The Injury Gene

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Lydia has it.

When I mentioned Lydia’s game yesterday I failed to mention the ball that she took in the face. It was actually supposed to be a header, to a ball that was falling from about 200 feet, going 115 mph, but something in the wind caused her to misjudge, just a teeny bit and it hit her on the forehead …

… then her glasses …

… which slammed down onto her perky little nose …

… and finally the ground.

She didn’t skip a beat, and kept right on playing, after bending her specs a bit so they stayed on.

She told her parents that it didn’t even hurt because it went numb right away, so she just shrugged it off and continued playing for the remainder of the game. This morning, however, it’s a little more colorful and she reported that her teeth hurt when she sneezes.

My nose hurts just looking at it. I fear she has a genetic disposition for injuring herself, and things. A couple of days ago she stumbled in their newly refinished bathroom and ripped the towel bar off the wall. So, next Saturday she’s going to learn how to repair sheet rock.

Back to the glasses … Lydia has a pair of sports goggles that would have resulted in a less dramatic injury, but she doesn’t like to wear them because they block her peripheral vision. They also fog up on rainy days. We’re not sure if the injury is going to change her mind, or not.

This week at school is all about Home Coming, so each day the kids dress up as if they are going to one of their dances … prom, stuff like that. Cedric didn’t do it last year, but is this year because Lydia is. Jennifer said Lydia got all dressed up then went to school with no bandage on her face, the mark of true jock.

Gotta leave the skid marks out there for everyone to see.

She’s playing again today, against Scappoose. Should be fun because the more I learn about soccer rules, the less I understand it. So, I’m going to devote one of these entries to how I think soccer should be played.

Church, Lunch, and a Movie

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Today we went to church, had a so-so lunch, and went to a movie. The dogs weren’t happy that we were gone for so long, but they forgave us anyway – maybe because it’s Sunday, but more probably because dogs forgive everyone almost immediately once you pet them and let them go outside. It’s just the way they are. Too bad people aren’t that way, too, don’t you think?

This morning Diane, Diane’s Mom, Jean, and I were forced to sit in the front row at church because Larry and Shirley sat in our seats. It was so … so … un-Lutheran of them. I mean, they usually either sit behind us, or a couple of rows back. This morning, however, they arrived before us and decided to move into our space. The nerve of them. Both Larry and Shirley were ahead of us in High School so I guess they were just exerting their superior position, although they’ve never done so in the past. Perhaps they were punishing us for being a little bit late. That could be it, too. So, we moved to the front, where Mabel, Nancy, Kim, Kevin, and Lisa usually sit, but they weren’t there today, so it was OK.

While listening to the sermon I got to thinking, something I don’t usually do in church. Usually, I just listen to the sermon, try to figure out how the ‘Message’ pertains to me, or how I can make myself a better person by making it pertain to me. Then, there’s the music. Old hymns that have historical meaning, written by people hundreds of years ago, that actually tell a story. Our pastor, Rory, is a wealth of knowledge regarding hymns, and regularly gives us background on the person who wrote a hymn he’s about to help us sing. Without failure, the story is compelling and filled with vivid evidence of spirituality, and the author’s un-questioning belief in God, even in the face of incredible adversity. True believers, all. They humble us.

After church I talked with Pastor and we both be-moaned the current lack of attendance by the most current generations at our tiny little church. He was saddened that he couldn’t generate more interest in spreading the Word of God to the countless scads of reportedly “un-churched” people, while I was more along the line that we could generate more interest and subsequently reap the benefit of increased offerings, allowing us to pay our bills without fear. Two different takes on a common problem.

Pastor’s ‘take’ was far more pastoral than mine, as one would expect. I did, however, have this thought about why we don’t see the younger crowd.

It’s about the music. We have the old classic hymns, we don’t have a band, and we don’t have microphones hanging from the rafters, or standing at rigid intervals across the stage. No, we have a pianist (Barb), an organist (Jeannie), and a raised area where we kneel around he altar for communion, every other Sunday, with wine and bread. The other Sunday’s we have communion by intinction, where we receive wafers which we dip into the wine as we file past Pastor. It’s fairly traditional.

