RV Maintenance and Winterizing

The rain returned today to us here in Juneau, but at least it is not windy and pouring down rain (yet).  It was a quiet Tuesday, with Neil doing some RV maintenance and Pamela working on some of her Creative Memories projects.  Pamela has her lodging paid at a Disney Resort in Orlando in January for a Creative Memories event, so we used an Alaska Airlines Companion Ticket to get there and back.  We will need a break in the weather by January, whether we are here in Juneau or in Oregon.

After reading one of the blogs that he follows by a fellow RVer  Rick at http://rickpaulettervjournal.blogspot.com/ where Rick checked his RV water heater anode, Neil decided to do the same.  Good thing, as it was nearly eaten away at the top.  He was able to find two on Amazon with free shipping, and they should be here this week.  Neil loves Amazon free shipping, because without it, the shipping would often cost more than the products we order.

The Sacrificial Anode from Our RV Water Heater

We are still enjoying the Stellar's Jays on our deck and around the house.  They will follow Neil through the garden and neighborhood, wanting to be handy if a peanut was to appear.  Neil took a picture of Pamela feeding jays earlier this week, but only got her hand and the bird.  He was informed that was not acceptable, so yesterday when we had some sunshine, we got some more photos of the jays with Pamela.  Just as it should be.

One Jay at Fingertips and One Incoming!

Another thing we did today was update the Apple iTunes software on our computers and updated all of the software on our iPhones in anticipation of the release of the new iPhone operating system (iOS5) on Wednesday.  It is supposed to add a lot of additional features, and Neil is looking forward to downloading it and checking it out.  We will be waiting to upgrade Pamela's phone until November or December, and Neil will wait until Spring, probably.

Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

A Wonderful Monday for October

Another good day here in Juneau.  One of the things that made it a good was that we did not have to get up and go in to work and attend meetings.  We also did not have any rain, and actually had some sunshine with temperatures in the fifties.

Neil worked on replacing some of the rusting parts on the canoe racks.  Why they make things like canoe racks out of anything other than stainless steel in a real mystery.  Neil admits that he is a bit of a nut about this kind of thing and has replaced as many of the fasteners on things that are used outdoors with stainless steel as he can.

Fish Creek Pond Today

Neil also took a short hike on the Fish Creek Trail that is just about a half mile from the house.  It is an area where Neil used to park his VW camper when he moved to Juneau in 1978 to work for the Forest Service.  The trees are a lot bigger now, but the water is just as pretty.

A Nice, but Expensive Foot Bridge

The area is now a city park, and they have constructed a massive foot bridge over Fish Creek.  Neil thinks that the size of the bridge is a bit of overkill--it probably costs several hundred thousand dollars to install.  It is amazing that these public projects get over-built using tax dollars.  The same is true at the state and federal level.  Neil also took a short video of Fish Creek with his iPhone--see below.

The snow in Mendenhall Valley is coming closer to sea level every day.  Neil stopped by Jim and Judy's today and took this photo

High Tide and the Mendenhall Towers Covered with Snow

We hope that you had a good day wherever you are.  Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

Garage Cleanup and Yakima Racking

Short post today as there isn't much interesting to say about cleaning up a garage, doing some touch up painting,  and sorting through our Yakima rack parts to put a canoe rack on the Volkswagen Passat.

We found out that while the government movers will move a canoe, that because it is bulky it counts for additional weight far beyond its real weight.

So--we decided to take it with us on top of the Passat on the ferry.  The VW is about 17 feet long, and the canoe is sixteen, so it should not count as extra for the ferry.  It turned out that we had all the parts we needed for the racks, so we will leave it together and ready for when we need to move the canoe.

This is Neil's Only Boat these Days

So this is another task that we won't have to worry about when it is time to move.  Neil might even decide to put one of the outboards in the pickup bed so we have a canoe and motor should we ever want it when we get to Oregon.

Fair Winds and Calm Seas,

Neil and Pamela

Dinner and a Bit 'o Juneau Culture

Today was a quiet Saturday at home, working on projects and feeding the jays.  We now have several who will take peanuts out of your hand, which is pretty neat.  We have three deck chairs that back up to the windows, and they keep a close eye on what we are doing.  The boldest one may be the one the our friend Jim Hauck calls PJ.  He (she?) will push all the others out of the way until it has its beak full and cannot pick up another peanut.  They when it flys off to bury it bounty, the others get a chance.

Neil was in the garden today and noticed a lot of small holes that have been dug in the garden.  It is either jays who have dug up their peanuts, or as he suspects the squirrels finding the nuts and digging them up and eating them.  There have been a couple of squirrels who have been running across the garden with peanuts when we haven't been feeding them, so who knows.

