Coming Up...

 

I mentioned rehearsal yesterday... our bass player Podge is out of town until Saturday, so it was Mark, Ron, and me.  Even though we know the songs on the set list for the upcoming gigs on Sunday and Tuesday, it is good to run through them, practice harmonies, and get tight on openings and endings.

This Sunday is another gig at Pizzicata in Glendale.  We've played this place twice before, so we're comfortable with the room and set up.  We've had good crowds the previous times, but Mark is thinking it might be a lighter crowd with a couple of the local professional sports teams having home games.  Joan and Steph are planning to be there, so I will have some familiar support.

Podge has encouraged us to help promote to let people know we're there again.  Here's my part...

 I have said I have one or two gigs in me for any given month.  This month, they are a day apart, with this Sunday and Tuesday (this one is at a Memory Cafe in Surprise).  Next month, it is two consecutive - an outdoor gig for Banner Health downtown on Saturday, November 14th and then another Sunday gig at Pizzicata the next day.

That's enough.  Well, I'm guessing we'll still do a once a week jam at Mark's place with the MIM guys.  After 4 hours of rehearsal yesterday, my vocal cords were feeling it.

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And the weather?

Thanks for asking.  A decreasing chance for severe weather today, but still in the area...

 A risk for the Los Angeles area?  This El Niño advisory for the fall and winter in the southwest is unusual.

 

Tornado Warnings??

 

I got up this morning and turned on the TV while getting the cats fed... tornado warnings for areas just north of Phoenix!

 Areas around Prescott (where we were in the van a couple weeks ago) are getting wind, rain, hail, and lightning, with tornado warnings.  In Arizona.  Mother Nature is obviously pissed about something.  We have a Weather Watch for high winds, rain, and thunderstorms in the Phoenix area; we put away all the cushions and loose stuff on the patio last night.  There was substantial damage done in the Mesa area (east part of the Phoenix Valley) overnight.

Looking to the east when I took Murph out for his morning walk-about...

 Yeah, that sky looks pretty ominous.  But, to the west...

 That's the Estrella Mountains to our west; almost friendly-looking in that direction.  It sprinkled briefly, but that didn't stop Murph was walking around.  A short visitation through the patio door with Steph and Dan's boys...

 We are scheduled for a rehearsal today with the Hip Replacements, at Ron's house.  He texted early this morning, asking if we still want to get together due to the anticipated weather.

Looks like the worst of the weather has moved north, but more on the way...

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Around 3:00 while we were rehearsing, a strong straight line wind blew right down the street at Ron's house, in downtown Phoenix.  Pounding rain for a short time.  Glad to not be out in it.  A tornado did touch down and do damage in a community about 2 1/2 hours northeast of Phoenix... first time a tornado hit in Arizona since 2010.

 

They're Back...

 

If you said, "From the movie The Poltergeist II, the Other Side, 1986," you get 20 bonus points.

Unlike the Poltergeists, we are happy that "they" are back... the "they" being Steph and Dan.

We picked them up at the airport last night.  A 4 hour flight from Portugal to London, then an 11 hour flight from London to Phoenix.  Yes, they were exhausted.  Dan had to work first thing this morning; Steph took the day off.  She invited us to go to breakfast with her this morning, where we got to ask more questions and hear more about their travels.  We are really happy they had a good time.

And, yes, the kitties were happy to see them.  So were we.  I got to get up this morning and just feed two cats.  ;-)

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Steph came over to our place this morning and invited us to breakfast out - no downside to that.  Black Bear Diner - close by, good food, good service.  Then, the 3 of us (and our two cats) sat out on the patio, trying out the new furniture.  A nice morning.

 

Homeward Bound...

 

If you said, "Simon and Garfunkel, 1966, from the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme," you get 15 bonus points.  If you said, "A Disney movie from 1993, based on the 1963 movie and 1961 novel The Incredible Journey, featuring 2 dogs and a cat," you get an additional 15 bonus points. 

If you asked, "Steph and Dan are finally coming home?" you are right on, but no bonus points.  We heard from them this morning: they are on the plane leaving London; 11 hours to Phoenix.  Yep, a long, non-stop flight.  No doubt they will be exhausted.  Further no doubt that the people and kitties in our households will be anxious to have them home.

This is the longest time off and travel that they have had in a very long time.  A celebration of their 25th anniversary.  Joan and I have been taking care of their kitties and making sure they have had some regular human interaction.  I do the feeding, Joan has been handling litter duties... it's a lot when you have 5 kitties to care for compared to the 2 that you are used to.  We have been glad to help so Steph and Dan could have a good time in Portugal, without concerns of what is happening at home.

I let Steph know this morning that all the kitties are doing fine, but anxious to see their Mom and Dad.  From the regular updates we have been getting from Steph, it sounds like they have had a lot of fun.

 I have been letting Steph know that we took the kitties camping, out for group walks, and taking the scooters to get ice cream.  She's pretty sure I'm kidding.  Probably.

 

Some Assembly Required...

 

Yeah, I'm kidding - a bunch of assembly required.  And, we were totally good with that.

Are you writing about furniture?  Music, scoots and motorcycles, cats and more cats, RVing, boating, fun (?) summer jobs... and, you're writing about furniture?  Not just regular ol' furniture, but patio furniture?

