Year: 2007

Company’s Here

Donna’s sister, her husband and his mom are in town for a weekend visit. We spent the evening sitting on the screened porch, drinking wine, conversing and playing Liverpool Rummy. I only had slight pangs of withdrawal from my usual time hanging out on the internet.

The visit up was to see us and to see some fall color, which is non existent in their native Florida. Trouble is with this year’s drought, and the lack of cold nights, that fall spectacle, right now, is only available after about four hours of driving further north. Not wanting to spend that much time in the car after spending so much time in it on the way up, we have opted for a visit to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia tomorrow which is only a little less than an hour up the road. Expect pictures of pink flamingos or red-ruffed lemurs in the Saturday Evening Post.

I am up later than usual blogging tonight because I need the practice staying awake for tomorrow’s ALCS game 6.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 452

Hoodwinked

Which according to dictionary.com means – To take in by deceptive means; deceive.

The movie was listed over in my Netflix rental queue in the sidebar for about a week before it came my way. While it sat there, why didn’t one of you warn me that “Hoodwinked” was a stupid movie? Nobody has seen it yet? Or were you fooled into watching it and because you suffered through it felt I should too? We only made it 7 minutes in before we hit the eject button.

The animation looked liked a Nickelodeon show, so maybe the kiddies liked it, but we felt it off putting. Mostly though the cops talked too fast so we never got a hold on what was happening. Back in the envelope it went. My only regret is, because of the baseball playoffs, it sat on the coffee table a long time just wasting movie rental opportunities.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 450

One Cheek Landing Redux

Unlike a year ago, I wasn’t on rollerblades his time. I was on a ladder, so my fall was from 5-6 feet instead of 3.

I was on the roof of the house blowing off the little branches shed from the trees and the hickory nut carcasses left behind from squirrel meals with a leaf blower. When it was time to come down, I got on the ladder carefully, as always, to keep my weight centered so as not to tip sideways. After two steps down the ladder feet slipped backwards and the next thing I knew I was sitting on the deck on top of the now horizontal aluminum extension ladder. My left cheek hit the I-beam stile and took the full force of the landing. Oooouch!

I sat, mostly leaning right cheek way, for a few minutes collecting my thoughts on a chair on the porch. I then got up and finished blowing off the deck and then the driveway (company’s coming you know.)

It hurts to sit on it (naturally) and 90 degree bends are not real comfortable, but I’m probably alright. Standing and walking feels nearly fine. But that side is pretty swollen right now, so I’m sitting on a pack of ice while I type this. We’ll see what it feels like in the morning, and whatever happens, I know that area will be looking multi-hued from the shorter wavelength of the visible light spectrum in a couple days.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 448

Tuesday Challenge

I think I’ll try the Tuesday Challenge for awhile. Mainly because I don’t have anything to blog about tonight, so I thought I would just post a picture. Being as it is Tuesday I picked a Tuesday meme. Then I decided I didn’t want to limit the size to just 500 wide so I went and made a separate gallery for my entries.

So far so good, I had a photo I could use. So far so bad, when I entered my blog name I left out the f in life, so my first entry is listed as “Lie of Brian.” Also on the down side is I don’t get a reminder email. I’m guessing I will probably keep at it so I don’t end up with a gallery that only has one photo in it. Better put a link for the challenge on the sidebar…

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 446

Sunset Photo

Sunset, SC 29685 Most folks are suckers for a nice sunset photo, this one probably won’t won’t be on a lot of favorite list.

Our original plan was to take a couple of PO photos on Saturday evening before checking into the hotel. I thought that maybe if we timed it right it would have been cool if we took the Sunset, SC Post Office at sunset. We didn’t do any photographs before settling in for the night and it was no great loss as the sun would have been setting at the wrong angle to have shown in the picture anyway.

I’m down to my last three Spenser books, having finished “The Judas Goat” this afternoon. No Spenser Crime Buster Rule, but I did get, for the first time in several books, a reference to a Dick Track Tracy Crime Stopper. I added it to the page, but I think it is going to have to be re-thought out. Might just change the title to “The Private Eye’s Reference Room” or “Directions for Detectives” or some other thing with shamus in it and just list all the tips whomever said them.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 445

290 + 9 = 68,000

Caesar's Head LookoutWe set out to get the remaining eight Post Offices in the northwest part of the state and ended up with 9. Midway between Travelers Rest and Liberty we passed right by a mystery CPU. I did a u-turn and went back to get a photo. The closest town to us then was Dacusville, but it didn’t have a Post Office. Donna wrote down the address and this evening when we got home I looked for a Post Office in that town, none was listed. There was a new CPU for Easley that wasn’t on my original spreadsheet, the addresses matched. We have 299 PO photos taken, but we now have 162 to go as the state total just got kicked up a notch. About halfway through our loop we detoured up to Caesar’s Head State Park to see if any of the leaves were changing, they weren’t. The photo above is the view from the lookout near the ranger station, that granite faced mountain off in the distance is Table Rock Mountain with Pinnacle Lake in front of it.

Somewhere south of Calhoun Falls on SC81 the Emperor passed through the 68,000 mile mark.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 444

It’s Saturday, Let’s Go To Town

As we hit the outskirts of Anderson the road turned to four lanes, we pulled up to a stoplight first in line in the right lane. Next to us, blocking out the sun, stopped a full-size Chevy panel van. The passenger looked over and down at us, gave us the V sign with his fingers and then mumbled something unintelligible in a heavy rural southern accent with a big smile on his face. The light turned green and they lurched forward trying to get the jump on me. I accelerated at my usual brisk pace and as their out of tune van bucked and stumbled, the Emperor pulled away. As the van reached speed it smoothed out and tore right by. Until the next light.

Even again, my rural friend leaned out the window and said, “We figure with this curve up ahead we’ll take you easy.” and smiled big to let me know he was kidding. Then he said, “Look behind us.” I thought he was going to point out an LEO, but no, I could see a red and white two-tone mid 50’s Chevy. “Fifty-five,” my new best buddy says. I ask, “Wonder if he’d trade me straight up?” The passenger just rolls his eyes and the driver says, “Depends on how much money you got in your pocket.” The light changes and off I go.

At the next light, the van is in the right lane next in line behind me and they are directly across from the ’55 Chevy. I can’t hear what they are saying, but everybody’s jaws are moving. I can bet our rural friends are not asking if the guy in the ’55 Belair wants to swap cars with me. And if they are, guaranteed there will not be a swapping of pink slips at the next light.

The next light is a long way off and by the time I get stopped at it, both the van and the ’55 are long gone.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 441