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A Perfect Score . . .

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I went into work today, since I didn’t work last Wednesday and won’t be working this Wednesday, just to be sure I didn’t fall behind on repairs and other things.

* * * * *

Although it’s hindsight, I was happy to see that the Jewel Of The Seas, our recent cruise ship, was one of five RCL ships that got a Perfect Sanitation Score from the CDC.

And with the largest cruise ships holding over 7500 passengers, cruise insiders are now looking at ships carrying over 10,000 passengers in the next decade or so.

I was telling Jan a while back that a few years back a marine architect must have had a thought.

“Why don’t I build the largest cruise ship in the world, and then put an amusement park on top of it.”

And he did!

* * * * *

Finally got a call from my neurosurgeon’s office today, setting up my Lumbar Fusion surgery’s follow-up appointment for Thursday week, January 9th. And since the appointment is with his P.A., I’m hoping that means that there were no complications and I will be released from my restrictions on how much I can lift, and whether or not I can take Advil again.

* * * * *

Tomorrow night we will begin our wild New Year’s Eve night of revelry and frivolity with dinner at Saltgrass Steakhouse at 5pm.

And then home. That’s about it for us.

We’re old. What can I say.


Thought For The Day:

Notice Anything Strange About This Photo?

It’s a real photo, taken on a cellphone, and is not PhotoShopped or manipulated in any way.

So how are her arms in 3 different positions?

It’s because of the way a cellphone takes a photo. It doesn’t just take an entire photo at one time like a film camera.

Instead it scans the scene from left to right, stacking frames on top of each other, especially in less than optimum light. So you can end up with a photo like this.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


December 30, 2010

Stegosaurs and Yummy Fingers . . .

Jan’s foot is doing a lot better today. It’s still sore, but at least she can walk on it without too much pain.

Since Jan’s heel was better we rescheduled last night’s dinner for tonight. And since Brandi gets off early today, we were able to make it for 5:00 to hopefully beat the crowds.

The weather wasn’t much better today, so I didn’t get anything else done on the wheel well flanges. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little better.

I went out for an hour or so this afternoon to check in on a client and then drop some stuff off at the storeroom.

Brandi sent over this photo of Landon checking out his yummy fingers.

Landon Yummy Hand

Love the Stegosaurus shirt and the camo pants. And he’s got my hairline too. That’s my boy!

We left the rig about 4:30 to redo our missed dinner last night at Pappasito’s Cantina.

We had a great time and a great meal. It was our first time to see Landon, et. al. since they came back from Oklahoma over Christmas.

Even got a good Landon pic of my own.

Landon Pappasitos

We got back home about 6:30 just ahead of more rain.

Tomorrow I’m going to take Jan over to Brandi’s to Landon-sit while she and Lowell work on putting down laminate flooring in the master bedroom. I’ll run errands and then come back to the rig and work on stuff around here.


December 30, 2011

AT&T Merry-Go-Round . . .

This morning Jan and I headed out about 11:15am to meet Brandi and Lowell at the Texas Tea Room. Landon was at daycare so Jan and Brandi were going to have a girl’s day out and do some shopping, while Lowell had joined us from work and would be going back.

At the same time, I was going back to the same two clients as yesterday. The first one was to make a final decision on the new computers, and the second was to get back with AT&T on converting that client’s static IP DSL account to dynamic IP’s. And this time I had the paperwork to hopefully get the problem resolved.

And get it resolved I did it

Maybe

But to get this far I had to get on the AT&T Merry-Go-Round.

Twice.

Yesterday I started out with DSL Tech Support, moved through DSL Residential Sales, and then segued into DSL Business Sales, why I don’t know? But without the needed paperwork, there was where I stalled out.

So today I started back in Business Sales. But after going round and round there, I ended up back in Residential Sales, where, after 25 minutes of them going back and forth between themselves, they decided that they couldn’t make the change in that department. So they transferred me to U-verse Internet Services.

Huh! They don’t have U-verse. Just DSL. So after finally convincing them of this, it was back to Business Sales.

Who then sent me back to DSL Tech Support.

Where’s Malcolm when I need him?

But finally after going round and round in Tech Support, I found someone who could take care of the problem.

Well, at least they could schedule it to be done.

On Wednesday, January 4th by 5pm.

And I have an Order Number to boot.

So now I’ll just wait till Wednesday afternoon and go by the house and check it out.

And probably have to start back over again.

We’ll see.

Finally about 3:30 I headed back over to Brandi’s to pick up Jan, but they were playing on the computer, so it was about 5pm before we headed home.

Along the way we decided to have dinner at Floyd’s Cajun Seafood, our favorite local Cajun place.

We started off with a dozen raw oysters, one of Floyd’s specialties. And when you order a dozen, you get 13. And these were really big, too.

Raw Oysters

Jan and I followed up our oysters with steaming bowls of delicious Shrimp Gumbo, pretty much the best in the area. The one place that’s equal is Mulate’s in Breaux Bridge, LA (now Pont Breaux)

After a great meal we headed home, and on the way I made a call on my Garmin GPS.

Yes, my GPS. My new Garmin has Bluetooth and that makes it really easy to do hands-free calls.

Tomorrow we’re going back over to Brandi’s a little before 2pm to babysit Landon so she and Lowell can spend New Year’s Eve up in Katy with her BFF, Shawna, and her family. They’ll spend the night and be back sometime Sunday.

We will have our hands full. And by ‘We’, I mean Jan.


December 30, 2012

Still Nothing from Antarctica . . .

Well, we did it!

We pretty much did absolutely nothing again today. We didn’t even leave the rig. Nice!

This was fine with me as I’ve been fighting off a low-level cold for the last few days. Just nasal congestion, no cough, no sore throat, nothing else. And for feeling under the weather, what could be better than chicken soup?

Well, Chicken Tortilla Soup, anyway. I shredded a couple of the chicken breasts I had poached a few days ago, and put them in the slow cooker along with some of the liquid from the poaching, and another container of chicken stock. After it started getting warm, I added containers of Monterey’s salsa and Pico de Gallo, along with some extra cilantro.

Then it was off for a very nice nap. It’s been a cold, dreary day here. I don’t think it even got out of the 40’s. Cold, but just perfect for a good nap.

Up a little after 4 pm, I dished out the soup, added some shredded Monterey Jack cheese and crumbled tortilla chips, and we sat down to some delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Later, Jan made some fantastic Baked Kale by taking fresh kale, spraying it lightly with olive oil, sprinkling it with salt, and then baking it in the convection for about 10 minutes. It comes out crispy, crunchy, and delicious.

Try it.

I got my yearly blog report from WordPress today and it was a real eye-opener.

In 2010 we had 56,000 visitors to the blog. And last year we had 133,000.

But this year we jumped to 174,000 visitors with them coming from 144 different countries.

And still no one from Antarctica. I had visitors from the other six continents, just not Antarctica. I keep hoping that someone down there at one of the research stations would check in sometime. Just once, OK?

For some reason I had only 147 visitors from Mexico, but 233 from Brazil. And 2 from China and 1 from Nepal.  Nepal?

We also had 62 from South Korea, but 0 from North Korea.

Hey, just because your country is an oppressive dictatorship, doesn’t mean you can’t check in once in a while.


December 30, 2013

No Better, But No Worse . . .

Brandi sent over this photo of the final wrap-up of Landon’s Christmas. Originally Lowell, Brandi, and Landon were going up to see Lowell’s parents in Oklahoma the day after Christmas, and Santa had left Landon’s Hug Me Elmo there waiting for him. But plans changed so Grannie and Papa sent it down here to him

Landon and Elmo

Looks like they’re going to be inseparable.


