It's Been A Bad Hair Day

We are having a bad hair day.  You know those days when you should have just stayed in bed?  That was Sunday for me, which bled over into Monday and now Tuesday, just because it could.

I was so excited to go to the little church celebration of our Hometown Heros, that I decided to wear my fanciest go-to-church boots.  That was my first mistake.  I pulled too hard trying to get one on and messed up my back.  How could that happen?  It was a hard decision whether to attend or not, but by golly I was not going to miss it.  I wore my old boots instead.

Sadly by the time I got home I could hardly walk.  The more I sat, the worse it got, so I stood up most of the day.  I need a chiropractor, but of course he's closed.  Instead, I have a little trick where I roll around on a tennis ball.  Don't laugh, nine times out of ten, it works.  Yesterday was number 10.

While lounging on the couch trying to get comfortable, Mr. Cooper ALSO had a bad hair day.  I couldn't help but laugh at my sleepy eyed guy.

Want to see something funny?  This is him the day I brought him home from work.  Yup the lady brought three of them to work trying to find homes.  When she handed him to me, he grabbed me around the neck with both paws.  What a sucker I am.  That was eleven years ago.

Here's his first haircut picture.  He's such a cutie, except for that habit he picked up about growling the most horrible I'm-going-to-eat-you growl when you move in the bed at night.  Once he settles in, Jessie and I are not allowed to move even one inch.  He makes me laugh every time.

In the meantime, other towns are taking up the call.  Some clothing stores in Modesto have opened up.  Since hearing about our restaurant openings, the ABC (State Alcohol Board) has descended on town trying to keep alcohol from being served in bars and restaurants with the threat of taking their license away.  The City Attorneys are working on that as I type.  Nothing like threatening your constituents with complete shutdown forever.  It's going to be a fight to the bitter end.

In the meantime, Newsom was supposedly seen in Montana where his wife owns property.  Of course they are denying that to the hilt since that's not following his stay-at-home directive.  Some news stations say he was there, some say he was not.  You just don't know who to believe any more.

As for me, I'm now stuck home until my back gets straightened out.  Wouldn't you know ... they open things up and I'm on the couch.  I hope your day does a little better!!

Small Town Patriotism!!

There was BIG happenings around this small berg of a town over the last week.  I won't keep you in suspense any longer.  You may not be aware that the Governor of California has decided that SOME counties (all his favorite followers) have been allowed to open up in tiny bits and pieces.  The first to open was the golf courses.  REALLY?  People can't feed their families ... they can't pay their mortgage and you open up golf courses and beaches?

With only a tiny population of 30,000 our businesses are mostly Mom and Pop's who can't afford to be shut down.  With that in mind, our City Council decided to fight fire with fire.  I'm sure you've heard of San Francisco, the Sanctuary City where illegals and criminals can live without fear of being arrested for anything, even using the sidewalks of San Francisco for their personal toilet.  If you haven't been there lately, don't bother to go.  It's disgusting!!  You never know WHAT you are walking in.

After a lot of investigation, it was determined our little town can ALSO be a sanctuary city ... for business.  Who knew?  Apparently you can become a sanctuary city for just about anything!!  The local stores can now open without fear of retribution, arrest or huge fines.  They voted on it Friday, and let me tell you, the celebrations began.

It started off with the Police Department opening up their vehicles where we found big screen televisions so we could watch the council vote since there were too many people inside the building.  VOILA!  Just like that our business were BACK IN BUSINESS.  Saturday there was an afternoon parade of probably 75-100 cars driving all the neighborhoods with flags flying and horns honking.   Talk about a show of patriotism!!

By the way, no one was wearing masks and there was lots of hugging.  It was Independence Day in Atwater California.  Just for the record, I actually live in the County, not the City.

Just to interject a little SURPRISE here, it has been reported that after 50 autopsies on Covid 19 patients in Italy, pathologists have discovered it is NOT a pneumonia but a disseminated intravascular coagulation (whatever the heck that is) that SHOULD have just been treated with antibiotics and is not NEAR like the Covid 19 they have been scaring everyone with.  Look it up and see what you find.  Nowadays, you cannot believe everything you read.  I guess time will tell.

In the meantime, some of my very dear friends from the Pumpkin Patch are the Paster and his wife from the local Victory Baptist Church.  I'm Methodist, not that it matters, they like me anyway.  So yesterday, there was another huge celebration when the Church met for the first time IN PERSON outside in their parking lot to honor the Police, Sheriff and CHP officers that protect this little city.

