Haven’t been sick like that in five or ten years at least. Can’t even remember. It came on fast but was only two or three days at its worst where we had to just give up, give in, and lie around waiting to feel better. A slow steady recovery has us both feeling much better now; only a week out. The cough will linger, but the whole sick feeling part is 90% gone. It feels so good to feel good again.
It was a cool morning
One day when we were in Phoenix. Judy left early to do some grocery shopping and I stayed home to work. She wore tights instead of her usual shorts, because tights are a little warmer. But tights don’t have pockets like shorts do, so she had to carry a purse with her stuff in it. When she finished her shopping, she walked back to the car and opened the rear lift gate. She kept her purse on her shoulder, because that’s where the keys are, and loaded all the grocery bags in the car. By the way, when the lift gate to the minivan is opened, it doesn’t unlock the car. Approach your locked car, lift the gate (you can do that because the key fob is in your pocket (or purse)), put something in the back, close the gate, and walk away. The car is still locked. Well, after putting the groceries in the car and closing the lift gate, Judy reached in her purse and felt only bananas and apples. That was disappointing. Her purse had gone in the car, and a bag of groceries in a nice re-usable cloth sack hung over her shoulder. The implement that could unlock the car and save the day was now locked inside the car. Better call for help. Oops. The implement that could be used to call Steve or Matt for help was also locked inside the car. Back inside the store, the guy at the bank counter lent Judy his cellphone to make a call. I didn’t have a car to come save her, she was already driving that, so she called Matt. Matt was working, didn’t recognize the number calling, and so didn’t pick up. She called me. We needed to get a car key to her, or send a locksmith to break into the car. I called Matt. He was home with the kids working. Kind soul that he is, he dropped everything, piled the kids into the car, and drove to pick me and the car key up. Together we drove to the grocery, found Judy pacing the parking lot, and opened the car. It was an evil conspiracy of events that led to this misfortune; that all started with the morning being a little cool. But all’s well that ends well. The solution ended up being simple, it gave Matt and I a little more time to visit, and although the day was now a little behind schedule, everything was in the right place again.
Yeaa Alex!
I left off last night with two events to go. 11.5 on the pommel. Good enough for 5th place.11.45 on the rings. Solid. The top third of the finishers advance. He just made it. We’re going to Nationals! We’ll report back. In May.
Gymnastics
Grandson Alex is at Regional competition in Reno tonight. Hundreds of kids from Arizona, Nevada, California, and Hawaii. Matt is feeding us scores. Alex is off to a good start. He stuck his landing on the vault. 11.6Parallel bars went well. 12.15A fall on the high bar, but he stuck a double back-flip full-twist dismount. 10.612.5 on the floor. Awesome! Two events to go. He doesn’t need to win this to go on to Nationals in Orlando in May. The top tier of finishers in each age group move on. We’ll report back.
Locomotives in the Arizona desert
Driving down Interstate 10 in Arizona, there is an odd sight; hundreds of Union Pacific Locomotives lined up on a siding for miles.
(not my photo) It looks like an entire train of locomotives, except it’s longer than any train you’ve ever seen. It’s eerie. We googled it. Seems we, as a country, are using less coal. That means less coal trains hauling it across the country. That and a decline in the sale and transport of a few other commodities results in a whole lot of idle locomotives right now. The Arizona desert is the perfect place to store them. The military has been using the Arizona desert as a parking lot for unneeded aircraft for years.
(not my photo) The conditions outside Tucson are perfect for minimal corrosion, and minimal site preparation to store airplanes on the ground. There is a separate boneyard for civilian aircraft. So now there is a locomotive “boneyard” out there as well.
(not my photo) It looks like an entire train of locomotives, except it’s longer than any train you’ve ever seen. It’s eerie. We googled it. Seems we, as a country, are using less coal. That means less coal trains hauling it across the country. That and a decline in the sale and transport of a few other commodities results in a whole lot of idle locomotives right now. The Arizona desert is the perfect place to store them. The military has been using the Arizona desert as a parking lot for unneeded aircraft for years.(not my photo) The conditions outside Tucson are perfect for minimal corrosion, and minimal site preparation to store airplanes on the ground. There is a separate boneyard for civilian aircraft. So now there is a locomotive “boneyard” out there as well.