Thursday

      If I measured my day only by my bowling score I'd jump off a bridge. Lucky for me I found other things more important! Today I bowled 132-92-139 in that order. Of the two teams I was the worst bowler, that does not happen very often, there is usually at least one of the old guys around who I can beat. I guess today it was my turn to be the old guy, darn it! After embarrassing myself at the bowling alley I drove over to the dollar store and drowned my sorrow by spending a whole fifteen dollars, another book included. I think I now have fifteen unread books on the shelf. I also stopped my Wal-Mart again for a lamp to put over my computer [forgot to buy a bulb though] and a few more things for the kitchen. I broke down and bought a quart of ice cream too, As well as chocolate chips to go with it. I wonder if I did that because of my bowling score? I bet that was the reason! I had to race home because I did not leave Wal-Mart until 4:40 and I didn't want to miss O'Reilly. I made it on time but ChiChi was all over me for attention because I had left him in the house all afternoon. He was a good boy though, no messes. I fixed myself a tuna salad sandwich during commercials and washed that down with a very weak Rum and Coke. I was feeling much better by the time O'Reilly ended at six PM. Tonight I will be up later than usual to watch my Thursday night comedy stuff on TV, but there is no doubt I will be ready for bed by the time they end.

Wednesday

This turned out to be another rainy day with not a lot getting accomplished. I even fell asleep just as O'Reilly came on TV so I will have to catch him again at 8PM just to get caught up. I did a little decorating around the place today, attached some thin colored poster boards to my bare walls in the living room and my bedroom. I like 'em.

           The two colors I used in the bedroom are green and yellow, the same colors that are in my bed cover and a desk cover. I think I'm pretty clever. . . . . That chili turned out to be tasty enough but it is true I am about chili'd out, I am going to get tired of that stuff before long, I only wish I could get it to taste like Mom's. Or Barbara's. I thought I almost had it once but I was not able to repeat the recipe later. I think it is about time for another pot of stew. I forgot to bring some plastic containers from Barb's place when I moved  so I will pick some up tomorrow when I'm in town bowling. That way I can freeze the chili and use the pot to make  stew. A change in diet is a good thing. .. . . . . My printer is still not hooked up, I will do that as soon as I get a round tuit. I may look for a round tuit while I'm in town tomorrow.

Tuesday

My day was well spent packing up five bags of trash that has to go out next week. I bought a few things for my new place [Wal-Mart loves me] and the boxes and 'leftovers' from those boxes had to be broken down to fit in the trash bags. .....I also put together a large pot of chili, it does not taste quite the way I would like it to but perhaps next time. I did add less hot pepper this time. The other pot I had made was so hot ChiChi refused to lick the bowl each time I offered it to him. That was not the case this evening. I may not even have to wash it because of the good job he did cleaning it up. The living room looks much larger now that all of the mess has been cleaned up. I still have a bunch of stuff to find places for, especially the car care items that were in the garage at Barb's place.  Roy, my landlord has promised me a corner of his very large garage but I have not yet gotten around to that part of settling in so that will wait a few more days.. . . I still have not hooked up my printer to the computer but I have moved my telephone to the puter desk. The printer sits on the floor as I type, looking so forlorn and forgotten. I am really surprised at how much stuff I really have and now it has been added to because I wanted my own things as far as kitchen items were concerned. New towels, a table cloth, things like that. I have no intention of moving out of here so I suppose I will have a stupendous garage sale done in my name one day.. . . .The rain we had today had no effect/affect [I never have learned the difference in those words] on me, it was there but I never stepped out of the door. I have not even taken the trash bags out. I still feel unorganized. Tomorrow is another day.

Monday

Yep, my weekend was just fine, I got pretty tired and am not yet over that but everything worked out peachy keen.

