Outing to Fins

Tom and I went to Fins today. We had our favorite Fins fish meal - halibut. As always, it was excellent. They serve an eight ounce portion of fish with their meals. Just about the right size, I'd say. The meal comes with either coleslaw or a green salad, rice or vegetables, and sourdough bread. It's not overly filling, so fortunately you still have room for dessert. Of course we took advantage of that situation and headed over to Leatherby's Ice Cream Parlor on Arden Way. We broke all the rules and indulged ourselves with huge scoops of delicious Leatherby's ice cream. I had an ice cream soda and Tom had a large scoop of vanilla - on top of a large scoop of butter pecan. Decadent - but good! Did I mention how few calories we had by eating our halibut meal at Fins? Oh well, the treadmill should take care of the extra poundage. Of course we'll probably have to do an extra two hours of exercising to shed the ice cream pounds. I think it might be worth it. I'll let you know, after I do the exercising.

My Uncle - The Artist

My uncle Harold was an artist - a painter. I don't think that I appreciated his artistic ability when I was younger. I really didn't relate to his style of painting, nor to the farm landscapes that he usually painted. I liked farms and old barns, but I never really considered hanging a painting of one on my wall. Actually, I liked big cities better and related more to pictures that depicted those settings. Harold wasn't a "big city" kind of guy. It wasn't until after he passed away that I became aware of the recognition he had received for his paintings. In the little town of Casey, Illinois, as well as in the surrounding area, he was a fairly well known artist. His work did not garner large amounts of money when they sold, at least not in the seventies, but for the area in which he lived it was notable art work.

If Harold ever gave his brother, my Dad, any of his paintings, I was not aware of it. I got a photograph of one his paintings (shown to the right of the blog page, with a larger version at the bottom of the page) by using a 35mm camera to take a picture of the painting. The painting was hanging on a wall in his home. His wife, Anita, (I never actually called her my aunt) let me take the photograph. Harold had died a few years prior to the time that I took this blog picture. I went to Casey, Illinois - from Louisville, Kentucky - for what I thought would be my last visit to that part of the country. But... I may go back to Casey this fall, when I visit friends in Louisville. If I do, it will just be for old times sake - and to see if anyone still remembers Harold Davis - the artist.

Jeepneys in PI

My search through my old photos has brought me to a picture that I haven't looked at in years. It shows my daily commute to Clark Air Force Base, when I lived off base in the Philippines. In the Philippines the favorite - and also one of the least expensive - modes of transportation, is the Jeepney. It's the PI's version of what many other countries, with similar type vehicles, call a "jitney". As you can tell from the picture on the right, and a larger version at the bottom of the blog page, they are very colorful - and very plentiful. They're everywhere! There are apparently no rules of the road for Jeepneys. If there were, I never figured out exactly what they might be. I drove my Rambler along side of them, constantly watching the drivers dart around my car and everything else in their path as well. You needed to be sure to watch the driver's left hand, when he it hangs out the side of the Jeepney. His hand will give you some hint of what moves he might be going to make - but not always. Jeepney drivers often change their mind in a heart beat. The only thing more unpredictable than being in traffic with Jeepneys is riding in one. Hold on tight - along with the dozen other people who are also riding along with you. How do you think they keep the cost of riding so low? Great country, the Philippines. I enjoyed the people - and the Jeepneys. Can't say that I've seen any in the US, though. Too bad - they really are a neat way to get around. Some GI's wanted to ship them back stateside, to have when they mustered out of the service. Probably, not a bad idea! You think?

Point - Counterpoint

Life is never dull, when you are around teens. A few weeks back our granddaughter Kristie's mate, Brandon, mentioned that he was letting his hair grow long. With today's "buzz cut", that means anything over a quarter of an inch of hair, on a male, is considered - shaggy. He looked at my freshly cut white hair and said, "You should let your hair grow long"! I kind of took it as a statement alluding to the likelihood that my current look was pretty much a look that I was born with - at least to the eye of a teenager. My wife decided to contribute to the conversation by revealing that... "Richard once had an Afro"! Brandon said, "No Way!! I said, "Way"!! So... I proceeded to show him the picture that can be seen at the bottom of this blog page. End of discussion! No, it's not a wig! These teens, so little imagination when it comes to us "Boomers". I often wonder if they have any idea of all that went on during the magical sixties and seventies.

