Wednesday, December 31, 2008

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. ONE ADVANTAGE TO LIVING IN TWO DIFFERENT TIME ZONES IS THAT FOLKS GET TO CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR TWICE. FIRST THEY CELEBRATE IN ARIZONA AT MIDNIGHT AND THEN THEY HEAD OVER TO NEVADA (ACROSS THE COLORADO RIVER) AND CELEBRATE AGAIN AT MIDNIGHT IN NEVADA.

HAVE YOU GOT YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS ALL DECIDED ON? AS USUAL I HAVE A REGULAR LENGTHY LIST TO SELECT FROM........

NAW..... THE HELL WITH IT!! I'M GONNA TURN 60 IN A FEW WEEKS, MUST BE AN OLE RULE, COMMANDMENT, SAINT OR SOMETHING THAT SAYS NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS ARE FOR YOUNGER PERVERTS THAN ME?

WE WILL BE RINGING IN 2009 IN THE USUAL SPOT, STANDING BEHIND A BLACKJACK TABLE ENJOYING THE BALLOON DROP AND ALL THE REVELLERS. MARY HAS A SPECIAL BOTTLE OF WINE SHE'S BEEN SAVING BACK, IF YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN US FOR OUR FIRST DRINK OF 2009......... IT'LL BE ABOUT 4AM WHEN WE GET OFF WORK.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY !!!!

THE PUNCH LINE
"Why is Barack Obama moving his stuff into the Oval Office?" -- From David Letterman's "Top Ten Things Overheard at the Bush Family Christmas."

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

QUILLOW


QUILLOW
WE BOTH GOT A "QUILLOW" FOR CHRISTMAS FROM AMY AND FAMILY. SO, WHAT'S A "QUILLOW"?
IT'S A CROSS BETWEEN A PILLOW AND A QUILT.
THE NICE LITTLE POUCH THAT YOU FOLD UP THE QUILT AND STUFF, MAKES A GREAT FOOT WARMER WHILE USING THE WARM FUZZY BLANKET.


NOTICE THAT AMY HAS ADDED OUR NAMES ON OUR QUILLOWS.

WARM IDEA AIM, AND THANKS !!

THE PUNCH LINE
"It's so cold, Bernie Madoff was defrauding Eskimos." -- From David Letterman's "Top Ten Answers to the Question 'How Cold is it?'"

Monday, December 29, 2008

GOOD MORNING



GOOD MORNING BLOG READERS!!!

LIKE ME, MOST OF MY REGULAR BLOG READERS TUNE IN FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. IT'S PART OF MY MORNING RITUAL TO READ MY FAVORITE BLOGS, NEWSPAPERS, AND E-MAIL WITH MY MORNING COFFEE. A FEW REGULAR READERS ALSO CHECK LATE AT NIGHT BEFORE THEY GO TO BED IN CASE MY POST IS ALREADY UP? 80% OF THE TIME THE BLOG IS POSTED BETWEEN 1:00 AM AND 2:00 AM PACIFIC TIME. I USE BLOGGER'S HANDY SCHEDULER TO AUTOMATICALLY POST AT THAT TIME AND DAY.

SPEAKING OF THE BLOG, JUST SO YOU DON'T THINK I'VE LOST MY MIND, WHEN THE BLOG ENTRY ISN'T ALL CAPITAL LETTERS AND THE FONT IN IN BROWN, IT'S A POST I'VE WRITTEN FOR "PAY PER POST", LIKE YESTERDAY.

PAY PER POST IS A WEBSITE THAT COORDINATES BLOGGERS AND ADVERTISERS. THE COMPANY I WRITE ABOUT OFFERS, SAY $5, FOR A POST AND LINK TO THEIR WEBSITE. I'VE WRITTEN 13 BLOGS SO FAR AND EARNED ABOUT $100.

FOOTBALL

THE REGULAR FOOTBALL SEASON IS OVER. I ALWAYS ENJOY WATCHING AND FOLLOWING THE GREEN BAY PACKERS. I'M NOT A FOOTBALL FAN, JUST A TRUE LOYAL PACKER FAN !!! IT WAS A BONUS SEASON THIS YEAR, AS BEING A LOYAL PACKER FAN, I'M ALSO A BRETT FAVRE FAN, SO I TUNED IN AND WATCHED A LOT OF JETS GAME. AT LEAST THE OFFENSE PART. DOUBLED MY PLEASURE SO TO SPEAK.