We’ve been to the New Age services over the years and heard the powerful messages given by very charismatic speakers accompanied by their bands, and band of singers. The music is pleasant, but has never really struck a chord with either Diane or me. Now religious groups are growing exponentially, and it’s moved into the rap realm, something I’ve just never enjoyed. Rap, that is. I can appreciate the effort, and the subject matter of their music, but I just don’t get “reference” from it.

That could be simply because I do not understand what they’re saying almost 100% of the time. The frequencies are all wrong for me, and the tempo, and the volume. I’m more attuned to the old stuff. Things I know.

So, I know, that makes me old fashion to the Nth degree, and that’s OK. I get it. Things change and, dare I say, evolve over time. So it goes with music and lots of other stuff including the style of churches, and their services.

I apologize if any of that upset any of you. It’s a free world, after all, mostly, so you are free to syntactically retaliate to your heart’s desire.

That’s not a dare, by the way.

It’s just a fact.

So, fire at will …

About lunch – we went to Zhen’s on Columbia Blvd here in town. For the three of us, we got a #3 and a #4, which was about six times as much food as we really needed. So, we packed up a bunch of it which will be enough for two more meals each.

Then we went to the Columbia Theater to watch “Turbo”. It’s the first movie Jean’s been to in a few years, so it was special for her. More special was that it was free, and, since we had just eaten lunch, we didn’t feel compelled to eat a mess of popcorn. That’s usually what I do in the theater and I always regret it. But I always do it, until today. It was good to just sit there and not be distracted by all that crunching noise, and greasy fingers that I always tell myself to NOT wipe on my pants but somehow always do because I forget. Without the popcorn I got to see the entire movie, without interruption.

We went with Jennie, Jeran, Cedric, Lydia, and Chris, Lydia’s friend. Actually, we went because of them. The Columbia Theater has a special deal where parents can buy kid’s tickets for 8 consecutive matinée movies for $8, which is an incredible deal. Additionally, each kid can bring an adult, so all us of us old folks got in for free. Pretty nifty, huh?

Another plus, since we were some of the last people to enter the theater, is that we got to sit almost right up front, very close to the seats Debbie Reynolds sat in when she was in town filming “Halloween Town”, many years ago. Maybe that should be many, many, years ago.

As I stated early on, the dogs were really happy to see us after our six-hour absence. I’m sure they thought we had gone to Mexico again, and were surprised when we returned so soon. Since our return, we’ve not done much but sit and vegetate, watching some of the shows that were recorded while we were gone. We’ll catch up, soon, then we’re going to turn in our old DVR, that can only record two shows at a time, and get the one that records 4 shows at a time, while you watch a 5th. That’s going to be something. We both think it’s very important that consumers should be able to records about six times as many TV shows than we can possibly watch unless we stay glued to our TV all the time. Kind of like we do now, but more so.

Ya know?

Gilligan

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

When you see that name, I bet the first thing that comes to mind is “Gilligan’s Island”. Six years ago, I would have thought the same thing. Now my first thought is about Gilligan, our Granddaughter who just turned six years old on the 5th. Since we were in Mexico at the time, we deferred our celebration of her special day until this afternoon.

This is her when she turned 5, but she still looks exactly the same.

Gilligan has always been a little drama queen and her parents have taught her many things that most kids her age don’t know … like the bones in her body. She pretty much has them nailed. She has all of her emotions down pat, too. Just name one, and she’ll gladly display it quite convincingly. Needless to say, she’s adorable, and a ton of fun.

She’s a budding model who just needs an agent …

We were at Fred Meyer shopping and while transiting through the fruit bins, I told her to drop and give me 10 … so she did. I actually didn’t expect it, so was quite surprised.

I was surprised too, later, that some angry mom didn’t call the cops on me for child abuse. Gilligan didn’t mind, and she could just as easily told me no, but she didn’t because she loves me. And I love her.

