In the past week after my surgery, I've been trying to exercise the way Dr. Music requested. His number one exercise for my knee is a stationary bike, second, walking. The day after surgery, Charlene, who is always the greatest Nurse (for the worst patient-me), searched Craig's List and found a wonderful bike for a hundred bucks, mint condition. We picked it up the next day and I have been doing 2-3 miles a day ever since. My knee is still somewhat swollen but lessens by the day. All the muscles on my calf and thigh are very sore - I mean very sore. Back of my knee (is that the 'nape of my knee'?) is black and blue and I don't know why. Bending hurts. Just plain hurts. I have to force myself to move my right leg correctly when I walk. The pain just takes over and I walk funny, stiff legged if I don't think about it. Strange how something like walking can be forgotten so quickly in response to pain. As the days go by, I can bend it a little more, tolerate a little more pain and constantly force myself to think about how my leg is supposed to work when I walk. If I give in to the pain, I walk funny, stiff-legged, lean funny and in trying to favor my right leg, screw up my back. My back? Yea, you remember in 2009 when I started this blog - it was because I was bored recovering from back surgery. Yea, that back. So, my walking is half reflex, half thought-controlled if I don't want a sore knee and back. When I realize I'm walking with a stiff right leg, I think how my left leg takes a step and apply that motion to my right leg. Kind of a drag. I just can't go from here to there without pausing, remember to 'walk' the right leg and slowly get there. I haven't learned how to do it faster than 'slow' but I keep trying.
Today, 8 days after surgery, I went to see Dr. Music. His nurse took out my stitches - 4 on one side of my knee, 1 on the other. Dr. Music came in shortly thereafter, shook my hand and examined my knee. He made me bend and extend and was pleased with my progress. I told him that Charlene had gotten a recumbent stationary bike and was doing 2-3 miles a day and he was happy about that. He had warned me that one of the incisions would be bigger than the other but he kept having to make one bigger as he tried to get the giant boulder out (the huge one in the x-ray, previous blog post). He kind of laughed and did a replay of the operation with him struggling to get it out of the too small opening. A funny scene. He told me that the soreness of my thigh and calf is due to the fact that during the operation, they 'pressurize' the joint with water, swelling it up and stretching everything. It will slowly fade. Then, he got serious. Uh-oh.....
He told me that my knee was pretty bad and that if I treated it kindly, it would last another 6-10 years before requiring a knee-replacement operation. Then he ask, "Do you want that operation"? to which I replied, "NO!". "Do you want to know how to keep your knee?", he ask. "Well, Yeah", I said.
"Treat it gently. No jogging. No jumping. No sudden impacts to the joint. Low impact exercise - one hour a day - for the rest of your life. The stationary bike is an excellent low impact exercise and you need to use it every day. The gentle motion will help 'polish' the bone surfaces and keep them smooth and arthritic buildup to a minimum.""
And with that, he shook my hand and left. Bummer. I thought I was superman and this operation would have me up and running around like the hyper-active moron I've been for decades. But, Noooooo! I have to slow down and act my age, or should I say 'act my body condition'. Gross! Old age just plain Sucks!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Copier Knee
My first day of a 4 week vacation started out kind of weird: I was drugged, beaten, stabbed, sawed and bandaged.
Yea, that about says it all. I suffer from "Copier Knee". If you work on copiers long enough, your knees will start screwing up. After decades of "up and down, crawling around on my knees, sitting on the floor like an Indian (American, not India), the knees just take a beating.
I've had problems with my right knee for almost 20 years now and it slowly gets worse: Locks up, clicks, sends pain signals everywhere. Last November, Charlene and I were doing some shopping, walking across a parking lot when, out of the blue, my right knee decided that it was time to let me know that it probably needs looked at by someone other than the Cat. As the weeks went on, the pain increased to the point of me taking Charlene's advice and scheduling a visit with Dr. Music. He's an Orthopedic Surgeon and since Charlene sees his patients on her floor, she knew him and his excellent reputation as a knee fixer. One of my customers also gave him a great recommendation. I made the appointment, got some x-rays and paid him a visit (actually, my insurance company paid him for the visit).
You oldsters remember Marcus Welby, M.D. on TV of yester-year. Dr. Music is one of those kind of doctors: Upbeat, caring, energetic, outgoing, great sense of humor, extremely positive. He's the kind of doctor you all would want. After the first office visit, I just loved this guy! I mean, if he accidentally cut off my leg, I would still love him - he's just that great!
During my office visit with him, I had brought a paper from the x-ray people that explained 3 things wrong with my right knee, all in medical-ese that I didn't understand. He came in, sat down right beside me and took the paper and explained all three items:
1. You've got a lot of fluid in your joint
2. You've got a lot of arthritis in you knee
3. You've got a lot of 'gravel' in your knee joint.
Then he pulled up the digital x-rays and showed me the what, why and whatever was causing me pain. I've attached the really cool one here that shows a giant rock in the knee joint. Other x-rays showed more 'gravel' but not as dramatic as this x-ray:
Years of arthritis, bone spurs, calcium deposits growing, breaking off had taken it's toll. Time to operate. He said that most surgeons would tell me that I'm due for a knee replacement surgery but, (thank God) he didn't think it was that bad yet. He pulled out some Arthroscopic surgery tools and showed how the operation would go. 45 minutes to an hour in same-day surgery, home by noon. He said there would be two small incisions for the tools to be inserted in the joint and do the deed. He laughed and said one of the slits would have to be bigger than normal to get the big rock out (the one in the x ray above). If I was an office worker, sitting all day, I could go back to work in a week. Copierguy? No way - you're going to be off for a month with the abuse you give your knees. He also said I should have come see him sooner - like, 15 years sooner. So, I cleared everything with work and scheduled the surgery for yesterday morning. Charlene took me there and we arrived a 6 a.m., surgery at 7:30. Of course, in the free time before they put me under, I played with things and basically annoyed everyone. Only ask for coffee once, maybe twice.
Yea, that about says it all. I suffer from "Copier Knee". If you work on copiers long enough, your knees will start screwing up. After decades of "up and down, crawling around on my knees, sitting on the floor like an Indian (American, not India), the knees just take a beating.
