Recession Survival

If last night is any indicator, we may survive this recession after all. Diane and I drove back up the canyon to Dick's house for dinner. Mandy was there with her boyfriend Josh. Dick's other daughter, Lindsey pulled into the driveway right behind us. Nancy was there with her brood; daughter Amy and husband Matt; son Michael and his wife Stephanie. Amy girls, Anna and Lucy were there. It was a real mob scene. Everyone got their fill of delicious and spicy, spaghetti. There was salad and garlic bread galore. After the cleanup, Diane got out her dessert and prepared it. It was Sticky Toffee Pudding. It was to die for. The cake part had chopped dates along with the other usual cake ingredients. The topping a caramel toffe s

Fun Day at Solitude

We received lots of snow recently and my friend Dick called and asked me to go skiing with him and his daughter, Mandy and her boyfriend, Josh. It was a great day. Plenty of fresh snow and sunshine. We found several powder runs and skied until our legs gave out. 

Tonight Diane and I are going up to Dick's house for a recession dinner. That is, spaghetti, bread, and salad. Diane is concocting one of her famous deserts.

Bike Safety: Give bikers a brake!

A week ago  the news reported that a bicyclist had been struck by a car near where we used to live. The driver of the car got out and looked at the injured man and then drove away. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition. A few days later Sam called me and told me that it was his friend's father(and a friend of ours) who had been hit. Sam said that nearly every bone on the right side of his body was broka

Yearning for summer when we can get back on the hiking trails. This hike was a 13 miler in the High Uinta Wilderness Area. 

I don't like the daylight saving time. The days are naturally longer in the summer. We don't need to be fooling around with Mother Nature. It has been shown that the reasons for starting are invalid. Studies show that it does not save energy! Now the school kids have to go to school in the dark. Who wants that? 

This is the time of year when we get a teaser of spring and then--Bam, we get a snowstorm. Soon we will be on the shoulder season when you can play golf(I don't), ski, hike, or fish. Decisions, decisions. Or one could work. It seems I have encountered an epidemic of wellness lately. Work has been slow but my skis have been busy.  

Stick in the Eye

Couldn't you just poke a stick in my eye, instead? Yes, we spent Saturday at a car dealership. Diane's ride is 12 years old and pushing 195k. It may have some miles left on it but who wants to breakdown in the middle of nowhere. A month ago we went through the drill and she narrowed her 3 choices (Forester, CR-V, and RAV4) down to two(CR-V, RAV4). On Friday she narrowed it down to one(CR-V). She took care of a bigwig from the large dealership group who said he would get her the best deal possible(Could it have been the residual effects of the anesthesia?). We set out to the Honda dealer and she said she wanted to just sit in the RAV-4 one more time. Well, she sat, she drove and now has changed her mind. That was OK because her buddy, Sal, covered this dealer as well. We decided on a model and the salesman found the car she wanted. We got a quote and then that is when we pulled out our Ace. "We know Sal!" I think his answer was , "Sal who?". He called his boss and found out that Sal left the companies 2 weeks ago. That was OK because our guy was going to give us the same deal that Sal could have given us. Right.  Now the fun begins. Diane wanted leather seats. The guy said no problem, we will add that at no charge(usually 2,000 bucks). We go round and round and I get up head for the door a couple of times to get the price down even lower. It was the end of the month and that is supposed to be a good to deal. I liked the price but the T, T, T boosted it up, of course. I gave him a figure, an out the door figure, and said that is what I am prepared to spend today to get this car out of your inventory. He talked to his boss and he ok'd it.  We had just bought a new car. Like I said, couldn't you just poke a stick in my eye, instead!

There are a few things I rate up there with having a colonoscopy. One of them having to deal with car dealers. Diane has seen the handwriting on the wall and knows that here 12 year old volvo with 195k on it will not last forever. For a couple of months we have been "looking" at cars. It came down to RAV4, CR-V, and the Forester. Although the Forester has an improved look Diane said it did not pass the sit test. While out of town this week