Oops! It's been a while!

 It has been a month and a half since I updated the blog and, as usual, I have an excuse or three.  This time it is travel:  yep, we've been off traveling again.  Yep, another cruise on Viking.  This time we hit ports in Italy, Malta, Crete, Turkey and Greece.  In two weeks!  Yeah, you get only the slightest taste of these countries but it is an introduction. 

Actually, now, because of the whole COVID thing there is a lot less contact with the places you are visiting than there used to be.  And the whole thing was a paperwork nightmare.  Let's start with the PCR test within 48 hours of your flight.  Of course that's in Las Vegas and cost $250 each.  But we passed!  So it was hop on a flight to London; leaving at 5 in the morning.  

 

If you were staying in the UK you'd need to do paperwork for them but we were just passing through so no problem.  But we did have to do paperwork for Italy.  Of course it was close to 9 p.m. local time when we landed in Rome.  However Viking had 2 people waiting to greet us; and a driver to drive the 40 minutes to the ship; and an officer to check our documentation prior to boarding the ship; and a ship's officer to escort us to our cabin and get the first of our DAILY PCR tests.  Wow.  And the whole thing, all 5 people, was just for the two of us.

There were new rules about being on board the ship.  First was that daily PCR test:  before eating or drinking anything you had to spit into a tube.  I never thought I had a dry mouth but I sure think that now!  Filling the tube to the little line was difficult every morning.  But it was just something you needed to do.  You would get a message overnight that you had passed the previous day's test and if you were going ashore somewhere that required it you would get a paper copy that said you passed..  Of course masks were required at all times except when eating or drinking.  Well, I'm pretty overweight so that gave me quite a bit of mask-less time.  LOL  Still, the staff would stop people who'd forgotten the rule.  The final rule was that you couldn't go anywhere on your own.  When you got off the ship, you were with a tour or you didn't get off.  In the past most tours would have time for you to shop in the local businesses:  not this time.  If you were really lucky you might shop in a museum shop but that was it.  In actual fact, most businesses were closed anyway.

So we get onboard the ship.  We have been on the Viking Sky before so the ship was familiar to us.  In the morning we went up to the Explorer's Lounge on the 7th deck at the bow of the ship.  It has a great view of course but what blew us away was that there was only one other couple in the room!  There was the guy handing out rolls and such, there was the waitress ready to bring you anything from water to wine but there were only 2 other customers.  That was weird and it was our introduction to the fact that the ship was perhaps 25% full.  The ship normally carries 930 passengers; for this cruise it was in the 250 range.  They had the full staff; just not many guests!  It was something we eventually got used to but it was certainly weird.  Let's just say that a dirty dinner plate didn't spend much time on the table!

It was kind of chilly for sunbathing but the lounges were set up with towels and all but no takers.

The ship had stops in Rome, Naples and Messina in Italy.  Then we had a couple days in Valletta, Malta.   The we got to visit Heraklion, Crete for a day followed by two days in Rhodes, Greece.  A day in Kusadasi, Turkey followed by a day in Santorini, Greece and a day in Athens.  Clearly you are getting only the faintest whiff of what these cities are like.  Indeed, we didn't get to see so much that it is just painful however it does give us ideas for future independent travel.  

I must admit that we just didn't tour Rome at all.  We have been there before and after the previous day's travel we wanted some quiet time.  So our first stop was Naples.  Again we've been in Naples so we took a tour that just took us out into the countryside around the city.  Pompei would be the other choice but again we've been there. 

The photo of the Tirrenia is our only photo from Rome!

Here is a view of Naples.  From the fortification on the top of the hill you get the impression of ancient wealth in the area.

Another of Naples.  Imagine all those apartments! 

This is from the far side of the bay.  When I took the picture I thought that it was the Viking Sky way over there but it isn't.  And that was our trip around Naples.

Messina was our third port and it was the first time either of us has been in Sicily.  On this trip the ship tried to come into port early in the morning and Messina was quite lovely in the early morning light.

 

We took a tour that primarily focused on the cathedral and it's amazing astronomical clock.  It really is quite amazing with moving statuary and a perpetual calendar.  

