• There was snow on the front deck this morning and it’s cold and windy today.
• Off of Facebook today.  I’m getting too angry at the stupid there. 24 hours + or –
• Erin leaves today.
• I printed out a picture for Mom, ML, and us, so I also printed out one for Belle. As piss poor broke as they appear, I can’t imagine she has much access to cameras or computers, so when I get a good pic I print an extra.
• Holy Crap! Anyone see the news that NYC has raised to age to buy cigarettes to 21? I imagine that there’s gonna be a lawsuit about this new law. I know if we weren’t able to sell smokes to the 18-21 crowd all of a sudden, the shit would hit the fan.
• Nina is in Chicago. She rented a car this time. Taxis suck in the area she’s working in, so the car makes sense.
• I hate babysitting Shirley. You’d think with the 2 caregivers we have that I wouldn’t need to sit her, but after 5 p.m. she’s all mine. Debra puts her to bed though.
• Dennis, the former luddite, is now shopping for an iPhone! Holy shit, is the world ending? I’m trying to talk him into a pink 5c.
• Happy Halloween everyone!

And a repeat of one my closing lines because it fits the day:  “Grave digger, when you dig my grave, will you make it shallow so I can feel the rain?”

We just sold a $5000.00 scratcher 10 minutes ago.  I wish we got a cut from the state, but we don’t.

Heading to Chicago tomorrow for a week of quality time with her favorite aunt, Marylou. (and for all my smart assed friends, yes she is her only aunt) She will visit with her and spend time working on her condo again.

Nina talked to the social worker yesterday and was told that ML is talking about coming back here again. She must be missing me muchly. I have that effect on people ya know.

We went for a hike today after I picked her up from the her father’s home. She chose the place with the rocks and decided to wade in the small amount of water flowing throughout the canyon.

Erin spent a longer time with us last week and a shorter time with them this past weekend. Not sure why this happened, other than Will going hunting. In my mind that doesn’t make much sense since Belle would love to spend the time with Erin. Oh well, not in my pay grade.

Rumor Central Here Peoples

The rumor being spread by LaRisa Cafe is that Arrow’s Ridge is CLOSED! LIES, NOT TRUE!  Arrow’s Ridge is still open and doing fine. When pressed about the rumor, I was told that it came from Arrow’s Ridge. Also a lie, I’m sure. I have assured those that were told this scurrilous lie that all is well with Arrow’s Ridge and it’s business as (better than) normal.

Jake, I know you’re probably not reading this but the A.R. crowd are doing fine.

Dennis

I heard from Dennis this morning.  He’s in Chicago at his sister’s house. His trip to date has been everything he hoped for and possibly more. I’m jealous, except for the cold weather travel. Getting too old for that shit.

 We went to Arrow’s Ridge for an intimate brunch today. A smaller crowd than normal, but moving into the holiday season I think it’s more normal. There was a new addition to the brunch, live music following the meal. Mark, a recent transplant to the area, brought his guitar and we spent an hour enjoying his renditions of some of the older songs. Great morning!

The photo of Nina was taken on top of a ceremonial mound located on the way to Arrow’s Ridge, along Route 3. Nina was standing in the middle of 3 un-excavated kivas close to Arrow’s Ridge.

Joe’s road is finally fixed. About time too. HUGE event headed his way.

Catherine and . . .

Catherine is moving east for a period to see if her L.D.R. will actually be worth a permanent move east. L.D.R. = long distance relationship. She and the LDR have been an item now for 4½ years and they need to move to the next step. Best wishes Catherine.

Erin and . . .

Erin is driving me batshit crazy this visit. There is no down time for her this time and she never relents.

Tori and . . .

I haven’t seen much of Tori lately. She’s leaving tomorrow for Denver. Drive safe.

Nina and . . .

Nina is under the weather, but she’s making me take her to dinner anyway. I guess she’s wishing to contaminate others than family. What a giver!

Finally, me.

I’m bored. Maybe I do need a motorcycle. Dennis thinks I need one. Nina says it will make me a better lover. Tori thinks I look thinner when I sit on a bike. Erin says “do it Pake!” Rebecca feels that I need that tan model. (Harley sales chick) Jeannie wonders if I have her in my will. (no) Andy wants to borrow it. (no) Mom just says NO!

I know I shouldn’t be bored, I have a lot on my plate, but it’s so routine nowadays. I spent 3 hours in Vegas yesterday with the lodger’s tax board solving the problems of the county and we moved into solving problems for the forest service to boot. We decided to try and form a joint agency to promote tourism in the county’s forest service lands. The forest service is currently unaware of this plan. This should be fun.

My joint lodger’s tax agenda has moved to new heights. We’ve spent $240,000 dollars already on this and we still have $60,000 available for the remainder of this year. I’m thinking new Jeep Grand Cherokee with the county and city joint tourism logo on the side to justify me driving the Jeep on the government’s dime. Hey, it’s the city’s money, so it should be fine with the county, right?

