Happy Thanksgiving, and the pitter patter of little feet...

 

Even on a holiday, the morning routine goes on: after eating his soft food, Murphy likes to have some outdoor time before coming back in and eating his hard.  It's our thing.

Most mornings, he likes to walk around to the neighbor's patio door - I call it "being a creeper," since he feels the need to peek in...

 "Murph - stop spying on those people!"

 "Me?  I wasn't spying."  Yeah, pretty much every morning.  Except on this holiday, the neighbors are home.  Then, a look around to the east...

 The sun is just coming up over South Mountain, making for nice light on his fur.

Once back inside, I went next door to visit with the neighbors.  And that's the "little feet" from the title: they have a young Guide Dog puppy for a few days...

 This little girl is Vinnie.  I think her actual name is Vinka.  Vinnie's raisers are gone for the holiday, so Dan and Steph are caring for her, and someone else from their Guide Dog group has Dicha.  This is also part of what the group does, so the dogs get experience with other raisers.  As you can see from the photos, Vinnie is a youngster.  Sweet girl, and early into her training.  Steph and Dan have had black labs they have raised, so this girl is a "bright" change.  Good temperament.

When discussing Thanksgiving plans with my music buddies yesterday, I related that our plans are "to go to our daugher and son-in-law's house."  We'll check the traffic reports, but it isn't a long distance.  No "over the river and through the woods."  As I understand, Steph is doing most of the cooking this year.

I smelled apple pie being cooked when I went to visit with them last night.  I will be partaking of all the culinary delights, A1C be damned.  For today.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

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The high today is supposed to be around 75º.  At 11:30 am, after adding some water and checking the chemistry in the hot tub, and getting Murphy some more outdoor time, I was thinking: "It would be a nice day for a ride."  We aren't doing our Thanksgiving meal with Steph and Dan until 3:00 or so... Joan encouraged me to take her Xmax out.  I didn't have to be asked twice.

I geared up and headed out.  Yep, this is a fun scoot.  Bigger than my Burgman, smaller than my CTX, plenty of power and very nimble.

It was a good ride.  More traffic than I've seen on the twisty roads in quite a while.  Obviously, I am not the only one feeling like a holiday outing.  More motorcycles than I've seen in quite a while, and a lot more cars and trucks.

I stopped at the top to get a photo of the Xmax, then me with the Xmax...

I used the DJI Pocket 3 for this shot.  It is primarily a video cam, but it does a decent job on stills.  And, it is controllable with my phone, so easy.

It is a lovely day.  The views from the top of South Mountain were crisp - you can see all across the Valley (of the Sun) from there.  The Pocket 3 is less great for distant scenic images, since is had a relatively wide angle lens (and no zoom).

Back home and chilling until mealtime.  Murphy is watching the National Dog Show on TV.  The boy cracks me up.

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Our Thanksgiving meal was outstanding - Steph did a great job!  Besides the typical turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, greenbeans, cranberry sauce, and rolls, there were a couple fun additions.  Joan found "Texas Roadhouse Rolls" in place of the usual rolls; and, yes, they did taste like the rolls from Texas Roadhouse.  For pies, Joan bought a pumpkin pie at Costco that is the size of a manhole cover, and Steph made a deep-dish apple pie.  All 4 of us had some of each... and with 4 slices out of the pumpkin pie, there was 3/4 of a pie left.

We didn't think to get a photo of the meal, but I did get this shot of Dan with his 2 slices of pie...

 Joan and I are back home, and... no room (in my belly) for a turkey sandwich this evening.

 

Green Wednesday...

 

Maybe you know about this?  I didn't.

Today is Green Wednesday: the second highest (pun intended) sales day for the cannabis industry.  A bit of history: The phenomenon started in the mid-2010s.  Cannabis retailers and delivery services noticed that sales on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving were unusually high.  Over time, as legalization expanded, dispensaries leaned into this trend; offering promotions, running events, and effectively turning it into a holiday.  This Thanksgiving, weed smokers are grateful for "Green Wednesday." 

"Green Wednesday is the second-largest holiday for cannabis behind April 20th," said Joyce Sinali, co-founder of the Cannabis Media Council, a trade group that seeks to improve the public perception of weed.

“Green Wednesday is not a real holiday,” said Jennifer Bartholomeo, a general manager of the Travel Agency, a New York dispensary chain.  “But if you think about it, you’re traveling home to see your family, extended family is visiting and everyone is taking a walk with their cousin.  And what do you think you’re doing on that walk?”

Whether junior relations are sneaking away from the gathering to smoke together or popping an edible to assuage their anxiety before they face the rest of the family, getting high on the 17th century feast day is an emergent 21st century tradition. 

