SD - Day # 22 - Even Steven

I am pleased to report trumpet scream from the highest mountain top that I have stayed below 200 lbs now for 2 consecutive days.  Of course, who doesn't want to see a weight loss every day....well every day when you are trying to lose weight, right?  After spending most of the last week bouncing above and below that mark I am content to say I'm "Even Steven" this morning at 198.6!  I was commenting to TLE Christmas day that I wore my heretofore jeans for 4 hours with no discomfort.....those 36" waist jeans I bought at the Goodwill in Polson, MT fit perfectly now.  There are a few other pairs of jeans I'm looking forward to wearing again....it's nice to have a 36" waist again.......those 34" waist jeans I bought at the Goodwill in Spokane a couple of summers ago because they were brand new and only cost $3.99 may come out of storage soon!  When I bought the ones in Polson I really should have bought 38" ones, but then I thought I would just be giving up.....I'm glad I didn't give up!

Thursday was a delightful day....a day, finally, where we didn't spent half the day in the car, which we have done a lot of lately.  I spent most of the day cleaning bike parts so I can take pictures of them, and then list them on eBay.  That was pretty much my day.....the kind of day I enjoy a lot.......60's music playing at the proper volume in the back ground with no one suggesting a lower volume........the trailer door wide open letting in the 80's weather....and putting shine back on old, dirty bike parts.  The only time I left RJRP was to purchase my usual footlong club at Subway.

TLE had a project also......our VW came with a dashboard cover that was not quite the right size so she spent the afternoon removing the seam binding from it, cutting it down to size, then sewing on the seam binding again.  It came out great......now she just has to cut the holes for the speakers and it is done.  I will take a picture of the finished product when she finishes.  She has a few other projects lined up, and "we" will get to them in the next few days.....my assistance will be required.

One thing I almost forgot, around Noon we got a call from the Kiosk advising the tenants in Cabin #2 were checking out, which meant we had to get it cleaned so the next tenants, arriving at 2 pm, could check in.....no problem there......we can, and did, turn a cabin over in about 40 minutes if it is not too dirty, and this one was not very dirty at all!  I was just finishing a bike part when TLE let me know about the cabin, so I finished what I was doing and then walked over to join her, and we were done before 1 pm.

I had recorded a few black and white movies on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) on Christmas that we watched in the evening......."Carefree" (Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), "Narrow Margin" (Charles McGraw and Jaqueline White), and "The Bishop's Wife" (Cary Grant and Vivian Leigh)....the Bishop's Wife is one of my all time favorite Christmas movies and we watch it at least once a year.

Another day lived well spent with my best friend........thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 21 - Christmas Hobbit

May I please have a drum roll?  Rata tat tat tat tat........today's excellent weigh in news.....198.6!  I gave myself the day off from Subway (no choice of course.....they aren't open on Xmas day) Christmas and just trusted myself not to over do it, and apparently I did not.  I hope I shall not see anything north of 200 again for.....well.....never!

Christmas Day dawned clear and balmy.....the balmy part left over from a mild Santana condition that began Tuesday afternoon.......we got the warm off shore breezes flowing down down through Cajon Pass from the high desert, but not with the normal Santana intensity....maybe 8-10 mph at most.

Since we were having breakfast at my oldest son's home I waited until then to eat.  We arrived at Chris and Rochelle's beautiful home around 10 am to find most of our kids already there with their families.  The drive up to their home was a breeze with very few cars on the road at 9:30 in the morning.

When we arrived Chris, my son, was just putting the finishing touches on breakfast.  My, son, by the way, is a great chef, and loves the culinary arts so he always makes Christmas breakfast for whomever shows up, which this particular morning included scrambled eggs, bacon, chorizo, fried potatoes and gravy.   I resisted the temptation to have champagne and orange juice, and just stuck to the Keurig coffee.  A number of Christmas' ago  I gave Chris a Keurig coffee machine for Christmas and he loves it.....so much so that he now has one in his motorhome and has upgraded the one at home to the really high end one.  Even though I had a couple of helpings of breakfast I managed to lose weight....of course that was the only meal I had all day......well.....other than a box of popcorn I shared with my daughter Sharon at the movies.

After breakfast, and the opening of the gifts we gathered around the Christmas tree to take our traditional Christmas pictures.....words are insufficient to convey how great it is to have all my kids and grand kids in one place on such a special day.  

 Cynthia, Christopher and Elijah.....3 of the grandkids!

 Our amazing children - Christmas 2013

Chris' family: left to right - Rochelle, Cynthia, Chris, & Christopher

All the kids, grandkids and significant others

It is a little sobering for me at times to think that none of the people in the picture above would be in my life except for the fact I fell in love with The Lovely Elaine almost 43 years ago.

