Missing in Action (or Oregon)

Well, been ages since I've posted here. Way to many rotten things have gone on, so I won't dwell on those. I still have a ways to go medically, but I'm doing OK for now. We have had snow and very cold stuff this past 3 days, with more to come this weekend. The valley is lots colder and has more snow than we do. (ours all melted today with the rain) Might get some more Friday. I must admit it's fun to watch it snow. (as long as I don't have to shovel the stuff....)
My winter photo has failed to load....hmmm....

Oregon Coast Aquarium

OK...I've added another link to the side of the page for the aquarium. Love that place, even though they just raised their membership rates by $5. I guess I should be greatful it wasn't $10, eh?

Game show on the coast!

Here we have the Jeopardy bus which was at Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City Saturday. The line of people was unbelievable, reaching around the side of the building and back again. No...I didn't try out...like I could do that...I have enough trouble with the "5th grader questions". LOL....

You might notice that I've changed the name of this blog, taking the Air Supply name off. This one makes a bit more sense cause there is a lot more about other things than there is about AS written on here.

I'm off today, resting my foot which tends to hurt when I'm on it all day. (like at work...) Mr toe is looking lots better though. Still discolored in places, but the swelling has gone down a lot.

Song of the day: A Gift Of Love (Barry Manilow)

My ocean

Just a couple pictures of the Pacific. No...these have NOT been edited. Morning light on Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and getting close to sunset on the 2nd pic. (some really strange light on that one, as there really weren't clouds except for on the horizon.)

"Hug me!"

Ms kitty getting a rubdown from the trainer, while her sister "noses" around the rocks. It's quite a nifty exhibit and there is a glass tunnel under part of it. (which leads to the gift shop...of course...I was not immune to that and came home with a very cute stuffed lion. I'll have to take a picture of him and post it. heehee)

Big kitties/Vegas style

These girls were at the MGM lion exhibit. The lions do 6 hour stints there (usually just once a week) and spend the rest of their time at a ranch just ouside Las Vegas. I stopped back there again a couple days later, and they had a big male "on duty" that day. The trainer was going around the glass walls of the enclosure hucking handfuls of raw meat so it would stick to the glass, then this huge lion would follow along and lick it off! I didn't get any pics of him, though. I was amazed at how big he was. His head/including mane, was easily over 3 feet across, then that giant tongue the size of a small dinner plate....wow!

Plan change

Circumstances beyond (apparently) anyone's control led to the cancellation of my Air Supply concert experience last night. Bummer. So...here are some totally unrelated pics. My cat Solo, and the Hawaiian Airlines jet that I did not fly on in August.

Big birds everywhere!

This is about the best pic I could get of the pelicans. These guys were on the cliff face just below a walkway around the lighthouse. They are brown pelicans and have a wingspan of up to 7 feet! There were fewer today, but still quite a bunch of big birds! I hope they stick around for awhile, but who knows...could be all gone tomorrow. It's been an amazing ride this last couple days watching them.

Off to Air Supply tomorrow, regardless of the fact that I believe I have broken the 2nd toe of my right foot. The glass turntable from the microwave jumped out of my hands and landed right on my foot last night. It might only be a bad bruise, but it hurts like the dickens and I walk funny. I can wear my "ugly shoes" (crocs, for the uninitiated) cause they have a lot of toe room, but I don't think I can wear socks. I seem to be able to drive OK, so that's good. I'm just afraid I will bump it. Sheesh.

Song of the day: "I'd Do Anything" from Oliver

Amazing coastal residents!

Well, today Mom and I saw something I've never seen before and it was just incredible! We went to the lighthouse this morning, and there were hundreds of brown pelicans flying around. Numbers could actually be closer to 1000...It was like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, there were so many! They were crowded on the rocks, (usually there are some there...more like 20-30) flying all around us, even coming close to the car as we parked on the headland road overlooking the lighthouse. I didn't have my camera, but as quite a few of them were still there tonight, I hope to get some pics tomorrow. I doubt there would be a repeat performance, but the memory of all those giant birds (wingspan 7 feet!) is one I won't soon forget. Also saw a whale, fairly close to shore, but I must admit, the pelicans beat him out for our attention. What a show!!!

