Friday

My day was very quiet as well as nice and warm. I spent three hours at the river but forgot to take my book. I would have stayed longer if I had had the book but as it was I lost another sinker so I also lost interest. No sign of a fish anywhere on the river. . . .I have to mention that I really noticed a lot of geese flying south today, I can not remember that many in any other year, I hope they are making a comeback. I would like to see thousands rather than hundreds making the trip every day. I stopped by the market on the way home and bought some fried chicken thighs and potato salad for dinner. Actually there is enough for two dinners. I also stocked up on ice-cream. I still have two peaches left in the fridge and I love sliced fresh peaches and ice cream.

The rain is to begin tomorrow, I did get several drops on the windshield as I was driving toward the river today. The roads were wet at one point but I was spared the wet stuff all of the time I was out. The radar picture at the moment shows no rainfall between here and the coast. That works for me!

http://www.youtube.com/celford52
http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

Thursday

I had lunch about 11:30 today before driving to the bowling alley. I was very pleased with my results; 144-161-162 for about a 155 average. Those are the kinds of scores I truly feel I am capable of on a regular basis. My hope is that I can continue scoring like that into the future.. . .After the bowling ended I stopped by Ron and Carens for a visit and to give Ashton another chess lesson. I left about 4:30 and planned on stopping at the market on the way home to pick up some more ice cream but decided at the exit to not bother. I will be kicking myself this evening while my Thursday night commercials are on. However, I do have some really good chocolate cookies here that will go perfectly with peanut butter and a glass of milk. I will not go hungry!

http://www.youtube.com/celford52
http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

Wednesday

My day was nothing to write home about, the river is quite stirred up but I drove down there with my book without knowing so I sat in the nice sunshine for three hours anyway. It would have been a great surprise to have caught a fish but that was not in the cards.

I started Dostoevsky's THE IDIOT and got to page 9 after three hours. I have to mention that the introduction, written by Joseph Frank, was 41 pages long. That took a long time to read because he had to impress the world with every big word he could think of to introduce the book. I am glad that Dostoevsky wrote for the masses.

I was home shortly after 3PM and had O'Reilly on at 5 after eating an apple and cheese. I have started work on the 160 or so pictures I have taken since Alaska, the most are flower pictures taken in Early September.

The 'cousins' get together in Olympia are among the group also. My flash was not working properly that day because there was too much light coming in those very large windows so most have to be deleted. I know how to remedy that and will try to remember next time. It is most difficult to take a snapshot when the light is behind the subject.

I had the same problem Sunday when taking pictures of Danika at the grape stomp. She was about ten feet above me and I had to shoot into the sky to get her picture stomping grapes. I will edit them best I can and hope to salvage something out of the day.

Tomorrow is Bowling day, I hope to do really well but you know how that goes!

http://www.youtube.com/celford52
http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

 

Tuesday

I woke up much rested and felt I had some life in me this morning. After posting the last part of my Alaska pictures on YouTube I ate lunch and drove to the bowling alley. My results were not good 125-149-128-82. In other words, rather poopy. I was home by 2pm and was lucky to have not encountered rain. The rest of the day will be spent doing a lot of nothing, perhaps reading, but that will be about it. Doggie is feeling fine but hates to go out when it is raining. I tried to explain it to him, but that does no good. Happily he is smart enough to use the 'bed pads' I have put down near the front door. He's a good boy, good for a dog anyway!

Other than that is has been a slow day, I think I will continue reading for a while and perhaps download my camera. It is time to start on the pictures I have taken since getting back from Alaska.

http://www.youtube.com/celford52
http://cliffordaelford.blogspot.com/

Monday

I hate to admit it but today was a non day as far as getting anything done is concerned.

I felt like a slug all day and the longer I put off accomplishing anything the worse I felt.

It is all my fault but I am using the weather as an excuse, these dark, rainy days are just not part of my enjoyment creating id. I did get part four of the Alaska trip started but soon found that my heart was not in it. I also attempted to make some chess moves but realized right away that I was not concentrating, it is like my brain shut down. I mean, more than usual, of course. I finished reading THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD, a story written after Dostoevsky spent four years in a Siberian prison in the 1850's. Since then I have started POOR FOLK,the first book he published. Very dark stories , not to mention the fact that the subjects are extremely dark in themselves.

