ID Theft Adverted

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Recently my debit card was denied at a couple of places so I thought it might be prudent to ask someone about it. I was gratified to know that my credit union was aware enough to know that I couldn’t possibly be in Oceanside, CA and Middlebury, CT at the same time and correctly locked down the card so no one could use it. I wasn’t aware of the problem for a while for two reasons … 1) I don’t use the card very often, and 2) Comcast changed my home phone number for a period of time so no one could call me.

Well, they called, but it was the number we used to have before Comcast changed it so the number rang up “Not in Service” which is why I convinced them it needed to be restored. Which they did.

Beware! This is the time of year when the scum of the earth creep out in larger droves than normal and invest a ton of energy into stealing from unwary folks. Too bad they don’t understand that the same amount of energy expended for an honorable reason is far more rewarding.

Golf in the Fog, High School Football, Church, and Best Buds

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Golfing in the fog isn’t for the lighthearted, but it’s fun. Actually, for some of us, it’s really no different from golfing on a bright sunny day. For those lucky folks it’s still a matter of hitting the ball, then finding it so they can hit it again, as many times as necessary. For normal golfers, those who can actually golf, simply go to their ball because they know where it landed and don’t need to look for it. I suspect those folks do as well in the fog as they do on any other day. I bet they aren’t as excited about finding their balls as much as those who have to find theirs.

Finding our cart was easy, as was finding the first tee box. It’s out behind the mushroom looking tree a little ways.

Here’s what it looks like from the #1 tee. Plenty of visibility to see which direction the ball heads once it’s hit.

By the time we got to #8 the air was clearing up.

This is JP warming up for a tremendous drive down #8. I believe he parred this one.

Tuesday was a good day.

Friday we went to the St. Helens High School foot ball game, a new tradition we began a couple of weeks ago. We’ll no doubt keep it up because Lydia’s boyfriend, Mason, #9 below on the near right of the photo, is also a Junior and will play again next year. Also, since the current place kicker seems to have a bit of trouble, Lydia is seriously thinking about trying out for the team as the kicker next season. As a soccer goalie she’s learned how to kick quite well. Should be an interesting year. We hope she is successful in this endeavor. Me especially because I can’t wait to get a photo of her and Mason together in their varsity football uniforms. That would be pretty awesome.

Just a selfie of some folks sitting in my vicinity in the bleachers. Actually, that’s Noydena in the back, and her mother, Sandy, below her. In case you haven’t figured out by the stuffed Lion, The St. Helens team is, well, the Lions. Go figure.

At church on Sunday Diane discovered that she almost dressed exactly like Randy. That’s Diane on the right.

Today JP came by the house and asked if I had a vice.

Not having one, I said "no." 
He said, "well, I guess we'll have to go to Doug's, then."
"Why", I asked.
"To replace the grips on your golf clubs", he said.
"I don't have any new grips", I replied.
"Yes you do."
"I do?"
"Yes."
"Where might they be?"
"In my car."
"OK."

That ultimately resulted in the following scene where Doug and JP went to work ripping the old grips off, dousing everything in sight with BBQ lighter fluid, applying special tape, applying more lighter fluid, then slipping the new grip into place.

I’m truly blessed to have friends like these two guys.

For an ending I have to share with you Panzee and her new best friend, Cloud, a small rabbit living next door.

Panzee will spend hours just sitting there watching the bunny and the bunny will come to the fence for a nuzzle once in a while. Very touching. Actually, I think Panzee just wonders what it is and what it might taste like.

G’nite.

A Birthday Milestone, a little Football, X-Rays, and an MRI

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

I’ve been a little remiss in getting information out to all of you who think there’s a need to keep tabs on me for various reasons, so here I am to bring you as up-to-date as possible.

Before I get going, however, I must report the most important news for this day, the 23rd of October which just happens to be my favorite Daughter’s, Jennifer’s, 40th birthday. Here she is at 6-years-old – she’s the one on the right.

Here she is a little older …

She’s a very lovely, very special Lady.

Using my handy-dandy calendar, the one on my computer, I will do my best to report events in chronological order unless, of course, I either see something shiny or a squirrel runs by my window. Should that happen, all bets are off and you will be at the mercy of my random thought generator.

