Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Yummy Lunch
Ben and I went to Rattler's BBQ for lunch today. They have this really good deal, make your own sandwich and all-you-can-eat salad bar for $7.99. They also have these really yummy meatballs. Needless to say, we stuffed ourselves.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Nice
Finally a nice cool day. They have been saying for the past 4 or 5 days that we would cool down by the end of the week. Well, today it's about 85 degrees instead of the normal 100 degrees. I went to get the mail and it feels more like spring than summer. There is a nice strong breeze blowing so it makes it feel even nicer.
Wish it could stay this way, but they are warning us that the heat will return over the weekend.
Wish it could stay this way, but they are warning us that the heat will return over the weekend.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Another Very Warm Day In SoCal
We cooled down for a few days over the weekend, but we have warmed up again for today. It wasn't too bad when I was out for my morning walk.
I started work on the stretch bracelets my friend Vicky wants me to make for her daughter, the bridesmaids and the little flower girl. I just made one so far and sent her pictures of it in an email to make sure it's what she really wants. If so, I'll continue. If not, I'll stop. I don't want her buying something from me that she really does not like.
I sure am looking forward to Fall getting here. I want to get outside more and with this heat, I just don't go out much.
I started work on the stretch bracelets my friend Vicky wants me to make for her daughter, the bridesmaids and the little flower girl. I just made one so far and sent her pictures of it in an email to make sure it's what she really wants. If so, I'll continue. If not, I'll stop. I don't want her buying something from me that she really does not like.
I sure am looking forward to Fall getting here. I want to get outside more and with this heat, I just don't go out much.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Lunch With A Friend
Beautiful morning here in SoCal. Cooler again that the July mornings were. I just got back from my morning walk and I'm having a bowl of cereal.
Later we are going to meet our friend Ed at Sizzler for lunch. He lives out in Pomona, CA which is about 48 miles or so from us, so we meet at a Sizzler about half way in-between.
We used to have a Sizzler here in Canyon Country, but it is one of those great places that have gone the way of the bad economy, along with our Applebees and a few other places.
Later we are going to meet our friend Ed at Sizzler for lunch. He lives out in Pomona, CA which is about 48 miles or so from us, so we meet at a Sizzler about half way in-between.
We used to have a Sizzler here in Canyon Country, but it is one of those great places that have gone the way of the bad economy, along with our Applebees and a few other places.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Can't Find Them Anywhere
This morning was so nice and cool out because we have an overcast day. I got out right after Ben left for work and did a 2.4 mile walk. Came back home and had some breakfast and then headed out to try to find some "hot" pink and some brown glass beads but I CAN'T FIND THEM ANYWHERE!
My friend's daughter is getting married in October and my friends wants me to make stretch bracelets for the bride, the bridesmaids and the flower girl in the wedding colors which are "hot" pink and brown, and she wants me to use glass or crystal beads, not plastic. Well I can find the colors in the plastic beads, but no one seems to have them in glass.
I've been to WalMart, Beverly's, JoAnn's, Michael's and even a place called Bead Source and nothing!
She will either have to settle for plastic or nothing I guess.
My friend's daughter is getting married in October and my friends wants me to make stretch bracelets for the bride, the bridesmaids and the flower girl in the wedding colors which are "hot" pink and brown, and she wants me to use glass or crystal beads, not plastic. Well I can find the colors in the plastic beads, but no one seems to have them in glass.
I've been to WalMart, Beverly's, JoAnn's, Michael's and even a place called Bead Source and nothing!
