WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

HEY REX……

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

 

I GUESS IT’S TIME TO BUY A NEW LAPTOP. THAT WOULDN’T BE SUCH A BIG THING EXCEPT YOU HAVE TO BUY NEW SOFTWARE BECAUSE THE OPERATING SYSTEMS KEEP CHANGING.

FOR YEARS I’VE USED MICROSOFT MONEY SOFTWARE FOR MY CHECKBOOK, AND THEY DON’T MAKE THAT ANYMORE, SO NOW I HAVE TO BUY QUICKEN AND LEARN ALL THAT.

IT’S A 15 INCH DELL. I BOUGHT DELL THIS TIME BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT AMY AND DANIEL USE.  THAT WAY WHEN I HAVE A PROBLEM I CAN CALL THEM TO HELP ME.   LOOKS LIKE I’M GONNA HAVE TO PUT AIM’S NUMBER ON MY SPEED DIAL.

DOES THIS MEAN I’M GOING TO BLOG MORE OFTEN OR BLOG BETTER?

DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH……

Cherry Blossoms in D.C.

This information comes from one of my favorite books, “The First Ladies Fact Book by Bill Harris”.

When Helen Herron Taft, wife of President William Howard Taft, arrived in Washington, Potomac Park was “was mostly a mosquito filled swamp”.  She initiated a “beautify the capitol city” program which included Potomac Park.  When she had visited Japan she fell in love with cherry blossoms and decided they would be beautiful in Washington.  Upon hearing of this desire, the mayor of Tokyo, sent more than 3,000 trees as a gift to the American People.

First Lady Helen Taft planted the first 2 trees herself in March of 1912.

Stamps

I love stamps…

See what I mean?  Why wouldn’t you love that stamp?

I am thankful to whomever (or whoever) thought up the concept of “Forever” stamps.  That was genius!!

I am not the photographer Rex is, so these pictures are not very good but if you look closely you will see that these stamps are all a different denomination – 1 cent, $0.02,$0.04, $0.05, and $0.10. (Did you realize that there isn’t a “cent” symbol on the keyboard?) These have been bought over the years to adjust to postage increases.  I think all the designs are cool and am happy that I have them, but with the “Forever” stamp these will not be needed for that purpose anyway.

I also like the fact that I can sort of fit the stamp to whatever occasion  I am sending something for.  The “Love” one above will go on anniversary cards and valentines.

These will wind up on cards to MY contemporaries.  I am so sorry these are crummy pictures cuz there are good memories in these stamps.

These, of course, will  end up on cards sent to Grandchildren.  They used to have stamps that said “Happy Birthday” on them, but not anymore.  I really miss them.

Someplace, I either read or heard about a father/son artist team that had worked together doing artwork on an upcoming new stamp for the Postal Service.  That got my interest so I eventually bought the stamps when they were released.

 The father/son team worked on stamps with each states bird and flower.  I have bought stamps that I like and fine interesting ever since.  Oh—these are $0.20 stamps.  Anyone know what year that would be?  I really don’t remember.

So anyway this is actually a warm up for my next blog…but it started with an upcoming stamp I saw on a poster in the Post Office.

This is not the actual stamp but a picture on the poster.  I don’t have the stamp yet but I will.

These stamps are to honor the centennial of cherry blossoms in Washington D.C.  That made me think of how, in fact, those cherry blossoms came to be in Washington, D.C. in the first place.  That is the subject of my next blog.

Maple Syrup

By Uncle Hans

A buddy of mine has developed a lucrative hobby: Maple Syrup.  He has a 40 acre woods about 3 miles from town where he lives with his wife and 4 teenagers.   He taps 2600 trees and processes raw sap for several other people who don't have a "cooker".  This is a modern day "tap"...........

.....It connects through tubing to the holding tank.  Miles of tubing..........

.....These three pictures show some tubing, if you look closely.  It stays in place all year, but the taps need to be taken out and replaced each spring......

