Ruthi's sister sent us the hard back copy of "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" (the 3rd in the series) by Stieg Larsson. Ruthi finished it while the kids were at Yosemite for a school trip!!! Then boots dug into it. Again, these are books that cause the reader to shut out the rest of the world for he hours/days it takes to get form page 1 to the end.
Ruthi and Boots had mixed emotions getting into the book. Lisbeth seemed again to be in a position of great vulnerability and needed to be the only one to protect herself. Until page 129 (don't want to give away any of the great plot), Ruthi was reading with bated breath!! Then ruthi was able to charge forward with more hope of a better future for Lisbeth. When Lisbeth's brother was not found, Ruthi "thought what a great segue" into a 4th novel in the series. Though considering the angst of reading, maybe it’s just as well there isn’t a 4th. Both Boots and ruthi think reading the 3 books in a row would have been better. Waiting so long to get to this one (our own fault though) really made the terror high pitched!!
We still highly recommend the trilogy!!!!!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Rewind – Quincy, CA
We watch lots of taped TV and internet footage. As a result we rewind often: to catch what was really said or shown. Ruthi noticed when she attended “live” arena football back in Anchorage that she really missed that function – i.e., the ability to rewind/replay a particular action. In the truck, we have SiriusXM Radio and the rewind function isn’t available there either. Though, Boots did discover she can rewind (up to about 15 minutes) live radio on her IPOD. Of course all of her Podcasts are rewind-able.
So, where are we going with this? Ruthi was watching one of our neighbors load up his stuff in anticipation of leaving the campground. He was one of the loggers with a long term spot for the winter. He was gathering stuff and getting ready to drive his 4-wheeler up onto the truck bed on an angle with the front wheels on the built-in tool chest at the front of the bed. While a lot of people drive their ATVs up onto the trucks, this looked to be a little steeper that safe. Ruthi keep watching between surfing the net and wouldn’t you know it she missed the whole thing. DARN! Where’s the rewind function when you really need it!
So, where are we going with this? Ruthi was watching one of our neighbors load up his stuff in anticipation of leaving the campground. He was one of the loggers with a long term spot for the winter. He was gathering stuff and getting ready to drive his 4-wheeler up onto the truck bed on an angle with the front wheels on the built-in tool chest at the front of the bed. While a lot of people drive their ATVs up onto the trucks, this looked to be a little steeper that safe. Ruthi keep watching between surfing the net and wouldn’t you know it she missed the whole thing. DARN! Where’s the rewind function when you really need it!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Snow AGAIN – Quincy, CA
This is beginning to look a lot like Alaska! Rain turned to slush and then REAL snow. While Ruthi was out walking the dog, Karma got a bright trail of white on the top of her head and down her back. She kept shaking it off but it returned pretty quickly. It snowed off and on all night and we had a good inch on the truck this morning.
We definitely need to do this visiting in June!
We definitely need to do this visiting in June!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Memories - Quincy, CA
The story below comes from a guy I worked with at CTG in Alaska, Mike Shea. I am including it here because it is really a good story about the USS San Diego Memorial and how it is related to him – enjoy!
“if you wanted to get a picture of the USS Midway in its full Glory, you would stand on the dock with the Memorial to the San Diego right behind you. My father was the person who pushed the USS San Diego Memorial project through to completion.
He was the Secretary for the USS San Diego Memorial Association (I built their membership database, by the way, in MS Access). As the youngest person on the Memorial Association “Committee” (he was 84 when the Memorial was completed and unveiled), and a Harvard Business School Graduate and former US Navy Captain, he ran the show behind the scenes (well – he raised the funds by putting out a monthly news letter to Association Members and other newsletter membership readers … which I also helped with. He pretty well designed the memorial with the Artists, got the City’s buy in on the location for the memorial site, filled out all the mountains of paperwork required, obtained required “official” signatures, paid the Association Bills, oversaw the Memorial construction, and finally, planned the memorial unveiling, and the big wing-ding of a reunion party afterwards. I actually think that’s why he did the entire thing – for the big wing-ding reunion party - as he got to meet his fellow USS San Diego Comrades one last time; my Father passed on to his next big Project later that same year.
The USS San Diego was the 2nd most decorated US Navy Ship in WWII (The Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise having 19 battle stars, the USS San Diego had 18).
The day of the Memorial Unveiling, my Father was finally going to get to see everything in place for the very first time; others on the committee had seen it earlier that morning and stated it was great, but something had always seemed to pop up over the past couple of days – keeping dad from getting by the memorial to see its final touches being put in place – though he had seen pictures from several of the committee members of different parts of it he wanted to check on – everything except the statue.