And while I’m on family photos, here’s one of Zoe Nadeau, our daughter Brandi’s husband Lowell’s sister’s daughter’s daughter.

Hope you got that. There’ll be a short quiz afterward.

Zoe Nadeau 8

Jan’s still under the weather, but not really worse. She still has the sore throat, but it doesn’t seem to have gone any further yet.  But just to be sure, if her throat isn’t any better by tomorrow, I’ll take her to the Dr. to have it checked out.

About 3 PM I headed out for some Chloraseptic Throat Spray from Kroger’s and a big batch of Chicken Tortilla Soup from Monterey’s Little Mexico.

Chicken Soup is good for a cold, right? Even if it does have tortilla strips and jalapenos in it, too?

Jan says the Chloraseptic Spray seems to help so we’ll see about tomorrow.

The temp never got out of the 40’s today, with 30’s set for tonight. And it looks like it will stay that way for the next week or so.


Later this afternoon Jan and I were watching one of those Mega RV Shows and saw this one.

It’s called the Decoliner, and has been described as what Flash Gordon uses on his vacations.

good

Although it looks like it was built in the 30’s, it’s a recent Randy Grubb creation. Handcrafted from aluminum, and built on a 1973 GMC Motorhome chassis, combined with a 1950 White Truck cab, it has that full-on Art Deco look.

Decoliner 2

And, yes, it can be driven from inside the cab, or from the flying bridge up top.

Decoliner 3

good

Here’s a short video that explains more about it, including how the remote steering works. Sure wouldn’t want to be driving it up top and hit a bump and have that telescoping link come loose.

And it can be yours for only $500,000.

Got some good news from Amazon on the Kindle Paperwhite I recently ordered. Originally they said I would not receive it until the week of Jan 6-10. But now it should be here Saturday the 4th.

And it’s now shown up in my Kindle device list on Amazon so I can already send books to it, even before I receive it.   Neat!


December 30, 2014

Out of Luck . . .

After not getting to bed until about 2:30 this morning, I creaked out of bed around 10am. ‘Creak’ being the operative word. I haven’t been this sore in a long time.

Between leaning over the compartment under the bed and getting up and down a lot as I worked on the transfer switch install, and then lifting out the old Source Manager unit, my back may never be the same.

But once I was up and about, I started back in on my chore list. First up was to replace the leaking hose of our kitchen pull-out faucet nozzle. But I quickly hit a snag.

The universal hose replacement kit that I bought at Lowe’s the other day did not have an adapter that fits my nozzle. But that may be because the package of adapters looked like it had been opened already. Whatever the reason, this hose wasn’t going to work. So back to Lowe’s it goes.

Next up, I wanted to finish up the power converter install under the bed. But that didn’t work out either. I discovered I had forgotten that I needed to add a 120volt outlet underneath there to plug the power converter into. So more parts are needed.

So now it was on to project number 3, replacing the bathroom faucet. I had the faucet so I was ready to go.

Until I tried to get down on the floor and found my knees wouldn’t bend for that. Oh, well. There’s later for that.

So I was off to Home Depot for parts and to get a new hose kit. Getting there I found they had the same hose kit as Lowe’s, and this one didn’t look like it had been opened. So I got that one as well as the electrical parts I needed. I’ll take the other hose back to Lowe’s later in the week.

Getting back home, I saw this 5ver driving around looking for a site. Really nice setup.

Neat 5th Wheel

Getting out the hose kit, I found I was still out of luck. There was no adapter in the kit that would fit my nozzle. The faucet is an American-Standard, but I guess it’s not standard enough. So now both of them have to go back, I guess. And it’s back to the drawing board for the hose.

As far as the electrical stuff, it was getting late in the day, and I would have to turn off the power, so that can wait also. There’s always tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, I’m going down about 10:30 to get Jan and we’ll spend the afternoon with Landon before we come home tomorrow night. We had originally planned to spend the night there at Brandi’s, but that’s changed, so we’ll be coming home.


December 30, 2015

Repairs – Updated and Upcoming . . .

With 54° and not a lot of wind, we were able to do our 1.04 mile walk this morning without getting rained on. And this time, since we were doing the same 1 mile route, we worked at increasing our speed, dropping from a little over 31 minutes per mile to today’s 27:45 minutes per mile.

On our walk we noticed that the park is much fuller than we’ve seen it recently, with few openings. Guess a lot of people are back on the road after the holidays.

I had started the coffee right before we left, so when we got back I toasted up our pumpkin/lemon bread and we sat outside for a while, the first time in a good while that the weather had been nice enough.

Later I worked on a couple of chores, and planned on a few more. When I was at Lowe’s yesterday getting the longer screws and White Oak Pickling Stain for Jan’s “Oh Sh?t Handle”, I also checked out plumbing access panels to cover up the holes that I had to make in the bedroom wall behind my shower when I was repairing the leak.

I was looking for just a plain plastic cover, but all I’ve found so far are ones that have an access door as part of the cover.

Plumbing Access Cover

Since I don’t plan to open the panel any time soon, I’d just as soon not pay the extra money for a door, especially since if I do need to get in, I can just take out the 4 screws.

I’ve checked Lowes and Home Depot online, as well as Amazon and Google without luck. So next I’ll check out that really good hardware store in Columbus when we’re back there next week.

As an update, all of my recent plumbing repairs, i.e. the toilet ball and seal replacement, the lavatory faucet replacement, and the repairing of the shower leak, all seem to be holding up with no further problems.

You can relive my plumbing repair saga here

https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/12/almost-finished/

https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/12/like-butter/

https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/12/found-it-2/

Coming up next, I’ve got another electronic repair to take care of, this time replacing the cracked glass screen on my son Chris’ Galaxy S5 phone.

My last electronic repair, about 2 months ago while we were still on the gate, was to replace the charger port on my ASUS laptop. You can revisit that one here.

https://ourrvadventures.com/2015/10/not-even-for-special-occasions/

But this repair has a booby-trap attached. If I’m successful, the repair will only cost about $10, which is the cost of this repair kit.

Galaxy S5 Glass Kit

Front Outer Glass Lens Screen Replacement For Samsung Galaxy S5 + Adhesive Tape + Tools Kit

But the glass screen is glued to the LED/Digitizer screen and has to be VERY carefully separated, using a heat gun/hair dryer and an infrared thermometer to monitor the temp as you go.

But if I’m not successful, and break the LED screen, the new glass screen/LED/Digitizer kit is about $150. So I’m going to be VERY, VERY careful.

You can check out the upcoming repair sequence here.

I’ll pick up Chris’ phone on Friday when we’re down in the Clear Lake area on Friday, and then try to get it back to him on Monday or Tuesday when we’re back at Colorado River TT.

He’s borrowed a phone from a friend and will transfer his number to it for a couple of days so he won’t be without one.

Tomorrow we’ll walk again, as long as the weather holds. Should be OK but you never know.

As far as tomorrow night, we’ll probably eat out, but early to avoid all the celebration fun and games.


December 30, 2016

Now We Know . . .

Tonight will be my 2nd night here at this new gate. Last night I texted Todd to ask if this new one was a TFN (Till Further Notice) gate or a one-night stand. He texted me back, “TFN”.

Of course the gate I was on Monday and Tuesday was also TFN, and it only lasted two days. So we’ll see after tonight I guess.

