Still Hibernating

 Mid February here at the SSUVFL. I don't care what that groundhog says, we always have at least 6 more weeks of winter. 

I got a telegram from my most loyal reader the other day. (Ah, who am I kidding, I think he is my only reader.) He said to me that he thinks it's time to write a blog. To which I said to him, "Why are you sending telegrams Jethro? Have you not heard of texting or emailing?" His reply was that "The 
Government" can track those communications, so he prefers to travel to Mexico and then communicate from a different country. You just never know what's going on inside the mind of a prepper.

So I got to thinking about a topic. When we are in hibernation mode here deep in the wilderness of Minnesota, we don't do a whole lot of anything. I have been bingeing a lot of TV. Specifically James Bond movies. Did you know there are 26 James Bond movies? I started with the first one. "Dr. No". It was released in 1962. Two years before my birth. If it would have come after my birth he may not be named "Bond, James Bond". Instead it would most likely be "Oliver, Dino Oliver" being the influence that I am. 

I love looking at the old technology of the day. I'm sure that in their minds that stuff was cutting edge and I am sure that it was. It was nothing compared to today's tech. I love seeing the cars of the day in action. Like seeing a 1957 Chevy convertible in a high speed chase. I am a gun aficionado (big word Jethro), it's true. James Bond started out with a 25 caliber Barretta and moved up to his iconic 32 caliber Walther PPK. They describe the move in the movie like this. The .32 caliber bullet hits like a brick through a plate glass window. Not by today's standards I'm afraid. 

Back in the olden days kids, we would get mailed to us, something called a TV Guide.

It was just a small magazine with articles about celebraties and it would list every show that would be on the Television for the month. So you could look at a glance at what would be on. Not like todays version of scrolling for hours just to find something to watch. I would get excited if I saw that a James Bond, Clint Eastwood or John Wayne movie would be coming on. Then I could plan accordingly. However back in the day I would never get to see those movies on our giant 19 inch color RCA console TV that sat on the floor. Noooo! I would have to sit in the corner of our kitchen and watch it in black and white on our tiny 13 inch TV. But I got to watch them so I am not complaining.

Watching James Bond is great. They made a few movies called Austin Powers, that was a satire of James Bond. Watching that and seeing the similarities to James Bond just makes it even more funny. In Austin Powers whenever he was going to hit somebody he would say "Judo chop!" Watching James Bond now, he would be fighting people and then he would do a karate chop on them. You can see it coming in every movie and now when I see it I'm saying out loud "Judo chop!" Then I chuckle to myself for being so clever. LOL! If you haven't seen the Austin Powers movies you must. They are hilarious.

Watching these spy movies jogged a memory from the past. Do you remember reading comic books and in the back you would see a page full of ads? There was some really cool stuff on them like X-ray glasses. Magic tricks, Itching powder. All kinds of things that young boys could get to torment their friends and family.

In one such comic book I found a miniature spy camera. So I ordered it. It was like this one in the following picture.

It was very small and it came with a roll of film. I snuck around for days taking pictures only to find out that when the roll was full, there was no place to develop it. It was fun while it lasted.

I thought since we were hibernating that I could write a great spy novel. After being inspired by the great James Bond. I mean if Jethro can do it, how hard could it be? But after doing some research I found that the titles for the books I would write have already been written. Like these.

That's some funny stuff right there.

This one is my favorite.

The Angry Dame book series. I guess someone has already written books about Lisa. Lead sandwiches are the only thing on the menu. I love it!

That's it for this little trip down memory lane. I hope you enjoyed it. Soup season is right around the corner and we are already booking events for the summer. 

Until next time. Keep your powder dry and keep reaching for the stars.

Cabin Fever

*Some images may not be suitable for young readers. 

Somewhere deep in the bowels of northern Minnesota, far, far away from the Ice storm in Minneapolis, sits our hero's, Tango and Glady's (aka. Dino and Lisa). We are experiencing the coldest weather to date now. Up until now it has been mild they say, for the arctic I guess. 

We have lived up here in the north for many years. 61 for me and 29 for Glady's. It's amazing how she celebrates turning 29 every year. But I digress. If you have lived here for any length of time at all, you know that it's going to get cold in January and February. No ifs, ands or buts about it, our weather forecasters want to put the fear of God into us with the way they report it which just drives me nuts.

