And the BEST Weirdness EVER Goes To...

...The Trailer Race of Destruction!!!

Anybody that knows me at all, knows I am a connoisseur of fine weirdness. I have seen Destruction Derbys, Greyhound Races, Figure 8 races, The X Games, Mud Bogs, Snowshovel Races, Monster Truck Races.... and the list goes on and on. But, nothing has ever come close to this. I knew it was going to be good when one of the 'competitors' started with first a trailer full of amazing stuff, AND then a Ski Boat towed behind it. You might ask, "SO...", well when the race started, the Ski Boat wasn't on a trailer...

There were 22 'Competitors' and I cannot begin to describe the degree of stuff they were carrying. They were required to have at least one trailer. Some had their trailers loaded with muffler parts, some with hot tubs full of water, boats, junk, and some had camping/travel trailers. It was obvious these 'participants' had spent way too much time working on this...and were way too weird to be in public...

Anyway, they all pulled out on the track and started going around. It didn't take long for stuff to start happening. Stuff started falling off and turning over and running into other 'participants' all over the track. And, it sorta kept getting crazier and crazier from there. Sparks were flying and cars were flipping over as they tried to keep going through all the destruction and chaos.

Some of them had crashed and got started again, got crashed into, stuck onto other trailers, drug behind someone else, etc. It went on for about 20 laps or so. Finally, all that was left was complete destruction, smoke and running fluids...

As we left in the car, we viewed the track in the distance. It looked like the ending set of some third rate nuclear disaster movie you see on cable TV. I cannot believe that I haven't heard of something like this before - and, all this happened right here in DaHo...

Weekend Fun...

Pam finally went to the doctor about her shoulder and back. Hopefully, that will result in it getting better soon. It has been really bugging her and I hate to see her hurt.

I am upgrading most of the computers here and rearranging stuff to have it all more protected from power problems. We have been having large power 'issues' lately - just like Moss Beach - and I'm afraid that all the computers are going to smoke without better protection. And, now that DirecTV and TIVO are gone, we needed more disk space for the Media Center PC DVR (TIVO like functions) recorded programs.

We went to a truckload tool/household goods sale at the fairgrounds. These things are great. There is one every 3-4 months somewhere around here. They sell lots of cheap tools and household items that are interesting and cheap. They send out these flyers that are pages of 'deals' and there is always a few things that everybody has to have due to price or weirdness. And, there are always 'specials' that you just cannot pass up. This time there were packs of 10 foam paintbrushes for 1 penny, and rechargable dremel type high-speed rotary tools for $ 4.95. BIG FUN. We are going back again today with Pam's mom to get some more stuff we didn't get enough of before, on the way to the races.

Tonight, at the races, is the BIG event - The Trailer Race of Destruction. They bill it as what you would like to do as you follow all these campers and trucks and boats being towed slowly ahead of you on the highway. As I understand how it works, the participants must have a trailer full of stuff and can have any other stuff attached to their 'rigs' that might ward off attackers. And, then they go after each other with the winner being the last 'rig' running that still has its trailer attached. So, they try to take out the others trailers and 'rigs' while having to keep from crashing into junk on the road. We are really excited about this as it sounds like big fun here in DaHo...

Gerrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

I went to my 4th pool tournament Wednesday. The really good guys were back from the Nationals. Somehow, I ended up playing two of the them... Also, my handicap went up since I placed in the money last week. These guys are very good... This all resulted in good and bad news.

The good news is that I could have, and should have, beaten them. Pool is Pool. I was impressed with the best guy there and his banking abilities. He had a very bad rack and ended up having to bank 5 balls in a row - some quite tricky. That inspired me to practice my banking all of this week. Something I now know needs work.

The bad news is that I got beaten 'Like a Rented Mule' because I lost my confidence and choked - something I should be use to at this point... I wasn't feeling well and basically let myself use that as an excuse to fold. You will never excel if you allow yourself excuses to fail and not be your best. The lesson for this week here in DaHo...

BIG work at DaHouse...

Pam made me go fishing yesterday:-). She threw out all my frozen fish and wanted me to go get some new ones. So, off I went to return about 3pm. I was trying new things and places - sort of a discovery trip - and didn't bring any home so I'll have to do it again real soon.

