Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #14 – Still Trying to Get a Shot & Then Hey, I Got One!

 

Tuesday, February 23^rd., 2021…… Slept well last night. Yaay! I was up early and had monkeybutt out and walked. No rain this morning but it’s due in later today. I checked my email but nothing about vaccine. I decided to head over to Albany to look for a fireplace tv stand. I have a certain one in mind and have seen them in Wayfair, Overstock and even Bed Bath and Beyond websites but wanted to check some of the local stores before I get serious and order online. Didn’t find anything and I got back in time to rest a bit before the guys showed up. I checked my email when I got back and found that I had an appointment. This email came from my medical group (Samaritan Health Services) which I don’t think was triggered from the conversation yesterday, but hey, I’ll take it!  I was able to get an appointment tomorrow afternoon at the County Fairgrounds in Albany.  Later, and Justin got here. Kirk saw the pile of gravel and immediately knew his task for today. I would say I managed about 10% of the job. I mainly supervised. We got everything spread out and I drove the truck in and out a few times and started the pack down process. Justin has given up his contractor’s license but still has a ton of his tools, one of which is a plate compactor, which he will bring next week so we can tamp down the rocks and get them to ‘set’ in. Later, I fixed myself some lobster ravioli and made a salad for dinner and settled in to watch taped shows until bedtime.        

Wednesday, February 24^th., 2021…… My appointment today is at 2:20pm so I had time for my regular day routine. Ha, I have no routine! Today I was just interested in getting the motorhome batteries investigated. I had to again remove the roof access ladder in the back in order to access the engine compartment, where the starter batteries are located. Today was supposed to be clear and sunny so I was glad for that even though all of my work was inside. I hooked up the charger to boost the batteries and set about trying to figure out what was drawing them down. No real answers. The next step is to pull all of the extra wires off of the + terminal to see if those are part of the draw. Randy told me about testing them with a multimeter but I can’t seem to locate either of the ones I own!

Later, I headed off to the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany for my 1^st. vaccine shot. I timed it so I could be there 20 minutes before as requested. When I got through the access point, they gave me a form and told me to fill it out in the car and then go get in line. This is the line that I got in.

These folks were after me, at the tail end of the horseshoe line so it was pretty long, I’m guessing probably about 500 feet long and maybe 150 people or so. But it moved pretty quickly. I was glad the weather was nice. I don’t know what the plan would be if it were raining!  Standing there, I remembered that I was out there with the other 70+ year olds and I thought, ‘boy, all of these folks look really old’!   Like I said, the line moved quickly and I found myself inside. Because I had tested positive for covid, I had to go through another step before they ok’d me.  I got to the tables and actually had an older gentleman who would be giving me the shot.  He introduced himself as a doctor. Cool!  The flavor of vaccine today was Pfizer. I wanted to take pics inside the building, and of me getting the vaccine, but that was not allowed.  Anyway, all went well and I was out of there after sitting for my 15-minute waiting period. I was also glad to find out that I have another date scheduled for the second shot already, so no more struggling to find an appointment. I got back home and texted folks to let them know how it went. Sis will be calling on Monday so I gave her a heads up on what to expect.

I was advised to take it easy for at least the next day so I did nothing after I got home. I didn’t have any soreness at all. We’ll see how it goes after I sleep on it tonight!  I fed Rylee and then threw in a stuffed salmon to bake and had a salad while I waited. I watched tv until bedtime.       

