New Livingroom

Some of you may know or recall that I was getting a new couch and recliner for my living room.  Before it was delivered, I painted my living room.  I took pictures once they were delivered, but I also discovered that my old coffee table was too low for my new couch.  So, I've been on the lookout for a new table.  With the spacing in my living room, I don't have room for a big long traditional table, so I've been hunting for something a bit smaller, but taller.

In the meantime, a week and a half ago, my tv died.  It was only 8-1/2 years old, but it was an old, tube, bulky, extremely heavy, tv.  Heavy enough, that I can't lift it on my own.  I moved my cable box into the bedroom and hooked it up to my little 15" tv to hold me over until I could find a new one.  Last Sunday, I bought one, 40" HD LCD for $400.  A new tv means I have to get rid of my entertainment center.  Recall a picture I posted a couple years ago of that entertainment center.

Last Monday, I had a maintenance guy come after work and carry the tv to the dumpster.  And to unhook the cable box and tv, I had to move the entertainment center partially away from the wall, so the top half it was cleaned off.  During the week I took the stereo to the left of the tv out to the dumpster also.  It had a five cd changer, dual cassette deck, radio tuner and a turntable, but the cd changer didn't work and I can listen to music on my computer, and I only used the turntable for my Christmas records.  Bye bye stereo.

So today, I took the rest of the stuff off the bottom (kept the dvd player, tossed the vcr) and moved the empty entertainment center out to the balcony for a toss over the railing.

My hope was that the fall to the ground would break it apart, which I could then carry easily out to the dumpster.  It worked!  I got everything over to the dumpster in about 5 trips.

So now I have a big empty wall, waiting for me to find a tv stand so I can unpack the tv and have Comcast come to set it all up, including a new HD DVR.  Here's the picture of my couch and recliner.

You can see the table is low for the height of the couch.  The recliner is just to the right out of the picture.  There isn't a lot of room between the table and chair for getting to the sliding door, so a smaller table will work better there.

Tori, both couch and chair are a deep red, almost a cranberry color.  Once I have everything else I now need to get for the living room, I'll take new pictures to show you how it looks.

Lake Tahoe/Reno Vacation Part 4

This last part of my August vacation will be short, we took it easy for a couple days, just lazing around the pool of the hotel.  I didn't even get a good picture of the hotel we stayed at:  The Peppermill Resort and Casino.  But here's a link to show you what our room looked like.

We stayed for two nights before our flights home (mine was to CA for a couple days then home).  The first night, Sue, Janet and I went down to the pools (yes I said pools, plural) around 8 or 9pm.  There are three pools plus two hot tubs.  We put our stuff by one hot tub, got into the first pool that was 85F, swam across it to the second pool that was 90F, swam across it to the third pool that was 95F, then on to the other hot tub.  After soaking there for a little bit, we ran back to the 85F pool, which now felt cold, then dipped into the first hot tub.  The link above gives you a couple shots of the pool area, plus this picture I took from our floor looking down on the pools.

The next morning we walked over to the parking lot next to the hotel where a car show was going on for the week, Hot August Nights.  Most of the cars were not in the parking lot, but we had a little bit of time to kill, so we checked out the cars that were there.  In particular, I found this one, and snapped the picture to show my aunt who loves purple Camaros.

Then I thought I spotted my dream car, then after a second look determined it wasn't quite it.  I kept walking across the parking lot and there it was.  Like a beacon, calling to me.  Or a siren's song.  I didn't want to leave it.  I wanted it to be mine.  I wanted to get behind the wheel and drive it back to Chicago.  Instead I had to settle for this picture.

1964-1/2 Cherry Red Ford Mustang.  *Drools all over the keyboard*

So sorry about that.  I can't help it.  That's my car.  Oh to be able to drive a standard transmission.  *Sigh*

Around lunchtime we met up with my niece, Deana, Janet's youngest daughter, and her daughter Vivian.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera, and didn't get any pictures.  I think someone else got some, I'll have to bug them for copies.  If I get them, I'll share.  While we did that, my aunt Val got a massage and facial.  Her little treat for herself.  I think she really enjoyed it.

