Slug Trails - No Particular Direction

Melancholy moments

2011-12-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

Our Casa

I am enjoying being on the central coast of California for this mild beginning of winter, even though we have set a few new record low temperatures for early December, dropping to 30 degrees or less for a number of nights. The days begin crisp, but sunny, and ramble up to the low 60’s which makes golfing a bit more enjoyable than what is typical for this time of year on the Oregon coast. Still, I am a bit bored and will need to find more to do than just golf if I am to keep sanity within hailing distance.

There are of course many holiday parties and related outings to attend, but these are tests of memory as we try to remember the names of the hundred or more people we have met in the last month. And they challenge the willpower involved in keeping the fork away from the mouth too frequently, or with such rapid movement and frequency that I would need to move to an all elastic wardrobe. I am finding new friends but still miss the Florence gang and the close connection we all have. There is a certain additional camaraderie there in Florence as we all survive storms of significant enough magnitude that if they occurred on the East coast they would paralyze the nation and be the subject endless news reporting.

I miss Oregon and all of my stuff that will not fit in the Casa Sur, especially the garage space and my coffee roaster. The houses both in Florence and Nipomo are pretty much Julie’s space, with small carved out corners for myself, so the garage has always been sort of like my registered mineral claim with the BLM. (Julie just might take exception to this as my 50 inch television looms large above the fireplace) And I miss the outright ruggedness of Oregon. California seems so controlled, sort of antiseptic compared to the Pacific Northwest. Without changing latitudes I do not know how to get both sunny skies and the outdoorsyness of Oregon.

The Tow

2011-10-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

So my favorite daughter Alisha (and only daughter) bet me $5 that I would have at least ten people honk at me as I towed the DeLorean eight hundred or so miles South for our over-Winter in California, and I readily took the bet thinking that my poor hearing would immunize me from financial loss. Well, I was wrong and Alisha was up five bucks before she contributed it back into the petrol fund.

What transpired during the tow was the filming of at least ten feature length films of a DeLorean under tow, with the various “crews” even taking to the road shoulder to capture the proper angle. Of course this often led to the camera vehicle camping out in my blind spot for prolonged periods and extra diligence on my part to make sure I did not squash these trespassers and end up being the star of films titled roughly “The last moments in the life of John Smith as he captures irrelevant images of car on a trailer.” Several times I was almost scraped off onto the road shoulder as my lane ended and the film crew failed to recognize my need to merge, with the blinker and hand signals indicating my urgent intention. There are laws on the books making it illegal to talk or text on a cell phone while driving, but none that I am aware of specifically targeting picture taking. Legislators listen up – this is your chance to make an indelible mark on society.

As I crossed into California and stopped at the agricultural inspection station I was asked “Sir, do you have any vegetables or plants with you and, by the way, the fellow in front of you really likes your car.” This was from a vehicle that was trying to force me into the truck inspection lane until I pounced on the brakes and swung in abruptly behind him.

Mostly what I noticed as I checked my rear views every few seconds to keep from pan-caking mostly little foreign cars of dubious parentage (i.e., non-British) were a thousand phone photos being snapped, and many thumbs up as they accelerated past my tow limited speed of roughly, cough, cough, 55 MPH. There were so many smiles directed at my road numbed, drivers side silhouette that I began to think that the scenery alternatives must be extremely bleak. But I suppose that if a stainless steel vehicle can make people happier, without killing them, and that the internet postings of thousands of blurry pictures of my D-car are not a burden on the servers of the internet, then that is OK. Alternatively, next time, I can either throw a sheet over it like some military transporter of classified equipment, or set up my own movie camera on board the DeLorean to capture my own entries into the YouTube world of interesting stuff people do.

Blame Congress

2011-10-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

I do some of my Banking with Bank of America, in part becuase I have been with them since the beginning of geologic time, and because they were conveniently located to where I lived and worked. That changed over ten years ago and it is now a twenty minute drive for me to get to the only B of A on my part of the Oregon coast, but I have continued to stay with them becasue my banking evolved along with the internet to include all of the bank services I could possibly need right at my laptop computer. The only reason I ever go to a real bricks and mortor location is to deposit a check.

At the end of last week B of A, along with many other big banks, announced that they intended to begin charging $5 per month for the use of our ever popular Debit Card. This move is the result of Congress being pressured to limit the fees banks can charge merchants on debit card transactions to something like 24 cents, whereas before legislative scrutiny they had been charging up to 40 cents. All is good - sock it to business to figure out how to cope. Thus the new fee on consumers. Thank you Congress, you messed this one up nicely.

Well, now that I am almost thoroughly enmeshed in the online banking system, this last friday, shortly after the fee announcement, the B of A online banking system virtually tanks, slows to a crawl, or is inaccesable. I am deeply suspicious that the two events are linked and that someone or some group is thinking that they are making B of A pay for their shoddy treatment of thier customers by fussing with the banks internet banking system. If this is true, then "they" have mostly negatively affected people like me who need to do things like pay bills and transfer money. Oops.

So I am now resorting to sending e-n-v-e-l-o-p-e-s in the mail to my utility companies. I am thinking that I will join the revolution that Congress has started and just sending in the payment stub to the utility, no check, and a copy of the message that appears when I attempt to access my money in the way that the bank prefers:

Bank of America
Home Page Temporarily Unavailable

We're sorry, but some of our pages are temporarily unavailable. Thanks for your patience.
If you like, you can:
Home Page Temporarily Unavailable
We're sorry, but some of our pages are temporarily unavailable. Thanks for your patience.
If you like, you can:

JJ

2011-07-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know JJ in San Carlos, Sonora this photo is classic JJ. I found it on the "Viva! San Carlos" site and just had to share it. You have to read his apron.

How to Scare Tourists Near Mexico

2011-05-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

So I flew into my native city of Tucson to visit family and shuttled over to the XYZ Car Rental facility to pick up a vehicle for the week and went through the normal formalities of renting, but was surprised at the sales pitch that was thrown at me for insurance coverage.

Basically the young man behind the counter reminded me that I was in “a border town” (not entirely accurate) and that many vehicles are stolen along the border (true enough), and he asked me where I would be traveling and staying, implying that things are more than a little dangerous in many parts of Arizona. I inquired of the salesman as to the cost of several insurance options, with the most likely pitched target being something like $14.99 per day, and I then informed him that I believed that my own insurance covered my interests under the circumstances I was likely to encounter. His reply deepened the suspect nature of the human terrain likely to be encountered during my visit as he casually mentioned that their contract called for me to compensate the company for their “loss of use” for up to 28 days when their vehicle was stolen under my care.

I suppose insurance sales techniques have always tapped into that balance between greed and fear, but I resented the implication that my city, my beloved southern Arizona had become a war zone of thieves and scoundrels, untamed by the authorities, and that my only solution was to send money to the headquarters of XYZ Car Rental to limit my exposure.

If I had purchased insurance from XYZ Car Rental, my cost of rental would have almost doubled from the contracted price, excluding taxes and fees. But that is not what really bothered me about these minutes at the rental counter. It was the attempt to play a “tourist” using the much reported border security issues and the inferred perpetuation of the belief in the overall lawlessness in Mexico that really galled me. I wonder if sales associate prospects are trained in these techniques by the company if they are to be posted near the Mexican border? I love Mexico and have traveled their often enough over my lifetime, both by car and other means, and I know not to leave my vehicle parked unattended in a dark alley in Nogales, Sonora or Mazatlan, Sinaloa, and for that matter in Los Angeles, California, and Miami, Florida or just about anywhere else likely to not have a population mostly concerned about their golf handicap. In other words don’t become easy prey for thieves – anywhere. And yes, dark alleys in Tucson should be on the dumb list too.

And I also was reminded by this encounter of a basic tenet of business: If you are a corporation trying to glean a few more dollars, or pesos, from me you should know your target better and not insult them.

As it turns out, between my own insurance and that provided through the credit card I used for my rental, we’re covered well enough, but it will take some time, or medication, to get my blood pressure back down to a reasonable operating level.

(This was published in the Arizona Daily Star as a guest submittal on on May 13, 2011)

Sarah Palin meets Thomas Jefferson

2011-04-21T15:53:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this.

Teddy Bears

2011-04-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago there was a rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, just south of us on Point Conception, carrying some do-hickey for the Air Force. I believe it carried a pod of stuffed bears in a capsule, or something.

The launch was to take place at 9:24 PM, and I was hoping to make it to that hour despite having played in a golf tournament for the past two days, and having played the day earlier as well. I was pooped, but lay in bed reading anyway, just trying to make it to the appointed time. Well, the book was boring, the hour too late and when the time for the launch came and went and nothing happened I just gave up. I did not wait long past 9:24.

( I did not get to see this)

During the first fits of sleep I was kicking myself for being such a wimp and nodding off because I had seen a daytime launch when we were here in January and I thought a night observation would be pretty cool – much better than daylight hours. The bedroom windows were wide open and I strained to hear the rumble of the launch, but I am getting older by the minute and am told that my hearing is not what it used to be, so I got out of bed and peered out the window for maybe 15 minutes. No launch. The sky was crystal clear and there was zero air traffic, as you would expect. Back to bed.

A short while later I heard a low, deep sound, enough to wake me from my semi-sleep, and I was certain that it had to be the teddy bear missile, so up again. So all that I see is an oldish arching contrail headed out over the Pacific and a jet at high altitude moving due west from us making its own new contrail. I had missed the launch and had been awakened by the jet plane that was flying into cleared air space.
No report on the teddy bears.

