Friday cat

Road trip jr,

Just one short round trip.

Pifflesquit*

So as not to be outdone by all the redneck, hillbilly, and Texan jokes, somebody had to come up with this, you know you’re from California if:

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.

2. You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.

3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

4. Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Flower.

5. You can't remember . . . is pot illegal?

6. You've been to a baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.

7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.

8. You can't remember . . . . is pot illegal?

9. A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

10. Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

11. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.

12. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

13. You can't remember . . . .is pot illegal?

14. It's barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH."

15. You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cell phones.

16. Or it's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

17. HEY!!!! Is pot illegal????

18 Both you AND your dog have therapists, psychics, personal trainers and cosmetic surgeons.

19. The Terminator was your governor.

20. If you drive illegally, they take your driver's license. If you’re here illegally, they want to give you one.

*I know, right?

Add-on

The Cuz and SOG also eating crab sandwich behind the scoreboard.

Looking back

Last year

we didn't take this picture

There was an eclipse we viewed in August.


Yesterday

Sights you only see if you're actually on San Francisco Bay

click the image to enlarge

former military installation 

Guess?

Pregame crab sandwich behind the scoreboard with MB and Mrs. Cuz.

our team won

Weekend fling

Today we're off the the Giants game at AT&T.
Maybe you'll read about it tomorrow or see something on fb.
Yesterday was pickup at the airport, a visit to Old Sacramento and a light lunch, but mostly catching up since the last time (Honolulu).
Then we relaxed [sort of] and watched the baseball game and cringed as the Giants squandered a six run lead.
We went to bed before the end of the game and had to wait to found out the outcome until this morning.
Anyhow, it's time to leave.

Friday cat

that would be me

Mrs. Cuz and himself arrive tomorrow for a whirlwind visit, and the belated celebration of our birthday¹.
The first order of business will be lunch [because eating is what our family does best and they aren't arriving early enough for breakfast].
That's only a rough plan.
The only other scheduled event is the baseball game Saturday.
We know we're taking the ferry from, and to, Vallejo, but there's a certain latitude in that.

¹same day, same year, same time zone, adjacent post offices.

This just in

At a loss for keeping up on a daily basis, I have to resort to stealing material [including punctuation and spelling]:

Is Sex Work?A Colonel was about to start the morning briefing to his staff.
While waiting for the coffee machine to finish brewing, the colonel decided to pose a question to all assembled. He explained that his wife had been a bit frisky the night before and he failed to get his usual amount of sound sleep. He posed the question of just how much of sex was work and how much of it was a pleasure?
A Major chimed in with 75-25% in favour of work.
A Captain said it was 50-50%.
A Lieutenant responded with 25-75% in favour of pleasure, depending upon his state of inebriation at the time.
There being no consensus, the Colonel turned to the PFC who was in charge of making the coffee and asked for HIS opinion?
Without any hesitation, the young PFC responded, Sir, it has to be 100% pleasure.
The Colonel was surprised and as you might guess, asked why?
Well, sir, if there was any work involved, the officers would have me doing it for them.

Anticipation

Cuz and Mrs. Cuz are flying in for the weekend this Friday.
Saturday we're going to AT&T to see the Giants and the Rangers.
We are going to travel part way via ferry so we don't have to deal with the traffic on the Eastshore Freeway, Bay Bridge, and Downtown S.F. or the parking situation.
MB and I will reconnoiter the driving part of the route and purchase the tickets for the ferry today.
There are other options, besides driving.
We done the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit).
It's okay going, but a bit crowded and hectic returning after a game.
If we hang out in the city The City, crowding might not be an issue.
There are plenty of things we all like to do there so we won't be bored.

Maybe next Monday I will have a tale to tell.

Weekend wrap

Yesterday I forgot to title the post.
I also didn't label it as an Untitled post.
An oversight on my part.

Also yesterday, it was 18 months (78 weeks if you're counting) since MNBF became MB.
She's still my best friend and the honeymoon isn't over.
She was away for a little more than two days.
It seemed like forever.
She's home now.

It turns out I have already read one of the two books I mentioned yesterday . . .  

. . . the fiction one.

I'm back to reading two books at the same time.
It isn't difficult when one is fiction and the other isn't   . . . though, one is an autobiography.

Nothing much else to report, so here's some  more from last month.
In no particular order:

Click on image to enlarge

At Zion there's a tunnel exiting to, or entering from, the east

Click on image to enlarge

Periodically there are openings in the side of the tunnel giving those inside a very brief view.
Drivers are encouraged to keep their eyes on the road.

There was some fun to be had at the Grand Canyon.

Some relaxed more than others.

Witch Bryce Canyon thrown in at no extra charge.



Maybe more when they're transferred from the phone.

Friday cat

Testing

Orange Chicken 

Just the chicken 

I may have found a solution to my road trip posting issues.
Now all that's needed is a wifi connection.
I still have time to work tbat out.

