You’ll have to forgive Jerrie for his absence the last few days, but he’s just now recovering from a catatonic state of mind caused by the near fatal crash of his beloved Apple computer. It was scary to watch as he frantically searched for answers for the problem he experienced and we even took him to Best Buy, where he got it, to speak to a Geek. Turns out those Geeks aren’t allowed to work on Macintosh hardware … they can just install, or reinstall software.

Since Jerrie’s hard drive was essentially dead, according to the message he received when attempting an upgrade to Apple’s newest operating system, he was seeking assistance at the highest level. At best buy he was provided help by a Geek who had difficulty getting Jerrie’s iMac back into the box in which it was delivered, and was then told he’d have to go to an Apple Store at one of the biggest malls in the Portland area. Not totally pleased, he went there, dropping Diane at a handy Costco on the way, and arrived 2 minutes late. Because of that he was removed from the Apple Help queue and told he’d have to wait another hour for assistance.

For Jerrie, that wasn’t an option because he was parked in a 10 minute zone and Diane was certainly getting jittery at the unfamiliar Costco at which she was dropped. The jitteriness was caused by the architects and builders of that particular Costco because the floor plan is the exact opposite of every other Costco floor plan in the know universe. What were they thinking?

Jerrie safely made it back to retrieve Diane, after getting lost only twice, and they returned, happily, to their quiet corner of Oregon. When they got home, Jerrie made six last attempts to resurrect his Apple, earning success on the third try. He did it three more times just to make sure it worked. He was able to restore his system, recovering all 77,892 photos from his backup drive. Now he will make himself crazy trying to save them to a portable form of media now that he knows, for certain, that Apples don’t last forever, and the skill level of Best Buy Geeks are suspect. This was proven when Jerrie managed to resurrect his Apple using a software solution, which is apparently all his assigned Geek was allowed to do.

The resurrection wasn’t quick. It took, like 3 days. Seriously. Thankfully, Jerrie had his MacBook and iPad to keep him company as he worked through his mental issues regarding the possible loss of every photo he’s taken in the past 4 years. He sobbed for hours on end and, at one point, was told to knock it off her someone was going to call 911. He did, they didn’t. Still, he sobbed quietly when he thought no one was looking. He blamed the little black dog for all the little drops scattered around the house.

Ooops! Here he comes so I must quit. He’ll surely want to get an entry out there for all of you who are just riveted with amazing wonderment at what he might “say” next, so don’t tell him what I’ve been telling you … OK?

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<   >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hey! What’s going on here. Looks like someone, or thing, has been using my computer without my permission. It’s still warm from someone’s lap, and it wasn’t mine. Dammit, Jim! (that’s a Star Trek reference, by the way). My laptop should only be warmed by MY lap, not some interloper’s.

Let’s see … ah … yesterday Diane invited everyone we knew to her Mom’s house to celebrate her Mom’s 85th birthday. The birthday was actually on the 8th, so at the time of the party she was already well on her way to 86. That didn’t matter. And, it turns out that the only people we know well are family members … 25 of them, to be precise. Well, not all of them were family members, but that didn’t matter because it was pot luck and the food was welcome.

Diane wanted to do this at her Mom’s house because she has a creek running through the back yard. It’s real low now so the little kidlets would have a place to splash around.

Here’s Lydia in the creek with her cousins, Gilligan and Baylee …

Here’s a picture of all the small children at the gathering …

That’s Danyell, Baylee, Juliette, Gilligan, and Jerrie. Danyell and Juliette are our two Great Grand Daughters. Baylee, Gilligan, and Jerrie are their aunts. Neat.

Here’s a picture of the whole gang … our kids and their kids … and their kids’ kids …

Diane’s Mom is on the left, back row.

The day before this momentous event, Diane made me stay up until almost midnight to make my patented nationally acclaimed potato salad. She won’t let me make it during the day when someone might be able to see how I do it.  So, at risk of life and limb, I’m going to share it all with you, here and now.

