Cats

I wonder why cats choose the places they like to sleep.This cat , Fuzzball, loves to sleep in the washing machine. I wonder if they just feel more secure that way, since they have something against their back, or if it just a leftover from kittenhood when they all slept together in a big furry pile?

This guy and the alpha male , love to sleep in our bed with us, but this one will go out about midnight and come back in in the morning around 6:30, he is one of 2 that really want to spend most of the time outside, the other 2 have decided that they are really house cats and go out, but come back in in a few minutes.   Every night,  or very early morning, the alpha male gets on my nightstand and starts pushing things off to the floor, then he starts playing with the lamp cord, and the controls to my electric blanket.  He used to play with the pull on chains to my lamp and turn it on in the middle of the night. He can't do it now because I have wrapped them around the  globes so he can't reach them . If I ignore him, he will start clawing on my sheets, anything he can do to make noise so I will get up and feed him, this is fine anytime after 5:30 a.m. but not appreciated at say, 3:30 a.m. Everyone says that is odd because they are both feral cats. I dunno, cats just always find me. We are down to 4 1/2 cats now. I say 1/2 because one comes around for a bite to eat, and craves massive amounts of pets. He belongs to the people next door, but I think he is lonely because he had a dog to play with his entire life, until a few months ago when they had him put down. All I know is that cat is craving attention and affection, good thing he gets along with all my cats!

oh well

forget the previous post, he has now decided that Las Vegas would be better. I told him I don't really care where we go because he is my home.

One dry day...we head north

Sunday was actually a very nice day, it was a little overcast and a bit foggy in the morning, but the sky was dry .We drove north to a little beach town called Yachats( yaa hotz) it is very small and the beaches are beautiful. However lately we have been talking about moving to Belize. Of course we would need to vacation there several times, in different areas and different seasons. Belize is a tiny country at the south eastern end of Mexico, next to Guatamala and north of Honduras. It was part of the British commonwealth and the official language is English, law is based on English law, so it wouldn't be such a huge transition as it would be moving to Costa Rica which was another place we thought of. Moving  there you fill out a form to move there as a retired person and you don't pay taxes , not even to import your things from the U.S. The rate of exchange is currently 2;1, so our money would go twice as far. It is also pretty close to the States, a couple of hours by air. I am having a great time researching this. If we move, I will demand a guest room so people can come and visit. We are pretty friendly, even if I am very shy, once I know you I get over it. I have had people from a chat room  come and stay with us before, and it worked out well. Just think, you could get free digs for vacation in a tropical paradise! I am not sure how far above the equator it is, I will put that in after I look it up.



looking at Yachats



driving back south



looking north to town



Damn you rainy weather!

I realise that rain is not neary as terrible as floods, hurricanes,blizzards,mudslides, earthquakes or tsunamis, but it certainly can ruin a day you are going out to shoot some scenery. Saturday morning we drove from our house all the way down to California, it rained every inch of the way, I took a grand total of 2 pictures, well the same picture twice, once in color and once in black and white . It makes me feel just like this:
click on picture to see  all of it.

some pictures

these are elks at the local elk preserve...I have only met the kind of elks that drink a lot before this.

 

                           

it is kinda cool to live in the forest, when you are only 5 or so minutes from the ocean.

just to prove that every once in a while we have actual blue in the sky!

this river was running really fast( it was very noisy,too)

                                    

Contgrats are in order...

...for my cousin Rachel, and her lady Katherine, who just got married!

But wait...

It isn't supposed to look like this at sea level, unless you are at some pole or another. It isn't even winter yet!

Happy Halloween

This picture is a little blurry, I guess the person taking the picture had had a couple of drinks too many? Mr. Punxxi has white hair because I sprayed it that color. Halloween is my favorite day. We had a party that worked out well, and was a lot of fun.Especially since it was kind of a last minute deal. Next year we will plan ahead then I will be able to get more decorations, I really want a fog machine!

