Retirement

The Hits Keep On Coming

Anyone who reads our other blog will know how heartbroken that we lost our giant saguaro cactus to root rot this morning. Add to that the 419+ point loss on the Dow today and the day is off to a rotten start.

car-battery.jpgAfter all this heartbreak and aggravation, we got all of our gear and other stuff loaded into the truck at the Arizona house to take to California only to hear stuttering clicks when trying to start the engine; the battery was almost completely dead. We like to get an early start when making the six hour trip and this would add at least another 1.5 hours to the ETA to get Triple-A out to jump us and for a short trip to the automotive shop for a new Interstate Battery.

Of course, on traversing greater California in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, the afternoon stagnant traffic (due to the miserable infrastructure vs. population syndrome) slowed our ETA even more.

The good news is that we’re in the California house (which we deem ‘the albatross’ for now) safe and sound and we will shortly be joined by family members anxious to see us before we head back after a very short visit.

The Big Guy

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This is our giant saguaro cactus we call the “Big Guy.” I took this image of the Big Guy from the road in front of the house this afternoon against the cloudscape and the natural vegetation on the hill to the east of our house. Click on the image to enlarge.

Ebbing Twilight

I had been threatening to get this image for a while now. I wanted to take the tripod and the little Canon SX110 Power Shot down to the road after sundown to capture the accent lighting we placed under the “Big Guy” 13 foot saguaro cactus. I think I succeeded and got some bonus items in the image. You can see one of Damsel’s dark-sky-friendly sconces, the blue neon glow from the “Route 66” clock in the garage, the courtyard gate and a couple of stars among the passing clouds. Taken around 8:15 PM. Click on the image to enlarge.

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View from the West Road

We have been taking walks up to our neighbor’s house while she is in Montana. The road runs east/west from the pavement to the east up to the neighbor’s house to the west. We were heading back to the house when I snapped this image of our cute little house and some of the desert vegetation along the way. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Squeaky Toys

Our little Cabela, a miniature pincher, enjoys playing with her toys. She leaps from the sofa to the love seat and back while we chase her in a game of keep away around the cocktail table in the great room every evening. Here she is capturing one of the several toys she has in her inventory.

We adopted this wonderful little pet just under a year ago. We were so lucky to be the first in line to apply as ‘parents’ to Cabela, who is now a complete family member. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Weekend Chores

I had just taken the dogs out on the road to “do their business,” when Damsel caught me coming in the courtyard looking all happy and retired. Folks, I gotta tell you that today was a VERY good day – food, spa, relaxation, reading and entertainment. Click on the image to enlarge.

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The Office

office.jpgWhen we were deciding on the furniture for our new house, we concluded that we would need an office area, so we chose one of the three bedrooms to use for that purpose. We brought our office chairs from California and bought two new desks and a file cabinet.

My desk and file cabinet seen in the image features an HP laptop and an external Dell 21 inch monitor. I have a docking station for the laptop that allows me to connect all the auxiliary USB devices, the Ethernet connection and the external audio system. The external monitor, however, plugs directly in to the laptop. One of the two new desks – click on the image to enlarge

Damsel’s desk matches the style of mine, but hers does not have all the drawers and such that she doesn’t need. She has a little notebook HP computer that ties into the wireless function of our LAN router.

We’re planning to get a loveseat-sized foldout bed for the office so that it can be used by visiting guests in addition to the guest bedroom. We still have a number of additional accessories to acquire for several of the rooms. It all seems to be coming together.