Here's the CHP Commander, followed by the Sheriff's Office.

Lastly was the Police Department accepting his Home Town Hero engraved plaque.  

The biggest Home Town Hero of all is our Sheriff.  Fed up with the entire Covid 19 "lock em up" scare and having first hand knowledge of the Governor's lopsided handling of the entire thing, he wrote a letter to the legislature.  

In part, it says he went above and beyond to gather all the necessary medical equipment at great expense to the county to handle all the bodies that were going to overrun the system (he is also the Medical Examiner) according to what the Governor said was going to happen, yet nothing HAS happened.  Life is a risk ... you could die in a car accident, a plane crash, food poisoning ... just about anything.

The Constitution gives us the right to accept the risks.  No one has the right to dictate WHAT risk you will or will not take.  When Governor Newsom went to the airwaves and singled out one county who didn't follow his orders to the letter, and treated them differently, it became obvious that this entire lockdown was based on him having control over the citizens.

Now Newsom has threatened different counties with removing their funding if they do not follow his orders to the letter.  Economic slaughter is what we are now facing and the majority of citizens are on  the verge of a statewide revolt.  The Sheriff believes Newsom wants the majority of citizens (and illegals) completely dependent on government assistance so he can continue to control them after this "pandemic" is declared over.  

When the State requires the Sheriff to arrest people for attending church and not standing 6 feet apart, yet Newsom releases felons out on the street, completely disregarding the safety of our citizens, something is wrong.  The Sheriff will no longer impose the Covid 19 restrictions on any citizen in this County.

It was much longer, but that's the gist of the letter.

So there you have it folks .... REVOLUTION in the middle of California.  I'm proud to say I support his every word ... AND WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS.  People are coming from miles around to eat and get their hair cut.  WE ARE FINALLY FREE from the tyranny of Newsom.

As to Covid 19, it has been shown that as states are opening up, the virus continues to go downhill in numbers.  Could it be that all the information we have been given on the virus is completely incorrect?  Now wouldn't that be something!!

Tell Me It Isn't So!!

Thank you all for your kind words about my disappearing cowgirl-horse life.  Honestly, I think this was harder than losing my husband to that younger prettier model.  Just kidding ...... well, maybe not!

Anyway, I decided to treat myself to a big lunch to get my mind clear.  There are not a lot of places around here and most are closed, as you can imagine.  I had a choice between Carl's Jr and McDonalds.  Oh gosh .... how will I ever choose!!

Carl's Jr it is!!  Not having ordered anything at these places much, or practically never, I didn't know what to get.  The menu is rather confusing and I hate sitting there trying to read it with six cars behind me.  How about our new spicy Western Bacon Cheeseburger.  SURE!!

Ten dollars and ten minutes later, I was opening it up to see just what I DID order.  I see bacon, that's awesome ... and something that I think is white cheese ... okay ... and a burger.  For some reason I had spicy CHICKEN SANDWICH in my head.  I took a big bite.  TELL ME IT ISN'T SO!  

I bit down into a burger with dozens of sticky jalapeños!!  I am not a jalapeño fan.  Oh I like the flavor, but not the HOT.  I immediately dissected the entire burger and removed all the offending parts.  What was left had the perfect amount of spice.  The fries?  Meh, not the best but still good.  Surprisingly the coke tasted just like coke.  It wasn't watered down in the least.  YUM!!

Shortly thereafter my gardeners showed up to mow my back forty.  I have two very large corrals full of foxtails and weeds, perfect for that Fourth of July fireworks CALL 911 fire that would burn my house down.  They brought two big mowers and went to work, kicking up dust and debris everywhere.

Suddenly they stopped.  NOOOO ... tell me it isn't so ... the mowers broke down!!  I sadly walked out the back door, hoping it wasn't going to cost them more to repair than what I was paying.  Lucky for me, they only stopped because they had another job to go to.  This corral is done.  They will finish mowing the second one next week.  

Thinking that Mark, Dan and Laila should be home by now, I sent a text message to Patty.  They are going to be late ... something about a tire!

OH NO ... tell me it isn't so!!  I sent a message to Dan.  Well they ALMOST made it home.  We all knew the tires needed to be replaced, but I was at least hoping they made it back home.  See how the trailer is not level?  That makes more weight on the back tires, causing the passenger side to blow.

