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!

Just a couple of photos

We live in the Mohave Desert.  You know that means not a lot of rain; it's not like Seattle for example. But sometimes we get, yeah, a little rain.  On Friday it rained here for an hour or so.  We don't have gutters and downspouts; after all we get 3-4 inches a year.  But Friday was special.  We got 1/3rd of an inch!  This is where a west facing roof and a north facing roof are joined and the water comes tumbling down.

 And, yes, it does get blown onto the window through which I am filming it!  It's only 5 or 6 feet but that was quite a gust.  

And then there was last night.  I take Gus, the dog, outside for a last look around about 21:00 (9 pm to you civilians).  The eastern sky is pretty much overwhelmed by the lights from Vegas over on the other side of the mountains.  The western sky is a LOT darker and we can see some good stuff.  We had stars in the west that night so I had to try and take a photo of Orion's Belt.  I think it came out ok; especially coming from a cell phone camera!

That's all the news from around here.  I can not imagine how people blog every day.  It is just totally beyond me but then again I'm not inflicting my boring life on others so that's good!  Take care and keep washing those hands!

Just warming up....

 My wife came home a week or so ago and told me that the a/c in the car isn't working.  Well, it's had a whole winter to sit around and leak but, no, that's not acceptable.  Then yesterday I went somewhere and, yep, she sure was right.  So I'll be communing with a local mechanic to see what we can do about that.  Of course we are in that time of year when one day the high temp is 71 F (21 C) and then a day or two later it's 92 F (33 C).  You've got to choose the day to have the a/c worked on so they can test it properly.  I'll manage it but I sure wish someone could  fix that thing so it would just work.

Other than whining I don't have much to say today.  My wife and I were both going to Physical Training (PT) and I'm thinking I will be joining her again pretty soon.  Getting isurance approval is always a pain in the ass.  I did get a "Juror Qualification Questionnaire" in the mail.  If you are over 70 years old you can just request an exemption.  I'm going to do that mostly because I imagine I'll be doing PT a couple days a week and you can't be two places at once.

I've only taken a couple of photos worth sharing lately.  This one is via my phone about 02:30 in the morning out the bathroom window.  I really liked the setting moon.

The other one I just took this morning using my Nikon with it's 200 mm lens.  I talk about the balloons that we see flying about.  Well, these two are coming close to landing.  That mountain is about 20 miles north of here.

Can't see much?  I don't blame you!  But here's a hint.  Just above the tree line about an inch from each side.  The balloon on the left is orange; the one on the right is green.  

That's enough BS for today.  Gotta go do something even if it is wrong.

It's a funny old world!

One week I can't imagine what to post here; the next week there is a total diversity of things to share.  I don't know; maybe I just can't see things sometimes.  Anyway, here's what's going on out here in Nevada.  I ordered a chair mat, a plastic thing that will smooth out the bumps under something you want to move.  In our case it is a refrigerator that can't be moved over our tile floor.  It came with instructions.

You've got to assume it wasn't written by a person for whom English was not his first language.  The other side had drawings showing how you roll out the mat and put weights on it to get it totally flat before using.

The next thing I wanted to share was a photo my wife took of the foothills just north of Mt. Charleston.  This was taken on the last day of March at about sunset.

 I've got to tell you those hills and mountains surrounding us are a large part of the reason we've been living here for over 15 years!  

The final thing is a little surprise I got just this morning.  We have a couple bird feeders and have a fair number of birdies that show up to dine.  This morning I found a little gift from one of them.

Yep, it's a egg!  We are thinking it is a pigeon egg but, trust me, we aren't experts!  Here is another photo with a tea spoon next to it to show it's size.

What a deal!  Of course my wife wanted to know if I wanted breakfast as soon as I showed it to her.  No, not this time!  Anyway, that's our excitement around here lately.  I hope you are having as much or more fun.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!

OK!

I found this quote from Dan Rather this morning regarding Mr. Trump.

“A few people have asked why I vehemently oppose Trump,” Rather wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. “Let me make this perfectly clear. It’s not about politics. I’ve voted for both parties.”

“It’s about me, as a patriot, rejecting a cheating, lying, racist, treasonous, fascist and vile man who attacks the free press, and wants to lead the country I love,” he continued. “It’s really that simple.”

I couldn't have said it better!  

Jeez! It's been almost a month!

