Monthly Archives: February 2015

Greasewood Flats

Donna was up early yesterday. She had a table at the Orangewood Shadows RV Resort Country Store. The Country Store is a Saturday morning swap meet for the residents of the RV park. Donna had a table with some of her books. I stopped in for a plate of biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

After breakfast, I posted to the blog, then dumped and flushed our holding tanks. Before I knew it, it was noon and Donna had returned from the Country Store.

A few days ago, I wrote about meeting Mike and Kim at Lucky Lou’s. They’re in the process of selling their house and hitting the road in a fifth-wheel RV. One of the things they mentioned to me was fact they would be leaving their friends behind. They asked me how we cope with it.

We never looked at it as leaving our friends behind. We knew we’d be back for a visit. The cool thing is that we get to see friends all over the country that we may not have had a chance to see in previous years. We have also made many new friends in the RV community. It’s amazing how we cross paths with people we’ve met in our travels.

We took advantage of the rental car by driving up to Greasewood Flats in the DC Ranch area of Scottsdale. This area was originally settled around 1900 and was a large cattle ranch. The owner of the cattle ranch, E. O. Brown, used the DC brand on his cattle. The ranch eventually encompassed 43,000 acres. Thus the name DC Ranch.

Greasewood Flats was originally an old bunkhouse on DC Ranch. Around 1955, Doc Cavalliere bought 45 acres of land around the bunkhouse. He developed it into a hideaway to take retreats from downtown Scottsdale. Over the years, it was known by various names – it was called Pinnacle Peak Patio, then Reata Pass before becoming Greasewood Flats (the name was derived from all of the greasewood bushes on this flat area of desert). It’s one of the last rustic cowboy haunts in Scottsdale.

We went there to meet up with our friends, Bob and Sini. We first met them when we were neighbors at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego last year. Since then, we’ve kept track of their travels through Europe on their Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Then they drove their motorhome from Edmonds, Washington to Florida. They’ve crossed the south and are now parked west of Cave Creek. Greasewood Flats was a great place for us to meet up as it’s about halfway between their current site and ours.

Sini, Bob and Donna at Greasewood Flat

Sini, Bob and Donna at Greasewood Flats

We arrived late. Road construction had the ramp from Gilbert Road to the Loop 202 closed. We had to take a zig-zag detour route that put us about a half hour behind schedule. We eventually got there and saw Bob’s vintage Chevy K5 Blazer in the parking lot. We found them seated at a table near the outdoor dance floor.

We caught up with each other and dined on green chili cheese burgers at the table. A musician was playing on the bandstand and a couple of people hit the dance floor. It was a little hot for dancing if you ask me.

Bandstand at Greasewood Flat

Bandstand at Greasewood Flats

After lunch, we took a walking tour of the area. The place is packed with old ranch implements, mining equipment and even an old 50-caliber quad anti-aircraft gun. There’s a corral in back with horses and burros.

Cafe and bar at Greasewood Flat

Cafe and bar at Greasewood Flats

Old tractor with two PTOs

Old tractor with two PTOs

Fire tanker next to wood chopping area

Fire tanker next to wood chopping area

The area around Greasewood Flats has grown into an affluent residential development. This will be the end of Greasewood Flats. They will be closing down in a couple of months and the land will be developed into more housing. Progress kills another cool hangout.

We followed Bob and Sini to the small community of Cave Creek. We parked in the old downtown area and walked through the shops looking at all of the tourist trinkets and also looked at antique furniture. We stopped at the Rare Earth gallery and looked at gem stones, petrified wood and huge rock art displays. The rock garden in the back featured a huge rock crystal that was split in half and serves as a pair of tables with a glass table top. It’s yours for the bargain price of $175,000!

 

Rock tables - $175,000 price tag

Rock tables – $175,000 price tag

After walking and shopping for a few miles, we stopped for liquid refreshment (coffee and espresso for everyone but me – I had a beer). Then we drove to the outskirts of town and had dinner at Harold’s Cave Creek Corral. This is a western-themed restaurant and saloon featuring barbeque meats. I had the half rack of babyback ribs. Donna had tilapia poached in salsa. Bob and Sini split a huge barbeque combination plate. It was a lot of food and we had leftovers to bring home.

