Thursday Happenings.

Not to much is happening here in Dardenne Prairie, Donna & I were up and she went to the truck company, and then it was time to take Nicole to school, It stayed cloudy most of the day and reached about 55 degrees this afternoon when I was going to pick up Nicole at school.

The sun only peaked out a couple places on the drive to Augusta. Now Nicole is doing home work and Grandpa is doing a short post, no new news today,will wait and see what the weather does in the next week or two before getting the fiver ready to roll on short notice.

Donna has the restaurant duty so I will have to decide to make for the rest of us, Last night Samantha cooked a hamburger, potatoes, & bacon casserole, first I had tried it and it is really good warm country fixings. So tonight is my turn at what’s for dinner, still deciding. that casserole is a tough act to follow.

Rigg’s got a new toy from Samantha when she came home from work and he is laying on the kitchen floor with it in his mouth and Sadie is doing her best to try to steal it out of his grip, It never cease’s to amaze me how Rigg’s will take the ear biting and the muzzle nipping and all the ferocious growling that Sadie does to try to intimidate him and he just eats up playing with her. I wonder sometimes when I see what she does to him to try to get his toys or sometimes her toys out of his mouth how many other dogs would put up with that especially when she grabs his ears for a bite.

Here, she finally got a hold of it and is playing tug with him, he will only pull hard enough to make her think she is winning. Then he will pull her across the kitchen.

As I have said before we have been Blessed with some really great pets in our lives and these two are carrying on the tradition. What memories they will provide the Grandkid’s.

That’s about it for today, I hope everyone has had a good day and ducked the storms down south. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna……..

Wednesday Musings.

Today started early, especially for Donna, this is the first day of her Restaurant duty so she will have a long day,first the day shift at the truck company and then the evening shift at the restaurant. My day on the other hand, started with getting Nicole ready for school as her Mom leaves for work at 06:00AM , I then drive her to Augusta to school then I have some down time until it is time to drive and pick her up.

Today I went on line to Dell .com, I had seen an Inspiron laptop at the used computer store where I bought my Latitude, I only paid $200US for it and it has given me good service for over a year and is still fast and working great. They had an Inspiron that looked liked new and was priced at $500. I sent the specs for it to RICK our resident computer garu, and he said to check out the Dell site, as that seemed a little high for a used unit. I did that and found I could get the next Inspiron model up, brand new for $549US, it is regular $699 and they had an instant $149 rebate. I wanted to get Donna a new computer before we set out fulltime, and since we have not  bought a new one since our first computer back in the 80’s which I think we paid $1200US for and it had a 100MEG hard drive and $99 extra for a mouse. sheeesh. look what you get today. So I resent the specs back to Rick and he said it was a great laptop and a great price. Thanks Rick for reviewing this for me you are a life saver. So Donna has a new computer on the way. Did I tell you it has Windows 7. I am still using XP on both my laptop and desktop.

Nothing else for today. Hope everyone has a fine day, and be safe out there. Sam & Donna……

Tuesday Notes.

Welcome everyone from Beautiful Downtown Dardenne Prairie MO. Actually I guess you could do a lot worse for a hometown, even at 07:00AM in the morning when I am taking Nicole to school people in front of the Catholic  Church going to 07:00 Mass wave a nice good morning to you and it makes the day start out just fine. Speaking of Nicole, she usually catches a short snooze on the way to school since it is 25.6 miles of two lane country road or abut 40 minutes of driving one way. Grandpa lets her sleep and watches the cows and horses go by.

After the drive it was a cold day but no more rain. just watched the world go by.

I have been looking at Dell laptops for a new one for Donna, so today she suggested going to Ultimate Electronics since they are going out of business,I found out when I got there that they never sold computers, but I missed out on the last 32 inch flat screen HD TV that they sold for $99.99. I did see a Canon Flash for $39 that is regular $79. so I will see if it will fit my Canon and go back in the morning, believe it or not the store was just about sold out of everything but a few appliances and the real big flat screens, I wonder what they will finally mark them down to, they are closing in 5 days.

PHYLLIS_EAST MEETS WEST asked me in a comment if I had heard from my Honorary Grandaughter in PA. that I met when I was up there taking care of my sister Wendy, I should have been more attentive to this as I know a lot of followers were interested in our relationship. I have been able to talk to Michelle on Skype every couple of weeks when I call my sister or she calls me, of course she is always asking me when I will be visiting again, I told her I will try to this summer, or try to get her Dad & Mom to bring her out for a visit. She is such a sweet kid, she has a not so bad learning disorder, but she is really working hard to improve that in school. I am so proud of her hard work and told her I would reward her when she gets her report card. Along that line my sister Wendy is doing what I consider great with her recovery and is walking with a cane and using the handrails I put in to get to the second floor, like I said she has come a long way since the day I got out there in October.

Donna & I take the Blessings we get and we surely have been Blessed even with some of the bad luck we’ve had in putting off vacations and such, we have a lot to be thankful for, We have two new Grands that have come into our life, my sister and Donna’s sister in law have had recovery’s from severe sickness, and so we consider Life is good, and don’t complain about the small stuff.

I pray the LORD will allow us the time for our own reward later, and also all your rewards out there in blogland.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

Monday Meanderings.

Another cool day here in Dardenne Prairie, it is really cool for this time of the year. Maybe it will go straight from winter to summer this year.

I know I saw on Saturday we had a hundred followers and I congratulated the one who made it one hundred, last night I noticed it was 99 again again, I asked Donna if I had been seeing things and she said no I saw the 100 too. Maybe they deduct if someone quits, I don’t have a clue what’s going on so maybe its good not to get overly excited over numbers.

Today was a slow day here at the house, took Nicole to school and then it was basically a do nothing day, except for a couple loads of wash.

