Memorial Day

Just another day but no, Memorial Day, a day to think about people who have given their all for our country.  I had to look up my post from last year where I explained our families service.  That's what I usually think about on Memorial Day.  This year let me not be so self-centered.

Our small town has a city park/playground/resting area named Ian Deutch Memorial Park.  Ian Deutch was a young man who became a sheriff's deputy.  He got married and fathered two children.  He also joined the US National Guard.  Well, his unit got called up and got sent to Afganistan.  Yeah, not a very safe place.  Yet, he returned and had a couple of weeks to recover from all that before he resumed his job as a deputy sheriff.  On his first night on duty back in 2010 he was one of two officers called out on a domestic problem at one of the local casinos and in the midst of all that crap he was shot and killed.  His first night back on his admittedly dangerous job but, really, after surviving time in a war zone?  He was only 27 years old.

Today is the day to remember and honor those people who have given so much.  There is a saying about how "all gave some, some gave all".  That's what today is about.

People who are helping others are hardly rare:  doctors and nurses spring to mind along with teachers but even servers in restaurants are there to help you. Usually we concentrate on the folks who are more immediately helping:  the EMS folks and the police but it's still true that there are plenty of people working to make life easier for others.  I hate to tell you this but as you age you'll probably notice those 'unusual' helpers more!  

Enough of all that!  Personally it's probably going to be a pretty quiet day.  I've already promised my wife a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast.  If she can't get meat she'll go for cheese!  It is forecast to be in the low 90's today (32C) so we won't be running around outside too much.  Maybe a quick grocery store run but that will probably be it.  The week is full of fun:  a couple of Physical Therapy visits, a visit with the doctor who ordered my MRI, a visit with the vet  to see how the dog is getting along.  Nothing but fun! 

 

 So, hava a good one and try to keep safe - without help! 

What the heck?

I follow quite a few bloggers who publish every day or so. I just cannot imagine how they manage it.  I guess I could take a photo of our dog and post him every day but, well, how dull!  Earlier in the year I could have taken photos of the weeds flowering across the road but, again, not actually exciting.  

Now yesterday I got all excited looking at cruise line ideas.  We do love cruising.  We went on a Caribbean cruise way back in the day (1997) but that was really because the old SS France had been renamed as the SS Norway and was clearly on it's last legs.  I don't know but she was somehow important to me so I talked my wife into taking this little cruise.  I don't know if we were just being cheap or if we were just slow but we got a cabin way up in the bow of the ship.  The sides of the cabin were, yeah, curved up just like the bow on the outside!  The ship was a deep water vessel so couldn't go into many of the ports and had to anchor out.  Of course being in the bow we got to hear the anchor chain quite well!  This was back in the day when you had to dress for dinner; I don't even own a suit any more!  

In 2002  we cruised to Mexico on the Statendam to celebrate my wife's parents wedding anniversary; I'm thinking it was 40 years but don't quote me on that!  It was a family cruise so the ship was kind of secondary.  

Then we kind of stopped sailing.  We had a trailer and starting checking out the United States.  Eventually we traded that trailer in for another one but between the two of them we think we towed them about 80,000 miles - all in the U.S.  One of the reasons we were land-bound was that we'd adopted a dog from the local pound.  I don't know why but having a dog and leaving it in a shelter while we cruise is just tough.  (We've had five dogs over the years & they were all shelter dogs.  I cannot imagine spending money on some dumb purebred!  Actually, our current dog is 100% Shar Pai (our daughter had his DNA tested) but he was abandoned out in the desert and we got him from the shelter.)  However, our dog died in 2014 and we went on a binge!

We discovered Viking.  The Viking Imperial Jewels of China cruise to be specific.  It's no longer offered and it was less of a cruise but it was a hell of a trip!  We landed in Shanghai the flew to Wuhan.  Then we cruised up the Yangtze through Jingzhou, the Three Gorges Dam, Shibaozhai and Chongquing.  Then you fly to Xian and finally to Beijing.  I've no idea why they aren't doing that tour any more.  Maybe it became too expensive to visit all those fantastic, iconic places.  Since then we've done many Viking cruises.  We are just taken.  No dressing up; no children; no casinos; just comfortable rooms, good staff and great places.  