This evening my favorite comedy commercial shows are on TV so I will attempt to stay up through them. I also considered going to the bowling alley but could not make myself get cleaned up even to do that. I sure do hope that Mexico idea works out so I can find some sunshine this winter, this dark, cloudy stuff is nothing but a big BOOO. Perhaps tomorrow I'll wake up feeling better about it all, wish me luck!

Sunday

. I left the house [sans doggie] about 10AM to attend the St. Josephs Wine Festival near Canby, Oregon. Took many pictures of the folks attending who were friends and family members of Terri’s family. We all had a great time although the music was so loud we could not carry on a conversation. After sitting through that loud, rhythmic ordeal until about 4PM we drove over to Aunt Jeans and had a bar-b-Que. Way too much food, as usual, lots of tasty wine and tons of conversation. I dropped Terri off at the Church about 9PM and arrived home a few minutes after 10. Doggie was happy to see me and ate his dinner after I stirred it up for him. It had been sitting there all day but he did not eat until I arrived home. Crazy pup! I failed to post this report of my daily doings because of the late hour so that is the first thing I did after getting up this morning. Had a big rain storm to drive through going down yesterday but it was clear coming back. This morning I see the rain has returned, no surprise there, after all, this is Washington, the Evergreen State!

Saturday

I worked on my YouTube pictures again this morning, they will be posted in a few more minutes, I tried once but something went wrong. I also spent four hours at the river today, Tim was there since 7AM and had caught nothing. He did get a trout before the day ended [at 2:30 for him] but I was skunked by 4pm and went home to work on my YouTube presentation Number Three. I discovered when attempting to upload this one that I am now allowed to enter items longer than 15 minutes and considered blending part three and four into one 25 minute clip but decided against it.

I will post part three and start on part four shortly.

I also posted an open letter to the Jiffy Lube powers that be in Houston. [See below] At the same time I mailed the letter by US Mail this morning. Chanel Two in Portland may be interested in my plight but I have to wait and see if they get in touch with me next week. They may not be interested in small potatoes like me.

Open Letter

Office of the President

Jiffy Lube International

PO Box 4427

Houston, Texas

77210-4458

 Dear Sir,

 On February 16, 2011 I had my 1994 Thunderbird serviced by your Kelso, Washington Store. They sold me on the idea of flushing out the radiator and installing new coolant. During the flushing process they failed to open the lower petcock on the radiator. None of the debris they had promised to remove ever left the radiator. It all packed together in the bottom of the radiator and after driving about 100 miles the car became dangerously overheated and left me stranded on the side of the road. I had to pay to be towed to R&R Motors in Castle Rock, Washington where it was determined that the terribly overheated  engine was badly damaged but repairable.
       The cost of those repairs amounted to $2281.45.

I expect your company to make good on this.

       I went back to your manager in Kelso and found him to be very sympathetic. He made copies of his original invoice and the one I had from R&R Motors and forwarded them to the Portland Oregon office of your company. Nothing was heard from that office. Twice more during the summer I went back to Kelso and each time the manager was most unhappy that nothing had been done so he again sent copies to the Portland Office.

       By September first I was getting tired of being ignored by your people so I painted a 6 inch lettered sign on the back of my Thunderbird reading JIFFY LUBE SUCKS. I drove into the Kelso Store parking area and asked the manager to see the sign. He immediately ordered me off the property. I have since then been doing my daily running around with that sign on my car. It is my intent to continue driving with that sign as it is. Perhaps you may want to look into this unhappy customers complaint, no one in Portland seems to give a big rats a… I have been waiting seven months.

    Thanking you in advance for your very professional help. Kelso invoice #11021600314177.

