morrowlife

Here’s a statue of a face. I have no idea who it is or what it’s there for. All I know is that it’s Great Art. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone 4s-cam, taken in Santa Clara, California quite some time ago, and part of my famous Statue series.

Not a lot new today. Joanne and I went to the Porsche Club’s after-holiday formal dinner last night and had a very nice time. The folks in the club are such nice people. They’ve been very welcoming and everybody seems like they’re glad we’re there.

We got everything from Christmas put away on Saturday. It was a bit of a long day, but it’s done and the house is back to normal. I love decorating for Christmas and I love getting the decorations put back away. Kind of odd, that.

We’ve decided to take a cruise in July. We’re going to Alaska! The ship sails from Seattle, so we need to fly up there either the morning of the cruise or the day before. Joanne will only have to take four days off of work for the seven-day cruise, which is pretty good. It goes Sunday to Sunday, and she has a holiday during the week we’re going.

We haven’t reserved flights yet. What’s currently available is pretty expensive at this point, so we’re waiting. I’m not sure if we should plan to fly up there on Saturday. That eliminates the worry of missing the ship if our flight is significantly delayed, but involves extra expense. It may be worth the extra time and money, though. What do you think, Loyal Readers?

Sadly, Mark will have to stay home. Sorry, Mark. Also, Baymax will have to stay home. Not sorry, Baymax.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this highly unusual food rescue news: man douses house fire with miso soup!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s the Loyal Pet standing guard over our Christmas tree this year. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken on December 30, 2015, and part of my famous Event, Las Vegas and Pet series.

Note my new famous Pet series. I think it was time.

Wonders of WordPress once again. After this post, I’ll be caught back up. Of course, I still need to post for January IN January. But that might happen.

First, a quick recap of our travels.

On December 9-10, I went by myself to Los Angeles to attend an Apple tech talk about the new Apple TV. There was lots of information on the device’s capabilities and how to access them programatically. I’m pretty enthusiastic about it and currently looking for a Killer Idea. I’ll let you know if/when something comes to mind.

On December 18-22, we went to Windsor, California to visit Joanne’s kids and mine. Paul and Mark went with us, which was great! Sadly, Melissa had to work (WORK!), so she couldn’t come. Kristina spent most of that time with us, as did Katy and Cliff (Mia was away with her dad). We saw Ryan only briefly, but it was a very nice visit. All in all, a nice time was had by all.

Before we got home on the 22nd, Andy and JaNell arrived in Las Vegas for Christmas! Actually, Andy came alone; JaNell was supposed to go to southwestern Colorado to spend the holiday with her mom. However, the weather there got ugly and plans had to be canceled. We were able to get her a ticket and she flew to Vegas and spend the holiday weekend here. It was great!

In the meantime, Katy and Clifford left us in Windsor to go to Los Angeles for something (I can’t remember right now exactly what it was), and then they drove over to Las Vegas to spend Christmas with us! So we saw them twice in two locations in one week. Amazing!

We had a great Christmas with all of my kids and their partners. Then, to top it off, Mia’s other grandparents dropped her off here the day after Christmas. She was only with us for a couple hours, but we loved it. She gets more fun every time I see her.

I’m so, so glad everybody was here. Thank you, Loyal Family!

Andy and JaNell went home on the 27th and Christmas was over.

On December 31-January 3, we went to Ontario, California with members of the Porsche club. We had a great time! Because of an early morning departure on New Year’s Day (and possibly the average age of the group, of which I think we were some of the younger members), we celebrated the New Year on Eastern time and went to bed. That worked for me. Of course, this post only covers what happened through the 31st, but I can predict that we went on an amazingly fun drive in the Los Angeles canyons on New Year’s Day, another fun drive to Big Bear on the 2nd, and came home mid-day on Sunday the 3rd. I further predict that I got sick on Saturday afternoon with something that was going around the group all weekend and had a pretty miserable time of things for a few days. I’m glad not to have missed any of the group events, though. Feeling fine as this is written.

