Yes...We Created A Franken-Fan...

 You've most likely seen the ads...another brilliant invention to make your already crazy life a little bit better. Actually, the first time I saw one of these things, I was impressed. They created a ceiling fan that can be placed in any ceiling light fixture...

Well, almost any.

We seem to be (yet, again...), the exception that proves the rule. 

Oh, we could have left this thing in our ceiling, but our problem is we have those new-fangled lights that come with their own accent surrounding the light (I don't know what they're called...). In our old house we just replaced the bulb. Now, we have to replace the entire thing.

We took out the unit, and put in the fan. It did go around and around, but since the socket is so high into the ceiling, the fan barely had an inch or two clearance. This means, it couldn't get any air above it to force down. Plus, there was a huge hole with the fan sticking out of it.

No go.

We liked the fan itself, so much so, we thought of how we could us it in the kitchen. The kitchen's the real problem, especially in the summer if you need to use the oven or the gas burners. We wondered why they didn't install a ceiling fan in the kitchen like they did in the living room when they built the house. We got a floor fan and put it on the island in the kitchen. We turned it on and found out why kitchen fans aren't necessarily ideal.

The wind whips the flames on burners and messes with the heating process.

Bummer.

We decided to try something new. We went downstairs and brought up a three-light lamp. I took off the housing and put in the fan in one of the lights. The Franken-Fan actually works great, just don't walk into it. 

We know we'll only be using it for a few months so we're going to keep the experiment going. Luckily, I don't have hair that can get tangled in the thing...

Other people in my family are not so lucky.

Just A Few Photos Of Clouds...

 After work, I went outside to do some yard work. It needs doing, and truth be told, we're a little behind schedule on our projects. One nice thing about this afternoon was cloud cover. We're not close to the hottest part of the year, but even now, a sunny afternoon is still a bit warm. Another thing cloud cover provides is...

Amazing skies.

I've lost count how many times I've blogged about our skies in Northern Utah. I'm consistently blown away by the beauty, the overwhelming grandeur of the scenes overhead. Tonight, while taking a break I took out my phone and just aimed it up. I snapped a couple of pictures and here's what I saw.

Except, it isn't. Cameras are limited and many times they cannot capture the brilliance I see. Imagine instead of a photograph with borders and limitations, a sky stretching in every direction.

I wonder if I'll ever stop taking random pictures of the clouds above. I can tell you this, as long as they're as stunning as they were this afternoon...

I'll keep shooting.

An Oldie...But A Goodie

 You know how it is, you think about something you don't necessarily need but something that would make your life better. Then, you do a little innocent searching on-line for said item and...

There it is.

And only twenty miles away.

For us, twenty miles is the next town over, or in other words...pretty close. We were looking for a bigger freezer for the garage. We looked a new ones and passed. They didn't need to be that nice. So, we checked on-line classifieds and saw a few, but they were either too expensive or too far away. We sort of gave up on the idea, thinking we'd occasionally look to see if there was something out there. 

That's when I found it, reasonably priced and close--two of the things we were were looking for in a freezer. I messaged the seller and made arrangements to come out the next morning. When we arrived, we found out more about the freezer...the more we learned, the more we wanted it. We made the deal and took it home.

It's a Whirlpool, built in 1981 and sold through ZCMI. The seller told us the freezer came with the house so it's possible it's been sitting in that outdoor shed since 1981. Both my wife and I laughed when we saw the ZCMI sticker. The seller had no idea what ZCMI was.

We laughed again.

I posted the picture on social media and received many comments about how reliable freezers built during that era are and many are still kicking today. I wonder why that didn't translate to the auto industry.

I have no idea how long it will keep freezing--hopefully, a long time. For us, it was a steal, and the longer it runs, the bigger the steal it is.

Another Year For The Retreat To The House On The Hill...

 Spring...many look forward to the season to witness new life in nature, to feel the sun on their face, to shed the winter clothes and venture forth in t-shirts, shorts, and sandals.

