Ho NO...

This morning we had our carpets cleaned. The guy showed up in his van and parked at the top of our snow covered driveway. He left it running and came in to check it all out. We walked around and he took measurements. We then looked out the window and noticed his van slowly sliding down the driveway and off to the side - And, he had studded snow tires on the back… He was finally able to stop it, get it straight and down to the street, and then back up the driveway and into the garage to do the job. We now have a new ‘grove’ on the driveway.

This is NOT a good sign of how the newly paved driveway is going to hold up for winter usage…

I have got to figure out how to deal with this. I really hope that some delivery truck or ? doesn't goes off of the side and roll over or something bad. There is always something to ponder here in DaHo...

Ho Snow...

We got our first snow yesterday. We have about 1" or so on the ground. Today, the sun is shining and it is real 'pruddy' out there. At 9:30 am, the temp is 29 deg so it should stick around for a little while.

Last night was the 8-ball league again in Buhl, which is about 20 miles away. It was snowing pretty hard and the roads were real icy. So, we took it real slow and cautious in the Jeep. We saw a couple of cars off the road that weren't cautious enough. While I was away, Pam got the house all ready for the carpet cleaners that are due to show up any time. She did a great job on the house.

The pool was good again. The team didn't do all that good, winning 15 of the 25 games, but I did well again winning 4 of my 5. The guy ran out the last game or it would have been all five. I met a guy there on the other team that is buying a house right down the road from ours. He is a nice guy, a reasonable pool player, and is the bakery manager at the local Costco store. He could be a good guy to know here in DaHo...

Thanksgiving and More...

The Thanksgiving feast went very well. We had 16 people, great food and big fun. Pam and I started cooking about 6am and all was going great until the BBQ gas ran out about 6:10am. We had to go to plan B and transfer the turkey and beef roast to the oven, with the other stuff, and convert everything to fit. We ended up eating about 2pm. Pam's mom did about 10 dishes from home made rolls to side dishes to great pies. After dinner, kids played, people who could sing did karaoke and others played pool or watched it all. Everybody ended up taking leftovers home to enjoy beyond the day.

Friday morning Pam had to go to work as usual, but I got up before her and hit all the big sales about 5:30am. That is the best sale day in the year and I decided to go for it. I was able to get all the main stuff I wanted from Best Buys and Home Depot and a few smaller stores. The best deal was a highspeed Netgear wireless router and laptop card for only $29.95. Well, then there also was the WD 160GB external USB backup disk drive for $79.95 and lots more. Good stuff at really great prices. I passed Pam in the car as I was coming home and she was on her way to Dell...

Pool went very well this week. We had our second match in the new 8-ball league and beat them 20 out of 25 games. I won 4 out of 5 again. The 9-ball league didn't play this week due to the holiday.

Last night, Pam and I watched the new War of the Worlds DVD here. Wow, that is the best audio presentation I have heard. The new Klipsch subwoofer really added lots to the old Bose speaker system. The place was literally rocking.

The Turkeys are Getting Worried...

Nothing much exciting happened this week. I guess that is not big news for most folks. Well, there were a few 'moments' worth noting...

Grandson Oliver was not well in California. The reason for illness was not known for a few days and worried us all. But, the good news is that it all seems to be better now and we are all much happier about it. We sent him a gift that he should get in a couple of days that should help in his recovery.

My fishing has not produced any good results. I have tried to resolve this problem a couple of times and only gotten more frustrated in the process...

But, on the pool playing front, things go better. We started our new 8-ball team league and did good. We went to this little, older bar in Buhl and kicked some Buhl butt. This league has five players per team and you play everybody once, so there is a total of 25 games. So, it takes until about 10:30 to finish and makes for longer nights figuring travel time and all. The ongoing 9-ball league also did well this week. After a bad experience last week, we are back to our normal 'style' and won strongly. We are now 2nd in the team standings, and I am 2nd it the personal league standings, even after the very bad time last week.

Today, we went to Storm's boy's birthday party at the local Golden Corral buffet. On the way out, we saw Dennis Eder, who I went to grade and high school with, with his daughter. They ended up coming over for some pool and conversation. They, along with Rodger Ridgeway, also a high school friend of ours that lives close to Dennis, are coming over for Thanksgiving dinner. Its a small world here in DaHo...

Weak of Bummers...

Sorry for not writing this week, but there hasn't been much good stuff to write about...

I have been fishing twice more without catching a "legal" Brown Trout. I have caught lots of 18" and a few 19" ones, but none that were the minimum 20" length. I guess a lot of the 'legal' ones have been caught already. Gerrrrr... The season for streams and creeks is over on 11/30, so I still have a couple more weeks to Get'r'Done.