One thing this two-day (so far) gate has in common with the last two-day gate is that the cell service just plain sucks. Sucks, as in just plain doesn’t work. Text is OK, and both the 3G on my AirCard and 4G on my S5 phone are usable. But I can’t make or receive phone calls at all here.

At the other gate I couldn’t make a phone call from inside the shack (it has sheet steel walls) but I could go outside and get a connection. But here, nothing.

If I had my ladder here I guess I could climb up on the roof and hold my phone up in the air like Robin Williams in ‘RV’. But then with my luck trucks would start rolling in.

But I was confused at first when I got to this new gate and had the same problems as before. The two gates are off different roads heading out in different directions from Kenedy. But when you look on a map the gates are only about 5 miles apart as the buzzard flies. (why is it always crows? Give some other animal a chance.) So we’re probably still on the same tower.

Another thing different about this is that when you make a call, all you get is silence. No ringing, no noise. And then after about 15 seconds it just disconnects. And it’s the same on incoming calls too. Jan said that when she tried to call me yesterday, it was just dead silence on her end, no ringing, and it never went to voice mail.

Hopefully they’ll get it fixed soon, or I’ll get a new gate, with the ‘new gate’ probably the most likely.

I had hoped to have some dashcam footage for you from our trip to San Antonio this past Wednesday. As we were coming north on US 281 approaching the Alamodome and the Tower of the Americas, I was in the second from the right lane. A lady in an SUV in the far right lane was slowly passing me (I was doing the speed limit). When she got where her rear door was about even with my front bumper, she just started coming over.

Now it wasn’t like her lane was ending or it was an Exit Only, she apparently just wanted to be where I was. I couldn’t move over because I had someone coming up on my left, so I slowed down slightly and leaned on the horn, really wishing that I had the rig’s air horns onboard.

She never even flinched, never jerked the wheel, or even looked around. She just kept coming.

Finally I had to stand on the brakes for a couple of seconds to let her in front of me. She was so close that I could see nothing lower than the bottom of her rear window, probably only a inch or so separation.

Yikes!

But when I eagerly checked my dashcam footage the next day, it wasn’t there. Or that time period wasn’t, anyway.

My dashcam is set to record in 3 minute seamless segments. If you make the segments longer, you can end up with files sizes that are just too big to handle for editing. As it is a 3 minute segment of HD video is about 50 MB.

So the last segment I had was us getting back onto 281 about 16:30, maybe 8-10 minutes before the incident. Then it picks up about 20:20 just as we’re leaving the movie theater. And looking at the file timestamps, there are no other files missing.

So the only thing I can figure out is . . . that I’ve been hacked . . . by the Russians, of course. Who else could it be?

So who can I expel?

I figure that I wasn’t supposed to see the lady in the SUV, who’s actually a top-secret Russian spy. So they had to erase all evidence of her existence, including my dashcam.

Yeah, that’s the ticket. Or at least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Otherwise I have no idea why those, and only those, particular files vanished.

On another note, one thing I’ve noticed at the last two theaters we’ve been in San Antonio is that the individual theaters in the complex no longer tell you what’s showing inside. They just have the theater number that corresponds to the number on your ticket.

I guess this is to keep kids from buying a ticket for ‘Finding Nemo’ and then sneaking into an R-rated movie, and to keep people from migrating from movie to movie. Otherwise they could get accidently stuck in ‘Sponge Bob SquarePants’.

That movie was so bad that all three of us fell asleep, me, Jan, AND Landon.

On the Food Front, Jan made up a big batch of her super hot & spicy chili this past Monday, but with everything going on, today was the first chance to try it. And believe me, it aged well.

It’s always a good sign if my nose starts running and the top of my head starts sweating. And this was a VERY good batch.

Yesterday we had our Magic Time Machine leftovers as steak sandwiches using the bread they gave us with the meal, as well as the rest of our baked potato that Jan fleshes out with more sour cream and fixing’s.

Magic Time Machine Leftovers

Just about as good as the original.

Brandi sent over this pic of Landon on Christmas morning.

Landon Christmas 2016

He looks like he could be one of Santa’s elves himself.

FLASH UPDATE:

It’s official. Now we know that TFN apparently means TWO days. Todd just texted me that I’m off tomorrow and then Sunday back at the same gate I was at the first two days this week. The ‘other’ gate with the bad cell service.

And the rattlesnakes.

Yay!

So it looks like Jan and I will now get to do all our wild partying on New Year’s Eve.


December 30, 2017

Self Diagnosing . . .

I’ve mentioned the health problems I’ve been having the last couple of weeks, actually the last 10 days.

It started in the early morning of December 21st when sometime during the night I rolled over and experienced a short burst of vertigo. But I didn’t really remember it until the next morning when I set up on the side of the bed and suddenly thought I was on a carnival Tilt-A-Whirl. And I like the Tilt-A-Whirl.

I was suddenly so dizzy I couldn’t even stand up without falling off to the side. but the real problem was the nausea and urge to vomit. I’ve never been seasick or airsick so this was new to me.

By holding onto the wall and door I was able to make it to the bathroom and then out to the living room to talk to Jan, The problem with getting sick today was this was the day for our Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at 3:30. And at that point I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to go, much less drive.

Going back to bed I did check my blood pressure which was 128 over 88, so I was sure that it wasn’t a blood pressure problem. And later in the afternoon the vertigo was gone, but I still felt kind of blah, but well enough to go to the concert.

Then this past Wednesday it hit again, but not as bad, and with no nausea, but still didn’t feel well enough to go in to work. And again, by the next day it was pretty much gone.

So now I want to know what the heck this was. And a little Googling pretty much nailed it.  I have BPPV, or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.

Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) may include:

  • Dizziness
  • A sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving (vertigo)
  • A loss of balance or unsteadiness
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • My symptoms to a ‘T’’

    The problem is caused by small particles breaking loose in the inner ear and then drifting into the semicircular canals, which usually happens while you’re lying down. It’s fairly common with about 200,000 new cases a year.

    The fix is a series of ‘canalith repositioning’ exercises done three times a day. Hopefully this will help. I’ll let you know.

    BTW if you want your own Tilt-A-Whirl, you can go here and get one for only about $250,000, complete with low-boy transport trailer.

    Tomorrow Jan and I are heading up to Brandi’s for lunch and also to drop off Jan so she can Landon-sit for a couple of days. I’ll drive back up on Tuesday to pick her up, so Karma and I will be batching for a couple of days. Hopefully we’ll survive.

    I played around with my new Alexa Wand some more this afternoon, finally ordering something through it, hopefully getting my $20 rebate doing it.

    In the latest Global Warming news, Niagara Falls is frozen over,

    Canada Deep Freeze

    and parts of the US are colder than the surface of Mars.


    December 30, 2019

    Steak Delayed?

    Our original plan for New Year’s Eve was for Jan and I to have dinner about 4pm at Saltgrass, and then head on over to the office a little after 5 so I can close out the month and the year on the Point of Sale program, and then after copying all the data off, I’ll replace Jennifer’s Win7 computer with a new Win10 model. Then I’ll copy all the needed data over to the new one.

    But Jan seems to have contracted the ‘cold’ or whatever that I’ve been fighting off, she’s reluctant to waste a Saltgrass steak dinner when she’s under the weather. So right now the whole dinner thing is up in the air. Otherwise it might be lunch at Yummy Yummy’s. We’ll see.

