SkyFest 2022

 All kinds of traditions are returning. We had Bloomsday earlier this month, we will have the Lilac Parade in a week and today we had SkyFest.

SkyFest is an event at nearby Fairchild Air Force Base. The base is open to the public and there are lots of aircraft to see and aerial demonstrations of all kinds. The stars this year were the Thunderbirds, the Air Forces elite formation flying squadron.

We didn't want to go out to the base and face the throngs of people but we settled on driving out to Airways Heights and watching from the parking lot of a grocery store, along with several other people who had the same idea.

The show was really awesome. Those jets are loud and they are fast. I took over 200 pictures and these were among my best.

Maybe next year we'll go all the way and attend on base. I'm going to need a chair. Maybe a walker.

2022 Pool Plunge

April 29th is the Annual Marge Arndt Pool Plunge. Marge was Tammy's Mom who died a few years ago. Every year on her birthday, she would jump in the pool. The completely unheated pool. In April.

We have carried on the tradition since her death. This year was the sparsest turn out so far, but that's okay in a post Covid world.

That's Tammy, Fat Stan and Shelby keeping the tradition alive.

  

So we made it over to the Hub about 12:20 and started drinking beer.

The run was scheduled to start at 1:00. We had fun and ended up with an Honorable Mention for the Costume Contest.

We knew we were better than that but we won last year so we suspected it would not be our year.

Nonetheless, we looked pretty awesome.  

BatGrampa

 So here is how my mask came out. It's not exactly7 what I was hoping for but it's okay. The Hub Fun Run is tomorrow and we will be ready.

Hub Fun Run 2022 Prep

Have I ever talked about the Hub? It's the Hub Tavern. It's one of the things that makes this neighborhood so great. It's located three blocks away on the corner of Monroe and Fairfield. That's about a five minute walk. so we go there a lot.

This Saturday, April 23rd, is their fourth or fifth annual fun run. It is .o8 miles long. You run from the Hub, two blocks south to the Mosey Inn, chugg (sip) a beer and run back. The record is about two and a half minutes.

There is a theme to the run every year and this years them is Batman and Joggin'. So it's Super Hero themed.

Susan and I won the Costume Contest last year. See the post from April ?? So we are motivated to have good costumes again. Susan is obviously going as CatWoman and I'm going as Batman.

I have a vague idea for the custom loosely based on the Adam West Batman.

Today I began work on the Bat Cowl. Here's what I have so far.

I still have a couple more days working with the paper mache, getting the things defined and ready for painting. I must admit it doesn't look like much here. 

2022’s First Mow

 I don’t remember ever keeping a record of my earliest mow of the year but I think today might qualify for that distinction.

The lawn was not really that bad but I had a bunch of leaves I wanted to suck up so mowing seemed like the right choice. 

Susan is not happy that I chose to mow. In fact, she has been lobbying for us to hire a mowing service. I am against that for two reasons: 

A) I’m retired with not a lot to do. Mowing not only gives me something to do but it gives me some exercise. I admit that when I am finished with mowing I am quite spent. But I know how to pace myself and I can mow the lawn in sections over a couple of days if I need to.

And B) I don’t feel like paying someone to do something I have the time and ability to do.

And 3) What am I going to do with my mower, which started on the fourth pull today after a loooooong winter slumber.

In any event, that’s one mowing down.

ChatNoir

About six weeks ago, this little black cat started hanging around the deck.

At first it was very skittish and would run off whenever I went outside. My neighbor told me she thought it was getting into their cats food. It was also eating the peanuts that I left out for the squirrels.

So, we reluctantly decided to feed it. We named her ChatNoir. Noir for short. I made a little house out of a Styrofoam cooler for it to sleep in and hopefully stay a little warm. We had some really cold nights a few weeks back. 

By the way, we haven't confirmed her sex but believe her pronouns to be she, her and they.

As we began to feed her, she warmed up to us pretty quickly. We were thinking she was feral but she really liked being petted. She would weave her way through your legs and rub up on you.

Then, for no reason at all, she will take a swipe at you and try to bite. This feature of her personality made us decide this cat had to go.

We tried to fit it into the schedule to trap her and taking her to SCRAPS, the local animal control authority.

I finally got around to it last Wednesday, March 23rd. I waited until about 11:30 to feed Noir. I had the trap set up and placed a can of wet food in the trap. She finally came by, smelled it, and figured out how to get to it. She walked onto the plate that sets off the trap and began eating. Nothing happened. I ended up having to go out there and trip the trap door.

I loaded her into the truck and drove to SCRAPS for the drop off. She was clearly not very happy.