Since October 14th, the date of my last post, we have attended three of Lydia’s soccer games (won 2 lost 1), spent three days in the RV in a field in Hood River, went to see my local doctor because stuff hurts, got an X-ray, played golf, had an MRI, fasting blood work, attended a meeting at our church with the ladies who write all the checks, and attended a Scappoose High School football game against Seaside.

That’s about it. But, I suspect you’d be more interested in the details of some of those events, particularly the one about staying in the RV …

Regarding that … we joined our Winnebago friends in Hood River, at the Hood River County Fairgrounds, so we could enjoy traveling the Fruit Loop through the numerous orchards that dot the countryside around Hood River. There’s a bunch of them and they are all selling tons of fruit. Since we like fruit, we bought some gigantic Jonagold versions at $.50 a pound. That’s only if you buy 20 pounds or more. If not, they are $.89 a pound. I got 23 pounds for $11.50. That was most of an entire box. I love those things. They are my evening snack along with a piece of Tillamook cheddar cheese.

Everything went nicely on this short little visit until we were well on our way home. That’s when the transmission started giving me fits. We’d be flying along just fine then it was like the transmission just shifted to neutral and the engine revved up a bunch. Then smoke started pouring out behind us making it difficult for me to see how close people were following. That really wasn’t a problem, however, because everyone passed me and no one was following us. The problem was the transmission was losing fluid from somewhere that I couldn’t find during a quick stop to see what was the matter. The smoke was from transmission fluid burning off the exhaust pipe on the left side of the engine. I looked all over for a possible leak but it was difficult to pin it to just one place because pretty much the entire bottom of the transmission and the frame was covered with the stuff. Still, I looked, hoping to get lucky. At this point we were about 50 miles from home and I wasn’t in the mood to spend the night parked alongside the road. So, I dug around in the from part of the RV and discovered a nearly full quart of transmission fluid which I poured into the proper receptacle to, hopefully, top off what was missing. I knew, from prior experience, that a relatively small amount of viscous material, like oil, and transmission fluid, could cover an astounding area making one think the reservoir must surely be dry, but it isn’t.

Once the fluid was added I cranked the rig up and shifted to reverse and D a few times to see what would happen, got the appropriate response, put it in D and took off down I-84 West once again. We made it all the way to Warren when things took a decidedly bad turn in that no amount of coaxing would provide enough friction in the transmission to increase the speed even a little. The result was that we coasted slowly to a stop. Knowing this was going to happen gave me an opportunity to get off Highway 30 onto Old Portland Road, across from Bennett Road, with enough forward momentum to ensure the coasting stopped in the Moose Lodge parking lot. That rig would not move another inch. I tried.

We were towing the PT Cruiser most of the way but figured removing that tow weight might be easier on the RV transmission. So, it was available for Diane to make a run to Wal*Mart to get some more transmission fluid for just one more effort to got that next 2 miles to home. There was just enough of everything to do that with nothing to spare beyond parking it off the street. What a trip. It took us 5 hours to make what is normally a 2 hour ride. But, we made it.

The next morning I got up and tried to figure out where all that fluid was going, but didn’t have any luck. So, I decided to do something else and went to our Lions Club meeting. I went alone because it was Diane’s bunco night with the girls. I told everyone at the meeting where she was, of course.

The next day, Tuesday, I went to visit one of the Legacy doctors at the local free clinic to make sure I didn’t have any STD’s and to see if they could do something about my left arm which had been a problem all weekend. I made an appointment the previous day so they were expecting me.

After poking, prodding, and asking a zillion questions it was determined that I needed to have an MRI of my left shoulder and X-rays of my left wrist to see what was up. The X-ray was done right away and the next day I received the news that my left wrist was severely diseased. I know that sounds kind of like my wrist was in such terrible shape that my hand was in danger of falling off. Not quite the case. It’s just that those little tunnels in the wrist bones through which blood vessels pass to give me warmth and feeling to my hand are severely restricted which causes my hand to be cold most of the time and to ache pretty much all the time. It’s been that way for about 20 years. I’ve tried to get doctors to amputate it, but none of them would because all the fingers still worked. So, I’ve just lived with it. You may be happy to know that I don’t have any STD’s. I know Diane is.