                                         This turned out to be a fairly good day for me, I was a bit pooped by the time it ended but there is nothing new there. This morning I was busy around here putting more stuff away and making a grocery list. I left the house before noon and drove to the fishing cabin on the dike to retrieve my fishing pole and fishing gear. After putting that away at the apartment ChiChi and I drove to the bowling alley. As I was walking toward the entrance I stopped and thought about leaving the windows down for ChiChi. Not because I failed to do that but because they were really down far enough for anyone so inclined could reach in and open the door. I raised them so that could not happen then proceeded to bowl a 170-156-140. That took about an hour and when returning to the car I found I had never locked the door. So what good did it do to roll the windows up? ChiChi was fine and I let him out to walk on the grass. I thought he might wish to empty his bladder or something but I was wrong. We then stopped by the gas station, $3.86 per gallon, before arriving at Wal-Mart.

I was in there way too long and put a big dent in my debit card in the process. After leaving Wal-Mart I stopped at the Comcast office to complain about the remote  they had given me. The lady traded it for one that she claims will do a better job so I was happy. I have not yet tried it but perhaps I will do that before I get to bed. I then drove to Ron and Carens to check on them. Before going in the house I waited for the dog to do his business but Caren's dog barked and scared my little guy poopless so we went inside. I kept an eye on him in the house but he was a perfect gentleman and caused no trouble. I visited for a while and since I had a trunk full of Wal-Mart stuff I decided to get home and get it put away before O'Reilly came on TV. While I was unloading the car ChiChi walked in the kitchen and left a puddle in the middle of the floor. Dumb dog. I was feeling so good about my bowling score that I didn't say much more than 'bad dog'. He got off easy this time. Next time? No promises! . . . .  .I must say this turned out to be an OK day. Oh, I forgot to mention, on my trip into town and back I never saw one raindrop until I got to the Castle Rock City Limits. It rained a while during my unloading process at home but otherwise it was not a bad weather day.

March 27 PM

. . . . I have been tired and lazy all day today. I couldn't find NASCAR but there were Indy Car Races going on in Florida so I watched that off and on. Ron and Caren stopped by with Colter, we were lucky enough to have deer in back of the apartment so Colter got to watch them for a while. I took some pictures but have not yet downloaded them. Caren showed me how to pick up my voice mail off the phone so that is now up and running too. The day was full of rain and I see now about 5:30 that the sun is low enough in the sky to peak under the clouds. That tells me there are no clouds to the west. Good, maybe when I am out bowling and shopping tomorrow I will not be blessed with rain. I talked to Brother Len on the phone for a while, he was just checking up on his big brother and had I given him the opportunity he would have bragged about the nice weather they are having in South America [Shreveport, La.]. I was planning on watching a movie tonight but have discovered that the Remote control Comcast sent me does not do all that was promised. I may stop by the office tomorrow and ask about that. If I watch a movie it will be with commercials. You know I just love that! I got a note from Eva today telling me they are home again, I intended to have my Skype program up and running by this time but it is not yet ready to go so if they were on I missed them. I hope to try again next Sunday.

March 27

 Well, I am in my new place but far from finished. The puter desk was the biggest problem I had to deal with, it is now in position and I will never move it again, I'm getting too old for the hassle. My plan this morning was to give an accounting of the entire move but since it is over I think I will forget about all the crazy stuff and move on with putting things away and enjoying the NASCAR race when it starts shortly.. . . Before I do that though I must say thank you, Ron Teigen!

He did a good job of driving between the rain drops during the entire move. I never noticed a drop of water on anything. However, 15 minutes after he dropped me off for the last time and I got in my car the skies opened up and dumped big time....... I'm going to cut this short and get back to work. Ask me about putting the desk together at 3AM. That was after I went to bed at 7pm Saturday night and woke up 8 hours later all rested and ready to go.

March

I just got back from bowling a 115-104-179 series. I did not quite make my average and those first two games made me feel bad. Right now I am in the process of shutting down my puter and carrying it over to the new place so it will be ready for the cable guy in the morning. It was trying to rain as I pulled in the driveway. That is the way it is around here this time of year.

