Ultrasounds to Big Blocks

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

I’ve been away for three days and might have a bit of trouble remembering everything that happened. It’s going to take a while. I’ll have to check my calendar.

Monday 11/18

I called Don because he told me to do that. It was all about the truck and getting it back in shape. In shape, like running properly. Down the road. I made an appointment for the afternoon for delivery of the truck.
Went to Portland to file and pay taxes, late, in person. Forgot.
The house appraiser returned and left with good news.

Tuesday 11/19

Went to Good Sam Hospital for an ultrasound. My new primary care doctor thought it would be a good idea for me to have one because she thought I was pregnant, and she wanted to check for aneurysms. I’m pretty sure I’m not pregnant, but the aneurysm is an unknown. I suspect I’ll get a call if they find something. She didn’t really think I had one, but said I was “in the zone” because I’m old.
We had lunch at Fultano’s with Pat, Carolyn, Bill, Jack & Wynette. Pat, and Carolyn are cousins who are married to each other and Bill is their son. You all know Jack and Wynette, I’m sure. We’re related.
Went to Don’s and replaced the starter on the truck. Since it was on the lift in Don’s shop, it was easy to do. I had to go get a new one because the other new one I got a few days ago broke. I left the shims out of the new one and it worked just fine. It didn’t start the engine, but it wasn’t the starter’s fault. It was the carburetor’s fault. The float apparently doesn’t float which allows gas to just get pushed right through to the cylinders, much of which doesn’t ignite because there’s too much of it, resulting in very dirty spark plugs and lots of gas in the exhaust pipes which would shoot some impressive flames out the ends. Spark plugs are tomorrow.

Wednesday 11/20

Back to Don’s at 0900 to clean the plugs and set the timing on the truck engine. Once the plugs were reinstalled, Don helped me set the timing and my hopes were realized because the motor ran smooth, and it started right up. Still need to fix the carburetor. The current carb works fine as long as the engine is running around 3 grand. Sounds pretty good.
Got home about 1230 and had lunch because I was hungry and a Milgard Window Guy was scheduled to come fix an issue with the new patio door we had installed a few weeks ago. Not a big deal, but the glass panels were installed upside down in the frames. Sounds petty, but the seam for the inner seal was right at eye level on both panels, right where I looked each time I opened the door. It was disturbing and the Milgard Window Lady, to whom I spoke about it, agreed it was wrong. So, she sent Vladimir to fix it.

Thursday 11/21

In a few minutes we are going to Portland to the Pioneer Courthouse Square Apple Store to get my new iPad. Yes, the new one broke but it’s under warranty and it’s not my fault. Honest. I made my Genius Bar appointment yesterday. We have to be there by 0900.
It’s 28 degrees this morning. Makes my toes cold when I go to the garage to get my yogurt. Guess I’ll have to start wearing slippers, or something.
Upon return, I need to visit Don and see about swapping out the carb on the truck so I can take it to the dump and empty it.

Here’s the truck getting it ride to the motor doctor, Don.

Here’s the truck comfortably reclined in the doc’s office.

I wrote most of this last night so guessed at what today would bring and it didn’t work out as planned.

We made it to Portland OK, and I got my replacement iPad, but I didn’t make it out to work on the truck. Dang!

On the way home from Portland Diane tossed me off at a friend’s house, Jerry’s, another Jerry, so I could work on his wife’s computer. I sat there for 4 hours talking, teaching, and deleting files to make room on her hard drive, which had been partitioned by some enterprising individual, so that the system drive ran out of space because programs and photos were loaded on it, not the other partitions. We had a good time while Diane whiled away the hours at Goodwill. We left at 1730 and came to rescue the dogs.

They were fine.