The Statue of a Sailor he had ordered for the center piece of the memorial – to represent all the sailors and officers of the ship - with the pink granite walls in the back of the memorial shaped like a ship’s bow cutting through the waves – hadn’t been finished until the day before [supposedly], and had just been installed the night before, and though he’d seen it during different stages, he’d never seen the final product close up and complete.
Months before, the artists had asked him if he wanted to pose for the statue – my Father had told them then he didn’t want anything to do with “posing” for the statue; he just needed it to look like a life size, battle weary sailor of WWII. His Rhode Island - Roman Catholic “modesty” just wouldn’t conceive of his likeness being used for a statue representing all the sailors of that ship; I can envision him raising his hands in front of his face and turning away from them, and saying “No thank you” when asked by the artists if he wanted to pose.
However, the Memorial Sailor - standing in the middle / back wall of the memorial, life size and made of bronze – was, unbeknownst to my Father, posed for … by him.
You see, my Mother – being the sly she-devil she was when she had the opportunity - had passed on to the artists a WWII picture of my Father, as the artists had called the house around the same time they had talked with my Father about posing – and were still looking for a likeness to use. And on that particular phone call, they had got a hold of my Mother – not my Father.
The day arrived, and everybody that was somebody in San Diego was there for the unveiling of the memorial at a big wing-ding of a ceremony (the big wing-ding of a party being later in the evening); the Mayor was there, along with (as I recall) a bunch of US Navy Brass, a former Governor, several of San Diego’s extremely wealthy types, a bunch of the original ship’s crew and family who were still able to make the ceremony … and a particular State Senator that went to Jail a short time later for embezzling money (Sen. Charles “Duke” Cunningham – the first US Navy Aviator “Ace” of the Vietnam War). Finally, my father stepped up to the podium to give a short introduction speech – the podium being just a short distance from the now unveiled statue - and Dad saw the statue for the first time in its full, finished glory.
People in the audience kept looking at the statue, and then my Father, and then the Statue, and then my Father.
My Dad stumbled through his Memorial Presentation Speech – the first speech I ever heard him stumble through (they were normally very clear, direct and to the point), and then after stepping off the podium, started staring at the statue while others gave their short speeches at the podium. For a while, I thought he was going to collapse, or have a stroke or something. All the while, my mother had a smile on her face from ear to ear; I don’t think I ever saw her smile that much in one day … ever.
When I finally looked at what Dad was staring at - there was “Dad” in Bronze staring back – posed as a battle weary sailor – clad in a seaman’s Battle Stations outfit of WWII, helmet in hand (my father being a former Navy Officer would have been dressed just a bit different) – but that was definitely the face of a much younger Ensign LE Shea.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone turn white, then red, then paint a smile across their red face while they shook hands for the rest of the day. The Memorial artists, who were at the Ceremony, told him where they got the likeness from a short time later - just as soon as my Father could break free from the forth coming congratulations and get over to artists who were standing at the edge of the memorial celebration’s crowd obviously very pleased with themselves. And once he figured out how it had happened, and that there wasn’t a thing he could do about it (I mean, it was his wife who passed the artist’s the photo to use – and they had obviously got it dead on right), he must have said “I had no idea” a thousand times that day when many, many celebrants asked if he knew before hand that the Statue was going to look so much like him.
And by the way – I, too, almost dropped my “drink” when I finally got to see the Statue up close … as I look a lot like my father did … and while I was standing in front of it with my mouth wide open, I could hear my mother quietly mentioning to my embarrassed father (who was behind me at the time) … “Calm down - It really looks a lot more like Mike than you, Len…”.”
“if you wanted to get a picture of the USS Midway in its full Glory, you would stand on the dock with the Memorial to the San Diego right behind you. My father was the person who pushed the USS San Diego Memorial project through to completion.
He was the Secretary for the USS San Diego Memorial Association (I built their membership database, by the way, in MS Access). As the youngest person on the Memorial Association “Committee” (he was 84 when the Memorial was completed and unveiled), and a Harvard Business School Graduate and former US Navy Captain, he ran the show behind the scenes (well – he raised the funds by putting out a monthly news letter to Association Members and other newsletter membership readers … which I also helped with. He pretty well designed the memorial with the Artists, got the City’s buy in on the location for the memorial site, filled out all the mountains of paperwork required, obtained required “official” signatures, paid the Association Bills, oversaw the Memorial construction, and finally, planned the memorial unveiling, and the big wing-ding of a reunion party afterwards. I actually think that’s why he did the entire thing – for the big wing-ding reunion party - as he got to meet his fellow USS San Diego Comrades one last time; my Father passed on to his next big Project later that same year.
