Winter days are slowwwww ; iPad webcasts...

(Posted from home)
(This post coves 27 – 30 January, 2010)

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Saturday, 30 January-

Today I did some cleanup of the office, paid a few bills and did some filing. In the late afternoon I drove in to Borders for a cappucino and a look 'round for an interesting magazine but didn't find anything worth taking home. I like their cappucinos better than Starbucks but the cafe had an odd vibe. In retrospect, it may have been a lack of background music. People seemed to avoid interaction. Perhaps it was only because many of them were reading. I probably haven't given the place a fair shake given that I only spent a few minutes there and was frustrated about not being able to get a Times. I see they have free wi-fi so I'll have to bring the laptop next time and hang out a bit to see if it's really as sterile as it seems at first glance.
That evening we watched a few eps of '30 Rock- Season 3' on Netflix Instant.

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Friday, 29 January-

This morning I thought I'd take a motorcycle ride to pick up something at the pharmacy. Unfortunately, the motorcycle's battery didn't agree. I had started up the bike yesterday afternoon when the temperature was around 40 degrees but today it was only 16. What a difference! The motor turned over a few times but I could hear it turning slower and slower with each revolution and by the fifth rev it was all over. I dug out the trickle charger while I had a conversation with myself about the stupidity of trying to start in such cold weather. As I remember it I did start the bike up once when the temp was 12 degrees but that was many charge-discharge cycles ago.
Once the charging completes, I'm guessing the battery will work okay above, say, 35 degrees but I'll need to get a new one this Spring.
I tried to start the KLR yesterday and the day before when the air temps were in the 40's but that didn't work either, again because of a weak battery. I already knew that one was weak so I wasn't surprised. And it was SO close to starting. It would run a few revs on its own and then shut down.
I changed out of my motorcycle gear and drove to the pharmacy, then spent an hour at the Red Land Library reading the local papers and picking out a couple of books for my bedtime reading.
I seldom remember to jot down what I'm reading but right now it's 'Undaunted Courage' by Stephen Ambrose. This one was popular in 2004-2005 around the 100th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Somehow Labashi had read it but I hadn't. It has been in our bookcase all this time and only came to my attention when I went looking through our books to decide what to clear out. In any case, I'm VERY glad to be reading it after having been to many of the places Lewis and Clark visited on their incredible expedition.
This afternoon I worked with Labashi on some issues regarding The Move and then did a bit of blogging.

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Thursday, 28 January-

Today Labashi and I wanted to have a lunch date. I've wanted to take her over to Restaurant Sidney in East Berlin. I've stopped there for lunch a few times and really like it. But today I assumed they opened for lunch at 1100 and arrived there only to find lunch starts at 1130. We decided not to wait and zipped across the East Berlin Road to York and lunched at Chili's.
We overdid a bit at Chili's, sharing a few 'muy fuerte' El Presidente margaritas before sharing their scrumptious fajitas de camaron.
We dropped in at Wal-mart on the way home to pick up a few necessities but by the time we got home the drinks had made us lazy. We watched three episodes of the Brit situation comedy “Black's Books” late in the afternoon.
That evening we watched the final two episodes of “Big Love- Season Three”. We love Big Love but it's a bit tricky to follow all the twists and turns in the plot in these last two episodes. And that's a good thing!

