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After Monday’s aborted flight due to weather, today’s Falcon Heavy launch went off right on time at 9:13 am, giving us some fantastic shots.
After the separation of the two side boosters, the cargo and the core stage continued on into orbit.
Thus, about 8 minutes after launch, the side boosters returned to the Cape, landing for the first time at their two new dedicated landing pads.
Because of the 6 ton weight of the ViaSat-3 F3, the core (center) booster could not be recovered this time.
Now looking forward to the next StarShip (Super Heavy) flight sometime in May.
* * * * * * *
Tomorrow, it’s out and about, with lunch at Kelley’s Country Cookin’ and then Wal-Mart, and home.
Thought For The Day:
By replacing your morning coffee with green tea, you can lose up to 87% of what little joy you still have left in your life.
Your Retro-Preview Highlights –
2010 – Yosemite National Park
2011 – Grand Canyon
2015 – Margaritaville And The High Roller in Las Vegas
2019 – More From Budapest, Hungary
And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™
April 29, 2010
Oh WOW !!!!
We left the rig about 9:15 am, heading out to see Yosemite National Park. As we got closer to Oakhurst, the 2nd town over, we started to see a lot of snow on the mountains that wasn’t there yesterday.
After stopping for gas in Oakhurst, we headed north about 5 miles and entered the Sierra National Forest, which borders Yosemite. Along the way, we encountered more and more snow, which gave us some incredible views.
Another 10 miles later, we entered Yosemite National Park at the Ranger Station. Because of the heavy snow last night (between 6 and 12 inches), we were told that we needed either chains or a 4-wheel drive vehicle with snow tires to enter the Park. We had the 4-wheel drive, but no snow tires, but luckily for us, they didn’t really check, so we got in. As it turned out, the roads were pretty clear, and we never needed it.
We did see several snow plows during our drive, so I guess they did a good job. But the higher we climbed, the more snow we saw. We finally topped out at about 6500 feet, with snow covering everything but the road. And the views were spectacular.
After a lot of hairpin turns, we came to the area known as Tunnel View, which, of course, involves a tunnel.
Coming out of the tunnel, there was a large viewing area looking out over the valley, including BridalVeil Fall. Yes, for some reason, it’s called Fall, not Falls.
As we got closer, the Fall got more and more impressive.
We stopped at the Fall viewing area and walked up the 1000-foot trail to the base of the fall. With all the spray in the air, it was almost like it was raining.
Then it was on to Yosemite Village, which is the turnaround point for the trip, with more great scenery along the way.
As we got close to the Village, we saw the other big waterfall in the park, Yosemite Falls. Yes, this one is called Falls, not Fall.
Don’t ask me why.
After buying some souvenirs at the Yosemite Store, we stopped and had a bad lunch at the Lodge. The best part was the pre-packaged cookie we had for dessert.
We also saw a lot of Sequoias in the Park. For some reason, I always thought that Sequoias and Redwoods were the same tree, but they’re not. It turns out that Redwoods are only found in northern coastal California, up near the Oregon border.
Coming home, we started seeing, first rain, then sleet, and finally, sleet, hail, and snow, all mixed together.
We got home about 3:30 pm, glad to be back where it was warm and dry.
Tomorrow we plan on heading south about 75 miles to Sequoia National Park, where we’ll see a lot more, bigger Sequoias.
Late Update:
Tonight on CSI, they investigated a murder that they thought was committed at a shooting range. Although the name was different, the store they used was the one where Jan did her machine gun shooting when we were in Las Vegas.
April 29, 2011
Grand Canyon – Part II . . .
Here’s Part II of our Grand Canyon visit yesterday.
Today we visited the Bearizona Wildlife Park here in Williams, but I’ll save it for tomorrow’s blog since we’ll be traveling and won’t have much that is blog-worthy.
We walked further along the rim, just taking in the fantastic scenery.
This is a view of the legendary El Tovar Hotel looking back from Fred Harvey’s Lookout Studio.
More great views.