The USS San Diego was the 2nd most decorated US Navy Ship in WWII (The Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise having 19 battle stars, the USS San Diego had 18).
The day of the Memorial Unveiling, my Father was finally going to get to see everything in place for the very first time; others on the committee had seen it earlier that morning and stated it was great, but something had always seemed to pop up over the past couple of days – keeping dad from getting by the memorial to see its final touches being put in place – though he had seen pictures from several of the committee members of different parts of it he wanted to check on – everything except the statue.
The Statue of a Sailor he had ordered for the center piece of the memorial – to represent all the sailors and officers of the ship - with the pink granite walls in the back of the memorial shaped like a ship’s bow cutting through the waves – hadn’t been finished until the day before [supposedly], and had just been installed the night before, and though he’d seen it during different stages, he’d never seen the final product close up and complete.
Months before, the artists had asked him if he wanted to pose for the statue – my Father had told them then he didn’t want anything to do with “posing” for the statue; he just needed it to look like a life size, battle weary sailor of WWII. His Rhode Island - Roman Catholic “modesty” just wouldn’t conceive of his likeness being used for a statue representing all the sailors of that ship; I can envision him raising his hands in front of his face and turning away from them, and saying “No thank you” when asked by the artists if he wanted to pose.
However, the Memorial Sailor - standing in the middle / back wall of the memorial, life size and made of bronze – was, unbeknownst to my Father, posed for … by him.
You see, my Mother – being the sly she-devil she was when she had the opportunity - had passed on to the artists a WWII picture of my Father, as the artists had called the house around the same time they had talked with my Father about posing – and were still looking for a likeness to use. And on that particular phone call, they had got a hold of my Mother – not my Father.
The day arrived, and everybody that was somebody in San Diego was there for the unveiling of the memorial at a big wing-ding of a ceremony (the big wing-ding of a party being later in the evening); the Mayor was there, along with (as I recall) a bunch of US Navy Brass, a former Governor, several of San Diego’s extremely wealthy types, a bunch of the original ship’s crew and family who were still able to make the ceremony … and a particular State Senator that went to Jail a short time later for embezzling money (Sen. Charles “Duke” Cunningham – the first US Navy Aviator “Ace” of the Vietnam War). Finally, my father stepped up to the podium to give a short introduction speech – the podium being just a short distance from the now unveiled statue - and Dad saw the statue for the first time in its full, finished glory.
People in the audience kept looking at the statue, and then my Father, and then the Statue, and then my Father.
My Dad stumbled through his Memorial Presentation Speech – the first speech I ever heard him stumble through (they were normally very clear, direct and to the point), and then after stepping off the podium, started staring at the statue while others gave their short speeches at the podium. For a while, I thought he was going to collapse, or have a stroke or something. All the while, my mother had a smile on her face from ear to ear; I don’t think I ever saw her smile that much in one day … ever.
When I finally looked at what Dad was staring at - there was “Dad” in Bronze staring back – posed as a battle weary sailor – clad in a seaman’s Battle Stations outfit of WWII, helmet in hand (my father being a former Navy Officer would have been dressed just a bit different) – but that was definitely the face of a much younger Ensign LE Shea.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone turn white, then red, then paint a smile across their red face while they shook hands for the rest of the day. The Memorial artists, who were at the Ceremony, told him where they got the likeness from a short time later - just as soon as my Father could break free from the forth coming congratulations and get over to artists who were standing at the edge of the memorial celebration’s crowd obviously very pleased with themselves. And once he figured out how it had happened, and that there wasn’t a thing he could do about it (I mean, it was his wife who passed the artist’s the photo to use – and they had obviously got it dead on right), he must have said “I had no idea” a thousand times that day when many, many celebrants asked if he knew before hand that the Statue was going to look so much like him.
And by the way – I, too, almost dropped my “drink” when I finally got to see the Statue up close … as I look a lot like my father did … and while I was standing in front of it with my mouth wide open, I could hear my mother quietly mentioning to my embarrassed father (who was behind me at the time) … “Calm down - It really looks a lot more like Mike than you, Len…”.”
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Snow in the Morning – Quincy, CA
Today, Karma woke us 8:30 for breakfast and her early walk. When she is very tired, we get lucky and she waits until at the latest 10:30 before rising. On the other side of the coin, when she’s “bored” or “rested”, she rises at 7:30 – UGH!!! Anyway, Karma and Ruthi set out for the designated dog run area. Karma with a quick step and Ruthi in shorts, flip-flops, and light jacket being dragged behind. Once at the park area, there were white flecks in the air. At first, Ruthi thought it was more blossom petals being blown off the plants already in bloom. But with closer looks it was identified as SNOW!
