I hope when I inevitably choke to death on gummy bears people just say I was killed by bears and leave it at that!
Great night’s sleep! Needed that! We sat around and talked with Colleen until we decided to go to lunch at Taco Surf. We jumped in the buggy and headed to the dining establishment where we again just enjoyed each others company… remembering… laughing… eating! The three of us spent a lot of time together over the years and recalling those great memories are fun!
Colleen and I agree on this!
Colleen headed north to Whittier to meet up with and have dinner with the Lind’s and watch a balll game with Miss Lilly dropping by brother Joe’s for a short visit. She returned home about 9:00 PM and joined us for tookies and Gillmore Girls…it was a good day!
I just found out I’m colorblind. The diagnosis came completely out of the purple!
I dropped like a rock last night and this morning the ol’ body awoke at 7:00 AM…Ouch! Time to meet Colleen at our favorite…Gourmet Pies! We met at 8:00 Am and enjoyed a super breakfast..harassed the waitress…laughed and giggled for a good hour!
Joe, Colleen and I share a sense of humor… We laugh at everything!
Colleen had a long day planned including a visit to Temecula and her grandparents gravesite to put flowers on it…she is a caring person. The grandparents were grand people who left us much too early! After looking at the dates, my folks could have easily been their folks as mine were both born about twenty years earlier.
We talked a lot about the grandparents… Colleen has a great memory of Sunday morning escapes to Santa Monica and stops by USC on the way home (so does Joe)
I spent the day in and out of the hospital trying to get Sue hijacked but alas, it took from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM to get all the doctors to “sign-off” for a release.
Diagnosis: Acute UTI; Toxic metabolic encephalopathy. Acute toxic–metabolic encephalopathy (TME) is a condition of acute global cerebral dysfunction manifested by altered consciousness, behavior changes, and/or seizures in the absence of primary structural brain disease or direct central nervous system (CNS) infection.
We went to California Pizza Kitchen at 6:15 PM with Colleen and grandson Connor after she escaped… time for a wine and a lot of fun sharing. We laughed and giggled until almost 9:00 PM at which time we had to high tail it to CVS to pick up some prescriptions. Sue was back to normal cracking hair jokes, at my expense, and laughing at all the old stories!
Great fun with family… Colleen, Connor, and me have similar senses of humor… Poor Sue!
We have not seen a lot of Connor recently as he had a new job so we agreed to figure out a way to see each other twice a month minimum! We will go to dinner or a show or something on a regular basis!
Connor headed home and Colleen and us watched TV until about 11:40 PM. We all laughed at the Gilmore Girls. Sue was feeling pretty good as we crashed for the day!
Easter tastes better than Halloween, and you don’t have to ring a lot of doorbells.
It’s 3:58 AM and something is wrong! I switched on the light and Sue was not doing well. Seizure and disorientation. I called 911 at 4: 03 AM and they arrived within minutes.
They love my flashing light I use
Quick trip to Los Alamitos Medical Center… I followed in about ten minutes knowing the drill well.
Four minutes to the Emergency Room
I followed as soon as I locked up the house, collected some stuff Sue would be needing…
I arrived at 4:15 AM and went directly into the ER
Worried…certainly but I had a suspicion that it might be another UTI.
By 6:23 Am they had already done a CT Scan and doing X-Rays not… The MRI they had planned was cancelled due to the aneurism operation last week!
She began to recognize me around 10:00 AM and the process of returning to normal was underway. Strong antibiotics and magnesium started the process.
The rest of the day I was in and out of the facility… I didn’t tell Colleen until late in the day as I wanted to spare her and her plans to visit family and friends. Irene came over late in the day when she was transferred into the regular hospital for overnight observation.
Colleen was busy around town and she went to my parent gravesite at the Inglewood Park Cemetery. When they were unturned, they was no option for a permanent flower vase but now there is and Colleen had a vase put at the head of Otis and Irene Ticker and my Mom and Dad. She is very thoughtful!
I remember them so very well…
The cell phone text application jumped into operation and I kept everyone appraised of what was happening.
It does not seem fair that this happens to such a nice person but there is a plan and we have to go along with it.
Easter is the single time in a year when it is safe to put all your eggs in one basket.
