What is going on?

Have I mentioned The Conspiracy to Frustrate Me that is carried out by nameless, faceless, unknown people somewhere?
I like Wildcats basketball. I like watching the games on TV. I like recording the games so I can fast forward commercials and half-time. Before the season started, I checked the scheduled broadcasts to be sure my cable agreement included all the channels to be used. Two channels, accounting for three games, are not on my plan. Okay. That's why sports bars exist.
Fast forward:  Miraculously, I found that I could watch those two channels, and I was able to set up recordings. No need to go out and spend money. The first of the three games everything went well.
The NIT (I think National Invitational Tournament) is a prestigious pre-season event to which the Wildcats were invited. In fact, the first round of two games were hosted right here at McHale Stadium. I attempted to replay my recorded game about 30 minutes into it. WHAT? It came up as Not Allowed. When I set up the recording, I was receiving and watching that channel. Now, it is not there. Aarrrgh!!
Well, I had noticed on the schedule that it could be live-streamed. It took me a few minutes to figure that out, but was able to watch the remainder of the game that way. So, I canceled the following game and planned to live-stream it, as well. Except, the next game time came, and the tabs and links on the schedule were different. After 15 frustrating minutes (see conspiracy title above) during which I exercised, but did not exhaust my vocabulary, it finally became clear that the live-stream was blocked. Why? What was different?
Never mind. There was a link to listen to the game. So, that is what we did. Listen. As in, no pictures. Remember those days? The World Series on radio. No need to know the color of uniforms, just good play-by-play announcing.
Well, I've been spoiled. I like seeing the action. I like instant replays. I like stopping whenever I want to go to the bathroom without missing anything. I would like TV commentators to commentate less and call the action better, but that ain't gonna happen. I would like the games to be broadcast on channels I get without paying the most expensive premium, but I don't think that is going to happen either.
I am certain the conspirators have access to this blog, and are having a good chuckle right now.

The cold.

There is the cold you feel. Haven't had that yet.
There is the cold you get. Got it.
It was teasing me with its introduction on the plane ride home last Saturday. Julian had it. Greg got it. I smugly thought my recent flu shot would shield me. Hah. Cold viruses (should it be viri?) are not affected by inoculations for flu. (it took me four tries to get inoculation spelled correctly)
So I got it. Got it good. It peaked, I hope, on Wednesday. I had to reschedule my teeth cleaning, and decided to sleep sitting up in the recliner. The recliner I had decided to get rid of. Maybe keep it. We had to leave the TSO concert last night because of my cough. Annoying, that.
But the Wildcats were playing the season opener, so the evening wasn't a total loss, entertainment wise. You can cough all you want at a game on TV. Of course, I don't want to cough at all. Anyway, speaking of the Wildcats, I predict a winning season.  PAC 12 champs, with a trip to the Final Four. The player talent is there. This season is the litmus test for the coach. He has no excuse this year. It is lay the foundation for a Lute-esque dynasty, or settle in as a second-rater. I am pulling for you, Sean. It is time to do TV commercials all by yourself, without Lute doing back-up.
Yes, I am doing all the right things to beat the cold. Plenty of rest, liquids, echinacea and Nyquil.