DINNER WITH MOM

HERE IS A PICTURE OF CHRISTMAS DINNER AT GRANDMA'S MOTEL SUITE. IT WAS TREAT FOR US AGAIN THIS YEAR HAVING FAMILY AROUND FOR THE HOLIDAYS.



(NOTICE GRANDMA'S 'PUTER HAS AMY'S BLOG UP?)


THE PUNCH LINE
"It's freezing cold today. It's so cold that Bernie Madoff is looking forward to burning in hell." - David Letterman

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Supercharger

Awhile back I blogged about Turbocharging your car, and remembered about the ole' Buick Rivera. Nik was quick to point out that the Rivera wasn't Turbocharged, but was Supercharged instead.

Good catch Nik, but I got you covered, here is a Website that covers the Supercharger on the Buick Rivera.

supercharger

They also cover Superchargers for just about every kinda car you'd like to improve performance on, including, Buick Supercharger, Pontiac Supercharger, and Mercedes Supercharger. Check it out, they even have some rebuilt items for immediate shipment.

supercharger

Sure miss the performance of that Buick Rivera.......


Friday, December 26, 2008

Belize '08




A trip to Belize is always a reason to blog. Wendy and I were recently lucky enough to travel there and return with this report. The island hopping planes to San Pedro now have new navigational equipment in the dashes. Not that it's needed, the flight is about 60 miles and the pilots could all do the thing blind-folded.........







....Wednesday night is still the famous "chicken drop" at Pier Lounge. It is a gambling game where you buy squares on a grid and they drop a chicken into the pen. When the chicken poops on your number, you win. Wednesday night is slow in San Pedro. In fact all the nights are slow...........






....The next day was Thanksgiving. I wanted a traditional dinner (So did Wendy....LOBSTER!) so we chose Celi's, one of the fancier beach restaurants. Ever seen cloth table clothes and a sand floor?.............





....I was pretty happy with the turkey and ham, gravy over dumplings, and cornmeal dressing with candied yam sauce...............





....Wendy looks happier, almost smug, with her lobster. Both were pricey, and we laid down $75 US...........





....I walk every morning with the camera and collect sunrises. The whole town faces east and there are no sunsets to be had. This was my favorite this year...........








....Our place looks great. The palm trees are aged by the storm they were replanted after. These are from Kieth. I believe that was 2001........




....While we were there, the town fathers planted 600 new trees along the water. The government owns the first 15 feet of land along the beach. Hurricanes had destroyed many of the trees and they thought it was time to replace some............




....they should be cool in a few years..........



....still funny to see pine-tree related Christmas decorations in the tropics...................




.....Country and Western recording star, Kelly MacQuire, who is a "regular" in San Pedro, did a benefit concert for a neighborhood watch group in suburban San Pedro. A great way to while away an afternoon at the poolside.......



....Wendy had to get her CD autographed. His most recent album is "Boat in Belize"........




....I found this really neat piece of driftwood on the beach and picked it up for a decoration for the condo........





....it is a little too big to put in luggage, so I hope it is still there when we come back.......


....I end with the traditional "shot off the balcony" so the tree growth can be compared to past years. More later?............


Uncle Hans

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas




Today is Christmas and I hope you are all warm, cozy, planning a wonderful meal, and spending time with loved ones. One of the hardest things about living 1700 miles away, is not being able to spend time with my Mother, children, and grandkids.

Today we are fortunate to be able to spend some time with Rex's Mom. She is here for about 12 weeks avoiding the Wisconsin winter weather. We made and are taking dinner to her and eating with her...then of course, we will have to go to work!!

Yesterday I was busy making the food.....God I love to putter around in the kitchen!!! It was really fun having an actual complete meal to prepare. Of course I made the dessert first!! Sour cream apple pie....Rex's favorite!!





A few days ago I ran into a recipe called "green bean blue cheese gratin" and since the one and only vegetable Rex likes is green beans I decided to make that.

I was looking through my many cookbooks for a salad recipe and asking Rex's opinion of this one and that one, when he finally said....I will be concentrating on the ham, green bean, and pie....make whatever salad you want. Oh, right! So I am making one that my daughter Heather likes...oriental cabbage salad with ramen noodles......sure hope Grandma Jean likes it!!




