We had a visitor at 1:43 A.M...... a bobcat.

~ !! Happy New Year 2023 !! ~

Last December 30th I had written that I bought a new Zippo

Armor® Brushed Chrome Windproof Lighter as a practice run

for my 2022 Birthday Extravaganza (which again starts next

week). Well, I have been carrying this lighter now every day for

one year and I still REALLY like it. It is almost my favorite (my fav

being my Zippo Horseshoe Embossed lighter that I have semi-retired).

And this lighter has indeed turned out to be easier to grip and hold onto than
my last Zippo which was brushed chrome front, back, top and both sides.

Some folks have an issue with the need to refill a Zippo to keep it

operational. For more than a few years now it has not been a problem

for me. Once a week, on Wednesdays, after work, I refill my Zippo, my

lotion and my sanitizer. It just takes a few minutes and I am good to go.

With this schedule I have never run out of lotion or
sanitizer and my lighter has never gone dry.

And a zippo makes a good fidget item as well, if you
are into that sort of thing, which I sometimes am.

 Happy Anniversary ZIPPO!

"Halloween Ends" was released to 4K/Blu-ray/DVD today. I quite

naturally had to make sure to pick up my very own copy. Truth be

told, I am not in love with Halloween Ends. The whole Corey

Cunningham storyline did not excite me. I am not a Corey fan.

But I have not seen the movie since it was released to Peacock on

Friday October 14, so who knows, I  might change my mind.

Doubtful, but.... At any rate, I am pretty much a Halloween

completest so I had to have the movie in my collection no

matter how I feel about it.

Merry Christmas 2022 From Your Friends at
El Rancho De La Tex.

"Little Guys with BIG GUNS!"
We sure hope you all had a great Christmas. We did
over here at The Ranch to be certain. After a fantastic
home cooked meal with ham, baked potatoes, corn, peas,
carrots and dinner rolls, we settled in to watch "The
Terror of Tiny Town" on the 10 foot screen. Tiny Town is a
western starring all little folks.
Great fun.

I've never really mentioned this before, but here at The Ranch
we do observe Christmas with all of the decorations and the
fixins, but we rarely, if ever exchange gifts. It is just something
that we have not done for years and years. It is a long story.

But tonight my mom and my son surprised me with a gift.
I opened it up and it was "Renegade: The Complete Collection"
on DVD. Something that I had been wanting for a LONG time.
To their surprise and mine as well I became quite emotional.

Actually very emotional. You see, I love Lorenzo Lamas, Reno
Raines and Vince Black and he means a lot to me. I know, weird.
But that's just the way it is,

Thank you mom. Thank you my son.
I will cherish this gift for more than one reason.

What a great Christmas.

The beautiful Christmas tree at my beloved dentist's office.

Where yes I indeed did just have two days of kind of

emergency work done. To not have had the work done

would have left me in considerable pain throughout the

holidays and during my upcoming Birthday Extravaganza.

NO BUENO.

So I elected to go in and have it taken care of over the last

two days. Instant relief both physically and emotionally.

My dentist and his staff ROCK. My bill does not.

But hey, no more pain! HOO-RAH and HUZZAH!

R2-N2

(Robotic Droid - 2nd Generation Series Napkin)

Manufactured by Subway Automaton.

Hey, don't worry about it.

Merry Christmas!

Big Lots says, "MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT."

That sounds like a plan to me says I.

Here is another Zippo lighter that I own. I think this may be

the first one I ever bought. I purchased this one from the

National Rifle Association sometime in the early mid 1980s.

This lighter I did use for lighting cigarettes as I smoked at the

time. Most likely Winston 100s, Marlboro or More Reds, or

all of them. I used this lighter a LOT.

Here is a closer up of the attached logo on the Zippo. This

lighter is in really good shape considering how much I

carried and used it.

The markings on the bottom indicate that my lighter was
manufactured in 1974. Wo. That's a long time ago.

And lastly, here is the box it came in and the little
information sleeve that was included. I have not used
this lighter for years and years and I will never use it
again. It will be another one of those little things that
I want my son to have.

Huzzah!

We put our Christmas lights up yesterday. Our lights go
up on Thanksgiving Day and come down on January 1st.

Those are the rules.