There's another reason, of course, but it's a bit obscure. If you listen carefully, you'll hear the siren's song, when writers pack up their laptops and head for the hills...or one hill, to be exact.

For the first time in many years I found myself able to take time off from work and attend the writing retreat in person. I've missed the past couple of years due to "life," but this year, things were looking up. The first day or two of the week we had planned to so some much-needed work around the house, then when I was planning to leave, I got hit with a cough. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't function, but bad enough I didn't want to be hold up (yes, hold up...) in a house with several other authors trying to turn blood, sweat, and tears into art. 

I stayed home.

All is not lost. Those who put together the writing retreat each year encourage everyone to create no matter where they are, be they at the hill house, or in their own house. 

This year, instead of pounding out words for stories yet un-written, I worked on two stories that need editing. Then, I did something I haven't done in almost a decade...I submitted part of a manuscript to see of the publisher is interested. 

Submitted a story is like pushing the button to launch a bomb. It's scary, exciting, maddening, nerve-racking, but at times, needs to be done. I've submitted several stories in the past--mostly short stories--but the feeling is the same and hasn't stopped conjuring those emotions. Maybe that will change in the future...

Maybe not.

Even though I did not write 43k or 45k words as some at the retreat did (unbelievable...), I feel it was a success. I've needed to kick those stories out of the nest for years. 

I'm again making it a goal to attend in person next year. I came closer this year than I did the past couple. I suppose that's what the retreat is really all about...setting goals to improve, to create, to push yourself for the benefit of mankind. 

Must be spring.

Give Thanks...Albert Brooks's Film "Mother"

People have holiday traditions, especially when it comes to entertainment. It's tradition for some families to go see a movie on Christmas, Memorial Day, Valentines Day. This year in our house we decided to pull up Albert Brooks's incredible slice-of-life dromedy Mother, starting Brooks and Debbie Reynolds.

If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Without giving too much away, newly divorced writer John Henderson (Brooks...) decides to move in with his widowed mother (Reynolds...). Together, they work side-by-side, albeit not always smoothly, to figure out life's questions and to find peace. If you're familiar with Brooks's work, you'll recognize his comedic genius in the writing, and the performances. It's a great film.

This year, Mother's Day has been different for me. It's the first year I have knowledge of my birth mother and her incredible family. We met in person last month. When I first saw pictures of my birth mother, I was shocked at how much she resembles Debbie Reynolds.

Perhaps you would agree.

I've watched Mother several times, but just as this Mother's Day is different, watching the show was different. From what I've learned about my birth mom, I doubt she and the character Reynolds portrayed on the film were similar. Still...watching the beautiful actress on film and thinking about the beautiful woman in the photos, it struck me different this year.

I'm thankful for the past six months I've had. I'm thankful I found her and her family. I'm thankful for Mr. Brooks's talent and his bravery for making the film. 

I think we have a new Mother's Day family tradition.

As For Me In My House...It's Mammoth

There's electricity in the air in Utah...that is, if you're a sports fan. No, our NBA team did not make the playoffs. It's something else, something announced on April 18th, 2024, something involving huge men slamming into each other, all in an attempt to place a black hunk of rubber into a nylon net. Oh, they're wearing skates and flying across frozen water.

NHL is coming to Utah.

The owner, Mr. Smith, conducted a pole: what should the name of the team be? Smart marketing move, except there will always be those who think whatever name they chose is stupid. So many names, so many A.I.-created logos. Of them all, in my heart, one has risen above the rest...

Utah Mammoth.

I love this one. It's unique--so much crazy new merchandise can be created with this name. There's nothing like it out there. Experts will say no mammoths have been found in Utah. By looking at our NBA team you realize that argument holds no weight.

