Seaside,

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Jerrie Cate

We’re on a short trip to lessen the sadness of forgoing a longer trip. The beach was selected because it’s Diane’s Happy Place. Even bad days at the beach are wonderful.

We left home yesterday around ‘noonish’ and drove almost straight through with only a short stop at Bradley State Park so Max could take a little walk. He’s a really good traveler buy why take chances, right? He was happy that we considered his needs.

There was a short discussion about getting fuel before checking in to our room at the Hillcrest Inn in Seaside but checking in first won the debate. According to the truck’s computer we could go another 70 miles or so, so we chose to wait until the next day. The afternoon was beautiful, even though it was gently raining, so we used the time wisely by walking on a windlass beach with just a few scattered people for Max to greet. Much better than filling the gas tank.

We checked in with Ruth, the owner and an ex-Marine, who we met years ago during our first visit to the Hillcrest Inn. Diane chose it because of the name; we lived on Hillcrest Road at the time. If you have lots of spare time to waste, you can search through my old posts because I know I’ve mentioned this place previously. I’d look it up for you but I’d rather not. I’m not much for doing research. Just trust me, if you wish. It’s really there somewhere.

After getting our key to one of the cabins, we took Max to the beach. There was no wind, it was almost warm out. It was a nicer walk. There were not many people on the beach so I let Max run free for a short time until he got too friendly with some folks he met. Specifically, there were 4 your girls laying in the sand covered with a blanket. Max, of course, took this as an invitation to snuggle and get some licks in. They didn’t seem to mind but I put him back on his leash and relieved them of his presence. He’s far too friendly for his own good.

Our walk took us to the Seaside Turnaround where, it’s reported, Lewis and Clark ended their journey to the Pacific Ocean. That’s a rendering of them, standing atop their pedestal, behind us, near my right eye.

Diane went out before lunch to snag a few things at Safeway. She really enjoys getting away from me when she can. Can’t say I blame her. There are times when I wouldn’t mind getting away from myself, too. While she was gone shopping Max and I lounged on the sofa while I read to him. He’s a fan of Lee Child and Isaac Asimov. Sometimes he likes Norah Roberts, too. I’ve tried reading him pet stories but he finds them too pedestrian for a dog of the world such as himself. So, I cater to his whims and read whatever he brings me.

After lunch, Diane departed on a longer journey to Warrenton to visit the Goodwill store, her favorite place. Then Max and I took as leisurely walk on the beach where we found untold numbers of dismembered Dungeness crabs. It’s hard to tell if the birds did it or if nocturnal beach people had their way with them. It looks a little like a sacrificial altar.

Max wanted to rearrange the display but I talked him out of it and we went back to our room. It was time because it was very windy and cold out there.

Early on in this narrative I stated that Diane likes to get away from me every chance she gets. That’s not totally accurate because we really enjoy each other’s company. But, she truly does love her alone time especially when she shops. I admit I tend to hover around her when I go too, and that can be annoying. So, it’s better that she goes alone. I’m afraid that if I don’t support her ‘time away’ we won’t reach our 60-year goal of wedded bliss.

I suspect it would be prudent if I terminate this before I start saying stuff I’ll regret. Cheers to you all. Stay safe and happy.

Random Stuff

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Jerrie Cate

The snow is still here …

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Jerrie Cate

Yes, we’re on day three since the snow arrived, but it’s scheduled to go away soon according to all the weather people everywhere. They nailed it with the snow arrival and even correctly determined how deep it would be. During the entire snowing event the temperature did not get above 20 degrees so it was very dry. It was very windy, too, so the snow was blown all over the place. It would have been easy for me to shovel the walks and driveway, but I didn’t do it because I’m old. I’m not a shoveler.

I started this a few days ago thinking I could stay current, but time got away from me, like normal and here I am, again, running late.

The freezing temps are gone for a moment, and the snow is almost gone from the roads so getting around is much easier now. Still, we needed to visit Jennie and family yesterday evening. Considering how the evening ended, we should have stayed home.

After a nice visit with the kids we bid our adieu and headed for the truck. The sidewalks were clear and we were doing real well until we got to the end of the garage wall. A that point we had to make a right turn to make a shorter trip to the truck. Diane was leading the way and made the turn just fine. Sadly, when I turned the corner I hit the ice, lost my balance, knocked Diane into Jennie’s Honda, I fell down and hit the ground shortly after Diane. She made it half way under the car but I managed to stay where I hit. Neither of us broke anything but Diane, I’m sure, messed up her right rotator cuff and she was terrible pain.

