Maybe there'll be pictures

.

We're sneaking off to Sac today for a visit with my daughter. It's another short trip because tomorrow is the first Sunday of the month and the Community Breakfast at Frontier Senior Center.

maybe there'll be
more before Monday
.

Thanks!

.

I know there are a number of folks who believe the Royal Wedding is much ado about nothing. I was put off some by the run-up to it by the media... but then the Super Bowl hype and all of the March Madness excitement seem just a little over the top to me, as well. If it holds some interest for me, I will watch. No amount of promotion is going to change my mind.
That said, I wish to thank the Prince and Mrs. Wales for sharing their day with the rest of the world, and the folks who know how to do pomp and ceremony for making it seem flawless. Yeah, I watched about two minutes of highlights about an hour or so ago.
It's an event like this that gives many folks something to be optimistic about; to cheer about; to celebrate. Sure, it may seem a little pricey, but I think maybe it's a fair investment. There are some hat makers who may agree.


On another note of optimism, I read where "...there are officially 26 million less blind people in the world today than there were 6 years ago..." That means they regained their sight because of the efforts of organizations like Lions Clubs to eliminate preventable blindness.

Then I read this.


So far it's another good day

there's a full weekend planned

...and yet again

.

(not quite) 100 things - cont'd

I started here, continued here, here and here. At the rate this is going, you may wish I'd stuck to telling duck stories.

21 – I love telling folks that my brother's an only child. His father and my mother were both widowed.

22 – My cousin, Bob... called Bobby because he is the third Robert... and I were born on the same day. Many family members were convinced our great grandmother had lost it when she called them the second time to announce the birth of a great grandson.

23 – I am also the third. Many folks, when they find out my given name, act like they've discovered a deep dark secret. The real truth is that I've just been called Skipper, or Skip, since before I was born. I never found out why.

24 – I have lived in my current home longer than any other place I've lived. I haven't lived anywhere else for even ten years.

25 – I have been to the Far East, Canada, Mexico, and all over the U.S., but not across the Atlantic.

26 – I don't have a passport.

27 – I am as happy helping others achieve success as I would be if I succeed myself.
I'm even happy cheering them on while they succeed... particularly when I've waited since 1958 for them to win the World Series. At the rate the Giants are going... I really don't have any claim on their success last year, except I am a loyal fan.

28 – Ever since I can remember I've been fascinated by squirrels. Golden Gate Park was full of them when I was little. We would walk over to Haight Street (yes, that Haight Street) to shop. Then, on the way home, buy a small bag of peanuts and feed the squirrels as we made our way back home. The main reason for shopping over on Haight was because there was a place that made really, really good tamales.

29 – I delivered newspapers as a kid, for five and a half years... right up until I graduated from high school. I probably had the best paper route ever because I made as much in one day doing side jobs for people as I did in a month delivering papers.

there's more,
but it's not all
written down,
...yet

We haven't posted a joke in awhile

.

Apple blames iPhone tracking file on 'bug'

No, that's not the joke. It's just a dig at those oh so superior folks who think Apple can do no wrong.

This is the joke:

Ole's car was hit by a truck in an accident. In court, the trucking company's lawyer was questioning Ole.

'Didn't you say, sir, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine, ?' asked the lawyer.

Ole responded, 'Vell, I'll tell you vat happened. I had yust loaded my favorite mule, Bessie, into da.....'

'I didn't ask for any details', the lawyer interrupted. 'Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine'?

Ole said, 'Vell, I had yust got Bessie into da trailer and I vas driving down da road... ..

The lawyer interrupted again and said, 'Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question.'

By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Ole's answer and said to the lawyer, 'I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule, Bessie'.

Ole thanked the Judge and proceeded. 'Vell, as I vas saying, I had yust loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into da trailer and vas driving her down da highvay ven dis huge semi-truck and trailer ran da stop sign and smacked my truck right in da side. I vas trown into one ditch and Bessie vas trown into da other. I vas hurting real bad and didn't vant to move. However, I could hear Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape yust by her groans'.

