November 30

11/30/04--30*AT 5:00 A.M.

I mistakenly thought that we came out here for the warmer weather. Right now the weather in Missouri sounds a bit warmer. I'm sure all of that will change soon and our goal will be realized. The TV said the temperature was 28* this morning in Boulder City but not according to my Struebbe Atomic Clock and it's outside temperature attachment. No complaints from us anyway!

Yesterday was a good day for me on the penny slots but Glenda had her problems. We visited two casino, Sam's Town and the Boulder Station. I did okay at both but the better of the two was Boulder Station. That was because they paid us to eat their buffet. Well, the buffet was free and I won so I guess it would depend on how much Glenda lost. She didn't say but she isn't one to gamble very much if things don't seem to be going her way.

Today she is heading out with her Aunt Ruby for their weekly shopping, breakfast and lunch trip in Henderson and Las Vegas. There will be several opportunities to gamble and if she takes advantage of one I'm hoping it will end on a positive. That is + in her purse when she gets finished playing.

I've things to do around here and besides, some must save so others can gamble.

"The best things in life are dreams". Without a dream of some kind, what's the use?

November 29

11/29/02-5:25 a.m.-34 degrees-wind 15 mph.

WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?

We had some snow mixed with very small sleet here yesterday morning. I had Mikey in the desert where we were both freezing when things kept hitting me on the head. At first I thought it was something off the bushes that the wind was blowing about but after further investigation discovered that it was the snow and sleet. We rushed home and got Glenda out to look. It all came from a big ugly lone cloud that was passing by. We were able to see the stuff on the porch for a bit before it was gone too. In just a short time the cloud and all of it's droppings were gone and all it left were the memories and some pretty cool weather. At 1:00 yesterday it was only 49 degrees.

We did our home thing yesterday. We stayed home! Didn't go anywhere at all. What a nice day it was. Me trying to get stuff saved on the computer so we can update windows while Glenda watched a few football games. I guess I mean we planned to stay home but when Aunt Ruby called Glenda, she succumbed to the temptation and accompanied Ruby to Railroad Pass. As with falling for most temptations the gratification burned off in a short period of time leaving Glenda with nothing but the knowledge that it had been a mistake. Unfortunately she paid pretty good for that lesson!

The snow and sleet wasn't the only excitement yesterday. We observed two city police cars pull up to 1305 Redwood. The officers went to the door together but I don't believe anyone answered the door. I doubt that it would take two officers to serve a paper but we've no idea why they were there. We're going to keep a sharp eye out.

So far I've been unable to use Norton Ghost properly and have been unable to save anything. All I've accomplished is the wasting of eight CD's. I'll use the book today and try again.

"Smile, it enhances your face value." -- Truvy (Dolly Parton) in "Steel Magnolias."

November 28

Yesterday was a windy and cool day but Mikey and I enjoyed it. He is thrilled to be able to check out all of the dog messages left in the desert each day. He doesn't seem to care too much about the walk around the patch of desert that we have in back. I think he prefers only to check out the closer message posts. When we do the whole walk he follows with his head down and acts like he would rather be somewhere else. We are fast approaching the time where I take him out back for a little while then bring him in when I take the walk.

Picked up a free gift at the Sunset Station yesterday. It was a bag with doggie chews, a knotted rope and a ball. Mikey is a happy animal right now. Of course we each got a bag so he is double happy.

After that we went to Sam's Town for our free $5. Glenda had the wrong day so we didn't get it, instead we each gave Sam's Town $5. We'll need to go back over there Monday and hopefully get it back plus.

Last night Ruby and Carl came over. We played dominoes and snacked. Played for a quarter a game and ended up proving that we can just stay home and still loose money, just not as much.

Not much to this message either but I've run down.

