amount of coal China uses.  There was sure a lot of it going up the river!  These boats were anchored near a city.  Some have the long boom in front to unload the boat; some need help.  

We saw the Three Gorges Dam; an absolutely huge thing.  There was some bad feeling about it because many people had to be uprooted from towns their families had inhabited for generations.  The violent flooding of the river downstream convinced the government to go ahead with the project.  The electrical power that will be generated was probably a big factor too.  Did I mention we were really happy to have our raingear along?

We flew to Xian to visit The Terra Cotta Army.  It was buried to provide troops for the afterlife.  The photos don't do it justice; this is the first dig.  It is several football fields large and is only one of three that are known.  There were some mistakes made (unspecified) when the original dig was done that compromised the find.  Therefore the government is being very careful about going for the other two pits. 

Many of the statues are broken into shards so the workers are gluing them back together and holding them together with stretch wrap until the glue sets up.  They have plenty more to work on!

We flew to Beijing and were bussed out to the Great Wall.  It was really kind of amazing.  Where we were it was actually very steep! 

There were lots of Chinese people out walking; it was a Saturday so maybe that was part of the reason.  The wall is something like 3,900 miles (6,200km) long.  This portion was restored; I'm not sure about other parts.  There were people from small towns that were kind of interested to see foreigners.  A couple guys wanted their photo taken with me and my wife and I understand that a blonde woman from our tour who was also about six feet tall (1.8m) was VERY popular!  There were police and Army around but they were on the approaches to the wall rather than on the wall itself.

While in Beijing of course we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  It was especially interesting to me that we foreigners just walked through a gate to get into the Square but the Chinese had to go through an inspection and some were turned away.  There were plenty of soldiers and police around but they didn't want you taking their photos.  This day was kind of unusual in that we walked over 4 miles (6.4km) while wandering around and before getting back on our bus. 

We had to visit the zoo and see the pandas.  Some were inside but this guy was locked outside.  He mostly wanted to get in and was pacing back and forth.

No visit to China would be complete without a comment on the traffic:  OMG!!!  I took a series of photos of this intersection from our hotel window.  It is a regular 4 way intersection with traffic lights and everything.  BUT, there are so many problems in this photo I don't understand how they every get anywhere.  People turning left are bad enough but the car doing the u-turn?  The bikes and motorscooters going through lanes of traffic?  The poeple going left from the right lane?  Jeez!

It was a fantastic trip but will probably be our last 'tour'.  It was just too regimented for us.  We wanted to be helped about and we were but we missed out on China; we just saw the American Bubble that surrounded us.  But we did learn a lot from our guide.  Maybe in the future we'll use guides from time to time.  We'll see.  Thanks for stopping by!

Quiet times but warming up

We have been having some quiet times but it is warming up to the point where we can sometimes have the windows open.  Really that time is limited to a couple hours in the afternoon and only if the wind isn't blowing too hard.  The wind really picks up the dust and that's bad for the sinuses as well as just dirty.  I do like hearing the outdoor sounds especially the birds.  I am also reminded that we are near two Air Force bases, a bombing range and a busy commercial airport - all within 75 miles (120km) or so.  There is a surprising amount of air traffic for so quiet a little town.  I'm also convinced that were is some sort of mountain training facility around here; there are just too many flights of military helicopters around.

I did go to Las Vegas again last week.  Just buying a few things that aren't available here (or are too expensive).  It was a nice trip.  I took this photo of the Spring Mountains north of the highway.  These would probably be at the 5-6,000 foot level (1,500-1,800m).

Once we get over the pass I make a turn and go towards Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  Apparently it is renowned as a climbing venue.  Personally I like nice flat areas, the view of a vertical section of rock does not call to me.  It is however very beautiful.

These are identified as 'bluffs'; looks like a mountain to me but I'm no geologist.  The valley is a mile or two wide at this point.  You are driving along the east side of the valley looking across at these 'bluffs' and suddenly you come to a sign that identifies this as a Nevada Scenic Highway.  What?  What about the past couple miles?  I mean the whole thing is only 12-15 miles.  But I guess Nevada Dept. of Transportation has some weird rule.  They do the same thing with bike lanes.  All of a sudden, out in the middle of nowhere you find a sign saying 'Bike Lane'.  How the hell are you supposed to get out there with the bike?  Jeez. 

