Monday new homes

Monday – helped some friends move yesterday. They came out from Cincinnati about a year ago, were renting, and finally succumbed and purchased their own home. They didn’t want a ‘used’ house, but a brand-new one. I can understand the lure of a new home; being the first one in, not having to re-due things the previous owner did to mess up the place, all choices are yours, clean slate and all. We had a new home once, all I can see are the windows without shades or coverings, the bare yard, the pure white (OK, ours was ‘Navajo white’, I don’t know what they call the current shade of white being used) walls where every mark is yours, the new carpet that shows every stain is yours. I would much rather have an older home, already set up, with established trees and plants and window coverings and then change things than start with a blank empty canvas.

I don’t know about the rest of the country, but here new houses are put up in big tracts, where all the homes look the same, all the yards are one of the three variations the builder offers, everything is neat and sterile. This house had a lot of windows, but it’s only eight feet between houses and you just look out at blank walls. The back yard is less than twenty feet deep, looking out at a big block wall with a house towering up right back there. Most new homes are now two stories, because the lots aren’t big enough to get much square footage on one level. Their next door neighbor has been in that house a few months, and already put a pool in the backyard. This means there is no dirt left in their back yard, just a pool and surrounding concrete. To me laying by that pool would seem like laying in an oven with a pan of water next to you. Small, square box with towering houses all around, blue sky right overhead but no view except for the other houses.

It’s around 1,800 square feet (167 sq. meters) and costs $380,000. Back in Cincinnati it would be $150,000 but out in California probably close to a million ($1,000,000). But the yard size; it seemed like a little prison to me, looking out the windows at walls, the back yard seemed more like one of those prison work out areas than a back yard. And he said the lot was listed as a ‘premium lot’, being larger than normal. We drive down the roads looking at houses over the block walls, and can see that the new average back yard is only five to ten feet deep. His is big enough for a small pool, so I can understand the rating of ‘premium’, just not the rational. It’s more like a condo or apartment, but with some air between you and the next guy.

Worked a little more on our yard as well. Put down the rest of the flagstone, tried to figure out what we will do to the front courtyard, and moved some pipes around back. I had put a deep sink out along the side wall, useful when potting plants, and an easy place for washing up after yard work. But we moved some sheds around earlier, and now the sink was out by itself. So I moved it over to the front wall, more hidden by the big oleander and one shed. Part of the move was to reorganize the electric valves, used to automatically water parts of the yard. I still want to move an electrical outlet over to the new work area and move the electronic timer over as well.

The California poppies are blooming quite well now.


Each plant has lots of bright yellow-orange flowers. These are surrounded by the black olives that have fallen from one of the big trees in our front yard, not yet picked up but loved by the pigeons and mockingbirds.

Imagine a California hillside, covered with green grass and just blanketed with so many flowers you almost can’t see the green for the colors. Some years there are areas outside of LA that look like that. We just have plants scattered around the yard, surrounded by our basic desert rock. But they still look pretty.


A nice field scene from Wikipedia.

And now somebody at our place has teeth –


Not very many, but it’s still cute.

There's snow in the hills

Driving in this morning – back in the sunshine again! – there were people out at the ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’sign



(Go to Randa's site, I don't really like using other's pictures, especially copyrighted stuff. I really need to park and take some shots of my own, but when going home I just want to get there.)

But that’s taken with a telephoto lens, makes it look too close, while it is really at the end of the airport runways, kind of by itself. Pics on this site with the sign in 360 are more representational, but taken several years ago. The opening shot has changed, all the dirt area to the left is now a golf course, with high dirt berm along the road, with trees on top. All of the trees are gone from the median now, just empty dirt. Except for at the sign – last month the county put in some artificial grass right at the base of the sign, so there is a little green in all of those tourist pictures.

Back to this morning: today it was a group if Mini owners. Two had pulled their cars up on the median right in front of the sign, a third was parked in the turn lane taking photos. Wednesday on the way home from work it was another wedding photo – big limo at the curb, long white dress next to a tuxedo under the sign. Before that was some form of TV commercial – it’s easy to tell the ‘professionals’, lots of lights and reflectors and a couple of trucks full of accessories. It’s nice that the police don’t seem to bother the picture takers. There are three lanes of traffic in each direction at that point, and it does slow the going-home-from-work traffic quite a bit with gawkers slowing down to look. Every evening I usually have to dodge people running across from the nearby hotel.

Lots of work on Frank Sinatra Drive, the route I take coming in to work in the morning. That’s where MGM is building the six billion dollar City Center project. The employee parking garage is the first thing being built, to free up the lot where they park now. The employee garage will have over six thousand parking spots (that’s the employee garage). It’s now about seven stories high, but still having concrete poured. Half of FS Drive is closed off, some new sewer and water lines are being pulled from about a mile down the street. There are three of the biggest mobile shovels out there that I have ever seen – the buckets on them are big enough for me to drive my car into. When driving by in my Toyota the treads are higher than my car. There are two built in cranes working on the parking garage, and one mobile crane – the boom is high enough to lift things up around ten stories. What’s more impressive than the size of these things is the idea that they just showed up – somehow they are trucked in in pieces (no way can they fit whole on a truck) and put together on site.

