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POSTED AT 10:25 AM

boogiesan

I have been remiss in posting. Partly because of vacation, partly because of nothing to write about, and also partly because I am having a problem with my back and it is affecting my sciatic nerve down my leg. I cannot sit at the computer very long without it causing me a lot of pain. Had an MRI yesterday and I am waiting for the results. Hopefully it is just a temporary muscle pull or something like that. Hate to have a major disk problem.

Well, the baby sitting with our grandson went great. He was so much fun. In the pictures below you will notice a slight bruise on his lip. That happened the first night we were there, before his parents had departed (thank God). He fell off the sofa and hit the coffee table (the same darn table that Ryan, our older grandson, hit last September). He got a cut under his nose and we had to rush him to emergency. Fortunately no stitches or scar. Chiko personally moved the table to another room the next morning so nothing would happen on our "shift."

A one year old is quite a challenge for two people in their 60's, but we managed. He is such a sweet boy and we got quite attached. The whole family is coming up to visit us on July 15th for a few days, so that will be nice.

Before we went to Reno to baby sit I spent a month with my family in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've included some pictures from there as well. It was while I was there that I think I pulled something in my back. Ouch.




My favorite. He was a little afraid of this musical toy


Chiko and Daniel enjoying the new playset


Chiko feeding Daniel. Looks like they just shared a joke from the expression on his face


Daniel and I. A proud grandpa. The dog is Lady. My son's dog. Real sweet.


End of a long day. They are so sweet looking when they sleep. Spiderman is his pillow.


The approach to the Golden Gate Bridge on a foggy morning


Me having my traditional fresh crab sandwich on a french roll at Fishermans' Wharf in San Francisco


The military cemetery at the Presidio in San Francisco. Went to visit a friend who died in Vietnam


My brother Jim's truck that he uses for his Bar-B-Q catering business. He makes the best Bar-B-Q in the area. Let me know if you need his number for a catering gig.


Chiko in my son's backyard in Reno.
Currently feeling: relaxed

I'm scared
POSTED AT 12:22 PM

boogiesan

Last time I saw my newest grandson, Daniel, he was only a couple of months old. Now he is almost one year old and Chiko and I are going to Reno to babysit for him while the rest of the family goes to Hawaii for a vacation. I thought it would be a piece of cake taking care of such a little, innocent baby. Then I received a picture the other day and my heart skipped a beat. It looks like Daniel is saying "Bring it on, Grandpa. I'll give you a run for your money." I'll have to get a lot of sleep before I go there, because I don't think we will get much with this little bundle of energy. Maybe we can do shifts. Chiko can have the 0600 to midnight shift, and I'll take the midnight to 0600.

Currently feeling: scared

Nuts
POSTED AT 06:04 PM

boogiesan

I was changing the air filter in my 98 Toyota sedan when I noticed something brown colored down inside the plastic shell under the filter. I removed the old filter and reached in to touch this odd looking substance and to my surprise I came up with a handful of peanuts! They were still in the shell, and it wasn't just a few. The entire cavity was full with what I estimate to be about 200 peanuts. Half filled an oil pan drain bucket. We put nuts out for the squirrels in our yard, and evidently some resident mice thought that would make great nesting material. I didn't know this, but the sneaky little critters can actually climb up through the air intakes and into the filter housing. I'll have to keep any eye out for that. I've also put out some mouse poison. Could have really damaged the car over the long run if I had not noticed it. Wonder what the mechanic would have said if I had taken it in for an oil change. Maybe he would have thought I had come up with a new way to increase the filtering of dirt. Peanuts. Wish I had taken a photo, but I was so surprised all I could think about was getting them out of there. Currently feeling: surprised

Happy Easter
POSTED AT 11:19 AM

boogiesan

Happy Easter everybody. Alleluia!

I see someone has made a comment in my tagboard about Barak Obama's name. Not sure what difference a person's name makes when it comes to whether or not they would be a good president. I am actually now leaning toward Obama for President. He may bring new life to this country of ours that seems to be sliding into mediocrity. We need to get back to the old basics of what made us a great land to begin with. A land of opportunity for all, not just the wealthy.

Chiko is in Japan visiting her family so the dog and I are "batching" it. She left me a pretty good supply of frozen meals, so I'll survive.

When she gets back in April we will only have about 13 days to catch up and then I'm off to California to visit with my siblings and friends. No camper this trip. Gas costs too much. All my camping trips will be later in the summer and only at local campgrounds.

We decided
POSTED AT 09:56 AM

boogiesan

Chiko and I finally decided to vote for Hillary at our local Caucus. I hate the Caucus system, but it is what we are stuck with in our state. If we had just used our ballot to vote it would have been wasted, since the Democratic Party in this state has decided to only use the Caucus results. It sucks, but we can't do much about it. Chiko got really involved and even offered free back massages to anyone who would switch to our table (Clinton) from their Obama table. We only got one taker, and she did not want the massage. We actually convinced her to switch by telling her that we believed that if we got Clinton we would get two seasoned people in the White House, instead of one new, inexperienced one. However, we both agree that we will vote for Obama for sure if he is the candidate, which it looks like he has a pretty good chance of being. I just worry that he may be more of an orator than a politician, and while that sounds good, in reality you have to be a politician to work with the system that currently exists in Washington DC. Maybe he can change it -- but I kind of doubt it. Carter tried and he was a one term president. Here is a picture of Chiko at the Caucus and a few of the grandkids (just to show them off). Ryan is now 5 years and 8 months old and Daniel is 8 months old. We are going to babysit Daniel while the kids go to Hawaii for a short vacation this summer. I look forward to that.









Currently feeling: relaxed