Another Snowy Sunday...

This "lump" is actually our 1973 Volkswagen sitting outside under a tarp... and under some snow. I dug it out and started it up, but couldn't get it up the driveway. I didn't act fast enough and put the snow tires on it before the white stuff came; now the bug will just have to sit until the snow thaws and there's exposed gravel once again.

Speaking of snow... I woke up this morning and got to take a walk with the snowblower once again. (I also did this when we got home from work last night.) It probably takes close to an hour to really clear the driveway and turn-around area when the snow is heavy, as it was both last night and this morning. (And it's still snowing as I write this, at 8:30 AM.)

Delivering mail in Boise yesterday was in the worst winter conditions that Valerie and I can actually remember. Her route is flat, but the snow doesn't melt and gets pressed down and turns icy. This makes it difficult to drive on, let alone get out of the truck to get to a mailbox.

My route has several hills; a few of them are quite steep. The city hadn't come around to sand the streets, which helps a little bit, so I had to improvise on the first hill of the day by driving to the top and then delivering to both sides of the street as I slowly drove back down. To stop at a mailbox in the uphill direction means that you'll never again get any forward momentum on this hill: you'll spin your wheels and drift sideways or wind up going backwards.

On another steep cul-de-sac, I just left the mail truck at the top of the street and walked down the street and then back up to the top; this road wasn't sanded so to have attempted to drive down would have worked but there's no flat area at the bottom to get any speed built up to attempt to drive back up the road. The mail truck would have been stuck down there until spring!

So today will probably be spent on the inside looking out, as trying to go anywhere with the roads as they are isn't the smartest of options. While driving home a couple of nights ago we saw a pickup truck that had slipped off the side of the road into a ditch. We found this mildly humorous -- it was a four-wheel-drive truck, so I guess that means it can grip the road no matter how fast you take an icy corner! We knew that a tow truck would be on it's way to get him out as soon as they could.

Just a couple of miles further up the road was a set of amber emergency light flashing (indicating a tow truck), although they were at a funny angle and not parallel to the road. There was also the telltale red and blue flashing lights of the local law enforcement vehicle, so we slowed down in case there was a problem. The tow truck (one of the flat-bed models with a vehicle on the bed already) had slipped off the road into the ditch, and the sheriff was there directing traffic and offering assistance.

Drive slow, think smart and remember that four-wheel-drive doesn't make you invincible!

Bah! Humbug!

We woke up to between 1 and 2 feet of freshly fallen snow on Christmas morning. It took several hours to clear the driveway, because I kept having to go over the same spots a few different times, and it took me a while to figure out how to get the tread back on to the snowblower once it had come off.

We also found a car that couldn't make it up the road abandoned at the top of our driveway, blocking us from being able to leave. We actually wound up having to dig around the car and then free it from it's high-centered trap and move it to one side so we could get out and run to the store. It was after all this that the owner then came out of hiding and came down to reclaim the car!

So... for all those of you who were hoping for a white Christmas this year... I hope you're happy!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Yes, I missed a post again last Sunday. I was at the computer and kept putting it off, thinking "I'll do it later." And when "later" finally arrived, I was off doing something else.

Anyway, Valerie went in and got a "Christmas colonoscopy" yesterday, and was declared "all clear" by the doctors there. She doesn't have to drink the special gallon of "go juice" for another 10 years; I, on the other hand, wasn't quite as lucky and (if memory serves me, even though I'm trying to forget) I have to return in five years for another fun-filled adventure.

We're having a white Christmas this year, even though it arrived here later than usual. (I wore my postal shorts into the first part of December this year, something that I rarely am able to wear past the first week in November.) This Christmas Eve promises an incoming storm, so we should be having another layer of "Christmas cheer" on the ground by morning. Hooray...

Valerie got stuck working today (which is our scheduled day off), while I didn't. So I'm sitting at the Toyota dealership right now having some routine service being performed on our RAV4 -- which is a great winter driving machine! After this, I'll probably go do some last minute shopping (is there any other kind?), and spend a little time this afternoon with my mother.

Merry Christmas to those of you who observe this Holiday, and have a pleasant day wherever you might find yourself!

It's Starting to Act Like Winter

Christmas light are going up, the temperatures are falling... and as of yesterday, so is the snow. I was able to get up this morning and go start up the snow blower and take it for a walk up and down the driveway before driving down to the local store to pick up the Sunday newspaper. The roads are snow coated with a layer of ice underneath the snow, which I found out about when I turned left onto the main road and had the back end of our car slide a little bit. This is a little different than "normal" when it comes to driving conditions.

The photo here is from a house in Boise that must personally keep the electric company in business every December. The photo was taken with my Blackberry, so it wasn't the greatest to start with... but the whole yard, house and roof are covered with lights and decorations. It's truly an exercise in visual excess that has to be seen in person to be appreciated!

The volume of mail is down this year; either people are late in mailing or they're just not sending out as much "stuff" this year. The package volume has been down, and (so far) the amount of Christmas cards just doesn't seem to be as high as in years past.