See . . . routine. I need excitement in my life now. Maybe an affair rather than a motorcycle? If Nina finds out, a motorcycle would be safer. Maybe I just need a vacation. A trip to southern Europe in January sounds great. I could rent a motorcycle and tour Italy and other countries in that area. Africa? Safari? Killing big animals?

Shit.

Republicans and democrats are just different cheeks of the same ass.

Wow, I updated Nina’s and my computers yesterday to the latest operating system (OS) and what a chore. I’m guessing 8+ hours in the process for them combined. If it were just the OS it would have been a cakewalk, but all the apps needed to do their updates to comply to the new OS. Restarted them way too many times to count. Nina’s was the worst, but now I have hers set up to auto update for everything. Set her phone and iPad to that too.

HEY DENNIS

Don’t return today, it’s raining.

Poker

Last night I played poker at Curt’s, without Curt. Mickey hosted the game so I showed and won again. $6! Hey Nina, you can buy that bracelet you wanted now! It was a fun night but Joe left early. Weenie.

I enjoyed picking on Jiminy and Ted. Always fun to rip those two. I even got a shot or two at that old man of the game, Dan. I think he served in the Civil War, but I’m not sure of which side he was on. Out here it could have been either side.

Erin

Cute?  I think so.

Nina

Cute? I think so.

THIS SCAM CAN BE DONE ANYWHERE, AT ANY RETAIL OR WHOLESALE LOCATION!!!

It happened at a Wal-Mart Supercenter a month ago.

I bought a bunch of stuff, over $150, & I glanced at my receipt as the cashier was handing me the bags. I saw a cash-back of $40. I told her I didn’t request a cash back & to delete it.
She said I’d have to take the $40 because she couldn’t delete it. I told her to call a supervisor.

Supervisor came & said I’d have to take it! I said NO! Taking the $40 would be a cash advance against my Discover & I wasn’t paying interest on the cash advance!!!!! If they couldn’t delete it then they would have to delete the whole order.
So the supervisor had the cashier delete the whole order & rescan everything!

The second time I looked at the electronic tab before I signed & a cash-back of $20 popped up. At that point I told the cashier & she deleted it.

The total came out right. the cashier agreed that the electronic pad must be defective. (yeah, right!)

Obviously the cashier knew the electronic pad wasn’t defective because she NEVER offered me the $40 at the beginning.
Can you imagine how many people went through before me & at the end of her shift how much money she pocketed?

Just to alert everyone. My coworker went to Milford , DE Wal-Mart last week. She had her items rung up by the cashier. The cashier hurried her along and didn’t give her a receipt.

She asked the cashier for a receipt and the cashier was annoyed and gave it to her.
My coworker didn’t look at her receipt until later that night. The receipt showed that she asked for $20 cash back. SHE DID NOT ASK FOR CASH BACK!

My coworker called Wal-Mart who investigated but could not see the cashier pocket the money. She then called her niece who works for the bank and her niece told her This is a new scam. The cashier will key in that you asked for cash back and then hand it to her friend who is the next person in line.

Please, please, please check your receipts right away when using credit or debit cards!

This is NOT limited to Wal-Mart, although they are the largest retailer so they have the most incidents.

I am adding to this…. My husband and I were in Wal-Mart North Salisbury and paying with a credit card. When my husband went to sign the credit card signer, he just happened to notice there was a $20 cash back added. He told the cashier that he did not ask nor want cash back and she said this machine has been messing up and she canceled it.
We didn’t think anything of it until we read this email.

I wonder how many “seniors” have been, or will be, “stung” by this one????

BEFORE LEAVING THE CASHIER’S STATION!!!!!
CHECK YOUR RECEIPT
BEFORE LEAVING THE STAND. I’VE SEEN PEOPLE DO JUST THAT. NOW I’LL START!

PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS, KIDS, LOVED ONES

• Pilates today. Last one of the month.
• Probably taking Erin to the Children’s Museum today.
• Talked to Barbara Hall yesterday. She should be here by T’Day.
• Emailed Lindsey about a Christmas party at Arrow’s Ridge and she’s up for combining the 2 parties into one large group. More people, more fun.
• Thinking about downgrading from .45’s to 9 mm’s due to ammo cost. .45’s are freaking expensive! Bulk ammo is 50¢ per bullet. Stupid.
• Snow in the mountains behind us.
• Going to Chicago for T’day.
• No surprises this trip Tori!
• The weatherliar chick is telling me that there’ll be rain this weekend.
• Dinner in Vegas tonight.
• Rereading the above makes me realize that I’ve got a shitload of driving ahead of me today.
• Speaking of a shitload of driving, Dennis is in Wisconsin currently. Trip is going well and he’s enjoying himself.
• #hashtag? I’m sick of hearing the word. Why does a social media term have to come up in verbal communication?
• That’s all.