I see AL & KELLY-THE BAYFIELD BUNCH are heading home at an astonishing rate, they were in Arkansas yesterday, and will probably get close to the border by tonight, Al must be using the afterburner on that rig of his.

I think RICK-RICK & PAULETTES RV JOURNAL has the right idea , stay where it’s warm until the middle of April. Thanks again for the advice on the laptop Rick.

Had a good supper of Sloppy Joes and Macaroni and cheese, Nicole had two helpings of the mac&cheese, I was proud of her because she joined me in the clean plate club tonight.

Not much else going on at the Weeb Ranch, Hope everyone is having a good week. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Sunday Notes.

First things first, after I posted yesterdays blog, I noticed we had reached our 100th Follower EVIELYNNE_MRS CRAFT RVING ETSY STORE, Thanks so much for making this milestone in blogging for us here at the Weeb Ranch, It was just a year in Feb that we started our blog and I can’t believe we have 100 followers, I hope to eventually meet most of them, and I hope you guys enjoy the goings on here, while we prepare for our fulltime RV adventures.

Today was a laid back day for most of us, here, Donna and Samantha tackled some cleaning and rearranging getting Adam’s room more girly while Nicole is staying with us.

Rigg’s and Sadie took advantage of some naptime.

The three kid’s occupied themselves with XBOX, laser fights, card playing and just generally having a good time together. Grandpa occupied his time fixing his son Andy’s computer, the hard drive shot craps yesterday, so I had a spare that I formatted and then installed the Home version of XP that I purchased many years ago. It took 72 updates, plus Service packs 2 & 3, and then bring IE from Ver. 6 to Ver. 8 to get it up to date. That took all day, The last thing I just finished was downloading Microsoft Security Essentials, so now he is good to go and can use his internet again.

Tonight Samantha is making a batch of her world famous Enchilada's.with beans and rice. It doesn’t get any better than that.

At 03:30PM it was time to take Adam home to Warrenton Mo. So Grandpa and him headed out, Hopefully he will be back Friday and the three Grands can spend the weekend together again. They really enjoy each others company , Reminds me of when Me and my cousin Sam Genett would spend weekends at my Grandmothers or at least every Sunday for lunch. Both my Mom and her brother Frances named their first born sons Sam after their Grandfather, so that added to the confusion, especially since my Uncle Frances hated that name and went by Sammy also. I still enjoy my Cousin Sams company and had a great couple of visits when I was in PA.

That’s about it from Dardenne Prairie for today. I hope you all had as good a weekend as we did. Oh and it’s Miller time here now. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna….

Saturday Mumblings.

It was a cold and cloudy Saturday morning with as the forecast said a chance of snow flurries or freezing rain. But I had made my promise to the kid’s and they were excited about seeing the Cars from Car’s. So about noon we set off for the St Louis Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood MO. When we got there we got a pleasant surprise and were told the admission fee had been waived as a requirement for the special event.

It was 35 degree’s and the minute we got in line which was maybe a hundred people, it started to snow, not flurry’s, real snow. by the time we reached the pavilion where the Cars were it was coming down pretty good.

The kid’s climbing on the rail cars before we got in line.

                             Waiting in line.

                         Mr.  Towmater.

              The star of the show, Lightening..

           As we were walking back to the truck..

The drive home. 17 miles, took one hour and a half and we passed two accidents. Average speed was 10-15mph.

I think they enjoyed themselves only a little grousing about the cold while in line, and that was forgotten once we got inside.They each received a nice white carry bag that had their names heat stamped on them, a nice touch paid for by Sate Farm Insurance Company.

They all went home happy, and Grandpa gave a sigh of relief and a Thanks God for getting my Grandkids home safe in the snowy weather. Now they are playing XBOX and it sounds like a pretty competitive game from here in the kitchen.

Oh and my mail had the DVD-RW drive I ordered for my laptop, I found out instead of $29.99, they charged me $26.99 and I put it in and tested it burning a data DVD and it works just fine. Only two days to be delivered.

Did somebody say it is March 26th in St Louis MO. and we have four inches of snow on the ground as I type this. Nobody told the Magnolia’s out front it wasn’t Spring yet.

Rigg’s and our Bradford Pear buds at 05:00PM.

Well that’s it from Dardenne Prairie MO. the snow capitol of the Midwest.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

TGIF

Another up early day, After Donna left for the truck company I read some blogs on the computer and at 0:645AM Nicole and I headed for Augusta Mo. to take her to school, It was snowing and about an inch was on the ground when we left. So much for spring, It stayed wet and cold all day never got above 40 degrees.
I went to get Nicole at 02:45PM as soon as she was in the truck we headed for Warrenton MO. to pick up Adam, and then we we got home Chris was already there so all three Grandkids are here for the weekend.

It’s FRIDAY, Pizza night at the Weeb Ranch, see that large PA style pizza, These three kids took no prisoners and about 3 pieces remained after they were done, luckily Grandpa got two pieces. A pizza is 12 slices. Pretty good sized slices at that.
God love em nothing like three hungry kids and it does your heart good to watch them eat and enjoy it. They all were members of Grandpa’s clean plate club today.
Tomorrow I have surprise for them, the cars and characters from the kid’s movie Cars will be at the Museum of Transport this weekend, so I will take them to see them.Pictures should be forthcoming.
Not much else going on I will have a constant rush around the family room and the hallway most of the night but I don’t mind, the dogs love it and scamper back and forth following every move the kid’s make.
Everyone have a great weekend, I know we will, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Thursday Happenings.

The day started as usual, Donna was up at 04:30AM, I laid in bed and then got up at 05:30AM when she was leaving for the truck company. I got up and made the bed, and then my son Andy said He would take Nicole to school,so I was left with nothing to do. I read a couple blogs and then went in to find Rigg’s and Sadie up on the bed making sure no one could steal the comforter.They took Mom’s choice side of the bed, but did leave enough room for me so I put a movie on and laid on top of the comforter next to them. Of course Sadie moved over and cuddled and went to sleep.

