Another beautiful June day! ... in February!

Blustery winds and 70 degree warmth makes this a typical late spring day but it is so very early. Nice to be out in though I am not. I spent some time putting away more boxed items from the Swamphouse and taking a load of excess crap to Goodwill Industries...mostly unused but undesirable lighting fixtures and bulbs and a pile of decorator pillows that we already have too many of. Good riddance!

Went to Chris's Club in Vallejo last night and it was a mighty fine couple of sets I'll tell you. The Bay Area Blues Society never fails to please! We have come to know and adore them, each and every one. Ron on the Strat, David "Stix" on drums, Wylie on vocals, Ron the bassist, Rob on the keyboards. They are wonderful, full of musical talent and the deep joy of the blues! The food is good too, our usual are 4 Deluxe burgers with fries...$4.50! Yes, you read correctly! Such a bargain these days when hamburgers are going for 10 -14 dollars in a fine restaurant. And they are exceptional! The chef has won a prize for his version of Cajun dishes. I love the bloody place, a dive it is, but oh what a dive! 6 pm on Mondays and Thursdays, 656 Benecia Road, Vallejo. Worth it, really worth it!

Mike is off to his doctors today to see how that arm and hand are doing. He is in pain when using it and I have high hopes that it'll heal completely though it may take some time and lots of physical therapy. He's really good with it too, being as careful as he can so as to not re-injure it. He wants to get back to work so bad I see it and hear it in his words and looks. He loves his work and to work! He HAS a Work Ethic! Rare these days in the US of A.

Thanksgiving come and gone...

We travelled down the 99 Highway through the valley towns to Le Grande in about 3 hrs, then took another 35 minutes to run the rough road up into the beautiful hills of East of Merced to the ranch. Thanksgiving 2010 was held in the 150 year old stone farmhouse and headquarters of The Van Ness Ranch. I have uploaded a 3 part 36 minutes in total video of the trip up that @###@! road. It is passable, that I can say, but not without horrendous ruts and potholes big enough to swallow a car. One dodges as a matter of course so it is an exhausting exercize to say the least! Kelly's cousin actually COMMUTES to her job in Le Grand...more to come...Mike's Home! More about THAT in a while! Here's the video...

Part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsKQGbzeaf4

and another taken last night (Monday) at Chris's Club in Vallejo, CA. HOT!
More to come!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YvLceYN3Fk

Adventure in Medicaland

So where, you might ask, have I been these last 4 days? I had an Adventure in Medicaland. I was just fine last Tuesday when I woke up, but that bubble quickly burst when I discovered I was leaking blood periodically. Then...I waited to see if it continued which it did thru Tuesday and Wednesday...I decided to call the doc if it was still doing so on Thursday morn. It read my mind and stopped overnight. Thursday was all clear of such travails. Friday it began again when I woke up and continued through the day in the same periodic manner. Saturday went similarly but I was occupied by moving furniture to give much of a damn but Saturday night (best time) I decided we (there's a word) needed to call the Advice Nurse at Kaiser Hospital in Vallejo and see what she thought WE should do. Thus my 4 day stay under the watchful eyes of doctors, nurses, orderlies, and other patients. What a bore.
I was poked, proded (YES!...There!) and generally not ever left alone to enjoy sleep or even a short nap. Blood tests every 4 hours, ouch! No food, no drink all day Sunday and Monday until the "Proceedure" was completed, then more poking and proding but at least there was a diagnosis...Ischemic Colitus. Cause? Unknown, maybe a cholestrerol drug's errant side effect or who knows. Anyway I was filled to the brim with 4 units of saline solution interveineously and now...home, I feel great! Even had a steak dinner with baked potatoe and green salad with blue cheese dressing.
Yes, Life is good! And being out of the place is Really Good! I have to say though I was treated extremely well and everyone was attentive and polite to a fault. Kudo's to Kiaser Permanente Hospital Vallejo!