Tonight we have reached the point of no return. We have the cement cut and removed from the basement area, the door wall taken out and we will put it back tomorrow in it's new place and we'll get on to moving dirt out of the area's where the new plumbing will be.
Oh to be back at it again. This is good. Still have to keep the upstairs kitties up and the downstairs kitties down and so far so good. Plus we don't want them using the newly created dirt area as a special box all their own.
But so far the project is moving onwards as we thought is should. We even decided this was the best reason to break out the JWBlue. Oh how sweet it is! our toast is "Back in the Saddle again" that's the remodeling saddle y'all.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Fall projects
So, today we tried an approach to the rose hedge that worked GREAT! Some where along the way I envisioned tying up each individual bush and lopping them off at the base. IT WORKED GREAT! We still have to get the bundles to the dump but we are hoping heavily on our neighbor for the use of the trailer. It's all green waste so it goes into the side of the dump that doesn't cost anything and they compost all of the green waste.
The difference on the border is huge, I can see down the street and this spring we can stain the fence. So nice to have the overwhelming hedge down.!
The difference on the border is huge, I can see down the street and this spring we can stain the fence. So nice to have the overwhelming hedge down.!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Sweet surprises
Shopping at Costco I came across some frozen fruit cups. Tucked in an odd corner and probably won't be available again I find little 4 oz packages of Fruit Singles by Wawona. This particular one is spectrum blend. it has Peaches, Strawberries, Pineapple, Kiwi, Blueberries, and Cranberries. WOW how good is that? States it's 100% fruit, no colors, no sugar etc. Hope it's as good as it sounds. YEA!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Health Insurance makes me crazy!
You got to have it, you have to make decisions not knowing what is in store for you down stream, you know it's expensive. Then you have to deal with them when they delay payment, loose your claim, or deny coverage all together. After dealing with insurance companies I tend to NOT trust them and wonder how all the information will be used (against us) down stream.
HIPAA came about some how to finally prevent health providers AND the insurance companies from SHARING your information. OH DUH. Now there is a upcoming boom of businesses that offer "WELLNESS" to a company. You are subjected to blood tests, weight and BMI and a lengthy questionnaire that wants your family history as well as you personal details on how you live. By doing this they work with your insurance company to off set your premiums. All under the guise of 'helping you'. You are assigned a coach to help you set your goals, reach them and by golly celebrate with you as you reach your goals! How cozy is that? And they report back to your employer that you are compliant.
Who will get that information? Of course they say this is all HIPAA protected. Well of course it is up front. But the nameless statistics will most certainly be gathered. And used. Watch out Health Care reform.
Long ago the FDA came up with the food pyramid. Well, didn't they blow that? it's totally UPSIDE DOWN. But for years since the effin GOVERNMENT told you it was what was best for you people believed it. They tell us coffee is good, they tell us coffee is bad, they tell us eggs are good they tell us eggs are bad, and the list of good vs bad goes on and on. We've been TOLD what is good for us or bad for us for so long we no longer make our own decisions.
This is the first year the place I work and where husband works timed out the decision making for choosing benefits. This year we could make an intelligent decision on what to do. We'll stay with his plan. Overall the out of pocket risk is greater to have two plans, and that is the ultimate decision. Also, I do NOT have to choose to go through the wellness program. You know since it's no longer attached to my insurance it would be a good thing to follow. I wonder if it's available without being attached to my insurance plan.
One of the ways an insurance company rates a groups risk factor is the percentage of possible child bearing people or families in the group. Too bad you can't have two policies. One that would cover that group, and one that would look at the others that no longer fall in that category.
It will never be an easy answer. But one thing that is very obvious is we need to take more responsibility for our selves and quit letting the government tell us what is best for us. Quit letting them make decisions that will control us. Quit keeping our heads in the sand.
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way . . . . . . (well one or two anyway)
HIPAA came about some how to finally prevent health providers AND the insurance companies from SHARING your information. OH DUH. Now there is a upcoming boom of businesses that offer "WELLNESS" to a company. You are subjected to blood tests, weight and BMI and a lengthy questionnaire that wants your family history as well as you personal details on how you live. By doing this they work with your insurance company to off set your premiums. All under the guise of 'helping you'. You are assigned a coach to help you set your goals, reach them and by golly celebrate with you as you reach your goals! How cozy is that? And they report back to your employer that you are compliant.
Who will get that information? Of course they say this is all HIPAA protected. Well of course it is up front. But the nameless statistics will most certainly be gathered. And used. Watch out Health Care reform.
Long ago the FDA came up with the food pyramid. Well, didn't they blow that? it's totally UPSIDE DOWN. But for years since the effin GOVERNMENT told you it was what was best for you people believed it. They tell us coffee is good, they tell us coffee is bad, they tell us eggs are good they tell us eggs are bad, and the list of good vs bad goes on and on. We've been TOLD what is good for us or bad for us for so long we no longer make our own decisions.
This is the first year the place I work and where husband works timed out the decision making for choosing benefits. This year we could make an intelligent decision on what to do. We'll stay with his plan. Overall the out of pocket risk is greater to have two plans, and that is the ultimate decision. Also, I do NOT have to choose to go through the wellness program. You know since it's no longer attached to my insurance it would be a good thing to follow. I wonder if it's available without being attached to my insurance plan.
One of the ways an insurance company rates a groups risk factor is the percentage of possible child bearing people or families in the group. Too bad you can't have two policies. One that would cover that group, and one that would look at the others that no longer fall in that category.
It will never be an easy answer. But one thing that is very obvious is we need to take more responsibility for our selves and quit letting the government tell us what is best for us. Quit letting them make decisions that will control us. Quit keeping our heads in the sand.
I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. I can see all obstacles in my way . . . . . . (well one or two anyway)
Monday, September 28, 2009
So you don't know what you got till it's gone . . .
Fresh fish. Man, it's just something missing from our diet. Who knew that in one fast year we would still be looking for good fish. OK, let me back track a little here.
Since this weekend marked our one year anniversary moving to UT we wanted to have a little celebration dinner. We have a real nice bottle of chardonnay from Napa that is just yelling at us to have for dinner so we thought it would be good to get some halibut and have a nice dinner. I figured I would pick up some halibut from Costco as that's been the best looking for as long as I can remember. (NOTE: the halibut I remember was seen in AK Costco) So I wasn't really anticipating problems when I stopped at Costco to pick up some for dinner on Saturday till I looked at what they had to offer. ICK. like as in REALLY ICK. So, I mulled the salmon and decided to go over this with Terry.
We figured there MUST be a seafood market in SLC. After all, the grocery stores actually have fish selections, but I wouldn't buy fish there as they have NO idea how to handle it and who knows how long it's been there. So we look on line and decide to find one that had very high ratings in downtown SLC near Temple Square. This is really downtown. We left our house about 11 am and headed out. Once we get to town and to the area we are supposed to go (cause we did certainly look this up on Google and had the map in hand) we realized it's Saturday market at the Pioneer park and you can hardly get near the fish market. We only had to drive around a few blocks before we could even get in the parking lot for the business but we managed.
So the fish market is on the end of this fancy market/deli place that basically you need to have the right shoes on, carry the right purse, etc to even be in the place and be taken seriously. This was not boding well. Then we find the doors to this place and walk in. UGH. First instinct was to turn around and walk out. Ever smell the bottom of a dock? This was worse. And while they list tons of types of fish, there was hardly ANY display. What a disappointment. One of the guys was trimming a large tuna and couldn't even cut it his knife was so dull. The halibut selections sucked. Plus were the tail pieces with skin on still so by the time you trimmed them you would have paper plate thick pieces. We quickly backed out and went to the car.
So, we figured we would find ourselves a burger and a phone book and try for another market. We got ourselves situated in town for the proximity for where we needed to go and had lunch. Found another market and after several times of flipping back and forth in the phone book maps we had an idea where we needed to go. After lunch we headed out and for the most part drove right to the area. There are large business clusters on both sides of the road so we have to figure out where in the world this place was. Course we picked the wrong side of the road first and had to back track and cross over to get to the other side.
This market was attached to a restaurant and also VERY high end. The fish at least didn't stink which was nice, but they had the halibut pre cut in small pieces, skin on, and were priced $6.99 and in very small print EACH. WHAT THE HECK? This fish was priced out at like 18.99 a pound. OH MAN were we ruing the day we could pull out a chunk of fish from the freezer that Terry caught and enjoy it!
So we headed to one of the Costco's in SLC to see if their selection was any better. At $10.99 a pound it's still pricey but it's a celebration and we weren't feeding anyone but us so we made our selection and headed home. Home by 4:30 in the afternoon. Home after trucking all over the west end of SLC trying to find our way around. Home after driving in all new areas we hadn't ever explored before. (and will likely not again) ; - )
So, we get home and open the fish and whew what a smell. It was all I could do to not chuck it. I rinsed it well, and trimmed it, and Costco's was ever so clever in packaging it and tucked a good 8 inches of thin tail meat that you really can't do a whole lot with under the filet making it look bigger. SUCK HEADS. This piece was at least without skin, but I still have to clean it up and slice it up. We ended up with 4 measly pieces that I put in a baggie with some olive oil and spices till the grill was ready. ALL the garbage went out immediately. baahh. ICK.
Got our salad made, got the wine out of the fridge so it had a chance to warm up a bit, had a white table cloth and napkins and made the little green folding table outside up to look extra special and we had dinner. The BEST part was Terry absolutely outdid him self with the grilling on the halibut. Once it was seared he moved it off the heat onto the foil and closed up the grill (with the holes still open for the heat) and we sat and enjoyed our salad first. Then the fish came off and it was PERFECT. Absolutely PERFECT. It no longer smelled or tasted or even hinted of fishy it was delicately seasoned and done PERFECT! Man you couldn't ask for a better meal. The salad was good, the wine was better, the fish was the best.
Here's to one year land locked in UT and hoping our son gets the fish sent soon. !!!
And to all you folks in AK! RELISH THAT WILDLIFE! Eat hearty, savor each and every bite, cause we are jealous!
