Here It Comes!

Well, Our week of very mild weather is coming to a screeching halt! Yesterday it was in the 60,s and Sunday it's not even going to reach 30!
That big blue H in the middle of the
country is pulling in very cold Canadian air,
driving the temps way down!
You can see the temperature
change on the map as the cold
moves in.

Right now we're getting a lot of rain, but by tonight, 1-2 inches of the white stuff. I can't even say that four letter word!


I know it's all most December,
And we've all ready had some of that white stuff,
but I'm never ready for it to stay.


And I'll be happy to post pictures because I know
all you people who went south will really miss it!

Which reminds me......
I better check and make sure
my snow blower is working!

My new Calendar

I recently added a Calendar, I guess, because I could. And it was free. I always like free! The reason for this particular Calendar, was I felt a kinship to it. Being a hairstylist, it just seemed a natural fit. And quite fun I think!

I've never actually worn any of the hairstyles he is displaying! Though the last one I might achieve if my hair keeps getting any thinner! I've also added a clock. I don't know why, except again it was free. Just trying to make my Blog a little different from the rest. I've had a lot of fun with it. Even though I still don't know where I'm going with it. I guess time will tell.

Light to unite update

We did it! Over 100,000 candles lit! Thanks to everyone who lit a candle, and to everyone who passed it on.

Light to Unite

December 1st is Aids Day. I'm normally not an activist, but I got this e-mail from a friend, and it seems like such an easy way to help a good cause.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is donating $1 for each person who visits their website and "virtually lights a candle". Up to $100.000.00.

Please take a minute to "light a candle":


http://www.lighttounite.org/

Another Link

On that beautiful Thanksgiving Day, while the turkey was cooking we took advantage of the weather, and put snow tires, (yuck, did i say a four letter word?) on Craig's PT Cruiser.

For some reason, It's his car,

but as you see, I'm the one

with the wrench!

He uses this Carpal Tunnel

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/78/95624.htm

excuse every chance he gets!

Anyway,

He has this method for

changing the tires.

As we take each one off,

he marks

the back with white

chalk with the

axle it will go on the

following spring.

That way they are rotated each year.

And once they're all on he checks

the pressure and fills as necessary.

Now about the link! He bought the mounted tires online,

like we're doing with more and more stuff.

He checked the PT Cruiser web site for recommended snow and ice tires, and then surfed and called around here, and found the best price at a dealer in Indiana. The TIRE RACK. Even with shipping, we saved over $80.00! Now they don,t have our RV tires, but you may want to check them out, next time you need car or truck tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/

Saturday November 25th

How is everyone after the Thanksgiving Holiday? Myself, I ate way too much as usual! But if Craig wasn't such a good cook, and if he didn't make so much food,( I swear he was a banquet chef in a previous life), I wouldn't today look like this!
The Pillsbury dough boy!



But the weather was great! 60 and sunny.
The food was great!
And spent the day playing computer games!
I am a computer game addict! But only in the winter when I can't mo-ho or play in the yard!
Had to work Friday, and working today also.

Everyone have a great weekend!

our 30 year history in pics

Thanksgiving

Today I give thanks for every thing I have.
And also for Craig's delicious Turkey dinner!

Turkey

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought it would be appropriate for a little Turkey Trivia.

Turkey Facts

Here turkey, turkey, turkey

Turkeys are able to adapt to a wide variety of habitats. However, most turkeys are found in hardwood forests with grassy areas. The best time to see a turkey is on a warm clear day or in a light rain.

They what?

Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead.

Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining.

Eat, sleep, gobble.

Turkeys spend the night in trees. They fly to their roosts around sunset. Turkeys fly to the ground at first light and feed until mid-morning. Feeding resumes in mid-afternoon. Gobbling starts before sunrise and can continue through most of the morning.

Eyes in the backs of their heads?

A wild turkey has excellent vision and hearing. Their field of vision is about 270 degrees. This is the main reason they continue to elude some hunters.

And they're fast, too!

A spooked turkey can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. They can also burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds

. So close, yet so far,

Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey.

Tech Tip #2

After having a computer now for over 10 years. and surfing the Internet, I know how important it is for anti-virus protection! I've used Norton Antivirus for years, but recently changed after many people said I didn't need to pay for good protection. I was very sceptical of that! But hate how much it costs, so with a couple of months left on my Norton, I downloaded a new, free, anti-virus progam. I've run it now for several months and have surfed many sites, and have been very pleased with it. So much, I uninstalled Norton two months ago and still am virus free! So why pay for something you can get free!

Now the free version is very basic, but good enough for most people. You can pay to upgrade for more protection, but I don't think most people really need to. Here's the link!

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

For even more security you also need a firewall! It keeps the hackers from being able to access your computer from a remote location. Once you have these two products, you'll be a lot safer.

Antivirus software protects you from known viruses and can help clean up after a virus attack. But only a PC firewall can block unauthorized access to your Internet-connected computer and protect against both known and unknown malicious software and Internet threats.

