Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Buggy Blog???


This picture needs no explanation. Waitin for June.


A few days ago Mom saw movement out the front window and exclaimed, "There's a Peacock in the yard." I thought, yeah, right. I then thought, I hope not! They are messy and they are noisy. Sure enough. It was unafraid and strolling around like it owned the place. I got a few pix and it wandered out the front gate and down the street. Haven't seen or heard it since....

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Calico Ghost Town



Last weekend I got invited on a buggy run outside Calico Ghost Town. 75 buggies showed up. Six buggies, self included, pre-ran the area a day early and we got into some serious technical driving. We took two hours to traverse 1.5 miles of this narrow canyon. (For comparison, you can walk four miles in an hour.) When we started down we didn't know how difficult it would be. The ranger back at camp told us later it is the most difficult route in the area. Mom stayed home and Sarah came over for a night. They bought Sarah a pattern for a Holland Festival costume which Mom will make for her.

These pictures got cropped a bit by blogspot. if you want to view them in full click the link...
http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/album659

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Drivers License Web Site

Thanks to Homeland Security there is a drivers license web site that shows a pix of everyone's drivers license. You have to go on manually and click the Please Remove box like I did. No sense letting everyone know you address and other private info.
Here is the link. Just fill in the simple info and your drivers license will come up, complete with your picture.
http://www.license.shorturl.com/

Friday, March 6, 2009

End of an era

After 23 years of being continuously occupied the store is empty but for a few fixtures. We have been blessed to have it leased that long. I have been painting for the better part of two weeks and have the interior repainted. It looks good. Mom has been there the last few days cleaning with me. The inside is about done except for perhaps shampooing the carpets some time in the future. Getting the building back in shape has had some unexpected twists. For the last years the staff seems to have been robbing light bulbs from one area to replace burned out bulbs in an area of the store getting higher traffic. I counted 47 bulbs and fluorescent tubes burned out! This business environment is not the best for trying to find a new tenant. I counted eight vacancies in buildings with similar locations, all within two miles of our location. (And that was five months ago.) I suspect the number to be higher today. Finding a new tenant is going to be interesting. Especially with the stock market giving the stimulus plan a HUGE vote of no confidence.