March

23. . . . I am in the process of letting folks know that Comcast called to tell me that the time is up on this hookup. The bill will not be paid so they can be shutting things down any minute. I'll keep checking my email on a regular basis as long as it is on but don't expect any response from me until I get things hooked up at my new place. That should be Friday night.. . . . . . . .After posting the above I got a phone call from the lady who is taking care of Barb's Estate and was told that Comcast will not terminate service before the 26th. . . . . . . I took ChiChi to the new place again today and the first thing he did was poop on the carpet. The door was open and there was no reason for him to not go outside except that the landlords dog was out there. I carried some kitchen things over and put them away before driving by Ron and Caren's place to verify that Ron will be available Saturday morning to help me haul the large items.. . . . Tomorrow after bowling I will disconnect my telephone and computer and deliver them to the apartment so they will be ready for the cable guy when he shows up Friday morning. Things are moving along nicely. I will have my computer desk broken down [it is a corner unit] for easy transport by Saturday morning also.

March

    I had a lot of trouble getting started today, no reason for it, I was just lazy until after I had lunch then things seemed to change. I had a small bookshelf next to my bed that was full of college lecture courses I have purchased in the past seven years. Today was  the day to dust them off and move them to the new apartment. I stopped by the Post Office on my way  and officially changed my address . When I drove down the driveway to the apartment I saw a deer standing about 50 feet from my door. It never moved until I accidently hit my horn while getting out of the car. And even then it only moved a few feet. After getting inside I looked out my bedroom window and saw three more deer down the side of the hill that is directly behind the building. The first one was in the mood to jump the fence and join the others so I watched for a minute or so and sure enough he took flight and very lightly cleared that five foot fence. Poetry in motion, that jump. They were grazing on the side of the hill not more than 150 feet from me for as long as I watched. ChiChi never saw any of them or if he did he was to afraid to make a fuss. After getting the bookshelf back together and the contents placed where I wanted them I drove ChiChi and I to town for some groceries. We were back home by 2:30. Not a whole lot was accomplished after that, except for the large stuff the move is about complete. After bowling Thursday I will haul my computer over there so it will be ready for the cable guy to hook up on Friday morning. After the cable guy leaves  I will haul the full dresser drawers over to the new place and Saturday morning Ron will help me transport the dressers themselves. My computer desk and bed will also be taken over then. Since my bed will no longer be at 2278 it looks like Saturday night will be my first night in the new place. I am interested to know how much trouble I will have with the railroad since it is only about 600 feet away. [beyond the place where the deer were today]. 

March

I had another famous steak and egg breakfasts this morning. The idea is that I bowl better after eating a good meal. I left the house about 11:30 to go bowling and stopped by Pleasant Hill on my way. I delivered another box of stuff to my apartment before driving the rest of the way into town. There was some rain today so my car did get dirty but that is just one of those things. Bowling was fine, 159-177-123. I averaged over 150 for the day and was tempted to bowl another line but after looking at that 123 I decided to quit while I was ahead. Now I am ready to kill some pins on Thursday!. . . . . . After leaving the bowling alley I did some household goods shopping, towels, toaster, broom and dust pan. Stuff like that. I had intended to stop by the grocery store but went to Burger King for lunch and after eating I was too tired to do any more shopping. Eating does that to me. On the way home I stopped by Pleasant Hill again to unload the trunk and forgot all about going to the Post Office to change my address. I will try to remember to do that tomorrow, if it is not raining too hard. I'm joking of course, rain can't be a factor or I'd never get anything accomplished in this part of the country.. . . .My lineup of Monday night TV is on tonight so I'll be up to enjoy that silly stuff then get some sleep before facing another wonderful day in Washington Springtime.. . . .

