Family, Friends, Golf, & Crafty Stuff

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Last Sunday Daniel flew to Houston to attend Intel training this week. He arrived safely, but his bags didn’t. Nifty. I understand that an Alaska Airline representative told Daniel to go out and buy some clothes while they searched the world for his luggage. They eventually found it on a beach in Hawaii. Well, not really on a beach, but pretty close since the airport in Honolulu is very close to Hickam AFB which is, essentially, on the beach. The luggage has since been returned to Daniel.

My psychiatrist visit on Monday went well. I completely fooled her and passed with flying colors. Turns out I’m not totally whacko after all. She wants to see me again in three weeks anyway. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s so I can pick out the color of my straight jacket. Rumor has it they come in an array of hues, not just white.

I’m still in the PC resurrection business it seems because I worked on Diane’s yesterday. Turns out Microsoft’s operating systems haven’t outgrown me completely after all. Granted, I’m more comfortable dealing with DOS and Windows XP, but Diane is using Windows 8.1 with a touch screen. The latter aspect is sometimes an issue because I am prone to pointing to areas on the screen to make a point. In my old life as a PC nerd that wasn’t a problem because all I did was leave smudges. Lots of them. Diane’s screen, however, reacts to touch causing it to open all kinds of programs I don’t necessarily want to access while ferreting out solutions for the issues she complains about. I’ve discovered, recently, that many of those issues are the result of one update or another to the operating system. Love those things.

I’ve been doing surveys on online lately to earn a little extra money. In doing so, I’ve learned that I’m not really a specific age, I’m 65+. Apparently survey people just lump everyone 65 and over into one large group while everyone else gets to put down their real age. I think that’s discrimination and may rise up and be heard.

Today I went golfing with Junior. It was therapeutic for both of us, but mainly Junior. His Mom passed away recently and her service was yesterday morning. I joined him, and his brothers Doug, and Jerry, at a reception they held yesterday afternoon. Normally, as most of you know, it’s usually Doug, Junior, and me who go out and amaze all the other golfers, but today it was just Junior and me. We were all alone on the course, like it was our own private club. It was really nice and we took bonding to a new level.

After golfing I returned home to find Diane working furiously in the basement, picking through an array of “things” we don’t need, making piles and lists in preparation for removing the vast majority of it from the house. This is something we’ve discussed numerous times in the past. Turns out she was serious about it. While she did that, I fiddled around with the fireplace mantel I’ve been working on. We bought it at the Restore Store a couple of months ago, knowing it was too wide. But it was pretty, and there was a good chance I could tear it apart and rebuild it to a more appropriate size. So, that’s what I’ve been doing. The parts are cut and all I have to do is glue and screw it all back together so it can be varnished. Then I’ll have to figure out how to attach it to the fireplace.

Just before it got dark Diane made me go down to the Lion paper boxes to find her a Sunday paper. She’s always loved reading newspapers but we had to cancel our prescription because she would always wind up with a stack of them next to her chair and couldn’t get anything done. But, she can handle one paper a week so I go down and dig out a couple once in a while to keep her happy. The other one is for Mom Jean. While I was at the paper boxes I figured I may as well straighten them up a little, like we do every other Wednesday. I insisted that she stay home because she’s got the sniffles and i don’t want them to get any worse.

On that note, knowing the truth that there’s punishment in my future after Diane reads this, I must quit. Hope everyone had a great day. I suspect you did, unless you live in Buffalo, NY, or thereabouts.

Kids, VA, & Free Food

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Greetings – it’s been about 13 days since my last post and I don’t’ have any good reasons for my absence that would satisfy those who, for some obscure reason, follow me. The good news is that during that time I was finally given an appointment with a psychiatrist at the VA Hospital here in Portland. This is especially good news for Diane because she’s been trying to have me committed for many years. I have until Monday to get all my communications out. After that I’m not sure I will have access to a computer. As far as I know, the psych ward doesn’t allow inmates to use electronical equipment of any kind. Especially those that require AC power. Batteries may be OK, but I’m not sure. I’ll let you know.

Let’s see … what’s happened during my sabbatical? I checked my calendar, and the bits of memory floating around in my head, and tangible information is surprisingly sparse. Not a surprise there, huh? Because of that, the following information isn’t necessarily in chronological order which, as you know, is important to me. Some times it’s important to me. Not so much today.

Gilligan and Baylee spent Saturday afternoon with us, and were going to spend the night so they could go to Sunday School. I took them next door to meet Kaia and Brooklyn, our new neighbor girls, who reside with their parents, Scott and Whitney. They moved from Hillsboro because they’d heard we were awesome neighbors and couldn’t pass up the chance to live next to us. Turns out, they’re pretty awesome neighbors, too. Anyway, Kaia and Brooklyn are 5 and 2, respectively, I believe, which dovetailed nicely with Gilligan’s 7, and Baylee’s 4. The adults, and I, sat and talked while the 4 little girls ran rampant throughout their house. It was a joyous time with good conversation and all the girls made new friends.

