morrowlife

This rather racy picture was on the wall of a Mexican restaurant in Michigan where I had lunch with my mother last July. We were just a bit scandalized, but the food was good, so we stayed. Those Aztecs were certainly snappy dressers. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at an unknown Mexican restaurant in Canton, Michigan, and part of my famous Architecture, Food, and Vacation series.

Had a nice day, although I didn’t accomplish much. Went to see the doctor  who will be performing my first ever colonoscopy this morning. It was a bit of a pointless visit, but I didn’t get charged for it, so I have that going for me, which is nice. They tried to get me to come in for the procedure on Christmas Eve. Umm . . . no. So I’m going on the 28th of January.

Went with my friend Bob to the park this afternoon to fly our quadrotors. I went through all my batteries before his were all gone, so he gave me one of his to fly. His quads cost about $120 more than mine, and now I know why. It’s WAY better than mine. It is infinitely more controllable than mine and just outperforms mine in every way. Mine was an excellent, durable trainer, but now I’m ready for one like Bob’s. I’ve put it on my Amazon wish list and I’ll buy it for myself after Christmas when nobody gets it for me. I’ll also buy a few spare parts. Apparently, that quad is notoriously hard on motors.

This evening, Joanne and I went to a local sushi place with the sushi meetup group. We had a nice time with friends, as usual, and really enjoyed the food too. I overate just a little bit, but not too badly.

Speaking of which, when I weighed myself this morning, I was 0.8 pounds lighter than my last weighing. That’s possibly the start of another good trend. On a sad note, I strained a muscle in my lower back while I was lifting weights this morning. I think I should probably rest it a day or two and maybe even lower the amount of weight I’m lifting for a few days after that. I want it to heal quickly.

I’ve been busily buying Christmas gifts the last few days. I really want to do a beautiful job of Christmas for the kids. And myself too, come to think of it. I have the house reasonably well decorated, I have a date designated to bake cookies, and I’m buying gifts for everybody. I’m nearly done, but I don’t have anything for Mia yet, and I don’t think I have the right things for Joanne yet. More thought is needed in that area.

And that’s about it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: French frozen chicken attack!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Andy’s apartment building in downtown Denver. It was built in 1967 as an office building owned by an insurance company, but it was converted to apartments in 2006. And very nice apartments they are. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken in Denver last July, and part of my famous Architecture and Vacation series.

That building has 1960’s style. I like it. The interior is modern, beautiful, and luxurious. Apparently, Andy pays plenty for all the modernity, beauty, and luxury, but it’s worth it. We’re going to Denver to visit Andy in January. Also, he’s coming here to visit me a little bit later this month. It’s nice to see him so often.

Mark’s nearly done with his first semester at UNLV. It’s been rough at times, but he’s doing okay and I think he’s even enjoying being a student again. I have very high hopes for his graduation and entry into the professional workplace in a couple years. I predict a fulfilling career for him.

Let’s see, what else is new? I’ve been doing some Christmas shopping. I have gifts either ordered or already here for almost everybody on my list. There are a couple of tough decisions to make, but I’m getting there. I’ve been working on a Christmas list of my own, so if any of my Loyal Readers need some ideas, feel free to check out my Amazon list. It is constantly growing.

I’m going to the doctor tomorrow morning for my pre-colonoscopy consultation. My doctor recommended it during my physical last week, and I have to agree that it’s time. Not that I’m looking forward to it, though. But nobody cares whether I like it or not. I need to do it. So I will.

We’re going to New Orleans this weekend! It’ll be a brief trip – Friday night through Sunday night – but I’m looking forward to it. There are a few things we want to see and we’re trying to keep that list short so we don’t spend the whole weekend running from one place to the next. Just a quick sample this time.

And that’s it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: toast and butter assault!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s the view from my airplane seat last August, on my way to Detroit to see my mother for the last time. Live baseball on my iPad at 30,000 feet! I like how Southwest does some things. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at altitude in a Southwest 737 in August, 2014, and part of my famous Electronics, Food, Machinery, and Vacation series.

I didn’t know it was my last visit with my mom. But it was. She was sick by then – very sick indeed – and in the hospital when I got there. They moved her to a rehab place while I was there, but she didn’t make any improvement and she left that place for hospice at home shortly after I came back to Las Vegas at the end of the week. I’m so grateful I got to see her one more time, in spite of the terrible shape and low spirits she was in. She was a wonderful mother and a truly good person and I miss her.

There are a few new things to discuss today, but it’s very late so I’ll try to keep it brief.

Paul’s here! His two-week stay is up tomorrow. We’ve had a very nice visit and I’m sorry to see him have to go home. A few hours after Paul’s departure, Andy arrives for Thanksgiving. I love having the company!

Mark got a new phone yesterday. His iPhone 4S was getting very old and its battery wasn’t holding much of a charge anymore. So we got him a new 5S. Yes, I know that’s an older phone, but it was what we could afford and it’s a whole lot better than what he had. Besides, a few short weeks ago, it was the coolest thing on the block. I think he likes it.

I finally finished the first draft of the website I’ve been contracted to produce. I thought it was probably pretty far from what my client wanted, but it turns out I was wrong. They love it! I have a bit of cleanup work to do, the client needs to provide me a bunch of text, and he needs to get hosting arranged before we can go live. But I’m truly excited about having a design they’re happy with.

I think I’m ready to start working full-time again. Currently, I’m planning to concentrate all my efforts on PhotoDoc for at least a few months. Maybe once I get things under better control and feel that I’m providing my customers and potential customers a product and customer service we’re completely proud of, I can turn my attention back to iOS apps, but this is the thing that’s currently most likely to provide me a living, so that’s where my effort is going.