Last night after a Thanksgiving dinner (which could only be
described as being absolute PERFECTION) prepared by my
mom, we settled in for a viewing of Home Alone 2: Lost
in New York. What a fantastic Thanksgiving Day we had.

 
~ Happy Thanksgiving 2022 from El Rancho De La Tex ~

That's a long tail ya got there, buddy.
(My mom took this picture.)

Hooters and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Well, they do have one thing in common... wings.

Yeah... that's it, wings.

"Them what pass this here way should take 'eed."

Duly noted.

I bought a couple of patches at the Army Navy store. I usually

buy only one at a time, but these two I didn't want to let get away.

United States Cargo Star Ship Nostromo is a commercial hauler

owned by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the movie

Alien (1979). And Cowboy Up? Well... that is something I need to

remind myself to do from time to time.

Here they are at home
on my bedroom door.

Knife day at El Rancho De La Tex!
More than a few times when I renew my National Rifle

Association membership they throw in a free knife as part

of the deal. Now these are not good knives by any stretch
of the imagination. I usually just put some oil on them and
pack them away for my son to have one day as pieces

of interest.

But this last knife? Look at those scratches. Nothing worth

doing anything about. It's just a bummer that on top of it being
a not good knife it is this dinged up. So.... I oiled it and
packed it away. Next!

It is Saturday night and I know what I'M doing.
Easy chair, hot chocolate and my Guide to Gluing.

Tonight is SIZZLING!

Living the dream.

~ Veterans Day 2022 ~

A little coyote in our driveway last night.

I voted today.

November 8th, 2022.

As I mentioned in October we played our yearly miniature

golf game on my son's birthday and we once again did
manage to keep out of the water. We've been pretty
lucky over the years.

I also won some pretty sweet prizes in the arcade.

#madskillz

The other day....

Another snake in the driveway.

He's a purdy one.

I don't know who this is but he is

life-size and and he is at the Indian Store. 

 
I look to my left as I wait for the
flagman to give me the go ahead.

It is a new month and a beautiful new

day here at The Ranch. Happy November!

Happy Halloween 2022 from your friends at
El Rancho De La Tex!

Only two days left for this year's SPOOKTOBER.

Hey "Man or Beast" at Halloween Express!
Let's show 'em how we feel about that!

10/4 good buddy. Great job.

Let's do carry on.

Get your Star Wars on with this Tuscan Raider
mask, or as we rebel scum call them, Sand People.

(Spirit Store)

Halloween Express has pitchforks o' plenty.

But DON'T PLAY WITH THEM.

Playing with the pitchforks is
a big Halloween Express no-no.

And the last one for today, an

Oversized Clown at the Spirit Store.

It's been a fun month here at The Ranch and
tomorrow is the BIG DAY. Have a FANTASTIC time
out there boys and girls!

Be safe.

There's nothing like a good ol' fashioned Serial Killer

mask and this one at Halloween Express is GHOULISH!

I hung up the Camp Crystal Lake sign that I

bought at the Spirit Store this year. It looks good

with my previous year's purchases I'm thinkin'.

I like it!

Thanks buddy!

(celebrity endorsement not 100% official)

"Sorry, we're DEAD," says the sign.

"Not YET we ain't," says the rat.

"Heyyyyyyy. How'd YOU get in here?!

My monkey, such a ham," says I.

Sign is at Halloween Express.

Rat is at the Spirit Store.

Monkey is at home.

SpongeBob SquarePants is pretty popular
this year. Everybody loves SpongeBob
(and Patrick).
See the look on that kids face?
Yeah, that's love, man.

This Krusty Krab windbreaker would be cool

year-round, IF... it were made for that,
and I am sure it is not.

Both of the today's items are at the Spirit Store, which I think

is actually called Spirit Halloween, but it will always be

the Spirit Store to me.

There are only 3 nights until Halloween.
Spooktober is going by WAY too fast.

This is an Official Fun World Ghost Face

Collector Set. Steep price, but hey... Fun World.
(Halloween Express)

Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives
onscreen at Borden Cinema!

I'm a teenage Frankenstein,
The local freak with the twisted mind.
I'm a teenage Frankenstein,
These ain't my hands,
And these legs ain't mine.*

*Alice Cooper / Robert William Athis

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Spirit Store

presents Ben Affleck as Batman.