Monday, March 18, 2024

A Musical Guest...

 

My buddy Earl, who is in Phoenix for another matter, spent the afternoon at our place: making music, visiting, petting cats...





I know what you're thinking: "You aren't playing a carbon fiber guitar, Jim??"  Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too.  ;-)  Most of the afternoon, I played Earl's Emerald X30 while he played my Emerald Virtuo.  After a sandwich break mid-afternoon, I pulled my Taylor 814ce off the wall while Earl played his X30.

It is always a challenge for two players to come up with the songs we both know.  There were some songs in both of our repertoires and we each played some songs where we followed the other.  No problem keeping the music going.

Earl is also a cat person, so he spent some time with Murphy and Steph and Dan's 3 kitties.

Joan worked on plants and planters out in the courtyard while Earl and I were in my music room.  And, took Murphy and Tango out in the catio for a while...



So, how'd you sleep last night?

 

We often ask that of each other.  With the Select Comfort (Sleep Number?) bed we have, you can have empirical data - it keeps track of how many hours of "restful sleep," how often you toss, if you get up and for how long, your breath rate, and some other stuff.  And then in the morning, the app gives you a "score" of how you slept...


In the words of the philosopher Maury Povich: "That is a lie!"  I base how I slept on how I feel when I get up.  I don't "feel" 89... well, some days I feel 89, as in age, but not in my sleep score.  My "average" is 72... I did not sleep 17 better that usual.  Yeah, it feels silly just to say all this.  I'm not sure how I feel about all this... I'll have to sleep on it.  ;-)

I mentioned that Joan made corned beef and cabbage for (the day before) St Patrick's Day.  She had left overs from it yesterday...


I'm not one to take photos of every meal, but I just thought this looked interesting.  No, I didn't say delectable.  I'm not a fan of corned beef... or rye bread... or carrots.  But, with a few changes, this can be turned into a real meal: exchange the corned beef for a quarter pound hot dog, swap the rye bread for a nice white hot dog bun, eliminate the lettuce and carrots and add chili and cheese.  See - a few simple changes can really bring a meal to life.  If you really want to take it to the next level: bacon!  Follow me for more fun meal tips.

Cat antics.  Joan opened the door to let Tango come over; instead: Murphy went into their house and ran into the bedroom.  Joan went after him.  Alfie and Tasha were there - Alfie was disinterested, Tasha said, "Remove this peasant from my presence."  Yes, she is the queen.  Joan brought Murphy back, then opened the door for Tango again.  Murphy ran through the door.  Joan went after him and brought him back.  Are you keeping up with all this?  She then put Murphy in the bathroom so she could open the door for Tango.  Tango came over and hopped up on my chair for some rubs.  Joan let Murphy out and the wrestling was on...



That usually lasts for a couple minutes, then they settle in.  It gives them some morning exercise.  I think I'll see if Joan wants to wrestle.



Sunday, March 17, 2024

Happy St Patrick's Day...

 

It's that day, once a year, when everyone thinks they have "a bit o' the Irish in 'em."  Or, just an excuse to drink... like celebrating Cinco de Mayo.  St Patrick's Day was originally about remembering St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who died on this day.

Or, about drinking.  Green beer.  Pinching someone who isn't wearing green.  And drinking.

So, in honor of this day of celebrating...


 Joan made corned beef and cabbage yesterday.  Yes, I am half Irish, but I am not a fan of corned beef; really don't like cabbage.  I'd rather have a burger.  Hold the beer; make it a Diet Coke, thanks.

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Steph and Dan are out on their patio this afternoon; we gave them a TV (same one we use on our patio) for Steph's birthday.  They decided to pull out a pet enclosure they had with Blaine when he was a pup... I would call it a catio.  Steph sent us a text showing that she had Tasha and Tango in it... and Tasha was not happy about it.

I went over to check it out, then suggested they let Tasha go inside and I'd bring Murphy over... since Murph and Tango have spent time together in Murphy's catio.  That went well...