Speaking of working on iOS apps, I’ve been thinking about an iOS app to complement PhotoDoc. I don’t think we’ll try to put the analysis tools on an iPhone, but I’m toying with the idea of using the iPhone/iPad as data gathering tools, with photos, audio files, interview forms, growth chart data, and even possibly traumagrams being captured on the iDevice and transferred automatically to the user’s copy of PhotoDoc. I need to talk to my partner and our odontologist advisors to see if there’s any interest in pursuing this. The idea is that customers could use the device they always have in their pockets to gather information whenever it becomes available and get it into PhotoDoc immediately. It’s already possible to use those devices to gather data, but it currently requires a tiny bit of work to get it into the app on your computer’s desktop. We could save that bit of effort and make it a free or low cost add-on to the program. Just a thought.

Ken came over today to visit before Paul leaves. It was good to see him. We’re getting together again on Thanksgiving afternoon and again on Saturday for a couple hours for me to help him set up his Christmas village in their living room. I enjoy hanging out with Ken.

Joanne and I have a bunch more travel coming up soon, which I’ll discuss here at a later date.

And that’s about it for today. Things are great.

I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: crime-fighting fake fish!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s one of my most admired people: the lovable Mr. Toad. Joanne and I took his wild ride just the other day. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken during last week’s trip to Disneyland, and part of my famous Statue and Vacation series.

We’re back from our cruise! We had a great time visiting Catalina Island and Ensenada and generally spending time aboard the ship. The weather was great, the food was great, the service was great, the excursions were great, the entertainment was great, and the company was excellent! Princess continues to be my favorite cruise line. Plus, I have now achieved the exalted rewards program status of Ruby! That’s way better than gold, as everyone knows. Sadly, Joanne is a mere Gold member. I pity her.

We spent two days at Disneyland afterwards and thoroughly enjoyed that too. Friday was very good – lines were short and crowds were smallish by Disneyland standards. Saturday was much more crowded, but we had a great time that day too. We had a very late dinner Saturday night at the Blue Bayou, which was very nice. After dinner, we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean one more time (our fourth for the weekend) and went home.

The fireworks show happened not too long before our Blue Bayou reservation. We were making a quick trip on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before dinner. Just before we got onto the ride, the fireworks started. The view from the ride platform was wonderful! And it was even better from the ride itself. It’s something that’s impossible to plan and amazing to see.

Anyway. My PhotoDocumentor seminar went very well indeed. John and I held it here in Las Vegas the two days before Joanne and I left for our cruise. Our attendees seemed to be positively impressed with the software and several of them purchased it. It’s very expensive, so I was gratified by how many people bought it. We’re thinking of holding another seminar but haven’t made a decision yet. In the meantime, I’m planning to be in Orlando for the AAFS conference in February.

Let’s see, what else has been going on? Oh, it looks like I’ll be going to Tucson the first weekend in November. Chris is going back to empty out his house and I think he could use the help. I’ll bring my Beloved Pickup again for hauling duties. He’ll be renting a U-Haul and taking all his stuff back with him, including his other car on a trailer. It’ll be good to see him again.

Paul’s coming to stay for two weeks starting on November 12. He will almost overlap Andy’s visit, which will be the 26th through the 30th. I’m looking forward to having so much company!

And that’s about it for today. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: pig-smuggling cricket fan! Seaman Hornsby would be proud.

See you tomorrow.

Here are my mother and me on June 27th of this year, during my visit to Michigan right before we found out she had liver cancer. She was already sick when this picture was taken, it’s just that nobody knew it. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at Bronner’s Christmas shop – one of her very favorite stores – in Frankenmuth, Michigan – one of her favorite places – and part of my famous Vacation series.

I’m so glad I made that visit and that my mom and I took that drive to Frankenmuth that day and did the other things we did. It was a fun, relaxing trip and the last time my mother and I had together before the final traumatic events of her life.

It’s been a couple weeks again. I guess I’m too busy enjoying my life to chronicle it. That’s good and bad. So let’s briefly chronicle recent events.

Joanne and I, accompanied by her kids Desi (and family) and Kristina (and friend) and my kids Mark and Andy, went to Big Bear Lake for a long weekend at the beginning of the month. The weather was beautiful, the place we stayed was beautiful, and it was a very nice visit. We visited Katie’s old house there, as well as that of her former in-laws. We also saw the place where Katie worked – it was walking distance from our hotel. We visited their Oktoberfest and found it to be expensive but enjoyable. A one-time visit was all we needed to see everything. On a sad note, the lake is at a disturbingly low level. They need a lot of rain in California! Also snow in the Sierra Nevada. Please attend to this problem, Loyal Readers.

Saw my good friends Dan and Debbie Yeckley from Denver the other day. They were in town for a few days and contacted me. Joanne and I met them at their hotel (the Main Street Station, which was surprisingly very nice and also not part of the Station Casinos empire). They’re looking and sounding very good and we had a very nice visit.

Mark appears to be doing very well with school this semester. Unbelievably, the semester is already just about half over! He has a mid-term exam tomorrow, in fact. Keep it up, Mark!

I signed up for a Coursera class a few days ago but haven’t taken any time to get it started. I either need to get moving on it or drop out and do it later. The subject is Game Theory, which isn’t really one of my interests. That may explain why I’m having a bit of a hard time getting started.

And that’s enough for tonight. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: breaking and entering monkey!

See you tomorrow.