March

20^th. . . .First day of spring! Oh, happy day! I had breakfast, the kitchen all cleaned up and my laundry finished by 10am. I then drove to Pleasant Hill to empty some boxes and put some things away. I wasn’t there too long before I felt the need for lunch and when I got back to the house I found NASCAR on TV so there I was for the rest of the day. I didn’t get rained on today so the car is still clean for my drive to the bowling alley tomorrow for more practice. Such luck! It has been a good day……………

March

19th  I got a lot of exercise today. I was busy packing two loads of 'stuff' into the car and delivering it to the new place. By the way, the address is 4161A Pleasant Hill Drive, Kelso, Washington, 98626, in case you want to send money or something. The phone number is 360-703-3880 but I don't have a phone in there yet, I am not sure it is even hooked up. I am expecting the Comcast guy to come by Friday and put all of my stuff in operating condition. . . . . My first arrival was interesting, I went inside to pay Roy the first months rent and ChiChi followed me. We were not there long enough to write the check when he dropped a stool on their living room carpet. Stupid dog. Roy owns a dog about Chichi's age but four times larger and ChiChi was afraid of it but they settled their 'meeting' and all went well...... After delivering the stuff today I put some of it away and left some in boxes. The rest I removed from the boxes and piled it all in the bedroom, I wanted to get them out of the boxes because if I don't I may never get to the stuff. . . . I took the new TV out of the box and was disappointed because I didn't get a larger one. This one looks small in this living room, I didn't think that would happen but there it is. I attached the base to the TV and sat it on the table that will be supporting it. Even the table is so large the TV looks small. I will solve that problem by moving my chair closer to the TV. Where there is a will there is a way. . . . The owner left some furniture [tables] that look great in the living room and gave me two folding chairs that I put at the dinning table for the time being. Eventually I will get a small table and chairs to put there and move the other one to the back hallway for a laundry folding table. I noticed today  Roy [the owner] and his wife put up new curtain overheads in the living room windows. Nice color, light blue, I'm liking it.

I wonder now if there are new ones in the bedroom, I was in there several times during the day but it never registered if they are there. I got home for the last time this afternoon about 4:30, sort of pooped but I feel good about my accomplishments today. This evening I had my popcorn and apple slices while watching ‘Joe Dirt’. It was a good movie, lots of fun.

March

18^th . . . . .I had part of that Porterhouse steak Caren gave me with eggs this morning, delicious! I left the house before 11am to spend the day with Terri Lynn. We were unable to celebrate St. Patrick’s together yesterday because of my bowling so we made up for it today. We really wanted to meet because last year at this time we were in Prague with Pepik and Eva. Remembering that trip today was  a lot of fun. Terri prepared a great St. Patrick’s Day meal with a glass of beer and we had a nice talk. After eating we each drove our own car to Borders and walked to Best Buy which is about two blocks away. I found a TV I liked for $350.00 and told the salesman to drop the price to $300.00 and I would take it home with me. He said he couldn’t do that and I asked why. His answer was that he needed to talk to his boss. I told him it sounded like a plan to me and he left. Terri was surprised I did that, she didn’t feel it was possible to bargain in a store like that. She was very surprised when the fella returned and told me he had a green light to make the deal. I then purchased a 4 year unconditional guarantee that cost me $50.00. We walked out of the store with a very nice 32 inch LED HDTV. Total price was $349.98. Works for me!  After doing that Terri and I went in Borders and visited for another couple of hours before I left about 6:30. I was home by 8PM and watched the Factor on TV before catching up with my email and posting this item to my blog. It was a great day and I still have some of that steak left over. I will let it age for another day and try that again.

March

I started my day by oversleeping, I was supposed to be at R&R Motors by 8:30 and just made it by the skin of my teeth. It took about an hour to install the 'new' used servo but I was out of there by 9:45. My next stop was at the Post Office because I needed stamps. I bought a roll of Forever stamps, I dated the inside of the roll so it will be interesting to discover just how long a roll of 'forever' stamps really last.

      I then had time to stop by the house and get myself cleaned up enough to go shopping and to meet the gang for bowling.

