Eric and Sharlene's family events, year 2009 ...

Welcome to the year 2009, at the family page of Eric and Sharlene's web site. Click on the of choice to relive a family from this year, or scroll down to read the day-by-day mundane things that we've done this year.

August 22, 2009: We celebrate Casey's 28th birthday with an outdoor birthday party on our patio.
July 11, 2009: After visiting Casey, Tim, family and friends, we take the scenic route home and manage to get our Toyota Camry stuck.
April 12, 2009: We celebrate Easter Sunday with a fun family get-together and a fantastic dinner.
February 01, 2009: We celebrate Superbowl XLIII with a super feast!

The following section features write-ups from the the year 2009:

December 22, 2009: Started today out by going on a 4+ mile walk/run, then got my blood pressure checked (it's ok) before spending the rest of my day's free time honing my sports skills on our new Wii. Sharlene went to work, did Christmas shopping, and wrapped presents. We're getting ready for Christmas!

December 21, 2009: Well, we've finally arrived in the 21st century, as now our household sports a Nintendo Wii, which is the perfect mate for our high def television. Wow! Now I see what I've been missing out of... this thing is fantastic!

December 19, 2009: I went back to work, after lying around the house, doing next to nothing, recooperating from my pulled wisdom tooth. I wasn't trying to be a big baby, I just wanted to avoid any unpleasant things that could happen if the thing opened up.

December 17, 2009: I emerged victorious from the dentist, missing a wisdom tooth. I didn't feel a thing, as I was totally "knocked out" and the next thing I new, I was in another room, and Sharlene was talking to me. Acutally, I got off very easy, as there was no bleeding and very little pain, but I was beyond sleepy. I called in sick to work that day.

December 8, 2009: Went to the dentist today for a checkup, and got the joyous news that I get to have a wisdom tooth pulled next week, which will be a new experience for me. We're still trying to get this thing to work under Windows 7, but at least I got to take some time out to play with my ham radio gear before going to work today.

December 9, 2009: Today's big event: My sister-in-law Robin, and I upgraded my notebook computer to Windows 7! I'm still struggling with it, and she's still helping me to iron out the bugs...

December 3, 2009: Sharlene went back to work today, so that left me home alone to check into a couple of radio nets and update this web site before going to work.

December 2, 2009: After six blissful days off from work, I finally had to go back, which wasn't particularly an easy thing to do.

November 29, 2009: Sharlene and I went over to her mom's place for breakfast, as they were having a special Sunday brunch to celebrate the holiday. The food was excellent! I sort of excused myself a little early, as I wanted to get home and watch football, and watch the 49'ers WIN! Later, I watched Canada's Grey Cup on the Internet, and was sorry to see the Saskatchewan Roughriders loose by a mere 2 points, and a stupid penalty.

November 28, 2009: Today was Sharlene's birthday, and her mom and stepfather took all of out to dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory, in Sunrise Blvd in Roseville, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner.

November 27, 2009: We needed a day to recuperate after the previous day of too much to eat and drink, so Sharlene and I just sat around the house. She watched movies, and I spent the day playing with my ham radio gear and watching college football on TV.

November 26, 2009: Thanksgiving Day... I spent the morning putting up outdoor Christmas lights, as it was supposed to rain the day after Thanksgiving, and putting up lights in the rain isn't in my job description. We had the typical turkey dinner, with all the trimmings, including Sharlene's mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, and a whole lot more. The meal was a to-die-for meal, albeit most likely gigantic in calories. We had around 15 people over at one time or another. The outdoor Christmas lights were turned on for the first time tonight.

November 24, 2009: Sharlene had to work today, so I stayed around the house doing fun things like attaching new wheels to our hand truck, ripping out a couple of tomato plants, and getting out outdoor Christmas lights, so see what we need to do to put them up. I plan to put up the outdoor Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving. Before going to work today, I spent time working on this web site. Gosh, I'm tired!

November 24, 2009: Sharlene had to work today, so I stayed around the house doing fun things like attatching new wheels to our hand truck, ripping out a couple of tomato plants, and getting out outdoor Christmas lights, so see what we need to do to put them up. I plan to put up the outdoor Christmas lights the day after Thanksgiving. Before going to work today, I spent time working on this website. Gosh, I'm tired!

November 21 - 22, 2009: Today was the day that Sharlene's mom and step-dad moved to Roseville. No, they don't live with us, as they live in an senior, assisted-living apartment complex that is quite close by. Actually, I didn't see much of Sharlene, or anybody else, as I stayed home, and everybody was else helping the parents get situated.

November 20, 2009: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed a custom-prepared meal of S.O.S. for breakfast at Aviator's Restaurant. Later in the day, I worked on ham radio antennas, and the web site a bit, and got everything ready for rain.

November 10, 2009: Had a wonderful day off from work, so it gave me a gigantic chance to work on this web site, surf the web, and acquire many new ham radio contacts.

November 08, 2009: Returned from an awesome weekend of visitin my son, Matthew, and enjoying some fine dining, and four wheeling. Posted much of it on Facebook, where most of the future comments will be directed.