The Thursday 9-ball team league was also frustrating. We suffered our first loss as a team. Actually, we got 'Beat like Rented Mules', as they say. The other team was all good players, which happens, but we also just had all the bad breaks. I only had one win and five losses. Ouch! So much for the stats...

And, to wrap up the week, Pam was hurting all weekend with back problems. She is scheduled to start some type of traction therapy to try and manage the symptoms she has been experiencing over the past few weeks.

Its starting to get cold here. No snow yet, but the temps are getting down there. All weekend, it was pretty nasty. It stopped me from going to an event that was going on. It was in the paper and sounded 'weirdly interesting'. It was Snowmobile drag races on grass at a local sod farm...

Besides all that, things are going great here in DaHo...

Getting ready for Thanks Giving Dinner

As is tradition in the home of Lanny and Pamela Keithley -- we will be providing a truly gourmet Thanksgiving Dinner. All who would traverse the miles to spend Thanksgiving with us, will be treated to wonderful private yet family style accomodations. Wonderful chefs from the Hainline and Keithley families will combine their talents and create a menu that is guaranteed to surpass and define the spirit of family and togetherness.

Please bless us with your presense and your extended families
RSVP by 11/14/05, with final count. Thank you.

Your's truly,

Pamela and Lanny Keithley

More "F" Words...

As you might have read, I have found a new fishing spot and have been going after the elusive Brown Trout. I have now spent 4 days fishing this place trying to catch a 'legal' Brown, which has to be at least 20" in length. I have caught one that was 19", two that were 18", and bunches in the 17" to 14" catagory. It seems that there are none smaller, as they must be 'snacks' for the larger fish. Above, is a picture of the 19" one I caught and released...

I have seen larger ones swimming around and even had one jump three feet out of the water to bite the end of my rod while I was sitting there putting on a different lure. I have never seen that happen before. I fish right next to two large pipes dumping water into the creek from the fish hatchery next door. I see Browns jumping into the water pipes all the time. I also seem them right at my feet playing around in groups of two and three. They are very pretty as you can see and are suppose to be very good eating, but that is yet to be proven...

Then, the other picture above is the BIG 'F**king' load that held my up on the freeway coming home from fishing. That was the biggest thing I have ever seen on the road, and there are some really BIG things on the roads here in DaHo. The thing that really blew me away was that there was a BIG truck pulling and pushing it. You can see part of each of them in the picture if you look.

As soom as the weather clears up, I am going back to find that legal Brown Trout - the one with my name on it...

Pam's Florals...

So, Pam saw this ad from Michael's and after a few trips and a couple of 'design sessions' here are some pictures of her creations.

If these computers things ever flop, it looks like we won't starve...

Big Pool Tournament Fun...

Saturday, there was a regional 8-ball tournament here in Twin Falls. The entry fee was $25 so there were no 'casual' players, and there was none of the 'handicap' stuff like there is in the weekly events. Each match was a race to 5 - meaning the first one to win 5 games won. They pay the top 6 positions with the first place prize being about $250.

I decided to go play since I had never been to one of the 'real' regional tournaments here in DaHo. There were a few good players that I have heard of but never seen play before that were in it. There were a total of 20 participants playing. It started at 11am in the morning.

I told Pam that it would take a couple, to a few, hours depending upon how well I did. She was shopping with her mom and wanted me to get home in the early afternoon. I ended up playing until 10pm and finishing fourth - much better than I thought I would, and making $60 for my 11 hours of 'work'. That's a lot of focused concentration and physical activity. I was worn out when it was over.

I did not 'party' and was focused on playing well, and as they say here in DaHo, "Did Good". I was playing like I usually do here at home, when no one's looking...

DaHalloween 2005

As requested, above are some pics of DaHalloween...

Pam had her team from Dell over to collaborate on creating a pumpkin for the team contest. Only two team members showed up. Pam used one of her personally grown pumpkins to be carved and decided to put their team logo on it. In the picture you can see a copy of the team logo and three pictures of the team doing the carving. It took them about 4 hours. The bad news is that they didn't win anything with it. Then, Pam dressed up in her 'Biker Moma' costume and was quite a sight.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I went fishing at this new spot in Hagerman. The trout have to be 20" to keep and you must use lures or flys. The first day we used spinners and didn't have too much luck since there is lots of weeds and not much room on the creek. I learned some and got some more 'parts' and returned on Wed. for some real fishing. I ended up catching three types of trout - Rainbow, Golden and Brown. The brown trout was new to me. They are a beautiful dark brown with green surrounded red spots all over them. They have very large mouths full of sharp teeth. They sorta look like a mix between a trout and a pike. I didn't catch one large enough to keep, but came very close. I am going back with some more 'parts' to get the bigger ones...