The Never-Ending Winter

Enough already! I'm getting a bit tired of winter, this winter. I usually don't have a problem with it, having lived in Nevada County since 1967 (minus 4 years in the Coast Guard). Never (now I'm going to sound like an old man) in my life can I recall a winter like this.

We had "Junuary and Febuly" (really warm weather in January and the first half of February) and then winter got serious. The groundhog completely missed it! Warmth please!

The Best Blog Entry I've Ever Seen!

Michelle Rindels is a professional writer (she's a reporter for the local newspaper, and my Pastor's daughter), so it should come as no surprise that when she blogs, it is well written. However, the entry about deciding what to bring to a potluck in our town, known for its "enlightenment", is worth a read.

Enjoy!

http://michellesmemorandum.blogspot.com/2010/10/misadventures-of-carnivorous-rindels-at.html

Fall has finally fallen - and travel notes

The weather is cooling in the Gold Country and I have once again garaged the Vespa in favor of warmer and drier transport. Dang! If I could just ride year round!

But I spent the month of September pretty much in other countries. First a visit to Canada with four people I love to travel with: my lovely wife Phyllis, her mom, her sister and her sister's husband. We went 'up north' to see Ken and Peggy (see http://lifeincanadaeh.blogspot.com/) in Guelph, Ontario. Then we drove around Lake Huron stopping in Tobermory, Sault Saint Marie, Macinac Island, and back to Guelph. Travel tip of the day: Never use Both a GPS and a map to navigate. As the Chinese proverb says "A man with one watch always knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure."

It was a wonderful trip, aside from navigational anomalies, and I highly recommend the above listed destinations. We were on the leading edge of fall colors (maybe three weeks ahead of the good stuff), but nevertheless, stunning scenery! Especially the Agawa Canyon Train (http://www.agawacanyontourtrain.com/). I want to post some pictures, but I need to download them first. Maybe the next post.

Until then, Gotta Scoot!

Fantasy Football

It's that time of year again for that strange and wonderful Sunday afternoon ritual of Fantasy Football. That's when our extended family gather around their laptops usually in the same room, and, while not speaking much, they cheer on individual performances from various NFL players from around the league that happen to be on their "team".

I had pretty much lost interest in professional sports (something I thought would never happen) until our "Commissioner", Adam, started a family league of Fantasy Football. I am truly enjoying participating in it and am really looking forward to this weekend's draft when we get to pick new players for the upcoming season. Here's why:

The last game of last season had me in last place. My last contest was going well, too well. The last place team would get the first pick in each round of the next season's draft. If I won the last game, and the second to last team lost, I would not be first pick in this weekend's draft. It looked like I would win my last game and I couldn't take that chance. I made the decision early that Sunday, before all my players were playing, to bench the rest of the team! Dang! I lost! :-) This played havoc with the playoffs (sorry Adam) but it has assured me of the coveted first pick of every round this Sunday in the draft.

How I ended my season so abysmally still puzzles me. My team was actually rated number one before the season started last year. But, with Fantasy Football, every season is practically a complete new one. You get to keep two of the players from the previous season (I, unfortunately couldn't keep the water boy) but other than that, you get a whole new group of players.

Our previous drafts were done manually and were long drawn out affairs with whiteboards, instant messaging and Skyping. As communication around the country, and in some cases other countries, is not always that swift, last year's draft was 3 1/2 hours. This year we are using the online draft. 90 seconds per pick. That doesn't sound like very long, but it really is if you've done your homework. If no pick is made in 90 seconds, the computer will automatically pick the player predicted to get you the most points. So, unless there is a sentimental favorite, you are pretty much guaranteed the best pick anyway. You can even set up the system to pick a certain position in a certain round of the draft. This draft promises to be about 30 minutes.