  ....These are the holding tanks.  A peak night during the season will find 3,000 gallons of sap collected in one day.  The enlarged picture is the gizmo which is a modern miracle.  It is reverse osmosis, which filters the sap through a membrane so fine that only the water molecules can fit, not the other ingredients,  That saves a ton of "cooking" to get the water out. He used to burn 40 cords of wood per year and now only 10, for cooking...............

......this is the cooker.  It uses a wood fire to remove the rest of the water and make the final syrup, which boils at 118 degrees at sea level with normal barometric pressure.  More than 118, and it contains too much sugar and it forms crystals on the shelf.  Lots of science here.........

  ..... he sells most of it in barrels but some in bottles to local merchants.  His woodhouse contains a years worth of wood, as cooking will start tonight........

......Lots of science out here, too.  The sap collects under the influence of a vacuum pump into a central place where it dumps into a normal pressure tub, kicking on a sump pump which moves it to the collecting tank......

....It all starts here with a little piece of plastic and a Black and Decker battery powered drill.  the tap has a check valve in it.

      He will collect over 40,000 gallons of sap and make over 1,000 gallons of syrup in the next 4-6 weeks.  His hobby turns a tidy profit, I'm not sure what a gallon goes for but I am thinking 10-15$, maybe more.....

By Uncle Hans

SPRING BREAK 2012 (PART 2)

LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON THE SPRING BREAK PARTY WAS MOVED UP TO LAUGHLIN AND WE STAYED AT THE COLORADO BELLE CASINO AND HOTEL.

PAULIE GOT A TRUE KID FIX AS HE LOADED ALL THREE BOYS INTO HIS PICK-UP AND TOOK OFF ON THE 20 MILE TRIP, WITHOUT MOM OR GRAMPS TO HELP.  BRAVE BOY !

THE BELLE HAS AN OUTDOOR HEATED SWIMMING POOL, AND ONCE THE KIDS GOT IN THE WATER, THERE WAS NO GETTING THEM OUT.  WE FINALLY BROUGHT PIZZA POOLSIDE AND LET THEM SWIM UNTIL THE STARS WERE OUT AND THEIR LIPS TURN BEYOND BLUE TO A DEEP PURPLE.

IN THE MORNING WE HIT THE BREAKFAST BUFFET AND WITH A FIST FULL OF COUPONS, WE PAID $6 AND SOME CHANGE FOR EIGHT BUFFETS.

NEXT ON THE AGENDA WAS THE LATEST 3D KIDS MOVIE, AND THEN IT WAS BACK INTO THE SWIMMING POOL. I GUESS SPRING BREAK AND WATER JUST GO TOGETHER……

AND OF COURSE BEER AND SPRING BREAK GO TOGETHER AS WELL…..

   “SUNNY & 80”

HOY !!! HOY !!! HOY !!!

I KNOW, I KNOW, I WASN’T GOING TO DO ANY BIRTHDAY WISHES ON THE BLOG THIS YEAR, BUT THIS ONE I CAN’T RESIST….

HOY !!!  HOY !!!  HOY !!! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE HANS!

THIS IS A BIG ONE (60) AND I SURE WISH I WAS THERE TO HELP YOU CELEBRATE, MY BROTHER.

IF YOU HAVE UNCLE HANS’ E-MAIL ADDRESS OR CELL PHONE NUMBER, BE SURE TO TAKE A MINUTE TODAY AND GIVE THE OLD GUY A PINCH OF SHIT.

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY UNCLE HANS  !!!

SPRING BREAK 2012 (PART 1)

AT 60 SOME YEARS OLD WHO THOUGHT I’D BE LOOKING FORWARD TO SPRING BREAK?  I EVEN HAD A COUNTDOWN COUNTER ON MY HOME PAGE TO CHECK EVERY MORNING.

AMY AND MY THREE GRANDSONS ARRIVED IN CAMP ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. DAMN IT WAS GOOD TO SEE ‘EM. WE SPENT THE AFTERNOON PLAYING ON THE PORCH AND ENJOYED THE “SUNNY & 80” WEATHER. 

