That's the hounds a few days ago in drier weather but it's the same look they had yesterday as they stepped outside for one of their million trips outside. The rain was loud, heavy and the wind was blowing rain in their faces. Consequently I was not standing in the yard to take a head on picture of them. It started Tuesday night while I was sleeping and between then and now, Thanksgiving morning, there have been few periods of time where it stopped raining. Gonna be some rambling in this post.
With the forecast showing rain through today and tonight, I didn't have any plans of riding my bike outside yesterday or today. At this time of morning when I took the photo it was in the 40's and windy. I decided I would put one of my bicycles back on the indoor trainer so I could get some riding indoors during days like this. Riding makes my hip feel better and sitting around causes it to tighten up, become stiff and sore.
I was enjoying the cloud formations while drinking my morning coffee. It was just 10 or 11 days ago that Stella and I were on top, on the backside of Carr Canyon where the sunshine was so bright I was sunburn on my head and face after forgetting to bring my ballcap. No worries though with this weather ... over the course of the year it will rain 11" and have sunshine over 300 days out of the year. I can definitely live with that.
I had mentioned before I had not made up my mind yet on whether I was going to cook the full out Thanksgiving Dinner as I have in past years. As today got closer I lost that urge to cook all of that food. As I drove around town yesterday for a few things, the parking lots of Walmart, Fry's Market and Safeway confirmed that I did not want to go shopping. It was late last night where Fry's sent me an email telling they were still delivering groceries within the hour if I wanted to place an order. Tempting but the urge to cook was gone.
Over the years of reading my blog you may have guessed I am not real big on holidays. When living near family or having more family members I did enjoy them a lot more but I missed a few of them even then. So today it will be okay to me if I pass on the traditional food for today in exchange of pasta, maybe a steak and baked potato or a big pot of beans. Hard to say where the menu will end up today.
With the rain pouring yesterday I still had the urge to get out of the house. I jumped in the truck and headed for Huachuca City to try out the Camino Cafe. I had saw so many good things about it on one of the local Facebook Groups I follow. I was somewhat disappointed as I waited almost 25 minutes for a soft taco and a burrito. It was a small restaurant and only two other tables were occupied. The food was good but not really different than what I had at Rodolfo's in Sierra Vista last week. I expected the Carne Asada soft taco and burrito to be hot but it was ice cold.
The rain had let up just enough after I returned from town for Stella to come outside and double check the weather. She didn't stay out longer than relieving herself before trotting back inside. She is pretty smart for a bloodhound.
One of my favorite hangouts in town as been the Sun and Spoke Bicycle Shop. Mark and Chris never mind talking to me and others while they are either putting new bikes together or repairing them. I call this the "mountain bike shop" because both of them and most of the customers are into riding mountain bikes on trails instead of road bikes on roads like I do. Even in bad weather they were still doing their weekly Wednesday night ride out towards Brown Canyon, using headlights that are brighter than any car or truck headlights. I laughed as I turned down their offer to join them.
From there I had to test myself. I had to see just how much discipline I had. I had to make a trip to Best Buy and see if I could walk out of there without a new camera, new computer, new something. With "Black Friday Deals" starting, there were more blue shirts walking around that store than customers. Of course each of them had to ask me if I was finding everything okay. I felt no urges to buy anything and I look at things from one end of the store to the other.
I played with the new MacBook Pro 13" and 16", so I could give a review to my friend up in Phoenix that is tormenting herself on which one to buy. They were very nice but like all new computers, they are faster, can store more, better picture blah blah blah ... I'll stick with my 2017 iMac and 2015 MacBook Air.
I wasn't finished though ... I held a case in my hand for my 2017 iPad Mini ... and put that back on the rack although it had a sale price of $9.99. I headed toward the camera department. I noticed no change of my heart rate in anticipation. My Apple watch was showing me I was clicking at 68bpm. No signs of adrenaline to buy a new camera. They don't have much on display in this store so my exploration was short. I did pick up a 55mm lens hood for $4.99.
That is Stella last night ... taken with my Canon 9X that I like but don't like the black spot on the sensor. I bought a memory card for that yesterday for less than $10 so I could use the camera some more. I'll edit out the black spot when it appears because I don't have the tools nor the motivation to take those small screws out so I can get to the sensor to clean it. I think Greg showed how he did it on his blog sometime this year.
All of those mountains we normally see were gone this morning ... every direction, nowhere to be found.
