Category Archives: Sports

NW Weather & Other Interesting Stuff

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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.

A Brief 11-Day History of Recent Oregon Events

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April 10th

We’re going to another softball this afternoon in Parkrose to watch the St. Helens JV “A” team play. Lydia has been playing 1st base and alternate pitcher with Brooklyn. Seems to work well. Their last game, on Wednesday, Brooklyn pitched 3 innings, and Lydia pitched 2. The final score was 26-0 when it was called after five innings. I know, you aficionados of the sport will report that max runs allowed in five innings is 5 so the final should have been 25-0, but I counted all of them. After two innings it was evident the other team were very new to the sport and were having serious problems catching the ball and hitting our pitches. Our varsity also won, 11-0 after five so the school we played needs help.

I mowed the yard yesterday but didn’t vacuum, thinking I’d get that done today. But, the grass didn’t dry out enough to get it all done so I only got the front and back yards cleaned up. The lower 40 is just a mass of chopped grass. Panzee loves it down there and rolls in it whenever she goes out. Diane isn’t at all happy that Panzee loves the loose grass, of course, because it sticks to her fur. I also burned up a large portion of the pussy willow tree that was lying around the burn pile in pieces. Took a while to get it going but once I did it burned nicely while I mowed. Today I continued the process and didn’t even have to use a match to get it going again because the ashes were still burning hot. Literally. A bag of shredded paper covered with some really dry branches from the old cedar tree barrier was all it took. Then I started dragging all those enormous branches to the pile and let her rip. Every once in a while I’d stop by the pile and work my way around the pile, shoving the branches into the smoking hot cinders. Oner of these days it will all be gone. I hope.

I also hope I’ll get the old RV road worthy … and the old pickup running reliably … and my desk clean … etc … one of these days.

Really late in the evening, Bob & Steffani showed up out of the blue. Apparently they were evicted from Idaho for a few days for some sort of unsubstantiated violation of an obscure rule regarding people who have nothing to do but complain about things no one else cares about because of their insignificance. As written, the law is intentionally vague which allows law-abiding citizens to cause situations where normally law-abiding citizens to be evicted from the state without the need for the accuser to provide even a tiny bit of evidence of the infraction. Only in Idaho, you think, right? Well, none of that is true as I’m sure you know. So, just disregard all of it.

But, Bob and Steffani did show up right about 10 pm demanding a room for the night even though they knew the room was reserved because they had confirmed it a week previously with one of their many expired Visa cards: 4180-8099-3286-2788 exp 02/11 secret code 2123. You can forget that, too, because I’m pretty sure I just made it up.

The reason for the visit was the Eastern Oregon University softball schedule that reported their daughter, Maryssa, was playing in a game against Concordia University in the morning at Concordia University. Complicating the scheduled games was the rain which wasn’t a problem when the schedule was created. Still, there was hope.

April 11th

After being forced to remain awake well beyond our normal bedtime the previous night, and then, to ensure our guests were properly cared for, we had to arise earlier than normal to prepare ourselves for the ensuing day’s events. With the games scheduled to begin at 1100 hours it was necessary to find sustenance in a timely manner in a way that didn’t sully the pristine condition of our kitchen which is only used for special occasions. This not being one of those times, we collectively agreed to partake of the succulent menu choices available at the Kozy Korner Kafe, one of our favorite eateries suitable for relatives of the lower order.

After enjoying a better than normal breakfast composed of various parts of, and issue from, various animals normally found in barnyards and fenced pens, it was brought to our attention that the 1100 game had been moved to 1300 because of the rain. It had also been moved from Concordia’s field to Sandy High School, 20-30 miles closer to Idaho. It was moved again to a later hour but I can’t remember which one. I do know it was late enough that Jennifer, who works on Saturday, and the entire family would be able to attend the entire double-header, both of which EOU lost. It was readily evident that the losses were allowed because of the coach’s unwillingness to make use the talents she left languishing on her bench while the opposing coach rotated virtually every player on her team into the game at some point to ensure they all had playing time. “What a concept,” a statement that was whispered by one of us and overheard by all, pretty much says it all regarding the stubborn, biased, misguided efforts of a coach who was in a position requiring a lot more ability than that with which she was currently equipped. So sad.

After the game we all went our separate ways to our homes.