At bedtime, Baylee decided she’d rather go home so Daddy retrieved her, leaving Gilligan in our tender loving care. She mentioned that it would be good to have a night-light on somewhere in case she had to go to the bathroom, or get up to get a snack. She slept all night, no problem, and I had to wake her in the morning so she’d have time to get ready for Sunday School.

SS was a hit mainly, I think, because she made even more friends. She even sat through church service with minimal problem, sitting behind us with her friends, whispering the entire time.

After lunch we asked if she was ready to go home and she said, “No, I’ll just stay here.” So, we confirmed the extended visit, and she stayed. Baylee even came back to give it another shot, and did very well. It was a joy to have them both.

One of our conversations touched on the skill of cooking so I shared with them how their Dad, Jeff used to cook for us all the time when he was 7. I told them that he planned the menu, shopped for the food and prepared it all. When asked how he got to the store I said he used the car. Baylee believed me but Gilligan wasn’t convinced. She wasn’t a bit skeptical about it, either. She just flat-out didn’t believe me. I don’t understand. But, there’s lots of time left to sway her thinking.

Monday morning we had to give the girls a bum’s rush to get them home so we could be in Scappoose by 0900 to attend a free breakfast at the high school. The Leadership class sponsored the meal and a program for all Veteran’s in honor of the day. It was very nice and we got to sit with Jack and Wynette which made it even better.

After the meal, we adjourned to the auditorium to watch a movie about the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight Program. In case you don’t know, it’s a program that gives free flights to Washington DC for WWII vets so they can view the memorial created in their honor. Sadly, it wasn’t completed in time for all of them who survived the war to visit. They are dying at the rate of about 900 a day and will soon be gone.

The movie was awesome and we highly recommend it.

So, except for a couple of random visits to my primary care physicians, I have two of them, that’s all I can remember about the past 13 days. I’m sure there were a few days in there where I actually accomplished something. Then again, may not.

Oh, ya! My pending visit with the psychiatrist was arranged by my VA PCP and I’m looking forward to that visit. Should be a hoot and you know I’ll share the results.

It’s going to snow tomorrow.

Cheers

The Garage Door, My iPhone 6, My Glasses, & The Garbage

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday afternoon I only had two things to remember; put the garbage can, and the recycle can at the street. Technically, I suppose that’s only one thing to remember. Also, technically, neither of them are cans, but it doesn’t sound right if you call them ‘plastics’, ya know? So, they’re cans.

I knew right away I’d missed the garbage man when I frantically rolled the can to the street when I woke at 0710 because the neighbors garbage can lid was upside down, the garbage man’s way of saying, “I was here.” Still, I left it at the street with the plan of hauling it back to the house later in the day, between rain storms. I did get the recycle out on time, so that was good. Still, I got into a minor bit of trouble when I told Diane about my failure.

Technically it was the dogs fault because neither of them woke me at 0530 like normal. Had they done so, I’m sure I could have beat the garbage man to the street. I’ll have to talk with them about that and reinforce it with a piece of cheese.

There are a couple of other reasons I may have failed to remember those important chores that are worthy of mention. First, my iPhone 6 arrived yesterday and it was mandatory that I configure it and test all the functions I’ve been studying for the past 1.5 months. Second, my new glasses arrived from the VA facility that makes them, somewhere in Idaho. Boise, I think. There’s a little difference in the prescription so there was an adjustment period getting used to them. I hardly ran in to anything so it was a successful transition. The main problem is that they have transition lenses that require me to wobble my head around to focus on things because the magic little focus spots are a little off from my old ones.I got gold frames, which Diane doesn’t like on me, so I envision a trip to Costco in the near future to rectify that fashion failure on my part. I only chose them because I liked the nose cushion. It’s comfy.

My new iPhone arrived while I was working on the other garage door. We have two of them. Diane’s has an automatic opener and mine is manual. Everyone should be very proud of me for taking the phone to my desk where I left it, all wrapped up, then went back to work on the door. My task was to attach a new seal to the bottom of the door. It’s kind of a problem because I got the kind that has an extruded aluminum bracket into which one must slide the seal after the bracket is mounted to the bottom of the door. Sounds easy, right. Well, I’m here to tell you it’s far from that. I did Diane’s garage door on Saturday and it about crippled my right hand all over again. The problem is that the rubber part arrives flat and must be formed into a “U” as it’s slid into the bracket channels and this covers the screws quite nicely. Looks good. But, the door must be completely open so the bottom of the door is located at the curve where the door goes horizontal so the bottom is not blocked by the frame in which the door rollers roll. Got it? Even then I had to undo the bottom roller on one side in order to clear the roller frame thing. With a little WD-40 and lots of effort I managed to push, yes, push, the rubber seal across the entire 10 foot span of the door. It was brutal and my right hand wasn’t working very well when I finished, but I got it done, by golly!

