LET THERE BE LIGHT

 Our spring was short lived.  We had two nice days of sunshine and 65 degree WARM.  Sadly, it passed too quickly.  We are back to rain and clouds.  On the other hand, I'm glad I'm not in New York City.  I've no doubt many more homeless will not survive, followed by piles of garbage and snow.  What a shame.  The East coast is taking a licking from Mother Nature.  So as much as I'm not liking California any more, at least we only have to deal with sun and rain.

And Midnight Kitties!!  This girl craves attention and gets into trouble at every turn.  I'm constantly walking around the house and putting things back up on shelves and tables.  Then she sits at my feet and stares at me for an hour.  I'm sure she is invading my brain, because soon I've got the dog brush out giving her a good grooming.  I've never heard her purr so loud!!  I guess I'm an easy mark.

So here's the thing with the battery minder.  The battery is BEHIND my feet when I'm in the drivers seat.  The disconnect is right by the accelerator, in a barely accessible compartment.  The battery CONNECTION is under the hood at least four feet away, covered with a spring loaded cover that has to be pushed back for connection.  The ground is two feet away on the side of the fender.  None of that is conducive to charging the battery.  It's fine for a jump start, but none of the three battery chargers I have tried, will work for more than a couple of hours.  That means the battery does NOT get charged and it dies. 

This one is wired directly to the battery with a connection 12" inches away.  So far the minder is still charging after 24 hours.  So unlike all the other connections, this one actually seems to be working.  Maybe we should talk to Mercedes about the stupid way they have designed the battery posts in the engine compartment, while the battery is back under the front seat.  I mean really, why not put the battery under the hood like any other vehicle?  It would be SO much easier.

Next up I was on the phone for an hour trying to explain to the NEW company accountant about the books I've been working on.  She laughed, then apologized.  No apology required.  I've been an accountant most of my life, and truly, many folks do not know to keep their business separate from the personal stuff.

That was followed up by a quick trip to the dentist.  I'm SO very lucky to have been raised on property that had water containing lots of fluoride.  It means I have great teeth, which is a very good thing.  I'm scared to death of dentists ... have been since that guy drilled with no pain killer ... no novocaine of any kind ... when I was 7 years old.  I was out the door in 30 minutes!!

On to the Chevy dealership for a light bulb.  This is a picture of what I need.  See that one little tab on top?  The other guy gave me a bulb that had TWO little tabs and insisted it was the right one.  

I also took a picture of the actual info this time, just to be sure.  I think the first one from Napa had the number 9005 on it ... and it was not the correct one.

The nice man in parts only had one bulb for a whopping $25.97.  YIKES!!  I made him take it out of the box to check for ONE tab.  Back home I put it back together, being sure not to touch the bulb at all. 

I got smart this time, and turned on the key to be sure it lit up BEFORE I put it all back together.  Then I turned it on AGAIN just to be sure.  LET THERE BE LIGHT!!  Woohoo ... I did it!!  I have no idea if one is pointing to the sky or not, but at least I have two lights now.  I'll check it out in the dark tonight and see if it's wonky or not.  No doubt that would have cost me a nice $100 bill had I not done it myself.

And so ended a day of accomplishments.  I completely forgot I was going to go pick up something delicious for dinner, so instead I went with the fabulous grilled cheese.  The potato chips are from the big party for one I had planned for the Super Bowl.  That didn't materialize, so now I am forced to eat them.  For some weird reason, the bag THIS time was completely full to the brim with chips.  NO AIR!!

Tonight is ARMOR night, as I head on down to the Castle dungeon for Bingo.  Maybe a full bag of chips is a sign of good things to come.  I certainly hope so, because NEXT Tuesday is a FULL MOON ... ON BINGO NIGHT!!!  I'll be sure to wear EXTRA armor for THAT night!

Hooking It Up

 Welcome back to WHAT CAN HAPPEN TODAY!!  It was a lovely sunny 65 degrees yesterday.  What a welcome sight to see the sun and some WARM after all that rain and freezing cold.  Not that we will see much of the sun for this entire week, but even a little is better than nothing.