Another significant event of the day was that Jeran officially turned 15. To emphasize this milestone in his life he managed to shoot up to a six-foot elevation and the odds are he will continue that trend. We all agree he’s going to be the tallest member of his family. Cedric will be next, then Daniel, Lydia, and Jennifer in that order. If that changes I will let you know.

April 12th

This was a totally routine day for us with the one incredibly random event that caused us to sleep well beyond our normal arousal time thereby making it to church on time pretty much impossible. So, we donned clothes that we normally wear outside the home, collected Diane’s Mom, Jean, then went to lunch. I honestly cannot remember where we went for this repast. It may very well have been a lunch at home. I can only attribute this memory loss as a testament to old age and/or early onset dementia.

April 13th

This day I spent rebuilding the mower deck on our old lawn mower. The blades, which I’ve sharpened at least three times, were all bent, causing an uneven cut. Also, due to the fact that I typically ran the mower far too long and fast in tall grass, the left most blade, from the perspective of one who is driving the mower, stripped the star-shaped thingy on the end of the pulley mechanism that spins the blade thereby making it necessary to over-torque the bolt holding the blade on in order to ensure the blade spun at all. Not a good solution for doing a good mowing job. So, I went online to Sears Parts Direct and ordered three new spindles, which arrived Saturday, and installed them on the already dismantled and clean mower deck. Apparently I cleaned the deck on Sunday and promptly forgot about it. But, there it was, laying in the back yard, just waiting for me to go to work.

Installing the spindles required me to obtain new bolts from ACE because 8 of the 12 bolts holding them on broke when I attempted to retracted them. They just snapped right off. To ensure I had the proper size bolts, I tried one of the salvaged bolts on the new spindles and discovered that the new spindles didn’t have threads in the holes. They were just, well, holes. Thankfully, I had a solution and, oddly, I knew exactly where it was in my messy basement shop. It is a tap set that I purchased at one sale or another with the thought of it coming in handy one day and that day had finally arrived. Luckily, I had the exact tap necessary to all me to install the new bolts. It was a splendid success story. I also reinstalled the front middle wheel on the mower deck which is apparently necessary to keep the deck from plowing into ground at each little rise in the landscape. It’s been that way for a long time now and I just hadn’t been motivated to find the correct sized shoulder bolt that would allow me to reinstall the wheel. ACE didn’t have them and the local Sears store didn’t carry them the last time I looked. So, when I went to Sears to purchase new blades I looked for that shoulder bolt and, oddly, they had them. It wasn’t a cheap stop because those blades, of which I needed three, cost $27 each. It was a shock because it’s been a long time since I bought new blades for the mower.

Once it was all put back together I reconnected the deck to the mower and wound up with one extra cotter pin and could not readily find an empty hole in which to insert it. I strongly considered just firing up the meow to see what would happen, but visions of metal parts flying around discourage me to the point where I laid down next to the mower and searched all the parts I had removed in order to remove the deck and finally found the missing hole on the rod that connects the front of the deck to the mower and allows one to adjust how far down the deck tips while in use. It was one of those cartoon moments where you search around, calmly looking at things and suddenly your eyes go wide and your vision impulsively zooms in and out on the target a couple of times. I could now start my test with no fear.

I attached the grass catcher tube and headed for the front yard as soon as the air compressor was able to supply enough air to fill up the front tires which are always going flat. Perhaps I should replace them, too. And the grass tube which has had more than it’s share of contact with the lower fence, and other immobile objects, making it necessary to bind the two halves together with duct tape.

Considering the efforts involved with getting the mower back into proper shape, I vowed to be more careful in the future and carefully mowed the front yard, twice. Once on 5 and once on 4. The results were spectacular – the cut was nice and even and new blades vacuumed up all the cut grass just like it did when it was all new. I was immensely pleased because I was able to restart my new grass pile around the burn pile in the lower 40.

It’s interesting about the grass pile. I’ve been dumping grass clippings in the same 20 foot long area for the past 7 years and have never needed to move to another spot. All the grass just keeps sinking into the ground. I’m sure there’s some pretty rich soil down there, but I really have no need for rich soil. Perhaps we should have a garden.

April 14th

Other than working on stuff I can’t remember, I facilitated another rendition of our Church Council meeting. We talked about a lot of churchy type stuff that probably wouldn’t mean much to any of you. So, I’ll just let this day go.

