I thought I was going to write a post this morning

Instead, I'm going to go get the cat from the spa.*

At least I am able to use a real keyboard to type this.
(not that I couldn't get one of the portable keyboards for when I'm on the road)

Maybe we'll catch up later.

maybe we'll just move on

*it isn't a spa.
it's the vet.
but we don't wanna upset the cat

OTR*

Long drive today   . . .ughhhh!
Notlooking forwars to the post-holiday traffic.

more later

*on the road

My head hurts

I just  read the post over at the Sarge's place.
I think I will go to the zoo and watch squirrels.

Warriors won again

Normal Friday

One of my least favorite things is writingi blog posts on the tablet.
The other least favorites are writing blog posts on the smart phoneand the laptop.
This morning it's the tablet.

What else can I say?

How about. . .
. . .the Lions won
. . .the Cowboys didn't
. . .and the Packers are better than their record

I managed to avoid watching most of the three games yesterday.
So I guess that means I'm not a true sports fan.
But I was disappointed the Warriors didn't play. . .
. . .not too disappointed because it meant they were off for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In case you haven't noticed

I'm otherwise occupied.

Paradigm shift

what just happened

Thanksgiving tale of woe (whoa?)

Remember that paperboy story I posted?
Or maybe it was about oversleeping?

Anyway, I alluded to not particularly liking Thanksgiving in those day.
Those days were back when Black Friday meant something entirely different.
We all still had party lines. . .  remember them?
There was no internet.
Television only had VHF channels and most places only had three stations.

That was when retailers hit us with their Christmas ads on Thanksgiving Day.
The paper I delivered, the Palo Alto Times, went from a 24 page, easy to handle fold, carry, and deliver on one trip to a monster that had to be brought to me on two different loads.
It had so many ad inserts that it couldn't even be folded.
I required that I make a minimum of five trips to deliver to all of my customers.
It wasn't necessarily because it was heavy.
I just couldn't get more than 12 copies of the paper into my bicycle bags.
My brother and I both had routes so there wasn't much chance of assisting each other.
We weren't gonna get much help in the neighborhood, either.
Thanksgiving ya know.

Somehow we always managed.
Even the years we'd go to my aunt and uncle's we were always on time.
Those were the days, too, when we would dress up in a coat and tie for dinner on holidays.
Hmmmm. . .   maybe that's why I disliked Thanksgiving?

Monday morning thoughts

My swell* friend, Suldog, wrote an article for the Boston Herald.
(That's a link, or you can copy this link
http://www.bostonherald.com/opinion/op_ed/2015/11/sullivan_let_s_all_give_thanks_for_greed
into your browser)
I will wait here while you read his thoughts.

I attempted to comment at the newspaper's site.
It was uncooperative and booted me before I'd even completed typing my own thoughts, which were pretty much in concurrence with his.

Maybe they were a little more expansive.

I opined that there are some folks who just don't get what the holiday is about.
It's not just another day off.
It is a day to give thanks.
Gather with loved ones, when you can, and include those who may not have anyone.
Give thanks for, if nothing else, being able to give thanks.
Celebrate family.
If you don't have family ask yourself why.
Maybe it's because of a lack of gratitude.
There was no appreciation for what you had.

I remember a time when the day after Thanksgiving was when everyone went downtown, not to shop so much but to see the decorations the stores had created for Christmas.
That was the attraction to the merchants.
The stores did everything they could to hide their displays until after Thanksgiving so Friday was a big surprise.
Folks lined up to see the window displays.
Then they went shopping. . .
. . .and, for the most part, they were polite, too.

I know some folks who've always downplayed Thanksgiving other than to have turkey for dinner.
They just didn't see what the big deal is.
They only remember part of the Pilgrims story.
They couldn't understand that, without giving thanks, Christmas doesn't have much meaning because it becomes about taking.
Those are the folks who the retailers that are open are catering to.
Those folks are the me firsters who wait until the very last possible chance, when the road narrows from two lanes, to merge.
They're the ones who barge in front, who'll avoid creating a line at all costs so they can be in front.
They're the ones getting second helpings before some others have even been served.
They're the ones who complain that the free turkey dinner they were served by volunteers was dry and the gravy was cold.

it was free, @$$#0|e

*2. Excellent; wonderful
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language

*18. excellent; first-class
Collins English Dictionary

*28. first-rate; fine.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary

Awww shizzle

So there I was*

around the corner and down the street. . .
. . .all over the neighborhood the leaves are finally beginning to turn.
They're late this year.
There are better better places to see the colors. but they aren't conducive to drive by photographer [other drivers, ya know].

