One Year Later

Taken Sept 12th, 2005
9/23/2006

One year later. What a difference a year makes.
















A good friend and ex co-worker from PCorp. stopped by to see us on Saturday morning. He and his family were down for some plays in Ashland this weekend. John has now moved up in the world to the consulting business. We accommodated him with some beautiful weather. What great smiles!!! Must go to the same dentist.


















It was a busy weekend as Michelle was finishing up the tile sealing and enhancing in the master bath and Gary was getting ready for the garage floor installation. Everything has to be cleared out of the garage by Monday a.m. We will have the cleanest floor in town. Could be Karl's and Gunnar's next bedroom, with ready made perch at the window.

and now the Limo Man

Gary had a busy day on Saturday. It started at 3:45 p.m. It was a girl' s 13 year old birthday party, 8 kids plus one adult. Did you know that 8 plus 1 equals 11? KC hates that when it happens! Gary checked the car out as everyone was getting in and counted 9 +1. There were a couple of small of frys in there, so maybe that is okay. Lets be cool about it and keep everyone happy. (Gary felt sorry for the little brother who had to stay home. He really wanted to go.)

But wait there's more. Dad hops in, too. Gary checks it out and they all look comfortable so he says okay but .................................... don't try it again. He sensed it would be a good group and they were going to have some fun. He gave his usual spill and told the girls that they could go to town on the music and turn up the volume. The parents could only control it for a while. Gary and the kids had their way.

First stop was a facial. No, Gary didn't get one, but was offered the chance. It was tempting though. Next was cruising to Ashland. They liked this as there are lots of people in town with the plays and the park. He is working for the big tip!

Next they meandered over to J'Ville and the Bella Union for some take out Pizza. Gary and the Kids passed KC, who was also on a wedding Gig at the J'ville Inn. He was sitting in his car in the alley. The kids went nuts when they saw KC and the other limo. I swear the screaming must have woke him up. The parents went in to pick up the pizza while Gary hung out with the kids. They were hanging out the windows. KC meandered up the street to make sure his car was still in one piece. KC fit in well with the group and they were quite impressed when I told them he was driving the other limo. A lot of time had passed so Gary figured the parents must have gotten lost in the bar at the Bella. They finally come out with the pizza.

Gary's next customers were being picked up at the Bella Union. It was a popular place that night. They were repeat customers for Gary, as the daughter had so much fun a couple of months previous. She was along on this trip as well. They had a great time. They were from ETNA, not Italy, but California. Gary dropped them off at the Bella at 11:00 p.m. and they still had the drive home.

Till next week

10% Senior Discount at Fred Meyer's

Guess who qualifies? The guy on the left or the guy on the right? They both do. We had another visitor this past weekend. The world renowned Ben Sias. We are both jealous as he spent the week biking around Crater Lake and visiting and hiking with friends in the Lake Tahoe area. Gary did get out for a short bike ride in last night while I picked up his birthday pizza present. It was wrapped in a brown cardboard box, if you can picture it. It doesn' take too much to satisfy him these days!

Lots going on this week but not many photos to show for it.

Our fireplace, cabinets and hearth are finally taking shape.

Note: the person on the left in this photo does not qualify for a senior discount....yet.

Ben and Bun admiring the new snow on Mt McGloughlin.

'The Bear' would love this

This weekend was the annual Jacksonville Yard Sale Weekend. It's really is an All Town Yard Sale and, quoting from a local resident who knows the drill, "a chance to buy your neighbor's trash at a low price and then resell it next year at a profit ($.04). "















Sandy - you must plan a visit next year. It's an Ebay smorgusboard! Next year we will reserve a truck for you so you can haul it all back to Green Valley with you. But then again, that would upset the balance of trade between Oregon and Arizona.








It was all a bit overwhelming for yours truly, so other than a brief look see on a morning run we decided to focus on more immediate issues.

Weekend cleanup duties. The flavor this week is wood dust. They are doing the finish carpentry right now and it is everywhere. Being highly motivated to avoid paying a big clean-up bill at the end of the project, we try to stay on top of the mess.

Trimming out the windows, doors and arches.






This is our stove top hood. We are trying to figure out the detail finish work. This isn't it yet. More work!














The doors and trim.

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And now for the Limo Man -

It was a trifecta weekend. >>>>>>And no, I didn't go to the races........................

The first happening was a wedding out in the Applegate Valley on Saturday night. It was an easy pickup for a young couple and drop off in Deadford. For those of you who have never been to the Applegate Valley, it is quite beautiful.

I had hardly seen a mosquito all summer until I got out of the car to pick them up. Man, they were ugly. I am speaking of the mosquitoes. The wedding was located at a house right on the river. As we drove off I encountered something new to me. Diving bats, coming right at the Limo. Wow! There are a number of bats down here but it is my first encounter while driving. They must have been after the mosquitoes or maybe they were checking out my limo. (I couldn't find bats in my bird book so I assume that birders have no interest in these creatures of the night. Someday I will describe to you my successful bat hunting adventure during my youth.)

My second gig was a birthday party for 7 year olds. This was a stretch for me, as I had to pick them all up at individual houses in Talent and the parent didn't know where she was going. Needless to say we got lost. It is a good thing we have cell phones. We stopped at Lithia park in Ashland for pictures and then on to the party. More kids and other people got in that were not part of the party and we returned to Talent. What an accounting nightmare. Once in Talent I picked up 7 more kids for a quick ride. This rounded out the 3 hour journey. As I was leaving I looked in my rearview mirror and realized there was still a kid in the car who thought I was taking him home. That was a close one.