April 15th

Three significant things for today – big brother Jim had his 78th birthday, the IRS relieved me of a bucket of cash, and St. Helens JV team waxed Wilsonville something like 21-0. It was good to have the game end the day, making the IRS gift more tolerable. The JV 1 team is totally indomitable so far. They haven’t lost yet. They can hit, and their defense is awesome.

April 16th

Had coffee with church friends at 10 am then went directly to the golf course for another bad round of golf. Still had a good time with friends.

 April 17th

Today was a bit difficult because I had to go to the VA clinic to shed some blood at the hands of one of my favorite phlebotomists. That, alone, isn’t all that bad, but it was for a fasting lab meaning I had to stop eating before midnight last night. I did them one better and quit eating at 8 pm. I remembered to not eating anything in the morning and just held off the hunger with water until Diane got up and got me to the lab around 1030 or so. My phlebotomist used one of those new little tangly tube things and inserted the needle in a painless manner that, surprisingly left a lovely bruise.

After being phlebotomised by a pro, we began a semi-slow trip to Sandy in preparation for another JV softball game. This one was a little more tense because Sandy scored first and showed us a surprisingly good defense and good pitching. Lydia played 1st base and reported to the team that whenever a Sandy made it to first base they would jam their elbow into her back. She mostly shook it off until one girl hit her so hard it knocked her a few steps off-balance. That was incentive needed to pick up the game and whittle away at that 1-0 lead. An increased effort on defense and more concentration in the batter’s box which resulted in a 7-2 win for our girls. Not a blow out, like they’ve normally had. It was a solid team effort that should serve them well going forward.

April 18th

This day was the high light of the week because we got to attend a wedding. Making it even better, it was at the beach. Better still, the weather was fantastic. The bride, Noydena, is like another daughter for us because she and Jennifer have been great friends since middle school. Another “better” because the groom, Mathieu, and Noydena went to their Junior Prom together in high school. So, this is like a fantasy finale to an old romance. Very poignant, when it’s all said and done. Being Scottish, Mathieu and his male family members all wore kilts. It was a fun affair even though we had to get up at 0600 so we could leave by 0700. That was brutal.IMG_1698That’s Noydena and Mathieu on the rock, and the bride’s Mom, Sandy, expressing her excitement about being included in the shot.

Next is a photo of the Walter’s kids enjoying the beach. The little tiny one, way out to the left, is Jean in a swim suit. A brave person because, though the day was perfect, the water temp was hovering around 48 degrees. Normal people would have sunk and drowned, but not Jeran. Lydia is the in the white shorts, and Cedric is way off to the right, getting away from the water like a smart person should.

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April 19th

A typical Sunday for us except for the WELCA meeting on the end. I tried to stay out of it, but couldn’t seem to do that and wound up being the guest speaker for some reason. Then we went home.

April 20th

This is the big one, the reason I saved it for last. Today is the 47th anniversary of marriage to my best friend ever. We’ve been mostly happy all that time, and we’ve travelled a lot of places. The best part is that we did it together. All of it. And that makes it all excellent. With that in mind, I must terminate this in order to end it on a positive note. Not that there was a bad moment today, but that the longer I drag this out, the more potential there is for something bad to happen.

So, good night.

Richard Petty, PT Cruisers, and Las Vegas The Show

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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.

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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.

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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.IMG_1635

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.

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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.
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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.
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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.

Another Road Trip

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Tuesday

Here we go again, another road trip just when I thought we were all done with those, at least until the Winnebago gets fixed. But, this “thing” in Las Vegas popped up and we felt compelled to go. It’s kind of like an international convention of PT Cruiser “people” we’ve met throughout the years. The instigator was Rick, the guy who dreamt up the Tualatin Valley Cruiser Club waaaaay back in 2000. As luck would have it, Diane and I are charter members of the group. We only know the core group of people, unlike Rick who has been in communication with all the foreigners, like those from the east coast, and from other countries, and knows them all by name. This gathering is an opportunity to put names with faces and just have a good, relaxing time. That’s for everyone else, you know, because Diane and I have to work. Since we drive pretty much everywhere we go those who outnumber us decided that it would be a great idea if we hauled everyone’s extra luggage so they wouldn’t have to pay extra to get it there. It kind of made sense since we had the Buick SUV which had plenty of room so, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, we agreed.

Everything was going swell, right up until today, the first day of our trip, when we traded the Buick in for an Iimpala. We did that this morning, kinda on our way out of town. Seems like a dumb thing to do, right? Well, it sorta was but it wasn’t totally done on impulse. There was considerable thought and effort involved that led to this transition.

