TUESDAY

.   .   .   .   .   My first five lines today averaged out at 151 but I dropped off to a 144 during the second five. The daily average of 148 was not too bad for me. Lets see how well I do on Thursday when the league meets. The temperature might have reached 50 today but I cant swear to it. It never felt that warm.

MONDAY

. . . . . . . This was a fairly nice day but I never did get out of the house. My Bad.
I spent time trying to download books to my Nook but although the computer screen tells me they are there I have yet to find them on the nook itself. I did find 928 pictures that I had no intention of loading to the nook. I have no idea how that happened. I did find a way to remove them but still can not find the free books. I will try again tomorrow if it doesn't  get in the way of my bowling.

SUNDAY

. . . . . . The temperature crawled up to 53 by early afternoon, not bad for this time of year. My bowling was not too hot today but my first five lines put me above my league average of 136 and the second five lines came out as 146. That is close to 142 for the day.. . . . .I got home in time to pop up a bowl of popcorn and enjoy the Seattle football game.. . . I got a note from Natalia, she said she was at the bowling alley yesterday so she knows it is open. I will be packing my bowling ball for the first time. The alley has been closed the past two winters in Mazatlan.

SATURDAY

. . . . . . Doggy and I washed the car today. The sun had come out and that was so tempting I could not refuse. That amounted to a little exercise, altho far from enough. I downloaded some free books to my documents folder in the computer today but still have not figured out how to get them to the Nook. It has been a lazy day and I enjoyed the last of the lasagna for lunch. I will have to return the container to Caren and see what else she has to offer.

FRIDAY

. . . . . . . I don't think the temperature got above 40 degrees today. I stopped by the Pharmacy this afternoon to get stocked up on enough meds to last me until I get home in March but it looks like it will not be easy. I have to get on the phone Monday and see what the doctors can do to help me.. . . . . I drove by Teigen's place today with ChiChi and we visited for a couple of hours. I was able to log on to Caren's WiFi and register my Nook HD tablet. I also downloaded four books from Barnes and Noble that should keep me busy for a while. She has sent me instructions for further downloading without having to go through my router. {t requires a password  that I don't have}. I had lunch while over there and she sent me home with a large serving of lasagna made from good stuff-delicious stuff! ChiChi was happy to get out of the house for a while and was well behaved. He is mellowing as he ages. It started raining on the way home. Lets hope the temperature stays above freezing.

THURSDAY

. . . . . . A slow day......I did get to the bowling alley for league day but my score was a couple of points below my league average so I felt sort of poopy the rest of the afternoon. I stopped by Safeway for a few more supplies to keep my going for the next two weeks then went home and buried my sorrows in food. I gave some thought to washing the car but that never happened. thinking ain't doing, you know. Roy put his truck on Craigs List today and the first phone call came ten minutes later, he thinks the guy is going to buy it. He had a total of ten calls the first hour. It is a 2002 four door pickup desiel. A real monster and he asked $15,000 for it. 

CHRISTMAS DAY 2013

. . . . . . I spent the entire day eating and sleeping. I also tried to get my NookHD on line but it refused to recognise my router without a password. I contacted Cisco who made the router and was told they could help me but it would cost me. There was no further information available. They have my phone number, perhaps they will phone me tomorrow. It is a shame to buy a piece of equipment from the company and find you also have to pay for a password. I was not expecting any problem because both my puter and laptop were able to access the router without the password.. . . I may drive over to Caren's place tomorrow and see if I can access the Internet via her router. After I go bowling that is.

