STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Con”GRAD”ulations Dawn

Congratulations to niece Dawn. She now has two Bachelor’s Degrees from San Jose State; one in History and the second Anthropology. Both are way over my head.
I managed time off to attend both ceremonies, on May 22nd and 24th, although I cut my arrival for the first ceremony (History) rather close. I arrived about an hour before it started. I met the family at the San Jose house because there wasn’t time enough to drive to Palo Alto then back to San Jose.


After the Ceremony, we all went out to dinner at the Palo Alto Grill. After dinner, we went to Don’s house. I crashed early, about 2130.

On Friday, made my delicious biscuits & gravy for breakfast, then Lou and I went grocery shopping for the weekend. A big BBQ was planned for Saturday after the Anthropology Graduation. When we returned, I began the prep-work for the BBQ. I “Tom Sawyered” a lot of the grunt work between Dawn, Courtney, and Dawn2. I made Porcupine Meatballs for dinner.

On Saturday, we cleaned out the refrigerator for breakfast. Memorial Day weekend is also when I celebrate the MMM’s birthday, so they also had a nice treat for breakfast.


They are 8 years old this year.
The Anthropology Graduation was at 1300 with snacks before. Don, Lou, Dawn, and I all arrived in one car. Courtney and Dawn2 met us there as did Lou’s Sister, one of her nieces and her family who drove up from Fresno. The actual Ceremony was mercifully short (a little more than an hour).

On the way back to the car, which was parked at their house in San Jose, I took some pictures of the Campus.

It is quite beautiful.
When we returned to Palo alto, I immediately fired up the grill, and about an hour later, we were eating. About 25 of Dawn’s neighbors, friends, former classmates, former teachers, and of course family showed up at the house. There was plenty for everyone to eat. I BBQ’d Pork Chops and Chicken Breasts which I marinated overnight in Zesty Italian Salad Dressing, my current favorite marinade. I also BBQ’d some Hamburgers and some Vegetable Kabobs. Lou had smoked some nice Salmon Fillets. For accompaniment, there was Potato Salad, Deviled Eggs, Green Salad, assorted chips and dips, and a relish tray (hence the prep work yesterday).

There were also 2 cakes. The Garden Gnome remained stoic despite all the hubbub.

A good time was had by all.

I left early the next day (Sunday) and drove back to Las Vegas.

Life Day 22226: Wasting Time in Washington, UT

My how time flies when you’re having fun. It has been about 2 1/2 weeks since my last post to this BLOG. I am currently in Washington, UT, a suberb of Saint George, UT much in the same way that Oildale is a suberb of Balersfield, CA. The MMM and I are content and healthy. My mundane meanderings have taken me nowhere new or even remotely exciting. No ‘flaming wreckage or carnage” on which to report. No photographs of flora or fauna, although I have seen a lot of both. The weather has been nice, if not a bit too windy for my liking. My truck is performing admirably, although the windshield washer, and the thermometer in my drivers mirror, are not working. I’ll have them both attended to on my next PM Service.
I have been saving $$$$ for an APU for my truck. As I mentioned a few months ago, this about a $9000.00 option. With the cost of diesel fuel hovering between $4.25 and $4.50 per gallon, this is fast becoming a $9000.00 ’necessity’.  A diesel engine burns about 8 gallons of fuel per hour at idle. An APU burns about 8 gallons of fuel in 10 hours, circulates the coolant and oil through the engine to prevent cold starts (especially handy in winter), provides 110 vac so that I can run all my electrinic toys, and provides AC and/or heat, whichever is needed. Living in Las Vegas where the temperatures are already broaching 100 degrees, I can’t wait too much longer. Even if it cools down enough at night to not idle, it will still be expensive to idle during the day. I have the comfort of both myself and the CK (Canine Kids) to worry about. I can always hit the Casino to cool off, but the MMM are pretty much struck in the truck. 
I am making a conscious effort to save fuel costs in another way. A few days ago, I began driving at 65 mph instead of the governed speed (and company speed limit) of 68 mph. I began this on back to back identical trips to the same store in Denver, CO. The first trip I ran at my (old) normal speed of 68 mph. When I returned to Corinne and fueled, I had used 170 gallons of fuel. The second trip, which is where I actually began the self-imposed 65 mph speed limit, I used 160 gallons of fuel on my return to Corinne, a savings of 10 gallons of fuel. Ten gallons doesn’t sound like a whole lot of savings, but that equates to over $40.00 that is now still in my pocket, rather than in the pocket of some Marxist South American dictator or some Middle Eastern terrorist who wants me (and you) DEAD!!!!  
Meet the new “Enviro-wacko” Ernie.

Life Day 22210: “Vegging” In Vegas

The weather of late has been windy, more like March than April. 
My next load was to Aurora, CO on the 24th. The trailer had some lights out and the “reefer” wasn’t working right, so I didn’t get out of Corinne until 2100. I encountered a little snow through Elk Mountain, WY, but it was nothing to worry about. It did slow me down a bit though. I didn’t arrive in Aurora until 0700 on the 25th. I did the delivery, then went to bed. When I woke up I noticed that Spring had finally sprung in the Denver area.

I drove back to Corinne, and got snowed on again going through, where else, Elk Mountain. Only about 10 miles this time, so it wasn’t bad.
On the 26th, I did a 3 stop load to Richfield, UT, Washington (St. George), UT, and Sugarville (Delta), UT. I did the first 2 stops, then drove to Filmore, UT and went to bed. The next day, I did the 3rd stop, a backhaul, in Sugarville and drove back to Corinne. They had no local load for me, so I was finished for the day.
On the 28th, it was back to Colorado, this time Thornton. 
This time, everything went well. I made the delivery then went to bed. Spring was in evidence here too.

I took these pictures after I woke up.  I then drove back to Corinne, with only one minor problem. The high-beams on my truck went out. 
On the 30th, I took a 3 drop load here to Vegas. After making the deliveries, I drove to the Kenworth Dealership here to have my lights repaired. I arrived about 2030. They were busy, so I made an appointment for the next day, then drove the 1 block to the Flying J truckstop and called it a day.
On May Day, I arrived back at the dealership a little before 0700. After much “navel gazing” during the course of the night, I had also decided to go ahead and have some fog lights installed, and to replace the glass lenses for my headlights, which were pitted to the extent that my ‘night vision’ was effected. After turning the truck over to the able hands of the technician, the MMM and I settled into the driver’s lounge. They had to order the “lense and reflector” assembly and the fog lights, but both were at their local warehouse. The problem with the bright lights was the bulbs. Had I thought of that, I could have saved a lot of time and $$$ by replacing them myself. I never even thought of both bulbs fritzing simultaneously. I was running with the bright lights on, dimmed them for some on-coming traffic, then when I turned them back on, there was nothing but blackness. Anyway, they finished around noon. All my lights are in working order, and i’m about $650.00 less affluent. It will be worth it in the long run I think; because of all the 2-lane roads I run in Wyoming, and Montana. Next, I drove across the street and washed my truck. Then I drove to the WWW where I have been ‘vegging’ for the last 2 days.