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We finally have 2 Big Trash Days a year!

Unfortunately, the city shortened the amount of time we could have the trash hauled out to the curb from 1 week to 3 days.  That means I couldn't put anything out yesterday (not unless I wanted to pay a $250.00 fine!), so today, I've been madly hauling chopped Zombie Maple to the curb, along with rose bush and mulberry tree prunings and all the little saplings I hacked out. 

Most of my trash is yard debris.  If we were allowed a compost (I'm working on it, with the economic downturn, the city is more amenable to "victory gardening" - it's only a matter of time before we can have a compost bin again), I wouldn't have so much.  Last spring, I bought a woodchipper, which provides lots of mulch for my gardens - and would do wonders for a compost bin.

I'm also taking this opportunity to sort through years' worth of packratting to unload the utterly un-salveagable and/or completely un-recyclable.  I have a surprising lot of that.  Some of the salvageable and recyclable things will go into boxes for Craig's List to earn back some cash and pay toowards Itzl's knee surgery, and some will go on Freecycle.  The rest I have uses for. 

It will be nice to start getting the clutter in this house under control.  Somehow, in the past 3 years, it's just gotten utterly out of hand - so bad it's difficult to keep things clean.  I don't mind clutter if I can keep things clean under it.

Having a puppy that isn't housebroken is just one more distasteful thing.  I can't convince my daughter to actually make an effort to housebreak her puppy and this annoys me no end.  She's going on a business trip for three days next week.  During those three days, I am crating her dog so it doesn't pee and poop on my already shabby and worn carpet.  I know it needs replacing, but thats no reason to trash it out before I can afford to replace it!

So, I better get off my lazy tush and start hauling chopped tree again.

I just got back from the vet with Itzl.

No bones are broken from the dog attack, but he did tear the tendon and needs surgical repair.  His insurance excludes patellar injuries because he's a Chihuahua and those are very common in Chihuahuas and often genetic.  Xoco has genetic patellar problems and I've been saving up to repair those, but she has to wait her turn.  Itzl's patellar problem is injury-related, but still excluded from his insurance, so I have to scrounge up $1500 to get his knee repaired.  In the meantime, he's on "bedrest" and pain meds for the next 2 weeks and on glucosamine for dogs for the indefinite future.  Fortunately, the vet said it wasn't urgent so I have some time to do this.  Bedrest and meds should handle him for now.

Poor pup, first the car accident, now his knee.  His life is pretty rough.

We're back.

The wedding went  well.  There were other dogs there and no one objected to my dogs.  I took lots of pictures. 

The trip was long.  Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas were all just fine, but Californians are either very nice or the meanest people ever with nothing in between. 

How's this for California cruelty:  At one rest stop in California, a man with 2 unleashed golden retrievers saw my dogs (on leashes as required by the rest area regulations) and told his dogs, "Sadie, Max, look!  Bait dogs!  Sic 'em!"  I'd just picked up Xoco, but Itzl was still pottying.  One of the dogs bowled him over, dislocating his hip and knee.  I got him up before the dogs could get him again and called 911 on the man.

And how's this for California kindness:  when I pulled over onto the shoulder to let the dogs potty and check the maps (because I couldn't find a rest stop), 4 people and a police officer stopped to ask if I was OK and to offer the dogs water and treats.

I took Itzl to a vet at the next town and got his hip and knee fixed, and he goes to his vet tomorrow to make sure it's healing well.

I set the back seat up to be a huge dog playground and the dogs loved it, even if they prefered spending time in the dog seat.  They weren't so happy with the hotels we stayed in - crying babies both times! - but they survived.

Beaners and his bride are supposed to be here early November for an early Thanksgiving.  And that's the brief overview.

I haven't traveled so far across any portion of the world by myself since the 60's, when all I needed was a passport (I was overseas), a bag of clothes, and $100 for a years' travel expenses.

Even though I am not leaving this country, I find I will have to deal with border guards again. I think it's kind of wrong to be subjected to a search by border guards in my own country just for traveling through it, but it's not like I haven't done this before when I went to Ft. Bliss and had to pass the border station on the Texas/New Mexico border in the foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains.