I drive home in the evening on a different route. Frank Sinatra Drive runs on the east side of the I-15 freeway, behind some big Strip casinos. In the afternoon it’s full of cabs and people going to check into the hotels. When it first opened last year it was a good route, but now too many people know it’s a good parallel route to the Strip, and a lot less traffic. But it’s backing up so I just go a different way. I drive past a big lot where lots of big frames made of colorful pipes are piled up. It took a while before I realized that these are the tower parts for the big built in place cranes, all stacked up and laying around. When stored these frames are about fifteen feet high and fifty feet long. When on site they are stood on end and attached end to end to reach whatever height is desired. Some of the towers being built will be close to a thousand feet tall, with the cranes having to put things on rooftops they end up being even taller. That’s a lot of weight and torque to be placed on those relatively small frames. Usually I’m scurrying to get home quickly, with daylight still present now I’ll have to bring the camera and get some photos of the yard.

In agreement with Teri today (again), I too am trying to drop back the pounds that time seems to put on. When young I weighed 126lbs, and stayed at that weight for many years. I ate tons of stuff and never moved. But a few years ago something happened, and there was quite a change in size. Back in SD I signed up for a medical program, and was able to drop sizes significantly. But since moving it seems to drift back up. So I’m back to lunchtime walks and meals from those little microwave packets and lots of fruit and veggies, and it seems to be working. But me really loves my chocolate.

Tuesday was a really cold day – the coldest March 21 on record. The high for the day was only 51f (OK Beth, no laughter now), 20f under our normal temp for the day. And there was snow relatively low in the surrounding mountains. There was white in the hills all around the valley. Peter, one of the help desk guys, lives in Summerlin close to the Red Rock area. It’s just west of the Strip, a half hour drive up Charleston in traffic. The park is about a thousand feet higher than the bottom of the valley, and it did snow there. The ski resort on Mt. Charleston got over two feet of snow, which is reviving springtime skiing and snowboarding (less than an hour from the big casino hotels).


Here it's not deep, just a white dusting, which melted before noon as usual. But it still looks pretty, with the Joshua trees up front. But today it should be around 78f (25C), a more comfortable temp for me. I like it hot.

And a new addition to my title. Thanks to Misty, where I snitched the skipping penguin. Don't know what it has to do with Vegas, but I like moving things (still need to grab and test that cursor one) and thought it cute. Thank's Misty.

Thanks Rob (and Sami)

Wednesday – I’m ready for the weekend. Three cloudy days are finally gone. Yesterday was cold and wet – our first rain in a few months and we probably had all of .18 inches or so. (5 mm?) Today is bright and sunny, no clouds, expect a high in the low 70’s. I know, cold compared to south Texas and Florida, but not Minnesota. Back to my 7am – 4pm working hours. Looks like the new product development is back on schedule. I had to scrape frost off my car windows this morning – still a little damp from yesterday, and temp was 34f, but unusual. Only the third time this winter I had to do that. At least we have sunshine, and warming up for the weekend. And this week at work has just been marvelous. Another Monday wasted making up for the weekend guy's screw-ups. Another day filled with frustration, doing things again and again, then spending two hours trying to figure out why somebody's report was showing asterisks (****) instead of numbers, and finding that report was obsolete years ago and should not be used any more. (Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!)

And loads of thanks to Rob for sending me an email tagging me with the specific request that I do Clare’s book meme. I had been avoiding Clare’s requests – at least she had the courtesy of not putting down names. And then Sami (also known as Choogles) had to publicly put down my name also. Jeez, it’s nice to be noticed (I guess). So since two of you had to point fingers:

1. Briefly describe an aspect of your life for which 'The Dying Of Delight' would be an apt title.

Ok, ‘The Dying of Delight’ is the title of a book written by the aforementioned Clare, a seemingly (well, I haven’t met her in person, just via her writings) interesting writer in England. I purchased the book from Amazon last year and did find it to be pretty good. But I really am having a hard time coming up with an aspect of my life that fits this title. Perhaps the most appropriate angle would be my working life over the past few jobs. I really enjoy programming, but my last job (discussed at length in posts last year) really pulled me down. Some demands placed by management here also seem a little shallow, and I think I’m now ready to become a blackjack dealer or something totally away from computers.

2. Pick another book whose title has some resonance in your life, and write a little about it.

Wow, I’m sitting here at work and can’t think of any book titles right now. My shelves at home are filled with things I’ve read but my mind is just drifting away. Since I have to, I’ll pick Heinlein’s The Door Into Summer. I apply that to lots of things I have to do that are rather unpleasant, while in the midst of things I am continually looking for a door into summer, or trying to find the way out to a place that is nice and warm and sunny. I love Vegas summers. 110f out in bright sunshine, nice and warm and bright. So as I do something I can look forward to finishing it up, and my reward would be sunshine and smiles. It makes tasks go faster, and by reference makes things enjoyable that other people might find totally disturbing. So if you see me elbow deep in sh*t and smiling, it’s because in my mind I’m laying by my pool just feeling the warmth. I can see that door at the end and as long as I keep walking I know it will eventually be reached. This isn’t the Twilight Zone after all, where the hallway keeps stretching out more and more. (well, I sure hope it isn't)

OK, for those of you still in snow, let's put some color in here (or should I say colour):


Can't you just picture yourself sitting there? So next time you find yourself in a pile of something, just imagine opening that door and sitting next to me. Would you like a Mai Tai?