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Wednesday, 27 January-

I was planning to go to town this afternoon but then remembered today's the day for Apple's big tablet-computer announcement. I knew I could just wait until this evening and see a well-constructed version of what had happened but I wanted to see how it was handled on live webcasts and Twitter.
An hour before the event Twitter was abuzz with tweets telling us we could see the event live at such-and-such an address. I didn't trust the tiny-urls enough to click them directly but Google gave me some trusted names to try.
I was surprised to learn I couldn't see the live event. The words 'live coverage' meant I could either read tweets coming from their guy on the floor or I could watch two people sitting at a typical newsdesk watching tweets roll across THEIR computer screens and commenting on them (!!!). This didn't seem to be going well at all...
One of the early sites I tried was the Brit newspaper The Guardian. This one looked promising at first but once Steve Jobs came on stage, it became frustrating.... way too slow.
I had opened a window to CruchGear and at first thought it silly to see the two staffers at a newsdesk reading their screens. I opened up a feed to Engadget and saw them posting photos of Job's presentation along with comments. I quickly realized that the audio from the CrunchGear window and the visual from the Engadget window complemented each other. The Engadget window would refresh every 30 seconds and the CrunchGear folks had an eye on multiple feeds so they'd mention stuff I otherwise would have missed. I could switch between windows and sometimes watch both windows at the same time. That seemed to be the best bet.
The bottom line, though, is I really, really missed just having a live television feed from the announcement venue (of Steve Jobs speaking) with a webcast of the accompanying presentation slides. Is that difficult to do?
Regarding the iPad itself, I won't be buying one anytime soon but that's more about what I need than about the sexiness of the device or how well it does it's job. In short, I don't think the e-book thing is a good deal at all. I'm entirely happy to just continue reading existing books and to get them from the library.
As to games, I just don't get the attraction. I don't see the interest in watching flashing pixels simulate doing something when real life is so much more interesting and challenging.
Music? Well, my iPod does that. And, oh yeah, I'm not a fan of AT&T OR Verizon and their coupla-meg-for-lotsa-bux data plans. Sooooooo.... no iPad for me.
That evening we watched 'Big Love- Season Three' (S3.D3).


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West Shore tour, wind-storm aftermath

(posted from home)
(This post covers 23 – 26 January, 2009)

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Tuesday, 26 January-

We spent a few hours this morning cleaning up after yesterday's storm. The roof gutter was clogged with debris and we had small branches all over the patios and yard. But we really have nothing to complain about. I'll have to pay a tree guy to take down the hanging branch (it's about 25 feet up) but that should be routine (for him!)
I spent the rest of the day working on the web and working with Labashi on issues for The Move.
That evening we watched the first episode of Ken Burns' 'National Parks: America's Best Idea'.

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Monday, 25 January-

I spent the morning paying bills. My good friends at Blue Ridge Cable missed the fact that they had talked me into a faster internet connection deal (at a reduced price) and just billed me for the higher connection speed. What a deal! At first the customer service rep just offered to slow down the speed (yeah, that'll fix it!) but eventually figured out how to give me the deal and credit my account for the past overcharges. But couldn't it just have been done right the first time?
We had a very windy night last night and lost two trees down in the 'lower 40' as well as a branch broken off and hanging down near the house. The wind was very strong this morning but died down by 1100 or so. But then the power failed.
Labashi and I wanted to get out of the house with the power down so we drove in to Smokey Bones for lunch. Years ago I first tried Smokey Bones in Montgomery, Alabama and loved their ribs. They were without a doubt the best I've ever had (I went back twice that week to be sure!). But our experience today wasn't a great one so I think we're done trying to get Alabama ribs in PA.
We then drove over to the AAA office to pick up some Mexico Tourbooks and then on to Borders to look for some history books on Mexico. We have a relative who is moving to central Mexico for work and we're hoping to visit and tour central Mexico.
That evening we watched three episodes of 'Big Love, Season 3'. We love 'Big Love', though we do fear they're going to have problems keeping up the quality of the writing.


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Sunday, 24 January-

Today was a 100-per-cent-chance-of-rain day. I wanted to take the Concours down to the Tollgate Starbucks for my Sunday paper and at first thought I'd have to revert to what motorcyclists call 'the cage' (the car). But after staring at the Wunderground radar screen for a bit I decided the rain wouldn't hit our area for a while. And according to the radar images south and southwest of here (where the rain was coming from) the rain was very light-- at least at first.
Going down, the road was dry but south of York I began seeing water drops on the windshield. By the time I reached Fourbucks, the road was wet. But it didn't really get worse. I spent two hours reading and sipping and then headed home without even donning my rain gear; it was still just a drizzle. The rain started in earnest an hour or so later.
That evening we watched Quentin Tarantino's “Inglorious Basterds” with Brad Pitt. I can't say I see why it's an award winner. If you take it as a joke or perhaps witty for it's paying homage to various movies that went before it, well, OK, but I was thought it was all sizzle and no steak.

