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!