Eric and Sharlene's family news, trips and happenings from 2008...

Welcome to the year 2008 family events section of our web site, where we've published some of the many fun things we've done this year, and a few family photos taken this year. Click on the thumbnail of choice to relieve the adventure of choice, in the year 2008. Old 2008 family news will be found below the featues, in day-by-day sequence, from the year, 2008.

	Dec. 26, 2008: We celebrate the day after Christmas with family, friends and enchiladas.		Dec. 25, 2008: Christmas at our home is celebrated with family and friends is fine style.
	Nov. 29, 2008: We celebrate Thanksgiving at our house, with friends and family.		August 23, 2008: We celebrate Casey's 27th birthday by having an awesome bbq bash!
	March 22, 2008: Not home alone anymore, as Casey and Tim move in with us.		March 23, 2008: We enjoy a Easter dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

The following section features past write-ups from the the year 2008:

Dec. 21, 2008: We had sections of our outdoor Christmas lights suddenly go dead, so we purchased three new strings of Christmas lights, and Tim hung them up, in the rain, on his only day off from work.

Dec. 19, 2008: Shopping, shopping and more shopping. Sharlene and Casey spent most of the day doing last minute Christmas shopping. The grand finale of the day was buying all of the food tor the Christmas dinner at the crowded grocery store.

Dec. 18, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club held a meeting at Charlie's today for another delicious breakfast. See the restaurant section, or click here to read all about it. Then, it was web work until I had to go to work today. Sharlene and Casey completed the task of putting up Christmas decorations inside the house.

Dec. 17, 2008: You readers in Minnesota will laugh, but it was brrrrrrrr cold here, with a low of 26.7 degrees. When I got off work at midnight, the top of the car was covered with a quarter inch of frost, and the outside temperature was a balmy 31.4 degees.

Dec. 15, 2008: I had an off day from work, since I have to work the following weekend, so I simply stayed in the house, on a cold, rainy December day, and worked on the web site. Sharlene did venture out of the house to do what else? ... shopping.,.

Dec. 14, 2008: Cold, foggy and sorta rainy outside. On Casey's advise, we purchased a real Christmas tree and decorated it... the house smells wonderful. I really didn't participate, as sat in my chair and watch the 49'er and the Raiders lose in Sunday football.

Dec. 13, 2008; I worked outside, cleaning stuff, getting the place ready for the upcoming winter weather, and fixing a broken sprinkler in the front yard. Such fun! Later, we were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner and evening with our friends, the Clan MacLeod, at Lucilles Smokehouse, in Rocklin.

Dec. 7, 2008: Another foggy day, which made it a perfect day to kick back, work on the web site, drink beer, and watch football. Tim decorated the outside of our house with Christmas lights.

Dec. 6, 2008: What do you do on a cold, wet, foggy day? Stuff a turkey breast with marinated potatoes, and smoke it in an outdoor smoker, Texas style! However due to the 40 degree temperature, the fog, and the 100% humidity, it took me 2 hours to get the fire going, and an additional 6 hours for the turkey breast to cook in the smoker. But the effort was worth it, as I'm a smokin' kind of guy. Why would I do such a thing? Well, we had a lot of fixin's left over from Thanksgiving, and I just can't get enough turkey...

Dec. 5, 2008: Shalene flew into Las Vegas, to spend 6 days with Jacquie and Dave. The airline tickets were Jacquie's Christmas present to Sharlene.

Dec. 4, 2008: I had to work, Tim had to stay at home, while Sharlene, Casey, and friend Nicole attended a Celtic Thunder concert at our local Arco Arena.

Nov. 30, 2008: We kick back, eat Thanksgiving leftovers, make turkey posole soup, and watch the San Francisco 49'ers beat the Buffalo Bills in NFL football, and generally enjoy a wonderful Sunday in November.

Nov. 29, 2008: We have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at home, and we celebrate it with family and friends. Of course my digital camera is active, and I take photos and publish the whole event.