    Then Jan and I will try to stay awake long enough to see the Ball Drop in Times Square. And that’s at 11pm here. Heaven forbid, we should try to actually make it to midnight.

    One of Jan’s favorite gifts this Christmas was this heavy bag that Brandi gave her.

     

    The really special thing about it is the artwork on the side. It’s actually an original drawing done by our grandson, Landon.

    Jan's Landon's Artwork Bag 2

    It’s not traced, or copied. It’s completely original and done from scratch.

    Wrapping up, I think Lowell enjoyed holding Jack in his lap when he was a lot smaller.

    Lowell and Jack


    December 30, 2020

    Happy New Year’s Eve Eve . . .

    New Year

    Not much blog today since we’re leaving so early tomorrow for Fredericksburg. And the weather just keeps getting better and better.

    Tomorrow there it supposed to be 37 and 28, with a 100% chance of rain. What’s kind of funny though, is that there’s no mention of snow at all. At least on the weather channel forecast.

    But Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Kingsland look nice. Sunny with 50’s in the daytime and 30’s at night. And NO rain. So sitting out around the firepit making S’mores should be nice.

    Really looking forward to it.


    December 30, 2021

    Not Much . . .

    Since I was a little under the weather today, it was just a quick out and back this afternoon.

    First was our Ultimate Omelets at Denny’s for lunch.

    Denny's Ultimate Omelet 20211230

    Then a stop at Sam’s Club for a few things, and then home.


    December 30, 2022

    Over 350,000 . . .

    JetPack/WordPress just sent over the year-end stats for our website, and we had over 350,00 viewers this past year, from 75 countries. Countries that include China, Ukraine, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea, for just a few.

    And these countries cover six of the seven continents, leaving only Antarctica without a visitor. But our long-time friend Chris LaClaire is taking a cruise down to that area later in 2023, so hopefully she will be able to visit our website and give us that last holdout.

    So, thanks guys for all your support!

    Tomorrow afternoon, at 5pm, Jan and I are celebrating New Year’s Eve by having dinner at our local Saltgrass Steakhouse, and who knows, we might even have an alcoholic beverage. Or at least split one.

    Then, since it’s the end of the month AND the end of the year, I’ll stop off at the office to close out the books, and hopefully start up the 180+ MB download of the 2023 version of the UPS software.


    December 30, 2023

    Over 500,000!

    Up from last year’s over 350,000 visitors to our blog last year, this year’s total was a little over 500,000.

    WOW!

    They were from 86 countries, including Hong Kong, Brazil, China, Ukraine?, Russia, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, and a bunch more. But still nothing from North Korea or Antarctica.

    Come on, North Korea. Just because you live in a tyrannical dictatorship doesn’t mean you can’t drop by and say Hi once in a while.

    And Antarctica is the only continent we haven’t heard from. I know it’s cold down there, but I know you’ve got Internet.

    A lady in Florida is suing The Hershey Company for “false and deceptive advertising”. She wants over $5 million because ‘she bought a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins for about $4.49 in October’ and they didn’t have a face on them.

    I’m sorry, but who just looks at a Reese’s Peanut Butter anything for long enough to notice it doesn’t have a face?

    But Kelly thought the chocolates “contained a cute looking carving of a pumpkin’s mouth and eyes as pictured on the product packaging,” but she did not find any “artistic carvings” when she opened the wrappings, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

    “Reese’s what are you doing! Look at the picture on the packet. It’s like a pumpkin with faces and a little mouth — then you open up the packet and you are presented with that monstrosity,” one YouTuber said.

    So she’s upset that her Peanut Butter Pumpkin didn’t have a face on it. So how long was she going to stare at the face before she ate it?

    And she’s going to be sorely disappointed when the pumpkins she grows from these seeds don’t come pre-carved. And with a hat.

    And don’t even get her started about where Moon Pies really come from.

    Jan wants more Turkey & Dressing so we’re having lunch at Kelley’s Country Cooking once again, which location to be determined later. Then afterward we’ll stop off at the office to close out the month and the year on our bookkeeping software. Normally I would just do it from home by remoting in, but when I double-checked today, I couldn’t get into that computer. I can remote into the other two, but not that one. Don’t know if it’s off-line, or just off.

    Guess I’ll find out tomorrow.

    Finishing up, here’s a neat video showing closeup videos of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 landings.

    Lunch today was Monterey’s Little Mexico, then moving on to Wal-Mart, and then finishing up with Caramel Mocha Lattes and the P.O.

    A Nice Day.

     

     

     

     

Dodged A Bullet . . .

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It was sprinkling a little bit when we loaded up the presents yesterday morning for the hour trip up to Brandi’s, and it never got any heavier along the way.

But it certainly did all around us, with tornados touching down all around us down in our area.

Lowell said that bad storms/tornados were roaming all over, both down in our area, and up in the Katy area as well.

Turns out that one touched down over in the Manvel area that led to a fatality.

Our friend Maria called to see if we were OK, since she knew the bad weather was around our area, but I told her that we were up in Katy and that I had just checked the rig and the power was on, and since all the temperature sensors from the rig, fridge, and freezer were reporting correctly, I assumed the rig was still upright.

But we not only had a lot of bad weather down here, but also up in Athens, Alabama, my old hometown, and where I still have relatives.

The downtown area around the courthouse was hit pretty hard.

The damage looks pretty bad, but I don’t know about injuries or fatalities.

Today was our usual Denny’s/HEB experience, the only difference being that Angie wasn’t there today, so her daughter Susi waited on us.

Then coming home, we made a swing by our local McDonald’s for a trio of McRib’s to have next week.

Yummm!

This evening Jan and I watched the first two episodes of Landman, the new Billy Bob Thornton show on Paramount+, about the west Texas (think Midland/Odessa) Oil ‘Bidness’.

A really good show, especially since it reminds Jan and I of our gate-guarding forays down in south and east Texas.


Thought For The Day:

“Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.” ― Christopher Hitchens

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


December 29, 2010

Bless You, My Children . . .

Well, it looks like Jan inherited my foot problems from last week after my foot got better. She woke up this morning with a very painful left heel that made it hard to walk. She also used words I didn’t know she knew. If we had a Swear Word Jar she would have been down all her bingo money and then some.

It seemed to improve somewhat during the day after she took a bunch of Advil and used our Dr. Scholl’s Foot Bath, which usually helps me, too.

FootBath

Since the left heel was hotter than the right one, it’s probably gout, which Jan gets occasionally, but certainly a lot less than I do. Hopefully, it won’t last too long.

Any hope of getting more things done around the rig was finished off by the heavy rains and wind we had almost all day. But I did manage a trip down to Kemah Hardware and found the stainless steel hardware I need to mount my new wheel well flanges.

But it will have to wait until tomorrow.


That’s Father Greg to you…

Later in the day, Jan was watching Tori & Dean – Home Sweet Hollywood, where Tori Spelling was going to perform a wedding, and to be able to officiate, she got her ordination online. This sounded interesting so I thought I’d check it out.

Five minutes later I was an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church and able to perform legal weddings.

Who knew?

Now I guess all I need to do is to order my Ministry in a Box kit, and I’ll be ready to go.

ULC Ordination

Since this church is also a Monastery, maybe I’m now a Monk too. I’ll have to check that out.

Hope I don’t have to take a vow of silence, though Jan might think it’s a good idea.

We were going to meet Brandi, Lowell, and Landon at Pappasito’s Cantina at 5:45 so Jan started getting ready about 4:30. Things were going all right until Jan tried to put her shoes on. She quickly found that she could not wear any of her shoes, even her Crocs with no heel strap.

