No year end lists

.
It appears we're going to end the year with another nice day... at least until later this afternoon. Even at that, there is only a chance of rain. On the plus side, we can expect warmer overnight temperatures when the clouds roll in. I about froze my toes when I rolled out the wheely bin this morning.
It appears other blogs are posting retrospectives... or Best Of 2010 (or the decade) today. I think I will stay with my philosophy of living in the moment. That abets my laziness. I don't have to go back and look through old posts, or spend time typing up list of accomplishments (or failures).
I will say that I have, so far, not had a cigarette... and it is not likely I will. [so that's a little over two and a half years]
Like my friend, the Brighton Pensioner, I don't make resolutions at New Years. I look forward to New Years day more than to New Years Eve. We are staying in again this year... will probably be asleep before midnight.

...too lazy to make lists

"USA Today has come out with a new survey: Apparently three out of four people make up 75 percent of the population."
~David Letterman

I mentioned the blue skies yesterday. There was also a bit of a breeze. So the 50º Farenheit (10 C) felt like 40. It's not an issue this morning. 27º (-3) feels just like it's supposed to. The upside is there's no precipitation forecast... only more sunshine.
The phone is giving me fits again. Well not exactly the phone. The phone company changed their accounts login page. Now it will only allow me to sign into my cell phone account, not the home phone account. They have very cleverly made it quite difficult to notify them online unless I am logged in.
I have pretty much made up my mind that I am ready for baseball season to start. No, I don't mean we should start it in December or January. I mean I am ready for April to begin.

"Procrastination isn't the problem, it's the solution. So procrastinate now, don't put it off."
~ Ellen DeGeneres

Randomness

I have a theory [Uh, oh... he's been thinking again] about atheists.
Now if I could only expand on it without sounding really, really stupid.

Whether or not you saw the eclipse last week, check out today's APOD, not so much for the sequence of the shadow on the moon, but for the entire scene. I must be a sucker for reflections?

• Aldous Huxley
  "Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities."

...like visiting other blogs [HSWHTPFIHC]. The operative word is activities.


We can actually see blue skies for what seems like the first time in weeks. I wouldn't have bet on it last evening. It's interesting, though, the temperature dropped ten degrees (Fahrenheit) after the rain stopped and the wind abated.

Today's thought

.

I can hear you all saying, "Uh, oh! He's thinking again."
But, seriously... I did:

I may not admit that I am wrong about anything. However, I am willing to consider that I may not have been right.

huh?

Little known fact

.

I did some research.
There are at least 23 posts to this blog which have something to do with bacon.
There are also a bunch of typos.

...went back and labeled them
...didn't fix the typos

They're already gone

.

So the first thing that happens is Great Grandma has to hold him.
You can see that Tyler just hates it?



Then there's the obligatory wrestling match between the youngest members of the family.



While the rest of us sit back and digest the meal.



It was a relatively quiet Christmas this year. Tyler is fairly vocal, but they're all happy sounds.

Somebody really, really loves me

.

I really had to work hard to open this gift.
First off, it was wrapped really well.



Then it was secured in extra packaging.



When I finally got to it I understood why.



There was also a new book



Click on any of the images to embiggen.

looks like I am going to
have to go back through
previous posts to label
all of the ones about bacon

This is better than anything I can come up with

.

Peace

My friend Kent sent me this

I have only edited slightly. I suggest you read it only after finishing all of your shopping.

This is why I am not allowed to shop with Liz.
After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out.
Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target.

Dear Mrs. E....,
Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store.
We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store.
Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Eitemiller, are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.
2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and Costing the company money.
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.
6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers he'd invite them in If they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.
8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.
9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.
10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.
12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.
13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least:

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.'

Anthology

.

