Day 282 – (AD 1,444) – 25.7 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled 25.7 miles on my Schwinn 170. And my totals now stand at 30,725.9 miles; 49,448.6 kilometers.

I have completed 27.5% of the distance of 650 miles to my next destination on the Red Planet.

Well I tried using the Instant Pot last night to make a dessert, a Pumpkin Pie Pudding. Relatively simple and a wee bit different, obviously, than using a Bain-maire in the oven.

Difference in time of Instant Pot versus Oven – Instant Pot: 20 minutes (after pressure build-up) plus 10 minutes (pressure release) versus Oven: 15 minutes at 375˚F plus 45 minutes at 350 ˚F.

(I swear I'm not postulating that the Red Planet is flat.)

Well the numbers are in sort of, regarding my switch from being a long-time customer of Time Warner, Roadrunner, Bright House, and Spectrum and AT&T. I switched to Verizon and Frontier ViOs.

Overall, I will be saving ~$65 a month. And this is after upgrades and 2 new iPhones and iPad; a substantial increase to download speeds; comparable upload speeds, and all Premium Cable Channels for 2 years.

My total savings for the next 2 years = $1,560.00

This is my 1,544th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 184,139 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 281 – (AD 1,443) – 25.7 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I pedaled my Schwinn 170 25.7 miles. Totals – 30,700.2 miles; 49,407.3 kilometers.

And as of today, I have completed 23.5% of the distance to my next destination and next goal points.

Soapbox –

Halloween-Gate?

I don’t think I have enough candy.

Here are our current Cranes quilts –

Rainbow Cranes – completed; the other two in progress.

Rainbow Cranes - JS AB - October 2017

CP – 45/1215...

And just out of the oven - Egg and Olive-Oil No Knead Bread.  The house is filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread.

This is my 1,543rd post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 184,076 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 280 – (AD 1,442) – 26.3 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled my Schwinn 170 26.3 miles. Totals 30,674.5 miles; 49,365.9 kilometers.

Meanwhile on the Red Planet I have completed 19.6% of the distance to my next destination and goal point.

Soapbox –

Work continues on our new Cranes Quilt. All the blocks have been completed and the strips have been sewn. Next, the positioning in accordance of our design.

RC Project - 32/837

This is my 1,542nd post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,994 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 279 – (AD 1,441) – 26.4 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled my Schwinn 170 26.4 miles. Totals now – 30,648.2 miles; 49,323.6 kilometers.

And I have completed 15.5% of the distance to my next destination.

Telephone etiquette -

Is it me or do every scam artist that calls me via the telephone not understand the word "Concerning"?

Telephone rings. I answer. I put call on speaker. There is a lot of background noise on the initiator's end.

I say: "Hello"

Caller: "Can I speak to J.K.L. Smith?"

I question: "Concerning?"

Caller: "Can I speak to J.K.L. Smith?"

I question, again: "Concerning?"

Caller: "J.K.L. Smith."

Me, again: "Concerning?"

Caller hangs up.

I did not realize that the word "concerning" was such a difficult word in the English language.

Works every time.

And to all you Gentlemen Roosters out there…

Rainbow Cranes update – All quilting and binding has been completed. Next steps: hanging sleeve; label; and special photographs.

And here’s a sample of a new Crane, a 5” block for our next new quilt.

This is my 1,541st post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,932 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 278 – (AD 1,440) – 26.0 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled another 26.0 miles on my Schwinn 170. Totals are now at 30,621.8 miles; 49,281.1 kilometers.

I completed 11.5% of the distance to my next destination and goal point.

I noticed in my Spam Folder that there have been quite a number similar emails explicitly stating that “AUTOMATIC PAYMENT Attn: Your-payment of $755.85 was-successful. Transaction #3424 – Thank you jsmith58…” The amounts are different, and they occur between 5:13 and 7:21 am. The iteration is slightly different. And this morning there were 8 such emails. They began sometime last week.

For the total amount that the emails add up is beyond the amount of money that I keep in any account. And a couple have the “Contact-Address” as “58091 Manzanita Ave., Carmichael, CA 95608”. The majority have California as the contact address.

Something’s afoot. Hell, if I know what? And yes, of course I do NOT open the email. But something strange is going on, once again in Internet-land.

North Atlantic Raw Lobster Tails wars is on.

Ya need a calculator. $1.33 an ounce at Sprouts. $1.50 an ounce at Fresh Market.

17-cents for gas???

Soapbox –

With the contention and confusion occurring in the hallowed halls of Congress of late it is a wonder that any elected official is getting anything done. That is, unless it is behind closed doors.