Now the spiral cut ham......so good made with the flavoring packet that comes with it...and I can't make it to save my soul....but my neighbor Steve can!!





How did I get Steve to make it for me??? I bribed him with maple glazed walnuts and home made honey oatmeal bread!!!



Wednesday, December 24, 2008

LAS VEGAS SNOW



I'VE SAID MANY TIMES,"THAT IT NEVER SNOWS IN LAUGHLIN".

BOY WAS I HOLDING MY BREATH LAST WEEK. IT RAINED ALL DAY, AND THE TEMPERATURE JUST KEPT DROPPING. IT WAS 37 WHEN I LEFT FOR WORK AND I FIGURED IT WOULD DROP DURING THE NIGHT.

GOOD NEWS, IT STILL NEVER SNOWS IN LAUGHLIN!!









MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE !!!



THE PUNCH LINE
"The weather was so bad in Washington, people were throwing snowshoes at President Bush." -- Jay Leno

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

HOW THEY HANG'IN?



HOW THEY HANG'IN?

I, OF COURSE, MEAN YOUR CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS. WE (MARY) WILL BE COOKING CHRISTMAS DINNER AND TAKING IT TO GRANDMA'S MOTEL SUITE TO SHARE CHRISTMAS DINNER WITH HER BEFORE WE HEAD OFF TO WORK.

SPEAKING OF WORK, OUR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK LOOKS NORMAL. FIVE DAYS, THE SAME DAYS OFF (SUNDAY & MONDAY), AND THE SAME START TIMES THREE OUT OF THE FIVE DAYS. HOPEFULLY THE SHOULDER SEASON (HALLOWEEN TO CHRISTMAS) IS FINALLY OVER.

SPEAKING OF CHRISTMAS, AMY AND FAMILY HAVE TAKEN THE THREE BOYS TO IOWA AND MICHIGAN FOR THE HOLIDAYS. AT 10 BELOW ZERO, I BET THE FLORIDA GRANDSONS ARE FREEZING THEIR LITTLE NUTS OFF.



AS MY MIND WANDERS.......

I GOT MY CHRISTMAS CARD FROM TERESA TODAY, NICE FAMILY PORTRAIT !!!


SPEAKING OF TERESA, THE BEARS WIN, AND ONCE AGAIN AMERICA'S TEAM, THE GREEN BAY PACKERS, "CHOKE". I'VE SAID ALL ALONG EVENTUALLY THE LIONS WILL WIN A GAME, LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE WITH THE CHOKING PACKERS, WHAT IF ......????

I COULD COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW COLD 52 DEGREES FEELS COMPARED TO "SUNNY & 80", BUT LOOKING AT THE BELOW ZERO TEMPERATURES OF HOME .......... 52 ISN'T BAD.

WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT? THE DAY I DECIDE TO EMPTY MY PUNCH LINE FILE, THE GUY (NORM) GOES ON VACATION AND I'M FRESH OUT OF MATERIAL.

Monday, December 22, 2008

PUNCH LINE



I'M SURE YOU'VE NOTICED MY "PUNCH LINE" CLIPS AT THE END OF MY BLOGS OF LATE. I PLAGERIZE THESE FROM THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL.

I SAVE THESE CLIPS IN A FILE ON MY COMPUTER AND THEN ADD THEM AT THE END OF MY BLOG. MOST ARE BASED ON CURRENT EVENTS AND SITTING IN MY COMPUTER FILE THEY TEND TO GET OLD AND OUT OF DATE. I'M CLEANING OUT THE FILE TODAY AND USING ALL OF THEM. ENJOY, SMILE, AND THANKS FOR READING MY BLOG.



THE PUNCH LINE
"In Japan, officials in a small town called Obama say they're going to invite Barack Obama to visit. A similar trip happened after Bill Clinton was elected and was invited to Horndog, Thailand." -- Conan O'Brien


Thought For The Day – The reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.

