1,000 Foot Ore Freighter, Soo Locks, MI

1,000 Foot Ore Freighter, Soo Locks, MI

Near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

Near Peggys Cove, Nova Scotia

Colorful Truck Sales, Weed, CA

Colorful Truck Sales, Weed, CA

Hollywood Sign

Hollywood Sign

Mackinac Bridge, MI

Mackinac Bridge, MI

Pelicans, Grays Harbor, WA

Pelicans, Grays Harbor, WA

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

Thanks Again . . .

Thanks again for all the Happy Birthday Wishes from everybody.

Lunch today was at another long-time favorite of ours, Kelley’s Country Cookin’, this time the one up I-45 in League City.

One thing we really like are their Daily Specials. Here’s the ones for Sunday.

You get your choice of an entree and 3 veggies. All for $11.99!

And every day’s entrees and veggies are different.

But Jan of course got the Turkey & Dressing, along with the Buttered Carrots, Green Beans, and extra Dressing.

As my usual I got the Country Fried Chicken Breast, with Green Beans, Buttered Carrots, and Mashed Potatoes & Gravy.

Note the size of the Chicken Breast. And this is the ‘small’ one.

If you want the ‘Texas-Sized’ one, it’s a couple of bucks more, and it covers the entire plate with no room for veggies, and hangs over the edges.

And since we both bought half of it home, that means we ate for $8.27 each.

Not bad.

But after that great meal, neither of us felt like doing the HEB today, so maybe tomorrow.

We’ll see.


October 6, 2009

Surplus and Salvage…

Well, the weather has gone to pot again. We’re back to cold and rainy again.

For lunch we decided to try out a Chinese Buffet called King’s Buffet that we had seen while we were out shopping the other day.

It was pretty good, but not as good as the China Wok Buffet we ate at several times in Celina last week.

After lunch we stopped by RV Surplus and Salvage here in Elkhart to see what they have.  There are several places like this in the Elkhart area since there are so many RV manufacturers in this area.  Nothing jumped out at me for something I needed, but we’ll be checking out others soon.

The weather got even worse this evening. It even blew over my satellite dish stand.

And it’s not supposed to be any better tomorrow.


October 6, 2010

Crab Cakes and Birthday Cakes . . .

Today was the laziest day we’ve had in a long while. Jan read, napped, and watched TV, and I worked on my son Chris’ laptop.

Our daughter Brandi sent over some more Landon pics. He looks like he’s thinking really hard about something.

Landon Staring

We actually didn’t even leave the coach today until about 6 pm when we headed over to our son Chris’ house for a belated birthday celebration…mine. It was actually yesterday, but today was the first time everyone in the family could get together.

Our daughter-in-law Linda fixed a great meal of homemade crab cakes, fried potatoes, rolls, and a fantastic salad of greens, strawberries, and coconut with a vinaigrette dressing. Really, really good.

After the table was clear, they brought this birthday cake.

I was glad they didn’t put the correct number of candles. Some things are just a fire hazard.

But it was delicious.

Here’s Uncle Chris giving Landon his first fingernail trimming. Brandi said he’d scratched his face today, but she was afraid to clip his nails, so Chris gave it a try. I guess it was OK since Landon still has all 10 fingers.

Landon First Nail Trimming

About 8:30 we packed up and headed back to the rig. It was a great party and I really appreciated it.


October 6, 2011

It was “Magical” . . .

That’s what Jan said about today’s Ohio countryside tour.

But the day started a little slower at 9:30 with coffee and our great view of the Mohican River in front of our coach here at Smith’s Campground in Loudonville, OH.

Smiths Campground 7

Smiths Campground 8

About 11, Amy Smith picked us up at our coach and we were off on our version of the Magical Mystery Tour. ‘Magical’ as I said, ‘Mystery’ because we had no idea where we were going.

Amy Van

Our first stop was at the Country Furniture Store who makes, among other things, these colorful Adirondack chairs.

Big Chairs 5

They even make them in XXXL size.

Big Chairs 6

And it’s even more evident how big this chair with this photo.

Now that’s a BIG chair. And sturdy too.

Our next stop was a nearby covered bridge.

Ohio Covered Bridge 1

Known as the ‘Bridge of Dreams’, it’s the largest non-motorized covered bridge in Ohio.

Ohio Covered Bridge 2

And we got to really see the ‘non-motorized’ part when an Amish buggy came through while we were there.

Ohio Covered Bridge 3

A ways down the road was Hashberger’s Farm and Bakery where they keep goats on the roof of the barn.

Why I have no idea, but they do.

Goats on the Roof

There’s a ramp on the side that lets them go up and down on their own.

Goats on the Roof 1

And you can feed them for $1. Your $1 buys you an ice cream cone (??) full of Purina Goat Chow, and you send it up to them on the hand-cranked conveyor belt. (And no, I have no idea why the big black goat has no ears)

Goats on the Roof 2

What seems to usually happen is that the big goats fight over the cone knocking all the Goat Chow to the ground where the baby goats get most of it.

And while we were there, Jan had her chance to try out a big chair too. But it just didn’t measure up.

Jan Big Chair

I was really impressed by all the pumpkins and gourds they had here. Quite a layout and very colorful.

Hashbergers 1

hashbergers 2

hashbergers 3

hashbergers 4

hashbergers 5

hashbergers 6

And when they say ‘Homemade Ice Cream’ here they really mean it.

Homemade Ice Cream 1

But how many places have a gasoline-powered crank freezer? This is really neat. I could have used this all those times making ice cream at my grandparent’s house.

Homemade Ice Cream 2

As we headed back out into the countryside, we came across more signs of fall.

Red Tree

We also came across this sign.

Is this some strange Ohio version of ‘Surf and Turf’?

Llama and Fish Farm

And, of course, there were more scenic vistas around every curve,

Coblentz Choc 1

including this Amish farmer plowing his field.

We were surprised to learn from Amy that this area of Ohio has the largest concentration of Amish in the country.

Amish Plowing

As the final treat of the day, Amy took us to a gas station for dinner.

Spearmans 1

And although Spearman’s in Danville really is a gas station on the outside, we didn’t have to eat out of vending machines, or any of those week-old hot dogs rolling on that grill thingie.

No, inside was a very nice restaurant with delicious food, and fantastic desserts.

Spearmans 2

And it was the perfect end to a ‘Magical’ day, to again quote Jan.

By the time we got back to the park, it was almost 8 pm, and everyone was glad to get home.

Amy really outdid herself today, showing us a great time and some beautiful scenery. It was a really special day.


October 6, 2012

Chocolate World and Tomato Soup . . .

We had planned to make a trip over to Harrisburg today, but this time it was Jan’s turn to feel under the weather, so we just hung around the rig today.