Nov., 28, 2008: Sharlene's birthday... She received a Garmin 205W GPS from me as a present, as she'd been wanting a GPS. We really didn't do anything special, as she and I have had a few birthdays before... just relaxed, performed household chores, and enjoyed each other's company. Sharlene and Casey braved "Black Friday" to do some shopping, but I wisely elected to stay home and work on the web site. For Sharlene's birthday dinner, I grilled prawns, cooked stuffed baked potatoes, and yellow squash, over our much-used outdoor grill. Truly a wonderful, laid-back day!

Nov. 27, 2008: Thanksgiving day! Due to family conflicts, we're celebrating Thanksgiving on Saturday, so today, it was just Sharlene and I, lounging around the house. Sharlene started preparing food for Saturday's feast, and generally kicked back, while I took my usual morning walk, worked on this web site, watched football on TV, drank some beer, and cooked tacos de tripas on our outdoor grill. No work for me today!

Nov. 26, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed breakfast today at Cassidy's Family Restaurant. Click on the link to read all about it. We received .11 of an inch of rain today; just enough for an annoyance.

Nov. 21, 2008: Sharlene and I received new cell phones, the Samsung Blackjack 2. We spent most of the day "playing" with the phone, and getting to know how everything works. Later, I took it to work, and since it was a slow night, I had lots of time to lean all of its functions. Soon, I'll be updating the web from my cell phone.

Nov. 20, 2008: The highlight of the day is that we moved furniture, as we had our carpet shampooed today! Wonderful, and exciting...

Nov. 16, 2008: I spent all day, smoking carne asada, stuffed baked potatoes, and grilling squash and corn for the upcoming work week, in my attempt to get back into "the work mode" after 10 days of vacation.

Nov. 12, 2008: We returned from a fun mini-vacation, enjoying Panamint Valley Days, and out wonderful stay at Panamint Springs Resort, at the west end of the scenic Panamint Valley.

Nov. 6, 2008: We left at 0300 (that's 3 O’clock in the morning!) to attend the 23rd annual Pamamint Valley Days four wheeling event, sponsored by CA4WDC. Write-up to follow on our sister web site www.ericrench.com

Nov. 2, 2008: What a day to relax, as it rains outside, and watch football on tv, and to work on the web site, prepare delicious food, and to get ready for the upcoming trip to Panamit Valley Days.

Nov. 1, 2008: Saturday... I take my daily walk, prepare for our upcoming trip to Panamint Valley Days, work on the computer, and hide while Casey and Sharlene hold a baby shower at our house. Yes, I would have taken off to the mountains, but the weather was lousy; rain all day. In a situation like this, I prefer to say low, and hide in my den, and work on the web site.

Oct. 31, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoys a delicious breakfast at Venita Rhea's in Rocklin, as Casey decorates the house for Halloween, and the hordes of trick or treaters. After, it's time to go to work and reflect on the accomplishments of the day.

Cct. 25, 2008: Tim and I had a fun time, as we climbed on top of the patio cover and replaced a couple of loose tiles on the roof of the house, 35 feet high! Such fun!

Cct. 20, 2008: Sharlene was gone this weekend, and I had to work, so it wasn't exactly an exciting weekend. I did manage to work on this web site a bit and watch some football.

Oct. 17, 2008: Members of the Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed a fine breakfast at Aviator's Restaurant, at Sacramento Executive Airport. Sharlene left for another visit to mom's; I have to work the weekend, and I have Casey and Tim to keep me company.

Oct. 15, 2008: We're gearing up for Panamint Valley Days, 2008, so Sharlene and I spent much of the day getting camping gear and the truck ready for the big event.

Oct 12, 2008: On my last day of vacation, I spend the day smoking chicken, smoking tomatillos for salsa verde, and grilling potatoes, squash and corn. Other activities included attending to projects around the house, watching football, and drinking beer.

Oct. 15, 2008: We're gearing up for Panamint Valley Days, 2008, so Sharlene and I spent much of the day getting camping gear and the truck ready for the big event.

Oct. 09, 2008: I'm home, safe and sound, from my two-week trip to Baja Califfornia, Mexico. Actually, I've been home two days, but I've been too busy working on the truck, and working on other enterprises than to update this web site. What have I been doing? Spending almost every minute working on the truck since I came home...

