Monday Meanderings - Aug 31

Passing the two industrial-size chili roasters in operation at Central Market,
He said: "We better get us a case of Hatch chilies."
She said: "Yes, we should. So you can prepare them, and cook with them. And eat them."

I don't spend much time following "Mommy Blogs." Barbara from time-to-time finds rich material there, so I depend on her to let me know when there's something I should read.

However, I do read "Rocks in my Dryer" on a regular basis, and I would like to point you to a recent post which the author contributed to Parenting.com. I found it a beautiful description of Summer. From the comments, I see that not everyone shares my feelings. You can judge for yourself.

When shopping, it's important to pay attention to the labels:


Mom bought some Doggy Treats at Wal Mart the other day. I think she's softening in her stance regarding dogs. It seems she picked up a new Meals on Wheels route, and at one stop a little dog was soooo delighted to see her - but the lady of the house said - "Blondy, she's a substitute. She didn't bring you a treat." Wait'll next week, Blondy.

Tried to watch the ACU game the other night on FoxSW, but the picture was awful much of the time, so I would just switch over from the Little League World Series (I am so ready for real football to begin) to check on the score. Finally, the picture got better but the sound was just a motorboat noise, so I turned the sound off. The problem with that is you actually have to watch the game - you can't depend on the announcers tone or the crowd noise to alert you to a big play.

And Mom is laughing at me at the moment. I got up from the couch and moved to the recliner (where the laptop is) to add something to Monday Meanderings... and FORGOT IT BEFORE I GOT HERE.

Getting old sucks.

We parked how long?

When we flew out to sunny California a few weeks ago we used the "No Parking ticket to lose" credit card method to gate into the long-term lot. You just swipe your credit card going in and the gate opens and you are in like Flynn. A timer starts running on that card number and when you get home you just swipe the same card; Amex gets the charge and you are good to go.

Don't get ahead of me here even if you do know what's going to happen. I missed the card immediately; soon after we got to the airport we bought some lunch and the American Express card was not in its slot. I remembered taking it out, and sure enough Julie confirmed it was there by the computer in the guest room. She offered to bring it to me, but I assured her we wouldn't need it anytime soon and just drop it in the mail.

Bur somewhere between Fresno and Austin Mom made the connection between the card and the parking lot. Uh oh. We called Julie as soon as we hit the ground in Austin to get the number and expiration date and the little number they always ask for and set out to do battle with the parking attendant.

Which was no problem. She ran our license plate (which they record for every car into the lot) so she knew when we got there and worked out the bill, which we paid with Mom's Amex (it has different numbers, by the way) and she bid us a wonderful evening. And as we are leaving I asked, "Now this takes care of the charge accumulating on the card we badged in with, right?"

"What? You used a credit card to get in the lot? Uh-hunh, honey, the clock is still running on that sucker. You got to call this number in the daytime to get that stopped!"

So I did, and the nice gentleman took care of it easily and assured me that I was not the first dummy customer to lose his card. Have a nice day. Which I did, after that.

But I did check the Amex web-site for a couple of days, just to be sure.

Adventures in Physical Therapy, or "Can someone please help me up?!"

Dr Kerry and I have been talking about my back pain and the fact that I average only about 3 hours sleep before I have to get up and work the kinks out. Rinse and repeat. Two or three such episodes each night makes for less-than optimal rest. There does not seem to be a mattress solution - the problem persists no matter what bed I happen to be in. Or not in, often. I'm limited in the choice of pain-killers - all of the standard (and non-standard) non-steroidal anti-inflammatory meds are out because of asthma complications; steroids are out in the long term and if I used sleeping pills Barbara would need a hoist to get me upright the next morning. So...

Monday I started Physical Therapy. I am happy to report that I can walk again, and this is only Wednesday! Two more days and I let them hurt me again. I can't wait!

No, really! I want to go back; I really do! And the reason is - electro-stimulation! When they are all done with the Marquis De Sade-inspired stretching and exercising - and only after you have submitted to their sadistic little games do they let you go to "e-stim." Please, sir! May I have another, sir?

Ya'll, I'm telling you that this little gizmo makes you feel as good as one person by themselves can feel! They slap some sticky-pad electrodes on your lower back, plop you down on a heat pad and turn on the juice. It feels like... like... I have no words for what this feels like. Sort of like thousands of ants crawling around stinging you, ONLY IT FEELS GOOD! Or, thousands of needles poking you, but they don't hurt! Small furry animals - okay, I'll quit. I may not be able to describe it but I sure do like it!

Has therapy helped my back? Who cares? Uh, too soon to know. Stay tuned.

Enough said...

Except that Mom (not a fan of hot hot dishes) says "There's nothing I can eat here for the next three weeks!"

