I C U...

 That's: I see you, not Intensive Care Unit.

Today was "put up the rest of the cameras" day.  Our house is smart and came with front door(s) cameras and alerts for opening doors or windows.  We had cameras all around our house (inside and out) in Texas, because we did spend several months each year away.  While we haven't gone anywhere since moving into this house, the time will come.  However, because we have Steph and Dan literally right next door, it is less of a concern about what's happening in and around the house while we're gone.

Joan and I have put up cameras in our courtyard and in the house already.  But, she had a couple new ones, another set of motion lights, and Steph had one that goes with their system that needed to be installed.  Steph and I were in the installation crew, with occasional oversight from Joan.  Dan was otherwise occupied with one of his clients until we were almost done.  He got to be the "walk this way... now that way" guy while we aimed cameras...

We had tested everything before getting them mounted.  Joan is now going through each camera, setting "zones."

No, we are not paranoid.  I checked - just one noid for me, thanks for asking.  If someone is prowling around, the cameras and lights are a deterrent - send them to another house.  Before getting these cameras set up, we have alerts that let us know when someone is approaching our front doors.  It has been handy for all the Amazon deliveries.

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More Murphy and Tango coverage.  The two cats are playing like a couple of boys...

Them Changes...

 

If you said, "Buddy Miles, 1970," you get 25 bonus points.  If you said something about somebody called Thundercat, get off my lawn ya damn kids.

The construction in our development is hoppin'.  There is a house going up between us and the view of the Estrella Mountains to the west...

 That will likely be the only home build that will impact our view that way, but it is in-line with the notch in the mountains where the sun goes down in January.  Ah, progress.  Not much impact to the south of us, with another "upscale" community starting to develop... South Mountain is much closer to us than the Estrellas.

I made breakfast for us this morning, and we ate out on the patio.  Murphy did a walk, then settled in his catio while we were out there...

I can't say for certain, but I think he likes the catio more than walks on the leash.  When he goes outside, he will go the catio and wait for one of us to open the door on it.  Yes, you can still see that bare patch where the vet shaved his leg to put in an I-V a couple weeks ago.  And, for an update on that: the culture that was generated showed no infection.  I guess all the ear drops and cleaning did make a difference.

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I got out for a ride this afternoon (while Joan was grocery shopping); took the scooter.  As I mentioned to Earl in the comments: lots of bicycles and motorcycles out enjoying the beautiful weather and fun roads on South Mountain.  I didn't shoot and photos or video, just out enjoying the ride.

A guy on a sportbike blew past me as I slowed down for the last speed bump (there are a bunch of them as you first come into the park) before you get to the fun roads.  I half-heartedly tried to stay with him, but his bike was made for this.  I enjoyed the ride, and when I got to the parking lot at top, he was standing by his bike... I pulled up by him and raised my helmet: "Nice riding back there."

He said, "Sorry if I got too close to you when I passed."

I said, "You didn't - looked like you were having fun."  I think he was relieved that some old fart wasn't going to cuss him out for riding too fast.  We visited for a bit.  He asked me, "How does that bike do on roads like this?"  I think he was looking for a polite way to ask if it was any fun.

"You may have heard the saying: 'It is more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow.'  That is an absolute fact."  He nodded in agreement, but I'm not sure he was convinced.  "Well, I'm off - I'll watch for you behind me and give you plenty of room to get around."  And then I was off, enjoying the ride back down the mountain.

I was behind a car for a while, but the lady driving it eased over to the side the first chance she had so I could safely get around.  I gave her a friendly wave as I went by.  Not to much later, and I saw the guy on the sport bike coming up in my mirrors.  I moved to the right side of the lane and waved him around.  Everybody should get to ride their own ride.

I was home shortly after Joan got back from shopping.  She had stopped to pick up Firehouse Subs for a late lunch for us.  Then, some guitar time with Joan and Murphy as my adoring audience.  And now, out on the paito for late afternoon, in the shade of the patio umbrella and the pergola.

My kinda day.

Horizon Job...

 

Back in our sailing days, if you were racing another sailboat, and they passed you, pulled away from you, and disappeared over the horizon, that was known as a horizon job.  In racing terms, you were getting your butt kicked.

