A Busy Couple Of Days

I don't know how it happens but you can get pretty busy in a day of retirement and before you know it, it's already past 6pm and dinner isn't ready. I didn't have a lot planned for Monday except ride my bike, walk the hounds and do some reading. That all changed after my first phone call to Sierra Vista Medical Group billing department. Like all other companies I wasn't talking to anyone that was working in Arizona, let alone in the town my doctor is located. This time it was a girl in Colorado. I had her confused in no time.  LOL

She promised to make the adjustment to my balance due for a payment I had proof I made November 21st but she did not see it anywhere on my account. Yeah, I know holidays get in the way of work but come on ... 11 days??? She also told me she would send me a confirmation of her adjustment so I asked "how, in what manner are you going to send it?" ... the word "manner" threw her off, she didn't answer so to make it easy for her I suggested EMAIL !!!! What a concept. When she did NOT ask for my email address I gave it to her because I'm such a nice guy after 45 minutes of confusion on the phone just after 8:30am. See where I'm going with this?  HaHa ... thought so.

I decided I'd give her a chance to process all that she was going to do ... a simple posting of my payment 11 days prior making the balance due ZERO. I had another cup of coffee to calm down, discussed philosophy with Stella as she stared back at me ... then called again. I knew I'd get another billing trained professional that could tell me if it was posted on my account or not. After all it is 2020 and most financial transactions can post in a fraction of a second as long as you are doing your job.

Why did it not surprise me that he didn't see anything that I told him about. Nor did I receive an email confirmation. The pieces to this puzzle was coming together fast and the final piece was to get some kind of warm clothes on, get in my car and head out to the local doctor's office so they could fix what their billing department could not. I knew the process and so did they ... you know how?

I'VE HAD TO DO THIS ONCE PER MONTH EVERY MONTHY SINCE MY SURGERY AND FIRST BILL.

Let's just say things turned out the way they should with some guidance from yours truly. I felt like I was working a job again, enough to know that I don't want to work any job again.  LOL

The best thing to relieve stress in my case is to ride a bicycle. It was a perfect time when I got back, almost 60°, sunny and very little wind. You can read about that ride if you want on my bicycle blog located on the sidebar.

I knew by the time I got back a few hours later, FedEx would have delivered my rock rails ordered for the 2007 FJ Cruiser. I am slowly building this to what I had in 2014, my first FJ Cruiser.

When the sunshine disappeared today, Stella was somewhat irritated. You can see she is upset and can't find a spot to lay done to sleep. She likes to sunbath not sleep on rocks in the shade.

Heidi may not look like it in this picture but the past week I have not seen as much energy from her in years as I have the last 4-5 days. She barks, sprints around the house faster than any camera can catch her, sleeps all through the night without waking me up and eats her kibble in half the time it takes Stella to finish.  She is also going on every morning walk that Stella and I take. She has walked more here in her new home than she did in years back in 'the tropics'.

The rock rails had arrived when I got home. They are in the boxes on the right. Shelving on the left is still waiting for my friend to come and get them. He told me again last week he would be over and wanted them for sure ... it's been two months now.

I had this vision I could do this job myself. 6 bolts on each side, can't be that hard. I didn't realize how heavy that rail was and with the brackets already welded to the rails, made the job even harder. Especially when I am laying on my back doing a bench press on the rail and trying to get it up and over one of the bolts so it can slide down in place. My hip was screaming louder than I was, although it was not cussing, like I was. It did not take long to decide to load everything up in the cargo area and call Toyota for an appointment to install them.

It took them a little under an hour to install them and pull the FJ around to be picked up. Another good thing about having them do it, as they applied the brakes I noticed I had a left brake light out. So while I paid the bill for installing the rock rails, they replaced the light bulb at no charge.

Right before I bought this, the previous owner bought and installed brand new stock Toyota wheels that come with the FJ. They look great but I prefer black wheels like my first Voodoo Blue had. I'll sleep on that question a few nights and see what kind of vibes I get.

This FJ is in awful good shape for a 2007 and only 97,xxx miles on it. If I was told I could only have two cars, I'd keep this FJ and my Mini Cooper S ... the same combo I had a few years ago.

Here's a picture of that first FJ I had ... rock rails, same color with black wheels.