They were just outside of Phoenix in a little burg called Buckeye.  Good thing Dan took a small jack with them so they could replace it with the ORIGINAL spare from 1996.  That's saying something about how good tires were in the old days.  It got them into town to a discount tire shop.  

BUY AMERICAN ... and they did, four tires all around and a spare.  I feel bad about that.  I should have gotten new tires on it before they arrived.  Hopefully Mark can lower his truck maybe two more inches to keep that from happening again.

There's MUCH more happening around here that I'm dying to tell you, but it has to wait for a bit.  Maybe tomorrow.  You're not going to believe what this little pro-American freedom-ringing town has done.  

Say Goodbye ..... Sniff Sniff

Having been born and raised on a cattle ranch, I've been attached to horses all my life.  This is me at about three years old on one of our horses in the high desert, just before it became Lake Isabella.  By the time I was four I had my own horse Pico.

You can tell us kids rode a lot ... we had our own kid-version saddles.  By five and six, we were helping gather cattle, pushing them into chutes and playing cowboys and Indians.

We basically went broke.  The cattle business became a big corporation game and we were small potatoes with 300 head of cows and calves.  I never could give up the horses.  Finally having worked outside the ranch and saving up every penny, I bought two horses again, along with a small trailer.

I always wanted to show horses, but was quite a bit older when the opportunity presented itself.  We never could afford all the gear required for competition, let alone the expensive horse to make it happen.

At long last, having inched my way into the cutting horse world locally, I purchased this trailer for about what a house cost.  I hauled it and my two horses everywhere.  It's been to Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Southern California, all over the West Coast.  It's a long story, so I'll tell it some other time.

The Chance family arrived at 8:45.  I had moved the motorhome out of my back yard so there was plenty of room for us to see if this was actually going to work.  Mark and Dan moved the hitch up as high as it would go.  We all held our breath as I raised up the trailer.

Mark gingerly backed up, not being able to see anything.  He'll get used to that forward, back, forward, back stuff eventually.  I lowered the trailer onto the hitch.  We breathed a sign of relief when there still remained about six inches between the overhang and the top of the side rails.  Yeah, he may just have to lower his truck three more inches.

That's when the real work began.  Mark and Dan couldn't get ANY of the lights to work.

He had two chances, one the 5th wheel hookup in the side rail and two, the regular bumper hookup.  Neither worked.  It took a full three hours and blowing a fuse, along with lots of frustration before finally getting things to work.  Turns out it was probably just corrosion on the trailer plug.  I now have this schematic totally memorized.  You need your trailer wired?  I can tell you which wire is which!!

Actually, Laila and I just sat back and watched.  I showed her how to load the horses and gave Mark the spiel about how to give your horse a good ride so he arrives without a broken leg.  The horse, not Mark.  In the meantime, Dan loaded up all the horse troughs in the back.

At long last, every light worked ... or at least the important ones did ... and the brakes made a clicking noise.  It's a go!!!  After a quick trip to Auto Zone to pick up a new fuse to replace the blown one, they were off as I cried in my beer, or pepsi actually.

Say goodbye to your life Nancy!!  There's no use letting it sit and rot for another ten years.  I can't travel to Arizona and have horses too.  It's just not affordable nowadays.  Better to let someone get good use from it, making a little girl happy like I always wanted to be.  

In the meantime, I am going to take Mister Ed's advice and see if I can find some stables around Tucson that might let me take rides out over the trails.  

I instantly felt a great sense of loss that lasted the rest of the day and I didn't sleep at all.  I sent Dan a text message telling Mark he wasn't allowed to wear shorts when pulling horses in the trailer.  Etiquette and all ... even in the Arizona heat, levis are required.  

I sent Mark a message saying when I got there at the end of June, I was going to sleep in the trailer a couple of nights.  It might make me feel better!!

It's Trailer Day

In spite of all the sitting around here, the days seem to be just flying by.  The kids and Dan should be here today to pick up the horse trailer.  I'm really nervous about the whole thing.  I have what I call a normal pickup truck.  That means you could hook up to almost any fifth wheel horse trailer and call it a day.

Mark on the other hand, has a very high in the sky truck, meaning in spite of all the measuring, I'm worried the trailer won't work.  Just how much clearance do you really need?  That is the question!

So while I stew over my coffee, here's a picture of laila with one of the horses she shows and rides.