Art From Chengdu

Tom recently sent me several pictures that Wendy had taken when she visited the Sichuan Art Museum in Chengdu, China. I very much liked the artist paintings (I didn't get the artist name, so I'll have to follow up on that), as did Wendy and Tom. I've posted one of the paintings, immediately to the right on the blog site, and I also posted a picture that Wendy sent of the Sichuan Art Museum. The museum picture is larger and it is at the bottom of the blog page. The museum has reflective glass that creates and interesting look of the other buildings that are nearby. Thanks, Tom and Wendy - for sharing your pictures.

Altima Scan

I'm still checking out my new Epson scanner. For only sixty dollars, it's been a good purchase. I wanted to see how it would do when scanning a magazine article, so today's scan is from one of my car magazines - AutoWeek. The article is about the new Nissan Altima Coupe. The review is not all that glowing, although I think it is a rather neat car - for the price. I'm posting it to the blog, to see how it looks as a JPEG. The picture is at the bottom of the page.

Louisville Scan

I'm still looking through my old pictures. The scan that I am posting today is not really all that significant - except it reminded me of a routine that my Dad followed just about every week day - and sometimes even on the weekends. Since I was usually with him, the picture reminded me of the times that I spent with my father.

The picture shows the location of what use to be an A&P grocery store. The location is around 25th and Market Street, if I remember correctly. I took the picture quite a few years back. I have no idea of how the building is currently being used. My Dad and I would stop off at the A&P on our way to the restaurant that he owned. My childhood was split between time spent in the Westend of Louisville, where we lived, and an equal amount of time at the Imperial Coffee Shop in downtown Louisville (7th and Jefferson). Because of my childhood experience, working at the restaurant at a very young age, I always knew what I did not want to do vocationally - own a restaurant. It's a seven day a week job with very long hours each day. When you are not working in the business, you are out shopping for things that you need for the business - hence our frequent visits to the A&P grocery.

I still do a lot of the grocery shopping for our house. It probably can be attributed to all that time I spent in the A&P in Louisville, with my father.

Exercise Schedule - Sagan's Book

After tomorrow, I will have completed one month of thread mill exercise. I am currently using a five day a week schedule. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's all about the numbers. Tomorrow, I plan to check my records so I can fine tune my exercise program for next month. I'll post more on that later.

I'm finding Carl Sagan's book, "The Demon-Haunted World" - Science As A Candle In The Dark, to be quite interesting. Each chapter has some very stimulating passages. From time to time, I will post a few of the passages that catch my interest, such as the following one from Chapter 1 titled - The Most Precious Thing: So pseudoscience in America is part of a global trend. Its causes, dangers, diagnosis and treatment are likely to be similar everywhere. Here, psychics ply their wares on extended television commercials, personally endorsed by entertainers. They have their own channel, the "Psychic Friends Network"; a million people a year sign on and use such guidance in their everyday lives. For the CEOs of major corporations, for financial analysts, for lawyers and bankers there is a species of astrologer/soothsayer/psychic ready to advise on any matter. "If people knew how many people, especially the very rich and powerful ones, went to psychics, their jaws would drop through the floor," says a psychic from Cleveland, Ohio.

Mind boggling stuff!

It's Apollo - Notes on Carl Sagan's Book - High School Graduation Picture

Well, Apollo and his partner won the Dancing With the Stars finale. It's been a fun show to watch over the last ten weeks. Nancy and I thought that the winner would be either Apollo or Joey. Wonder who they will get for the Fall season?

Today was my day to visit the dentist. A routine checkup and cleaning. I had a little time on my hands prior to the appointment, so it gave me a chance to read more of my new favorite book. Actually, it's proving to be one of my all time favorites. The book is Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World". The book jacket provides the best summary of the book and the best explanation of why so many educators are passionate about the subject matter. The jacket reads: "How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don't understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience, New Age thinking and fundamentalist zealotry and the testable hypotheses of science?" This book really provides a lot of "food for thought" material and it should prove useful for our Friday Night at the Movies discussions.

The scan for today is of my high school graduation (1963). I wanted to see how well the scanner would pick up the details. The picture is a little longer than the scanning portion of the scanner, so a small part is missing from the scan. Overall, I thought it did a great job on a picture that is now forty four years old. Is that possible - forty four years have passed since I graduated from high school??? Hard to believe!