So, yesterday I figured I’d make things easier by propping the door open, about chest high, then remove the bottom rollers from BOTH sides thereby allowing me to swing the bottom panel of the door into the garage where I could easily insert the rubber seal. I tied off the bottom rollers to heavy things I found on the garage floor to keep the door spring from coiling up and beating holes in the ceiling after being ripped from my grasp. On one side I used a trailer hitch and the other side had a propane tank attached.

Everything was going nicely until I took the last screw out of the second roller bracket. At that exact moment I realized the error of my thinking as the door pushed the wood clamp I’d used to hold the door up aside as if it wasn’t there and slammed with a resounding crash to the floor. I’m sure it shook houses on both sides of us. On the way down it hit my sprained left wrist which hurt a bit, but I wasn’t concerned about that right then. I was waiting for the pain to race up my left from my left foot that I thought might be trapped under the door, but it never happened. Looking down I was relieved to see that my foot was actually OK.

Right then Diane appeared in the door to the house and calmly asked if I was OK. Having already assessed myself for possible crippling injuries, I assured her that I actually was OK. Then, just to get it out of the way, I told her what had happened, she nodded knowingly, and retreated back into the house after suggesting that I call Jeff for help.

I eventually did call Jeff, after re-learning that a 10 foot wide wood garage door that isn’t hooked to its spring weighs about a ton and a half, far beyond my limited lifting abilities. Once Jeff got here we managed, after a bit of testing, to get the door open and propped up so we could insert the rubber seal and put it all back together. However, noticing a small dent in one of the channels, into which the rubber gasket would slide, closer inspection revealed that nothing was going to slide through it. Ever. The door landed on some “things” that slammed those grooves shut tight in a number of places to the point where I knew the only way to make it neat was to get a new rubber gasket bracket. If I’d been thinking properly I would have reattached the bottom rollers, that are attached to the big spring, but I wasn’t so we didn’t. Instead, we lowered the door to the floor, gently, where it will reside until the new brackets arrive from wherever they’re made.

Last night Diane went to play bunco with her friends so I was left along with strict instructions to not do anything that involved lifting heavy things, or plugging anything into a wall socket. That pretty much limited me to my new iPhone 6 which I opened and got it all set up for use. I worked on the puzzle we have living on a table, too. The pieces are very light so there was no danger of violating the lifting restriction.

Now it’s Tuesday and I’m home alone again because Diane is working today. She didn’t leave me any instructions so I’m a little bit concerned about how I should conduct myself until her return. I’ll figure something out. It’d not raining very hard so maybe I’ll just go out and mow the yard.

Hope you all are doing well.

My Jennie Lynn

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday I received all the material I ordered to waterproof our garage doors so this morning, after my nap, I donned my dirty clothes so I could get to work. Before that, however, I had to finish the church newsletter that I pretty much promised would be done shortly after noon. Normally I would print a copy for my live-in proofreader, but she made a date with her Mom to go shopping. It’s for food, so I’m not complaining. The thing is, however, I felt like I was under the gun to get the newsletter into the hands, or ‘eyes’ in this case, sooner than later. I did print the copy and it’s waiting for her input. Should there be errors, I’ll fix it and resend, but I don’t think she’ll find any. I’m guessing, of course.

We’ve been wanting me to work on the garage door for the past 7 years so I suppose it was time to do it. One of the reasons for delay was finding the “stuff” I needed to do it. Researching the internet revealed lots and lots of choices and, as you may know, making choices isn’t one of my strong suits.

Take menus, for example. When we go to a restaurant, or Burgerville, everyone knows to go ahead and order what they want, leaving me until last because I need to investigate all the possibilities. If pressed to order first I almost always get something I don’t really want just so people will quit making suggestions because they want me to place my order so they can place theirs. It’s very difficult. So, I go last. I’ve always said that the best menu in the world would be one that has only one choice and if you don’t like it, go somewhere else. I would go there no matter what they served, just for the experience of a no hassle order. I guess that’s why I like going to Hometown Buffet where you pay on the way in and just eat whatever they have available. It’s like a Costco for things to eat.

Oddly, that brings me back to the garage door because just as I ended that last bit, my proofreader returned with a butt load of bags full of food. And a new iron and a cake. The cake is for Jennifer’s birthday party which we’re having tomorrow afternoon. Her birthday was really two days ago, because she was born on the tropical island of Guam and they are 17 hours ahead of us time-wise. I know that’s true because Diane looked it up and told me. Bet lots of you didn’t know we had a little Guamanian in the family. Here’s what she looked like about 3 years after being released into the world …

… and again at 5 …What a cutie. Now she’s 39 and that totally flabbergasts me because she’s still my little girl and I don’t see a lot of changes from the above photos and she still calls me “Daddy” when she want’s something. Well, not only when she wants something. Sometimes she does it because she wants to see me melt.