She has more blue ribbons than anything else, meaning she's a smart cookie who paid attention in her riding classes.  She's pretty much outgrown both of those horses and hopefully will soon have one of her own to go with the horse trailer.

Sadly, although the Elks Lodge is open, the Magic Kingdom of Bingo is not.  The King is staying hidden in his own castle and refuses to come out and play.  There are many of us ready to hit the rails, since we know just how happy it will make everyone to be back losing their money.  The peasants must be in terrible withdrawal since all the Indian Casinos have closed too.  There's going to be a steep learning curve when we all get back to it, if I don't move to Arizona first.

The latest ..... there are 11 counties open in California.  Why, no one knows.  Many counties here don't have ANY virus deaths and many even zero numbers of people who are sick, yet they stay closed by the Governor's orders.  He seems to be picking and choosing.

So this was Cooper and I last night on the couch.  I guess my leg is the perfect height, because his head is always on it.  Take advantage Cooper cuz that leg is growing in width DAILY!!

At least I cleaned out SOME of my cupboards.  I got rid of all the potato chips, cheetos, Tillamook ice cream and cookies.  Better days are ahead as I try to wedge myself into my jeans.

Speaking Of Kids .....

Many MANY moons ago, I raised exotic birds.  Weird, right?  Honestly, I don't know where that came from.  One day I woke up and had cages full of cockatiels I was hand feeding for sale to a pet store, followed shortly thereafter by this guy.  Cute, right?

I hauled oodles of them to work with me in nondescript boxes that I kept hidden in the AC maintenance room.   It had one plug for the heating pad to keep them warm.

This was Jonathan's baby picture.  He's only about 2-1/2 inches high here with not a single feather.  He required a special liquid diet, prepared fresh every two hours.  These guys were a commitment.  I don't know how many I actually hand raised, but the parrots were only sold to people who I thought would really take care of them.

With no one suitable when it became Jonathan's turn to fledge, he just stayed ... like the teenager that never moves out.  His diet is quite extensive, but his favorite is Ritz Crackers, or any cookie you might be eating.  He has excellent eyesight and smell good enough to pick up on that cookie you are trying to hide.  He will squawk until you give him a tiny piece.  

All the while, Miss Jessie just sleeps the day away, except at breakfast and dinner.  Highly food motivated this girl is, as you can tell by her chunky figure.

Not to be outdone by the President, our governor got the Thunderbirds to fly over Southern California, NOT here.  Instead, the National Guard flew from Fresno North.  They were way too far away to get a decent picture.  In the meantime, the restaurants that opened up were closed after they bought enough product to feed everyone for the next month.  That should make them go bankrupt even faster.

Here's the numbers.  Tucson's death rate per the population is .09%.  Merced's death rate per the population is .004%.  Tucson's restaurants are open.  Merced's are now again closed.  Honestly, there is no rhyme or reason.

I try really hard to just sit, do nothing and keep my mouth shut, but it's very difficult.  I really feel like we should be fighting back or we will lose everything.  The Federal government has said open up (as have most doctors), yet the Governors are so high on control, they are not willing to let go, even though the numbers continue to drop with those states who ARE opening everything.  

Some states are now saying they will not open up until July or August.  I hope they have lots of people willing to pay twice the taxes to make up for all those going out of business.

One more quilt down as I work on five more.  All the fabric for this one was donated, so it will probably be MY next donation.  In the meantime, I'm in a spring cleaning frenzy.  I washed and waxed all the floors, washed down the front porch, melting all those mud hornet nests and planned my next outing, following Joaquin Murietta's trail.

Tomorrow morning the Chance crew should be here to pick up the horse trailer, as the last vestige of my cowgirl life disappears.  I think I'm going to cry.  The good news is Laila will be taking my place.

I Be Styling!!!

Another day has gone by and I'm pleased to say it's a cleaner world I live in.  I found a picture of my Jeep and she's clean as a whistle now.  I still have to unload all those RV rally boxes of chocolate sauce, bowls and napkins from the back however.

While searching for the sheets, I actually found my old vacuum cleaner in the back of one closet.  It made vacuuming the sand out SO much easier.  I just wish I knew where all this junk came from.  I think I have five airline camera bags from when I used to fly everywhere BD (before dogs).  I can't throw them away because they are really GOOD camera bags.