Around 1 pm, we headed back around the rim to the Bright Angel Dining Room to have lunch. Unfortunately, the place was busy, so we didn’t get a table by the window overlooking the canyon, but in consolation, the food was delicious.
I had the BBQ Sampler Plate with chicken, ribs, and pulled pork, with two very tasty BBQ sauces, including a Prickly Pear Honey sauce.
Jan had a Pistachio Chicken Salad Sandwich on Ciabatta bread.
These people are heading down one of the many hiking trails. They start out along the rim,
then work their way through the tunnel.
You can take the trail all the way to the bottom of the Canyon and on to the fabled Phantom Ranch
The beginning of the bright green strip is where the Phantom Ranch is located.
Up close, it looks like this. It’s a 12-mile hike down here.
And then another 4 miles along here, out to the edge of the bottom canyon.
I was really surprised Jan was able to do this. She has a real fear of heights, so this was a feat for her. I’m really proud of her.
I, on the other hand, am more like this guy. The higher, the scarier, the better. Jan calls it ‘riding that ragged edge”
I call it fun.
Heading back to the train depot, we took a quick detour into the El Tovar Hotel. While Jan was checking out the gift shop, I stuck my head in the main dining room. Talk about nice!
Finally, about 3:15, we boarded our train car for the trip home.
We pulled back into the Williams Train Depot about 5:45 and made our way back to the RV park a few minutes away.
The perfect end to a fantastic day!
April 29, 2013
A Last Goodbye . . .
After a quiet morning, I headed a few exits down the freeway to Power Rd. and Discount Tire. I needed to get the leaky one fixed, which started losing air on Friday. But luckily, the leak was slow enough that I was able to air it up and then get down the freeway to the store.
I had already figured out that I was going to have to get a new tire. The leak in this one was a blowout of a patch that was done while we were gate-guarding in South Texas last year. And 45 minutes and $215 later, I was done and heading home.
Getting back home for the afternoon, we headed back over to Red Robin to get our Red Robin fix just like last week.
Coming home, I made a quick stop at Home Depot before getting home a little before 7 pm. Normally, Jan and I would have done our walk tonight, but it was still in the 90’s, so we called it off.
Brandi and Lowell sent over some pics of Landon having a good time at Chuck E. Cheese.
I love this shot of him standing on his tippy toes so he can see better.
Our daughter-in-law Linda, posted these photos of her and Chris kayaking on Armand Bayou in the Clear Lake area.
Hope they’re watching out for all the gators that are in there.
And wrapping things up, here’s another shot of Landon’s new 2nd cousin, Zoe. Love that red hair.
And finally, on a very sad note, our long-time close friend, Gina (Regina) Ellis, died this afternoon. Her daughter Sharelle called about 7:30 to tell us the news.
It was not unexpected, since Gina had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer even before we left Houston in February, so we knew it was just a matter of time.
We met Gina and her husband George in 1980 and quickly became fast friends. George, who died in 2003, worked at NASA at the same time I did. In fact, he was head of Crew Systems for Rockwell Aerospace for years, and worked directly on the Space Shuttle design in both California and Houston.
Gina had a varied career of her own, starting as an executive assistant at NASA, which is when she met George. Later on, she was an EMT, and a police sergeant. And when she retired, she was an investigator for American National Insurance in Galveston, investigating insurance fraud.
She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her.
April 29, 2014
A Travesty . . .
We left the rig about 11, heading down to Clear Lake for Jan and Piper’s get-together and my afternoon of errands. While they played, I worked, well, drove around, anyway.
Things like Sam’s for prescriptions, the storeroom to drop off the last of the storage bins, a truck wash at our favorite place, and the bank for deposits. I finished up with a client stopover for a while before heading back over to Chris’. Jan and Piper had just gotten back, so we waited around while Chris finished installing a new garage door opener.
Then, about 4:30, we all drove over to King Food for one last get-together at one of our favorite places. After a great meal, we said our goodbyes and got our hugs, and then Jan and I headed down to Kroger’s for a few things, as well as gas for the truck.