Yesterday I said something about an anthology of Internet Christmas Tales and how I lacked the ambition to collect and publish them. It appears that I got just a little bit too previous with my thoughts and post. Because it seems they are collected. There's just no table of contents or index.
And nobody has to put them up for reading. They are already there.
Here are those stories from:

Howard (aka Some Cranky Blogging Guy)

Jim with a link to another of his stories

Jann

Chris

Carolina

and Robyn

I wish I'd thought of this sooner. There would probably be more.



I guess it's time to think about commencing my Christmas shopping now.



I will leave you with a quote from another Internet acquaintance, John May:
"The doctor said that the pain in my leg is caused by old age. But my other leg is the same age and that doesn't hurt."

He had surgery on Monday. Please say a little prayer for his recovery.

A kind of a rehash

.
Many Some One of you are is aware that I spend a great deal of time checking up on other blogs and websites. This last week there have been a slew of posts about the spirit of the season and reminiscences about seasons past. It would be interesting to put together an anthology. Maybe someone with more ambition than I will do something like that... someday.


It seems when I posted the infrared weather map the other day, I accidentally used a live feed instead of a static image. It looked much more horrendous then than now. In any event, I don't envy anyone else in California their current weather. They really shouldn't lust for mine.


Jann, aka #1 Nana, started something a couple of weeks ago. She calls it WTF Wednesday. It's where she gives her take on an issue of the day, usually something that anyone can have an opinion about.
Today it is something about what's happened to all of the new clothes everyone's bought... or why is everyone dressed like their tailor is at the thrift store?
Good question.
I can remember, as a little kid, watching my grandmothers and mother get ready to go shopping. They didn't leave the house without putting on a hat and gloves... and nylons. And the men, they all wore suits, or at least a jacket and slacks with a hat and tie.

Yup, the times sure have changed. I can remember when I didn't even think, "WTF," let alone say it out loud.


Brian, aka Brighton Pensioner, laments the lack of good news in newspapers today. I'll carry it a step further. There is no news in the newspapers today. By the time it is printed it is old. And it seems journalists... or their editors... are on a quest to save ink and newsprint, because the stories are seldom complete. I mean there is no depth to them, only basic facts, which in some cases aren't even real. It seems no effort is made to uncover any background... unless, of course, it is personal and salacious, and involves a well known person.


Then there's email and those endless forwards that challenge the recipient to forward them to all of their friends.
Well, I have pretty much determined that it's my duty to send almost all of them into a black hole. I will forward one occasionally... if I was entertained... and then only to some folks who I have personally selected, not to some mailing list. There are some folks out there who send me so many of these that I've created a subfolder called "Crap" in my inbox. All of the emails they send automatically find themselves there.

So my suggestion is that you take a moment and seek a really nice, warm fuzzy, Christmas (or other appropriate holiday) tale, read them slowly and savor the message.

WTF means where's the fire...
right?

Just what is normal, anyway?

.

There are some questions that are just better off unasked. I think maybe I have found one of them.
I actually looked of the definition of normal before I posted yesterday.
The can only conclude from the official definition that normal is based entirely upon what others expect normal to mean.

Think about that for a second

Now define normal family

You can see where this could go, don't you?
I can safely say that I come from a normal family because everyone's temperature is 98.6 or reasonably close.
But what if I told you my brother was an only child [true story]. You'd pretty much conclude that I'm a fry short of a Happy Meal or like to stir things up in a conversation [also true]. I also, on occasion, tell folks he and I are related by marriage. That also raises eyebrows.

So you can easily see that normal is based entirely on what you expect and has nothing to do with reality.

don't tell either of
my sisters about
this post. They
think we're normal

Humility

It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
- Mohandas K Gandhi

One of the more profound things I've read came up on a blog a year ago:

i wore socks with a hole in them. I can't seem to throw them away.
- Desastre Precioso

it's a good day
to stay inside

What's that?

.
Maybe you noticed I crossed out the word normally the other day and inserted usually? It is because in that case they were interchangeable. But I have just about given up on using normal in just about any of its manifestations. I mean, seriously, what's normal? Or, Who is normal? Will it be the same tomorrow?
So I'm off normal and onto usual.

usually I am right here

Seems to be missing us...