I stopped by Sears and looked at 32 inch TV's and making notes of the price before continuing on to Wal-Mart. The prices are lower at Wal-Mart but the manufacturer is different too. After that I drove to the bowling alley and had a bowl of soup before checking in for bowling. Things started off well enough with a 149 but after that things fell apart. My second game gave me a 117 so I decided my blood sugar was in turmoil so I bought a small bag of chips and finished the third game with a 122. It was a bad day, my best game was the same as my worse game was last Monday. I was still hungry so had a dinner salad and visited with Charlotte for the first time in weeks. She was not able to stay long and after I finished my meal I drove by Target Store in Kelso. The have 32 inch TV's too but still no price within $50. of Wal-Mart. My plan now is to stop by Best-Buy in Vancouver in the morning to see what they have to offer. Since I will be in the Portland area I might stop by someplace there and see what is available. By buying in Portland I will save about $25 in taxes, it might be worth a shot. it worked well for me a couple of years ago when I bought my Video Camera. We shall see how it goes, The lady at Wal-Mart told me they never close so I may stop in there on my way home tomorrow night and get the one they have. I don't really 'have' to buy tomorrow but it would be nice to have that chore accomplished and behind me.

     After leaving Target Store I stopped by to visit  with Ron and Caren for about 45 minutes, they gave me a huge Porterhouse steak to take home. I can make two large meals out of the steak and if I use it for breakfast [steak and eggs is a wonderful combination] I can get four meals out of it.

    I got home in time to watch O'Reilly at 5PM then for the first time today I turned on the computer. That is when I wrote this little tome  and posted it on my blog.

      I did forget to wear green today and got teased at the bowling alley. I had intended to wear green but I started the day wrong by not waking up in time to remember anything except getting the car fixed.

March

. I phoned Comcast this morning and ordered the same Internet, telephone and HDTV package that Barbara had here. Since I ordered the HD I will go ahead and visit Wal-Mart or Sears tomorrow after bowling and purchase a 32” flat screen HD television.

I have been afraid to look at the balance due on my Credit card but I feel safe enough to spend the money. My plan is to remove my puter from this location on Thursday the 24^th and have the installer from Comcast help me get both the puter and TV hooked up when he arrives on the 25^th. The rest of my day was spent sorting and boxing stuff. That and watching the rain come down by the bucketful. ChiChi and I were able to get out to the mailbox during a break between clouds. I’m sorry I bothered, there was nothing worth while in there.

March

15^th. . .  .I delivered the car to R&R Motors at 8:30 to have them check out the cruise control. They found the server mechanism has failed. The car is so old that finding parts for it is becoming a hassle. They told me they would search for one and phone me when and if they find one. In the meantime I am driving the car without Cruise control. Darn it! I was at the shop for almost two hours and returned home at 10:30. I then started going through my stuff to see how much I could get rid of before stuffing the remainder in moving boxes. By 2PM I felt the need for a break so I

stretched out on the recliner and immediatly fell asleep. At 4PM R&R phoned  to let me know they would have the part and could install it Thursday morning at 8:30. I told them I had bowling that day and they promised to have the job done in plenty of time for me to make it into town by noon. I returned to my sorting and packing until O’Reilly came on at 5PM.

I am amazed at the amount of ‘stuff’ I have accumulated during the seven years I have been here.

March

14^th. . . . I was up early again today, had breakfast then drove up to R&R Motors to have the cruise control checked out. They were short of time but they did check all of the obvious reasons for failure before telling me to please bring it back tomorrow so they can get a more serious look at it. I told them I would return about 8:30 then I returned to the house to continue sorting things out that I will move into the new place. At noon I cooked up a nice little steak, the smoke alarm went off, as a matter of fact one of the smoke alarms that has never sounded in the seven years I have been here wailed at me too. It turned out to be a good meal, with mixed vegetables. . . . . . After filling my tummy I drove to the bowling alley and delivered 629 for four lines. That was great for me, a 157 average! Even the worst game was better than my league average. The big test will come Thursday when I bowl under league conditions. . . .  .Ernie was there too and gave me some add’l help. That is always appreciated. He said that next Monday he will bring his video camera and take pictures so I can see where my failings are. With Dave helping out on Thursdays and Ernie on Mondays I may show some more improvement.. . . I arrived home about 2:30 and had cookies and milk while watching Glen Beck on TV. I also sorted through some more stuff to pack and took a nap. Actually, the nap was during the last half of  the Factor. The phone awoke me and after that conversation I returned to cleaning things out of the closet. I feel good about my bowling results so I think I will score this day as better than usual.

