Our RV Adventures

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With both of us having a hankering for Hot Dogs again, we were on our way over to the Doggone Crazy Food Truck once again.

And as we are wont to do, we both stuck with our favorites.

Jan with her Plain Jane, with Mustard, Chili, Cheese, and Onions,

and my Drunken German with a Pretzel Bun, Beer Brat, Stout Chili, Horseradish Mustard, Bavarian Sauerkraut, and Onions, along with a Frito Pie.

Jan said we’re putting it on our 2-week rotation.

Fine by me.

* * * * *

Coming home, we stopped off at our local CircleK to pick up 4 bags of ice to start defrosting our fridge. All of the freezer contents will go into cooler chests,  and the fridge contents will go into freezer bags, all covered with ice.

We’ll also be heating up water in the microwave and the coffee maker to put inside to speed things up.

* * * * *

It’s going to cost you more to win.

‘Price adjustment’: A Mega Millions ticket will now cost you a lot more.

Starting April 8th, a Mega Millions Ticket will cost you $5, up from the $2 per ticket, the first price increase since it jumped from $1 to $2 a ticket back in 2017

“This is only the game’s second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago and the first change since the current game matrix was adopted in 2017,” the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission said in an earlier statement.

With the new enhancements, state lottery officials claim that players will benefit from “improved odds to win the jackpot, bigger jackpots more frequently, larger starting jackpots, and faster growing jackpots.”

The new format will include a built-in multiplier on every play, automatically improving every non-jackpot win by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X – up to $10 million for matching the five white balls, lottery officials said.

And, there will be no breakeven prizes, meaning when a player wins, they’ll always win more than the cost of the ticket. The minimum prize is $10, officials said.

With Mega Millions making the jump, can Powerball be far behind?

* * * * *

Smile! You’re on Tesla TV.

When you don’t realize that the Tesla you’re vandalizing has 9 cameras and operates in Sentry Mode.

Thought For The Day:

Let me tell you, regularly pretending to be a fully functional adult is exhausting.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™

March 20, 2009

Palm trees and A/C’s and rope lights, Oh My!

Today was my day to work on one of our coach’s air conditioning systems.  We actually have 3 A/C systems.

Coleman Rooftop A/C Unit

Two of them are the rooftop units that cool the coach when we are stationary and plugged into shore power, although we can run them on our Onan 7.5 KW diesel generator if we were say, parked at a rest area having lunch.

The 3rd AC system that I’m working on is pretty much like the one on your car. It cools the coach while we are traveling down the highway and runs only when our diesel engine is running.

When we were looking at our coach before we bought it, I noticed the belt that drives the engine A/C was shredded and lying on the ground under the engine compartment.  The salesman assured me it would be fixed.

And it was.  At least for a while.

Somewhere between Houston, TX and Fairbanks, AK,  the new belt disappeared.  Since we were traveling in February, March, and April on our round-about trip to Alaska, we only used it a few times and it worked every time.

Since we were coming back to Houston in the Fall/Winter timeframe, we also didn’t need it.

But this year we are going to be traveling in Florida and then up the East Coast, and we’re probably going to need our A/C.

I believe the problem is with the idler/tensioner pulley that keeps the A/C belt tight.  But I’m having a problem getting any info on it.

Cummins Diesel, the company that built our engine says they did not install the A/C assembly on the engine.

Spartan Chassis, the company that built our chassis and installed the engine in it, also doesn’t seem to know anything about it.

That only leaves American Coach, the company that took the chassis/engine combo and built our coach on top of it.  It seems to me that the A/C would have been installed before they got it.

So I guess I’ll have to wait until Monday to follow up on this.

Around 4:30pm Jan and I headed out to Franco’s Italian Restaurant in Orange Beach.  Jan and I shared a large pepperoni/mushroom pizza and it was one of the best we’ve had in a long time.  And the tiramisu we shared for dessert wasn’t half bad either!

After dark we drove around the park to look at how RV’ers decorate their coaches and sites.

Palm trees and rope lights are very popular as well as Christmas lights and outdoor lamps.

Jan now wants her own palm tree.

I just have to find a place to stow it onboard.  Oh, well.

March 20, 2010

Pawn Stars…Not!

First a correction. We have been told that the birds, that yesterday we thought were Cactus Wrens, are actually House Finches in their mating plumage. Thanks for the update, Al.

Today we lounged around at the rig for a while before getting a late start doing the Las Vegas tourist thing.

Later, we got gas and headed over toward the Vegas Strip.  We’re big fans of the TV show ‘Pawn Stars” and wanted to see the real thing.

But when we got there we decided to try again later. There was a line out the door and down the street.

Somehow it looks fancier on TV.

We’ll try again later during the week when, hopefully, it won’t be so busy.

So we headed on down the Strip, doing a lot of people-watching.

Thank goodness, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, because some of these people shouldn’t be allowed out in public.

We were actually heading back to Fry’s Electronics. Jan had some more things she wanted to look at.

Fry’s is a great place to just wander around looking at all the neat toys. But after a couple of hours, we were getting hungry so we started looking for a place to eat.

We talked about the buffet at the Rio but neither of us was hungry enough to eat $25 of food. We used my GPS to look up a Chinese Buffet, but when we got there, it was no longer in business.

I had printed out a list of the best buffets in Las Vegas and looking over the list we decided to try the buffet at Boulder Station Casino, which, ironically, was only about six blocks from where we’re parked, so we headed back across town.

And it was certainly worth the trip. After getting our free Player Cards that saved us $2 each, we sat down to a great meal. Much better than the buffet in Laughlin Tuesday night.

After dinner we hit the slots. Jan started with $20 and ran it up to $46.50. I told her to cash out, but she said she was on a roll.

And she was. A downward roll. She rolled the $46.50 down to $0.01. So now she cashes out?

I took $10, ran it up to $15, and cashed out.

Hey, $5 profit is $5. What can I say?

About 7:30pm we headed back to the rigs and settled in for the night.

March 20, 2011

“Good News, I found Grandmother! ” . . .

First off, Happy 7th Month Birthday to our grandson, Landon Thomas Morrison.

I got up about 9:45, got the coffee started, and then at Jan’s insistence, set out one of our small electric heaters. It got down to 44 degrees last night, really cooling things off, and the coach was pretty chilly.

We’ve got a cold front coming through, with highs in the high 60’s and low 70’s, and lows in the low 40’s for the next several days. We may even get some rain tomorrow afternoon.

While we had our coffee, we watched the winds come up, the dust devils roam the fairgrounds, and the sand clouds obscure the horizon.

Around 2:30 we heard from both our son Chris and our daughter Brandi.

Chris, his wife Linda, and our granddaughter Piper were on their way to one of our favorite seafood places in Seabrook, TX called “Outriggers Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar”.

Located underneath the Kemah Bridge,

Outrigger’s has the best shrimp tacos around, as well as big trays of raw oysters. Very tasty!

Our daughter Brandi called us with “Good News, I found Grandmother”.  It wasn’t like she wandered off, or was really missing, she was just misplaced.

You see this ginger jar cookie jar contains my mother’s ‘cremains’.

I bought this cookie jar for my mother for Mother’s Day when I was ten years old with money I earned mowing lawns. So I figured that it was a fitting place for my mother to reside.

But somehow, between our remodeling our house, our moving out, and our daughter moving in, then getting married and having a baby, my mother’s jar was placed inside a box and moved to the garage for safekeeping while the bedroom was being remodeled.

And when I went to look for the jar this past winter, she was nowhere to be found. But now she’s back safe and sound.

When we started talking about dinner this evening, we had planned to go to Poco & Mom’s, but, checking their website we found they closed at 2pm today. Bummer!

Our next choice was Guadalajara Grill. We had passed this place several times and noticed the crowded parking lot, and in some cases, people waiting outside for a table.

Too Busy.

Needless to say, we went elsewhere and had a great meal at Marie Callendar’s. And of course delicious pie for dessert. The place wasn’t really busy, so we sat around talking for a couple of hours, finally getting home about 8pm.