I told them the story of how we came about having her and explained that she was a nice cat but would lash out unexpectedly.

They explained to me that if they determined she was feral and therefore unadoptable, they would return her to the neighborhood where she came from after having her fixed. They would clip her ear to indicate she had been processed.

She showed up back on the deck today. Two days later. She had a clipped ear. They made no attempt to adopt her out.

So now, we are ignoring her. We taped some cardboard to the French Doors to prevent her from looking in. Really, it prevents us from seeing her looking at us and wondering why we're not feeding her. 

We're looking for some other alternative for this cat but because of her unpredictable nature, we don't want her around.

It's really going to be hard to be so callous towards this cat but we don't have any other options.

      

Should Be Skiing

It looks like a semi good day on  Mt. Spokane. It's overcast here in the city but the mountain is above it all...mostly.

Here is a progression of pictures I took off the website from Chair Number Three.

You can see the fog move in and up the mountain.

It's really foggy at the lodge.

Not much is on the agenda for today. We are going out to lunch around 1 or 2 o'clock. Susan had lunch plans with the girls but it fell through.

When I'm finished here, I'll go find some stuff to do.    

Hot Tub Cleaning

 Several weeks ago I made a major faux pas with the hot tub. I have been using bromine based chemicals to maintain the water and my supplier stopped selling it. So I bought chlorine based chemicals that replaced the old stuff.

I should have drained the tub containing the bromine chemicals because when I added the chlorine, the water turned yellow. The two systems are not compatible.

So it took me until today to fix the problem. The tub has been drained and there is scorched earth area of my front lawn where the old water went. I’m going to put some ice melt down on the sidewalk to prevent the water that made it that far from icing up.

I just checked the tub and it is almost half way full. Once the water covers the heating duct, I can turn on the pump and heater and begin the reheating process. It might even be ready tonight.

The heat is on now and it should not be much longer before the tub is full.

It’s taken me less than two hours to complete this little project. I haven’t yet decided whether to use the chlorine chemicals or find a new outlet for bromine, which I’m much more used to.

Now it’s time for some Gonzaga Basket Weaving. Today they are weaving their way through the Bronco Boys from Santa Clara.

Later: Gonzaga appears to be well on the way to winning this basket weaving game. With less than three minutes, they are up by 34 weaves.

A Little Later: It's 5:00 and I just checked the tub. It will not be ready for tonight unless one wants to get into 50° water.

Precarious Treachery

I've been going to Northtown Mall to walk for the last couple of weeks. Originally, it was just too cold for a walk. Then the sloppy nature of winter and several un shoveled sidewalks kept me at the mall.

This morning, Susan and I ventured out to circle the park. It's a bright sunny day with the temperature in the 40's.

However, the sidewalks were still pretty treacherous. We didn't even get past our property before I had a near fall on a patch of ice. 

So much rain fell that it has pooled up in low spots of the sidewalks, requiring us to walk up on peoples lawns that at least were snowy, although very crusty.

We managed to make it around but it was precarious.

We have some Christmas decorations to stow today and then we are going out to watch Gonzaga play Basketball against Pepperdine.     

After the Snow

I estimate that about se7en inches of snow fell yesterday. It started to rain about 4:00 and the rain continued well into the night. It was still raining when I got up around 1:00AM.

The streets around the neighborhood are sloppy messes right now but the main arterials and bare and wet. So I use four wheel drive in the neighborhood and switch back to two wheel when I get to the main roads.

I would say the snow plow crews have done a pretty good job. It's 43° out right now and it looks from the forecast as though our cold spell is over.

I managed to knock down that problem icicle I referenced yesterday. I'm still not convinced that there is not a problem with pooling water up there. I'm sure there is a good puddle of water up in that crevice where the roofs meets. I'm depending in the new roof to keep that water from leaking down the wall as it once did.

I'm keeping an eye on it.

My job for today is to get all the Christmas stuff put away up in the Carriage House.    

Thursday for the Retired Guy

 There is at least four inches of fresh snow on the ground and it is still snowing. I'm not heading out to snow blow until the snow quits. They don't expect the snow to stop for a while yet.

So I am hanging out here in my office area in the back bedroom and figuring out my day.

I guess I will get dressed and go out and take some pictures.

I did some preliminary clean up. Just enough to make a path to the garage and clear the front steps.

I measured the snow on the deck rail and it was five inches deep.

I just asked Alexa when the snow would end and it responded the snow would stop in about 15 minutes. It's still coming down at a good rate and I don't expect it to stop that soon. In fact, the flakes were pretty large when I was taking these pictures but they are much smaller right now.