I've had problems with my right knee for almost 20 years now and it slowly gets worse: Locks up, clicks, sends pain signals everywhere. Last November, Charlene and I were doing some shopping, walking across a parking lot when, out of the blue, my right knee decided that it was time to let me know that it probably needs looked at by someone other than the Cat. As the weeks went on, the pain increased to the point of me taking Charlene's advice and scheduling a visit with Dr. Music. He's an Orthopedic Surgeon and since Charlene sees his patients on her floor, she knew him and his excellent reputation as a knee fixer. One of my customers also gave him a great recommendation. I made the appointment, got some x-rays and paid him a visit (actually, my insurance company paid him for the visit).
You oldsters remember Marcus Welby, M.D. on TV of yester-year. Dr. Music is one of those kind of doctors: Upbeat, caring, energetic, outgoing, great sense of humor, extremely positive. He's the kind of doctor you all would want. After the first office visit, I just loved this guy! I mean, if he accidentally cut off my leg, I would still love him - he's just that great!
During my office visit with him, I had brought a paper from the x-ray people that explained 3 things wrong with my right knee, all in medical-ese that I didn't understand. He came in, sat down right beside me and took the paper and explained all three items:
1. You've got a lot of fluid in your joint
2. You've got a lot of arthritis in you knee
3. You've got a lot of 'gravel' in your knee joint.
Then he pulled up the digital x-rays and showed me the what, why and whatever was causing me pain. I've attached the really cool one here that shows a giant rock in the knee joint. Other x-rays showed more 'gravel' but not as dramatic as this x-ray:
Years of arthritis, bone spurs, calcium deposits growing, breaking off had taken it's toll. Time to operate. He said that most surgeons would tell me that I'm due for a knee replacement surgery but, (thank God) he didn't think it was that bad yet. He pulled out some Arthroscopic surgery tools and showed how the operation would go. 45 minutes to an hour in same-day surgery, home by noon. He said there would be two small incisions for the tools to be inserted in the joint and do the deed. He laughed and said one of the slits would have to be bigger than normal to get the big rock out (the one in the x ray above). If I was an office worker, sitting all day, I could go back to work in a week. Copierguy? No way - you're going to be off for a month with the abuse you give your knees. He also said I should have come see him sooner - like, 15 years sooner. So, I cleared everything with work and scheduled the surgery for yesterday morning. Charlene took me there and we arrived a 6 a.m., surgery at 7:30. Of course, in the free time before they put me under, I played with things and basically annoyed everyone. Only ask for coffee once, maybe twice.
Dr. Music showed up at 7 a.m. wearing sneakers, blue jeans, polo shirt. My kind of guy! The operation went very well and as I was coming out of the anesthesia fog, he handed me a couple of 8 x 10 glossy photo montages of images taken thru his instruments during the operation. I'd include more but I have no clue what is going on in most of them..... except this one - the one with the little tiny saw:
Yep, a little tiny saw cutting away all the bad stuff (the suction tool is not shown) in the middle of my knee joint. Pretty cool geek shot, eh? I was home by noon, complete with crutches. Supposed to mostly stay off it for a few days, bandage off on Wednesday, appointment for stitch removal and progress report next Tuesday. After tomorrow, I start physical therapy which consists of either a stationary bicycle or just plain walking. Lots of walking. Major lots of walking. I can't wait for that...... After I got home yesterday, my entire knee was numb, couldn't feel a thing so I was 'crutching around the house for hours. Even Charlene told someone on the phone that on a normal day, I'd sit at the computer for hours but today he can't sit still, he's all over the house. Yea, that about summed it up until the knee became 'un-numb' last evening. After that, I was on the couch, leg propped up, a took a pain pill (some really good ones, courtesy Dr. Music). Going to bed late last night was a little tougher than normal as the pain pills just took the 'edge' off the pain but still made me very aware that I wasn't going to fall asleep soon. After an hour, exhaustion won and I was out until 5 a.m. today. So much for sleeping in.......
I started out with crutches this morning for a half-an-hour and realized that crutches are mostly dangerous, at least for me so I set them aside and forced myself into careful baby steps, straight-ahead walking with no lateral twisting. It's working pretty good for now and my pain level is low so I'll probably work with it, increasing speed and stride as the days go by. For a hyper-active moron, it's maddeningly slow but I'll keep up with it per Dr. Music's orders.
By the way, my surgeon's name is really Dr. Mazurek, not Dr. Music. I'm a numbers oriented guy and can't remember names worth a damned. Initially, I could remember 'Music' so that's what I call him. His name is really pronounced like the State 'Missouri' with a 'K' on the end. Aw, so much easier to say 'Dr. Music'.
Now, I'm off to repair the roof, work on the car's transmission, mow the grass.......NOT!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Book signing strikes again!
I usually order books for Charlene through Amazon.com before they are released and receive them a day or two before they are officially released. Works out well. Several months ago, I ordered Robert Crais's unreleased new book, "Taken". About three weeks ago, I noticed that he would be at several signings so I schemed to take Charlene on a mystery date, not telling her a word. Not even the boys knew. Last night, after she changed clothes about 50 times in her attempts to anticipate what clothes this mystery date might entail, we left for the freeway. The entire afternoon, she was guessing where/what it might be, to no avail. We jumped on the freeway headed towards LA and she starts lessening her guesses as we were headed for unfamiliar territory. We arrived in Thousand Oaks, about 20 miles away at a little place called "Mysteries to Die For". Cute little bookstore that sells, you guessed it, mystery books. As I pulled the keys out of our car, I handed her an unopened package that contained "Taken" for the signing. She saw the book, saw the crowd in front and knew what it was. Remember you can click on the photo to see a larger version, then return here.
This was a much smaller place than last years Robert Crais book signing in Santa Monica and there was no room to sit so we were off in a corner at the beginning. Just before he came out, they ask for "Volunteers" to sit on the floor right beside him. Yep, our hands went up and Charlene and I sat at his feet. And funny feet they were:
He explained his own personal methods on how he writes. You know, the dedication of a set number of regular hours per day, how he outlines a story before he writes it, all the little tricks he uses. It was very interesting. He also explained that there is a lead time, like 4-6 months after you hand it to the publisher before it hits the shelves in stores. That time is used for corrections, publishing, PR work, setting up signing tours across the country, etc. He wasn't happy with his book while writing it and it took many more months to finish than he planned. The manuscript was turned in December 1st and was published around January first. Hilarious to hear how his publisher was constantly 'bugging' him in the end. Afterwards, he did his "question and answer" period which also was interesting. Then, the book signing began. This guy is a very "people-oriented" author, very approachable, very likeable and very accommodating. These are the rest of the pictures and some were taken without flash during his presentation so they're not perfect:
Here's Charlene getting her book signed:
And, in a stroke of genius, Charlene make the excellent choice of Silver Flip-Flops (?) and compared foot ware with Robert Crais. He liked my 'Cow' socks, too.