Half-rack of babyback ribs

Half-rack of babyback ribs

As it turns out, we’ll be meeting up down the road again. Bob and Sini should be at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego when we arrive there in April.

 

Bragging Shirt

We kept the coach as cool as possible yesterday. We didn’t let the interior warm up too much in the morning. We deployed the windshield curtains and pulled the shades down on the sunny side of the coach. The outside temperature reached the mid-80s by the afternoon, but we didn’t need to run the air conditioners. The discounted monthly rate here at Orangewood Shadows RV Resort doesn’t include electricity. Our usage is metered and we’re billed separately for electricity. We don’t use much unless we’re running the heat pumps/air conditioners.

I rode the scooter over to Tempe. I wanted to check out a store at the Tempe Marketplace, which is a large outdoor mall. I used to shop at BevMo there when we lived here in Mesa. BevMo is sort of a big box liquor store. They have a huge selection of beer, wine and liquor at discount prices. I heard that Total Wine had opened a store near BevMo. I wanted to compare the two stores. I had’t shopped at Total Wine before, but I was told it’s another big box liquor outlet worth exploring.

I found the Total Wine store. It’s huge with a large variety of beverages, just like BevMo. They have a tasting area, the store was clean and well laid out and I found my favorite Blue Ice potato vodka there at a reasonable price. I think they must be cutting into BevMo’s market share. I went over to BevMo to compare pricing. Total Wine had better prices and a larger variety of liquor on the shelf. Total Wine wins.

While I was at BevMo, I saw Old South Tomolives on the shelf. The eight-ounce jar was priced at $5.99. I remembered a Cost Plus World Market in the Tempe Marketplace so I stopped there. They had Old South Tomolives on sale for $2.39. I stocked up and should be good for months.

When I returned, Donna and I went down to the pickleball courts. We were signed up for lessons at 1pm. We arrived early and warmed up, hitting the ball back and forth. The husband and wife instructor team showed up just before 1pm along with another beginner couple. We learned the rules of the game and did some practice drills. Then we played a game against the other beginner couple. Pickleball is a lot of fun. It’s like a racket sport (tennis, racquetball) mixed with ping-pong. You use a paddle to hit a large plastic ball on a short outdoor court. You don’t have to be especially athletic as you don’t cover as much court as tennis and the ball moves slower. It’s still competitive though and I was feeling the strain in my legs from stopping and starting forward and back and shuffling from side to side. An hour on the court was enough as it was getting hot out. I’ll be shopping for a nice pickleball paddle!

Later, I scootered Donna to the Enterprise rental car agency. We wanted a car for the weekend. Enterprise often has a weekend special – three days for $9.99/day. They were supposed to deliver the car, but were slammed and couldn’t send someone over until much later. We wanted to go to the Red, White and Brew for happy hour and dinner. On a Friday, that means showing up by 4pm or forget about a seat at the bar. I dropped Donna off at the Enterprise and rode over to Red, White and Brew to claim our seats.

Donna had a glass of red wine and ordered the Mussels Vin Blanc (green-lipped mussels sauteed with white wine, butter and garlic). I had the New Yawka pizza paired with Guinness stout. The food was great as always.

Mussels Vin Blanc

Mussels Vin Blanc with crostini

I was wearing my California Western School of Law Dad T-shirt so I could brag about my daughter, Shauna. She will graduate from Cal Western on May 1st. Last summer, she worked as an intern at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC. While she was there, she networked and made contacts. She went back to DC in November and had meetings with key contacts and set up a job interview. Yesterday, she accepted an offer from a prestigious international law firm to work in securities litigation and compliance. She will work at the Washington, DC and New York City offices. She has to finish school and pass the bar exam before she starts. She’s one of the top students in her class, so passing the bar won’t be a problem for her.

Bragging shirt

Bragging shirt

Today, we’ll take the rental car and drive up to Cave Creek. Our friends, Bob and Sini, just  pulled in yesterday. We met Bob and Sini at Mission Bay RV Resort last year. They’re from Edmonds , Washington. We’ve kept in touch and look forward to getting together for lunch today.

Shady Upgrade

The past two days have been pretty low-key for me. Donna, on the other hand, was up early on Thursday and spoke to a gathering of a few hundred residents here at the Orangewood Shadows RV Resort about maximizing storage in a small space.  She’s kept herself busy doing final prep to re-release an update of her book How to Declutter and Make Money Now.