The weather reports say that yesterday’s 80 degree day is pretty much it for the year. Today the high was 63, and tomorrow is supposed to be only 51 with 39 for the low.

Even the trees think winter is here.

Hershey Tree Color

Yesterday Jan and I did some running around on our own. Our first stop was at Isaac’s Deli for lunch.

We both had the same delicious PepperJack Tomato soup that we had last week at the Isaac’s in Strasburg. Then we split a Cranberry-Chicken Sandwich for our meal. Great food.

Our next stop was for some shopping at Sam’s Club, one of the few times we didn’t also go to the Wal-Mart next door. So I came home with a little more money than normal.

After that, we drove over to Chocolate World, the Visitor Center for the Hershey Candy Company.

Chocolate World 1

We wanted to check out the gift shop, and also take the Chocolate World Tour, an amusement park-type ride simulating a tour through a chocolate factory.

But we first walked around the beautiful landscaped grounds taking in all the flowers and shrubs. It was a really neat area.

Chocolate World 2

Once inside and on the tour, we found it not quite what we’d hoped. It was more singing cows and less interesting info.

Chocolate World 3

Chocolate World 4

I think the only interesting fact I gleaned from the tour was the fact that Hershey makes 60 million Kisses a day. Now that’s a lot of candy.

And that 60 million figure doesn’t include all the different candy bars, like Reese’s, Kit-Kat bars, and York Peppermint Patties.

By the time we got home Jan was feeling better so we headed out to eat dinner at Funck’s Family Restaurant again. Can’t get enough of that Baked Tomato Soup that comes in a crock like French Onion Soup. So, yes, that means we had two different versions of tomato soup that day. All good.


October 6, 2014

Big Bits and Pieces . . .

412 DayTime

We’ll today turned out to be our busiest day in almost a month, with about 170 vehicles coming in. A large part of this was the big trucks cycling through, hauling the bits and pieces of the rig located in the back that was being moved a few miles down the road.

And by ‘bits and pieces’, I mean really BIG bits and really ENORMOUS pieces. Many of them are substantially bigger than our 40 foot RV, and almost as wide as our cattle gate. In some cases they had less than a foot of clearance on either side as they went through. At least they didn’t break our new cattle guard this time like they broke the old one the last time they moved a rig through.

Broken Cattle Guard 1

The weather turned out to be really nice again today, with only a mid-morning rain to dampen things down, literally and figuratively. And of course, with the rain watering down the dust on the road, the road-watering guy showed up TWICE to ‘muddy up’ the situation even more. Where was he yesterday?

Although our temporary tarp canopy roof weathered the rain with no problems, I’m probably going to look for a bigger one when I get groceries this week. Our original canopy cover was 13’ x 13’, but the replacement tarp is 10’ x 20’ so we lost our 3’ overhang, and it turns out we missed it. So I’ll see if I can’t find a bigger one.

As far as we know, they’re supposed to skid the rig in front of us over to a new well site tomorrow. At least that’s what they said last week, but it’s already been rescheduled twice, so who knows? We’ll just have to wait and see.

We’ve been told that this 3rd well will involve a lot of ‘sampling’, which slows down the whole process, since they usually have pull the drill pipe string back out every time they take one. At least that’s the way they’ve done it on other rigs we’ve worked. And it takes a while to pull 10,000+ feet of drill pipe out of the hole, and then put it back and start drilling again.

It seems like the only big piece(s) of the rig left to take out tomorrow is the derrick itself. Then, after that, our vehicle count should really slack off for a while

At least until the fracking starts.


October 6, 2015

Turtle Rabbits . . .

I drove into Carthage about 11:30 this morning on a couple of errands. First off, I wanted to drop off Mister’s leftover canned and dry food at someplace that could use it.

I had tried to contact the local Humane Society but had no luck. I found two different addresses and two different phone numbers for them, none of which worked. The first address didn’t seem to exist, at least to Google or Garmin, and the phone message was a lady saying, “You know me, I don’t do voicemail so don’t leave a message.”

The second one was way on the other side of town, admittedly not really that far, since Carthage’s not that big, but their phone just answered with the robot voice saying, “Leave A Message.” Also not very encouraging.

So I called the vet’s office where we had Mister treated to see what they recommended, and they told me about the City Pound that’s run out of another vet’s office, just north of the Wal-Mart, and they actually answered the phone. So that was where I was headed.

They were very glad to get the food, and especially the remaining insulin needles that I also took with me, so Jan and I were happy to see everything go to good use.

Coming back toward home, I fulfilled my other task which was to stop at Whataburger to pick up lunch. For not having liked Whataburger for over 30 years, we’re sure hooked now. And after all this time, I don’t remember why I didn’t like it.

When we moved to Houston from Montgomery, AL in December 1978, it was one of the first places I ate at after I started work at Johnson Space Center on the Space Shuttle program.

Being a new hire, I was put on the night shift (11pm-7am), which for me was like throwing Br’er Rabbit in the Briar Patch. I love night shift, but most of the guys almost considered it punishment. But for me it was great.

First off, I’m a night person anyway, if I have druthers. And I made more money due to the shift differential we got. Plus in the summertime, it was cooler, and there was less traffic coming to work, it was easier to park onsite, and there were no managers so you could actually get some work done.

The management style at the contractor I worked for varied between Management By Walking Around and Management By Lurking. Many of our supervisors had no electronics background so . . .

Right about here in writing this(a little before 1am) we had our first nocturnal visitor here at the gate.

Armadillo 1

He didn’t seem to have a problem with me and the flashlight and camera, but just went about his business, snuffling in the grass for bugs and stuff.

Found only in the Americas, it’s hard to believe they’ve been around for over 60 million years. And looking at one it’s easy to see why the Aztecs called them ‘turtle rabbits’.

. . . since they didn’t understand what you were doing, they were sure you were goofing off and not really working.

I’m sorry, but if I’ve got a scope probe in one hand and a hot soldering iron in the other, and my head stuck in a piece of gear left over from the Mercury program, (no, really. It had tubes.) I’m working. And I don’t have time to explain to you what I’m doing, because the test director wants this running in an hour, and right now I still have no idea what’s wrong with it. (except that it has tubes.)

“Anyone got a 6SN7 I can borrow”.

Anyway, circling back around to my original thought, at the time Whataburger was the only place open at 4 in the morning when we went to ‘lunch’. And I don’t know what it was, but I ate there 3 or 4 times and never liked it. And I never ate at one again until just recently here in Carthage, over 35 years later.

But after seeing all the frack workers come in with Whataburger bags, and our friend Chris Yust of C & C RV Insurance always raving about the place, we had to give it a try. And we really liked it.

Just think of all the delicious burgers I’ve missed over the last 35+ years or so.


October 6, 2016

Clamps and Switches . . .