What goes around comes around

Just when I got the new laptop all set up and  the old one packed and ready to mail off to Ms J, I was running an update on mr punxxis desktop and it crashed  and not a crash I can fix...well it has been behaving badly, I was going to run the BIOS update then check for virii and other crapola. It got to the part where it was going to  reboot, it just blacked out and wouldn't even POST. I spent the next several hours on the phone, first with the extended warranty people who have set up an inhome repair ( I hope) and then online with Dell, New Delhi division so that I could have a cd of the drivers sent to me since they don't ship them with new computers anymore .
The point is that how fun is a new,mega wonderful, amazing  and speedy laptop when you have to actually (gasp!) share it? All I can say is thank god we use carbonite to back all of  our files/pictures  etc . It made it so easy to transfer everything over here to the new kid . Don't worry, I share everything with mr.punxxi, even tho he lies and says oh i have to check my email or i have to do some banking, mostly he is playing hearts or slingo.  Me, I do important stuff, I read all of your blogs!

ya hoooooooeyyyyyyyyyyy

The new lappy will be here tomorrow...2 days early! I can't wait. Then the data transfer begins and when it is set up you will get to see it. The Amazing Gracealien. What? you don't name yer toys?

I have gone insane

Today I ordered a new laptop, and no one will know until it shows up.  But look at it, much better than this one memorywise...I will probably give this one to my grandaughter. She has just started college and if Mr. Punxxi  doesn't want this Toshiba, it's all hers ( she never asks for anything!!!) Here's what the new baby will have ( it is being built as I type, should be here on the 20th)

1 224-8107 Space Black - Anodized Aluminum 


1 317-5661 Intel Core i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6M Cache) $0.00

1 317-3664 6GB Memory (1x 2GB, 1x 4GB DDR3) $0.00

1 330-8812 Alienware M17x 150W A/C Adapter $0.00

1 320-8856 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p) $0.00

1 320-8987 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870 $0.00

1 342-0671 256GB SSD - Samsung Solid State Drive $0.00

1 313-8796 AlienFX Color, Plasma Purple $0.00

1 421-2261 Alienware Command Center, M17x $0.00

1 421-1400 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English $0.00

1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp $0.00

1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp $0.00

1 410-1883 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language $0.00

1 313-8569 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) $0.00

1 421-1304 CyberLink PowerDVD 8.0 Software $0.00

1 421-1305 Nero 9 Media Burning Software $0.00

1 313-8944 5.1 Channel Audio $0.00

1 430-3739 Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology $0.00

1 330-6348 Automatic Updates: On $0.00

1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty $0.00

1 908-2207 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year $0.00

1 922-3410 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year $0.00

1 950-9797 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 $0.00

1 421-1721 Soft Contracts,Banktec Care,Alienware $0.00

1 994-3730 Warranty Support,Initial Year $0.00

1 330-0171 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks $0.00

1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed $0.00

1 421-2611 AlienGUIse Theme Manager with Breed Theme $0.00

1 421-1573 Alienhead 3D $0.00

1 421-1591 Alienhead 3D $0.00

1 430-0628 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR $0.00

1 330-6175 Standard Nameplate $0.00
 I honestly don't know why I bought it, I already have 2 pc's and a laptop and a netbook..I guess that is why I have an iPhone and an iTouch which is the same as the phone but no phone or camera ...of course the new ones will have the same camera dealie as the iPhone .Oh toys, how we all love them.wth he buys golf stuff i buy technology.

So long summer.

That means its time for boots again! Yay.It also means that I better clean my dusty bedroom now that the windows aren't open  24/7.  It has been raining all week, just the usual Oregon weather. Bah, as in humbug.

nice new shoes

This is what mr. punxxi bought me for our "original" anniversary...he said, they are so you!

