Two Three

First - we climbed right through 100 today. Last year we didn't get there until June 23



Second - the blog went right through 1000 page views to 1100+ (for the month). 979 was the previous benchmark.



Third - there's a second post here today

big whoop!

Remember that thing I posted about

You know...

....the eclipse that only a few privileged folks were actually able to view (the ones who got those special glasses so they could actually stare at the Sun).

Somebody actually got a reverse view.

more information here

...and somehow, for the first time, there were over 1000 page views in a month

now I'm gloating

Pictures of Spring

At the edge of our yard, hiding a chain link fence, we have some oleanders...

...beginning to bloom






Elsewhere there's another blossom in waiting

...or the early arrival of summer

Was I gloating?

The other day there was a post lamenting the demise of the baseball doubleheader, particularly the back to back where fans could see two games for the price of one. I totally concur with the blogger, though that isn't what my comment at his blog was about.
No... I had to comment that there's been a twofer this season when the Mets and Giants had to make up a rain-out. I further commented I'd enjoyed seeing the Giants win both games.
The blogger accused me of gloating, even somehow bringing up the Dodgers.
I am fairly certain I wasn't gloating. I learned long ago that gloating only brings bad karma. OTOH, I may have seemed a little smug. But that's because winning two on the road is way cool.
Smugness and gloating are related, I'll admit. I will also admit to being tempted to gloat when the Dodgers are knocked over... only tempted, though. I have found that I can instead find great satisfaction in rooting for whoever is playing against them, and even more satisfaction when that team wins. Today through Thursday we're cheering on the Brewers.

BP posted about some research regarding food purchases and eating habits. I found myself asking the same questions he had. Who's paying for the research? What's the point of it? An where does the average citizen benefit?
I thought about it for a minute and realized it was probably a marketing firm set it up for a retailer; some scribbler happened upon it, rewrote and sold the story on a slow news day?

Speaking of slow news, the weather appears to be making a turn from, in the words of the TV weather man, "below normal" to "above normal."
My observation is that most of the TV weather persons we've had here haven't stuck around long enough to realize there is no normal when it comes to the weather here. That is unless they mean it is usually kind of hot in the summer ...sometimes starting as early as late April and ending as late as late October ...and much cooler in winter ...sometimes starting as early as mid October and ending as late as early June. Oh and we can suffer from either too much rain or too little. And where the rain's concerned, who knows when we'll have it?
As for those same weather folks, they spent the weekend reporting on the storm that came ashore in Jacksonville, Florida ...like that had anything to do with our local stuff.

meh!

Remember

Day off

Roars!
credit here (by way of the BP)

Actually the Lions Club has nothing going on this Memorial Day weekend.

everyone is on their own

Normally

About this time of the year I post a picture of the blossoms on the pomegranate bush.
A little further on through the year I will post pictures of the progress of the fruit growing on the bush.
This year it's not going to happen.
There are no blossoms...

...so there won't be any fruit for someone to pilfer before they're ripe

hah!

Holy Cow!

I slept so late this morning that I missed putting out the wheelie bin.

My morning reading took about twice as long as usual because it seems everyone out there has a new post ...except Suldog, that is. He had a new post yesterday, though, and it's worth it, most of the time, to go back to read any new comments.

Speaking of the morning reading, after scanning email, I continue with the headlines from various major media sources and sometimes a paragraph or two. Unless a story really grabs my attention, I'm off to the local rag's website. What probably interests me there the most is reader's responses to the stories. The conclusion I have drawn from reading those responses is, if those readers represent the majority, I should be very, very afraid.

Back to Suldog's post. I didn't comment this time around. But I think maybe I may want to place a stack of cinder block out at the curb.

Oh, GS rolled the wheelie bin out in time.

thank you dear

Sure Happy It's Thursday Happy Anniversary

Actually it was Tuesday.
But I didn't notice until yesterday.
By the time I did notice, I figured it could wait another day.
There's no celebration.
You can read all about it here.


(from the Brian Voorheis collection)

it's 40 miles east

Let's milk this puppy for all it's worth

...or how I turned the eclipse into a week long post.
Suldog's buddy, IT (aka Ivan Toblog) ...and I suppose I can claim his friendship,too ...posted more, better stuff than I had. But he stole it.
I figure probably I should at least try to carry it a step further. So, here is a map of the entire path of the eclipse. It looks like it got as far as Buck?