Valletta is the capital of Malta and quite rightly is very proud of it's heritage.  We took a walking tour of the old part of the city then got on a bus that showed us some of the outlying areas.  The second day we took another bus tour just checking out some of the ancient ruins and modern buildings.

The harbor has fortificationson both sides.  There were even some where the ship was berthed.

Also right next to the ship was this tiny church.

We took a walking tour of the town.  There were lots of references to the Knights of Malta.  They began as a medical support organization and ended up governing a lot of places.  There were nice buildings and Tritons' Fountain is really very nice I must admit.  

Well, that's half our trip so I'm going to give it a break and come back with the rest of the trip in a day or so.  Have a good one and keep washing those hands!

Happy belated New Year, y'all

2022!  You know, I'm getting older by the day.  I guess compared to the alternative that is a great thing.  

We were hoping to get on a cruise starting tomorrow but that's not happening.  On New Year's morning my wife got a text saying that it was canceled.  The problem is that the cruise began in Turkey and ended in Italy.  Italy has decided that Turkey hasn't done something right and there must be 14 days between the time you leave Turkey and enter Italy.  Our cruise was too short so it had to be canceled.  Hmmmm.  I imagine we'll get another cruise set up but it could be a while.  And, of course, that all depends on if we can pass the PCR tests.  No reason to get all crazy but it is kind of a pain in the butt!

Then,yesterday, we got the news that my wife's aunt has passed away. We were just there the first week in December and she was pretty non-responsive but she did have a feeding tube and had no diseases. It was just her time I guess. In many ways it is a good thing; her husband has been tied down visiting her every couple of days and visiting a totally non-responsive person has to be terribly depressing. Now he can feel free to go visit his kids and grandkids and even great-grandkids! We'll see how that turns out.

Otherwise all we've been doing is complaining about the weather. We've been having 16F (-9C) morning with maybe 45F (7C) in the afternoon. Hey, isn't this the hot Southwestern desert? Well, at least it isn't raining. We did get a little snow on the mountains but that disappears pretty quickly.

Someone sent me this wish for flying into 2022. I think it's pretty right on!

And, BTW, 2/22/22 will be a Twosday! LOL Couldn't help myself. Here's hoping we all get a nice 2022.  Take care and keep washing those hands.

Merry Christmas!

 It's almost here.  I'm sure the kids are going crazy wondering/hoping for various gifts.  Us old folks are just trucking along hoping to wake up again in the morning.  

You might note that it looks gray outside.  That's rain.  Yes, it does rain in the Nevada desert but not much!  This chart shows something around 1/2 an inch a month (say, a centimeter).

All this weather talk reminds me of our solar panel investment.  The total cost was around $29K but our electric bills have been running the $25 minimum that our coop charges us.  Yes, even if you produce more electricity than you use you still get to pay $25 a month for the honor of being on their system.  Anyway, this shows the electric production by our panels since their installation in late May.

I really like how steady the decline is from August to November.  I'm thinking December will be pretty much in step.  

One of the things we really like about living here is that we have mountains all around us.  One of the unexpected things is that we can see quite distinctly the movement of the sun from one season to another.  We all know that the Tropic of Cancer is the latitude marking the northern limit where the sun's rays are directly overhead on June 21st and the Tropic of Capricorn is the southern limit on December 21st.  What we get is a very distinct proof of that change because we have mountains that mark off that difference.  Here is sunrise in the summer from in front of our house; the mountain is just south of the sunrise.

This is sunrise in December from the back of the house.  The mountain is way north of the sun now.

There is just a huge difference that you just don't see if you live in a city.  It's amazing!

Well, it's time to wish the world a Merry Christmas and a GREAT New Year.  Here's hoping things are a bit better all the way around.  Take care!

A little trip!

It's been quiet in this corner for a while mostly because we took a little trip!  It's been a while since we were on an airplane but we managed it a couple weeks ago when we flew off to Florida.  I believe I've spoken of my wife's aunt who lives in rural Florida up north of Tampa.  She has been diagnosed with dementia and is failing rapidly. Of course the real person carrying the burden is her husband. He sees it happening every day; he has to visit her not quite every day; he has to make all the decisions.