Anyway, now that I've had my little rant, I finally come to the conservation area itself.  This is from the overlook; taking the loop road gets you up close to the cliffs but I wasn't really there to do the tourist thing so settled for the overlook.  The cliffs are 3-4 miles (4-6km) away from this point.

It really is quite striking and for scenery when you are just going into town for a few items it is quite lovely.  It makes the drive quite pleasant. 

That was the big trip of the month so far.  More to come later.  Thanks for stopping by.

OMG - almost a month!

Well, I'm falling off the blogging trail again.  Sorry about that.  The good news is that we've been having fun.  We took our first plane trip together since something like 2002.  It was a trip up to Seattle for a relative's birthday.  Interesting trip what with one thing and another.  The first thing was that we agreed to make it a computer-free trip.  That was a first!  I guess it was successful; neither of us missed our little electronic friend too much.  Then our flight was on a Delta affiliate - that is a term for someone with really small planes painting them to look like a Delta plane and using Delta's gangways.  We are carry-on folks and have never had a problem but this time my wife's roll-along was deemed too large and was put into the hold at the gangway!  It was a minor inconvience but still.  I have to admit though that my smaller bag pretty much filled the overhead compartment.  It was two and two seating; glad we are friends!  Walking down the aisle pretty much introduced you to everyone else in the plane.  Still, it got us there & back so that's the important thing.  There was a 5 minute delay or so to retrieve the bag from the hold on each end. 

We lived in and around Seattle back in the 1970's and 80's but haven't visited the city itself in a very long time.  God, what a mess!  Seattle is built on a narrow strip of land between the Sound and Lake Washington.  It and it's suburbs make for a long skinny metro area so I-5 going north & south gets lots of traffic.  I mean 30 mph stop and go crap in the middle of the day.  I can hardly imagine the rush hour.  We were in the two person HOV lane so generally got to do the the 30 mph; those other poor folks were doing more of the stop and go. 

We had a day before we had to go out to the party so hit the waterfront.  The seagulls are still pretty noisy!

After that excitement, what can you say?  We walked around a bit and called it a day.  The next day we went over to the peninsula for the party.  You'll have to take my word for it that our relative who lives near Gig Harbor has a nice view of Mt. Rainier.  This was Washington sunshine at it's best.

After the party we wandered up towards Sequim, WA on the Olympic Peninsula.  Squim is considered the 'banana belt' of Western Washington.  Somehow it is in the 'rain shadow' of the mountains so gets less rain and more sun than most places.  Sure enough, we did get to see the Olympics though there was some cloud around.

We stayed in a small motel outside of town.  In the season I'm sure they do a good business but mid-week in March; not so much!  They probably have 100 rooms, I think there were three other people staying while we were there.  The people running the place have a delightful sense of humor though.  They gathered some little pieces of driftwook and placed them on posts along the driveway.  I thought they were really cool.

It was good to get home I must say.  The cat took about 24 hours to decide to like us again.  Now I can't get him off my lap!  Will we go flying off and leave him again?  Certainly!  But not right away.  We still really like traveling in our trailer but heading up to snow country in March we thought might be difficult.  As it turned out, it would have been fine.  The weather was rainy but mild.  We wouldn't have seen Seattle though and that was fun. 

There is another trip planned in our future but I'll talk about that more after it happens.  It will be another flight and another computer-free trip.  Should be interesting!  Take care & thanks for stopping by.

Another week...

Well, I haven't been gone for multiple weeks anyway!  We had a nice time in San Diego.  Number One Son & his SO have bought a house and we got to help them move in .  They are pretty private, even with us, so we just got to move some of the larger pieces.  Still, it was fun.  I think they were kind of surprised that a couple old fogies like us could actually lift furniture.  I remember helping move friends back in the 1980's; we did sometimes find 'marital secrets' like sex toys & lubes.  Nothing really all that nasty, just a bit embarrassing for the couple. 