Scan for Today

I found the picture, shown at the bottom of the blog page, in a batch that has gone unnoticed for quite some time. When I see pictures of my father, especially from the time right after he stopped working, I start to notice things about myself. The main thing is just how much I resemble him. You know, the thing I notice most in this blog picture is... the gray hair. Yep, mine started to turn that color about the same age as it did for my dad. In this picture, my friend Tim, who I grew up with in the Westend of Louisvile, is outside our house talking with my Dad. A lot of my friends from the Westend now have parents who are approaching ninety years of age. Some, of course, have parents who already passed. It can be difficult to assimilate the passage of time and to try and figure out just how all of this happened in what seems to me like such a short period of time. It seems like only yesterday that I took this shot of Tim and my Dad. There is currently another generation of gray haired folk, the "Boomers" is what they like to call us, who continue the journey toward old age. I think it helps, to occasionally look at pictures from our past and reflect on what our parents experienced in their advanced years, so that we may be better able to cope with the challenges of our own aging. Myself, I just hope the journey continues to be as stimulating as the path that brought me here. Photography is a great tool for recording that endeavor.

Organize - Toss - Keep

Today was devoted to preparing for tomorrow's curbside trash pickup. It's an annual event in the neighborhood (actually, I think it is a twice -a - year event - but Nancy says no....whatever?) and you get to put pretty much anything you want next to the sidewalk for pickup. It's in addition to the regular weekly garbage pickup. The city sanitation workers drive by in big dump trucks and haul stuff away to the landfill area. I figured I could sort through my stuff and be done in about an hour or so. Forget it, it's been over five hours since I started and I've still got things to check out. I think I may have too much in the "keep" pile. They probably won't get around to actually picking everything up until Tuesday, so I've still got time to decide. I found some really neat things that I had stashed away for nearly a decade. Nancy doesn't think that we need that stuff, but I'm not so sure. She thinks we should have more in the "toss" pile. It would be nice to not to have to dodge boxes when I use our exercise room, so she just might be right.

Show Me The Money - Outing to Locke (Tony's)

The Preakness went pretty much as I'd hoped for. Since I drew Curlin in the pool, I had to root for him to finish first. I wasn't really sure that he could catch Street Sense in the stretch, but he did. So, no Triple Crown winner this year. But I made twenty bucks from the pool, so... it's all good!

Nancy and I went out to dinner after the race (thanks guys). We were going to eat somewhere local, but at the last minute we decided to head to Locke and visit Tony's. We haven't eaten there since Tony passed away last year. We have a lot of good memories of the restaurant and more specifically of Tony. He was quite a host.

The new owner has kept the place as much like the old Tony's as possible. The menu and atmosphere is the same. Tony was particular about the New York steaks that he served and so is the new owner. The New York was delicious. You get hot bread, a salad, with Tony's special house dressing (the only choice), a bake potato, a 16 ounce New York steak smothered with mushrooms and perfectly marbled, rice - and Tony's famous Portuguese beans (fabulous). You have to sparingly use the one of a kind pepper sauce (only available at Tony's - got to buy some of that next time we visit) while you eat your steak, but it really helps to make it a special meal. I'm not sure where else in Northern California that you can find such a combination, but I'm sure glad they still have it at Tony's.

I was doubtful that the new owner could replicate what Tony created some forty or so years ago, but I have to tip my hat to him. The new Tony (didn't catch his name) visited our table a couple of times. He has a way to go to match Tony's charm and congeniality, but he shows promise. It takes several decades to do what Tony did. It's not an overnight thing.

There are a couple of pictures of Tony's shown at the bottom of the blog page. They're not so great, because they were taken with my cellphone and it doesn't have a flash. Tony's has always been a rather dark place inside, so the pictures are not well lit. Oh, by the way, they also kept most of the same great music that Tony use to play on the jukebox. When Frank started singing, I could have sworn that I saw Tony's silhouette walking toward the bar. Maybe it was just the poor lighting. I don't know?