TUESDAY

. . . . . . I bowled ten lines today and produced a 137.2 average. Of course I was not overly pleased with that score but it was one pin better than my league average. About 2:30 I drove over to the Teigens to help them celebrate Christmas Eve. Ron's folks and Solomon were there as well as Ruby and Coltor. We all had pizza before the annual gift exchange. I  had a piece of pumpkin pie for dessert. I also scarfed down two Rum and Cokes. A good time was had by all and I am now the proud owner of a Nook Ebook. I will play with that tomorrow and see how much money I have to spend to get all the books I want on it.. . . . This evening Ron was standing in front of the fireplace with his back toward it trying to get warm. I pointed out to him that the fireplace was really a TV presentation of a fire place. He said he was wondering why he was not getting warm. Coltor got into the act by put his hand out toward the flame and pulled it back quickly yelling "Ouch". He walked away from it muttering something about it was burning his sweater. .  .  .  .It was a fine Christmas, I hope we have another one hundred just like it. Merry Christmas!

MONDAY

.   .   .   .   ChiChi received his bath today. He did not approve but I got away without any loss of blood. The leather gloves were slightly damaged in the process but that only adds to the damage done on previous bathings. I am beginning to see a slight mellowing in him as far as baths are concerned. If he lives another ten years he may by then be able to accept bathing as a necessary evil. We shall see. . . . . The rest of the day was spent reading and napping as well as enjoying watching the rain come down. There was a lucky break in the afternoon when the sun was out for some time. That is always a welcome sight this time of year.

SUNDAY

. . . .  After breakfast I laid down to read. The idea was to kill time until the bowling alley opened at 10:30. Well, I fell asleep and woke up at 11AM. It was later than I had expected but I got there and bowled a 130 average for the first five lines and only 143 for the second five. The only good thing was that I did bowl my league average for the day. I was experimenting with putting a 'hook' on the ball and that did not go really well. However, one of my games while doing that came out to a 181. I will go back on Tuesday and try it again. . . . I stopped by Safeway to fill the gas tank and paid 2.999 per gallon. I can not remember the last time I got off so cheap.  The temperature is 50 degrees at sundown, with rain. The car is dirty but I can't seem to get at that job. So it goes on Pleasant Hill. 

SATURDAY

. . . .I posted my Presidential Libraries Project to YouTube this morning. Try this link and see if it works for you: http://www.youtube.com/celford52. . . . . . The rest of the day was spent staying warm. The temperature outside may have reached 50 degrees but I doubt it. I watched a three hour movie with Kevin Costner called 'The Postman'. I had never heard of it before; I would rate it a B+.

FRIDAY

. . . . . . . The high temperature for the day was about 38 degrees. That is not good. Rain started falling as the sun went down. I noticed it when ChiChi came in from outside and jumped into my lap. I can also report that it is a cold rain. .  .   .   .  Today I completed the audio portion of my YouTube Presidential Libraries slide show. Tomorrow I plan on posting it and putting the notice on FaceBook. . . . This was a day without exercise and I notice that fact; I feel sluggish and worn out. I made no effort to get to the fishing hole because I am convinced there are no fish available. And it is too cold out there!

THURSDAY

. . . . .Compared with my League average my 143 average for today was pretty good. I was not happy with the fact that I did not do as well as I usually do on non-league days. At least we as a team did win overall and that is always good. Only Noreen and I showed up on our team so bowling went pretty fast. After bowling I had a short snack with Charlotte then came home to settle in for the evening. She suggested I visit the Columbia Theater this evening to see a stage play called "Scrooge on Trial" or something like that. I may go but it starts about my bed time. We will see. Right now I am waiting for O'Reilly to end. I'll decide after that.

WEDNESDAY

. . . . . . . This turned out to be another lazy day. I did get into town to do some banking and while there I stopped by to see Billy. He is doing fine; I got to meet his new care-giver. He is a skinny little guy and I have forgotten his name already. On the way home I stopped to do a little Christmas shopping for Ruby, Sol's little girl. I discovered that she will be at the Teigens Christmas Party and I had not picked out a gift for her. That little problem is now solved. I also delivered Mel's Christmas gift and visited with him for a couple of minutes. Tomorrow is bowling day, I am very interested to see how well I do. I wish me luck!