Clifford A Elford

Kelso, Washington

98626

Friday

.   Spent the morning on my Drive to Alaska pictures, part three. It will be about 12 minutes long, about the same as Part Four. I had no idea I would end up with so many pictures but I like them all so I left them in. I guess I did toss out about one hundred that were really no good. This afternoon I was at the river for four hours reading and fishing. No fish but that’s OK, I enjoyed the quiet and my pet Eagle that has been flying around that bend in the river for several days. I was home in time to watch O’Reilly on TV then dash off to Caren and Ron’s for dinner with the boys. Ribs, my favorite vegetable with corn on the cob and peas. Very tasty sour dough bread too. I was home at 8PM and posted this before hitting the hay and dreaming about the big salmon I am going to catch tomorrow.

Thursday

Bowling was not so good today, 124, 140, 139. I have to do better than that! That is as bad as loosing two fish in one day. Speaking of which, I hope to score better at the fishing hole tomorrow.  

Wednesday

 We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise around here this morning. Sadly, red sky in the morning means sailors warning so that means the barometer is sitting at 992 and on its way down. My weather site claims a 20% chance for rain tomorrow for the Kelso area. My plan is to be bowling so hopefully there will be no rain on the alley. This morning I finally posted my Alaska Trip Part Two pictures on YouTube. I also discovered the correct address to get into the site. Try http://www.youtube.com/celford52 and see if it works for you. One day soon I will start Part three and with luck I will be able to finish with that amount of space. If not I will have to break down the remaining pictures in to two ‘parts’ and do it that way. . . . .Went fishing this afternoon, no fish but it certainly was a nice day to sit on the river and read. I was home and all cleaned up by 4PM. I was in a hungry mood too.

Tuesday

 I bought some ice cream yesterday, I needed it to go with the peaches I had purchased last week, I found this peach was on the really 'ripe' side but the ice cream made up the difference. There are more fresh peaches here but I had to eat that one or throw it out the next day. . . . I will watch 2 1/2 men again next week but I am not too pleased right now. I think maybe Charlie had a lot more to do with the writing on the original show, something is missing, it did not ring my bell last night. None of the actors appeared 'the same' as before. There is no 'life' when Alan and the new guy have the scene. In my mind something is not right. Probably just me.

2 Broke Girls followed and I turned that off before it ended; but I did wait for a commercial break before doing so. That says something, perhaps I may give it another chance too, it would be better with fewer commercials. Most TV would though.

            My plan is to go back to the fishing hole again tomorrow. Today I had two strong strikes and on the first one I lost my lure as well as a 6oz sinker. That turned out to be an expensive strike. It could have been worse though; the fishing pole fell out of the pole holder before I could get to it and it was lying in the water when I finally grabbed it. The fish was long gone by then but had he been solidly hooked he could have easily pulled the pole into the water and down the stream with him. The second strike was not very long after the first but again I got to the pole too late. I am getting slower and slower when it comes to getting out of the chair and to where the pole is anchored. I will change that starting tomorrow.I will sit closer since there is no way I can run any faster than I have been. I spent five hours down there today, I hope the weather holds so I can spend that much time tomorrow.

Monday

It was foggy and cool this morning but things changed for the better as the day wore on. By 5PM things were looking good and I should have taken the doggie for a walk but never did. I ran out of Warfarin yesterday and had to go to the Pharmacy later today to get another supply; it was after 4pm when I got home and too close to the O'Reilly show on TV to leave the house. I went to bed early last night and read on my book; 'The House of the Dead'. It tells of his experience in a Siberian prison for four years around 1850. The Socialists came along 70 years later and took lessons for how to run prisons. It is a very dark and joyless read, but being Dostoevsky it must be read slowly and carefully to pick up on all of the between the lines stuff.. . . . I spent a couple of hours on the phone with Comcast. I had lost access to my email [again] and had a heck of a time getting things back on track. Their technicians are fine people but the system stinks. I hate going through computers on the phone trying to get to a living person. Anyway, that has been my day. I hope your day was a lot better.

Sunday

I made no effort to go fishing today, it rained a lot and the sun did come out about 4PM but not early enough for me to get excited about going to the river.

I practiced bowling for six lines this afternoon. 164-156-153-158-143-138-not too bad for a beginner. It is hard for me to beat a 152 average but I will stay at it and see how well I am doing this time next year. My league average is about 140 so I made myself look good today.