I'm not giving away my strategy, but nobody can steal my first pick now because all the keepers are chosen and I get the first overall pick! I'm taking Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans. Not because my daughter lives in Texas (I love ya dah-lin), but because he is the highest rated QB, and highest rated available player of any kind for that matter (my thanks to Melissa for dropping him!). I also think he's going to have a great season throwing to Andre Johnson (Charlie kept Andre!).

We shall see how we do this year!

OK, so it's been a while...

A lot has happened in the last year and a half since my last post. I thought I should update you. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

I've now listed the blogs I'm following. I've been working on replacing all the electrical wiring in Adam and Leslie's (Nevada City) house. Kevin and Michelle just bought a house on East Lime Kiln Road (between Auburn and Grass Valley) and I've been helping get it ready to move in. I'm madly in love with my wife (oh, wait, that's not new!). My Vespa has been in the shop for 6 weeks. I've got a double header tonight. I'm now the Manager of the Repair Center for my company. My niece, Kristen, got married. Heidi is still living in Dallas, TX. In one month, we go on a vacation to Canada to see Ken & Peggy in their new digs. I drove a car to Heidi. I have a new Honda Civic. I was the last person in my extended family to get high-speed Internet. Kevin, Adam, and I went to an amateur ice hockey game. Phyllis is the Traffic Director for three radio stations. We have a new Senior Pastor at church. We have a new Music Pastor at church. We have a new theme at church call "A New Thing". I'm about to rotate off as Chairman of the Deacons. I teach a small group on Monday nights. I sing in the Praise Band in our contemporary service. Phyllis sings in the Praise Team in our blended service. Phyllis is the Children's Ministry Director. My niece Melissa and her great hubby Charlie are expecting their first (hopefully on my birthday, did you hear that Melissa?). My nephew, Brian, was a missionary in El Salvador for a year. My niece, Lisa, spent a semester in Germany. Our Danish daughter (former exchange student) Lotte and her husband Alan had twins (but we still don't know genders or names).

That should be enough for now, don't you think? The reason for all this? I was inspired by all the blogs I have listed to pick up the keyboard again and write. So I hope to stick with it a bit more consistently in the future. Time will tell.

Baby it's cold outside

Ah, the winter. It's warm in northern California in the afternoons now, but the mornings are cold enough to preclude commuting on the scoot. It is hibernating in the garage right now, but I'm itching to take it on a ride.

Soon.

Scootering in Mazatlan

Hokey Smokes! I just got off a cruise with 28 family and friends. What a great way to spend Thanksgiving week. We did the Mexican Riviera on Carnival.



Ahead of time I got in touch with Jesus Anderson at Scooter-Mania of Mazatlan. He set us up with 16 scooters and we were able to tour Maz in style. What a blast. We heard rumors that the natives like to run you off the road, but that proved false. Most of our group had not been on scooters before and managed just fine. In fact many thought it was the best part of the cruise. I highly recommend it if you are ever in Mazatlan. Just be aware that you need a full tank of gas when you pick them up. They had to add some scooters from another company and they were not all full, so we needed to find gas part-way through the day. The scooters were delivered right to the dock, so it was very convenient. Jesus met us as we walked off the ship.


Our route took us to the cliff divers and the Cathedral. We then took the Avenida del Mar north until we ran out of road. There is a small shopping area under construction with two typical beach restaurants there. Fresh hot tortilla's and fish. Leaving the restaurants we turned left after about a quarter mile and took this rural well paved road until we hit Hwy 15. We turned back around and made a leisurely return to Maz.

We just stayed on Avenida del Mar until we came to the road to the end of that road. Turn right toward "El Faro" the lighthouse. This is the second tallest land-based lighthouse in the world (after the Gibraltar). Free refreshments await at the top, and you'll deserve them. You can park your scooters right at the trail-head. You can see the trail in this photo. The lovely building in the foreground is the sewage treatment plant, so the fragrance of the sea is lost until you turn the corner of the trail.

After that we returned the scooters to the dock and sailed off into the sunset (literally).