Pattern Addiction

I did a bad thing a few weeks ago. I got hold of a new game.

Actually, it's not a new game, but a new version of a game that has already been out for a while. The games are called Bejeweled. I had the first game of the series, simply called Bejeweled, way back when and was amazed at the graphics. Then not long after that Bejeweled 2 came out. It was so good that I deleted the first Bejeweled and completely removed it from my list of installable software. I basically threw it away. There was simply no reason to ever go back. Recently I upgraded my computer with a new hard drive and went to reinstall everything. That's when I found there was a new Bejeweled out. This one is called Bejeweled Twist. It's a lot like Bejeweled 2, but with a lot of differences. It does, however, have one major difference:

It's addictive.

I mean highly addictive. It takes hold of your brain. You start recognizing the patterns in the game before they happen, learning to anticipate what single action will potentially line up the pieces for the most impressive cascade of colorful explosions.

I feel bad that I've hooked Suzie on it. Now it has a firm grasp on her life as well. To make matters worse, she's hooked her youngest son on it. It's gotten to the point that when we see something in the real world that is lined up a certain way we notice it.

"You know," I said to Suzie, thoughtfully gazing at the icons on my laptop screen the other night, "If we rotated these two like this..." holding my hand up and twisting it in midair "...They would line up for a Flame Bonus." We both laughed... Nervously realizing that we may possibly need help.

Yesterday morning when she awoke, I was playing it yet again. I stopped (just for a second) and turned to her.
"Good morning." I said. She grunted acknowledgment.
"You were talking in your sleep last night." I told her.
"I was?"
"Yeah, you said 'Bomb disarmed' (a comment from the game)."
"Huh uh..." she said, not believing it for a minute.

Well, think that's enough of this blogging crap for now--I've got a game to play and I'm starting to get the shakes...

Christmas, Past and Present

It was a good Christmas this year, but a different one. Maybe that's exactly why it was a good Christmas this year--Because it was different.

Last year I bought a brand-spanking new Christmas tree. Why? Well, I've thought about it, and near as I can tell, I was trying to recapture the past. My family has always had a Christmas tree in the house. We weren't religious people at all, and eliminating religion from the whole Christmas picture basically reduces it all down to just a decorations, smells, and music (and presents of course). The tree is where eyes are always focused during a cozy winter evening. It always gave me a warm feeling to sit and gaze at the pretty lights and sparkly decorations, much the same way that people will sit and stare at a campfire for hours on end. The scent of pine (hardly anyone had fake trees back then) would greet you when you entered the house. One of the many things my mom did over the years was candle making. She had lots of molds, and would make several varieties of candles--All scented of course. The scents of the candles would be lovingly intermingled with the real pine Christmas tree, creating a mood, a feeling, an ambiance. Actually, thinking back on it, it's probably a wonder we smelled any of that stuff at all considering my dad was a smoker and everybody smoked in their house back then. Add to the sights and smells the sounds of classic Christmas music wafting from giant console stereo and you had the feeling of the Christmas season. Anyway, I think I was trying to recapture something from that time in my life. I was trying to take the "edge" off the emptiness of my home here. I think I thought that it made me feel somehow less of a pathetic loner living within his bland, rented walls.

Another reason I put up the tree last year was just that a local store had a good quality artificial tree on a super sale and and they came with lights already strung on them. I always hated stringing the lights. The other part of Christmas I hated was shopping for the Christmas tree. I got so disgusted with the prices, the weather, the transporting of the tree... Then when we got home with it and just wanted to relax and mellow out, I had to string the stupid lights on it. I remember how torn I was the year I finally succumbed to Teresa's wish to buy an artificial tree. When I thought about it, trees didn't have anywhere near as much smell in recent years as they did when I was a kid (or was it me?) so it really didn't matter so much. I finally relented and was happy about not having to drive around looking for a tree every year.

The thing that was different this year is that Suzie is part of my life. A very, very big part of my life. Because of her beliefs, she doesn't celebrate Christmas. Partly because of that, and partly because I really didn't spend time in my living room staring at the walls and feeling sorry for myself this year, I didn't put a tree up this year. I didn't miss it in the slightest. Maybe I will some day, maybe not.

So what did I do this year? Well, Suz stayed over on Christmas eve, so right away that was a major change. Waking up next to someone very special was a great way to start the day. I reluctantly left a sleeping Suzie in bed and got myself up at about 6:30. When I went downstairs to get my first cup of coffee, there was a text on my phone from Sarah: "Can you come over soon?" Yes, as usual, I started my Christmas day celebration at Sarah's house. It was one of those years when everything went right gift-wise. Suzie helped me pick out a couple of clothing items for Sarah a few days ago at Kohl's. Sarah loved them both and they both fit perfectly. As a matter of fact, she ended up wearing them both the rest of the day. I also bought her some more of her perfume that she was out of. This time, however, it came with matching lotion in the package, and she liked that. She said the previous one didn't. Her big surprise gift from me though was the Ipod Touch I gave her. Her face lit up big time on that one. I like to get her something that is totally unexpected, and this was one of those things. We both had fun trying to figure it out. Pretty cool toy! Sarah bought me the 5-DVD set of Planet Earth. She was a smart shopper, having found it used on Craigslist a while back. She remembered me saying a long time ago that I would like to own it. Nice work, Sarah! She also gave me a picture (unfinished but off to a good start) that she is drawing of the two of us on a beach. She's doing it on a pretty big canvas, and she's taking it from a small 4x6 print. I think she was about 5 years old in the picture. I've been after her to do artwork for gifts because she is so talented, and I'm finally getting my wish! After they fed me a good breakfast, I went back home. By that time Suzie was up sitting at the computer with her coffee. She left a little while later and headed for home, having a client from her Memory DVD's business she had to meet with a little while later.

The next phase of Christmas was going to my parents' house. I swung by Sarah's and picked her up. The snowy weather had really made a mess of the roads, and we had doubts as to whether or not she'd even be able to get her car out of her driveway successfully, so I offered to take her. I bought my folks a membership to Costco this year, and put each of their membership cards in a plastic CD case. They seemed very happy with it. They both totally love going out to stores and shopping around, and although they are both current members of Sam's Club, they have been interested in going to check out the new Costco that they opened nearby a couple months ago. Although there were already two of them within reasonable distance, the new one is even closer. Most of the family members were there and we all had a good visit. Dinner at mom's was centered around ham like usual, but this time we went the sandwich direction with it. There was a big basket with small dinner rolls for the bread, and baked beans and other things. This part of Christmas was another thing that went well and surprised me: They didn't give me any tools! I don't need or want tools because I have everything I need already. Either they finally listened or they just got lucky, but this time I got two steaks and two cans of mixed nuts. Although one of each would have been ample, I'm glad they got me food. After all, who doesn't like food?

When we left there, I delivered Sarah to her boyfriend's house up on the hill. It was snowing heavily when I left there and headed for Suzie's house, and it snowed all the way there. I wasn't there long though--Suz said we should go back to my place and watch one of my new Planet Earth DVDs. That's exactly what we did. We followed that with a couple games of Sorry (yes, the classic board game) to finish out a good day.