No, I don't know how I managed to not update this for a month.  I mean things take more time when you are getting old but this is just silly.  Of course, there isn't much going on around here.  My wife and I are both going to PT to try and gain some more mobility.  And, no, it isn't doing much for either of us.  We do manage to go out to have lunch most days.  I mean cooking at home is SO DIFFICULT!

The weather is mostly warming up but every now and then California shares some of their rain and snow with us.  Nice of them, huh?  Last Saturday we actually got .69 inches so considering we usually get about 4 inches a year; that's a lot!  In February we had 2.6 inches so this summer is probably going to be pretty dry.

We were out to lunch a week or so ago and this young lady was sitting at the next table with a couple of older women; I assumed relatives.  But she was really involved in whatever was on her headphones.

Another time we were out I saw this.  You've got to assume the owner of this car is a cat lover.

One last photo:  we had a weather station mounted on a 2x4 post out in the back yard.  A couple of the bolts gave up and it fell back hitting the ground and breaking.  We have a new one on order but I wanted to go out and see what was wrong with that 2x4 so I took a photo.  Just as I did so a gust of wind came along and shoved the hood of my coat over my eyes.  Here's looking at you.

Well, that's all the news from the back of beyond Nevada.  Thanks for stopping by.  Take care and keep washing those hands.

Just going along for the ride....

Things are just being pretty much the same as my last post; except the good news is that my wife seems quite a bit better.  Her heart rate is back to normal and her blood pressure is also normal.  She has a bunch of pills to take every day and who knows how long that will last but it's miles better than being in a hospital bed with IVs all over your arms!  And we get to visit our favorite restaurants which I'm told is a lot better than the hospital food.

My leg is still bothering me and I walk like I'm about 90.  Both of the medical people I've talked with say I'm having sciatica pain.  It is a nerve that starts in your lower spine and continues down the leg all the way to the foot.  In my case the pain stops at the knee so I guess I'm half lucky.  Both my regular doctor and the specialist took x-rays and while I have some deterioration of my spine it's nothing unusual for an old fart like me.  At any rate the first level of treatment is Physical Therapy.  I was interviewed by one of the PT doctors and my first PT appointment is next Wednesday.  Until then I've got a couple medications that are supposed to loosen things up and tyenol for the pain.  None of them are working as far as I can tell!

The storms that have been hitting California have brought some more snow to our local mountains but nothing down here.  That's ok.  Our aquifer gets it's water from those mountains and we sure need it.  Death Valley has been actually getting rain and it has formed up into a giant puddle called Lake Manly.  It is draining away now and boats are no longer allowed but I'll bet it was fun for a couple of days!  We are getting a fair amount of gusty wind which knocks the bird feeders around but we can't make it too easy for them.  Every now and then a large crow or raven decides coasting in the wind over our house is fun and sets off the RING camera.  At least they aren't trying to land on the darned thing!

No new photos to share today.  Maybe next time.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands and keep your sneezes to yourself!

29 February - who can resist posting?

 It's been quite a month.  I'm ok if we don't have another like it for a LONG time!  My back/hip pain is still with me.  The doctor prescribed some medication but it's not working.  The next thing was PT and I'm scheduled to meet with them today.  We'll see how that works!  

The other nasty news is that my wife has been slowing down a lot.  Eventually her doctor suggested going to the ER!  Well, hell!  So we go over there and they immediately put her on some drips and in a couple of hours had her airlifted over to Las Vegas!  Talk about a fun afternoon.  Here's the machine showing her 128 heartbeat while she was lying in the bed.

She's been in the hospital in Vegas for a week now.  They said she had excess fluid in her lungs and worked to drain that.  That took two or three days; then they finally got her to a place where they could address her real problem:  atrial fibrillation or AFib.  It is when your heartbeat is either racing or flashing back and forth between normal and superfast.  She has had a procedure for that and we are hoping she can come home today.  Our daughter came out to see her and is going to bring her home if she gets released.  

All that makes for a fun month.  However, I've been driving into Vegas every day to see her.  It's a lovely drive, going in through the pass over the mountains and coming down is just great going either way.  I'm kind of a close-to-the-speed-limit guy so I mostly stay in the right lane and let the speeders have the left.  There are plenty of speeders for sure.  And plenty of way-too-loud motorcycles.  I did even once get passed by a state patrol cruiser - not blue lights just wanting to get home I guess.  

Here's a photo of a slightly overcast sky.

See, it's not always sunny in Nevada!  No rain of course.  But then we also get views like this.

 Gotta go.  Can't see wifie come home to the mess I've made of the house!  Take care.  Thanks for stopping by and keep washing those hands!