Today is a super windy one and I don’t want to open the garage door any more but I will anyway, and deal with whatever blows in the door while I’m working. Might work out OK, but I will be using a drill for part of this evolution. It could get tricky. I’ll submit the standard injury report should one be necessary.

I hope everyone is safe and dry.

Welcome to Rainy Oregon

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Weather here is pretty funny. Funny because most people think about rain when Oregon comes up in a conversation. Last week, and even earlier this week, it really was raining, but it’s been sporadic so everyone can enjoy these first few weekends of fall. I think someone made a deal with the weather folks. there’s no other reason.

Yesterday it was so nice we took a trip to the beach. Really! We did that. It was 77 degrees when we got there and it was warmer when we left after enjoying the “crowds” that flocked around the Wreck of the Peter Iredale on a Fort Stevens State Park beach in Warrenton, Oregon.

Ok … so there was just one person in the photo, but there was a moment when 4-5 people were there at the same time. For added emphasis, Diane shared the moment so everyone could get a true perspective of how large the remains are.

Before Diane and I walked down to the beach, we dragged her Mom, Jean, to the top of a sand dune so she couldnt escape. She also had a very nice view of the beach and didn’t have to expend a lot of energy to obtain this lofty location.

The reason is because it was just a short walk straight out from where Diane parked the Buick in the upper lot. Not a bad day.We returned home shortly before 6 pm which was a good thing because we discovered that today we had an opportunity to watch Lydia play a little softball in Rainier. Sadly, the first game started at 0900, but we arrived just as it was starting. It was one of the normal weekend tournaments that she’s played in many times in the past, with many of the same girls she’s played with for many years. It was like a little homecoming for her, in a way.

Lydia’s team won that first game 8-3, but they lost the second one 3-2. They play again tomorrow, but we won’t be able to attend. I need to attend church to atone for whatever sins I’ve committed during the last few weeks. Diane makes me do that once in a while because she’s a little concerned that lightening will strike me some time when she’s near me and hopes to avoid the moment.

Here’s Lydia at one of her at bats … that’s Diane with the pink sweater in her lap next to my green chair … Lydia was the lead off batter for both games.Here she is running to first base … that’s Daniel just to the right of #2 keeping score. Jennifer normally keeps score but she couldn’t make today’s games because of work. So Daniel, like a good husband should, stepped in to fill that void. What a guy. Jeran is sitting next to him.

Here she is lounging on first base talking with her first base coach and Pete, the umpire. I think they’re talking about what to have for lunch. I’m not sure. There’s Daniel again, on the right.

Here’s Lydia running to second base …

Here she is lounging on second base … this is as far as she got before the team got their third out.

Here she is playing first base. The runner was out which is evident because Lydia is holding the ball.Lydia played the first game in center field and started the second one in that position but was moved to first base due to errors. She didn’t make any at this position. Sadly, after moving to first base the opposing team started hitting long balls to the outfield, mainly to center field. Sadder yet is that the first base person who was moved because of errors was playing center field. Consequently, runs scored that Lydia would have, I’m sure, prevented. But, luck of the draw, and it is what it is. They all still had fun.

It was a little odd that Marty, the normal coach for this team, wasn’t present. He’s always there. Today, however, we learned that he is currently at the VA hospital in Vancouver where he’s learning to walk a straight line again after suffering a stroke earlier in the week. Apparently he’s going to be OK but currently has the tendency to veer left as he walks. We’re not yet sure if that’s going to affect is driving abilities.

That’s about it for today. Had we not attended the ball games, I would have had to work around the house. Probably in the area of building a fence to replace the one I recently ripped down. The new one will be made of wood instead of loosely stacked rocks. Really heavy rocks.

Now I must rest. Lastly, however, I must share my sadness over the fact that the Oregon Ducks rolled over for the Arizona Wildcats once again. They beat Oregon last year, too. Their only loss. Looks like history is repeating.

Weather, Food, & Gout (again)

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

This afternoon it was brought to my attention that I haven’t posted anything for a while. I actually knew that, but I didn’t realize it had been eight days.

Wow! Eight days! Who knew I could go that long without adding a post? I can only believe that I’m either slowing down, or my dementia is acting up, making me forget things a little more than normal. Whatever the reason, I’m back for a moment, and this one’s for you, Linda.

So, what’s been going on lately besides a lot of horrible weather everywhere except Oregon. We’ve been blessed with some excellent days. There was a day or two last week when we got caught in a downpour while driving, but normally it’s sunny and warm every day and cool at night. The downpour was terrible – we got hit by around 150 drops of rain and even had to use the windshield wipers once. I counted the drops so I know it’s true.

Now, what’s been going on? Is it ISIS or ISIL? I’m confused.