Going to urgent care right away for Diane wasn’t going to happen. Sitting in a small room populated with people ready to share their ailments isn’t her favorite thing to do. But, if the pain doesn’t get better, that’s where she’s going to go. I’ll let you know how that goes.

It’s morning now, it’s almost 41 degrees, and the sun is shining brightly, and the hazardous ice is dissipating. The snow will go away soon, too. When that happens I’ll wash the truck.

Now I must quit.

Snow!

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Jerrie Cate

Lots of it. That’s what’s happening in our backyard right this minute. It’s been going this for most of the minutes this morning. Just like Matt Zafino and Rod Hill said it would. They are Diane’s favorite weathermen on one of our local channels. I don’t remember which one but that’s not revalent. No, make that relevant. Something like that. Let’s pretend it’s channel 8. I think that’s KGW. That’s probably not prevalent either. It might have been channel 6.

The forecast is that the snowing in progress will continue throughout the day, into the night. The snow really isn’t a problem because it’s too cold to be actually slippery. I know this is true because I bundled up myself and Max and we took a hike around the block. We both survived the brutal cold (17 dergrees) and it was actually not too bad as long as we were going with the wind. Blowing directly on my face kinda froze my eyeballs making it hard to look at stuff. So, I just walked backwards when necessary.

When we got back to the house we did a walk around the perimeter of the yard to so Max might figure out what his boundaries are. Until recently he’s been turned loose to investigate stuff but with the crick running high and fast it’s risky. At least we think it’s risky. Max doesn’t see it as a problem. His only experience with falling in to fast flowing water, somewhere in Utah, must have made a lasting memory because he’s pretty careful at home.

At the creek we discovered that when most people have removed their Christmas decorations, Mother Nature was not done with the season, yet. Quite stunning.

Max, however, was oblivious to the beauty surrounding him unless you consider the intoxicating aroma of moss on a rock. He spends most of his time walking doing just that – smelling everything, for a long time. I think he’s adicted.

Diane’s almost done cleaning everything in the house so It’s time for me to stop this and offer my help. She will say my help isn’t needed, of course, because I’ll’ve timed it just right.

Later.

RV Troubles & Other Stuff

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Jerrie Cate

I just realized, like just now, really, that I’m on the verge of failing my 2024 resolution already. And it’s only the 8th! I suspect that some of you might disagree with the “on the verge” claim and, instead, believe I’ve already exceeded the self-imposed timeframe for failure. For those of you on that side I submit that whatever rule I imposed is subjective meaning that I can change it any time I want. So, I’m still OK here.

It’s cold out there. Wet, too. Because of that double whammy it’s an adventure to take Max for a walk. My raincoat actually keeps me dry but Max’s raincoat is more like a sponge. I think it’s more of a coat to keep him warm instead of dry. But, that’s all he has. Considering the weather, I think Diane should do a little shopping and get something that’s a little more waterproof for the little guy. Don’t you? Maybe after she reads this, she’ll do it.

It might be a good idea to get him one that serves as a life jacket, too, because the creek out back is getting pretty high, almost to the point of overflowing into the yard. Keeping Max dry is our problem, not Max’s. He likes the water and doesn’t care how high it gets.

It’ll go back to normal eventually. Thankfully, he hasn’t fallen in while it’s running this high and fast. He’s not afraid of it but he respects the potential disastrous results should he venture in for a swim. I’ve had talks with him about that and I think he gets it. If he falls in my only recourse would be to make a beeline to the point where Milton Creek joins the Columbia River. That’s only a couple of miles away. If I miss him there then he’s getting a trip all the way to Astoria, another 60 miles. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to be dog-paddling that far. So, he keeps his distance.

We were going to make a trip to the coast later this week to watch the King Tides, and maybe see a couple of whales on their way south, but the rain, and the forecast for more rain isn’t encouraging. I know, we’re Oregonians and we love the rain. That’s true. But we don’t have to go out a play in it like we did when we were 7. Did I mention that it’s cold, too?