BTW - the pork loin is just as good served cold. The recipe came from Steve Raichlen, who found it in Italy and thought enough of it to include it in one of his barbecue (not grilling) books.

IT might even be a neighbor

I'm really glad the eclipse was on Sunday

Yesterday would not have been nearly as convenient for viewing



But it certainly was worth a second look

after the visit to the dentist

This just in...

An unofficial, unscientific poll based upon Likes and Comments on Facebook has determined people prefer pork loin to eclipses by about a two to one margin.

Yesterday

At about 5:30pm everything came to a standstill for a "once in a lifetime event." It may happen somewhere else but it won't happen here again for awhile




Then we had dinner



I don't know why it's called rosemary grilled pork loin. It's not really grilled.

the pork was outstanding

Now what

It is probably a good thing we had the bike ride lunch stop to work yesterday.
It meant we didn't have to make any other choices, of which there were several.
There was the Redding Rodeo Parade. Hot-Orama at the fairground, Relay for Life at the high school, the final day of the Redding Rodeo and other, lesser, activities.
But we had committed, several years ago, to participate, as organizers, in the Anderson Century.
It was a delightful day, starting out at 50 degrees with a clear sky. About the only rush aspect was the load out at Anderson River Park and the set up out east where Ash Creek Road meets Dersch Road. But there was plenty of time.
We were all set up ready to serve well before the first riders appeared.
The day stayed perfect. At most there was a light breeze and the day warmed rapidly, finally reaching about 88 degrees... shirtsleeve weather.
The event is called a century because the main ride is 100 miles. There are also three shorter, less challenging rides: a 25 mile ride for novices and beginners with only a light amount of altitude change; a 40 mile ride, a bit more challenging because the first 26 miles are more uphill than down (though not steep); and the 60 mile, or metric hundred (kilometers), ride that continues climbing ...and rewarding the riders with some outstanding scenery. All of the riders start off in the same general direction, the loop just gets bigger depending upon the distance.
Our rest stop (one of six) is strategically place to serve both 60 and 40 mile riders as the merge back together to ride the final 14 miles (almost all downhill) of their loops.
We provide shade, bike racks, a real chair to sit in, plenty of water and/or a sports beverage, fresh fruit, boiled potatoes, cookies, even a fresh made sandwich if they desire (and most don't turn it down) and a port-a-potty (hence the term rest stop).
Of course, since the Lions Clubs motto is We Serve, the riders are offered a full meal at the end of the ride when they reach Anderson River Park.

This is what greets them, both as they depart and return to the staging area



It seems fitting that yesterday was Armed Forces Day

pictures here

Rose II

While GS and I are somewhere out in the country, with a lot of other Lions Clubs members, providing sustenance, shade, and a place for (hopefully) hundreds of bicycle riders to rest their rear ends, please enjoy a look at the only rose in our front yard.

love some compound sentences

Old Radio

I'm not ready to make a list yet. But I can show you a radio very similar to the one I on which I heard the old programs (and the old 78s). It was quite prominent in our living room and moved with us on two different occasions. It was finally replaced by a stereo sometime in the early 60s.

...couldn't play LPs

Nothing again

I thought about (because I was reminded yesterday by my friend the BP) doing a post of the shows I listened to on the radio when I was a kid. But I need more time to work on that one. Then I thought about writing something about the NBA or the NHL playoffs, But I can't, because I have no idea where they stand now as there is almost no interest in the outcome here. Besides they start with so many teams involved that I wonder what is the point of having a regular season. Unlike the college playoffs, brackets don't seem to be quite so obvious on the inter-tubes. Besides, the NBA doesn't even have to play to make the news (not that MLB and NFL are any better).

So, you can see that, again today, I really have nothing. I would tell you to go read the Chubby Chatterbox, but he went to buy a turkey. I know Thanksgiving comes first, but I think he's overdoing it. I mean it's still two weeks to Memorial Day (the real one).


Oh, and FYI...

you were warned

Uh, well, there is this

A story that may will remain untold

For the second time in a week another blogger has tripped a switch in the memory. This particular story is of the scatological variety and is best buried because it's a real stinker.