We made it to February!

Well, we've been home for 3 1/2 weeks; pretty much back in the groove and then I did something that caused a pain in my left leg.  I've no idea what happened.  The only thing I did that was unusual was to clean the 4 mirrors in our bathrooms.  They are about 7 feet tall so it is a bit of a stretch to clean them.  Anyway I went to the Urgent Care place and they suggested it was either Radicular pain or Sacroliac joint pain.  I don't know but I'm sure ready for it to be gone!  Saw my doctor yesterday; he was no help at all.  Had a xray taken of my hips.  That was WAY painful; since my injury, whatever it is, my back does not like being straight.  We'll see what else we can do; the doctor suggested Physical Therapy.  That could be torture!

In the rest of our lives; we have a well to provide us with water.  It was leaking somehow before we left on our trip but I figured there would be more time to get it fixed after the trip and that turns out to have been a good decision.  The well guy came out and, yep, found a leak right away.  

 

The well has a concrete foundation that was badly cracked so the well guy put in a new pressure tank away from the foundation so it could be replaced.  It took a few days but a local concrete guy came out and replaced the foundation and now we've had the well guy come back and put the pressure tank where it used to be.  It's just all fun; $1,900 worth of fun but fun.  

California has been getting hit by some storms coming in from the ocean so, of course, we get some too.  In our case it is small amounts of rain; except that this is a desert and we don't get a lot of rain.  When we do get rain weird stuff happens.  Day before yesterday we got 1.14" of rain; yesterday we got .55".  That's about half of our yearly average.  Right here in our part of town we just have wet roads; in other parts they have small lakes on the side of the road and, of course, in the road.  It's funny; we are in a 'flood zone' so our mortgage lender requires that we have flood insurance.  Across the street isn't in the 'flood zone' so they don't need flood insurance.  I'm sure to have whined about that in the past!  When I went to the doctor the fun part was seeing the wild horses visiting our county offices across the street from the doctor.  In the photos you can also see water down at the bottom of the photo.  That's not a river, it's the road full of water in front of the office!

Oh, and we've had a few birds coming through on their migration to somewhere.  That bird feeder isn't going to do it for all those guys!

That's all that's going on here in the fast lane.  Take care & keep washing those hands!

Well, two weeks in....

 How is 2024 treating you?  

We've had an interesting start for sure.  On December 28 we got on a Viking cruise ship in Los Angeles and headed for Hawaii!  Yeah, it's not like visiting Columbia or the Sudan or Pakistan but, well, it's not sitting around in the house either!

It was a fine trip.  My wife and I like being out at sea and Viking did everything it could to make our trip a SEA trip.  We took 5 days to get to Hawaii and the first two were really kind of rough.  It doesn't bother us but there were plenty of seasickness wrist bands and behind the ear plasters to be seen.  We did celebrate the New Year onboard.  I'm pretty sure we've never had little hat things for the New Year before!

 

Then we got to visit Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii.  On each island there were tours  and we planned on taking one of them on each island.  Ok, with that lead in, do I have to say it didn't work out?  Kaua'i worked out just fine.  The only problem was that much of it was at a 'plantation' which has become a tourist town with lots of small buisnesses to sell stuff to tourists.  Unfortunately many of them were closed!  Duh!  You have 400-500 tourists coming by and you are closed???  Retail has changed a lot since I worked in it!  We did manage to find this Christmas ornament.  It is glass and is painted on the inside; not the outside.  It has chickens because many years ago chickens became wild on Kaua'i and they still are!  You are driving somewhere and here are 6 or 8 chickens just pecking around by the side of the road!  It's amazing!  And fun if you like chickens.  I was trying to take a photo of this rooster trying to have his way with out of the ladies but it just didn't work.  Darn!

The next day we were on Oahu in Honolulu.  We were getting dressed to go out and my wife remembered she wanted something from the bathroom; she turned, caught her foot in some bedclothes that were hanging down and fell!  Oh shit!  Of course she's been recovering from her broken ankle and now she was down again.  Slowly I got her up and we headed down to see the ship's doctor.  The good news is that there was nothing broken; the bad news is that she really couldn't walk and her toes, arm and ribs hurt and were bruised where she had fallen on them.  SO, back in the wheelchair for wifie!  

 

The staff were really quite nice.  They would find us places to sit and places to hide the chair.  The bar staff got to know us better than usually since we did have more time on board and alcohol helps the pain go away.  But really that was only for that first day.  Then I left my wife.