 

The boys do well together.

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I heard from my friend Earl - he is coming to Phoenix today and we have a tentative plan to get together this evening and tomorrow.  For those of you who read this blog and aren't Earl: yes, Earl is the one who comments most frequently here.  He and I met years ago on a guitar forum and have gotten together when he is in Phoenix.  


Saturday, March 16, 2024

Where do you go to buy a farmer?

 

A farmers' market.  Steph and Dan went to one last weekend and invited us to go along today.  They lured me along with the promise of a stop at McDonald's along the way (I haven't had a Sausage McMuffin in a long time).  I was told there would also be a variety of food at the farmers' market.

Up I-17 to Camelback, then east.  It is held in the parking lot of a big church... and the parking lot was plenty full.  I knew we were going to buy stuff - Joan brought along her rolling cart; this is serious.



 I didn't count, but there are a lot of booths here.  One whole section just for pet stuff...



Understandable, since there were plenty of people with dogs on a leash.  Rufus would have done fine with this - I don't think Murphy is quite ready for this level of crowd.  But, I digress.  Joan and Steph found bread, jam, yard ornaments, and other goodies.  My belly was happy with my Sausage McMuffin, but the Joan and Dan had breakfast burritos with brisket, while Steph opted for a New York breakfast sandwich (which looked quite tasty).  Then more shopping...



Plenty of variety (biggest farmers' market I've been to in a while) and good exercise this morning.

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Update!

There is an update for the HoverAir X1 (flying camera) that I use.  This is a slick little unit, and the company continues to issue updates that give it even more capability.  I am a bit leary about updating my tech stuff, because experience has shown me that updates on some stuff are put out a bit prematurely, with bugs that make a product less functional.

This update was released 2 days ago; I waited to see if there were any people on the owners group on Facebook screaming about problems with the update... nope.  So, I held my breath and went for it.  The update loaded on my phone fast and transferred to the X1 in about 5 minutes.  I took the X1 outside, did the 3 Dolly Track flights required to unlock the new Side Track mode, and tried it out, as well as the "hand gesture" feature (also new).  Side track will follow you from the side.  The hand gestures allow you to change from orbit to zoom out to bird's eye (without having to land on your hand between those modes) by moving your arms.  Slick!



Friday, March 15, 2024

Beware...

 

Yeah, the Ides of March.  If you said, "They did the song, Vehicle, 1970," you get 25 bonus points.  If you said, "I think it had something to do with guy a long time ago," you get 3 bonus points.  If you said, "What's an 'ides'?" you get no bonus points.  Back when I was a kid, before the birth of Christ, "the ides" were the middle of the month.  The old guy from a long time ago was Julius... no, not Dr. J.

This may give you some idea...


If you said, "Some guy named Julius stabbed a bottle of salad dressing," yo Momma must have dropped you on your head too many times when you were a kid.  Not only do you get no bonus points, you need to take a class on ancient Roman history.

Julius Caesar was a Roman dictator (and brilliant military strategist) who was assassinated by his homies, who thought he was becoming too powerful.  A fortune teller had warned Juli "beware the ides of March," which was when they took him out.  No, it has nothing to do with salad dressing - that's just a visual pun.  In the words of the late philosopher Mork from Ork: "Humor, arr, arr."

The band Ides of March had one big hit, Vehicle, but it was enough of a hit that the guy who wrote it is still out making a living from it, playing at casinos.  Probably not at Caesar's Palace, but that's a good way to bring this all together.  ;-)

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The 4 of us went out to lunch.  One year ago today, we had done a Segway tour in Scottsdale...


  When we were done with that tour, we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant.  We all remembered that it was a good experience there, so we decided to make the long trek to Scottsdale for lunch.  According to Apple Maps, the freeway was barely moving, so we took side streets.  Zigging.  Occasionally zagging.  And also barely moving.  Fourteen hours later, we made it to the restaurant (yes, I am exaggerating... as I call it: literary license; as Joan calls it: "That is a lie!").