Anywhatsis. . .
After shooting the pic above I got home and decided to store some seasonal stuff (Halloween items. . .    okay?) back in the loft in the garage.
I managed to get one box up there and was starting up with the second. . .

There is nothing further to report.

no personal injuries occurred

*SJC

Nobody does sings it better

"I know nothing stays the same
But if you're willing to play the game
It's coming around again"

Normal Friday

And those of you who've been coming here for any length of time know that means only that it is Friday and we've mad it through another week.
I've been giving my living situation some serious consideration.
I'm pretty sure it's time to uncomplicate things. . .   make life a little simpler as it were.

There's way too much stuff in a house that's almost way too big for one person.
An accumulation of goods plus the leftovers from the earlier lives of two people and their families has reached the point where divesting seems like the best idea.
There's no rush.
But the nest is empty and I don't see any sign of it being filled again.

So there will be some discussion, albeit over longer distance than I'm comfortable with.
My preference is face to face with all concerned.
I will explain myself, ask for input, and maybe accommodate others.
But one has to look out for himself, particularly when there's nobody else around to do it.

hate having my own six

Who knew?

In the interest of keeping everyone informed.
The UN has designated November 19

not saying it should be a holiday

Another untitled post

It's the anniversary of the release in 1928 of the above film.

"From the usual source"

Those aren't my words in the title.
It's times like these that I really miss seeing what Buck Pennington would have to say about certain subject matter.

there's generation of weenies coming along

I suppose we can reconcile that

My rain gauge said we had 0.84 inch of rain.
The weather service, about four mile north of here, says there was 0.73 inch.

So far the really nasty stuff with the recent storms (two   . . .over a week apart, which is nothing like how we usually see them) has bypassed our part of the state.

Just 70 miles south there were heavy winds doing damage and even further south, in the San Joaquin Valley, there were tornadoes.
Are tornadoes in California only a recent phenomenon?
. . .or did they happen and were just accepted as a natural occurrence?
. . .or maybe the lack of reportage was a plot.
The idea was to increase the population of California.
Now these things are reported to keep folks away.

I mean, isn't it true that as soon as folks mention California to non-natives the response is, "I couldn't live there because of the earthquakes."
The native Californians reply, "I could live in Kansas, Illiniois, Iowa, Missouri, whereever because of the tornadoes!"

Yep!
I'm convinced.
It's a freakin' conspiracy.

I've been here for a few years.
In those few years I have yet to see a tornado [except a video] and have only felt three earthquakes. . .   one of which was when I was actually in Laramie, Wyoming.

yeah. . .   this is a stupid post go read Suldog

Before I ever actually typed a letter

This post ended up on the blog.
So. . .   rather than delete it and start over. . .

Here's what I intended.

We have had just a little less than a half inch of rain since 4:30 am.
It's amazing what a drought will do to one's attitude about rain.

Even the cat slept in [if you consider 5:15 sleeping in].
Now he is outside in the rain. . .   doing whatever cats do in the rain.

silly cat

This is going on the sidebar

Think positive!

Heh!

This morning a group (six if you really want to know) of Lions from the Anderson Lions Club made a visit to the breakfast meeting of the Enterprise Lions Club in Redding.
They meet at 7am.
That meant leaving the house before Sunrise.

Enough about that.
This is about the cat.
He decided to brave the cold last night.
Fortunately it didn't drop to the previous lows.
In any even, the little furhead didn't arrive home until well after I first called him.
In fact he waited until I was ready to leave.

I quickly prepared a food dish for him, at which he turned up his nose.
As I exited through the garage he was sitting, staring, as if to say, "WTF do you think you're doing?"
I just waved.

When I returned about two hours later.

more here

Like he thinks I answer to him.

BTW - he did eat the food I'd put out.

lots of scritches were had

What've ya done lately?

I finally took the camera out and got a little practice with it.
Ol' Mom Nature helped with the props.

I may have mentioned there was some rain earlier this week?
There was some cold air affiliated with the storm that brought the rain.
That cold air dropped the temperatures low enough for it to snow in the local mountains.

I highly recommend that you click on the above image to enlarge it.
Oh, that's Mt Lassen and a number of other peaks within Lassen National Park.
If I didn't have neighbors blocking the view, I could see that from my back yard.
As it is, I had to go out by the airport to take the shot.