Here's the second rose

a story from the Navy is
about all that will be told

"the Phantom Shitter"

Rose

I don't want to write about sports.
I don't want to write about the weather.
I sure as hell don't want to write about politics.
The weather's been interesting but I don't care to bore anyone with it.
About a week and a half ago I was shooting pictures in the back.

there's another for another day

Suldog made another list

His was about top five all-time favorite TV shows.
Then he made up a bunch of rules about what can and can't be included.
Then, he, and a bunch of other folks, listed some shows I've only heard about.
Then, I posted a comment... followed by another comment.
Then, I had to reply to someone's comment.

That's when I decided I needed a list of my own that I would watch reruns. I won't call it a top five ...or any number but I will list the shows in order of preference (and there may be five):
The first one starred Walter Cronkite and was sponsored by Prudential Insurance (own a piece of the rock)...

1. The 20th Century I watched avidly on Sunday afternoons for the first four years it was on
2. Victory at Sea the music was worth it
3. The Big Picture equal time for the Army
4. Mr. Wizard there may not be any reruns (it's that old)
5. Good Eats I can hardly wait for the reruns to start

Ironically, The 20th Century went off the air before a lot of really cool stuff happened.
I am pretty sure I will remember some other shows that showed real stuff ..."Reality?" ...will come to mind after you read this.
Bear in mind that the fact there are five shows in purely accidental.

I should also mention that Bill Yates from Growing Up in Mayberry Waldron has also posted a list worth checking out.

never, never, ever expect this blog to be entirely serious
it's a character defect we all have to live with
ask my sisters

Guess what

That's right!

Friday the 13th is on
Sunday this month...

...and it's Mothers Day, too

Saturday Morning Confusion

I saw the teaser line on my iGoogle home page about the SEC and was curious to know what position, in which sport, at what school, JP Morgan played, and why the South East Conference was interested. What I had failed to notice was it was from the WSJ.

yesterday

Let's shoot for three

Periodically I get in a rut.
Like I realized yesterday I started two posts in a row with the same word.

Remember the creature that shall remain unnamed? He's still in the news. Still, that's better than reporting where the fire trucks went yesterday.

About the local rag. When I read the referenced article, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Not because I'm worried about the creature, who's some 100+ miles northeast of here, but because of some confusion by the writer over the use of "then" and "than."

Okay, that's enough. We're done ...for now.
Have a good weekend.

gonna put my feet up
my back's killin' me

It's not a beverage... yet

Periodically I mention the Swamp Cooler. I have been asked a number of times what I'm talking about. First, it's really an evaporative cooler. They work really good in areas with low humidity. They would probably not actually cool a swamp. They a also mechanically simpler and [much] cheaper to operate than air conditioners. On the other hand they aren't thermostatically controlled so someone has to actually get up out of his chair to turn it on or off. They also require a bit of maintenance and parts replacement. So there is a labor trade-off. Then again they add some moisture to the inside air in the house, rather than suck it out like A/C.
There are even some add-ons that make it even more efficient. Because the cooler is sucking air in from the outside, cooling it, and blowing it through the house, it is necessary for the air that is being replaced to escape. Some users just crack open a window in the rooms they wish to cool. When we had some work done on our cooler a couple of years ago, the fellow doing the work told us about up-ducts that vent the escaping air into the attic. This serves two purposes. First it cools the attic, which helps keep the house even cooler. Second, it means there are no open windows to tempt opportunistic thieves.
One of the downsides of the swamp cooler on the roof is GS doesn't think I should climb up there any more. So I have a local handyman, who's also a friend do it while I watch.
We're running about 10-15 degrees above the usual right now. Funny... two weeks ago it was ten under the usual.


This is a swamp cooler... it only looks like a little like mine.

if it was a beverage,
what would be in it?