TUESDAY

   .   .   .   .   .Great day at the bowling alley! My average for the 15 lines came out to 148.6. The first five lines [before lunch] was 143 and after lunch I averaged 154.6. That gave me a 148.9 average at the time and since I felt I could beat that I bowled five more. That amounted to only 148 I am happy with the results, especially since I was bowling as well at the end as I had been when I began. I will go down again Tuesday and see how well I do before facing the team on Thursday.. . . . .After bowling I stopped by Safeway and stocked up on enough stuff to last me until I leave town on January 8th. At least I hope I have enough, I don't want a lot of foods in the pantry to sit and dry out while I'm away for the winter.

MONDAY

.   .   .   .   .   I had to get out to the Post Office today so I stopped by Teigens too.
I guess I was there for less than an hour but it was a fun visit. They have their Christmas tree up. I suppose this will be the first one Colton will ever remember. Got back to the house in time to take a nap and have a snack before Monday Night Football came on. No rain today and the temperature was not too bad for this time of year. That can't last much longer.

SUNDAY

.   .   .   .   .   I surprised myself with good bowling results today. I averaged 155.2 during ten lines of bowling. The not so surprising result was the 148 average before I ate lunch and the 171 after I had lunch. The high game of the day was 187 and the low was 117.  This evening I wasted time in the recliner watching Green Bay play football in Dallas. It was a great game but taking a walk would have been better for me. The weather is cool but I am happy to announce we have had no rain. 

SATURDAY

. . . . . . This turned out to be a most unremarkable day, absolutely nothing was accomplished, at least not at this address. I don't know about yours. The Army/Navy game was a bust after the first quarter except for the snow. I really enjoy watching those guys attempting a forward pass with the snow so thick the ball can hardly be seen flying through the air. I turned on a commercial free movie called 'Total Recall' and after twenty minutes I knew why it was commercial free. It was not worth putting in front of an audience. There was no rain today, that pleased me. The temperature stayed above freezing too, that is always nice. I will get a good nights  sleep and give tomorrow a chance.

FRIDAY

.   .   .   .   I enjoyed another nice day at the bowling alley. My first five lines averaged out at 145 and the come-back second set was 152. The third produced  147.  The 147 turned out to also be the average for the day. I did bowl a low of 108 and just before that I came up with the high of the day, 187. I was beginning to feel I had had enough by the time I finished the fifteenth line. . . . .  I fell asleep in the recliner this evening so I am sure I received enough exercise for the day. I plan on returning Sunday. I'm doing so well I have to keep at it just to prove to myself that I can do it. . . . . The river is slowly becoming clear again but it is really too high to bother fishing. I am sure the silt has built up in the sitting area and there have been no fish reported. It is all a good excuse to stay home and pig out. Speaking of which: my weight has reached 208. I have never weighed this much. Too bad that can't be my bowling score!

THURSDAY

. . . . . . . . I had a good time today. It took a bit too long to get my protime test completed so I was later than I had wished to arrive at the Christmas luncheon. The luncheon went well, there were 44 people there. Forty six had promised to attend but at the last minute one of the couples was unable to make it. The Turkey dinner was tasty and seconds were available. I was good and did not order seconds of anything. Champagne was also on the menu, good stuff, Champagne. . . . Mead Zeigler was good enough to pick up the bar tab for those of us who chose to imbibe. I might have gone for seconds on that but it was not offered. I was sitting next to Mead and had I made a noise there is no doubt he would have gotten a kick out of the idea and gone for it. I thought better of  pushing him for fear I might be caught for that duty next year.. .  .On the other side of me was Bob, he got honorable mention during the proceedings for coming up with any spare dollars that were needed during the creation of the festivities. Bob is getting around really well and there were lots of folks there who were happy to see him progressing at top speed. It was close to 3PM when I got home. I settled in and watched the Denver football game for the evening.. . .The freezing weather is not so freezing and is not to be for some days. A lot of rain is expected at lower levels, the snow will be in the hills though. Even the low hills.