3. Write one more short personal piece - one which matches the book title chosen (in part 2) by the person who tagged you.

Rob selected Speaking Up – well, this one I could go on about for a while. Like most people, in the past I would much rather blend into the background. When in college I ended up being the Social Chairman for our College Union Board – I put on all the concerts and big events for a year – and had a very hard time getting up in front to introduce things. Much later, out of school and into the real world, needing more money than my job at the time provided, I became an Amway distributor (don’t laugh). I liked the stuff, and ended up standing in front of groups speaking and demonstrating. As a result I have no problem standing up in front of an audience and speaking up. I also have no problems in meetings or at work, speaking up for the little guy, or the person that just sits in back and is affected by whatever decision is about to be made.

But Sami's post used The Human Stain, (at least that’s what I think she picked, there are a half dozen book titles in her post). I really can’t think of anything appropriate to this title, even though she was able to go on for several intelligent paragraphs. In reading her eventual point, I guess I too would say it affects my interaction with people. Usually in my mind I say ‘boy, isn’t he (or she) an idiot’, rather than paying attention.

4. Take your favourite little-known book and plug it to your readers. Authors need incomes, and word of mouth is one of the best ways to sell books.

On this note I should pick the book I wrote, ‘Assembler Language Routines for Basic Programmers’, but since it’s been out of print for many years, doubtfully would be amusing or useful to any of my readers, and is really not appropriate any more, I think I would push Clare’s Dying of Delight. It doesn’t seem to be ‘little known’ in the circles I am reading, but from her posted sales figures I guess it is. It was a little challenging following the divergent story lines, which did all come together at the end, but I liked it.

5. Sit back and marvel at the magnificence of this meme. It was brought to you by an out-of-breath author, reduced (on account of her publisher* having expired) to trundling copies of her book across the internet on a rusty old trolley with one wheel missing, sweating and shouting "Buy me book, Gov?" Now visit http://www.thedyingofdelight.co.uk/ and see if you'd like a copy for yourself.

OK, made it through that door. Ahh. Hand me that cool drink.

6. Tag five people with this meme.

No way I’m going to ask anybody else to do something. Jump in if you want. Tess has already come up with another listing one I’ve got to work on.

*Diva Books, ceased trading Feb '06. RIP.

Rereading Rob’s and Sami’s posts on this topic just reminds me how stifled I am by my writing ability. There are so many thoughts flying through my head that I am usually disappointed by how poor they appear when written (OK, typed) down compared to others. Rob really can put together some nice lines, and Sami also is pretty good at stringing thoughts together. So go read their stuff too.

Back to the real world, which is already in progress (another Firesign Theatre quote there, if you didn’t catch it):

I’m listening to my morning radio station, and just heard an advertisement for ‘On site dental’ – for people too busy to get away from their jobs, a dentist will bring all his stuff to you and work on your teeth at your office. What is this, a drill-in-a-briefcase? I can see it now – John across the way sitting in his cube, leaning back in his office chair, with his mouth full of tools, a drill grinding away. I can’t stand that sound when I’m sitting in the waiting room, much less from the cubicle across from me at work. It sounds like something that would go over really well with fellow employees (there’s Lisa’s sarcasm font at work again). As if the guys with offices that have doors wouldn’t take off for a medical visit.

Another nothing

OK, Deana, just make me waste time again.

You Are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. You're totally weird and very proud of it. Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way. Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

What American City Are You?

Favorite toy of the moment. Guess it's nice to crawl inside of things.

Friday

More work in the back yard this past weekend. Our yard, as most in the area, is surrounded by a block wall. Harkens back to Orange County, California where we first saw this privacy phenomenon. It’s a lot different than in the northeast, where people might have a big yard but they don’t put up fences. Growing up in New Jersey we all had four foot high chain link fences. But around Hartford, Connecticut, and in Rochester, older homes had a half acre lot and usually no fence, so the backyards all merged into kind of a park for the kids to play in. Out west everybody wants their little piece marked off and staked out.

Our yard is large enough to permit us to plant things in front of the walls, making them hidden rather than stand out. It’s best not to paint them, as with the heat and sunshine any paint tends to quickly break down, requiring reapplication every few years to keep looking good. The wall straight out back is seen under the peach tree, and is what we see when looking out of the back room or on the back patio. So we decided to put up a wooden trellis type thing to at least add some variety to the basic block. I finally finished it up:



It matches the pattern on our front gate. Hopefully this will last a little longer than plain paint, only time will tell.

