Monthly Archives: November 2008

Unexpected Thanksgiving surprises…

Owen, Chrissy and – surprise #1 – Olivia joined us for a Thanksgiving holiday… and Ellen was able to join us for T-Day Dinner.

Ellen brought green bean casserole, Chrissy made butternut squash (mashed) and Chrissy, Olivia and GrandmaCat made pumpkin pies… a whole raft of them due to an excess of ingredients. I did the turkey and dressing (regular and oyster) and the mashed potatoes and gravy. We had a nice toast at the beginning of the meal and lots of good conversation around the table and before we knew it, most of everything was history. After cleaning up, we all got around to the pies and coffee and the evening was pretty relaxing (as usual after a big turkey dinner).

The next morning, Chrissy headed out early for a bit of shopping and I got in a bike ride. When everyone was back at home, we all headed down to the Tech Museum to see the Leonardo DaVinci exhibit we’d arranged tickets for. (If you get a chance to see it, don’t hesitate – grab a ticket and go!)

Not three steps in to the exhibit, who did we run in to but (surprise #2!) Dr. Robert and Wendy Watson – our family doc for many years… who retired all too soon (in our minds) about 8 or 9 years ago. They were up visiting family in the Bay Area. Lots of big hugs all ’round, chattering and catching up on “things, then lots more spontaneous hugs and smiles. Bob and Wendy had been in our lives for many, many years before they retired and moved to Palm Springs and we’ve missed them so… so to run in to them like that left us all smiling like Cheshire Cats as we all worked our way through the exhibits. It was great to see them… such a time warp for all of us, I’m sure.

Owen and I got our (er, his) Honda 160 running on one cylinder yesterday so I’ve written Dr. Jim to see if he can make a house call to help me with the remaining cylinder issues 😉 The kids left this morning just after 8 and called us about an hour ago to say they were safely at home. Needless to say, the pack on this end of the wire has been in decompress mode most of the day and I’m predicting we’ll all sleep well tonight.

A great thanksgiving with surprise visits by Olivia and Bob’n’Wendy.

That’s it for now. Be well and write when you get work.
hal

So this is how I roll these days…


My Old Guy Ride.

I’ve recently refurbished my 1992 Bridgestone RBT… an apparently legendary Touring Bicycle I bought new in ’92. Before beginning the project, the bike had ~20k miles on it and appeared to be on its last legs. Turns out that was not the case.

And while the frame and major drivetrain components are original (bar-end shifters, front and rear derailleurs, brake levers) my RBT now has 2 coats of powdercoating, moustache bars w/leather wrap, Phil Wood bottom bracket, Chris King headset, Brooks B67 saddle and Nitto Chromoly rear rack. The Honjo hammered fenders, air horn and iHome sound system will likely be installed over Thanksgiving.

This thing rides like “butta” and is great for tooling around town or taking a ride down the Coast – next summer’s “personal event” goal. (Summer ’09 marks the 15 year anniversary of Scott / my tandem ride down the coast.)

I’ll put up some pics when the project is completed and everything’s cleaned up.

And then the fight started…

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels.

She asked, ‘What’s on TV?’

I said, ‘Dust.’

And then the fight started…

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My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.

She said, ‘I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3
seconds.’

I bought her a scale.

And then the fight started…

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When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace
expensive… so, I took her to a gas station…

And then the fight started….

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After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social
Security.

The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver’s license to verify my
age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I
told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come
back later.

The woman said, ‘Unbutton your shirt’. So I opened my shirt revealing my
curly silver hair.

She said, ‘That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me’ and she
processed my Social Security application.

When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social
Security office.

She said, ‘you should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten
disability, too.’

And then the fight started…

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My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept
staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby
table.

My wife asked, ‘Do you know her?’

‘Yes,’ I sighed, ‘She’s my old girlfriend. I understand she took to
drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she
hasn’t been sober since.’

‘My God!’ says my wife, ‘who would think a person could go on celebrating
that long?’

And then the fight started…

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I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and
slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you

just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny?

Yeah, well I couldn’t believe it… he was a DWARF!!!

He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, ‘I AM NOT HAPPY!’

So, I looked down at him and said, ‘Well, then which one are you?’

And then the fight started…

Many new Campbell Color photos coming…

Sorry I’ve not posted anything this weekend… it’s been hectic here. I have pulled together another very large stack of Delilah photos that I hope to put up soon and I’ve managed to get out and about and take (what I hope will be) some very nice Campbell Color photos that I hope to have up over the next day or so.

Until then, be well and write when you get work.
hal

Owen says “Thanks” for the B’day pics and wishes…

This note from Owen after he saw the pics of everyone with his b’day cake:

“Thank you everyone. How was the cake? I hope your efforts were rewarded with a slab of culinary deliciousness.

All of you have always been a special part of my life. I always look forward to coming up and seeing each and everyone of you.

I will see you next week for Turkey Day.

Until then… Have fun.”

They’ll be here late Wednesday so I’m sure they’ll catch up with everyone while they’re here.

hal

Peregrine Falcon in Campbell (sort of :)


A year or two ago, Joanne mentioned that our friends Lennie and Leon had a family of Peregrine Falcons living in their neighborhood. I didn’t hear much about it after that, but the other day while reviewing photos on another system’s disk drive, I came across this photo and figured it came from Lennie and Leon.

Yesterday I stopped by their house to ask permission to post the photo and hear a bit more about the Peregrine Family.

Turns out they were living in the tree across the street from their house and would frequent Lennie and Leon’s property… mainly to round up some of the smaller birds living in Lennie and Leon’s garden. In a fairly short period of time, the falcons had cleaned up the neighborhood’s squirrel population… as well as the small birds living in the area. (dang) They also enjoyed big birds, too, because Leon told me one day he watched one of the adults fly overhead with an adult crow in its talons, only to see the crow escape and begin flying away.

That didn’t last long because in a few minutes the Falcon was enjoying a crow dinner in plain view of the neighborhood.

Enjoy the photo and thanks to Lennie and Leon for sharing this with us 🙂