Thursday, February 25^th., 2021……  9 months today….  Time does fly even though I am not having any fun! Pretty lonely these days!  On the positive side, at least I slept great last night!  I had no pain on the arm until I got dressed and going. But it was about the same as a flu shot and I barely notice it at all. One of the girls at Starbucks said that her mom was unable to even raise her arm!  I showed them I could.  Since I was told to avoid any activity, and since I had nothing on my agenda for today, then that was exactly what I did. Nothing! After going out for breakfast, I came home and settled in in front of the tv and got caught up on my Friends episodes for today and also watched a few episodes of Monk that I have previously taped. I haven’t found Coach or Night Court or Cheers on DirecTV so I will have to search the apps I have on my tvs to see if I can find them. I spent some time paying bills and also worked on updating my bill spreadsheet. Yeah, I know – tons of fun, huh! I also spent more time searching online for my fireplace tv stand. All of the stores around here have pretty much put that stuff away and are bringing out spring stuff, so online is my best bet.  Wayfair, Joss & Main, Overstock, etc. all have pretty good selections.  I want to get a bigger one that will accommodate at least a 75” tv, so that eliminates a lot of them. I don’t need a new tv now, but I’m thinking for the future….

I made another round of lobster ravioli so I could use the rest of the Ragu sauce and settled in and watched tv before calling it a night.

Friday, February 26^th., 2021…… The weather here has turned again. You know what they say – ‘If you don’t like the weather here, wait 5 minutes’. Anyway, we have 77% chance of rain in the forecast for today, 24% for tomorrow, and then 7% on Sunday. Next week looks good too. Wow, if that is true, maybe things will start to dry out a bit.  I was up and out with Rylee this morning. No rain at that time. Once I got back and got her fed, I went into town and got breakfast and coffee and then headed south to Eugene. On the way down, I spotted this tree with a convocation of eagles so I had to stop to get this pic.

It’s from far away but you can still see several eagles in the tree. There were a few others off to the left as well. They use the trees to spot prey out in the fields. They say sometimes you can spot as many as 25-50 at one time but I haven’t been that lucky yet. Fascinating creatures!

JCPenney's had texted that my order was in and I had it set up for store pickup. I wanted to go to Eugene anyway to check in at Jerry’s hardware to see what they had in the way of laundry room cabinets. Nothing I wanted. I made the stop at Penney’s and when I got back home, I made myself a sandwich and relaxed for a while.  Later, I decided I didn’t want to cook so I took off to go get something. I checked to see if Chau’s Little Vietnam food truck was in place but he wasn’t there. I ended up at Jack in the Box and got my meal and went home. I watched more of my taped shows and got everything watched that I had taped in the living room so I just moved to my office and watched some I had taped there.  I especially enjoyed The Hustler. I like trying to figure out who the hustler is. I’m probably about 50/50 now. Some of those folks are hard to guess!  

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #13 – Happy Birthday! & Trying to Get a Vaccine Shot!

 

Friday, February 19^th., 2021……  More stormy weather around these parts. We have been lucky in the valley not to get the really colder winds which have caused some serious snow in the higher elevations. Even with the cold temps and all of the rain, our daffodils are starting to bloom! 

Portland has had some power loss this past week or so. I am fortunate here that our block has all underground wiring. There is a power line out across the road but I don’t know if that’s us or not. My power company is even different from my sister’s and she’s only a few miles away.  As I said, Portland got hit pretty hard but nothing has hit Lebanon and the surrounding areas that has caused too much damage. I’m sure glad I’m not in Texas right now. Lydia’s sister Judy and her family live just outside of Tyler and they got hit pretty hard.  It’s kind of comical to see all of the wind turbos and the solar panels all frozen up, especially since we are now heading to reliance for that kind of power in our grids since fossil fuel production has stopped in the US!  I expect to see $4.00 gas prices hit sooner than later, and that’s hard knowing we had it under $2.00 in some places!  Fingers crossed.  Ok, enough political rhetoric.

I ended up hanging around the house again today, simply because I got lazy. I have also been trying to get more info on Oregon vaccine schedules. My age group is eligible on Monday and they said we could go online and try to schedule as early as today. No such luck. The bad weather has limited the national vaccine supplies and we are hit here as well. No news on when that will get resolved. Meanwhile, I have to just ride it out.   

