Day 181, Church and Sons of Norway Lodge



The cat and the chickens out enjoying the sun.



It was another beautiful morning, and after a great night sleep, minus a few nightmares about the Black Swan, I was ready to start my day.  First thing to do was let the chickens out, they would really enjoy their freedom and the sun.

At 10:45am I picked up Doug as usual for church and we made it just as the choir entered the room singing.  In other words we just about late, but on time.  The service was good and very emotional, as one of the members who had just retired from working at the church is in the hospital and very ill.  We sent out our prayers for recovery and hope that she will be health back with us soon.

After church I had talked Doug into helping work on a few projects at the Sons of Norway Lodge in Bend.  We loaded up a few of his tools and lots of tools from place as well as a few sheets of plywood, 2x4's and various other wood pieces, that I thought we might need.  We arrived in Bend about 1:40pm and immediately began sizing up what we needed to do.  We worked up in the attic, increasing usable floor space, so everything could be put away more efficiently.  In the kitchen we fixed a rack so coffee cups didn't have to stacked so high and would not slide out in a landslide of cups.  We also, made a serving board to go over the sink to increase counter space.  In the closet we hung a dry erase white board, made a toggle latch to secure a table to the wall and attached a protective board to keep the rolling cart of tables from scraping the wall, when put away.  In it we spent about 3 and half hours working on small projects.  It was actually a fun afternoon.

I got Doug back home by 6:30pm and thanked him for his help.  I never could have gotten done what we did in one day.  He's a good friend and a bit of wise-ass, so it made the time fun.

I got home and and spent about 20 minutes unloading the truck.  Then I went to check on the chickens and they were all in their pen.  I gave them fresh water and put out more cracked corn, which they love.  They had laid 5 eggs today.

It was a beautiful weekend and tomorrow starts a new week.  I was just thinking that I have had the Traveleze for almost 6 full months and that means that I have been writing this blog for nearly 1/2 a year.  With the trailer on hold until the company I have selected can get to it, my updates are on hold too.  I am guessing it will be around March be for they can get to it, which will still be plenty of time to get it ready for camping season.   Until then it is safe undercover waiting for it's day to come. 

Day 180, Saturday


 

It felt so good to sleep in and after initially waking up at 7am, I didn't get out of bed until 8am.  The sun was shinning and it was time to get up and start the Saturday morning chore list.  It's strange I call them a chore, but I actually like doing them.  Tossing the sheets in the washer, cleaning off the counter, watering the plants, winding the clocks, dusting and vacuuming.  When I'm all done I feel like I've accomplished something and the house looks good. 


 

Once I finish inside I then move to the outside.  I had let the chickens out and they were enjoying the sun and running around the yard.  I washed the trucked and then started to clean out the garage, breaking down cardboard boxes, and getting my recyclables ready.  I had a huge collection of bottles and cans that needed to be cashed in.  Since is was another nice day, I put the top down on the Packard and backed the car out of the garage and loaded it up with my recyclables, bottles and cardboard.  I had $5 in cans, I dropped the recyclables off at my office and then went to feed store to get some cracked corn for the chickens.



The Black Swan, Yikes!



At 6:30pm Tracy and I went to see the Black Swan.  She had mentioned last weekend that she had wanted to see it, so we thought tonight would be a good time to go.  I didn't really know what to expect, and I really didn't know it was described as a physco, sexual, thriller.  I couldn't figure out what was real and what was imagination.  I think the "girl on girl" action was bit shocking and everyone in the theater felt a bit uncomfortable.  We walked out a bit shocked and laughing at the same time.  It's definitely not a movie you want to go see with your Mom and Dad, yikes!  Our next movie is going to be a Walt Disney PG.

Day 179, TGIF and the Portland Auto Show





1930 Cadillac Fleetwood



I do love Friday's and today was going to be a great start to the weekend.  Immediately after Coffee Clatter at work I was picking up my friend Bruce and we were driving to Portland to attend the Portland Auto Show.  Portland is about 160 miles from Redmond and it takes almost exactly 3 hours.  It was another nice day, with a few clouds looming over the mountains, so I figured it would be a nice drive.



1941 Packard 180



We arrived in Portland around 1pm and Bruce was hungry.  We decided to park at the convention center and walk to Red Robbin, when one of  the attendants at the center said the Dragon Cafe was good and it's right on site.  We both ordered chicken strips and they were HUGE.  It was basically an entire chicken on top of a huge mound of fries.  We should have ordered one and split it, but we didn't, so we took our time ate it all, except for t he fries.



Farrari California



The first cars leading into the show were all classic auto's and I was happy to just stop and look at them. A 1930 Cadillac Fleetwood and 1941 Packard 180 immediately caught my eye.  You couldn't help but notice their massive size.  The height and length was impressive.  You can't help but wonder what it would have been like to have been able to buy one of these cars new.  Or to have seen one of these driving down road and wondering who was inside.



2011 Camero Convertible



Challenger RT



Inside the Convention Center the floor was covered with the latest technology in the automotive world.  There was everything from Ferrari to Fiat, from large to micro.  It was hard to figure out where to start.  Bruce is a Mustang Boss fan, and he found the Ford display right off.  It was a retro auto overload, with Camero, Challenger and Mustang all dishing up something new with a 60's flashback feel.  And then there were the acronyms, with Cadillac's CTS, CTS V, SRX,  Acura's TSX, ZDX, Audi's  A6, A8, R8, BMW's X3, M5, Honda's CR-Z, Infiniti's QX, M35h, Jaguar's XJ, XF, Lexus' IS 250, ES 350, Volvo's S60, XC60, C30, and on and on.  By 5pm we were starting to get on auto overload and by 6pm we were done.