Today was another all-website all-day long day. I’m probably about 98% done, with just a few nagging things to finish up.

Plus I tend to keep picking at it, changing this and moving that, never quite satisfied with how it looks. But at some point I just have to lock it down and step away from the keyboard.

I’ve still got one more thing, actually two, I guess, to finish up the washer repair. The dryer vent tube is held onto the outside deflector by a 4” stainless steel circle clamp.

Dryer Vent Deflector 1

But it’s always hard to get reinstalled because there is not quite enough room to get the screw part of the clamp back inside the hole so that it seals up weather-tight.

Dryer Vent Deflector 2

So I’m going to use the saw blade on my Victorinox Swiss Army Tool to cut out a notch in the round opening so the clamp will fit tighter.

Dryer Vent Deflector 3

And then I’m going to reinstalled the cabinet doors, and the retaining strip.

And if that wasn’t enough I also need to take a look at the microwave again. Back in June I replaced a broken door latch that kept the MW door from opening. But after working fine for several months, it developed a different, but I think, related problem in that the MW seems to turn on, i.e. the fan runs and the timer counts down, but the light in the oven doesn’t come on, and it doesn’t heat.

Usually, but not always, a light tap of the fist on the edge of the door will fix the problem, at least until next time. And if you’re cooking several things in succession, the MW will shut down with the same symptoms.

Since that latch also triggers a safety microswitch, I suspect it’s just slightly out of adjustment, and when it gets hot after extended usage, something expands and no longer makes contact with the switch.


October 6, 2017

Power Problems and Red Bags . . .

Getting down to Clear Lake, I installed the new power supply, pushed the button, and the computer powered up. However I never heard the ‘beep’ during the boot-up.

And I had no video coming out either. Now I know the old power supply was bad, since it wouldn’t even power up. But it looks like the motherboard is bad too. So I guess I’ll have to pull out the hard drives, hook them up to another computer, and see what’s on them.

Jan called about 2:30 to tell me that the power had been off for about 30 minutes and still hadn’t come back on yet. I told her to go outside and cycle the big breaker, but it didn’t  help., So next I called Ed Hurlburt who’s only 3 spaces down from us, and found he had power.

My next call was to the Ranger office, and as soon as I said, “This is Greg White and we’re in G23 . . . “. she said they were working on the power, but it might be 3 or 4 hours.

About 4pm, with still no power, Jan called and said it was getting a little toasty in the rig, so I led her through starting up the rig’s generator. Had her first turn off both AC’s and then hold down the Gen Start button, while pulling the Start trigger on the Remote Switch I installed last June in Rapid City, SD.

Bosch Remote Starter Switch

And it started right up, with power coming on about 15 seconds later. About an hour later Jan called to say someone had stopped by and told her that the power probably would not be repaired until Monday, and that we could either move to another site, or run our generator all weekend.

So as I came through the front gate, I asked about where we could move. She said that we could move to any other site that was not redbagged. When I got back to the rig, our pedestal was redbagged, but I noticed that the site just to the left of us was not.

Grabbing up my yellow outlet tester I first tested our pedestal, since with the generator running, we wouldn’t know if the power came back on. But it was still dead.

But the unbagged pedestal had power. Lucky us. So I quickly pulled the truck into the site to save it for us. Jan said the couple in the Class A had left earlier.

Since Jan had already packed away a lot of stuff, I only had to disconnect the utilities and satellite, pull in the slide, crank up and pull out. I didn’t even let the awnings in.

So in about 10 minutes we were parked and hooked up to shore power, so then I turned the generator off and we were home. Then I called the Ranger office and told them we had moved one site to the left, and they said fine, we’ll change you over.

For dinner tonight Jan had slow-cookered a big batch of her world-famous chili, and we had just settled down with our steaming bowls when there was a knock at the door.

Turned out to be an angry gentleman(?) and his wife, who said this was his site, and he paid for it, and he wanted us out now. I said that he left the site, and we were told that we could move to any site that wasn’t redbagged. He said that the site was redbagged when he left and accused me of taking the bag off and stealing his site.

I told him that the bagged sites would not have power until Monday, so why would I pull the bag off so I could park in a site that wasn’t going to have power. I also told him that maintenance had come through and bagged every site in ‘G’, until they knew exactly which sites would still have power. So if he had stayed a little longer he would have had power too.

He sputtered a bit, and said he would call the Rangers and they would kick me out of his site.

We never heard from anyone the rest of the night.

The latest Landonism:

Brandi asked Landon to switch spots with her on the sofa. Landon shook his head NO, and said, “Sometimes you just need to get out of your comfort zone.”

Don’t know whether to laugh or strangle him.


October 6, 2018

Our “You Can’t Go Home Again” Tour . . .

After a nice morning of coffee and conversation, we left the rig about 2:30, heading for the Gulf Beach.

We had planned to stop in Foley to take in the Train Museum and their Model Train Layout, but I misread the time, and they were already closed. Maybe next year.

Our first stop was for lunch at De Soto’s Seafood Kitchen, another of our favorite local seafood places, and another one we’ve been eating at for years.

We both had the same thing, the Broiled Seafood Platter, differing only in our sides.

Jan got hers with the Steamed Veggies and the Fried Green Tomatoes,

DeSoto's - Jan

while I got it with Steamed Veggies and their delicious Sweet Potato Casserole with candied pecans.

DeSoto's - Greg

In a trade-out, Jan gave me some of her Tomatoes while I gave her some of my Sweet Potatoes, which we both saved for our dessert.

It’s that good.

Although we got seated immediately, by the time we left around 4, the place was filling up. The young lady cashier said they were on a wait until 9pm last night.

It’s that good.

Finishing up, we drove down the beach road toward Orange Beach to check out some of our old haunts. Our first stop was a  long-time favorite of Jan’s, Tallulah’s Treasures, a really neat gift shop. We’ve been coming here for years, even before we started RV’ing, and even before when it was called Tootie Green’s Yellow Broom.

After driving around for a while, we headed back up the beach road and stopped off a the local Ron Jon’s Surf Shop. I was looking for a new Hawaiian shirt and I found just what I wanted.

While we were there we talked about visiting the original Cocoa Beach Ron Jon’s, back in 1967 when we were dating.

Ron Jon's Cocoa Beach

It was located in a small building in a strip center, and was pretty much just a long aisle with surfboards propped up on each side.

Now it’s pretty much a mall all by itself.

Ron Jon's Cocoa Beach Now

Finally about 6pm we parked down by the beach and set out to watch the sun go down and people watch.

There were a lot of people leaving for the day, but a whole new group of people walking out on the beach just as it was getting dark.

Gulf Shores 2018 -  Ocean

Jan even got to see some of her favorite pelicans make one last pass up the beach.