Monday Meanderings - Aug 24

Tee shirt seen on an employee at El Arroyo's - "Body by Queso." I can relate.

I had a new director at the recording studio the other day - just moved here from Glasgow, Scotland. She had such a lovely accent I considered making mistakes on purpose just so she could tell me about them!

Stopped in a Starbucks the other day. Not an unusual occurrence, but this time I had some time to kill before an appointment, so I sat down to drink my coffee there, which I never do. I know people talk about Starbucks as their second office, but a lot of people in there must use it as their only office! The guy next to me had more computer stuff and binders and papers out than I have at my office. During the few minutes I was there I counted 4 people come in with rolling carts and set up shop! One guy had on a headset and was obviously making calls to customers or prospects. And not to mention the woman who was crocheting a full-size afghan. Amazing.

I mentioned that almost all the Finches went away - only a couple didn't get the memo and stayed around. Now we're seeing as many as five at a time so either the stay-behinds raised a family, or the flock is passing this way again.

Mom noticed a very strange little sign posted in our neighborhood; it says "Police, do not use this neighborhood to generate $ revenue." Hmmm.

Seen on a bumper sticker: "With Republicans in power man exploits man. With Democrats, just the opposite."

And Mom encountered a kindred soul at WalMart the other day. As she was coming in a man offered her the cart he was returning,

She said: "I don't know - is it a good one?"

He said: "Well, I'm picky about my carts."

She said: "My husband is so picky he will abandon carts in the middle of the store and go get another one."

He said: "See that one over there? That was my first try."

Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution?

My cousin Max called me the other day. Over the years we have shared some genealogical information back and forth and this summer he became interested in proving that he descended from a true Revolutionary War Patriot. If you can prove this - really, really prove it with acceptable documents such as birth certificates, etc. you can become a Son or Daughter of the American Revolution. Max's wife Sylvia had proved her line several years ago and is active in the DAR. Max (and I) knew that our 5 time removed grandfather William Blanton Boyd was a Patriot, as soldiers of this era were known, but no one had ever gone to the effort to document it. Until now.

With a lot of work and effort he accumulated the necessary documentation for application, and as a side thought called me to see if I wanted to join up too. Since he has proved the line, all I have to do to be eligible is to prove I'm of the same line. That only requires one or two birth certificates. Max has already done all the heavy lifting.

I confess that I have never considered joining the SAR, and can't think of any great reason to so so now, but I mention it just in case my children ever wanted to be DARs or SARs; for you it's a slam dunk. For that matter, it applies to my siblings as well, I guess. So if this is a big deal, get in touch with Max. He's got the info.

By the way. He also uncovered a relative or two that were Loyalists. Best not to mention that if you are considering joining up.

Yosemite and other National Parks I have known...

In my teen years my parents began a series of vacation trips throughout the western States. Looking back, I'm a little puzzled about that. My folks were not vacation-trip people; we took no major trips before that era, and they stopped soon afterward, but during that period we took to the road. And how.

We camped on all those trips, with only one or two mid-trip stays in motels to get ourselves and our clothes washed and ready to go again. For the first couple of trips we tented in a big, heavy, paraffin-soaked tent that my father designed and my mother sacrificed a sewing machine to make. Later my own family camped in that tent a few times. Even later putting up the tent became an annual play event at Mom's school. It may still be in use - Mom finally gave it to James, the custodian at the school.

The trailer came next. Pops designed it and got some help from Ed Roger's shop students to weld the frame, then he and Mother constructed a pop-up body. Set the braces, turn the handle and raise the outer shell high enough to make a unit you could stand up in. Most of you know that trailer retired to the lake. I haven't looked lately - it may still be there.

I'm unclear at this point what the trip itineraries were, and the more I think about that the greater my sense of loss for not knowing. At this point, there is no way I can ever sort them out with any certainty. I know most of the landmarks we visited, but I'm fuzzy on some. There are points of interest along the routes that we took but I cannot be positive we stopped at them, though I believe we did. I am sure of the major camping grounds and Parks; there were lesser camping spots that were memorable and some routes are simply forgotten.

Others came with us on some of these trips - Grandmother Anderson on one; the Woods family on another. We picked up Aunt Ina in Boulder on one trip. She was studying at the University of Colorado that summer.

I do know that during this period we camped in these National Parks and Recreational areas: Grand Canyon - both North and South rims. Grand Teton, Canyon de Chelly , Glen Canyon, Lake Mead, Bryce Canyon, Zion and Yellowstone. We also camped in National Forests in or near Red River, White Sands, Fort Collins, Ruidoso, Boulder, and several other places I can't remember clearly. And we visited places along the way, such as Sunset Crater, Petrified Forest, and Casa Grande.