I read outside for a while on Wednesday. Donna managed to tear herself away from her laptop and went out for a bike ride. I rode the scooter over to the Apache Wells RV Resort, where we stayed last year. I was looking for our former neighbor, George, from Wisconsin. I found his rig in the same space as last year, but he wasn’t home. I left a card on the windshield of his Jeep. I hope we can connect again soon. While I was at Apache Wells, I helped myself to some of the citrus fruit they put out (I made a small donation). I brought home grapefruit, oranges and lemons.

Wednesday evening Donna made Asian-inspired baked chicken thighs. It was a tasty dish.

Baked chicken thighs with organic baby spinach

Baked chicken thighs with organic baby spinach

Thursday was more of the same. I finished reading North to the Night by Alvah Simon. It’s a gripping tale of an incredible voyage to the Arctic Circle that Alvah and his wife, Diana, made aboard their 36′ sailboat. The winter was spent trapped in ice with months of extreme cold and darkness. Alvah bares his soul in his account of that winter. I don’t think I could ever write that honestly and expose all my fears, darkest thoughts and inner feelings. He doesn’t pull any punches.

Pat from Sun Dancer Shades stopped by at 2pm. We had an appointment for him to measure our windshield and front side windows. He made a pattern and will use it to create custom shades for our coach. The material he uses is a heavy-duty shade cloth that will block 90% of the UV from sunlight. This will keep the coach cooler and protect the interior. The shades allow you to see out in the daytime, but you can’t see in from the outside. I opted to have the shades mounted with twist locks on the coach, rather than with snaps. Most people go for snaps – I think they like the low profile. The twist locks look more utilitarian. I like the twist locks because they’re secure and you don’t have to tug at snaps every time you remove the shades. He’ll come back in a couple of weeks to install the twist locks on the coach and mount the shades.

After Pat left, I scootered over to Lucky Lou’s and had a cold one with the guys. There was a couple there, Mike and Kim, that  Donna and I met there last year. They were interested in hearing about full-timing. They bought a 1-ton Dodge Ram 3500 and are planning to hit the road with a fifth- wheel trailer as soon as they sell their house here in Mesa. We talked for a while before I headed back home.

Donna prepared another new recipe for dinner. She made Thai pork and squash soup. It was made with ground pork, cubed butternut squash, red curry paste, and fresh ginger and coconut milk and topped with fresh basil and jalapeno. It was a hearty soup and quite filling. Donna said she wished she had made it spicier, but I thought it was just right.

Thai pork and butternut squash soup

Thai pork and butternut squash soup

The weather has been warm and sunny with light winds of less than 8 mph. Today should be more of the same with the temperature reaching the low 80s. Donna and I have a pickleball lesson scheduled at 1pm. We got rained out last week!

All About the Water

Yesterday’s project of the day was an easy one. When we were at the FMCA Convention in Redmond, Oregon, I bought new filters for our water supply from The RV Water Store ( I don’t have any affiliation with this business, but they’re friendly and have good stuff). Their site will tell you everything you want to know about water filtration and more.

I bought a standard-size dual-canister system. The water supply goes through a five-micron 10-inch polypropylene sediment filter in the first canister. This removes any solids (dirt, metal, minerals etc.) larger than five microns. The water then travels to the second canister  through a five-micron fiber block-carbon filter. This removes contaminants and chemicals that affect taste.

Dual filter canisters - spanner for dis-assembly in the foreground

Dual-filter canisters – spanner for disassembly in the foreground

I started using this system when we arrived in San Diego last September. I checked the sediment filter last month when we came to Arizona. It looked good at that time. The RV Filter Store says the sediment filter should last three to four months. It’s been a little over four months, so I thought I should replace it.

The canisters came with a plastic spanner that is used to unscrew the canister from the top. I turned off the water supply and relieved the pressure by loosening the hose fitting. Then I unscrewed the canister from the lid and pulled the filter cartridge out. It was indeed time for replacement. The filter media was discolored all the way through.

New sediment cartridge on the left, used cartridge on the right.