It was cold all morning the high was only supposed to 44 but it never got above 40 that I saw so we are out of spring again for awhile.

Last week I ordered a DVD-RW drive for our laptop,on the net for $29.99 refurbished. My Latitude came with a with a read only DVD with a CD writer. It arrived today and was the wrong one and would not fit. So I sent it back and found another for the same price , this time I e-mailed them and asked if it would fit a Latitude D610 and they said yes, so I ordered that one.It should only take a few days and I will swap them. I like the DVD format because it holds more data per disk and is faster. Also I discovered that the battery in the laptop was shot, It has been plugged in but when I checked the charge level it read zero and charging, 24 hours later it still read zero and charging. It works fine when plugged in. So I took it the the PC shop where I bought it and the tech read it with a meter and said it was shot. He had one to replace it for $37.00 so I said I’d take it. works fine now it is back to 100% charged after a couple hours..

Today is another restaurant day for Donna, My son Andy volunteered to make dinner tonight, We are having Rotini Carbonarra, this is a spiral shaped macaroni that is cooked el denti, and then a white sauce with bacon is added.

Our boys can all cook plus Andy worked at the restaurant  while he was in high school and the cooks taught him a few tricks so he is pretty handy around the kitchen and the BBQ pit.

Not much going on, Nicole just got home from school she is helping in the kitchen and then is going to start her homework. It is just so amazing the life a child living in the home makes so lively. Rigg’s and Sadie compete for attention with Nicole now and the laughing and noise that goes with it makes it seem so much more of a pleasant atmosphere. She is really a good kid and has won Grandpa’s heart over. That’s  for sure, I would hate to have to holler at her like i had to with the boys growing up, but come to think of it Adam doesn’t get hollered at much either when he’s here.

That’s about it for today, be safe out there. Sam & Donna….

Wednesday Musings

We were up early and Donna had coffee and then headed to the truck company, I got Nicole up and we headed for her school in Augusta at 07:00AM. After I dropped her off, I went to the O’Fallon MO. Post Office and mailed three of the winners their software from yesterdays drawing.

O’Fallon MO. Post Office, 08:30AM..

when we first moved out here the Post Office was like a little one room schoolhouse, they had 12 cops in O’Fallon.

Now they have 120 cops and look at the Post Office.

Today was another sunny gorgeous day, windy though and the temp got into the 70’s. It is supposed  to dip into the high 30’s tonight and then be in the 50’s for the next three days. so much for the heat wave.

The Magnolia’s have flowered in front of the house a sure sign spring is coming, the wind is whipping the flag.

After picking up Nicole at school I surprised her with a stop at Dairy Queen, you can get shakes for half price during Happy Hour between 2-4PM So we each got a medium shake total cost $3.12 wow….

Donna has the Restaurant duty tonight so now my thoughts have to turn to supper, It’s me & Nicole so I will se what she feels like.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

Tuesday Thoughts.

Another nice day, Temp in the high 70’s a few clouds now and then, Even the trip to take Nicole to school in Augusta was in the 60’s which is warm for 07:00AM in the morning.
I went to the car wash and got the truck washed, and when I got back a big surprise, first Nicole only had a half day of school so he Mom had got her and brought her home, don’t know if I mentioned it but Nicole and her Mom Samantha , had to move in with us as her Mom & Dad are  leaving their house.
Anyway the UPS truck finally dropped off the software for the drawing, sorry for the long wait, but it was worth it.

Microsoft Streets & Trips 2011, the blue boxes have a gps included, the green boxes are just the software.
The girl from Microsoft said that if you already had an older version  with the GPS. it will work just fine for the new version.
So what I did was I took the hat and had Nicole draw five winning slips, I listed the winners by their Blog names. In the order Nicole pulled their slips from the hat.
(1). GPS version. Travels with Kevin & Ruth
(2) GPS Version. The Cave Dwellers, Dennis & Donna Cave.
(3). Software Version Jodie, Coco, & Sandy, The Tempesta Labradors..
(4). Software Version. East Meets West, Phyllis & Len
(5). Software Version RVing Little House Big yard. Karen & Steveo Pfundler.
I was really happy and surprised by the winners, I follow all their blogs and I have one Canadian, well 4 if count the Labradors as Canadians. So it was an international event.
I had to laugh when she pulled that one as I had put a slip in for their owners in their blogs name and the dogs slip got picked.
It was really a lot of fun I am sure the lucky winners will enjoy their software and if you do, tell your other RV friends since that is the purpose of these promotions is to get the word out to others about a good trip making software. I promised the Girls that ran the promotion I would put a good word in my blog when I did the drawing so there it is. All you winners send me an e-mail to weeb@centurytel.net telling me where you want this software shipped and I will get it to the post office this week.
For the ones that didn’t make it this time, I wish you luck when Al-The Bayfield Bunch gets home and AL & Kelly have their drawing.
Well now that all the excitement is over I think I’ll celebrate with a Miller High Life Light, it’s almost Miller time here in Dardenne Prairie. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna….

Monday Meanderings.

Got a late start on this today, it was another great day with a high of 80 degrees. Just piddled around the house and then Andy & Samantha volunteered to grill burgers outside so what can I say, I helped Nicole with her puppet project and waited for supper to be ready.Nothing much going on in Dardenne Prairie, just a nice day all around.

Hope everyone else is enjoying theres. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Sunday Notes.

After getting some rain last night to day turned out to be gorgeous, Donna had to work late with the party and didn't get home till 01:00AM , made for a long night for her. I went out about 11:00AM and started on my truck replacing the front wheel bearing and hub. I took some pictures and will go through it for all your guys that have Chev/GMC 2500/3500 trucks with 4 wheel drive.

First the truck is jacked up.

Wheel &Tire removed and then the caliper guide pins taken out.