MARY AND I WENT INTO WORK FOR FOUR HOURS AND WHEN WE GOT BACK THE KIDS WERE SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR INSIDE AND WE GOT A CHANCE TO VISIT WITH AMY AND GET CAUGHT UP ON ALL HER ADVENTURES.

AT THE CRACK OF DAWN I HEARD JOEY, AND IT WASN’T LONG AND WE WERE UP  COOKING BREAKFAST IN CAMP.

HERE IS EDDIE GRILLING THE BREAKFAST SAUSAGES.

 

AND JOEY MIXING UP THE PANCAKES.

GOOD THING I WAS DOING LAUNDRY TODAY, AS I HAD A HALF A WASHER FULL OF SYRUP DRENCHED KIDS CLOTHES IN WITH MY SHORTS AND T-SHIRTS.

UNCLE PAULIE SHOWED UP AND WAS THE HIT OF THE PARTY.

AND WE’RE SERIOUS ABOUT TRAINING OUR PACKER FANS EARLY.

 

IT WAS GREAT FUN CAMPING WITH THE GRANDSONS, AND WE HOPE NEXT YEAR THAT DANIEL WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN US AS WELL.

“SUNNY & 80”

MIKEY DOES LAUGHLIN

WHEN MIKEY CAME TO LAUGHLIN, FOR SOME UNKNOW REASON MY CAMERA SAT ON THE SHELF AND I DIDN’T GET ANY PICTURES, SO I HAVE A COUPLE OF PICTURES LEFT FROM FREEMONT STREET TO USE TODAY.

 

WE INVITED MIKEY AND JERRY TO CAMP, TO COOK IN THE DUTCH OVEN. LIKE THE GOOD OLE DAYS OF YELLOW RIVER IT WAS A “GO TO TOWN” MEAL.  WHILE THE POT WORKED IT’S MAGIC ON DOG DISH MEAT LOAF AND BAKED POTATOES WE HEADED UP INTO THE BLACK MOUNTAINS AND TWO BEERS IN OATMAN.

SUNDAY NIGHT WE WERE ON A MISSION TO DRINK 10-20 BEERS IN THE CASINOS OF LAUGHLIN. AT THE GOLDEN NUGGET MIKEY AND I WERE AT THE CRAPS TABLE, AND I NOTICED THAT FOUR OUT OF THE SEVEN PLAYERS WERE BETTING ON THE “DON’TS”.  MIKEY, I SAID, THE DICE HAVE EYES, AND THIS TABLE IS GOING TO GET HOT AND SCREW ALL THESE “DON’T” PLAYERS. ON THE NEXT SHOOTER I WENT $54 ACROSS ON THE NUMBERS AND JUST KEPT ON PRESSING. I WAS IN $100 AND OUT $1400, AFTER THE 20 MINUTE ROLL. MARY SCOOPED UP MY TWO $500 CHIPS AND SAID SHE’D GIVE ME THE $1,000.00 BACK IN JULY WHEN WE PLAN TO VISIT THE ARIZONA WHITE MOUNTAINS.

ON MONDAY WE DID THE MOHAVE VALLEY ROAD TRIP WHICH INCLUDED LAKE MOHAVE, KATHERIN’S LANDING, DAVIS DAM, ROUTE 66 THROUGH THE BLACK MOUTAINS, COOL SPRINGS, OATMAN FOR THE GUN FIGHT, GOLDEN SHORES WHERE WE HAD THREE BEERS AND FIVE TACOS FOR $7.75, THE BNSF RAILROAD YARD IN NEEDLES, AND BACK TO PINTS AT THE COLORADO BELLE FOR WOOD FIRED PIZZA.

MIKEY IS ALREADY PLANNING HIS NEXT NEVADA VACATION AND SAID THE 10 DAYS JUST WASN’T ENOUGH. LET’S DO IT ALL AGAIN!!!