I was happy to see that my magic Fred Meyer/Kroger loyalty card is still giving me the .10 a gallon discount as long as I buy something that month. Normally, you have to buy $100 in groceries before you get one fill-up at the .10 discount. But this card, which we got in Fairbanks, AK, in 2008, gives it every time.
Next up was a quick stopover to say goodbye to some friends. Then it was back up to the Katy area to stop at Brandi’s to pick up the visa paperwork for my niece’s visit to China next month.
By the time we got home, it was almost 9 pm, a long day. Then we get to do it tomorrow to drop off the visa apps at the Chinese Consulate in Houston
As I was heading back to Chris’ earlier today, I saw a crowd as I was crossing the railroad tracks at NASA Rd. 1 and Hwy 3. Looking over to my right, I saw a 747 sitting there. Well, pieces of a 747, anyway.
This is one of the two NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) that were used to transport the Space Shuttles back to Kennedy after landings at Edwards AFB in California and White Sands in New Mexico.
This SCA made its final flight into Ellington Field, about 5 miles north of Johnson Space Center. Then it was partially disassembled (which took 38 days) and moved down to SpaceCenter Houston, where it will be put on permanent display.
Because of its size, 200 feet long, 35 feet high, and 25 feet wide, the 7.75-mile trip had to be spread over two nights. This is because power lines have to be raised, signs moved, and the roads completely shut down
So tonight, about 9 pm, they will finish the last 2 miles of the move to Johnson Space Center, where it will be put on display with a Shuttle on top in flight position.
The ‘Travesty’ is the fact that, due to murky politics, the Shuttle mounted on top will only be a mockup, not a real Shuttle.
JSC was the only Flight Center not to get a real one. Apparently, the powers-that-be decided that ‘NEW YORK CITY’ had more to do with the Shuttle program than Houston.
But if it’s any consolation, New York didn’t get a ‘real’ flight Shuttle either. They got the Enterprise, the Shuttle that did the Approach and Landing Tests, where it was taken up on a 747 and then released to glide back to earth. But at least theirs FLEW.
It should have been an easy decision: Three Flight Centers, Three Flying Shuttles.
April 29, 2015
Open the Pod Bay Doors, HAL . . .
Jan and I headed out about 4:15 for our evening’s festivities, with our first stop the parking garage at the back of the Flamingo Casino. Our destination was Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville out on the Strip side of the Flamingo. We’ve made this walk from the parking garage to the restaurant a number of times, which is good, because it’s kind of like walking through a maze.
We came this early, knowing that we would probably have a pretty long wait, based on previous visits. But perhaps because of the restaurant’s expansion since we were last here two years ago, we had no wait whatsoever, and were seated immediately.
This area where we were seated tonight was a storeroom for the Flamingo Hotel when we were here before.
I didn’t plan on having a drink tonight, but when I saw a Habanero Margarita on the menu, I had to try it. And it was really good. And hot.
I did take the jalapenos out of the drink and put them on my Cheddar BBQ Burger that I had below, along with an order of their delicious Cilantro-Lime Coleslaw that we shared. Plus, the Roasted Jalapeno was really good.
Jan went with the eponymous Cheeseburger in Paradise, which, despite being based on the song, is not prepared correctly.
According to the menu, Jan’s burger had American Cheese, lettuce, tomato, Paradise Island Sauce, and a big Kosher Pickle.
But according to the song, it should have Muenster cheese, lettuce, tomato, sliced onion, and Heinz 57 sauce. But the big Kosher pickle was right, at least.
Now, a lot of people, including some Internet sites, think the lyrics are “medium rare with mustard’d be nice.” But Jimmy Buffett has confirmed that the lyrics are “medium rare with Muenster’d be nice.”, as in Muenster Cheese.
As Jimmy Buffett says, “Who in the hell puts mustard on a hamburger?”
Get it right, people!
