A Flurry of Activity

On Wednesday evening the 18th, longtime friend Franz came to visit.  He arrived at the airport around 9:00 PM.  The next day we went out for breakfast, and then spent a few hours at the Pima Air & Space Museum.  After that we made a run down to Tombstone.

The next day, after breakfast, we headed for Phoenix metro where we spent some time with my cousin Todd.  We were up there for two nights, with the second night having Todd's neighbor come over with his brother-in-law and Annette's nephew Bob.

We didn't spend time solving the world's problems, as most adult males are prone to do whenever gathered around barbecuing chicken and adult beverages.  Instead we were listening to some tunes.  On Sunday we left and returned to Tucson, enjoying an evening meal at a favorite Thai place of mine called Bai Thong, which is on Speedway.

Franz returned home the next morning.  I took that Monday off from work.  I relaxed some, but did do some painting on the outside.

* * * * * * *

At work we are having a salsa contest.  Teams of three each have been formed.  Each of the three on my team is bringing in a recipe.  The one nice thing about salsa is that you can do that a zillion different ways, and most of them are good.

Here's my recipe:

1 1/2 fresh tomatos
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 squeezed lime
fresh cilantro to taste
~ 3 teaspoons of salt? (to taste)
1/2 yellow onion
1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper
1 fresh jalapeno
1 fresh serrano
1 large clove of garlic, or two small cloves

Chuck all of this into a blender and hit the on switch.  When what you have in there looks like salsa, then turn the on switch off.

This will have some zing to it, and if you want it milder then substitute some green pepper for the jalapeno.  If you want rocket fuel and/or want nightmares that night, substitute habanero for the serrano.

* * * * * * *

I've spent some time this afternoon doing some more painting.  Today it was the wood trim around the garage door, after which I finished the trim on the east side of the house.

I originally wasn't going to do the garage door.  I did touch up a couple of spots when I was off last Monday, and when it dried I noticed that the patched areas looked fresher.  So, I decided to do the whole trim.

I'm rather pleased with the results.  I mean, it looks new!  The house faces north so it's not like I've got the sun wearing down my paint in that area, but now that I've done it I'm going to make the argument that the trim needed painting.

* * * * * * *

That's all I have for today.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.

Bachman & Turner play Arizona!

Yesterday four of us from Tucson went up to La Encanterra Golf & Country Club in San Tan Valley  to attend the Good Life Festival.  The main reason for going was that Bachman & Turner were making their first appearance in Arizona since re-uniting in 2009, and I wasn't going to miss this!  I also wanted to spend some more time visiting with Fred Turner, which I was able to do since we arrived some six hours before their concert so that we could sit in on their sound check.

I knew beforehand for several weeks about this, but didn't publicize it.  I was working with band member Mick Dalla-Vee (whom I owe a great debt of thanks to!) to arrange for a private audience with them, which after the show happened in the form of a brief backstage visit where I got to meet Randy Bachman.  It was only the second time I've gotten to meet him; it was for about ten minutes at the most.  He was tired from fighting the flu for the past few weeks and he may have been heading back to Vancouver that evening, after flying in that very same day.  He was very nice and it was neat getting to thank him for the many years of entertainment that they've provided me.

Fred is doing very well!  He's lost quite a bit of weight since the last time I saw him.  He told me that he's been spending the past three months wintering at his place in Florida, though he is returning to Winnipeg to take care of some things there.  He's been busy doing some songwriting and he told me that he wants to continue doing that for a while.  I meant to ask him about his Corvette restoration projects and that new six-string bass guitar he was playing (that looked like one prime piece of hardware).  Maybe I'll email him later today about that.

I told Fred that I want to see another show later this year, and that if I end up attending one of their gigs back east somewhere or in the midwest that I'd let him know beforehand.  I'd let Mick know too, as well as my forum buddies.  I am looking at a show this summer in Washington state, and St. Louis is tempting too, but I'm thinking that I should make a little vacation out of this and go see them somewhere in Canada....a part of Canada I've never been to.

Anyway, here's a photo of Fred and myself.....I'm the one with the Cardinals baseball cap.

Spring is almost upon us....but it snowed today!

It isn't often that I get to write about snow.   Living in southern Arizona doesn't usually give you a reason to, and if I were to live in some place like Montana or Wyoming I probably still wouldn't write about snow as that it would be a much more frequent occurrence there.

But, yes, it did snow today in Tucson.  It was coming down at where I work shortly after noon.  We see hail here maybe two or three times a year, but snow is much less frequent.