It involves potatoes, oddly enough, onions, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, mustard, celery seed, a big bowl, a potato peeler, and a little time. Oh, and a big pan half full of water.

First, get a 10 pound bag of potatoes and remove 4 of them from the bag. Put them in a special place in the garage, or basement, where you won’t forget where they are until they start smelling real bad and are hard to pick up. Peel the rest of the potatoes. I had to do this because my pan isn’t big enough to hold the entire 10 pound bag. Perhaps you have a larger pan.

After peeling them, get the large knife that I failed to include above, and cut them into fairly small cubes then place them into the pan of water into which you have already dumped a bunch of salt. The amount of salt is subjective, based mostly on the condition of your blood pressure.

“Why,” you may ask, “must I cut the potatoes into ‘fairly small’ cubes?”

“Actually,” I would respond, “you don’t. You don’t have to cut them up at all. Just put them in the pan entirely whole”

The problem with that, however, is doing so wastes space in the water and makes it take longer to cook them. Fairly small cubes cook much quicker, but you must be weary, watching them every minute so they don’t cook into mush which will result in mashed potato salad.

Considering that you chose the proper path for deconstructing the potatoes, once the potatoes are cooked and you have spread them out to cool, they might look something like this …

I used five normal dinner plates, one platter, and one smaller dessert plate. There was no conscious thought given to the selection of the plates. That’s just the way it worked out. If you have a big enough pan to cook the entire 10 pounds of potatoes you may have to use bigger plates, or more of the smaller ones. I don’t know.

While the potatoes are cooling you’ll have time to mix up the mayonnaise, salt, pepper, mustard, and celery seed. Doing this will require the use of a smaller bowl that I failed to mention above in the list of required participants in this exercise.

Oh … did I mention eggs? You’ll need eggs, too. About this many …

I’ll explain the eggs in a minute … right now, you’re mixing the mayo and other stuff.

To get the right amount of mayo, use a large spoon and dip out about half the jar, if it’s a big jar. If it’s a smaller jar, use two of them. The mustard is used to give the dressing a little “zing” and some color. Salt and pepper to taste, and mix it all up. Once that’s done, get your celery seed container, and sprinkle on the mixture until it’s covered with the seeds. Mix thoroughly.

Leave all this on the counter and take the eggs to the sink where you will be peeling the wrappers off them. What I forgot to tell you was how to cook the eggs … put them in a pan, cover then with water, bring water to a boil, turn off the burner, cover, and leave them alone for a while, until you’re ready to peel them.

Peel the eggs under cold running water. eat all those that don’t peel cleanly. You should wind up with almost 8 of them for the salad. Put them aside for later use. It doesn’t matter if you put them in in a container or just leave them on the counter.

While the potatoes were cooking, you should have been chopping up a bunch of dill pickles and 1/3 of a very large onion. I use a chopper thing, but you can use anything sharp, like a knife. Any kind of knife that will cut an onion. Even a plastic one. When done chopping, put them aside for later use.

Now the potatoes are cool, and it’s time to start mixing everything together. Here’s how.

Get the large bowl. The biggest one you can find. The one I use is a yellow tupperware one. Maybe you have one of those. If so, use it.

To begin, dump one of the plates of potatoes into the bowl. Go find the bowls of chopped pickles and onions, and put a small handful of each on top of the potatoes. Then add a couple of large spoons full of the dressing mix. Chop up  two of the eggs and put them on top. Do this for each plate of potatoes, until everything is all in the bowl. Then get a large spoon with holes in it and mix it all up, but don’t over mix it because it will turn into mashed potato salad, the same as if you had over cooked the potatoes in the first place. You don’t want that. Trust me, no one will eat it … unless you make some kind of gravy for it. I don’t know how to do that.

