42 AND COUNTING

Today marks the anniversary of the day SWMBO and I were married.  42 years ago!  Here are some pictures of the changing couple over the years.

It wasn't really that long ago.  This picture just makes it look that way.

The disco days.  Or daze.  Who on earth could wear that much madras?

From an era of film cameras.  35 millimeter.  Looks like it could have been shot in Golden Gate Park during the Summer of Love.  But it was actually in Scottsdale some years later.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Waiting for a train.  To rob.

In Guadalajara, Mexico.  During our FIRST retirement.

Back in the U.S. of A.  Running our bookstore in Arizona.  BOOKENDS, by name.

Dagnab it!  The hair and the beard are showing the ages.

Just a few months ago.  Showing our elder years but still wearing the colors.

It's been an interesting and amazing 42 years.  From Indianapolis to Phoenix to Mexico to Texas to Arizona and now, finally, back to Phoenix, which we left 26 years ago.  But the Phoenix we returned to is vastly larger and different from the one in which we used to live.  And many of our friends have departed this Earth.  Meanwhile, we plug on, with our years and our aches and our pains.  Anniversary #43?  We're headed your way.

THE PAST COMES ALIVE

The past two Fridays I have attended a luncheon for old and retired media, p.r. and sales types from the Golden Age of Broadcasting.  It has been an education.  I had no idea that in my 30's and 40's I was still so naive.  I have heard stories of former bosses who had a serious womanizing problem, a former boss who drank heavily with his high-paid news anchors, etc., and who nearly left them high and dry when he wouldn't bring them back for the late news until it was nearly too late.  Then the next day when the news director was trying to explain the lapses of judgement, he expressed complete ignorance.  Many tales of alcoholic unrestraint and chasing skirts, here and there.  It was "Mad Men" come to life!

I knew nothing about any of this.  Or nearly nothing.

One Big Boss who came to town when the local news anchors were going to emcee the grand opening of a movie made in our city and told the main anchor "Your pants are a bit wrinkled!"  This anchorman supposedly went to a Chinese laundry and stood in his underwear while his trousers were dry cleaned.

One thing the anchor didn't know but could have used.  The Big Boss traditionally drank his lunch and in the afternoon remembered nothing of what had gone on before.

Broadcasting . . radio or television . . was a crazed profession back in the day.  Many are the "performers" who were nothing short of drunks, grifters and what were called back then - "ladies men".  Some of them were homosexual or bisexual or what we used to say were "trysexual" - they'd try anything with anyone.

Those days are gone now.  Political Correctness is the law of the land now.  I suppose it's for the better but . . . I remember the "good old days".  Unfortunately those days were meant for men.  Women were an underclass.  The changes in gender fairness are better now.  

So it goes.

A NIGHT OUT

The girls (SWMBO and the BRD) and I dined at the House at Secret Garden last night.  It's a wonderful restaurant co-owned by a mother and son, Pat and Dustin Christofolo.  Dustin is the chef and a fantastic one.  Unfortunately I took no photos so you'll just have to savor this in your mind.

We shared an appetizer of the house specialty - Sweet Potato Planks.  They are grilled rounds of sweet potato, topped with creme fraiche, scallions and pancetta wheels.  They are two-bite-sized and delicious.  We also shared a cheese tray of (our choices) Black Mesa Goat Cheese, Life in Provence Double Cream Brie, and Point Reyes Blue Cheese accompanied by grilled bread, dried cranberries, golden raisins, figs and salted almonds.  It sounds like a lot of food but it really wasn't.  

And we went on!  The girls each had Shrimp and Grits with bacon, baby carrots, corn and Serrano peppers for their entrees and I had (what do you suppose?) Lemon Chicken with smashed potatoes.  I had a taste of the grits because I am a notable opponent of them.  They were good and tasted more like risotto to me.

All of that and a bottle of wine made for some happy campers.

The restaurant is located in an old Spanish mansion under tall trees near to South Mountain.  It's a wonderful place with exquisite food.

And then when we got home, I found an email from my cousin Bonnie in Montana (she of bluegrass fame) with a picture of one of my favorite cookies from my childhood.  My mother used to make these.

They're chocolate cookies with chocolate frosting.  They may have been my start into a life of chocolate addiction.  Thanks for the picture, Cuz.  I haven't seen these in many years.

O.K., O.K., I'VE BEEN BUSY!

My good friend, D-K, emailed this morning to let me know she was unable to access my blog because the last post she was able to read was days ago and she just knew I had been blogging since then.

Well I haven't and I told her we'd been too busy to even consider blogging.  But even I was surprised to learn it had been a week since my last post.

The BRD is paying her first visit to our new "crib" today.

So I figured I could take some time off and let you know what we've been doing lately.  We've been unpacking boxes and boxes and boxes.  It's a long and agonizing process though the house is coming together day by day.

But once the BRD arrived, things slowed.  We went to our new favorite Mexican fish taco restaurant for lunch.  Since coming home the gals have been on the couch catching up on each other.