November 02, 2009: I'm not going to be updating this blog as religiously as I have been due to the fact that Sharlene, most of the family, and I are now on Facebook, so we find it unecessary to duplicate our daily happenings. Heck, 99% of everybody looks to Facebook before this web page, so I'm thinkin' that I'll get with the program. We'll have stuff posted here, but the day-to-day stull fill be directed to Facebook.

October 24, 2009: Sharlene began a 72-hour shift, as there aren't any unions in her line of work. As for me, I worked around the house in the morning, and during the afternoon, I played with my ham radio equipment, and updated this web site. My activities were cut quite short, as I had to work this weekend

October 20, 2009: Sharlene now come out of retirement, and now has a job providing in-home care and companionship for elderly clients. Her hours vary, but she now works several days a week. I started on an urban renewal project in my den, as I'm attempting to bring some order to the chaos that surrounds my computer and ham radio gear.

October 17, 2009: I'm off work for the weekend, so I got up early, and went for a six-mile hike to help me, at age 57, retain my 18-year-old figure, then spent a couple of hours picking limes from the tree in the back yard, squeezing lime juice, and freezing the juice for further use. Then, it was time to turn on the television, and watch college football, work on the computer, wait for Sharlene and her mom and step-father to arrive, enjoy a few beers... geeezzz... will finish the rest tomorrow!

October 16, 2009: I got up early, so I could attend today's breakfast club meeting, but Sharlene had to get up early too, as she planned to travel to the Bay Area, to spend some time with her mom and step-dad, and bring them to our place the following day. Yikes! After breakfast, I took my daily walk, worked on the computer, and sadly, went to work.

October 14, 2009: After taking my morning walk, I spent most of the morning cleaning up after yesterday's storm, mostly raking up leaves, broken twigs, and other debris from the neighbor's trees. The only damage that we suffered is one of my tomato plants blew over, but the season for them is pretty well finished anyway. However, at about 1100, we had a thunderstorm that dumped over a 1/2" of rain in only 15 minutes... it was awesome to watch the rain coming down so hard.

October 13, 2009: We had a powerful storm blow in from the Pacific, in fact it's the most powerful storm that I've ever seen this early in the season, packing the punch that we normally see in January storms. In a 24-hour period, we received 2.39" of rain, and the storm had sustained wind gusts of 30-plus miles per hours, and I recorded a 48-mph gust early Tuesday morning. Despite the strong wind and driving rain, I took my daily walk and got soaked, but it was fun.

October 12, 2009: I had planned a three-week vacation, but considering the issues that I encountered, not to mention a very powerful, but early rain storm due to tomorrow caused my to phone my boss and go back to work this afternoon. Another sad fact: I've gained about three pounds during the last two weeks, so for the foreseeable future, it's back to being 99% vegetarian, and about 98-1/2% alcohol free. The daily 5-mile walks also help.

October 11, 2009: We arrived home from spending the weekend in Merced, visiting with most members of our immediate family, and many friends that we hadn't seen for quite some time. The event was our niece, Lauren's wedding, and she is now Mrs. Richard Stokes. We took the opportunity to welcome Rick into the family, and we know he'll make an excellent nephew. A great time was had by all. You can read more about it by looking up any of us on Facebook.

October 09, 2009: I managed to get myself on local television, as my buddy Dan and I visited Hot Dog Island, and enjoyed a meal of free bratwurst, and lots of fun! I had to take a 6-mile hike to work off the brats, but it was worth it. Then, I spent the rest of the day working on the web site, and later in the evening, playing with my ham radio on 75 meters.

October 04, 2009: I spent the last couple of days catching up from my vacation, doing things like cleaning the truck, working in the yard, and enjoying many ham radio contacts on the California QSO Party.

October 01, 2009: OK, it's been quite awhile, but I came back from a week of vacation, doing ham radio stuff, and exploring the wilds of western Nevada. Not much to say...

Sept 18, 2009: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed a wonderful meeting at Harry's Café, for a very different outlook on breakfast. Sharlene babysat Kaylene, as her mom, along with others, did girl time, so the grand parents get to babysit the kid? Is that right? Well, it's just what grandparents do. I had the day off work, so it was time to grill bratwurst later, along with stuffed baked potatoes, and generally enjoy life before the work week began on the morrow.

Sept. 15, 2009: Exciting day for Sharlene and I, as I got up, made my lunch, went on my daily hike for health, worked on antennas, and wound up the day working on this web site before going to work. Sharlene also had an exciting day, as she took a bunch of Robin's stuff to storage, and then went grocery shopping.

Sept. 12, 2009: Back to work this weekend for me, but I spent much of the day working on projects around the house. Sharlene went to a baby shower for one of Tim's brothers, in Yuba City. At work, I spent much of my time working on the web site, which is a lot more important than the stuff that I'm supposedly getting paid to do.

Sept.11, 2009: Another day off, I got up early in the morning, and took a hike to downtown Roseville, and enjoyed breakfast at Denny's Café, which is a funky little restaurant and a good place to enjoy breakfast. I then hiked over to Denio's, and bummed around there, before heading home. Alltogether, I hiked nearly 10 miles, but wasn't so tired that I couldn't work on some projects in the garage.

Sept. 09, 2009: I had the day off from work, and spent much of the day working in the back yard, and finishing a couple of ham radio antenna projects. For dinner, I smoked pork and cabbage, on the outdoor smoker, and Sharlene made Spanish rice, for an absolutely delicious dinner.