Friday Night at The Movies

We had a good time at our Friday Night at the Movies gathering. Tom arrived first and started the evening out by taking pictures of all our stuffed animals we have positioned around the house. Wendy had asked Tom to take the pictures. He took them with his spiffy new Canon Elf camera. I told him the names of the various animals as he was taking pictures and we also did a video clip of me singing with Perry Penguin. That turned out to be a classic. So, the evening started off with a bang!

Terry arrived just a little while later, with the pizza from Round Table. He was right on time. The guys are always hungry when they come over and any dieting gets thrown out the window on movie night. So, we started right in on our pizza and salads. No waiting for Beales. Dave arrived - about twenty minutes late - as usual. Luckily for him, there was still some pizza left. You snoooooze...... you loooose!

We had our usual discussions about current events i.e death of Jerry Falwell, Oppie and Anthony being suspended from XM, the proposed changes in immigration laws, etc. After we solved all the world's problems we took our candy (yes, we always have candy) into the family room and bantered somewhat regarding which movie we should watch. I thought the guys might be burnt out on the violent type movies, but I was wrong. "The Departed" was chosen hands down over "The Pursuit of Happyness" and it proved to be a good choice. There were more twist and turns in "The Departed" than in any movie we've seen all year. The acting was absolutely superb. And the violence factor was way up there, along with the cursing. I think we'll be seeing "Bambi" #10 at our next gathering. Time to tone it down a notch.... you think?

We had cheese cake and ice cream at intermission and later some almonds while we watched the end of the movie. We do like our snacks!

The evening ended around midnight and three of us checked our pockets (no, I know what your thinking, but this had nothing to do with Beales) to make sure we had our cards with the names of our horses that we drew for the Preakness race tomorrow. We have a thirty dollar pool going and each of us has three chances to win the pool. Beales got the big favorite - Street Sense, along with a couple of dogs with big odds. I drew Curlin - and Tom has Hard Spun. A pretty fair match up overall. At least each of us has one horse with a real good chance to win the Preakness. We''ll know the outcome in a few hours. Good luck guys!!!

Wendy, below is the posting of the video that Tom took, using his new Canon Elf camera. It's a clip showing Perry Penguin and me doing a duet. I must apologize for the ending. I concluded by saying Perry and "I", rather than Perry and "me". I must have been confused. Anyway, I don't want to mess up your English lessons, so I thought I'd better correct that error. Enjoy!

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/jimdaviselkgrove/?action=view&current=JimandPerry.flv

Preakness on Saturday

There's only nine horses running in the Preakness. It's still a tough race - on the road to the Triple Crown. I'm sticking with Street Sense. He's got the eighth post position and I think that might be in his favor. We're thinking of having a Preakness pool for tomorrow night. The guys will be coming over for Friday Night at the Movies. We'll be seeing either "The Departed" or "The Pursuit of Happiness". We're still deciding. Looking forward to our gathering.

Art for the Un - Artistic

Not everyone has artistic ability. At least not in the usual ways i.e. drawing, sculpting, building, etc. I'm one of those. So... I use my digital camera when I want to be creative. With today's technology, even the artistically challenged can come up with something that has an "artsy" look to it. That was my goal when I decided to create a picture to hang on the master bedroom wall. The wall is behind a door - so the picture isn't actually seen all that often, anyway.

I couldn't find what I wanted in any of the usual places (Aaron Brothers, Kohls, Downtown Sacramento stores that sell prints), so instead I bought a frame that could hold the prints that I would create. Using the Internet, I found several prints that I felt would work for my purpose. The theme is vases. I sought only those that were unusual - and colorful. I'm satisfied with the results. I used my Canon i9900 to print six 4 by 6 pictures and placed them strategically in the frame. The new frame goes well with the other pictures in the master bedroom and it adds a bit of art where previously there was none. Almost always a good thing! The picture is shown at the bottom of the blog page.

Dancing With The Stars

Nancy and I enjoy watching "Dancing With The Stars". We both like Apollo, but Joey is also a favorite. The competition is so close that any of the three finalist could win. Ali's daughter is equally impressive, but I don't think she will win the trophy. It's great to witness how each dancer has evolved since the competition first started. I'm looking forward to the finale.

We did a little work around the house today - outside stuff. We had to fine tune our sprinklers. We were getting some brown spots in the front lawn. It was also time to add chemicals to the pool and to add water to our fountains. We did most of it after we came back from having dinner at the Panda Buffet (Chinese food).