For dessert, we shared an order of their Chocolate Banana Pudding, which is actually Bread Pudding with sliced bananas, ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.
It was a great meal, as the big smile on my beautiful wife’s face shows.
Because I had allowed extra time figuring we’d have a wait at the restaurant, we were finished up by 6:30, but our High Roller ride wasn’t until about 8 pm.
While we were deciding how to kill an hour or so, we walked outside on the Strip and saw these two Adirondack chairs just waiting for us. So we spent about an hour sitting out on the Strip watching the world go by.
Well, watching the world, and a lot of strangely dressed people go by. But it was fun.
We got out to the Wheel a little before 8 pm, and took the escalator up to the boarding platform.
The Wheel doesn’t normally stop for loading and unloading people. It’s moving slowly enough that you can step right in as the pod travels down the platform. But apparently not spilling the liquor is more important than the passengers, because the Wheel does stop so they can move the booze carts on and off the pods that offer drink service.
I didn’t see it as we were loading, but Jan said she saw some extra cleanup going on in one pod after they wheeled the drink carts off. Possibly combined with the alcohol, someone got a little queasy during the ride. I did notice that they skipped loading any passengers on that pod as it came around.
Now, supposedly 40 people can be crammed into one of these pods, but if so, they’re going to be standing shoulder to shoulder.
For some reason, these pods remind me of the ships in 2001 A Space Odyssey.
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Luckily for us, we only had 8 people on our pod, so there was plenty of room to move around.
As we moved around our 550-foot arc, the views were fantastic.
One thing I found interesting during the ride were the Las Vegas-based trivia questions shown on the overhead TV screens, and one of them brought back memories of my father.
The question was “What Casino did mobster Bugsy Segal name after his long-legged girlfriend, Virginia Hill?” The answer, of course, is the Flamingo. But the reason the question brought back memories of my father was that one time, he mentioned he knew Virginia Hill.
Virginia was born in a suburb of Birmingham, AL, and somewhere along the line, my father encountered her in a “professional” manner, as he said. The reason for this was that for many years, my father was a detective on the Birmingham Police force, and apparently, Virginia Hill was already on the wrong side of the law before she met up with Bugsy and the rest of the Vegas mob.
It’s really strange the things that can trigger a memory.
One funny thing was that after the Flamingo question, there was a Bonus Hint. It said to remember that most women don’t like to be compared to flamingos. Word to the wise. But I guess if you’re a mobster, you can get away with it.
Finishing up, and due to the three booze stops, our Wheel ride ran about 35 minutes, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the fantastic views. Then, leaving our pod, we made our exit through the obligatory Gift Shop.
There’s always a Gift Shop.
We got home about 9 pm after a really great time, with more fun on tap for tomorrow.
April 29, 2016
Well, It’s Official . . .
Sunday morning, Jan and I are moving back to the Colorado River Thousand Trails for a week before being back at the Lake Conroe TT on May the 8th.
This will put us back on our regular two-week schedule, ricocheting between Lake Conroe and Colorado River. We may reschedule a trip back here later in the month, but on our terms, and not weather-dictated.
Jan was looking over her book list, and counted that she’s read 70 Kindle books since the first of the year. Luckily, a lot of them come from the Harris County Public Library System. Jan got a library card from there a couple of months ago, and the way she reads, it’s certainly cheaper than actually paying for them. Nice!
Unfortunately, it looks like more rain is moving in, with more thunderstorms predicted for this Sunday in the Columbus area. So I hope we don’t get rained out again.
What we watch:
Except for Fargo, we’re finally caught up with all the stuff we DVR’d while we were on the gate last year. One of the reasons it took this long is that we keep picking up new shows to watch.
Most recently, we got hooked on The Catch, a really good cat-and-mouse game on ABC. In a way, it’s kind of a Romeo and Juliet story, with a family of con artists vying with a corporate security company. The kicker is that one of the con men is in love with one of the female owners of the security company, even as they are sometimes butting heads. A good show with a lot of twists and turns.