I think this might be only the third time I've seen it here.  Maybe the fourth.

In 1999, it snowed here on Easter Sunday.  In January 2007, we got some snow.  And then today.

I've seen it plenty of times at the higher elevations.  We're surrounded by mountains here, and a few times each winter we have snow-capped peaks.  It's a beautiful sight.  And it doesn't seem to stay very long either.

As for today, I don't understand the weather.  Just last week we were in the lower 80s in the afternoon, and yesterday morning it was downright cold and nasty and it was that way this morning too.

I'll have to check, but I think tomorrow is the first day of spring.  We either start getting our springlike weather in early March, or we transition from winter directly into summer.

I guess this year we had to have one last hurrah.

Happy Leap Year Day! 2/29/12

Well now.....we only get this once every four years.....Leap Year Day, the 29th of February!

I have tried to remember these days as they come along, trying to burn them into my memory.  In 1972 I was in junior high school and home sick that day.  In 1976, I was in San Jose, and it was an overcast day.  In 1980, I can't remember what happened on that day, nor can I for 1984.

On Leap Year Day 1988, I became a satellite engineer.  It was day one for getting to do something I had wanted to do: work on a communications satellite.  It was one of your more advanced ones too, and I could not have imagined just how much I would end up learning about satellites.  Years later a ham radio club asked me to do a presentation on satellites and I really had a lot of fun doing that.

I can't remember much of Leap Year Day 1992, 2000, 2004, or 2008.  They must have been non-descript.  I do remember the one in 1996.  I was still a satellite engineer but this time I was in my first week at a new employer, and soon would be boarding a plane for Japan to meet the customer.

This year?  Well today I guess would be non-descript.  I went to work, attended some meetings, ended up getting more work dumped on me, and put in a longer day than usual.  The longer day was by design as that I don't want to burn PTO for my PT appointment on Friday.

Anyway.....Happy Leap Year Day everyone!  Make the most of it!

Thirteen Years in Arizona

Last Thursday, the 24th of February, was the 13th anniversary of my arrival in Arizona.  I was leaving behind a rather adverse collection of circumstances in California, which I will not get into right now (nor am I likely to get into in the future).  I think the words "divorce" and "layoff" are sufficient to describe that.

It was a beautiful day when I crossed into the Grand Canyon state.  The sun was shining, the desert sky its characteristic blue, and a new chapter in life was beginning to unfold.  As I was leaving California, I said to it "enjoy your new governor" (a reference to the recently elected Gray Davis who was subsequently recalled) and upon seeing the sign that the Grand Canyon State was welcoming me, I think there may have been a few tears of joy.  I stopped the truck, said a prayer, and then continued on my journey.  My cat Sylvia was with me; she wasn't enjoying the trip....she was the only companion I had with me when I made the crossing.

Later that day, which was a Wednesday, I arrived in my newly-leased townhouse in Tucson, near the Sabino Canyon.  I didn't have much with me aside from clothing and my collection of CDs that I wasn't trusting with the movers, and a mattress pad to sleep on since I didn't own a bed when I arrived.  I was really starting all over again.  That day Arizona became the seventh state in which I was a resident of.

Two days later, the movers arrived.  I still didn't have much.  I had visited the nearest Wal*Mart to get some pots and pans and a starter set of dishes and silverware.  The movers brought my microwave and stereo equipment.  I immediately commissioned the stereo and started playing some tunes as I was unpacking.

The following Monday I started my new position at my new employer.  I was no longer a satellite engineer; I was instead helping to test out some specialized electronics that were being developed for production.  I was no longer living in the land of milk and honey as that I was instead now living in a desert.

When I arrived, I wasn't sure then how long my stay would be.  I was in the process of being bought out of my share of the house back in California, and was going to wait a year or so before buying in Tucson as that I wanted to get to know my new city before selecting a neighborhood to live in.  And, there was the business of having to make some new friends, which happened quickly, and I'm glad to say that the first friends I made here are still my good friends.  Also, I wanted to explore what was around Tucson.  The border town of Nogales was a little over an hour away by interstate.  Tombstone about 75 minutes away.  The Desert Museum some 45 minutes to the west.  That was what I knew about.  I was later to find out that we had wine country down by Sonoita.  A national park nearby.  A great collection of Mexican restaurants.  Steakhouses too.  And most important, a lot of friendly people here.

I always thought Arizona was a neat state even before I had set foot here.  I would read about the desert when I was in the third grade back in Florida.  I had a fascination with the plants and animals that were here, and I really wanted to see it.  I could never have imagined that I would get to live in the desert.