Last Sunday we partook of the Safeway Deli Chinese food selections, which we do quite frequently. It’s good food. Since I was sent to buy the meal, without complicated instructions, I chose a shrimp dish for me and the standard orange chicken for Diane and Mom. Oddly, there were more shrimp in that little bucket than I could eat at one sitting so I save the remainder for another meal. I think it was all saved until Tuesday when I finished it off. I knew it was a daring thing to do since I have the ability to contract gout and the reason is typically shellfish, but I had to have it. You know?

I don’t remember what happened on Monday, but think I may have finished painting the house. I’m not sure, but the painting got finished at some point during the week. Wednesday I went golfing with the Peal brothers. Like normal, I golfed badly and had a great time. I think Doug told me I hit the ball something like 60 times as we wandered around the nine holes. I actually hit it more than that, and it wasn’t always the same ball, but didn’t tell Doug so the extras didn’t make it to the score card. The rules we use consider that a legal tactic. Also, when anyone gets into double-digits on any given hole, who really cares?

Thursday Diane thought it might be a good idea to eat the container of Dungeness crab we had in the refrigerator since it was about to expire and crab doesn’t taste too good after it expires. So, we had home-made crab Louie’s, one of our favorite meals. We just love those things. We ate the crab knowing full-well that I was flirting with gout but it didn’t seem to matter to anyone.

Friday afternoon my right big toe woke up and let me know that it was aware I’d eaten shrimp AND crab during the week and it had no choice but to punish me for it. Saturday morning, when I was supposed to be helping my American Legion brothers at the Scappoose Sauerkraut Festival, my right big toe had other plans. Foremost was it’s decree that I would not be allowed to stand, or walk, without a great deal of pain. Consequently, I did neither all day long. I just sat around all day dreading bedtime. As if to prove a point, my toe chose to keep me awake most of the night with sharp, life-threatening, shooting pains all the way up my leg. It was brutal and forced me out of bed.

Retreating to my favorite spot for morning naps, it quickly became apparent that I wasn’t going to be safe anywhere. Then I went to the Man Room and sat in my computer chair, draping my foot on the arm of the couch. For safety, and because I’m afraid of the dark, I turned on the tiny little lamp next to my computer. About 10 minutes after doing that Diane wandered in and turned it off, not realizing I was sitting about 3 inches from her. She commented that the light woke her up and she went back to bed. I found this interesting because our bedroom is down a long hall and around a couple of corners from the Man Room, so that little light isn’t very noticeable.

But, to preserve the peace, I left the light off and returned to my napping place. In the end, I draped a cool washcloth over my foot and just closed my eyes. It seemed to work because I drifted off, waking only when Diane brought the dogs out for their morning sojourn into the yard to relieve themselves. We prefer they do that outside and they don’t mind.

This morning, Diane went to church with her Mom, leaving me home alone to suffer in silence. I considered a nap, but didn’t want to take a chance of alerting the toe to my improving health. I’m sure it knew, but didn’t want to take a chance by making a big deal of it. After church Diane called to warn me that she was bringing a couple of church ladies home with her, so I could provide some iPad instructions, and insisted that I exit my jammies and put on some underwear. I briefly considered wearing nothing but underwear but decided I didn’t have enough money to pay a lawyer for the divorce that surely would have happened had I done that. Instead, I put on one of my dress up T-shirts and a pair of shorts in addition to the underwear. It was a prudent thing to do, as it turns out.

Now it’s evening, Sunday Night Football is starting so it must be time to quit.

Hope all is well with all of you wherever you may be.

The News, our House, Ducks, and Ozzie

Posted on September 13, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Seems like the most newsworthy “stuff” this past week has been about the Pistorius trial, ISIS “bravery”, and the NFL Commissioner’s bad call. I suspect all of those are a handy way for the media to deflect attention from actually newsworthy “things”. Not being an expert of such matters, I’m not in any kind of position to expand on what those “things” are, but surely there’s something else. Well, there is the pregnant Princess who’s having some pretty terrible morning sickness issues, but I bet there thousands of pregnant ladies in the world experiencing the same terrible malady. Just because they aren’t princess’s doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a little bit of the limelight. Right?

Pistorius is guilty of man slaughter, or the South African equivalent. He shot his girlfriend in the safety of his own home, and should go to jail but probably won’t because he’s missing some parts and was an Olympian. Got it. Let’s move on.

ISIS continues to terrorize the world with its unique display of bravery by beheading the third journalist who had the misfortune of getting captured. In retaliation, the news keeps showing drones blowing up the same two pick up trucks over and over and over. That’ll teach them, don’t you think? I know, there’s lot’s going on that even the news facilities don’t know about but you’d think they could be a little bit more creative with their stock war footage. Maybe they could show something from the Gulf War. Who’d know? Just give us a little variety, OK?

I mean, really, why is it so important that everyone know that NFL front office folks are less than honorable at times? So Rice slugged his wife and only got a 2-game suspension and didn’t spend even one minute in jail. That’s right up there with child-beaters who might wind up with a few months in jail and mandatory anger management counseling. I’ll go out on a limb with the NFL, here, and postulate that Rice is totally guilty, not so much for the deed, but for getting caught. He’s not the only one guilty of this offending activity.