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Saturday, 23 January-

Today Labashi and I took a drive around the West Shore in preparation for Labashi's parents' move to the Bethany Village retirement community in early February. We visited both the Frederickson Library in Camp Hill and the Simpson Library in Mechanicsburg for brief walk-throughs and conversations with staff about services and programs. When we're traveling we spend a lot of time in libraries so we were wondering what our reactions would be to these. Both seemed very friendly and I see the Simpson was chosen as a Reader's Choice 2009 favorite. The Simpson seemed a bit claustrophobic to me but I did like their comfortable upstairs reading and wi-fi loft. I liked the Frederickson's soaring architecture and Mission-style furniture and their good selection of newspapers. Dad's art library far surpasses their collection but I'm sure he'll find some interesting books. Both libraries use the Cumberland County online library system which seems to be pretty good. Between inter-library loan and their program to deliver books to elderly members who have difficulty making the trip to the library, I think this will work out well to supplement the small library in the retirement community.
Labashi and I then ran across town to the Wal-mart to buy some inflatable mattresses for the next phase of The Move. This time we'll be renting a car for the trip to Detroit so we won't have Mocha Joe and will sleep in the house. Having the air mattresses will allow us to load everything into the U-Haul and still have a place to sleep (Mom and Dad will be in a hotel that night).
As we drove around on our errands we kept an eye out for restaurants to try with Mom and Dad. It's going to be tough, I think, to find a replacement for El Nibble Nook (their favorite).
We were surprised to find so many ethnic restaurants and look forward to trying them. At each restaurant Labashi picked up a menu and is making a file of them for the future. But for today we were hungry for bar-be-que so we tried 'Uncle Mike's Backyard BBQ', with mixed results. I wish the family running this new restaurant well but I don't think they're going to make our favorites list.
We then drove to Bethany Village for two quick little items. We measured the freight elevator and checked out Mom and Dad's assigned parking spot.
Back home we finished up 'True Blood- Season 1'. We liked the first few episodes but then the writing seemed to go downhill and the actors seemed to be working in a soap opera.

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Phase 1 of The Move completed ; new wireless network ; 'True Blood'

(posted from home)
(This post covers 11 – 22 January, 2010)

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Friday, 22 January-

I spent the entire morning continuing to research the Time Capsule and Airport Extreme network to be sure I have everything set up correctly and securely and with up-to-date software and firmware.
I then spent a couple of hours researching the Internet connectivity requirements of the Comcast system at the retirement village and ordered the latest DOCSIS 3 cable modem and an Airport Express wireless router from Amazon.
Late in the day I reserved the U-Haul van for the next phase of The Move and reserved a rental car. This time we're not going to take Mocha Joe since Labashi will be driving Mom and Dad back and I'll be driving the U-Haul.
That evening: three more eps of 'True Blood'.

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Thursday, 21 January-

This morning I tried to figure out how we're going to move a large, very heavy Berber carpet in the next phase of our move. I finally came up with an estimate of weight and I think we can handle that but the 12-foot long roll is going to be a problem to get in the elevator at the retirement village. I'll have to see if there's a freight elevator.
We also had some research to do on getting the septic tank inspected at the Michigan house. Mom and Dad have accepted an offer on it and the agreement requires an inspection. The county inspector had told us he doesn't do inspections until Spring but in our back-and-forth with him today, it appears he's going to make an exception.
By mid-day I needed to get out so rode the Concours down to Starbucks for a cappucino and Times. The weather was a pleasant 40 and sunny and felt great.
When I returned I attempted to replace a battery in Labashi's older Timex watch but this one defied all logic. After disassembling the watch I finally had to give up. The resin watch strap was cracked anyway so it wouldn't have been long until that broke too. In any case, I gave up on the watch and ordered a replacement for her from Amazon.
Late in the afternoon I replaced our wireless router with an Apple Time Capsule. This unit has a dual-channel wireless router but also has a 1 terabyte hard disk which automatically backs up my Mac.
The installation was really a breeze. I took more time reading the instructions and fretting over software and firmware versions than it took to get the wireless network up. Afterwards both the Mac and Labashi's Windows platform connected to the network on the first try.
That evening we watched three more episodes of 'True Blood'. Oh, Sookie!!!

