The drab and dry version.
This little guy was campaigning for nuts in the atrium of the dealer's office complex. He gets all that he wants from the locals who each keep a bag of goodies on hand just for him.
Am
I the only one who noticed that it’s February again? Didn’t we just experience
Valentine’s Day a few weeks ago? It’s not that I’m not thankful that I get to
make another trip around the huge heat and light source that faithfully rises
in the east and sets in the west. But, it would be nice if it would slow down a
bit and not be in such a hurry to shove the hands of the clock into fast-forward
mode.
Since
it’s February, it means that Rancho Ran has to grab his pruning equipment and
“git after it” before the trees and vines wake up from their winter nap. But,
my supply truck of that energetic “git after it” good stuff is plumb out of
stock. So, I may be “moseying after it” instead.
There
have been a few thoughts around here concerning the dynamic of hibernation. You
know….like….make like a grizzly and just sleep for a couple of months. That
would be a good start on catching up on the energy levels around the ranch and
would make us ready for summer, don’tcha know. That would help get rid of that Mr.
Sleep Deprived guy, eh?
But,
time goes by and….time can do so much (ah, yes. Hatfield and Medley). It would
be easy to gripe until March gets here but it wouldn’t change anything. So,
let’s move along.
Pass
the “Beano” and nobody gets hurt.
To heat or not to heat. That
is the question : One of the latest happenings around here is that our microwave decided
to wear out. You wouldn’t think that that’s such a big deal. However, it
doesn’t take long to learn just how dependent you are on modern technology
until you no longer have it on hand and fully operational.
Not
long ago (but longer than the other day), after arising to greet the day, the Ol’
Rancher commenced to start the day off with his usual cuppa. Ah, but the dad-blamed
consarned microwave was on the fritz. That left him standing for a while and
wondering how to heat the cold hot chocolate. Thankfully, there must have been
a post-slumber reserve of brain power because it dawned on him that he used to
heat up his milk for hot chocolate for 40 years prior to even owning a M/W oven
(*sigh*. Sometimes you just have to wonder about old people).
We
ended up with a nice new GE but the bloody display light is so dim that, unless
we are right on top of it, we can’t see it. In fact, we took two of them back
to Lowe’s thinking that it was a factory defect. We then called GE who assured
us that such a factory defect was standard and that we will just have to learn
to live with it. This matter is not yet settled to our satisfaction so they
shall hear from me when there is time to
deal with it. In the meantime, we have hot
chocolate.
Rain! Lots of rain!: one great news item around
here is the rain. When you’ve suffered through six years of drought, even a
normal amount of rain is pretty big deal. Actually, we’ve been getting an
abundance of rain the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time. Believe
you me! Though we’ve had some flooding and some inconvenience, there are a lot
of smiles on a lot of faces around the Valley.
Lake
Constance has returned, too. That’s the big pond produced out in the back yard
when we get anything more than a smattering of rain. It isn’t supposed to exist
but the guy we hired to fill it in and level it was too lazy to go get another
load of dirt and just abandoned the matter. I never did figure out why he
didn’t want our money and why he didn’t have enough pride in his work to just
up and do it right.
We
lost half of our 20 orange trees and much of the production of the remainder.
And, the oranges are nowhere nearly as sweet as they once were. That may change
but, for now, they’re not what we expected.
The
rainy season isn’t quite completed yet so we’re still praying for more rain.
Stuck Duck Pond (sometimes known as Success Lake) is back to normal and the
ducks are all happy again.
The
Tule River has lost its rage and is flowing briskly but not dangerously so. The
old fishing holes will be flushed and ready for spring and summer.
Tow, tow, tow your boat or
Haul me home! This is Rancho Relaxo and you just know that something interesting is
about to happen. Well, it did. The other
day (when lots of things happen around here), we were driving Tojo, the Camry
(Tojo was the name of the Toyota pickup until we got rid of it so we change the
name of the Camry to Tojo), because the Coop de Ville got wrecked (see last month’s blog). Since we had to go
to the airport to pick up some stuff and, because it was lunch time, we decided
to eat at the “Airway Restaurant” there.
After
a nice lunch, we got back in the car, turned the key on to start it up, and the
car alarm went off. Oh, great. Switch off. There we were sitting with a dumb
look on our faces because, after owning car for more than 20 years, we didn’t know it even had an alarm system!
It’s likely that the alarm fob was lost
early on. Connie inherited the car from
her dad when he passed in ’07 and the fob didn't make it.
The
iPhone was quickly deployed and YouTube was summoned to help resolve our
dilemma. After following its sage advice, we got absolutely nowhere. A mechanic
friend was then called and he came with yet another mechanic friend to help.
Both of them were stumped. They looked on YouTube, too. Stuck in Lodi
again.
After
more than two hours of messing with the thing, we called AAA who sent us a tow
truck. A brother from church happened to be in town so we called him to fetch
us and take Connie and Gene home. I rode with the tow truck driver.
The
next day was YouTube day to see if we’d overlooked something. No immediate joy but
it was discovered that that all Camry’s have an alarm reset switch. That was
comforting and it was something I suspected was there but couldn’t find
anywhere on the vehicle. Nothing was obvious but I realized that I just wasn’t
seeing what was in front of my face (the manual was missing, too). So, it was
decided to call a Toyota dealer in Fresno (after not getting through to the
service departments of the dealers in Visalia and Bakersfield).
The
guy in the service department was quite amenable to helping and agreed that
there should be a reset switch. The switches that I had seen on YouTube were
all on Camrys of a different year so that left me searching for the one on Tojo.