Sadly, it's not warm enough for Mr. Cooper to have a bath (which he hates), but he did get his jammies off long enough to get a fur trim so he doesn't get knots.  He doesn't like the clippers any more than he likes water, but he was a good boy and stood relatively still.

This one ... she is constantly in trouble.  Seems it's pretty fun to slide under the chair upside down and claw the bottom as she slides along the floor.  I left her outside last night, but the crying and door knocking was epic, so I got up at 2:00 to let her in.  Not sure how I'm going to stop that behavior.  She's always starving for attention!

It was Sunday, so I had nothing on my plate for the entire day.  Not wanting to be a complete slug, I finally finished up the binding on this quilt.  It's a weird one because it has Bible verses written at the bottom under her feet.  I never noticed that until I was almost finished.  The good news is I really wasn't late for Halloween because it's actually EARLY for NEXT Halloween.

I tried my absolute best to stay out of the fridge because there was NOTHING on television worth watching.  Dish Network has really gone to the dogs, on purpose, so you will buy the pricier programming.  Truly, their lineup includes movies and shows from 2017 to about 2020, and most of those are kids cartoons.  The only current stuff is the news, which isn't fun to watch at all.  Luckily I was able to stave off the urge to cook something ... like a chocolate caramel cake with chocolate chips and marshmallows.  

I finally headed outside to plug in the battery minder and HOOK IT UP.  Somehow I could not get the plastic door to open all the way (like if I was trying to disconnect the battery altogether), but I was able to reach in and blindly find the connection piece.  The main disconnect is just beyond the connector, and the battery lives right under the minder.  Funny place to put a battery, yes?  

To actually get TO the battery, you have to have a special tool to remove the weird bolts in order to take up the entire floor.  Then there is a secondary battery cover to be removed.  They ran the wires from the battery, up through the whatchacallit where you have to fish for it.

It's not hard to set up, and is definitely better than a dead battery ... if it works.  The minder is then plugged into your extension cord.  

Here's my question.  Do I run the extension cord under the door where it will get pinched when the door is shut ..... or do I open the window about 1-1/2 inches and run it through that, leaving the window open?  Will a thinner extension cord work?  Inquiring minds want to know.

That's it ... that was my big project for the day.  After that, I took Mr. Cooper for a short walk outside, whereupon we stopped traffic both ways while he did his business right in the middle of the street.  Good grief KID!!!  I left him back at the house while I went for a nice long walk.

You know how you feel so good you go farther than you probably should?  Yes, yes I did.  I went about 1-1/2 miles before thinking that was probably not such a good idea.  I kept trying to keep up the pace on the way back, but oh did my legs talk to me using rather bad language.  It's okay, I made it back after a total of three miles.  

I spent the rest of the evening trying to stay occupied with another Veterans quilt binding, while showing great restraint at the screaming in my head, calling for ice cream.  Lucky for me, the milk was so sour it came out in clumps.  No ice cream was made or eaten.

That was it for the day and it was a long one.  Today should be shorter ... I have a dentist appointment before heading to the Chevy store and the Post Office.  I still haven't mailed off my taxes.  Maybe if I accomplish something today, I won't be so zoned in on SWEET TREATS!!

Prayers for all our friends who are down in the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico.  Seems the cartels are taking a licking and not liking it much.  I took the advice of my Mexican construction crew who came from that area many years ago, and I don't go there any more.   Hopefully things settle down soon.

MEN!!!

 Bet you're wondering what THAT title is about ... MEN!!  So here goes.

It was freezing with another nice breeze on this morning, chilling me to the bone.  I had absolutely nothing planned for the day, hoping to catch up on some sleep.  It was not to be because my luck is NOT that good, as you know already.

Stuff like this goes on all day long.  I think she sleeps most of the morning, only to pester me for the next eight hours.  This is the quilt I'm supposed to be finishing up any time now.  