We went out there last January to visit them. We got to see him but the nursing home was in the middle of a COVID crackdown and they had a no-visitors policy. It is a 1 story building so we could stand outside her window and the nurse moved the bed so we could see her but that's a hell of a lousy visit! My wife wanted to visit again now that visitors are allowed. We had considered driving but decided to give flying a try.

The flights were actually just fine. We have all our shots and have Global Entry cards so getting to the aircraft is pretty easy. Of course we do go 2 hours early as they all seem to request these days even when the flight leaves at 06:00! Yeah, that means getting up about 03:30 even if you are in the airport hotel. What the hell, we are old and don't always sleep that well anyway. Going over we got to stop in Dallas for a bit then on to Tampa. Then we have a 2 hour drive up to the Crystal River area where our relatives live.

My wife's uncle is really a great guy and a pretty damn good host too! The spare bedroom was all set up for us and there was even a dessert for us! The next day we got to visit with the aunt but she was sleeping. The nurses said she'd been awake earlier but she'd crashed. So we wandered around town a bit and went back to the house. This night we ate at home: for a guy in his eighties he's a pretty good cook!

 

In the morning we got to see the wild turkey's who live in the area.  Apparently they like the bird food that gets put out for them.  Then later on in the day we tried visiting the aunt again. Again she slept through our entire visit but at least my wife was able to touch her and talk at her. I left them alone for that goodbye. She has a feeding tube that is the only thing keeping her alive. How long they are going to keep her in this condition is the question. At least she has a DNR and all that fixed up.

We went out to an early dinner that night. It wasn't a place we'd visited before but it was ok. At least it is nice to see boats actually on the water. Around here you see boats but they are just covered in tarps and dust. The drunks in the bar were a bit of an annoyance as were the squirrels that thought they deserved some of our food! Hmmm, I've got to remind myself to pack a stick the next time we visit Florida. Anyway, that was our last night in the boonies.

The next day we drove down to Tampa through some of our old haunts when we lived in the area.  We managed to go out to the beach and have lunch and a beer at the Palm Pavilion.  

 

That night we spent in Tampa out near the airport. We had something new planned for Friday: meeting relatives I've known about but have never met! The guy is a nephew but has always lived places like Ohio or Indiana and you've really got to have a reason to go to those places! Just kidding! Don't get all offended. Hell, I've lived in Ohio when I was a kid. Anyway, now they are living in Tampa so we agreed to meet at a restaurant for lunch. The place they chose was on the new Tampa Riverwalk. It is a very nice park that stretches along the river a bit and has touristy stuff facing the park. We met at Ulele restaurant and really had a nice couple hours together. The food and drink was very nice and the people running the restaurant were great.

I met this nephew through '23 and me' which goes to show how close our family has been. Anyway he's interested in our ancestors and I've got some things that my father left when he passed away. So I took along some things that I thought he would like: an old bible owned by my grandfather; things like that. So we talked and ate and it was generally a great time. This guy just recently became a grandfather so we got to see lots of baby pictures. They are planning on moving again soon so it may be a while before we get to meet them again.

After that, it was time for a return to our hotel because, yep, we had another 06:00 flight planned! Well, that worked out ok; at least the car rental company hasn't been calling asking about their car so I guess they found it ok. The flights were good too. This time we got to stop in Phoenix and got back to Las Vegas in time to make it home for dinner. All in all a very successful trip and our re-initiation to flying.

 Keep on being careful.  This COVID crap isn't going anywhere soon.

Just poking along....

 I'm certainly NOT living life in the fast lane!  These days my big event is usually a visit to the physical therapy people for some neck exercises and a bit of a rub.  Wow!  There are only another 5 visits or so prescribed so I'm probably about as cured as I'm going to get.  It's not like I can swivel my head around like a kid but I guess it's good enough.  

There was a lunar eclipse last week.  I missed it.  This being awake in the middle of the night to look at the moon just doesn't work for me.  I went out about 22:00 and found this.  It worked just fine for me.