On my lunchtime walks I go past a lot of office buildings. Again due to the heat and sun we are limited in the plants that survive here. Most office buildings use grounds maintenance companies, that come by every few weeks to pick up trash and keep things confined. They want plants that require little maintenance and last for a while. One building, across from the bus transit center, has a mix of trees and low shrubs. Rosemary is used a lot in plantings, we have a lot of them along our low wall, but this place also uses artichoke plants. I hadn’t seen them out here before, but they seem to be doing well. And one of the plants is now developing fruit (or is it flowers?)



I’ll wait and see how they do, and if the grounds crew cuts off the heads or just lets it grow. If they get big maybe I’ll cut one off and see if it’s edible, or just an ornamental variety.

Several months ago I found an amusing Lord of the Rings (with Buffy) parody, and for some reason it came to mind again. Still well done.

Of course, let’s continue with our E photos:



She seems to like strawberries and bananas.

Five things (again)

Five Weird Things About Me:

(I think I did this already)

1. I like to play with toy trains.

2. I'd rather sit at home and watch an old Busby Berkely movie than go out.

3. When we go out, my favorite thing to do is hit a good restaurant and have a slow, long meal talking with friends, lingering over coffee and dessert. (yes, I do tip big to make up for the time I keep a table)

4. I do most of the cooking at my house (and make a killer chocolate cake) but B handles the BBQ - I make everything 'well done': really 'well' (think charcoal).

5. I live in Vegas but don't gamble or smoke (almost two requirements for living here).

Sorry if they are the same answers as before, I don't remember when, but that's the way things are. And a real big thanks to Virginia Gal for making me do this. I just love these things. (Yes Lisa, there's that irony font again).

Wednesday again

OK, quick one for today – just found I have to come in at 5am tomorrow morning again, for a new software install. Just what I need, another day of sleepwalking.

I was talking prior about trees in spring bloom. This is the pink one around town –


It’s the purple leafed plum. No fruit, but the leaves are a nice deep purple, quite a contrast to the dull grey-green of native plants. They don’t last too long due to the climate, so no really big ones around, but they are loverly this time of year. I’ll try to get a shot of the white ones. This one is in front of my workplace, about twenty planted along the street – makes for a nice show.

For politics, thanks to Rob for pointing at another good Guardian article.

And for striped Lisa, here’s some competition:

Thoughts on thinking

Wow, yesterday was Friday the 13th and a full moon all at once. It sure seemed like it here at work. I did nothing all day except for fix problems. We have a new person in the help desk/operations area, and Friday night was his first night alone. He forgot some processing steps, and I had to take most of the day to recreate data that was missed. Not fun. I am trying to learn the new .net style of programming, and have not had any time to do so in the past two weeks or so.

A few weeks ago Rob pointed to an article Guardian on thinking. Since I’ve been visiting Rob and striped Lisa I have been spending time reading that fine paper. Well, since it’s only dots of light on a computer screen it can’t really be called a paper any more, can it? It might be delivered and sold as a paper, but for me it’s just transitory electrons and thoughts. But unlike our local newspaper the Guardian seems to pay some writers to ponder more obtuse points.

I used to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. It too was filled with articles of incite and tried to educate readers in different areas, but during our last presidential election the Journal really was on a Republican rant, having nothing negative to say about our fine president or his policies, printing nothing but negatives about his Democratic rival and putting out long articles that were nothing but defamation of opponents. Some of the points pushed were absolute untruths, but the way the writers spent so much time on details before stating that some of the points might be opinions rather than proven facts left me wondering about integrity. So I cancelled our subscription at that point, but I really miss the other stuff they printed.

Back to the Guardian article on thinking. I have to agree – at times when confronted with a difficult problem it sometimes is better to read all the details, research the problem, then move to something else. At some point the proverbial light will come on and I will see how to resolve the first problem. This usually occurs when I’m driving home, thinking about other things, when a thought will pop up and I’ll say ‘yes, that’s the way to do it’. The article also had a suggestion on taking tests – to read ahead a few questions, then go back to answer the first. This fills your mind, and supposedly your subconscious can work on the other problems. I’ve heard something similar before – to read all the questions on a test, then do the easy ones, and move onto the more difficult. I guess this is similar, to let the harder problems float in the background waiting for answers to come forward. It seems the only tests I’m taking now are at work, the grades being my continued employment.

Reading my usual blogs I just noticed how many of the authors are continuing their education. I’ve been saying that I want to go back to school and get some additional education, guess it might be time to get off my butt and do something rather than complain. Heck, if I can get an MBA maybe I can move up to the front paneled hall.

Just to provide something visual, thanks to several of you for pointing here. It provides an interesting insight into what I put down – and makes me wonder what algorithms the programmer used for selecting words to create the images.

Happy birthday Dana!

Happy birthday to you -
Happy birthday to you -
Happy birthday dear Dana -
Happy birthday to you!

Costco

Another place we should own stock in. I’ve discussed Home Depot before, but we also seem to spend a significant portion of our money in this place: Costco, formerly named Price Club. (please, no mention of Sam’s Club – I refuse to support WalMart or any associated business)

For those of you that don’t have big place like this nearby, it’s like a really really big market, but it sells things in really really big sizes and volumes. You can’t go in and buy two rolls of toilet paper (bog rolls?) but a pack of 36. You can’t get a quart of milk (liter of milk), but two gallons. About a third of the place is devoted to food: oranges in ten pound packs, frozen stuff in five or ten pound bags, coffee in hugh tubs, giant sized containers of mustard and ketchup. You get the idea, big things. Fortunately we have some large storage closets in our garage, so we can buy these large packs and put most of them outside. I think it’s an American thing; big SUVs, gas by the gallon, and Costco.