Saturday, February 20^th., 2021…… Happy Birthday Rylee! She is 3 today. I guess I should quit referring to her as a puppy, but she still reminds me of one!  She’s a goofball but has turned out to be a great companion for me these days. I talk to her (and Lydia) a lot! She makes my day right now! I headed off to Walmart after our walk and picked up a few things. Of course, I had to get her a new toy!

After playing she likes to get up on the couch and take a snooze!

 

I watched the Nascar Xfinity race and then later the supercross race. For dinner, I had bought a box of panko shrimp and tried those with a salad. Excellent!  I think I will also be making more tomorrow!    

Sunday, February 21^st., 2021……  Another laid back day. I don’t think I went out at all. Nope. Just hung around the house and watched the Nascar Cup Road Course race at Daytona. In the next few weeks F1 and Indy cars will begin plus Mecum and Barrett Jackson auctions will happen so that all will keep my recorder busy!  I did do some laundry and then went on to the JC Penney website and ordered some more underwear.  Dinner was again a salad and shrimp. I did find a recipe on facebook that I want to try so I saved it. Sounds like Lydia huh! This one is for scalloped potatoes from scratch which I know can make!        

Monday, February 22^nd., 2021…… I had a tough time sleeping the last few nights. So, today I was dragging a bit. I still got up at my usual time (7:00am) and got going. I checked the covid websites because today 70 and older are now eligible. But finding anything is almost impossible. They have a shortage plus Oregon is way behind the nation.  I read we are in the bottom third for vaccinations. The only thing going right now in the whole state is in the eastern part, which would be a 200+ mile one-way trip. They have vaccines only because people here are not willing to drive over the snowy Cascades!  Me included!  But I’m not overly concerned and will just keep trying and wait it out. 

I decided to drive over to Central Bark this morning and order another load of gravel for my carport area. I took the old receipt with me and they honored the discounted price. They even said they could do an immediate delivery so the guy practically followed me home!

 

I will wait until tomorrow and have Kirk, Carter, and Justin help me spread this load around. That should do it, I hope! The rest of the day was spent working on my layout for the back porch/patio area. I measured the existing deck and used the quad pad and laid out the new area. I have some work to do on it and some tweaking but the next step is to get Tim and Dana here to give me a bid. I don’t expect they will be able to get to me before summer but I will know soon what it will cost and when they can get to it.

Later, I went to Hangry Solutions (a local food truck here) to pick up a burger and fries for dinner. But they were closed so I went to Taco Bell instead. When I got back, I got a callback from the hotline number for vaccinations. The lady was really nice and said that there were no appointments at this time due to delays in getting in shipments of the vaccine. I was put on a wait list and could expect an email as early as tomorrow. Yeah, right!  Tv until bedtime, which was early tonight! Hopefully, I will be able to sleep!    

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #12 – More Work on the Boat and More Walks With Monster Puppy!

 

Monday, February 15^th., 2021…… I got up early this morning and got going with Rylee. After that, I headed off to get coffee and breakfast. I came back home to eat and then thought about what to do today. I decided to drive down to Eugene to hit Bass Pro Shops. I have their catalog and found that they have boat guides. These are for alignment when I trailer the boat. I found them and also found they were on sale today for President’s Day. Score! So, I bought two pairs.

I got back and the rains were following me and hit when I got home. It was only a sprinkle but lasted for most of the day. I’m tired of the rain but I guess I can’t complain – there are folks all across the eastern states that are dealing with some more snow, which we haven’t seen here (yet). Since it was rainy, I decided to just leave them in the shop. Maybe tomorrow I will go out and see how they fit. I settled in and got caught up on my bill spreadsheet and checkbook register and then relaxed and watched tv until dinner.   