Now that you have everything mixed up put the bowl in a refrigerator overnight so the flavors mix properly. If the reason you made the salad is for a more immediate use, that’s OK. I’ve actually served my potato salad warm which adds an unexpected element that people normally don’t expect. Maybe that should be “… that normal people don’t expect.” Whatever.

OK – that’s about it for potato salad. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of what I made but it was all eaten. Now I have to make something else, but don’t know what it’s going to be. I’ll let you know what I come up with.

Oh .. you may have noticed the bottle of ketchup in one of the pictures. That was just there for added color. It needed red.

Arrrrrgh! Dogs! Why can’t they use the bathroom like everyone else in this house? If that isn’t something they’re comfortable with, why can’t they at least have enough consideration to allow me, the keeper of their food, to get the sleep I need to function in a semi-normal manner at a later time in the morning? Why can’t they learn to use a can opener like the rest of us … why, why, why?

That was, of course, a rhetorical rant. I’m allowed. Also, I jotted that down a month or so ago and just found it in my “drafts” section. Since Ziva left to live with Jeff, the dogs haven’t really been a problem. Oh, they bark at pretty much anything that moves out front, but they don’t take extended trips into town like Ziva did. Funny thing is that she doesn’t appear to have any desire to run away from her new job of guarding Jerrie Anne.

The reunion is over, and everyone has gone their separate ways. Harriet came the furthest, from Oahu, Hawaii, and Eddie was second, from Oklahoma. One of the items I had all typed out last night, was the excellent visit Eddie and I had last night when he came up to the house for a visit. We got to talking and just lost track of time. I finally realized how late it was and suggested we eat something. Eddie admitted he was hungry and could eat, and suggested that he take Diane and I to dinner. As nice as that sounded, it would have meant I’d have to go change all my clothes, including my underwear, maybe shave, leave the house, stuff like that, so I talked him into a tuna sandwich, which I made. He was easily persuaded.

I like calling him Eddie because he’s a Doctor of Psychology who admits he really enjoys working with crazy people. Perhaps that’s why we get along so well. Anyway, we talked about all kinds of things and I was really proud that I could hold my own with this highly educated man with whom I grew up.

Today Doug and I went golfing, again. I don’t know why he insists that we golf every week. Wears me out, but I enjoy it a lot. And, I’m actually getting to the point where I can hit the ball fairly straight, when I hit it, and most of my putts go in on the second try, if not the first. My 5 wood is my favorite, but I have all these other club in my bag and, by golly, I’m determined to use them. So, I do, and it’s fun. The best part is the visiting, and I get to drive the cart.

Since I had to golf this morning, I got absolutely nothing else done today. I made an attempt to clean up my photo files, but it’s a tough job because it just doesn’t see right to delete photos with people in them, or pictures of places I can’t remember. I do take too many pictures, for sure, and lots of duplicates, but … it hurts me to delete them. So, I made a concerted effort to archive them to DVD’s. I got through 4 of them before discovering that I was doing it all wrong so now my computer is restoring all those files I deleted. See, I knew I shouldn’t have done it. I am, however, a bit nervous about having so many photos on my computer … and my backup drive, and various CDs laying around the house in no particular order, and even some 3.5 and 5.25 floppy disks. You may wonder how on earth I could possibly look at photos stored on a 5.25 disk since computers don’t even have floppy drives any more. Easy. I’m a hoarder and have all the parts I need to resurrect pretty much any kind of data. Doubt that I ever will, but I can if I have to. Maybe. In a pinch.

I think you’ve read enough for this one. It’s time for you to put your computer away and go to bed. G’nite.

Today 48 members of my graduating class from 1962 celebrated our 50th year of separation from our High School educations. The original class was 88 strong, and 20 have predeceased us, so only 20 were unable to attend for reasons we may never know. But, of those 48, we were blessed with the presence of many who I haven’t seen during the past 50 years. Significantly, one of my first loves, Jennie, showed up. I was 8 years old again, conjuring up so many memories from so long ago. I won’t dwell on this because I don’t want to get in trouble with Diane, but it was awesome seeing her after all this time.