This was a much smaller place than last years Robert Crais book signing in Santa Monica and there was no room to sit so we were off in a corner at the beginning. Just before he came out, they ask for "Volunteers" to sit on the floor right beside him. Yep, our hands went up and Charlene and I sat at his feet. And funny feet they were:
He explained his own personal methods on how he writes. You know, the dedication of a set number of regular hours per day, how he outlines a story before he writes it, all the little tricks he uses. It was very interesting. He also explained that there is a lead time, like 4-6 months after you hand it to the publisher before it hits the shelves in stores. That time is used for corrections, publishing, PR work, setting up signing tours across the country, etc. He wasn't happy with his book while writing it and it took many more months to finish than he planned. The manuscript was turned in December 1st and was published around January first. Hilarious to hear how his publisher was constantly 'bugging' him in the end. Afterwards, he did his "question and answer" period which also was interesting. Then, the book signing began. This guy is a very "people-oriented" author, very approachable, very likeable and very accommodating. These are the rest of the pictures and some were taken without flash during his presentation so they're not perfect:
Here's Charlene getting her book signed:
And, in a stroke of genius, Charlene make the excellent choice of Silver Flip-Flops (?) and compared foot ware with Robert Crais. He liked my 'Cow' socks, too.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Late Night Shows
I noticed in the paper today that "Late Night with David Letterman" first aired on this day in 1982. Wow! Never thought of it before. Didn't Johnny Carson retire after 30 years? And Dave is still going strong. I've always liked Letterman. Not a lot of jokes, just, uh, more intelligent jokes. Leno's monologue runs for 10-15 minutes of non-stop jokes and it pushes me back - - too many jokes. As far as any of the Late Night shows, my taste is still evolving. Always loved Johnny Carson, always will. After a hard day, he was the King who tucked us in at night. Sometimes I watched Letterman. He was new. Raw and Rookie rolled into one. Some years back, Charlene, Nic, Trav and I went to a Wayne Brady Show in Hollywood. He was funny but, not a keeper. Then I discovered "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson". This guy was funny. His monologue is made up on-the -fly. There's some 'thoughts' on the teleprompter but that's all he needs. Very entertaining. Charlene and I went to a 'Christmas' show of his and the sole guest was Regis. They even sang carols for the audience. Love Regis - too bad he never did a late night show as I was never home in the mornings to watch his "Live with Regis and (insert name here)" show. Also used to watch Conan. I liked his show, sorry he got bumped.
After we moved East (no, not Ohio or Pennsylvania, but East Ventura), we signed up for Dish satellite for the TV. Had cable, expensive. Had Direct TV, another satellite company, too expensive, also. Dish is cheap-er. So we started watching Conan on TBS. Refreshing and good to see him again. Nic and Trav just love his show so Charlene got tickets for all of us. I'm taking a vacation day next Wednesday, February 8 and we're all going to a Conan show. Martin Short is guest. It'll be fun, taping in Burbank. Watch for us. We may get camera time with very tall red-headed twins in the audience of a red-headed host.
In the last couple of weeks, I got us all watching "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". Very funny, very fresh, very talented and entertaining guy. This guy is very talented comically, musically, everything-aly. Now, I want tickets to that show but it's in New York. Ug! I don't do New York. Hey, I coulda been a contenda as the greatest Jimmy Fallon fan........ but, Noooo!
Try Jimmy Fallon, you'll like it.
After we moved East (no, not Ohio or Pennsylvania, but East Ventura), we signed up for Dish satellite for the TV. Had cable, expensive. Had Direct TV, another satellite company, too expensive, also. Dish is cheap-er. So we started watching Conan on TBS. Refreshing and good to see him again. Nic and Trav just love his show so Charlene got tickets for all of us. I'm taking a vacation day next Wednesday, February 8 and we're all going to a Conan show. Martin Short is guest. It'll be fun, taping in Burbank. Watch for us. We may get camera time with very tall red-headed twins in the audience of a red-headed host.
In the last couple of weeks, I got us all watching "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". Very funny, very fresh, very talented and entertaining guy. This guy is very talented comically, musically, everything-aly. Now, I want tickets to that show but it's in New York. Ug! I don't do New York. Hey, I coulda been a contenda as the greatest Jimmy Fallon fan........ but, Noooo!
Try Jimmy Fallon, you'll like it.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Our New home
Part I - Impetus
Over a year ago, Charlene was in her final quarter of RN college and was feeling so beaten and worn down that she told me, "Maybe I should drop out this quarter, get my mental strength back and start again in January". It was a tough final quarter but I knew she could make it. I reminded her that she was Above Ground and there were 33 men trapped almost a half-a-mile underground in Chile and they would be there for months without the possibility of seeing the Sun until at least December. That sort of gave her the strength to go on. Then, the men were rescued much earlier in mid October. That was great! We all cheered and cried happy tears as they came to the surface one by one. But, I lost my leverage to help her keep going. So I switched to, "When you finish school, we'll be able to buy a house". OK, that one took off and she struggled forward, finished college, passed her State Boards and was hired immediately as an RN. Months later, she brought up the fact that she wanted to get our own house. In August, I signed us up for a home buying/financing class given by a local Mortgage company. Very informative and interesting. At the end of the class, they offered to pre-approve us for a mortgage so Charlene filled out the forms while I was playing with the pencils on the Group W bench. OMG! We found out that we have excellent credit scores and were approved for over 400 grand to buy a place. Wow! They even referred us to a real estate agent who works closely with them. Even though I do copier and networking stuff for some of the largest real estate companies in the county and personally know most of the agents, we decided to go with "their guy".
