Happy New Year!!

 Let's just hope the country and the world can improve a bit in 2024!

Happy New Year!!  

Take care and keep washing those hands!

Merry Christmas!

 And Happy New Year!  

Well, things are a bit different this morning.  This is our usual view (with balloon, of course).

This morning we have some of the moisture that California is getting; but the desert version.

Not exactly a blinding sunrise is it?  But, well, it's a kind of moisture I guess.  Otherwise everyone is just running around like we all do just before Xmas.  My wife and I haven't given presents to anyone (much less each other) for years.  It just seems like if we want to give you something, why wait?  And for each other; she certainly knows better what she wants than I do and vice versa.  So why buy the wrong thing?  Ok, I'm an old grump but it's been working for us for 40 years or so.

In the rest of the world, jeez, every time Mr. Trump opens his mouth I cannot imagine why anyone would vote for him.  A server in one of our local restaurants, a Japanese immigrant, was telling us how much he believes the election was stolen in 2016.  Of course the next day Mr. Trump is carefully telling us how illegal immigrants are 'poisoning the blood' of the country.  Hmmm.  Does anyone else see the stupidity of our server?  Of course there are probably other reasons he is a 45 year old server in a restaurant but I have to think 'dumb' is one of them.  

Of course in 2016 Nevada had some Republicans choose to report to the federal government that Mr. Trump had won the election when, in fact, he had lost it.  So I guess it's not just low-income servers who are dumb!  Jeez!  Every now and then my wife and I have this discussion about moving to another country if Trump were to win a second Presidency.  I don't think we'd ever actually do it but Switzerland is looking better all the time!

Sorry about the rant but this shit is getting old!  On a better note my wife and I managed to get our Xmas photo taken yesterday.  With the dog, of course!  So, as I said, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Much Better New Year!  Thanks for stopping by & take care.

Well, that was fun!

No, I'm lying.  It was NOT fun!  We woke and fed the dog the other day and I took him out to hear just a waterfall!  Well, this is the damn desert.  WTF??  I saw this in our back yard.

Yeah, that's a small lake in our back yard right next to the pump house.  Hmmm.  It didn't take me long to turn around and run in to get the key for the electric box and shut off the pump.  Well, I did managed to get this photo of the problem.

Yeah, that's a problem for sure!  We called our favorite 'well guy' and he came over and repaired the leak.  He's explained this to me before but apparently our local government has decreed that pumps should be sitting on a concrete pad; but they don't want a REAL pad like with rebar & an underpad of gravel.  So as the ground moves around, so does the pressure container and every couple of years the plastic pipe cracks.  Ain't that wonderful?  So, he fixed the pipe and collected his $80 and we'll be seeing him in another couple of years.  He is a nice guy but really?

Of course it's not all about water around here.  We do get some nice night skies, sunrises and sunsets.

 Of course it is the Xmas season so we've decorated the house.  We have our 1998 plastic Christmas tree from the Netherlands.  I'm sure I've never posted a photo of it before!  LOL  The things decorating the tree all have memories attached.  Some are things the kids made (who are now both over 50 years old!); some are from the Netherlands; some are from our travels; some are just beautiful in their own right.  The Santa robe beneath the tree on the table was created by my wife's sister when she was into weaving.

And, of course, it is finally cool enough to use the fireplace!

Hey, what more could you want?  Well, aside from no more broken well connection.  Oh, and world peace and no more Hitler-wanna-be assholes and a funeral for Mr. Trump.  Yeah, I'm not asking for all that much so maybe in 2024 we'll get some of that.  Hell, I'd settle for the last one!  Take care and keep washing those hands!  Thanks for stopping by.

Travels - back in the day!

 Well, it looks like I've been gone for a couple of weeks.  Jeez, I hate it when I don't have anything to say!  But, well maybe, that's a good thing.  Anyway I don't have any more broken bones to talk about!  It's been quiet out here in the desert.  Just below freezing in the night and almost warm by mid-day.  Orion started showing up in the dark sky about a month ago and it's always nice to see that constellation.  We went and got shots for the new version of COVID; who knows if they work but it's worth a try.  And, of course, we are decorating for Xmas.  It's fun lighting up the place.  Lots of memories there too! 

I've been reading a few blogs where the people are visiting other countries.  I'm refering specifically to the blogs Key West Diary,  The Chouters and Kevin and Ruth.  Of course there are many others but those three have been filling lots of my time lately.  They remind me that we've been here and there as well.  

How about this?  The required before dinner photo on the SS Norway; previously the SS France.  Yes, they made you stand there and pose.

I don't know why but I'd been a fan of the SS France for a long time.  So when it was renamed the SS Norway; well, I still loved the ship.  I think it was going to be retired so I talked my wife into a cruise.  It was just Florida to a couple of the Caribbean islands but it was enough.  We had this cabin that was WAY up in the bow and when they dropped the anchor we sure knew it!  That was 1997 - a quarter of a century ago!

Of course when we lived in the Netherlands we got to travel about quite a bit.  Being an old Army guy I had to take photos of some of the local WWII memories.  This one was in Belgium.

Of course in the Netherlands they do like their bicycles.  

Looking at those blogs and my old photos does make me want to travel more!  We have a cruise planned but it's not a big deal.  LA to Hawaii will be lots of ocean time and no foreign ports.  Still, it will be cruising on the ocean and we do love that.  It's even better if you can't hear the anchor being let out!  LOL  

I'm going to post a few more memories but for now I'm sticking to the 1990's.  Take care and keep washing those hands!