I found a picture in Sunset magazine that I've been intending to scan. Today, I decided to scan it - and post it to the blog. I don't know much about goats, but they looked cute in the magazine picture. So... enjoy the friendly goats, shown at the bottom of the blog.

Old Photos - Travels Down Memory Lane

Odd pictures seem to show up when you're looking for old photos. I came across one today, that I really did not know existed. When I removed my parents belongings from their house on Cherry Way, I found several of the photo albums that they had compiled over the years. I always looked through those pictures, whenever I visited them in Louisville, but some pictures received only a cursory glance. The one I scanned for today's blog was of the type that I probably overlooked, but today, when I looked at it closer, I found it to be rather interesting. It sent my mind wandering down memory lane, because the people in the family portrait were significant to many of us who grew up in the Westend of Louisville.

Being raised in the Westend of Louisville during the fifties and sixties was a good experience. I was fortunate to live in a neighborhood that had many conveniences right near our home. One business that all of us kids frequented, was the neighborhood drug store. The Lesshaffts owned the store and many of my friends had their first job at the drugstore. As I think about this, my mind recalls a number of stories associated with the corner drugstore. The soda fountain, the pharmacy and the candy counter were all mainstays for the neighborhood kids and their parents. The Lesshaffts were known by all. I wasn't aware that they mailed a Christmas card to customers in the neighborhood, at least not until I came across the one I scanned today. I guess I had overlooked it all these years. For those who grew up in the Westend, I'm sure it will have meaning. So, take a look at the Lesshaffts Christmas card and see if you can determine the year it was photographed. I really don't have a clue.

Sunday Shopping - New Stereo

I have been wanting to add sound to the Master Bedroom for some time now. Since the Master Bedroom makeover, I've been looking for a reasonably priced, rather small stereo unit - to set on the desktop in the bedroom. Today, while looking around at Best Buy, I found one. There are many stereos with similar designs like the one I purchased - an LG LFU850 model - but each had some things that I liked, or disliked. What I liked about the LG is the strong FM signal that it provides and the USB connection on the front of the stereo that can be used for flash memory (MP3's, etc.). The USB flash memory connector is not very common in the "micro" units - and even less so in the lower priced models. I've been testing the LG this evening and it appears to be a good choice. Because of it's small size, it has a strong fan built in to disperse the heat. The fan is a little louder than I expected, but I think it will be acceptable. You can hear it as soon as you turn it on and the fan doesn't appear to do any cycling, like you see in some larger stereos. I do plan to check out the display model, however... to see if it is equally as loud. The speakers reproduce excellent sound across the board, in defiance to their size, and it has all of the bells and whistles that usually come only with the more expensive models. I've posted a picture of the LG LFU850 at the bottom of the blog page. Like LG says, with their logo - "Life is Good"!

Very Windy Day

Today the wind was really playing havoc with anyone who has allergies. The pollen count was very high in the valley and I really felt it even though it was only for a short time that I was outside this morning. I've tried to avoid taking my allergy pills (they can make you drowsy), but it looks like the time has come. I spent most of the day inside. It gave me a chance to catch up on some reading. Nancy went shopping for some items that she will be taking to Fairfield tomorrow. She plans on spending Mother's Day with Kelly and the kids. After she got back from shopping, we went out to eat at Sae Jongs. We had a nice meal. There weren't all that many diners at the restaurant. I imagine most people are waiting until tomorrow to eat out.

I've added a new scan. This one is of my cousin Jerry's band - when he was in Hawaii. The picture was taken in the seventies, I think the mid seventies.

Recumbent Bikes and New Scan

I've decided that if I do decide to get a "new" bike (my current one is twenty five years old), it will most likely be a recumbent type. From my research on the Internet, I find the recumbent bike more to my liking than the coaster, or cruiser, style. Finding the time to bike will be difficult. So far, I can't really justify the expense. I could probably arrange my schedule so that I can take a short ride each Sunday. It's not that I am at a loss for time, or that I am so busy - it's knowing that I would need to make time to do that specific task each week. I would need to make it part of my weekly routine. Otherwise, the bike will stay in the garage - like my current bike does. We'll just have to see?