"To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas." -- Leo Burnett

November 26

No big wins yesterday tho I did win $35 on a couple of penny Joker Poker machines at the Fiesta. We played three o'clock bingo there too but didn't come very close to a win. The other day at Sunset playing bingo, I only needed one number to bingo at the double hardway game. The number I needed was the hot ball for the day and would have paid me $3282.00. I had about five chances for them to call it but nada. Finally someone else won the game but without the hot ball of course.

We went to Fry's and picked up a few bargains including the Norton program Ghost which should allow me to save my stuff so that I can do the SP2 download. I'm not looking forward to that anyway.

Today is another free champagne brunch at the Railroad Pass. We'll probably get there around 10:30. That might allow us to go without eating anything else during the day. Well, maybe a little something light this evening.

"I always turn to the sports pages first, which records people's accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man's failures." -- Chief Justice Earl Warren

November 25

What a nice day yesterday was. Mikey and I took a long walk across the desert to the road then down it across it then back. Mikey was tired by the time we returned. Not me tho, Glenda's cooking turkey and the other cooking stuff had a smell in the air that perked me up greatly. Gee I was hungry!

I think it was the long walk that finally caught up with me about an hour after eating. I'm not for sure that it was the walk because this turkey really stuffed himself. After feeling bad about it for awhile I discover a couple of things that might cause me do that more often.

When I looked in the mirror later on, I noticed that the huge wattle hanging under my chin seemed smaller. I think the smaller size may have been caused by the weight of the overstuffed stomach stretching the skin down. My ears seemed a bit lower too and I was breathing better because my nostrils seemed larger. Too bad but my nose didn't seem any smaller. My sideburns were down below my ears. I made the mistake of trimming them. This morning after the stuffing had been digested and all the things taken care of lessening the weight considerably, I was shocked to notice that I have no sideburns at all and have a rectangular shaved space of about an inch wide and 3/8 of an inch deep up into my hairline. Weird looking but I'm sure it will grow back. I'm hoping pretty quick!

As I sat in the recliner later yesterday I got a little dozy until Glenda found a program on TV that was of enough interest as to pull me up again. Now that I think about it the reason could have been the weight from below was also pulling my eyes open wider and that made me think I was more awake. I did slip off to bed around 7:10. Had a good nights sleep too.

I only drove 4.7 miles yesterday and that was just going to the grocery store and back. No money grubbing casinos for us yesterday!

Here's hoping that your day will be all that you want it to be.

November 25

First things first. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!You know what? People that still are have so many things to be thankful forit is beyond comprehension yet there are so many folks that never give it athought and take it all, including life, for granted. Not so for some ofus! We would rather fret and worry about the comings of the day as we tryto manipulate happenings to our desires. The people like me are sosurprised when a day comes by and it works we can't help but be thankful.No really, even if daily things doesn't work out to a persons delighteveryday, the fact of just being and all of the un-thought aboutcomplications over the years to keep one here should cause pause. A timeout to be thankful and if given enough thought could result in astonishmentat the same time. What a blessing! Only by God's grace are we!Enjoy your day!Most of us spend our lives as if we have another one in the bank.~Ben Irwin

November 24

Good morning,

We've already let yesterday slip by failing to accomplish a whole heck of a lot. Tis' a shame and now it's too late to go back and redo it. I'm not saying that we completely wasted an important day of our lives. Every one of allocated days are important. I'm just saying that like a lot of other folks in this world, we didn't do all that we could have. A terrible waste! Do I sound sorry? Well I'm not! We had a good time and enjoyed the whole day.

Sam's Town took a little money from us but they allowed us to decide the amount and how we wanted to turn it loose. At the machines I was staying ahead but we decided to play bingo. The last game made me a nervous wreck. It was a coverall with three chances to win. I had two cards needing three numbers. The caller called one of my numbers leaving me two shy of winning on two cards but another won the first game. The first number drawn for the second chance was one of the two that I was left needing on both cards but it turned up the second winner. Now I was down to needing only one number for either card. If they pulled the correct number on one of my cards (orange) it would be a $500 pot. On the second card (tan) it would be a $750 pot. How could I miss? I was sitting there thinking how high I should jump when I yelled bingo as and the caller called a number. The only two reasons that I couldn't have danced under a limbo stick set 12 inches off the ground was because of my girth and the fact that I was shaking so much I would have made the stick fall just by getting close to it. Sad it was but the excitement of the moment before the last call remains fresh in my mind as a big natural high that will probably cause me to play several more times. Hey, maybe I can win the next time.