I lifted this picture from Ryan Uffens (@ryanuffens on X...). I've been watching X lately. It seems Mammoth is picking up momentum. I showed my wife the logo and she went, "Huh." I then told her of what someone on X said would be really cool...on the center ice circle, they should have a huge picture of a frozen mammoth incased in ice, about to bust out and create hockey havoc at every game.

She loved that.

So, my unofficial pole, Utah Mammoth is 2-0. 

Of course, if they choose something else, it will be awesome. They'll hopefully come up with some great marketing/color schemes. Whatever happens, I am excited for the future, be it mammoths or yetis or something else. It's a great time for sports in Utah.

Yeah...It's A Scam

 This one was interesting. Since I do (or try to do...) a lot of writing, I am on my computer many hours of the day, not including while at my day job. When you're on the computer, if you're like me, you check out social media posts from time to time. I've seen my share of scams, both on social media and almost every e-mail I receive...

So many scams.

Yesterday, I see the above add pop up on my Facebook timeline. I've seen posts like this before..."We're having a moving sale and need to clear everything out," or "We're decluttering and we're sick of all this stuff--come and get it." But this one, was different.

The seller was an author friend. I have literally hundreds of author Facebook friends, many of whom I've never met. This isn't unusual. I think all authors have friended other authors without actually meeting them. So, I started reading and if someone could have crafted the perfect ad for my family at this point in time, this would have been it. Sure, we could use the other stuff, but I have two sons looking for transportation. The youngest...a truck, the other, a reliable car. This ad had both, and for prices that would make a miser cry (namely, me...). Plus, they were selling a tractor for dirt cheap and we just ordered five tons of gravel that needs to be moved.

Still, I was leery. The prices were too good to be true, but you never know unless you ask. I began a text dialogue with my Facebook "friend."

I thought, what the heck...I'll continue, even though the response contained several grammatical errors.

I can forgive errors on a text, as my response includes a misspelled word, but this is supposed to be a writer, and she should know better. Then again, maybe she was just excited to have someone come and take these things off her hands.

I was still thinking this was a scam, and her next response confirmed it--pay a deposit, to me a sure scam sign. I thought I'd give her a test just to make sure.

All of our mutual Facebook friends are writers. I'm involved in a writing conference coming up next month called the Writers Cantina. I thought I'd throw it out to see if she was coming, or at least, say something about it. That's the response I got. "Don't talk about other things, I have stuff to sell."

I thought I'd give her one more chance.

She didn't bite. She returned to the deposit, then surprisingly, asked if I was a bot. That made me laugh. I asked for some specific information from her to see if it was really her, and she blew it off. I told her we weren't interested and wished her with the relocation of "her father."

That's the thing about scams...you want them to be real so badly. If this were real and we bought the two vehicles and the tractor, we'd be saving around $25k, and that's after paying the posted price.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I go back to the old adage: it's it sounds too good to be true...

It probably is.

We Lost Another Classmate...Another Great Guy

I didn't see the news until the day of the funeral...another person from my graduating class--a graduating class turning forty years old this year--is no longer with us, no longer here. It's sobering when someone your age passes away.

I knew of Mike, popular kid, football star, big smile, chicks loved him...these are my high school memories of Mike. I'll bet we spoke at one time...we were classmates since jr high, a total of seven years. He may have known of me--I was good friends with his good friends. That's how it is in high school. Everyone knows everyone else, but you only know a few well.

Our class has held four reunions since we were last together in June, 1984. I attended three. We have one upcoming this fall. To prepare people have gathered on Facebook to offer suggestions, get news on the events, and keep in touch until we again meet. Someone remembered those who will not be attending, those who have passed away. It turned into a "did you hear that so-and-so also died" post where many contributed.

I added two names.

It was sobering remembering the two--one I knew since Kindergarten, as well as seeing the names of classmates I didn't know so well...realizing they will not be there when we meet.