ME
Since this weekend marked our one year anniversary moving to UT we wanted to have a little celebration dinner. We have a real nice bottle of chardonnay from Napa that is just yelling at us to have for dinner so we thought it would be good to get some halibut and have a nice dinner. I figured I would pick up some halibut from Costco as that's been the best looking for as long as I can remember. (NOTE: the halibut I remember was seen in AK Costco) So I wasn't really anticipating problems when I stopped at Costco to pick up some for dinner on Saturday till I looked at what they had to offer. ICK. like as in REALLY ICK. So, I mulled the salmon and decided to go over this with Terry.
We figured there MUST be a seafood market in SLC. After all, the grocery stores actually have fish selections, but I wouldn't buy fish there as they have NO idea how to handle it and who knows how long it's been there. So we look on line and decide to find one that had very high ratings in downtown SLC near Temple Square. This is really downtown. We left our house about 11 am and headed out. Once we get to town and to the area we are supposed to go (cause we did certainly look this up on Google and had the map in hand) we realized it's Saturday market at the Pioneer park and you can hardly get near the fish market. We only had to drive around a few blocks before we could even get in the parking lot for the business but we managed.
So the fish market is on the end of this fancy market/deli place that basically you need to have the right shoes on, carry the right purse, etc to even be in the place and be taken seriously. This was not boding well. Then we find the doors to this place and walk in. UGH. First instinct was to turn around and walk out. Ever smell the bottom of a dock? This was worse. And while they list tons of types of fish, there was hardly ANY display. What a disappointment. One of the guys was trimming a large tuna and couldn't even cut it his knife was so dull. The halibut selections sucked. Plus were the tail pieces with skin on still so by the time you trimmed them you would have paper plate thick pieces. We quickly backed out and went to the car.
So, we figured we would find ourselves a burger and a phone book and try for another market. We got ourselves situated in town for the proximity for where we needed to go and had lunch. Found another market and after several times of flipping back and forth in the phone book maps we had an idea where we needed to go. After lunch we headed out and for the most part drove right to the area. There are large business clusters on both sides of the road so we have to figure out where in the world this place was. Course we picked the wrong side of the road first and had to back track and cross over to get to the other side.
This market was attached to a restaurant and also VERY high end. The fish at least didn't stink which was nice, but they had the halibut pre cut in small pieces, skin on, and were priced $6.99 and in very small print EACH. WHAT THE HECK? This fish was priced out at like 18.99 a pound. OH MAN were we ruing the day we could pull out a chunk of fish from the freezer that Terry caught and enjoy it!
So we headed to one of the Costco's in SLC to see if their selection was any better. At $10.99 a pound it's still pricey but it's a celebration and we weren't feeding anyone but us so we made our selection and headed home. Home by 4:30 in the afternoon. Home after trucking all over the west end of SLC trying to find our way around. Home after driving in all new areas we hadn't ever explored before. (and will likely not again) ; - )
So, we get home and open the fish and whew what a smell. It was all I could do to not chuck it. I rinsed it well, and trimmed it, and Costco's was ever so clever in packaging it and tucked a good 8 inches of thin tail meat that you really can't do a whole lot with under the filet making it look bigger. SUCK HEADS. This piece was at least without skin, but I still have to clean it up and slice it up. We ended up with 4 measly pieces that I put in a baggie with some olive oil and spices till the grill was ready. ALL the garbage went out immediately. baahh. ICK.
Got our salad made, got the wine out of the fridge so it had a chance to warm up a bit, had a white table cloth and napkins and made the little green folding table outside up to look extra special and we had dinner. The BEST part was Terry absolutely outdid him self with the grilling on the halibut. Once it was seared he moved it off the heat onto the foil and closed up the grill (with the holes still open for the heat) and we sat and enjoyed our salad first. Then the fish came off and it was PERFECT. Absolutely PERFECT. It no longer smelled or tasted or even hinted of fishy it was delicately seasoned and done PERFECT! Man you couldn't ask for a better meal. The salad was good, the wine was better, the fish was the best.
Here's to one year land locked in UT and hoping our son gets the fish sent soon. !!!
And to all you folks in AK! RELISH THAT WILDLIFE! Eat hearty, savor each and every bite, cause we are jealous!
ME
Thursday, September 24, 2009
to Acclimate
we are approaching our one year anniversary here in UT. In fact Saturday at about 5 pm will mark one year. whew, several days drive on the road with the cats. Several stressful hotel rooms, the poor kitties being boarded for like 10 days while I was in Montana, Terry had to travel to Vernal UT, and then back to Montana to then have both of us travel for a few days in NE MT to visit his family in Sidney. Poor poor kitties. they were sick, tired, lost a lot of weight and still purred when we held them. They must have had the strangest thoughts.
Not unlike ours as we viewed our new home. At least our new area, and man it was gorgeous. Trees of every variety, flowers blooming, ornamental grasses of all types I can imagine everywhere. Lucky for us the local BYU (yup, that is THE BYU) was having away games cause our landing spot was across from the stadium and they had a room that would take cats. For all of 5 days we were there. SO GLAD our Realtor located a condo in Sandy UT for us on short term. We got it for a month and then weekly after that. We only needed a month.
In that time we have made decisions that will affect us for awhile. We set up banking (and changed our banking since then) we bought a house (and remodeled it already with more to come) I had work (and for my safety and sake left that and looked for something else) I found great work and am still there (Thank you God) We made a February trip back to see family in AK (cause EVERYONE in AK is Family no matter what) We have agreed to foster our daughters two cats (and haven't killed them yet cause we learned never to say "what's the worse that can happen cause it will ) We travelled to Napa CA to see our daughter and son in Law and on up to Oregon for a dear friends 60th birthday, And we have seen a great deal of this state and really enjoy this a lot!
But back to acclimating. We now feel that 80 isn't so bad cause it's better then 100. And we are realizing that when you have 80's to 100 + that 50's and below are chilly. It may have to do with the fact that you are now in tank tops and shorts where you wouldn't have been in AK but again with the acclimating. The weather is exactly what we had when we moved here and with that it's much cooler than a month ago so it's Divine! A year ago we were suffering and VERY glad we had air in the car. The other night we did make the decision to close up the house cause the lows would be in the low 40's for the night. In AK the house would still be wide open with fan's on to bring in the breeze. We no longer travel with coats in the car all the time but have to remember that we'll need them in the near future. We no longer travel with rain coats either cause for one thing the rain is warm, and it won't last all day for sure only a short time no matter what and afater that you will dry out and not get hypo thermia. Another cloud may come by and rain some more, but in general you only have to wait it out.
We still marvel at some early termination dust on the mountain and every one here didn't even really notice. The snow melted the same day probably before noon, but it was there, and a special sight when you watch and follow the intricate cycles of weather. We appreciate that when you travel from home to the southern part of the state is gets hotter even though it's well past sunset. We are eternally thankful to experience all of this.
So acclimate we will, I hope we can handle the cold this year, cause it's nothing like we are used to and promises to be yet another fun winter, but oh wait........ it won't be for another two to three months. ; - )
Mag
Not unlike ours as we viewed our new home. At least our new area, and man it was gorgeous. Trees of every variety, flowers blooming, ornamental grasses of all types I can imagine everywhere. Lucky for us the local BYU (yup, that is THE BYU) was having away games cause our landing spot was across from the stadium and they had a room that would take cats. For all of 5 days we were there. SO GLAD our Realtor located a condo in Sandy UT for us on short term. We got it for a month and then weekly after that. We only needed a month.
In that time we have made decisions that will affect us for awhile. We set up banking (and changed our banking since then) we bought a house (and remodeled it already with more to come) I had work (and for my safety and sake left that and looked for something else) I found great work and am still there (Thank you God) We made a February trip back to see family in AK (cause EVERYONE in AK is Family no matter what) We have agreed to foster our daughters two cats (and haven't killed them yet cause we learned never to say "what's the worse that can happen cause it will ) We travelled to Napa CA to see our daughter and son in Law and on up to Oregon for a dear friends 60th birthday, And we have seen a great deal of this state and really enjoy this a lot!
But back to acclimating. We now feel that 80 isn't so bad cause it's better then 100. And we are realizing that when you have 80's to 100 + that 50's and below are chilly. It may have to do with the fact that you are now in tank tops and shorts where you wouldn't have been in AK but again with the acclimating. The weather is exactly what we had when we moved here and with that it's much cooler than a month ago so it's Divine! A year ago we were suffering and VERY glad we had air in the car. The other night we did make the decision to close up the house cause the lows would be in the low 40's for the night. In AK the house would still be wide open with fan's on to bring in the breeze. We no longer travel with coats in the car all the time but have to remember that we'll need them in the near future. We no longer travel with rain coats either cause for one thing the rain is warm, and it won't last all day for sure only a short time no matter what and afater that you will dry out and not get hypo thermia. Another cloud may come by and rain some more, but in general you only have to wait it out.
We still marvel at some early termination dust on the mountain and every one here didn't even really notice. The snow melted the same day probably before noon, but it was there, and a special sight when you watch and follow the intricate cycles of weather. We appreciate that when you travel from home to the southern part of the state is gets hotter even though it's well past sunset. We are eternally thankful to experience all of this.
So acclimate we will, I hope we can handle the cold this year, cause it's nothing like we are used to and promises to be yet another fun winter, but oh wait........ it won't be for another two to three months. ; - )
Mag
Monday, September 14, 2009
Zion National Park 2009
WOW. What a great weekend we had. The weather was grand, the vistas were astonishing. Here we are in Springdale with a view of the cliffs.
We arrived in Hurrican UT Friday evening in time to settle in for the night. It's a 3 to 3.5 hour drive so since I could skedaddle out of work a little early that made for getting out of town easier. A decent enough room at the Travel lodge for a great price. Funny though, we had to stop off in a little town Toquerville first to drop off some paint to the local dealer. He lives in Toquerville and the store is in Cedar City but since we were coming through later we just dropped it off to him direct. We met at the 'little' post office and made the exchange. It was dark by then and the temps outside had been as cool as 72 degrees, until we started descending from Cedar City. We watched our outside temps go back up to 85 degrees. Welcome to the southern Utah climate. So from turning the air conditioner to warmer for a while, to more cold later was very weird.