For many many years, we have had our family and friends over for a meal and then color eggs. As we got older, we decided going out was easier and we do the celebration ahead of Easter so as not to affect anyones family activities. Join the fun.
Easter 2019 Luncheon At The Himalayan Grille In Sunset Beach
It seems the older we get the more we just sit back and watch everyone and seeing our family together getting along and sharing is such a positive thing.
Here we go…we have three hours until we depart for lunch and we have to have everything ready for the invasion at 2:00 PM. Check check and re-check. We be ready!
Colleen joined us and went to the Himalayan Grill in our car. We had The Adams, Lind’s, Duda’,s Finch’s, plus Mitch and us! Grand kids, great grand kids and three daughters plus a son-in-law…. time for fun! Join us!
Click and join the fun!
After a super meal and loads of catching up, we headed to Rossmoor where we did a home invasion…pre-planned! Egg coloring kits were ready along with Cool Whip for the kinky…don’t ask! Join the fun!-
Fifty eggs later and lots of family sharing we were done!
We had planned to go to Garden Grove to dance but I was pooped. We had so much fun and got to play with the great grand kids and talk to the grand kids…it was time to relax!
Coloring The Eggs Easter 2019 With The Family = Masterpiece #1 from Cool Whip and Food Dye
We watched TV until about midnight and crashed….no tookies tonight as our bowl of peeps, chocolate Easter eggs, jelly beans, etc., seemed to have disappeared and no one was hungry! Suspicious!
The only other thing that happened today was our travel agent called and we are attempting to arrange to have family join us during segments of the world cruise…two weeks at a time maybe…fly them to one port and return from another….the details are still a bit sketchy.
Ham and eggs. A day’s work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
We are getting ready for coloring Easter Eggs tomorrow so we did some house cleaning. Our front walkway, which is concrete, had many dark spot where algae apparently took root. I was going to call a professional cleaner but read on-line that a dose of beach would do the job! Well, two gallons of bleach and a lot of scrubbing has the walkway “almost” new…algae went bye-bye. Looks pretty nice now!
After working for two hours scrubbing the concrete, I was tired! Then I thought to myself…
After a short beauty nap, we got ready to go to Topper’s. This is the first time we have met in the new venue and it was quite nice! Jan and Brian stopped by our place at 4:30 PM and we drove over together. The Grand in Long Beach is right down Katella/Wardlow from our home…perhaps 4. miles. So nice, NO freeways!
We had 56 people there this evening, nice turnout. We stayed until about 10:00 PM and decided to head for the barn as we had things to do before compnay arrives in the morning.
With the rise of self-driving vehicles, it’s only a matter of time before we get a country song where a guy’s truck leaves him too.
We are off to OC Airport to get Colleen and then we headed for lunch! Pickup was easy as they know the car well and was ready for us when we showed up. We headed to Seal Beach and went to the Yucatan Grill for some spicy Mexican food! Wine and tequila poured freely!
Indeed it is!
Returning home, we visited and shared with her for most of the afternoon. We walked the garden and Colleen assisted us in pulling the straw seeds that have germinated. Colleen borrowed our car and headed to where she grew up to visit her brother.
We watched TV and hit the sack around midnight after watching several episodes of Blue Bloods and NCIS…we have CBS TotalView and for $10/month, we get everything they have sans commercials AND it keep track of what we have already watched. Love technology!
I watched five minutes of news and then crashed…everything is normal…the liberals are staying consistent to their inconsistency!
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
No kidding….
Today was slow…perhaps God’s way of making us rest before the weekend gets here! We had lunch with Brian and Jan at Old Ship in Santa Ana. Always a pleasure but this time I could not record Brian’s stories as the restaurant was full of Brits watching soccer…however, I did remember the stories and will get him to retell them in a quite location so I can record them! Remember to look for a story about flying the British Comet aircraft in 1971.
1952 original version
Did You Know? The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world’s first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at its Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wing roots, a pressurised cabin, and large square windows. For the era, it offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952.