The Magicians – College students studying at Brakehills University, a college of magic. Kind of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, but on steroids and more dark/violent.
Stitchers – A government agency that investigates murders by using a machine that can tap into a dead person’s last memories to find out who killed them.
Lucifer – Lucifer, the fallen angel who rules over hell, gets bored and visits Earth. He finds out he likes it here and stays to help a female police officer so he can punish evil-doers.
Limitless – An FBI consultant uses NZT, a pill that can increase your mind’s abilities a hundredfold, to help solve crimes. But without an immune shot, the pills can kill him. And his enemies control the immune shot.
Supergirl – Another comic book character comes to life, but very well done.
iZombie – Zombies are real, but caused by a tainted illegal drug. A female surgeon is infected and becomes a medical examiner to have access to brains. But eating the brains of murder victims gives her glimpses of how they were killed, so she helps the police solve crimes.
Oldies but Goodies
Grimm
Once Upon A Time
Castle
Agents of SHIELD
Legends of the Future
For dinner tonight, we had salad with a great dressing from a recipe Lynn Cross gave Jan, and the rest of the crockpot Beef Stew fleshed out with some of the extra veggies we got yesterday. Really good!
April 29, 2018
Great Minds . . .
And All That!
A couple of weeks ago, when we got back from our RV test drive, we found that our pedestal was dead.
And as I was sticking my VOM probes into the 50 amp receptacle, wiggling them around to be sure I’m making a good connection, it galvanized me to build up the tester that I had mentally designed a few years back.
So to refresh my memory, I sketched it out on a pad and started sourcing out some parts. Then it occurred to me that rather than reinvent the wheel, I ought to check to see if somebody already sold one, saving me the time and effort.
I didn’t find anything commercially-made, but I did come across this home-brew effort.
http://www.myrv.us/electric/Pg/tester_50amp.htm
Pretty much my same design, but I did like the box and the connector he used, so I borrowed that idea, and then went all digital with it. Great minds, etc.
And here’s what I ended up with,
based on this design that I drew up.
It only took about 30 minutes to wire it up and get it put together. So the first thing I did was to take it outside to the pedestal, disconnect the coach, and hook it up.
And it worked perfectly. But in the bright sun, the lights didn’t photograph very well. So I connected it up again after dark.
Much more visible on camera.
The two circuit testers check L1 and L2 for open grounds, open neutrals, reversed grounds and neutrals, etc. All of which I have encountered at campgrounds over the years.
I would have used two voltmeters, but couldn’t find one narrow enough to fit two side by side. So I just swap the one back and forth as needed.
The green LED on the top left checks to see if you have real split-phase 220VAC coming from the pedestal and not just two 110VAC lines coming into it. Again, something I’ve seen several times over the years.
Tomorrow I’ll give you a parts list on what you need to buy if you want to duplicate mine.
I’ve also got my next two projects in the design phase, and I’ll talk about them later.
Jan and I headed up to Webster about 5:30 to meet Chris, Linda, Miss Piper, and her boyfriend, Connor, at the East Star Chinese Buffet.
Along the way, we made a Valero stop for gas at $2.45/gal, a big jump in the last few weeks.
This was our first time eating here on a Sunday, and they were really busy. And by the time we left about 7:30, they were ‘line out the door’ busy. First time I’ve ever seen this at a buffet. And this is a BIG place.
One thing I like about this place is their cold-boiled shrimp, so that’s pretty much what I had, along with veggies and some other meats.
All good as usual.
Coming home, we made an HEB stop to tide us over until the real shopping day tomorrow.
Also, tomorrow, it’s back to work.
April 29, 2019
Home Sweet Skirnir . . .
The Viking Longship Skirnir is our home for the next two weeks, right here in cabin 110P (P for Port, apparently), though you would think they would know which side of the ship it’s on. And we don’t care since we just look at the cabin number on the wall.