So, to get back to the BIG work... When I got home there was quite a commotion in progress here at DaHouse. There was three large trucks with equipment trailers, two dump trucks, a road grader, a steamroller, a paving machine, three pickup trucks and 6 or 7 guys with various tools paving the driveway. It was quite a scene. They were about 2/3rds of the way through when I got here and wrapped it up about 5pm or so. We had no idea when they were going to show up and do it. We knew it was going to happen sometime in the next few weeks, but I guess they just fit their jobs together as time opens up. It looks great - about 3,000 sqft of smooth black asphalt. I sure hope we can get up it in the winter here in DaHo...

Weakend...

This weekend was pretty slow and restful. What time we spend out of the house, was spent playing in the yard/garden. Pam planted some more of the unplanted flowers that she bought a couple of weeks ago and instructed the gardner/'estate maintenance' guy on how to complete her new rock and flower garden. Her shoulder is still acting up (she is finally going to call the Doctor today) and neither of us are up for moving around lots of rocks and dirt.

I put together a new automatic drip watering system for the new large pots of vegies and herbs Pam and her mom planted a week ago. That plastic pipe stuff is easy to use - sorta like Tinker Toys or Legos. I had to get three different pressure regulators before I found one that wouldn't leak, but all else went well.

I also mowed and edged the lawn without driving the tractor off of the hill once - this time. The whole outsides are looking good. But, all the lawn seed I have been 'throwning down' for weeks has not started to show yet. There are a lot of 'problem areas' that developed over the winter, and if the new seed would 'get it up', as it were, the lawn would really look great.

We watched a lot of movies on HBO and the other movie channels - the best being 'Die Hard with a Vengeance'. We also had Pam's mother over for dinner featuring a new Costco 'delicacy' - Bacon Wrapped Pork Filets. We would highly recommend them here in DaHo...

Late Night Pool Party...

So, I attended my third pool tournament at The Pocket Wednesday/Thursday... The two best players who usually run the tournament were still at the BCA Nationals in Las Vegas, so the tournament was run by some other folks. It started right on time at 7pm and had a lot of players in it.

Anyway, I started playing early, and lost my first match. I choked big time, missing two easy but crucial shots. I was really mad at myself, I haven't done that for a long time. I just didn't take the proper care in shooting them and missed - just like the old days when I use to play Lyle. From then on, I didn't do that again...

From there, I played the next 7 matches mostly with much lower handicap players and had to spot them 3-5 balls a game. After loosing my first match, I was focused and won them all, running 4 full games and doing very well. It was about midnight by then. Pam called me on the cell to see how things were going and I told her I was still playing. She said to be safe and play good. Love her...

Then, I had to wait for the other matches to complete before I played again. The last two matches I was waiting for was this tall cowboy (hat and all) that was the slowest and most talkative player I had seen in a long time. By the time he won the two matches, I was ready to scream. It was about 1:30 am by that time. All the matches were being played on the main view table by then and there were probably 20 people watching the proceedings. I was sitting at the floor level by the table and meditated from time to time to keep my focus and calm down. I think some people thought I had passed out or went to sleep from their comments.

The way the handicap system works is that each match is played to 30 balls. The player with the lower handicap is given 3 times the handicap difference up front and then each ball made counts as one and wins count as ten. So, if one player is a 6 handicap and the other is a 10, the lower handicap player starts with 12 balls (3 x 4) to begin the match. Anyway, I digress...

Then, it was my turn to play him. We were even handicaps so I didn't have to spot him any balls. He plays lots of safe shots and just takes forever to shoot. He will look at the whole thing from all angles and then get down to shoot and after all that, gets back up and does the whole thing again... Anyway, I had had enough of him and ended up beating him 30 to 8. Everybody had also had enough of him and was very happy he was done.

I then played another even handicap player who is very good. I had watched him before and was impressed. I beat him 30 to 17 and the crowd was impressed. It was about 2:30 by then and they were mostly all still there.

I was then the winner of the loosers bracket and had the play the unbeaten player in the winners bracket. She is one of the bartenders there at The Pocket and I had never seen her play before. She also has one of the greatest memories I have seen. She remembered our names early on for months between short visits. She was very good and since this was her first tournament, she was only a 6 handicap. So, I had to spot her 12 balls. I played very good and the score was 26 to her 27. Then, I lost control of the cue ball and scratched. She ran three balls and won.

So, I ended up in 2nd at about 3am Thursday morning. Luckly, Pam had falled asleep at home or she would have been frantic by that time. I was beat, and beaten, but happy. I played well and now they all know me here in DaHo...