She will either have to settle for plastic or nothing I guess.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
My Hand-Made Crafts
Through the years, I have dabbled in several crafts. I did latch-hook, cross-stitch, made wind chimes and lawn decorations. Lately I've gotten into beading. I've made some necklaces and some stretch bracelets. Below are some photos of some of them. If you'd like to see all of the items I've made, check out these links:
http://public.fotki.com/kayben80/my-crafts/stretch-bracelets/
http://public.fotki.com/kayben80/my-crafts/necklaces/
http://public.fotki.com/kayben80/my-crafts/stretch-bracelets/
http://public.fotki.com/kayben80/my-crafts/necklaces/
Santa Paula Hot Air Balloon Fest
Ben had to work today so I decided to drive up SR126 to Santa Paula, CA as I heard they were having their annual Hot Air Balloon Fest. I had gone to one of these Balloon Fests up in Lancaster, CA many, many years ago. You have to get there pretty early in the morning as from what I understand, their best flight time is at sundown or just after sunrise.
We awoke to a sunny morning in Santa Clarita, but once I started heading west, I ran into the marine layer that had come in over night and had fog and low clouds ahead of me. Right then I thought the balloons probably would not be up because of the bad visibility.
Wouldn't you know it? The middle of summer in Southern California, where it is usually HOT with clear sky, today decided to be all overcast in Santa Paula.
For miles I scanned the horizon to see if I could see anything, then, just as I came out of a curve on the highway, there in front of me sat about 8 or 10 huge balloon, all tethered to the ground in a park.
I pulled over and started taking some photos. There were people parked all along both sides of the highway and in the vacant lots all around. This area is all farmland, so there were a lot of vacant lots.
After about 20 minutes or so, I guess the balloonists realized that the fog was not going to burn off so the could fly and they all started deflating their balloons, so I left and came home.
Oh well.
We awoke to a sunny morning in Santa Clarita, but once I started heading west, I ran into the marine layer that had come in over night and had fog and low clouds ahead of me. Right then I thought the balloons probably would not be up because of the bad visibility.
Wouldn't you know it? The middle of summer in Southern California, where it is usually HOT with clear sky, today decided to be all overcast in Santa Paula.
For miles I scanned the horizon to see if I could see anything, then, just as I came out of a curve on the highway, there in front of me sat about 8 or 10 huge balloon, all tethered to the ground in a park.
I pulled over and started taking some photos. There were people parked all along both sides of the highway and in the vacant lots all around. This area is all farmland, so there were a lot of vacant lots.
After about 20 minutes or so, I guess the balloonists realized that the fog was not going to burn off so the could fly and they all started deflating their balloons, so I left and came home.
Oh well.
Friday, July 31, 2009
What A Rip-off!
Well, the TV repair place did NOT call back after a couple of hours, so I called them back again.
They are in San Jose. The girl I spoke with was a real ditz. Sounded like she was about 17 years old. Anyway, she starts asking me all of these questions that made no sense. I had already given her my name, address, etc. and the model and serial numbers of the TV. I told her what the problem was even though I told her I had just been on the phone with a Vizio technician who diagnosed that it was the tuner. She then asked me if the TV was on the wall or on a table and asked me if the LCD "Vizio" light on it was lit. I said "No, because the TV is not turned on". I asked her what difference did it make if it was on or off and she said she needed to know the color of the LCD "Vizio" light. She just giggled and said she needed to put it down on the paperwork. Sounded strange to me. So I asked her if they charged a service fee just to look at the TV and she said yes it was a $125 diagnostic fee. Then she told me that we would have to pack the TV up and send it to them in San Jose, which we'd have to pay for up front ourselves. She then told me the "flat rate" for service (above the $125) would include service (labor), parts and shipping it back to us and that the "flat rate" was $250. So now it's $125, plus the $150, plus about $30 to ship it to them, so that's like $305 just to have it fixed. Hell, we only paid $500 for the TV including tax and recycling fee. I told her to forget it.
So since we only use that TV about 2 hours a day (watching the news in the morning), we decided to just leave it as is. If anything else goes wrong with it, then we'll buy a new TV.
I'll bet I could find a local TV repairman around Canyon Country who could fix it for less than that, but to heck with it. We use the big 47" the most.