Then I drove a little closer. . .   just for grins.

Again, click it to enlarge.

I would've taken a picture of Mt Shasta, too.
But the haze just wasn't helping and my camera doesn't have any filters. . .   maybe another day.

I got a really neat picture of the cat, too.
But he goes on the other blog on Friday.

Yesterday it was the Marines

Today we remember...

Norman Rockwell did that one.

I made this one but forgot to post it [except on f/b] because of my ego and self-interest.
Sorry it's late.

I know a few Marines and like 'em all.
(I sometimes wonder whatever happened to their sense of humor, though).

I don't say Happy Veterans Day. . .

. . .I say, Remember Veterans Day

celebrate our veterams

Strange week

So there I was* reading a post by the Sarge.
That's not so unusual.
I read his blog just about daily.
Heck, I comment almost daily on his blog.
But I digress.
(I also steal lines from his blog)

He was concerned with oversleeping.
I haven't worried about oversleeping for something like 30 years. . .   or longer.
It wasn't always the case.
I can remember a specific instance when I overslept and got into quite a bit of trouble.
It was a case of being late returning from liberty when I was in Radar School.
I ended up on informal restriction [they lost my liberty card] for about four weeks.
It could have been a more severe punishment had there been a formal charge of Unauthorized Absence.

I could sleep through anything.
Alarm clocks couldn't ring long enough.
I wore out an electric alarm clock.

On another occasion where sleep was involved, I slept through a call to General Quarters during a collision at sea.
The Damage Control Messenger was sent to find me and wake me up.
Had they not found me, I imagine there'd have been some kind of Man Overboard scenario.
That would've been real trouble.

No, I no longer have any problem waking up.
Today, if I set an alarm, I wake up before it goes off.
My issue now,for the most part is sleeping.
Lately, as in the last month, the slightest disturbance awakens me and I have a devil of a time going back to sleep.
Worse, if it is any time after 5 am, I find it fruitless to even try to go back to sleep.
There are just too many thoughts running around inside my head.

Then he, the Sarge that is, got on about his paper route.
I had a paper route.
His was a morning paper.
Mine was an afternoon paper.
I delivered it for five and a half years.
Rode my bicycle around that route six days a week.

Nine miles to porch every paper, every day.
It varied between 70 and 80 customers, depending upon the politics of the editors.
Sometimes, in the summer I would deliver other routes besides mine.
At one point my brother, the kid up the street, Barry, and I had three adjacent routes.

Finally there is the bit in the post about kilts.
I've worn one.

That's not my hair

I'm truly sorry there's only a copy of a copy.
The costume won first place.


*SJC

One more thing

I was going to put this in yesterday's post.
I forgot.
I would like to claim I found it all by myself, but another blogger steered me to it.

I won't even try to paraphrase what he says.
Just click on the picture.
It should take you to his post.

Then there was this :

I saw it later and commented, ". . .do it with irony"

vacation needed

Sometimes. . .

It is almost impossible to get a post started.
I have an idea, but it just isn't all that organized.
(Okay, I know most of the time the posts here aren't all they should be anyway.)

Yesterday's post over at the Chant gave me a reminder of something about which I could post.
(I just noticed that when the ideas aren't exactly flowing I have a tendency to be more grammatically correct.
Hence, I did not end that first sentence with a preposition.)

Anyway, today isn't the day for that post.

I said I was gonna try to get some pic from the Shasta Lake Veterans Parade.
Well. . .   I was able to take one with my camera and a couple with my phone.
The rest I had to steal from someone else.

I won't bother to bore you by posting duplicates or similar shots.

So it starts with this 50' x 30' American Flag and about 60 Lions Club members from eight different Lions Clubs.

No. . .   wait this is how it starts:

Then there's the obligatory selfie.

No, I don't need a shave.
It's November.
I haven't shaved in November for at least four years, ever since I heard about No Shave November.
But I digress.

Then we were onto the parade route, also known as Shasta Dam Blvd. (State Hwy 151).

There was a flyover by a single USAF F-15.
Unfortunately, there's no photo because everyone was standing at attention for the National Anthem.

At the end of the route the flag was kinda folded and carried back to the staging area. . .

. . .where I got one last look at the parade.

The fellas in the yellow shirts are the 139th element in the parade, waiting their turn to join the queue.

Yesterday was a really nice day.
It was clear and in the mid 60s with a light breeze.
Today we have rain.
It started at 4:30 this morning (DAMHIK).