In all, there must have been eleventy dozen people, or so, making it hard to hear each other think. Talking was very difficult because of the steady thrum of surrounding conversations, but we talked anyway. Sometimes we shouted to be heard. It was all good.

There we were …

Here we are …

OK – I’m bummed. I had a whole lot of “stuff” added right here that, somehow, was omitted. Now I’m in the position where I must attempt to recreate it, or just make something else up. Or, just quit. Following the path of least resistance, I’m gonna quit. Tomorrow, perhaps, I will relate this morning’s breakfast, at the fairgrounds, Eddie’s visit to our home, and maybe some other things. Who knows?

I’ve started this entry about a dozen times, trying to be witty and fun, but just can’t seem to get it going. So I’m just going to tell it like it is.

I’ve got so many projects going on that I’ve lost track. Consequently, I catch a lot of flack for not getting any of them done. It doesn’t matter that I have valid excuses for all of my failures, they’re still failures in the form of half done “things”. I can understand the frustration someone may experience because many things are started and simply remain in a state of “work in progress”, but my frustration is even greater because I see these “things” piling up all around me and there’s no end in sight. They just keep coming at me.

In a perfect world, I would start a project and finish it before moving on to the next one. The trouble is, however, there are too many variables for the world to be perfect. Nope. It’s like living in a pinball machine, bouncing from one bumper to the next, waiting to ultimately fall down that hole at the bottom then getting in line to be launched into the abyss once again.

And there you are, looking back at all the things that need to be done and there are so many that you just sit down and don’t do anything because there’s no logical place to resume something in progress. Consequently, nothing seems to get done.

But some things actually do have a happy ending. I successfully created 50 DVDs, and got 50 memory booklets printed, for my 50th class reunion. The DVD has all of our class pictures from 1950 thru 1962, as well as a lot from other reunions we’ve had over the years. The booklets are updated with biographies of everyone who has survived to this point, a section listing those we know have moved on from this plane of existence, and another section listing those we haven’t heard from, or about, in the past five years. Those are actual, completed projects.

Unfortunately, completing them had no impact on the other projects in progress … like my truck, the RV with the dismantled bathroom and missing ceiling … my messy shop … my messy desk … my messy dresser … my messy mess. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? I can be that, at times, but I’ve learned to just ignore the voices that attempt to direct my actions in a manner with which I’m not totally aligned, unless, of course, that voice belongs to Dia…

Oops. I almost said Diane, forgetting for a moment, that I’m not allowed to do stuff like that any more. Actually, it wasn’t a bad reference … it was just an explanation that I listen to, and do everything that Diane’s voice tells me to do. Sometimes I get them out of sequence,  and sometimes I have to be reminded, but things tend to move forward … slowly.

The RV is becoming an issue because there’s a deadline associated with it’s completion. It’s sometime this month … two weeks, I think … that we’re going to join our group of Classic Winnebagoers at an RV dealership in Kent, Washington. That’s 138 miles, 2 hours and 29 minutes away from home. We’ll be kinda dry camping for 3 days in a parking lot so the bathroom has to work. It would be good, too, if the ceiling was reinstalled, and it’s imperative that we have TV reception.

Time to quit. The reunion starts at 0900 tomorrow morning. That’s right after my morning nap so I should be good to go, but need to get to bed so I can be ready to let the dogs out at 0600.

These two events are becoming the norm for my life, it seems. No doubt I’m repeating myself, but that’s OK, because I just don’t care. Weddings, funerals, funerals, weddings … why are they so entwined with each other?

Today’s event is happening in reverse order, as the title depicts. The first two were funeral then wedding. Another area of concern for me is that the first funeral, for Lyle, was a couple of days before the wedding. The next funeral was for our neighbor, Verne, and the wedding was later in the same day. Today we attend the wedding, then a few hours later it’s the funeral for fellow Lion, Bob.

