Monday

I was lucky to have awakened at 6:30 this morning. I had to be at the court house by 8AM to join in with the Jury Duty crowd that had gathered. I was called to be one of the chosen but during jury selection the judge got an emergency phone call concerning the case and after about 30 minutes of consultation with the lawyers declared a mistrial. I was home by 11AM. I now have to phone in Wednesday night to find if I will be needed Thursday morning.. . After arriving home and eating some lunch I drove to the post office to find a box that Pepik's Sombreros would fit in for shipment to Prague. The Post Office was closed because of something Columbus did many years ago. Just my luck. . . .I stopped by the market for bananas and grapes then came home for the day. It looked like there were a few fishermen out on the water today, the color was good and I am sure fish are in there but I could not talk myself into sitting on the bank today. I did get sprinkled on several times while out and that dampened my fishing spirit considerably. This evening I will watch my favorite commercials until they bore me to death then I’ll go to bed.

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Sunday

I drove into town today to try my bowling skills and ended up doing fair. 149-129-157-133-139-156- I felt good about coming back with a 156 for my final game. I could tell I was getting tired so I really paid attention to what I was doing and it helped a lot.That worked out to a 144 average for the day. That is a bit better than my summer league average. Now I have to remember how I did it so I can repeat on Thursday!. . . I stopped by The Will today to see what they had that I could not live without. I almost bought a book but changed my mind. Also stopped by the Dollar Store to see what they had and again almost bought a book. I did purchase some mouth wash on my way out the door. I was home by 2:30 and warmed up some of Terri's Famous Soup for lunch. That will hold me till this evening when I plan on enjoying popcorn and a commercial free movie via 'On Demand'. I felt very lucky today because although rain was threatening all the time I was out nary a drop fell on my little pointed head. Tonight I will phone the Court House computer and see if I am expected to report for jury duty tomorrow. That 3 week trial coming up would be interesting, it has been in the works since last summer. I will let you know how it goes!

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Saturday

.  Eva and Pepik contacted me on Skype this morning, it was a bright sunny evening over there and the picture on the screen was almost H.D. It was a bit discerning when they went off line a couple of times though. The Czech Republic still has a way to go trying to keep their people on line. My plan was to take Ron to lunch today in honor of his Birthday but he was not able to make it so that will be put off till later..  . . .I spent part of the day watching NASCAR and another part reading. It turned out to be a really lazy day. I did get a good meal out of the pot of soup Terri sent me home with last night. There is enough left for at least three more meals, can’t beat that!

Friday

Friday. . . I met Terri for lunch today and we spent most of the day in the restaurant getting re-acquainted after a week of non contact. We were at Home Style Buffet in Tigard. I expected we would get thrown out after lunch and before the dinner hour but that never happened. She is planning on being in Hawaii some time this winter and I am looking for sunshine somewhere that is pocketbook possible. Perhaps we can bring both plans together. I never heard back from my lady friend in Mazatlan and am becoming a bit disappointed. Patience, patience. I arrived home around 9 PM and found that ChiChi had not eaten a thing since I had left. I stirred his food bowl with a fork and he dived in. Or is it dove in? anyway, he ate.

Thursday

My day was OK, didn't do a good job at bowling, but I have days like that. 117 - 155- 126. I guess that comes out to 133 for the day. I will do much better on Sunday, I always do when I bowl alone. . . . .I stopped by to see Caren and Ron this afternoon, she had me taste some fresh pea salad she had, sure was good and seems easy to make too. I got home in time to fix a small dinner and to watch O'Reilly at 5PM. Tonight my favorite commercials start about 8:00 so I will be up for that, unless I find I like the shows less than the commercials. It is not uncommon for me to turn the TV off in the middle of a show and go to bed and read. That is especially true if it is a movie and the commercials start coming at me every 6 minutes. That is usually my limit.
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Wednesday

I enjoyed watching two deer clean up the fallen plums outside my living room window this morning. I was sitting at the table eating breakfast when I first saw them. It was a very peaceful scene. The barometer reading was 977mb when I got up this morning, I can not remember seeing it that low before.

After lunch I decided to sit in front of the TV with milk and cookies. The doggie jumped in my lap because he likes dessert too. I reached for a cookie and hit the glass of milk hard enough to knock it over. Milk was flying all over the chair side table and on to the kitchen floor. ChiChi immediately saw his opening and dived to the floor to lick up the milk. Luckily the cookies were left on the little table. It was at that moment I decided this was the day to mop the kitchen. It is a big area and I took my time. Just as I was finishing and pouring another glass of milk the dog barfed up all the milk he had found on the floor. The bad thing is that he did that on the carpet. It is 1% milk so hopefully it will not make a stain that I can not get out. At least the kitchen floor is clean again, it has been in need of attention for some time. Later today the deer came back and doggie saw her and started getting excited so I opened the door and let him go. He did not chase the deer but walked toward her. She easily hopped the fence and walked away. I noticed about twenty minutes later she had returned. The doggie was back in the house by then.

