Summer Happenings

Billings, MT   High 89 to 112   Low usually in the low 60s.

My blogging has been non-existent this summer. It's the second half of August already and it seems like yesterday I was moving into my new place. Now, I am happily settled into my apartment until the end of September when I'll head back down to AZ.  

I was surprised at how quiet the 4th of July was in my neighborhood. The noise went on until about 10:30 and then calm returned. The morning of the 4th I went to see the Vietnam War Wall that was touring the country. It is a three-quarter scale of the Wall in Washington, DC 

Do any of you remember the bracelets that they sold way back when in support of the POW, KIA or MIA? I had one and I wish I could remember his name but I don't. After I moved to DC I was able to visit the Wall and at that time I still had the bracelet. I found his name and discovered that he had been killed in action. I gave the bracelet to one of the groups that were there to help people search for names. They told me they would be returning the bracelet to the soldier's family. 

These flags represent 226 Montanans whose names are on the Wall.

I really do not have any patience with new technology. So I have spent a lot of time feeling frustrated as I struggle to learn how to use Spectrum Internet, TV, and streaming. At one point in time, I definitely pushed the wrong button and lost everything. A very nice young man came out to reset everything up and as he handed me the remote just before he left, he said "DO NOT touch this button." Okay. I won't. I feel like I'm doing okay with it now but I think Directv is easier to use. 

This is what all the wires and connections look like behind my TV. I will never touch any of them either.

 I also found a place to have my blog posts made into a book. I used to use Blog2Print but they went out of business. I needed to have 2024 and 2025 done. So I went to PixxiBook.com. Took me about 5 minutes to set it up and have it ready to submit. Really easy. It was a little more expensive but what isn't anymore. I sent it off and in about two weeks I received the printed book. It is a hard cover (my other ones are all soft covers) but the pictures are large and really look great. I will definitely be getting 2025 done when I get back to AZ. 

 

I made a trip to Helena to visit my sister and her hubby. They are having some health issues but are still doing pretty good. Judy's oldest son, Wade, and his wife were also visiting so it was fun to see them. Judy and Don live in the building behind us.

 

The price of hotel rooms in Helena has skyrocketed. I picked about the cheapest one I could find and you get what you pay for. For instance - this is their coffee bar. That's it. Definitely no breakfast at this place. 

But the thing that really cracked me up was the microwave in my room. The room was very old but clean, however I could not make the microwave work.

We've had some smokey skies but nothing like a lot of places. Probably had air quality warnings for about three days. We've had a couple of storms go around us which has helped to clear up the skies. We could actually use more rain.

 

My apartment is well insulated. I seldom hear any noise from either neighbor. In fact about the only noise I hear is from motorcycles or noisy trucks as they leave for work. Oh, and the garbage truck is loud. Even when Billings got into the hundreds for a few days this summer, I only needed to turn my AC on in the later afternoon for a couple of hours. So different than being in the RV which is not made for extreme temps. AZ continues to have record breaking heat and I feel sorry for my friends who are there. Billings has a lot of temps in the 90s so I will be looking forward to some 80s before too long. 

 

That's really about it for my summer. My next post is going to be all pictures and I'll let you have three guesses as to who they will be of.