Report of the Week

Sunday – May 13, 2012

Mother's Day
 In honor of Mother's Day our ward had no leadership meetings before church. I got to stay home and get ready with Mar. We still drove two cars because I didn't know what was going to happen after church.
In the afternoon we had a light lunch and a nice walk.

In the evening we had Mother's Day company. Breanne and Ben came for dinner. Erica and Rich and the girl's came for dinner. We took a nice little walk over to the park. And all of the other kids called to talk to their Mom. Yes, Mar and I called our Mom's also. It was a good day.

And as long as we are talking Mother's Day – here is the baby bird report. They are hatched and are growing. It is a LOT harder to get a good picture now because the mama and papa robins are EXTEMELY protective. I never noticed what the beak of a robin looks like until now. Look one over some time. They are vicious weapons. When we go onto the back porch they sit there all fluffed up and angry looking. Then if you start getting close to the nest, they fly at you and veer away at about 2 feet from your face while screaming in their most demonistic robin voices. It is scary. They have never hit me, and I don't think they would, but it is unnerving never the less. At any rate, the babies are starting to feather out and are eating worms. (A Google search says they should leave the nest in 14 to 21 days from the time they hatched, so they have to grow pretty quick. It also says the mother will then start a new brood – but mar and I have decided that won't happen on our porch simply because we really can't use our patio with this kind of vigilante behavior going on.)

Saturday – May 12, 2012
 I woke up in Tucson, Arizona.
 Then I drove to the airport and flew home. Nothing to report on that flight. It left on time. It landed on time. All was going well until I went to get my luggage. I had two medium sized pieces. Only one got put on the plane. I was polite while I made the claim. Then I drove home. The errant piece of luggage showed up via courier service at about 5:000 in the evening.

Mar and I did a lot of planning and yard work in the afternoon. It was overcast so it was very nice to work outside.

In the evening we went to the Ward Talent Show. Mar displayed a wall-hanging that was painting with thread. Otherwise we just enjoyed being together.

Friday – May 11, 2012
 I woke up in Tucson, Arizona
 Jogged for 1 ½ miles.

Today was the last day of class. I think this class went very well. Still I am glad that it is over.

In Tucson, my students always tell things to go see. Now granted, generally the touristy things close at 5:00, which puts them out of my time frame. Today, they just told me to go see a couple of things.

The first was the bone yards at Davis-Montham Air Force Base. It is where they "park" old military aircraft that has been retired. It is not a real tourist destination, but it is a sight to see. There are acres and acres of planes just parked. Some f them have been dismantled so that their inactive state can be verified on satellite images. Most of them are just parked. Probably never to fly again.

This is a couple of pictures from Google Earth - just so you can get a feeling of what is in the Bone Yard.  Notice that some of the planes are dis-assembled - a treaty requirement so that it can be viewed by satellites that the planes are totally inoperative.

The other place they sent me to was Texas Canyon. It is about an hour from Tucson on I10 – going towards El Paso. Really it is not worth an hour drive. It is just a rest stop where the rock formations have pushed up through the otherwise deserty ground. I guess It would be cool if it was closer, but driving an hour to see a rest stop? Come on.  But what else was I going to do.

 

How often do you get to see a sign like this - and the insects? They are talking about scorpions.

I just liked this feathery stalk from a yucca.  It is my asthestic side coming out.

Mar spent the day at Erica's house. They were supposed to do some sewing. They didn't. They shopped ad talked and enjoyed life.
Thursday – May 10, 2012
 I woke up in Tucson, Arizona
 Jogged – slow jog that is – for 5K.

Started the second class today – but it is the same people. It went well, so what else is there to say. Except that the power went out in te afternoon. Not to worry, I just continued teaching with a white board discussion.

And then I did not very much in the evening.

Mar did more than I did. She did her exercising – despite her shin splints. She finished some sewing. And she had a girls camp meeting this evening.

Wednesday – May 9, 2012
 I woke up in Tucson, Arizona.

Class went well today. I actually finished the first class.

Weather was unsettled in Tucson. Wind and a little bit of rain.

The last time I was in Tucson, the class sent me to dinner at a place called Lil' Abners. The time before that they sent me to Pinnacle Peak. Both were about the same – a minimum menu (you get a house salad, meat [steak, ribs or chicken], beans, a potato and toast). Both were pretty good. So this night I was pondering where to go for dinner – and scanning some options and saw one called Daisy Mae's. Without any information other than the address – I went. Yep, it was the same type of place. I am thinking they may all be commonly owned. And all of them have "historical significance".
Pinnacle Peak is in an old western movie set .

Lil' Abner's was an old trading post.

Daisy Mae's is one of the oldest buildings in Southern Arizona. It has been an Army outpost, a saloon, a stage coast stop and a brothel. It is also said to be haunted by a man who was knifed in a brothel fight over a woman.

It was a fun place to go and the food was pretty good – but I may have to try for some veggies tomorrow.

Mar did her exercises, even though she is suffering a bad case of shin splints. She also got everything ready and worked at young women's helping the girls make matching pajama pants for girl's camp. I feel bad that I wasn't there to help her carry sewing machines and all – but she is independent and just gets it all done.

Tuesday – May 8, 2012
 I woke up in Tucson, Arizona.
 I went out and ran 3 ¼ miles this morning – a good two point start for the Strength of Stones.

I taught my class today and it went very well – but with nothing real important to report.

This evening I went to Sabino Canyon Recreation Area which is on the northern edge of Tucson. It is a desert canyon that is set aside for recreation activities. In the rainy season, there are waterfalls. Now, all is dry. Still it is a beautiful place. I went for a 3 mile hike and enjoyed it a lot. I saw a lot of cactus and a lot of bunny rabbits. There were also quails and a few little darting lizards – and birds. It is different now than when I went to Saguaro National Park six weeks ago. Now the Saguaro are in bloom which is interesting and pretty.

And with that hike – I got 3 exercise points today.

Otherwise – I had dinner and went back to the motel.

Mar had a busy day with a lot of errands and then she had Relief Society in the evening. They had a workshop on Fairy Gardens, and Mar has built a little Fairy House to take and show. She also stretched her walk for the day. She has a route that takes her over a mile with hills. I am proud of her and how she is working to get in shape.

Monday – May 7, 2012
I woke up in Tucson, Arizona.

I am here to teach two classes at Raytheon. I have taught at Raytheon a number of times and generally I find them enjoyable classes. This week I have 12 engineers in the class. After one day I can tell that this will be a good class. They are all bright and anxious to learn which makes the class better to teach. We did have a little bit of drama starting the class. Evidently over the weekend, Raytheon had a "security incident" and because of that some of the server systems were shut down. One server was needed in the class. Brenda, my contact at Raytheon, got right on that and had it all solved.

In the morning I jogged for 1.5 miles. However I wasn't very good on other aspects of the Strength of Stones challenge. I am ashamed to say that I can only claim one point this day with a clear conscience.

I did very little in the evening. Teaching just wears me out.

Other news about the day in Tucson:
    I am staying at the Fairfield Inn by the airport. It is okay. The room is nice. They have a breakfast of sorts in the morning.
    My car is a Toyota Camry. It is interesting that it is the same model of car that I had in Chicago last week, so I know all of the buttons.

    It rained and was cold in Longmont. Mar said it was nice to have the moisture.