On Saturday morning we went into Cedar City for the horse parade. I was expecting a lot of horses but need to remember it's a small town out west and they do the best they can. We found the most perfect place to sit and enjoyed ourselves just the same. Apparently Cedar City has LOTS of parades. It's a great little town with a lot going on and we had a good time.
From there we went to the park. For the first day we just took the drive through the park, tunnel and on to the other side. Stopped along the way to take pictures and admire the amazing views. Yes pictures will come soon.
Saturday night we went out to dinner with the dealer we delivered the paint to. What a fun night, good food and lots of laughter!
Sunday we got up early so we could take advantage of the cool temps and better light. It wasn't quite the gronk of doom but 5 am is early. Got a hearty breakfast at the local JB's and on we went to the park. Our goal Sunday was to park at the lodge and take the shuttle bus up Zion Canyon. You can not drive your cars into the canyon during peak season but the shuttle is free, and while not a whistle stop has lots of stops you can get on and off at your leisure.
We opted for some of the easier hiking areas as we aren't exactly versed in hard core hiking. The Emerald Pools hike went very well and we pushed ourselves up to the middle pool before descending and taking the Kayenta trail out. it's about a mile and a half and in places you are climbing up stairs that have quite the steps to them. We saw dear, birds, and a little lizard's tail. He was too quick to see him entirely, just saw his tail.
From there we hopped back on the bus to the end of the road and walked the trail to the Temple of Sinawava. We made it most of the way back and decided to call it quits as we were hot and tired and sore so we headed back to the bus for the ride to the lodge. Probably another couple of miles of just walking on cement that is covered with sand on my poor foot didn't do it a world of good, but the sights were amazing!
Off to work today, I'll work on some more pictures later this week. We had three cameras along and I need to figure out what all to compile. Plus Terry took some really nice little video clips I'm hoping will post on the Gmail account. I'll be sure to give it my best shot.
Till then, Happy trails to you . . . .
Friday, September 11, 2009
8 years ago today
I had planned on taking the day off as we just got our newest member of the four legged crew spayed and I didn't want to leave Goldie home alone.
Terry's co worker called at an ungodly hour to have us turn on the TV. At that point the towers were still standing but certainly not for long. As the phone was ringing, I had no idea what ungodly hour really meant. It wasn't long before I knew.
The horror as we watched was over whelming. We called our children, we prayed for people we never knew. We prayed for ourselves and our country.
We are still at war with the evil people in the world to keep America and others safe from this kind of terrorist act. Even at that the liberal front thinks we have gone to far.
Do you think the family, friends, and co workers of the people in the Trade centers, pentagon, and jets think so? DO YOU??
Get up AMERICA, WAKE UP America. Freedom, liberty and justice are at stake here. Also the lives of MANY MANY service personnel. They are out there for us.
Fly your flags today and always!
Thank a service man for their service!
And for heavens sake be thankfull of EVERY THING YOU HAVE.
ME
Terry's co worker called at an ungodly hour to have us turn on the TV. At that point the towers were still standing but certainly not for long. As the phone was ringing, I had no idea what ungodly hour really meant. It wasn't long before I knew.
The horror as we watched was over whelming. We called our children, we prayed for people we never knew. We prayed for ourselves and our country.
We are still at war with the evil people in the world to keep America and others safe from this kind of terrorist act. Even at that the liberal front thinks we have gone to far.
Do you think the family, friends, and co workers of the people in the Trade centers, pentagon, and jets think so? DO YOU??
Get up AMERICA, WAKE UP America. Freedom, liberty and justice are at stake here. Also the lives of MANY MANY service personnel. They are out there for us.
Fly your flags today and always!
Thank a service man for their service!
And for heavens sake be thankfull of EVERY THING YOU HAVE.
ME
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wow a year ago today we were heading to St George Canada
Well on our way to America and new things. Geeze we fixed up painted stained and sold the house in AK. Spent a couple of nights in beautiful downtown Spenard in Anchorage figured out what to do with the cats that were coming with, sprained my ankle at 6 Rob Lees (thank you very much and please fix your friggin entry way. )
We made it to Destruction Bay and spent our first night under the most incredible stars I've ever seen. It was a miserable night however, freaked out cats, I had caught a nasty cold, and it was down right freezing cold. However, I would go back just to see the stars.
Funny, when we drove up to AK 19 years ago I swore I wouldn't do that drive again. But I would do the drive we did coming south again in a heart beat. The Cassier Hiway was definitely worth it.
Now Utah is feeling familiar. It's almost a year that we arrived here since we spent some time in Montana catching up with Family so on the 26th we'll officially be here a year already. But the weather is more familiar, not quite as hot as the last couple of months and the evenings are cool. Plus we are used to it getting dark at night all year round. LOL so we aren't adjusting for that anymore.
We are presently planning for a garden next year. This gives us several projects this fall to help the time go by. I want to take out the chrysanthemums that are along the front of the house and put in some purple sedge grass. It's not supposed to be a perennial here but I've seen it in some major plantings so I'm willing to give it a try. There is a cute blue grass clump as well I want in front of the sedge grass. These stupid mums are just too big where they are and I believe the neighbor would LOVE them. He has the stupid bushes with thorns, and equally hates them.
Also the rose hedge between our houses is going to get a major overhaul. Like cut it down to about a foot tall, cover with leaves and apparently here a plastic bag and let them set for the winter. They are too tall and unruly when left to their own devices.
We continue with our big plans to finish the basement here. This will include a half bath at the bottom of the stairs, a master on the other side and finish the bedroom and laundry area. We need to fit a closet in and still have room for laundry. The master bath will be a 3/4 bath with a shower. We'll leave the tubs upstairs. One of our thoughts is to look on a local real estate site to see what the value is of homes that then would add up to 5 bedrooms and 4 baths. That's only finishing the basement. If we get good reports on that we may try something even more daring.
The garage here sucks and needs a lot of help. Size is a major concern as even though it was supposed to be a 2 car garage you couldn't really get two cars in here. Even with our less is more change of pace. SO Depending on the market and all we'll look at extending the garage 8 feet into the side yard. Doing some cement work, changing the front of the garage to have two doors with a fair space between them, finishing the garage right, then move the shed over so it's still in the same proximity to the back of the garage that it is now, and fix the back patio and increase the size. As long as we are going to have cement work done, have it all done. The back step out the patio door is horridly designed and seriously I don't think it's legal. so that needs addressed, and the increased patio would be a huge welcome addition to the back yard.
Well we can still dream can't we?
It's been good here in UT! It should only get better!
ME
We made it to Destruction Bay and spent our first night under the most incredible stars I've ever seen. It was a miserable night however, freaked out cats, I had caught a nasty cold, and it was down right freezing cold. However, I would go back just to see the stars.
Funny, when we drove up to AK 19 years ago I swore I wouldn't do that drive again. But I would do the drive we did coming south again in a heart beat. The Cassier Hiway was definitely worth it.
Now Utah is feeling familiar. It's almost a year that we arrived here since we spent some time in Montana catching up with Family so on the 26th we'll officially be here a year already. But the weather is more familiar, not quite as hot as the last couple of months and the evenings are cool. Plus we are used to it getting dark at night all year round. LOL so we aren't adjusting for that anymore.
We are presently planning for a garden next year. This gives us several projects this fall to help the time go by. I want to take out the chrysanthemums that are along the front of the house and put in some purple sedge grass. It's not supposed to be a perennial here but I've seen it in some major plantings so I'm willing to give it a try. There is a cute blue grass clump as well I want in front of the sedge grass. These stupid mums are just too big where they are and I believe the neighbor would LOVE them. He has the stupid bushes with thorns, and equally hates them.
Also the rose hedge between our houses is going to get a major overhaul. Like cut it down to about a foot tall, cover with leaves and apparently here a plastic bag and let them set for the winter. They are too tall and unruly when left to their own devices.
We continue with our big plans to finish the basement here. This will include a half bath at the bottom of the stairs, a master on the other side and finish the bedroom and laundry area. We need to fit a closet in and still have room for laundry. The master bath will be a 3/4 bath with a shower. We'll leave the tubs upstairs. One of our thoughts is to look on a local real estate site to see what the value is of homes that then would add up to 5 bedrooms and 4 baths. That's only finishing the basement. If we get good reports on that we may try something even more daring.
The garage here sucks and needs a lot of help. Size is a major concern as even though it was supposed to be a 2 car garage you couldn't really get two cars in here. Even with our less is more change of pace. SO Depending on the market and all we'll look at extending the garage 8 feet into the side yard. Doing some cement work, changing the front of the garage to have two doors with a fair space between them, finishing the garage right, then move the shed over so it's still in the same proximity to the back of the garage that it is now, and fix the back patio and increase the size. As long as we are going to have cement work done, have it all done. The back step out the patio door is horridly designed and seriously I don't think it's legal. so that needs addressed, and the increased patio would be a huge welcome addition to the back yard.
Well we can still dream can't we?
It's been good here in UT! It should only get better!
ME
Monday, August 31, 2009
Moving right along
After we got back from vacation we started concentrating on what to do with the living room area. It presently has three chairs, a coffee table, a couple of stands, a lamp and two litter boxes that accommodate the little fosterlings we have. Our living room in this house is hardly more than a pass through from the front door. While it's not a main room of the house it is expected to be used for receiving guests. Yes, I know the litter boxes could pose as quite a distractant but we do figure that's better than the alternative.
So the window wall will hold a respectable sofa at 72" long. Bigger than a love seat but not ginormous. So off we went on a search. We stopped at our IKEA store and found a nice little sofa that would pretty much work. Rather than just getting that, we also looked at a few other places coming to the conclusion that we liked the one at IKEA best of all. By that time of day we were pretty beat and headed home to do some figuring on how on earth we were going to get the sofa home. After all, we are back from the vacation that we took our little pick up truck and sold it to our daughter in California. We took measurements and started looking at the cars.
We figured my car would work and it would fit. It would require shoving the drivers seat all the way forward so you can hardly drive but for one shortish trip figured it would be worth it. So the next day we headed to town only to find out the sofa we selected was over sold. AS IN HERE YESTERDAY, GONE TODAY. But there was some good news in this. We discovered we had confused the tags on the display model and we thought it was the size we wanted, well we knew it was the size we wanted but thought it was the love seat. WRONG. The display model was indeed the sofa. That was OK cause after seeing it again we still felt it was what we wanted. So we put our name on one and were told it would be about a week that there were some in transit. Or we could look on line and watch for the shipments coming in.