Today a free, (ha), pumpkin pie each at Sunset Station and a free, (ha), apple pie each along with the last scratch on our ticket for this week. We don't eat pies so what to do with them is something we're working on. We know two people here in the park that we're pretty sure would enjoy one apiece leaving us looking for a home for the other two. A giveaway shouldn't be too complicated.

To lessen my complications I'll end this now.

"Slavery and torture were outlawed a long time ago, but, for some reason, marriage is still legal." -- humorist Ashleigh Brilliant

November 23

Too much I've read on the internet this morning making me too tired to sit here much longer. There is no telling what you missed. Happily I'm sure. I've found one of the ways that I can really bring happiness to most others is to type very little or not at all. Only selfishness makes me keep doing it. I Like our animals too much to be kicking them around and Lord knows it turns out too painful to take any of my frustrations out on Glenda. Where does that leave me? Sending messages. Poor, uninteresting and sometimes a tad nasty but it is an outlet that relieves internal pressures and decreases tummy pains and the chance for ulcers. I don't eat at the computer either. That may have something to do with the fact that I can't chew and type at the same time.

Yesterday was a 50.3 mile day. Our anti-virus subscription was going to run shortly after we got here so we purchased Norton System works 2005 in Missouri only to find it was cheaper just to update it so we took the thing back to Sam's Club. Since then I've found it on-line, free after rebates. We lost a little money there.

Stopped at Sam's Town for our free point scratch off then played a little. I won at all three machines that I played. The problem was on two of them I got greedy and ended up with a Kerry. Had a, "I won before I lost", kind of deal. We also took an hour to play bingo with the minimal expenditure which ended up being a $6.00 contribution to the place from each of us.

It's Sam's Town again for another scratching sometime today but that trip will probably be a lot later. It is so foggy out that we can barely see across the street.

It has come now to a place where I can barely see myself sitting here any longer.

Did you know, that the typical 15-pound turkey is 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.

November 22

Yesterday was a 'watch the race' day but afterwards it seemed like a good idea to pay a visit to the Fortune Club. Bad idea and pay we did. Putting one dollar in a penny machine, then playing only ten cents a play can make one think he/she isn't gambling much. You win a little then lose a little but before you know it it's time to put another dollar in. This is a slow way to lose more than you want to. Some folks put $20 into a penny machine then bet 100 coins each play. I've seen them win but I've also seen them put the second and third twenty in. I'm sticking to being a cheapie with the one dollar and a bet of ten cents at a time.

It rained all day yesterday and most of the night too. It's still raining. All the rain and also some snow on the hills that we can see from the porch is totally unusual for here we're told. We're even being blamed of bringing some Missouri weather out here with us. Neither Glenda nor I see a problem with the weather at all. Seems like home to us.

Today another visit to Sam's town is a probable. We've got tickets for free points but they must be the ones that scratch the black off. We've got scratch offs for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The points come in handy when you get hungry.

Glenda isn't a happy camper this morning because the cable TV is out for some reason. This computer uses the same cable and it still works making me happy.

"Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. What do we live for if not to make the world less difficult for each other?" -- George Eliot, Novelist

November 21

I got the trees finished yesterday and all the limbs cleaned up. Couldn't have done that today because we're getting one of those hardly ever rains this morning. It started in around 2:00 and hasn't let up yet.