But the shoulder was something else … It keeps me awake long into the night and wakes me up sometimes when I finally to get to sleep. It needs to go, too, but I know I’ll have to keep it. So, I’m curious to learn the results of the MRI I had yesterday. At 0715 in the morning. That means we had to leave town at 0615 to make sure I made it on time.

Since I don’t normally do well in MRI machines, I was given a Valium to ease the tension, allowing me to lie very still with no fear that I would have to claw my way out of that tube before it collapsed in on me. Nope. It all went just fine and I was deemed to be a model patient for that procedure.

Later that afternoon we went to school to watch another one of Lydia’s soccer games. Unfortunately, they lost 1-0. It was a good game. Directly after the game Diane took me home to get my car so I could drive myself to my American Legion Meeting at the Moose Lodge. It’s been deemed advisable for me to attend those meetings because I’m the Sgt. At Arms for the group and I’m sure you can imagine how rowdy a bunch of old Viet Nam vets can get when they’re off their meds.

That brings us up to today and the news that I discovered the reason all the transmission fluid disappeared. There’s a little rubber tub connected to the bottom of the radiator and a rigid line running to the left side of the transmission. There’s a matching tub on the right side of the radiator that is flexible indicating it’s been replaced. The one on the right was hard like a rock and it was leaking around the brass fitting. So, I took it off. In doing so it pretty much fell apart. I took the pieces to both of our auto parts places, NAPA and CarQuest and neither of them could produce a replacement. Turns out I’ll have to take it to a specialist and have one custom-made. Maybe tomorrow.

This evening we decided to attend the Scappoose High School football game because they are playing really well. They are 11-0 on the season and made it 12-0 after stomping Seaside 55-6. The tone was set when Seaside kicked off and Scappoose ran it back for the first touchdown. During the course of the game Scappoose intercepted 3-4 passes and ran most of those back for touchdowns, too. It was pretty bad. So bad, that we found ourselves hoping Seaside would score at least once, which they did.

Now it’s late and I must quit. Need to rest up so I can search Portland and the surrounding area for a place that will make the connector I need to resurrect the Winnebago. When that’s done, it’s going on the blocks and we’re going to buy a trailer.

Politics & Academy Awards

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Every once in a while I have this flash of memory about elections and the quality of movies, but I’m never at my computer when that happens. If you were my bride, you’d say, “Jerrie! Make a reminder note!” That’s actually a great idea but the flaw with such notes is the need to remember to look at it when it’s most useful. That never works with me. Writing a note and placing it by my computer works just about as well – it gets lost in the clutter surrounding my keyboard. The next obvious solution is to have an alarm associated with the reminder but those only go off in church when I forget to turn off the sound on my phone. That makes my first wife cranky. So, I don’t do that.

Now, here I sit, having said all that as a prelude to my totally infallible solution for electing public officials or for determining how great any movie is.

It’s all about money.

All the movie reviews you see any more begin with how much money a newly released movie brings in over its first weekend which is, sadly, equated with popularity, not quality. Makes me want to run right out and see the movies that earn the most money no matter how crappy it might be. Because of this, the obvious solution to awarding Oscars, Emmys, and whatnot, is to determine which movie earned themes money over the course of an entire year, since the last awards show, and award all prizes to the actors, producers, directors, etc., for that movie. Pretty simple, huh?

The same is true for politics. The news is all about how much any given politician has received in donations to his campaign for pretty much any office. You hear it all the time in. Therefore, why not award any office to the one who gets the most instead of wasting all our time casting votes that don’t seem to make much difference?

Or, better yet, how about having a lottery system at a designated point late in a campaign where there are only two balls in play. One ping-pong ball says “Hi”, the other says “Low”. If “Hi” wins, so does the candidate with the most donations. Conversely, if “Low” shows up, the candidate with the least donations wins.

What makes this interesting is that none of the candidates, or their contributors will have any idea what will happen so it’s a crap shoot either way.

If we stick with voting, I suggest we limit qualified votes for President to only those cast in states east of Omaha, Nebraska because by the time anyone west of there votes, the outcome has already been determined. For us on the Left Coast, why bother?