OK so we tried looking on line only to realize that particular model is not in their computer. I called customer service and was told an entirely different story about the sofa's. They had been on order or in transit for like 3 - 4 weeks not days and now they didn't know what the deal was. We should call back every day to see where the order is. And NO they can't take an order over the phone but once the sofa was in the ware house, they could hold it for 24 hours.
OK so not being highly encouraged by this I basically blew it off figuring we'd go to plan B. what ever that might be. Till last night at 6:15 we get a call from IKEA that the sofa is in. Must have been instant transportation but heck it's in, and no we can't hold it. Can't do a phone transaction etc. By then it was almost 6:30 and the store closes at 7 pm. We didn't even have a good idea which car to haul this home in. So Husband threw in several tie down straps to his Escape and off we DASHED to IKEA. It's 33 miles on the highway and we missed three lights to get there at about 5 after 7 on the car clock. Luckily there were tons of people streaming out loading stuff etc, so I snuck in the entrance / exit cause the main doors were locked already.
There I walked back through the cash lanes to our sofa. The sales person had our name on one, and had it loaded on to a couple of carts so all I had to do was roll it to the check out and go. Man! that was AMAZING!!!!!
So we hauled the couch out and shoved it into the Escape, strapped it in and then strapped the tail gate down as far as we could. Ran the air conditioner on high all the way home to keep fresh air through the car and from 6:30 pm to 8:15 pm we did the turnaround including loading up. Course we drove the speed limit home. LOL And saw no less than 4 people pulled over for what ever reason. Thankfully they did not see us on our way to IKEA.
The sofa is now safely in the garage till tonight when we'll so some major moving around of our meager selection of living room furniture. The litter placements still are a concern for me, as things have been going so well. We'll just have to see.
And to the nice exceptional person at IKEA! Stand proud. You did a great customer service act and it so worked out for us and while it totally sucked to get the call that late at night and to have to scramble like we did, you had that ready to go. APPLAUSE!!!!!!! and THANK YOU!!
ME
So the window wall will hold a respectable sofa at 72" long. Bigger than a love seat but not ginormous. So off we went on a search. We stopped at our IKEA store and found a nice little sofa that would pretty much work. Rather than just getting that, we also looked at a few other places coming to the conclusion that we liked the one at IKEA best of all. By that time of day we were pretty beat and headed home to do some figuring on how on earth we were going to get the sofa home. After all, we are back from the vacation that we took our little pick up truck and sold it to our daughter in California. We took measurements and started looking at the cars.
We figured my car would work and it would fit. It would require shoving the drivers seat all the way forward so you can hardly drive but for one shortish trip figured it would be worth it. So the next day we headed to town only to find out the sofa we selected was over sold. AS IN HERE YESTERDAY, GONE TODAY. But there was some good news in this. We discovered we had confused the tags on the display model and we thought it was the size we wanted, well we knew it was the size we wanted but thought it was the love seat. WRONG. The display model was indeed the sofa. That was OK cause after seeing it again we still felt it was what we wanted. So we put our name on one and were told it would be about a week that there were some in transit. Or we could look on line and watch for the shipments coming in.
OK so we tried looking on line only to realize that particular model is not in their computer. I called customer service and was told an entirely different story about the sofa's. They had been on order or in transit for like 3 - 4 weeks not days and now they didn't know what the deal was. We should call back every day to see where the order is. And NO they can't take an order over the phone but once the sofa was in the ware house, they could hold it for 24 hours.
OK so not being highly encouraged by this I basically blew it off figuring we'd go to plan B. what ever that might be. Till last night at 6:15 we get a call from IKEA that the sofa is in. Must have been instant transportation but heck it's in, and no we can't hold it. Can't do a phone transaction etc. By then it was almost 6:30 and the store closes at 7 pm. We didn't even have a good idea which car to haul this home in. So Husband threw in several tie down straps to his Escape and off we DASHED to IKEA. It's 33 miles on the highway and we missed three lights to get there at about 5 after 7 on the car clock. Luckily there were tons of people streaming out loading stuff etc, so I snuck in the entrance / exit cause the main doors were locked already.
There I walked back through the cash lanes to our sofa. The sales person had our name on one, and had it loaded on to a couple of carts so all I had to do was roll it to the check out and go. Man! that was AMAZING!!!!!
So we hauled the couch out and shoved it into the Escape, strapped it in and then strapped the tail gate down as far as we could. Ran the air conditioner on high all the way home to keep fresh air through the car and from 6:30 pm to 8:15 pm we did the turnaround including loading up. Course we drove the speed limit home. LOL And saw no less than 4 people pulled over for what ever reason. Thankfully they did not see us on our way to IKEA.
The sofa is now safely in the garage till tonight when we'll so some major moving around of our meager selection of living room furniture. The litter placements still are a concern for me, as things have been going so well. We'll just have to see.
And to the nice exceptional person at IKEA! Stand proud. You did a great customer service act and it so worked out for us and while it totally sucked to get the call that late at night and to have to scramble like we did, you had that ready to go. APPLAUSE!!!!!!! and THANK YOU!!
ME
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Home at last!
Wow, what a darn good trip. We got home at about 5:30 last night and had 4 kitties very glad to see us. However, we were more glad to see our neighbors that took care of our house. The girls mowed the lawn while we were gone. It was a fantastic surprise to come home to. I've downloaded some 300 pictures to the computer and will have to take some time to go through them to send them on the way. The Kitties all did well with NO horrible surprises for all the time we were gone. This is a good thing.
We had so much fun celebrating our friends birthday. It was his 60th and he partied like a youngin'. Their home sits in a secluded area on the edge of Cottage Grove with a river behind them and yards on both sides and great big pine trees around. I'm not sure how many folks were able to come celebrate but he was congratulated by all the best. His daughter from Washington came down with a close family friend that I believe was pretty much another daughter, and the best surprise ever was his daughter from Hawaii was along for the trip. Everyone kept the secret and the surprise was complete.
The house is so nice and I know they have done several projects to it to make it this way. Just a charmer of a home. I think my favorite is the 4 season room they enclosed on the back side. What a wonderful space all in all. We were made to feel like family and really felt it while we were there.
Our drive from Arcata to Cottage Grove was calm and beautiful. There is some really pretty country side out there.
The speed limits in Oregon suck. The main highway is 65 but the secondary highways are 55 and that is frankly too darn slow. The impact of this really didn't hit us till we left our friends and headed on our merry way home.
Not only that, but we got caught in the old, we aren't familiar with where we are so we'll just follow the map and hope it works out. Well, the little 36 mile cut across that was slated to be a scenic byway was the most windy road with zero scenic to it we have ever seen. Two lane only with a center double yellow line striped. The trees were tall and right up to the edge of the road and there were bicyclist all along the way. I really do not have anything against folks out on their bikes, but this road was not meant for both cars and bikes. It was probably the most challenging technical drive yet. Speeds up to all of 20 as you muscled your car up the road, a lot of the curves were 15 mph and they meant it. It was so bad I was buried under anything I could find cause it made me horridly car sick. The tall trees and the sunlight added the strobe affect with the lights. IT DID NOT HELP in any way. It was the most miserable 36 miles we've ever driven. And once committed we couldn't do anything but continue. Solid traffic both ways.
This road did come over some incredible landscape. We crested the pass at the Deschutes National Forest near the Three Sisters wilderness area. This is geological wildness. Total old lava flow from God knows where. I'm definitely going to be looking this one up. If I hadn't been so car sick we may have stopped but the visitor center was solidly packed so on we went. The lava flows are certainly old, but man, sure makes you glad you weren't alive then, and more glad that what ever volcano or event caused this has calmed down. The lava flows continue well through Idaho. Amazing landscape.
Once past that we had a much more normal drive over to Bend Oregon, and on to Burns and stopped for the night in Ontario Oregon. It's right on the border to Idaho and a nice little town at that. Our goal was to get to Nampa ID and we made it to within 30 miles. Close enough.
We left Cottage Grove at about noon and got to our hotel rest at 9 ish. We were beat. Found a Best Western that was probably the nicest place we've stayed in for a long time and crashed for the night.
Up and out of there around 10 am and home by 5:30. Not a bad day of it.
whew, back to work. gots to run.
I know, Pictures are coming. I'll work on them between laundry loads tonight.
ME
We had so much fun celebrating our friends birthday. It was his 60th and he partied like a youngin'. Their home sits in a secluded area on the edge of Cottage Grove with a river behind them and yards on both sides and great big pine trees around. I'm not sure how many folks were able to come celebrate but he was congratulated by all the best. His daughter from Washington came down with a close family friend that I believe was pretty much another daughter, and the best surprise ever was his daughter from Hawaii was along for the trip. Everyone kept the secret and the surprise was complete.
The house is so nice and I know they have done several projects to it to make it this way. Just a charmer of a home. I think my favorite is the 4 season room they enclosed on the back side. What a wonderful space all in all. We were made to feel like family and really felt it while we were there.
Our drive from Arcata to Cottage Grove was calm and beautiful. There is some really pretty country side out there.
The speed limits in Oregon suck. The main highway is 65 but the secondary highways are 55 and that is frankly too darn slow. The impact of this really didn't hit us till we left our friends and headed on our merry way home.
Not only that, but we got caught in the old, we aren't familiar with where we are so we'll just follow the map and hope it works out. Well, the little 36 mile cut across that was slated to be a scenic byway was the most windy road with zero scenic to it we have ever seen. Two lane only with a center double yellow line striped. The trees were tall and right up to the edge of the road and there were bicyclist all along the way. I really do not have anything against folks out on their bikes, but this road was not meant for both cars and bikes. It was probably the most challenging technical drive yet. Speeds up to all of 20 as you muscled your car up the road, a lot of the curves were 15 mph and they meant it. It was so bad I was buried under anything I could find cause it made me horridly car sick. The tall trees and the sunlight added the strobe affect with the lights. IT DID NOT HELP in any way. It was the most miserable 36 miles we've ever driven. And once committed we couldn't do anything but continue. Solid traffic both ways.