Then the caliper holding bracket is removed from the spindle and the rotor can be removed.

Then the 4 bolts holding the hub assembly in can be removed and the hub/bearing assembly taken out, this is the old one.

This is what it looks like with the hub out.

The new hub/bearing assembly is in and now the rotor and brake parts can be reassembled.

Total time for the job about 1 hour. It is an absolute must to have a good quality impact wrench to do this job, most of the bolts are to tight for a hand ratchet, the two bolts holding the caliper bracket on were so tight  neither of my two impact wrenches would break them with 120lbs of air, so I took a two foot breaker bar with a piece of pipe about 4 feet long as a handle and they came loose with that.

Is it within the realm of the do it yourselfer, absolutely, but you will need a good floor jack capable of holding your truck up, about 3-4 tons, and like I said a compressor and air tools.The 3/8 drive air ratchet, and the 1/2 in drive impact make any job a lot easier.

It is like I said a gorgeous day it will reach 80 degrees today, so this was the day to get the truck done. I took it for a test drive after I was done and it rode and handled quiet and smooth.

Rigg's is loving the warm weather and stays outside a lot especially if the kid's behind us are out playing in their yard. He goes out and barks and runs and tries to get them to come over and play with him.

Not much else doing I am going to take it easy for the rest of the day.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, Be safe out there, Sam & Donna...

Saturday Mumblings.

Donna slept in until 06:00AM, then later in the morning she did our taxes, she said we might have to pay the Feds something this year but she has to check one more thing out, it will be close. It was cloudy and cooler than we thought today and my son Andy went our someplace, so I procrastinated and put off the front hub & bearing job on the truck, tomorrow is supposed to be 76 degrees and a chance of an isolated Thunder storm, so maybe we won't be the isolated area in mind. When your retired , you can wait a day. I want to get it done while there are two vehicle here. Maybe I should look for another motorcycle, I can remember when we had 4 cars 2 motorcycles and 2 drivers in the family. Now we just have the truck and Donna's Escape so if one quits somebody is walking or looking for a streetcar.

The place was really quiet today, no Grandkid's to louden it up, even the dogs laid around, after Donna got done with the taxes, her and Rigg's took an afternoon nap and then at 04:00PM she headed out to the restaurant, she says she is scheduled for a private party at 09:00PM with 50 teenage kids, I told her she ought to draw combat pay for tonight.

Not much going on didn't leave the house only to go to the Shop & Save and get some groceries, got some stew meat, Did I ever tell you I love Donna's Stew. That is what I hope will be the main course tomorrow.

I think my 18 year old Grand Daughter in New Jersey is going through one of lifes tough times, I saw on facebook she said she had lost someone close to her in her life, and then I saw she changed her "status" to single from "In a relationship". I hope she deals with this quickly as breaking up is tough on a teenage girl. Its times like this that you wish they were close to home where you could show them some love and attention when they need it.

Well that's about it for today, Life is still good, the big decision for me now, is what I want to make for my single supper tonight.

Everyone, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna......

TGIF.

Today started as usual with Donna heading out to the truck company,I had some breakfast with Nicole and then we headed out to get her to Augusta MO. to school, Adam was still sleeping so he didn’t ride with us in the morning like yesterday.

When I got back He was awake so we watched some kid shows and he wanted to get some cheat codes off the the computer for his xbox games.

9 years old and he knows how to go on the internet and get game codes. sheesh, I’m lucky I can do a blog.

It didn’t get as warm as we hoped today stayed cloudy almost all day and about 55 degrees.

Adam’s Mom called and asked If I could bring him home today, she missed him after a week of spring break, So at 03:30PM I headed out to Warrenton MO, and I-70 was stopped just west of Wentzville due to an accident. took us over an hour to go about two miles, after I dropped him off I took some back roads home, Nicole is going to her Dad’s for the weekend and Chris will be there too. So no Grandkids this weekend. Boy it will be quiet around , I can handle a little extra rest but Rigg’s and Sadie will sure miss them..

Being it was Friday I made a small frozen pizza for me since Andy & Samantha were gone and I was cooking for one.

After changing the front axle shaft I still have a noise in the left front end of my truck, so tomorrow I will pull the hub and bearing assembly on that side and see what it looks and feels like, and I will probably have to bite the bullet and replace it.

That’s about it for today, Hope everyone is doing well out there in blogland, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Thursday Happenings.

It started out early and what a gorgeous day it is, sunny and in the mid 70’s. I took Nicole to Augusta to school this morning and then me and Adam just piddled around the house and he did some kid computer stuff on my laptop.  At noon his Dad took him and they went on a Boys day out.  They took all of the  bb gins and went to Andy’s buddy Dannys house to shoot. I guess I got him going on it yesterday and after he told his Dad about it, his dad wanted to try the full Auto on the AK47 so they decided to go shooting again.

I stopped at the auto zone again and bought some cutting wheels for my air grinder, and I found out that my tool is shot, it’s a cheapo made out of plastic and the plastic cracked and it leaks more air than it gets to turn the wheel. Lesson learned stay with metal air tools. Luckily it the only plastic tool I own.

Didn’t have enough time to look for a replacement today as I had to go and pick Nicole up from school.

 

Nicole after school, she is Grandpa’s sweetheart..

On the way home we passed the store at Hyw D & DD that we named, “The store what has no Ice Cream.” Everytime we pass it we say that and laugh. Today Grandpa took the long cut instead of the short cut so we could stop at the QT where they do have Ice Cream, and Nicole and Grandpa each got a cone, yummy..

Nicole is staying again tonight with Adam so they can play together, they get along so well it is just a pleasure to watch them..I ‘m getting so spoiled by having the Grandkids around all the time that next week when the are gone I will be lonesome for them.