Tomorrow I’m going to try to get the last of the carpet pulled up, and figure out how I want to do the trim and the joint between the laminate, ceramic tile, and the carpet under the driver’s feet.

March 20, 2012

One mousy mousy, two mousy mousy . . . SNAP!

or

Another One Bites the Dust.

Well, when I got up this morning I found another toes-up mousy residing in one of my traps. The two traps in the slide-out pantry area were still baited and set, but the two in the area behind the cabinets had been hit.

One trap had been stripped of peanut butter, but was still set. The other one had also been emptied, but was now occupied. So I rebaited them both and put them back in place. We’ll see how tomorrow goes.

It did get down to about 30 degrees here last night, but no problems came with it. It’s supposed to be in the high 30’s tonight, and then start gradually warming up through the rest of the week. Looks like it should be pretty nice with no rain before we leave on Sunday.

Hope so.

Later in the afternoon, I pulled everything out from under the sink and installed the new water filter that I bought in Yuma. The water flow is much better now, though it doesn’t seem to taste any better or worse.

Jan had been under the weather the last couple of days with one of her migraine clusters. They normally run for about 3 days, and she discovered this morning that she was out of her Sumatriptan migraine medicine, so, about 4:30, and feeling better, Jan and I headed out to pick up the prescription I had called into a Wal-Mart Pharmacy earlier.

On the way, we first stopped off for dinner at Poco & Mom’s with some Hatch Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas for me and Ground Beef Nachos for Jan. And as usual, we had plenty of leftovers for later lunches.  Hmmm Good!

After dinner, and picking up Jan’s prescription, we headed home with a quick stop at DQ for dessert.

March 20, 2013

Pizza and Bracelets . . .

This morning was pretty much up and out the door, since we were meeting our long-time friends Al and Adrienne for lunch at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria at 11:30am. They said they’d been passing it by and wanting to eat there so this was the perfect time for them to try it. And of course, Jan and I certainly wouldn’t turn down a chance to eat at one of these restaurants again.

And as it turns out, Al and Adrienne liked it as much as we did. While we were there I was able to get a photo of the hand-built coal-fired pizza oven they use. As it turns out, the oven door is kind of small, but the oven interior is pretty big and extends to the sides.

We had a great time catching up with Al and Adrienne, and are going to try to get together again next week.

Saying our goodbyes, Jan and I headed out for some shopping before going home. Our first stop was a nearby Target where Jan was looking for a bracelet that she’d seen advertised, but they didn’t have them in stock, so we’ll try another one.

One thing kind of unusual was that as we were leaving Target’s parking lot, we heard a radio ad for Timekeepers. What made this unusual is that they are one of the big Gate Guard companies that hire RV’ers as oil rig gate guards, like we did last year. They didn’t give a lot of details, just said they were looking for RV’ers, paid $135 a day, furnished full hookups, and then a phone number to call. They really must be desperate for gate guards if they’re advertising on the radio. I guess they’re trying to attract some of the snowbirds before they leave Tucson.

Our next stops were an Ace Hardware and then Fry’s Foods for a few things before grabbing a couple of Cinnamon Dolce Lattes at the in-store Starbuck’s on our way out.

Finishing up, and under the heading of Never Throw Anything Away, You Might Need It, Jan had been looking for a way to keep her bracelets safe and sound while we travel. So I dug out an empty DVD case that I had been saving.

It holds her bracelets while sitting on the bathroom cabinet like this,

and then when you screw the cover on, they can be packed away for travel without damaging them.

Don’t really have anything scheduled for tomorrow. We’ll see how it goes.

March 20, 2014

Rockin’ Out . . .

I forgot to post this pic of Landon on yesterday’s blog. After all, it’s not a real blog if it doesn’t have a Landon photo.

One of the packages we picked up at Brandi’s yesterday had this wine glass rack that I mounted over the sink.

10-Inch Long, Wine Glass Rack

Most of the ones I found were too long to fit, but I finally this one on Amazon that fit perfectly in the space.

Later in the afternoon, I drove over to the rock pile behind the Activity Center to get more rocks to fill in the muddy ruts in front of our rig.

I ended up with 3 kitty litter buckets full of rocks, each weighing about 60#.

This is what the ruts looked like after the two buckets that I did the other day.

And here it is after I dumped today’s 3 buckets in

We’re supposed to get more rain on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning before we leave here for the Colorado River Thousand Trails. So hopefully this will keep the ruts from filling up with water like they were when we got here two weeks ago.

About 5 pm we picked up Don and Darlene Couvillion and headed out for dinner.

Our first stop was the Sam’s Club in Conroe to pick up a prescription for Jan that they were out of yesterday down in Webster. Then it was right across the street to have dinner at El Bosque Mexican Restaurant. None of us had eaten there before, but it had 4-1/2 stars on Yelp, and it turned out to be really good.

Good chips, good salsa, and good iced tea, and it just got better from there. Don had a Chicken-Stuffed Avocado, while Jan had the Pollo a la Parrilla. I had a Combo plate with an enchilada, taco, taquito, and a chili poblano. All really good, especially the taquito.

Don and Darlene are leaving tomorrow morning so hopefully, we’ll be able to catch up with them again.

March 20, 2015

No Pulp vs. Pulp Free . . .

Since Jan and I are both coming off colds, we didn’t do much of anything but goof off and read this morning. We’ve been taking Cold-Eze Zinc lozenges which works for us to cut down the severity of the symptoms, as well as the duration, so that helps.

Later in the morning, I put in a call to a client to see if they want to keep their domain name now that they’ve closed down the company. Hopefully I’ll hear back soon.

Then I was on the phone with American Coach and Spartan about a problem I’m having recently with my air compressor/airbags. When we got ready to leave the Galveston Bay RV Resort the morning of March 1st, I started the engine, engaged high idle, and brought the levelers up. But rather than coming up on the airbags in 5 minutes or so, as usual, the air pressure needles came up to about 80 pounds and then didn’t move anymore. And the airbags didn’t inflate either.

I thought maybe the cold, wet weather might be the problem, so after about 15 minutes, we headed out anyway to see what was going to happen. It was a little rough for a while, but about a quarter mile along the way, like a switch had been flipped, the air pressure and the airbags came up within about 30 seconds. And with very little change, it’s done this every time we’ve traveled since we’ve left Houston.

I don’t think it’s an air compressor problem because the pressure initially comes up quickly, and once it is up, it stays up. Even when we are parked for a little while with the engine idling, the pressure doesn’t drop back down. And if we shut the engine off for 10 or 15 minutes, everything is still fine when we start up again.

American Coach referred me to Spartan who manufactured our chassis, and they gave me some things to look at, including a ‘Norgen’ valve, which apparently is supposed to allow air into the air bags, and perhaps a problem with our Manual Air Dump valve. So it’s another thing for my list.

Later we ended up at the nearby Los Gringos Locos about 5pm. We’ve eaten here a number of times, and it’s always been good. And tonight was no exception. It’s a popular place and we got there just in time since we were seated immediately at 5pm, but by 5:30, there were people inside and outside waiting for tables.

Finishing up after a good meal and heading out, Jan and I stopped off at the nearby Fry’s for some Orange Juice. We like lots of pulp, and apparently, so do a lot of other people because they didn’t have much of a selection. They had plenty of ‘Some Pulp, “A Little Pulp’, and even “No Pulp” and “Pulp-Free”,  but only in one brand did they have ‘Lots of Pulp”.

But what I’m confused about is why, within the same brand, they have both “No Pulp” and “Pulp-Free”. What’s the difference between none and not any, anyway?

Coming out of the store, we could see a storm coming from the northeast, near Superstition Mountain. And it must have been really raining over there, because we got not one, but two rainbows. But it was still really only one, because we were just seeing the two bottoms of a single arc.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it all in one shot, so here are two.

Finally, on our way home, we drove through a Chase ATM so I could activate my new VISA Debit Card. After having cards wear out and die when we’re traveling, and all the trouble getting them replaced on the road, for the last several years, I just order a new VISA Debit Card right before we head out for the year, and that seems to take care of the problem.

Tomorrow: Probably still more coughing.