Dog days

Periodically I am inspired to write about something I've read on another blog.
Sometimes I misread a blog title like the other day I saw You've Got To Be Decaffeinating Me where Suldog wrote something entirely different. It was not inspiring.
Craig, who used to be Desmond Jones, on the other hand wrote about dogs, more specifically, aggressive dogs, dogs who bite.
Having, as a youngster (which covers a lot of territory), delivered newspapers from a bicycle for five and half years, I have some experience with aggressive dogs, quirky dogs, indifferent dogs, and friendly dogs. Fortunately most fell into the third category.
I really feel fortunate that, at most, there were only two dogs on that paper route I had to be way of. Even better, they weren't around at the same time. The first was a sneaky poodle who never attacked me, but nailed my brother one day while he was standing beside his bike minding his own business. The dog, almost soundlessly, ran up behind him and bit him on his back just above the @$$ and then ran off again to the house where it came from. I almost enjoyed it (we weren't allowed to enjoy siblings suffering in our family unless it was in retaliation for something they'd done to us) because there were also stitches and a tetanus shot involved. The dog was punished (no it wasn’t). It was locked in the backyard where it was kept all of the time anyway.
The other dog was some kind of Heinz (you know, 57 varieties) that delighted in ambushing me from various places near where it lived. The family who owned this dog would apologize profusely again and again, but it never occurred to them to lock it up. This particular dog never actually bit me and only came near if I was actually moving. I think maybe the issue was with the newspaper rather than me. But since I was the one delivering it, I was attacked ...kind of like when an arms dealer is attacked because he provides the weapons.
Eventually I had a peculiar ally against the second dog. A family moved in around the corner from attack dog's family. After they settled in, they got a dog of their own ...a Newfoundland. Newfoundlands are solid black and as big as a house St. Bernard. Where some dogs can trample flower beds, Newfoundlands trample hedges. I know because I've seen it. The dog's name was Big Kate. Whenever she observed the attack dog coming after me, which seemed like almost weekly, she would stop whatever she was doing and charge that mutt. Lord help whatever got in the way.
Elsewhere on the route was a cocker spaniel who'd been trained to retrieve the paper. That was one of the few houses where I didn't worry about delivering to the porch. About a year before I quit my paper route they got another dog, also a cocker spaniel. It was only a short time after that the dogs started shredding the paper because they'd both try to retrieve it.
Gretchen was a schnauzer who like to chase cars, or maybe she was just racing against them because she only would run in her own yard, never in the street and she'd stop at the property line. There was a collie that did chase cars in the street ...until one day it caught one.

not pretty

A brief return to the museum

For some reason this is the only artwork I took any photos of at the Crocker Art Museum last week.






I had to take the upper photo three times because others kept walking in front of me and, in one instance a couple of women stopped directly in front of me to take their own pictures and then held an extended conversation. I had the same problem just trying to view some of the artwork.

Okay ...here's a plug

There's another new tiny head over on the sidebar... in reality there are several that I've recently noticed, but it's the furry red one I'm talking about now. The one next door is worth checking out, too.

Mary, Mary redux

Click these images because the small format doesn't do them justice



About a week ago I posted a picture of an iris blooming in the front yard. There are a whole bunch out in back This one has some tenants.










Somewhere amongst these is the one in the first picture.


This is another from the front.

What do you want to do?

We can talk about the monthly community breakfast at the Frontier Senior Center.

or

We can show that there are some hands-on activities at the museum.





Iphone is a hands-on activity, isn't it?

Did I say we went to the museum

Outside the Crocker

It was almost a week ago and I've already posted a couple of photos that were kinda for the birds.
I would love to post a link to the Crocker Art Museum website, but the link's broken. So I will have to tell you that was worth stopping by ...maybe not quite as exciting as the Railroad Museum.
I took a few other pictures (when I could wait for other folks to move out of the way). They'll be up as the week progresses.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

The Last Irish Pub story....

I was in a pub last Saturday night, and drank a few. I noticed two large women by the bar.
They both had strong accents so I asked, "Hey, are you two ladies from Ireland?"
One of them chirped, "It's WALES, you friggin' idiot!"
So, I immediately apologized and said, "Sorry, are you two whales from Ireland ?"

>> That's the last thing I remember...<<

....until the next one

So... (I'm away today, pt II)

Not really away, hence the parenthesis.

...and it may not take nearly as long as I thought

So, if you are finding yourself here for the first time, you are at the beginning of the second half of a split post. The other half is here. I'm gonna suggest you go read it first... not because it's necessary to understand this part, but because it will help raise the number of pageviews.

When we left off Sunday I was young unemployed and single [or the past tense of married with a family]. The full truth is I was adrift.