It was another lovely day; I don't take these for granted.  Joan got her patio set back up (after putting away stuff yesterday when a gust front blew threw.  Murphy got a walk and some time in his catio.  I cleaned the filters in the hot tub, after taking a relaxing soak.

When we were riding together on Tuesday and discussing where we wanted to have lunch, Joan brought up the Old Spaghetti Factory.  We agreed to continue on to Amadio Ranch that day, but put OSF on the agenda for today.

Lunch was good; the place wasn't busy.  Prices have gone up noticeably since we were here last.  But, did I mention: lunch was good.

Once back home, there was a package waiting for us: "a zebra blind" that Joan had ordered for the living room.  Navy blue to go with the shade on the patio door.  I asked if she wanted me to get it hung right now... she said, "You were planning to go for a ride - go take advantage of this beautiful day and we'll get it done when you get home."  I have to say, that sounded like a good plan.

I took the Burgman scooter.  I'm not really sure what to call it... it's a Suzuki; the model is a Burgman 200 (identified by Suzuki as an UH200 or a B200).  The name "Burgman" apparently has some distinction in Germany, where the Burgman line (650, 400, and then later, the 200) was first released.  Really, what the heck is "a Burgman"?  I think they were supposed to be an upscale scooter.

Yes, I digressed.  Again.  I took the B200, and was enjoying the ride.  Then I came upon 2 younger guys on sport bikes.  This is the part of the story where I tell you that these bikes with 10 times the horsepower of my scooter couldn't pull away from me.  I could tell you that, but it would be a big fat lie.  They powered out of the curves faster than I could ever hope to on this scoot... they kept pulling away, until I couldn't see them around the next curve ahead.  Until they got behind a slow moving minivan, who had a couple other cars trapped behind them.  Prior to getting caught behind the slow moving traffic, I would call that a horizon job.

I took a turn to head for the antennas at the peak, while all that other traffic went straight.  I had another couple miles of some fun riding.  I stopped in the parking lot at the view area, and took a couple photos...

Someone on my YouTube channel commented that the B200 "is the best bike in its class, but it needs to be updated - it's ugly."  I would call it an acquired taste.  Back in 2014 when I first saw one, I didn't think it was near as sporty looking as the PCX scooters we had at the time.  Now, I consider the Burgman 200 to be "classic"... that sounds much better than "needs to be updated."  No doubt, it could use some of the latest touches, like a keyless fob, and some "pointier" styling... but, this scoot does what I bought it for.

I took this photo of the view looking south from the parking area...

 That is looking away from Phoenix.  You can see some of the other new housing developments off the Loop 202; this is on the other side of the mountain from our house.  The interesting "feature" of these developments: the only way to get to them is off the 202... and that same exit is the only way out of the development.  There are 3 of these, residential only, no retail.  Not my idea of a good situation.

Coming back down the mountain, a Mustang convertible came up behind me.  Quickly.  Yes, I put the coals to it, and... couldn't pull away from it.  Light and easy is fun (as I've described the Burgman), but when it comes to putting down the power, horsepower rules.  I did not do a horizon job on the Mustang.

When I came to a pullout, I did just that, and the Mustang flew by.  I jumped in right behind it, twisted the throttle, and... it pulled away from me.  It's not really a horizon job if I'm not riding flat out... and I wasn't.  Mostly.  But, when I came around that last tight curve, I didn't see the Mustang anywhere.  They must have enjoyed those curves, because a minute or so later, they were headed back up the mountain - we waved at each other as we passed.

Back at home, I put away the scoot, came in from the garage, and Joan had the ladder out and furniture moved... waiting for me to hand this new blind.  I was delighted to find good solid wood to screw the brackets into, but I had to scrape away some drywall at the top of the window opening to get the mounting assembly to fit.  Yes, we had carefully measured the window opening when we ordered the blind, but there was more drywall at the top of the window than at the bottom.  Other than that, it went smooth, and once the blind was mounted in place, my services were no longer needed - Joan cleaned up the drywall I had scraped and figured a way to mount the valance from the window blind that was there to this new one.  It looks good...

The blind is on a loop - it can be adjusted to allow a little light in, a lot of light in, or be a blackout shade.  Steph and Dan put much larger versions of these on their 4-panel patio doors/windows, and we were impressed.  We like the look of it.  The living room and hallway is white, with navy and gray accents, and this fits in nicely.