Gulf Shores 2018 -  Pelicans

We waited until the sun had finally disappeared before we were back in the truck and heading home.

Gulf Shores 2018 -  Ocean 2

Most of our blog readers know that I grew up here in Gulf Shores, from when I was about 2-1/2 until I was 13 and we moved to South America.

Daddy and Me 1951

This is me with my father in January 1951, right after we moved down here from Birmingham where my father was a Detective on the Birmingham Police Department, and my mother was a Public Health nurse.

Over the next months they built a large motel here called White’s By The Sea.

White's By The Sea Sign

And yes, that’s me in my favorite cowboy suit.

If you know anything about Gulf Shores, and know where the Sea N Suds beach restaurant is located, that’s where our motel was. And the Sea N Suds itself is built around what was once the pier house store on the motel’s fishing pier.

With my history in this area, it’s kind of hard to come back every time and see more and more of my memories being erased, torn down, paved over, and built over, But then on the other hand, I see places that have survived, seemingly unchanged, since the 50’s.

Family cottages that have made it through the many hurricanes that have ravaged the area, small buildings and offices that have seen multiple iterations of tenants, once a grocery store, now a tattoo & piercing parlor, once a gas station, now a restaurant. It all changes, and it all stays the same.

What it all boils down to, I guess, is that you can go home again. It just won’t really feel like home anymore.


October 6, 2019

They’re Creepy And They’re Kooky . . .

I was up at 7am this morning so we could me our friends, Barb and Tom, at the IHOP over in Kemah for breakfast. Now Jan’s usually always up at this time, so no big thing for her. But for me it really shows how much I like these people.

Jan and I both had omelets, with Jan’s Garden Omelet,

IHOP Garden Omelet

and I had the Gomez’ Green Chile Omelet.

IHOP Green Chile Omelet

IHOP is doing a cross-promotion with the Addams Family cartoon movie that’s coming out momentarily, so Gomez is Gomez Addams, and apparently he likes Green Chile Omelets.

Afterwards, we all headed over to their nearby home so I could take a look at a problem they were having with their TV system. They recently had their DirecTV DVR wired into their Sony Receiver/Amplifier to feed the Surround Sound speaker mounted in the ceiling corners. But after the guy left, they later discovered that they no longer had any audio when they accessed Netflix.

After spending some time looking over the system, I figured out that their DirecTV DVR was feeding into the Sony Amp which then fed audio/video into their Samsung TV via an HDMI cable.

So I went into the TV’s settings and switched the sound output from the Sony amp to the internal speakers, and then checked Netflix. And now I had audio on both DirecTV and Netflix. So the problem was that since the Netflix signal only comes into the TV via the WiFi connection, it wasn’t getting passed on to the Sony so it could be fed to the external speakers.

So I needed an output from the TV to the amp, but the only output this model has is a Digital Optical Audio Cable, so I ordered one from Amazon right then which should be in tomorrow.

So we’ll come back over Tuesday night to hook up the cable and see if I can get everything configured to work correctly.

I going to be back on the phone tomorrow with Cummins trying to nail down which Oil Filter Adapter I have on our rig. Plus Thursday I’m going to check out under the bed to see what I can see.

Whatever I find out, we’ve already got our next RV trip scheduled for November 14 – 17 up to Kingsland again. Everyone’s meeting up there for a pre-Thanksgiving get-together since Brandi and her family will be traveling on the holiday itself.

I’ve already got reservations at the same RV park we stayed at last time, and we’re really looking forward to getting together with everyone.


October 6, 2020

Shrimp, Grits, and Spiders . . .

Jan and I headed out about 1pm, first heading up to Webster to have brunch at our favorite SnoozeAM.

Jan got her usual Bravocado Toast, their version of Avocado Toast.

Snooze Bravocado Toast 4

She’s also showing off one of her new Halloween Shirts, and well as sporting her new Spider Earrings.

Spider Earrings

Looking over the menu, I went back with an old favorite that I haven’t had for a while, their version of Shrimp & Grits with a Sunny Side Up Egg on top, as well as a side of fruit.

Snooze Shrimp and Grits and Fruit 2

Really good, and my new favorite.

After brunch we drove by my client’s to pick up several packages that came in, including my wandering Amazon Fire TV Stick that came from Atlanta to Houston by way of a 5 day detour through Illinois. Thanks, UPS.

Then it was back down to this area to get a new tire to replace the one that blew out on me last week, and then home for the night.

Later I started setting up my new Fire Stick by plugging into our Samsung TV in place of our DirecTV DVR. So for a while I’ll have two Fire Sticks hooked up at the same time where I can just switch between them using the INPUT function on the TV.

This way we can still watch our regular stuff on the old Fire Stick while I’m setting up the new one. This takes time because I have to download and log in to each streaming service we want. So, no hurry now.

I’ll be back on my oil leak problem on Thursday. I had to cut about 6” off my drill bit extension, because I found that with it chucked into the drill, it was too long.

So I used my handy-dandy Harbor Freight 3” Cut-Off Tool to slice about 6” off the end.

Harbor Freight Cut-Off Tool 2

I was impressed by how quickly it cut through the high-strength steel shaft.

One thing I just learned that might interest all you Harbor Freight fans, is that all of their Pittsburgh brand tools now have a full Lifetime Warranty. If it ever breaks or fails for any reason, just bring it back and they will replace it on the spot. No questions asked.

Shades of the good ole Craftsman days.


October 6, 2021

Thanks to Everyone . . .

First off, I want to thank everyone for all the Birthday greetings. It was nice to hear from everyone.

The other day I mentioned the new Amazon warehouse going up over on League City Pkwy (Hwy 96).

Amazon Hwy 96 Faciltiy

I was amazed at how quickly it had gone up, because I thought it hadn’t been that long since we were by there, and I sure didn’t remember any big construction going on. And when I checked our HEB receipts (the reason we go over that way) the last time we were by there was Aug. 3.

Lloyd, the blog reader who brought this to my attention, said they started construction on the building right after that, and that they’re planning on hiring almost 250 people to work there.

So in less than two months they’ve gone from a bare lot to this.

Short blog tonight because we have an early day tomorrow.


October 6, 2022

Hangry . . .

One thing about our dinner at Saltgrass last night was that I had a reservation for us at 5:30. I didn’t know if it would be necessary on a Wednesday night, but didn’t want to take a chance. And though it wasn’t needed, by 6pm they were really busy and on a short wait.

And when we celebrated our Anniversary at the Saltgrass down in Galveston last week, I requested a window table. What I didn’t realize is that when I made the reservation for last night, that I apparently requested a table in the ‘loud, whiny child’ section.

Or at least that’s the way it turned out. About 10 minutes after we were seated, a couple with a small boy around 3-4 years were seated right next to us. And the non-stop whining commenced.