We hung out at the hotel all day and night, I gambled about $5.00 at video poker, just so I could get a free drink.  The next day we went to the airport and said goodbye to Janet.  It was definitely one of the better vacations, and my sister Janet is one of the best hostesses and guides you could ever ask for.

The only bad news from the vacation, was the day after we left, Janet was taking her husband to the doctor for tests, and it was discovered he needed triple bypass surgery.  He's recuperating very well at home now, but there was a lot of worrying for several days.

I hope you enjoyed my vacation pictures and tales of fun in the sun.

Lake Tahoe/Reno Vacation Part 3

Our last day at Lake Tahoe, we had reservations on the Tahoe Queen.  And here she is:

She's a diesel powered paddle wheel boat.  Click HERE for the website.

We were on the Emerald Bay cruise, which took us across the southern half of Lake Tahoe.  The scenery was beautiful with mountains and pine trees in every direction.

Here's the view as we are preparing to enter Emerald Bay:

My sisters Sue and Janet on the boat:

As we entered Emerald Bay, up to our left was a bald eagle's nest.  This was the best shot I could get, on maximum zoom:

As we circled Emerald Bay, we were given a history of the bay over the loudspeaker.  One of the biggest tourist attractions in the bay is Vikingsholm Castle.  It was difficult to get good pictures of the house, as everyone wanted to get pictures of it, plus there are a lot of trees around it.

As you can see, it's a popular place to sit on the beach and soak up the bright sunshine.  What I thought was most interesting about the castle, was the round room on the left.

The Vikingsholm link above gives you not only great history about the building of Vikingsholm, but also about Emerald Bay itself.

Once we had circled Emerald Bay, we crossed back over Lake Tahoe to finish the cruise.  Total time was about 2-1/2 hours.  Because of the elevation and the fact that it was another perfect cloudless day at Lake Tahoe, all four of us ended up sunburned mostly on our left arms and necks.  None of them were bad enough to ruin the vacation, but enough for us to notice.

After the cruise it was time to start the drive back to Reno.  We took the scenic route, around the lake, and got a great view of Emerald Bay and Fannette Island in the middle of the bay.

A little further up the road was a scenic overlook spot, and a parking area for those wanting to hike down to Emerald Bay.  There was some road construction going on, which had traffic backed up a bit.  Sue and I wanted to jump out and take a couple quick pictures, and just as we were doing so, we heard a loud screech and crash out on the road.  Apparently, two cars were wanting the same spot of road and decided to mash their bumpers together.  It looked like no one was seriously hurt, but the cars sustained some decent  dents.  Here's one of the pictures Sue took of me at the scenic overlook.

The drive around the lake was beautiful, typical mountain winding roads, with lots of trees and forests on every side.  We even had a discussion about the difference between the woods and a forest.  How do you know you're in a forest and not just "in the woods"?

Next, the 4th and final part of my vacation, Reno and The Peppermill.

Lake Tahoe/Reno Vacation Part 2

Being convicted felons, we felt it would be best to hole up in a nice pretty spot, where no one would think to look for us.

I think this might do!  This was the view off our balcony.  I roomed with Janet, with Sue and Val sharing another room next door.  I was SO glad to be with Janet, because Sue snores really loud.  In fact, the first night Janet said she was so loud she could hear Sue snoring in our room!  The next morning, we went to the drugstore, so Val could buy earplugs.

We were hoping to swim in the hotel pool, but when we went to check it out, the water was very cloudy, so we didn't trust it to be clean.  Instead we just gazed at the lake and the mountains.  Here's the view from the front of our room.

Can you believe the sky was that blue every single day I was in Nevada? Although technically at this point we were in California.  The hotel was in South Lake Tahoe, CA.  And the winery tour we went on was in California too, I think.  Just in case the first view of the lake isn't enough...