We’ve been dealing with RV woes for the past couple of months, trying to get new weather stripping around the slides and seal up a couple of leaky spots that annoy us. Nothing catastrophic, just annoying. I took the RV to a local dealer who recently moved to St. Helens from Gresham (I think) and explained what I was hoping to accomplish, and they gave me a quote for “about $700” which I thought wasn’t too bad. Labor’s the biggie at $159/hr. After they had it for about a week I was called and told the job is done and I could go get it.

I was happy to do that because there’s a huge mattress in the garage that needs to go back in it so we can park the truck inside. When I got there, I paid the bill, then I went to get in and take it home. First, however, I checked the items I had address to see how it was done and discovered that, gee, it wasn’t done. I know, should have checked first, right? True, but I’ve had other items fixed by them since they moved in and trusted them.

The Reader’s Digest version is that they addressed all the issues but didn’t finish any of them. The bill was over $900. I received assurance that all the discrepancies I pointed out while serving as their QC guy would be fixed at no additional cost to me.

Another week goes by and I get another call to come get the rig because the work was done. I paid them a visit and let them know I was going to check it out. The maintenance supervisor went with me. I checked all the items I’d previously address and found that it still hadn’t been addressed and the main leak in the driver’s area was worse than ever.

Another week trickles by and I get another call to come check it out and find that the leaks have stopped, the floor was dry, but the gasket around the main slide was still in the “partially fixed” stage. The same stage it was in the first time I was called to claim my finished rig. I personally pointed it out to them 3 times what I figured should be done and was obviously ignored. The lead tech acknowledged the failure on their part claiming that the guy he had working on it was focused on the leaks, not the gaskets. I believe he might finally understand that Jerrie isn’t pleased as he headed for the exit.

That’s where I left this mess last week sometime and I’m waiting for them to call me again to report completion. Diane told me to be stern and “don’t pay them another dime” or else she’ll go talk with them and it won’t be pretty. So, to keep from having to scrape up some bail money for her, I need to follow this to the end all by myself.

Looking forward to the next phone call reporting completion of this project.

This is the rig, you may recall, that we took on that Utah trip, pulling a big Silverado. It worked great but I decided during that trip that I’m getting too old to drive something this big.

So, not long after returning home we bought a replacement that we can tow behind the Silverado. Makes more sense, right?

Now, on another note, did you know that the front glass on an iMac is held in place by magnets and that the LCD screen is secured with only 8 teeny, tiny, little screws.

I’ve always wondered what the insides of this thing looked like.

Happy New Year +1

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Jerrie Cate

It’s official. 2024 is here to stay. I know that’s true because we made it through January 1st with no mishap. We were also invited to a friend’s home in Vancouver for brunch to start the year out properly. The first thing we had to do was pack a bag for the trip and find a sitter for Max because we were going to be gone for an extended time. Visiting Vancouver is like that. It’s really a long way away – 30-40-50 miles, or so. That’s just one way! Then we must go home. That makes it imperative that at least one of us stays sober so they can drive responsibly. Well, at least more responsible than those on the road that shouldn’t be there. It’s always a crapshoot in that regard but makes trips exciting no matter where we go because those guys are everywhere.

Talking like that makes me sound a little pompous, I know. Like I’m one of the most responsible drivers on the road and it’s true. I am. Just ask me. Diane makes that happen because she keeps me centered in whatever lane we’re in by letting me know when I’m crowding one line or the other. She, and Max, don’t like it when I make it all the way out to the rumble stips those road builder guys installed to wake people up when they start drifting. I think the rumble strips are there so those self-driving vehicles will know when to adjust their trajectory. We see on the news once in a while how well that’s going.

Rick & Jody, one of the participating couples in Vancouver, at Don & Linda’s abode, drove their Tesla all the way from Michigan and I was given a memorable ride by Rick. It was the first time I’ve ever been allowed inside a Tesla and it was quite pleasing. They can go very fast. It wasn’t Michigan. It was McMinnville, where Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose lives. That’s it. McMinnville. I knew it was an “M” word. It’s much closer than Michigan.

The group at this gathering was created 20 years ago when PT Cruisers were in vogue. All of us have one. Some had two. Throughout the PT craze, Diane owned 5 of them. They were fun little cars. We might get another one even though they quit making them in 2010, or somewhere around there.

Where was I? Somewhere in Vancouver, right?