They are in San Jose. The girl I spoke with was a real ditz. Sounded like she was about 17 years old. Anyway, she starts asking me all of these questions that made no sense. I had already given her my name, address, etc. and the model and serial numbers of the TV. I told her what the problem was even though I told her I had just been on the phone with a Vizio technician who diagnosed that it was the tuner. She then asked me if the TV was on the wall or on a table and asked me if the LCD "Vizio" light on it was lit. I said "No, because the TV is not turned on". I asked her what difference did it make if it was on or off and she said she needed to know the color of the LCD "Vizio" light. She just giggled and said she needed to put it down on the paperwork. Sounded strange to me. So I asked her if they charged a service fee just to look at the TV and she said yes it was a $125 diagnostic fee. Then she told me that we would have to pack the TV up and send it to them in San Jose, which we'd have to pay for up front ourselves. She then told me the "flat rate" for service (above the $125) would include service (labor), parts and shipping it back to us and that the "flat rate" was $250. So now it's $125, plus the $150, plus about $30 to ship it to them, so that's like $305 just to have it fixed. Hell, we only paid $500 for the TV including tax and recycling fee. I told her to forget it.
So since we only use that TV about 2 hours a day (watching the news in the morning), we decided to just leave it as is. If anything else goes wrong with it, then we'll buy a new TV.
I'll bet I could find a local TV repairman around Canyon Country who could fix it for less than that, but to heck with it. We use the big 47" the most.
Update On My Television Problem Posted Yesterday
This morning I sent an email to Vizio telling them about the problem we are having with our 26" flat screen television. They emailed back and asked me to call their technical support people so that they could work with me over the phone. I called them and they had me do a few things, like disconnect everything, do a "reset" with the power button, etc. but it didn't help.
Also to my surprise, I checked my paperwork for the television and found that we actually purchased it on 1-27-08, so it is out of warranty. Ben and I kept thinking that we had just bought it in January 2009. (Time flies when you get older).
Well the Vizio tech said it sounds like the tuner has a short in it and since it is NOT under warranty anymore, they gave me the phone number of a repair contractor they use to have them send a Vizio trained repair person to come to our house to check it out, at our cost of course.
I called the repair contractor but all of their representatives were busy, so they made me leave a voice message and said they would return my call. Hopefully they will call back or I'll have to call them again tomorrow. I'll ask them if they charge a fee just to come to the house and if they can give me an estimate on the price of a new tuner and their labor costs. If we feel that the price is too much, it might just be cheaper for us to go and purchase another television instead of replacing the tuner.
But I keep thinking that in this day and age, a tuner should not cost that much and the labor should be simple. It's probably like a computer, unplug the part and plug the new one back in.
Will just have to wait now and see.
Also to my surprise, I checked my paperwork for the television and found that we actually purchased it on 1-27-08, so it is out of warranty. Ben and I kept thinking that we had just bought it in January 2009. (Time flies when you get older).
Well the Vizio tech said it sounds like the tuner has a short in it and since it is NOT under warranty anymore, they gave me the phone number of a repair contractor they use to have them send a Vizio trained repair person to come to our house to check it out, at our cost of course.
I called the repair contractor but all of their representatives were busy, so they made me leave a voice message and said they would return my call. Hopefully they will call back or I'll have to call them again tomorrow. I'll ask them if they charge a fee just to come to the house and if they can give me an estimate on the price of a new tuner and their labor costs. If we feel that the price is too much, it might just be cheaper for us to go and purchase another television instead of replacing the tuner.
But I keep thinking that in this day and age, a tuner should not cost that much and the labor should be simple. It's probably like a computer, unplug the part and plug the new one back in.
Will just have to wait now and see.
Crafts
Sometimes I like to do crafts. I've made wind chimes, lawn decorations, worked with latch-hook and needlepoint. Lately I've been doing some beading. I've made myself and some friends several necklaces and now I'm making stretch bracelets.