We have had our first couple of night of freezing temps; all the way down to 28F(-2C)!  It will get cooler I'm sure but I can wait.  

Lately I've become obsessed with a show on MTV called Ridiculousness. They take clips from YouTube and it's like and show and comment on them. It sounds fairly dumb and I suppose it is but I'm just a fan. Watching some idiot try to float his skateboard along a metal guardrail and fall crushing his guy parts on the rail is just something I love watching! Of course there are some where the aforementioned idiot throws gasoline on a fire. You get the idea. Anyway, I'm addicted.

Our daughter was here last week so we are on our own for Thanksgiving and have been discussing what we should do. So far the only decision is that it won't be out at a restaurant or casino. Turkeys are too big for two people and we have ham leftover from our daughter's visit. Hmmm, it is fast becoming just another day so we'll see.

So have a Happy Thanksgiving and take care!

Happy Veteran's Day!

 November 11 is celebrated in the U.S. as Veteran's Day.  A day to celebrate the people who have served this country in military service.  When I was growing up it was also called Armistice Day to celebrate the end of World War I.  

At any rate, it is one of the few days that I choose to fly the flag.  Some folks have one flying all the time.  I think that's kind of over the top but if it makes them happy, ok.  You can bet that they aren't raising and lowering it every day with the sunrise and sunset.

My wife has told me hundred's of times that if it weren't for the mountains that surround our valley she couldn't stand living here.  I agree, if it were just a flat plain with nothing to see it would be a less interesting world.  (Sorry about the electric lines in the photo!)

Speaking of my wife; we did get our 3rd Moderna Covid shot early last week.  We both had sore arms and she had some swelling but nothing serious.  Then on last Tuesday I went for a flu shot.  I haven't had one in 10 or 12 years so we figured it was about time.  Can't let the old fart get sick if we can help it.  I've been told many times that I'm a lousy patient!

On that note, keep washing those hands and staying away from sick people!  Take care.

Grrrr!

 I saw this cartoon a few days ago and it presents my feeling pretty accurately.

I'm pretty tired of leftist Democrats and rightist Republicans.  What the hell happened to being in the center?  To listening to both sides of a story?  Grrr!

Keep washing those hands & looking out for idiots!

Really? So soon?

Yeah, I'm back.  Mostly just to post a couple of photos.  I went out to bbq a couple of pork chops the other night and just had to take a couple of photos.  First photo is of the mountains east of us with the dying sun shining on their top slopes.  It's fun watching the darkness kind of climb up the mountain side.

Then I went over to the other side of the house to check out the actual sunset.  The sun was down, of course, but I thought that what was leftover was pretty nice.  It's not too tough to take is it?  And, no, I don't fool with my photographs in any way except when once in a while I have to show only part of the photo.  Then I'll cut it down using paint.net and post only the selected portion.  Hell!  Now that I mentioned paint.net I cannot find a link to it.  I'm not going to be a happy camper if it is gone.

We don't have any voting today in Nevada so it's pretty calm.  My wife and I have appointments to get the 3rd Moderna covid vaccine this afternoon.  Neither of us had any reaction to either of the 1st two so we are hoping to get away clean this time as well.  You have to take all kinds of id, fill in a questionaire & more fun stuff but what the heck.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands and keeping away from the sick!  Take care.

Almost Halloween!

Wow, where is the time going?  There isn't much exciting to report.  I've been going to physical therapy to help me move my head.  My neck really can't move much since my surgery in July.  I still can't turn from side to side more than about 20 degrees.  It makes driving more interesting for sure.  When I first got out of the hospital I couldn't look down to see what I was eating; at least I've got that movement back!  We went into Las Vegas the other day to check in with the surgeon.  He said that the movement might not come back; that sure wasn't what I wanted to hear.  But we are going to try more physical therapy and hope for the best.

I've had some X-ray's taken for the surgeon.  Here is one of them.  The red line is around the screw that was put in July 28th to hold my C1 and C2 vertebra together.  The blue line is around a 'dog bone' installed in 2016 to repair "degenerative arthritic changes".  This getting old is just too much fun.