'Shortly after da accident da Highway Patrolman, he came to da scene.. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he vent over to her'..

'After he looked at her and saw her fatal condition he took out his gun and shot her right 'tween da eyes.

Den da Patrolman, he came across da road, gun still smoking, looked at me and said, 'How are you feeling?'

'Now vat da hell vould YOU say?

We received word yesterday that the squares for the tin ceiling in the pantry are finished and will ship tomorrow. Then when they arrive at the contractor's, sometime toward the end of next week, they will call and schedule installation.
I think I mentioned we're replacing the four foot long fluorescent fixture with something more decorative? We went fixture shopping today. That meant a trip up the road to Redding. So while we were at it we did a few other errands, one of which took us under the newly completed Cypress Avenue Bridge. I will have to go back again and get a picture of how it looks now.


Yeah, I do this whenever I'm trying to avoid doing something else.

will let you know
when I figure
out what it is

.

Why am I even posting this?

.
Another blogger, who I only recently started reading regularly, is a huge Detroit Red Wings fan. About the only reason that interests me at all is my brothers-in-law, and at least one nephew, are also Wings fans. My only other interest in the Wings may be that I've been to "The Joe" and seen the banners. It was for a convention, not a hockey game. Though it was in July, so they may have still been playing?
I do follow the NHL, just not like Football (NFL) or Baseball (MLB). Even at that I'm extremely parochial. I can't much tell you what's happening outside of whatever division the 49ers or Giants are playing. I could almost care less about the Raiders and A's. As for hockey, I followed closely when I lived in the Bay Area. I those days we had the Seals of the Western Hockey League. I think there were only six teams in the NHL and they were all east of the Mississippi.
Now, to see a hockey game, it's a four hour drive (minimum) one way, or subscribe to one more satellite channel. The only time we see the so-called local favorite up here in the NorthState is if one of the major [sic] networks carries the game.
What this is leading up to is, as I was surfing through one of the Internet portals this morning, I noticed the Sharks have eliminated the Kings and have advanced to the next round. Even if I didn't pay any attention at all, I could get excited about that because it's always good to see a NorCal team be an LA team.

really sorry the Rams
moved to St Louis
.

I saw this word in someone elses blog

.

Elegiac
I had no idea what it meant... look it up... but it immediately brought to mind that stuff they make you drink before a colonoscopy.

spellchecker doesn't
like colonoscopy, either
.

At the park

_

I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but as we "hid" the eggs this morning it started to drizzle and then rain.

There are more photos here. It was a happy ending for those who showed up on time.

some were late
.

Maybe later

.

It will be a busy morning here at Case de Skip/Maison de grand-maman... or rather out of the house.

Here is a link to hold you over.

egg hunt with Lions
.

The saga continues to continue

.

A comment made today on last Monday's post brought to mind that we are still, as they say in golf, "ground under repair." The delay is due to the necessity of ordering the materials which will be installed on the ceiling in the pantry. The project is developing a personality of its own. Not only is the original ceiling going to be covered up with decorative panels, but now, since the original fluorescent lighting fixture has to be removed, we shall be shopping for a new, more decorative fixture. My guess is it will most likely be one of the new LED lights.

not necessarily because
of the environment,
even if it is a good idea

Family history

.

Every time I post something about my life, as in the 100 things I added to yesterday or this, I am reminded my daughter passed along a family album that had been my paternal grandfather's. I am surely going to have to scan at least some of the photos, which go back as far as 100 years. I also have another album from my mother's family that may go back even further.

First, I have to clean up the desk and file some stuff properly.

...and again

.

(not quite) 100 things - cont'd

I started here, continued here and here. I may never finish it.

At the close of the last post the location was near the corner of Washington and Laguna Streets, near where my paternal grandparents lived, in SF*.


