Redrock and Retired Guy

Red Sandstone formation - Four Sisters

If you viewed this from the front it looked like four indian women.

Camp - Yes I was sleeping in the trailer

Historical Fort on San Fe trail

Church front

Me on the bike

All of a sudden I can not post pictures again. Does anybody know why. leave me a message.

All I get is "Kerplunk" after I click on the picture icon. HELP! Problem solved

Thank you Sara or the help! And the pictue you hae been waiting for ----

First Pictures from my trip west

The first pictures I too were of the church my MOM and Dad got married in outside of Ft. Riley Kansas.

And I thought my motorcycle was cool

CR has topped me on the coolness meter. Here she is riding her "Cooler". Yes that's right - RIDING HER COOLER. If only I had known, I could have gotten one of those instead of the motorcycle. It would make for a very interesting and thirst quenching trip through the desert. Whenever you get thirsty just reach down and grab a beer.

What will they think of next a "Riding HDTV".

Opening Night for Lee

Last night I attended opening night (trial run) for the new Applebee's in Laurel. My nephew, Lee, is the store manager and has been working like crazy to get this place opened and operating. This was an invitation only affair and I was lucky enough to get to go with my mom, her friend Marge and Linda, Richard and their guests. Dinner was FREE. It included drinks, appetizer, dinner and dessert.

I had chicken casidias, apple sangria, steak and ribs, and a vanilla blondie for dessert. They were all wonderful. There were a few opening night glitches but all in all, the staff did a great job under Lee's direction and watchful eye.

They open for real on Monday and I plan to take a motorcycle trip over for dinner next week. But this time I will have to pay! Dam!!

Poker bad to Poker worst

Things are continuing down hill. I played poker with KH, JB and my Mom at the beach this week and my Mom beat us all and won $24.00.

The bad part was that she could barely see the cards and was able to beat us. All turned out well because she followed tradition and took us all out for breakfast.

Poker

I have been playing on line poker way too much the last couple of days. I really thought I was getting good at it.

But today I have been brought down to earth. I played in two tournaments. In the first I finished 1753 out of 1987. I improved on the second one I was 1123 out of 2112.

I have a long way to go. I am playing in a 50 person tournament for real money on Aug 18. I had better get a lot better by then or my $40 buy in will be down the drain!

Mom don't plan on going out to breakfast on August 19. I seem to have lost my luck.
(I always take my mom out to breakfast if I win.) Hey all you players that will be at Scott's do you want my poor mom to go hungry?

My new glasses

I recently visited Dr. Daughter to get a free eye exam and new glasses. She works at a shop in Chinatown. First I got introdued to all the wonderful employees that she works with. Then the usual "Which one is better - lens 1 or 2" over and over again. After we finally arrived at a perscription, I moved to the optician to be fitted for glasses.
Well he and Dr. Daughter picked out a pair of glasses for me. I tried them on and in unison the whole staff proceded to tell me how wonderful they looked and how young looking they made me appear. I asked if this was a set-up and if Dr Daughter had picked these glasses out before I even got there.
Well I refused to fall prey to the adulation and continued to look at other pairs. I then selected my new glasses, not because they made me look younger or how wonderful they made me look, but because they were sensible. It was just a coincidence that it was the same pair that they had picked out for me.
Then I picked out a second pair for sun glasses to use when riding my motorcycle. After the order was written, they told me I had selected Armani frames. I guess fashion just seeps in when your in Manhattan!


(The picture is of my Armanti glasses )

A wonderful weekend

I had a wonderful weekend. My children and their significant others were in town for Matt and Meghan's wedding. It was so nice to have my family in the old homestead. We had sitdown meals where we talked, laughed and lingered. We all attended a beautiful wedding, reception and after party. And on Sunday we all watched that crazy World Cup game.

I was very impressed with how well everybody got along and seemed to really enjoy each others company.

It is too bad that it requires special occiassions to get families together but it also makes those moments special. My thanks to TS, AP, CR, LK, JK and BK for a wonderful weekend.

I also want to thank Matt and Meghan for a wonderful wedding and to MM & HM for hosting me and my family. It was truely a great weekend!

Happy 4th

Well I have been busy the last few weeks buying stuff and traveling.

What did I buy you may ask? First the motor cycle like the one below. Then I had to buy saddle bags to carry stuff on the bike. Then I bought a clock for the bike so I would know what time it was when riding. Then I bought trailer so that I could carry the bike.

Where did I travel to? I went to NC to work on our beach house and to start moving my son back to MD. I then went to a wedding party in Fergus Falls MN. But I also went to South Dakota and North Dakota. All three were very beautiful. Since I visited ND I now only have one more state to visit.

new toy image 3

My new toy

Sorry for the lack of Posts

As many of you know I have been preoccupied the last 6 weeks with the health of my son. I have moved to NC for a temporary assignment as a nurse, cook, notetaker, chauffeur and housekeeper for my son. He has had a number of medical problems that occured after what was supposed to be minor surgery.

I now define minor surgery as clipping your finger nails. Anything more than that is considered major surgery that is life threating.

Hopefully my life will return to normal in about 3 more weeks and I will post more often then.

Northern Neck

I spent the weekend at the Northern Neck of VA as a guest of MM and HM at their beautiful home. These guys have turned a beach house into a home you would see in some design magazine. Their views are spectacular and the hospitality wonderful.

I got to play golf twice and visit the new bar in Coles Point (AC's). I went there Friday with TH and between us had 6 beers and we shared a order of fries. The beer was real cold and the fries hot but the best thing was the price $7.50! When is the last time you had $1 beers. We were so impressed I had to go back on Saturday after golf with MM, RV, TH.

All in all, it was a great weekend; golf with friends, wonderful food supplied by HM and CV and lots of drinks. We also had lots of fun and games (poker and trival persuits) at a beautiful place with a "Murder of Crows" (Bet you didn't know that was what a group of crows are called). See we even learned something!

Had to Work Today

I had to work today. It was interesting but it puts major dents in my social calendar. I think that is why they call it work.

Work means:
1. You have to go to bed at a reasonable time.
2. You have to get up to an alarm clock.
3. You have to bathe daily instead of only when you will be around other people.
4. You have to plan your wardrobe instead of flannel pants and a sweatshirt every day.
5.You have to commute

I know I will get used to doing this stuff. That's what worries me. I might forget how to be retired.

" 3 Ways" are great but it gets better

I used to like "3 ways" but I found out Friday night that my tastes have changed and now I like "5 ways" with oysters on the side.

I had my closest 20 friends over for dinner and drinks on Friday night. I had trouble deciding what to serve and started going through some recipes. Then I remembered a recipe that a former co-worker from Cinncinatti had given me for Cinncinatti Chili. It was perfect for this type of gathering, it could be made ahead and served at any time.

For those of you that don't know - Cinn. Chili can be served 2way(pasta and chili), 3way(pasta, chili and cheese), 4way(pasta, chili, cheese and onions), 5 way( the above and kidney beans), 6 way(above and oyster crakers)

Now aren't you embarrassed because you thought the title meant something else. Remember I am the "Retired Guy" and chili is as spicey as it gets.