We met Aunt Ruby at the Railroad Pass for brunch yesterday. It was a good meal and it was one of those meals, free but they paid us to eat there kind of deal. Playing a nickel machine I got back $25 more than I put into it. At the brunch no one waited on us so we had to get our own drinks and eating utensils. I wasn't going to leave a tip but the waiter picked up our plates just before we got up to leave and they made me tip a dollar. I'm still mad about that! The waitress did not do one tiny solitary thing for us and they made me leave her a buck. Does that sound right to you? Paying people for nothing rankles my craw!

After I cashed in my winnings I gave $20 to Glenda and came home. Glenda spent the day with Ruby out and about. She didn't give me my twenty back when she got home either. She said she had a good time and I got a lot of 'no TV on' reading done too, so I guess it was worth it.

Today is a race day and I imagine we'll stay home to watch that. I think it is the last race of the year.

There is only one success--to be able to spend your life in your own way.~Christopher Morley

November 20

Today our list begins with,................well getting up and getting ready is a given and doesn't appear on the list, so the beginning is a listing for a free champagne brunch at the Railroad Pass Casino. The free used here is one of those tongue in cheek words. Most of the time it really isn't that bad and better than nothing. At least we get a little something for our gambling expenditures. Every once in awhile we end up winning some which in effect makes them paying us to eat. I love that! The last free buffet I even told Glenda that I was going to start tipping 20%. The cost that is paid at the time of the meal being nothing, 20% of nothing is nothing. That sounded like a plan to me. Unfortunately Glenda took exception to it and made me leave two bucks. Two bucks for someone to bring us a glass of water and eating utensils? Give me a break! I can and would get the stuff myself for a lot less than two bucks but for some reason Glenda won't go along with that plan either. She must be a spendthrift.

After the brunch entry the list starts to get a little harder to read and interpret but I think it says come home and work on the trees in the back. Glenda is the only one that can read it for sure and when I ask her about it she just shakes her head affirmatively and grins that Mona Lisa type smile.

I guess the only thing I can do is wait and see.

No need to wait and see where the ending of this is...........It's here now........Bye

November 19

Had problems sending messages this morning and they were all caused by my stupidity. After trying to send one every few minutes for over an hour I discovered I was trying to send it from Charter. No big deal but I can't believe it took me so long to realize the problem.

We're having other problems too. One other is the time difference. We get tired pretty early in the evening and wake up way too early. Last night we went to bed around 9:30 with this mornings get up time coming around 4:40. We have quite a few things that we could do around here but we like putting some of them off just to save things to do. We haven't been leaving to get our free points until around noon which makes the mornings very long. During the mornings Glenda has been walking with Mikey while I've been reading. It is enjoyable but I'm thinking it will be better when we get adjusted to the new time.

Tomi may never adjust. I've fed him around 4:00 in the afternoon for too long. Now he starts bugging me to feed him around 2:00 when we're here. The same with mornings. I fed him around 5:00 a.m. at home so now he starts wandering and causing problems around 2:30 or 3:00 every morning. I've been getting up and feeding him a very small amount then shutting the bedroom door to keep him out. He will adjust or teach us to.

Mikey has no problem with anything other than our leaving him for awhile each day. He seems to pout every morning then when we make it back home it's happy times for awhile. Then it is back to like we never left. He is a really nice forgiver.

We've got to do the Sam's Town stop again today to pick up our free points that we turn into free food. A free gift of some kind is being offered at the Sunset Station. The thought is to play a little game of Bingo at one of those places........or not. Out here I never know what we'll do or where we may end up.

End up sounds like a nice idea.............................so I will.

November 18

Not much to say about this day. We did go to Henderson for a stop at Sam's Town to get our points then stopped at the Emerald Isle and Wal-Mart on the way home. Had a free buffet at Sam's Town which cost us a pretty penny but we enjoyed it. Dropped four dollars at Emerald Isle too. Needed ink for the printer so Wal-Mart was the most expensive stop of the day. We drove a total of 36.1 miles which took about $2.90 worth of gasoline.