We did the traditional opening of the Christmas presents, spent time talking as only Hockwald's can do, and then headed home around 12:30.....we had a date with Sharon, Rod, and Meredith to meet at 3;15 pm at the Ontario Mills AMC theaters to see our annual Christmas movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 3-D.  At $17 a ticket that is one of the most expensive movies I have every seen.....well, only $16 for us senior citizens.......:-P  TLE and I watched the first Hobbit movie exactly one year ago Christmas in Campbellsville, KY.

Has anyone noticed that the number of trailers being shown before the actual movie you paid to see starts has like doubled?  I'm pretty sure we watched a good 20 minutes of trailers before The Hobbit started.  Of course we all loved the movie....loved, and hated the way this episode ended with Bilbo Baggins asking the foreboding question"What have we done?"  Now I have to wait a year to find out the answer.

We got home around a quarter to 8.....TLE settled in to read, and I watched a Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn moved called "Holiday"....one I had never seen before.....and enjoyed it thoroughly.  You know, of course, there are really no bad Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn movies......if there are I have yet to see them.

We were in bed by 11 with smiles of contentment plastered across our faces......Merry Christmas everyone....Merry Christmas!!

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 20 - Christmas Eve, Proposals, Engagements.....yada, yada....

First, let's get this out of the way......my daily weight in, Xmas morning.....200.0.  Just trying to get below 200, and stay there, but it's all good....down .4 lbs from Tuesday.....still going in the correct direction.

We had Kiosk duty first thing Tuesday.....one of those 6 hour shifts......TLE and I worked it together until 11 when I departed to go get my ears lowered.....I think the last haircut I had was in Idaho Falls back on October 26th.......I was beginning to get a little shaggy to say the least.  I've taken to getting a haircut and shampoo the last year, or so.....the shampoo washes away all the hair clippings so they don't end up on my collar later on.  This day I was asked if I would like the "Tea Tree Experience"......I heard myself say "Yes", not really knowing what that was.....well, it was like a spa for the head......WOW!  I think I fell asleep at one point I was so relaxed!

I got home just after TLE have arrived back at the coach from the last 90 minutes of Kiosk duty.  She headed off in the Beetle to our former "sticks and bricks" home to work on Christmas cookies, etc. with her daughters (Mere, Kate and Sharon).

While she was off playing house with the girls I dug into the latest bike disassembly project.....it pretty much took me until TLE arrived back home around sunset.....and there was a little blood shed.....I'm glad I had my gloves on or there would have been a lot more blood!

Around 8:30 we decided to run over to see the Mission Inn Festival of Lights...we've never been to it on Christmas Eve before, and usually it is very difficult to find parking in close, but on this night Lady Serendipity was with us, and we found a spot about 1/2 a block from the Inn. Our daughter, Meredith, had called to say Sharon and Rod where there with friends, so I called Sharon to find out where she was.....the first thing she said after I said "Hi Bunny" was......."Rod proposed!"  Of course we wanted to see her and give her a hug, and see the ring, and congratulate Rod on getting a "Yes" to the big question.  Within minutes we found each other......

The proposal

The ring being accepted

The happy couple!

The ring!

Festival of Lights

We caught Santa in the act!

They set up an ice skating rink for the Festival of Lights every year

The site of the proposal

It was a magical evening filled with serendipity.......I wrote just a few days ago how we were hoping Rod and Sharon's relationship would take the next step, and look what we got for a Christmas present.  

We headed home to have a celebratory toast to our youngest daughter's engagement....TLE broke out the bottle of the good stuff.....

To all our friends and family, wherever you may find yourselves this Christmas Season, whether with family, friends, or both, Elaine and I wish you the best Holiday season ever.  Know you are in our thoughts daily until we reconnect with you again.  May God Bless you and yours!

Thanks for stopping by!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE HOCKWALD'S

AND A HAPPY , HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!

SD - Day # 19 - Smogging, DMV, XM and..........plateaus

Sunday.....another full day....left the coach around 10 am to drive into Joel's Automotive to get the VW smogged so I could register it, to leave the T-Bird to have a "check engine" light checked out, and to find out what we can get for her at auction. But before we left her we took out the XM Radio to re-install in the VW later in the day.....wow, that kind of makes it even more final when we take out the XM Radio huh?  Whenever you buy a car via private party you are always taking a risk that it will not pass the smog certification and will have to spend money to get it to pass.  We both had a good feeling about this car, and we were right....it passed the first time.

From there we headed to the gas station as the low gas warning light had just come on....what a pleasant surprise to find it took less than 13 gallons to fill her up.  We still have to put 91 octane gas in her just like the 'Bird, but at least we will be getting about twice the mpg  of the 'Bird, and it takes less to fill her up.