OK. I’m through whining, now.

Tattoos & Piercings

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

I’ve been toying with the idea of getting some tattoos and piercings over the years, but could never seem to settle on one thing to get.

So, I just got everything to eliminate the stress of making that decision.

What do you think?

OK. I lied. That’s not me. I’ve kept this photo around for about the last 10 years as a reminder why I never went down that road. I have to admit, though, that this person is making a very unique fashion statement.

Nifty, huh?

It’s Good To Have Skills

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

I just found out that one of the reasons my wife has let me live this long is because I can reach the back of the microwave, to clean up messes, without standing on a stool.

Other than that, I’m hanging on by a thread here …

NW Weather & Other Interesting Stuff

Posted on May 30, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

I just noticed that it’s been 10 days since my last post which is really uncharacteristic of the old me. I am, however, learning to deal with what is a new normal for me. One of the big ones is losing weight to help combat my diabetes type II affliction. That’s going well. In the past 3 weeks (I think) I’ve lost 12 pounds (I’m sure). This is an odd thing for me because growing up I was painfully skinny all through my school years (the mandatory ones) and my objective then was to gain weight. I may have shared previously my distress regarding my first trip to the Navy recruiter where I actually flunked the physical because I didn’t weigh enough. True story. They told me to return in two weeks to see if I’d gained anything. I could have just ignored them, I suppose, but the draft was in full swing in 1962 and I’m sure the Army would have found by services useful in Viet Nam back then. So, I went on a binge eating spree. Two weeks later I was in the Navy having passed that test. Actually, I don’t know if I passed or not because the corpsman who weighed me in had me get on the scales then he yanked me off as the needle hit 135 on its downward swing and called it good. I guess that meant I passed, huh?

Anyway, so here I am working my way back down to 175 after many years of running closer to 200 than not. My main strategy is to eat less bread and not snack on sweet stuff. To eat less bread I simply eat only one piece where I used to eat two, and snacks are mainly peanuts and water. So far it’s been pretty easy because I believe I’m blessed with the “Cold Turkey” gene that allows me to stop any bad habit easily. I did that with smoking – cold turkey. Now I’m doing it with food. Not so cold turkey, I guess, because I’m not really quitting food, just regulating it better.

Diane and I went to a stage play last Tuesday to see “Three Days of Rain“. It wasn’t the play that drew our attention, but the actors involved. Two of them, Sash Roiz and Silas Weir Mitchell, are from our favorite TV show “Grimm” which is filmed in Portland. They were joined by the talented Lisa Datz who rounded out the three person cast. We don’t normally attend plays but found this one very good.

Let’s see … what else happened … our oldest Son attained the lofty age of 43 on the 22nd, I sustained a severe bungee cord injury that has temporarily disabled the opposing function of my left thumb, The Lady Ducks lost to UCLA in the softball super regionals, St. Helens Lady Lions lost to Rex Putnam in their state softball title bid, neighbor Scott H. turned 29 on the 29th, and we’ve learned from Clyde Lewis (host of Ground Zero) that the world we know will officially end on October 7th this year. That latter bit is only hearsay for me because I heard it from Diane who heard it from her Mother, Jean.

The weather has made a serious turn to summer with temperatures in the 80’s. That means that the need for mowing the lawn will diminish until fall when the rains perk up all that grass that’s been dormant, and brown, since June. Looking forward to that, for sure.

Diane and I have spent many hours working at our church’s parsonage to prepare it for our new renter. Lots of painting going on. Diane thinks I’m pretty good at cutting in around the ceiling, windows, and doorways so that’s my assigned task. Doors and Windows are fairly easy, the working over my head around the ceiling is a challenge because it always seems to ruin both of my arms for a period of time. So, I suspect my cutting in days are numbered.

For those of you who might find themselves in the St. Helens area on any given Thursday, from June 4th through August 27, you might want to check out the city’s “13 Nights on the River“. It’s a free concert every Thursday at the gazebo in the park by the river. If you pick the right Thursday, you may get to meet my niece Sarah who will be visiting the greater Portland area from Connecticut during the summer.