After bowling I stopped by to see Caren and Ron. They fed me dinner but I didn't stay too long because they had company and I wanted to get home to my reading and puter work. I have yet to put the Narration on part two of the Alaska pictures. I am waiting for the mood to strike me but so far it is not happening.

I attempted to contact Eva and Pepik on Skype but there was no answer so they may have been out to dinner after enjoying a nice day in Prague Country.

Saturday

I never did get to the fishing hole today, it felt cold and damp, a great day to read my book and take a nap. That did not please the little doggie a lot, he likes to get out and go walking, this was just not his day. This is one of those days when I have to be very conscience of what I am eating because I can add about a pound an hour if I am not careful. I may get back to my picture program before the day ends; I have yet to turn on my chess games to see what needs to be done there. This will end up as a do nothing day, I suppose. The sudden change in weather has shot me down, I guess,

This definitely was not a good day to be holding a backyard picnic but I have heard that good weather is supposed to put in at least one more appearance before the month is out. Perhaps the Grape Stomp in Oregon on the 25th will have a warm day to celebrate.

Friday

Friday. . .  .Drove to Beaverton today and had lunch with Terri. Borders is all closed up so we stopped by the local Powell Book store and discovered they also sell used books so I got carried away and spent $15 on three books by Dostoevsky. I had already read Crime and Punishment but have been thinking about it lately and decided to wade through it again. We had drinks at Ava’s after having visited Washington Square for a long walk through the mall. I was home by 9PM just in time to save the dog from starving to death. His words, not mine. I didn’t even turn on the puter until Saturday morning to post my daily doings regarding Friday. I hope you are all doing well!

Thursday

 Fall is definitely in the air today, if this keeps up I will have to go back to long sleeves again. I hate when that happens! I started on Part two of my Alaska pictures this morning; I am catching on but still goof up often enough to take a lot of time. I went bowling and got a 95 on the first line. I did lousy with the second line until about half way through and ended up with a 167. The third line ended with a 131 score and an average of 131 for the day. After bowling I stopped by Safeway and bought some more fruit and bug spray. I filled my gas tank at the Safeway pump and was granted a price of $3.53 per gallon just because I am such a nice guy. I then drove by Jiffy Lube and backed in again so the manager [he was in this time] could get a good look at the sign in the window of my car. He got sort of warm and ordered me off his property. I left quietly after telling him I was on my way to Portland tomorrow. I don't know what effect that will have on him, I suppose none. I do know he does not like my little sign. My hope is that he calls the people in Portland who are supposed to be working on this problem and explain to them what I'm doing. . . . . Thursday evening again and a couple of my favorite comedy commercials are on so I will be sitting home and enjoying that.

Wednesday

I worked on my pictures this morning, the new Part One is now posted and the original one has been removed. I like the new one better. It used to be that when I posted something they would produce an address I could paste on YouTube but for some reason I can't find that address anymore. Just try to find it by going to Google, celford52.

ChiChi and I left for the fishing hole a bit after noon fully expecting to catch a salmon but it never happened. I will not give up though! There are still a bunch of salmon out there just waiting to grab my lure; I just have to be there when they are! It will happen! I know! I did get in some reading; the weather was just right for that sort of thing today. I did feel that September is moving toward fall though, yuk! I was wearing my blizzard suit and had it unzipped down to my waist line, the sun was hiding behind thick clouds so I was not too warm by any means. I will spend more time on the pictures this evening while I am waiting for bowling day to come tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Things have been quiet on Pleasant Hill and I am feeling good, that is always nice.

Tuesday

 The lunch with the high school gang went well today, they were interested in hearing about my little tiff with Jiffy Lube. They do not expect much will come of it though, three of them mentioned problems they had with the company and nothing was ever done for them. I expect the same will happen to me. Jiffy Lube expects me to give up and go away before they get around to anything. . . . .After lunch I stopped by the bowling alley [I couldn't resist]. I really surprised myself with 151-153-146-156-125-195. I was doing a good job laying that bowling ball right on the spot and when I hit the spot correctly all else falls into place. I felt tired during the 125 game so I decided to really concentrate hitting the spot and did very well on the last game. On the way home I drove through the Jiffy Lube parking lot very slowly. I had done the same thing on the way into town. I don't know if anyone noticed, perhaps not. I'll try it again next time I get into town. I will leave the sign on and if I drive into Portland Friday for lunch it will be there for all to see. That will be fun! My original plan was to go fishing this afternoon but I stopped by to see Caren and Ron after bowling and did not get home in time to go to the river. I already have plans to be down there tomorrow, I feel lucky, I think tomorrow will be the day I get my first salmon of the season. I bought four new sinkers the other day, four of them cost me $7.23. Can you believe that? I think I will find a way to use rocks as sinkers. At the end of the day I posted my new Part One of my Alaska Drive. This one contains new naration and panorama's that were not included in the original Part One.