Cabin 110 is down in the basement, the bilge, the steerage, or the cheap seats, whatever you want to call it. We learned from our Holland-American Alaska cruise a while back that the only time we spent in the cabin was to shower and sleep. The rest of the time we were out and about. So why pay extra for more room, bigger windows, etc., when we could spend that money on extras?
This morning started off early at the Hilton Budapest hotel, hitting the breakfast buffet about 7:30 because we had a lot going on, since we had to be both checked out and packed with our luggage out in the hallway for Viking to pick up and take to our ship, all by 10am.
As I mentioned yesterday this is probably the best hotel breakfast buffet we’ve ever had.
Pretty much anything you’ve ever thought about having for breakfast, and a lot of things you probably never thought about having, because you don’t recognize what it is. But it was all delicious.
Especially the coffee. We haven’t had a bad cup, or even a so-so cup of coffee, since we got here. Really good.
After breakfast, check out, and luggage out, we were free until about 1:30 when we would be transported to the ship, so we decided to do some more walking around, taking in the great views.
We started out by walking out in a direction we hadn’t been before, thinking we would make a big circle back around to the hotel, and we did. But unfortunately, our circle left us a couple of hundred feet lower than where we started,
and about six BIG flights of stairs back up to where we should be.
But we made it with no major heart attacks or strokes, which does bode well for all the walking tours we have scheduled.
About 1:30, they herded us all into a small van, which took us to a big bus, which took us to the Skirnir. And by the time we got welcomed onboard and were taken to our cabin, all our bags were there waiting for us. NICE!
It took Jan and me about 30 minutes to put everything away. Despite the small size, there’s really a lot of storage space, especially since our 4 suitcases all fit under the bed. Of course, it helps that we already live in a small space anyway.
We had an orientation in the Lounge at 6:15, and ended up sitting next to Mike and Melissa, a couple from Memphis. Turns out we both like and dislike pretty much the same BBQ places there. They obviously have good taste.
So we ended up having dinner with them too. As well as a couple from Queensland, Australia. And we all had a really good time getting to know each other.
And the food turned out to be as delicious as promised. Jan and I both started off with the Baby Shrimp Cocktail,
but she got the Thai Red Curry Chicken, while I got the Angus Ribeye with double-steamed veggies instead of the Steak Fries.
Then, for dessert, Jan got the fresh Peach Sorbet, while I got the Fruit Plate.
While we were eating, the ship pulled away from the dock and headed upstream, where it turned around and took us on a nighttime scenic cruise of the Danube.
What was interesting was how they turned the ship around. Not by making a big turn, but instead by using the bow and stern side thrusters to just pivot in place.
And the scenery was fantastic.
Budapest is a really beautiful city. And very old.
Over 2000 years old, in fact.
It was first settled by a group of Celts, but by 49 A.D., it was a thriving Roman Legion outpost with as many as 40,000 inhabitants.
Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we’ll get a free Panoramic Budapest tour, and then in the afternoon, we’ve got an optional one, The Grand Market – A Taste of Budapest.
Sounds like our kind of tour.
I mean, it’s got ‘Taste’ right there in the title.
So Stay Tuned.
April 29, 2020
Oops . . .
We had a very heavy thunderstorm come through early this morning that really rocked things. But besides a few limbs down on the road, all I saw locally was a porta-potty blown over at a nearby home construction site.
But our daughter Brandi did lose one of their backyard palm trees.
These have really shallow roots, so it doesn’t take a lot to dislodge one of them, especially if the ground is soggy. But they may just be able to have it replanted. Luckily, the fence it hit was already in the process of being replaced anyway, so no problem.
And when I checked our new Rubbermaid storage room this morning, it was also nice and dry inside.
On the humor side of the work-from-home situation, Will Reeve (son of Superman actor Christopher Reeve), a reporter for ABC’s Good Morning America, got caught going a little too casual, at least below the waist, while on the air from his home,
Oops!
On a personal note, back in the day, I did a lot of TV Broadcasting, both local and some network. And I can tell that if the news anchor never leaves the security of the desk, it’s more than likely he/she is just wearing blue jeans or shorts. And sometimes even less than that.