The series of building add-ons where we gathered for school, where we ate in the cafeteria, studied in the rooms, were bullied in the halls, watched and participated in sporting events is gone. It was demolished and a new beautiful school now stands in its place. Like Mike and the others who have passed on, a new building cannot replace the original, cannot replicate walking in the main building built in 1914, or seeing us students in our Ocean Pacific shirts, Nike shoes, and Levis jeans as we passed each other in the halls while holding our Trapper Keepers and making sure on to step on the tiled D.

Reading Mike's obituary, I realized we lived similar lives, both in school and beyond. We both raised families close to the school we attended. We both attended college, we both worked and spent quality time with friends and family. I wish I had known him better. As I get old, I wish I had gotten to know more people when I had the chance. After all, it's the relationships you have with others that can bring such wonderful memories.

The reunion's in a few months. They'll be one less invitation to send...

Let's I hope that's all there'll be.

Some See Free Pallets - Some See Free Grow Boxes...With A Lot Of Work

 Free...

I give you the pallet, something that allows modern civilization to exist. The pallet allows for tons of food to be delivered to your store, and then, to your homes. I can't imagine how we would transport and store the food, the auto parts, the clothing, basically everything in our modern lives.

Because pallets are so important, it goes to reason that you can find pallets everywhere. Drive by any industrial part of town and you'll see pallets. And not only are they important for their original purpose, do a quick internet search on the things you can make with free pallets. 

It's endless.

With enough pallets you can build your own shed or even a home. We're not looking to build either, but something more simple...grow boxes. 

I have a friend who runs several businesses. He's got the Midas touch, very successful. I messaged him a few weeks ago to see if he had any pallets lying around that he no longer uses/needs. He did, and we drove down to his business and picked up a few. Such a nice gesture. I saw the above post in our local town Facebook group. We've gathered the pallets and will hopefully gather more, then...

The hard work begins.

My wife and son have drawn up some plans on how we want our backyard garden to look. It's going to take time, but it could be something great.

I'll keep you posted.

I Mean, It Was Nice...Just Didn't Need It

 We did a little garage cleaning today. One item we found was a Rågrund from Ikea. I remember finding this at a garage sale and thought it was cool. I also thought it would work for a plant stand in our front room. We bought it, brought it home and put the plant on it.

It worked.

We used the chair/shelf thing for a couple of years. It was not ideal...we needed the stand to be taller. Fortunately, we found a plant stand that worked even better. Which begged the question, "What do we do with the Rågrund?"

We ended up taking to a thrift store.

I did a quick internet search. The Rågrund retails at Ikea for $69.99. It's described as a chair with a towel rack. If we needed a chair with a towel rack, we'd have kept it. It's the kind of thing that would work well in other parts of the world. When I lived in Scandinavia, I can see it in a bathroom or just outside a bathroom. Plus, it's made of bamboo which is great for humid areas...

Where we don't live.

I hope someone sees it at the thrift store and falls in love with it. I hope they have the perfect place for it in their home and it can be used as it was intended.

Too bad we didn't need it.

Day One Of The Writing Retreat...Editing

 About a hundred miles to the south of me, many of my friends have gathered at a famous house on the hill. They've spent the day writing, editing, eating, sharing jokes, and tonight after dinner, they may be playing an epic board game.

It's a writing retreat.

I'm participating, but remotely, at least for the first couple of days. I hope to join the group hopefully later. Today was supposed to be a day of yard work, but cold wet weather kept me mostly inside. Did I get much writing done? Nope. Today was a day for editing.

I've got two stories that need to see the light of day. One, I'm going to self-publish. The other, well...it could catch the eye of a publisher. That would be fun.

It's been years since I read the first eight chapters of the story. When you write a book you read and re-read your words so often, you can get sick of them. Having not read those chapters for such a long time, I found I enjoyed reading it, even finding myself surprised at some of the words, the sentences. 

I hope others feel the same.

Tomorrow is Day 2 (actually, Day 3 if you count Sunday night...) of the retreat. We may get to the yard tomorrow and I know we have other errands to run, but I hope to continue editing the same story.