Now to a topic that has been much on my mind lately. To wit: has Facebook taken the place of the Morrowlife blog? I find myself posting less and less frequently here and more and more frequently there. I’ve been reading for quite some time that blogs are dead, particularly as the term refers to personal journal-style writing. I’ve resisted that trend, especially during the days when this space served a much-needed cathartic purpose during the days before and -especially- after Shannon’s death. But now I need to decide whether this should continue. So a few thoughts:

• Will Facebook be a lasting journaling platform?
• If not, will I want to follow the crowd to the next thing?
• One of Facebook’s strengths is that it lends itself to immediate, short-form writing. I’ve been using it as kind of a travelogue and an outlet for humorous musings. Is that the direction I really want to take with my personal writing? In other words, does this blog serve a purpose that Facebook really doesn’t? Is Facebook good enough to keep a record of what I’m doing, where I’m going, and who I’m with? Are those the most important things to capture?
• The Morrowlife blog demands that I sit down and think about what I want to say. That’s also a strength because I think it leads to higher-quality thoughts (stop laughing! You know who you are!). That has been worthwhile to me. But there’s definitely a valid place for quickly-written here-I-am things.
• Do I have enough bandwidth to do both? Admittedly, Facebook doesn’t really take any effort, but my presence there seems to make posting here even more difficult.
• Tell me what to do, Loyal Readers!

Brilliant thoughts, each one.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: dog-impersonating bear!

See you on Monday.

  
Here’s the Loyal Pet helping me get ready for a recent trip. I’m not sure exactly which one I was packing for, but he’s reliably helpful. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken in my room prior to a recent trip, and part of my famous Las Vegas and Vacation series.

Wonders of WordPress. I’m quite sure I’ve never let so much time go by before. Hopefully, never again. So let’s see what I was up to in November, shall we?

First, of course, we spent Halloween quietly at home. Several adorable little tykes came by begging for candy. We have it to them, lest some terrible misfortune overtake us.

I went solo to see Katy and Cliff on November 3-4. There was a threefold purpose to the trip: to see my Loyal Family, to celebrate Mia’s birthday, and to get enough flights for A-list status on Southwest Airlines. All missions accomplished. It was a nice visit. Katy and Cliff are always such fun hosts.

November 6-9, Kristina came here. She stayed with her mom at the condo. They had a very nice visit and I was glad to see her too. I don’t remember exactly what we did, but it was enjoyable.

We went to Allen, Texas to visit Desi and his family on November 13-15. Another great visit! I was delighted to meet Andrea’s family. Plus, Desi, Andrea, and Riley are so much fun. I really like them.

Joanne and I went to San Diego on November 21-22. Objective: get enough flights for A-list status on Southwest Airlines. Also to have fun and relax. All missions accomplished.

We had a great Thanksgiving! Andy and JaNell were here. It was great to see them and we had a great few days. Joanne went to the Bay Area for a few days right after the holiday and had another excellent  is it with Ryan and Kristina.

And that’s about all the travel for November. Hopefully, that’s enough for my Loyal Readers. It was certainly enough for us. I don’t really remember what else happened during the month. So it’s time to quit.

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this combination exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity and shocking food violence news: pie-stealing bear!

See you tomorrow.

Here’s a rare mermaid sighting, taken about this time last year. Note the pumpkins in the background. She seems relatively friendly, but those things can turn on you. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at the Silverton Casino, and part of my famous Las Vegas series.

Let’s have a look at what’s been going on since the end of September, the post for which was written last night.

We’ve been on two trips this month. On October 2-4, we went to New Mexico for the annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It was amazing! Lots of fun. You can stand right there next to the balloons as they’re filling them up and flying away. It’s was everything they say and more. Highly recommended. More than highly recommended. Go there next year!