New sediment cartridge on the left, used cartridge on the right

I cleaned out the canister and reassembled it with a new cartridge. We should be good to go for another four months. Next time, I’ll replace the sediment cartridge and the carbon filter as well. The carbon filters are supposed to last up to twelve months, depending on the water quality.

We also have a granular carbon filter with KDF in the water line to a dispenser on our kitchen sink. This filter will remove lead and heavy metals and “polish” the drinking water. The KDF is an alloy of zinc and copper that prevents bacteria from forming in the filter when it isn’t used regularly. Since we have whole-house water filtration through the dual-canister system, Rick at the RV Water Filter Store tells me the inline filter under the sink should be good for at least two years.

Donna rode the scooter over to Lana Jansen’s house in our old neighborhood while I was working on the filter. She needed Lana’s landline phone for a call from Real Simple magazine. They were recording a pilot podcast about cleaning.

Last night, Donna cooked a pan-seared salmon filet with ginger and scallions sauteed in olive oil. She served it with forbidden rice and roasted brussel sprouts with sherry vinegar. It tasted great, but it nearly killed me.

Salmon filet with sauteed ginger and scallions

Salmon filet with sauteed ginger and scallions

I posted about my throat cancer surgery and treatment in this post. The removal of the tumor in my throat left scar tissue and pockets in my throat. Certain foods are difficult for me to swallow. The forbidden rice caught in a pocket in my throat last night. This brought on a coughing fit and I began to choke. I was feeling pretty panicky before I was able to dislodge the rice.

Today we’re in for more sunny, warm weather. Time to get the bikes out again.

 

Almost Famous

The excellent desert winter weather has returned. The temperature was in the mid to upper 70s yesterday. The thermometer should hover around 80 degrees with no rain forecast in the next 10 days. Once the sun sets, the temperature drops quickly though down to an overnight low of about 50 degrees.

Donna took advantage of the weather with a bike ride in the morning. She had work to do, so after lunch, I rode my mountain bike along Eastern Canal. The dirt path along the canal was rutted from work trucks passing through while it was muddy last week. The water in the canal itself is still muddy.

Muddy canal

Muddy canal

With the water being so muddy, I didn’t expect to see fish in the canal. But I did see a couple of fish and also discovered turtles in the canal. The turtles were very wary though. Every time I stopped to try to photograph one, it would disappear under water. I saw one sunning himself on the side of the concrete bank. I came slowly to a stop and he stayed put. As soon as I pointed my camera phone at him, he dove into the muddy water.

The canal has locks every mile or so to control the flow and water level. These locks also contain the non-native white amur fish that are put into the canal to control aquatic plant growth.

Canal lock

Canal lock

Near one of the locks, I saw workers from the local power utility company, Salt River Project (SRP), digging a hole. They had a hose about six inches in diameter connected to a giant vacuum in the back of a truck. As they removed dirt, it was sucked into a large container in the truck. I don’t think I’ve seen this before.

Digging a hole

Digging a hole

I asked one of the SRP guys what they were doing. He told me they had to put up temporary structures. They were digging holes for large wooden poles. The poles would have a cross bar and uprights attached, like a football goal post, also made from wood. This was in preparation for work on the high-tension lines above. They were going to string a new bundle of wire from University Drive south to Guadalupe Road, a distance of more than five miles. This bundle would feed a new substation.

The lines high overhead would remain live while the work was performed. Shutting down the lines would knock power out of many neighborhoods in the area. The lines carry high voltage – 230,000 volts! The wooden pole structures are put in place as a safeguard. If a line is cut or broken and comes down, it will be held off the ground by the poles. Grounding 230,000 volts could be disastrous and very dangerous to anyone in the area.

230,000 volts in those lines

230,000 volts in those lines

Donna is making me almost famous. She did an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette promoting her new book, Clear the Clutter, Find Happiness. In the interview, she mentioned my blog. The article has since been syndicated and has been picked up by newspapers across the country. This article has a sub-heading that reads “Take Some Notes From Author Who Lives In Motor Home With Husband Blogger.” By the way, I posted my 400th blog post yesterday.

Last night, Donna prepared something a little different for dinner. She followed a friend’s recipe for pizza chicken. This dish features pounded chicken breasts smothered with homemade marinara and baked with pepperoni and shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. It was a novelty dish that we both enjoyed.