So after Jan decided she wasn’t going to go barefoot, and after she made a few more contributions to the Swear Word Jar, I had to call Brandi and tell her we weren’t going to be able to make it.

Maybe we’ll be able to try again tomorrow.


December 29, 2011

Ribs and Haircuts . . .

After yesterday’s kind of laidback day of just reinstalling the washer, today was much busier with a long list of client stops and errands.

My first two stops were with clients.  At the first one, I wanted to get AT&T to change them from a legacy static IP account to a regular dynamic IP account, and also save them $40 a month.

But as it turned out I didn’t have all the account info so I’ll have to come back tomorrow and try again. It would be nice if I didn’t have to go to their home to do this, but I’ve found it goes a lot easier if I’m calling from the phone number on the account when I’m trying to make changes.

My next client stop was a quick visit to talk over the two new computers I’m getting for his office.

And now it was errand time.  My first stop was Lowe’s to return some extra duct pieces that I had on hand in case I needed them for the washer install. Then It was across I-45 to Sam’s Club for a few things.

After that, it was time for my semi-annual haircut (no jokes, please.) I’ve been using this same barber for about 15 years, and it’s nice just to walk in, sit down, and not even have to tell him how I want it cut.

Next, after stopping at Kroger’s to pick up some coffee creamer, I went next door to Chase Bank to deposit a check, and also order two new Visa Debit Cards for Jan and me. Our old ones, mine especially, are so worn that they won’t scan reliably anymore. Unfortunately, we can’t keep our old numbers so I will have to update a number of online accounts with the next number.

My last stop was our storeroom to drop off the furniture dolly I had used for the washer repair and pick up the Christmas ornament storage boxes so we can take down the Christmas tree.

Finally, about 4:15 I was headed back to the rig. On my way down I-45 I passed by Spring Creek BBQ and decided I had a hankering for ribs for dinner, so getting back to the rig, we turned right back around and headed out to Spring Creek. And as usual, really good ribs, and the veggie sides are excellent too.

Heading home we stopped off at a nearby PetSmart to pick up a new kitty litter scoop. Then it was back to the rig for the night.

Tomorrow we’re meeting Brandi and Lowell at Texas Tea Room for lunch and then a few more errands, with a side trip back to my client’s home to try AT&T again.


December 29, 2012

In The Outback . . .

We woke up to a clear, but cold morning so it just seemed to be a good idea to sit around, enjoy the day, and do pretty much nothing.

Jan read, watched TV, and napped, and I played on the computer and napped. Like I said, pretty much nothing.

A little after 4pm Jan and I headed up to Webster to have dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We were supposed to meet Brandi there, but she called a little earlier to say she wasn’t feeling well so she wouldn’t be getting together with us.

I had a 12 oz. Outback Special Steak, while Jan had her usual Alice Springs Chicken. Yes, she goes to a steak place and has chicken.

After a really good meal, but so-so service, Jan and I stopped off at King Food to get Brandi some of her favorite Won Ton Soup, kind of like Chinese chicken soup, I guess.

After dropping off her soup, we left Brandi’s and headed over to Sam’s and then Wal-Mart for a few things before we got back to the rig a little before 8 pm.

Tomorrow we plan on doing pretty much nothing again. We’ll see how it goes.


December 29, 2013

Kindles, New and Old . . .

Today started out as sunny and beautiful, but we didn’t have a chance to sit outside with Mister and our coffee because Jan was waiting for our granddaughter Piper to come and pick her up for their Girl’s Day Out with a movie, lunch, and Mani-Pedi’s.

Piper showed up about 11 AM and she and Jan headed up to Webster to see “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, starring Ben Stiller. Later at dinner, they both said that they really enjoyed the movie, although neither Jan nor Piper had ever read the original Thurber short story, so they couldn’t say how closely the movie followed the original story. The 1947 movie version starring Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, and Boris Karloff. didn’t either. The reason is that many (most) of the occurrences in the story are very dated, and probably wouldn’t make sense to today’s moviegoers.

Back at the rig, Mister did get to spend most of the day outside in the sun while I caught up on a bunch of small jobs and cleanup chores around here.

Since Jan already has her Kindle Paperwhite, and mine is on order, we really don’t need our original Kindles anymore, so I spent some time deregistering and resetting them to the factory defaults. This brings them back to new out-of-the-box condition so they can be re-registered under a new account.

I did this because we’re going to give them to Chris and Linda for their use. They have their iPods for Kindle books, but these are lighter and work better in bright sunlight. Hope they enjoy them as much as we have.

About 4:30 I headed up to Webster to meet up with Chris, Linda, Piper, and Jan at the Buffalo Wild Wings. Love their Mango Habanero sauce. Sweet and very hot.  But BWW was not to be. Getting there about 5, I was told that there would be about an hour’s wait.

Huh?

What’s up with that? The place looked pretty full but there was only about 6 people waiting for a table. Then I realized that there were football playoff games today, and since BWW is primarily a sports bar, people had been camped out all afternoon there, watching football, eating wings, and drinking beer, emphasis on beer.

So after a short conference in the parking lot, we all headed right down the street to eat dinner at Zio’s Italian Restaurant. We used to eat here all the time, but for some reason, we haven’t been in a good while. Dinner was good, and it’s always fun to spend time with family.

The only downside is that Jan seems to be coming down with something. She woke this morning kind of congested, and by evening was starting to feel kind of ‘iffy’ with a bad sore throat.

We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

Lowell sent over this photo of Landon playing in the park, telling his daddy how to climb from swing to swing. Seems to be pretty insistent about it.

Landon at Park 2

Not sure what’s going to be in store for tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes with Jan.


December 29, 2014

I Lost 80 pounds!

or 79.2 pounds, anyway.

Once again today started way too early, as I was up about 6:15 so we could leave for Brandi’s at 7. Jan’s going to be Landon-sitting today through Wednesday, since Brandi and Lowell are working this week while Landon’s out of school.

We didn’t have time for coffee, but we had picked up Supreme Croissants from Jack in the Box last night on the way home, so we just had those on the way.

I had allowed an extra 45 minutes for the normal hour and 15 15-minute trip, assuming we would hit a lot of morning rush hour traffic, but we saw absolutely none. The traffic moved along with no slowdowns whatsoever. Which meant we got there early enough to stop for coffee before we got to Brandi’s

Since I went to bed late and got up early, I decided to take a nap for a couple of hours at Brandi’s before heading back to the rig, getting back home a little after 1pm. Then it was time to get to work.

First up I wanted to install my new transfer switch and power converter under the bed. But first I had to get the Source Manager Inverter/Converter/Transfer Switch out. Which turned out to be a lot more trouble than I figured.

The first thing I did was to disconnect shore power outside at the pedestal. Then I started looking for how the Source Manager was fastened down. The only two bolts I could find were just inside the air vent. But when I removed them I still couldn’t pull it out.

Transfer Switch Install 1

Pulling the cover off the unit, I could see the problem. It was being held down by the wiring coming up from the bottom. In this case, the heavy duty 12 volt cables running to the house batteries. But before I disconnected them, I went out to the battery bay and pulled the 300 amp fuse that’s in the line.

This let me safely unhook the cables without worrying about shorting something.

Transfer Switch Install 2

Next, I removed the end panel to allow me better access to the shore power and generator cables coming into the unit.