This is the view to the left when facing our hotel room door.  Our one full day in Tahoe we went wine tasting.  There were several along a winding road up in the mountains.  We ended up stopping at four and had to quit, because we all would have been drunk if we tried two more.  All of the wine tastings were giving us 6 samples, so by the last 2 I was taking one sip of each instead of drinking the entire sample.  And I was munching on crackers like crazy!  We even stopped for lunch, and still had more than enough wine to make us drunk if we let it.

We came back to the hotel, relaxed, and decided on a late supper.  There's a small restaurant that is hidden in the first picture.  It's along the dock that goes out onto the lake, hidden in the middle left, behind the tree next to the building on the left.  We tried walking down there only to discover they required reservations.  We were greatly disappointed.  Our alternative ended up being to get in the car and drive up and down the main strip until something caught our eye.  We decided we didn't want to try any of the big hotels/resorts, as those would have been very busy due to the shows being performed that night.  We ended up at Applebees of all places, eating at 9pm.

The next morning we had reservations for our boat ride on the Tahoe Queen.

Lake Tahoe/Reno Vacation Part 1

Here at last is my vacation from early August.  We'll see how much I can get written before my pizza is done and X Factor starts.

I love visiting my family in California, but after all the trips I've made in the last 20 or so years, I've seen and done just about all there is to do.  When my sister suggested we all (myself, sister Sue and Aunt Val) meet in Reno and spend several days with my other sister Janet, I was all for it.  I had never been to Reno, and have not spent nearly as much time with Janet as I have with Sue and Val, mostly due to the fact that she wasn't in California.

Knowing Reno is desert, and H O T in the summer, I brought all short-sleeved shirts to wear, with a mix of slacks and jeans.  Hot doesn't begin to describe what Reno is like in August.  By 9:00AM, I think it was 100 Degrees F already.  Ok, maybe not that hot, but it felt hotter than I recall it ever getting here.

From left to right: Val, Sue and Janet.  This was taken our first morning in Reno, before we packed up and headed to Lake Tahoe.  I probably should have taken pictures of the whole house, because it is beautiful.  They re-did everything when they moved in, and did a fantastic job.

The plan was to pack lunch meat, cheese, bottled water, wine, a few sodas and some fruit into a big cooler, so we had snacks to munch on during our trip.  We got everything packed into the rental car and headed off into the mountains.

Along the way, we stopped in Virginia City, and old mining town that is mostly a tourist attraction.

Here's The Way It Was Virginia City Museum.  We didn't go in, since it cost money, so we walked around the exterior and looked at the old mining equipment and descriptions of how they were used.  The whole town is built into the side of a mountain, so from where we parked, we had to walk up two steep roads just to get to the main street where all the shops were.  We weren't planning on spending the whole day there, so did not go into every store.  But we were thrown in jail.

Once bail was met, we were on our way to see the rest of Virginia City, which included giving penance at the local church, St. Mary's in the Mountains.

Unfortunately, we needed to be on our way to Tahoe, as the lake was calling.

I've Been a Bad Blogger This Month

Sorry I still haven't posted about my vacation last month.  Here are my excuses:

The last couple of weekends have been terribly busy, and weekends afford me (usually) the most time to upload pictures and formulate my post.  Last weekend I was too tired on Saturday and spent Sunday painting half my living room.

This weekend, with three days, I figured I'd have plenty of time.  Then my aunt called asking if I'd come over to help her paint one bedroom.  What should have been a 4 hour job, ended up being 8, and I didn't get home Saturday night until 10:30.  Sunday I woke up so sore, I could hardly walk.  Monday was a bit better, but has been hard to sit at the computer for any extended period of time.  Most of my time the last couple days has been in front of the tv, with my legs up, resting them so I'm not walking like a gimp for work tomorrow.

And I still need to get my living room finished so I can schedule delivery of my furniture!  That will be this coming weekend.  Hopefully I can find a way to move my entertainment center to paint behind it.  Plus the paint they use is cheap and doesn't coat very well, so it takes longer than I'm used to.