First, the Buick passenger seat only moves back and forth. It doesn’t go up and down and the the seat portion doesn’t tilt. The driver’s seat does all that, but I’m not allowed to drive so I had to sit in that relatively immobile seat for thousands of miles, like 94 thousand of them, with my leg hurting so much my hip hurt, too. Another drawback with the Buick is it doesn’t have proper chicken handles that I like to use when my arms act up and need a little traction applied. Oh, the Buick has them, but they are mounted on the window pillars, too far out of reach for them to be of use for anything other than hauling ones self into the vehicle. Proper installed chicken handles are located above the windows where one can reach up and grab it without thinking. So, not having one of those available for all those miles my arms suffered immensely. I endured because Diane loved that Buick, and I don’t blame her because sitting in the driver’s seat is pretty comfy.

Another aspect about the Buick that concerned me was its advanced age. True, it’s only six years old, but it’s got those 94K miles on it and I thought the prudent thing to do would be to trade it in while it was still in good shape and still under 100K miles. Made sense to me, so I started a campaign that got Diane to reveal to me that her next dream car would be a white diamond Impala with interior in any color other than black. I visited the local Chevy dealer numerous times over the years discussing cars, getting to know the salesmen, the manager, and eventually the owner and it paid off yesterday when Diane voluntarily drove by the dealer to look at the Impalas they had on the lot. There were only two of them – one red and one black, both with black interior. She loved the black one a lot, but it really needed to be white. Hearing this, the owner, Michael, and the manager, Jeff, got busy searching for the dream car. Michael found one in Madras about noon yesterday, made a dealer trade, then sent a driver to drive it home but we knew he wouldn’t make it back until after the dealership closed for the night.

So, we went home and emptied the Buick, Diane packed a bunch of clothes and filled a bunch of bags while I downloaded the Impala owner’s manual to get a head start on what all those buttons are for. I got through the whole thing around midnight when Diane thought it might be a good time for me to wrap it up for the night. So I did. But I couldn’t sleep until I got up and proper myself up on my recliner.

Long story short, we got the car about 10 am, they got the Buick, and we parted ways. Steve handled all the paperwork. Then we (Diane) drove it home to load all that stuff into the trunk and back seat. Amazingly, it all fit and Diane could still see out the back window.

Then we left, and made it all the way to Scappoose before we decided we probably should eat lunch before heading East. Faultiness’ was the choice. As we sat down to eat I noticed I had a phone message from Steve so I called him back. Turns out he still had our Driver’s licenses and hoped we weren’t all the way to Pendleton already. Since we were just 8 miles away, he jumped in a car and brought them to us. What a guy.

Then we ate and left town.

The trip to Pendleton was awesome. I pushed tons of buttons, paired our phones to the car, listened to Diane’s phone music on the radio via bluetooth, and called the OnStar lady to get directions downloaded to our Pendleton stop for the night. Diane confirmed that getting the car was a great choice. Not only does it have a new warranty, it has chicken handles in the correct spots, and my seat is very articulated.

Now we’re down for the night because we must rise early so we can be in La Grande by 10 am to watch Maryssa play softball. I’ll see about getting photos of the Impala tomorrow, but it’s really just a car so not a big deal. Just because it pretty much drives itself, is its own wi-fi hot spot, and can talk to us doesn’t mean it’s special.

Golf, Soccer, Softball, a Winnebago, & Visitors

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Let’s see … what’s been going on. I golfed with JP on February 17th and discovered that I can semi-consistently hit a pitching wedge 100 yards. I can even hit it in the general direction I think I’m aiming. JP can hit a 5-wood about half as far as I can hit the pitching wedge. That’s not bragging, by any means, because I’ve never, ever beaten JP on the golf course. Until today. I beat him by one stroke and I even got a par on one hole. It was a good day.

The new owner of the old 1973 Winnebago called me on February 18th and was obviously at his wit’s end because he couldn’t get it started. Since he was still in St. Helens, I shelved my baseboard project for a moment, one of the remodels I had to do because of pending visitors, and went to see what I could do. Turns out the fully charged battery his friend gave him wasn’t really charged at all. It was dead as a door nail and it just happened to be the battery for the engine and lights. The other battery had juice and worked the 12V house lights just fine. So, he retrieved the battery that he replaced and we discovered it actually had a 12.5 V charge, enough to kick the engine over. We hooked it up, and it did the job. The engine ran just great. My job was done and he was very grateful. I could tell that by the way he drove away.