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Wednesday, 20 January-

Today I spent quite a bit of time working on the entertainment center we bought late last year. I've finally decided how I want to ventilate it so the gear inside it doesn't overheat. I drilled 36 three-eighths-inch holes in the back, near the top. Labashi had also gotten glass cut to add two shelves for gear as well as a top to protect the nice wood surface.
The ventilation project seemed to drag on but came out fine. But when I tried to install the shelves I had to run to the hardware store for studs.
Of course to do this work I had had to unplug all the cables going to the gear and then get it all working again. Before starting work I made a diagram to remind me where the cables go. I can no longer depend on my memory with such things. The diagram must have helped; everything came up the first time and worked as it should.
In my trip to the hardware store for studs, I had stopped at the video store and picked up several DVDs. That evening we watched the first three episodes of 'True Blood', an HBO series about modern-day vampires 'coming out' in society after synthetic blood has been developed and they no longer need to feed on humans. All this sounds silly but the plot is very inventive.


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Tuesday, 19 January -

This morning I led out visitors back to the retirement community where we had parked the U-Haul truck. They are taking a portion of the load (the rack of paintings) home for safekeeping. After dropping them off I drove on to Lowe's to buy locks for the storage cages where we're temporarily storing the furniture and boxes for The Move.
I had a chat with the Wellness specialist at the retirement community's pool about their programs for Mom and Dad. As I left, it dawned on me that there are some very, very nice facilities here. I'm really looking forward to walking these long, long halls and stairways (I can get my walk done INDOORS now!), an occasional game of pool and maybe even a dip in the big whirlpool spa.
Back home I picked up our mail at the post office (it had been on hold during our travels), then I started up the motorcycle and Miata and took them for short rides to get the oil circulating and battery charged up.
I did finally get around to walking my six-mile loop, picking up four Wal-mart bags-worth of beer cans and other trash.

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Monday, 18 January-

Today we unloaded the U-Haul truck at the retirement village near Harrisburg. With the assistance of Labashi's brother and his wife, our unloading process went smoothly and we finished up by 1600. We all then had a well-deserved meal (and a few glasses of wine) at the Hillside. We spent the rest of the evening at home, enjoying a long, leisurely chat with our visitors.

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Sunday, 17 January-

We arose early and finished loading and tying down the load in the Uhaul and in Mocha Joe. Labashi and I then departed for home around 1000. Our 500-mile trip went well, bringing us to the retirement home in the Harrisburg area around 2000. We parked the Uhaul in the visitor's lot and went to the nearby Isaac's sandwich shop for a bite before heading home and falling into bed to a wonderfully-deep and dreamless sleep.

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Saturday, 16 January -

Today was loading day. I picked up the U-Haul truck at 0730 and we loaded all day, again entertaining prospective home-buyers and their agents as we worked! We had four showings and the people didn't seem to mind the fact that we had a moving truck and three or four of the family's vehicles in the drive. In some cases the prospective buyers had to park out on the street and to weave around through us as we loaded. They were all very nice folks, though, and we enjoyed meeting and talking with them. By evening, though, we were completely exhausted.

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Friday, 15 January -

I spent the better part of the day building a rack for transporting and protecting the paintings. It's eight feet long and four feet wide and I expect to easily fill it. The framework will allow me to stand the bubble-wrapped paintings on end and keep them vertical. It will keep them off the floor in case there's a water leak (Uhaul says their trucks aren't necessarily waterproof). Also, this frame will be useful for storage at the destination.
While all the cleaning, packing and rack-building was going on we had showings of the house! We had told the real estate agent that we wouldn't be ready for pictures of the interior of the house until Monday but she went ahead and listed the property late yesterday. Within an hour there was a call to set up an appointment to show today. We certainly didn't expect that and can only beg forgiveness of the agents and prospective buyers.


