ABOUT THE ONLY THING I CAN LEAVE YOU WITH IS…………………

Well folks it turned out to be another day of nothing so about the only thing I can leave you with is tonight’s Groaner’s Corner & a couple photos………

GROANER’S CORNER:(( The president of a large managed health care facility also served on the board of his community's symphony orchestra. Finding that he could not go to one of the concerts, he gave his tickets to the company's director of health care cost containment. The next morning, he asked the director how he enjoyed the performance. Instead of the usual polite remarks, the director handed him a memo which read as follows:  The undersigned submits the following comments and recommendations relative to the performance of Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony" by this city's symphony orchestra as observed under actual working conditions:

A. The attendance of the conductor is unnecessary for the public performances. The orchestra has obviously practiced and has the prior authorization from the conductor to play the symphony at a predetermined level of quality. Considerable money could be saved merely by having the conductor critique the orchestra's performance during a retrospective peer review meeting.

B. For considerable periods, the four oboe players had nothing to do. Their numbers should be reduced and their work spread over the whole orchestra, thus eliminating peaks and valleys of activity.

C. All 12 violins were playing identical notes with identical motions. This is unnecessary duplication: the staff of this section should be cut drastically with consequent savings. If a large volume of sound is required, this could be obtained through electronic amplification, which has reached high levels of reproductive quality.

D. Much effort was expanded playing 16th notes or semi-quavers. This seems an excessive refinement, as most listeners are unable to distinguish such rapid playing. It is recommended that all notes be rounded up to eighths. If this is done, it would also be possible to use trainees and lower grade musicians with no loss of quality.

E. No useful purpose would appear to be served by repeating with horns the same passage that has already been handled by the strings. If all such redundant passages were eliminated, as determined by the utilization review committee, the concert would have been reduced from two hours to about 20 minutes, resulting in substantial savings in salaries and overhead. In fact, if Schubert had addressed these concerns on a cost containment basis, he probably would have been able to finish this symphony!

WEDNESDAY POST

NEIGHBOR’S FLOWERS

Aside from washing & cleaning up our Jeep this morning I’m afraid I really don’t have anything of interest to write about tonight.  Sat on our front porch reading for awhile today & that was about it.  Wished I had more, but………

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A new report suggests that being overweight is not as harmful as is commonly believed, and actually confers some surprising benefits.  Being five to ten pounds overweight could protect people from ailments ranging from tuberculosis to Alzheimer's disease, research indicates. Those carrying 15 to 25 extra pounds are better able to recover from adverse conditions such as emphysema, pneumonia, and various injuries and infections, states the report.  Thirty to forty pounds of flab could help fend off breast, kidney, pancreatic, prostate, and colon cancer. And an extra fifty pounds on the scale may improve eyesight, reverse baldness, cure the common cold, and reduce global warming.  In general, the report concludes, overweight people are happier, more successful in business, smarter, and friendlier.  The study was funded by a research grant from McDonald's, Burger King, Jack in the Box, Taco Bell, Domino's Pizza, Starbucks, Haagen Dazs, Sara Lee, and Krispy Kreme.

WICKENBURG FOR BREAKFAST

Kelly had some browsing to do so enticed me to go along by suggesting breakfast in Wickenburg.  Well that was good enough for me & off we went.  ‘Ikes’ is a well known eatery so that is where we headed to check out their new downtown location since moving from over near McDonalds on the highway.  Had been awhile since I’ve had bacon & eggs so I for sure I enjoyed my breakfast.  Kelly hit a few stores & that was basically it for today.  We were home before noon & aside from planting a few cactus plants that was about it for the day.  Pretty exciting eh:))

 

When first starting out years ago we had both a Travel Trailer & a 5th Wheel before eventually moving on to a Motorhome.  I remember trailer tires were always a concern & I would sometimes look at those smaller trailer tires & think to myself, ‘how can those small tires support all that weight.’  Well it shows you how much I knew about tires which was basically not too much.  Here’s a trailer tire site with some good info on tires that you trailer folks might be interested in.  Find The Right Tire.

In downtown old Wickenburg this morning we were surprised to see something rather futuristic.  Six parking spaces with Tesla charging stations at each one.  I wasn’t aware we had enough electrical cars on our highways to support an electrical charging system but it’s great to see this kind of technology forging ahead.  Tesla Supercharging Stations 

GROANER’S CORNER:((   This couple was heading to the hospital with their 16-year-old daughter, who was scheduled to undergo a tonsillectomy. During the ride they talked about the procedure.  "Dad," the teenager asked "how are they going to keep my mouth open during surgery?"  Without hesitation her father quipped, "They're going to give you a phone."