...for now.


Click on it to get the full effect.

I love it when the weather cooperates

.

Well it sort of cooperated. Why it rained overnight, it was dry most of the early part of the morning, but we weren't leaving until after 10:00am since we weren't expected in Sacramento until 1:00pm. It began to rain just before we departed and was coming down pretty good. I was almost dreading the drive. But as we crested the hill into Cottonwood, two miles south of here, it stopped and we had dry pavement until we were only a few blocks from my daughter's in Sacramento.



Hugh is not nearly as shy as when we visited on previous trips. We had a great visit and exchanged Christmas gifts.
The return trip was similar to the trip down, other than it was dark. We had rain to just north of Woodland (about 30 miles from Sacramento). Then it was dry the rest of the way.
It started raining here just after we got home.

I just checked the NWS radar image and it appears we may have dodged a bullet. Then again the prediction is for a week of this stuff. As crappy as it gets here, it's even worse as the weather moves east.

I sure know how to pick 'em

.

Today Grandma Skip and I are off to Sacramento to see my daughter and her family. Normally Usually this involves driving south on a long boring stretch of Interstate 5 and not much else. In this instance we'll find ourselves dealing with really yucky weather issues. At least that's what the weather folks are telling us. In fact they're saying just about everywhere in California is dealing with the situation and will be for the next five days. Around here we call this phenomenon Oregon Mist.
What do I know how to pick? Days to travel.

because is missed
Oregon and hit us

Odds 'n ends

.

Well I was minding my own business... sort of... while commenting on another blog. I would tell you whose blog, but then you'll look and see what a lame comment I made. Anyway the verification word was:
All I could think of was: You do and you'll clean it up!


One of the funniest things I've seen recently was an opinion that, "'RICO [The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] is clearly a danger to any traditionally-organized supervillain team," they write." A few successful convictions for kidnapping or robbery by less capable members could lead to racketeering charges and civil suits against the entire membership.'"
After the above quote came the following, "This should work especially well against Batman's opponents, since they seem to have the least capable henchmen around. (I guess now we know what those people did for a living before the TSA was created.)"
It's the last line, in parenthesis, I found funny.

My ISP was having difficulties with the email server yesterday morning. They finally sorted it out around 10:00am.
I don't know why I was concerned.

My phone rang Wednesday morning. It was a fella in Easley, South Carolina. You can't get much further away from here without getting your feet wet. He was looking for assistance with getting low-cost hearing aids. He had heard that Lions Clubs have a program and one of the agencies gave him my home phone number because that's how agencies work. They refer folks to other folks. The only problem was they didn't research the referral too well.
It's tough enough finding the funds to help local people.
I guess what irks me the most is that other aid organizations are well funded and have professional staffs, while Lions are an entirely volunteer outfit who work hard to raise the funds they use in the community for assistance. Yet the pros send folks around to us for assistance.

climbing off the
soapbox now

What a scoop

.

The local weekly reported, yesterday, Charlie Daniels will be the headline performer at the Shasta District Fair...


...next June 17th.
Admission to the show is free with admission to the fair.

guess I better get in line now?

It just wouldn't do

.

It seems like eons ago that I mentioned the trek some community members make to cut the community Christmas Tree.

Actually it was only 38 days ago... right after the World Series win by the San Francisco Giants, but I'm not gloating.

The only thing that even brings the Giants to mind is that I was actually mentioned in another family's annual Christmas letter... something about the extreme sacrifice I made by attending a Sweet Adelines competition instead of seeing playoff games.

Anyhow, last night was my first opportunity to see the Anderson Christmas Tree at night since it was lit up on the Friday after Thanksgiving... because Thanksgiving Comes First.


On another note - For the first time since we returned home last month, the Sun has made an appearance. Now if only the Weather Service could fix the glitch that...
Forget it. I'm the only one who's interested.

the information is two days old

At the present time

.