Maybe I'll think of something else to say in the morning.

Evening, November 17

Today we used the car and some of the $1.919 gas that we bought in Kingman, Arizona. It's seeping away. We've got to conserve that as much as we can because the gas here is $2.099 at the lowest priced place in town.

We paid a visit to the Sunset Station Casino where we redid our card stuff for the months we plan to be here. We did receive a two for one buffet thing and used it pronto. We used the last of our points for the meal so the cost could have been free if not for the two dollar tip.........That is if you don't count the money stuck into the machines. We did escape there with a full stomach! Does wallet sound like a question?

Headed on across to Sam's town to do our renew there. We received a bunch of points and cards to redeem for a pie and a pie plate later in the month. We played some of the machines there and promptly paid for their free givies. "Free is just another word for something you must lose."

We stopped at food 4 less on the way home and picked up a nice frozen turkey on sale for $3.00 and some pork steak for only $1.18 per pound. We picked out a pork butt and had it sliced. The guy that did the slicing was so very nice and told me that he wasn't supposed to do it after the clean up but for me he would. He was such a nice guy about the deal and repeated that he wasn't supposed to do it after 3:00 so many times that only as we walked off did dumb me realized that a tip was being asked for. Dumb saved me again!

We are still having a problem with the two hour difference in the times of where we live and where we are. Getting up this morning at 3:45 sounds early to the here about, but to us it was 5:45. No big deal except 5:30 p.m. here is 7:30 at home which means my bedtime isn't that far off.

Off is the next thing I'm going to do here...........

November 17

Troubles! The guy came as agreed Monday morning and proceeded to hook us up to cable. After almost three hours of trying to get my new one cent computer modem and two others to work without any success he left telling us his supervisor would be here between 2 and 6 to check things out.

His supervisor came around 3:00 and did the same things that the first guy did and trying a fourth modem. All with the same success as the first guy. He left telling us there would be bigger bosses here Tuesday morning to fix the thing tho he doesn't know what needs fixed. He is sure that it's something with the server.

A guy in a big truck came just before noon yesterday and fixed us up. He said the problem had been the box?? for this area had never been set for internet. He set it and then came hooked us up again and here we are. The first ones in the whole area to ever use the cable for our internet service.

My arms look like I've got some kind of rash. Even tho I wore long sleeves they weren't able to deter the stickers of the tree limbs of the tree out front. Putting our step ladder against the tree then laying into the tree wasn't very comfortable and gave me a rashy looking stomach but the tree was too high and thick to do very much from the ground. I did finally get it trimmed by lashing the trimmer to a shovel handle. Using the shovel head as a counter balance worked okay and did enable me to finally get the thing timed.

Just across the fence in back we have seven more trees that need trimmed. Four of them are Pomegranate??? trees. Yep, big sharp thorns. I don't look for those trimmings to be near as bad as the one tree in front was. I may tackle them today.....or not.

Glenda made a sashay into the world of make believe with her Aunt Ruby yesterday. She came home carrying her purse as opposed to dragging it because of all the heavy money it contained.

So much for today's stuff..................

F.Y.I.

The national directory of cell phone numbers is about to be published. Once this happens telemarketers will have access to your cell phone number!

This will be even more annoying than the calls to your "regular" phone because in addition to being a disruption, these calls will also use your cellular minutes.

If you wish to avoid this, register your cell number on the National Do Not Call list as soon as possible. You can do this by calling 888-382-1222 from the phone you wish to register.

Or you can go to their web site at www.donotcall.gov and add your number.

November 11/12/13

We had a very nice trip almost. It was pleasant enough across the crooked Y19, Y, and W then got a tad better down 54 but by I44 it was daylight. That and four lane road was where the where the enjoyment rose to a greater degree. It got even better driving across Oklahoma and their 75 MPH toll roads. Then came that stupid backward Texas with it's lousy 70 MPH speed limit....unless it's dark then It goes down to a measly 65 MPH. The ride was beginning to tell on us and poking across Texas didn't come at a very good time. Thank goodness we were able to scramble across before dark!