It is of note, unless I missed something, #45 hasn’t tweeted as to Sen. Jeff Flake’s quote retirement un-quote. But I did note something of a comment that was made for someone online. It was stated that both “Senators Flake and Corker should switch parties and become Democrats.”

I have a hard-time accepting that statement. Both Senators ran and were elected as Republicans. Their successive statements are not a comment on what they believe as to their party affiliation. If they wish to be representatives of the Democratic Party I think that they should run as Democrats.

This is my 1,540th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,861 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 277 – (AD 1,439) – 26.0 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Continuing on my merry way, I pedaled another 26.0 miles this morning on my Schwinn 170. Totals are now at 30,595.8 miles; 49,239.3 kilometers.

And I have completed 7.5% of the distance to my new destination and goal point.

Last night I made Chicken, Sausage and Shrimp Gumbo in my Instant Pot. It tasted alright, and I ate a double helping. (There went my FBS count.) I substituted Bok Choy for Celery, and Yellow Bell Pepper for Green.

My issue with the Instant Pot is that it appeared not to get hot enough to properly brown the Roux; the recipe called for Olive Oil and Flour. Think next time I’ll stick to making the Gumbo on my stove top… or create the Roux separately.

Two of our quilts Elation and OPOY (Orlando Pulse One Year) have been judged and accepted into The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum “2018 Men Just Wanna Have Fun Too”.

The show will be at The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum from February 5 to May 25, 2018 in Golden, Colorado.

Elation
JS AB - August 2016

OPOY (Orlando Pulse One Year)
June 2017

Soapbox –



Why bother?





This is my 1,539th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,810 Pageviews.
 
I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 276 – (AD 1,438) – 26.1 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I have crossed another threshold. I have completed 80.02% of my total journey. Who would have thought that I would keep on keeping-on? And this morning I pedaled 26.1 miles on my Schwinn 170.

My totals now are 30,569.8 miles; 49,197.4 kilometers. I still have 7,631.8 miles to go.

And this morning I reached my next goal, Fournier Crater. I continued 22.6 miles beyond in the direction of my next destination and goal point, Libya Montes. I have completed 3.5% of the new distance.

This morning’s FBS dropped 10 points. I had a hankering for Tourtière last night. I used to make a couple always for Christmas Eve in days gone by. And I think I can still do the same.

Filling is Ground Beef and Pork and mashed Potatoes with a bunch of spices, which were a few more as mentioned in the recipe.

Rainbow Cranes
JS AB - 2017

Rainbow Cranes Update - Our Rainbow Cranes are looking better than expected. The inner top and all 36 Cranes have been quilted. Next step the border.

Questions answered –

Andy does not use a "ruler" to sew the straight lines. He uses tape.

The Crane blocks are NOT paper-pieced. I created an #Accuquilt design and die which we use to cut the fabric for all the Cranes and the surrounding background of each individual block.

The Crane block is 6" square. I also created a 5" one.

Something to think about and appreciate –

BBC.com just made notice that “Stephen Hawking PhD readers crash Cambridge University website”.

Soapbox –

#45’s approval rating at FiveThirtyEight is continuing on a steady downward path. Whenever it does turn-around the approval rating is still lower than the lowest ever for President Gerald Ford.

This is my 1,538th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,751 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 275 – (AD 1,437) – 26.6 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I pedaled my Schwinn 170 26.6 miles. Totals – 30,543.7 miles; 49,155.4 kilometers.

And I have completed 99.4% of the 580 miles between Liris Valles and Fournier Crater. I have picked my next destination which is 650 miles away from Fournier Crater. Stay-tuned to tomorrow to find out where.

My early morning blood sugar count dropped 7 points when I made a dish of homemade Bistro Pasta with Spicy Italian Sausage two nights ago.

But contrariwise it went up 19 points when I went out to supper a Bonefish Grill. My guess would be the Bang Bang Shrimp and the sauce used on the Snapper.

Overall, I am keeping on a downward track, blue line, when I calculate out my A1c.

Rainbow Cranes update - 4th quadrant quilting. Now on to the border. And if you get a chance “Like” our Quilts SB Facebook page. I believe we’re just at about 700 likes.

This is my 1,537th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,688 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 274 – (AD 1,436) – 25.8 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I pedaled 25.8 miles on my Schwinn 170. Totals now stand at 30,517.1 miles; 49,112.6 kilometers.

And I only have 5.1% of the distance remaining to my next goal point Fournier Crater.

Have you ever had one of those days that you sort of wonder what you should be doing? Yep. It is one of those days.