Tuesday, February 16^th., 2021……  Even though the weather was not cooperating, I still got Rylee out for our walk this morning. We only got light mist so it wasn’t too bad. I changed my shoes anyway and then headed out to get breakfast. I got back and watched tv for a while and ate and then went out to the shop. No rains for the rest of the day so Kirk and his guys will be here later. Carter and Justin do my sister’s house and then meet Kirk here after he does his job. I was out working on the boat guides when they showed up. It was perfect timing because I needed them to help center the boat on the trailer before I could install the guides. I directed from underneath and they provided the muscle to inch it over to center. Oh, yeah, they loved the idea of the mini fridge in the shop!  Hints were heard about a microwave next! I discovered that I will need to extend the front boat guide brackets in order to catch the side of the boat in the best place. I’ll have to check around to fit something that I can retrofit on what I have already. After cleaning up for the day, I came in and rested. Dinner tonight was bbq chicken wings and a salad. I am finding I really like the pre-assembled salads from Walmart. I especially like their chef salad and also the cobb salad. I do use my own dressing though. I know I could buy all of the ingredients but I’m spoiled now I guess!       

Wednesday, February 17^th., 2021…… Today we got a nice break in the weather. We actually had sunshine and temps in the low 50s. So, I decided to take butthead out for a nice walk. I chose Cheadle Lake, which is maybe 2 miles from the house. There is a loading ramp and parking for the walking trail off River Dr., where I started. The sun was out and off we went!

You can see the clouds in the sky and shortly after these pics, I got about ½ mile and a big old dark cloud blocked the sun. The temps dropped and I cut the walk short. Just as I got back to the car, the cloud moved off and the sun came out again!  How’s that for bad timing!  But Rylee enjoyed the smells and the walk and I needed to get out and walk too. I think next time I will do the inside loop which goes for another mile and a half longer distance.

Maybe I will go all the way to Cheadle Lake Park. After the walk, I took Rylee home and then headed out again. I went to my local Ace Hardware to look for a part for the boat guides. They didn’t have what I wanted so tomorrow I will go to Lowes.  Later, I made a chicken pot pie for dinner and later still watched Tough as Nails and then The Masked Dancer. It was the finale so the remaining three were all revealed. First to go was The Tulip, who was Mackenzie Ziegler (who I don’t know). Finishing second was The Sloth, who I thought would win. That was Max Chmerkovskiy, who I had guessed. The winner was The Cotton Candy. That was gymnast Gabby Douglas. I had guessed Tara Lipinski. I guess the clues made sense once she was revealed, but I just didn’t get them. So, all totaled, I ended up getting 4 out of the 10 correct. Not too bad considering I wasn’t familiar with most of the younger celebrities. I’m looking forward to the next Masked Singer, coming soon.      

Thursday, February 18^th., 2021…… Rain in the forecast so I got going early and got Rylee out and walked. I took off shortly after and went to get gas and then breakfast and coffee and then headed to Lowes and Office Max. I found what I needed at Lowes and got an 11” x 17”  1/4" cube lined graph pad, which I always called a quarter scaled quad pad. I will use it to lay out a scaled drawing of the patio deck that I want to have built.  As I said, I had found everything I needed to adapt the boat guides and also got the pad but I still needed some more stainless steel bolts so I stopped at Wilco and got those and was done with my errands for the day. It was a very fruitful trip!  The day was again rainy and so I decided to wait until tomorrow to go work on the trailer.  The weather report says we are going to be getting a pretty big system coming in with a lot of rain predicted. Later, it showed up and actually came down pretty hard for a ½ hour or so. Now, it’s slowing down out there. But I still stayed inside for most of the rest of the day. I did go out and got a burger and fries from Jack in the Box. Tv until bedtime.    

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #11 – Paying Taxes/Getting Refunds and the Nascar Season Starts Again!

 

Thursday, February 11^th., 2021…… We had some rain again last night but just enough to wet the ground when I went out with Rylee this morning. I brought the trash cans in and then went to the shop to check on the fridge. The drinks were nice and cold and the water in the freezer was rock solid! Yaay!  I now need to go to Walmart and stock up on sodas for the guys. I had bought some new white crew socks when I was at Costco and loaded them in to wash. I can now go through the old ones and get rid of those that are worn out. I still remember (fondly) teasing Lydia about tossing all of my holey socks (and underwear) out when she washed!  