Donna has the restaurant tonight, Andy, Samantha and the kids are invited to dinner at his buddy Danny’s so Grandpa will be batching it for tonight, I guess I will have one of those Potatoes & Ham Dinners you put in the Micro, and  wash it down with a couple of High Life Lights, now that sounds to me like a good St Pattys dinner.

Hope everyone is having a great time, Life is good, so enjoy it while you can. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Wednesday Musings.

First things first, I want to welcome our 99th follower, NantucketBreezes, I could not find a blog, so  if you have one let us, know, I hope you enjoy the antics of the Weeb Clan as we work our way to fulltiming.

Donna and I were up, early I stayed in bed so the two mutso’s could lay on the bed after Donna went to work, actually I got up and dressed and made the bed and then put a train movie on, Rigg’s and Sadie  sacked out and I laid down and watched the movie for an hour and a half and then got up and fired up the laptop in the kitchen for some blogging.

Adam slept in to about 08:00AM and then started watching the morning kid shows on TV.

After lunch we got his AK47 BB rifle out and I got some BB’s for him and we did some serious shooting in the back yard.

Adam shredded his target with full auto fire.

 

                      Grandpa got his turn too..

You can’t see it well in the pictures but the yard slopes down then up again so the bb’s can’t reach the houses behind us. Before they built those houses and it was fields behind us, Adam’s Dad and I shot many a night with real handguns and rifles and to this day Andy loves going to the range to shoot, he bought Adam a Kid size 22 cal. rifle for Christmas and he is taking his son now to the range like I did with him.

All in all we had a lot of fun, and it was cheap entertainment and also taught Adam more fundamental firearms safety. My Grandfather always said if you keep something like that a mystery from your kid’s, they will discovery it on there own and not the way you would have taught them, He was so wise a man.

It was in the 60’s I think it got up to about 66, and tomorrow is supposed to be mid seventies, I ‘ll take that kind of weather thank you. Snow on Monday and summer on Thursday, what a week.

Tomorrow I will put Rigg’s and Sadie back on the UPS truck watch. I am hoping for a delivery of the prizes, the hat and all those slips are waiting, and I think I’ll let Adam draw the lucky winners.

Adam went with Samantha and Nicole to MacDonalds for supper, I said I’d stay here and eat real food, but what kid would pass up a chance for McD’s.

I guess that’s the news for today, Hope everyone is having a great day and enjoys good weather. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Tuesday Thoughts.

First off the mark. Welcome to a new Follower. CAROL KERR, didn’t see a blog of theirs listed so if you have one let us know. Hope you enjoy  following the daily routine and sometimes not so routine of the Weeb Ranch as we work our way to full-timing and for now trips in our 5th wheel. If you are dog lovers, Rigg’s and Sadie will keep you hopping like they do us.
Got some news, Joani at Microsoft sent me an E-mail saying they have had a delay in receiving their product, but that she had 3 GPS version and 3 Regular versions of Streets and trips on her desk and if that would work for us, she would get them in the mail (UPS). I replied right away that that would be fine since it is a free offer and I am having them used as prizes in a raffle for my blog readers  aside from one GPS version I will try on my laptop, and anything would promote their product. So maybe the beginning of next week we can go forward with the drawing, sorry for the delay, I was beginning to worry the offer had been canceled.
Adam is kind of bumming, his buddies next door have school because the local school district, just like Nicole’s, cancelled spring break, because they used up more snow days this winter than the three they usually offer. So he is left without playmates until 04:00PM, no matter him and Rigg’s found a way to kill some time.
                  MY two boys..Luv em both..
Got some good news for a change, yesterday when I was leaving Warrenton MO. after picking Adam up, the speedometer on my truck started reading like twice the speed, at 30 it would read 65, at 70 it would read 120.
So this morning I went to Auto Zone where my buddy Dan was working, he is a real wizz with the new stuff, so I told what it was doing, and I said I don’t think it’s the VSS module (Vehicle speed sensor) because you can still use the cruise by looking at the GPS and locking it in so the computer is getting a speed signal, he asked if the transmission was shifting bad and the motor revving up higher before it shifted and I said , no it’s driving normal. That’s when he said then you can rule out the VSS.
Another mechanic from a shop was standing there and said sounds like it’s in the in the instrument cluster dash, the only place to take it is to the Chevy Dealer, they pull the cluster out and send them out to be remanufactured, he said it costs around $120 for the rebuild and the dealer gets 4 hours labor for removing and installing the dash, so it’s gonna run about $400.
I asked if removing the positive cable from both batteries would clear any faults in the computer & Prom.He said he thought my truck (2004) had a back-up module, but it wouldn’t cost nothing to try it. So I borrowed the battery wrench and disconnected both batteries, Let them sit through a coffee and some good car talk. Then I put it back together. I fired it up and Bingo, the speedometer went to zero, and it worked just fine on the way home.
Just what I needed one less, stress of where is the money gonna come from. Some days are better than others and saving money is always good.
That’s about it for today, Hey AL-THE BAYFIELD BUNCH maybe your software will be waiting for you when you get back to your place in Bayfield.
Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Monday Meanderings.

Up at 04:30AM, looked out the back window, surprise snow is back it looked like about 3 inches and still coming down fast,

               04:30AM at the Weeb Ranch.

Nicole had stayed the night and I was going to take her to Augusta MO. to school. Just before we were ready to leave the TV said they cancelled school for today.

About Noon we went out to Warrenton MO. and picked up Adam he is staying for the week because it is spring break and his Mom has to work . Nicole will be going to school tomorrow. as their district cancelled their break because of snow days.

It snowed off and on all day even though the temp was 34 degrees, the roads had been cleared, but it was still covering the yard at 05:00PM.

Rigg’s is surveying his domain at 05:00PM.

Tomorrow they are saying a high of 50, Wed. a high of 63, and then Thursday a high of 72, Typical St Louis Spring weather.