NO, not for ever, just for the Maui tour.  We decided that I'd go do that and she would just relax in our cabin.  Well, actually, she could have come with me except for climbing onto the bus and out of it.  However I did go on the tour.  The first part of the tour was up to a tourist shopping area in Lahaina.  Well, shit!

 

Here you are driving through residential neighborhoods where everything is burned down and then you are in the Hyatt, Hilton & whatever neighborhood with their pristine buildings and lovely golf courses.  Oh, and in the middle was our destination:  the Whaler's Village (Mall).  Well, shit!  Just what I wanted to see:  Louis Vuitton, Sephora Cosmetics, Tommy Bahama clothing, Lululemon sportswear,  Keani Hawaii jewelry, Maui Divers Jewelry.  Really???  The folks who lived there are still working on finding places to live.  There are tents on every beach where people are trying to live.  Of course there are vans parked along the road as well.  It was nasty!  These tents were probably 30 feet from condos that are worth $700K on a bad day!  Oh, and the people in the background are tourists getting on their sailing trimarans for the morning.

Anyway, the second part of the tour was up to a crazy little river, oh, and a rock!  Where you got to climb 147 steps (or something like that) to see the river falls and a weird rock.  The rock is the Iao Needle; it just sticks up there in the middle of a canyon like it was meant to be there.  Weird but photogenic.  The steps were just awful!  They didn't even have hand rails on both sides!

Our last day in Hawaii was on Hawaii, the big island.  We checked with the tour people and they said that going while using a wheelchair was fine so we decided to do it.  Our tour started with viewing the Rainbow Falls.  That was ok; my wife couldn't view them being in the wheelchair but I got a couple nice photos.  This is the falls.

 

Then we wandered off to the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo.  That would probably have been ok too but it was really raining in the rainforest!  And my wife was in a wheelchair and, well, it was pretty wet for her!  So we were definitely first back on the bus!  

THEN came the thing we wanted most from Hawaii.  My wife's sister and her husband sold their huge, fantastic home in Washington a year or two ago and are building a smaller place there; however she hates the winters up there so they have purchased a condo on the island of Hawaii for winters (also golf which is a passion).  We were hoping to meet them for lunch.  Their condo is across the island and it is about a 2 hour drive to get there so visiting at their place was out of the question - so we had lunch together in a local restaurant near the ship.  That was fun.  We'll be back to visit them when we can rent a car and enjoy the island.  No photos, we just all forgot!

And then we were on the way back east!  It was another 5 days of 18 knot speeds and we landed in Ensenada, Mexico.  Apparently there is an old law saying that foreign vessels can't go between US ports exclusively; they have to go somewhere like Canada or Mexico too!  Ensenada is close; Carnival Cruise Lines likes it too!

 

Anyway, we had a nice day in Ensenada; well, except for the tour!  There is a blowhole, La Bufadora, that is pretty impressive with seawater spouting up through this hole in the rock.  That was really nice; the 2/3rds of a mile of trash and trinket sellers on the way there and back was kind of a pain in the ass!  Or, in my wife's case, in the foot!  But we managed it, two + hours of walking may not have been what she wanted but it worked out ok.  There was a nice musical party going on a mile or so from the boat but we just crashed!

And then there is an overnight very quiet ride to LA. and hop off!  Well, it was kind of screwed up since they didn't bother announcing that we were cleared to go but we managed to get off about 08:40 - probably an hour later than we had hoped.  Zoomed through customs; a nice guy named Cassady spent way too much time checking out our passports and then we were in the taxi line.  Amazingly there were no taxi's waiting but a guy showed up and took us to the hotel where we'd left the car and ZOOM!  

I've got to admit that I haven't driven that fast in a while.  We were doing 80-85mph most of the way across California.  Not that we were passing anyone but still!  We got to the kennel about 13:45 - and they want the dogs out by 14:00!  So we just made it; the clock showed 14:00 (2 p.m.) as we drove into the yard.  The house was just the way we'd left it; didn't clean itself or anything.  But, we were happy to be here.  And we had a lovely sunset.  What's not to like?

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands and be safe!

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!

Ok time for photos!

 Well, if you look at this blog you'll notice that I do like to include photos.  I've been taking pictures since back in the dark ages!  And I'll probably continue until my darkest age comes.  Anyway, I have a couple of photos to share today.  So first of all is a little cup sized vessel.  It is standing on little legs but the sun on it makes it's shadow totally different. 