Considering the accumulating evidence, I’m guessing the next event will be a combined wedding and funeral. That should really be something. I wonder if the services will be conducted by the same clergy, one after the other, or if it will be a simultaneous service where clergy divides their time between these two significant events. That wouldn’t work well for me, so I’m hoping it will just be contiguous, one after the other. Funeral first. That way the church will already be full and ready to go, and everyone can leave on a happy note.

Dumb, huh? I don’t know why my head goes there. Perhaps it’s because of the cleansing release I received at Lyle’s wake. That was an eye opener. Truly it was. Because of that, I few “passing on” a wee bit differently now. It’s not so scary, or mystical. It’s just a fact of life that will eventually touch all of us. It’s good that we can always make our peace with loved ones prior participating in funerals and, at the same time, sad that not everyone takes advantage of that time to do so. We typically have years and years of time to do this, but we get so wound up in our own lives that anything outside the perimeter of our blinders loses meaning. We get too focused on trivial things, like ourselves.

Without our relationships, we are all nothing. Really, nothing. At this point I see a perfect opportunity to segue into a diatribe about how none of us exist in reality without the perception and loving, or unloving, touch of others. Think about it … what would it be like if no one ever looked at you, touched you, or talked to you? Given that scenario, you effectively do not exist. It’s like when you walk down the street and see someone asking for money … if you don’t make eye contact, they aren’t there, are they? You can comfortably walk right on by. But, if you look them in the eye, you give up your loose change.

I won’t go there … I admit that I usually give them money, but first I stop and talk with them, making me tell them why they need it. If they proclaim to be a veteran, I ask where they served and when. I’ve actually gained a number of new friends doing this, but many of them look the other way when they see me coming because they do not want to explain, again, how they’re trying to get enough money to get home to Tennessee, the same thing they told me 3 months ago. They feel guilty and usually move to another street, but I hunted them down by changing my route to work. Finally, they give up and move to Tennessee, or Oregon City, where they won’t have to see me any more. Then, to them, I don’t exist.

Diane just told me that I only have an hour to get ready for the wedding, and I have to shave. So, I better get right on that because it usually takes about 20-30 minutes to stop the bleeding after scraping all the hair off my face. That’s why I don’t do it very often.

On a side note, yesterday, or perhaps the day before, I removed some parts from the RV in preparation for the installation of replacement parts. One of the parts is just the cutest little stainless steel sink you ever saw! They guys on one of those HGTV home makeover shows would just goes nuts if they saw it. They won’t, though, because they only shop at SEARS, or another one of those high-end places … not at RV parts stores.

Anyway, I successfully ripped things apart without destroying anything surrounding the areas I intended to destroy, and actually have the replacement parts ready for the install. All I gotta do is cut a hole in the new counter top for the new sink, re-plumb the bathroom, install formica in a few places, figure out why the little drain plugs leak under the bathroom sink, replace all the running lights (so they match), get an oil change, and we’re ready to roll. At the rate I’m going, considering all the obstacles in my way, I’m confident I can have all of that done just prior to the first snow storm of winter. I have to have it done before then because I’m using Diane’s side of the garage for this project and she will get fussy if her car has to remain outside during a snow storm. It’s a rule.

Gotta go.

Greetings to all humans within the range of my electronical sphere. I bow to you. I applaud you. I adore you. I wish that I could reach out through this mechanical/electrical device and physically touch you all, to enjoy the sublime healing essence of your humanity for just a tiny little bit.

Here on my planet I’m on a quest to see how long I can go without touching anyone. It’s kind of like fasting. Essentially, touching is forbidden unless it’s necessary to save a life, or pass out hugs and/or handshakes for greeting and parting, or to punch someones lights out for doing something really dumb, or to get your lights punched out for doing something really dumb.

Hmmm. In review, it appears that touching isn’t forbidden after all. I guess I can file that away as an accomplished task. How handy.

Now, how about some news on something really important? OK? OK.