March 20, 2016

Where’s Al Hesselbart When I Need Him . . .

We got in a walk today. With all our early morning trips and bad weather last week, it was our first one since we left Colorado River last Sunday. And the weather was just perfect . . .  well, except for the wind.

But with 58 degrees and sunny, that part was really nice. And even the wind wasn’t bad when we were walking, but when we sat outside for a while it got to be a little much, so we didn’t stay out as long as we might have. After we went in I took my wind speed meter back outside,

Digital Anemometer

and found the wind was blowing steady between 20 and 25 mph, a pretty stiff breeze. And more than enough to make sitting outside uncomfortable.

While Jan and I were out on our walk, we passed this unusual-looking 5th wheel, which turned out to be a Silver Streak Sterling, also nicknamed a “SquareStream” for obvious reasons.

Like many early RV companies, Silver Streak went through several iterations, starting with an early Wally Byam pre-Airstream design while he was at Curtis Wright. Curtis Wright then sold the design to Silver Streak, who started producing RV’s in 1949. Then in 1957 a partner spun off a new company called Streamline.

Silver Streak was in business until the 1996-1997 timeframe when it faded away.

Of course, the one guy who would probably know every detail about Silver Streak is famed RV Historian Al Hesselbart, formerly of the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. But the last I heard he’s on a permanent fishing trip down in Florida.

A little later in the afternoon I walked the garbage over to the dumpster and noticed that with the end of Spring Break the park has really cleared out, leaving a lot of nice empty sites. Hopefully things will quiet down now.

For dinner tonight we resurrected our beef stew from a couple of nights ago by adding some more veggies and extra broth to give us enough for a couple of servings. Along with some toasted Hawaiian Bread rolls, it was a great meal.

Wrapping up with Landon, apparently, one Zootopia was not enough, so this afternoon, Landon and his parents were back at the theater to see it one more time.

In fact he liked it so much he even took a ride on the Zootopia Metro Train.

And he also looking forward to his favorite game characters coming out in their own movie.

You’d be an Angry Bird too if the pigs were stealing all your eggs.

March 20, 2018

And The Winner Is . . .

About noon I decided it was time to replace the bad battery in my Garmin Nuvi 1490 LMT. The new battery I ordered came with a toolkit that was really nice on its own.

So, after checking out a couple of YouTube videos I dove in. First up, I used the green pry bar to remove the thin outer bezel. It took a little work to get it started but then it popped loose pretty quickly.

Next, using the small Torx driver I removed the 4 screws on that bezel and carefully pulled it loose.

Then I gently lifted off the screen so I could get to the circuit board and battery hiding underneath.

This let me remove these two screws, again using the same Torx driver.

Then I was able to remove the small electrical plug that connected the battery to the system and then pry it out.

I used self-stick tape to fasten the new battery in place and started to put it all back together.

Reversing all my steps, I snapped the case back together. But before I reinstalled the 4 screws and put the outer bezel back on, I gave it the ultimate test.

And it passed!

Hopefully this one will last another 7 years like the first one.

Jan and I headed out about 3:30 for my big awards steak dinner at the Saltgrass Steakhouse in Webster. Along with Longhorn, SG is one of our favorites. Always good.

One of the reasons I go there is their great Wedge Salad. And this time Jan decided to give it a try too.

The Saltgrass version starts with a 1/4 head of lettuce drizzled with their homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing, and then covered with tomatoes, red onions, bacon, and feta cheese. Jan said it was probably the best salad she’s ever had.

For our entrées, Jan had her usual Top Sirloin and Baked Potato.

She always cuts her steaks in half the first thing to be sure it’s cooked like she wants it.

Being a Ribeye guy, I got my usual with a side of Green Beans.

Although the beans weren’t on the Sides menu, I noticed them shown on several of their seafood dishes, so I asked for them. And it was a good choice. Perfectly Al Dente and Seasoned.

Finishing up, I came across a new Windows app that you might be interested in. Every time I use Windows built-in Snipping Tool, it seems like I really just want to print the ‘snip’. But I first have to save it to a jpg file and THEN I can print from a file viewer.

But Greenshot, a free Windows download, takes care of that problem. You can save your snip to a file, print it, copy it to the clipboard, or even directly email it. A neat program. And it’s free.

Tomorrow it’s back to work.

March 20, 2019

She Can Laugh About It Now . . .

Today was a pretty straightforward day at work, with just the same old, same old. But I did leave a couple of hours early.

We did find another replacement front passenger window for my client’s ‘95 Thunderbird on eBay, and I ordered it for him. It should be here next Tuesday, the 26th, and hopefully, this one won’t get broken when they remove it from the vehicle like the last one was.

I did go ahead and order our suitcases and walking sticks from Amazon today.  We each got a set of these US Traveler Rio models, one orange and one green

I guess we’ll argue about who gets which color later.

These are the walking sticks we got also.

Some people said we really wouldn’t need them, but reviews on our particular cruise said that there are steps everywhere in these old cities, and recommended them.

I realized today that I need to dig out the license tag stickers for our RV before our test drive this weekend. The tags renewed back in November, and I put the new ones on the truck then. But it was raining that day, so I put off doing the rig’s. At least that’s my story and . . . you know how it goes.

She can laugh about it now.

When I got home about 3:30 Monday afternoon all ready for us to head up to Sugarland/Stafford for our dinner/Puddles Pity Party concert, Jan was nowhere to be found. She should have been dressed and ready to walk out the door.

Then I heard a voice from the bathroom, the shower enclosure to be specific. It was Jan telling me that the shower door latch had broken and she couldn’t get out. And had been stuck in there for over an hour.

And she was right. She was stuck good. I had to actually use a large screwdriver to carefully pry apart the door frame and the door jam until it came free. Without breaking the glass, of course.

She was actually a lot less upset than I expected, and we still made it to dinner in plenty of time, so no problem.

And she was really, really clean, too.

Luckily the last time, about 6 years ago, that I replaced the latch, I bought two. So I replaced it after we got home from the concert.

But this afternoon when I called Jan about 1pm, she didn’t answer. Ok, no problem. But she didn’t answer at 1:15, 1:30, and 1:45. So at 1:46 I was on my way home to check on her.

I knew she wouldn’t be quite so forgiving if she got trapped twice in three days. And I doubt the shower would survive, either.

But luckily for me, and the enclosure, it was a false alarm. After she muted her phone yesterday while getting her mammogram, she forgot to turn it back on.

Better safe than sorry.

Tomorrow, starting at 8am for Jan, and 9 for me, we have our yearly physicals. Hopefully, they’ll be as good as last year’s.

Whatever the outcome, we promised ourselves big burgers from Stomp’s over in Kemah for lunch, our first ones in about a year.

March 20, 2021

Something Right . . .

Earlier last night, before I posted the blog, I checked the IRS’ Get My Payment website to see if there was any update on our Flu checks, and found the site down for updating.

So I checked again right after I posted the blog, and finding the site back up, I entered my info and found that now we were in the system. And not only were we there, but were now scheduled to get our money this coming Wednesday, the 24th. And finally, they got it right, and we’re getting the money by direct deposit.

It’s about time.

After having a nice quiet morning, and getting reacquainted over coffee after being apart for a week, Jan and I headed out about 2:30 first for a late lunch/breakfast at our local Denny’s.

We both had our favorite Ultimate Omelet, with bacon, sausage, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, onions, and Cheddar cheese. As well as fruit instead of the hashbrowns, and a grilled English muffin.

Always delicious.

Then it was right next door to the WalMart to stock up on stuff for next week.

March 20, 2023

PDT. Again.

This morning I was out the door a little after 10am, heading up to the Webster area for my Dermatology appointment. It was for my second PDT (Photo Dynamic Therapy) treatment.

Jan stays at home for these treatments since most of the time is spent waiting for the photoreactive cream on my head to dry, which takes about two hours.

I still don’t know why they’re so insistent on my being there at 10:55 for my 11am appointment (I was there at 10:45), when they didn’t call me in until noon. And this was after 4 text messages over the last 5 days reminding me of the appointment.