I've been so busy posting about our trip over on the other blog I have failed to keep anyone up to date about what's going on now. Sunday morning... in the fog... we went out to get the tree and I climbed into the loft above the garage to retrieve decorations.

Monday, while I was at the board meeting for the Senior Center, Sharon decorated the tree.

I wasn't happy with how the photos were showing on the camera display. So I tried another option.

I'm not sure I like that either.

This pretty much sums it up

.
Yesterday's post piqued my interest some more and sent me scurrying about the Internet, seeking more Pogo stuff.

I'm thinking it is almost timeless?

is it time he ran
for President again?

it's on Monday this month

.

Friday the thirteenth, that is.

These are more relevant

.

I borrowed the picture in the previous post from the NOAA wesite. These are my own.
The apricot tree at the back of the yard.


This is the view from the window in the office [sic]...


...compare it to a relatively clear day.

pea soup, indeed

The view from here

.

Thick enough to cut with a knife? And it's a good ten degrees cooler than yesterday at this time!

can't possibly be the
improved conditions the
weatherman was talking about?

Anticipation

.

When I posted about tri-tip yesterday I was fully aware that there is an entire portion of the world's population who have no idea... and may not even care... what a tri-tip is. But I did realize that others would be at least a little curious.The bottom line is I gave a brief description of what it is.
That piqued my curiosity.
What is it called in other places... I have no clue. Even in the U.S. it is relatively unknown to many folks. What was that part of the beast used for before... ground beef. About the only thing I knew for sure was that the tri-tip is pretty much a California creation, originally cooked over the coals from red oak in the Central Coast region. It was virtually unknown until the late 1950s and its use spread mostly by word of mouth. My own first experience was in the late '80s. Even then the availability of the cut of meat was limited. Now it has more widespread availability, at least in the western half of the country and enjoys popularity because of the flavor, low fat and relatively low cost.
Just about everyone who barbecues has their own favorite preparation method. About the only mistake that can be made is to not slice the meat across the grain, as appears to have been done in this photo.

if California was a
country, it would be
the national meat

Full morning

, ba.

While skimming other sites this morning I came across this. It gave me goosebumps.


It's off to the local Walmart parking lot to begin preparations for the tri-tip sandwich fund raiser the Frontier Senior Center is putting on. A beef tri-tip roast is a boneless cut of meat from the bottom sirloin. Around here almost everyone has a theory on the best way to prepare and serve it. So this morning a number of volunteers will fire up a huge barbecue, slice the meat thin, make huge sandwiches, deliver a bunch of them around the county, and sell the rest in front of Walmart.

guess what's for dinner tonight

Who'd have thunk?

.
I started this blog just to keep folks posted about the outcome of surgical procedure (a cervical disc fusion). Somehow it's developed into an almost daily outpouring. Some of the stuff is even a little bit interesting. Yes, I go back and read some of the old stuff to see if my output has improved... it hasn't. Quite possibly it has even deteriorated. Anyhow, it has been almost two and a half years.
But that isn't enough... at least for me. No... had to go off and start another blog over here less than six months later. Then I figured out that, a year and a half after, I should post pictures on one and write the drivel on the other. Except I still can't seem to even get that straight. Heck... I don't even know where this is leading. Earlier I started into a rant about the local weekly newspaper that I already deleted.

Between the rain on Monday and the rain on Wednesday we had some Sun. I can now say,

The Christmas lights are up!

No, that's not our house. Those aren't our lights. This is a two-year-old picture that I used once before and thought was worth recycling.

thunk is too a word

Memory

.

One of the eeriest feelings I ever had was when I was in the Navy. The ship I was in [the Navy sails "in" ships] was being renovated at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. It is absolutely amazing just how quiet a Sunday morning can be in a place like that.

one of those moments

A day of remembrance

.

(Left click on this image to enlarge. Then click again to read the names.)

.

The fly in the ointment

.