Sailing South - for Chris & Sandy

2011-04-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

There is a reason that sailors leave Portland and points north before the Fall and Winter swells set in along the Oregon coast...

Flowers

2011-04-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

On the central coast of California there are micro-climates piled upon micro-climates and each area seems to specialize in some different type of agriculture. In our immediate neighborhood we see a lot of lettuce, strawberries, broccoli and greenhouse flower operations.

As a way to both educate the public about their businesses and to promote the retail aspect of some of these operations, each year a group of them hold an open house and invite the public in for tours. This year there were seven greenhouse businesses here that we open for about six hours for tours.

Julie and I toured the operations of Eufloria because we pass it almost every day driving the seven minutes into the center of our little hamlet of Nipomo and they have a very small, simple sign stuck in the ground by their entrance road that just says "Roses".

Men, if you ares still wondering how to obtain the attentions of a female just know something about roses and send a few. Better yet, take her on a rose greenhouse tour.

This operation ships millions of roses each year and literally have the growing down to a science. Our tour guide was also the sales manager for the company and President of a statewide growers association, so not only did we learn a bunch about the growing of roses, we also learned about the politics of competition from abroad.

This greenhouse operation is controlled in ways that I had not thought about, I suppose because I had never considered how one would go about getting the maximum production out of a flower. These are all hydroponic plantings in a greenhouse environment and use a gas powered boiler system to produce extra heat when needed, but they capture CO2 generated in the combustion process and route it in a controlled manner into the greenhouse when extra input is needed for growth. Every aspect of growth is controlled and parasitic bugs are mostly managed by other bugs that eat them for lunch. The rose stock is grown and distributed by Dutch companies who have learned how to manipulate all of the desirable characteristics. These plants will not do well at all outside or in a home because they are specifically designed to produce maximum results within a greenhouse.

There was so much more information on this tour, all of it interesting and great fun to learn.

(This is the pre-packaging stage where the staff removes any imperfections before placing the product in big walk in coolers)

Perhaps the best thing is that Julie now knows that she can pull into the parking area of Eufloria at any time and buy local, fresh roses for cheap and they can last from two to three weeks if the temperature is kept cool. How cool is that?

Trilogy Nipomo

2011-03-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is a collage of shots of the club house facilities at Trilogy, Nipomo at the Monarch Dunes Golf Course. A truly magnificent, very comfortable structure.

Making a Deposit in Nipomo

2011-03-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

The southerly getaway.

Notice that there are s-h-a-d-o-w-s, and not uniform gray.

Road Buzz

2011-03-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, after you have been driving all day and have a really good road buzz followed by a glass of wine or two, there is not an awful lot you can say...

This explains so much...

2011-03-07T09:10:00.000-08:00

Going a little bit South

2011-03-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

Once again we are loading up the Suburban, the vehicle that ecologists love to hate until they need one, and we are heading back to the Central California coast where things are nicer this time of year. Migration is nothing new on this planet of variable climate and we feel fortunate that we can count ourselves among the birds and fishes and retired humans that are in positions to make the trip. This round trip is something that we hope to do with primal regularity.

The behemoth truck allows us to take almost an entire household with us, similar to the Grapes of Wrath truck above. Of course we need GPS navigation, Internet and cell phones stuck on the various truck surfaces, to find California. These are things that were not even imagined in the 1930's, the period depicted in the photo, but these earlier pioneers did not have a fully equiped Suburban with leather seats and a V-8 engine that would run on E85 fuel and enough computing power to go to the moon and back. I suppose if we just go the hundred or so yards West to the end of our street and turn South on Highway 101 we would arrive in our desired spot of California in short order, but what fun is that?

My current occupation...

2011-02-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Once again I find myself working for the government, but without the bennies.

La Vida Buena

2011-01-15T10:36:00.000-08:00

Sculpterra Winery

Metal Cat - eight feet tall.

The group "Con Brio" from San Francisco. Very good!
Behind the camera we are drinking wine and listening to musica!

Seasons

2011-01-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

Snow at the lake before we headed south.

Snow at the Highway 101 bridge over the Siuslaw River.

A butterfly cluster in Pismo Beach.

It is warmer to the South!

Catching Up

2011-01-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day 2010

No Pictures

2011-01-09T08:05:00.000-08:00

Insert Picture Here

I have been having a little bit too much fun to spend time taking photographs of sunny, happy times at the beach, golfing, wine tasting, etc. and then uploading them to my laptop to post here. I do have the occasional snap shot taken with my phone, but it takes a few gyrations to get those onto my computer to share here as well, so I am not doing it.

Our days have been as busy or lazy as we want them to be, with a minimal amount of planning involved. If we plan something for the day, we just as easily "un-plan" it if it does not feel right or if we find something we would rather do instead. The prerogatives of retirement prevail.

Bacon New Years

2010-12-31T19:25:00.000-08:00

I have resolved that for 2011 I will not give up bacon. I do not eat a lot of bacon and on the rare occasion that I do have some I do not pile it up really high. This is probably because I envision my wife over one shoulder and my doctor hovering over the other wispering to me that I should watch my intake of fatty things. This is known as guilt. If it were not for guilt I would fry up a whole bunch of bacon every day until I could no longer stand the taste. I am not certain that the moment would come that I actually could not eat bacon, which is probably one of the reasons that I have never followed through with this thought.

There are many things that we think that we will never utter in company. Well, that is true for most people although I have met a few people in my life that just blurt out whatever comes to mind. The brain is a pretty tricky place and really needs a filter most of the time, so just verbalizing all of our thoughts in this day and age would eventually land most us in some sort of lock-up, either mental or criminal. For intstance you do not want to say the single word "bomb" while waiting to go through the security check point in the airport. Neither should you say the word "gun" to a policeman if you have just been pulled over for speeding. These thoughts, if verbalized, would get you in some amount of difficulty.

I want to live a long time and see my children continue their adult journeys, and my grandchild grow into whoever she chooses to become. These are a couple of the reasons that I wil not eat all of the bacon my brain would like to experience - the other reasons I can't talk about.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Roasting Day

2010-12-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

Nearing the end of a roast.

Guatemalan - Huehuetenango!

A Sumatra dark roast.

I needed to get enough coffee in the bins for our travels. You never know the coffee terrors that await on the road. Some trips the coffees that we find are horrible, but once in a while we find a gem. Mostly, though, we find mediocre coffees.

Ever since we gave up our commercial 30 pound roaster, and the business that went with it, I have never, ever regretted laying out the cash for a good one pound sample roaster and green beans in 150 burlap bags. You would be surprised how many beans a coffee snob can go through. Or maybe you wouldn't.

Edinburgh

2010-12-08T20:40:00.000-08:00

Things we should probably not dwell on in the Northwest

2010-11-30T09:16:00.000-08:00

I bought an un-tethered weather station and mounted it out on our dock to keep it away from obstructions. It reports in every second or less to the base station, which is plugged into my PC where a program grabs and stores all of the data for display. Weather watching in Oregon is kind of a hobby for many people because it changes frequently and, usually, several of the measured parameters are on the move simultaneously.

When we lived in southern Arizona our weather station consisted of a thermometer. The seasons were hot, hotter, hell, and pleasant in Phoenix. Here on the Oregon coast we have reached hot on one day in ten years and it happened to be when relatives from southern AZ were visiting. The temperatures then were 65, 62, 104 and 61. Almost nothing here has air conditioning for good reason.

I got my weather station running on November 6th. Since that time I have been learning about the software program and its limitations while creating a web page with the built in "Wizard" and working out some kinks in the wireless connection between my office and the router located in the house. My antique PC is using a USB concocted wireless thingy and it tends to drop the signal once in a while. The result is that my web page does not update every 5 minutes like it should, although the data for the time period is still stored. If the cable TV company ever fixes the low signal strength at our house I will go back to them as my ISP and hard wire my PC connection again. That whole thing is a long story. Dealing with the cable company is probably similar to dealing with the Social Security Administration - you know that the answer is there somewhere in the bowels of the organization, but there is no useful map and the chances of finding someone willing to help has the same odds as hitting the Power Ball lottery.

Anyway, I have been dutifully following the collection of the daily highs, lows, wind speed, rainfall, etc. and just realized this morning that it could become the source of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I pulled up a monthly report that I have looked at often and realized that it has only NOT rained on three days since the 6th of November.

Pass the vitamin D, please.

Idiot Factor

2010-11-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

These are instructions we have had to place on the wall at our vacation rental house at the beach. It is still amazing to me the things that people will do in a rental that they would never, ever do in thier own home.
It is like having to post a notice to not put explosives down the garbage disposal. We as landlords should not have to do this, but we do.
Our experiences reinforce my belief in the saying that, "Nothing is foolproof because fools are so ingenious."

This is now on the wall at the beach house:

Instructions for the Directionally Challenged

This is a crank used for opening and closing the venting windows above your head. The windows are never latched. Turning the crank counter-clockwise will open the window. Turning in the other direction, clockwise, will close the window.

Some people have tried to go in the wrong direction using all of their strength. We have speculated that these people may have even hooked the crank up to a very large electric motor or similar device to overcome the mechanics of the windows operating mechanisms because the internal gears have been stripped or forced into misalignment. This takes considerable force (F = ma). It also costs a tad of Dinero (money) to repair. Please do not do this. When the sun is beating in on an afternoon the room can really become quite warm and you will appreciate being able to open these windows.

Remember – Lefty loosey (open), Righty tighty, (closed). This is not too much to ask.