The food was OK, but the service was painfully slow.  I'm guessing we were really hungry a year ago.  And, it wasn't a Friday.  Around here, Friday means: more traffic, more crowds.  On the bright side, I took freeways coming back and we made it home in about half the time.  And I took a Tums.  We'll take that restaurant off our list.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Live to Ride, Ride to Eat...

 

No, that's not what it says on the Harley t-shirt.  Joan met Cindy this morning to go to a plant sale.  That left me without adult supervision.  So, after Murphy got his lunch, I decided to go out for mine.  I opened the garage door and was getting ready to gear up when Steph and Dan's garage door opened.  Steph came over to our garage and asked where I was heading, then said, "You can take one of our cars if you want."

"Lunch out is just a reason to go ride - I don't need no stinkin' car."  Well, OK, I didn't say the "stinkin' car" part, but that reads better.  I'm off for a gastronomic treat: hot dogs.  Not just any ol' hot dog, I'm heading to Weinerschnitzel.  A 50 mile or so round trip for a couple chili cheese dogs.

I took the Burgman, and it did fine on the Loop 202, Interstate 10, and the Loop 101.  It gave me a chance to check some speedometer speeds vs actual speed: like many scooters, the speedometer is a bit optimistic, but not bad; at 71 mph on the speedo, I was doing an actual 68.  At 75 indicated, I was doing 71.  And there was more to be had if I needed to go faster; well, it would take a while to get to a faster speed, but the scoot can do it.  I headed west, north, west, and north with a 5 to 10 mph north wind.  No fuss.



 The Schnitz was good.  The girl at the counter asked if I wanted "the all beef dogs"... I said, "No, I want the ones with the eyeballs, gonads, and toenails - they taste better."

"You're funny," she said.  Better than: "You're funny looking."

I finished my chili cheese dogs and went back out to my bike.  A Mom with what looked like a 7 or 8 year old boy were just coming out, and the kid said, "Nice motorcycle!"

I didn't correct him, because the State of Arizona calls this a motorcycle, too.  And, it is - just a slightly different shape.  I said to the kid, "Do you want to try it on?"

He looked at his Mom for approval, and I guess I looked harmless, she said, "If this nice man has the time."

"Sure.  Hop on."  I had the bike on the centerstand, but I held it just in case.  He had to kinda hop to make it to the seat, and he couldn't quite touch the floorboards.  "Hold on here," as I pointed out the grips.  He beamed.  "You're going to have to do some growing before it will fit you, but that will happen in no time."

He and his Mom thanked me (she said, "He loves motorcycles!), and I finished gearing up.  There was more traffic on the ride back, but I was just enjoying being out and about... with a belly full of Schnitz.

Back home, I was just changing out of my riding gear when Joan came in.  She had the back end of the Equinox full of plants, so I guess it was a successful outing.


Steph and Dan were back, so we all helped get them from the car to the yard.  Somewhere in there (maybe not in the photo) there is a catnip plant.

It was a lovely sunny day.  This was not predicted as of yesterday morning: the weasels were calling for "cloudy, cooler, breezy, and a chance of rain."  They moved that back a day, so today was a "bonus ride day."

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I didn't get this one posted earlier, but Murph and I were out for a yard walk this morning...


Yes, it looks kinda like the one Joan shot yesterday, but this one is mo' betta' because I shot it.  :-)


Happy Pie Day...

 

Well, Pi Day... or π Day...


To quote my friend Rick: "Pi Day is just a fake holiday made up by math companies to sell more math."  Humor.

Pi Day?  Yeah, 3/14... as in: the beginning of the decimal points of π: 3.14159... so, have some pie.  Or, take a pie to lunch.  Or, eat pie as lunch.  Just don't be irrational about it.  Yeah, that's more math humor.  ;-)