After getting that little task complete I went back to the house to participate in the scheduled full on field day to clean house for visitors, previously mentioned, this weekend. They aren’t technically visitors because we’re all related in some way. One of them is the Brother-in-law of one of my Sisters-in-law who is also the father of some sort of niece, Maryssa, who was the focus of the visit. There was a lot of college softball going on over the course of February 20, 21, and 22. In the middle of all those games was a soccer match at which Lydia, the daughter of my oldest son’s brother-in-law and his wife, played goalie, or Keeper as the soccer crowd seems to prefer. I won’t burden you with scores but will admit that I had a great time watching all of the games. It was exciting, even the soccer, which previously held no interest for me because I failed to comprehend the rules and, therefore, found it profoundly confusing. I’m learning, however, and now find it very exciting. Softball is always exciting. Maryssa is a freshman at Eastern Oregon University and was, we later discovered, playing while coping with a case of mononucleosis. How fun do you think that was? Still, she got her first college RBI and we got to see it.

I’d tell you what happened yesterday but I really don’t know because I apparently removed a crucial calendar entry that would have provided that information. Guess it will forever be one of those mysteries.

Now I must quit and contemplate how much it’s going to rain tomorrow. The last 5-6 days have been glorious but we knew it wouldn’t last. Thankfully, I was able to squeeze enough gas out of the array of gas containers I found around the house to allow me to mow the front and back yards. Sadly, I didn’t have enough time to mow the lower 40 so it will grow unimpeded until spring at which time it will no doubt be a foot or two tall and will take a couple of days of slow motion mowing to finish.

Also, Diane bought me peanut brittle for being good. I’m going to go eat some. I’ll leave you with a few photos of the family visit and activities.

This is Bob making friends with Ozzie. He works on that every time he visits and Ozzie displayed evidence that he remembered Bob because he didn’t bite him this time.IMG_0137

Wynette and Donna watching the ball game. It was a beautiful day, but really cold. Like 9 degrees, I think. Looking at this makes me wonder why I didn’t realize that Wynette is so much taller than Donna. I think it evens out a little when they stand up.IMG_0138

At Sunday’s game, the first of two, Lydia thought painting her toes would be a good idea. Like I said, it was around 9 degrees with the wind chill factor and she’s barefooted.IMG_0139

Here’s part of the crew between Sunday’s games: Jennifer, Jeran, Cedric, Maryssa, Lydia, and Steffani.IMG_0140

Here I am playing golf today in one of my best T-shirts. Apparently I’m the only one who knew it was “Dress Up Golf Day” because everyone else looked normal. Also, I wanted to point out how all the skin on my face is dripping down my neck into my shirt like frosting on a cake. It’s much worse when I take my hat off.
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Lumber & Soccer

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Today I was left all alone, by myself, while Diane went to Portland to play with Jennifer and Lydia. They didn’t actually play, per se, they shopped. For girls I suspect that counts as playing. I have it on good authority that they had a good time. I’m hope they still are because it’s 9:40 PM and they aren’t home yet. Perhaps they stopped at a beer joint on the way home for a sandwich or something.

My day started when my alarm went off at 0630 this morning. Yes, I actually set an alarm and it was absolutely horrible. But, I promised to help our Lions club put out flags to celebrate this holiday, so I did it. Once I was up it wasn’t so bad. After flags we always eat breakfast at Sunshine Pizza. I had a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee. Then I went home and had a good cup of coffee.

After changing into my work clothes I commenced the process of helping the remains of our pussy willow tree migrate from the upper yard to the lower yard where it would be easy to dismantle them further and let them enjoy the warmth of a nice cozy fire. Here’s what it looked like before all the branches were whacked off …

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… and this is how they all wound up after making their way down the hill …

IMG_0135The tree was 30-40 feet tall and just getting out of control. Plus, after all the little fuzzy things fall off the branches they are replaced with about a bazillion leaves that have to be sucked up with the lawn mower. It’s a chore. Now we’ll have a couple of years with no pussy willow leaves to be concerned about. Might take me that long to burn all the branches removed from the tree.