Monday

. I was interested in seeing the sunrise this morning but the fog was a bit too thick so it never happened. I awoke during the night with the moonlight just streaming in. At dawn were a lot of clouds in the sky and I am sure the sun shining through would have created some beautiful colors but no such luck. I worked on my pictures for another hour or so and now have the first 13 minutes ready for narration. I may get at that tomorrow.

Lunch at noon then a trip to the river for some more reading and relaxing. There were a lot of fishermen on the river today but I never saw a fish anywhere near them. I was home by 4PM; hungry already. Today I put on another coat of paint on my cute sign on the back window of the car. It is really bright now! I will be driving it into town tomorrow when I go to lunch with the gang. I will be sure to park it where all the folks driving by will be able to see it.

Sunday

I was awake about 5:30 but my bedroom window does not look out on the wonderful sunrises around here. The sunsets are usually nice and some are really beautiful but most of the time I miss those too. I think I fell asleep and got up after 7:00. Par for the corse for this kid.

I spent more time on my Second Part One of the Alaska pictures. Another day or so and I will be removing the original part one on Youtube and replacing it with the better presentation. It has all of the Panoramas I had forgotten the first time around. After lunch I drove into town and bought a new bedroom telephone, the old one I had has a dead battery and the replacement is not to be found because of the age of the telephone. Now I have a new phone by the bed and a slave to that one installed in the bathroom. It only cost me twice what the battery would have cost had I found one. While in the store I also bought a tube of that paint that is used to write messages on windshields; For sale, prices, and stuff like that. I wrote JIFFY LUBE SUCKS on the back window and drove to the bowling alley.

I bowled 6 lines and the best was 144 and the worse was 88. I was trying out new delivery positions on the alley and aiming at the spot rather than attempting to knock over the pins. Hitting my spot is my biggest problem. Each time I hit the spot with 10 pins standing I get a very well placed ball. Oh, well, more practice.

After leaving the bowling alley I drove to Jiffy Lube and parked the car by backing in so they could see the art work. The manager was not in so I asked them to tell him that the guy with the 94 Thunderbird had stopped by. At the same time I pointed at the car. Their jaws dropped and one of them laughed. I told them I had been driving around Longview all morning and now I was headed for Castle Rock. They promised to give the manager the message.

Saturday

 This morning I finished my chili; I filled several two serving containers and put them in the freezer. Now I am set for a long time with stir fry and chili to chose from. This afternoon I went to the fishing hole but caught no fish. I think I had a strike but he did not stay on long enough for me to react. The pole was about 60 feet away at the time; I'll get him next week. I saw a small one jump a couple of times; must have been a Silver because the Chinook don't come out of the water very often. This did turn out to be a great day in the sunshine, doggie was happy and it did a lot for my general mood also. I was home about 4PM with an appetite but for some reason I sat down and fell asleep instead of eating. That is rare for me. Eating almost always comes first with me! Still no news from Mazatlan, darn it!

Friday

 My day went especially well, my little brother stopped by this morning. He was in town Wednesday while I was in Portland but I never got his phone message until I got home Wednesday night. He took me to lunch, he is nice that way, but then he is my brother. After lunch and a nice visit we stopped by to see Caren and Ron for a half hour or so. Before getting to lunch we visited with Melvin and that reminded Leonard of the Salmon he caught at the fishing hole a couple of years ago. We had a nice time 'catching up'. Leonard left town about 2:30 and by 3PM I was at the fishing hole reading my book. It was not too cool today, about 80 I would guess. No fish but the 'being there' was good enough. I was home at 6PM having missed O'Reilly; I will turn that show on at 8PM and enjoy a bowl of ice cream while watching it. I started my laundry at 6:15 this evening and I have to finish my chili so I will be busy for a while. I had a good day.