(You know there is only one thing that is worse for trashing a vehicle than 8 kids. A grown up who has drank too much wine that has to puke. My boss had one on Friday night. )

My third gig started right away so I rushed back to get the car cleaned up. My bosses wife was there to help clean up the mess so I could get on my way again. I had to let my boss know that the car was perfect when she was done. It was a non event with a pickup in Deadford and back to Ashland for a wedding in the Park. Lots of glitter dresses again.

'til nest week - The Limo man

'Saturday In The Park...

...I think it was the Fourth of July. '

Even though it's not the 4th of July we did see a great concert by Chicago last week. As the Italians say, it was fantastico. They played for a solid two hours and you could tell they were enjoying themselves thoroughly. It was another beautiful Southern Oregon evening with clear skies and brilliant stars.

BTW: Our move in date has been pushed forward to possibly November 15th.

'Can you dig it (no, we can't)

And we've been waiting such a long time. For Saturday' (and to move in!)


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Kenny-our finish carpenter. He is a master craftsman. You gotta see his work.

Charles- the tile guy. An interesting kind of guy. We are holding our breath.














And from the Limo man...............................................

It has been a little slow but that is okay as we have been busy with the house. I had a wedding gig Saturday afternoon - early. I thought it was going to be quick and easy but noooooo.......... , as I was providing service for the "Beverly Hillbilly Girls". My silent name for them.

It was supposed to be a pickup in Central Point and a quick drop off at a park in Grants Pass. I did't even have to take them home. Great. I am thinking! I get to my pickup and of course the bride is not ready and some of her friends haven't arrived yet. We finally get going about 45 minutes later, 4 adult women and two teen girls.

We barely got in the car when one of the women said they needed to stop at a liquor store. I said sure of course, since I am still hoping for the big tip. Wow, was I dreaming or something! One of them went in and bought a bottle of Cuervo Gold. I thought to myself, Oh Oh...., this could be a long day but Grant Pass isn't far so I will just speed it up a bit. (Michelle and I call it Grants Ass just because)

We hadn't gotten out of the parking lot when someone else wanted me to stop down @ Circle K for some beer. Beer and Tequila Chasers, this could be interesting. Just don't mess up KC's limo with some limes and salt. She came back to the car with a half case of 16 ounce cans of Coors. Wierd. Who drinks Coors these days. Oh, well. (I am thinking, if I have to find another parking space for this 28 foot vehicle, before I drop them off, my tip better be really big)

Picture this! We are on the freeway now with the temperatures outside running at 96 degrees, so it is hard to keep the car cool particularly with all the stops.
The bride has a huge dress on that covers herself 3 times over and yells to me that she is hot. I would have had to put her in a freezer for an hour to keep her cool She didn't realize or care that I had the car running for 45 minutes while I was waiting for her to get ready, but with all the stops it had warmed a bit, plus the big dress and can I say, a large woman.

Now what do I do! I don't want to listen to this for the next 30 minutes. Well, I said that if I closed the solid window between me and them they might cool faster. She liked that and so I did since everyone could have some privacy (myself included!). It was a good call and she thought I was genuine which in this business you have to be. (By the way my boss had just spent $1400 on fixing the air conditioner on Tuesday) For now, everyone was happy.

As we approached Grants Ass someone banged on the solid window. They hadn't figured out how to open it yet. They wanted to make sure I knew where I was going. (They didn't know that I was in a hurry as well. No getting lost this time.)

We approached the park. It was nothing special but I should have known as I was in Hillbilly Country. The bride asked me to pull over before we entered the park. I pulled over on a wide place in the road and everyone hopped out. I guess we were supposed to meet the photographer here. She pulled up. It was an odd place for pictures. It was kind of dusty with a few trees off to the side of the road with some grass. One of the women had to pee so she proceeded to head for some bushes. Another women, who I will call the "director" told the photographer to get a picture of her friend in the bushes. They all got a kick out of that.

While the women were trying to figure out how to keep the bride cool the photographer lady asked me how long I was going to be with them. I said, I was dropping them off in the park prior to the wedding. She said she was stuck with them the rest of the day. I wished her the best of luck. I was waiting for everyone to get back in the car when the "director" told me she was 40. I was polite and told her I was surprised. ( but not) She then said that I should see her naked. "These really are the Beverly Hillbilly Girls!"

By now the bride was getting very hot again. We proceeded into the park. We had one more stop to make for more pictures. I was envisioning this beautiful place on the river but no, we stopped close to a small bridge that was covered with blackberry bushes. They all got out and the photographer was in pursuit. But wait the "director" had to pee now. Off she went to find a tree. More pictures. I was keeping my distance from these gals because I didn't want to interrupt anything.

Well the photographer began taking individual photos of the wedding party and I guess the booze had starting to take effect. You can only imagine some of the features displayed.

I thought we were heading out when the bride to be asked me if I could get some tissue for her. I said I would look. All I could find were some napkins. You guessed it. She had to pee as well. Well guess what, the wedding party all had to hold up her dress while she took care of business. Like I said, it was a big dress. Another meaning to dropping trow in the woods as my honey says.
So much for the Hillbilly wedding.

I woke up this morning and wondered how the rest of the day went for the photographer lady. She seemed very nice and a bit out of place.

G