Our new neighbor, Scott, cut all the limbs off the tree because I told him he’d have to move if he didn’t. Since Whitney isn’t about to move any where she immediately sent Scott to the store to buy a new chain saw. Since Scott isn’t going anywhere without Whitney he did exactly what she told him to do. That new chain saw got a work out and it was gratifying that Scott, a Georgia Boy, was well versed in the ways of properly dropping timber where you want it to go. I thought only people in Oregon could do that. He did a terrific job and I believe I’m now in his debt. With luck, he’ll have to have something done that involves a computer, not a lot of manual labor. I can do that.

Tomorrow I must golf. Temps will be in the 60’s so it should be perfect. I should feel bad about planning that since the east coast is having one snow storm after another, but I’m really not. All those people over there that we know, and are related to, understand that they can come visit with us any time they want to. Seems like now would be the right time. But, no … instead they huddle in their homes or go to Las Vegas or Arizona. It’s probably no big deal to them since it’s actually a way of life for them. Still, they have a way to get some relief if they wish.

Diane arrived home, safe and sound, shortly before 10 pm so now I must wind down and prepare for slumber.

Hope everyone is well and adequately fed.

Oh! I forgot to mention that Lydia’s soccer team, HSC Crush, played on yesterday afternoon and won 6-0. Most of the action was at the other goal line so Lydia did a lot of this …

DSC_2861Fortunately, she remembered to bring her huge Mickey Mouse gloves so it was easier to shade her eyes from the sun while she watched the action at the other end of the field. Really, she stopped quite a few kicks on her goal. Not much gets by her.

Now I’m stopping.

Happy 1515

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Greetings to you all. If you are reading this I can only surmise that you survived whatever New Years celebration party you chose to attend, and that your gift of sight is still functioning. Could be, however, that some of you may have a third party reading this to you. Why anyone would do that is beyond me, but it could happen. I suppose.

It’s readily evident that Diane and I survived the festivities in good shape mainly because we avoided them. We watched the ball drop in New York, stayed up until 0100 New York time, then went to bed. A few revelers in the neighborhood popped off a few illegal fireworks to let everyone know they could read a clock and knew the precise moment when it turned to midnight. That’s OK. Happens every year the very same way, by the very same revelers. It’s expected to the point where the dogs didn’t even bark. They no longer bark on the 4th of July, either. They are self-taught, in this regard, with a lot of encouragement from we who no longer bark at fireworks.

Diane celebrated the 1st day of this new year by continuing the hacking and coughing cold I had over Christmas. I can share an informed guess that what she’s coughing up is a lot like the photo I shared in a previous post but she won’t share so that I can confirm.

As you may have guessed, not a lot transpired at this domain no New Years Day. Just waking up on the green side of the grass was a positive event. Actually, that’s a good one on any day. When it comes to waking up, green is good, you know. It’s also a primary color in the Oregon Ducks uniforms. Normally.

Speaking of the Ducks … their uniforms are quite the topic of conversation over here in the Far West because of the lack of color. My first take on them was, “where’s the yellow ‘O’, or the green one?” For the the inaugural NCAA championship game they are  gray and silver. After my initial disappointment I gave it a little thought and realized that the uniforms look like something a warrior might wear. Quite stunning, and appropriate. It’s going to be a good game and history will be made because, gee, there isn’t an ACC or SEC team involved which goes against everything the BCS computers stood for; those computers that everyone knows were developed and maintained by a Booster Club somewhere in Alabama.

January 2nd I attended the first Veteran’s Breakfast of the year mainly because Diane, between very productive coughs, insisted I go. It was a good visit with some old guys who used to wear uniforms for a living. Doing this meant I had to get up early and be ready to eat at 0800, something a little beyond normal for me. But, I did it. I couldn’t stay for the entire event because I had to be somewhere at 1000. I can’t remember what that was about, but I know I was on time.

On Saturday I left Diane at home, picked up her Mother, Jean, and joined Barb and Ron at the church so we could dismantle the Christmas tree and get it outside before it decided to spontaneously combust and burn the building down. That didn’t happen so it was a successful day. Also, I didn’t fall off the ladder which was a good thing because I’ve learned that as I increase in age my ability to bounce when I fall is drastically diminished. I’m sure that’s true for all of us. We just kind of land and jiggle for a bit. Then, when all motion has ceased, we evaluate our extremities to see what does and does not work. Sometimes a weak “ouch” or two escapes before the jiggling stops, but not always. Sometimes there isn’t enough air available for that until much later. There may have been times where I was unconscious but I don’t remember them.