Now I must remove my wet clothes and clean up. Diane went to visit her Mom, Jean, so I pressure washed the old truck in the back yard. Probably not the right place, in hindsight, because I had to drive it off a fairly large berm to get it back to the front yard. But, I did it. Should have taken a photo, I suppose. Now I’m going to start buying parts for it. Diane said I could.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Type II Diabetes

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

For the past couple of years I’ve been flirting with diabetes but haven’t really taken the threat serious because the numbers were always on the verge of normal. So, why worry, right? Well, my last visit with my VA doctor brought all that frivolity crashing down on my head when she said that I’m beyond “being on the verge” and have acquired the status of a true diabetic. My A1C told her so.

Because of that, instead of making a lame attempt of counting carbs, Diane has put me on a strict weight loss program which we are both following. This one counts calories and we’re tracking everything we eat using a handy little app called “Lose It”.

My goal is to dump 20 pounds which Lose It says I can easily do by September if I just quite nibbling my way through the day. Using technology to track everything is a great way for me to avoid the snacks because it’s a pain sometimes to make all those entries so I skip the snacks so I won’t have to. It works.

In addition to losing 20 pounds, my goal is to diminish the effects of diabetes to the point where I can retain all my digits until the even of my untimely death, whenever that may be.

Regarding the latter, there’s a chainsaw in the back yard calling my name. It’s an electric one but it can still cause a lot of damage for the unwary.

Check you later.

Richard Petty, PT Cruisers, and Las Vegas The Show

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

Today was especially hard for me because I thought my entire life was perfect in all aspects the, out of the blue, Diane told me she’d had enough of my shenanigans and wanted to be set free. So, I went down to the jail, paid her bail, and did just that. Her court date isn’t until, like June 1st, so we’ll have to come back and see what happens. Things were fine until she went to see “Thunder From Down Under.” You know, all those naked Aussies dancing and such. It was girls night out and she apparently had a really good time. It is an unspoken deal between the two of us that I will never asked what happened and she’ll never tell. I, on the other hand, had a very sedate evening sitting in our room, watching all the pretty lights until I got tired and had to go to bed. Alone. That was the first time in a very long time. Like years.

This morning, once I got her released, we went to visit Pat & Pat at their Worldmark condo on the southern part of the Las Vegas Strip so we could tag along with them to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he was going to make a few laps in a NASCAR race car. He was signed up to participate in the Richard Petty racing experience.

It was a special event and we were honored to have been invited to witness his experience and share in his joy. Diane, Short Pat, and I even got to participate, as observers, in the training evolution but we didn’t get to wear fire-retardant suit like Pat did. I, personally, felt cheated on that note because there were dozens of them just hanging there. Wouldn’t have hurt if they let me wear one, just for fun. But they wouldn’t.

The training took place in the infield of the speedway which was quite a treat for us all because it’s such a huge place. Also, since it’s right next to Nellis AFB, we were treated to numerous F-18 fighter jets flying over as they practiced take off’s and landings. Pretty impressive. Diane loves that sound. Makes her swoon.

Once out at the track, each of the drivers posed next to a Richard Petty 43 car before moving on to their assigned vehicle. Our Pat was the first one out since all the other drivers opted for the additional ride along with the pro driver to get the real feel of the track.

Then one of the drivers cranked up one of the cars on the track. It’s the one they use to take drivers on a fast ride, like 165 mph, before they do it themselves with a ride along driving coach who has a kill switch should things get out of control. The sound of that car cranking up was an attention getter on a large-scale, especially since it was only about 10 feet away from us. Very thrilling. Diane had to sit down.

Then Pat got in his assigned car and flashed a thumbs up before starting the engine and entering the track for his attempt to hit all the gates and make the 1.5 mile trip as fast as he could.

There was another fun looking car at the track but no amount of whining by Pat would have made it possible for the professionals to allow Pat inside the car. I don’t blame him. I wasn’t signed up to drive, and I ever whined a little. Looked like it might be a lot of fun.

Once the ride was over, Pat exited the car and staggered back to our side of the barrier that kept us out of the pit area. Actually, I don’t think he walked at all … he kinda floated back with a really silly grin on his face which let us all know he’d just experienced the thrill of a life time. And we were there to see it. Below Pat and Pat share a moment in history that won’t soon be forgotten.