The $170,000 Audi R8



We were back on the road by 6pm.  We were going to meet Bruce's wife in Salem and they were heading to the coast for the weekend.  It takes about an hour to get to Salem and we met in the parking lot of McDonald's on Lancaster.  After saying good bye,  I was then on my way home.  I got home around 10pm and went and checked on the chickens, they had laid 6 eggs.

I was exhausted and was ready for bed.

Day 178, A good day for a run

Its hard to believe that its January 27, with the temperature in the mid 60's.  I couldn't help but have a bit of spring fever and want to be outside.  Today is another workout day, so I don't take a lunch and couldn't go home and let the chickens out.

My workout today was at 4:15pm and I think my trainer had the same case of spring fever and she suggested we go for a run along the river.  I was more than game for that, but was a little worried I could not keep with her.  The gym is blocks away from the Deschutes River at the Old Mill in Bend and there were a lot of people with the same idea.   There is a time in the winter months when the sun is at an angle that it seems to be constantly in your eyes, and today is seemed to be particularly glaring.  It was amazingly beautiful even if the sun was blinding and I wasn't going to complain.  I'm not sure  how far we ran, but ran for about 40 minutes and it was awesome.  I figured I would be done, but she had me do pull ups, some ab work and of course lots of stretching.  It was an great day!

With a stop off at Costco I was home around 6pm.  I checked on the chickens and they had laid 5 eggs.

Day 177, Hump Day

You have to love Wednesdays when you have made it to the half way mark of the work week.  This week seems to be flying by, which must mean I'm having fun, or extremely busy.  

Noon I went home to let the chickens out and at 3:45pm I drove to Bend to drop off one of the awards from the Awards Banquet, which happens to be right next to my trainers gym.   I had my workout at 4:30pm and I needed.  I don't know what I did, but my hip socket was killing me and if felt like I needed to pop my hip.  I quickly discovered that it was actually a muscle in my back and after a few stretching exercises I felt better. 

On the drive into Bend I was able to check in with the mechanic who's been working on the Rolls.  They have been working on the cruise control since Christmas and it still doesn't work.  They know I'm not in any rush so they work on it when they have time.  They do hope to put some time in this week and hopefully I'll get back soon.  It's going to be 4 months come February 8th, I think they might be getting a little tired of it.

After a good workout there's nothing better than going out to dinner and destroying all that hard work.  I texted my friend Doug and asked if he had eaten.  I didn't hear back right away so I figured he must be doing his night chore of chucking the Buck (playing fetch with his German Short Hair).  Buck lives to fetch and will fetch until  he passes out.  A few minutes passes and Doug texted back he was just finishing chucking and dinner sounded good.  Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant, here we come!

After dinner it was off to WalMart to buy replacement floor mats for my truck.  I actually have floor mats for my floor mats, and the old ones are discolored and starting to wear out.  I buy a set of rubber deep tread floor mats for the winter to protect the light tan carpeted floor mats from the slush and cinders.  While walking the isles of Wally World, I found three new bowls for the cats water, food and dry food, two Bic lighters and lint roller.  Wow, this was a really productive shopping trip.

Day 176, Time for an Audit



The Chickens were let out at noon and enjoyed the sun.

Today at work, was a pretty average day, except for the fact that at 3 pm we were going to be doing an internal audit of our books.  I wasn't concerned, but it's a little strange to go through the books looking for errors.  I'm not a numbers person or an accountant and while I understand the books, I want nothing to do with them.  This being said I hire really good people to take care of them.   Other than a few suggestions to improve clarity I don't think there was anything found that was out of the ordinary.  It was a relief to have it over with.
At home the Chickens had been running around free since noon.  by the time I got home it was starting to get dark and they had laid 6 eggs.  For being birds, they really are very entertaining.  They come run up to see me, they actually like to be held and they produce something you can eat.

Having spent the afternoon with an audit committee I was some how in the mood to sort through all my receipts and bills for 2010 and get my tax records in order for my accountant.  It was going to be an exciting evening!

Day 175, The King's Speech



A pretty great movie.



It's another Monday and I was in the need for making the week fun.  My folks had been to the movies over the weekend and saw "The King's Speech".  They said I should go see it.  Before I left the house for work I texted my friend Tracy to see if she wanted to go see the movie and she said sure.  She pulled up the movie listing and found that The King's Speech was playing at 4:40pm or 7:30pm.  We figured we could both use a break and could make the early showing.

After a busy day of work I met Tracy at my house at 4pm and off we went to the movie.  It was a really good movie and I had never heard why King Edward abdicated his throne, or how King George VI became King.  It's a powerful movie and a fairly serious subject but it's interjected with moments of humor that keep you laughing.  Colin Firth does an amazing job and I am sure will be nominated for Oscar come Oscar time.  Of course I loved the old cars and the several Rolls Royces.  It makes me miss my Rolls and reminds me that I need to call the mechanic and see what is taking so long with my car.  It's now going on 4 months since I dropped my car for some required service.

Anyway, great movie and a fun way to start the week off.