And after all that then it only takes about 10 minutes to prep my head. And then two hours waiting for the cream to dry.

Unlike my last series of PDT 5 years ago, which looked like this.

It’s now done using a red light.

But it doesn’t hurt any less, believe me.

Like a thousand angry killer bees taking it out on my head. But luckily it only lasted for 10 minutes.

Finished up and back in the truck, I rubbed some lidocaine cream on my head which really knocked down the burning.

On the way home I stopped by the office for a few minutes to drop off some Amazon stuff that had come in, and then on down to Santa Fe and home.

When we were together last Thursday up in Conroe with Ed and Debi Hurlburt, and Dave and Janice Evans, Janice said that with all the food photos we post, she thought we ate out every day.

We don’t.

We have a schedule. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday we eat out. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, days I’m at my consulting job, we eat at home.

So she wondered why we never posted any photos of that.

Well, because it’s pretty boring, but here you go for tonight.

Jan fixed her a Keto Pizza Bowl.

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Mushrooms, Chicken Sausage, Pepperoni, Rao Pizza Sauce, and Mozzarella Cheese.

She says it’s delicious. I’ll take her word for it.

Of I just had Veggies too, a steam-in-the-package of HEB’s Baby Normandy Blend, with Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Carrots.

I’ll still don’t know how they grow round carrots, but it is good. And yes, I use a lot of pepper.

So.

‘Old Faithful’, our 2004 Dodge Dakota, just turned 313,000 miles the other day. Still going strong, if not a little smoky.

March 20, 2024

Beefeaters . . .

We got an email yesterday saying that our Kroger’s Rx Savings Plan is going away as of our plan renewal on May 4th. And it’s not just us, since it looks like the entire plan is being discontinued. So I started scrambling to see what I could replace it with.

While we were traveling, we used a combination of Wal-Mart’s $4-$10 list along with Sam’s Plus Card Discount List. But first I thought I’d take a look at Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs plan.

And I was pleasantly surprised. While our Kroger’s plan gives us a couple of our prescriptions for free, the CPD plan is often cheaper than the Kroger’s plan. So it looks like it would be a wash.

I’ll still go back and check Wal-Mart/Sam’s, but I switched to Kroger’s because they were cheaper than WM/Sam’s in the first place, so I don’t have high hopes.

But I’ll be doing more research on this.

When we were in London in May 2019, visiting the Tower of London, we bought a set of these Beefeater facecloths. Well now, 5 years later, they’re starting to get a little worn. So checking online I found that I could order a new set for only $6.37. I think that’s cheaper than the gift shop.

Since they’re planning on opening our local Webster Great Wolf Lodge a couple of months early, they’ve released some new photos of the outside,

and the inside waterpark area.

Looks neat!

Tomorrow we’re heading up to Conroe once again, to have lunch with Debi and Ed at Vernon’s Kuntry Katfish.

Always good.

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At work today I was back on the the translation of our new epilator manual from Turkish to English, starting with the Google translation and then going through and cleaning it up into colloquial American English, which is not always easy, believe me.

Later in the afternoon, I drove over to the Houston’s Physician’s Hospital to get my 6-month follow-up X-rays after my Lumbar Fusion back last September. Only took about 20 minutes before I was done and on my way.

* * * * *

Getting back down to our Santa Fe area, I made a dinner stop at the newly-opened Driftwood BBQ

Don’t know if the “Driftwood” is an homage to the famed Salt Lick BBQ located in Driftwood, TX near Austin. Salt Lick is so good that Brandi and Lowell had their wedding reception there back in 2010.

But though Driftwood was good, it wasn’t quite ‘Salt Lick’ good.

Jan had a Turkey Plate with two Green Beans, while I had a Two Meat Plate with Brisket & Ribs, along with the Green Beans and BBQ Beans.

The meat was tasty but the sauce was disappointing.

Since they’ve only been open a few days, we’ll wait a while before we go back to give them a chance to settle down.

* * * * *

Looks like the 5G in our area is finally getting up to speed. The last time I checked back around the end of January, it was running about 8Mbps. So this is much better. However in other areas, I have seen speeds of over 450Mbps.

So they’ve got a ways to go.

* * * * *

Tomorrow looks to be Hot Dogs from Doggone Crazy over in Bacliff, and then Wal-Mart on the way home.

Thought for the Day:

When you’re at Walmart and your Support Possum refuses to wear his little vest and walk on a leash.

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™

March 19, 2009

Another quiet day in Gulf Shores, AL …

Another quiet day of retirement. We read, watched TV, and played on the computer.

Sometime during the early afternoon, we lost water pressure here in the park, but we turned on our water pump and ran on our internal 100 gal. tank until it came back on later.

About 2:30 we headed to up Foley to see Inkheart at a local theatre. It stars Brendan Fraser, the guy in the Mummy movies.  It was strange, but good.  I like a movie that you can’t really anticipate what’s going to happen, and this was it.

After the movie we had foot-long chili cheese dogs at Sonic and then headed home to more reading, watching TV and playing on the computer.

What can I say?

March 19, 2010

Hoover Dam Fine Mexican Food…

We headed out about 11:15am for a day of fun and frolic. Well, maybe just fun.

Our first stop was WalMart for Jan, while I ran into a RadioShack next door to look for some parts for a project.

Then we headed out toward Boulder City, which is on the way to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.  And we very quickly hit the bumper-to-bumper traffic leading up to the dam.

It took us about an hour to creep our way to the Dam area, but the spectacular scenery made up for it.

We were going out here, not to see the Hoover Dam, since we had toured it two years ago, but we wanted to see the progress on the new suspension bridge being built to bypass traffic around the Dam.

I had heard the bridge was going to open in November of this year and we wanted to see how it had changed in the last two years.

When we turned the corner and got a first glimpse of the bridge it looked like they were almost finished.

Then we saw this.

In doing some checking, I read that the bridge is supposed to be finished in August and the approach road will be finished in November, when the entire thing is supposed to open.

Somehow I don’t think the bridge will be finished in 5 months. Besides these two unfinished sections, there is a smaller unfinished section on the left side.

The article said the project is on schedule.

I’ll say this. If they do manage to finish it in 5 months,  I’m not sure I want to drive over it.

We turned around at the Dam and headed back, encountering much less traffic. Stopping off at the Lake Mead Visitor’s Center to use the bathroom, we also enjoyed the scenic view and the desert landscaping.

We also saw what we think was a family of Cactus Wrens in the palm trees around the Visitor’s Center.

Leaving the Visitor’s Center we headed down to Lake Mead itself.

Then leaving Lake Mead, we headed back toward Las Vegas and a Camping World along the way.

By this time we were getting hungry, so we headed over to Lindo Michoacán, a restaurant listed as the best Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas.

And they were right.  It was great!  Jan said her Shrimp Enchiladas were fantastic and my Carnitas a la Coca-Cola, pork chunks cooked in a sauce containing Coke, was a real treat.

And the view looking out over the city was something too.  We will definitely come back here, hopefully at night to see the city lights.

After stopping off at a NAPA Auto Parts store, we headed home.

Then a couple of hours later, when we thought we were settled in for the night, we went back out for ice cream.

Isn’t RV’ing fun!

March 19, 2011

Da Boyz and Skyping …

After coffee about 10, and leftover Da Boyz spaghetti and pizza at 11, about 12:15 we did our first two-way Skype call with Landon, Brandi, and Lowell. We had done a Skype call two weeks ago, but Landon couldn’t see us since we didn’t have our camera yet. But now we do.

And it was obvious he could see us now, as he kept laughing and reaching for the laptop screen when we talked to him.

And he’s sitting up pretty much on his own now. And at 7 months, he’s gotten so tall he’s wearing 12-month sizes now.

Day before yesterday, Brandi sent this really cute video of Landon waking up in the morning. I finally decided to set up a YouTube account to make it easier to post videos here.  Enjoy!

After our adventure in Skyping, I got back to work on pulling up the last of the carpet so I could finally start laying our new Allure laminate flooring. The only carpet left is what’s under the driver’s seat, so I removed the four bolts holding the seat to the mounting plate,

and then the single large bolt that holds the plate to the coach floor.