Family and Food

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Today we took another trip to Portland. That makes 4 times this week that we had to go to the Greater Portland Area, or GPA, if you will.

Today we went to Nonna Emilia’s Italian restaurant on Shaw Street in Aloha. For those of you with Hawaii on your mind, this Aloha is pronounced a-low-ah. So, it should be spelled Aloah, don’t you think?

The purpose of the visit was to see Julie, Duncan, and Jake during a lull in their whirlwind visit to see all of the colleges in the greater Pacific Northwest to see which one is right for Jake. He’s a senior this year, in Phoenix, AZ. AZ is an abbreviation for Arizona, in case you needed to know that.

About the abbreviations for states. I disagree with their methods used by whoever it was that determined what they should be. The choices aren’t consistent with the names. Like AZ, for instance. I think all the abbreviations should just be the first and next to last letters of the name. That would make Arizona AN, Alaska AK, Arkansas AA, Alabama AM, Oregon OO, California CI, Washington WO, etc., ad infinitum, forever. States with two names, like North Dakota will different, like NDT, and SDT, North Carolina NCN, and SCN. Florida would be FI, Tennessee TE, Connecticut CU. Get it? It’s consistent.

Just a thought.

Here’s the group that met up today …

Left to right it’s, Jean, Terri, Jennifer, Jeran, Diane, Daniel, Bill, Carolyn, Julie, Jerrie, Jake, Duncan, Lydia, Jean.

Didn’t think about it at the time, but we have Jean’s holding us together.

Did I mention the food was good? I sat next to Jake who had dead chicken Marsala, which came with a side of spaghetti that he didn’t want. I offered him $1.50 for it, he accepted, and I ate it. It worked out great because I had spaghetti for my main meal and my plate was already covered with sauce so the waitress didn’t know I had seconds. Jake’s side dish was just about as big as my main dish, so I ate twice. I will not be hungry for a couple of days, now. And, I owe Jake a buck and a half, unless Diane paid him, because I didn’t. My wallet was empty, as it has been for the past two weeks. Diane doesn’t let me carry money because I tend to spend it and don’t remember what I bought.

I’m A Weeble? Really?

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

This morning Diane called me a Weeble when she warned the dog to look out because I was wobbling around a bit in order to position myself to give Panzee a belly rub with my foot. Yes, I wobble, which is not a surprise to many people, just to those who fleetingly viewed me as a solid, stand up citizen. No, I’m not one of those. I’m a citizen, true, and I stand up for our flag, but I’m far from solid.

I sway in a gentle breeze, turning to the left, mostly, but also to the right, if the wind is right, causing Diane less and less concern as she gets used to my new abilities related to vertical acuity, and not embarrassing her by falling in public. I’ve only done that once, but cannot remember the occasion because it was insignificant. A mere blip on my radar that went mostly unnoticed be everyone except the girl who screamed.

Calling me a Weeble makes me wonder if there is more to the name than a quick look could ascertain. Everyone knows what a Weeble is, right? You know, “Weebles Wobble But They Don’t Fall Down”? Remember that? Everyone had to have them because they were so cute, and they couldn’t be knocked over.

However, after being compared to one this morning, the name has been circling in my head wondering if there is an underlying meaning to her comparison. Just a moment ago I realized that she’s making a reference to my less than adequate sized testicles. What she’s really saying is wee balls. That’s got to be it. I’ll confront her in a couple of weeks about her underhanded name calling, if I remember. Or, perhaps within a few moments of her reading this, as I know she will.

In my youth, I was able to walk straight down that thin, well-defined line of decorum, never causing anyone on either side grief, or dismay about what I said or did. With Diane’s back-handed reference comparing me to a Weeble one might think, on the surface, that she’s concerned about me straddling the line, more than walking it, due to the increasing wobble in my gait as age overtakes me, and my brain isn’t quick enough to interpret my balance correctly causing it to over correct. It’s like the cruise control in Diane’s Buick that works just fine until a hill appears, then the vehicle slows down from 55 to 50, then shifts and speeds up to 60+ before settling back down to 55 just before the hill is crested. Doing that causes problems for everyone on both sides of the line defined specifically for me, for my passage through this life.