He didn’t like his chair. He wanted to sit in the other one. Well, No, he didn’t like that one either. He didn’t like what was showing on his tablet. Well, No, he didn’t like that show either.

No, he didn’t want any bread either. Well, maybe if it had butter on it. Well, No, that’s too much butter.

Jan figured he was just ‘hangry’, and he did slow down a little when their food came. But I think that was just because his mouth was full, because the whining started back up again.

It actually was kind of funny.

Lunch today was Los Ramirez once again, with both of us getting the Pechuga Rellena, a grilled chicken breast on a bed of grilled shrimp and broccoli, and covered in cheese.

Los Ramirez Pechuga 1-05-20

Always delicious.

Then it was on over to WalMart for a few things before heading home for the day.

Since I didn’t really want or need anything for my birthday, I bought Jan a new Fast Wireless Charger.

Wireless Charger 2

Just set the phone in place, either vertically or horizontally. And unlike a lot of the wireless charger pads, it’s not really picky about positioning. And you can use it while it’s charging.

Works great.


October 6, 2023

Thanks To Everyone . . .

First off, many thanks to everyone for all the Happy Birthday wishes, especially considering my age.

I mean, how many more am I likely to get?

We heard from both kiddoes and the grand-kiddoes, and a lot of long-time friends and relatives.

I mentioned recently that I was having some problems with the 24 year old Sharp Microwave that came with our RV. It looks like I’m going to have to almost completely disassemble the control panel to fix the problem with the safety interlock switches. And since that may take a while, I ordered this as a temporary replacement.

Toshiba Countertop Microwave

It fits on our dining table and at 900 watts, it’s a little more powerful than our Sharp, though it’s not quite as large inside. And it’s not a Convection Oven either.

It was only $100, so either we will store it away, or donate it when we don’t need it anymore.

Tomorrow looks to be a fairly slow one, with haircuts, Denny’s, and WalMart, and then home.

Nice for a change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still Sweet . . .

Yeah, yeah, I’m a year older. Get over it.

Just ignore it like I am.

Lunch today was at our local Barcenas Mexican once again. We started eating at their original location back in 1998 when they opened right outside our Heritage Park subdivision, and they’ve been a favorite ever since, especially since they built a new location closer to us.

And I think that Jan has been getting the same Tex-Mex Enchiladas for the entire quarter century,

along with their great Charro Beans.

Normally I get the Tacos Al Carbon, but decided instead to go with the Alexis Daily Special,

with a little bit of everything, including the Charro Beans.

Then it was on next door for our weekly Wal-Mart stuff. I did try to get a 12 pak of the Oreo Coke Zero Sugar, but Wal-Mart’s not carrying any Oreo flavors, Zero Sugar or not.

As I mentioned before, Union Pacific’s Big Boy is here in Houston this weekend.

This is Big Boy No. 4014.

That’s 133 feet, 1.2 million pounds of steam locomotive, the largest, most powerful locomotive ever built.

One of 25 that Union Pacific built in the early to mid-40s, it was needed to haul large trains over the Wasatch Mountains and the Rockies. And they were in service until 1962, when the last one was retired after traveling over a million miles.

There are only 8 left, and only one, No. 4014, is still operational. This is because UP spent 5 years, between 2014 and 2019, rebuilding it to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s Completion.

Hopefully I’ll get to see it in person the next time it comes through Houston.

Here it is coming into Houston this morning.

Tomorrow looks to be HEB, and a lunch destination to be named later.


Thought For The Day:

Hence The Term – Middleman

Illegal - Legal

And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™


October 5, 2009

A Drive in the Country…

Today we puttered around the coach until around 2 pm and then went to a late lunch at Famous Dave’s, one of our favorite BBQ places.  And we always have great leftovers, too!

After lunch we decided to drive around for a while.  The Elkhart area is only about 1.5 miles south of the Michigan border, so we headed up north a bit before heading home.

Strangely enough, Michigan doesn’t look much different than Indiana.

After an hour or so, it was back to the coach.


October 5, 2010

Landon and a Big Green Frog . . .

Once again the morning started out with coffee and sitting around the coach just enjoying our life together.

Brandi sent over some pictures of Landon and a big green fuzzy frog we bought for him on the way to San Antonio last week.

I don’t think he’s too sure about it. I mean it’s about as big as he is.

Landon and Frog 1

We also got to watch several Dr. Who’s on BBCA that we hadn’t seen before, so that was a real treat. We’re both big Dr. Who fans.

We left the coach about 2:30 pm for some errands, stopping at Target, Sam’s Club, and Wal-Mart. Then I dropped by a client’s office to work on a problem he’s having. Still didn’t get it fixed, but I think I know what’s wrong now. I’ll go back tomorrow to try and finish up.

Jan’s always good about patiently waiting in the car on these calls, and I really appreciate it.

We were supposed to meet Lowell, Brandi, Landon, and Lowell’s sister, Sherry, who’s down from Oklahoma for a short visit.

But since we had some time to kill, we stopped off at Starbuck’s for a Pumpkin Spice Latte for Jan and a Cinnamon Dolce Latte for me. Jan’s always glad when Fall rolls around so everyone has their pumpkin stuff available. She really likes pumpkin.

After making a quick stop at the bank we headed over to Floyd’s Cajun Seafood to meet everyone for dinner.

It was good to see Lowell’s sister, Sherry again. We first met her at Brandi’s wedding back in June, and we always enjoy her posts on Facebook.

Sherry Morrison

After our usual great meal, PaPa got some Landon time so Brandi could finish eating. He didn’t want to stay in his carry seat, but he fell right asleep in my arms.

Landon and PaPa


Finally I want to give a big congratulations to my great-niece Stahlie Calvin on being accepted as a finalist in the Documentary category at the San Antonio Christian Film Festival. She is one of 15 finalists out of 250 entries in the category. Her entry, “Peaceful Betrayal” is about the history of gun control around the world, and its real effect on people. An earlier film of hers, “Legends of the Lost Gold”, won the youth category in the Athens Shorts Film Festival in October 2009.

Stahlie Calvin

Stahlie, along with her sister Darby, and brothers, Luke and Harland, are home-schooled by their mother on the family farm in Athens, Alabama. Stahlie does her videos using both a Canon HD video camera and a Canon HD still camera.

Once again, congratulations to a beautiful, talented young lady.


October 5, 2011

Strawberries and Street Fairs . . .

A little while after our morning coffee, George Smith, one of the campground owners, stopped off with some of the Amish rolls and strawberry freezer jam we had last night.

For lunch, we had the leftover Broasted chicken from Lost in the Fifties the other night along with some of the rolls and strawberry jam. Delicious!

The rest of the afternoon we pretty much did nothing, just goofed off. Jan read on the Kindle and napped, and I played on the computer, read, and watched kayakers float by on the Mohican River in front of our rig.