By the way, two days ago . . . April Fools' Day . . . was the day when the BRD and her Beau Jack took a limousine and a bottle or two of champagne down to downtown Prescott to get a new marriage license for the sixth consecutive year.  (They've been together for nine years.)  They haven't been married yet and have no plans to.  But it's become an annual joke and a fun time for them and some of their friends.

What a couple of jokesters!

BACK TO THE FUTURE

We finally got our gas turned on today so we've both had our first showers since last Friday.  Wow!  Didn't know a shower could feel that good.

Each day a little progress is made.  Met one of our new neighbors at the mailboxes today.  He told me a couple of good keys to open the gates leading into this place.  Maybe I can get it programmed into the buttons on my rear view mirror like the garage door opener.

SWMBO received her first forwarded magazine since the move.

She was checking out my upper body after my shower and remarking on the number of bruises and scrapes I have all over my body.  I said "I'm sure glad we hired movers!"

Hooking up the Internet yesterday has made all the difference in my attitude.  Those smart phones are great but I can't stand the tiny keyboard on it.

Oh, I forgot to tell you.  I got my first smart phone last December and was complaining to the BRD about how I couldn't get email.  And I couldn't access that Suri-type woman who gives you directions to anywhere you want to go while you're in the process.  She said you should have all that and told me to check with Verizon, where I've had an account since December.  An incredibly young woman listened to my complaints, glanced at my phone and said that I didn't have my network turned on.  (Or something like that.)  She scrolled and poked for about a minute and then pointed out that I now have 4G up and running.  I don't really know what that is but I can now email from anywhere and the little tour guide has already guided me to several destinations without a hitch.

Sometimes us old guys just have to be led by the hand.

WHAT A STRUGGLE THIS HAS BEEN

The movers showed up at 8 a.m. Saturday, right on time.  A few minutes after 11, they left with a full truck and our home now empty.  Less than two hours later we showed up in Phoenix to find the truck waiting for us!  Amazingly, they had beaten us there somehow.  Several  hours later everything was unloaded and into our new home.  Staggering a bit, we looked around at a complete mess with unpacked boxes everywhere.  It's achieving some normality now but still a lot of it looks like this.

Here's our temporary breakfast area, currently serving as a sorting space.

SWMBO and I are aching from muscles that had atrophied over the years suddenly being forced into movement.  I won't show you the rest of the inside of the house at this time.  (SWMBO would kill me!)  But we have DIRECT TV hooked up to our aging television sets though we really haven't had time to enjoy it yet.  Some time, maybe today, we'll go buy a big flat screen t.v. for the living room.  It will be sandwiched by two book shelves.  SWMBO won't start shelving until she knows how big the screen is and how far to move the shelves out.  But she hates that.  Her theory is that a house is not a home until there are books shelved and showing.

So, here's a bit of the outside area.

We live in a golf course community and the golfers come right past our back yard.  That's part of the course in the center of the picture over our block wall and our neighbor's wrought iron fence.

We are happy to have a large shrub of mock roses.

One corner of the back yard has a large palm tree sandwiched by two citrus trees.  I think the one on the left is an orange tree and the other is a lemon tree.

Oh, yes it is.  Here's the proof.

The fruit on the tree is obviously from last year's crop as both trees are blooming and our evening cocktail hour on the patio is fragrant with the smell of the blossoms.

So we are now, once again, residents of Phoenix, Arizona.  Further updates will undoubtedly follow.

Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah!

For all you whiners who complained about your snow, here's one more picture from an Arizona spring I shot today.

Be sure you check out that nice blue sky!

Oh heck, here's one more taken over the fence from my back deck.

Happy springtime everyone!

SPRING!

Just as we're about to leave, a few days of warmer weather have brought spring to a flowering boil.  I shot this photo as I was about to enter a restaurant last night.  It's one of many trees in this area that have bloomed in the last couple of days.

I'M FEELIN' BETTER

I spent all day today on the phone with tech support people trying to get my computer problems fixed.  I think they're o.k. now.  Just in time for a new ISP (Internet Service Provider, for you non-nerds).

All of this, of course, keeps me away from packing boxes.  I do have to hurl a few of them (that's a figure of speech) into the garage but mostly I've left all the grunt work to SWMBO.  Which is best since she will only find fault with what I do anyway.  Oh, that's not fair.  She's pretty good but she knows how she wants things done.

And I know how you women are reacting.  Dirty pig!  Uh, yeah.

But I do what I can and that's not very much these days.

There are three days left before we move.  SWMBO has finally agreed to have someone come in and clean the house after we leave, rather than come back and do it herself.  The BRD convinced her of that after, of course, I had spent weeks trying to convince her. 

So it continues.  There's really not that much to do but it will increase in velocity as the days shorten.

I'll keep you posted.

THE MOVING BLUES

OMIGOD!

Was it always like this?

Packing, cleaning, telephoning, emailing, grunge!

I must say that SWMBO has been doing 90% of the packing.  She's starting to look a bit glassy-eyed.  

I have been on the telephone and the computer for much of two days.  My eyes are looking bloodshot.

We move Saturday.  5 days from today.  Will we make it?

Who knows.

