Turn The Page

There are a lot of changes coming in my mostly peaceful existence. I think that most of them will be good.

First, I am moving. I love the place where I live, but I was making quite a bit more money when I moved here than I am now. It is a struggle to make ends meet and any unexpected expenses can wreak havoc. So with the help of my cousin Paul, I have found a place that is not quite as big, not quite as nice but is 25% cheaper. That will help.

Second, my employment is winding down to its demise. I took a job as a temporary worker about 14 months or so ago. At the time they said the job would probably last 2 to 3 months. The factory where I work is moving their operations to Malaysia. There have been many difficulties with the move and it has been postponed several times. Thus the 14 or so months rather than 2 or 3 months of employment. Now they are saying January is it.

Third, and as a consequence of #2, I will be going back to school. The government has a program called "Trade Adjustment Allowance" that will pay for my retraining since my job is going overseas. I have just started the process of jumping through all of the bureaucratic hoops required. I'm leaning towards a webmaster certification. I hope that it is a growing field and that I will be able to stay employed once I complete the training. Actually, I hope to prosper rather than just get by. We shall see.

I Love Public Transit

I love public transit! You get to see so many interesting things and meet so many fascinating people. The other day, there was a couple sitting waiting for the bus when I got to the stop. He was kind of jumpy, maybe a little hyperactive. Perhaps in an altered state of consciousness. Anyway, he was explaining to his girlfriend that the rate of acceleration when you fall is 32 feet per second (Close, but no cigar.) and the speed of light is 186,000 miles per hour (Not even close.). Then he started trying to figure out how far you would have to fall to attain the speed of light. Guess he's never heard of terminal velocity. She got up and went to the Quick Trip.

The Good Son

In the breakroom at work the other night, one of the ladies was eating a bag of CornNuts Chips Salsa y Limón. They left a reddish, powdery residue on her fingers, much like Cheetos dust. She complained about them staining her fingers. One of the young men got up and cranked out some paper towels for her. She thanked him and proceeded to clean up her hands as best she could. She noted that while better, her fingers still just weren't clean. The same young man got up again, got her some more paper towels, grabbed one of the styrofoam cups next to the coffee machine and filled it with hot water from the spigot on the coffee maker. She gushed about it. She told him "Your mother raised a fine, caring, considerate, polite son!"

In a loud, strident voice I said "So did mine!"

Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

I said "He lives in Colorado."

Old Friends

I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with three beautiful women. It was fantastic, a lot of fun! They talked a lot while I mostly listened and laughed. There was some cigar smoking, some guitar playing, a few serious discussions. But mostly there was love and laughter.

Susan, Lisa, some lucky guy, Karen.

Karen

Susan

Lisa

Funny how they are all still vibrant and beautiful and I look like an old guy.

Thank you, lovely ladies, for allowing me to tag along. I had the bestest time. Those of you from far away should come and see us more often. You that lives here should see me more often. Old friends are the best!

Renaissance Fair 2010

I went to the annual Arizona Renaissance Fair last weekend with my friend Maria. As always, it was a lot of fun. We ate roasted turkey legs. We watched people. I always enjoy looking at the costumes and seeing what some people think is appropriate medieval attire. There are always lots of pirates, and as we all know the golden age of pirates didn't come until a couple of centuries after the renaissance. There's always some bare arms, shoulders, and midriffs on the ladies which wouldn't have happened in those days either. But why nitpick? Enjoy it for what it is: An opportunity to dress up and be somebody you aren't.

There were belly dancers.

There were pipers.

I tried my hand at a didgederoo.

There was harp music.

There was Patrice Ruane, spinet player. I think she has a crush on me.

All in all, a pleasant time was had. Come on down next year and go with us!

Bread? Part II

I thought I would give the ol' bread baking another try yesterday. It went pretty well. I was nearing the end of the process. I had divided my dough into two loaves. One was slightly bigger than the other, but they both looked like loaves. I placed the two pans on the oven rack. As I was sliding the rack in, I saw that the rack above was close to touching the bread pans. I thought "I should lower this rack." So I stopped pushing the rack in and reversed its direction. The bread pans continued in their original direction. They slid off the end of the rack, landing with a resounding "thud" on the oven floor. The loaves collapsed. I thought I can either wait a couple of hours for the dough to rise again or I can just bake these bad boys as they are. I baked them. The loaves were about 2 inches thick. I sliced them lengthwise into three pieces, then cut each crosssection into two pieces. They turned out about the right size for sandwiches. Tasty.

One of these days, I'll get it right.

Random Acts of Kindness

No, not by me. I thought you all knew me better than that. I went shopping today, taking along the little pull cart that I use to bring the groceries home. I let some impulses take control and ended up buying a little bit more than would fit in my cart. About 2 plastic grocery bags worth. So I'm high steppin' through the parking lot to catch the bus that will bring me home. A nice lady stops her truck and asks if I live close. I tell her about a mile, she says let's put your stuff in the pickup and I'll take you home. And she did. Thanks, nice lady.

Bread?

My sister sent me our grandmother's bread recipe. So I made some bread last week. It tasted really, really good but I think I need to work on the "shaping loaves" part.