The one I recommend is Zone Alarm Free Version by Zone Labs. I t gives you a very good basic firewall which is all most users should need. Now if you have windows xp, you already have a firewall built in. But here is the link,

http://www.download.com/3000-2092-10039884.html

Two other programs that can keep your computer clean are Ad-Aware SE,

http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html

With the ability to scan your RAM, Registry, hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising, and tracking components, Ad-Aware SE easily can clean your system, allowing you to maintain a higher degree of privacy while you surf the Web.

And Spybot - Search and Destroy!

http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10122137.html

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spy ware. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies.

Make sure you run them regularly and update them often and you can surf the net safely!

The Season has begun!

The Christmas Season that is. Here in Lansing, they have what is called "Silver Bells in the City". It's the official start of the holiday shopping! They have this Electric Light Parade where they decorate all these

city trucks with tons

of lights, add a lot

of floats and bands,

and light the official

"Holiday Tree"

and fireworks!

They don't call it

a Christmas tree

to be politically correct.

But do you know of

any other holiday that uses a tree?

Anyway it was lots of fun and they had

100,000,00 people show up.

They also had tours of the
Capital, Singing groups on the
street corners, and activities for kids.

Fall's Over

Yes indeed, I do believe fall is over.

Even though winter does'nt
technically start till Dec 22nd,
Things look pretty dead and dreary.
That's probably why it
seems winter is so long.

So now the l-o-n-g wait for spring.

The leaves are all down and

just about all cleaned up.

Most of the perenials have been

cut back.

Even the Mums are done blooming.

The deck furniture

has been put away.

The bird baths have

all been turned over.


The ornamental grasses

have been cut back.

And of course,

the Mo-Ho is parked and winterized.

The Kar Kaddy covered.

But even with everything nearly

dormant or dead,

there's still promise for spring as shown

here with buds on the Rhododendron bush

waiting for the warmth of spring to burst

open again!

But then again, the long winter has

a number of RV Shows in

and near Michigan.

Maybe it won't be so bad afterall!

More fluff

Got this e-mail from a friend and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd share it.

Recently, while going through an airport during one of his many trips,
President Bush encountered a man with long gray hair, wearing a white robe and sandals, and holding a staff.

President Bush went up to the man and said, "Has anyone told you that you look like Moses?" The man didn't answer. He just kept staring straight ahead.
The president said, "Moses!" in a loud voice.

The man just stared ahead, never acknowledging the President.
The president pulled a Secret Service agent aside and, pointing to the robed man, asked him,

"Am I crazy or does that man not look like Moses to you?"
The Secret Service agent looked at the man and agreed.

"Well," said the president, "every time I say his name, he ignores me and stares straight ahead, refusing to speak. Watch!" Again the president yelled, "Moses!" and again the man ignored him.

The Secret Service agent went up to the man in the white robe and whispered,
"You look just like Moses. Are you Moses?"
The man leaned over and whispered back,
"Yes, I am Moses.
However, the last time I talked to a bush,
I spent 40 years wandering in the desert and ended up leading my people to the only spot in the entire Middle East where there is no oil."

And now off to work!

Smell Good!

Today I'd like to share with you a site where you can smell really good for less!

Here's the link, www.fragrancenet.com.

You can get every cologne imaginable there, and at very good prices!

Sign up for their e-mail list and get e-coupons delivered to your mailbox for even more savings!

They even e-mail you a tracking number to follow it.

My personal fav's are Obsession, Curve, and Halston Z-14 (hint, hint)

Christmas is coming!

The lighter side

Well, after my more serious posts about the election and all, I thought some fluff was in order.


The Differences Between Men And Women

BATHROOMS: A man has six items in his bathroom -- a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of Dial soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 437. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.

GROCERIES: A woman makes a list of things she needs and then goes out to the store and buys these things. A man waits till the only items left in his fridge are half a lime and a soda. Then he goes grocery shopping. He buys everything that looks good. By the time a man reaches the checkout counter, his cart is packed tighter than the Clampett's car on Beverly Hillbillies. Of course, this will not stop him from going to the 10-items-or-less lane.


SHOES: When preparing for work, a woman will put on a Mondi wool suit, then slip on Reebok sneakers. She will carry her dress shoes in a plastic bag from Saks. When a woman gets to work, she will put on her dress shoes. Five minutes later, she will kick them off because her feet are under the desk. A man will wear the same pair of shoes all day.


CATS: Women love cats. Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.


DRESSING UP: A woman will dress up to: Go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, get the mail. A man will dress up for: weddings, funerals.


LAUNDRY: Women do laundry every couple of days. A man will wear every article of clothing he owns, including his surgical pants that were hip about eight years ago, before he will do his laundry. When he is finally out of clothes, he will wear a dirty sweatshirt inside out, rent a U-Haul and take his mountain of clothes to the Laundromat. Men always expect to meet beautiful women at the Laundromat. This is a myth perpetuated by re-runs of old episodes of "Love, American Style."


OFFSPRING: Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and soccer games and romances and best friends and favorite foods and secret fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

Do you speak English?

One of the many issues during the election had to do with immigration. Some think we should ship all the illegal immigrants out of here, and some think we should give them some type of amnesty.