Our Rare Snow

I don't remember the last time we got snow around here really. Not like this. I can remember getting some good snowfalls when I was a kid, but not any time in recent memory. For Auburn, we have a lot of snow. I haven't been outside to measure it yet, but there's a good 6 inches out there I'm sure.

A lot of people don't understand how we, being as far north as we are, never seem to get more than a dusting of snow. It's true though. Let me put on my junior meteorologist hat for second. Start with the fact that the Seattle-Tacoma and surrounding area is nestled between two mountain ranges, add the Puget Sound (our huge inland waterway), and you've got a recipe for weird weather. Believe it or not, we hardly ever even get thunder and lightning either. Here in Auburn I'm situated in a valley, and sometimes the hills will get snow without me even seeing a flake. Not this year!

It has been snowing all weekend pretty much nonstop. When it did stop, it was not for long--I could always see the next bank of snow clouds coming across the valley toward me from my second floor window. Sometimes it was light, wispy snow and sometimes it was heavy, huge-flake snow. It was pretty cool to be cozy warm all day yesterday and watching the snow come down. I had stopped at Lowe's on the way home from work on Friday and bought a flat-blade shovel. At that time there was about an inch of snow on the ground and I wanted to clear my walk and my driveway. They were predicting unseasonably cold weather after this weekend and I didn't want the snow to turn into ice and stay there. While I was doing it, a neighbor walked by.
"You're probably going to have to do that again on Sunday." he remarked.
"Yeah, I know. That's okay." I said. (It was about all I could say to what looked like a fruitless activity.)

So anyway, I went out yesterday in the late afternoon and shoveled my car out. I figured it was going to snow all night still (I was right) because it was still snowing when I was shoveling, but I figured I had to at least get the upper hand. My car was completely covered and all I could see was the upper half of each wheel and a little above that on each side. Nothing else was visible. I figured just my luck it would rain during the night or something and I'd never get into it.

I would have liked to have went to Suzie's house yesterday, but I just couldn't see chancing it. My car just doesn't do that well in snow, and I based on what we have here in town it would be considerably worse where she lives. I kept thinking all day yesterday that I wished I had a quad runner like her son Denny has. When the snow is like this you can run down any road any time and no cop will ever catch you. I would have ridden it clear out to her house. And remember what I said about me needing my 4x4 truck after I sold it? Ditto.

So here it is--Monday morning of a 3-day work week. It would be nice if I could just stay out of work all week, but I can't. It would be nice if I had a 4-wheel drive vehicle too, but I don't. I enjoy watching the snow come down on a weekend, but when it's time to drive to work it becomes a whole new ballgame. Thank goodness the majority of the people in this area will use this excuse to extend their Christmas holiday week. The roads should be fairly empty of traffic.

I'll cross my fingers after they thaw out. After all, I've got to dig my car out again...

Snow, Ice, and Radio Announcers

It's been interesting around here lately. Our normally wet and soggy weather has been replaced by snow and freezing temperatures all week long. Although I normally would have nothing good to say about it (being the fan of nakey weather that I am), I have a different slant on things this time around. Why? Because the icy and snowy roads (overly hyped by our local media as usual) have kept most of the incompetent and idiotic drivers off the roads. All week long my drive to work has been totally trouble-free. Yesterday was a particularly snowy day, prompting a lot of worry-warts to leave work early "so they could make it home". Yeah, yeah... The snow was all of an inch deep, but whatever. I took the opportunity to hit Winco Foods on the way home from work last night, and I was greeted by a store that was practically empty! It was like they were saying, "Hi Rick! Come on in--We've been waiting for you!"

I made the prediction a while back that just because I sold my 4x4 truck and replaced it with a 2-wheel drive one, we would have a snow winter and I would wish I had it. Well okay--That's sort of what has transpired. Truth is, while my other truck was superb in the snow and very fun to drive, what good was it if it wouldn't start when I needed it? I haven't driven my truck now for a few weeks so I have no idea how it will drive in the snow and ice, but it suffices to say that I'm sure it will suck. After all, it's v8-powered rear-wheel drive, and there's not much weight in the back of a truck. At least with my little Neon (and most cars on the road today) the front-wheel drive means all the weight is all on the driving wheels.

Oh, while I'm on the subject, I was listening to KOMO AM 1000 (a local radio station) on the way to work a few days ago. I've always thought they were total idiots. Their brainless banter has always showed what idiots they are and how badly they need some new blood in there. Anyway, this particular morning was the first morning that we had some light snow in the area, and they were going nuts with it. Due to some strange quirk of nature, we happened to have a little thunder/lightning in the north Seattle area apparently, and they were taking calls about it (which itself shows how desperate they are). Here's what I heard:

Male announcer: "We've got (someone's name) on the line with us from (wherever) that witnessed something unusual on the way to work this morning. (caller's name), what was it you saw?"
Caller: "It was a bolt of lightning, followed by thunder."
Female announcer (talking excitedly): "Wow, what did that look like?"

Hellooo? Anybody home?

Driving in the Snow

For anyone that doesn't live here in this area, you probably won't know what Leavenworth is. It's a town here in Washington that got together a few decades ago and decided that they should become totally Bavarian. They got it right too--When you go there you'd swear you were somewhere in that part of Europe. It caters to tourism. There are lots of shops and restaurants, as well as special parking for tour buses.

This is the time of year when the town really comes alive. There are so many places in the world that celebrate the holidays in a special way, but when you start with a town like Leavenworth and throw in some snow, it adds quite a bit of crowd appeal.

Sarah has been after me to go there for a while now. She has been 3 times during special school events, but was frustrated at the lack of freedom and time during those outings. Her friends and classmates were never "on the same page" and might end up wasting too much time in one store and not have time to see anything else. Sue and I talked about it last weekend and decided that we'd "give it a go" this weekend much to Sarah's delight. We took her boyfriend too of course.

We lucked out. The sensationalism-driven media in our area was calling for (insert bold, announcer-type voice here) "Winter Storm 2008" and was promising lots of snow and freezing temperatures. They were making it sound pretty bad as they usually do. Well, as it usually is they were wrong. Yes, there was snow, but no it was nothing like they predicted. As such, I'm sure it kept most of the people off the roads. We took Suzie's little old 1990 Camry wagon on the trip this time. It has ample space, it's nice riding, and has great winter tires on it. We drove over Snoqualmie Pass and over Blewitt Pass on the way over, and drove across Stevens Pass to Monroe on the way home, and it was much packed snow all the way. It was also snowing pretty much the whole way with a little break here and there. On the way back last night we drove in heavy snow for much of the trip. Some of the biggest and heaviest snow we encountered was when we got closer to home in the lowlands!

There were a couple of Lions Club tents selling freshly roasted chestnuts for a couple bucks for a cup full. It was the first time any of us had ever eaten them and I believe we all liked them. They were very unusual. I thought they had a somewhat "meat-like" flavor, but the others agreed that they tasted more like sweet potatoes.