However, within a year of entering airline service, problems started to emerge, with three Comets lost within twelve months in highly publicised accidents, after suffering catastrophic in-flight break-ups. Two of these were found to be caused by structural failure resulting from metal fatigue in the airframe, a phenomenon not fully understood at the time. The other one was due to overstressing of the airframe during flight through severe weather. The Comet was withdrawn from service and extensively tested. Design and construction flaws, including improper riveting and dangerous concentrations of stress around some of the square windows, were ultimately identified. As a result, the Comet was extensively redesigned, with oval windows, structural reinforcements and other changes. Rival manufacturers meanwhile heeded the lessons learned from the Comet while developing their own aircraft.
Although sales never fully recovered, the improved Comet 2 and the prototype Comet 3 culminated in the redesigned Comet 4 series which debuted in 1958 and had a productive career of over 30 years.
We arrived at Old Ship about 11:30 AM and had a drink before Brian and Jan arrived at 12:15 AM…they were dealing with their real estate person and some people who parked in frot of their driveway!
Indeed the “Old Ship”
A pub, or public house, is an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, which traditionally include beer (such as ale) and cider. It is a relaxed, social drinking establishment and a prominent part of British, Irish, Breton, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Australian cultures. The Old Ship Restaurant and Pub is quite like the real thing according to Jan and Brian so we enjoy going there the they are in town!
When we arrived, the waitress knew us and put us in our favorite seal..away from the TV and loud part of the pub. She must like us as she brought me a plate of Scottish Eggs… something I love and it included pickled onions…my favorite.
Did You Know? There are a number of different theories about the origins and etymology of Scotch eggs. The London department store Fortnum & Mason claims to have invented Scotch eggs in 1851 but the name for the snack was supposedly derived from a nickname used by Londoners who lived around Wellington Barracks after Officers of the Scots Guards stationed there developed a taste for the snack.
According to Culinary Delights of Yorkshire, they originated in Whitby, Yorkshire, England, in the 19th century, and were originally covered in fish paste rather than sausage meat. They were supposedly named after William J. Scott & Sons, a well-known eatery which sold them. It has also been suggested that they were originally called “scorch” eggs, as they were cooked over an open flame.
The game was on when we first got there… really busy!
We laughed and giggled for two plus hours and dined on great English food. Sue and I both had the “Bloody Hot” Indian Curry while Jan and Brian did the extra large portion of their “UK Breakfast”.
Eggs, bacon, beans, tomatoes, and a banger ta’ boot… quite a meal!
We laughed about “blood Hot” and what that meant but it was quite spicy…not an eye popper…but definitely not for the faint of hart or mild of tunny!
The curry was wonderful and we got the lunch time size…a little smaller than dinner!
The gin and tonic was flowing and mine must have had a mickey in it as I came home and crashed for 90 minutes.
Did You Know? In slang, a Mickey Finn—or simply a Mickey—is a drink laced with a psychoactive drug or incapacitating agent (especially chloral hydrate) given to someone without their knowledge, with intent to incapacitate them. Serving someone a “Mickey” is most commonly referred to as slipping someone a mickey.
The Mickey Finn is most likely named after the manager and bartender of the Lone Star Saloon and Palm Garden Restaurant, which operated in Chicago from 1896 to 1903, on South State Street in the Chicago Loop neighborhood. In December 1903, several Chicago newspapers document that a Michael “Mickey” Finn managed the Lone Star Saloon and was accused of using knockout drops to incapacitate and rob some of his customers.
Brian and I downed two each of these little suckers…. wow!
We departed for home about 3:00 PM after a great afternoon of story telling and sharing. After my well deserved nap, I popped off to BB&B to get some last minute supplies for our visitor…wanna make sure all it OK!
Our puzzle did not make it…we had not gone far enough to save it so we save the grouped colors in separate bags. We need the dining room table for Saturday!
Oh, I found this picture about technology. This is a five megabyte hard drive being delivered in 1959 via Pan American Airways in New York. OMG, 5MB and I just installed a 5 TB drive to my iMAc this morning…it was the size of a deck of cards!
Amazing – 5MB to 5 TB in 50 years,,,The 5 TB could easily fit into the guys shirt pocket!
We watched some TV and crashed about 11:30 PM. Yes, do NOT worry, we had our tookies! The weekend starts tomorrow with our guest arriving.
“As a kid I was made to walk the plank. We couldn’t afford a dog.”