I've posted another picture from my Epson scanner. I really like the new scanner. It is simple to use and it does a decent job for web pictures. That was my reason for making the purchase - posting some photos to the blog. This picture dates back to the mid seventies. The location description is included with the photo.

Interesting Meal at Bennihana's

Tom and I had dinner at Bennihana's tonight. As usual, the food was excellent. We had a new waitress. Her name is Lilly. What made it even more interesting was the people that were seated at our table. Beth Ruyak is a nationally known anchorwoman. She has covered various Olympic events and she has also done some acting in her career. She anchored the Sacramento Channel 3 newscast back in the mid to late eighties. She still does TV specials for the channel, usually relating to health issues.

Tom has a new Canon camera that takes excellent still and video clips, so we both shot a little footage while we were eating. Tom and I always have our cameras with us. You'll see Beth in the below clip - along with her daughter, her daughter's friend and a friend of Beth's. They were all there for her daughter's birthday. It made for a festive evening. Beth has long dark hair and her daughter looks like a younger version of her mother. The clip also shows our chef doing some acrobatic flips with the shrimp tails that he "detailed". It's always a treat to eat at Bennihana's.

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/jimdaviselkgrove/?action=view&current=SMOV0092.flv

By The Numbers

Today completes the second week of my treadmill exercise program. I've found that it really is more of a numbers game, than anything else - with your body competing against the numbers. What I mean by that is in regards to the mindset that seems to unfold each time you step on the machine. You have a goal that you visualize prior to starting the treadmill and you try to make the goal realistic for that particular session. That is your mindset. I've set a minimum and a maximum outcome for each day of exercising. The goal is basically to achieve the numbers for that day i.e. two to three miles in a certain number of minutes. I vary the number for each session, depending on how my body feels at the time I want to exercise. So far, it's working.

As you can see from the below blog picture, the screen will provide data on calories, carbs, distance, speed and conditioning levels. Get too aggressive and you will pay for it the following day with sore muscles. Set it for reasonable estimate of your current physical condition - based on age, weight, height, etc. - and you will improve your overall physical condition as it relates to your blood pressure, pulse rate and endurance.

The key to maintaining a routine seems to pivot on modifying the goal each time (in regards to the numbers you program into the machine) and to have some form of distraction while you exercise i.e. music, TV, reading material, etc. So far it's working for me, but, of course, it has only been a couple of weeks. My goal is to make this a lifelong commitment, as long as I am physically able to continue some from of treadmill type exercise. On certain days it can be a challenge, but I always feel better after doing the workout, and I know I would feel disappointed if I reneged. I've taken a picture of the NordicTrack 2250 console and posted it below. I'll post some other views of the machine at a later date.

Canon Printer and Stubby the Dog

My Canon i9900 printer sure gets a lot of use. One way that I can tell is by the rather frequent "needs ink" notices that I get. It has six separate cartridges, so at least one of the cartridges seems to be running low most all of the time. However, today I printed several pictures that I'm using for a frame that I purchased for the master bedroom, and I finished all of them without having to replace a cartridge. I believe that is a first. The pictures are of various vases and the 4 by 6 prints fit nicely in the frame that I bought at Kohls a few weeks ago.

I found another interesting Westend picture while rummaging through my box of old photos. It's of me and my dog Stubby. I remember from this picture that one - or maybe both - of us were a bit hung over from the previous night's outing, and I have to admit that the picture reflects that condition. Stubby was the dog that I got while I was in the Philippines and we sent him to live with my parents, in Louisville, when I finished my Air Force service and moved to California. Having a dog wasn't an option for us at the time, so my parents agreed to take Stubby. He was a good and loving dog and both my parents took excellent care of him. He lived to be about fifteen years old. They never got another dog after his passing. They didn't think that they could find one as gentle and fun to be with as Stubby. The picture is at the bottom of the blog page.

Today's Scan

I'm still going through my box of old pictures. They aren't sorted in any particular order. So the scanning for the blog is more or less haphazard - as to times and places.

I found a picture of the house that we owned nearly twenty years ago - in Laguna. It's a few miles from where we now live. Nancy and I put a lot of effort in doing upgrades to the property, but even so, we didn't stay long - about a year and a half was all. Nancy was hesitant to move, especially after we completed the backyard landscaping, but she adjusted to the new place rather quickly (our current house). The house in Laguna had a zero lot line and the property was really better suited for renting, rather than owning. Eventually the neighborhood evolved to a significant number of the homes being rented. In fact, it would have been a good economic move for us if we could have found a way to keep the house - and rent it out. At that time, however, there was no way to make that happen.