To quote a bit of Native American wisdom, "Big Snow, Little Snow. Little Snow, Big Snow!"

To simplify, if the snow flakes falling are large, it's not going to snow very much. If they are small, look out.

Well, I'm looking out for now.

I was hoping that the new roof would eliminate this little problem we have every year. I'm going to have to knock this icicle down. But what I really need to do is remember what I did with the heat cable I took down and get it back up there.

It's been 20 minutes and the snow is still falling. However, now the flakes are really small.

3:54PM: I finally started snow blowing about 11:00 and I finished around 1:30. I think there was a good six inches on the ground. I had to take it slow and about 3/4 of a swath to blow efficiently.

My block is now safe.

Snowin' and Blowin' and Skiin'

 I awoke to four inches of snow this morning. It was light and easily snow blown away. I covered my usual territory and kept the block free of slippery sidewalks.

After blowing, I went skiing with my life long friend Robba. We skied seven runs but it was not pretty for me. My stamina continues to vex me. I make a few turns and then stop to rest and catch my breath. I don't feel confident in my abilities anymore. I am now pretty much a fair weather skier.

I remember when my Dad became a fair weather skier. I was really caught off guard because he had always been such a gung ho ski guy. Suddenly, he was skiing three runs and heading for the lodge.

Well, I continue to turn into my Dad.

We have more snow on the way tonight. They are saying it's possible that seven inches could fall. We shall see. I'm not holding my breath though.

Frosty Holiday Lights

 We did indeed go and check out some Holiday lights last night. There is a thing going on out at the fairgrounds called Northwest Holiday Lights. They have a bunch of displays like this.

It cost $17.00 for each of us to get in and it really wasn't worth it.

Part of the problem was that it was 9° out. They had a couple of heating stations which was helpful, but 9° is not a pleasant temperature to be out in. Especially at our age.

We think we might be able to salvage the experience by using some of the pictures I took for next years Christmas Card.

Happy Twenty Twenty-Two!

There are few simple pleasures better than sleeping in on New Years Day. We had an uneventful evening that we spent over at our friends, Randy and Karen.

We had a nice dinner, played some games, and toasted the New Year at midnight.

I ended up staying up until almost three, which is five hours later than I normally go to bed.

We are going over to Northtown Mall shortly to walk. It's far too cold to walk outside for any length of time.

The rest of the day shall be peaceful without a lot of activity. We might go see some Christmas light later. Then, it all comes down tomorrow.

Gonzaga vs Northern Alabama

I got a call yesterday from my friend Ron. He had access to two tickets to the Gonzaga basketball game at 2:00 and wanted to know if I wanted them.

Not just yes, but HELL YES!

Tickets to Zags games are a hot commodity these days and it turns out that these tickets are great seats.

I recorded the game so we could see if you can see us.

And you can. Obviously, you can't tell it's us. But I assure you it is.

We had a great time. It was a great way to spend a chilly afternoon.   

After Christmas Monday

 We are heading into a cold spell for the next week. It's 20° right now and that is going to be the high for the week. They are projecting a low of zero on Wednesday.

It snowed enough last night for me to break out the snow blower this morning and hit the neighborhood. It's been threatening to snow more, but so far it hasn't happened.

I'm using my time today to set up an office space for me. I have kept this laptop computer down on the kitchen table and I gather too much crap too quickly there and soon, the table doesn't have a bare spot on it. 

So I'm setting up in the upstairs back bedroom. We have a good long counter space there which will be good for me to work on the computer away from the TV and give me some drawing space as well.

There is a shit load of clutter on the counter right now and I'm trying to de-clutterize. (Is that a word?)

My other main goal for today is to fix our EdenPure heater that we use in the kitchen. A couple of years ago, the power switch on it stopped working. The heat and electricity going through it finally cooked it. I managed to find some replacement switches through Granger.com but they are not sturdy enough to last very long. I got six last year and I have used them up. 

Needless to say, I am now quite adept at replacing the switch. I ordered some new ones directly from EdenPure so they should be built to take the amps and heat that the heater produces.

We shall see.

Later: Well, that didn't go well. I got the new switch in and it has power. However, there must be something else going on because the heater never came on. Now I'm going to have to really dig into and check the heating elements.

Merry Christmas

 It’s Christmas Day and I’m writing this on my iPad. I have resisted blogging on the iPad because it is a little difficult. However, we’ve cleaned off the table in preparation of tonight’s Christmas dinner. My son Scott is coming over with his boss and girlfriend. (They are two different people.)

