QUICK TRIP TO PHOENIX

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 Greg and Niki and their kids have been in town a few days picking out carpet etc for the house they are buying in Herriman. Saturday or was it Friday, Niki called and asked if I would drive to their house in Queen Creek with Greg on Sunday, fill up our van with their big TV, her computer and other potentially breakable stuff and some of her clothes and bring it back to Salt Lake leaving Greg there to pack up the rest of the house for their move. I took the seats out of the van Saturday night and Sunday I picked up Greg at his folks house at just after 7:00 in the morning and off we went. We had a nice visit talking at least half the way there. I drove to Beaver and Greg drove the rest of the way which was nice making me less fatigued for the return trip the next day. Going down we ate lunch at Nedra’s too in Kanab. The “too” is part of their name. In Phoenix off the 60 we stopped at Fuddruckers were I ate the patty off a small burger. We got to their house just as it was getting dark. We put the large TV in the van first. It is so big that we had to tip it slightly sideways to get it through the opening but were able to set it upright once inside the van. We then put in the larger pictures and the large metal clock that hung on the wall on their staircase. At that point Greg sent me off to bed via the shower and he bagged up a bunch of Niki’s clothes and loaded them and other odds and ends then backed the van into their garage. At about 6:20 Sunday morning I was off. By leaving that early I saved at least a half hour in rush-hour traffic delays. As it was, the Valley of the Sun is so spread out that it took around an hour and a half to get to Anthem, the extreme north end of greater Phoenix. In Flagstaff I took the business district route which cost me perhaps ten minutes but I wanted to see it. I bought gas and a bottle of apple juice and a bottle of water downtown rather than on 89 at the north end of town like I usually do. I stopped at Jacob Lake and stretched my legs and got a beef stick and some grapefruit juice. I fueled up again in Beaver. When we got on the freeway in Salt Lake I noticed there was a shimmy at around 75 miles an hour. Farther into the trip it was doing it at around 70 mph. By the time I got to Beaver on the return trip, it was getting worse. I thought it was probably the front end but “Wheels”; the guy who cleaned my windshield in Beaver looked at my tires a said they were in bad shape. He was right; all four of them. By providence I had pulled into a gas station with a tire shop attached. I had them put on four new tires then asked them to check the oil level. It was low and they topped it off for free. They also added some coolant and didn’t charge me though the tires were $599.96 after all the taxes and fees. I couldn’t believe how much smoother and nicer the van runs with new tires. Wow! I was home at around 7:30 ; twelve hours on the road for two days in a row…good thing I love driving.

TEMPLE EXCURSION

Sunday, March 01, 2009 Yesterday morning early, Judy and I headed out for Las Vegas via St. George. Our friend Julie Bird along with family and friends did a four p.m. endowment session in the Las Vegas Temple. By the time we reached St. George we were way early so we shopped for quite a while at the mall. Judy bought herself a new purse at a deeply discounted price at Dillard’s. I mostly walked around Dillard’s and the rest of the mall. I have been really weak from this diet Judy, Corey and I have been on the last three weeks, so I did my share of sitting as well as the walking. I have lost twenty-five or more pounds in three weeks so I am not complaining. Three more weeks of shots then three more days of strict dieting then I don’t remember how long of a modified diet. I have yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After the mall, we went to Deseret Book on Bluff where we bought a plaque with a saying inscribed over an etching of the Savior for Julie. We got her a card also. In addition to that, we got a card for our granddaughter Bailey’s baptism next Saturday and I got a book by Robert L. Millet entitled “What Happened to the Cross? Distinctive LDS Teachings”. Brother Millet is my favorite LDS scholar now that Hugh Nibley has died. I see Brother Millet on BYUTV often, especially in a scriptural roundtable series. What a mind! From Deseret Book we checked into the Wingate Hotel just off the mile marker four exit and took our suitcase, my CPAP machine etc up to the room then got a cutup chicken breast at a Hawaiian restaurant next-door to the hotel to share. Oh that diet. We then headed out for Las Vegas. Thanks to my Tom Tom GPS device finding were we were going was a breeze and we zoomed right to the temple with all the twists and turns it takes to get there. We got to the temple two hours before the session so we walked around the public areas and enjoyed the ambiance there. Then we sat in the car and I at least took an hour or so nap. My eyes especially were tired from six hours or so of driving. I really like the Las Vegas Temple. I think it is prettier than the Mount Timpanogos Temple, the one we usually go to, though I prefer some features of the Timpanogos Temple better. After the session we went to Julie’s daughter Angie’s house to visit and have an informal bite to eat. Angie gave us her address at the temple so, again, thanks to Tom Tom; we were able to drive right to her house. After maybe an hour we excused ourselves and drove back to St. George where we spent the night. This morning early I sat in the hotel’s hot tub for ten minutes or so then we packed up and drove back home to Saratoga Springs in plenty of time before going to church.

Lots of nothing to talk about.

