In Arizona

The plane pictured here is one of Pterodactyl Airlines (actually Great Lakes Airlines) finest transports - a Beechcraft 1900-D. It seats a whole 19 passengers, although there were only two of us on board from Phoenix to Prescott, AZ on Wednesday, the 24th of September. From Prescott they were flying to Ontario, California -- with absolutely no passengers on board. (Not very cost effective, is it?)

It seems that the cat I took to the vet had a urinary tract infection and a respiratory infection. They gave him some antibiotics that Valerie has to feed him twice daily. It's some pink crap that she has to stick a dropped half way down his throat to get him to swallow it. For 16 years old he puts up one heckuva good fight to NOT get his medicine.

We're preparing for my mother's move next Monday, when we set off from Prescott to Boise, Idaho in a U-Haul moving van. Ah, the joys of the open road await. Her house looks much different with everything stacked in boxes in one corner of the living room, or else having already been given away to other people who wanted some "stuff".

A crew from her church will be there Sunday afternoon to load the van, and then bright and early Monday we'll leave Prescott for the last time. Another chapter has come to a close, yet another one waits to be written.

It's Going to Be a Long Week...

I'm back... but not with a vengeance. Just back. I mentioned that last Sunday we took a bike ride in Boise and wound up at "Joe's Crab Shack" along the Boise River; this is a picture of the view from our table.

Prior to this post is one called "Testing". Sure, I probably could have just deleted the thing and have moved on, but laziness has its benefits (in other words, that's one less thing I have to do). What it was all about was a test of my new cell phone, a "Blackberry Curve 8330". Even thought these phones have a ridiculously small keyboard on them, they still have internet access and, therefore, I can use it to post to the blog when traveling (if for some reason my laptop is not with me). I'll still need to try taking a picture using the phone, and then uploading it to this blog site before I can call my test 100% successful.

On Wednesday of this week I'll fly one-way to Arizona. Yes, that's right... I'm leaving Valerie for another woman. No sense in getting a round trip ticket for this little adventure. My mother is in the process of getting her household goods packed and will be my navigator as we travel by U-Haul moving van back to Boise beginning on the 29 of September. There's a one bedroom apartment (handicapped accessible) that has come open and she'll be moving in on the 1st of October. From then on anytime her computer gives her troubles I won't be able to use the excuse of "I'd have to be there to see what it's doing" -- I'll just have to stop by after work and fix it!

In the cat market... our oldest cat Ralph has suddenly started peeing in a certain area in our bedroom. This leads to speculation of why he suddenly is exhibiting this behavior (when he's never had a problem with the cat box before). Perhaps he's experiencing kidney shutdown, as he isn't drinking like he used to and he (like our other cat) is diabetic. Or could it be kitty alzheimer's, where suddenly he's too stupid to remember where the cat box is? I fear that Monday he will be taking a ride to the vet with me... and at 16 years old and whizzing on the rug, this might turn into one of those "one way" rides.

Testing!

This is just a test to see whether I can post to our blog from my cell phone.

To those reading this, please excuse me for this little trial run!

What to Do?

It's one of those Sundays... do we do anything, or just stay home and take it easy? We just came off of working six days straight, and we get to do that all over again starting tomorrow. I'm torn between taking a nap and heading up to a lake that we've never visited before -- surprisingly. It's about 40 miles from here, 26 of which is on a dirt road leading up a valley in the mountains northeast of here. If we go, I'll have to remember to take the camera...

Update: September 15th

We didn't make it to Deadwood Reservoir, but instead went into Boise and rode the tandem around. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant along the Boise River and then returned home. More information to follow in the next regular update.

A Lazy Day...

It was a Saturday, part of the once-every-sixth-week rotation where we have a Friday, Saturday and Sunday off to make a three day weekend. Unfortunately, Valerie had to work this Saturday, leaving the cats and myself to wander aimlessly around the house. As you can see by the photo, Kittle wasn't much into wandering and spent most of the day passed out near the back door, where she could experience the fresh air without actually having to get up the energy to go outside to enjoy it.

This photo was taken with a digital camera we picked up just yesterday evening to replace one that suddenly decided it didn't want to work anymore. It's a Nikon CoolPix P-60, which means that it's an 8.1 megapixel, 5X zoom point-and-shoot camera with a thin enough profile to fit in the back pocket of a bicycling jersey with no problem. It replaces a 4 megapixel Pentax Optio that had a 3X zoom, and probably cost less than the Pentax did when we bought it.

I spent some time playing with the camera today, and took a LONG nap to make up for a restless night, mowed the lawn, knit a little bit but actually managed NOT to give into the temptation to jump into the car and drive off somewhere.

The cats and I all say, "mission accomplished!"