Just look at the scare words in just this headline. Onslaught of dangerous snow, crippling ice. Potentially historic. Set to unleash life-threatening cold. I just don't get it. Maybe if people would quit wearing shorts and hoodies when it is 20 below zero, that might solve some of the problems. But I'm just going to shake my head at this point and move on. 

When it's this cold out, we don't do a whole lot outside. We'll just stay inside and binge shows on the ole boob tube. That's where cabin fever starts to set in. Here is a screenshot from Wikipedia about it.

We often find ourselves asking each other "What are we going to do today?" Over and over it goes. Same question every day. I think that we ask ourselves that in hopes that the other person finally has something or someplace interesting to go to so that we can get out of the house for a brief moment. For me, the highlights of the days have been going to medical appointments. How old and sad am I now?

But on the medical front I do have some good news. My ankle issues have gotten better. I have graduated from physical therapy. So last week I had my last follow-up appointment with my podiatrist and she was happy with the results. However when she was examining my ankle she saw my ingrown toenail that I have been suffering with for weeks. If it's not one thing it's another.

She said she could take care of that while I was there, so she did. She numbed it. cut it out and I was done. 10 minute procedure.

After the procedure.

A few days later.

It feels so much better. Now I can get back to my foot modeling career. Here is another example of how hard my life is. I went in for my semi yearly physical. With that they do a lot of blood work. I have noticed that the last few times that the phlebotomists have been having a tough time finding my veins. Could it be that my veins have collapsed from having been poked so many times? Well she could not find my veins at all so do you know where she drew the blood from? My bicep, that's where! Never have I ever had blood drawn from there. Boy did that sting. Now look at the final result days later.

A big giant bruise. Sheesh!

Well that's it. Until inspiration strikes again. Good news! It's warmed up outside from -26 below to -18 below zero. I may have to put on some shorts and go outside.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Another year has come and gone. It goes by so fast. I look back at my younger years and it seemed like time moved at a much slower pace. It seemed like my school years took forever to get through. Nowadays I wish I could relive them. Like my first crush in fourth grade with a girl named Beth. Singing in the middle school choir at this time of year was always special. Four years of being in our Catholic High School. Four years in the Air Force. Marriage. Kids and now grand kids. It's like a snowball rolling down a hill. But I digress.

Christmas is such a special time of year. I love the snow on the ground and the houses decorated with colored lights. Inside our house, the tree is all decorated and presents surrounding it.

I love Christmas music. I have it on a lot when Lisa isn't around. I like the stuff from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mannheim Steam Roller or older stuff like Vince Guaraldi. This will be the first year without Moose. But he is with us in spirit.

The smells of the holidays also bring joy. Like the smell of baking. Today Lisa is make Krumkake. Pronounced "Croom-ka-ka". It is a traditional, thin, crisp Norwegian waffle cookie rolled into a cone.

Placing a dollop of dough on the Krumkake maker.

Once the dough is placed on the iron , it is closed for about 20 seconds.

Then the Krumkake is taken off the iron hot and rolled into a cone.

Once cooled they are a crispy delicious cookie.

The finished product.

This year will be the first time at changing our holiday meal. Normally we would have a ham with all of the fixings but we are going to change it up this year. We decided to go out for Chinese food at lunch and then have hors d'oeuvre's for the rest of the day. We all agreed that nobody ever complains of not having enough food at the holidays. Just the opposite.

Another new tradition will be our holiday game. The last few years we have been doing a saran wrap ball filled with all kinds of goodies. Last year, the boys each had their own and then two other for the adults because of all of the things inside them. 

Last year's Saran wrap balls and Stinky.

This year we have made a new game thanks to the influencers called Jim and Barb, aka, Jethro and Bambi. We are going to play "Shut the Box" and the lowest score can pick a gift plus they can pick a gift card from a stack I have. It will be like gift card roulette because the gift card may be full, empty or somewhere in between.

So with Christmas here, we would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May 2026 be filled with wonder and glory for all.

l-r. Santa, Jorin(8mos.), Audie(74mos.) and Virgo(92mos.)