Bad News (3) – Good News (1)

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

The truck is stuck for a while. I fiddled with the starter again this morning, inserting shims and making sure all the wire connections were tight. The last problem, yesterday, was that the starter motor gear was not meshing with the fly-wheel. Instead, it just made a soothing grinding noise as it whittled away precious metal required by a proper connection. The shims were a last-ditch effort to make it work. And, it did. I actually got the engine started, but it ran like a one cylinder John Deere tractor and quickly quit when I attempted to let it idle thinking I might have time to dive under the hood and adjust the distributer. Turns out it’s not a one-man job. I should engage an expert, but I hate bothering those guys. I should be able to do this.

During the course of installing the shims in the starter, one of the starter mounting bolts, which was still in the starter, resting comfortably against one of the rigid transmission coolant lines, lost it’s mind and dropped out. I suppose I should have taken it out, but I didn’t want to have to search around on the ground for it when I needed it. So, I left it in the hole. When it dropped, my face was in the way and it bounced right off one of my front teeth. because I had absolutely no way to dodge it. Picture this … the truck is about 8 inches away from the curb, the right front tire is low on air, and the exhaust on that side hangs down a few inches below the frame. That’s the side where I had to go to do this intricate work.

To get under far enough to reach the starter, I had to squeeze myself under the exhaust, and work with it pressing into my abdomen. All the while I’m working I’m sending kind thoughts to all the tires for not going flat because if any of them did, I would have been squished like an unwary ant on a sidewalk in front of a home in which small children live. Seriously. No one was watching me so dropping that extra six inches would have been the end of me. Dumb, I know, but I like living on the edge.

Now, teeth are tough customers and can really take a beating, but the bolt dropped about a foot before it hit. The damage is minimal, with only a little chipping on the biting edge which I smoothed up with an emery board at Diane’s suggestion. That worked nicely to remove the sharp edge of the chipped area making my inquisitive tongue less interested in the damaged area. Funny how that works, isn’t it? Tongues ignore smooth areas, but gravitate to the sharp ones like a magnet, especially new sharp areas. I guess our tongues are really a security system that ensures nothing gets passed them that isn’t authorized by the brain. If it’s sharp, the brain forces the tongue to investigate incessantly until the owner does something about it.

So, here’re the Bad News issues indicated in the title of today’s non-verbal soliloquy.

The truck still doesn’t run
I nearly broke a tooth
I think there’s now a flat spot on the fly-wheel from all that grinding

The Good News? After getting home from this futile effort, I made a sandwich, which will please Diane, and took another tour of the 1968 Truck Service Manual that I happen to have, thanks to Jeff. Way in the back I found an entire section on the windshield wiper motor which wasn’t there the first six or seven times I did this. I’ve been looking for the location of that motor for years because it has never worked. Ever. I just haven’t driven it on rainy days for the last 20 years or so. Then, there it was with instructions on where it resides, how to tear it apart, and everything. To ensure future access, I dog-eared the page.

I discovered where the wiper motor is and how to dismantle it

I’m sure I can fix it.

1968 Chev Custom C-20 P/U For Sale

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

$17,000 OBO

Manual windows
Manual mirrors
No A/C
Heater is Iffy
454 Big Block bored over to 462
New starter
No turn signals
Wipers don’t work
No Glove box
Needs tires
Needs tune-up
Wife hates it
Currently full of ‘stuff’ for the dump which is included in price

What isn’t mentioned is that the truck is currently residing in front of Daniel & Jennifer’s home. Here’s the story …

This morning, after stalling as long as I could, I disconnected the battery charger from the truck, wound up the extension cord, and put them away. Then I got my truck key, walked slowly back to the truck, climbed in, inserted the key in the ignition, held my breath, and turned the key.

Nothing happened.

So, I checked all the wiring to make sure the proper voltage was present at the locations required. My meter told me everything was just fine. The only other problem it could be, since this was a brand new starter, was the control wire at the starter, that receives voltage when you turn the key that little bit extra to engage the starter, was on the wrong terminal. There are two choices, marked R and S. I do not know which one it was on, but I layer on the wet ground and made the change and that corrected the problem.

