USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Foxfyre]

All is not lost, some trucks still have crank windows.

My Subaru has crank windows.

I remember my father telling a story about my sister (who is a bit less than half my age) not knowing how to open the window when she got in a car with crank windows.

I got tickled at my 88 year old aunt. I was picking her up for a doctor's appointment in my 20-yr-old Subaru when one of her neighbors hailed her. She was frantically trying to find the button to lower the window to talk to her and I had to remind her she had to crank it down. It had been so long since she had done that, she had forgotten.

 

[Foxfyre]

Oh yeah, the other day the wife had another preliminary phone interview that involves her (still active) clearance, another promising possibility. They have openings in DC, Las Vegas and....... Albuquerque........

Do you want to go back to DC? I would rather live in Albuquerque than Las Vegas or DC, but then I'm a bit prejudiced.

No, we DO NOT want to go back to DC. She told them we would prefer Albuquerque and if not there then Las Vegas.

I hear that. Albuquerque, like Alamogordo, is 20 minutes from cool temperatures, trees, etc. and unlike Alamogordo, it is a city with a small town feel (to us anyway) but all the big city amenities. It has its good points and not so good points like everywhere else, but most people who live here any length of time don't want to leave.

 

[Foxfyre]

Oh yeah, the other day the wife had another preliminary phone interview that involves her (still active) clearance, another promising possibility. They have openings in DC, Las Vegas and....... Albuquerque........

Do you want to go back to DC? I would rather live in Albuquerque than Las Vegas or DC, but then I'm a bit prejudiced.

New Mexico truly is the "Land of Enchantment".

It does have a lot of really neat stuff. Like anyplace else, it has much to commend it and much to condemn it. I don't know if we will die here, but for now it is home.

 

[saveliberty]

Today started off bad but didn't end up that way, a good thing. First thing we got up early to head up to Fort Stanton NM to check it out, about a 3 hour drive. Didn't get enough sleep so I was a little cranky anyway, well we got to Alamogordo stopped for a potty brake then decided we'd have lunch in Ruidoso..... Getting out of the car my good cane fell out from beside the seat and rolled under the car, the wife looked and told me it was in the middle, I would have to back up...... As I backed up the cane decided to roll some more...... right under the drivers side tire...... I just about lose it...... snapped in half........ On the way out of Alamogordo we stopped to fill the gas tank and grab a couple of sodas, damn! Left my wallet at home....... Tried her card, denied, went in tried it there, denied, paid for the sodas and gas with cash, wiped out my cash stash..... Now I'm furious and we're fighting.....
Decide to go home but before we do I stop to have a cigarette and try and calm down. As I'm doing that it occurs to me what probably happened so I call the number on the card..... it was a replacement..... 5 minutes later it's activated. Okay, it's starting to get better. Now it's been a half hour and by now most places are serving lunch so we get lunch then finally head up the mountains. Quick stop in Ruidoso, two wrong turns (bad signage) then we finally make it to Fort Stanton.
The Fort though needing some work is pretty well kept up, two living historians doing 1850s Army, one in the "visitor center" and one in a recently restored barracks. Of course the living historians and I chat at length, the wife finds a book she likes and all too soon we have to head home. Finally get home, fed the cats, heat up some leftover Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry I made a few days ago and a couple of hours later the wife lays down and is currently sound asleep.

Sorry about the cane. I am sure most of us can relate to a day much like yours, although smart phones and garmin have helped me a lot. This cash stash, cough, couogh, interesting concept. Never heard of that before, cough, cough. I am sure none of the other guys have one cough, cough. I must becoming down with something.

 

[saveliberty]

All is not lost, some trucks still have crank windows.

My Subaru has crank windows.

I remember my father telling a story about my sister (who is a bit less than half my age) not knowing how to open the window when she got in a car with crank windows.

We have a booth at the local fair and I have had a lot of fun with crank windows on trucks. I show the grandparents the crank and they ask the kids what is that for? Let the bewildered looks begin!

 

[Ringel05]