So what happened today ... besides the appointment to Toyota, I was too busy for grocery shopping so I ordered online and they will be here between 5pm-6pm and it's 4:49pm as I type this. The biggest thing was my 3 month followup with the surgeon this morning. Again the hip and femur look fantastic, he is thrilled I am back to riding my bike like I was before my crash. I should feel completely normal in 8 months and he finished by telling me to come back and see him a year from now.  December 3rd, 2020.

Fry's is on the way ... that's all for tonight.

Is That Frost On My Car Windshield ???

I researched the winter weather here, before I decided to move to Southeastern Arizona. I plugged in small towns from New Mexico to Arizona. I didn't want to live in Yuma, Phoenix or southern Texas. I did not care that it would drop into the 30's while I was sleeping if the sun would warm the day up to the 50's in the months of December, January and February. So I chose to live where I do because there was just too many positive things to pass up. Yet it was a little surprising to glance out the window this morning and seeing frost on my car windshield as I opened the vertical blinds that Stella loves. I guess I should have kept those ice scrapers I threw away last May before I left Indiana.

I am going to start posting late afternoon or early evening Arizona time again ... kind of wraps of the day with photos and commentary. I like that better than spreading days over different posts.

It doesn't bother the hounds one way or another. They have the same routine 1,710 miles away. Get up, go outside, eat breakfast and then get back to sleep as soon as possible. Based on the tossed blankets and REI small camping pillow, which is out of the photo, Heidi must have gotten too hot last night and kicked everything to the side off of her bed.

Stella was sound to sleep when I left the computer room for my second cup of coffee. She must have heard me unlock the front door to step outside to take that photo of the car and truck windows. She doesn't like to miss food or walks and can hear both in a deep sleep. I wonder sometimes if she would like to put me on a leash so she can stay near me all the time. She never sleeps too far away from me after four years and three months of rescuing her.

We are going for her walk this morning, the temperature will not matter since it's not as drastic as winter temps in Indiana were, plus the sunshine is bright this morning. I like morning walks more than afternoon walks, less traffic, less distractions for her and Heidi.

While I was getting ready to watch my day of college football, Stella decided to soak up some warm sunshine, which had not been around since last Tuesday morning. She evidently found the warmest part of the yard and wasn't going to move. She sat motionless for a long time before laying down.

During one of the commercials of the game I didn't see Heidi or Stella anywhere inside. They were not on the patio soaking up the sunshine. Look where I found them. It was in the low 50's but at 4,300  feet elevation the sun is hot and it feels much warmer than the temperature. This is the temperature range I found on climate data for a winter day. I can live with that.

After my team blew a 24-10 lead, something I have seen too many times over my lifetime, I was swearing to my friends online that if they end up losing this game "that is it, I'll never watch another ... ever". Well I grew up watching Indiana football and basketball. My dad was a coach and graduated from Indiana U, as I did and my younger brother. So I am use to terrible football records and blown games. But damn ... heading for one of the best seasons in Indiana football history ... then blowing this game would put me over the edge of insanity.  When it was 38-38 starting the 2nd overtime I came so close of turning the game off.

My friend in Chicago, also an IU alumnus, texted she was leaving the tv on with the sound turned off in the other room that she could not watch anymore. "If they win ... I'll go in rewind and watch the game, IF they lose I'll delete what was taped."

IU beat their hated rival 44-41 for their 8th win ... for the only the 8th time in 130 years of playing football, winning that many games. They have only won 9 games in a season TWICE in 130 years. Maybe now you can understand my intensity, when "it's just a game Steve".

After the game, I planted that ugly patio chair of mine out in the center of my backyard facing the sunshine and still able to see the mountains, smoking my 'victory cigar' ... it could be my last. Not because they may never win again ... I just don't like smoking that much, plus cigars are not healthy.

I didn't have my phone with me to take a photo but Stella was passed out on the patio, hanging over the side of it, sleeping in the sunshine. She had a rough day moving from place to place inside and outside to find the perfect place to nap.

Remember when I said that food could wake her up from a deep sleep. Well she was smelling steaks on a grill. Not our grill. Not her grill. The neighbor's grill. But to her or any bloodhound based on the "Bloodhound Property Laws" ... that is her steak, not theirs. Once she found out that she was not eating steak on a Saturday afternoon to celebrate the IU victory ... she headed inside JUST IN TIME .... to see the Papa Johns Pizza delivery man at the door. How lucky could she get.