After we all agreed to meet back at a certain place and I'd buy us all dinner, the two couples split up to go wandering. Suzie and I went on a hunt for a place to eat something . I was frustrated more than once because we couldn't get into a restaurant. Place after place we entered, only to find them overfilled or understaffed. Finally we ended up wandering down "food alley" (every town event has one) where the food vendor tents were set up. We were just about to get something "ala carte" when we spotted a Mexican restaurant. It was situated far enough off the main drag and was on a second floor that it wasn't crowded at all. We got to sit and enjoy a beer and a plate of nachos. It was the perfect thing to tide us over until dinner time. After all, it was already 2pm and we hadn't eaten lunch...

Everywhere you looked there were people pulling kids on toboggans and sleds. There were all manners of strange hats too, thanks to a hat shop in town. That hat store is so renowned for its unusual hats that people that come into town always put it on their "must see" list. So much so that this time there was a huge line out into the street for people going in. Did we? No. I hate lines, and neither of us needed to see hats that badly.

I didn't end up taking too many pictures. Sometimes the mood isn't there for me. I think it was partially the cold and partially the fact that everything was "flat" and nondescript from a white sky. Had there been a blue sky or something then maybe things would have been different. Here are a few so you can get an idea of things:



When we got back together, we agreed that we would go back to the car and drive to a restaurant across the main drag that Suzie knew of. It was just right. There was a parking place for me right out front, and there was no waiting to be seated. Add to that the fact that they had free wireless, so I got to use my PDA to check on the pass conditions before we left.

All in all, it was a very good trip and we had a good time. Would we do it again? Probably not. Even though Sue overheard a shopkeeper say that the crowd was about half of what it usually was, the place was just too crowded.

It's kind of nice to wake up this morning to snow outside. It gives a whole new look to the boring vista of rooftops that is my bedroom view. Although snow is a nice change, I'm sure it will get old fast.

It Sure Is Quiet In Here

I bought my computer a new power supply the other day. The old one had a fan in it that I'm sure was co-manufactured by Pratt & Whitney. It sounded like something you'd hear around an airport. It was loud.

I didn't stop there though--I also bought a new hard drive.

I guess I need to back up a bit. I'm used to having two hard drives in my computer. Besides the obvious reason of more storage, it affords me a way to occasionally reload my whole computer. I can rotate my previously "primary" drive into the secondary slot, and then wipe and reload the "new" primary one. Through time and processes, computers get bogged down and end up running slower, starting slower, or having some sort of issues with programs. That was where mine was. Trouble is, my old "redundancy" drive had died a year or two back, so I was operating on only one. That's the real reason I went to the computer store.

After having lots of problems the first night getting the two drives to peacefully coexist, I finally was able to make it happen and they both talk to each other and play nicely together. Now I get to do the fun part of the job: Reinstalling all my software (yes, I do think it's fun--I'm a geek, remember?). The good thing about doing it this way is that all my old data is still there. All I have to do is reinstall the software and move my personal data over from the previous drive. Fun and geeky no?

The weird thing is my perception when I walk into the room. It's quiet. Real quiet. There have been two times so far that when I walked into the room I thought the computer had actually stopped.

Ahh... Whispering... Peace and quiet.

An Ordinary Bob's Brush With Greatness

You know how there are things in this world that you are reasonably sure you'll never see in your lifetime? For some people it might be a place, for some it might be a particular thing, and for some it might be an event--Whatever the seemingly unreachable item is, almost everyone has had those thoughts at one time or another. I saw something last night I never thought I'd ever see (not that I lay in bed tossing and turning about it though): A Christmas card from The White House. Yep, and for what it's worth I actually got to take it out of the envelope and open it. Woo eh? It was like my brush with fame or something.

Suzie and I were slow risers yesterday, and at about noon decided we'd take a ride down south to Melinda's house. That's where I had my truck registered a few months ago, and she had the title for it there for me to pick up. We also had a cheesy old 1993 calendar that she found at her uncle's house in California that we wanted to give her. It was a donkey calendar with an "ass" theme. Each page had something like "I'll fix his ass..." or "Peddling my ass off..." and things like that. I also wanted to stop into Cabela's on the way and look for a new jacket.

After getting a late start and stopping at Cabela's (I did find a good deal on a quilted shirt/jacket thing), we arrived at Melinda and Danny's house kinda late in the afternoon. We visited with them for a while out in the barn while they were putting all their animals to bed, once again enjoying the friendliness of their miniature donkeys. At that time Melinda suggested we all go out and eat Mexican food at the next town over.

That's where we met Bob.

We were sitting there in Plaza Jalisco in Napvine, Washington with big margaritas in front of us--And not your average margaritas either. I think Melinda called these things "Cadillac" or something. They came mixed like your average margarita, but also included a shot glass with Grand Marnier and a shot glass with more tequila (maybe it was above-average tequila in the shot glass--I didn't ask). You drink the margarita down far enough to pour the other two shots into it and finish it that way. Pretty good!

So it was about that time that Bob ("The name's Bob, with one O..") wandered over. Apparently, every bar or restaurant in the world has a Bob in it. He was an older guy (post retirement). You know--The kind of guy that wears those "puffy" farmer-style baseball cap? Obviously he knew Danny and Melinda, because he bee-lined his way over to them. He said something to them like, "You'll never guess what came in the mail for me." He handed them an envelope and said, "Look at the return address." As he was talking I was looking at his cap. It said something like U.S.S. Constitution on it. As he was saying that to them, the thought of the White House Christmas card popped into my mind, and sure enough that's what it was. They handed it over to me and there it was printed in the upper left corner of the envelope:

The White House

He was very proud of it, and rightly so. He apparently had some sort of military history that put him on the "elite" list with The White House. Yep, you don't often get to see or touch a genuine Christmas card from The White House, signed by the president and his wife.

Especially in beautiful downtown Napavine, Washington... Population 1,449.

A New Toy

Hey, it's Christmas season, and I decided I needed a toy for myself. Okay, it really didn't go quite that way... Actually, I'm not really sure what prompted me to pursue this. I just know the notion of it has been on my mind off and on for some time now.

What did I get? A Dell Axim x50v PDA. Do I need a PDA? Hell no. Up until recent times PDA's were simply devices to keep people organized (after all, it stands for Personal Digital Assistant) when they're on the go. Although I've always loved techie gadgets (who doesn't?), I never could see spending the money on something that was basically a calendar, notepad, and storage device.

Then came wireless.

This unit has built-in wifi. I am able to connect with the internet anywhere there is a wifi "hot spot" using a regular ol' (albeit stripped down for pocket PC) Internet Explorer to surf the web. I also selected this one because the "v" designation means it has a built-in 16-bit graphics card and plays flawless video.


I just got the thing yesterday and still don't know all of it's workings, but it suffices to say that I'm very pleased with it. It was barely over $100 on eBay and the guy even bundled it with a GPS unit. I'll probably end up selling that to recoup part of the price. Besides, I'm a guy and as you all know, we never get lost...