I called my tax office and asked a question. I hadn’t received anything from the state indicating my refund from last year. California does that but Claudine said that Oregon doesn’t do that and she has my files and, if I was ready, I could come in today.  So, I gathered up my files and headed in to see her.  After I got home, she called and asked me to come back in with my property tax paperwork because I have enough for itemized deductions this year, what with all of Lydia’s medical. She also said she would check to see if she could use last year’s property tax numbers to maybe add to my 2019 refund. She also informed me that although the stimulus money is not taxable, it still counts as income and will be a factor for refunds, and most likely I will be paying this year to the state.         

Friday, February 12^th., 2021……  Cloudy day today. Temps are right above freezing for the most part. But there is no ice and the roads are not slippery or anything, so that is good!  Portland and some other areas north of me got a light dusting of snow. It’s funny because some of that area is actually at a lower elevation than I am here (340’).  Kirk’s dad is in the hospital in Portland dealing with cancer treatment, and his mom says that there is snow and ice all around her hotel. I sure hope he can get up there soon!  As for me, I had no plans, so I hung around the house most of the day.  Later in the morning, Janet, from Tristar Tax, called to tell me I could come in and pick up my tax papers. Claudine said that she was right and that I would owe the state $1079. this year. But I am getting back $3567. from the federal. Plus, her amendment for last year’s state would also net me $580.  So, all in all, not too bad. She said her latest updates indicate that I would also be getting the $600. stimulus check that they owe me for Lydia and also for the next $1400. payout, I should be getting that for each of us as well. All of this is because she was alive in the 2020 tax year and therefore is eligible. But due to the death certificate being filed, they don’t send her checks out with mine. We’ll see.

I made another linner so I just snacked later in the evening. I watched the Nascar Truck race and called it a night.    

Saturday, February 13^th., 2021…… The weather here is rain, rain, rain. The temps are higher now so no more snow is in the forecast for the lower Willamette valley (at least in my area). I awoke to rain and got showered and dressed and waited a few minutes and then walked Rylee. I managed to get out and back when there was only a light mist falling. It came down in sprinkles for another few minutes, then stopped completely again. Forecast is for rain until Thursday. This will cause both Rylee’s dragstrip out back and the ditch out front to gather water. Here are a couple of pics of that ditch out in front. There is a steady stream of water which comes from pvc piping coming from two sources on my property. I have a French drain and several areas where my gutters run out into the ditch. So, I expect this ditch as well as the creek in the back will fill up even more in the next few days.

I received the paperwork for the Oregon 2019 tax update and signed that and also made out my check for Oregon state tax that I owed and then made a run to the post office to mail both of them. While I was out, I stopped at Mickey D’s and got breakfast and then went to Walmart and stocked up on drinks for the mini fridge in the shop. My guys will be happy.  I watched supercross and then the Nascar Xfinity race. Tomorrow is the Daytona 500, which kicks off the Nascar Cup season! I had bought some more stuffed salmon from Costco so I took two of them out for today and tomorrow. For tonight, I sliced up and fried some potatoes to go with it.

Sunday, February 14^th., 2021…… More rain. Yeah, I know – this is Oregon!  I’m ok with the weather here and actually enjoy the seasons so I can’t complain. I would like to see one or two days between storms though!  I was able to get butthead out and back with no worries and no rain.  Today, I had nothing on my to-do list so I made coffee and breakfast. I had bought a rather large package of turkey sausage at Costco and didn’t freeze it so I pulled some out and cooked them up so I could freeze the rest.  Today, I cut up the sausage and added scrambled eggs and cheese (sis had used my electric slicer and brought me some freshly grated cheddar so I added that) and made a couple of breakfast burritos. Yummy!  Along with the coffee, I drank up the rest of my V8 and filled up nicely!  I got set up to watch the Daytona 500 and started that. But, after only 15 laps, they had a caution for a huge wreck and while they were cleaning up, lightning hit within 20 miles of the speedway and caused them to red flag the race. Then the rains hit the area and that lasted several hours. So that meant I had time to watch The Hustler that I had taped on Thursday. Problem on that was that on Thursday night they had cut into programming for local (Portland) weather updates. So, when they got back to the show, they had already eliminated one guy. I thought I was figuring it out and eventually zoned in on the two girls and ended up getting it right.  She stumped the others and won $120,000.  After that, I watched the race, which went well into the morning hours in Florida. But at least they got it in!  