Next up, I be styling in my shorts and cowboy boots.  I always cringe when I see gals wearing this kind of fashion statement.  It works great for the dance floor, but not downtown shopping.  In my case, it worked perfect in the back yard where thankfully no one could see me.  

I needed shorts ... it was hot.  But wading through 30 feet of two foot high foxtails with my tenny-sneaks would have resulted in an hour of picking them out of my socks and shoes.  No thank you!

I'm pretty sure I saw the neighbor in his two story house across the street, close his blinds.  At any rate, I waded out in the weeds and tried to pull the trough from it's location.  It wouldn't budge.  Finally, laying all my copious weight into it, it tipped over.  What the heck?  It was almost completely full of dirt.  How could that be?  It was laying upside down on the ground.  Once removed, there was a huge pile of dirt there.  No squirrel holes, no ant holes .... it's a very weird mystery.

With that chore done, I headed back to change clothes before the carpet cleaner got here.  I'm happy to say he put Stanley Steamer to shame.  He even cleaned my favorite carpet for only $25.  Now THIS is my kind of service business.

He sprayed the entire carpet with a pre-treatment, then used the yellow brush cleaner thingy to scrub from one end to the other.  Once done with that, he used the steam cleaner, then finally sucked out all the moisture and dirt.    This carpet has never been so clean!!!  I think I'm going to build a wall so the puppies can't walk on it with their muddy feet.  My living room be styling now!!

I have to say it wasn't cheap at $200, but it was worth every penny.  It took him 2-1/2 hours instead of twenty minutes like the last guy.  

Time to get on to the next project.  I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'll find something.  Maybe the garage that you can barely walk through cuz that's where I've stuck all the junk from the house!!  Yeah ........... 

The Doctor's Office

I was up at my normal o-dark-thirty so I could get things taken care of and arrive on time for my car's doctor appointment.  As usual when I'm in a hurry, things happen.  I ran straight into the coffee table from the living room that is temporarily residing in the hallway.  OUCH!  Another big bump on my leg.

I discovered I don't have many pictures of my Jeep, and I didn't take any because I knew I had plenty.  Isn't that how it goes?  So here's one from when I got a nail in the tire on the Oregon Coast.

Just like your regular HUMAN doctor, the car doctors always seem to run late.  I however, was ten minutes early.  People were mingling and there wasn't a mask in sight as I limped up to the desk.  No one was home.  At last the Supervisor came to get the info and the keys for my baby.  I went inside.

Ten minutes later, they came and asked me where the keys were.   Ummmm I gave them to you?  Another ten minutes passed and I watched it drive by to the shop area.  So much for the first half hour.

She needed two recall computer updates, neither taking any time at all.  One was for the passenger air bag and the other for something in the computer that tells you the smog system is not working.  I knew that wasn't legit because I just got it smogged and it passed with flying colors.

The only other thing they had to do was change the oil.  But wait .... we're giving you special service today.  We will rotate the tires, check the air filters and everything else they can for FREE!!  YAY!!  and it will only take ONE HOUR before you are on your way.

Then the wait began.  Thankfully, they had coffee and a waiting room.  I sat for TWO HOURS playing games on my phone.  Thank goodness I had battery enough to last that long.  People came and went at the busy parts counter located in the same waiting room.

I was thinking they would show up at any time and tell me I needed a new air filter.  They ALWAYS tell me that.  I was ready for them though because I had just changed the filter myself.

They use the latest technology here ... they welcome you with a text message, then send you three more saying if you need anything, just text them back.  Having now waited 2-1/2 hours for that one hour service, I sent a message.

At long last, three hours later, he came with the paperwork to pay for the oil change at $55.25.  I looked at the list of work done.  Computer update .2 hours.  Second computer update .5 hours.  Oil change.  Check tire pressure .25 hours, but no charge.  What happened to the filter check?  Greasing whatever they grease?  And rotating the tires?  Nada!

So it took them three hours to do one hour's worth of work.  I didn't say one word.  I paid the $55 and left, happy I won't have to go back for about a year!!  On the drive out, I went past Jiffy Lube, thinking maybe they weren't so bad after all.

The rest of the day involved boring stuff like washing all the sheets that exist in my house and trying to match up colors.  They are like socks ..... they never match up.  I have only three sets of sheet, but enough pillowcases for an army.