I've been uploading games to it so far and I'm very impressed with it. The graphics are very good. The more I learn about it the more I like it. It also came with a nice metal case to keep it in so I can afford to be klutzy without killing it.

There is one version of this Dell Axim that's above mine, but I couldn't justify the extra price until I had a chance to play with one. From what I understand on the web Dell won't be making them any more. Other companies will of course, but for how long is anybody's guess. The reason being that cell phones have gotten so powerful and full-featured that they are doing almost everything these PDA's do. The touch-screen is showing up on lots of the cell phones now. That's okay because they just keep driving the price of these "obsolete" toys down, down, down.

Like Old Times?

That's what it was like when I stopped at Fred Meyer yesterday and filled up my car's gas tank. It wasn't all that long ago that a fill-up of my little Neon cost me well over $35. It was good to see it on fumes and only cost me $16 to fill it up last night.

Then there is the other side of the coin. We're so used to products having two prices (MSRP and store price) that when we find a store that sells things at full retail it can be a shock. I stopped and bought a filter for Sue's hot tub on the way home from work yesterday at Aqua Quip in Kent. Granted, they are the "only game in town" when it comes to hot tub and spa supplies, but jeez--Full retail?! When every site I found on the web afterwards--And I do mean every site--Has them for less than half of what I paid, they need to wise up and at least split the difference. I hate it when a store "knows" they have some of their customer base by the short hairs when it comes to "I need it now" parts and supplies. The bastids...

Suz was out and about yesterday doing her shopping and stopped by my work so we could have lunch together. That was a nice surprise! Sure, I missed out on my usual 15-minute power nap after eating, but that's okay. She was out buying some ingredients for soup that she made for dinner last night. It was a very interesting soup to be sure, and it was one that I would definitely order again--It was delicious!

So I'm thinking (Sue: "Uh oh--He's thinking...") this morning after I woke up, a Christmas tree or not? I bought one last year for the first time and I'm not sure why. I think part of me missed the old times and wanted to rekindle that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes around this time of year with the lights and music. It wasn't to park presents under--It was for the ambience. They had one priced low at a store last year that came pre-wired with lights and I bought one (I always hated putting the lights on). So, do I put it up? I dunno. Suzie is a witness and therefore doesn't celebrate Christmas, but neither does she mind if I put my tree up I'm sure. I just don't know if it's worth the trouble. My tree is the total extent of my Christmas decor, so that's really all there is to wonder about.

Post Thanksgiving

Wow, it's been a week since I've made a blog post! Usually when I don't post anything for a while it's because nothing much has happened in the way of blog fodder. Not so with this week though.


Let me start with the most important news to me: Suzie's back! She rolled into town in her late uncle Eugene's 2004 Chevy 12-passenger van last night at about 6:30 or so, worn out from the road and ready to relax. It's great to have her back, and she is glad to be back. When you think about it, she's been gone from her family members for a month. It's only been two weeks since I've seen her, but I missed her no less I'm sure. She got to sleep in a bit this morning and she headed towards her home a couple hours ago. As you can see, even Mona missed her ->

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch pretty much. Sarah both went at the same time, but each took our own vehicles because she had to leave earlier. Everybody was enjoying themselves and the ol' man didn't go weird on us. I took over a big container of Costco's brand of mixed nuts, a couple kinds of crackers, and some jalapeno/artichoke dip (also from Costco). A side note: When I stopped into our new local Costco the other night to pick those two items up, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had a self-checkout area. I was out of there in under 15 minutes!
Back to Thanksgiving--Denis brought me the external cd player and floppy drive that goes with the little Dell Latitude laptop that he gave me last summer (the one that is plugged into my living room stereo). The unit is too small to actually have a built-in of either one so they instead provide a little dongle cable so you can plug them each in as needed. As I recall, he couldn't find them back when he gave me the laptop. I ended up staying a little while after everyone left, yakking with my folks. From there I did a quick stop in at Teresa's house to drop off a check for her that I had in my wallet. Her brother was there with his two daughters. Teresa hosted dinner for them and Sarah. From there I dropped in at our old friends Kurt and Noelle and had a few drinks. Seems like a regular Thanksgiving thing to go over there. Teresa even popped in an hour or so after I got there. Kinda weird how the two ex's end up visiting like that...

Did I go out on Black Friday? You bet! I didn't go far though. Just down the street to Office Depot. I bought two 4-gig Compactflash cards (one for me and one for Suz) at a mere $14.99 each. They opened at 6am, so that wasn't much of a stretch for me. From there I dropped in at Fred Meyer and bought two 2-gig Kingston flash drives at $6.99 each (again, one for Suz). Those are the only places I went and the only things I bought. I did, however, spend some time online afterward researching and buying a Christmas present for Sarah. It sure beats going out and fighting crowds for it!

Well, that about puts me back up to speed. Oh wait--I forgot to mention work. They fired Bob on Tuesday. Remember Bob? You can read one of my blurbs about him in my September 18th post. It's been a long time coming, but it's good. He was just causing too many weird problems. The only bad thing about it is that others of us will have to pick up the slack (such as driving). Things should be back to normal this Monday because my supervisor, Bruce, will be back from his vacation in Florida.

I'll give Suzie some time to get re-aquainted with her home and family before I go up there later on. They've got a lot to talk about I'm sure.

What? More Rhyming?

So here we are again: Winter.

Okay, maybe it's not technically winter yet, but believe me, it's cold outside. I was drawn by the sun to be outdoors today, but looks can be deceiving--It looked warm but was not. I guess I should count my lucky stars that I at least avoided the monsoons we had here a couple weeks ago while I was on vacation.

While I was puttering around outside and in my garage, I my mind started wandering and I started pondering things about our holidays. How do we know anything we celebrate actually took place? What if the things we celebrate from way back (back before anyone that's alive today) were just embellishments, folklore, and legends? It kind of makes you wonder. Okay, okay--It makes me wonder. I thought about all the people that go whacko this time of year and commit atrocities that they might not otherwise commit. Things that the lack of sun might have played a part in. Things that were a result of us having to spend so much time indoors. Although I dismissed the thoughts after a while because I realized my strange hypothesis would really only apply to people that live in colder climates, it did prompt me to do a little rhyming:


The November cold is here in force
but the stubborn sun still shines.
Thanksgiving plans are being made
Turkeys, pies, and wines.

I tend to dread this time of year
no skin or skimpy clothes.
Summer is my time of year
As everybody knows.

Although I really must admit
a roaring fire is nice
I just can't stand the long, dark days
or windshields wearing ice.

Sometimes I have to wonder
as we celebrate this time of year
if the reasons for the holidays
are really to induce some cheer.

What if these days we take for granted
are totally a sham
the Turkeys, hams and Christmas lights
are really just a scam?

The dark and dreary winters
can cause us to lose hope
but what if Christmas and Thanksgiving
were designed to help us cope?

Imagine, man-made special days
created just to keep us sane
When people in the North go nuts
Stir-crazy from the cold and rain.

Okay, it's really just a thought
it couldn't be that way
I'm sure if they were both dreamed up
someone, somewhere would say.