She and Heidi took their normal portions whenever I am eating something while sitting on the couch, which usually involves watching a football, baseball or basketball game. They don't move an inch, they don't blink their eyes ... they are focused on nothing else but getting a piece of the pizza crust or a plain breadstick. Just one piece will not be enough either and I'm not sure they even taste it since it disappears so fast in their mouths. Let's just say they had a good snack.

Just because I had nothing else on my plate did not mean that Stella was finished begging. She always tries to get closer to the action if she thinks she can sway me into giving her one more piece of whatever she has been sharing with me. She will also sit there for a long time, not blinking ... once she figures out the snack is over and nothing else is going to be served ... she pouts with her head lowered.

Commercial time or halftimes of football games are always a nice time to head outside and see what the sky is doing. In this case I just barely caught the sunset.

All iPhone pictures today.

Just in case some readers may not know that use a phone or table to read the blog ... at the bottom of your screen you will see a link called "web version" .. if you click that link you will see the normal website as you would on a computer which includes the sidebars. There you can see other bloggers listed or the blog archive for posts all the way back to 2011. I also added some old favorite blogs I followed in the past back on the sidebar. Take a look, maybe one that you followed is back there on the list.

I am not a coffee expert. I always thought it was the water, filtered or tap, that made the difference in how the coffee taste. Some friends reminded me it wasn't that at all, it was the coffee maker that makes the difference. How could it ... there is hot water being poured over grounds then into your pot no matter if it is a Mr. Coffee, a Bunn or a Cuisenart coffee maker. Well after almost 20 years using a Bunn, two different makers, I found out the maker does make a difference in taste ... a big difference.

I tried the cheap route and bought a Mr Coffee. I returned it after two days of use. I hauled the leaking old Bunn coffee maker out of the garage trash to hold me over until Amazon shipped the Cuisinart maker I bought. After the FIRST CUP of coffee made by the Cuisnart I found out my friends were right ... the coffee machine makes a difference in the taste of coffee. One of my best purchases even if I only drink two cups per day.

I like riding my bike in the morning, right after getting back from Stella's walk. That was the summer routine up to the point of my crash. By the time I was back to riding after my surgery, the temperatures had cooled enough in the mornings where I didn't want to ride until the afternoons so the temps were above 50°. So I am in a little bit of conflict ... if I wait for warmer temps in the afternoon, by that time I have found something else I want to do besides ride a bicycle.

If I ride in the morning like I want, I am going to have to wear cycling clothes, which I have, to combat the temps in the 30's and 40s, depending how early I ride. I find that riding that early in the morning kinda sets the day up for me. I feel better whenever I ride, mentally and physically. Then I have all day to do what I need to do whether it be errands, hanging out with the hounds, reading books or possible roadtrip ... there is not that interruption in the day to change into cycling clothing and riding for an hour or two. In the mornings it does not feel like I am interrupting anything ... just getting a start on the new day.

I ended up not riding. By the time the afternoon rolled around to where I planned to ride I was on a different project. Cup of coffee in hand, two sleeping hounds in the sunshine, I parked my chair on the edge of the patio and enjoyed the day.

It was a nice relaxing day today, where we didn't do much as you can see. In retirement sometimes you don't have to do anything to enjoy what you have.

Sunny days are back here in the 'Wild West'.

The Sun Is Back

The weather channel on Tucson news last night said we had received 1.3" of rain and wind gusts as high as 53mph on Thursday and Friday. My friend in Phoenix sent me a live video of I-40 and I-17 closed due to blizzard conditions, her snowboarding plans in Flagstaff were cancelled. The news showed photos and interviews with owners that had large 5th wheels tipped over, trees blown down on top of houses ... so maybe what I witnessed the past few days wasn't the norm. It all came from that "bomb cyclone" off the coast of California. As you can see, none of that bothered Stella.

Whereas back in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana, I could always tell when then winds were high up on hill because the old house had storm windows that would rattle. I could hear the tree limbs blowing and only hoped they stayed on the trees and not on my house. Here about all I could hear was air getting into the vents leading to the roof and making noise. Thursday night while out I had my first encounter with tumbleweed blowing in front of my car ... it was almost as big as the front end of the RAV4 as I dodged it. This is a small sample that blew over the  fence and in the yard.