The starter turned that big engine fast enough to move it down the road at about 27 mph. It didn’t start right away, but I knew it would. It’s been sitting for a while and big blocks don’t like that.

There was a brief lull in the rain this afternoon so I decided to make a dump run. I covered the junk in the back, cranked the engine, then drove off. Though the engine idled OK, it doesn’t do well when under load, like when it’s in gear. It has no power, but it was chugging along. Sounded like it was running on 2 cylinders at times. Really running rich and I’m sure the plugs got terribly fouled and it finally quit at 4 Corners, where N. Vernonia Road crosses Columbia Blvd. I was at the stop line and had to get the truck out of the way. The only way to do that was to push it backwards and get it to the curb.

So, I got out, stood with my back against the driver’s door jamb and started inching the truck backwards one painful inch at a time. I got it back about 10 feet before I had to stop and direct traffic around my efforts. Everyone was very willing to follow my suggestions that they drive around me and not stop to give me a hand. Then, two young ladies passed me going the other way, turned around and got out to give me a hand. With their assistance, the truck was moved quickly out of the way.

I have no idea who they were. It was a very welcome anonymous gesture of good will. They just wanted to help, did the dead, then went on their merry way. It was awesome and I couldn’t thank them enough. They were well aware, too, that many members of the male gender had already passed me by so their effort had more meaning. Their efforts, reaffirmed my belief that there are still really good people around us. The girls saved me from having a heart attack, I’m sure. At least from having one right away. Maybe later.

Once the truck was out of the way I called Diane to come get me. She did, then I got tools and she took me back so I could see about working on it and, perhaps, resurrecting it one more time. That wasn’t to be, so she called Jeff to come give me hand getting it either home, or over to Daniel and Jennifer’s. We decided on D&J’s because it was a pretty flat trip, and just two corners. Corners were important because the truck has power steering and it’s totally hard to turn corners when the motor isn’t running. Takes a lot of muscle power, something that is fleeing from my aging body a little bit every day.

I didn’t all D&J to ask permission to park the truck in front of their house for a bit but they were kind enough to not tell me to move it along. The plan is to engage one of Jeff’s friends, who is a mechanic, to see what he can do to make the truck run.

OK – that’s it. I’ll add the end of this part of the “Truck Story” tomorrow.

The “For Sale” offer is bogus, of course, unless someone really want’s to pay $17,000. The OBO will be honored, too, with the understanding that I have a reserve amount in mind. I suspect that if you were inclined to invest $10,000, or so, it might be work $17,000. It could happen.

One of the interesting things about today’s activities is that both of our children asked why I didn’t call one of them first for help. I had to give that some thought because it was a very valid question. Why didn’t I call one of them first? After devoting an extraordinary number of brain cells to this question, I believe I came up with a valid answer but it requires a little bit of history to ensure it is understood in context.

When Diane and I were married, our first home was on the tiny island of Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands which are located between Japan and Taiwan. For me it wasn’t a big deal because I’d been there before on a ship, but for Diane it was life-changing. She left the comfortable surroundings of her youth and embarked with me on an adventure that is still in progress today. Because we never lived close to home, where we grew up, we learned quickly to rely on each other to solve our problems. It became a way of life for us, and just became routine. When one of us needed help, they called the other. It worked then, and it works now. Even though we’re living in close proximity to our children, we still rely on each other the most. It’s still a habit, hard to break. We know they would help at the drop of a hat, and there have been times we’ve had to ask, but we look at it from the perspective that they have their own families to take care of now and don’t need us to add to their work load. That’s just us and we hope they understand. One of these days they will be essential for our survival and I’m relying on Jeff and/or Jennifer to change my diaper, as needed until I can’t coherently string more than 4 words together.

One of these days I might just start mumbling to see of that works. Just for fun.

Honestly, if I were them, I’d willingly hire someone to do it of me.