While heading out to the rig, I remembered to tell Dan about the water troughs I have.  There are four actually, which I was going to add to the trailer, with one being dropped off at my house.  Not sure if it will become a planter or a swimming pool!!  Maybe even a goldfish pond.

Might as well move them up to the concrete while I'm outside.  That was a mistake.  We have these things here called stinging nettles.  Touch one and you will now how they got their name.  I of course brushed up against one because I was wearing shorts.  YIKES!!!  Just the slightest touch and it burns like crazy!!

I ran back inside, jumped in the bathtub shoes and all and ran lots of cold soapy water down my legs. It worked ... the burning stopped.  My legs sure are taking a beating!!!

This morning I await the carpet cleaners while I wash and dry my wet tennis shoes!!  Maybe he'll be cute and SINGLE!!

Wanted: Train Engineer

There's a new Engineer position that has just opened up with Union Pacific.  Many of you may not have heard of our little oddity here in California called the Tehachapi Loop.  The trains needed a way to climb up the very steep mountain and get over the top to the Mohave desert heading East.

The Loop was built by Southern Pacific Railroad in 1874, rising at a 2% grade.  Any train over 4,000 feet in length, passes over itself.  As many as 40 trains a day pass through here.  The story of how this was built using Chinese labor, is amazing.

Union Pacific now controls the loop.  Why are they looking for a new Engineer?  (Not really)  Because the last one derailed a portion of the train yesterday.  There are special Engineers that operate these trains over the loop.  That's all they do, take trains over this short section, then give the reins back to the regular Engineers.

As you can imagine, there is a perfect speed to go so the train doesn't fall over on it's side ... like here.  I haven't heard if they know exactly why the train derailed.  It could have been the trucks, the sets of wheels under each car.  It's my understanding they are not actually attached to the cars so they can be easily replaced.  

It happened in the middle of the night.  The lead engine and the following six cars (at least that's the count so far) derailed as it entered tunnel 9.  No one was injured.  Three of the cars were car carriers, but no word if they were full or empty.  Of the three remaining cars, although first reports said they were full of grain, two were actually empty and one full of petroleum.  They say nothing spilled out or leaked.

I sent this picture to Mr, Chance yesterday as it came up saying "recent Tehachapi train derailment", but I don't think that was THIS time after all.  The description they have given doesn't seem to match this Bakersfield news picture.  My apologies to Mr. Chance.  At any rate, I think trains are going to be late for awhile.

Since it was Mother's Day, I got a hankering for pancakes.  I've no idea why, since this is NOT my favorite breakfast food.  I balked initially when all I could find was sugar free syrup.  Finally, in the last second before putting everything away, I saw the word Maple.  

Way back when, I ended up in Vermont with the Westerfields, who took me to the maple syrup store extraordinaire.  We ate some maple ice cream and I got a lesson in different grades of maple syrup.  I of course got the sweetest one they had.  That's long gone, replaced by this Costco version that isn't even CLOSE.  Still, it was good on my from-scratch pancakes.  

Yes, I did give a thought to opening up that giant bag of Krusteaz Mix left over from the RV rally.  I would have had to fix pancakes every day for the next year.  These pretty much had no taste, but they sure looked good!!

I'm off to take my Jeep to the doctor.  I have a feeling it's going to be a long waiting-room kind of day.  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

To all the mothers out there that put up with all of us kids, Happy Mother's Day.  I've only done it for eleven years with my two puppy kids and I can't tell you how often I've pulled my hair out in clumps.  I hope you have a great day in spite of what's going on all around us.

I know some won't agree with me, but here's my take on things presently.  Whether you want to call the virus the flu, or the Wuflu, or Covid 19, it is not the plague that is going to kill half the people on earth.  We are not on lockdown so it will pass over us like a dark cloud and only pick on those outside the house.  We are staying inside to keep the numbers of people catching it from overloading the hospitals until medical supplies could be stacked up.  

That has happened, or so the local nurses and doctors have told me.  With some exceptions, hospitals are even closing down sections because of the lack of virus patients.  We have so many ventilators now they are giving (or maybe selling) them to other countries.  I think it's time to come out from under the covers and get on with life as several States are now doing.  

Yes I will at some point probably catch the flu.  So will you.  It's not going away any time soon.  Like any of the other illnesses we have had in this country over the last 200 years, it will eventually die out.  If you want to stay home and wait for a vaccine, I'm all for it.  For me, it's not worth giving up all my freedom.