Watch of the drivers got a video of their ride from inside the car, and I also took video of him each time he flew past us on the front straightaway. He was moving along very nicely. When it was all done he learned that he’d set a new track record for rookies of 155.3 and was immediately offered a sponsor so he could go pro. What an honor. He turned them down because he didn’t want to spoil the thrill of that initial ride and didn’t want to make it a job. Once it’s a job, it’s no long fun. It’s work.

We left the track and headed back to town. On the way the girls did a search for a nice place to eat. They came up with an Italian place called Norman’s, or something like that, that was a little ways out of town, away from the strip. It was very authentic and the food was delicious. I had my forever favorite spaghetti ala carbonara. It’s really great stuff. Diane had raviolis, Tall Pat had spaghetti and meat balls, and Short Pat had tortellini. We were all well fed and thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the visit with Pat and Pat.

Then we monied back to Worldmark and retrieve Diane’s new Impala. Sadly, it was time to bid adieu and go our separate ways. But, we know we will see them again soon once we’re all back in the Portland area.

Here’s where we stayed. It’s one of the newer Travelodges recently acquired by Hilton and added to their expanding list of properties that we can use in our travels.

Last night was festive over at the Gold Coast Casino where we had our PT Banquet. The food was good, the service was excellent, and everyone had a really good time. One of the more interesting events, in addition to the many PT related stories people told, was that one lady, from Colorado, who bought two $10 tickets for a 50/50 raffle, won on both tickets. She got 1st prize of $350, missed on the 2nd place $225, and one 3rd place for $125. Not a bad night. What incredible luck.

This evening we went to see “Las Vegas, The Show” which is one we’ve seen on a previous visit. We chose to go again because it’s magnificent and we recommend it to anyone who has a notion to visit LV. Another draw was the theater is just around the corner from our hotel. Seriously, right around the corner.

Now we’re back in the room and will pack before retiring with the intention of embarking on our homeward journey tomorrow, a day earlier than originally planned. The lady at the front desk was ecstatic when I told her she could have her room back a day early. We need to do this so we can make it back to St. Helens in time to attend Easter service at our church.

So, I bid you farewell and have to point out that today is April 1st, and only part of what you’ve just read is true. You’ll just have to decide for your self which part.

Good night.

Viva Las Vegas !!

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Jerrie Cate

So, we’ve been in Las Vegas since last Friday (28th) which you may all assume is the reason for delaying this entry. You’d think we were out running the strip with the rest of the party crowd, adding to our collection of those girly cards that are given freely available to anyone, even children, to accept those evocative gifts. It’s evident that many folks aren’t happy that their children accepted those cards by the number of them littering the sidewalks and street. I’ve been collecting those cards for years and have successfully gathered 998 cards with unique renditions of very pretty girls with very little, or no clothing, no two alike. I feel that’s quite an accomplishment considering that most of the cards are duplicates. I haven’t collected any this trip, yet, but I’m after those illusive two needed to round my collection up to 1,000. I actually saw one that I needed, but it was in the street and I figured Diane would frown on me picking it up, so I sadly walked on by, watching it disappear in my peripherals as those unconcerned people revelers around me nimbly walked over it, grinding it into the pavement making it totally useless for a valid collection destined to become very valuable.

But, no, that was not the case. Instead we’ve been spending most of our time gazing out the window of our room at the millions of lights illuminating the pointy end of Nevada. Here’s part of what we can see from our room on the 54th floor of the Elara.

Quite festive. We can see, from left to right, Aria,The Cosmopolitan, Rio, Bellagio, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Paris, The Mirage, Treasure Island, Trump, Wynn, Palazzo, Encore, Ballys, Venetian, Harrah’s, High Roller Ferris Wheel, and the Stratosphere. Granted, we can’t see the fronts of them all, but enough to make for a pretty dramatic night sky.