The Princess? Enough said about her. I say leave her alone and let her suffer in peace.

Over the past couple of weeks, or so, Diane and I have been busy painting our home. I may have mentioned this previously, but I don’t care. I’m telling you about it again because it’s a task that’s wearing out my tiny little shoulders and arms as i dangle precariously from the top end of a 12 foot extension ladder extended to about 20 feet. It’s exciting and scary at the same time, kinda like sipping hot and sour soup at a rarely patronized Chinese restaurant in an unfamiliar city. Who knows that kind of outcome either of them will produce? Fortunately, I did not place Diane in the precarious position of having to call 911 to deal with the kind of injuries one incurs when testing the force of gravity from 20 feet up. I didn’t spill any paint, either. That’s the real success. Now all that remains to be painted are the garage doors. They are the only red items left.

Last Monday Ozzie had his teeth cleaned. His breath was pretty horrible from the barnacles growing on his teeth so we, and his Primary Care Doctor, felt it was probably a good idea to get rid of them. During the process on dogs, unlike with people, bad teeth are removed as necessary. Ozzie lost three of them because there was hardly anything left of them as most of the roots had been reabsorbed by his little body. We have them in a little tube and plan to add Ziggy’s tooth so it will make a nice necklace for Oz.

He was at the vet’s office pretty much all day and we picked him up shortly after 3 pm. They gave him some morphine for the pain so he was a little wild-eyed for a while and chose to hold up in his kennel for the remainder of the day. We had pain meds and antibiotics for him, but they were in pill form so the only way he was going to get them was to eat something … out of a bowl. There was absolutely no way I was going to hazard my fingers by sticking them in his mouth to administer a pill. Little as he is, with those tiny little teeth, he bites all the way to the bone. Since the teeth were now clean and polished, it would have been easier for him to do that. Consequently, he didn’t get his meds for three days because he wouldn’t eat. Apparently he didn’t want to get his nice clean teeth dirty. We tried, of course, but he chose to just sit in his kennel, except for an occasional trip outside, dwindling away to a mere 5-6 lbs, or so. Through it all he had a cold, wet nose, so figured he was probably OK. Still, I called his PCP and arranged to get liquid versions of his pain meds and antibiotics. He got his first dose last night which was a challenge. This morning he got another dose but I tricked him by not flinching when he showed me his Elvis lip, which he does to warn of imminent attack. Instead, I stuck the little syringe dose thing in his mouth and pressed the plunger. Boy was he surprised. Twice. Now I have to do it again tonight. Hopefully he hasn’t figured out my secret. He actually at food today, too, so we know he’s on the mend.

I only worked outside for a couple of hours this morning then terminated all activity because the temperature soared from an early 53 to 97 or so pretty quickly. I still need to paint some, but it’s hard to do when the paint dries on the roller before there’s time to apply it. Really makes a mess. So, we must wait for a cooler day. It will have to be before Wednesday because it’s supposed to rain that day.

Diane and I watched the Oregon Ducks dominate the Wyoming Cowboys 48-14 earlier. Then she left so I’ve been trapped here in my chair having to watch whatever comes on because she didn’t give me the remote before she departed.

Hope she comes back soon because I’m getting hungry watching all these commercials.

Baylee’s 5, & Other Stuff

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Here’s a hodge-podge of stuff for you to ponder. Mostly, it’s photos of recent events about which I’ve posted already. I finally downloaded the pictures from my camera. I was just too lazy to do it before. So, here they are. Perhaps while they are downloading I’ll think of something clever to write about, but no guarantees. I might just add something that’s true. You just never know …

The photos are in no particular order …

This one is from today at Baylee’s Birthday Party. She was 5 on April 30th, but the party wasn’t until today. That’s Jerrie Anne Diane next to her.

The Walters clan gave Baylee a bat, ball and glove which she loved. Lydia gave her some batting tips …

Then Jeran pitched to her and she was pretty good at it.

Lydia pitched a few, too.

Brianna, Michelle (Brianna’s Mom), Jennie (Lydia’s Mom), Lydia. Brianna is Lydia’s best friend. I know that’s true because Lydia told me so.

Baylee ran to thank Jack for his and Wynette’s gift to her. We had to recreate this because I wasn’t quick enough with the camera on the first, more significant encounter.

Here’s Gilligan all dressed up. She picks out her own clothes and goes to school like this. I think it’s awesome. She’s quite the individual.Here’s what the west side of the house looked like after a whacked down the overgrown, unkempt trees.

Then I did this, three times, to get them all down to the burn pile. One of these days we’re going to have one heck of a fire.

This is Breezie, our Holstein cat, enjoying the remnants of a Oregon Dark Cherry yogurt from Tillamook.