Part II - The Quest
It's been decades since either of us has shopped for or purchased a home. It was an easier time in those days, less scrutiny, much less paperwork and easier to find a place. Boy, times have changed! We had great help and direction from the mortgage lender and especially our real estate agent. Communications seemed nearly instantaneous via text messaging and e-mail. Much easier and faster than phone messages. After the great sub-prime meltdown, money for mortgages became harder to get as lending institutions restricted lending, increased requirements and requested mountains of paperwork. I do mean Mountains! Down payment requirements went way up, 10% to 20% needed. If we wanted to buy a house for 50 grand or less, cool, we could do that, but this is Cowlifornia and 3 bedroom houses start at 200 grand (the junky ones) and up. Uh, that would take some years to save that much but our lender set us up on the California First Time Home Buyers program. Way cool! Extremely low down payment, extremely low interest rate and the State kicks in a bunch for our down payment (of course, we have to pay it all back but the down payment just 'rides along' for 30 years at an even cheaper interest rate).
We gave our requirements to the agent and within hours started receiving potential listings. We'd read the listings, look at them from space with Google Earth and do the math to figure out what our house payments would be. California homes in the area we wanted seem too damned expensive. We fell back, regrouped and decided to go with Condo shopping for a less expensive alternative. With that in mind, Charlene wished for a pool and hot tube/Jacuzzi while I wished for a lower monthly payment.
The first place we put a bid in was just a little further from the High School and College that Nic and Trav attend but it was good. Nice pool and hot tube just steps away. Gated complex but only 2 bedrooms. Luckily, the seller was a real dick and we dropped our offer.
The next place we saw was nice and close to the schools, 3 bedrooms, pool and hot tub just steps away. We liked it a lot. It was in the process of being updated with all new carpet, appliances and the like. We put in an offer and even got to pick out the carpet. but then, the FHA appraisal came in too low and there was no way we could make up the 20 grand difference, so that was a bust. It was very discouraging.
The next condo we saw was also close, pool and hot tub, 3 bedrooms. We saw it in the afternoon and tried to put in an offer only to find that there were 2 offers ahead of us by just hours. Ahhhhh! In Southern Cowlifornia, places for sale are as follows: 1) 60% of the offerings are short sales that can tie up your down payment for months just to be turned down by the owning mortgage holder. While you are waiting for them to make up their mind, you could find the dream house but your down payment money is tied up. 2) 20% are sold at auction on the courthouse steps leaving, C.O.D. there and then which leaves 3) 20% of the rest at regular sale transactions. Bummer. We even talked to our agent and mortgage broker about mobile homes which we really didn't want and they told us of all the restrictions and 20% down payment. Another bummer. Just when we were about to commit home buying suicide, we got the following e-mail from our agent:
"Hi Charlene and Kelly,
I had taken 2 weeks vacation to do this move and Charlene had scheduled 'vacation' time, too so throughout the follow week, we each made a million trips hauling the small stuff by car. I'll tell you, when you get old, you bruise easily and by Wednesday, I looked like a 10 day old banana. I rented another truck for the following weekend to haul any leftovers and all our outdoor plants (about a bizillion of them). We decided to have everything hauled away on Saturday and there was a giant mound of old, worn out furniture, tons of crap from the garage so I called the first place I could find in local little free newspaper. He came out, gave us an estimate and hauled the stuff out the next day. Did a wonderful job with his beat-up old truck and helpers, swept the garage and driveway and used a leaf blower to make it perfect. I gave him a big tip. We had filled all the nail holes in the walls, had the carpets cleaned and Charlene hired one of those Merry Maid time crews to make the place perfect before we left. We had heard from the neighbors that previous renters never got their deposit back but we got most of ours. Very cool, indeed.
Pictures? You want pictures? You're as demanding as our spoiled cat! (She loves the new place). O.K., here's some pictures:
The next place we saw was nice and close to the schools, 3 bedrooms, pool and hot tub just steps away. We liked it a lot. It was in the process of being updated with all new carpet, appliances and the like. We put in an offer and even got to pick out the carpet. but then, the FHA appraisal came in too low and there was no way we could make up the 20 grand difference, so that was a bust. It was very discouraging.
The next condo we saw was also close, pool and hot tub, 3 bedrooms. We saw it in the afternoon and tried to put in an offer only to find that there were 2 offers ahead of us by just hours. Ahhhhh! In Southern Cowlifornia, places for sale are as follows: 1) 60% of the offerings are short sales that can tie up your down payment for months just to be turned down by the owning mortgage holder. While you are waiting for them to make up their mind, you could find the dream house but your down payment money is tied up. 2) 20% are sold at auction on the courthouse steps leaving, C.O.D. there and then which leaves 3) 20% of the rest at regular sale transactions. Bummer. We even talked to our agent and mortgage broker about mobile homes which we really didn't want and they told us of all the restrictions and 20% down payment. Another bummer. Just when we were about to commit home buying suicide, we got the following e-mail from our agent:
"Hi Charlene and Kelly,
Not sure if this one might be too far on the East side of Ventura for you."
I "Google Earth"-ed it and we saw it the next day. Yea, further away from the college but Man-o-man was the price lower than the other places and it was huge! 1700+ square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms (Wow! No waiting for the bathroom like the last 11 years!). Tennis court, pool and hot tub, yea! Charlene and I had a discussion about the distance, realizing that this was worth it so we put in a bid. Our agent put a lower bid than they were asking and they countered with a price slightly higher - we took it and they accepted it.
Now begins the process all over again. Untold mountains of forms, income tax records, paystubs, etc. Just when things looked great, Mason, our mortgage broker told us we were just over the income limit for the first time buyer program. Crap! But, he said, he could run it through just in Charlene's name and income. 5 years of struggling through college paid off, above ground! So we went with it that way, it was accepted and we got it. We got the keys 6 weeks after we first saw the place. Throughout the entire quest, the copier that Charlene never wanted in the living room became vital to the paperwork flow. The broker would ask for some document, we'd scan it on the copier and send it on via e-mail. Hundreds of forms throughout the quest. Quick and instant. She likes the copier now and can copy, print and scan with the best of 'em. She especially likes the automatic double side copy/print feature. This all led to the next step......
Part III - The Move
We got the keys on Friday afternoon, November 19. I picked up a big U-Haul truck at 5 P.M., got Trav and headed to Camarillo to buy some new double beds. For years, they slept in the same room and used the other bedroom as their Game/Computer room but now, they wanted their own room - no more bunk beds. We dropped the new beds off at the new place and headed home. For the next two days, the three of us loaded and delivered all the big, heavy stuff. I leaned to love the big appliance dolly with the strap on it. When Charlene wasn't helping load boxes, she was busy painting our most excellent Cinnabar Wall back to it's original Early Apartment White color and cleaning the old place. We had a good Saturday moving day but Sunday it rained all day right up until we took the truck back (that's when the sun came out, naturally). There was still big items in the old house but we were going to donate them, give them away or have them hauled to the dump.
