New Grand-daughter

Little miss Arabella Elizabeth Sullivan came into the world on Feb. 24th, at 10:36PM. Weighing in at 7 lbs, 1 oz, and 18 1/2" length, she let everyone know right away that she wasn't happy with having to leave the warm surroundings she'd just vacated (grin). Her color was good, and she had lots of hair. Mom and dad are both doing well. I have pictures posted here
I'll be updating that page and adding more pictures within the next few days! We now have *8* grandchildren! Here they are:
Tenaya
Breckin
Becca
Aiden
Chloe
Gracie
Jade
Arabella

Good morning! A fairly good night's sleep has left me feeling better, here in Mammoth, although I think a small nap might be in order. Between the noisy heater and the dry air, I couldn't categorize last night's sleep as "ideal". I did get in 2 long walks yesterday, did the "Meridian Loop" twice (about 2 1/2 miles each time). The weather is turning here today, becoming breezy and turning colder. Still not "cold" by Mammoth standards, though. Supposed to be mid-20's tonight, with a high of only upper 20's tomorrow. Then a low in the single digits Wednesday night, but we'll be gone by then. It's a quick turn-around for me, I return Wednesday evening to San Diego, leave Thursday afternoon for Yosemite. Here's the good news; Jacqueline's coming along! She was able to extricate a couple days off of work, and it's a "go" for her to join me. Makes it seem more like a vacation than work (grin). So, needless to say, I'm happy.
I talked to my parents for over an hour yesterday, they're both doing well. In fact, they've both embraced the South Beach Diet, in part because they saw the success that Jacqueline and I have had. My weight loss has been somewhat more spectacular the Jacqueline's, at my heaviest I was ~192, am down to 153 now. That's nearly 40 lbs! I read with interest that the *average* US male is 5' 9 1/2" (that's me...) and 191! (That *was* me...). I REALLY enjoy the added energy and mobility gained through the weight reduction. It used to be hard for me to do 1 Meridian Loop walk, between the altitude, the elevation gain and loss, and my weight. Now, it's no big deal to go twice, and yesterday I was running on "reserves", having gotten a terrible night's sleep the night before. Now that's a major difference. The dividends paid by dropping the weight are worth the effort, many times over. Besides, the South Beach Diet makes it relatively painless. Jacqueline hasn't lost as much weight, but proportionately, she's not that far behind. She continues to whittle away, moving in the right direction. She wants to get to 110 (she's 4'11") and she's within 6 lbs of her goal. I wanted to get to 152, I'm essentially there, 1 more lb to go. 150 will be my "base" weight, the number I don't want to go below. I may actually have to *increase* my carb intake to maintain 150 (grin). That's fine with me, I really miss that sourdough toast in the morning!
I ran the beta of Internet Explorer 7 that's on the Microsoft webpage, and, while I like the new interface (very reminiscent of Firefox), it messed up at least one element of my online experience.... clicking a web link in an email (using Outlook Express) no longer launches ANY web browser, UNLESS you make IE your default browser (pretty sneaky, Mr. Gates....). Well, what that has done is caused me to do something I've been intending to do for some time now anyway... break away from Outlook Express and make Thunderbird my default Email program. The Valentine's Day e-card I sent to Jacqueline couldn't be viewed by her, GRRRR. I'll "fix" the desktop when I get home. I've run Thunderbird for some time as a secong email app, looks like it just became my primary one.

Been a while

Hello again, it's been quite a while since I posted. No particular reason why, just life's little obligations and distractions. I'm in Mammoth right now, about to go get my people at the main lodge, bring them back down into town. More to follow later.....

Watchin' the snow fall

I'm currently in June Lake, CA, a small town nestled against the eastern Sierras, north of Mammoth Lakes. The 21st Century hasn't arrived here yet... 8 TV channels, no outgoing phone calls, cellphone coverage non-existent, but, amazingly, the motel I'm staying at JUST installed wi-fi. Sounds good, hey? Well, it sucks, can't get a decent signal anywhere, I finally found a spot in my room where I could get a half-decent signal. It's on top of the dresser/TV console, about 6 feet off the ground! So, I'm currently standing on a chair, typing this out *grin*. The weather outside is deteriorating, a winter storm's moving in, and I'm having some bus troubles. Nothing major (I think...), but the "Battery" idiot light is on, although my charge rate on the guage appears fine, and the charging system appears to be working normally. Cold weather does strange things to these vehicles. Anhow, we're supposed to leave tomorrow morning, so hopefully it won't cause problems on the way home. Guess I'll be keeping my fingers crossed......

