The Wandering Minstrel

Our Turbo Tax 2011 CD arrived in the mail this week. We decided to get the tax early so that we can adjust the withholding for 2012 when the new year starts. We also want to know whether we need to make some adjustments to the 2011 year since there is still a month left to do charity and to pay property tax (yes, bummer - we still pay tax on our property in LA County).

I still have not loaded the Turbo Tax program on the computer but it will be in place this week. Meanwhile, I used the widget below to get a quick and dirty estimate. The usual caveats and disclaimers apply, so take the results with a grain of salt.

Well, I assume since this 1972 Mustang Convertible has Minnesota tags, that this classic belongs to a “snowbird.” The term applies to people that retreat their northern homes for the milder climate of Arizona (among other warmer places).

We saw this nice ride in Surprise, AZ. on our way back from a shopping excursion to the valley metroplex. TBH took this (clickable) image as we passed the Mustang in traffic. Speaking of traffic, the density of traffic in our little town has doubled (or more) since the snowbirds have flocked here for the winter. C’mon spring!

Actually, this was yesterday’s dinner. We got tired of Thanksgiving leftovers, so The Better Half whipped up a batch of marinara meat sauce with Andouille (Cajun) sausage instead of the usual ground meat (pork, beef, turkey, etc.).

Served with a Sam Adams Oktoberfest brew and garlic toast, this meal was just out of this world.

There is too much entertainment and food to blog this weekend. Enjoy yours!

The Better Half and I spent our Black Friday here at the little house. We ate leftover turkey, watched some football and relaxed. We were miles away from the insanity in the malls of the big city.

We will probably spend the next couple of days here at home before resuming our grueling retirement routine.

P.S. If you don’t have a QR code reader, the encoded message at the right recommends that the Obamination should fire Eric Holder. Or, better yet, appoint a special, independent prosecutor to get to the bottom of Holder’s dirty little Fast and Furious anti-gun ploy.

Happy Thanksgiving! Our dinner consisted of turkey breast, mashed taters, cinnamon carrots, green beans and The Better Half’s Thanksgiving Dressing all topped with her killer turkey gravy. We’re all stuffed now. Not shown are the dinner rolls and cranberry jelly. Clickable image.

A couple of weeks ago, I had an appointment with my medical caregiver to remove a dime-sized growth on my right shoulder. I went home with a little round bandage on the excised area.

The lab at the clinic performed a biopsy on the removed tissue and it turned out to be a basal cell carcinoma - skin cancer in other words. I got a call last week that they wanted to schedule a second procedure that would remove additional tissue that would “get it all.”

On Monday, I went in to have the second procedure performed. After it was all finished, I had a two-inch gash on the shoulder held together with a bunch of sutures.

This is actually the second time I have gone through this; the first basal cell removal and follow-up occurred before I retired in 2009 and left a nasty, jagged scar in the middle of my back.

This time, this surgeon did a much better job of stitching me up; if you’re inclined to view my new nice, straight incision, you can click in the rectangle above and to the right.

In October, The Better Half and I were at the Wickenburg Fly-in and Car Show where this nice ‘57 Ford Ranchero was on display. We liked this custom red, white and blue paint job. Clickable image courtesy The Better Half.