Thank you,

The Owners

Instrucciones para la carne de cabezas
(Instructions for the meat heads)

Se trata de una manivela de apertura y cierre de las ventanas de ventilación por encima de su cabeza. Las viudas no están trabados. Al girar la manivela hacia la izquierda se abrirá la ventana. De inflexión en la otra dirección, hacia la derecha, se cierra la ventana.

Algunas personas han tratado de ir en la dirección equivocada con toda su fuerza. Hemos especulado con que estas personas pueden incluso han enganchado a la manivela a un motor eléctrico de gran tamaño o un dispositivo similar para superar la mecánica de las ventanas de explotación debido a los mecanismos de los engranajes internos han sido despojadas o forzadas a una mala alineación. Esto toma mucha fuerza (F = ma). También cuesta un poco de Dinero (money) para reparar. Por favor, no hagas esto. Cuando el sol está jugando en una tarde en la sala de realidad puede llegar a ser bastante caliente y usted podrá apreciar la posibilidad de abrir estas ventanas.

Recuerde - afloja Lefty (abierto), Diestro whities, (cerrado). Esto no es mucho pedir.

Gracias,

Los propietarios

Another tenant instruction:

Storm Door Etiquette

The outside door is called a “Storm Door” because it helps to keep our wintertime sideways rains from being driven past the seals of the regular door that you see before you. A “regular door” facing south on the Oregon coast is pretty useless when it comes to separating you from the weather outside.

Please help keep this storm door properly latched.

We get some really big winds here on the coast, which are fairly often above a Category 1 Hurricane force in the winter time. Summer winds are no slouch either. The last time that the storm door was not closed properly, the wind ripped it, part of the frame and a little bit of siding out of the wall, tossed it through the outside deck glass and railing and down the hill a bit. This would have been spectacular to see in person and maybe shoot some video for YouTube®, but all I was privileged to see was the resulting wreckage – and the bill for the repairs.

Thank you for your help,

The Owners

Please ignore this posting. This door closes just fine all by itself.

Bill’s Handyman & Repair Service

997-3288

Locked Out

2010-11-18T16:20:00.000-08:00

For some reason Google had about a zillion people locked out of their blogs because they changed the log in procedure to allow only Gmail addresses. This put us poor folks into a useless loop with their help option, which continued to insist that a Google account be used. Anyway, they finally let me back in with my non-Google email address.

I bought myself a new, fairly complete weather station that is now sitting on the top edge of the viewing dock wind screen and I have been getting familiar with what it can do. It has a little solar array for each instrument to keep the batteries charged up and transmitting their data to the station located in my office nearby. I also purchased a program that displays all of the information on my PC in various graphic forms, and is capable of pulling in radar images and other stuff via the Internet. It is all pretty coool stuff if you are in to that sort of thing.

I have now purchased a web domain name and hosting services and am working on getting a page running that will give near real time information to me, or you, wherever we may be. I suppose that one could just go on the Internet and get that sort of information from an official weather station, but that would not be nearly as much fun. I will probably use the new web site to check on how nasty it is at home when we are traveling away to warmer, nicer places in the late Fall, Winter, Spring and early Summer. According to Julie there are only a couple of weeks a year that the weather here is any good, so we may be gone quite a bit.

Mostly I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to do new things with my otherwise atrophying brain. It's a journey.

My other Winter projects involve getting under the DeLorean to fix things that are now nearing 30 years old, and I can only spend so much time in contorted positions in one day without risking permanent damage to my joints.

More Inverary Cemetary

2010-10-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

Neil Munro's Father, Mother, brothers, sister and more in the Inverary, Scotland cemetary. In the bottom photo we had cleaned off some of the lichen to show the design at the top.

Inverary Roots

2010-09-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

Colin Ross, the brother-in-law of Neil Munro.
Inverary, Scotland cemetary.

Sign on the entrance gate at the Inverary, Scotland cemetary.

Mas Scotland

2010-09-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Two goofy Oregonians in the rain.

A Graham defensive tower near the Esk River int the Debateable Lands along the Scotish Border. This has been renovated into a comfortable home. Originally built by a James Graham in 1717.

Remains of a Cairn dating to 500 B.C. near the site of the Battle Culloden, Scotland.

Scotland

2010-09-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

Mugdock Castle Ruin, Scotland. A Graham defensive position.

The Royal Navy sailed into the Firth at Inverary to greet us! How did they know?

We drove up the little muddy road to the few homes in Auchnagoul, but found no current Munro's in residence. But we did find a significan tug at the heart.

Scotland & Ireland

2010-09-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

Off we go in a few days. I will be posting updates and photographs on my facebook page from the mobile phone. I have been practicing, so I know it works as long as we can find a wireless connection.

United Kingdom

Ireland

Bolts

2010-08-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

DeLorean Suspension

Rear suspension schematic. The trailing arm bolt is furthest to the left.

Trailing Arm Bolt (25 in schematic)

On a DeLorean there is one bolt on the rear suspension assembly that keeps the tire (or tyre) pointed in the right direction. If it fails I am told that the steering wheel has little affect upon keeping the car going where you point it. This would be bad.

When I had my car on a lift back in April at the tech session near Portland we found evidence that my trailing arm bolts were not in good shape and I thought about doing the replacement myself, but since I do not have a car lift, sliding around on the garage floor on my back trying to do this work seemed like it would be more than a little difficult. On the other hand, driving the car to Bellevue, Washington on a six hour journey while worrying about breaking my suspension had its drawback too. I have not often gone wrong by hiring an expert to perform specialty work, so I decided to have DMC Northwest do the work and I am glad that I did, although if the bolt had broken during the trip I am sure that my outlook would be different while I typed this with a pencil in my mouth from a hospital bed.

As you can see from the photo above one of the bolts was severly bent and near breaking. If I had known how close to breaking this bolt had been I doubt that I would have ever left my driveway, but would have found some way to get it on a lift nearer home.

The other suspension parts that were warped and bent (reinforcing plate & bushing) just went in the trash can at DMCNW, but these bent bolts will probably find a home somewhere on my garage wall as a reminder to check the new ones once in a while, and so that I don't forget that these machines are now about thirty years old and in need of significant care.

As sort of a side note, when I was decelerating on an off ramp in Portland, on my way to Bellevue, I heard a noise which I correctly diagnosed as a failing alternator bearing. I called ahead to make sure they had a new one at my destination and proceeded on the next day. The work went so quickly at DMCNW that I was able to have time for them to do other work and still get back to Portland on the same, long day.

The car now feels almost new to me, since the wiggle in the back from the bent bolt and worn out bushing is now gone and it runs much more smoothly after a little tuning. I was also able to see how many new parts are in stock nearby and buy a few items for those rainy days to come. Most of the deterioration that I am finding is coming from the hardening and breaking of rubber parts, but these are all available from DMC so it is just a matter of detecting the next probable failure and getting to it in advance. That is so easy to say. Right.

Northward

2010-07-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

I think that I will be driving the DeLorean to Portland and on to Seattle next week to take it in to DeLorean Motor Company Northwest and have Toby fix the rear suspension issues. There is a broken off bolt that holds the a reinforcing plate in place through which the trailng arm bolt passes, and THAT bolt is what holds the rear suspension to the frame. One bolt. It is rather critical and I have been a little bit more cautious driving the car ever since I learned of this condition. The trouble is I need to have a right angle drill capable of opening a half inch hole through the frame behind the broken off bolt to remove the nut, before extracting the stub of bolt stuck in the frame. There are only about two inces of space between the transmission and the frame to work with and I have not found a tool capable of doing this job.

The other side has issues as well, since some previous owner used various washers to shim the trailing arm to the approximate right location. A proper allignment is in order and Toby would be the guy to see to get it done right.

Bubba-isms

2010-07-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

It may not meet USPS regulations, but that it is so bubba-ish that I just had to share it. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Golf

2010-07-15T16:38:00.000-07:00

I am considering an inexpensive addition to my set of clubs for those times when I do not want to risk harm to the "good" set and where the ball actually goes is less important than it just moves somewhere other than its current position.

Having been in the natural resources business for so many years, I am surprised that we did not come up with this concept. Rather than selling rocks by the ton, we could have had the same cash flow for just a small fraction of the effort - one rock at a time!

One method of cleaning the system of unwanted material.

2010-06-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

AND ... Oscar decided to thumb his nose at the homeowners association.

AND, AND ... suddenly realizing the severity of the budget problems facing the school district, the Board opted to utilize materials at hand to solve the lack of classrom space following defeat of the lastest bond proposal.

Brain Freeze

2010-05-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

I suppose that some enterprising jester in the Transportation Department had an extra sign in the back of the truck and just could not resist spreading his joy.

Bipolar Immigration – We have met the enemy and he is us.

2010-05-18T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of me heading South of the border to get away from all of the idiotic rhetoric about immigration that has taken over the media recently.

I do not care much for the shouting of catch phrases from one group toward another, done with the aim of getting a five second hit on the broadcast news media. These “events” do not offer solutions, nor do they really generate discourse between divergent interests toward solving the problems of human beings. It is essentially illiterate babbling. The current pounding of chests over the immigration of people into the U.S. through our Southern border is a sad testament to the new lows in the debate over a serious issue. I can not think of any serious issues that have been solved by the application of one line slogans. There are subtleties and a thick, rich texture of perspectives to the emotional issue of immigration from Latin American countries – too complex to be dealt with in the whole here. But we need solutions and we need serious people to study the issue and offer some realistic guidance.

Whenever we have needed the labor from Mexico to cover our shortfall we have liberalized our view of immigration and when jobs have been scarce, we have tightened the border down, within some budget limit. Compare the pre and post Depression and WW II immigration policies. We needed jobs for existing legal citizens during the depression and then we needed help during WW II to feed our country. Policies and laws changed accordingly.