Wait a minute, Why would my first picture be of a package of bacon?

Let me explain the torture that I must endure. Last week Lisa and I went to Wallyworld to shop. She put in the shopping cart a package of bacon. My mouth starts watering and I'm thinking that there must be a special occasion coming up because she knows I would kill for bacon. So a few days later I come in from outside and I smell bacon. So I ask her if I can have a piece which is code for wanting all of it. (The package isn't resealable so that means it's a single serving, right?) Do you know what she tells me?

"You can have 'one' piece" She says. "That's her bacon".

"What?!" Her bacon. Her bacon? 

If we ever get divorced I can now see a custody battle as to who gets the bacon. By the way, that's a picture of "MY" bacon. 

 

COVID Flashback

 It has been 4 and a half weeks since I have been under what I like to refer to as being under "house arrest".  Since we cancelled our most stupendous and epic adventure to be at home at the SSUVFL, I have been home bound, much like when COVID hit, but this time due to my ankle issues. Those being my Achilles tear, fracture and bone spur.

4 and a half weeks of being off of my feet as much as possible. Wearing that aircast every waking hour. Using that knee scooter to go anywhere. Do you know what happens when you sit on your butt for 4 and a half weeks? You gain weight. I gained so much more weight. So much more than at that gluttony convention at the J Bar B Dude ranch in September.

My day starts with me putting my "Boot" on. That's what I call the cast. Then jump on my scooter to go to the living room where Lisa has my coffee ready. I elevate my foot, drink coffee and get smarter by reading the Facebook. Once done, I get on the scooter to go to the table where Lisa has my breakfast ready and another cup of coffee. 

Once that is done I thank her and then drive my scooter to the spare bedroom where my Xboxes are set up. Then I game for hours and hours. Stopping for lunch and dinner. After dinner it is a movie, shower and then back to bed. I made the comment to her that that was pretty much the routine that her 100 year old grandfather did. Only he listened to books on tape because he was practically blind.

I think to myself that this is what old age is going to be like. Maybe I can talk Lisa into taking me to Moab and then put me in a Jeep and then Thelma and Louise me when the time comes. 

So I sit in my room day after day. Some days surviving on nothing but leftovers and my salty tears while Lisa drives to Fargo to help with the grandkids. Then out of the blue I will get a spark of happiness from our friends in South Dakota.

It's so kind of them.

Today I had a recheck on my foot. It has been feeling better thanks to my diligence and my warden hovering over me nonstop. So the prognosis today is that I should wear the aircast one more week. However I need to start to go to physical therapy at least 3 times a week for 2-4 weeks, if it does not worsen. Surgery is still on the back burner so we will see how it goes. I don't need the scooter around the house but it is recommended for trips to Wally World or anytime I am going to be on my feet for longer than ten minutes. We have to take baby steps going forward.

So that is it for an update. We wish everyone who reads this a Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the great care my nurse/warden has been giving me and also Busch Light. Amen.

The Most Stupendous Epic Adventure 2.0

 The plan was to go to the Omaha Zoo and then turn south. We wanted to head to the Gulf to some of the places that we really love to return to. Namely the Waveland, Mississippi area and then along the gulf coast to St. George Island and eventually to Cedar Key.

Being by the ocean is very soothing to us. Not to mention the amount of treasures that I find metal detecting on the beaches. Gladys does her shell hunting and walking along the beach. In Pass Christian there is our favorite beach bar that we always make a stop at for delicious shrimp meals. 

Our plans were going to be big, or do I dare say stupendous and epic? 

Much like the Greek hero Achilles, I too had but one weakness. My heel. For months I have been dealing with excruciating pain at times. Most times it is just a constant burning pain making every step I take harder than it is meant to be. I've been to a podiatrist before we started this journey and she gave me an air cast to wear when walking around. The hope being that it would eventually heal on its own. 

So we got to Omaha and walked 3.5 miles around the zoo. It was excruciating. We weighed the pros and cons of continuing on with the journey but I really could not stand or walk for long distances any more. There was no way that I could enjoy the beaches. We then made the decision to head north.