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #10 – Watching the Super Bowl & Some Target Practice

 

Sunday, February 7^th., 2021…… SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!  Yaay!  Today was really nice out. There is rain in the forecast but later in the day. I’m ok with that. I had Rylee out and walked and fed and then ate breakfast.  I hung around the house most of the day watching taped programs. I got a lot finished before the game started. The game. Ok, time to get serious. I don’t care much about either team. Since I’m a Peyton Manning fan, I’m not into Tom Brady. But he is the best and a hall of famer for sure. You can’t take that away from him. After the first half, I was convinced that the refs were the best money can buy!  I saw later that everyone thought the same thing – that every call that could go against KC went against KC. Even pass interference penalties that were uncatchable!  And then there was the halftime show. I’m sure there are younger folks out there that appreciate The Weeknd. Not so much for me. Plus, since I do not know his songs, I only could pick up about one or two words. Didn’t miss much in my opinion. The second half was more of a football game. I have to admit that the Bucs played well and the Chiefs didn’t!  Brady’s influence to get players to come to his team sure paid off. Good on ya!  Done and done.       

Monday, February 8^th., 2021……  We’ve got some cold weather coming in. They say the arctic winds that could come down this way would most certainly bring snow to the lower elevations. Only problem is we didn’t get the winds.  I was up and out early because I had my acupuncture appointment this morning. I always try to get an 8:00 am appointment, just to get there and done before the day gets going. Today I was planning on meeting up with my sister at Costco. The appointment worked out so that I was in the Costco parking lot by 9:30am. We shopped and each got stocked up and I headed back home. I got everything put away and settled in for the rest of the morning. Later, I made breakfast for dinner and watched tv until bedtime.

Tuesday, February 9^th., 2021…… We had some rain last night. Again, the weather warmed up so no snow. I was up and out with Rylee and then headed off to get myself some breakfast. Today was vacuum day. I sure wish I had Rylee’s hair! I would even take the stuff I have to clean up!  I had to dump the large vacuum canister twice to get everything!   

Wednesday, February 10^th., 2021…… Today was kind of chilly, but not too bad. Still no weather cold enough for snow. I took off and went to Albany to Harbor Freight and then to Habitat for Humanity in both Albany and in Corvallis. I was looking at both of those stores for a cabinet for the laundry room. No luck on that but I found a really nice mini fridge that I couldn’t pass up. It was marked at $45. but I misread that. The guy pulled it off the floor and took it to the dock and I went to pay. I told them at the register that it was marked at $40. And with my military discount, I only paid $34.00 for it. I brought it home and was met by my sister and Butch. They were here to shoot on my property. Penny wanted to fire a couple of types of shotguns and I have the place for that. They set up some water bottles and a target and they shot

 while I cleaned up and installed the fridge in the shop.

I brought in the shelves and got them done and sis came in after that and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with them. We drove to Pizza Schmizza and had a nice meal. Thanks, sis! I came back home and rested for the day. No dinner since I had a big lunch!  I watched the Daytona 500 qualifying and then later, watched the first episode of this season’s Tough As Nails and then The Masked Dancer. I got Oscar De La Hoya right!  They are now down to the final four. I got sleepy and shut down and went to bed.   