No, it’s not about that at all. It’s all about the size of one’s testicles. I’m sure.

That’s all I got for now. Later we’re going to Portland to have lunch with some southern relatives, Diane’s side, from Arizona – Julie, Duncan, and Jake. We’ll also get to see Bill, Carolyn, Terri, and Lisa. We’re eating Italian at Nona Whats-its-place in Beaverton.

Now I’m going to stop, get a mirror, and contemplate my Weebles.

Diane’s Hair, Fire, Golf, Mechanical Stuff, and Food

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

First, here’s Diane’s new hairdo for those of you who requested it. It’s kinda like the picture I took in Hawaii and included with the tiki torch entry. I like it. I tell her that, but I’m not sure she believes me. What do you think?

Now, about Jerrie the arsonist, the golfer, the mechanic, and elctronical wizard – what a package!

On Thursday, the burn pile was reduced to a pretty flat mess of ashes. That would be the grey matter in the middle of the picture. The raised areas around it are grass clippings, which we are not allowed to burn. Before igniting the pile, it was tall enough, from this angle, to hide the clippings pile, and it was that tall all the way across. I stood out there for four hours monitoring the progress, moving things around, getting burnt here and there, and inhaled more than my share of smoke. It burned my eyes and my nose, but I hung in there and did my job. The neighbors, to the left, lit their burn pile, also, but our pile went away first.

Now, about golfing – Junior, Doug, and I are 1962 graduate of Scappoose Union High School. We weren’t the only three, of course, but we three see each other more often than the other 70+ remaining members of that class. That officially makes us old since we are well beyond the 50 mark, the point where many young people think we should be put out to pasture, so to speak, and we take that literally because we golf in St. Helens on a course that Jimbo would agree would be better served as a pasture. There are mole hills to contend with, and lost balls in the fairway because of deep grass, or simply deep mud, but it works for us. We have fun. Jimbo, by the way, is also a ’62 graduate, but he lives all the way over in Lake Oswego so we don’t get to see him very often.

Doug is the better golfer of the three of us, but Junior can whip him once in a while. I never do that. I’m just out there to whack a ball, and have a nice conversation while looking for it. We almost always find it, but not always. It doesn’t matter because pretty much all the balls I use were donated by golfers who went before me and we seem to usually come out ahead

Junior watches the golf channel all the time and is just full of little tidbits about how to golf better. Just enough to screw up anyone he’s golfing with, me especially. I don’t mind, because I’m not all that serious about golfing. For me, a round of golf is just a nice walk in the woods. Really. If there’s a tree around, I’ll wind up behind it. Because of that, I’ve adopted the attitude that I can hit my ball over, or through, any tree that’s in my way. Sometimes it works.

Here’s a picture of Junior, from yesterday, hitting his ball again from the same spot because he hit the sign you see a little ways in front of him. The sign was in his way and he made an impressive dent in the metal sign at the bottom right corner. You can actually see how it’s bent from the way it sits. We reviewed our rule book and determined that the sign was at fault, so retrieved his ricocheted ball from the middle of the fairway, put it in its original spot, and moved the sign to the right side of the cart path, away from Junior’s projected flight path.. The second effort was much better and I think we agreed that he parred the hole. Our rule book is better than the one other golfers use.

After I got home I decided to make myself a sandwich before Diane texted me about it. It’s always good when I can beat her to the punch once in a while. The choice for the sandwich was ham and cheese. Not wanting to open a brand new loaf of cheese, I chose to alter the configuration of the little left over cheese chunks, that we cut up for coffee hour last Sunday, by slicing them a little thinner. This is the good Tillamook cheddar cheese which I prefer to the Kraft peel-n-stick American Cheese Food that’s actually pretty good in a grilled cheese scenario.