Into New Mexico, with their nice roads and 75 MPH speed limit, our sprits again began to lift, especially so when we didn't find the incumbent weather that had been forecast for that area.

We made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico around 7:00 P.M. and found a room for the night. That cost was only $36.20 total and it even had a TV. The weatherman on that TV told us to expect one or two inches of snow to accumulate on the area overnight. It looked to be a small band of bad weather so we went to bed knowing it wouldn't take us long to drive out of it the next day.

The next morning we were pleasantly surprised to discover no snow at all. We left there around 5:30 our time in very high spirits. That lasted for only about twenty minutes. If white is good and black is bad, about twelve miles out of Albuquerque we had a hell of a 110 mile two and a half hour ride experiencing the good and bad together! It is the blackest before the dawn and we were real deep into it when out of that black came the ugliest white stuff you would ever want to see. It had the roads and all the surrounding grounds deeply covered with the stuff in no time at all. When you can barely see beyond your nose and having all the road markings covered up, it is extremely hard to travel more than 20 or 30 miles per hour. When it started we were in a construction zone where the speed limit was limited to 45 MPH. In just a few minutes in we were unable to reach that speed again.

After the snow there was a strip of ice that we didn't know was. I thought that we might have a flat tire because of the way the car was handling so we stopped to check the tires only to discover the problem was with the road and it's covering of ice. The ice wasn't a real problem however and we were soon out of it to good seeable pavement and 75 MPH driving. We always assume the patrol will give us about a 4 MPH allowance so we actually set the cruise for 79 or 80 MPH. We did average 27.3 miles per gallon over the last 593 miles which included our snow and ice driving. Not too shabby for an old car with a big V8.

November 10

Today, a trip to Jeff is in bold font and pretty high on the list. I've got a dental appointment for a cleaning among the sub-titles, as well as a visit with Lena where we will try to explain to her how to use the cell phone. Another is the selling of our cans. No! We're not going into prostitution, we're taking along our bag of crushed aluminum cans hoping to get high dollar for them. I'm thinking around $8.00 tax free should be in my pocket shortly after stopping at the recycle joint.

I'm a little concerned about teaching Lena the paths through all of the cell phone's functions. Glenda and I played around with it enough to know how to make and receive calls but beyond that.........We did get her a voice mail set but there seems to be a problem with the password while trying to retrieve a message. Maybe I've got that mixed up with our phone. Anyway, all we can hope for is that a couple, in this case three, blind people can stumble through far enough to make the trip fun and successful. It's probable that Bob, a more knowledgeable person, will need to be called in before this inning is over.

Having a mobile phone for over twenty five years means nothing! A mobile phone is just a real phone while a cell phone, containing about the same amount of buttons is a very complicated form of commutations. I would say they're not for the slow or dim-witted but everywhere you go you see doubtfully smart people with the thing stuck to their ear. If it takes an fairly intelligent person to learn how to use one, there are millions of intelligent folks that prefer living poor. The phones seem to be pretty expensive yet we see people that in ragged clothing and their toes sticking out holes in their shoes, talking on one. Some of these people look to be only a step or two away from being a street person.

I've about come to the conclusion that the cell phone is addictive and once you get caught in it's web you can't give it up for anything. They are so expensive that the results of the addiction might be evidenced by the people on the street, looking like a street person in ragged clothing in shoes that allow their toes to stick out through all the holes, still with a phone to their ear. Poor folks using their money to keep the phone going while ignoring their basic needs.

Anyway, we are going to take the chance and hope for the best. OUR PHONE WILL ONLY BE USED IN AN EMERGENCY!

