A NEW PROBLEM

IN THE OLD DAYS AT THE END OF APRIL WE PACKED UP EVERYTHING WE OWNED AND HEADED NORTH TO LAKE TAHOE FOR THE SUMMER SEASON. EASY !!!

NOW THAT WE HAVE TWO TRAILERS, I SEE AN UP COMING PROBLEM:  SOMETHING I WANT BEING IN THE OTHER TRAILER. BESIDES THE TRAILERS BOTH PLACES HAVE A SHED AND FULL SIZE PORCHES. COMPARED TO SIX YEARS AGO WE HAVE A HELL OF LOT MORE STUFF.

WE DISCUSSED THE PROBLEM AND DECIDED WE NEED TO PURGE EVERTHING EVERY YEAR IN BOTH PLACES. ITEMS NEED TO BE PACKED TO MOVE, DISCARDED, OR LEFT IN THE TRAILER THEY ARE IN.

LUCKILY WE STILL HAVE THE BIG RED PICK-UP SO WE HAVE LOT’S OF ROOM TO MOVE OUR STUFF. NOT HAVING PURGED IN FOUR YEARS, WE ARE BOTH DREADING THIS EXERSIZE THIS COMING APRIL.

SINGLE DIGITS

WE FINALLY HIT THE SINGLE DIGITS, AND WE ARE IN WEEK #9. NINE WEEKS TO GO TILL OUR SUMMER ADVENTURES BEGIN.

WE’VE HAD THE MOST WONDERFUL WEATHER HERE IN THE MOHAVE VALLEY THIS WINTER WITH “SUNNY & 80” DAYS IN FEB. IT’S AT LEAST A MONTH EARLY. GREAT FOR MARY AND HER MORNING HIKES ON THE DESERT, AND FOR REX IT’S A LOT OF TIME ON THE SCOOTER.

LAST MONDAY WE SAT DOWN FOR A MEETING (COCKTAILS ON HE PORCH), AND STARTED OUR PLANS FOR THE BIG MOVE TO THE MOUNTAIN AND OUR ENDLESS LISTS OF THINGS TO BE DONE AND STUFF TO PACK.

WEIGHT LOSS

REMEMBER THAT NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION TO LOSE 40 POUNDS?  MY GOAL WAS TO LOSE TWO POUNDS A WEEK. SO FAR I’VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL EACH WEEK EXCEPT FOR ONE, AND HAVE LOST 15 OF THE 40 LBS.  THE EXTRA WEIGHT COMES FROM EATING AT WORK EVERYDAY WHERE THEY HAVE A HELP YOURSELF BUFFET LINE, AND A DESSERT TABLE PILED HIGH WITH DONUTS AND COOKIES. I’VE STAYED AWAY FROM THE COOKIES AND HAVE BEEN MAKING MYSELF A SANDWICH AND SALAD BAR INSTEAD OF HITTING THE BUFFET LINE. IT WAS SO EASY TO SNAGG A COOKIE OR TWO EVERY BREAK AND THE WEIGHT JUST PILED ON.

VEGAS BABY

LAS VEGAS IS MY FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET. WE HAVEN’T BEEN TO PLAY AND STAY THERE SINCE LAST MAY, BUT IN WEEK # 5 WE HAVE A THREE DAY RESERVATION TO STAY DOWTOWN AT “THE D” AND MEET UP WITH OUR OLE FRIEND MIKEY FROM PRAIRE DU CHEIN. I CAN SEE SMOK’IN, DRINK’IN, AND GAMBLIN WITH BOTH HANDS IN OUR FUTURE.

SPRING BREAK

THEN IN WEEK #2 IT’S THE LAST SPRING BREAK WITH MY GRANDSONS BEFORE THEY MOVE OFF TO DAYTON, OHIO.

 

SPRING IS IN THE AIR AND GOOD TIMES ARE COMING !!!

“SUNNY & 80”

Snow

By Uncle Hans

The problem is becoming:  "Where the Hell do we put all this snow!!"  Got another 12 inches last night.  It has become what we call a "bandana year" .  That is where the snowbanks are so high that you cannot see other cars approaching the intersection, so people tie a bandana on their radio antennae.....

In my own driveway, the blower will no longer throw the snow over the bank so it just runs back down on the driveway.  And it is only  February.  March is often the snowiest month here.  And last year, if you remember the blog, we had a lot of snow in April, even May!!......

The last picture here shows the problem corner I have......nowhere to throw the snow anymore...

.........these last two shots are interesting.  One from inside the bathroom showing snow covering the window and obscuring almost all the view from a 6 foot high window.  The last picture is of the gas furnace "chimney/air intake".  With these new-fangled high efficiency gas furnaces, the air in and the air out travel in the same pipe.  If this gets covered with snow, the intake gets clogged.  Then the fire burns poorly, with less oxygen, then it makes carbon monoxide, then it senses the problem and shuts the whole thing down.  Very safe, but bad news if you are trying to stay warm!!  I have to dig this thing out so it can breathe well every few days.

 

 

 

  Renee just looks out the window and watches the calendar for which month she will next venture outdoors.  Her toes are froze just looking out the window.....

By Uncle Hans

THROW BACK THURSDAY

 

 

AT LEAST I’M STILL ALIVE AND KICK’IN !!!