I had taken 2 weeks vacation to do this move and Charlene had scheduled 'vacation' time, too so throughout the follow week, we each made a million trips hauling the small stuff by car. I'll tell you, when you get old, you bruise easily and by Wednesday, I looked like a 10 day old banana. I rented another truck for the following weekend to haul any leftovers and all our outdoor plants (about a bizillion of them). We decided to have everything hauled away on Saturday and there was a giant mound of old, worn out furniture, tons of crap from the garage so I called the first place I could find in local little free newspaper. He came out, gave us an estimate and hauled the stuff out the next day. Did a wonderful job with his beat-up old truck and helpers, swept the garage and driveway and used a leaf blower to make it perfect. I gave him a big tip. We had filled all the nail holes in the walls, had the carpets cleaned and Charlene hired one of those Merry Maid time crews to make the place perfect before we left. We had heard from the neighbors that previous renters never got their deposit back but we got most of ours. Very cool, indeed.
Pictures? You want pictures? You're as demanding as our spoiled cat! (She loves the new place). O.K., here's some pictures:
Our agent supreme, Bill Marshall, gives Charlene the keys to our new condo.
Goodbye, Cinnabar Wall.....
I've never seen the garage so clean!
The porch looks so naked....... no plants, no furniture.
I was emptying the closet and discovered Charlene had more purses and shoes than Imelda Marcos.....
Now, on to the new place
I took this pic while I was aboard the space station. I've circled our condo in blue.
Here's our floor plan. The place is extreme long as you can see. Huge family room with fireplace, nice open view kitchen that overlooks the family room, nice bar off the kitchen for informal eating and a formal dining room. The copier, my computer and the kids computer reside there. Attached 2 car garage makes this a really long place.
Here's a corner of our family room. 9' sliding glass doors, fireplace, 15' cathedral ceiling. The place has shag carpeting I haven't seen since the 60's. It also has old people wallpaper that will eventually come down.
Here's the other end of the family room with the kitchen. No, I haven't gained weight, that's our agent showing us the place. Hmmm, you're only seeing most of the ceiling height so it could be taller than 15'....... That beam is in the middle of the cathedral ceiling.
Here's a small portion of the back patio. That's our master bedroom with it's own 9' sliding glass door. The patio is huge and I just couldn't get it all in. To my right is the family room and it's 9' sliding glass door.
OK, OK here's most of the rest of the back patio
Here's the view of the front patio and garage side door from Nic's room. Hideous old people wall paper. Eww!
This was taken from the master bedroom. Charlene is checkin' out the 12 foot closet. Not a walk-in but 2 - 6 foot mirrored sliding glass doors. (editors note: I get a corner of the closet....).
here's the kitchen with it's old people wallpaper. Lots of storage and a big pantry door with shelves in the door and such just out of sight to the left.
This is a newer stained glass window next to the front door. To the right is the formal living room.
here's a pic I took after we moved in. Reading the paper at sunset time. Hey, leaves changing color - we have seasons in California.
They purposely built this with weird geometry shapes. That tall peak in the center is nothing but attic. The family room rises (not in pic) to my right with it's own slope.
Here's our front patio. Nic's room to the right, garage to the left and the formal dining room behind the 9' sliding window in the center (sort of).
Here's a pic from across the court. Got most of the house (er, condo).
Here my young, beautiful princess taking a needed break on the front patio jungle.
This is looking east on Darling road in front of our place. The red-ish building a block away is the Buddhist Temple. When we finally get most of the moving stuff put away, we're going to invite them to bless our sweet little condo. If you keep going past the temple for another 1/4 mile to get to the freeway, the follow picture is the view.
The end of our street at Wells road. This is a view of the 'Santa Paula Ridge' mountains. The sheer granite face in the center is called Topa Topa, sometimes covered in snow (6300 feet above sea level). Lots of ag farm fields out here. We're about 6 or 7 miles east of where we used to live so it's somewhat remote and quiet.
Then, there's the play area for us. This is the pool and hot tub entrance. The tennis court is to the left, out of the picture. Nic and Trav and their friends play tennis a lot. Charlene and I do the hot tub 5 or 6 times a week.
The beautiful young princess enters the hot, bubbling water. No chlorine in this, instead they use some kind of Bromine and it's so much easier on the eyes and blonde hair.
In the hot tub, through a foggy lens.
The hot tub is much better on a cool night.
Come back from the hot tub in the evening to a lovely fire. As an early Christmas present, I got us all a Gas Firelog Set. OMG! We all love it to death! No mess, instant, big or small flames, glowing embers and all. To quote Bill and Ted, "Totally Excellent!"
There, had enough pictures? I close now wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and an even better 2012.
Goodbye, Cinnabar Wall.....
I've never seen the garage so clean!
The porch looks so naked....... no plants, no furniture.
I was emptying the closet and discovered Charlene had more purses and shoes than Imelda Marcos.....
Now, on to the new place
I took this pic while I was aboard the space station. I've circled our condo in blue.
Here's our floor plan. The place is extreme long as you can see. Huge family room with fireplace, nice open view kitchen that overlooks the family room, nice bar off the kitchen for informal eating and a formal dining room. The copier, my computer and the kids computer reside there. Attached 2 car garage makes this a really long place.
Here's a corner of our family room. 9' sliding glass doors, fireplace, 15' cathedral ceiling. The place has shag carpeting I haven't seen since the 60's. It also has old people wallpaper that will eventually come down.
Here's the other end of the family room with the kitchen. No, I haven't gained weight, that's our agent showing us the place. Hmmm, you're only seeing most of the ceiling height so it could be taller than 15'....... That beam is in the middle of the cathedral ceiling.
Here's a small portion of the back patio. That's our master bedroom with it's own 9' sliding glass door. The patio is huge and I just couldn't get it all in. To my right is the family room and it's 9' sliding glass door.
OK, OK here's most of the rest of the back patio
Here's the view of the front patio and garage side door from Nic's room. Hideous old people wall paper. Eww!