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast, you also miss the sense of where you are going and why." Eddie Cantor

November 9

'Red in the morning, sailors take warning.' From the way it looks out there, I don't think I'll be getting into any boats today. It sure is kind of pretty tho. It is 45 degrees here at this time with a stiff breeze out of what looks to be the southeast. 'It's an evil wind that blows no good.'

We're getting close to our final throbs before shooting out of here. I certainly would hate to forget something important and that keeps my mind on 'search', which slows the 'now reality' mode down quite a bit. Because of that and several other things that I ought to be attending to, any further reading from here will be canceled for today.

Gee! I'm thankful for the free Gurunet program. I discovered the difference between aught and ought as well as further and farther. Yes, I probably learned that in school but my goodness, that was over forty five years ago. And that was back when I didn't pay too much attention to book learning so I may not have ever known the difference. Too late I see the error of my ways. I've stumbled through life clear out here into the middle of old, only to discover that I didn't bring along enough real knowledge to keep me afloat. I've really got to kick to stay here.

The computer is a really good kicking exercise and I'm learning a lot thru it but still not enough to float yet. Part of the reasons you get these messages is from my desire to keep my head up without kicking.

Our neighbor was x-rayed and told that he had three cracked ribs. He was given some pain medicine and sent home. They didn't tape him up or anything. It didn't sound right but he was told they don't tape anymore because it increases the chance of pneumonia. He is a little worried that the pain medication is going to run out long before the pain.

If I have learned one thing in this life, it is that God will not tie my shoes without me.~Doug Boyd

November 8

Several things to do today, among them is taking our amassed cache of aluminum cans to town and converting them to gasoline for the trip. They won't come close to filling the tank but every little bit helps! Thankfully gas prices are coming down a little at this time. We're hoping they are still down even further before we leave then stay down the rest of the year!

It is going to be pretty cold here the next several days which, as we were told by the weatherman, could mean snow flurries on the first leg of our trip. If variety is the spice of life then our spice rack is pretty full, thanks to Missouri's weather. That hardly is the case in Boulder City, where it is usually about the same each day with mostly only one variable, that being how hard the wind is going to blow. There are too many spicy things in that area to depend on the weather for your spice anyway.

I sat Mikey down yesterday and looking him in the face, explained the trip. He got all fidgety and excited then ran off to get a toy for me to show his appreciate for the talk.

I thought it would be proper to show Tomi the same courtesy which I did. Funny, unlike Mikey, Tomi acted like he didn't give a shit. I imagine he's thinking it over and I don't expect to hear his opinion till he is in his crate and we're headed out. Then we'll get around a two hour summarization of his feelings on the subject before his sleep pill gives it a rest. Then we'll get another three hours more of it on the second leg because of the fact he will not take a pill the second time.

I've got to go! Russell, our neighbor just called and is in extreme pain due to a fall against his car yesterday. He made it through the night but feels he should go to the emergency room now. He says it feels like he has a rib about to poke through something. We'll let you know later...............

November 7

We did it! Got Lena the free extra 100 minutes of airtime on her cell phone. We were also able to pick up our extra minutes too. $60 worth of airtime that wasn't quite that large of a deal after subtracting the cost of the many long distance calls to Lena getting information we needed. We went step by step which caused us to call with one question then a few minutes later another call for another question and so on.

Yesterday was a fine day! We accomplished very much toward completion of our needed chores for leaving here. Glenda blew and burned leaves while I did the doors and the Tirtoon.

I put a Draft Buster shrink film over each of the four gapping sliding doors. I'm positive that makes a big difference in our heating bill. We need all the doors replaced but feel that foremost we should retain the ability to buy food.

The Tritoon needed the battery disconnected and charged. Also, I always check the toons to make sure there isn't any water there-in. Let the boat down, drag in out of the slip, turn it around then put it on the lift backwards allows me to check the two outside toons from the dock. The middle one requires me climbing in with the motor and playing contortionist. Of course that was the only one containing water! That has had it's effect on some of my muscles this morning. After draining that compartment, I put the boat down and reverse my prior actions.