“Green Wednesday is a relatively new term for a familiar phenomenon: Old friends get together in their hometown and party on the eve of Thanksgiving.  As cannabis products became legalized across the US in the mid-2010s, the industry started using the term in marketing to encourage friends to head to local dispensaries to get their fix," Sinali said. 

“We want folks to come and get nuanced, interesting products and take them to the dinner table for their Thanksgiving holiday,” Sinali said.

The ploy has worked: Sinali said about 10 to 20% of customers at dispensaries on Green Wednesday are first-time shoppers. 

“I think it’s a way for the younger generation –– and I mean, honestly, the older generation; everyone is smoking weed, whether they share that fact or not –– to have the family come together.”  * 

And now you know.  Plus, when you get the munchies, your Thanksgiving feast awaits.  ;-)  I have asthma, so I won't be smoking anything.

 

* Source: CNN

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Music with the guys today, at Mark's house.  Well, in Mark's garage; yeah, we were a garage band.  This is what I usually call "the big group," which isn't the same personnel as the Hip Replacements.  Mark, Ron, and I are in both groups.  I enjoy these guys, and we had fun playing.

Gil showed up with a new guitar!  That is exciting!  A Fender Telecaster.  So, I suggested we make it "All About Gil Day"... we had Gil pick the songs to play.  Well, to a point.  After he picked a couple in a row what the rest of us would call obscure songs, the rest of us took a turn.

It was my turn to bring lunch, and I had planned for Oregano's (pizza).  There is an Oregano's just a few miles from Mark's house, so I usually pick it up on the way.  Except, we found out that Oregano's is closed for remodeling.  The way it usually works: Joan orders the pizza for me on-line; it's generally ready when I get there, so it's still warm when I get to Mark's.

We had to punt today.  Joan let me know while I was enroute that I'd have to change the plan.  I asked for her to see if there was a Marco's Pizza anywhere near Marks... she looked... it's closed.  What??!!  I knew Mark would suggest that we just get sub sandwiches from Firehouse, but I had already told the guys we were having Oregano's.  I had Joan order a large pizza from Oregano's in Goodyear.  Yes, that is out of the way, but the new plan was to get that there, take the Loop 303 to Northern Parkway, take that to the Loop 101.  I had to wait a bit for the pizza in Goodyear, but the people at that Oregano's were very nice - the young lady who helped me said they'd move it up in the order and have it for me in about 10 minutes.  The rest of the drive to Mark's went as planned.

As it worked out, there was an accident on I-10 that would have prevented me from getting on the Loop 101.  And another accident just beyond my exit for the Loop 303 (two minutes later, I-10 in that area would be a big parking lot) - so, my timing and routing was actually good.

The drive home from Mark's was surprisingly not bumper to bumper - I was going the right direction, as I could see the ugly stop and go traffic going the opposite direction.

So, a good day.  When I got home, Joan reminded me that "You have been with Mark and Ron 3 days now since Saturday night"... the Hip Replacement played Saturday night, we did the turkey loaded at the St. Mary's Food Bank yesterday, and the getting together to make music with the guys today.  Fortunate that we are all good friends.

And, for tomorrow: Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Turkey Tuesday...

 

Like last year, Mark and Ron invited our family to join them in working at St. Mary's Food Bank to help distribute turkeys, produce, and canned goods to families in need.

St. Mary's is a large operation.  For this particular day, they have two shifts, plenty of corporate volunteers, and individual volunteers like us.  It is set up with two lanes of vehicles, 7 stations in each lane.  There is a group of volunteers at each station, the cars are marked with the number of family meals they are receiving (generally one, but up to 5).  It is a bit of an assembly line, but a lot of families receive these ready to be cooked meals in a relatively short time.  Efficient.

This was our group...

 Twelve of us working at two tables.  Other tables were manned by a large group of police officers, another by a group of young Mormon men, another large group from a financial company.

Steph was in charge of "flagging" - stopping cars at the right spot, the letting the traffic coordinators know when we had a vehicle loaded.  Three of us were loading goods into cars, and two others staging food onto tables so we could keep the flow going.

A few other photos I was able to get...

Steph and Dan on the bus that took us from parking to the food distribution areas (the parking was about a mile away).  Steph on the job (below)...

Steph and Dan with the line of cars...

Walking back to the buses after our shift...

 It's a very worthy cause.  Their Mission Statement: Bridging the gap for Arizona communities with nourishment for today and hope for tomorrow.  There are St. Mary's outlets around Arizona - they feed more than 250,000 people each day.  They partner with more than 600 non-profit organizations to insure Arizonans in need have access to food, including children's programs, and operating a skills center with programs in warehouse logistics and food service.

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A couple photos from Steph's phone...