Anyway, I haven't forgotten about my blog, I know I need to do a vacation post, and I'll get it done soon, I promise.

Home From Vacation

I'm home!!!  My plane was delayed a bit last night due to the storms that were coming through Chicago, but I finally made it home about 9:00pm.  A little later than I had hoped, but at least I was home.

I'll post pictures and more details later, but for now, I spent a couple days in Tahoe, and a couple days in Reno at a resort and lost $5.00 gambling.  I'm such a high roller!

Today was spent getting caught up on blogs and some of the emails I received.  Thank goodness I don't need to do laundry for work tomorrow.

My aunt and sisters and I were having a discussion about family history one evening.  I discovered "someone" did a family history of my paternal grandmother, and I even know where the Rockefellers split off from us.  A copy of the family tree and all the history of each generation will be sent to me as soon as my sister makes a copy for me.  There was too much to go through the other night when she showed it to me.  I can't wait to read through it all.  Now if I could figure out how to find more about my paternal grandfather; that will be the real challenge.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

The Bionic Eye

Tori, I think you might find this article very interesting.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/california-artist-wants-to-replace-lost-eyeball-with-webcam/

Things Are Kind Of Slow These Days

Not a lot going on around here.

Couch and recliner are ready already, told the store to hold them until the end of August so I can paint the living room before they are delivered.  And I can't do that until after I get back from vacation.

Speaking of vacation, I'm leaving this Saturday August 6 to visit family in Reno, NV then to California for a couple days, returning the following Saturday August 13.

I stayed home from work today due to some minor tummy problems.  Hoping it clears up quickly, as I need to start packing and can't miss any more work this week, since I'll be gone all next week.

Weather is still hot here, as I'm sure it is where most of you are at.  Wish it would cool down even for just a day, to give the air conditioner a rest.

Follow up on my license plate that was "stolen".  The morning after I went to the Secretary of States office to order a replacement, I received a call on my cell phone from the dealer.  They had my plate after all!  It apparently came off in the car wash, and wasn't discovered until that morning, four days after my car was there.  So that evening, before my early morning drive to Michigan, I went to the dealer and had them put both plates back on my car.  And when the new one comes in, I'll have them put that one on for me, so it will be nice and clean instead of the dirty icky one I have now.

I hope that these violent storms that have been going through let up, as they have caused various damages here and on the east coast where my friends are at.  Let's stay safe everyone.

Movies, Music, Plates & Furniture

This will be sort of a catch-all post, to mention several different things from the last two weekends.

Furniture - Last weekend when I saw the Double-crested Cormorants, I mentioned I was going furniture shopping.  I bought a couch and a recliner to replace the couch, love seat, chair and ottoman that I currently own.   They are wearing out terribly, to the point I'm embarrassed to have someone over.  The chair is being custom made in the same fabric as the couch, so they won't be in for another 7-8 weeks.  Once they're here, I'll take pictures so you can see them.  You'll just have to WAIT!

Movies - Over the weekend I watched Extraordinary Measures, starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser.  It was a very good movie.  I was prepared to cry, and did a bit, but not as much as I thought.  And after expecting a sad ending, was pleasantly surprised.

Music - Sunday, while watching the Nascar race, during the commercial breaks, I ripped several cd's to my computer that have been sitting around for a long time.  Now that I've ripped them, I can start listening to them in my car to/from work.  The one I picked today was Court Yard Hounds.  That's the title of the group and the cd.  The group, actually a duet, is comprised of sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of The Dixie Chicks.  Known for their musical talents and abilities to play multiple instruments, I was expecting so much more from this album.  There were 14 songs on it, and all but maybe 3 or 4 were slow, dreary-sounding, boring songs that would be perfect for putting me to sleep at night.  I knew it wouldn't be more Dixie Chicks, but I was really hoping for more than what it was.  I'm not surprised that none of the songs every took off or got any airplay that I'm aware of.