Today started off bad but didn't end up that way, a good thing. First thing we got up early to head up to Fort Stanton NM to check it out, about a 3 hour drive. Didn't get enough sleep so I was a little cranky anyway, well we got to Alamogordo stopped for a potty brake then decided we'd have lunch in Ruidoso..... Getting out of the car my good cane fell out from beside the seat and rolled under the car, the wife looked and told me it was in the middle, I would have to back up...... As I backed up the cane decided to roll some more...... right under the drivers side tire...... I just about lose it...... snapped in half........ On the way out of Alamogordo we stopped to fill the gas tank and grab a couple of sodas, damn! Left my wallet at home....... Tried her card, denied, went in tried it there, denied, paid for the sodas and gas with cash, wiped out my cash stash..... Now I'm furious and we're fighting.....
Decide to go home but before we do I stop to have a cigarette and try and calm down. As I'm doing that it occurs to me what probably happened so I call the number on the card..... it was a replacement..... 5 minutes later it's activated. Okay, it's starting to get better. Now it's been a half hour and by now most places are serving lunch so we get lunch then finally head up the mountains. Quick stop in Ruidoso, two wrong turns (bad signage) then we finally make it to Fort Stanton.
The Fort though needing some work is pretty well kept up, two living historians doing 1850s Army, one in the "visitor center" and one in a recently restored barracks. Of course the living historians and I chat at length, the wife finds a book she likes and all too soon we have to head home. Finally get home, fed the cats, heat up some leftover Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry I made a few days ago and a couple of hours later the wife lays down and is currently sound asleep.

Sorry about the cane. I am sure most of us can relate to a day much like yours, although smart phones and garmin have helped me a lot. This cash stash, cough, couogh, interesting concept. Never heard of that before, cough, cough. I am sure none of the other guys have one cough, cough. I must becoming down with something.

That's okay, generally when it comes to cash stash 99% of the time it's already in the wife's hands.........

 

[saveliberty]

That's okay, generally when it comes to cash stash 99% of the time it's already in the wife's hands.........

Makes you a one percenter buddy.

 

[Ringel05]

Oh yeah, the other day the wife had another preliminary phone interview that involves her (still active) clearance, another promising possibility. They have openings in DC, Las Vegas and....... Albuquerque........

Do you want to go back to DC? I would rather live in Albuquerque than Las Vegas or DC, but then I'm a bit prejudiced.

No, we DO NOT want to go back to DC. She told them we would prefer Albuquerque and if not there then Las Vegas.

I hear that. Albuquerque, like Alamogordo, is 20 minutes from cool temperatures, trees, etc. and unlike Alamogordo, it is a city with a small town feel (to us anyway) but all the big city amenities. It has its good points and not so good points like everywhere else, but most people who live here any length of time don't want to leave.

One of the real positives about Alamogordo are the house prices, we could pick up a good sized "fixer upper" for under 60K, hire day labor to do all the heavy lifting and demo work while I supervise and do some of the work myself. The cost of remodeling would be 2/3ds less than hiring a contractor so very, very affordable, heck I could build my own kitchen cabinets for a fraction the cost of buying new pre-built ones, more money for nice appliances.

 

[Dajjal]

Last night I told a friend of mine about my realization that I might be out of touch with popular culture because I could not recognize the faces on the covers of the tabloid papers arrayed at the grocery store checkout lines. He told me an even more dire story.

He was watching the 1982 movie Poltergeist with his 14 year old son. My friend had to explain to his son why the television set went to static after playing the National Anthem. His son did not understand why a TV station would go off the air!

What a world we live in.

I may be showing my age if I say I remember when the only channel in England was the BBC and they had intervals between programs. They had things like a potter making a pot on a turning wheel, to fill up the space between programs. Then there was the test card which came on for a while after the programs were finished.

 

[Ringel05]

Just got back from some quick shopping, among the items I picked up was some JB Weld epoxy and a 7/8" x 36" oak dowel rod to fix the cane. The head (handle) of the cane is an old white marble door knob, just need to shave the end down to fit into knob and maybe taper the rod down to the foot.

For those youngsters among us this is an old style marble door knob;

 

[Foxfyre]

Today started off bad but didn't end up that way, a good thing. First thing we got up early to head up to Fort Stanton NM to check it out, about a 3 hour drive. Didn't get enough sleep so I was a little cranky anyway, well we got to Alamogordo stopped for a potty brake then decided we'd have lunch in Ruidoso..... Getting out of the car my good cane fell out from beside the seat and rolled under the car, the wife looked and told me it was in the middle, I would have to back up...... As I backed up the cane decided to roll some more...... right under the drivers side tire...... I just about lose it...... snapped in half........ On the way out of Alamogordo we stopped to fill the gas tank and grab a couple of sodas, damn! Left my wallet at home....... Tried her card, denied, went in tried it there, denied, paid for the sodas and gas with cash, wiped out my cash stash..... Now I'm furious and we're fighting.....
Decide to go home but before we do I stop to have a cigarette and try and calm down. As I'm doing that it occurs to me what probably happened so I call the number on the card..... it was a replacement..... 5 minutes later it's activated. Okay, it's starting to get better. Now it's been a half hour and by now most places are serving lunch so we get lunch then finally head up the mountains. Quick stop in Ruidoso, two wrong turns (bad signage) then we finally make it to Fort Stanton.
The Fort though needing some work is pretty well kept up, two living historians doing 1850s Army, one in the "visitor center" and one in a recently restored barracks. Of course the living historians and I chat at length, the wife finds a book she likes and all too soon we have to head home. Finally get home, fed the cats, heat up some leftover Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry I made a few days ago and a couple of hours later the wife lays down and is currently sound asleep.

