Dateline: Rock Springs, WY - Wednesday, May 22, 2013 - #1147

I did a story for the Violette Family Association about the upcoming 75th anniversary of my parents and sent it out yesterday. Then this morning I came to realize that the item got sent out twice, instead of once! And then to add to the goofs, while I mentioned in the story that wishes by card would be welcome, I forgot to include their address!

Elaine got to play crafts today; she went to Green River to spend part of the day with Sharlene Kaml, her crafting buddy (and Casey Dockter's mother). Elaine struggled yesterday trying to cut a project on her Cricut machine and it did not go the way it should. So, she packed all the project stuff and her Cricut machine in the car and went over for Sharlene's help.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - #1146

We get to see this blue bird outside our living room windows.

We were surprised to see a couple of bright blue birds outside our windows a couple of weeks ago, and we have also seen the female counterparts as well. There must be a couple of nests in the sagebrush not far away. Part of the surprise is that we cannot remember seeing these blue birds around the area before. I have tried to look them up to see what kind they are, but haven't had any success yet. I was finally able to get a photo of one today.

There is also a lot of other wildlife around this area. One reason we like space L10 at Rock Springs KOA is that there are no obstructions to the north so we get a clear view of the fields and hills beyond.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Monday, May 20, 2013 - #1145

No, there's no connection between the first two items in this story's title and the third one! Having Shauna and family here for dinner did not scare the mouse away, nor did Shane and family's later visit do the trick.

Fortunately the wind died down last night and was not excessive today, so I got to take a shower this morning. The connection, you ask? As you may remember from some stories last year at this time our Precision Temp tankless water heater does not work when the wind outside is blowing at 40 mph or higher. And the wind speed yesterday morning triggered the problem so I was not able to get hot water in the shower. Works fine otherwise!

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Sunday, May 19, 2013 - #1144

Here's the finished grilled ham and cheese donut sandwich

It sounded just preposterous to try - a grilled cheese sandwich made with a donut instead of bread or roll. We saw it on the TV show Shark Tank on Friday evening when the two fellows who came up with the idea several years approached the Sharks for funding for their enterprise. They started Tom + Chee, a restaurant, several years ago in a tent on the street but are now expanding and starting to offer franchises. The name, Tom + Chee, is short for tomato and cheese and represents their original and still favorite combo - grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Their menu now, of course, has many more offerings but the tomato soup and cheese sandwich is still a favorite. So we just had to try one at home ourselves.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Saturday, May 18, 2013 - #1143

We are trying different restaurants for Saturday breakfast, since our most recent favorite has closed down. Today we went to The Renegade on Elk St. Long a trucker spot, The Renegade does have good meals and is more pleasant to eat at now that they have eliminated smoking. Good food.

Then we had lunch with Shauna and Taylor at Cafe Rio, a Mexican restaurant on Dewar Drive. The food there is always good; I had grilled coconut shrimp tacos. Today is Shauna's birthday, along with her twin brother, Shane. But Shane was busy with helping his son, Kyle, on Kyle's race car so we did not see him.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Friday, May 17, 2013 - #1142

One of the stores Elaine looks for in our travels is Jo Ann's Fabrics. They have much more than fabrics, such as scrapbooking supplies and craft supplies. So when she saw signs upon our arrival here this time that a new Jo Ann's store was opening today she was excited. So off she went this morning to check out the new store; but she came back disappointed. She said they only have one scrapbooking aisle and that much of the stock had been picked over by the time she went around 10:00 am. Too bad.

As the day went on, the winds got worse. This evening we have 25-30 mph winds with gusts over 40 mph. This affects our tankless water heater system, which doesn't work well over 40. Sure hope the winds die down by shower time tomorrow!

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - #1141

We had several fairly fierce storms come through today, with very heavy rain, loud thunder, lightning, and wind. And there were also some lighter storms. Overall it has been cooler today, and promises to be so tonight as well. Temperatures seem to be about 10° lower than yesterday, and the forecast if for cooler yet tomorrow but starting to warm on Saturday. We'll be glad for that!

