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. 

Closet

Having fun in the desert with closet renovation.  On top of Thanksgiving, of course!  So now would be the time for the Toyota's power windows to stop working.  Grrr!  There are THREE fuse panels that we've found but we haven't found a burnt fuse yet.  Double GRRRR!  Well, maybe it's time we talked to an automotive repair professional.  At least we need someone who isn't 65 and 225 lb trying to stuff himself under the dash of this damn thing. 

We (well, mostly my wife) did get the closet painted.

Then there was the time I came home from grocery shopping and the closet had been dropped on the front porch!  I'm not sure they even rang the doorbell; my wife didn't hear it but she was painting! 

This is only part of the delivery!  It's kind of funny.  Two boxes will be the same size; one will weigh 10 lb and the other 50.  I've no idea how they do these things but so far it looks like everything arrived in good shape. 

Gotta go get things ready for Thanksgiving.  Have a good one and if I don't get online again, all you U.S. folks have a great Thanksgiving.!

Vegas again???

Yep, had to make another trip.  I could almost get a job over there for as much as I'm burning up the road.  Anyway, our excuse this time was twofold:  booze and paint.  The booze thing; well it's just a hell of a lot cheaper in Sin City.  The paint is trickier.  When we bought the house there were some Dunn Edwards paint cans in the garage.  The paint in the house is really standing up well so we thought we'd check into that brand.  We found the store and while they will sell to individuals it's not user friendly.  They are more into selling 5 or 50 gallons than 1.  It's also about twice what other stores ask for paint.  Maybe it is worth it but I'm having trouble thinking that.  Anyway, all we came home with was the booze. 

The pass between Vegas & Pahrump is 5,600 feet (1,700m); there was snow on the sides of the road and it was coming down but not sticking to the roadway.  It was not dangerous but did call for caution.  First snow of the season folks!  This is the view from our house today; kind of a gray day.  I love the snow on the mountain with the clouds below it.

Later in the afternoon we went over to our local Home Depot and picked up some Glidden.  We want to paint the closet before we install the new system.  Bought the paint & all the crap you need to clean & prep the wall.  Fun!  Today we unpacked all the stuff from the closet and took the old stuff down.  Let me tell you, whoever invented the pneumatic nailer has a lot to answer for!  One piece of wood, a foot long, had 7 nails!  Here is a photo of the closet as it was.  It's about 10 x 10 feet (3m) almost square. 

It just had a simple bar going all the way around the room with a shelf on top.  I must say though; I was surprised by the material used to support the shelf. 

100% recovered and recycled fiber.  What the heck is that?   It did the job though and was rather tough to take down!  Something to do with all those nails I guess.  Anyway, now we have all that removed and lots of holes to fill.  The closet set isn't supposed to be delivered until Tuesday but we are sure going to be ready for it. 

Gotta go.  Have a good one & thanks for checking in.

Huh?

I read way too many blogs.  OK, it's a lousy habit but recently some of the blogs are just going crazy about the end of civilization; demonizing President Obaba, just going completely off the tracks.  Get a grip folks!  He's a dummy but that's about it.  I'm sorry that there are people who believe the Pres is a POS non-American commie nigger.  Well, I don't think he is doing a very good job but Mr. Cruz is bringing up a much more interesting slant on being American born.  As for the rest, if you understand the definition of communism, you know Mr. Obama isn't one.  And for his color; who really gives a shit?  If you do, you're an idiot.  I expect he would agree that he's not meeting his own standards as a President.  But he's not the anti-Christ. 

Come on folks, he's just some twit who isn't very good at politics.  Not many remember but Kennedy was cruising for a really lousy presidency when he was killed.  VP Johnson stepped in and in spite of f*&king up Vietnam did a really stellar job of changing civil rights law. He isn't given much credit but in 100 years he'll be seen as a real deal changer.  Obama is like Kennedy; a newbie who can't get things done.  His VP, Biden, should be in charge of getting things done but Obama isn't capable of letting go that much.  It's a shame.

Anyway, the end of America as we know it isn't around the corner.  The economic collapse isn't either.  So stop prepping and start living.  My folks made it through the great depression and mom (20 in 1932) didn't even have to sell her self to the highest bidder.  Neither did my wife's mom.  Hard times, yes.  But not the end of the world and it isn't coming now either.  Take a big salt pill and wake up to smell the roses.  They really are nice.  Just like forever.

Thanks for checking in.  Have a good one.

Another trip to Vegas!