Song of the day: "Fame" by Irene Cara (I could've made it "Jonathon Livingston Seagull", but that would be rediculous, eh?)

Work complaint of the day: HANG UP THAT STUPID CELL PHONE WHEN YOU GET TO THE COUNTER!!!!

The great drummer switch

Well, just posted on the Air Supply site...Mark T. Williams has now replaced CJ Burton on drums. Mark was with them before Mike Zerbe and left the band just before I "rediscovered" them in Oct. 2004. (yes...5 years this month since I started going to their concerts! I'm trying to make up for 23 years of NOT seeing them. This week's show will make 27 for me, so I'm getting there. heehee) I'm looking forward to seeing him LIVE this week and hopefully meeting him after the show. Tacoma has done M&G's the past 3 times I've seen the guys there, so I'm "assuming" that this time will have one also. I'm curious as to what happened to CJ Burton, who was wonderful, and a nice guy to boot. Perhaps the travelin' life they lead just wasn't for him. I'll have a pic of the "new guy" soon.

Stupid, stupid germs

Well, I'm getting another cold! A lot of people at work have been sick, and tonight I'm really stuffy/runny nose kind of thing. Better now than next week though, so perhaps I can be all over this round of germs before my concert on the 10th. Sheesh

Song of the day: "Revolution" by the Beatles

Picture is inside Caesars Palace where the sky changes from day to dusk and back again. Very cool effect. I was sitting here waiting for the silly animatronic show to begin and figured I'd take a few pics.

..and the children shall lead

...........................Graham Russell doing what he does so well......................

Well, 3 different times today I had Hispanic families come through my line and the parents did NOT speak English, so the children were translating for them. Nothing wrong with that, but what IS wrong is that all 3 groups were using food stamp cards to pay for their stuff. I'm a strong believer that anyone who is receiving government benefits in this country should have a working knowledge of the English language. It gripes me to no end that we are paying for these benefits with our hard earned tax money, and Oregon doesn't have a problem with giving these perks to folks who are not US citizens. (I certainly have a problem with that)

More bank confusion

Good stuff first. Picture is of the giant Japanese crabs that we have at the aquarium here. You can see by the hand in the pic just how big these guys are. (I'd hate to run across one in a dark alley....)

Song of the day: "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" (American Idol folks from a couple years back)

Cute moment of the day: A little kid ask me how come I had spots on my arms. (Freckles) LOL....

Strange world of airline ticketing: Now and then I check to see what tickets are for visiting Europe. I hadn't done it for awhile and was astounded to find that the fare from Seattle to London was $268!!! WOW!!!! Then I read the fine print. (always something bursting my bubble) I continued on to have all the taxes and fees added in. New grand total....$748!!! That is why I'm not visiting old castles at this moment.

Now...I was about ready to make plans for Vegas in the spring when I realized that with my bank having "issues", that could be a problem with reservations/tickets/etc. If the new owners keep our bank name and all that; no problem. If they were to change our cards and stuff, that might result in new numbers which would be frowned upon by people who want me to present the card I used to make the reservation or buy the concert tix. Sheesh. Guess I'd better sit tight until things settle. (The LV Hilton was especially vigilant in checking my ID and card for a concert ticket that had been purchased a couple months before)

Barry's still got it!

Since I didn't get to take pics at Barry's show, I swiped this one.

Bit of old music

Jonni Lightfoot and the "animals"

Beautiful day on the Oregon coast. Sun is shining...birds are singing...banks are failing...

Yea, my bank says nothing to worry about with the "takeover". My concern is that they will close the branch here in this little bitty town. You'd think the little ones will be the first to go with their "streamlining". Sheesh.

