Today we sold our Saturn to one of Kathryn's co-workers. She is buying it for her grandson, but she will drive it to work until he comes to live with her. We were happy to see her drive it off the driveway, and she was happy to be driving it away.
My Dell computer (Note: this is not a good post for my "friends" at Dell) has been misbehaving. It turns off, and I get an error message that says something about Windows shutting down unexpectedly. We had an IT tech here yesterday for a couple of hours (he gets paid by the hour) and today Will spent a few hours of his time on the phone with Dell support. Will just tried to download some updates and guess what? It failed. And now I went to try to read the error message (I saved a screen print) to post here, and I got the dreaded blue screen and now it's rebooting. Dell needs to replace my less than one year old leased computer, and I don't mean component by component as they have been doing.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday - BAD cats
Last night I had a snoring husband (not pictured) and two bad cats. Some might say that two (bad cats) out of three isn't bad, but it is. Does this cat look like one who would bite my foot when I moved it? She sleeps at the end of our bed in her fur-clogged cat bed, and I had the nerve to move my feet so she bit me. It was probably just a quick nibble to let me know I annoyed her, but in the middle of the night it felt like a shark bite.
Does this sweet sleepy face look like one who would come into our room at 1:00 am and meow? He has a meow that seems mildly cute in the daytime, but extremely whiney and annoying and loud and persistent in the middle of the night. Instead of lying down in his favorite spot under the window, as he is in this picture, he sat on the air filter and meowed. Then he scratched the bed. Then he jumped on the bed. Then I moved to the couch in the TV room and he came in there and was meowing. He was trying to tell me something, but heck if I know what it was. Personally, I think it was his awake time, and he was bored. He gets bored easily and wants attention, but in the middle of the night, he should know after almost two years, he isn't getting us to play with him.
Is it possible this was all a payback for all the times I snap photos of the cats when they are trying to sleep? Or a payback to Will for trying to comb or brush matts out of the cats? I don't think so! I'm the dominant species. I have opposable thumbs. They cannot rule this house with their nocturnal business!
Does this sweet sleepy face look like one who would come into our room at 1:00 am and meow? He has a meow that seems mildly cute in the daytime, but extremely whiney and annoying and loud and persistent in the middle of the night. Instead of lying down in his favorite spot under the window, as he is in this picture, he sat on the air filter and meowed. Then he scratched the bed. Then he jumped on the bed. Then I moved to the couch in the TV room and he came in there and was meowing. He was trying to tell me something, but heck if I know what it was. Personally, I think it was his awake time, and he was bored. He gets bored easily and wants attention, but in the middle of the night, he should know after almost two years, he isn't getting us to play with him.
Is it possible this was all a payback for all the times I snap photos of the cats when they are trying to sleep? Or a payback to Will for trying to comb or brush matts out of the cats? I don't think so! I'm the dominant species. I have opposable thumbs. They cannot rule this house with their nocturnal business!This big lug of love was the only one who wasn't annoying last night. He followed me to the couch and lied down on my blanket by my feet and went to sleep. Of course he was leaning on me, and he is heavy, but any time he is cuddly it's nice.
So here are the Saturn and Peety (PT) parked next to each other. One thing I never liked about the Saturn is how low it is. Maybe it is cool to feel like you're very low to the ground like a sports car, but I didn't like it. You can see how much lower it is than Peety. The one thing Peety doesn't have is electric locks, and I will miss that, but I'm getting used to having to lock and unlock each door and/or trunk as I need to. It is what it is. It's all a tradeoff. The gal who is buying the Saturn couldn't come last night, but she's planning to be here Tuesday night. We ran the Saturn thru the drive-thru car wash and put a little gas in it, so I hope she gets here before it gets dirty again!