With $10 worth of purchases in my hand I headed over to the PlayStation section. I've had a PS3 for years and the PS2 before that because I was/am addicted to a racing game called Grand Turismo. My copy is Grand Turismo 5 and I was looking for 6 for my current machine. Of course with Black Friday deals their new PS4 with a Tb of hard drive was on sale for $199 ... tension was NOT building. I just wanted a low priced GT6.
One of those blue shirts came out of nowhere in the attack mode. These people are awful aggressive for not being on commission. He was a "gamer", and I could tell by his face he was somewhat shocked this old man with white hair was keeping up the pace in the conversation. Really the only difference between us and our knowledge of PlayStations and video games were the number of tattoos he had where I have none. It must hurt like hell to have that huge hole in his ear lobe to fit in that 1/2" black ring. I've been pretty drunk before but have never thought of something like that in my crazy decision process.
He did tell me some great information. He did NOT try to sell me a new machine. He DID tell me where I could find GT6 right here in town. I had seen the GameStop online when I did searches for used video games in the past. I did NOT know there was a real store right here in town. He told me he was sure I'd find what I was looking for at that store and for a price less than $10. I took one final look around Best Buy and found nothing major I wanted to buy. With a $5 lens hood, an SD Memory card less than $10 and a $5 DVD movie Caddyshack ... I was pretty proud of myself and the test I had just passed. I walked in the hardest rain I saw all day towards the truck and headed to GameStop.
Packed with new and used video games. I can assure you that I was the oldest person in there. Ha Ha. There it was ... Grand Turismo 6, on sale plus a 'used' price. No signs of scratches on the bottom of the disc, like new ... $9.99
I was finished and had done everything I wanted. It was past 3pm and I wondered if Stella might be howling to the moon since I was late for serving afternoon kibble. I knew that Heidi would meet me at the door and if it was quiet that meant I'd find Stella sound to sleep in her large crate. New blinds still intact, no holes dug in the wet backyard and no signs of attempted escape ... the crate works very well. She was stretched out sleeping and didn't know I was about to unlock the two small padlocks so I could open her door.
Seems like as much as I try to get away from 'the new hip', that many more people want to know how it's going. Is there pain anytime? Does it click when you walk? Can you feel the metal in cold wet weather? WHY are you riding a bike again, are you afraid of crashing again? I'm surprised you are doing all you are doing? What does the doctor say? Do you want to sell any of your bicycles now that you cannot ride? Ha Ha. .... these are from emails, texts, in person or on phone calls. No harm and I don't mind answering them but I am trying to move completely away from the situation and move on.
I don't feel the hip most of the time. At times there is not a soreness but 'something' is in there that is different. It does not click when I walk. I am close to getting in and out of all my cars and the truck the 'normal way'. I can when getting in and out of bed. I am not afraid of wrecking again on a bicycle no matter how fast I go. My top speed was 36 mph on my last ride on Monday. I cross those sandy loose rocks every ride where I went down. I am focused all through the turn and I wave at no one I see riding or walking. I might be selling my mountain bike but all the road bikes are staying where they are at.
I do admit I feel better after my doctor's appointment on Tuesday. I don't have that feeling of something 'hanging over my head' or that 'big elephant in the room'. It's good to know someone else agrees with what I read, what I eat and the bicycling I do. That person happens to have MD after their name but in the grand scheme of things that may not be important.
In a day or two I'll be back to having sunsets like this. I have already grown tired of cold weather and rain and it's not even cold really but I am just a hot weather person. Also like in the past I have lost my train of thought on this post and can't remember everything I was going to say. I'm sure there is something I have forgot to write about.
Today will be some Grand Turismo 6 as I get back to the same driving level as I have in 5. Those results are not transferable. The NFL games will be turned on today but mostly as background noise unless something is happening that is worth sitting down and watching. I have a lot of food to choose from but none of it is what you would expect on this holiday. It could be nothing more than roasted chicken breasts and steamed broccoli.
For some strange reason I have had the urge for a little bit of whiskey and a nice flavored cigar. How wild is that? I could put on my rubber Columbia pants and rain jacket, sit outside on the patio and ENJOY the weather with a sip of whisky to keep me warm and a cigar to remind me how messed up I can be sometimes ... how unhealthy can I be??? LOL
So here is living proof that I am blogging when I feel like it ...
Seattle weather here in the 'Wild West.