Not too bad a week

Everything is relative, right? This week was looking ugly, with a big shuttle looming large, promising long hours and the usual "no life" scenario. It didn't really turn out that way, however, partially because of the way I was dispatched, and partially because we weren't the "primary" transportation provider. Soooo, it wasn't too bad. I'm watching the AFC playoffs right now, a barn-burner game between the Steelers and the Colts. Steelers were the unfortunate recipients of an incredibly bad call (IMHO), otherwise the game would be all but over. Instead, there's an incredible game in progress. The Steelers had the game won again, but "the bus" fumbled at the 1-yard line, and gave the Colts another chance. Incredible 4th quarter, the Colts are about to try a 46-yard FG to tie the game. My heart rate is about 150!! Oooooh, my, the Colts missed it, looks like Pittsburgh is headed to the AFC finals.

Woo-hoo, weekend off!

Jacque and I have the weekend off together, somewhat unexpectedly, so we're planning a busy day today. Maybe go hiking at Mission Trails Regional Park this morning, followed by lunch at Red Lobster (thanks, Donn & Chuleen), then I'm thinking about us going to see Syriana, with George Clooney. We haven't been to a ovie in a long time. Tomorrow's still being planned.....

Back in San Diego

Here I am, back in San Diego. The trip home turned out to be WAY less of a marathon than I'd feared, although still a long day. I had a day off (hurrah!), then worked a day, then off today (Thu). Tomorrow I have a relatively easy day, just local stuff. Jacqueline and I got out on the motorcycle today, one of the advantages to living in San Diego in January. It was a beautiful day here today, temps well into the 70's.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Here I am, up at Bear Valley, CA. Driving the bus, with a group of skiers, to 7000' up in the Sierras. The nasty weather we were supposed to get arrived shortly after our arrival (thank God) and I was able to drive up without chaining up. However, the trade-off was that, when the precipitation *did* start, it was rain, not snow! UGGGHH! Not fun at all. Yesterday, it finally changed over to snow, and we're supposed to get 14" tonight, 16" tomorrow. The chains will be happy............ Here's a view out the front window of my bus this evening.............

Filled with Fear and Trepidation

Aw geez, here we go...... I'm leaving on an annual trip to Northern California tomorrow morning. The weather, to date, has been just fine, for weeks. It all ends today, there's a major winter storm pounding Northern and Central California right now. I'm going to 7000' elevation, snow level's supposed to drop to 4000' (!). Oh man, this is gonna suck, I can see it coming........

Oh, BTW, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Just Kickin' Around the House

Hey, good morning! Just kickin' it around the house today, am LOVING the slow time around the holidays. It's about time we had a slowdown at the bus company! I'm sure there's already drivers worrying and fretting about the suddenly-reduced income right at Christmas, but not this boy! I am going to go hike the mountain this morning, guess it's time to get my ass in gear. BTW, my weight's down to 156 now..... Have a great day!

Life in the fast lane

A month or so ago, I sprung for Cox Communication's "Premier" high-speed Internet service, with an advertised rate of "up to 9Mb/sec". Well, it *was* noticeably quicker, and downloads were faster, but I wasn't quite getting the "kick" I'd hoped for. I looked at my cable modem, and went, "hmmmm, that sucker's about 6 years old now". Did some looking online, and came to realize my modem was quite obsolete. After reading some reviews, I came to the conclusion that the Motorola SB5120 looked like the best bet. Furthermore, I read a posting to a forum somewhere, where a guy said, print off the online ad from Wal-Mart, where they have it posted for $57.57, bring it to Circuit City, have them do the 105% price match, buy the modem for $55, then print out the rebate offer from them for $20 off, and mail it in. Net price= $35! I did exactly, that, it's hooked up and running great, noticed an immediate speed increase. I'm a happy guy..........

The posting below

What's with the tiny print in the posting below? Simple, Blogger doesn't allow cut-and-paste from another application (I now know this...) and I'd typed out the letter in Word, to be uploaded later. I *really* didn't want to retype the entire thing, so I did a "capture" and converted it to a JPG, which I then uploaded. Great, except Blogger wouldn't make it big enough. GRRR, I give up. Read it if you can, consider it a vision check (grin).