Summer, finally

It has not rained for at least 2 weeks! I am stunned by this, last year it rained most of the summer and all my plants died, because it got too cold at night.
I just heard the most awful  noise outside the window, I thought that one of the cats had caught a bluejay, but when I turned around and looked out, I saw that it was a baby raccoon doing it's (very loud) distress call for it's mama. Mama was there in a couple of seconds. They are just starting to bring the babies out, they are so cute, and little enough that if they bite you they don't hurt because their mouths are too small. The last few years I have had babies eating out of my hand, a couple used to run up my arm, these are now the parents but are still wild animals so I am very careful with them..when they bite it hurts and breaks the skin . Since they are rabies carriers I try to be careful...so far I'm not rabid  :o)

Today

 feel pretty good, despite having  broken my left baby toe and having a nasty viral infection....I wonder if it's whooping cough, I just came back from California and they are having an epidemic  there. Of course being of the medical persuasion, I am , like many others of the same ilk, very non-compliant. I haven't even checked my blood sugar in a couple of months, didn't even take  my glucose meter to Cali with me.

why I miss California

Where else would you see a dog in pink goggles riding in a convertible Lexus?

I'm so ready...

...to go to Southern California, where there will be warm air...it won't be all that sunny because June is the month of gloom in SoCal. It has to do with temperatures in the desert and by the coast. I don't care tho, it is not wet or cold!  It is raining again today...I don't think it will ever stop, we have not had a real spring again this year, we are going from winter to winter it looks like. I will be glad to go down to see the oldest kid and a couple of grandkids, the youngest is graduating from high school, but she has already given out all her tickets so we won't be attending that, but we will take her out on the weekend for fun shopping...that is a tradition :o)
Now, I am trying to get some color on me so I don't look like a ghost, I have a few more days to work on it and then work on it down there. I have never been this white in my entire life. I have always been a beach baby and a fool for the sun. We are going to look at a few properties  while we are down there, just for future reference. Can't move if we can't sell this house, and it's been on the market for over 2 years. We don't have to move so we don't do dramatic price drops like some people have had to do. We did drop down 25k after a year and a half, but that is as far as we are going, anyone can make any offer that they want, because we do have a bottom line that is considerably lower.
If nothing else, it makes me keep the house neater than I would otherwise. If I think I have to stay here a few more years, I am gonna demand either new carpeting or  new laminate floors ( that is my choice...the carpet needed to be replaced when we moved in)
I went up to Seattle, Washington a couple of weeks ago, to hook up with  a couple of girls I used to work with. One of them was up there taking classes for her job as a nurse, she specializes in ortho. The other was a lady I worked with in Respiratory Care, but who has retired and just went along to see Seattle. That was the first time that I have gone somewhere by myself in about 20 years....it was fun and a much needed break from my son who is mentally disabled and sometimes a real pain in the arse. The older he gets, the harder it is to deal with him. He will be 39 next month but is mentally about 8 and has Schizophrenia on top of that. We are now looking into getting him back into group or semi independant living and getting him back to working. He has been on vacation for the past 5 1/2 years because they don't have the resources here that they do in a large city. It will take at least 90 days before we find out if he will be accepted into the program,  because they have to get information from every agency that he dealt with in Cali. Anyway I think he needs to be on at least one more medication, he is so angry and bitter all the time. That is because he is smart enough to know he isn't just like everyone else and he hates it. We are thinking we all need a break from each other, maybe that will help...I know it will help us. Between Mr. Punxxi's mom and punxxikid we are surrounded by   demands and anger and nasty words , we need a break! That is why Cali is looking so good, they will both still be here, she lives in a retirement home and he will be staying with a couple of different friends since he decided that he didn't want to go with us. We were going to make him because we know that he would have a good time once he was there, but he was being so nasty that we made arrangements  and then told him that he wasn't going.  I know it sounds mean, but Mr. Punxxi and I are thrilled to have no tension for a couple of weeks!

