]> http://greasy.com/percivel/index.html percivel's Blog en-us © 2008 Greasy.com All rights reserved. Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:47:14 GMT 30 http://greasy.com/percivel/back_dermetoligist.html Yeah, the red spots are back on my arm and in my scalp. Looks like melanoma again. Will probably face the hydrogen touch again on Monday afternoon. We had rain in Reno yesterday morning but little after five am. We had windy weather most of the day and, from the looks of it, will have a nice, clear, warm day today. I saw some real beauty yesterday afternoon. An arm of clouds came down over Cone Mountain, enveloping the peak and leaving below an aura of the Scottish high lands. Naw, not rea ... Sun, 5 Oct 2008 14:42:06 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/mountain.html Yea, we did the wandering thing and visited in Yorba Linda last week. JoAnne is still there and I flew back, leaving our car there for her to use all this week. I got my hands slapped for saying that he was pretty, so must say that he is very "handsome." He stayed quietly in my arms and smiled. Not sure if it is because he likes me or if the simple truth is that I am funny looking and he noticed even though he is only a week and one half old. (Oh well! I can be thankful that he didn't cry. ... Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:24:55 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/yea.html See a picture of my new grandson (step) in my photo gallery. Oh, perhaps I can add it to this message. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:20:14 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/hot_damn.html I am a grandfather! (step) Julian (Bud) was born this morning at 2:27 am in Yorba Linda, California. He weighed in at 7 pounds and was 21 inches long. Hope to visit him sometime next week. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:45:08 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/1219525797.html Naw, that isn't true. Teddy and Winston are with me. JoAnne has been gone since Tuesday and won't be back until Thursday of this coming week. We are in Reno and the computer tells me that it is 96 degrees here. Actually, it is only 89 up here at 5k feet even though it seems quite warm. I was amused but not shocked at Obama's selection of a running mate. Guess he has realized that there are Hispanic voters, even some who are legal. From my POV, it is a very weird issue. Both political parti ... Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:09:57 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/well_better.html After three weeks, we finally find out that JoAnne has an inflamed gall-bladder. Surgery is required, but depends on when. She has to be down south with daughter with the last five weeks of pregnancy just coming down. She plans to fly down to Yorba Linda Wednesday or Thursday of this week, so surgery has to be several weeks away. Nice day here in Sacramento. It is almost 5 pm and it is only 84 degrees. The Delta Breeze has done its magic. Y'all take care hear? Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:25:14 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/damn.html So far JoAnne's fever is FUO. (From an Unidentified Origin.) She even had ultra sound yesterday. Previous blood cultures showed no infection. Since we have heard nothing from the Doctor, we assume that the two x-ray tests showed nothing of serious interest. Oh my! When doctors claim to be practicing, they aren't kidding. Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:53:20 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/again.html We wandered up to Reno last week and only stayed a couple of days. JoAnne has come down with something the doctor can't seem to identify. We came back to Sacramento in order to take advantage of the Kaiser lab here. She comes down with a fever every afternoon. Regular blood test should nothing, so she went in for a more concentrated test. Up front results at least show slightly elevated white blood cells, but little else. Guess we shall have to wait for the blood culture results that will ... Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:15:54 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/well_party_over.html Brad and Keiko have survived the baby shower and it was a great one. Brad's brother owns the Boulevard Bistro in Elk Grove and he and his wife hosted the event. Bret is a great cook and his staff was amazing, as usual. Here it is Tuesday already and we are still winding down from the great food, great company and great excitement. Keiko and Brad are already back in LA, but we are left with a pile of gifts in our garage. Oh well! Such is the life of parenthood I guess. (Another new experien ... Tue, 5 Aug 2008 14:09:48 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/shakin_bakin.html Well, our little 3.4 (downgraded by USGS) got little press in relation to the 5.4 the LA area. That one shook us a bit too as daughter is near that epicenter with grandchild on board. She lives in Yorba Linda now and we were lucky to get through on the cell almost immediately. She is fine and nothing was broken, albeit a bottle of wine fell off the refrigerator and didn't break. They have only been there a couple of weeks, so did not have anything up on the walls yet. Nothing ventured, not ... Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:23:56 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/smoke_today.html Yea! This is the first time in almost a week. Guess the winds have changed direction and the Telegraph fire creations are going elsewhere. Reno is cloudy this morning, but winds are predicted later in the day at speeds up to 30 mph. Clouds will be pushed away and the temps will probably climb to the mid nineties. Not much happening here for the next couple of days. Have a political meeting in downtown Reno on Saturday, but then have to hurry down to Sacramento for Keiko's baby shower on Su ... Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:27:04 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/day_trip.html Took a great run yesterday morning. Took forest roads from Verdi to Border town along Dog Valley and Long Valley. Stopped at the Crystal mine along the way. After hitting 395, ran south to Stedt and then up to Peavine Peak. Tough drive but the little Forester did us proud. Almost got stuck twice, but was able to jockey my way out both times. (Once again my military experiences paid off in spades.) Glad that we had rain last night. The morning was relatively cool, but the smog that we had h ... Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:10:31 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/planning.html We are planning to take a exploratory trip to the top of Peavine. It should be another of those "experiences." Since we live on the south border of the mountain, we shall have to circumnavigate to the north side in order to access the appropriate dirt road. In the process we might just wander up to Border Town and take the Long Valley Road to Crystal Peak and then down Dog Valley Road back into Verdi. This trip will be made on dirt or gravel roads and we just might have to back track due t ... Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:47:25 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/reno_rising.html Would you believe that it is 4:20 AM here? Why in the XXXX am I up at this time of day? Our lawn person put in a disappearing act on Saturday, leaving me with a small front lawn with three weeks of growth. Under the circumstances, bringing the mower from Sacramento and taking it back every other week is not practical. Already have the little SUV filled to the brim with the two dog crates. Anyhow, a very nice and inexpensive mower appeared on Craigs List. I purchased it and now we have indi ... Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:55:44 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/hotter_helicopters.html Yup! I'm back in Sacramento for a SIR meeting. It was about 106 degrees here yesterday and forecasters predict 110 here today. My! makes me wish I were back in Reno. JoAnne MIL and the girls will be headed back toward LA from the Grand Canyon today. The girls will catch their flight back to Melbourne on Saturday and JoAnne will drop by Keiko's new digs in Yorba Linda Saturday and part of Sunday to help the move and adjustments. She should be home on Sunday night or sometime Monday. I final ... Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:39:21 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/sunday_morning.html Well, it is Sunday and I have survived the 4th of July one more time. JoAnne is on her way to the Grand Canyon with her mother and the two girls in tow. Had a bit of a scare on Saturday as one of the girls became ill. You know how it is. They are still minors and we do not have custody. We were afraid that the local clinic in Sacramento would not treat her without parents' consent. Apparently it was not a problem. It was a urinary infection brought on by a long flight from Melbourne and no ... Sun, 6 Jul 2008 15:44:44 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/sacramento_time.html Well, it finally looks like the smoke has cleared a bit here in Sacramento and my trip up to Reno yesterday indicated that it was even better up there. However, the area between here and there, especially in the area along highway twenty from Marysville through Grass valley, was really bad. Smoke had the blocking capacity that one only experiences in the central valley during fog season. Rachael and Sarah made it here safely from Melbourne. JoAnne and her mother picked them up at SFO yeste ... Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:20:40 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/1214313624.html really nice days in Reno the past week. Problem is I am having some breathing difficulty with the winds from the northwest blowing the smoke from fires in northern California through Donner pass into Washoe county. It is a relief to know that these fires resulted from lightening strikes rather than human error. Hope it means that folks are being more responsible. Brother and spouse did not make it down last weekend for his high school reunion. Guess they caught a bug from their time in DC. ... Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:20:24 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/snow_finally_gone_hills_maggie.html but the early morning still has a chill to it. The awesome blue sky is not available to us these days. It is covered with the haze of smoke still moving to the south east from the huge fire near Paradise, California. The truly amazing thing is that the mountains around us are still green. While I do suppose it has happened before, I think it is a bit unusual. After all, this is mid-June and we have had some pretty high temperatures; at least high enough to burn away the green. Our two voca ... Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:24:55 GMT http://greasy.com/percivel/sworn_.html I had written a post the other day, but it has appeared to have disappeared. Hmm! Must be the magic of technology. We left Reno on Sunday and not more than twenty minutes after our departure there were two earthquakes here in rapid succession. No damage done, but that was only because the quakes were further away than they were back in April. Both were in the threes on the Richter Scale. We have a beautiful day here today. It is already sixty degrees here this morning and much higher tempe ... Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:51:44 GMT