Bumper Snicker Like a roll of toilet paper, life goes faster at the end

THE PUNCH LINE
"More than two pounds of pot was found in a leather basket tomb. It is already being called the earliest known artifact from the era known as the Bong Dynasty in China.They're saying it may explain why it took so long to invent the wheel." - Jimmy Kimmel

THE PUNCH LINE
"The (Somali) pirates have gone high-tech. They even have MySpace pages. Current mood? 'Looking for booty.' " -- Craig Ferguson


THE PUNCH LINE
"President Bush and his lovely wife, Laura, have purchased a new home in Dallas, Texas, worth $2 million. People have underestimated this guy. Five months ago he would had to pay $10 million for that house. But thanks to his economic plan he got it at a bargain." -- Jay Leno


THE PUNCH LINE
"How about O.J.? Going to prison for 33 years for robbing two guys. Legal experts say his only mistake in robbing these two guys? He shoulda killed 'em, then he'd be playing golf." -- David Letterman

THE PUNCH LINE
"All these scandals -- I just hope they don't tarnish the fine reputation of Illinois politics." -- David Letterman

THE PUNCH LINE
"Hi, it's O.J. Wanna be cellmates?" -- From David Letterman's "Top Ten Messages Left On Rod Blagojevich's Answering Machine."

THE PUNCH LINE
"They figured Jay (Leno) would retire, but Jay can't retire because he's got like 185 car payments to make. So he has to work." - Jimmy Kimmel

THE PUNCH LINE
"The economy is looking bad. In Beverly Hills, women are firing their nannies and having to learn the names of their own children. That's how bad it is." -- Jay Leno



Sunday, December 21, 2008

PT'S ON SUNSET



WE WERE UP BEFORE THE CRACK OF DAWN ON FRIDAY MORNING TO PICK UP WENDY AND GRANDMA TO DRIVE TO VEGAS AND DROP OFF WENDY AT THE AIRPORT FOR HER RETURN FLIGHT TO MINNEAPOLIS.

NORMALLY THIS 100 MILE TRIP IS LIKE DRIVING THE LUNAR MODULAR ACROSS THE SURFACE OF THE MOON. THE LANDSCAPE IS ALL AN UGLY BROWN, NO TREES, ROCKS , MOUNTAINS, FLAT DESERT WITH MATCHING BROWN SAGE BRUSH, AND YOU SEE THIS VIEW FOR 10 MILES IN ANY DIRECTION. IT TOOK ME SEVERAL YEARS TO SEE THE BEAUTY IN THE MOHAVE DESERT LANDSCAPE.

TODAY'S TRIP WAS REMARKABLY DIFFERENT DUE TO THE FREAKY SNOW STORM THAT HIT VEGAS EARLIER THIS WEEK. HELL, EVEN REX HAD CHRISTMAS CAROLS JINGLING IN MY HEAD.









PT'S IS A LOCAL CHAIN OF BAR AND GRILLS IN THE LAS VEGAS AREA. THERE ARE ABOUT 17 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. SINCE PAULIE WORKS GRAVEYARD, AND GETS OFF AT 5 AM, IF WE ARE GOING TO BE IN VEGAS WE USUALLY MEET HIM FOR BREAKFAST AT THE PT'S ON SUNSET ROAD.


AFTER DROPPING WENDY AT THE AIRPORT, WE MET UP WITH PAULIE FOR BREAKFAST. YOU COULD TELL PAULIE'S BEEN ON THE DESERT IN LAS VEGAS FOR A LONG TIME, BY THE GLOW OF THE SNOW IN HIS EYES AND STORIES OF HIS NEW SNOWBOARD AND DRIVING IN THE SNOW WITH THE VEGAS IDIOTS.

THIS WAS 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW, 35 DEGREES, SO THERE WAS NO ICE UNDER THE SNOW, AND 16 OF PAULIE'S FELLOW DEALERS CALLED OFF BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T DRIVE INTO WORK. CLARK COUNTY CALLED OFF SCHOOL, AND THE AIRPORT SHUT DOWN.

WE ALL ENJOYED LISTENING TO PAUL TELL THE STORIES OVER BREAKFAST.



THE PUNCH LINE

"(Monday) at a press conference in Baghdad, an angry Iraqi threw his shoes at President Bush's head. When he saw the shoes, President Bush said, 'See? I knew you guys had weapons of mass destruction.'" -- Conan O'Brien

Friday, December 19, 2008

Belize Flowers




Finally, what you have all been waiting for: An Uncle Hans blog with no words. These are the flowers of Belize.........
































Uncle Hans