Let's see

Monday I saw the optometrist because my glasses need to be replaced.
Since the "procedure" I can actually see distance in my left eye without glasses.
I won't even try to explain about the other vision issues I've had for a number of years.
Once, though, I had really, really good eyesight.
A common question was, "How'd you see that?"

Monday was also an anniversary of sorts.
Some of us still miss GS . . .   always will.
It's been four years.

We've had an added grandchild, too.
One of the Wisconsin cousins rode west with the locals when they returned from their vacation.
Last night (more like early this A.M.) MB and she caught a red-eye to return her home.
She was perfectly alright with traveling alone.
It was mama bear who had trepidations.
MB will return home tomorrow.



The "project" is down to finish work now.
Drywall needs to be extended to the floor.
New tile has to be set.
The baseboards will be re-installed and the walls painted.
Then, too, the trim around the front door will also be addressed in some manner.

It should be done by Thanksgiving.



Thanksgiving because MB and I will be away most of September and half of October.
We will do our best to keep everyone informed of our whereabouts.
Meanwhile, we have plenty to keep us hopping.



Last night, for dinner, MB made orange chicken.
We've become big fans of the frozen Mandarin Orange Chicken from Trader Joes.
But since there were 11 for dinner it made sense to purchase the ingredients and make it from scratch.
Good decision.

I remember when it was well into September

source: http://lizclimo.tumblr.com/

Monday update

It will be Tuesday before we know it.
By now you may have gathered I was unable to post over the weekend.
I did that second weekend in August thing again, for the third time.

No, not celebrating my birthday.
Though Sunday I did start another year.
I was in the far northern reaches of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, almost to Mt Lassen.

This year I drove up I-5 to Red Bluff, then east on Hwy 36.
It was smoky most of the way, but not nearly as thick as a week earlier.
By the time I reached Mineral the air had cleared.
It was stunning.

The event was a men's spiritual retreat.
This year there is a group picture.

There were a few missing from the photo.
They all had legitimate excuses.

You can't tell from the picture but it got smoky on Saturday.
By Sunday most of the smoke had cleared again.

The word around the camp was the Perseids were awesome again this year.
The best night for them was supposed to be Sunday.
They don't show until well after bedtime.

It was good to get home.

Friday cat

Where there's smoke . . .

I have a friend who retired from the CDF (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, now known as CalFire).
He lives in Shasta County, close enough to the Carr Fire that he packed a "go bag."
He's been visiting the the Base Camp, located primarily at the Shasta District Fairgrounds¹ on an almost daily basis.
He has also visited some of the burnt areas and fire camps.
Then he reports, in plain language that anyone can understand, just what the fire is doing and what is being done to counter that in an objective manner.
There's no editorializing.

The situation is still really scary for some folks, just not as many as a week ago.
I have included a small example of his style.
This particular report from yesterday leaves out details from the fire.

And on a lighter note, A Fire Weather Geek has decided that the fire whirls that occurred on Thursday evening were of such magnitude that the term "fire whirl" did not adeqately describe  what happend so he officially declared we had experienced  a  Fire Tornado. Now Redding is the home of the Fire Tornado..I can se the City Council redesigning our City Flag...it now features the Sundial Bridge. We'll keep the bridge, but add a flaming whirling vortice above it. The Enterprise Hornets² will change their name to the  Enterprise Twisters. The Asphalt Cowboys³ will wear fire helmets and become the Hell Fighters.

The world of Wildland Firefighters is similar to the military in which we have slang  names for the other jobs and duties.
A Line Dog is someone who is a Fireline Supervisor be it a
 Strike Team or Task force leader, a Division Supervisor or an OPS Section Chief.

 A Crew Dog  is a member of a hand crew, including Hotshots. A Rotorhead works Helitack, an Engine slug  is on an Engine crew and Hydrant Hopper works for a Muni or Local Government fire Department. Members of the Command Staff are Fire Gods and the support staff in Fire Camp are called Juice Suckers ( in the old days CDF wouldn't buy soda or gatorade, only fruit juice or water ) . Welcome to my world.

There's a down home tough to his commentary that gives the reader confidence that there's no BS.
It's only facts, backed up by data, but translated into the common language.
I sure wish we had more of that.
Perhaps, later, I can re-post some more of his writing, provided I can find it.

¹The county fairground is located in the eastern part of the county, at McArthur. Shasta District Fair is a state fair.
² Local High School
³ Local civic promotion organization

Finally

Yes, the photos I took on our little sojourn to the Southwest are finally made available to our loyal follower.
It's not like I didn't get them into the queue some time ago.
We're just lazy.

I mentioned the first stopover was in Las Vegas.
I may have taken one photo with my phone.
You won't see it here.

After a night in an upscale, if not big name, hotel, we [I] decided we should see Hoover Dam.

in all instances click on the photos to enlarge them

In this instance you can see the back side of the dam, a glimpse of Lake Mead, and the highway bridge that avoids the the necessity of driving across the top of the dam for folks going to Arizona.

From the dam we drove back to Las Vegas, purchased fuel and headed for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we met up with MB's youngest and his family.