I didn't have any plans of riding my bike outside on Friday. I had at least one football game I wanted to watch and after that I spent time on Grand Tursimo 6. Moving from GT5 I have to start over. Although I am at the Professional Level of driving on GT5 I have to start all over from the Novice Level with slower small cars, drivers test to obtain license and experience enough to be able to enter races. I am moving through the different levels fairly quick. The graphics with each new update is amazing.

By late afternoon the wind was slowing down. The skies were breaking up all the cloud cover. The mountains that were invisible the past few days were back on the horizon with a little more dusting of snow on top. Still all mountain roads were closed. The visitor centers were closed. Hwy 92 south of me was flooded as well as Hwy 90 heading east to Tombstone or Bisbee. I have a feeling again, that this storm was not the normal winter storm or weather.

I moved the trash can from the garage black outside since it was safe and would not be blowing down the street, although it is a large container furnished by the city. The patio chair and blanket were returned to the spot on the patio. Although windy, no danger of blowing around the yard banging against the concrete block fence like I witnessed on Thursday. The hounds slowly migrated around the yard, checking on the new scent.

What they found were a few spots of standing water and Stella couldn't figure out why that small bundle of tumbleweed was in one of her favorite spots to sleep. I felt like I wanted to ride for a short time but good weather has spoiled me in my short time here and I found it really hard to change into bike clothes that would keep me warm and dry ... I'll try it today when it's back in the 50's mid afternoon.

I forgot to mention when I bought the new iPad Pro the other day, it came with one year of Apple TV for free. I don't need the box or remote as I can see all the games and movies I want to watch on any Apple device. I might have to expand my electronic knowledge and check that out. My iMac has a really good quality picture when it comes to watching college football games live when I can't get the IU games on tv.

This weekend is big for College Football. Throw out all of the won and loss records for the teams because when they are playing their rivals, many of them in-state rivals, games get exciting and come with a few surprises. My first game starts at 10am today but Stella and I will be taking our first walk since last Tuesday. Currently she is asleep in the corner of the computer room so she might not be excited about that walk until she sees me putting on a jacket and grabbing her leash ... THEN she gets excited.

By sundown last night I was feeling pretty confident of the weather forecast. It was going to be back to at least 10 straight days of dry weather, some partly cloudy and temps eventually reaching into the 60's as daily highs. I plan to have a big week of bicycling with a goal to get in over 100 miles of riding from Monday - Sunday. The hip feels cold damp weather. I wonder if that is going to be an ongoing thing for the rest of my life? Otherwise it is getting stronger by the day and I catch myself doing more movements in a normal way.

The overnight temps were dropping to the low 30's. I wasn't taking any chances and left the heater on automatic with the thermostat set in the low 60s. Even with cold temps this house made of tile floors and stucco covered walls does not get as cold as my older house did back in 'the tropics'. I never heard the heater turn on during the night. The hounds are back to sleeping through the night so I am now the only one getting up during the dark hours. Stella will let me sleep until 6:22am, about sunrise, not because she needs or wants to go outside but because she wants to eat !!!!  I have never had a hound in 32 years that loves food as much as she does.

A new day is breaking down by Bisbee and across the Mexican border on the right side of the picture. It does the mind good to see sunshine skies instead of howling winds and rain.

I took all of the photos on Thursday with my Canon 9X but compared to the new iPhone 11 Pro Max ... there isn't one. The iPhone camera blows the Canon picture quality away. You can see the differences between the two pictures below.

Well I have to get going here. After three days of being cooped up in the house I am wanting to get outside for a walk this morning almost as bad as wanting to get on a bike and just cruise around the neighborhood or town. Lots of football today so I'll see if I fit in some bike riding for an hour or so in the afternoon. There's always tomorrow if I don't ride today.

An interesting tidbit for those that blog or are computer experts ... let me know what you think. A few weeks ago I moved my old domain name from my Wordpress blog that I was no longer using, back to this blog where it originated. I tested and made sure the free Blogger domain name would still lead to the blog when clicked or typed by readers. Those urls are linked. Yet after changing the blog to the domain name dot com, my blog traffic has decreased over 50%. Some of the readers I don't see nor hear from since the change a few weeks ago. Any ideas? Maybe I'll park the domain name at GoDaddy and return to the free Blogger domain name for this blog.

Weather is back to normal here in the 'Wild West'.

When It Rains It Doesn't Stop

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.