We have returned once again

New York is beautiful this time of year. We had good weather the whole time. We are glad not to have leaves constantly falling and having to be raked. Actually, everybody in Greg's neighborhood uses blowers. And the blowers are handled by the yard guys once a week. I like it.
We got to have nearly unlimited Julian time, and shuttled Ariana to her myriad activities. In addition to school, she has Japanese school on Saturday, she has ballet class, violin lessons, music skills class, suzuki method lesson, and she practices violin and piano every day. Julian pulls himself up to stand at furniture and walls. He learned to go up stairs, but hasn't mastered going down yet.
Greg was off work the first week, so Peggie helped him clean up the overgrown, abandoned garden while I entertained Julian. We took a three day weekend to Auburn and the Finger Lakes. Greg and Tomoko tried various wines, while Peggie and I watched the kids. Many of the wineries are interesting for the architecture and art, as well as the wine. There was an art quilt (really, fiber art) that opened the Sunday we were there, and one of Peggie's fiber artist friends had a piece in it. The show was quite impressive. And next door was a museum showcasing the area history. Ariana and I enjoyed it first, then brought Peggie over. It was fun for Ariana to lead Grandma through and point out what interested her. She also got to play some tunes on the old piano in one of the rooms. The Auburn area (including Seneca Falls) has a history of civil rights activism. Harriet Tubman lived there. Also, William H. Seward, Secretary of State under Lincoln and Johnson, who purchased Alaska, lived there.
Peggie and I went into Manhattan for two days and a night. We really love the city. We went to the 9/11 Memorial. We walked the High Line for its entire length at sunset. The High Line is an abandoned railroad that carried freight to the west side of midtown. It is elevated, so has no road crossings. It is essentially a mile long linear park.  It is planted with all kinds of flowers, shrubs, and trees, has benches, and has art of all kinds. Street musicians play at several locations, though they were packing up when we went through.
We got half-price tickets to see After Midnight on Broadway. It is a retrospective of the music heard at The Cotton Club in Harlem in the thirties. No play, or story line, just the music of Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, and others. And dancing! Wow!
We also walked across Central Park to see a quilt show at the American Folk Art Museum. Then we went to see Gravity in IMAX 3-D. So realistic, we actually ducked the space debris.
On Halloween, we volunteered in Ariana's kindergarten class. We helped at a station where the kids beaded a necklace, then went along on the costume parade through the halls. All the students lined the hallways and cheered as the Kinders and Firsts paraded through in costume. Then we went Trick-or-Treating with Ariana that night. There is a neighborhood in Briarcliff Manor that does Halloween the way Winterhaven does Christmas in Tucson. It was packed. Of course, we had four adults for two children. Ariana was the pink Power Ranger, and Julian was the world's cutest Superman. I took him to one of the houses for his first treat, which I ate for him. Shh. Don't tell him. It was fun to see Ariana greeting kids from her school as we went around. Reminded us of the days Greg and Casey went around our neighborhood.

Going Dark for a while

Saturday, we are flying to NY. We will be there for two weeks, and I don't anticipate having access or interest in posting. It will be our first visit to GajT's new house and we are excited. Julian is mobile now, so that will add an element of interest and maybe some exercise.
We have actually been busy, sometimes we have been busy trying to avoid actual work. There are chores to do, repairs to make, projects to get to. Oh, well. We are retired. We will get to what needs doing. The rest will wait.
The Red Blue game was fun. Visiting with Janice was fun. Seeing the Wildcats playing makes us excited for the season. When was that not true?
When we get back, I will try to catch up on this. We are hoping all our adventures will be the good kind.

First week home

We arrived home seven days ago.
House was still standing, yard looked great. But wait. One of our shrubs is missing. Not a really big deal, but something to ask landscaper about.
Since we left in April with the upstairs in an uproar, and the downstairs full of the things from upstairs, we couldn't empty the trailer until we set things right. So we carried things back up stairs. Made another Goodwill pile. Threw some stuff away.
Then we could empty the trailer. Then CLEAN the trailer. Wash linens and put them back. Wash dishes and put them back.
We took a truck load of friends to see Aimee's art on display, and to dinner. So the truck had to be emptied. We brought three wheelbarrow loads of rock for the patio. We brought four wheelbarrow loads of rusty things for artistic use. We (unintentionally) brought three cups of gravel, sand, dirt and leaves in the footwells.
It was old home week at the art show. Many former teacher/friends were there, so we had some good chats.
Peggie went to the doctor yesterday and received an injection. Opinion is that Alaska doctors should have been injecting, but didn't.
Maybe tomorrow we will go wash the outside of the truck and trailer and put the trailer in storage for a while.
We are ready to start the basketball season. We have tickets to the Red Blue Game on Saturday. We will get to see the new players for the first time, and get an idea of who to watch. We are taking Janice, who used to have season tickets and with whom I attended most of the games one season. She is another former teacher/friend we have to catch up with.
We definitely avoided 100 degree days. Tonight and tomorrow there is a chance of snow in the mountains.
We still have stuff to put away (where it goes, nobody knows). We are not in routine status, yet. But, we have the spa running and have used it. We have most of our favorite, and some new shows recording. We have several to-do lists started. I've grilled two dinners. We are eating healthy again. Experts say you can't catch up on lost sleep, but I think that is what we are doing. Afternoon naps. Siestas. Snoozes.
We are very happy not to have had any baaad adventures on the way home. In fact, the travel was so much fun, we want to do more of it. But not just yet.