Transfer Switch Install 3

So now all the power cables were disconnected and I should have been able to lift it out. But something was still holding it down. It would come up about six inches but that was it.

Reaching all around underneath, I discovered a bare ground wire about the thickness of a pencil that was the culprit.  And after a lot of struggling, I was able to get a pair of lineman pliers under there to cut the wire.

Transfer Switch Install 4

So now it should be easy to lift out, right?

Wrong!

It was like trying to lift a box of boat anchors. Part of the problem was that there was no good way to grab hold of it, but the real problem was that it was just heavy as hell. And taking the screws out and lifting up the relay panel showed me the reason.

This thing had a big, hulking transformer the size of my head that must weigh 40 pounds all by itself.

But finally as I listened to my back scream for mercy, I manhandled the thing out and onto the bathroom floor.

Transfer Switch Install 5

I had to know how much this thing weighs, so I set it on the bathroom scale. This blankety-blank thing is 24 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 14 inches high, and weighs 79.2 pounds.

No wonder I had trouble lifting it. Well, that’s 79 pounds gone, at least it will be when I figure out how to get it out the door and into the truck. And I have no idea how I’m going to get it into the dumpster.

Transfer Switch Install 8

And it’s all going to be replaced by three boxes this size or smaller.

This one is the new transfer switch, all wired up and ready to go as soon as I put the cover back on. I was running out of daylight so I wanted to get it up and going. I’ll get it mounted tomorrow when I install the power converter. I’ll also fire up the generator to be sure it’s switching over like it’s supposed to.

Transfer Switch Install 7

Tomorrow I’ll finish up with the power stuff, and then install the new bathroom faucet and the kitchen sink hose.

Hopefully.


December 29, 2015

A Lot of Nerve . . .

We decided not to walk this morning, mainly because it was 41° and windy. Not exactly conducive to a pleasant time. Tomorrow’s supposed to be a little warmer and less windy, so we’ll see.

I spent the afternoon taking care of some small chores that weren’t squeaking loud enough, and so got pushed to the bottom of the list, just a few quick things to be done.

First up, I wanted to adjust the bedroom sliding door, which has been dragging along the carpet edge where it joins the tile in the bathroom. Many people don’t realize that these doors can be raised or lowered by an open-end wrench (10mm in my case) at the top of the door.

Sliding Door Adjustment

There is a plastic swivel that locks the nut so that it won’t loosen. Just move it to the side and use the wrench to turn the nut and raise the door. There are adjustments at both ends of the door, and they need to be adjusted equally.

Then when you’re done, move the swivels back in place to lock in your changes, and you’re done.

Thought while I was in the vicinity, I’d mention the rods I had installed so Jan can hang up laundry as she takes it out of the dryer.

Curtain Rod 1

I’ve installed two of them, one on the bedroom door and one on the bathroom door. They’re just heavy-duty spring curtain rods, but they wouldn’t stay up under a bunch of clothes without something to hold them in place.

Curtain Rod 2

The secret is to use two of those serrated picture hangers (one at each end) to keep them from slipping down. Works like a charm.

Next up was to readjust the lock on the drawer underneath the refrigerator where Jan stores her pots and pans.

Pan Door Latch

The real problem was the latch plate on the upper edge of the drawer that this lock fits into. It had come loose a little and slipped out of position. So sliding it back into place and tightening the screws took care of this problem.

Lastly, I wanted to refasten the restraining strap on Jan’s lower slide-out pantry. The original screw was just screwed into the thin paneling and kept pulling out, so this time I wanted to use a longer screw and fasten it into the thicker frame of the cabinet.

Pantry Strap

Hopefully this will keep it in place now. But we’ll see.

About 3:30 Jan and I headed out for some shopping and then dinner. The first stop was Lowe’s to get the longer screws I need to finish remounting Jan’s “Oh Sh?t Handle”. As well, I also got a can of White Oak Pickling Stain to refinish the handle, as well as a couple of others.

Then it was right next door to Sam’s Club to pick up a prescription. When the lady rang it up, she said it was $83. I said that’s not right, it only supposed to be $10. She said, “Well, it says it’s $83.”

I said again, “That’s not right. Please check it again against my Sam’s Plus Card.” She sniffed and handed it off to one of the techs. He then spent about 5 minutes on the computer looking up things, and finally told the lady, “He’s right. It should be $10.”

So she sniffed again and rang it up as $10. Nice!

Last up was Wal-Mart for some things. Walking past the Customer Service, we saw a long line of people returning things. No problem, I guess, but it takes a lot of nerve to be returning Christmas trees in their boxes, as well as boxes of ornaments and lights.

A lot of nerve.

Finishing up the afternoon, we went across the street to have dinner at Culver’s. Jan got her usual favorite Double Mushroom Cheddar Butterburger, and I went with my usual Cranberry Bacon Bleu Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette, and a cup of Chili.

Culver's Salad 2

Really love that crispy, crunchy bacon, along with the sweetness of the cranberries and the tartness of the bleu cheese.

Wrapping up, Sonja, Landon’s other grandmother, sent over this photo of Landon at Chuck E. Cheese, getting a big hug from Chuck himself. And as I mentioned yesterday, he seems to have his usual female follower.

Landon at Chuck E Cheese

Fathers, lock up your daughters.


December 29, 2016

The Good and the Bad . . .

Ah, the mischievousness of Texas winter weather.

Yesterday it was 82° with a low last night of 65. Today was a high of 64° with a low forecast for tonight of 46.

It is nice to have winter back, though.

Thought first I’d finish up yesterday’s hit-or-miss dinner plans in San Antonio. Since we ate at Magic Time Machine the last time we were there, the obvious choice was our other favorite, La Fonda on Main. But we had said we would get together there with our friends Jim and Peri Dean next time. Turns out they wouldn’t have been able to get together with us wherever we went because they were at an RV rally over in Sealy.

We both decided steak sounded good, but none, neither Saltgrass, Outback, nor Texas Roadhouse, were close enough to be attractive. Finally, I said, “Magic Time Machine” and got a resounding, “YES” from Jan. And then a “How far is it?”

“5 minutes!”

And off we went.

Checking in at the desk, we asked if Lady GaGa was working and said we wanted her. Even though it was 8:30 and they supposedly closed at 9, we still had to wait 15 minutes to get seated, along with a number of other groups.

Lady GaGa remembered us which was nice since it had been almost a month since we were there before.

Lady was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed watching her perform for the kids at the other tables.

Magic Time Machine Lady GaGa 2

Magic Time Machine Lady GaGa 1

Magic Time Machine Lady GaGa 3

And the food was as delicious as always.

My Ribeye was cooked perfectly, Medium-Rare, with char around the edges.

Magic Time Machine Ribeye2

Along with the soup and salad from the ‘Salad Car,

Magic Time Machine Salad Car

a 1952 MG TD Roadster, and of course, the hot fresh bread, it’s a $25 meal that’s hard to match. And since there’s enough food to eat half and take half home, it’s actually a $12 meal. Neat!

One thing that’s always impressed me about MTM is the fact that it DOES have such good food. The reason I say this is that MTM is essentially an entertainment venue, especially for the kids, not just a restaurant. And those kind of places don’t have a reputation for good food. Think Chuck E. Cheese.

The only exceptions I can really think of are Tilman Fertitta’s Rainforest Café and Aquarium restaurants. But he insists on top quality in all his locations and is known for showing up unannounced at locations all over the country to check things out.