I guess some of that wanderlust hung around (for a while, that is; I haven't noticed much of it lately) and Barbara and I added several more National Parks to the list: Carlsbad Caverns, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Rocky Mountain NP, Dinosaur NM. I bagged Muir Woods while on a business trip to San Francisco. These were non-camping trips, I might add. We're too old to sleep on the ground.

And now, of course Yosemite. Just a relatively short drive from Fresno, Julie and her family have become the official gateway guides to Yosemite for friends and family visiting them (thank you). Third-most visited National Park in the US (After the Great Smoky Mountains and the Grand Canyon) some 3,431,514 visited Yosemite in 2008. I'm sure our trip helped set a new record in 2009 because I think there were that many people trying to find a parking place in the Village when we were there.

Standing in the Yosemite Valley floor, overwhelmed by the beauty there, I kept thinking back to all those other parks and visits. It was a wonderful experience. Then and now.

Monday Meanderings - Aug 17

If you draw a straight line from Salt Lake City to Austin it will pass over or near Montrose, Telluride, Albuquerque and Lubbock. Much of that journey was cloudless and clear and the view of the mountains and valleys was a treat from my window seat. I wish I could have had a better idea of exactly where I was looking as we passed over the terrain. I did however, feel pretty confident about where we were when we got to the Texas Panhandle. The irrigated green circles really stand out. And then I saw a strange matrix of bare spots, joined by dirt roads. It looked something like this:

You're right. It's a wind turbine farm. I couldn't see the turbines from my window, just as you can't in this satellite picture, but that's exactly what this is. Cool!

Speaking of flying... Can you tell me why, when the airlines go to great lengths to verify that the people sitting in the exit row are capable, healthy, strong, mentally alert, able to follow instructions and are good looking to boot - do they then label the exit door itself with a tag in Braille? IMWTK

Not only that, when the attendants announce "Ladies and gentlemen, this is our initial descent into Austin..." you wonder how many more descents we are going to make. Keep trying till the pilot gets it right? I'm just wondering.

Went to Yosemite. Mom saw a bear as were driving along. I saw a telephone cell tower disguised as a pine tree.


It looked like sorta like one of the old aluminum Christmas trees - but green, not silver. I doubt that it fooled the bear.

Four days until Chuy's Hatch Green Chili Festival. Central Market also does a Hatch Chili Festival during this same time period. This weekend when we were there we saw Hatch Chili bread, Hatch Chili tortillas, Hatch Chili dip, Hatch Chili scones, Hatch Chili chips, and of course, freshly roasted Hatch Chilies. I got some Hatch Chili chips. Mom will not enjoy them. Too bad - just have to eat them all myself.

Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley

I don't know if I should wait a while and let the impressions from our trip to California age like the wine the state is famous for, or put them down in a hurry before I forget them. Maybe I better start now. I may forget where I left the bottle aging.

If you look at a topographical map of California, there's a huge valley, surrounded on all sides by mountains, running from Redding in the North to Bakersfield in the South. The upper portion of this is the Sacramento Valley and the lower portion is the San Joaquin Valley. Fresno is smack in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley and the geographical center of California itself.

Terrain: Flat, flat and flat. There are mountains in view to the East and West (on clear days), but I doubt that there's a variance of 10 feet of elevation in the Clovis/Fresno city limits.

Vegetation: all dead or green, green, green. Jason pointed out that if it's not watered, it doesn't grow. It does not rain from late April to November. At all. But if you do water, or irrigate, you can evidently grow anything. From the air I saw hundreds and hundreds of acres of orchards and vineyards. Some estimate that 10% of the United State's agricultural production comes from this area.

Inside the Fresno/Clovis city limits: The northern section of town is modern, pristine, and very chic. I'm told the southern section of the city is not so much so. We didn't go south very much. In fact, that seems to be the case for many who live on the northern side - everything they need is near them so there is never a need to go to the southern parts of town. We did go to Old Town Clovis one evening for the Farmer's Market and Track Meet. Yes, smack in the middle of funnel-cake vendors and vegetable vendors they were holding a pole vault meet. Now that's something you don't see in Texas. Even in Austin. Don't know who won the vault but Jason came away with some of the sweetest fresh corn I have ever tasted.

New house: We loved Julie and Jason's new house. Lovely area, beautiful yard, spacious house, cool (literally) patio and pool. I kept telling Barbara we needed one of those - patio with a cool breeze, that is. And they did pick out new drapery material.

Good Eating: In addition to the excellent grilled chicken, sweet corn, wonderful fresh fruit and other good things to eat at the Lockes, we covered all the culinary bases from steak, pizza, Mexican and Oriental to the ever-popular In-n-Out burger. And topped it off a couple of evenings at Yodigitys.

Sightseeing: In addition to the natural wonders of Fresno itself, we took a trip to Yosemite. Julie could get a job there as a guide. More about that later.