I will mention here that the original plan was to meet at Zion National Park.
However, independently of each other, we realized how close we were going to be to the Grand Canyon and thought it would be a good idea to visit it, as well.

Looking to the South Rim

here are a couple looking east,

 then west..

It kinda felt like one misstep would be the last.
Some in our group weren't nearly as reticent about living on the edge.

not all in this photo were with us

 Then we had lunch . . .

. . . and went to Zion.

Something heard said was, "at the Grand Canyon you're looking down, Zion you're looking up."

The Watchman, behind the Visitor Center

We went early because we expected the park to be crowded.

the shuttle bus line

We were not disappointed.
While one can drive into the park, traveling into the canyon must be by shuttle bus, foot, or bicycle.

The canyon narrows as one gets deeper into it.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, The Patriarchs

There is plenty of awesome sights, even from the shuttles.

We didn't go directly to Zion from the Grand Canyon.
There was an overnight stay in a campground, whilst it rained, before arriving in the park.

After Zion the plan was to head north to I-80.
We realized we'd be near Bryce Canyon National Park and could visit without going too far out of our way.

It's another park where shuttles a a blessing, as parking is limited.

The Aquarius Plateau, on the left horizon is the highest in North America

Those six are my traveling companions

We finally got onto I-15 northbound to Salt Lake City, with a meal stop at In-n-Out in American Fork.
At  Salt Lake City we headed west on I-80  to Wendover, UT, with another brief stop.

There were some strange sights.

At Wendover, after spending the night in a hotel, we gathered up two of the grandchildren and bid goodbye to the others, then drove home.

whirlwind trip

There are a $#!+ ton of photos that weren't on my camera. I may just insert some that aren't in this post over the next month or so.

Best intentions

Today was the day the photos were gonna be posted.
Key word, WERE.

Instead there's news . . .   two items.

1. As I write this the concrete in the entryway is being smoothed, floated, evened, colored, and textured.
   Yeah . . . all that.


2. Just got an email. The annual, occasionally cancelled¹, cousins birthday is on for sure this year.
   It is slightly delayed until the end of the month instead of the middle.
   I already have the tickets for the game at AT&T Park.
   Cuz just sent me the arrival and departure info for Mrs. Cuz and his flights. 

 maybe tomorrow?

¹Cuz still works [he calls it work].

Patience

The title serves two purposes.

1. It reminds you that I will post the promised photos in my own sweet time.
2. It reminds me that the construction project that commenced before we left will eventually be finished.

I will try to get the first one done in the next day or so.

The other will take a little longer.
The easy part was the demolition.
Then we had to wait for MB's nephew to have a free Saturday to come over and lower the front doors.
He accomplished that while we were up in Anderson the other day.
I have to mention I can and have done the same project in the past.
I just do not have the same expertise.
A job that would take me at least six, and probably more like nine or ten hours, took less than three hours for the nephew.
Now we are awaiting the concrete pour to replace the front entry.
Then there's the issue of replacing the interior entry tiles and replacing the drywall that's missing from the bottom of the wall.
We may finish by Christmas Halloween.

maybe

I didn't forget

There are still a lot of pictures I have, at least, uploaded to the PC.
Now I have to make an effort to sort through to select which ones I'll post.

tomorrow's another day

More miles

MB and I just returned home from a quick visit to Anderson.
A good friend just celebrated a 50 year milestone.
There were a lot of folks there to help her celebrate.

The fire situation hasn't improved much.
The city of Redding may no longer be at risk, but the Carr Fire is still only about 35% contained and is still expanding north, south and west.
Folks who live in the threatened areas wonder where the media went.
Fortunately the 4,000 firefighters are still there to help.

Now there is an even larger fire burning about 100 miles south of the Carr Fire.
Two large fires merged to create this one which is about 160,000 acres (Carr is about 135,000)
What makes the situation interesting for California is that the two big fires have managed to block access to the coast on any major roads.
There are detours one can take, but they are . . .   you know . . .    detours.

It appears the entire northern third of the state is covered in smoke.
I'm guessing the lower third of the State of Oregon is also blanketed.
They burning, too.

Friday cat returns

Another untitled post

Barring some cataclysm we will be home for the next eight days.
Then I'm off to a weekend men's retreat in the mountains near Lassen National Park.
Afterward nobody has any trips planned until September.

September is a whole 'nuther story.
So I'd better upload the pictures I took when we were at Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon.

I didn't take any photos in Las Vegas.
That city really disturbs me.

So we'll tease a little.
The first shot is of Hoover Dam.

from the Arizona side, looking at the highway bridge, too

We had to drive back through Las Vegas to get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which we visited the next day after camping.

Then we drove to Zion National Park, where we camped two nights.

first look at Zion

Then we visited Bryce Canyon on our way to Wendover, UT via Salt Lake City.

Bryce Canyon in the foreground, Aquarius Plateau on the horizon.
The plateau is the highest in the U.S.

more as time permits

Thought for the day

I  think posting should be a easy as commenting on other blogs, or posting on facebook.
There is no way I want to lug my laptop just so I can write a blog post from some location other than home.