All of this chatter about diapers reminds me that Jennifer gave us a mason jar full of chocolate covered peanut clusters. Yes, that’s a terrible comparison, but just so you know, the clusters are really good. She made them with chocolate bark of some sort, she said, and I’ve learned that I like it a lot. It’s almost gone so she can have her jar back, probably tomorrow.

PTs, Trucks, and Swedish Music

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Today was an adventure in auto mechanics of various kinds spanning vehicles from 1968 to 2001. Actually, it was only two vehicles. I worked on the 2001, first.

It’s our old PT Cruiser that used to look like this …

Oh, gee! That one was taken in Nampa, Idaho across the street from the art work created by one of my brothers who lives there. He’s the one who doesn’t ‘do’ computers. But, he can handle a torch and bend some metal.

Here’s another one right after we got the trailer that we no longer have. We had a lot of fun camping in that and traveling all over the place showing it off.

Nice ghost flames.

The PT still looks pretty much the same except for the road rash from 12 years and 200065 miles of driving. But, it’s still ticking along and the only thing that’s gone bad on it is the timing belt and the rear suspension bell crank. Oh, and the driver’s seat belt tensioner failed. Jack fixed that, and the bell crank. There are some noises I need to investigate, and clean it up.

On that last item, to simplify things, I just ripped all the coverings off the dash that I could get off without something making that “breaking” sound. Most of it just pops right off. All the things in the next picture are just hanging by the wires because I removed all the screws I could find so I could clean them.

Here’s some of the stuff I removed to clean … all I have to do, now, is figure out how it all goes back together and find all the screws. They’re in there somewhere, I’m sure.

Then there’s the truck that has looked like this since the day I bought it …

Just so happens that this was another starter event from a different year. The starter is what I worked on today. While I was working on the PT the sun came out and all the clouds just went away for a few hours. I looked at the truck, bull of ‘junk stuff’, and decided that I needed to get it fixed and get it emptied before the rain starts in earnest. Won’t be long before that happens.

I got the started out, swapped it for a new one at NAPA, and installed it. But, I couldn’t test it because, guess what! The battery was dead. So, I ran my handy-dandy extension cord from the garage and hooked up the battery charger where it will sit until tomorrow morning. Then I’ll try it and it better start. I’ll let you know how that goes.

We had dead chicken for supper. It was really good. Diane takes very good care of me and I appreciate it.

After supper we sat quietly, watching NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles then it was time to choir practice at church. We sang two songs I actually know, and two I don’t know. The one I know best is ‘Hosianna‘. It’s the only Swedish I know. I’m usually the only bass in the choir which is sad, but we get through it. Like normal, we went in to it cold tonight and everyone made it through just fine. The song is so complicated (for me) that I had to memorize it because I could either read the notes, or the words, but not both. Oddly, I was able to do that many, many, many years ago, and I’ve never forgotten it. Kinda like the Morse Code I had to learn when I went to Radioman School right after Navy boot camp. Those of us going to the school were given all night to memorize the code. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when prodded by fear. I’ve never forgotten the code, either.

Now we’re home and it’s time for bed.

Buona notte.

Mechanics, Tacos, Church, and Kids

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Today I decided to do a little work on the PT Cruiser. The battery died a long time ago because of a fault that caused the fog light indicator to say lit 24 hours a day, key or no key. Odd thing is, the fog lights are totally disconnected – the wire harness is sitting in the back of the car. So, why does that sneaky little light stay on? Well, I figured it was the switch I installed in 2001 when I installed the fog lights, so I took the cowling off the steering column behind the steering wheel, and disconnected the headlight switch. Then I charged the battery for a couple of days to make sure it was full to the tippy top.

I may have mentioned that I still had the original headlight switch somewhere around the house, but I hid it so well I couldn’t find it anywhere. Then, for some odd reason, I opened the back hatch up and there it was, lying right there in plain sight. Go figure. So I fixed it all by putting the old switch back in place.

Now the headlights don’t work, so I have another trouble-shooting event planned for tomorrow.