Then it was on to my son's office where we had a couple of packages to pick up.  A few weeks ago I bought the new Craftsman Bolt On drill that you can also attach a small skill saw to, and a jig saw as well as multiple other attachments.  My old Black & Decker drill was going south fast, so this is the perfect replacement and it gives me some additional power tools I would not have room to carry otherwise.

While I went into AAA to register our new car, TLE went over to Target to finish our Xmas shopping.....I was in and out of AAA in about 15 minutes, but TLE was not done at Target, so I walked across the street to Active Ride Shop to get my grandson, Christopher, some new wheels, bearings and "trucks" for his skate board.....wow those things have gotten expensive, but it's only money right?  We've been shopping at Active going back to when Christopher's father, our son, was asking for skateboard stuff for Christmas.  As it happens Sharon's boyfriend, Rod, is the manager at the Rancho Cucamonga store, and was there to help me decide what exactly Christopher wanted and needed....by the time I was half way through the long check out line (they are popular) TLE joined me.

One thing I want to add about AAA.....if all I did was register cars, and pay for our annual registration at AAA it would be worth the annual membership fee.  Going to the DMV to do anything is a nightmare.....of course, now you can most things online with them, but if you have anything a little complicated AAA is the way to go.  In the case of the VW the guy we bought it from had bought it from someone else a few months earlier, and had never registered it as his wife didn't like the stick shift, so he gave me a "Bill of Sale", which was what made it a little more complicated.....of course at AAA nothing is complicated, which is why I prefer going there for something like this.

We got home by 2 pm.....while I installed the XM Radio in the VW TLE took her daily power walk....man that chick can walk fast.....I have a hard time keeping up with her pace....by the time she returned the radio was in and working.

Around 3:30 I took off on my 8 mile bike ride around the lake, and was back before 4:15.......it was such a lovely day for a bike ride.....the air was balmy with a very slight breeze.

After taking a shower I sat down to eat the other half of my footlong Hot Pastrami Subway sub from the night before....TLE heated it up again, and it was delicious!

Tuesday is Iniquitous Tuesday, so we were in bed early....nothing on Monday night, but Monday Night Football anyway.

I seem to have hit a weight plateau, which I did expect would happen at some point in my weight loss.  I keep skipping back and forth across that 200 pound threshold.....at my weigh in this morning (Tuesday) I read the number 200.4 on the bathroom scales......at least every time I cross it I am less over than the time before.

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 18 - Kiosk, NFL, biking, and bumpers

After a brief blip on the weight loss front resulting from a one meal deviation from the diet Saturday night I am back down to 199.6 as of this morning's weigh in....now to stay south of 200 for good!

Our volunteer routine is pretty much set for the next month......we work Saturday mornings from 10 am to 2 pm, Sunday mornings from 6:30 am to 10:30 am, and Tuesday mornings from 6:30 am to 12:30 pm, and on Monday clean any of our two cabins that may have been used.  Sunday was pretty routine for a Sunday after fish have been released into our two fishing lakes.....we had a steady stream of fishermen during our shift, and by 9 am  when Carolyn came on duty we had sold over $300 worth of fishing permits.  The fishing permits we sell here in the park are only good for fishing in this park....they do not take the place of a California Fish & Game license which is also required, so we need to remind everyone as they come in to be sure and have their fishing license with them as Fish & Game does come into the park periodically to check.....the fines can be significant, including a lifetime ban on fishing anywhere in California if one is caught sans license.

I haven't mentioned it, but the weather these past 3 days has been spectacular......high 60's, no wind, and clear......exactly the reason one wants to be in SoCal this time of year.

TLE left the Kiosk shortly after Carolyn came on duty.....no need for 3 of us mid morning....and I stayed on until 10 am when Carolyn told me I could go home early....yay!  Of course, Sunday is NFL day and the first game up for me was the Broncos vs. Texans....Peyton Manning only needed 3 touchdown passes to exceed Tom Brady's single season record of 50......Peyton threw his 51st TD pass late in the  4th quater.  Ironically Tom Brady previously bested Peyton Manning's record of 49 just a few years ago, and now Peyton has reclaimed it.  He has one more regular season game so any more touchdowns he throws next weekend will just extend the the single season record.  The rest of the televised games were not noteworthy for me, so I spent time in the trailer working over the new MTB acquisition....I have a couple of people interested in it, so I won't take it apart for a few more days until I know if they want it.  This bike promises to bring a good return if I part it out....if I can sell it as a whole bike I'll make about a $100 and move on to the next one.

Around 2:30 I put on my cycling clothes and headed off on my ride to the top of Mt. Rubidoux once again.  There was no wind, and I was feeling pretty strong as I climbed steadily up the mountain path.  I was finding my average speed was closer to 9 mph, and sometimes as high as 10 mph so I was thinking I might set a new personal best time on this climb.......and a new personal best it was......23 minutes and 45 seconds for the 4.5 mile climb.....I beat the old time by 90 seconds!  Wow!  There were two more notable accomplishments on this day.....1) I didn't stop at the top to catch my wind....I just continued riding past the summit and back down the hill, and 2) I was able to stand in the pedals all the way down the hill without sitting on the saddle once.  When I was doing this ride back in 2011 I could do both of those things every time, so more evidence my conditioning is returning.

