Oncall weekend. I am just way too old for that mess, and that is not an exaggeration. I don’t bounce out of bed for that 2:00 a.m. page like I used to. Heck I haven’t for ten or fifteen years, but it’s gotten even worse. Woe. Despite that unfortunate situation, I did leave the house a few times. I went to a 21rst birthday party Saturday night, which was fun. If you find it odd that I went to a 21 year old’s party, well, I am so old that my friends kids are turning 21. So, I was able to score a spot on the guest list, and had a good time. They had a taco truck, and it was a good one. I over-ate as usual, it’s just what I do. Sunday we went to brunch at The Purple Place, which I’ve not been to in a long time. (It’s well out of our radius of entertainment since we moved.) I do miss that place, it’s always good fun. That said, they were off their biscuit and gravy game a bit this week. Not sure what happened there, I usually like them. Unusually bland. Might have to go back and try again! After brunch, we went to a theater and saw a movie!!! What?!?! Madness! Yep, just walked right in, sat down, and watched a movie. Good times. I found it a little odd that there were only about ten other people in the theater, not sure what was up with that. We saw “Quiet Place 2,” which I thought was supposed to be an anticipated release? Who knows. We saw it on the Imax, which was rather obscenely priced, maybe nobody wanted to pay that much.

I have no pictures this week! I guess I did not see one thing worth capturing in the past seven days. Well, I do have a photo of a rather attractive chicken sandwich from Solid Ground, but I’ll spare you that one.

I was on a little mini-streak there with regular updates. Then boom, missed two weeks. Not without reason though, I’ve been out in the RV for the last two weeks. Not that I was without Internet during that time… I just didn’t feel like it, so there.

Week one was my designated “birthday week.” I took the entire week off from work and we drove down to the Russian River area. Of note, this was our first time towing the car. It was not without challenges… Had a few errors. I very carefully went through the steps I found to get it out of gear, properly attached, chained, lights hooked up, etc etc. Somehow I missed the last step though; Release the parking brake. Doh! Might need a brake job after that little slip up. Luckily we had to drop by Costco on the way for fuel, so it wasn’t on too long. Side note: Fueling that behemoth at the current prices is not an inexpensive exercise. Diesel is currently just under $5, and it takes a whole lot of it. But anyway, despite the initial “whoops,” the tow-car was a definite upgrade to the trip. I can sit around a campground doing nothing as well as anybody, but it’s nice to have the option to go out and eat, see some sights, and do a little general exploring.

Week two was back at good ol’ Ponderosa Campground. This is the place 20 miles from our house, but we go there a lot. Donette helped get set up, then took the car and went back home. I was working all week, and apparently sitting in an RV watching me type all day isn’t considered an interesting prospect. Who knew. Hey, I enjoyed it though. Another guy brought his RV up and joined me, and we had a pretty good time of it. I think maybe the best part was walking up to a nearby cafe on Friday, where we caught a good blues band. It was a great show, and convenient. We spent quite a bit of time sitting by the river too, which is just relaxing.

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Well that was a fine “Hallmark Holiday” event up here. I was able to schedule all my work (boooo) for Friday evening, so I enjoyed two days off in a row! A rarity these days for sure. I feel like I sort of maximized my time too, a nice balance of chores and fun. Admittedly, it probably skewed towards the fun side of things a little. As part of the “chores” category, I got the tow kit mounted on the front of the jeep. It wasn’t quite as easy as it looked, but then nothing is. I had to pull the bumper off, which was expected. What wasn’t expected was that when I took the three large bolts off the drivers side, the power steering pump fell off. Whoops. I’m blaming the seller for that one, at least a bit. OK maybe I could have looked a little closer, but I think when he was telling me how to mount it he JUST MIGHT HAVE MENTIONED THAT. It didn’t go back on very easily either, sort of like a big heavy puzzle piece. It appears to be back together now though, albeit without a front bumper.

For Mothers Day, we went to brunch at a nearby winery. It was delicious, we were quite happy with our choice. It was a great day out too, which made it even more enjoyable. After that we went home and took a little nap, which was made easier by the boring Royals game. For dinner I made a batch of pesto and homemade pasta, which came out nicely. Man that pesto is work though! Yeah a food processor makes it easier, but it’s just not as good as a mortar and pestle. That’s the truth too… We did side-by-side comparisons on our trip to Italy, it’s a very noticeable difference. Worth the effort.

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Not a bad weekend in the hills. Hey, it just occurred to me that the “Phil on the Hill” moniker has never been more accurate. We are indeed on a hill. Now I don’t have to come up with a new site name, whew. Anyway… Like I said, not a bad weekend, if a bit subdued. Friday I settled in to get my weekend on, only to end up working the better part of the night. Lame. Saturday we just sort of kicked around the house, waiting for my scheduled evening work. The whole work thing is just really cutting into my social lifestyle. I did get wrapped up early enough that we were able to go out to dinner at the nearby Bones Roadhouse. I usually have a pastrami sandwich, but this time I mixed things up and had a burger. Even sprung for some blue cheese crumbles, and it was delicious. A few strips of bacon would have really put it over the top, but $3?!!?! C’mon man.

Sunday was my “fun day.” I try to get my work scheduled so that I get at least one day off, and Sunday was it this week. (Pathetic lifestyle, but that’s what it is.) So, I’d been eyeing this smoked carnitas recipe all week, if not a little longer. I don’t why, it just sounded good. Actually I guess I do know why: It’s Spring, the weather is getting super nice, and I like firing up the smoker. As I usually do, I tried rallying a few guys to come up for the event, and as usually happens, zero interest. I guess it’s just a KC thing and ain’t going to happen up here. It’s still pretty fun for me, but I am continually baffled that nobody else is into it. Heck nobody even wanted to come up for dinner. I shredded the whole thing and threw it in the freezer. What are you gonna do. Maybe I should look for a new hobby. But I LIKE this one. We’re having company in from KC in a few months, maybe they’ll bbq with me. Sniff, sniff.

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We’ve got company again! Man, people (and dogs) just really like us and want to visit us. Probably has to do with our remarkable ability to entertain. This weekend, Donette’s sister came out to visit. I guess if we ever really did have any ability to entertain we must have forgotten those skills, because we didn’t really do anything. We’re more of a “relaxation” destination maybe; Lots and lots of relaxation. It’s a fine line between relaxation and boredom I imagine, but let’s stick with it anyway. There was some shopping involved, a little going out to eat, and…. relaxation.

As to my title of the week, man we’ve got a real bird situation out here! I do enjoy the hummingbirds, but they are getting downright aggressive. You can’t step out the front door without getting buzzed by several of them. I’m thinking about buying one of those bee keeper suits for when I refill their feeders, as they are just too close for comfort and greatly outnumber me. If you look out any window, there will be a few of them hovering there just staring at you. “Food’s getting low fat boy, get on it.” One of them even came in the house this morning! I can just imagine my obit now, and it will not be good.

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