Diane worked at the Senior Center today serving lunch, so I took her Mom, Jean, on a date to check out the food. It was roast beef, and it was really good.

I drove the PT because the Subaru has a dead battery. It seems to be going around. So, all the work I did on the PT was mostly this afternoon.

Then I took a shower while Diane conferred with the local Taco Bell about dinner. I had 3 crunchy taco supremes, like normal, and a steak burrito supreme. I used to get dead chicken burritos in the past and think I’ll revert back because the steak thing is just too HUGE. It must weigh about 3 lbs, and it’s floppy which disturbs me. Chicken burritos aren’t floppy.

Directly after eating all of that, I went to Church Council for our November meeting. I had to take Diane’s car because the other two are broken. The meeting lasted 2 hours. They always wear me out because I have to act like I know what’s going on the entire time since I’m the president. The other members insist that I do a really good job but I’m sure they only say that because none of them want to do it. I know that’s true because I used to be one of them. Then, all the sudden I was president. I’m still not sure how that happened. I think I may have volunteered.

Now I’m home, it’s almost 2200, I’m tired, and need to make the bed. Then I will rest a bit then go lay in it until the dogs get me up tomorrow.

I don’t have any new pictures to share so thought I’d just toss in a couple of old ones. These are mainly to embarrass Maryssa and Lydia, but Maryssa mostly. Lydia is a freshman this year, here in St. Helens, and Maryssa is a senior way over there in Nampa, Idaho. She recently committed to Eastern Oregon University on a softball scholarship. Cute, aren’t they?

Then, there’s this, just when you thought they were such angels …

Now we know why kids need braces when they get older …

Congratulations, Maryssa.

Veteran’s Day 2013

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

It’s Veteran’s Day, so I took the day off because I am one.

All I did was charge the battery on the old 2001 PT Cruiser. I also took the turn signal/headlight switch thingy apart to see if there was anything noticeably wrong with it that might cause the fog light indicator to remain on all the time. It eventually drains the battery which is a real bummer.

Oh! I finished painting the ceiling of the top porch, too. I did that this morning after helping put up flags with the Lions Club. The flags went up at 0700 so I didn’t get my nap like normal.

Diane fixed me grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch. That’s excellent cold weather food.

Speaking of the weather, today was absolutely gorgeous. It got almost to 60 which is balmy for this time of year. That’s why I did the painting, because I knew it would dry. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same so guess I’ll have to find something else to paint.

A little while ago I drew some lines on a board, but forgot why. I think I was going to cut it. I just put it all away and quit for the day. The reason will come to me in the night. If I remember I’ll do it, whatever it was, tomorrow.

Diane is going to play Bunco at Jennie’s tonight so the boys, Cedric and Jeran will be with me. They are here to keep an eye on me because they’re way too big, and old, to babysit.

Here’s what today’s sunrise looked like.

Kind of redundant, huh? Wish the beach was close so I could take cool pictures of waves, like Jewel does.

Phlebotomy, The Garage, and Pac12

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

It’s a dreary day here in paradise, but we don’t mind. We don’t mind, you understand, because there’s really nothing we can do about it. If it’s going to be dreary, it’s what it is. No amount of whining, or complaining is going to change it. That’s what I’ve been told and I believe it. Makes life much more pleasant and it really makes one appreciate a nice, sunny day.

In Oregon, at least our part of it, car washes are very popular because at the first hint of sunshine, even if it’s for half a day, there’s a lineup at every one of them. Most people don’t want to drive around in a dirty car, especially Diane. Me? I don’t particularly care if my car is dirty or not. I don’t know why that is. Might be because it’s a 1996 Subaru with lots of dents so the dirt kind of hides the damage and lets me forget that I might have to do something about that some day.

Diane’s at the doctor’s office. Actually, she went to the doctor’s office this morning. Right now she’s delivering a stack of magazines to the lab waiting room where she went to visit one of the phlebotomists that works there. Her doctor told her to do this and she always does what her doctor tells her to do, most of the time. So do I. Always.

