Traveling Home

Today was an uneventful day. I travelled home from Colorado. I was on the road by 800 AM. the weather was great, and it was easy to cruise at 75 to 80 on the Interstate. I had a chance to watch two movies. Again, it's pretty easy with straight roads, few hills, and not a lot of traffic. I was back in Omaha by 600 pm in the evening. It was a nice trip!

What a Relaxing Day

Today was a great day. It was spent with my brother and sister in Colorado Springs. It was a pleasant day and it was nice to be able to relax, have fun, and just be lazy. We drove up to Cripple Creek, which is a small mountain gambling town about 45 miles from Colorado Springs. I hadn't been there in almost 9 years. It was exactly the same as I remembered it. The drive was beautiful as the mountains had just received about 8 to 12 inches of snow the previous two days. We had a nice lunch at one of the restaurants in one of the casinos, and we spent about an hour gambling. I played Black Jack and won $40. My sister won $40 too, and my brother won $125, but put it all back into the machines. Ugh! Then, we had a nice dinner at Fazolis with my neice and her husband and family, then went to the move "Last Holiday." It was definitely a fun day.

Doing Something Crazy

I decided at the spur of the moment to take a vacation. Since I had the weekend off, I decided to drive to Colorado for a couple of days. Sometimes you just need to get away. In fact, I actually enjoy driving cross crounty, it's kind of like therapy for me, to be able to just travel the open road, listen to good music, and to have fun. After speaking with my brother to ensure that he was still on vacation, I called my wife and told her I'd be gone for a couple of days. She thought I was crazy!

The trip was uneventful and mostly pleasant. I had my Ipod shuffle, so I was listening to some of my favorite songs. I played with my GPS on my laptop, and even watched a video. I know, that sounds crazy, but if you've ever traveled across Interstate 80 in Nebraska or Interstate 76 in Colorado, you'd know that the road is essentially straight, there are few hills, and not a lot of traffic. In other words, it's pretty easy to listen to a movie, and occasionally glance down to check out the screen.

I arrived in Colorado around 530 PM. My brother had prior plans to take some friends out to dinner, and I was invited to come along. We went to a cozy little bistro and the food was awesome. It was a little pricey, but I think that's normal for that type of restaurant. I even had Escargot. It was a first for me, and last. It really wasn't that good, but I was being social. The filet that I had was absolutely the best steak I've ever eaten. Wow, it was delicious.

All in all, it was a spur of the moment decision, and I'm loving every minute of it.

My New Winechiller

For Christmas, I received a Vacuvin wine chiller.  It has a refreezeable gel pack that chills a bottle of wine in 5 minutes, and is supposed to keep the wine cool for several hours.  I have to say, it works really well.  After 5 minutes, it had cooled a room-temperature bottle of wine down to about 48 degrees.  It was really nice.  So, I think it will be a gift I definitely get a lot of use out of.

New Cell Phone

I’m in the market for a new cell phone.  Actually, it’s my wife’s cell phone.  Her phone was not holding a call, and was becoming basically worthless.  Of course, she talks a lot more (a lot) than I do, so I thought it was her battery.  We traded batteries.  That didn’t work.  So, we traded phones.  Actually, we just swapped the SIM card, which holds all of our numbers, the specific phone and account info, etc.  Her phone had about 110 hours of talk time, and mine has less than 15 hours.  Something is goofed up, but I’m not sure what.  Unfortunately, I can’t upgrade my phone yet with my wireless company (Cingular), and the phone is past the warranty period.  So, my only option is to buy a phone outright.  I’m not too thrilled about that, but it’s about the only option I’ve got.  Ugh.

Tackling an Impossible Project

Our basment has grown legs and fangs, and has taken on a life of its own. It's absolutely horrid down there, mainly because we've been using it as a dumping ground for all of the stuff that we don't want upstairs. You see, no one really ever sees the basement, except for the occasionaly repairman that has to go down there, or my wife's sister who takes delight in the fact that it's so messy. But, I've had enough. Even if no one sees it, it's gotten out of control. Thus, I kind of hit a brick wall tonight, and threw a fit. I vowed to start tossing things in the garbage. It's amazing at how stuff accumulates. We're being buried with stuff. And, we just keep buying more. And, we never get rid of anything. So, the stuff piles up. We did have a huge garage sale this past summer, and got rid of a lot of stuff, but it's funny how when you get rid of a bunch of stuff, you just get more.