 As you can see, there was tenting overhead, but we were working in the sun.  It had gotten too warm to actually wear the hoodie I had on, so I put just the hood part over my head to keep the sun off.  Not particularly stylish, but you do what you gotta do, since I forgot to bring a hat.

 

They aren't all good...

 

People?  Yeah, that's a fact.  No bonus points, though; all you have to do is watch the evening news.  But, I digress.

The Facebook Memories hit me like a big kick in the guts this morning: it was 2 years ago today that we said good-bye to the best "good boy."  Rufus was a truly unique feline... and we've had some pretty great felines.

I knew this would be coming up; I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be so soon...

 I could go on and on, talking about the many wonderful attributes of this big furry boy, but I will just say: I miss the light that this boy spread.  People who weren't "cat people" would come up to meet him while we were out walking.  He never had a bad day, even at the end.

And, the end came too soon.  We only had 5 years with Rufus, but they were joyous years, and he left us with so many great memories.  I miss this boy every day; there are reminders of him in our home.  The memories make us smile.  But, this day, my heart hurts.

You were a very good boy, Rufus.

 

Here we go...

 

I have some PA equipment loaded in the car.  Not for the gig with the band this afternoon, but just in case a crowd shows up for this morning's Meet the President Q&A in the park.  I just want to be prepared.

Steph and Dan are delivering one of the Guide Dog puppies back the California today, so they won't be there.  Steph asked, "Are you nervous?"

"Well, sure.  It's the unknown.  I'm putting myself out there, and people can ask me anything about the HOA.  I have facts.  I'm willing to share my opinion.  I'm hoping it won't be confrontational, like things can get on Facebook.  I expect that people will be civil in public, but... the unknown."

Steph asked if I'd call or text to let her know how it went this morning.

And then, back home, load up more gear, and get ready to head to downtown Phoenix where The Hip Replacements will be playing this afternoon.  I'm less concerned about the unknown with that, although we have to be adaptable with the change from playing outdoors to inside.  We rehearse so we have the song arrangements down.

While the organizers have made arrangements for us to be indoors, we'll have to load-out in the rain,though.  Assuming the weather weasels are accurate with the hourly forecasts.  Yeah, this music stuff is glamorous.  ;-)

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So, how'd it all go?

Thanks for asking.  I think I was able to get through to people that "the board doesn't do business on Facebook."  I was expecting to explain how they can access any financial information on the Homeowners' Portal (and I did), but some people just weren't ready to accept that "anyone can set up a Facebook Group and have the name of our community in it.

"You should do something about that - it is misleading."  

"I can't do anything about either of these two groups because they are NOT affiliated with the HOA, the board, or the management company in ANY way."  As usual, I steered them to the Homeowners' Portal.  Interestingly enough, the husband of one of the board members was there, offering to "explain things, to help me out."  He was not trying to help me out.

There were some of the snarky Facebook people there, but no one got unpleasant.  No doubt, being face to face, with people in attendance who were being reasonable, helps.  All in all, I think I was able to answer questions with factual information.  It wasn't a bad experience.

And the music gig?  It is a LOT of work to haul all that gear: it is 4 loading situations... house to the car, car to the event, set up, play, wait around while the people putting it on used our PA for their awards ceremony and keynote speech, then tear down, load it into the car, drive home, load it back into the house.  We are not youngsters.  Time there was over 4 hours, even though we were scheduled to play for around 90 minutes.

The making music part is fun... the rest is just a lot of work.  This is the 4th time this group (or a subset of this group) has had us play; we may have to talk about timing before we commit to this in the future.

That said, the playing is good - I like these guys and we work together well.  A couple photos courtesy of Joan...

 

But, yeah, it was a long day. 

One last run-through...

 

It looks like there is a good chance of rain tomorrow afternoon, starting around 5:00.  The event we are playing for runs from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.  Our playing time is scheduled for 3:30 to 5:00, then backing the choir for a song.  Their awards presentation (they'll be using our PA) will follow that.  Even though we will be wrapped up playing shortly after 5:00, we can't start our tear-down and load out until they are done.  It is likely we'll be loading out in the rain.

We were told that the band has been moved indoors and the vendors will be cancelled; I am sorry to hear that, for the vendors' sake.  For the band, it means we can load-in lighter, since we won't need PA gear to project as far.

I loaded the set list for this gig last night; we are flexible and can change things around on the fly, but it gives us an idea of timing and order for any gear changes.  This afternoon, I'll run through the set list to make sure I'm comfortable with all the arrangements.

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The other "event" for tomorrow is the "Meet the President" question and answer get-together in our community, 9 to 10am.  This isn't anything formal, the plan is to meet in the park.  I have no idea how many people will be there, and if it will be angry homeowners because the HOA dues increase $20 starting in January, or if there will be friendly supporters.  I'm OK with however it plays out.

