September 2023

 Hi there everyone, 

Yes, I know, if you are still following my blog, you are probably wondering what hole did I fall into? Well, I didn't fall into a hole, but between work and dog videos, I have been super busy. None the less, I still wanted to document my life and post it on my blog so that I can look back at it when the day comes that all I can do is sit back and look at my blog. 😂

My work on the State of California's Middle Mile Broadband Initiative is running at full tilt with constant requests from state legislators as well as other community stakeholders throughout the state asking for information on the progress of the project. Link to California's MMBI Project

As well as working lots of hours, I do still make time to hook up with my friend Ally O'dell to take dogs out from the Stockton Animal shelter for a short respite and to get some video of them in hopes of helping them find a new furever home. Ally is such a huge help at this effort. Though I thank her frequently, she doesn't know just how much of a help she is, and she and I are enjoying our constant sharing of life stories with one another. 

Ally and I had some amazing news when we were at the shelter early in September. Ally and I had worked with this great dog Roccoin August. He is a husky mix that was super soft and eager to please. He is the perfect dog. Though, with his heavy coat, he really belonged in a colder climate. Well, it made our day when another volunteer at the shelter told us that thanks to the video we had done, Rocco got adopted... by someone in ALASKA! 😁 The best part was the person wanted to adopt Rocco, no questions asked based strictly on the video Ally and I had put together. The adopter paid to have Rocco transported from Stockton California to Anchorage Alaska! We were both on cloud-9 and it was one of those rare times that I was almost in tears over the news. So rarely do I hear that a dog I did a video for getting adopted, so this was super sweet news. The person had seen the video on Facebook, and had to have him. We were both so thankful. Here is a link to Rocco's video. 

A couple other things of note from the month of September, is that we took the Jeep on a trail ride one Saturday to Shirt-tail falls. This was a wonderful day long outing in the Jeep. I was hoping for something a little challenging for me and the Jeep, but it turned out that despite it being on a dirt road, we saw an Accura on the trail, so I knew at that point it wasn't going to be anything too serious, none the less, we had an amazing day seeing some great stuff on the shirt-tail falls trail. 

While on the drive, we also visited a mine museum called the Empire Mine Museum. It is a very cool state park with old mining equipment and machine shops and assorted other buildings to check out. It is definitely worth spending a day here. 

During the month of September, we stayed at Lake of the springs up in Oregon House, which is north east of Sacramento, and Lake Minden which is between Sacramento and Yuba city on the State Route 99. Both parks are Thousand Trails parks. Both definitely have their pluses to them. 

Lake Minden is a small lake, about 1 mile in circumference but can have some simply amazing sunsets in the fall and winter. It also is just a little over 30 minutes from my office which makes it a great location. It also is much closer to civilization than Lake of the Springs is. At Lake Minden, I'm less than a half hour from places like Costco, Target and a major grocery store. I also have places like Applebee's and Red Robin if I'm looking for a casual sit-down dinner. Also, at Lake Minden I get 60 over the air TV channels to DVR some of my favorite shows. 

Lake of the Springs is a little more upscale park in that it has a much larger lake as part of it's facilities and it also has a convenience store on sight. But, Lake of the springs takes about an hour to get to major stores like Tractor Supply or Walmart. Lake of the springs has some great local musical groups that come up and play at the park about once a month. Lake of the Springs also is up in the foothills with some great canyon views and we get lots of visits from deer in the area. I have very spotty TV reception, so I make great use of my DVR'd programs at Lake of the springs. 

When I was growing up, my sister Karen said I should be a firefighter. And though I didn't have confidence in myself at the age of 18 of becoming a firefighter, many of you may know that I became involved with North Valley Animal Disaster Group in Chico California a couple years back. It has been a great opportunity to take some great classes and learn some amazing stuff including how to safely deploy a fire shelter. Well, in the month of September, I completed a 3 day Low Angle Rope Rescue Operations (L.A.R.R.O) course. This three-day course was held in Chico California and was given by a Cal-Fire Officer. It was a great class and was attended by people all over the western half of the US, and even two gentlemen from Mexico. I learned that I CAN do all of the skills that are required, but I am a little too out of shape for rappelling and handling a litter for very long, but I did complete the course and no bones were broken by me or anyone taking the course. 

I have always found that my gut has served me well. Usually, when my gut tells me something, it is correct. In August of 2022, I decided that I wanted to trade in the Grey 2017 Jeep Wrangler (which had been a flawless car) for a 2022 Jeep Wrangler 4XE. My main concern when I was considering buying it was, could I afford the monthly payments if I paid it off in 5 years so that it was paid for when I retired. I knew, based on the experience with the Chevy Volt that buying a vehicle of a new hybrid configuration for the product line, would mean the value of the vehicle would drop like a rock, so I better be ready to buy it out-right and keep it for better or for worse. So, I bought it a year ago, extended warranty and all, and I have been in love with it ever since. I love the interior, I love the sound system, I love that 90% of the time I can run it in electric mode. It is super quiet and super comfortable. It is the best car I have ever had. And, despite the fact of owning it for a year, I love getting it cleaned up and taking picture of it all the time! One time I took it for a car wash and the machinery took the rear tire cover off. Guess I gotta be more careful next time! 😀

Despite having to move back to the Sacramento area, I still make it up on a monthly basis to Phoenix Oregon to Visit Karen and Mike. Sadly, it sounds like they are going to start looking at Assisted living homes to move into. So, I'm glad that I'm getting up to visit them as regularly as I can. 

Here is the VLOG for the month of September 2023. 

Safe travels all... Eric and Remi too!