About 4:30 we all headed into Loudonville for dinner at Mohican Tavern and then a walk through the Loudonville Free Street Fair.

And after a good meal, we spent some time walking along the close-off streets of downtown Loudonville.

Loudonville Street Fair 1

Loudonville Street Fair 2

In these last two photos, you can see more of Fall coming to Ohio.

Loudonville Street Fair 3

Loudonville Street Fair 4

Tomorrow our host, Amy Smith, is going to give us a guided tour of the area, and we’re really looking forward to it.


October 5, 2013

Thanks, Everyone!

First off, I want to thank everyone for the many warm birthday greetings. It almost makes up for being officially old now.

The gate’s been pretty quiet recently with only about 70 to 90 vehicles a day. Looks like the frack site is starting to go into production, and a lot of equipment is being pulled out. The pipeline work still gets a lot of traffic through the gate, but we don’t have to log them, just the people going to the 3 sites here.

Other than that, not much is going on here.

I did want to post the latest photo of Zoe Nadeau. She’s our son-in-law Lowell’s sister’s daughter’s daughter. I’d probably have to sign up for Ancestry.com to figure that out.

Zoe Nadeau 7

Now that’s a real cutie!
And of course the obligatory Landon photo

Landon eating Yougurt1

That’ll about wrap it up for today.


October 5, 2014

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood . . .

(Now try getting that song out of your head.)

But it was a really nice day today, about 82°, sunny, a few clouds, and low humidity.

And it got off to a really great start too. Jan came out to relieve me this morning at a little before 6am, rather than the normal 7am.

An extra hour of sleep this morning. A very nice birthday present, indeed.

Our gate traffic picked up today with 117 vehicles coming through the gate, with most of the increase being big trucks coming and going, hauling out parts of the rig in back that’s starting to tear down and move on down the road. But I haven’t heard where yet.

Two Sheriff’s Deputies came by the gate today. The first was looking for kids on 4-wheelers, but he didn’t say why. I told him the only 4-wheeler we had seen was the landowner’s, and that was about a week ago.

The second came by about 6:30 pm after I had gone to bed. He said folks up the road had complained about the trucks driving too fast on the road.

What can I say? We tell ’em it’s 15 mph on our side of the gate, and 10 mph leaving our gate. The 10 mph is because of the families and kids that live along the road heading out. And coming in, for that matter.

They’ve learned that we’ll (especially Jan) will yell at ‘em if they go past us too fast, so they creep past us until they’re about 25 yards away and out of sight due to the trees, and then you can hear them speed up.

Well, all we can do is tell them to go slow. Maybe the Sheriff’s deputies can make it hurt a little in their pockets.

It always seems to be boom or bust as far as the dusty roads go. Either the water truck guys water the roads down so many times during the day that everything is just muddy, or like the last couple of days they don’t show up at all. Which means that the dust is everywhere when any vehicle comes by. So maybe tomorrow.


October 5, 2015

Dang It!

Well, I had planned to let this one slip by this year, but with Jan spilling the beans on Facebook, the word leaked out.

So I want to thank everyone for the many birthday wishes. They’re much appreciated. It’s really amazing how many friends you can accumulate over the years in the RV world.

We still don’t have any word about whether or not we’re moving to the new frack site right up the road. But now that I know where it is, I drove up there about 12:30 to scout things out for possible parking spots for the rig if we do move. I’d rather have a spot picked out and not need it, than to have to find one on the fly if we’re told to move at the last minute.

I first drove all the way down to the pad and found a couple of crews hard at work installing the two ‘frack stacks’ that came in early this morning.

Maybe New Pad

The delivery guy showed up at our gate because he was lost, so I had to get him turned around and headed back to the right place. So I guess he made it.

After checking out the pad, I drove back out, checking out possible parking sites for us on the way.

I found three locations, all of which had pluses and minuses, but if I had to pick one today, it would be this one.

New Site Maybe

It’s shaded, fairly level, and the ground seems pretty firm. It’s also at kind of a high point, so water (rain) should drain off OK. The only real downside is the fact that it’s on the right side of the road instead of the left, which means that we’re not on the driver’s side as they come in. But all three possible sites are that way, and we’ve had gates that way in the past, so it’s really not that much of a problem.

Heading back to the rig, I saw where they had run the big water hose along the power line right-of-way from the frack pond next to us up to the new pad.

Frack Water Line

As far as our frack here, we’ve heard Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday to finish up. Personally we like Thursday, or a week from Thursday. Or even a Thursday near the end of November when we want to head back to Houston anyway.

We’ll see how it goes.

Later in the afternoon I started filling up our water tank from the well next to us. This well is what keeps the frack pond topped off, but they must be sucking up all the pressure, because at the faucet, I’ve only got about 20 psi. So it takes several hours to fill our 500 gallon tank, but it’s worth it because it’s really good water, very soft, with a good taste. And I know that Todd, our GGS service guy, is happy to only have to bring us diesel every two weeks, and not water too.


October 5, 2016

That Sweet Spot . . .

First off, I want to thank everyone for their many Happy Birthday wishes. Jan and I both really appreciate it.

And as far as Jan is concerned, we’re in that yearly Sweet Spot. The one where for 20 days a year, we’re the same age. Then on October 25th, Jan goes back to being a sexy cougar/cradle-robber for another 345 days.

With the washer problem no longer hanging over me, I spent the morning and early afternoon fine-tuning the new website shopping cart, which is really close to going online. I’ll let you know.

During the day, our daughter Brandi, our son Chris, and our long-time friend Maria called to wish me a Happy Birthday.. Thanks guys.

About 3pm we headed out for some errands and dinner at Golden Corral. Our first stop was Wal-Mart to check out their prepaid cell phones for Jan.

Presently she has an LG Revere flip phone. Yes, they still make them.

LG Revere

She only wants a phone for phone calls, no web, no text, no camera, just phone calls. But we’re presently paying almost $60 a month for this. So I’m looking for something cheaper.

And after a really good meal at the Corral, we stopped off at Kroger’s for a few things before heading home. Then after we got settled in and the groceries put away Jan came outside and held the ladder while I finished hooking up the dryer hose to the outside vent. So all I lack now is to put the cabinet doors and retaining strip back on.

A couple of nights ago Jan and I watched the pilot episode of Timeless, a new NBC drama on Monday nights. A time machine has been stolen from an Elon Musk-type character (think Tesla & SpaceX) by a mysterious man who seemingly wants to change history and eliminate or cripple the United States.

A history professor, Lucy Preston, a Delta Force soldier, Wyatt Logan, and a scientist, Rufus Carlin, are recruited to use a somewhat rickety prototype machine to follow the stolen machine and try and stop or reverse any changes made.