Next week it looks like it's going to be cold here (in the 20 degree F. range for a high), and the chance of snow will be here each and every day. I might have to quit wearing my postal shorts and put the long pants on! This (mid-December) is probably the longest I've ever worn the shorts -- it usually gets too cold for my liking in early November. Interested in what the Boise weather will be like? I use the Weather Underground for answers to that question!

Valerie's grandmother was hospitalized for observation after apparently having a "mini-stroke", also known as a Transient Ischecmic Attack. According to the American Heart Association's website, " a TIA is a "warning stroke" or "mini-stroke" that produces stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. Recognizing and treating TIAs can reduce your risk of a major stroke." You might want to read more about the subject at their website. At last word she is okay, and has been deemed fit to return home. My own mother had a series of these several years ago while living in Arizona.

That seems to be all the new and exciting information I have to rattle off about this week. My year of "blogging" is almost up, and I'm looking forward to not having to try and remember my "once a week posting" pledge!

Thanksgiving Trip Revealed...

I've fallen off my "post every Sunday" routine for this blog, and it's time to try to get back on track. I'm typing with our "sole-survivor-cat" sitting on my lap, and he's being a nuisance. (This is probably what he thinks his job is... he's never quite learned the concept of just sitting still and relaxing.)

Anyway, we went to Tampa to spend Thanksgiving week with Valerie's grandmother and her late mother's husband, George. A good time was had by all, and this was a trip that was well worth the effort.

On one of our days out we stopped and walked along a gulf shore beach area near Clearwater -- and I use this town's name loosely, because I quite honestly have NO idea where we were. (I wasn't paying a bit of attention... I was either watching the scenery go by or playing with my Blackberry...)

The weather in the general Tampa area was hitting the 70 degree mark, but the beach felt a little cool when we were walking there (thanks mainly to a stiff breeze) -- I wasn't sure if I needed a light jacket or not, so I took it with me (and looked like an idiot for having one). In this photo the two predominant people are George and myself -- he looks like the confident resident and I look like the misfit tourist.

After our beach walking exercise, we drove in a northward direction and wound up at a place called the "Lucky Dill Deli" at the corner of US 19 (Alternate) and Alderman Road in Palm Harbor, Florida. I couldn't find a website to link in this article, but you can find plenty to read about if you do a Google Search for "Lucky Dill Deli". There's a lot of people out there who do NOT like this place, and yet it seems to pack in the crowds. The food we had was plentiful, reasonable in price considering the amount of meat they cram into the sandwiches and the in-house bakery case was amazing in itself.

Thanksgiving Day was spent driving from Tampa to "The Villages", a golf retirement community where George has a small place to go to on the weekends (yes, he's an avid golfer). First off, this place is HUGE. If you like golf, check out the link to their website and take a look. Being that I'm not 55 and I don't golf, I don't think I'll be buying into this place anytime in the conceivable future. But I did notice a lot of old farts who were into cycling -- not the slow, bike path kind of riding but the hard core Lycra and high tech roadie style of cycling. So if I were to ever take up golf... there's the cycling option to be found there too.

Valerie's sister drove down to the Villages to meet up with us, and that's them with their grandmother smiling away in the photo. A few other family members showed up at the country club George had chosen for the meal and then we all sat down to a fabulous lunch (dinner?) that offered the choice of smoked salmon, prime rib, ham or the traditional dish of the day... turkey. Almost everyone at the table chose the turkey, although there was one who went with the ham.

The food was amazing, and there was plenty of it. There wasn't an item on my plate that I didn't hesitate to finish (and I've never been a huge fan of yams and stuffing). Besides the turkey and the afore mentioned items we also had mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables cranberries, bread and a choice of soup or salad. Dessert was pecan pie with a scoop of pumpkin ice cream -- which was actually quite good, and the two complimented each other nicely.

We also spent some time walking around a couple of the malls in the Tampa area, and found that wheel chairs were readily available so we could push Grandma around and take it all in. She still gets around pretty good, but in places as big as these were the wheel chair was a real blessing considering the distances we covered (and the speed we did it in).

All good things have to come to an end, and we flew back to Boise the day after Thanksgiving. The weather here is cooling down, but still not as much as it should be doing for the season... and there's NO snow to talk about. The skiers are not happy about this, and if we don't start getting some "weather" and start putting some snow into the mountain ranges we're going to have a very dry year ahead of us.

Now that we're up to date... I wish you all the best until my next post!

Answer to the Question

On October 12th I posed the question of "how much longer would our favorite cat last?" Tonight, December 5th, at 8:00 PM she answered the question.

She was very skinny, and in the last day or two had quit eating and usually stayed in her kitty bed. Just a few minutes before she died, she made the effort to come in to where we were sitting to be with us, acting like she knew something was happening.

We decided that perhaps it was finally time to take her to the vet as her discomfort was obvious, and our vet was gracious enough to agree to meet us at his clinic when I phoned him. A 50 mile drive wasn't what we had planned on, but plans don't always pan out.

Fortunately for all of us, we didn't even make it out of the garage before Kittle passed. She was in her kitty bed on Valerie's lap, and just as quickly as we had gotten ready to go... we didn't need to anymore.

People place strong attachments to pets... and this one certainly had us wrapped around her little cat-paws.