Got back home last Sunday and have been cooling it since then.  Went into Las Vegas for our usual liquor and Sam's Club run on Thursday.  Got a free lunch at Number One Daughter's house.  She is actually learning to cook!  We had a nice lunch of chicken and roasted vegies.  I think I had three helpings of the vegies!  Then we managed to find the only rude employee of Total Wine and the world's slowest checkout person but otherwise it was ok.  She even managed to use the PLU codes from my phone to get us a couple of discounts.  Coming home it was pretty windy and I was getting sleepy but we managed it.

Now we are getting the Nevada version of a rain storm; a few drops on the concrete and plenty of wind.  It's not very exciting but what can I say?  Maybe we'll get some real rain next year.  Snow, nah, it's for the East Coast and the Canadian's out there.  LOL  Do you know, we actually have to have federal flood insurance here?  Yep, another instance of our wonderful government taking care of us - or at least making us pay to take care of ourselves!  This is considered to be part of the Mohave Desert after all.  Maybe there is something kind of screwy logic there but that's for the really 'smart' people to discover.  On the other side of the coin, I will say that since I've gone onto Medicare we are saving $600 a MONTH from what we were paying for my wife's company supported health insurance policy.  Hmmm, nothing wrong with that!

Gotta go.  Thanks for stopping by & hope you have a great day.

I just don't know!

The title of this post should be either "On the Road Again" or "I've fallen off the blogging wagon and can't get up".  Because we are kind of on the road but I sure haven't been blogging!  Anyway, here's the scoop.

We put a new closet system in our master bedroom closet but first, of course, we had to paint the room.  It was a giant pain!  So then we install this closet; we like the style we chose because you mount a bar thing on the wall and hang everything off it.  This way nothing is touching the floor & you can easily vacuum under it.  So now the attached bathroom and toilet room look kind of dull.....  You can see where this is going of course.  Our house has 10 foot ceilings (> 3m) so there is lots of climbing around on ladders, even on the counters!  It's enough to make me want an ibuprofen just writing about it.  Here is proof that I actually can work!

Of course this would also be the ideal time to replace the lights in the bathroom which we have never liked.  We go into Home Depot where we have looked at the lights many times.  This time however we come to a stop in front of one and say, almost in unison, 'I kind of like that one'.  So now we have added a little electrical work to the project.  Grrr!  Among the three fixtures we replaced one was wired incorrectly and another is slightly different.  Hmmm, same manufacturer, same SKU, different light; this is just depressing.  However we pressed on; put the odd light where it is alone on the wall.  I doubt any but someone with OCD would ever notice.  The wiring was no big deal but in killing the breaker we discovered that the bathroom lights are on the same breaker with 1) the other bath room on the other side of the house, 2) the garage, 3) the outside lights and 4) both spare bedrooms.  Our neighbor insists the guy who wired the house was very good but I'm holding out for weird.  We did finally get the room put back together a week ago yesterday. 

A week ago today we pulled the trailer out of it's storage area and up to the house where we could load it.  By Sunday morning we were headed out for San Diego where Number One Son lives.  He and his SO have just bought their first house and we were overdue for a trip here anyway.  So we've been doing the sightseeing thing interspersed with seeing the house and helping them move.  Yes, that calls for more ibuprofen!  The good news is that they found a nice little house in a pretty good neighborhood. It is badly in need of new paint but otherwise quite nice.  Owning it should be a great way for them to help the local economy; at least the home fix-up part of the economy.

It hasn't been all work though; this park is way expensive but this is the view out of our rig.  We get to look at ducks here; not so many sparrows or finches.

And we've been sightseeing.  We finally got to see the mission.  The original mission is kind of off the tourist loop.  It is called Mission San Diego de Alcala.  It is no where near any other tourist attractions so just gets missed.  Too bad because it is nicely restored and quite a lovely place.  Here is the front of the church.