The Baranof Hotel Was Built in 1939 in Downtown Juneau

Tonight, we had dinner out with friends Jim and Elaine before we went to a play.  We went to the Gold Room at the Baranof Hotel in downtown Juneau.  The food and service there is always great, as it was again tonight.  Kinda pricey, but you don't go out to dinner to save money around here.  We then drove across the bridge and over to Douglas for the play at Perseverance Theater.

The Perseverance Theater is a  Great, Yet Small Professional Theater

The play was the comedy/farce was written in 1915 by John Buchan, and made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935.  They had an exhibit about Alfred Hitchcock at the theater, and here is a quote:  "An actor came to me and wanted to know about his character.  I told him it was in the script, but he asked 'what's my motivation?'.  I told him 'Your Salary'."

It was a very funny and creative play in that all of the parts in the play are played by four actors (three men and one woman).  Here is how the theater website describes it:

"The chase is on: Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1930s film comes to the stage in this Tony-award winning comedy adaptation. Four actors create the entire cast of over 100 characters in this tale about foreign spies, glamorous heroines, sudden captures and narrow escapes. One actor plays Richard Hannay while a second actress plays three women he is entangled with. A pair of actor-clowns portray cops, spies, Scottish innkeepers, evil professors and even the occasional inanimate object."

It was a really fun and enjoyable play, and the four of us had front row seats for the hilarity.  A great night out in Juneau.  If you ever have a chance to see this adaptation, don't miss it.  We are going to add the Hitchcock movie to our Netflix cue.  Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Neil and Pamela

Fall Color on PFD Friday

We mentioned yesterday that we actually had some Fall color in the garden, so we decided to show you proof.  We used to joke that the Fall color in Juneau was grey--and there is certainly a lot of that around, but we actually did see the sun briefly today, so that is a plus.

One of Our Colorful Maple Trees

This Japanese Laceleaf Maple is a Favorite for Obvious Reasons

The Katsura Tree is Loosing Its Leaves Rapidly

This Larch Tree is a Deciduous Conifer--It Loses its Needles Every Fall

Today was "PFD Friday" in Juneau and Alaska.  For those of you unfamiliar with All Things Alaskan, a PFD is a Permanent Fund Dividend--the check that every Alaskan receives in the Fall from the interest on the money deposited for oil lease sales.  This year the amount was $1174 for every man, woman and child who is a resident in Alaska.  As a result, there are a LOT of people from the surrounding villages in Juneau this weekend to spend their dividend.  From the t-shirts that Neil saw on people at the Fred Meyer department store this afternoon, most of the village of Angoon was in the Fred Meyer store spending their PFD.  The timing of the dividend is pretty good with winter and Christmas coming soon.

Anyone guess which gadget that Neil has from yesterday's Blog Post?  Nope, not the baldness helmet or the dancing pet speakers--it is the car computer code reader.  He bought it last year to deal with a recurring check engine light code and it allowed him to clear the code and find out that the oxygen sensor was bad in the engine.  It works on any vehicle with a computer input--virtually all automobiles since 1980 or so.

Yep!  Neil has One of these iPhone to Car Computer Cables for His iPhone

Here is a Closeup of the Raised Bed Garden Beds that are Covered for Winter

We hope that you are having a good October where ever you are.  Thanks for visiting,

Neil and Pamela

Incredible Tech Things

Another rainy Fall day here in Juneau.  There is actually some yellow and oranges in the trees and shrubs around town, and some red in ours from our Japanese maples.  They will probably go fast in the next wind storm, but it is nice while it lasts.  All of the leaves are off the Quaking Aspen trees, and even the larch tree is beginning to yellow and will soon drop it's needles.

We ran some friends out to the airport for their trip to Hawaii (we are very envious) and Neil stopped by to see about upgrading Pamela's iPhone to the regular iPhone 4 (not the newest 4S).  It turns out that she can't upgrade without a penalty until November 20, so we will wait until then, and probably at that time upgrade to the iPhone 4S as it will only be about $50 more that the iPhone 4.


Neil found an amazing website yesterday that had some tech gadgets that even he can't imagine owning (mostly--he actually owns one of the following devices.  You can guess which one).  Take a look at these:

Anti Baldness Helmet

Brain Lightbulb

Dancing Pet Speakers

iPhone BBQ Grill Timer/Temperature

iPhone Bottle Opener Case--I Know Someone Who Could Use This!

iPhone Camera Telephoto Lens

iPhone Car Diagnostic Computer Code Reader 

Light Dims Blackout Dots for LED Lights on Devices - We Know Who Needs These!

iPhone Helicopter Remote Controller

Electronic Finger Tip Measuring Device 

He found all of these, and a lot more even stranger stuff at http://www.incrediblethings.com

You can go there now and order your favorite items for Christmas.  Have fun shopping!

Neil and Pamela