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- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

BETWEEN RAIN SHOWERS I MOVED OUR BIG PILE OF BRICKS TODAY

 

CACTUS WREN

Rains began Sunday evening & continued on & off well into mid morning.  Great for all my newly planted cactus as well as all other desert plants.  It’s these February showers which bring on April flowers.  In the Fall when we return we plan to seed some areas of our property with flowering poppy seeds as well as other easy growing wild flower seeds.  Don’t know why we never thought to do that sooner. 

FEMALE CARDINAL

Looking at photos of Bayfield & checking the long range weather it looks like we’ll be into snow banks around our house when we get there sometime early April.  With these record breaking temperatures this year & the amount of snow fall it will definitely be a late Spring.  In one of the photos below we can see Lake Huron is frozen over for as far as one can see & know it will take a long time for all that lake ice to melt.  We live about a mile inland from the lake so our air will be cold for quite awhile.  It’s like living next to a giant iceberg until it all melts.   Also living in a Pine forest means sunshine doesn’t penetrate the tree cover very well to melt snow either.  We had to climb over snow banks to get into our house about 3 years ago & with no warming trend in the long range forecast it looks like we’ll probably be climbing over snow banks again when we do get home in about 6 weeks from now.  Or we may just have to stay here until we know we can get into our driveway & house at home.

THIS MORNING IN GRAND BEND ONTARIO NEAR WHERE WE LIVE…ABOUT 0 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT

LAKE IS FROZEN FOR AS FAR OUT AS ONE CAN SEE

This mornings project between intermittent light rain showers was to move a pile of bricks from point A to point B.  We had brought these bricks from North Ranch a couple months ago & piled them in a section of our front yard which I have been working on so decided to move the bricks.  Not a real hard physical job but a difficult mental job when I have to keep telling myself, ‘no Al all these bricks do not have to be moved in the next 20minutes’!!!! Getting it into my head I have days, weeks, & a whole month to move them just doesn’t compute in this mind of mine.  Luckily Mother Nature intervened with some showers forcing me back inside but soon as the sun came out again I was back outside.  Bricks are now all moved:))

MOVING THE BRICKS FROM POINT A

 

TO POINT B

Had to bail out of Bill Bryson’s book on my Kindle entitled ‘A Short History Of Nearly Everything.  I just couldn’t slog through anymore old science histories having to do with chemistry, radiology, cosmology, theories of gongshloobermets, mathematical conflobberzoinks, along with ancient inventors like Geisenschmaltz & Hozen Von Konalblatsenspits.  Now I’m not saying this isn’t a good book because of course it is but for me to wade through protons, futons, banana tongs, rights & wrongs as well as Mossmagator gongs just doesn’t work for me.  However, thanks to readers I today began another Bill Bryson book entitled, ‘One Summer: America, 1927.  Kelly ordered this one from the Library & it is in book form with large print.  Problem with big print is that it makes the book much bigger & heavier so had to hook our trailer on the Jeep to go pick it up.  Started the book today & I am already hooked on completing it maybe sometime in the year 2136.  There are a lot of pages!!

PHEEBS & I SPOTTED AN APACHE SAGUARO A FEW DAYS AGO EAST OF STANTON AZ.

One of our favorite boondocking places is of course Arizona’s Kofa National Wildlife Refuge & for anyone interested in the area regarding camping, what to see, & just about everything else an RV’er would want to know I urge you to read Nina’s latest post entitled, Boondocking Site Review - Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona.  Nina’s reviews are always ‘must reads’.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS WILD DESERT PLANT IS

Kelly picked up my TSC C.E. Schmidt hemmed pants a couple days ago so now I don’t have the bottom third of my pant legs floppily hanging beneath my shoes.  While there the lady who did the pants gave Kelly a big bag of lemons.  This morning Kelly hauled out the juicer & fired in the lemons for some pure lemon juice.  She poured that juice into ice cube trays & froze them.  Good way to add some flavor to a long tall glass of water on a hot day.  Me, I’ll just stick with my Cranberry-Raspberry juice mixed half & half with water.  Good stuff:))

 

NOT ONLY LEMONS ON THE COUNTER BUT LEMONS IN THAT PICTURE ON THE WALL AS WELL

Tuesday February 24th marks the 1 month anniversary of Blogger-Fest 2015.  Amazing how far afield all who were there for those few hours that day have already scattered since then.  All’s I have to do is look at my sidebar to see the distances some have quickly traveled.  RVing truly is a wandering Nomadic lifestyle & I do think that is what makes so many of the on road friendships so special.

WE HAD QUITE A CREW IN OUR BACK YARD THIS EVENING

And a friendly reminder to Facebook users.  Please do not be offended if I have not responded to your ‘Friend Request’.  I have twice been hacked on Facebook accepting ‘Friend Requests’ so it is something I stopped doing a couple years ago.  I am also not an active Facebook user.  I drop my post into Facebook at the end of each day & unless Kelly draws my attention to something in Facebook I’m not in the habit of using or looking at it.