My arrival in Tucson, thirteen years ago, interestingly enough was not my first time here.  I passed thru on a road trip in July of 1986.  On the return leg of that trip, I saw northern Arizona, and was amazed at how we had so many different types of scenery here.  The Grand Canyon comes to mind, as well as the forests outside of Flagstaff, and the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.  When I had gotten the phone call that someone down here wanted to interview me, I was elated as that Tucson was where I really wanted to land when I was blasting out resumes.

Thirteen years already.  It's been that long now.

I hope to be here for a lot longer than that.

Some Odds and Ends

For a long time I have been reading the columns authored by economist Dr. Thomas Sowell.  His most recent two of them, I think, make for some interesting reading.

In this link, he accurately comments on the Florida smear campaign engineered by the Republican Establishment.  Although I'm no fan of Newt Gingrich (I have reservations about him) the Republican Establishment has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that their character is much worse than that of Newt Gingrich.

In today's column, he discusses the planned high speed rail link being proposed in California.  I wasn't aware that the People's Republic was thinking about a bullet train, although it's possible I heard about it and then quickly forgot it.

What strikes me as ludcicrous is the notion that people in Bakersfield want to go to Fresno, and that the people in Fresno want to go to Bakersfield.  The only logical explanation is that Governor Moonbeam wants to give some union workers employment so as to thank them for their support.  But why can't he instead widen I-5 to four lanes between L.A. and Sacramento?  That freeway was built in 1968, and even though California's population has more than doubled since it was built the interstate remains fixed at two lanes.

I think I know the answer to that.

Widening I-5 isn't "green", but building a bullet train is.

Bullet trains make sense in Japan, where I used them when I was there, but the bullet train that the Governor wants isn't going to take traffic off of I-5 or CA 99.

He has to know that, but he doesn't care.

If such a train were really a good investment, then Wall Street would be involved with asking permission to build one.  Believe me, they would be forming a consortium to provide this, with Donald Trump and Bill Gates bankrolling the effort.

* * * * * * *

I recently renewed my passport, and decided to also apply for a "passport card", in case I resume making visits to the border town of Nogales.  The State Department on their website suggested that it might take four to six weeks unless I wanted to pop a few more shillings to expedite it.  I declined.

The new passport arrived two days ago, some two weeks after mailing in the renewal.  My old passport and fee went to a P.O. Box in Philadelphia.  The new passport was mailed to me from Portsmouth NH.

There was no passport card, nor my old expired passport.  Instead there was a flyer telling me that both of those would come separately, and likely in two different mailings.

I don't know if I can call this efficient.

It's like getting the combo meal at Burger King, getting your Whopper first, and then having to make separate return visits to the counter to get your French fries and your drink.

(if you think that's bad, wait until the government takes over your health care......)

* * * * * * *

I had PT today, and the news is good.  I am making a good recovery and they've now got me squeezing a tennis ball.  I'm still shuttling between three different splints.  My range of motion is continuing to improve and I'm getting my strength back.

I may get to cut down to one visit per week beginning next week!

* * * * * * *

I'm going to pass on watching the Super Bowl this year.

I just  flat out don't care who wins this one.

I suppose I'm curious as to whether or not there's going to be a set of commercials between each down, thus lengthening the game to six hours, but I don't think I'll turn on the tube to find out.

* * * * * * *

Finally, I'm gong to admit that I was in something of a funk over Kathleen's passing this past weekend.  The memories were especially hitting me hard Saturday night.  We sure had a lot of them together, though not for well over two years.

I have received several condolences, for which I am grateful.

She got away from us too soon.

Kathleen has passed away

Late last night I got a phone call on my cell.  The Caller ID indicated it was incoming from Kathleen.  I haven't been in contact very much with her since we broke up and the last email I got from her was nine months ago.  I answered the call, and when the caller started speaking and it wasn't her, I knew that I was in for some bad news.

The caller was the mother-in-law of her daughter Kerri, and she was asking for me.  I knew before the news was broken to me what had happened:  Kathleen had passed away.  She had had a massive stroke, and died on Saturday, the 21st, at the age of 51.

I was at a loss for words, and I still am.  The news has numbed me and has brought some memories, both joyful and painful, back to the forefront of my consciousness.

Kathleen's memorial service was this morning.  I was not able to make it due to conflict with my PT appointment.  She will be interred in Pennsylvania, next to her son, who died tragically in an accident several years ago near Philadelphia.

I am very saddened by this, but also at peace.  She was a believer and I'm sure I'll see her again on the other side.