Thursday

 I left the house at 9:30 for my doctor appointment. That turned out well although my PSA is 4.7 and that could be considered serious except for the fact that cancer of the Pancreas has already been ruled out. I went shopping for a while before arriving at the bowling alley at 11:30. By the time I had eaten a hamburger the crowd had arrived and I found myself bowling with the same team as last winter. Last winter Verda was a standby but this year she is a full timer. She is the one who put me on to Nancy, her lifetime friend who volunteers at the tourist center in Mazatlan. She told me she talked to Nancy last night and that Nancy is actively searching for a place for me to rent for two months while the snow blows around here. I do hope she is successful. I bowled 135-166-133 for a 144 average. That is the average I will start out with for this season. I hope to work my way up to 154 by the time season ends next spring. After arriving home at about 3:30 I put together another batch of chili, I can tell while it is cooking I used too much Tomatoes sauce. That does not mean I won't eat it. I will just make a note not to use a lot of that stuff next time. I made myself the same note last time but forgot to read the minutes of that meeting with myself before starting this pot full. That is life, I guess, at least around here!

Wednesday

It was 62 degrees out this morning when I looked at the thermometer, that is a good sign that it could reach 90 today. Winter is just around the corner and we just now get decent temperatures.

I had a blood draw this morning, a fasting one at that. The results are on the Internet but I have not yet signed in to read them. I had a lunch date with Terri in Portland so I ate very little  before getting there. After lunch we drove to the zoo and found a nice shade tree to set under and visit. She is planning on her Hawaii trip and I am planning on going to Mazatlan. I hope all works out best for both of us! After enjoying the shade tree for a while we drove to Ava’s in downtown Beaverton for a cold drink. We were there about an hour before deciding to stop by  the closing Borders store. Their prices are now 60% off the regular price and for today it was an add’l 15 %. I did buy a book after about an hour of searching the stores dwindling supply. I delivered Terri to the church about 6:30 and then headed for home. I got back in time to scoop up some ice cream and slice a fresh peach before O’Reilly came on.

Tuesday

 The Melville wrote to say that they only had one large unit available for the period of time I wanted to be there so that is no longer a possibility, I have not yet heard back from Nancy who is looking for affordable accommodations for me; everything is in limbo at the moment. . . . I did get to the river today and hooked into a small salmon but the sinker got stuck between some rocks and while I was trying to use him to knock it loose he walked [swam] off with my lure still in his mouth. I could see it as he wiggled away. He was almost played out and I could have netted him quit easily but he won the battle. It was fun, I will try again one day soon. On the way home I stopped by the store and got my red beans so I will start the chili one day soon. I found more pictures that belong in Part One of my Alaska Trip so I will be re-doing that project and putting it on YouTube after removing the present part one. That will happen eventually, no telling when. . . . This was a great day to be at the river, I hope the weather holds until I get to Mexico in January.

Monday

.I had to go to the market today to get some red beans so I could cook up a big pot of chili and on the way I stopped by the bowling alley. My results were 122-160-140-157-116-162- that amounts to a bit short of 143. I felt pretty good about that. I then went to the market for the beans and by the time I had finished marching up an down the isles the final total came to $75.05. After I got home I found that I had forgotten the beans. I had forgotten to take the grocery list with me and the beans is the only thing on the list I did not get. I'll stop by the Castle Rock market tomorrow and get some.

The rest of the day and evening was spent reading and watching the boob tube.

Sunday

My day went pretty well. Bowling scores were just peachy-keen. 115-122-144-166-155-154. that is almost a 142 average and had I done better on the first two lines it would have been much higher. After bowling I stopped by to visit with Ron and Caren for a while before returning home for an afternoon of lazy. I am watching 'No Country for Old Men' but it has commercials every 9 minutes so I am quickly loosing interest. I will hang on for a few minutes more and see how it goes.