Happy Mothers Day

Here in the states it is mothers day today. My  youngest son and husband bought me an iphone, which I got last week, so far I'm lovin' it even though I don't know how to do much with it yet. I  will print out a users manual next week, then I will study it. A few years ago I had a Blackberry with online access  etc. But then times called for austerity so I told him I would give all the online stuff up with the stipulation that when I started getting Social Security that I was buying an iphone and would pay the extra 30 bucks a month for being online . He said that is fair, so that's how it was . Now I haven't gotten a SS check yet, and he bought the phone for me. I will pay for  the online stuff tho when I do.I don't care, I am a freak about tech stuff, whether or not I know much about it. That is why in a house with 3 people living in it there are 4 computers, I am the one that sets them all up, installs and removes things, and listens to Mr. Punxxi whine when things don't work the way he wants them to. It is very funny to me because I never had a computer until 1996. Never worked with them which he had done for several years. Everything I know( not too much) I learned by playing with my first computer. It was a fun hobby, AOL had just gone to unlimited access, so I would spend all night online, talking to a group of people that went to a political humor board...the board is long gone, but now we are all on facebook together, we have met in person several times( in Las Vegas, mostly) The people I meet online are my best friends. I am somewhat afflicted with social anxiety, so it is perfect for me, I feel more confident online, maybe because I can edit my mouth, can't do that in public, yanno.  Anyway as you have noticed by now, this posts isn't really about mothers. Maybe that is because mine never was much of one, but she has been dead for 9 years  or so. I wasn't much of a mother myself, but I did do what I thought was the best thing for my boys when I divorced their father...I gave him custody and he raised them. 20 years later we got remarried and it is sooo much better this time around. We have a lot of fun this time. I guess getting married at 18 and pregnant puts a lot of stress on you. Anyway, I wish all the great moms out there happy mothers day, even to my honey, cos he was a great mother to my kids!
Oh yeah, the reason that I stayed up all night yakking is because I worked 12 hour night shifts at the time and always stayed on my same schedual on my days off, much easier on the body not to try and go back and forth.

OOPS

Well d/l movies online didn't last long as I was notified by Verizon that I was in violation of blah blah blah. Yeah well that is true, it is called stealing , so everything is deleted now and hopefully they won't have to give my info to the movie company, cos a 250000 fine is more than I can afford. I wonder how everyone else gets away with this stuff? I kept the movie that I paid for tho. Also, the rental house is rented, and to a stable type person at that, she is an Oncology nurse at the local hospital and all of her info is perfect. We checked her job and her previous rental and they were impeccable. Yay, no stress. Now if only we could sell our house( or find a handyman to take care of it cheaply). Everyone is sick here, the guys have a nasty cold, courtesy of the evil M-I-L) I must have an ear infection, because I get dizzy whenever I bend over or turn over in bed, things spin around. If it does't stop by Monday I guess I may actually go to the doc, maybe not. That is a  bad habit of most people that work or have worked in the medical field, you either become a hypochondriac or totally non compliant( that's where I am, I am the fool that treats myself) At least it gives me an excuse for being lazy for  a couple of days, falling over in public looks suspicious, yo know? The weather is still nasty and cold, rainy and overcast when it isn't raining, ah, spring in the Pacific Northwest, makes me miss the spring in the Pacific Southwest more everyday.

Day of Rest

Even tho we just put the rental in the paper we are on an overnighter, DaPunx can tell them to call back on Wednesday.Unfortunately, the spa is not open until Wednesday...no biggie I still have 90 minutes @ the spa at home. So where am I? I am currently sitting in my beautiful  hotel room at a casino while the guys play golf. You can see what I am doing,typing this! I am also burning DVD's, cos ya know I am a major multi-tasker! I have 2 more to  burn, then I will look for some more..I am happy that I have had Avatar since Feburary,  and I haven't even finished watching it yet. I guess it goes on sale in a few days, the 22nd, I think. I burned Sherlock Homes last night, I will see if I can find Alice In Wonderland after this. Kick Ass isn't available just yet, but I am sure it will be soon enough. If anyone has any movie suggestions, send them along. Well off to read all you lovely people that I read, almost everyday.
xx
punx