That's when I found this picture Patsy posted on her blog.  I love this picture of Miss Jessie!!  She does look a little scared, but actually she's looking at Patsy and Bills puppy Clemson when they came to visit my house in Tucson.

Anyhoo ... I knew I was in for a phone call when I got the 25 point accounting email letter stating WHAT ARE THESE.  Off I headed down past the beautiful blooming orchards recently soaked with rain.  The good news is the bees are out and about, pollinating ... which means there just might be a crop this year.  Buy your almonds now and keep them in the freezer just in case.  That's not snow on the ground, it's flower petals.

Two hours later I was back with the motivation to try and replace that burned out headlight on my truck.  I followed the video exactly.  Amazingly, with a little help from the pliers, I got the old bulb out.  You may not remember I purchased two new bulbs for a whopping $41.00.

DON'T TOUCH THE BULB it said, so I used a pair of gloves to get the light out of that white hole.  The pliers are holding the plug end down so it doesn't disappear into the bowels of the engine.

I grabbed the new bulb and went for the install.  It would not go in, no matter what I did.  I finally looked closely enough to discover the bulb had two pins and the connection only had one.  Well that's not going to work.  Rather irritated since I already made two trips to get this bulb, I headed back out to the Napa store.

This is not it.  OUR store is a dump in an old broken down wooden building that smells bad.  I asked for a refund from the guy who could barely speak English.  He just stared at the receipt until he said ... 2005 Silverado, yes?  Yes, that's correct.  Diesel?  Yes, that's correct.  

This are thee one!  I'm sorry, but it is not "thee one".  It does not fit.  He looked again.  No he said, this ARE thee one.  Big sigh.  No it is NOT ... it has two pins, my connection only has ONE.  It will not fit.  BUT THE COMPUTER SAY ... I don't care WHAT the computer say ... that is NOT the one.  Good grief.  Why is it MEN do not think WOMEN know what they are doing when it comes to mechanics.  It took 20 minutes to convince him before he finally gave me a refund.  

I told him I would bring the part in on Monday and show him the exact part number.  Not really ... I'm going to the Chevy Dealer to buy the bulb.  And so my truck sits with its hood up and its eye laying out on the bumper, just waiting.

Back home, I sat down for 15 minutes and fell fast asleep.  I guess I was a bit exhausted after the last few days.  My plan had been to connect the battery minder in the rig, but it will wait until tomorrow.

Knowing I had a fridge full of veggies that needed to be eaten, I sauteed them in butter and added noodles.  Stir in a little cream and a CUP of parmesan ... okay, the recipe only calls for half a cup ... and you have dinner for the next three days.  I admit, I made WAY too much.

Today I'll replace all the things I took out of the rig and try to find the paperwork I stuck somewhere.  I hate it when I do that.  Maybe, just MAYBE I'll be lucky enough to find it and stash it where I'm SURE I will find it next time.

Lastly, if I can find a heavy LARGE envelope, I will finally get my taxes mailed off to the accountant.  I hear tell people are getting big refunds.  

I also hear our wonderful state governor is trying to take advantage of that and approve a bill that would tax us all based on the number of miles we drive, not to mention raising fuel prices $4.00 a gallon.  His regulations have driven out several big fuel companies, including Valero, cutting our supply by 2 billion gallons.  Add to that the SBA loan fraud that has just been uncovered - similar to day care in Minnesota, only much worse.  It's getting interesting folks!!

JAKE THE SNAKE!

 Good Morning to the breezy 36 degree back yard.  The good news is we are supposed to have a sunny day.  That would definitely make my day a little brighter. 

With four hours of sleep, I wasn't exactly feeling like driving, but I cranked up the "musica" and rocked out the entire way.  If only the cruise control would work, it would have been a little nicer.  Luckily this time all the turn signals came on.  On the other hand, for the first ten miles, the driver's door kept trying to lock itself when it was already locked.  You just have to laugh at computers.

I pulled over for a quick rest stop while looking for a McDonalds for breakfast, but alas, this guy is all I could find.  There were two sea eagles (that's what we call them around here) trying to get into this bag.