While Diane was at the doctor this morning, I carved out a spot in the garage so I could get the lawn mower out of the weather for the winter. Last year it lived on the lower patio, but that’s not an option this year. So, it’s going in the garage, next to the player piano. One of these days I’m going to have to get that thing into the basement where I can warm it up and actually work on it once in a while. That was the plan, five years ago, and is still the plan today. Might take the organ to the basement, too. I’ve probably said that before. Maybe one day it’ll actually happen.

When Diane left to visit the phlebotomist this afternoon, I did some more cleaning in the garage, and guess what!? There’s a door in there that opens to the porch outside the kitchen door. I actually knew there was one there because I could see it from outside. But, it’s behind the garbage can so it was never interesting enough to uncover on the garage side. Today I did it and I think I’ll be using it more often in the future. I don’t know why, but I suspect I will.

I don’t think I mentioned that I’m getting a new iPad on Friday. This will be my third one, and it’s going to be the 4th generation unit. Getting insurance on the first one gave me the 2nd one after I discovered the 1st one didn’t float in the hot tub. I’ve had the 2nd one for almost two years without error, but I dropped it a couple of weeks ago, as I’m prone to do, and it dented up one of the corners. Since then, the little button on the bottom, that has a name I can’t remember, doesn’t work consistently. So, when we were in Portland the other day, Diane let me go to Best Buy where I talked with one of the head Geeks to explain what happened. He was sympathetic, and ultimately agreed that it was going to fail worse almost any time soon. Since I had insurance on it, too, it was pretty much a done deal. So, Friday I’ll have to figure out how to set one of those up, all over again. That will be fun.

Just so you know, Lexi, Kristen’s little girl, knows how to dial a cell phone. She called us about 8 times tonight before Kristen got the phone away from her. We knew it was Lexi because she was making baby noises since, well, she’s a baby. A tricky one, too. Kristen, by the way, is Daniel’s younger sister. They have a brother, Ron, who graduated from Oregon State but remained a staunch Duck fan the entire time. Brave man. He’s an engineer, now. I finally called Kristen’s phone and she answered to clear things up with Lexi. Now we can relax knowing Kristen is OK. It was a concern for a while, there.

Tomorrow I may power wash the lawn mower and put it away in the hole I dug in the garage. My fear regarding that evolution is that the sun will come up and cause the grass to grow mega fast which would require me to get the mower dirty, again. But, I’ll do what ever I have to do to keep the grass in check.

I’m also going to make the Winnebago ‘move’ tomorrow and put it back in the driveway where it belongs. That will involve reinstalling the portion of the driveshaft that Bob removed before he towed it home. He was going to put it back, but I told him I’d do it. Should have let him do it, huh? When that’s installed, I’ll figure out the fuel problem so the engine will start. Might take the mechanical fuel pump off, too, and see if the new one I have looks anything like it. If so, I’ll install it, too.

I can’t do this any more. Girls are playing volleyball on the Pac12 Network.

Fake Cats, A Haiku Farewell To Summer, and Vehicles

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Greetings from the Cat Central. Today was chosen as the annual cat migration from the display case to the dining room table. Unlike last year, they were not transported individually, but with the aid of Avon box lids. They are pretty handy to have around. We have lots of them because Diane buys Avon products just for the fun of it and she sells it, too. If you’re inclined, you can buy from Diane’s Avon account online and have it delivered directly to your door, or post office, if you don’t have a door. If all of you did that, on a regular basis, I could retire again. That was a shameless plug for my lovely bride and I’m not a bit ashamed for doing it.

Before going to church this morning, I went out, with some urging, to see about patching the roof to the ’79 Winnebago. You may recall that it leaked a bit during our trip to Fort Stevens in Hammond, Oregon. It didn’t leak much, or long, but it leaked and it seemed to be prudent to fix it. All the turmoil of getting home, however, lowered that priority, however, and I kinda lost it in the white noise that makes up the bottom range of my memory. Diane, however, made it very clear that I needed to do something about it before it rained or she would get cranky. So, I found my really old can of Henry roof ‘stuff’.