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Thursday, 14 January -

Today we signed the contract with the real estate firm to put Labashi's parents' house on the market. We had a lot of work to do getting ready for showings and spent the day at it.
We also had some odd things happen today. A lightbulb blew out and when we put a new one in it didn't work. I tested the bulb and it was fine. I disassembled the light socket and found a short. Once again, what's going on with things failing just as we're selling the house?
I fixed the short simply by re-routing and re-connecting the wires after cutting them back a bit to ensure there was good insulation around the individual wires and it wasn't going to touch any of the metal fittings of the socket.
That evening we went to Mom and Dad's favorite restaurant, El Nibble Nook. This place cracks me up. It has been in business since 1946, when it opened as a hamburger joint called 'The Nibble Nook'. Years later they decided to become a Mexican restaurant and changed the name to 'El Nibble Nook'. Several family members (including me) sometimes accidently call it the 'Nimble Nook'.
When we were here last May (over Cinco de Mayo) I learned form an article in the Detroit Free Press that 'El Nibble Nook' margaritas are the strongest and cheapest in the entire Detroit metro area and I've tasted a few since. The review was mui correcto.

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Wednesday, 13 January -

Last night as I stepped into the van to do something I heard the garage door opener working. I had put the extra garage door opener in my pocket and had apparently pressed the switch accidently as I bent over to enter the van. But when I hit the switch again, I noticed the opener didn't make its normal sound.
I investigated and found the opener had malfunctioned and the door was stuck partially open. I had to disconnect the door from the track in order to put it down.
This morning I took the cover off the opener mechanism and found the nylon gears were stripped. I called Sears and made an appointment for a technician but that won't happen until next Tuesday after I've left. This opener was installed in 1991 and lasted all this time but just as we're about to sell the house, it quits. Maybe it's a protest against selling the house after all these years.
I also sold Dad's desk today. Several weeks ago I had put an ad on Craigslist and also sent emails (with a photo) to several used furniture stores in the area. I didn't get any bites from Craigslist but did get a response from a used furniture store. I had hoped to get a private buyer in order to get a better price but ended up letting the desk go for $100 to the used furniture store today. The good is the store's guys took care of getting the behemoth out of the house and onto the truck.

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Tuesday, 12 January -

Another day of packing, cleaning, and figuring out what to do with years of accumulated 'stuff'. Thank goodness Labashi's brother is able to take many things for his garage sales next Spring. But the more difficult things to place, of course, are those that have a history. Dad was quite willing to let a drawer-full of photos of his sculptures and paintings go but I couldn't. I dumped them in a box to look through later. I also volunteered to take all the Super-8 films and 35 mm slides plus the old projectors. I day-dream of putting them in a digital format so the rest of the family can see them but will likely only do that for a few extra-special items.
I've made friends with a fellow Starbucks fan. Each day I go to Starbucks once or twice for a mocha, a chai or a frappucino. I began talking to 'Larry', a guy who's about my age and apparently also a walker. I noticed he was dressed for walking in this 20-degree weather and we struck up a conversation. I ran into him a few days in a row and now we talk easily. We're mostly just chatting about the news or weather but I've also learned a bit about him. He could easily be mistaken for a homeless guy and he's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed (nor am I!) but we seem to get along-- at least in this context.
Larry grew up in the area and is a year younger. He's living on disability now but in the past held jobs in a local assisted-living home. He hasn't been married and lives with his sister who has a regular job. He spends afternoons at Starbucks reading the papers and talking with the regulars, some of whom buy him a coffee now and then. I enjoy seeing this neighborhood thing going on and to some degree am becoming part of it. The Starbucks staff knows what drinks I like and chat with me a bit more than the strangers who just come in for a quick coffee. I like it.

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Monday, 11 January-

I spent most of the productive part of my day wrapping paintings in bubble-wrap and trying to figure out how I'm going to pack them for the trip to PA. The guys at the U-Haul shop are already joking with me about paying more for bubble-wrap than I paid to rent the truck.
In the evening I updated and posted the blog. I've not been walking since I feel I'm already getting plenty of exercise through the work day!

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Back to Michigan to prepare for the Big Move.