In no time I was at the appointed place 15 minutes early.  The door was closed.  I waited ... and waited until 7:32.  The gal finally looked straight at me and opened the farthest door first.  Really?

She pointed at my Service Guy.  I must have been drinking some funny water, because gosh darn these guys are good looking.  JAKE was his name.  I thought that a little weird since he was Asian looking, so after a few minutes of complaining about my van (having seen his desk name tag), I asked how he came about having THAT middle name.  His last name was TRAN.  

He said he came here from Vietnam with his family when he was two.  I'm sure we all remember that.  They immediately applied for citizenship.  As a kid, he LOVED watching Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper and JAKE THE SNAKE.  I smiled ... ME TOO!   He took on the name Jake so he would fit in, and his buddies called him Jake the Snake.  

Okay Jake the Snake ... can you get my van fixed?  And where can I get something to eat, I'm starving.  Right across the street is Perkos Cafe.  I stepped over the homeless guy under the blanket with two huge German Shepherds sleeping next to him and headed to the door.  Another homeless man held the door open for the guy ahead of me, looked me straight in the eye and closed it in my face as I walked up.  Really??  Ummm thank you!!

The good news, the breakfast was VERY good, at least double what I could actually eat, and only cost me $11.00.

From there I walked back to the waiting room.  Pretty fabulous room if you ask me.  By the way, Jake agreed with my assessment of just too much electronics, and the van needed to be driven more often.  An online guy suggested it might be the Co2 detector being on 24-7.  I'm not sure if that is chassis or house battery operated.  I also asked Jake to see if they would install a battery minder directly to the battery itself, which lives under the driver side front seat.  I had heard they would refuse.

I settled in with a fabulous cup-o-joe from this machine that dispenses at least 50 different varieties of coffee.  It's like Starbucks in a metal box, only it's FREE!

That's when I noticed the BOX-O-COOKIES.  Really?  I mean what waiting room has cookies and coffee for you?  Oh and free cold water.  I took advantage of everything, even though I was full to the brim.

So here's what happened.  I met yet another Prince of a kid ... why are they all so young? ... who said they would be happy to install a permanent battery minder.  Just plug it in when you park and the battery will always stay charged.  That is EXACTLY what I need.  No more packing up when parked in an RV park just to drive around and charge the battery.  

Of course it would cost me a whopping $400, but I didn't care.  It was 90% labor, but here's the best part.  It's a Mercedes charger, and installing it did not void my warranty, which would have happened if I had anyone else do it.  Now it's on them if it doesn't work.

Prince #2 also showed me where there is a complete battery disconnect.  Not that I can reach it or that I can push the tiny little button with my hand stuck up in a hole under the dash, but it's there if I can talk someone else into doing it.  

The reprogramming of the computer and charger install took three cups of coffee, two bags of cookies (one just jumped in my purse and came home with me) and 3.5 hours to complete.  

It was a nice drive home with the cruise control working and the thought that my battery problems were now in the past.  My how my attitude changed.  Truly, I let this stuff get to me WAY too much in my old age.

So as the sun set in the West, I said a big thank you to JAKE THE SNAKE for being a GREAT service guy with a big smile.  I guess I have to give it up to Mercedes.  Any other dealership and I might still be fighting with them in a greasy cold waiting room.  

Or maybe it was just the cookies!!!  I'm going out to plug it in this morning.

Another Glorious Day!

 What could be better than freezing temperatures, constant rain and a dead battery?  Unloading everything OUT of the van for its trip to the next town up .... also in the rain!

True to Mercedes Towing, they sent me twelve messages regarding the tow truck that was to arrive.  I called the tow truck company to explain to them that this was not JUST a van, but an RV van with generator and propane tank 8" off the concrete.

Okay he said ... that will be about four hours before I can get a big truck there.  MY suggestion was to please send the BATTERY JUMP guy to see if we could get it started.  He said good idea.

Forty minutes later, Tony arrived.  Tony saved my day!!