This road did come over some incredible landscape. We crested the pass at the Deschutes National Forest near the Three Sisters wilderness area. This is geological wildness. Total old lava flow from God knows where. I'm definitely going to be looking this one up. If I hadn't been so car sick we may have stopped but the visitor center was solidly packed so on we went. The lava flows are certainly old, but man, sure makes you glad you weren't alive then, and more glad that what ever volcano or event caused this has calmed down. The lava flows continue well through Idaho. Amazing landscape.
Once past that we had a much more normal drive over to Bend Oregon, and on to Burns and stopped for the night in Ontario Oregon. It's right on the border to Idaho and a nice little town at that. Our goal was to get to Nampa ID and we made it to within 30 miles. Close enough.
We left Cottage Grove at about noon and got to our hotel rest at 9 ish. We were beat. Found a Best Western that was probably the nicest place we've stayed in for a long time and crashed for the night.
Up and out of there around 10 am and home by 5:30. Not a bad day of it.
whew, back to work. gots to run.
I know, Pictures are coming. I'll work on them between laundry loads tonight.
ME
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Now in Arcata California
We made it this far after leaving Napa, CA. It's just such pretty country here it made the whole drive very enjoyable. Along the way are groves of redwoods and these trees grow right up to the edge of the road. Very scary zooming past these giants.
We followed the Eel River north on Hiway 101 and slipped into Arcata about 6 ish. Then we watched in dismay as the fog rolled in. That meant not much for heading down to the water or any other sight seeing unless we wanted to see fog. But watching the mist blow in was rather cool. You can sure tell the humidity is higher on the coast. My skin is sure soft! LOL
Spent the night in the Days Inn. Sure wouldn't recommend it. It's clean enough as far as that goes, but there was so much Pledge left on the tables that we had to take a wash cloth and wipe down all the surfaces. Even at that, If I'm not careful the laptop will go sliding right off the table. The room has an Iron in it but no ironing board. No elevator, NO ice on the second floor as the map and the room info portrays. The restaurant is an absolute joke as are the lights in the room. Half don't work, the other half work with the switch by the door. That's not so bad, but there is a wall sconce that comes on as well so you can't use the switch, read before going to bed and just turn off your bed side lamp. No, you would have to get up to turn off the sconce, then you would be plunged into darkness to find your way back to you side of the bed. Does anyone who designs hotel rooms EVER stay in one?????
We won't even go into the 5 worthless pillows.
Soon we'll be off to look at some cool trees. I can see pretty good outside, but there is no telling how much fog we'll have this morning. It has also been highly recommended that we drive up the coast line from here and cut across at maybe Coos Bay or so. We'll have to look at the map.
So, ta ta for now.
me
We followed the Eel River north on Hiway 101 and slipped into Arcata about 6 ish. Then we watched in dismay as the fog rolled in. That meant not much for heading down to the water or any other sight seeing unless we wanted to see fog. But watching the mist blow in was rather cool. You can sure tell the humidity is higher on the coast. My skin is sure soft! LOL
Spent the night in the Days Inn. Sure wouldn't recommend it. It's clean enough as far as that goes, but there was so much Pledge left on the tables that we had to take a wash cloth and wipe down all the surfaces. Even at that, If I'm not careful the laptop will go sliding right off the table. The room has an Iron in it but no ironing board. No elevator, NO ice on the second floor as the map and the room info portrays. The restaurant is an absolute joke as are the lights in the room. Half don't work, the other half work with the switch by the door. That's not so bad, but there is a wall sconce that comes on as well so you can't use the switch, read before going to bed and just turn off your bed side lamp. No, you would have to get up to turn off the sconce, then you would be plunged into darkness to find your way back to you side of the bed. Does anyone who designs hotel rooms EVER stay in one?????
We won't even go into the 5 worthless pillows.
Soon we'll be off to look at some cool trees. I can see pretty good outside, but there is no telling how much fog we'll have this morning. It has also been highly recommended that we drive up the coast line from here and cut across at maybe Coos Bay or so. We'll have to look at the map.
So, ta ta for now.
me
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
off to the Redwood Forest
Today, sadly, we leave our Daughter and Son in Law's place and, gladly, head off to the Redwood forest. It has been a most enjoyable visit. I hadn't seen them for 2 years. We've enjoyed some touring, we visited the Robert Mondavi Winery, another one I don't remember the name of, but actually the best one yesterday called Trefethen Family Winery. This place was amazing, unique as it's actually a family run business. The grounds were great and the main building was so impressive. We were treated quite nicely and enjoyed our tasting immensely. We even made it out of there with a few bottles of wine to enjoy. We bought a desert wine that is to die for. So smooth it just sips down without making you go ewe this is so sweet. They do have a web site for those that are interested. trefethenfamilyvineyards.com I haven't looked there yet but i BET it's got photos etc on it. Very nice place.
The truck has officially been sold to our Daughter. I'm sure it will be more and more fun for her to have as time goes on. It's a good thing to hand off now. Although I am sure we are going to think of a million reasons to use that truck in the next month. Hahahaha. It's been sitting dormant way more than being used.
Today we will head up Hiway 12 and connect with 101 towards Arcata. We plan on spending the night there to enjoy the redwood national forest. Since our son in law had to head to work today we will be heading right past there and grab lunch along the way. That will be a great stop. He works at Dean and Deluca's. Nice place, high end foods and kitchen supplies, of course wines etc.
After our drive just to get here, I'm looking forward to being in the same car with Terry and enjoying our selves a bit more.
ME
The truck has officially been sold to our Daughter. I'm sure it will be more and more fun for her to have as time goes on. It's a good thing to hand off now. Although I am sure we are going to think of a million reasons to use that truck in the next month. Hahahaha. It's been sitting dormant way more than being used.
Today we will head up Hiway 12 and connect with 101 towards Arcata. We plan on spending the night there to enjoy the redwood national forest. Since our son in law had to head to work today we will be heading right past there and grab lunch along the way. That will be a great stop. He works at Dean and Deluca's. Nice place, high end foods and kitchen supplies, of course wines etc.
After our drive just to get here, I'm looking forward to being in the same car with Terry and enjoying our selves a bit more.
ME
Sunday, August 9, 2009
So, It's so freakin hot here!
Well more likely it's freaking humid here. Just a bit of a difference compared to extra dry Utah.
For dinner last night Alex made a reduction out of a Cabernet wine with spices and butter that was to die for. Smooth, creamy and aromatic. The steaks on the grill were finished with the best blue cheese I have ever had. I'm going to buy some of this cheese and bring some home.
Napa California is so beautiful. There are redwood trees on the boulevards where our daughter and son in law live. There are such a smattering of ALL KINDS of trees you just can't look every where at once. The vineyards are beautiful and we plan on touring some today. We've driven past several already and these places are great. The Robert Mondavi vineyard looks JUST like the commercials about the place. The vineyards stretch in all directions.
Our drive over was for the most part uneventful. I was quite stressed about this but following the truck turned out to work out well. We also had our walkie talkies so we could communicate with each other. That was the best thing in the world and I would heartily recommend it to anyone needing to travel in separate cars.
The trouble came after we crossed into California. There is major (as in MAJOR) work being done on Highway 80 and in places you are travelling on such a skinny two lane road that you feel you are certainly in the hands of God to get to where you are going. The cement wall dividing the highway in on your left and the giant freaking semi's are on your right. It was so tight I was thankful I wasn't driving the Edge as it's a wider car than the Escape. My hands hurt the next day from gripping the steering wheel. However, with all that taken into consideration, and the fact that California has the absolutely shittiest hiway sign system. We got through it ok.
Had the pleasure of touring a little in Sacramento. Actually if you really must know, we got lost and had to double back to get us back on track. Ended up coming out on a section of highway where three on ramps come into one place. SCARY. Trying to communicate with the walkie talkies and keep each other in sight. Creep onto the highway watching two other places come on as well, then realize every one wants the exit this turns into except us. Hmmm. Terry hollars at me to get out of the exit at my best opportunity we needed to go forward not go back into the city. So, zip back into traffic and we were just exactly where we needed to be. whew! The section of Sacramento we had landed in was quite pretty if you like gated communities. We were glad it was daylight.
And to the credit of the great travelling American spirit, we did not see a single accident all the way here. GO AMERICA DRIVERS!!!!!!!!!
Our Daughter's apartment is lovely. Two bedrooms one bath on the second floor of a two story unit. There are wonderful Victorians, craftsman and regular framed houses all around. There is a neighborhood grocery right across the street. It's very homey here.
It's just been a dandy visit so far!
ME
For dinner last night Alex made a reduction out of a Cabernet wine with spices and butter that was to die for. Smooth, creamy and aromatic. The steaks on the grill were finished with the best blue cheese I have ever had. I'm going to buy some of this cheese and bring some home.
Napa California is so beautiful. There are redwood trees on the boulevards where our daughter and son in law live. There are such a smattering of ALL KINDS of trees you just can't look every where at once. The vineyards are beautiful and we plan on touring some today. We've driven past several already and these places are great. The Robert Mondavi vineyard looks JUST like the commercials about the place. The vineyards stretch in all directions.
Our drive over was for the most part uneventful. I was quite stressed about this but following the truck turned out to work out well. We also had our walkie talkies so we could communicate with each other. That was the best thing in the world and I would heartily recommend it to anyone needing to travel in separate cars.
The trouble came after we crossed into California. There is major (as in MAJOR) work being done on Highway 80 and in places you are travelling on such a skinny two lane road that you feel you are certainly in the hands of God to get to where you are going. The cement wall dividing the highway in on your left and the giant freaking semi's are on your right. It was so tight I was thankful I wasn't driving the Edge as it's a wider car than the Escape. My hands hurt the next day from gripping the steering wheel. However, with all that taken into consideration, and the fact that California has the absolutely shittiest hiway sign system. We got through it ok.