We went to the fiesta on the first morning it was open for the year. Then we moved to a cute little Worldmark in Santa Fe. We were scheduled to take a balloon ride ourselves on Sunday morning, but it was sadly canceled due to rain. Maybe next time. Or maybe next time we’re in Napa/Sonoma. It’s beautiful up there – might be nice to see it from a gondola.

Anyway. On October 8-11, we went to Angels Camp, California and stayed at the very nice Worldmark there. On Friday, Joanne and I drove over to Yosemite and have a wonderful visit there. The skies were sunny, the temperature was warm, and the crowds were small. Perfect! Friday night, Katy, Clifford, and Mia came over and stayed with us until Sunday morning. We spent Saturday morning in Murphys, California doing some wine tasting. It was another perfect day. Murphys is a cute little town and it was truly relaxing.

Kristina arrived on Saturday afternoon and stayed until we left mid-day on Sunday. We visited with Ryan and Kristina over lunch and a walk in an oceanfront park Sunday afternoon, after which we ran to the airport for our flight. It was a great weekend!

And that brings us up to today.

Oh, not quite. I’ve been on quite a vehicular shopping spree lately. Just before the Angels Camp trip, I bought a 1976 BMW R60/6 motorcycle. It’s in beautiful shape for a nearly 40-year-old. Here’s a picture:

Nice, huh?

And I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: rampaging elephant!

See you on Monday.

Here’s lazy, lazy Baymax. This is his normal behavior about 23 hours a day. The remaining hour, he’s complaining about his treatment. Typical. Great Art courtesy of the exclusive iPhone-cam, taken at the sliding glass door in My Humble Home, and part of my famous Las Vegas series.

I considered making it part of my famous Statue series, but he does occasionally move. So that didn’t seem like a perfect fit.

Wonders of WordPress. It’s been quite a long time since I posted and I refuse to miss a month. So I’m posting. So let’s find out where Joanne and I have been I last posted, shall we?

On August 22 & 23, we went to Pahrump. Yes, that Pahrump. The town with the totally legal brothels. We didn’t stop in at a brothel, although I thought it would be fun to take a tour. We DID go to a winery, where they had nice but relatively humble (trailer) lodging and a lovely restaurant. We had bought a package that included lodging and a fancy dinner. Enjoyed it! Would stay again.

On August 28 & 29, we drove up to St. George, Utah, where we stayed in a very nice Worldmark resort. We visited Zion National Park and thoroughly enjoyed it. Recommended. Next time: Bryce. Which I think is probably even more beautiful.

On September 3-7, we visited Vancouver, British Columbia. That was the Labor Day weekend, so Joanne had a vacation day. Interestingly, Canada celebrates Labor Day too, except that they call it “Labour Day.” So strange, huh? We took a bus tour to Victoria. We looked at downtown, went into a bunch of shops, and had lunch with some old friends of Joanne. Then we were off to Butchart Gardens. What a beautiful place! It’s not as big as Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, but it’s truly beautiful. Highly recommended.

Our hotel was near the waterfront in Vancouver and we spent time exploring the area. Then we discovered the float planes. I hemmed and hawed for a while and then finally decided we needed to take a ride in one of those babies. Which we did. It was amazing! Extremely highly recommended.

No other travel. On September 26, we took my new Porsche to Cars & Coffee Las Vegas. It was fun seeing all the interesting cars. We had a nice breakfast and came home. Later that evening, we went to my first event at Sam Boyd Stadium – a UNLV football game. Our team won by a score of 80 to 8. Not much of a close game, but it was fun to watch.

Oh, have I mentioned that I bought a Porsche? I did. Finally! It’s a 2007 Cayman in beautiful condition and with fairly low mileage. I love it. Behold:

Pretty nice, says I. I traded in my beloved Ford Taurus for it. I don’t regret that decision. The Taurus was a great car, but this one is greater.

And that pretty much brings us up to date. I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this shocking food violence news: senior-citizen-instigated diner food fight!

See you tomorrow.