So to that end, I've spent the last week doing nothing that I normally do.  I've been cleaning and cleaning.  I think I've cleaned places I haven't seen in ten years.  I've filled my garbage bin to the tippy top and stacked things alongside for the next round of pickups.

In so doing, I've found some pictures I've been missing.  Here's Captain Hook, a little blurry since it's a picture of a picture, along with the crocodile I pulled along behind me with a piece of wire around my waist.  That's a hay hook in my right hand.  What a fun day THAT was.  I'm pretty sure we got absolutely NOTHING done all day.  Yup that's a government office for you!!

I think I must be akin to a pack rat.  I can't believe all the junk I found stashed here and there, not to mention the dirt on the living room floor.  I cleaned everything out of the room for the deep carpet cleaning that was supposed to happen yesterday.  They cancelled.  It is currently Cooper's bowling alley for throwing the ball (bottom center next to the dirt).  They promised me they would show up Tuesday.

Although a tad late, here's the last full moon.  It seems that every full moon now has a name of some sort, but I can't recall what this one was.  The pink moon?  Cotton candy?  The names escapes me.  At any rate, it was spectacular.

Today I'm getting the Jeep ready for a doctor's checkup.  Apparently there is not one but TWO recalls on my toad, as well as she needs an oil change.  That's going to be $70 at the dealership.  Jiffy Lube here is known for not doing any work at all while still charging you.  No use taking any chances.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Run For The Border ... Again!

I don't know why I didn't learn my lesson the first time.  Or even the time before that.  Hope springs eternal I guess.  What is that saying about doing the same thing but hoping for different results?  Insanity?

Thankfully cooler minds have prevailed and things are opening up around here quite nicely.  I was even surprised to find a little town where NOTHING had shut down.  I should have known because it's a farming town.  By the way, did you know that anything related to farming is exempt from all this "stuff"?

Businesses were open, fields were being planted everywhere and people were even hugging.  How could that be?  I parked around back and went in the fabric store, not wanting to get anyone in trouble.  This shop would be closed down forever if they had not remained open.  That would be two families with no means of support, and this is just one tiny town.  I'm hoping all the other small towns across the nation did the same thing.

At any rate, I picked up the backing for three quilts.  The googly eyes are for a Halloween one I finished six months ago.  I'm a little behind with my sewing.  Why oh why I picked a Halloween quilt, I'll never know.

I'm hoping they don't raise their prices due to the "pandemic", but I see huge increases in everything in the near future.  Somebody is going to have to pay through the nose with millions on unemployment and the cost will just be passed on to us.  In case you were wondering, the fabric, batting and quilting for a queen sized quilt cost me around $380, a little less if I shop Joanns Fabrics. I won't be making any more that size any time soon.

On the way out, after shedding a tear over my credit card, I spotted the Border.  The steering wheel turned without any help from me.  I mean really, just watch one of their commercials and you KNOW  it's going to be the best Mexican food you ever ate!!

This is a NO CONTACT meal, except someone had to make it up and put it in the box.  I did not see glove one in the kitchen.  When I asked if they took cash, he said yes.  I dumped it in the plastic container he was holding.  I wondered if they sprayed it with something before touching it.

He handed me the pepsi with gloved hand.  Then out popped the black tray with my box on it.  I couldn't help but touch the tray trying to get the box in my car.  I rather imagine many others have touched the same tray.

So here it is folks ... the $5 Crispy Chalupa Box.  The burrito ..... folded over so there was four layers of lovely hard tortilla surrounding a quarter cup of beans, along with a tablespoon of something resembling hamburger, all smothered in the most gorgeous orange sticky stuff.  Hmmmm just like the last one I got.  Hasn't changed a bit.

Next up .... Chalupa!!  Although I thought it was a crispy one with the taco shell inside, I was wrong. However, I did get my daily dose of vitamins from the lettuce and tomatoes.  Not bad once you get past the thick doughy shell part.  I scarfed up the insides.

I saved the best part for dinner, the regular taco.  At least these have real cheese, or maybe real cheese product.  By the way, the Pepsi was the most watered down one I think I've ever tasted.  I know it's fixable because we have the same products at the Elks Lodge.  The amount of syrup is adjustable.  Maybe Taco Bell is saving money.