Had the pleasure of touring a little in Sacramento. Actually if you really must know, we got lost and had to double back to get us back on track. Ended up coming out on a section of highway where three on ramps come into one place. SCARY. Trying to communicate with the walkie talkies and keep each other in sight. Creep onto the highway watching two other places come on as well, then realize every one wants the exit this turns into except us. Hmmm. Terry hollars at me to get out of the exit at my best opportunity we needed to go forward not go back into the city. So, zip back into traffic and we were just exactly where we needed to be. whew! The section of Sacramento we had landed in was quite pretty if you like gated communities. We were glad it was daylight.
And to the credit of the great travelling American spirit, we did not see a single accident all the way here. GO AMERICA DRIVERS!!!!!!!!!
Our Daughter's apartment is lovely. Two bedrooms one bath on the second floor of a two story unit. There are wonderful Victorians, craftsman and regular framed houses all around. There is a neighborhood grocery right across the street. It's very homey here.
It's just been a dandy visit so far!
ME
Sunday, August 2, 2009
ODE to Alaska
Well probably not an ODE but we saw red wild salmon at Costco's yesterday and bought one for $4.99 a pound. Had to laugh, it's probably the cheapest red salmon we ever got. But barbeque salmon on the grill last night was divine! And the left overs were boned out and frozen for the salmon quesadilla's. They will also be divine!
Tonight we are having brats and I made fresh buns this morning with the bread recipe. I broke down the 4 loaves quantity to 2 loaves and to one loaf. That way I can make as much or as little as I want. I'm not very good at hot dog buns yet but practice will make perfect.
We are entertaining a change of plans for our little road trip that begins next weekend. We will be traveling to Napa CA to see our daughter and son in law, and take them the truck. Then we are heading north to Cottage Grove OR to celebrate a friends 60th birthday. so as we are looking at the maps and all, when it occurs to me that we'll be driving past the Red Wood Forests. so big detour time. We'll leave our Daughters the day before we originally planned and drive over to Arcata area and spend the night so we can get up early in the morning and drive through he park and on up to Oregon. What a fun detour!
So here's to AK, and salmon, Home made bread, and gorgeous drives! YEA
Tonight we are having brats and I made fresh buns this morning with the bread recipe. I broke down the 4 loaves quantity to 2 loaves and to one loaf. That way I can make as much or as little as I want. I'm not very good at hot dog buns yet but practice will make perfect.
We are entertaining a change of plans for our little road trip that begins next weekend. We will be traveling to Napa CA to see our daughter and son in law, and take them the truck. Then we are heading north to Cottage Grove OR to celebrate a friends 60th birthday. so as we are looking at the maps and all, when it occurs to me that we'll be driving past the Red Wood Forests. so big detour time. We'll leave our Daughters the day before we originally planned and drive over to Arcata area and spend the night so we can get up early in the morning and drive through he park and on up to Oregon. What a fun detour!
So here's to AK, and salmon, Home made bread, and gorgeous drives! YEA
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Bread Making
I was treated to a new recipe this weekend. Some of you may have heard of this but I am here to report even I can now make bread.
This recipe uses a brand name SAF Instant Yeast, and a product called Soy Lecithin found in the natural food store. The yeast we were able to find on our second try locally.
Also of note, this is a sticky dough. It was recommended to use Pam spray to spray on your hands, and since this is an instant yeast dough, you do not turn it out on to a floured surface, you spray your counter as well. You do not knead this dough you just sort of shape it. ; - )
Makes 4 loaves of bread
10 1/2 cups bread flour
1 Cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 heaping tablespoons SAF brand instant Yeast
stir together the dry ingredients and to them add:
3 Tablespoons of Soy Lecithin. ( this is a thick sticky soy oil so the recommendation is to just estimate three blobs that would be tablespoons size and to not measure this as it just sticks to the spoon)
4 cups hot tap water (not boiling)
Mix about 5 minutes. The dough should be very sticky.
(I had to add another half cup of water while this mixed for the sticky consistency)
Turn on to oiled (sprayed) surface and cut into 4 loaves, shape and place into loaf pans.
Raise 25 minutes
Bake 25 mintues at 400 Degrees.
Can use half the dough for bread, half for pizza or calzones, buns etc.
That's it. No kneading, no let it rise and punch it down no flour all over the kitchen. This is like magic.!
We made this bread this morning and got it baked before the house was too hot. It was extremely easy. We then went out and bought some whole wheat flour so our next batch will have some of that in it. Also I cut the recipe in half as I only own two bread pans and wanted to see how it worked first. I figured if I didn't like it I would just give the soy lecithin and yeast to my boss (is who gave me the recipe). I'm looking forward to giving this another go. I am looking forward to making this into buns.
Apparently if you use more whole wheat flour, you use a bit more of the lecithin.
Happy baking!!
ME
This recipe uses a brand name SAF Instant Yeast, and a product called Soy Lecithin found in the natural food store. The yeast we were able to find on our second try locally.
Also of note, this is a sticky dough. It was recommended to use Pam spray to spray on your hands, and since this is an instant yeast dough, you do not turn it out on to a floured surface, you spray your counter as well. You do not knead this dough you just sort of shape it. ; - )
Makes 4 loaves of bread
10 1/2 cups bread flour
1 Cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 heaping tablespoons SAF brand instant Yeast
stir together the dry ingredients and to them add:
3 Tablespoons of Soy Lecithin. ( this is a thick sticky soy oil so the recommendation is to just estimate three blobs that would be tablespoons size and to not measure this as it just sticks to the spoon)
4 cups hot tap water (not boiling)
Mix about 5 minutes. The dough should be very sticky.
(I had to add another half cup of water while this mixed for the sticky consistency)
Turn on to oiled (sprayed) surface and cut into 4 loaves, shape and place into loaf pans.
Raise 25 minutes
Bake 25 mintues at 400 Degrees.
Can use half the dough for bread, half for pizza or calzones, buns etc.
That's it. No kneading, no let it rise and punch it down no flour all over the kitchen. This is like magic.!
We made this bread this morning and got it baked before the house was too hot. It was extremely easy. We then went out and bought some whole wheat flour so our next batch will have some of that in it. Also I cut the recipe in half as I only own two bread pans and wanted to see how it worked first. I figured if I didn't like it I would just give the soy lecithin and yeast to my boss (is who gave me the recipe). I'm looking forward to giving this another go. I am looking forward to making this into buns.
Apparently if you use more whole wheat flour, you use a bit more of the lecithin.
Happy baking!!
ME
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Reflections on Cat Fostering
Back this spring in April when I made the decision to foster our daughters cats for a year or so my naive little mind though what would be the worst that can happen?
I figured certainly plenty of hissy fits, possible fur flying, and general raukus behavour while they acclimated to each other.
We had plenty of time to switch our cats to the new food, and litter type and they were fine, no problems at all after a month or more.
When the cats arrived we kept them seperated for a couple of days then slowly let them together. Even that went extremely well. All the rest of the time that our Daughter was here it went well.
Then after she left things started happening.
Our oldest cat, Susie, who is now probably 14 years old and the frailest kitty you can imagine decided to turn into attack cat. She was ambushing the other cats every chance she got. So one of our daughters cats, Ash, was afraid to go down stairs to the litter box and we were having pee spots in the corner. WELL, that had to stop, so I crafted a plastic lined corner in my office and gave Ash her own litter box and she was happy. In fact EVERY ONE was happy and used this box. What ever. But then, Attack cat Susie started ambushing them in that litter box. Can you imagine? How vulnerable you would be. POOR KITTIES.
In the meantime, we started a remodel project in the kitchen that stresses out Ash, and Sasquatch (Sassy is what we call her). And we had company, and we painted everything in the main living area as soon as we could after the remodel project. With all that going on, Sassy developed a bladder infection that we did not catch for quite a while. But her spotting everywhere confused the heck out of Hobbes our other 14 year old cat. Lo and behold THAT ROTTEN CAT went in to our company's luggage sitting open on the floor and peed in it.........
OH THE HORROR.
So, we laundered and drycleaned everything we could, cleaned the suitcase with vinegar and set it in the sun to dry, humbly apologized, while internally agonizing over the horror. Lucky for us, our company is a cat person and understood. And we could get him pretty much back on his way none the worse for the wear, we just had to mail his dry cleaned clothes to him. He wouldn't let me replace the suitcase. Said he can't smell a thing, but his cats growled at it. *grin*
All the while, poor Sassy is still suffering with a bladder infection, and we can't smell that she is peeing all over the living room cause of all the paint smell. Then we had new company come. OK, we explained that the guest room is now a CAT FREE zone and to pay special attention that no cats get in there. All was well till we took off for an overnighter to Arches and Canyonlands only to come home to a beautifully remodeled and painted house that smells like a cage.
OH THE HORROR
So down on my hands and knees with white vinegar scrubbing all the wall boards and along the carpet. Only to find out that the coat closet is a total loss, carpet removed and will have to be painted even. In the meantime, Hobbes is totally confused with all the peeing, and stressed to have a sick cat in the house. I came around the corner to find him PEEING on one of our living room chairs. (can anyone say thank goodness for scotchguard) so I shooed him off the chair and ran for the trusty vinegar. Cleaned that up and then wondered where he went. I find him finishing his business on our bed.
OH THE FUCKING HORROR (sorry)
He is very lucky to be alive. In fact at this point I am so distressed I'm wondering what the hell we 've gotten ourselves into. I tossed Hobbes sorry ass downstairs and went to work with a ton of adrenalin to fashion the kennels we bought material for. We got the 4' x 8' sheets of plastic lattice stuff and 1/2 inch white pvc pipe. I had to cut the lattice in half short wise so set up saw horses boards and cut the sheets. These are pretty stout and large to handle alone but I tell you, I was so friggin stressed at this time I could have moved mountains.
Then I hauled everything that was cut down stairs to the basement and began to assemble the structure. I tell you zip ties are an amazing thing, This went together well, I was able to make a box that is about 45" cubed. In it went a litter box, the two small travel kennels for sleeping, and a short cat scratcher. Food and water. In they went. I put both Hobbes and Susie in there as they are at least happier together than appart.
Then I attacked the bed. I called the sleep number folks only to find out that the mattress cover is not launderable or drycleanable. HUH?????? I have to spot clean it carefully. OK, Hobbes has a VERY large bladder so this was a huge spot. OH, and wash all the sheets, blanket, and mattress pad that was on the bed. Again with the trusty vinegar I proceeded to sponge at the spot all day, slept on the guest bed, and the next day continued to spot clean the mattress cover. I had a small plastic crate that I put under it and kept a fan going to dry it. By the end of the second day there was no evidence of stain, and I did a final wash with an enzyme cleaner and that seems to have done the trick. GOOD THING cause to replace the mattress cover for our king size bed was over $600 dollars.