We've been having some pretty nice weather with highs in the upper 70's and lows around 40  (26C high and 4C low).  Most days have been nice and clear.  One morning the Air Force was clearly having some sort of fun.

That's way too much excitement for civilian aircraft!  

There was one day when the wind just started picking up dust.  This was taken from the car when we wanted to go up this street.  It was just nasty!  There is a mountain in the background of this photo but you sure can't see it when the dust is blowing like this.

Happily the dust storm didn't last long.  It sure wasn't a time to have your windows open.  

Then there was the afternoon when there was some mist in the air but not enough to keep the sunset from being pretty cool.

And when you turned the other way there was part of a rainbow!

That's all the news that's fit to print  Have a good one and keep being careful about that covid!

Nice weather finally!

 We are finally out of triple digit territory (40C to most of the world) and I'm really glad!  It's been a long hot summer.  We had a few nasty days but the last few have been fine.  I opened the window a couple days ago and found a new neighbor;  a balloon!

Apparently I caught them before takeoff because a bit later they were up and away.

I finally managed to get physical therapy for my neck (which hasn't worked very well since my surgery).  Anyway I was coming home this morning and got to look at snow on the mountains!

That area between where I was and the actual mountains is called the alluvial fan.  It is dirt that has drifted down off the mountains way in the past.  Our town was started by farmers working the flat lands in the center of the basin and no one has ever built on the fan.  In cities that would be prime territory just for the views.  Now we have people living in their RVs out on the fan.  No electricity except for solar and they have to carry water back to their RV but it is free and they do have a pretty good view from up there. 

So, anyway, at the moment it's pretty nice around here.  Wait a couple days though and I'm sure I'll find something to whine about.  Take care & keep washing those hands.

And I thought last month was bad!

 Jeez, now I'm getting down to 1 post a month.  Well, what can I say?  We've been doing pretty good about taking our morning walks.  We have 3 different walks:  a 1 mile, a 1.5 miles and a 2.5 miles.  We've been going on one of the longer walks pretty consistantly for the last month or so; it often depends on the temperature outside.  When it is 75F (24C) and the sun is just rising you just don't want to head out on an hour's walk.  It will be 85F (29C) by the time you get home.  

A week or so ago we had a nice rainbow over the mountains in the west.  We didn't have any rain but maybe they got some over in California. 

When the moon was full I had to take a photo of it just before it went down.  This is looking off to the west as well.

However, we do get some polution and this morning it was BAD!  Here's a shot of that same area.

It's just nasty!  It doesn't smell bad but the mountains are all just hidden away.  

We live in an area where each home has it's own water well and septic system.  I looked out in the back yard the other night and saw a small lake where there isn't supposed to be one!

I went out and discovered that the pipe leading from the well towards the house had a crack in it.  Happily there was a shutoff valve handy so I was able to stop the flow of water.  Of course that meant that we had no water.  Happily it was only out for a day but that's a long time for no dish washing, no cleaning up, no toilet.  Hmmm, now I'm thinking of emergency supplies!

Anyway, that's the news from this area.  Hope things are going well wherever you might be.  Keep washing those hands!

Wow, 2 posts a month!

Yeah, I'm at a new low in posting I think but I've got an excuse....  Talk about a dull life!  I used to have a dull enough life but recently I've been sitting around taking pain pills that make me sleepy.  Now, if that isn't a recipe for dull I don't know what would be.  

However, recently I've gotten off the pills and I've even tried driving.  The driving isn't going too well though because I'm having trouble turning my head and sometimes you've just got to do that in traffic.  Happily my wife is an excellent driver so our local restaurants haven't missed out on too much of our business.  I have a nap in the morning then we go out to lunch then we come home and I have a nap in the afternoon.  Now that I'm off the pills I'm hoping to go back to a mere 8 hours of sleep every 24.  