As you'll notice from the scan, we did have a new lawn, a small lamppost (the precursor to the lamppost we have now) and you can see part of the patio cover along the side of the house. The backyard had a good size basketball court. That court was the precursor to the basketball court that was constructed at our current home in Elk Grove. It seems that I just have to have a place to play "H O R S E" on occasion. It's relaxing.

Sunday Projects and New Scan

The grand kids were over today. They got a lot done. Kristy and Brandon cleaned the house, while Kenneth and I took care of an electrical problem that had been plaguing one of the backyard lights for some time. We blew out a cheap voltage meter in the process, but what the heck. Baby Brandon did his part - he was a good baby and slept awhile, cried a little and ate a little. All in a days work.

I found a box with some old pictures that I decided to scan. I've posted a picture that I found. It's from one of our "Westend" gatherings. This one goes back awhile, but I'm uncertain of the year. I know we all looked a bit younger than in more recent pictures of such gatherings. The picture is at the bottom of the blog page.

Exciting Derby!

This was a great race. The 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby. You've got to love seeing a horse come from nineteen back and win a race by several links. That's especially true when you have money on the horse. Street Sense might just be a Triple Crown caliber horse. Can't wait to see.

Nancy and I had dinner at Vince's this evening. Their steak dinner for two is excellent. After dinner we went to Aaron Brothers Art Mart to purchase an abstract painting that I've been eyeballing for some time. I'm putting a couple of large abstract paintings in the exercise room. They have lots of color and exude energy - perfect for exercising. So far I'm adhering to my exercise schedule. I'm using the treadmill five days a week. Yesterday was one of my days off, so it may be tough to get going tonight. I've found that once you get started, it's not too bad. Playing some upbeat music helps to set the mood. I now have a forty minute routine that seems to get the job done. My routine keeps the cardiovascular numbers where I want them and it helps to burn off some calories. That's the goal. Once I hang my abstracts in the exercise room, I plan to take some pictures to post to the blog.

Ready For The Derby

I've made my Derby pick - it's Street Sense. Like so many others, I'll be glued to the TV tomorrow afternoon for the most exciting two minutes in horse racing. It is, of course, Louisville's premier event. Having been to a couple of Derbys back in the day, I can attest to the fact that you probably get a better perspective of the race from your living room then you do in the infield. You at least get a better view of the race. I use to call my parents on Derby Day. I miss being able to do that - and particularly hearing "My Old Kentucky Home" playing in the background as we talked. It makes me sad knowing that I can no longer share the Derby with them. They were both big fans of horse racing.

I'm using my new scanner for a variety of scanning jobs. Today's post is of a picture that I took several years ago using a Minolta 35mm camera; it's a shot I took at Universal Studios. Since I recently saw Sherlock Holmes at the B Street Theatre, I guess I might have been a little predisposed when I was sorting through my old 35mm pictures. I liked what i saw when I looked through the camera lens years ago - and I still like the image today. Something about Sherlock that just stays with you, I guess. Check it out at the bottom of the blog page.

New Scanner Photo - 260 Z

While Nancy and I were in Reno earlier this week, we saw a Porsche Cayman on display at the Atlantis casino. We both liked the looks - a classy black paint job with black leather interior - and the price actually was not too bad considering the options. We did wonder how we would get in and out of a car such as the Cayman, seeing how low to the ground it is and the contortions you would have to make just to get behind the wheel each time. At our age we are more four door sedan types, but the Cayman got me reminiscing about a time that I owned a sports car - a Datsun 260 Z. Yes, they called them Datsun's back in the day, not Nissan's.

The 260 was arguably the worst of the "Z" cars and mine was of the lemon variety. I bought it used, after it came off of a lease, and it never did run all that well. The fuel/air mixture was problematic and it hesitated when you tried to accelerate off the line. It was an intermittent problem, but one that was never totally corrected by several of the local Datsun dealers. I added a "quad" eight track stereo and it didn't work very well either. The "quad" sound wouldn't deliver the goods and one of the four channels always seemed to falter. It was sort of quasi surround sound. Like I said... the car was a lemon.