The mission included much more than the church but, of course, that's the point of the place.  It is hardly the original building.  The first was destroyed by an attack in 1775.  The second was destroyed by earthquakes in the early 1800's.  By the 1920's there wasn't a lot left but it's been rebuilt again and again.  In 1976 Pope Paul VI declared it a minor basilica.  This is the interior today.

Quite plain but also very nice.  I think it would be a great place to spend some time in contemplation.  Our next move is to spend some time relaxing then heading home on Sunday.  We might even visit the zoo! 

Thanks for checking in.  Have a good one.

Dull, dull, dull

I find it's been quite a while since blogging; well, I just don't have much to say! There are a couple blogs I read where the writer is sure 'the end is nigh'.  Well, I don't agree with that but can't really refute it either.  I'm more of a 'one foot in front of the other' kind of guy; I just keep showing up and things happen.  Some are good things; some bad but it keeps keeping on. 

I've been keeping up with my plan to photograph the mountains behind our house daily.  It's only been a month or so but it's a start.  I'm really looking forward to the summer to see how the shadows are different in the different seasons.  We are planning on some travel in the next couple months but then will spend most of  the summer here.  It will be a little different but should be good.  These days if we want to walk we wait for mid-afternoon; in summer it's get it in by 06:00 or you are toast.  (Almost literally!) 

I bought a couple of those foldable bikes for our travels.  These are cheapies from Camping World.  If we actually use them we might trade up to a better quality model.  It's really funny riding on this thing with 20" wheels.  I feel like a bear in the circus when riding mine.  At first we had a little trouble with cinching everything up tight enough but finally got them going.  It's really disconcerting when you are peddling along and your seat starts sliding down!  Happily we don't have much traffic so get to just stop in the middle of the road to fix things. 

Anyway, I hope it isn't too miserable where you are.  It's an odd winter for sure.  Take care.  Thanks for stopping by.

Headed to Vegas again....

Our little town is fun but I do miss some of the excitement of a city.  So I'm off to the big city again.  The last time I was there I actually drove a bit on the strip; now that's downright painful!  The traffic is stopped for long periods and there is always one or two tourists who think they can cross between the cars.  Vegas has LOTS of pedistrians killed every year because they are too damn dumb to use crosswalks and pay attention to the 'Walk' lights.  Yeah they have been drinking, usually the driver is just a victim too.

We've been having some great weather lately.  We are actually in the 70's!  (21C for the rest of the world.)  It helps us to get out and exercise when it's so great.  We are about 15 degrees (F) (8C) above average.  Tough life, huh.  All this mean that our tomato plants are really confused.  They are still producing tomatoes!  Weird stuff. 

I'm working on a minor photographic project:  I'm taking a photo or two of the Nopah Mountains every morning.  I'm hoping to create a photographic montage of the way the sun hits the mountain differently in different seasons.  Here is my subject.

We'll see how it works out.  Gotta go.  Have a good one!

Movie night!

I've been on a kick lately about finding 'different' movies at our local library.  Apparently the person in charge of buying movies has, let's call it, electic taste.  Happily, that fits in with my taste quite well. 

Recently I watched a new version of Much Ado About Nothing - done by Joss Whedon in 2012. 

Whedon got some publicity from the fact that it was filmed in his own home in, I think, 12 days.  Clearly then it was in present day California.  It was flimed in black and white which might put some people off but I'm more interested in the actual movie.  I really liked it.  Of course I like the Kenneth Branagh version but they are really very different.  This one felt more approachable but wasn't as pretty.  I mean a house in LA vs the Tuscan countryside?  The actors also were from a different strata:  Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Clark Gregg  vs Emma Thompson, Branagh and Richard Briers and the smaller rolls portrayed by the likes of Keanu Reeves, Denzel Washington and Kate Beckinsale.  Very different indeed but each very good.

Then yesterday I found 'A Day Without A Mexican'.  It's a fantasy piece about a mysterious fog that surrounds California and makes all Hispanics disappear and all communication with the rest of the world ceases. 