Finally,
I told the guy that there was a strange looking device under the steering
column and which had both a red LED and an eighth inch mini jack. He didn’t
recognize it as being anything useful. After examining it closely, I found that
it had a switch behind it (nicely hidden, of course). He then advised me to
turn the key to the “On” position while holding in the switch (actually,
pulling the switch toward me). The red LED went off and the car then started
normally. Problem solved but we were a half day behind schedule (which made it a
total of 6 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days behind schedule on the whole. *SIGH*).
So
ended another great adventure and with no more concerns as to where the reset
switch is on a Camry. We discovered that the problem stemmed from when the battery had died a few days prior (for reasons that I still don't know). It somehow reset the alarm system. Then, a couple of days later, something set off the alarm.
Barker and Dancer. No, we’re not talking about
a replacement for Prancer the reindeer. We’re talking about the curly-haired, full-time four-legged mud hole, and part-time chili dog (he loves chili con carne), Fuzzy
Dog. He’s our new Labra-doodle pup who piddles all over when he’s happy to see
us (methinks he’s a Labra-piddle or a Piddle Doodle).
When
he’s clean, he’s such a cute puppy that he can capture your heart at ten paces.
And, such a sweet little guy I have yet to find. The problem is that he doesn't seem to know what the word "clean" means. So, he stays rather muddy a lot.
Fuzzy, is a pup who has more energy output
than Hoover Dam. When he wants anything or just desires to share his mud with
us, he dances and leaps much like a ballet dancer with her tutu on fire. We
appreciate his love and exuberance but having large paw prints stamped on us
when we are on our way to church isn’t a joyous matter. Thankfully, he is
learning not to leap for joy and is rewarded with doggie treats when he is a
good boy (hey, it worked for Connie when she trained me so I figured it would
work for Fuzzy).
As
for “barker”, he only barks when he sees a stranger. His bark is actually that
of a pretty big dog but the pooch is a big marshmallow. Other than that, he is in
his own “no barking” zone.
On
the other hand, when dear Abbie, the laid-back and cool coon dog, wants some
attention or to be fed, she just comes up and barks until you kowtow to her
needs.
There is quite a contrast between the two doggies. Abbie is a sleek handsome short haired dog. Fuzzy is...well...fuzzy. He's a long haired fuzzy dog groomed in no particular direction at all. Abbie is a genuine huntin’ dog. In fact, she is a Walker Treeing Coon Hound. She has treed at least three coons so far and no few "fuzzers" (ground squirrels). Now, Fuzzy, on the other hand, is completely different and is in his own niche. He’s bred to be a domestic “love dog” who plays all day rather than one who endures the rigors of chasing down and treeing coons. So, it’s easy to see Abbie as 25 pounds of high-speed huntin’ muscle while it’s difficult to see Fuzzy as a fluffy, bouncing, 40 pound, huntin’ rug.
But,
it dawned on me that Fuzzy (where cute meets fur) and Abbie (where hunting
meets indefatigable muscle) are close kin in another regard. Sure, they’re
canines. I also realized that they are both Chowhounds, too! Kissin’ cousins,
if you ask me! Fuzzy and Abbie both eat like a wolf but Fuzz Ball is the one who is more closely
related to a ShopVac.
Ze van, boss! Ze van!: Our previous Freestar was
totaled by the insurance company even though it was still drivable. Reckon, the
price of repairs has soared a bit. The good news is that they actually cut us a
check for more than what we paid for the van in the first place. No complaints! That little spiff helped us to customize our new family member the way we want to.
Anyway,
that meant that we had to track down another old people hauler. After searching
around a bit, a pretty blue-gray ’04 Freestar popped up on the screen. It was
exactly what we wanted at the price we expected and only had 116,000 miles on
it! The additional news was that it wasn't parked in Seattle (though that would have been nice because we would have gotten to see some of the kids and grandkiddies).
A 250 mile trip to Irvine to fetch it was required so that was arranged. Connie’s brother, Chris, had to come up from Corona to get some things from the hangar that we co-own. So, he spent the night at our place and then was kind enough to drop us off at the dealership and wait for us to complete the deal. Then we all started home. Prior to our departure, he took us to a quaint burger place that he was familiar with. I really dig quaint burger joints especially when they have good fries like this place does.
The paper work was finished, there was gas in the tank, and we were well fed, so it was time to depart LA and head back home to the ranch. We were BOI (back on the Interstate). Not, wanting to pay the Southland's extortionist's gas prices, I put in enough fuel to make it to Buckersfield. That almost worked. By the time we hit the bottom of the Grapevine (at the little stop of "Grapevine"), the tank was advising that it needed attention. So, I gulped at least once and wrenched a few bucks from my wallet and bought a couple of gallons of fuel. That was plenty to get us to down the pike where they have (somewhat) sane gas prices.
We finally pulled into the ranch late that afternoon. It had been a good but long day that started at 5AM. We were a couple of tired old folks. A 500 mile round trip is a bit tough on us so we probably won't have no more none of that around here for a while. Thankfully, the trip was wonderfully uneventful.
It didn't take long for us to start customizing it. We got it into the "Pickem Up Truck Store" as soon as we could because we needed the trailer hitch mounted. Trash piles up quickly around here (not that we are trashy folks) and lots of stuff needs to get hauled to the hangar and such.
Freestars have a some known issues so we ordered the parts for those. It's called "preventative maintenance". The cruise control, the drivers side electric window, and the ignition coil power pack are all junk on these handy vans. So, you just....wait for it....fix or repair daily. All three of our Coops had these issues. The new van hasn't threatened us with an ignition issue but we don't plan on allowing it to do that. It's a fairly cheap fix for peace of mind. All-in-all, we love this new hauler. She's a beaut!