Nearly everything we own is in boxes, hopefully carefully labeled so we can find everything when we get to our new destination.  It's only two hours away yet it seems like light years.

If I ever mention moving again, somebody, everybody . . . please slap me up side the head.

We've been in our present home for 12 years.  We had forgotten what a pain it is to move your entire household.  In the past, in a couple of moves, we just sold everything we could and moved the bare minimum.  This time, it's all going with us.

OMIGOD!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

A pint o' Guinness would go well with this:

O.K. IT'S NOW OFFICIAL

Finally!  I got a call from our realtor a short time ago and he said it is finally official.  We got our new home in Phoenix.  It's a three year lease rental and we've been on pins and needles for days now.  We'll make a trip to pay the deposits, get the keys and put a carload of fragile stuff in the house and take some measurements and then we'll be happy.  Here's a picture or two.

That's a raised patio in the back yard from which one can see a small portion of the nearby golf course.

I can remember many decades ago when my boss in Bismarck, North Dakota moved to suburban San Francisco to take a new job.  The thing he was most excited about, I think, was that he had a lemon tree in his yard.

That tree on the right in our new back yard is . . . a lemon tree!  And I'm as excited as he was.

Quite obviously we have a lot to do before we're settled in.  But stay tuned.  We'll keep you posted.

GLOOMY GUS

"Man, all this sitting around with everything in boxes, just waiting for something to happen, is driving me crazy!"

HE'S WAITING, TOO

The BRD says cats always relate back to their jungle ancestors and will find a high spot on which to perch.  Blackwell has found his sleeping place, even after I moved it up a box yesterday.  He loves that pillow.

ARE WE MOVING?

Hard to say.  We have found the house of our dreams (temporarily) and have made an application to rent it.  We have submitted paper of various types.  And now we wait.  Our realtor had told us he hoped to have an answer for us by today.  Nothing.

SWMBO is confident.  I retain my normal pessimistic outlook.  But it is Sunday, after all, and in spite of my loving wife's confident assurance that realtors work every day of the week . . . we have heard nothing.

We have probably two-thirds of our possessions already in boxes.  Waiting.  Like me.  Waiting.

The place looks ideal.  It is very close to several shopping centers that will have nearly everything that we need.  Closer than we have had in some years.  It is a gated community.  It is nicely landscaped. It seems quiet.

But.  We wait.

Stay tuned.  I certainly will.

THE MASTER

I finally saw "The Master" yesterday, via Netflix.  Many who have viewed it ahead of me talked about the mastery of Joaquin Phoenix in his role.  While I thought he was good, I failed to see the mastery. What I did notice was his strange hands-on-hips posture and his equally strange tittering laugh when he seemed nervous about something.  His violent rages I did not understand, other than that they seemed an exertation of anger at how his "master" was being mistreated.  But that didn't seem to hold true as he abandoned him at several points in the film.

The silliness of the mental routines for Phoenix (and others) didn't hold true for me although SWMBO said it was very similar to the mind-bending employed by the leaders of the Scientology movement, which many say this movie is based on.  Since I have never studied Scientology, I can't say.  But the accusations of one person in the movie, a John More, seem to go to the narrow focus of the cult.  But, is it a cult?

Scientology certainly seems to be and the followers of Lancaster Dodd and his wife certainly seem to be.

But back to the movie.  Is it good?  I'd give it about a 5 on a scale of 10.  It's fascinating but it doesn't seem to provide any truths.

Hooray for Hollywood!

A $5 A DAY STORMY MONDAY

I watched a movie from Netflix today.  "$5 A Day" with Christopher Walken, Alessandro Nivola, and a very hot looking Sharon Stone.  Considering the movie was released in 2008, she is holding together very well.  Walken, of course, is the centerpiece of this entertaining story of a lifelong con artist.  Very enjoyable.

As is this Monday song.

I AIN'T GOT NO HOME TO GO TO

No luck yet in our search for a new home but we're headed back down to the Big Valley this week with our heads held high and hopes intact.  

Meanwhile . . . 

And one more . . .

CATS IS STRANGE ANIMALS

With SWMBO gone all week, house sitting with the BRD's 3 cats, our cats seem to have gone into hibernation, at least in the daytime.  Muggles sleeps all day on the foot of the bed and this morning I caught her in a completely relaxed and unguarded moment.

Blackwell, on the other hand, is enjoying our packing and stacking boxes everywhere.  He frequently goes to the top of a tall stack just to see what's there.  And I have no idea how he got to this perch in an empty bookcase, about four feet from the floor.

Good climbing and leaping skills, I guess.  And he gets down by himself when no one is looking!

Meantime SWMBO and I are off to Phoenix to look at several houses for a possible new home today.  Wish us luck.

I'M GOIN' TO KATMANDU!!!

Colonel Colonel asked yesterday (in a comment on my post) if I was goin' to Katmandu.  I responded that I wasn't but I might sing it.  Needless to say, while I enjoy the famous song by that name, there is no way I could sing it.  But the legend from Detroit, Bullet Bob Seger certainly can.  Turn up your sound, folks, and look out for the next more than 6 minutes of rock and roll.