Oh c'mon you guys.... The last time you did

this nobody could find anything for two months.

 

Spotted this tied under the back of a car today.

It seems a little early to me, but hey, I am down

with starting Halloween pretty much

whenever you are ready.

And it is almost time for our Annual Halloween Crawl.

We at El Rancho ALWAYS look forward to that.

This happy cactus was in bloom today.

My mom took this picture.

I have had this lapel pin for probably thirty

years. I wear it on occasion. When I do, well,

let's just say that we live in interesting times.

I would never not wear it even

if times got... TOO interesting.

This has been my popcorn popper ever since my

beloved Whirley Pop popcorn popper went south on me.

I've been getting pretty good at popping popcorn

under different conditions and the corn I pop in

this pot is dang good. The process is not as easy

and not all the corn pops as it does with the

Whirley Pop, but the corn turns out well

This has also given me the opportunity to use the

Flavacol that I bought a few years ago. I don't use

it with the Whirley Pop because clean up is just too

complicated. Flavacol is a really fine salt type deal

and it can be a MESS. Some folks say that Flavacol

is the secret to having movie theater popcorn at home.

I don't see that, but okay. It is pretty good stuff.

 I want to replace my Whirley Pop

popper as soon as I can afford to.

I just typed the words "popcorn", "pop" and

"Whirley" a'WAY more than I ever wanted to.

City fellers.

I bought "Avengers: Infinity War" on Blu-ray today. This

is not my favorite of the Avengers movies. I am not sure

which one IS my favorite. But I think that this movie has

the best cliffhanger. I cannot WAIT for the next one.

I am giving this adventure 8.3 "Oh, We're

Using Our Made UP Names" out of 10.

And oh yeah, this movie was free as I used the
coupon that I received when I bought my smart
phone some two years ago. Celebrate!

 

In the garage.

 

I hate it when one (or more) of these

big fellers get into the house. More often
than not, for some reason, they always end
up flying into my face, no matter where I am.

This guy was on the wall outside.

 

I tried it again. On Saturday, July 15, 2017 I posted a photo

of a chocolate shake that I bought at Jack in the Box. A LARGE

chocolate shake that I bought at Jack in the Box. And it made

me sick for the rest of the day and night. Vowing to never buy

a LARGE chocolate shake again, I decided on this 100 plus

degree day to try another one, a small one.

I did and it was good. And I did not get sick.

I recommend these.

The End.

 Happy National Day of the Cowboy!

And to celebrate the event this year I am posting a

picture of a clock that my grandmother gave to me

when I was about nine or ten years old. I don't

know or remember anything about it other than

I think it was repainted by somebody

before it was given to me. Ack.

Now, get out there and love a cowboy or cowgirl!

They are a huge part of the backbone of America.

~ Click here for the National Day of the Cowboy Website ~

Okay.

This is looking out of the window of the tow truck that

was giving me a ride because my car broke down on

the way home from work.

Joy.

I have "Smokey and the Bandit" on DVD and I

like it so much that when I spotted it on Blu-ray

for $7.88 I picked it up. One of my favorite things

about this movie is seeing the real life sparks between

Burt Reynolds and Sally Field. They were together for

five years after making Smokey and unfortunately the 

relationship had a not so great ending. Burt has regretted the

breakup for years and to this day he still pines for Sally.

She was "the love of his life".

Anyway, Smokey and the Bandit is a really fun 1970's movie

with a lot of humor, car action via the legendary stuntman

Hal Needham, a breaking of the fourth wall, some trucking

and a fantastic theme song written and performed by Jerry Reed.

Eastbound and down my friends.

We gonna do what they say can't be done.

Gee, I wonder what THIS movie is about?

I don't know where my son gets this beef jerky

but he came to me with it in a paper bag and

asked me, "Do you want this? They made it

too hot for me this time." Too hot?

Sometimes I worry about that boy.

 AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Just LOOK at that cover art.

I saw "Rattlers" at the drive-in with some friends when it came

out in 1975. It was fun then. I bought it on DVD in 2007 and

it was a lot of fun then too. I watched it again and let me tell you,

it is a HOOT. I have never used the word "hoot" before but it really

fits here. Sam Chew is just awesome. Snakes, chauvinism, a lush,

snakes, sex, snakes, cornballism, explosions, an ending that will...

and the California desert. Sounds good to me.

I will be for sure watching this one again in a few years.