Ok, I'm going to shut up.  Nothing to say and all day to be boring.  Take care & try to be safe!

Well, it's summertime!

Our friends over in Las Vegas have had their first 100F degree day.  (Almost 38 C.)  We are about 500 feet higher in altitude so we haven't quite made it yet.  We've only gotten to 95F or 35C.  Don't worry, we'll get there!  

We've had an AcuRite weather station for quite a while.  Then 4 or 5 months ago the foldable post I used to support it folded in a breeze and it broke the sender unit.  Ok, it was a few years old so we ordered a whole new sender and display.  We started this in late February and finally got the station around the end of March. With our physical problems we've only recently installed the new sender unit and darned if it doesn't work!  So now we are testing it prior to the AcuRite people accepting it as no good.  

The photo shows the top of the sending unit (where it collects water if it is raining) and the receiver which is normally in the house.  AcuRite wants them within 3 feet of one another for testing so we took the receiver out to be near the sender.  Of course they still aren't communicating but it's what we have to do for warranty service!  Well, we'll see if those idiots cough up another sending unit or what.  Hmmm, I was just out on their website and they don't even advertise this unit any more.  Maybe that's why they aren't too happy about dealing with us.  LOL  We'll see what happens.

While we were out playing with the weather station I took a little video of our view around the place.  Unfortunately I can't upload it; I guess 80 MB is a bit large.  I'd intended it to be more about the sky, absolutely no cloud anywhere, but it also shows the flat valley floor and the mountains in the distance that have been seen in most of the photos I post.  It's really quite a nice place to live but it is warm.  Why do I think it's going to be even warmer than usual this year?  That's what I get from reading the news.  

We have a church in town who has a sort of Goodwill kind of thing they do two days a week.  We got a new bed a while ago and the church actually said they would come and collect the old bed!  What a deal!  So, of course, we managed to get them to also take our two bicycles that we bought in Holland 25 years ago, the two folding bikes we took on some of our RV travels about 10 years ago, a filing cabinet that has been replaced by bytes and bytes of storage and an old lamp.  What a deal!  Now I have to go reorganize the garage since we've got so much more space.  

I guess that's all the news from this corner of the world.  Take care and keep being safe.

Flip flopping

We are just going back and forth around here.  One day it's 85F (29C) and the next it's 65F (18C).  What the heck?   Well, soon enough it will be just HOT so I guess this is ok.  We did have a hot day a couple of weeks ago and discovered that the a/c in the car was dead.  We took it to someone last year and they tried 3 times to fix it; well, I'm done with them and took it to another shop this time.  We'll see if they have managed to fix it.  They charged us an arm-and-a-leg so it had better be good for a long time!  

I was supposed to get an MRI to check out my spine but it turns out my insurance isn't approved by the MRI folks.  Well, I guess I should have just offered to pay for it myself but I didn't think of that.  So now my wife has been on the phone all morning trying to get the thing re-scheduled but between the MRI place and the doctor's office she'd been on hold for two hours!  Jeez, what a bunch of idiots!  And they are supposed to be keeping us healthy?  Can't they afford one or two more clerks to keep things moving?  Bah, humbug!

A couple of days ago I did get to meet the guy who bought the house kinda across from us.  He's from California and is hoping to retire here later this year.  He was pretty happy about not having any state income tax here.  Just checking the internet suggests he could be paying 8-9% so I can see where 0% in Nevada sounds pretty good!  Right now he is coming over for a day every couple of weeks; I hope he grows to enjoy being out here in nowhereland.  

We just went out to lunch in one of our casino restaurants.  I just don't understand people who sit there in the casino playing what are really just video games.  This a pretty small casino but there were maybe 20 people sitting there glued to their machines and another 10 who were holding down chairs in the bar with a beer for companionship.  I mean, I'm retired and don't have a job to go to but why on earth would I be spending my days in that dark room with a video game?  Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm not the person those casino's are wanting but they do work ok for lunch.

We did manage a nice sunset the other day.  I liked the clouds so much I took two photos!

That's all the news that's fit to print.  Take care & keep washing those hands!