I've done what I can to get through the process as gently as possible - made sure my passport is current (they checked it at the Texas/New Mexico border station, so I might as well be prepared in case they demand it at the Arizona/California border station - better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, eh?), have current tags and inspection and insurance cards on the car, have vet papers for shots and surgeries on the dogs, have Itzl's service dog certifications, have my immunization records, and I will be taking the wedding gifts unwrapped and wrapping them after I'm in California in case Customs wants to be nit-picky.

I hope I don't have any problems bringing Xoco along.  She's brain damaged from the hydrocephaly she had as a puppy.  The vet says she has  no short term memory.  Once we get past the short term memory problem she's very smart.  It just takes a lot of extra effort to teach her anything.  Once it moves into her long term memory, she never forgets it.  She'd actually make a decent hearing dog and if I was willing to give her up to someone else, I'd make the effort to train her for that.

I will eat all the fresh fruits and vegetables I am bringing before I reach the California border and will buy fresh after I cross the border.  I understand there's not an issue taking fresh fruits and vegetables out of California, only in.

I won't be bringing plants with me, living or dead, nor will I buy any in California so I don't have to deal with any of that.  I shouldn't have anything to declare in Customs at the border.

So, all of that is taken care of. Now I have the important things to do:

Packing. I have Itzl and Xoco's harnesses and leashes, sweaters, goggles, dawgie bags, beds, blankies, food dishes, food and treats, toys, potty pads, shampoo, deodorizers, brushes, and bling packed in their suitcase. I am doing laundry now so I can pack my driving clothes (sweats and T's - no sense dressing up and being uncomfortable for all those hours of driving). The dress I'll wear for the wedding is back from the dry cleaners and will be packed in its protective bag. I have the matching shoes and handbag and jewelry packed. I have some nicer "tourist clothes" for a few things I hope to get to while I'm on the west coast.

I have this "70 Things To Do Before 70" List, and "see the Pacific Ocean" and "see a living sequoia tree" are on it, so I intend to take a brief detour to the Sequoia National Forest to see a tree and take a picture. I don't have to drive all the way in to see any of the "General" trees, any large sequoia will do me just fine.

I also plan to spend a few hours with friends just outside LA - they are going to take me to see the ocean before I head back east.  I packed beach shoes and doggie life jackets for Itzl and Xoco.

I have my toiletries bag packed, chargers for the cell phone my sister is making me carry and for my netbook that I'm bringing along.

I have an ice chest and will buy dry ice before I leave to keep the food cold. I'll bring sandwich makings, jugs of water, and popcorn with me.

I have my pillow and sleeping bag and personal tent for camping along the way (or sleeping in the car if I don't like the looks of the campgrounds).  I really wish I was taking my Hyundai because it has plenty of room for sleeping in but given its age and recent crankiness due to the accident, I am hesitant to take it so far away from its favorite mechanic.  My sister's Toyota is nice, but it's a sedan, not a wagon.   Even though the back seats lay down, there's still not near as much room as in my car.

Since I didn't have a lot of warning on this trip, I didn't get a chance to save a lot of money to spend on frivolities like food, hotels, or souvenirs or reserve extra vacation time to see the sights along the way. It's zip up, and zip back, and I was just informed that my dogs will not be welcome at the wedding.  I am still taking them but now, I will only be present for the wedding ceremony itself and not for anything else.  That means things will be a lot zippier than I expected.  It's kind of a long ways to go for just 15 minutes, but he's my son.  Even if all I get to do is witness the vows and snap a photo, the trip will be worth it.

I'm not planning on carrying a lot of cash. I checked and everywhere I plan to go will take my card.  Since I'm travelling only with 2 very small dogs I'm not comfortable carrying a lot off cash.  I do have a concealed carry license, but I don't own any firearms and I'm also not comfortable carrying across state lines even if my ex did offer me my choice from his impressive arsenal (he's a gunsmith now that he's retired).

My daughter is staying at the house with all the critters that also live there, so I'm not leaving an empty house.