Sept. 04, 2009: A day our lives: Get off work at midnight. Revile at 0630. Breakfast with gang at Lodge Coffee Shop at 0800. Home at 0930 to make lunch. Go on my walk; get home at 1130. Go on ham radio net at noon. Write up today's Sacramento Breakfast Club meeting. Upload files to the web server at 1400. Surf the web until 1445. Take a shower, shave, and get dressed for work. Leave house at 1510. Arrive at work at 1550. Start work at 1600. Such is a day in my life. Sharlene had the day somewhat more interesting, as after breakfast, she babysat Sharon's children, while Sharon and Casey ran errands.

Sept. 01, 2009: Finally... September, and later this month, vacation. Meanwhile, after taking a long walk and dining at a new restaurant for breakfast, I installed my new dipole antenna, and spent much of the afternoon on the radio. Then, it was another relaxing evening on the patio. Sharlene and Robin continue working to get Robin settled in.

Aug. 31, 2009: Monday morning, and its back to work for me, but it didn't stop me from working outside on a new antenna for most of the day. Sharlene and Robin started the long process of unpacking and getting Robin settled in.

Aug. 30, 2009: I got up and took a hike over to Denio's Flea market, which is one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday morning. Of course I came home with some goodies. I spent most of the afternoon working on my new antenna, and then spent the whole evening sitting on the patio, playing with my new radio.

Aug. 29, 2009: Wisely, so as to avoid lots of work moving Robin in, I got up early in the morning and drove to Chico to attend the Chico Air Show, as I love airplanes. When I got home, "the boys" were moving Robin's stuff upstairs, and the living room looked like a storage shed. It's only temporary. Since everybody was tired, we ended up ordering pizza for dinner, which brings no complaints to me.

Aug. 25, 2009: Sharlene left to spend a few days with her sister, as her sister will be moving in with us this coming weekend. With me home-alone, it gave me to catch up on some long-neglected web work. Oh yes, my finger has healed to where I can type again. We also purchased a new set of tires for the Camry.

Aug. 23, 2009: Sharlene and I got up earlier to clean up after last night's party, which was a 2-hour job to get everything squared away. After that chore, I headed over to Denio's for my daily walk, to enjoy the women, beer and hot dogs. When I got home, I started working on a ham radio antenna, but suffered a bit of an accident, as I chopped into my left middle finger with a pair of razor-sharp scissors and made a deep gash. It bled like a stuck pig, and I thought that I was ER bound, but we managed to stop the bleeding and bandage it up. The problem is I can't hardly use my left hand, which is catastrophic for a typist.

August 22, 2009: Sharlene, Casey, some friends, and even myself busied ourselves decorating the patio and getting things ready for tonight's party. I managed to duck out of my duties and install a couple of radio antennas on the roof of the truck.

August 21, 2009: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed a delicious breakfast at Brookfield's Restaurant, and I had the day off from work! Unfortunately, I spent most of the day working in the garage and the back yard, attending to long-overdue projects.

Aug. 18, 2009: We purchased a new set of tires for the van, at a cost of $575.00.

Aug. 16, 2009: A very busy day around our house. Sharlene and I got up and ate breakfast together, and I left for my daily 5-mile hike, to keep in shape. When I returned, Sharlene and left for church, and I didn't see her for the rest of the day, as she went to a girlfriend's house to attend a birthday party for her 2-year old twin boys. (Gee, I missed it!!!!) As for me, I'm still trying to get used to my new radio, so I spent a bunch of time playing with it. But it wasn't all play, as I worked in the back yard, worked in the garden, and cleaned the garage. In the late afternoon, I had to pack up my gear and head to work.

Aug. 14, 2009: I received a new high frequency ham radio, and spent much of the day learning how to use it. I also hooked up a new XM radio in my car. Sharlene acquired a new set of tires for the van, to the tune of $575.00. I have to work this weekend, but have lots of plans for next weekend..

Aug. 11 & 12, 2009: I called in to work both days, as I just couldn't handle going back to work. Sharlene took off to the Bay Area to attend to some personal business, as I just hung around the house and worked on some projects that needed to be done.

Aug. 09, 2009; While gassing up the truck, I noticed a crumpled bill on the ground, and when I picked it up, I couldn't believe my eyes: A $100.00 bill! My lucky day!

Aug. 08, 2009: I had a three-day weekend off from work, so I took a camping and four wheeling trip to the Sierras, in the Tahoe National Forest. I was gone until Monday morning, and had a great time.

Aug. 07, 2009: I got up early this morning and enjoyed a delicious meal with my buddies in the Sacramento Breakfast Club at the Fox and Goose, which serves authentic British cuisine. When I got home, I worked around the house, worked on this web site, and then went to work.

Aug. 05, 2009: Another typical work day, in that I get up, make breakfast and lunch, take my morning walk, work out in the yard for an hour or so, watch the news on TV, and then spend the remainder of my free time working on this web site, surfing the web, or playing with my ham radio gear.

Aug 02, 2009: I actually slept in, to try to regain some sleep that I messed yesterday, and spent the morning over at Denio's and enjoyed a fine hot dog or two. Sharlene's sister Robin came to visit for a couple of days, and I rounded out the day by grilling chicken, corn and potatoes.