Plates - As in, license plates.  Last night I was heading out to return the movie referenced above, and as I exited my building, I was shocked to see my front license plate was gone.  Plate, screws, all of it.  Gone.  The rear plate with the sticker is still there though.  Obviously someone really wanted my front plate.  Since it was 8pm on a Sunday night, I decided not to do anything until this morning.  My first call was to the car dealer, since I'd had the car there on Saturday for my 30,000 mile checkup.  Just to make sure they didn't take it off there, forgot to replace it, and I didn't notice it until Sunday.  Nope, not there.  I then knew for sure it had been stolen.  Second call was to my city police department.  They referred me to an online reporting system, so I filled in the information as best I could as there were no clear instructions regarding what I needed to fill in for this particular incident.  Tomorrow I get to head to the Secretary of States office to fill out a form to request a new front license plate.  Fortunately, it will only cost me $6.00.  If it had been a rear plate, it would be $9.00, and if I needed a sticker, another $20.00.  I've tried to go back to the website to pull up my complaint so I can print it, in case I get pulled over for no front plate, but have been unsuccessful.  Of course this had to happen just days before a planned weekend trip to MI (not Mic or Mich).  If I didn't need a car so bad, I swear I wouldn't own one!

Double-Crested Cormorant

For several years now, I've seen a mysterious bird hanging around the lake by my apartment.  I usually would spot it as I was driving past, with no time or place to stop to get a better look.  One time I walked over to the lake, where there is very little shade, and tried to take a picture.  I think he/she knew what I was doing because it always swam to the far side of the lake whenever I got anywhere near close enough for a picture.

Lately, I've seen it hanging out at another lake/pond nearby, and last Saturday, I decided to go see if it was there.

Lucky for me it was!  With my camera, I hid behind a dumpster so it wouldn't swim too far away and snapped these.  I emailed the pictures to a bird expert I know, and she confirmed it is a Double-Crested Cormorant.  

Apparently, they are becoming pretty widespread in this area.  Here's a link to a page with more information on the Double-Crested Cormorant:  Link

While at the lake, I also saw an Egret, so snapped a couple pictures of it.

The next day as I was going furniture shopping, I passed another man-made lake, and in the middle of it were about a dozen of the Double-Crested Cormorants.  Oh to have had my camera with me!

3D Printer

Just think of all the things this could be used for! It's amazing what technology gives us.

Missing Talent and Beautiful Weather

I decided that if I wanted to get back to blogging again, I would need "something" to help me find things to write about.  My life just isn't that exciting to have topics for blog posts daily or even twice weekly.  So with the assistance of a blog prompt website that gives me random ideas (which I don't always follow) and with the occasional video that I find, I'm able to get back to some not-so-regular blogging.  Today, I am combining yesterday's and today's blog prompts into one blog post.

The "missing talent" part is from yesterday.  If I can remember it correctly (since it was 11pm when I read it last night) the prompt was what talent do I wish I had.  That's an easy one to talk about.  I have absolutely no ability to write stories that grab people's attention, and I have absolutely no ability to draw/sketch/paint/doodle.  I can write, and give you what information you need, in an intelligent matter, so "most" people would understand it.  But to put words down that someone has to keep reading because they are so enthralled by it and can't bear to stop? That's just not me.  I have an example of what I can't do but wish I could, but I have to find it first.  I'll put that on my growing list of things to do tomorrow.

The "beautiful weather" reference is to today's prompt.  It asked me to describe the perfect Autumn day and what activity I enjoy doing.  I'm going to change it up a bit, and list my favorite Summer day, since that's my favorite season, and because, honestly, both Spring and Autumn tend to suck around here.  Nine times out of ten, it's cold, rainy, gloomy.  Sometimes we get what is called Indian Summer, but not always; and there are times the weather is miserable starting in September and doesn't let up until June.  So my perfect Summer day is when it's 80-82F outside, sunshine, and a slight breeze to keep it from being too warm.  My favorite activity would be pretty much anything outside.  Sitting in a chair in the shade, sipping a lemonade.  Or taking a leisurely walk on a partially shaded path through the woods or along a riverbank.  Even a relaxing bicycle ride would work for me, as long as there was a place to stop and enjoy the view or just relax for a few minutes.  Of course I'd want some company doing these activities; what fun are they if you do them alone?

