Status: April 1, 2010

I am way behind on over two-dozen to-do items, some of which are critically important. But I'm thinking that I'm gonna go hike in the mountains this Saturday morning. While commenting on a Bopnopper post, I hunted up my Bierstadt Lake photos (Google some Albert Bierstadt paintings from the 19th century and you'll see why Colorado named one of the most beautiful lakes in the Rocky Mountains National Park Bierstadt Lake!). I still think the scenery in that park is some of the most beautiful on earth, especially if there aren't any people around. Feel free to view the photos if you missed them last summer: http://kd9la.blogspot.com/2009_06_01_archive.html and then at the bottom click on "older posts" to get some more, including the Rocky Mountain wildlife (including the hummingbirds), and at the bottom of the second page, the Shenandoah National Park in the summer, too. Ahhh, I miss the wilderness. I can't wait for the weekend.

Random Bits...

I'll follow the Bopnopper's lead and post a few sentences, to avoid being like the Lintmonkey and not update a blog for days and days... --> Krystal burgers are good. So is Sonny's barbeque. Too bad we don't have either in the Shenandoah valley. --> Grandma Fordham is in her new digs and is actually liking her new apartment. If you want to call her, she would greatly appreciate hearing from ANYbody. Anybody. Her number is 904-737-7518. If you get a few minutes, just call and say "hi". She's very lonely in a new and unfamiliar place. --> I discovered a box of old photographs of my mom taken before she married my dad. There are pictures of her with about a dozen different "boyfriends". She told me all their names, and when I jokingly kidded her that now Dad's gone, she might think about looking up some of them, she told me that they're all dead. She said that she and dad have been reading the daily obituaries for at least the last dozen or so years, and she said that all her old classmates and friends are gone. -- Sad. Like I said, if you get a chance, give her a call just to say hi and that you're thinking about her. You don't have to talk long, just say hi. It'll make her day. --> My new Camry has got issues. Accelerator issues. Not the kind that will make news headlines, but just a little annoyance. In addition to the play in the pedal that drives me nuts, the thing surges, momentarily, when the engine is cold. Not enough to cause any problem, but it is noticeable. It is NOT mechanical, it is NOT the pedal -- it is apparently the software. I'll have my foot on the accelerator pedal, and it won't move but the engine will suddenly surge -- just for a split second, and then it will die back down, before you can even do anything to react. It happens so fast, the car doesn't have time to change speed, but you can watch the tachometer jump (blip) and hear the engine RPM's momentarily increase, just for a split second. Once the car warms up, it's fine. --> I STILL don't have a notice from Toyota about a recall. --> I completed reading the Cliff Notes version of the Canterbury tales. Loved it. Laughed especially hard at the Miller's tale and the Reeve's tale. Oh, and the Pardoner's tale was hilarious, too. Oh, and the Shipman's tale, the Summoner's tale, and the Wife of Bath's tale are all great, too. Wonderful book. --> My asthma seems under control as long as I burn candles for a few minutes in the evening. Go figure. --> Faraday seems to be a lot better than she was when I left town last week. --> Does anyone know what time of year the hummingbirds come back to the valley? I got a new hummingburd feeder but I don't know when to put it out. --> Does anyone know why DVD's come in a much larger case than the jewel case used by audio CD's? What kind of case will be used by Blu-Ray disks? --> Someone asked for some technology terms that are going to be unknown to the next generation. I've got a few: ice box, passbook savings, phonograph, LP, stereo, album, "78", "45 single", telephone dial, "rotary phone", telephone receiver, phone booth, the telephone "Operator", slide rule, adding machine, tape cassette, audio tape, tape recorder, 8-track, tape player, Polaroid film, Land camera, 35mm camera, color film, black-and-white film, flashbulb, flashcube, exposure meter, film developing, "negative", color slides, slide carousel, carousel projector, VCR, VHS, Betamax, "don't touch that dial", rabbit ears, bow-tie antenna, "same time, same channel", "station identification", typewriter, white-out, typewriter ribbon, carbon paper and carbon copy, mimeograph, addressograph, spirit duplicator, shorthand, player piano, "rolling over the odometer", "winding" a watch, fountain pen, blotter, gaslight mantle, "flick your Bic", funeral parlor fan, fireplug, "red dye number five", naugahyde, asbestos shingle, mercury thermometers, mercurochrome and merthiolate. And related to computers: punched cards, tape reels, core memory, drum memory, punched paper tape, "do not fold, spindle, or mutilate", "mounting the disk volume", CGA and VGA, serial port, parallel port, IDE, SCSI (pronounced scuzzy, no joke), Zip Drive, Floppy drive, Apple Newton, '386, DOS, CP-M (yes, I knew CP-M, long before I learned DOS), goodness, the list goes on and on. --> Some terms that SHOULD be obsolete, but are still being used: carriage return, dial tone, glove compartment, keychain, switchboard, "turning" up the volume, linoleum, "punching in, and punching out" on the "timeclock", and my favorite: battery. --> No fooling: today's batteries aren't really batteries they are 'dry cells' -- the term battery came from a "pile" of cells -- the British still call them "piles". even though every battery under 12-volts is actually an individual cell rather than a "battery of cells". The term "battery" technically means "a collection of things working together".

Status of Experimentation...

Oatmeal, whole grains, vegetables, smaller portions, lower animal fats, tuna sandwiches, leafy green salads, and nuts. Almost complete elimination of high-fructose corn syrup, sodas, candy, and buttered popcorn with salt. Vitamin supplements, mineral supplements. Real stair climbing. The result?

I've got the situation leveled off for now, I haven't gained any more for the past 2 weeks thanks to a secret treatment I'm trying.

Ahoy, Maytees...

Pirates in Elkins, North Carolina? Yep, I ate dinner with them. Ten dollars, including tip. And it was really good, too, better than Red Lobster. (Picture was taken with a cell phone, hence the low quality.) The photo doesn't begin to capture the size of this place. They advertise that they can host a party of 150 people, and still have the restaurant open. It's huge inside. Family owned and operated, and decorated out the gills, as they say. Yo, ho, yo, ho, a pirate's life in N.C.

Update March 11

Returned from Florida. Bad traffic, bad weather. Had to deal with baby sister. Bad experience. Mom is moving into Taylor home. Slowly but surely. Very, very slowly. Spent half of today re-doing at bank exactly what I already did -- in writing! -- last week, but bank screwed it up. Royally. As usual. I'm surrounded by idiots. People call me, every day. Want me to spend my time helping them. Why? Why? Complete stranger called me on phone tonight. From Rockbridge Baths. Spent almost an hour on phone answering his questions. Second time this has happened in last seven days. Complete strangers. Wanting me to spend an hour telling them stuff. Why? Why me? Morale is low. Reaching close to rock bottom. Planned to hike in mountains Sunday to recuperate mentally and spiritually. Was looking forward to day without babies, without kids, without contention, without conversations, without people asking me to do things for them, without people at all. Nope. No can do. Don't ask. Mental and spiritual health is beyond reach. ... .... Snap. ... It's coming.