Oct. 03, 2008: Where have I been, you ask, and why hasn't this web site been updated? Well, your webmaster has been traveling to remote places in Mexico for the last couple of weeks, and had finally found Internet access at the Blythe Inn, in beautiful Blythe, CA, where he's been able to update the web site. Write-ups to come, on our sister website www.ericrench.com.

Sept. 19, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club visists the Oak Tree Diner, then I go home, pick up new glasses, and later go to work. Then Sharlene goes to the movies with Tim and Casey and a friend, and I go to work. Oh yes, when I get off work, I go home, grab a beer, and work on this web site. Do I have a life? Answer: No.

Sept. 13, 2008: My friend Dan came over to the house, and we drank coffee and I set up his new Dell laptop computer. Later in the day, I worked in the yard, worked on the truck, and, of course, updated the web site. Sharlene arrived safely home from her visit to mom's... good to have her home. Saturday night at our house was spent relaxing and watching DVD's

August 26, 2008: I played hookey from work, and celebrated the occasion by making a fantastic breakast of huevos rancheros, and updating this web site.

August 23, 2008: We celebrate Casey's 27th birthday in style, as we host a party at our house. Click on this link to celebrate the party with us.

August 22, 2008: My buddies and I enjoy a wonderful breakfast at Original Pancake House in Roseville, then I spent the rest of the day working on the truck, getting it ready for the upcoming trip to Mexico

August 18, 2008: Shalene flew to Las Vegas, as she'll be visiting Jacuqie for the next several days, to celebrate Jacquie's birthday with her, on her turf. I couldn't go, as I have to work.

August 17, 2008: Sharlena and I just "puttered" around the house, and did a lot of rexlaxing. I spent the afternoon out on the patio, smoking a chicken, and making salsa verde for dinner.

August 15, 2008: I enjoyed a 3-day weekend, free from work, so I spent a good deal of the day working on the lawn, and cleaning the patio with the pressure washer, getting the place ready for Casey's birthday party next week.

August 13, 2008: A typical work day around our house, in that Casey went to school, Tim polished his resume, Sharlene had her hair done and went grocery shopping, and I took my daily walk, worked on our web site, got ready for work, and later in the afternoon, went to work. Such a boring day around our house!

August 9 & 10, 2008: Lucky me, I get to work double shifts at work. Lots of money, but no time for play!

August 8, 2008: My buddies and I, who we call The Sacramento Breakfast Club, enjoy a fantastic meal at Jitters Cafe. Later in the day, I had to go to work, as I have to work the weekend, 16 hours each day.

August 4, 2008: Unfortuately, I have to return home, but it's not all bad, as I cook, on our outdoor grill, a fantastic meal of beef ribs, baked potatoes, and stuffed peppers.

August 3, 2008: I explore Mazorka Canyon, Badger Flat, Blue Bell Mine, and four wheel to the top of Mazorka Peak.

August 2, 2008: In the Inyo Mountains, I hike cross-country to the Winnedumah Paiute Monument, and explore the Alhambra Mine.

August 1, 2008: I explored Papoose Flat and portions of Mazorka Canyon, in the Inyo Mountains. As time permits, I'll be publishing write-ups of my adventures on our sister web site, www.ericrench.com.

July 31, 2008: I managed to get off work early, and took off for a four day, four wheeling and hiking trip to the Inyo Mountains, in east-central California, east of the Sierras.

July 25, 2008: Sharlene returned from Fremont, and her mom is doing fine.

July 23, 2008: Sharlene called from Fremont, and mom is fine, but Sharlene will be staying and looking after mom for the next couple of days.

July 22, 2008: Sharlene's mom is having a minor operation, so Sharlene took off to Fremont, to take care of mom for a few days. I'm working this weekend, so it's not really a big deal, but I miss her just the same. I started working a web site for Jacquie and Dave, for their new business. When it's finished, I plan to link it to this web site.

July 21, 2008: We drove home from Reno, unpacked everything, put things away, and then I had to dash off to work at 1600 in the afternoon. What a way to end a mini-vacation!