I've made sure several people know the route I'm taking, which stations I'll stop at for gas, where I'll stay the nights, and about when I should be hitting those points. I'm hoping to have internet connection along the way, but given how cranky both my linux-based netbook and my full-sized linux-based laptop are with WiFi, I can't guarantee it. The cell phone I'm using doesn't have texting, so no remote posting or twittering.

Have I forgotten anything?

Quite literally, too.  The puppies were rough-housing about and got tangled in the cord of my Eee PC, puling it down and shattering the screen.  It is not repairable.

Nor is it good as a doorstop - too small.

I really liked this little netbook.  It was small enough to slip into my lunchbox so I could use it at lunch time at work.  When I went to coffee shops to meet friends or the writers' meet-ups, it was small enough to leave room for snacks ad drinks.  It was linux-based, so it didn't always connect on the free WiFi, but that was OK.  The space bar jammed, so I often had to go back to add spaces between words.  That was OK, too.  It was highly portable and I could stretch my hand all the way across the keyboard and type comfortably on it one-handed.

I really liked it.

I'm not without computer and internet access (obviously!) as I have my 8 year old desk top, and the 4 year old laptop I use as a loaner to other writers.

It's just that I really liked the portability and size of the Eee, and I'd planned to take it with me on the trip to California and back so I could stay in touch.

My sister makes me carry a cell phone - then complains that I only used 19 minutes the first year I had it - all calling her to let her know I made it home from trips.   The truth is I can't hear very well on it so I prefer email (again making the Eee a handy tool).  She doesn't text, so she doesn't have texting on the cell phone plan.  Since it's her phone and her plan, I use what I have.  I just am not a phone person.  I wasn't a phone person before I had problems hearing.

But computers?  Yeah.  I can write on them.  I can use them as a notepad so I can understand what others are saying and they can understand me.  That's another thing I liked about the Eee -  if I couldn't understand someone, I could whip it out and have them type what they were trying to tell me.  It was very useful after the car acident last January.

This big laptop?  Not so portable, not so handy.

I will have to wait until my tax return to buy a replacement Eee PC.  I will have recovered from the trip to CA and adjusted to a smaller paycheck by then and will be back on target with saving toward a new car (I realize I am going to have to get one sooner than I'd planned, but I still have a couple of years - hopefully by then there will be a car I'd like to buy.)  I'm sticking with the Eee because I like it being Linux.

Y'all remember my "Cooking with Vlad" food onna stick cookbook I wanted to do?

Well, I think I have all the recipes tested and ready to go. I had to buy a deep fryer to finish this up; fortunately I found a good one on clearance.

I'm not posting all the recipes here (duh - that would be one huge post!), and it's not in printable form yet - I want to standardize the recipe format and take pictures of everything, which means cooking them all again.

I didn't gain an ounce eating all this food onna stick and I didn't do anything differently from normal. I can't say these foods won't make you fat, especially things like my Fried Butter Balls or Beer Onna Stick, and certainly very little of it is healthy (well, maybe the Garden Onna Stick....), but this food isn't meant to be eaten daily or even monthly - it's party food, special occasion food, celebration food.

All of this food onna stick can be cooked by most anyone and doesn't require special equipment, not even a deep fat fryer. I only bought one because I was doing a lot of food onna stick cookery for the cookbook. In the normal course of life, I may only use it once or twice a year and then only because I now have it. Grilled food onna stick can be cooked in the oven or under a broiler as easily as on a grill and deep fried foods can be cooked in a deep sided skillet or dutch oven.

Here's a list of some of my favorite recipes in the book, in no particular order. Everything is onna stick, even if I don't have "Onna Stick" in the name. Some were culianry triumphs and others are ridiculously easy. This is not a full list of the recipes I plan to put in the cookbook, just my favorites:

Fried Butter Balls - plain, garlic, herbed, and fruity
Troll Bites - cheese stuffed jalapenos battered and fried
Potato Pops - circles of potatoes battered and fried
Jungle Sammiches - PB&J with banana sandwiches, battered and fried
Fried Dr. Pepper
Beer Ona Stick (also wine, mead, and mojitos)
Scottish Eggs onna Stick
Dead Poets Onna Stick
Chicken Lips - chicken strips stuffed with cheese battered and deep fried
Rat Onna Stick - meat loaf shaped like a rat, with cherry tomato eyes and almond teeth
Dragon Tails - battered bratwursts on a stick with veggie "scales" and "spines"
Thanksgiving Dinner - turkey, cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing, green beans, gravy.
Christmas DInner - ham or goose or duck, brussels sprouts, baby carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy
Soup Onna Stick
Breakfast Onna Stick - hash browns, bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy
Church Supper Onna Stick - casseroles! Onna stick!
Baklava and Bkalava Cheececake onna Stick
Spaghetti Onna Stick
Stir Fry Onna Stick

Now, all I have to do is make a pretty version of each to photograph and standardize the recipes. That may take another year because I can't really eat that much food onna stick so often, no matter how much I like it.

I made kraut dogs for dinner.

I set a plain dog aside to share between Itzl, Xoco, and Rhapsody but Rhapsody foiled those plans quite messily.

Chantria set her plate on the edge of the table to answer her phone, then left the room.

Rhapsody stood up and casually sauntered past the plate. After she'd passed it, she turned her head back and snagged the far edge of the plate, capsizing it. I caught it, but not in time to keep the saurkraut off the floor.

Rhapsody vacuumed up the sauerkraut so well it only needed a wipe down.

Everyone got a few bits of the hot dog,including Rhapsody, because it wasn't my hot dog she tried to snatch and next time, Chantria won't leave temptation in in Rhapsody's way.

Besides, Chantria sleeps with Rhapsody and puppy kraut dog farts are lethal.

I received a genuine wedding invitation to my son's wedding.

Now I know the last name of my future daughter and her parents' names.

I know what time the wedding will happen as well as where.

I've calculated the cost of the trip both renting a car (alumni discounts rock) and borrowing one from family/friends. I sold a dull, dull, dull article to a pro journal that costs so much only specialty libraries can afford subscriptions and the payment for that was direct deposited, so I have a good start on saving up for the trip.

Driving may be more time consuming, but it has advantages flying will never have: I can bring both Itzl and Xoco with me (Itzl's a given as he's a signal dog, but Xoco is a pet), I can visit friends along the way (none of them are apparently on any of the social networking sites I use - weird, huh?), I can take whatever luggage I want, I don't have to wonder if I've been removed from the No Fly list, I do't have to submit to a body search (a given since I have metal bits inside me), I don't have to deal with fussy babies, seat neighbors who infringe (the skinny people are the worst,they seem to think that because they're skinny I won't mind if they flop their arms and legs across my lap or if their laptop rests halfway on my side or their bad breath as they fall asleep against my shoulder), no waiting in uncomfortable waiting room seats, no delays for hours on the tarmac, and I get to see up close and personal a part of the country I've never seen before.

I think even if driving were more expensive, I'd choose it anyway.

I will be leaving Oklahoma on Oct. 6th and returning on Oct. 15th. I drive like a maniac - not fast, just that I only stop when I need gas or sleep.I am giving myself an extra day of driving time each way because I will have the dogs with me, and they will force me to take breaks.

I will have a cell phone with me, and I will stick to my planned route. If I deviate, I will leave messages just in case.

And I will take my survival gear for me and the dogs.

I am both looking forward to this long trip and not looking forward to it. That's a lot of driving by myself with dogs.

Helping a friend buy a new car, the accident to my car, and my son's impending wedding got me to thinking about cars - not exactly a favorite pasttime.  If I could have a vehicle I never had to think about beyond routine maintenance, I'd be happy.

That's not going to happen, though.  Every car eventually breaks down, and even the most careful driver will have accidents.  Look at me, for example.  I am a conscientious driver  obeying all the traffic laws I know.  I recently retook the driver's test, both written and driving, and the only thing I missed was that the exam officer didn't like the way I placed my hand on the steering wheel.  And he had to think hard to come up with that complaint.

Still, for all my care and attention, I've still been involved in 3 car crashes - the man who ran a red light and hit my car, the woman who rear-ended me because she chose to drive the car she knew had faulty brakes, and the man who made an illegal left turn and hit me.  As vigilant as I was, I couldn't avoid those accidents.  I think it's a terrible record for 49 years of driving.  That's why I asked to retake the driving test, to brush up on y skills.

