Really been busy

Still getting complaints about not writing here as much as I used to, but I am writing on facebook. Anyhow it has been very busy couple of months, July was the Region Staff College, which involved a great deal of preparation, then August came along and our trip to the West, We took the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon and rode both ways in the Observation car (front seats) and had a good time. Always wanted to ride up there since I was a little kid playing with my Santa Fa model trains. Then to our time share in Vegas where our friends joined us midweek. We had also stopped going to Williams at Kingman AZ to have lunch at one of our favorite airports cafe. Then up to Zion NP to do a little climbing back up to the top of Angel's Landing. Somehow I missed our friend coming back down or up but I ran into the other group going up as I was going down. Got back to Philly in time to pick up my oldest daughter at the airport, good timing, of course then I had to leave for a Air Force activity for two days, then home again for a week before I left for San Diego, had a great time there, could have used another week there just to see everything. Got back and got busy with the Masons, I'm doing pretty good learning the degree for me to go into the chairs. Oldest daughter leaves to go back way down south on Monday. I'm sad to see her go but I understand her new life is down there. Had a nice get together with both my daughters who both were here at the same time. Midnight enjoyed seeing both his sisters at the same time, well back to my cooking.
Ciao

On Vacation

Well to bring everyone up to date, we are on vacation out West. Flew out last Thursday to Las Vegas in First Class (need the extra seat and leg room) and had a fairly good meal and flight out. Need to write to the CEO of US Air to commend them, actually they put America West (the owner of US Air) (Actually America West Holdings) at least that is what my stock says. Anyhow our baggage was the 1st thru 4th ones up on the baggage claim area. Walked out to the bus that takes you to the rental area (usually 30 min wait) and got right on and at the car rental area in 5 min, then only waited 5 min there and off we went with our "Green" Prius. It isn't green Hertz calls their energy efficient cars "Green". Anyhow got to the Luxor in less than 5 min (no traffic, really hard to believe) dropped the wife off at the front entrance and by the time I parked the car (another 5 min) I got a call from the wife to meet her at the Inclinator 2, we had the same room before (26138) Great view of the airport. Anyhow went to dinner at "Dick's Last Resort", good meal and a little bit of a crazy place to go. Friday we headed to Williams Az, to go up to the Grand Canyon on a train on Saturday, We had upgraded to the Observation car (Dome car) I always wanted to ride up there since I was a little kid. Rain was falling for the trip up, but by the time we finished lunch the rain had ended and blue sky and sun came out for the tour. The ride back down was very nice. But I forgot on Friday we went to Poncho McG for dinner, great dinner and a wild west shoot- out went on right in front of us, we were on the Patio and the old west shootout was on the street. Got a picture of Midnight eating his lunch sent by his aunt, I was glad to see that. Back to Saturday, after having what I said was a really great day, we went to the Red Raven restaurant in Williams. They are well know for their great food. I ordered shrimp and filet and ate my vegs and then the shrimp and had three bites of my very tender bacon wrapped filet when I seem to have something extra in my mouth. It was my temp bridge that broke while I was chewing on my tender filet. I was really ticked off. So the bad end of a good day. Anyhow today we moved into our time share here in Vegas (next to the SouthPOint hotel and casino). Walked over for dinner at Don Vito's (great Italian meal) and then won some money at the casino playing Wheel of Fortune slots. Then back here to watch Ice road truckers. Got another pic of Midnight, very nice to see him. Well that's it for now.
Ciao

Where have I been

Who would have thought retirement would be so time consuming. I have received many complaints about not writing here in a long time, so to quiet the complaints, here is a list of things that have been happening. 1st is my friendly visits with the dentist, now I like my dentist and all of his helpers, they are all very nice to me most of the time. Of course, one visit I saw him pushing his assistants car into a parking spot when he couldn't fix it. And I did notice his sign changed to dentist and auto mechanic. So far I spent about $5000 on repairs and adjustment to my jaw and bite pattern. And actually one more tooth to come out and two implants and I'll be ready for all the permanent teeth to be put in. It has been almost a year, but I can now chew on both sides and my mouth and my jaw doesn't hurt as much as it used to be and I have teeth where there wasn't any. So I guess progress is being made.
Midnight went to the vet for a checkup and to determine if he has a problem. He seems he is having to many accidents lately and the doctor says he is fine, just a little re-training is needed, and he doesn't hold a grudge if I leave for a few days. However I don't think he realizes that Midnight is not a cat, sure he looks like a cat, sounds like a cat, but Midnight knows he is not a cat. To prove this point, I had brought down my suitcase from the attic because I had to go away for 12 days. It sat there for 3 days until the night before when he decided to take a dump right in front of it. Midnight was just making a point.
So now we are just putting on the finishing touches to our 2 week trip, can't wait to see what he does next. He really needs someone to stay with him here.
Anyhow that is most of what's happening around here, check facebook for daily updates.
Ciao for now

Today Deb arrives

Well the back is better and Deb is arriving today. She got upgraded to first so she was happy. Going to go get her soon. Went for a ride on the bike and watched the people play shuffle board for a while. Well I better get moving.
Ciao for now.

