A few thoughts while marveling at how much cleaning this house needed once the Christmas tree and all decorations came down.
When it comes to cleaning, plantation shutters are the worst – while they look great in the windows they’re just glorified venetian blinds. Together in a class by themselves as dust collectors extraordinaire.
Took Tracey to the new Steak n Shake just down the road apiece in Tempe. Hadn’t eaten at a Steak n Shake since we left Louisville more than a decade ago. It was good, just as I remembered it, but, truth be told, I think In-n-Out is better. Don’t believe you can beat In-n-Out.
Been trying out my new Bushnell Tour V3 Rangefinder outside to get the hang of it in preparation for taking it to the driving range for the first time. Have so far determined I have light posts 109, 74, 54, and 69 yards from my driveway. I walked off the distances and found them to be pretty accurate. I hope nobody was watching me, they’d probably think I was nuts.
I got Tracey the whole Northern Exposure TV series on DVD for Christmas. I only remember seeing a few of them when it was running in first-time reruns back when we lived in Louisville and remember them as quirky but good. Watching them from the start has been fun. It was a good show.
We have one more night of the cold snap we’ve been having since New Year’s. Got my sensitive cactus and queen palms all wrapped up. Once we get past tonight the long-term forecast looks free and clear for the rest of the winter. Damned good thing – mummifying a ten-foot cactus (the showpiece of our back yard) is a heckuva lot of work.
Martinis, X Files and Northern Exposure are just a few of the things Tracey and I have in common. I sure do miss you y’all and PAHLEEESSSEEE come visit me. We will have a -20 wind chill by Wednesday. We can go to Havana Rumba, Ramsis and I can take you to Guaca Mole (owned by Marcos’ cousin Fernando, who opened Rumba). There are so many new and wonderful restaurants here. We are the #3 Foodie town now. Come for my birthday in March so you can enjoy a true spring.
Comment by Jana — January 4, 2015 @ 6:21 am
Would love to, Jana but the do-re-mi just isn’t there. Besides our goal to get the debt paid off by the end of 3Q we need to get ourselves a second car before we drive the 1999 Saturn (bought in Louisville, BTW!) into the ground. If you want to thaw out c’mon to Phoenix. Lots of cool places to poke around in Scottsdale, and we’ve got Indian tribes for vision quests just a happy hare’s hop away. It’s all AZ winter. It’s all good.
Comment by The Great White Shank — January 5, 2015 @ 6:16 pm
I feel your financial pain…trying to pay off my mortgage in the next two years…social security does not cover the monthly expenses…work referrals are scarce, so I am barely working but still paying office expenses and that monthly 30% self employment tax fund. Retirement is no where in my future and I hope mom hangs in there for a few more years as her social security offsets the deficits. If I were able to take off and buy that ticket, I’d be at your door in an instant. So for now, let’s do another skype call soon. Love and miss you both
Comment by Jana — January 7, 2015 @ 6:57 am