We would be a better society if we followed these suggestions!
Out into the garden I bounded with great energy, camera in hand to capture all the excitement. Well, to my dismay, all was quiet and the sky was filled with potential rain clouds. I snapped a couple of photos and ran back in the house to get warm! It’s April and 50 degrees in the early morning!
The entire east wall is covered in raspberries, Blackberries, and Boysenberries!
The crops are doing well and my raised garden design is perfect for me…I can sit, drink my coffee, talk to the plants, and pull weeds without getting off my tukas!
I was going to walk this morning but alas, between the weather and my need to get the house ready for our visitor kept me around the house and away form the sidewalks!
Gotta get back to walking every morning1
The day was filled with preparations for the upcoming weekend. We have a visitor coming and wanted to make sure everything was ready! We did the bedding and went shopping for additional bedding including a new blanket and sheet sets.
While at BB&B, I went shopping at the market. While I was gone, Sue hard boiled 48 eggs meaning a lot of decorating is going to be going on. While at the market, I saw some teenie tiny bananas and could not pass them up. They are about three inches long and taste pretty good1
Choices and decisions…the market is virtual nightmare sometimes. I went yesterday for bags, got the wrong ones. Today, I tried again…I took a picture and studied it before making the final selection!
Guess we ought be happy…Could be a socialist country and we would have one choice, one size, and hope they would have them available!
I set up the computer to play something to watch/listen to while I was fixing up the middle bedroom and it turned out to be Candace Owens and Larry Elder. I have been listening to Larry for 20+ years, a great guy! Candace is quite an amazing woman. Please enjoy what they have to say about todays goings on.
Larry Elder, host of “The Larry Elder Show,” joins Candace Owens for a discussion on race relations, the little-known history of the Democratic Party, why the Black community plays the victim card, and much more. Don’t miss this powerful episode!
In the afternoon, Sue read and I puttered around the house getting things ready. I played with the computer a bit. We are always surprised by the folks that have zero computer knowledge.
What can we say???
We stayed home the rest of the day, watched some TV, I added some additional colored LED lights to the house and we crashed about midnight.
Dr.’s are saying not to worry about the bird flu because it’s tweetable!
It’s tax day but we cheated fate and got our taxes in the first week of February…got a really nice refund a few weeks later…first time we did it so early but we are going to keep doing the same! from now on!
We tried it… doesn’t work!
Holy Mackerel…did I have a dream or what! At 6:30 AM, me and the neighborhood roosters awoke but I was smart and laid back down. Usually once a week I manage to get up on the fence, crow my song, flap my jammies that has pitures of chickens on them and await the neighbors wrath. For all that effort, the neighbors yell “Go to sleep you __________” (the blank can be filled in with various obcenities) and they throw shoes and other valuable objects in my direction. A week ago I got a nice pair of older US Keds tennis shoes, suitable for a histry museum.
Finally I woke up at 8:00 AM after an amazing dream which I still recall this late in the day….OMG, maybe it was real!
Dream Summary: Sue and I were at Disneyland with two others and got onto a small boat…four of us…as we went down the slide when hit a gate, smashed it open, went through a long dark tunnel and ended up in a “Venice like” canal across the street from Disneyland. I recognized Katella.
We met some odd people living along the canal. We told them we were lost and needed to call Disneyland in order to get back inside A black lady was so kind, she invited us in her home, showed us the phone, and she departed for work trusting us! We got hold of a Disney executive via 911 and explained what happened. It took a long time to explain the situation. He said just to wait and he would find us. We visited the lady’s neighbors who were also quite nice. As we head some people coming through the tunnel, we straightened up the phone cord carefully, left some movey for the phone call, and departed for the boat. All of a sudden, Disneyland employees wearing uniforms and roller skates took us and the boat back under Katella into Disneyland and we finished the ride.
What the heck did I eat last night?
Ain’t it the truth!
Random Memories: Growing up we had a creek, it was called La Balona and was for rain runoff from LA. It was cemented in right by out house but a mile away, just before MGM Studios back lot, it was a real creek. Me and Bob Coomler and many other explored the creek for years walking all the way through Culver City along its edges. We spent hours and hours looking for treasure!