What a GREAT kid.  He said he gets lots of calls for these vans ... no surprise.  Every one built in the last three or four years has the exact same problem.  He hooked this gadget up to the hot and neutral posts under the hood.  They stuck like glue because the alligator clips are much stronger than the flimsy battery charger ones.

Go ahead he said ... start it up.  NOW?  We don't have to wait?  He laughed!  Hit the button he said ... and it started right up.  I NEED ONE OF THESE!  In fact, I ordered one.  You plug it in and it will give a minimum of ten jumps to any vehicle.  Charge it up with an extension cord.

He waited while it kept running ... just to be sure.  We talked about a hard wired charger to the battery itself.  I'll look into that next week.  

He left after a REAL handshake.  I like that kid!!  And so with a big sigh and a still nagging headache, I drove off into the rainstorm of rainstorms.  The computer is out of its ever loving mind, but it was still moving the wheels down the road, so I kept going.  

The left turn signal red light (someone is beside you) kept going on and off for the first ten miles.  It was a two lane road.  The windshield wipers would work ... not work ... work screaming fast ... go really  REALLY slow and then stop again.  At least this time the brake lights worked.

The storm got so bad I finally turned off on a side road and went the back way to the freeway, before heading home.  An hour later, I pulled into the driveway.  

I called the Mercedes repair shop to tell them it was NOT being towed in, but I needed an appointment to unscramble the computer's brain.  I'm in at 7:30 THIS morning.  That is way too early to be at the shop an hour away, but I guess I have no choice.  I have to wait for it since I have no ride, so I will try my best to be on time.  

Then began the UNPACK because they don't want anything near the front seats and I don't want anything expensive left inside.  An hour later the sun actually came out for a bit, but I looked like a drowned rat! 

To make it even more fun, I had to attend an Elks Lodge meeting that I truly wanted to miss.  It lasted 90 minutes before I was headed home.

Wish me luck today!!

Hell In A Handbasket!

 It's raining, it's POURING, the Old Man is SNORING!!  Yikes are we getting blasted this morning!  The mountains are getting hit with record snow falls, though I have seen this happen before.  Sadly, up near Truckee, there was an avalanche that killed nine people who were on a skiing adventure.  

Why a company would take a group of folks out in that part of the Sierras when big storms were predicted, is beyond me.  I've been up there.  The mountains are crazy steep and the perfect place NOT to be in a storm.  My prayers go out to their families.  

That was not a good way to start the day.  Neither was getting up four times to let the cat in and out.  CAT is in trouble!!  I'm beginning to see why she may have been left behind!!

Cooper on the other hand is his sweet self unless it's 3:45 and he needs to go out too.  I'm going to be going to bed at 7:00 pretty soon!!

My morning plans went up in a puff of smoke just as I was heading out to do that accounting work.  All dressed up and no place to go when they called and cancelled.  In an hour they said, which turned out to be never.  

That's okay, I can do a lot of the work remotely.  That didn't happen either.  Seems I could not get access without approval from a phone number I did not recognize.  No one at that number answered either.  The new accounting firm and I spent over an hour on the phone trying to get it to work.  NOTHING!  How frustrating THAT was.  We finally gave up.  

That's when I discovered that phone number was a cell phone for the boss who was not available to answer.  Wow ... we blew up his phone.  How embarrassing!!  So today we will try that one again.

With nothing else on the table, I went back to sewing the binding.  I think I have 3 feet left to complete.  Hurray!!

Lunch was quick and easy.  Tomato soup and leftover WAY overcooked, dry, hard pizza.  Not my best choice.

And THEN, as my Dad would say, it all went to hell in a hand basket.  I had plugged the van in to the battery minder and decided I should start it up.  NOTHING.  It would not even unlock the doors.  Oh I am SO DONE with this stupid battery problem!

I got my truck out, hooked up the jumper cables and let it run for a bit.  Inside, I press on the brakes and hit the start button.  It almost started, but then quit and tried again.  That's when the windshield wipers started up.  What the heck?  Did I hit the button?  NO ... NO I DID NOT.  I tried everything.  Now the dash said BRAKES in red and BATTERY right beside it.  