16 – Speaking of where they lived... there was a great view of San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate, Marin Headlands, Sausalito, Tiburon, Angel Island, Alcatraz [it was still a prison], Treasure Island, Yerba Buena Island and part of the Bay Bridge were all in view.

17 – Fisherman's Wharf was a place where locals would go for dinner... on a Friday night. We were regulars at a restaurant called the Miramar. Now there is a McDonlds at that location.

18 – I didn't have a driver's license until I was 21.

19 – My first car was a 1957 Chevy. I put over 20,000 miles on it the first year. Then I had a 1964 Volkswagen 'Bug,' followed by a 1969 Ford Torino GT that passed everything on the road... except a gas station.

20 – I followed that with the most fun car I ever owned. It was an Alfa Romeo 'Spider.' The only thing really practical about it was that it got good mileage.









*this may be important because my maternal grandparents and my mother & I also lived in The City and there might be a test later

coloring eggs tonight with the Lions

Not this week...

.
Last weekend was so well occupied that I hardly missed blogging. When I say blogging, I mean the surfing over, around, and through other blogs, not the items I post here.
We were down in Corning, where they grow and can olives, and a band of Native Americans has set up a roadside amusement stand designed to separate travelers from their money. It's called Rolling Hills Casino. There is also a really nice links type golf course, designed to steal golf balls, a rod & gun club for the outdoor types, and two hotels.
We were there for the Annual Convention of the local Lions Clubs District. I went under duress. I was told I had no choice because I was the chairperson. Yes, that's what they called it: chairperson. Why use two syllables when it can be inflated to three? I always thought chairman was gender neutral.
Anyhow, the convention started on time; pretty much stayed on schedule; didn't lose any money; accomplished its purpose; and finished on time. In my book that's a success. The bonus is many of the 257 folks who registered enjoyed themselves.

they told me so
.

Currently

.

Well, I guess we're in for a deluge of "wedding entertainment" for the rest of this week and part of the next? We shall know more about the day to day lives of William and Catherine than ...what?
I totally understand why the press is being encouraged to call her by her given name instead of "Kate." The Royal family doesn't wish anyone to confuse her with Kate Gosselin.
The timing for the wedding couldn't have been much better. It is helping the average citizen forget about Libya, Japan, Afghanistan, and the NFL lockout, not to mention the NHL and NBA second seasons. Oh, and maybe it is helping the readers of this blog forget that I am supposedly posting some kind of list?
I will let you know about ceiling repairs when I know more.

patience, grasshopper
.

I was reminded

.

=]V[= posted about ketchup, kids, and cleanup back on the 13th. His story helped me to remember I was going to write my own post about a similar situation.

I don't remember how old I was, probably not much more than 12 years. It had been determined my brother and I would get along much better if we had separate bedrooms. By separate I mean his was at one end of the house, past the living room, dining room, kitchen furnace space, almost in the garage; mine at the completely, totally, extreme other end of the house, so we wouldn't get into trouble. As it was a sprawling ranch-style house there was some distance (and a few walls) between us. Regular followers ...and other family members ...already know the window story. I want you to know this story precedes that one and is probably even more innocent, if that's the correct word. It also ranks up there with the stupidest things I have ever done as a kid.
One day I was innocently walking back through the house from my brother's room.

I had a loaded squirt gun!!![1]

You might surmise that mom and dad weren't home... and you'd be right. I'm not sure who the responsible adult was on this occasion. It really doesn't matter. Whatever I was going to do with a loaded squirt gun couldn't have been good. But, hey, it was only water and it was just an innocent trip from one end of the house to the other, even in a sprawling ranch-style house, not too great a distance.

So, I stepped into the dining room, which was only separated from the living room by the imagination of the observer. That meant that the ceiling traversed a great distance the length of the room and that is important to this story. About two or three steps into that expansive space my finger... yes the trigger finger... twitched. Or, maybe I squeezed. In any event the squirt gun discharged. Fortunately it was not pointed at anyone. In fact it was pointed upward so if there was an accidental discharge there'd be no serious consequences.