The main reason for making Las Vegas our vacation destination this trip was to join a group of old folks with whom we’ve become acquainted over the years because of our mutual fascination with the Chrysler PT Cruiser. The 109 in attendance, including us, still own PTs, and a large number of them drove their vehicles to the party. The notable exception was our new friend from Sydney, Australia. Pretty cool that he came all that way to visit with us. There were lots of folks from Canada, and the US East Coast, too. This event was the brain child of our friend, Rick, pictured below with my bride, Diane.

This gathering was for breakfast at the Gold Coast for which we had to leave our warm beds at 0500 Monday morning. It was good. Rick, Rick, and Pat had microphones and went around the room giving everyone a chance to introduce themselves. Once some of them got the microphone, however, they were compelled to share some pretty involved stories about their love affair with the PT. Pat Chase, who is, oddly, the current husband of Pat Chase, gave an impressive dissertation on the PT Cruiser from its concept to production, and all the emotions associated with that little car during it’s production run from 2001 through 2010. In another 15 years our 2005 convertible will be a classic. Can’t wait for that. The downside of that is that I’ll be 86 and the state of Oregon probably won’t let me drive it.

The remainder of Monday’s activities for us, after breakfast, was to find a car wash so we could get the bugs scraped off the front of Diane’s new Impala. I found one really close to the Gold Coast that is strictly a hand wash facility. They did an outstanding job and made the car look awesome. This is the new ride …Monday night 58 of us took a 3-4 hour ride on The Big Bus tour of Las Vegas with Kate as our tour guide. Had it not been for her interaction with our crowd of old folks, the trip would have been kind of ho-hum, “look at all the pretty lights” instead of the incredibly detailed, historically correct narrative of every building or vacant lot we passed. She even gave us some pretty interesting back ground of many of the questionable people we passed during our travels. Kate is extremely funny and could easily, in my estimation, excel as a standup comic. Perhaps she is one of those already, but that wasn’t mentioned. She was, however, the Witch in “Wicked” and played all over the west coast for considerable amount of time.

Kate has a commanding presence and we all fell in love with her during that 3-hour tour. What a gal. Here she is making friends with one of the many Ricks who made the trip from Oregon. One of the other Ricks is sitting right there to the right in front of Linda. The other Rick, our leader, was sitting up front.

Sadly, the Rick pictured with Kate injured his knee on the way up the steps to this seat and had to be carted away in a wheel chair at the end of the tour. We trust he will be fine, eventually, but don’t have a prognosis at this time. He was taken to one of the local hospitals, of which I found there are many in the area.

Here are a few of the places we saw along the way down the strip.

Then we headed for the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino on Fremont Street.

We’ve been there many, many years ago, before it evolved into what it is now, so we weren’t prepared for the incredible transformation that’s been made in that area. It’s pretty amazing.

Outside the Golden Nugget, Fremont Street is totally covered with a curved video screen that stretches over 300 feet. Below the screen, for the entire length, stretched 3 zip line wires on which people whizzed by overhead.

When we first got there it was displaying random graphics which were very pleasing. As we walked through the crush of people on the street, we were smitten with all the pretty lights and the great attitude of the crowd. We didn’t encounter any attitudes at all during our circumnavigation of this amazing venue. About halfway around all the lights along the street, and those advertising the various facilities, were extinguished and the overhead display lit up along the entire length of the street and the sound was cranked up as we were entertained with a Bon Jovi concert of epic proportions. It was mesmerizing and incredibly fun to watch. Even for an old guy like me.

Inside the Golden Nugget all the lights are covered with these incredible artsy creations and all I could think about was how I’m so happy I don’t have to change the light bulbs in them. Pretty, but really sharp on the pointy ends.

Also inside the Golden Nugget is the Shark Tank. A swimming pool surrounds the tank and you can see a tube running through the center of the tank. That’s the end part of a water slide that starts a couple of floors above the tank and through which people fly, probably with their eyes closed. Kinda freaky.

Prior to the evening festivities, we wandered around the Miracle Mile Shopping portion of Planet Hollywood where Diane found a hat shop. She loves hats and looks great wearing pretty much anything on her head.

That’s pretty much it for yesterday. We had a terrific time and are looking forward to the evening festivities today. We’re having the Old PT People Banquet (OPTPB) at the Gold Coast. Should be a hoot.