So meanwhile, stoke the fire up
or in that hot tub soak
whatever it takes to warm you
be it drink, or food, or joke.


So there you have it. Eat, drink, celebrate--Whatever it takes. Go buy yourself a video and an electric blanket. Summer will be along some day...

Imposed Without Consent

I feel like ranting today. This subject has been on my mind since I went shopping on Saturday after returning from my vacation.

It's about a new kind of milk container.

Maybe some of you haven't seen them yet and maybe some of you have. If you haven't, trust me--You will. It's a massive conspiracy against the American consumer and it's just getting started. Wanna learn how people feel about em? Google it. I was amazed at how hot of a topic it is.

The new jugs are a completely different design, and their sole purpose is to save the shippers and handlers money. Instead of being shipped in plastic crates so they can be stacked, the new design is self-supporting and stackable without plastic crates. That means no empty crates for drivers to keep picking up when they make deliveries, and no empties for grocers to store in the back room. From that point of view, it's great. I like to go for efficiency whenever possible myself. The trouble is, that appears to be their only good feature.

A lot of people do like them because they fit into the doors of their Costco-sized refrigerators better. What don't I like about them? Almost everything:

• The Inner Foil Seal - I unscrewed the cap and encountered a foil seal that was so tightly glued down that I couldn't get it off. It had 4 little "tabs" around its periphery that I thought were designed for me to grab onto. Ha, they were just there to look at--There was no way you could pull that seal off. I even went to the garage and got a pair of pliers to use, but no--The tab just ripped off, leaving the seal untouched. I finally resigned to getting a razor blade and putting a slit through the center of it and carefully tearing it around the edge, finally getting it all off. How is an elderly person supposed to ever get one of those off? Oh, that's right--Elderly people wouldn't ever buy a whole gallon of milk anyway. Believe me, I've encountered a lot of these foil seals on chemical products, and I've never encountered one as tough as this one was--Even on antifreeze!
• Pouring - Okay, here's where it gets ugly. You know how sometimes you get one of those oddball milk cartons that--No matter what you do or how careful you pour it--A dribble of milk always goes down the side? Ditto with this design. It's not a rarity though. From what I read on the web, they all do it. I've tried pouring it from the front, side, and over the top (a trick I learned pouring oil and antifreeze from a full container) and no matter which way I do it, it dribbles down the side.

I have two problems with this imposed design change:

1. We, the consumer, weren't polled, asked, or consulted about features or input. They just told us it was what we were going to get. Did anyone ever think to put some sort of a "V" shape in the opening to aid pouring?
   
2. The design is supposed to save everyone money all the way down the distribution line. Will we see milk prices drop because of it? Hell no.

At least Rod Serling had the decency to utter, "Submitted for your approval..."

Observations of Work and California

I doubt if I even got 3 hours of sleep the night before my first day back at work, and that certainly didn't help any. Had I not had two weeks off I would have called it a horribly rotten day. The fact is, my attitude was kind of in a forgiving mood or something because I never got upset. Things were so messed up that I floundered around for a good hour or so in sort of an "evaluation" mode before I decided I didn't even know where to start. As the day wore on I found my groove and started in. By the time the day ended I had fixed a lot of problems, some of them potentially major. The good part was when Bernie handed me two paychecks.

Suzie and I chatted briefly before I went to bed last night, and she reminded me (or scolded me?) that I hadn't mentioned any of her family members that I had just met in California during the course of my blogging. She's right--Guilty as charged. The fact is, I never really thought much about it--I just assumed she would blog our interactions and stuff.

The first person I met when we showed up at her uncle's place was her sister, Kathy. "They're here! They're here!" I heard her squeal from behind the backyard fence as we got out of the car. Although they looked a lot alike in childhood pictures, she and Suz really didn't resemble each other much at all to me. Kathy is a tiny little thing with a Debra Winger sort of voice--It breaks a bit when she talks.

When I met her mom, I met a lady older than I thought I was meeting. I guess it's because I spent so much time helping Suzie scan old pictures this summer, many of which included her mom. I guess if I would have done the math in my mind I would have expected her mom to be the age she actually is. Does that make sense? I rarely have preconceptions expectations about how someone might be before I meet them, so I guess I never thought about it. The fact is, she is a super lady. I doubt if I have ever met such an even-tempered person in my life. During the course of events taking place in the house during the time I was there, a lot of frustration, anxiety, raising of voices, etc. took place. I never heard her mom raise her voice, get mad, or lose her cool. I very solid lady! As time went on during the week I stayed there, she seemed to enjoy my company more and more. She tended to ramble a lot, and apparently I was a good sounding board. Sometimes she talked incessantly for hours on end. I think she liked the company and really enjoyed having us there. I enjoyed it too. I had my doubts about staying on the couch in a strange house for a week, but it was almost like being home. We made jokes about being slobby, smelling up the bathroom, and all the other stuff that family members do. It was like I was family.

One thing that struck me as funny was one day while all three of them were in the same part of the house and one of them said something and all three of them laughed. They all had the same laugh! I loved it. It reminded me a little of the laugh that Betty Rubble and Wilma Flintstone would do on their cartoon. Very funny. That fact solidified them as related in my mind--No question. Ditto for another thing they all did the exact same: "Whatever." They all 3 have the same way of saying "whatever" that basically sounds the same. It's a combination of, "I'm finished talking and I've said all I'm going to say", and "You're going to do whatever you want anyway, so what the hell are you asking me for?"

I met Kathy's husband Pearce too, but really never got to know him all that well. We stayed at their house twice--Once the first day we were there, and once later in the week. The second time we stayed there I never even saw him. He seemed like a good guy and very hard working. The two of us spent a pretty hot day cutting up a bunch of branches in the front yard and had a good time. He's pretty businesslike and "gets with the program." Their son, Russell was one of the quietest kids I've ever seen, but when you think about it, how many kids actually like to talk to adults, let alone strangers? I don't know how old he is--Maybe 14? 15? He seemed to be a pretty bright kid though.

I think the weirdest thing there was when me, Suzie, Kathy and Pearce, all met Suzie and Kathy's real dad at a restaurant. It was arranged--Not accidental. I saw little resemblance between the girls and him. He was interesting in a strange sort of way. He was kind of quiet, with a dry sense of humor, and spoke very carefully. I think he was more nervous than anyone. The girls loved to pick his brain.

It was a very interesting doorway into the family that is Suzie. Although it's a typical American family nowadays, with multiple spouses and histories, I didn't see anything at all that rattled me. Not that I was expecting... Maybe a "whew" is in order?

I'm Home!

It was a long, boring trip home. Boring because I like to travel with Suzie and she remained behind. Long because, well... It was long. I got home yesterday at about 1pm. It felt good to sleep 12 hours last night--I needed it badly.