This was taken from the master bedroom. Charlene is checkin' out the 12 foot closet. Not a walk-in but 2 - 6 foot mirrored sliding glass doors. (editors note: I get a corner of the closet....).
here's the kitchen with it's old people wallpaper. Lots of storage and a big pantry door with shelves in the door and such just out of sight to the left.
This is a newer stained glass window next to the front door. To the right is the formal living room.
here's a pic I took after we moved in. Reading the paper at sunset time. Hey, leaves changing color - we have seasons in California.
They purposely built this with weird geometry shapes. That tall peak in the center is nothing but attic. The family room rises (not in pic) to my right with it's own slope.
Here's our front patio. Nic's room to the right, garage to the left and the formal dining room behind the 9' sliding window in the center (sort of).
Here's a pic from across the court. Got most of the house (er, condo).
Here my young, beautiful princess taking a needed break on the front patio jungle.
This is looking east on Darling road in front of our place. The red-ish building a block away is the Buddhist Temple. When we finally get most of the moving stuff put away, we're going to invite them to bless our sweet little condo. If you keep going past the temple for another 1/4 mile to get to the freeway, the follow picture is the view.
The end of our street at Wells road. This is a view of the 'Santa Paula Ridge' mountains. The sheer granite face in the center is called Topa Topa, sometimes covered in snow (6300 feet above sea level). Lots of ag farm fields out here. We're about 6 or 7 miles east of where we used to live so it's somewhat remote and quiet.
Then, there's the play area for us. This is the pool and hot tub entrance. The tennis court is to the left, out of the picture. Nic and Trav and their friends play tennis a lot. Charlene and I do the hot tub 5 or 6 times a week.
The beautiful young princess enters the hot, bubbling water. No chlorine in this, instead they use some kind of Bromine and it's so much easier on the eyes and blonde hair.
In the hot tub, through a foggy lens.
The hot tub is much better on a cool night.
Come back from the hot tub in the evening to a lovely fire. As an early Christmas present, I got us all a Gas Firelog Set. OMG! We all love it to death! No mess, instant, big or small flames, glowing embers and all. To quote Bill and Ted, "Totally Excellent!"
There, had enough pictures? I close now wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and an even better 2012.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Where's the Rhino?
Living in Southern California is so different than Ohio. Ohio is, in my friend Andy's words, "The land of Rusty Cars". Lots of precipitation year round, especially in the wintertime. A bizillion tons of salt on the roads just destroys cars in a few short years. Southern California is basically a desert using water stolen from surrounding states. No salt is used anywhere out here so cars last and last. Driving to LAX airport and back is like driving from Cleveland almost to Cincinnati - vast stretches of highways. California is huge, like 4 'Ohios' stacked on top of each other. A few years back, I used to drive from Ventura to Modesto for Copier School. 333 miles door to door, one way. That's 5 hours driving at the speed limit. All freeway, all non-stop. And I didn't even cover half the length of the state. Cars are so necessary out here. And they seem to last forever if you take good care of them. And there are millions of them, old and new. I've never seen so many old cars from the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's - all in mint condition and used regularly. Tons of late 60's Mustangs. There are also an ungodly amount of expensive and impractical cars on the highways out here.
I see very expensive 4-wheel drive cars on the highways. I've never seen anyone take their $50,000+ new vehicle "4-wheeling" through mud runs or up the mountains so why the hell did they waste all that extra money? Image? I guess. Looking at the Sunday paper ads for new and used cars, I came across a 3 year old Range Rover for only $25,000. Why the hell do freeway drivers buy Land Rovers and Range Rovers? Starting at $36,000 to $65,000 for a 4-wheel vehicle just to drive on the Freeways? Stupid Image to me! I mean, buy a Jag or a Porsche or something. Land Rovers? Yea, if I was Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler in Wild Kingdom, then I would buy a Land Rover.
You remember those guys, doing the Wild Animal thing in Africa. Marlin Perkins, safely up a tree or in an animal-proof blind while he sends Jim to get strangled by the 26 foot Python or to fight off the Mama Lion protecting her cubs. While Marlin was safely filming from a helicopter above, Jim was getting his Land Rover rammed by a charging Rhino. And Jim always escaped in the Land Rover. Yea! That's what those vehicles are for, not driving your date to a concert at the Staple Center. California car buyers, Get Real!
I see very expensive 4-wheel drive cars on the highways. I've never seen anyone take their $50,000+ new vehicle "4-wheeling" through mud runs or up the mountains so why the hell did they waste all that extra money? Image? I guess. Looking at the Sunday paper ads for new and used cars, I came across a 3 year old Range Rover for only $25,000. Why the hell do freeway drivers buy Land Rovers and Range Rovers? Starting at $36,000 to $65,000 for a 4-wheel vehicle just to drive on the Freeways? Stupid Image to me! I mean, buy a Jag or a Porsche or something. Land Rovers? Yea, if I was Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler in Wild Kingdom, then I would buy a Land Rover.
You remember those guys, doing the Wild Animal thing in Africa. Marlin Perkins, safely up a tree or in an animal-proof blind while he sends Jim to get strangled by the 26 foot Python or to fight off the Mama Lion protecting her cubs. While Marlin was safely filming from a helicopter above, Jim was getting his Land Rover rammed by a charging Rhino. And Jim always escaped in the Land Rover. Yea! That's what those vehicles are for, not driving your date to a concert at the Staple Center. California car buyers, Get Real!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Goodbye, Dear Friend
I remember following Walter Cronkite and The CBS Evening News for several decades until he retired. There was no one who could replace him. He was called "The most Trusted Man in the world" by most. Yea, he was like an honest and good Grandfather.
One of the continuing stories the CBS Evening News would feature was "On the Road with Charles Kuralt". God how I loved that man. Such a down to earth guy and so lovable. So smart. His stories would make you laugh, cry, think. He once said about America, "A country so rich that it can send people to the moon still has hundreds of thousands of its citizens who can't read. That's terribly troubling to me". He was the original host of "Sunday Morning" which Charlene and I love. We always watch the ending "Nature Scene" of the week. He retired and soon after passed away. What a great loss.