The number of meaningful jobs and the amount of pay are both better North of the border. If Mexico does not improve the employment prospects of its workers and improve its educational system for its future workers, nothing will change. You cannot blame a person for trying to better themselves through any means that does not produce visible harm to other human beings. The creep of joblessness in the U.S. is too slow to be visible to an immigrant, legal or illegal, so it is not seen as a harmful endeavor by the immigrant or by most U.S. citizens unless jobs become tight or costs to educate and provide services too high. Each of us live in our own little bubble and it is difficult to see outside of it.

My great grandfather came into the United States in the 1880’s from Scotland and was allowed to join the Army. At that time the United States was allowing passengers from that part of the world to disembark and be processed through immigration. You just had to show up. The military service gave him a faster path toward citizenship after discharge. He was not “given” citizenship when he got off the boat; he had to “earn” the right to apply after five years of taking orders.

I have friends on both sides of the U.S. Mexican border and all of us find the immigration issue perplexing. We cannot go to each others country and work legally without the permission of the respective governments. Just because Mexico has failed to provide the stability, laws and policies that create a vibrant growing economy on a par with its northern neighbor does not mean that we are obliged to make up for their deficit by allowing a porous border to continue to exist. But we should find a way to change the status quo because the status quo is not working. If I was an underemployed Mexican I would like to think that I would have been one of the first to go Norte for the opportunities. So how do we make it smart to continue to live in Mexico – through punishment? Or do we find a way to create incentives to stay in Mexico? From the Mexican legislator’s perspective, the U.S. is probably a place to export their unemployed, a relief valve that makes it less of an urgent national priority to deal with their own systemic economic chaos.

When our border was more porous than it is now, a Mexican in need of a pay check could sneak into the U.S. earn some money and return home, knowing that he could make the trip again if needed. Now if he makes it without being caught, he is more likely to just stay because it has become much more difficult to make the passage north.

I know a man, a friend really, that has made his way north to the Pacific Northwest where I now live, three times. The last crossing was very difficult and, with his oldest son in tow, they barely survived the walk through Arizona. He works in the U.S. to send money to a relative who is caring for his other two sons and making sure they can stay in school. (In Mexico there is theoretically compulsory education for nine years, but in practice the law is mostly ignored and, by one information source, only 54 percent of students complete six years of instruction.) Because of his long absences his wife left him several years ago and he is the breadwinner for the extended family in Mexico. He has desperately wanted to visit his sons for the past two years, but has agonized over the decision of driving home because he does not think he can make it back into the U.S. to make the money he needs to give his sons the education that he never received. That is a gut wrenching decision that in an ideal world human beings should not have to face.

In the year that I was born at Tucson Medical Center, there were about 100,000 people living in Tucson and around 200,000 in Phoenix. The border was simpler in many ways and the primary focus of our immigration policy had to do with the fears of growers not having enough labor to harvest their crops. The post WW II boom in the economy had made it harder to find people willing to go back to the farm for the tough form of labor and hours it demanded.

Somewhere there is a solution to these issues and I am fairly certain that it will involve tough decisions and cool heads on both sides of the border if it may someday be counted as a success. Unfortunately, the drivers of the wagon train are political beings, potentially with agendas that have nothing to do with actually solving anything at all. Nada.

I will continue reading about the various solutions and positions of the stakeholders just to educate myself. I wonder if some sort of path to citizenship may not be part of a plan, along with heightened border security and a financial strengthening of the Mexican economy. If an illegal immigrant could apply for citizenship while agreeing to join a military service (if age appropriate), or a public service organization, they would become a stakeholder in the system, with the right to traverse the border legally while paying into the tax base. It theoretically would increase the comprehension of English, lessen the chances of having an illegal elderly population who have no prospect for health care under our Medicare system, and make it more likely that they will participate in solutions for issues within their communities. If they just remain illegal, they have no incentive to participate in anything except maybe a protest on the Capital Mall about the prospect of legislation that would have them deported.

I heard a Latino advocate on television yesterday espousing the belief that ALL businesses should be required to have a staff interpreter available during business hours so that non-English speaking customers could avoid errors or confusion. As soon as Mexico provides this service we should jump right in too. The speaker only targeted Spanish speakers as being eligible to have their translators available, and I can only assume that she was racially profiling in the extreme. What an idiotic idea.

If an immigrant of the illegal variety suddenly became a citizen and had to start paying taxes to support other people that were not on the tax rolls, pay more to tighten border security, and then took a reduction in pay because the “other” newcomers desperately wanted their job, I believe that their attitude would change. Conversely, I think that everyone in the U.S. should spend a bit of time South of the border trying to make a living on say $3 per day mixing concrete by hand, six days a week, and then just take a wild guess at whether or not they would be saving up to pay a coyote guide to get them to the Promised Land.

Lee E.

A Native Son, third generation, of Arizona

Remotes

2010-05-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

After getting mom almost fully settled in her new assisted living apartment, I am now working on some of the small things that will make her day to day living a little easier. One constant source of irritation for her has been small buttons on all things electronic. Her CD player is often getting switched over to another mode because her fingers and eye sight just do not equal that of the twenty-something year old engineers that designed the thing. The same is true for the TV controller. She bumps the mode switch all of the time and then it will not control the TV and she does not know why.

I have found a few candidates for big button remote controls while browsing around the web, but nothing yet that is as simple as the old Zenith Space Command above. I think that some enterprising university could guarantee job placement for their graduating engineers if they offered only one course in designing consumer electronics for the aged. Just because it is possible to control the Space Shuttle from a La-Z-Boy on your back porch does not mean that it is a good idea to give the reins to grandma'. She could probably find a way to launch predator drones from an Aegis Combat System on a Guided Missile Destroyer in the Pacific without breaking a sweat. And all the while she would think that she was tuning in to Jeopardy.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

I am back in Tucson for doctors appointments and it happens to be Mother's Day as well, so I am piggy backing on Earl and Teri's planned outing with Mom to the Pueblo Grill. It was nice of them to include me and it was great being picked up at the airport last night by Teri. Taxi cabs are such a crap shoot for the psyche.

The visible snow on the surrounding mountains is now gone and I can feel the creep of summer temperatures coming on now, and I know from native desert rat experience that soon it will cascade into something more incendiary. It is unstoppable - sort of like gravity or advancing time.

DeLorean Time

2010-04-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

My car going up for inspection.

Getting ready to find the issues.

An hour later I have a long list of things to fix.

Knut (the K is not silent). This is his shop.

Fixing a valve cover oil leak on another car.

The wings.

One worker, many watching. Good enough for a County road crew.

"No, a little to the left"

Regraining the stainless.

Leaving Tucson

2010-04-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

I have more paper to take back to Oregon than will fit into my little suitcase, although I am certain that the airline would be more than happy to make sure it gets to my destination with me for a small fee. They are real big on fees right now. Dealing with airlines now is very much like dealing with the healthcare industry - they can do just about anything, but you will not know the cost until you are committed to the venture.

A Great Send Off

2010-04-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

The weather today is just wonderful. If we could board our plane now instead of Wednesday, we could make it to our San Francisco connection in no time. We get a lot of this type of weather, but usually this would be more of a Januray or February cold front.

This is April. Yikes!

The Current Weather at Sea Lion Caves

2010-04-05T14:21:00.002-07:00

The Current Weather at Sea Lion Caves

Hey Matt! We'll make sure you won't get it out of your head.

2010-04-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

Guess

2010-04-01T08:33:00.001-07:00

If you look at the first music link at the top of the page you should be able to figure out what I have been doing since returning home.

Mt. Shasta

2010-03-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

We are currently in Mt. Shasta, California and just five hours from being back home. We drove from Arcadia (Pasadena area) today, which was a ten hour run, after an eight hour day yesterday from Tucson. If you have never been to Mt. Shasta it is a quaint, small town and I would have to say that other than the magnificent view of its namesake mountain, its claim to fame has to be that it is only a few miles from Weed, California. There are many jokes about Weed, and no small amount of logo items available for the passer through to purchase.

North

2010-03-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

We are heading North to Oregon tomorrow!

Bureaucracies

2010-03-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

Every company or branch of government has its own bent toward the creation of formalities aimed at the dealings between itself and its clients. As we have assembled the bills and account statements of my Mother and changed the mailing addresses or other features of the relationship for future ease of administration, we have run into bureaucracies of various complexities and strengths.

Surprisingly, the hardest company to deal with has been the cable TV company. Who would have thunk? Apparently the cable company has witnessed every kind of fraud and has instituted firewalls for almost every occasion. Since we planned on being here in Tucson for extended periods, we wanted to have internet access at the house so that we did not have to rent a seat at the local coffee shop just to check emails. I like coffee a lot, but do not drink it after noon and know that whenever I drink it it will without fail cause a reaction at the other end and many interruptions to the email retrieval process. Coffee shops are not a practical alternative for the long haul.

So we call the cable company to add internet. No, that is not possible without seeing a Power of Attorney (POA). No problem since I have one of those. Again, no, I must appear in person at the local office which it turns out looks like the waiting room for free government services with a DMV type pick-a-number twist. They do not really want to deal with customers in person, so they make it appear unpleasant and the wait time long. The same is true for a change of address with the cable company. They will not do that either without a POA and personal appearance before the Tribunal Council of Nameless Powerful Bureaucrats.

We discover a chink in the armor after considering that the actual customer of the cable company is female and since I have been the caller with the male voice it must only be a matter of decibels and frequency. Julie calls and can easily change whatever she desires. No visits, no POA’s, nothing. Just sit in the comfort of the house and alter the relationship at will. Taadaa!