I  have been shocked by my portfolio downturn, mine has dropped back to where it was in June 2008. That was a bad thing then and no better now. I am just going to stick with it and hope the turnaround comes soon enough to last me for as long as I live. In the meantime I plan on cutting back on the small stuff but the trip to the sunshine this winter is still on if I can find the rates I have been looking for. My two road trips cost me a lot of money this year and the $2200 repair job on the car hurt too. At least that is behind me and if I am careful and the economy starts to turn around soon enough I will be able to make it all up and still go on as I have been. I have been predicting a bad downturn for several years and I still believe the worst is still ahead of us.

Tuesday

I have been enjoying a day of accomplishment, that always helps me feel better. After breakfast I started a load of laundry then got my email caught up before starting in on my monthly bills. While that was going on the washer cycle ended so I switched things to the dryer and continued with the bill paying and cleaning up the kitchen. My checkbook is now in order again and I am ready for another month of easy livin'. The dryer buzzed me so I folded and put away all the stuff. That was all done by 11AM. I then took a horizontal position and began to read. Naturally I fell asleep but that didn't hurt me a bit. I eventually got up and gathered up the doggie for his once in a while bath. I dried him off really well then turned on the electric heater and placed him on his pad in front of it. He was a happy camper and fell asleep right away. I checked on him later and found he was really baking, I turned off the heater, he was very dry. I don't have a lot planned for the rest of the day. Should phone Ron and wish him a happy birthday. [Tomorrow] I suppose he will be 39 again this year.

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Monday

My day began by getting up late, 7:10, and rushing around here in an effort to get to the Court House by 8AM. I was about three minutes late but all went well. I was chosen for a one day trial regarding a meth dealing Longview woman. When the bailiff left the room after telling us to choose a Forman the silence was deafening. I waited about 15 seconds before pointing at the lady at the head of the table and told the group we should choose her because she was already sitting in the spot where the Forman sits. She looked embarrassed but said 'thank you', I don't think she meant that in a good way but she was a good sport and ended up being a natural. We never did take a vote. Luckily she had in the past a lot of professional experience with the drug scene and appeared to know more about it than any of the rest of us. She was very good at explaining to the new citizen our system and helped her see things in a legal way. It did not take long in deliberation except for that. The judge came in after the trial and thanked us; he was really looking for volunteers for a 3 week trial that is to start next Monday. I didn't say anything but I would not complain if I get called. I won't know more until I check in again next Monday at 8AM.I did get home at 4:50, just in time for O'Reilly and as soon as that ended I opened the computer for the first time today. Here it is Monday night again, it seems like only two days ago I was watching my Monday night commercials. Time to answer my emails and post my blog.

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Sunday

. . I could tell right away this morning that the weather was not going to be great but was surprised to find no rain fell until about 2:30. I had left the house around noon to do some bowling

and after I finished there I went to Safeway. The rain started as I was walking out with a cart full of groceries. It's always something!

Bowling was not as good as the first game indicated but I do know I can do what is necessary to score well. My problem is I forget too often while throwing that darned ball. My scores today were 182-112-107-165-123-110. It worked out to a 133 average. I will keep at it, a year from now I'll be wondering what my problem was. There is a note on my calendar reminding me that on October 6th 2010 I bowled a 136 average. I don't see much improvement, darn it!

I was home in time to catch Seattle football for the last quarter, they had a great opportunity to win with 13 seconds to go but it would have taken a lot more luck than their kicker had going for him this afternoon. I had a snack while watching the game and I plan on using the rest of the afternoon reading. Perhaps this evening I will find a good movie and pop some popcorn.

I forgot to mention that yesterday afternoon ChiChi and I watched a deer walk by our living room window. I was going to have my camera in the house for such an occasion but it was in the car. I guess I need two cameras. Or I could keep my video charged up and sitting here for the next time.

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Saturday

The skies around here never did seem to break up today so I just stayed inside and soaked up some NASCAR commercials for a couple of hours then took a much needed [not] nap. I think the temperature got above 60 during the afternoon but that was not enough to get me outside. I gave a walk a short thought this afternoon but that is about all that amounted to. I do know that it is time to start getting more serious about exercising.

I am still working my way through Dostoevsky's IDIOT. It is not too much of an effort but the characters are starting to stack up so that is going to challenge my short memory to a great degree. It could also be lack of attention, I am working on that during this reading. . . . Tomorrow will be bowling practice again and then Monday starts two weeks of Jury duty. My instructions say that three jury trials are to start on Monday, sounds very interesting, I'm looking forward to it.

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.