Donna went to work at the truck company today so her weekend in bed must have paid off, she rarely misses for any reason so I was surprised she took the Sat night Restaurant shift off.

Tonight were having some sloppy Joe’s with potatoes with bacon and cheddar sauce. Ever notice anything sloppy is good, just like a big gooey meatball and cheese hot sub, no way to eat one of those babies without slopping.

Well that’s about it for now my bride will be home and I want to have a hot supper ready for the working girl.Be safe out there. Sam & Donna……..

Saturday & Sunday Notes.

Well yesterday ( Sat) went by so fast I didn’t get to sit and do a post. Donna came home feeling bad early about 09:00PM Friday night from the restaurant, she took a bunch of medicine and went right to bed, Saturday I got up and she asked for some more of her medicine Theraflu in hot water, and then asked me to call Jerry at the restaurant and tell him she wouldn’t be in Sat night.

All day she stayed in bed except for a light lunch and light supper, and continued on the medication. When she woke up Sun morning she said she was feeling a lot better hope it’s one of those 24 hour bugs, I felt the same earlier in the week so maybe I Infected her. I guess she can tell everyone now I make her sick truthfully.

Saturday the kids played and my son and I went out and tackled the front axle shaft change on my truck, lesson learned, (A) it requires the shock absorber to be disconnected at the bottom and pushed to the side out the way. (B) this should be done BEFORE the axle shaft is disconnected and pulled out of the spindle. If not the bolt to the shock won’t go all the way through and fall out.

Ask us how we learned that. But after about an hour extra of cussing and jacking, we got it right and instead of an hour job it was two.

But the truck is all back together, no left over parts, and no more grinding noise, As long as I had it apart I checked the front hub and bearing and it was tight and smooth. My buddy at the Auto Zone looked that part up just in case I needed it, and on my 93 Chev truck the hub and bearing assembly was about $125.00, on the  2004 since they located the anti lock brake sensor inside the hub, it is now $350.. per side. Yep $700 bucks just for the parts if you do it yourself. Which isn’t hard if you have the jacks, a compressor and air tools, neither of these jobs is going to get done without a pretty stout impact wrench.

Surprisingly the price of the axle shaft was really low. $60.00, But again if you can’t do it at home. You would be looking at about $200-250 for the axle shaft replacement, and about $1000 to have both hub and bearings replaced, makes no sense to replace one side at a time  because when one bearing goes out usually within a short time the other side will too.

The rest of the day was playing with the kid’s, Adam’s other Grandma picked him up to take him to a party. and with Donna being sick, I joined her in bed early.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Another week goes by and it is closer to summer. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

TGIF

Friday started with coffee with the bride and then my nap with the two mutso’s, they wait on the bed until Donna leaves for work and then go back to sleep, this afternoon right after lunch I went to get Adam, he only had a half a day of school. so I got him early. when I got out to his house his asked if Grandpa would look at the AK-47 assault bb gun he got for Christmas, a bracket had broken off and the top wouldn’t stay on. I said sure bring it home with us.
I was able to reassemble it and tape the top so now if I can find the manufacturer and get a parts list I might be able to order the right part and fix it like new. It is operable and no worries of any Taliban bunnies around the Weeb Ranch as Adam is ready for them.
 
                        Adam & his BB rifle.
Actually Adam is only allowed to take it out with Grandpa or his Dad, or it is locked up with his Dad’s and Grandpa’s guns. It is pretty neat with a full-semi autu switch and it can pour the bb’s out. He ran out in just a short time so I know what will be on the next Wal-Mart list.
Were waiting for Nicole and Chris to arrive and then tonight will be Pizza night, The kid’s always are ready for a pizza.
Still waiting also to hear from the auto parts store for the front drive axle for my truck, I’d like to get the bad one off and replaced this weekend I just hate the noise and I don’t want it to fly apart. it’s not like the old 4x4’s where you could unlock the hubs and only the hub and wheel would turn.
Got to just about 60 degrees this afternoon , but it still seemed a little cool, not a lot of sun and a slight breeze.
Nothing much more going on, Adam is waiting for the other kids and Dad is relaxing. It’s another restaurant night for Donna. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

Thursday Happenings.

Up as usual, I skipped coffee this morning , still fighting some kind of a sinus and stomach bug, took a cold remedy before bed and slept good, but I didn’t want the coffee to aggravate a sour stomach. Donna headed out to the truck company at 05:30AM , she has the restaurant duty again tonight, I laid back down after she left and I was immediately joined by Rigg’s and Sadie up on my bed for there extra sack time. Don’t know who snores loudest of the two.

As far as Thursday happenings, there were none, zip, nada. Dardenne Prairie was it’s usual quiet place, it was cold & damp all day, I had to take Andy for food for Sadie and I stopped at Auto Zone, to get a front axle shaft for my truck, the driver side is making noise. Can’t believe of the millions of Chevy trucks out there they don’t stock a shaft for a 2004. I had to order it. You would think I had a 54 chev truck. I guess that’s the way it is now, I remember when a parts store actually had the parts you needed in stock. Today unless it’s a gas cap, you have to order it. When I was younger you could go into an auto parts store and ask for a fuel pump for a 57 Mossmagator or a 63 Veeblefetzer, and the guy would open this big book up write down a number and disappear into one of the aisles and come back with a box with your part and say that will be $5.99. Today they have to order it and it will be in in a week and that will be $300.00 please up front before we order. So much for progress, were going backwards.

I just sat down at the kitchen table, Rigg’s is laying at my feet and Sadie is laying on her rug next to him, she’s a lady and likes a rug under her. They are in their combination guard and rest position, looks like mostly rest to me with the eyes closed.

Well thats’ about it for Thursday, hope the week is going by fine for everyone out there. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna….

Wednesday Musings.

Donna was off early again to the truck company and the rest of the crew had another lazy cold rainy day here at the ranch, even little Sadie has to be coaxed out the back door to go potty, Boy did she learn fast.

