This has sitting in my drafts folder since October which was right after I bought some face masks online (the Mark III.) I was going to write a little review and compare it to the first masks used to keep us from breathing in virus particles, but never got around to it. Now, having just bought some more from someplace else, I thought now was the time to write about something that has basically become daily wear.
Mark I Mask
Mark II Mask
Mark III Mask
Mark IV Mask
Happy Miata Day
The Miata came out of the garage this afternoon and because it saw its shadow, I’m afraid we are in for 6 more weeks of winter.
Of course, if it is as wintery as it has been so far, it ain’t going to be too bad for the next month and a half. So far this winter we have had a day of 3″, another of 1″ and a couple of dustings. They have called for 2-4 inches of snow for the last 2 days and nothing has materialized.
Watch, now that I have mentioned it I have jinxed it and we’ll wake up tomorrow to a foot of the white stuff.
Black History Month Edition of SORT
As of Monday, February 1, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:
| Sport | Off-Road | Touring |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 BMW 318i | 2008 Porsche Cayenne | 1952 Mercedes-Benz 220 |
 |
 |
 |
| This is not an overpowered for the street M3, but the just right manual convertible fun version. | Look at that ride height, those knobby tires – perfect for parking on Rodeo Dr sidewalks. | I have picked several really cool gentleman’s cars for this spot before, but this one tops them all. |
These used to be called Kroger Fuel Points when we were back in ol’ SC, but the Kroger brand stores are called Fred Meyer out here. The difference is that they are a grocery stores plus a department store under one roof. Because they are part of the Kroger family, they offer the same fuel points deal – spend a buck and get a point, each hundred of points equals a dime off a gallon of gas at their pumps.
Back in Aiken we churned through points at the pump and zeroed out all we earned each month in that month. Fortunately the points are good in the month earned and are good until the end of the next month, which is where we are now using the points because of the pandemic and all we don’t drive enough to go through our monthly points in that month. Right now we are not even filling the tank of either car either. We go in the final days of the next month and put on average a half of a tank in one or the other car. Usually the Mini.
Today we ran to the store to get one item missed on our weekly shopping trip, parchment paper for those keeping track, and after we checked out we noticed that we were about 30 points shy of the next 100 point level, so we needed to spend a little over $30 at Freddy’s over the next couple of days.
If you have been following me on Instagram, or checking the IG widget on the right of the page, you will know that we have been running through jigsaw puzzles at a prodigious rate. One, to be killing time safely because of COVID and two, the fact that it is winter out and we have not adjusted to cold weather outdoor activities yet1. We have bought a few puzzles new, but have mostly been scouring the local thrift stores for bargains.
We had entered Fred Meyer at the opposite end that we usually do because it was the one closest to the gas pumps, we were using up December’s Fuel points to put a little over a half a tank of premium in the Mini. So instead of walking out the exit Donna made a beeline to the toy department so see about buying three 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles to add to our stash of bargain puzzles awaiting solving. As it turned out the were Buy One, 1/2 Off The Second, so we ended up with 4 for the price of one.
And we ended up leaving the store with a full eight hundred four fuel points that we need to use before February 28th.
On our weekly Thursday morning grocery shopping trip I noticed that the F was unlit in the Fred Meyer sign by the entrance we go in. This seems to be a running issue with this signs. Three weeks before that when we parked the dark letter was the r. Five weeks before that, both the F and the r were not on. I’ll let you know if in the upcoming weeks if the sign becomes just d Meyer…
Plain Ol’ Edition of SORT
As of Monday, January 25, 2021 at 9:00 PM pacific time:
| Sport | Off-Road | Touring |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 Cadillac XLR | 1969 Mitsubishi J20C | 1957 Bristol 405 Saloon |
 |
 |
 |
| A wolf in sheep’s clothing? Or just a Corvette dressed up in a tuxedo. | Two parts Land Cruiser, one part Willys and one part JDM Mitsubishi. | Tweed jacket with leather elbow patches sold separately. |
They are forecasting 1-3 inches of snow for us tomorrow and this afternoon was sunny and forty, so we thought we better get out and enjoy it. We decided to venture a whole 10 miles from home and take a walk along a section of the OC&E Trail that we hadn’t explored yet. To make the flat walk more palatable I downloaded some caches to look for along the way.
Turns out we were not the only ones with this idea. As we pulled into the parking spot there was a horse trailer and another car already there. There were two horses and riders just coming back, but the car driver and family was getting ready to go for a walk. As we changed into hiking boots another car pulled in with a fellow and his canine companion.
The trailhead there is “decorated” with a retired train snow plow car that had a cache so we went there first. By the time we found and logged the cache the folks in the parking had started on their way, but as we started on the trail proper we could see one man coming back. By the time we passed him we missed the first cache, but found a side trail that headed up the hill to cache #2.
That cache was a sneaky two-parter that we couldn’t find the second part on, so we had to DNF it. The walk up was worth it for the view, see the above photo. The next one was even higher up the hill and was an easy find. From there we headed back down hill to cache number four, which turned into another DNF. We spent 10 minutes wandering in circles using my phone and the GPSr to no avail. We didn’t even try the next cache on our track, it was on the way downhill we planned on taking, but gave up after noticing the trail required a very steep drop. So we took an easier slope back down towards the OC&E, before climbing back up a bit for one last cache. While I was still figuring where to start looking, Donna cried, “I found it.”
A couple hours in the sun, 2-1/4 miles traveled, 700′ of it up hill, and 3 of 5 caches found, all in all a very pleasant January afternoon in Olene, Oregon.