Work, work, work.

On another note, one of our favorite TV shows is “My Life is A Zoo” on NatGeo Wild. On DirecTV, it’s channel 283. On Dish or cable, your mileage may vary.

It’s the story of Bud and Carrie, who own and operate the DeYoung Family Zoo in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the town of Wallace, which is only about a mile or so out of Wisconsin. And it’s a place we hope to visit later this year as we head back in that direction.

Anyway, in one of those weird coincidences, a 5’er had pulled in next to us earlier in the day, and then later I was outside talking to them.

When they said they were from the UP, I mentioned that we had heard the area was beautiful, and planned to visit there this year. I then commented that one of the places we wanted to visit was the DeYoung Family Zoo near Wallace.

The husband smiled and said he knew exactly where it was, because Carrie, was his son-in-law’s niece.

(Cue the Twilight Zone theme here)

Later, I went back to carefully pulling up the carpet. I say carefully, because I need to leave the carpet that rises up under the pedals, since the laminate won’t bend up like that.

Dinner tonight was at eegee’s, a local chain that has great sandwiches and fruit drinks.

Coming home, we stopped by Wal-Mart for stuff and then were home by about 7.

Around 10:30 I went outside to get some photos of the Supermoon that occurs tonight. The Supermoon is just when the moon happens to be full when it’s also at the closest point to the Earth in its orbit. And this is the closest it’s been in 18 years.

Despite all the hype about earthquakes and other natural disasters because the moon is so close, it’s only 1/4000 of a percent closer than it was last year. So fat chance.

Tomorrow looks to be another “work around the rig” day. I want to keep working on the floor, and I need to check the water level in our coach batteries.

More tomorrow from sunny Tucson . . .

March 19, 2012

It’s SNOWING! Well, kind of . . .

or

One mousy down, ??? to go

According to the weather radar, it was snowing all around us today, and even right above us. But since it was only in the mid-40’s, it never reached the ground here.

About noon Jan and I headed out for lunch and a hardware store run. Our first choice for lunch was Chuy’s, a few miles north of here on Houghton Rd, but it turned out to be out of business. I’d swear I saw cars there a few days ago.

So our second choice was a nearby Bruegger’s Bagels. We first ate at a Bruegger’s up in Fairbanks, AK in 2008, and later, several others around the country. They have great soup and sandwiches, and are well worth a try.

After lunch we made a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Fry’s right across the parking lot for a few things, then it was down the road to Ace Hardware.

I was looking for two things . . . a water hose quick connect set, and mouse traps. Yes, we have a mouse, or maybe mice, I don’t know yet.

Jan had noticed holes in a couple of chip bags, but since one of our cats has been known to nibble on bread bags, etc., she got the blame (the cat, not Jan). But after checking the bottom of the lower slide-out pantry, we found holes in cracker boxes that had not been out of the cabinet, and after removing the basket and looking at the bottom of the cabinet, we found droppings. Rut, Roh.

Coming back into the fairgrounds, we pulled in behind Tom and Barb Westerfield and their RV, as they pulled in to register at the fairground’s office. Then a few minutes later they were parked two spaces down from us, getting set up.

Getting back to our rig, I baited two of the four traps I bought with peanut butter, placed them in the cabinet, and closed the door. All I had to do now was wait for the loud ‘snap’.

About 5:30 Jan and I headed out to meet with Tom and Barb, at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We had our usual great meal, along with a lot of fun and conversation.

Jan and I got home a little before 8pm and found there had apparently been a loud ‘snap’ while we were gone, and a dead mousy was in one of the traps. That’s one.

After disposing of the mousy corpse, I reset the trap and put down the other two in the open wall space behind the cabinet. We’ll see what we find tomorrow morning.

The Weather Channel says it’s supposed to go down to 33 tonight, but since it’s already 35 here at midnight, I think it might get colder. We’ll see.

“SNAP!”

March 19, 2013

The Circus Must Be In Town . . .

A Camp Host showed up a little before noon with some packages from Amazon. One of them was my dually tire extensions

It only took a few minutes to get them installed and ready to go. Next time I have some tire work done I’m going to make sure I get my own extensions back.

A little after noon Chris and Charles headed out in their rig to the Freightliner shop to have some work done.

After they got back a few hours later, Jan and I went next door so I could work on Chris and Charles’ website for the GMAC insurance and Good Sam’s RV products that they sell. We made a good bit of progress before we decided it was time for supper.

So a little before 5pm we all headed out to have dinner at Silver Saddle SteakHouse, rated one of the best steakhouses in Tucson. And if you don’t believe it, you can watch them grill your steak right off the dining room.

Chris, Charles, and I all had the Combo Platter, which had ribs, chicken, and steak. You can’t get much better than that. Jan had a Sirloin Steak that she said was delicious.

This is one place we’re sure to go every time we visit Tucson.

As we were leaving the restaurant, Jan was talking to a friend on her cell phone and was trying to get outside so she could hear better. But as she was waiting at the door, a string of about 20-25 people came streaming in, one after the other. Finally, frustrated that she couldn’t get outside, Jan turned to me and said, “Are they coming out of a clown car?” Unfortunately, she said it a little louder than she intended and the guy holding the door open for everyone gave us a dirty look.

I tried to see if he was wearing really large shoes but he clopped away before I could get a look.

Getting back to our rigs, we sat around for a while at Chris and Charles’ before finally heading home about 8.

Tomorrow we’re meeting our local friends Al and Adrienne for lunch at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. We haven’t seen them since last year so it will be good to see them again.

March 19, 2014

BLT’s and Brûlée . . .

Jan and I headed down south for Clear Lake about 9:45am, with our first stop planned for lunch at King Food. But with just a couple of blocks to go, Jan decided she wanted Twin Peaks instead, so I turned right instead of left. Fine with me. Good food and a beautiful woman to take care of me.

And the waitresses are kind of cute, too.

Unfortunately, Lauren, our usual waitress, wasn’t there, so we had to make do with Tabby, but she was great. And as Lauren mentioned the last time we were there, they no longer carry the Average Joes, the mini sausage dogs.

So I had to make do with their new Sourdough BLT that comes with a cup of Spicy Tomato Soup. Really good, and my new favorite.

Leaving Twin Peaks, we stopped at the storeroom so I could drop off some of the stuff I’ve been removing from the basement that we still want to save. Then after a quick stop by a client’s office, I dropped Jan off for her doctor’s appointment while I ran more errands, with stops at Sam’s Club for our prescriptions, Wal-Mart for groceries, and our son’s house for the mail.

Then it was back to wait for Jan to get finished at the doctor’s. I used the time to catch up on my magazine reading for a change, rather than my Kindle.

When Jan was finished, we headed up to Katy, to have dinner with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon at Little V’s Vietnamese Bistro, our new favorite Vietnamese place (well, it’s actually our only favorite Vietnamese place).

Everyone pretty much got their usual, including my Shaking Beef Bowl.

Tender beef, vermicelli noodles, and crispy fresh veggies. Really good.

One thing we did differently this time was to have dessert, but just a little bit, kind of along the lines of those dessert ‘shooters’ that some places have now. ‘mini’ desserts.

And this one was a delicious Crème Brûlée, but on a small scale. The dessert consists of six large serving spoons resting on a plate, each one filled with rich cream custard.

Next sugar is sprinkled on top and then caramelized, usually with a propane torch.

So what you get is a creamy custard, capped with a thin crunchy caramel shell. Very, very good, with a spoonful for everyone. (well, some of us got more than one.) Just the right way to finish off a great meal.

After saying our goodbyes, and getting gas next door to the restaurant, we headed back up to Willis, getting home a little before 9pm.

When we got to Brandi’s I was happy to see all the stuff I had ordered. Besides the things from Amazon, I got my new Fantastic Vent Motor and Fan kit,

and finally, the shear pins for fixing the slide.

Hard to believe one of these small pins could cause so much trouble.

The fan motor should be pretty easy to replace. Just 4 screws, remove the old one and install the new one. We’ll see

I’ve got so many things on my plate that it might be a couple of days before I get around to replacing the pins.