We'll see what happens.

Give Thanks...Dentists

 Years ago, I cracked a tooth eating popcorn. I love popcorn. I even had an air popcorn maker in my office my first job after graduating. I'd eat unbuttered, unsalted popcorn as a snack.

I guess those days are over.

Last week, I was having popcorn after lunch, being careful to not eat the grannies, and it happened. A whole opened up on a molar. Crap. I immediately called our dentist to see if they had any openings. Thankfully, they did...the next day. I hung up the phone and thought how blessed I was to have access to dental professionals.

Last year at my semi-annual check-up I was told I had two cracked teeth. They recommended getting a crown on the worst of the two, but said the other could wait. As I drove to the dentist after the popcorn incident, I hoped the busted tooth was my other cracked tooth. Turned out it was. So, the popcorn just sped up the repair process.

I left the dentist after the temporary crown was installed and once again, felt thankful that I went from hole in my tooth to temporarily fixed in less than twenty-four hours. To be honest, I have no idea if this is something rare in other parts of the world. I'm thinking many countries a person can get a tooth fixed as easily as we can. I don't know. I do know that I'm fortunate enough to have a good dental plan because of my job. That definitely helps.

As a kid, I didn't take care of my teeth. My kids have done much better. I try hard to keep them healthy now...I guess it's that maturity thing kicking in. I'm thankful for all the help available to me now. I'd like it better if I never have to call them for a similar procedure ever again.

It's Almost As If...They're Spying On Us

 I know it's impossible. I know it's just mass marketing, junk mail, random stuff, and I also know that the grass is (literally...) not always greener on the other side of the fence/street/property marker.

Still...

It made me think.

Do they actually drive up and down neighborhoods and find lawns that aren't as green or healthy than their neighbor's lawns and drop off their marketing mail to only those homes with lesser lawns?

See...I know they don't do this--they can't do this--but, sometime I wonder.

We live in a new neighborhood. I'm surrounded by "Keepers of the Green" as I like to call them. How does one become a Keeper of the Green? You put a lot of effort, or a lot of money (or both...) into your lawns. My neighbors have incredible lawns. They're green, they're luscious, they're well taken care of. The neighbors in question all use the same landscaping service. We do not. We're at a disadvantage right there. 

Also, because of how our house sits on the lot, we made a conscience decision to limit the amount of grass in our front yard. I'm glad it's small. Less water, less mowing. Plus, we can't really use our front lawn to play or do much of anything.

I got the junk mail notice--one of several I've gotten this spring. I looked at my lawn. I looked at my neighbor's lawn. To be honest, our front lawn isn't that bad this spring. It's looks pretty good...much better than it did last year.

And, in reality, I shouldn't be so worried about what my neighbors think of my front lawn anyway. It's looks good. It's green, maybe not as green as others, but it's green and relatively weed-free. After all, it's not easy being green.

I don't think anyone's spying on us. No, it's cheaper to send everyone a small little card in the mail than to target individual homes where the owners may not think their lawns measure up to their neighbors's lawns.

I mean, how silly would that be?

The answer...pretty silly.

Touchy Subject...Tipping

 Here's the deal. I saw this meme on X a couple of days ago. When I first read the caption, I thought, "Darn straight." I agree 100%. It made me think of another post I saw on X earlier where a person called citizens of the state where I reside as the "worst tippers in the world." He posted this because I believe his spouse works in the food service industry.

Yes, many Utahns are bad tippers--not all, I'm sure, but some.

Then I thought, do the servers deserve better tips? There are many who bust their butts to offer great service and they deserve to be rewarded for working hard, and when some "cheapskate" doesn't tip well, it's frustrating. I know it is. It's frustrating for me when I bust my butt at work and do not get the pay I think I deserve. But, and this is an important consideration...

What if the people stop eating out?