(posted from the in-laws' home)
(This post covers 6 – 10 January, 2010)


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Sunday, 10 January -

Today was a another dirty, dusty day in the garage. The overnight temperature was only ten degrees so the garage wasn't very inviting this morning. The propane heater didn't seem to do a lot at first so we had to take a few warm-up breaks. Today the goal was to clean out 'the loft', an area above the garage proper which was chock-a-block with art work and art supplies, old trunks and boxes, and the accumulation of thirty years of living (and did I mention dust and dirt?)
By noon we had the garage filled and we were very glad to see the brother with the van and trailer for us to once again fill to the brim.
The younger brother painted and caulked and helped load garage contents while Labashi did her regular amazing job of organization. I made it through the afternoon with a boost from a Starbucks chai but by supper time I was dragging. After supper I revived a bit and caught up the blog.


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Saturday, 9 January -

Today Labashi and I began cleaning out the garage. Labashi's brother brought a propane heater over and that helped get the garage to a fairy comfortable temperature for our dirty, dusty ruminations. I spent an inordinate amount of time packing up the household chemicals, paints, gardening supplies, and art supplies. After lunch, another brother came over and we loaded a trailer-load and a van-load of tools, and garage contents which hopefully he can sell this Spring in his garage-sale hobby. Thank goodness for that!
By 1630 I was exhausted from working in the cold and took a short nap, then spent the evening on the web.

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Friday, 8 January

Today we spent all day driving to the Detroit suburbs once again. We were only home a week but it's time to start packing up out there to get ready to sell the house and to make the Big Move of Labashi's parents to the retirement community.
We had an easy drive for the most part though the temperature was only about 15 degrees, the wind was blowing a good 25 against us, and the roads we sloppy with salt-slush. The rest stops seemed nearly deserted, though and traffic was light until we reached the outskirts of Detroit in rush hour. Still, we had enjoyed listening to 'This American Life' and 'RadioLab' podcasts through Ohio so we were in a good mood by that time and it didn't seem too bad.

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Thursday, 7 January-

This morning I made a run to the blood lab for them to draw a sample for my doctor to see how my cholesterol level is doing. I hit the post office and, back home, fixed (hopefully) my leaky radiator in Mocha Joe with some aluminum powder.
Also, today was Cherry Larry's last day with our family. I had him hauled to the crusher today.
I bought him in 1997 with 50K on the clock and drove him over 100K miles. But I made the mistake of tarring the underside in the hopes of staving off rust and corrosion. That apparently made things not only worse, but MUCH worse. The body cancer first developed four or five years ago and by two years ago I had to have a rocker panel on the driver's side repaired. The next year, the rocker panel on the passenger side was bad but I ignored it given how little we were using it by then. We were only using it for hauling mulch and the occasional furniture or appliance-hauling jobs. This past summer I noticed a pool of oil under the front end and found the power steering seal had given up the ghost. I checked with the local junk yard and learned they'd pay $3.00 a hundred-weight if I could drive it in, $2.00 if they had to come get it. That was around the time of the Cash For Clunkers program and I considered trading it in but didn't really see anything I'd like to have. Finally, I needed space in the driveway to temporarily store Labashi's Dad's car while we sell it, so I called the junk yard. For some reason the price went up to $4.00 a hundred-weight and that included hauling so I told them to come get it. I had paid $10,600 for it in 1997 and got $154 for it from the junk man. But that also took $135 off my insurance bill and saved me another $200 in inspection repairs. RIP, Cherry Larry!!!
Late in the day I took a load of Dad's art books up to the retirement community and reserved a U-Haul for our upcoming Big Move adventure for Labashi's parents.
That evening we watched the 'Big Love-3' extras on disk 1 and Episode 1 of “Black's Books”, a Brit sitcom. Not sure on that one yet. The word is you need to watch a few episodes before making a decision. After reading reviews which said the laugh track is too obtrusive I didn't expect much but it was surprisingly okay. We'll see.