Lull Between Storms...

Yesterday, was another nice day. It rained late Sunday and all of Monday very hard, and the nice weather was needed. Today, its back to waiting for the impending storm later today.

So, during the lull, I foraged for food and supplies. And, since it was nice, I got two slabs of pork ribs to BBQ on the outside gas BBQ. I basted the ribs in Stubb's Moping Sauce - a new sauce we had in the pantry. I usually use Chaka sauce, but I have run out of it - I have not been able to find any around here.

Its so nice to be able to use indirect cooking and the other flexibilities of the outside grill. The inside Wolf grill only has two temps - hot and off. I first did the outsides of the ribs so they look like you want them, and then turned one side of the grill off and put all the ribs on the side with no direct heat. I then put a sauce pan full of water on the hot side and kept the lid closed - except for basting and turning. The boiling water in the sauce pan keeps moisture in the cooking process and the frequent basting made the ribs really tasty. You just slow cook them until they are done and they were great. You can also add a chip box to the hot side to create smoke if you like them that way.

The new housecleaner is coming soon and I plan to work on my pool game for the tournament later tonight in DaHo.

Outdoors and Outhouse Racing...

We spent most of the weekend working outdoors. The weather was great and we continued working on the lawn, and on building a new flower and herb cutting garden. Pam's mother came over and helped her with the planting and I reseeded all the 'problem areas' in the lawn. It was a bad weekend for my watches. I ended up loosing the stem of my favorite watch and also somehow broke my backup.

Then, I saw this ad in the paper about an annual special event at the NASCAR track on Saturday. It was advertised as the "Outhouse Races"... Well, we had to see what this was, so we attended. In the infield of the track, there was an outhouse about 30 feet in from the track and about 50 yards down from the start/finish line. In front of the outhouse was a line of barrels.

So, how it works is the driver starts from the start/finish line and has to stop down by the outhouse. Then, the driver must crawl out of the car, run over to the outhouse, jumping over the barrels in the process. They must go into the outhouse and extract at least 3 feet of toilet paper. They then hand the TP to the marshal, and run back to their car, crawl in and backup to the start/finish line. This is a timed event and the fastest one to do this whole act wins. If they don't get at least 3 feet of TP, they are disqualified. The marshals measure it for all to see with at tape measure.

It was quite a sight to watch... We are now eagerly awaiting the "Trailer Race of Destruction" coming up later in the season. There is always something exciting happening here in DaHo...

Off the Edge...

After, doing my tread mill and yoga, I started doing the yard. It has been raining off and on for days and the grass has been growing like crazy after I fed it a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, I had to do some tricky lawn tractor maneuvering to get the edges by Pam's new back garden. I was backing up the tractor and ended up going over the hill backwards... Luckily, I was going straight and didn't roll it. I was able to get the tractor back up the hill in back of the house and all is good. This is the way we learn...

We got a new cordless edger that is much better than the old one. It didn't quite have enough power to do the whole yard, but pretty close. I don't feel like my arms are going to fall off like the other one, so its much better.

I also fed all the plants and trees. After that I had to water all the time release 'food' to get it soaked in. Then, I had to clean off all the walks and curbs and water all the outside plants.

Its gorgeous today - Sunny and about 75 or so. Very nice after so many days of wind and rain in DaHo...

Deep End of the Pool...

Last night was my second Pool Tournament. I have been searching for some good players to play with since we moved here. When I signed up last night, the guy that was taking the money said, "So, how is the new house coming along...". He looked sorta familiar but I didn't place him. It ends up that he was the guy that we got all our tile and granite from for the kitchen, bathroom and fireplaces. We had to deal with him a lot during the whole purchase and installation process. Anyway, he is one of the best pool players in the area and is really a nice guy. He is going to come over and play after he gets back from the National BCA Tournament in Las Vegas next week.

I was playing pretty good and had some of the locals very interested the game. I came in around 6th, or so, out of 30 players. Its very hard to spot someone 4-5 balls a game in 8-ball and not have 'unfortunate events' happen. It's amazing how good the upper level of players are here compared to California. This is going to be big fun.

They all seem to remember me for some reason here in DaHo...

Stormy Weather...