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #9 – Waiting for My Vaccine & Shopping for a Trailer

 

Wednesday, February 3^rd., 2021…… Been monitoring the Oregon covid websites and I am signed up to receive a daily update on vaccines. They are running on schedule (or so they say), so they are saying my age group (people 70 and older) is now eligible on Feb. 22^nd.  The 80+ folks are eligible Feb. 8^th, then the 75+ are set for Feb. 15., then me. 65+ (Penny) is set for Mar. 1^st.  But all of us who have tested positive may find ourselves not eligible because they say we have between a 30-90 day immunity. So that may push us all out a bit. We’ll see…

I made myself a salad and ate the rest of my burrito for dinner and settled in and watched The Masked Dancer. I missed out on The Exotic Bird. I had heard the judges banter around Jordin Sparks but I didn’t get that one. They are now down to the final four. My guesses haven’t changed but I’m still keeping Dorothy Hamil as The Tulip even though none of the new clues are going in that direction. My other picks are: Tara Lipinski for The Cotton Candy, Oscar De La Hoya for The Zebra, and either Mark Balas or Max Chmerkovskiy for The Sloth.     

Thursday, February 4^th., 2021……  I had Quincy last night for a sleepover because my sister had an early dermatology appointment this morning. So, I got up early, got showered and dressed, and then took both girls out for a romp in the yard.  Quincy is getting a little old for heavy running so they mostly spend time exploring and doing their business in the field. I have a ball on a string that I can get them to go after but only a few times each and they’re done.  Once that was done and after I cleaned them up and dried them off and fed them, I headed over to Kevin’s to pick up my call-in order for breakfast. After that, I got my cans and bottles loaded in the car, and then - after Sis got back from her appointment and had her breakfast - went over and got her and her recycles and we drove over to the center in Albany and ran them through the machines. I got $52.80 and she got $48.20 so it was a pretty good trip! I took her home and came home and rested for a while. I got out my vacuum and it’s still sitting where I left it. Maybe tomorrow… Later, I got out everything to make Lydia’s squiggly noodle casserole but found I needed tomato soup, so I made a quick trip to Walmart and got that and a few other items. I got everything together and, in the oven, and 45 minutes later I was scarfing up a yummy meal! I have some leftover for tomorrow too. I thought tonight The Hustler was on but not so. It shows it will be back next Thursday. So, I filled in with other taped shows until calling it a night.

Friday, February 5^th., 2021…… I was up and out early this morning and had Rylee walked and fed and then went and got myself some breakfast.  I settled back in and looked on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist on my phone.  I am still looking for a trailer to haul my zero turn (and lumber, equipment, etc.). They are available up here but I also have been searching the dealers and the ads in California and Washington. Turns out California is way cheaper than both Washington and Oregon.   I have decided to make a call to California today. I am finding that Carson Trailer in Cali, is showing the same type of trailers in their inventory that I am looking for. The prices that they are showing are much cheaper there. I have already talked to Randy and if I can make a deal, he said he will drive there (they have lots in Norco, Gardena, Bakersfield, and Kingsburg) and will pick it up and bring it up here.  

Ok, talked with the guy at Carson trailer and ended up placing an order. Problem is that they are 8-12 weeks out, so I won’t be getting it for a while.  The good thing is that the price was way cheaper, even with the ramps that I added on. Here is the 6.5’x16’ model I got…

The good news is that for way less money than I would have to spend up here for even a used one, I am getting one that is brand new!  They are even having it delivered to the Kingsburg location so Randy only has to haul it from there.

I ended up the day hanging around the house. I washed and dried three loads of clothes, that was about it for the day.  Later, I heated up my casserole and had a cobb salad with it. Tv until bedtime...      

Saturday, February 6^th., 2021…… Not much going on today. The weather is good then bad. One day it’s raining, then it’s sunny. The temps aren’t too bad though. They say we could get some extreme cold coming in and that would give us some possibilities for snow again. It has been two years since we saw any significant snow where I am. So, we’ll see…  

I did some cleaning and mostly resting today. That was about it. I made spinach ravioli and then left to head over to my sister’s house. As I left my driveway, I saw this girl in my neighbor’s tree!

