The Clampetts Strike Again Feb 16, 2008

It's Saturday and the weather was nicer than it has been in past weekends, so that means garage sales! We went to a few, and then we stopped at an estate sale. They can be run by relatives, or professionals. Both can be good, and interesting. Today's sale was run by women who were relatives, and they just wanted to get rid of the stuff left behind by one's father-in-law.

We found this loveseat that is two recliners. It's probably "like leather" but it's quite nice. We decided it might take up less room than our two separate recliners. So we bought it for $40! They actually separate into two, but that defeats the purpose.

The space is not that small - I think we may have had our other recliners farther away from the wall.

They also had nice clothes. The shirts are all new with tags. The burgundy, beige and blue are a a nice microsuede that can be washed. The tags say $42, but they charged us $3 each. The socks, also new, were $1.

I found a shirt that wasn't new, so it was $1, but it looks like it was barely worn. It's in the wash now.We moved the two recliners in the living room while we made space for the loveseat.

Now have too many chairs. Did I really say that? So I put a post on two local email groups, and had more responses than I expected. It turns out that our friend Diann wanted the green chair.

And the burgundy recliner went to a woman with two sons who will surely all be fighting over it.

I'm always glad to recycle. We had gotten both chairs free from similar posts within the past 8 months, and we enjoyed them both. Now we are able to give them to others who will enjoy them. I'm really glad Diann is taking the green chair.

Speaking of green, my green sweater is coming along, although I admit I ripped out the second sleeve after this picture was taken because I didn't count how many stitches I picked up to make the first sleeve, and the second sleeve seemed slightly larger, so I'm redoing it. I'm really happy with this, and I may look for appropriate yarn at Stitches on Friday to make another.

UPDATE: I'm bidding on this same yarn on Ebay (5 skeins of the green, 2 skeins of yellow, 2 skeins of pink, and 8 skeins of turquoise). Maybe I should put in a higher bid. This yarn is no longer made, though I'm not sure why because it's nice to knit with and the result is great. If I get this, I won't need to buy yarn at Stitches!The sweater that I am working on is in the same yarn as the green you see in this photo. It's a beautiful color, and my photo does not do the color justice.

I went on Thursday to hear Will's new band and take pictures with my digital camera. Ken and Diann also went and Ken took pictures with his film camera. Out of the many pictures I took, two were pretty good. Ken's may even be better!

Pictures from a Beautiful Weekend (66 degrees)

It's lunch time at Matlack Cafe. I am having a peanut butter sandwich with fresh delicious grapes from Raley's, and Will is having cottage cheese with peaches and the same grapes, although the picture isn't good. (It wasn't worth re-taking). I told him his looked like the diet plate at Denny's.

Update on Dad online: I spoke too soon. The email I received was actually sent by my Niece from my Dad's email. She was able to get him online, but somehow he can't do it. She did it and showed him, but maybe when she returns, she can have him do it. Doing it, rather than watching someone else doing it, is the only way to learn. His upstairs neighbor teachers computer classes, but she doesn't know much about laptops or PCs, so she couldn't help him, even though she offered. My Sister works in technical support, but he can't be online and on the phone with dial-up. Maybe this weekend he can call her on his cell phone and be online, and she can walk him thru a few quick things.

It's hard to believe there is snow on the ground in some parts of the country, because we had unusual weather in the 60s with no rain, although it was damp and chilly at night, so the ground is still wet in places.

We went to the flea market, and even a few garage sales! I believe this is the site where our crack city is looking for vendors to develop the land into shopping. It's money for Ohlone College, but it's also taking away beauty. I've posted pictures before from the other direction.I have been wanting to take pictures of the various Niles signs around town, and was able to do so on Saturday. Not bad from the car window! No cars in the way.

Check out Santa at the doorway to this old train car.

We were able to use the sunroom, and Mowry was quite happy about that.

The camelias are in bloom. This is our neighbor's HUGE magnolia tree (note how tall it is next to our fence) and pink blooming camelias.

We've got camelias and lemons and orchids all left by the previous owner. Thank you, Elsie. I don't think we had many bloom last year.

I don't care for orchids - I mean that - I do nothing. And I don't care for them as in "I don't like them" because the ones I am familiar with need care. I do nothing to them and they thrive. My friend, Diann, tells me these don't need much care.

I finished sock pair #4 and I'm wearing them!