Once home I messaged my podiatrist and she quickly scheduled an MRI on my foot to really see what is going on in there. It's a good thing we did go home because the MRI showed that I had a small tear in my Achilles tendon along with a fracture in my heel and she said that where my Achilles attached to the bone it is diseased from being inflamed for so long. Also, there is a heel spur that is not helping the situation.

Surgery was an option but I have not been lucky with past surgeries. They usually cause another problem down the line. Recovery from that surgery would take 4-8 weeks. So that was going to be plan "B".

Plan "A" is to stay off of my feet as much as humanly possible. Wearing the boot every waking hour for four weeks. No weight bearing at all on my ankle. We ordered one of those knee scooters to help me get around.

Lisa is watching over me to make sure that I am staying off of my feet. She is taking great care of me. Although it feels like being under house arrest. It has been one week and the pain is less, which is a good thing. Only time will tell.

So I admit that ending our stupendous epic adventure was my fault. Maybe we will try it again next year.

The Most Stupendous Epic Adventure Continues

 

We left the J Bar B Dude Ranch and started to head east for our epic adventure. It was imperative that we did leave to save our livers, even though Bambi begged and pleaded for us to stay it was time. 9 days was a lot of time spent together and in the background I could see Jethro starting to load his shotgun. Yep, it was time.

Our next destination was going to be Omaha, Nebraska. Did you know that Omaha has the country's best zoo? Or as I like to call them, animal prisons. We made a stop in Mitchell, SD because we detest driving farther than 400 miles in a day. It was going to be about 350 miles which gives us a nice break. Once we got set up at the Mitchell city park campground, it gave us time to reflect on the past week and to also kill the many stink bugs that have infiltrated our camper. They are not really stink bugs. They are the Western Conifer Seed Bug.

The reason that they are mistaken for a stink bug is because when you squish them they emit a foul odor. They were everywhere. They fly into your face and hair so you can't help but not swat at them.

Reflecting on the past week we learned that for Jethro, it's never too early to start drinking. Bambi is an excellent cook. Her feasts reminded me of the time Gladys and I went to a medieval dinner theater. The portions were heaping and the alcohol was nonstop. 

The next day we headed out to Omaha but we had to make a short stop at a grocery store. As a going away gift from Bambi, she gave me her cold. So I needed lots of cold medications for the rest of the trip. We got to Omaha and stayed at a campground we first stayed at when we hit the road back in 2014. It sure had changed because none of it looked that familiar. In fact I thought it was someplace totally different. Oh well. 

We got set up, killed more bugs and got ready for the zoo.

The zoo is enormous. It's a good thing I got in shape doing those death marches in SD with my boot on. I turned on my pedometer app on my phone and we were off. The animal areas are big and the animals have room to roam around which is good.

Lemurs.

Silver back gorillas.

Jellyfish.

More Jellyfish.

Sleepy Lions.

Snow Leopard.

Rhino.

We were at the zoo on a Tuesday so it was not crowded at all. We made it around the entire zoo and I was getting very tired of hobbling around in my boot. In fact my legs were starting to kill me so we finally made it to the exit. I looked at my pedometer app and it said that we had walked 3.5 miles. No wonder my legs were killing me.

I got a message from my security guy at the SSUVFL. He said that he met my daughter and they were going to run off together leaving the SSUVFL unprotected.

Now that creates a problem. Do we continue South on our epic adventure? We know Bambi is tracking us because we get messages from her telling us not to turn north. The Google says that we are only 413 miles from home. We could break the 400 mile rule and turn north. My foot hurts so bad that I couldn't enjoy walking on sandy beaches right now. Plus the SSUVFL is unprotected.

With all of the evidence in front of us there was only one thing to do.

Final Days at the J Bar B Ranch

 Friday 26 September 2025

Jethro has been saving the biggest and best events for the finale of the first annual "J Bar B Ranch get together and hootinanny. (Jethro, you might have to work on that name. Just saying.) Although our group of the original ten is shrinking a little bit now. Debbie flew out on Thursday and Dave and Leslie are leaving Friday. So that leaves 7 hearty souls to continue on.

The first big event was touted as being enormous. It was going to be the 60th Annual Buffalo Round-up at Custer State Park. Jethro said that we had to leave the ranch at 6:30 in the morning. The plan was to take Jethros pickup camper and then meet up with some of his friends and then convoy into the park with them since this was everyone's first rodeo to speak. 

