04/30/2010 - Well, there goes another month. The view above is just laying back and looking up at the pool. Sometimes we feel like we are on a tropical vacation. at the pool. My how time flies when you get old. I went to the "M" and played all day trying to hit one of their big poker jackpots. No jackpot and only lost $60. Will try again tomorrow. Picked up chinese to go at the "M's" Red Cup Cafe using a 2-1 coupon and comp points. Had dinner over some TV shows and went to bed.
04/29/2010 - Still way to windy for the pool. 25-35 mph wind gusts. Headed over to the "M" for their free bottle of Stolie Vodka. The casino was mobbed. The lines in the buffet and all the other restaurants were so long that we didn't even eat; decided to come home and pop a pizza in the oven. After some TV we went to bed.
04/28/2010 - Way too windy for the pool. Up to 60 mph wind gusts. There was "dust" in the valley. Yesterday they had 100 mph winds in Reno where my sister lives. This is without a doubt the windiest year we have ever had here in Vegas. After our normal morning routine I cooked up some chili for lunch which we watched over a couple of prerecorded TV shows before heading over to the Southpoint Casino to see the movie, The Loosers. Connie played some free slots and then we headed home and watched some more TV.
04/25/2010 - We sat by the pool for a couple of hours. After some wraps for lunch I headed to the "M" again. Still no luck. Came home and watch a Netflix movie my neighbor brought over. Had dinner over a couple of TV shows and went to bed. Finished my audio book, Heat Wave.
04/23/2010 - Today was a beautiful day with the rest of the week predicted to be in the upper 80's, possibly reaching 90 by early next week. Spent time this morning catching up on bills. Then worked on making some minor updates and changes to some of my blogs. Spent a couple of hours at the pool. We then went to the library, Green Valley Ranch and the "M". Connie got me a nice (free) "M" golf shirt. I picked up $50 playing poker. On the way home we picked up some food at Smith's and dinner at a new restaurant called the "Chicken Cafe". The chicken, which came with some sweet potato fries, was a little dry, however they certainly gave us plenty for our money. Tommy called to see what the results of my follow up with the doctor turned out. Watched some TV shows and went to bed.
04/22/2010 - We had a real soaking rain throughout the morning that was quite refreshing. It is always good to get a nice long rain. I worked on making some external backups of my computer files. In the afternoon I had a "follow-up" visit with my urologist. It took me two hours to get a 6-minute KUB x-ray to take to him. The good news is that everything seems normal to him, though the x-ray showed that the stone "pieces" had gathered in the lower portion of the left kidney and were not "passing" as a result. He said that this was fairly normal and that I would have to keep the stint in for at least another couple of weeks and even suggested that laying with my feet elivated might help them to relocate and begin to move. So I guess I'm not totally out of the wood yet. After these visits, we went to the "M" and enjoyed the dinner buffet and a little play before heading home. Later in the evening I received another call from my sister asking how I was doing.
04/18/2010 - Went to the "M" to pick up another free bottle of wine. Played all afternoon and then hooked up with some friends for dinner. We decided to do the Seafood Buffet. As usual, it was quite good. After two big plates of crabs legs, I moved on to the Osso Buco while Connie moved on to the Prime Rib. It had been a very long day for us, so after dinner we said our good-byes and headed home.
04/17/2010 - Here it is 24 hours after the operation and so far, so good! I haven't passed any pieces yet and so far no pain what-so-ever. Hope everything continues to go this well. We went out for lunch and to play today. I made $350 at poker and Connie only lost $25 playing slots.
4/16/2010 - OPERATION DAY! Well, this is it. Time for my Lithotripsy. I'm scheduled to be at the hospital at 1:30, and, if all goes well, should be home by about 6:00pm. I couldn't eat or drink after 6:00am this morning, so I got up at 4:30 and had a bowl of cereal and some toast. My neighbor, who is driving me to the hospital and picking me up later called already to confirm everything. My mom called last night to wish me well. Now it is just sit around and wait time! And wait! And wait! After I got to the hospital I had to wait more than three hours before they brought me in for the surgery. The good news is that they were able to break up both stones in the left kidney, meaning I only have to have this done one more time for the stone in the right kidney. I got home around 7:00 pm. Jim went to Walgreens and picked up my prescriptions. Two of the guys I used to work with at GVR stopped by and brought Connie a bottle of wine and some special liquid drinks for me. So far the pain has been bearable, mostly caused by the stint he put in. The plan is to call the doctor on Monday and set up a day next week for X-rays and a follow up examination and a decision on removing the stint.