I let it stay hooked up a bit longer, then tried again.  Nothing.  Now the brakes are completely locked up ... you can't even push on the pedal!!  I'm sure the neighbors heard me screaming at the top of my lungs.  I've never been so frustrated and MAD in my life.  

I unhooked everything and called Mercedes.  The Service Guy was no help whatsoever.  He couldn't even tell me how to disconnect the battery so the wipers would stop.  He said I just had to have it towed in.  To the SHOP ... 45 miles away!!  Can you say $$$$$$$$??

He finally gave me a number to call for Mercedes Tow.  That's great ... she was somewhere back East and had no idea where I was or where I wanted it towed.  At least she was nice and recognized my frustration and anger!!  The good news is she said the tow was FREE for Mercedes owners.  We shall see if that's true or not.

And so today they are supposed to show up between 9 and 11 to tow it away.  This should be fun.  The brakes are locked up and there is no way to get it in neutral without the battery working and the engine running.  I'm sure the computer brain has completely exploded and will need reprogramming before anything will work.

Fifteen minutes after the phone call, the battery finally died completely and the wipers quit running.  No kidding, I wish I had never bought this piece of ....... well you know what I mean.  Even the battery minder could not keep up with all the electronic crap.  

I shouldn't be surprised I guess ... if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all.

To make matters worse, I have to go to an Elks meeting tonight where they are serving lamb.  That smell makes me nauseous.  To add the cherry on top, they are voting for the new year officers.  The infighting and back stabbing is epic.  It has not been like this in all of my 15 years of membership.  Sadly, it makes me want to walk away.   

Wish me luck on the towing fiasco!  I'll report back tomorrow!

THE PURPLE PIG

 Oh my poor FREEZING Aunt Sarah!!  No, there's no Aunt Sarah, but if there was, she would be freezing this morning at 33 degrees.  

You know what this pictures means ... it was time for flaming torches, knives of steel and pitchforks.

But first .... it's pitch black outside, and my camera picked up the clouds rolling by in the oh-so-cold breeze.  Kitters went out at 3:05 and came back in at 3:15.  I figure I'm lucky since I got a whole three hours of sleep.  Me thinks it's going to be a LONG day!

Talk about Queen of the House ... there she is in all her Royalness.  It's a good thing Cooper could care less, because she is in to everything constantly, even going so far as to swat him on the butt, trying to get him to play.  I laugh as he just walks away.

Try as I might to load up on rest before the Castle Bingo games, it was not to happen.  I headed out in the pouring rain in my Jeep since I have not broached the headlight problem yet.  I was instantly behind the eight ball.  This picture of the Castle dungeon is after members arrive and before the non-member peasants are allowed into the room.  

As I've mentioned before, there is always fights over who gets to sit where.  People pay their membership of $218 a year just to be able to sit in THEIR lucky chair.  Yes, it's that bad.  On this night we even went so far as to REMOVE that chair so NO ONE could sit there.  At some point, even if it was a year ago, they won a Bingo while sitting there.  That means it became THEIRS.

On this night I got a really BIG surprise.  The lady sitting on the left actually volunteered to learn the cash register.  WOW!!  Not only that, but she's a business owner and actually knows HOW to run a cash register.  I put her straight to work.  Threw her to the wolves so to speak.  

Oh my gosh .... how could I be so lucky.  In a flash she picked it up and went to town like a pro.  Not to overwhelm her so she would run off into the woods, I pulled her off and put in my vacation replacement in the bright pink shirt.  She too is really good at this job.  I thanked my lucky stars, because I think both of them fit in perfectly with this group of Knights.  Maybe it was the lucky chair I was sitting in.  I'm keeping that chair for sure!!

That freed me up to wander the dungeon making sure no flaming torches came out, which they did anyway.  But wait .... it was the exact opposite of normal.  Is it a full moon??

