Verna and Bob's Weblog

Bob

A New Camera on the Way

sx40.pngIn 2011, I had to “guess” at the rate for Federal and State withholding. It’s a long story, but in 2010, we had some unusual situations due to building a house and the finances associated therewith. So in the 2011 tax return, we got quite a large refund. We’re happy to have the money, but sad to have loaned the government interest-free cash.

Image: Canon SX40 HS – Click to enlarge.

I have a couple of old Canon PowerShot cameras, both of which have their shortcomings. One is beat up from several drops and the other has a malfunction in the download software. So, having looked at that, I decided to get a middle-of-the-line Canon SX40 HS 12.1MP Digital Camera with 35x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-inch Vari-Angle Wide LCD. Verna already has the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi SLR camera which, as regular readers know, does an excellent job.

So the new camera is on the way and should be here in a few day’s time. I’m looking forward to some of the advanced features that improve on the older cameras capabilities. With some travel dates in the not-too-distant-future, I think it will work out well.

February 28, 2012 by Photography Retirement Vacation

What’s for Dinner?

jamba.jpgIn honor of Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) this past week, we got out one of our favorite recipes for Jambalaya, a traditional Cajun dish that we associate with the celebration held in the Crescent City of New Orleans.

Image: Jambalaya. Click on the image to enlarge.

Of course, we have this meal at other times of the year as well. It consists of three kinds of meat – chicken breast, Andouille sausage and shrimp. In addition, there are tomatoes, carrots, celery and a variety of herbs and spices in a chicken stock base. The Jambalaya is served in bowls over a bed of white rice. It sure is a good, hearty, comfort food dish.

February 26, 2012 by Food and Dining Retirement

Casandro Dam

casandro-pan.jpg

We took the truck in for service today. On our walk back home (about ¾ of a mile), we paused behind a business to take this panoramic image of the Casandro Dam and our house. Wait! You can’t see the house since it’s in the canyon just below the big white house on the second ridge near the center of the panorama. Click on the image to see full-size panoramic image.

February 20, 2012 by Arizona Panoramas

Channeling Humpty Dumpty

humpty.jpgEarly Saturday morning, I managed to contact the tile floor with the backside of my old noggin. I don’t remember the fall, only the aftermath. Verna called 911 and before I knew it, I was headed to the emergency room in an ambulance. When I got there, the EMTs patched up a one inch laceration on the back left-side of my head and sent me to the CAT scan room where they discovered that my brain was bleeding (not good) and that my neck was not fractured or cracked (better).

The resident made arrangements to transport me in another ambulance to the Trauma Center in far-away Phoenix (~60 miles) for further evaluation. The trauma crew did an appropriate triage which included examinations (both physical and mental) and sent me for another CAT scan where they detected a minor increase in the bleed. The neurosurgeon decided to keep me overnight for observation.

By the time they transported me to the hospital room, it was four PM and I had been on IV with nothing to eat all day. No liquids, no solids and bed confinement was the order. Of course, a hospital room is no place to get any rest with the constant activity including vital signs for me and the hospital roommate.

At 0230 this morning, the head nurse came and got me up to go for another CAT scan. I got to have four CAT scans in one 24 hour picture. The good news is that the bleeding had stopped and they wanted to release me, which they finally accomplished at 12:30 PM. Verna drove the sixty miles to fetch me this afternoon. I am still exhausted from no sleep and wobbly from having no calories, just a saline-solution IV for hydration purposes.

The doctors prescribed an anti-seizure medication, standard practice for head trauma. The side effect of this drug is drowsiness. At this writing, I am fighting the urge to close my eyes and take a little nap. I have to take this medicine three times a day for a week. Don’t be surprised if posting slows down on this blog for a week. The good news is that the prognosis for recovery is very good for cases like mine and I have no pain as a direct result of the trauma.

February 19, 2012 by Weirdness

The 2012 Classic Car Show

The 2012 Wickenburg Gold Rush Days is now in progress. One of today’s events is the Classic Car Show held on Frontier Street near the old AT&SF locomotive next to the chamber of commerce. We saw many of the same cars that were there last year, but there were many that we don’t remember seeing last year.

Verna took all of the photos in the slide show. I built the Flash™ animation from some of the many pictures she took. You can pause the slideshow by rolling the mouse cursor over the picture. Roll out to resume.

February 17, 2012 by Nostalgia Photography

Avalon 1998

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