I don't like Heights!

Tuesday we had a day of fun exploring a mountainous area called "Bull Dog Canyon" north of Apache Junction, Arizona. We trailered our ATV a couple of hours from our home and set out to explore the area with another couple.

Our first experience was to drive up the side of a mountain, park near the top, then hike the rest of the way. In this photo we are enjoying the fabulous view, but not thrilled with the feeling in my stomach! There's two things in this world that give me that queasy feeling; heights, and the dentist sticking a needle into my gums!

After almost crawling on my hands and knees back to the Quad, we descended and then had a great time the rest of the day riding on pretty safe trails and enjoying mother nature.

A Great Photo is Sometimes Unexpected!

Occasionally a very nice photo comes when least expected. We were invited to a friend's house for dinner and during desert this adorable little girl climbed up in grandma's lap. I was sitting across the table and pulled my compact camera from my pocket to capture this moment in time.

Sometimes the conditions are just right, the lighting, the pose, and the emotions of the subjects.

It's those times when you take a lucky shot with a camera that are memorable, just like remembering that great shot on the golf course.

A Fun Week!

A week ago today was my birthday and Diane hosted a surprise party for me at a local restaurant, and that was fun!

The next day we left for 5 days with our RV and friends to camp in the mountains north of Wickenburg, Arizona.

We saw this Diamondback Rattlesnake on the trail while riding our ATV, but he was not very happy to see us. They can be anywhere from 3 to 7 feet long, are very defensive, will stand their ground, are lightening fast and their bite can kill you! This bad boy is ready to strike, but I'm not as close to him as it looks because that's what a zoom lens is for! (Click the photo for larger view.)

I've Been Scammed!

This is a photo of my famous bottle of Acai Berry Tablets that I ordered on the Internet. Acai berry has been touted by Oprah and other TV stars as the miracle food. Consequently, companies have sprouted up selling Acai berry tablets that are supposed to help you loose weight and detox your system. I understand that this is a good product, BUT BUYER BEWARE! There are ads all over the Internet that will send you a free bottle of 60 tablets if you just pay the shipping charges which in my case was $3.95. I gave them my credit card number and I received my bottle of tablets. That was about 30 days ago, and since then my credit card has been billed several times for a total of $184! I called my bank and they gave me the number for this company which is FWM Laboratories in Hollywood, Florida. They claimed that I had signed up for a subscription for these pills which I informed them that I never did any such thing and that I wanted a total refund on all monies except for the $3.95. They said I would hear from them via email within the next 3 or 4 business days so we'll see what happens.
In the meantime I want you to know about this. If you type "Acai Berry Scams" into Google you will immediately see what I'm talking about. So shame on me as I preach and preach about personal security and scams in Cyber News and then get caught myself!

A couple of months ago my friend Spike O'Dell retired from WGN Radio in Chicago where he was the morning personality. He was an institution before that in the Quad Cities where he sparkled on WQUA, KSTT, and KIIK radio.

Another Chicago radio personality who was known throughout the world was the late Paul Harvey who passed away just a few days ago. He was truly an American icon and I remember listening to him way back in the 50s.
After Paul's death the new WGN morning man called Spike at his retirement home in Nashville and they had the following conversation which I thought you would enjoy.