At this point I will ask the more gullible if they'd like to purchase a bridge.

This is the place where I refer back to =]V[= and his statement about CSI Grissom's, "Nobody ever looks at the ceiling."

Oh, yeah. I forgot you all knew that already because you follow this blog and already know I look a ceilings. At least I did on February 17 and our lives have been disrupted since. But that's another story.

I don't think my parents were home ten minutes when one, or both, of them noticed the water spots on the dining room ceiling.

Did any of you know that the only solution to eliminating those water spots is to repaint. Now when I say repaint I mean change the entire color scheme and change the carpet and the wall paper at one end of the room. Oh and while we're at it let's do the hallway by the bedrooms, too.

That house was my home for only ten years, but it seems like it contains about 75% of the memories... most of them good.

[1] loaded squirt guns in the hands of 12-year-olds deserve three exclamation points and a separate paragraph

kids?

Two things

.

There wasn't a wireless connection at the hotel where we stayed.
I really didn't have any time to post.

oh, a third...
we're home

.

Later

.

Maybe... just maybe, I will find an opportunity to post something before next Monday. I thought about using the options feature and leaving something here. Then I decided to just give it a rest.
We are off to the Lions District Convention about 40 miles... less than an hour down the road.

at a casino
.

Back to the list... again

.

(not quite) 100 things - cont'd

I started here, continued here. I may never finish it.


9 – My favorite pastime is reading. I read almost anything... sometimes even junk mail.

10 – Nobody in my family wants to play Trivial Pursuit with me unless I am on their team.

11 – Speaking of teams, football is my favorite team sport to watch but, hands down, softball is was my favorite team sport to play. Was because when I reached the point where doubles became long outs and triples were singles, I knew the legs just weren't going to be made up for by desire. I'm sure it didn't help that the position I played most, from baseball as a kid to when I finally hung it up, was catcher because that's where the action was.

12 – For the first six years of my life Golden Gate Park was my backyard. My mom and I lived only one block away from the entrance to where the children's playground is and close to the Museum of Natural History, Steinhart Aquarium, M.H. deYoung Museum and other delights.

13 – Once I get to know somebody, I will do my best to yank their chain. If nothing else, I will attempt to get a photograph that is at least a little embarrassing... along the lines of socks with sandals or an unplanned nap. My brother is one of my favorite targets, but anyone who takes themselves seriously is a challenge.

14 – I like travel, but not nearly as much as when nobody had to worry so much about security. I find it revolting that I have to pay to be mistrusted and abused.

15 – I remember when the cable cars in San Francisco were more than just a tourist attraction. My paternal grandfather worked in City Hall and rode the cable car to and from work every work day. When my grandmother went downtown, she took the cable car. Now they don't even run past where my grandparents used to live next to the corner of Laguna and Wahington Streets, across from Lafayette Park.

don't really like talking
directly about myself

.

It's on Wednesday

_

Friday the 13th, that is.


_

Who knew?

.

Pay absolutely no attention to the title of this post. It's may seem relevant, but I wrote it yesterday before I ever knew what I was going to write this morning.

Yes, it is still morning here on the fringe.

As a number of you are aware, some minor repairs have been made to our house because the recent inclement weather made us aware of some leaks. One was on the roof, the other in an unlikely spot that required certain meteorological conditions to prevail.

I'm not here to regale you with tales of roof leaks... or even of repairs. It's about what's next.