March

.....I was wide awake at 6am and by the time I had the clocks set ahead an hour I was right on schedule. It seems to be very easy for me to adjust to daylight savings time! I got into a bit of closet cleaning and boxing stuff today. I took my time and made an effort to toss out some things that I no longer want taking up room in my new place. Doggie is starting to wonder what is going on and I tried to explain it to him but he still acts confused, sniffing and smelling the things that are spread all over the floor and bed. I am not doing a great job of packing things because my plan is to drive a car load to the new place and take it out of the boxes before returning home to fill the same boxes again. It is still going to be a couple of weeks before all of this happens but it feels good to get started. I am looking forward to the new living space, neighbors and adventures. . . . . .  I searched the TV for NASCAR racing today but was unable to find it, that is the highlight of my Sundays except when I go bowling. Today I got so wrapped up in cleaning out the closet I forgot all about bowling so I plan to drive into Longview tomorrow and bowl a couple of 300 games to make up for it. Well, we have to dream in order to have dreams come true, right?. . . . . This evening I watched a movie without the popcorn and cheese. I broke down and had chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter and a glass of milk instead.. . .  .It certainly was nice to see the sun up so late, now the weather has to get warmer and all will be perfect again. We had a lot of rain today and at one point very high winds with tons of rain coming down, really exciting unless you have a leaky roof.

March

….This was a lazy day, I did get over to see Ron and Caren for a while. I returned some containers I had after they gave me a large part of their dinner the other day. It rained most of the day but surprise! While I had the car out this afternoon it never rained a drop so the car is still clean as a whistle. Is that luck or what?

March

  Today I stopped by to make a deposit on my new abode, I will be moving in sometime after the 25th of March, that is two weeks from now. The owner wanted some time to prepare the place. At the moment he has all of his Christmas lights stored in there and they are not boxed up. I wish he would offer to paint the walls too but I did not hear him say anything about that. Freshly painted walls would really make that place perk up. I was more impressed with it after I saw it for the second time, I had walked away from the first visit feeling that it was just not right for me but after seeing it again I changed my mind. Even the kitchen was located in a different part of the apartment than I had remembered. The total square foot of the place is 961.

    Anyway I wrote out the check and got the key with the understanding that it will be ready for me to start moving in on the 25th. My actual rent date will be the 5th of each month.

    After leaving there I drove into Longview and looked into Telephone, TV and Internet hookup. I may go with Dish or Direct for TV service and Comcast for the puter. I asked Radio Shack about Magic Jack for telephone service but I turned down that Idea because it only works when the puter is on and I keep mine on Standby when I am not using it.

     I started my day by washing the car. It was really in the need of  attention and looked much better after getting cleaned up. The only downer for the day was driving home and discovering that the cruise control is no longer functioning. I will go by R&R Motors Monday and ask them about it.

I stopped by to see Ron and Caren, they told me that the baby has been adopted by a couple south of Longview who also adopted the baby's brother and sister. I think that is a beautiful ending of a wonderful start in that baby's life. She is a  sweetypie.

