THE LAST FEW DAYS

Monday, May 03, 2010 Well, it has been a week or so since I have written. Until now there wasn’t much to say and I’m not sure if this is very interesting either. Friday, Judy flew to Albuquerque for the Stars South Regional competition. I left at 4:40 in the Morning driving. Through Spanish Fork Canyon it was snowing and I was a little nervous and drove rather slowly. The fact that it was still dark made it all the worse. When I got to Monticello I decided to continue south through bluff, bend west then south again then east to Shiprock. It was a change of pace and added about forty-five minutes to the trip. I got in late; we had to be up before the crack of dawn for the daylong competition. We got in bed late after the competition and dinner at El Pinto Mexican Restaurant. We were up again at a little after four a.m. to get Judy to the Albuquerque airport by five to catch a six a.m. flight back home so she could be back in time for choir. On my drive to Albuquerque I ate at Church’s Chicken in Farmington, New Mexico. On my way home I bought a breakfast sandwich at Burger King on 550 coming in to Bloomfield then pulled over to the side of the road in Farmington and took an almost half-hour nap which was badly needed. As I pulled back onto the road, I saw a sign saying Durango next right and since I liked what I had seen of Durango the last time I drove through there in semi light I decided to see it again in full daylight. When I got to Durango this time I drove around a while up and down major streets etc then pulled into the Burger King which was right there and used their bathroom. As I was walking out of Burger King the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train was just pulling out. It is an old coal burner and puffing smoke, blowing its whistle and was really neat. It looked like it was carrying quite a few passengers. I thought I would like to make a trip sometime to Durango and stay a couple of days, ride the train and drive down towards Cortez and see Mesa Verde National Park. When Judy got to church she found out she was being released from her choir job she loved so much and it appears she is going to be a gospel doctrine teacher. She was in tears. I am afraid neither she nor I are scriptorians. My memory is faulty. I can read something and fully comprehend it but don’t ask me to explain it or repeat the story line. I have not read all of the Old Testament. Today I was with Jayden and Bailey after school. While Douglas, the boy across the street was there, Bailey let Buddy out and Buddy bit Douglas (also called Morgan) on the leg and gave him a pretty good puncture. Later we all met at Olive Garden for dinner. While we were eating they told about Jayden going to the bathroom the other night. As he was walking in he said, “I’ve got to do my business and my business is good!” When he came out he said, “My business was good but I should have taken in some reading material.” It looks like Corey and I are taking a flight, first thing tomorrow morning to Houston, getting Chris’ old car and driving it back to Salt Lake via San Antonio (the River Walk), Carlsbad Caverns and Albuquerque. I was hoping for another day off before me next adventure.

Patient Fred, be Patient

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010 Yesterday I went to the pool and did an hour’s jog/walk etc. Shortly after I got in, two boys in their mid teens kept yelling “Hey Grandpa, come here.” Finally I went to where they were. They were very friendly but crude and somewhat foul mouthed. I politely bantered with them as judicially as I could and went on my way. They kept on me for nearly the whole hour before they finally got out. After they left, two older boys, in their late teens or early twenties, came up to me and congratulated me on how well I handled the situation with the younger boys. I thanked them for what they said and got out since my hour was over. I was flattered to say the least.

WHERE THE DEERS and The CANTALOPS PLAY

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2010 As I was driving, backtracking to see if I could find my lost cell phone; yea, I know, I am related to Chris and Sierra; I saw, if I counted them correctly, twenty-seven antelope in the front yard of a home on the west side of Redwood Road between our place and Smiths. I had earlier made a trip to Alpine Pediatrics to pay the co-pay for Bailey to see the doctor and then I drove to the bank where I made a deposit into Judy’s account. After the bank, I went back to Alpine Pediatrics where I got in Corey’s CC. Corey and Bailey and I drove to Goodwood Barbeque Company in Draper where we met Stacey for lunch. She usually doesn’t work on Wednesdays but her boss had to go to a meeting this morning so Stacey had to open and work for a couple of hours. She works for FEDEX-OFFICE on 123rd in Draper. Judy sent me an e-mail saying we are not eligible for new phones until December twenty-first. Hmmm.