I took the time to catch several Crappie yesterday too. I've been giving my catch to the guys working next door. I don't have the urge to clean them since I didn't even get the pump on the dock running this year.

Today I might use the blower one more time if it doesn't interfer with the NASCAR race. I think that starts around 2:30 so I should be safe.

Acceptance/concession: The difference between the President's words and those of Senator Kerry is aptly summed up in the first line of their remarks Wednesday. President Bush said, "I'm humbled," in contrast to Kerry, who said, "I'm gratified."

November 6

Well what do you know? We're blessed with another brisk beautiful morning. 49 degrees with a huge sun peeking thru the trees on yon side of the cove as it prepares to mount it's place in the sky. A good nights sleep behind us that always allows you and your conscience to meld and repair the problems of the days past leaving you feeling clean and with a renewed vigor for the life ahead with all of it's crooks and crevices.

Today we'll probably wrap up our leaf blowing for the year, check the pontoons on the boat to make sure they're not holding any water and charge the battery on that boat. That will leave a whole passel of things left to do but hey, with renewed vigor, no problem.

They took down a bunch of trees next door yesterday. They haven't hauled them out yet so it doesn't really look all that good but I'd say a heck of a lot better would still qualify. They've put new doors in where there wasn't any before, closed up the old door ways, new windows and took out the fireplace. They're doing some intensive stuff inside. I'm thinking it might be a high priced place by the time they get done.

Hope thinks are as well with you as you would want them to be!

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. ~Og Mandino

November 2

Wore myself out reading all the stuff this morning. I'm tired of the computer and tired of the rain but I'm hoping to stay around till all of that changes. As far as the rain goes, it may be we'll need to travel on out of here to get that changed. The computer reading should automatically lighten up in a couple of days. Meanwhile we will continue stumbling along waiting as we enjoy being alive and healthy as best we can.

All the political crap sure gets depressing after awhile but that's coming to a head with today being just about the worst. The last few nights have been pretty bad with phone calls from George, Laura, and about ten others. Glenda isn't here to help me with the list but one thing I noted on my own, not one call from any Democrat.

I'm not sure if the high political pressures via TV, radio and telephone over the past so very long had an influence on my thinking or not but as I cleaned out Tomi's litter box at 5:08 a.m. this morning my thoughts turned to politics and I really felt good when I cast the collected mess over the seawall into the lake. Hopefully this shit is about over! We're already dreading all the probable lawsuits!

The notion that Europe is united in opposition to U.S. policy in Iraq is a myth. Twenty-one European countries have sent troops to Iraq, as have 16 of the 26 NATO member states. The opposition of French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to the liberation of Iraq shouldn't be perceived as representative of Europe as a whole. Indeed, a majority of European governments backed the U.S. decision to liberate Iraq." --Nile Gardiner

November 1

Man, we moved the leaves yesterday! Moved them, then burned them. We finished about an hour and a half before the rain began. Well, we didn't really finish, we just quit for the day. You never ever finish with the leaves when you have so many trees hanging around. It's pretty much a year round battle.

I did take some time to put the battery charger on the boat batteries. While I was down there I made a few casts with a jig and caught five Crappie. Unfortunately only three of them were of a keeping size. I put'em in the basket thinking I might add to them but I haven't yet.

It is a pretty dreary looking day here. Luckily we have warm hearts and a few choice books so we'll not miss a beat. However, it seems to be a regular day in the correspondence department finding me again with nothing to say. You never know from whence your next blessing might come.

"I wouldn't call it fascism exactly, but a political system nominally controlled by an irresponsible, dumbed down electorate who are manipulated by dishonest, cynical, controlled mass media that dispense the propaganda of a corrupt political establishment can hardly be described as democracy either." --Edward Zehr

October 31

It sure is a good thing, me not sending anymore messages for awhile. I don't have anything to say anyway. Not that I ever do but it keeps my mind active digging around in there trying to find something.