Aug. 01, 2009: After getting off work at midnight, I got up at 0330, so I could participate in the Tevis Cup horse race. Myself, and 6 other amateur radio operators, provided radio communications for the event at the important checkpoint of Robinson Flat, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Someday, I'll post a write-up on our sister web site www.ericrench.com.

July 31, 2009: Busy, busy, busy! Got up early and started the day out by enjoying a delicious breakfast at Charlie's Cafe with my buddies. When I got home, I spent the remainder of the day getting ready for the Tevis Cup horse race. I'm one of the many amateur radio operators that's providing communications for the event.

July 29, 2009: I finally published on the web last week's breakfast adventure at Original Perry's, and spent most of the morning and early afternoon doing work in the back yard before going to work.

July 27, 2009: I've been off work for the last 4 days, but if you can believe it, I've been too busy to surf the web, much less update this web site! It seemed like there were many projects that I had to catch up on, with lots of work in the back yard. I spent much of the weekend working on my ham radio antennas, while Sharlene is currently engaged in a huge urban renewal project inside. Busy days aournd out household!

July 26, 2009: Oh baby! I wen't hot doggin' and went to Hot Dog Island. Wow! Hot dog heaven! As soon as I can, I'll be posting a write-up on the restaurant review pages of this web site.

July 22, 2009: My day today: Make dinner in advance to eat at work, go on my daily walk, work in the yard, do a little ham radio, work on this web site, and finally go to work at 1600. Sharlene kept herself busy today doing projects around the house, and a bit of re-arranging things.

July 19, 2009: So far, the hottest day of the year, with a "low" of 68.9, and a scorthing high of 109.6! I stayed inside and worked on the web site, but the hot weather didn't stop Sharlene from going grocery shopping...

July 18, 2009: Another weekend alone, with the exception of Tim, Casey, and the cats, as it's another weekend where Sharlene spends the weekend at her mom's. After my morning walk, I spent the day playing with my ham radio gear, working on my Facebook profile, and updating this web site. Before leaving for work, I glanced at the thermometer, and it read a comfy 104 degrees outside.

July 16, 2009: I had a day off work, so I installed a new radio in Sharlene's van, and cleaned the garage from top to bottom. Later in the day, I played with my ham radio gear, and finally ended the day bo smoking some turkey, potatoes, and cabbage.

July 15, 2009: So far the hottest day of the year, with a high of 105.4, and a "low" of 67.8.

July 14, 2009: Sharlene and Casey finally got everything back to normal from the camping t

July 14, 2009: Sharlene and Casey finally got everything back to normal from the camping trip. Finally the July heat has returned, as at this writing, at 02:25 PM, it's 101 degrees in beautiful Roseville. Sure glad we have air conditioning!

July 12, 2009: Kick back day at our house, as Sharlene went to church with one of her friends. I elected instead to hike over to Denio's and do a few of my favorite things: Watch beautiful women, eat hot dogs, and drink beer. I spent the rest of the day sitting out on the patio, enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

July 11, 2009: Sharlene and I took a drive up to Long Ravine to enjoy lunch with Tim, Casey, and the rest of the gang, and check out their camp site. On the way home, we took a detour which led to a dead-end road, and in turning the Camry around, I got it stuck! Four wheeling in a Camry? We had to call a tow truck to get it unstuck; fortunately there was no damage to the car, but the affair left a lot of egg on my face...

July 10, 2009: Stayed home from work for third day, and am starting to feel like a human being again. Casey, Tim, friends and family packed up OUR van, and OUR truck, and left for a four day camping trip. It looked a little odd to see two of our vehicles being driven away...

Jully 08, 2009: After taking my morning walk and working in the yard, I suddenly come down with a fever, and feel shaky. I called in sick to work... Sharlene and Casey went shopping.

July 05, 2009: I spent much of the morning bumming around Denio's, taking photos, enjoying hot dogs, and making a pest of myself, while Sharlene went shopping. Sunday evening, I smoked a chicken, baked potatoes, and made salsa verde, all on the outdoor smoker. Food for the next week!

July 04, 2009: We didn't do much for the holiday, except work around the house, relax, and enjoy the neighborhood fireworks after dark.

July 01, 2009: After taking my morning walk, I spent an hour or two making pinto beans and hamburger, for a pot luck at work tonight. Then, it was time to go on the computer, work on the web site, and play with my ham radio gear. By the way, the weather has cooled down, and today's temperature should only reach the upper 90's.

June 29, 2009: My excitement today was a trip to the dentist to get my crown attatched, which took less than a half hour from start to finish. It's another hot day, at the time this was written, 1:30 in the afternoon, the outside temperature is 103.4 degrees.

June 28, 2009: Sharlene returned from a weekend at the beach to a very hot day in Roseville, as the morning low was "only" 74.2 degrees, with a high reaching 108.5, making it the hottest day of the year so far. I had my issues, as I had a crown fall off a tooth as I was eating breakfast.

June 27, 2009: Sharlene is gone to the beach with girlfriends, and I pretty much have the house to myself... so I simply goof off and play with my ham radio gear all day before going to work. At work, I extend my goof-off streak by writing up yesterday's Breakfast Club adventure, but I had to wait until I got home to upload it to the web server. It's risky to upload files from work!