July 20, 2008: On the way home from Ely, we took a detour and stayed overnight at Fitzgerald's Hotel in Reno, where I proceeded to win $765.00 on a progressive quarter slot machine. It was one of those old-style, sit-down machines that took 2 quarters at a time. I had purchased a roll of quarters, and I was down to my last four quarters, and about ready to go to bed, when I saw the cocktail waitress coming. I thought, "I'll just stay around for another free drink," and as she approached, I pulled the handle and won the big bucks. I tipped her $5.00 for helping me win! The money is really nice, but to a guy who almost never wins, this was truly exciting!

July 18, 2008: Sharlene and I took a trip to Ely, Nevada, and met up with Jacquie, Dave and Paris. The trip was part business, and part pleasure, as Dave and Jacquie have acquired a business enterprise in Ely, and I will be getting involved in promoting the business.

July 12, 2008: Before going to work, I took a 7.31 mile round-trip hike over to Denio's, as I was looking for a hat rack, which I didn't find. Sharlene cleaned house... just another Saturday at our place. Later in the afternoon, I reported to work.

July 11, 2008: I had a day off work, so I spent most of the day working on the truck, adding/removing electronic equipment, and getting the toolbox in order for an upcoming 4wd trip, or at least Panamint Valley Days in November.

July 9, 2008: I had the day off work, so I spent a good deal of it working on the truck, doing things that I've been putting off for nearly four years. For dinner, I grilled some of the most delicious Ortega cheeseburgers that I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy.

July 7, 2008: So far the hottest day of the year, with a high of 106.5 and a low of only 74.2! This was one of those days where I had to work 16 hours, so I was either working or sleeping through most of it..

July 5, 2008: Sharlene had a fun time at her weekly meeting and afterwards an even better time at the grocery store. As for me, before going to work, I went for my daily walk, hung around the house and watched a couple of DVDs, and updated this web site

July 4, 2008: Too bad, I had to work, but was well-compensated for my efforts. Sharlene, Tim and Casey attended in impromptu 4th of July party outside in front of our place and the neighbors, as all the neighbors got together and lit off fireworks in our court. As for me, went out on the roof at work where I was able to see several displays of fireworks held in the greater Sacramento area.

July 1, 2008: Back to work, after a very busy 4 day mini-vacation.

June 29, 2008: What happens when you have idle time on your hands? You take a 5 mile walk, connect components together for a new audio system, admire how it all works, and how wonderful your HDTV is, rearrange the computer room, and create some of the finest cooked salsa that your taste buds will ever enjoy! Geez... I was busy this Sunday...

June 28, 2008: For the first time in 10 days, I get to go on my daily walk. Later in the day, we take a trip to our local Fry's electronics store, and purchase a new digital amplifier, sub-woofer, center speaker, DVD/CD player, and the associated cables. Three hours later, and everything is not hooked up, yet its time to go to dinner at Panda Restaurant, where we enjoy a fabulous dinner.

June 27, 2008: After another 16-hour day at work, I get a 3-1/2 day break, and start the "vacation" by going out to breakfast with some of my friends at one of our favorite restaurants, the Railroad Cafe. Later in the day, I amused myself by pressure-washing the truck, and the patio.

June 22, 2008: XM Radio is back and rules in the Camry! For me, another 16-hour day, a really hard day at the office.

June 21, 2008: Another long weekend of 16-hour work days; that's only 8 hours off between shifts! Sharlene took the Camry to Fry's, as the XM portion of my car stereo quit working; with these long work hours, I don't have time to run errands, or to do practically anything.

June 20, 2008: Today is our 11th anniversary, as I had to work; however we plan to celebrate it this weekend by going out to dinner, someplace special. I'm in the middle of non-stop 16-hour days at work, so I don't have a lot of time to do anything. By the way, the recent web pages have been created and uploaded to the server while I'm at work, using stealthy, clandestine methods.

June 14, 2008: Sharlene visited her mom for Father's Day weekend, and I stayed home. Gee, I had the weekend off, so I did some projects around the house, and barbecued some tacos de tripas on my smoker.