And now, my favorite Curmudgeon, Andy Rooney. He was the reason I always watched "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. I had heard it was coming and then, several weeks ago, Charlene and I watched his final show. I will miss his whiny voice starting his complaint of the week with "Did you ever notice how.......". One of my favorites was him complaining about all the Subscription Cards that are in magazines nowadays. He took a new magazine, held it upside down, shook it and it was snowing cards all over his desk. From that point on, whenever I get a new magazine, I flip through the entire thing, pulling out the cards and anything else that is some thick-card stock ad that forces the magazine to stop flipping. I throw that stuff out without looking at it in honor of Mr. Rooney.
Now, he's 92 and retired, gone from my Sunday Evenings. It's like CBS removing the closing "Nature Scenes" on Sunday Morning. Good bye, Dear Friend, I'll miss you.
One of the continuing stories the CBS Evening News would feature was "On the Road with Charles Kuralt". God how I loved that man. Such a down to earth guy and so lovable. So smart. His stories would make you laugh, cry, think. He once said about America, "A country so rich that it can send people to the moon still has hundreds of thousands of its citizens who can't read. That's terribly troubling to me". He was the original host of "Sunday Morning" which Charlene and I love. We always watch the ending "Nature Scene" of the week. He retired and soon after passed away. What a great loss.
And now, my favorite Curmudgeon, Andy Rooney. He was the reason I always watched "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. I had heard it was coming and then, several weeks ago, Charlene and I watched his final show. I will miss his whiny voice starting his complaint of the week with "Did you ever notice how.......". One of my favorites was him complaining about all the Subscription Cards that are in magazines nowadays. He took a new magazine, held it upside down, shook it and it was snowing cards all over his desk. From that point on, whenever I get a new magazine, I flip through the entire thing, pulling out the cards and anything else that is some thick-card stock ad that forces the magazine to stop flipping. I throw that stuff out without looking at it in honor of Mr. Rooney.
Now, he's 92 and retired, gone from my Sunday Evenings. It's like CBS removing the closing "Nature Scenes" on Sunday Morning. Good bye, Dear Friend, I'll miss you.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Finally!
For the past 20 years or so, I've always wanted to see B.B King at a live concert. He's a great blues player, a great icon. He's probably an action figure by now! I remember years ago, when son Dan was waiting tables next door to the Newport Music Hall in Cowlumbus. B.B. King had just given a concert and at the end came into that restaurant. Dan waited on him and was thrilled to do so. Said he was a great customer and very friendly. B.B. King gave him a 'Lucille' lapel pin. Dan gave it to me 'cause he knew how much I like his music. I was so jealous. For an instant, I wanted to be there waiting on him. Years later, my good friend Andy showed me a video of U2's "Rattle and Hum" when B.B. King played with them. In it, B.B. King says, "I'm horrible with chords, I don't play chords". U2's Bono said, "We'll get 'The Edge' to play chords". I never thought of B.B. King not playing chords, just never entered my mind but, yes, he don't do chords. Anyway, a few years back, he was playing at the Ventura County Fair but it was one of those 'first come, first seated' kind of deals and I would have to have been sitting all day, keeping my seat in order to see him. Not! So, more years go by and then I realized that one of us, him or me, were gonna die before I see him if I don't do something soon.
Yesterday, I got two tickets for Charlene and Me to see him in Santa Barbara at the end of November. Finally!
Yesterday, I got two tickets for Charlene and Me to see him in Santa Barbara at the end of November. Finally!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Paper, Plastic and Boxes
I've shared photos in the past of Cat laying on various papers, from copier paper to Christmas wrap. She loves plastic equally well, especially grocery bags. She loves to nuzzle her way inside them, curl up and go to sleep. Then, wake up, do some things around the house and return to the bag, curl up on top of it and re-sleep. Paper or plastic? Hard choice for her. Big paper bags, the kind with handles on it are a perfect trap for her. We lay one down, she crawls in, curls up and we pick up the bag and carry her around - she doesn't care, it paper. Ditto with the plastic grocery bags. Again, she doesn't care if we pick it up by the handles with her inside and carry it around - it's plastic. Paper or Plastic.
And then, there's boxes. Cardboard boxes, large or small. Carry one in and her eyes widen, fixed on the box. Lay it down and she's inside in a flash. Mmmmmm, boxes.....
Travis has been saving for months for a very special, very expensive skateboard and it finally came today, in a box. After he opened it and removed the skateboard, he set the box on the living room floor and took his skateboard out to play. The cat was inside the box instantly. She nestled under the packing material and went to sleep, curled up. Later, she's up, eating, pooping, running, cleaning and then back to the box, this time at the other end and on top of the packing material. I've taken two photos. The first is me calling out to her, she swivels her head towards me as she finished a yawn, tongue half out. Click on the picture for the larger version, then use your 'back' button to return here.
The last picture is of the other end of the box where she first slept. Notice the 'formed covered nest'.
Cat, lover of paper, plastic and cardboard boxes. Oh, and food, drawing blood from my hands when we play rough, bouncing off walls and doors, waking us at 5 in the morning to see if we're ready to feed her, sleeping 42 hours a day, etc......
And then, there's boxes. Cardboard boxes, large or small. Carry one in and her eyes widen, fixed on the box. Lay it down and she's inside in a flash. Mmmmmm, boxes.....
Travis has been saving for months for a very special, very expensive skateboard and it finally came today, in a box. After he opened it and removed the skateboard, he set the box on the living room floor and took his skateboard out to play. The cat was inside the box instantly. She nestled under the packing material and went to sleep, curled up. Later, she's up, eating, pooping, running, cleaning and then back to the box, this time at the other end and on top of the packing material. I've taken two photos. The first is me calling out to her, she swivels her head towards me as she finished a yawn, tongue half out. Click on the picture for the larger version, then use your 'back' button to return here.
The last picture is of the other end of the box where she first slept. Notice the 'formed covered nest'.
Cat, lover of paper, plastic and cardboard boxes. Oh, and food, drawing blood from my hands when we play rough, bouncing off walls and doors, waking us at 5 in the morning to see if we're ready to feed her, sleeping 42 hours a day, etc......
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Where were you on.........?
The first was in 1958 when Father John, our church Pastor retrieved me from 6th grade class at Cranbrook Elementary School on May 20th. Under the pretense that my Mom was sick and needed me to help out, he took me home. I remember riding in his 57 Chevy, blue and white in color and just doing small talk during the ride. Upon arriving at home, Aunt Betty and Uncle Dean were there. Aunt Betty was in the kitchen doing something and Uncle Dean was vacuuming the living room floor. Mom appeared and took me into her bedroom and closed the door. I was confused and inquisitive at the time, not expecting what was to come next. She hugged me and told me that Dad had been killed in a plane crash. I remember most of the rest of that day. Some parts I blanked out but Sister Pat filled me in on that. Yea, over 53 years later I still remember where I was and what I was doing on that day.