I want to WELCOME another follower RONDA, RONDA'S RANTS & RAVES, by all means click and go to her blog today and read about a young man, who is a cancer victim getting his wish. What a great post. It will make you feel good for the rest of your day. Welcome aboard Ronda. Hope you enjoy reading about the antics at The Weeb Ranch and on our travels.

Donna has the restaurant tonight so me and the mutso's will be batching it. the are really something, they sleep then wrestle and play and run down the hall, and play tug, and then pester me to play tug, and then it is back to sleep time. If I lay on the couch or bed and put a movie on the both of them are up on the bed for their nap while the movie plays.

They really have a great life, and then when it warms up a little more it will get greater with the trips to the doggie park.

Took a couple of pictures of one of my passenger trains at the club, thought you might like it.

                               From the front,

                          From the rear.

This is where you would find me, The Tavern Lounge Car, having a cold one..

My Union Pacific train from the front.

The City of O'Fallon MO. Allows us the use of the Club Building so I decaled my Streamliner,  City Of O'Fallon.

Never saw a train I didn't like, When you were a kid did you ever watch one go by and see the people sitting inside, and wish you could be going somewhere, on some adventure, like them. I sure did.

Well that's about it for today, hope everyone is having a good week, Please be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

Tuesday Thoughts.

Donna was up at her usual 04:30am, while the two muttso's and I laid in bed, I have been taking antihistamines for draining sinus at night they just knock me out, so this morning I just stayed in bed until about 06:00AM. Donna was off to the truck company at 05:30AM and will be home tonight for supper. Yesterday I got some nice cube steaks at the store, so that and potatoes will be our supper tonight.

Still waiting for the UPS delivery of the Microsoft software for the drawing , as soon as I get it we are ready.

Reading about other bloggers in the warm climates of California and Arizona, makes me wish for warm weather here, today is rainey and in the 40's, it look like that is what we will have for a couple more days, the Friday they say 58, with the weekend cooling down.

The kid's will be here this weekend so that should liven things up quite a bit.

Tried to find a green picture taken around here, here is one from last summer.

See it does green up around here, usually after the first of April .

That's about it for today, another slow day here in Dardenne Prairie. Even the pooches have laid around most of the day.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

Monday Meanderings.

A short post today, coffee with my bride this morning, then a trip to Shop & Save,nothing much to do today felt guilty as I even got a nap this afternoon when I fell asleep watching a train movie. Rigg’s and Sadie played all day and are crashed on the rug.
Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Sunday Notes.

Up early again, Donna & I had coffee, she has a shift today at the restaurant, by a special request from a party so she is going in at 09:00AM and hopes to get off between 04:00 and 05:00 PM, so at least we can have dinner this evening together. Adam stayed here until about 01:00PM and then his Mom picked him up to go to his other Grandpa's Birthday party.

One of my commenter's asked about a new header photo of the House without snow, he said surely spring has arrived, Well it might be close , but nothing is green yet and the temps are still in the 40's during the day. so I will have to wait and see for a green picture, maybe I have a brown one out there someplace.

I Want to WELCOME two new follower's, the first is Gord, couldn't see a blog for him so if he has one let me know Gord and I'll pass it on. The second is REDPHOTOG, Red has the blog in the link it's called RED'S MID LIFE CRISIS and is starting a new career as a truck driver, I wish you luck Red, I know I enjoyed driving over the road in the motor coach, but I retired when I found out I was making to much money and social security was taking half of it. Your blog is very informative and I look forward to hearing from you as you make your travels. I hope both of you guys enjoy reading about the going's on hear at the Weeb Ranch, we will keep you up on any travels we make in the 5th wheel and of course the adventure's of Rigg's & Sadie.

Speaking of them, I guess all the guard duty this week watching for the UPS Truck. tired them out because as soon as Adam left today they crashed in front of the back door.

 

            Rigg's&Sadie guarding the back door.

Sadie is a trip, she likes to lay in the square of sunlight, while Rigg's prefers the shade, when the sun moves in the sky Sadie will adjust her spot so she is always in the sun.

That's about it for today, I hope we get a warmer day during the week, I have a front axle shaft on my truck that is making noise so I want to replace it soon.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

Saturday Mumblings

Saturday started out fine, Donna got to sleep in until 06:00AM , I was up at 05:30AM had my coffee and hit the blogs for an hour or so, It had rained heavy most of the night,so everything was wet and outdoor play was out of the question so Adam occupied his time with the Saturday kid shows and then some Xbox war games.

He asked if I wanted to go to a movie this afternoon so I said sure, and brought up the movie listings on the laptop. He picked Rango, which is is an animated western with animals doing the acting.He seemed to really enjoy it but even with my juvenile mindset, it seemed to drag a bit.

My sister Wendy in PA. got another good report at the doctors this week, she is going to have a little pain, but it is arthritis and not related to the surgery so she will deal with that later. Samantha also continues to feel better and heal so the medical problems in the family are seemingly on the decline.

Adam’s Mom called and said his other Grandfather Russell’s birthday party was changed from Sat to Sun so he is staying tonight and she will pick him up in the morning. Grandpa & him are happy about another night together.

Not much else going on here at the Weeb Ranch, Be safe out there.. Sam & Donna….

TGIF

Well I overslept this morning , and didn’t wake up until 06:00AM, Donna was long gone to work, Rigg’s was snoring away next to me, and even when I dressed and left the bedroom he stayed for another half hour nap, must be something in the water, as he usually hit’s the floor running when I head to the kitchen. Waited again all day for UPS, AL-THE BAYFIELD BUNCH, had a paragraph in his post today that he wrote to Joani Jones who is running the promotion for Microsoft, and she sent him an e-mail that they were still out of product and would be mailing some thus week, I had sent her one on Feb23rd and basically got the exact same e-mail response. so the drawing is on hold until they send the prizes.