Once more in warmer climes.

We arrived home today. Had lunch at El Rey in Globe for the first time in six months. So good.
Almost 3800 miles in 14 days. Not really hurrying. In fact, the red roads turned out to be the most fun. Slow and scenic.
Speaking of miles: slightly more than 3500 on the way up, about 2000 on the truck over the summer, over 16,000 bus miles for me, about 10,000 for Peggie. That's about 1 and 1/2  times around the world in six months.
We had good meals at local restaurants along the way. We had the worst restaurant meal ever at the lodge outside Glacier NP. Non-existent service, under-cooked eggs (yuck), nearly raw bacon, blah bread (toast), so-so coffee. And a great meal at Sparky's Garage in Dillon, MT. BBQ beef brisket, short ribs, pulled pork, and chicken with corn bread, beans, and fries. Took home leftovers for another meal. Went back for breakfast the next day, and had the same waitress. Very good Mexican food in Gallup at Jerry's. Not too hot, which is good in New Mexico, where they don't know what a mild chile is. Good corned beef hash in Dubois, WY. Breakfast pork (uncured bacon) at 7-11 Ranch Cafe in Vernal, UT. Oh, I asked the manager at Smith's for a breakfast recommendation and was taken aback when he suggested 7-11. But he was right.
When shopping for gas by price, watch out in MT, WY, and NM, they have 85 octane advertised, but my truck requires 87, which can be anything from 10 to 20 cents more than the big sign out front. And why can't they put a sign on the pump warning you that it will stop at $75 if you are using a credit card? At nearly four dollars a gallon, $75 doesn't fill it up.
Well, at least we are home. Bathroom sink wasn't draining until I cleaned the trap. Kitchen sink was squirting all over until I tightened the valve screw. Toilet tank wouldn't fill until I re-attached the disconnected flap valve. How do these things happen when they haven't been used in six months? Refrigerator cooled right done, A/C cooled the house down, gas BBQ fired right up, and getting internet only took Peggie 45 minutes on the phone.

Dinosaurs

Last night we stayed in Vernal, UT. It is 20 miles outside Dinosaur National Monument. But you'd never know it. Nearly half the businesses in town didn't even mention dino, dinosaur, fossil, or bones in their business name. Some businesses didn't even have dinosaur statues out front, or on their signs. In a gift shop attached to the restaurant where we had breakfast, they had t-shirts, figurines, glasses, and stuffed animals that were NOT dinosaur related. But you had to look for them.
What they had, were flowers. The city plants flowers all along every business street, every 30-50 feet or so. Beautiful. It looks like spring. Huh. What do you suppose Vernal means in, say, Latin?
Okay. Dinosaur National Monument. WOW! WOWSA! WOW!
Over 400 individual dinosaurs were buried in mud along about 400 yards of ancient river bed, 149 million years ago. Exactly. About 50 yards of the mudstone and fossils are on display in a big glass building. They are partially exposed. The mudstone is now at a 60 degree angle, having been uplifted 50 million years ago, along with the rest of the Rockies. I tried to imagine how excited the discoverer must have been when he realized what he had found. Besides a lifetime of job security. Here it is more than 100 years later, and people (note the use of the plural form) are still spending careers working with these fossils. And semi-bored park rangers are just glad to have jobs. To be fair, they did perk up if you asked interested, intelligent questions. Or, I think they would have, if I had come up with one.
Then we headed south. Deer and antelope play here, but no buffaloes (bison) that we saw. Magpies, ravens, and a variety of hawks and falcons fly hither and yon.
Tonight we are in Clifton, near Grand Junction. We will make it to Cortez tomorrow. Unless we don't.