Well, yeah.  Because like all of that stuff, it's something Joan and I do together.  Getting new patio furniture was Joan's idea, but I was onboard right away - the stuff we bought when we first moved into this house was nice, but the sun and heat really took a toll on it.  Joan made covers for the arms and back of the chairs and the couch to try to get it to last a bit longer.  But, it wasn't going to make it.

We shopped around for furniture, but couldn't find exactly what we wanted.  Together, we decided that it needed to be that HDPE stuff.  But, with comfortable cushions.  She found exactly what we were looking for on-line... for less than half of what we expected to pay... but, we had to put it together ourselves.

For full disclosure, Joan got us a chair (HDPE) to match our tall table and chairs, and two Adirondack chairs for Steph and Dan (also HDPE) that she put together on her own at times while I was making music with the guys.  I'm here to participate this time.

  That's what the first chair looked like; but with the cushions from the old plastic wicker, which are nicer than what this new furniture came with.  Probably.  Those new cushions were vacuum sealed and flat as a pancake - the instructions say to let it "air up" for at least 24 hours.  So, we'll see.

Here's what the old furniture looked like...

 We worked on that first chair together, then Joan took one while I took another...

 Before taking on assembling the couch, we took a break for lunch.  Joan surprised me with requesting...

 Yep, a bit of nostalgia: Whataburger.  We talked a bit about our time in Texas.  I have stronger feelings for it than she does.

Then, back to work...

 

 And, the final result... 

 I think it looks good, it is comfortable, and there is no doubt it will hold up better than the old stuff.

And, we're coming in to the cooler season, so we'll get to spend more time out there.

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One more "project" to get done today: we bought some solar lights a couple months ago, to hang under the pergola.  It has been too hot to mess with that.  Until now.  Joan did the ladder work, I was ground support.  We knocked that anticipated hour-long job out in just over 3 hours.  A lot of measuring and maneuvering to get 42' of lights to look symmetric on a 12x24' pergola...

 Tomorrow is "bulk trash" day in our community, so we got all the old patio furniture and some other stuff out to the curb.  The patio is looking good.

 

Two Sleeps...

 

Not to be confused with Ten Sleep, which is a small community in Wyoming.

This morning, while feeding and giving meds to Steph and Dan's kitties, I told them, "Your Mom and Dad will be home in two sleeps."  They were excited.  Tango said, "I can't wait to jump into their arms."  Tasha said, "I'll probably ignore them to show how much I missed them."  Alfie said, "I'll probably poop by the front door - they like that."  In the words of my friend, Earl: "Cats are weird."

Late yesterday afternoon, the new patio furniture arrived.  Not like what we've bought from American Furniture Warehouse, where it shows up assembled - Joan ordered this from Amazon...

 Three heavy boxes.  HDPE sofa, two chairs, and a coffee table.  Some assembly required... and by "some," I mean every bit of it.  This will replace the patio furniture we bought 3 years ago that has disintegrated in the sun and heat.  That stuff will go out Monday in our community bulk trash pick up.  That's why we went with the HDPE stuff.  American Furniture Warehouse didn't have this in a low patio set, so Joan looked around.

We have a tall outdoor table and chairs made from the HDPE stuff, and it has held up well in the brutal sun here.  So, we have some work ahead of us.  The HDPE is also known as Polywood - the composite material does not rot, crack, splinter, peel, or rust.  Just the thing for here in the desert.

While taking Murphy outside this morning, I got a notice that my Meta Smart Glasses need an update.  Easy enough: press a button in the app on my phone and the rest happens without any further input.  Both pair were due...

 Besides being "smart," they are both good sunglasses.  The pair I have on in the photo above are Oakleys.  The other pair have transition lenses, which go from clear to tinted in the sunlight.  

 

Brazilian...

 

Tell me you didn't wax... um... anything, Jim.

OK, I didn't wax anything.  Nor did I shave... um... anything.  Joan is the one that brought up Brazilian.  "So, how do you feel about Brazilian?"  I will not confirm nor deny anyone else in the family waxing or shaving... um... anything.

She was talking about a Brazilian steakhouse.  As in: they keep bringing different kinds of meats to your table... until you explode or develop the meat sweats.  They bring freshly grilled meat on a skewer to your table and carve you off a piece.  You have what looks like a drink coaster that is red on one side and green on the other side.  As long as you leave that the green side up, they will continue coming to your table to see if you'd like to try... beef (lots of beef), lamb, pork, and chicken.  There is also a large buffet setting where you help yourself to salads, fruit, sides (like potatoes, rice, Brazilian Stroganoff, lobster bisque, and probably some other stuff I missed.

This was a birthday celebration meal.  Yes, someone in our family is having a birthday today, but this Brazilian meat extravaganza was yesterday, because we need to be around the house today.  Our first time at this steakhouse, Gelato Brazilian Steakhouse, in Chandler...

 

 The meal was great, the atmosphere nice, and the service excellent.  I can't say we wanted for anything.  An expensive lunch, and well-worth it.  Our reservation was 1:00 pm and we were there for about an hour and 15 minutes.  To top off the meal, we ordered deserts.  Also tasty.  And no need for supper.

Of course, they are open for supper, but being little old people (not because of anyone's birthday), we tend to do our main meal of the day for lunch.

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Way to bury the lead, Jim.  Yes, today is my Honey's birthday.  The grandkitties sang her Happy Birthday, after they had breakfast, of course.  We both say that we don't want any fuss on our birthdays, but it is nice to have a little fuss.