So, while helping my friend buy a car, I learned that there is no car on the market that is as good as my current car, old and decrepit as it is.  I also learned that cars are incredibly expensive - even the crappiest cheap car was well out of my price range, especially when factoring in taxes and insurance.  With the reduction in pay, buying a car now is utterly unfeasible.

I suppose if I hadn't spent more than $4,000.00 repairing my daughter's car, it might have been possible, but I did,and that's that.

All that said, if money and fuel efficiency didn't matter, there are very few cars I care for.  The Nissan Cube, the VW Jetta Wagon, and the Hyundai Elantra Touring all have apparently enough cargo space to haul the things I routinely haul, have a fuel efficiency almost as good as my current Hyundai (how did we lose fuel efficiency in the past 13 years?), and I mostly fit behind the wheel with only minor modifications.  None of them exceed the fuel efficiency of my current car, which makes my car a beater but not a clunker by government definition. None of them can carry an 8 foot table, like my current car.  The Hyundai Elantra Touring is a higher, yet shorter version of my current car, and it's mechanical stats are similar to my current car.  It comes the closest to what I'd buy  - except the Touring is $9,000 more than I paid for my car and I just can't justify paying that much for a car

What I want to know is how did car manufacturers manage to screw things up in the past decade?  Cars are less fuel efficient in spite of all the advertising hype. They are less well built - or at least they feel flimsier.  They are less comfortable - at least for me.  The seat belts are located in the wrong place, so that they often cut across my cheek and nose.  I'm not particularly short, it's that the seat belts are positioned wrong.  The steering wheel is set so I can't pull the seat forward enough to reach the floor pedals without some adaptation, or without jamming my knees into the dashboard.

The 3 cars I named are the least offensive in regards to fuel efficiency, cargo space, and fit.  As far as mechanical goes, there's really little difference in most cars in the low and moderate price ranges (and I gag when I say "Low").  Warranties are fairly standard, and maintenance varies very little.

I don't ask for a lot in a car. At least I don't think it's a lot.  Low maintenance, easy to self-maintain, mostly manual (I hate "nanny" cars that presume I'm too stupid to do things myself, or that feels the need to report on my movements, send me emails, or delay turning things off after I turn them off - that's so Windows), decent air conditioning and heating.  I'd like the car to be sized so I can easily scrape ice off the windshield and wash the car without using a stepladder, but in America's "bigger is better" push, I realize that might not be possible.  Affordable would be extra nice.  Affordable is not possible without winning the lottery or saving up stringently for the next 5 years.

I don't really care enough about any of the current cars offered. My old car is a better car than any of those.  Given any choice, I'd prefer to wait until better cars are on the market, like a car with the Di Pietro motor.  I used to like the MDI Air Car, but I think they've made too many compromises in their development, and I'm not as happy with it as I was.

As long as my poor, battered car holds out, I guess I'll keep it.  It gets me around the city just fine and if it breaks down here, I have a mechanic and a towing company who cut me very nice deals,  They're neighbors, friends, and we take care of one another.  I only drive it to and from work, the grocery store, and the library. Any more might stress it too far.

Darn my son and his desire to get married 2,000 miles away.

I finally heard from Beaners about the wedding date (but not time) and the city (but not an address): October 10th in Yreka, Ca.

That's about 2,000 miles away, and 30 hours of driving time. I reckon it will cost about $1,000.00 in gas, tolls, and incidentals. I have about that saved up already, so I think I can manage it in spite of budget cuts and car issues.

The car issues aren't bad at all, really. It's just the aftermath of an accident on an old car - it keeps tossing up some new little thing that was damaged - making weird sounds and lights going off and on - they found the short, the replaced a wire socket, and a wiring assembly and so on. Every few weeks, it's $20 or $30 in repairs and a couple of days where I have no vehicle. Since my daughter still lives with me and works down the street, I can ride with her if we change our work hours slightly (I go in an hour earlier and get off an hour later than she does).