Reno 97805-1280

Note: Correction posted OK, so I won a slot machine at my company's holiday party. (Way to go, me! Hypothetical High-5...awesome.) I mean, a genuine article. Something you read about, or try to win in a charity raffle, and as an employee, pretty much give up all hope after the second year of company raffles. It's now in the "John Room" (aka the basement) at 1280, waiting for visitors to drop in the occasional quarter to have a bona-fide player experience in a non-smoking environment. As far as Nic and I are concerned, it's a giant piggy bank. But that's not the big news. On his second-ever coin drop and pull of a slot machine, my beloved Nic unknowingly hit a jackpot: 3,300 quarters on a "multiple nudge" whereby all 3 reels moved a smidge up and/or down, transforming the payline from 3 blanks to a triple bar, triple bar and double bar -- all bonus symbols. All this on one one quarter. You want proof? Here you go. (Click to enlarge) Notice him point...

OK, no "Power Blogger" status for me anytime soon. I originally targeted a weekly post, but now monthly compilations may be the course until property values go up again, we cash out on the rentals and pay down/off the Marsh house, and I won't have to work as much. Or fewer house, etc. projects. Tough call. I finally sold "Ursula", the Volvo, after 9 long years of putting about 90K miles on her (got her at 42K) and mixed levels of bliss. Bliss, such as the day I bought it, the first time the seat warmers came in handy, and those 2-year intervals between major check-up work. Not-so-bliss was the $2K or so it needed at critical mileage points. The other side of someone's endearing "I had a Volvo and it went 250K+ miles..." story. I'll have fond recollections once the MasterCard is paid down below the level I was at when Ursula was at 105K miles. Oh, well. Sale translates to seed money for the pickup and Jul-e-us l'Arancia, beloved Orange Westy...

I did a little light blog-keeping. "A little to the left..." as the nameplate didn't quite fit, despite the multiple connotations that reflect what I see, hear or live. Plus, it was pretty much forcing me to make regular political commentary or something of the "L"-word flavor (which for me, in between presidential races, is more of a pleasure-filled reactionary thing to polar extremists who throw down the gauntlet at parties or related forums). But ever since Sept. '02, when me and the wife (to be) closed escrow on the primary residence at 1280, evenings and weekends prompted -- mostly during the commute home -- a checklist of: Which home improvement project -- kitchen, bath, basement, landscape, general interior/exterior, yackety-schmackety -- am I working on (or need to research/get up to speed on); Which rental property (mine more-so than the wife's) needs attention; What upgrade/restoration task can I provide "Jul-e-us di Arancia" (my oran...

OK; I am officially tuned into the '00s. About time, I figure. Now people can see where I am on mostly home improvement projects, and all the related F-bombs. Marketers, steer clear. I'm not buying -- unless you have cool, rare parts for my '74 Westy . Namely the hard-to-find orange plaid fabric (not the oft-confused chrome yellow), preferably from the upper bunk. Also wish for a dashboard clock, stamped'73, '74 or '75. Can/will trade for mine, stamped '76. (It's black face is darker than the charcoal face on the speedo and fuel,etc gauge, and it sticks out like a sore thumb.) And you now know this, because your Web crawling app picked up on the Westy keyword. We'll talk. Back to home improvement. Here's my latest headache, a backsplash in my kitchen. Here's a part of it. That's 3,168 1-inch tiles for those of you counting. (OK; they're on 12-inch sheets, but still.) And the photo only shows half the job. The vertical/horizontal cu...