Yesterday we made yet another trip to Las Vegas; this time for lunch with our daughter.  She gave me a gift card for my birthday that was good at several chains; we decided to go for Maggiano's in the Fashion Show mall.  It is actually on the strip just across from the Wynn.  We got there early so we could stroll around the mall before lunch.  That was pretty cool.  There are tons of high end shops so there are lots of opportunities for leaving behind a small fortune.  Dillards, Macys, Nieman Marcus, Saks, Nordstrom, even some place called Forever 21; if you have a dollar they would love to relieve you of it!  Of course there are probably 100 smaller stores; I think there were three from Victoria's Secret!  We had a good time looking at all the stuff and as good a time people watching.  There were some amazing folks wandering around and I mean that is both a good way and a bad way.  The Eastern Europeans are especially obvious; guys just don't wear lime green jeans in this country.  But everyone likes the tourist dollar so Welcome to Las Vegas!  One gal was wearing some kind of lycra pants that were at least a size too small and her hip measurement had to be well over 40".  It was just wrong.

There is an art gallery, Centaur Galleries that is the only place I've ever seen work by Dali, Picasso and the like for sale.  They seem to specialize in LeRoy Neiman having paintings from $3000 to close to $1 million.  They were running a special on some small Dali's; usually $2,500 each you could select three for $6,000.  Not my kind of place but they had a big space so someone is buying that stuff. 

Anyway we made it to the restaurant; the bar first.  It is a U-shaped bar with one side where the floor is two steps higher than the other two.  As a result the people on side A have lounge chairs while the people on sides B and C have high chairs that aren't high enough.  Really a weird design and uncomfortable for all of us.  So we had lunch; $15 entrees and $14 a glass wine.  The food and wine was ok but really not special.  So we blew through $110 for lunch making it a "definitely a won't go there again" place.  To ice the cake, our waiter seems to have taken a break during service, he was just gone.  My wife and daughter eventually went back to the bar to get another drink; I was hoping he might notice his diners leaving and come to see about us.  It still took him a while to bring the check.  Lousy service is putting it mildly! The wine in the bar, now that it was happy hour, were only $5 each but it is still an uncomfortable place to sit.

So we came home.  We had a lovely sunset with great color but by the time we made it into Pahrump it was dark.  We were driving past one of the local watering holes and nearly got T-boned by someone leaving the place.  What happened I think was this.  We have two lanes going each direction and a turn lane in the middle.  I was in the left lane; there was someone in the right lane signaling to go into the parking lot.  I think this guy just didn't see me coming because of the car that was turning it.  As it was I jerked the car into the turn lane and I think the other guy must have turned away from us but we sure didn't escape by more than a foot or so.  It was all over in a second.  There was no honking or squealing brakes or anything; I was just glad there wasn't a big 'CRUNCH' when the guy took the back end off the car.  My wife was happy that she didn't have a truck sitting in her lap!  Anyway, it was exciting in all the wrong ways.  It did make the last 4 miles home rather quiet by comparison. 

Today we made up for all the excitement yesterday by ordering a new closet arrangement for our master bedroom closet from EasyCloset.  The closet is a walk-in design.  The existing 'design' is just a hanging bar with a shelf above it going around all three sides of the room. We have light colored wook throughout our house and they have something that looks pretty much like a match.  One thing we like about their system is that it hangs from a bracket attached to the wall and doesn't touch the floor.  This way we can vacuum under everything without any hassle.  We'll have drawers, a clothes hamper and lots of hanging space.  They claim they will ship it tomorrow so we'll have it pretty soon.  Looks like we'd better get busy taking the old stuff down, filling holes and painting.  Now I just need to remember to take some before and after photos! 

Gotta go.  Thanks for checking in.  Have a good one!

Really!

Is it really 41 days until Christmas???  WTF, where did the year go?  Jeez.  I know my folks said the years sped by more quickly every year but now I'm getting to see it for myself.  Wow; it's time to start thinking of ideas for Christmas gifts.  Amazing.

My wife made a little pork roast last night and while I was cleaning the roaster I was thinking of lunch today.  Cheese, pork roast, crackers and a bottle of wine.  Sounds pretty good doesn't it.  Even kind of decadent.  And then I thought of the perfect bottle of wine.

Unless I'm confused a week from tomorrow is the reveal for the 2013 version of Beaujolais Nouveau.  We might get some on that day or maybe later but it won't be too long before we try it.  I remember one year, perhaps 2006, that we liked the wine so much I bought an entire case!  It is light and fruity usually, just a very nice wine if you like that sort of thing.

Our owl is still around.  He is taking cover in the culvert that runs beneath one side of our drive so I've been trying to remember to use the other side!  Believe me, it's tough.  I'm at the age when I walk from the den to the kitchen and don't remember why I'm there.  Grrrr!  I know it happens to others but that really doesn't do much to relieve that feeling that you are an idiot.  Or that you are one step away from Alzheimers. 