Today it is all underground and the chances to explore have faded into history…too bad, the city boys will never get to explore like we used too!
OMG, back to reality! Sue had medical tests to do this morning so we can see the Urologist on Thursday.
Then we were off to get a kidney X-ray…went like a charm except for the 45 minute wait. The X-Ray took 5 minutes and we were outta there…the x-rays were electronically send over to the doctor.
Sue also had to take the urine test but because of last week, she did not get to study for the urine test, so…being the brave husband I am..I took the test for her! As she departed she wondered why they have her a baseball bat, small frog, and a Motorcycle World magazine…go figure!
We were hungry so Taco Surf was closest and got our undivided vote.
Super good food and great wait staff!
Did You Know? Surf Taco is a chain of Mexican-Californian cuisine-style restaurants located primarily in the Jersey Shore area. The food served is also described as Coastal Cuisine. It was founded by Robert Nagel, Richard Hernon SR , Bill Bruno, and Ed Pierce in 2001. There are presently ten restaurants.
Main categories of food include: tacos, burritos, wraps, smoothies, salads, quesadillas, side kicks (extra chips and salsa, chicken fingers, etc.), and “tsunamis” which are oversized burritos of grilled chicken, rice, beans, jack & cheddar cheeses, lettuce, sour cream, & salsa wrapped in two extra large flour tortillas, served wet topped with guacamole, sour cream & Pico de Gallo.
In 2009, the New York Times called the food “cross-generationally irresistible”.
We had a great meal and a dinky-poo…my burrito was huge and it forced me to take a nap! But, before the nap I went to ABC Pools, located across from Taco Surf, and ordered a multi-coolored high power LED light for our swimming pool…less cost to run, more lifetime, and fun!
Smart Girl… She took the burrito home!
Returning home we both were full to the brim and decided the Sandman needed to pay us a visit. The Sandman is a mythical character in Western and Northern European folklore who puts people to sleep and brings good dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto the eyes of people while they sleep at night (or take a nap if you are old like us!!)
On the way home Sue spotted a magnificent tree and I stopped right in the middle of the street, pulled out the trusty iPhone and shot it! It was stunning but check under the tree…soon they will have a pink yard!
Click the image to see the full sized picture… Just amazing!
We were up from our nap and ready to go at 5:00 PM and headed to Melanies were we met up with Miss Irene. We recapped the week, solved a few of the worlds problems, discussed our join social calendar, shared some great memories, and observed ol’ Sol dive into the western ocean. She is such a delightful person, albeit a bit of a liberal, she is still “OK” in our books!
The sunset, as sunsets go, was not spectacular but still pretty to watch and one can almost hear the sizzle when the sun hits the western waters!
See you in the morning Sol!
We saw several Grey Egrets walking along the dock. Look carefully… one is in this photo but you really have to look long and hard! Seeing the Egrets reminded us of an old Sinatra Song…
Sinatra has a song for everything!
Returning home, I installed two more colored LED lights and now have five installed…three more to go and all will be well. I have scenes established… I can say “Alexa, Christmas scene” and the house turns red and green or “St Patricks scene” and house turns many shades of green! We are now officially ready for Easter eggs on Saturday!
Available on the iPhone from anywhere! Love our toys!
The rest of the week is pretty much normal although we are having a house guest for a few days…the biggest event is coloring the Easter eggs with family and friends.
We love our family and the get togethers are always special!
Always remember that you are absolutely unique… Just like everyone else..
A magnificent day is about to begin and therefore a weight reducing walk is warranted…Ralph’s market here I come with my little Easter Tote Bag in hand! Four mile round trip but worth the walk!!
The time was 9 AM and the dew was already off the flowers…the sun was shinning and the birds were flying backwards to see where they have been! I spotted a magnificent specimen of a rose and quick snapped a photo!
Random Memories: The last place I worked I was a Director and it was with an bunch of ex-military guys plues the customer was military. I was NOT impressed with any of them and to “get back” I wore pink shirts at least twice a week or more…drove them insane! They could not, by law, saw anything but I knew they were not happy with my choice of colors. After retiring, I had eight pink dress shirts with matching ties… I donated them to the Salvation Army keeping two just for old times sake. Remember, real men can wear pink!