Yesterday, after studying real hard, I replaced all the rear brake parts I could remove from our new 1996 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. I just started taking out nuts and bolts until everything got loose enough that I could remove the offending parts. Once that was done, I put everything into a box and installed all the new stuff I had purchased. I did this for both rear wheels and, fortunately, wound up with just the old parts. I managed to find places to install all the bolts and nuts I’d removed. Since they seemed to fit, I could only surmise they were in the correct location. And, nothing fell off when I was done, so I now consider myself a Subaru Brake Expert (Sbe) and will, henceforth, include those laudable initials after my name whenever I sign something. It will be added to the other symbols of success I currently use, like: AA, MCI, AT&T, ABC, Arco, etc … It’s as good as a Phd. Well, maybe not quite as good, but it looks important.

I also mowed the entire yard, yesterday. I can only do that when Diane is absent, or locked safely in the house, because the odor of cut grass causes her breathing tubes to swell up, making it difficult for her to breath. So, I waited until she departed to participate in one of her benevolent endeavors then got to work. It takes me three hours to do the entire area using a 54″ mower deck, and only about 1/4 of it is flat. So, I spend most of my time trying to not fall off. I was hoping to get done early enough to get the old truck running, but the mowing didn’t get done until 1930 last night. I was tired, covered with grass, and needed a shower, so I quit.

Today I’ll get the old truck running. I’ll get the old Mantis running, too. I have the parts, and what I lack in knowledge about how to do those things I’ll make up for with luck, and an occasional phone call to someone who really DOES know how to do those things.

My truck. It’s a 1968 Chevy C20. The engine is a BBC 454 bored over to 462, and creates about 500 hp, when it runs. I use it to haul “stuff” to the dump, and one day will do some serious work on it to make it “pretty”. Right now it’s about fifty shades of grey. Diane hates it and wishes I’d sell it. She said she won’t ride in it until it has a clean interior, is lower to the ground, and has been painted. She won’t let me take it to car shows or cruise ins. Only to the dump. One of these days I’ll surprise her and make it worthy of a cruise in.

It’s raining right now. Not hard, just a drizzle. Since I’m going to be working under the truck hood, that won’d matter. What I have to do is rearrange all the spark plug wires in a manner that facilitates proper ignition of each spark plug at the proper time in the engines rotational journey. I have two choices, depending on how the distributor was installed many, many years ago. I’ve tried both, so far, and neither worked. So now I’m replacing the points, which provide the necessary spark for the plug at the proper moment. At this time, that isn’t happening. It’s really a simple process but, like everything else I do, making it difficult is more enjoyable. I feel gratified in the end when everything works because I learned something along the way. I’m sure I’ll quickly forget it, but it was all there for a brief period of time.

Wish me luck.

In a previous blog, I explained how I got started with this form of communication. In a nutshell, it began as a series of daily emails requested by my brother, Jack, so he could vicariously accompany Diane and me on our USA Tour in 2010. I’m not in a band, so that isn’t some sort of concert tour – it was a leisurely 70 day, 11,000 mile trek around the country.

Since Diane did most of the driving, I provided a mile-post-by-mile-post narrative of what I was seeing as we plodded down various freeways and byways. Each day my email list grew to encompass friends, then friends of friends, and some previously complete strangers. I was using my iPad with 3G to communicate and had to buy an app to create email groups which worked OK for the duration of the trip.

Once we returned home, I stopped the emails thinking the trip was over until my recently departed brother, Lyle, asked why I stopped. He was still interested to know what was going on. Honoring his request, I started a blog so I wouldn’t have to worry about email addresses. It was a good choice.

That’s the history of the beginning … as the days past, I found that my daily life wasn’t all that interesting so, assuming the mantle of a writer, I decided to embelish it a bit using literary license … just like a real writer might. Not only did that give me permission to let my mind wander off track, as it normally wants to do, it allowed me to simply tell lies about things I did or did not do.