I can’t remember the names of all the people at this gathering, but I recognized their faces. The fact that I couldn’t remember all their names didn’t keep me from hugging them, or from them letting me hug them.

That’s all of them. You would have thought I’d have taken more photos, wouldn’t you? But, I didn’t even take this one. It was magically done by a time one of the Jody’s activated from her wristwatch. I probably should have asked about that, but I didn’t. Pretty tricky. But, I didn’t even take of the vehicles in the parking lot. What a bummer.

I did, however, get a lead on a PT that might be for sale

We’ll see how that goes …

We had some great food at the party and we spent about 5 hours visiting with the gang, then Max called and suggested that we head home before everyone else in Oregon decided to clog up the roads. He was very insistent. It was really a surprise because neither of us knew Max could use the phone. It’s good to know that he can figure out stuff like that. I suppose next he’ll want a cell phone.

I was allowed to sleep until about 0730 this morning which is unusual. Normally my bladder gets me up about every 4 hours and I’ve given serious thought to getting a permanently installed catheter so I can extend my sleeping time. Diane, however, doesn’t think that would be a good idea. I’m sure she’s right. Doubling up a couple of depends might work. Haven’t tried that … yet.

Because Max is so good, I took him for a walk before getting my first coffee of the day. He was pretty happy about that and blessed me with two (2) partially filled hand warmers for the trash. Most times it’s only one.

Now we’re going to Lowe’s in Longview to get something. I’m not sure what it is but I’ll let you know later. Until then, Max the lap dog bids you adieu.

Farewell 2023

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

Since today is the last day of the year, and it’s been a while since I’ve shared anything with you, I thought it might be OK if I ended it with a recap of what we’ve been doing all year long. It will only take a couple of minutes.

January – Went to Hawaii for a couple of weeks.

February – Winnebago Friends visited and parked in our front yard for a few days. Then we visited Beverly Beach State Park.

March – Had all the carpet removed from our new home so LVP could be installed everywhere. We also invested in new counter tops in kitchen and both bathrooms.

April – Flew to Fort Lauderdale to spend some time acclimating ourselves before cruising through the Panama Canal. Visited Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, San Diego, Vancouver BC, and Seattle.

May – Stayed in Salem for a few days for Jeran’s graduation. Adopted Max after a trip to Albany after Church on Mother’s Day. Mid-month we camped out at the Cornelius Eagles Lodge visiting with our Winnebago friends.

June – Visited Nehalem Bay State Park for a few days. Diane got a pedicure, and I got a haircut. Ended the month visiting in a Chehalis Eagles’ parking lot with our Winnie Friends.

July – Stayed close to home.

August – Packed the motorhome preparing for September trip to Utah. Yes, it took most of the month because Diane planned a looong trip.

September – Started the RV trip with 4 of our Winnebago Friends, and their 2 RVs. It lasted the entire month. Really, it did. It actually had to because it was on our schedule and reservations had been made. Halfway thru the month our friends had to leave and head back north for home. We continued on spending a few extra days in St. George, UT. During that time, we left the RV sitting and drove to Surprise, AZ to visit big brother Jack for a couple of days.

October – Finished the Utah trip on the 10th, after spending ten days on the Oregon Coast. Gilligan turned 16 on the 5th.

November – Spent a few days for Friendsgiving in Gresham parked in front of our friend’s home.

December – Visited friends in Keizer and parked in their driveway with another RV. Also took a trip to Seaside for a few days for Diane’s Birthday.

After going through all of that I can see that we were pretty busy all year. When I started this, I wasn’t convinced that we were so busy, but Diane’s Calendar Entries don’t lie. Plus, during all that time, everyone in our entire family, and yours too, probably, had a birthday in there somewhere. We went a lot of places and saw a lot of stuff.

I’ve kinda lost my touch for getting info out regularly and I’m sorry about that. This recap will have to do for now and I’ll just make a revelation to do better in 2024. Or is it that other “R” word, resolution. Yes, that’s it! Resolution! I’m going to make one of those. I shared with Diane that it’s been at least 15 years since I didn’t honor my resolution because I didn’t fail even one time. Nope. I resolved to NOT gain 125 pounds during the new year and worked really hard to make it work. So far so good. But now I’m going to have to be more regular next year.

It’s 9:45 pm right now and past my bedtime so I’m going to wrap this up. Diane and I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Be kind to one another and stay safe.