I’ve seen female anchors who have a dozen or so suit tops in different colors, with the blouses built in. They come into the studio in shorts and a t-shirt, put the jacket/blouse combo on, and sit behind the desk. When they’re done, they just unbutton the jacket, hand it to a floor person, and walk out the door. And sometimes it’s even more casual than that.
As I’ve mentioned before, I was with NASA when the STS-3 Space Shuttle landed at the White Sands Northrup Strip backup landing site in March 1982. And since it was only the 3rd Shuttle flight, the news media mobbed the landing site.
The anchor desks were placed on top of semi-trailers so that the scene behind the desk looked out over the landing strip. One female network reporter, whose name you would recognize, that is, if I could remember it, had a reclined chaise lounge right behind her desk.
When she was done with her segment, she would stand up, remove her jacket/blouse combo, and leave it on the desk. Then she would slather the sun-screen onto her very curvy, very skimpily bikini-clad body, and then catch some more rays on the chaise lounge behind her desk until her next report. So you can never tell what they’re really wearing behind there.
Don’t know where this came from. But it’s been hiding somewhere since we moved from Alabama out here to Texas in December 1978.
It’s my beautiful Sweetie, back when she was 29. Really hasn’t changed since then.
Though that is kind of a ‘deer in the headlights’ look on her face.
April 29, 2021
No Steak This Weekend . . .
We were back at our local Denny’s for our favorite Ultimate Omelets once again.
With Fruit instead of the Hashbrowns as usual. And just as delicious as usual.
YUM!
Then after a Hobby Lobby stop for some craft stuff, we swung by Lowe’s for some new flamingo legs, i.e., some brass rods to replace the old ones made from coat hangers.
Last up, we made a quick detour by the HEB for a few things, and as I was checking out, I noticed this new kiosk right across from me.
And I was really surprised to see the price for 1 BTC.
I remember back in 2011 or so when you could buy 1 BTC for $1.00. Or even less sometimes.
So if you had bought $100 worth of BTC back then and held it, it would be worth $5.7 million.
YIKES!
We had planned to Sous Vide steaks this weekend, a Ribeye for me and a Sirloin Strip for Jan, probably on Sunday afternoon. But since I had planned to finish them off on the Weber grill, while grilling green beans on our new George Foreman grill, and it’s now supposed to rain all weekend, the whole thing is now on hold until next weekend.
Maybe.
I contacted Wish this afternoon about Jan’s broken flamingo cups, and sent them the two photos I posted last night.
I got a fairly quick response, but it was from an AI algorithm, or a bad translation, because the part in bold below is directly taken from my email.
I’m sorry to hear that your pink cups arrived broken. Although the outside was well wrapped with bubble wrap, there was absolutely no padding inside the individual boxes holding the cups.
To further assist you, can you please provide an actual and entire photo showing the 2 cups together, outside of packaging? (in full view or from top to bottom).
Rest assured that as soon as we receive the required photo, we’ll move this process forward as quickly as possible.
So I’m not sure why they need another photo showing the same thing. But I’ll send it out tomorrow.
So far, switching all of our prescriptions from Wal-Mart to Kroger’s Rx Savings Club looks to be the winner. Based on Wal-Mart’s current pricing, a 3-month supply of Jan’s and my prescription drugs would cost us $213.66.
But the same drugs through Kroger’s membership plan would be $82.82. And even when we add in the $6 per month cost of the Kroger’s plan, it would be $82.82 + $18.00, or $100.82. A significant difference.
But I don’t yet have the prices from Sam’s, since they no longer have an online list of their Plus membership prices. Now you have to get a price quote directly from a Sam’s Club pharmacy, so that’s next up before I make a final decision. But it looks good for Kroger’s.
April 29, 2022
GoDaddy’s Working On it . . .
The problem that some people are seeing is because of a DDOS attack on the shared server where my blog also resides. They’re working on it.
Just keep trying it over and over, and it seems it will eventually work.