The second time I experienced "Do you remember where you were when....?" was a little over 5 years later. I was a senior at Whetstone High School. The year was 1963 and it was early afternoon, November 22, and this particular class period I was in Audio Visual, being one of those guys that brings the film/slide projector or TV to a class and runs whatever the teacher wants to do. There were two of us that period and we had no assignment so we were just watching TV, some soap opera when Walter Cronkite broke in with the news that the President of the United States had been shot and taken to the hospital in Dallas. A few minutes later, he confirmed that the President had died. I remember running at full speed to the school office and told the principal what had happened. He followed me back to the AV room and the three of us watched in horror. School let out early that afternoon, the mood extremely quiet and somber. And I remember the next painful week in our history. Joe Arthur, history teacher at the school (and soon to be my brother-in-law), said it was a horrible thing but if it had to happen, he was glad it happened in our lifetime so we could experience it. Strange statement but I can appreciate it. Yea, I still remember where I was and what I was doing over 48 years ago.
10 years ago today, being an early riser and a news junky, I was up early getting ready for work and turned on the TV. There it was, the burning North Tower of the World Trade Center. Shortly thereafter, the South Tower was hit by the 2nd plane. Before I left for work, the South Tower had fallen before my eyes. Terrorism had finally arrived inside our country on a massive scale. Things would never again be the same. Yea, I still remember where I was and what I was doing 10 years ago.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
There is No Escape
About 15 years ago, I started receiving junk mail from AARP. I don't know why as I had just turned 50. I just threw it in the trash. Next month, same thing, same action. This continued for years, the only difference being the junk mail from AARP began coming sooner than every 30 days. Special envelopes, colored envelopes, special offers, discounts, free gifts if I just replied. I probably could have died and they'd still send the damned things (c/o the graveyard?).
When I moved to California, it didn't take long for them to find me. Faster than BMG and Capitol Records found their flaky paying customers in the 90's! The monthly letters started coming again, only to my place in Ventura. So I threw them away, just like in Ohio. I haven't replied to them, contacted them or returned any of their return envelopes. You know when you get junk e-mail and you click on the 'unsubscribe' at the bottom of the e-mail, hoping to stop them? We all know that's a mistake .... you have just validated your e-mail address. Sure, they unsubscribe you but then turn around and sell it to dozens of other junk e-mailers to use. That's always been my thought on notifying AARP to leave me alone. They'd find a way and double or triple their attempts to lure me into their gingerbread house of seniors.
When I turned 65, they doubled their efforts with twice as much junk mail. Now I get pre-printed membership cards for myself and Charlene, gift offers (oh, a free flashlight - be still my beating heart...). I opened the latest junk mail yesterday. Another pre-printed membership card, offer of a free travel bag. Travel bag, yea, right! A cheap canvas bag with giant AARP letters on it. I've always wanted to be the laughing stock of the senior set. No thanks!
I cannot imagine the number of trees they've killed trying to get me to join. As I was starting to pitch the mail in the trash, I held back. Let's see here, $16 a year, no more junk mail, dozens of trees saved. Hmmmm. What if....... Yes? No? What should I do? Crap, I feel like I'm trapped between a Rock and a Woody Allen Movie.......
When I moved to California, it didn't take long for them to find me. Faster than BMG and Capitol Records found their flaky paying customers in the 90's! The monthly letters started coming again, only to my place in Ventura. So I threw them away, just like in Ohio. I haven't replied to them, contacted them or returned any of their return envelopes. You know when you get junk e-mail and you click on the 'unsubscribe' at the bottom of the e-mail, hoping to stop them? We all know that's a mistake .... you have just validated your e-mail address. Sure, they unsubscribe you but then turn around and sell it to dozens of other junk e-mailers to use. That's always been my thought on notifying AARP to leave me alone. They'd find a way and double or triple their attempts to lure me into their gingerbread house of seniors.
When I turned 65, they doubled their efforts with twice as much junk mail. Now I get pre-printed membership cards for myself and Charlene, gift offers (oh, a free flashlight - be still my beating heart...). I opened the latest junk mail yesterday. Another pre-printed membership card, offer of a free travel bag. Travel bag, yea, right! A cheap canvas bag with giant AARP letters on it. I've always wanted to be the laughing stock of the senior set. No thanks!
I cannot imagine the number of trees they've killed trying to get me to join. As I was starting to pitch the mail in the trash, I held back. Let's see here, $16 a year, no more junk mail, dozens of trees saved. Hmmmm. What if....... Yes? No? What should I do? Crap, I feel like I'm trapped between a Rock and a Woody Allen Movie.......
Monday, August 8, 2011
Fair time again...
Yesterday, Charlene and I went to the Ventura County Fair. Charlene had read about a new event this year called "Mutton Bustin" and it sounded cute and interesting. Of course, we intended to see all and experience all, as usual. So, at 11 am, we were parked and through the gates. Remember, click on the photos to see the large version, then click your browser's 'Back' button to return here and continue.
Why does she always get the adult ticket and I have to use a child's ticket?
First up, just the visual experience of the Sunday crowd on the midway past the gates.
Walking toward the Mutton Bustin' we passed a sideshow that reminded me of work....
We had some time to kill so I played with a cow....
Now, it was time for the 'Ride'. There were about half a dozen kids vying for the Gold Medal and a chance to continue at the California State Fair and gobs of dollars. Some were grinning and ready, others acted reserved.
So cute. No bucking, just a scared sheep running to the other end of the arena with a scared kid holding on for dear life. When the fall off, they only have a foot or two to fall and the dirt is raked up nice and soft. Here's a short video that says it all:
At the end of the show, we were off again on the midway. We checked out all the exhibits. Special note to John in Florida, the animal pens were filled with ONLY sheep. The fair is too small to house all the different animals at once so they rotate. Today was sheep only. Cows tomorrow. Damn! But there was one unusual sheep. I think from the deep South. I can't be sure but it looked like it was a member of the Ku Klux Sheep Klan......
We did the swings thing next.
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