I mentioned in last night’s blog that I had finally gotten a chance to check out Sam’s Club’s new Scan & Go app. First up you link your Sam’s Club card number and the credit card(s) you want to use. You can link more than one credit card.

In my case, it already knew my Sam’s Club card number from my email address

Then as you shop the store, you use the app to scan the bar code of each item. The app identifies the item and the price, and puts it in your app shopping cart, giving you a running total as it goes.

When you’re done shopping, you just hit the Check Out button. The app gives you the Total with tax, and then you hit the Pay Now button. If you have more than one credit card on the account, it asks which one you want to use. Then a bar code shows up on your phone.

As you’re going out the door, you show your phone to the checkout person there. She scans your bar code and then a receipt shows up on your phone. All fine and dandy.

Except . . . there’s always an Except.

Except the bar code scanner function doesn’t work with this app on my phone. The square box that shows your phone’s camera view that you center on the bar code just stays black. So every item that I buy I have to manually type in the bar code. But even with this, it’s still better than standing in line, taking everything out of your basket, and then putting it all back in again.

Now my camera works fine by itself, and on other apps like the QR Code Reader. But strangely enough, the one other app it doesn’t work on, at least now, is the scanner on the Wal-Mart app that you use to scan your receipts for the Savings Catcher Rebate Program.

The Wal-Mart app used to work, and then it quit for a while, and then it came back. And then it died, never to return. I always thought maybe that this was due to getting a new WM app update. But with Sam’s app doing the same thing, I’m rethinking that.

Googling the problem shows I’m not alone on this. But I’ve got some ideas and I’ll get back to you on it.

The Good is that gas prices are up and things seem to be booming in the Oil ‘Bidness’. The Bad is that gas prices are up and it hurts more to fill the tank in the truck.

Yesterday morning coming home from the gate at 5 am, the gas price at Wal-Mart was $1.99. Then when we stopped to fill up there on our way to San Antonio about 1:30 pm, the price was $2.05. Then this afternoon it had jumped to $2.09. Ouch.

And back in November it got down as low as $1.74. That’s 35 cents a gallon in just a couple of months. Ouch, again.

Finishing up, one thing I forgot to mention yesterday, was that as we were coming out of the Rogue One movie last night, Jan called our son Chris to tell him how much we had enjoyed it.

And in one of those strange coincidences that’s when he told us that Debbie Reynolds, Princess Leia’s mother, had died.


December 29, 2017

Glad This Didn’t Happen The First Time . . .

Feeling much better, I was back at work today, with a lot of catching up to do after being out two days this week, one my fault and one the calendar’s fault.

Getting home about 4:30 Jan and I were back on the road about 4:45 with our first stop at Pho20 right down the road for dinner.

But I’m glad this wasn’t our first time there, or we might have never gone back. Or even worse, if we had taken some friends there after telling them how great it was.

Now don’t get me wrong, the food was as delicious as usual . . . when it finally showed up . . . over 45 minutes later. And even then it dribbled out in bits and pieces over the next 30 minutes.

Jan, still working her way down the Chicken menu, had the Chicken Teriyaki, which she liked so much that the owner, who showed up toward the end of our meal, gave her a jar of the sauce. And we noticed the food started coming out of the kitchen a lot faster after she arrived.

Then it was on to the Wal-Mart across i-45 to pick up some stuff before we headed back home.

When I got to work this morning my new Amazon Alexa Wand was waiting for me. But since it had to be set up on my home WiFi I had to wait until I got back to the rig before I configured it.

Alexa Wand 2

And the setup was Easy Peasy, and only took a couple of minutes. I just had to install the 2 AAA batteries, go to the URL www.amazon.com/wandsetup, press the button on the wand until it turns orange, tell it to connect to our rig’s WiFi, and about 30 seconds later it was done.

The Wand is magnetic so that it can be stuck to a cabinet, or using the stick-on hook, you can hang the wand with the loop on the end.

Otherwise it acts just like a full-size Alexa except you have to press the button before you say, “Alexa.”

I’ll have more info as I fool with it.


December 29, 2019

Sunday, Dec 8th in NYC . . .

Today we were all up and down Manhattan Island, and that included TWO boat rides.

After breakfast at our hotel, we Ubered down to the 9/11 World Trade Center site, now called One World Trade Center, or the Freedom Tower.

1WTC- Building

When we were here in 2009 it was all pretty much just a big hole in the ground, only visible by looking through peepholes in a tall fence. But now it’s all finished.

The former footprints of the Twin Towers are now marked by reflecting pools,

1WTC-Pond

surrounded by a border marking the names of the 3000+ people killed on 9/11.

1WTC-Names

Off to the side we could see some of the many old buildings that miraculously survived the Twin Tower’s collapse.

1WTC- St Pauls Chapel

We had planned to do the 9/11 Museum, but found there was a two-hour wait to get in, so since we had firm plans for later in the day, we decided to save it for our next visit to NYC. So our next stop was the Oculus, the entrance to the subway system underneath One World Center, combined with a shopping mall.

1WTC-Oculus

The building design is said to symbolize a dove with clipped wings.

And the inside is just as amazing.

1WTC- Oculus Inside

We spent some time walking around inside checking out all the shops on the several levels. While we we on the lower level, we noticed the subway stop and realized we could take the subway directly to our next planned stop, the Staten Island Ferry terminal.

And rather than the $20-$30 Uber ride we had planned, we could ride the subway there for 2 $3.00 Single Ride passes. So after walking around a little more, we bought our passes from the ticket machine and off we went.

It was only about 20 minutes later when we were walking into the Ferry terminal, and luckily for us, right on to the next ferry. We had already done Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty when we were here in 2009, so our plan was to ride the ferry over and back, just for the views.

Going over, we passed Ellis Island, once the nation’s busiest immigration inspection station from 1892 to 1954, processing over 12 million immigrants during that time.

Staten Island Ferry - Ellis Island

Then it was on past the Statue of Liberty, with some more great views.

Staten Island Ferry - Statue of Liberty

Staten Island Ferry - Statue of Liberty 1

And looking back toward the city, we got a couple of great shots of the New York skyline,

Staten Island Ferry - NYC Skyline

and the Freedom Tower.

Staten Island Ferry - 1WTC

When we got to Staten Island, we had planned to just stay on board and ride the same ferry back, but had to disembark because the crew was taking their lunch break.

But in about 45 minutes we were on our way back on another ferry.

We had next planned to Uber up to Bryant Park, near Rockefeller Center, so Jan could check out the Christmas Market that was set up at one end of the park. But noticed that taking the same subway train back in the opposite direction would drop us off just a couple of blocks from the Park. And for just 2 more $3 passes. Nice!

Bryant Park - 1

Jan found a number of Christmas gifts as we made the rounds, including some unique one-of-a-kind items.

Bryant Park - 2

And we finally got to see snow in NYC. Tucked off over in a shady corner was this.

Bryant Park - Snow

Finishing up, we decided to Uber back to our hotel since we had already done so much walking, almost 5 miles total, according to Jan’s Fitbit. Plus we only had a couple of hours to get dressed and down to the Chelsea Pier area for our Bateaux Holiday Lights Dinner Cruise.

Bateau Cruise - 1

We had paid extra for a window table, but looking at some of the online photos I was afraid we might be at a table with other couples, but no, we had our own table with a great view, and a beautiful lady waiting for me.

Bateau Cruise - Window Table

The table was elegantly set, and strewn with rose petals, which turned out to be special for us, because I had listed this as an anniversary cruise for us, which it was, but just a couple of months late.