Anyhow, the time has come. So, I started cleaning the basement. It's really a huge project, and I don't even know where to begin, but you have to start somewhere. If you keep looking at the mountain peak, you may never get there. But, if you just start working on the pile in front of you, then do the next pile after that, and the next, eventually, you'll prevail. One box at a time, making little strides, and sooner or later, it will be done. I know it won't happen overnight, but I'm shooting for March 1st as my deadline to have it all re-organized and complete. Hopefully, at that time, I wont' be ashamed if someone other than me sees it.

Awesome Dinner

This evening, we decided to go out to dinner. Well, in fact, we've been eating out a lot. It just seems that both I and my wife have been too busy lately to worry about making or planning dinner. I really hate to do both. I'm not a cook. I hate to cook. Actually, it's probably one of my least favorite things to do. I'd rather clean the house than cook. So, my wife mostly takes on the cooking chores, and I help whenever I can, but mostly don't do the lion's share at all, or only rarely. It's just that it's easier to eat out sometimes, rather than do the work at home. I suppose that's my lazy side coming out, but the food at restaurants just tastes better sometimes.

So, tonight was no different. Actually, my wife had prepared dinner in the crockpot, but it didn't turn out as we expected. So, we tossed it in the garbage, and went to Camille's Cafe. They serve soups, salads, and sandwiches. It's a really good place to eat. Tonight, we hit the jackpot. Because of their frequent eater program, I was due for a free meal. So, we used that for my daughter's tortilla rollup, and, it was buy one get one (BOGO) night. In other words, we only had to pay for one meal, and the other two were free! Woohoo, we felt like we had hit the jackpot. It was awesome.

Sand Everywhere

One of the measures used to treat roadways here in Nebraska includes using sand and gravel instead of salt or other chemicals. It seems more often than not, the road crews are spreading sand. And, unfortunatley, that sand gets tracked into the garage. So much so, the garage was looking really gross. Yuck. so, yesterday, I got the hose out and washed it out. It was mild enough (temperatures in the 40s) so that freezing wasn't a problem. After about 1/2 hour, the garage was clean again, and all of the sand was on the driveway. Wow, it was a lot of sand.

My Back is Getting Better

Well, after taking it easy for the last several days, I have to admit that my back is feeling a lot better. I'm about back to normal, but still am taking it slow for the next few days. I wish it would never happen, but at least I know how to make it feel better once it does.

My Aching Back

Damnit, I threw out my back again. This happens periodically, two or three times a year. I hate it when this happens. And, when it does, I'm layed up for a few days at least. I think I may have slept wrong last night. If I sleep on my side in a certain position, it really twists my back. It gets so painful, that eventually, I can't even walk. That's about the way it feels now. It's not so bad if I'm standing, but if I sit, or lie down, it's almost impossible to even get up. I think I'll take the day off tomorrow to just stay at home and rest. Hopefully, it won't last long.

Prelim Income Tax Summary

Woohoo! After a preliminary look at our income taxes, I think we're actually going to get a refund this year, from both federal and state. After the devastating blow last year of having to pay several thousand dollars, we made some quick (and correct) adjustments to our withholding tax, and it looks like it all worked out in the end. We also sold some stocks at a loss which helped to balance things out too. I'm just glad that we don't have to pay. Woohoo!

How Does Your Garden Grow

We've decided to plant a garden. Last summer, some friends gave me salsa ingredients, and this year, we've decided to grow our own. We've got plenty of space, but we haven't really prepared the ground. Thus, we intend to build a raised bed in the back yard using brick pavers. Ideally, I'd like to start off with a plot about 10' by 15', which should be enough for now. We need enough space to plant tomatoes, various peppers, and of course, we'd like to plant a few other veggies, such as squash, zuchini, cucumbers, and cantaloupe. I've thought a lot about the plot, and how it should be layed out. For now, I've got a plan, at least a preliminary plan, and have also devised a planting schedule. In order to stagger the expected crop of salsa ingredients, I'll plant the seedlings incrementally, which should provide enough separation to allow for 3 individual crops. I'll also need to start the seedlings indoors about 8 to 10 weeks before putting them out in the real garden beginning the first weekend in May. In other words, I may be getting in over my head, but we're going to still try. Ha. Hopefully, if it all works out, we'll at least get a couple of good batches of salsa out of the ordeal, and can then adjust the schedule for next year based on lessons learned this year.