Three people brought back games that were counted wrong and NOT paid for.  They actually offered money for them, because if you "steal" a game, it's bad Karma and you will not EVER win again in your lifetime.  Who knew?  Well actually I did, and I always thank them profusely because the money is for children.  

This lovely critter is our Purple Pig.  Here's another Bingo tidbit.  If you win a bingo game, you always tip the pig.  If not, you will (you guessed it) NEVER win again.  I didn't make up the rules.  We actually donate much more than the pig eats, but this lets the players know which charities we donate to.  On this night it was for the Challenged Children's bingo Valentine dance.  

I always include two five dollar bills in the payout, just for that purpose.  On any given night we make about $200 just from the pig tips. 

No callers were drawn and quartered on this night, mostly because one of them tells stupid Dad jokes and everyone laughs like crazy.  I finally let both girls go home since I was going to be there all night anyway.  This is about five minutes before I closed up shop and headed out into the rain.  The best part is the rain washes away the stink of folks out behind the dumpster smoking skunk weed.  

Yes, we all know exactly who does what because every variety of everything they use, STINKS!  They think they are being so sly, but we all know the second they walk back in the building with the smell trailing behind!!

My armor will probably be a little rusty for next week since I got soaked running to my Jeep.  This morning I will try to soak up a few eye closures, but alas, once again I have bookwork to do.  Hopefully it takes me just an hour before I'm back asleep on the couch!!

The forecast for the rest of the week ... Rain, Rain and more Rain!!  Here's hoping you are high and dry!

The President's Rain

 I almost missed it yesterday ... it was President's Day.  Happy Birthday George Washington!!  This used to be a big deal back when I was working in the dark ages.  Yet another three day weekend.  Nowadays, the only reason I knew that we were celebrating is because the garbage truck did NOT pick up my garbage.  I headed straight for my checkbook to be sure I paid them.  Yessiree they got paid, so I figured it was some holiday or other!!

It rained all night long, as evidenced by the drip drip drip outside the kitchen door.  It didn't take a detective to figure out the gutters were leaking down on to a board leaning again the building.  My gutters are a big problem, but not fixable for a couple of months when they can dry out completely.

This was pretty crazy rain for us.  It's raining so hard my gutters are completely overflowing.  We got close to three inches in this downpour.  It continued for the entire day, so there was no walking or bike riding.  There wasn't even any Quilt Shopping!!

Instead, I basked in the idea of staying home all day long.  I don't know what's gotten into me in my old age.  I never EVER stayed home before.  

This little bundle of joy kept me on my toes though.  I sat on the couch and grabbed the quilt to begin sewing, when look who I found snuggled underneath!!  A big wad of Kitty!!

In the end, staying home was not to be.  I needed to finish up the books for my favorite Queen of Rentals.  Sadly, she was in the hospital for a bit and now in rehab, so I met her daughter at the residential living facility.  This is the gal I rode horses with for several years, camping out in the Sierra Mountains, riding in trail competitions and generally having a blast with my horses.  

Sadly, my horses are gone now and her gorgeous little dapple quarter horse is now 7 years old.  We talked for an hour about Mia and how she is doing.  Kind of like talking about your grandkids.  That's how it is with horse people.

I finished up her books in three hours and I was out the door with a CALL ME when it quits raining and I'll come ride again.  She has three horses and could use another butt in the saddle as we say, to help keep them in shape.  It's probably not a good idea, since it makes me want to get back in the business, but I'm going to do it anyway.  There's nothing in the world better in my book than riding!

Back home, I baked up the latest and greatest DiGiorno pizza.  I baked it 10 minutes less than what they said, and it was STILL a bit overdone.  You can't see the pepperoni because I smothered it in more cheese.

Here's my critique.  It's okay.  I mean I'll eat ANY pizza, so my critique doesn't really mean much.  It needed MORE cheese and a LOT more pepperoni.  Otherwise, it was okay.  Just to show you how dense it is, I didn't eat ANY dinner because I was so very full of pizza dough.

Kitters thought she might like a taste too, but turned it down after one smell.  