June 26, 2009: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed breakfast today at one of the local I.H.O.P. restaurants, which is a departure from our usual m.o. Today, Sharlene left with friends for a weekend at the beach; the story of my life is that I have to work the weekend.

June 25, 2009: Sharlene and Jacquie put Paris on a plane to take him home, and later spent the afternoon visiting friends and shopping.

June 24, 2009: Jacquie wanted to have a little get-together at our place, so we invited a few friends and family members over and threw a rare, Wednesday night party. We had lots of good food to eat, and lots of cold beer to drink, and it was a nice night to sit outside and relax on the patio.

June 18, 2009: Sharlene and I worked around the house today, as she cleaned house, and I performed long-overdue maintenance in the back yard. I guess the highlight of the day was installing tomato cages on the tomato plants... gee, I need a life! We have three pepper plants, three tomato plants and one eggplant, all in pots, for this year's garden.

June 13, 2009: Sharlene, Casey and Tim traveled to San Francisco to visit Casey's grandparents, who they haven't had a chance to see in a long time. Before going to work today, I worked on the web site, caught up on my email, and checked into a couple of ham radio nets on high frequency.

June 12, 2009: Attended a Sacramento Breakfast Club meeting at Evan's Kitchen, which is a fantastic restaurant in East Sacramento. At home, I worked in the back yard before going to work for the evening.

June 09, 2009: Before going to work today, I enjoyed my twice-a-year dental checkup, so I got to spend some quality time at the dentist.

June 07, 2009: I started out the day by hiking over to Denio's, as I enjoy wandering around the place, drinking beer, eating hot dogs, and people watching. Plus, you never know when you'll find a bargain, or something that you just can't live without. When I got home, I fired up the smoker, and smoked a chicken and salsa verde, with beans and tortillas on the side...

June 06, 2009: Another day of working out in the yard, continuing to work on the large ham radio antenna that I'm making for high frequency transmission and reception. I also trimmed bushes, sprayed weeds, and generally cleaned up the yard. The garden is coming along fine, and we should be enjoying eggplant, tomatoes and peppers in the next couple of weeks or so.

June 02, 2009: I spent a hard day out in the back yard, digging post holes and painting 10-foot posts for a ham radio antenna project that I'm currently working on. Our cable TV record box broke, so we had the cable guy out today to fix it. After digging post holes all day, I dragged myself into work, quite tired.

May 31, 2009: Sharlene returned home after spending the weekend in the Bay Area with her mom and stepfather, as I spent the weekend, slaving away at work.

May 29, 2009: I attended another meeting of the Sacramento Breakfast Club at Carol's Restaurant, in West Sacramento. Sharlene enjoyed lunch with her friends Joy and Carol (not the restaurant Carol!) and then spent a portion of the day shopping... Yeah!!! I worked on the web site, played with some of my ham radio gear, and rounded out the day by going to work.

May 26, 2009: I spent all day installing a full-wave loop antenna, resonant for the 75-meter ham band. The thing works great! Back to work on May 26th...

May 23-25, 2009: I took off and went camping with my brothers, at Jerseydale Campground, in beautiful Mariposa County. We had a great time!

May 19, 2009: I took down the antenna that Tim and I put up, as it was just too ugly, even for me... I designed a "stealth" antenna, which will be a full-wave loop for the amateur 75 meter band, all 270 feet of wire.

May 17, 2009: Tim and I spent a good deal of the day putting up a radio antenna for some of my amateur radio activities. Only a couple of problems: Very difficult to erect and it's just plain ugly!

May 15, 2009: After enjoying a great breakfast with my group of friends, I rented a 12 foot extension ladder in anticipation of hgh frequency radio antenna work that I'm planning to do this weekend.

May 13, 2009: Yeah! Two wonderful things happened today... 1) Sharlene came back from Las Vegas safe and sound, 2) I finished the majority of the "grunt work" of painting the outside of the house. Lots of work remains to be done before this year's painting is finished.

May 11, 2009: Sharlene is still in Las Vegas visiting Jacquie, and I'm still painting the house, but I managed to get finished a bit early today which gave me time to update this web site. I should have most of it wrapped up in a couple of weeks.

May 08, 2009: I've spent this whole week working around the house, doing painting and other fix-it chores. Sharlene flew to Las Vegas today, to spend a few days with Jacquie and Paris to celebrate Mother's Day.

May 05, 2009: At work, we had an outstanding Cinco de Mayo pot luck, and we pigged-out on Mexican food, and other goodies.

May 03, 2009: Sharlene and I went to the local flea market today, in search of a special present for our grandson. It was rainy Sunday, which is very unusual for Roseville, and it seemed like we were the only buyers at the flea market! Needless to say, we didn't find what we were looking for.

May 02, 2009: Another weird rainy day in early May, but it doesn't stop me from spending a day off work from working around the house, and doing what else... painting! I'm not the only one, as Sharlene spent the day working upstairs, and reforming a junk room into a guest bedroom. After painting for 10 hours, I was able to spend a little time on the web, doing THIS! We received .20" of rain today.

May 1, 2009: It looks like rainy weather through the weekend, so my paint brush and bucket will have to wait for sunny weather, so I might just get a chance to work on the web some more. The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed a fantastic breakfast at Jim Denney's, in dowtown Sacramento. After breakfast, I worked on the web, and then went to work.