Recently I've been reading about people who don't want to be vaccinated for COVID or even wear a mask to prevent the spread and some of the reasons they give.  The big one is always that it is a violation of their rights.  Bah, humbug!  We have laws that you must wear a seatbelt in your car; there's a violation of your right to get thrown clear of the accident.  We have laws that you must have a driver's license; a clear violation of your right to endanger others.  We have laws regarding ownership of property; another clear violation of your right to take what you can.  As Arnold Schwarzenegger pointed out 'with freedom comes rights and responsibilities' including caring about your fellow citizens.  He also pointed out that 'freedom and duty have always gone hand in hand'.  Yea, Arnie!

As some of you may remember, we had solar panels placed on our roof a couple months ago.  It's early still but so far things seem to be working well.  Our electric bill has gone down to the $20 minimum payment that our electric coop requires.  That means we are generating more power than we are using.  We'll see how things are going in six months when it is cold and there are fewer hours of sunlight.  There were a few hiccups along the line with the electronic tracking but they seem to have been worked out.

Anyway, that's all the news from dullsville.  Keep safe and keep washing those hands! 

Quite times have become even more quiet!

 I've written several times about how it's pretty quiet around here.  Well, this is a new high in quiet!  This morning I went in to the grocery store with my wife; almost the first time I've left the house since coming home late last Saturday night.  We've had a nurse from Home Health come by; she said she didn't see a lot for her to do but she would come once a week for a couple weeks just to check on me.  We had a trainer from Home Health come by; he said I didn't need him at all and he wouldn't return unless we requested it.  We went to visit my local doctor; he had nothing to say except to suggest that I should give up drinking.  

So that is my new excitement:  having someone tell me not to drink.  You can imagine how that goes over!  Of course I've got lots of drugs to help me through all this:  NOT.  I have acetaminophen 650mg and methocarbamol 500mg FOUR times a day but that's it.  The methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant but the dosage is only 1/3rd of what I saw on the Mayo Clinic website.   The acetaminophen is a pain reliever, of course, and if you are sitting around in a cervical collar all day; yeah, you'll probably have some pains so I'm not unhappy about having it prescribed.  Still, in my mind these are pretty minor drugs to be taking given that someone just put a big old screw in my neck to hold it together.  At any rate, things seem to be all fixed up and I'm hopeful that I'll be out of this collar soon!  I've got an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday, the 10th, so I may get some answers then.  

We have been continuing in the Southern Nevada heat wave with most days being around 115F (46C).  While I was having fun in the hospital we had severe RAIN storms here!  There was a fair amount of damage to homes and businesses caused both by the amount of water and the strength of the accompanying winds.  Gee, and I missed it!  At least our two cactus plants got some water while I was laid up.  

We have a street called Lost Creek Drive.  Every two or three years there will be an eruption of water just downhill from Lost Creek Drive.  I have to admit that I'd be a bit uncomfortable if I lived on that street.  That creek is clearly NOT lost forever.  

That's all I've got to whine about today.  Hope you are having great times.  But keep washing those hands and mask up if you need to.  Take care.

NOT my idea of a good time!

 Back on Friday, 7/23 we decided we would need more alcohol than we had in the house to get through to our Malta trip.  So, it's off to Vegas getting home about 15:30.  We sat down with a couple of glasses and proceeded to relax by watching some of the mindless stuff now found on television near you. 

At some point, I have no memory of the next couple of hours, I got up, most probably to get another drink, and fell headfirst on the floor.  My wife must have given me a quick checkover then called 911.  Our Ring doorbell camera have two strong slim guys carrying an old fat one out of his house at 19:47.  We went to our local hospital emergency care unit then where loaded onto a helicopter for a quick trip to UMC in Las Vegas.  I woke for a couple minute while in the copter but didn't really wake until I'd been at UMC Trauma for quite a while.

In the morning I was told that I'd broken both the C-1 and C-2 vertebra and was taken to another unit for 'storage'.  My wife showed up and we talked about things with various people.  It turned out the most positive outcome for a situation like this is to use a large screw to attach C-1 to C-2 then let them grow together forever more.  So that was our plan.  