It had promise but got really bogged down in the story about people who were downright dull.  There was a white woman whose Mexican husband and son disappeared, she never shed a tear.  (She did however reveal to the neighbor the reason her daughter was still around was because she was actually his child.)  The Senator whose maid disppeared (cover shot), his big problem was that he had no orange juice but he got to be acting-Govenor because the real guy had disappeared.  They were just people I didn't care about.  One Hispanic woman newscaster was supposed to have been spared; of course you know she can't be Hispanic regardless of her 'parents'.  One slightly funny part was where the handsome Hispanic weather forecaster is replaced with an older fat white guy who has no outside data or training in forecasting.  Interspersed there would be supposed facts about the importants of Hispanics in California.  I say 'supposed facts' because I hope they were true but really don't know and certainly don't remember them.  Things like 57% of firefighters were Hispanic or 35% of teachers - those aren't the numbers, I just made them up but you get the idea.  The actors were doing their best but it was all about the importance of Hispanics in today's California.  Gee, really?  I never would have guessed.  (You ought to check out my little town!)  Eventually, of course, the fog lifted and the Hispanics all magically reappeared not knowing that they had even been gone.

Anyway, I thank my local librarian for the fun films.  Hope you have a great day!

Dull, dull, dull!

I seem to be in a very quiet place in my life.  The only exciting thing right now is that I keep driving to Vegas and I've noted how exciting that usually is.

Of course once you get there things are a bit more exciting:  like all the idiots doing 80mph in a 65mph zone zig-zagging through all the rest of us normal folks.  It's not like California where everyone is doing 80, here 95% of the folks are around the speed limit. We made the trip on January 2; we made the trip yesterday and we'll be going back next week.  Maybe I need to get a life?

I was reading the Las Vegas Sun the other day; there was a great article by a guy named Glenn Garvin about 2013 and what a sterling year it was.  He reminded us of the 7 year old suspended from school for chewing his Pop Tart into the shape of a gun and saying 'bang bang'.  Then there was the teacher who was fired for telling her Spanish class that 'negro' is the Spanish word for 'black'.  (My dictionary agrees, BTW.)  There was some deaf 3 year old named Hunter who actually knows how use sign language to sign his name.  The school district ordered him to change the way he signs his name because the sign for H looks like a gun!  Really?  I mean political correctness does have some value; I really believe that.  But that's where we are talking about that other 'n' word that caused Paula Deen all her trouble.  Have I ever used it?  Hell, yes!  30, 40 years ago it was a lot more commonly used and anyone who says they didn't use it, usually in anger, is full of xxxx.  Some black guy cuts me off in traffic, it will still be a word that comes to mind.  But I'll probably just call him a stupid asshole.  Times change and so does our language.  Who would have thought 'twerking' would be a word?

So, let's all have a great 2014!  2013 can't have all the fun.  Take care!

Haven't blogged lately

Well, the short reason is that I don't have much to say!  Well, when did that ever stop me?  Yeah, I know.  Anyway, this time I'm just duller than usual. I have even resorted to taking photos of clouds!

Doesn't it look like a bunny?  I know it's lame but giive me a break, it's just after Christmas!

Anyway, we haven't been doing much; went into Vegas on a shopping expidition but how exciting is that?  Wanna see my new socks?  No, I'm just not going there! 

I got hooked lately on "Castle"; it's a show with Nathen Fillion and Stata Katic (a couple of Canadians, don't we have any actors in this country??)?  On the other hand, neither has been in drug rehab that I've heard  of lately! This is about a writer (named Castle, male) following around a detective (named Beckett, female) and the expected cop story plus romance evolves.  But the actors are good and the writing good so; I'm hooked.  I'm watching the older episodes on TNT which seems to be unable to put them in order so I watch a guy get killed in one episode then in the next episode he's giving Castle some grief for shadowing the cop.  Grrrr! 

Lately I went through a bunch of old backups copying stuff to my hard drive.  This is from when I was backing up to a CD holding 650 MB.  Well, we were a lot thinner back then but we also were having some fun!  No, I'm not going to be explicit; you'll just have to imagine it.  Here, from our town of Ijsselstein.