 

HEY DAD…..’WASSUP’

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Nathan is talking to his lawyer. "Here's the deal, Frank. If you're absolutely sure I'll win the case, I'll give you the business."  "Okay," replies Frank, "but before I can give you my opinion, I obviously need to know the facts."  So Nathan goes into great detail about his failed partnership and ends up saying, "So now you've heard everything, do you think I can sue my partner and get my money back?"  "Well," replies Frank, "from what I've just heard, it's clear to me that you will win. It's rare to have such an open-and-shut case."
Nathan goes very white when he hears this.  "What's the matter?" asks Frank.  "I told you my partner's side of the case," replies Nathan.

A STROLL THROUGH A BEAUTIFUL CACTUS GARDEN

 

Kelly remembered seeing a Cactus nursery south of Wickenburg at the junction of highways 60 & 74.  A touch on the cool & windy side today so we figured it would make for a nice Sunday morning drive in the Jeep.  She was right & we drove ourselves down to a place called Cactus Ranch Nursery & Garden.  ‘WOW’ is this ever a nice place.  Seven acres of beautifully landscaped cactus.  Have never seen such a huge variety of cacti like this anywhere before & one does not get the feeling while leisurely strolling the gardens that this is a retail operation.  It was obvious right from the start this place was like no other we’ve seen.  Immaculately clean with each & every cactus perfectly & pains takingly placed by a true landscape professional.  And it is cactus only here, no trees, shrubs, or flowers for sale, just cactus.  I sensed right away this business was more than just a business.  It was someone’s labor of love.   

  

We really had not intended on buying any cactus but Kelly did pick up a couple small ones she liked.  We talked to a hard working fellow there we assume was the owner & he was very helpful answering all our cactus questions.  It was easy to tell he was extremely knowledgeable about all things cactus.  He also gave us a good deal on the 2 plants Kelly had picked out.  If your in the area drop in for a stroll through these gardens & marvel at all the beautiful cactus plants so meticulously laid out.

 

  

Grabbed a couple coffee’s at McDonalds & few groceries at Safeway.  Kelly & I both agreed Wickenburg would be a nice place to live.  It’s still small enough to feel homey yet large enough to have pretty well everything anybody needs.  Built in a valley on gently rolling hills with scenic mountains all round.  Downtown has retained it’s old western flavor without being glitzy & touristy.  Streets are easy to get around with only one traffic light downtown.  Couple more on Wickenburg Way leading out of town to the northwest.  Traffic on the east side of Wickenburg is handled quite nicely by a couple round-abouts.  Roundabouts George, not walkabouts:))  Lots of genuine cowboys in Wickenburg with all the rodeo & horse events going on in several large areas.  Cowboys & horse folks come from miles around to take part in the continuous outdoor activities.

  

 

 

Couple days ago Kelly stopped at a yard sale just a couple blocks from our place & noticed the folks had some potted cactus plants for sale really cheap.  After we arrived home today she slipped back over & talked to the nice elderly couple.  She bought a couple plants & the people threw in another dozen cuttings so when Kelly got back she had a Jeep full of cactus.  Didn’t take me long to grab my shovel & begin planting.  Wanted to get them all in the ground quickly because we have a rain front coming in overnight.  One large Agave had been planted in an old metal bucket years ago & the roots were bursting through the rusted sides.  Had to use my tinsnips to cut off the bucket from around the plant before I could plant it.  The elderly couple said if we want more cactus to just come on back. 

HAD TO USE MY TINSNIPS TO CUT AWAY A RUSTED PAIL FROM THAT ROOT BOUND AGAVE ON THE LEFT

 

SO INTENT WAS I ON MY TASK AT HAND I DIDN’T KNOW KELLY HAD TAKEN THESE PHOTOS UNTIL I BEGAN EDITING MY PICTURES TONIGHT

 

MANAGED TO GET THIS NEEDLE TIPPED AGAVE PLANTED WITHOUT SKEWERING MYSELF

Janna, Mike, & Emmi dropped in about mid afternoon.  They have company coming & needed a back seat for their Jeep & by golly we just happened to have a Jeeps backseat alright.  I had taken it back out of the Jeep when our company left last month.  It was just sitting in our shed so was more than happy for Janna & Mike to use it.  Had us a front porch chat for awhile & they were on their way.

 

With more dark clouds moving in & wind picking up I had to carry all our front porch furniture back into the house.  Even though we have a porch overhang things still get wet when winds blow the rain up onto the porch.

AND YES THERE IS A REAL TORTOISE LIVING HERE AT CACTUS RANCH NURSERY

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The optimist: This glass is half full.  The pessimist: This glass is half empty.  The engineer: This container is twice as large as it needs to be.

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A politician awoke in a hospital bed after a complicated operation, and found that the curtains were drawn around him. "Why are the curtains closed," he said. "Is it night?" A nurse replied, "No, it is just that there is a fire across the street, and we didn't want you waking up and thinking that the operation was unsuccessful."

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- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.