So here are the Saturn and Peety (PT) parked next to each other. One thing I never liked about the Saturn is how low it is. Maybe it is cool to feel like you're very low to the ground like a sports car, but I didn't like it. You can see how much lower it is than Peety. The one thing Peety doesn't have is electric locks, and I will miss that, but I'm getting used to having to lock and unlock each door and/or trunk as I need to. It is what it is. It's all a tradeoff. The gal who is buying the Saturn couldn't come last night, but she's planning to be here Tuesday night. We ran the Saturn thru the drive-thru car wash and put a little gas in it, so I hope she gets here before it gets dirty again!On Saturday night Will shared a gig with his friend Eddie. First Eddie played guitar and sang(Will on bongos, Steve on guitar, Patrick on bass) and then Steve played guitar and sang (same backups), and then Steve's girlfriend played guitar (same backups), and then Will's band, The Nileistics, played a set. It was a great gig! It was at a huge church complex that was once a sports complex, so it looks like a hotel lobby when you walk in, and they even have a climbing wall. It was a social event, so only minimal mention of their worship services, leadership meetings, etc. It was a potluck/concert for the 55 and over group, some in their 80s and some closer to 55, and all seemed to have fun.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Friday 7/11/08
I worked at home today, and yes, I really did do some work. We got the smog certificate for PT (Peety), and went to the AAA (instead of the DMV) to finalize the transaction. We got gas and actually paid 6 cents less than the last time we got gas last week.
Mowry is looking out the window, but he stopped to look thru the sheers to see what I was up to. Why, taking his picture, of course.
My Roma tomatoes are coming up. There aren't MANY, but they look good. One is starting to turn red.
The tomatoes are in front of the HUGE lavender bush.
Can you see the lavender bush in front of the white fence from when we looked at the house before we bought it and moved in? This would be Sept 2006 and it you can barely see it between the piece of wood holding up a branch from the apple tree and the white fence. The previous owner had a lot of tree branches held up by wood, but we took them down and trimmed off those branches.
The skies are still smokey and overcast from all the fires in the state, but at least the temperature has gone done. It was under 80 degrees at 7:00 pm tonight! HOORAY!
There are still MANY plums on the plum tree. I'm trying to pick them off the tree before they fall to the ground, but I wasn't too smart about wearing gloves, and the wooden handle of the fruit picker gave me a nasty splinter. Luckily, I was able to get it out.
I thought it would be easier to pick up fewer plums from the ground if I picked them off the tree before they fell to the ground, but there are still many on the ground. They even hit me on the head as I'm out there picking because they don't stop falling just because I'm out there.
We were in the sunroom today and I could them dropping every once in a awhile. Ker-plunk.
My neighbor (who turned 92 last week) takes such good care of her roses. She dead-headed them last week (cut off the dead roses for those who aren't gardners) and now there are new roses. It's absolutely beautiful!
Mowry is looking out the window, but he stopped to look thru the sheers to see what I was up to. Why, taking his picture, of course.
My Roma tomatoes are coming up. There aren't MANY, but they look good. One is starting to turn red. The tomatoes are in front of the HUGE lavender bush.Can you see the lavender bush in front of the white fence from when we looked at the house before we bought it and moved in? This would be Sept 2006 and it you can barely see it between the piece of wood holding up a branch from the apple tree and the white fence. The previous owner had a lot of tree branches held up by wood, but we took them down and trimmed off those branches.
The skies are still smokey and overcast from all the fires in the state, but at least the temperature has gone done. It was under 80 degrees at 7:00 pm tonight! HOORAY!
There are still MANY plums on the plum tree. I'm trying to pick them off the tree before they fall to the ground, but I wasn't too smart about wearing gloves, and the wooden handle of the fruit picker gave me a nasty splinter. Luckily, I was able to get it out.
I thought it would be easier to pick up fewer plums from the ground if I picked them off the tree before they fell to the ground, but there are still many on the ground. They even hit me on the head as I'm out there picking because they don't stop falling just because I'm out there.
We were in the sunroom today and I could them dropping every once in a awhile. Ker-plunk.My neighbor (who turned 92 last week) takes such good care of her roses. She dead-headed them last week (cut off the dead roses for those who aren't gardners) and now there are new roses. It's absolutely beautiful!
So I was typing along on my computer that has been misbehaving lately, and I pushed two keys and got the dreaded blue screen. The blue screen is bad. Then my computer rebooted itself, and it seems to be okay, but since it's been giving me problems I am concerned. Will thought he'd have to be on the line with Dell customer support in India today but it worked okay up until this. It's a new computer and parts have already been replaced. We're leasing it form Dell, and I think it's becoming a real issue. I'm just glad that my blog saves a draft while I'm typing it so I didn't lose too much of it.
Tomorrow the band is sharing a gig with Will's guitarist friend, Eddie, so Will is at band practice again tonight.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thursday, July 10th
It's already July 10th! Wasn't it only a week ago when I was in So. SF and I put on the knitted scarf I carry with me because it's always cold here? Was it just last Friday when we had on fleece jackets and blankets to watch 4th of July fireworks? It was and I miss it. Did I just say that? It's been so hot, and the air has gone back to smokey from the fires around the state. I'm not sure how we had a few clear days but it must have something to do with the direction the wind is blowing.