I scheduled this because there is a lot of mis-information, unfounded rumors, and general ugliness on Facebook between a couple different "community" groups.  My hope is to clear up the fact that "the HOA board does NOT do business on Facebook."  There is a Homeowners' Portal run by the management company that is the official conduit for information or issues with the HOA.

I expected some homeowner concern about the dues increase - people want to know how their money is being spent and on what.  I've stated this before (at every board meeting, but those are not well-attended), that every dime is accounted for.  There are expenditures we have to do, and some that homeowners have asked for.  With a budget over a half million dollars, opinions differ on how those funds are allocated.  Some have never looked at the financial reports on the Portal, but they call for "get rid of this board that is wasting our money!!"  It goes with the job.

Some people don't understand the purpose of a board for the HOA.  Some don't understand that they are a part of the HOA (it's right there in the name: Home Owners Association).  We are not some entity that sits around thinking up ways to tell people what they can't do - the Association exists to protect the home values for each member, preserve our common-owned property, and run the business of our community.

This will be the opportunity for homeowners to look at someone (little ol' me) and ask their question.  Face to face.  Hopefully, instead of making an angry post on Facebook, where they don't have all the facts.

"Why would you put yourself out like this, Jim?"  Good question.  I care about this community; this on-line bickering isn't good for the community.  We are better when we work together.  Truly, I have nothing to lose: if I can't get the truth across, or if there is general lack of interest in knowing how the board works and the money is spent, I will have a clear understanding of the direction the community wants to go.  The "bullying" that gets done on Facebook, offers no solutions and shows no interest in looking at the financial facts on the Homeowners' Portal.  I believe that is a small minority.  There is also a minority who show up for board meetings, Block Watch meetings, community meetings with our City Council members, and understand how the Portal works.  (Joan has offered to show people how to get on and use the Portal while I answer questions.)  I think the majority of people just want to live their lives, come home from work, spend time with their family, and not have to be concerned about the HOA; they expect the people they elected to the board to do their job and keep the community running.

If asked, I will explain the bidding process.  And the fact that the landscaping bids varied by over $60,000 from the highest to the lowest.  I have all the bids, and have the numbers broken down.  For most people, that stuff is boring; and why they don't want to be bothered with sitting in on a board meeting, where these decisions get made.  In front of the homeowners.  Because the financial matters of the board ARE completely transparent.  That word gets tossed around a lot.  The numbers are all there, right on the Portal.  The financial reports are presented at every board meeting.  The board meetings are open to homeowners, so they can see the process.  Yet, someone who has never attended a board meeting or looked at the Homeowners' Portal, can get on Facebook and state, as though it is fact, that "the board isn't being transparent."

We'll see how this Q&A goes.   

Can I Have Your Autograph?

 

You got recognized (as part of the Hip Replacements) by the choir group yesterday, and it's gone to your head?  No; I'm pretty grounded.  Joan and Steph keep me that way.

Today, I did have a neighbor ask for my autograph... she saw me on TV this morning.  It was on a news piece that was shot last week; just ran this morning.

An investigative reporter for the CBS affiliate here in Phoenix ran a piece a couple weeks ago regarding 3 homes near our development that were having flooding issues after the unprecedented rain last month.  They felt the issue was the development south of us that was changing how water flows off of South Mountain.  The result of that news piece: the City pointed at the County, and the County said the flood/water-flow plans that were in place were doing just what they were supposed to do.

I reached out to that reporter and let her know that debris that came down from the mountain clogged the wash built to handle water flow around our community.  She and her camera man came out, met with another board member and me, asked some questions on camera.  Shannon, the other board member, gave the reporter video that she shot when the water flooded one of the main streets in our community.  The reporter, Susan Campbell, said she would take this to the City and County and try to get more information.

Turns out, the City and County do have a plan, but apparently couldn't come up with that info when the reporter first asked about it.  There is a flood control project that is scheduled for 2028 (formulated in 2022) east of our community, and another for 2031 (just formulated) on the western side of the community.

Not the immediate resolution hoped for, but there is a plan.  I guess we can hope there isn't another one of those "once in a decade" rains in the next 6 years.

The reporter reached out to me yesterday to let me know the piece would run during the 7:00 news hour.  I thanked her for the heads-up.  About 15 minutes of shooting video, edited down to about 30 seconds of each of us talking about the situation, and other video and stills that we provided.  She got a response from the City/County, and it is good information for the 3 homeowners from her earlier piece, and for the 367 homeowners in our development.

Being human, I was relieved that I didn't look like a dufus on-camera.  And the end result: definitive information.  Just trying to do good for the community.