March

10^th. . . . . Bowling day! But before I went to the bowling alley I had to stop by the hospital lab for a Protime check. Wouldn’t you know it, they were behind schedule and I had to wait until 12:10 before they were through with me. My appointment was for 11:30. Before arriving at the lab I drove by a little house in Kelso that was for rent and later phoned them about it. I found that the rent was $695 per month with a fenced in back yard and they don’t want pets. So much for that. . . . .After leaving the lab I went on to the bowling alley. Practice time started at 12:20 but I got a chance to throw 5 balls before actual bowling. My games were 156-121-140. That was enough to beat my league average and I find that to be very pleasing.. . . . After bowling I stopped by Jiffy Lube and showed them the $2281.00 repair bill for the T-Bird. The manager made copies of the bill and said he would send it on to the people who handle such problems and get back to me. He asked me how much of the $2281.00 I thought Jiffy lube was responsible for and I told him at least $1500.00. {Since the engine was opened up anyway I had had some other work done]. . . . . .I made another stop at Safeway and After arriving home I phoned the Hill’s [ the people who are renting the place on Pleasant Hill Drive] and made an appointment to see them tomorrow. I have decided to take their deal. It is going to be a very quiet place to live and the doggie will have 6.5 acres to run in. I’m looking forward to it.

March

9^th. . . . . .I talked to Bernice, Barbara’s friend who lives in a Senior Apartment complex I was wondering about. She told me they have no empties at the moment but they do take small pets. The longer I talked to her the more interested I became about the place in Pleasant Hill. Tomorrow I will be in Longview doing my bowling thing, I may stop by Pleasant Hill and tell the folks I will take the apartment. I wanted to wash my car today but that darn rain would not stop long enough or warm up enough for me to try it. It really needs a bath and the white wall tires I put on last time just look awful after a month or so of driving. I think when I buy my next set of tires I will not go with white walls. They really look nice on that car but it is just too much extra work keeping them shiny and new looking.. . . . I lost two more chess games today, my rating now is 1775. Eva, my friend in Prague, well , actually in Brno, beat me again. That is usually what happens and the other game was no real surprise because that guy is rated even higher than Eva. I now have only five active games.

March

The car was not ready this morning so I drove the truck into town for the lunch with the guys. There were ten of us there and a good time was had by all. I left there and visited the Seniors Rental agency nearby before driving home. They told me they have nothing available at present and wanted me to get on a list  at a location over the old Columbia theatre in town. That certainly did not agree with me so I told them I would check back later.

    R&R Motors called me at home around 3pm and told me they were on their way to pick me up. I drove the car back up the hill and paid the bill.  $2281.00. The car runs fine, as I would expect. I then drove to Pleasant Hills to see the apartment for rent. It is next to a garage in a guys back yard. It leaves a lot to desire but it is ground level, large enough and the $500 rent includes the electricity, water, and garbage but no garage for storage or my car. It has fridge, microwave and electric stove in the kitchem. It also has an organ in the living room as well as washer and dryer in the bathroom. If there is carpeting in the place it did not strike me as being there but I am not concerned about that. It will be ideal for ChiChi and perhaps I will be able to put in a doggie door. The owner has a doggie door for his own dog. I think I could get really excited about this place, the owner and his wife are Finns, young folks about my age and he used to be a heavy equipment operator, seems like a nice guy.

    I can easily get what furniture I really need from Barb's house so  I expect I will be moving in to the new abode. Before I do that I will check out one more place in Longview that a friend of Barbara's lives in. It is a high rise but I'm not sure they take dogs. I will check that out tomorrow, Wednesday.

March

Well, it's like this, R&R Motors called this afternoon and told me that when they attempted to start the car today they found that the starter motor had suffered too much from the heat and has failed. They ordered a new one and should have it installed in the morning. Tomorrow is the day I meet the 'guys' for lunch so I told R&R I would pick up the car tomorrow afternoon. After getting the car I will drive on up the hill a mile or so and get the address from Bernita of the folks who have a place to rent in Pleasant Hills. I will check on that before driving into Longview and asking one more time about the Apartment in Castle Rock and also ask if they have any listings in Longview I might look at. The rest of this day has been very quiet and without rain. It was cool out but that didn't bother me a lot because I never even walked out to the mailbox. The flag is up but since I know I am going out tomorrow I will wait till then to pick up the mail.