Still my back hurts

Well my back is still hurting, I must have really pulled a muscle or something, If I stretch I get a pain. I guess it was my fault for taking a shower, well more advil (I take one every 6 to 8 hours) and it seems ok then, more of a nagging pain than a sharp pain. But it is cutting down on my bike riding and the last project I wanted to get done. Maybe the handy man can take care of the gravel and sand around the house. Deb is coming tomorrow, I'm happy about that, not that the folks aren't nice here, but I do miss her. And midnight, he knows something is up, but he will be without his people for only 6 days. Hopefully he will not eat my herb garden.
Ciao for now.
One note, I watch a program called House Hunters where they take prospective home buyers to three different houses to chose the one they want. Anyhow they were in Buenos Aires looking for apartments in the really expensive part of the town where a one bedroom one bath was going for 150000 us dollars, but it did have a view of the cementary :)

And then my back went out

I guess I'm been overdoing it down here, but I do have a limited amount of time to fix things around here before heading North next Saturday. I like doing the work, but there is a month of projects to get done. Nothing major, just little things that have been put off too long. They have found a handiman who fixed the railing, (o thank heaven) and he fixed the toilet in the master bath (what leak) and now he is painting the whole outside except for the front bottom that I did in October. He is going to patch the driveway and repaint it once we leave. So another project done. The lights worked well and added just the amount of light to enhance the outside. I ended up using all 16 lights, I guess it was the right guess. Next I need to get pea gravel and some sand to correct the wash out areas from the down sprouts and new extendeds for the down spouts. We talked about getting a new computer for here, but the unit would not be delivered until after I left and setting up a new computer with an internet connection may not be the best choice for an 80+ year old man. So that may have to wait until next time. We all bring down our laptops, so it isn't a big deal. Both would like to keep in touch with relatives via email and facebook and papasan wants to play games. However, due to the age of the old games, they will not work on modern computers.
Today it is going to 80 with rain late this afternoon and into tonight. I'm going to try and rest my back today and watch the race on TV.
Got rid of one of the old kitchen chair and a tv that ceased working years ago. My other old set we will keep as a backup to the TV in the dining room. Just noticed the screen door on the front porch is not closing well. Another project and the film on the porch windows is tearing, probably from old age, but a guy that works on those things has been found. Wish I would be here to watch how he removes the windows.
ciao for now

78 and sunny

Just looked and the temp is 78 on the porch. Got all the lights installed, almost forgot to pull the battery tab, but that was an easy fix. Hopefully they will work when it gets dark. Took a chair and tv to the dumping site here. So I think all my projects are done. Evidently I pulled a back muscle the other day, it comes and goes. It might be the mattress, which both wife and sis-in-law said last year needed to be replaced. Maybe they may be right. I made beef stew last night from a package that had the beef in one spot and the vegs in another bad and then I cooked it for 8 hours. I think it came out OK, leftovers tonight.
Well watching the Nationwide race so Ciao for now.

Rainy days

Yes it does rain in Sunny Florida, but just this morning. I still got the bike ride in and did some work around here. Went to Walmart this morning to buy a pair of shorts, it seems my father-in-law took over mine, so got a new pair. They are remodeling this Walmart, which makes quite a mess of things as everything has been moved or is in the process of being moved. And evidently the people doing the moving have no idea of where anything is. There do have a person in the front of the store that you can ask where something is, but from what one customer said she was as confused as the other workers. But she was nice I was told. I made Beef Stoganoff for dinner, it came out well. Just noticed it is rainy again. Well back to American Idol
Caio

Did I drop off the face of the Earth

No I just have been really busy and trying to keep up with Facebook and lots of other things. Right now I'm in Florida again. I have a low cold level and sometimes I just have to go someplace warm. Actually, this is the second trip to florida this year. However the January trip was met by record cold temperatures here. So I felt cheated, actually this is my annual drive down to Florida (OK so I missed last year) and with the brand new Ford Fusion Hybrid it was alot of fun. The car is the most complex vehicle I have ever owned. There is 525 pages to read about the car and Snyc computer. I have realized that technolgy has advanced past my skill level to understand the systems. The car is so quiet that I keep thinking the engine quit. Actually the car runs on the battery and the computer turns the engine off and on. And of course the computer talks to me to tell me what I am doing right or wrong. The car even has a tutorial system the runs on the screen. I think there is a test after each section and it grades you on how good you are. So the car got me here OK and with outstanding gas mpg. The car can almost go 600 miles before refilling which caused me to learn that my bladder can not go 600 miles without service. The weather down here has been nice and warm and I ride the bike at least once a day. I thought to myself that nothing has changed down here and then remembered that it has only been 2 months since I was here last. My sister in law wrote a rather strange story (actually after I reminded her she hasn't written anything lately). It seems to be about a singing frog or group of frogs. It soon developed into a Steven King mini story. I believe she needs more sleep and change the pills she has been taking. It started well and then came the Steven King part.
My oldest daughter completed her year long project of taking a picture everyday and making it relate to her first full year in Argentina. Great job. My other daughter had a little car trouble as in the engine had a disaggrement with the timing belt. But lucky for her her new boyfriend is a mechanic who got her a new engine and fixed the car. And my grand daughter is doing well in school.
Midnight is limping a little due to a bone spur or somehing like that, but he gets a pill and is still active. The wife will be flying down next tuesday and driving back up with me, I wish she was here but work calls. So that is a quick recount of the past 4 months. As I said it has been a busy 4 months.
Ciao for now