Meeting Frenzy

I wish that photo wasn't blurry, because that's me at the podium in front of an auditorium full of G.O.P. members. And that's the G.O.P. Chairman behind me. He's smiling because the true sparkliness of my personality is shining thru. Yeah, right. He's smiling because he HAS to!

I realized later that a few months ago I had sent the Chairman a thank-you note and when I signed it at the bottom I put in parantheses...."You might want to save this card as a souvenir for when I'm huge and famous."
I'm such a weenie.


And here I am during the meeting suffering from a nice hot flash.



Sue and I were bored because the talking at the podium was going on and on and on and on....



And that's Senator Funnystuff putting the rabbit ears behind me. Very FUNNY!!!

Truckin on Delta Drive

This morning there was a big semi truck out front. Steve parked it there, so I guess that makes it okay. He got home late last night from Scottsdale where he had to pick up his boss's newest auction aquisitions:

A 1931 Rolls Royce Phantom that has a Rolls Royce P-51 engine under the hood:

The hood has apparently been extended to make room for the aircraft engine in there.

And a 1939 Buick Limo:



Steve could only fit the Rolls into the semi truck in our front yard. The Buick came to Havasu on another truck. As we giggled about the sheer worth of the monstrosity out front this morning, we realized that no amount of homeowner's insurance would cover the cost should something bad happen. The semi is worth about $100,000. The Rolls is worth well over half a million. Ouch. Get that thing outta here!!!!

Day Off

No meetings, no emails to do, no agendas, just hanging out and flying for a little bit.
We flew to an area East of Lake Havasu, an old dirt strip that was used as an emergency landing spot during WWII. Bombers were training in this area and this strip was made in case they needed to land very quickly:



We brought sandwiches with us, and some drinks. After we enjoyed the world's most quiet picnic I went out in the desert to explore. Steve napped by the plane.

I found all kinds of interesting rocks, a geode, some petrified wood, tons of quartz, some small fossils, and a really good crop of cacti. Different kinds, like some HUGE saguaro:





So huge that the trunk looks like that of a tree, and it's starting to decay:



Eventually the roots will become exposed, likely from erosion or disease. And it'll look like this:



The spiny needles and pretty green skin:



Well that'll fall off like thick bark and what will be left is a skeleton:



A few years ago people in Havasu were paying lots of money to have lanscapers plant big tall saguaro skeletons in their yards. It was a fad. You don't see them anymore. People finally came to their senses. Now if you see one in a yard, it's because the house was foreclosed on. Saguaros actually do need water once in a while.

Another cactus I found plenty of was the cholla. It's pronounced CHOYA. They are nice and spiney:



But when they die and dry out, they look like this:


And from a distance it looks like a really big snake skin.

On my way back to the plane I almost stepped in a pretty good sized underground burrow. As I leaned towards it to take a picture, I heard the sound of something exhaling--as if to warn me that it was not too far inside the hole....



Well that was enough to send me running! After the photo, of course.

Adult Time

Actually, we didn't act very adult-like when it came to the Governor's reception on Friday night. We (well that would be Buster and I) had our own table in the corner and all the "cool kids" of the reception stood over by us. We had the Governor, and also John Munger who's running for Governor, the Secretary of State, some Senators.....
All hangin with us because it was like sitting in the back of the school bus.
Our centerpiece on our table was my very elegant Elvis purse. Everyone who came over had to compliment us.

Of course I re-imbursed Buster for his time:



And the poor Governor, Jan Brewer, had to play along with me because it's an election year:



But really I was doing her a favor because I'm not allowed to be walking around with a button or sticker in support of one candidate over another. And here I am in a picture with her, wearing her sticker. Please don't print that picture out and use it against me.....

Have you seen the Intel commercial with the homely looking nerdy guy walking thru an office with everyone around him reacting as if he were Mick Jagger? The caption said, "Ajay Bhatt, inventor of the USB." And then shortly after it said, "Our rock stars are different from your rock stars."
I can relate.

When I have a chance to pose with Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett, it's like one of the members of the Beatles just walked in the room.



What's even funnier, is there were people who I didn't know taking a picture of ME with HIM. AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! Clearly they'd had too much of the overpriced wine that evening.

Even better of an example, was when I spotted Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce walking down the hallway.
I was so excited I didn't get a picture. So I lifted this one from his website. He's with his wife Sherry, getting sworn in to the Corporation Commission.



What does a Corporation Commissioner do? Well they have all the power you could imagine. They decide if our electricity rates will increase.
So let's all be nice to Gary. He's more powerful than the Governor.
And he's a nice son-of-a-gun.

So here's Legislature Representative Doris Goodale talking with Ray Cullison. Do you think he was letting her know here that he's decided to run against her this year?
hee hee heee......



After the Governor's reception we attended the Chairman's Banquet, which is a function of the State G.O.P. My Republican Women's club was nominated for an award but instead of just our club getting something---our whole COUNTY got one! And all the work that they cited was the work of members of my Republican Women's club. But I suppose we'll let Buster hold the trophy....



The next day was the REEEEEALLY long meeting of the G.O.P. That's Grand Ol' Party, to you laymen.
I sat with our Senator, Ron Gould and his wife Janice who is my Avon lady.
We didn't smile much. It was a tedious meeting.



And just when I thought it was going to be a long boring day, HE walked in.

Who?

HE.



No, not John Belushi. HIM.



But he was onstage and not even close enough for a photo with me.



I videotaped his speech and played it back for Steve when I got home. We used our life-size reproduction of McCain to make it seem more of a realistic experience.

I called my little McCainiac Shay later to tell him there'd been a sighting. I mentioned that McCain left too quickly for me to get a good photo. Shay suggested that perhaps McCain knew that his stalker was out there in the audience.
Aaaahhh, toooshay.....