April 30, 2009: The past 2 days, all I've been doing in my spare time is painting; haven't even had time to check my email. All web work has been done clandestinely at work, and uploaded to the server when I got home. Today, Sharlene spent the day working on one of the upstairs bedrooms and cleaned the hot tub to get it ready for summer.

April 28, 2009: More painting for me, as I started working on the shed. 2009 seems to be the year for painting, as I have quite a few projects to accomplish. Sharlene started rearranging and organizing one of the rooms upstairs.

April 26, 2009: I cleaned up all of the paint from the gazebo and the patio, and cleaned everything, and then put it all back. After that was over, Tim and I put up a ham radio 20-meter antenna, which is only temporary. For dinner that evening, I grilled steak, potatoes and squash.

April 25, 2009: I spent most of the day spray painting the gazebo. Sharlene made delicious lentil soup for dinner. By dinner time, I was exhausted.

April 24, 2009: Friday, and I started out the day very early, driving to Galt to photograph U.P. 844 as she steamed from Stockton to Sacramento. When I got home, I took my daily walk, and then pressure washed, and masked the gazebo.

April 21, 2009: Gee, I actually got to sleep in until 0800, and then it was up and at 'em to start another busy day. After eating breakfast and making lunch, I took my daily walk, and then spent the remainder of the afternoon in the back yard, working on the gazebo. At 1600, it was time for another fun evening at work. Sharlene is between jobs, but she amused herself by cleaning house, and taking a fun trip to the grocery store.

April 20, 2009: I started out the day by getting up at 0630 and spending some time by the tracks, watching U.P. 844 leave Roseville for Oakland. Then, it was home to go for a long walk, fix lunch, and then start painting the gazebo. By the time it came to go to work I was exhaused, but somehow I managed to stay awake at work that evening. Casey started a new quarter at college today.

April 19, 2009: Another busy day, starting out with a long walk, and then the rest of the day spent in the back yard, trimming bushes, cleaning the patio area, and getting the gazebo ready for painting next weekend. Of couse I had to work later in the day. The good thing is that Sharlene arrived safely home from spending the weekend with her mom.

April 18, 2009: Sharlene was visiting her mom, and despite the fact that I had to work the weekend, I got up early and took a 10.41 mile walk, and spent an hour or so at the sprawling U.P. rail yard, ohhhing and awwwwwing over #844, the huge steam engine that I missed yesterday. Too soon, it was time to head home, make lunch, get cleaned up and go to work.

April 17, 2009: I enjoy a delicious breakfast with my buddies at Waffle Square, and later attempt to photograph U.P. 844 in action, but the train was late and I had to get to work on time, so I never got to photograph her. Sharlene left for the weekend to visit her mom.

April 14, 2009: Another big wind storm blew in, with gusts up to to 50 mph. Like the one a couple of weeks ago, this one made a mess, as we now have small twigs, dried blossoms, and pollen everywhere in the garage, and in the yard. Like I didn't have anything better to do, this will give me something to do with myself in the days to come.

April 12, 2009: Easter Sunday. After a day of relaxing, we had family members over for a very nice Easter dinner. We enjoyed a meal of ham, tri-tip, scalloped potatoes, mixed vegetables, and many appetizers and drinks.

April 11, 2009: I spent the day outside in the garage and the back yard, cleaning up debris from the big wind storm that we had a week or so ago. Sharlene cleaned house. We enjoyed a dinner of grilled fish tacos.

April 10, 2009: After a little over 2 days of nearly continuous rain, we received a little over an inch, which helped out the drought that the weather guys have been talking about. Sharlene and Casey went shopping for food for our upcoming Easter dinner.

April 7, 2009: We have a rain storm blowing in, so after my morning walk, I spent some time in the back yard getting things ready for rain; due to the 82 degree weather we had yesterday, rain was a far thing from my mind.

April 5, 2009: Sharlene and I spent practically all weekend working around the house, doing such mandane tasks as spring cleaning both inside and outside, getting the yard ready for spring and summer, testing sprinkler heads, and planting a small vegetable garden. Sunday night we had a barbecue, but I fell asleep and burned the pork to a crisp, so we had to go to "Plan B" in order to enjoy a delicious dinner.

April 3, 2009: I got up very early and went on an 8-mile walk before attending today's Sacramento Breakfast Club meeting. Then I spent the rest of the day working on the truck, attempting to track down a strange electrical problem that's been bugging me for the last couple of months.

April 2, 2009: No known effects of the infamous Conficker Worm around here, thanks to regular updates from Microsoft, good protection from Symantec, and the fact that we don't play games, download music, porn or other virus-plagued stuff. I finally finished the Baker, Beatty and Ludlow stuff and published them to the web, and now I'm working on our sister site, www.ericrench.com publishing some of my latest Tijuana adventures.

March 28, 2009: Sharlene, Tim and Casey spent the day at Mike and Sharon's, as they were holding a 4th birthday party of daughter Kaylene. I had to work today, but before going to work, I actually planted vegetables in pots, in the back yard, as we plan to have a small garden this year. After getting ready for work, I worked on the web site for a bit and surfed the Internet.