June 12, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast enjoyed another wonderful breakfast at Cricket Country Kitchen; click on the link to read all about our enjoyable experience.

May 27, 2008: For me, it's the start of another long week of 16-hour work days, or perhaps I should say nights, as I start work at 1600 and don't get off until 0800 the following morning. It's brutal, to be sure, but the money is good! I'm working lots of overtime with the goal of purchasing a new home theater system for our family room.

May 26, 2008: We did absloutely nothing on Memorial Day, except watch our new HDTV, as I had to work and Sharlene had projects to do around the house. Ditto for Casey and Tim.

May 24, 2008: We finally entered the digital age of television, as we purchased a JVC 37" HDTV which fit perfectly into the alcove in our family room, which previously housed a 36" analog television.

May 23, 2008: If you're interested, check out The Sacramento Breakfast Club, as we visited Waffle Barn, again... and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. Just the time to relax, after you've worked another whopping 88-hour week!

May 18, 2008: I had the weekend off, so lets see... what did I do beside work in the yard, update the web site, and prepare for another grueling work week?

May 17, 2008: I had to work the weekend, and the fact that we had a 100+ degree heat spell, but we threw a "Welcome-to-your-new-home" party for Casey and Tim on our patio, and despite all of the issues, we had a great time.

May 14-15, 2008: We're short-handed at work, so I'm working 16-hour days, and making extra money. I'll be working a whopping 88-hour week, and it will probably be the same for next week as well. Somehow, I find time to work on this web site. Hint... at work? Sharlene drove to Folsom to purchase tickets for their Pro Rodeo, which we plan to attend on the 4th of July. After working all night, I grabbed a couple hours of sleep before beginning my regular afternoon shift at work.

May 10, 2008: Mother's day weekend and Sharlene visits her mom in the Bay Area, as I had to work the weekend, so there wasn't much point in her sticking around the house.

May 5, 2008: Finally, after three weeks on disability, I'm back at work, and to top it off, no more night shift, as I was finally able to land a gig on the evening shift, for the same pay and less work! Sharlene returned safely from her visit to Jacquie in Las Vegas.

May 1, 2008: Sharlene is quite healthy, visiting our grandson, Paris, on his 8th birthday, as I keep things going around the house, as I attempt to gey my vision back. I weighed myself today and I'm down to 155 lbs, thanks to a lot of walking and healthy eating.

April 30, 2008: Sharlene flew to Las Vegas to be with our oldest daughter, Jacquie, and our grandson, Paris, while I was left at home, tring to get my vision back in order. I have only limited vision, so my web site entries are somewhat limited.

April 26, 2008: For the first time in two weeks, I'm able to actually see good enough to publish this article, and work on the web site. The computer screen is still very fuzzy, and my eyes strain to see what I'm trying to see on the screen, but I can actually see! My recommondation from the experiences that I've encountered during the last two weeks: Don't even think about being blind! Oh yes, I planted more panzies today.

April 25, 2008: I drove my car today for the first time in nearly two weeks! Yes, I drove a little over a mile to purchase some flowers to plant in the back yard, to make our home look prettier for spring. you know, since I've been off the computer for the last couple of weeks, I've been doing some of the things around the house that I used to do, years before I had internet access, much less a web site. I'm the sort of person that just can't sit around the house, as I have to be busy and productive, and it may sound mundane to plant flowers and perform cleaning and organization proects, to me, it's better than just sitting around doing nothing. However, it was truly wonderful to be able to drive again, and to do somehting useful around the house.

April 24, 2008: Little by little my visiton is returning, and the pain is going away. I was able to go on a long walk today, and I spent a few hours cleaning the garage, again... and doing a couple of projects that were long overdue. I'm starting to feel human again, which is nice, and I actually checked my email today, albeit very blurry and abrievieted, for the first time in well over a week.