To make a long and aggravating story short, it was 23:00 hours on 7/29 before the screw was installed!  During this entire time I was confined to my bunk.  If I needed the lavatory, it was via a bedpan or a drip that was installed on my penis.  Food was delivered, medication was delivered OFTEN and blood pressure checks, etc were also applied every 2 or 3 hours.  The procedure itself took 6 hours from the time I was picked up until I was released to Post-Op. 

Friday the 30th was full of some 'meetings' where we were taught about broken vertibrea, etc.  We started talking loudly about leaving and finally about 14:00 on the 31st were given permission to go home.  It was 18:00 before they got their paperwork done but at least we made it home and I celebrated the beginning of August in my own bed!

So,  the first thing is that I've got several doctor's appointments in the next couple of weeks.  I've also got a shiny, new walker so that if I feel uncomfortable I can use that for support.  We've canceled our Malta trip hoping to reschedule at some point but have no idea just now.  

I've got to get out and take some photos!  Thanks for stopping by; keep washing those hands!

I've gotta change my passwords!

I was looking at a magazine and they were talking about the need to make passwords a bit more difficult to reduce hacking.  So they had this nice little illustration of how long it would take a computer to hack your password.  For example, an 8 number password would not take any time at all, a few microseconds.  On the other hand if it were 8 upper case and lower case letters, they said it would take 22 minutes.  Make that 10 letters and you are looking at 1 month.  Make that numbers, upper case & lower case letters and symbols and you go out to 5 years!  I don't know about you but I can't imagine anyone trying that hard to get past one of my passwords.  The article said the data was from www.howsecureismypassword.net.

That site was fun.  It is also a motivator to change a few passwords!  Of course, I've got passwords for American Airlines or Duolingo; maybe I can leave those quite simple.  Or flickr; what are you going to do, delete the pictures?  No one looks at them anyway!  

Speaking of photos: I was outside last night cooking on the bbq.  I've been talking about how warm it has been and late yesterday afternoon it was around 113F(45C) out there.  I saw this little hummingbird sitting on a rack we have out there IN THE SHADE.  He was just panting away and just sat there even though I was only a 4 or 5 feet(1.25m) away.

Well, that's the excitement for today.  Keep washing those hands.

Happy Birthday to the US of A!

 

It's been a weird year already but we've just got to keep working on it trying to improve things.  Who would have thought that the year would start out with a bunch of idiots breaking into the Capital?  On the health front heaven only knows what the Delta variation of Covid is going to become.  I'm hoping not so much but that is based on hope not knowledge!  And there is the Black Lives Matter movement; it looked for a time that there might be a bit more racial equality coming to our country; now all I'm hearing is how state legislatures are making it more difficult to vote.  They aren't doing that with old white guys like myself in mind.  All this racism, fear and negativity is depressing.  I have always thought that this was a country that was "conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal".  Bah, humbug!

I'll change gears here.  My wife and I bought a few extra things at the grocery store last week so we could just stay home on the weekend of the 4th.  Fireworks are legal in our county and we have three stores that sell nothing else.  Of course this is their big day but apparently they do just fine all year long.  They sell plenty of fireworks to out-of-town folks who want to make a big noise elsewhere.  We don't hear or see much around town.  A couple years ago I drove over to Las Vegas, where fireworks are limited to sparklers, etc., and saw 4 highway patrol motorcycle cops each with a car pulled over with illegal fireworks visible in the back seat.  Like most towns we have a fireworks display every year to celebrate the 4th; we watch it from our front yard.  That's plenty of excitement for us.

We've been working on taking a walk 1st thing every morning.  These days it is 75F (25C) when we set out; waiting for it to get warmer just doesn't make sense!  I liked this view of the mountains west of us when we set out.  The sun was being blocked by some clouds and it almost looked like snow.

Since those mountains are only about 4,000 ft (1,200m) and it is getting to 110F (43C) down here at 2,500 feet (760m); I'm pretty sure it's not snow!  

Well, thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!

Well, that was quick!

 We've been planning on a quick trip up to Washington state to see the family but it kind of got shaken up when we had to put Ollie down.  However, we finally hit the road.  My wife has a brother, sister and her birth-mother all living on the Olympic Peninsula in Western Washington so once we get there it is easy enough to visit everyone.  That's pretty much what we did.  Just a quick 2,500 mile journey.  Don't all crazy people do that?

