Pooped!

I am pooped!
Spent all day Sunday and Monday moving things our of the house into the garage so that Tuesday the carpet installers could come and do their job. I moved a lot of small furniture that I could handle, disconnected my computer, television, etc.
They arrived around 8:15 am on Tuesday and it took them about 8 hours to install the carpet and the new vinyl floor in the kitchen. They helped us move the big heavy furniture out. Before they left, they moved it back in for us too.
After they left, Ben and I started putting some of the smaller stuff away. Worked for about 2 hours.
This morning Ben and I continued moving stuff back into the house. Worked on it all day and we are still not finished. I cannot believe how much JUNK we have accumulated through the years. Moving things out to have new carpet installed is as bad as moving from one house to another.
Ben has to go back to work tomorrow, so I'll have to finish up.

Nice Weekend

My brother was visiting for the weekend. He and I went for a hike over at Corriganville Park in Simi Valley.

Stop by my "Hiking With An 'Old' Woman" blog for a post about the hike.

Hiking With An "Old" Woman

AARRGGHH!

Well, since we did not hear from the carpet guy during the week to confirm they would be here today to lay the carpet and install the vinyl, we assumed that meant they were NOT coming. We went over to the bank this morning and when we got back, there was a message on our machine from the guard gate saying the carpet guys were here and went over to Bill's house since we were not home. I tried to call Bill but got his voicemail again. So I jumped in the car and headed over to his house and there were the carpet guys parked out front. I stopped to talk to them and they said he was not home, even though his garage door and front door were wide open. I explained to them that he had not confirmed that they were coming today so we had not disconnected any of our electronics or moved any small furniture out yet. They called their boss Armondo (who had come here and measured for the carpet). They gave me the phone to talk to him and I explained the whole thing to him and he apologized and asked when did I want him to come back and install the carpet and vinyl. I told him Tuesday would be good. He said he will be here at 8:30 am on Tuesday and that he will try to find out where Bill is. That way Ben is home that day plus it will give us time to move some things.

Got Myself A New Cell Phone

Went to my local Verizon Store this morning and got myself a new cell phone. I never really cared for the one I got last time and my "Every 2 Upgrade" time was here, so thought I'd take advantage and replace it with a new phone.

I got a Samsung Alias 2 (see photo below). The photo shows the outside of the phone, the "normal" phone usage area and the "qwerty" screen for texting. It' flips open two different ways.

I've just started texting a little so I wanted a "qwerty" screen because it was taking me forever to text with the "normal" cell phone screen. I had never texted until about a month ago. My brother showed me how to do it. I don't do it a lot, but it's nice now and then.

With the new phone I had to purchase a "data package" so I can access the Internet and send emails.. Just another way for them to get money out of you. I went with the cheapest package because I really doubt I'll be on the Internet much and I'll ONLY send emails when I'm not near my computer. Good thing my brother is coming to visit this weekend. He can show me how to access the email function. I have no idea where it is or how to use it.

Anyway, I think I have the phone set up the way I want it for now. Took awhile to figure things out, but I did.

New Flooring By End Of The Week?

Carpet guy came today and wrote up our contract. He is hoping that they will be able to install vinyl in kitchen and all the carpet this Friday. Depends on if he can get everything by then. His guys are going to move our big furniture. Ben and I will move the small stuff.

Got This In An Email From a Friend Today

If you are 30, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways… yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were luckily, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!

Regards,

The Over 30 Crowd

(Send this to someone you'd like to make smile)

Short Video Of Ventura Day Trip

Day Trip To Ventura, CA

My friend Judy and I went up to Ventura today for lunch and a little shopping. Went over to the beach and took some photos too and then on the way home we stopped by a fish hatchery/bird sanctuary. Check out my photos at the link below.

Day Trip To Ventura, CA

Flooring Estimate

Had a guy who lives in our community who does flooring to come by and give us an estimate for new carpet and new vinyl flooring in our kitchen.
We need new carpet in our living/dining area, master bedroom and bath and in the smaller bedroom that we use for our office.
I've never liked the vinyl floor that is in our kitchen right now, so I've been wanting to change that too.
Anyway, he estimated just around $2500 for everything (carpet/pad/installation/vinyl and tax) which I think is an excellent price.
Now we are waiting for his guy to come and do the exact measurements and then they will order everything and let us know when they will install it.
I just hate to think about having to disconnect the cables for my computer and the wiring for the TV and digital box because I'm the one who has to do it all. Plus I won't be able to get on the computer until they get done with the office.
No TV and no computer....what the heck will I do with myself?

Now That's Sad....

I was watching a Los Angeles Dodgers special today on our local cable channel "Time Warner 101". They were showing some old opening days and different celebs throwing out the first ball.

Frankie Avalon is a big Dodger fan and is always at the games. He was there to throw out the first ball and he was talking to the different players and to Tommy Lasorda.

What was really sad was that he was "trying" to explain to the young pitcher, just who he "was". NOT who he is, but who he "WAS".

Instead of asking the young man if he'd ever seen "Beach Blanket Bingo", or asking him if he'd ever heard a song calle "Venus", he asked the "boy" if he'd ever seen the movie "Grease". The young man replied that he had heard of it but had never seen it.

Needless to say, the young pitcher still has no idea who Frankie Avalon is.

Now that's sad.
 

Birds

Since I went to the trouble of making my own bird bath I decided to go and buy a bird feeder and some bird seed. Still have not had any "swimmers" in the bath yet, but I have had a few birds stop by the feeder. Seems to me that they throw more seed out of the feeder than they actually eat. Was wondering if there was some way to put something on the ground under the feeder to collect the seed they toss out and re-use it???

Anyway, I took a few photos of the birds that have stopped by. I don't know my birds, so I'm just guessing that they are house finches and/or sparrows since I know that we have those kinds in our area.

Tesoro Adobe

Ben and I took a ride over to the other side of our valley to visit the Tesoro Adobe. It was once owned by silent western movie actor Harry Carey. About 5 years ago, they built a city park around it and it is now an historic county park.

Here is a link for more information about this adobe:

Tesoro Adobe

The Adobe

Forman Dining Room

Living Room

Main Fireplace

Living Room Looking Into Dining Room

Ben

Me

The Snail

Saw this little guy trying to get across our front walk this morning.

June 1st - June Gloom

The weekend was sunny and hot. It's June 1st and the "June Gloom" has arrived right on schedule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Gloom