Today

The Lions Club at Shasta Lake, the city, not the body of water, hosts the annual Veterans Parade.
This is the 26th year.
The parade opens with the 30 x 60 foot American flag at the head of the parade, right behind the color guard.
There is a good chance the weather will hold and it will be clear, if not exactly warm for the parade this year.
Overnight temperatures here at the house have been bordering on freezing.
The tomato plant won't survive many more nights like that.
I hope to get some pictures at the parade.
I get to help carry that flag.

won't march, though

Timing

The cat, Sebastian [aka he who cannot be ignored], is pissed at me again.
It's his own darn fault.
He has become accustomed to coming and going on his own schedule, not taking into account there are others is another [namely me] in the household who also has certain schedules to meet.

So, yesterday he went off on his daily rounds immediately after breakfast.
I did whatever it is I do for most of the day.
Then about 4pm I began preparing to go to a meeting I regularly attend on Thursdays at 6pm.
There was no sign of the little fella.
I even called him.

Anyway, I opened the garage door so I could move the wheelie bin out to the curb (for today's early pickup), and came back into the house.
I procrastinate some, so getting ready was becoming a rush job.
Still no sign of the cat.

I should mention that most days he shows up around 4 to check up.
I likes to come in and get scritches and have some lap time.
Maybe he thought he was punishing me for putting him in the garage the other morning?
BTW - I would do it again in a minute.

Finally, it was time to leave.
As I approached the door to the garage I heard him announcing his presence and impatience.
As I went out, he went in.
My thought was don't let the door hit you in the @$$.
Then I drove off, leaving him to stew for about an hour and a half.
Serves him right for having expectations.
He was lucky I let him in [more about that later].

I went to my meeting, even enjoying it.
I stopped at the local Burrito Bandito, as is the habit on Thursdays, to pick up my dinner and harass the help.

When I arrived home I was just a little unsure of the reception I would receive.
One never quite knows a cat's mood until actually interacting with the cat.
Sebastian acted like "whatever."

He'd been napping on the catchall table in the kitchen.
Which reminds me, I have to clean it off and put away the Halloween stuff, too.
But I digress.

I'm not sure he was happy to see me.
But, apparently he wasn't entirely unhappy about having his ears scratched.
Then again, he kept looking at where I put his food dish when its feeding time.

As I said before, it was his fault his dinner was late.
I won't prepare it unless he is ready to eat.
Which I did, presently.

Then I sat down to eat my dinner.
He interrupted me twice to have his dish refilled.
I accommodated him.
It was either that or have him jump up on the dining table and stare at me or sit directly behind my chair and "MEOW!"

I finish eating and cleaning up.
He was obviously done because he was sitting beside my recliner staring at it.
That's how he hints that he wants be to sit so he can have some lap time [well, that's what I link to think].
So I switched the channel to the station with Big Bang Theory and he curled up in my lap.

Obviously he couldn't get comfortable because he kept changing positions.
Finally he moved to the floor next to the chair and stretched out.

After a few minutes he began to prowl the room.
My thought was he wanted to go outside because that's his usual routine.
He could care less what the temperature is.

But, no.
He was just nosing around.
Then he jumped up on the table, where he found a box.
What is it with cats and boxes?

Cute!

I finished up the dinner dishes, started the dishwasher, and sat back down.
Before long the li'l monster was back in the lap.
This time he settled.
For about two hours he was just fine.
Then it was bed time.
I tried to coax him into the garage   . . .or outside.
He was having none of that.

Have you ever noticed how a cat can't be dropped straight down if he doesn't want to?

Anyhow, he settled in the middle of the floor.
I was hoping it was to sleep.

It wasn't happening.
I went to get ready for bed.
When I came out of the bathroom, there he was sitting on the corner of the bed giving me the "I want scritches look."
Everywhere I moved, he was immediately in the way. as only a persistent cat can be. . .   kinda like those apps that will follow a cursor around the screen.

What a pest.
I was finally able to get under the covers.
But do you think the cat would give me a break so I could go to sleep.
No!

He was in my armpit, sitting on my ear, and prowling the headboard for about 20 minutes.
Finally he settled. . .

. . .for about two hours.

One o'clock in the morning, "Meow...  meow....   MeOw!!!"

Fine, out you go.
I tried to coax him into the garage, because it isn't nearly as gold as outside.
But he would have it.
He insisted on being let out.

I discovered why this morning.