College Church: Wow. What a great congregation. Friendly, caring people, a great praise team, and how about that new preacher?

All in all, a great place to visit. And a nice place to live.

Monday Meanderings - Aug 10

Too busy wandering to meander.

I will say that while seated in the food court of a local arcade, where the boys were blasting away on giant video games, we were idly watching a televised Poker championship...

He said: "That's what I could do. Play poker. It could be both a hobby and a means to supplement our retirement income."

She said: "I think you have to be beyond looking in the dictionary to see what hand beats other hands before they let you play on TV."

Can't argue with that.

Another story for my Grandchildren...

Poor Skeeter. It was hardly fair to gang up on him like that. But I should start at the beginning.

I was in the minority when I was in college in that I had a car. I had a job at a radio station on the far side of Abilene, so I needed reliable transportation - thus the car.

One weekend I was to fly to Dallas, so I left my car keys with Skeeter, my roommate, so that he could have the benefit of the car while I was gone. However, unknown to Skeeter, I left another key with Thayne, who lived next door in the dorm (and later became my brother-in-law). And the stage was set for a very disturbing weekend - for Skeeter.

Wherever the guys went in the car that weekend, it was never found in the place Skeeter left it. If they went to eat, someone moved the car down a block during the meal. Movies? Where's the car? I left it right here!

Thayne kept switching co-conspirators so that Skeeter would not get suspicious that the same person was always missing - and it worked well.

When I got home Sunday evening, Skeet handed me the keys and said, " I don't know where your car is. I left it in front of the dorm, but I know without looking it's not there now. And don't ever lend me your car again." and he walked out.

Just another story that needs to be recorded in the family history.

Another timewaster!

If Facebook is just not wiling away the hours for you, here's another suggestion. Go to engrish.com and check out the mutilated syntax and incredible spelling of signage and packaging around the world. Here are some samples:


Of course, what you do not see are the attempts by engrish speakers to communicate in Japanese or Chinese. I wonder why?

Monday Meanderings - Aug 3

I mostly listen to Classic Rock in the car, and Pink Floyd is certainly part of that genre. But compared to the entire body of work for Rock in the 70's and early 80's how often should a Pink Floyd song show up on the rotation? Not that often right? Unless Mom gets in the car. If Mom and I start out somewhere it is not a question of if Pink Floyd will show up - it's which PF song will play. I can understand on XM - I mean they do broadcast from satellites and everybody knows that the government is secretly spying on us with satellites and Google Earth and the like... but this has been going on since back when a local station played classic rock. Mom gets in, turn it up. It's gonna be Pink Floyd.

The Austin streets are such an interesting part of the weirdness that marks this city. Coming home the other day I stopped at an intersection and the driver of the car next to me jumped out of his car, ran around to the passenger side front window and then ran back to his seat with his cell phone in his hand. I'm guessing that it was on the roof when he started, slid down to the windshield washer well when he stopped, and he got lucky.

At the very next stop, the door of the car in front of me suddenly opened and a back-pack came flying out onto the street. Then an angry man jumped out, grabbed the back-pack and started off on foot. The people in the car yelled something at him, but he didn't look back. Keep Austin weird, Dude!

After commenting about how many water bottles were used and tossed (literally) in the Tour de France, we saw a few interesting water bottle incidents. In the first, reporters were interviewing Lance just before his individual time trial and he was hydrating like crazy during the interview. When he finished one bottle he tossed it into the roped-off spectator area and you expected fists to be thrown in the mad scramble for that bottle.

On another occasion, he was passing through one of the many spots along the Tour where the spectators were pressed in WAY TOO CLOSE, and he simply handed an empty bottle to one of the loonies running alongside him; the guy was so startled it looked like he was going to tumble head-over-heels for a moment. Later, out in the countryside, another rider took careful aim, launched an empty - and scored a direct hit in the back of an open hatch-back auto parked beside the road. I hope it was really empty.

Barbara says - Well, before I finished it, I was calling it Book Without End, rather than World Without End, but I did finish it. If someone asked if I liked it, I think I'd say, "No", but I did finish it and I've been known to stop in the middle, especially with a book club book. I did decide a couple of things about life in the 1300s: 1) I wouldn't have wanted to live then, and 2) I especially wouldn't have wanted to be a woman who lived then.

Another he said/she said story --

Background: He (and she) have realized that she has a funny sound that she makes without really recognizing she's making it, and he has been bringing this to her attention when she does it by repeating it. Thus, this occurred:

She - hmmm, hmmm.

He - humm, hmmm.

She - Well, at least I know where I'm going.

He - But you go weird ways.

She - I go ways you think are weird, because I think it's a better way to go. You go weird ways because you have no idea where you're going.

He - Hummm.