GILLEY’S

WE ALL REMEMBER THE MOVIE URBAN COWBOY FROM THE ‘80’S AND THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN BUD AND SISSY. THE ACTION CENTERED AROUND THE TEXAS BAR CALLED GILLEY’S. SO WHEN GILLEY’S OPENED AT TREASURE ISLAND ON THE STRIP I JUST HAD TO SEE WHAT VEGAS COWGIRLS WOULD LOOK LIKE.

BEFORE GILLEY’S I WANTED MIKEY TO SEE THE FREE PIRATE SHIP SHOW OUT FRONT OF TREASURE ISLAND, BUT MARY DECIDED SHE’D WANDER OVER TO GILLEY’S AND WAIT FOR US THERE.

 

WHEN WE GOT TO GILLEY’S WE FOUND “GRANDMA JACK” SADDLED UP TO THE BAR.

NOT ONLY WAS “GRANDMA JACK” SITT’IN THE SADDLE, SHE WAS BEING “HIT ON” BY AN AIRLINE PILOT, NOW THAT MADE MARY’S NIGHT !!!

 

SO JUST WHAT DO VEGAS COWGIRLS LOOK LIKE?

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WELL PARD’, IT’S ALL CHAPS AND SKIN, AND LIKE THE OLE COMMERCIAL SAYS,    “ MIKEY LIKES IT !!!”

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

WHENEVER WE VENTURE OUT ON THE STRIP, MARY’S FAVORITE STOP IS THE BELLAGIO CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS. THE THEME ON OUR VISIT WAS THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON FOR THE CHINESE NEW YEAR.

 

 

 

BEAUTIFUL AS ALWAYS !!!

TERRY FATOR

WITH MIKEY IN LAS VEGAS AND MARY AND I IN CHARGE OF THE TOUR AGENDA WE DECIDED TO KNOCK OFF ONE OF THE VEGAS SHOWS ON OUR BUCKET LIST.

THE TERRY FATOR SHOW IS DARK ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY OUR REGULAR DAYS OFF, BUT ON THIS TRIP WE WERE IN VEGAS ON A TUESDAY.

IN 2007 TERRY FATOR WON A MILLION BUCKS FOR FIRST PLACE ON AMERICA’S GOT TALENT TV SHOW, AND SHORTLY AFTER WAS GIVEN A CONTRACT AT THE MIRAGE CASINO IN VEGAS TO DO TWO SHOWS A NIGHT FIVE NIGHTS A WEEK.

NOT ONLY IS HE AN EXCELLENT  VENTRILOQUIST, BUT HE ALSO DOES IMPRESSIONS, COMDEY, AND BOY CAN HE SING.  WHEN ONE OF HIS DUMMIES, AFTER ALL THE ELVIS JOKES, BELTED OUT AN ELVIS SONG I WAS AMAZED.

WITH THE SHOW BEING AT THE MIRAGE, I WAS ABLE TO LAUNCH ON MIKEY AND JERRY ON HOW MUCH I HATE THE STRIP !!!  THEY POLITELY AGREEDED WITH ME, JUST TRYING TO SHUT ME UP, AND OFFERED TO BUY ME A BEER AT CEASAR’S PALACE.

BUYING ME A $7 BOTTLE OF BEER WAS LIKE POURING GAS ON THE FIRE, AND THE BOYS WANDERED OFF TO ENJOY THIER COCKTAIL WITH VENUS.

Zip Line on Fremont Street

By Mary

Fremont St. in Las Vegas has put in a zip line.  A zip line is a series of very, very strong cables.  You are put in a harness contraption and connected to these cables.  Then you ride the cables by “zipping” along on them. 

This is the scaffolding at the beginning of the zip line.

 

I am being harnessed in---tickets sales start at noon….I was first in line (b4 noon), so was the first zip liner of the day.

 

Rex took my picture as I was zipping along.

 

Moving along toward the end of the line.  I think the whole ride lasted about 30 seconds.

 

This is our friend Mikey zipping along.  He also enjoyed it.

This company also runs a zip line in Boulder City.  That one is suppose to go across a canyon and is more expensive.  The one on Fremont Street costs either $15 or $20 depending if whether you go before or after 6PM.

Anyway Mikey gave it two thumbs up!!