MONGOLIAN SOLITAR

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010 Last week I went in to Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse, a Japanese/Teppanyaki/Sushi restaurant on Main Street in Lehi. They have a two for the price of one sushi deal every Monday thru Thursday from one to four p.m. (If I remember the details correctly.) I sat down at the sushi bar in front of a tall stocky Asian man and ordered four sushi rolls. We started talking. He came here from Mongolia to go to school and stayed. He went to school at the “U” if I remember correctly. When he discovered I was retired, he asked what I do with my spare time. Including jogging in the pool etc, I mentioned I play a little solitary on the computer. He laughed and said that invariably when he texts his father back in Mongolia and asks him what he has been doing, his father tells him he has been playing solitary on the computer. Things seem to be the same in all the little corners of the world. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that little old men even in Mongolia know how to text on their cell phones and have computers they play games on.

PRIMM AND PROPER

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010 Judy and I returned home late last night from Southern California for the Stars Regional Competition which was held at Fountain Valley High School in Fountain Valley, California; not far from Disneyland. We stayed at The Huntington Beach Hotel in Huntington Beach not far away from the school. I drove down Thursday and picked Judy up at the Ontario Airport on the way. The competition went off well to my knowledge. Of course it was late each night when we were finished and we crashed into our beds. Though Saturday night, Judy and I did go out to eat after the competition at Romano’s Macaroni Grill about a block away from our hotel. Yesterday we left at about 9:30 after the hotel’s free breakfast buffet and drove home. Judy drove from Huntington Beach to Primm, Nevada. There we spent about two hours in the outlet stores that are part of the Primm Valley Resort & Casino. I drove the rest of the way stopping at the Red Lobster in St. George for dinner. We passed a car with a bumper sticker that read, “Witch Mobile” tailgaters will be toad. Notice the spelling of toad.

-ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE-

MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2010 Today being Monday, I picked Jayden and Bailey up from school at 2:30. We watched cartoons for quite a while then Jayden asked me to go into the basement and play “pig” with him. They have a Nerf basketball standard on the wall and we played with an appropriately sized “soft” ball. Jayden is pretty good though I beat him most of the time. I was a better shooter than I would have imagined. After a while Bailey came down and played with us. Bailey is really starting to look like a little lady and not a little girl anymore. She is showing some athletic ability also and had good form shooting the ball. I have noticed her abilities in the past. She is, I think, a better swimmer and diver than Jayden, and you should see her swimming or floating on her back. She looks like a little otter. She is something to behold. Jayden and Bailey got into one of their inevitable spats. Jayden is quite the little manipulator and can twist her all around emotionally. I will say one thing for Jayden though. He is now catching himself and even apologizing; and even giving in sometimes even though he may be “technically” correct; like this evening, Jayden decided he was going to turn in some of his video games for new ones. He chose four including one that Bailey had previously given him saying she didn’t want more. She screamed and carried on and said she changed her mind and so it was hers again. She just couldn’t grasp the concept that once you give someone something it isn’t yours anymore and have no say-so about it. Jayden finally condescended and even apologized to her. I thought that was very adult of him. Bailey is nine and Jayden will be eleven in July.

HOOTERS!! - yea!!!

FRIDAY, APRIL 09, 2010 I spent much of the day on the Internet finding a half dozen or more bits and pieces of information on James Jepson. It is interesting that every time I think it is time to give up and that I can find no more, something else will pop up, and I find it interesting that when I enter the same exact words into the same search engine, I will find something new. I am still disappointed that I can come up with nothing on James Jr.’s dealings with the people near Alamo, Nevada on a water project in Pahranaget valley. Mentions of it are in the Washington County News of the time. I have done everything but drive there and poke my nose into residents’ homes. It is Austin’s birthday Monday. Judy and I took him to dinner tonight. He wanted to go to Hooters. I mentioned it to Corey when he called this afternoon. He and the kids were in his car driving home from Grandpa Wayne’s where they spent the day. It is Spring Break. Ten year old Jayden, listening in, said “I know why he wants to go there; it’s because of the ladies who work there!” Corey and I broke out laughing. Hooters promotes the concept that their waitresses show off their big breasts. When we got there, Austin was in heaven and couldn’t get the big smile off his face. He said he is going to go back there with his friends. The scenery was “nice”! The food was good—but we had to sit on uncomfortable tall stools at too small butcher-block tables.