Still further South than we thought we would be...

2010-03-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

To update the family without calling everyone, here is the latest from Tucson.

Mom is still in the skilled nursing center at Handmaker and looks to be improving from her bout of pneumonia and an infection of Clostridium difficile ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_difficile ) , both of which she picked up in the hospital while being treated fro the bleeding ulcer. Isn’t it wonderful that hospitals can charge you to treat one thing and give you another to treat on your own at additional expense. Anyway, Mom is doing daily physical therapy and, by her own admission, is not ready to come home.

Yesterday we toured some of the assisted living apartments at Handmaker with Mom and developed a sort of Plan “A” – they have a “Respite Care” furnished apartment that may be used for up to 30 days and Mom agreed that it would be a better place for her to be while she continues to recuperate. Maree will continue to be on a twice weekly schedule throughout this period so that Mom can have both the companionship they have developed and be able to go out for shopping, hair appointments and whatever. But for now she is anchored in the nursing center where they can monitor the demise of the bugs in her systems. We do not know yet when she might make the transfer.

Julie and I had wanted to drive back to Oregon this week, then considered flying, then dropped the idea for now and just unloaded the Suburban into Mom’s garage. Intstead of leaving town we dicided to ask Eric and our property manager to send the things we need for tax returns, and the functioning of our business via UPS. I guess that we can figure out a longer range plan later when we know more about Mom’s prospects for the next transition.

TTFN

Un-warm in Tucson

2010-03-09T11:15:00.001-08:00

Catalina Mountains taken from Mother's living room.

I suppose that I expected something different than snow in my native town of Tucson in March, since this is after all a place where snow birds escape to to get warm. Warmer than what might be a good question, although if you are from the cold, frozen North this would seem down right balmy I guess.

With Mom in the hospital we may be looking at this view for a while, and wouldn't you know it we just forgot to bring our skis to Mexico with us so we will have to rent.

Mouse Trap

2010-03-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

I stole this from a friends facebook posting because it is too good to not share.

"I will gladly pay you Saturday for a hamburger today." - Wimpy

2010-03-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

I read today in the Tucson Daily Star that there may be a movement afoot, lead by Manhattan-based Freehold Partners, for developers to encumber their properties with a transfer fee covenant. What this is takes a little explaining. As I understand it, the developer would essentially record a deed restriction requiring future owners (sellers) of a property to pay a one percent (1%) fee to the original developer of the property, and this would apply to all sellers over the next 99 years. Like the article suggested, this is likely to not be understood buy the initial buyer of a property and should surely impact the future value of an encumbered property negatively.

But here is the real kicker. According to the article, Freehold Partners is negotiating with institutional investors (perhaps the same ones we all recently bailed out with our tax dollars?) to “securitize” pools of transfer fees. Basically, this means that they could sell bonds whose repayment is based upon the cash flows from future sales of properties encumbered by the 1% fee. The original developer is paid today for the value of potential sales of the property in the future. It must be Christmas! Whoohoo!

Gee, this sounds awfully similar to what the banking industry did with bundling questionable mortgages together and selling them basically as bonds to generate big profits, until the people paying the mortgages could not make the payments any more and it all blew up and Congress made us pay for it. So what happens if Freehold or some other entity sells a couple of trillion dollars of these securitized pools of transfer fees, but the consumer wakes up and decides that those properties with a 1% fee owed are worth less than other properties without such a fee? Perhaps the value of those “bonds” would maybe, possibly fall? What could go wrong?

I am sure our Congressional and State leaders can figure this all out and come up with away to deal with the issue. Stay tuned in to what is going on in our country.

Freehold Partners puts a little bit of a different spin on this. What a surprise. I am shocked.

Freehold Capital Partners Announces Relocation of Corporate Offices to Manhattan
NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ --

Freehold Capital Partners (http://www.FreeholdCapitalPartners.com) is pleased to announce the relocation of its corporate offices from Austin, TX, to midtown Manhattan.
Bringing the Freehold team to the heart of the financial markets is important for the Company's continued growth. The move will provide close proximity to major investment banks, will allow the Company to attract top talent, and further illustrates Freehold's focus on strengthening its growing portfolio of financial instruments.
About Us: Freehold Capital Partners (successor to Freehold Licensing) helps the owners of real estate projects apportion infrastructure and development costs in a fair and equitable way through the use of reconveyance fee financing. Instead of forcing first-time buyers to bear 100 percent of the burden of infrastructure and development costs, and then pass those costs along to the next buyer, a reconveyance fee (also referred to as a transfer fee) apportions costs over those who utilize the improvements, lowering the cost of home ownership. In the process, Freehold helps build long-term income streams for non-profits, including funding for affordable housing, open space, clean air and more, by allocating a portion of each transfer fee to non-profits.

Two Perspectives

2010-02-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

Here are two different perspectives on the issue of leaving Guaymas / San Carlos on the TBC Bus line.

Panic.
The anonymous traveler.
(Would not be caught dead on TBC)

All kidding aside, the TBC Bus for Tucson arrived in Guaymas more or less on time and had a quick turn around. As this is written the Dynamic Duo are headed North and we are hoping for a report of clear passage through the various checkpoints.

Part deux - TBC Bus to Guaymas

2010-02-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

There is absolutely no doubt that the people we have met in San Carlos prefer to take the Tufesa bus line when not using their own car from Tucson. When Gary took a poll at Saturdays baseball game no one had even heard of the TBC line. Tufesa, on the other hand, has a gleaming termnal right on the main street of Serdan in Guaymas, clean restrooms (by local standards) and a neat littel food kiosk and everybody knows where it is, everybody. They also have a web site that lets you select your seat assingment.

Gary and Char took TBC, and since they do not have a web site at all, nada, we drove into Guaymas today, dictionary in hand, to make sure that they could get a seat assignment for the return voyage Norte. I took this as an opportunity to take a few photographs for future travelers wanting to do a little comparison shopping.

You should be able to click on any of these photos to see it enlarged, providing good detail.

Nearing sucess on the seat assignment.

A quiet place to talk to your dead relatives before boarding, just in case you think that you may be seeing them sooner rather than later.

The street scene. Notice a lack of directional signage and tourists. This is a one way street several blocks south of the main street of Serdan, on Calle 14. Also take note that there is not a street light anywhere, so locating The TBC terminal at night is more than a little difficult - some would call it impossible.

A fine new plastic sign with concrete nails. There is a cut out in the center for the future installation of a light.

A wonderful eating establishment. Notice the rusty rebar protruding above the happy couple and the close proximity to a handy shrine in case the gastronomical delights prove to be too much for the unsuspecting tourista.

This is a recommended conversation for the corner shrine:

Comi aigo en su pais. (I ate something in your country)

Por favor llame a un cura (Please call a priest)

Me gustaria hacer un recibir extremauncion. (I would like to receive last rights)

Por favor, manden mi cadaver a casa en el proximo vuelo. (Please send my body home on the next flight)

TBC Bus to Guaymas

2010-02-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

This is a photograph of something not even close to the TBC Bus terminal in Guaymas.

When Gary & Char booked their bus trip from Tucson to Guaymas we just assumed that they were taking the Tufesa bus line and it did not occur to them to verify with us which bus line they would be on, just the arrival time. So while Julie and I sat at the Tufesa station patiently watching buses come and go, and the sun set, and dark thirty come and go, Gary & Char had long been in Guaymas on a little side street trying to get the cell phone to work, and trying very hard to reach us. Some time during the evening it occurred to me that they may not have taken Tufesa. There are at least five bus lines passing through Guaymas.

Shortly after that thought passed through the cranium my cell phone rang, and sure enough they were on TBC Bus Lines and somewhere near downtown on Calle 14 and an unmarked cross street. As Julie and I spent the next 30 or 40 minutes driving around Guaymas in the dark, stopping periodically to ask non-bilingual citizens for help, and occasionally talking to Gary about any visible landmarks, it simultaneously occurred to us that they could take a cab to the Ley market where we would be certain to find them, which we promptly did.

Fortunately, Julie had earlier in the day decided that all visitors to San Carlos deserve to be greeted with a shot,or two, of tequila so that is exactly what she did in the Ley parking lot much to the relief of Gary & Char. Of course this was later followed by more tequila and dinner at the marina in S.C.

We have since returned to Guaymas to get the appropriate Visas and of course we took a side trip to locate the TBC bus terminal. We would have eventually found it in the dark that other night, I think, only because our friends would have been standing outside looking desperate, but it is no architectural focal point or point of pride for the citizenry. In fact I can say with certainty that it does not in the slightest resemble anything that I would call a "terminal" for any mode of transportation. I believe that any self respecting donkey cart driver would not park within several blocks of that building lest they become associated with structural decay and cheap, peeling paint.

Good design and aesthetics are not everything, although pleasant when encountered, and the bus system is extensive, timely and functional in Mexico, even if not easily locatable for Norte Americanos. So we now know where to find yet another terminal in Guaymas and I will take a photograph of it later when we drop Gary & Char off for the trip north.

Hair Wizard & Return Itinerary Linked

2010-02-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Saint John, left.