March 21, 2009: What a difference a day can make, as it's a cold and rainy day, but that didn't stop me from taking a 7.5 mile hike for excersise. Sharlene and I worked on getting the house in order, and then I spent some time working on this web site. High temp today was only 58 degrees, exactly 20 degrees cooler than yesterday's.

March 20, 2009: I arrived home from a week-long trip to Tijuana, the Mojave Desert, Death Valley, and parts of Western Nevada. I have lots of material to write about, which will take quite some time. When I got home, I spent a couple of hours unloading things and getting things put away, then I went on a walk, and later in the afternoon, worked in the yard. Oh yes, spring had spung, as we had a georgous, sunny day, with a high temperature that nudged 80 degrees.

March 10, 2009: My reward for being a good boy was a trip to the doctor for my annual physical. Doctor's report? In his words, "Awesome!" That's my reward from eating healthy, walking many miles a day, limiting alcohol, and working on the web site each day. To catch you up on other family members, Tim and Sharlene spent the day at work, and Casey went to school. That's pretty much what happens around here on weekdays.

March 08, 2009: Officially, when I got home at 0030, I spent an hour changing clocks, as today (Sunday) is the start of Daylight Savings Time, which I hate, and I think it's a crazy idea. Before going to work, I worked on a ham radio high frequency tranceiver that I've been working on, and updated the web site. Sunday night, while I was at work, Sharlene arrived safely home from visiting her mom.

March 07, 2009: Sharlene left to spend the weekend visiting Mom, but I had to work, so it wasn't too traumatic. I finished getting the truck ready for my upcoming trip, and then spent the rest of the day, before going to work, working on the web site.

March 04, 2009: I had the day off from work, so I got up, extra early and took the truck to get the oil changed, in preparation for an upcoming trip. After a 6.5 mile walk, I had to purchase a new tire for the truck, then when that was done, it was time to go home and work around the house. I finally got around to eating dinner about 7:00 PM, and then it was web site work before going to bed, rather early.

March 01, 2009: After a 6.5 mile walk, what do you do on a rainy day? Take your wife to Heavenly Dog, so she can enjoy their delicious hot dogs, the best in town. Back at home, Sharlene made a batch of delicious chocolate chip cookies, as I worked on the web site and relaxed. Later in the evening, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of split pea soup, which chocolate chip cookies for desert.

Feb. 28, 2009: Nothing happened during the previous week... I started off the day by getting up very early, and going on a 8+ mile walk. Next, I went over to my friend Dan's place, where we took off to a new hot dog restaurant in Elk Grove, a place by the name of Hot Dog Heaven. Delicious hot dogs and nice people! Back at home, Sharlene made a delicious batch of split pea soup, with curry, as I spent nearly 6 hours putting together some shelves for my mother inlaw that Sharlene plans to deliver next weekend. I had to reengineer and rebuild the whole project to get the shelves together properly.

Feb. 27, 2009: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed a delicious breakfast at a new restaurant in town, Lumberjack's Restaurant. After breakfast, I came home, worked on the web, and later in the afternoon, went to work.

Feb. 20, 2009: I got off work at midnight, but was up at 0545, and at Kaiser by 0700, for some lab work. Then, I met members of the Sacramento Breakfast Club for breakfast at The Terrace, and on the way home, I stopped at our local electronics emporium to purchase some software, and other things. At home, it was time to take a 6.5 mile walk, then spray weeds and do a back yard cleanup. Then, I installed a high frequency radio antenna on my truck, and made a cs QSO with a ham radio operator in Colorado on the 30-meter band, using the whooping power of 1/2 watt! Then, I worked on seasoning cast iron pots and pans, worked on the web site, and published all of this on the web. I finally dragged myself to bed at 11:00, after a long day. More projects ahead over the weekend!

Feb. 14, 2009: Quite a Valentine's Day, as I had to work the weekend, and Sharlene visited her mom in Fremont. All we did was exchange text messages for the big day. How romantic!

Feb. 11, 2009: I have to work this weekend, so I had today off. I got up, took a 6.58 mile walk, came home, cooked a delicious breakfast of a Mexican omelet, bacon and corn tortillas, then spent pretty much the rest of the afternoon, wrapping up a Mexican adventure for our sister website, www.ericrench.com. Later, I prepared squash, for the work week, and when Sharlene came home, ate dinner with her, and watched a DVD, and some TV with Sharlene before going to bed. That's a day in my uneventful life!

Feb. 8, 2009: I got up this morning and took a 7.97 mile walk to keep in shape. I have a tendency to walk a few extra miles on days when I'm off. Tim spent a good deal of the afternoon working on my car; tracking down an errant fluid leak, and then he and Mike helped us fit the new washer and drier into the tight space that we have for them. I'm lucky to have a talented son-in-law, so that frees me from all of the unpleasant duties.

Feb 7, 2009: We went over to Denio's with Casey, Tim, Mike and Sharon; I took a 7+ mile walk and met everybody at the flea market. We purchased a toy assult rifle for Paris, and a few other things. When we got home, I finially hooked XM Radio into the stereo system in the family room, and Sharlene made a gigantic pot of split pea soup for dinner. Tim hooked up our new washer and dryer.