Here’s a photographic progression of how I made that sandwich …

decided to tackle the broken RV so I could get it back into the driveway. This entailed removing the broken mechanical fuel pump to see if it was at least close to the one that came with the ’73. It was a minor miracle that it was, indeed, exactly like the one I needed. Funny, though, because it isn’t the right kind for the ’73. Funny how things work.

Once it was installed, I removed the electric fuel pump, which I determined just wasn’t cutting it, and was blessed with ignition. From this exercise, it’s readily evident that mechanical fuel pumps suck more than electric ones. It sucks better than the electric one I had, anyway. So, the RV is back in the driveway where it belongs. It’s still not leaking, either, though there were torrential downpours off and on all day yesterday.

Since the motor home was handled more quickly than I had anticipated, we decided to drive to Hillsboro to visit Best Buy and retrieve my new iPad which they reported had been received. I had an appointment with one of their Geeks at 1700 to make the switch. We went directly home from there, arriving shortly before the rains came. Rick and Jodi, and Tom and Linda will probably object to the fact that we were that close and didn’t stop and say Hi. Little do they know that when we visit Hillsboro, we drive by their houses at least twice, to see if anyone is looking. If no one charges out of the house on the second trip, we presume no one is there, and continue on our way. Yes, we could call, but choose to use the visual method of contact which is a bit more of a challenge.

That’s a lie. We don’t do drive bys. We should have called. Forgive us.

The new iPad proved to be an electronical challenge. That was mostly because of the Apple ID’s that are necessary to do back ups and restores. So, the back up I thought I had locked down, just kinda disappeared on me so I set the pad up as a new one instead. That means I had to remember all kinds of passwords and things that will make it work like it’s supposed to. Right now it’s wi-fi only which saves a buck or nine on fees, and I think I’m going to leave it that way.

For supper Diane made a terrific meal of re-purposed chicken parts that were formed into cute little sticks then covered with a lot of breading. Baked in the oven, from a frozen state, they do the job of filling the void and they are simple to fix. She also fixed frozen mac and cheese that didn’t turn out so well. I ate all of mine because I love my wife. I also got two ears of corn on the cob, cooked a few days ago, and reheated in the micro. Tasted just as good as if they were fresh. Here’s that meal …

Yes – both plates are mine. I admit it, I’m a pig.

Today I finished the church newsletter and Diane and I went out and cleaned the church up a bit. Mainly, I scrubbed up all the wine stains around the altar where people seem to have a little problem getting those tiny little cups up to their mouths. I may be guilty, too, but don’t have any memory of dripping wine on the carpet. What makes it more interesting is that the red wine stains are on a red carpet. You’d think the spots would just disappear, wouldn’t you? Doesn’t happen.

Now it’s getting on to dusk and I need to consider packing a suit case. Diane’s already done. She packed our coffee grinder in with her underwear. I told her I’d wrap it up in my skivvies, but she declined. I actually didn’t offer to do that, and I don’t know if it’s with her underwear. I’m just guessing.

Now I’m gonna quit and finish watching today’s football game. While doing this I watched the Oregon State Beavers decimate Colorado 44-11. In a little while I get to watch the Oregon Ducks play the Cal State Bears, I think. It will be interesting to see if Oregon continues it’s march to #1. this will be the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

My Bride

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

I’ve got nuthin’ today.

Except that Diane got a radical haircut. She’s been letting her hair grow because I like it long, but it’s been driving her nuts. I know she wanted it shorter, the way she’s had it most of her life, and I was selfish and stalled on giving her my blessing. I know she would never get it cut without my approval because she loves and respects me (most of the time).

So, today, after giving her some undeserved grief about it, which made me feel absolutely terrible, I sent her off to her barber with her knowing I was OK with whatever she wanted to do.

When she returned, she was a new person. The haircut it great, and she’s happy. Happy is the main part.

I loved her hair long, and I love her hair short, but, really, her hair isn’t a factor at all.

I love who she is.

Especially when who she is isn’t mad at me.

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.