A partial gathering...

 

Today, it was just 3 of us getting together to make some music.  Mark couldn't make it, because his sister is visiting.  So, Ron, Tom, and I worked mostly on songs with 3-part harmony.  The actual guitar playing was the minor part of the music making this afternoon.

I think the 3 of us enjoyed it.

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Some fun facts:

I've posted about our motorcycle/scooter rides on South Mountain... here are some fun facts about South Mountain:

It is the largest city-owned park in the US.  It encompasses roughly 17,000 acres. By comparison, Vail Resort is the largest ski resort in the U.S. at 5,300 acres.  There are actually three mountain ranges within the park, with the highest peak rising some 1,600 feet above Phoenix proper. The park’s main trail, National Trail, spans the entire 14-mile spine of two mountains within the park.

With access points in six zip codes, South Mountain Park is a recreational oasis for residents and visitors alike. Runners, hikers, bicyclists and horseback riders all call South Mountain their mountain.

The TV and radio towers are visible from almost anywhere in Phoenix...

 The image above is one I shot while we were riding on South Mountain yesterday.

This is so sweet...

 

I could just puke.

It's the "movie trailer" for the romantic comedy coming this spring to no theater near you.  Starring: Captain Jim & the Blonde...

 

Riding together on South Mountain today.  A lovely day in the desert, with abundant sunshine, high in the 70s, and us out on the bikes (Joan on her Xmax, me on the CTX).

Not sure how it happened: we were riding for a couple hours, and it seems that I shot 73 hours of video.  It takes forever to wade through the editing on all that, so, the movie trailer above and some photos below...

A view of "the Valley" from one of the lookouts...

That's downtown Phoenix in the distance...

A late lunch at Amadio Ranch, near our home...

Tab A goes in Slot B...

 

No, this isn't a sex-ed class - I learned that stuff months ago.  More Vine stuff.

We had a nice morning around the house.  Last night, we talked about taking the scoots out, but Mother Nature blessed us with spitty rain; not enough to measure, just enough to be a nuisance.  We decided to make a run to Costco, then out for lunch.  I got my summer wardrobe at Costco, Joan got a new patio chair for the motorhome (comfy!).

Lunch at Oregano's, but not our usual thin crust pizza.  Last week when the music guys got together, Joan picked up pizza from Oregano's - a large thin crust and a deep dish.  We haven't had the deep dish before, and it was tasty!  So, back again for a nice sit-down and some tasty deep dish.

On the way back home, Joan asked, "Will you give me a hand putting together the deck box I got from Vine."

"Sure thing."

Thus, the title of this post.  It took a few minutes to figure out the directions, but the assembly went easy and frustration free.  We took Murphy out to his catio so he could give us some guidance...

The finished product...

It is big enough to put the chair cushions in it... in case it rains.  And, yes, it does rain in the desert.

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A short video with some "cat play" this morning - Murphy and Tango, a bit of play wrestling...

Videography by Joan.  Editing and soundtrack by Jim.

 

Profiling...

 

Did you get pulled over by the Police again, Jim?  No, and what do you mean by "again"?  I am too pretty to go back to prison.  Yeah, that's a joke, too.  Pretty or prison?  Yeah.

About 10 days ago, I sent a message to Corbin (they make motorcycle/scooter seats) with a couple questions about ordering a seat for my Suzuki scooter, through their website.  I figured I'd hear back from them in a day or two.  Didn't happen.  Within a week?  Nope.  I figured they weren't going to answer.

And then, yesterday, a return e-mail showed up.  Very canned response.  Didn't answer all my questions.

Joan said, "You need to call them."

"I already talked to them - the girl on the phone said to use the on-line order form."

"You are being profiled.  If you had a hot bike like a Harley CVO or a Yamaha Raider (one of her favorites), they would have sent you a reply right away.  Instead, you're on a small Suzuki scooter... can you imagine what the girl answering your inquiry must have thought?  'A small scooter?  Like this guy must be 100 years old and do you think he's going to buy a seat that goes for about 20% of the value of that scooter?'  Call them and order the damn seat."

She made me laugh.  Yep, some old white guy.  Profiled again.

;-)