Their first stop is May 6th, 1937 in Lakehurst, NJ, the time and place of the Hindenburg disaster. One of the problems the team has is that they have no idea what the mystery man is trying to change.

In this case the thief manages to avert the Hindenburg crash, only to set a bomb to try and bring it down the next day as it departs New Jersey heading for London and the coronation of King George VI.

SPOILER ALERT! In case you’ve recorded the show and haven’t watched it yet!

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Although the team manages to disarm the bomb, a gunfight breaks out that still causes the Hindenburg to crash and burn, but on May 7th, not the 6th as before, with different people killed and different people surviving.

When the team returns to the present, they find the timeline altered such that the Hindenburg always crashed on the 7th. The team is now the only 3 people who remember the original one.

But the last scene is the real twist. When Lucy returns home, she discovers her mother is not comatose and dying, but in perfect health.

And she never had a sister. Amy never existed.


October 5, 2017

The Sweet Spot . . .

First off, I want to thank everyone for their many kind birthday wishes. I was trying to fly under the radar this year, but my beautiful wife went on Facebook and announced it to the world.

Thanks a lot, Jan.

Jan’s always happy when my birthday comes around for another reason. We’re now in that 20 day sweet spot period every year where Jan and I are the same age. So I can no longer accuse her of robbing the cradle. But just wait until Oct. 25th comes along.

I’m one of those people who think that the best way to get what you want for your birthday is to buy it for yourself. I don’t normally buy T-Shirts with pictures or patterns on them but I just had to get this one for my birthday.

Now Leaving New Mexico T Shirt

You can get yours here: You’re Now Leaving New Mexico T-Shirt

About 4:45 we headed out for dinner at Asian Grill, a favorite of ours, and where we haven’t eaten since last year. We were going to eat here back in August but forgot that they don’t open for dinner until 5pm.

We started out with an order of their delicious Shrimp Spring Rolls, made to order, as well as their homemade peanut sauce.

Asian BBQ Spring Rolls 2

Really good and fresh. You can always tell when they’re not fresh, because the wrapper gets tough and chewy.

Next up was a couple of their Vermicelli Bowls. Jan got hers with Grilled Chicken and Shrimp, and I got mine with Grilled Pork and Shrimp.

Asian BBQ Grilled Pork and Shrimp Bowl 2

We sauced it with Sriracha, Hoisin, and Dragon Sauces, and wall as the last of the peanut sauce. Jan and I both thought that the Dragon Sauce wasn’t as hot as in the past, so I warmed mine up a little more with a few shakes of my Volcanic Pepper Flakes.

Volcanic Dust

All really, really good.


This is a Bump Stock.

Bump Stock

I’m sure you’ve heard about them being used by the Las Vegas shooter. He had twelve of them installed on twelve different semi-auto rifles. For what it’s worth, they don’t make a semi-automatic a fully automatic weapon. They really just make it easier for you to pull the trigger faster.

Maybe a distinction without a difference to most people. But it is to the ATF who approved bump stocks in 2010. And they are legal in every state except California.

The ATF says that since they do not change the actual function of the rifle, they are legal, just like adding a scope or a laser sight.

The way they work is that when you pull the trigger the first time, the recoil of the rifle pushes it back against your shoulder and compresses the spring. The spring then pushes the rifle body forward. Since your finger is still on the trigger, the fact that the rifle is moving forward essentially pulls the trigger again. And again. And again.

The rifle operates the same as if you could pull the trigger really, really fast.

Of course after Las Vegas, the calls are out to ban bump stocks so something like this can never happen again. But would that accomplish anything? Take another look at the bump stock photo above.

It’s a SPRING!

That’s all it really is.

There are plans all over the Internet on how to make your own. I could probably make a trip to the nearest ACE Hardware, buy a selection of springs and a couple of other parts, and cobble together one right here in the rig. The only thing that makes the store-bought ones really better is cosmetics. They look like they’re actually part of the rifle.

So now we’re banning bump stocks and springs.

What’s next?

How about rubber bands?

Here’s a video of rapid-fire using a rubber band.

Rubber Band Bump Stock

So what to ban next?

Really fast fingers?


October 5, 2018

Spilling The Beans . . .

Well, I had planned to try and slide this one by, being The Big Seven OH and all, but Jan spilled the beans.

So I want to thank everyone for the many Birthday Wishes I received, from the blog, email, and Facebook. It does somewhat cushion the realization.

And besides being my birthday, Jan enjoys it for another reason. She calls it her Sweet Spot. It’s twenty days a year when we’re both the same age.

Then come October 25th, she’s a cradle robber again.

We’re really enjoying our site here at the Escapees Rainbow Plantation, except for a couple of things.

The Verizon data service is kind of sucky here, and then there are the noisy acorns thunking on the rig roof day and night. Though I guess it could be worse.

We could be parked under the magnolia trees like some nearby sites, with their large, heavy seed pods the size of golf balls.

Magnolia Tree Seed Pods

And these are heavy enough to hurt. When I was a kid we’d use them playing soldier and throw them at each other, pretending they were hand grenades. And they do hurt.

About 2pm we headed down to the Intracoastal Waterway, and another of our long-time local favorites, Lulu’s at Homeport Marina.

For those who don’t know, ‘Lulu’ is what Lucy’s brother Jimmy used to call her. And ‘Jimmy’’ of course, is famed singer Jimmy Buffett

Unlike past visits in  August, when the place was jam-packed, we were seated immediately and got a table out of the deck.

LuLu's 2018 - Jan

And the view of the canal is pretty nice, too.

LuLu's 2018 - Sailboat

Looking over the menu, we discovered a new addition, and it’s one of our favorites – A Wedge Salad.

LuLu's 2018 - Wedge Salad

Delicious, but as I told Jan, it’s the first we’ve had one that was a ‘kit’ and had to be assembled. And with about 3/4 of a head of lettuce, it was definitely the largest we’ve ever had.

And along with the Bleu Cheese Crumbles, the chunky Bleu Cheese dressing made this probably the best Wedge Salad we’ve ever had.

Jan got her favorite Grilled Shrimp Tacos

LuLu's 2018 - Grilled Shrimp Tacos

while I got my usual Shrimp and Oyster PoBoy.

LuLu's 2018 - Shrimp and Fish PoBoy

One thing about Gulf Shores seafood is that you know it’s all going to be fresh, fresh, fresh. The texture is a dead giveaway.

And of course for dessert, we had to split an order of their famous Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

LuLu's 2018 - Bread Pudding

The perfect finish to our meal.

Finishing up, I recently sent out a Change of Address postcard to the folks on our Christmas Card list. It looked like this.

Change Of Address Card

Our first new address in almost 30 years. A big change.