It pains me to write this. My honorable Whirley Pop popcorn

popper has given up the ghost. I first posted a photo of my

popper on December 10th, 2013. I have been using this

popper two to four times a week for four and a half years.

In all honesty, I might have been too aggressive with my

Whirley Pop in the last few months... Just asking too much of it

regarding the volume of popcorn I asked it to pop for me each time.

I take the blame. As soon as I can, I am going to replace it.

I love this popper and I can't wait to start with a new one.

I will miss you dear friend.

We have shared some good times.

Happy Friday the 13th, July 2018.

And in honor of the day, I watched my favorite
Friday the 13th movie, Part 3. Here is Jason coming
down the hallway after Chris and when he catches her,
well.... Everybody else is dead and Mr. Voorhees plans
to make Chris get that way too.

I never get tired of Jason or Friday the 13th.
Rest in Peace Richard Brooker, my favorite "Jason".

I love this tree that is on our land.

I don't know what kind it is,

so I will just say willow. Willow tree.

~ The Pig Bros in Pig Joke Five ~

~ Happy Birthday America 2018! ~

I remember that this movie was selling for close

to 14 or 15 dollars when it came out on DVD.

John Travolta... I wanted to see it then but not

for that price. Today I picked it up from the $3.74

bin at Walmart. Sometimes the drop in price means

something, and sometimes it does not. I hope with

this one, it is the latter. I cannot wait to find out.

Anyway...

And this is why we cannot have nice things.

I know I know.

 

 This is a postcard I bought in Yosemite in the

mid 1960's. It features a picture of the "Fire Fall".

The "Fire Fall" was started in 1872 and continued until 1968.

It was discontinued because it eventually drew too many

spectators and the crowds practically ripped Yosemite a new

one with all of their trampling and messes.

It was a hot afternoon. We decided to

stop into Denny's...

...for an ice cold glass of ice tea. Not really

a glass though. More like a plastic. Not quite

as enticing, but still good for a hot day.

I'd been wanting to go to the Container Store for over

a year, ever since I had heard about the place.

My mom wanted to go as well...

 

So we took the day and went. I was hoping just to find some

lotion bottles. I am picky about what kind I use and I have not

found any I like... anywhere. Hopefully here I would

find one, or some.

I also wanted a container for some of the blankets that I don't

always use but want to have at hand if I need them.

 

They have lots of containers alright. And baskets too.

 

 And clothes hangers by the hundreds. And trunks.

 

 Lot's of cleaning supplies for the home as well. Just lots of stuff.

No good lotion containers though, none even to speak of. They

seem to have a lot of the same kind of containers from small to

really large, but they are all the same KIND of containers, just

different brands is all. So if you do not want the kind of containers

they have, you are outta luck.

My mom picked up an extending pole with an attachment

to clean the ceiling fans and an attachment to change light

bulbs as well, both between 20 and 25 feet high.

 

I was hemming and hawing about buying this little Swiss-Tech

plier/screwdriver tool that I found in the impulse section. It was

about $8.50 and I was being wishy-washy about it because of

cash being in shorter supply these days.

 Mom said, "Get it. I'll buy it for you." "SOLD!" said I.

Thanks mom. Yer a pal!

 

 

These are pretty nice pliers. The whole thing was

dang stiff so I slicked it up a little with some Hoppe's

gun oil and now she is as happy as a pig in..... mud.

We had a nice day and we don't need to go back

to the Container Store for a long while.

I was going to watch "Fury" with Brad Pitt tonight, but I got

a really late start and decided to watch a movie more suited

for late night. Something (slightly) scary. "Mountaintop Motel

Massacre". I have not watched this one since I bought it in 2011.

All I can say about this movie is that these guys should just go ahead

and at least TRY to move that tree that is blocking the road keeping

them from leaving the remote mountaintop motel and

get the Hell out of Dodge...

...because this chick be CRAZY.

Worth a buy and a watch.

A photo taken at one of our favorite stores ever, the Indian

Store. Some of their steer skulls. I used to have one or two

of these. I think they got lost somewhere during life's events.

Or maybe I have them in a box or two around here someplace.

Anyway, yeah, the Indian Store. Boss City.

 I decided today that some hot dogs sounded good.

This is the way that I like them.

Hot dogs with bacon. Even better!

Shmooshed and greasy and these can't be

good for me but I am good with it today.

I had to eat them fast. The bugs were feeling

their oats on this hot afternoon.