So, we didn't know yet that there was a health concern going on till we took her in to the vet. SO now she is on meds. The first round was fine, we read the package directions that stated give one 1/4 dropper twice daily to mean a 1/4 dropper full. didn't seem like enough but when I checked out and discussed it that was what the tech said as well after looking at the box. WELL what they REALLY meant to say is 1 and 1/4 dropper full. so for the first 5 days she was getting only 1/5th her dose. NICE. Yes I had words with the vet. Not like I was friggin pissed or anything. Can you imagine if it had been a CHILD or worse the other way around and she was getting 5 times the dose????????? I was good and didnt' yell at the vet by the way.
SO, the second bottle of meds was mixed up as we were still needing a second week of meds so she got her first dose of the second bottle on Wednesday and Thursday morning we had a really sick kitty. Sassy had thrown up all over the place. It so reminded me of having a 3 year old in the house with a stomach bug. LOL but it's the cat and she is so miserable you just can't imagine. So Thursday she did not get her meds, like what would be the point, and I am on my fourth day of a brand new kick ass job so I'm not missing work and Husband is out of town working. In fact he was out of town working for most of the above mess. He always did have incredible timing. *GRIN*
Not knowing his schedule, I did mention to the boss the situation and when I got home Thurs. night found the kitty ok, not good but ok. Husband was able to take her to the vet on Friday who finds nothing apparently wrong with her. We'll play it as a wait and see and gave us new antibiotics, and some anti nausea meds and see how she does. Said the antibiotics do not have any contraindications that cause these symptoms, so??????? lets try this and see.
It's been a couple of days now, and She is much improved this morning, but still not 100%. I've yet to give her her meds this AM and will as soon as I'm done with this. By the way, Why on earth would you need to flavor cat medicine like pina colada mix? Poor cat. Bad enough I have to give her meds, why does it have to taste so icky.
So, when my niave little mind wondered what's the worst that can happen, I never saw this coming. I've had cats since I was in grade school and never saw this behavior. And our daughter is all the way in DC and can't do anything about this, and feels terrible, and we are committed to keeping these furry friends happy and healthy till she gets them back. BUT man oh man it's been a trial.
Current status is our two are out of kitty jail and living comfortably in the basement, and daughter's two are as comfortable as can be (poor Sassy) and living upstairs. Everyone is more calm, and personable so it's not ideal but better than it was. Still having someone (Ash or Susie) spotting on a favorite spot in the living room so I just today put a damn litter box there to see if she gets the message.
And as you can see, I have a new carpet cleaner that will be used over and over and over again.
hmmmmmm
ME
I figured certainly plenty of hissy fits, possible fur flying, and general raukus behavour while they acclimated to each other.
We had plenty of time to switch our cats to the new food, and litter type and they were fine, no problems at all after a month or more.
When the cats arrived we kept them seperated for a couple of days then slowly let them together. Even that went extremely well. All the rest of the time that our Daughter was here it went well.
Then after she left things started happening.
Our oldest cat, Susie, who is now probably 14 years old and the frailest kitty you can imagine decided to turn into attack cat. She was ambushing the other cats every chance she got. So one of our daughters cats, Ash, was afraid to go down stairs to the litter box and we were having pee spots in the corner. WELL, that had to stop, so I crafted a plastic lined corner in my office and gave Ash her own litter box and she was happy. In fact EVERY ONE was happy and used this box. What ever. But then, Attack cat Susie started ambushing them in that litter box. Can you imagine? How vulnerable you would be. POOR KITTIES.
In the meantime, we started a remodel project in the kitchen that stresses out Ash, and Sasquatch (Sassy is what we call her). And we had company, and we painted everything in the main living area as soon as we could after the remodel project. With all that going on, Sassy developed a bladder infection that we did not catch for quite a while. But her spotting everywhere confused the heck out of Hobbes our other 14 year old cat. Lo and behold THAT ROTTEN CAT went in to our company's luggage sitting open on the floor and peed in it.........
OH THE HORROR.
So, we laundered and drycleaned everything we could, cleaned the suitcase with vinegar and set it in the sun to dry, humbly apologized, while internally agonizing over the horror. Lucky for us, our company is a cat person and understood. And we could get him pretty much back on his way none the worse for the wear, we just had to mail his dry cleaned clothes to him. He wouldn't let me replace the suitcase. Said he can't smell a thing, but his cats growled at it. *grin*
All the while, poor Sassy is still suffering with a bladder infection, and we can't smell that she is peeing all over the living room cause of all the paint smell. Then we had new company come. OK, we explained that the guest room is now a CAT FREE zone and to pay special attention that no cats get in there. All was well till we took off for an overnighter to Arches and Canyonlands only to come home to a beautifully remodeled and painted house that smells like a cage.
OH THE HORROR
So down on my hands and knees with white vinegar scrubbing all the wall boards and along the carpet. Only to find out that the coat closet is a total loss, carpet removed and will have to be painted even. In the meantime, Hobbes is totally confused with all the peeing, and stressed to have a sick cat in the house. I came around the corner to find him PEEING on one of our living room chairs. (can anyone say thank goodness for scotchguard) so I shooed him off the chair and ran for the trusty vinegar. Cleaned that up and then wondered where he went. I find him finishing his business on our bed.
OH THE FUCKING HORROR (sorry)
He is very lucky to be alive. In fact at this point I am so distressed I'm wondering what the hell we 've gotten ourselves into. I tossed Hobbes sorry ass downstairs and went to work with a ton of adrenalin to fashion the kennels we bought material for. We got the 4' x 8' sheets of plastic lattice stuff and 1/2 inch white pvc pipe. I had to cut the lattice in half short wise so set up saw horses boards and cut the sheets. These are pretty stout and large to handle alone but I tell you, I was so friggin stressed at this time I could have moved mountains.
Then I hauled everything that was cut down stairs to the basement and began to assemble the structure. I tell you zip ties are an amazing thing, This went together well, I was able to make a box that is about 45" cubed. In it went a litter box, the two small travel kennels for sleeping, and a short cat scratcher. Food and water. In they went. I put both Hobbes and Susie in there as they are at least happier together than appart.
Then I attacked the bed. I called the sleep number folks only to find out that the mattress cover is not launderable or drycleanable. HUH?????? I have to spot clean it carefully. OK, Hobbes has a VERY large bladder so this was a huge spot. OH, and wash all the sheets, blanket, and mattress pad that was on the bed. Again with the trusty vinegar I proceeded to sponge at the spot all day, slept on the guest bed, and the next day continued to spot clean the mattress cover. I had a small plastic crate that I put under it and kept a fan going to dry it. By the end of the second day there was no evidence of stain, and I did a final wash with an enzyme cleaner and that seems to have done the trick. GOOD THING cause to replace the mattress cover for our king size bed was over $600 dollars.
So, we didn't know yet that there was a health concern going on till we took her in to the vet. SO now she is on meds. The first round was fine, we read the package directions that stated give one 1/4 dropper twice daily to mean a 1/4 dropper full. didn't seem like enough but when I checked out and discussed it that was what the tech said as well after looking at the box. WELL what they REALLY meant to say is 1 and 1/4 dropper full. so for the first 5 days she was getting only 1/5th her dose. NICE. Yes I had words with the vet. Not like I was friggin pissed or anything. Can you imagine if it had been a CHILD or worse the other way around and she was getting 5 times the dose????????? I was good and didnt' yell at the vet by the way.
SO, the second bottle of meds was mixed up as we were still needing a second week of meds so she got her first dose of the second bottle on Wednesday and Thursday morning we had a really sick kitty. Sassy had thrown up all over the place. It so reminded me of having a 3 year old in the house with a stomach bug. LOL but it's the cat and she is so miserable you just can't imagine. So Thursday she did not get her meds, like what would be the point, and I am on my fourth day of a brand new kick ass job so I'm not missing work and Husband is out of town working. In fact he was out of town working for most of the above mess. He always did have incredible timing. *GRIN*
Not knowing his schedule, I did mention to the boss the situation and when I got home Thurs. night found the kitty ok, not good but ok. Husband was able to take her to the vet on Friday who finds nothing apparently wrong with her. We'll play it as a wait and see and gave us new antibiotics, and some anti nausea meds and see how she does. Said the antibiotics do not have any contraindications that cause these symptoms, so??????? lets try this and see.
It's been a couple of days now, and She is much improved this morning, but still not 100%. I've yet to give her her meds this AM and will as soon as I'm done with this. By the way, Why on earth would you need to flavor cat medicine like pina colada mix? Poor cat. Bad enough I have to give her meds, why does it have to taste so icky.
So, when my niave little mind wondered what's the worst that can happen, I never saw this coming. I've had cats since I was in grade school and never saw this behavior. And our daughter is all the way in DC and can't do anything about this, and feels terrible, and we are committed to keeping these furry friends happy and healthy till she gets them back. BUT man oh man it's been a trial.
Current status is our two are out of kitty jail and living comfortably in the basement, and daughter's two are as comfortable as can be (poor Sassy) and living upstairs. Everyone is more calm, and personable so it's not ideal but better than it was. Still having someone (Ash or Susie) spotting on a favorite spot in the living room so I just today put a damn litter box there to see if she gets the message.
And as you can see, I have a new carpet cleaner that will be used over and over and over again.
hmmmmmm
ME
Friday, July 3, 2009
Carpet Cleaning
Well, we finally broke down and bought a carpet cleaner. We went with the Hoover Spin brush all terrain. After reading a gazillion reviews of the two major brands we just went for the Hoover.
I am absolutely convinced there is a chemical or something like an enzyme in carpet cleaner shampoo that automatically turns your water a convincingly disgusting icky dirty scummy foul color and consistency. There is no other explanation for what comes through these machines and is poured down your drains.