There is no interior decoration. These places are just big tilt-up concrete warehouse buildings with high ceilings and metal racks and lots and lots of stuff. The shopping carts are BIG, or you can use a large flat cart and really pile up the stuff.



We usually go every few weeks and get some stuff. Things we typically purchase (not all at once, and not every week) include aforementioned TP, paper kitchen towels, chicken breasts (in frozen five pound bags, we also have a big freezer), soda, washing machine soap, vitamins, dog treats (according to the guys we BETTER have those always on hand), and candy bars (I keep a full dish on my desk as bribes).

They also sell coupons for movie tickets fairly cheap. And the latest DVD movies usually at 10% - 20% under store prices. There is a section with clothes, changing seasonally, but regularly having socks and underwear. Oh, also big packs of diapers (something we didn’t buy before but are now).

I always take the big car when we go, and often fill both the trunk and back seat.

More cute

OK, might as well continue with the cute pictures. No, Rob, not a contest here, please don’t go looking for kitties or something. (no, Brighton, no reference there)

Granddaughter is learning to walk. At ten months old she can pull herself up on things, and scoot around as long as she is holding on – travels from the couch to the end tables on her feet, then has to drop down and crawl to the next chair. Daddy is pushing her, I think when he gets to baby-sit and she starts running away he will regret it.



We got a toy box for when the Swedes came to visit in November, and filled it with stuff to keep them busy. Seems with Eli being able to stand she is enjoying moving the contents from inside the box to outside the box.


I think when she gets it empty she'll climb in, but she hasn't gotten that far yet. Guess grandpa overdoes it with keeping the toybox full.

I haven’t been keeping up with this, but for Clare (even though she is gone on a TEN WEEK vacation to the south of Africa) let’s do three things to be happy for:

1. Having kids around to do amusing things.
2. The kids being grandkids, so that they can be spoiled and sent home to mom.
3. Small kids that are smiling and happy and pleasant to be around. (I know, just wait until she’s a teen-ager, or even sooner when she hits the ‘terrible twos’).

Colors

And thanks to Teri, and not wanting to buckle down to work right away:


ORANGE:

At work or in school: I need to be

"hands on": I like to play games,

to compete, and to perform. I enjoy

flexibility, changes of pace, and variety. I

have difficulty with routine and structure.

My favorite subjects are music, art, theatre,

and crafts. I often excel in sports. I like

solving problems in active ways and

negotiating for what I want. I can be direct

and like immediate results.
With friends: Planning ahead bores me

because I never know what I want to do until

the moment arrives. I like to excite my

friends with new and different things, places

to go, and romantic moments.
With family: I need a lot of space and

freedom. I want everyone to have fun. It is

hard for me to follow rules, and I feel we

should all just enjoy one another.


What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla

Again, I like the color but the words don't seem to match. Guess that happens when you do multiple choice and nothing really fits. Along with just a few questions.

If I can get into the system, I will be closing my only outstanding work order! (our group is driven by two things, work orders for repair of problems, and business requests, for creation of new things). When I arrived here a year ago I picked up 60 outstanding work orders, some of them four months old. The company does not like to have work orders over thirty days, and all kinds of management reports and bells go off when WOs are older. I closed more work orders in my first three months than anyone else here, and got an employee of the month award for doing it. To be down to zero shows that I've gotten things pretty well squared away. Now on to learning .NET and helping create some new systems. Wo ho!!

Flagstones and birds

Nascar is in town. Some supposedly big races up at the Las Vegas Speedway. I’m not a big sports fan, and driving around and around in circles is even less of a draw for me, but NASCAR week in Vegas produces some of the biggest crowds in town, so somebody must like that stuff. When I lived in Memphis I used to go to the dirt track racing on weekends, more for something to do with the guys than of interest.

We went to the Sahara casino a few weeks ago to hear a lounge singer. A young girl from New Orleans, she was OK, but still needs more time on stage. While there I took some pictures of the entertainment area – in Vegas the gambling sections of casinos are not called entertainment areas but gaming areas. Entertainment is where side things go on – lounges with singers, showrooms, game rooms for kids, that kind of stuff. The Sahara pushes NASCAR. Down the north end, on the way to the video arcades are some old racecars and a whole driving simulator.



The driving area is pretty neat – there are rows of cars, NASCAR type as well as formula one, in small open back rooms. In front of each car is a big wrap-around video screen, you can see three projectors on the ceiling above the car, so you can sit in a real car and drive assorted races and compete against a computer or other drivers sitting next to you. There are hydraulics attached to the cars so you actually bounce around while driving. None were in use when we were there, but it looks like something non-gambling that adults can do, probably very heavily attended this week.