You can see how the little cup is standing on the glass counter and is reflected below it but the part I love is the shadow on the wall behind it that is just the upside down portion.  Those stupid wires screw things up but our tv management hasn't allowed us to get rid of them!

To add to the shadow photo locker I'll post this guy.  We bought this in Paris about 24 or 25 years ago.  We like it but adding the shadow version makes it special.

 

Next up is a late evening view of the moon.  This is NOT a full moon even though my photo might make it look like that.

Our car decided to be stupid and killed one of the, I'm sure, many computer chips working away all the time.  This one controlled the SYNC3 and backup camera and a few other things.   Anyway I had to spend HOURS at the dealership in Las Vegas waiting for them to get the thing working again.  I think they did but during my sitting around they had to manually move this 1930 van so they could put up a Christmas tree.  It took 4 guys at least an hour to push this thing around.  And their paychecks are attached to the money I'm spending there!  Grrr!

And one final thing.  We often go out to lunch.  Yesterday we hit our favorite Thai place for lunch and got a table next to the window.  We had mostly finished our meal but I still had some beer.  I've never seen the carbonatization display itself like this.  It's short but amazing!

So, have a Great Thanksgiving if you are in the U.S.  Otherwise have a great few days.  Keep washing those hands and take care!

Another day; another pain!

I've spoken of the fact that my wife and I are both going to Physical Therapy.  She is still recovering from her broken ankle and the months of non-weight bearing time.  I simply have a pain in my hip that seems to wander around from right side to left; hip to upper leg to knee; lower back.  It's all about aging so what can you do?  Yeah, not a darned thing!

I do like to take photographs.  And you don't have to be very physically active to manage that!  Our town is in a basin with mountains on all sides of it.  It makes for some nice sunrise & sunset photos but the land in the basin is super flat.  

One of the things I dislike most about the local people is that they don't seem to regard water as a limited resource.  In our part of the town houses are on 1 acre lots.  That's a bit over 4,000 square meters.  It is not unusual for someone to have 40 or 50 trees growing on their lot.  That takes a LOT of water.  There is a lot next to us that had an excavation for building a home when we moved here 15 years ago.  It also has something like 40 trees growing all around the perimeter of the lot.  You can see some of the trees in that sunset photo.  There is still no house there.  There is electricity and a well and lots of piping to water all those trees: that's it.  What a waste!  

This is an aerial view of a local casino that has an RV park associated with it.  The name is Lakeside Casino.  The photo is certainly from Google!

Yes, that is a small private lake in the middle of the RV park.  The sites all have trees.  The part in the bottom left is what things look like if people aren't dumping water on the land.  And those houses in the bottom right of the photo; you can't count all the trees!  Where do these people think they live?  The Pacific Northwest? 

Bah humbug!  Sorry about the rant.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!

Quiet times!

I haven't blogged recently because our lives are just DULL!  Well, not exactly,but close enough.  My wife is still going to physical therapy for her ankle and I'm going to physical therapy for my hip.  We are both improving but it's still a long way from 'normal'.  My wife walks with about a 10 inch step so that's pretty slow BUT she can walk around the grocery store with me which is a big improvement.  

I wrote a blog post the other day that was a rant about the world in general but didn't post it.  Living out here in Trump country just bothers me.  He is such a jerk.  And, of course, having two wars going on filling the news with a bombing here or an attack there isn't the way I'd like the world to be going.  Not to mention all the stuff about climate change and how little is being done about it!  But I won't bore you with that crap.  

The heat of the summer is finally leaving us; it is right around freezing every night and mid-70's (23C) during the day.  That is really nice.  We can even go out to lunch again leaving the dog in the car.  His need to be with us is really a pain in the.....  He just goes nuts if we leave him at home alone.  He seems fine being left in the car though.  We come back and he's just lying there dozing away.  

I drove past one of our county buildings the other day and got this photo of some local ducks.

You will note that they have nice green grass and plenty of water in their little lake.  Things like that make me wonder if the county officials even know we are in the desert.  Idiots!  It is pretty though.

So, things are pretty quiet.  About 90% of our mail is from some organization looking for donations.  Of course we made donations totalling something like $3,000 last year not including the trailer we gave to the American Legion so I guess they think we'll do the same this year.  And I'm sure we will.  Another 9% is from financial advisor newsletters, etc. thinking we should be getting advice from them.  That leaves 1% that are bills.  I don't remember the last actual letter we received from a friend or relative.  I suppose the same is true for everyone.  It just isn't something you talk about.

I'm out of news so I'll be signing off.  Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!