I have a few pictures I took on July 4 at my friend's parent's house.  They do a barbecue/turkey boil every year and then we watch fireworks from the front yard.  Fortunately I'm not in any of the pictures, otherwise the camera would have broken on me, lol.  I'll try to get those transferred to the computer this weekend too so I can try to write about it next week.

*Adds another thing to my to do list for this weekend*

Extreme Squirreling

I have the perfect vacation idea for IntenseGuy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8278286.stm

Pet Peeve

One of my pet peeves is when I find the abbreviation of Illinois done incorrectly.  I think everyone in the whole world does it wrong.  It doesn't matter if it's an email or a national newspaper.  What is so hard about abbreviating the states?

All U.S. state abbreviations are TWO letters.  Not three.

We don't abbreviate Pennsylvania with Pen.

We don't abbreviate Minnesota with Min.

We don't abbreviate California with Cal.

So WHY do so many people insist on abbreviating Illinois with Ill?

IT'S IL!!!!

Cute Video of Boston Terrier Being Tickled

Better The Second Time Around

I remembered what I forgot to mention in my last post.  My cousin, Carole, went through a messy divorce last year, after 29 or so years of marriage.  Even the kids turned against her, claiming she had been abusive to them, and needed mental help.  She remained strong with backing from her siblings and mother.

About the time she was getting near the finalization of the divorce, she met an old friend from her childhood while at church.  They hit it off and on his birthday this past Friday, he proposed to her.  They haven't set a date yet, but she called to let me know, and to make sure I would set aside a long weekend in the future to go to MN for her wedding.

It's unfortunate that at this time her children (who are all adults) will not be there to share in her joy.  I think this new man is making her very happy, and I am very excited for her.

Beautiful Weekend Followed by a Sad Monday

Several weeks ago, I received a message from one of those school contact sites, where you can get back in touch with people from school.  It was my friend Holly, whom I had not been in touch with since we graduated 6th grade.  She actually had lived here in the Chicago area for several years and had never thought about looking me up.  Now she lives in Louisville with her husband and two dogs.  Lo and behold, her husband is doing some work this summer in Chicago, and she came up to visit him.  So on Saturday, I drove into the city and met up with them at their hotel.  We walked several blocks looking for a relatively quiet place to sit and have a drink or two and chat for a bit while deciding what to do.  Unfortunately, we only had a few hours together, but it was so nice to see her again.  We both don't want to let 30 years go by before getting together again.

Then today I go in to work and find out a co-worker passed away Friday night.  Our Credit Manager was undergoing chemotherapy for Mesothelioma.  Unfortunately, the cancer was already very advanced when they diagnosed him, and the intensive drugs never really had a chance.  So after work today I went to the wake, and several from my office will be at the funeral tomorrow.

I keep thinking there's something else I wanted to mention, but I can't think of it.  If I happen to remember what it was, I'll post it later this week.

The Book of Eli

Last night I rented this movie, starring Denzel Washington, who plays the lead character Eli.  It's sort of a post-apocalyptic scene, where he is trying to deliver a very important book to a place for safekeeping.  There were a couple of bloody scenes, and a lot of killing, but it's a very barren, survival of the fittest type landscape.  You start to learn the significance of the book about half way through.  I thought it was a very good movie and would recommend it highly.

Inception

Saturday night I watched Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  Very deep!  I heard both good and bad comments about the movie, but usually like to make up my own mind.  I remember from the movie trailer, I had no idea what the movie was about.  Here's the plot line:

"In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date:  Inception."

Basically, they invade someone's dream to steal information, but this job is to plant an idea instead.

The visual effects are fantastic, and when it was over, the idea of controlling a dream amazes me.  I really enjoyed it.

Has anyone else seen this movie? If so, what did you think of it?