04/15/2010 - IRS TAX DAY! Mine had been sitting on the kitchen counter with the check I owe for more than two weeks. So I guess I now have to get an envelope addressed and mail it today. I just wasn't going to let the government have that money one day before I had to! Then it was WAL-MART DAY! Figuring that I might not be able to go out for a while after the operation tomorrow, we decided it was time to stock up on a few things. After shopping and lunch, I decided to go back to Ethel M's Cactus Garden to see if there were some more items in bloom. As I was able to get quite a few more pictures, I'm glad I went. We then went to the "M" Casino and then over to GVR. I hit a four-of-a-kind jackpot on the flop for $100. Connie made $5 dollars for the day playing slots and we came home, heated up a blueberry cake for dinner and watched TV.
04/14/2010 - I spent entire morning at the University Medical Center getting presurgery "stuff" taken care of. After filling out a "bucket full" of paperwork, I had three blood tests and an EKG done. After I got home I played on the computer working on putting together some the pictures we took last weekend at Death Valley National Park. The first was of our stop in Death Valley Junction and the Amargosa Hotel & Opera House where we spent the night after our long day of taking photographs. The second was a two-page PDF highlighting the pictures we took inside Death Valley National Park.
04/13/2010 - Today I worked on creating some panoramic views from pictures I took on our trip to Death Valley. Until I am able to get the time to put together a collage of our trip pictures, I have used the space here to highlight a few of the better one's. During our trip to and from Death Valley, I tried to capture several panoramic views that really showed off the diversity of the landscape.
04/12/2010 - Here is a sampling of some of the wild flower pictures that I took at Death Valley National Park.
04/11/2010 - This morning we drove "over the hump to Pahrump" headed to Death Valley National Park to see if we could get any wild flower pictures. Our first stop was at Death Valley Junction and the Armogosa Opera House, where we had lunch and checked into our room. After lunch we headed towards Furnace Creek. I must admit that I didn't realize Death Valley had so many mountain ranges running through it. I just assumed that it was one big, flat dessert area. There were a lot of dessert areas covered with various types of yellow wild flowers, but little else. Even though we were disappointed with what we got to see for flowers, many of the scenic views were quite unique and very enjoyable. 
04/09/2010 - Today is supposed to be the warmest day of the year so far. I went out and washed the car and prepared it for our upcoming trip to Death Valley on Sunday. We then watched the second round of the Master's. Again, Woods had another great round and is only two strokes off the leader.
04/08/2010 - Today was a beautiful day, reaching the 80's by early afternoon. For lunch today, went to Mimi's Cafe and used a $10 free entree coupon that I got for my birthday. Not only is the food good, the portions here are huge. We brought home enough for dinner later in the day. Click here for a Dining Review. When we got home we watched Tiger Woods play in the first round of the Master's. He shot his best opening round ever and ended up two strokes behind the leader, Fred Couples. In the evening, I received calls from both my mother and my brother asking about my upcoming operation.
After the golf I worked on some of the photos I took yesterday at Ethel M's Catus Garden. Even though I think we need a couple more weeks of warmer weather before many of the plants and cactus come to full bloom, some are ready now. I was still pleased with the variety of color. The picture posted on the right is one of the barrel cactus that I captured; the picture on the left was of some type of flowering tree. Click the picture below is link to go to my album on Picassa and then click on "Slideshow" on the left of the menu line.