Rainbow Cranes update - Lower right- hand quadrant completed. One more quadrant and outside border remaining.

This is my 1,536th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,542 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 273 – (AD 1,435) – 27.4 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

The Quest in attempt to electronically pay a bill on time.

I did not get my Jim Trek’s posting up online yesterday as I spent another 4 hours, after al-ready spending 16 hours, attempting to track down and fix my electronic payment between Citibank, Fairpoint Communications, and Verizon.

It seems that when I tried and set up an electronic payee with Citibank online the default for the new account number that Verizon gave me is an old Fairpoint Communications format. Therefore, in the Citibank electronic funds wire system that account number still defaults to an old Verizon account to Fairpoint Communications. According to Fairpoint Communications they have not had a relationship with Verizon for at least 10 years.

Well luckily, I initiated the first electronic payment well in advance that I was not late with my payment due, but my original payment is still sitting with Fairpoint Communications. In turn I had to present proof to Fairpoint Communications from Citibank that the funds had incorrectly been sent to them and not to Verizon. Subsequently I reissued another payment to Verizon, sent fax documentation to Fairpoint Communication, and finally reissued a new bill payment to Verizon.

This means that I have spent a total of at least 20 hours on the phone talking to representa-tives at a combination of these three companies.

And to top it all I am always amazed at the final and last question that each representative had in common. “Thank you for your business, Mr. Smith. Is there anything else that I can do for you?”

My response “Do you provide new prescriptions for blood pressure increases?”

10 years! And who is to blame?

Yesterday I pedaled 27.4 miles on my Schwinn 170. I burned 1,483 calories, again a new record. My totals are now 30,491.3 miles; 49,071.1 kilometers.

And I have completed 90.4% of the distance to my next goal. Looks like I am going to have to find a new one.

A Genealogy Hunt update - Part 914sr – Smith Robertson Genealogy – Another DNA 111 Marker Match https://agenealogyhunt.blogspot.com/

I just received news from Family Tree DNA that my Smith Y-DNA has another 111-Marker match. This time with a 9 Genetic Distance. The match is one John Faree Follis. This now makes that I have 8 relatively close 111 Y-DNA marker matches.

This is my 1,535th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,372 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 272 – (AD 1,434) – 26.3 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled my Schwinn 170 26.3 miles. Totals recorded now at 30,463.9 miles; 49,027.0 kilometers.

I have also completed 85.7% of the distance to my next goal point.

Thought this afternoon -

Soapbox –

A rock and a hard place. Period. The New Yorker, in the October 23, 2017 issue published a “Letter From Washington” by Jane Mayer, “The Danger of President Pence”.

“The worse the President looks, the more desirable his understudy seems. The more Trump is mired in scandal, the more likely Pence’s elevation to the Oval Office becomes, unless he ends up legally entangled as well.”

Rainbow Cranes update - Quilting continues. Top 2 quadrants almost completed. Effective center sashing.

This is my 1,534th post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,290 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim

Day 271 – (AD 1,433) – 26.6 Miles – Jim’s Trek Part V – Mars on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled 26.6 miles on my Schwinn 170. Totals 30,437.6 miles; 48,984.7 kilometers.

And I keep going on the face of Mars. I have completed 81.2% of the distance to my next goal point and destination.

Soapbox –

It seems that the current White House Administration has become an oh-hum, that’s just what #45’s up to. It also seems that voices that have been pronounced appear to have quieted down. It is almost like a waiting game. #45’s next move?

Salon’s article “Is Donald Trump unraveling?” by Robert Reich, dated Oct. 16, 2017

Is Trump really unraveling? Are Republican leaders ready to pull the plug? I phoned an old friend, a Republican former member of Congress who keeps up with what’s going on. I scribbled notes as he talked:

…You got me. I’m just glad I’m not there anymore. Trump’s not just a moron. He’s a despicable human being. And he’s getting crazier. Paranoid. Unhinged. Everyone knows it. I mean, we’re in shit up to our eyeballs with this guy.

Stopped into Sam's to pick up a few things. The Holiday decorations are out on display. This is the 15th of October. But... But... Where in the hell does this fit into anyone's celebration decorations?

And at $94.72, who in all of tarnation sets up a tree in this form. I don't hear Christmas bells. I hear Deliverance banjos a'pluckin'.



Rainbow Cranes update - Quilting work continues on the upper right-hand quadrant and the center sashing.

This is my 1,533rd post. Per Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this writing, 183,246 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek. (This link is my email address - jsmith58@gmail.com.)

Have a healthy day and smile,

Jim