One is slightly larger than the other but it's so minimal it is okay. HOW does that happen? Can you guess which one? Or is it my foot that is different? Ha! It's not in the look, but the feel!I'm trying to finish my cotton sweater so I can wear it to Stitches West a week from Friday. I realized I didn't have short enough size 7 circulars, or enough size 7 DPNs (double pointed needles - yes, Will reads this blog). Why I'd have only 3 size 7 DPNs is beyond me, but I guess I got it at an estate sale, and one of the size 8 DPNs look so close to the size 7...but I digress. Diann saved me by letting me borrow her size 7 DPNs. Thank you, Diann. And this was the view as the sun started to set as I was leaving her house. Did everyone notice the sun is setting later? That is especially nice on these warmer days. I know it will be cold again - it snowed on the hilltops above us in March a few years ago - but until then, enjoy!

Friday - Aha! Who knew?

In the middle of the night when my right arm was hurting so bad I was not able to sleep on it or move very well, I realized what it was from. Aha. While my non-ergonomic desk setup and my pretzel-like sitting positions surely caused my left arm to hurt, and is contributing to my right arm hurting, I think I figured out what I did. I was out there gardening on Weds to fill up the green bin. I was pulling HUGE, deeply embedded weeds. I'm sure I yanked something on my right arm near the shoulder. While gardening seems natural and fun to me, first a rash that lasts weeks and weeks and now this - I need to take an ergonomical, safe gardening class, or just to be more careful! As for the desk setup - I'm sure it needs adjustment, but it is probably not the cause of yesterday's misery. Who knew?

Today we woke up to fog. Where did the hills go?

View from the train station web cam.

Mowry and Alex are looking out the window at the fog. If I may say so myself, I really like this picture. You can see the size differential, the fog, etc.

What's up with this traffic jam in Georgetown Colorado?

Thursday - Cats and Baby Blankets

I'm going to a client at 2:45 pm for an hour and a half safety training program,and then she wants to meet with me at 4:30 pm. Doesn't she know about Joan hours? I agreed only because they are in Fremont, but we'll have to work on these times.

I have been having problems with my left shoulder and arm when I am at my desk, but yesterday my right arm started hurting. It's a tendon - I can pinpoint the exact spot. It's much worse than the left arm was, and now that I mention it, the left arm seems to be better. Or is the right arm hurting so much I don't notice the left arm? I'm going to look for a keyboard setup - maybe a tray that is lower, or a keyboard stand so I'm ergonomic and not injuring myself. My arms (and shoulders) are too high at this desk, but why it took this long to hurt is beyond me.

The baby blankets are packed and ready to be mailed.

Blue for the boy ...

and yellow and pink for the girl.This picture was taken so you can see the size differential between Alex and Mowry. Mowry is tall and thin and Alex is, well, BIG. His long hair makes him look even bigger.While they don't particularly recognize scratching posts as something to scratch, they do recognize the stairs we bought for Dave when he was having trouble jumping on the bed as a scratching post.

The ratty gray thing is a cat bad that we've since gotten rid of.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy 85th birthday, dad! Mel is the sister of Aunt Mare, for whom this blog is named. My dad is playing around with his new laptop, but this morning he told me when he turned it on, there was nothing on the screen. I'm not sure what that means, and Will HATES being technical support, so we'll see how that goes. At least he read the book that came with the computer, which is more than I have ever done. I don't read manuals. I am just bummed that the computer didn't come on Saturday so I could have hooked it up and gotten him started while I was there! Timing is everything, but I'm sure it'll work out. UPDATE: Erin helped him set up and he's ONLINE!



CAT STUFF - I love this picture of my niece's cat getting a bath. (It's posted on her blog, so I hope she doesn't mind that I copied it and posted it here).
Cat bath - isn't that an oxymoron? It just seems wrong. They hate baths. But sometimes they need them. Cinders would be a prime example of that - she's matted and a little stinky, but I value my life, so no bath for Cinders. Even the vet or a groomer wouldn't attempt a bath unless she was sedated, and we won't do that to her.

Our cats help Will work.
This time it's Mowry peekimg from behind the monitor, Alex on the DVD player and Cinders in her spot atop the battery backups.




We found old checks from a credit union account we closed. Will started to shred them, but then Cinders came to the rescue. She's got her paws around the check pile.
And speaking of cats, I think as dumb as cats can be, they are often smarter than some humans. Humans have the capacity to think and make decisions. Here are two pictures I saved from the web cam at our local train station. Apparently the ACE train was coming in on the other track, so instead of taking a few minutes to walk around, these stupid people walked across the tracks. How dumb do you have to be to walk across live train tracks?



I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper about this, and they called to confirm, so it will be published. I'm betting anyone dumb enough to walk across train tracks isn't smart enough to read a newspaper, but if it saves one life, it's worth it. I didn't send them a picture.