I bought a scanner while I was in Reno, from Comp USA (an Epson V100), and I decided to hook it up tonight and try my first scan. The picture, of my Z car, a 1975 model, is not of the best quality - but it's the only picture that I saved of the car. I only kept the car for a year. The picture was taken in front of the first house I ever owned and neither I, nor my neighbors, had enough money left over to landscape our lawns after our home purchase. Of course, we still had enough money left to spend on our vehicles. You have to maintain some priorities in life - right? I've posted the Z car picture to the blog. The V100 did a good job and I know I'll be pleased with how easy it is to use. I'll be using the scanner for some other pictures that I intend to post i.e. a few black and white photos of Louisville, Kentucky. I'll probably also use it to post some magazine pictures and the like.

The picture of my 260 Z is at the bottom of the blog page.

Everyday is Like Sunday - Morrissey

We had more fun at the Morrissey concert then we had anticipated. The show was mostly a matter of convenience as to scheduling rather than a "must see" event for us. The hotel rate, at the Atlantis - a good choice for a Reno hotel - for the time frame that we wanted to use for a spring outing, was very good ($45 for two days). And the Morrisey show just happened to coincide with that period of time. So, we thought, why not check out Morrissey? Well, it proved to be an interesting choice - as Morrissey is a rather controversial entertainer. He rarely performs at small venues, like the Nuggett in Sparks, but since other notable performers had frequented the Nuggett stage, he decided to give it a go. His concert, performed in Oakland a couple of days prior, resulted in an early exit, as his bouncers were needed to clear the stage of crashers (this really isn't a huge surprise, after all - he did agree to perform in Oakland ). Of course, all of this action made Nancy even more determined to see Morrissey, so I told her not to worry, no matter what, we were going to make it to this event. As mentioned, it was really different from the usual Nuggett performers, i.e. Glen Campbell, Charo, Pat Boone - and with the booze flowing heavily amongst the younger attendees (actually we might have been able to win a prize, if there were one, for the oldest couple in attendance) things went from loud - to extremely loud. Neither the crowd, nor Morrissey, disappointed. Overall, it wasn't all that rowdy, only a few tried to get onstage, and where we were seated, at a booth located a ways back from the stage, we were fortunate in that were sitting next to a very interesting and pleasant college student who is attending the University of Reno. She will be a senior, this fall, and she is majoring in philosophy. She spoke three languages and she said that she has hopes of adding two more to her repertoire, by the time she finishes grad school. Her goal is to work at the United Nations. Her favorite philosopher is Frederick Nietzsche (God is Dead), so she just might achieve that rather lofty goal. Morrisey draws a rather intriguing and extremely diverse group of people.

We had fun, that's what counts, and I captured some neat clips with my little Samsung camcorder. Considering that we were not that close to the stage, by choice, it's just too loud for us older folk if you get too near the band (it hurts elderly ears), plus the fact that three quarters of the audience near the front of the stage were standing up for the entire concert, I'm surprised that it captured much of anything. But it did! So, take a look at a short clip, that shows Morrissey performing one of his earlier hits - "Everyday is Like Sunday". He recorded this song after he left "Smith" - it's our favorite song of all the songs he sang. He did sing a few songs from the time that he was the lead singer for "Smith". Morrissey is certainly a survivor, and that is probably why he still has such a devoted and diverse following. He is also somewhat a philosopher, in his own right, and his music reflects that mindset. Enjoy the clip -

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w275/jimdaviselkgrove/?action=view&current=SMOV0066-3.flv

Back From Reno

We just returned from our outing to Reno a short while ago. I've posted a couple of pics that I took outside the theatre prior to the Morrissey concert. I'm now going to review my camcorder video to see if I have any video clips of the concert to post. My little camcorder is not ideal for such purposes and the lighting was less than great.

I found a video to post, showing some footage of the Morrissey concert , but PhotoBucket is down for maintenance at this time. So, I guess I'll have to post the video tomorrow.

There are a couple of new pictures added to the blog. One shows the swimming pool at the Atlantis Hotel and the other shows the snow cap mountains near the hotel. Yes, there is still a little snow left in the mountains, even if it is the first of May.