March 19, 2015

AJ and Santa Fe . . .

Jan and I were up about 6:30 this morning, getting ready to move up to Apache Junction, and the Santa Fe RV Park. Although we weren’t leaving until 10-10:30, and I’d already stored the water and sewer hoses, and packed other stuff away, we were up this early so we could meet our friends Al & Adrienne for breakfast at the Voyager Grill.

The couple of other times we’ve eaten here, it’s been very good, and this morning was no exception. Plus we got to spend a lot more time with Al & Adrienne. But finally it was time to get on the road.

We pulled out of our site a little before 10am, and hooked up the toad in a special lane set up near the park exit. Then a couple of miles down the road, we stopped off at the Pilot/Flying J for diesel. And I was happy to see a $2.60 a gallon price, too.

I again really appreciated our Good Sam Pilot RV Plus Card because it gave us 7 cents a gallon off the Cash Price. Why anybody who RV’s doesn’t have this card, I don’t know.

Note the difference in the prices between the Good Sam’s Loyalty Card and RV Plus Card. 3 cents a gallon vs. the 7 cents a gallon I got today. And the regular Pilot MyRewards that a lot of RV’ers have, only gives the same 3 cents. And the RV Plus card doesn’t cost anything. Just apply.

Back on the road, we took the back way up to Apache Junction, using SR77 and SR79 as our route. Much more scenic than the Interstate. We had some traffic before we left the outskirts of Tucson, but it wasn’t bad. Then it was just miles and miles of saguaros and chollas.

We pulled into the Santa Fe RV Park around 2pm and got set up. We’ll only be here for three days before we move a few miles away to the Countryside RV Resort, an Encore park, where we’ll stay for another 2 weeks before heading up to Verde Valley.

Later we had dinner at the #1 Eastern Chinese Buffet off of Signal Butte. We’ve eaten here several times and it’s always really good. The place stays so busy that the food doesn’t stay on the steam tables very long before it’s replaced. And they have a very wide selection, too. So hopefully we’ll have a chance to eat here again.

Don’t know that we have anything really scheduled for tomorrow, so I’ll probably work on a couple of projects.

March 19, 2016

Thought I Had It Fixed . . .

But No.

It was really nice to sleep in this morning for the first time in months, or maybe it was just since last week, but anyway, it was nice.

After goofing off most of the morning and early afternoon, I went out to the truck to take a further look at my AC / Condenser Fan problem. But before I did anything else, I thought I’d take a minute to check out the relays and fuses in the Power Distribution Center under the hood.

And for a few minutes, I thought I’d found the problem, and a quick, easy, and no-cost fix. The perfect kind of fix.

When I started checking the relays, this is what I first saw.

This relay, labeled ‘AC’ was just sitting there, only barely plugging into its socket. Could it be this easy?

Well . . .  No!

I plugged it back in, started the car, and still had no A/C. Bummer.

Note that all these relays are identical, so as a further test, I unplugged the one labeled “Fog Lamps” (it wasn’t foggy) and plugged that one into the AC spot. And again, no luck.

So next I started trying to track down where the condenser fan gets its power. I can see it coming out of the bottom of the fan and going back under the radiator, but can’t find where it comes out. It may be that I’ll have to put power into the output contacts on the fan control relay socket, but I’ll need more time with the schematics before I can be sure.

I’ve got both the Chilton and Haynes manuals, so between the two I should be able to trace it out.

Back after Christmas I was complaining about the cost of the refills for the Touch Free Soap Dispenser our daughter Brandi gave us for Christmas.

The refills run anywhere from $8 to $15 so I was looking for a cheaper solution. We finished our first one up a while back and so I saved the empty one to play with later.

The first thing I discovered was that the plastic lid just pops off, and was not press-fitted on like I figured, so I got a bottle of SoftSoap to refill it with.

Overall the refill works pretty well, but it doesn’t foam up like the original stuff. So I may experiment with different brands. But $1.98 is a better price than $8 to $15.

I noted several of you bought the book I recommended, The Toaster Oven Mocks Me, and wondered if you enjoyed it as much as Jan and I did.

Let me know.

March 19, 2017

Mark The Date On Your Calendar . . .

Oil Field Gate Guarding for Fun? and Profit

Wednesday, March 22nd

11:30 – 12:30

Old Pueblo Rm 4

Mark your schedule for our seminar

After our morning coffee and a little quiet time, Jan and I headed over to the Escapade at the Pima County Fairgrounds. Surprisingly we had no problems finding a parking space very near Old Pueblo Hall, where all the vendors are set up.

We weren’t even in the door before we started running into old friends, in some cases, ones that we haven’t seen since the last Escapade here two years ago.

We spent the next couple of hours wandering the vendor aisles, again running into old friends. Jan went one way and I went another, making a first pass up and down the rows, mentally marking booths I wanted to check out further at a later time.

I did go ahead and sign up for an Arizona Concealed Carry class on Tuesday afternoon with Bryon Hibshman of TravelingCCW.com. Bryon, a former LEO for 29 years, is a NRA Certified Instructor, and gives CCW classes at RV rallies around the country.

In fact, I got my Utah non-resident CCW with him at a rally’s back in 2010. But when it expired in 2015 I was unable to renew it due to a change in Utah’s rules.

Later we ended up having lunch with Daisy and Chip Cartwright, old friends of Chris and Charles Yust. It was a lot of fun getting to know them and talking about all the same places we’d been over the years. Nice People!

About 2:30 we headed over to Thurber Hall for the Escapade Opening Ceremonies. I don’t know yet how many rigs are here, but the hall was pretty full.

A little after 4pm Jan and I headed up Kolb Ave. to Poco & Mom’s Cantina to meet up for dinner. We’ve eaten at the original Poco & Mom’s for years after being introduced to it by our long-time friends Al & Adrienne Cox.

Then a couple of years ago they opened up a new, much larger place a few miles away. The same great food, with a much more extensive menu.

While everyone went with something different, I got my usual Best of New Mexico Combo.

With a fried egg, one green‏ Chile chicken enchilada, one Chile Relleno topped with sour cream green Chile enchilada sauce, one red Chile shredded beef taco, served with homemade beans and rice, it’s a pretty good overview of New Mex-Mex/AZ-Mex cuisine.

Once again our dinner was great with our friends.

From the left, we had Jan, Sherry Bennett, Clark Bennett, Donna Huffer, and Bob Parker. I didn’t manage to leave Bob out of the photo tonight, because I only had one beer this time.

On the Amazon front, I had 3 orders that were supposed to be delivered to the Escapade. Yes, they specified Sunday delivery by the Post Office. At 10:28 I got a text message saying the packages were out for delivery. But then at 11:01 I received another text message saying they could not be delivered because the ‘business’ (the Pima County Fairgrounds?) was CLOSED.

Curious about why they thought the park was closed, I asked the two gentlemen at the front gate if a US Mail truck had come by. They said they had been there since 6am and hadn’t seen any mail truck at all. I think the mailman just didn’t want to get up early on Sunday morning. Hopefully, it will be delivered tomorrow with the rest of the mail.

But hey, at least nothing broke on the rig today.

March 19, 2018

Two Down, One To Go . . .

Jan and I were up at 6:30 and out the rig door by 7:15am, heading up to Friendswood for our GP Doctor’s yearly checkups, mine at 8am and Jan’s at 8:30. It helps that we both use the same doctor.

Jan and I always try to make our appointments for the very first thing in the morning so we don’t get stuck waiting around as the times start slipping as the day wears on.

Both our blood pressure (mine was 113/74) and our blood glucose readings were good, but we won’t know our A1c’s until the tests come back. But we don’t expect to have a problem this time.

Now all we’ve got left is Jan’s oncologist appointment Thursday at noon to go over her lab tests and mammogram which should be pretty much pro forma.

We were done with doctors and back on the road by 9:30, a new record I think. Our first stop was at Brock’s Car Care to give Dennis a deposit on all the special order stuff for our truck repair. Hopefully it will be ready Thursday or Friday.