Most of my previous entries contained a lot of information about how badly I was treated at home by my wife, who controlled me by way of punishment and permission. Sadly, that had to end because she finally pointed out that she considered it wife-bashing, something I hadn’t considered. I figured that, since we’ve been married for 44 years, she might have just brushed it off as another one of the stupid things Jerrie does, and understand that I was mostly lying. It was a sad day, quitting that line of thinking, because it ended a way for me to purge my brain of excess random words clogging my output circuits and an exercise that evolved into a challenge for me to string together in a coherent manner, no matter how long a sentence might be. For some odd reason, I find using commas easier than using periods. Weird.

So, “Now,” you may ask, “why do you continue blogging?”

The simple answer is that it’s become a habit, something I have to do every day because I have the perceived notion that people are reading what I have to say even though there is no deep meaning to anything I write about. It’s still my main form of communication with my family, but it’s spread a bit. I’ve learned that it’s probably because of the title I give my blogs, not the content which is more entertaining to those who know me … they are supposed to at least make you smile, and wonder, “who is this idiot?” Then you tell all your friends and family to check it out to see if they can make sense of it … then they tell their other friends and family … and it  will eventually evolve into a book deal that will generate enough income for me to get a new lawnmower. I’d really rather have one of those small Kubota tractors with a front loader and a tiny backhoe because my lawnmower works just fine.

Sorry. I slipped a gear there and started rambling. Or, is that what I do all the time? Probably. Sometimes it’s difficult to concentrate because I can visualize all the letters of the alphabet rushing to the ends of my fingers, in accordance with a standard QWERTY keyboard, wanting to be used immediately! Once in a while I’ll throw them a curve ball and use the wrong finger for one of the letters. This throws all those letters into a state of confusion, creating a panic as a letter is re-routed to a different finger, causing those remaining to look over their shoulders, waiting to see who’s next. Keeps them on their toes, it does.

In the end, I blog because I’m now totally addicted to sharing totally useless information with anyone willing to read it. Actually, it isn’t important for anyone to read it because it’s all about satisfying the WordPress indicator telling me I only have 5 more blogs to go to reach 140. Once that’s satisfied, it goes to 145. It eggs me on for no reason other than causing me to use more storage space. One of these days I’ll have to buy the upgrade they offer in order to ensure I have enough space to continue … if I live long enough.

Again, I ramble. It must be time to end this one and go work on that stump in the back yard before my VA appointment.

Greetings, my Family, Friends, and Assorted Other People …

The initial purpose of this blog was to keep family and friends apprised of current events while travelling around the USA in 2010. That was right after I retired, for good, the second time. This has evolved, however, into a challenge for me to provide humorous updates about our routine life while at home, where not a lot happens except work, work, work.

On a positive not, the work is by my schedule, not the clock’s. I’ve documented a typical day in previous posts that, if anyone was paying attention, wasn’t worth reading at all. If you didn’t read it, I applaud you. It’s obvious you value your time. It’s important to me, however, that everyone acquire this information in order to plan ahead for their own retirement. I think I’m a good example of what retirement ‘looks’ like. My older brother, Jack, isn’t because last week he worked 84 hours, and is going for another 72 hours this week. After that they’re making him take a one day break, then he can do it again. What a life. So, he can work 13 out of 14 days during his old plant’s scheduled maintenance shutdown. I must add that Jack doesn’t normally do this. Most days when you ask him what day it is he’d answer “June”, unless it was May.

Here’s how my day goes, using today as a good example because all the company is gone … when you’re retired and have company, the schedule just goes out the window.

0430 – the dogs woke me up, but that was my fault because I fed them late last night. When I heard them stirring I dragged myself from yet another dream I won’t remember and stumbled to the back door. The cat remained on the bed where she had Diane trapped against the edge of the bed, giving me lots of room to flail in the night, but she finally made it when I opened the door so the dogs could return. While the animals are outside, I fix their food bowls which is their incentive for returning to the house promptly after doing whatever it is they had to do.