Sorry about the cane. I am sure most of us can relate to a day much like yours, although smart phones and garmin have helped me a lot. This cash stash, cough, couogh, interesting concept. Never heard of that before, cough, cough. I am sure none of the other guys have one cough, cough. I must becoming down with something.

That's okay, generally when it comes to cash stash 99% of the time it's already in the wife's hands.........

Which of course is the proper place for it. (ducks. . . . .)

 

[Foxfyre]

Just got back from some quick shopping, among the items I picked up was some JB Weld epoxy and a 7/8" x 36" oak dowel rod to fix the cane. The head (handle) of the cane is an old white marble door knob, just need to shave the end down to fit into knob and maybe taper the rod down to the foot.

For those youngsters among us this is an old style marble door knob;

They look like quail eggs.

 

[saveliberty]

Today started off bad but didn't end up that way, a good thing. First thing we got up early to head up to Fort Stanton NM to check it out, about a 3 hour drive. Didn't get enough sleep so I was a little cranky anyway, well we got to Alamogordo stopped for a potty brake then decided we'd have lunch in Ruidoso..... Getting out of the car my good cane fell out from beside the seat and rolled under the car, the wife looked and told me it was in the middle, I would have to back up...... As I backed up the cane decided to roll some more...... right under the drivers side tire...... I just about lose it...... snapped in half........ On the way out of Alamogordo we stopped to fill the gas tank and grab a couple of sodas, damn! Left my wallet at home....... Tried her card, denied, went in tried it there, denied, paid for the sodas and gas with cash, wiped out my cash stash..... Now I'm furious and we're fighting.....
Decide to go home but before we do I stop to have a cigarette and try and calm down. As I'm doing that it occurs to me what probably happened so I call the number on the card..... it was a replacement..... 5 minutes later it's activated. Okay, it's starting to get better. Now it's been a half hour and by now most places are serving lunch so we get lunch then finally head up the mountains. Quick stop in Ruidoso, two wrong turns (bad signage) then we finally make it to Fort Stanton.
The Fort though needing some work is pretty well kept up, two living historians doing 1850s Army, one in the "visitor center" and one in a recently restored barracks. Of course the living historians and I chat at length, the wife finds a book she likes and all too soon we have to head home. Finally get home, fed the cats, heat up some leftover Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry I made a few days ago and a couple of hours later the wife lays down and is currently sound asleep.

Sorry about the cane. I am sure most of us can relate to a day much like yours, although smart phones and garmin have helped me a lot. This cash stash, cough, couogh, interesting concept. Never heard of that before, cough, cough. I am sure none of the other guys have one cough, cough. I must becoming down with something.

That's okay, generally when it comes to cash stash 99% of the time it's already in the wife's hands.........

Which of course is the proper place for it. (ducks. . . . .)

Like she holds on to it...

 

[gallantwarrior]

Oh yeah, the other day the wife had another preliminary phone interview that involves her (still active) clearance, another promising possibility. They have openings in DC, Las Vegas and....... Albuquerque........

Do you want to go back to DC? I would rather live in Albuquerque than Las Vegas or DC, but then I'm a bit prejudiced.

No, we DO NOT want to go back to DC. She told them we would prefer Albuquerque and if not there then Las Vegas.

I would rather live in the woods with no running water, no flush toilets, chopping wood to keep warm than go back to DC...oh, wait...

 

[gallantwarrior]

Wow! I cannot fathom how quickly January 2016 whisked by! It's colder again today but still killer icy. I have to put cleats on to take care of the goats.
Well, my fav news story for 2015 seems to have come to a "tragic" end (quoted from news coverage). Amur the tiger and Timur the goat, who became friends in a Siberian animal park, seem to have had a fight. I wouldn't call it "tragic", though. I thought the tiger had finally eaten the goat. Turns out the goat was just being a goat, pushing and poking the tiger, finally jumping on top of the resting cat. The tiger grabbed the goat by his scruff and gave him a good "what-for" shake. The keepers removed the goat from the enclosure. I figure it was a good thing, the goat was disciplined like a tiger cub would have been...not killed and eaten, though.

 

[blackhawk]

 

[blackhawk]

 

[Kat]

Say goodnight Gracie I'm outta here...

 

[Gracie]

 

[SixFoot]

Morning. How's everyone's pain lev--I mean, day going so far?