It was so hot last night at a community meeting we attended at the local Vet's hall.
I'm hoping that was the reason for lower-than-expected attendence, although the turnout was decent.
It was so hot last night at a community meeting we attended at the local Vet's hall.
I'm hoping that was the reason for lower-than-expected attendence, although the turnout was decent.I talk to so many people who love vacations and getting away from it all. I consider myself lucky because I like being home. I don't feel the need to get away. I particularly don't like some of the places others enjoy. I tease my parents and ask if I'm really related to them because we are polar opposites on Las Vegas - they love it and I hate it!
There are so many things we do at home. They may be simple things, but we love doing them. We consider our sunroom our "vacation home". We can walk into town, go to garage sales and flea markets, and when we are home we can sit on our loveseat recliner (sometimes in the company of one of our 3 cats) and watch TV. Yes, we love TV. Not everything on TV (you would never find us watching so-called "reality TV"), but we discovered (with the help of our friends) a funny sitcom that takes place in Saskatchewan called "Corner Gas". It's shown on the Chicago station WGN and we look forward to episodes we've already seen, but are waiting for the new season to begin so we can see new episodes.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Monday - Pictures ADDED 1:00 pm
It's Monday after a holiday weekend, so I didn't schedule myself today. I have some work to do from home, but not too much. That's how I like it after a holiday weekend. There was lots of knitting time. Diann and I got in some impromtu knitting while Ken and Will waxed Peetey the PT, and then again we had planned knitting time Sunday afternoon at Diann's on her lovely patio (which is REALLY lovely in the early evening on warm days) with another fellow cat-loving neighbor knitter.
We helped Kathryn move a load on Saturday evening, and then on Sunday late afternoon Ken helped us help Kathryn move, and then after that Diann had dinner ready (Ken BBQ'd burgers). We ate on their lovely patio (read above). Those two are amazing - how can we sufficiently thank people so willing to help us like that? Diann reads this, and I sent them both thank you emails, but I'll post it here - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. They are really good friends, and easy to be around - relaxed, mellow, awesome, and they love kitties (among other things that we share a liking of doing, seeing, watching, etc.)!
I have no pictures today. B O R I N G! Actually, I read other blogs and I don't care if they don't have pictures, but I think those few who read this have grown to expect pictures! I expect pictures here! OK - I couldn't resist. Updated with pictures at 1:00 pm
I did finish the "red" sock - Diann helped me figure out what to do since the foot part was a little larger on sock #2 than on sock #1, but I ripped, then decreased more stitches, and it worked. (Duh). I don't like to count. Unfortunately my hobby (knitting) and my career both require some math. I used less yarn after the fix. I know that because I can see where I rewound what I ripped out, and I didn't use it all.
It's hot out today. It's already 89 degrees outside and it's only 12:30 pm. The hottest part of our day is yet to come. There is a "heat alert" for tomorrow. I'll be in So. SF where it's only 73 now - it's usually miserably chilly there, but I will welcome cooler tomorrow!
This is where Mowry naps when it's hot. I can see when the window is open and air blows on him, but it's closed.
It's plum season again. Oh how I wish I liked plums. I like them a little, but I have a lot. And now we have lots of plums and leaves. I picked these up, and I'm trying to keep up with the plums by picking them off the tree before they fall off.
I took this picture standing under the tree looking up into it. I'll be cleaning up plums for a long time.
The updside down hanging tomato plant is producing tomatoes. They are still small and not ripe, but here they are!
We helped Kathryn move a load on Saturday evening, and then on Sunday late afternoon Ken helped us help Kathryn move, and then after that Diann had dinner ready (Ken BBQ'd burgers). We ate on their lovely patio (read above). Those two are amazing - how can we sufficiently thank people so willing to help us like that? Diann reads this, and I sent them both thank you emails, but I'll post it here - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. They are really good friends, and easy to be around - relaxed, mellow, awesome, and they love kitties (among other things that we share a liking of doing, seeing, watching, etc.)!
I have no pictures today. B O R I N G! Actually, I read other blogs and I don't care if they don't have pictures, but I think those few who read this have grown to expect pictures! I expect pictures here! OK - I couldn't resist. Updated with pictures at 1:00 pm
I did finish the "red" sock - Diann helped me figure out what to do since the foot part was a little larger on sock #2 than on sock #1, but I ripped, then decreased more stitches, and it worked. (Duh). I don't like to count. Unfortunately my hobby (knitting) and my career both require some math. I used less yarn after the fix. I know that because I can see where I rewound what I ripped out, and I didn't use it all.