That's basically us. Like many our family has had to re-evaluate eating out. My wife and I used to go to a sit-down restaurant once a week. If we didn't eat at the restaurant, we'd order take-out and eat at home. Point is, it was a weekly tradition and we budgeted for such. 

Then, things change.

We have changed our eating habits since last fall. We haven't quit it entirely, but it's not something we plan, not something we do as part of our weekly activities. When I read the post about the person ripping on poor tippers, the alternative--at least for us--is to not go altogether. This mean, instead of getting poor tips, the servers get no tips.

I hope people are still going out to eat. Those who work in restaurants work hard and many are family-owned and rely on customers to pay their rents, send their kids to school, succeed in the community. It's the downward spiral of a bad economy for those who's income hasn't increased as fast as the rise in prices that causes such dilemmas.

When we go out, we try to tip well...not too much, but not too little. The tip was calculated in the cost of the meals. Tipping's a touchy subject. I hope we can participate more in the process in the future.

The Lengths To Which I Went...To Read My Friend's Words

 Several months ago a childhood friend let us know on social media that his latest story had been published. The subject...skiing. Having grown up in Utah, I learned to ski at a time when it was reasonably inexpensive to participate. I was excited to read his observations.

There are things you do as a child that were so much easier to do than when you become older than middle age. Skiing is a prime example. It was my intention to read the story when I got the chance. Turns out yesterday, I had that chance. 

I had a dentist appointment and as I waited in the aptly named waiting room, I was told they were running late. No problem--I had my friend's article to read. I was halfway through the first page when, VOILÁ--the dentist could see me now. No problem, when I'm done I'll just pick up the magazine, snap a few pictures, then read it when I got home.

The appointment went well. I went through the payment/rescheduling process, then I went to the waiting room to find the magazine.

A lady was reading it.

I paused. What to do? I could leave having only read a third of the story, or I could do what I did. I went up to the lady and asked if I could barrow the magazine for just a moment. She agreed. To be honest, she didn't appear all that interested in it. I think she chose it because it was the only non-golf magazine available.

I told her why I was interrupting her relaxed moment. I said my friend wrote a story in the magazine and I wanted to take a picture or two. She agreed and seemed impressed. I couldn't tell if she was impressed that I knew the author (or any author...), or that I was willing to interrupt her to take the pictures.

Great little story. I smiled--even laughed at my friend's musings. He nailed so much of what it's like to ski as an older person. If he weren't such an incredibly talented painter, I'd say he missed his calling as an author. Glad I found the article. Glad I was able to finish the story. Great job, Kerry!

Next Services...93 Miles

 Last weekend we took a trip west. We live close to the Utah/Idaho boarder and are well situated if you're traveling to Boise or Idaho Falls. It's also a straight-shot drive to Las Vegas and L.A., but if you're going to Reno or San Francisco, you have choices.

Before we set out, we checked our options since we've never traveled I-80 from here. We had three options. One headed north, then south, then west. The other had us back-track for 30 or 40 miles, and the third took us west of the Great Salt Lake on a two-lane road until we met up with I-80 somewhere east of Wells. 

We chose Option #2.

On the way home, however, we chose Option #3. The weather was much better than it was when we started out, and the one thing that worried us--driving 93 miles without services--was no big deal, because on the way to Lake Tahoe, we drove several stretches where services were few and far between.

We took the exit at mile marker 378 and headed northeast. Before we set out on the long road, we changed drivers. There was a metal sign devoid of any advertising. I wondered why in the world would someone put up a sign out there. Then, my gaze moved right and I saw the remnants of a gas station complete with pumps and buildings. 

I wondered how long did they hold out until they gave up the ghost? Did it close due to the owner passing away or just not wanting to do it anymore? Or, did some government regulate the business to death?

I also wonder if anyone will ever decide to resurrect the business, create a petrol oasis in the middle of a long road. The chances aren't good, but it's fun to think about.

The drive was uneventful. We saw 30 cars on our 93 mile drive and made it home even faster. It was definitely the road less traveled.