Evidently something he ate hadn't quite agreed with him.
Sometime after I fell asleep, but before he woke me up to let him out, he coughed up his supper in three different places on the living room (parlor?) floor.
That would be the room that greets visitors immediately as they arrive at the front door. . .   the room that's kept nicest in the house.

The reason I know he's pissed is because, when I discovered his little mess, he was back in from his overnight roaming, and watched me with some delight as I cleaned it up.
Maybe he and I deserve each other?

Equal time

PHG only forwarded this to me this morning.
This being the great grandson.
It appears he may have a future on the stage [or in movies].

Oh   . . .and I have a new t-shirt.

well. . .   it's true

Mammatus cloud over the back yard on November 2

Everybody but us seems to have had rain this week.
We got distant thunder and threatening clouds and cold air.

Yesterday I had to drive south to Willows [had to is maybe a little strong].
There was absolutely no evidence anywhere in the sky of the previous day's weather, just bright sunshine.
Oh... but there's fresh snow on Mt Shasta and Mt Lassen.

Mt Lassen from Manzanita Lake (10/3/2015 3:30pm)

As you can see the snow level is still really high.

I get to see the dentist today.

whoopee!

I hate it when that happens

So. . .   the cat, Sebastian, stayed in last night.
He'd gone out after his dinner just like he usually does.
He has a habit of prowling    . . .that's what we call it when we don't know what cats do outside.
I'm pretty sure what they really do most of the time is find someplace to sleep, other than where they usually sleep, but I digress.

About 9pm I slipped out to the garage to check that the back door was locked.
It wasn't even closed   . . .I only have myself to blame.
Sebastian was fast asleep on the top of the Mustang, which reminds me that I have to put some gas in it and give it a good run soon.
It's been about a month since anyone took it anywhere, but I digress again.

So the cat's asleep, or close to it, on top of the convertible.
My stirring in the garage awoke him and he actually jumped down and followed me into the house.
As soon as I sat down again he was in my lap, which, of late, seems to be his second most favorite place.

He wasn't exactly happy I was reading and after about 20 minutes moved to the floor so he could stretch out. . .

. . .exactly like that.
Then he went to sleep.
My own plan was to finish another chapter or two in the new book I'm Kindling [that's what I call it when I am reading a book on my Kindle], then go to bed myself.
I know better than to let the cat stay inside.
His internal clock doesn't jibe with mine, particularly when he's indoors.
It was cold out.

That was the temp at 6:45 this morning.
I'm sure he could find a way to keep warm.
But why disturb him?

Well. . . because I know he will wake up sometime around 3:30am.
When he wakes, he does not prowl.
He sits in one spot and announces that he's there, becoming he who cannot be ignored (HWCBI).
Except I chose to ignore him.
Finally, he found his way onto the foot of the bed and preened for a couple of minutes and rested for a few more before jumping down and starting his griping again.
He wanted to be fed.
I wanted to sleep.

I gained a temporary victory by putting him back in the garage.
Feeding time is 6am, not 4am.

He heard me making the coffee at 6 and announced his presence in the garage   . . .as if I didn't know.
As soon as the door was opened he bee-lined to where his food dish usually is.
It wasn't there.
I'd prepared it, but hadn't set it on the floor yet.
It was almost comical watching his reaction.

Anyway. . .   he's pissed at me because I've not met his expectations.

In other news -
Some of you may have heard that there's been rain here in California.
Well, it missed us. . .    again!

Blue Monday

Loves me some Ray

Those happy hours that we once knew
Tho' long ago, they still make me blue
They say that time heals a broken heart
But time has stood still since we've been apart

It's the weather.
The weatherman says it's gonna rain.
He said a lot of rain.
So far he's lied.
It spit some yesterday morning  . . .just enough to keep the lizards under their rocks.

oh, well

What are ya gonna do?

I am beginning to think the trick or treat phenomenon is ebbing.
Last night we had only about 50 visitors to our door.
That is quite a bit fewer than last year.
I couldn't begin to posit a reason for the reduced numbers.
The weather was perfect.
It was clear.
There was no wind.
It wasn't cold.
It was ideal.

When GS and I moved into this neighborhood, 30 some years ago, we would have upwards of 200 kids.
They didn't show until after dark and were done by 9pm.
Now they start before dinner and arrive until after most reasonable folks have called it a night.

Some don't even bother with costumes.
Others make the entire effort worthwhile.

I guess if I am home on Halloween I will continue to support the li'l beggars.

Lord knows my grandkids seem to enjoy it.
Maybe next year I can visit them and tag along?