Just basking in the sunlight!
Time flew and all of a sudden, I was at Ralph’s with my iPhone and Amazon Alexa shopping list in hand! As I passed up and down the aisle in search of bargains, I stumbled upon the candy aisle and thought of my sweetie. Snapping the picture quickly as I passed by, without stopping, I texted it to her so a) she knew I was OK and b) she knew where I was!
2,776,456,340 calories just in this photograph! I escaped without a single calorie!
When walking, I limited myself to a single bag of goodies…some days I make the trek twice as I need the exercise and it is good for my shapely figure…more like a figure eight!
The berries were NOT on the list but they just looked so good!!! What is in the paper bag you ask? Don’t! OK, it was an apple turnover but only 290 calories! I munched on it walking home!
Returning home after the walk, I had to admire my selected exercise route. Love the app that keeps track of the adventures. Look carefully in the bottom right corner…the jagged line is me meandering across the large parking lot. The blob of blue is me walking inside Ralph’s Market. More jagged lines as I pass across the southern side of the parking lot trying to avoid the smells emanating from Subway (og their veggie sandwiches are wonderful) or In-n-Out Burger where the grill has just been fired up. Skillfully I managed to be entrapped by the wonderful odors and made it through without a calories. Almost 10,000 steps before 11:00 AM!
We got a “video call” from Colleen and Alexa was suddenly attacked by the Great Grand Child Army (GGCA)…namely Calhan and Logann! We are known as Gran Pop Pop and Great Grammy! Our names seem to change all the time but what the heck! They get so excited when we call… kinda special! It must be confusing as Mark and I look alike…at least on the top of our heads!
I am up in the right hand corner talking a picture of the picture!
An epiphany occurred after sneaking onto the bathroom scale after the walk…
It’s true… No, really it is true!!!
We rested in the afternoon, recovering from yesterday’s marathon entertainment and dining sessions. It was time to water the garden while Sue worked the puzzle and read her last book…I must go to Barnes and Nobel tomorrow.
Around 2:00 PM I determined, after careful deliberation, that nap time has occurred! Into the middle bedroom I slipped telling Alexa to wake me up in an hour…she did and all was well! Love those naps!
You guessed it, we were off again…tonight is the Old Ranch Monthly Dinner-Dance. In Aerospace it would be the ORMDD or ormmed). We had thirty friends joining us for a great party with fantastic dancing and dining! PLUS, it was the night we celebrated Brian’s 76th birthday!
Our dear friends form the UK… Associating with the Colonists they are!
We procured the services of Katella Deli on Thursday to bake a cake for today! We had to drop by and grab it on the way over to “The Ranch”. A masterpiece it was and indeed it was chocolate chocolate chocolate!
We limited the candles to two… 76 would have melted the icing!
The cake was inspected by Professor Brander! It was given a passing grade. We had so much that we offered three other tables to celebrate with us and passed the cake out accordingly!
The Certificate of Authenticity was posted on the cake!
It is so nice to have our friends around us…everybody stopped by the table to visit with Miss Sue and wish were happy return from the hospital! We are blessed with such wonderful people surrounding us! Any of our friends sicknesses or medical problems are shared via a communications network that would rival the Pentagon!
Love is in the air!!!
Our dear friend Nancy joined us tonight and since Sue is limited in physical exertion for a few weeks, Nancy and I danced! We have been friends for almost twenty years! She goes with us many times a year including the Christmas Play and is always such a wonderful guest!
We met at the turn of the century at a New Years Eve party and been close ever since!
Time for this day to cease and sleep to reward us for the bust weekend…first first, we needs to TV followed by…the tookies!
Oh, I gots a new toy. My bride encourages my to get toys as it a) keeps me out of trouble (sort of), and b) keeps the grey matter busy! I just purchased eight multi-color LED 75W WiFi connected light bulbs! They can be controlled via Alexa and my iPhone!
The light has 64,000,000 different colors… This is the night light setting on 30% power
I have several colors set up for the Easter egg coloring activity… the house will be decorated in lights! I can talk to them, like “Living Room One, Magenta,75%” . I loves my toys…Sue tolerates them! Life is good!