Feb. 6, 2009: We went over to Denio's with Casey, Tim, Mike and Sharon; I took a 7+ mile walk and met everybody at the flea market. We purchased a toy assult rifle for Paris, and a few other things. When we got home, I finially hooked XM Radio into the stereo system in the family room, and Sharlene made a gigantic pot of split pea soup for dinner. Tim hooked up our new washer and dryer.

Feb. 3, 2009: It seems that our washer conked out, which was no surprise as it had been doing strange things for the last several months, so after work, Sharlene purchased a new Maytag Bravos set of a waher and dryer. Our new appliances should be delivered this Friday.

Feb. 1, 2009: Superbowl XLIII, and that means a superbowl feast at our house. Read all about it by clicking on this link. Before Superbowl, I took an 11.30 mile hike, so I could enjoy some of the delicious deep fried food that I was planning to cook.

Jan. 31, 2009: I started out the day with a 8.58 mile walk, then spent the rest of the day working around the house, catching up on projects that needed to be done. Sharlene cleaned house, ran errands, and made a delicious dinner of American Taocs. After dinner, I did prep work for our upcoming Superbowl feast.

Jan. 30, 2009: At work, we had a Superbowl party, where some of the bosses grilled hot dogs and hamburgers outside, and the rest of us brought in all of the fixin's for a super feast, at work, while we were trying to get something accomplished. The food was so good that I probably gained 10 pounds! I brought in a big crock pot of beans, and they went over very well, as I only brought home a few of them.

Jan. 25, 2009: I started out the day with a 7.08 mile walk, then went over to Denio's to check out a new taco truck. Sharlene and Casey spent most of the afternoon shopping for this weeks groceries, and other things. I spent much of the afternoon working on the web site, and when they returned from the grocery store, I spent late afternoon and early evening cooking food for this coming work week. Shalene and I ended the weekend by watching a couple of movies on DVD before going to bed.

Jan 23, 2009; I didn't have to go to work today, so I started out the day by going to breakfast with a group of my friends, and stopping by the hardware store on the way home to purchase some fix-it stuff. When I got home, I took a 6-mile walk, and then spent the afternoon working in the garage. After Sharlene came home from dinner, we relaxed, ate dinner, and while she watched TV, I updated the web site.

Jan. 19, 2009: The party for Sharlene is over, as she's now back in the work force with a full-time job for the next few months. Semester break is over for Casey, as it's back to school for her. Me, it's just the same ol' grind.

Jan. 18, 2009: I guess I'm a professional webmaster, as I'm updating this section of the web while I'm at work, making the allmighty dollar. Sharlene returned from a weekend of visiting her mom and step father. Today, I did my usual workday routine of getting up, eating a light meal, taking a 4 to 5 mile walk, making lunch and dinner for work, and eating a more substantial "brunch." Then working on the web site until work... Today it was a bit different, as I ran errands before work and purchased a NFL jersey for an upcoming Superbowl Party at work.

Jan 13, 2009: I had the day off work, so I spent much of it working on the web site, and preparing food for the upcoming week. Sharlene did pretty much the same thing too, as she likes to make frozen dinners to make life easier for her when she goes back to work this coming Monday.

Jan 12, 2009: We had a freak wind storm early in the afternoon, and for about 10 minutes, the temperature touched 75 degrees, which is the warmest that temperature that I've ever seen here, in the 50-something years that I've been living in California's central valley.

Jan 11, 2009: Sharlene left with friends to attend a funeral of a friend's mother in Atwater. Being anti-social, I stayed home and worked on the web site.

Jan 10, 2009: I had the weekend off, so I stayed around the house and worked on the web site. Sharlene spent much of the day preparing food for next week. Saturday night at our house? We went to bed after watching COPS on television.

Jan. 13, 2009: I had the day off work, so I spent much of it working on the web site, and preparing food for the upcoming week. Sharlene did pretty much the same thing too, as she likes to make frozen dinners to make life easier for her when she goes back to work this coming Monday.

Jan 11, 2009: Sharlene left with friends to attend a funeral of a friend's mother in Atwater. Being anti-social, I stayed home and worked on the web site.

Jan. 06, 2009: Just another day at the office for me, as Sharlene attended an orientation for her new job, which she will start next week.

Jan. 04, 2009: Sharlene spent part of the day running errands; maybe I chased her out as I enjoyed the last Sunday of regulation football on TV. Tim, in the soaking rain, took down our outdoor Christmas decoration. Thank goodness I don't have to do that anymore!

Jan. 03, 2009: I've been having trouble with the XM radio in my car, so I took it into our friendly electronics store to get it fixed, and like a kid in a candy store, I was dazzled and amazed at everything. Later, we finally got around to taking down the Christmas decorations inside the house. The outside decorations will come later, as today is a rainy day.

Jan. 02, 2009: New raingear arrived in the mail, so I got a chance to try it our on my daily walk, as today was a rainy day. Guess what? It worked! Talk about a mundain day, as Sharlene worked on our paperwork, and I spent the rest of the day working on this web site.

Jan.01, 2009: I arrive home from a fantastic railfan trip to the Mojave Desert, accompanied by my youngest brother Paul. After kissing my wife hello and unpacking all of the gear, it was time to kick back and relax... drink beer... and watch football on tv. Of course web site work was involved!

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