It's just a little Dutch commuter town but it was home to us for two years and will remain one of our hame towns forever.  I'm looking forward to returning as a tourist; hopefully next year.

Gotta go.  Hope you and yours have a great 2014.  Take care.

Interesting days....

Tuesday was the day when the carpets were to be cleaned.  It actually come to be but not in the normal way.  First we have to get up early and pull/carry all the furniture off the rug and onto the tile.  We can kind of squirm around to get from here to there.  The guy who does the cleaning showed up about 09:45.  He has kids to get off to school before starting.  That works for us though because of all the funiture moving!  So he starts work.  He is just going to town:  done with the master bedroom, living room and has started the dining room when things get quiet.  He explains that the machine he is using runs on gasoline and it has just run out.  Not only that, he left his debit card at home so he has to go home, get the card then go buy gas.  Sounds like he's having a good day already.  This is about 11:30.

We had a little lunch then decided I'd go into town.  I'm wandering around in the grocery store when my phone rings.  It's my wife.  She wondered what happened to carpet guy so called him.  She got his wife who said he had been home, got the debit card but now was on the side of the road having been pulled over by the state highway patrol.  Hmmm.  The wife actually used the words 'he is being harrassed' by the officer.  I go on with shopping and come home; still no carpet guy.  It was 15:15 by the time he got back to our place and finished the job.  That's almost 4 hours!  I don't know what he was doing but I really can't see the highway patrol officer keeping this guy on the side of the road for more than 15-20 minutes.  Anyway, I hope had fun.  He only had about 20 minutes more work to do the two small bedrooms. 

Wednesday we went into Las Vegas so my wife could go to a movie with our daughter.  They insist on going to this theatre that serves alcohol so I get to do the chauffeur bit.  Good thing I did, my wife slept most of the way home.  While they were at the movie, I got to hit the liquor store and Sam's Club.  Exciting times, huh. 

Then we had to make our annual trip to buy stuff for Toys for Tots.  We usually go for the little kid stuff since we feel the presents are more important for them.  Then Saturday was the Christmas food drive.  We have lots of homeless around here so did two carts:  one for vets and one for familes.  The one for the vets is all single serving stuff with pop-tops if we can get it so a guy doesn't even need a can opener.  Some of them live in tents out on the BLM land and who knows what kind of cooking facilities they might have. 

We have a couple tomato plants that we've been raising in buckets.  It is getting pretty chilly in the night so I carry them out in the morning & bring them in at night.  Believe it or not but the darn things are finally coming up with ripe tomatoes.  Who would have expected tomatoes at Christmas?  We were thinking like maybe a month ago!

It is getting chilly; ice on the birdbath almost every day.  Here I was breaking the ice this morning & having a little fun with it.  I've poked several holes in the ice then when I tap the center I get a fountain.  Doesn't take much for me sometimes!  LOL

So the house is clean; the charities taken care of and the Christmas tree set up.  Sounds like we are in good shape.  Please have a happy and safe holiday.  Take care.

Jeez, time really does fly!

I just noticed that I haven't updated the blog since Tuesday.  The embarrassing thing is that I can't think of anything even remotely interesting that I've accomplished in that time.  Jeez, really? 

Back a few years ago Microsoft came out with this pc-thing that took over the world.  Yeah, I know about the Fruit company but in offices it was pretty much Windows.  Anyway, they had a notepad that I think they are still supporting and I discovered that if you opened the notepad and put .LOG in the first line, it would time-date stamp it every time you opened it.  Hmmm.  From that day to this I've used that piece of software.  These days it is more of a diary but it used to be that I'd be on the phone with someone making notes of what we were saying.  I'd have a note that I promised a software fix by Tuesday; or they promised a new spec; or whatever.  And after I got off the phone and talked with three people about three different problems, I still had my notes right there.  I absolutely love it.  It must have saved a tree's worth of paper from me taking notes in notebooks.  Also my typing is a hellova lot easier to read than my penmanship!