Well, it looks like at least part of this weekend will be taken up by my having to pull the driver’s door inside panel to figure out why the window won’t go all the way up. The glass itself is not jammed because I can lift it by hand. It will go down, but only halfway up, so I know the motor is working. So I’ll pull it apart and see what I find.
April 29, 2023
A Worthy Substitution . . .
Lunch today was at Texas Huddle, but sans our usual server, Juana. Turns out she’s working tonight instead. So we once again had Cassidy as our server.
And she was a very worthy substitute.
We both started out with Side Salads, though their Side Salads are bigger than most places’ regular salads.
Jan started out with her usual Bacon Swiss Cheese Burger. Of course, hers is the Keto version with no bun, and Cheddar instead of Swiss.
And she gives me her Bacon.
I went with something a little different this time, with the Blackened Chicken Breast covered in Cajun Cream Sauce, and a side of their Grilled Veggies.
And Jan’s Bacon, of course.
All delicious.
Don’t know if I got the date wrong, or if they moved the launch date again, but now the Falcon Heavy is scheduled for tomorrow, April 30th, starting at 7:26 pm CDT.
And finally, on a very sad note, our long-time close friend, Gina (Regina) Ellis, died in 2013, ten years ago this afternoon. Her daughter Sharelle called to tell us the news.
It was not unexpected, since Gina had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer even before we left Houston that February, so we knew it was just a matter of time.
We met Gina and her husband George in 1980 and quickly became fast friends. George, who died in 2004, worked at NASA-JSC at the same time I did. In fact, he was head of Crew Systems for Rockwell Aerospace for years, and worked directly on the Space Shuttle design in both California and Houston.
Gina had a varied career of her own, starting as an executive assistant at NASA, which is when she met George. Later on, she was an EMT, and a police sergeant. And when she retired, she was an investigator for American National Insurance in Galveston, investigating insurance fraud.
She is greatly missed by everyone who knew her.
April 29, 2024
Rechairing . . .
We had a big thunderstorm come through about 5 pm, dropping almost 2.25″ of rain on us in just about 2 hours, also giving up 4 or 5 momentary power outages. But we lucked out, considering north of Houston some places got 10″ to 15″.
We’ve been rechairing at the office, and mine finally came in today. Unlike the regular office chairs that everyone else got, I got a version of the gaming chair that I got for the rig after my spinal fusion. I need something with a high back and a support pillow for my neck.
And it even has a lumbar massaging cushion. Nice!
It came in late this afternoon, so I’ll put it together on Wednesday.
Jan and I are both feeling a lot better, almost back to normal. Just a little residual cough hanging around.
Friday afternoon, I’m stopping off at our local Safelite dealership to get the Jeep’s windshield replaced before our trip back to Alabama next week. Supposed to only take about 90 minutes.
We’ll see.
April 29, 2025
It’s Joe’s Problem Now . . .
I was outside about 11:30 this morning, for one last try at replacing our Jeep’s MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor. And I was actually successful.
Kinda.
By using a 1/4″ flexible extension, I was able to loosen the left-hand bolt. And by using a 7mm box wrench taped to a long screwdriver I was able to loosen the right-hand bolt.
But as I basked in the glow of finally defeating the problem, I realized I hadn’t thought far enough ahead. In looking at things, I saw that I had no idea how to get the new part back in.
Well, actually, I couldn’t see how to get the bolts back in.
So it’s my mechanic Joe’s problem now.
* * * * * * *
I did find out why I have been seeing some oil smoke from under the hood.
A loose hose coming off the oil filler cap.
Fixed now.
* * * * * * *
While we were all up in Kingsland, Brandi picked up the birdhouse that her brother Chris had built for her.
She had asked him to build it for her to block a neighbor’s camera that looks into her yard. Previously, the camera view was blocked by a tree, but it blew down in a storm.
So Chris, never one to do something halfway, built her, not a birdhouse, but a bird condo!
Or maybe a 10-unit apartment building.
Neat!