I left their house at about 5:30pm on Friday. They are not all that far south of downtown Los Angeles--About 20 miles or a half hour normally. To give you an idea of what a bonehead I was to leave their house at 5:30 on a Friday, at 8pm I was just going past downtown LA. That's pretty bad. I guess the usual Friday LA commute was made much worse by one of the freeways having some overturned hazmat truck or something on it that shut it down completely. At least I made my break. I was going to leave there Saturday morning, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted two nights in my bed before going to work on Monday. I guess I'm fortunate because all the times I drove us all around that area during the week or so I was there things went pretty well. I only had one other time when traffic sorta sucked, and that was just a rush-hour thing too.

Naturally, I was in the dark for the majority of my trip. The sun just started coming up in lower Oregon, but it was no less boring. Almost the whole time I was in that state it was foggy--REAL foggy. It finally cleared up somewhere near Salem I think. I was glad I had the portable mp3 thing going. I plugged in a DVD of my mp3's that I made that was all loose songs, grouped by artist name, and started it at the E's. When I got home it was just into the J's. Pretty handy to have music play for that long without being having to change a disk!

It felt so good to be home. I don't remember the last time I'd had 2 weeks to burn--I really don't. I went to make my coffee pot up before bed last night and stood there puzzled for a moment, wondering what the ratio I use was. I really couldn't remember. Okay, that may have just been a senior moment--I dunno... Fortunately the weather was pretty good here, because I turned my heat completely off and my house was cold. I could have been much colder I'm sure. I was so grubby and dirty that the first thing I did was run a tub and sit down in it. I had been living in flipflops almost the whole time I was there, and wore them for my trip home as well. Considering my feet were almost black on the bottom when I started my trip, it didn't help that I was in the car for another 19 hours in addition to that.

When I felt human again, I drove over to give Sarah the treasure trove of art supplies I got for her from Suzie's uncle Eugene's estate. Being the artist he was, he had a lot of supplies. As a matter of fact, it's too bad Sarah couldn't have had the fun of picking through it in person--She would have had a blast. Some of the things we (thanks to Suzie and her mom for their generousity) gave to her were things she probably wouldn't buy for herself, let alone all at once. For example, a really large, zippered portfolio to transport your artworks around in, a 17" x 24" (pretty big!) clipboard (two clips made onto it) for clipping sketchpads and single sheets onto while you're working, a nice assortment of brushes, a really beautiful folding wooden "kit" containing 144 large pastels (that item was the nicest artist thing in the house!), and several other assorted pads, sketchbooks, and things. She also got a few really nice books. She was very happy with her goodies.

Thanks so very much to Suzie and her mom (mostly her mom) for fixing me up like that. It meant a lot to me to be able to pick several items from the "cream of the crop" that would have added to their garage sale earnings. That was really nice of them.

Things are going very well down there as far as their sale goes. Almost everything has been exposed to the buying populace at this point. Things that we all worried about selling, such as the large, the obscure, the heavy--All sold or are selling. It's been a very good, organized attack at the estate, considering the state everything was in. Kudos for Maggie (Sue's mom) and Suz herself for being the organizers that they are. The legalities and the logistics of liquidating an estate can be very daunting.

Anyway, after I gave Sarah her goodies, I drove up to Suzie's house and unloaded her stuff. Her stuff actually made up the majority of what was in my car by volume. I had to pack the car very carefully to get it all in. The main thing I had of hers was a really nice folding card table set from the 50's (we think). Not only does the table fold (like they all do) but the wooden chairs all fold too! As a matter of fact, when they are unfolded and sitting upright, they look like any other wooden chair. They are real, working pieces of art in their own right. It's a wonder they've survived this long considering how many parts there are making up each one.

I still haven't unpacked everything from my suitcase and all--I'll do that shortly. Laundry is in order--I know that for sure. It was nice having the ability to do laundry while I was staying down there in Lakewood. Today will be a day that hopefully allows me to "sync" myself. Although I feel pretty good physically, I still feel totally discombobulated.

And I miss Suzie. I don't know when she'll be home really, and neither does she. Although we originally thought she'd fly home when this was all done, it's looking at this point like she will rent a car and drive. She has accumulated some artworks that she wants for herself and her kids, in addition to a few other things that she will bring home. That will also give her the ability to visit her friend in San Fransisco on her way home.

Yep, the trip is over. I drove the little red Neon (which performed flawlessly I might add) 3,944 miles, filled up the tank 11 times, and took 1,265 pictures. Yes I'm anal, but aren't stats cool?

Bryce Canyon and More

Boy, a lot has happened since I've blogged last.

We ended up staying in Torrey just as I said we would. We were anxious to see the road that was so highly touted by the folks we talked to on the road the previous day. You know what? Beauty is very subjective. They thought it was the ultimate road for scenery, but almost any highway in Washington State would blow it out of the water. Clearly, the road we were so in awe of the day before was the most beautiful road to us. No question. While the scenery was okay, it wasn't anything amazing. It was really nice as far as the trees went. There was some variety of white tree that I don't know that was everywhere on the mountain we went over. They stood naked and stark against the cold, blue sky and game me several really cool pictures like this:


Another thing that was cool was when 4 wild turkeys ambled across the road in front of us. A little ways farther up the road we saw a group of about 20 more, just hanging out next to the road, enjoying the morning air.


As usual for our day, we still occasionally stopped for a picture here and there as we went, but for the most part we drove pretty steady until we hit Bryce Canyon.

Words or pictures can't begin to describe Bryce Canyon. Like the Grand Canyon, you have to experience it in person. We were fortunate to get there on a beautiful sunny day after a light snowfall the previous night. It was spectacular! We still don't have our pictures uploaded to our pictures site, but here are a few samples so you can see what I'm talking about. Click them for a larger version:



From there it was pretty much non-stop to Las Vegas. We got there just after sundown, and at Suzie's urging, took a detour to the Vegas strip. I don't think there is ever a time when that city isn't under construction. We got lucky and made the right turns so we didn't have too much trouble. We didn't have any luck with a motel though. Based on what I paid for one when I was there with Sarah last year, we weren't in any hurry to find one really--We would have been happy to have driven farther up the highway. After a brief look, that's exactly what we did--We drove to the next exit after Vegas. The exit is called Jean, and it was apparently named for the only thing there--A casino/hotel. Okay, there's also a gas station and something else, but the casino dominates the WHOLE exit. It's called Jean Nevada. We stayed there for $35! We couldn't believe it--Every place we had stayed on this vacation got cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. Anyway, we had a good time there. We hung out and had some drinks in a bar in the casino and made fun of the live act that was singing. The place was huge, gaudy, and flashy. Apparently, it was also a haven for truckers, as there were lots of them parked around the place. Although the place is much bigger than this picture shows, it will give you an idea of how much it looks like an adult theme park:


When we got up the next morning we hit the road bound for Los Angeles. Instead of going to Suzie's sister's house right off the bat, we went directly to her deceased uncle's house where her sister was helping her mom with cleanup. After a great reunion, we followed her sister back up to their house where we stayed the night. They have a cool cabin up in the San Bernardino mountains.