Thursday, February 26, 2009 Last night, Len Pavia and I home taught Loma Mckinnon. I have been going to the Lehi Legacy Aquatic Center every morning and walking in the pool. As much of it as I can stand, I have been walking against the current in the Lazy River though this diet that Judy and I are on has made me quite weak. I have no energy to do anything. Today I decluttered the spice racks. I threw out the duplicates, old stuff and some things I know we will never use. Yesterday, or was it the day before, I raked the dead leaves out of our little garden areas; all except the one that is sheltered from the sun and is still covered with snow and ice. Today I went to the Tunex in American Fork and had them look for a blown fuse. I don’t have a fuse puller and my hands are too big to reach into one of the fuse areas. The upper Cigarette lighter quit working so I couldn’t use it to plug in my cell phone charger. The mirrors wouldn’t turn and the clock/outside temperature readout quit working a few days back. (They are all on the same fuse.) The mechanic at Tunex fooled with it for pushing half an hour before he located the correct fuse. He replaced it. Everything works fine and he refused to take any money for his efforts. Can't complain about that!

WEEK IN THE CARIBBEAN

Sunday, February 08, 2009 Judy and I returned home this afternoon from a seven day cruise out of Galveston, Texas with our friends Marty and Kathy Matras. We flew to Houston a week ago Saturday and stayed with them at there house that night before driving to Galveston for our cruise on the Voyager of The Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship. Since between the four of us we had too much luggage for one car, we drove both of their cars to the cruise, Marty and I in one car and Kathy and Judy in the other. We left the cars in a lot only a block or so from the cruise and took their shuttle to the boat. I think we could have parked dockside but it would have cost us a lot more. It cost $50.00 a car where we were. This was the coldest and windiest cruise we have taken though not too cold. It was windy enough that we had to sail to the leeward side Grand Cayman, tender in and take cabs into town. That was ok since the eight mile cab ride gave us a chance to see a little of the island. In town we walked up and down the tourist area and look at the shops. Our first stop was in Cozumel. When we got off the boat, Judy and I took a cab to downtown where, again, we walked around the shops. We also had lunch in Carlos and Charlie’s, a noisy rambunctious place noted as being one of the more fun places to dine in Cozumel. Our last stop was to be at Montego Bay, Jamaica. The waves were so high that they closed the port and at noon Captain Frank abandoned the attempt and we spent the rest of that day and the next two at sea creeping back to Galveston. The four of us had signed up to take a zip line tour through the forest canopy on Jamaica but of course we were thwarted in the attempt. We spent much of the time on the boat on deck 11 sunning or reading in the shade when we got too hot. I also spent a lot of time in the hot tub. I climbed a lot of stairs instead of taking the elevators every time and of course walked a lot around the deck, the promenade etc. I feel like I am slowly getting stronger and my stamina is improving. My walking against the current at the Legacy Center in Lehi helped I am sure.

UP THE LAZY RIVER BY THE OLD MILL RUN

Since the weather has been yucky, I haven’t gone to the neighborhood pool and done my thing often lately. So today I bought a monthly pass at the Lehi Legacy Center. I walked for an hour against the current in the “Lazy River”. What a workout. After twenty minutes I was tired. After thirty minutes it was worse but I had something to prove to myself and I pushed myself onward. When I finally dragged myself out of the water, my knees were very weak and my legs were wobbly and it was all I could do to stand up straight and drag myself to the hot tub where I sat in such a way that the jets hit my knees one at a time and then my ankles. That helped but I was still “hurting”. I bought a hotdog at the snack bar and sat and ate it, then lumbered to the car for the drive home. Hew; hopefully my body will adjust to the regimen as I was told at my diabetes training class it would do.

QUICK TRIP TO PHOENIX

Monday, January 26, 2009 There hasn’t been a lot to report though Friday, Judy left work early and she and I flew to Phoenix and spent two nights with Niki and her brood. Cute kids. Eight Month old Gavin sits up forever it seems and slowly — unperceivable so, inches himself forward. I don’t think he even knows he is doing it. He just sees something he wants and eventually finds himself there. Saturday night we ate at San Tan Flat and two and a half year old Alexa spent the whole time on the stage dancing with the other kids. She has quite the moves. I believe she thinks her middle name is Princess. She recognizes and can name all the Disney princesses and if she had her way she would have one of each of their dresses. She loves to shop at the Disney Store. Judy and I were up at 5:00 a.m. and Greg drove us to the airport for our return flight, so we were home in plenty of time for church. Thanks Greg.

"DOING THE JEPSON REVISITED" -- REVISITED

Friday, January 16, 2009 Several nights ago I went to the pool to do my “Jepson Revisited” (see previous entry). As I was about to walk into the pool, a lady, a total stranger who was in the pool with three or four other adults, called to me and said, “Don’t get in the hot tub. It’s down”, i.e. not working. I said ok and got in the pool. I wasn’t headed that way anyway. As I walked past the lady, she handed me her baby and said, “Here, take her. We’re going to the hot tub”. (It was working fine.) I said ok and started playing with the perhaps one year old girl. Maybe ten or fifteen seconds later the Mother reached for her and said, “Just kidding”. Hmm. I’m sure she just has a good sense of humor. I wonder if I give off an aura of humor and trust or something. (They did eventually get in the hot tub.)