What ever they decide, I think there should be some sort of program to help them learn English. I think all Americans should at least know basic English. If people want to come to America for a better life, that's great! But at least learn the language! We shouldn't have to have everything in 2, 3, or more languages. I'm all for diversity but we need some common ground to tie us all together. And a common language does just that.

Just my thoughts for today.

Veterns Day

I'd like to take this time to thank my dad, brothers, sister, cousin, nephews, and everyone who is serving, or has served in the armed forces for preserving our freedom!

Tech tip!

Today I'm going to tell anyone who has a RV about a better way to dump their tanks!

I installed a Macerator pump.

Click the pic for a better view.

I got rid of that three inch

wide leaking coiled mess.

Don't know who invented that!

But this Macerator pump is the

cure for those who dread the task!

It's soooo simple to use!

It twists on your dump valve, and

stays there! You don't need to remove it

every time ! Only 9.5 in long!

Got the original idea from Hitchitch.

http://fulltime.hitchitch.com

But mine is better suited for a motor home.

Not being an electrical type of guy, I put an additional

12 volt battery in the compartment

next to it and the pump has jumper

like cables that I hook to the battery

to start the pump.

To use you just uncoil the hose,

take the screw cap off the end,

and put it in the drain,

and turn it on and open the dump values.

Of course black first then grey.

There's a clear connector between the

pump and the hose,

so you can see when there is

nothing more coming out.

And it does take a little longer

to empty the tanks.

But when your done, you replace

the end cap and roll up the hose, and done!
No drippy mess!
These should come standard in every motor home!

another day

Here it is, the day after the election. And I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure glad I don't have to see or here another political add! Unless it's on You Tube. http://youtube.com

Now those were hilarious! More entertaining, and probably just as accurate!

For those of you who aren't familiar with You Tube, it's a web site where anyone can up load clips of them self or of anything else. And it's amazing all the effort people go thru to make up some of them!

But back to the election. Here in Michigan, a record amount of money was spent on the Governor's race. Over a total of $50,000,000.00!

And Devos spent 40 million of it and didn't even win the election!

It just goes to show, you can't just throw tons of money and expect to win. You actually have to say what you plan to do if elected. He just didn't do it!

I normally don't get all political on my blog, but we've had to put up with adds since April!

Anyway, glad it's all over!

And now I'm off to work!

Last Oregon Post

Okay now.
I've gone on for a couple of weeks now about our Oregon trip. Even though we were there for only four days! But there was so many things to see and do in that short time and we wanted to take it all in! We loved Oregon and especially Portland! Would love to take the motor home out there for a summer. Maybe some day!

But on our drive down the coast,

as we got into Tillamook,

Craig's eyes lit up

and he screamed,

STOP THE CAR!

Well, not really.

But he did see the

Tillamook Cheese Factory!

Where we stopped to tour!

For those that don't know

Craig very well, he is a

Cheeseaholic.

And This place was like

Christmas to him!

Cheese everywhere!

Every kind of cheese!

Thank god we had to get
the rental car back.

I might have never

gotten him out of there!

But we made it back in time.

And the fight home

was much better!

Along the Oregon Coast

While driving down the coast, We saw these signs.

Something you'd never see in Michigan.

Even with our great lakes!

But if my memory from geology class

serves me well, There is a major fault

that runs parallel along the northern

California coast up to British Columbia,
about 50 miles off shore.

So if a major quake should happen,

we could see a similar scenario that

happened in Indonesia last year.

Thus, all these signs!
I don't think I would want to live in

a Tsunami zone!

The Oregon Coast

We drove over to the ocean via highway 26 from Portland to Cannon Beach.

Portland is quite a ways from the ocean.

We were expecting high cliffs and rocks,

but there is actually alot of nice beaches!

Of course the day we were there,

it was quite cloudy.
At Cannon Beach

they have these

Massive rocks in the

water they call haystacks.

They were quite impressive!

Remeber to click on the

pic for a larger view!

And on the second pic,
if you look closely at the base ,

you'll see people!

Oregon has a fantastic coast!

We drove from Cannon Beach

down the coast to Tillamook.

We had planned to go all the way

to Lincoln City,

but there was road construction

everywhere, and we had to get

the rental car back by 3pm.

But we saw lots of beautiful

scenery during the drive!

Did you know, you can't

pump your own gas in Oregon!

It's a state law!

Mt Hood

Mt Hood is an ancient Volcano.

It is a group of three

called the three sisters.

They are Mt Hood,

Mt St Helens, and Mt Rainer.

These are quite something to behold.

Towering above everything!

We had to drive almost all the

way around it to get to the lodge!

In order to get all of them

in one post.(I couldn't choose

just a few,) I made them

smaller. But just click

on each for a larger view!

We had lunch at the

Treeline Lodge. It is

of course at the elevation where trees will grow no higher.
I've always found that to be very odd. But anyway,

the views were magnificent!

We ate in the second floor bar,

and here's the view out the

window. It's Mt Jefferson far in

the distance. Pretty cool!

My next post will be the ocean!