As a follow on to yesterday’s post, we worked this weekend to place some flagstones between our concrete patio and steps going up to a higher grass area in the back.

We went from two pallets of stones


Down to this amount


We covered two areas, with a third yet to go. First we had to lower the ground level so that the new stones were the same level as the concrete, then play a jigsaw puzzle type game to find shapes that fit together. Only in this version there was no guarantee that all of the pieces were in the box.


B wanted some spaces between the stones. We did a similar project in our San Diego back yard, but there we planted moss and assorted low green plants between the stones. With the sun and heat here we just went with the surrounding groundcover.


That’s the view while sitting at the dining table we have on the patio, outside our kitchen. We planted low growing rosemary along the short wall, it's all been covered with little blue flowers all winter, and smells nice when brushed. It’s a winter view, with the trees not yet green, and our neighbor’s oleander and pomegranate across the wall trimmed down. I can sit here and drink my coffee and listen to the birds chirping away. When we get fifty or sixty finches and sparrows back here it can get quite deafening. You can also see Eli’s swing, and the bird feeder hanging from the peach tree. Already turning green, so we probably will not get a nice big pink cloud this year.

I don’t have as fancy a camera as Deana, or birds that are as colorful, but there was a crowd waiting their turn at the feeder.


It just looks funny to see the whole row of birds sitting up on the wall, chirping away, each periodically launching himself at the feeder, trying to dislodge somebody else already eating. No colorful birds here, all are dull dirty brown or grey. On the ground underneath are pigeons gathering up the seeds that drop, periodically being chased away by our vicious dogs, when they bother to run up there.

The mockingbirds are singing away, building nests out front in the palm and olive trees. Our hummingbirds are starting to return. And the weather channel shows a cold front coming down from Alaska this weekend. Supposed to have a high today of 67f, but on Saturday a high of 45 and a low of 34, with rain and possible snow predicted. Poor NASCAR, all those people sitting in the stands getting cold and wet. I don’t know if the continue driving in the rain.

Warm weekend

It was a nice weekend here. Temps were around 70f, and sunny. A few high clouds, due for a cold front to move through so it’s hazy today. These are some planes zipping overhead from LA headed to places back east.



Looks like it’s Spring here. The first flowers, besides the blooms on the trees, are our California poppies:


We planted a packet of poppy seeds last year. They bloomed last spring, and seem to have spread their seeds all over the yard. We have big arcs of plants, so it should be quite a show when they all start blooming.

The other plants that are in bloom are our acacias. We have two varieties, a standard bush and a feathery acacia. The one right outside our kitchen, buy our seating area has been blooming all winter. These are just to the left of the poppy above. You can see a green arc of poppy plants curving in the background.


But with the warmth it is really fragrant. We could smell the sweet scent all over the house (had the doors open all day yesterday). We’ve got about a half dozen acacias scattered around, two of the ones out front are big balls about eight feet in diameter, all of them are covered in yellow flowers like this one. This one is a dwarf variety, so hopefully it will not get over four feet tall. They all went in two years ago when we redid the yard, pretty good growth for such a short time.

We had three tons of flagstones delivered on Friday, and spend the weekend installing them in two areas in back. This is what the delivery looked like:


I took pics of the finished work, have to clean them and upload.

Oh, my anniversary just flew past and I didn’t even notice. February 27 started my second year posting things here.

Coffee?

Thanks to Miranda (you can follow the chain from there):

You Are an Irish Coffee

At your best, you are: wild, spontaneous, and outgoing At your worst, you are: too extreme and reckless You drink coffee when: you want to keep drinking booze Your caffeine addiction level: low

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

I don't think it's too accurate. I think I'm more of an espresso kind of guy. And booze? The last I had was some wine when at that Italian place four weeks ago.

Lasagna

With meat sauce. But why is it called that if carrots are the first ingredient?

Also subtitled: why not to get fed outside where birds flying by and the dogs barking and the noisy cars make you turn your head just as the spoon is about to enter your mouth:



And don't you just love the hair?

Another Friday

I’m listening on the internet to a French radio station right now. Most of the local stations have too many advertisements, and all seem to play the same music over and over. When we visited France a few years ago I found a few stations I liked, and found that there are a lot of international stations available on the web. Plus, since I don’t understand French, listening to the DJs and advertisements do not distract me from whatever work I’m doing. Lisa suggested BBC radio 6 to pick up on some newer British stuff, so I have been hitting that site in the afternoon, when the French station switches to a call in talk/advise format with no music.

Anyway, the on screen advertisements talk about an interview with Nadiya. The description of her uses the word ‘pétillante’ which does not seem to have a direct English translation (the power of web sites), but comes out to mean ‘fizzy’ or ‘effervescent’. That sounds like a really nice way to describe somebody. I wish I came across as having an effervescent, fizzy personality.

Oh, some new blogs on my list. I have them in my ‘favorites’ but figured this way it would be easier to hit them – there’s Waiter's story and Choogles. I don’t know what she would rather be called, but from here notes that’s one of her dad’s names for her, and it sounds kind of neet. Choogles, Choogles, come on, I need a song to insert that into. Dana or Beth, anything come to mind that would be fitting? I know there is the obvious Credence one, but maybe something more subtle.

