Once again, I am here to announce that reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. My daughter recently sent me a letter from Germany but it was returned to her from the post office with a notice that it could not be delivered as I was DECEASED. A little premature, it would seem, for someone who has yet to reach middle age. Clearly, they have not gotten the memo about my being bulletproof.
This means that I joined the thousands of others who voted in our recent election who were registered on the county rolls as having been dead for years. And you thought it was just a conspiracy theory!
This is actually the second time I have been reported to be pushing up daisies, as years ago there was some confusion in a newspaper about my grandfathers passing and mine. I am not sure if this is just the Democrat party getting their hopes up or what, but I do know that Janice's reaction was "Well that explains why I have been getting so little work out of you". Never one to miss an opportunity, she immediately wanted to call the insurance company to see if she could collect some kind of death benefit.
If you still have doubts, I offer this 'proof of life'.
News from Janice's chain gang
Last year, we had a cement slab poured for a second outdoor patio area with the intention of building a pergola on it this year. True to the promise, I had a free morning... oh, and afternoon... so I went out and put the 12' X 18' Pergola together. Or was it 3 weeks of free mornings and afternoons? Anyways, that cat being in the bag means I have time to move on to do something productive. The boss has many more great ideas for things for me to do.
This months bits and pieces
1) Daughter Kami made an overnight drive by visit when her work assignment ended in Los Angeles before her return home to New Orleans. Of course, she was accompanied by her fur baby Mr. Finn.
2) We had an acquaintance forward us an article from the Daily Mail newspaper. This is a major newspaper in London, England and the article in question was a feature in the travel section regarding the Thousand Islands. It was a full throated detailed description of the area and it's history and to our utter surprise and delight made two references to our beloved Honey Bee Island.
3) In our state's ongoing effort to prevent us from having too much fun, our Governor imposed a 3 week curfew from 10 PM to 5 AM. No, not a 'lockdown' as in closing restaurants and all (like everywhere else) or a quarantine (like if you had Covid), no this is a WWII style curfew where you could not leave your home during those hours unless you were a critical worker. Not an issue for us as the only people out during those hours are crooks and bad women. Meanwhile, 19 counties are under 'stay at home orders' with basically everything shut down. The saving grace is that our governor (Mr. Newsom) owns a winery in Napa valley which remains open...
4) School is out for a month so our granddaughter Maddie decided to come spend part of it with us. She is attending an art college in Los Angeles and the dorm closed for the holidays. After giving her the nickel tour of the area, we turned her loose to explore and visit on her own. Meanwhile, we try to stay out of the way as spending a month with your grandparents cannot possibly be on anyone's bucket list.
5) We live 29 miles from the Vandenberg Air force base. Frequently, they fire off super secret rockets with military payloads. Well, the payloads and their purpose maybe super secret but the launches are not as we see them from our house. Two years ago I went to the gates of the base with a friend (the closest the public can get) to see one of the Space X launches up close and personal. Otherwise, we sit on our deck with a glass of wine and watch the fireworks from here.