As the day is going on, there is more snow in the air and the temperature is dropping but nothing is sticking. More and more snow – really blinding, sideways, whiteout conditions prevail across Quincy. Since this happened last May here in Quincy, we need to move our visits out a bit more into summer.
As the day is going on, there is more snow in the air and the temperature is dropping but nothing is sticking. More and more snow – really blinding, sideways, whiteout conditions prevail across Quincy. Since this happened last May here in Quincy, we need to move our visits out a bit more into summer.
Friday, May 13, 2011
"Swinging" Sams - Quincy, CA
Well, the RV season is in full swing now. The park we are in was wide open until yesterday. The permanent residents and the few of us that came up the mountain early, had lots of space. Starting yesterday, the first group of week-end RV clubs started coming. The welcome sign said “Swinging Sams”. We understand the “Sam” part reference to being members of the “Good Sam” RV club. But the “Swinging” part has us wondering??? Are they really “Swingers”? Or, is it just like the word “gay” having been converted to something else. They did hand out little flags, so the “Swinging Sams” are easily identified since not all of them are in one section of the park. We think they are really “Swingers”. Really, why not? Just cause they are more mature than others doesn’t mean they can’t have fun too!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Family - Quincy, CA
We got partially set up yesterday, then off to see the grandkids (Bodhi 6YO and Tara 2YO). He had been calling us for weeks for updates on our arrival. Even yesterday morning before we left Reno, he called to confirm we were coming. Tara was a bit shyer and took a few minutes to remember us after we got to the house. But when we suggested a walk downtown for lunch, she was all for it.
Karma and their dog, Sunny (beagle/hound mix), do play well together. Which means Karma constantly asks us to throw one of Sunny’s balls and Sunny ignores her so he can get long pets while Karma’s chasing the ball. If Karma ever gets distracted, Sunny finds the ball and literally hides it in the yard somewhere. He has even gone as far as digging a hole to hide it.
Karma and their dog, Sunny (beagle/hound mix), do play well together. Which means Karma constantly asks us to throw one of Sunny’s balls and Sunny ignores her so he can get long pets while Karma’s chasing the ball. If Karma ever gets distracted, Sunny finds the ball and literally hides it in the yard somewhere. He has even gone as far as digging a hole to hide it.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Tires - Reno NV
Our rig has had a slow leak in one of the 4 tires for the past year or so. We have had “Roadside Assistance” check it twice and Camping World twice. No one could find the leak but it continued to lose air over time. Originally, “over time” meant months. So, we would think “hey, they finally found the leak”. But now it happened in Sacramento and then again once we got to Reno (about 130 miles). In Sacramento we were down to 20 PSI (should be 80 PSI). We pumped up and then headed to Reno. A couple of days after we got here, the tire looked low (20 PSI) again. So, Roadside Assistance said “Take the rig to Mr Hubcap”. Because we needed to drive the rig to the shop, we arranged to have it fixed early today before we drove up to Quincy. So, we once again pumped it up and drove around the corner from the RV Park.
They found a rather fast leak around the wheel. So, since they had to order a replacement wheel, we had them put the original (1998) spare on the rig. While we there they noted that our back truck tires we worn beyond safety levels. We have about 50,000 miles on these two (having replaces the other pair previously at around 35-40,000). It wasn’t really a surprise that we needed to replace the back tires. So, in goes another order for 2 tires. We have to return to Reno mid-month for some appointments, movies, shopping, etc. so we will pick up the mounted tire and have the truck tires replaced then. We hope that John, Boots’ son, can exchange the spare for the new wheel on the RV when we get it back to Quincy. If not, we’ll stop at a Camping World or such to have it done. It takes a pretty powerful hydraulic lift to get the rig up to remove the tire.
They found a rather fast leak around the wheel. So, since they had to order a replacement wheel, we had them put the original (1998) spare on the rig. While we there they noted that our back truck tires we worn beyond safety levels. We have about 50,000 miles on these two (having replaces the other pair previously at around 35-40,000). It wasn’t really a surprise that we needed to replace the back tires. So, in goes another order for 2 tires. We have to return to Reno mid-month for some appointments, movies, shopping, etc. so we will pick up the mounted tire and have the truck tires replaced then. We hope that John, Boots’ son, can exchange the spare for the new wheel on the RV when we get it back to Quincy. If not, we’ll stop at a Camping World or such to have it done. It takes a pretty powerful hydraulic lift to get the rig up to remove the tire.
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