Once I pried the lid off, I discovered there was about an inch of solidified matter on the top of about half an inch of useable coating. Figuring it would be enough to seal the seam that I suspected of leaking, I rushed right out of the house and climbed up on the RV roof. The leaky part is toward the front, so I cautiously made my way past both ceiling fans, and the air conditioner, and kneeled down to do the job.

I couldn’t find a putty knife, which would have been the perfect tool for applying it because it’s really thick. Instead, I found a really dull inch-wide chisel with a handle long enough to allow me to get to the sticky stuff without getting it all over me – just the fingers I used to hold the chisel.

The coating went on nicely, as I remembered it did when I first used it about 2-3 years ago, so the job went quickly. That was a good thing, too, because about the time I grabbed the first rung of the ladder to the roof, mist was falling from the sky. It wasn’t actually falling because mist just kind of blows around with the wind, like a cloud. There wasn’t any wind, though, so it kinda let gravity have more of a roll in its direction. So, it started getting a bit wet. Thankfully, the sticky stuff sticks to anything, no matter what, so it worked just fine.

After church we brought Diane’s Mom, Jean, home with us to entertain the dogs while Diane cooked another one of her gourmet meals made with dead chicken. I watched football. I also sat on the couch with Mom to show her recent pictures of what’s been going on with us. You’ve seen some of them, so I won’t bore you with them, again.

I will, however, show you the before …

… and after of the Cat Migration …

Next their home will be cleaned thoroughly, and all of the cats will be dusted and returned to a new place in the cabinet. Since the cats are not Lutherans, they don’t care where they wind up … there’s no need to ensure they go back to the space they’ve occupied for the past year or so. That makes the return far easier.

During the migration, an event in which I was not allowed to participate, I watched more football on the Man Room TV. I think I watched Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos beat Eli Manning’s New York Giants. As I recall, it wasn’t really too difficult for Peyton to beat up his little brother. While watching this, I was interrupted once in a while with the soothing sound of distant thunder, then it rained for a little while quite nicely. I didn’t go out to check my patch job because I don’t really care if it gets wet. Well, I do care, but not enough to go out in the rain to find out. I’m pretty sure it’s OK. I’ll look tomorrow. If it’s not raining.

With the rain, we say farewell to summer. The temperatures are dropping and, according to some old guys Diane listens to, we’re supposed to have a really bad winter. I don’t know what tha means because I don’t know what a really good winter is so there is no point of reference. I think a really good winter is the last one we spent in Hawaii, in 1989, just before I was discharged from the Navy. As I recall, it was 80+ degrees on the January day we flew home, and it was 2 degrees when we arrived in Portland. Kinda nuts, huh? Some folks wonder how we could do something like that. I mean, we had been living in Hawaii for the past 3 years, and we flew to Oregon in the middle of winter? The main reason is that we had already sent Jeff to Scappoose and figured we needed to check up on him. In truth, we’ve never regretted that move, except for the first few days when we froze our little nuts off. Well, at least one of us did that. Then we just got used to it.

In honor of summer’s demise, I submit the following 2-verse 5-7-5 haiku poem for you to criticize, if you wish …

Friday was sunny,

Today it started raining.

Summer is over

Bum, bum, bum, bummer.

It makes me want to sob, but

I’ll get over it.

That pretty much sums up this Sunday. I know, it’s probably not what you expected, but I’m not a poet. Perhaps you noticed if you actually this far.
Oh, yes! I surprised and pleased to get a call from our friend, Tom. Remember him? The one who was at death’s door not too long ago? We talked for almost 53 minutes. It was awesome!

Now for a couple of pictures I took in Ocean Park when we visited the Rod Run To The End Of The World …

This is the new color scheme for my old truck that looks suspiciously like this one …