March

6^th. . . .Looks like the pineapple express has slipped south and is landing on the central California coast. Darn it. The temperature was in the high 30’s this morning. . . . . ..I am pleased enough with my bowling for today. My average for three lines was 159 with a high of 175 and a low of 149. I didn't work hard at it and really took my time going after the spares. I got home about 1:30 in time to watch most of the NASCAR race too. Tomorrow, if all goes well, I get my car back from the shop. Of course I’ll be broke for a while, but what else is new.

March

5^th  It is hard to believe that a year ago Terri and I were in Italy, or beyond, that was a fun trip but warmer weather would have been nice.. . . . . The local weather satellite picture shows a band of storm clouds about 400 miles wide coming straight up from Hawaii and hitting the coast of Oregon. We are on the Northern edge of it. The temperature this morning was 40 degrees so perhaps it is helping. I hope it gets warmer. The apartment house I wish to get into has a two bedroom ready  but it is being held for a person who needs help getting around or special needs. I can’t honestly say I have special needs so I am not pressing the issue. They have been told that I am ready to move in if they want to let me have it. We shall see. I would like to move in the next three weeks and I am going to start looking seriously for a new place as soon as I get my car back in running condition. I really hope they change their minds and let me rent the two bedroom. It is two hundred feet from the largest market in town and the extra prices I would pay would be made up by not having to drive anywhere else to do my shopping. It is about time I gathered up some cardboard boxes too. I sure have accumulated a lot of stuff since arriving seven years ago. It seems more like seven months.

March

4th. . .. 

I contacted R&R Motors today and they said the car should be ready to pick up on Monday afternoon. I'm looking forward to getting it back but not too crazy about the bill I am expecting.. . . .This was another quiet day, things are very lazy around here but I don't mind. sometimes lazy is good.

March

3^rd. . . . It was 40 degrees this morning, is winter loosing the battle?

Drove the green truck into Longview today to keep my bowling appointment; 181, 143, 105. I was OK with the 143 because that is six or seven pins above my league average but the 105 was really awful. On the way home I stopped by Jiffy Lube and talked to the Manager about my plugged radiator that they had flushed out two weeks ago. They said they might return my money but they refuse to take responsibility for the junk they left in the radiator that caused the stoppage. Jiffy Lube may not be a good place to take your car, you decide. I’m through with them except for one more trip when I collect on the free oil change I get because of another mistake they made last month. I hope they don’t goof that up and cause me even more trouble. The next oil change is still 3-4 months away so I may by that time decide to not take a chance and let them have their free oil change. I am not a happy camper right now.. . . . I was two miles from the house this afternoon when the next rain storm hit. I almost made it home in the dry. That is difficult to do around here. Any time of year.

March

2^nd. . . . . It was nice to see above freezing temperature readings on the thermometer this morning. There were a few spots of standing snow at various locations on the farm but they were not to last too long. I put a sweater on ChiChi last night, he made no effort to remove it. I had done the same earlier in the winter but he would have nothing to do with it at that time. I decided to drive up the hill to R&R Motors to get my bowling ball out of the trunk of the car. Since the grocery store was on the way I spent a few dollars there on my way back. The news about the car is that the radiator was plugged and unable to allow coolant flow. This just a few days after I had Jiffy Lube back flush the radiator, to the tune of $70.00. Their work ends up costing me a pile of dollars.

March

 

March   1^st. . . . . .I had 410 hits on my blog last month. Interesting. It began snowing as I got up this morning but by evening most of it had melted. Weather radar shows more precipitation is nearing the coast but if we are lucky it will not be cold enough to snow. . . . .I phoned R&R Motors at noon today and was told the engine heads had been delivered to a company in Longview who will check them and prepare them for reuse. I asked if there is a possibility the engine will become an oil burner because of the overheating and I was told that is highly unlikely. I will borrow the green truck tomorrow and drive up there for further information and to pick up my bowling ball so I will be ready to go bowling Thursday. It was another quiet day on the farm.