Lastly, what the heck is this???  At first I thought fried pig skin.  Nope, I can smell cinnamon.  Ohhhhh these are ..... what do you call those things at the fair?  Churros!!  I chomped my way through about four before tossing the rest.  I have to admit they certainly give you a LOT of these.

Yup ... just as good as the last time.  I don't know what happened between now and my college years when I dined there often, but I'm pretty sure that's the last time I will stop in.  I have deleted all Taco Bells from my GPS unit.

In other good news, OUR little town is opening up also.  There were lots of soft openings Friday with businesses now being open every day.  Interestingly enough, almost everyone out and about was a cowboy or farmer.  Some were paying attention to social distancing, but most were giving out hugs.  We shall see if they all die in two weeks.

From now on, instead of supporting the big franchises, I'll be eating out at local small diners in the hopes everyone else does the same and they can recover from this crazy shut-down.  Get your wallets ready ..... I think it's going to get expensive to live in the U.S.

For you husbands, boyfriends, sons, daughters and every other kind of family member, remember it's Mother's Day tomorrow!!  

OPEN ... OPEN ... OPEN .........

Sometimes it's nice to strut like a peacock with his tail feathers fluttering over a job well done.  That doesn't happen to me much since I'm not so mechanically inclined.  However, yesterday I strutted around for the puppies since there's no one else in the house to impress.

I haven't been able to open two of my garage doors with any of my three openers.  I changed the batteries, I cleaned the little light thing at the bottom, I did everything I could think of.  Finally I ordered not one, but TWO new door openers.

Then came the extremely difficult task of programming them to MY doors.  This is NOT my garage by the way.  It's WAY too clean and too white.  Anyway, I climbed in the back of my truck and followed my YouTube directions to the tee.  Push the learn button ...... push the remote button.  The light flashes and VOILA! the door opens.  YAY!!!

I did that with each door opener, matching up the remote buttons and WE HAVE LIFTOFF!!  My doors open open open!!  No wonder those garage door repairmen get the big bucks!!

On to my next big project.  Return the bag-o-lettuce to Walmart.  I ordered this salad on the 5th.  I opened it on the 6th.

This is what it looked like.  Honestly, if "I" had read the package label and saw that this romaine came from Salinas where ebola, or zika or some other nasty disease on lettuce comes from, I would definitely NOT have picked up this bag.  The record for Salinas lettuce at this point is pretty much in the toilet.  Oh wait .... e-coli!  I think that's what the last one was.  To be honest, I'll probably save the fuel and dig through the bag for the good pieces.

Obviously Amazon and Walmart are making a killing during this time.  Everyone is ordering everything from them, taxing their facilities.  I ordered three things that were to come all at once.  Instead, each one has come individually packaged, days apart.  No big deal, there was nothing I needed immediately anyway.

I was a little concerned when I saw THIS box, so I took pictures just in case, not really having any idea what might lie crushed within.  Luckily it was just a new backpack to haul around my camera.  My other one died a difficult and painful death.

Can you find me in this image?  Pressure Luck cookbook author Jeff ran a contest for his brand spanking new IntantPot recipe book, hot off the presses.  I pre-ordered one since I liked most everything he cooked.  Unfortunately, I did not win the grand prize ... what else but a wooden cookbook holder.  So sad.  Maybe next time.  Our consolation prize was a huge picture he posted of every entry.  It was a nice diversion.

I'm happy to say all the restaurants and businesses in Tombstone are now open for your dining pleasure.  I'm so happy to see them back at it and hope the tourists head on out to enjoy some sunshine.  Yeah it's a little hot at 100+, but they have a nice tree-shaded park and lots of seating along the street.

Businesses around here are closing down completely, as in not ever opening up again.  I imagine there's going to be only Applebees left in my part of the country for dining in.  Quilt stores are also closing right and left.  Sadly, that craft is going to be a thing of the past before long.  Sniff sniff!!

Good luck if you're in Oregon because it now looks like they are going to stay shut down until all of this is completely over, like maybe some time in October.  By then they won't have much left to govern since most of their businesses rely on tourism.  Although Washington was with them for a time (we're in this together to the end) they have now decided to branch out leaving Oregon to their own devices.  

I can't wait to see the results of this five years down the road.  One more interesting tidbit.  Governor Newsom of California apparently did NOT win Orange County in his election.  He has authorized every other County to begin opening up, but refuses to let Orange County open anything, not even the beaches.  

Come on Newsom ..... OPEN   OPEN   OPEN !!!!!!