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Wednesday, 6 January -

I spent the morning on many small office items, i.e., paying bills, taxes, and my car insurance. In mid-afternoon I received a call from Wal-mart telling me the new tires for Mocha Joe are in. I was hoping this would happen. We're due to leave for Michigan Friday but when I bought the tires online delivery was estimated as sometime between tomorrow and next Tuesday. I rushed in to Wal-mart and was lucky; the garage was nearly empty. They had my tires on in 20 minutes.
These new tires are Michelin LX tires in an extra-load light-truck configuration. My old tires were Goodyear Wranglers and they did okay. The great news is they were only $65 a piece. I bought a set in August 2008, just before leaving for my 16,000-mile Alaska trip. I put another 6K on with last winter's Florida trip, then another 12K with this past summer's Oregon-Trail trip. That's only 34K and they were supposed to be 50K tires. They looked like I might get another 8-10K if I didn't mind pushing the limits. But our winter trips back and forth to Michigan have me a bit skeptical. If I get caught in snow I want some decent tread and this mud-and-snow tread gets good reviews. Also, I had the disconcerting experience of having a flat outside Chicago and finding a large divot in the tread around a plug. The 'divot' was a scooped-out area about two inches around and a half-inch deep with the plug at the center. It was very hot to the touch. I've not seen that before and hope to never see it again! I had been zooming along at 60 miles per hour and noticed the van began swaying as if in a strong wind. But after pulling off I saw the low tire and found it leaking air. We were probably only minutes from a blowout.
Late in the day I drove to my trash-hide on my walking route. When I go for my walk I take along a few plastic Wal-mart bags and pick up trash, mostly beer cans. I hide the full bags behind a large rock out of view of passing traffic. When I've accumulated enough bags, I drive there in one of my vehicles and load them into a large garbage bag for the next trash pickup at my home. Today, as I picked up the bags a youngish couple walked by with their dogs and we chatted a bit about the clean-up. Looks like they may help keep the area cleaned up.
That evening we watched two episodes of 'Big Love- Season Three'. Good writing!
No walk today because of my tires appointment.

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Pining for Florida, vehicle 'issues', 'Secretary', 'Taking Chance'

(posted from home)
(This post covers 1-5 January, 2010)

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Tuesday, 5 January-

OK, so I'm getting just ridiculously lax about updating the blog online. Today sets a new record of the length of time between posts. This started while travelling and being unable to post every few days. That led me to keep the blog in an offline version and then copy the offline version to the online version. That's ok when the offline-to-online process is happening every few days but I hadn't posted since December 15th. I spent the morning filling the holes in my notes today and converting them to narrative and then posted.
This afternoon I just couldn't wait to get out and walk. We've had a very windy and cold few days so today's mid-Thirties-and-light-winds day called to me. There are even a few patches of faint blue showing through the clouds.
I walked my six-mile loop, picking up three Walmart-bags of trash (mostly beer cans that appeared since my last cleanup walk about a month ago) on the creekside segment. The good-ole boys are putting out three to four beer cans a day. I can't imagine why. Maybe there are carloads of them passing through.
That evening I finished up catching up the blog while Labashi watched a National Geographic special on the Koran and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

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Monday, 4 January -

I was surprised today to find the Miata battery holding a charge. It had appeared to have been so dead that I expected it wouldn't recover. But it seemed very strong. I took a short drive up to the local gas station to top off a leaky tire and get oil circulating through the transmission and rear end and rub the rust off the brake calipers.
I then tried to start ol' Cherry Larry, our beater-van. I noticed the door didn't seem to be closed the whole way and sure enough, the battery was completely dead. I put the charger on it but the charger lights don't look normal; I think the battery is beyond help.
That afternoon I took Labashi's car in to Walmart for an oil change. The change only takes a half-hour or so but when I went to pay, I noticed they had used the wrong oil. The clerk had the mechanic come in and asked why he hadn't used the oil I had selected. He said they don't have that oil which, of course is ridiculous given the work order entry was created by a drop down of the available oils at Walmart. He then asked if there's any reason I didn't want the oil he 'usually' puts in. In the meantime the clerk had found the oil I had requested and the guy suddenly had something to do in the shop and left. The clerk followed through on having the entire oil change redone, including a new, new filter. So $35-worth of brand new Mobil One went to the recycle tank.
I was really surprised by this. I take my cars to this Walmart because they've done a good job for me on previous oil changes and tire mounts. I can forgive a moment's carelessness but it seems odd this guy had no concept of the idea of contacting me before deciding to proceed when he couldn't find the oil I had selected.
That evening we watched two episodes of Corner Gas, Season Three. The quality of the writing is uneven but I do love watching for Canadian-specific stuff in the background. It reminds me of our visits to Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

