About Me

My photo
Cedar, Leelanau County, Michigan (near Traverse City), United States
I am a 76 year old (born 7/4/1937) retired Public Radio Engineer from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Happily married to the love of my life, Teddy (nee Teddy Schlueter). Teddy is a retired Medical Records Clerk from Theda Clark Hospital in Neenah, Wisconsin. Two children, Michael and Lon. Lon passed away in 1994. Michael is married to his wonderful wife, Toni and lives in Appleton, Wisconsin. For photos click on link below or visit our photo site http://www.flickr.com/photos/igboo NOTE: Click on photos for full-size images.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Larry's Weight

Click on graph for larger image.

When I checked into the hospital on June 12 they recorded my weight as 300 lbs. In other words, I had become really really fat. Most likely, that in itself was a major contributing factor to my knee deterioration. So I finally decided to get serious about loosing some weight. the above graph tracks my steady weight loss since June 12. I set a goal of losing 100 lbs in one years time and as the chart shows, I am on track to do just that. In simple terms energy in minus energy out determines ones weight, so to lose weight one must either reduce energy in through diet and/or increase energy out through exercise. Since I am pretty much a "couch potato" my success has depended mostly on restricting my caloric intake. I jokingly tell folks that I have been hungry since June but in truth after a few weeks my body has seemed to adjust and it really isn't so bad. The big thing was cutting way back on the evening snacks. At this point, I'm understandably proud of my progress so far and am pretty sure that I can make my goal but...the real test will be, once there, staying there. ;-)

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Thanksgiving and beyond

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner Thursday in the clubhouse. The park donated the turkeys, hams & rolls and we residents bought individual dishes. I made my usual "Spanish Deviled Eggs" and Teddy made Tom Sykes' jalapeƱo cornbread & a creamed corn casserole which was very popular. We ended up with a huge feast which in addition to the ham & turkey consisted of several different versions of dressings, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry dishes, casseroles, relish trays, pies, cakes, truffles etc. (too numerous to mention) There were over seventy persons in attendance. My diet was completely busted.

THE NEXT EVENING






Then, Friday evening at 5pm several of us met for leftovers at a...












..."Day after Thanksgiving leftover dinner"








Here's where Teddy & I sat.













Oh...Oh! I think I busted my diet again. Oh well, I'm back on it today. {smile}

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Kit-Cat Clock

Here's our "Kit-Cat Clock", however, it doesn't keep very good time, wakes me at five am to play, knocks things off shelves and although it seem to always be wound up, it has to be fed instead of rewound.
But would we get rid of it? NEVER!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Senior Breakfast

Every morning for years I have had my glass of Tabasco spiced V8....and now that I'm a "Senior" I find that it is an excellent way to take my morning pills.
It's hell getting old but Tabasco & V8 make it easier. ;-)

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Teddy's wash & wax loophole

Due to water & sewer restrictions they don't allow hose washing your own trailer in the park. However, there are commercial wash, wax, and detail companies that come and do a brisk business in the park with their own self contained systems which consist of water tanks, cleaning & waxing solutions, generators, electric buffers etc. We had it done twice last winter however, it can be quite expensive around $200 for a wash alone & a complete wash, wax and full detail is even more. Tough sledding for us poor midwesterners although the rich California folks with their half-a-million dollar motor homes don't seem to mind. Last Friday I came back from morning coffee and found Teddy washing the trailer by hand with a squeeze bottle, sponge and towel. It took her all day... ...and then the next day she waxed......while I watched. After 43 years of marriage she still manages to amaze me.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Happy Hour

Usually, in the early evening before dinner several of us gather near someone's RV for a snacks & drinks gabfest.

Here we are last evening gathered at the Dingmans.
Clockwise around the circle are Larry Weber, Don Dingman, Carol Dingman, Gayle Valentine, Teddy's empty chair, Carol Peterson, Ross Peterson, Jim Babcock's empty chair, Carol Babcock, Gail Bristow, Ed Bristow, Ray Valentine (partially cut off), and my empty chair as I was taking the picture.
"Where are Teddy & Jim?", you might ask. Out riding around on Jim's Honda Goldwing.
I suppose that now Teddy is going to want us to buy a Goldwing.

Monday, November 05, 2007

" 'da sun go down...'da moon come out..."

The sunsets and moon rises here in Havasu are simply gorgeous. Just in the past couple of weeks I have taken these picts. It is coming to the point that I don't even want to bother to photograph them any more. This was taken on 10/28 from rear of the park looking across the Colorado River.
...and then I turned around 180 degrees and caught this shot of the sunset reflecting off the clubhouse windows.
A couple of nights ago on Saturday evening 11/3 I shot this photo through the doorway of our trailer.
On the other hand, the moon can be quite spectacular too, especially when full as it was on 10/25 when I got this shot of the moon rising over Arizona's Hulalapai Mountain chain across the road from our RV Park.
This is what it looked like a few minutes later.