Then it was on to have breakfast at The Egg and I over in Webster. Probably our favorite upscale breakfast place, we have been eating here since before we started RV’ing in 2008. And it has always been delicious. We always start off with a big pot of their Hazelnut Coffee, really fresh and flavorful. One of our favorite parts of eating here.

This time Jan had the Bacon Avocado Scramble with Ranch Potatoes and an English Muffin.

And this time they got her bacon right. Jan calls it “Glass Bacon”. So well-done(burnt) that it shatters when you touch it.

I had my favorite Deluxe Egg Sandwich with 2 fried eggs, smoked ham, bacon, tomato, mayonnaise and Havarti dill on grilled sourdough bread, along with Dressed Greens.

This is the first time I’ve had the greens as a side, (Jan calls them ‘weeds’) and they were really good. The dressing was so good I had to ask what it was, and it turns out it was a Lemon Vinaigrette. Really good.

Finishing up we headed home for the day, with reading for Jan and website stuff for me.

Catching up on a few things, I mentioned a week or so ago that I was upset about how our rig/truck insurance had jumped in price, from $287 to $351 per month. Normally it only jumps $10-$15 per month, even after our 2015 blowout in Arizona. If you’re new here since then, you can check out the link above for the story.

But by raising our policy’s deductible from $500 to $1000, it dropped the payment from $351 to $317, a $34 per month savings. Not great, but not bad.

Since in 11 years of RV’ing we’ve only had that one 2015 claim, I think it’s a pretty safe bet. And in 15 months the savings will cover the $500 increase in deductible.

A recent Alexa update apparently gave her some manners. I’ve always been in the habit of thanking Alexa after she does something for me, I.e. “Alexa, TV On.” She then turns on the TV, and says, “Sure”. And most of the time I will say, “Thank you.”

Before now, I had gotten dead silence from her. But a couple of nights ago, she came back with, “You’re Welcome.” Gave me a jolt.  Since then I’ve gotten, “No problem.”, “Anytime.”, “Don’t Mention It”,  and “My Pleasure.”

At least our new robot masters will be polite when they take over.

When I got root (full access) and also solved the SSL certificate on the webserver I promised myself a steak dinner, so tomorrow we’re going to Saltgrass Steakhouse so I can collect my award. YUMM!

March 19, 2019

He Never Speaks . . .

Yesterday Jan and I headed up toward Sugarland about 4pm, with our first stop at our favorite Floyd’s Cajun Seafood for dinner before our Puddles Pity Party concert.

We took our time with dinner, finally heading up to the Stafford Center about 6:30, finding people already lining up for the 8pm show.

We were in our seats by 7:30 (5th Row, Center,  Very Nice!) and around 7;45pm we hear the audience stirring behind us. Turning around we see Puddles working the crowd, shaking hands and giving hugs to everyone, even going up into the balcony for a bit.

As he wanders the audience it’s easy to see how tall he really is. At 6’ 8”, he’s over 7 feet in his clown shoes, but as Jan says, he’s not a scary clown. And he never speaks. In some cases, it’s kind of like charades.

He started out with a favorite of ours, The Sounds Of Silence.

Really love it, especially the very end.

Besides another favorite of ours, a Smashup of Pinball Wizard, sung as Johnny Cash doing Folsom Prison Blues,

he also did one of ELO’s Telephone and Adele’s Hello, singing with himself.

There was also a lot of audience participation with people up on the stage, but he seemed to be very careful not to embarrass or make fun of anyone.

I had taken my new Panasonic Lumix camera with me for its first really use. And starting out, I was very disappointed at the results I was seeing.

The photos weren’t near as bight as the ones as I was getting with my cellphone. In fact, they were downright dingy.

Then about 3/4’s of the way through the concert I discovered that somewhere along the line that the Exposure setting had gotten set to –3.5 from the standard 0.0. And when I reset it, I got this.

Much better.

Wrapping up the two-hour show, there was a slide on the screen advertising “Puddles Cuddles”. I.e., hugs, photos, or autographs with Puddles in the lobby. Since Jan said she only cuddles with me, we headed home, arriving a little after 11pm.

This afternoon was Jan’s mammogram, so we headed out a little after noon for her 1pm appointment. Or at least we thought we did.

Turns out we actually left the rig a little after 11pm . . . because our clock suddenly decided to auto-adjust for Daylight Savings Time.

Our clock is supposed to auto set and update, based on the US Government’s WWV radio time signals. However last weekend it didn’t update for DST, so to correct I just changed it back to the Eastern Time Zone, which had the effect of making the time correct.

But I guess the clock suddenly decided to correct its mistake, leaving us heading out an hour early. Better than an hour late though, I guess.

But it did give us time to have a bowl of our favorite Hot & Sour Soup at King Food. Then it was right down the road for Jan’s appointment, which as usual took almost exactly two hours.

And she walked out with a big smile on her face. Everything was OK. At least on the really important part, the mammogram. Important because she had breast cancer 5 years ago.

She won’t have her Bone Density results for a week, but doesn’t expect any problems with it.

Jan wants me to remind every female reader to get their mammograms. Jan had never had any previous problems and almost decided to skip it in 2014. But she didn’t.

And that’s why they discovered her breast cancer as a Stage 0. And an out-patient lumpectomy took care of it, with no Chemo, and no Radiation.

She really dodged a bullet. So it’s every year from now on, without fail.

Tomorrow it’s back to work, and then on Thursday we’ve got our yearly checkups with our GP. Then Jan has her appointment with her oncologist next Thursday, and we should be done for this year.

March 19, 2020

Wife Held Hostage . . .

Our Rubbermaid shed was supposed to be delivered between 9am and noon this morning, and when I got up about 8, I could see my delivery truck wandering about Galveston Island about 20 miles south, making other stops before finally heading up my way, They showed up about 10:45 and I had them leave it on the patio where Jan and I will start putting it together, probably this weekend.

I was surprised how big the box was, much larger than the box that contained the Arrow metal shed that we first looked at.

While I was waiting for the delivery truck, I took a look at another problem. Last night when I got home, I moved the satellite dish closer to the rig so I could park the truck there to make room for the shed delivery. I had already planned to realign it anyway, since I was noticing more weather drop-outs than usual.

So after I moved the dish, I unplugged the 12 volts and plugged it back in, expecting to hear the dish motor start whirring.

Nothing.

After giving it a sharp WHACK (Hey, it fixed the Mars Rover!) with no luck, I checked the power plug and found the correct 12v going into the dome. So grabbing my power screwdriver, I removed the bolts holding the dome onto the base.

I was thinking that maybe the drive belt had broken or come loose, but it was fine. Looking over it I couldn’t find a fuse for the drive, only for the amplifier. I double-checked that I had 12v going right into the drive assembly, but it was OK.

My next thought was to head down to our storage room to grab my spare dome. I have a spare because a few years ago when we were staying at the Lake Conroe Thousand Trails, I was dropping a bag of garbage at the dumpsters, and found a Winegard dome, complete with power cord, just sitting there.

Figuring it was dead, I thought maybe I could use it for parts someday. But when I got it back to the rig and checked it out, the only problem I found was a broken wire in the 12v plug. So I have a spare.

But since my goal was really just to get the dish working again, I figured that the elevation setting hadn’t changed, just the azimuth, I.e. the direction it was pointing. So I turned up the volume really loud on the TV in the rig, and slowly moved the dish back and forth until I heard sound. I then went inside to check the signal level, thinking I probably would have to fine-tune it a little, but found 95’s across the screen.

I won’t need to have it working, aiming-wise until we head out to Alabama/Florida in June. In the meantime I’ll continue to look at the motor problem to see what I can figure out.

I got Jan back a couple of days early this afternoon, but I had to ransom her with a 12 pack of Charmin Ultra-Soft Mega Rolls. Jan was afraid that Brandi, et. al., would run out, so I gave her a 12 pack from our private stash we keep hidden in the truck.

I originally was supposed to pick up Jan either tomorrow night or Saturday morning, but Brandi said she was going to start working from home tomorrow, rather than Monday. So I headed up there about 4:30 to meet them in the Cheddar’s parking lot where we met Brandi for lunch last Thursday.