The date that we leave San Carlos is almost entirely dependent upon when Julie was able to book an appointment to rescue her hair in Phoenix with her trusted long time guru and personal savior Saint John, aka John Pace of Gulick Brothers. I think Julie first saw him in about 1986.
You may have noticed in this blog the lack of close photographs of Julie. Shortly after we arrived here she went to a local hair dresser and got a perm, or the perm got her. Julie has taken to calling it Palapa Hair since it looks sort of like one after a hurricane. She will not let me take pictures of it. Whatever chemicals were used on her head were not friendly to her hair. No bueno.
So, we looked at the date of her appointment with Saint John, backed up from that to “X” days with Mom in Tucson,added into the equation only going through Los Angeles on a weekend to limit our exposure to the chances of a four hour traffic block and “Poof!” we have the hair date and the departure date from San Carlos. Now one drawback with this methodology is that we end up one night in Blythe. I have never stayed over night in Blythe for good reason – there is nothing of interest there except bathrooms, gasoline and maybe some fast food. I suppose if you had a keen interest in cotton or citrus fruit it would be a destination. I like to wear cotton clothes and drink OJ, but have never taken it to the next level.

Ramblings

2010-02-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while Julie was kayaking the bay, I spent some time around town with the camera. This was taken from my perch on the west side of the anchorage looking toward Marina Terra while looking for signs of Julie's return. (She was late and I worry)

The most photographed rock in all of Sonora, from in front of Tony's.

Juan Jose.

An animated JJ.

If you look closely at the bottom left of the photo you will see new concrete, yes c o n c r e t e , on the ground. After the second floor palapa bar deal did not work out JJ has decided to spend a few pesos to upgrade his outdoor establishment. He is also thinking that it will not be long before he has a license to sell cerveza. Yes, I know that discussion has happened before, more than once, but it could happen.

I asked JJ where I could get one of those "Arriba ! Guaymas" stickers for my truck, even though I would prefer an "Arriba ! San Carlos" sticker and the light bulb went full on. Nobody makes one for San Carlos. He said, "Who gives a f__k about Guaymas when you live in San Carlos?" I am expecting to see one of these stickers before we depart. JJ is no slouch when it comes to making money, although a sticker might arrive with some additional graphic not suitable for viewing by children.

El Niño

2010-02-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

The weather pattern that has developed this winter, where cold fronts are aiming for Southern California, is reportedly due to an El Niño pattern that has set itself up in the Pacific Ocean. The tail end of these cold fronts have been dragging through San Carlos, and even further South, with moderate rains and a little bit of wind at times. No complaints from me, because it is still very comfortable, but it causes a few delays in our outdoor activities and the locals talk about it a lot. We had a whole inch of rain the other night and last week there was even a bit o’ hail. It totally freaked people out that this could happen here.

One of the little stories that is so Mexico came when a road grader bladed our little neighborhood streets about a week ago. I asked the fellow across the street from us if this happened often, or was it perhaps due to the erosion ruts from tropical storm Jimena being just too much for the new San Carlos Commisario and he decided to spend a few pesos. He said that in the ten years he has lived here he had never, ever seen a road grader work on the streets in the Caracol Turistico sector – never. A few more days later a dump truck started delivering little piles of fill material at strategic points along our streets and, having spent most of my career in the rock and sand business, I commented to Julie that there was far too much silt in the piles to make it useful for road fill. I also shared my belief that it was intended to fill ruts and that when it rained we would see a muddy mess. Guess what? I almost had to use four wheel drive to get up our street yesterday. The Suburban has thick, gooey mud thrown unevenly around its wheel wells, and the streets look like something out of the film “Patton” when the Third Army was moving equipment in the deep mud of the winter roads to get to Bastogne quickly.

Of course today is sunny and 70-something degrees and Julie is out kayaking the bay with a new Canadian friend while I dink away at the keyboard. What am I doing? Hasta luego.

Communication limits & weather report

2010-01-29T07:35:00.000-08:00

Some thoughts on living temporarily in San Carlos: This has so far been an El Niño winter, with several cold fronts moving through Southern California and Arizona managing to drag the tail end of the front through Sonora. This means that we actually had a few days with sprinkles and a couple of days with rain and cooler temperatures. Not cool enough to not wear shorts and not long enough periods that we didn’t wait a few hours and manage to golf at least nine holes. But it has been a bit of a surprise compared to last January when temperatures were pushing close to 90°.

Having internet capability in the rented casa has been a vast improvement and I am certain that our four months here would be very different if we still had to go somewhere to get access like we did last winter. Having most of our bills and all of our mail managed for us back in Florence is fine, but it has been personally difficult for me to give up that control for such a long period of time. I am now concerned about business tax filings, even though we were able to have Alisha take some checks back to the States and have FedEx delivery from our accountant to Alisha in Washington D.C. so that the government could receive our payroll taxes on time. February 15th is the next upcoming date for business income taxes and it has me checking my memory and relying on Eric back in Florence to sift the mail for things that need to be mailed to our Eugene tax guy. The other things that I have tracked all year in QuickBooks® will be emailed. This brings me to the lack of a timely, reliable mail system in Mexico.

People here rely on many different methods to send a receive mail. The most common is a loose knit group that has picked a business location, like a Realtor®, to accumulate mail that is gathered at a similar point in a place like Tucson or Nogales. This seems to work reasonably well except when nobody is going or coming from that direction for long periods of time. Things pile up to the point where all of it will not fit in a passenger car. Really. Then there is the issue of some people shipping boxes. What is in the box? Is it legal? Will it get me thrown in the jail? These are serious questions. Another comment I have heard on this mail delivery problem is that the group may have worked 15 years ago, but with aging of the participants fewer of them make the trips north, thus bigger loads when someone does finally get there.

The mail system in Mexico was used as the model to construct UPS with its central collection point, or at least it seems so, but UPS works and Mexico’s system does not work so well. Apparently, everything coming into or out of Mexico goes through one central point in Mexico City, and then it is distributed out from there. So it is not uncommon for a letter from the States to take a few weeks or a month to reach San Carlos. That is far too long for any business purpose and one would never consider sending anything of value through the system because it could become “misplaced”, permanently. It seems to me that this lack of reliable cross-border transactional commerce would have a significant negative impact on the country’s economic development. I do not think that I would willingly opt for a more permanent residence here when such a simple thing as mail is such an obstacle. The fact is we still have a few things that need real signatures and are time critical. I have talked to several people that just accept the fact that they drive to Tucson monthly just to get mail and justify it by also using the trip to buy a few products that are difficult or impossible to buy in Mexico.

Bleachers & Backstop

2010-01-25T07:38:00.000-08:00

The Paradiso Resort folks moved their aluminum bleachers over to where we play softball...
...and moved and installed a backstop for us.

They then sent a young man out with a table covered with water and cerveza for sale. All of this was due to the fact that the previous Saturday we had about 50 people in attendance. It also may have had something to do with our friend George putting a bug in the managements ear about how large our twice weekly outings had become.

We were rained out this last Saturday, so we have not had a chance to test out the new seating capacity, but it was probably a good thing because the bleachers needed a good washing after sitting under some trees for who knows how long.

Who knew?

2010-01-19T15:56:00.001-08:00

Growing up in Tucson with bilingual Grandparents in Nogales and a bilingual father from the same town, I always felt that we Edmonson's had a foot in both Arizona and Sonora, despite the claim to Scottish roots. Well, I had a revelation today when Julie returned from Tony's open air market with the bottle of Crema de Tequila. Tony was feeling a little tired and remembered that he had a bottle of this stuff handy, so he shared a swig, or two, with Julie. Julia liked it a lot and ran pronto to the store to purchase a bottle.

This is really good stuff, way better than Baileys although along the same lines, and now I know that a good Scotsman, as my Great Grandfather surely was, would never have downed an Irish liqueur when something of this magnitude was available. Surely when Neal Munro mustered out of the army in Arizona Territory and operated a dry goods store, the future financial fortunes of the family would have been entirely secure if he found a source of this nectar to sell. OMG.

Softball

2010-01-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

More Dogs (for Matt)

2010-01-14T15:08:00.001-08:00

Why Some Men Have Dogs And Not Wives:

1. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.

2. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.

3. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.

4. A dog's parents never visit.

5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.

6. You never have to wait for a dog; they're ready to go 24 hours a day.

7. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk.

8. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.

9. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"

10. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.

11. A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert.

12. If a dog smells another dog on you, they don't get mad. They just think it's interesting.

13. Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.

And last, but certainly not least:

14. If a dog leaves, it won't take half of your stuff.

Ultimate True Test: Lock your wife and your dog in the trunk of your car for an hour. Then open the trunk and see who's the happiest to see you.

(This was captured from a VivaSan Carlos forum post by our friend George.)

Mexico going to the Dogs

2010-01-12T13:23:00.001-08:00

This is our friend George with his two rescue dogs. He has taken on the care of five more in the fishing village of La Manga, just north of San Carlos. La Manga is a squatters encampment of considerable size, with a fisherman's co-op and structures of all sorts. The local Rotary Club installed a windmill and large water tanks last year in the first Village (there are three), and individuals have been trying to identify and coordinate the care free animals lest they get totally out of control. They are now fed regularly and he has had all of them spayed or neutered, but having water for them has been a problem because any container her leaves gets appropriated for other uses.

Julie and I poured a small concrete basin yesterday to hold water for the dogs, thinking that a few hundred pounds of concrete would be a little harder to cart away. I brought the materials and George brought a shovel and an "experienced" pick. I do not believe that George has used a shovel very often in his life because this one was short handled, held on by one rusty nail. Well, I was already on my knees mixing the concrete on the ground when the handle separated and the rusty nail is presumably somewhere in the new 5 gallon water dish.

George is forgiven because after the labor he took to a restaurant in La Manga overlooking the bay for a coke and chips with salsa. By that time I was too tired to remember my camera, but I will go back next Saturday with the biesbol group and get some good photos.