It's hot out today. It's already 89 degrees outside and it's only 12:30 pm. The hottest part of our day is yet to come. There is a "heat alert" for tomorrow. I'll be in So. SF where it's only 73 now - it's usually miserably chilly there, but I will welcome cooler tomorrow!
This is where Mowry naps when it's hot. I can see when the window is open and air blows on him, but it's closed.
It's plum season again. Oh how I wish I liked plums. I like them a little, but I have a lot. And now we have lots of plums and leaves. I picked these up, and I'm trying to keep up with the plums by picking them off the tree before they fall off.I took this picture standing under the tree looking up into it. I'll be cleaning up plums for a long time.The updside down hanging tomato plant is producing tomatoes. They are still small and not ripe, but here they are!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
July 5th and it's a small world....
Just a great cat picture I found on the internet.
I've seen some good fireworks over the years. I went to the 1986 Bicentennial in NY and watched the fireworks from the New Jersey side with the NY skyline in the background.
And Epcot fireworks in Florida.
A few of us were talking at the BBQ and we were talking about things our fathers did in WWII and one woman mentioned the name of the Destroyer her father-in-law was on in the Pacific. SMALL WORLD - it's the same ship my father was on! Her husband sent me an email when he got home, and a link to the ship, and sure enough, there was a picture of his father, and some pictures of the crew my dad had submitted! Hopefully my dad can correspond with this guy via email!
What day is it? Thursday seemed like Friday, Friday seemed like Saturday and today (which is Saturday) we both expected to read the Sunday newspaper! Something to look forward to tomorrow!
Yesterday's 4th of July BBQ was fun. It was cold when we walked to the park to watch fireworks, but we were warned. We brought warm clothes, but could have done better. This is California - it can't get that cold at night, can it? The answer is yes, and especially when it is windy!
I've seen some good fireworks over the years. I went to the 1986 Bicentennial in NY and watched the fireworks from the New Jersey side with the NY skyline in the background.
And Epcot fireworks in Florida.A few of us were talking at the BBQ and we were talking about things our fathers did in WWII and one woman mentioned the name of the Destroyer her father-in-law was on in the Pacific. SMALL WORLD - it's the same ship my father was on! Her husband sent me an email when he got home, and a link to the ship, and sure enough, there was a picture of his father, and some pictures of the crew my dad had submitted! Hopefully my dad can correspond with this guy via email!
Surprise visitors - Ken and Diann. We're off to lunch and maybe more pics to be posted later or tomorrow.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Friday, July 4th, 2008
As one comedian we watched on TV last night said, and I paraphrase, "...it's a strange holiday. To celebrate the birth of our country by setting off explosives during what is arguably the dryest day of the year seems odd". But then I read how the first July 4th was celebrated, and it makes more sense:In 1777, thirteen guns were fired, once at morning and again as evening fell, on July 4th in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.
So maybe that's why we celebrate as we do!
This morning we went to a garage sale to check out a stove advertised in "excellent condition" with flat burners that are so much easier to clean than conventional burners. The picture in the ad looks good, but it was dirty. At least clean it up if you're going the sell it. I don't expect "new" if it's "used" but I don't expect dirty.
So we may end up with one like this from Lowe's - they seem to have the best price.
A co-worker of Kathryn's has committed to buying the Saturn for her son. It's safely back on the driveway next to PT (aka Peety). Will doesn't like naming cars (he never knew "Suzy Celica" or "Henry Honda") but how can you resist Peety?
Happy 4th of July. Be careful and be safe. Mom and Dad are going to the Hollywood Bowl in LA. That is a fun place that I haven't been to in MANY years!
Here is a cool view from the seats of the Hollywood Bowl. When I lived in LA I went here MANY times. It's easy when you take the bus that leaves from various spots around the LA area. We packed dinner and ate in our seats. Then we'd listen to music. A few times we had box seats, like the time Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Imre took me and the daughter of one of their friends to see Sarah Vaughn, but we usually sat on the benches way back about where this photo was taken.
Here's a very old photo of the Hollywood Bowl. 
But these days, we stick closer to the Niles Sign!
And this morning I guess this is what I saw because from far away it looked like black birds above the sign!
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