I phoned an American who volunteers for the Mazatlan Tourist Center and got lots of new idea about going down there in January. She is going to call me back as soon as she gets more information. This idea is starting to look very doable, I may even become excited about it all! Alaska Airlines flies there and she says it works well for her each time she flies back to California to visit family. She has a daughter who also volunteers at the Tourist Center who graduated High School in Castle Rock.

I also contacted the Melville and asked them for rates from January 15 to March 15. No answer yet but they may all be taking a day off on Sunday.

Saturday

This has been a nothing day. I worked on my pictures for a while but for some reason lost interest in a very short time. I then read for a while and fell asleep. Woke up hungry and had lunch then grabbed the dog and drove to the fishing hole. The book I took with me had lots of pages to go but after reading for a few minutes the book ended and the rest of the pages were notes the Author listed. I have read books shorter than his list of notes. Fishing was a nothing experience and I even lost 6 ounces of perfectly good sinkers. Sinkers are expensive any more! I should find a way to use rocks, they are much cheaper. Doggie and I got home about 4PM and pigged out for the remainder of the day. Roy showed me a kitty door that he installed in his garage many years ago. I am trying to teach ChiChi to use it but he is afraid of the darn thing. So it goes around here.

Friday

 .This turned out to be a lazy day for me, I did get the car washed but that was about it. After washing the car ChiChi and I drove to see Caren and the boys but she was not home when we got there so we visited with the three of them. Ron is doing much better, the cast is to come off his arm before long and he is looking forward to that. I spent a little time trying to teach Ashton to read but he got bored with that after about 30 minutes. Not too bad for a 5 year old. It was that or chess and I forgot to bring the chess board with me so that was the choice he made.. . . I did also cut up a bunch of stir fry Veggies to put in the freezer. So now I have something to eat for the next 8-10 days. A couple of hours were spent on my Alaska pictures, still trying to decide which ones are good enough to use, I will be using a lot that are not really great but they will help me tell the story.

Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday/Thursday. . . . . .I did not arrive home until after 11PM last night, way too late to post anything on the blog. This morning I got started too late even to turn the puter on so here I am Thursday evening trying to get both days reported. Wednesday Terri and I ran off to Silverton Falls to take a few pictures and that was after we had stopped at a couple of Flower Farms to see what they had growing. We walked through acres and acres of flowers. I must have snapped 200 pictures, some of which will turn out fine but many others will not because of the cloud cover we had to contend with. I believe the most interesting part of the day was watching a wedding couple near the foot of the two hundred? foot waterfall posing for pictures. The couple was walking around in the water, barefooted and the man taking the pictures was positioning himself as well as he could wearing his street shoes in water well over ankle deep. The wedding dress had to be a mess. It was hard to tell because we were at the top of the falls looking down on the proceedings. They certainly were making memories down there! After leaving there Terri phoned Aunt Jean and Ben to see what they were up to and Jean invited us to stop in for Stir Fry and we stayed way too late. It had turned out to be a fun day!

This morning, Thursday, I got up late and had a hair appointment at 9:45 so I rushed to that then returned home long enough to make a survey of the refrigerator, noting the shortages on a grocery list. I then rushed to the hospital lab for my Protime check, 2.6, and got to the bowling alley in time to order a chili dog and a dinner salad. I barely had time to finish that when our annual bowling meeting started. After the meeting and the paying of our annual dues the team I am on decided to do some bowling. It took almost three hours to bowl 2 lines each. I had a 120 and a 148. It was three o’clock by the time I got to Safeway to purchase enough to  stock up the fridge. I had some cookies and milk while watching O’Reilly, that was dinner, before finally sitting down here to get this little report off to you all. Terri has a little family gathering in Hawaii this December so she feels perhaps she may not be able to go to Mazatlan with me after all. I am thinking of January, February and March or part of those three months. Anybody out there want to share expenses and go along? I will have a small apartment with two double beds, Oh, yes, I snore quite loudly these days, keep that in mind. I have no idea what the Airlines charge but I was told by a friend that it is about the same as flying to the east coast. . . . .  I have not heard back from Jiffy Lube, he told me he would call Monday or Tuesday. That was 4-5 days ago. You best not do business with that company.