I worked a lot on the book today, and made good progress. Though I don't really have Chapter 14 all planned out yet, I think I am about 50-60% through it on the first draft. Tomorrow will tell the real story.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Wednesday, May 15, 2013 - #1140

I am finally back working on "the book" again. The book is titled "A Violette History", and I am working on it with two co-authors - Rod Violette and Guy Dubay. The work started in 2009 with some early stories written for the Violette Family Association web site, and continued through 2010 and 2011. At Reunion 2011 in August we showed attendees a ring binder with the then-accumulated stories. Of course the first couple of stories had been published in draft form at the Association's web site - www.VioletteFamily.org.

The original impetus for the book came about at Reunion 2008 (the Association has Reunions every three years) when the last copy of a Violette genealogy was auctioned off. Many members asked if an update was going to be published.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - #1139

While Elaine was in Green River doing some more on John's place, I was working on the upgrade of the Violette Family Association web site and tweaking the genealogical database conversion routine. I need to get at least parts of that web site up and running in prototype so I can send out an eNewsletter later this week. I'll get enough in place so I can at least do the sending from the new site so I can take advantage of the upgraded email sending and bounce handling routines I did a couple of weeks ago.

I also took the time to pay some bills and make an appointment for our Equinox to go in for a recall action. Something about reprogramming the oil life module.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Monday, May 13, 2013 - #1138

Jo and Kerby

Happy Monday. It was a great day today, with very warm temperatures of mid-May in southwestern Wyoming. Temps in the 80s. Some periodic winds. Great skies.

I worked on the new programming to convert the GEDCOM format genealogical files into a SQLServer database tables some today, and have it mostly done now. This went faster than I expected it would, for the GEDCOM files are highly structured and contain a lot of information. The one I am working with contains more than 1,000,000 lines of data!

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Sunday, May 12, 2013 - #1137

Happy Mother's Day! We called my mother this afternoon but sadly she was not able to come to the phone, so talked with Dad. Mom is having difficulty these days and finds it hard to get out of bed, and naps often. That is what she was doing when we called. But at age 96 - Dad is 97 - that is to be expected.

Our night tonight was spent watching Survivor Finale. We've been fans since its start, and try to watch every show. It's one of the fun things that is on TV, and we enjoy watching the antics. It is interesting to see how the players react to situations and how they try to be strategic in their thinking and approach. This season's winner - Cochran - would not have been expected to do so at the season start, but he sure blossomed as a player as the season went on.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Saturday, May 11, 2013 - #1136

My very much clearer desk and work space

I am notorious for letting stuff pile up on my desk. From the point of a clear desk, I save things in piles as they arrive and I don't want to handle them at the time. It's usually because I am so busy and concentrating on some programming project that I don't want to take the time at the time. That works OK for a while, because I know right where everything is and can put my hands on it when needed. But then something comes up like a spill of things from my desk while driving the motorhome or someone looking for something in my organized piles, and things get messed up. At that point I can find nothing and don't always remember what was there! That then prompts me to do what I should have done from the start - process items as they come in and don't let them pile up.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Friday, May 10, 2013 - #1135

This is the scene out our living room windows taken today.

Elaine headed to Salt Lake City this afternoon with her daughter, Shauna, to pick up her granddaughter, Taylor, at the airport late tonight. They will stay overnight and return tomorrow. Taylor is coming back for the summer after her first year at Pace University, in New York City. We'll all be excited to see Taylor again and to hear of her experiences in the big city and at Pace. That has been quite a change for a young lady who lived in Green River WY, population 12,500 , all her life to that point.

We've had some good weather yesterday and today. Warm enough to leave the front door open and have some windows open to let cooling breezes through. It has felt good, actually, compared with the cold and wind we were greeted with when we arrived here a week or so ago.

Dateline: Rock Springs WY - Thursday, May 09, 2013 - #1134

Here's the hose and the label from the package it came in. I wrapped it around my hand like an electric cord to gather it into this bundle.

Well, I solved one project need by avoiding the issue today. I have carried a regular plastic hose for several years as an extra hose to use for non-potable uses. It is 60 or 75 feet long, hard to coil, and heavy. This also makes it hard to find a place to store. For a long time we carried it in the back of our Trailblazer, coiled on the floor so other items could be put on it. Since we bought the Phaeton I found a different place to store it, coiled and in the compartment where the DEF tank is mounted. That compartment has a space to the left that is about 6 inches deep, so I put the coiled hose on edge in that space. But today Elaine spotted one of those hoses that collapses into a small package when empty and then expands when it is full of water, so we bought it.