We took the Toyota in to Vegas for servicing yesterday.  They had a deal where if you bought 4 oil changes you got a better price; we have one left.  They usually manage to find something else though; this time it was a new air filter.  Ok, I could do stuff like that but sometimes I'm just too lazy.  The last time we were there they said our battery didn't pass their test but I resisted the $125 or so they wanted for a new battery.  When we got home I checked and it was low on water.  So I added water then put the battery charger on it for a couple hours.  This time the battery passed their test without a problem.  Jees, I wonder how many extra batteries they sell from just people not checking the fluid level. 

We stopped at a parking lot where a guy was setting up an RV show for this weekend.  We spent some time wandering through the lot.  They were all locked of course but there were no sales people to bother you - worked for us!  They did all have either a description, if used, or a manufacturers sheet if new.  Wow, $225K for a motorhome?  It was certainly fancy but really I just don't think I could do that even if I could afford it.  Especially since the thing loses so much value the minute you drive it off the lot.  Somehow I think we'll be towing our rig for quite a while.   

Gotta go.  Thanks for checking in.  Have a good one.

Still poking along

This seems to be the quiet before the holiday storm so I don't have much to report.  It is Veteran's Day so 'thank you' to all who served and those family members whose support is so important to the service member.

When we lived in Europe flowers seemed very inexpensive and easy to find.  Not so here; I'm sure that is partially because this is a desert.  But one of the stores had some flowers on sale last week so we perked the place up with a couple bundles. 

The vase is one that we bought in Delft.  We went through the factory where people were making all different plates, vases, etc. then into the sales room.  We walked around the whole place individually and both chose this as our favorite.  Strange but it works for us. 

We did have a little visitor this week:  the burrowing owl decided to make the culvert under our driveway his or her temporary home.  The first I knew was when I was driving out the drive and there was our visitor giving us the eye.  I've read they are not afraid of cars and this guy was just standing there checking us out.  That can't be good for their survival rate!

The next day a group of people were driving past and all of a sudden backed up and started taking photos of the owl.  Again, it was just standing there.  Blends in with the rock and dirt pretty well doesn't it. 

That's about it from me.  Happy Veteran's Day to all. 

The curse!

I mean, of course, the curse of saying something is going well!  I was bragging about our great weather and now it's a good bit cooler and I get to share a 'first ice on the birdbath' photo.

It fairly thick but not well attached to the sides of the bath.  Exciting stuff, huh.  It is a hint that I need to get the rv drained for the winter.  That should be later this week. 

My big plan for today is to go into Vegas to have the truck serviced.  There are places here that could do it but I like having the dealer do it.  No real reason; it's just what I've always done.  Someone has to keep them in business and I certainly don't want to buy a new one.

We have an appointment with a lawyer for Thursday to discuss our living trust.  It is primarily used to avoid probate where a judge has to settle one's estate.  Ours was made in Florida and we want to be certain it is valid in Nevada and make a few modifications.  It should be a pretty painless thing but one never knows!  I chose this lawyer for two reasons:  the person is a woman and that will make my wife happy AND she has never shown up in the newspaper saying stupid things.  Most of the attorneys around here are either ambulance chasers or spend their time defending meth-dealers.  I just don't like either catagory. 

As I said before, quiet times.  Have a good one!

Staying home....

My wife and daughter went off to California to spend some quality time at the beach.  I drove them to the airport; stopped on the way home at the grocery store and haven't left home since.  Talk about a dull guy!  Here's my excitement:  taking care of the tomato plants; making salsa and watching old movies.  Wow!  Anyway, I'm doing ok with the tomatoes.

They are about an inch across so they have a ways to go but I haven't killed them!  That's a big deal for me.  I tried getting bugs off some basil and managed to kill it deader than dead!  All we have left is dried sticks that used to have leaves.  Oh well, unlucky in gardening but lucky in love I guess.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to my wife coming home so that's a good thing. 

I'm not looking forward to her coming home because I'm starving or anything!  Here was dinner last night.

One huge cheeseburger, fresh salsa and sauted brocolli.  Yes, I really do enjoy the green stuff!  The salsa is my wife's recipe but I found some new red peppers to put in it; it's hot but won't take your face off. 

How's that for dull:  a post full of photos of food and plants!  I didn't even use the new camera for the photos; the point and shoot is just so easy.  Besides; do you really need a $500 camera to take a photo of a $3 dinner?  Naw! 

But I thought I'd say 'hi'.  Gotta go.  The laundry is calling me now.  Have a good one!