April 16 to 23, 2008: I am blind. Have you ever been blind? No, I hadn't been before this period in my life, but now I know what it's like to be blind. No, the world isn't dark, as I can see to do basic things, like go for a walk, fix dinner, shower, "sort of" shave, and dress myself. But I can't read a book, drive my car, watch tv, or see the computer screen, as everything is in a blur. At first, I just sat in my chair and listened to "Willie's Place" on XM Satellite radio, via the internet, and sort of drowned in my own mysery. Oh yes, I can type, so I managed to access the internet through a book mark, and then I was able to type my way into "Willie's Place." Anyway, after wallowing in self-pity for a couple of days, I started to do projects around the house that I could actually, albeit with limited visiton. I re-organized the garage, cleaned up the patio, and performed a whole-house cleaning downstairs and upstairs. The computer and this web site sat silent during this period of time... Work? Last week it turned from a mere absence to disablity. Besides having foggy visiton, during this week, I have to cope with acute pain in my eyesl. I'ts like somebody ripped my eyes out, coated them with sand, and then swabbed them with iodine, or acetone, and put them back into my head. The pain is constant, and it's itching and burning. I don't wish this thing on anybody!

April 16, 2008: The highlight of my exciting, legally-blind day was a visit to my fine doctor, Eduardo Bermudez, who is an outstanding doctor, and a nice person, and he confirmed that, yes, I have a sever case of conjunctivitis in both eyes, in fact, he told me that I was the worse case that he'd ever seen. Gee, it feels nice to be a guinea pig! The good doctor instructed me to wash my eyes with baby shampoo on an as-needed basis, perscribed anti-biotics and steroids, and told me to use artificual tears eye drops when my eyes become dry. Keep in mind that I looked like Ray Charles in the hospital, as I wore sunglasses to conceal my swollen, red, puffy eyes from the other inmates.

April 14, 2008: I got up to go to work and that didn't happen, as I couldn't see! Sure, I could see glurry shapes, and I wasn't bumping into walls, but I couldn't see to watch television, read the newspaper, or much less stare at a computer monitoer all night long. So there was little elese to do than to call in sick to work and go back to bed and attempt to sleep it off, blind.

April 13, 2008: Somehow, I struggled through work, with swollen, burning eyes, and blurry vision. Keep in mind that I sit in front of a computer terminal all night, and when you have poor eyesight, that adds more challenges to an already challenging job. After work, I decided to seek professional help, so off to the emergency room I went. Waiting for profissional help in a hospital emergency room is not my idea of a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It seems like I've been diagnosed with an acute case of conjunctivitis in both eyes, which the doctor told me is quite unusual, especially for a guy my age. I was given eye drops and instructions, and somehow drove home, with foggy vistion.

April 12, 2008: I woke up to go to work, and my eyes were swollen, very red, and felt like they'd been coated with sand. Driving into work at night, I noticed a "halo" effect on lights. What the heck? Later in the day, Sharlene left to visit her mom for the weekend.

March 28, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club attended a meeting at Railroad Café, which has morphed into one of favorite breakfast restaurants in the Sacramento area, due to outstanding food, great people and reasonable prices. Write-up to follow...

March 24, 2008: I enjoyed another day off work, so in keeping with the true spirt of spring, I spent much of the day working around the house, doing such fun chores as pulling weeds in the back yard and cleaning the garage.

March 23, 2008: Easter Sunday. We start the day out by enjoying a delightful breakfast at elegant The Terrace restaurant, and then finish the day be having a good old fashioned family get-together at our house. Sharlene prepared one of my favorite meals of Yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, roast beef, and delicious gravy. Truly a way to celebrate a wonderful day!

March 22, 2008: Moving Day! Oh boy! Casey and Tim move back in with us. I celebrate the blessed event by smoking pork and steak on my new smoker, and attempt to stay out of the whole moving affair.

March 21, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed another meeting at Charlie's Cafe, and I finally learned how to access the web on my new celluar phone, after only playing around with it for a couple of weeks.

March 20, 2008: It's my birthday, which just another day-in-the-life of a 50+ year old working stiff, yet my lovely wife chose to give me a lovely birthday card, not to mention a smoker, and an outdoor fireplace. By the way, it was a rough day at work!