A Walk In The Park

 Rex mentioned recently that our RV park had changed hands.  The new owner has surprisingly made quite a few improvements so I decided to take a walk in the park with the camera to show some of them.

 

 New chairs on the cement slab in front of the office.  I have never actually sat in one but they look comfortable.

 A very nice shaded seating area.  I think a lot of the residents find this a nice gathering area….not me but others.  (comes down to my “loner” tendencies)

 They have done a lot of landscaping work here.  Because I am such a terrible photographer, you can’t tell tell how cool these plants are but you get the idea I hope!

 More landscaping, the palms are new and at the entrance .  This view is leaving the park.  Another thing they did was re-blacktop the roads which they desperately needed.

 Sorry for all the plant pictures but it so amazing to me that they have taken the trouble to actually landscape.  I love the way they all look.

 The previous owner said we would have a pool in this area “eventually”….guess not!

 This area they cleaned up, put in the grills, shading fabric, and picnic tables for residents to entertain if they so desire.  They also repainted all the tables.

 All of the street signs were redone and the streets went from letters (A, B, C, etc) to Western states.  We now live on Idaho Way.

Our little piece of heaven???  I can’t help it, I wish I took better pictures because our site looks a lot better that this.  Oh well that is today’s “walk in the park”.

Desert Christmas??

A while ago Rex and I went on a scooter ride to Oatman…….you know Oatman, the little town with wild burros running wild in the streets.  Where you have to watch where your feet are going to avoid the consequences of burros running wild in the streets.  On the way we saw the remnants of Decembers  desert Christmas decorations. 

 

 

 

 

 

These always crack me up……they just look wrong to me, but you have to work with what you have and this is what they have.

CBS Sunday Morning

I like “CBS Sunday Morning” news. Recently, they celebrated their 35th anniversary.  If you’ve never watched it, most of what they report on is upbeat and interesting.  I always learn something surprising watching this show.  From the opening scene with trumpets blaring to the bright yellow sun, the tone of the show is set.  Charles Osgood is the host and has a most wonderful voice which is totally understandable because he has been, and still is a radio personality. 

A couple of weeks ago they showed a video of the latest winner of the “Rube Goldberg” contest.  So who is Rube Goldberg and what is his contest about??  He’s the guy that made simple tasks complicated, such as having balls run down troughs which causes something else to move to open a door or turn something on.  The popular board game “mousetrap” was designed with him as inspiration.  I remember playing this with my nephews and it was pretty cool.

One Sunday morning I head them mention Platteville, WI.  Since I was born about 25 miles from there, I was glued to the TV to see why they mentioned it.  Come to find out there is a guy there named Mark Hirsch.  Mark had been laid off from his job and while searching in a mostly rural area  for another one, he began to notice a single tree in a pasture from the road.  He began taking daily picture of it and “That Tree” has taken off.  He now has a book out, plus calendars.  An example of the things seen on this program and how one of man’s most devastating experiences  turned out to be a good thing.

A couple of their reporters, Mo Rocca and Bill Geist (father of Today’s  Willie Geist), are pretty quirky.  Mo did a segment this morning on people that get paid to cuddle with and hold people.  Not a bad gig if you can get it.

Last summer I saw a segment on Eileen Rockefeller, the great-granddaughter of John D.  Seeing this story inspired me to get her book “Being a Rockefeller”, which turned out to be a very enjoyable read.  And I learned a lot about one of American’s richest families. 

The program always ends with the sights and sounds of nature.  A very enjoyable was to start Sunday!!

WEEK #12 UPDATE

THE WEEKS ARE SLOWLY GRINDING AWAY UNTIL OUR SUMMER ON “THE MOUNTAIN”. MARY THINKS THEY ARE PASSING QUICKLY, BUT I WISH THEY WOULD PASS FASTER.  I HATE TO USE THE WORD “RETIREMENT” BUT I AM COMTEMPLATING TAKING SIX MONTHS OFF THIS SUMMER TO TRY IT OUT.  MARY IS GOING TO BE WORKING PART TIME ON “THE MOUNTAIN”.  SIX MONTHS “OFF” THIS SUMMER IS SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO AND I HAVE QUITE A LIST STARTED OF PROJECTS TO ACCOMPLISH AND ACTIVITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN.

AROUND HERE WE’VE BEEN WORKING EXTRA HARD, EVEN DOING SIX DAYS SOME WEEKS, TO SALT AWAY SOME TRAVEL MONEY FOR OUR TWO ROAD TRIPS TO WISCONSIN AND TEXAS, SO THERE HASN’T BEEN MUCH TO BLOG ABOUT.

WE RECENTLY TOOK OFF, TWO-UP ON THE HONDA SCOOTER AND DID SOME BAR HOPPING, INCLUDING OATMAN AND THE ROADHOUSE.  NEEDLESS TO SAY THE SCOOTER DOESN’T GET 100 MPG WITH US BOTH ON IT.  IT WAS A 50 MILE FUN RUN, AND NICE TO HAVE MARY JOIN ME ON THE SCOOTER FOR AN ADVENTURE.

OUR WINTER WEATHER HAS BEEN THE OPPOSITE OF YOURS WITH NO RAIN AND LOTS OF WARM WEATHER.  THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IS THE WIND, AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO SHOVEL THE WIND.

    “SUNNY & 70”