I want to emphasize, that it should be worth waiting for because the bloggers that have been using the earlier versions say it is a great program, I have not used one since I have had several version of Delorme and up to now I haven’t had a GPS hitched up to the laptop. Supposedly these programs come with the GPS Module so I will be as anxious as the rest of you to test it with the laptop.

I just got back from Warrenton MO. after picking up Adam, we stopped for three of the basic essentials in the food chain at Shop & Save, Beer, Donuts, and Dog food, that ought to get us through the weekend all right.

For those of you that don’t have easy access to Grandkid’s, they provide a great excuse to have neat stuff in the house that you would probably not buy if they weren’t there.

Donna is at the Restaurant so it will be just Adam & I for pizza, night he said he might have some Mozzarella Stick’s too, is that my little Italian stallion or what.

That’s about it for today, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Thursday Happenings.

Up and at em at 04:30AM, had our morning coffee together and then Donna packed it off to the truck company and then to the restaurant.
I just waited for the temperature to warm up like they said it would and then this afternoon when it reached 63 degrees I took the trim piece for the back door molding and painted the first coat on it and let it dry outside, once it sets up I will bring it in the garage and then tomorrow put the second and final coat on it. When I had the Perkay flooring installed in the kitchen  the floor molding they used was made out of particle board, well after several years of water from the door opening and closing and walking in and out and it rotted and broke, I went to Lowes and got a piece of hard wood and some outdoor white paint and that should add about ten years to the life span of the new molding.
Want to take this opportunity to WELCOME two new followers, TERI, no blog listed, and I.M. at RV DREAMERS. Hope you all enjoy the going's on here at the Weeb Ranch as we wait for Donna to retire and then we head out fulltime in our 5th wheel. We will be making several trips before then when the winter finally leaves Dardenne Prairie MO. Rigg's and Sadie our mutso's will do all they can to keep things lively here also.
It's almost 04:00PM and still NO UPS truck, well she said next week and next week is here but not over yet. I am as excited as everyone else at the thought of having this drawing and it is all ready for when the shipment gets here. As Grandpa used to say Good things are worth waiting for. He also used to say good things won't hurt you but don't stuff a Lima Bean in your nose.
Dardenne Prairie was quiet today, except it is trash pickup day so I get to hear the truck stop, the banging of the trash thing that picks up your dumpster and empties it, and then usually by the time he empties mine it's time to squish, so the symphony is completed with the roaring of the motor as he compacts what ever is in the back of the truck. Makes you happy you don't work midnights anymore.
Thats the excitement for today. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...

Wednesday Musings.

Well we were up at the usual 04:30AM for coffee, my bride left for the truck company at 05:30AM. She also has the restaurant tonight, so I will be batching it.

Waited all day for the UPS truck but it was a no show, maybe they still haven’t resupplied the gal running the promotion yet. She did say this week though. I want to Thank everyone for there comments and if I didn’t already have you on the list I do now, I still only have about 50 names, so the odd’s are still good. I want to thank the followers that let me know not to put them in the pot, as that increases someone else’s chances. I have to admit I am anxious to receive these items as I have prepared the slips and I am going to have the drawing as soon as they arrive.

I also want to welcome two new followers to the Blog, JOHN KITE, and LINDA, I didn’t see blogs listed for them, so If you have one, please  leave me a note in my comments so I can pass it along, I also put an entry in the hat for you guys, and I hope you enjoy the antics of the bunch here at the Weeb Ranch..

Rigg’s has developed a taste for a couple of fingers full of the foam off the top of my first Miller High Life at night. Donna says that beer isn’t good for a dog, and I would imagine if they were to drink in excess like some humans do there livers and kidneys would suffer just like their human counter parts. If anyone had knowledgeable advice on this let me know. I have seen many tavern dogs that lived to a ripe old age, but I hate to cut him off if he enjoys it and it won’t hurt him. My son Andy has banned Sadie from a taste so I will honor his wishes.

That’s about it for today, sorry about being so late for posting. but I gave UPS until 06:00PM  before I gave up on them. I know I didn’t miss them as Sadie & Rigg’s were assigned to the UPS watch today.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Tuesday Thoughts.

Today is a sunny and almost nice day, the temp is about 52 degrees and no wind, so walked down to the mailbox with just a long sleeve tee shirt and wasn't cold. I have been watching for the UPS truck. Last week I got an e-mail from the lady with the Microsoft Street & Trips offer and she said she had received my e-mail and that the were awaiting a new shipment and would be sending mine this week. So I have decided my giveaway will be a little different than Rick's , instead of giving a two day period, I decided all that would do is give a couple of days of inflated comments that I would have to sort through. so here is what I came up with. I went back to January 1st 2011 and I listed all the bloggers that have left a comment, this indicates a base of people who regularly read the blog, I came up with 42, I subtracted Rick and two others that won in his drawing and that left 38, if I get anyone new between now and whenever I receive the programs in fairness I will add them to the pot. So with 5 programs to giveaway that makes the odds 10-1 instead of over 20-30 to 1. If some of my regular readers don't know if they commented  just send a quick comment, I have a list to make the tags for the drawing and I can quick check and add or verify of you are on the list. I just didn't want this to be away of jacking numbers up for a day so this is what my thoughts are on it.Also if you already have the program and don't want to be considered drop me a quick post or e-mail, My e-mail is in the about us or weeb@centurytel.net , Ok now where is that dang UPS truck..

The week is going by slowly, but I am enjoying reading about our friends who are out and visiting such neat places, hopefully one of these days we will join them, or at least get into weather warm enough to take the trailer to the Lake or on a weekend out . I enjoy just taking it to Iowa and watching the trains go by the campground. Although now fuel will add to the cost of those junkets.

That's about it for today I will let you know when we have the drawing and who the lucky winners will be.

Be safe out there, Sam & Donna...