Great Cholesterol Numbers

Family and friends are pretty familiar with my battles with my cholesterol numbers, a heredity predisposition I contend with. Well, it's been an up-and-down battle, with me making big efforts to reduce my slightly-overweight body and increasing my exercise, resulting in great results, followed by "resting on my laurels" for a while, getting a little sloppy, eating the wrong food, and watching the numbers creep up again. As mentioned in an earlier post, the wife and I started on the South Beach Diet about 6 weeks ago. We've stuck to it, and my weight has dropped from ~178 to ~160. VERY impressive. Even more impressive were my cholesterol numbers, at the dooctor's office today. Total cholesterol= 132! Amazing! LDL=59 Off the charts! HDL=61, very acceptable, and Triglycerides=60 Incredible! Needless to say, I'm ecstatic, and am reinforcing my need to watch the recidivism.

Good for the Sanity

I guess every job has its redeeming features; if the bus driving career has one at all (grin), it has to be the ability to request a "block" of days off when it's relatively slow, like, say, over Thanksgiving! I'd requested Wednesday thru Sunday off, with several events planned with family. Not only did I get the days off, I got today, Monday, as a "bonus". I was scheduled to work today, but the run cancelled. Of course, even then, sometimes they get you. There's SPAB class today at work, and I really need the hours (10 hrs a year). I *SUPPOSE* I really ought to get down there :(

Geez, dunno what to do with all the time...

Got the days off I'd requested, hurray! It's Tuesday now, I'm driving an empty bus (not even any seats in it) up to a business in Gardena that fabricates new seats. I return to San Diego with the new seats, where the shop installs them. Pretty easy day, no guff from any passengers (grin).

A Day Off!!!!

Damn, I turned 82 hours in one week! That was *incredible*. Also extremely unwanted! Oh well, I guess I can coast this week, with a little cooperation from dispatch. Would be fine with me, I've put in for "off" from Thu to Sun. We'll see............
Time to go hike a mountain!

Success with the South Beach Diet

Many of you know Jacqueline and I have been fighting our weight with the South Beach Diet. It's been nearly 3 weeks, here's the results so far: My weight was ~180, is down to 165! Jacque's has fallen proportionately (she only weighs 2/3 my weight). So, are we happy about these numbers? You'd better believe we are! I want to lose about another 10 pounds, would lkike to be 155 again (my driver's license still says that, but I haven't weighed 155 in 10 years). Even with the bus company working my ass off, I've continued to "work my own ass off" (grin) at the same time. It's difficult, because there's constantly food being offered to me in this job. It takes a lot of discipline to NOT eat some of the stuff being offered. Today, I was asked if I'd like this really yummy looking chocolate muffin. Nope, I said, thank you anyway. But, I gotta admit, it *did* look good!
I'm involved in a "marathon" day, 16 hours long, to be followed by another long one tomorrow. Let me put it to you this way... tomorrow's the end of the FIRST week of my 2-week pay period. I'll have around 80 hours as of tomorrow evening ***GRRRRRRR***. I DON'T LIKE working this much!!!!

"Welcome Back, Scotter"

Remember that 70's show, "Welcome Back, Kotter"? Well, the title of this post is a toungue-in-cheek variation of that (grin). It's my version of what the boss and dispatch were saying when I came back after my 1-month hiatus. Know how they show their thankfulness that I'm back? By piling the hours on me, that's how!!! I'll put up with this for a *short* while, then the shit's gonna hit the fan............
Right now I'm sitting in Central L.A., have a Sociology group that's been running me all over the L.A. basin. We've been to Watts, South Central, a protest in West L.A., now lunch in Central L.A., then to Homeless City in downtown L.A. (I can hardly wait.....). After that, Olvera Street, then back home to SDO. WHEW! I'll sleep good tonight. I *do* have tomorrow off, but pay for it, in spades, on Monday. Oh well, I didn't want a "life" anyway......
Jacqueline and I are planning a FULL day tomorrow, getting out of San Diego for the day. Have to pack enough fun into one day, that's all I'm gonna see for the next week-plus, I'm afraid. Oh well, *tomorrow*, I have a LIFE!