Comida, ten minutes ago

2010-01-09T12:47:00.001-08:00

Comida today.

Alisha's Time

2010-01-08T06:41:00.001-08:00

Why would Alisha take this picture? She has always been a mystery.
Mexican Train game gone bonkers.
At La Palapa Griega.

Nacapuli Canyon

2010-01-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

I won, I won, I won

2010-01-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

This little Bugatti Veyron is on order now that I am the confirmed winner of the Lotto NL! Wow, who would have thought that out of all the people on the internet that little 'ol me would be the big winner. I can hardly wait until Monday when the banks open to transfer some money to Lotto NL to cofirm that it is me and that I want the big prize. Read on, and remember that I am the Sir in "Sir / madam"..

Sir/madam,

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Lotto NL Winners
International programs held on the 1st December 2009, Your e-mail address
attached to ticket #: 00903228100 with prize # 778009/UK drew ?1,000,000.00 which was first in the 2ndclass of the draws. you are to receive ?450,000, (Four hundred and fifty thousand Euros). Because of mix up in cash pay-outs, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your money (?450,000) has been fully remitted to you by our accredited pay-point bank. This measure must be adhere to avoid loss of your cash prize - winners of our cash prizes are advised to adhere to these instructions to forestall the abuse of this program by other participants. It's important to note that this draws were conducted formally, and winners are selected through an internet ballot system from 60,000 individual and companies e-mail addresses - the draws are conducted around the world through our internet based ballot
system. The promotion is sponsored and promoted Lotto NL.

We congratulate you once again. We hope you will use part of it in our next
draws; the jackpot winning is ?85million. Remember, all winning must be
claimed not later than 20 days. After this date all unclaimed cash prize will be forfeited and included in the next sweepstake. Please, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications remember to quote personal and winning numbers in all correspondence with us.

Congratulations once again from all members of Lotto NL. Thank you for being
part of our promotional program.

For immediate release of your cash prize to you, please kindly contact our
Paying Bank
( Atlantic Finance Rotterdam The Netherlands.)

Send them the following:
(i). Your names,
(ii) Contact telephone and fax numbers
(iii) Contact Address
(iv) your winning numbers
(v) Quote amount won.

Contact person: Mr.Van Clarkson.
Massainstraat 24b 1103 ML
Rotterdam, Netherlands

(I deleted the phone numbers and email addresses that were provided, and that I was urged to respond to with all rapidity.
The next sound you would hear after responding to this wonderful, winning news would be a giant sucking noise from all of your bank accounts being drained. I think that I will go ahead and send this on the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. They like this sort of stuff a lot! We spoke to them not long ago after Eric received a car loan offer funneled through a North Carolina address from a Russian Federation web site, along with legitimate offers from other companies. The FBI shut them down in a day and tracked them reopening as a new scam the following day.)

Strategy Session

2010-01-03T07:35:00.001-08:00

With refreshments in hand, following another gruelling baseball game at the Paradiso soccer field, the Cerveza League players contemplate their next move. Play the Guaymas teams, or jump straight up to Hermosillo before taking on the Arizona teams?

Bummer

2009-12-30T06:24:00.000-08:00

This is our new dog named "Bummer". I found him at the local animal rescue joint and he was in really bad shape, having just been taken in moments before my arrival. I planned on surprising Julie on New Years day with her new Bichon puppy, but after I washed him I discovered he had claws which might mean that I was misled a little bit.

The shelter folks have told me that they do not take animals back after finding them a new home, so I am going to try to convince Julie that this is the same little lap dog type that she has been oogling over recently. Wish me luck.

Happy New Year, almost. April Fools Day is right around the corner!

Needs Caption

2009-12-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, is this dog doing this just for fun, or is it really trying to protect its owner from the snow blower monster, or what? Oh, by the way, we do not have any of that white stuff here South of the Border.

( So, I lost the attribution info for this photo, so is it sufficient to say that I plucked it off the web at perhaps, maybe MSNBC?)

Tricked Out in Guaymas

2009-12-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

This young man was pedaling past us in downtown Guaymas a couple of weeks ago and I asked him to stop for a photo of his bike, which he did with pride. Look at the detail when you enlarge it. Unbelievable.

Mas Biesbol y Canada

2009-12-26T15:22:00.000-08:00

We learned today, or at least this American learned, that amature Canadian baseball players can produce Maple Leaf atire at a moments notice - two minutes tops! When PJ, THE COMMISH, called for a show of hands as to country affiliation, it turned out that American and Canadian participants were about equally split, with the exception of one confused Bill standing in the middle.

The Canadians called an immediate time out and returned from the parking area with new duds. I am now convinced that they have these available at all times to toss on, just in case there may be confusion about where to the North they hail from.

Christmas Eve & Day in SC

2009-12-25T06:48:00.000-08:00

San Carlos Club de Golf

We plan on golfing later today after making our traditional pinwheel biscuits! It has been a bit chilly at night, requiring that we run the heat for an hour or so, but there is no snow or rain in sight so things are good. Today on the golf course should be in the low 70's - do I hear a WOOHOO!

Last night we grilled dorado and tuna and watched the lighted boat parade from our balcony as they made two passes through our little part of the bay. Can you imagine that Julie was shouting at them and that a couple of the boats found us with their spotlights? Julie and Alisha also brought home a stray to have dinner with us, a writer of books camping out at La Manga in his motor home. They met him at Barracuda Bobs while he was getting interneted. (Like that word?)

We hope that everyone is having as good a time as we are and that you are enjoying the spirit of this season.

Hornitos Reposada & Sea Shells

2009-12-21T11:14:00.000-08:00

Tile work in the Soggy Peso bathroom.

So we are down on the beach this afternoon recharging Julie’s solar cells, perhaps imbibing somewhat too, and I am giving some serious thought to the increasing load of sea shells gathering on the porch. I can see the porch from my recliner on the beach, off in the distance. Until this morning I did not realize the full extent of the collection. It is more than just “large”. When we eventually cross the border heading Norte, among the many tools used by the U.S. Customs folks is, I believe, a scale that weighs the vehicle and compares it to norms for the make and model. Right now I think there would be sirens, whistles and other alarms aplenty because we are tiny bit overloaded. Now, I am sure these good people protecting our borders have seen just about everything, including mucho sea shells in a car, but not on such a large, almost commercial, scale. And to tell you the truth I am not sure that the Suburban can take the load. That is a monstrously huge admission for a man to say that El Trucko is not big enough. We like big, manly things. (Can you hear the grunting sound?)

With all of that said, and threats to my manhood exposed, I am thinking that we need to emulate the tile work at the Soggy Peso somewhat by utilizing the very Mexican skill with cement and/or grout to create a phrase or words to live by while in San Carlos and have the shells permanently, chemically bonded into the rented house above the doorway, so that all who follow will have a sort of roadmap to guide them, the wisdom of history and prior travelers. Such a phrase would have to include reference to Hornitos Reposada, or similar agave distillates, and perhaps empty shot glasses awaiting the uptight visitor from the north. It could even refer to the romance of the sunlight upon the Sea of Cortez and friends sharing a special, eternal time looking toward Guaymas and the pelicanos doing their work. But I am at a loss and need some help. So if you can think of anything lofty enough, of such pure, high purpose that it would make grown men fall to their knees and weep, and women cry at the vision produced by mere words, then please send me a note or give me a hint at the direction I may look for such inspiration.

¿ Que no ve que soy gringo? (This is fast becoming my favorite, all time, best Spanish phrase.) “Can’t you see I’m a gringo?” We are not equipped to handle such a delicate flower of thought and inspiration with proper respect and passion.

Seventh inning stretch - If you think that I may be drinking while tapping this out on my keyboard you would be partially correct – I am sipping. There is a significant difference between drinking and sipping. Ask anyone except an AA Sponsor and they will tell you there is a difference – even if only slight.

Even though I know in my heart that it would have been impossible to keep up the pace established the past week and a half without resulting in my own death, probably from lack of blood oxygen since alcohol carries so little O2, I am still missing the fun of it all and the amigoness of it too. (I like making up words, don’t you?)

[Discalimer: My truck can haul anything, including the puny collection of shells on the porch. And since I am such a MAN and have no need for anything more than a weapon, meat, fire and a procreation partner, I can handle the fussy, wimpy nod, written above, to things feminine and passionate without fanfare. It’s a joke, and yes, I am still a gringo. Sometimes even gringos cry in their beer.]

Back on target and time to start the 8th inning (if there ever was a target) - Ok, so maybe I need to rethink the whole sea shell thing and just plan to go commercial importing Mexican shells. There are so many more places without beaches than with, and the folks in those places might really appreciate having reminders of what they are missing. It might take off like the Pet Rock thing. The one year retirement plan.
Hasta Luego

Things to consider putting on your car / truck

2009-12-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

Mas Amigos

2009-12-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

Un poquito mas San Carlos y Florence gringos

2009-12-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

Tequila y orange juice for breakfast, again?

....resulting morning dance.

The Plaza of the Three Presidents, Guaymas.
Municipal building in the background with decorations.

Gracias por cancelar el escuadron de fusilamiento!

2009-12-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

We have been having soooo much fun. Friends from Florence have been here in San Carlos these last ten days and although we did not know them well at the beginning, Vic and Robin are now good amigos and Tom and Michelle are known better to us despite the fog of tequila. The above phrase comes from a book called Wicked Spanish that Vic & Robin brought along, and translated means “Thank you for cancelling the death squad”. This would have been useful if we had encountered the Policia and Vic did his usual murderous number on the language of Mexico. He tries hard. People that carry around a book containing such phrases are bound to be fun. ¿Que no?