The other day I alluded to some cosmetic improvements in the pantry. It seems we can't have contractors, estimators, repairmen, handymen, carpenters and helpers around for six weeks or so without someone getting ideas.
I will grant, before proceeding further with this story, the ceiling in the pantry leaves a lot to be desired. Originally the space was two feet longer and had a door at each end. It served as a laundry room as well as the space where the water heater is. About 18 years ago, we did a little remodeling, mostly to the kitchen, but also added a new, larger, garage. The original garage was converted to a big living space with access to the patio. The master bathroom was also remodeled by walling off one of the doors from the laundry room. That made it possible to add a shower and linen closet. It's still a small bathroom. What space was left became what we call the pantry.
Part of the remodel also involved adding central heat (and cooling, although we use evaporative cooling most of the time) and the replacement of the water heater that was in the house. The new water heater is an integral part of the central heating system... and I'm not even going to try to explain how that works... but only requires a small exhaust system compared to the huge galvanized sheet metal pipe of the old heater. They don't rise through the same hole either.
We had new shelves built into our pantry, made space for the small chest freezer, and purchased one wire shelf on which we place hooks for hanging pots, pans and some other cooking implements. We didn't do much else besides paint the room. There's a big hole in one corner of the ceiling blocked from the overhead crawl space... it's really not an attic... by a piece of painted ceiling salvaged from somewhere else.



So, yeah, the pantry ceiling does need some cosmetic improvement.



Well, if you give someone the hint that there are folks who can do almost anything in the way of repairs, they get ideas.
One usually is informed of the idea prefaced with the words, "You know what we ought to do?" Or, the even more alarming, "I have an idea!"

Hence, things like tin ceilings in pantries are born.

small wonder men have selective hearing
.

Alternate list

.
If anyone is here to read the list, here is another exercise where I participated. It was easy simple.
Try it.

.

Cottonwood

.
Just over the hill to the south of Anderson on I-5 is Cottonwood.
The Cottonwood Lions Club is serving breakfast this morning.
I wonder if they have bacon this month?

there's one way to find out

Sort of catching up

.

There's some kind of alphabet thing happening in Blogland. There are some who have actually signed on to make a post every day, except Sunday, until they get through the alphabet. Some of the folks are keeping a theme others are using the shotgun approach. Then there's Matt. He is doing it on two separate blogs. He is sticking with a theme on his Brew Log and using more, or less, of a shotgun approach at =]V[=. I'm going to wish him luck if he is really trying to write all... or even a third of the brew log posts on a single day.
Then there's this guy. He just started posting without ever signing on to the A to Z challenge. I'm hoping he is having fun with that.


For those who may be interested, the roof leak situation, while not completely cured, is in remission. There will be some cosmetic improvements in the pantry.
I am sure that BP will understand how things like this happen.


Suldog announced that he's finished with blogging... says he's run out of twaddle after six years. I, and many others, really hope not because he helps remind us that we're really not so bad off, mentally that is.


I might miss a few day here next week. I think I mentioned a convention I am Chairman of? It is not all that far from here but it seems there are some demands which must be met to keep things going in the right direction. I will try to leave something over at R,M&P, even if I have to borrow again.


Today marks an anniversary for me. Some know what that's all about. To the rest, well let's just say that I have learned a lot about gratitude and what it means to do something one day at a time.

nine years (3287 days)
if you're counting

Yesterday

.

Over on BP's blog I posted a comment. He like many other bloggers, including yours truly, requires word verification. So when I commented my verification word was

.

I decided that it means you won't find be selling anything on the Internet... at least anything crafty.

sandbag long enough and
the list thing could
last 'til Thanksgiving

Back to the list

.

(not quite) 100 things - cont'd

I started here. I may never finish it.

3 - I used to drink, too, a lot. I even remember how it got started. In April 1959 at the 50th wedding anniversary of my step-dad's (for all intents and purposes we'll call him dad or much later he became Pop to me) parents, Gramma and Grampa Larson. Niles, my brother (by marriage) and I were put in charge of serving the champagne to the guests. I was 15, he was 16 and we were responsible teenagers... right? Anyway, the pouring station was set up in the garage with no supervision. We would pour a bottle each and then we would look around and stash a bottle. We did this until we had about a case, then just poured for the guests and a wee bit for ourselves. We had enough sense to wait until most of the guests had finished at least one glass. Dad hadn't scrimped either. Even after the party there were still plenty of unopened bottles of the champagne. No, where he saved was on the quality. I'd never heard of the stuff before or since.