Tomorrow we’re going down to the beach and do some shopping and then have dinner at De Soto’s Seafood Kitchen, another of our local favorites.


October 5, 2019

Thanks To Everyone !!

First off I want to thank everyone for the many Happy Birthday wishes. It almost makes up for the fact that I’m a year older.

And for the record, that ‘year older’ leaves me at 71.

And it also leaves Jan and me in our yearly ‘sweet spot’. At least that’s what Jan calls it. This starts the 20 day period where we’re the same age. Then on October 25th,  Jan’s birthday, she’s back to being a ‘cradle robber’, and I’ve got my own personal ‘Cougar’ back.

I spent most of the day trying to make sense of this HP laptop that I’m trying to upgrade for a client/friend. It came with a 256GB SSD and she’s running out of room, so I was going to put in a 1TB one.

So after checking online, I ordered a new WD 1TB SSD because that’s what the manual said it used. But when the drive came in and I finally got the laptop case open, which like most of these, is more of a Chinese puzzle than anything else, I found something I didn’t recognize.

The SATA drive bay was empty, and the SSD located under the battery looks like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s not SATA, M.2, or NV Me, the 3 types of SSD drives. So the only thing I figure it’s some kind of proprietary drive that’s HP only.  But it looks like I can buy a new cable and mount to let me use the SATA drive that I’ve already purchased. So right now I’m waiting on a price quote on those items.

About 4pm Jan and I headed up to Webster to have my Birthday dinner at that Saltgrass, rather than the Kemah Boardwalk one from last Saturday’s Anniversary dinner. And we went to this one for two reasons.

It’s closer, and it’s cheaper. I noticed last weekend that pretty much every steak on the menu at the Kemah location was $2 more than the same steak at the Webster one.

Good enough for me.

We both got our usual Wedge Salads, along with Jan’s 9oz. Center-Cut Filet and my 16oz. Ribeye. All just as delicious as usual, and $4 cheaper.

Greg 71st Birthday at Saltgrass

Then after a quick Costco stop we got home about 6:30 after a very nice day.

And once again, thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.


October 5, 2020

Another Year, Another Sweet Spot . . .

If you haven’t already figured it out from Facebook or elsewhere, today is my birthday, my mumble-mumble birthday. And as I mentioned in our 53rd Anniversary blog last week, it’s also the beginning of our yearly Sweet Spot.

The Sweet Spot is the 20 days a year when Jan and I are the same age. As I mentioned in that blog, Jan didn’t know she was almost a year older than me until we were at the courthouse getting our marriage license.

I had thought that she might be older than me, because I was ahead in school because I skipped the 1st grade and started directly in the 2nd. And I knew Jan was behind a grade due to a bad car accident when she was 7. Bad enough that she lost a grade and even had to learn to walk again.

But I learned at a young age that you never ask a woman how old she is.

Since we had just done the Saltgrass Steakhouse thing last week for our Anniversary, we just did Spring Creek BBQ tonight for mine. But it was delicious just the same.

We both got the Baby Back Ribs with Beans and Beans. Our favorite.

Spring Creek Birthday BBQ

But for Jan’s birthday in 20 days, we’ll probably be back at Saltgrass.

Following up on my Amazon Fire TV Stick blog yesterday. this is what the Home Screen looks like.

Amazon Fire Stick Home Screen

The blocks along the bottom half are apps where we stream various shows. But the most important one is probably YouTube TV.

This is where we watch the regular TV networks and shows, and also DVR them, just like our old DirecTV service. Except it has unlimited DVR recordings, and at $75 per month, it’s less than half the cost of DTV.

As I said yesterday we’ll probably cancel our DTV subscription at the end of the year when the suspension is up.


October 5, 2021

It’s Still Sweet . . .

Today’s my seventy mumble-mumble birthday, and so once again Jan and I are in the fabled Sweet Spot, the 20 days each year when Jan and I are the same age.

Because I skipped first grade, and Jan lost a year due to an auto accident, we were in the same year in college when we met. So she had no idea that she was almost a year older than me.

In fact she didn’t realize it until months later when we were at the courthouse getting our marriage license. I think she just looked at me and decided, what the hell.

And 54+ years later, it’s still working.

We tried to sit on the patio with our coffee this morning, but after all the rain we’ve had the last week, our sojourn was called on account of mosquitos.

Lots and lots of mosquitos.

About 3:30 we headed up to Webster to have dinner at the Saltgrass Steakhouse there. Since we just did the one down in Galveston last week for our Anniversary, we decided to stay local this time.

Our steaks and wedge salads were as delicious as always, but the highlight of the meal, at least for Jan, and me too really, was dessert.

When we were at Saltgrass last week, Jan was disappointed that they hadn’t come out with their delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Saltgrass Pumpkin Cheesecake

So Jan was giddy to find that they just got their first shipment in yesterday, and we may have been the first people to order it.

Then it was on over to the Clear Lake Kroger’s to pick up a couple of prescriptions for Jan and some groceries. Then it was down toward home with a quick stop at the PO along the way.

A very nice birthday!


October 5, 2022

My ‘Sweetie’ . . .

As regular blog readers know, with my birthday today, we have entered the fabled ‘Sweet Spot’, the 20 days each year when Jan and I are the same age. All until her birthday on the 25th of this month.

Then she goes back to being my cougar and I’m back to being her boy-toy.

I’ve mentioned that she didn’t know that she was a year older than me until we went down to the courthouse to get our marriage license. I’ll never forget the look on her face.

The reason for this is that we had both just finished our freshman year in college. But though I was younger, I had skipped 1st grade and gone directly into the 2nd. And Jan was in a bad traffic accident, so bad she had to learn to walk again, and lost most of the 2nd grade.

A little before 5pm Jan and I headed up to Webster for my Birthday dinner at the Saltgrass Steakhouse once again. I was as delicious as usual, and since we had the same steaks that we usually get, I won’t repost the same photos.

But I will post the pics of the Pumpkin Cheesecake we had for dessert.

Saltgrass Pumpkin Cheesecake 20221005

And we each had to get our own piece since Jan doesn’t share Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Actually, neither do I.


October 5, 2023

How Sweet It Is . . .

I’ll let you check out the Retro-Blogs.™ to figure out what was sweet about today, rather than just repeat it.

After I paved the way last Thursday, Jan was able to breeze through getting her Texas Driver’s License this afternoon, so now we’re both Texas residents once again. So to celebrate we made a WalMart stop and then a Wendy’s drive-thru for a couple of small Pumpkin Spice Frosty’s. Very good.

Then a little after 4 we headed up to Webster for another Saltgrass Steakhouse visit, of course, punctuated by Jan’s favorite Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Delicious as always.

And Beautiful as always.

Then it was on over to Kroger’s for a couple of prescriptions and a few groceries. Then home just about sunset.

A very nice day.