I will share more phrases as we move along in these postings because they are so much fun even if fairly useless. There was a long, open discussion with the female owner of a local restaurant over the correct pronunciation of certain words to avoid confusion with penile dysfunction, breasts and other private anatomy. One of the oddest exchanges I have ever witnessed and will forever be a standard for improper gringo behavior. Vic can pull it off though.
¿Que no ve que soy gringo? (Can’t you see I’m a gringo?)

Tequila Shooters as a route to the Rose Bowl

2009-12-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

OK, so there was this must watch football game last night which we managed to find here at the Marina Cantina. Oregon and Oregon Sate, the "Civil War", was played in Eugene with the winner getting a trip to the Rose Bowl. Tom & Michelle, Vic & Robin had flown in the day before from Florence to get warm and maybe, just maybe blow off a little steam. So finding an enthusiastic crowd at the bar was just the thing until we learned that the crowd supported Oregon, the "other" team.

Well, at each Oregon State score a nearby table would send over a couple of shots of tequila, the good stuff, with reciprocity when the ball went to the other goal. THIS WAS A SEVENTY POINT GAME. MY GOD.

Tom and Michelle were.... there is a word...... oh, what is it?......borracho?

The bar tab far, way far, exceeded the food bill. Admissions in the morning included a temporary loss of North as a direction on the compass. Without help the inebriates would not have found their way home, at least to the correct home.

No Rain Delays

2009-12-01T15:28:00.000-08:00

The San Carlos Softball Wrecking Crew...

Flying for the Holidays

2009-11-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

If you plan on flying for the holidays you might want to check the testosterone levels of male pilots before you board...

More than obedience school

2009-11-21T12:47:00.000-08:00

Matt: Is this next on Lucy's agenda?

Biesbol - again

2009-11-20T08:43:00.001-08:00

Stretching before minimizes injuries.
Shelly prepares to whack one.

Real motion

75° at the Fiesta Real Hotel

2009-11-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

Dinner out on Saturday Night for "Hawaiian" fare at the Fiesta Real with Mark Mulligan playing his tunes.

R E S P E C T

2009-11-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pH86fxFh8Q

Working on our Español

2009-11-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

I may add to this from time to time, but for now these two phrases make up my list:

Phrases we have not found a use for:

¿Cómo funciona la calefacción?
(How does the heater work?)

Useful phrases:

Necesito un destapador.
(I need a plunger.)
The older plumbing in Mexcio is notoriously unreliable.

Cerveza League Biesbol

2009-11-07T14:36:00.001-08:00

The battery on our camera was dead today, so this is not a photograph of the local playing field. SOMEONE left the camera turned on and depleted the battery.

I joined the local Biesbol League, made up of a bunch of Norte Americanos with a love of the game. When we arrived at the field today a bunch of guys were walking through the field with shovels followed by a tractor whose bucket was almost overflowing with road apples. It seems that horses like Biesbol too.

The rules are simple - everyone gets to swing until a ball is hit, no strikeouts, and there are no walks. No physical contact - everyone is already in some age related pain so there is no need to inflict more. And the best part is that at the end of a couple of horas the group drives next door to the Soggy Peso for cervezas and apetizers, or whatever. With games every Tuesday and Saturday that's a lot of cervezas!

I pulled the hamstring on my left (good) leg a few weeks ago, so I started off with some extra disability. We spent the first 30 minutes doing stretches because they said that last year they had just jumped right into it and ended up barely being able to field the two teams because of all of the pulled muscles and tendons. The stretcheing help my hamstring loosen up, but I tweeked it a bit trying to catch a fly ball that my 13 year old brain was telling me was a cinch.

It turned out I was being scouted by the previous years players, so the warm up thing to prevent injuries was only partly true. The first two gatherings are all just practice and since I have never lost my ability to hit the long ball, which I demonstrated, the old timers were eyeing the fresh meat with some interest for later when sides are chosen. Julie may get to be my designted runner, but I'm thinking that may cost a round of cervezas or something.

I did not bring any biesbol gear with me - every other thing imaginable, but not biesbol gear. But this is Biesbol country and I have been given directions to the sports store in Guaymas so all is good.

This looks like a really fun group and we have warned them that we will not be able to play all 80 games, through March.

Crossing the border at Nogales

2009-11-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

This is a six minute border crossing tutoring session of the Mariposa Road crossing into Sonora, Mexico. A rough edit.

Luck or Intervention

2009-11-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

Herman catches a lucky break

from jon huckby

Packing List

2009-11-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

A complete wardrobe for 4 months.

This is part reminder to myself and a heads up to friends that you do not need a lot of clothes at lattidude 28. I really just needed to bring the brown shorts and Lahaina shirt on the left for every day wear, and the black shorts and floral shirt on the right for formal atire. Put these together with the hat and sandals and that is all that is really needed. We filled a Suburban.

Well. I do need one heavy coat, boots and Levis for the trip back home just in case I-5 passes through the Oregon is frozen over. The tire chains are under the seats.

Things back Home

2009-11-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

Florence, Oregon -
Friday Night: SW wind 20 to 25 kt with gusts to 30 kt. windwaves 6 ft. W swell 28 ft. showers in the evening ... then rainafter midnight.

A great day to head to the beach!!!

Things here -
Tomorrow night: Mostly clear skies. Low 68F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Friday: A mainly sunny sky. High 83F. Winds light and variable.
Saturday: Sunshine. Highs in the low 80s and lows in the upper 60s.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s and lows in the mid 60s.

Sooooooooooo boring.

Dia de los Muertos and Pig Roast

2009-11-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

La Familia setting up.

Last night Julie and I went to the full moon party at the Soggy Peso Bar on Catch 22 Beach, which is a monthly event - both the full moon, of course, and the party. This time the event also happened to fall on Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), celebrated in this culture with sincere appreciation for those who have passed before us, coupled with some fun celebrations.
The Soggy Peso is our most favorite place for sunsets and there is usually a lively crowd there to help end the day in a celebratory mood. This time it included a pig roast and the band La Familia.

Faith - No Problema

2009-11-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

So, this is for Sandy just a few days ahead of her arrival here with brother Chris. S/V Faith looks to be in fine condition after Hiurricane Jimena. No signs of water inside, just a few footprints made from wet sneakers by the guys checking all of the boats for damage in Marina Seca.

We were warned in advance that ladders, although much needed for loading and unloading in the yard, are a very scarce item. Well, while we again brought a lot of stuff with us this trip, I failed to realize the need for an extension ladder! What was I thinking? Que lastima!

But, we were able to just barely sneak the Suburban in between the perimeter fence and Faith's stern so that we could climb to the roof of the truck and up the swim ladder. Walking the perimeter of the boat and looking at the supports it does not appear that this area of Marina Seca received much of the water flow from the arroyo, if any at all. In other areas closer to the fow there is debris caught on the supports 3 feet up. Crews are still shoveling dried mud from under boats to the westerly end of the storage area, leveling things up for future movement.

The trip South - Photos

2009-11-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

50,000 square feet of wine shop.

Oracle road & Limberlost, Tucson, AZ.

The long club. Nipomo.

Monarch Dunes G.C., Nipomo, CA.

The View - Sunrise

2009-11-02T07:13:00.001-08:00

This is the morning view from inside our little casa, looking over the bay in front of La Posada. I am thinking that this is much better than the condo we rented here in the Spring. It is noticably warmer here than on the Oregon coast and I doubt that we will see any rain whatsoever.

You will have to excuse me if I have allowed misspelled words to reside here. When I hit the spell check button it highlights EVERYTHING because it is trying to check in Spanish. There is probably some preference menu that I need to reset.

San Carlos

2009-11-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

OK, so we have been sitting on our balcony in San Carlos looking at the bay and sipping our Oso Negro gin and tonics and can't think of a good reason why we left eight months ago. Life is good.

Sierra Madre Environs

2009-10-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

So we detoured to Sierra Madre so that Julie could have some catch-up time with her lifelong friend Kathy. I dumped myself at our hotel and Julie promptly left for the new Nordstrom Rack, whatever that is. With Halloween approaching I thought it might have something to do with torture displays, but that would not make any sense so I'll just have to keep guessing.

Oh, the behinds of horses! Our hotel is actually in Arcadia near the Santa Anita Race Track. I don't think it is a big race day because we could actually drive here without the normal big traffic backup that happens with those events.

Tomorrow it is on to Tucson. The joy of driving I-10 across the desert. If it was my first time I might be more interested, but I have started to identify unusually shaped desert flora and could play a guessing game with just about anyone if the subject was "what is over the next rise?"

Pismo Beach............Again

2009-10-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

So we were sitting outside at the restaurant at our hotel in Shell Beach (next door to Pismo Beach) and it was about 72 degrees and a pod of dolphin was just scooting along parallel the beach and a quarter of a mile out. I happened to be eating fish. Life here is tough.

Some people here were concerned that it might get really, really hot by tomorrow - upper seventies or low eighties - because few things are air conditioned, including our room overlooking the ocean. Wimps.

Yearning

2009-10-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

This is a web cam shot from the Posada condominiums in San Carlos and I look at it frequently as a reminder that we will soon be out of Oregon just ahead of the bit of weather that will be arriving soon. It is not uncommon here to measure our rainfalls by the wheelbarrow full, if one happens to be left out in the loading position. Just last week we had a brief rain that qualified as a half a wheelbarrow full.

The house we have rented is on the hill at the far end of the beach.

We should be arriving in Tucson on October 27th and will leave for San Carlos on the 1st of November.