On Saturday one of the members of the Newell Gurus forum posted a link to an eBay auction for Classic Newell bumpers (front and back) for $125 +$125 shipping.  The market for these old bumpers, as you might imagine, is pretty narrow.  Those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time know that back in July of 2012 I damaged the right rear portion of my rear bumper when I jack knifed my trailer backing up.  Newell still stocks these bumpers, but the cost is quite high....about $700 for one bumper....so I had essentially resigned myself to living with the bumper I had, and just having it straightened out.  When we were visiting our friends, the Flickemas, in South Dakota this past June to help them with some work on their 1984 Newell I noticed their front bumper had damage from the previous owners.  Todd happens to live about 60 miles from the gentleman who is selling the bumpers, so I contacted him and asked if he wanted the front bumper, and of course he said yes, and that he would go pick them up if we won the auction.....well....we won the auction!  So we are splitting the $125 down the middle, and Todd will go pick them up in the next 2 weeks.  We will then swing north sometime in April and stop by to visit them once again, and pick up the rear bumper.....how amazing is that?   The bumpers appear to be "new old stock".

Look at that pristine rear bumper.....the front bumper is in three pieces just like ours.

After returning from my record setting bike ride I took a shower and settled in to watch what was left of NFL Sunday while eating my Subway Hot Pastrami sub.....a reward for my great bike ride....a few more calories, but as I reported above I still got back below 200 pounds.

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 17 - Kiosk, another bike, and dinner

My friend, Tom McCloud who retired just a few months ago, calls today "first Saturday", and Monday "second Saturday" and Tuesday "third Saturday".....you get where I'm going, I'm sure.....of course Sunday is still Sunday.....a lot like Saturday, but still Sunday.  Before he retired I had been telling him that every day feels like Saturday once you are retired.....you know that feeling when you wake up on a given Saturday thinking at first you have to get up and go to work, and then seconds later realize no you don't have to go to work.....it's Saturday!  I have the feeling every day since I retired, and, apparently, Tom does too.  It seems like the more retired I get the busier I get....it just seems like there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I "want" to do.....get that phrase...."WANT to do"......not "HAVE to do".

Before I go on here is my daily weight report: 203.0.....:(.......the penalty for too many taco chips last night.  No beer was consumed, and no diet drinks.....just water, and a single glass of red wine.

We started out the day with Kiosk duty at 10 am....this was a 4 hour shift, so TLE and I basically split it....I worked 10 to 1, and TLE 11 to 2....worked pretty well.  Saturday was the day after the most recent trout stocking of the two fishing lakes by the state and county, plus the weather was spectacular, so we had a LOT of fishermen coming into the park most the of day.  I like it when it is busy, because the time flies by.  Around noon time I make a quick trip up to Subway for my footlong sub, and arrived back at the Kiosk to eat my lunch by 12:30.  Ranger Robyn had organized a potluck Xmas lunch for staff, so all of our fellow volunteers showed up between noon and 1 for the free food.  TLE related that my daughter Sharon had called about having dinner with us Saturday night so I called her back and we made arrangements to meet at Zendejas Fresh Mexican Grill in Ontario at 5.  This has been one of our favorite local Mexican places for a couple of decades.

I had made arrangements earlier to meet a young man over in Ontario near our old sticks and bricks home to look at his full suspension Azonic MTB.  He has exactly the kind of bike for which I am looking.  I headed over to Creekside around 1:30 to meet Efrin at 2 pm.  He was a few minutes late, but the bike was worth the wait.  We dickered a little, and got the price down to $240, and then traded greenbacks for aluminum.  I had to take the wheels off to get it in the VW, but the frame fit easily....the wheels went on the passenger seat.

As soon as I got home I set about cleaning it up good enough for a few pictures, then posted my find on Facebook. Someone out there may be interested in the whole bike, and in fact I had a couple of inquires by early evening.  It it doesn't sell as whole in a few days, I'll begin the disassembly process and list the individual parts on eBay once again.  This bike should do very, very well on eBay.

We met Sharon, and her boy friend, Rod at Zendejas and had a delightful time talking, eating, and more talking for over 2 hours.  I think that's the first time we have had dinner with just Sharon and Rod.  We like Rod a lot, and think he is a good man....of course we are hoping their relationship will go to the next level....a proposal of marriage....that would make us very happy.

We had an early, iniquitous Sunday morning coming up at the Kiosk, so we headed to bed before 10.

Thanks for stopping by!