I made myself some with Pony Beads and with Glass Beads. I gave my friend Judy a couple of bracelets that I made for her birthday. She loves cats, so I made here an "I "heart" Cats" bracelet with Pony Beads and then I made her a really pretty one with different shades of blue glass beads to match a blue glass necklace I made for her last year. She asked me to make some bracelets for her 2 granddaughters (Bre and Ashley) and to make an "heart"Pigs"heart" bracelet for her daughter who is raising a potbellied pig named Ruthy.
I've also made one for my niece Stephanie that reads "I "heart" God" and one for my brother Keith that is red and has "L.A. Angels" on it as that is his favorite baseball team.
Below are photos of the 3 bracelets I made for them. I'll post some photos of some of my glass ones later.
I made myself some with Pony Beads and with Glass Beads. I gave my friend Judy a couple of bracelets that I made for her birthday. She loves cats, so I made here an "I "heart" Cats" bracelet with Pony Beads and then I made her a really pretty one with different shades of blue glass beads to match a blue glass necklace I made for her last year. She asked me to make some bracelets for her 2 granddaughters (Bre and Ashley) and to make an "heart"Pigs"heart" bracelet for her daughter who is raising a potbellied pig named Ruthy.
I've also made one for my niece Stephanie that reads "I "heart" God" and one for my brother Keith that is red and has "L.A. Angels" on it as that is his favorite baseball team.
Below are photos of the 3 bracelets I made for them. I'll post some photos of some of my glass ones later.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Crazy Thursday
Well, I am just going crazy with our televisions.
Last January, we bought 3 new HDTV LCD Flat screen Televisions, all Vizio brand. We have Time Warner Cable for all 3 of them. We have the 42" one hooked up in the living room with an TW HD Digital box so we can pick up a lot of channels. The 26" in our bedroom and the 20" in our computer room are just hooked directly to the "basic cable" but we still the digital channels that are available for free (no HD box required).
All 3 sets have been working fine since January. Three days ago, we noticed that on the 2 small sets (26" and 20") that Time Warner had rearranged the channel line-up on the basic cable. I scanned both TVs to get the new line-up. Everything worked fine until the next evening, we see that TW has changed the line-up again, so I scanned both TVs again and they worked fine for another day. But then last night, it appeared that TW had changed the line-up again! And once again I scanned both sets.
This morning the 20" in the computer room is still working just fine and picks up the "free" digital channels, however, the 26" in the bedroom is NOT picking up the "free" digital channels for some reason. The scan finds them, but they show "no signal" when we try to watch them. Now both of these TVs should get the same line-up as they are connected to the same basic cable coming in from the street.
I contacted Time Warner and the said they didn't know anything about any channel line-up changes, but then I was talking to someone in India so how would they know anyway?
I disconnected the 26" from the cable in the bedroom and brought it into the computer room and reconnected it to the cable here. The "free" digital channels didn't work here either, so obviously, it appears to be the tuner inside the television that is not working, NOT the cable.
Everything was working fine on it until 3 days ago when TW started playing with the line-up.
These cable companies and satellite companies sure have us by the "you now what".
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Cooler Today
It has felt cooler here today and there has been a nice breeze all day as wall. There was a marine layer this morning, but it was not thick enough to come all the way into our valley from the coast, but it did help cool the air down.
We went out and bought some fresh produce this morning and then went to Arby's for lunch. Been resting most of the day.
We went out and bought some fresh produce this morning and then went to Arby's for lunch. Been resting most of the day.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday Lunch
Well, we "defied" that lawsuit I mentioned in a blog the other day and went to Denny's for lunch today. They tilapia fish sure is good. I had that with rice, cinnamon apples, garlic bread and a salad.
It's hot again and I'm really getting tired of it, but we are stuck with is for a few more months.
It's hot again and I'm really getting tired of it, but we are stuck with is for a few more months.
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