Since the cat was outside, I could safely put Ozzie’s in his kennel, his safe place, without fear of it being gobbled up before he got his fill. I discovered this morning, however, that the cat prefers dry food to pouch food because she stuck her nose in Panzee’s bowl, while Panzee was eating, and walked away after a couple of sniffs. Panzee didn’t miss a bite and totally ignored the cat.

0435 to 0436 – Panzee finished eating and laid down for her nap. Ozzie takes his time, and usually only eats half a pouch. I give it all to him, however, because if I put it in the refrigerator it might wind up in a sandwich. Confident that I won’t be bothered for a little while, I reclined on the couch in my normal, daytime position, when I’m on the couch. It didn’t feel right that early in the morning, however, so I went prone, propping my head on the arm. It’s pretty comfortable. Normally, I take a post-breakfast nap but, since I got up so early, I took a pre-breakfast one.

0436 to 0830 – struggled from my pre-breakfast nap, and immediately ate a banana to get my finger joints working. I also made coffee because I could hear noises from the east wing indicating Diane was rousing from sleep. Still, I took the coffee grinder to the garage to eliminate as much noise as possible from invading the interior of the house. It’s a prudent thing to do. If I’m on the couch, asleep, when she awakes, and she makes the coffee, the grinder serves well as an alarm because it is activated within 25 feet of my location. It’s pretty loud. If I was sick, in bed, she would retreat to the garage to do this, as do I every morning that I make coffee.

0830 to 0857 – my BS level was 107. That’s for blood sugar, not what you’re thinking. Coffee made, and first cup consumed. We both had toast and cereal – me Cheerios and her something else. The toast was burned on one side, which doesn’t bother me at all, because we each only had one piece and the toast was placed on the inner slice holders of a 4-slice toaster. Interesting, but logical.

0857 to 0915 – started thinking about what I should do this morning.

0915 to 1000 – decided to permanently install the vent cover I placed over the bathroom vent on the RV.

1000 to 1020 – found the brackets and put them on the RV roof.

1020 to 1025 – back to the basement for my drill.

1025 to 1040 – back to the RV roof with drill.

1040 to 1045 – back to the basement for a pencil.

1045 to 1100 – back to the RV roof with the pencil.

1100 to 1115 – back to the basement for longer bolts because those provided were too short.

1115 to 1158 – back to the RV roof after finding a variety of longer bolts in a pile of random bolts and screws in the pile on the floor. That’s where I keep them because it’s easier to dig around in the pile on the floor than to dig around in a box. If Diane would have been home I would have gone to ACE for new ones but she wasn’t so I didn’t.

1158 to 1200 – discovered that it had rained hard while searching for bolts and that with the vent wide open less moisture than expected actually reached the inside of the RV. I also learned that my cordless drill still worked just fine despite being exposed to a torrential downpour.

1200 to 1215 – Diane returned home and assisted me by opening the vent all the way so I could install the vent cover brackets so I wouldn’t have to go back down the RV ladder because my knee hurts. A lot.

1215 to 1245 – brackets and cover installed. Removed all tools, and leftover hardware from roof. I’m sure it won’t blow off as long as I drive with the wind.

1245 to 1300 – worked on computer while waiting for Diane to make me lunch. She insisted even though I offered to make hers and mine.

1300 to 1415 – post-lunch rest period. Researched cheap little cars on the internet.

1415 to 1500 – post-research rest period. Read a bit in my iPad book selection.

1500 to 1530 – rode with Diane to 1st Lutheran Church where she was going to work Community Meals. She does this regularly. On my way home she called to report they kicked her out and that I should return for her, which I did.

1530 to 1600 – wrote this stupid blog entry which wore me out.

1600 to TBD – post-blog nap. First, however, here are a couple of pictures of the work Lydia and I did yesterday … as well as how good Breezie and Panzee get along …