Pizza chicken

Pizza chicken

She served it with sauteed zucchini and onions.

Pizza chicken with sauteed zucchini and onions

Pizza chicken with sauteed zucchini and onions

I’ve had few people inquire about the horseradish-infused vodka I mentioned in this recent post. I haven’t made it, but Sara Graff told me how it’s done. Her first batch was made in a mason jar – the second was made in a large bottle with a resealable cap.

She peels a fresh horseradish root and then cuts it into strips the size of large french fries that will fit inside the mouth of the bottle. She tied string to each of the horseradish strips and put them in the bottle. The strings suspend the horseradish and also aid in removal later. (If you’re using a mason jar, you can just toss the horseradish “fries” into the jar and fish them out later.) Then she filled the bottle with Sobieski vodka. The bottle is left in the freezer for five or six days. Then it’s ready to serve. You’ll want to remove the horseradish strips because it will make the vodka taste bitter if left too long. Sounds pretty simple. We’re planning to make a batch.

 

More About Doors

Yesterday was the first of February. It seems like we just celebrated the new year! We had sunny skies for Super Bowl Sunday in Phoenix. This was a welcome change from all of the rain we had since Monday.

I puttered around after sleeping in. I refreshed the nectar in the hummingbird feeder. We finally have birds visiting it. I relaxed and read a bit before turning on the TV for all of the Super Bowl hoopla. The game turned out to be a competitive and interesting contest. I’m still trying to understand Seattle’s last play. Why throw the ball from the two-foot line when you have Marshawn Lynch in the backfield?

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned the hardware used in our cabinets. Today I’d like to describe it further. When we’re traveling down the road, we want our cabinets to be securely closed. Our cabinets have clever hinges, clasps and struts. The spring-loaded struts primarily hold the doors open, but due to their mounting geometry, they also provide some resistance when the door is initially opened until they go over center and hold the door open.

The hinges have a roller on a spring. When the cabinet is closed, the roller contacts a cam-shaped tab and rolls around it to a detent in the closed position. The spring holds the roller in the detent, providing resistance to opening the cabinet. The spring tension is light though and the roller will come out of the detent and roll around to the open position without too much effort.

Hinge with roller

Hinge with roller

Now we have resistance from the roller on the hinge and the geometry of the strut. Next, there is a spring steel tab formed in the shape of a diamond mounted to the door. On the cabinet we have a pair of spring-loaded plastic rollers. The diamond-shaped tab fits between the two rollers. They give way when the door is closed and the diamond-shaped tab snaps inbetween them.

Tab on cabinet door

Tab on cabinet door

Rollers for door tabs

Rollers for door tabs

With the geometry of the struts, the roller in the detent on the hinge and the spring-loaded clasps on the cabinet, the door is held securely in the closed position. No worries of it opening as we roll down the road.

These are the kind of little details that make a coach durable and suitable for full-time use.

Today is shaping up to be another fine weather day. We expect the high temperature to reach the mid-70s this afternoon under clear skies. Time to get the bicycles out again.

Horseradish, Vodka and Pickle Chips

Light but steady rain fell all day on Friday. We went out for breakfast, a rare treat. We went to Crackers and Company on Greenfield, north of Brown Road. We arrived at 9:30am at the tail end of their morning rush. It seems that they’re understaffed for the number of patrons. The receptionist told us we would have a 15-minute wait. I could see at least three open tables that were already bussed and cleaned. She was holding up on seating people to allow the servers to catch up.

We were seated after 10 minutes or so. It was another 10 minutes before a server came by our table and asked if we wanted coffee. We were ready to order. They had three versions of Eggs Benedict on the menu – classic Eggs Benedict, California Eggs Benedict (with spinach, avocado and bacon) and Southwest Eggs Benedict (with chorizo and pico de gallo). Even before getting to the restaurant, I knew I wanted classic Eggs Benedict. Donna went for the southwestern version minus the english muffin.

About 15 minutes later, our breakfast arrived. We had been there over half an hour at this point. Imagine my disappointment when I was served California Eggs Benedict! They offered to replace it with what I’d ordered, but I didn’t want to wait another 10 minutes or more for breakfast, so I kept it. The food was very tasty, but the poor service will keep me away.