Since that time I've slept on the living room couch here at her uncle's house. I haven't seen this much stuff in one house in any time that I can recall. There are piles, boxes, and all kinds of things heaped everywhere, both inside and out. We have had fantastic weather here (after all, it's SoCal) so I can't complain. I'm actually having a good time doing all this stuff. I think it's the exploration part of it, the "Hey, I wonder what's in here?" sort of thing.

Last night Suzie and I drove up to my son Mark's house in Thousand Oaks. We had a great visit and dinner with them. I got to meet my new grandson, Ethan. He is such a cutie! Both of us were in awe of how much Emma was yakking. She is about 3 ½ years old and talking up a storm, with manners included. I really had a great time with them. We left at Em's bedtime as to not create too much of a deviation from her bedtime schedule. I know how kids are. Besides, Mark had to get up early this morning for a flight to Utah.

So here it is, another beautiful, sunny day in Lakewood, California. Another day of garage sale action, box exploration, compiling Craigslist ads, and all sorts of other related stuff.

It's been a very interesting vacation!

The Scenery Never Stops

Imagine my surprise when I peeked out of our cheap motel this morning and saw an inch of snow on everything! It was pretty cold too, but it was sunny at least. The sun added a nice touch to everything that had a dusting of snow on it. By the time we left an hour later the snow was starting to slide off. It never did really warm up too much all day, but it sure was sunny.

We just settled down for the night here just outside of the little town of Torrey, Utah in a really nice Days Inn. As a matter of fact, it's one of the better places I've ever stayed and it was only $49.50 a night. Things like this sure vary here and there don't they? In some places you can't find anything under a hundred bucks, and when you do it's usually so-so or worse.

We didn't cover a whole lot of ground today, but that was mostly because we kept stopping for pictures. I took 312 pictures today, and as per most of the time we take pictures, I'll probably only keep about 25% of em. There are some of them that are drop-dead gorgeous, and some of them are have lighting issues. Most of the time it's a matter of which side of us the sun is on. My best pictures today probably came from our little detour down to Natural Bridges Park. The third of the three natural bridges we saw was the best. We ended up taking a trail down to the bottom of the bridge and seeing the Owachomo from below. Here's a example (click for bigger pictures):


We spent a lot of time today stopping to take pictures. Lucky for us the roads were practically empty, so we could jam on the brakes and dive for the shoulder of the road with little or no warning when a good photo op presented itself. We could even stop right in the middle of the road and snap off a couple shots if we wanted to. With highways like this, all you have to do is keep an eye on your rear view mirror every now and then. There just wasn't any traffic out there to speak of. Here's what many of today's roads looked like:


We hoped to make it a little farther today, but had a slight change of plans after talking to someone else we met while stopping to take pictures. They told us that we should stay in Torrey tonight and do the road to Escalante in the morning sun hours. Even though we thought we had seen some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, they said, "You ain't seen nothin' yet." We're taking their advice and hope to see some really nice stuff tomorrow. The weather said it should be about 20 degrees when we get up in the morning (high of 45) but clear and/sunny all day.

One of the little scenic roads we turned onto right before stopping here tonight took us into a little nature preserve of sorts, and there were little mule deer running all over. We sat and got picture after picture of them, and only a few feet away. They apparently could care less about humans.

We may or may not be hitting any more natural parks on the way out of Utah, and that choice is just based on time. I think we'd both like to shoot for her sister's house in California tomorrow night. We'll see.

This trip has been a total blast and we are traveling very well together. I love it!

Exploring Another Planet

That's what it felt like during our two days in Moab exploring the Arches National Park. How can you describe something that words or pictures can't really do justice to? To be fair you can't--You have to experience it. It's like the Grand Canyon--You can take the best pictures in the world, but until you see it in person you can't really grasp it. That's what it feels like here in this part of Utah.

Although a perfect day is certainly subject to interpretation in a different way by everyone, one thing is for sure: You sure can't lose by being able to wander wander all day long in shorts and tank tops or t-shirts in November! It ended up being 71 degrees, and it was the perfect day for picture-taking and hiking. During yesterday and today combined, I shot over 500 pictures!

It was so much fun to be able to explore the park with Suzie. Being both an avid hiker and photographer that she is, she was like a kid in a candy store--Always eager to explore and amazed by what she saw. I mean, where else on earth will you find a giant sandstone penis? Here's a shot of it, followed by another one with Suzie in it to show scale:



The Arches National Park is best seen in more than one day. The obvious reason is the time is takes of course, but another not so obvious reason is lighting. There are parts of the park where the scenery comes alive in the morning hours when it's lit by early sun, and there are parts that behave the same way during the afternoon hours. When you hit them during the wrong time of day they can look flat and less interesting in a picture. You can't believe how much of a difference it can make. Some of the hikes take more than an hour or two to see also, so you'll need at least two days to see it all. There are only a hand full of arches that you can see without hiking a trail to see them. Although there are several trails that take you to the coolest places, you can drive through the park without being a bit disappointed. There are lots of turnouts for picture buffs to pull over when that perfect moment of awe will hit you (and it will hit you!)

Suzie and I both agreed that the best was Delicate Arch. It took us an hour to hike the trail to Delicate Arch, and some of it was pretty demanding. When we got there we were treated to a most amazing sight! It's truly something to behold. We got there just before the sun set so we got some pretty dramatic pictures. If that weren't enough, we climbed another ridge (not a recognized trail) and ended up high above the arch on the opposite side from the rest of the crowd. It was a whole different perspective, and they ended up being some of the best pictures we took of the arch! It was also fun to do a Gomer Pyle "hooty-hoot" yell from atop the ridge and listening to the echo.

Suzie never tired of offering to take pictures of a couple whenever she could. Whenever she'd see someone taking a picture of their significant other with scenery in the background, she'd offer to take their picture for them so they could both be in it. She loved doing it and it was never refused.

When our first day finally came to an end, we were treated to this on our way out:


Day two (today) was much the same: Awesome scenery and pictures. One major difference was the weather: It was about 5 degrees cooler, windy, and cloudy instead of sunny. It was still great weather, but we opted for long pants this time. It's probably just as well considering the fact that we encountered quite a bit of blowing sand in hikes though slot canyons. When we finally finished up today, there was only one item we didn't get to see: The Fiery Furnace. It's a place made out of the same amazing sandstone as the rest of the Arches park, but it's more like a giant maze. It's so weird that they won't let anyone in without a permit. They actually encourage people to go on the ranger-led tours so they won't get lost. Because it took 4-5 hours for it, we didn't get to do that.

We checked out of our $62 a night Sleep Inn motel and headed up the road. Here we sit in our ultra plush (not!) $52 a night motel in beautiful downtown Blanding, Utah. We chose this over another motel because it had wireless internet, but the funny thing is, their wireless won't let us log on because they have their settings all wrong. Instead, we're using a wireless signal that comes in from here from somewhere else.

Tomorrow: Back on the road!

Moab!

What a nice trip we had! We drove 14 hours, only stopping for gas and eats. We had great weather (for November 1st). The air was clear almost everywhere we went, and even though it rained much of the time it was very minor. Actually, the rain was kind of enjoyable for a couple of reasons:

• I put new wiper inserts on the car before we left and they worked beautifully
• The light rain only needed medium intermittent wipers to keep rain clear, which was just the right amount to keep any bugs from clogging up the view.