4 – I no longer sing (see number 3)

5 – As a youngster I attempted to learn to play the trumpet. Practice was the problem. It's not that I didn't practice. The noise was a problem for the neighbors, particularly since the tree house kid from up the street was also taking lessons. He was no better than I.

6 – Our favorite game as kids was called Kill the Pill Carrier. It wasn't a team sport. It was more like a free-for-all. We'd start with the ball in the middle of the playing field (and I use that term loosely). Any number of kids would sort of circle it. Finally one of us would run, grab the ball and try to get away from all of the others, whose sole goal was to tackle the player with the ball so everyone could pile on. Then the player who'd been tackled would toss the ball in the general direction of one of the others so it could start all over again.

7 – I was an only child and so was my brother... until we were united by marriage (our parents) when I was eight.

8 – I spent two years in the first grade. It was traumatic for everyone but me. All the good it ever did was undone when I only spent about two weeks in the second grade. I wasn't stupid, just immature, always testing really well for intelligence. They don't test for the application of that intelligence.

Keep coming back for more.

is this nuts?
.

...and back home.
I have it on good authority that there are still two of them.

Seriously, there's no change since last year, when there was no change from the year before.

we'll keep the same pair of glasses

May annual visit to the eye doctor is this morning. So this is all you get today.

routine stuff
.

List

.

My favorite story about a list has absolutely nothing to do with a series. Unfortunately, I can't repeat it here because I don't quite remember how it starts and ends. So you will have to be satisfied with the more common form of list.

Some time ago another blogger posted a One Hundred Things About Me list. I don't remember who it was. I only remember I started one. It has yet to be finished. It may never be finished. What there is of it won't even all be posted at once.

Here's a starter:
I kind of have a template because this has been done before. The main difference between this and the original is that the guy who wrote the other one likes to elaborate, while I have a tendency to be terse because I am not really that comfortable telling about myself, particularly things that make me look good. So if you're looking to find out if I am a nice person, you won't hear it from me... or probably my ex.

1 - The nicest people I have known are my paternal grandmother, who lived to the ripe age of 94 and got on well right up to very end, and my wife. Grandma O'Brien's only concern was that the efficiency apartment building where she lived would find out her age and boot her out for being “too old.”
Now my wife is Grandma O'Brien. I don't think anyone calls her that... yet.

2 - I used to smoke. Camel non-filters were my brand of choice almost from the time I started at the age of 8 years until I quit in June of 2008. At first we kids would steal whatever kind we found that our parents had stashed, Chesterfield, Kent, Viceroy, Parliament, even some cigars, there were about a half dozen of us. We had a really neat tree house that was almost inaccessible to adults. I'm sure some of the kids were caught, but the kid up the street, my brother and I weren't and eventually we were the only ones to use the tree house. We discovered, too, that the local grocery where our parents didn't shop never questioned us about cigarette purchases if we bought them by the carton.

I think I'll stop here for today and come back with more later.

maybe even tomorrow

.

Quote

.

"A man's silence is wonderful to listen to."
~ Thomas Hardy

a short post is almost as good

.

Again... already?

.

It's off to the Frontier Senior Center to serve at the community breakfast.
Biscuits & Gravy, French Toast, Eggs - any style... as long as they're scrambled or fried, sausage, and pancakes are all on the menu. With them come coffee, juice and fruit.

french toast for me

.

Thank you. Matt

_

Matt Conlon over at =]V[= did all most of the heavy lifting for today's post.



BTW - I posted a picture of the squirrel over here. I had to crop the photo... don't ask why.

some pigs made the
ultimate sacrifice

I saw the squirrel again

.
That's it

this is not an April Fool joke
.