Then there are girls in trees … this is Brianna, probably from Easter. I don’t think any of the kids ever make it past that old tree without climbing it. It’s a source of joy for them all. Lydia’s above her but I couldn’t get a good picture because she was obscured by branches.That’s all I’ve got except to report I spent the better part of yesterday, before it began pouring rain, mowing the church lawn. I even edged it, too. I did that as an incentive to edge our yard at home. it’s been a while, and needs it badly. Once the rain started, it drained a whole bunch of clouds throughout the night, and got pretty brutal this morning. Thankfully, it was nice this afternoon so the kids could play outside.

It was a good day with the kidlets and we got to see Jack & Wynette. We talked about Jim & Donna like we always do when we get together. We do that because we’re pretty sure they talk about us, so it’s only fair.

After everyone left, and quiet descended, our friend Doug came up to retrieve the laptop I worked on for him. He would have picked it up days ago but he was at Long Beach, WA killing clams. He and his brother JR do that a lot. Kill clams.

Time to quit so I can watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

46 Years, Lions, & a God Moment

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Yesterday was Easter so after church we had our traditional free for all lunch for anyone who wanted to show up. Pretty much. In attendance were Jean, Me, Diane, Jeff, Daniel, Jennifer, Cedric, Lydia, Brianna, Alyssa, Jeran, Gilligan, and Baylee. Those are family members. You may question, Brianna, and Alyssa, but we count the kid’s friends as family. Also there was our friend Ron, from church, and our friend Gretchen who stopped by on her way home from Rainier. Gretchen and I worked together at PGE for many, many, many years. She’s still there, working hard.

The bigger kids, including Jeff, scattered candy filled plastic eggs all over the yard, front and back, for Gilligan and Baylee to find. There was no method to the distribution process, and no one had any idea how many of those eggs were scattered around so I have just cause for believing eggs will be showing up the next time I mow. After everyone left yesterday I found two. Today I found a couple more. I’ll get a better count with the mower because they’ll make a lot of noise as they go flying up the grass catcher tube.

Yesterday was also Adolph Hitler’s birthday, in case anyone was wondering.

The absolutely best part of yesterday, however, was that it marked the 46th year of wedded bliss for Me. Yes, just me, because I’m sure all those years weren’t blissful for Diane. Most of them, maybe, but not all. I know that’s true because I’ve been told. Thankfully, for Diane, the blissful part has been mostly on this end of the calendar. It just keeps getting better. Really, it does. Ask her.

After all the activity yesterday, it took us a while to wind down, then we watched the Blazers beat the Rockets in overtime. That caused an emotional outburst of adrenalin that didn’t go away until after midnight. So, there we were, laying in bed with our iPads at 0004 this morning. Diane’s checking her Facebook and I’m reading my book. I hear a little ding from my iPad and a little note pops up from Diane wishing me a Happy 46th. We’re like 15 inches apart, and she sends me a text. It was great, and I answered her back. Getting old and knowing how to use technology is quite fun.

Today I pulled weeds from the flower bed out front. We’ve both been working on it during the sunny days, a little at a time. This morning, when Diane told me today was the last sunny for the next week, I donned my pulling weed clothes and got to work. Diane stayed inside because that kind of outside activity isn’t kind to her immune system. Additionally, our neighbor was mowing his yard which is worse than simply touching weeds. So, I was on my own, and that’s OK.

I got everything pulled across the front, but not all the way around the corner. That was my goal, actually, so started gathering all the tools scattered in my wake so I could put them away. The net results of my efforts filled the little trailer I pull around with the mower when the grass catcher isn’t attached. I do that for fun sometimes. Just hook it up and pull it around the yard. Sometimes I put something in it and move it to another location. Just for fun. Really. Makes me feel like a real farmer.

Just as I began gathering my tools, it started sprinkling. That’s the rain that wasn’t supposed to arrive until after dark. So, thanks to Karma, I chose the exact right time to end my task.

Another good reason for ending it was because we had a Lions club meeting to attend. Diane was scheduled for the program and had Mary from SHEDCO lined up to speak. So, we got there early in order to be there when she arrived.

Shortly after we arrived a strange gentleman arrived so I introduced myself. I do that. His name was David. Expecting Mary as the only stranger for the evening, I asked about her and he said Mary had to cancel. This led me to believe that he was filling in for her as the SHEDCO speaker.

Then Mary showed up and threw both Diane and I into a momentary fit of mental frenzy as we tried to figure out what was going on. The reason turned out to be that Diane and Andy swapped program dates because we weren’t going to be in town on Diane’s assigned date. So, Diane wound up with today, but Andy forgot and arranged for David to come speak. David, or Dr. David Krier, founder of Volunteer Voyages, LLC, came prepared to give us a pictorial presentation about his organization. All he needed was some A/V equipment. But, we don’t have anything like that. All we had available was a screen that’s always there in the back room of the Village Inn Restaurant where we have meetings.