Yesterday, a big storm came through DaHo. Lots of lightning, thunder, wind, rain and a little hail. We got over 1/2" of rain, at about 50MPH, in about an hour. Calicat couldn't even sleep. She sat on the pool table with very large eyes looking back and forth at the windows. One of our two evergreen trees blew over and lots of other plants looked pretty beat up. The new house being built down the road got a lot of its brand new roofing felt paper blown off and ripped up. It was another bad day for basil in DaHo...

Luckily, Pam and I had done some drainage pipe work last weekend and it all worked great. After it cleared up, I put down about 10lbs of new grass seed to fill in the sparse/bald spots in the lawn while the ground was so wet.

Today, I had to go out and right the tree and support it, and fill in some drainage 'issues' with dirt. It is quite cold and windy today and another storm is suppose to be coming in later.

It was trash day, so Pam had me throw out most of my frozen trout to free up space for other food. She has been threatening to do it for months and now I am almost trout free. Well, except for a couple of prize ones...

The only thing I can do now is go fishing again. My next challenge is to learn all about largemouth bass fishing here in DaHo...

Mother's Day in DaHo...

After a weekend of 'challenging' yard work, we took Pam's mother, and I took Pam, to a very highly rated local restaurant. It's called the Snake River Grill and is about 30 miles away in Hagerman. Its in a very quaint and pretty area just past 1000 Springs, which is also a very beautiful place. I have seen 4 reviews of this restaurant in the local paper. It has a very 'famous' local owner/chef and gets rave reviews.

So, we get there and walk in. Pam and I were both stunned by the 'ambiance' - not that we were expecting elegance, but... We were dressed up and most of the folks there weren't. Most of the guys had on their 'baseball' caps and jeans. Anyway, I said that the food must be really great, after all the great reviews I have seen. So we ordered and the food was reasonable, but both Pam and I were seriously underwhelmed by the experience. We had 'local' food - local beef, local sturgeon and local alligator. We had a good time, but it just wasn't close to what we were expecting.

As we were coming home, I was thinking about what happened and came to the conclusion that the reviewers just must not have much experience out of DaHo...

First Ho Pool Tournament...

Pam and I went down to the local billiard hall, The Pocket, last night for my first pool tournament here in DaHo. This place has a full bar and serves good food. You can get 5 bottles of Bud there for $8... The only problem is that they allow smoking there and Pam was totally gagged out as the night progressed.

It was a 8 ball handicapped affair. Since I was new, I was placed at the highest level until I have some experience for them to judge me. So, I had to 'spot' some good players 2-3 balls a game. That makes it much more difficult since any bad luck or screwup can have serious consequences.

I have been emailing the local pool site webmaster, Storm - love that name, and he was there. He also works for Dell, with Pam, and they ended up chatting for a long time. I ended up playing a very good guy at first. I was nervous for the first game and he beat me easily. Then, I started playing and ended up taking the rest of the match. Pam said she heard him 'talking' to the tourney director later that I was a 'Hustler' and was not very happy about loosing. I was pretty proud of that...

Anyway, I was there to check the action out and was very happy with the high quality of players there and how I thought I fit in. I haven't played anybody else for months and just didn't know how it was going. I didn't win it, but got a lot of information and they know who I am now. I cannot wait to play again next week. Life is good here in DaHo...

Ground Down...

The weather here has been great. We spent most of the weekend working in the yard, with trips to Home Depot and Costco for supplies and hours of planting between. Pam went overboard on planting flowers. They are great, but it was a lot of work and she is still recovering. We got a bunch more Basil and so far it is surviving...

Saturday night we went to the local NASCAR racetrack. Big fun. It was so nice during the day, I didn't dress warm enough for the night's races, but we still had big fun.

I opened and started assembling a couple of yard benches I got at a 'cheap tools sale' a couple of months ago. They were total junk. Again proving that cheap crap is cheap crap.

I got the outdoor gas BBQ all cleaned up and ready to go. Pam's mother came over for dinner Sunday and I cooked some great steaks and vegies on the outdoor BBQ while Pam was planting flowers. It's nice to have it online again. The Wolf indoor BBQ grill only has one 'speed'- hot, and its nice to be able to use indirect and lower heat.

Today, we took the Jeep into the dealer to work on a klunking noise. They called a couple of hours later and said it was all done. They 'reflashed the transmission shift points' and said it was all fixed. I picked it up and it didn't seem right, so I went right back and after they checked it out again, said that it had some serious front end problems and it would probably take a few days to fix. The good news is that it is still under the extended warranty contract we got with it.

So, until it gets fixed, we are 'grounded' here in DaHo...