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Sunday, 3 January-

Today Labashi and I went into town together. We had sort of a 'mini-date' to go to the Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, and Target on some little errand (looking for drawer pulls) and have a burger at Fuddrucker's. Writing it down here makes it sound kind of pitiful but we were just happy to be enjoying each others company for a few hours. Then Labashi wanted to get back to her projects in her office.
Later that afternoon I decided I hadn't yet had enough motorcycle riding. For some reason I really enjoy riding in the colder weather. I'd MUCH rather ride in too-cold weather than too-hot weather. Then again, I'm typically just taking a little jaunt into town to run a small errand and perhaps hit the coffee shop for the papers. I've done a few multi-day trips but trust me when I tell you they're a LOT more fun and rewarding in Mocha Joe. I've done the trip down the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway by motorcycle and by van. It was kind of fun doing the twisties and all on the bike but it can't be compared to the life-experience of a nice, long tour in the van, particularly if Labashi's along. A motorcycle trip is about the motorcycling experience (at least at this stage of my motorcycling skills). A van trip, on the other hand, is a life experience. (And of course it's possible to do BOTH!)
Today's ride was just my Sunday ride to the Tollgate Starbucks near Dallastown to read the Sunday newspaper features. Given today's 23-degree high and sub-10-degree wind chill, the occasional snow flurry, gritty roads, and here and there an icy patch which could put the bike down, the ride had some spice to it.
That evening we watched 'Taking Chance' with Kevin Bacon as a Marine officer who volunteers to escort the body of a 20-year-old Marine home to DuBois, Wyoming. I highly recommend the DVD and then read Lt. Col. Strobl's original here: http://www.chancephelps.org/?page_id=126 .
No walk today.

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Saturday, 2 January-

Today I got the motorcycle started (a bit of a chore involving my battery-charger on this 25-degree day) and rode into town to give it some badly-needed exercise. The wind was blowing in the 20-30 mph range with higher gusts so once I got off the bike I didn't tarry outside long. Several people asked if I'm crazy but once they see the plug for the electrics, they quickly understand I have heat. (Well, it's a heated jacket, not a full suit, but it keeps me warm enough for an hour-long ride in the Twenties).
I of course saw my barista-buddies at Starbucks and read the papers, then stopped at Best Buy to look for a speaker bar for the tv (no luck-- in fact the one I saw in Detroit but didn't want to transport home was $50 higher here). I also browsed the books at Borders but realize I really don't WANT any books. They're just too expensive. I briefly looked at a Sony E-book reader but was very disappointed. The demo may have been having a problem but the whole experience was a turn-off. And the Kindle thing is a turn-off for me. Too much for the reader, too much for an electronic copy of a book-- a LOAN of the electronic copy of a book, that is.
I also renewed my motorcycle insurance today after deciding to stick with my existing company and made the less-than-fun discovery that the battery on the Miata is dead. I put the charger on and while on town today priced a new one at Sears. $159!!!! Say it ain't so!
No walk today.
In the evening we watched a very odd film called 'Secretary' with Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. Both Maggie and James are very believeable as a pair of odd-duck souls who get into a sado-masochistic relationship. Kinda creepy.

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Friday, 1 January-

Happy New Year!

I miss Florida already. I haven't been going down until February in past years but would leave today if I could. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it down there this year, though, given all we have going on. But then again, if things fall the right way I may be able to get down there for a week or two in February or March. I do have an invitation to join Orat, my niece, and the grandkids on their Disney trip in mid-February. I've not been to Disney in a couple of generations (well, nearly) so that might be fun. At this point I'm thinking I'd just be happy to hit Disney for a day or two, then get out into the Ocala (the Ocala National Forest, that is). I'd like to see what last year's big fire did to Juniper Springs and the Wild Area and see what it looks like a year later. And I'd like to again enjoy the wonderful mustardy bar-be-que hot sauce at Old Crow Bar-be-Que in Altoona. And I'd like some for-real fresh-squoze orange juice and a big ol' bag of boiled p-nuts. Mostly, though, I just want to see the sun go down at a reasonable time and feel the nice, warm sun on my face.
I spent the day on the web, catching up on the various best-of-the-year info. No walk today.

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