Living On The Edge With iOS 7

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Diane’s now living on the cutting edge of technology with brand spanking new iPhone 5C, complete with iOS 7 installed. It arrived yesterday, the first day they were made available. It’s a yellow one, like this …

Very pretty, but it won’t fit in her little Hello Kitty cover, so I guess I’ll have to use it since I inherited her old phone. It’s an old iPhone 4, replacing my iPhone 4S, a newer one, which I broke to smithereens. It still works, but there’s still a distinct danger of one cutting one’s fingers while scrolling through the various screens.

About last night … I was up past midnight working on that stupid phone, the new one, trying to get everything set on it so it was explicitly Diane’s. Until then, we shared an Apple ID which we used to buy books and other fun stuff. The danger in that, however, is the back-ups. Yes, it’s handy backing up to the internet, and being connected in a manner that allows us to share calendar entries, photos, contacts, and documents from a common source, but there’s danger in that. Especially with Contacts. Her list is totally and socially different from mine so sharing that aspect has resulted, almost, in the need for me to seek safer living conditions. Seems like things get a little mucked up when the source data is manipulated by more than one interested person, making duplicate entries.

Therefore, I made a decision to electronically divorce her, as there’s no need for a lawyer, allowing us both to be responsible for our own information. We’ll see how that works out. We now each have our own Apple ID and it only took me about 6-7 hours to make the magic happen. I have to admit, it was a mental workout, but it returned me to my days of desktop support for pre-286 PC’s that took forever to boot up and doing any changes to it required you to boot it more than a few times to get it done. Anyone remember those days?

I know I’m revealing my age, and I’m really happy that I had that experience. I was even trained on the incredibly complex OS/2 operating system when there was a question about whether or not the company would install Windows 3.0, or not, on their desktop systems. What a time that was and, oh my, how things have changed since then.

Enough history. Now, back to all this new, frustrating ‘stuff’.

This morning I spent another 3 hours fiddling with various devices, iPads, and phones, working to get them all on the same page, separately, as previously mentioned. We each have our iPads and iPhones which makes life pretty nice. In debt, but nice. Instead of sitting in the Man Room on our respective computers, back to back, kinda, sending emails back and forth, we can now sit next to each other on our couch/recliner and text each other. The only verbal communication we have is to clarify the mood with regard to various texts, to ensure nothing is taken out of context. Got it? It’s like giving us an eye-to-eye moment to ensure the last text that was in ALL CAPS, was sent as meant.

That’s not true, of course. We communicate very well, actually. Having ‘devices’ like the phones and pads just gives us more and varied opportunities to communicate in the modern world. The iPads are really going to come in handy when we head for Mexico next week.

Hey! Idaho State and Washington State are playing each other on the Pac-12 Network. The network that Comcast won’t share with anyone. Go Vandals … I can say that because one of my numerous niece’s sons, Tyler, is one of those. Tyler has curly hair. Thought you should know.

Diane just told me I have to get a new DVR from Comcast next week because she’s going to take a hammer to the one we have. I’ll take pictures, if she does that. Might be fun. She’s pretty emotional about it.

It’s 8:30 pm and I’m just now getting around to supper. Since it’s late, I’m going lite – 2 bananas and a bowl of pretzels. Diane’s just having pretzels.

Sorry about all the distractions. I’ll try to remain on track the rest of the way, wherever this thing is going.

As I mentioned, I spent hours working my ‘new’ phone this morning, but didn’t quite get it done before it was determined that I needed to go to the church and see if the lawn got mowed. Someone did it so I didn’t have to. Instead, I went to work removing an over abundance of very large weeds from the Tom Ahlf Memorial Rose Garden under the church’s reader board. Then I grabbed a pitch fork kind of thing to work up the dirt, and remove dead weeds and grass from around the outside edge of the garden. About that time, Diane appeared with her Mom, Jean. Diane was there to clean the church, something we tend to do once in a while. Mom came out with clippers and started whacking away at the rose bushes, doing a little bit of ‘Zen Pruning’. I love to ‘Zen Prune’ anything that grows. You know … stand back and look at the chosen victim, tip your head back and forth like a bird, to get a good view of what needs to go away, then just start cutting off branches until you feel good about it. simple. No plan. It’s just an emotional response to nature.