So, what have I been up to?  We took the photo of the cat that I posted last time and went to Walmart and in an hour got our custom Christmas cards printed up.  Our Walmart appears to have cut people's hours.  The checkout lines were crazy so after paying for our cards at the photo counter we just left.  Didn't do much on Wednesday.  I was convinced we could buy screen-storm door for one of our doors; two hours on the internet convinced me that it may not be possible.  The problem is that the door isn't a standard size; it's about an inch off and I can't find any that are adjustable.  Grrrr.  Apparently that was about all I accomplished on Wednesday.  Well, I did sell a stock that we've had for a couple years and it's up a bit but hasn't paid a dividend so it's outta here. We also got those Christmas cards out.  They mostly go to folks who aren't too computer savvy but there are a couple going to friends I've had for 40 years but don't really correspond with all that much.

Thursday we went into town and bought a bunch of stuff for Toys For Tots.  We usually go for the small kids stuff; by the time a kid is in the teens they ought to have a grip on reality.  I don't know if I'm done with that; there are an awful lot of poor kids out there and the hype about Christmas drives them all crazy - rich or poor. 

Friday the big thing was working on my pension.  I turned 65 this year and have been having difficulty communing with the Retiree Benefits departments of a couple corporations I worked for many moons ago.  Each company has a different set of rules and they stick by them.  It won't be enough to live on but it can't hurt.  I guess that's pretty much out of style now; pensions I mean.  I don't agree with that.  My wife worked for one company for 28 years; how is it that an employee like that shouldn't be kept on the books.  It doesn't have to be a free ride but to be kicked to the curb sounds wrong.  She has her pension but I don't know that current employees are going to be as fortunate.

Yesterday was Number One Daughter visit day:  she and her mom watched movies and I hid in my den.  I don't care for most movies these days:  too many dead bodies and gratuitous violence for me.  But the food was good and we had a good talk after dinner so it wasn't all bad.  Today we are munching on left-overs and contemplating a walk.  We call it Life in the Fast Lane.

Have a good one.  Thanks for stopping by.

Going to the Birds

Yeah, I know it isn't much but I am pretty much out of news.  We took the cardboard that our new closet was shipped in off to the recycler.  It filled the bed of the pickup.  I used two of the boxes to hold all the little stuff and flattened the rest.  It was pretty impressive.  Our recyclers location is in the same place as the landfill so that was kind of interesting.  Even in a small town like this the landfill is a huge operation.  Did I think to take photos?  Duh, no. Sorry about that.

It was chilly this a.m. 18F or -8C.  We had a flock of doves in the backyard this morning.  It was kind of a nice change from the pigeons we usually get! 

In the front yard our borrowing owl was all puffed up trying to stay warm.  Don't know why but he seems to have adopted our culvert as a home.  It seems kind of big for such a little guy but he's been here a while.

We did manage to get the annual insult-the-pet picture.  Doesn't he look happy?

Well, I guess that's it for today.  Have a good one.

Not much to say!

I'm kind of out of news.  The closet has been such a big deal for the last week or so that I haven't done much else.  We planned this to be a quiet day because all the weather forecasters in Vegas said there was a big system coming down from the north that would bring us at least rain but most likely snow.  Well, that didn't work out!  It's about 55F (more than 12C) which certainly isn't anything to complain about.  Not here in December for heaven's sake.  It's been mostly sunny as well.  The wind is blowing but you can't have everything.

We have this huge pile of broken down boxes in our living room.  There are some boxes full of 'protective packaging' but lots of empty boxes.  Here is what the protective stuff looks like: 

On the left is a piece of maybe inch and a half (4 cm) cardboard that is cut into the right size to protect stuff in the boxes.  It's just ordinary but thick cardboard.  On the right is some cardboard that has been sliced up so it still has some strength but is really flexible.  I have serious cubic feet of this stuff!  It ranges from about a foot long (.3m) to 6 feet (almost 2m).  Then there is a pile of flattened cardboard boxes.  I'm pretty sure I've got a pickup truck load.  I'm thinking I'll load it into the truck then wait until next week and take it to the recycler.  Life in the fast lane.