 

I can’t see enough hawks and eagles up here! They always fascinate me!     

Janice was down here for the day (and night) so they were having a little wine party.  I brought over two bottles and we had a very nice time. I made it home with no issues and watched a only little bit of my taped supercross race because I was falling asleep - so I called it a night.

Oregon Living 2021 – Blog #8 – Getting More Tools! & Getting Out for a Bit

 

Saturday, January 30^th., 2021…… The weather is very nice today. A little chilly (45º) but not bad. I stayed in for the day and made my breakfast after walking and feeding Rylee. Today was a mini-vac day. That means I just use the stick vac to get all of the furry bits around the house. Once that was done, I hung around and relaxed and watched tv for most of the day. Today was the start of the ‘Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona’ race. They televise sections of the race so I taped all of those through tomorrow. 

Sunday, January 31^st., 2021……  Nothing on the agenda for today so I slept in (till about 7:30). The weather is about the same. I was hoping for sunny skies but that didn’t happen. I finished up the day pretty much hanging around the house and finishing the Daytona race. This year they have 5 separate types of cars racing, so it’s interesting to try to keep track of the race leaders in any given class. I think they had a total of 16 hours televised. I fixed spinach ravioli for dinner and settled in and watched all of the race.   

Monday, February 1^st., 2021…… I was up and going early this morning and had Rylee out and walked and fed before 7:30am.  After reading my paper and doing the word jumble, I took off and headed out. I wanted to go to Habitat for Humanity to see if they had anything that would work for my laundry room cabinet. Both the Albany and Corvallis stores are closed on Mondays, so I ventured up to Salem to see what that store had. I had never been so it was an adventure – but what the heck, I wasn’t doing anything today anyway. I drove through some rain showers but it was a nice drive nonetheless. I stopped and drove thru McDonalds for breakfast and then found the place and went in. I was impressed. Each of the habitat stores are different, some better than others.  This one was very impressive. They had a good-sized store and everything was nice and organized and tidy. I didn’t find what I wanted and didn’t see anything that I had to have today, so I left empty-handed and drove back home. But this one is on my list to check out from time to time. Later, after I got back, I took Rylee out and then relaxed and watched more of today’s taped Friends episodes. I’m also back to watching BattleBots again. This season they don’t have the audience so it’s different, but everything else is too, what with no race tracks, football stadiums, or studios occupied with anyone (or smaller audiences if permitted).  I got curious when I was watching them work on the bots in their ‘pit area’.  It looked very familiar, like a shop I had seen somewhere. I went on Google and learned that they film the show in Long Beach. They gave the address and the Google Earth app shows it is at the old Boeing location just off of Cherry Street. I have been in that building before!  I knew it!  Later, I threw a chicken pot pie in the oven and that was about it for my Monday.   

Tuesday, February 2^nd., 2021…… The weather is nicer today. They say we have a few more days of light rain but there are blue skies predicted for at least part of the day. I had Rylee out for a romp in the grass and the field and she goes nuts!  We have field mice and she’s discovered that she can dig her nose in the ground and they will shove dirt back at her!

This is just after her dig today….

 

I received my DeWalt saw yesterday and took it out to the shop today and put the battery in it. I really like it!  Here are pics of those I have and/or on order….

Kirk’s dad is going through some medical procedures so he’s not here today. He has Justin working for him again so he and Carter were here today. Rylee goes crazy when they show up!  She can’t wait to go out and see them!  After they had left for the day, I came back in and worked on my bill spreadsheet. I also found some more medical payments that we made this year that were not on my tax compilation sheet so I amended that. It’s amazing how much out-of-pocket we paid even with insurance!  Or course, most of that was for Lydia’s chemo meds that were over and above our tier coverage.  I am waiting for one more tax document (last year’s refund doc coming from the state) and then I can schedule my tax meeting. I decided to call in an order for pickup from Dos Arbolitos and went to get that then settled in and watched tv until bedtime.