Like selling drugs out of the back of my truck, I surreptitiously slipped the contraband to Brandi, who after looking around carefully, hid the package in her vehicle, hoping not to be hijacked on her way home.

When I was heading out to pick up Jan, I noticed our favorite Los Ramirez Mexican Restaurant was still open, though I knew it would be closed to only take out starting tomorrow. So coming home, Jan and I stopped there for one Last Supper until further notice, I guess.

Takeout just won’t be the same.

March 19, 2021

She’s HOME! 

I left work at a little after noon, heading up to Katy to finally pick up my Jan. I got there about 1, and found her all packed and ready to go, waiting at the kitchen door.

Brandi had already called and said they were about 45 minutes out, so we loaded up and got on the road. One of the dogs, Jack, has to be put in his cage when there’s no home, otherwise he gets a little destructive. But Jan hates for him to be locked up for too long, so we try to time it close.

Coming back down the Tollway we turned off at the Pearland Pkwy to get lunch at the El Pollo Loco that we just found was in the area. As usual, we each got a 3 piece meal, with their Charro Beans, and the new Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice. Really good.

And we got some more to take home for later. As usual.

Getting back to the Clear Lake area, we swung by the office to pick up my A/C control box that had come earlier in the afternoon. Then it was back to the rig with a quick detour through Cowboy Coffee to enjoy out on the patio when we got home.

Lately it seems to be a recurring theme. Someone decides that something/someone ‘offends’ them, and the baying of hounds of cancellation commences.

In this latest cancellation, it seems to be Dr. Seuss. In at least one example, he depicted a Chinese person eating with chopsticks while wearing a conical hat.

Oh, the horror.

And it didn’t seem to make any difference that Chinese publications still show Chinese peasants working in the rice paddies dressed exactly the same way.

It ‘offended’ someone somewhere, so it must be destroyed.

So with Dr. Seuss in the crosshairs this time, Amazon stopped selling some of his books, and said they’re looking at the rest of them. But then there’s this.

Or the Communist Manifesto, Mao’s Little Red Book, or a number of other similar tomes.

But as happens, this caused a backlash from people apparently not so easily offended, leading to the shirt I just ordered, ironically also from Amazon.

But  I have other items with the same theme.

‘Molon Labe’ is what the 300 Spartans told the Persian leader, Xerxes I, when he demanded they lay down their weapons and surrender at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. It pretty much means, ‘Come and take them.”

This was also used at the Battle of Gonzales in the War for Texas Independence in 1835, when the Mexican army wanted their cannon back. And for that, I have this.

And then, just on general principles, I also have this shirt.

Kind of conveys a similar meaning.

March 19, 2022

Dig World . . .

Lunch today was at Spring Creek BBQ right out on I-45. We wanted to stay in this area because Jan had a hair appointment at the Cost Cutters down here

And as usual, Ribs and Brisket, with Beans and Beans.

Really great!

Then after Jan’s hair was done, it was back across the Interstate for a few things at WalMart, before heading home.

Recently I came across this new theme park at Katy Mills Mall right near Brandi and Lowell’s.

Called Dig World, it allows anyone, including kids, to operate full-size Caterpillar mini-excavators, skid steers, and UTV vehicles on 3.5 acres.

Little ones can operate machinery themselves (of age and height appropriate) or with adult supervision.

The park has a partnership with construction giant Mustang Cat. Dig World has also partnered with Texas A&M’s Department of Construction Science to educate and spread awareness about the construction industry.

Along with construction equipment, the park will also boast a playground, a gem-mining station, a turf field with yard games, and other attractions.

They have plans to open 10 Dig World parks throughout the U.S. over the next few years.

Glacial Archaeologists Just Uncovered Ancient Reindeer Hunting Tools Atop A Mountain In Norway

Recently this article showed up online, and while it’s interesting in itself, to me it’s more interesting in what it doesn’t talk about.

As glaciers shrink in Norway, they’ve pulled back the curtain on humanity’s ancient past. Upon the mountainous peak of Sandgrovskardet, glacial archaeologists have found a number of reindeer hunting tools from 1,700 years ago that were once hidden by the ice.

“There is a lot of melting going on due to climate change, and we had to prioritize other sites in the short time window for glacial archaeological fieldwork,” explained Lars Pilø, an archaeologist at the Department of Cultural Heritage, Innlandet County Council, Norway; co-director of the Glacier Archaeology Program; and editor of the Secrets of the Ice website.

The thing that’s never directly mentioned in the article is the fact that 1700 years ago there were no glaciers here. So the melting glaciers, supposedly caused by global warming global cooling climate change is just putting us back where the climate was almost 2000 years ago.

But now we’ve only got 15 years 10 years 9.8 years until we’re all doomed.

March 19, 2023

No Juana . . .

Lunch today was at Texas Huddle once again, but minus Juana this time. I was expecting the place to be pretty busy, what with March Madness and all, but the place was not even half full. And since it was so slow Juana had gone home early. But we ended up with Cassidy who was a great replacement.

Jan got her usual, a Side Salad

and a Bacon Cheddar Mushroom Burger, Keto style (no bun) with the remainder of her salad.

I got the Entrée version of the Garden Salad along with Jan’s Bacon from her burger,

and their really good made-in-house Jalapeno Ranch.

Just as good as always.

Heading home we normally would have done our HEB shopping today, but we did it yesterday coming home from Conroe since we had to drive right back there. So today it was just lunch and home.

Nice.

For you fans, the fifth and final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will hit screens on Friday, April 14, 2023. The last season will begin with a three-episode premiere, and the following six episodes will air weekly following the premiere.

Mark your calendars.

On our trip up to Conroe yesterday I got to try out my Visor Phone Mount.

And it works great. The phone is very visible, but out of the way. And even better, it’s only $10.

Tomorrow morning/afternoon I’ve got the second of my two PDT (Photo Dynamic Therapy) treatments. Or as I call it, The Devil’s Easy Bake Oven. And I say ‘morning/afternoon’ because I have to be there at 11am when they will apply the photoreactive agent to my head, which then has to dry for two hours before the treatment. And that only takes 10 minutes.

March 19, 2024

Catching Up On Saturday . . .

Our room here at the Marble Falls Quality Inn is really nice, and obviously recently remodeled.

And we even get our own Bluebonnets.

After some really bad coffee (I think it was actually Instant), from the hotel breakfast, we were on our way over to Chris’ in Kingsland by about 9:15 with Brandi, Lowell, and Landon right behind us.

The reason we were on our way so early was that Chris was taking us to an out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere BBQ place called Texas Porky Pig’s BBQ.

On the trip, I got a chance to ride in Chris’ new Chevy Bolt EV. Really like the dashboard display.

Along the way, we saw plenty of examples of Texas Bluebonnets bordering the road.

Chris said this place is out in the country, and it really is.

Porky’s is only open on Saturdays, starting at 11am and going until he runs out of BBQ.

Just looking at the place, you know the BBQ is going to be great.

The guy in the blue shirt is Porky himself.

And these are just two of his smokers. This is some serious BBQ.

And the dining is either take-out or outside under several pavilions, which is where we ended up.

Not only was the BBQ delicious, but the price was even better.

We got a big tray of ribs, 3-4 pounds of BBQ Chicken, 4 big Pulled Pork Sandwiches, 2 large BBQ Stuffed Potatoes, and drinks, plus all the BBQ beans you can eat from the pot simmering on the grilled.

All for a great price.

Getting back to Chris’ we got to check out all the recent improvements he’s made. This new walkway is really nice, and makes

Later we all set out around the firepit and enjoyed the flames.

On the wall in the living room are two of the Cigar Box Banjos Chris built, and also a Coke Clock that has a lot of history behind it.

That clock came from a restaurant that my father and I had back in 1970, so it’s going on 54 years old. It was showing its age before Chris refurbished it, getting the pendulum to move back and forth again.

Finishing up, this is Miss Piper and one of her dogs, Toby. She got him when he was a small puppy, but now he’s all grown up.

Way up!

But he’s a real sweetheart, and would crawl up in your lap if he could fit.