Of course those folks live very differently than we do here!  My wife's sister and her husband have this to look at every day.

Yes, that's Mt. Rainier across the water there.

My wife's brother has to look at this.

That would be Vancouver Island across the straits.  Of course they don't want us visiting these days but maybe we'll get cleaned up in a few years!

He also has neighbors with infants.

That last little one was born while we were visiting!  It was a good trip and it was great to see everyone.  My only problem is that I'd really like to do the trip over again but taking my camera and stopping about 20 times a day to take photos!  

Now we are sitting around home, going out to eat at our favorite restaurants and dreaming up another trip.  This one should be even shorter; just a few days over in California to see No. 1 Son and his wife.  It won't be a long trip but you've got to check up on these people once in a while.

Thanks for stopping by and keep washing those hands!

The laughing has stopped!

Right now we are going through a rough patch.  We had to put our dog, Ollie, down on Monday.  Ollie was only with us for about 18 months but he was a good old guy.  He started out (with us) with a nasty hair cut that our vet thinks could have injured a bunch of hair follicles

.  

He was only about 55 lb too which seemed a lot skinny!  He'd been found by Animal Control out in the desert and taken to our local animal shelter which seems to be run by a bunch of idiots!  They told us he was 18 minths old!  We (and our vet) believe he was well over 10 years old.

It took a few months but he was soon stable at about 75 lb and his fur did grow back mostly!

He was a good dog but had his odd spots just like we all.  He didn't mind if you put a collar on his neck but he HATED having a slip lead put around his neck.  Then, after all that fuss, he walked very gently never pulling or hesitating.  Someone did some very weird stuff to him on a slip lead!  He could only just manage a couple of stairs so we bought a ramp so he could get into and out of our truck and RV without falling.

Unfortunately he had a limp which gradually became worse and worse.  He would sometimes even fall when he walked.  Then he started pooping while he walked; it was as though he didn't know it was happening!  The vet suggested that he had a problem with his spine and it was not signaling his brain properly.  You couldn't really correct him for something he didn't know was going on.  At the end we were giving him two pain medications twice a day and he still limped; at least he seemed to know when not to poop.  Finally he stopped finishing his meals and he'd certainly never had that problem!  He was also sleeping all day and all night which was probably the pain medication but he was still limping with every step.  Finally we all decided it must just be his time.  RIP Ollie.

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!

A laugh a day

 Well, we can hope it will keep the doctor away!  

I think my county has some kind of dumb commissioners but at least I'm not living here!  I mean, really?  At least it makes the rest of the country look better.  And it makes me want to go out and buy more Coca Cola not that I need the sugar. 

Here in Nevada we have an official mystery.  The body of a young boy was found by the road between here and Las Vegas.  At first the authorities thought they knew his identity but later that boy was found alive and well in Utah.  So now we have an unknown child dead and abandoned.  So sad.  The FBI has been looking at missing children from all over the country for heaven's sake.

I've got a few blogs that I read almost every day and here I found one that refers to my town!  It was published quite a while ago.  Here is a link to the not unfair review.  I must say that not a lot has changed in the last 11 years so I guess he doesn't need to return.  I really liked the comments though especially where one woman started in on 'fortification' at our local brothels.  I get the idea she has a problem or three.  Actually I've never visited any of our local sex businesses but I doubt if there is much fortification going on in them.  Per my earlier comment on dumb commissioners, the owner of one of the local brothels was a commissioner who was elected to the state legislature a few years ago but he died before he could take office.  Apparently that bothel has gone out of business.  Check out the photos. 

Weatherwise, we are in the 105F range most days.  Yep, welcome to summer even if we aren't quite there yet according to the calendar.  Our solar array is slaving away most of the time.  We had to laugh at yesterday's production.  We had a bit of a cloud problem about midday.

This morning we did have a lovely almost-a-sunrise.

We got down to 79F last night.  What would we do without air conditioning?  Have a good one and keep washing those hands.