March 14, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club attended a wonderful meeting at Eggie's Coffee Shop, and all five of us enjoyed a delicious breakfast of ham and eggs. After breakfast, I saw Sharlene briefly before she left for work then I took a walk, and published the article about our breakfast experience. I worked on the new smoker, and yes, I researched some oak firewood on the Internet. I'm a devoted husband and partner, working stuff, and , yes, I don't have a life! Oh, check out the Sacramento Breakfast Club adventures by clicking on the highlighted hyperlink..

March 22, 2008: Moving Day! Oh boy! Casey and Tim move back in with us. I celebrate the blessed event by smoking pork and steak on my new smoker, and attempt to stay out of the whole moving affair.

March 13, 2008: Do you think that I lead a boring life? I really do, as the highlight of my day was to visit the local DMV in Rocklin and obtain a CA ID card, to make my non-driving visits to Mexico a bit easier. Sharlene went to work, and I stayed home and went on a long walk, and applied black paint to the new shelf that I'm making for my horizontal smoker barbecue.

March 11, 2008: After work, I stopped by a local Home Depot and purchased plywood and paint, to fabricate a custom shelf for my smoker. After I got home, I took my walk, and then got out the tools and made a shelf to fit below the smoking chamber. I painted it with primer, and allowed it to dry. Tomorrow, after my daily walk, another coat of primer...

March 9, 2008: I got up very early and took a long walk, as part of my exercise routine. When I got home, it was time to put the smoker together, which took a couple of hours. With the smoker together, I decided to make a few changes, such as installing a shelf below the smoking chamber.

March 8, 2008: Sharlene and I shopped until we dropped, well... sort of. We went over to our local WalMart and purchased a patio set, consisting of a table and four chairs, which also included a small cocktail table and a couple of folding chairs. In addition to the patio furniture, we purchased an outdoor, patio fireplace, AND a horizontal, wood-fired, Texas-style smoker. I admit that I'd been wanting an outdoor fireplace and a wood-fired smoker for quite some time. I spent a good deal of the afternoon assembling the furniture and the fireplace, but I didn't get around to the smoker. Let me back up... before all of this happened, I put a stuffed chicken in the crock pot, along with red potatoes and baby carrots. When I was exhausted assembling patio furniture, dinner was ready eat. It just doesn't get any better!

March 1, 2008: Sharlene and I are both committed to weight loss, so I got up this morning and ate a breakfast of fruit, then took a 7.71 mile walk around the block, as the seafood vendors would say, "Just for the halibut." Sharlene went to a Weight Watcher's meeting and then treated my Camry to a smog check. Dinner? Corn beef, potatoes, carrots and cabbage, in diet-sized amounts, of course.

February 29, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club held a meeting at Rosie's Country Kitchen, in the nearby city of Ranco Cordova, a suburb of Sacramento. We posted the complete write-up, along with many digital photos on our web site. By the way, the tempature today hit 73 degrees under sunny skies, which is exceptional weather for Sacramento, in late winter.

February 28, 2008: Just another day where Sharlene had to work at her day job, and I spent the day home, now down to 165 pounds, and workin' on 10 pounds less.

Febrruary 25, 2008: I worked all night, Sharlene worked her day job, and I stopped by Fry's, a local electronics retailer, on the way home from work, to purchase a faulty mouse, which had halted work on this web site, and my other projects.

February 23, 2008: Sharlene cleaned house, and I spent much of the day reparing a portion of our back yard fence that blew down during the fierce January 4th rain/wind storm, where we sustained 85 mph gusts of wind. I couldn't have had too much more fun, as I had to work this weekend at my real job.

February 17, 2008: Tim, Casey and Sandy came over to visit, and we wound up going to Denio's flea market for the afternoon, to bargain shop, hike around, have a good time, and to drink beer.

February 16, 2008: I spent much of the day devoted to geocaching, which has become a new passion of mine, as it combines walking, adventure, exploring, and it's a perfect marriage of hi-tech and low-tech fun. We cleaned house... fun! Saturday night for dinner, I made beer-can chicken, baked potatoes, and Sharlene made outstanding chicken gravy. Delicious!