There's only one real challenge about taking two weeks to celebrate Thanksgiving away from home. Those are the two weeks we have to prepare to get ready for the next major holiday. Maybe you can tell I'm not quite ready to let go of Thanksgiving comes first yet? Normally* Usually, by now, I at least have the list of folks to whom we are sending greetings ready... even if the cards aren't. Well, at least I'm thinking about it.


It appears Winter has arrived early this year. Fortunately, for us, the snow has remained in the mountains and only rain has fallen ...and not much of that. While others are downright cold, with freezing temperatures, we're just chilly ...like a refrigerator.


Maybe if I post a Thanksgiving story, I can get into the spirit.
Maybe if I hang the outside lights...
Maybe if I just start moving

*normally?
what's normal?

And now a word from our sponsors

There is no post here this morning.
This is a figment of your imagination.
Grandma Skip [my wife] and I are at the Senior Center helping to serve at the community breakfast. She's waitressing and I am sweating over the flattop cooking french toast and scrambling eggs.
Next Friday is the tri-tip sandwich fund raiser sale for the Senior Center. Come on down to the Walmart parking lot around noon for a really great sandwich.

I told them I'd get
it on the Internet

I had a thought

.
I know those of you who know me are cringing now.
My thought goes back to a sign Grandma Skip [not my grandma, but my wife] and I saw while riding on a launch at Pearl Harbor last Sunday. No... actually it goes back even further to a conversation among the four of us (my cousin, his wife, GS and me).
Maybe I should show you a picture?


No... not the "NO SMOKING" sign, the wordy one beneath it.

More specifically this particular part:


Anyway somehow it never occurred that debark had anything to do with exiting a boat. My thoughts had to do with removing the rough outer layer from tree trunks and limbs; or, in the case of nasty little dogs, silencing them with surgery.

It makes sense though and doesn't use as many letters of the alphabet as disembark.

no puppies were damaged
in the creation of this post

Dilemma

.

#1 How does one post a picture of a sunrise at sea and convince others that it's not just another sunset?
#2 How does one post pictures from a tropical paradise in December when others are suffering through extreme cold and snow and appear not to be gloating?

maybe I should shut up?

Something I noticed

.

We were away for a total of 14 days.
I believe I saw only two newspapers and watched now news on TV.
Did not get near a computer until we got home.
The same stories we were seeing and hearing when we left were still in the news when we returned.

About the only
thing that changed
was the weather.

Sorry this is late

Normally this would have been up no later than last Friday...


...it's the annual Thanksgiving photo of my brother.
When I talked to him on the phone he said nobody'd caught him napping this year.

I seem to be just a little bogged down catching up with emails that accumulated while we were away. Even after sifting through some 599 emails which weren't eliminated by the spam filter, there were well over 75 left to read.

The Brighton Pensioner seems to have narrowed the possibilities of places Grandma Skip and I may have gone... and, of course, he is correct. We were in a warmer place. Last August, before we trekked two-thirds of the way across the continent in a fifteen year old car, we spent several days in San Francisco celebrating the "Twin Cousins" birthday. While there the subject of Thanksgiving came up. We were remembering mostly how our two families used to get together every Thanksgiving... there were about 30 of us... and feast on a multi-course meal with way too many side dishes. The topic of what each of us was doing this year came up. They informed us they were going on the Inter-island Cruise in Hawaii and asked if we might join them. My first thought was that we'd miss seeing others. Then it further occurred to me that my cousin and I have known each other longer than anyone else [living] has known either of us. So I will be posting pictures from our sojourn over on R,M&P for about as long as they last. There are 210, but I probably won't post all of them... heck I probably won't post half of them.

about the only
complaint was
about the wind
in Nawiliwili

Home again...

I should, after more than two weeks away, have plenty to post... at least for a day or two. I took enough pictures to fill the days over at R,M&P.
Meanwhile, while driving back from the airport (San Jose, CA), I was listening to the radio and realized that creditor and predator sound a lot alike.

hmmmmmmmm