WEDNESDAY

. . . . . I was pleased to see no snow on the roads this morning as I drove into town for my Kidney Doctor appointment. The Doctor reported that my stressed kidney that was discovered six months ago shows a lessening of whatever was ailing it. The meds will not be changed because the thought is that that may be what is helping the situation. My next appointment with him will be in one year. Now if Spring would come early [like next week] I would be doing just peachy-keen. The temperature in South Kelso, at the airport, is 32 at the present but there is no precipitation on radar within 200 miles of here. Perhaps the skies will be clear tomorrow when the local members of the class of '52' all get together for their Christmas Party. That is to start at noon-thirty at the Kelso Eagles. . .  .Before I get to that I have to stop by the lab and get my pro time checked; nice weather would be just fine with me.

TUESDAY

.  .  .  .  .  The temperature was 31 when I left for the drive into town this morning. The highways were clear so no problem but when I got within a couple of blocks of the Silver Star the street suddenly became solid ice. Thin ice to be sure but still very slippery. As I pulled into the parking spot I applied my brakes and gently slid the last four feet or so to a stop.. . . .Lunch was fun but only half a dozen got there. Some of the gang live out in the toolies and that drive in might have been too much for them. Bob was there for the first time in several months, it sure was good to see him doing so well. . . . . . After lunch I stopped by the bowling alley to see how well I had remembered my lessons from last time. My first five lines came to a 151 average but I improved during the second five and came up with a 159. That gave me a 155.5 for the day. Not bad for a kid. Especially this kid. . . .  .I stopped by Teigens place after leaving the bowling alley and visited with Ron for a short time. I also left my Christmas presents and returned the empty food containers Caren had sent me home with earlier. Caren was not home, off running around someplace I guess. The temperature is now 34 and rain is expected tomorrow. I'm glad it is rain because I have to see my Kidney doctor in the morning for my annual checkup. I'm feeling pretty good, those bowling scores certainly perk me up!

MONDAY

.  .  .  .  Another cold day! I did walk out to the mail box, a total of 6 feet. I've caught up on my reading and napping. Happy to know I will be going to the class of '52' luncheon tomorrow and the bowling alley. The weather site shows precipitation about 60 miles West of Kelso and at these low temperatures there is no doubt it will be snow. Hopefully it will not be so much that I can't get out by 11AM. Tomorrow afternoon rain is promised and the freezing temps are to subside. I am in favor of that!  .   .   .   .   . At the moment Monday Night Football is coming from very cold Chicago. I will have to turn up the thermostat to get comfortable but I may watch that for a while.

SUNDAY

. . . . . The temperature was 16 this morning but it had gone up to 21 by the time I drove into town for my Sunday bowling excursion. I notice as I type this at 6:50 pm that the temperature is 25.  My bowling went well, my low game was 143 and my high was 173. I came home with a 157 average for the day. I only got to bowl seven lines because the bowling alley was sold out as of noon; a large group had reserved all 32 lanes. After bowling I stopped by Big Five and purchased a soccer  ball as a Christmas gift for some little tykes that the class of 52 is sponsoring this Season.  I will take the gift with me on Thursday when I go to the dinner we are having on Thursday. Thus no bowling this week. I will be League bowling only three more times before I leave for Mazatlan on January 8th. It would be nice if I could continue bowling this well for the next three weeks.

SATURDAY

. . . . . . . The temperature outside my living room window was 18 this morning. The temperature on my puter screen told me it was 16 at the Kelso airport. As I write this it claims 23 to be the present temperature. It is safe to say that little of the snow melted today although the sun was bright this afternoon. If all goes well I will return to the bowling alley tomorrow. That depends on what time Seattle plays football on TV. I have had a runny nose most of the day and my voice is a little deeper than usual. That may hold be back from bowling.

FRIDAY

. . . . . .The snow was coming down when I got out of the sack this morning. At one point the flakes were large, fat, and wet. I am happy to say it did not last long but it never melted so we still have it covering everything. I have not been out all day but I suspect that the streets are clear because no more snow has  accumulated. Goody, goody. Perhaps it amounted to half an inch in depth. OK, that is enough winter, how long before spring begins?