Sunday found me at church with Diane’s Mom, Jean, to get the New Year off to a good start. I’m sure something else happened Sunday, but I can’t remember what it was. Surely there was a point in time where I made a light lunch for my bride as the next step in her recovery. At that point she didn’t have much of a voice because of the congestion, so I just fixed her something that I thought sounded like what she asked for. I think it might have been fried eggs and toast, one of her favorite comfort food groups.

Later in the evening I got a text from Whitney, the girl next door, asking me to please let her dogs out because she had taken Scott, the boy next door, to the emergency room to address an emergent medical condition. I did that for them. The dog’s names are Taylor and Trigger and they are well-behaved. It was raining but they didn’t mind. I let them run around for a while, fed them, gave them water, had them visit with out dogs for a while, but ushered them back to their cage in the garage. They went in with no problem. Good dogs.

Monday I got up fairly early and let the dogs out again and just left them out to run because they don’t run away even though one of them is still a puppy. By doing this I learned that they are both quite good excavators when they plowed up the flower beds along the basement wall on the south side of the house. It was a really nice job. I later learned that they had also expressed their love of dirt by churning up the raised flower beds out front. They had fun. Lots of it. Then they took their dirty little feet back into their cage with no complaint.

I worried about Scott all day Monday and was happy when he was released back into the wild before the sun set. At that time Cedric showed up so he could make a Power Point presentation for his church youth group. That was good because it meant he’d be there to help his Grandma get off the floor in the event she fell down while I was gone to our Lions Club meeting. We had a program presenter from Harlyn Medical which is an innovative company conveniently located in St. Helens. Our presenter was the company’s Chief Marketing Officer who, also conveniently, is the son of one of our club members. This young man and the rest of the executive team for the company is bringing cutting edge technology with a global impact home to St. Helens. Pretty cool.

Now it’s Tuesday, garbage day. Thankfully I remembered to put the cans out yesterday allowing me to avoid another early morning reason to get out of my pajamas. No, not that, but a reason to go outside before noon.

Did I mention that we sold the old 1973 Winnebago? Probably not because that happened Sunday, also. I just remembered. We sold it just two days after advertising it on Columbia County Buy Sell Trade internet site. It worked so well that I will be taking pictures of lots of things to post for sale, but next will be our 1996 Subaru. If  all goes well, in a couple of weeks we should be able to clean out at least one layer of “things” that are littering the basement floor, and lots of other stuff throughout the house that I don’t recognize. Then, in a couple of years we’ll remember we had something that was really useful at one time and know it’s in the basement somewhere but we can’t find it. Then we’ll buy another one, not remembering that we sold one just like it, a couple of years ago, for about half what we paid for the new one that could very well be the old one since it was purchased at a thrift store. I guess that’s kind of the circle of life for most “stuff”.

Now I must rest because I took Mom Jean shopping this afternoon. Diane sent me with a list and I got everything she wanted. That makes today a success.

Now … who figured out the 1515 reference in the title?

Old News, What’s in a Name?, & Jerry 3

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Sports events are escalating with the addition of about 4-5 NCAA football bowl games per day which I find to be OK. Though I’m not a fan of most of the teams who are playing, it’s fun to watch all that commotion as they struggle to be the best at whatever bowl they are playing in. Then there is the NFL which is winding down to another Super Bowl. The BIG one for me, of course, is the Rose Bowl game on New Year’s Day. That will be Oregon and Florida State going at it to advance to the National Title game against either Alabama or Ohio. Should be fun.

All this football causes me to think about team names and how the whole world seemed to get all upset about Indian names being used in a way that has been so demeaning all these years without anyone saying anything about it. That’s kind of like a woman stepping forward to report how Bill Cosby abused them 30-40 years ago, like all the sudden it’s too unbearable to keep a secret any longer. Or, the legion of altar boys who were abused by trusted ministers and pastors. I know, I’m trivializing those situations, but it astounds me that such events are hidden for so long, until one person steps forward. Then another, and another, until it becomes a HUGE problem because the media just eats it up and ensures that everyone is aware of the problem multiple times a day, every day, until a plane crashes somewhere.

So, then team names all the sudden became a problem because they diminish Native Americans. Most notable, of course, is the NFL’s Washington Redskins. National news, right? So, I propose that we take a look at all team names, not just those related to cultures. Like the New Orleans Saints. Seems like the Vatican should be up in arms about that one because there is no depiction of any of the many saints on advertising, or uniform items leaving one to doubt the validity of their association with the Catholic Church, which is obvious because of the name.