Ciao

Max Likes Toast

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

C’mon. Just a little taste. I’m pretty sure I like cocoa and toast.

He likes a lot of other stuff, too.

Xfinity

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

In spite of their dubious business practices, like raising their rates just for the fun of it, we’ve been a customer for years. Mainly for the internet. It’s been very reliable and the service hasn’t been all that bad.

Until last week.

Then things got interesting.

Apparently, the root cause of our newly acquired dislike of Xfinity is that we had two accounts. One at our old Hill House on the hill, and now one at the Cricket House. We inherited the Cricket House account when Diane’s Mom passed away last year but we didn’t change anything until this year. That’s when we had Xfinity remove Mom’s home phone # from her account and replace it with our house phone # from the Hill.

The was a bit of confusion that required a bit of explaining, more than a few times, which should have prepared us for the most recent incident.

To understand the process I’m compelled to do my best to explain how they can do that with phone numbers. I must take you back in time to 1989. That’s when we acquired our home phone number.

Back then we actually needed a home phone so we could communicate because cell phones weren’t widely used. They were big bulky things and really not all that convenient at the time. So, we signed up with Qwest, a phone company that’s now just a figment of most people’s imagination and were assigned 397-5701. Yes, it was that short because back then the area code wasn’t necessary. Each town was identified by the first three numbers; 397 was St. Helens, 543 was Scappoose, and 556 was Rainier. Pretty simple.

Then everyone started moving out of California to Oregon, and other places, and the phone companies started running out of numbers. I have to admit that the info I’m sharing may only be partially true because I’m relying on things that happened 30 years ago, just so you know.

Once our number was made available at our first home after retiring from the Navy turned out to be quite popular with folks from all over the United States and some foreign countries. It previously belonged to a gentleman who was well known in the cock fighting circles so we got all these calls looking for the guy. It took a long time to let all his old friends know that he was no longer among the living and they would have to find another source of information like they used to get from the deceased.

Things were fine for a long time then we moved from Columbia City to St. Helens and Qwest sent a guy to make sure 397-5701 would ring at our new home. It worked the first time and continued working for the next 15 years, or so. During that time we got cable TV from Comcast, might of had internet from them, too. but Quest and CenturyLink showed up in there somewhere. I remember when we had Quest my email address was jerrie@q.com. I thought that was pretty cool, but things change.

Then we moved to the Hill House and having faster internet seemed to be necessary. Since CenturyLink’s internet was slow, we got Comcast. It served us well in spite of unplanned outages and unexplained rate hikes.

If anyone reading this can figure out what went on with my narrative, please let me know because I’m not going to reread this to verify. I think I would find it very confusing. Also, if you took the time to read this far, thank you very much.

Nonsense

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Jerrie Cate

It’s been a few days since I’ve done this. For reasons I don’t understand I feel like I need to keep everyone apprised of what’s going on in Jerrie’s life. In truth, I find it amazing that people spend time reading this. I’m humbled by the attention. Thank you.

I know that’s a bit of a broken record coming from me because I’ve said it before,

Now I need to remember what’s been happening during the past 9 days. Time passed at the speed of 86400 seconds a day. That’s 60x60x24, in case you were wondering. That’s true so you don’t have to double-check. Unless you want to, of course.

“Why,” you might ask, “do you know something weird like that?”

I found that little formula very useful while writing reports for the IT department of a company I worked for. Doesn’t make sense, does it? At this time in my life, it doesn’t make sense at all and I’m baffled how I used that information. So, why am I talking about it now? I don’t know that, either.

Today when Diane and I were returning home we were flagged down by a little girl with a plate of cupcakes. She was walking down the street giving them to all her neighbors, many of whom she’d never met. I suspect she’s around 8 years old. When Diane stopped the truck she climbed on the running board and insisted that we each take one of her cakes and eat it right then. However, we convinced her we would enjoy them more if we saved them for dessert after supper.

She scrunched her eyes and said, “supper?” Diane explained that it’s also like dinner and she was good with that. She bounced off happy, spreading goodwill up and down our block. We were impressed that someone that young took it upon herself to do this. Alone.

I apologize to those who actually continued reading this far. I didn’t have a plan and actually tried to end it far sooner. But, the jibberish just kept coming. But now, I’m stopping.

Perhaps the next one will be better. No guarantees.