THURSDAY

. . . . . .Brrrrrrr. It was cold this morning. At least 26 degrees and perhaps worse. I am happy the roads were dry on my way to the lab for my blood draw. I held off eating breakfast because that was a fasting blood draw. I got to the bowling alley about 10:15 and ordered ham and eggs. I will blame that big meal for my especially good results of 124-176-187. The 162 average was my best showing at league bowling in many months. It is too bad I was not able to get into the 'grove' during the first game. Sorry to say none of my games matched the four players on the opposing team, we lost soundly. Maybe we will get them next time.. . . .Now that Bob is out of Frontier I had no reason to stick around town so I got home by 2:30. . . . . The river is very high and very dirty looking, and cold. There will be no fishing for some time, I am sure.  At the fishing hole the water level is over the sitting area floor by about a foot. I don't know why they are letting so much water out of the lake but it is roaring down the valley and into the Columbia at about 17,000 cubic feet per second. Ahollottawata. 

WEDNESDAY

. . . . . .
The weather was cold and dry this morning as I fired up the car and headed to Frontier to pick up Bob.  He was ready to go and while he was at the front desk checking out I hauled his stuff out to the car and loaded the trunk with it. This was the first time I have visited his place.  His parents had it built in 1933 on top of a hill with 20 acres. The view at the time must have been wonderful, overlooking south Kelso. He and his father planted several trees that have over the years more or less eliminated the view. Bob visits auctions for the fun of it and his house and property show what he has purchased during the past years. He has a hankering for old clocks and old tube radios, working or not. It was a great visit and he gave me three bottles of 11 year old Charles Shaw Merlot from Napa, California. I have yet to taste it but that won't take too long, I'm sure. I was home early and spent the day reading a good book Bob had also given me. .  .  .  .I have been pulling a few chains on Facebook today, I trust I have not made too many enemies. 

TUESDAY

. . . . . Today was a nice day to drive to Vancouver for another doctor appointment.  The old prostate is not any better so I am to double my Flo-max meds and see if that helps. I will phone the doctor in a couple of weeks and give him my report. . The drive back at noon was done in 43 degree temperatures. It was cool enough but the sun did come out in the afternoon. . . . .I stopped by the bowling alley and was not too disappointed with the results. My first three lines averaged 139 and the second three came to 136. The last three helped a lot with 153. My worst game was 104. That was not good but I followed it with a 158. I will get better. . . . .Checked in with Bob again today, he will be released tomorrow at about noon, I will go in early and load the car with his stuff and then drive him home as soon as they let him out.. . . .My Cardiologist suggested I try Coconut water as a drink to take the place of sugar drinks. I bought some during my stop at Safeway today. Sorry I did. It ain't so good, I think. I purchased four eleven ounce bottles, I suppose I will drink them but I will not buy more. I will find some other way to cut out the soda drinks in my diet.

MONDAY

. . . . .I had a nice drive to Beaverton today. Just for the heck of it I walked up the stairs to the ninth floor where my doctor is located. I had to stop at the eighth to catch my breath but that only took about thirty seconds. My Cardiologist told me she sometimes has to stop three times on her walk up. . . .  .She gave me a good report, she feels my heart is doing very well considering the damage it has suffered in the past. Coming home it took an hour to get from St. Vincent hospital to the bridge over the Columbia. I would guess that to be about twelve miles. I was home by 6pm, just in time to turn on the Seahawks game. The weather was rainy and cold all day, I expect it will freeze tonight. Tomorrow I have to be in Vancouver at ten-thirty for another checkup regarding my prostate. Lets hope there is no snow!

SUNDAY

. . . . . . .The barometer is still reading above 30 and the rain is coming down. At least it is not cold enough to snow; that could change overnight, of course. I was pleased with my bowling today. The first five lines came to 141.4 and when I buckled down and really concentrated I brought it up to 146.4 with the second five. . . . .After bowling I did some more Christmas shopping then stopped in to see Bob before coming home. I was pretty hungry so I didn't stay too long. This evening it was more football and Sunday night popcorn.