(Before I go any further, I should mention that for the sake of the story some things have been condensed into a brief time period and other, mostly, unrelated incidents have been omitted [like the finale to my softball career]. I will add here that between the time I was divorced and the time I became jobless I was introduced to GS. It was some time before we became a couple.)

I took on several projects, one of which was as a carpet cleaner's assistant. I was the guy who hauled the equipment up and down stairs at apartment buildings. Did you know that carpet cleaners will sometimes clean the carpets in the same apartment as many as seven times in a year? Do you know what has to be done to get rid of the smell of cat pee?

Anyway I did that for awhile and then I found out about a "computer-generated signs" business. No, not the vinyl signs... signs that were printed on heavy duty paper and laminated with plastic. I ended up doing a lot of lamination work, but it wasn't quite enough to pay the rent. After a year, my landlord notified me he'd sold the building and the new owner wanted to move in right away. Without thinking, I cleaned the place up for him, even hauling the trash away.

It was made known to me that there was an opportunity to take over a small market [almost a convenience store, but without the corn dogs] in Red Bluff for practically nothing. I did. It took a year to figure that I got what I paid for. Even then I'd've probably hung in if another "the landlord sold the building' hadn't happened. Ironically, or coincidentally, the day I got notice, the man who owned the fuel jobber providing gasoline delivery to my store stopped in to see how I was doing. I know it was a courtesy call because I didn't owe him any money. I explained what was happening (though he may have already known). He said if any of my employees might be interested in coming to work in his Red Bluff c-store at the south end of town they had a couple of openings. It turned out none were. One stayed on to work for the new landlord (who was her father-in-law) and the other two kinda liked the idea of collecting unemployment insurance. I called to relay the news and said I could work there for awhile until I found something "more permanent."

I got the night shift (6pm - 2am) and had Wednesday and Thursday off. That was the downside. The upside is that the store was really busy most of the time so the shifts went by fast, though I really hated closing by myself at 2am (almost as much as I hated the night shifts at the pizza parlor when worked there). Another upside is the pay was better than expected and there was health insurance and a 401(k). I think I figured out before the end of the first month that it was the "more permanent" something I was looking for.

Someone must have heard that I hated closing at 2am. The decision was made to stay open 24 hours and my shift changed (7pm to 3am) so I didn't have to close any longer.

It was about then that one of the worst things that could happen occurred. My youngest daughter died of cancer. What made it the worst was there'd been minimal contact because of a million reasons folks can give. It turns out I had a whole lot of support at this time, even my new employer gave me time off during my bereavement and the general manager came to her memorial service.

Don't try to imagine how it was. Because if I can't explain it, you can't understand it. If you've been there ...'nuff said. Just know that knowing there are folks around to sit by your side makes it survivable.

I was back to work in a couple of days and I don't think I have to explain why I'd become a loyal employee. I only saw my boss at shift change. He'd pretty much figured out I didn't need supervision. There were a couple of occasions when the Assistant Manager worked with me, but after about the third month I only saw him if he stopped to buy something. Soon I found myself training co-workers. Then, after a little over a year with the company, I was asked if I thought I could manage a store for them.

Could I?

Would I?

Okay, and the best part is it was in Anderson ...walking distance, if necessary. So I spent the next 11 years working for a petroleum jobber, most in the retail part, but I also did cardlock fuel sales (acquiring new accounts), petroleum (and synthetic) product sales, wholesale deliveries, and warehouse work [forklifts can be fun]. I at some point worked at all but one of the retail locations and in both warehouses. About the only job I didn't do was drive a tanker truck. I eventually reached a point, and an age, where the paycheck was nowhere near the top of the list for reasons to have a job. I had actually learned something while I was self-employed that had nothing to do with making a living and everything to do with having a life. I quit the job... they said retired. It's only semantics. They both mean the same thing.

Today when folks ask me what I did for a living, I tell them I was a pizza cook for 20 years and a c-store clerk. Anything more is too complicated.

So now you've been subjected to another of my shaggy dog stories. I'm quite sure that somewhere down the road something will ring a bell and I'll have another. Until then you'll have to deal with whatever it is I'm using for filler.

Did I mention we went to the museum on Sunday?
I saw this



(the museum's website, or the server, or whatever isn't working so I was stuck with the Wikilink ...sorry!)