That was it.  Just a long day of rain and more rain.  Another downpour dropped another inch or so of water.  We really need the rain, but it's oh so hard to get my fur kids to go outside.  They don't like the rain any more than I do.  We need it for sure, but it's knocking all the blooms off the orchards, so it's probably not going to be a bumper crop year.

SO ... anyone have a horse trailer for sale?  Just kidding ..... maybe ..... yeah, just kidding ..... but boy would I LOVE to have a couple horses to ride again.  The only thing keeping me from doing it is the fact that if I head to the great afterlife in the sky, there would be no one to take care of them and there's no telling where they would end up.  I can't stand the thought of such a thing, so I'll just keep riding someone else's every chance I get.

It's going to be a wet one .... thunderstorms expected for the next three days.  I hope my Bingo armor doesn't get rusty!!!

DAYTONA 500

 Winter has finally hit central California.  I think Mother Nature got a little off with the time change since it's rather late in the year to be having cold, windy, rainy days ..... but here we are!!

If only I could actually CHANGE the time and Mr.-Mr. didn't need to go outside at 4:00 am.  It's like clockwork I tell you.  He can be sound asleep (and of course I'm wide awake) and at the appointed hour, just like Cinderella ... he stands up and stares at me.

Time to go out Mom.  I stay under cover of the patio so I stay dry.

I love Sundays, mostly because I try to be sure NOTHING is scheduled.  We get to hang out on the couch for hours with nothing to do.  On this day however, I really needed to get this quilt finished.  This one replaces the one that magically disappeared at the Lodge.  I sewed the top and bottom pieces on, bordered it and cut out the backing.  I really like the original better, but that material is not made any more.  Now to haul it to the quilt store to be quilted since my machine is out of business for another 4-6 weeks.  

Hmmm ... in looking at this, I think it needs another darker border.  

I admit ... Sundays with nothing to do can be dangerous.  It's those darn ads on my phone that remind me to order things on Amazon, which result in MORE things from Amazon.  These are Sketchers shoes.  Much as I would rather have my old running standby Mizunos ... these are half the price and you don't have to tie the laces.  SO SO easy to slip on and off without using your hands.  I now have three pair and LOVE them.

Soon ... it was TIME.  The Daytona 500 was on today, one of only two races that I watch.  For those who thought it was delayed completely due to weather, instead they began the race over an hour early.  They have EXPERT weathermen, because they get it right every single time.

Why does this interest me, because after all, it's not horses.  Many moons ago I helped run a local construction company that sponsored the tires for a local race car driver.  Boy were those tires EXPENSIVE!  At any rate, he won over and over again.  This was his dream ... to drive in this race.  He never made it due to lack of money, but he did get to run a few time laps on the track.  

Here's the first big wreck ... or maybe it was the second.  In this race, Ford had four cars, Chevy had the same, along with Toyota.  They get behind each other drafting, which makes the lead car go faster.  Towards the end of the race, three of them were side by side in the lead, which controlled the speed of the entire thing.  No one could pass them ... but alas, someone did a boo boo and another wreck resulted in 23 cars being involved.  

Truly, it's all in luck that someone who is leading, actually wins.  There was a bump, a little too strong to control, resulting in another big wreck.  

Reddick was maybe five cars back.  He got lucky (or maybe it was driving expertise), drove around and through the wreck to WIN the race.  You just ever know how it's going to end.  

I spent the rest of the evening stitching binding on this quilt, not that I was motivated at all, to keep it handy for hand finishing while watching TV.  I need to get that stack out of my sewing room.

And yet another.  I think I'm two years late with this one.  While the race was on, I began the hand stitching part of this Halloween quilt.   

Today I have to head out for the last accounting session with my 94 year old client.  I've been doing her bookkeeping for over 40 years.  Hard to believe it's been that long.  I think this will be my last year however since her 65 year old daughter will be taking over.  Pretty crazy to think we are all that old now.

I'm hoping to get an actual day off this week to get to the Quilt Shop.  OH DARN!!!  My excuse is I really need to drive the van and charge up that battery!!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!