Once that was done, I went into the church and took the vacuum cleaner away from Diane. She loves it when I do that because those things always ruin her back. So I try to do that job whenever I can. From there, I motored to help with the last few things that needed to be done with The Bathroom.

… The Vandals are having a little difficulty, down 28-0 …

As you may recall, we got the wainscoting installed, then waited until it was painted. That was done a few days ago, so all we needed to do was re-install the sinks, caulk some corners, and put the hardware on the tub. The caulk was the last thing we did and it was guaranteed to be dry in three hours.

In the middle of all that, Diane arrived with my left over meat loaf lunch. I delayed a bit too long so Diane and Jennie sent Lydia to tell me that if I didn’t go in to eat it right away, they were going to let her eat it. That was a credible threat because Lydia is a food cleanup specialist. Everyone knows not to get between Lydia and anything edible that catches her eye. It’s dangerous.

So, The Bathroom is FINISHED ! I think. Nothing leaks, so it has to be done.

Now I have to figure out something else to do.

Now I’m going to quite and play with my phone for a while and leave you with some photos that just showed up on my computer.

This is Rick and Jodi’s side yard that includes the Hot Tub House …

He was thinking ahead with the wheel chair access, with the challenge at the top, just to make it interesting.

And, this is Jodi’s car …

Pretty nifty. I think the graphic on the hood is a reference to the driver as One Hot Lady, which is true, but every time I see it it always comes out (in my head) as Titsafire. Sorry, Jodi. Had to get that out there …

Now I’ll quit … but not before reporting that I like the new iOS 7 features from Apple. Very nifty stuff.

Tiki Torches, The Moon, VA, Shopping, and Dinner

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Jerrie Cate

Greetings fellow astronauts. I hope all is well with you as we zoom through the outer reaches of space, under our very own moon, which just happens to be full at this very moment. It’s lighting up our back yard as if it’s lined with tiki torches. I really don’t have any experience with tiki torches other than the ones that were lit in our presence while visiting Hawaii once.

… and tiki torches are as much fun as the company we keep while in their presence … I was in heaven …

So, here’s what the moon looked like, kinda. It’s ‘kinda’ because the photo is from June 22nd, the last time I took a picture of the moon. I’m not often compelled to take pictures of the moon because I see it all the time. When it’s not cloudy, anyway.

All of the foregoing was from last night. I had to quit and go to bed because Diane told me to. We had a date with the vet for Breezie to catch up on her shots. She spent the night inside last night, which was unusual for her. But, the weather is changing, getting cooler, and she’s not dumb. She knows it’s OK to spend the night outside when it’s warm, not so good when it’s cold. Her appointment was at 0900 so when she went out with the dogs, at 0600, I cautioned her to be back before 0830 or she would be in deep kim chee. There’s nothing worse than that, in my humble experience.

As the morning progressed, I lay snoozing in my favorite spot in the living room. Then Diane’s phone beeped, and my iPad beeped, alerting us to the pending trip to the vet. I let the dogs out again, with explicit instructions to bring the cat back, but they didn’t. Apparently they couldn’t find her anywhere in the back yard. I didn’t believe them, but it turned out to be true because not long after they returned to the house, Breezie came slinking through the fence where the dogs can’t go. I should have believed them, I guess, but they generally aren’t very truthful in situations like that because their main focus is to get a treat for just going outside when I ask. They expect it every time, but only get one on the last trip before bedtime. You’d think they would learn.

So, the cat’s back, her kennel is clean, and we head for the doc. It was a fairly quiet trip with only an occasional “Roowaaar” indicating her displeasure about being locked up. At the vet it wasn’t a problem. She weighed in at 10 lbs, which surprised Diane because she looks skinny. She took her shots like a man, and even gulped down her pills without much fuss. Then we took her home and set her free.