And thanks to Rob I now have a local clock. I like things that move and change and sparkle (as if you couldn’t tell). Now I just have to work on that new graphic for up top. I’ve got a Vegas themed one I just need to put some time into. Maybe tonight – B is off grandchild-sitting while the kids hit Avenue Q at the Wynn. We need to go soon, it’s closing to make space for Spamalot. I’ve got a list of shows to see: Penn & Teller (again), as I’ve got free passes for donating blood, Avenue Q, O (again, ‘cause it was so nice), Blue Man Group, Rita Rudner (has to be soon, she wraps up at NY NY next month), and a feather show, either at Bally’s, which offers a go-behind-the-scenes extra, or topless at the Flamingo, just to say I did. Problem is, most of these are $85-100 per person. So that’s a lot of bucks.

And thanks to Deanna for going all political. I know she has problems with doing that, her husband being a judge and all, but with only a 39% approval rating more people should be ranting against W. I just wish the damn Democrats would get off of their butts and pull something together. I wish there was some way to throw them all the heck out and bring in a new bunch of idiots.

Local news: Paula Abdul, two items. She comes to Vegas a lot, and seems really scatterbrained. A few months ago she was staying at the Silverton, was running late, and called the front desk and told them (didn’t ask, told them) to change her plane reservation. Well, I don’t know about hotels elsewhere, some of the fancy places do have a concierge desk that will do stuff for you, but the Silverton doesn’t. So the front desk clerk said she’d try, then the clerk was inundated by a busload of checkins. Paula finally made it to the airport and found she did not have a reservation. She eventually got the two clerks on duty at the Silverton fired. This week she is here staying at the Silverton again. Yesterday she made it to the airport late for her flight. Supposedly some fans stopped her for autographs, an airport staffer pulled her through some back corridors past security and onto the plane. When the plane arrived there was an announcement that somebody had bypassed security and everybody on the plane had to stay on, and be escorted through the advanced security checks before they could leave.

Now that second one is just as much a negative against the Homeland Security airport standards – I thought security was to prevent somebody from hijacking a plane. If the plane makes it to the destination, evidently it was not hijacked, so why do people have to go through security before leaving? All I could imagine is that some people might stay in the airport and change planes, thus being on another flight without hitting security, and be able to cause harm to that one. But why not just escort everyone back past the gates, and make the ones that have other planes go through normal security checking, while others just leave? Incompetence? But Paula can still be blamed for that one, emphasized by 9/11 stupidities.

So it looks like Paula Abdul has punctuality problems. I wonder if they have to hold up taping the TV shows waiting for her? Since she’s here so much and our local gossip columnist is looking out for her, I look forward to more stories.

Other news: yesterday they announced the most expensive house sale that went through a real estate agent. The story starts three years ago, when a woman was spotted in a Ferrari. She was approached by a Ferrari admirer, they talked, the admirer gave her his business card (he’s a real estate agent). A few months ago she and husband decided to move to Vegas, which resulted in a ‘wait – I have the business card of an agent’. Main specification: new house must have an indoor basketball court. OK, I know what you’re thinking – why the heck would anybody want their own indoor basketball court, and how many houses have one? Well, evidently a 35,000 square foot (3250 sq meters) $ 15,000,000 house in Vegas has one, along with an indoor pool and indoor tennis courts, and a lot more of everything. So the agent ends up with a $492,000 commission check. Says he might consider buying his own Ferrari now. That’s not the most expensive house sold in Vegas, just the most expensive one where an agent got a commission. How many houses could I buy for that commission check? Of course, that’s before paying income taxes, but I’d like to bring in a half mil before taxes. No, not spread over dozens of years, all at once.

Oh, B just emailed, our 3 tons of rock has just been delivered - I know what I'll be doing this weekend. That's about 300 sq ft of back yard that will take new pavers and stepping stones. I better take pictures for this one. If any of you need yard design and installation, let me know. Seems like I'm doing a lot of it. Still have to decide on what is wanted in the front courtyard. Besides pavers that will take the overhead as well as the big french doors. Lots of hours (and sore back) in that one.

And just to supply at least one image, I didn’t note who posted this one first, DA, was that you? But it fits for my Friday, just a fun week.

Another too early morning

OK, for DM I’m trying to get at least one post a day up. Some days here at work it’s just tooooo busy, but I should be able to pull at least five minutes. On weekends it seems there is much to do around the house, and I don’t usually even turn on the computer much any more.

Here’s my office at home. I took this pic several weeks ago, and it looked so messy I thought I would wait to take a cleaner picture, but no, it still looks about the same.


Our house was built thirty years ago, as a three bedroom three bath (well, one full, one with shower and a half bath). Seems like a lot of bathrooms for three bedrooms. Around 1990 the then owners added on, increasing the size by about 40%. This just expanded the master bedroom, the family room, and added a fourth bedroom (no, no extra bathrooms). Those guys seem enamored with oak. The family room was filled with built in oak cabinets and shelving units. The new bedroom has a wall filled with more oak cabinets and shelves. You can see them in the picture. We use it as an office space, with both of our computers. We also have a couch in there, which expands into a bed, so we can use it as a guest room.

