The Pittmeister's Parade Around America

Oh what a week it has been (and it's not over yet). Already we have experienced 3 minor, yet inconvenient crises this week. Sunday, March 24th : I was sitting in the front living room of our modest abode & had been hearing a rather disturbing sound. Thinking it may have been an injured cat, I finally went outside to investigate. To my surprise, I determined that the noises were coming from inside the crawl space of our house and the unmistakable odor of skunk was wafting in the air. Our neighbor informed that it was the mating season for skunks and showed some entry points with which the skunks were likely getting under our house. Though not over powering inside the house, it was still very noticeable & Wife burned some incense to counteract it. I am now trying to trap said skunk(s) and prevent them using the crawl space of my house as a love nest.... Wednesday, March 27th : Before leaving for work, I realized that a black, faux leather notebook with zipper in which I k...

Charles Dickens once wrote as opening to his novel Tale of Two Cities , "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." That is what today felt like.  The day started out with a 60 mile drive from Old Mining Town (the new handle moniker for where we live) to a USFS campground at Cochise Stronghold where some good amigos from 1.5 Mile High City were encamped for spring break & a birthday trip. Wife and I had planned to travel up their together to have breakfast with these comrades, but due to a tension/stress headache, wife had to cancel...so I drove up alone! I drove up through the valley, passed many farms & agricultural areas, to have breakfast with these very close tomodachi and their two daughters (who I think of as my nieces) before they headed back up to the Great White North of Arizona. I drove 3 hours round trip to spend 1.5 hours with friends. That's how much these friend mean to me. When I returned to Old Mining Town, I have ~1.5 hours...

I have concluded that the mythical male "mid-life crisis" is in fact, a real thing.   Wife and I are in the market a new car, well me more than her. I love researching and reading consumer information on cars, but I hate actually buying one. My experience has been that most car salesmen are the kind of people that would give a high pressure Super Soaker water gun a bad name. The 2001 Yukon we purchased 6 years ago when we still lived in 1.5 Mile High City is nearing 200K (I expect it will get there around October of this year) & many of the small yet essential bits are starting to wear out and need replacing. For example in the past year & a half, we have already replaced the seal for the "rear output shaft"...twice! For the past year, well since I received the 2019 Consumer's Reports auto issue last year, I've been researching cars and trying to decide which one we would be the best one for us to purchase to replace the previously mentioned a...

I took a wellness day today. I had my annual check-up (with blood labs drawn) and then Wife and I went to Sierra Vista for our annual eye exams.  We then went to Staples & Fry's, ending our time with a late lunch at the Golden Corral buffet. I hate getting my exam done b/c my eyes are always dilated and this dilation always lasts a lot longer than it should.  When my eyes are dilated, I can't read anything small & close-up and I need to wear sunglasses all the time. So here we both were, in Staples & Fry's, walking around the store in sunglasses. I'm sure I looked a bit strange and attracted the attention of the security cameras.  In Fry's I had to ask an old lady to read a sea salt label to see if a coarse or fine. She couldn't find it, but we both shook it and said, "it sounds like fine..." My eyes are fine now, but I'm sleepy. Until next post...

This is video of the tsunami that hit the Japanese city of Kamaishi, which is where my in-laws live. Tomorrow will make the 8-year anniversary of the tragic disaster.

There are many things I enjoy about being a homeowner.  Some times, I receive random refund checks from my mortgage company for things like escrow account refunds & appraisal fees. But then are times when being a homeowner can be trying. Like today. One of our hot water heaters (yes, we have more than one) needs to be replaced. It's constantly filling, which is causing our water to be equivalent to if we were irrigating a small hay pasture every monthly.  So how did I spend my morning? Comparing prices & models at ACE, Lowe's and Home Depot for a new 40-gallon, natural gas, hot water heater. Home Depot won my business because they were $5 cheaper than Lowe's, actually had someone who offered me assistance, AND they had a brand that I actually recognized (Rheem). They up-sold me on the 5-year extended warranty, but for ~$70 more, I thought it was worth it. I have my plumber coming out on Wednesday to install it...