We drove to the town of Custer to meet his friends and then it was a long 2 hour drive into the park to the viewing area. Normally it would not be such a long drive but can you imagine 20 thousand people all wanting to go to the same area all at once. Instant gridlock traffic. Stop and go for hours. What made it worse was having my morning coffee filling up my bladder. Not a fun drive at all.

We eventually made it to the parking lot and thank the maker there was a porta potty pretty close. A sigh of relief could be heard all across the park. Jethro's friends set up tables and chairs for having some breakfast and drinks. (Go figure.) Mimosas, Bloody Mary's and Screwdrivers. We relaxed a little until it was time to take a shuttle bus to the viewing areas. Once there we walked through a sea of humanity to find the perfect spot to see the buffalo come in. The group quickly threaded themselves through the crowd leaving the two cripples behind as usual. So Harry and myself were left standing on a different hillside. We stood there for an hour waiting.

A crowd of people.

More people.

And more people. Across the way was another viewing area and the spot circled is where the SD Governor was watching.

I really never thought in my entire life that I would be sitting on a hillside with 20 thousand other people trying to get a glimpse at a herd of buffalo, but here I was. In fact on our way to the black hills we passed two big herds of buffalo just west of Pierre SD. Just standing by the road as we drove by.

This is what I remember of the buffalo round-up.

Finally they were herded past the throngs of people as cheers erupted for the buffalo. (Not kidding about that).

The cowboys herded the buffalo around that far hill and into a pasture just below us. It took 15 minutes. Now 20 thousand people were all wanting to leave at the same time. So we went back to the campers and here is the brilliant part. We sat around and had lunch and cocktails until the crowds finally started to thin out. We then packed into the RV and started the two hour drive back home. There was a big vendor show that we stopped at to look around. We found more people there.

Tired, we piled back into the RV and headed back to the ranch. Alcohol was provided in hopes of perking people up again but it was a rather long day. Harry and Vicki were leaving in the morning which meant there were only 5 left now. Also there was some confusion about when checkout actually was. Jethro was saying that it was Saturday but then Bambi wanted us to stay another week. Steve was leaving on Sunday?

Saturday 27 September 2025

Harry and Vicki were packing up to leave that morning. Jethro was running around telling the rest of us "See, see. They know when to leave. Why aren't you guys leaving also?" he said as pork rinds were flying out of his mouth. More goodbyes were said as we watched them drive away. We all vowed to meet back here in a year. I think I heard Jethro screaming "NO, NO!" as Bambi pushed him inside the house.

He finally came back out and said "since you 3 are still here, we can go into Rapid and I can show you the Prepper Show that's in town. Then you can see what all of us South Dakotans do in our free time." I had to Google what a prepper was because it was entirely new to me.

After that I googled the show itself and what came up did look kind of interesting.

So off to Rapid we went with high hopes of finding us some prepper stuff. I made the comment that I saw on the Facebook admission prices were lowered from 10 to 5 dollars a person. Sweet. We paid our money and walked in to this.

This does not look like the picture they put out on the Facebook. What a bust. I said to Gladys that we need to pack up and leave tomorrow if this is the best they can do. I looked over at Jethro and he was smiling from ear to ear. I think that was his plan from the beginning.

Sunday 28 September 2025

We packed up and were ready to leave because our adventure was going to continue and it was going to be epic. We said our goodbyes, to Jethro, Bambi and Steve. (Why does Steve get to stay?) Hugs all around from everyone. Bambi whispered in my ear, rather pleaded "Don't leave, please don't leave. I want to smell normal people that don't smell of bourbon and pork rinds. I beg of you." 

We vowed to come back next year for the second annual "J Bar B Ranch get together and hootinanny."

On a more personal note. I make fun of Jim and Barb(mostly Jim) but they know that I am only kidding. We love them like family and we wanted to thank them from the bottom of our hearts for inviting us out for an entire week of friendship and fun and also great memories that we all shared. Barb made some amazing meals for all of us and Jim kept us entertained which I am sure was difficult at best. I almost feel sad for winning so much of their money. We can't wait to do it again next year.

Our adventure continues.