The picture hanging over my computer is a water color of one of my favorite photos.


That's my wife B sitting on the deck of the Beynack Hotel writing postcards. We were there in May of 2002. It's about my favorite place ever. We were the only ones in the hotel for the first night. Not too big a place anyway, but they had a great restaurant inside. My first foi gras (pan fried, on toasted walnut bread with brown gravy - YUUMMMM) and duck confit. I'd eat there every day if I could. Nice little town on the river with a castle on the cliffs overhead.


Our friend Jane created the painting from my picture.

Back to the office. That's B's computer over to the left. Yes, I have two monitors hooked up to my computer. A new employee at a company I worked at a few years ago wanted a multiple monitor setup as part of his coming over, and management agreed. Once I saw how nice it was to have all of that window space I was hooked. It just takes a special dual head display card and two monitors. Makes it much easier when programming – I can run something on the main screen, and look at the code on the other, as well as have half a dozen other windows open at the same time and flip between them.

Back in at 4:30am again today. New software release last night, but this one is my program. So I’m here in case anything goes wonkers. But it’s 6:47 and no problems. At least with my program. Other stuff is going bad, as usual, and since I’m here Mike the night shift guy keeps calling me. He also calls me at home. As he did last night at 11:30 when I was trying to sleep before getting up at 3 to come in here. Well, really 3:15 on the alarm clock but it’s close enough. Rambling now, guess the 11:30 call did break me up enough. Hope the boss doesn’t expect too much of me today. But he might let me leave early, maybe as early as 4. We’ll see later. But for now I’m reading blogs and typing stuff up.

While reading my normal path Clare pointed to a new place I haven’t been before, it’s Choogles place. Well, that’s one of the names her father gave her, so I picked that one. Sounds like she is enjoying computer challenges and twin girls. She also sounds like a Brit relocated to California. See, Clare, you can come to warm country if you really really want to.

Mardi gra

Happy Fat Tuesday! I’ve always wanted to go to New Orleans or Brazil and see the Mardi Gra celebrations. Never wanted to put up with all the drunks though, but the carnivals and parades all seem very celebratory. Especially the films I’ve seen in Brazil – those huge krewes and costumes and music!

Came across some interesting new sites yesterday. Thanks to striped Lisa for a link to Quick Movies in Bun-O-Vision. I would say that Lisa spends too much time on the internet, then look at the fact that I go to most of the sites she points at, plus my own list, and better not even mention computer time. But thanks for the links Lisa!

Oh, better do some pictures – some granddad, been too long without showing her off.

We took our son in law (still feels strange to put that down, I don’t feel old enough) out for his birthday this past weekend. We went to a nice Mexican place in Summerlin (the fancy new area in northwest Vegas) called Agave. It’s a very interesting building, in pinks and purples and oranges, shaped kind of like a big Mexican hat. The food is pretty good, and on the medium priced range. Total cost for four of us, with deserts but no fancy drinks was $75 (plus tip).


The interior is mostly a big round room, with a bar in the center and high ceiling with stars – the camera didn’t focus on the stars, guess it was too dark or something for the autofocus feature. Recipes had a little modern take on Mexican recipes, not the traditional food.

But Eli had a good time. She's ten months old now.


She always seems to be laughing and enjoying herself. Up to stage 3 foods now (bottled stuff with a little texture). And she really likes cheerios. She is in a high chair now, sitting up very nicely.


Grandma plays with her every day, but with my hours I don’t get home in time to see here at all.

Red door and spring

I see it’s snowing back in Rochester again. Don’t know why I keep talking about Rochester, guess it’s because I lived there during my ‘formative’ years in colleges. No, no wild parties, I’m not the wild party kind of guy. I was the quiet shy kind of guy back then, changed that over the years, not the quiet type but changed the shy type. Guess I wasn’t to quiet, for one year I was selected as the College Union Social Chairman. I was the guy that put on all of the concerts and lots of the parties. That’s how I got to meet Dave Brubeck in his underwear (the first time I saw him in his underwear) (no, not that exciting a story) (OK, boxers). We also had Ritchie Havens, Harry Chapin, Peter _ and Mary (after they split up), Weather Report, and Genesis (hey, we’re still listed on their site). You remember Genesis? Back before Kiss they painted their faces white and black, the band Phil Collins used to be in.

But on to the weather here. Trees are starting to bloom. Our peach tree has a few blossoms starting, and some green leaves showing.


Last year it was just a mound of pink, but this year the leaves are coming first, and the blooms slowly, so we will get a longer less brilliant show. You can see the trees behind are still bare. Some of the flowering trees around town are in full bloom, lots of pinks and bright whites.

And for Brighton, we have a red front door too.


When we moved in it was plain and dull green, but we pulled off the trim that made it look like a paneled door, I cut the slots and put in the glass, and B tried a dozen different shades before ending up with this one. Took a while to settle on the ripply glass. I think it looks pretty good. And our little dogs can stand up and look out the windows when people ring the bell.