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Since June 1st.

One of the reasons for this blog was to stay in touch easier.
But like so many other ways of communicating, getting it done seems like it should be so easy compared to actually doing it!
So, let me see, I had not updated since the first. Most recently we had the people we know, Joan and her husband Don, stop by last week on their around the West and Canada trip they're on. They live in the Las Vegas area and were on the first vacation they'd been able to have in many years. From the things they've been doing on their trip they're having a great time and seeing a lot of pretty country. We picked them up at the motel and took them to dinner at a restaurant that overlooks the very full and near flood stage river. Then Stacy got called in for a "client" problem. so I took them on a tour of this area. It was a perfect time of day, late afternoon, and it was the first day of mostly sunny in a few weeks. It was, as we get to see all the time, beautiful! Everything is so green now. Golds from the late afternoon sun, really beautiful on the farms and forest. They left a voice mail the next morning on their way out of town to say how much they'd enjoyed the visit and the area. Their next stop was going to be the Glacier Park area in Montana. We hope the rest of the trip will be just as good for them!
Around here gas has yet to hit that $4 a gallon mark yet. It's right there though, $3.95 to $3.99, but that's where its been for the past few weeks now. Diesel stays at $4.65 a gallon. Sandy told me she's paying that price for regular gas in the L.A. area she lives in and diesel there is about $5.50 a gallon. I guess the next generation of kids will listen to my story of 43 cent a gallon gas, the cost of gas when I learned to drive in the 1970's, like I used to hear about 12 to 20 cent a gallon gas back then. When I was driving the school buses kids I'd hear them still talk and dream about that fast car and big 4x4 truck they hope to have someday. But know a days they also wonder if they'll be able to afford to drive it! That song with the line about "puttin' a dollars worth of gas in his pickup truck" wouldn't get anybody very far today!
The Spokane paper has been running weekly stories about "staycations" as for a lot of people, that's the ticket this year.
The integrated am/fm and cassette radio in my Gold Wing pooped out after all these years. The last few years it had mainly been used on summer rides for listening to XM Satellite radio. But a few weeks ago the volume control wouldn't go loud enough to hear the music anymore. I got out my Honda Shop manual and traced it down to a blown fuse. Then I discovered that the cassette player will not open or operate at all which, I think, is popping that fuse every time. So a little on line checking and............. that unit is still available....... Great!............. HOW MUCH IS IT???!?!!! Cheapest was $989.00 and the most was $1,200.00! So pulled it out and called the company in Ohio that is supposed to be the best at repairing stock radio units from Honda motorcycles. Box it up and ship it off. Via phone I'm told the average turn around is about a month. They charge $96.00 flat rate to fix most things and ship it back. If its something more they'll call for authorization, but there isn't much they supposedly can't fix. So now I wait.
Stacy is riding her 750 to work with the warmer and dryer weather. She was a little rusty since she hadn't ridden yet this year but is doing great now.
For fathers day Stacy got us a new Craftsman riding mower to replace the used one we'd gotten from her brother Scott in 2006. It was well used then since it's an old Montgomery Wards model from the early 1980's. I'd been working with that mower to keep it going, but there just is no substitution for proper maintenance from day one! Most parts are hard to find due to age, and this season it just is giving all indications that any day now its done. Its so nice when everything works like its supposed to!! I don't have to jury rig a new starter button or use starting fluid anymore! Its really nice and now we'll get the old one back to Scott. Maybe he'll make a racing lawnmower out of it! We'd talked about the pros and cons of just getting a mower attachment for the quads but the one I'd wanted was about the same price as the higher end riding mowers. But Stacy found a great Fathers Day sale and surprised me when she went to "run some errands" and settled what we'd get. And I'm NOT complaining. She got a really good unit and they even have oil filters on the engines now.
Laura has been living a lot in her basement in Davenport Iowa the past couple of weeks. They'd just moved to this new place last month, and at least this place has a storm basement. While her area, so far, has not experienced the extent of devastation other parts of the state have, she said she'd get some pictures of her area and send them. Their problem was Tornado warnings. That's why the time time they spent in the basement. Their cars had some hail damage and trees got ripped out of the ground, but so far, that's been it.
Sandy is still the traveler for her company. San Fransisco, Las Vegas, New York, just some of her trips the past few weeks.
Sean is working at his job, but met up with an old friend that is a contact that might help him get on with another company should his current contract not be renewed. He's hoping whatever happens that he'll be able to someday soon, get out of San Diego. He no longer is loving the crowds and traffic. Hmmmm, sounds familiar!
Everybody who sends emails to us or leaves comments on these posts seems to be doing well in this almost summer of 2008. Of course in some of their areas its already been summer for weeks or months by now!!
So, thats the Update for today. Hopefully it won't be so long for the next one. I say that a lot though! Tad

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