I saw two stray dogs in the neighborhood; one would come to me, the other wasn't really willing.  It's the first time I've touched a dog since our dog died last January.  It was even a black dog much like ours.  It was tough; I wanted to grab them and take them around the neighborhood asking if anyone was missing a dog but don't really have the facilities for that - not to mention the one with a collar didn't want to come talk.  Called Animal Control; I guess that's about all one can do. 

My wife is wrapped around her own axle about Christmas.  It's looking like we'll have both Number One Daughter and Number One Son (and Number One Daughter-In-Law) for the holiday.  That would be great but it brings up questions.  Presents:  should we or should we not?  We are talking 40 year old 'children'; they can buy anything they want.  I'm hoping the don't still believe in Santa!  Food:  everyone has an opinion and everyone but me is a picky eater.  Can't have this; can't have that:  I probably draw the line at bugs but who knows?  Length of stay:  we have one very jealous Number One Daughter.  Can't have anyone else staying longer than she does.  Let me tell you, I'm in search of a place to hide next Christmas; somewhere they won't want to follow us to!  I'm reading Kevin & Ruth's blog and they are making Africa sound really great.  Who knows.

Gotta go.  Time for some feet up time in the recliner before dinner.  Have a good one!

Done! And boy does it feel good!

Ok, no more whining about the closet.  It's done; most of our clothes loaded into it and, gee, we have a lot more room.  Well, that's what organization does for you.  Here are a couple shot of his and her's sides.

You will notice that there are quite a few empty shelves; if you could see into them, there are empty drawers too.  Let's hope we don't go buy more 'stuff' to put into them!  I already have half a dozen shirts I should be giving away.  Anyway, you won't have to listen to any more whining about the closet except possibly for the trip to the recycling place.  All those boxes need to be broken down and carted off; I'm thinking a full pickup load of recycling.  You know I might whine about that.

In other news, Las Vegas is expecting some snow; mostly rain but in the higher elevations it might be snow.  They don't talk much about us but we are higher than Vegas so if it comes this way I might have a snow photo or two. 

Yesterday the birdbath was completely frozen.  It started to thaw around the edges and the pidgeons started fighting over the little slurps of water.  It was kind of funny but I couldn't let it go on.  I broke some of the ice away and filled it with water.  Calm was restored.  AND I was smart enough to go out and empty the water at sunset so they have a full bath this a.m.

I also must announce the suspicion of a bird casuality.  Let the picture tell the story.

The circle of life and all that.  I can't think that one of these birds flew away.  Maybe our friend the hawk visited but I didn't see it.  Anyway, there you go.

Gotta go.  Have a good one!

Grumpy!

OK, Thanksgiving has come and gone.  The remainder of the turkey is still with us however!  Well, it will be a couple more days and we'll have 'disposed' of it one way or another.  Then there is the asparagus.  My wife and daughter think that eating two spears is getting their veggie.  It takes a very long time to eat a pound of asparagus at that rate!  

The closet is still kicking our asses.  First it was paint the damn place.  You know that it would take about 1.2 gallons; not a gallon; not even two but now we have plenty of leftover Pineapple Fondue or whatever if we want more light yellow walls.  Then it is put up this track that everything else hangs from.  Needless to say the walls are nowhere near straight.  I used a whole package of shims!  One spot actually required two.

Like they always say, measure twice & cut once.  Well, there is a missing piece there; check the level twice too!  But we managed.  The blue tape is marking where we are wanting vertical pieces since they are supposed to be pretty close to studs.  I can see it.  This metal track is going to hold up something over 900 lb of shelving PLUS anything we want to put on it.  I guess having it secure will be a good thing.

This is as far as we are now.

Shelves and hanging bars are in but the drawers and clothes hamper are still in the working stage.  It should be ok but we are taking today off.  My wife is going to the dentist and I've got a bunch of errands that have stacked up. Hell, I'm getting used to picking my clothes out of the pile on the floor.  My shirts get to hang in the laundry room over the cat box where, well, there might be odors from time to time but I'm not that pristine either.

Life in the fast lane, huh?  Hang in there.  Life is better than the alternative.