We had all our cool techie gadgets to keep us going. The new portable DVD/mp3 player I bought for the trip worked perfectly. Suz spent half the trip with that thing on her lap, playing with it. At one point she commented on how geeky we were--Having a portable dvd player, three digital cameras, two laptop computers, and two cell phones. Yep, traveling geeks.

We ended up driving straight through to Utah and staying overnight at Suzie’s half-brother’s house with he and his family for the night in Salt Lake City (Lehi actually). When we got there last night she and Mark (her half-brother's name) spent a couple hours swapping stories of relatives they had in common. We slept in sleeping bags on the floor of their rec room. After Suz and Mark had spent a satisfactory bunch of hours again this morning swapping stories and pictures, we shoved off and thanked them for their hospitality. It was weird because Suzie didn't really know anyone any better than I did. It was kinda weird though--They're Mormons. Normally I wouldn't think much of it, but the fact that they don't drink occurred to me last night when Suzie and I polished off a couple beers before bedtime. It was further reinforced this morning when we got up and found they didn't have coffee or a coffee maker. DOH! It was tough... I need my morning coffee. It was also one of the weirdest breakfast meals I've ever seen. Vanilla ice cream, homemade "applesauce" (more like apple pie filling if you ask me), cool whip, and biscuits. Very unusual. His wife works late and the ice cream/apple stuff was also their dinner when she got home last night at 11:00. Again--Weird...

I had my doubts about the weather this morning when we got up at their house. It was rainy and windy and cold. When we turned off the main road and headed towards our Moab, Utah destination, the weather got better and better.

We took a bunch of pictures on the road between Interstate 15 and Moab where we're currently sitting. We encountered tons of very dramatic lighting conditions. It was the kind of weather that had intermittent rain squalls, so every now and then there were some pretty cool cloud formations too. At one point I took us off the road onto a dirt road and we headed away from the highway and across the valley. It was a lot of fun and we got some very good pictures during that side trip. Here's a shot we took while we were out there:


We are going to have tons of pictures put up on our SmugMug picture site, that's for sure, but probably not until after we're back home.

We checked into a motel here in Moab (the same one Sarah and I stayed at last summer) at about 5pm. We're going to stay here two nights as we're planning an awful lot of hiking/photo outings in this area in the next two days. For those of you stuck in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, eat your heart out--Here's tomorrow's forcast for Moab:

It's a Go!

Looks like I'm taking 2 weeks off and hitting the road with Suzie!

This is exciting on multiple levels--The first of which is the fact that I'm getting two weeks off all at once. I don't think I've taken a two-week vacation since I was in the Air Force. I love driving trips, and the fact that it's an adults only driving trip makes it more exciting. I don't mean it's going to be nasty--I just mean we don't have to consider "kid's stuff" along the way. It's also the first "real" trip I've taken with Suzie. The bike trips are trips, but they were just short ones, staying within this state. This is different.

We went to WallyWorld last night and I bought us an electronic device for the trip: A portable DVD player. Why? To play music of course! The guy getting it out of the case was trying to encourage me to spring for the one with a slightly bigger screen but I declined. I told him I wasn't buying it to watch movies--That was just a bonus--I was buying it because this one plays mp3's. I - excuse me, what was I thinking? I mean WE have tons of music and want to be able to have a portable mp3 playing device. I know that most car systems you buy nowadays will play them, but not my 14-year-old-no-frills Neon. This way I've got a multi-use device that I can use most anywhere I want to, and it was under $100. There I go again, I mean WE have a multi-use device that WE can use most anywhere WE want to. (Sheesh, I wish I'd stop doing that "I" thing!) We're using an interface that will plug it into my existing car sound system (such as it is).

Lotsa planning to do!

My Turn to Catch Up

A lot has been happening lately, and that along with my not feeling like blogging when I do have time has created for quite a backlog of news items. Well, news in my little world anyway. I don't know where to start...

Suzie and I have been sort of planning a 2-week road trip. Not much planning really, but we're hoping to do a similar loop around to what I did with Sarah a while back--Down to Utah and over to LA and back up. The difference will be that we want to spend some more time in lower Utah than I did when I was there. There are opportunities for photos galore down there so we should probably take our hiking boots too. We are going to be seeing relatives on both sides during our trip, but the majority of our "family visits" will most likely be at the home of her recently deceased uncle. Her parents are both there cleaning things up and settling his estate details, and because they live in Kauai, it's a good opportunity to see them along with everyone else while they're here.

Our trip really hinges on whether or not I actually get two weeks of vacation. Apparently, it's not exactly a widespread practice for the bosses to grant two consecutive weeks, nor do I actually have two weeks to take. It's kinda weird working for a place where vacation is negotiated, but I am a good worker and don't think I'll be denied. I need to find out today--Time is too short. The fact that I haven't received a NO is a good sign.

We went out last weekend taking pictures of Sarah for her senior pictures. Sue is good with photography, and between the two of us we took a couple hundred pictures of her in various settings, most of which were taking advantage of fall leaves and colors in our area. We'll be going out again too--Just not sure when yet.

It occurred to me the other day that I need to change my voting schedule if we're going to be out of town during the big upcoming election. I got online and found the closest place to pick up an absentee ballot and did so yesterday. I have to say, it's pretty handy to sit at the table poring over the voter's guide and filling in the little circles at your leisure while drinking a beer. It's like having the answers to a school test as you're doing it. I may have to make the absentee ballot thing el permanente. I like it when things are streamlined and easy whenever possible.

My new truck has been going fine. I've used it for a truck once already--Helping Teresa's dad move some furniture from his house to Teresa's. That netted me $60 for my trouble. He has been living with his girlfriend (same gated community) and has had his house for sale for a little while now, but needed to get these last few things out of there.

I got rid of both items that came on my truck that I didn't want. I got $60 for the aluminum diamond-plate toolbox in the back, and $20 for the CB radio and antenna that I didn't want. That's almost like getting my truck for a thousand instead of eleven hundred isn't it? I ordered a new driver's side window regulator (that's what cranks the window up and down) the other day and that will be here in a couple days. That's really the only thing that needed to be fixed right off the bat. I also did a little buying locally from a guy that had some used parts for sale, and bought a like-new windshield and a couple of door mirrors. My existing windshield is cracked and leaks in the corners (pretty commonplace for these trucks), and the door mirrors are some kind of cheesy, aftermarket things.

Things are slow at work, but still moving. This area relies hugely on Boeing, and when the Boeing machinists are on strike it affects the whole area. Our company is lucky though because we're more diverse than most local manufacturing companies. We do much more than just aerospace products. A lot of the drivers that stop by our place every day to pick up or drop off parts that they paint or heat treat for us have told us that we're one of the only places they're even stopping at recently. There are massive layoffs in our area--Partly due to economic downturns and ripple effects, but probably mostly due to the Boeing strikers.

At least gas prices are down... It looks like a good time for a road trip!