February 15, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club has the pleasure to visit Rosie's Country Kitchen, an ex-Skipper's restaurant, in Sacramento. After breakfast, I took a 12-mile hike to work off the meal, and then some. Sharlene had to work at her new job... after working 35 years from AT&T, she just HAD to retire, and then go back to work...

February 11, 2008: I finally came back to work, still suffering from the ill-effects of poison oak, but able to return to active duty.

February 8, 2008: I'm still covered with poison oak blisters, but after a visit to the doctor yesterday, the blisters are starting to dry up. I plan to return to work on Monday, after a 5-day sick leave, which I haven't done for over 10 years. At least it gives me a good chance to update this web site

February 6, 2008: I called in sick to work, as I was covered with blisters, thanks to the poison oak. By the way, I acquired the case of poison oak while bushwhacking the bushes, along the shores of Dry Creek, in Roseville, CA, in search of a geocache. What is geocaching? Click on the hyperlink to find all about the sport and hobby.

February 5, 2008: I discover that I have a gigantic case of poison oak, due to my hiking experience along one of the local creeks populated with oak trees, and lots of brush. You can't recognize poison oak, with it's characteristic three leaves, as the leaves are bare this time of the year, and all you can see are sticks.

February 4, 2008: If things don't get updated on this web site, please excuse me, as I've got a big project that I'm working on for our sister web site, ericrench.com. I took a 9-mile hike today, in search of a geocache, and finally got a chance to update this website. Sharlene now works 5 hours a day at H&R Block, during tax season. There always seems to be something new going on around our house!

February 3, 2008: The holiest day of the year for me is Super Bowl Sunday. This year it was just Sharlene and I, and since we're both watching our weight, I made healthy snacks: Grilled shrimp, baked potato sticks, and healthly quesadillas, with natural salsa, avocado, corn tortillas, and very little cheese.

February 1, 2008: The Sacramento Breakfast Club enjoyed a fantastic breakfast at a brand-new restaurant, on opening day. We "opened up" the wonderful The Terrace restaurant.

January 26, 2008: I worked the weekend and so did Sharlene. Talk about a boring weekend!

January 20, 2008: Sharlene began working for H&R Block, as an office receptionist. True, she's retired, but the little money helps and it gets her out of the house and into "the real" world again.

January 19, 2008: I came safely home from another wonderful trip to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. I'm the process of writing a book about Tijuana street food vendors, and small restaurants, so I was in town, doing research, and doing what I love to do the most: Sampling fine Tijuana cuisine.

January 11, 2008: Wow! I spent nearly $1000 bucks, but I got the electronics upgraded in our Camry to 2008 standards. Now I can listen to country music, on XM Radio, in CD-quality as I drive to work, or to one of my trips to Mexico, and enjoy real bass on the amplified sub woofer.

January 09, 2008: Overnight, we received .015 inch of rain to bring our total rain this year to 9.55" which is just about normal for this time of year. I had the day off work today, so Sharlene and I spent the day relaxing around the house, watching tv, and in my case, working on this web site.

January 08, 2008: I decided to give myself a present, so I went over to our nearby Fry's Home Electronics store, and an hour later, spent nearly $1000.00 on auto electronics for my 12-year old Toyota Camry. I have a winner of a car, and it's like new, so why trade cars; just upgrade the electronics.

January 05, 2008: Sharlene starts a new job! After being retired for 6 months, she just wanted to get back into the work force, using different skills at a completely new line of work, than she'd done for the past 35 years. Me? I stayed home and updated the web site for the new year. By the way, today we received 0.51" of rain in powerful storm #2. So far, this storm has given us 3.20" of rain to raise our rainfall for this year to 8.91", so we're back on track to have a "normal" rainfall year.

January 04, 2008: A powerful storm rips through our area, bringing high wind and 3 inches of needed rain. Naturally, being the weather geek that I am, I take photos and lots of notes, and prepare a full report of the first report of 2008! Powerful storm #1 dropped 2.69" of rain in a 24-hour period.

January 01, 2008: Happy New Year to everybody who views this web site! Sharlene brought in the new year asleep, and I celebrated a busy new day at work, by keeping all of the 9-1-1 system afloat in the states of California and Nevada. You could say that I was quite busy.

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