So, we had two presentations available: David, who had a flash drive but no A/V equipment, and Mary who, gee, had a laptop and a projector. David and Mary had a little discussion and cleared things up as to who would present by determining who came the farthest. That would be David who lives in St. Paul. The one in Oregon, not Minnesota. Mary lives in St. Helens.

So, the double booking worked out great for everyone, even me. David gave his presentation using Mary’s equipment, and Mary sat and watched. The real upside for me is that I was able to secure Mary as the speaker for our May 5th meeting. That’s the day I’m responsible for the program. She was a really good sport about the circumstances.

We call things like that a God Moment.

Las Vegas

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today’s schedule called for us to leave for Las Vegas at 0900 and we made it right on time, at 1000. Around noonish, we decided it might be a good time to eat something so I asked my iPad to find us an IHOP. She did, and we checked in to a really busy one in Perris, California. We had to wait for about 15-20 minutes, and pretty much every seat was full, all the time, so we were confident the food would be hot, and good. We weren’t disappointed. The silverware they delivered was even still warm from the dishwasher. We were definitely a minority in the facility, but that didn’t matter. Everyone was extremely friendly and made us reaffirm our desire to learn Spanish. Or Mexican. One of those.

After lunch we joined a plethora of vehicles and re-established our position on I-215 North. It was all going well then it all fell apart when I saw a huge bill board advising everyone to re-elect Sheriff Stan Sniff. It made my mind whirl with possibilities of other interesting names in public offices. Unfortunately I can’t remember any of them right now, but you have to admit it’s an interesting name for a sheriff. Kinda makes you wonder what his wife’s name is and what they named their kids. How about Scratch Ann? That’s not nice, I know, but how can your head not go that direction? I’m over it, now, and if I ever meet Mr. Sniff, I’ll apologize. Honest, I will. He won’t know why, but I’ll do it anyway.

In Riverside the temperature soared to 80 degrees, then went up a couple more in San Bernardino. Then we started climbing, gently, to over 4000 feet. The speed limit concerned Diane most of the way because there wasn’t a lot of guidance provided by the highway department. We encountered a number of warnings that the speed limit was dropping to 60, then 55, but getting back up to 70 was kind of left up to the individual drivers. Then, 20 miles down the road there might be a sign approving the speed everyone had been driving all that time. More like 75, even though there was a very large police presence on both sides of the freeway.

About 60 miles from our destination, we encountered the only, got that?, the only rest area open on the trip. There were others, of course, but every one of them was closed. Feeling blessed, we stopped, along with an abnormal number of Oriental folks, all of whom seemed to be smoking, because Diane was getting tired and her bladder was apparently full.

Diane was tired because the cross winds for most of the trip were not subtle, sometimes jerking us quite severely. It was reasonable that I take over driving responsibilities, although I’m not normally assigned that task.

Problems started just as soon as I put the Buick in ‘R’. There were 4-5 Oriental people standing behind the car talking, and taking photos of something. I waited, patiently, revving the engine, even whistling out the window at one point, but they wouldn’t move. Finally, Diane got out and made them aware of my desire to run over them, and they dispersed. Apparently, they were feeding birds.

Finally they moved, and I carefully made my way from the parking spot, and on to the freeway entrance. Diane told me she had been cruising at 74 most of the time, so I should set my sights on that speed. I did, and blended right in quite nicely. Shortly after doing that, we noticed the southbound lanes slowing down and it wasn’t long before all 3 lanes were cruising along at bruising 13 mph. We know it was 13 mph because Diane looked at Waze, who knows all that stuff. This continued for almost 20 miles. It was pretty amazing. We had to have passed thousands and thousands of cars. Let’s see, cars are about 18′ long and in this instance were about 3′ apart, so call it 21′. Now, 5280 divided by 21, times 3 for the lanes, and times 20 for the distance covered is 15085.7142857142858 cars. Considering that some of the vehicles were semi trucks, I figure I can round that up to an even 15,085 vehicles we passed during that time. That’s a lot of vehicles.

Finally, we hit the end and I could let it go. There was a point in time where my Oregon upbringing almost caused me to get off the freeway and get in line on the southbound side. Logic intervened, however, and kept me heading North, to LV. Diane isn’t aware of that brief impulse and I’m pretty sure it would have upset her a great deal had I acted on it.

We arrived at our destination, 121 Karen Avenue, Las Vegas. I got us checked in and everything moved to the room, while Diane parked the Buick. When she got to the rooms, we made supper. She baked both the potatoes we had and I made salad. Additionally, I heated up the one remaining chicken breast and ate it with my salad.

After eating, I went back to the Buick to get some things we missed on the first effort, and I stopped by the concierge to order up tickets for The Jersey Boys at the Paris. It’s the first show Diane thought she would like to see, so I got them. It is, incidentally, our anniversary trip.

Now I won’t have to buy a card.

Here in Vegas, by the way, it’s a stunning 57 degrees. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 70.

Go UCONN, Women and Men.