I spent the rest of the rainy day hanging out and reading a book. Donna had a book signing at the Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe in the evening. She had also invited her readers to join her for an informal supper chat at Wildflower Bread Company right next door. Our friend, Sara Graff, picked her up and went to these events with her.

Yesterday, the rain continued to fall in the morning. Donna went grocery shopping at Sprouts before returning the rental car. I was expecting a package, so once the rain let up after 11am, I went to the mailbox and found my package waiting for me there.

Genuine WRV parts from Aubrey's

Genuine WRV parts from Aubrey’s

When we decided to replace our old coach with something more suitable for full-time use, one of the things I took into consideration was the quality of the cabinetry. The overhead storage cabinets and kitchen drawers get heavy use when you live full-time in your rig. I looked for quality metal hinges and latches along with good, solid wood. Many coach builders cut corners on these items. If you are only using the coach for weekend tailgating and occasional vacation time, it isn’t a big deal. But when you use your coach as your home, these things need to be robust enough to withstand daily use. When I was searching for our new home, I paid attention to the woodwork and hardware used. I felt that if a coach builder used care and quality in these areas, it probably used care and quality in other, unseen areas.

Western Recreational Vehicles (WRV), the builder of our Alpine Coach understood this. The woodwork in the cabinets and drawers is first-rate. The bottoms of the drawers are solid with tongue-and-grove construction – not the cheap, stapled lauan panels found in many RV drawers. The overhead cabinets have nice metal hinges, latches and pulls. The doors are held open with spring-loaded metal struts. Of course, over time, even the best materials will suffer some wear and tear.

One of the struts on the door of the cabinet housing our electrical and tank monitoring panels had a bad strut. I needed to find a replacement. When WRV closed shop in April of 2008, an RV dealer near the factory in Union Gap, Washington bought much of their parts inventory. We stopped at Aubrey’s RV in Union Gap last summer. I thought of them when I needed the strut.  Sure enough, they had the struts – they sell them in pairs for about four bucks and they had more than 90 pairs in stock! They are original equipment from WRV. The only difference in our case was the color. Our hardware has a bronze finish. In 2008, WRV was using a pewter finish on the hardware. No big deal. I ordered four pairs of struts so I’ll have spares on hand. The shipping cost was six dollars whether I ordered one pair or four, so I figured I would get the extras.

Old strut on bottom, new pewter finished strut above

Old strut on bottom, new pewter finished strut above

Job done

Job done

The rain finally stopped just before noon. I dumped and flushed our holding tanks, then started another book, North to the Night. It’s a fascinating tale – a true adventure about a couple who deliberately sailed to the Arctic Circle in Greenland to spend a winter trapped in ice in the darkness and learn to live in the inhospitable environment like the Inuits. The book was recommended to Donna by one of the women who attended her informal supper chat and Changing Hands gave her the book as a thank you for doing the book signing.

Around 4:30pm, our friends, Howard and Sara Graff, picked us up. Our destination was the Beer Research Institute (BRI) located at Stapley and Baseline Road. We enjoyed beer and food and caught up with each other a bit. Then we headed out to a birthday party for their friend, Mike. Mike and his wife Dana live in Mesa. They had a nice group of people at their house and a really fun party was well underway when we arrived.

On the way to Mike and Dana’s place, we stopped at the Graff residence for an important item stashed in their freezer. Sara had made a bottle of horseradish-infused vodka. I know it sounds strange, but I was willing to give it a shot! She served it in a shot glass. You drink the shooter, feel the sinus-cleansing horseradish and then eat a dill pickle chip. The pickle chip completely neutralizes the horseradish. She brought the infused vodka, pickle chips and four shot glasses to the party.

Horseradish infused vodka and pickle chips

Horseradish infused vodka and pickle chips

I almost forgot to mention, Sara is a big fan of Breaking Bad. When we stopped by the Graff residence, she showed us her new kitchen towels.

Breaking Bad kitchen towels

Breaking Bad kitchen towels

We had a great time at the party. I won’t say how much vodka we drank, but there wasn’t any left by the time we got out of there at midnight.

Selfie with Donna, Howard and Sara

Selfie with Donna, Howard and Sara

Today is February 1st. Wow, January is already in the rear view mirror. The sun is once again shining and it’s Super Bowl Sunday. I plan to hang out and watch some football!