Apple released IOS7 yesterday for all their hand-held devices so me, being on the cutting edge of technology, and not in the least bit afraid of change, immediately downloaded it onto my iPad and broken iPhone. I also put it on Diane’s iPad. We both like the new look and functionality. I couldn’t put it on Diane’s iPhone because there’s not enough memory available to do it. She’s got too much stuff on her phone. It is, however, one with the least memory available at the time, 8 GB, I think, so all I have to do is just start deleting random things until the update can be installed.

You needed to know all of that.

Now, the day is about done, and we’re both almost in our jammies. I’m not, she is. We just got home from leaving the dogs alone for almost 8 hours today. Lots of stuff got done and I just can’t wait to tell you about it.

Our first stop of the day was the Restore Store in St. Helens, but we didn’t find anything we had to have, so headed to the VA Hospital on Pill Hill in Portland where I got a new picture taken for my new VA card because I lost the one I had. I also lost my ACE card at the same time. They just fell out of my wallet someplace so I removed everything from that wallet, which I purchased at a flea market in San Diego. Now I’m using one Diane gave me that Avon sells. It works well. Everything fits nice and tight. So far.

After the VA we worked our way over to Hillsboro to do a little looking at their Restore Store. Diane found a bunch of bottles of cleaning ‘stuff’, and we each got a different chair for our computer tables. The ones we had were OK, but too big. The ones we bought, $10 each, were from some business that apparently replaced all of their conference room chairs. They had a bunch of them.

From that store we worked our way toward 73rd and Frances Street to meet up with Rick and Jodi at their home. We planned to be there by 3 pm, but a pool supply store got in the way and required me to buy some new temp sensors for the hot tub. Not a cheap stop, but if it resurrects the hot tub, it will be worth every penny.

We arrived at R & J’s about 3:06 pm. They were sitting on their front porch looking at their watches when we drove up. We joined them and visited for a while, then investigated all the work Rick has done around the house. Their house, incidentally, looks brand new, and the hot tub has its own house that matches the big one. Diane wanted me to see all of that so I would feel bad about our yard, but it didn’t work because there’s really no comparison. You see, where we have lots of grass, R & J have lots of rocks and cement. They do have a lawn, but I bet it almost takes longer to get the mower started than it does to mow it. This sounds bad, I know, but I don’t think Rick will mind. Their place is awesome. It would be fun to have a yard that we could clean up with a leaf blower to dust off the rocks once in a while.

OK, Rick, now I’ll apologize for that outburst. It wasn’t justified, and we love you both dearly. You know that. My fingers just get out of control some times, ya know?

OK – after visiting for a while, we headed out to Bugatti’s for dinner. This is the one on Cornell near the Tanesbourne Mall area. The food was outstanding, but the visit was better. When we were seated, the place was nearly empty. I ordered spaghetti with prawns, Diane had a piece of dead chicken nicely splayed and arrayed on top of some green rigatoni, Rick has a HUGE meat ball sandwich with really good french fries, and Jodi had an artichoke sandwich with chicken, I think. I’m the only one who ate everything. Everyone else got boxes to go. We visited all through the meal and Diane didn’t once reprimand me for speaking with my mouth full of food. Then we visited for about an hour after we were all done. By the time we were done visiting, the waiter had made about 10 passes with the water jug, silently urging us to depart. By this time the place was packed. Totally. I guess it was time for us to leave, so we did.

We drove home, without stopping, and were greeted by the two barky dogs. Panzee is just so overjoyed to see us, whether we’ve been gone a minute, or a week. Ozzie? He barks his hello, but he just walks on past us, barking randomly, making his way to the front yard so he can relieve himself. Too funny. Breezie was sleeping on the back porch and has ignored us since we got home. No doubt she’s sleeping off the three shots she got this morning.

Once everyone was settled down, I checked the front porch and guess what? Diane’s new iPhone 5C was laying right there in the open for anyone to snatch. But they didn’t because no one comes up our street unless they live there. Nice being on a dead-end. Her new phone is yellow, her favorite color. I’ve been trying to figure it out since we got home.

Now it’s 10 pm and time for me to quit and go to sleep.