Bateau Cruise - Table Setting

The ship looked to be almost completely full, with everyone having a good time.

Bateau Cruise - Room

The menu was much like our recent Viking River Cruise with several choices each for an appetizer, entrée, and a dessert.

After we ordered our meal, I saw a drink that I thought Jan might like on the menu, so I ordered us two Poinsettias.

Bateau Cruise - Poinsettia

Made with Champagne, Cointreau, and Cranberry Juice, they proved to be pretty potent. Much more so than most of the restaurant drinks we normally get around here.

Bateau Cruise - Room 2

Our meal was delicious and to top it off, toward the end of our meal, the hostess brought out a bouquet of red roses for Jan, also in celebration of our anniversary.

Bateau Cruise - Roses

Along the way, we got some great views of the NYC skyline,

Bateau Cruise - Skyline

And a really close-up view of the Statue of Liberty.

Bateau Cruise - Statue of Liberty

To make sure that everyone gets a fantastic show, the captain stations the ship as close as he’s allowed to get to the Statue, and then uses his bow and stern thrusters to just rotate in place, I think about 4 times around.

Bateau Cruise - Statue of Liberty 2

Finishing up our 3-hour cruise, yes, I know, I had expected to have a problem getting an Uber to come down into the dock area since it’s a roundabout way and there’s a fee. But an enterprising gypsy cab was waiting at the dock, looking for customers. And his fee to take us back to our hotel was less than our Uber ride there.

Tomorrow, Monday the 9th of December, will be our last full day in NYC, and we’ll be visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) and also Serendipity, a restaurant that Jan’s really looking forward to.


December 29, 2020

Toast And Yolks . . .

Heading out this afternoon, our first stop was the new Toasted Yolk brunch place that just opened out on the Interstate. Another restaurant in the Snooze, The Egg and I, First Watch genre, we were looking forward to trying it, especially since it’s so much closer than Snooze up in Webster.

Jan got her usual, their version of Avocado Toast,

Toasted Yolk Avocado Toast 20201229

Yes, there is Avocado Toast under that egg.

She said it was really good, but not quite as good as Snooze’s version.

I had the Double Decker Omelet, with ham, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, and jalapenos.

Toasted Yolk Double Decker Omelet 20201229

Along with Cheese Grits, Fruit, and an English Muffin. Really good.

And because it was their Grand Opening, we got free Cranberry Mimosas.

Nice!

Then it was on up to WalMart/Sam’s/Kroger’s for a few things before finally getting home a little before 5pm.

A Question for our Readers. Does anyone know what this decal on the rear window of an SUV? Just curious because we couldn’t figure it out.

Jack's DriveThru Decal


December 29, 2021

Typical Texas . . .

Since nothing much happened today, I thought I’d recount some of the things we bought from Amazon recently.

This is an RV water hose WiFi remote-controlled switch. It allows you to turn your shore water on and off without going outside. From anywhere in the world.

WiFi Hose Controller

WiFi Hose Controller

Just hook it up in line with your water hose, plug in the repeater unit, download the app, and you’re ready to go. Much more convenient to be able to turn the water on and off when I’m doing a plumbing repair in the rig.


This is a solid-state mini-fridge that holds 6 cans of soda and keeps them just a couple of degrees above freezing. And gives me a frosty can of Coke Zero whenever I want one.

Mini-Fridge

Solid State Mini-Fridge

Apparently it’s also used to keep makeup cool in hotter climes.


This is a 2000 piece screw assortment, with one tray for SAE, one for Metric, and one tray for Wood Screws. And the 3 trays connect together as one unit.

Screw Assortment

Screw Assortment

No more digging through a coffee can for that one screw or nut you need.


We use this for quickly frothing up milk/creamer for our morning coffee.

Milk Frother

Milk Frother


If you’re like us, you always have those little slivers of soap left over from the big bar that you hate to throw away, or those little hotel bars you bring home from your travels. These are the perfect answer for that.

Soap Bag

Sisal Soap Bag

Just stuff all those little pieces into the bag, pull it tight, (we also use a stainless steel safety pin) and you have a great soap-filled scrubby. And we’ve been using the same one for over 6 months so they last a long time.

This weekend we’ll have some more typical Texas winter weather, with a high on Saturday of 85° and a low that night of 35. That’s a 50 degree temperature swing! And then down to 32° Sunday.

Welcome to Texas.


December 29, 2022

Another Day, Another Fairy . . .

After a nice quiet morning Jan and I were on way out to have lunch at Stomp’s Burger Joint over on SH146 about 12:30.

Stomp's Burger Joint

One of our favorite burger places, we used to eat here all the time back when we usually stayed at the nearby Galveston Bay RV Park right down 146. But now that we live a lot further away in Santa Fe it’s been a good while since we’ve been back.

However, our absence didn’t mean we didn’t still have our favorites. Jan got the Outlaw,

Stomp's Outlaw 20221229

with cheddar/jack blend, picante sauce, diced & grilled jalapeños, diced & grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

I got my usual Hogwild burger,

Stomp's Hogwild 20221229

which has bacon blended into the patty, with a cheddar/jack blend, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and mayo

Those are 8 oz. hand-formed patties that hang over the side of the wheat buns.

And of course we got an order of Half & Half, Thick. Which are Thick onion rings (they also have the usual thin ones) and Fries.

Stomp's Half & Half 20221229

It’s really cruel that they give you 3 rings for two people. Fights start like that.

Then it was back over to our WalMart for a few things before heading home.

Getting back to the park, we stopped off at our mailbox since we’d gotten a notice that the cover for Jan’s new Kindle Fire had been delivered.

Jan's New Fire Cover

Another Day, Another Fairy.

First we had the Almond Fairy, then the Produce Fairy.

Then today we had the Fruit Fairy.

When we got home today we found two large bunches of green bananas on one of our patio chairs.

Still waiting for the Steak Fairy though.


December 29, 2023

More From SpaceX . . .

Doubling down on yesterday’s Falcon Heavy launch from historic (think Moon Landings) Launch Pad 39A, three hours later SpaceX launched another 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket, this one from Pad 40. And this was the 12th time this rocket was used.

Unfortunately, a few days ago SpaceX lost their oldest Falcon 9 to waves and high winds. Shortly after completing its record 19th trip into space and landing on a droneship out in the Atlantic,

bad weather caused it to topple over on its way back to the Cape. New models now have self-leveling legs to prevent this from happening in the future.

It’s interesting to see how SpaceX brings the boosters back to Earth. I’m sure you’ve seen those sci-fi movies where the rocket comes down and lands, with its engines burning all the way down. But SpaceX found a better way.

They just let it fall,

steering it to the landing site using these ‘grid fins’ to orient the rocket into the correct position.

After 2 burns early on, using 3 of the 9 engines, the last one at about 35 miles, it falls the rest of the way, until doing a final 1 engine burn just a few meters before touchdown for a perfect landing.

Finishing up, here’s a great shot of all 27 engines on the Falcon Heavy at engine ignition putting out about 5 million pounds of thrust.

And this is a great time-lapse shot of last night’s Falcon Heavy mission.

You can see the launch on the left and the two boosters returning to Earth on the right. At the very top, you can see the X-37B payload heading into orbit. Then at the end of the arc, you can see the center core booster heading for its splashdown in the Atlantic.

The center core gave its all for this mission.

Tomorrow looks to be Monterey’s Little Mexico for lunch, Wal-Mart for Wal-Mat stuff, and then finishing up with a P.O. stop.