I call it natural selection. Survival of the fittest, getting the stupid ones out of the gene pool, etc. If one of these idiots fell and broke an ankle or leg (it happens), they'd be stuck on the track and the train wins this contest every time. I am appalled when I see this. I'm glad I wasn't there because I would have to scream at these people, and it really is not my problem to teach idiots about life. At least if these people don't have enough respect for themselves to value their lives and not do something completely stupid, they should have respect for the train driver who has to live with hitting them if they get hit.

I can't wait until my dad can get online and read my blog!

Monday - Los Angeles, Knitting, Airports, etc.

We were in Los Angeles for the weekend. Virgin American Airlines had a special when they first started flying from San Francisco Airport, so I got $25 fares. Airline math is different, so it wasn't $100 after taxes, security fee, blah blah blah, but it was still an excellent price, and it is my dad's 85th birthday on Wednesday, so the timing was great. We had to fly out of SFO - an airport that has flight delays if someone sneezes in Fremont. OK, I exaggerate, but it is the first airport of SFO, Oakland, and San Jose to have weather problems, and the most major delays at that. Their runways aren't enough, and it's political, but it's the worst. But BART now goes right into the airport, and we're 5 minutes from BART, so we tried it.

We asked our neighbor, Karla, to drive us to BART since it is literally 5 minutes away. While waiting we noticed the sign for the Fremont train in the opposite direction. No train, just a sign for a very long time. Then a train came by moving very slowly. Will noticed a dog on the tracks in front of the slow-moving train. I decided to call the Station Agent, so I picked up the white phone and said "I assume you know there is a dog on the tracks" since I figured the BART driver would have called him, but he didn't. Then our train came, but stopped before the station. The funny part was when the dog stopped running on the tracks to poop. But it wasn't that funny because at any moment the dog would have been fried by electrocution had it touched the electric rail on the BART tracks.

Someone ran out on the tracks (we thought it was the driver, but it was probably the station agent) obviously knowing where he could run and where it was dangerous, and tried to capture the German Shepard that had a collar and tags. The dog ran in a direction away from the tracks, although it's all fenced, so hopefully the man was able to capture the frightened dog; but our train pulled into the station and we left without knowing what happened.

Our flight was excellent. You know I get cranky when I have to simulate cattle when I fly on Southwest, so this is a major complement to Virgin America, who is extremely civilized, particularly compared with Southwest. For one thing, we picked our seats when we bought our tickets online, sSo there isn't any of the frantic lining up early to get a good seat because even though we were the last group to board, our seats were waiting for us. They served Clif Bars instead of peanuts and it was all around a delightful experience. Are you listening, Southwest?

We had a nice visit with the parents, and saw my niece and her boyfriend and my cousin and her husband.

These are two of my loyal blog readers!

You know how parents can annoy their offspring (or is it the other way around... probably both), but all in all we had a lovely visit. I got a lot of knitting done! Unfortunately, I was pressing on the needle tip protector and I broke the circular part of the needle, but I brought a baby blanket and a sock project, so I just switched projects. You can see the piece of needle that broke off, andhow my baby blankiet is coming along. I knitted about half of the pink that you see in the same pattern as the white, but I didn't like it, so I ripped it and did it again in a rib pattern. It looks small, but it's the right size!

We had lunch with my friend, Sandy, and then she drove us to LAX, only to find out our flight was delayed first by 20 minutes and then by a half hour. That gave Will time to watch some of the SuperBowl at the airport bar, but he missed the great deciding play because that happened at the last few minutes of the game.I had to wait awhile to capture a picture without a vehicle!Our pilot thought we might have turbulance due to the winds, but it was pretty smooth and quite pretty.We were very happy to see SFO.

It seems like it takes so long to get from one place to another. Traveling is something I don't particularly enjoy. I'm a homebody and I don't like to schlepp. The BART ride from SFO home wasn't as good as the one getting there - it was dark and it was Sunday evening and there were weirdos on the train. Here is BART at SFO.Ken picked us up at our BART station. It was much later than we had anticipated - partly because our flight was late, and partly due to a miscalculation on my part of the time, but he was not concerned.

Our kitties were in good hands while we were gone, but they were happy to see us.We woke up to a cold morning of 36 degrees, and 48 in our house, with frost on the rooftops and cars, but it isn't nearly as cold as it was this morning in Durango where it's been snowing for days according to my cousin, Traci, who lives there. The town doesn't usually see as much snow as out of town where she lives, but you can see it here - it snowed in town and stuck!

Thank you Mom, Dad, Karla, Sandy, Ken and Diann.