How about the Dallas Cowboys? Shouldn’t REAL cowboys be upset about that name? There is nothing about the team uniforms or logos that have anything to do with cowboys which leaves fans in limbo, allowed to draw their own conclusions about what kind of cowboys the owner is talking about. Everyone knows that only the media knows whats good and bad about all this.

Then there’s the Chargers, Packers, Bears, Panthers, Jaguars, Dolphins, Eagles, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams, etc. Man, if I was an animal of some sort, I’d either be upset because of the ambiguity of those names, or upset because I’m an animal without a team. Like a Chipmunk, or a Rabbit. Maybe the Cleveland Cows. That would be better than the Browns, which is about as undefined as one can be. What about all the other colors? Shouldn’t they be included somehow?

Maybe we could just use body parts as names for teams … like the Miami Knuckles, New York Arm Pits, Denver Dicks, San Diego Scapulas, Seattle Knee Caps, Carolina Cartilage, Dallas Digits, San Francisco Fingers, Pittsburgh Groins … OK, I’m outta names. Gotta quit before I work myself into a frenzy with this stuff because it drives me nuts. Seriously, who cares? Well, in my examples, perhaps Denver would … then, again, maybe not. We will probably never know. It is my humble opinion that those who get upset about team names are people who look for reasons to be upset about lots of things for no apparent reason.

Sorry for all of that. Maybe I should write more about stuff I know something about, like raisins, or dirt, but that would be incredibly boring.

To end I must report that Jerry 2 is alive and well. I know this is true because he called me to make sure I knew that, specifically. It was good to know.

VA, Costco, Michaels, Fred Meyer, & Lydia

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Today I paid another visit to my psychiatrist at the VA clinic. She officially said that I’m not nuts after all and that I didn’t have to come back unless I wanted to. She was very nice and we had a good rapport. Apparently I speak a bit of her language. Anyway, we severed ties because she’s moving on to greener pastures with her skills. I can’t say that I’ll miss her because I’ve only seen her twice, but it was meaningful and we accomplished my goal of ridding my life of Ambien. By January I should be done with it.

Now all I have to do is lose about 30 pounds so the Diabetes Police will leave me alone. All I have to do is quit eating. Simple.

We returned home by way of Costco, the one on Jenkins Road, where we enjoyed a festive lunch of very large hot dogs. $3.00 gets you two of the foot longs plus two refillable drinks. Can’t beat that for a decent meal. Ok, ok, … it’s processed meat, I know, but it’s still a decent meal. On the plus side, I only had half a cup of soda instead of a full one with a refill, like Diane did.

Then we stopped at Michaels so Diane could get some important things. She let me stay in the Buick and rest. And read my book. On my iPad. Then we had to stop at Fred Meyer to get yogurt. She let me stay in the Buick there, too. Gas was only $2.27 but we didn’t need any. It’s cheaper at Freddie’s than it is at Costco.

One of the things she got at Costco was a dead chicken in a plastic box. It was all broiled and brown and I figured it was destined to be our early dinner. I was correct, as I am many times throughout the day. One of us may disagree on that point and that’s OK. I know I’m correct, like I am many times throughout the day. Again, there may be disagreement, etcetera.

Once home, my job was to dismantle the chicken while Diane made a festive salad. We had to hurry because I was tapped to return Lydia to Hillsboro for her weekly goalie training session. I did it because both Diane and Jennifer were booked for a hot bunco party, something they do once a month at various homes throughout the area.

Lydia and I had a very meaningful conversation on the trip over since it was just the two of us. We don’t get that kind of quality time together very often and it was good. I learn stuff. Today it was that one of the qualities of a good male friend, for a girl, is that he will hold your hair back when you throw up. Every time. She was sick, you see, during a teen conference thing for church and thought it would be more fun to throw up out side on the street than inside in a toilet. The male friend, I’m told, is sweet on Lydia but it’s been made very clear to him that she likes him like a brother. Still, he tries. During this learning evolution she consumed 17 of the 20 chicken nuggets we got at McDonalds on the way out of St. Helens. She only wanted 10, but for another $.50 we could get 20 so I opted for the bargain. It worked out.

Now I must stop. This is post 690. Maybe not a big deal to many of you, but it is to me. Thinking about all those words makes me tired.