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| Cacti & Flowers |
04/07/2010 - Today was "go to the Urologist day" to get the word on last weeks' CT Scans and X-Rays. The good news is no cancer. The bad news is that I have three large kidney stones, two in the left kidney, 13mm and 8mm, the larger blocking the uterpelvic junction and one 15mm in the right kidney. They are so large that I will need a couple of operations to have them removed. The first will be a week from Friday on April 16th. They will install a stint and try and break up the larger of the two stones in the left kidney and hope it will then pass over the next several days without any damage. At a later time they will have to go back and do the same with the stone in the right kidney. That's all for now folks. After the doctor visit, connie and I went to Red Robin where I got a free "Birthday" burger and hot fudge sunday with three waitresses singing Happy Birthday to me. We then went to the Cactus Garden to get some pictures, came home and watched a movie and some TV.
04/04/2010 - EASTER SUNDAY. We received a phone call wishing us a Happy Easter from Nancy and Sue Eustance, the two girls who used to be our next door neighbors that are now living in Phoenix, Arizona. They both got jobs at a local pancake house and sounded like they were doing pretty good. We shared back and forth for a while and then bid each other goodby. We had just been talking about them with friends a few days ago, and were worried about how they might be doing. It was really good to hear from both of them. Connie had free play at three casinos, which we hit on our way to dinner at McCormick & Schmick's. Connie won $10. This was our first visit to this restaurant and we were pleasantly pleased. Click here for our review ... McCormick & Schmick's.
04/03/2010 - Did our normal moring routine. Got Facebook "Happy Birthday" emails from April, Cheryl, Hannah and Drew. Received a birthday card from my mother. I worked on some of the pictures I took while Rod and Bonnie were here. Went to the store to pick up some corn bread mix and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Heated up the pea soup while Connie made the corn bread. Had a late lunch over the latter version of the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo. It was a very good movie and we both enjoyed it! Took a break from the TV and went back and played on the computer while Connie read. Had tuna sandwiches for dinner. Watch TV over chocolate chip cookies and went to bed.
04/02/2010 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me. The bad news was that I had to spend the morning at the doctors office getting a series of X-Rays and a CT Scan to see if I have liver cancer. Before leaving for the imaging center I got a singing birthday call from Connie's sister in Arkansas. She never fails. When I got back from the doctors, Rod and Bonnie Gardner came over and we picked up from where we left off the previous day discussing old times and friends and each others' current and past medical procedures over wine, cheese and crackers. 
They then taught us a new card game that we played for several hours interrupting once for dinner. While we were playing cards I got another birthday call from my sister in Tahoe. We had the ham and pea soup I made yesterday along with a pizza I popped in the oven for Rod, who doesn't like pea soup. Bonnie loved it, saying that it reminded her of her mother's. Connie also made some corn bread, which Bonnie referred to as similar to the Johnny Cakes her mother used to make. It is always a good thing to rekindle fond memories with old friends. It was a great way to end what could have been an otherwise downer of a day.
By the end of the night, both Connie and Bonnie were yawning.
04/01/2010 - Another month gone by; where does the time go? This has been the coolist and windiest spring we've had in several years. Haven't even had any really good "pool days" yet. We've been looking forward to hitting the pool and doing some reading. Last night I started soaking a pound of split peas for a soup I planned on making today. This morning I started the day off chopping, cutting and dicing the ingredients for my split-pea and ham soup and placing them in the crock pot. I made this back in late December when my cousin John stayed with us. We enjoyed it for several meals and Connie and I plan on doing so again. Here is the recipe for anyone who might be interested. The only items that I added were four bay leaves, two stalks of chopped celery, dried parsley and some all purpose Italian seasoning. I found this recipe on-line and, with what I added, I give it 5-Stars.
This afternoon we were just about to go out to see a movie when we got a surprise call from Bonnie and Rod Gardner, our past neighbors from Greenland, N.H. This is the 2nd visit we have had from them in the past three years. We popped three bottles of wine and sat around exchanging travel stories and caughting up on each others lives. We then took them over to the "M" Casino where they enjoyed a wonderful dinner buffet. After dinner Rod and I went to the 32-Degree bar where ordered a coule of ales from their speciality menu of 100 beers and aile on tap. Having been a home brewer for years, Rod is quite the connoisseur and was amazed at some of the offerings and the fact that their only cost was a "tip" to the waitress. We all tried our luck on the slots before coming home. Connie picked up $15 and was the only winner. We made plans to get together tomorrow and called it an early night.
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