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What a magnificent shot of Mt. Rainier...thats MY mountain...I just love it when we go up there...I hope we can fit going up there into our fall schedule....

I dont especially like going up there in the middle of the summer, as its soooo crowded....we usually go up there, once the summer tourists have left....fall is beautiful up there, with the trees turning colors, against the snowfilled mountain....and late winter, early spring is a winter wonderland, as all the winter snow, is still piled up high along the road, and its really kind of eerie, to be driving along a road, with 20ft drifts right next to you....

Mt Rainier, is beautiful, and its dangerous, for those who climb it...Many hikers that tackle Everest, try to do Rainier first, as it has many of the same dangers as Everest, tho altitude sickness and altitude problems dont exists up on Rainier...

I have a lot of respect for true mountain climbers...it takes a lot of grit, and determination, and bravery to climb any moutain...for myself, I would be scared to death...

Well, the company has left, tho I am now left with a sink full of dishes from two groups of company, and BigDoms dinner preparations...so off I go, to tackle, the mess in the kitchen...

See ya Later....

I am back from pool and credit union, where I deposted my mom's check
Lulu found me the credit union in winter
when we crossed Swan Boulevard
the lady was getting out of her car to open up the building, with her key
and Lulu went over to greet her
lady told me it was credit union, and I asked if anyone can join and she said yes
I asked her if they offer same services my bank does for me and she said yes
so today after pool we went there
I didn't know how to find it in car coming from pool, I only know how to find it walkin' Lulu
but we found it
I didn't recognize the lady we talked to
but nother lady helped us and she was lovely
I chose the wildlife checks
one has bear, one has ducks, one has fish, one has big horn sheep (too bad no coyote or wolf)
Bill and I did not choose the one with dog or cat cause as Bill said ''we are already too wrapped up with dogs and cats''
the neighborhood credit union was altogether different from Merrill Lynch which was like being back in NYC
I am happy to be in credit union
Bill has been making jokes how Lulu found it for us
''in her next life,'' he said, ''she will come back as lady who works in credit union
she will fit right in with her big behind''
Love, Palo

Well, no one appeared in my absence so I shall rattle on....

Finished cleaning up the kitchen, and then wrassled a 7lb salmon into the oven...great sale price on that sucker was 79cents a lb....quite a deal....so that salmon will provide for several meals...will precook it tonite, and then finish it up tomorrow for BigDoms dinner...he loves salmon...

Had an email from the son....he attended his high school 10yr reunion over the weekend, and had a good time...tho he says the only ones who showed up were those who had married, or had families, or had some successes since leaving high school...the usual losers, and troublemakers, and screwups did not attend...as well as those who perhaps did not live up to expectations, or those who moved away from state, or the usual number who just did not want to revisit with their old high school group...And none of Andys old girlfriends showed up, so he did not receive a fork in the throat, or the shins, depending on the height of said girlfriend...

But Andy went with some of his friends, and they caught up on local gossip, and in general had a good time...Andy said, before they attended, ,they all got a brochure, asking them write a bio of their lives since high school, and provide pictures if possible...

Being that Andy is the ever wiseacre, he provided only a one line bio, which read, 'I am now the pride and joy of my family, now that I have finally landed as job as assistant manager of the McDonalds in Tenino(Which is a very small town a few miles away from us, here in Olympia)...Now of course, being an assistant manager at McDonalds is nothing to be ashamed of, but Andy left high school having won every math and science and writing award possible, and even won his high schools one scholarship they give out...and he left high school with great expectations, which, of course, he fulfilled...but I guess he thought he would have fun, and make it appear as if the best he could do was this assistant manager job at Mcdonalds....I guess everyone got a kick out of that, especially, when prodded, he finally did give up his accomplishments...

Then in his email, he told me he had spent most of last week down in Sun Valley, California, a town which he describes as a population wise place of 10,000, with the median house being 500,000 and everything is way over priced...Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Arnold Schwarzenagger, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Richard Dreyfuss live there...Andy went down there, as he got a contract job from a company down there, and altho he did most of the work up here in Seattle, at home, on his computer, he had to go down there for a few days, to finish off the job....

While there, he was able to stay with one of the partners, of the company he worked at before he trip around the world...when Andy first joined this company, there were two men, two partners, who had started this company, and they hired Andy, fresh out of college.....Andy quickly rose though their small ranks....eventually this company got bought out by a large European conglomeration, which put millions into the partners pockets, and lots of big bonuses into the pocket of the other employees...Being as it was a European company, with branches all over Europe, Andy got to go to Europe three times on business during that time frame...

Then the European conglomeration got bought out by Getty Images, right here in Seattle, again providing more millions for the partners, and again, large bonuses for the employees...all this bonus money, is what allowed Andy to be able to take his year long around the world trip, and has enabled him to take only contract jobs that interest him...

Anyway, one of those partners, now with about 10million in his pocket, moved to Sun Valley, along with his girlfriend...So Andy already had friends down there, before he even got there...in fact it was the girlfriend, I believe, who got Andy this contract job...So altho Andy was down in Sun Valley on business, he got to visit with his old boss, and girlfriend and their dog, that Andy adored (the boss used to bring her to work every day, and Andy took
her, named Chloe(sorry, Gran) to the park with him for lunch every day)...And when the boss used to go out of town for a few days, Andy would doggie sit Chloe at his bosses condominium, because he knew that Andy really loved Chloe and Chloe seemed to love Andy...Andy used to say at night, when it was bedtime, Chloe would jump into bed with him, and put her head on the pillow, and she would just look like a regular person laying there, because she was people sized...for Chloe was a beautiful brown Great Dane...Andy said it was just like sleeping with another person...

Andy was also able to climb a 10,000 peak, while down there, so he really enjoyed that...plans to go back in the winter as the skiing is supposed to be wonderful there...

His former boss and his girlfriend are opening an Art Gallery, in Sun Valley, later in the year, and Andy plans to go down for that, get in some skiing, and oh boy, maybe he can get to rub shoulders with the rich and famous at the gallery...Andy says, I guess thats what some rich people do, open art galleries...

Sounds like Andy is just having a fine old time in life...