I also have to say with just a couple of small concerns that this machine and the shampoo completely convinces us that our carpets have NEVER EVER been cleaned. Maybe even back as far as they installed filthy carpet. After all, we vacuum, with a Dyson for God's sake, and still muck like you can't believe is sucked up to be drained down our drains. Unless the magic enzyme or chemical really really exists. ; - )
I must also wonder if the reviews are written by commercial carpet cleaners who don't want you to buy home equipment. After all, who stands to be hurt the most by the sale of these machines. I bet this falls under "Other duties as assigned" when they are hired by the various companies. We have seen our share of shysters. The ones who must clip a fiber of your carpet and burn it in front of your eyes so you can see what type of fiber it's made of. Like HELLO, WE BOUGHT THE DAMN CARPET AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE BOUGHT, 'MORON'. But he has to do the flash dance to clean the carpet. what ever!!!!!
The Hoover Spin Brush All Terrain has performed great. Yes, it drips when you change the buckets but what the heck do you expect? Two buckets filled with water of varying consistencies that need the machine to be man handled to change and refill. GET OVER IT. It's a frigging carpet cleaner and will likely leave a drip or two. Man the reviews cracked me up.
Plus, it seems like most of America has succumbed to the dumbing down and can't read and follow directions.
Most couldn't get past one operation before having problems with either brand machine. Go figure. Yes there will be some machines that just aren't meant to be, but over all, we have a much cleaner carpet and the machine lives to do another job!! Plus it totally rocks to do this without having to HIRE it done.
ME
I am absolutely convinced there is a chemical or something like an enzyme in carpet cleaner shampoo that automatically turns your water a convincingly disgusting icky dirty scummy foul color and consistency. There is no other explanation for what comes through these machines and is poured down your drains.
I also have to say with just a couple of small concerns that this machine and the shampoo completely convinces us that our carpets have NEVER EVER been cleaned. Maybe even back as far as they installed filthy carpet. After all, we vacuum, with a Dyson for God's sake, and still muck like you can't believe is sucked up to be drained down our drains. Unless the magic enzyme or chemical really really exists. ; - )
I must also wonder if the reviews are written by commercial carpet cleaners who don't want you to buy home equipment. After all, who stands to be hurt the most by the sale of these machines. I bet this falls under "Other duties as assigned" when they are hired by the various companies. We have seen our share of shysters. The ones who must clip a fiber of your carpet and burn it in front of your eyes so you can see what type of fiber it's made of. Like HELLO, WE BOUGHT THE DAMN CARPET AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WE BOUGHT, 'MORON'. But he has to do the flash dance to clean the carpet. what ever!!!!!
The Hoover Spin Brush All Terrain has performed great. Yes, it drips when you change the buckets but what the heck do you expect? Two buckets filled with water of varying consistencies that need the machine to be man handled to change and refill. GET OVER IT. It's a frigging carpet cleaner and will likely leave a drip or two. Man the reviews cracked me up.
Plus, it seems like most of America has succumbed to the dumbing down and can't read and follow directions.
Most couldn't get past one operation before having problems with either brand machine. Go figure. Yes there will be some machines that just aren't meant to be, but over all, we have a much cleaner carpet and the machine lives to do another job!! Plus it totally rocks to do this without having to HIRE it done.
ME
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
I am now employed!
I am now employed with a very reputable construction industry company at the corporate office. I'll enjoy front desk reception duties as well as assisting the office manager. And I start Monday July 6th.
It's good pay for the going area, great benefits including 401K and after one year, profit sharing Plus the company will match 6% on the 401K monies. This company is one of the oldest companies in UT and is considered in the top 5% of private industries. YEA! Plus the office building where I will be is only 2 years old and really cool, and dress code is business casual including jeans. Like not just on the last Friday of the month. After all, it is a construction company.
I am very excited and will hone up on the company website till Monday to get more familiar with the division (5 different divisions) and their Core Values:
1. We Value People.
2. Our word is our bond.
3. Quality services and products at the best value.
4. Always give a full measure.
Hows that for a company to work for?
To any and all of you that have had me on their prayer chain, THANK YOU! Believe me when I say, it's most appreciated, and many prayers of thanks have already been said by me as well. It's been a year today that I left AFOC in AK. It's great to be away from there and even better to be on to new and exciting employment and adventures.
YEA!!!
ME
It's good pay for the going area, great benefits including 401K and after one year, profit sharing Plus the company will match 6% on the 401K monies. This company is one of the oldest companies in UT and is considered in the top 5% of private industries. YEA! Plus the office building where I will be is only 2 years old and really cool, and dress code is business casual including jeans. Like not just on the last Friday of the month. After all, it is a construction company.
I am very excited and will hone up on the company website till Monday to get more familiar with the division (5 different divisions) and their Core Values:
1. We Value People.
2. Our word is our bond.
3. Quality services and products at the best value.
4. Always give a full measure.
Hows that for a company to work for?
To any and all of you that have had me on their prayer chain, THANK YOU! Believe me when I say, it's most appreciated, and many prayers of thanks have already been said by me as well. It's been a year today that I left AFOC in AK. It's great to be away from there and even better to be on to new and exciting employment and adventures.
YEA!!!
ME
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Underground Sprinklers 101 or maybe 102
So, we figured out the mystery of the underground sprinklers. First off, we adjusted the one in the back yard that sprayed on the shed. Course when the sprinklers were first installed there wasn't a shed there and it was directed just fine. HOWEVER now we have a shed and don't really want the darn thing getting that wet. We had to dig around the sprinkler head enough to unscrew the thing. (component?) With that done we could readjust the right stop position screw it back together and try again. Took a few tries till we got it right as we didn't realize how much difference a click makes. Now we'll still water the lawn, but not the shed.
Then we got this wild hair to see how difficult it was to aim the rest of the heads. OK that sounds easy enough. It's like 8 am on a very beautiful Sunday morning and we got nothing better to do but get seriously soaked. Yes dear youngest Daughter, playing in the sprinklers when its this warm out is way too much fun!
So we moved along each zone best we could. Some of the heads were simple as turning the little head (yes while the water is on) and things were going well till I tried to adjust down one of the sprinklers out front. Apparently you just can't keep turning the darn things. Suddenly off it popped to who knows where and I am standing under a shooting geyser of water a good 1/2 inch stream and shooting probably 12 feet in the air. And considering the amount of pressure who in the heck knows where the darn little thingy went or even what it actually looks like how big it is and if it's stuck in the neighbor's tree or what. And I continue to get soaked.
So, we get that zone shut off (takes two minutes to shut down) and proceed to hunt for the little thingy. With that found several feet away (what a surprise) we then had to figure out how to reattach it. Zone back on and you have to grab the pop up while under pressure (remember it's shooting water straight up) and hang on like you are going to strangle it. Turn off the zone (2 minutes) and try and figure out how to reattach the little thingy. Again, remember it's nice out, sunny, and I am thoroughly soaked. You feel rather silly out there hanging on to this little piece of plastic pipe cause if you let go, it goes underground and you start all over again.
Then we came around the dreaded side yard to the east. This is where we have 2 - 3 sprinkler heads that are either broken, or just buried. All that would happen along that way when we watered is a magic puddle would appear. It was a total mystery as to where the water was coming from exactly. With visions of digging up the entire back yard we just back burnered this project till we were more able to tackle it. Well, today was the day.
Started out with a small hand sized garden shovel and picked a spot and started. We are reaching into a hole now halfway up to our elbow and not finding any pipes or heads. Then we realize, you can hear the water. hmmmm. So now we are knelt down with our ears to the ground listening for what should be a sprinkler head. And got the bigger garden shovel. Sure enough it worked. And will wonders never cease but there were 4 sprinkler heads that were buried under the over growth of sod. Seems like a particular hazard to these systems. I thought I felt silly hanging on to the sprinkler out front so we could screw that together. You feel sillier listening to the ground.
Now, we'll have much better use of the water, our poor lawn will be happier, and we are thrilled. YEA!!!
Raindrops keep falling on my head . . .
Then we got this wild hair to see how difficult it was to aim the rest of the heads. OK that sounds easy enough. It's like 8 am on a very beautiful Sunday morning and we got nothing better to do but get seriously soaked. Yes dear youngest Daughter, playing in the sprinklers when its this warm out is way too much fun!
So we moved along each zone best we could. Some of the heads were simple as turning the little head (yes while the water is on) and things were going well till I tried to adjust down one of the sprinklers out front. Apparently you just can't keep turning the darn things. Suddenly off it popped to who knows where and I am standing under a shooting geyser of water a good 1/2 inch stream and shooting probably 12 feet in the air. And considering the amount of pressure who in the heck knows where the darn little thingy went or even what it actually looks like how big it is and if it's stuck in the neighbor's tree or what. And I continue to get soaked.
So, we get that zone shut off (takes two minutes to shut down) and proceed to hunt for the little thingy. With that found several feet away (what a surprise) we then had to figure out how to reattach it. Zone back on and you have to grab the pop up while under pressure (remember it's shooting water straight up) and hang on like you are going to strangle it. Turn off the zone (2 minutes) and try and figure out how to reattach the little thingy. Again, remember it's nice out, sunny, and I am thoroughly soaked. You feel rather silly out there hanging on to this little piece of plastic pipe cause if you let go, it goes underground and you start all over again.
Then we came around the dreaded side yard to the east. This is where we have 2 - 3 sprinkler heads that are either broken, or just buried. All that would happen along that way when we watered is a magic puddle would appear. It was a total mystery as to where the water was coming from exactly. With visions of digging up the entire back yard we just back burnered this project till we were more able to tackle it. Well, today was the day.
Started out with a small hand sized garden shovel and picked a spot and started. We are reaching into a hole now halfway up to our elbow and not finding any pipes or heads. Then we realize, you can hear the water. hmmmm. So now we are knelt down with our ears to the ground listening for what should be a sprinkler head. And got the bigger garden shovel. Sure enough it worked. And will wonders never cease but there were 4 sprinkler heads that were buried under the over growth of sod. Seems like a particular hazard to these systems. I thought I felt silly hanging on to the sprinkler out front so we could screw that together. You feel sillier listening to the ground.
Now, we'll have much better use of the water, our poor lawn will be happier, and we are thrilled. YEA!!!
Raindrops keep falling on my head . . .
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