Anyway, we’ve cleaned off the table and put my computer away. Hence the iPad.

Susan and I had a nice Christmas morning. We opened our presents and enjoyed Peppermint Patty’s. Now we are just hanging out, prepping dinner and watching “A Christmas Story” on TV.

I got a set of heated seat pads for my truck and a membership to Triple A. 

Susan got a new robe and slippers and a heated steering wheel cover.

There is a little snow on the ground and we are getting ready for a really cold week.

Merry Christmas!

Jolly Holiday Lights

We had a nice snowfall over night...about 4 inches. Then it warmed up and rained. We still have snow but I think it's supposed to rain off and on through the night.

It's snowing on Mt Spokane and they are open.

Last night, we went to see the Holiday Lights at Manito Park. This is the second year they have done this. Last year, we took Mom and drove through. The congestion was massive and it took about 45 minutes to get to the start.

This year, they had the drive thru option until last night when it turned into a walk thru event. There was a good turn out but we got through it much faster. The hardest part was walking to and from where we parked the car.  But I consider it my mile walk for the day.   

Spokane Icon

I took the following picture back on May 24th, shortly after the White Elephant closed its doors forever.

I have been chronicling the demolition of the building, which started Monday. Here are the results so far.

Another part of my childhood is gone.   

Snow Talk

 I am presently on line with the Mt Spokane webcams and I'm waiting for an update on the snow stake.

Shown above is the snow stake at just about 4PM when they supposedly come out and wipe off the snow that fell the previous day.

It is now 4:15 and nobody has cleaned it off yet. I have some other stuff to do on the computer so I'm going to continue to monitor until 4:30.

I'm not yet sure about the current conditions but the hill in front of the lodge looks pretty inviting. I don't think they are up to two feet yet.

Upon perusing the other ski resorts in the area, I found that Schweitzer and Lookout Pass are open.

Okay, it's 4:30 and I'm giving up.

DAMN! I missed it! Someone came out between 4:30 and 4:42. I'm going to catch them one of these days.

snowsnowsnow

It looks like Mt Spokane got between 2 and three inches of snow last night. They are still a long way off before they can open.

Here is how it looked last night at about 8:30PM.

And here is how that same camera looks today.

There is snow in the forecast for tonight so hopefully they will get a good dumping.  

Gas & Liquor

 I had an appointment with my accountant today to discuss some stuff involving Mom's estate. Her office is out at Liberty Lake so I took the opportunity to gas up the truck at State Line, Idaho ($3.24 per gallon) and buy some booze. It doesn't make financial sense to drive to Idaho just to get gas but when you combine it with a booze run, the savings are substantial.

I also had a gift card to use up at a bar in Liberty Lake so I had a nice lunch. Well...not a nice lunch. This bar does not prepare food to my liking. Last time in, I had a BLT sandwich. They used weird bread and it didn't hold together very well.

Today I had an Italian sandwich and it was served open face. I don't care for that. But I used up the card and I won't be going back.

Monday Snow

I came down to get the paper this morning and opened the front door to snow. It's nothing to get excited about yet. It is a light snowfall and it is not supposed to last long. But the good news is, if it's snowing here, it's snowing on Mt. Spokane. And that is indeed the case.

We still have a long way to go. Mt Spokane said they need a good two feet of snow in order to open. At this point, they have about eight inches.

 But it is snowing and there is more in the forecast for the week.

Let it SNOW!

A Christmassy Day

Today was the first day that our church moved from 9:30 to 10:00AM. We got to sleep in an extra half hour. 

After church we went downtown, dressed in our church finery, and met Randy and Karen for Bloody Mary's. After a nice B.M., we went to examine this years version of Christmas Tree Elegance at the Davenport Hotel. It's a fund raising event for the Spokane Symphony where you buy a bunch of tickets (25 for $25) and place your ticket stub in your favorite trees ticket bin. They will have a drawing and somebody (usually not us) will win the tree and all the stuff that goes with it. I believe there were 16 trees this year. We put tickets in most of them and some extras in the ones with big cash payouts.

We got home about 2:00 in time to watch the Seattle Seahawks. This is not their year. They were 3-8 going into todays game against San Francisco. They were three points down in the second period when we left the house to go over the river and through the woods to get a tree.

That baby cost us $65.00. We'll bring it in and decorate it tomorrow.

Upon our successful return we were pleased to discover Seattle was up by se7en. They managed to maintain that lead and win the game.

Now we are settled in for the evening and Susan is erecting Mantleville, our mantle based Christmas Village.

Here are some pictures of the erection.