So...listening to a little Partridge Family music as I write. (yea, that dates me, huh?!) Heck, I'd go see David Cassidy again if he comes back to the casino in Lincoln City. I enjoyed the one I went to a while back. (except for the part when he put his sweaty forehead on mine...bleech. That's what I get for sitting in the front, huh.)(funny thing though...if it had been Russell sweating on me, that would've been OK. LOL.......)

By the way...when I was sick someone gave me the electronic version of "Smarter Than A 5th Grader" and it's very cool. I'd highly recommend it! Also I ran across Air Supply's old song "Empty Pages". It's a rather obscure song, but I really like it a lot. If I ever get a high speed internet connection, I'm going to put some of these oldies on my pages so everyone can listen with me. heeeheee....

Drummer spotlight

CJ making the audience go wild

Concert moments

Russell apparently strangling Janet; she survived to rock on.

Listen up, shoppers!

OK...just to be clear about this; there are days when I really do like my job. Then there are other days....Next time ya'll (practicing my Texas speak)go shopping please keep in mind a few simple rules.
1. If you're buying 12 jugs of water/drain cleaner/fruit punch, it's only necessary to put 1 of them on the conveyer belt at the register.
2. Above rule also kind of applies if you have 48 cans of doggy/kitty/hampster food. However, you must let us know how many of each flavor you are purchasing. Yes, I know that each can is the same price, but the computer does the ordering so if I ring up 48 cans of the same flavor, the next time you are shopping with us Fido/Snookims/Mr. Squeeky will only have the "beefy bone surprise" flavor on shelf and will no doubt be disappointed at the lack of variety.
3. Please don't act surprised that you actually have to pay when we tell you the total and request money from you. (well...due to the crummy economy, you CAN act surprised at the amount,I guess) Oh...and lets dig those coupons out of the bottomless purse BEFORE I finish ringing up your order.
4. Guess what? When you come up to me, look at my name badge and say..."do you work here"? You will be labeled an idiot, and we will talk about you after you leave.
5. Above rule also applies if you are next in line watching me ring up another customer, and when I finish with them you ask..."are you still open?"
I'm not kidding here. Numbers 4 and 5 happen several times a week.
Thanks for listening.

Quickie vacation summary

Upgraded to first class on the plane, saw Barry Manilow, Air Supply, lions (MGM), white tiger cubs and dolphins (Mirage), a hooker by McDonalds, Red Rock Canyon (including 2 little rodent things, a lizard, and some dragon flies, but NO BURROS!), the backside (don't ask)of Hoover Dam, DID NOT get lost in Caesars Palace, DID get lost in NY/NY, huge Donny & Marie sign, and the usual pyramid, castle, gondolas, Eiffel Tower, big gold lions, big shiny buildings skyline changed once again with the addition of the new "City Center Project" and a circular rainbow with the shadow of our plane in it just before decending into the clouds to land in Portland!

Vegas germs

Well, didn't exactly make it back to this site the "next day" as I had intended. Too much to think about with the vacation and stuff, then when I got home from said vacation, I was quite sick which took all the fun out of reporting what I'd seen and done. I brought the germ back to Oregon with me and promptly gave it to everyone at work. (sheesh)

I'll go into detail later, but for now the Air Supply concerts were great as always. The first night was a bit uncomfortable for all...Graham even commented on how they weren't quite "with it" yet that night. I think everyone was just holding their breath to see how the new band members would be received. By the 4th show, everyone was loving them! It was strange not to see Mike at drums, but CJ Burton is wonderful! He has quite a stage presence and he is a truly nice guy "off stage" as well. It took me a bit more time to adjust with the addition of a guitar...namely Janet Robin. I felt a couple of the songs were just "too much" with the extra guitar in there, but over all she is very good. Several of the other songs were much richer in sound having her there. She also is very nice, even when I admitted to her that at first I was a bit skeptical about her being there. (I told them both that they had won me over in the end, though.)

1st time around for blogs

Ok...not knowing exactly what I'm doing here, this will be a kind of...well..sample, I guess. I'll get back to this tomorrow.